#reading a managed heart has been soooooo eye opening

[idknikkip]

As a server I believe it is my god given right to guilt trip customers into acting right. my current favorite is when a couple sit down at the ~only 8 top~ in our restaurant while there are multiple 2 and 4 tops available. While dropping their waters I hit ‘em with a “im gonna go grab the rest of the waters 😊 how many more were you guys waiting on?😇” said like it’s almost an after thought - they look at each other, sitting at the end of this big long table (couples always sit at the end, almost like they subconsciously know it’s bad form for them to use up the whole table!!!) trying to figure out the way to say “it’s just us” that doesn’t make them look like the assholes. I prompt them with a doting smile, I do NOT speak first (huge key, you say your piece and do NOT talk, make them break the awkward silence). When they finally say no one else, I let my face fall, steal a quick glance at the numerous empty tables, quickly but visibly compose myself, deflated “oh, ok 😔Got it” a lil nod, and then usuuuuuually by this point they offer to move. I brighten up, smile big, positively reinforce this choice with excited & open body language, I ask “are you sure? I mean you really don’t have to” and at this point they turn to reassure me, “oh we’re happy to save the day by moving!” They pick up their glasses, I grab the carafe of water they’ve forgotten, “I really appreciate you guys helping me out! 🥹🥹This is our ~only~ big table, you guys know how it is haha” they’re in on the joke, obviously, a mix up that they’ve sat here!

I’m not spending my time explaining to you how restaurants work, pleading with you to move, or just putting up with you fucjing up my seating. In 2 sentences I’m gonna make you think about your actions & give you the clear opportunity to make better decisions this time; & usually, they’ll take the better choice with a smile on their face.

[hellishjoel]

Delicate - Chapter Three: I Wish You Would

2.5k / pairing: joel miller x f!reader

Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

summary: After making a bad impression on his first date, Joel nearly gives up - until fate in the form of his daughter Sarah intervenes; Joel and Petal come to a deal.

A/N: truth be told, @thetriumphantpanda and I completely forgot this series existed and got caught up in other projects BUT we're continuing it! because we still love our little baby!

warnings: joel and reader are single parents, rom-com vibes, foul language, Joel being terrible at dating in general, a lil angst

“It’s okay,” she said so reassuringly, looming by the cab as dark clouds began to form over the city. “It takes some time to get used to this again. I was the same.” He didn’t even have the nerve to look her in the eye anymore, brown droopy eyes finding solace in staring at the concrete. “It’ll get easier each time you do it, I promise.” 

His heart felt ripped from his chest, let down by his actions. 

Part of him wonders if he did it on purpose, leaned into ruining the date so he could give Sarah the excuses he’s been making up in his head. That it didn’t work out, that they weren’t a match, that dating just wasn’t his thing, and that he should just be left alone. 

But then he met you. And his heart beat so fast in his chest, he worried it might give him a damn heart attack. 

He’d never seen someone so pretty, with such a bright smile and warm energy that melted the cold exterior shell he had built up over the years. He had no excuses to give, and he didn’t mind. But then nerves took over. 

Joel sighs quietly, staring blankly ahead at his closed garage door. He sits in his parked truck, radio coming in and out of signal as the storm worsens overhead. He flips his wrist and tears the keys from the ignition. 

He’s back home now. Has been for maybe twenty minutes. He just can’t stop thinking about how fucking stupid he felt. Rain pitter-patters on his windshield, and he supposes it’s time to start going inside. Maybe then, Sarah would stop spying on him from the front windows in the living room. 

With a large huff, Joel steps out and makes his way up the porch, rain dotting his disheveled hair and half-decent ensemble. 

Upon pushing the front door open, he sees Sarah run back to the couch with Uncle Tommy just in time. 

“Hey,” she greets casually, fiddling with the remote and pretending to surf for something to watch, “Soooooo,” she coos, “How was your date?” 

Joel watches as Sarah’s face slowly sinks at the sight of him, large rounded-off eyes reading dismissively as he glances from her to Uncle Tommy. 

By now, Tommy is making a worried face, hiding behind a hand over his mouth, panic blaring across his eyes. Sarah’s a smart girl; it doesn’t take her long to look between the two. 

“Oh god, what happened, dad?” She asks with a strained tone, following Joel into the kitchen, where he fishes out a beer and sets his phone absently on the counter along with his keys. He lines the bottle cap to the lip of the counter and pops it open with ease, hearing the bottle hiss with the release of pressure before he takes a long drink. 

Sarah’s glaring eyes slowly turn to her Uncle Tommy. “What did you do?” 

“I-well-no, see, I tried- uh-” Tommy stutters haphazardly. 

“Ain’t Tommy’s fault,” Joel grumbles, the first words he’s spoken in an hour that couldn’t be farther from the truth. There’s a moment of silence as Tommy and Sarah share an empathetic look to Joel. “S’my fault.” 

After some begging and dragging, Sarah manages to get her dad to sit in the living room, the television’s volume set to mute. She rolls Joel’s phone around in her hand, swiping it open and finding the dating app he met his date on. 

Her pictures were beautiful. She was her dad’s type, too. Confident looking, with a sweet smile and a love for adventure. Even with a kid of her own. She understood now why they both found it important to make good first impressions. 

So, what the hell happened? 

“Jus’ tell’er what I said, Joel. I gave ya bad advice.” 

“Horrible advice, Tommy.”

“What advice? I thought this dating operation was a trio effort, and you left the Captain out of a very important dating advice conversation?” Sarah accuses, Tommy shrugs casually beside her on the couch. 

Condensation from Joel’s beer bottle makes a dark ring on the upper thigh of his jeans. He stares long and hard before continuing.  

“I was gettin’ ready for my date, tryin’ to find somethin’ to wear. Tommy helped an’-”

“And?” Sarah pressed, watching Tommy sink further into the couch, hoping to disappear between the cushions.

Joel grumbles quietly and continues, "Told him how nervous I was. Been forever since I had been on a proper date. So he gave me some advice that worked for him.”

“You took advice from your player of a brother? Who can’t find a wife to save his life?”

Tommy playfully scoffs, rolling his eyes. “I could find a wife if I wanted to-”

“Anyway,” Joel butts in, “He said I should try to sound uninterested. Play hard t’get, or whatever. Not ask too many questions. And uh… what did you call it Tommy? A twisted compliment?”

Sarah harshly gasps, turning to her Uncle Tommy as he drops his jaw, looking helpless at Sarah’s genuine anger. 

“You never do that! Ne-ver! Never ever!” She said, starting to swat angrily at his arm and shoulder. 

“Alright, alright, mercy! Mercy!” Tommy looks apologetically at Joel, shaking his head in dismay. “M’sorry, big brother. I thought it would work for you, as it works for me. The type of women I try it on works pretty well.” 

Joel shook his head, eyes drooping again. 

“She wasn’t like other women. She was…” He trails off, unable to articulate how wonderful of a woman he met tonight. And how fucking horribly he screwed it up. 

Joel closes his eyes and puts his palm to his forehead, fingers tugging at his untamed dark waves. 

A frown tugs at the corners of Sarah’s lips, a sinking feeling cascading over her chest. He could try again, find someone else, but now that Sarah has seen her profile and knows how perfect of a match they would be, she knows she has to do something to fix it. 

She casually clears her throat and uses the voice memo option in her dad’s messages. 

“So… what was she like? Your date?” Sarah posed, watching out of the corner of her eye as the recording picked up her question. 

Joel’s had a terrible night, and he’s not sure how much more vulnerability he can spare, especially after how badly he embarrassed himself. 

“Not tonight, Sarah.” He says dismissively. Joel lets out a heavy breath, and for the first time tonight, a little smile tangles on his lips. His eyes lose focus as he relays the moment his eyes set on you.  

“She was… everything. You should’ve seen her, Sarah. She’s got real pretty eyes and a gorgeous smile. When she smiled, it was hard not to smile with her. But she was more than just physically beautiful. She had this energy about her, uplifting and optimistic. Funny, too,” Joel pauses to shake his head, a fond smile on his lips like he was reliving a lost memory. 

His amber eyes slowly begin to droop in disappointment at what he had lost. 

“It felt like seeing a shooting star. She was rare. And I screwed it up. S’my fault.” Joel bites down on his lower lip and tastes the salt of his own wounds. “Just hadn’t had a date in so long. Tried to act cool. I don’t even know what cool is. I don’t know what I was thinkin’. Wish I would’ve just been myself.  Too worried about makin’ a fool of myself that I gave her a bad first impression, y’know? But she was everything. She really was.” 

Joel could hear everyone’s heartbeat, all in sync, all listening. They sat together unmoving, breathing in gentle lulls. No one moved, not even when the room became dark and the gentle rain outside turned into a heavy downpour. 

After Tommy had left for the night with a solemn hug to his older brother and Joel disappeared to sulk in his bedroom, Sarah replayed the sound bite she had captured. 

Her father was being himself, kind and honest. He was a good man, just a bit misled. Sarah wanted his date to know the truth, even if she didn’t give Joel a second chance. She didn’t need some poor woman thinking he was a sleazy jerk. Sure, Uncle Tommy, yeah, but not her father. 

Sarah stares longingly at the woman’s profile once more. This could have been his person, and it breaks her heart to think how remorseful her father was tonight. Like he lost something he should have never let go of. 

Her plan was hatched. This woman would hear how her dad truly speaks of her. The true Joel Miller. She types with ferocity into their existing chat on Hinge. 

Hello, mystery woman. Please don’t give up on him. Believe it or not, my dad deep down is a really shy and sensitive guy. I’m sorry he screwed up. Please know this is what he really thought of you tonight. I know this is a delicate situation, but I thought you should know the man you really went on a date with tonight. -Joel’s favorite daughter, Sarah

You’re not sure how many times you relistened to the Hinge message. 

You’d imagine yourself waking up early and throwing yourself into the endless housework that needs to be done. The laundry piles up, and you should meal-prep for the rest of the week. But you received this message so late last night, long after you had passed out, hoping to forget the terrible first date that you had been on. The last thing you expected was to wake up to another message seemingly from Joel. 

Hearing his deep voice echo his mistakes makes you rethink everything about your date with Joel last night. He sounds sincere, so incredibly nervous behind his seemingly confident bravado. How wrong was your first impression? 

After a bit of pacing and rehearsed dialogue, you get up the nerve to send Joel your number, which he calls not long after. You tell him the truth: that his daughter has sent you a voice note of his apology. 

He seemed quite embarrassed that what he wanted to say was truly heard. 

You reminded yourself that not so long ago, you were making the same mistakes. Dating again was difficult, but you would want Joel to succeed with whomever he finds in the future. Just because things didn’t work out between you and Joel doesn’t mean you couldn’t help him. 

“I think we should have a proper conversation about last night. Would you wanna stop by for a cup of coffee or something?” 

Strangled, deafening silence. “I like coffee,” Joel finally musters up. 

After a short drive in his pickup truck, he’s pulling into your driveway within twenty minutes. You can hear his engine rumbling before turning off on the pavement outside. 

“So, about last night-”

“You don’t-” he starts, but you both pause as the coffee machine stutters. 

Seeing him in daylight evokes the familiar fluttering sensation in your stomach that you first experienced when messaging Joel for the first time. Despite the autumn setting, the dark green flannel he wears shows signs of frequent wear and seems to be a staple in his wardrobe—suitable for any season, any day. It fits his figure, like it’s nearly grown around him. 

You force your eyes to drag their attention away from his broad shoulders and tan skin, clearing your throat and turning on your faucet. It barely trickles, which leaves you huffing. 

Joel takes an interest, rising from where you sat him at the breakfast bar with his empty mug. 

“Low pressure?”  He asks, voice low and honeyed. 

“The plumber came last week and swore it was fixed. It’s fine, I’ll figure it out.”

Joel purses his lips, and before you can stop him, his heavy boots are already backpedaling out of the kitchen. “I’ve got tools in my truck,” he juts his thumb behind him, “wouldn’t take me more than a few minutes.”

“You don’t have to, really, Joel. I don’t want you to work on your day off.”

“S’not a problem. Sit tight.”

He returns with a Milwaukee toolbox, cherry red with a white logo highlighted by lightning strike-looking font. 

You don’t realize you’re still wide-eyed until he looks between you and the lower sink cabinets. 

“Sorry.” You mutter with embarrassment as you move out of the way. He grunts softly as he moves to the linoleum, his knees digging into the tile as he starts moving aside the cleaning supplies stowed below. He squints his eyes, the skin around wrinkling with focus. 

Just start talking about why you asked him here. 

“So—” you start as you pace the kitchen, watching him move onto his back to eye over your sink’s anatomy. “I know our date last night didn’t go as well as we both had hoped and—” your eyes stray to see the hem of his flannel nudge up his front as his hands go to work with a wrench, hearing him mutter something about how he was still listening to you.  But all you can see is the bare skin of his waist, dark hairs stippled down the center of his belly. 

“Right, well, I think what I’m trying to say, or rather failing to say, is that I think I could help you.” The wrench’s clicking comes to a stop. Joel pauses and slowly ducks his head out from the shadows. 

“Help me?” He questions. His tone only inflects slight offense taken. 

“Or- help each other.” You take a moment and kneel on the floor beside where he’s working, watching him sit up on his elbows as his greying eyebrows knit together with curiosity. “It’s hard dating as an adult. Believe me, I know. The apps, and-and the having kids,” your eyes soften as Joel’s gaze falls. “You don’t need me to explain how hard it is. I was horrible at first. There was so much fear surrounding it for me, and I just know that after those voice notes your daughter sent me, you have a lot of potential.”

Joel chuckles dryly before he continues to look up at your sink, slowly loosening a fitting on a pipe. “You think there’s hope?” He says, sarcasm-laced. 

“I’m not going to lie and say it’ll be easy. But love isn’t just for teenagers. We both deserve to experience it again. Maybe it’s not with me, but you’re a real catch, Joel Miller. You’re smart, and you’re handsome,”

Joel chuckles again, but this time it’s more whimsical. The sound is joyful and echoes through around the wooden cabinet he’s working in.  

“So, you’re tryin’ t’offer me datin’ lessons? Is that it?”

You will yourself not to roll your eyes. “Yes, dating lessons. What do you think?”

With a long and forced sigh, Joel ducks out from under the sink and stands to his full, looming height. You scrabble off the floor, taking in how his eyes glimmer like honey in the sunlight. 

He ponders before flipping your tap on, watching the water flow with nothing holding it back. You grin with ease, your eyes flicking to his own.

“Little miss fixer-upper, aren’t ya?” Joel says snidely, taking a moment to offer your proposition. 

A shrug and a sweet smile later have him convinced. 

“Alright. I’m in.” 

[v14-sewers]

15 questions

thanks for the tag @elmaxlys 💕

Were you named after anyone?

No

When was the last time you cried? 

Hmm maybe like a month ago...? Been a while!

Do you have kids?

Bitch do i look like-

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yea ig

What's the first thing you notice about people?

Eyes and smile. I even forget people's faces, but still remember details in their eyes or the shape of their incisors or some shit. When I think of my friends, I picture the way their faces scrunch up when they smile. I love life

What’s your eye color?

Brown eyes gang raise up 💪 (from @elmaxlys)

The brown eyes gang has risen up !!! Mine are veeery dark to the point my friends were having a laugh at how they couldn't see my pupils when we were studying neurology lol

Scary movies or happy endings?

1- why can't a scary movie have a happy ending? 2- why do tragic endings have to only be in scary movies? 3- depends on my mood and rn it's scary with happy end (from @elmaxlys)

Exactlyyyy i completely agree. Though fundamentally I would have to choose scary movies over happy endings ψ( ` ∇ ´ )ψ love my blood and guts too much to pass the opportunity ><

Any special talents?

Not really lol. Managing to make friends whilst being socially awkward something something adhd chick magnet

Where were you born?

At a hospital

What are your hobbies?

WRITING (PLEASE GOD LET ME WRITE FOR ONCE HOLY FUCK), reading, making bracelets, sewing (with my mom<3), consuming and creating art in general <3

Have any pets?

My one and only darling 10yo babyboy cat Hórus u are the love of my life. he gave a bath yesterday (he licked me for 15 minutes straight and i ended up smelling like garbage). he's also my fat little boy yes u are yes u are im crying just thinking about him hes the love of my life and he loves me soooooo much all the scratches are worth it when he curls up beside me<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

What sports do you play/have you played?

sigh... handball, volleyball, swimming, martial arts (a few)... i fucking hate sports </3 swimming is fun as an activity, not as a sport. and martial arts are fun from like a choreography standpoint. i cant stand touching people. or things. especially balls. or people with balls. and people's balls.

How tall are you?

about 164cm, maybe more idk idc

Favorite subject in school?

Math. and now... pathology ig????

Dream job?

Something that allows me enough free time and funds to concretize my daydream with @tsukun-e. But like fr i would love to open up corpses for a living that would be cool as FUCK. i've been discussing my work-related needs with friends and tbh i just want something that's mentally stimulating enough (difficult puzzles to solve !!!!) while giving me some breathing room (whether by work hours or by physical labor, but i cant have it be too strenuous ykno? i got disabilities and shit). fyi the daydream also consists of me writing to my heart's content – def doing that on the side

im tagging @tsukun-e and @fawntastic !!

[imissjoongsmullet]

Fill Me

Pairing: Yunho x fem reader

Genre: smut

Summary: Desperate to get your fill, you decide to surprise your boyfriend during his dance rehearsal, knowing exactly what to do to get what you want.

Warnings: graphic sex basically (if you read further there’s slight spoilers just a heads up) unprotected sex (be safe kids), butt plug, butt play, fingering, sex in a semi-public space, I think that’s about it lemme know if I’ve missed anything

Word Count: 3K

Author’s Note: soooooo yeah this was requested ages ago... so sorry to the requester, don’t even know if this is still wanted. I do know I wanted it so, um, here it is! Have fun thirsting over Yunho babes ✌️

Also please let me know what you think, good or bad, I love the feedback ♥

*

“How long have you been waiting for me,” he murmurs, kissing the shell of your ear, “how long have you had this thing filling you up, huh?”

*

Light rain drizzles against the window. It’s barely audible over the noise from the TV. You’re only half paying attention to what’s happening on screen. Limbs sprawled lazily over the sofa, box of cookies on your belly, you bide your time — that’s what you’re calling it. You’re supposed to have dinner with your boyfriend tonight but surprise, surprise, he messaged you he’d be late, over two hours ago. You’d even hoped he might stay the night with you but you suppose that whole thing is canceled as well.

You’re not angry with him, exactly. You understand the responsibility your boyfriend carries, being part of ATEEZ. You’re immensely proud of him every time you watch him perform but, more and more, you notice the loneliness creeping into your system. Your mind and body long for him like a flower longs for the sun, except that the sun doesn’t just disappear because it has better things to do. It’s not fair.

The announcer on the television finishes his speech and a familiar melody fills the room. Your dazed out eyes focus at once on the one person you want to see. Yunho always stands out to you and not just because of his height. His passion beams from his every move. You’re captivated and, at once, a fresh pang of jealousy jabs into your heart. The way he dances is so smooth, so perfect, your jaw falls slack subconsciously. Your eyes follow him intently, even when the camera isn’t focused on him. A hot flush floods your face when his hips buck during the hook of the song. It’s been a while since you’ve felt those hips buck into you. Growing unbearably needy, you grab your phone and open up your chat with him.

[Baby, practice is going slow. I’ll be home late. Sorry…]

The message annoys you even more than it did the first time. You let out a groan and dig your head deeper into the sofa. You want him. You want to show him how much you want him. For a brief moment, you think about sending him a sexy pic of you. You’re wearing a little black dress that hugs you in exactly the right places. The first time you’d worn it, Yunho’s eyes were glued to you all night, until you finally got home and he was able to rip it off.

It would be such a shame for him not to see it tonight, you think, but as you raise your camera to take the picture, an even better idea drifts to the surface. You rush to the bedroom swiftly, pulling open your nightstand and finding just the right thing.

*

You can hear the music the moment the elevator opens. It pours from the practice room even with the doors closed, reverberating against the walls of the empty hallway. You look down at your coat, checking that you’re all wrapped up and smile a little to yourself.

You manage to slip into the room unnoticed. The members are in the midst of one of their newest songs, giving it their all. They run the track in perfect unison and you wonder how much more practice a group this perfect needs. Settled with your back against the wall, you wait.

The song ends and all that’s left is the hard breathing of the members. Yunho is hunched over for a few seconds before he comes up with a sigh and his gaze land on you. His eyes widen and he grins. Without missing a beat, he calls your name and runs over. You can’t help but notice how his skin glistens form the exercise, how his muscles flex as he jogs, so visible in the sleeveless shirt he’s wearing, how the tips of his hair are slightly wet, sticking to his forehead.

“What are you doing here?” he asks in surprise.

You look up at him, smiling, and put your hand onto his chest. “I don’t know, I guess I was missing you too much.”

His eyes go soft. “I’m sorry, baby,” he says, “there’s just a lot we have to go through. It’ll be another hour at least.”

“That’s okay,” you reply, trailing your hand over his clothed abs, “you can go ahead. I’ll wait here for you.”

He looks down at your hand and back up. You watch, satisfied as desire trickles into your boyfriend’s eyes.

“I—” Yunho starts when a long arm wraps around his shoulder and a sweaty-looking Mingi pops up from behind.

“You better stop stalling,” he says in a hushed voice, “or Joong will never let us go home. I’m so hungry.”

Yunho breaks out into a smile. “Alright, alright.” He turns back to you.

“Better go finish this off then,” he says, his cheeks a bit flushed now.

You nod at him, still smiling mischievously.

The song starts up again and the boys are back in their element. New as the song is, you haven’t watched them perform it much, which is exciting. Your eyes can’t help but stick to Yunho though. The way he allows the music to envelop him is incredible. He’s in complete control, muscles contracting and relaxing perfectly with the beat. He looks so big and powerful. Every now and then, you notice him glancing over at you through the mirror. A tiny shudder runs down your spine when you imagine what might happen soon.

Not soon enough, you think, feeling yourself growing wet between your legs.

Biting your bottom lip shyly, you put your hand at your chest, fingering the zipper of your coat. You pull down a bit, revealing part of your cleavage. You wait until Yunho looks your way again to pull it down even further while you keep eye contact. Yunho’s eyes grow into two full moons and he freezes momentarily, causing Wooyoung to dance right into him and trip.

“Stop!” Hongjoong yells over the music as he walks over to turn it down, “Yunho, what happened?”

“I think we gotta cut him some slack,” Wooyoung says, giggling as he gets up, “he’s got company, after all.”

You hurriedly zip yourself back up before the other members get a view of your exposed chest.

Hongjoong looks tired, contemplating.

“Don’t you think we’ve run through it enough?” San cuts in, “I think maybe we could get a quick snack and go to bed so we’re ready for tomorrow’s events. Who’s with me?”

The members murmur in agreement for a bit when, finally, Hongjoong says, “fine, I suppose sleep might not be a bad idea— yes, Mingi, we’ll stop on the way home for snacks.”

“I think Yunho won’t need any snacks tonight,” Yeosang grins, “he’s all set.”

The members laugh and eye you as they grab their stuff and make their way out the practice room, leaving you alone with Yunho. The moment the door clicks shut, his eyes go dark and look straight at you.

“Take that off,” he orders.

You don’t have to be told twice. You zip down your coat and let it slide down your shoulders, revealing a sight that makes Yunho’s mouth drop open. He strides over to you at once and grabs hold of your waist.

“So now you have time for me, huh?” You raise your eyebrow at him.

“Shhh,” he says as he pushes you back until you hit the wall behind you. His lips hover over yours. “Talk later,” he whispers before clearing your head with a kiss so passionate you can’t help but moan into it. He’s not rough, just full of fire. He deepens the kiss with overwhelming eagerness, letting his tongue roam past your lips. Your hands come to hold his upper arms for support, squeezing into his biceps. His wet chest presses into you while his hands busy themselves exploring every inch of your body. He clutches the skin of your back, rakes down to your thighs and back up, stopping to grab your ass tightly.

A sudden moan escapes your lips as the feeling reminds you of what’s going on down there.

“You like that, baby?” he says in a low voice.

You can only moan more as he continues to massage your ass. This sets him off thinking. You can feel the realization hit him as his arms go slack for just a second.

“Babe,” he whispers.

“Yeah,” you reply coyly as you look up into his glazed eyes.

Tentatively, his hands move down to the hem of your dress, lifting it up. You gasp when he bares your behind. His fingers gently pull aside the thin stretch of fabric of your underwear and feel around until they’ve found what they’re looking for.

“Yunho—” you whine out at once. The pressure of his fingers against the butt plug heightening the delicious sensation of fullness you’ve been feeling since you put it in.

Yunho lets out a low hum against your lips. The press of his erection against your belly is unmistakable.

“I thought you’d like that,” you say, breath hitching when he pulls you closer by the hips. He grinds into you so slow you think you’ll go insane. His lips attach themselves to your neck, sucking to bruise.

“Please,” you moan, not even really knowing what the word means. Yunho’s lips curve up into a smirk momentarily, only to start licking and biting your skin with twice the fervor right after. You can tell he’s hard as a rock. He rubs himself against you, over and over, fingers digging into your skin as he caresses your waist and ass.

When he finally lets go, you’re both panting. Without a word, he grabs your hand and pulls you toward the mirrored wall of the practice room. Your hands touch the cool glass and your eyes land on Yunho behind you, taking off his shirt. He looks you up and down, lust dripping from his face.

“Fuck,” he curses when his eyes fixate on your ass, where the bejeweled plug sits, telling him just how needy his girlfriend has been. Staring intensely, he pulls down your panties.

“Baby,” he says, “you’re dripping.” He moves closer, putting his lips near your ear as his finger dips between your legs, feeling the slick wetness.

You bite back a moan as your legs buckle under the sudden pleasure.

“How long have you been waiting for me,” he murmurs, kissing the shell of your ear, “how long have you had this thing filling you up, huh?” He takes the protruding end of the plug and moves it, tilting it from left to right.

You can’t possibly utter a response. His fingers are both exploring your folds and playing with the toy in your ass. It’s taking you every once of control not to cry out his name and start begging.

“Tell me, baby,” he repeats more sternly as he pulls at the plug slowly, letting it come out, inch by inch, “how long.”

“Yunho, please—” you whine out, wishing you had something to dig your nails into instead of the cool, sleek mirror before you.

“Too long,” you gasp out, feeling your hole contract around the tip of the toy.

Your eyes meet his for a brief moment and just then, he pushes the plug back inside of you, all the while slipping two fingers inside of your heat.

Yunho smiles as his fingers start pumping, slowly but deeply. “Please what?”

Your whole body feels like it’s on fire.

“Please, just—” you croak out.

“Use your words, baby,” he says, kissing down the new bruises on your neck as he pleasures you.

“Please just fuck me,” you let out at last, feeling your cheeks go livid hot from the confession.

But Yunho seems satisfied. He adds another finger to stretch you out.

“You want me to fuck you?” he says as he pulls down his sweatpants, “you want me to fill you up just like your ass is filled up so good right now?”

All you can do is nod and blush.

“You love taking it from both sides at once, don’t you?” he goes on. He removes his final piece of clothing, revealing he’s more than ready to fuck your brains out.

You get one glimpse at his throbbing erection before he gives you a push, bending you over. You hands slide down against the mirror. When you look up again, Yunho has removed his fingers from between your legs and is positioning himself behind you. The tip of his dick moves just beyond your folds, entering you only just. He looks massive from this angle, a thought that makes you clench.

Yunho hums darkly in return and places both hands on your hips.

“Ready, baby?” he asks.

He only needs the tiniest nod from you to push forward.

He knows not to go all the way at once. You need adjusting to his size.

Weak-legged, you whimper under him. He feels so damn good already. You watch him bite his lip as he fights to restrain himself.

“M— more—” you mutter, too impatient to care about the possible pain.

His eyes snap to yours and you can see the gratitude in them just before he pushes deeper and you throw your head back in pain and pleasure. He goes slowly, panting loudly as he does, until he finally bottoms out against your ass.

It’s as if you’ve never been this full, as if anything more would mean his dick was in your abdomen. There can’t possibly be anything more than—

He starts to move and you lose your damn mind.

“Yunho—” you start to whine in spurs as he thrusts into you. It’s so much so suddenly. Your legs feel so weak but your arms are keeping you up against the glass. When you finally manage to open your eyes again, you find Yunho’s handsome face contorted in pleasure. Beads of sweat are running down his temples now and with every thrust of his hips, he lets out a deep, little pant that makes you go wild. His hands have an iron grip on you but after a minute or so, he releases one to grab hold of your arm. You take one hand off the mirror and allow Yunho to pull the arm back; another way of him controlling you. You’re ready to give yourself over to him completely, let him do whatever he wants. That’s how he makes you feel.

“You’re so tight,” he groans as he looks down his torso, no doubt admiring the jewel that still peeks out of your behind.

You’ve become a dissonant melody of moans under him. You’ve gone numb with pleasure. All you want is more of him.

“Please—” There’s that word again. You can’t help yourself from spilling it over and over again when he’s pleasuring you.

Yunho smiles in understanding. It’s one smooth movement. He tugs at your arm so you’re up against his chest. Your eyes meet again, both pairs a mix of exhaustion and exhilaration.

“My baby needs all her holes filled, doesn’t she?” Yunho murmurs, never stopping his hips from grinding into you. He brings two of his large fingers to your lips, pressing softly. You immediately know to open your mouth to him so he can slip them inside. You taste yourself as they rest on your tongue. You moan around the digits and start suckling, relishing how they stifle your breath.

“There you go, baby,” he says darkly, “you’re all filled up.”

Tears begin to sting in your eyes from how overstimulated you’re becoming but there’s nothing you can do now. You can tell Yunho is starting to lose himself into the act as well. His thrusts get harder, faster and now, each time his pelvis hits against the butt plug, it shifts slightly inside of you, hitting just the right spot every single time.

You cry out loudly but he doesn’t care. On the contrary; he sticks his fingers deeper past your lips, nearly making you gag, while his dick slides in and out of you at rapid speed.

“Fuck,” he groans, dropping his head onto your shoulder as another row of slurs leave his lips.

“Yunho, I’m—” you manage to say before your cries become completely incoherent. You see only white as your G-spot is hit, over and over, sending you into a mind-blowing orgasm. It seems to last forever as Yunho never falters. He’s relentless, searching his own high.

With another deep groan his fingers leave your mouth and grab hold of your hips again. You’re only just in time to place your hands against the glass to keep yourself from falling over. His grip is so tight it hurts but that’s nothing compared to the feeling coursing through your system right now. It’s wave after wave of pure bliss, until over-stimulation takes hold of you.

“Babe,” Yunho moans and, just as you think you can’t handle another second, he shudders against you, reaching his own high. He rides it out while you whine at every move, unbelievably satisfied by your boyfriend.

When he finally lets go of your hips, you collapse onto the practice room floor, utterly spent.

Yunho runs over moments later with his trench coat, draping it over you.

“Such, a gentleman,” you smile as he lies down next to you.

“I know.” He grins proudly, wrapping himself around you. His hands travel over your naked form under the coat. He can’t help but stop at your butt, to play with the plug some more. He chuckles as he watches you squirm at the slightest touch.

“Hey, baby,” he says, kissing your shoulder blade.

You merely hum wearily in reply.

“Can we buy some more of these?”

[jae-canikeepyou]

| kismet | j.jh | part one

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

word count: 10k+ welps

summary: his parents sends him for a month long vacation to the country side to meet his other half, which so happens to be you. and alternatively, your beloveds asks of you to be in your best behaviour while he’s around. disliking how things turn out, you both come up with a pact with each other before your two families gathers together for christmas eve dinner.

genre: arranged marriage + bad 1st impressions

a/n: happy new year ✨ and you know what that means? *wink wink* new layout for my oneshots hihi! ok you guys this took soooooo long to write ;-; i wasn’t satisfied with the first draft so i had to reboot everything! and i mean everything!! :3 so i had this specific genre in mind for a long time and i’m glad that someone requested at the same time while i was in the progress of writing it~ i should’ve posted this on christmas day but i was spending time with my family :D hope you understand hihihi anyway i’ll stop this here so you can enjoy reading! ~j

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| part two | part three (final) |

jaehyun never reacted so quickly in his entire life, simultaneously spitting out the drink he consumed and eyes growing at the news his parents suddenly brought up. his neck ache at sudden twist. “what did you say?” he wiped the drips of coffee at the corners of his lips. his breathing intensified the more the silence passed.

mr. and mrs. jeong playfully sighed & exchanged looks as their son shouldn’t be this surprised regarding the topic. they have discussed about this when he turned eighteen. now twenty-three, he shouldn’t be so surprised or over-reactive about it either. 

“you heard your father,” mrs. jeong chewed her meal elegantly, yet giggles were still heard through closed lips. “you’re meeting her next week.”

he squinted with plenty of doubts filling his head, he was sure that there was still a year left. and to him that also meant he has exactly a year to convince his parents to call off the marriage he never asked for, let alone planned it. he still has a lot- correction, have yet to achieve in his mid-twenties and having a wife now would be slightly cutting his privacy short. 

in other words, the path to leisure he wished for after years of academics would divert to spending a life planned out for him. he had a diary and planner, and 

they were organised and well-thought out. but he had enough of his parents writing out his future for him, why couldn’t he write his own love story?

jaehyun was on his second last year of veterinary medicine, having some of the weight and pressure of academics lifted off his shoulders. of course he knew he still has to study, he just felt a little relaxed knowing that he would soon practice his dream career.

never had he expected that time flew and was going to meet his fiancé soon. 

his phone blinked with along with a message from his friends— mark and johnny. he briefly looked at the wallpaper of his long-time girlfriend of four years; she was the one who was on his mind. “nononono, i can’t get married now.” jaehyun’s panicking voice echoed the dining area, shoving the phone into his pockets.

mr. jeong raised a brow, placing his cup of coffee on the glass table. “relax, you’re not putting a ring on her finger yet.”

“‘yet’?!” the dimples on his face deepened as his cheeks bubbled. “mom, dad, i haven’t even met her!”

“hm? that’s why you’re spending the whole month at the countryside!” mrs. jeong exclaimed excitingly, and to jaehyun it seemed she was enjoying herself as if she were the one going there too.

“a month?! what am i going to do over there?!” 

“isn’t this great? we finally get to see you outdoors instead of a laptop and report papers! you need a break honey.” his mother clasped palms.

“ugh i can manage my time—”

“once you start working i’m pretty sure you won’t have the time to, jaehyun.”

since the love topic was brought up, his parents started to dig out their memories during their dating years. jaehyun groaned and massaged his temples, feeling uncomfortable with all the love stories he already heard or been told about. “did you forget that i have a girlfriend?” mumbling, he let out a deep, long sigh hoping they would hear him. and that failed miserably. his parents were in their own world. 

he shook his leg underneath the table and grew impatient with the duration of their conversation. “please, i’m begging you. i’ll get married in my own time and pace. sue and i are pretty much going to settle once we graduate-”

a certain ringtone perked his ears and his hands quickly pat his pockets to search his phone. he let out a sigh of relief, that his girlfriend psychologically read his mind and knew how much he wanted to get out of the dinner table, not to mention his parents’ overly attachment to one another. 

“sue you called! i was wondering if you want to hang out for a while.” his voice was high in spirits. but word has it when it reached its high, it would plummet to the ground shortly after. “hey, what’s wrong?” 

on the other line, just a call away from his girlfriend, was her held-in sob and whimper. “where are you right now? i’m coming to get you.”

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jaehyun’s limbs shook in anger and slammed his fists onto the stirring wheel so hard that this time he promised himself he would move on. last week, she didn’t just break up with him— that was a call for farewell, something kept well hidden from him and all this time he didn’t know she felt the way she did for the years they’ve spent together. 

for a minute he wished this was all a dream, that conscious world would wake his slumber mind. it wasn’t. the reality pretty much awoke him and kept him up all night. he blinked several times, her words still numbing his hearing, wishing it was a lie... but he heard her loud and clear that night. 

“...you’ll always have a place in my heart.. but i’m really sorry..”

he grew speechless though his heart had millions of questions. the windows of his lips sealed closed no matter how much he wanted them to be answered. opposite from where he was at, he stared at the porch of her house, waiting for a silhouette to appear before him. instead a luxurious car pulled over and an unfamiliar man took his coat off to wrap around sue. that action didn’t hurt jaehyun, but it was sue’s smile of comfort that triggered his pain more. seemed like she knew this man given that she let him into her house, like nothing heartbreaking happened before this. 

the door closed and jaehyun’s teary eyes never left her residence until loud slams of swinging car doors opened on both sides of the passenger’s seats. “tsk.” he hissed and quickly rubbed the tears meaning to fall. him being seen crying would really make him a target for his friends, for not moving on. couldn’t risk being the attention more than he already was.

“goodness mark it’s not like we’re on vacation that you have to pack almost everything,” johnny threw one of mark’s duffle bags at the boy, earning a so-what kind of look from him. “we’ll only bring jae to the y/l/n’s then leave afterwards—”

screw this, jaehyun thought. by now he shouldn’t look too swollen to his friends. but screw mark for renting and living across from his ex’s house. 

“save your explanation john.” jaehyun growled and started the engine, fastening his while seatbelt the two continued their bickers. more of it was mark’s shallowness that pissed johnny.

