#same with making up stressful fake scenarios

[paperclip-skz]

Not Drinking For a Fun Time

fem*Reader x Bang Chan

*WARNING*

contains: p n v, sex, unprotected sex, kissing, TENSION, straight up delulu, grinding, oral (fem receiving), I'm sure I missed something; let me know in the comments.

WC: 8.7k

a/n: not gonna lie, I'm super nervous because this is my first ever "long fic" that I'm posting and I'm not sure how ya'll will react. This started out as a fluff story and we only meant to be a couple hundred words or so...and then it escalated. Also, my requests are open so if you have an idea and want me to play it out please do not be afraid to send me an ask, I'll pretty much anything fluff, scenario....the dirtier the better hehe

Synopsis: “I’m not a performer, and I’m not a singer. I can’t entertain people. What makes you think I can lie to them?” … this was the goal. Lie to the public about a relationship between you and Chris, but there was no relationship

***** 

You're at the bar. Sulking. Wishing you were at home but longing for another drink. Your day couldn’t be worse, from the emotional rollercoaster you’ve been on to all the little things that ticked you off in the worst ways. 

The bartender rests another glass in front of you, the cold liquid reflecting the bar's dim light. “On the house,” he gestures to the drink. You nod your head in thanks and lazily grab the drink. You’ve already had enough to make your mind foggy, but not foggy enough. The events of today keep replaying in your head. 

“You’ll need to cooperate with us, Ms.L/N.” The shock is evident in not only your face but your tone as well. 

“Cooperate? You're asking me to be someone that I’m not.” Your chest heaves with anger, and your mind runs miles with adrenaline. 

“Y/N, please,” Chris coos. You whip your head around to meet the leader's and the group's defeated eyes. They have their heads hung low, still trying to process the information given in the meeting. 

“I’m not a performer, and I’m not a singer. I can’t entertain people. What makes you think I can lie to them?” … this was the goal. Lie to the public about a relationship between you and Chris, but there was no relationship. In fact, you didn’t know any of the members from Stray Kids. 

You didn’t know any of them until you started working in the same building as them. You’d pass them by in the halls, nodding in acknowledgment. One day, you were just off, stressed from all the work and frustrated that nothing was working. 

Chris noticed and asked if you were okay, being the amazing person he is. His comfort eased your stress, but anyone from afar could have mistaken his comfort for something else. The next thing you knew, pictures of you and Chris were plastered on every face of social media. Hell, you were even on the news.

Everyone was terrified that the public would react negatively and you wouldn’t be allowed to step a foot out of your own house, but it was the opposite. People swooned over your fake relationship and the idea that Chris had found someone that made him happy, but none of that was true. 

The sting of the liquid slides down your throat, and the bitter aftertaste makes your face scrunch. However, the foggy effects of the drink quickly fade your feelings. You notice a few snickers behind you, a pair of girls whispering and staring holes into the back of your head. You ignore them as much as possible while taking another small sip of your drink. 

Am I being overdramatic? Should I just go with what they are saying? People already think so, anyway. Thoughts cloud your mind, and you're entirely oblivious to the man who sneakily slides into the stool next to you. You turn your eyes to him and notice the ball cap that covers his face and the oversized black hoodie that hugs his body casually. 

He lifts his head to meet your eyes, and you're welcomed with soft brown eyes. You sigh…and groan simultaneously, taking another sip of your drink. “I’m not drinking for a fun time, Mr. Bahng.” 

“Then I’m not either.” he raises his finger, indicating a bottle. The bartender quickly sets a bottle of Soju on the counter along with a shot glass. 

You both sit there in silence as Chris pours a single shot. He swings his head back, taking the shot with ease. 

“What are you doing here Bahng?” your voice mimics defeat. 

“Drinking,” his voice is anything but defeat or sympathy. In fact, it almost sounds… optimistic. Your blood boils. How is he not angry, confused, or at least unhappy with the situation? You look at him with disgust.

You scoff under your breath, paying attention back to your glass, “I can’t believe you.”

“Can’t believe what?” he questions.

“I can’t believe you have no reaction. I can’t believe you're not angry. They are asking for us to be in a fake relationship, and you're not the least bit affected,” you whisper, careful not to let anyone hear. 

