#sadly it's currently sitting behind my 3 current aus

[chasing-chimeras]

And if I said Apostate Theo x Noble. Grey warden(former templar) Liam.......

idk who you are but i would propose on both knees (and also inform you that a few months ago i typed up an eighteen page outline for almost this exact concept)

[justalilstar]

Papa orb.. and Mama orb???

fun fact in my kirby au kirby has a biological mother!!!

Her name is Wafer, her proper title being Dame Wafer Knight. She and Meta met in NME, and had Kirby around the same time as their escape!! Sadly Wafer ended up kidnapped well into knighthood, and Meta hasn’t seen her until recent years. It also meant she didn’t really get to see Kirby grow, but both her husband and child are just glad that she was able to be rescued in the end.

also meta and wafer are T4T <3

She has a talent for making realistic pastries, which in turn means she’s a master at baking-based pranks. She also just likes baking overall, and has a midwest accent to boot! She’s overall pretty sweet, even when causing a bit of tomfoolery.

her fear of machines is due to Nightmare having used her to power his backup base, which took a massive toll on her physical and mental health.

image description below!!

Image description: The first image is of Meta Knight wearing a pink sleeping mask with darker frills rather than his usual mask. He is loafed up next to a paler newborn Kirby. To the right of them both is Wafer Knight, who has one of her wings draped over them both

second image is a reference sheet for Wafer Knight. The text at the top reads ’WAFER KNIGHT’ and ‘“Soft-Swirled Dame”‘ respectively.

To the far left of the ref is a reference of Wafer’s armored and unarmored body. Her body is mint colored, with varying brown accents on her legs, wings, and horns. She also has five freckles on her face that are also a dark shade of brown. Her eyes are lime green. The top reference showed Wafer with sabatons the same color of her legs and a light brown mask with two eye holes. down the center of the mask is a line and bolts showing where the mask’s two sides were welded together. She is also wearing pale blue gloves. The bottom ref Shows her without her armor, showing off her face and pawpads, the largest one in her palm being the shape of a heart.

Besides main body references is a ref for her cape, which has white swirls at the top like whipped cream or ice-cream, and a base of plain brown that resembles a wafer cone. Text next to the reference reads ‘cape =D’.

next to the cape reference is four deceptions of Wafer with different expressions. The top left shows her smiling happily, revealing a sharp tooth. The top right shows Wafer appearing to be annoyed or put off, with lines being used to show a darker shading spot between her eyes. The eyes in questioned are furrowed in suspicion. The bottom left shows Wafer crying, one of her eyes barely open and streaming tears. The other eye is closed and her mouth is wide open but wobbly, indicating loud sobs. The bottom right shows a slightly flustered expression, with Wafer’s eyes drooped and her smile wobbly. She is also faintly blushing. All four expressions are looking off to the side.

Below the face references is a reference for Wafer’s wings. The top shows the front view of her wings, which are a pale yellowish color. The bottom shows the back view of her wings, which are segmented into a gradient that goes from the off-yellow to a more brownish tone.

next to the wing references is a reference for Wafer’s main weapon, which is a spiked ball and chain. the base of the handle and ball are a dark blue, while the chain connecting the two is a much lighter blue and the spikes on the ball are a light green.

next to the weapon reference is Wafer’s color palette.

next to the color palette are two pride flags. The top one is the transgender flag, and the bottom one is the bisexual flag.

below the pride flags is an image of Wafer baking, she is kneading dough while wearing a chef hat. The cheff had has an image of a rat on it with the anagram ‘K.T.C’ below. The anagram stands for “Kiss The Cook”.

Below the baking doodle is an image of Wafer in her armor and sitting happily behind a desk of sorts. Text below reads ‘retail worker in current day’.

below the retail doodle is an image of Wafer fearfully looking away from a wrench, her face dark and with sweat running down it. Her wings are also puffed up in alarm. Text besides the image reads ‘Has a massive fear of large machines’.

End of description.

[khoicesbyk]

Revenge.

A/N: This AU is a mashup of chapters from the new…ish book First Comes Love.

Book: First Comes Love

A/N 2: This book was cute until the LI got on my nerves. He's fine as all get out but oblivious as shit. So what happens when you decide to play his game? Read and find out!

A/N 3: In this series, you are the MC. So you get to experience all the emotional damage that comes along. Have fun!

Rated: Mature. | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual from me. 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: Blake Marshall (LI) and Reader (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and original characters created by me) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 8,825 words. (more or less. I stop counting after editing and re-editing. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Tag List: @choicesficwriterscreations

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or dm me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

This series is rated Mature. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Chapter 1.) Two Can Play That Game.

It was supposed to be the friend's trip of a lifetime. It was supposed to be you, Lino, Eve, and the finest black man in the world, Blake Marshall. Your man in your head and your heart, which makes sense given how you had always wanted him for years.  

He is pure chocolate perfection in human form. No man can touch him in the looks department, not even Adonis himself. All alone in Big Bear.  It would be perfect.  That's what it was supposed to be. 

But it wasn't.

Because Blake has a girlfriend.  And you're sitting here like "Where the hell did this spicy YT come from?" Ugh!  She's killing the whole vibe of your trip. And the fact her name is Rebecca?  If only the gods could take you now.

Becky with the straw hair has been doing everything she can to make you jealous. And sadly, it's starting to work. Every day that you've been at the resort she's had her mayo-flavored hands all over him and it's gotten harder and harder to resist the urge to bash her skull in.

She was always giggling at jokes she never heard before, speaking with ebonics she had never grown up with, and wearing trends that she had never made.

The lack of authenticity was becoming too much.  Not just because of her, but because he acts so oblivious. Like he doesn't see you standing in front of him, ready to give him everything he wants and desires. 

You know he's not in love with her and he knows he's not in love with her. And yet here we are. You have to watch them together and it's making you sick. There is no way this fine specimen of a man should be with any woman who wasn't you.

It's frustrating as all Hell. But hey, you're a Scorpio - an October Scorpio, which means you know how to use others' emotions to your advantage.

Enter Sky, your latest chess piece.

It was half serendipity and half he nearly capsized you and your friends with his huge yacht while all of you were out on the lake.  To make up for it he invited you all onto the yacht and immediately flirted with you.  And you wouldn't have cared for Sky until you caught a glance at Blake's face. 

He was jealous and failed at hiding it, which made you giddy. He clearly didn't like you talking to Sky, and you liked that.  

How dare you give attention to any man other than him? You were his. The one little starving rabbit only he could dangle a carrot in front of. That little smile on your face? Only meant for him. The way you tucked your hair behind your ear? You only did that for him. 

Well, not today. Today, you are gonna have some fun at his expense. After all, all's fair in love and war, right? 

Sky might not have been the finest man in the world, but since being around him was making Blake miserable, you could fuck him with your eyes closed. You spent that whole afternoon with Sky. You didn't know which was better - Blake being jealous or the fact he was actively ignoring little miss spicy white to focus on your conversation with Sky. When Sky absentmindedly put his hand on your thigh you spared a look at Blake, and he looked sick to his stomach. You couldn't help but smile to yourself. 

You were coming out of the lower deck bathroom when you ran smack into Blake.

"So, you and Sky huh?" he asked with an eyebrow raised. 

You roll your eyes at him, "Hello to you too, Blake."  Goddamn, he looks amazing. 

"You didn't answer my question."

"We're just talking," you reply. 

"Y'know he does have other guests and his friends."

"I'm not forcing him to talk to me, Blake. But gee thanks for accusing me of doing something that I'm not." you snap at him. 

His features soften. 

"Okay, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to offend you."

You smirk at him.

"Don't let it happen again, Marshall."

Blake shook his head and flashed that pretty smile as he leaned against the door frame. 

"He's not your type you know," Blake said to you.

"Excuse me?" you ask.

"Sky. He's not your type," he replies, doubling down.  Fuck, his boldness was sexy.

"And how would you know?" you ask.

"Because I know you. And I know that you want and deserve someone who will treat you right. Someone who will care for and about you. And Sky isn't that guy." he replies. 

"What are you saying, Blake?"

"I'm saying that you have a type. And Sky isn't your type."

He's not wrong. But you can't exactly tell him he's right either.

"And you think you know my type?" you ask, smirking up at him. 

Blake leaned in closer tilting your chin up so you're looking into those pretty brown eyes. 

"Of course. You're an amazing woman. You deserve the world. You deserve someone who will treat you like a Queen. Someone who would care for you. Someone who would realize how delicate you are. Someone who would be gentle with your heart. Someone who would always tend to your every want, need, and desire. Sure he's gotta be aesthetically pleasing to you. But he'd have to realize and know how lucky he is to have you in his life. Like I always have." he replied.

It is taking every bit of restraint in you to not drag him into that tiny bathroom and have your way with him.

"You feel lucky to have me in your life?" you ask.

"Yes Y/N I'll always be thankful to have you in my life," he replies.

"But not in your bed...," you think.

"I know. And I'm thankful for you too," you say to him.

Just when you think he's going to say more, laughter from above deck startles you both. He steps back and smiles at you sheepishly.

"We should uh...get back above deck," he says to you.

"Yeah. Let's go," you say back.

You let him go up first before taking a deep breath and then joining others above deck. That's when Sky pulled you aside. 

"Hey Y/N. Are you busy tomorrow?" he asked.

"No, I'm not. Why?" you replied.

"Whaddaya say we go out on a date?"

And before you can answer, Blake pipes up.

"What's this now?" he asked.

"Oh! I just asked Y/N if she'd like to go out on a date with me." Sky replies.

"You did?" Blake asks him.

"Yeah, he did. I was just about to give him an answer when you two walked up," you reply.

"You know I think it would be nice for Y/N and Sky to go out. It'll give the rest of us a chance to spend some time together." little miss spicy YT chimes in with a smirk.

Bitch, nobody asked you.

"You know what babe? You're right. It would be nice for them to go out. As long as they don't mind us tagging along." Blake agrees with her. 

You watched the smirk on her face fall.

"Us?" she asked him.

"Yeah. I'm Y/N's wingman. I can't let her go on a date by herself." Blake replies.

"That's a great idea! I'm down for a double date. If that's alright with you Y/N." Sky added.

They all look at you and you shrug helplessly.

"Sure. I'm good with it." 

"Awesome! We can't wait. Right, babe?" Blake asks Becky.

"Yeah...great," she replies.

You never thought you'd wind up in a situation where Blake would be jealous and it would work in your favor but here you are. On a double date with Sky, Blake, and Becky with the straw hair. You rode horses up a trail that Sky had been on dozens of times. You played it up like you were hanging off his every word. 

Occasionally you looked over to see Blake stone-faced as his little plaything droned on and on about whatever and nothing. It was eating him alive to watch you enjoy Sky and you loved it. The date, while severely awkward at times, was decent. Sky is a great guy, but Blake was right. He's not your type. 

"So what's the deal with you and Blake?" Sky asks you, catching you off guard.

"Nothing. We're just friends," you reply.

Sky chuckled. 

"Friends don't jealously demand to go on an awkward double date."

You winced. 

"That obvious?" you ask.

"It was obvious yesterday. It was just painful today," he replies.

You shake your head. 

"I'm sorry Sky. You're a great guy. It's just..." you trail off.

"No need to apologize. I get it."

"And please don't think I was trying to use you. I did have fun with you. Lost horse, picnic, and all."

"It was a pleasure. And for what it's worth if he can't see what he has with you then he's not only blind but he's an idiot. Any man would kill for a woman like you."

You felt the heat under your cheeks.

"Even you?" you ask.

"Most definitely. Matter of fact my friends and I are going to a bonfire up the road Friday. I'd love for you to go with me." he replies.

"Can my friends come?" you ask.

"Of course, even them," he replies nodding towards Blake and Rebecca.

"We'll be there." 

"Good," he says to you, "and for what it's worth I hope you get your man. But in the meantime, since your goal is to make him jealous, I know the part to play."

You regard him in a whole new light right before he helps you dismount. There's a look of trouble in his eye. Perhaps a fellow Scorpio-in-crime can be useful.

"I'll see you Friday, Y/N," he says as he hands you a small piece of paper with his number on it. 

You kiss him on the cheek right in front of Blake as you hand him your number. 

"See you Friday, Sky."

You watch him take the horses back to the stables and suddenly feel a little warm. And for the first in your life, that warmth didn't come from being around your future husband. As you walk back into the resort with Blake and Becky, Lino comes running up to the three of you. 

"Well?! How was it?" Lino asked.

"Oh, it was gre—" Becky started to reply before Lino cut her off, "not you! I was talking to Y/N!"

You snickered to yourself.

"I had a good time. Sky is a great guy. Oh! And he invited us to this bonfire Friday." you reply.

"He did?" Blake asks.

"Yeah, well he initially invited me and I asked if my friends could come," you reply.

"That's a great idea! Nothing like drinking and bonfire marshmallows to bring the gang together!" Lino piped up, "Right Blake?"

"Yeah. It's a wonderful idea." Blake deadpanned.

The envy in his tone made you hot inside. He is going to pay for flaunting his little friend in your face. 

"Well, we should all rest up for Friday.  The bonfire is gonna be fun and most of us need our beauty sleep," you comment, your eye briefly drifting over to Becky.

"You mean all of us, right?"  Becky asked.

"Right. My apologies," you say in the same sugary sweet tone.

__

Friday could not have come fast enough.

Your dress had already been picked; a bodycon in canary yellow, which bounced nicely on your brown skin. It hugged your body and accentuated all your curves. None more than the curves of your breasts. It paid to not wear a bra with this dress. With your hair in a slicked-back ponytail, and one final check of your makeup and jewelry. You slipped your wedges on and were out the door and down the hall to meet the others. 

Blake looked fine as fuck. He had that cheap ass watch Becky brought him on his wrist, but it was offset by the crisp white shirt, black jeans, and Nike sneakers he had on. He had those beautiful dreads pulled back and made you weak in the knees. And he smelled delicious thanks to that Gucci cologne you bought him for Christmas last year. 

Becky tried to copy you but couldn't. Her bodycon dress was red, and not a sexy wine red. She looked like a melted cherry slushy.  

"Hey girl," Becky greeted, exaggerated blaccent on full display.  "Hi," you said with a fake smile as she hugged you.

"You look so good. I love your weave too."

It took everything in you not to snatch that fake hair piece off her head. She knows good and damn well you are not wearing a weave. 

"Thanks, boo. Yours looks nice too."

She smiled and you almost felt blinded by the fake gold chain around her neck.

That silver on her tooth didn't help either. That fucking cap could help planes land.

"We ready to go?"  Blake asked.

"Oh yeah, baby," Becky responds, linking his arm with hers, "You know I'm always ready to go wit' you."

If Lino wasn't standing beside you holding onto your arm, you would've shanked the bitch. She was working your last goddamn nerve. 

As you all headed to the bonfire, Blake stared at your ass. Even with Blaccent Barbie next to him, he couldn't help watching the way your ass moved in that dress.

___

The bonfire was lovely, as expected. The setting sun made the burning embers look like a stock photo, the food, the wine, the music. It was all so relaxing and fun.  

"Don't you look beautiful?"  Sky greets you, pulling you to him and kissing your cheek.

"You look mighty fine too," you replied.

"I do clean up good," Sky responded, showing off his red shirt and shorts,  "Your friends look good too. I'm glad you all could make it."

"Thanks for inviting us. Now if you lot will excuse me! The fire pit is calling my name!" Lino says before disappearing into the crowd. 

"And while he's off to roast marshmallows, I'm going to drink. Toodles!" Eve says before heading to the makeshift bar.

You look over at Blake and Ms. Milk of Magnesia as they go get snacks.

"Stop looking so desperate," Sky whispers to you.

"They're all over each other," you sigh, "My plan isn't working."

"That's because you're acting interested and Blake can smell it. Men don't appreciate women when they're sweet. They want the bitches."

You nod as you finally tear your eyes away from them.

"Dance with me."

"What?" 

He holds you closer, pressing your body flush to his.

"Dance with me."

The look in his eyes is kinda hot. You nod and he leads you to the dance floor. 

"Carlos! Play a little bachata!" Sky called out to his friend behind the DJ booth.

"Sky, I don't know how to dance bachata."

"Just follow my lead."

The music changed and the bodies around them started to sway. You were surprised at how well Sky knew how to dance. His movements were fluid and his hips definitely do not lie. You two took over the dance floor. His hand on your right hip was warm and slightly intoxicating. 

"Feel better?"

"Yes."

"Good."

He spun you around so your back was flush to his chest and his arms were around you. When you looked up, Blake was looking at you as he danced with his walking jar of mayo. Your feet started to hurt so you and Sky took a break and grabbed something to drink.

"You are full of surprises, Sky. Where did you learn to dance like that?" 

"Gracias, mami.  Mi Abuela would be mortified if I didn't know how to dance to Bachata."

"You're Latino?" 

"Afro-Latino actually. My mamí is Black and my Papí is Dominican."

"Curiouser and curiouser."

He snorted. 

"My dad wanted me to grow up knowing both sides of where I come from. I've never felt ashamed of being biracial.  It is a part of me, just as perfection is a part of you."

"Stop before you make me blush."

"I'll do a lot more than that if you'll let me."

Just as you were about to answer, here comes your husband and his mangy Chihuahua.

"Well, you got off the dance floor quick."

Why does her voice sound like nails on a chalkboard?

"Needed a break and a drink." Sky replies.

"Nice moves there, Sky," Blake pipes up.

"Thanks, man. Stick around and I might teach you a few more."

You had to hide your smirk behind your glass.

"Don't mind him, babe. I think you dance divinely." 

"I think I'm good but thanks anyway, Sky."

Sky shrugged. 

"Suit yourself."

"Hey babe. Let's go grab a bite to eat."

"Okay."

They left just as you finished your wine. 

Sky snickered slightly and you playfully glared at him, "That was naughty."

"Me? Naughty? I was simply being polite," Sky purred with a shit-eating grin.

"You're such a Scorpio."

"Takes one to know one, baby."

You smirked as he sipped his drink, "So, what do you wanna do now?"

Sky smirked and looked around, "Watching all these people shake their ass around a fire...mixed with all these drinks, and then seeing you in that dress...I think you know what I wanna do."

"Do tell."

He leans in so close that you can smell the alcohol on his breath. 

"There's a waterfall not too far from here. Maybe after the party winds down I can show it to you."

You give him a Cheshire Cat grin.

"I'd love that."

"Good. In the meantime, care for another dance?"

You take his hand and head back to the dance floor. After several rounds of dancing and drinking, you were buzzed. Throughout the dancing, you swear you can feel his lips on your neck. As the night wound down you weren't sure if it was the moonlight on his skin or the alcohol in your system, but Sky was starting to look almost as fine as your man.

"You ready to go?" he whispered in your ear.

"Lead the way." 

You slip one hand in his and carry your shoes in the other. He led you deep into the woods. You were unaware that you were being followed by Blake. After convincing Lino and Eve to take the mayo jar back to the resort, he took off after you and Sky. He wanted to make sure you were safe. It's not that he doesn't trust you. Because of his jealousy, he doesn't trust Sky. 

You and Sky were giggling and chatting all the way down the moonlit path. When you got to the waterfall you were in awe. It was breathtaking. Sky softly wrapped his arms around your waist. 

"Beautiful."

He nuzzled your neck.

"Yes, you are."

You turned around in his arms to look into his eyes. The lustful look he gave you sent chills down your spine.

"I love this dress on you, mamí. But I've been dying to get you out of it," he whispered in your ear. His low husky voice made you bite your bottom lip. 

"Then take it off, Papí," you whisper back. Your tone matched his. 

"Como desées," he said to you before capturing your lips. 

Much to your surprise his lips were soft. His hands went from your hips to squeezing and palming your ass through your dress. This is what you craved. You wanted and craved attention. And although he might not be your man, Sky is willing to give you the attention you deserve. With his lips still on yours he walked you back toward the side of the waterfall. 

With the waterfall roaring beside you, you both grabbed at each other's clothes. Desperate to feel the heat of each other's skin. Sky yanked your dress off, freeing your breasts and exposing your nipples to the cool air. Sky looked down and marveled at you.

"Tan Hermosa mamí." he whispered before taking your right nipple into his mouth. 

While his mouth worked your right nipple, he used his left hand to play with your left breast. You arched your back off the stone behind you. The sensation of his warm mouth and the cool mist of the waterfall was sending you. When he finally pulled your panties down you were in heaven. 

You thought it was the daze you were in. Because you swore you could make out the shape of something moving just behind the trees. When your eyes finally adjusted that's when you saw Blake. 

"Sky wait. Blake is here," you manage to breathe out.

Sky stopped.

"You serious?"

"I don't think he realizes that I saw him."

"He wants to see you so let him. Let him watch what I do to you, and what he's missing." 

The tone in Sky's voice was all the confirmation you needed, and with shocked enthusiasm, you nodded.

"Now if you'll excuse me. I wasn't finished."

With his left hand around your neck to keep you in place, Sky went back to what he was doing. He kissed down your stomach, letting his tongue swirl and play with your belly button piercing. 

When he got to the top of your panty line, he stuck his thumb in his mouth before slipping it between your thighs and putting it directly on your throbbing clit. He rubbed your clit in small circles. Driving you crazy. Whimpering for more.

"Please..." you pleaded. 

He nursed your breast as he slowly rubbed your clit. You were on such a high you forgot Blake was watching you and Sky. He pulled his thumb away from you and held two fingers to your lips. 

"Suck. Now." 

You took his fingers into your mouth. Greedily sucking and licking until they were drenched with your saliva. He pulled his fingers from your mouth just to rub them along your wet entrance. You felt him plunge his fingers inside you. 

"Yessssssss!!" you cried out. 

He wrapped his right hand around your neck and squeezed as his fingers worked you over. He was quenching your thirst yet you still felt dehydrated. While Blake is your endgame, even you had to admit that Sky was pretty good in the meantime. He knew how to take care of you. 

You dug your fingernails into the rocks behind you trying to ride the building orgasmic wave. 

"Sky..." 

"Sí, así es mi amor. Tell me what you want," he whispered in your ear.

"I...want your mouth. I want you to taste me." you breathed out.

"Con gusto mami."

He trailed open-mouth kisses down the length of your body. With a wink, he threw your legs over his shoulders and feasted. With one hand braced on the rocks behind you and the other behind his head, you braced yourself.

He used his tongue to open your very slick folds to him. When his mouth found your clit it was like heaven had opened up to you. He felt good. So good. He was licking and sucking like a panther in heat. 

He drove his tongue inside you causing you to nearly fall apart. You grabbed his head and smothered his face with your pussy. This went on for what seemed like forever. And just as you were about to hit your peak he stopped.

"No! Please!" you plead. 

"Paciencia mami. obtendrás lo que quieres."

He continued to lap at you. Tasting, licking, and sucking on your most sensitive parts. It was becoming too much. 

"Oh God! I can't stand it anymore! I want you inside me! I need you inside me!" you begged. 

Hearing you beg damn near made him lose it.

"Not yet mamí. Not until I feel those pretty lips wrapped around my dick," he responded.

You can't believe this. You were about to cum and now you have to hold it to suck him off. 

He let you go and you slid to the ground before you swallowed his dick whole. He closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. He looked down and watched you suck him off. And off in the distance so did Blake.

To Sky you were intoxicating. He loved watching you swirl your tongue around his dick. Slowly going from tip to base and base to tip. Your mouth was warm, soft, and wet. 

You made sure not to neglect his balls. He watched them go in and out of your pretty mouth. When he looked over to the tree line, he saw Blake anchored in place watching you two. When he looked down to see your head bobbing back and forth his lips formed a wicked smirk. 

"Look at me mamí. I wanna see that pretty face and those pretty eyes as you suck me off." he moaned. 

Once you made eye contact with him he nearly lost it.

"Sí mami así. Keep your eyes on me." 

His voice was husky and shuddering. 

"Oh Fuck! Fuck yes! Mamí! Just like that! Show me who you are! ¡Dios esto se siente tan bien!"

Hearing him speak to you in Spanish was kinda hot. Just imagine how hot it will be when Blake finds out you're a throat goat. 

Sky was about to lose it but he knew he wanted to take you right in front of Blake. So just before he was about to cum he pulled out of your mouth. He grabbed the condom out of his pocket and bent you over the boulder next to you. He nodded to Blake with a teasing smirk, before he rammed his dick into your waiting pussy. You shrieked as he began banging you out. 

Good God this man was giving it to you so good he made your future husband's blood boil. 

Blake couldn't stand the thought of another man having his hands all over you. Especially like this. But what could he do? He has an obligation to his girlfriend. You don't. You were barely hanging on as Sky willingly gave you everything that you wanted and craved, everything Blake never gave you. 

Sky latched onto your hips for dear life as he took your hungry pussy. You were in heaven as was he. 

"Sí mami así. Take this dick! Take! Me!" he said to you through gritted teeth.

He would fill you up. Letting you feel him throbbing inside before pulling out and slamming himself back in. Over and over again. He was hitting your spot with precision. Your hair was stuck to your back thanks to the spraying from the waterfall.

"Yes! Give it to me! Fuck me! I need this! I need you!" you scream. 

Blake ruBbed harder, imagining it was him between your legs.

You clawed at the boulder underneath you. Desperate to feel Sky swallow you whole. 

"Sí asi es mi amor. You feel so good. You're so tight! ¡Tómalo mi amor!" 

Hearing the way he spoke to you as he took you continued to make Blake's stomach twist. But he couldn't stop watching. Sky was just about there, and so were you.

"Mi amor estoy tan cerca. I can't hold on much longer!" he said through gritted teeth. He wasn't the only one. 

You were at your peak. You just needed that little pu0sh. He pulled you close so that your back was flush with his chest. He got a good firm grip on your breasts and his mouth was attached to the crook of your neck as he pumped into you a few good times. When he thrust into you one last time and that was all she wrote for the two of you. Your eyes glazed over like a Krispy Kreme Doughnut as you gave into your shattering orgasm. With Sky not too far behind you. 

As you came down from your delicious climax you looked over to see if Blake was still there and he wasn't. You started to wonder how much Blake saw and what he thought. You didn't wonder for long thanks to Sky breaking your thoughts as he pulled you close to him.

"Well that was fun." he breathed out.

"Definitely. You have made quite the impression sir."

He placed featherlight kisses on your neck.

"Gracias mami. I always aim to please."

"If that's the case why are you single?" you ask.

"I could ask you the same question." 

"Touche."

He noticed you shivering so rubbed on the inside of your thighs to create some warmth.

"Ooh! If you don't stop," you warned him playfully.

"¿Te gusta esa mamí?" he whispered in your ear.

"I will have you know that my Spanish is horrible."

He chuckled before nibbling on your neck.

"Do you like that?" 

"Very much so."

"Good. Now it's getting late. And we should get back to the resort."

"Okay." 

The two of you slipped on your damp clothes and then walked back to Sky's truck and headed back to the resort.

–—

The next morning dawned bright and early as you made your way to the breakfast buffet. You grabbed two plates and had just finished filling them up when Blake and Tartar Sauce walked up.

"Well, you have a little pep in your step," it says to you.

"Well yeah. I had a great time with Sky last night."

"Oh? And what did the two of you do?"

"He took me to a secret waterfall near the bonfire. It was so pretty."

You noticed that Blake was decidedly quiet.

"And what did you two last night, Marshall?" 

"Nothing. We came back and went to bed."

Liar.  But you'll be nice and not expose him for now.

"That's a lot of food for one person. Are you really gonna eat all that?" Tartar Sauce asks.

"Oh!  Only one of these plates is mine. The other is for Sky."

Yours was piled high with waffles, strawberries and bacon on the side.  Sky's had french toast, eggs and ham.

That caught your hubby's attention.

"Wait! He's here?" he asks. 

"Yeah. We got in pretty late last night and I didn't want him walking back to his room in the dark, so I told him he could stay with me." 

Though he tried, Blake once again failed at hiding the look of jealousy on his face.

"Well, I have a breakfast delivery to make. You two have a good one," you say as you grab some apple and orange juice then head back to your room. 

As you walked away, you could feel Blake's eyes staring holes into your ass. 

You purposely spent the whole day with Sky. Flaunting it in Blake's face the same way he'd been flaunting Tartar Sauce in yours. Going on the resort zipline, playing court volleyball, learning and failing to play cricket, and so much more all while Blake watched helplessly. Occasionally you would wave or wink at him. You were teasing him and it was working. 

That night you were getting ready for a midnight swim that Sky had planned. You were just about to get dressed when there was a knock on the door. It was Blake.

"Hey. You got a minute?" he asks.

You nod before letting him in. He is looking scrumptious. But you can't let yourself get distracted. Not yet. He sits down on your bed before looking at you in your robe.

"What's with the robe?" 

"Going swimming."

"I thought the pool closed at 9:30 every night."

"It does." you say as you grab your lotion bottle, "but Sky called in a favor with the owner and we're going on a late-night swim."

Blake made a face and you caught it. 

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Your face."

"What about my face?"

He's trying to work your nerves. Like he always does.

"You made a face! Now why did you make a face?"

"I didn't make a face."

"Yes, you did. You made a face when I said Sky and I are going swimming."

He sighs.

"What do you know about this guy anyway?" 

You look at him sideways.

"Why do you care?"

"Just answer the question Y/N."

No, he didn't.

"Well for starters I know he has a big family," you say as you start putting on lotion.

Blake watches you intently as you slowly massage your lotion into your skin. Especially your legs.

"How big?"

"Bigger than both of ours. His mom's name is Priscilla, and his dad's name is Alphonso. His last name is Fernandez. He has an older brother named AJ. And he is a twin. And he has two twin little sisters."

"He's a twin?"

"Yeah. Sky is actually his nickname. His real name is Ezra and his twin's name is Issac. And his sisters' names are Ashley and Erica."

"Is that all?"

"Nope. His dad is the Fire Chief of Santa Clarita County. And his mom is a pediatrician. His older brother AJ is a senior analytics executive at Google. His twin owns an architecture firm in San Diego. And his sisters own a bakery together in Seattle. Oh! And you two share the same birthday."

"WHAT?!"

"Yup. You and Sky share the same birthday of 11/12."

"Nope! Nope! Nope! Dealbreaker! You are only allowed ONE November Scorpio in your life and that's me."

"You're so possessive."

"Of course I am! It's MY birthday!"

Blake groans before laying back on your bed you took advantage of the situation and straddled him. He looked up at you through his fingers. 

"Poor Marshall! Doesn't like sharing his birthday." you teased. You weren't quite sure but you could've sworn you felt a rise in his jeans.

He huffs.

"So you learned all that about him today?" 

He's avoiding the CLEARLY oversized elephant in the room.

"Yes. He's a great guy. Fun to be around." 

"Even though he's not your type?"

"Why are you so obsessed with who or what my type is?"

"Because I need to know that he can be trusted." 

"With all due respect Marshall, that's not your job."

"Yes, it is. I look out for you and you look out for me. Like always."

"You have a girlfriend Blake. If I want to see as many guys as possible then that's what I'm gonna do. So why do you care what I'm doing?"

"Do you like him?" 

"Like" is a strong word. We're just having fun, that's all." 

Blake sat up on his elbows with an eyebrow raised.

"So is Stars the one?"

What is with this line of questioning? 

"First off, his name is Sky. And second, I don't know. Why?"

"Call me curious."

"You mean nosy."

"I'm not being nosy Y/N. I'm being vigilant."

"But why?"

"Because I don't want you to wind up in another bad relationship."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"I'm not trying to go through another Derek situation with you."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't take this the wrong way but you don't have the best track record when it comes to men and dating." 

You stare at him in shock.

"Are you fucking serious?!"

"I'm sorry. That didn't come out right."

You scoff as you climb off of him.

"No, it came out perfectly clear. I can't believe you would throw that in my face!"

"I didn't mean it like that, Y/N."

"You know what?! Get out! Just go!"

"Y/N wait please!" 

"No! Get out! Since you think you're so fucking funny! Get! Out!"

He got up off your bed and gently grabbed your right elbow to stop you.

"Let go, Blake!"

"Please wait!"

"I said let go!" 

"Y/N I'm sorry. I swear I didn't bring it up to hurt you."

You just stood still. Hurt, angry, and resisting the urge to turn around and kiss him. That's when he wrapped those strong arms around your waist. When you felt his beard on your shoulder, you wanted to die in his arms.

This man was toying with you. And what's worse is you were letting him. You felt his arms tighten around you. You closed your eyes in hopes that it would stop your pounding heart. 

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Yes. I can't believe you."

"Again I didn't mention him to hurt you. I swear. I mentioned him to make a point."

You scoffed. 

"And what point is that?"

He took a deep breath.

"You have a tendency to listen to and lead with your heart. And I've seen firsthand what that can do to you. Derek is proof of that."

"You're comparing apples to oranges. Sky isn't anything like Derek."

"Maybe, maybe not. But you don't know that much about him. And I'm not trying to see you get hurt again."

"Whether or not I get hurt is my lesson to learn. Not yours. I get it you were there. You and Lino helped me move out of his place and move on from him and I am and always will be thankful to you for that. But it doesn't give you the right to throw one of the worst times of my life in my face."

"You're right. And again I'm sorry. I just wanted to make a point. That's all."

"Point painfully taken and noted."

He nuzzled your shoulder as he held you closer.

"How can I make sure that my #1 girl isn't mad at me anymore?"

"I thought your mom was your #1 girl."

"Okay how can I make sure my #1b girl isn't mad at me anymore?" 

You shook your head with a small smile.

"You're a mess."

"Messy messy me." he sings off-key.

Whether or not you wanted to admit it, you enjoyed this. You enjoyed being in his arms. 

"Still mad?"

One thing about Blake Marshall, he was relentless.

"No, not anymore."

"Finally! I got scared that I would have to serenade you."

You snorted.

"There is something you can do for me."

"Name it."

"Put lotion on my back?"

Blake grabbed your lotion bottle before gesturing to you to lie down on your bed. You laid down on your stomach and then felt his strong hands going up and down your back. Massaging in the lotion. It felt so good to feel his hands on you. You let out a small moan. You couldn't help it. His hands are blessed with magic.

Thankfully, Blake didn't hear you. Or at least you hoped he didn't. When he was done, all you wanted to do was fuck him in your bed.

"And done!"

"Thank you. Now beat it. I have to finish getting ready. I will meet Sky in a few."

"Just be careful Y/N. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, dad. I'll be careful. Now go."

He shook his head and smiled softly at you before he left. This game of cat and mouse is starting to make him crack. And it was delicious to watch. 

You finished getting ready and then headed to the lobby. When you got there Sky and Blake were talking while Lino was on the phone with Felicia. The men stopped when you walked up. 

And you couldn't quite see it but you could've sworn that both guys were drooling over what you had on. You had on a military green one-piece with cutouts in all the right places, a white see-through top, and dark denim booty shorts. 

Sky was the first to speak.

"¡Ay dios mío! Te ves hermosa mamí," he says as he goes in for a hug.

"I do believe I've told you that my Spanish is hilariously bad."

"You look beautiful."

"Yeah, you do clean up nice." Blake pipes up. 

You smirked. 

"Well thank you both. I appreciate it."

Lino noticed how flirty you were being with Sky and decided to play along. 

"Since we're in a resort, why don't you two lovebirds get a room? I heard they're quite reasonable here."

You shook your head at him as Sky slipped his hand into yours.

"You ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

"You two have a good night," Sky said to the boys before the two of you walked outside. Blake stood there with his jaw set as he watched and Lino noticed. 

"Look at our girl Blake. She's all grown up and going on midnight rendezvous with guys. Isn't it romantic?" 

"Yeah totally romantic," Blake replied flatly.

"What's wrong with you?" 

"Nothing."

"You sure? Because it sounds like something."

"Can you just drop it, Lino?"

Lino looked at him. 

"Do my eyes and ears deceive me or is Blake Marshall jealous?" 

"I'm not jealous, Lino."

"You sure? Because you look pretty salty from where I'm standing."

Blake ran a hand down his face. 

"I don't trust him," he admitted. 

"Why?"

"We don't know anything about him!"

Lino snickers to himself.

"Awwww! Poor Blake! You're jealous! Which is kinda ironic considering Y/N is single and you're not." 

That stung. 

"I don't have to be single to care about her."

"Uh huh."

"He's not even her type Lino!"

"And why do YOU care what her type is?"

"Because."

"Because what?" Lino asks.

Blake sighed. 

"I might've screwed up."

"What did you do?" Lino asked before he took a swig from his water bottle.

"I mentioned Derek."

Lino choked and sputtered. 

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"I wasn't trying to be mean I swear! I was just trying to make a point."

"By mentioning Dickhead of The Decade? What is wrong with you?!"

"You know how she is when she starts to fall for someone. I'm not trying to see her get her hopes up."

"While I understand that, I'm still trying to figure out why you would mention Derek of all people." 

"She doesn't exactly have the greatest track record in men."

"So you thought it was a good idea to remind her of that?"

Lino shook his head.

"I don't know why she didn't but if it were me I would've decked you."

"And I probably would've deserved it."

"Deserved what?" Eve asked as she walked up.

"Becky asleep?" Blake replies.