“yeah, save your explanation john- ow!” mark gave the tall lad a death-gazing glare at the pain that stayed on his skin.

johnny leaned forwards, tapping the dimpled boy on the shoulder. “dude, you changed your mind?”

jaehyun scoffed, resting his left arm onto the window’s edge as he drove. “mom said i should be accompanied. i didn’t want you both to come but she’s so insisting it’s getting into my nerves.” 

“actually mrs. jeong said you might need us after your sudden breakup,” mark pressed the button. the window rolled up and down whereas him and johnny exchanged looks to try to liven up the mood in the car. “what are friends for, hm?”

“o-oh yeah. you’ll need us.. as in.. ‘sue’pport.” he nodded with a fake sob. soon mark bursted out in giggles and joined the wagon. 

“‘cause you lost your ‘sue’weetheart.” “she’s making you ‘sue’per emotional.” “we were ‘sue’prised she dumped you.” “but as your brothers, we ‘sue’wear we’ll be here—”

“ugh! i don’t know why mom suggested you to come but your side comments really aren’t helping at all—” jaehyun rolled his eyes regretting instantly at the pain afterwards.

his friends found him hilarious. they were laughing so hard that jaehyun couldn’t continue or interrupt their exploding voices. “since when did you need help, mr. leave-me-alone?” johnny took a huge leap from his seat to be beside the offended boy. “for all i know you’re the type who wants everything perfect, in control and planned.”

“nah dude, right now..” mark zipped his bag. “he needs help with love issues.”

“this has nothing to do with my love! and for the record, about the y/f/n’s? it’s arranged!” he lowered his cap and slid back slightly against the seat while the car was on idle. “do i need to spell it out for you?”

“that can change dude,” johnny slurped on his giant soda takeaway. jaehyun battered his eyes but was careful enough to not leave his sight off of the road. “who knows this fiancé of yours could meet your expectations. maybe more than sue could ever do.”

jaehyun’s mind clouded and still had the effects from the breakup. still so fresh. he didn’t want to believe it in fact happened; that it was all true. he was sure sue was the one for him. hearing his pals say it word per word only had it finally sunk in— she dumped him.

it terrified him in ways he couldn’t imagine, haunted him countless of nights because he failed her. he even bragged to his parents that he would marry her and slip a ring on her finger. thinking about it, how stupid was he to hold onto that hope?

he looked like an idiot, felt like one and his friends probably viewed the same. they said his fiancé could outstand sue? she was the perfect package! what more could he get?

he had her.

honks of the vehicles behind led jaehyun’s eyes trailing to the stoplight that emitted green. he pulled over and johnny knew he had to take his place. 

“here, let me drive. you’re not fit for driving. now, just be comfy back there, okay?”

—

hours later violent jolts of the car hit jaehyun’s cheek, regaining consciousness from his slumber just to witness the beautiful sunrise peeking from the horizon. he sat up, his posture trying to straighten to denumb nerves that held long during his sleep.

his playlist blasted the speakers. johnny had his legs on the dashboard and hummed with the music. mark was still sleeping peacefully like he hadn’t had a care in the world other than his precious bag of unfinished chips in his hands. 

he groaned at the discomfort of pulled muscles and the sudden break to the countryside. if johnny needed an hour intervals for the drive he could’ve said so, right? but now they were at the open road, greenery and fields merging together in one land. 

“what time is it? where are we and are we there yet? i’ll drive if what you do delays the journey.” jaehyun gestured him to move aside. “johnny, stop eating.” it was quarter to two.

“wha-? i’m hungry. hey, you’re the one who didn’t want to come and yet you’re rushing to get to the y/l/n’s?” johnny unwrapped his second burrito. “besides, we’re only five minutes away—”

“tsk ‘cause i need to piss real bad.” jaehyun was fidgety and panned the view before setting eyes on his friend. 

johnny felt a churn in his stomach as his cheeks bubbled. “oh gross! i’m eating dude! if you’re gonna piss then do it outside?!”

jaehyun shoved the burrito into johnny’s mouth to not speak anymore. “rather hold it in than for you to puke in my car!” he held his strength while johnny fought his way to breathe properly. “i won’t piss outside and there are cattles who feed on fields!”

“bruh stop lecturing me with your vet knowledge- ah!” johnny held his forehead from the sudden finger flicking.

“dude, it’s called common sense. now move aside!” he shooed the tall boy off the driver’s seat. jaehyun stepped on the gas, heading towards a small town entrance.

they finally reached a couple of stores & restaurants, surveying and asking its townsmen using your family name to locate your residence. maybe they would know which apartment or house you resided in. except that was the twist of their understanding. 

jaehyun and his boys were shocked to know how your family name plastered in posters and brand products displayed at open stores, but were more shocked to see the gazes from the people. 

a little over an hour, they managed to get hold of more information as they were told your house was ten minutes away from the town. jaehyun walked along the pavement to grab something to drink, only to be poked by a young man who was around the same age as they were.  

“hi.” he greeted the unfamiliar man. “i take it you’re looking for the y/l/n’s?”

he took a squint as he observed jaehyun from head to toe, circling around him. “uh-huh, you look like m’lady’s husband-to-be in the pictures.”

“e-excuse me?” jaehyun cleared his throat, seemingly unwilling to have this conversation going.

mark held his laugh per usual, it would take time to get used to jaehyun stumbling his words. 

because the engaged man really wasn’t ready at all. 

“yeap he’s the guy.” johnny popped the ‘p’ with a lollipop in his mouth. jaehyun rolled his eyes, taking the candy stick and tossing it away. he didn’t care about johnny’s scoffs.

the new young lad wore his motorcycle helmet. “sweet.” he prolonged the word. and that was when both mark and johnny lost it. they recalled the pun they entertain themselves with prior to arriving here.

“oh, i work with the town’s famous family,” he showed his i.d. wrapped around his neck. “you can follow me since i’m heading there too.” the three quickly twitched at his quick paced movement. “i’m kunhang by the way, but i’d rather be called hendery. it’s my professional name, it just sounds cooler.”

jaehyun furrowed his brows at the praise. “okay hendery, uhm famous? they’re big time?” he pointed at the posters holding your family name. “how so?”

hendery swung his face shield downwards. “you’ll see.”

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gallops of horses were drumming the entire farm. dust and dirt swirled with the wind in the air and it took a while for the boys to adjust their sights at the distance. hendery dropped a couple of spare boots for them to wear. jaehyun was in awe. horses were majestic animals and though he got to study them, he never seen such a number of them on the fields.

“oh goodness me our guest is here!”

they turned around to voice of a jolly lady, an apron on and folded cuffs from her clothing. “hello there! welcome! you must be jaehyun! my soon to be son-in-law!” she shook his hands and later pulled him for a hug. “oh you look just like your mother!”

“hi mrs. y/l/n. y-yeah, i get that a lot these days,” jaehyun scratched his head. “thanks for having us.” 

her eyes trailed at mark and johnny, and they too, were pulled in for a hug. “i see jaehyun brought along his handsome friends with him! do enjoy your stay here with us!” she caught a glimpse of a figure approaching the crowd. “c’mere baby and meet the boys!”

jaehyun looked over his shoulder, lips parting and exhaled a short breath. she seemed young, she has a pretty face but obviously still in high school. what the? oh g- i’m marrying you?

“pfft no ew. i’m not getting married to you. i’m only 17.” she let out a chuckle, almost sarcastic enough for jaehyun to explode.

crap i said it unconsciously.

your mother lightly slapped her arm. “marg, where’s your sister?” she asked. “i told her to specifically come at the barn 1600.”

“she took jet for a ride. ‘detour’ she said, but i guess she’s on her way here.” she replied and mark choked on his water bottle. marg rolled her eyes. “green minded ass-”

“language marg!” hendery flicked her forehead, the latter held the pain. “the rudeness. sorry, kiddo here is the family’s baby. you’ll see the eldest daughter soon- oh! right on time m’lady!” he waved his hands up high.

jaehyun didn’t know what pissed him off more; one was at himself for being starstruck and in awe at you after his breakup, and two? 

the beautiful black horse you were riding on didn’t seem to be halting. it was trotting at first. you were on its saddle. he squinted his eyes, were you smirking? unbelievable. he thought you were doing this on purpose. no, you were really going to run him over. 

he noticed a change in speed, trotting then galloping on dirt. the sounds of it matched with the beatings of his rising heart. jaehyun took a step back, then it became more than one, until he was worried that he would end up being chased. there were couple of gasps and reminders of voices. he fell on his bum with palms hitting the ground as he breathed heavily, eyes still on you.

the horse listened to your rein, it let out a loud neigh with its front legs heavenwards. your laugh merged with it. “whoa- hey, easy jet, easy.” you cooed the animal, soon removing your helmet and hair flowed like those in shampoo commercials. “i think he got the message.”

jaehyun sat there dumbfounded, his brows drew together. what message? you were centimetres from killing him- wait. he saw you turn cold and your smile disappearing.

bingo! he got it. he knew the reason why you did this. 

you were against the arranged marriage too.

johnny leaned into mark’s ear, who had his hands cupping his lower face. “bro, jet’s a horse so stop giggling and clean your mind.” 

“dude i’m not laughing at that. just look at jae. i’ve never seen him so helpless.” he cackled a laugh. 

once your feet were on the ground, he finally got a better look on you. you were wearing a light wooled grey sweater with denim blue jeans. your hair now on one side and boots stained with dried mud. you took off your gloves to put your hand out for a handshake, one rested around your helmet. “hi, i’m y/n.” you greeted with a smile, ensuring it was fake enough for jaehyun to notice. 

“quite of an entrance.” jaehyun dusted his jeans and groaned at the exerted strength as he stood. “jeong jaehyun. veterinary medicine student..” he was about to grab your hand until you shoved yours into the pockets of your jeans. 

“y/n!” your mom exclaimed with warning. “your manners-” she clamped her lips when you put up a hand, eyes darting at her later at him.

“alright, okay. look mr. i didn’t ask for your field of study and i don’t need to know or do anything with you.”

jaehyun crossed his arms, a fake smile plastered on his face. what an attitude. “apparently you will? because i’m here for the next thirty days.”

“is that so?” you hummed and jaehyun didn’t like how you singsonged.

he knew something was coming and sometimes he thought it was best to keep quiet instead of letting his annoyance towards you spark up. “good, that means you’re helping me out with everything i do here.” he heard you say. “and do things i tell you to.”

“what?” his eyebrows snapped, and for you it was quite entertaining to see this reaction from him. following the trail of your footsteps, jaehyun stomped on wet soil as he stood before you. “hey you can’t just order me around like i’m your staff!”

“of course i can, you’re in my property-” you gestured the land.

“no, it belongs to your parents.” the tone of his voice irked you. he was grinning too.

“i can do whatever i want and choose whenever to help. i’ll only listen orders from mr. and mrs. y/l/n if they want me to do work..” he trailed off, your mother waving at him with admiration— typical as she saw him like an long lost son. “..but i guess not. my mom did say i needed a break from studying too much and she’s totally right. i must be pardoned from labour.”

it was your turn to cross arms and give him a lop-sided smile. the audacity of this man. you felt like ripping all your hair out. “you think staying here would prevent you from doing labour, your highness? sitting on your throne all dignified and at peace? well guess what, just because you’re a guest that doesn’t mean you get to be treated differently-”

you heard him bubble out a forced snicker. what was it this time? “of course it’s different! i am the guy you’re betrothed to-”

“i won’t allow it.” your jaw tightened with lips in a hard line. “a person like you is not worth my time and definitely not someone i’d want to marry.”

he pursed his lips. “wow do people ever tell you how bad of a host you are? you just don’t go shoving assumptions into people’s faces for your own entertainment. we’re humans.”

“i’m only rude to you. and yeah, people are humans. but you’re the devil’s incarnate.” you pulled jet’s reins and led him to the stables in which jaehyun observed how you gave that same smirk from earlier. “see if you’ll enjoy your stay here, hubby.” 

jaehyun clenched his fists and was sure little crescent moons already indented his palms. he only wanted sue to call him that. yet that was useless, they broke up. your face remained in his head and anger filled him up, now boiling so much that he felt a little lightheaded arguing with someone like you. 

he wanted to yell but johnny and mark sandwiched him between them with hendery walking in front. “tsk it’s only the first day and i want to go home.” he scrunched his nose. 

hendery had his palms behind his head, lips jutting to hold his grin. “m’lady—” he corrected himself. “y/n’s not usually like that. it’s a first seeing her so cranky and hotheaded.”

“really? how is she usually like?” mark asked with curiosity. “she seems cool because she smiled at johnny and me before the tables.. y’know, turned.” he shrugged with implications towards jaehyun.

“not cranky and not hotheaded.” hendery opened the door to your house, showing them to the large living area. “a lil’ different today but i tell you, our y/n is a professional equestrian. she’s passionate with what she does and—”

“a horse rider?! passionate?!” jaehyun hissed as he took off his shoes and brown coat, kicking it slightly to the side and hung it on the wall respectively. “she almost killed me!”

johnny hit the back of jaehyun’s head and clicked his tongue. “snap out of it jae, you’re overreacting. we’re at your future in-law’s residence and i think it’s a bad idea to badmouth their daughter.” 

only a low groan escaped out of jaehyun as he refused to listen. “look, first impressions don’t always hit off a good start. but thinking how you both don’t have a say to this arranged marriage, your feelings towards each other are totally understandable.”

jaehyun pressed the bridge of his nose as he took in his friend’s words. if what johnny said was true, was it right for him to begin holding grudge on you on the first day? you barely knew each other. clearly he knew you hated him, yet if his parents were here and saw the whole thing, they’d ask: why risk the chance of not trying? and again, he remembered he was told, people can change. 

—

throughout dinner, he got to know what your family business was and why it was well-known. he didn’t ask questions, they were just told to him like they were comfortable with it. they weren’t bragging either. perhaps it was due to the fact jaehyun would soon be part of this family that they told him the entire story. 

you didn’t show up during the hour and honestly it got jaehyun feeling so much relief since he wouldn’t have to deal with another useless argument. he disliked wasting time and preferred to do this schedule accordingly, so remembering it only made him rage inside. he was glad he wouldn’t have to deal with you tonight. 

except that relief was shortlived. you had to appear right when he thought of you.

great.

he tried to fix himself in his seat on the sofa by the fireplace, averting his gaze upon you while your mother continuously slapped you light on the arms. you probably finished your bath, given that you still have a towel wrapped around your head and a.. robe.

“y/n! have some courtesy! we have guests!” your mother warned as she gestured in front to cover you, apologising to the new boys. hendery immediately stepped in as well, his eyes shutting to a close and pushing you back to the bottom of the staircase. 

“but mom! i’m hungry and there might not have any cookies left if you keep giving it to them-” you were cut off with hendery’s pats.

he brushed his hair. sighing, he had to shoo you away because you were clearly attracting eyes, definitely not the decent kind. “i have a jar prepared for you m’lady so please.. get dressed!”

you quickly ran up as you were told, mumbling and complaining. jaehyun and his friends were definitely at a loss for words. because not only were you careless, you were oblivious too. 

mark scrunched his nose to start a conversation with jaehyun. “looks like she called you ‘hubby’ too quickly.” he closed his lips to contain his laugh. 

“pfft jae your ears really are honest huh?” johnny pointed at them as he held his chest, fistbumping mark for another win. 

he wasn’t going to tell them that he in fact did find you pretty, and the thing was, he shouldn’t be giving a reaction too soon. “it’s the spicy chocolate cookie!” jaehyun defended.

“huh, i didn’t bake any cookie with those flavour-” hendery pondered, but he stopped since he spotted jaehyun begging to help him here.

“you know that we know if you’re lying right?” the two squinted eyes, putting more pressure to the boy to admit what he felt when he saw you earlier. “bet ya felt something.”

afraid that your family could hear them, jaehyun grabbed their shoulders to huddle them in close. he cleared his throat to catch their attention, yet his friends continued their giggles. “i swear if you both embarrass me in front of the y/f/n’s, consider the days with your precious.. phones.”

“ah c’mon dude. don’t do that. we bought our i12’s together-” mark whined.

“then at least help me out here guys. i have a reputation to hold-” 

“oh for being her hubby?” johnny gave a playful grin and soon was replaced with a nervous smile. “okay i’ll zip it.”

he heard your mother facetiming his mom, voices loud enough for him to know that there would be a huge gathering at christmas eve dinner. great, another one i have to deal with.

jaehyun put down his beanie and crossed his arms to snooze for a bit. he had too much going on in his head the whole day that maybe sleeping it off would let him calm down from all feelings he felt tonight. on the sofa, the weight beside him lowered, the scent of freshly baked cookies along with lavender perfume got him peeking under his beanie. 

it was you, who looked like a squirrel happily munching away with your jar of cookies whilst eyes glued to the television.

he smiled a little to himself. so you can have this cute side-

fragments of sue’s face appeared in his mind. right. he was supposed to be heartbroken. he still was. a week into the breakup had remains to his heart. bothered with sue’s ultimatum and your annoying munches, he grabbed your wrists and out at the veranda.

it pissed him because it seemed like he was the only one who cared about both of your futures or actually would do something to change your families’ minds, where as you were carefree with your cookies. “hey!” you held the jar tight in your arms as you quickly slid your feet into your slippers. “rude! i’m eating!”

the rest of the people in the dining and kitchen area grew voices of woohoo’s, jaehyun’s pupils flared at their cheers. “just come with me for a second!” he hissed, turning the knob and closing the door.

“seriously jaehyun you can’t just ruin my happy time! what do you want-”

he looked in between the curtains from the outside, where he could faintly hear his friends talking the embarrassing things about him— especially how he felt for this arrange marriage. “aren’t you pressured or angry at the situation our parents have put us into?” he leaned against a column. “even my friends are joining the wagon.”

you cackled whilst scrolling your phone. “here i thought you only cared about animals, dr. jeong.” hearing how jaehyun scoffed at your comment, you shoved your device in your pockets. “and yes of course i’m mad! what they decided is so against my will.”

jaehyun stared at you and surprised that he actually felt exactly the same. “really? then let’s make a pact. sounds good?” he offered with arms folded while you still were occupied with your phone. “well?”

“why would i listen to you? as far as i know, we already clashed and hate each other.” you rolled your eyes. “what makes you think i’ll agree?”

he sighed. “y/n, i know you don’t want this, i don’t too. at least there’s something we have in common. i’m just thinking that we have to show them we’re not meant to be together. we both have lives we want to live without the other.”

there was a change in his voice. you could tell he was serious and trying to suggest something he’d want you to agree on. “fine, what’s the pact?” you gave an uninterested tone. probably a bad idea, you thought.

“like you said, ‘clash and hate each other’. we have exactly twenty four days to convince them that you, me, us?” he pointed at his chest then yours. “is impossible. twenty four days, it’s until the night of christmas eve.”

actually that’s not bad at all. “hm, that’s easy since i can’t stand you.” you said, now standing up to face him. “even better if we can do this in less than 24.”

“cool, we have to make our fights as natural as possible. no signals or heads-up. full-on make me angry and i’ll do the same. the more we argue the more they’ll believe there’ll never be an ‘us’.” his voice a bit lively than before. “i want my buds to be fooled into this too. just be realistic and- nghf!”

you shoved a huge cookie into his mouth. “tsk, you’re noisy. i get you so shut up. i agreed with the pact, but i have conditions, okay?”

jaehyun nodded as he chewed angrily with his eyes closed, though the cookies’ taste might’ve simmered down his temper towards you. “ha, then i have conditions too-”

“see you in the morning.” he heard you say as the door slammed with the attached bell ringing his ears. 

now that was one of his conditions; no interrupting while he talks. he sighed seeing you head up the stairs. he sighed. “ugh, i can never marry a girl like her.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

stretching as high as you can, the muscles loosened in every part of your body from riding yesterday. the sun shone its brightest despite the cold weather. you remembered the pact and you knew you would not let a day pass without bothering him. somehow his existence annoyed you to the bone, not even words were enough to explain how you felt. 

at the farthest point your peripheral could reach, you spotted jaehyun peacefully— and actually enjoying— the hammock whilst faintly you heard mark and johnny debating which pronunciation was the correct one. fixing your boots as you walked towards them, the two scurried off to the side, noticing the stomps of your feet getting closer. 

“get up.” you wriggled the hammock, causing it to be lop-sided. 

jaehyun managed to balance himself from the swings. “what the-” his voice hitched. “you’re ruining my relax time!”

you pretended to ponder as you looked up to the sky. “hm, sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?” referring to his sudden action towards you the night prior.

“seriously y/n what do you want? i’m in no mood to do work today and i clearly told you last night-” jaehyun fixed his eyes onto your finger that silenced his lips.

jaehyun raised a brow and rolled his eyes. what was your deal? he thought. “condition number one.” you started, bringing your voice down. “starting today you’ll do the work for me and with me. considering you’re taking veterinary science, i’m guessing you know your ways through equine husbandry. so in the coming days you can check the horses’ health while i practice my rounds.”

ah, so that’s what this was about. “uh-huh, but my condition number one is you shouldn’t make me do labour unless you really need it.” jaehyun got off the hammock, chugging his glass of water like it’s one-shot. “it’s the first light, y/n. my service starts in the afternoon.”

“i see. you’re not a morning person.” you checked your nails.

“i so am! but it’s my month long vacation. let me enjoy this before i experience exploitation from you.” he forced a smile that made you want to push him off the veranda.

you walked down the steps and straight to the barn opposite from your house. “it’s either exploitation today or exploitation for the whole month.” you singsonged while you twirled in your stance. hearing him growl meant your tactic worked. “i’ll let you experience the beauty of country side, city boy.”

jaehyun’s brows narrowed as he followed you anyway, later looking back at his friends who were stifling a laugh. “did you just compare me to feces first thing in the morning?”

“did you just boggle up my brain with scientific terms?” you hid a giggle when you heard his friends finally bursting out and losing it. because they too, experienced jaehyun’s sudden blabber of uncommon usage of words, especially conversational-wise. “i made a pun but it seems like you acknowledge the nickname.”

“i did not!” jaehyun pressed his temples. “i may have misheard you but i didn’t acknowledge it! you’re too assuming!”

“mhm sure.. but you are stepping on one though.” you whistled and gestured mark and johnny to the stables.

jaehyun grumbled as he checked the soles of his shoes. indeed he stepped on it and licked his lips in annoyance that it’d be hard to clean it off. the door opened and hendery’s morning face only turned sour at the unsightly view. he tossed another pair of spare boots for him to wear before they both headed to where you all were. 

hendery introduced the things they do here; feed the horses, fix their saddles  repair them if damaged. they were minor things since your family did hire people to do them. and since you and him were professionals in equine sports, he mentioned you both spend all days practicing. 

good, if it was you who toured him around the area, he wouldn’t think lasting a day with your intentions of ruining his mood. though it was part of the pact, it seemed like you enjoyed this a lot more than he expected. hendery brought him to places your family owned, land properties that expanded until the mountains. it’s no wonder you were free to roam around and unafraid of getting lost. 

you made him do a lot. and he was glad he was able to handle, thank heavens. however he didn’t feel much of a challenge from any of them, where you claimed they were ones he couldn’t do. jaehyun lost track of time, the sky was his only companion to tell the hours and probably lost count of the tasks too. all he could remember was the endless bickering, yells and frequent eye rolls. 

in all those, he still let you off the hook— first day of work and all, he has to be patient. and he wasn’t bothered with what you tasked him to do, until his friends stood behind you as you showed them the rest of the horses. 

after you told him to move the bundles of hay he thought was the last, you were currently trying to make mark pet the horses as they were bobbing their heads towards the young man while johnny recorded his reaction. 

“isn’t she all well now.” jaehyun rolled his eyes as he helped hendery lift the infinite bundles. “my friends get the leisure and i have to work?”

hendery laughed as he unbuttoned his collar. “she was told by her mom that you’ll be in her care since you both will get married eventually. plus mrs. y/f/n said it’s a way to get to know y/n too.” he explained, seeing you walk towards them with a hay cart, hands signalling your childhood friend to get some bundles from you. the final bundles were finally fed to the horses, and you skipped your feet to fetch jaehyun.

jaehyun knew you had intentions to make fun of him because the way you walked really pissed him off. so he decided to have his fun too. ”are you that weak you’re unable to carry a small patch? guess my hourly pay needs an increase.” he low-key flexed his muscles. truthfully speaking it was a sight to look at, too bad his attitude didn’t match it.

you rested on one leg while you look at him. he was testing the waters with you, smile slowly resurfacing as you gave even the slightest reaction towards him. oh it’s on. he annoyed you yesterday and would be a lot more in the next coming days. jaehyun leaned forwards that he was towering over you. his body made you feel small but that didn’t stop you from getting back at him.

“the only thing increasing for you is workload.” you hummed, putting back the cart into its place.

he glared at you as if you were dead meat. you ignored him. “i’ve had enough for today. muscles are sore.” hands in his pockets, jaehyun kicked the remains of hay off his shoes before he was stopped by you. “ugh you’re so annoying.” he clicked his tongue. 

“nope, you’re not done until i am. we have to find materials for christmas wreaths at my grandpa’s up north.” you pointed at the mountains as you took hendery’s hands and soon mounted on jet with him.

“oh and i’m supposed to walk there while you’re so relaxed miss bossy?” jaehyun shook his head in disbelief looking at the distance.

“uh yes?” you laughed to yourself. “i don’t think you’ve ever ridden a horse before, but if ever you did, it’s probably at a carnival.”

sudden outbursts of emotions evident on his face now. “was i born under a rock? of course i’ve ridden!” he took the reins given to him by hendery. “and it’s not a carousel!”

for a while he had a certain confidence, his soles stepping on the stirrup and dimples deepening with the strength he gave to put his right leg over. but once that was done and high up off the ground, his heart beat an army per second. cash, hendery’s horse gave loud neigh. jaehyun had done this before as a child and definitely felt like one now. he should be able to handle a 30-minute journey.

jaehyun heard you giggling, perhaps he knew how hideous he looked. despite hendery seated behind you, you led the way for the most part of the ride. you were surprised to see jaehyun have gotten the hang of it. it pissed you a lot because he was vlogging with his phone— sputtering out words to keep the diss battle going. johnny and mark hopped on the available bikes, cycling on your sides, and their laughter rather calmed you than annoy you. 

it pissed you a lot more because you’ve practically ran out of ideas to tell him in return. keeping quiet wasn’t your forte, you were a young woman with plenty of things to say, even more so to jaehyun. going through the woods, you signalled hendery to halt the horse for you and the rest of the boys followed you to gather the materials needed. 

“this shouldn’t be too long to take.” jaehyun looked at the trees towering meters above him, then straight to you who was shaking head in disbelief. “we’re just taking the materials at your grandfather’s and head back, right?”

“did i mention my granddad?” you balanced yourself on large wood log. the tone of your voice started to warm up with bickers you weren’t able to tell him. 

“you did!” jaehyun anticipated this and somehow he didn’t. “now lead the way to his place and we can get the hell out of here.” his eyes grew squints of disgust at his surroundings, as if he hadn’t been into the forest before. his friends went on ahead with hendery around the woods to look for what’s needed.

“nah, we’re picking acorns, pine cones, berries and other leaves by hand. his cottage is just around here but that doesn’t mean the materials are from him. let’s go, whiney.” 

“oh my g-” jaehyun pulled you on the arm and off you went towards him. “y/n i’ve had enough for today and i’m so tired of taking your orders- i’m physically tired of doing things your way and i can’t think straight-”

“pecans?” you said as his eyes crossed to see your palms full of the shelled nuts. “you’re hungry, aren’t you? that’s why you’re so cranky and agitate-y.” placing one but onto a flat rock, you smashed it strong enough for it to crack yet not totally destroying the inside. you popped one into your mouth and gave the most taunting grin jaehyun has seen from you all day. 

he was about to grab the rest of the nuts until you swung your arm that he wasn’t able to reach them. “y/n! give me some!” he yelled and the rest of your friends look at you both after hearing you laugh in the most evil manner.

“never!” you scurried off deeper into the woods. jaehyun rolled his eyes not at how fast you were, but due to how slow he actually was because of the amount of disgust he had.

he knew this would take all day and he didn’t know how long his patience can take for another three weeks with you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

jaehyun couldn’t describe in words with what he experienced since arriving. if he had to compare with school, it was similar to studying and cramming for hours non-stop. it gotten him mentally exhausted, physically too. but the only difference between being cooping up in his room and doing work outdoors was the continuous nagging from you. 

it was far from quiet. he could handle his mom’s high pitched yells. but you? anything that came from you or done by you made him want to plaster a duck tape on your lips. you were as annoying as a five year old child who looked for someone vulnerable to bully. unfortunately he became your prey because he was in your lands. and though there were times he was able to banter back, he always felt you still had the upper hand.

it was all sunny and good days out in the countryside and jaehyun found that fact the only bright side. he enjoyed it every single morning. yet sometimes good sunny mornings meets its bad, that is, when grey clouds destroyed the beauty of the sky. in this case, it was you. you were far from his dream girl— sue. she was elegant, poised and had a heart of gold. you were the complete opposite who’d rather be rogue and do things your way. other than completing ten christmas wreaths and feeding the horses or more farm work, he couldn’t remember what he did for the past eight days because all that entered his mind was the dictator you. 

but today he felt different, maybe things wouldn’t be as hard than last week. he felt good. he sat at the long dining table with all morning faces exposed. it was currently 7 a.m and your mom have already prepared breakfast. and per usual, you were the only one they waited for before they start the first meal. 

“marg, is your sister still asleep?” your mother put down a large casserole to warm up everyone’s stomach in winter. 

marg only shrugged because for one, she didn’t care, and two, she stated that it wouldn’t be her doing this since jaehyun was marrying you. “oh jaehyun. please do head upstairs to her room and awake y/n up.”

“and why do i have to do this?” jaehyun mumbled to himself and johnny nudged him on the arm. he groaned and got up, his stomps were heavy and unwilling. 

once he was in front of your door, he knocked twice loudly so he wouldn’t have to spend so much time to get you. there was a small tune playing in your room, like it was from a music box. the door was already opened. he peeped through the thin gap, seeing you still sleeping soundly. goodness’ sake, he thought, and entered the room since your mother was asking if he woken you up. 

your room was in fact, neat. all things were organised and arranged. if there was one thing he learned from you other than being an ass, was that you loved stuffed animals. not a hint of dolls or barbies or any toy displayed related to that spectrum. two lines of medals displayed and they all shone in gold. plaques had your names and young portraits of you with smiles of victory. hendery wasn’t lying when he said you were a professional. he wasn’t going to lie— you were impressive despite the little horns coming out of your head.

he stood next to your bed where you were all bundled in a huge blanket. he raised a brow, it was strange for you to have two thick blankets covering you. “hey y/n.”

no response. 

“y/n. wake up, your mom is calling for breakfast and you’re usually the first one seated at the table.” he wriggled your body with the butt of the umbrella and you didn’t budge.

“she baked croissants and aren’t they your favourite? dipped in chocolate ganache and sprinkles?” he tried sounding happy. note that, he tried.

this girl.. he bit the insides of his lips, spotting the markers in a cylinder container and took one to begin drawing on your face. his soft giggles filled your room and the strong scent of markers met your nostrils, waking you from your slumber. 

“what the he- jaehyun?!” you hissed at how close his face was to yours, failed to realising he was done drawing on your morning skin. “get away from me!”

everyone downstairs could hear the both of you, arguing like cats and dogs. each footstep might’ve covered the entire floor above them and the ceiling could give in. 

“you ruined my morning with your ugly face!” “what?! you’re more ugly, ugly!” “you entered my room?! you have no rights!” “breakfast’s ready and your mom asked me to!” “well my nose could’ve smelled mom’s food but i smelled your stinky breath instead!”

“whatever, i finished your share of croissants!” jaehyun quickly head down the staircase.

“you dare eat my food?!” you still had a blanket from head to toe as you followed him down. “no one takes my food!”

“your loss since you’re still in bed you lazy ass!” jaehyun sat beside johnny and continued his meal. “and you were snoring loud too-”

“i did not- agh!” you grumpily sat and immediately eyed the last croissant sitting at the center of the table. all eyes were on you with black ink scribbled on your face. 

there was an awkward silence then you felt jaehyun’s stare at the only food you wanted for breakfast. there was a back and forth battle of stares between you, him and the food. maybe it was the slow reflexes you have in mornings that jaehyun took the bread before you did. he stuck out a tongue as he deliciously ate half of it, chewing slowly just to let you imagine the flavours of sweet silky chocolate. you could feel yourself drooling and the cravings of your stomach rising up to your throat. every chew he did was a stab to your guilty-pleasure heart. 

jaehyun stopped and gave a smug grin. “you wanted this y/n?” his question sounding a song rather than an honest one. “all you have to do is beg.”

you gulped, rolling your eyes. “shut up!” you kicked his knee out of jealousy and savoured the soup instead. 

“ow!” he hissed through a laugh and looked at your mom. “mrs. y/f/n, i’d like to know the recipe for this. do you give lessons?” jaehyun licked the remains of chocolate around his lips, hopefully it was enough to cover up the violence you did under the table.

your mother giggled at his sweet talk. “why learn it from me when you have y/n to teach you?”

you choked on your soup and tear your gaze away from jaehyun to your mother, where she was already enjoying your shocked reaction. “oh give me a private lesson, bulldog terrier.” he propped his chin and mimicked clicks as if he was calling animal.

you quickly touched and rubbed your face to see the ink contaminate your fingers. the spoon reflected the dark circle around your right eye. “oh my g- you! this will be hard to remove!” the fork around your hand pointed directly at him. 

“y/n!” hendery put down your wrists as jaehyun laughed loud. you took the wet wipes marg gave you and whined a little whilst you stood by the mirror behind jaehyun.

“don’t be so bummed out honey.” your mom assured, giving a wink to jaehyun. “it’s a small prank. marg did it to you before.”

checking yourself for the last time at the mirror, you rolled your eyes. “i have enough patience for marg,” with one hand you cupped jaehyun’s lower face from the chin spreading to the cheeks, soon pinching hard on his dimples with a pointer finger and thumb. “but none for the human bread.”

“ow don’t touch me!” jaehyun swifted his head to look at you and he saw you flashed a smile like you were satisfied. 

“a human bread with molds. ew, i lost appetite so i’ll be out for a ride.” you stood up to grab your coat. “see ya ugly.”

“remember to you have to clean the barn house y/n!” your mom called out.

“yeah got that!”

johnny and mark bent their heads down and let their friends suffer from multiple dots on his faces. what made it funnier was that jaehyun munched happily on his meal, hadn’t gotten a single clue. he then eyed you when you passed the window and straight to the stables. “isn’t it too early for practice?” he drank his cup of hot chocolate. 

“she can ride all day. sometimes she doesn’t arrive home and the next morning you see her sleeping in the barn house.” marg tied her hair into a high bun. “the amount of dedication is there, except the passion she used to have isn’t really there anymore- hey!” she glared at hendery who gave her a warning look. 

what was that all about? jaehyun thought while his eyebrows met together and good thing it wasn’t obvious to your family. he was indeed curious, but he’d rather hear it from you than to look like a jerk who wanted to gossip about personal lives. the thing was, it’s you. though majority of the week was him suffering with workload, he liked to bicker with you until you gave up and had nothing to say. 

so far he recorded as 5-11 in terms of owning the other. the latter was his score and he was proud of it.

hendery’s phone vibrated and slid it to jaehyun’s place. jaehyun blinked to adjust his sight to the brightness of the phone. a sigh came out of his lips and the rest of them could tell it was another order from you. “ooh that doesn’t sound good.” mark slurped his soup. 

“it’s not.” jaehyun brushed his hair and hesitation slowly crept his body. “she asked me to clean the upper floor of the barn by the time she arrives.”

—

jaehyun massaged his wrists by twisting them. he looked at the barn house’ entrance because he noticed a figure approaching. you’ve had the best morning after jaehyun ruined it. as you rode, nothing beats the freshness of the cool wind. you love riding through the woods and grasslands. it sets you free from everything keeping you caged. your smile began to falter when you saw jaehyun who was not even halfway close to finishing. “you’re late. your mom had to apologise on your behalf because i’m doing the job for you.”

“ooh thanks! i’ll count on it!” you laid comfortably on a chair.

“hey!”

you leaned against the furniture, arms crossed where he was a floor above and standing at your 2 o’clock view. “dr. jeong it looks like you’re having a hard time. need help?” you stifled a laugh because he still has the ink marks you left on his face.

“on with the assumptions again, aren’t we?” he fixed his gloves and moved wooden planks from one place to another. 

“yeah you make yourself too easy of a target, jaehyun. and i thought you’re the type to not take things seriously.” you tied jet’s reins to a pole.

“you’re forgetting my condition number two, you can only badmouth me if the others are around. now get your flat butt up here and move the tool box aside so i can continue what i’m doing.” he grunted whilst lifting. 

dusting your pants, you were now standing a storey high. the sight of the height below you made you sick. jaehyun nudged your arm and you took the items blocking his way. you sighed and he noticed how fidgety you were. he put up a small smile. his entertainment from you didn’t end at the breakfast table. 

he scooted closer to you, pretending to bump into you with the pile of tall wooden planks in his arms. he heard you hiss, and that was the signal to begin. “oops didn’t see you there shorty.” there was a change in his voice, a more aggressive type of approach. 

“you’re doing that on purpose.” you checked the pained area of your forearm.

“what if i’m not? it could be an honest mistake.” he tilted his head away from the wood to see you.

a held-in soft disbelief laugh came out of your lips. “honesty doesn’t really blend in well with you.” 

jaehyun gasped with arched brows. “wow i’m very offended— you think this face..” he largely gestured himself. “would ever lie?”