“I am angry, but not in the way you think” he turned his body to you. “I’m angry that you're in this situation. You didn’t ask for this, but here we are.” 

“I don’t think I can do this.” You lean forward, caging your head in your hands. Tears are threatening to spill. I can’t lie to the world when I don’t even want this. I don’t want to lie. I want to be able to date and have fun, not be caged to some contract just because someone mistook comfort for something else. I can’t have people watch my every move, just waiting for me to make the simplest mistake. 

“Not by yourself, you can’t,” his words lift your head slowly, and your body hangs low in front of you. 

“I don’t even know you.”

“That will come with time. Look, I won’t force you into this; no one will. But you need to know that things have already escalated, and if we don’t do something soon, they will continue to escalate. Yes, this is a solution, a messy one, but a solution.” The earnestness in his eyes makes your heart warm and the tears swell. “And you need to know, you're not doing this alone. I might be a stranger, but I’m here, and the guys say I’m a pretty good listener.” his last comment makes you chuckle as a single tear escapes you, rolling down your cheek. Chris instinctively reaches his hand to catch the tear on your cheek; his thumb delicately wipes the salty liquid off your cheek. The touch is simple but sweet, and you hate the way his touch electrifies your whole body. Your eyes meet, gentle brown eyes and a deep dimple smile. 

Your heart fills with an unfamiliar warmth, but it's welcomed….slightly. Maybe this won’t be as bad as you might think. 

They did offer money, and there's a contract, so does the risk really outweigh the means? Your mind is fighting to keep up with what's morally right and what you want. What do you want? 

You do the one thing you’ve always done: count to three in your head, breathe a long, deep breath, and say the first thing that comes to mind. “Okay.” You stare into Chris’s eyes, pleading for him to understand your hesitance. “I’ll do it.” 

Chris breathes out a sigh of relief, and you can physically see his body relax on the stool. He takes out his hand, waiting for you to shake it. He gives you a look and raises his eyebrows. It makes you laugh, but regardless, you shake his hand. “Thank you, Y/N.” 

“No problem, Mr.Bahng,” you spin in your chair and back to your drink.

“Please, call me Chris,” he nudges your shoulder playfully. 

What could possibly go wrong? 

*******

3 weeks go by after you agreed to be in this fake relationship. A contract was signed, and rules were in place, but that didn’t stop your nerves from crawling all over your body. 

“Okay, run this by me one more time so that I understand completely.” 

Stray Kids' head of marketing sits comfortably at the end of the table, scanning you and Chris. 

You and Chris, it's hard to think about. Since you’ve both agreed to this, you’ve gotten closer and become close friends. It’s hard to imagine that you barely even knew each other weeks ago, but now, he’s your closest friend, closer than anyone else. 

“The press and fans love your relationship; it's actually boosting ratings. Ever since we announced your ‘relationship,’” she air quotes the word, “your fans have been more active.”

You don’t know how to feel; you're glad that the band is getting more attention, but you're also a little nervous. I mean, how long is this little ruse supposed to go on for? “Why do I feel like there is a ‘but’ coming?” 

“But, your fans are asking more and more questions. When did you meet? Are you two living together? How involved are you?” She directs each question to you as if you know all the answers. 

“So what can we do to ease the questions? Surely, no one can expect us to keep this up forever.” You’re thankful Chris can read your mind. 

The marketing head and everyone else in the room hold their breaths. The silence makes your heart thump and sink, “you are, aren't you?” The laugh that escapes you is humorless and breathy. “You are expecting us to keep this up, at least for as long as we can, until someone starts raising eyes, but even then, you’ll probably come up with some way to puppet us out of it.” 

Chris looks from you to the marketing head, waiting for someone to answer your accusation. “Well, is that true?” You’re both met with more silence, answering both of your questions. He scoffs next to you, joining you in your humorless acts.  “Well, what's your solution then?” 

There has to be a catch to all of this. “We suggest that you both…” she pauses, eyes screaming with concern, “start saying that you live together.” 

“Just start saying this publicly? That's all?” You wait for the answer to Chris’s question, but when their marketing professional meets your eye with a weary look, you already know it.