"Yup. She dozed off halfway through the movie. Now what is it you would've deserved?"

"Boy scout over here thought it was a good idea to tell Y/N that she has a horrible taste in men by reminding her of Derek. Aka Dickhead of The Decade!" Lino complained. 

"Blake you didn't!"

"I wasn't trying to be cruel!" Blake replies with his eyes closed.

"I don't know mentioning her ex from hell sounds pretty cruel to me." 

"Thank you!" Lino pipes up.

"Alright! I get it! I screwed up! You two don't have to keep piling on." 

"No, you fucked up Blake. And you need to fix it." Eve said to him.

Blake sighed. 

"After all of this, I need a drink. Eve you coming?" Lino asked.

"Right behind you," she replied.

Blake watched them head to the bar before looking toward the doors leading to the pool. He had to make sure you were okay. And he had to see whether or not Sky had his hands all over you.

—–

Swimming with Sky was a lot more fun than you thought it would be. Halfway down the path to the pool, Sky pulled out a blindfold and blindfolded you. Saying that he had a surprise to show you. When you got to the pool he took your blindfold off and took your breath away. 

There were rose petals and candles everywhere. It was sweet, romantic, and beautiful.

"Did you do all this?" you ask.

"I did. With a little help from your friends."

"Eve and Lino helped you?"

"Not in the way you may be thinking. I asked them what you like and they told me that you're sort of a hopeless romantic. So I went out and bought a few dozen roses and some candles. I hope you like it."

"I love it. Thank you."

"Look, I know why we're doing this. I know it's to make your man jealous but I was serious when I said any man would kill for a woman like you."

You couldn't help the blush on your cheeks. 

"Thank you. You're not so bad yourself cowboy."

"I know we have parts to play but who said we couldn't have a little fun?"

You smile at him before kissing him softly. 

"True. So wanna go for a swim? The water is warm."

"Let's go."

You two stripped down to your swimwear and jumped into the pool. It was refreshing to not have to think about Blake and his walking poor life choice. It was even more refreshing to have someone treat you the way you deserve. You two spent several minutes splashing, racing, and generally horsing around in the pool. After about an hour you were starting to get cold, so you two took a break and stretched out on a chaise lounge, and looked up at the stars. 

"This was everything. Thank you so much."

He kissed the knuckle of your right hand. 

"You're welcome. I just wanted to do something special for you."

"I appreciate it. It's nice to be wanted by someone."

"As you should be."

Sky trailed light kisses from the palm of your right hand to your wrist, up your forearm to your shoulder, and then your neck. 

"You're gonna have to stop."

"¿Por qué mami?" he whispered against your neck.

"Because I'm starting to get used to it. We're supposed to be playing our parts."

"Entonces juguemos."

"You're so giving me a Spanish lesson."

"Gladly mamí."

Sky tangled his left hand in your hair and pulled your head back and slid his tongue in your mouth. This is what you should be doing with Blake but in the meantime, there's Sky. He slid his right hand into your swimsuit cupping your breast and rubbing your nipple in circles. The sensation was enough to drive you up a wall. 

Sky kissed and sucked on your neck as he undid the top of your swimsuit. With your breasts free, Sky was able to massage and play with them much to Blake's chagrin. 

"Te quiero mami. Dame lo que necesito." 

Yup. You were definitely gonna make Blake take Spanish lessons. Because hearing it whispered in your ear is doing it for you.

You wanted him to devour you. To just gobble you up. You were getting impatient so you hurriedly took off your swimsuit and he tossed his swim trunks before having you straddle him. This gave Blake a very clear view of your very bare ass. 

"Habla mami. Tell me what you want."

"I want you to taste me."

He nibbled on your chin before going to your neck as his hands roamed your body. He slid his hands to your thighs. Massaging them open then sliding his hands in between. It didn't take him long to find your aching clit. You loved the way he played with you.

"You're so soft for me mamí."

"Must've been all that swimming."

You let out a sound that was half gasp half moan as you felt his fingers slip inside you.

"Grind on my hand mamí. Let me feel you."

Feeling his fingers move inside you, gave you all the motivation that you needed to move. This feeling was deliriously intoxicating. You wrapped your arms around his neck as you rode his fingers.

"Así es mami solo así."

Your moans started to get louder as your orgasm began to build. You could feel your muscles contract and release around his fingers. Bouncing and grinding against him building friction.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! You feel so good!"

"Take it! Tell me that you want it!"

"I want it Papí! I need it!"

Sky pumped his fingers inside of you a few more times then shoved them so deep that it sent your orgasm over the edge and you screamed. Flooding his hand. He slowly removed his hand from between your legs. He smiled wickedly at you. 

"Suck. Now!" 

He wanted to watch you taste yourself. You look him directly in the eye while you slowly lick and suck your own juices off of his fingers. 

"Fuck you are so beautiful when you do that."

He had a glint in his eyes. Half trouble half fun.

"I want you to sit on my face."

A slow smirk bloomed on your face. 

"You serious?"

"Heart attack."

You smiled wickedly at each other as he watched you stand up, he laid down, and you sat directly on his face. Your jaw fell open as you made contact with his tongue. You dug your nails into his chest and arched your back as he ferociously ate you out. 

"Oh shit! Fuck! You feel so good!" you moaned completely oblivious to your surroundings. You had no idea you were being watched. 

This was the second time Blake watched you and Sky together. And Blake was so ashamed of how hot the sex between you two was; even more of how aroused he was to watch you in the throws of passion.

With shuddered breath, he took his excitement out of his jeans and started feverishly rubbing.

You rode Sky's face like a jockey on a horse. Moving your hips and grinding into him as you buried his face in your pussy and lost yourself in the pleasure. He was doing exactly what you needed him to do. Your eyes rolled back, you shuddered, and your body shook as your second orgasm tore through you.

You got off him and noticed the satisfied smirk on his face. 

"God you taste so good."

"Thank you, Papí."

You noticed that Sky was hard as a rock. That's what you wanted. 

"Well someone is happy to see me."

Sky sat up slightly holding his dick.

"Siempre mami. Come get a taste."

He guided you to lay down on the lounge chair. So that your head was hanging of the edge. He ran his swollen head across your lips before slipping it inside your mouth. With his hands around the back of your head, he began to fuck your face. He looks ves the feeling of your mouth. It's wet, warm, and inviting. He watched your head bob up and down on his shaft in a haze. He was in heaven. Hearing the disgusting yet sexy sounds that cane from your mouth made him giddy. 

"¡Si asi es mi amor! Suck this dick!" 

Feeling his hips move was a high for you. His moans were music to your ears. 

"You feel so good mamí! Give me your mouth! Give me your throat!"

In this moment being slutted out was what you needed, wanted, and craved. Nearly choking, eye-watering, and saliva dribbling down made you feel more alive than ever.

When he shoved his dick deep into your mouth one last time, he unloaded his warm seed down your throat. When he pulled out of your mouth thoroughly satisfied. 

"¡Ay mami! ¡Eres tan buena!" he said while catching his breath.

You licked your lips just as satisfied as he was.

"Now what am I gonna do with you?" you purred.

"Whatever you want. I am yours."

You had him lay down on the lounge chair because you just had to get it out of her system. You had to ride him like a rodeo. You couldn't help it. You needed desperately to feel him inside you again. She slid down onto his dick after briefly sucking him off again and went to town. You bounced up and down on his dick riding him hard. Using him however you wanted just to get off. He enjoyed it as well. 

Feeling you pussy grip his dick drove him insane. He took advantage of the situation by grabbing your hips and thrusting his making him fuck you harder. He watched as you began to unravel. In that moment, all you cared about was your own selfish pleasure. You wrapped your arm around his neck and dug your nails into his back. 

This is what you wanted. This is what Blake should be giving you every night.

With a firm grip on your ass, Sky guided you up and down his shaft pushing you further and further to that climatic edge. When he brought you down onto his lap one final, your vision went white as you broke under the intense pressure of your orgasm. Sky moaned as he finished just as Blake climaxed all over his hand.

Whew! You both were spent! Clinging to each other in a haze of raw pleasure. Grinning at each other like fools.

Meanwhile, Blake was both ashamed and astonished at the fact he got off watching you fuck another man.

'Fuck, I need her,' he thought, retreating back into the shadows.

This situation couldn't happen again. Sky needed to go. Because girlfriend or not you belong only to Blake.

[1kook]

new parent syndrome

— kim namjoon x (f) reader

SUMMARY You love Namjoon, honest. But you love your daughter Hyejoo even more— it’s not a controversial sentiment when you know he’s the same way! —and going back to a regular adult life sans kids absolutely sucks. (Or so you thought.) WARNINGS dilf!joon, dreamy husband joon, loving parents au, jimin is also a dad, bathtub sexy times, exhibitionism 😳 kinda sorta, tiny praise kink, joon calls her wifey TT, fingering, cunninglingus, doggy style, it’s kinda cheesy n romantic /.\, unprotected sex, …. impreg kink RATINGS m (18+) WC 9.5k 

NOTES writing parent fics is harder than i thought :/ i had this idea last week n was like yes, lets write this fic that absolutely no one asked for... except me! <3 so here we are, fantasizing about dreamy dad joon.... as always i have to thank rumu ( @kigurumu​ ) who is kind enough to edit these n b like that don't make no sense -_- anyway lemme know what u think !! enjoy !!

No matter how hard you try, the letter f refuses to fit itself into Hyejoo’s phonemic understanding. She’s a growing toddler so it’s only normal that there are sounds she still can’t pronounce, words she doesn’t quite get. But her inability to say food or family or friends, which are undoubtedly the three most important things in her three year-old world right now, is definitely a setback you didn’t see coming. 

Your worrywart husband has taken matters into his own hands, using the power of Google and about twelve parenting books to create an extensive, one-hour-a-day, mini lesson to try and increase her pronunciation skills. Of course, Hyejoo already attends daycare in the mornings while you and Namjoon are off at work, and gets sufficient learning done there. So she can’t exactly sit through Joon’s lectures, no matter how pretty he tries to decorate her flashcards. She’s still tiny— she’s still your baby, and you want her to enjoy the last of her daycare years before you’re forced to submit her to the worst twelve years of her life (also known as compulsory education). 

But as you’ve mentioned before, Namjoon doesn’t quite feel the same way. 

“She can’t sound out the letter,” he mopes in bed that night. He’s laying down beside you, face smushed against your thigh. The lamp on your side of the bed is the only thing on, casting a faint golden hue on his cheeks.

This conversation has occurred a variety of times these past few weeks, and you’ve just about ran out of every comforting reassurance possible. You settle on stroking a hand through his hair. There are emails to respond to and clients to check in with, but there’s also a huffy husband in bed beside you who quite pitifully crawls up into your arms. 

It’s with his face between your boobs that he speaks again. “What if she’s getting made fun of at school? Or her teachers think she’s dumb?” You roll your eyes. “My baby is not dumb, __,” he says, as if you don’t know. “Her IQ came back above average when I took her to the development specialist that one time, remember?” You have half the mind to tell him an IQ test on a three year old isn’t exactly valid, but there’s already enough stacked on his plate. Finding out he wasted a hundred bucks for an invalid test would just be the cherry on top of all his worries. 

Water clings to the very tips of his hair, remnants of his bath with Hyejoo. Namjoon is getting older now, nothing like the dashing grad student you had met what feels like a lifetime ago. There’s bags under his eyes, bags that surpass any all-nighter-pulling college student’s, induced by none other than the sheer power of becoming a parent. And still, he retains his beauty, looks like a doll with his skin so dewy from his skincare routine, lips puffy and red and kissable. 

He looks up, and you take the opportunity to place a kiss on his lips, his familiar scent making you melt into his arms. When he pulls away, there’s still a subtle furrow between his brows. 

“Hyejoo is fine,” you reassure him, carding his brown hair out of his face. He leans into the touch, eyes falling shut. “Our girl is the smartest three year-old out there,” you huff, feeling the slightest bit annoyed that he could even insinuate otherwise. “And if she was having problems at school, you know I would be the first one in there, fighting all the other moms.” 

Namjoon relents, face falling back into its haven between your tits. “Okay,” he mumbles, muffled from the way his plush lips drag against the soft skin over your sternum. 

The subject of Namjoon’s worries is in the other room sound asleep, not the least bit concerned with measly letters and sounds. It’s really only Namjoon who is, his stack of letter flashcards glaring at you from on top of the dresser. “Your mother hen is showing,” you tease as he slips beneath the covers, leaning over you to flick off your lamp. Just like everything else in your house, his t-shirt smells like him. It’s a natural, woodsy scent that floods your nostrils and makes your toes curl when he comes so close. 

Namjoon snorts as he settles beside you, beefy arm pillowing your head as he pulls you close. “I’m not a mother hen,” he says, hand on your waist, the tantalizing expanse of his neck before your eyes. “I’m the rooster— the cock,” he snickers, and you reward his terrible attempt at a joke with a pinch to his side that has him retreating to the other end of the bed. 

Hyejoo’s best friend in the entire world— or, as she says, her best pren in the entire world —is none other than Park Yerin from daycare. As the universe would have it, Park Yerin is also the one and only daughter of your college philosophy seat neighbor, Park Jimin. 

Crossing paths with him later down the road was not something you could ever anticipate, especially when you and Jimin were never that close in college to begin with. It was the only class you had with him in all four years, one where you had quietly acknowledged his charisma and occasionally shared homework answers, before never speaking to him again. You could have greeted him on campus, as you often crossed paths. But Park Jimin was a walking friendship magnet who seemed to bring with him a parade of followers everywhere he went, and approaching him required three layers of strategic planning if you wanted to catch him alone. 

So bumping into him at the entrance of Hyejoo’s daycare six years later comes as a bit of a shock. You had never pegged him as the type to settle down so quickly— you don’t mean to label him, but there were certain college stereotypes that he fit like a glove —but there he was, carrying the tiny love of his life who’s currently dressed in a bright pink Minnie Mouse dress. 

Unsurprisingly, just like her father, Park Yerin has the same enthralling personality that makes everyone in the three to four year-old daycare class want to be her friend, and your sweet little Hyejoo is not exempt. 

Long story short, out of all the kids at Sunny Side Daycare, Yerin is Hyejoo’s favorite, and Hyejoo is Yerin’s favorite. 

So now it’s been a little over a year since the two girls have established their friendship, which means it’s been a little over a year of acquainting yourself with Jimin again. He’s a house husband, something you never expected, and he loves his daughter like no other. Some afternoons after daycare are spent with Jimin and Yerin at the nearest coffee shop, watching the girls haphazardly scribble over every piece of paper they can get their hands on while the two of you catch up. 

Overall, you’re happy Hyejoo can have a friend like Yerin, and secretly, you're also happy you can finally befriend a fellow parent as nice and put together as Jimin. On top of that, Namjoon’s liked him on the few occasions he’s met him; the two have even gone out for drinks. 

However, befriending Jimin and Yerin comes at a cost, and that cost is seeing your little girl grow up.  

It’s your turn to mope. 

“Yerin asked her to sleepover,” you groan, sadly patting in your skincare routine the next night. Namjoon is somewhere behind you, his naked back glaring at you through the reflection of your vanity mirror. He’s so broad and big, sleep shorts clinging to his waist as he lotions up his body post-shower. There’s a thin gold chain around his neck that glints everytime he moves around, biceps flexing and bulging in plain view until he finally slips his shirt on. There was a time in your life where his back could not go more than two days unscathed, your rabid (read: horny) claw marks painting rosy trails down his spine. These days, you can barely remember the last time he’s held your hand. 

“Who?” he asks once he’s settled beneath the covers with whatever book he’s reading now and his thick-rimmed reading glasses. 

“Who else,” you say, tugging your night robe closer to your chest as if it’ll prevent your heart from breaking anymore than it already was. “Hyejoo’s first sleepover,” you sigh. 

You take it harder than you imagined. In the back of your mind, you’ve always known your little girl was growing up— hello, you were literally watching her grow more and more inches every single day —but you had convinced yourself she would stay your baby for a little while longer. As much as you wanted her to see and learn about the world, you selfishly wanted to keep her home too. She was your baby, your only one at that.

At least Namjoon feels the same way. “Absolutely not,” he squawks, abruptly slamming his book shut. He’s usually really meticulous about lining up his fancy bookmark right on the line he left off on, so his sudden carelessness tells you all you need to know about how he feels. 

You sit down beside him, hand over his. “It’s Yerin’s birthday,” you inform him in what you hope is a comforting tone; unbeknownst to him, you’re trying to reassure yourself as well. “And Jimin said he and his wife are gonna be there the whole night.” You trust Jimin, you really do. If there’s anyone who’s more in love with their kid than you and Namjoon, it’s Jimin. He would never let anything happen to his Yerin, and by extension, he would never let anything happen to your Hyejoo. He’s a good dad. 

Namjoon rubs at his eyes. In the span of two minutes, he’s aged about five years. “No,” he sighs softly, squeezing your hand tightly. “Once she starts going to sleepovers she’ll start wearing makeup and getting into relationships and having her heart broken—“ 

A kiss is enough to silence him when he gets like this, his warm breath fanning across your bottom lip when you pull away. “She just wants to wear tutus and sing Baby Shark right now,” you murmur, hand creeping up over his chest. His heart is beating fast as hell beneath his t-shirt, feels like it’ll burst straight out of his chest if you don’t calm him down. 

He’s the bigger worrier out of the two of you, has a classic case of paranoid parent syndrome. 

It’s no secret that Namjoon has a big brain; he’s an educated man with a respectable job. For every problem he encounters, he can procure a variety of solutions with different approaches. He’s always prepared and part of you thinks he’s a huge reason you managed to survive those first few weeks as a mom. Unlike you, who had attended a whopping two mommy classes in preparation for your upcoming child, Namjoon had studied up on parenting. A lot. He had read books and reviewed scientific studies, had learned about development on the chemistry level and the social level, did all he could until he was confident in his own dad abilities. 

But, for every solution Namjoon can find, there are always twenty-eight other factors to worry about. 

“What if she has an allergic reaction and Jimin doesn’t know what to do,” he pales, death grip on your hand. His matching wedding band digs into your skin and you have to wrestle his hand away before he accidentally breaks your finger. He nearly broke your neck once when you were in college, had almost sent you to the ER mid-thrust because he had underestimated his own strength while trying to choke you.

“Hyejoo doesn’t have any allergies,” you remind him, giving up on your awkward half-seated position as you clamber over him. His thighs are full beneath you, tense up as you move over him and he manhandles you into his chest. 

He’s not done. “What if she asks Jimin for a fizzy drink and he can’t understand her?” His eyes are owlish beneath his glasses, covered in what you can only describe as a visible sheen of absolute terror. “What if he thinks she’s saying ‘pissy’ not ‘fizzy,’ __— what then?” It’s amazing, really, how a man who graduated cum laude can hypothesize this many disasters pertaining to a four year-old’s sleepover. 

In the other room, Hyejoo calls for you, so you gladly take the opportunity to remove yourself from Namjoon and his spiraling thoughts. “Look,” you say, tightening the sash of your robe as you get back up. “I’m gonna go tell her that she can go to Yerin’s sleepover tomorrow,” you tell him, giving him exactly three seconds to groan dramatically, before continuing, “and you figure out how to turn that big brain off by the time I come back.” 

Luckily, the cause of Hyejoo’s sudden wake up is a tiny bug bite she got from playing outside that just won’t stop itching. “Mommy, it hurts,” she whines, digging her nails into the tiny red mark by her knee. 

“Uh huh, lemme see,” you order, turning on her bedside lamp to illuminate the space. Her room is the prettiest shade of yellow, fitting for a ball of sunshine such as herself. “Were you playing by the flowerbeds?” You ask, running a finger over the mark a little too weird looking to simply be another mosquito bite. 

She knows she’s not supposed to play near the flowers— the bugs like her a little too much. It’s with a hesitant little nod that she confesses to it. You give her a pointed look. “You’re not supposed to play too close to the flowers,” you remind her, a tiny scolding for now. 

With a sniffle she responds, “not by the plowers.” 

A little bit of anti-itch cream has her settling, and by the time you return to your bedroom, Namjoon is out cold. 

“How old is Yerin turning?” Namjoon asks her at the door, heartbreak clearly painting his features as you help Hyejoo into her shoes. 

“Pour,” she beams, her tiny hand held up to show four stubby fingers. She has Namjoon’s pretty smile, an honest look in her eyes that makes you want to put her in your pocket and never let her go. Alas, Yerin’s sleepover party starts at five and Hyejoo has been trying to leave since noon. 

“Pour,” Namjoon repeats, shooting you a pointed look as if to say see. He had fought the decision up until the end, had even tried to tactically convince your daughter to stay home by getting a head start on preparing her favorite food. And well. She said no. So now the two of you are stuck having dinosaur chicken nuggets for dinner without her. 

She’s got her little travel bag on now, tiny feet stuffed into her ladybug rain boots because it had rained last night and she’s awfully addicted to jumping in muddy puddles. She’s absolutely adorable, your little girl, and you think Namjoon might’ve let out a tiny sob earlier. (Or maybe it was you.)

Namjoon joins you at the front door. “Be good,” he warns her. His eyes are suspiciously wet, but you don’t say anything because yours are too. You’re both crouched in front of her, her big eyes glancing back and forth between the two of you without a care in the world. Mixing your self-assured personality with Namjoon’s (mostly) composed attitude was quite possibly the worst genetic crossover to ever happen; Hyejoo doesn’t even seem remotely bothered by the fact she’s spending her first night away from home. Meanwhile, you and Namjoon are on the verge of a joint breakdown. 

Anyway, Namjoon gives in first. “Love you forever, princess,” he tells her, their ritual expression, and kisses her forehead. 

She accepts it and then, in an unexpected turn of events, surges forward to hug him around the neck. “Love you pporever, daddy,” she repeats, and your heart feels so painfully full at the sight, like you just unlocked a new life achievement from seeing your daughter and her father be so cute together. You don’t get to coo at them for long, because then she’s giving you a warm hug as well, the same phrase muttered in your ear. 

It’s the hardest thing about parenting. 

Seeing your kid slowly broaden their horizons, meeting new people and learning new things. Leaving home. (Granted, she’ll be back by tomorrow afternoon but even that feels like an eternity away to the dramatic parents you and Namjoon have become.) The second goodbye on Jimin’s doorstep isn’t any easier, especially when Hyejoo tugs on your arm and asks you to “say night to daddy please” for her, and your heart breaks just a little more. Jimin flashes you an understanding smile but all you want to do is punch him in the nose for ever telling Yerin what a sleepover is. 

You get home and Namjoon is in a calmer state by now, some old sitcom he hates playing on the TV. Usually, this time of day is reserved for his daily phonemic lessons with Hyejoo, drilling the f sound into her tiny brain, so you guess this is his preferred method of coping in its place: torturing himself with some boring television show. 

“Hey,” he says, and you crawl into his lap with a sad sniffle. “Shh,” he soothes, hand on the back of your head as he guides you into his chest. You’re actually crying now, which is super embarrassing in itself considering you scolded Namjoon for this exact behavior last night. He doesn’t mention it as he pats your back, stupid sitcom paused in favor of soothing you with the deep vibrations of his voice. “Hye’s gonna be back tomorrow, baby.”

“I want her back now,” you huff, vaguely aware of how childish and silly you sound. The tables have turned, and you find yourself wishing you had the same emotional fortitude as Namjoon now. All those parenting books have clearly amounted for something. Somehow, you will the feeling back into your body and pull away from his chest. You must look a mess because he doesn’t even try to hide the amusement on his face. “This is the worst day of my life.” 

Namjoon laughs, deep and hearty, with his eyes squeezing shut from the force. “Come on, wifey, those chicken nuggets aren’t gonna eat themselves.”

It’s quite possibly the most boring evening you’ve had in years. 

(The internet calls it new parent syndrome, where you’re so undeniably in love with your first child and the parenting experience that the rest of the world is put on pause.)

You love Namjoon, honest. But you love your daughter Hyejoo even more— it’s not a controversial sentiment when you know he’s the same way! —and going back to a regular adult life sans kids absolutely sucks. (Or so you thought.)

Kids are prone to asking weirdly philosophical questions, a fact that had greatly delighted you when Hyejoo first started speaking. Who am I? What’s money? Why not? It could get annoying sometimes, trying to answer all of Hyejoo’s curiosities. But as you begin on your second batch of dinosaur chicken nuggets, all you can think about is how Jimin gets to answer them tonight. 

Anyway, seven rolls around and you and Namjoon are bored. You can only watch so many episodes of Seinfield before you get tired of feigning interest, so you retire from the living room for the night. “I’m gonna take a bath,” you tell him, but he’s as brain dead as you by now. 

A second later, “lemme join.” 

It’s been a while since the two of you have squeezed into the bathtub together, usually assigning each other days to individually join Hyejoo. So it’s really not either of your faults when you realize a second too late how small the space is. One on each end, feet bumping into each other with every movement, it’s like trying to squeeze two feet into one shoe. You try to readjust yourself, but the bath flooring is slippery and you nearly take away Namjoon’s procreative abilities with a mighty kick. 

To make a long story short, you end up pressed against his chest, Namjoon’s thick thighs framing you as you relax into the steaming water. Instinctively, he reaches for Hyejoo’s bottle of baby shampoo that sits on the tub’s ledge and only catches himself just as the first droplet is meeting his palm. “Oh, fuck,” he sighs, quickly closing the lid before he can waste any more precious product. “Shit, I’m so sad.”

You snort, sinking farther back into his chest. He’s warm and soft in all the right ways, the hot water making him slippery. “What did we even do before Hyejoo?” you ask, reaching into the deepest crevices of your mind for answers. Namjoon’s hand comes around, fingers sprawled out over your knee, the one you have propped up and breaking the water’s surface 

He makes a rather vague sound, something like I don’t know, as he lolls forward, forehead on your shoulder. “Go on dates,” he responds eventually. “Fuck like crazy.” 

You roll your eyes. “Besides that,” you chide, pinching the back of his palm. “Don’t we have any hobbies? Any interests?” He doesn’t answer, which is all the answer you need. Why didn’t you get into puzzle solving back when it was a trend? “Is this what our life has become? Crying in a bathtub at seven pm because our emotional support child isn’t here?”

“Our only child,” he corrects. Namjoon tries to placate your looming existential crisis with a kiss to your shoulder, lips against wet skin, that he trails up to your neck. “And what’s wrong with going on dates and fucking?” he murmurs, hands around your stomach. “That’s how we got here,” he teases, and you’re not sure if it’s the warm water or the way his voice is like melted chocolate dripping down your body, but you become all too aware of his presence at that moment. Particularly, of the plush lips mindlessly kissing your shoulder, the wet smack of their motions. 

Another kiss, this time right below your ear. It has your head rolling to the side, exposing more skin for him to kiss up on. There’s still that overwhelming cloud of worry in the back of your mind, but it’s gradually nudged away by Namjoon’s warm hands on your skin. Sensing your weakening resolve, Namjoon strikes again. A hand slips down over your stomach, brushes over your belly button and finds itself between your thighs. “You used to love date nights, baby,” he says, the pad of his pointer finger grazing your clit. 

It’s been so long since you and Namjoon have been alone like this, months since you’ve been able to touch him beyond a simple make out session, a halfhearted grope beneath the sheets. Your daughter, as much as you loved her, made intimacy impossible for the two of you. She was always around, always looking for one or the both of you, so there was never time to even think about getting frisky. 

Only now, with his finger circling your clit, do you realize the blessing in disguise that was your daughter’s first slumber party away from home. 

His finger nudges your clit, flicks it teasingly. “Why don’t you let me take care of you, hm?” he hums, the hand that had been soothingly stroking the inside of your thigh coming up to rub at your breasts. 

“Yes, please,” you whine. Resting your head on his shoulder leaves Namjoon with a clear view down your front, lips kissing and sucking along your neck. His huge hand palms your breast, massaging the sensitive skin. You hadn’t realized how sore you’d been until now, his nimble fingers pressing deliciously into the skin. If your nipples weren’t already hard before, they certainly were now. 

He traps one pearled nipple between two fingers, the sudden pinch making you hiss. “Easy, now,” he chuckles, his low tenor paired with his wandering hands making your eyes roll back. 

Namjoon liked to use a higher tone around the house. He read somewhere that children prefer lighter, sweeter tones, so the last few years have been spent listening to him lighten the tone of his voice for the sake of your daughter. The deeper, growlier voice that had first made you fall in love with him became a rarity in your household, reserved for quiet nights in the living room or long drives where Hyejoo was asleep in the backseat. Only then does he unleash the gravelly qualities of his voice. 

Then, and apparently, now. 

His doll-like lips press against your jaw, suck lightly enough to make your body tingle. “Do you remember how it was the first time?” he says suddenly, his hot breath against your neck. 

Namjoon’s got your clit trapped between two wandering fingers, has your pussy twitching with the vibrations of his voice alone. And for some reason, he’s trying to reminisce about your first time sleeping together. 

“N- Not really,” you confess, subtly reaching down. You cover his palm with yours, hoping your touch will encourage him to carry on with his actions. It doesn’t. It just leaves both your hands hovering over your pussy, your thighs instinctively closing in on them to keep him there. Namjoon responds to that, releasing the breast he had been gently massaging in order to pry your legs apart. He does it so easily, despite the way your legs feel tight as hell, and the fact makes you whimper. 

Once he’s got his hands back between your thighs— this time, he uses one hand to carefully part your quivering lips, the other one gingerly pressing down against your clit to draw the most heavenly sensations out of you —Namjoon feels the need to dive into a recap of your first fuck. “You were so cute,” he laughs, and you don’t know if you should take offense. Well, considering you're married and have a kid now, it’s probably too late to say anything anyway. His hand suddenly switches gears, three fingers joining together to begin caressing them over your throbbing clit. “Kept talking to me so politely, even when you were creaming my cock.”

You scoff, but it gets cancelled out by the moan he draws out of you. “D- Didn’t know you that well,” you remind him, your thighs twitching. You desperately want to buck forward into his giving hands, want to feel the true power of those long, pretty fingers on your cunt. 

Behind you, Namjoon’s cock grows thick, his breathing a slow and steady pace by your ear. You can already imagine how heavy he is, the vein that runs along the underside and throbs with each new bit of stimulus he receives. Normally you would reach back and try to offer him the same helping hand he gives you, but your thighs feel wobbly already. Your libido has been dormant for so long that even just the barest flick of his thumb has you dissolving into his arms like this is your first time. 

It’s as if Namjoon’s sensing your inner battle, a muffled laugh against the side of your neck. “This is about you,” he reminds you. As much as you want to protest, a sudden hard rub against your quivering lips has you gasping for breath. “Give me a kiss,” he commands softly, nudging his nose against the side of your face. It takes a second for you to ground yourself, draw yourself away from your building pleasure, to turn toward his waiting lips. 

Namjoon kisses you slowly, like he’s taking his time with you. For the first time in a long time, he truly can. He doesn’t have to worry about a certain someone waking up in the middle of the night or walking in or anything along those lines, lips molding against yours. Plush as always, the faint taste of dinosaur chicken nuggets clinging to his lips. It makes you laugh a little, drawing away with an airy giggle. Namjoon smiles at your reaction, murmuring a soft, “what is it?”

You shake your head, eyes fluttering shut as he continues his circular motions against your clit. “Nothing,” you pant, finally getting in your first thrust against his fingers. “I just really need you,” you say instead, pushing his hand harder down against you. 

You’re feeling a little antsy, having been deprived of this sensation for so long. Namjoon knows this, which is why he very purposely slows down. “There’s no rush,” he smirks, placing a kiss against your chin. “How do you want it, baby?”

The inside of your brain is a scrambled mess, filled with fantasies and ideas that have been plaguing you for months. There’s so much you want to do, want to try, but it’s like your brain completely blanks out when he asks. It’s just as you’re beginning to formulate a thought that you’re interrupted by the sound of your ringtone in the other room. Your husband’s arms tighten around you. “Don’t go,” he says quietly, the tip of his nose running along your neck. It’s so tempting to stay here, to let yourself go in his arms and chase the pleasure you’ve been craving for so long. 

But the endless possibilities of who exactly could be calling wins over. Was it work? Was it your parents? Jimin?

It is with a heavy sigh that you reach for Namjoon’s hand, slowly pushing him away from your cunt. “I’m sorry, honey,” you frown, standing up out of the tub. Your legs really do feel like jelly, and you nearly slip and crack your skull on the porcelain edge. Luckily, Namjoon is there to steady you with two secure hands on your waist. “I’ll make it quick,” you reassure him, dropping a kiss on his pouty lips as you fasten a towel around your body. 

The phone is just starting up its final ring when you reach it. It’s Jimin, and you’re torn between being thankful that you’re getting word on Hyejoo and full blown panic from the fact Jimin is calling you while Hyejoo is in his care. The unease has you accepting the call without a second more to waste. “Hello?” you say, hand tightening on the front of your towel. Stray water droplets trace ticklish trails down the backs of your thighs.

“__?” comes Jimin’s sweet voice. It’s normally soothing, but right now it has every hair on your body standing on end. Before you can even respond, Jimin is jumping headfirst into a whirlwind of a conversation. “Sorry for calling so late, but I just wanted to check in on you, babe. I know you were really panicked about Hye’s first night away from home, but don’t worry! Me and the missus are doing everything we can to make sure she’s fine.”

His confidence reassures you, lessens the weight that had been sitting on your chest all afternoon. But at the same time, you find yourself wanting to throttle him. 

Your gorgeous, sexy hunk of a husband is sitting in the other room, cock at full mast and ready to pleasure you to the moon and back, and here you are listening to Jimin brag about how good of a caretaker he is. You were definitely going to make Jimin pay for this. 

Deep breaths, you tell yourself, toying with a stray thread on your towel. “Really,” you drawl, and you can practically see Jimin’s ego swell over the line. 

“Yup,” Jimin agrees, and by the sounds of it, doesn’t seem like he’s hoping to end this call anytime soon. You want to shoulder part of the blame; you had been extra sad and mopey when you dropped your daughter off. On top of being a good dad, Jimin was also a good friend. It was only naturally he wanted to reassure you when he could. 

Still, the memory of Namjoon’s wet chest was calling out to you. 

“The girls are playing princess in the living room with the missus right now,” Jimin chats on. “New dresses and everything— the Yerin Birthday Special —and they asked me to be their handsome prince!” You sincerely cannot wait for the day you get to introduce Jimin to your right fist. 

“That’s great,” you offer, not that he’s really listening. He’s too busy talking about Yerin (and making sure to include Hyejoo in for your sake) and how amazing it is to watch your kids grow up before your very eyes. And while you agree with the sentiment, you really wish he had called you and told you this earlier, when you were at the peak of your motherly meltdown. Not now with Namjoon waiting for you in the bathtub. Was the water even warm anymore? 

The mind blowing orgasm practically slips from your fingertips the longer Jimin talks. “Anyway! Enough about them. I’m thinking of trying out that blueberry bread recipe that aired on TV last night. You know, the one they had that actress make.”

You’ve just about resigned yourself to listening to Jimin talk about his love for pastries for the next thirty minutes when something brushes up behind you. “What the fu—“

He’s so tall and broad, practically covers your entire frame when he stands so close. And his smile is so pretty when he aims it your way. “Sh,” Namjoon murmurs, gesturing towards your phone.  

“__?” Jimin calls. “Everything alright?” 

Namjoon nods eagerly, the hands on your waist properly positioning you in front of him. It’s with a shudder running down your spine that you respond. “I’m fine,” you tell Jimin, letting go of the front of your towel when Namjoon abruptly pushes you over. The white comforter infused with both of your scents comes all too close, your elbow barely managing to reach out in time to catch you.  

Wide eyed, you turn to throw Namjoon a scandalized look over your shoulder. He meets you with a close-mouthed smile, the dimples in his cheeks making themselves known. His chest is drier now, the smooth planes covered in a thin dewy glow and a spattering of droplets he missed. There’s a towel around his waist that’s barely doing its job, especially when you catch sight of the erection tenting beneath it. 

“As I was saying,” Jimin rambles on. Namjoon nods towards the device, refusing to move again until you finally turn back around to finish your conversation with Jimin. “That actress fucked it up so bad. They really give anyone with a pretty face screen time these days, huh? At least I know how to properly preheat an oven.”

You nod. “You do make the best cookies in town,” you respond, a ball of anticipation building in your throat from the mere fact Namjoon is standing behind you. 

It’s completely warranted once you feel two cold fingers trail up the back of your thigh, your towel gradually pushed up to drape around your waist. The air in your room is a little chilly, and the goosebumps that raise on your skin are partly due to that, as well as the ghostlike touch of Namjoon’s fingers. “Pretty,” he murmurs, so deep and gravelly it has you shuddering.  

Two fingers dance along your skin, and you subconsciously jolt away when they meet the tender skin around your pussy. By your ear, Jimin says, “if I completely fuck it up, we’ll just pretend this conversation never happened. Deal?”

Using your own body against you, Namjoon lets one finger dip just the smallest bit into your quivering hole. You clench up, thighs trembling when he eventually pulls it back out and traces your own wetness over your folds. “Perfect,” you bite out, clutching at the sheets beneath you as Namjoon reaches for your forgotten clit. It’s still so sensitive from your little fun in the bath, and it takes every ounce of strength in you to hold back the whiny gasp in your throat. 