“if you want to hear me saying you’re handsome.. it’s not happening.“ you took the rope to hang on a nail. 

“but you did say it.” he singsonged and you could push him off the loft but that could only happen in your head. 

“then that’s an honest mistake.” you flashed a forced smile at him. you carried the boxes stacked upon one another. “if you have a huge ego like that i bet you never dated. no girl would ever date you.” 

jaehyun fell silent, his mood to bash you suddenly changed. the shifts in his steps became heavier and as if he was putting his anger upon them. he didn’t like being reminded of sue, even if you unconsciously did so. “can’t you just keep quiet as you work? do you always have something to say? keep your damn mouth shut if you think all the fun you get is from belittling people.”

“okay sheesh sorry i didn’t know you have a heart for people too.” you removed your helmet to relieve the discomfort from it. 

as time passed— two hours to be exact, the more your guilt begin to seep in you. jaehyun never spoke after that. silence was like death at this point. not a hint of sniffs and sighs from him. did you go too far that he actually chose not to talk anymore? all you thought about was the pact he suggested. what now? anyone could appear any moment. 

this wasn’t like you at all. you hesitated to talk to him and to give the first move to bicker. you stood there staring at him piling boxes after boxes and sweeping the floor where dust accumulated like piles of sand. you bit your lips because screw this, you hated this atmosphere, you hated this silent treatment. “j-jaehyun?” you called out.

nothing. 

“hey-”

“hm? guilt eating you up now?” you froze at his voice as he chuckled. “it has, hasn’t it? look at your face!” he was laughing, his hands holding his ballooning stomach. “y/n you should’ve seen yourself!”

your gaze followed his hands that quickly took his phone placed at one corner. he was recording and your obliviousness blinded you. “oh you have no idea how much i wanted to laugh! my cheeks hurt so bad! hahaha!”

“you’re not using that to blackmail me!” you strided towards him.

he put his arm high as you struggled to reach it. “i might as well do that thanks for the idea!” faintly you heard his friends coming to check as to why their friend had the laughter of the century, only to find you both bickering again like this morning.

“delete that video jaehyun! i mean it!” “not until you agree to clean the loft!” “that’s like telling me to do everything!” “then that’s exactly what i’m telling you to do!”

johnny put up his phone to recording the struggling you and jaehyun enjoying his time to take advantage of his height. “dude i’ve never seen jaehyun this happy since sue broke up with him.”

“yeah his dimples are legit showing it’s scary me.” mark squinted at the two of you.

jaehyun swung his arms to avoid your attempted catches. he scrunched his nose and although that was undeniably cute, you couldn’t afford to feel humiliated for another two weeks. “jaehyun please delete it!”

“it’s not convincing enough you know?” “stop joking around we could fall!” you hissed. “fall?! then stop trying to get my phone!” “then put down your ridiculously long arm!” “yours are just too short!” “i swear— delete the footage!”

“you have to sound like you beg for it—” he cackled and with a few stretches you managed to reach his wrists as you lunged forwards. “oi stop!” that one last reach only made jaehyun lose his balance and fell backwards. 

and all you heard were yells of worry.

to say that you both gladly fell on soft pillows of hay was an understatement. at least that what it looked like to your friends. jaehyun was shocked, his arm felt numb. he took a good look at you and there you were laying on his arm with pale lips. “hey, you okay?” his hands were already out to help you. “y/n—”

“m’lady!” hendery rushed to you, causing jaehyun to flinch at the tone of his voice. he gently took your right arm, but you gritted your teeth and asked him to take the left. “painful?”

“not that serious.” you said, feeling the stares from jaehyun. “ew don’t look at me like that. i’m fine, really. let’s just call it a day.” you gave a small smile and he wasn’t buying it.

because jaehyun saw you clung onto hendery for dear life. 

[newtonsheffield]

As I am currently lying in my own bed not well 😷😷 with my Hedwig Hot Water bottle curtesy of my hubby to be I got inspired to ask this about my fave couple 🥰

We’ve seen Kate and Anthony being the patient and the “doctor”

And in AOFAG obvs Soph takes care of a Ben when he gets sick... do you have any of Benophie taking care of one another when bed bound sick or hurt?

❤️

Hiiii!

First of all: I Hope you’re feeling better! I was off work last week with a cold and now I feel like I’m getting another one. There’s been a lot of rain recently in Queensland and because I’ve been constantly in and out of the rain and the air conditioning, I think I keep catching a chill like the heroine of a regency novel. Very tiring because I have to get a covid test every time

Now I’ve had another prompt very similar here so I’m answering them together! 

Anon asked: i binged b&s in one day !!!! it's soooooo good 🤍 and i love the mini fics you post here 🤍 do you have any head canons for when benophie when sophie gets sick for the first time since they got together? Hello! You binged it all in a day? Oh God, I’m so sorry, that’s a lot of my writing in one day. But I’m glad you enjoyed it, and welcome to this little black hole that I call a blog. 

Okay, I feel like we all know that Sophie Beckett is one nurturing son of a gun, so Benedict is welllllll taken care of when he gets sick. But I think it would be difficult for Sophie, who has had no who would take care of her to let him do it? 

Anywayyyyy Let’s see

Sophie Beckett prided herself on rarely being sick and even when she was, she never took a sick day. She showed up to work rain, hail, or shine, hopped up on Day Nurse and a throat lozenge and she didn’t complain. Not that she didn’t wish she could crawl into bed and quietly die, but it wasn’t an option. When she’d worked at Penwood House she hadn’t really had any sick leave, and she couldn’t have afforded to not work. But it was fine, she wasn’t really the kind of person that got sick regularly anyway, maybe twice a year she’d have a cold for a few days and that was easy enough to manage. And then four months into their relationship Benedict had woken up with a cold.

The sound of his sneeze had woken Sophie up first, and she’d sat up a little startled and turned to find Ben with a box of tissues on his chest, his eyes red, sniffling. His voice sounded stuffy when he said Sorry, you should go, I don’t want to get you sick. Sophie had tutted disapprovingly before she could stop herself and stood from the bed with a Ridiculous man before going into the bathroom, rummaging through his cabinet and returning with some paracetamol and a glass of water. Take these and go back to sleep, I’ll have to go and get some things but I’ll be back. He’d looked up at her, a little startled, but clearly thought the expression on her face left no room for arguments as he settled back against his pillows. She spent the rest of the day with his head cushioned against her chest her fingers running through his hair as he slept soundly against her with a muffled Love you, Soph. And her heart had stuttered away brimming with happiness despite the situation, content in that moment to have made him happy. 

2 days later Sophie woke up in her own bed and her head was pounding, her sinuses were congested and she couldn’t help but groan as she looked in the mirror at her bloodshot eyes and quietly cursed as she took her medication and went about getting ready for the day. She had been at work for approximately 30 minutes when the head chef sighed and said Sophie go home. Sophie had tried to argue but the chef laughed and said At this point I’m honestly worried you’ll give the customers the plague. You have some sick days they’re there for you to use. And she’d said it with such kindness that Sophie had honestly wanted to cry as she’d left, desperately looking forward to sinking back between the bedsheets. 

Benedict hadn’t really thought much of it. He’d been finishing a shoot, and sent Sophie a text, asking if she wanted to go to his brother’s later, Greg had a new something or other he was excited about playing medieval farm building game maybe?, not expecting a response straight away. He was fairly used to Sophie replying intermittently throughout the day, not being able to have her phone on her at all times. But she’d responded almost immediately Not tonight, Have fun though and he’d frowned a little at the blunt response, no explanation given. Deciding to lighten the mood he said Shouldn’t you be at work? Hiding in the bathroom again? 😏 And the response had come back again almost immediately No, got sent home sick. And Benedict had frozen, on his way out the door, camera bag swinging stupidly at his side as he considered the fact that Sophie had woken up unwell this morning, so unwell she’d had to go home and she hadn’t even thought to tell him. And his chest ached when he thought it likely wasn’t due to the fact that she was shutting him out, but because she was so used to not having anyone take care of her, she hadn’t even thought that he would want to.

Sophie was woken from a nap by a sharp knock on the door of her flat. And she couldn’t help but groan, wondering if they would just go away if she ignored them. When the knocking repeated itself she dragged herself out of bed, her head pounding with every step and her heart stopped when she opened the door, to find Ben absolutely ladened down with pharmacy bags. Sorry it took me so long, I didn’t know what you had so I just got some of everything. He said, smiling happily as she shimmied past her frozen in the doorway. setting about putting his bags down, unpacking them, confusion welling in her chest until finally she stuttered out Ben What are you doing here? His head shot up, his eyebrows raised, Taking Care of you? Don’t worry, I’m not about to force my cooking on you, I stopped by my mum’s, she said She hopes you feel better soon. And tears had welled in her eyes as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, warmth and security seeping into her bones. And as he lay next to her in bed for the rest of the afternoon, his voice softly reading Little Women Sophie could barely choke back the words I want to spend the rest of my life with you.      

[aceofspadegrass]

Soft niragi hours drunk texting gf.

GO!

(please, and thank you)

Characters: Niragi Suguru, his girlfriend

Genre: Fluff. Niragi's drunk off his ham.

1.2k words

It’s going to be in the POV of the girlfriend, which is a first for me, since I usually drift towards using the actual characters more. Still don't have a name for her, so it's just... never mentioned once.

Also, we’re going off the basis that phones do work in the Borderlands, but the only numbers that work are within the Beach members because somehow they’re just like that sometimes.

Be notified that there is the barest mention of just sex but it's so briefly glossed over that it's unimportant. Also, mentions of being drunk. Obviously.

Also I am gonna base drunk texting on A) how I imagine soft Niragi would text like, and B) Drunk texts I am reading online. Hope you don’t mind.

Oh, and I was this close to making Niragi’s nickname on the texting section Calf. You know, because baby giraffe.

The phone sits peacefully on the benchtop as she stirs together leftovers in the pan, wondering where her boyfriend has been. It’s been a while since he left to hang out with the other militants down at the bar, and she came down to the kitchen to make herself dinner. It sucked that she couldn’t have dinner with her beloved, but sometimes things kept them apart and they had to do things on their own. Still, she couldn’t wait to give him all the cuddles when he got back to their room, as well as give him smooches before bedtime.

She pauses her stirring for a second as she hears her phone cheerfully chime with a notification, pulling the pan off the heat as she checks.

Nini: honyyyyyyyyyyyy hiiiiiiiiiiiii mis yiu ;(

She giggles, her lips curling in amusement at the obvious state her boyfriend was in.

Kitten: hi niragi you good?

Nini: i miss youuuuuu

Nini: wannna

Nini: wanna hug you and kisss youu

Nini: wAnt to touch

Kitten: awwwww you miss me that badly? i love you too

Nini: ❤️❤️❤️

Kitten: ❤️❤️❤️ you too!!!

Nini: nuh uh love you more ❤️

Nini: love you soooooo muuuhchh wanan

Nini: can we buy a babyy

That earns a loud snort from her. That was quite a conversation switch. She was lucky nobody was in the kitchen with her. She glances at her leftovers, and slides them back onto the heat to finish cooking. She could watch both. Maybe.

Ah, she was probably gonna burn them. She could still try to multitask.

Kitten: what do we need a baby for?

Nini: so i can hold

Nini: both

Nini: babaabbabya

Nini: i wanna name it belc

Kitten: belc?

Nini: heah

Nini: best bame for best baby

Kitten: haha okay

Kitten: i would love to raise a family with you

Kitten: be the most kickass family of all!!!!!

Nini: yeahhhhhh

Nini: gonna be so strong!!!!!!!

Nini: hey hey hey hey

Kitten: yes?

Nini: imma win this bet watch me

Kitten: okay! you can do it niragi!

There was nothing, leaving her to be able to focus on her food, which somehow hasn’t burnt, and she plates it and heads outside to the tables to eat. Her phone pings with a new text as she sits down and begins to eat.

Nini: i wondid you se did youseee

Kitten: of course! you did it!

Nini: yeha!!!!!!!

Nini: im the greatest person

Kitten: yes you are

Kitten: do you want me to come grab you later so we can cuddle?

Nini: you read my mindd!

Nini: of course i do kitten please i want your cuddledse

Kitten: just let me eat first okay?

Nini: okay take care love you!!!

Kitten: <3

Nini: <333

Kitten: <3333333333

She smiles as she sends that last heart to Niragi, and goes back to eating her food, hurrying just a little more. She couldn’t wait to be with Niragi, even if he was drunk off his mind. Maybe she could get him some water to ease him, and then head down to the infirmary to grab him some hangover pills. She would hate it if he woke up with a headache, it sounded terrible.

She doesn’t even clean up as she shovels the last bit of food into her mouth, getting up and speed walking towards the bar, pulling out her trusted kitty headband from a special pouch she kept on her and putting it on her head to make her search decades easier. It was full of people partying and drinking their cares away in alcohol, and a few mating rituals here and there. She ignores it though, heading over to a rather secluded VIP area near the back of the bar. A few militants were there, some who greet her with a casual wave.

She doesn’t really manage a greeting back as a blur of black pounces on her, the smell of alcohol hitting her nostrils. Niragi giggles happily as he squeezes her, rubbing his face against her, making her laugh.

“ You came~” Niragi purrs happily into her crook of her neck. She cards her fingers through his hair, which was still greasy from the amount of whatever he slapped in there that morning. She lightly tsked at that. She needed to give it a proper cleanse one of these days. Niragi would probably love having the softest hair imaginable than whatever the hell this was.

“ Of course I did! I wouldn’t have left you alone to be drunk on your own!” She gently pushes him away so she could reach his face, kissing his nose, Niragi grinning dopily at that. “ Ready to head back?” “ Fuck yeah I do~ Cuddles with my girlfriend are the best! Hey everyone! Look at my girlfriend!” He shouts out to the entirety of the world that resided there, pulling her close to him. A few just look to them and take a silent acknowledgement, others clapping for him with several different emotions attached. She giggles and wraps her arms around the back of his neck, resting against him.

“ Okay you dork, come on. The longer we stand here, the less we have to- Eep!” She yelps as Niragi scoops her up and starts fucking running, laughing all the while.

“ I wanna cuddle now! Time’s wasting!” She laughs, holding onto him as he runs in his clear drunk state, somehow managing to get quite far. That is, until he trips on literal air and they go flying, landing on the ground. She grunts, her butt taking most of the brunt, Niragi not that far and on the ground face down. He rolls over with a drunken giggle before she could ask if he was alright, grinning at the ceiling.

“ Oopsie.” Niragi slurs quietly, and she comes over, brushing away hair that fell in front of his face. “ No problem! Come on, we’re so close. We can walk normally! Don’t worry, I have my trusty headband on, so we will get there instantly!” Niragi’s eyes brighten despite how far away they were, and his lips curl even higher.

“ Then what are we- We waiting for! Come on!” He tries to get up, stumbling a bit. She giggles and grabs her boyfriend’s hands, carefully pulling him up. She keeps one in her hand as they walk hand and hand down the hall, heading up to their room for much needed cuddles.

“ When we finish cuddling, you’re gonna drink some water so it doesn’t hurt as badly, okay sweetie? Then I can grab you some pills for the morning.”

Niragi hums with his smile still plastered on his face, squeezing her hand a little. “ You’re- You’re soooo good to me. You’re fucking great~” “ So are you! Now come on, it’s about time!” She opens the door, pulling her boyfriend in. Niragi loudly cheers, making her laugh even more.

Man, she loved this sweet man so much.

[onlyhereforangst]

WWR

i mean i only had three weeks to get it done so naturally i’m finishing it three days before the next ep airs, would you expect anything less?

Ok we start off hot with a subtly jealous Nick scene and I love it. Ellie is like stunned that such a thing even exists “a covid crush” because lets be honest, she probably has no eyes for anyone else at this point - even if it’s been a YEAR (well 10ish months) a whole ass YEAR since the jail cell scene and can I just tell you I am mad about that. Why they do us dirty and skip a whole dang year?? Why can’t we quick flash forward every couple of months?? I mean I know it has felt like an entire year has gone by in a week, RIP 2020 no one will miss you, but like I wanted to see it 😩 and I better get at least some kind of explanation for whatever the F has gone down between these two from “well what are we gonna to about that as we stand 5 inches apart” to now. I demand this explanation. 

Anyways, back on track here - Nick is jealllllllous BUT different kind of jealous for this man because for once he’s not all dark and broody about it. He’s over here willingly, *willingly* bringing up said jealousy aaaand he’s smiling about it (!!!) because despite them still not being together (where’s the Gibbs’ headslap when you actually need it amiright) he’s not worried about this crush. He knows her feelings and his so it’s like yeah I’m a little jealous but also I’m gooood, I got this one in the bag 😏 (also can I just say I need Ellie to show him he does not in fact ‘have this in the bag’ if he’s gonna act like a little shit and push her away). 

This whole thing about babysitting and not wanting to take care of other living beings is very very very interesting considering they both loved taking care of Charlie (Cody, I blame this on pregnancy brain thank you @thekeyboardninja) in the end AND EVEN TALKED ABOUT PARENTING EVENTUALLY. So like, where did we backtrack??? Excuse me who allowed you to do such things. I’m feeling like they likely backtracked (this was s16 after all) because once again, the dust settled after their super close vulnerable moment and they went and hid behind those stupid walls they both have and somehow convinced themselves that being alone was better for them. IT’S A LIE YALL IT’S A LIE. You being together and taking care of each other is exactly what you need and it’ll be perfect and amazing and just DO IT ALREADY 😭

The team moment with Jimmy is so 🥺 and throughout the episode. I’m not going to touch on that stuff much because this is ellick focused but also because I truly do not need to sob again (even if I called Breena dying from covid like months ago and knew exactly what was coming with all of it but you know, I still cry, it’s fine, I’m fine). 

Ellie knowing Gibbs uses a weighted blanket and Nick doubting her is just comical to me 😂 mini side note before we get into how they have a thiiiiiing and it’s called always getting dibs on the elevator in tandem for months and McGee HOW CAN YOU NOT TELL. These two are so in sync even if they are still spectacularly failing at talking this out & taking that next step. Also months of Gibbs riding down the elevator with just those two…….the third wheeling must be slowly killing the old dude, give him a break you two. 

Tell me why these two have the exact same stance in the bullpen- could you be more obvious?? You rubbing off on each other. And then the walking up to the barbershop scene I caaaan’t. Ellie is SO flirty. Like so flirty. Who is this new Ellie and why do I love her so much. But Nick gives it right back too and her little giggle with shoulder shrug is just perfect. She’s fiiiiinally letting herself *feel* more and let it be out in the open and it’s just so great. I love seeing this character development for her 🥺 walls coming down, being more forward with her flirting and feelings and it’s all I’ve ever needed. Also we’re gonna take a small detour into Nick’s pants I mean the notebook he casually stashes in the front of his jeans like it doesn’t make a person look RIGHT. THERE. Don’t ask me why it’s hot, I don’t know the answers to the universe, it just is. We knoooooow Ellie is loving it’s location there, she wouldn’t mind flirtatiously taking it out at the next stop to “check” where they needed to go. You know, just helping a partner out- don’t worry Nick she’s got it handled 😏😏🔥🔥 Ok back from our detour, when Nick asks if she’s got him and she answers so quickly and almost with the undercurrent of “of course I do how is that even a question I’ll protect you until the day I die” (yes this is what she says), I love. 

Ok since when does Nick like puzzles and how does Ellie know this??? He was most certainly NOT a puzzle kind of guy when he first joined the team so are you telling me that maybe Ellie and her nerdiness (come on there’s no way she doesn’t love puzzles) got Nick into puzzles??? Also also also does everyone remember that time in covid lockdown where literally everyone and their mother did five thousand puzzles because we couldn’t leave our houses? Soooooo is this a nod to Ellie & Nick spending some time together doing puzzles (at presumably Ellie’s apartment because she’d be the one to have said puzzles) and turns out Nick loves them even more than she did???? Is this what you’re making me read in between the lines NCIS? Because I am most certainly ok with this. 

Ooooooooh-kay this 8pm thing for Nick. SO many possibilities. It’s been confirmed it wasn’t Ellie (which I won’t lie was my immediate wish) via Steven Binder on twitter (which I also won’t lie, my angst heart loves it’s something else). My take is it’s something (not another girl though) personal- I would *love* if it was therapy or some type of personal development thing. I think he realizes over the past year he has involuntarily retreated emotionally from Ellie even if outwardly it doesn’t show (no personal space and continued flirting). I think he *knows* he’s doing it emotionally and yet can’t figure out how to stop himself from doing it- like on the outside of his body watching him make a dumb mistake but unable to change a damn thing. SO I feel like whatever this 8pm thing is will play into that. It’ll somehow be related to Nick diving deeper into himself and trying to get more in touch with the parts of himself he loves to ignore/hide/push down. That could be therapy, a self-help class, getting in touch with family (but I don’t think he would feel the need to get secretive about this. i mean he already brought up Lucia to this dude, why would he all of a sudden be ashamed of a dinner/meeting with his mom or dad or something? i just don’t buy that). But anyways back to the point- it’s something Nick feels the need to hide in shame because that’s how he’s been conditioned as an undercover agent who feels the need to be tough and strong for everyone and being vulnerable is WAY too scary (helloooooo enneagram 8 nice to meet you I’m also an enneagram 8 Nick isn’t it fun). 

I don’t know why them talking so casually on the phone, while Nick is getting ready for the day no less is so damn pleasing to me. The simple domesticity of it all because it’s totally something one would do with their spouse is just 🥰🥰 And then their little freaking smiles can THEY NOT. Ellie you like glazed donuts?? Is this some kind of hint? Innuendo? Just a glaringly obvious chance to flirt and you don’t give a rat’s ass you’re in the middle of the bullpen with Gibbs’ listening to your conversation so you’ll take that chance anyways because you’re head over heels for this guy? Either way Nick’s little smirk oof. I think he takes it as all three of those things and he’s *perfectly* ok with it. UNTIL until, there’s always an until with you Nicholas god damn. Ellie nervously asking about NIck’s apartment 🥺 she may be head over heels but she’s still a little shy and unsure. She thought that jail cell moment would break things through for them and yet she’s- not to quote Taylor swift or anything because why on earth would I do that- right where you left her. WHY NICHOLAS WHY. Since we know Ellie has seen and is very familiar with the inner workings of Nick’s apartment come 16x10, I presume he moved, and it sounds like recently. From the looks of this new place it’s niiiiice. For someone who doesn’t like a lot of things (see s14 when he joins team I don’t remember the exact ep sorry) - he sure managed to settle into that apartment quite nicely. It’s furnished well, it’s homey for DC. And if he’s moved into it since after the jail cell, letting Ellie in is likely a big step in his eyes. But we know this has got to be a weird shift for Ellie. Seemingly so comfortable in each others’ spaces and now she hasn’t even been invited over?? Yeah you smell something fishy girl just like I do. Even if Nick has a cute ass smirk at the end of his little charade to hang up the phone. Wipe that smirk off your face sir you owe us I mean Ellie an explanation and a visit to your apartment. SHE WANTS TO BE YOUR HOUSEGUEST. SHE WANTS TO BE IN YOUR HOUSE. SHE WANTS TO BE IN YOUR PANTS WHILE IN THAT HOUSE. JUST LET HER ALREADY. Ok I’m done, moving on. 

Ok the guys opening the doors dramatically to let the one (1) woman on the team make a super badASS entrance is just 🔥🔥🔥 yes love it. 

Excuse me why does Ellie feel the need to completely turn her body from the rest of the team/bullpen to be 100% faced on Nick. Body language don’t lie bitch I see you. And Nick stealing a glance at Ellie before having to answer McGee’s question about roommates…..interesting, very interesting sir. You thinking about how she’s going to react to some rando being in your apartment AND staying the night before she has?? You thinking about making her a permanent roommate?? But of course he turns to quick humor for a hot sec because this is Nick and then shockingly, like actually shockingly (is this that personal development, soul-searching, deep dive into emotional wonderland rubbing off on him??? Is it working is this foreshadowing???) he goes and gets deep on ‘em. And McGee calls him on it and I love it, I really think this is some foreshadowing here. I think we’re seeing some of the work Nick is doing on himself, getting himself ready for as serious as a relationship as he knows it’ll be with Ellie, paying off. He’s thinking about ~*emotional*~ consequences to actions and OOF yes. The growth, I live for the fucking growth. “It’s not easy to get through the tough transitions on your own” you say as you literally tried to do that for actual YEARS until you met this team. Until you met Ellie. Until you realized that emotional fallout was a real thing and you my friend are a terrible victim to it. Because guess what- exhibit A is right here about to ask you to dinner and you gonna turn her down. You quite literally tried to get through a tough transition (re: Ellie’s kidnapping & the two bombs) by yourself. That dust settled and you immediately emotionally retreated, not physically- emotionally. You went back to what you always knew, the lone wolf on your own, endure the tough transition. And yes you’ve been doing some work on yourself, but now- now you realize it. You can’t do work on yourself alone. You can’t go through this shit alone. You need your support system- your person. But that thought truly terrifies you. You’ve realized it but are you ready to act on it? Not quite yet. You might be close, but you still can’t bring yourself to be honest with her yet. When Ellie nervously asks Nick if he wants to grab a bite you can feel her start to (it’s probably been there quite a while but she’s tried to ignore the feeling of him emotionally shutting her out and pushing her away but the houseguest thing brought it back full force) really worry about where they stood. She won’t completely admit it to herself because she knows what was said in the jail cell wasn’t a lie or a dramatization for either of them, but that worry that’s been creeping in like a vine is taking hold. Nick saying “there’s something I need to take care of” hmmmmm I feel like this is SO vague. And probably purposely done so by the writers but I just - if it was solely him bringing the dude back to his daughter’s why wouldn’t he just tell Ellie that? What would be the harm in her knowing this? She’s aware you’ve bonded so why would he not just say that? I feel like there was definitely something else he thought he would go do after it. With all the talk of tough transitions and then his obviously pre-made plans to drop this guy off, I just feel like there was some other task he had planned before McGee called him. And him discussing the reset button (I’ll get to this) just kind of solidifies that for me. He’d been doing a LOT of reflection that day and he had something more major planned, I just wish I knew what 😩 Ok back to Ellie’s response, she’s honestly shocked and a little confused at his ominously vague answer. And I’d wager a tiny bit of hurt is in that expression too. All those vines of worry taking hold? Yeah, that’s why. They even just tightened and made her speechless for a second. The emotional withdrawal she feared was being confirmed in front of her very eyes. Because (at least on our screens) the last time Nick turned down a bite to eat with her? Oh yeah, he was dating fucking Elena. (Once again, I don’t think he’s got another girl but y’all this is the parallel Ellie could easily draw seeing as it was only a few months ago, supposedly.) And he even looks almost guilty about turning her down, like he knows it’s probably hurting her (and their relationship) but he can’t help it. He hates that he’s doing it and the words coming from his mouth (good lord it’s like the end of 17x07 with overprotective/you’re like a sister to me all over again) but he can’t stop it. And then my heart breaks for Ellie when she tries to put on a brave, strong face that claims she isn’t bothered by his rejection yet we all knoooooow 😭😭😭 He gives her a small little “night” and she’s just standing there wondering where the hell she went wrong with this, how she read them all wrong. 

Ahhhhh the glorious reset button, ya love to see it. When he claims he has the opposite problem you can see his faraway look in his eye. You know *exactly* what, or better yet who, he’s thinking about in that moment. He knows he has to stop avoiding his emotional growth with Ellie. He knows he has to stop hitting the reset button the second things between them get real. And I think he’s known this for a while now but is finally, finally coming to grips with taking real steps forward. Taking steps to embrace the vulnerability he’s terrified of. Finally putting that reset button away 🥺

Ellie knowing Nick has one tie is just another swoon moment. Yes I could get dirty with that (see my tags on previous gifsets for proof) but like, also this is so real of them? They know so damn much about each other it’s insane. She may not have even been in his apartment yet but she knows he owns one tie. Like- come on. Nick you think you’re emotionally distant from this woman but my god it’s the opposite. You two are so intertwined you don’t even realize it as you chuckle and try once again to avoid thinking about that reset button. And then Jimmy goes and reads that letter and I sob. Yes I sobbed. Like I said not getting into this part because my pregnancy hormones can’t handle this (I’m barely rewatching this part with audio ok). But Jimmy’s words voiced over a shot of ellick…take my heart why don’t you. “To hear a laugh, and know that your life would change for ever” like come ON. First, Jimmy you slay me and second, all I can picture is Ellie chuckling with Nick in the bullpen showing him the clicker settings and Nick loving it. Nick your life would be changed forever in that moment I hope you knew. Ellie, pulling her arm around Nick’s for strength, support, I just-. Despite the turmoil she’s been going through, the doubts and the worry that’s crept in- she still feels it. She still feels love for this man and knows her life was changed forever when she met him. No matter how long she tried to deny it, she knows. And that little piece of her that desperately clings to Nick getting his head out of his ass and opening up emotionally to her, that piece decides to break that sliver of personal space and lean on him for support. She needs to touch him- the man who she can’t picture losing like Jimmy lost Breena. She needs to feel him still there, even if he hasn’t completely realized his life changed forever because of her- she has. Gripping his arm for the comfort it gives in knowing he’s still by her side, his hand brushing hers as an involuntary “I’ve got you” (even a reset button pusher like Nick can’t help his reflexes). The gravity of the fragility of life weighing heavily on them both, they hold each other. They’ve got each other. And good god is that poetry we just need them to actually fucking TALK ABOUT IT 😩😭

I don’t know if I even have side notes but I do appreciate NCIS paying homage to the utter grief this pandemic has been. Jimmy being the one to lose a loved one was quite honestly the perfect scenario to me. It shows just how cruel this pandemic has been, ripping even the most optimistic, happy people down to their knees in grief. It’s something that shouldn’t be glossed over and I do hope they continue to have this arc of struggling with grief throughout the season. I think it is so relatable and refreshing to see played out legitimately on the screen. I don’t want happy, go-lucky stale content. I want something real and something tangible. Yes I love my mindless entertainment, but it’s also nice to see *real* drama on a TV drama. At least, that’s my opinion 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’d apologize but isn’t that why you’re reading this to begin with? 😘😘

[gingwrites]

Always Have, Always Will (Namkook)

Whumptober Masterlist | BTS Masterlist

Summary: Jungkook has hanahaki and tries to hide it, but it doesn’t work when the man he loves won’t leave him alone.

or, whumptober prompt day 2: choking/gagging

Tags: mentions of death, small amounts of blood, choking/gagging, sick fic

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Jungkook was dying, that much he knew. It had been weeks since he coughed up the first flower petal. Now, the vines were embedded in his lungs, making it hard to breathe, let alone sing and dance. He’d somehow been able to keep it hidden from the others, but he didn’t think that’d last much longer.

As it was, Jungkook had already faked being sick that morning to get out of dance practice, though faking didn’t take much work with how bad he was feeling. The others took one look at him that morning and pushed him right back toward his room. Hoseok brought him breakfast, Jimin brought him plenty of water, Yoongi brought him medicine, all while Namjoon texted their managers letting them know that Jungkook was out for the day.

Starting his day surrounded by the petals that he had coughed up during the night, Jungkook had looked like he was in some ritual or funeral scene from a movie. He had never been more thankful for having separate rooms and bathrooms. He definitely wouldn’t be able to explain himself out of that one. He was surprised that he hadn’t woken himself (or the others) up with all the coughing he must have done in the night, but he must’ve been used to it by now. Or maybe his body was finally giving up because it was so exhausted.

The others left for the studio not long after Jungkook had settled back down into bed. Taking the day to try and catch up on some much needed sleep, Jungkook spent most of the morning in bed, tossing and turning, sitting up to hack up a few petals every once in a while.

After eating some soup for lunch, Jungkook decided to move to the living room. At least if he was going to have trouble sleeping, he could do it with the TV on in the background.

Not long after Jungkook had settled on the couch, huddled under a blanket, only his head visible, the front door keypad beeped, causing Jungkook to glance at the clock. It wasn’t near late enough for anyone to be back home yet. The door opened, Namjoon quietly stepping through.

“Hyung?” Jungkook questioned. “What are you doing home so early?”

Namjoon’s head shot up, now giving up on his task of attempting to close the door quietly.

“Oh! You’re awake! I wasn’t sure if you would be sleeping or not,” Namjoon explained. “And I ended up finishing the song I was working on earlier than I had planned, and the others still had some vocal practice, so I decided to go ahead and come home early and keep you company!”

Jungkook’s heart dropped. As much as he loved to spend time with Namjoon, it wasn’t very helpful in trying to hide his hanahaki. 

“Thanks, hyung,” Jungkook hid his fears with a smile, moving over on the couch to make room for the older man.

It was two hours later that Jungkook knew he was in trouble. Namjoon had suggested that the two of them play a board game since they had plenty but rarely ever had the chance to play them. They were sitting on opposite sides of the coffee table, game spread out in front of them, while Namjoon read the question on the card he had just picked up, but he apparently thought it was too funny, so he could stop laughing.

This spelled trouble for Jungkook because he couldn’t stop staring at Namjoon laughing, thinking about how adorable he looked. He couldn’t stop noticing the dimples on Namjoon’s cheeks, or the fact that he held onto his stomach while he laughed. He couldn’t stop thinking about all these things, and Jungkook could feel the petals crawling up his throat, begging for a release.

But, Jungkook was stubborn. He wasn’t about to out himself without a fight. He didn’t want to run out of the room, pretending to be sick, because he knew Namjoon would follow him and would see all the petals once they finally came out. Jungkook could hold it in. He was going to hold it in. There was no other option. He’d hold it in, wait until they finished their game, and then excuse himself to go take a ‘nap’ and then let it all out in the privacy of his own bedroom. This could work. This was going to work.

It was not working. This much was obvious to Jungkook not even a minute later. He could feel the amount of petals steadily growing, slowly closing off his airway. It all came to a head when Namjoon finally gathered himself together and looked back over at Jungkook. His face quickly became serious, taking in Jungkook’s wide eyes.

“Hey, are you okay?” Namjoon quickly got up and came and sat next to Jungkook, placing a hand on the younger man’s arm.

Oh god, why does he have to be so caring? Jungkook thought. That just makes me love him more!

As Namjoon started rubbing his hand up and down on Jungkook’s arm, frantically searching for what was wrong, Jungkook felt his airway close. Looks like his plan to hold it all in failed.

Jungkook tried to cough and dispel the flowers, now uncaring if Namjoon saw them, but with no air in his lungs, it was impossible to cough. All he wanted to do was breathe. He didn’t want to die. He was too young to die! Jungkook knew that Namjoon was speaking to him, but he couldn’t make out any words, his own heartbeat in his ears drowning everything out.

Jungkook brought his hand up to his neck, almost trying to claw the petals out of his throat, when Namjoon seemed to understand what was happening, though he didn’t know why. The older man started to pound his hand on Jungkook’s back, terrified of how quickly Jungkook’s face was turning red.

After a few slaps, the petals dislodged themselves and came tumbling out. Jungkook started to cough, trying to catch his breath and spit out the flowers at the same time. Namjoon continued to pat his back, though not nearly as rough, wanting to make sure that Jungkook was still breathing okay.

“Jungkook?” Namjoon whispered a couple moments after Jungkook spit the last flower onto his lap. Jungkook couldn’t take his eyes off the flowers, too scared to look at Namjoon’s reaction and because there was blood on the flowers. That was new.

“Jungkook?” Namjoon tried again after receiving no answer. Jungkook was still breathing heavily, but at least it felt like his airway was clear. At least as clear as it’d been since he’d discovered he had hanahaki.

“Um,” Jungkook tried, but couldn’t find the words. He knew he needed to tell Namjoon what was going on, that Jungkook was in love with Namjoon, really had been since he’d met the older man, though he hadn’t really realized it until recently. Jungkook didn’t want to end up like those sad stories on the news, everyone asking why the person didn’t just tell the other one that they loved them. Jungkook really didn’t want to die, but he just had trouble finding the right words.

“Who is it?” Namjoon tried again.

“You,” Jungkook spoke quietly, voice breaking. He cleared his throat and tried again. “It’s you, hyung. It always has been and it always will be. I love you, Namjoon.”

Jungkook finally dared to take a peek at Namjoon’s face, hoping that he wouldn’t see disgust. What he saw instead was relief.

“Oh thank god,” Namjoon sighed heavily, pulling Jungkook closer to him. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, you idiot! You never would’ve had to go through this if I’d have known!”

Jungkook’s brows furrowed.

“What?”

“I love you, too, Jungkookie! I have for years! I honestly thought you didn’t love me like that, so I was fine pining from a distance!” Namjoon gushed, a massive smile on his face.

“Wait,” Jungkook couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Years? And you didn’t tell me?!”

Namjoon opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Jungkook bending over, breath caught in his throat again. This time, it didn’t feel like petals. It was scratchy and Jungkook hated every second of it. He started coughing, trying to get the feeling to go away.

“Jungkook? What’s happening? I thought confessing my love was supposed to fix it!” Namjoon frantically asked, not knowing how to help Jungkook this time.

The younger man continued coughing for another moment, feeling something crawling it’s way up his throat again. Namjoon sat next to him, ready to grab his phone and call an ambulance if it didn’t stop soon.

Letting out one final hack, Jungkook looked down at his hands and let out a sob. The vine. He’d coughed up the vine, which meant it was all over now.