“No, they want us to live together and show it off,” you answer Chris before the head of marketing can speak. 

Chris is fuming beside you; this wasn’t a part of the deal, “But the contract-” 

“The contract states that both of you will keep up this act under any means necessary.” she pauses for a moment, “if the public sees that you are both happy and moving forward, there’s a very good possibility that they’ll be content and move onto another form of gossip. We need to show them that you're both just moving forward like a normal couple.” She tries to make sense of it, even though as you replay her words in your mind, they seem crazier and crazier. You and Chris share the same look of disapproval, but if they were right about this fake relationship, why wouldn’t they be right about anything else? “We just need to keep this act up until something better comes along,” she continues, directing her last comment directly at you, “I promise this will all be over soon. No idol can escape drama of some kind.”

You hang on desperately to her last words, which brings you here and now, moving the last box of your stuff into a small apartment the company paid for. At least you're not spending any real money on all this. You set your box down on the kitchen counter, clapping your hands. “Finally,” you breathe. 

You walk around the kitchen counter and into the living room. There's a large couch in the middle and two hallways on either side of the living room. One leads to Chris’s room and the other to yours. It's a small apartment, but it works for your situation. Chris had already moved his stuff into his room; you haven’t seen much of him. 

You saunter down the hall to your bedroom and collapse onto your bed. Suddenly, your phone starts to ring. You answer without looking at the caller ID, “Hi honey, how are you?”.

“Hey Ama, I’m good, how is Appa?” the smile reaches your ears as you talk endlessly with your mother. The second this whole thing started, the first thing you did was call your mother. Hearing her encouraging words made the whole ordeal a little less nerve-racking. You couldn’t lie to your mother, the rest of the world…maybe, but not her. 

After an hour, you hang up the phone with your mom, bidding her a goodnight. “Jesus, it's late.” You look out into the cold night sky, guessing you kind of lost track of time. 

You get up from your spot on your bed and hurriedly get dressed into your sleepwear until your stomach pains with the feeling of being empty. Hunger overwhelms you as you make your way out to the kitchen quietly. You're wearing an oversized sweater and shorts, with your hair up in a messy bun as you enter the kitchen to find Chris eating cereal. “Don’t tell me that’s your dinner.” 

“Hey! I will let you know that this is a perfectly normal late-night snack,” Chris says between mouthfuls. He’s wearing a black tank top, showing off his defined arms and grey sweatpants. It's so casual, but why does it make him look so hot? 

It makes you chuckle and shake your head, and you slowly make your way to the middle of the kitchen. 

The one word to describe the air in the room right now is awkward. What do you do? Do you act like he’s not there and just go about making food? Do you take a snack into your room and leave him be? Maybe he's hungry, but is asking to make him some food too much? 

Chris sees the gears turning in your head, “do you want something to eat?” He asks.

“Oh, Um. Yeah, but I’m not sure what to make just yet.” You fiddle with your sleeve.

“There's ramen in the cabinets and cereal in the other one. I’m not sure what's in the fridge, but I’m sure there's some fruit if you’d like.” You nod your head, thinking of what you're craving. “But we can always order something if you're craving something specific?” 

He’s so kind. It's the same kindness he showed that fateful day when someone mistook that kindness for something more intimate. You smile at the thought. “Fruit sounds good.” You walk over to the fridge and scan its contents. You settle on some strawberries, take the plastic box, and run it through the sink. You don’t know how hungry you really are, so instead of wasting a plate and taking it to your room, you settle on just plucking each strawberry out of the plastic container. 

*Chris* 

Chris watches as you wrap your plump lips around each strawberry; his mind spins with different ideas. He thinks of your lips wrapping around his finger, your tongue twirling around his digit. He thinks of his cock springing free and your hand pumping him to full length while your mouth hangs low in anticipation. He leans forward, guiding himself across your waiting tongue…

“So why are you up so late?” Your comment snaps him out of his fantasies. He tries to shuffle in his spot, making it seem casual when, in reality, his sweats have become uncomfortably tight. 

“I had some work I needed to finish, and then I got hungry.” he gestures to the now empty bowl, “How about you?” 