Behind you, Namjoon suddenly presses in close. One hand on your hip, he gently encourages you onto the bed. Your knees sink into the mattress, one less strain on your legs. “Good girl,” he praises quietly, rewarding your behavior with a finger sinking into your cunt. 

“Joo—“ you almost slip, burying your face into the sheets just in time. 

A devastatingly slow pace, his finger just barely moving in and out of you. The bulk of your pleasure is coming from that bundle of nerves towards your front, but the teasing gesture isn’t appreciated anyway. When he leans over you, breath against your neck, you feel the length of his cock against your thigh. “He’s asking you a question,” Namjoon whispers, “answer him, baby.”

You nod, eyes rolling to the back of your head when he presses himself closer. Jimin hasn’t even noticed your lack of participation, mindlessly humming a song. The sounds of a running sink highlight his vocals. “Oh, absolutely,” you babble. “I wouldn’t tell a soul.” 

“Ha!” Jimin scoffs. “I knew I could always count on you, Miss __,” he snarks playfully. 

The hand toying with your clit comes around your waist, fingers stroking against your folds from this new angle. A silent moan has you writhing forward, unconsciously away from him as Jimin babbles on the other end of the line. He’s none the wiser to the lewd acts happening on the line, listening to the sound of his own voice. Namjoon lands a mean little bite against your shoulder, plunging his finger deeper inside of your clenching hole. 

Paired with his teasing fingers, it’s nearly impossible to withhold your moans, biting your lip until it stings. “Fuck, fuck,” you whimper against the sheets, holding your phone as far away as possible from your mouth as a litany of curse words spill from your lips. Namjoon chuckles at your dramatics, not like he has his fingers deep inside of you right now or anything. 

“So cute,” he hums, removing his hand from your clit to snatch your towel away. It gives way too easily, messily thrown over the edge of the bed. With your back completely exposed now, Namjoon wastes no time trailing a line of kisses up your spine, finishing off with an especially wet and hard one behind your ear. “Hang up now.”

His permission sets your body on edge, drawing your phone close again. Jimin is talking about dinner or something, you don’t even know. Not an ounce of remorse fills you when you clear your throat and hurriedly announce, “I have to—“ Namjoon’s cock, finally uncovered by his towel, presses against your folds and you nearly lose it. “—I have to go now, Jimin,” you say, leveling your breathing as best as you can. 

“Wait, what the fuck?” Jimin says, thrown off by your sudden departure. 

The mushroom tip of his cock kisses your clit. “Fuck— I really have to go.” And you hang up, chucking the phone off to the side hastily. With your hands both freed, you scramble onto your back, meeting the amused gaze of your husband behind you. “Fuck me, now.”

Namjoon laughs, reaching for the towel barely clinging onto his waist. One suave swoop later and it joins yours on the floor. “You did good,” he praises, lowering himself between your spread thighs. You roll your eyes, grabby hands reaching for his hips until he’s sitting snugly against you, cock resting over your throbbing cunt. 

“Yeah, yeah,” you snap, the tight feeling in your tummy growing with every second that passes. Namjoon isn’t as unaffected as he pretends to be, a pearly bead of cum appearing at the tip of his engorged cock. “Just fuck me now.”

He raises a brow. “Missionary?” As if it’s the first time. 

“Is there something wrong with it?” you ask anyway, self-consciously reaching an arm over yourself to cover your naked breasts. They’ve pebbled over just from his stare alone. 

Namjoon hesitates, the hand on your hip drawing slow circles with his thumb. Eventually, he responds with a halfhearted shrug. “It’s not the best.” This is news to you, and you find yourself sitting up at the sudden bomb he’s dropped. 

He’s still hard as rock between you, his dick laying almost artfully against your slit. You really just want to throw aside all reservations and begin grinding against him, penetration be damned, but now Namjoon’s got that thoughtful quirk to his lips. The one that usually accompanies any big brained idea, so you settle down, nudging him with your thigh until he’s looking at you again. “Penny for your thoughts?” What you really want to say is please fuck me like I’m just another cum rag of yours and make it hurt, but alas. 

Namjoon sits back on his haunches. “I read somewhere that on your hands and knees is the best way to get pregnant.” You choke on your own tongue, face ablaze from his forward statement. Meanwhile, Namjoon is looking as relaxed as ever. 

You hadn’t really discussed children after Hyejoo. The wordless agreement had been that sure, you were both down for another kid sometime in the future. But the exact date had sort of been murky. Hyejoo is three now, and you heard from another mom that it’s difficult for children with wide age gaps to get along. You don’t want her growing up being far removed from another sibling. 

But also, now?

It’s like Namjoon knows your thoughts before you even do. “Alright, wifey, say no more,” he says, leaning down to place a kiss against your lips. “I’ll get the condom, alright?”

And then he’s stepping off the bed, every muscle of his toned body flexing as he swaggers over towards the dresser. He’s a walking dream, the physical embodiment of all your crazy sex fantasies, and he wants to fuck a baby into you. Your pussy says yes, but your rationality is still on the fence. 

You roll onto your side, head propped into your open palm. “You want another baby?” you ask tentatively. Namjoon shrugs, carefully opening the new box of condoms you had bought half a year ago. 

“It wouldn’t hurt to have another kid,” he answers, procuring a tiny foil packet from the box and returning to his spot between your legs. It’s like staring at a marble statue from this angle, the defined planes of his chest and abdomen, the gorgeous slope of his nose, the sharp angles of his face. You really lucked out. 

Your decision comes just as he’s easing the rubber over the tip of his cock, the swollen head just barely enveloped. You place a hand against his wrist, earning his attention. “Take it off,” you mumble, and you swear on your entire life he swells another inch. 

“Oh, baby,” he groans, hastily throwing the condom somewhere across the room. He rolls over you, bulging arms sweeping you up into his embrace, lips capturing yours in a sloppy kiss. You whimper, letting his tongue push itself past your lips. When he pulls away, it’s with a wet pop and glistening lips. They’re so puffy now, flushed a nice rosy color, that makes him look even more handsome when he smiles down at you. “Gonna look so pretty all pregnant,” he beams, placing a chaste kiss against you one last time before he’s hurriedly rolling you onto your stomach. 

You hide your bashful expression against the sheets, suddenly feeling very shy before him. But then Namjoon’s cock is running along your lips and you’re left a shivering mess. “Please just fuck me,” you beg hoarsely, and Namjoon obeys. 

“Whatever you want, wifey,” he teases, and before you can call him out for his cheesiness, he’s pressing his thumb into your aching hole once more. “Is this okay?” he asks, somberly for the first time in what seems like forever. 

“I’m okay,” you confess, a little shyly now that you know his true motives.  

Namjoon chuckles, quickly removing his finger from inside of you to give your ass one soothing pat. “Going in,” he warns you, and finally, you’re rewarded for all your struggles. It’s only as his mushroom head squeezes in that you realize you could have done with a bit more stretching, but that thought fades away the more and more he pushes in. “Fuck,” he groans, the low intonation of his voice making your toes curl.

If it’s not his voice, it’s the sheer length of his cock inside of you. The girth makes your spine tingle, has you muffling a pitiful whimper into the comforter beneath you. “Relax for me,” he directs, and then suddenly he’s placing a palm against your back, pushing you further down. “Hips up.” 

You groan. The normally soft fabric of the blanket feels like hell on your sensitive breasts. “I’m trying,” you whine, pushing back onto him in an effort to familiarize yourself with his cock again. It’s been so long since he’s been inside of you like this, since he’s filled you so well, that your body acts a little stupid now. He hasn’t even begun thrusting and you already feel like you’ll cum just from this.  

The angle is different than your usual style, has him moving along every inch of you as he sinks in. Two big hands grab at your waist, manhandling you closer to him until you’re just like he wants you to be. “There we go,” he sighs, and with him motionless, you finally relax. It’s about a two second pause before he begins to draw himself back out. “How do you want it?” he grunts, but it’s lost beneath the moan that escapes you. It’s the same question he asked you in the tub, right before Jimin called, except this time you have an answer. 

“Fast,” you gasp, the pain from the stretch finally, finally, melting away as your body grows accustomed to his presence inside of you. “Do it fast, please.”

Namjoon does as he’s told, waiting until he’s pulled out until the tip to satisfy your requests. And then he’s off. 

Your body isn’t as young as it once was, left a little worn from the entire child-bearing process. Sometimes you wonder how exactly you and Namjoon would fuck until sunrise before, how your sex drive was so high that it allowed such a thing to happen. Admittedly, there’s currently a stiffness inside of you that has been there for a while now, and you barely remember how you got rid of it before. Apparently, this is how.

Namjoon’s hard cock rams into you once, makes you release the most embarrassingly loud moan at the sudden intrusion, and it’s like all those months of tension that built up in your body are melted away. His cock pushes past your folds, creating a lewd squelching sound that would otherwise leave you mortified to learn it came from your body. You shudder, desperately pushing your ass back against him in a feeble attempt to feel it again. 

“Still so fucking tight for me,” he growls, snapping his hips forwards. His skin slaps against yours, leaves you feeling tender from the brutal movements of his body. But at the same time, it feels absolutely terrific. 

Your lips are still coated in your own wetness, have him noisily moving in and out. “J- Joon,” you whimper softly, but you doubt he hears it over the sound of his own labored breathing. “More.”

He responds with a sudden piston inside of you that has the tip of his cock nearly kissing your cervix. “More?” he huffs, the hand on your back pressing down until you fear you’ll become one with the mattress. “You want more?” You nod hurriedly, somehow managing to stretch a hand down between you to toy with your clit. The brush of your own fingers has you bucking back onto him in surprise.

Wordlessly, he speeds up his pace, thrusting his hips into your velvety walls at a faster speed than before. It’s a weird sensation, a sort of ticklish feeling m that makes you tremble with each roll forward. You can’t say the two of you have done it in this position a lot, always preferring the more romantic missionary position to anything else, but this experience was quickly making you an avid believer of its validity as a top tier sex position. 

You swirl your pointer finger around your clit, trying to sync up your shaky touch with his steady thrusts. It’s useless, because every time you feel like you’ve gotten into the same groove, Namjoon one ups you by hauling you back against him. “Oh, f- fuck,” you sob, clawing at the sheets beneath you. 

Namjoon groans, momentarily pausing his rapid thrusts to roll his buried cock against you. “Come on, baby,” he husks, the hilt of his cock kissing your folds. 

There’s a lot of built up sexual tension inside of you, months on top of months of nothingness. Not to mention that little scene in the bathtub just now. So you’re not really surprised that your orgasm rears its head so early, curling up tightly in your stomach the longer Namjoon fucks you. He’s back to thrusting now, shallow little movements that make you see stars every time his cock glides inside of you. “Joon, I'm gonna...” you rasp out pitifully, grinding back against him. 

“Whenever you want,” he murmurs, leaning forward to press a kiss against your shoulder. It’s sweet, but on top of that, it has him pushing in further than before, finally pressed against that sensitive spot inside of you that makes your entire body lock up. You sob, thighs quivering when he reaches an arm around you. It’s almost romantic how your hands meet, his fingers covering yours as he guides them over your clit slowly. “Give it to me, baby,” he croons, lips pressed securely against your neck. He leaves soft kisses there, smooches really, that make you melt. 

Another shallow buck of his hips forward and you’re cumming, breaths picking up until they accumulate into a choked wail against the sheets. “Fuck— oh, fuck,” you cry, your thighs spasming from the force of your first satisfying orgasm in months. Namjoon holds you through it, slowly thrusting inside of you until he’s drawn out your entire orgasm.

The new added pleasure makes his movements sound even wetter, dirtier even. “That’s it,” he purrs, pushing himself back up to his full height behind you. You feel absolutely boneless beneath him, laying limply against the mattress as Namjoon repositions your hips for himself. “Can I finish like this, sweetheart?” he asks anyway, thumbs drawing a soothing pattern along your hip. 

You can barely catch your breath, so you settle on a halfhearted nod that has him huffing out a laugh. 

For some reason, Namjoon fucks you harder once he knows you’ve had your fill. Like he’s trying to draw another orgasm out of you, but is also the least bit concerned with you. Honestly, it works. He moves fast and hard, like he has no regard for your pleasure, and for some reason that turns you on more than it should. It’s this weird fantasy of yours, to be mistreated by a man as respectful as Namjoon, and you find yourself weirdly fulfilling it now as he fucks his cock into you. 

His fingers dig into your skin, wildly bucking into you as he chases his own high, and it’s embarrassing how quickly a second one builds up for you. You moan at one particular thrust, body sensitive all over. “Oh,” you whimper, “Namjoon.”

He grunts, your cries fueling him on as he continues his mad race to the end. “Gonna cum with me again?” he pants, his quick pace rocking you forward. You nod, using your killer grip on the sheets to ground yourself as you weakly attempt to meet his thrusts. “Aren’t you the sweetest,” he hums, and doesn’t let you respond as he continues to jackhammer his way into your pussy at a bruising pace. 

It takes a few more thrusts, and one whiny cry of his name— “come on, Joonie,” you whimper, turning to throw him a teary-eyed gaze over your shoulder; he shudders at the sight —until Namjoon is finally tipped over the edge, shooting his pleasure deep into you on the next thrust. It’s warm, paints your walls and threatens to spill out when he finally pulls out. 

But Namjoon has read up, using those big strong arms of his to keep you from collapsing onto your tummy as he scrambles around for something to keep your hips up. “It sticks better this way,” he says, a sheen of sweat against his temples when he flops down beside you. 

“What sticks better,” you groan, the achy feeling of just having your world rocked quickly settling into your bones. 

Namjoon leans forward and places a kiss against your lips, as if saying here, for all your hard work. “You know... it,” he shrugs, hands behind his head as he prepares himself to supervise your post-sex nap, just to make sure you don’t accidentally move around and let his cum leak out. “You did good, wifey,” he praises with another smooch. “Maybe we should let Hyejoo sleep over at Jimin’s more.”

Hyejoo’s return is the highlight of the year. 

You pick her up around noon, and your heart nearly grows ten sizes when you see her come running down Jimin’s front steps and into your arms. “Hi, mommy,” she beams, the same smile as Namjoon. And just like Namjoon, you can’t stop yourself from covering her face in tiny kisses. She says they tickle and squirms and squeals in your embrace. 

Jimin’s at the door with this weirdly blank look on his face. “Hey, Jimin,” you call out, helping Hyejoo load her bag into the backseat.

“Hey…” he greets, just as Hyejoo frantically begins calling for you to buckle her in. “Um, __,” Jimin says, but you’re a little busy securing the tiny love of your life into her booster seat, so you just throw him a quick glance to let him know you’re listening. Kinda. “There’s something I have to tell you—“

“I wanna see daddy!” Hyejoo babbles from the backseat, wildly waving her hands around as you finally close the door on her. With it shut, her loud voice is drowned out and you’re left raising a brow at Jimin as you round the front of the car. 

“What’s up?” you ask. 

Jimin comes down the steps, awkwardly hovering by the front of your car. “Um, when we were on the phone—“ Hyejoo knocks her tiny hands against the window, gesturing for you to hurry up. You flash Jimin an apologetic frown at the interruption. “Well, you see. She kinda heard us— well, me—” 

Another flurry of knocks, and you can’t wait to relay to Namjoon how excited your daughter had been to see him again. It’ll boost his ego, not that he really needs it to be any bigger. “That’s fine,” you tell Jimin, swinging your door open. Immediately, Hyejoo’s high-pitched voice fills the space between you and Jimin. “You know I don’t mind talking to the missus,” you joke, nudging his side. “She’s my friend too, ya know.”

“Gotta show daddy something!” Hyejoo shouts from the backseat, has this big smile on her face that makes you smile as well. 

Beside you, Jimin is quickly falling apart. “No, well—” you drop down into your seat “it wasn’t her who heard—“ You shut the door, lowering the window to thank Jimin one more time. Hyejoo beats you to it.

“Bye, Mr. Jimin!” she says, tiny legs kicking around all wildly in her excitement. You shake your head with a grin, waving goodbye to Jimin one last time as you pull out of his driveway. 

“Daddy!” Hyejoo shrieks upon entering your home. Her tiny overnight bag is tossed down at the entryway, ladybug rain boots haphazardly kicked towards the general direction of the shoe closet. Namjoon had been upstairs in his study when you left, but he now comes bounding down the steps at the sound of your daughter’s voice. He cries out a dopey, “princess”, as he scoops her up in his big arms. He does a twirl and everything, so dramatic. But it makes Hyejoo giggle like crazy. 

She allows one big fat kiss against her chubby cheeks before she’s shushing him with the news of her announcement. “Daddy, look,” she beams, holding his face between her tiny hands. “I can say the f sound now!”

Namjoon has been avidly working towards this ability for months now. Namjoon, who has spent nights reading every page of every child development book possible, who has spent hours decorating pretty flashcards for her, who has sectioned off time from his busy schedule everyday just to go over lessons with her. Well, Namjoon looks over the goddamn moon at the news. 

“Let’s hear it, honey,” you urge, stepping in when his happiness renders him incapable of speech. So he just nods along, looks like a bobblehead doll beside you. 

And with both of her proud, sometimes overprotective, parents standing before her, Hyejoo puts on a big grin and says, “fuck.”

Copyright © 2020, 1kook on tumblr. absolutely NO reposts allowed.

[star-lemonade]

Revelations and Indulgence

Pairing: Stray Kids Changbin x Reader

Rating: R

Word count: 3.5 k

Genre: romance, smut, abo au, college au

Warnings: smut, dom!reader, sub!Changbin, thigh riding, praise, collar

Chapter index

This story is an au to instinct by @fizzydrink698.

World primer: this is not the standard aboverse, but rather everyone has a biological sex and is additionally either alpha or omega. Alphas tend to be bigger and stronger than their omega counterparts. Traditionally relationships should be between Alphas and Omegas. Once a year alphas experience the Rut a time where they feel an intense need to mate. The omega equivalent is called heat and happens twice a year. This time is best spend with partners :3

Instinct TL;DR: Alpha reader is in college and lives together with her Omega flatmates Felix, Jisung, and Chan who reader has a crush on. Other people in her friend group are Hyunjin, with who she has a strained relationship, and Changbin, a close friend with rich parents. Now, sometime after she has broken up with her toxic ex, her Rut is around the corner and she is partnerless.

Part One: How did I think this was a good idea?

You woke up jittery and pumped up, like a bad case of too much coffee. It had been a terrible idea to try and do this alone. That much became clear in the first few hours that you were awake. No matter what you did your goddamn body wanted to come again. Stupid hormones.

After who knows how much time, your hand was cramping. Great. You stared at the ceiling. What have I done in my past life to deserve this? Your legs trembled and you tried to loosen the cramp in your hand. It could not continue like this. You had to do something. There was no good option really, but there was someone who was maybe willing to help. With your not cramping hand, you grabbed your phone and call the person you should have called yesterday. You from the past had packed some clothes into a bag and you were thankful for it. In your current state, you did not have the brain juice to pack everything you would need to pass as 'dressed'. Putting on clothes was the worst. Your skin was too sensitive and every movement of the fabric made you want to take it off again. Sadly you had to be decent. Getting fined for walking naked on the street was the last thing you wanted.

You sent a message to the roommate group that you were leaving and they should stay in their rooms until you were gone. Before you opened the door you took a deep breath in and stormed out of the apartment as fast as possible. The hallway outside the apartment was not much better. The scent hit you like a brick wall. You stumbled to the building entrance and the fresh air cleared your head a bit. 

A black car was parked in front of the building. It was not a taxi. There was no meter. You suspected that this was the Seo family’s private car. The driver, an older alpha man, who did not show any reaction to your probably off-the-charts scent opened the door for you and you sold into the back seat. The leather of the seats was cold and you were not sure if you liked it. On one hand, your body was burning up, but the cool surface made you shiver. The drive to Changbin’s place was not very long but it felt like ages. You tapped your fingers on your thigh. Rubbed your hands on your pants. Pants. Oh, how much you hate the feeling of the fabric against your skin. The car pulled up in front of the tall building. Was it a skyscraper already or was it not tall enough for that title? The driver escorted you to the elevator under the watchful eyes of the guard sitting behind his desk. He did not say anything, but he and the driver seemed to know each other. At the elevator, the driver entered a code and pressed the button for the floor. No one can just enter, you have to have a code. The few time you had been there before, Changbin had been with you, so you did not the code. The driver wished you a good day as the doors closed and you were alone in the brushed metal box. 

The apartment was on the second to last floor of the skyscraper and the ride up gave you time to study the elevator. You looked at your reflection in the mirror opposite the doors. Something wild and desperate seemed to jump up out of your eyes. Everyone who would have seen even if they were not in smelling distance would know. With a ding! the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

Already the hallway reeked of wealth with its polished stone walls and stucco ceiling. You hated coming here because it was a reminder that your best friend came from a different world. Changbin preferred your place too. He had rarely invited you over, but today was different. It would be better to be here than at your apartment where your roommates could hear you. You rang the doorbell and an old woman opened the door. Her long white hair was tied in a harsh top knot which only added to the dropping corners of her mouth. She was so old that you could not even tell if she had been an alpha or omega. 

"It’s you. Come in."

The hallway looked like you remembered it to be. One door on the right and two on the left. The ceiling was high enough that no one would hit their head on the chandelier hanging from it. In the air hung the smell of your friend. 

The old lady led you to Changbin’s bedroom. You had known which door it was but still. The door closed behind you and you were alone in the oversized room. It was sparsely decorated. There was a bed with lots of open space around it, the nightstand next to it, and a tall drawer. Changbin was nowhere to be seen but the door to his small ensuite bathroom was closed. The main bathroom was across the hall and Changbin barely used it. 

The sun was on its way towards the horizon and its warm light filled the room. The city below has no idea you were watching. 

The bathroom door opened behind you and Changbin’s familiar scent hit your nose. It was homey and you wanted nothing more than falling into his arms, burying your nose in his neck. 

“Thanks that I could-“

You choked when you saw him. Changbin wore a silky bathrobe that hugged his body. While he was not very tall, he made up for it with his physique, big arms, big chest, and wide shoulders. His hair fell into his dark eyes, softening the angular lines of his face. But that was not what made you speechless. 

“Bin..”

“I guess you like it.”

 The tone of his voice was soft. You swallowed hard, your throat was dry. Changbin watched as your brain tried to make sense of the different signals it was receiving. Your nose said this was your alpha best friend, warm and familiar. But your eyes were glued on the collar around his neck. As you were transfixed by the leather band he took a step forward and leaned his head back. Exposing his neck to you in a gesture that was like a kick to the stomach. You hooked a finger in the metal ring at the front of the collar and pulled on it. Changbin followed the pull obediently. You pushed him on his bed. Your body was burning with need. Stupid hormones. You crawled onto the bed and straddled his hips. His hands rested on your thighs, eyes on your face. The sight of the collar was burning its way through your soul, down to the very deepest, oldest desires. You ground your hips down on him and a low groan came from Changbin. When you talked to him, he usually changed his voice to be softer, less intimidating, but now it was deep and rough. 

You undid the knot in his bathrobe and slid the smooth fabric off his chest. Secretly you had always wanted to touch his chest, but it never seemed appropriate. 

“You look so good.”

Changbin was frozen in place, mouth half-open. When you dragged your nails over his skin, he sighed and arched into your touch. Your hands wandered down and you had to leave your spot on his hips to get the robe off him. To your surprise, he did not wear underwear. The robe had been the only thing that kept him decent. He was hard and ready to go, but you need a moment. 

“Bin…”

Out of all the ones you had seen this in front of you was the biggest. Yes, there was porn with ridiculously big reproductive parts, but this was real life. He reminded you of that toy you had bought out of hubris. You rarely used it because the stretch was too much for most days. It made you come alright but in a fast, painful way. Your hormone-crazed mind did not care and wrapped your hand around him. He closed his eyes and sighed as you lightly pumped him. 

You studied his face. Changbin had pretty lips, that were wet from him licking them and full, ready to be kissed. Your inner muscles clench around nothing when you saw the collar again. You needed to be filled now. Changbin opened his eyes and you aligning him with your entrance.

"Wait-wait-wait-wait."

He grabbed your hips and you snapped out of your thought bubble. Right, maybe I should have asked.

"I’m sorry, do you want to use something."

He blinked at you for the fraction of a second and automatically said: 

"Middle drawer."

You let go of him and open the drawer. It was full of condoms. At least we won’t run out of those. You smiled to yourself. Your last brain cells having a bit of gallows humor.

"That’s not what I meant to say, but it’s good."

"No? What did you mean then?"

You dropped a handful of foil packages on the nightstand. Changbin licked his lips and it struck you how hot and bothered he looked. His brown eyes were almost black and there was a tension that was hard to locate. He was desperate and for your usually very composed friend, it said a lot that you could tell. In your years of knowing him, it had become clear that he was good at hiding how he really felt if he wanted to.

"Sit on my face."

It was almost a question. A deep blush rose from his chest up to his cheeks, but he did not break eye contact. You did not say anything as you crawled up the bed and swung a leg to the other side of his head. His hands grabbed your hips and guided you down until you felt his tongue make contact. Your fingers tangled in his soft hair. It was a bit damp. 

He had his eyes closed and brows furrowed in concentration. You could see why it needed his full attention. His tongue rapidly flicked your clit and you grabbed his hair tighter. Just when the sensation started to become too repetitive his head moved towards you, his mouth attaching to your skin, sucking and licking. 

"You’re doing so good, Binnie."

He hummed at the praise and felt like you were getting close. You move off him and took a few calming breaths. There was not any point in pacing yourself this weekend, but you really wanted to ride that dick. Changbin looked dazed, eyes clouded and breathing heavy. Beautiful.

For a moment you pondered rolling the condom on with your mouth just to see the look on Changbin’s face, but you were too impatient. 

This time he did not protest as you aligned yourself with him. The head pressed against you and Changbin watched with an expression you could not interpret. For a moment you were worried that it would not go in. You tried to relax a much as possible and brute-forced the rest, going down until your hips touched. The stretch was overwhelming and you held your breath, frozen in place not daring to move. You were so full. Compared to your toy at home Changbin was more yielding so it did not hurt as much. That did not mean this was going to be easy sailing. You felt him shift beneath you and when you opened your eyes, you were face to face with a very alarmed-looking Changbin. There was something else in his eyes, dread. 

"You okay?"

He brushed away a tear that had snuck out the corner of your eye. 

"It’s so much."

"I know."

He cupped your face and looked at you. 

"I should have stopped you."

His finger brushed your cheek. You breathed very slowly. Every breath changed the poison sightly and you wanted the opposite.

"Do you want to stop?"

The concern on his face and the softness in his voice melted your insides. A sudden affection washed over you like warm summer rain. You pulled him into a hug and buried your face in his neck. His hands ran over your back, while you breathed in his scent. It was not the overwhelming punch in the face Hyunjin had given you but it made you feel something. The good times and the bad times you had spent in Changbin’s arms, warm and secure. But today there was something else in his scent. He was so turned on, you could smell it as a light sweetness. Lips moved on your neck, kissing down to your shoulder. You tried to relax, but it felt like you would just rip open if you released the tension from your muscles. The stubborn part of you did not want to admit defeat. 

Changbin move further down until he reached your chest and pulled one of your nipples into his mouth. When he lightly bit it, you clench around him. He hummed and you totally focus on what his mouth was doing. 

"So good."

The sucking and biting were lighting a fire in your stomach, a heat rose from your chest up. You had not even noticed when you had started rocking your hips. A low moan vibrated through Changbin’s chest. The sound resonated within you.

"Don’t hold back, I want to hear you."

Your breathless voice was desperate. You were so close, just a few more movements of your hips. Changbin was still sucking on your chest but looked up with his pretty eyes. You grabbed his collar and pushed him down on the mattress. Your hands on his chest, you rocked your hips back and forth chasing your high. A moan filled the room, but you were not sure if it was you or him. Your whole body tensed and your movements were tiny. 

"Fuck."

You swung a leg over and got off Changbin. Breathing heavily you lay on the bed. It was both, a relief and a loss to not have him in you anymore. I may not survive this weekend. Death by dick is a good way to go though. 

Your breathing calmed down and you opened your eyes to see Changbin working himself up. You opened your mouth to say something, but his back arched off the bed and he came all over his chest. Oh boy, was I that bad that he had to finish himself? 

His climax had silent, just a soft gasp, followed by controlled breathing. A bitter taste appeared in your mouth. Had you disappointed him this much? You were embarrassed and disappointed in yourself. This was your best friend and you had left him high and dry. Literally. What if this had an impact on your friendship.

Changbin moving brought you back to reality. You wanted to apologize but you did not know what to say. 

He glanced at you before really looking.

"Oh, you are awake? Did I wake you up?"

"Why would I not be awake?"

Changbin sat up careful to not stain the sheets. 

"It’s the first day of your rut. That often knocks me out."

He gave you his lopsided grin. Today with your head spinning from all the hormones raging inside you it made your heart flutter. 

"I’m gonna freshen up and you should take a shower."

"Are you saying I’m dirty?"

You raised an eyebrow and Changbin gave you a cheeky nod. He successfully evaded your slap that was aimed at his arm and made his way to the bathroom. 

You marveled at your friend as he walked away. Somehow it had never crossed your mind how good-looking he was. He was your friend so there was something you were things you liked about him. You enjoyed his company, but dang he looked good with his clothes off. 

You went to the bathroom after him and let the hot water wash away the grind of the day. It seemed like a good idea to not shower together, and it was. You felt your skin crawl again as you came out of the shower. Shower sex was appealing in theory, but from past experience, it was not as good as one could hope for. Death by dick was one thing but death by slipping during shower sex was another level. 

You dried off with the Softest Towel. Curse this decadent apartment! You wrapped a towel around your shoulders. 

The bedroom was empty when you came back. Changbin’s voice came from down the hall. 

"In the kitchen!"

Speaking of decadence. The 'kitchen' was the most outrageous room in this apartment. It was one big room that doubled as a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. One could think that a kitchen standing in a big room would always stink the place up but that one time you had cooked here the outlet had worked very well. 

Changbin had put his robe back on and sat plates on the table. The smell was mouth-watering. 

"Did you cook?"

Changbin placed a spoon in the curry.

"What do you think?"

"So, it’s eatable."

He made a face at you and mocked your tone. Maybe I should put on some underwear before sitting on the chair? Ah, whatever. 

The dinner was as always Changbin talk about stuff that happened in his lecture and you told him about your odd week leading up to the rut. It felt as always as if nothing had changed. 

Afterward, you turned in for the night in his bed. Even this was not a new thing. You had slept here before, in his bed but now the vibe was different. It hit you that you had had sex with your best friend and you did not know yet how this affect your future relationship. 

You hung the towel in the bathroom and lay down under the sheets. Changbin came in with a bottle of water and set it on the nightstand. He undid the knot on his robe and let the material slid off his shoulders. You tried not to stare, but your body seemed to have its own mind. Yap the big muscles are still there. 

Now that it was not hard it did not look as intimidating but your body remembered. He slipped under the blanket next to you and you wasted no time snuggling up to him. When he wanted, he gave the best hugs. 

"How are we feeling?"

He petted your head and cupped your face. 

"Horny and tired," you replied honestly. 

"Can you sleep?"

Your body was exhausted, you had just eaten and currently hugged your - for lack of a better word - partner. 

"I will try."

"Okay."

Why was his voice this soft? Please Bin you will make me crush on you if you lay it on me like this. 

"If you need my body while I sleep, you can just do your thing, okay? But nothing too extreme."

He gave you a fake stern look. 

"Can you be a bit more specific?"

Your tone was teasing. Changbin was basically giving you a free check. If you were honest, you had not talked that much about bedroom stuff, which also explained why you had no idea about his huge-

"You can touch me all you want. If you want to rub, you know, you can do that too. It’s fine."

"Great now. I’m thinking about that."

Changbin smirked at your exasperated tone. His hand traveled down your leg to your knee and pulled it on top of his hips. Before you could do something his thigh made contact. The impact was a little too hard and that made you snap. With a curse on your lips, you ground your hips against his leg. It felt way better than it should. Changbin flexed his thigh and you whimpered. The tension contracted into a ball in your gut. You did not know what to do with your hands and one of them landed on his arm. 

"So big," you thought aloud. You closed your eyes and focused on the hard muscles. None of your exes had been very fit certainly not like Changbin, it was just not something that was high on your priority list. However, there was a primeval satisfaction in seeing and feeling those muscles flex. 

Something inside you broke and you moaned as your whole body tensed. You rode out your orgasm on his thigh with a death grip on his arm. It would not surprise you if you had left bruises there.

When you opened your eyes, Changbin was watching you.

"Damn it, I left you hanging again."

He brushed over your cheek and a soft smile appeared on his face.

"You will have enough time."

You fell asleep not much later in Changbin’s arms.

A/N: I made the mistake of watching Changbin’s vlog while working on this so excuse the descriptions XD He and his sister are so cute.

[bukojuiice]

the way of the househusband — levi ackerman

ೃ pairing: (husband! levi ackerman x  ceo wifey! reader)

ೃ  There is the “ideal” nuclear family. The one composed of a working husband with a well-paying 9 to 5 job, loving housewife who cooks and cleans, and adoring children who do well in school. However, that idealization is looong gone. What about you and your family? You are the CEO of a Tech Start-up Company who ain’t no trophy wife, Your husband hails from the last line of Ackermans and who temporarily resigns from being a vice executive of your company (just because he doesn’t want to work with young, feeling philanthropist, and genius GenZers) to become a hands-on househusband, and then there’s your little daughter who has the most inquisitive mind and adventurous heart who idolizes her doting father in every shape, way, and form. A month’s absence in your home (due to a business trip) could lead to many many things. But, your husband randomly publishing a self-help book on parenting and being a househusband is not one of those things. 

ೃ genre and warnings: modern au, domestic fluff, baby au, husband au, 

ೃ  my nav  →  my aot masterlist

ೃ 4k words

ೃ Will be referring to hanji as “aunkling” (a cute nickname that some kiddos use to refer to their non-binary relatives <3) because there are no official non-binary terms for aunt and uncle! + your daughter with levi is named amelia and she is just the most precious cinnamon roll

It’s done. 

The Business Trip is finally over.

A long and painful month of no hugs and playdates with your little princess, Amelia and no time to be pampered with love and affection from your husband, Levi was finally over!

Sometimes, you wonder how you were even able to survive these long-ass trips and conferences. Sure, these month-long trips only happened once a year, but the thought of Amelia getting older and having to miss a day of seeing her grow up and discover the world, really hurt you as all mothers would. Video Calls were enough to satisfy you and give you happy hormones even for just a short while, but still- the longer you’re not with them, the more the yearning lengthens until you’re just riddled with endless thoughts of wanting to get home as soon as possible.

First, let’s set things straight: You are the CEO of a Tech Start-up company who was born into a middle-class family and rose her way up to success. It’s as cliche as it gets but hey! Living a life as if you were in a romantic comedy was the best compliment you’ve ever gotten. 

Along with that, as far as rich families in rom-coms and coming of age movies go, are they all dysfunctional in reality? Not really. Or at least you and Levi promised each other not to end up like that. The Rich Girl meets Poor Boy (with a tragic backstory) cliche however? Yea, that’s a pretty accurate way to describe your love story. Meeting the love of your life in a Coffee Shop is actually pretty common and happens to a lot of people apparently. When Erwin Smith, Levi’s best friend (who is too smart and self-aware to fit the role of a rom-com sidekick by the way) approaches your table to ask if he and Levi could sit with you. (Because of all the days the cafe would be packed, it would be that day.) You said yes of course, and Erwin began oversharing details about the raven-haired man and you were all too invested in learning more about him anyway. Levi grew up in the orphanage after his mother had died and his father was the biggest asshole on the planet for never showing his face, he had to fend for himself after he outgrew the foster system. Starting out as an espionage in an illegal underground gambling empire to a bookkeeper at the Smiths’ bookshop. (Although this is a story for another day)  

Internally swooning over his pretty eyes and resting bitch face...it didn’t take long until the two of you fell in love and... the rest was history!

You come home to your lavish yet homey apartment in 21 West End Avenue Manhattan to be surprised by your father-daughter duo absolutely knocked out on the couch. Amelia was snuggled up to her father, her feet on his lap and a sleeping position you could not possibly comprehend, a Disney movie playing in the background, and both of them were wearing matching Minion onesies whilst yours was folded neatly on the coffee table just waiting to be worn by you when you got home. 

It was a rare sight to see and you can’t help but just stare lovingly at the wonderful scene before you. Not only was it rare to see Amelia asleep before seeing you (or in the case of your business trips, during your daily video calls with them) but it was also rare to see your husband sleeping so soundly and his insomnia not kicking in. 

Amelia hears your footsteps, her eyes are still shut as she tries to predict what you will do next. She finally assesses when she will make her move and surprise you when you place another fleece blanket on top of them and plant a kiss on both of their temples. your daughter’s eyes suddenly flutter open. Her eyes beaming and glowing off the same light that twinkled in her father’s as she jumps off the couch, making sure not to wake up Levi.