“Jungkook? Jungkook? What- oh,” Namjoon let out a whoosh of air, shocked at what he was seeing. The vine was out, which meant Jungkook was cured and his body recognized that the love was reciprocated. The disease had healed on its own. “You’re okay. You’re okay. It’s all going to be okay now.”

Namjoon pulled Jungkook into his lap, holding the younger man to his chest. He wasn’t going to let go anytime soon after that scare.

“I have one request,” Namjoon said after a moment of silence. Jungkook hummed in acknowledgment. “Never, and I mean never, hide something like this from me again, okay? I never want either of us to go through that again.”

Jungkook sat up with a small smile on his face.

“On one condition. Can I have a kiss?”

.

.

Soooooo, whumptober is going great since this is day 2 and its already October 4th. Don't look at me. I legit had plans to get this out yesterday, but my day was ruined by a terrible phone call with a parent, so it didn't happen. I'm attempting to get caught up, though it probs won't happen until a weekend.

Also, if you have ships requests, or ideas/requests for future days, please let me know!! I've figured out that I'm probs not all that good at whump since I don't want to be super dark and always want a happy ending, but I love all that hurt/comfort, so I'm rolling with it.

Let me know what you think! And follow me on twitter @/yoongismandu.

[quickspinner]

Guard My Heart - Ch 1 Daylight’s Wasting

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Read on AO3 

Written for @livrever​ as part of the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers​ Secret Admirer Lukanette Exchange!

Happy LBSC Exchaaaaaaaaange and I'm the one who gets to write for @livrever​, who's been doing so much heavy lifting making sure everything runs smoothly this year! Because I am a sucker I decided to combine her prompts (I should have known better, since the last time I combined prompts from Mal I ended up with Killer Combo) soooooo today you get a first chapter instead of a completed story. I'll reveal the second prompt when it is time, but the first one was neighboring shop owners. I opted for slightly different than the traditional take for Reasons.

I love you to pieces Mal and I really hope you enjoy the journey!

Marinette is moving out on her own and starting her own shop, where she can be the boss and responsible for no one but herself. The years have taught her that for Ladybug to do her job, Marinette has to maintain a certain amount of distance in her personal life...but how's she supposed to do that when a blast from the past is moving in next door? Especially when she's got a box full of nosy kwamis cheering her on...This was not the new beginning she had in mind!

Rating: M, Implied sexual content in later chapters

“This is the big day,” Tikki crowed from Marinette's shoulder, and Marinette tried to smile as she carefully maneuvered her rented van around all the other vehicles crowding the back alley. “Come on, Marinette,” Tikki said gently, nuzzling up against her cheek. “It’s okay to be excited.” 

“I am excited,” Marinette told her, putting the vehicle in park. “This is a big deal, Tikki. It’s just that there’s a lot of work to do and I need to be focused on that right now.” 

“I wish you didn’t have to do all of this alone,” Tikki fretted. “It’s a lot to do by yourself. Are you sure you don’t want to call anyone?” 

“I’ll manage,” Marinette smiled, flexing her arm for Tikki’s benefit. “Besides,” she sighed, opening the door as Tikki zipped into the purse at her hip. “Who would I call?” 

Tikki didn’t have a chance to answer as Marinette jumped down from the van. She glanced around the alley at her fellow business owners who were also moving in. Some of them looked almost finished; some, like her, were only just getting started.

Marinette tried not to feel a little irked at the people who were already almost done. How early had they gotten here? Maybe their renovations had been finished earlier and they’d gotten a head start. Marinette pouted for a moment, and then tried to put it out of her mind. It wasn’t a competition, after all. She just needed to focus on her own work. She had a strict schedule written out and taped to the inside of the van that would have her moved into her new shop and the apartment above it, hopefully in time to make a quick run for groceries before it got too late. 

Besides, the other shop owners probably had help or had hired people, whereas Marinette was depending on nothing but her own muscles. She couldn’t afford to hire anybody, she didn’t want to wait until her parents were free, and her friends...well. She had her life and they had their lives and other than a few friendly texts now and then, their paths didn’t really cross anymore except for major life events. Despite Tikki’s hints that opening her first boutique should have fallen into that category, it just didn’t seem worth the effort to push the issue. Marinette could do this alone. She was used to it. 

A smile grew on her face as she pulled the shiny new keys from her pocket and unlocked the back door of the shop. Marinette couldn’t help a muffled squeal and a hop of excitement as it swung open wide. She kicked down the doorstop to hold it open, and went inside. 

Marinette passed through the back room that would serve as storage and workshop, and into the small storefront. She stood there for a moment, suddenly feeling shaky and a bit short of breath. She swallowed. “This is a really big deal, Tikki,” she said, dropping unceremoniously to the floor. She ran her fingertips over the rough texture of the commercial carpeting she had picked out. “I can’t screw this up.” 

“You won’t, Marinette,” Tikki assured her, peeping out cautiously. “It’s going to be okay. One step at a time, remember?”

“Right,” Marinette agreed, still breathless, and she pushed herself back up. “Time to get to work.”

She got to her feet, and went back through the shop and then upstairs to the apartment, propping all the doors open, mentally reviewing her plan and where everything would go. Marinette felt both excitement and relief at the thought of finally living on her own, with no one else to make excuses to. Starting tonight, no one would be monitoring her coming and going, or asking where she’d been, or complaining that she’d left her share of the chores undone. No one to report to, no one to worry, no one to disappoint. As nervous as she was about the risks of this new venture, that alone would be a weight off her shoulders.

Doors open and empty rooms ready, Marinette went back outside. She threw up the gate on the back of the van, pulled out the ramp, and took a deep breath as she surveyed the contents, nervousness suddenly threatening to overshadow her earlier confidence. “Okay,” she murmured to herself. “It looks like a lot, all stuffed together like this, but I can do it. Somehow.” 

Marinette had packed the van carefully, and her boxes were meticulously labelled and color coded with stickers, so that she knew as soon as she picked a box up whether it was for the shop interior, the back room, or the apartment upstairs. Her world narrowed to the task before her, and she didn’t even notice the looks she got as she hauled box after box and pieces of disassembled furniture into her new space. Her muscles burned, but it was a familiar sensation, a normal sensation. Marinette had learned to take comfort from anything normal, especially on a day like today, when so much was changing. The burn was a reminder to pause and stretch and take a moment to breathe, and that helped keep her focused. 

When it started to verge on too much, Marinette sat down on the ledge of her propped-open shop door to rest and drink a bottle of water, mentally assessing her progress and comparing it against her schedule. She was doing pretty well, she thought, although the hard stuff was still to come. 

“Marinette?” 

She jumped, nearly spilling her water all over herself, and looked up to the man who had spoken to her. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “L-Luka?” she gasped, scrambling to her feet. “Is that you?” 

He grinned, and there was no mistaking it. His hair was a little bit longer, still streaked with blue but tied back at the nape of his neck, and his bangs were clipped back away from his sweaty face. His dimples were more prominent in his leaner face, his jaw more defined, but his smile and his eyes were the same. “Hey,” he said, as calmly as if they’d last seen each other yesterday instead of almost ten years ago, as he adjusted the box he was holding. “Wow, what a surprise, meeting you here.” That was putting it mildly, and Marinette almost laughed at the typically Luka understatement. His eyes flicked to the propped open door and his eyebrows went a little higher. “Are you...moving in?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said, running her hand through her sweaty bangs, and trying to find the ground again. She hadn’t expected to run into anybody she knew today, let alone Luka. She hadn’t even known for sure that he was back in Paris. Marientte felt a pang looking at him, something between guilt and grief, and she suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Luka shifted his box again, drawing her eyes to both the box and the bunched muscles in the arms holding it. Her eyes snapped back to his face. “Wait,” she said incredulously, “Are you—” 

“Yep,” he grinned, and nodded at the next door down from hers. “I’m on the corner, so...looks like we’re gonna be neighbors.” He groaned and hiked the box up again. “I’m sorry, I’ve gotta put this down, but—when we’re done, maybe we could grab coffee or something, catch up? If you want to?”

“Sure!” Marinette smiled brightly. “I’d love to.”

The slow grin that spread over his face made her insides wobble a little. Wow, she thought, he really grew up. That smile had been intense enough when they were younger; with the sharper features of his more mature face it was devastating. “Okay. I’ll come over when I’m done and give you a hand if you’re still working. See you later.” 

“Bye.” Marinette waved weakly, as Luka went to his own door, propped open like hers was.  “Oh my God, Tikki,” Marinette hissed, and heard a giggle near her hip. “This isn’t funny, Tikki, what am I going to do?”

“Just go with it, Marinette,” Tikki advised cheerfully. “I know you’ve been lonely, and Luka was always a good friend to you. Maybe this is fate bringing you back together!” 

“Tikki,” Marinette sighed, and leaned back against the building behind her, tipping her head back to knock gently against it. She paused, and then opened her purse to look down at the kwami and give her a look. “Fate, or luck?”

“Does it matter?” Tikki asked, shrugging. Her big eyes softened and she reached out just enough to pat Marinette’s hand. “I know you feel bad about the way you two left things, but Luka was always good for you, and you could use a friend like him right now. It doesn’t have to be romantic, Marinette. Don’t overthink it. It’s not good for you to be so alone, so just give it a chance and see what happens!” 

Marinette rolled her eyes and sighed, and then checked the time. She needed to get moving if she wanted to stay on schedule, and people were going to think she was crazy if they saw her talking to her handbag.  

She had to wait a moment, though, when she got back to the van, for her legs to steady. Luka Couffaine...she hadn’t seen him since he left to tour with Jagged Stone when they were kids. She bit her lip hard. Ugh, how could Luka even want to be her friend now after the way things had happened back then…she’d been so confused, and trying so hard to manage her life and her feelings, and she’d been failing so miserably. Luka had been so kind to her, and tried to help, and she hadn’t even kept in touch with him when he left. If anyone had genuine reason to call her a bad friend, it would definitely be Luka. 

Marinette swallowed and took a deep breath and climbed up into the van. Focus, she told herself. Just focus on what you have to do.

She grabbed the closest box and hauled it out blindly. She risked a glance over as she walked by, and saw several young men and a woman, all with multicolored hair, carrying furniture from an even larger moving van into Luka’s place. Then she put her head down and went to her own door, determined. 

Marinette did her best not to look towards Luka’s van again, telling herself it would only distract her, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted if she wanted to get this task done. 

Everything went according to plan until she got to the wrought iron headboard of her new bed. She’d been able to lift it on her own before, but she realized now, as her arms trembled, that she should have placed this a little earlier in the unloading order. Well, she was going to have to make it work. She got it down the ramp of the van, and had to stand for a moment, bracing it as her muscles twitched and trembled, as she looked at the distance she had to cover to get to the door and thought of the stairs after that. She swore softly, and leaned her forehead against the frame as she tried to muster the strength.

A hand squeezed her shoulder. “We got it, just tell us where you want it,” Luka said, as Marinette looked up at him in surprise. 

“Oh,” she said reflexively, “I can—”

“I know you can,” Luka grunted, grabbing one end of the headboard as one of his friends got the other. “But something like this is easier with two people.” He grinned. “Upstairs, I assume?”

“Y-yeah,” Marinette stammered weakly. “The bedroom. Um—” She ran back up in the van and grabbed the first pink-stickered box she came to. “This way,” she smiled at the boys, and went ahead of them, face burning. 

“Dude, this is so much easier than all that heavy shit you brought,” Luka’s friend groaned, and Marinette giggled in spite of herself when Luka cheerfully told him to kiss his ass. The boys carried her headboard in and leaned it against the wall where Marinette directed. 

“Thank you,” she told them sincerely, and Luka winked at her as he followed his friend out. 

“Let us know if you need a hand with anything else,” he told her, and they were gone before Marinette had a chance to say anything else.

She ended up not having to ask him for help at all, because anytime she was struggling, either Luka or one or more of his friends would pop up to help her. Marinette was both touched by Luka’s concern and willingness to help, and angry at herself, for planning so poorly that she needed the help in the first place—no matter how much his friends joked that hauling her stuff was a nice break compared to hauling Luka’s.

Stupid, she scolded herself. Took on too much, as usual, and what would you have done if Luka hadn’t been around? Poor guy, he wasn’t expecting to have to haul extra stuff today, either. We’re back in touch for one day and he’s already having to bail me out. Just like old times. Nice to know I haven’t grown in the least in the last ten years. She kept working with grim determination, trying not to look like she needed more help, and getting angrier at herself every time one of them stopped to give her a hand.

Finally, she was done. She locked up the van and the apartment, and then went to stand once again in her shop front. There was still a lot to be done to it over the next two weeks before the big grand opening event, but now that the move-in was done, she could finally get started. Some of the fixtures she had negotiated with the leasing company, like the carpeted pedestal in one corner where she could do fittings and the full-length three-way mirrors. She’d created the countertop for her register herself, but the company had built the counter and installed her custom top on it for her. Marinette drifted over to it now and ran her fingertips over the resin surface with her monogram M and real pink flowers embedded in it. It turned out really well, she thought to herself, and smiled. That was one thing that went right, at least.

“Marinette?”

She jumped, but then remembered she hadn’t closed the back door yet. “I’m in here,” she called, and a moment Luka came through the door of the workroom, looking around. He grinned, seeing her stand behind the register. “Making yourself at home?” He moved around the front as if he were a customer, and Marinette giggled.

“Something like that,” she said with a shrug. “How goes the unloading?”

“I’m sweaty and filthy, but at least we’re done,” Luka grinned, leaning both elbows on Marinette’s handmade custom countertop. She resisted the urge to shove him off it. “How about you? Need anymore help with anything?”

Marinette shook her head quickly. “No, thank you. I’m done, and I feel disgusting.” She grinned weakly. “To be honest, there’s nothing I want less right now than coffee.”

“Agreed,” Luka chuckled. “I’ll buy you whatever you want, as long as it’s cold.” He winced slightly. “And cheap. This place kinda cleaned me out.” 

“I hear you,” Marinette laughed, coming out from behind the counter. It felt too weird, having it between them. “I’m in the same boat. The only reason I could afford this at all is because my grandpa passed away and left all his things to me. Turned out there were a bunch of companies waiting for the old man to die so they could make a bid on his house. They’ve been trying to get the property for years but Grandpa wouldn't sell.” She folded her arms and leaned back on the counter next to him as Luka straightened to face her. 

“I’m sorry about your Grandpa,” Luka said, putting his hand on her shoulder. The hand was bigger, but the gesture was the same, and Marinette felt a tender pang for the boy who had loved her. “I know your relationship with him was complicated.” Marinette nodded, but she didn’t really want to talk about it. Luka dropped his hand and gestured towards the door. “Listen, I still owe my friends Chinese and beer for helping me move—and before you say anything, I budgeted for that in my moving expenses.”

“You sound so responsible,” Marinette giggled, and he made a face at her before continuing.

“Why don’t you join us, if you feel up to it?” he suggested. “If not, that’s cool, I can bring you back something and we can catch up some other time when we’ve had a little more rest.”

Marinette hesitated a moment. She wasn’t sure she was up to meeting new people, and a shower would feel awfully good right now, but...they had helped her, and she felt like it would be rude to turn down their company. She bit her lip and glanced at Luka. 

He smiled. “No pressure. If you just want to relax after all this, that’s okay. I can’t believe how much crap you moved out of that van all by yourself.” His brow creased for a moment, but he seemed to change his mind about saying anything else, and just waited.

So Luka. Marinette smiled suddenly. “Papa’s going to help me with the one or two really big things this weekend, and the rest I figured I could handle myself. I guess I overestimated myself a little bit. I really appreciated your help, though. I do want to relax, but…it has been ages since we could hang out. If you don’t think your friends will mind—a cold beer sounds awfully good right now…”

Luka snorted. “Since I’m buying, they’re not allowed to mind,” he said with a grin.  

Feeling daring, Marinette linked her arm through Luka’s. “Tell you what. Since we’re both on the verge of broke right now, how about we each buy our own drinks, and I pay for my share of the food plus a little bit to cover you guys helping me out,” she suggested, “and the first one to hit the black owes the other dinner?”

“Deal,” Luka grinned, and warmth fluttered in Marinette’s stomach. 

“So, um,” she said, looking away as they walked back out of the shop. “Music shop?”

Luka chuckled as they paused by the door so Marinette could lock up. “You’d think, but, ah...actually, it’s antiques and collectibles. And uh...curiosities.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not allowed to say junk, but you know Mom. Her taste is...weird.” 

“Really?” Marinette looked back at him, shocked. “You’re kidding.” 

“Nope. Mom’s been on her world tour, sending home crap from all over, and finally there didn’t seem anything else to do.” He gave her a sideways grin that told her there was probably more to the story than that, but he clearly didn’t want to talk about it. He offered her his arm again as she turned away from the door. “I talked to her about it and we went in on the shop together. She’s going to be my buyer and I’m going to run the business. A lot of what I’ve got is music related, though,” he admitted. “And I’ve maybe started a little collection of my own. I still love playing, but I like small audiences anyway, and well...if the shop does okay, then I’m hoping I’ll have a little more freedom to pick and choose my gigs without worrying about whether I’m going to eat that month.” He winced. “We’ll...see how that works out for me. Mom’s pretty gung ho, but...” He shrugged. “She never really was one for practicalities. I mean, I know I won’t starve if the place fails, she and...and Jagged would bail me out if I were really in trouble, but I really don’t want to have to fall back on that.” Marinette nodded sympathetically at the expression on his face. It seemed like he still had mixed feelings about Jagged, even after all this time, and Marinette could hardly blame him. “To be honest,” he went on, “this whole thing is kind of a gamble and I’m nervous about it, but it beats working for The Man, right?” 

“Tell me about it,” Marinette sighed.

Luka put his hand over hers where it rested on his arm and she looked up at him. “Hey,” he said, in the same gentle way he used to when they were kids. “We got this. We’re gonna kick ass and be living in luxury.”

Marinette laughed. “I’d settle for being able to afford pizza.”

Luka groaned. “Please don’t mention pizza, I’m still traumatized.”

Marinette laughed again, and leaned into his arm, and he leaned back, chuckling along with her, and...it was like nothing had ever changed. Marinette felt her breath catch and a sudden lump in her throat, and Luka paused. 

“Hey, you okay?” he asked softly, looking down at her.

Marinette nodded quickly, blinking back the tears that wanted to come out. “Sorry, I—I’m just glad to see you again, that’s all.” 

Luka smiled at her, and maybe it was just the heat but she thought he was blushing slightly. He took her hand off his arm and moved it down to his own hand, and threaded his fingers tightly through hers. “Likewise,” he said, squeezing, and Marinette smiled, squeezing back.  She was selfishly glad to find he hadn’t changed too much, deep down. His hand dwarfed hers the same way it always had, but it gave her an odd little flutter now to look at her fingers between his. They stood for just a moment, and then Luka started walking again, tugging her along with him. He let go of her hand just before they reached the group of his friends standing around and put his hand on her back instead. “Hey, guys, this is Marinette. We’ve been friends for a long time and I haven’t seen her for ages, so she’s coming along with us.” 

Marinette gave an awkward wave. “Thanks a bunch for the help,” she said, “I told Luka I’d help pick up the tab as thanks.“ They all grinned at her. 

“Congrats, you’ve just won their undying loyalty,” Luka commented dryly. “Bunch of mercenaries.” He put just a little pressure against her back and gestured vaguely. “There’s a place a couple blocks over, we were just going to walk if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course,” Marinette agreed, and the small group shuffled off. Luka let his hand fall once she started moving, but he stayed beside her, which she secretly appreciated, since the others were strangers. They seemed perfectly comfortable with each other, though, joking and shoving and teasing. Marinette found herself smiling as she watched them. This was what she was fighting so hard to protect, after all, even if it was something she couldn’t really have anymore. 

Luka touched her arm lightly, and when she looked up at him, he raised his eyebrows at her slightly in silent inquiry. She smiled at him to let him know she was good. He relaxed a little, and turned back to the conversation.

There was some friendly chaos as everyone ordered their food and Luka and Marinette negotiated the split, but finally they all had their dinners and enough chairs to seat everyone. Marinette hadn’t realized how hungry she was until her food was in front of her. 

“Ugh, I’m so hungry,” Luka moaned beside her, and there was a chorus of agreement that made her chuckle. The chatter didn’t exactly stop, but it slowed down considerably as they all applied themselves to their food. 

Marinette focused on her plate and just let the talk flow around her, thoughts drifting again to all of the things she needed to do between now and the grand opening. 

She only realized she had lost the thread of the conversation entirely when Evan’s words caught her attention again. 

“I dunno, man, this neighborhood’s had bad juju since Ladybug and Chat Noir took down Hawkmoth,” he was saying, shaking his head slightly. “The whole area was levelled. Even though Ladybug fixed it, people don’t seem to stay and businesses don’t stay open. My sister said that’s why they shut everything down and redid all the buildings. One last-ditch effort at trying to revive the place. Turn it into artisan shops, make it attractive to tourists and hipsters.”

Luka shrugged. “I feel a lot better about my chances now that I know Marinette’s next door,” he said, nudging her with his elbow and grinning at her when she swatted him. “She’s got a great head for business and marketing. It can’t be a lost cause if she’s here.” 

Marinette snorted. “Maybe it’s just all I could afford,” she said, making a face at him. 

“The price was right, that’s for sure,” Luka admitted. “Either way, it can only benefit me to have you attracting traffic next door. Although maybe I’m assuming too much, are you still doing fashion?” 

“Yes,” Marinette confirmed. “I graduated from ESMOD last year. I’ve...well, I decided the regular industry jobs aren’t for me, and that I’d be better off working somewhere where I could be the boss.” Also I can’t stay employed when I have to run off to akuma attacks constantly.

“I’m just surprised you picked this spot, that’s all,” Evan chuckled.  “I thought sailors were superstitious.” 

“We’re also cheap,” Luka snorted. “This was the best option I had that didn’t involve going to the old man, and—” 

“And that woulda been fireworks,” Dingo laughed. “I almost wish you’d suggested it so I could’ve watched the Captain freak out about it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it would have been fun for you. ” Luka threw a peanut at him. “Since I’d be the one in the blast radius, I don’t think so.” 

“Well, just so you know, I’m gonna laugh my ass off if Harvester levels this neighborhood the week after your grand opening,” Evan cut back in. 

“Unlikely,” Marinette said without thinking, and everyone turned to look at her. She blinked, and then shrugged. “Hawkmoth caused damage on purpose, to lure out Ladybug and Chat Noir because he wanted their Miraculous. Harvester doesn’t seem to care about the Miraculous; she’ll take them if she can get them, but she’s just...I don’t know, greedy. She causes plenty of damage on a small scale, but she doesn’t usually destroy whole neighborhoods. There’s nothing where we are that’s worth her targeting, though. Besides, her targets tend to be in the wealthier areas of town.” She made a slightly sour face. It was bad enough that they hadn’t managed to recover the butterfly with Hawkmoth’s defeat. It was worse that it fell into the hands of someone as selfish and greedy as Harvester. She was barely more than a petty thief, and it was a burn to Ladybug’s pride that they hadn’t been able to catch her yet. 

Trouble was, because Harvester lacked the kind of focus that Hawkmoth had had, she was less predictable, and more ruthless. There had been a certain rhythm to Hawkmoth’s attacks that Ladybug and Chat Noir had learned to work with over time to minimize damage. Harvester was much more random. She didn’t care what kind of damage she caused, she didn’t care if people got hurt—she just didn’t care, period. She wanted attention, and she wanted expensive things, and she didn’t care who suffered if she didn’t get her way. 

Scratch that. She did care about one person’s suffering—Ladybug’s. She didn’t seem to care about their Miraculous, but she wanted Ladybug. Alive if possible, but she’d shown more than once that she wasn’t opposed to Ladybug very painfully dead, either. 

Marinette shuddered.

Luka’s hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up at him, startled.

“You okay?” he asked softly, leaning in a little. 

“Yeah, of course,” she lied automatically, with a bright, extremely fake smile. “Just tired.” 

She’d forgotten how good Luka was at seeing lies. She could see in his face that he didn’t believe her, but he gave her a small smile that said it’s okay, you don’t have to tell me, and turned back to the table. 

Marinette took a breath and tried to tune back into the conversation as Dingo, Evan, and Marcie continued their good-natured ribbing over Luka’s new enterprise. 

“So how do you two know each other again?” Marcie asked, and Marinette froze, her mouth full of noodles. She glanced up and saw Marcie watching her with slightly narrowed eyes. 

“Marinette went to school with Juleka,” Luka replied easily. “We got to be friends right before I left with Jagged.” His tone was pleasant, but he cut his eyes up at Marcie in a sharp look that Marinette didn’t quite understand. Marcie clearly did, though, because she said something inane and changed the subject. Dingo and Evan exchanged a look, and then Evan looked down at his plate and Dingo looked at Marinette with a thoughtful expression—or at least she thought so, but it was hard to tell because he was still wearing his sunglasses.

She was having trouble getting that mouthful of noodles down with him looking at her like that.

“Ding,” Luka said mildly, without looking away from his own food, and Dingo huffed, shook his head, and went back to eating. 

It still took effort to chew and swallow, and Marinette shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and began trying to think of a way to make her exit. Before she could, Luka put down his chopsticks and started closing the containers nearest to him. “Well,” he said, “I’m really grateful for the help today, guys. You guys can all consider one favor knocked off the big stack that every single one of you owes me.” 

There was laughter and protests, and Luka raised his voice to be heard over them. “But I’m exhausted, and I still have to shower and get at least enough of my stuff unpacked that I have somewhere to sleep tonight, so I think I’m going to head back. Are you still eating, Marinette?”

“Oh, no, I’m good,” Marinette said hastily, recognizing the out as she began packing up her own containers. “Mind if I walk back with you?”

“Sure,” Luka smiled. 

“Hey Lu,” Dingo called after them, and Luka looked back as he opened the door and held it for Marinette. “Don’t be a dumbass, man.”

Luka just flipped Dingo off with his free hand and followed Marinette out of the door. 

“They know, huh?” Marinette muttered as the door fell shut behind them, and Luka sighed. 

“Yeah,” he said. “Not the details, but...enough. I’m sorry they made you uncomfortable.” 

Marinette shrugged. “Not like I don’t deserve it.” 

Luka put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed in a light half hug, turning her in the right direction as they started walking. “I forgave you a long time ago, for what it’s worth. We were just dumb kids. Not to say the feelings weren’t real, but let’s just say we hadn’t exactly reached the age of sober judgement yet and leave it at that, okay?”

Marinette shook her head. “I still feel like I...owe you an apology for all that. I wasn’t very considerate of your feelings. If...if it hadn’t been for Adrien…” Marinette began, and trailed off as Luka’s arm tightened around her. “It’s just,” Marinette tried to control her breathing, and blinked quickly to keep the tears back. “I tried so hard to keep everything together, and it all kind of fell apart anyway, and looking back, I just...wish I’d made some different choices about my priorities. About which people I put my energy into. I’m just...I’m sorry I didn’t choose you, Luka. I’m...sorry I didn’t stay in touch after you left.” 

Luka blew out a slow breath. “It was a crazy time for both of us. That year with Jagged, it was...it was a lot. I’m honestly not sure I’d have been able to keep up my end, so. Don’t worry about it.”

“You...still don’t get along with Jagged too well?” Marinette ventured.

Luka rolled his eyes. “Having one parent constantly acting like a child was more than enough, I really didn’t need a second parent to take care of.” He winced. “Sorry, that came out a lot more bitter than I meant. It’s not like I expected him to act like a dad, but…” Luka shook his head. “Anyway, a year of that lifestyle was enough. I finally told him I was going home. I’m not interested in anything he can give me. Maybe it would have been different, if I’d done it on my own, but...there is no on my own anymore. I can’t make it in that industry without being attached to him, and I just...don’t want that.” He gave her a rueful grin. “Is that stupid?”

“No,” Marinette said, reaching up and curling her hand around his where it rested on her shoulder. “No, not all.”

He smiled at her, and she dropped her hand. They walked in silence the rest of the way. 

“Well, home sweet home,” Luka said, letting his arm fall as they walked up the steps to the balcony that ran along the back of the buildings, providing outdoor access to their apartments. “This gonna be weird,” he admitted, as they paused in front of his door. “I’ve never lived alone before.” 

“Me neither,” Marinette admitted with a nervous giggle.

Luka smiled at her. “Well, if you ever need anything, or you just want to talk or hangout or whatever.” He nodded to his door. “You know where to find me.” 

“That’s a dangerous promise,” Marinette tried to smile, but she wasn’t sure it worked. “You did so much for me before, and never got anything back for it. I feel like I took advantage of you.”

“You didn’t,” Luka replied immediately, like she should have known he would. “Marinette, even if that were true, and I really don’t think it is...I never did any of that for...payback, or something. I wasn’t expecting anything out of you. I just wanted you to be happy.”

Marinette couldn’t think of anything to say to that. It was true that everything he’d done for her, he’d done voluntarily, and that she had done some things for him, although they were more really for Kitty Section as a whole, but...it didn’t change the way she felt. She’d failed Luka, just like she failed everyone that cared about her. 

She jolted slightly when she felt his hand on her shoulder again. Luka let go quickly, his hand hovering there as he looked over her face. She started to open her mouth to apologize, but Luka let his hand drop. “I’ll see you soon, neighbor,” was all he said, and then he turned to unlock his own door. He gave her a smile over his shoulder, and though it looked different on his adult face, it was the same smile he used to give her, the one that said he had faith in her, no matter whether she had any in herself at the moment. 

Then his door closed with a quiet click, and she was standing there alone.

“Marinette,” Tikki whispered after a moment, reaching out of Marinette’s purse to touch her hand.

Marinette jumped slightly, and then turned to her own door, fumbling her keys out. She unlocked it and went inside.

“Marinette?” Tikki zipped out of her purse to float at eye level, her expression sympathetic and concerned. 

Marinette gave her a weak smile. “I can’t decide if I’m glad he’s there, or if I’m upset about it. He’s always been so observant. What if…” She trailed off, and folded her arms uncomfortably. 

Tikki tilted her head slightly. “Is that really what you’re worried about?” 

Marinette bit her lip. “Not really,” she admitted. “It’s just…” She folded her arms and chewed her lip, trying to find a way to articulate her feelings. “Luka’s easy to depend on,” she said softly. “Having him right there...I’m not sure it’s good for me. I’m afraid I’ll...I don’t know. Be tempted to lean on him more than I should, and end up hurting him all over again. Not that—not that he feels the same as he did back then, but Luka’s still Luka, he just...he’s a helper, and I’ll end up asking too much and he’ll resent me and he’ll end up selling his shop just to get away from me and—”

“Marinette!” Tikki waved her arms to catch her attention. “Okay, I get it. But Luka does live next door and there’s nothing either of you can do about that now. So what can we do?” 

Marinette sighed. “I just have to be careful,” she decided. “I have to make sure I don’t ask him for too much. For...for some things, maybe, because Luka’s discreet and he doesn’t ask questions so there might be times when I can ask him to cover for me and stuff...but not too much. Only when I really need it.”

“Okay.” Tikki flew in close and laid a paw on Marinette’s cheek. “That sounds like a good plan. We just take one day at a time, right?” 

“One day at a time,” Marinette agreed, and then smiled. “And we still have to get this apartment fit to live in, so let’s let the others out and get started making this place into home. We can do the groceries tomorrow.” Dinner with Luka had not been in her schedule, after all, but...this once, she didn’t mind.

“That’s the spirit!” Tikki cheered, and followed Marinette towards the bedroom.

It was weird, that first night, with the smell of fresh paint and cardboard, and all the noises from outside that were so different than the ones she was used to. It was hard to go to sleep, especially when there was so much to do, but the kwamis finally bullied her to bed, and their presence tucked in all around her gave her enough comfort to doze off. The same weirdness woke her early in the morning, and she wandered around her apartment like a zombie in her striped pajama pants and tank as she waited for her coffee to be ready. 

She was halfway through her second mug, still staring blankly at the pile of boxes and making absent noises of agreement now and then at the chattering kwami perched around her, when a knock on her door made her jump and sent the kwamis scattering for cover. 

Frowning, Marinette padded to the door in her bare feet, coffee cup in hand, and stood on her toes to peek out of the slightly-too-high peephole. 

“Luka?” she said in surprise, and opened the door.

“Hey,” he smiled at her. “I was going to do a grocery run, and I saw you didn’t have a car, so...I thought maybe you’d like a ride with me?” He held up a motorcycle helmet. “Not exactly the same as my old bike,” he grinned, “But if memory serves, you can handle it.” 

Marinette burst into giggles. “I can handle anything you can handle,” she said when she could control herself, folding her arms and cocking a hip. 

Luka’s smile warmed, and he winked at her. “Finish your coffee and meet me downstairs in ten.” 

It took most of that time for her to dig out her riding gear; she hadn’t expected to need it anytime soon, so it wasn’t particularly accessible, but thanks to her overly detailed box organization system, augmented by a little kwami assistance, she found the right box and got it open, pulling out her black padded jacket with pink panels on the sides, and her carefully-packed black and pink helmet with her flowers stenciled on the side. A little more digging found black motorcycle boots with pink hardware up the side to hold the lacing. She put it all on over a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and hurried for the door.

“Wait!” Kaalki cried, bursting out of another box, towing something sparkly. “Don’t forget these! You haven’t seen him in years, so you simply must look fabulous !” 

Marinette giggled and took the glasses Kaalki held out to her. “Thanks, Kaalki.” 

“They’re not as good as mine,” Kaalki huffed, fluffing her mane. “But they’ll do.” 

Luka did a double-take when he saw her, his eyebrows practically flying off his forehead they shot up so fast. Marinette giggled at his reaction. “Grandma,” she shrugged with a grin, and slid the chrome riding glasses with pink lenses and rhinestones lining the frame. Luka burst out laughing. 

“You look amazing,” he said, trying to stifle the laugh. 

“Thank you,” Marinette sniffed. “She decked me out so she could take me on a road trip for my eighteenth birthday.” 

“Nice,” Luka grinned, zipping up his own padded jacket and swinging one leg over the bike. “I want to hear all about it later.” He jerked his head. “Come on, hop aboard. I hope your list isn’t too long, we can’t carry too much on this thing, but we should be able to get the essentials.”

Marinette didn’t bother answering, putting on her helmet instead and then climbing aboard behind Luka. Her list had been long, but she could live without most of it for a few days. This might actually work out better, giving her a chance to get the essentials so she’d have less to carry when she went back for the rest. 

Luka showed her where to put her feet, and grinned back at her before he strapped on his own helmet. “Just like old times.”

“Not quite like old times,” she giggled, putting her hands on his waist. “I’m really glad to have you back though,” she said quietly, not sure whether she wanted him to hear her or not. 

He must have heard though, because Luka put one gloved hand over hers for just a moment, and then started the bike. “Tap my shoulder twice if you need me to stop,” he called back as he backed them out of the space. He blew out a breath, and then flipped down his helmet’s visor and took off. 

It had been a while since she’d been on a motorcycle, so she tried to concentrate on moving with him as they rode. She was rewarded by a smile when they dismounted the bike and Luka pulled his helmet off. “Your grandma’s a good teacher,” he said. “You’re easy to ride with.”

“Thanks,” Marinette smiled, letting him stow her gear with his. “Don’t buy any bread,” she warned him as they walked into the store. “My parents are going to be by sometime today or tomorrow I’m sure, and as soon as they hear you’re my neighbor I know they’ll bring extra.” 

“I’m not going to say no to that,” Luka chuckled. “Anything your dad makes is going to be way better than anything they’ll have here.” They shared a smile, and a slightly awkward silence fell between them as they each picked up baskets and started walking through the store. Marinette wondered if she should go off on her own, but the store wasn’t that big and she’d probably keep bumping into him and then that would be weird and she couldn’t just ditch him— 

“How are your folks doing these days?” Luka asked, picking up a box off the shelf.

“O-oh, they’re...they’re good. Well. I mean, pretty much the same as always, you know?” she said, flustered. 

“How are they handling you moving out?” he asked, smiling as he put the box in his basket and then stuck his hand in his pocket as they strolled forward. 

Marinette let her head drop back and gave a sigh of longsuffering. “They’re...doing their best,” she giggled. “They’re very enthusiastic, but…”

“Holding a lot back?” Luka smiled. 

“Not very successfully,” Marinette giggled. “What about you, how’s your family doing? How’s J-Juleka?” she asked, and tensed when Luka gave her a sideways glance.

“Pretty good,” he said, selecting a box from the shelf to put in his basket. “I haven’t told her yet that I ran into you.” He glanced at her again. “You want me to, or should I not? I know you girls lost touch a while ago.”

Marinette shrugged without looking at him, blushing faintly. “I don’t mind. We didn’t have a falling out or anything, just you know...time, and stuff. She probably doesn’t want to hear from me, maybe you should just not mention it.”

Luka smiled, eyes on the shelf as they strolled. “I don’t know. Juleka and me, we were always taught that people have to live their lives, you know? You appreciate them while you have them, and you let them go when your paths drift apart. You were always going places, Marinette, everybody knew that. I don’t think Juleka will hold it against you.” His smile broadened, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “She’s been doing some dream chasing of her own, after all.” 

“Really?” Marinette said, taking the phone when he handed it to her. She looked at the image and her mouth dropped open. “Oh my gosh, she really did it? She’s a model?”