“I was on a call with my mom, lost track of time, and then got hungry.” You gesture to the strawberry in your hand and slowly wrap your lips around it. Chris looks down, trying not to stare, but then he swallows a groan when he sneaks a glimpse of your bare legs. Shorts. She’s just wearing shorts. Get a hold of yourself. 

Chris needs to think of something to divert the conversation. It's too awkward right now, and it's not helping when all he can think about is ripping your shorts off. 

“Ho-”

‘Yo-”

You both speak at the same time. Clearly, you are both trying to make the whole thing a little more comfortable. Both of you chuckle at the realization. 

“I really hope we can make this whole thing a little less awkward,” Chris says as you start packing the rest of the strawberries and putting the stems in the nearby trash can. 

“Me too,” you sigh.

“We’re friends! The only show we have to put on is for the camera”

******

This was a shit idea. He can’t eat, he can’t sleep, he can’t function without a single thought leading back to you. And this “ruse” is going on for way too long. 

It's been 3 months. 3 whole months! 

But Chris couldn’t lie—it's been the best three months. You’ve both gotten so comfortable with each other that you’ve dedicated Fridays to movie night. Chris will sometimes bring your coffee order to you just because he knows you’d appreciate it, even if he doesn’t drink coffee himself. 

You’ve gotten to know each other so well and laughed so hard together that it just feels natural. 

He can’t help it. Even before this whole thing happened, he’d always watched you from afar, admired how hard you worked and how beautiful you were. But it was always that—a distant crush. 

Until this whole ordeal just planted itself right in his lap. He had to get close to you and take a chance with you. He didn’t care if it was fake. It was a chance. 

But tonight, he was cursing at himself for ever agreeing to this deal in the first place. 

It had been three months, so the public was starting to ask questions about when they were going to see you at an event…together. So, the marketing team decided that a red carpet-event was the perfect time to show you off to the public. 

Just a few pictures, maybe some conversations, but that's it. Then we’ll both be home, and we can just watch a movie. At least, that's what he thought. 

You both got ready separately because Chris had an interview an hour before the event. He was waiting by the front for your car to pull forward, and that's when you stepped out. 

His eyes widened, and his breath literally caught in his throat. Your dress was long and elegant, with one strap hanging loosely on your shoulder while the other was bare. It hugged your hips tightly to accentuate your best features. The slit was high, a little higher than you’d prefer, but it matched the theme of the dark red dress. The back of the dress was bare and reached down just before the curve of your ass. 

Chris took a long, low breath, trying to control the fighting urge inside him. He was staring at the way the dress flowed with every step you took; it was like you were walking on water with how graceful each heel clicked. 

“What?” 

He took his eyes off your legs and up to your doe eyes, which were smoky. It makes your eyes bright and glow. 

“N-nothing. I-” It was hard for him to form words. He knew you were beautiful; he thought about it every day, but he never saw you like this. He always saw you in either comfy clothes or your work clothes, never this. “You look beautiful.” 

He could see the natural blush from underneath your makeup, and he melted at the sight of your smile. 

“Shall we?” Chris held out his arm.

“We shall.” You took his arm, and he walked you inside the event. 

Easy peasy.

***

There were endless flashes and pictures, and reporters were screaming from one side to the other. You and Chris were being pulled from one background to another, everyone begging to get a picture of the happy couple. If only they knew. 

Chris was holding the middle of your back, smiling widely at each camera. Your body shivered from his touch. Surely he could feel the goosebumps across your skin. If he did, he didn’t let you know. His previous comment lingered in your mind, and it made your body warm with affection. 

He’s wearing a tailored black suit with just the jacket. It was styled so that he didn’t need a shirt to complement the jacket. It was high enough to cover everything but low enough to show his muscular chest. He stole your breath away—there's no better way to put it. 

His hold on you could be seen as endearing to the public eye, but you knew his tight hold felt different. It felt possessive. As he guided you from one area to another, his touch became more apparent to you. You could map out the roughness of the pads of his fingers, the feeling of the cold metal from his accessories, and how his palm rested fully on your skin. 

It sent tingles through your body, tingles you haven't felt in a while. 