“MOMMY!” She screams in the most quiet volume her cute voice could muster. She runs up to you and envelops you in a tight hug, jumping up and down as she does so. “I missed you Mommy! I missed you soooo much! How was sandbox in K-korea!? Was there a lot of sand!? Did you have a lot of pwaymates there!?”

You giggle at your daughter’s enthusiasm, combing your fingers through her hair. “Lili, Sandbox is like the Silicon Valley of Korea. It isn’t necessarily a sandbox like in a playground, baby.”

“OOOH! JUST LIKE SIWICON VAWWEY!” She chirps, tightening her hug and reaching for your hand and squeezing it. “AH WAIT!” She gently pushes you away and makes a beeline to her room. “ME AND DADDY HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU! BUT CLOSE YOUR EYES FIRST OWKAAY?!” She calls out from her room and you shout back a “yes!” to her in between your giggles, unable to contain the sudden rush of serotonin your daughter had given you from her simple yet adorable antics.

Another trope that you can debunk is that rich moms can be a hands-on parent too! After your maternity leave ended and when Amelia had finally reached her toddler years, you absolutely made sure that you were going to take care of her every second, minute, hour and day of your life. As soon as she turned two, she became the inquisitive, smart and ever so curious little girl you and Levi had always hoped for. She had your (h/c) hair and Levi’s icy yet warm and loving milky grey eyes. If the color of Levi’s reminded you of dark and stormy clouds, Amelia’s was gleaming. Like that of the clouds after a terrible storm. She was an absolute blessing and although you weren’t a perfect mother, (spoiling her more than you should) Levi was an amazing father. Growing up without parents was tough for him and he was going to make sure that Amelia is going to have an amazing childhood and be surrounded by the love of two parents that he never had and never got to experience. 

You always and will forever have trust in Levi. There has never been a day where you doubted him. Despite the impressions and assumptions that people have of him. How he was cold, scary, and even calculating. But, you are always quick to shut down those rumors. They don’t know the Levi Ackerman behind the cold and mighty front he shows. He is a man who has gone through so much and yet has so much love and care to give. How he notices and remembers the littlest details, how he never takes anything for granted and how he loves and cherishes everything so wholeheartedly.

When Amelia turned six, you sadly had to go back to work formally. Right timing too because your genius (with very himbo tendencies) younger cousin, Eren, was about to be part of your start-up company and he had a lot of amazing plans that had to come into fruition. Even bringing in a group of his own friends (who all graduated in MIT by the way!) who are willing to contribute so many amazing ideas and hackathons that were just waiting to happen.

The entrance of these youthful and hopeful genius entrepreneurs also brought about the temporary exit of your very own husband from your very own company. Apparently, working with newly graduated Gen Zers (as a millennial) was too much for him. They were nice and they were going to be a very integral part of the company. But, the boomer inside Levi can’t just can’t keep up with this sudden surge of energy and youthfulness within the higher-ups. It was also a great opportunity for him to take care of Amelia even more. So, you didn’t stop him from doing so! 

It’s been a year since he temporarily resigned and became an official-unofficial househusband. Or as your best friend Hanji likes to put it, You are the Girl Boss and he is the Male Wife. Amelia is now 7 years old and she’s currently taking Ballet classes (Levi picks her up during the weekdays, and the both of you pick her up on the weekends) and has developed a hyperfixation over Sanrio Characters and the Disney movie, Frozen. She was growing up to be a wonderful girl and you just can’t wait to hear what she and Levi had done during your absence.

She skips her way back to you, a book tightly clutched in her hands. “SURPRISE!” Amelia gingerly places a book on your hand. You open your eyes and tilt your head in question at the piece of literature she had just given you as you read the title aloud.  “The Way of the House Husband… written by Levi Ackerman.” Your eyes shift to a little circle on the lower side of the cover,  “The husband of (Y/N) Ackerman, the CEO of Survey Corp Tech…!?” 

“Daddy and I made a book while you were away!” She claps her hands together and grabs the book back from you, turning it to the first page. “See there’s even a dedication! To (Y/N) and Amelia! The two brightest stars in my galaxy!”

“Oh that’s too cheesy. No way would your dad write something like this out of the blue, Lili.” You scoff, shaking your head in disbelief. Your daughter looks at you with downcast eyes while you were still trying to process that your husband literally just wrote a whole-ass book while you were away. “Who helped publish this so quickly, Amelia?”

“Uncle Erwin of course!” She’s frowning for one second and now she’s beaming at you again. “Please please read it mommy! Me and daddy worked really really hard on it!” She taps the hardbound cover of the book in rhythms. “This is the Amelia Edition! Daddy said he cut out some stuff so that it would be okay for me to read and for me to give to you once you get home! It’s my come back home gift for you mommy!” She moves the book to your lap and hops up next to you on the loveseat that you were sitting on. Before you know it, Amelia is resting her head on your shoulder and coaxing you to start reading to her like it was a bedtime story. 

You clear your throat and hold her by the waist so that she can feel more secure in her seat. “Okay… okay… let’s begin shall we? In a kingdom far far away…”

“That’s not how the book is like mommy! Read it properly like the way daddy did!”

“I was just joking, honey. Let’s get started. Rule #1 of the House Husband is…”

Rule #1: Fathers, be good to your children. You are the weight of their world.

“One thing I learned as soon as I was at home practically 24/7 is that your child will be more cautious and weary of you. They will observe you because they look up to you. They will watch your every move, follow you around, and will imitate whatever you say and whatever they hear from you. Talk to them, teach them things they need to know, support them in their hobbies, interests, and even if you have to be the extra princess in her tea party, do it.  The thing is, you will leave an eternal mark on the hearts of your children.”

Amelia got even more closer to Levi when he was finally stationed at home. Always grinning from ear to ear and boasting to her classmates how cool her dad was whenever he would pick her up from school. She was proud to tell them Levi’s heritage even if Amelia never got to meet her Grandma Ackerman and Grandpa Ackerman. When Levi would take her out for errands, may they be groceries, cleaning the house, baking, cooking, laundry, or just going on his morning jog, Amelia would be there to accompany him. In fact, she’s gone shopping with Levi so many times that she has memorized the brand names of cleaning detergent and bleach before she could even memorize the multiplication table.

 She’s even caught up with her father’s cynical sense of humor. And because of that, Levi had to tone down on his sardonic jokes around the little girl. Levi wasn’t necessarily physically affectionate but he does soften around Amelia as the little girl never fails to supply him with endless hugs and kisses on the cheek. She may be both a Mommy’s and Daddy’s girl, but the way she looks up to Levi is the kind of father-daughter bond that you hardly see in real life. She aspires to be like him. Even if there were times where she would be scolded by you both, (most especially Levi) she never took that against you.  She sees all the good and positive sides of your husband that others outside of your circle fail to see.

Rule #2: Let your children know that they have other “guardian angels” who they can rely on aside from their parents.

“My daughter has both my wife and I’s best friends to learn from or to look up to. Her kooky aunkling and her blunt uncle have become one of the most precious people in her life. Even the young ins working at Survey Corp Tech have become older siblings to her and get along with her so well. Remember that there will always be close relatives or friends who can and will help them when they lose their way. Let them spread sunshine and love to others.”

Whether it’s a regular trip to Coney Island or your monthly trips to Disneyland, Hanji or Erwin would totally tag along. Amelia absolutely loves and vibes with Hanji’s quirkiness so well. They would wear matching Mickey Mouse ears, ride the kiddie roller coaster that Amelia wanted to ride on a million times per visit, buy her all the ice cream and treats she wants (despite Levi’s warnings and the reprimanding that Hanji has to suffer from the both of you right after.) They just want Amelia to experience all the fun, the joy, and innocence of living in the moment. As a kid, it’s better if she sees how precious life is, how she should cherish it and that she doesn’t have to grow up so fast just yet. 

Erwin on the other hand, brought out Amelia’s intellectual side more. As soon as a new and critically acclaimed children’s book hit the shelves, you bet Amelia has a copy right away. Whenever Levi would take her to Erwin’s bookstore, she wanders around like it’s this huge mysterious archive that can only be accessed by her. The Adults section is forbidden, so were the cheap romance novels in the back, and the books written by youtubers. God forbid she read those. When her Uncle Erwin got her into reading Roald Dahl’s children’s books, you had to watch Amelia run around the penthouse with a little red ribbon tied on top of her hair, wanting to be referred to as Matilda, along with you and Levi having to pretend that she had telekinetic powers for 6 months straight. It was her cutest phase yet and you just know there were many more to come. 

There were also Eren and his friends who loved Amelia dearly whenever she came over to visit. Your little cousin refused to be called Uncle Eren and instead wanted to be called big bro, and in which Amelia happily complied. Whenever it was Amelia’s weekly “Visit Mommy at Work” day, she had her own room in your office where Eren and your other young associates would babysit her. In fact, they would actually take turns in babysitting at your condo whenever you and Levi went out for date night. Amelia was introduced to playing video games like Animal Crossing and Pokemon solely because of them (more specifically because of big bro Jean, big sis Sasha, and big bro connie.) They even ended up influencing her to watch anime when her big brother “Minmin” and big sis “Mimi” accidentally left the TV on and Amelia literally binge-watched half of the existing Studio Ghibli movies to this date. 

Rule #3: Your children will think that you are Superman or Iron Man. Make sure to act like them and never let them down by ruining their innocence and imagination.”

(A little note was attached to this page: Please don’t let Amelia read this. Read her a fairy tale instead while skimming through this.)

“It all started when my daughter found an entire encyclopedia on ancient and legendary family clans around the world. The Ackerman clan was on the very first page after the intro and she read through all 50 pages of it. The look of awe on her face when she read that her dad’s ancestors exhibit physical abilities much higher than the average human. In a 7 year old’s mind and vocabulary, that automatically translates to a superhero akin to that of Superman. 

Ever since then, My daughter has forced me to become more creative with doing very mundane tasks and chores. I pretend to have superpowers. Such as teleporting around the house whilst cleaning. I tell her to close her eyes or else my teleportation powers won’t work. Then when I cook in the kitchen and she watches me intently, I tell her that the salt and pepper have magical properties that only I can touch and hold because to her, at that moment, I was “Doctor Stwange.”

and one time, when I picked her up from school, she was babbling on about how she told her friends and playmates that she had two superhero parents she was very proud of. Then one of the other kids asked if I was a strong soldier who killed huge humanoid monsters using sharp blades. To which I replied that could have possibly happened in a different universe. Her hearty laughs and giggles whenever she sees me using my superpowers makes me anxious over the fact I have to tell her someday that my powers never existed.”

Whilst you were on your monthly trip, you and Levi would have private video calls whenever Amelia was finally put to bed. There, he told you about what happened in Amelia’s ballet classes that week and how the single mothers were more persistent than usual.

They could clearly see that Levi was not interested but apparently the fact that your husband waving his ring finger every single time someone approached him wasn’t obvious enough, apparently the fact that he was married made the risk even more worth it to these prying moms who had nothing better to do. It wasn’t until Amelia had enough and respectfully called them out by saying that his dad was married and he was never going to be interested in Karens (a slang word that she learned from Eren and friends) Since then, the invasion of parent to parent boundaries had finally stopped. Levi was very relieved and at ease whilst telling you the story yet you were laughing your heart out at the ingenious remarks of your very own daughter on top of the irresistible charm and looks of your own husband that made single mothers be damned. 

Rule #4: The most important rule of all: Love your spouse as you want your children to be loved in the future.

“Since my wife is on a business trip right now as I type this and she may or may not know that I had written this book for her to read when she comes home, my daughter came up to me a few days ago and told me how she missed her mom so much. The video calls we had every night were not enough to satisfy her for the remaining days her mother would be gone. She then proceeds to tell me that she loves the way I love (Y/N). My daughter loved how patient I was and how I supported her through every endeavor that her mother had ever thought up with that brilliant mind of hers. She mentioned how I was there for her through every success and failure, through hardships, difficulties and misunderstandings. My daughter was happy because I stuck with her mother through everything. All the pain, suffering, conflicts that we both experienced individually and as husband and wife. Little ears and little eyes are watching and observing the actions and sweet gestures of their parents. Make sure to remember that.”

“What is gravy (grief) if not love persevewing?” (persevering) My daughter had even recounted a quote from the Disney Marvel show, WandaVision just to prove a point to me. That was when I realized something and decided to list down a few things: 

1. The best lovers are the best of friends.

Levi’s relationship with you was rocky at first simply because the two of you didn’t have a lot in common. Your personalities clashed and the two of you could barely make things work in the beginning. He was always well-dressed, on time, and was very prim and proper. However, Levi was cold, strict, and unapproachable. You on the other-hand were quite the opposite. You used to arrive late, didn’t care too much about your style as long as you wore the appropriate outfit, but you were carefree, laidback and friendly. Having to set aside your differences was a process that required sacrifice, time, and effort. It took long and a lot of petty arguments before the two of you fully understood each other, accepted each other's faults and quirks, and became even closer. Both as friends and lovers. You and Levi treat each other not as just the “person I love and I’m married to for the rest of my life”, but also as a best friend for life. Soulmates

2. Their dreams are just as important as yours.

Levi’s dream was to open up a tea shop and start a family with you. That was all he ever wanted. The blissful simplicity of his in comparison to your techy and out of this world ambitions, goes to show how much they weigh as aspirations and wants in life. You have to value your significant other’s dreams and ambitions just as much as you highly value yours. No matter how hard or how simple they are, the both of you can achieve it with the help of each other. The only thing left in your agenda was to open up his long-awaited Tea Shop. You were about to surprise him with the plans of opening one up on the day of his birthday, and you just can’t wait for that day to finally come.

3. You have to let them be free.

Levi absolutely knew what he was getting into when he met you. It was love at first sight when he met you, He drunkenly admitted that one time when he’s had too much champagne on your friday date night. He knew that you were an adventurer. A wandering soul who had a goal and a purpose set in stone. He always knew you were going to reach greater heights and he knew that you would never leave him behind and would always have him go on a ride. He’s always known about your capabilities and your potential and he didn’t want you to stray away from that. And, if the time were to come that you had to leave him behind to soar greater heights, he’d understand that. He’d always let you be free and make sure you don’t fly too close to the sun. That was just how selfless Levi is. The thing is, he knows you would do the same for him. It was a perfect balance. 

4. It is an honor to love and to be loved by them.

To be wrapped in the arms of someone who feels like home or has become the definition of home, To be stargazing with on a chilly summer night in where you talk about your future and your plans, To be sharing a cup of coffee or tea with in the morning and begrudgingly dancing with you against his will, To be watching your child playing in her room and do nothing but look adoringly at the most precious soul to have ever been produced by your encompassing love, and to be spending the rest of your life with someone who has done nothing but be with you through every pivotal moment in your life was such an honor. 

It is an honor to be loved by Levi, as he is honored to be loved by you. 

“...The end.” You close the book with a deep but contented sigh. Tears were welling up in your eyes and you’re trying your best not to break down in front of Amelia. 

“Mommy… are you crying?” She tilts her head in inquiry. “Is it because you’re tired from work?”

“No. baby. These are happy tears, Lili. Don’t worry.”

Before you could speak up once more, you notice Levi had slowly sprung up from the couch, and began to stretch his arms. His eyes widen when he sees you from the opposite couch. “(Y/N)... you were supposed to arrive at 6 AM right? Amelia and I were supposed to pick you-”

Amelia opens her mouth to speak as she jumps down from the couch and crawls up to sit next to Levi. “Daddy! I showed Mommy the book you wrote! She loved it! Right, Mommy?”

“You did?” Your husband perks up from his seat, clearing his throat. “T-that’s not the entire book yet by the way. We had to give back the original copies to Erwin for reprinting. The self-help book is currently rising up the charts to be a New York Times Best Seller.” 

Before Levi could properly react, you move to the free space on the couch next to him. Holding his hand and gazing into his forlorn yet loving eyes, you muttered. “Love, that’s amazing. I’m really really proud of you. Next time though, please do tell me that you’ve written a self-help book and dethroned all those mommy authors from the bestselling charts.” 

Levi stifles a laugh, stroking your thumb and bringing you and Amelia closer to him for warmth. “I will. I will.” 

Amelia looks up at the two of you, squeezing out of the sandwich, so that you and Levi can have your quality time with each other. “Goodnight Mom! Goodnight Dad!” She approaches the two of you so that she can be given her nightly kiss on the cheek as she retreats to her room. 

“What if I write a novel too?” You joke, snuggling up to Levi, your husband wrapping his arm around you. “The title could be… The way of the Wife boss?” 

“That could be a good sequel. A shared book universe. Then, Amelia could continue the collection when we’re old and sour as hell.” Levi mused.

“Pfft. I guess only time will tell. I love you Levi.”

“I love you too (Y/N).”

[frankiekatt]

My Ghost (Part 1)

Characters: Denki Kaminari 

Notes: Ghost AUs fuel my soul so I had to write one myself. This will be a 3 part series!

Warnings: Mentions of death!

Words: 4K

Synopsis: Denki knew deep down any outcome would just lead to disaster and sorrow. After all, he was a dead man who never aged and who could never leave this house. And you - you were the complete opposite. You were a living, breathing girl with your whole life ahead of you.

Being alone in a brand new house with all its creaks and groans was definitely not your idea of a perfect summer. If you had gotten a choice in the matter, you would have gladly followed your two best friends to Costa Rica, or went vacationing with your father to Greece, or visited your grandmother in Hong Kong. Anything but being stuck home alone in a brand new house that didn’t even have all of your furniture in it yet. 

But sadly, your mother had finally decided to get married to her long-time boyfriend, and the two of them had made the exciting decision to honeymoon in America all summer. Which meant that you would be cat-sitting for your new step-father’s tabby, Charles, in the new family house. All summer. All by yourself. 

The house that your mother and new step-father had moved the three of you into was a two-story brick building with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a small library on the second floor. The real estate agent that had sold your family the house had explained that no one had lived in this house for over 30 years, due to a death taking place in the upstairs attic, which creeped you out a bit, but your parents were quick to put down a down-payment on the house due to the unusually low price. 

Now, for the next three months, this house would be a constant for you. That, and the black and grey tabby you were now responsible for. 

Though, there was one more thing that would be in your presence for the remainder of the summer. You were not yet aware of the blonde boy’s presence in your house, but he was very aware of yours. 

The very first day you and your family had moved in, Denki was completely smitten with you. He hadn’t seen a girl in this house that wasn’t over the age of 45 and trying to sell this place in well over 30 years. And definitely not a girl this cute. 

He watched you explore the house, following behind you as you went from room to room, admiring the paintings his mother had hung on the walls years ago or inspecting the oak cabinets in the kitchen with a curious look in your pretty eyes. 

Denki adored you. He watched every night as you and your two parents unpacked boxes in every room. He watched every night as you decorated your room - which was once his - with posters and drawings and hung up your clothes in the small closet on the right side of your room. On the third day, while you were downstairs with your mother, Denki decided to look through all the clothes you had hung up the night before. Most of the articles of clothing were sweaters and hoodies with a couple dresses and skirts here and there. 

That’s how you dressed normally, Denki observed. Always in a hoodie or sweater with shorts or jeans. Denki thought it was odd at first, as it was the beginning of June and the sun was scorching. But the more Denki watched you, the more he found you absolutely adorable. 

Denki hadn’t felt the touch of another human being since the day he died in his attic, and seeing you walk around his house each day, bundled up in big hoodies and sweaters, made him want to touch you more than anything. You just looked so soft. On the fourth night, after you had already gone to bed, Denki decided he was going to touch you. Just a little, just on your cheek. Nothing too creepy or too serious to wake you up.

You looked so pretty when you were sleeping. Your eyes were closed, which meant they couldn’t hold that annoyed look you seemed to perpetually have whenever your parents would talk about leaving for the summer. Your brows were rested, no longer drawn together in irritation. You looked completely and utterly peaceful. 

Denki reached out towards your face, hand shaking like a leaf. He hadn’t touched another human in so long, and here you were, right in front of him, unconscious, vulnerable, smooth and soft. Denki had forgotten what human flesh felt like, so when he brushed the back of his fingers against your cold cheek, he almost jumped away. 

Almost.

You felt like spring to him; growth, new beginnings, blossoming, life. You felt like everything Denki had been longing for for over thirty years - hell, even before then. He had only touched you with two fingers, and he already felt like fate had pulled him into its eventful little game. It was frightening to him, how many emotions were drifting in and out of his chest all at once. 

He didn’t know you. The only thing he knew about you was your name and he only learned that four days ago. And yet, he here was, standing in his - your- bedroom, watching you sleep, falling in love with everything about you. 

You stirred slightly at his touch, which made Denki jerk away. He quickly made himself invisible to the human eye once more and stepped away from your bedside before your eyes opened slowly. 

Your room was unusually chilly. You got cold fairly easily, so you often kept the temperature of your room higher than normal, but now it felt like someone had left your window open during a frigid winter night. Sitting up, you pulled the large red hooding off the side of your headboard and slipped it over your t-shirt. Why is it so fucking cold?

Your bedside clock read 3:33am, which meant you only had a couple hours until your mother and step-father left for their 7am flight. Soon, you would be all alone in this house, in a new town, with no one to keep you company other than the fluffy grey cat that was currently sleeping at the foot of your bed. You were now wide awake and freezing cold, so you saw no point in trying to fall back asleep for a measly few hours, so you decided to explore the one room in this house you hadn’t quite gotten to see yet; the library.

The library was exactly as the real estate agent had said it was; completely untouched since the last family moved out. It was a small room, filled with one desk in the center, and two wide bookshelves attached to each wall. There were papers and notebooks littering the mahogany desk, as well as envelopes and wax stamps. The room smelt of dust and pine and was colder than your bedroom had been a couple minutes ago. Still, you ventured into the dark room, stopping by the large desk to turn on the small lamp that sat at its edge. 

Light filled the room, showing off the rows upon rows of books that decorated the large brown bookshelves. Some books were very old, such as ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’, and some were not so old, such as a couple of Louis Duncan novels. Some of the books, as you saw, you had read, and most of them you had not. You spotted one of your favorite novels on the south wall bookshelf, and shuffled towards it to look over the dusty cover. Before you could grab the spine of the book, however, something caught your eye. 

Something very human-like, and it was definitely not one of your parents. 

He was only visible for half a second before he seemed to just cease to exist before your eyes. In that half a second though, you were apple to make out spiky blond hair, and piercing yellow eyes that were staring directly at you. 

A scream rose in your throat, but you were able to choke it down before it could escape and wake everyone up. There was no one else in the room but you. You whipped your head around, scanning every corner of the room for the blonde boy who had just been right by your side moments ago, gazing at you. But there was nothing. No mysterious boy in the library, or out in the hall. Maybe the lack of a full night’s rest had you seeing things. Yes, that had to be it. 

But Denki knew the truth. He had gotten distracted by you for not even a second, and had managed to make himself visible to you. He knew the second your eyes had widened in fear, that you had spotted him. Denki’s heart leaped out of his chest as he quickly made himself invisible and backed away from you. You were now looking around frantically, terror written all over your face. In the midst of back away from you quietly, Denki accidentally bumped into the large wooden desk, sending papers flying to the floor. 

The sound of a thud and the fact that papers were now drifting downwards as if someone had picked up a stack and threw them on the floor had you second guessing if you were just imagining things. 

No fucking way, you thought. You weren’t exactly a non-believer of the supernatural, but you had never in your life imagined that you would encounter anything non-human. The thought of it almost made you laugh as you stood frozen in fear. This was just ridiculous. Okay, so maybe you had thought you had seen a boy standing next to you and the next second he was gone, and maybe something made a loud noise and a stack of papers coincidentally fell to the floor. That did not mean that there was a ghost or a demon or some kind of invisible man in your house. Did it?

Denki decided to let you know it did, in fact, mean that. Making himself invisible to the human eye for four days straight had drained him of almost all of his energy, and you had already seen him and heard him twice. So, fuck it. 

The scream that you had been keeping bay for the last 60 seconds had finally decided to rip free. There was the blonde boy again - standing right in front of you. A minute ago, he had been more translucent and blurry, but now you could see him clearly. This thing you were seeing was a tall blonde boy with yellow eyes, wearing all black. He was cute. But he was also someone who could disappear and reappear in a matter of seconds, and that was not what normal cute boys do. 

You were screaming and backing yourself up against the wall, trying desperately to make yourself as small as possible so this magical invisible blonde boy would leave you alone.

“No! Shh! Stop, it’s okay, everything is okay! Please stop screaming!” 

The fact that the blonde boy was now speaking to you, made you even more afraid. You inhaled deeply, preparing to let out another scream, hoping one of your parents would wake up and come save you, but the blonde boy lurched forward and clamped a hand down on your mouth before you could make another sound. 

“Please,” he pleaded. “Please don’t scream. I’m not going to hurt you, I swear.”

His golden eyes were boring into yours, begging you to stay quiet. The urge to scream slowly dissipated as you realized this boy’s body was pressed against yours - this incredibly cute boy was pressing himself against you. 

“I’m gonna take my hand away, okay?” The boy whispered. His eyes were just as wide as yours. 

You nodded slowly at him, which prompted the blonde boy to let his hand slip away from your lips, inch by inch. Once your mouth was completely free, Denki took a step back to allow you to catch your breath. 

“Alright, so, you probably have some questions.” He chuckled nervously. 

Without meeting his gaze, you pushed yourself off the wall and nodded. Uh, yeah I have questions. Why are you in my house? How are you in my house? What exactly are you?

“Well,” he started slowly, “My name’s Denki. I, um, I used to live here.”

“Live here? So, what, you're mad I’m in your house or something and you’ve come to magically take it back or something?”

He shook his head and focused his gaze on his feet. “No, that’s not it. I kind of still live here, just not by my choice.”

What the blonde boy - Denki - said, seemed to ignite a memory in the back of your mind. The real estate agent had told you and your family that there had been a death in the house over 30 years ago - a boy who got electrocuted in the attic. The fact that Denki could make himself visible and invisible at will, clicked everything into place. 

“Oh my god,” you whispered. “Y-your d-dead.” Your hands were now trembling. 

Denki looked up at that moment. His eyes were sad and bleak, which almost made you feel bad for stating the obvious. 

“That’s right,” Denki lamented. “I’m dead.”

* * *

You spent the next three and a half hours cautiously speaking to Denki, processing the fact that you were conversing with a ghost in the creepy library of your new home. 

Denki explained to you that he had died on November 11th, 1989, in the attic of this house when he attempted to set up a couple extension cords for his tv he liked to play video games on during a storm, and ended up electrocuting himself. Denki didn’t seem too  upset describing the day he died to you, but he did start to shed tears when he choked out how he had to watch his parents fall apart in the halls of this house over his death. He cried as he remembered how they finalized the divorce a year after his death, and put the house up for sale. Denki weeped when he looked back on the day when his eternal loneliness began. When his parents left him in this big, cold house all alone. Dead and lonely. 

Once he was finished telling his story, he quickly wiped his tears away and smiled as brightly as he could at you, trying to hide his sorrow. “So,” he drawled. “What about you? What’s your story?”

You felt silly, sitting on the floor of the library, telling a dead boy the story of how your parents split when you were 12 due to an affair your mother was having with her now-husband, and how your dad decided to travel the world instead of wallowing in his heart break. You told Denki that living with your mother and her new boyfriend who had ruined your parents’ marriage was hard at first, but gradually became easier the more you realized what a nice guy your mother’s now-husband was. He was awkward around you, but always polite, and he seemed to be infatuated with your mother. Though you hated to admit it, you saw love between your mother and her boyfriend that you never saw between your mother and your father. 

Denki reached out to hold your hands in his when your voice began to waver when speaking of your mother and father. It was a hard topic to talk about for you, but Denki’s cool hands gave you comfort. 

You both shared stories of your childhoods, your favorite memories, what you both were like when you were younger. As 6 ‘o cock rolled around, you had forgotten that you were chatting and laughing with the ghost of an 18 year old boy. It was a strangely nice feeling. You had just discovered that ghosts were real, and now you were making friends with one. Denki was nice and funny and his infectious laugh had managed to pull a smile from you numerous times throughout the three hours you sat talking to him about anything and everything. 

While Denki was rattling on about his favorite foods and how much he missed eating them, a thought popped into your head. “Denki,” you started, “have you been watching us for the past four days?”

Denki blinked at you before grinning and nodding furiously. “Yep! The way you dance while folding laundry is super cute by the way!” His favorite thing to do at night was watching you blast music from your phone and dance around your room while folding fresh laundry. 

A slight blush coated your cheeks. “So, did you...see everything I did then?”

Oh. That.

Denki instantly knew what you were referring to. On the third night of staying in your new house, you had waited till both of your parents had gone to bed before locking your bedroom door and slipping into bed. Denki had been sitting in your computer chair at that time, leisurely watching you go about your room for the past half hour. The moment you had fallen into your bed though, made Denki shoot to his feet with a tomato red face. 

You had slipped your delicate hand into the waistband of your night shorts. It had been several weeks since you had had a chance to release any of your stress in any type of form, and tonight you were alone, horny, and frustrated. Your small fingers were now stuffed inside your cunt, moving in and out in an attempt to relieve yourself, and Denki was unable to look away. He knew he shouldn’t be watching this - watching you - but he couldn’t make himself leave, couldn’t make himself respect your privacy. 

You looked so helpless and so cute sprawled out on your bed, hand moving around in your shorts, your wet lips letting out soft little mewls. Denki felt utterly disgusting as he slipped his own hand into the waistband of his jeans to knead himself at the sight of you. He wanted more than anything to make himself known to you, to touch you, to tell you he had practically fallen in love with you the first time he saw you and you should let him pleasure you instead. 

Denki had to settle for fucking his fist to the sound of your moans, unfortunately. He could almost imagine how wet and tight and how good you would feel around him. He hoped someday soon, he would get to be the one forcing moans out of your mouth instead of your own fingers. He hoped soon, he would be able to kiss your neck as he fucked into you, reaching his high. He really, really hoped that he would be able to release inside you, stuffing you full of his cum, of his passion, of his love.

Denki’s face flushed at your revelation. He had just revealed himself to you, and had managed to get you to stay and talk to him for hours - he did not want to ruin it by admitting to violating your privacy in the worst way possible. 

“I know you watched me that night,” you said, barely above a whisper. “I-I think I heard you. H-heard you moaning.”

Denki didn’t think his face could reach a higher temperature. He wanted to say something - anything - but was completely stuck watching you stutter and blush, his own mouth glued shut. 

“I thought I was just imagining it, that I was fantasizing about something like that. But I wasn’t, was I? It was you in my room that night. Watching me.”

Your voice wasn’t the least bit defensive, nor was there any trace of accusation on your face. Shouldn’t you be angry at him? Shouldn’t you be yelling at him in embarrassment? Calling him a pervert?

But you weren’t. You looked flustered for sure, but not like you felt violated in any way. In fact, the thought of Denki watching you touching yourself - touching himself at the sight of you - made you feel good. Denki was extremely attractive to you, and it was thrilling to know that he thought the same of you.

“I-I’m sorry, Y/N.” This was humiliating. What if you never wanted to talk to him again because of this? What would he do then? “I never meant to do that sort of thing! I j-just, I don’t know, you looked so pretty and I had already come to like you so much that I just-”

Watching Denki fumble with his words in an effort to not upset you was almost laughable. You didn’t want nor need an apology from him. You liked that he had watched you. That he had touched himself to you.

That’s why you were now kissing him. He had begun to stutter and raise his voice so much that the only way you saw fit to quiet him was to press your lips against his. His lips were smooth and full and cold to the touch just like his hands were. Your sudden intrusion shocked Denki so much that he almost forgot to kiss you back. He hadn’t kissed anyone since he was 12 years old, and even then, the girl who kissed him was only acting on a dare and had laughed in his face before running away after taking his first kiss. Now, he had you pressed against him, your lips dancing upon his in the gentlest way possible. 

When he began to reciprocate the kiss, Denki could have sworn he saw ‘the light’ everyone talked about seeing when they died. It was beautiful and warm and exciting and it was all you. You slipped an arm around his neck to tug him closer and deepen the kiss, which incited a soft groan from Denki’s throat. Breathing had become a distant memory for the both of you; all that mattered in that moment was claiming each other’s lips. 

“Y/N,” your mother called from downstairs. You both jumped away from each other at your mother’s voice, panting heavily, lips swollen. 

“What, mom?” Why did she have to be awake now? 

“We’re leaving in a few minutes, sweetie! Please come down here!”

For fucks sake. You knew you should go down there and bid her farewell. She would be gone for three months, after all. But Denki’s presence made everything else in your life seem so small. You had only just met him, only kissed him once, and now it felt like he was invading your mind and making a permanent home in your brain.  “Alright! I’m coming!”

You turned back towards Denki who had a goofy grin on his face. “So you do like me back?”

You scoffed, letting your hair fall in front of your face to hide the redness that was blossoming across it. “Shut up. You’re just kind of cute. That’s all” A complete lie. 

Denki leaned forward and took your chin in his hand, forcing you to look him in the eye. “Well,” he said, “I like you. And I want to do that again, if that’s okay?”

A slight smile found its way on your lips. You were about to take him up on his offer before your mother shouted back up at you to hurry down. Denki smiled at you and said, “Go, before she comes up here and catches you making out with a ghost.”

Tearing yourself away from him was surprisingly hard. You felt compelled to stay with Denki like that, centimeters apart, lingering in your own little bubble. But he was right. Your mother was starting to sound agitated. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Denki nodded at you encouragingly, and watched as you rushed out of the room and down the stairs. His smile quickly fell from his lips once you were gone. 

You had kissed him. And he had kissed you back. Denki wasn’t sure what this meant, but he was secretly hoping it would continue. 

Though, even with that hope, Denki knew deep down any outcome would just lead to disaster and sorrow. After all, he was a dead man who never aged and who could never leave this house. And you - you were the complete opposite. You were a living, breathing girl with your whole life ahead of you.

[maira-writes-shit]

You look cute

Tanizaki Junichirou x Tachihara Michizou

Tattoo parlor x Flower shop AU, meeting, fluff

Junichirou was a very simple person.

He loved his sister, his friends and his job.

He was a florist for one of the best flower shops in town.

Junichirou was currently working on a arrangement for one of their frequent customers. It was a old man that came by every week or so to get a small arrangement for his wife. They had been together for over 50 years now.

The redhead smiled down at the arrangement he just finished.

Their relationship is so sweet...I wish I could have that...

“Tanizaki! You’re back here, right?“

The man in question turned around to see his best friend Atsushi waving at him from the front of the shop.

The redhead nodded and walked out of the back room to the front the shop.

It wasn’t the biggest size wise and it was stacked with plants but it felt as much as home as the little apartment he and Naomi lived in.

„Aku is taking me out on a date. Could you cover my shift for today? Only if you're finished of course!“

„Sure thing, Atsushi! Don’t worry you’ll be fine!“

“Thanks you’re the best!“ the white haired boy then vanished into the back with a big smile on his face.

The older of the two looked at the closing door with a soft smile.

He had sadly been on the receiving end of most of his coworkers rants about this guy he constantly butted heads with but still somehow thought was kind of cute. It actually hadn't been that long ago when Atsushi had finally mastered the courage to ask Akutagawa out.

Junichirou was happy for him (also maybe because he wouldn't get random 3am calls of Atsushi screaming about said boy anymore...hopefully).

Since it was the late afternoon the shift didn't have many customers.

There was the old man coming to get his arrangement, a young man buying the classic (roses), a bride that came to check up on a few things and a mother and her little daughter who bought a couple of single flowers.

Junichirou helped them all and then sat back just scrolling on his phone.

He was just looking at the clock and realizing he should slowly start to close the shop, when the little bell above the stores door jingled.

The florist looked up to see a man standing slightly awkward in the door.

...a very handsome man.

He was around Junichirou's hight, with red hair some shades darker than Junichirou. The man wore a cropped green jaket and a white V-neck shirt as well as...a band aid on his nose?

Wierd fashion choice...b ut it doese look good on him.

He'd look good in everything.

Jun we don't even know his name!

I'm just saying!

Junichirou shook his head to get rid of his thoughts as he put on a smile again.

"May I help you?"

The man jumped a little but then went up to the desk at which the other redhead was sitting.

"Uh yeah. I think you can." Junicirou chuckled. "And how?"

The man rolled his eyes but his cheeks were tinted a light pink.

"I just need an arrangement for the front window of the place I work at." "Oh so you can say stuff that makes sense!"

Junichirou was usually not like this, especially to customers. He didn't know what it was about this guy that made it so easy for him to tease and joke but if he was honest...he liked it.

The redhead in front of him snorted and raised an eyebrow.

"So now that we've established that-" Junichirou stood up and grabbed his notebook and pen. "-what's the style you're going for?"

"Well it's a tattoo shop-" "The one down the street?" "-Uh yeah. Do you know it?"

The florist tapped his pen on the notebook.

"Yeah my coworkers boyfriend works there..." ,he mumbled as he walked over to some of the flowers in he coner that might be of intrest for the man.