“Cosmetics mostly so far,” Luka told her with a smile. “She’s trying to get into clothing and runway but she’s done really well with the cosmetics companies. Her eyes are so amazing and her skin’s always been flawless.”

“She looks beautiful,” Marinette sighed, handing the phone back. “Is she happy?”

“She seems to be.” Luka pocketed the phone, and went back to shopping, giving a pointed look at Marinette’s empty basket. She hurriedly turned to the shelves too, trying to make herself focus on her list. “Anyway, she’s had to let a few things go in the process, so I think she’d understand. She did have to get a new number a while back, but I can give her yours if you want me to.” 

“Well…” Marinette still felt a flutter of nerves, but she pushed it down. “Sure.” She smiled weakly. “You always make everything so easy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Luka chuckled. 

“It is,” Marinette smiled. 

“It’s the same for me, you know,” Luka said, and Marinette blinked at him in confusion. “About the friends coming and going, I mean. It’s just a part of life, Marinette. It’s not something you should be embarrassed or ashamed about. It’s just the way things are.” He gave her a kind smile. “There were a lot of friends I left behind that year with Jagged. I wasn’t kidding about how busy I was.”

Marinette smiled, though she kept her focus on the shelves. “You’re still friends with Dingo.”

“Don’t remind me,” Luka chuckled. “I can’t get rid of him. There’s some people, you know, where no matter how long you go without talking. With Dingo, no matter how much time passes, it’s like we last talked yesterday. Besides, he knows all my secrets. I can’t afford to cut him loose.” 

Marinette sighed. “That must be nice though. Having someone who knows you that well.”

“Sometimes,” Luka agreed. “Though mostly he just uses it to make my life hell. Thank God he’s still chasing Brielle or I’d never get rid of him. He has to pretend to be an adult at least half the time to convince her he’s still worth wasting her time on.” 

“Wow, they’re still together?” Marinette giggled. “That’s impressive.” 

“They are, they aren’t, they are again. It’s…” Luka shook his head. “Not my idea of the ideal relationship, but it works for them—well, most of the time—so…” he shrugged. “I’m chronically single, though, so who am I to judge.”

“Really?” Marinette finally looked up at him. “Why? I mean—” she turned red and spluttered, and Luka had to dodge her flying grocery basket as she tried to frantically erase the question with her flailing hands. “Ooooh, I’m sorry, that was so nosy.” 

“It’s okay,” Luka laughed. “Relax, Marinette. What about you? Anyone special in your life?” 

Marinette’s face heated, but she figured Luka was the last person on earth likely to judge her relationship history. “Me? Oh, no. I had a few flings in high school and uni, but…” she shrugged. “They never lasted long. I’m...not very good at casual, but I don’t have a lot of time to give a relationship. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried it all tended to fall apart sooner rather than later. Eventually, I just stopped trying.”

“Timing,” Luka sighed sympathetically, shaking his head, “Timing is a bitch, no doubt.” 

Marinette hunched her shoulders a little. “You can say that again.” 

Luka touched her arm gently, and they finished the rest of their shopping with lighter small talk, mostly about all the crazy shenanigans Anarka was up to now that she was free and unfettered with both of her children out of the house. 

It took some ingenuity to get their purchases loaded on the bike, and Marinette had a few things precariously wedged between herself and Luka, but they made it home without losing anything, and that was what mattered. 

Luka stopped at his door, while Marinette kept walking to hers. She was still trying to get her keys out of her pocket when Luka got his door open. 

“Marinette,” he said, and she looked at him in surprise. “If you need anything, let me know, okay?” 

“Oh...um, sure,” Marinette said as brightly as she could, remembering her vow the night before not to ask him for anything more than necessary.

“I mean it.” Luka held her gaze for a moment and grinned. “Because I have like a million favors I’d like to ask, and I need to start stockpiling on my end. I could use some help with branding and advertising, for starters.” 

Marinette blinked, and then laughed, and she saw his shoulders relax a bit. 

“You can just ask, you know,” she told him, and Luka shook his head. 

“Nope. Fair’s fair. Every artist deserves payment for their work, I just don’t have the cash handy for it. So if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. It’ll be a down payment on designing my new signage.” He grinned at her one more time, and then opened his door and was gone. 

That was...so Luka, she thought affectionately, coming up with a way to put the offer of his help out there in a way she couldn’t refuse. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be mad at him for daring to see through her so easily.

Well. She definitely didn’t want a repeat of last time, where she was constantly taking from him and giving nothing in return. But surely, an equal trade would be okay? She could do that without making it weird. 

She opened her door and stepped inside, and was immediately swarmed by kwami hoping for a snack. “Only one each!” she scolded them all, making her way to the kitchen. “We’re never going to make this work if you’re constantly eating me out of house and home.”

“Did you enjoy your trip?” Sass asked her, and she met his knowing smile. 

“Yes, I did,” she said, lifting a finger to poke him in the belly. “It’s good to see him again.” She smiled. “He’s doing well, Sass.” 

Sass chuckled, still giving her that same look. “That isss good to hear.” Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. 

“Are we ssstill painting the shop tomorrow?” Sass asked innocently. 

“Yes,” Marinette said firmly. “We have a lot of work to do before the grand opening.”

Fiction Master Post | LBSC 2021 Exchange Collection

[oumiyuki]

Maki Viewing

Summary: Nico brings Maki to view the cherry blossoms this year on a special day. Maki hates (loves) how Nico steals her breath away with everything she does.

Pairing: NicoMaki

Genre: Fluff, Romance

Words: 1193

 ~~Read me at AO3 or fanfiction.net too~ ^w^ ~~

Author Notes

Happy Birthday Dearest Maki-chan!!

You are simply soooooo lovely and precious and I hope you know that!! *O*

Now, may you who is reading this - enjoy~ ;D

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A gentle breeze.

Soft, sweet and gentle blows past Maki’s red curls and she looks over to see the same wind blow her senior’s sleek black hair that said senior held back from becoming a mess, and eyes closed for a moment from the chilly air.

Baka…

Maki purses her lips at the girl walking beside her. “Have you not seen enough of this already?”

I know you’ve been here so many times now.

Bright ruby eyes looked at her, directly at her, it made Maki squirm from the inside.

W-What is with her? Looking at me so…honest and straightforward…

“What do you mean?” The shorter girl asked innocently.

“This.” Maki gestures all around her as she looks to the cherry blossom trees all around them as Nico brought her here for flower viewing.

You’ve already been here so many times with others… N-Not that I’m thinking that I wanted to come along too. Or that I wished I could be the first one to see it with Nico-chan!

Nico blinks as she reaches an understanding of her girlfriend’s concern. She has been flower viewing so many times to help Shizuku with her theatre act after all. Nico smiles, no, grins widely with too much mirth in those glittery red eyes for Maki to relax.

Ughh, she’s smiling like a little imp. Annoying imp. Annoying…cute imp. Ughhh.

“You want to know why I brought you flower viewing today, Makki~?” The Universe’s No.1 Idol flashes a blindingly huge smile at the redhead who was trying but failing to look away and be aloof.

“Maybe not?” Maki was not being honest yet again.

Uu…Nico-chan’s smile is so brilliant… Calm down, my heart!

Nico laughs and the cherry blossoms fluttering down from the top seem to giggle along. The onyx haired girl brings Maki to a top favourite spot and lays out the pretty pink picnic mat which Maki tries to help but couldn’t quite catch the ends in time so Nico smirks and spreads the picnic mat herself perfectly.

“It’s okay, Makki~ Sometimes it takes someone more skilled as myself to put out a picnic mat this perfectly.” Nico had to bring along some sass.

Again with this overconfidence! I--

Maki opens her mouth to protest but the cheeky school idol sends a quick wink that stopped Maki’s train of thought.

“A perfectly cute picnic mat for a perfectly planned flower viewing date with my perfectly wonderful girlfriend Makki-chan~” Nico ignores her own warm pink on her cheeks as she managed to secure a fully red tomato Maki with those lines.

Aaaahhhhhh!!!! What is that Nico-chan??! Why you got to be so sweet-tongued!! And why do I have to be so tongue-tied and stumped? I- I usually would be able to have a comeback… A comeback…

Violet eyes find itself lost in Nico’s movements; bringing the picnic basket out and laying some traditional snacks for the two to eat and even drinks. The pianist could only wonder how Nico could be so infuriatingly perfect and hers.

Why…

Maki’s eyebrows furrow together. Twitched with each passing second as she did her best to ignore Nico’s shenanigans. But that was impossible when she wanted to take in all of Nico’s good sides and frustrating sides.

Why does Nico-chan have to be so irksome at this moment?

“What is it?” Maki gives in to Nico’s constant batting of her eyelids and obnoxious “Hm~ hm~~? Yes~? You wanna know~~? You want to know why I brought you here for a date, right~?”

Maki shuts her eyes her face was still warm and pout evident of Nico’s teases getting to her. Nico’s presence and relentless love were getting to her.

Go on then.

Nico smiled a Cheshire grin at getting the okay to sharing her reasons for bringing her Maki to see the Sakura in full blossom.

A few seconds pass and Maki opens her eyes to see Nico sitting back, going quiet, stealing Maki’s attention. “Because…”

Because..?

“Because I wanted to see the cherry blossoms with you.”

Maki blushes harder; happens every single time Nico surprises her with such honesty.

“Each trip to see them with Nozomi and the rest was fun…and meaningful. But…each time I wondered – how nice it would be to watch them bloom and fall with you… And,” Nico smiles, like an angel in Maki’s eyes. “I’m right yet again.”

Right about..?

Maki was already lost in those glimmering with earnest love rubies and angelic voice.

“Maki looks beautiful with all the cherry blossoms dancing around her!” Nico smiles, pearly whites gleaming, her head tilted to the side as her hair that she let down today flowed to the left, and…

And Maki was speechless and awestruck and falling further down the rabbit hole of love with her Nico.

“…”

The beautiful, breathtaking one is you… baka.

Maki turns away as she picked at a traditional sweet with the toothpick her girlfriend already prepared. Poking, poking, prodding, prodding, blushing, averting her eyes that so wanted to just keep staring at Nico and all the pink petals that made a picture-perfect scene—

A click of the camera made Maki turned back surprised.

And another click made Maki blink and let out a “Hey! Wh-What are you doing?”

“Saving memories, of course, ~ And taking a picture of the Great Nico Nii I know Maki-chan would appreciate and treasure for a long, long time to come~” Nico sing-songs gleefully, proud to make her blushing princess this happy on her special day.

“Wh-Who’s going to stare at you for a long time!” Maki turns away from Nico yet again.

Ugh, why can’t I just be honest around Nico-chan?

“Hey~ Don’t turn away from Nico when she’s praising you!” Nico teases.

Maki turns her back to Nico.

I want her to tone down the tease and not tone the tease at the same time… What is with me??

“Hey!!” The older but playful black haired girl was on a roll and could not stop, so she crawls over, careful not to topple the snacks or drinks. “Makki~~!”

Ahhh, why is she—

Maki adamantly tries to but fails to hide her tomato red blush from her girlfriend that was already beside her poking that annoyingly cute and sweet smirk in her face. “Nico-chan!!”

Nico laughs; she always has her way of making Maki open up to her.

Despite Maki’s protests, Nico took many memories that day.

And Maki hates to admit it but, “T-Thank you for today…Nico-chan. It… It made me happy to get to see the cherry blossoms with you. W-Will you…bring me again next year?” Maki bites her bottom lip as she waited for an answer.

Nico had that expression again, that love-filled, shimmering ruby eyes expression that made Maki’s stomach do a flip and know just how much she is loved by Nico. “You don’t even have to ask. I’ll be taking you places, Maki-chan. Always~”

Ahh…

Maki’s heart was already a constant fast pace from the moment Nico showed up at her doorstep today to take her on a date and as it became a constant throughout the flower viewing; Maki knew.

I love her so much.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Notes

Suki? Suki? Daisuki? >//w//<

Ahhh, tell me if you blushed hard or liked this? >//w//<

Nico and Maki’s interactions just…puts a sweet grin on my face and I just…love them so much???

Writing for them, writing for Maki’s birthday this year just reminded me of how much I love NicoMaki a wholeeeee lot!!!

Ahhhh, l-leave a comment if you like… (It’s not like I really want to hear your thoughts and that I will be all smiles if you do so!!) hehehe~ :D

Once again, Happy Birthday to our Tomato Princess Blushing Darling Baby ;D

See you next story! ^w^

[ongaku-ato-kakikomi]

ooooo :0c sorry for bothering but do you think you could write for the monster prom characters with an s/o who has a really don't mess with me attitude but enjoys cute things, is kinda touch starved an' they like get hella scared when people yell at/near them

Miranda Vanderbilt:

You and Miranda were walking around local shops in town, your girlfriend wanting to see where people of your social status go shopping (you cringed a little at those words, but you know she didn’t mean any harm). Though you looked like you were hating every single spec of this outing since you had to step out of your house, you actually quite enjoyed shopping with Mir’… especially since she seems to be amazed by anything she sees.

“Love, look!” You turn your head towards the mermaid princess just in time for her to hand you a beautiful and glowing (f/c) flower that she bought while you were looking away, a bright smile on her face. “This flower is as adorable as you… You shall take it and keep it close to your heart.”

Your neutral expression suddenly breaks into a red mess when her words stab your heart, your fingers slowly picking up the flower from her own while looking at the ground.

“I-I’m not adorable…” You can’t help but silently be mesmerized by the glowing flower in your hand, already trying to think of a place to put it back at home. “… but thank you.”

Her grin stretches out at the sight of you, your eyes soon going wide when she gives your cheek a quick kiss.

“You’re adorable to me.” She just giggles when you start grumbling under your breath, her hand soon intertwining with your free one before she drags you towards another shop. “Come on now! We have so many more things to see! My kingdom is also in a lack of serfs these days… Do you think one of those shops sell them?”

You can’t help but let out a small smile as you follow her.

Damien LaVey:

The first time Damien invited you to Hell, things were awesome: You tortured a few folks, had dinner with his dads, got to meet a few dead celebrities in complete agony… but the one thing you had been looking out for the most was the tour, and Damien was more than happy to be your guide. He showed you everything he knew you would like and he fucking loved how bright your eyes were sparkling the entire time. Everything had been perfect and awesome until you both got tired, and so you decided to go back to his home.

It’s on the way back home that you met what is commonly known as a fire dog: so basically a dog from hell that is constantly on fire. The creature had been designed to be both cute and awesome, but also to help torture more humans with its deadly features. Damien was expecting you to burst in admiration at the design, but what he wasn’t expecting was for your face to turn into this mushy adorableness as you kneel in front of the creature.

“You… are… so… cute!” His eyes had gone wide in shock when you outstretched your hand gloved with fire protector to pet the said the dog, the creature leaning into your touch as you scratch its head. “Who’s a good boy? You’re a good boy!”

He couldn’t help but snort at the excessively high pitch voice you just used, not having expected that from you at all. You snap your head back at him to send him a glare, your eyes full of a dark emotion.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You.” He puts his hands into his jacket’s pocket and gives out a smirk. “You’re adorable.”

“I’m not…!” Red spreads onto your cheeks faster than a deadly disease, your gloved hand now petting the dog’s belly as it rolls onto its back. “I’m not adorable! I-I’m dangerous!”

“That too.” His smirk stretches out. “But right now, mostly adorable.”

It’s when you let out an exasperated groan that he knew you were the right one.

Scott Howl:

“(Y/N)!” You give out a yelp when large arms suddenly engulf you into a tight hug, not having expected that in the slightest since you were too enraptured into your phone’s content. “I missed you!”

You give out a light chuckle once you recognize the cheery voice of Scott, a small crimson color settling onto your skin as you pat one of his arms.

“Of course you did.” The color deepens when he rubs his cheek against yours, knowing how bright his smile must be. “… I missed you too…”

He gasps in pure joy at those words, ignoring your annoyed grumbling before he picks you up and swirls you around laughing. You almost never admit things like that, so the fact that you just said it out of nowhere made his heart burst out in happiness.

“You missed me! You said you missed me!”

“P-put me down!” You excessively move your arms with wide-open eyes until he finally puts you on the ground, trying not to let his joyful laugh affect your heartbeat so bad. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“Awn, but I like hugging you.”

“That wasn’t hugging, that was an attack!”

He tilts his head at you, confused. “It was?”

“Yeah-”

“Hey, Scott!” You jump up in fear at the sound of that voice, not liking how loud and close it was to you just now. “Are you grabbing a bite with the boys?”

You unconsciously start to tremble as Scott’s cousin speaks with him, putting a hand against your chest to slow down your breathing. The werewolf boy notices your stressful state, and though he doesn’t quite understand everything you’re going through despite you having explained it to him multiple time, he knows you don’t like when people scream, and so he shakes his head at his cousin.

“Nah, sorry.” You give out another yelp when he puts his arm around your shoulders and crushes you into another tight hug. “I’m spending the evening with (Y/N)!”

The cousin quirks an eyebrow before he shrugs and leaves. “Whatever you say, dude.”

You wait for him to have left before you shyly look away. “… Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, sweet cheeks!”

You just give out another grumble when he pinches your said cheek, only making him laugh loudly in response.

Liam de Lioncourt:

You carefully observe the purple vampire on the opposite side of the table, his yellow eyes silently reading through another old book of his while you’re trying to not bother him. You promised you’d let him read in peace and not force him on another of your dangerous adventures out of nowhere. Lucky for him, you’re not in the mood for something deadly, as he would call it.

Your (e/c) orbs slowly move away from his concentrated expression to one of his hands holding the book, your own starting to shake as you try to suppress the need to hold one of them this instant. You desperately need some touch to ease down the tension in your mind and heart, but once again; you don’t want to bother him. Plus, wouldn’t it be hard to turn the pages if he only has one hand?

The sigh escaping his lips brings you back to reality in time to notice him stretching his hand on the table towards you, your expression turning to a confused yet hopeful one as you look back to his. His eyes are still looking straight towards the content of his book, but the simple movement of his fingers urging you to take his hand gives you the answer you need.

You gently put your hand in his and you instantly feel your whole body relax, your happy smile resting on your lips despite your edgy features. Your heart melts when his thumb starts caressing your skin unconsciously, your head instantly dropping onto the table so you can hide the heat your feeling rising inside your neck.

You hate that you hear him chuckle.

“Tired?”

“Shut up.”

Polly Geist:

The blaring music and long screams around you makes your soul terrifyingly shake through your entire core. You normally never stay long at the parties Polly always invite you to; they’re loud and too crowded for your taste, but this time you wanted to force yourself to stay to spend more time with her.

Bad idea.

Now you’re looking around with fear in your eyes, all the sounds cutting through your brain like a sharp knife, and everyone’s too afraid of your tough nature to even ask if you’re okay. You don’t have the reputation of being good and kind among the monsters, and so you desperately try to spot Polly’s ghostly figure through the crowd.

You finally manage to find her, a ghostly alcohol beverage in her hands as she laughs with other strangers. You don’t care if you push a few people away while you walk towards her form, not letting your eyes wander away from her until your fingers brush against her cold shoulder.

She turns her head towards you with a wide grin, but she soon loses it when she notices your whitening expression and the slight fear jolts going through your body.

“(Y/N), what’s wrong?”

“I-I…” You stop speaking and shake your head, trying to regain some composure. “Can we go, please?”

“Yeah, of course!” She drops her cup on the ground and links her arm with yours, giving you a comforting smile while she leads you towards the exit. “Let’s go chill at your house. This party’s lame anyway.”

You give her a small smile, silently thanking her for saving you from this nightmare.

Vera Oberlin:

The gorgon girl silently types on her phone as she stares at it intently, an unreadable expression settled on her face as she exchanges orders with her minions. Boredom is swirling inside her chest, a few annoyed groans almost escaping her throat during her text conversations with mere people. Crime has been dull and repetitive today; nothing was interesting her or lightening a spark inside her heart.

She slightly stiffs up when she feels arms slowly enrapt around her form, but rapidly relaxes when you hide your face in the crook of her neck and exhale in relief. She frees one of her hands to carefully let her fingers go through your hair, feeling your own body relax through her touch. She gives out a small smile, slightly turning her head to give the top of your head a kiss before she continues to type.

“Hard day?”

You tighten your grip on her, your face slightly rubbing against her skin in the process. “Hm-hm.”

Before she got to know you, she would never have guessed how much you needed touch, but she would lie if she said she didn’t like it.

“Crime’s not interesting today.” She puts her phone on the counter and frees herself from your arms to be able to turn around, her hands rapidly cupping your cheeks as her eyes lay on your tired expression. “How about a day in? Just us two?” 

The light firing up in your eyes is the only answer she needs.

[smellslikestalejam]

QiongQi Path

or me fixing my very bwoken heart

Excuse my English but this is my first non-italian fic soooooo be kind and help me improve, and bear with me this one time pleaseeee

Fun fact: this turned out way longer than I had imagined :D

Word count: 11.667

When Jin ZiXuan had run into his half-brother Jin GuangYao, he had felt that something was off. Looking at his face, he soon realised. It was like he had caught him off guard, and had managed to catch a glimpse of real emotions that were soon hidden behind MengYao’s notorious smile.

“Xuan-Ge”

“A-Yao, is everything all right?”

Jin GuangYao lowered his gaze to the ground in a seemingly helpless way. “I swear I tried to stop him, but he just…”

“Who? What is going on?”

“It is Jin JiXun. He called up a group of disciples and went to the Burial Mounds”

Jin GuangYao had added a certain urgency to his tone which ZiXuan had never heard before.

“He said he was going to avenge himself”

Avenge himself… “Wei WuXian”

Jin GuangYao nodded and swallowed anxiously. A sense of horror started building up in ZiXuan’s mind. It was not actually worried for Wei WuXian as much as he was for his bride, YanLi. He knew she would have never forgiven him if something had happened to her half-brother. “When”

“Less than half an hour ago… Xian-Ge, you are not thinking about chasing after him, are you?”

Jin ZiXuan nodded and looked into the distance, taking a hold of his sword. It was his duty, after all. He did not even let his half-brother add anything. As he started running down the flights of stairs, he thought he had seen half a smirk on Jin GuangYao’s face… But sure it was just a trick of his mind, he mounted his sword and hurried to Yunmeng. 

He had thought he could have directly gone to the Burial Mounds, but the truth was that he did not want to face either his cousin or his brother-in-law alone. It was not out of fear: were the moment to be different, he would have just gone by himself. What changed is that he had just issued an invitation for Wei WuXian to come to his son’s first month celebration. It had been a long time since he had seen YanLi being that happy. ZiXuan, he told himself, was simply carrying out his basic husband duties. By going alone, he knew that sparring with Wei WuXian was simply unavoidable. And how could he then stand his brother-in-law during all the ceremony? He had decided on calling up his other brother-in-law, Jiang WanYin. He knew YanLi would have been happy when he told her he had worked with her brother to save Wei WuXian; bonus points if he had managed to make them get along again. To ZiXuan, that was not a double-win but a triple-win, and the more, the merrier, he managed to think before Lotus Pier came into sight.

Jiang WanYin was on his clan leader chair, polishing his sword. His jaw was clenched, his muscles tense; on his wrist, ZiDian was beaming purple rays and slightly trembling. He knew many doctors had told him to make his anger flow through all his bearings but where ZiDian was. Easier said than done. He was on edge. His rage, he thought, it was like waves in a pond, and could be felt by the people around him. That was why there actually was nobody around him. He was a good sect leader, mind it. He cared for his people and his servants, who were respectful and loyal. Everybody knew that the one thing Jiang-ZhongZhu could not stand was treason. Break a promise and you would have had to face his rage, and it was fair to say that nobody wanted that, thank you. He exhaled stroking SanDu and smiled in delight when he saw his reflection staring back at him. Smile that soon turned into a frown when a much scared disciple entered the room. 

“SandDu ShengShou”

Jiang Cheng lifted his eyes from his sword in silence.

“Somebody just arrived and asked for you”

Jiang Cheng rose and sheathed SanDu. The disciple led him to one of the guest rooms.

“Bring some tea”

The disciple fled, scared by the sharp tone of his sect leader. Jiang Cheng trailed his disciple with his eyes until he turned and disappeared; only then did he open the door to reveal the annoyance. Much to his surprise, it had a name he had never expected to meet by himself in the Lotus Pier: Jin ZiXuan. He was pacing the small room anxiously, biting his nails and fidgeting with the pendant on his sword. 

“Is YanLi here too?”

ZiXuan shook his head.

“Then why are you here”

Jin ZiXuan tried to ignore the hostility he felt in Jiang WanYin’s tone. He got closer to him and lowered his voice.

“Wei WuXian is in trouble”

“And how has that anything to do with me? Shall I remind you that he has defected from my Yunmeng Jiang clan? if he stirs up any problem, that is not mine to deal with”

The few moments of silence that followed felt like eternity to both of them. Jin ZiXuan was staring blankly at the floor, trying to gather up something he could say. Luckily, the other broke the silence first.

“For the record… what did he do?”

“That is the problem: nothing”

Jiang Cheng sighed heavily. Even when Wei WuXian does nothing, he thought, it is like trouble is always catching up to him. During the darkest hours of his sleepless nights, Jiang Cheng had often wished his father had never brought the kid back home. Yet the past is in the past, and there was nothing he could do about it. He shrugged his shoulders.

“And why would you need my help? I thought the great Jin ZiXuan could do everything on his own”

The sarcastic tone of his brother-in-law went under ZiXuan’s skin. He humphed, the turned his back to the man in front of him.

“Normally, that is what I would do – or better, I would not get involved in the first place.” The pause following what he said allowed him to arrange his words in a somewhat-logical order. “But Wei Ying has been invited to A-Ling’s first month celebration and everything is now more complicated. I would hate to disappoint YanLi, and so I thought that if the two of us could go and help out, maybe–”

Jin ZiXuan got cut off mid-sentence as Jiang Cheng stormed out of the room. He came back right after, wearing his over-vest and holding SanDu in his hands.

“I am only doing this for my shi-jie”

Wei Ying was walking, and he was relaxed. Off-guard, one might say; but the boy was sure nothing could harm him. One of his hands was deep-buried in his left pocket, holding a small wooden box which was, to him, invaluable. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy the completely unexpected moment he was living. When he had woken up that same morning, he hadn’t planned a thing for the day. Around midday, Wen Qing had given him a bag of radishes and sent him off to the market to exchange them for some other things he did not care enough about to remember. He handed the heavy, oh so heavy! bag to Wen Ning and had him carry it all the way down to YiLing. They then sat and waited. Almost two hours had passed, but they still hadn’t sold a single radish. Suddenly, a shadow came into sight and stopped right in front of them. Bored, Wei WuXian did not even bother to look up at the person’s face. He simply waited for Wen Ning to showcase what they had to sell. 

“Wei Ying”

How strange, Wei WuXian thought, Wen Ning’s voice sounds nothing like Wen Ning. As a matter of facts, it is very similar to…

“Lan Zhan?!”

Wei Ying rose to look at the other man’s face. It was Lan Zhan indeed, he stated, and smiled.

“What brings you here this time? Last time I saw you, I thought we had said good-bye for good… tell me the truth, you just can’t get enough of me now, can you?”

It was like something had awoken inside him. What he had thought to be a boring day was now turning into an unexpected surprise. Lan Zhan scoffed. His expression was neutral as always, but Wen Ning could have sworn he had seen the white-clothed man’s ears turn red. 

“Take this”

WangJi handed Wei WuXian some folded papers. The cultivator in black robes was rather puzzled. Lan Zhan had come all the way to YiLing just to give him a letter? He laughed nervously under the man’s attentive gaze. Getting the hint, he opened what he had in his hands and started reading.

Lan WangJi was following the movement Wei Ying’s lips made as he read the letter. He found it endearing to watch – the way they opened and closed without letting out no sound whatsoever. Sensing Wei WuXian had almost got through the entire paper, he forced himself to lift his eyes from the boy. HanGuang Jun had no intention to be caught staring at Wei Ying’s lips, that was for sure. He had insisted on personally delivering the news to Wei WuXian. For safety reasons, he had told his brother. But the truth was he had never been able to pull off lies well. He went back concentrating on Wei Ying, who had leaned on a wall and slid all the way to the ground. He called the boy’s name again.

“Wei Ying, is everything okay?”

Wei WuXian gazes upon him, his emotions concealed behind his expression.

“Are you really asking?! No, this is not okay…”

Lan Zhan could feel something break inside him. All had he planned but this reaction. Maybe it was his own fault. Maybe it would have been better if he had just sent off the letter without going himself. 

“This is the best thing ever!”

Wei Ying jumped on his two feet and carefully folded the paper. He then put it in his pocket. Lan Zhan stood still and emotionless… at least on the outside. Suddenly, he felt a grip around his wrist. Next thing he knew, he was being pulled around through the roads of YiLing. Wen Ning was following behind them carrying the bag of radishes. Out of the blue, Wei Ying stopped. Lan Zhan halted right before crushing into him – but that was not the case for Wen Ning. He was looking around, distracted by a small child. Lan Zhan felt a shove on his back and fell on Wei Ying. The boy lost his balance and fell with Lan Zhan on top of him. The white clothed cultivator got up quickly and dusted his clothes, not daring to meet his companion’s gaze. Wei Ying carelessly hold onto his wrist and dragged him into a shop.

“I know you went there, to the Burial Mounds, I mean. How… is it?”

Jin ZiXuan’s voice was pretty much carried away by the winds. It took Jiang Cheng a few moments to actually get what the other was saying. The silence in between them was awkward – but after the question, Jiang Cheng missed it already.

“What, are you scared?”

Jin ZiXuan blushed and looked away. He was not a coward; yet, he feared the army of Wen remnants his father had warned him against.

“A-Die, he told me about the YiLing Patriarch’s army and I just wanted to know what to expect”

Jiang Cheng let out a laughter. ZiXuan rolled his eyes.

“Oh, I don’t want to spoil the surprise!”

The Chief Cultivator started descending, leaving a much confused ZiXuan floating mid-air. He went after him.

As they were hovering closer to the ground, their ears grasped a familiar sound: clash of swords. They hurried and jumped down their own blade, straight down to the dusty ground. They followed the sound running. Its source was a group of Jin and Lan disciples fighting against Wei WuXian and his Ghost General. ZiXuan and Jiang Cheng exchanged a look before diving right into the clash. Wei Ying had his eyes pinned to Wen Ning as he played ChenQing. The tune was sharp but under control as his movements were. In spite of that, Jiang Cheng noticed, something about Wen Ning felt off. Shrugging his shoulders, he got into the field to understand what was going on. 

“Young Master Jin JiXun gathered us all up for revenge” one disciple muttered in between the clashes. Jiang Cheng approached his half-brother from behind. He shook his shoulder and made him turn. In the process, Wei Ying’s grip around ChenQing loosened and the instrument fell to the ground. Jiang Chen stiffened and stared right into his brother’s eyes. If his instrument was lying on the ground, then why the sound was still filling the air?

“What– How are you doing this? Stop it!”

Wei WuXian was about to say he knew nothing about it, but his words died out in his throat as he proceeded to cough up blood. Jiang Cheng’s face paled and gazed around, holding his brother with an arm. The music that was being played was chaotic and ominous.

“Jin ZiXuan, watch out!”

ZiXuan ducked Wen Ning’s attack and jumped down to where Jiang Cheng was standing. He too noticed Wei WuXian was not the one playing. He held on to his sword and countered a few hits.

All of a sudden, the eerie music stopped and so did Wen Ning. Yet, some disciples were still stabbing him and cutting his flesh with their swords. Jin ZiXuan rushed in to stop them, shielding Wen Ning with his own body.

“Stop now! Can’t you see he is no longer mov–”

ZiXuan felt a sharp pain in his harm and drove his hand to touch his source. Touching his shoulder, he felt the heat of blood. A disciple threw his sword to the ground, backing off as if it had burnt him. ZiXuan puffed in annoyance. Looking around, he spotted his cousin and quickly paced all the way then led to him.

“Jin JiXun”

“Don’t – you don’t know what he did to me!”

ZiXuan was holding on his arm, the sleeve now crimson red. 

“Why not tell me then?! This is a waste of blood, look!”

JiXun stomped his feet and frowned. He then looked around and pointed to Wei Ying. ZiXuan shook his head and laid his hand on JiXun’s shoulder. 

“Report to a-die and let me deal with his now”

Defeated, Jin JiXun commanded the disciples to mount on their swords and to carry the dead bodies back to Carp Tower. He then turned his head towards Wei WuXian and squinted.

“This is not over”

He then took off, quickly catching up to the disciples and disappearing in the distance.

Wei Ying lightly shoved away Jiang Cheng, who was still holding him, and looked around. There were both fear and anxiety in his eyes. One could dare to say that in that very moment he was oozing resentful energy in the form of black mist surrounding his body. 

“Wei WuXian, they are gone, you can stop worrying now”

Wei WuXian was tongue-tied. They didn’t  know Lan Zhan was there before they had arrived, but he did. They did not know how he just… jumped away and disappeared. What if he was dead? In that case, Wei Ying would have never forgiven himself. In the end, WangJi was there only because of him.

“Lan Zhan… have you seen him somewhere?”

“It was us who saved you, not him. Aren’t we worthy enough to save the great YiLing Patriarch? Wei WuXian, you really are –”

The sound of leaves being pressed down by footsteps caught their attention. Wen Ning was like a motionless statue, so it was not him for sure. Maybe a disciple left behind? That couldn’t have been either. The steps were too heavy and dragged to be the ones of a young cultivator, as long as the cultivator wasn’t hurt. But if that was the case… 

Jin ZiXuan and Jiang Cheng hurried towards the source of the noise, their swords held tight in their hands. Wei Ying was catching up behind them, and overtook them the very moment they rounded the corner. He looked around restlessly, turning his head back and forth as if he wanted to detach it from his own body. He then froze on the spot and started running.

“Lan Zhan, what – what happened?!”

WangJi’s robe, usually perfectly white, was crimson red where his leg was. He was limping and dragging his foot with dignity. He was not moaning, not even complaining, but his eyes were telling a totally different story. Wei Ying got closer and made him lean on his own body. 

“HanGuang Jun”

As soon as he heard the other two cultivators’ voices, WangJi stiffened and pushed WeiYing aside. 

“Jiang WanYin, Jin ZiXuan”

“Can’t you forget about fucking politesse for once? You are bleeding, for fuck’s sake! And if you let me carry you maybe, just maybe, we will get to Wen Qing before you bleed to death!”

WangJi didn’t dare to clap back. Much to Wei Ying’s surprise, Lan Zhan just laid on his back. Wei WuXian then looked at Jiang Cheng and Jin ZiXuan. 

“Are you coming?”

Jin ZiXuan was tempted to simply mount on his sword and fly away. But then again, he felt too weak and knew he would have risked too much. Wen Qing was the doctor they had met in Gusu. With a cut like his, surely some medical help wouldn’t hurt him. He resorted to nodding. Wei Ying looked at Jiang Cheng and extended his hand towards him.

“What do you think we are, kids or something? I am not holding your hand going into the Burial Mounds”

Jin ZiXuan couldn’t hold in his laughter.

“I think he is asking you to give him back his dizi”

Jiang Cheng puffed and handed back ChenQing to his rightful owner, who started playing it immediately. As soon as he heard the melody, Wen Ning moved as if he had just woken up. He touched his head with his hands. 

“Gong-zi, what happened? My head… hurts”

“We have to go back to Wen Qing. Wen Ning, do you need help standing?”

Wen Ning shook his head, and almost fall to the ground as he did. 

“Jiang Cheng, help him, won’t you?”

Wen Ning felt ashamed and didn’t dare to look at Jiang Cheng’s face. He knew – as he could feel it – that the young sect leader blamed him for Wei WuXian’s change of heart. He made an effort to walk on his own, but ended up almost falling instead. Almost, as Jiang Cheng caught him in time. Wen Ning’s head felt like it was exploding. Sounds and light surrounding him felt dimmed and muffled. He stopped trying and simply gave in, fully relying on Jiang Cheng’s strength. He recalled the time before he had become what he was, he feared Ghost General. He had carried sect leader Jiang on his own shoulders, and later on he had helped his sister with the golden core secret business. Actually, he thought, Jiang-Zhongzhu is right about me. 

“He cares much more about you than he ever did about me”

Jiang Cheng was mad. Wei Ying – his brother – had not only completely ignored him, but also forced him to carry one of his lackeys back to the Burial Mounds. Wen Ning could do nothing but say quiet. Although he knew that wasn’t the truth, surely he wouldn’t have believed him anyway. 

Jin ZiXuan walked cautiously behind Wei WuXian. By doing this, he was sure none of the terrible Wen remnants-soldiers could have gotten onto him. If what his father had heard was correct, the YiLing Patriarch had no less than a thousand soldiers under him, of which at least a few hundreds were fierce corpses like Wen Ning. The only thing he was sure about is that they would never attack their master, and so he tried to stick to him as close as he could. The path steepened and got more and more narrow and obstructed. Jin ZiXuan’s heart was racing. He hated puppets: his memories from the SunShot Campaign were still there, and pretty vivid too. Wei WuXian did notice the nervousness of the cultivator walking up behind him, and he giggled. He wanted to savour the last bit of fear he could take out of that peacock. He knew that, once discovered what the deal of his Burial Mounds was really about, all the fear would have just vanished. Then why not enjoy it while it lasted?