At one point, he guided you to another photographer. Your smile falters, the exhaustion getting to you. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Chris turn his head to look at you, studying you. You couldn’t see if he was smiling. All you could tell was that he was looking at you. The photographers must be eating this up. 

You focused on trying to keep your smile up until you felt the tip of Chris's finger tilt your chin in his direction. Your eyes meet, and your smile immediately fades. Thinking you did something wrong, you search his eyes, but all you see is warmth. Your worry fades, your lips part, and your mind goes blank. The noise of the photographer fades, the tightness of the dress disappears, and every little thing is gone, the only thing you can hear, see, and breathe is Chris. 

His eyes wander from you to your lips and back to your eyes, secretly asking for permission. It's for the camera. You tilt in your head, begging for him to lean in. Your tongue darts out to wet your lips as Chris slowly leans in to graze his lips across yours. He presses a little hard to envelop your lips. His tongue slips across your bottom lip, and his hand on your back itches to touch you more. 

Loud cheers ultimately break up your little moment, and Chris quickly separates his lips from yours. The party mask slips back into action when his dimple smile appears and flashes towards the camera. 

A few more pictures and smiles and Chris quietly guides you out of the red carpet area—the feeling of his soft lips on your own leaves a tattooed memory in your brain. Finally, you and Chris are inside the elegant building. Art decorates each wall, and people mingle around, admiring the work of the artist, sharing conversations, and enjoying the drinks floating around by the staff. 

“I’m sorry if I overstepped. I thought maybe it would be a good idea for the camera.” Chris is quick to answer any accusation that you didn’t have prepared. 

“Oh, yeah, you're right. It was a good move.” You try to seem calm and cool about what just happened. I mean, you are cool with what he did; you just wish it lasted longer. “For the camera.” 

“For the camera” the last few words come out breathy and soft by the both of you, not sure if either of you truly means it. 

“Chris!” shouts of his name come from afar, and you recognize the familiar faces. “Guys!” Chris gives his members a big hug, leaving you to follow close behind. You remember the ones who are here: Hyunjin, Minho, and Felix, all gather to greet Chris. 

You leave them to get caught up, knowing they’ve missed seeing each other. A waiter comes by, offering you a drink, and you take it with grace. You know there will be a driver taking you home tonight, so why not have a few drinks? You wander around, enjoying the sight of the beautiful art. 

Colors and interesting figures decorate each canvas. You read each name and study the painting, wanting to understand exactly what the artist was feeling when creating each masterpiece. 

You stop at a particular painting of a woman. She's surrounded by different shades of black and white, her body covered by just a sheet of cloth. Her bare shoulder and the side of her face are turned away from the view of the audience, seeming like she is trying to hide her naked figure. The cloth in question is splattered with all different shades of red. You examine the title of the piece, “Hidden Lust.”

“Interesting painting?” A voice startles you from behind. Chris stands behind you, examining the painting with you. 

You smile, returning to the painting. “How are the boys?”

“They’re good; they asked about you.” A smirk plays on his lips as he studies the painting alongside you. 

You hum and examine the brittle strokes of the painting. You both stand there in silence, admiring each delicate brush of paint. 

Once you hear Chris's steady breathing, all concentration on the painting goes out the window. You can practically feel it on your skin, sending tingles straight to your core. You and Chris stand a mere few inches apart, your hands twitching to touch. 

All thoughts of how the artist could be portrayed in the painting have left your mind; the only thing that haunts your mind is the feeling of Chris’s lips on yours. The fainted memory still makes your skin tingle and your core pound with need. Suddenly the breath you have been holding releases with a long sigh, and you can see Chris suck in a breath. 

Slowly, your head turns in his direction, and Chris does the same. You both hold eye contact for what feels like forever, silently sending each other hidden messages. The air between you is so thick it becomes hard to breathe. Your eyes dart down onto his lips, retaining the memory once again, imagining what his lips would feel like if they were placed on other parts of your body. 

“There’s the lucky couple!” your moment is broken once again, and Chris is left to greet more flooding guests. Once again, you're left to wander the walls…alone. 

***

Where did she go? He’s been roaming around this building for what feels like hours. If he wasn’t stopped every five minutes, maybe he could find you. 