"Oh-um well then if you've been there before you should know what type of aesthetic, I guess, we are going for, right?"

Junichirou hummed.

"'kay so I have some ideas. The thing is just you came very shortly before closing and frankly I have a sister at home that will beat the shit out of me if I'm not back on time so-"

The redhead went into the back to get his bag.

"_don't worry I'll have the arrangement finished tomorrow at noon. I'll just need you to write down your name and if you want it to be brought to the shop of course where the shop is. Please make it fast I can't be late."

The taller man in front of him looked slightly speachless but then seemed to regain his mind because he started writing the information down on the pice of paper JUnichirou had given him.

Tachihara Michizou, huh?

I'll remeber that...

Tachihara seemed to linger for a few seconds too long until he then turned around and walked to the shops door.

"Oh yeah by the way."

JUnichirou looked back up.

"You look cute." ,he winked. "Well see ya sometime, Red!"

JUnichirou just looked at the door closing with his mouth open.

"Wha-what the fuck just happned?!"

Honestly Junichirou was just confused.

He walked the short way to his and Naomi’s apartment without paying attention to anyrhing, nearly getting hit by a car.

He was so distracted that even completely ignored his sister who jumped to hug him the second he opened the door, which wasn’t good.

“Hey! Are you ignoring me?!“

“H-huh? Oh! Sorry Naomi!“

“Something must have happned at work today.“ the redhead could feel his cheeks heating up. „So I’m right!“

“Yeah ok ok you’re right.“ Junichirou walked around his sister into the kitchen, where he opened the cupboard to get out two bowls.

“So tell me!“

„You‘re a noisy one, aren’t you?“ „Hey! Don’t be mean to your adorable little sister!“

The siblings sat down as the water started to boil.

There was a comfortable silence between them even if Junichirou could practically feel Naomi‘s questions floating in the air.

“Ok it has to do with a customer.“ Naomi gave the happy little squeak she always gave when he told her, as she called it, „The tea“ from work.

“So I was just about to close where this guy came in.“ his sister seemed to visibly get even more intrigued.

„He was like really handsome. He was tall, had red hair, intense eyes and I’m pretty sure he wore eyeliner. He had an interesting fashion style and had a bunch of tattoos, because he works at the tattoo parlor Atsushi‘s boyfriend also works at.“

Naomi hummed with a smirk on her lips, as she held her head in her hands.

“Well he walked in last minute and asked for an arrangement for the front of their parlor. And of course I was like: „sure I’ll do it. It’ll be done by tomorrow just give me the name of the place and I’ll deliver it“, right?“ Naomi nodded.

“And everything is fine everything is normal.“ his sister raised an eyebrow. „Ok normal with a little bit more blushing.“

“Anyway! He walks out but just before he leaves he turns around to me and says, and I quote: „You look cute.“ and then he winked at me and left!“

The black haired girl in front of him gasped. „He winked?! No he didn’t!“ „Yes he did!“ „Oh god!“

The water was finally done boiling so Junichirou stood up to get it and finish their dinner.

“Well he seems to like you. Wait- did you get his name?“ „Uh- yeah I did. I need it for the delivery and everything, remember?“ „Yeah yeah. So what is it?“ „Tachihara…Michizou Tachihara.“

Even if Junichirou didn’t like the expression on his sisters face he just ignored it and sat down in front of her with the food.

„Good Morning Jun!“

„AHH Oh god Naomi don’t scare me like that!“

“Yeah yeah whatever. Come on I need to show you something!“

„Wait don’t I need to go to-wait it’s 6am. What the fuck Are you doing awake?“ „Pssst!“

Naomi basically ran through their small apartment dragging a very tried Junichirou behind her.

On the small couch the siblings own sat a girl with red glasses, long brown hair and tried looking green eyes.

Haruno, his sisters girlfriend.

„Good morning Haruno.“ „Good Morning Junichirou“, she said giving him a small smile. They suffered together by the hands of the one, Naomi Tanizaki.

“We found something out. Sit down.“ The black haired girl grabbed to open laptop sitting on the table in front of the couch.

With „we“ she probably mean Haruno, and she was just cuddling her half the time…

“Michizou Tachihara, 22 years of age, Tattoo artist. He’s currently single and a bisexual. He has been working at Port tattoo for about 2 or 3 years, not sure about that one. He’s pretty good friends with someone called Gin Akutagawa, but don’t worry they have a girlfriend.“

“Also before you ask: yes Gin is related to Atsushi‘s boyfriend. They are siblings“, Naomi‘s girlfriend piped up.

Junichirou was just stunned.

“Wha-what? When? How? Did you guys even sleep?!“

“No we did not but that is not important! What’s important is that we now know that he is single and probably attracted to you.“

He had no words.

Junichirou was distracted again.

He was just working on an arrangement for a handsome bisexual guy who told him he looked cute…

What the actual fuck?!

He took a step back.

The arrangement was beautiful, one of his best works he’d say.

A lot of dark blues and purples.

The hyacinths blending beautifully with the cornflowers. Just all in all pretty.

Sure he thought it was kind of embarrassing adding the cornflowers, he knew a lot about flower language after all but most of his customers didn’t really care especially for these types of jobs so the redhead bushed those thoughts to the back of his head.

Junichirou took a deep breath.

Lets do this!

Be confident!

He took the arrangement.

The walk wasn’t going to be long so it was fine for him to just carry it.

“Ok I’m off, Atsushi! See you in a bit!“ „Yeah sure thing, Tani!“

…

The walk to the tattoo parlor was blurr and now he was standing in front of it.

Oh fucking god-

Deep breaths Junichirou

Deep breaths

And he walked in.

“Hello how can I help you?“

The woman at the front was a little older than him, had blond hair that she had in a bun and had warm brown eyes. She looked nice.

“Uh I need to talk to uhm Tachihara?“

She eyed him a little bit visibly inspecting the vase in his hand.

She gave him a smirk.

“Yeah he should be free I’ll tell him.“

“Thank you…“

He had only ever been in here once. He had to wait in the front room as Atsushi and Akutagawa were at each other’s throats agin. Oh how happy he was they were dating now. Less fighting…less.

The place looked nice though.

Even if it had a rather cool color palette with a lot of blues, purples and blacks it still seemed very cozy and the seats were the softest things Junichirou‘s ass had ever touched.

Some of the work by the artist that worked here was displayed on the walls. These people were so goddamm talented.

[bluesylveon2]

My My, I Could Never Let You Go

Summary: Sasha Zoe just wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. There is only one problem: she doesn't know who her dad is! Sasha invites 3 men in hopes of finding out which one is her father. What could possibly go wrong?

Pairings: Levi x Hange, Sasha x Niccolo, and other background relationships

Disclaimer: This is a Levihan Mamma Mia au. This fanfic is inspired by Mamma Mia which is directed by Phyllida Loyd, written by Catherine Johnson, and uses music from the pop group ABBA. Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha

Author’s Note: NOW EDITED! This chapter and maybe the next few will include character background. I know the movie doesn’t include that, but I am! This story will have some added/deleted scenes from the movie. I hope you like it though! Also, the characters are in their Season 4 looks. The 104 group will be 20-21. Niccolo is 23. The adults:

Hange, Nanaba, Rico, and Mike - 43 | Levi - 45 | Erwin - 46 | Moblit - 40 | Pieck - 37 | Porco - 35

Yes, the adults are mostly in their 40′s, but look young. Let’s just go with it

I will try to keep a weekly or week and a half update depending on school. 

Now let’s move to the chapter where we meet a happy and engaged Sasha! 😁

Need to catch up? Catch up here!

Ch 1: Honey, Honey

Kalokairi, Greece

1 day before the wedding

Two passengers walk out of the docked ferry. Mikasa - the tall one with short jet black hair and dark brown eyes - was grabbing the rest of her stuff while her friend Historia - the shorter one with long blonde hair and blue eyes - searched for Sasha. It didn’t take Historia long to find her. Sasha wasn’t hard to find. Despite her wearing her brown hair in a ponytail and wearing casual clothes; she was running towards them at full speed. Sasha also held a small book with her. 

“OH MY GOSH! YOU ARE FINALLY HERE!!!!” Sasha screamed as she ran towards her friends on the dock. 

Mikasa Ackerman is half Japanese and half German. She originally lived in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany but moved to Kalokairi after her parent’s death when she was a teenager. Mikasa’s parents dreamed of visiting the island one day when Mikasa was older. She used to sit on her mother’s lap as she told her about the island's beauty. After Mikasa’s parents died, her great aunt on her mother’s side reached out to her from Japan and provided Mikasa enough money to move to Kalokairi. Mikasa’s great aunt was unable to take care of Mikasa because of her old age, so Mikasa chose to live in Kalokairi to fulfill her parent’s dream. The only downside was that Mikasa lived alone. Her home is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. It’s enough for a person, but Mikasa felt alone without her parents. It was where she met Eren Jaeger's family. Eren’s mom, Carla, often invited Mikasa to eat so she wouldn’t get lonely. Eren gave Mikasa a red scarf as she was leaving the Jaeger household. He claimed it was a gift, so she didn’t feel lonely. Mikasa, touched by the gift, started visiting the Jaeger family more, and she even met Eren’s freind, Armin. The Jaeger home became Mikasa’s second home, and Mikasa was not alone anymore. It changed after Historia moved the island. 

Historia Reiss came from Munich and ran to Kalokairi to get away from her family. She felt confined in her home when all she wanted was freedom. She had also learned the ugly truth behind her family name a week after moving in with her father, Rod Reiss. Her uncle, Uri, was the CEO of the Fritz company, a conglomerate in Germany with other branches across Europe. The company also did some shady business orchestrated by Rod, but it was hidden from the public. The only plus for Historia staying home was seeing sister, Freida, more often. 

The only downside of running away to another country was not knowing the language. Historia was walking around the island when she accidentally bumped into Mikasa. Mikasa noticed how lost Historia looked, so she invited her into her home. Historia spills her entire life story (including her real name) to Mikasa the moment Mikasa sat down in the chair in front of her to eat dinner. Historia was horrified after she finished her story. She just told her story to a stranger who is most likely going to kick her out. Historia flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find Mikasa looking down at her with a smile. Mikasa understands what it is like to be alone, so she invites Historia to stay in her home. The girls eventually lived together as roommates until they had to leave for their modeling careers. Mikasa and Historia have even walked in Milan Fashion Week. 

The home is still under Mikasa’s name (originally it was under her great aunt, but it went to Mikasa after her passing). The girls (and everyone in their friend group), use it when they stay on the island. The current inhabitants are Hanami and Mina since they were the first to arrive. Mikasa, Annie, Hitch, and Historia are the only girls from the group staying at the hotel. 

Historia also started going by her real name after an incident with the company. Rod went to prison and Freida became the new CEO. She and Freida keep in touch often via mail to make up for the lost time and update each other of their lives. Historia told Freida about her freinds, her new maternal figure (Hange), and her girlfriend, Ymir.

Sasha met Mikasa and Historia on the island in high school. Mikasa was with her friends, Eren and Armin when Sasha met her. They were often paired up for projects and events that their friendship happened naturally over time. Sasha met Historia when she gave her some bread after Sasha was caught eating in class. Mr. Shadis, their teacher, is really a strict man. He made Sasha run laps around the whole school as punishment. Sasha wouldn’t stop thanking Historia after that. 

“SASHA!!!!!!” Historia shoved her stuff towards Mikasa and began running towards Sasha. 

“MIKASAAAAA!!!! HISTORIA!!!!!!!!!” Sasha continued yelling before glomping Historia. Luckily Historia caught herself without falling into the water.

“And where is my hug?” Sasha heard behind Historia before looking up to see Mikasa smirking at her. Sasha opened one arm out to initiate a group hug.

Mikasa briefly put both her’s and Historia’s stuff down and joined in on the hug. 

“Ugh, it’s been so long! I missed you both so much!” Sasha complained dramatically as she let go of the girls. Mikasa and Historia grab their things and start heading towards the beach with Sasha. 

Sasha looked at the group and noticed someone was missing.

“Is Ymir not coming, Historia?” Sasha asked while tilting her head to the side.

“No,” Historia says sadly, thinking about her girlfriend as she looks down as she walks. “She has caught up with work lately and won’t be able to attend your wedding.” Historia looked up and smiled “She wanted me to tell you congrats on your engagement though.”

“Well we would have been here earlier, but someone” Mikasa glared at Historia “insisted on being fashionably late” Mikasa grumbled. She gave air quotes on the words fashionably late with her free hand. 

“Well are we?” Historia giggled. She waved her hand innocently while ignoring Mikasa’s last statement 

“No” Sasha laughed “Aunt Nanaba and Aunt Rico will be here later on today, and Aunt Pieck will be here tomorrow.”

Aunt Pieck is Sasha’s only known family member from her mom’s side. 

(Sasha also heard about a grandmother, but her mom never talks about her)

According to Hange, Pieck is Hange’s younger cousin. Hange’s mom and Pieck’s mom are sisters, but they weren’t that close. Hange’s mom was more focused on her singing career, and Pieck’s mom wanted to focus on her daughter. As a result, Hange would often visit Pieck’s house in Santorini. Pieck would tell her stories about Kalokairi during one of Hange’s visits. Pieck’s stories of Kalokairi sparked Hange’s interest in the island. Pieck is currently a photographer who lives in Portugal after marrying Porco Galliard. She met Porco after a photoshoot in Spain. 

Porco is a veteran from Portugal. His brother, Marcel, is also a veteran and he was in the same unit as Porco. Both brothers began traveling around Europe after finishing their service before settling down. One day, the brothers were in Valencia, Spain after hearing of the La Tomatina Festival in Bunol. Porco met Pieck during the festival after she threw a squashed tomato straight at his face. Porco had to face her alone (Marcel was somewhere deep in the crowd) and decided to get back at her. It was a battle between speed (Porco) and stamina (Pieck, Porco had no idea how Pieck was not getting tired). According to Aunt Pieck, it was like the others in the crowd didn’t matter to them. It was her vs Porco. The two got to learn more about each other after the festival ended, and they exchanged numbers. 

Sasha has not seen her Aunt Pieck since her high school graduation. Her aunt had moved to left Greece after marrying Porco, so her visits were less frequent. Nevertheless, Sasha enjoyed looking at the postcard and photos her aunt sends every year. Seeing her aunt and uncle’s happy faces puts a smile on Sasha’s face. She wishes her mom had a similar experience. 

“I knew we should’ve waited longer,” Historia complained to Mikasa and threw her arms up for dramatic effect.

“Yeah me too,” Mikasa says sarcastically and rolls her eyes.

“Speaking of guests, are the other girls here already?” Historia asks Sasha and looks around the beach expecting the others to magically appear before them.

“The other girls are here,” Sasha replies “Mina is hanging out with Marco, Hitch is dragging Marlowe around the island, Annie is on a date with Armin, and Hanami is probably trying not to kill Jean. She has been here longer and is working together with Jean on the wedding”

Hanami is a sweet but oblivious girl they had all met in high school. She is known for making rash decisions, and it worried them. Jean usually reprimands her for being rash, and Hanami would fight back verbally. She and Jean used to not get along before, but their friendship has improved over the years. Nowadays, the both of them just like messing with one another. 

“Let’s hope that your wedding does not end in disaster,” Mikasa says with a hint of worry in her voice.

Their friend, Hanami Richter, is Sasha’s maid of honor. She was born in Greece after her parents moved from Cambridge. She is both Japanese and German like Mikasa, but looks more European. Hanami has short dark brown hair, dark brown eyes,  and wears glasses. She looks like she could be Sasha’s long lost sister. (The girls switched places once, but Hange figured out ‘Sasha’ was not Sasha. Luckily Hange didn’t get mad, but she was impressed).  Hanami is currently attending the University of Vienna to study International Business Administration. 

“Oh!” Historia exclaimed in an attempt to change the subject “Show us your ring!”

Sasha laughed before stopping their walk to extend her left hand. She showed Historia the beautiful ring on her ring finger. The ring consisted of a 2-carat diamond glistened from the sunlight. The ring was not too over the top. It was a white gold ring with a diamond placed in the center surrounded by smaller diamonds to form a halo. 

Historia let out a whistle “Niccolo did really well! Let me take a picture and send this to Ymir. She was expecting a big diamond”

Niccolo is a young chef with wavy blonde hair and green eyes. Niccolo dreams of working as an executive chef after traveling the world. However, no one appreciated his cooking despite working in a famous restaurant. Sasha met him when she and her girl friends went on a summer trip to Italy. During the trip, the group decided to eat dinner at a well-known restaurant in Rome. Everyone, especially Sasha, was enjoying their meal until Sasha started eating her lobster. The girls will never forget how Sasha couldn’t stop complimenting the lobster that she wanted to meet the chef who made it. Niccolo was shocked when his co-worker mentioned what was going on outside the kitchen. Someone was actually appreciating his cooking and he moved them to tears! Niccolo had no choice but to agree. He wanted to meet this person. Surprisingly to the girls, the restaurant let her meet the chef, but only after closing time. Sasha was in tears as she hugged Niccolo, and Niccolo was shocked to see how his food affected her. (Niccolo never told Sasha, but it was love at first sight for him). They met again months later when Jean invited Niccolo over to Kalokairi to surprise Sasha. Sasha and Niccolo eventually started dating, and Niccolo proposed to her after 2 years of dating.

As Historia took some pics on her phone, Mikasa remembered what Sasha mentioned in their group chat before they arrived.

“Sasha, what’s the big news you mentioned a few days ago?”

“Right!” Sasha exclaimed and covered her mouth with her unoccupied hand “I want you guys to guess before the big reveal.”

Historia was pocketing her phone and let Sasha drop her hand back to the side. Historia let out a gasp. She put one hand on Sasha’s shoulder and the other on her stomach. 

“You're pregnant?!?!?!” Historia yelled

“No no no! You're wrong Historia.” Sasha laughed and held up both of her hands in front of her body

(Historia was relieved. Mikasa considered Niccolo lucky because won’t be sporting a black eye on his wedding day. She didn’t say that out loud)

“So what is it then Sasha?” Mikasa after the girls started walking again.

“Weeeellllllll. I invited my dad to my wedding!” Sasha screams with glee

“What?!” “You finally found him” Mikasa and Historia shouted at the same time and looked at Sasha

“Not exactly,” Sasha replied before sitting down on a rock down the beach with the girls. Their spot at least gave them some privacy to talk.

Suddenly, Sasha’s happy expression turned serious. “You also cannot tell anyone what I'm about to say. You have to promise me that and do the salute to it too?” 

“Yes ma'am. We promise” Mikasa and Historia said before facing Sasha and doing their salute. They put both of their hands in a fist. They placed their right fist over their heart and their left fist behind their backs. It was the secret salute their friend group came up with in high school. Mikasa and Historia sat down on some rocks across from Sasha after they did the salute.

“You know what my mom says when I ask about my father. It was a summer romance, and he was gone before she realized she was pregnant with me. I would accept it and never ask more questions.”

Historia put a hand on Sasha’s shoulder and gave her an empathetic smile. She understood where Sasha is coming from. Historia didn’t know much about her family as a child since she grew up with only her mom. She met them after her first year in high school, but it was not a pleasant experience, and she would rather choose to forget it (except for Freida). 

Mikasa also gave Sasha a smile before motioning with her hand to continue.

Sasha smiled at both of her friends. “Well guess what Hanami and I found while looking through the attic for wedding decorations,” Sasha says before pulling out a leather journal. It was a brown journal that looked worn and had a leather strap to seal the book closed. 

“Is that-?” Mikasa asked

“No way-” Historia began

“Yes!” Sasha squealed “It is my mom’s old diary she kept while she was pregnant with me.”

Sasha set the diary on her lap and opened it to one of the bookmarked pages. She began to read a journal entry. 

July 17

What a night! Levi took me to a secluded beach here on the island. We danced on the beach. We kissed on the beach and-

“Dot dot dot,” Sasha said

“Dot dot dot?” Mikasa asked with a perplexed look on her face.

“What does that mean?” Historia asked Sasha confused

“Who knows?” Sasha replied with a shrug “It’s from the olden times. They had weird terminology back then. Now let me continue.”

Sasha stood up abruptly and walked off from Mikasa and Historia. The girls quickly grabbed their things as they stood up and followed Sasha.

Levi is such an amazing guy! Yeah, he may be short, is always scowling, has a funny way to drink tea, and tells poop jokes, but he is such a sweetheart. He never shows it to others, but only me. Me! I get dizzy looking at his charm and going on new adventures with him. Is he some sort of a love machine? He's practically everything I want in a guy! I really think he's the one.

“Your mom sounds like she’s really in love with this Levi guy.” Mikasa comments (she also starts questioning Hange’s tastes in men. A guy who scowls and tells poop jokes? That baffled Mikasa.)

“I think it’s cute,” Historia says with hearts in her eyes and turns to Sasha “Is Levi your father?” 

“Oh but wait” Sasha stops walking on a cliff that overlooks the sea. She gestures to Mikasa and Historia to sit down before continuing.

All this time Levi tells me he loves me, but I’m doubting that now. He’s been hiding things from me, and I found out about it this morning. He suddenly announced that he was engaged, and had to leave to get married. 

How dare he?! I was too blinded by anger to think rationally. I packed Levi’s stuff, dragged Levi out of my house, and threw his stuff (and Levi) to the nearest ferry while demanding him to leave. I didn’t want to see him again, and I didn’t want him to see how heartbroken I was. 

“Oh no. Poor Hange” Historia says sadly. Mikasa didn’t say anything, but she scowled instead. 

“The plot thickens,” Sasha says and continues reading

I texted Nanaba and Rico to do some snooping for me since the internet can be weak here on the island. I gave them the information I knew about Levi and let them do the rest. Rico managed to find some things about Levi.

How dare he? He lied to me this whole time about his last name, how he is the heir of Ackerman Bank, and possibly his love for me? No wonder he was acting mysterious when we first met. I just want to-

Sasha stops abruptly. She looked at the page again to be sure she was reading it right. The page had her mother’s writing, but there were some scribbles and small crinkles. Sasha knew right away that her mother must have cried while writing the entry.

“There are multiple tear marks and some scribbles here” Sasha comments with a solemn expression on her face.

Historia and Mikasa looked at Sasha with sorrow. It seemed as if her mom went through a lot before she was born.

There was a moment of silence until Historia spoke up in an attempt to lighten up the mood. 

“At least your mom didn’t damage the diary, or we wouldn’t have any clue who your father is. Remember that time Eren and Connie accidentally knocked over that old vase at the hotel?”

All 3 girls shivered at the memory

“Well, at least the journal didn’t meet your mom’s wrath. We got lucky there.” Mikasa says with a small smile on her face

“Yeah” Sasha laughed. It’s rare for her mom to get angry. She has only seen her mother really angry once, and it was after the incident. Luckily, her mom never got mad at her. She showered her with love and affection instead. 

Sasha turned the page to another bookmarked section and looked to her friends sitting nearby. Historia looked as if she was in deep thought. Her arm was propped up on her knee and she rested her head on her fist. 

“Something on your mind Historia?” Sasha asked

Historia perked up at Sasha’s question. She then glanced at Mikasa and then the journal. Historia looked at Sasha.

“You said Levi’s last name is Ackerman, right? What if Mikasa is related to him?”

Historia gasped and turned to Mikasa with a gleeful look on her face “You and Sasha could be related! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I would rather not be related to Mr. Poop Jokes. He hurt Hange and he sounds like an asshole.” Mikasa scoffed and dismissed the idea. It would be nice to be related to Sasha, but not through Levi. 

Meanwhile, Sasha laughed when Historia’s smile turned into a pout. She and Mikasa are really close friends. It would be nice to at least have one of her friends be blood-related to her.

“Wait until you hear this,” Sasha says before standing up and walking away from their spot on the beach. She started heading towards the stairs along a cliff while reading at the same time. Mikasa and Historia stood up and followed her. They don’t want to miss the rest of the story if they let Sasha walk away.

Both of them sweatdropped as they ran towards Sasha

“I don’t understand why she needs to walk off from us. I get that she needs to guide us to the hotel, but couldn’t we have heard the story all in one sitting?” Historia says to Mikasa

Mikasa shrugs before jogging (and dragging Historia behind her) to catch up to Sasha. Luckily Mikasa is still athletic from high school, so it didn't take her long to catch up. 

August 4

I met Erwin Smith - a tall man with blond hair, blue eyes, and the biggest eyebrows I’ve ever seen. He looks like the star of the latest superhero movie - out of the blue when I was walking around town. He looked lost, so I offered to show him around the island. He’s such a sweet and understanding guy. Although I’m still obsessed with Levi, one thing led to another and-

“Dot. Dot. Dot” Sasha says laughing

Mikasa and Historia gasped as the girls made it towards the entrance of Hange’s hotel (aka Sasha’s home)

August 11

Mike Zacharias - a tall man with blonde hair, light green eyes, and has a tendency to sniff people - took me to his yacht for our nightly yacht ride. We spent the night gazing at the stars and telling stories. 

The girls climbed up the steps towards the hotel. Once they made it to the top, Sasha stopped and turned around to face Mikasa and Historia before finishing up her story. 

Mike is so wild and such a funny guy. One thing led to another and-

“Dot! Dot! Dot!” Sasha and Historia squealed at the same time. Mikasa watched her friends excitement with a smile on her face

A door opens behind the girls. Hange Zoe comes in with her full glory wearing her signature white shirt with overalls while carrying a broom. She sets it off towards a nearby wall.

“Here come the bridesmaids” Hange sang with her arms open for a hug

“Hange!” Mikasa and Historia say with excitement and run to get a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Hange. Sasha quickly hides the diary behind her back. She is thankful that her mom was focused on her friends instead of her.

“Look at you! You’re both so beautiful and you need to start growing” Hange ruffled their hair and laughed

“You look like you’re having fun” Hange smiled and gave them the proud look only a mother would give towards her children

“I used to have fun” she added with some reminiscence in her voice. She thought of the 3 men who impacted her life as she turned around to pick up her broom. 

“Oh, we know.” Historia giggles before Mikasa discreetly elbowed her to tell her to shut up.

Hange looked at the girls suspiciously and Sasha smiled before motioning to her friends that they needed to go. Hange shrugged before going back to the door she came from, leaving Sasha and the others alone.

The girls let out a sigh of relief before heading to Sasha’s room. Hopefully, no one else runs into them or it would raise suspicion.

Sasha walked towards her bed and sat down once they made it to her room. Mikasa and Historia set their stuff off to the side and stood in front of Sasha.

“So, who is your dad? Levi, Erwin, or Mike?” Mikasa asked

“I don’t know!” Sasha exclaims 

“But which one did you invite?” Historia asked

Sasha didn’t answer and stayed silent. Historia and Mikasa picked up on her silence and immediately knew

“Oh. My. God.” they said while simultaneously stepping back and sitting down on a nearby chest

Sasha squealed as she stood up. A big smile grew on her face 

“Do they know?” Historia asked

“Well, would you write to a total stranger ‘Will you come to my wedding? You might be my father?’ No! They think mom sent the invites and no surprise with what’s in here-” 

Sasha picks up the diary from her bed

“They said yes!” Sasha squealed causing Historia and Mikasa to jump up with glee

The girls proceed to have an impromptu dance party in Sasha’s room to celebrate. They danced around for a bit but stopped after Sasha decided to head out to her balcony with her mom’s diary. Mikasa and Historia stayed behind and sat down on Sasha’s bed. They wanted to give her space to think about everything so far.

“I’ve heard so much about them, and I want to know more about them too,” Sasha says softly to herself. She glances down at the diary and smiles “Once I do, I can know how much they mean to me.”

Skiathos, Greece

1 day before the wedding

Two taxis were heading to the Skiathos port. Both taxis were trying to reach the ferry before it left for Kalokairi. 

Erwin sat calm and composed with his business suit, but he was nervous on the inside. How would Hange react to his sudden appearance? What would she say? Is she still with the other man? He can feel the timer to the meeting counting down in his head. “If only the taxi went a bit faster,” Erwin thought to himself. 

Meanwhile, in another taxi, sat Levi. He was starting to get impatient. Levi cursed his luck before putting his pocket watch back in his shirt pocket. He would have been on Kalokairi a lot earlier if the 1 stop of the flight didn’t take too long. Levi leaned forward to tell the driver to speed up, but it seemed as if the ride to the port was too slow (in Levi’s opinion). 

As Levi sat back, he dug into the pocket of his slacks for a small blue pouch. He untied the knot and dumped whatever was inside the pouch onto his palm. A simple yellow gold ring with a diamond fell out. Levi bought that ring weeks after coming back from Kalokairi and settling his family drama. It was kind of a dumb purchase if Levi thought really hard into it. He broke Hange’s heart and she kicked him out. It’s simple, really. Hange would not say yes if he had returned to Kalokairi and proposed to her. 

Nevertheless, Levi thought yellow gold would look good on Hange’s skin because it reminded him of the yellow shirt she wore when they met. He only kept it because of the memories they had, and Levi will always treasure it. Levi puts the ring back in the pouch and pockets it. He doesn’t see himself opening it again if Hange decides to kick him out for a second time. 

Both taxis make it to the port, and both Levi and Erwin run towards the ferry only to see it leaving.

“Damn it!” Levi yells

“I agree,” Erwin calmly says next to him

Levi looks up to find a tall man with blond hair and the biggest eyebrows he had ever seen, He didn’t notice Erwin’s presence until he spoke. Levi looked at him. He internally prayed to himself that he would make it to the wedding on time and see Hange. 

“When is the next ferry leaving?” Levi asks Erwin. Levi didn’t know much Greek since Hange was the one who helped him before. He hoped the blonde stranger at least knew something

Erwin walks towards the nearest sign and reads it using basic Greek he learned years prior 

“Monday,” Erwin says dejectedly and Levi groans in frustration

“Hey!” they hear from the sea and turn their heads

They both see a tall, blond-haired man with a mustache and a beard waving to them from a yacht. There was another man with him who looked like he was doing last-minute preparations before sailing. 

“Are you heading to Kalokairi?” the man asks Levi and Erwin

“How did you know?” Levi yells. The man is a good distance away from him after all.

The man laughs “I could practically smell the desperation off of you”  Erwin’s face turns red from embarrassment. Levi scowled

“You can come with me. The name’s Mike Zacharias by the way. That man over there” He points to a guy with brown hair styled in a pompadour “That’s Gelgar. He’s been taking care of my yacht since I was away. He can help bring us to the island.”

“Sure,” Erwin spoke up. “My name is Erwin Smith. He then raised a hand and gestured to Levi 

“This is-”

“Levi Ackerman” Levi finishes for Erwin. Levi revealed his last name to them unlike when he first met Hange. Luckily both men didn’t make any connections between him and his family business.

Mike turned to Erwin “Well then, Erwin.” He turned to Levi “and Levi. You better hurry up and board the yacht soon. We are heading to Kalokairi once you are settled.” Mike said and walked off to check on everything with Gelgar

Levi sighed. He had no choice. He might as well go with Erwin and Mike since Mike is his only hope of reaching Kalokairi on time. 

Meanwhile, Erwin recognized Mike after many years. He had some physical differences but didn’t look much different overall. Erwin knew that Mike was the man Hange was with when he came back to see her. 

There is only one question that kept playing in Erwin’s head. Is Mike still with Hange?

©: This is where I insert all rights reserved stuff. This story belongs to me. Do not modify or republish

References used/Notes:

Obviously the salute used in the military

Sasha having the girls salute is a nod to OVA 2 where she makes Reiner do it

Some inspiration from both Mikasa and Historia’s backstories

Hanami is my OC from AOT 2 FB (I posted what she looks like on my Tumblr bluesylveon2)

I added more characters because I want Sasha to have more friends in her bridal party

Levi being the heir of Ackerman Bank is based on list I found of big businesses in Germany. Two were based in Frankfurt and were only banking, hence the name

But Levi owns a cafe in the Prologue? Will be explained later

Sasha and Niccolo’s first meeting is from the recent episode

I decided for Porco to be Portuguese because Porco means pig in Portugese

I’ve heard of La Tomatina and it looks like fun

I base the character nationalities on names/some reddit posts. I saw one where Pieck was Greek so I added that to her character

I picked Santorini because it’s a city I want to visit one day. Also Sootopolis (from Pokemon) is based off of there

Hange’s diary is the same journal as the one seen in AOT (Ilse’s notebook and AOT 2 FB)

The ‘Erwin from a superhero movie’ is because of Chris Evans

Hange is canonically the scariest when mad. I tried to portray this with Levi’s backstory and the vase incident 

I added the ring scene with Levi for future purpose

[captainsolare]

Happy early birthday and one year anniversary Sol! I’m so excited for you and I like the idea for this event. I hope it’s okay if I send a request 😊

Im going to pick Zora fluff this time, and can you roll 2 times for AU, 4 times for dialogue prompt, and 2 times for the trope? Thanks 💖

A/N: Thanks Cindy! I hope you enjoy this! Camp Counselor Zora was interesting to write :)

Zora Fluff + Camp Counselor AU! + why do we keep running into each other? + "You might catch cold if you're not careful."

The assembly tent was uncomfortably humid as you waited with your group for the camp director to make his appearance, various conversations buzzed around you creating a low hum in the air. Your eyes scanned the room, sizing up the counselors you’d be working with for the next 6 weeks. There were several scattered around, mostly boys, but there were a few girls as well.

Your eyes landed on a flash of red in the corner of the structure and as you squinted, the shape of a man came into focus. You don’t know how you didn’t notice him before, with his bright red hair and borderline ridiculous outfit; how anyone could stand this heat with all that leather on let alone deal with children while wearing it was beyond you.

“Excuse me Counselor Y/N,” a small voice near your feet captured your attention. You smiled, looking down at the girl in front of you, “What’s up?” The girl exhaled loudly, “How much longer do we have to wait?” Frowning you glanced at your watch, and then at the stage at the front of the room, “I’m not sure, hopefully not long. How about we play a game with our group?”

You led your group through a series of camp songs until there was a tap on the microphone, sending painful feedback through the speakers.

“Uh, sorry about that, I’m not good with all this techy stuff.”

Your shoulders instantly relaxed, Camp Director Yami was finally here.

“Hello, campers!” His voice boomed over the speakers, “Welcome to Camp Black Bull. Who’s ready for a good time?” The counselors and children whooped and hollered but it seemed not enough for Yami, who cupped a hand behind his ear.

“I said, who’s ready to have a good time?”

You cupped your hands around your mouth to yell louder, the sounds around you reverberated through you, and you felt excitement rush through you, this was going to be a good week. Yami laid out all of the ground rules, the campers should listen to their counselors, and if they had a problem, find the nearest counselor to sort it out. After a few more camp songs, Yami made the announcement that you all were due back here after lunch for more group activities.

Yami left and you glanced at your clipboard to get the day’s agenda, you wouldn’t be going to archery until 10:30 and it was only 10 now, which left you 30 minutes to fill with camp songs and games. You left the tent with your kids in tow to find the perfect spot to sit and go over the agenda for the day until it was time for archery. You spotted an area through the trees, it would be perfect for what you had planned, but you had no sooner stepped into the clearing when at the same time a group led by the boy with red hair you’d seen earlier also stepped in from the opposite side.

You frowned, “I’m sorry but I think we were here first.” The boy raised an eyebrow, “No I don’t think so, I’m pretty sure we ended up here at the same time. But there’s not enough space for both groups here.” You ran your tongue over your teeth, feeling your annoyance grow already just from the cocky look on his face, his nametag read ‘Zora.’. “Fine, we’ll settle this with a game of rock paper scissors.” You said, tucking your clipboard between your knees.

“Best of 3?” He asked. You nodded and he dropped his clipboard on the ground near his feet. You faced each other, tension palpable in the air.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” You had rock and he had scissors, but you grew too cocky from your early win. It ended in a defeat, he beat you with rock and paper. You begrudgingly shook his hand to show good sportsmanship and he smiled, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. “Good game, see you around Y/N.”

You led your campers to a nearby picnic table and you sat, going over the agenda of the day. “Alright, we have Archery in about 10 minutes, and then we’ll go to lunch, then it’s back to the assembly tent for some games, and then we have canoeing this afternoon.”

10 minutes passed quickly and you made your way to the archery field, brightening when you saw that your friend Vanessa’s group had archery the same time yours did. “Hey you!” You waved. She perked up when she saw you, a smile lighting up her face. “Hey friends, this is my friend Miss Vanessa!”

“Hi Vanessa!” Your kids said, waving to her. The archery instructor, a man named Klaus, soon captured the group’s attention and took over. As he explained what the kids would be doing, you realized how thirsty you were. Sadly your water bottle was empty so you tapped Vanessa, asking her to keep an eye on your campers while you went to the water station.

You started filling up your bottle, not wanting to leave Vanessa with 20 campers for too long, and you heard the crunching of leaves. You rose and saw Zora standing there, water bottle in hand. “Hello again.” He said, fingers raising in a quick wave. “Hello to you too.”

Archery passed relatively uneventfully, except for some of the kids deciding that finding bugs and giving them to you was infinitely more interesting than watching their friends shoot arrows. Vanessa and yourself led the kids to lunch after you both explained that bugs were not presents.