Wen Qing was anxiously looking up at the sky. It was getting late, and neither Wei Ying nor her brother were back. Had something happened to them? She turned to her popo, who was plying with A-Yuan among the lotuses. She smiled briefly and slowly paced her way to the path leading to YiLing City. All of a sudden, she heard sounds of people getting closer – but her relief quickly turned into panic when she noticed two people alone couldn’t have made all that noise. Was it the end? I should run, she thought. Run, tell popo to hide away with A-Yuan; but she was paralysed. The footsteps were getting closer. A head popped out, and Wen Qing’s heart skipped a bit. It was Wei Ying. She stepped furiously towards him, about to scream at his fucking face how fucking dared he to be back this late?! Then she stopped in her track as she noticed he was not alone. He was carrying Lan WangJi on his back, and being followed by Jin ZiXuan. Behind them, Jiang WanYin was aiding Wen Ning.

“Wei Ying, what happened? Why are they covered in blood? Wen Ning! What’s wrong with him? You’d better answer now or I swear I’ll…”

Her brother looked at her straight in the eyes,

“Jie… it was my fault, I lost control and…”

“Wen Qing, there’s no time to explain, Lan Zhan’s leg is badly injured”

As much as she wanted to turn her back on him, something inside her prevented her from doing so. She headed towards the Demon Subduing Cave and told them to follow her. An ambush… She knew nothing good was on their horizon. It was too good to last, she knew it pretty well, but in her heart she hoped it had lasted a while longer. The sound of a body being laid on the rocky bed brought her back to reality. She approached her brother and sent him off to rest. She promised she would have dealt with him later, once she had finished with the other cultivators. She then got close to Lan WangJi and revealed the cut under the now crimson silk. How strange… She had never known Han GuangJun had a crooked leg. Then it dawned on her, and her face hardened.

“Lan-er Gong Zi”

Wei Ying met her eyes. She looked angry, or better, rather displeased.

“That time Wen Chao broke your leg, and the injury got infected down in the cave, what did you do about it?”

Lan Zhan was, if possible, quieter than ever. And paler, Jin ZiXuan thought. He more or less remembered how bad Han GuangJun’s leg was, but thought it had gotten cured long ago. Why was Wen GuNiang bringing it up again?

“I helped him with that by rubbing some of the herbs Wen Ning had stolen from you”

“How many times?”

“…once, half a packet”

She breathed deeply to cool down her temper. 

“That is far from enough! Later, when Lan-er Gong Zi went back to Gusu, did someone check it?” 

Wei Ying shrugged and turned to look at his face again. Lan WangJi was avoiding eye contact as much as he could. He then sighed and shook his head.

“No doubt on why it bleeds so much then! If it wasn’t for Wei Ying, I would have let you lose the leg for good!”

She then humphed and inserted some needles in Lan Zhan’s body, who immediately fell asleep. Jin ZiXuan backed off. His heart had calmed down when the army he expected to see turned out to be farmers, but still noted mentally never to piss off that woman. He looked down at his bloody shoulder and gulped.

“This is the first time I get injured there, I swear on my father”

Wei Ying barely managed to hold in his grin as both Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng rolled their eyes. 

It was late when Wen Qing finished clearing out their wounds. Although Jiang Cheng could have flown back to the Lotus Pier, he had decided to stay. While Wen GuNiang was taking care of Jin ZiXuan, Jiang Cheng walked out of the cave. Wei Ying was looking over Lan Zhan, but caught his half-brother’s movement and got up to follow him. 

“All you were interested in was Wen Ning the last time you came”

Jiang Cheng turned around startled. He had let his guard down, trying to take in all the details he could on his surroundings. How was this forsaken place better than the Lotus Pier? This he couldn’t understand. Wei Ying had made him a promise. How could he just break it like it was nothing? 

“Jiang Cheng, I’ll show you around”

The younger got grabbed by his wrist. He stiffened and looked straight at his half-brother. Their eyes met. He shrugged and followed the lead. Wei Ying showed Jiang Cheng around, explaining how he had managed to farm food that wasn’t too bad tasting. Yet WanYin was too caught up in his own mind to care about the rants of his brother. He still found that place as unappealing as the first time. He snapped back into reality just when Wei WuXian suddenly halted. 

“I… succeeded in growing some lotuses over here too. The seeds might not be edible but offer great protection instead. I was thinking about crafting protective pendants with some of these. I was learning how to carve into them, actually”

Jiang Cheng gently brushed one of the flower with his hands. The colour did seem more ashen than normal, but all in all they were amazing. Obviously, he would have never admitted that out loud, so he just nodded.

“So that is what you are up to now. The terrible YiLing LaoZu selling carved seeds. If only Lan QiRen were here to see this…”

Wei WuXian smiled and handed Jiang Cheng a black box. After his brother had opened it, a puzzled expression printed on his face.

“This is something I am still working on… my gift to little Jin RuLan”

“A… bracelet?”

“Try it on”

Jiang Cheng took out the object and gave him back the box. Only after wearing it did he thought that could have been a trap or a prank Wei Ying was playing on him. He waited, but nothing happened. 

“As I said, these lotus seeds offer great protection. Wear this around and you won’t be attacked, or better not even perceived, by monsters”

“Useless junk”

“Useless for high-skilled cultivators with a powerful golden core. But think about common people, children, elders or… those who lost their core”

“That is ridiculous. Not even our shi-jie would wear one of these”

“Ah? Ah, Jiang Chang, come on! These are actually usef—“

“You should make them into some kind of charm, I would tie one on my sword”

Wei Ying shoved him gently. All of a sudden, Jiang Cheng felt a weigh on his leg. He looked down and saw a child sitting on his foot. Interestingly, he was wearing one of Wei Ying’s terrible bracelets, which didn’t look that bad, after all.

“A-Yuan! If you keep doing that, I am going to start assuming you like others more than me”

“That would mean this child had great taste”

“Wei-GeGe, shi-jie is asking for Wei-GeGe! It’s for You-Qian-GeGe”

Jin JiXun jumped down his sword and run up the stairs leading to his shushu. His chest was aching, and so was his pride. Why did his cousin have to meddle in his business? No sooner had her got at the top of the flight of stairs when he met Jin GuangYao. Their eyes locked, and the boy gave him a tense smile.

“Be back already?”

Jin JiXun humphed.

“I need to see Jinshu now”

GuangYao, JiXun thought, had paled, and his smile cracked. 

“Of course. Well, die is busy discussing with ZeWu Jun but he will have you as soon as–”

Jin GuangYao got ignored as Jin JiXun headed inside Fragrance Hall. He kneeled in front of his sect leader.

“Jin JiXun?”

“Jinshu! We can’t have the YiLing LaoZu coming over for A-Ling’s first month celebration! Look, look what he did to me!”

Jin JiXun tore apart his upper garment to reveal holes in his body. Jin GuangShan gasped loudly, whispering something.

“His Ghost General also killed some of our disciples!”

Jin GuangShan’s expression had darkened. But, as XiChen noticed, he didn’t look unpleased.

“And how did this happen?”

“I went to YiLing to confront him on what he had done! But he… he denied it! He is so shameless, and dared to say he didn’t even know who I was! Then, he started playing his dizi and the Ghost General attacked us, we had no option but to fight back!”

“He really is shameless indeed. Where is ZiXuan? Quick, call him. After this, he might think about reconsidering the invitation”

“A-Die, Jin ZiXuan followed after Jin JiXun but still hasn’t come back”

Jin JiXun tried his best to hide a guilty expression. 

“Cousin? He… got hurt and decided to stay and talk to that Wei WuXian. It was him who told me to come back, Jinshu, or else I would have never left him there alone!”

GuangShan exhaled, his fist clenched around the hilt of his sword.

“Jin zongzhu, there is no need to worry. My brother WangJi is there too. Just one thing, I hope you will forgive my bluntness here. Jin JiXun, you said your course has been set on you by Wei gong-zi… but have you got any proof?” Jin JiXun’s ears turned red as he launched a killer glare towards XiChen. The Lan sect cultivator gave back a polite smile.

“I – Well no, but that guy Wei Ying is so powerful as to remove the backslash the case had on his body for sure. I just know it was him! Who else would do such a thing?”

XiChen bowed his head to thank him and sat down. The atmosphere was getting tense, everybody could feel that. Yet that moment, unexpectedly, Jin GuangYao entered the room followed by some servants. They were carrying some alcohol and, for XiChen, tea. GuangYao smiled and bowed slightly.

“I think we should discuss this when Jin-ge is back. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy something to drink”

Wen Qing’s hands moved quickly on Lan Zhan’s leg injury. She was focused and trying to do her very best. When Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying rushed back into the cave, her impassible expression was giving away her effort. Lan WangJi carelessness was not helping her, and Jin ZiXuan’s questions weren’t either.

“Wei Ying, if you want him to be able to walk again, I must not be interrupted no longer”

At first, Wei WuXian thought about screaming at her for deceiving him into thinking something had happened to WangJi. But then he actually saw how committed she was, and simply smiled. Getting her hint, he then grabbed ZiXuan by his sleeve and dragged him outside. And so they were, the three of them, alone together and, for once, not at each other’s throats. It was weird, Wei Ying thought. They stayed quiet for quite a while.

“It’s bad you missed out on the wedding”

WeiYing turned around to look at Jin ZiXuan’s face. He thought the buy would be smirking ironically, but he wasn’t. Actually, he looked pretty sincere. 

“I am being serious. YanLi was… oh right, you already know. She mentioned she had shown you the dress”

Wei WuXian didn’t know what to say. He had never had a peaceful conversation with ZiXuan. Still, he wanted to know more about the wedding: it was his shi-jie’s after all. 

“You can still tell me”

Jin ZiXuan wasn’t expecting that, but he was glad Wei Ying had asked. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known what to say. Talking to Jiang Cheng, he had found out that YanLi was the easiest topic for him to discuss. He smiled and looked into the distance.

“Her dress was shining, and her smile, it was bright. We said our vows and kowtowed thrice, but her smile never faded. We danced around the red lanterns, and kept dancing. In the end, it was just the two of us. We never stopped, not even when the celebration died over and the musicians were dismissed. It was actually my father who had to stop us. If it wasn’t for him, I would have never let her leave my hand. I was… too nervous to eat that night, and we had both goy lost in our dance. When hunger kicked in, she led me to the kitchen and started cooking. She blushed when she noticed I was following her every movement, and laughed. I guess we weren’t being silent enough, and WanYin discovered us. We shared a bowl of YanLi’s soup and enjoyed it quietly. She and WanYin then told me about YunMeng, and then–”

“Hm, there’s no need to mention this last part, don’t you think? It was late and I had drunk too much, it’s not like I meant what I said!”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and hid his face half in the shadow. Yet, as Wei Ying noticed, his ears had turned red and his hands were twitching anxiously.

“Ah, Jiang Cheng, what did you do this time, sparred with ZiXuan because he had eaten up all your ribs?”

Jin ZiXuan laughed silently and gazed over the two boys. They were the closest he had ever seen them in months, and all because of YanLi. He told himself he would tell his wife that.

“So there is no army here”

It was ZiXuan who had broken the peaceful silence in between them. Wei Ying stiffened and pressed his fingers on ChenQing. 

“Still, everybody believes there is one. They should come here and see how it’s actually like. I mean… I had heard WanYin telling YanLi how hard you had worked, but I had thought he was just comforting her”

Wei Ying turned his head in disbelief. Jiang Cheng had told shi-jie about it? He smirked, and reminded himself to buy more tea for future guests. 

When Wen Qing called again, Wei Ying told Jiang Cheng and Jin ZiXuan he would go alone. 

"Wei Ying, you stay here with him. The effect of the needles should wear off soon. Are they staying here tonight?"

Wei WuXian sit next to Lan Zhan and nodded. He had asked them if they were going back to LanLin City or Lotus Pier.

"What now, don't you want us here?"

Wei Ying had lifted his gaze and met Jiang Cheng's. Much to his surprise, all the hostility he could feel before was gone.

"What do you mean?"

"The night is falling and that guy there is hurt. Do you want to get us both killed? You won't have it that easy. We are staying"

Wen Qing gave Wei Ying a surprised look.

"I... must say I wasn't expecting that for sure. Uhm, I'll go tell Wen Ning to prepare more food. You... just don't let him walk away on his own two legs. Carry him over to eat something if he feels like it. His leg is healing, not fully healed yet"

"Thank you, Wen Qing"

She took her leave, and left Wei Ying alone with Lan Zhan. He cleared his forehead from a couple of strands of hair, stuck there because of the sweat. Then, he untied his headband and carefully folded it, laying it on a table nearby. He touched the careful cloud-shaped carvings in the metal and smiled. He had imagined Lan Zhan to be the only one to spend the night there. After all, who would want to sleep vulnerably in the YiLing LaoZu's den? Plus, he knew almost too well who he was dealing with. Jiang Cheng and his pride. Jin ZiXuan and his... peacockiness. He had assumed they would have left right after Jin ZiXuan's injury was healed; but he stood corrected. Maybe it was a test. Something to see if he had actually survived and thriven in an environment such as the Burial Mounds. Something to prove he was not lying or hiding something away. Wei WuXian pressed his hards on his eyes and rubbed them slowly. Old acquaintances coming over, and he was not ready. It was like the life he had had before being thrown into that forsaken land was kicking in again, wanting to be back. But how could he just be back? He was in full control of his power, or was he? A flash segment of Wen Ning being out of control played in his mind. What if Lan Zhan hadn't been there to help him? He could have ended up killing both Jin ZiXuan and Jiang Cheng. He just couldn't be back for good. But attending Jin Ling's first month celebration wasn't being back for good, right? And instead of Wen Ning, to avoid mishaps, he was considering bringing along A-Yuan. It was high time the child saw what the world was really about. And the celebration offered the best opportunity. He would be safe. As long as he was alive he would never have let Wen Yuan get hurt.  

A low moan distracted him from his train of thought. He turned his head and saw Lan Zhan was moving slightly, raising his arm in an effort to get the needles out. Wei Ying smiled and helped him.

“Are you feeling better already?”

WangJi nodded and extended his arm to gently caress his leg. It was there, still attached to his body. He exhaled in relief and tried to get up in a sitting position. As he was about to raise his back from the bed, his head spun and he fell back down. Wei Ying let out a burst of quiet laughter.

“Lan Zhan, let me help you”

WangJi stiffened, but Wei WuXian had already leaned forward and embraced him. He looked away. Soon enough, he was sitting on the bed, his gaze inquiring on the place he had bee moved to. It felt darker and messier than the last time he had visited.

“Ayo Lan Zhan? Lan Zhan!”

“Mn?”

“You are not wearing your forehead ribbon”

WangJi’s fingers flew to his head, a movement quick enough to make his arm feel weak. He looked around and threw himself towards the blue ribbon as soon as he spotted it. However, the effect of acupuncture still hadn’t worn off, and Lan Zhan could not get himself to grab what he wanted. Wei Ying, noticing that, giggled and picked up the object with his own hands, gently stroking the cloud. WangJi grew paler and tried to say something, but all the words were stuck in his throat.

“Lan Zhan, why do you care so much about a stupid forehead ribbon? Do you all take that much pride in being Gusu Lan Sect Disciples? Or does this have perhaps a hidden meaning? Huh? Ahh, I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Here, come, I’ll tie this up for you. Do you really think I’d let Jiang Cheng and Jin ZiXuan see you not wearing it? You really think too low of me”

As much as WangJi wanted, it was as if his tongue was tied. He closed his eyes and felt the familiar weight of the ribbon laying on his forehead and tying his hair. He thought about telling Wei Ying what their ribbon meant, and how it was more than just an identification. But then again, deep inside he knew Wei WuXian couldn’t actually be unaware of its real meaning. He knew Wei Ying was teasing him as he always did with everybody else. 

“Now, let’s see… Lan Zhan, quick, get your arms around my neck”

“Wei Ying!”

That was too much. Lan WangJi’s patience quickly went dry as he pushed himself out of the bed. He was standing in front of Wei WuXian… which only lasted a second as, both because of his weakness and the sharp pain in his leg, he started falling. He would have surely hit the ground if Wei ying hadn’t quick caught him in his arms.

“Lan WangJi! What do you think you are doing?! Wen Qing told me you cannot walk on your own – now, hold onto me while I carry you to dinner. See how weak you are, you would use eating some food!”

Lan Zhan obeyed, his head still dizzy. He felt Wei WuXian lifting him on his back while holding his hands “to prevent you from falling again”. WangJi kept quiet as Wei Ying slowly paced all the way to where everybody was gathered to eat. The moon was already shining, and the air was still. Lan Zhan took a deep breath and relaxed, leaning completely on his companion’s back.

Jin ZiXuan’s helping to get things ready for dinner had come as a surprise for everybody. Jiang Cheng in particular had thought that, hearing Wen Qing’s request, he would have mounted on his sword and flown back to LanLing City to be pampered. Yet, Zixuan had smiled and nodded, sticking to what Lady Wen had told him to do. After a moment of astonishment, Jiang Cheng had too gone to help. And now, as they sat down altogether in the big hall, he felt at peace. It had been a long time since he had last had such an informal dinner with that many people. Perhaps the very first time he had shared his food with so many non cultivators. The same to an extent went for Jin ZiXuan. During that last period, he had had dinner with YanLi in their room every night, just the two of them, and he had learnt how to lay the table just to help her. She would cradle Jin Ling in her arms while following her husband busy with the table. YanLi would have been so proud of him – and this, well, he added this as well to the things he was going to tell her about. Although he was anxious, he had managed to carry out a fairly good job. He had buzzed Lady Wen with half a million questions, afraid to mess up – but in the end, she too looked rather satisfied. 

“Wei Ying should be here any minute now. Wen Ning, is the food ready?”

As an answer, some Wen remnants came in carrying in many and many plates. These were put in the middle of the tables, so that everybody could enjoy a share. Wen Qing smiled and sat next to Jin ZiXuan.

“I hope you’ll like it. It may taste a little spicy, but that’s the way we cover the bitterness of what we grow”

Though he had never liked spices too much, Jin ZiXuan found himself loving the flavour combination. The food was simple, yet very rich… something he had never had before.

“Thank you, Wen GuNiang. This dish… can I ask who cooked it?”

“It was my brother, Wen Ning”

Both he and Jiang Cheng exchanged a confused look, before diving back into their bowls. 

They were halfway through dinner when Wei Ying came in, carrying Lan WangJi on his back. He made him sit and took up the place next to him. Turning around, he smiled and thanked some cultivators before filling up a bowl for himself.

“Lan-Er Gong Zi, if you don’t mind waiting a moment more, your dish is coming”

Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng and Jin ZiXuan turned their heads, staring at Wen Qing. Suddenly, Wen Ning entered the cave carrying a bowl with his hands. He put it in front of WangJi, and bowed before leaving once again. Lan Zhan looked up at Wen Qing and repeated the gesture right before getting to his dish. Wei WuXian shrugged his shoulders.

“Wen Ning is a great cook, am I right, Jiang Cheng?”

His brother humphed, annoyed. Jin ZiXuan, on the other hand, nodded swiftly.

“Seeing where this food is grown, I would have expected it to taste awful. But the truth is, this does not taste that bad after all”

Wei Ying’s eyes widened. Was ZiXuan going crazy?

“It’s not like he actually did something. All the work was theirs, and Lady Wen’s, and obviously the Ghost General’s, too. Since his contribution was so little, I am not surprised by the good taste and atmosphere”

Jiang Cheng’s voice was unusually ironic as he side-eyed Wei Ying, checking up on each of his movements and expressions. He had missed his brother, even though he was still not ready to deeply accept it. YiLing was not far from YunMeng, but since YanLi’s wedding dress revelation he hadn’t gone looking for him once. All he wanted to do was to avoid the awkwardness among the two of them. Luckily, QiongQi Path ambush served as a perfect occasion of doing exactly that. Jiang Cheng thought that, perhaps, he could have some rumours spread around about YanLi visiting Lotus Pier. After all, what better stance to invite his brother for a talk?

All of a sudden, a shadow ran quickly towards where they were sitting.

“Gege, gege! Look, look what A-Yuan has in his hands!” 

With that claim, the little child threw himself on Lan WangJi’s lap and started to play with his grass butterfly. He smiled while staring directly back at Lan Zhan.

“A-Yuan! Stop pestering everybod– oh, Gongzi, excuse little A-Yuan…”

“Popo, don’t worry, go back to eat. Lan Zhan is already used to that little brat. A-Yuan, why don’t you ever show your Wei-Gege this much love? You don’t like your Wei-Gege, is it?”

Wei Ying’s face curved into a small pout. Jiang Cheng gladly noticed that the childish side of his brother was still there, untouched. What he used to do with shi-jie, he thought, he must to now with that child. But still… who was that child? He had come calling for Wei WuXian before, sent by Wen Qing. Jiang Cheng remembered him from the first visit he had made. Back thee, thee child had tried to hold his leg, but he had scoffed him away before he could manage to. Such a clingy boy… where were his parents? Jiang Cheng looked around, and noticed many eyes lying on the child, all with a kind of familiar protection. It could have been that…

“Wei Gege never buys A-Yuan toys! You-Qian-Gege is better than Wei Gege!”

“Y-You-Qian-Gege? Who is You-Qian-Gege?”

Jin ZiXuan looked over at Lan WangJi’s unbothered expression, as he was finishing up his soup. That child was almost as shameless as Wei WuXian… how could such a respectable cultivator bear with that? 

“You-Qian-Gege is You-Qian-Gege! You-Qian-Gege bought A-Yuan new toys, You-Qian-Gege is the best Gege!”

“Han GuangJun, how shameless of you to steal my child! A-Yuan, if you don’t come to me now i’ll have you sleep with the radishes!”

The child showed his tongue to Wei Ying, then got up and run back to his popo, who was offering some fruit. Lan WangJi followed the child with his eyes, smiling swiftly before turning back once again. 

Soon after, one of the Wen remnants offered Wei WuXian some alcohol. Smiling, he accepted, took the vase and started pouring some of the translucent liquid into each glass.

“This wine is good wine, you should all try it… Lan Zhan, you don’t worry, I’ll drink your glass myself”

And so he did, raising the ceramic cup as all the others did and took it all down his throat. Jiang Cheng had never tasted anything like that. The flavour was strong yet delicate, so fruity… hadn’t he known where the wine was made, he would have never guessed. The three cultivators filled up their cups again, and again, and again under Lan Zhan’s emotionless gaze. Unsurprisingly, the alcohol had little effect on Wei WuXian. After all, he was used to drinking much more than that. Jin ZiXuan too looked almost unbothered, unaffected, as though he hadn’t been drinking. Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, seemed to be pretty wasted. Both his cheeks and his nose were bright red, and he was getting pretty talkative. He had tried to stand up and ask for yet another cup of alcohol, but he had lost his balance and had fallen to the ground on top of Jin ZiXuan. 

“Jiang Cheng, you drank too much, go rest now, or else you’ll hate yourself in the morning”  

Then, it downed on Wei Ying that he hadn’t set up any guest room for his, well, guests. He turned to Wei Qing and immediately got up.

“Right, the room– I have to go to a place to check a thing, please don’t let him do anything stupid or better, anything at all”

Much to Jin ZiXuan’s surprise, Wei WuXian ran out of the cave. He kept running all the way to the other cave, his cave, where what he dared to call a mattress was lying on the floor. The mattress was no more than clumps of straw woven together by popo and some of the Wen cultivators. Right on the left there was his second mattress, the emergency one, in case the first caught up in flames or something. He stocked up the two straw beds and dragged them out the cave directly into one of the wooden houses they were building. He placed down the beds, threw on them his pillows – vegetable yarn bags filled with old fabric – and laid down some sheets popo had woven. He looked around at the room and was quite pleased with himself. Not too bad, he thought. He was hoping that the peacock would not complain about the accommodation. Wei Ying was not expecting any guest after all, and having three was kind of a big deal to him. If that pampered jerk Jin ZiXuan could not understand that, he told himself, he could well fly back to his room in LanLing. He couldn’t care less. But still… he silently wished he could do better. He walked back to where the others were, still smiling but a bit more serious. He had thought he could have well hidden the misery of the Burial Mounds behind thee beautiful scenery and the wonderful people but the truth was, he couldn’t. It wasn’t Jin ZiXuan’s approval he was looking for, he was sure about that. He simply wanted his siblings to feel like he was okay and not missing anything, he wanted them to think that he was enjoying his life as an outcast to his fullest. Jiang Cheng, he could stand him hinting the truth – but if it was about shi-jie, that was something he simply wouldn’t accept. Wei Ying didn’t want her to suffer because of something she couldn't change. That was where all his tension was coming from, and he didn’t like it. He closed his eyes and breathed in the chilly breeze of the night. 

“Jin ZiXuan, Jiang Cheng, I’ll show you to your rooms”

So, what Wen-guniang had told them was indeed true, after all.

“Wei Ying won’t have you sleep in his Demon Subduing Palace. He never lets people in if not for given reasons. He dwells and thrives in all the chaos– whereas the only thing I get from there is a headache”

Jin ZiXuan had thought that they might well be one of the given reasons Wen-guniang had named. To his surprise, he discovered they actually weren’t. He opened the flimsy door which screeched and crashed into the wall. Everything was made out of wood. The place held itself together – or so Jiang Cheng hoped. Those wood chunks on the ceiling weren’t small, and being buried underneath seemed everything but desirable. The two gazed over at the beds they had to sleep on for the night, which looked rather hard. And felt the same way, Jiang Cheng observed, sitting on one of thee two hay mattresses. 

Wei Ying was rocking on his own two feet in a seemingly embarrassed way. He got closer to the both of them and laughed nervously.

“I wouldn’t sleep without the sheets on if I were you, nights here at The Burial Mounds do get pretty cold and I would hate for you to freeze to death… and well, shijie would hate me as well”

Jiang Cheng scoffed. Not even by killing the both of them, he thought, would YanLi be able to get mad at Wei Ying. Deep inside, he admired this of her. He would never admit it though, especially in front of his half brother. He wished forgiving was as easy as criticising those terrible beds.

Jin ZiXuan, on the other hand, didn’t mind their hardness. Sure, he was used to sleeping on feather mattresses with silk and woollen sheets cleaned fresh every night, but what he was experiencing that very moment wasn’t so bad. 

“I don’t see a third bed. Is Lan WangJi joining us here, or…?”

“Wen Qing insisted he stay in the Palace. I have put several talismans on the rock bed there, they help with the healing of wounds, and make qi flow better”

“Huh! That is the reason the YiLing Patriarch recovered from the injury I inflicted him in so little time, isn’t it?”

Wei Ying laughed, but it seemed forced. He turned his back to them and paced back to the door.

“I have to get Lan Zhan back to the cave before he falls asleep. See you in the morning”

He closed the wooden panel behind his back and sighed, sticking his hands into his pockets. The bed her put talismans on, down in the cave… it was what kept his qi flowing. The resentful energy within him, when he lost control, threatened to break him up and tear him apart into a million pieces. The only way he had to contrast that was by lying on that cold surface and meditate. But he couldn’t tell Jiang Cheng, so he just went back to find Lan Zhan.  

“Lan-er gongzi, if you don’t mind me asking… why wasn’t your wound healed?”

The hall was empty, it was just the two of them, still Wen Qing whispered her question. WangJi lifted his eyes from the table to look at her face. 

“Matter of priorities”

Wen Qing nodded, intending on respecting his boundaries. He clearly didn’t want to talk about what had happened – and she was completely fine with it. She actually admired him and his collectiveness. Nobody dared to stir up trouble where HanGuang Jun could see.

“Thank you, Wen guniang”

“Don’t, I did what I had to”

“…I meant for Wei Ying”

Wen Qing was speechless, and turned her head to look directly at him. Thanking her… for Wei WuXian? Even though it was her fault that he was now in the Burial Mounds with them, and not win Lotus Pier with his brother? Maybe, she thought, maybe he doesn’t know that. She was about to ask him why, why thanking her? when Wei Ying walked in, playing with ChenQing in his left hand. Her question silently died buried deep down in her throat.

“Wei Ying, I would advise you to change the talismans. Newer ones are more effective”

“Right, right… Lan Zhan, mount back on my back”

WangJi looked at Wen Qing and quickly bowed his head right before being carried out in the night. She sighed deeply and sat down, that moment still replaying in her head. 

“Forgive me”

Her whisper got lost in the width of the cave. What for? Everything, she answered. It was her fault Wei Ying was there, it was her fault she couldn’t care for her brother well enough, it was her fault he had died and had been brought back as a ghost, it was her fault and no one else’s. She liked to pretend Wei Ying and she were equal when truthful she knew that she owed him just so much. He had saved his brother countless times, and her too. He had freed her people, given them a place where to stay, binding himself there, far away from his former life. He had given up his family and friends for them. He had given up everything for her. She got up and looked around. All the candles had already been put out, and the moon was lighting up everything in white. She smiled and set off headed to her brother.

Wei Ying didn’t intend to go back to the Palace right away. He surely was going to let Lan Zhan rest, but he had to do something before. Counting on Lan Zhan to trust him, he leaped in the air. The boy on his back was caught off-guard and tensed, still relaxed immediately. Deep inside, he knew Wei Ying meant him no harm. The two landed on a rooftop, and sat one next to the other. The pale moon was shining bright upon them, lighting up the blackness of the sky. Wei WuXian breathed deeply and closed his eyes as the cold air filled his lungs. He really liked the feeling of freedom the roof gave him. It made him feel as if nothing had happened, as if he still were the young boy messing around Lotus Pier and the Cloud Recesses. He got ChenQing out of his waist belt and made it spin around.

“Wei Ying, where is SuiBian?”

Wei WuXian smiled sadly at the mood, before turning to the white-robed cultivator with a smirk.

“Didn’t want to bring it around. Plus, we are not in QingHe, LanLing, Gusu or YunMeng. Here, it’s me who makes the rules”

He then started playing his dizi. It was his routine, and nobody seemed to mind it. The song he played was… a song he remembered, but didn’t know where from. While playing, his eyes were closed and his body relaxed. Lan Zhan was tempted to stroke his hair and braid it. He had seen xianxiong do the same to ChiFeng Zun every time they thought they were alone. Although WangJi knew that, had he tried to touch the boy’s hair, he would have ended up pulling them and forcing him into a kiss. He shook his head and concentrated on the music. As soon as the first few notes played out, his eyes went blank, staring at Wei Ying. Was the boy teasing him? The song he was playing was the one he had personally written and sang just once in that cave. Was that on purpose, just to play with his feelings? Or was it… on purpose? Lan WangJi stopped his thoughts in their track before they could get too wild and give him hope.

“Lan Zhan, is this song from Gusu? I remember hearing it somewhere, but I really don’t know where”

“Mn”

“Ayo Lan Zhan! Why are you always like this, ah?”

WangJi didn’t answer. Wei Ying gazed over, but soon gave up, noticing no reaction. He rose and stretched his spine. 

“We should go… wow Lan Zhan, is ten minutes past your bedtime, how are you still awake? You are holding up pretty well, you know?”

The truth was, WangJi was feeling tired. His eyes were drowsing off and his head felt light. He shrugged quickly without saying a word. Next thing he knew, he was once again lying on the other boy’s back. He let himself be carried down the roof directly into the Demon Subduing Palace, ad laid down on the rocky bed. He scooted over to one side so as to leave enough space for Wei Ying. Where else would the boy sleep, on the floor?

“Lan Zhan, what are you doing? You can use up all the space you want – I’ll just sleep on the ground”

“No”

“But Lan Zhan, if Lan QiRen knew you and I slept together what would he think? Isn’t it against your 3000 clan rules?”

Stubbornly, Lan Zhan got up and tugged Wei Ying’s sleeve, pulling him towards himself.

“Ahahah… ah? Lan-Er Gege, do you really want Wei Ying to sleep with you?”

Wei WuXian quickly thought up a strategy to avoid sharing the bed. He knew Lan Zhan needed to sleep comfortably, or else his injury wouldn’t be healed by the day after. He also knew that Lan Zhan, being the fuddy-duddy he was, despised everything that was against the rule. And what could be more against the rule than the YiLing Patriarch himself? Plus, getting flirtatious was too easy for him anyway.

“Lan-Er Gege, if you insist so much then WeiYing will be pleasured to fulfil your desire and sleep with you”

He tried not to laugh imagining Lan Zhan’s face. He was turning his back to him, and slowly getting rid of his over coat. He had already opened the belt, and proceeded to undressing one arm at the time. What he couldn’t see was WangJi’s foolish gaze all over his body. The white-robed cultivator was beyond speechless. His throat felt veery dry, his hands sweaty, and his eyes unable to drift away from the boy. He was tempted to get up, push him hard against the wall and make him beg for mercy, make him scream, make him… he forced himself to calm down. He knew Wei Ying too well to ignore the game he was playing: had he given something away, the boy would have gotten away with sleeping on the floor. But still, it was getting harder and harder. Wei WuXian was purposely wearing him out. He knew his sleep routine, and his leg injury added to his tiredness. Yet WangJi could not lose. He didn’t want the boy to be uncomfortable in his own home.

“Wei Ying, time to sleep”

Wei WuXian turned his head and dropped the coat. He was now just wearing the lighter part of his clothing set, with nothing underneath.

“But you are still dressed, Lan-Er Gege… let Wei Ying help you out of that heavy and dirty robe”

This was the last card he had to play, and he hoped not to fail again. Wei Ying paced closer, his insecurities magnifying as he noticed Lan Zhan was just not reacting. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What had he gotten himself into? He unleashed his belt and opened his coat, slightly stroking his chest. He swallowed and tried to get it off him. Again, not even a flinch. 

“Aah okay, okay you won! I’ll sleep here with you, but please, please say something!”

“Bedtime”

Wei WuXian puffed and laid next to WangJi, holding back a laugh. A few minutes later he turned to check on the boy. He had intended to sneak out of the bed whilst he was sleeping. As he was about to get out, he felt something tugging on his sleeve. Could it be… as if he had read his mind, Lan Zhan was holding the fabric of his robe with his hand. Wei Ying could have gotten away if he wanted, but that would have meant bothering Lan Zhan’s sleep, and he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. After all, it’s just a night, he thought, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The morning came through eventually. Wei Ying mentally agreed on that he hadn’t slept that well in ages. Maybe, it was because he just wasn’t used to getting a healthy amount of sleep; or maybe… he yawned and turned around, now facing Lan Zhan. He suddenly gasped and almost fell down the bed when he noticed the boy staring back at him.

“L-Lan Zhan! How long have you been awake? Why didn’t you – oh, oh”

True. Wei WuXian had never been one to stay put, not even in his sleep. All the tossing and turning he must have had during the night had caught Lan WangJi’s harm underneath his body, preventing the boy from getting up without waking the other up. Wei Ying got up fast and dusted off his clothes. Only the did he notice neither of them were wearing their over coats. What exactly had happened the night before? It took him a while to figure out but, as soon as he did, his cheeks turned pinkish. Shit. How could he disrespect Lan Zhan that way?What exactly was he thinking? He gazed over the boy and caught him putting on his robe. He quickly got himself to do the same, and coughed in embarrassment. 

“Did… you sleep well, Lan Zhan? How’s your leg? Wait, you should stay laid down until she comes – ayo, Lan Zhan where are you going? Really – no, wait, fuck Lan Zhan! – you don’t want her to scream at you again! Lan Zha-an!”

He quickly run behind the white-robed boy, who has heading to the main hall. Judging by the way he was walking, the injury seemed fine, Still, he thought, why had he gotten up before Wen Qing could come and check his leg? And about that, where was Wen Qing anyway? When the boy halted, Wei Ying quickly moved to his side, ready to catch him in case he had shown any lack of strength. He gazed in the hall, and noticed everybody was already there, enjoying their breakfast. Noticing their arrival, Wen Qing lifted her head from the plate and smiled.

“Han GuangJun, it was nice of you to wait until Wei Ying had awoken to come and have breakfast… now sit, don’t stress your leg too much. I did what I could. When you are done eating, Jin GongZi e Jiang Ch– clan leader Jiang will personally accompany you to Carp Tower. There, they will make sure you get the proper assistance”

“Too much trouble”

Wei Ying looked around, confused. He– what? Lan Zhan had waited for him to wake up before getting up himself? And if Wen Qing knew, it mean that… she had seen them, walked right on them while they were sleeping together. Okay, not sleeping together, sharing a bed… while being really close to each other, and not so dressed. He told himself he should address that once everybody was gone. As for then, he just laughed nervously and took a sit, watching as Lan Zhan occupied the space next to him. After all he had done, WangJi was still willing to be at his side. Wei Ying smiled.

“Jiang Cheng, wait– wait!”

Jiang Cheng turned his head, annoyed. What else, why was Wei Ying preventing them from leaving, once again? He puffed and mounted his sword.

“YiLing Laozu, you are so shameless! Better be quick, we were meant to leave at least half an hour before you stopped us the first time, and that was two hours ago”

Wei WuXian laughed ironically.

“Shut up! If you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll speak to Jin ZiXuan. What I have to say does not concern you anyway!”

“Wei Ying, you– ”

Wei WuXian struck out his tongue and got closer to Jin ZiXuan, Much to the boy’s surprise, he then got pretty quiet. He seemed nervous, almost anxious, as he fidgeted with a little lotus seed he was holding in his hand.

“Jin ZiXuan, as for the invitation to Jin Ling’s celebration… I wanted to bring somebody along. This is me asking for your permission to take him with me”

Him? ZiXuan’s heart stopped in his track. What if Wei WuXian had meant to take with him the Ghost General? Not that Wen Ning – because that was his name, right? – had done anything wrong, but… it just felt safer to know the guy was in the Burial Mounds, and not taking part to the ceremony. Yet, as he was about to answer, he felt something weighing on his leg and holding him down to the ground. He looked down and noticed it was the child, little A-Yuan, who had sit on his foot.