You made sure your kids were settled in line before you grabbed a tray. The way the lunchroom was set up, you would need two counselors per table, but Vanessa had already been commandeered by Grey tugging on her arm. She flashed you an apologetic look but you waved her off, heading for a table near the back of the room. You set your tray down at the same time as Zora, who sat on the opposite end of the table. It was hard not to feel like he was following you, you knew he wasn’t, and that it was just a coincidence, but it was maddening the way you kept running into each other.

Your groups seemingly didn’t have the same schedule, but you still saw him everywhere. Why do we keep running into each other? During the after-lunch assembly, you took a moment to pull Vanessa off to the side. “What do you know about Zora?” You asked, eyes flicking over him from across the room. Vanessa shrugged, “Not a lot, he’s kind of cagey and keeps to himself. Why?” You frowned, watching as he led his kids through a group activity. “No reason.” Vanessa got a thoughtful look on her face and then started to giggle.

“Oh I see, you think he’s cute don’t you?”

“What?” You protested, face suddenly very hot, “I do not!”

Vanessa’s smile grew wider as she watched you panic, “Okay, whatever you say.”

The lake lapped at your feet as you helped your campers into their life jackets. Noelle, the instructor in charge of canoeing cleared her throat, “Now, it’s important that you keep these on, the lake isn’t very deep but drowning is still a dangerous possibility and we need to be safe so we can have fun okay? Now get into pairs since there will need to be 2 campers per canoe.” A familiar head of red hair jogged up, campers in tow.

“Sorry I’m late Noelle, several of my kids took a while to change.”

Noelle waved him off, “Whatever Zora, just get them ready, Y/N’s group is already about to head out on the water.”

After you loaded your kids into their respective canoes and helped them push off, you paced on the dock, unsure of what to do except for supervising. Zora cleared his throat, holding up two life jackets. “Want to share a canoe?” You bit your lip, considering his request, your eyes flicked to Noelle and she nodded, stating that she could handle any water emergencies. “Sure.” You took the life jacket from him gingerly. You set your backpack by the lifeguard stand and put the lifejacket on so it sat snug around you. Zora was taller than you, so you’d need to be in the front.

You sat in the canoe and Zora pushed off, rocking the boat as he jumped into it. You paddled along quietly, save for saying hello to a few of your campers. A few of the girls giggled and began singing, “Y/N and Zora sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.” You yelled out a protest, cheeks warming at the thought; you’d known this man for exactly a day and your campers were already trying to get you together. You tried to push the thoughts out of your mind, there was no way you liked him, no matter what Vanessa said.

Suddenly a giant piece of what looked like driftwood smashed into the boat, sending you rocking. “Where did that come from?” You asked, turning over your shoulder to look at Zora.

“No idea,” He shrugged, “This is a lake so there shouldn’t be a current here.”

The boat was bumped a second time, this time from underneath and you were sent into the air. You yelled in surprise as you saw what had capsized your boat, it was a giant dolphin! You landed in the water with a splash, the cold water making you gasp. You swam to the dock and were pulled out by a pair of strong arms. Zora ran to a nearby supply shed and emerged with two fluffy towels; as you sat shivering on the dock he gently wrapped one of them around your shoulders.

“Th-thank you.” You stuttered through your chattering teeth. As you glanced at him you noticed his shirt was off, for such a slender guy he was muscular and you couldn’t help but stare. He noticed you staring and chuckled, “Wanna take a photo? It’ll last longer.”

You sputtered at his words, cheeks heating up enough to make you forget how cold you were. At your panicked expression, he chuckled once more, wrapping his towel around his shoulders, “I’m just joking.”

You didn’t have time to respond because Noelle jogged up with a concerned look on her face, “Hey you two, are you alright?” You both nodded, “What about the children?”

Noelle nodded, “All present and accounted for. I’ll take care of them, why don’t you change? You might catch cold if you’re not careful.”

You and Zora headed for the staff cabin, shoes squeaking uncomfortably on the dirt. After taking a quick but blessedly warm shower, you emerged out of one of the bathrooms with fresh clothes on. Zora emerged from the other bathroom a few moments later.

“Who knew there was a dolphin in there?” He said with a laugh, toweling off his hair. You smiled, “I know right? Maybe we should go talk to Yami about it.”

His mouth twitched, “Something tells me he already knows.” You made the short trek back to the lake and found Yami being chewed out by Noelle.

“Someone could have gotten hurt, Yami! What were you thinking, putting a freshwater dolphin in here?”

Yami rubbed the back of his head, “It’s my pet! I needed a place to put it.”

You escorted your kids back to the assembly tent and took a quick breather outside. Zora joined you with a quick wave, “Crazy day huh?”

You nodded with a slight chuckle, “I can see it now, headlines in the newspaper, ‘2 camp counselors launched into air by pet dolphin.’

You both laughed before settling back into comfortable silence once more.

Zora cleared his throat, “Say, Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you want to… Maybe grab a bite this weekend, my treat?”

You blinked at his words, but decided that it couldn’t hurt, after all, maybe having a near-death experience together had brought you closer.

“Sure, why not?”

And so began a beautiful friendship, and perhaps more.

[moosoobi]

Confessions

In the night: Chapter 2

T.Jeff- Hamilton: the musical 

Y/N can’t hold all her secrets. She’s tired of hiding. The people deserve the truth. Here’s her confession: the one she should’ve told us long ago

I started to write this chapter the day after I finished chapter 1, yet before the first chapter was even published (time management queen). As I’m typing this message, I’m currently distracting myself from finals LMAO. Anyway, I wanted to finish this chapter as soon as possible to give some explanation of the events in the previous chapter, so I hope I do exactly that. I’m still manifesting that I articulate through this story smoothly, please give me feedback <3 

MC (aka Y/N’s) POV 

Modern au 

Word Count: 5.4k

A few unrealistic realities, but I’m working with what I got

This chapter will most likely answer many questions about chapter 1 

THIS CHAPTER OCCURS AT THE SAME TIME AS CHAPTER 1! all events in this chapter line up with the events of chapter 1

Disclaimers: 

TW: violence, abuse, mentions of blood, themes of injury, itty bitty angst?

photo not mine <3

If you have any questions/concerns about this story, DONT BE SHY TO ASK ME! This is my first time writing a whole series, so I apologize if the plot gets confusing. 

-Now Playing: Broken Clocks by SZA-

Where to start… 

My attention was taken from Professor Washington’s lecture the moment I felt a pair of eyes attempting to pierce a hole in the back of my head. As I look back, I realize that it’s no one other than Thomas Jefferson, the spoiled francophile, or so people like the whisper, but gossip’s not my thing.

Upon being called out by Professor Washington, I couldn’t hold in my giggle as Thomas’s head ducks down in embarrassment. I suppose he sure knows how to lighten the demeanor in the lecture hall; It was a nice excuse to take my eyes off of Washington’s low-quality power-point presentation, but I appreciate that the man is trying. 

This class feels like it’ll last forever, and I contemplate if I could just perish in my seat at this very instant, yet Thomas’s presence seems to make it worthwhile. I don’t know him that much, or maybe at all for that matter, but since he’s been seen with a Schuyler, the locals around here can’t seem to keep their mouths shut about him. 

From what I’ve heard, he’s another silver-spoon raised boy representing Virginia up here in New York. A few scholarships here and there, as well as a trip to France for a semester. I don’t see what all the fuss is about; He seems like a pretty cool person, probably has an exciting life, and isn’t throwing away his shot. It’s odd, even with parents to piggyback off of, Thomas is very similar to a certain orphan I know. 

“Class is dismissed” Is all I heard from Professor Washington’s mouth before that obnoxious but relieving bell sounds off. 

Desperate to get out of this class, I hurry to put my stationery items into my burgundy-magenta backpack. You’d think after those turbulent years of high school that college would motivate me for fancier bags, but I can’t say no to my favorite color. It’s simple, won’t bring attention to my presence, unlike every other decision I’ve made in my life. 

After I finally finished packing up, I can’t wait to take a breath of the fresh, polluted air of New York City. I quickly spotted my roommate's car within the crowd of vehicles next to the sidewalk. He’s on time, as always, to pick me up from class, and I’m grateful that he sacrifices his time for me, but it’s not like he had a choice. I toss my bag into the trunk, surely crinkling a few important papers. Upon reaching the door of his expensive car, my roommate greets me with joy to see me. 

“How was class, Cherie?” 

Lafayette, my roommate, shoots a smile at me, his white teeth are almost blinding, but he always says I’m exaggerating. 

“Boring as always, but I’m still here, sadly” I say as I hop into the front seat of Lafayette’s car. He pouts in my direction 

“Ahh, c’mon, don’t be like that.” Once he acknowledges the buckling of my seatbelt, he begins to power up the car. “C’est la vie, Y/N” I roll my eyes, my hatred for him grows just a little more every time he says that. 

“Can we get McDonald’s?” I attempt to change the subject, earning a small chuckle from him. He prepares to drive off “You know I can't say no to you and your American junk food” 

And so we begin to drive off  

Lafayette and I indeed have a bit of history together. After I got mistakenly involved with Alexander and his clique, Lafayette was the next best (or worse) person to walk into my life. He’s sweet, charming, probably all the things Americans are not; the gentleman hails from France. Yet he’s so much more than that. 

Ever since I caught his eye at that obnoxious high school party, he and I hit the ground running. Disclosing the events which took place in his-

our bedroom won’t solve the problem, but the stubble on his jaw and the way he holds the steering wheel with one hand nearing my thigh reminds me of the unresolved sexual tension between the both of us. 

I’ve only been living in his apartment for a few months, an idea he proposed when I mentioned my dreadful rent. A nice view, nice coffee maker, and nice bedsheets were more than enough to convince me, but I know there’s more to that “nice” list that I shouldn’t disclose. 

Though I know his intentions were good, I’m sure he invited me into his abode to protect me from Alex. 

Since I began to band with Alex and his gang, Alexander’s been strict about getting me home on time. It wasn’t only because I was a helpless high school student, but also to prevent me from ratting him and his group out to the authorities. 

Upon joining Alex's posse, a strict curfew has been placed on me, only to ensure I stay safe at night, or perhaps to make sure I don’t betray them. 

Moving in with Lafayette made following this time limitation easier for me, especially since he volunteers to drive me home or takes a stand for me. If the unfortunate event of my arrival past my ‘bedtime’ timer occurs, Alexander ensures I pay the price.

Speaking of arrivals, Lafayette passes me a box of hot, salty fries and a smile spreads across my face. His eyes visibly soften as my entire demeanor changes.  

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best person ever?” I spilled my thoughts while stuffing my mouth with fries. He lightly chuckles, watching me. 

“Maybe a couple of times..” He prepares to drive off again “...too many times, actually.” he shot a wink at me. 

Blood didn’t have any time to rush to my cheeks before I could slap the side of his shoulder, causing him to whine in discomfort. I sigh before returning my focus to the steaming fries in front of me. The tension grows, and so does the silence between us. Eager to break the tension, I propose an idea. 

“Let’s go home?” we turn to each other at the same time 

“Oui.” 

---

I enter Professor Washington’s lecture hall and my attention is driven to the two curly-headed Virginians. I watch in secondhand embarrassment as Thomas Jefferson and his friend playfully argue in front of the entire class, seemingly a heated debate of the greatness of Mac and Cheese. One argues on behalf of the gooey pasta, while the other simultaneously retorts with a mix of “you’re so stupid” and “God help me”. 

Feeling a rush of confidence and suaveness, my brain urges my body to intervene in their conversation. Maybe it was to make new friends, or perhaps to stop the class from staring at their dumb dispute, but I swiftly walk over to them. The next few words to come out of my mouth fell into place oh-so-perfectly. 

“Hey, can I sit here?” 

Upon sitting in between the two Virginians, they introduce themselves. The calmer, self-collected man among the two introduced himself as James Madison, while the bolder, upbeat man introduced himself as no other than Thomas Jefferson. Both of them seemed happy that I interrupted and decided to reach out to them, maybe one was a tad more excited than the other. 

And ever since then, Professor Washington can’t seem to split up our trio. From childish jokes and a few inappropriate inferences, Thomas and James make great company. The idiotic smile that spreads across Thomas’s face whenever he’s capable of making James and I break our silence during class would become more annoying than Lafayette saying “C’est la vie” whenever I make a poor life decision. 

Nevertheless, Thomas and James dangerously remind me of Alexander and his goons. The abundant amount of self-praise and cocky remarks said by both Thomas and Alexander is almost astronomical. In the case of Thomas and Alexander’s meeting, I’m sure they’d be the best of friends. But likewise, I could also envision the two attempting to tear each other's heads off, the chaotic clashing of two powerful minds. 

They always know what to say and when to say it. I’ve never met anyone as clever as Thomas and James, and they’re even worse when they’re together.  

“�� ‘s Adams here today? Washington told me to turn in my papers t’ him.” Thomas whispers as he eases into his chair, Washington’s booming voice seems to become background noise to us 

“Is he ever?” I reply, attempting not to giggle at my own response “I haven’t seen him since Washington initially introduced him to the class.” 

“Maybe he’s jus’ sick or somethin’. Kinda reminds me of you, James'' His head of curls turns to stare down James, in which James replies by rolling his eyes 

“He can stay home, he does the same amount of work there anyways.” James cleverly retorted. 

And that seemed to be our last straw before bursting out in laughter. Thomas’s body flung forward as he laughed his head off, James ducking his head to hide his glee behind his laptop, and I quickly slap a hand over my mouth to prevent anyone around us from drawing suspicion. But apparently, Washington wasn’t having our disguises. 

“Can the three of you even tell me what I just said?” Washington turns around from the board to scan the crowd, his eagle eyes find us quickly 

The silence was all we could emit, and soon enough, He turned back to his lesson. I sigh with relief; the last thing I need is to get kicked out of a class I don’t even pay for. 

…

...

“Washington sure got a shiny ass head. D’you think he uses shampoo and conditioner?” Whispered Thomas as he leans over to me 

And just like that,  we’re faced with the same struggle all over again.

—-

Lafayette adjusted the hot pan, erupting a few sizzles. The wall clock ticked, the hour arm froze pointing to the “11” written in roman numerals. Lafayette and I decided to agree on a home-cooked meal, and although it’s too late for an average dinner, yet too early to be defined as a midnight snack, I’m sure Lafayette’s cooking will satisfy me for the night. 

“Y/NN, would you prefer salt on your omelet? Or did you decide to be healthy tonight?” He said holding a salt shaker in the air to steal my focus from the swirling red liquid in my glass. 

My head lifts to meet his eyes. I tilt my head, the wine causing me to ponder for a little longer than I should’ve. He continues to stare at me, holding in a laugh, before I force myself to nod. 

“Yeah.. a little won’t hurt” I hear him chuckle at my drunken dialect, but I know the French man isn’t about to lecture me about English “Your wish is my command.” 

I watch as he conducts the kitchen perfectly. He knows where everything is, exactly what to add into the sizzling pan, maybe even the exact second to take the meal off the flame. 

“I thought you weren’t a fan of monarchy?” the sarcasm was evident in my tone “but I appreciate the submission” I shot him a playful wink, to which he responds with a pompous smirk

A few sips of wine later, I recognize notification that has been staring back at me for hours. 

1 Message from Thomas

A text from Thomas? And I’m barely seeing this now? I silently scold myself for giving into the wine before opening the message.

“Thomas: Hey this is Thomas from class, wanna come study with us at the library sometime?”

My eyes become glued to my phone. It was certainly necessary for me to reread Thomas’s text, I was unsure if the alcohol was beginning to make me see odd things, but I assured myself I was correct.

I could feel the blush spread across my face. Maybe it’s just the wine taking control, or maybe it’s the butterflies in my stomach forming every time I reread his message. A harmless invite, perhaps evoked from Thomas due to James stroking his ego, but I know James’ wouldn’t promote such a bold, straight-forward message. Though Thomas is known for his meticulous confidence and certainty, a message this simple could be notably deceiving. 

But a little socializing won’t damage my self-respect. “Be bold, Y/N” is what I used to tell myself at the beginning of the semester, and what do I have to lose? I begin to type my reply.

“Y/N: yeah I’m down :) just send a time and place and I’ll be on my way”

Sent.

 My introspection was soon interrupted by the screeching plate being slid in my direction by Lafayette, the steam circulating the meal 

“Y/N, Mangeons.” My head comes up from my phone, my eyes meet his eyes momentarily. 

“Thanks, Laf.” I reply before taking a fork from him and digging into the steaming meal ahead of me. Lafayette’s cooking never disappoints. Ever. 

My body couldn’t help but pick up my phone every few minutes to respond to Thomas’s messages, Though they were just the details of the hangout-offer he previously proposed, I felt enclosed in my little bubble while texting him. Those few moments of interaction with him somehow made my day better. I’m sure even Lafayette could see my radiating energy, but I’m not sure how he took it.

We’re technically not a couple; a few hookups and moving in together don't make us an official couple, right? 

“Merci, Laffy.” I watched as he visibly cringed at my poor attempt at french. “Let’s just stick to our mother tongues, angel.” He retorted. I laughed it off, yet inside his reply left a scratch on my pride. 

--- 

Another class of absolute foolery and childish inferences, and I can’t help but laugh as Thomas, James, and I exit the lecture hall. The New-York cold hits us harshly, but being about a month into this semester, students already know what to expect. 

It was indeed embarrassing, running to Lafayette’s car to remind him of your library study session. 

“Alright, I’ll pick you up before your curfew, okay?” He asked with one hand on the wheel. His faux-leather jacket contorting around his toned arms made it difficult not to remember the moments they shared around midnight. The imagery of their candle-lit room appearing in her head as he sat at the wheel stopped her from replying for a moment. 

“Y-Yeah sounds great. You’re the best, you know that?” She thanked him for sacrificing his time to make sure she arrives home on time. 

“You remind me all the time.” He sneaks in a small wink between his sentences “I’ll see you tonight, Cherie” 

Y/N smiled before turning around to prance over to her friends. Y/N heard the faint sounds of Lafayette driving off, sighing in relief

After briefly explaining my situation to the boys, we quickly head over to the library. 

A woman in a coral-pink blazer and pants set is waiting impatiently at a table she rented out just for us. “What in the world took you guys so long?” She pressured for an answer 

“C’mon Angie, that wasn’t even ten minutes.” Thomas rolled his eyes before removing his backpack and opening a chair for Y/N. Real smooth, Thomas, I can’t lie. He looked over to me, seeing stars in my eyes as I realize I’m standing next to the oldest Schuyler.

 “You’re-” She interrupted me with a smile, sticking out her hand to shake mine

“Angelica Schuyler. And you?” I swear her name sounds familiar. I’m sure I’ve heard it around but I just can't place it. I do see her on my social media feed from time to time, and I must admit, she looks even more heavenly in person. 

“Y/N L/N.” My hand meets hers in a firm handshake. 

“Nice to meet you.” 

—-

At first, I thought nothing of it. 

Though Lafayette’s text at 7:30 (on the dot) did push me out of my zone, I did appreciate his promise to me. 

Thomas on the other hand seemed disturbed by my sudden leave, but it’s not like he’d understand. Alexander would literally kill me if I were home late.

But Thomas and I would continue to hang out. His evening texts would slowly become a weekly routine. Whether it was a scary movie or an ice cream date for just the two of us, he always found a way to spend time with me. 

“Don’t tell me that mint chocolate chip is actually your favorite flavor, darlin’.” He adjusted his position on the park bench and raised an eyebrow, his gaze focused on the green ice cream atop my ice cream cone “You might make me regret takin’ you out tonight” he chuckled and I couldn’t help but smile 

“You know you love me” I jokingly retorted, scooping part of my ice cream with my tongue, and relaxing against the bench.

It’s very rare to get to relax like this. Not only am I a fully-fledged college student, but also one of Alexander’s goons. The weekends are merely just ‘weekdays: the sequel’, but add forbidden literature and alcohol to that equation.

I look back up to Thomas, seeing his disgusted face. “Wait.. are you actually against mint chocolate chip ice cream?” I cocked an eyebrow towards him

He shrugged before chuckling “I recall telling you of my unfortunate arguments while visiting England..” 

“..so what does mint chocolate chip ice cream have to do with your political upheavals in a foreign country?” 

He smirked in an ‘all knowing’ manner. “Well, Darlin, if you did your research—“

“—You’ve got to be kidding me—“I start to wonder why I even asked 

“—you’d learn that the monstrosity in your ice cream cone, mint chocolate chip, originated in England.” He completed his statement with triumph “Ever since my disagreements in England, I swore to despise such a concoction until the day I die.” 

I looked at him like he was crazy. “I can’t believe you did your research on English creations. You’re so dramatic sometimes” I respond 

“Hey, I wouldn’t be a Jefferson if I wasn’t.” He stared back to his cone, the mesmerizing ice cream almost reflecting himself back at him. 

We shared silence for a moment. Words were unnecessary when we were together. 

“I suppose..” Jefferson started “...I might be able to tolerate mint chocolate chip ice cream, but only for you, though.” He turned towards my direction 

My eyes soon met his. “Well, I’m honored to be your exemption, Jefferson.” I smile with triumph, recognizing my effect on him. 

He swiftly takes my hand, his skin feels burning compared to mine. Our eyes remain connected as he dips his head down to kiss the back of my hand. I attempt to hide the fact that my heart stopped beating for a moment, but the breath hitching in my throat wouldn’t help me at all. 

“Let’s drop the formalities, Darlin, you can call me Thomas now.” My hand remained between his. I try my best to keep my hand still, wanting to marinate in this moment forever. 

A new feeling courses through my body. Something unfamiliar. Perhaps it’s the charm of a Southern Gentleman. Maybe the feeling of being treated right for the first time, something I’ve never experienced from anyone.

What have I ever done to deserve this chivalrous kindness? 

‘What a gentleman’ I repeat to myself in my mind. What makes him so different from the others? 

From a simple kiss, I suddenly crave more.

More than the unresolved sexual tension between Lafayette and I. 

More than I was ever granted the opportunity to. 

Maybe ‘more’ is what I deserve. 

My mind bleeds with the thought of Lafayette, but Thomas seems like he has so much more to offer. What if I do deserve to be happy? I may not have earned it, but who gets to declare my right to happiness? I was once happy with Lafayette, but the times have changed

He’s just not him. He’s just not Thomas.

---

But no matter how much I enjoyed spending time with Jefferson himself, I was always the first one to leave. I had to. 

I remember the way his smile would fall at the sound of Lafayette’s car horn. 

The way his jaw tenses whenever my phone vibrates across the table 

Whenever Lafayette came to pick me up, I also can’t help but feel a part of my soul crack within me. 

“I’ll see you this weekend?” He kisses the back of my hand once more in an attempt to savor this moment, continuing to maintain eye contact.

“I’ll try, Thomas. Not sure if I’m busy.” I sigh with fatigue. “But I’ll let you know.” 

“Alright. Get home safe, darlin’” I hear him stand from the park bench as I wander to Lafayette’s car, his eyes following my figure. 

I hop into Lafayette’s car before taking one last glance in Thomas’s direction, watching as his figure begins to walk in the opposite direction that our car was heading. 

“Ahh, Y/N. Don’t tell me you’re cheating on me” his sarcastic tone wouldn’t pierce deep enough. 

I speak without thinking. “I do recall you claiming that you and I were never a couple, remember Laf?” My change in demeanor was certain to shut him up. And he did. 

He’s just not him. He’s just not Thomas. 

I remained turned away from Lafayette as we drove through the city. The memories built between Lafayette and I constantly falls like a house of cards, but I prefer to avoid the subject.

Lafayette felt otherwise, yet respected my choice. 

He was the first to speak.

“Alexander needs me for a transport this weekend.” He stated, “I’m not sure when I’ll get back, so it’s very important that you get back from whatever plans you have before your curfew.” He takes a glance over to me and briefly meets my eyes 

“Don’t test the waters, Y/N.”

Ah yes, the monthly literature transportation of Alexander’s gang. 

The Notorious Sons of Liberty. 

A popular group roaming the streets of New York. But instead ironically of selling drugs or performing homicide, they produce and sell illegal, banned literature and disperse them to the highest bidders. 

How else do you think I pay for college? 

Although gang violence isn’t really their thing, that doesn’t mean they’re not in possession of such weaponry and devices. I’ve never seen anyone take literature as seriously as they do.

They’re also known for their bold publicity stunts, which are indeed fun to watch from a nearby coffee shop. Watching Alexander, Lafayette, and some other friends, John and Herc, run from the authorities on a Sunday afternoon, accidentally laughing at the sight of John tripping over his own feet, Lafayette mouthing ‘help us out’ in my direction. Very entertaining. 

On the contrary, their security on me has become tighter and tighter. I know they worry for the gang’s reputation over my safety, but it feels nice to imagine having a battalion of book-worm gang members watching over you. 

“I know, I know. You guys can stop treating me like a kid” I attempt to contain a giggle to portray my seriousness. 

He takes a glance at me before returning his attention to the road. “You cannot say that until you have another way home other than me.” He sighed rather loudly 

“Be careful, or I might do just that, Lafayette.” 

---

I sipped on wine and ate cheese at Thomas’s place without a care in the world on a Saturday night. Of course, I had to accept Thomas’s offer, I never knew how to say no to him. 

Jefferson has sure been taking his sweet time to put a title on us. Now, I’m no philosopher when it comes to dating, but Ice cream at the park, fancy dinners, and wine and cheese sure sound romantic. 

My night was going well. All until the 7:30 alarm on my phone rang, and before I knew it, everything began to go downhill

[events of chapter 1]

And next thing I knew, the cold New York air slapped my face, following the harsh slam of the apartment door. 

As my adrenaline began to settle down, panic rushed through my body. 

Fuck. At this rate, I won’t be home until after my curfew. Although my immediate instinct was to sprint my way home, those thoughts were quickly followed by the idea of passing out within five minutes. My apartment isn’t too far, but being fueled by wine and cheese doesn’t sound like the best idea. 

“Don’t test the waters, Y/N” echoed throughout my head. 

I begin to walk down the street before whipping out my phone to contact an Uber. 

The small talk produced between my driver and I worked a bit to calm myself down, but that would all change the moment I walked through my apartment door. 

Once I turn back around from locking the door, I’m met with exactly what I didn’t want to see at this very moment. 

Lafayette stood staring at me, his lips pursed with anxiousness, recognizing my significantly late arrival. 

Hercules, another good friend I’ve met through the sons of liberty, stood beside Lafayette. His mouth hung open in shock as he also recognized my mistake. 

John, the group’s smallest yet mightiest, leaned against the wall, perhaps planning my fate right in front of me 

And none other than Alexander Hamilton himself, sipping scotch on my couch, similarly to how I was not too long ago at Thomas’s place. The glare on his face quickly reminded me that I was in big trouble. 

“Y/N, I thought I told you—“ Lafayette began but was quickly interrupted 

“You’re late.” He swirled his drink before standing up. The clock ticked, and the hour hand notably passed the 8:30 symbol. I was not getting out of this one. 

Although I feared for the following moments, I attempted to contain my emotions within myself. I kept my straight face for the time being. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. 

“I’m well aware.” That came out of my mouth  a little too harsh for my liking 

“May I remind you that being out past your curfew could severely damage our image.” 

I saw John look over to Alex from the corner of my eye. The air became thinner if that were even possible, and I refused to meet his eyes.

“And I do recall reminding you of your consequences.” He walked towards me and I felt my heart froze. “Having you out so late could raise some suspicions among our competitors, L/N.” 

I couldn’t find the right words and resort to nodding instead 

“I always fucking told you—“ he harshly slammed his drink onto the table beside him “—not to test the waters—” 

“—I-I know—“

“So why the fuck are you stumbling in here past your curfew?”

 At this very moment, I wondered if I had pulled the last straw. 

I couldn’t speak. God forbid I spat out the wrong words. Contained within my thoughts, I didn’t acknowledge Alexander closing the distance between us. 

“Ow!--” I watched as Alex shoved me to the wall, the moment playing in slow motion in my head. 

Lafayette’s throat grew dry “Hey, Alex, Calm dow-” 

He was interrupted by the sound of Alexander harshly slapping me across the face. My hands quickly went to soothe what felt like fire burning my cheek. 

“We do so much for you, Y/N.” Alex growled 

The sharp pain in my side grew, almost echoing throughout my body. I could feel my body giving up on itself. I mean, this wouldn’t be the first time Alex has acted like this. 

Occasionally, Alex would stop by Lafayette and I’s apartment just to ensure I was home before my curfew, and he wasn’t the most forgiving. 

--He owns an apartment key and has every single one of his gang member’s location tracked on his phone. Sometimes I wondered what was so special about us to have to keep all of us in check 24/7--

One time Hercules and I went shopping a little too late after sunset, part of me felt like a reckless teenager, probably because I was. I still remember Alexander’s face when I entered my own apartment, he looks identical every time. 

In an attempt to shelter me, my body curled into itself against the wall. I shrunk to the floor, feeling his shadow intensely stand above me. 

“Arghh!—“ the sound spilled out of me when I felt Alexander’s shin connect with my rib cage. 

My lungs felt punctured under the pressure.

My arms felt like they could give out any second.

Part of me had wished I’d stay at Thomas’s place tonight, even if it meant telling him the truth. 

What a predicament I’ve gotten myself into. 

I looked up, wondering if my torment was over until I was met with a —Crack— Alexander’s knee encountered my face. 

It was only a moment before I could hear the shuffling of the others’ shoes. I prayed they were coming to help me out.

Alexander lifted his glass of alcohol, previously forgotten, and hauled it towards me

Crash! 

The piercing shards of glass combining with the stinging alcohol were the last thing I needed on a Saturday night. I didn’t notice the tears falling from my eyes until now, and the way my heart felt like it was just on a rollercoaster. 

I kept my head low, watching blood drip down my face and onto the floor below me. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one to notice. 

“Alex! What the fuck?!” I heard Laurens yell

“Are you trying to kill her?!?” I recognized Lafayette’s scream

Before Alex was able to make another blow, Lauren and Lafayette were quick to hold him back, attempting to calm him down. 

Hercules swiftly knelt beside me, the guilt was obvious in his gaze. I hated the pity in each of their glances towards me. He attempted to wipe away the blood from my forehead with a paper towel. 

Alexander fought back against the two, trying his best to prove his point. There’s the Hamilton we all know, unwilling to stand down no matter the cost.

Hercules turned back to me, his words were ready to leave his mouth from the moment we reconnected eyes. 

“Y/N..” He pulled me up and shoved me out of my apartment door. “..Run.” I almost stumbled into a nearby pole, but I began running, if running in my condition was possible, back to Thomas’s place. 

—-

[events of chapter 1]

The next thing I knew, I woke up in Thomas’s bed beside him. I took a moment to soak in the feeling of his satin sheets. Part of me can’t recall the events before I passed out in front of Thomas’s apartment, or maybe my mind refuses to remember them. 

The sun hasn’t risen yet. 

I turn to my side and reach for my phone, wincing from the pressure applied to my rib cage. 

The bright light of my phone hitting my eyes felt like I was transported to another dimension. 

54 notifications: 

12 calls from Lafayette 🥐

24 texts from Lafayette 🥐

1 text from Alexander 💡

3 calls from Mariah 💋

14 texts from Mariah 💋

“oh fuck..” I sigh, wondering how things will play out. 

Out of curiosity, I open the message from Alexander. Perhaps it’s an apology? Maybe a reminder? 

Alexander 💡: I know where you are, Y/N. Don’t drag your friend into this. Because I can.

Where I am? I ask myself

My heart dropped, remembering that Alexander tracks my location 24/7. He knows where I am at this very second. 

By escaping to Thomas’s apartment, I’ve just dragged him into this mess I’ve made. If my worlds collide, it would all be because I ran to this exact apartment. 

Panic once again rushed through my body. 

I need to get out of here. I need to leave. 

I slip out from under the sheets and grab my belongings. Unprepared for what’s to come, I steal one of Thomas’s jackets from his cluttered desk chair. I’ll give it back eventually, I thought to myself. 

After I put on my shoes I take one last glance toward Thomas. 

He seems so peaceful when he’s asleep, tangled in his blanket, not to mention his name-brand Mac and cheese pajama pants. 

I’m sorry if I drag you into this, Thomas, you just wouldn’t understand.

Taglist <3: @kenmacrumbs @strayblades  @laic2299 @ohsoverykeri

[prettywordsyouleft]

To Be Continued - Part 8

Summary: As an author, you had created Brian Kang for your current trilogy series to represent the ultimate man that everyone would love, along with Charli Evers - your female protagonist. What you hadn’t expected was for him to find a way out of the story and begin shaping up your world instead

Pairing: Brian Kang x female writer (ft. Park Sungjin)

Genre: writer au / romance / fantasy

Warnings: fictional characters coming to life / a bit of angst here and there / Sungjin as a cop (or does that only affect me?) >_>

The angst has made it’s way into the station, everyone. Buckle up for the pain that’s going to come.

A/N: this story idea was created from receiving two prompts for Brian in the YouxIdol drabble game I was completing this year. In this part, you can find prompt #194, “I don’t want to live in a world where I’m not with you.”

Word count: 2397

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Epilogue

You were anxious whilst waiting for Lily’s arrival. At first, she laughed hysterically after your announcement. However, she stopped suddenly, peering at Brian, who waved gently in response. You worried she might collapse from the reactions that seemed to rock her back and forth when in a calm voice, she told you she was on her way over and then ended the call.

You had been pacing in the hallway in front of your door ever since.

“It’s going to be fine,” Brian assured, and you nodded distantly.

“Fine. Yes. Of course.”

“I mean, I convinced you of my existence. It won’t be much for me to do the same to Lily.”

“Except part of that was you came out of the laptop in front of me.” Glancing up at him, you shoved Brian down the hallway to your office and over to the laptop. “Do it again.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not a circus monkey.”

“No, but you did come in and out of the story multiple times,” you reminded, and Brian folded his arms across his chest.

“Only because you called me out.”

“So go back in and I’ll call you out when she’s here.”

Brian snorted. “And send your editor into a mess or make her faint as you did?!”

“Well, that way she won’t be able to say we’re making this up!”

“Except we’re not making this up and we’ll get through it without any stunts, okay?” he told you, rubbing your shoulders and attempting to loosen the tension within them. You slumped, hoping Brian was right.

There was a frantic knock at the door then, and Brian nodded gently before going to answer it. Peering around the corner of your living area, you watched as he greeted Lily. The woman stepped inside, circled around him and then shook her head. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“I know it seems a little implausible but-”

“Brian Kang truly exists,” Lily cut off your attempt to start the conversation, and you shared a surprised glance with Brian before stepping closer to your friend. She stared up at Brian. “Any chance Park Jinyoung exists too?”

“I’ve tried,” you mentioned in a small voice when Brian’s face grew moody and let out a little laugh. “I think we’re best off just having one literary character in our existence, right?”

You were surprised by how easily Lily accepted all this. Of course, Brian gave her a similar speech as he had to you when you came around after meeting him the first time, and answered any of her questions. But unlike you, Lily didn’t have many. Instead, she marvelled his existence up close – and rather a little too personally – before you cleared your throat and gestured for some tea.

Taking your editor into your office and shutting the door, you then sat down on the small couch across the room together.

“I cannot believe you didn’t tell me right away!”

“If it makes you any happier, you are the first person I’ve explained his actual existence to.”

“Brian mentioned he had met your doctor and that handsome cop you told me about,” Lily replied, and you cringed.

“Both of them don’t know the full story. In fact, I made things worse with Brian’s existence in front of Sungjin.” Lily perked at this, and you waved her off. “It’s a long story.”

“You know what isn’t, though? Eternity.” Placing down her mug of tea, Lily turned in her seat and shook your forearm gently. “You’re sitting on a gold mine here!”

“Hardly. I can write, Lily. Just not about Brian.”

“Why not?”

“It’s as you said, it’s as if I’ve sucked the life out of Brian in my story now. Because he’s out here and not in there.”

Lily grew thoughtful. “Have you asked Brian to help you write the story?”

“Well, no. I’m the writer, and he’s the character.”

“Perhaps he can assist you by making his role more organic again. After all, he knows himself best, doesn’t he?”

She had a point. “Maybe it could work.”

“I don’t blame you for being distracted lately, though. After seeing him, I don’t know how effective I’d be in person either,” she gushed, and you bit your lip as your mouth curved into a delighted smile.

“He’s magical.”

“He’s divine!” Lily enthused with you, and you both giggled.

“And he can hear you,” a voice called out from the other side of the door, and you both gripped onto the other in fright before busting out into laughter once more.

It was good having someone you could talk to fully about the man now in your life.

Lily, after calming down and draining off the rest of her tea, stood from the couch and smiled. “I trust you’ll both get the story started the way it’s meant to go, Y/N.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to be like this with my work. This series has meant a lot to me.”

“Do you need me to stay or will I get in the way of your rendezvous?” she teased, and you swatted a hand out at her. “What?! If I had a chance with someone like Brian, I’d not be able to hold back!”

“I’m decently approaching him, and that’s all there is to it!”

“Maybe you need to get more intimate then. It might help with this final part of the story.”

“Lily!” you cried as she smirked at you. “That’s not what’s in the plans for this world, and you know it!”

“Well, I didn’t expect to meet a character come to life in this world of ours, but it’s happened. Things can easily be adapted, Y/N.”

“Okay! Out with you now!” you demanded with a laugh, pushing your friend to the door of your office.

She hesitated, shooting a wicked look over your shoulder. “You’re sure you’ve done everything when it comes to seeing if Jinyoung-”

“Out!” you repeated, shoving the now laughing woman out of the room. She turned to hug you and then winked at Brian before heading for the front door.

“I expect a proper submission by next week. That’s all the extra time I’m giving you. Have fun in love, the pair of you.”

Once the door shut, Brian smiled warmly at you, capturing your cheek in the palm of his hand. “I quite like her.”

“She’s trouble,” you mentioned with a grin, nuzzling into his hand and pecking it with your lips briefly. “But she’s the right kind of trouble.”

“Sounds just how I would describe you right now,” Brian mentioned, his eyes swirling with a growing need. You knew that look all too well. It had been what had you pinned against a wall first thing this morning.

Maybe Lily was right. Your kissing sessions were only growing longer, more laboured and filling you with a desire you wanted to keep exploring.

Tugging on Brian’s hand, you made your way down to your bedroom with what you hoped to be an alluring smile.

He stopped, but only to scoop you up in his arms. “Oh, you’re definitely the right kind of trouble to have, Miss Writer.”

Despite all your efforts, the story still sat at a standpoint. You had encouraged Brian for input, and once again, you were both seated at your desk, pouring over options for the start of the story.

“It’s not working,” you complained, dropping your head to your tabletop in despair.

“We’ll find a way,” Brian said, though he looked concerned. With your realisation of this, he cleared his throat and ruffled your hair. “Honestly, how hard can this be? I’m the character, so I should know what I want to do next.”

“Do you?”

Brian slumped in his chair and shook his head. “Not a clue.”

“You, much like everyone else in this world, rely on me to write the script,” you stated, sadly and Brian rubbed at his face.

“You’re right. It’s what gave me direction, and it was the words you had started to write that helped me change the scene towards my benefit here and there.”

“So I need to write it. And you need to somehow appear whole again within the world.”

You each fell silent then, neither wanting to speak of what you had thought.

Over the past few days, you had fallen further for Brian. The love you felt for him was never-ending, and it worried you with how attached you had become to him so far. The idea of Brian ever returning to the world he came from made you sick to your stomach.

However, logic also made you realise that was where he needed to go for you to write Eternity. If he was missing from his leading role, how would you be able to pen the world in the way it was meant to be? Being at your side only delighted you, fulfilling your every need and desire.

But it wouldn’t make the story that he’d originally come from work.

You knew he was aware of this too.

Stepping out of the office without more than one line written, you both retired to the couch, sighing at separate intervals.

And then Brian turned to you. “Y/N, can we talk?”

“Always.”

“It’s not working, is it?” he murmured, and you nodded, feeling the rise of your emotions behind the backs of your eyes. You blinked, and he reached out to catch the first tear as it fell. “We’re working too well together here.”

“But the story isn’t at all,” you whispered, and Brian sighed again. “With you here, Charli and everyone else is suspended in air, waiting for your return. You exist in that world just as much as you exist here.”

“And I can’t be in both at the same time,” Brian admitted, and you dropped your head, tears spilling into your lap. “I have to go back, don’t I?”

“Maybe I don’t need to write this story. I have plenty of other ideas, and breaking out of the contract isn’t so bad, right? I mean, I’ll take a loss but I can afford to pay the publishing house-”

“Y/N,” he said, and you shook your head adamantly.

“I don’t want you to go.”

“Do you think I want to either? I’m happier here than there. I want to be with you, not Charli, not in a world where I have a past that haunts me and people who want me dead. Here I can be just me. The guy who loves you.”

“You love me?” you asked, and stared up into Brian’s now glossy eyes. He smiled weakly. “Do you really love me, Brian Kang?”

“I love you,” he told you earnestly, and you leaned in to kiss him, desperation rolling between you both. It was rushed and messy, yet your hearts collided together in the middle, confirming the feelings you both had for one another. It made you want more, yearn for every part of the man you had come to love so easily in the flesh. You had loved him a whole lot longer than this, but now you could truly confirm that love came from his actions, and not how you wrote them.

Shifting back, as the tears somehow managed to still fall, your bottom lip wobbled. “I love you too.”

“Which is why you plan to send me away again, right?” Brian asked, choking on his own emotions. “I have to go so you can finish this world.”

“Can’t we just leave it?” you pleaded, and Brian shook his head. You mirrored the action, knowing you wouldn’t be satisfied either. This was a world you had created, and you couldn’t just leave it without answers to the questions you had raised so far.

“Will you come back to me?”

“As soon as you’ve written the very last word,” Brian promised, kissing your temples as you both began to cry.

Clinging onto him, Brian attempted to soothe your wild sobs, rubbing at your back whilst burying into you himself. It was heartbreaking, like any typical angst scene. You knew it had to happen for character growth, and yet this was a pinnacle moment for sheer pain. Your whole body ached at the mere concept of parting from him.

“It’s not as if I’ll leave you for good, Y/N,” Brian mentioned, as if he read your thoughts. “I’ll always be right here with you. Through the screen. You’ll see me, during moments where I go along with your story plans, and at the times I test them. You’ll know I’ll be there supporting you, and your choices in writing Eternity to the very end.”

“I know, but you won’t be here, holding me like this anymore either,” you told him, and Brian grew silent, knowing whatever he could think of to calm you now, wouldn’t. “We don’t know what will happen if you go back. Will you be able to leave me notes like last time? Or will the story suck you back in and keep you there, at Charli’s side and not mine?”

“I’ll find my way back to you, Y/N. You know I will,” Brian urged, and you held onto that hope, leaning in to kiss him once more. “I don’t want to live in a world where I’m not with you.”

“I know,” you agreed, nodding into him. Words seemed pointless now, both of you overwhelmed by the decision.

Eventually, Brian helped you up, taking you down the hallway to your bedroom, and laying with you as he had started to do recently. Somehow, you fell into dreams, of you and Brian together, married, with children and living out your domestically and homely life together. He was right. You didn’t aspire to be in the front limelight of anything apart from your simple goals in life.

With him at your side.

Yet, when the morning shone through, and you opened your eyes, you were alone in bed.

And there laid a note on the pillow Brian had once rested his head upon.

I love you, Y/N. I will come back to you as soon as I can.

As the tears formed in your eyes, you got up from your bed and went into the office, staring at the open screen of your laptop. Waking it up, there was the document for Eternity waiting for you to continue.

The words finally came.

_________________

Part 9

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[taeken-my-heart]

Revenant Chapter 3

Summary: You’d always been told that when you died that you’d walk into the light towards Heaven. Only problem is, you died and the light never showed up. Now you’re attached to a handsome but grumpy and sleep deprived medical student and neither one of you knows what to do to get you to finally cross over.

Rating: PG15

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Genre: Fluff, angst, Ghost!au, MedicalStudent!Namjoon

Word Count: 5433

Warnings: Mentions of physical abuse and one seizure in future chapters.

.

.

The rest of Namjoon’s shift, you spent in a daze. He worked shadowing his nurse, Sasha, quietly and efficiently, occasionally sending you worried glances.

  His concern was sweet, but made you feel a little annoyed all the same. You didn’t like feeling so out of control, like a damsel in distress waiting for someone else to solve her problems for her. The good news was that you weren’t dead…the bad news was pretty much everything else. 

Where was your family? Were you truly alone there in that bed? Did no one claim you or did they not know? You’d heard of comas before, of course you had, but your knowledge on them was limited. It seemed like people were either in short comas, a rare extended coma for years at a time…or they eventually died. 

You wondered, not for the first time, what you had left behind when you’d suddenly…well, you couldn’t explain what you were experiencing currently. Perhaps the “between” of life and death. Regardless, you wondered if anyone was missing you; if anyone even noticed you were gone. If you slipped away, perhaps no one would even notice. Or, and maybe worse, perhaps you’d wake up and find that there was no one there waiting for you. 

Maybe Namjoon would stick around. Maybe Jimin would actually be excited to see what you look like. It was all speculation and it really wasn’t getting you anywhere except for a reality you weren’t sure existed for you anymore…but somehow, it made you feel a little better. 

. .

The subway ride home was silent. All seats taken, both you and Namjoon stood by the doors. His hand wrapped around the leather strap above his head and you leaned against metal bars as the train lurched to a start. Being with him was almost like being alive; the familiarity of the screeching wheels across the tracks almost bringing back memories. That tickling familiarity of something you can’t quite remember but is scratching right at the surface. It was nice.

You took time to study the passengers in the same car as you. All tired from a long day of work; the air was stuffy with the heat of their exhaustion. Namjoon himself leaned into his arm; eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as he stared blankly through the glass of the windows. His fatigue was palpable and you found yourself wishing you could reach out to him. To rub the weariness from his eyes.

You followed after him quietly at his exit, moving towards the direction of his apartment. The crowds thinned the further you got from the station until it was just the two of you walking along the sidewalk under the hanging leaves of maple.

The evening had cooled into pleasant warmth by the time you’d reached Namjoon’s apartment building. You almost regretted having to go inside when it felt so nice out, but you coveted the company of the one person who could see you so you followed him through the lobby and into the elevator.

Jimin arrived home not long after Namjoon had finished his shower. He watched his friend shuffle around the room looking cozy and warm in flannel bottoms and a long white t-shirt, drying his hair with a towel. You watched as Jimin surveyed the room curiously, eyebrows creasing at the silence.

You sat at the loveseat by the window, staring out into the quickly darkening evening, deep hues of crimson electrifying the sky one more time before the dark finally silenced it. “Is Y/N not here anymore?” Jimin asked his friend.

You watched from the corner of your eye as Namjoon’s eyes shifted to you before he mumbled an explanation to his friend. You didn’t need to be close enough to hear; you knew he was telling him about today.

“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Jimin asked loudly, eyes bouncing around the room as though he might find you. “Where is she?”

Namjoon looked towards you, nodding in your direction and Jimin’s eyes shifted your way. Once again, you found yourself wishing you weren’t invisible. “That’s good isn’t it, Y/N? You’re not dead, just in a coma!”

Namjoon groaned softly, shaking his head. “It’s never “just” a coma, Jimin. Be a little more sensitive; I’m sure it was shocking for her to see.”

Jimin muttered a soft apology and you sighed. Namjoon looked back at you. “It’s not even that, it’s just…no one was there with me. What if I died and no one cared? Or…what if I woke up and no one cared?”

“I would care!” Namjoon said and Jimin startled at his volume. “No matter what happens, you’ve got me. You wouldn’t be alone.”

“Me too!” Jimin said, nodding enthusiastically. “That made sense with what she said, right?” He whispered to his friend who nodded and you smiled.

“Thanks.” You mumbled before standing, making your way over to where they stood. Jimin’s eyes were still trained on the window and you grinned, looking over at Namjoon. “What are you guys having for dinner tonight?”

“She wants to know what we’re gonna eat tonight.” Namjoon said.

“Oh!” Jimin said with a hum, “I was thinking steak and potatoes.”

“You don’t have to shout.” Namjoon chuckled as you flinched away from his volume. “She’s standing right in front of us.”

Jimin smiled bashfully, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Sorry.”

“Do you mind if I sit with you? I know it’s hard having a conversation because Jimin can’t see or hear me…but I’d like to have the company right now.” You said softly, looking between the two.

Namjoon nodded, “of course you can join. Jimin, you want me to take potatoes?” Jimin nodded, patting his friend on the arm before heading to the fridge, pulling out a package of thawed steaks as Namjoon made his way to the pantry, pulling out a bag of potatoes and throwing some into the sink to wash.

“Jin should be home in an hour so if we time this right, we could be getting finished right when he gets back.” Jimin said, clattering around under the hob in search of a decent pan.

“I’m sure he’d appreciate a warm dinner.” Namjoon hummed and you moved to stand beside him.

“Who’s Jin?”

“He’s our other roommate,” Namjoon said, glancing at you from the corner of his eye. “He graduated college last year; works in investment. He’s been on a business trip the last 5 days and his flight is actually probably landing right about now.”

“How long have you guys known each other?” You asked, leaning your back against the counter beside him. His eyelashes were surprisingly long; long enough to make any woman jealous. His cheeks dimpled as he drew his bottom lip between his teeth, chewing softly. He flipped the water on, scrubbing the potatoes one by one as he answered.

“Actually, we’ve all been friends since elementary school. Jimin and Jin are cousins and when my family moved to the same neighborhood as Jimin’s, we just kind of met organically.”

“I wish I could tell you about my own life.” You bemoaned, “But unfortunately I don’t remember really anything.”

“Someday.” He said, turning to you with a smile, cheek dimpling in once more and your heart fluttered wild. “Someday you can tell us all about your life.”

You stood chatting with them for the next hour while they cooked, wishing you could help. As it was, everything seemed to be going straight through your hands these days. When you’d first arrived in this in between place, you’d almost been able to move things. Everything had felt a little more solid, a little more concrete, but now it seemed like the world was becoming like the wispy memories of a dream.

Jimin was just pulling the tray of roasted vegetables from the oven, when keys in the front door alerted you to the arrival of the final roommate. You moved towards it, enjoying for once the ability your “in between” gave you to be a creeper unseen. Aside from Namjoon, of course.

The front door swung open revealing an extremely handsome man in a dark blue business suit, ebony hair pushed back and away from his face. “Is there a website where you find all these good-looking roommates?” You quipped lightly, “Hotguy.com? Maybe I can search for a boyfriend on there if I wake up.”

Namjoon gave you a tight-lipped smile before turning his attention to his roommate with a loud greeting. It seemed that you would be going back to invisible now that Jin was home. You didn’t really mind, though; you understood. Having to explain to Jimin had been trying enough, he didn’t need to risk another person thinking he was crazy for your sake.

“My bro’s!” Jin shouted loudly, leaving his suitcase by the door and coming in to give hugs. “Steak? You guys are the best! I’m starving.”

“Yeah, grab a plate and load up. Everything is ready.” Jimin said, sending Namjoon a look.

Jin filled his plate with steak, mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables before sitting heavily at the table and taking the knife and fork Namjoon handed to him with a thank you. “How was your trip?” Namjoon asked, coming to sit down beside him with his own plate. He’d made a well in the middle of his potatoes, filling them so full of gravy that it had gone spilling over the rest of his plate.

It looked delicious and you pouted sadly at the sight. What you wouldn’t give to have a bite. “Trip was good,” Jin said, cutting off a huge chunk of sirloin and shoving it in his mouth. “Different way of life out there, man. Everyone’s just really slowed down, taking things one moment at a time. And the women…I’ve never seen so many gorgeous women in my life. I spent most nights lounging out on the beach, taking in the view.”

“I heard they’ve got a great club scene.” Jimin said excitedly, scooping potatoes up with his spoon and sending his cousin a look.

“Definitely, though I only went out one night. Too many early mornings to make clubbing on weeknights reasonable.”

“Old man.” Jimin scoffed playfully. Jin smacked him hard and Namjoon chuckled.

“Ya, have some respect.” Jin scolded and you watched enviously as he polished off the last of his steak, moving on to the pile of potatoes. “You won’t be in your early 20’s forever. Besides, I’m only three years older than you!”

“Did you bring me something back, mom?” Jimin teased. Jin scowled then sniffed, shaking some hair out of his eyes.

“I might have brought you something.” He mumbled begrudgingly and Jimin tore from his seat to grab his cousin’s suitcase and drag it into the kitchen. “Hey! The wheels are dirty!” Jin complained, but Jimin paid him no mind.

Tearing the zipper down, he laid the hard-shell suitcase on its side, opening to an explosion of clothes and a couple gift bags rumpled in the center. “Which one’s mine?” He asked greedily. Jin pointed to the small blue bag, reaching over to grab the green one next to it and handing it to Namjoon.

“This is for you,” he said bashfully, “they’re nothing big, just little trinkets from a beach side hut I was passing one night. Reminded me of you guys.”

Jimin tore into the wrapping in his own bag, pulling out a puka shell necklace before shouting out an excited exclamation of appreciation. Namjoon was much more composed as he opened his own. He pulled a small wooden turtle keychain from the packaging, examining it carefully.

It was beautiful and intricate, made from rich koa wood and looking like it had been hand whittled with a pocket knife. As Jin began to explain his conversation with the owner of the small hut, you decided that it probably was hand made.

You moved closer to Namjoon, examining the workmanship over his shoulder. “Thanks, hyung.” Namjoon said, smiling at his friend. “If I ever get to go anywhere, I’ll make sure to bring something back for you.”

Jin waved him off, pulling the empty plates from the table and running the water in the sink as it turned from cold to warm before plugging the drain and squirting globs of soap. He slid the plates into the water to let them soak. “I don’t expect anything from you guys; besides, I’ve already got a great job, decent pay, a nice apartment, and an incredibly handsome face, it’s my duty to treat you guys as a thank you to the universe for truly giving me it all.”

Jimin scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes as he fiddled with the clasp of his new necklace. “Talk louder, hyung, they can’t hear how obnoxious you are in Antartica and the whole world truly deserves to know.”

“I just gave you a really nice gift!” Jin complained loudly to their laughter, but you could see the smile in the corner of his lips and the glint of humor in his eyes. “And zip my suitcase back up, you slob. You dropped my Ralph Lauren shirt on floor!”

Jimin laughed, leaning over and shoving everything back into Jin’s suitcase with little to no care before zipping it back up and sitting it back on its wheels.

“I think I’m gonna get ready for bed.” Namjoon said, standing and stretching his arms over his head. A sliver of skin came into view, in between the flannel of his pajama bottoms and the soft cotton of his t-shirt and you found yourself suddenly thirsty. “Didn’t get much sleep last night and I’ve got another early morning tomorrow.”

He exchanged goodbyes with his roommates before sending you a final soft smile, retreating to his bedroom and closing the door.

. .

Seeing your body again in the morning light was as strange as it was the day before, though you were more prepared this time. You moved back towards the top of your bed, watching as your chest rose and fell. Namjoon stood on the other side, stethoscope attached to his ears and lingering over where your heart was.

You could almost feel the chill of the metal as it glided across your chest, searching for whatever he needed to fill in notes on his clip board. You reached towards yourself, fingers gliding across wisps of your hair. “Namjoon,” you whispered, and he looked up at you. “I can feel my hair. It’s faint…but I can feel it.”

“Really?” He asked excitedly, “maybe being beside your body is a good thing. Maybe it will help you to wake up.”

You were about to say something more when conversation from the hallway distracted you and a group of people suddenly entered the room. An older woman, perhaps in her 50’s, a man not so much older with an athletic build and thinning hair, two younger men, not much older than yourself, and a young girl, clinging to the dress of the woman.

Namjoon looked from you to them, but your vision suddenly tunneled as the little girl ran towards your bed. You followed her with your eyes, as she rushed out to hold your hand, tear stained face pinched as she cried out a soft, “mommy!”

“Mommy?” You murmured as all the noise of the room ceased and like the whistle of a kettle, loud and screeching in your brain, all memory came flooding back. Your parents, your brothers, your abusive ex-boyfriend- your daughter. “Cora.” You exhaled, watching as she clung to your hand, holding it up to her little face.

You remembered it all. The bat he’d brought with him, the anger, the excuses, the pain of a beating you’d thought for sure would kill you. You reached up to touch the side of your face, finding tears in place of blood as you watched the rest of your family greet Namjoon.

He explained to them briefly how you were doing this morning, chancing glances over at you, but your gaze had returned to that of the little girl standing beside your bed. Your daughter. How could you have ever forgotten her? The spitting image of you, you once again thanked the heavens she hadn’t inherited anything from her father but his height.

She was tall for a four-year-old, usually lively, and happy. Tear-stained cheeks were whiplash for you and you longed to reach for her and hold her in your arms. When you’d first found out you were pregnant with her, it was a hugely bitter pill to swallow.

She wasn’t unwanted, but the permanent connection to her emotionally and physically abusive father left you feeling like a sinking ship. You’d felt overwhelmed by the decisions you faced, especially daunting due to your young age. The situation was terrifying, but you were not one to depend on others and you immediately rose to the challenge.

It was difficult at first. No, it was still difficult…but she was worth it. You only regretted that the time it took to make money to keep the two of you afloat was time you were unable to spend with her. You felt cheated as you looked down at her; of all the time you could have spent with her up until this moment that was all now gone.

Things could have been different, if you had waited, if you’d been patient enough to find a man worthy of being her father. Someone responsible and loving. Like Namjoon. You looked over at him as he stood by the door. He nodded at you before stepping from the room and you appreciated him now more than ever. You needed this time to be with your family, even if they couldn’t see you.

“Oh, my darling.” You heard your mother say from the other side of the bed and you turned to face her as she leaned down, dropping a kiss onto your forehead. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be here yesterday, but we’ve got good news! As you know, Tim was arrested and we’re moving forward with the charges. We had to talk to our lawyer yesterday and that’s why we couldn’t be here. They found the weapon, though. He won’t get away with this. He won’t.”

The tremble in her voice broke your heart. You wanted to tell her that it was all ok, that you were there and could hear her…but of course it wasn’t all ok, you weren’t even sure you’d ever wake up, though you felt a lot more hopeful today. You had something to live for; people who loved you and wanted you back with them. You weren’t alone like you’d feared.

“It’s good to see you here, Y/N.” Your brother, Luke, murmured, rubbing his hand up and down one of your legs and you could feel the tingles of pressure. It made you want to cry from joy. That had to be a good sign, it just had to be! “For a while there you really scared us…we weren’t sure…well, we just didn’t know what would happen. You being here is good, though. This is a move in the right direction.”

“When will mommy wake up?” Cora sighed and you turned to look down at her. She was clinging to the limp hand at your side, pressing it up against her cheek and your heart hurt.

“Come here, lovey.” Your mom said, waving her over and Cora let go of your hand with a pout, making her way to her grandmother’s lap and allowing herself to be coddled.

You were so grateful to have such a good family. If you were to die, you knew Cora would be taken care of, that she would be OK. That thought gave you a lot of peace and you sat down on the edge of your hospital bed to hear them all talk.

It was strange to not be able to contribute to their conversation, but you were glad to at least be hearing and seeing them. You could say your piece later, when you woke up. Luke told you all about his girlfriend, how he was thinking about proposing soon, but he wanted you to be awake first. You wished you could tell him to just do it! They’d been dating for five years now and Emma was like a sister to you.

Your other brother, Ethan, told you he’d recently broken up with his girlfriend. You didn’t mind that so much since she’d been a prima-donna and you knew your whole family agreed. He smiled when he said it so you had the feeling he wasn’t really hurting from the change of relationship. Your dad was thinking of retiring. Then again, he’d said this once a year for the last three years, so you weren’t so sure about his follow through on this one either.

You sat with them until they had to go. Cora was complaining of hunger and your mom looked like she needed a nap. You followed them to the door and walked with them as they made their way to the elevator. You knew if you went any further, you may not be able to get back to your body, so you watched as your family stepped into the elevator, pushing the button for the 1st floor. It felt strange to wonder if you’d see them again. The doors closed slowly and you kept your eyes trained on your daughter until the very last second when the polished steel shielded her entirely from view.

You wandered the halls after that, looking casually for Namjoon, but mostly enjoying the solitude. You had a lot to think about at the moment and didn’t mind so much being alone. You were kept company by the whirl of the air conditioning and chatter of nearby doctors and nurses.

There was something appealing about being here. To watch people helping other people, people like you, through difficult times in their life. You could only imagine it was fulfilling. Difficult, but really made you feel like you were doing something good. It was probably too late to go to college now, but maybe you could do something like this if you ever woke up.

Your mom always liked to say, “now’s not the time for never.” As a child, it made absolutely no sense to you, but as an adult you could appreciate the sentiment. There was always another day to try something new. You weren’t sure what that would be yet, but it gave you another thing to look forward to for when you woke up.

When Namjoon’s day was over, you followed him back towards home, welcoming the air conditioning of his apartment. Jimin nor Jin were home yet, so you moved towards the living room to sit down. “How you feeling?” Namjoon asked gently from his place on the other side of the kitchen island.

You looked over at him, his perfectly styled hair still in place. He was wearing glasses now, pushed right up against his face and he looked tired from the long day. “I’m alright.” You murmured. “Actually, I’m better than alright. I’m good; great even. I remember everything, my family, my daughter, my beating, unfortunately. But remembering is good; it gives me something to fight for.”

“So that was your daughter?” Namjoon asked, coming to sit down beside you.

You nodded, pulling your feet up underneath you on the couch. “Yeah, she’s four. She was, of course, a surprise. It’s unfortunate that her father is who he is, but I’ve never regretted her. She’s always been a blessing.”

“What’s her name?”

“Cora.” You smiled and Namjoon’s head tilted in interest, grin peeling his mouth upwards.

“Didn’t you think you had a cat named Cora?” He chuckled.

“Yeah,” you laughed, tugging at the end of your shirt. “Turns out it was my kid.”

“Do you mind if…can I ask about what happened? Why he did…what he did?” Namjoon asked carefully.

You paused a moment to think; to remember the details of the last few years. “Tim…he’s always been present in Cora’s life, mostly at least, but the last few years he was becoming more irresponsible, a little more unhinged. We haven’t been together for years, since I was pregnant, and so she was with me a majority of the time. Recently she started telling me about things he was doing while she was there that made me feel concerned.”

“I started dating him when I was going through a rebellion phase. I felt like my parents were too restrictive and he represented everything they opposed so I was drawn to him. Stupid, yeah, but I was 17. Anyway, when I got pregnant and decided to keep the baby, I just realized that everything he was doing was not the right environment for a child so we broke up. Problem is, even when Cora came along, he kept doing those things and it got worse every year.”

“So, a few months ago I started seeking full custody and we got in a big fight about it. He said I was wrong to try and take his kid away from him and I told him if he cleaned up his act, I wouldn’t have to do it. Of course, I want Cora to have her dad in her life, but he’s a mess. Anyway, he didn’t like that, so early one morning when I’d gotten off work and he knew Cora was with my parents, he came by to “talk.” We both know how that ended up. I guess he thought that if I were dead, there’d be no custody battle.”

Namjoon’s expression was hard to read as he stared down at the carpet, absorbing the information. His body language was anything but. Shoulders bunched stiff and hands squeezed white in his lap, he looked up at you with a scowl. “He deserves to get what he gave.” He muttered angrily and you smiled, reaching out to touch his hands.

“I imagine he’ll get a taste of his own medicine when he goes to prison.” You soothed.

Namjoon stared down at your hand on his as though entranced and you began to wonder if the sensation was too strange to handle. Extracting your hand, you moved away slowly, but he reached forward as though to grab it back. “I could feel your hand more this time. It was still…different, but it felt like it had more presence.” He said in amazement.

“That’s got to be a good sign, right?” You smiled.  

“I would think so. I mean, there’s not documented cases like ours, though perhaps they’ve happened before. I can’t imagine many people will admit it out loud. But having a strong grasp of your senses seems positive!”

You hummed, leaning back into the couch cushions. “So, tell me about yourself, Namjoon. What’s your life been like? All I really know about you is that you’re studying to become a doctor and you think Eunae is the bee’s knees.”

“What are you, 80?” He flushed, running a hand through his hair and dislodging the gel holding it. “I just think she’s pretty, but we don’t really know each other. We talk sometimes in the hallways, but honestly, I think she might be into Hoseok.”

“Oh?” You asked at his shrug, “why do you think that?”

“He’s just so nice, girls really dig him. He’s completely oblivious, but I’ve seen the way she looks at him.”

“Do you think he’d be interested in her?” You asked carefully, watching his expression, but he was guarded in this moment.

He shrugged again. “Maybe. She’s nice and pretty and fairly outgoing. He likes that type of girl, but he’s also a loyal friend and he’d never make a move if he thought I wouldn’t like it…I don’t think I’d mind, though.”

“You wouldn’t mind him making a move?”

“Not really. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s still pretty and nice, but I don’t know, over the last few days my interest in her specifically has just kind of…waned.”

“Well, I guess that can be good.” You said with a smile, “I never liked being hung up on someone if it wasn’t going to move forward. Not to say you guys couldn’t move forward!”

He chuckled, waving off the comment. “I know what you mean. Besides, I tend to like the girl I could never have.”

You frowned, watching as he stood and moved back to the kitchen. “I think you could totally go on a date with her, if you asked. You’re handsome, smart, and nice. What’s not to like?”

“Thanks.” He flushed, pulling some juice from the fridge and going to grab a cup. “I’m not talking about Eunae, though. I just mean in general…I tend to like the girl that’s…untouchable.”

“On purpose?” You asked, bewildered and Namjoon laughed at your expression.

“No, of course not on purpose!” He huffed, sliding the bottle of juice back in the fridge and grabbing his cup. He made his way back to the couch, sitting back with a sigh. “It just ends up happening that way.”

“Well, what about your family?” You asked, turning to face him.

“Would I date them?” He smirked and you scoffed, smacking your hand against his shoulder.

“Ew, no! Just tell me about them, you weirdo.”

He laughed, eyeing your hand again as it settled in your lap before he resumed talking. “My parents live a few hours north, enjoying being empty nesters, I think. My little sister is in her second year of college and loving life. Studying criminology. I’ve got one amazing dog that is the true love of my life, and on weekends I like to do crossword puzzles on my phone.”

“Really?” You asked as he sipped at his juice.

“Yeah, really.” He chuckled. “It keeps my mind active.”

You sighed, comically loud, before turning to smile at him. “Well, I guess you are just as big a nerd as I thought.”

“Hey!” Namjoon scolded loudly and you laughed. The room returned to silence once more as you stared out the windows as the sky darkened. Namjoon finished his juice and placed it on the coffee table before he spoke again. “What do you think you’ll do when you wake up?

“When, huh?”

“Seems like a good chance of it, all things considered.”

You nodded with a smile. “I hope so. I suppose the first thing I’ll want to do is cuddle my baby. After that, I don’t know. Depends when I can get out of the hospital bed.” You thought for a moment about what you’d really like to do before something occurred to you. “Actually, what I’d really like to do is get a new job. I have two jobs right now that take the majority of my time and I don’t get to see Cora as much as I would like.”

“That’s my priority. After that…well…maybe I’d want to start dating again.”

Namjoon looked at you in surprise. “Oh? Do you have someone in mind?”

You shrugged, looking away from him. “I have someone in mind that I’d like to go on a date with, sure, but no point in getting hopes up about it now. I’ll wait until I wake up and go from there.”

“It’s Jimin, isn’t it?” He said it teasingly, but something in his expression was pinched and it didn’t look so much like he liked the thought of that.

You scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You didn’t really want to play a guessing game about it; weren’t ready to admit it was him you were talking about. “How about I tell you when I wake up?”

“Fair enough.” Namjoon replied, rolling his eyes good naturedly. “I’m gonna hold you to it, though.”

“Sure.” You smiled.

Just then Jin and Jimin came banging through the front door, arms full as they made their way into the kitchen. “We brought the goods!” Jin hollered loudly as Jimin went back to close the front door.

“Chicken and beer. Come get some, Joon.”

You spent the rest of the evening huddled in the living room with them as they snacked on fried chicken and drank themselves to giggles. You wondered, not for the first time, why you couldn’t have met them before. Why you couldn’t have gotten to know them as someone real and tangible? Not some strange in between being. Why you couldn’t have been around Namjoon sooner. After all, when it really came down to it, he was now half the reason you wanted to wake up.

.

.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed and thank you for being patient. I’ve been home sick for the last two days so I was able to finish this chapter finally. Please let me know what you think, it means the world to me!

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Next (finale)

Copyright © 2019 by Taeken-My-Heart. All rights reserved

[pamgkrthwrites]

Flame of Healing | EsaerMic x Reader | Chapter 4 - Arms

Masterlist | AO3

Warnings: Time skip, major cuts, Soulmate AU, Large age gap mention, slight gore(broken bones), mention of death, mention of lost virginity, mention of running away, denying of grief, grief avoidance, a slow chapter. 

Word Count: 2028

Taglist: @stargazingaloneatnight

A/N: I have lesbian plans for Ms Joke, I’ll say that now. I was going to mention this new law in the last chapter but I decided to mention in passing here because we needed to focus more on Oboro. His death will be a big deal for all these three soulmate babies.  Also, I really do not want to write a first time, so it is canon that reader has had a couple of relationships and hookups. ALSO ALSO, the group mention will also play a big part. This is the chapter to foreshadow A BUNCH of shit. Hope you all enjoy.

It had been 4 years since Oboro’s death, 3 years since you finished school and 2 years since you started working for hero agency as a nurse. 

You had been hurting ever since you were told Oboro died. You might not have talked to him in that last year of his life, but that made it worse for you. His was your best friend throughout middle school, and no one was going to replace him. 

You hadn’t bumped into your soulmates since that day in the street either. You heard about Hizashi all the time though. He was very loud and hard to take your eyes from whenever he was on TV. Shouta never appeared on TV though. 

You were all turning 21 this year, which meant only one thing.

Soulmate reveal.

It was a law that passed a year ago in response to people unable to find their soulmate. Your name, soulmates names, quirks, family, job, date of birth, address and a picture of you were on a database. Once the youngest soulmate turned 21, the information on you would be released to the other party. 

The guy who wrote the final draft choice the age 21 because he got his soulmate’s name at 21, but justified as ‘Well what if they want to go out drinking? The age to drink is 21.’ 

America was the country who made it and other countries started to follow suit so that cross country soulmates could still meet. 

This somehow opened up a question most had ignored until now. 

What if someone didn’t want to meet their soulmate or didn’t want to date them?

The Anti-Soulmate movement had grown, and you were apart of the group. The local group would meet once a week and would talk about a wild range of things. A lot of people got up and confessed they met someone before meeting their soulmate and love them instead. Some revealed their age gap with their soulmate grossed them out. Some revealed they had no knows, and didn’t want to be told that they couldn’t love anyone. 

And somehow it turned into a dating hub.

You knew you were being watched, but no one knew your true name. You once again gave up your middle name when meeting people in the group. You had joined in your last year of school and had been dating and doing hookups since. 

You were watching the news, the morning of the 5th of July. The news was talking about the celebration in America about the 4th of July. Then, Hizashi came on.

Your heart sank when you saw his face, heard him speak. His was a public figure so his birthday was already revealed to be in 2 days. 

“Hello, Japan!” He greeted with a wide smile on his face. “America has been going crazy with their party, which I will be able to relate to in a couple of days!” He laughed.

The news anchor smiled. “Yes, I heard your 21st is in two days! Are you excited to meet your soulmate?”

Mic awkwardly laughed. “Funny thing! I met one of my soulmates in UA!” Mic looked at the camera. “Hey Shouta, baby!”

You chuckled, he was a drama queen. He loved the camera, he even started his own podcast.

Even though you didn’t want to meet them, you didn’t move, did legally change your name, and listened in to Hizashi whenever you could. 

“He is the youngest out of us two, but we don’t know if he is the youngest in our soulmates.”

Unlike you, Hizashi became open about his soulmate status, probably to get your attention. Everyone knew he had two names, and he was the most vocal about it. He surprisingly cleared up a lot of horrible rumours about 2 name soulmates and there hadn’t been any slander on them since. 

Well, to your knowledge, you still covered their names up.

“And when is Shouta birthday, Mic?”

You breathed in. You were on the edge of your seat, you needed to know your timeframe to move out of the city.

He smiled. “November 8th.”

4 months, you could move countries in 4 months, right?

---

“Good morning Miss L/N!” Smiled Ms Joke at you as she walked into the building behind you.

You smiled back in return. “Good Morning Senpai, how are you?”

Even though it was not asked of you, you called all the Heroes in the building Senpai. You didn’t call Heroes from other Agencies Senpai, you called them by their hero name. It was kinda wired as Ms Joke was 2 years younger than you.

“You won’t believe who I met last night on patrol!” She smiled with a light blush.

“Who did you meet, Senpai?” You asked as you pressed the button for the elevator. 

“Eraserhead!” She smiled brightly. “He acts like an old grumpy man! Haha.”

You hadn’t heard much of Esaerhead, you knew he was an underground hero who kept to himself.

“What does he look like? I’ve only heard of him.” You state and the elevator doors ding.

“He has messy black hair, unshaven face, tired eyes, and he wears a dark green suit, black boots, and a light grey wrap scarf.” Ms Joke answered as you both stepped into the elevator. You pressed the button to the floor above while she pressed the floor where the heroes training station was. 

You looked back to when you talk to Shouta, the night Oboro died. He wore something like that.

“Does he also wear goggles?” You asked.

Her face lit up and she smiled and nodded. “YES! Have you met him before?!”

Sadly, yes. It was Shouta. He sounded the same since that day, maybe besides the messy hair and tired eyes.

“Kinda, he was just in my friend’s class. Only saw him twice.” You brushed the answer off.

The doors binged opened to your floor and you walked through. Ms Joke smiled and waved you goodbye before the doors closed. 