“I know he is a Wen but… he is only 4 and has never step a foot out of YiLing. i figured it could be nice for him to come with me. Obviously, it will be I who will answer any misconduct on his side, although I am sure there won’t be any. And well, the infamous YiLing Laozu might also be considered less of a threat if he had a child with him…”

Jin ZiXuan exhaled in relief and managed to smile at least a bit. Wei WuXian was not wrong after all. 

“We will welcome him warmly”

Wei Ying smiled happily. Last time he had seen Wei Ying smiling like that, Lan Zhan noticed, it was when they were in Gusu. His heart skipped a beat, but he managed not to let that show. After Jin ZiXuan was freed from A-Yuan’s grip, they parted, flying into the dance on their sword. Wei Ying was holding A-Yuan in his arms and closed his eyes. No time to rest, he thought, as he quickly run back to finish up Jin Rulan’s present.

[kayteewritessteve]

Perfectly Perfect

Description: After a long few days at work, the love of your life helps you unwind. (A slightly Modern Office AU)

Masterlist HERE.

Word Count: 7,780 ish.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader.

Rating: 18+ (is smut)

Warnings: Horrible smut. Be warned. No minors allow. Keep scrolling if you aren’t 18 years or older. Oh, and ‘unprotected’ sex, though reader has an IUD and mentions it. So you’ve now been warned.

Requested: Nah, this is my first ever attempt at smut. It’s long-winded and cringey as hell. Soooooo read it if you want, but be aware that it’s not very good at all. But I’m trying, and slowly learning, and the fact I finally managed to actually write any smut at all, even horrible smut, is huge for me. Baby steps.

A/N: I sadly don’t own any of these characters. And no beta reader, so I do proudly own all the errors and this story, so there’s that.

Final warning y’all. Turn back now. This isn’t good. It’s basically horribly written, long-winded, comfortable fluff with a slight hard fucking, if you reeeeally squint. So yeah. Ugh. I’m so damn awkward. Aaaanywho! Good luck! May the odd be ever in your favour, and all that jazz!

You released a deep, exhausted breath as your eyes dropped down to read the time on the bottom right hand corner of your monitor's screen. 7:02pm. Only 2 hours passed your ‘normal’ end time, though over the last few months, you’d been putting in a lot of overtime. Far more than was normal, and it seemed lately, like 7 was the new 5.

You sigh as you lean back in your chair, bringing your hands up to rub the heels of them into your eyes. No longer worried about your mascara, as it was probably long gone by now, what with how many times you’d rubbed your tired eyes today, already. You decided it was probably time to head home, your brain was done for the day, and you knew you wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything more tonight. At least not without lots of errors, and then having to just waste more time tomorrow redoing most of that very same work. Work smarter, not harder. That was the motto you lived by.

So with that last thought, you leaned forward and powered down your computer, clicking the soft button on the side of your monitor to put it to rest as well. Then you pulled open the bottom drawer of your desk, retrieving your purse from within and placing it on the top of your desk, as you slipped back into your heels. The ones you’d removed hours ago to give your poor feet a much needed reprieve.

Once they were firmly, and achingly, back in place, you stood up and removed your jacket from the back of your chair. Slipping it on and pulling your hair out from within it, before hitting the forward to voicemail button on your desk phone. If anyone were to phone after you left, it would go straight to voicemail now, saving them the moment or two of just useless ringing.

You then grabbed your purse and phone off your desk, and made your way towards the office door. Opening it once you reached it and flicking off the overhead lights, as you slipped into the hallway. Promptly closing the door behind you once you fully reached the hall. Your eyes instinctively glanced across the corridor, seeing that Steve’s door was slightly ajar, and his lights were still on, so clearly he’d been working late, just as you had been. But that was nothing new.

If you had to pick any words to describe yourself, hard-working would be near the top of that list, if not at the very top. You always took your job seriously, and did everything in your power to be efficient, reliable and focused. But yet, that man, he always seemed to one up you. You thought you were a crazy workaholic. Ha! Perish the thought! That man, he was the very definition of the words. You’d never met anyone more hardworking than yourself, until you walked through these office doors for the first time, and were introduced to the enigmatic Steven Grant Rogers.

Though he didn’t stay a mystery for long, after only a week, you had him pretty much entirely figured out. Or so you thought at the time, at least. Sweet, thoughtful, charming, hard-working to a fault, intensely intelligent with a quick wit and the deep voice of an angel, all things that had made your knees weak and your heart flutter just from being in the same room as him. But then having his full attention on you, and only you, made your whole body heat up, your mind turn to mush, and your palms clam up, instantly. Every time.

It took a few more weeks after that to level yourself out around him, to just acclimatize yourself to the sheer force of being in the presence of this perfect specimen of a man. And you hadn’t even mentioned his exterior yet, you’d only vaguely touched on what he was packing on the inside. His outside was, well shit, it was also sheer perfection in and of itself.

He was all hard lines of pure stone wrapped deliciously in tantalizingly unmarred golden skin. He was a beautiful tall, broad and rippling form to behold. What with his wide shoulders, trim waist, and thighs that could draw most people's eyes and keep them trapped for eternity. You being the owner of one of those mentioned set of eyes.

So yeah, he was utter perfection in a lovely and large package. It was wholly unfair, if anyone asked you, that a man could look, act and just be that flawless, that sublime. You instantly needed to find some fault in him, you begged the God’s above to have given him some sort of flaw, there was just no way anyone could be that unequaled. That utterly perfect. It was not fair to the rest of the human population. Not even a little bit.

No one could, or should, be that glorious. But over the last 5 years of working here, with him, you’d learned early on that he was perfection in the human form. And even when you did finally track down his faults, his ‘flaws’, they weren’t even that bad. They didn’t even nick the lovely shell around him, they couldn’t even scrape or mar his lovely exterior, in any way, shape or form.

The contradiction of that, if you’re honest. His flaws made him even more perfect to you, made him even more sublime than he’d originally appeared at first glance. Because they made him more relatable, more human, just all around more. And knowing he had a few little flaws did nothing to quell your thoughts towards the man. They stood to only heightened them actually.

You shake your head, banishing the warm belly and heart pace inducing thoughts, knowing you couldn’t walk into his office to say your daily goodbyes, with the dang heart eyes your latest thoughts had evoked in you. That man could read anyone like a dang book, and after 5 years of being his personal assistant, you couldn’t hide a single thing from his all-seeing eyes. He just knew you too well now, too fully and completely.

You venture across the hall, towards his slightly ajar door and knock lightly as you push it open. And the heart eyes nearly returned as you are graced with the image of his large form wrapped to perfection in his dark grey suit. The suit appearing as if it was a second skin, tailored to his whole form perfectly. And damn, you sure do use that word, in all its forms, a lot in regards to him. But he is ‘Perfect’, and there just isn’t any better word to use in his case. There is no other words better suited to him, then just pure perfection.

He sits behind his large dark wood desk, reading glasses rested effortlessly upon the straight bridge of his perfect nose. His brows furrowed just so, in perfectly focused thought, as he types rapidly upon his keyboards keys. Most likely finishing up a report, or replying to an urgent email, either or, it doesn’t really matter. Nor does it take away from, or effect, the beauty of the image before you.

The first time you ever saw him with his black framed reading glasses on, you damn near swooned yourself into a puddle on his office floor. Something about a handsome man of his caliber, wearing glasses as he focused his attention on a computer monitor or the papers clasped within his large, tanned and veiny hands, just did things to you. Made you a fluttery and warm mess of a thing.

Ugh, you really need to focus here. You came in here to say your goodbyes, not eye fuck your oblivious boss from the shadows of his doorway.

“Hey,” you softly say, not wanting to startle him as you take a small step further into the room. “I’m heading out now, did you need anything else before I leave for the day?”

His eyes flick up to meet yours, and he gives you that gloriously perfect half smile he’s become so famous for. It isn’t a broad or large smile, by any means, it’s subdued and just a quirk up of the corners of his perfect lips. Did you forget to mention his pump and pillowy lips in your rambling internal exposé on the man before you? Oh, well, that was your bad entirely, as his lips were the second best feature upon his perfect face.

They were only second to those stunning deep blue eyes, the ones that currently held you trapped, and showed more emotion and compassion within them than you ever thought possible. You’d always heard or read about being able to read one's true feelings through their eyes, but you’d never been able to relate to those sentiments before, at least not until you met the Adonis before you. He didn’t hide a thing, and you believed he had not one damn thing to hide, even if he’d wanted to. He left it all out in the open where his eyes were concerned, it made it all the more easier to get to know him. To figure out his true being and personality. To determine what he liked, disliked, and found amusing. His eyes told every tale, used more words then his lips could even fathom. Everything personal you knew of this man, you’d learned from the beautiful blue gateways to his soul.

“Uh,” he hummed thoughtfully as he glanced down at his watch momentarily, and you didn’t miss the slight widening of his perfect blues when he realized the time. His eyes flicked back up to trap you once more as he leaned back on his seat and gave you his full and undivided attention. Just as he always did with everyone. He always made his employees and coworkers feel like the center of his little world, for however long they were gifted the pleasure of being in his presence. “I didn’t even realize how late it was,” he said before he bestowed upon you a small taste of his gloriously deep chuckle. “I’ll be heading out shortly myself, so everything else can wait till tomorrow.”

“Okay,” you nodded, a small chuckle leaving your lips now, “try not to overwork yourself too much. You need to eat and get at least a few hours of sleep tonight, as you have an 8:30 am conference call tomorrow.”

His smile grew just a fraction, as he crossed his large arms over his broad chest. He always got a small kick out of you mothering him. “I know, and don’t worry, I’ll set an alarm for myself and leave the second it goes off.”

“Please ensure that you do,” you smiled sweetly to offset the slight commanding tone that you’d just used on your boss. “You can’t push yourself too hard, or you’ll be dead on your feet tomorrow. And then you’ll be no use to any of us.”

He chuckled again, a little louder this time, and your mind tried desperately to lock the lovely sound away for your enjoyment for all of eternity. Then he unfolded his arms, picked his phone up off the desk and gave it a few moments attention, before you heard the distinct click of it being locked, and then he placed it back down on the desk and glanced up at you once again. “There, the alarm is all set.”

You valiantly fought the giant grin that wanted to show itself to the cheeky but perfect man before you, however you only managed to contain it to the form of a small uptick of the corners of your mouth. “Good. I swear you work too hard sometimes. You make the rest of us look bad.”

He mimicked your small smile, “I don’t think I could ever do that.” His words made your heart flutter, but only just a little, and you’d never admit it aloud. A soft ping sounded around the quiet room and his eyes drifted back to the monitor’s screen for a few seconds before looking back to you. “Okay, get outta here before we both start living in this office,” he said sweetly, with a slightly stern edge. You both knew far too well how easily you could lose track of time and space, and end up here till midnight, or even later, before either of you even realized it. “And thanks for staying so late again, Y/N.” His smile turned slightly knowing, “I’m sure you have better things to do with your time than be here finishing off reports for me.”

You swatted away his concerned words as if they were a pesky fly in the air. “It’s fine. Really. All I have scheduled for tonight is making dinner for the man I love, and then I plan to happily sleep the night away.”

He nodded, a small smile upon his lips once again as he leaned forward and his eyes focused back on his monitor. “Sounds like a lovely night. He’s a lucky guy.”

“That he is,” you hummed in agreement, biting your lip to suppress your chuckle. With one nod of your head, you turned and stepped back towards the door to the hallway, “Goodnight, Boss.”

And just as you reached the door, his voice drifted into your eyes once more. “Goodnight, PA.”

Those were the two nicknames you both joking called each other. The nicknames you’d started using years ago, after he’d insisted on you calling him Steve early on in your job, but calling him by his first name just hadn’t seemed appropriate at the time. You couldn’t get over the unprofessional feel of using his first name as if you were his friend, or something of the like. He was your boss, but he hated being called ‘Mr. Rogers’. He said it made him feel like an older man in a sweater, talking to dolls on a train.

So, you’d jokingly called him Bossman one day years ago, and over time it shortened to just ‘Boss’. But he wasn’t really a fan of that either, so in return, just to joke back with you, he’d referred to you as ‘PA’, and that nickname had just sort of stuck as well. Though he only ever used it in reply to your use of ‘Boss’.

You giggled quietly to yourself as you exited the office, pulling the door back to it’s slightly ajar spot as you did.

You step through the front door into your quiet apartment, the one you share with the only man you’ve ever truly loved. The lights are all off, and there isn’t a sound anywhere within the still space. But you knew he wasn’t home yet, and you preferred it that way. It gave you a moment of quiet time to yourself, to get out of your tight work clothes and start in on dinner before he walked through the very same door you were closing softly with a click of the lock.

After removing your coat and hanging it on the hooks beside the door, you remove your heels to allow your achy feet a much needed break from their confines.

You wiggled your toes, and stretched your feet out before planting them upon the cold hardwood floors and making your way through the quiet apartment. Reveling in the few moments of peace it awarded your mind, before your love got home. As once he did, he’d fill the quiet space with his soft recounts of his day, the goings on in his little world, and his inquisitive questions about your own day.

Moving into the kitchen, you flick on the soft pendant lights above the island and place your purse atop it, before turning to set the stove to begin warming it to the proper temp. Then you move to the fridge and pull out the premade meal from within, the one you’d put together at the beginning of the week for this exact day. Pre-prepped meals at the beginning of every week, usually made on lazy Sunday afternoons, was the only way you’d ever be able to continue to eat properly, and not just succumb to quick junk food on the fly.

Your work hours, just as your boyfriends, were always a little crazy and long, and so spending hours prepping a meal every night was not an option for either of you. Instead, you both picked a few meal ideas on Sunday, and then together you’d get everything prepped and packaged and put away in the fridge, before spending the evening cuddled up on the couch and watching a movie with a glass or two of wine. Needing that relaxing few hours to prepare you both for the craziness of the work week ahead.

After placing the packages for tonight's dinner on the counter, you quickly send off a text to your boyfriend, to inform him of your safe arrival home. Then you made your way to the bedroom to change into something more comfortable and wash off any remaining makeup. Whatever was even still left after the countless rubs and presses of your hands throughout the day.

You pulled out a pair of comfy pj shorts and a fitted tank top from your dresser drawer, placing them on the made up bed before moving into the bathroom. You quickly took a makeup removing wipe to your skin, thoroughly cleansing the surface before lathering on your nightly moisturizer and heading back into the bedroom. You pulled the dress shirt up and out from the waist of your pencil skirt and started in on the buttons, going from top to bottom in an effortless and perfected way. One that could only come from years of doing this exact action, over and over and over again.

Once the shirt was open, you slipped it down your arms and placed it neatly atop the bed, before moving on to the zipper on the back of your dark grey fitted pencil skirt. But just as your nimble fingers grasped the dainty zipper, two large warm hands met yours and you jumped a little at the contact.

But then a soft and soothingly deep voice whispered into your ear, warm breath caressing the cooled skin of your neck as it washed over you. “Here, let me.”

You smiled as you glanced over your shoulder at the beautiful man behind you, the one you loved more than anything or anyone else. And the very one that despite his sheer size, always managed to sneak up on you. You hadn’t even heard the door unlock, nor it being opened and closed to allow him entry into the suite. Nor the sounds of him removing his jacket and shoes, or even hearing the telltale sounds of his keys and wallet meeting the bowl on the entryway table.

He was always a damn ninja, and you really shouldn’t have even jumped at the initial contact. You should be entirely used to him sneaking up on you by now, but yet, you weren’t, and you believed you never would be.

You nod your approval of his offer, as your eyes drink him in, in all his end of the busy work day glory. His deft fingers make short work of the task, and you realize that he is just as familiar and perfected in the action of undressing you, as you are. Maybe he is even a little better at it than you, having found yourself at the mercy of his lustful and enraptured hands many times. All the times he’d expertly and delicately—though sometimes, on special occasions, they were fumbly and forceful as they—removed every article of clothing keeping your full form hidden from his heated gaze.

Once the zipper met the end of it’s line, his fingers hooked into the waistband and slowly pushed the stretchy material down your hips where it then plummeted unchallenged to the floor below. Leaving you just in your matching black lace bustier and panties, only a few small areas of your body still hidden from his view. But as his large, warm hands found your hips and turned you to meet his intense eyes fully, you instantly realized those small areas wouldn’t be hidden for much longer. Not if the hungry twinkle in his eyes was anything to go off of at the moment.

His hands slipped behind you, his arms encompassing your waist as his gaze drifted down and back up, before he pulled you towards him, and gently crushed your small body into his much larger, more robust one. “New?” He asked in a deep and curious tone.

You smirked knowingly up at him, “they are. What do you think?”

He leaned back a little, just enough to check out the newly acquired delicate lace set once more. And as he did, your hands landed on his pecs, loving the warmth of him and using it to take the chill out of your fingers. Once his eyes had finished their thorough re-inspection, they flicked up to meet yours and you nearly shivered at the immense desire pooling within them now. “I think you should never wear anything else, ever again.”

You chuckled, your hands sliding up his chest to delve into his lusciously soft locks. “I don’t think my boss would approve of this as appropriate work attire around the office.”

He smirked down at you, nodding slowly, “mmm, you’re probably right about that. I’m sure he wouldn’t approve at all. Especially with all the people you have to meet with throughout the day.”

“Yes, and he’d probably even force me to remain hidden away in my office, the whole entire day,” you gasp playfully. “How will I live without being able to get a coffee from the break room?!”

He chuckles, “I’m sure he’d willingly bring you a coffee whenever you needed one, if it meant he could witness the masterpiece that is you in this damn set.” His finger hooked into the elastic waist of your panties and pulled it away from your skin slightly before he released it, causing a gentle snapping sound to play out in your ears. As if the noise was to affirm the words he just spoke.

“No, he isn’t like that. He’s a completely respectful and professional man,” you grin up at him. “I’m more willing to bet he’d offer me his suit jacket, just to ensure my modesty stayed at least slightly intact.”

“I dunno, that might make it worse,” he hums, as a small smirk plays on his lips now. “I’m picturing you in just this and a large suit jacket, and the image alone is killing me. He’d probably die on the spot.”

“Should we find out?” You playfully question as your hands slip from his hair and back down his chest, moving under the edges of your boyfriend's suit jacket and slowly slipping the material off his broad shoulders and down his arms. He assists you as you go, helping to fully remove the jacket and then you take it in one hand and step back, his hands reluctantly drifting from your skin as you go. Then you flip the jacket around you, and slide the sleeves onto your arms, before settling the jacket on your shoulders and gripping the lapels to adjust the placement.

Once it’s all set in place, your eyes flick back up to meet his from below your lashes and find they aren’t looking into yours anymore. His eyes are hungrily roving over your entire form, and that fact alone causes your belly to warm up and your heart to pick up its pace. The things just having this man's eyes on you, can do to you, is wholly unfair.

His eyes finally meet yours, and you notice instantly that they have darkened dramatically now. Looking more black than their usual perfect colour at the moment. “Yup, just as I thought,” he nods, and you don’t miss his thick swallow, his Adam's Apple bobbing from the sheer force of it. “This is much, much worse. He’d never be able to keep his hands off of you, and then we’d really have a problem.”

You glance down at the floor between you both, tucking a few errant strands of hair behind your ear coyly, as you whisper, “maybe I don’t want him to keep his hands off me.” Your eyes flick back up to his, giving him the best doe-eyed look you can muster, as your voice comes out a little louder, but yet, just as soft, just as sultry as before, “maybe I want him to touch me, everywhere. Anywhere.”

A soft groan echoes in your boyfriend's solid chest, so soft you almost didn’t catch it. And at that sound, he surges forward, his hands pushing the jacket from your shoulders before they find your hips again, as he effortlessly lifts you off your feet. Your legs quickly go around his waist, to rest on his narrow hips and your arms encircle his neck, just to help him hold you up. Though it’s not like he actually needs the help.

His lips crash into yours, and you couldn’t miss the neediness of the action, even if you tried. You meet his need head on, returning it in full force to show you are feeling the exact same way he is at the moment.

He takes a few stumbly and blind steps to the bed, and before you know it, you're being deposited upon the pillowy surface with a small gasp. He chuckles quietly at your reaction, and then his large hands grip your waist and pull you forcefully towards the edge, before he places a knee between your legs and leans over you just enough to slip one large hand behind your back. As the other presses into the bed beside your head. His deft fingers make short work of your bustiers clasps, thanks to you arching your back to help his hasty endeavour.

His hand slips around to the front of you, his fingers caressing your ribs as they go, before he grabs the front of the only thing covering your upper half, and pulls it away from your chest and down your arms, then discards it somewhere over his shoulder. It’s final resting place being the very last thing your mind cares about in this moment. As now his hands are moving down your sides, his fingers slipping into the waistband of your panties and helping them go the same way as the bustier; slipped from your form and flung carelessly over his shoulder to the floor behind.

Once you are fully bared to his intense gaze, he stands back up and gives your whole body another once over. His eyes only darken more as he goes, and you didn’t even think that was possible. He keeps his eyes slowly moving over you, as his fingers undo the belt around his waist, then the button and zipper of his suit trousers. And once that is accomplished he pulls the white shirt out, and you prop yourself up on your elbows for a better view of what’s about to come.

You only catch a small glimpse of the smirk on his lips, before your hungry eyes are all too focused on the slow movements of his masterful fingers. Oh the glorious things those thick digits can do. You know first hand how truly spectacular they really are, at both unraveling clothes, and you.

Just as he finishes off the last button, you can’t hold yourself back any more. Just watching him, as he undresses before you with his eyes locked on your naked body is driving you insane. He is just taking too damn long, he is thoroughly teasing you right now, and the smirk still on his lips tells you he knows exactly what he’s doing to you.

You push up off the bed and move to the edge, grabbing the waist of his pants and yanking him forcefully towards you, mumbling, “get over here already,” as you do.

He chuckles and obliges to your hasty demand, but you only know that because if he didn’t want to move, there is nothing you could do or say to change that. He is like a damn brick wall when he wants to be. Your fingers take no time at all to slip into the waistband of his pants and boxers, grasping them both and pulling them down to free him from their confines. He barely manages to get his dress shirt off his upper half, before you’ve completely exposed his entire lower half.

Your eyes drink in his newly naked form, starting from his face, moving down his broad shoulders, his defined chest, his chiseled abs, the glorious V lines leading directly to his—you gasp quietly the second your eyes land on his perfect cock, all hard, upright and entirely ready for you. Yes, you’ve seen it hundreds of times before, but yet you always manage to forget just how large and intimidating it truly is. Even after many, many times of having it deep within your walls, you still have a slight moment of hesitation at the sight of it. Fear that maybe this time, it won’t actually fit.

But you know it will, you tell yourself it will at least, and that it will feel heavenly as it does. You swear, up and down, that he was made to fit you perfectly. In every single way.

You quickly stand, grabbing his hips and spinning him before you push him down to sit on the edge of the bed. Exactly where you just were, and once he is settled down, you drop down to your knees and rest your hands upon his. Your eyes finally, reluctantly, leave the impressive appendage between his thick thighs, as they flick them up to lock with his. You hold the direct contact as you slowly, so damn slowly, move your hands up his powerful thighs, to his hips, then inwards and slowly up his rock solid stomach, over the groves of his abs, to his defined pecs and then to around his neck.

You slip your fingers into his hair again and pull him down to you, molding your lips to his, perfectly. His tongue traces the seam of your lips and you are all too willing to grant him access to any part of you that he so wishes. You part your lips and his tongue delves into your mouth, causing a soft moan to echo in your throat. And the sound only stands to spur him onwards.

His arms wrap around you, and you had planned to taste him, to get him entirely ready for you using just your mouth alone, but his patience seems to be gone now. He doesn’t want to wait any longer as he pulls you up to straddle his waist. One of his large hands grabs the back of your neck, to keep your lips glued to his, while the other splays out on your lower back, pressing your aching and needy core down onto the solid and hot product of his arousal. The very reason you’re core is even needy to begin with.

You grin into the kiss as you get a wicked idea, and begin to move yourself against him. Which causes him to inhale sharply, before groaning out at the delicious feel of you rubbing yourself thoroughly along his entire length.

“Fuck,” he breaths out, gripping your hair a little tighter, and helping your movements with strategic presses on your lower back. “You have no idea how badly I wanted to do this all day, today.”

“Oh?” You question innocently, as you pull back enough to look down at him. “Thought about this a few times today, did you?”

He gives you a pointed, but still completely heated look. One that reads of his need to have you, his need to claim you entirely for himself. His craving to make you his once again, just as he has many, many times before. The same craving needs you are all too aware are probably playing upon your features, as well. Mirroring his deep desires right back at him.

“You know I did,” he says in such a throaty tone, it sends a shiver down your spin, as he shakes his head. “You wore that damn pencil skirt today to tease me, didn’t you?”

You fight the smirk begging to form and shrug your shoulders instead, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” But you do, you totally do. Because you totally did wear it to tease him.

He narrows his eyes knowingly at you, and before you can even comprehend what is going on, your entire world flips and you find yourself pinned to the bed. The larger than life form of your boyfriend hovering over you now.

“I’m sure you don’t,” he hums lowly as he grinds himself roughly against you, ripping a loud moan from deep within you; about as deep as you’re hoping he’ll be soon enough, if he would just hurry the hell up already.

“Steve,” you whine breathlessly.

And that is met with that damn smirk again, the ass. “Yes, my love?”

“Hurry it up already, I still have to put dinner,” your words abruptly end there when he grinds the length of him against you once more.

He chuckles, but then one large hand cradles the back of your head, gripping your hair tightly, as the fingers of the other dig deliciously into your hip. But only for a moment, before his fingertips slide delicately down your thigh, to grip the back of your knee, and pull your leg up to hook onto his hip. And then in one smooth, but hasty movement, he thrusts himself deep within you.

And you gasp at the sudden intrusion, the overwhelming feeling of being entirely too full and filled. A glorious shiver rips up your spin, as he stays perfectly still for a moment, giving you a chance to settle around him, around his sheer size. Your mind reminds you that your earlier fears were, once again, entirely wrong. Of course he’d fit within you perfectly, he always did. You were made to fit him, just as he was made to fill you.

“Fuck. You feel so fucking good,” he praises, his voice hoarse and thick with his desire.

Your arms wrap around him, as your hands grip tightly to his shoulder blades. And when you can’t take the lack of movement any longer, you begin to rock your hips against him in any effort to increase the pleasure you’re currently feeling. He gets the hint quickly, and pulls back, almost leaving you entirely, before he snaps his hips forward and buries himself deep within you once again.

You clench your eyes shut and moan at the delicious sensations starting to take over your entire body from his knowing and thoroughly practised and perfected movements, and before long he is picking up his pace. Driving into you at an alarming rate, but it’s exactly the way you like it. And with every tantalizing drag of his hard cock along your inner walls, every delicious push and pull of his long and girthy length, the coil deep within your lower half begins to tighten. His hand grips your thigh, searching for any purchase he can find, and alternating between forcefully firm squeezes and gentle caresses of his fingertips along your flushed and heated skin.

“Open your eyes, Doll. Look at me,” he commands.

And he doesn’t have to tell you twice, your eyes snap open and lock with his, as you scrap your nails down his back, before your hands settle on his perfectly round ass. Gripping the plump globes firmly on every inward thrust, helping to push him deeper within you with each one. You want more—no, you need more.

“Faster, baby,” you plead, smacking his ass just enough to create one sharp cracking sound to echo around the room, and to help spur him on further. He loves when you do that, almost as much as you do.

His lips crash into yours, now claiming every part of you that he can with his hand, his lips and his cock. Turns out the smack worked exactly as you’d hoped it would, as he picks up his pace even further. Slamming into you relentlessly now, and causing your muscles to begin to tighten up as you near your first peak, and the free fall to follow it.

He groans, as his lips leave yours and begin to travel down to your jaw, then to your neck, leaving a hot trail of marks in their wake. And you are so close now, so fucking close.

“Oh God, almost there,” you mutter breathlessly, the words barely above a whisper. Even in your hazy mind, you know there is no point in telling him that. He knows your body well enough by now to know how truly close you actually are.

With a few more powerful thrusts, you are sent tumbling over the edge as your entire body locks up and you let out a loud moan followed by just muttering his name, over and over and over again. As if he’s fucked you so good, so thoroughly, that it’s the only word you know now, the only one you will ever say again.

“Fuck,” he groans, as he continues to pound into you mercilessly throughout your release, shaking slightly as he battles to fight himself from joining you over the cliff’s edge. And you know as your walls flutter and squeeze around him, fully and entirely, that he has to put a solid effort into fighting the urge to finish with you. But his continued movements only stand to drag this all out for you even longer, only stands to make this all that much better just for you. And as you finally start to come down for the high of the feelings he just instilled within you, you instantly feel empty, and cold.

You almost whine until he presses one more deep kiss on your lips and then you feel him forcefully flip your dazed form onto your stomach. Gripping your hips and pulling them up into the air, as he positions himself behind you. He rubs himself against your folds a few times, teasing you just a little before he slides fully back in, in another quick thrust.

And before you know it, he’s picked up the pace once more. You thought he was relentless before, but oh boy, how wrong you were, that was nothing compared to his forceful movements now. Your hands grip the bedding as you bounce yourself back into him, matching him thrust for thrust.

“Oh shit, Steve,” you gasp. “Right there. Right fucking there.”

His fingers dig into your hips, as he leans forward over you, and kisses between your shoulder blades. The action not hindering his pace in any way, shape or form. “God,” he groans again. “The things you fucking do to me.”

“The feelings fucking mutual,” you quickly say between shaky breaths, and you meant every damn word. The things this man does to you, the feelings he evokes within you, it’s all too much and yet, not enough. You feel that delicious coil deep within you start to tighten up once more, and you can’t wait for it to snap all over again.

His thrusts start to get a little sloppier, as his fingers dig further into the skin of your hip, and you’re positive there will be marks there for at least the next few days. But you don’t care. You can’t bring yourself to give a single fuck at the moment. You just want to feel his release, to experience your second one of the night.

One of his hands leaves your hip, and slips between your legs, his experienced fingers locating your little bundle of nerves, and making quick work of finding the perfect pace that gets you every damn time. Then with a few more powerful and deep drags of his full length along your walls, partnered with the delightful circles on your clit, you are shoved off the cliff's edge once again.

A loud cry rips from your lips as you feel him release along with you, filling you up so damn perfectly, and sending a shutter through you at the feeling of his hot spurts deep within you. Thank God for your IUD, as this is one of your favourite feelings in the world and you can’t do the condom thing with him anymore. You just can’t. Nothing beats the feel of his bare skin within yours, or of his warm release filling you so fully and completely. Just as his cock always does.

He groans deeply in your ear before he slumps to his side, bringing you along with him as he stays buried deep inside your core. His arms wrapping around you and cuddling you up against the heated and tacky skin of his chest. You both take a moment to come back down, allowing your heart rate and breathing to slow.

After a few moments his hand moves the disheveled hair from your shoulder, and his plump lips meet the soft skin below your ear. “You aren’t allowed to wear that damn skirt to work ever again,” he whispers against your skin.

“Oh, and why not, Boss?” You ask innocently, knowing full well exactly why, but wanting to hear him say the words.

He nips your skin lightly at the use of that silly nickname, “because I can’t handle the way it fits you like a second skin. Every time you enter my office, all I want to do is rip the damn thing off you, and take you on my desk, but I know I can’t.”

“You can’t?” You inquire playfully, turning to glance over your shoulder at him. But you know full well that you both agreed to keep your relationship entirely out of the office. From an outside and unknowing eye, no one would be able to tell you both had been together for years. You agreed in the very beginning to keep your relationship to non-work hours only, and being the workaholics you both are, it’s worked perfectly for you ever since. Most of your coworkers don’t even know you are a couple, or that you live together, and let alone that you own this apartment together for the last year and a half.

“You know exactly why I can’t,” he says knowingly behind you. Then he slips out from within you, leaving you with that depressingly empty and cold feeling once again, but you ignore it as you shift to turn around and face him. Pressing a soft kiss against his lips once you do.

You hum, nodding, “that I do, but don’t expect me to never wear that skirt again.” You pull back and grin up at him cheekily, “It’s one of my favourites, and the way you look at me when I’m wearing it is just far too enjoyable to stop.”

He groans, playfully, shaking his head, “tease.”

“I may be a tease,” you agree, shrugging as nonchalantly as you can, but the growing grin on your lips gives away your cheeky next words, “but I always make up for it after hours.”

“You do have a point there,” he agrees and gives you a beautiful smile, before leaning in to kiss you once again.

But just as his lips meet yours, a loud buzzer goes off and you jerk away from him. “What the hell was that?”

He chuckles as he pecks your lips once more and reluctantly pulls himself out of the bed. “Dinner. I put it in when I first got home and set the timer.”

You chuckle at the knowledge that you’d missed a bunch more noises upon his arrival home. How the hell hadn’t you heard any of that? Damn, might be time to get your ears checked out soon. You glance up at him, “you’re utter perfection, you know that?”

“I know,” he smirks smugly, before he laughs at himself, shaking his head at his antics as he picks up his discarded boxers and heads towards the bathroom to clean himself up.

“And oh so very humble too,” you playfully reply with an eye roll, before you watch his glorious ass move into the small room, not missing the light red outline of four little fingers on his right cheek. You giggle softly to yourself before you release a deep contented sigh as you just continue to lay there, in perfect after sex bliss.

When he reemerges, only wearing low sitting boxers, you almost drool all over yourself. He walks over to the dresser, grabbing a fresh pair of panties for you, and then collects your discarded pjs off the floor near the end of the bed, before he heads to your side and places them down next to you. He leans over you, kissing you sweetly and then whispers, “though if either of us is utter perfection here, it’s definitely you.”

You giggle again, gently pushing him away by his shoulders, “flatterer.”

“I only speak the truth,” he hums and quickly pecks your lips once more, then he takes your hands and gently helps you out of bed. “I’ll go deal with dinner while you get cleaned up.”

“Sounds perfect,” you smile, stealing one more kiss before you collect your clothes and head for the bathroom, desperately needing an after sex pee. Because, ya know, nobody wants a UTI. You laugh to yourself softly at that last thought as you slip into the bathroom, your eyes glancing over your shoulder to catch one more glimpse of the perfect man you love. And your breath hitches at just the mere sight of him half naked, just like it has many, many times before. And probably will many, many more times in the future.

Because regardless of what he says or believes, he is the true perfection within this relationship. Even with his flaws, faults and blemishes, you wouldn’t change a damn thing about him.

Because he is just so Perfectly Perfect.

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

Tagging my errythang list, not sure if all of you will be interested in this. So just ignore this is you aren’t down for horrible smut 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️

@caps-lockdown @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @tfandtws @boxofteenageideas @wangdeasang @giggleberts @strawberry-gothchild @theonelittleone @agentbadbitch @ratwrites @starrystellars @bandsandanimefreak @rockyroadthepastryarchy @lovvliies @cuffski @icesoccerer @alwaysright4 @lilsthethrills @steeeeverogers @zombiepotterfour @mu-mu-rs @ledandan1244 @straightforwardly @denzmallows @xremember-me-notx @gwynethjodie @lollipopdomination @capstopavenger @jemimah-b99 @rcvenqers @justkending @alagalaska @silent-loucidity @sabertooth-potato @pies-wands-and-more @gabriella69816 @phantom-soilder @wordlesscaptain @captain-hammer-of-asgard @starstucknature @viarogers @pixieferry @kaithezaftig @the-kinkiest-goblin @hysterically-original @badassbeckettswan @heyiamthatbitch @zlixlle @capsicledoll @givemehopenfandoms @pretendingandpreposterous @frozen-phoenix17 @emotionallysalty @saturngirlz @atomicsludgedonutbiscuit @ivannagotthebeat @bohemian-barbie @marvelous-capsicle @steverogersxreader @cjhorseback @jasminecalia @secondstar2disney @jessiedaeum @betsynodak @capricornprince118 @just-ladyme @pinkleopardss @drayshadow @sister-of-stars @wiserebelpartypie @dark-night-sky-99​ @patzammit​ @cs-please @troublermalik @bratstopmom @anika-ann @wxstedhexrt​ @rynabarnesrogers @ab-baybay @scentedsongrebel @captainchrisstan @kelbabyblue @fckdeusername @murdermornings @dreamlesswonder86 @intricate-melody @fiannaofficial @jeremyrennermakesmesmile @nomadics-stuff @hufflepuffvs

[shewritestheblues]

the Elevator Bae - 13

Chapter Thirteen

Erik Stevens x Black OC (Phoenix) 

A/N: This series is almost to its end. I will be ending with Chapter 15. Thank You so much to everyone who has read and shared this story. I adore all of you soooooo much :)

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How did two months go by so fast? Tour was coming to an end and It was bittersweet for Phoenix. She was able to finally see just how many people enjoyed her music and travel alongside one of her greatest friends but she missed Luna. She missed Erik? That’s been the confusing part. She didn’t really miss him but seeing how he’s been with Luna has warmed her heart. He’s been sending her videos and pictures daily. His bright smile seems to light up her world when she FaceTimes him to see Luna.