You weren’t a fan of Joke, you weren’t friends, just saw each other at work enough to know each other names but not well enough to invite places. 

You head over to your station to start off your day as per usual on a Monday morning. 

---

“Hello Listener!”

No.

“Sorry ‘bout this, but I got permission from your agency to get you help.”

Hizashi was standing in your healing booth, with a give bruise down his right arm, possibly broken.

“...That’s fine Present Mic.” You spoke softly. “Sit down and I’ll get started.”

Mic sat down and whined a little at his arm. You sat down next to him and pulled up the fabric of his clothing to see full damage.

“May I ask what happened?” You asked softly as you placed your hand on his arm and activated your quirk. 

Mic whined at the touch but as the bruise started to fade the more willing he was too it. “Yeah I was happily talking to some fans and a baddie ran past so I tried to stop him but he threw me into a building.”

“Ouch. Did the guy get away?” You asked as your deactivate your work and checked his arm to make sure it had been properly taken care of. 

“Nah, some other heroes were there and took care of it.” He answered as he watched you. “Have we met before Listener?”

You stopped and looked up at him. His eyes were so intense and it made you shiver. You wanted to fall and you couldn’t take your hands away from him.

“...Yes, first-year, I was friends with Shirakumo.” You answered softly as you took away your hands.

You both became quite. You both knew the situation around him, and that it was hard on both of you for different reasons.

“I… See…” He said as he tried to avoid the situation. “Do I have to do extra care with my arm?”

You can tell he cringed at asking after such a wired moment. You both were avoiding it and it was best you both got away from it.

“It might be a little tight for a couple of days, so just stretch it and massage it.”

“Great!” He smiled, awkwardly. “May I leave?”

You nodded your head and he zipped past you. You watched him make a beeline to the exist and leave before saying goodbye to anyone. 

You let out a breath, and you noticed how fast your heart was pounding. 

Was that the first time you ever touch one of your soulmates? You didn’t even notice how strong the will to not take your hand away was until he left. Your hand left so heavy yet empty once your hand was away.

You were going to have to go out on Friday night. 

---

You walked into your apartment and left out a deep breath. You kicked off your shoes and dropped your bag to the floor. You face-first into the couch and sighed. You pulled up the couch blanket and turned on the TV.

You groaned and closed your eyes to briefly rest your eyes. 

“There is currently an attack and the underground hero Eraserhead the first responder to the situation.”

Your eyes snapped open and you sat up to watch. 

Your heart dropped once you saw his face, he really was like how Ms Joke described him. He looked so tired. 

You didn’t get to see his eyes - more like you couldn’t because of the goggles. His left shoulder was slightly dripping, making it looked like he was in pain.

You weren’t paying attention to what the anchor was saying, all you could do was focus on Shouta as you started to do soft rubs into his name on your wrist.

You notice him flinch a little regarding his left wrist, he must be feeling the pain in his shoulder down to his arm.

You saw a girl with green hair running towards the fight and try to make the baddie docile. 

Your heart dropped when you figured out it was Ms Joke. 

You quickly took note of what street they were one, noticing they were close by. 

You quickly got up to put on your shoes to start running over there.

---

You got there when the fight looked like it was ending, as police were there and the baddie was tied up with a grey scarf. 

“L/N!” You heard before you were hugged tightly by the woman with green hair.

She let you go and you saw the smiling face of Ms Joke.

“Senpai, are you okay?” You asked as you touched her arm and activated your quirk to heal anything. “I saw you on the news and rushed over.”

“Aww, aren’t you just the cutest thing.” She smiled widely. “I’m fine, nothing too damaged.”

You saw Shouta walking towards you two with a glare in his eye, an angry glare. You made a whining sound and avoided eye contact.

Ms Joke turned and smiled brightly at Shouta.

“Eraserhead! Your shoulder is hurt, right? You can get healed from my lady friend here!”

You briefly looked up at him and he only glared.

“Lady friend?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“...Kinda, I am a healer at the agency Ms Joke Senpai works for.” You answered.

He was silent for a moment until he brought out his left arm, your name showing. “Could you-?”

“Of course, it’s my job.” You reached out to his arm and activated your quirk to heal him. You did your best but you couldn’t avoid to briefly touch your name on his wrist.

Ms Joke stared with a big smile as she read your name on his wrist.

When you were done you let go and deactivated your work. “It will be stiff for a day at most, so rest it. Stretch it before training and going out.”

“Thank you.” He said sweetly.

He took a couple of seconds before walking away from you two.

“Hiding from your soulmate, F/N L/N?” Ms Joke teased with a smirk on her face.

You looked up at her and sighed. “Soulmates, Senpai. I am avoiding my soulmates.”

[jackidy]

To Star Lake - Chapter 2

Rating: T Pairings: Todoroki Shouto/Sero Hanta Characters: Various Universe: Howls Moving Castle Au

Summary: A day of impossibilities starts with a mystery man, with mismatched eyes and cold hands, rescuing him in a dark alleyway as he attempted to go about his business and the pet name sweetheart being said a little too tenderly. It ends with another stranger cursing him in his own store after telling them to leave.

Things like this don’t happen to people like Sero Hanta.

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He’s all too aware of his body when he wakes up, the dull thrum of pain in his joints and back that was not too different from every time he’d fallen asleep at his desk whilst working. Only he’s not at his desk, he’s in his bed, staring at the off-white ceiling as Sero willed himself to get up, mind combing through the events of yesterday in a bid to find the source of why he ached so much.

Went to see Kaminari. Was literally swept off his feet by a wizard. Came home and met another one who –

The attempt to sit up quickly is beaten by the stiffness, Sero grumbling to himself as he stumbled over to the mirror and wash basin in his room, blinking at his appearance before sighing in resignation. “So, I didn’t dream that after all.” He mumbles, voice deeper and croakier than it had been before, eyeing his now older features warily. How was he going to explain this to Urakaka and the workers or to Mina when she turned up later?

Wait, Mina. Moving with speed that leaves him winded, Sero locks the door, knowing the other would barely hesitate before slamming the door open to announce her presence the moment she realised he wasn’t downstairs. But how could he go downstairs?! He’d aged fifty years over night due to some guy whose life mission last night seemed to solely be tormenting Sero.

Had he been the person following them through the alleyway? He wasn’t caught up enough on magic practises to know if blue fire was a common thing, he just now knew that curses burnt through you like fire. Presuming that his current state was reversible at all, gods he hoped it was.

“Pass that on to little Shouto, would you.”

Why did everything keep coming back to Shouto? He’d never met the man. Surely, he’d remember meeting a supposed heart stealing wizard, even if Sero was far from his usual target. He’d entertained the idea of his rescuer being him, of the renowned heart eater saving him, kissing the back of his hand before he was stating he was his Hanta. But things like that don’t happen to him, regardless of what yesterday have proved, it was simply a case of mistaken identity that had resulted in all this.

At least, that was the truth he believed until a better idea came up.

The jostling of the door handle startles him, an all too familiar annoyed noise before loud, impatient knocking sounded against the door. “Sero Hanta! Open this door so I can see your lovely face.” There she was, tehre was Mina, Sero tempted to open the door and greet her only to stop himself. How does he explain this? It had been a struggle in and of itself trying to play down the events of yesterday to keep Kaminari from stressing out and that was before the additional ones that left him twenty-three going on seventy.

“Maybe next time, I’m not feeling too great.” Not an entire lie, he didn’t feel great. He felt confused and anxious more than anything. Please buy it, he mentally pleads, hoping it would be good enough cover as to why he sounded so old now. “I must have caught something at the parade yesterday.” I caught a series of impossible events, he adds silently, waiting with bated breath to see if she buys it and leaves.

“Do you need me to get you anything? We can bring you some soup at lunch time?” We? Oh, Urakaka. No doubt as soon as Mina returned downstairs with news he was ill she’d be in the same concerned boat as Mina, the pair a force to be reckoned with when it came to any worker feeling a little off colour or, more often than not, whenever Sero over worked himself.

It happened more often than he cared to admit.

“Sure, you know my favourite.” What time was it now? How long until the lunch break and how long did he have to leave? It was ten, lunch began at one. 3 Hours was plenty of time to dress, pack some food and money and leave before they all came back. As much as he would love to stay, he doesn’t know how to explain any of this, the idea of disappearing for a while and coming back himself a more attractive idea.

Kaminari is probably going to laugh at the fact the thing that got him to stop following his self-imposed expectations of himself was being turned into an old man. This all after, of course, the blonde would shout about how he’d been right about Sero’s day only getting stranger.

His clothes still fit, though what they gained in length they lost in looseness, fitting now more snugly against him. Perhaps that’s a perk in and of itself, if this is what he was going to look like when he was older, at least his metabolism had slowed down enough to let him gain weight. “At least your clothes fit you better now.” Sero whispers to himself, shrugging on a jacket and jamming his signature hat on like always.

First stop is the kitchen, taking his bag and cautiously unlocking the door, heading downstairs, breathing a small sigh of relief to find the kitchen empty, grabbing bread, cheese and some cured meat before pausing at the sight of the tart on the table and the small note beside it of ‘Hanta’s, don’t touch!’. Oh, the temptation to take it, arguing with himself for a little too long before sighing and walking over, grabbing the nearest pen to scribble a quick ‘thank you! – Hanta’ on the note before taking it.

No use adding to the panic they were going to feel when they realised that he was gone, Sero hesitating, unsure of if he should go through with his plan before shaking his head, shoving the entire bite sized pastry in his mouth. He was leaving. He was going to the wastes to find someone, anyone, willing to tell him how to break this curse placed on him and, with any luck, hopefully break it.

Shoving the plundered food into his bag, he makes a quick escape as the dawning realisation of how much tea the shop went through during the day set in. Leaving through the gate in the courtyard behind the store, Sero slips into the alleyway, thankful as the stiffness of his joints seems to ease up but noting with some annoyance how it still remained, as if a lingering reminder of the mess he’d gotten himself in.

Maybe he should get himself a walking stick? If anything, it would add to the look, Sero politely turning down the off of help down some stairs before going back to his thoughts, did he have enough to buy a walking stick? Did he have enough money at all? He hadn’t really checked his wallet before leaving, he’d just assumed he’d have enough to get by on. Did recklessness come with being older or was this just another side of the curse that he was only just now becoming aware of because, sure, he wasn’t always the most careful of people but he’d always been careful when it came to his finances.

He’ll find a stick to use when he gets to the wastes, nothing was so sore he needed one right now anyway but it would be a safe bet he may need something to assist walking when he made it to the moorland wastes. But he was getting ahead of himself, it was all fair and well planning what he’d do once he reached the outskirts of civilisation but he first had to get there.

---

He should have bought a walking stick.

Sero makes it to the wastes, hitching a ride with a farmer whose farmland backed onto them, who felt the need to remind Sero he was crazy for going up into the wastes alone, how nobody who went there ever came back and that he hoped whoever Sero was looking for was worth it. He doesn’t have the heart to tell the man that he’s aware of the first two, just smiling a little sadly and informing him that, yes, the person he was looking for was important. Even if Sero didn’t know who that was just yet, silently hoping it was the man from the alleyway just so he could point out with annoyance at just what he’d inadvertently caused by not letting him be mugged.  

That’s what he tells himself anyway, knowing it in part to be a lie.

He still wants to know how the man knew his name, how he treated him like they not only knew each other but were close. Sero has met many people through his work but he knows full well that whilst he remembers people, they rarely remember him and yet, Mr Mystery was not only unknown to him but also knew enough about Sero to not only call him his given name but kiss his hand. How could he not be intrigued enough to seek him out and demand answers to every question the wizard had been the source of?

Sero shivers as another breeze goes through him, noting bitterly he should have picked up a thicker jacket than the one he wore as well as a stick, huddling down into a small outcropping of trees, pulling the flimsy jacket tighter around him before blowing into his hands. “Biggest I’ve ever been and I still can’t keep fucking warm.” He mutters to himself bitterly, digging into his bag for a bite to eat before setting himself to thinking of warm things.

The hearth in the work room that made the winters so much more bearable. The hot cocoa Koda made for everyone during his breaks at the bakery, including Sero if he happened to be visiting Kaminari. Urakaka and Mina’s attempts at making soups or stews and failing miserably, Sero always eating them despite the way his stomach protested each time, thinking fondly on how they’d improved over the years to the point what they made was now truly edible. How hot the alleyway had been even with the ice cold hand on his waist, how warm the wizards hand had been in comparison when it-

No.

He wasn’t supposed to be thinking about that right now, Sero’s stomach churning. It was his fault he was an old man, his fault he was currently sat in cold moorland and not in his workshop, his fault that everyone he was friends with were probably panicking over his sudden disappearance. No, that one wasn’t his fault, it was Sero’s decision to leave, no matter how much he wanted to blame someone else.

“I should have left a note for them.” He wonders idly, staring at the town in the distance, mouth pressed into a thin line as opposed to one of his usual smiles. They’ll be fine without him, he won’t be gone forever and then he’s return so they can all, rightfully, express their annoyance at him for just absconding into the wilderness without so much as a word never mind a goodbye.

The sound of something rustling makes him jump, Sero scrambling to his feet in a way that wouldn’t have affected his younger body but he’d definitely be feeling later on at this age, turning a little too sharply only to find not a beast but a stick, or should that be a branch, sticking out of the bushes. Had that been there when he’d stopped here earlier or was this just the world granting him a boon to make up for his own personal hell he was experiencing?

Putting his bag back on, Sero moves round to the other side of the outcrop, preferring the idea of not tumbling down the side of the hill should he fall, knowing full well there would be no way he’d manage to get back up the hill with any new pains he’d gain from it. The cold breeze is still present as he grabs the stick in both hands, muttering small curses as he pulled the stick, going as far as to put his foot against a tree for leverage.

“This branch better be damn worth it.” He hisses through clenched teeth, toppling backwards as the branch comes free, revealing not a walking stick like he had hoped but something entirely different. Sero isn’t too proud to admit he screams, a scarecrow that looks more akin to a crucified bird balancing perfectly at his feet, a tattered dark suit covering the frame embellished with red and black feathers that stretched from arms to a flour sack head in a way that made it look like a crown. It’s almost laughable how it looks like a mocking rendition of the missing Prince from the neighbouring kingdom.

Pushing himself to his feet, grunting in pain from his sore back and knees, Sero offers the scarecrow a withering glance before sighing. “Well, there goes my hopes for a walking stick. At least you’re not upside down now.” He grumbles, rolling his shoulders to ease the stiffness settling into them, sighing before setting off again, hands gripping the bag strap as a sense of unease filled him.

He needs to find a place to stay, eyeing the clouds above wearily as they rolled in slowly, thick and dark, the smell of lightning and rain in the air. Kaminari would be happy, he was practically lightning made flesh, but Sero was not his short friend, Sero was not too fond of being caught out in a storm, more so now he knew how cold the wastes were. If only he had actually found a stick in that bush, maybe then he’d move faster than a snail’s pace and have at least a diminishing hope of finding a place to stay tonight as opposed to the none existent one he held onto now.

Sero jumps as something is dropped in front of him, looking down at the offending object, a walking stick, before turning his attention upwards to the looming figure oh the bird turned scarecrow. If this had occurred any other week, Sero knows full well his response to a moving scarecrow would have been one of abject horror, more so down to the thing’s effigy like appearance. “Umm…thanks.”

His back cracks as he bends to pick up the cane, noting with mild amusement the bird head like handle, looking up at the scarecrow again and letting out a breathy laugh. “You must be so proud of yourself, huh?” His response comes in the form of a couple of bounces, Sero not entirely sure why he thought he’d get a verbal one beyond it feeling like a natural conclusion to come to after the day or so. “If you want to find a place for me to stay in tonight too, that would also be helpful.”

The scarecrow bounces away, a lot faster than Sero expected it to move, the cursed man silently wondering just how the scarecrow had come to be and just how it seemed to understand what he was saying to it. Was it also cursed like him or was it simply the product of unspent magic that found its home in an inanimate object? Though, what did he know, his only experiences with magic in life had resulted in the situation he was stuck in.

Hobbling forward, Sero heads in the direction the scarecrow had gone, his legs all too thankful when the ground evened out into something less steep, the lessening ache in his joints feeling heavenly even if he was still in some discomfort, preferring the mild discomfort over the sharper pains that had seemingly haunted his ankles knees and hips on inclines.

He’s not too sure how longer he’s walked for when he smells it, the all too familiar woodsmoke, Sero relaxing and moving forward with as much vigour only for the excitement to come to a crushing end when he hears it. Metal clanks and creaks against itself, the smell of smoke almost suffocating as the sight of both the scarecrow and the house it had found come into view.

Only it wasn’t a house.

That was Shouto’s castle.

“When I said find me a house, I didn’t mean that!” Sero yells, watching as the castle seems to slow its pace, passing the cursed man and scarecrow slowly but never stopping. This had to be a sick coincidence, right? Surely this bird headed scarecrow hadn’t intentionally led a magical walking castle to him, right? He might have come to the wastes looking for a witch or wizard willing to help him out but this was something else entirely, he was hoping for one that didn’t walk hand in hand with a reputation for heart eating.

Any further protests to using the castle are interrupted when the sky rumbles to life, a loud roar of thunder and the crack of lightning somewhere behind him but all too close for comfort. Breaking and entering into a castle owned by a wizard of known incredible power or staying out in a storm? It was an easy enough answer for him to find, stumbling after the castle as the sound of raindrops began to make the metal sing. Why does the castle seem to be speeding up again, had Sero missed his opportunity to enter? Rain biting into the back of his calves as he attempted to catch up, not sure if the sound in his ears was the rumbling thunder or his frantic heartbeat from the sheer effort of trying to at least keep up with the castle.

“Could you decide if you’re letting me in or not already?!” He wheezes out, the burn in his legs almost unbearable, each step feeling like he’s walking on glass as opposed to the rain-soaked grass. It’s unexpected, the way the castle seems to come to a near halt, swinging back on its legs to meet Sero’s next frantic step, the old man stumbling and falling against the stone stairs due to the momentum, hissing from the impact and the pain blooming in his shins and forearms.

He was going to be sore in the morning, shakily pulling himself up with help from both the ramshackle railing and his cane, eyeing the blue door before him before turning to regard the scarecrow, still bouncing after the castle, Sero wondering vaguely if it wanted more praise or if it was simply concerned for his wellbeing. “Thanks,” he says softly, half convinced the scarecrow hadn’t heard him only to witness the scarecrow perform the same bounce it had upon bringing him the stick.

The warmth that hits him upon opening the door is a welcome embrace, Sero walking in without a second glance to the scarecrow, closing the door softly as to avoid alerting anyone to his presence. He may be cursed, worn, far beyond the point of caring anymore but he by no means wished for more misfortunate upon himself, not today at least. Wooden stairs almost feel like a mountain as he climbs them, twelve steps feeling like twelve thousand, yet his lungs feel free, the squeeze of exhaustion having slowly eased out of them.

Sero spots the stool in the dim light of the fire, choosing to ignore the unkempt state of the room he’d entered for now, his sole focus being to sit down and just bask in the heat of the fire. His stick tapping against the floorboards and his grunts whenever he miss stepped where the only thing breaking the silence, Sero using what seemed to be the last of his energy to pull another couple of logs onto the fire before sinking onto the stool, full weight against the stick so he didn’t ultimately fall off.

“You’re not supposed to be in here.” The voice is as groggy as he feels, Sero staring at the slowly awakening fire, vaguely registering the grumpy face staring back at him from it. A fire with a face, off putting but not at all surprising, Sero too relaxed under the heat that seemed to melt his muscles and bones in peaceful welcome. It would take an act of god to move him at this point, that much he was sure of.

“I’m not supposed to be a lot of things.” He’s not supposed to be old. He’s not supposed to focus on work too much. He’s not supposed to attract the attention of witches and wizards. He’s not supposed to doubt his friend’s compliments. He’s not supposed to be sat in the castle of Ice Prince Shouto, having a conversation with the fire place about where or not he should have walked in from the wastes.

The fire regards him, a strange expression on its flames akin to impressed and humoured by Sero’s current state and, in all honesty, he isn’t sure which is worse. “Who the fuck did you piss off to have that happen?” The fire’s voice is gravely, like the crackle of burning wood, Sero finding himself slowly falling asleep only to jolt awake when there’s an annoyed shout of ‘wake up’ followed by an insult.

“I don’t know, didn’t think to ask for a name during the entire exchange.” He jokes, ignoring the unimpressed look on the fire’s flames, feeling the exhaustion begin to creep in once more. Would he still have been this fatigued if he were still his true age? He’s not sure, knowing he’s had stressful enough day to exhaust anyone. “If I can stay the night then I’ll be on my way before-”

“Do you want to break it?”

“Break what?”

“The curse.”  

The silence stretches on, the fire returning Sero’s dumbfounded look with one of mild annoyance. How does he answer that? Of course he wants to break the curse but what could a fire, sentient or not, do to help him? Sure, he had had his doubts about the scarecrow but this was different, the scarecrow could at least move but the fire was well and truly trapped in the hearth. “How do I know you actually want to help me and this isn’t another trick?”

It smirks at him, a little too on the feral side for Sero to feel fully comfortable with it, flames burning a little brighter with what he could only guess to be excitement. “Because you’re not the only one with a curse to break.” That made sense, he supposes, a fair trade of one broken curse for another, Sero wondering just how someone managed to curse a fire before it occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, the fire was in the same position as he was. “Do we have a deal?”

“Sero. My name is Sero.” He replies sleepily, all too ready to fall into the embrace of sleep as he yawned widely, slumping further onto his cane.

“Bakugou.”

“You’ve got a deal.” He mumbles more than says, finally giving himself over to the exhaustion.

[flowersandskeletons526]

“The Harshest Future We Could Have Imagined” - Lumity Future AU Fanfic Part 3

While Amity and Emira discuss the emerging problem with their brother, Luz grows frustrated with current decisions.

Part 1    Part 2

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Amity lurched forward, golden eyes blazing with hatred, but Willow clapped a hand over her mouth and yanked her back. 

Edric called orders to his squad as they marched around. Behind him, a young witch stepped out of their house. One of the soldiers grabbed them by the collar and clubbed them over the head with a vicious order to stay inside, before tossing them back and slamming the door in their face. Edric ignored the violence happening behind him. 

Keeping her hand over Amity’s mouth, Willow pushed her back into Luz and held a finger to her lips. “Not now,” she hissed. “We need reinforcements. We’ll have another chance to get him.”

Amity shoved Willow’s hand away. “He’s right there!”

“Amity, we’ll get another chance. Stand down.”

Gus popped up between them. “Guys, we should go. We can’t have Belos finding out that Luz is back yet or he’ll go straight after the portal.”

Willow shot Amity a look. Some of the fight faded from the witch’s fiery golden glare. 

“Gus is right,” she sighed. Still glaring down at Edric, she grabbed Luz’s arm. “Come on. We should go to the base and let them know where he is.”

Willow nudged her as they snuck away in the opposite direction. “You should talk to your sister.”

“I’m going to.”

They reached the base through a tunnel right where the snow began to stick at the Knee. The steep ramp down led deep underground, lit by torches that licked at the low ceiling. Luz looked around in awe like her first few days on the Isles, only now there was a foreboding sense of danger pressing down on the world around her. As they sank further underground, she shook off a chill that settled on her shoulders, one she wasn’t sure was just from the cold. 

Amity walked beside Luz. Their hands brushed together. Luz forgot where they were for a moment and smiled at Amity. The witch returned the smile, slipping her hand into Luz’s and giving it a quick squeeze, but the look disappeared in a moment. Luz watched sadly as frigid rage snuck into Amity’s eyes. 

They reached a metal door at the very bottom of the tunnel. Willow knocked three times. 

“Password,” a familiar voice barked on the other side of the door. 

Luz frowned. “Is that…?”

Amity pulled her back and held a finger to her lips.

“Wild,” Willow replied. 

“Members?”

“Thorn, Tiger, and Clone.” She glanced over her shoulder at Luz. “And a guest.” 

“A guest?”

“Friendly.”

The door swung open. A short girl with a spiky hair tie stared at them with wide eyes. She still wore the same fishhook in her ear. Her mouth hung open for a moment before she found her words again. 

“Titan,” she gasped. “Luz?”

“Hey, Viney.”

“I, you, y-you’re back! How?”

“Long story,” Amity said. “Let’s talk about it inside. Where’s Emira?” 

Viney stepped aside to let them through the door, closing and locking it behind them. “She’s with the boys in Barcus’ shed. They’re reading futures trying to find anything we need to worry about.” She paused. “Amity, I heard. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” With that, Amity swept past her and marched into the base, disappearing into the haphazard maze of buildings that occupied the large underground cavern. Luz tried to follow, but Viney caught her in a hug. 

“It’s good to see you again, troublemaker,” she said.

Luz laughed and returned the hug. “Good to see you, too. Where’s Puddles?”

“Out patrolling. She keeps Belos’ soldiers away from the entrance to this place so there’s no chance of them finding it.”

“Speaking of Belos,” Willow said. “We need to meet with everyone to discuss the new developments with Edric. We’re going to show Luz around the base and then I want a briefing set up in ten minutes.”

Viney nodded. “Got it, Commander.”

Willow waved to Luz as Viney rushed off. “Come on.”

Luz raised an eyebrow at Willow’s back. “Commander?”

“Amity and Willow are both technically commanders of the rebellion,” Gus explained quietly. “People usually call them that when we’re discussing matters related to the war.” 

“Should I be calling them that?”

“No, you’re going to be part of our squad. We don’t address them like that, but you do have to listen to them.”

“After what I’m seeing, I guess I better. I don’t remember them being so… scary.”

“We’ve all had to grow up fast since you left.” 

“Yeah, I guess so.” 

“Luz, come here,” Willow said. Luz fell into step with her. “I want to give you a quick tour of the place. See that little building over there? That’s the healer’s building. Viney is usually in there when she’s not on guard duty. That building over there is the armory.”

“Armory?”

“We can’t always rely on magic. Those buildings are our barracks. A lot of people’s homes have been destroyed, so if they join the rebellion and have nowhere else to go, they come here.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Gus mostly manages those.” 

“When I’m not helping my dad with the newsletters,” Gus chimed in. 

“Right.” 

As Willow went on, a growing weight of dread settled over Luz. She touched her glyph pad in her pocket, rolling her pencil between her fingers. What kind of world did she leave behind?

****

Meanwhile, across the base, Amity found Emira sitting in the corner of Barcus’ shed, while Barcus gazed into a crystal ball and Jerbo summoned little abominations to run around the room. Emira squashed one beneath her foot just as Amity walked in. Jerbo shot her a look and immediately resurrected the little purple creature, but kept it away from her threatening shoes. 

Emira looked up at Amity. “Mittens!”

“Can I talk to you outside?” she asked.

The elder sister frowned. “Alright.”

She followed Amity outside. Amity stepped over to the wall of the cavern and sat on a rock, pinching the bridge of her nose. Emira crossed her arms and waited. 

“We saw Edric again,” Amity finally said. 

Emira clenched her jaw. “And?”

“He was leading a patrol squad through Bonesborough. One of his soldiers clubbed some kid over the head and he didn’t even bat an eye.” 

“I don’t…” Emira bit her lip and turned away. “I don’t understand why he would do this. I know that he never liked the idea of the rebellion, but I didn’t think he would ever go this far.” 

“You heard what he said about being the stupid twin. He’s doing this to get back at us.” 

“We teased him! He and I did way worse to you, to the point where it wasn’t even funny looking back, and you didn’t do anything like this!” 

“He hated the idea of the rebellion in the first place. And it doesn’t matter why he’s doing it, it just matters that he is. Emira, L-” Amity stopped herself. She got close to Emira and lowered her voice to a hiss. “Luz is back.”

“What? When?”

“Yesterday when I got back to the Owl House she was there. If Belos finds out that she’s back, he’s going to destroy the Owl House and her trying to get the portal back. He got so close to his day of unity before she left and if we let him get his hands on the portal again, he’s going to win. With Edric running around, it’s going to be a lot harder to keep her out of sight.”

“You expect Luz to stay out of sight?”

“Okay, I don’t actually know what Willow wants to do with her, but I know that we can’t let Edric near her. You know he’ll be sent after her if Belos finds out.”

Emira sighed. “I know.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t know if I can fight him, Amity.”

Amity looked down. “Willow’s not going to ask you to.” 

“What about you, Commander?”

“You know you don’t have to call me that.”

“I do when we’re talking about things like this.” 

The younger witch rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t send you after him.” 

“What about you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mittens, you can’t hurt him.”

“He’s hurting other people! What do you expect me to do, give him a free pass because he’s my brother? Emira, it’s the same thing that happened with the Clawthornes. We’re Eda now. He’s Lilith. Blood doesn’t change the fact that he is on Belos’ team now.”

“Lilith turned good.”

“Lilith was good. She tried to get Eda healed, she wasn’t leading soldiers around beating people and petrifying them for nothing! Most importantly, she left when she found out exactly how horrible he is! Edric already knows!”

“Right, of course, and the Clawthornes can do no wrong in your eyes but our brother doesn’t even be considered to be helped and given a second chance!”

Amity bristled. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Emira cringed. “Nothing. I’m sorry, that was out of line, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“I don’t care if you meant to, you said it. What did you mean by that?”

“Mittens-”

“Emira!”

“I just wish I could still hear Blight and have happy thoughts of you guys, okay?! I wish my family didn’t fall apart! If not Mother and Father then at least you two, but no! Now my twin is part of the Emperor’s coven trying to kill us, and my sister is a Clawthorne that wants to kill him!”

The two sisters stared at each other in shocked silence after Emira’s outburst. Emira, with her face burning red and tears in her eyes, scrunched her nose and turned aside. Amity huffed and fixed her hair. She crossed her arms on her chest and faced her sister. 

“I want to give Edric a second chance,” she finally said, “but I can’t. The lines are drawn. People know what Belos is doing. Anyone who joins him now is doing it with full awareness of the gravity of that decision. I can’t… we can’t forgive him. You understand that, don’t you?” 

“He’s my twin. We share magic. You understand that, don’t you, Mittens?”

Amity scowled as her face burned. She bared just the slightest bit of fang and flattened her ears back against her head. Emira’s turned down in kind. “Commander,” she growled. 

Emira scoffed. “Oh, come on, Amity.”

“Like you said, right?” Amity pressed. “When we’re talking about things like this, you call me Commander.” 

Emira frowned, startled by the sudden coldness, but turned her eyes town and sighed. “Yes, Commander. Understood.”

Amity softened. “Emira, I really don’t want to do this. I just don’t have a choice. We can’t approach this any differently just because he’s family. Actually, it’s because he’s family that makes it so important to treat him like any other coven squad leader. We can’t show weakness in this.”

Emira laughed, but the sound was cold and hollow. It left a heavy knot twisting in Amity’s gut. “There’s the Amity I remember. I guess all that ruthlessness really paid off in the end, huh?”

Amity smirked sadly. “Just not in the way Mother or Father ever hoped.” 

“Right.” Emira wrapped her arms around Amity’s neck. Amity returned the embrace with a sigh, just happy to be held again. “I really am glad you got out of there, Mittens. Maybe not in the way it happened, but at least you got out. You did better as a Clawthorne than you ever would have as a Blight.”

“You could come live with us, too. You don’t have to stay in the barracks all the time just because they destroyed the manor.”

“They? Didn’t you throw the first fireball?”

“That’s up for debate.” 

Emira chuckled. “Remember who taught you that spell. I still can’t believe you aimed for our parents’ bedroom window with that.”

“The house was empty! It was a message, that’s all. And you started throwing fireballs with me. You aimed for your own bedroom.”

“I needed to redecorate, anyway.”

The two shared a laugh and broke apart. Before the conversation could continue, Viney came running up to them. 

“Commander Amity, Commander Willow wants everyone in the map room for a briefing. She says it’s important.”

“I’m sure. Thanks, Viney. Will you get Jerbo and Barcus?”

“On my way.”

Amity nudged Emira. “Ready to see our favorite human again?”

Emira smirked. “More like your favorite human.”

Amity blushed. Emira laughed. They strode away through the base to the map room in the center of the cavern. 

Inside, Willow, Gus, and Luz stood around the glowing table with the magic-projected map on top of it. Luz grinned when they walked in. 

“Emira!”

“Luz! It’s so good to see you again!” They shared a quick hug, one that left Emira with a mildly shocked smile afterwards. “Oh, wow, you got way taller than me. Isn’t that surprising, Amity?”

“Ah ha, yeah, really.”

Luz just tilted her head and smiled obliviously. Amity allowed herself a crumb of reminiscence. Some things hadn’t changed, after all. 

****

Once both main squads were gathered, as well as a few trusted witches that Luz didn’t recognize, Willow smacked her hands down on the table. 

“First things first,” she said. “As you all have noticed, Luz is back. While that is amazing and everyone is extremely happy to see her again, there are going to be a few problems. The first is the fact that if Belos finds out about her, he’ll know the portal is working again and he will crush us personally trying to get it. We’ve all learned that he isn’t afraid to get his own gloves dirty anymore.”

A chorus of somber agreement went up from the witches. Luz looked around at her brow furrowed. What did that mean?

“So,” Willow went on, “because of that, we have to make sure that she stays hidden for now. We can’t risk anything until we have a better plan.”

“What?” Luz exclaimed. “Willow, you can’t keep me locked out of sight. I want to help you guys. I want to fight with you! I came back here because the Isles are the only place I’ve ever felt at home and everyone here is my family. You have to let me help protect that!”

“Not now,” Willow decided. “Once we have a plan, we’ll see about putting you into a squad. We can’t let him find out about you, especially with what we just found out. Which brings me to our second problem: Edric Blight.”

Amity and Emira stared at the floor, ears flat. Luz wanted to hug Amity, but she was trapped at the other side of the table. Instead, she did her best to convey it with her eyes. She thought it must have worked, but Amity managed the sad ghost of a smile. It was something, at least.

“Edric is Belos’ new commander and has him leading a patrol squad through Bonesborough. We saw him today when we were sneaking Luz through the Isles. He knows all of our faces, especially Emira and Amity’s, so he is going to be one of our biggest threats going forward. He knows too much about the Owl House, about us, and about the rebellion from what he heard in the past to be overlooked. From now on, if anyone sees him, do not engage. You retreat and call for reinforcements, and we’ll send out a squad of witches he doesn’t know. It’s going to be harder for him to make any guesses about our plans that way. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Commander,” everyone but Amity replied.

“Yes, Commander,” Luz mumbled under her breath. 

“Good. Everyone back to your stations. Gus, bring Luz back to the Owl House.”

“Wait, Willow,” Luz began. 

“Luz, that’s an order.”

“But I want to help!”

“You are helping by doing what we say for now. Go tell Eda everything I just said and see what she wants to do. Besides, you should catch up with her, anyway.”

“Amity, come on.”

“Willow’s right, Luz,” Amity said with a sharp, single nod. “I’ll be there later tonight and we’ll talk more, okay?”

“Okay…”

Gus tugged on her elbow and led her along, out of the base. She waved to everyone and got in a few more reunion hugs before they left. She followed him back through Bonesborough without incident, sneaking in most places and cloaked with intricate illusions where they couldn’t.

“Wow, you got a lot better with your illusions, huh, Gus?” she asked. 

“Mostly,” he replied. “I still have a long way to go.” 

Finally, they reached the Owl House. Gus helped Luz explain Willow’s briefing and what they saw of Edric. He stayed a little while longer to carry a message for Eda back to the base before scurrying off into the approaching twilight. Luz sat at the table with Eda and hid her head in her arms. 

The owl lady nudged her with her elbow. “What’s wrong, kid?”

“I want to fight in the rebellion. I want to help my friends but Willow and Amity won’t let me!”

“They’re looking after what’s best for our plans. Belos can’t know about you yet. The portal can be opened but I still can’t hide it. It’s just a free standing door in my closet. Look.”

Eda opened a door to reveal another door within, this one glowing around the edges with a large yellow eye set in the front of it. She gestured to it and slammed the closet door. Luz huffed and buried herself deeper in her arms.

“I already went up against Belos. I’m grown up now and a lot stronger. Let me do it again and I can help take him down.”

“We aren’t one-on-one with Belos right now, kid. That may help, but it’s not what’s best right now. Besides, you’re stronger physically, but your magic is out of practice. You’ve spent five years without it.”

Luz sighed, thinking of all the frustrated nights spent slapping glyph after glyph, only to have them remain pencil on paper. “I know. I’m just stuck, that’s all. I know Willow’s the commander now but I only ever knew her as my friend. Why can’t she just let me help? I’m not some magic artifact to keep in a cave with a booby-trapped boulder guarding it.”

“You’ll get your chance, Luz. It’s just going to take some time.”

“I know…”

“Good kid. Until then…” Eda slapped something down on the table in front of her. Luz lifted her head to see a deck of cards. “How about a game of Hexes Hold’em?”

“You told me you were going to quit that game!”

“I did! For a little while, anyway.” Eda grinned, shuffling the deck. “Now heads up. It’s time I taught you how to play.”

Luz grinned and accepted her hand. War loomed just outside the door, but for at least a few rounds, fighting could wait.