The closer she’s been getting to the last performing date, the more her anxiety has been surfacing. Since Erik’s been back, it was dropping Luna off because she had rehearsals and meetings and then tour. (A week during tour, Erik flew in to Detroit for Phoenix to have Luna while she visited family and he was on his way back to LA.) Their only interactions have been for Luna and they were good with that. She was good with that. There wasn’t any time for anything else. But soon, the tour will be over and she’ll be taking some time from work. Will things change? Have they already started to change?

Phoenix knew she was sure that this is what she wanted. For them to only focus on their daughter. All of these thoughts were swimming through her pool of a mind. Currently sitting in her hotel room, reading the comments under Erik’s latest IG upload weren’t helping. He just posted a picture of him and Luna while they were out. He had taken her shopping with him and snapped a picture of them in the dressing room mirror. It was the cutest picture. Luna looked unbothered while looking at the phone through the mirror. This kid had so many moods to be new here. Phoenix’s mom joked that Luna’s been here before.

Phoenix found herself smiling at the caption.

‘Luna ain’t having it with you hoes today.’

Erik’s captions were always… very Erik. And the comments full of women that Phoenix assumed were from Erik’s past or women who dreamed of being a part of his future.

‘She’s beautiful Erik.’

‘I still can’t believe Erik Stevens is somebody’s daddy.’

‘Lol, she’s so cute. Does she need a brother?’

‘Damn E. You make beautiful babies.’

‘Call me, E. 😘’

Phoenix wasn’t jealous. He was single. This was her decision. But sometimes, she hoped he would post something about her. Well, you know, because she is Luna’s mother of course. Maybe a shoutout?

No, no. She caught herself. She didn’t actually need that. Everyone following Erik knew who Luna’s mother was. Phoenix was fine. She. Was. Fine. These feelings? These thoughts? They will pass. So, she exited the app. It was time for rest and rest is definitely what Phoenix needed.

—————

Everything was… okay! Phoenix had worked herself up and things between her and Erik were good. They had the perfect schedule since she’s been back home. Erik would have Luna every other weekend. He’d come over to spend time with her during his ‘off days.’ They’d joke like old times. Even Ava had warmed back up to Erik. Of course things could never be what they used to be but this was a good start to making their situation feel somewhat normal.

“So tell me Phoenix, how has your transition back home been?” Dr. McKee wasted no time. She was eager to hear how Phoenix had been managing on her own.

Phoenix didn’t go back to therapy right away when she came back home. She figured she would take some time to test the waters and see if she would handle things with the methods she’s learned.

Releasing a deep breath, “Everything is good.” Phoenix finally says. “I’m happy.”

A genuine smile grew onto Dr. McKee’s face. “That’s amazing Phoenix. I’m honestly so proud of you.”

“Thanks. I’m proud of myself too.”

“So,” Dr. McKee paused, “What made you want to come in today?”

“I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m supposed to be using this time off to relax but I can’t. I feel like I should be doing something. Too much down time makes me think and when I think, I overthink. When I overthink, I get antsy. Then I feel anxious. Which only leads to a panic attack. I just don’t know what to do with this energy.” Phoenix stops herself to take a deep, calculated breath.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Did I make the right choice— No! I know that I did but…” Phoenix trails off.

“But what?”

“Luna loves him so much. The way she lights up when she sees him. She deserves to be that happy every day. I want her to feel what I feel. I’m happy.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to convince someone of that.”

The way Phoenix rolled her neck, she felt offended. How dare her own therapist insult her like this? Phoenix was happy! She didn’t have to convince anyone. She rolled her eyes at the idea. The nerve of this highly educated woman.

“I’m not trying to upset you Phoenix. I’m just trying to understand.”

“So are you saying I don’t make any sense right now?” Phoenix snapped back.

Cool, calm and collected, Dr. McKee blinks, “I’m not saying that at all. You make perfect sense. I just want you to share as much as you can so we can get to the root of what brought you here today.”

Phoenix closed her eyes and chewed on her lip. She internally chastised herself for being snappy. “It’s just,” she slowly began, “the way he looks at me with those puppy dog eyes. Even when he’s laughing, his eyes are saying something else. Like… he’s trying to slowly drown me. When he looks at me, his eyes linger like they’re trying to get me to catch on to something.”

Phoenix opens her eyes and focuses on the floor. “I’m not changing my mind. He’s always been a smooth operator but unfortunately for him, I know that. He doesn’t get to come around and make me feel guilty for choosing what’s right for my baby.” Phoenix paused. “Our baby.” She whispered that last part.

Dr. McKee takes some notes. She opens her mouth to speak but Phoenix beats her to it.

“I understand. I really do. Erik wants to give Luna the family experience. I want that for her too. But the family we’ve all created for her is fine.”

“I agree, Phoenix. So many of us get caught up in the idea of a traditional family. But family is whoever loves you unconditionally. From what I know, you, Erik, Coby, Ava and the entire tribe you guys have around you love Luna beyond this world. That’s more than enough. You’re a great mom. Great moms make tough decisions every day, but great moms also know each decision is for the greater good of their family.”

Phoenix smiles. It feels good to hear that someone sees you and your hard work and the sacrifices for what they are. Dr. McKee was right. They may not be the traditional family, but Luna is still surrounded by a loving tribe that is unique to her.

“But,” Dr. McKee continues, “you can’t attach yourself to Erik and what he may be feeling about this. You’ve made yourself clear what you wanted. You’re happy and Luna’s happy. There’s no need to ruffle anymore feathers here.”

Dr. McKee turns to her laptop and begins typing away on her keyboard. After a few clicks, she turns to Phoenix again.

“I’ve emailed you a list of things that could help you during your free time. I want you relax and enjoy this time off as best as you can before it’s time to get back to work. You deserve it.”

“I’m going to my best.”

—————

Phoenix wasn’t in a rush to leave the parking lot of Dr. McKee’s office after her session. She sat in her car going over the list in her email.

Ways to Relax Your Brain:

-Workout.

-Take an art class.

-Plant a Garden.

-Read some good books.

-Get out in Nature.

Phoenix wasn’t gifted with a green thumb, so gardening was out of the question. She works out pretty consistently, but it hasn’t worked out with calming her thoughts so that one is scratched off. Art class felt like work and books? She’s read every book that resides in Coby’s house. She was tired of reading. Looks like getting out in Nature would be worth a shot.

She’s always loved the beach but she couldn’t remember the last time she’s been to a beach.

—————

Phoenix found herself in a very familiar spot. A picnic table on the beach, watching the beach goers enjoy themselves. The waves look beautiful as they rolled in onto the sand. The sounds of splashing seemed more soothing than Phoenix ever realized. Time seemed to be passing so slow. Everything in the world has come to a calming pause. Her mind wasn’t racing. Her heart wasn’t pounding. Tranquility was all Phoenix could come up with to describe this feeling. She had no worries, no fears, no anxiety.

The sounds of an ice cream truck moving through the parking lot near her, caught her ear. The thought of eating something sweet without her infant bullying her into sharing seemed like a great win. She stood from her seat and seemingly floated to the truck.

“Hello, what can I get you?” the older man inside the truck said with a contagious smile.

“Um,” she tapped her chin with her index finger, “I’ll go with chocolate on a waffle cone.”

“Coming up.”

Moments later, Phoenix exchanges her money for the ice cream cone and travels back to her spot at the picnic table. She picked up where she left off admiring all that surrounds her. She ate her ice cream with a pleased smile pinching at her cheeks.

The small vibration of her phone pulled her from her trance. Erik is facetiming her. She assumed he was calling to see Luna so she swiped to answer the call.

“Hey, E. I’m not with Luna right now.”

“That’s cool. I called to talk to you.”

“Oh, um, okay. What’s up?” This made her suspicious.

“The Outreach Center will be opening this Friday. We’re doing a whole big thing and uh, I wanted to invite you if you aren’t busy. Shuri told me that if I didn’t call you right now, she would never talk to me again.”

Phoenix was mid bite into her cone and almost dropped it from laughter. “Well, you know I have nothing to do. Tell Shuri that me and Luna will be there.”

“Alright.” Erik paused, eyeing Phoenix’s background through the phone. “Aye! You’re at the beach?”

“Yeah. I just needed a moment. Needed to get out of the house, I guess.”

“Everything’s alright?” His words were soft, genuine.

“Yeah, yeah. Everything is good.”

Erik didn’t believe her. He could tell something was bothering her but he didn’t want to push her. That wasn’t his place. Well not anymore at least.

“Well you know, no matter what, you can always come to me.”

“Yeah, E. I know.”

“Alright, I have some shit to get done before Friday. I’ll let you get back to your me time. I’ll text the details later.”

“K…”

“Kiss my baby for me when you get back home please.”

“I will.”

The call ends and Phoenix is frozen. Erik calls her while she’s sitting in the very spot he’d taken her when he needed to clear his mind. This use to be their spot. Her peace was broken then. Erik was everywhere. Even when he wasn’t there. She looked around and threw in the towel. Her time here was up. She finished her ice cream cone on her walk back to her car. She was ready to get back home to get her daughter.

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

The week had flown by. Phoenix was just sitting on Dr. McKee’s couch. She was just at the beach. But now, it was opening day for the Outreach Center. Phoenix couldn’t understand why she was feeling so nervous. She had this gut feeling that something was off. Her and Erik were good. She loved T’Challa, Shuri and Queen Mother and they all adored her. She wrecked her brain trying to come up with an answer.

Phoenix called her mom. She would understand and maybe help her with her feelings.

“Something just doesn’t feel right, Ma.” Phoenix props the phone up on her dresser while she gets Luna dressed.

“That’s your intuition, baby. If you feel like something ain’t right, it’s because something ain’t right.”

“But I don't know what it is. It’s driving insane.”

“The only way to find out is to go and face whatever it is.”

Phoenix finishes dressing Luna. She places her in her bouncer in front of the phone so that Luna can see her grandmother on FaceTime.

“Hey baby girl.” Phoenix’s mom dotes on the bouncing baby. “You’re looking more and more like your grandma everyday.”

Phoenix cuts her eye at the phone. “She looks like her dad.”

Phoenix catches her mom rolling her eyes.

“You can’t hate him forever, Ma. He’s going to be around for a long time.”

“I don’t hate him. I just think he’s stupid. Maybe if he pays for a round trip for me to go to Wakanda, I’ll forgive him.”

“Mom!”

“Those are my terms Phoenix and I ain’t changing them. Ain’t that right Lulu? Tell your stupid ass daddy to send me to Wakanda.”

“Alright Luna,” Phoenix picks Luna up, “Your grandma is on all bullshit today.”

“Hey! What your mouth around my grandbaby.”

In disbelief, Phoenix looks at the camera, “But you just said a bad word.”

“Ass isn’t a bad word.”

“Okay, ma. Whatever you say. We have to go so I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Alright. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

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

Phoenix was roaming the large, empty halls of the Outreach Center. She had been inside multiple times while dropping off Luna to Erik or picking her up. She had checked Erik’s office, looking for him but he was nowhere to be found. She was making her way back outside when she sees Shuri. 

“Shuri!” Phoenix stops her, “Have you seen Erik?”

“Philly! I’m so happy you’re here.” She pulls Phoenix into a tight hug. Phoenix embraces her back and their body’s rock. “I missed you. Hey Lulu.” Shuri adds pinching Luna’s chubby cheeks.

“I told you that you can over whenever.” Phoenix adjusts Luna on her hip. Luna was getting heavier every day.

Before Shuri could respond, she looks up and sees Erik walking straight toward them. “Oh there’s the little T-Rex.” She points in the direction of Erik.

When Phoenix turns around, Erik is walking with that famous dip. His dreads are back into a ponytail and he’s sporting a navy blue suit that’s tailored to perfection. He’s always had great style. The smile on Phoenix’s face slowly began to drop when she noticed the tall, curvy, well dressed woman walking alongside Erik. That uneasy feeling she felt when she was home crept up from her stomach and settled in her chest. She tried to control her breathing before it picked up. She wouldn’t allow herself to get worked up before knowing what was going on.

“There you are. Philly was looking for you.” Shuri says. She turns to Phoenix, “Come find me later. We have so much to catch up on.” Shuri walks off.

Phoenix isn’t sure what she’s supposed to do. She awkwardly stands there looking around to avoid looking at the woman standing next to Erik.

“Hey, Phoenix,” Erik grabs her attention and motions to the mystery woman. “This is Alicia. Alicia, this is Phoenix.”

Alicia sticks her hand out and shakes Phoenix’s hand. “Oh my goodness, you’re Phoenix? I’ve heard so much about you. Hey Lulu.” Alicia rubs her thumb on Luna’s arm.

Lulu? The only people who calls her Lulu are people who are close to her. It’s obvious that this woman has been around Luna a great deal.

“Oh…Hm. It’s nice to meet you.”

Her eyes bounce between Alicia and Erik a few times before they lock in with Erik’s. She can’t read him. These are not the same eyes he usually looks at her with. He licks his lips. This woman isn’t just a random woman that Erik decided to introduce to her. Something was up between the two of them.

Luna throws her body backwards trying to get to her dad. Erik scoops her up with one quick motion, taking her from Phoenix. He peppers kisses all over her cheeks before checking his watch. “We’re gonna miss the opening ceremony. We should get outside.”

“You guys go ahead.” Alicia says, “I have to use the lady’s room. I’ll catch up.”

“Okay. You know where to find me.” Erik says with a smirk. Alicia places a hand on his arm and walks off toward the restroom.

Erik and Phoenix began the journey outside to watch T’Challa give the opening ceremony speech. As they approached the big door that led out, Phoenix looked to Erik. “She seems nice.”

“She is.” Erik tries to bite back his smile.

“Good. You need someone nice.”

Erik stops walking. He was stunned by her words. How did she manage to put those pieces together? His words got caught and he struggled with a response. Phoenix picked up on his struggles.

“She called Luna, Lulu. That told me everything, Erik.”

He caught on. “I wanted to tell you before now, but I didn’t really know how.”

“It’s fine. As long as she makes you happy, there’s nothing to talk about. Things may not have worked out with us but I can see that you’re a better man. Someone should get to experience that.”

Phoenix doesn’t stick around to hear how he may react. She walks ahead leaving him and Luna and goes outside. Erik stood there processing her words. Alicia catches up to him. She could see that something had shaken him up.

“Erik, is everything okay?” her eyes searched him for any kind of answer. “Did something happen with Phoenix?”

He finally looks at her, “No, nothing happened. She just, uh, she thinks you’re nice.” A single dimple appearing.

A small smile forms on Alicia’s face. “So does this mean that I’m Phoenix approved?”

They laugh. He steps closer to her and plants a kiss on her lips. Alicia’s face goes red. “Not in front of Luna.” she plays.

Erik opens the door for them and they walk out just in time as T’Challa takes the stage.

As the day progressed, Erik was talking to so many people. He found himself explaining different parts of the Outreach Center over and over but he didn’t complain. Alicia stayed by his side, mingling while Luna bounced around between the two of them and Queen Mother. It wasn’t until T’Challa pulled Erik aside to ask where Phoenix was that Erik realized that he hadn’t seen her since their exchange. His eyes searched through the crowd hoping to see her somewhere. To his disappointment, she was nowhere to be found.

He texted her.

Erik: Hey, Philly. Where did you go?

Time passed and he never received a text back.

Phoenix’s thumbs hovered over her keyboard but she just couldn’t find it in her to say anything back. When Erik didn’t come outside for the ceremony right after her, she snuck out and left. Luna was in good hands and she just couldn’t stick around. She meant what she said. She really did see Erk for the better man that he had become. He was an amazing person and even more amazing father. It wouldn’t be fair for her to want him to not move on. Again, she reminded herself that this was best.

“Philly. Come get your glass.” Mica yelled from the kitchen.

When Phoenix got back home, she told Ava what had happened and Ava called Mica and Camren over for girl talk and wine. They were all between their third and fourth cups. Hours had gone by and Phoenix still couldn’t text Erik back. She just says “fuck it,” and tossed her phone on the couch and heads into the kitchen for her refill.

When Phoenix gets a hold of her assigned wine glass, she downs it in seconds. Her friends watch on in shock.

“Damn Philly, calm down.” Camren says.

“I’m grown, Camren. You don’t have to tell me how to drink some weak ass wine.”

Mica clutches her pearls. This isn’t like Phoenix at all.

“What’s wrong with you?” Ava asks. “Is this about Erik?”

Phoenix throws daggers at Ava with her heavy eyes. “Everything ain’t about Erik. I’m good.”

“You’re not acting good.” Mica adds.

Phoenix begins filling her glass up again. “Well since yall just know me so well, how am I acting if I’m not acting like I’m good?”

Ava snatches Phoenix’s glass. “You’re acting like you’re trying to drink your problems away.”

“I don’t have any problems to drink away. If I did, I’d be killing off something way stronger than wine.” she reaches for her glass but Ava pulls away.

“It’s obvious that this Erik shit is bothering you, sis.” Ava says.

Camren and Mica both nod in agreement.

Phoenix slams her hands down on the island counter. “Yo, fuck Erik. I don’t give a shit about what that man is doing. He’s moved on. He’s happy. I’m happy. Why are y’all holding on to this shit?”

“You’re holding on to it.” Ava yells. She’s fed up with Phoenix’s rudeness.

The gloss appearing over Phoenix’s eyes alerted her friends that she was struggling to hold back her tears. Ava reaches for her but Phoenix pulls away. She looks off at nothing when a few tears escape and flow down her cheeks. Her lips shake and she wraps her arms around herself.

“I don’t get why you’re torturing yourself. You clearly still love him.” Mica says.

“Yes!,” she aggressively wipes tears from her cheeks, “I still fucking love him, but this love ain’t mean shit. He doesn’t get to do this. He can’t just pop back up after all of this and have his life back like nothing happened.

“So,” Camren hesitates for a moment. “You’re punishing him?”

“I’m protecting myself.”

Ava steps closer to Phoenix in a nurturing way. “No, you are punishing him and yourself. Look at you. I hate what his stupid ass did just as much as you. But she’s right. We’re right. You're torturing yourself while trying to prove a point.”

“No I’m not!”

“You keep saying that he can’t do this.” Mica joins in again. “That he can’t just come back. But you can’t just pretend like you don’t care. It’s not fair to either of you.”

Phoenix doesn’t respond. She’s listening but she wishes that she wasn’t. They were right and she wishes they weren’t.

Camren breaks the silence. “We’re not trying to hurt your feelings Philly or piss you off in any way, but you can’t be hurt that he’s moving on when you’re the one that told him to.”

Mica interrupts, “So, either you can move on too or tell him how you really feel.”

The group of women notices Phoenix’s lack of responses. She’s in shut down mode. They didn’t want that but they couldn’t sit back and not tell their friend the truth about herself. Phoenix finally gets her hands on her abandoned glass of wine on the counter and downs it before silently walking away from her friends. She goes upstairs to her room. They give each other knowing looks. They would give her some time and they’ll go up to console her. Moments pass and they all suddenly hear the front door slam, scaring them. When the women rush to the door, they barely catch Phoenix just as she is nearing the end of the driveway.

Ava runs out toward the reversing car but Phoenix quickly shifts the car into drive and drives off.

“Fuck!” Ava yells. “We have to get Coby.”

[violetsmoak]

Pieces of April [18/?]

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21099044/chapters/50202530

Summary: On the anniversary of his death, Jason’s second life takes an abrupt new turn and he’s faced with a challenge that neither Batman nor the All-Caste prepared him for.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

Author’s Note: Sorry for the wait on the latest chapter, I spent the weekend plotting some original work and it sort of took over my brain for a while. Also, this chapter has been fighting me. Mostly because I’ve been working on the big Batfam discovery moment and I can’t wait to get there, and having to slow down and write everything in between is soooooo frustrating! But hopefully we’ll get there soon lol. In the meantime, enjoy!

First Chapter

________________________________________________________________

The next morning finds Jason once again in Tim’s kitchen, this time doing a fry-up of bacon and eggs. He’d been surprised to find either of those things in Tim’s fridge, having appeared as if by magic.

(Jason suspects Tim gets his groceries delivered instead of shopping like a normal person; he’s not going to complain, though, since food is food.)

From her carrier’s usual perch on the kitchen island, Luisa is frowning at him—or at least frowning at his general direction—in disapproval like a miniature, squishy Winston Churchill.

“What?” he asks her, feeling oddly judged. “You don’t like my fryin' technique?” She sticks her tongue out, and yawns, easing back in her carrier. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

He’d probably shit his pants if she actually spoke back, but he’s seen stranger things in his life.

Suddenly, there’s a sharp, explosive bang from outside as a car backfires, and Luisa jolts, eyes going wide in shock before she starts shrieking.

“Crap,” Jason grunts, dropping the spatula and hurrying over to pick up the startled baby. Lifting her up, he starts rocking her back and forth, trying to shush her and wincing as the crying just gets louder.

How does such a little thing make such a big noise?

Still trying to calm her, he goes to pick the spatula up off the floor to toss in the sink and glances around for another. Luisa keeps crying, little fists beating ineffectually at him, and no matter what position he holds her in she refuses to let up.

“I know you’ve never heard something that loud before, but don’t you think this is an overreaction?” he mutters, glancing desperately around for the cape Tim was using as a carrier the other day. It’s nowhere within range, and so he turns off the stove and shoves aside the pan to ensure the bacon doesn’t burn while he deals with the baby complication.

As he searches, rocking and shushing Luisa as he goes, he’s getting generally more frustrated at not being able to get her to stop wailing. He’s on the verge of giving up and going to wake Tim—which is embarrassing on so many levels—when he remembers what the kid told him yesterday about heartbeat and skin-to-skin contact.

Making a quick decision, he places the squalling infant on the couch for an instant while he shrugs out of his shirt. Then, ignoring the sense of awkwardness he picks her up to hold against his bare chest, cradling her head in support as he continues to rock subtly, bouncing somewhat on the balls of his feet.

Luisa’s still wailing, mushing her face into his chest almost in protest, and his ears are beginning to ring. But slowly, as the minutes creep by, the sound morphs into weak fussing. Her little ear settles against a spot near his breastbone, right over his heart, and that sound wanes as well.

There’s a sniffle, a wet almost-hiccup in her breathing, and then she goes silent and calm again.

Hey, look at that.

Jason actually managed to calm her down himself, instead of calling for help or putting her down to yell until she tired herself out. He’s not sure why he feels a stab of pride in that, but he decides it doesn’t matter in the face of the now silent baby.

He keeps hold of her until her breathing evens out and she passes out and then returns to the kitchen and the carrier.

Once she’s settled again, he notices that he’s being watched, and glances up to see Tim, ruffled and still blinking sleep out of his eyes even as he studies the scene in front of him.

Eyes raking up Jason’s form, he opens his mouth to say something, frowns to himself and shakes his head.

“I need coffee,” he mumbles at last and slouches into the kitchen to turn on the Keurig. While waiting for it to brew, he turns back to Jason, leaning against the counter and tilts his head to one side. “I didn’t know you had tattoos.”

Jason looks down his front at the All-Caste markings no longer hidden by the baby’s form.

They’re not tattoos. At least, not exactly.

But the real story’s too complicated and not something he wants to get back to the Bats, so he just shrugs and says, “I don’t exactly put out announcements in the Family newsletter.”

Tim nods, ceding the point.

“So, what do they mean?” he asks as his coffee finishes brewing.

“None of your damn business. Don’t you have work?”

The younger man raises an eyebrow. “It’s Saturday?”

Right. Weekends are a thing.

“I do have some online classes to log on for later, though,” Tim goes on. “But I don’t really have to dress up in a suit for that.” He smirks. “I’m not Damian.”

“I dunno—you’re both pint-sized pains in my ass,” Jason retorts, trying to hide his surprise that Tim is still in school. He thought he’d dropped out when Bruce went missing in the timestream; he didn’t realize the guy was still doing that.

God, he’s doing school on top of everything else? How is this kid still alive?

“I’m still taller than he is,” Tim hedges, with a trace of sulk in his voice.

Heh. Think we’ve hit a sore point there.

But he chooses not to pursue it; better for him if Tim’s in a good mood.

“I’m goin' out again today,” he informs him, trying not to grit his teeth at the effort it takes not to make it sound like a question. He doesn’t need permission, damn it! “Have a little conversation with Isabel’s ex, for all the good it’ll do.”

“I figured as much,” Tim replies, unbothered. He sips at his coffee. “Isa and I will be fine. Besides, when I’m done my classwork, I’ve got a lead I want to pursue. I might have tracked down some of Isabel’s blood relatives.”

Jason pauses, ears perking up. “Seriously?”

“I think so. Try not to get your hopes up, though.” He frowns then, tilting his head to one side. “You might want to do something about that before you go meeting with anyone.”  

He makes a circular motion around his own forehead.

Nonplussed, Jason wanders toward the mantlepiece and the mirror above it, making a noise of understanding when he realizes what Tim was pointing out.

“Noted,” he agrees, flicking at his hair.

The problem with dying his hair black is the need to touch it up every six weeks; the roots of his natural red coloring start to peek through around then, along with the thick white streak that sprouts from just above the scar in his hairline. The latter doesn’t hold the color for very long, fading to a washed-out gray-white within a few washes.

The upkeep is a pain in the ass, but black hair is a lot less memorable in his line of work, a lesson he learned quickly as both Robin and during his League training.

Once Tim’s settled into his temporary workstation at the kitchen table, with Luisa snoozing within easy reach, Jason takes off.

Like the day before, he commandeers one of Tim’s bikes and heads out to pharmacy near one of his safehouses in Midtown. He figures it’s best to keep any kind of chemical smell far away from the baby, and besides he kind of wants to avoid Tim walking in on the dyeing process. He needs to do his eyebrows, and if the younger man were to make a comment, Jason would have to punch him—which seems a poor reward for someone helping him out right now.

Once he’s applied the dye and is waiting for it to set, he uses the laptop in his bolt hole to remotely access the Cave systems again and brings up the phone records between Isabel and her group of friends, including Jonathan Sutter.

It feels morbid and invasive, but he needs a better sense of who these people are and how to approach them. The texts between her and her friends are the usual thing you’d expect from a group of twenty-somethings making plans or bitching about work. As for the exchanges between her and Sutter, there aren’t that many; it seems their relationship was mostly in person or by phone.

Jason’s relieved about that because he’s not sure he could stomach reading his dead ex-girlfriend’s sexting her boyfriend.

Because I don’t feel creepy enough about this as it is…

He finds reference to a few events they attended together—restaurant dinner, a trip to the opera, a Broadway play—

“Wow, this guy was predictable,” Jason mutters to himself before he finds something interesting.

Sutter’s accounting firm did work on a huge contract with WE the year before, resulting in invitations to one of their charity events. Sutter evidently invited Isabel to go with him, which could provide a good backstory for Jason.

He’s been to those things before, both under protest and undercover, and they all go down the same way. It’s an easy cover for what he needs.

Closing the laptop, he goes to wash the last of the dye off and then showers for good measure. He actually takes more than ten minutes for once, since he’s alone and doesn’t need to keep his ear out for a crying baby. Even when he knows Tim is watching her, he can’t help waiting for something bad to happen.

It’s a bit irritating, actually; he inherited all the worries a new parent might feel about screwing up their kid, and yet none of the connection. It’s not just because he’s holding himself back from it either; he wonders if he had known about the baby—if he and Isabel had been involved during her pregnancy—if he would feel more of a bond to Luisa.

“No point wonderin',” he mutters to himself as he gets out of the shower and towels off. He learned a long time ago that speculating over the ‘what-if’s’ of the past would just lead him down a dark pit of self-pity.

On a whim, he grabs the make-up and prosthetic’s kit from beneath the sink and sets about making himself a disguise. He doesn’t usually bother with disguises anymore—those undercover gigs with Bruce seem far too long ago—but since he’s just testing the waters, he doesn’t want to be too recognizable.

The end result is a passable imitation of the infamous Matches Malone look Bruce cultivated, though Jason makes an effort to look a lot more kempt, before setting out once more.

The cameras he left watching Sutter’s place, as well as the tracker on his car, put him at a strip-mall not far from his home. Upon investigation, Jason finds himself standing in front of a high-priced vegan grocery.

“Seriously?” Jason mutters to himself, wrinkling his nose in disgust. The store isn’t even one of the legit wholesale places filled with locally sourced products, but one of the trendy boutiques, stocked with items that are three times more expensive just to cover the import costs and the brand name.

He loiters around the shelves, pretending to be examining the dozens of different types of Norwegian water while keeping an eye out for his target.

Sutter appears at the head of the aisle moments later, pushing a cart and followed by a young brunette. Younger than him, at least; Sutter’s about thirty, which puts the woman he’s with at about ten years younger.

She says something to him, clearly cheerful and excited, and Sutter replies in kind, accepting whatever package she puts in the cart. She leans up to peck him on the cheek, and then practically bounces away. The minute she’s gone, Sutter’s expression becomes long-suffering. He checks his phone with an air of impatience.

So he’s not actually into his stuff, but faking it for her.

It’s possible that’s just him attempting to be a supportive boyfriend, Jason supposes. But it also suggests the decision-maker in the relationship is the girlfriend, which could be a problem.

Only one way to find out.

He makes a production of turning just as Sutter passes him, and then affects a double-take at seeing him for the first time.

“Hey, I know you!” he declares, earning a look of surprise, followed by the guy looking around with a ‘who me?’ kind of expression. Jason pretends not to see it. “Johnny—John? Sutter, right?”

The man stares at him, apprehensive. “Yes? Do I know you?”

“You don’t remember?” Jason says, affecting an amused chuckle. “Heh. Guess you wouldn’t, I look a lot spiffier in a tux.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t—"

“Peter Malone, Locke Insurance? We met at the WE charity ball last March.” Sutter continues to look wary. “You were there with that knockout—whatshername…Izzy? Annabelle?”

“Isabel?” Sutter supplies, expression slowly morphing from wary to uncomfortable. The expression of someone worried he’s about to be caught out for not remembering a name.

“Right! Yes, her—damn, she was a looker.”

“Yeah…sorry, but I don’t really remember you,” Sutter says, expression clearing, and adopting an apologetic grimace. “But there were a lot of hands to shake that night, so...”

“Don’t I know it,” Jason agrees. “I left with about six new clients that night. Pretty good for a charity event, eh?” He doesn’t give Sutter a chance to reply. “So, you still with her?”

“What?”

“Isabel—hot blond? Legs up to here?”

Sutter’s tone becomes clipped again. “No.”

Jason gives an exaggerated whistle. “Damn shame…damn shame. You two looked like you were having fun.”

“Yeah, well…” Sutter gives a tight smile, eyes flicking away like he’s looking for an exit. “Things don’t always work out.”

“You know if she’s still single now?” Jason prompts, laying on the smarm. “Think you could set us up?”

“I think you’re the last person she wants anything to do with right now,” Sutter replies coolly. “Now, if you excuse me—”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t think she’d be into me? Everyone wants a piece of this.”

“Hope you like kids then,” the man mutters as he edges away.

Jason affects a wide-eyed gaze. “She’s got kids? Damn, she doesn’t look the type.”

He makes it sound like some kind of disease, earning a snort of agreement from Sutter, who says, “I thought so too.”

There’s a trace of bitterness there, one Jason recognizes intimately. He had foster parents that looked and sounded the same. Still, he presses on, pretending to be clueless at the cues the other man is trying to give him to end the conversation.

“Not a fan of the rugrats?”

“Not especially,” Sutter replies tightly. “And raising someone else’s kid? When you work the hours I do? I’ve got a career, my company’s got me flying from the East Coast to the West Coast every couple of weeks, my family’s already complicated—it’d be hard enough raising my own kid, let alone someone else’s.” He looks up as the blond from earlier appears, with some overpriced wafer crackers. “Anyway, nice catching up with you. See you around, I guess.”

He practically takes off at a run.

“Yeah, take it easy,” Jason replies dully. In three sentences, he’s learned everything he needed to know about the guy’s fitness as a parent.

This guy’s a hard ‘no’ then.

Jason leaves the store, mood dark. He takes a few hours to wander around Crime Alley and soak up the comings and goings without anyone recognizing him, before turning to Tim’s apartment via the underground entrance.

“Looks like it didn’t go too well,” Tim says when he sees him. He’s in the process of changing Luisa, who is making noises of disapproval. She doesn’t like to be wet, but she also doesn’t like being cold, so getting changed appears to be her least favorite part of the day.  

“He doesn’t want to be involved,” Jason says, not wanting to go into detail. “Which is what we figured would be the case.”

“Well, now you know for sure.”

“All I’m sure about is people suck.”

“So what’s the next step?”

“I’ve got a list of Isabel’s friends to contact. If they seem legit, I’ll see about figurin' out if they want to step up in honor of Isabel’s memory.”

He makes a face at that, knowing how it sounds, but being unable to think up any other alternative.

“I could come along,” Tim offers.

“No,” Jason says immediately. “People see you and they see dollar signs. Either for sellin' the story to the press or pretendin' their decent because they’ll think the kid means you bankrollin' them for the next eighteen years.”

“Point,” Tim says, and there’s a clench of his jaw that makes Jason think that scenario resonated with him personally for some reason. “I still don’t think you should go alone. You need someone along to soften your image, so you don’t come off as a creep.”

“I can be soft if I want to be,” Jason protests, offended.

“I have…no idea how to respond to that that won’t sound like Dick,” Tim tells him. “So I won’t.”

“Magnanimous of you."

“Here’s an idea—call Safiya. Ask if she’ll come with. She might even have met some of these people before.”

“Good point.” Jason makes a mental note to call her later, and wanders into the kitchen.

Noticing that other than the various plastic bottles and hastily closed formula containers there's no sign of plates or take-out, Jason determines Tim probably hasn’t made anything for dinner or even just for himself.

Assuming he even knows how to cook.

He opens the door to the fridge, and just stands there for a long moment, before shaking his head and closing it again when nothing immediately appeals to him.

Jason’s not entirely sure what he wants right now, his stomach growling in complaint for food having to compete with a pervading nausea at the idea of a heavy meal. He ends up cutting up a plate of fruit to tide him over until he can make a decision and wanders over to the space in the living room where Tim is working. Safiya is now nowhere in sight, but the baby monitor is on, the green lights lighting up and fading in tandem with distant sound of breathing.

“She actually let me put her down,” Tim explains when he notices where Jason’s looking.

“You’re the favorite,” Jason retorts, not sure why the idea doesn’t sit well with him. He supposes it’s left over from years of seeing Tim as the replacement everyone preferred to him. Rather than get trapped in that dark line of thinking, he offers the younger man his plate. “Any luck tracking down Luisa’s family?”

Tim absently accepts a few wedges of apple. “Yes and no.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Jason asks, throwing himself onto the couch. There’s a groan under his weight, which earns a pissy look from Tim, but the latter doesn’t address it.

“Isabel never told you much about her extended family, right?”

“Beyond the fact that they exist somewhere, not really. We didn’t really talk families, for obvious reasons.”

“Right.”

“She said she and her parents left Bogota before she was two, and if she met anyone before then she can’t remember.”

“Well, it turns out there’s a reason for that,” Tim says and slides his tablet over to Jason. When he picks it up, it takes a minute for his eyes to register the information Tim’s hunted up. “Her parents were fleeing Columbia to get away from them. It seems the Ardila family is in deep with the Medellin cartel there.”

“No shit,” Jason says, eyes wide.

This may actually explain Isabel’s lack of panicking in the face of aliens and mobsters…

“Isabel’s parents sought asylum in the US and eventually qualified for citizenship.”

“How’d they manage that if they were from a crime family?”

“My guess? Being good at bending the truth and having excellent forged documents.”

“Either way, that’s another option off the table,” Jason sighs, letting his head fall back on the couch in exasperation.

Tim hums in agreement and for a few moments, they simply sit in silence against the sense of defeat.

It’s not until the baby monitor suddenly gives a sudden series of noise—bursts of what at first sounds like static, but they then realize are tiny sneezes—that either of them moves again.

“I should check her,” Tim says, but Jason holds up a hand to stop him.

They listen a few moments longer, hear a bit of grumbling across the monitor, and then there’s only the sound of breathing.

“If you’re going to go running every time she sneezes or coughs, you’re going to give her a complex,” Jason informs him.

Tim raises an eyebrow. “Says the guy who was worried she had yellow fever.”

“I wasn’t worried, I was…concerned.”

“Now you sound like Bruce.”

“Take that back, Replacement.”

They glare at each other, but there’s little heat in it. At last, Tim rolls his eyes and looks away.

“On a somewhat related note—” Tim reaches for a file folder and takes out a piece of paper with a table on it, which Jason immediately recognizes as a schedule. Various duties have been written into the cells—feeding, changing, future bath times.

“You actually made one,” Jason says, somewhat disbelieving.

“Of course I made one. This last week, we’ve just been reacting to everything. We can’t keep going like that, and I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of the petty arguments about who does what.”

“Petty,” Jason repeats tonelessly.

“Petty,” Tim agrees. “As you can see here, these are the times when we might consider calling for outside help. I checked with Safiya about what days she’s conditionally available, and even Tam—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa—Tam agreed?”

“Well, she agreed for emergencies,” Tim allows. “Like, if it’s raining Joker toxin from the sky kind of emergencies.”

Jason scowls. “Don’t tempt fate with that shit.”

“You know what I mean. If there’s something big going on, she said she’ll cover for us. Since it’s all temporary, and all.”

“Right…” Jason agrees faintly, staring at the blinking lights of the baby monitor. “Temporary…”

The rest of what Tim's saying fades to background noise, as his thoughts are overwhelmed with a sudden worry:

What if we don't find anyone worth taking her?

⁂⁂⁂

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