It's not until he sees the dark, silky color of your dress he finally releases the breath he’s been holding. 

You're walking away from a painting and venturing off into another room filled with more art. He couldn't care less about the pieces hanging on the walls. He keeps thinking about that kiss. 

It was meant to be quick, and he meant to slide his thumb right between the two of you so that your lips wouldn’t touch. But the moment was too quick, and the camera was too bright, and before he knew it, your lips were touching. It was like kissing a flower petal, light and soft, and he craved more. He wanted to kiss you so that you would kiss back with the same passion he felt inside, but he couldn’t do that now, not when everyone was watching. He would take what he could get, even if it was just a small, simple kiss. 

Leaving the cameras, he could see the confusion on your face, and worry settled in the pit of his stomach. He shouldn’t have done that, not without asking you first, not with cameras taking pictures of your every move, not when the whole world was watching. That's why he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. 

I’m such an idiot, he thought to himself. 

Calm and frantic battle in his body with each step he takes to you. This room is filled with sculptures on every corner, and smaller paintings hang. The last few people leave the room so that it's just you and Chris. He sees you studying a sculpture of two people holding each other in an embrace. The two mold together with a shared kiss, and what looks to be water made of stone surrounds them. It's quite beautiful, but the person looking at the art piece is even more stunning. His mind screams with the need to feel your lips on his once again, but he forces himself to stand next to you in silence, pretending as if he cares about the art piece in front of him. 

“I’m sorry I keep getting pulled away.” He whispers as he slides next to you. 

“No need to apologize; you're famous, and people want to meet you.” He can tell you’re holding something back. He’s only known you for a few months, but it feels like years to him. 

“Still, I came here with you. I should be at least spending some time with you,” he can’t help but look at you, at the way your features react to his words, the way your chest rises and falls as you breathe, and the way your nails pick at each other. You're holding something back, and it's killing him inside. “Did I-... Did I make you uncomfortable… with that kiss?”

His question physically takes you aback. He's trying to read you, trying to predict what you’ll say next. Everything runs through his mind: you slapping him, you yelling at him, you kissing him-

“No, of course not.” Chris breathes out a sigh. “It's just-” your eyes wander, and his body stiffens…again. “I-” you attempt to say something, “...nothing,” but your mouth shuts, and your attention is back on the sculpture. 

Knowing he didn’t make you uncomfortable eases him, but not knowing what's on your mind makes his mind wander. If he didn’t make you uncomfortable, what could possibly be going on in that pretty head of yours?

“Y/N” Chris grabs hold of your arms to turn you to face him. “Please, tell me what's on your mind, or else I might lose mine.”

You suck in a breath and open your mouth to say something. “I just…” your eyes wander once again, but Chris quickly takes his other hand to caress his thumb over your jaw, bringing your attention back onto him. “I just really want-”

“Bahng! There you are!” a tall man with spikey black hair holds his arms out. His suit blinds the both of you as his sequined suit sparkles in the light.

“Oh my god, I’m going to end up in jail tonight if we don’t get out of here soon.” his comment makes you laugh, and his body melts at the sound. 

I can’t wait till I finally get you alone. 

*****

Hours later, you are finally home, out of that tight dress, and your hair is free. You're relaxing on the couch, watching as the rain carelessly falls out the window. You thought a nice cup of tea would help the cloud of thoughts in your mind, and then you thought the rain would help, but so far, nothing has helped. 

The way Chris spoke earlier replays in your mind like a constant dream. The way he touched you, the way his eyes bored into your soul. You were so close to confessing that you wanted more than just a simple kiss; he made you want more of him. 

Now you're here, dreading if he walks out here and the awkwardness is back up. You both worked so hard to become comfortable with each other, and you don’t want that awkward tension to fill the room again. 

You hear the door creak open, signaling that Chris is out of the shower. He comes out in a pair of sweats and a loose shirt, rubbing a towel over his drenched hair. 

“You’re still up,” he says surprised. 

“Yeah, can’t sleep. Must be leftover adrenaline from tonight.” that's a lie. It's because stupid Chris won't stay out of your stupid mind. 

He nods his head, and you go back to staring blankly out the window. Thick silence, so thick it could be cut with a knife. You could feel the nerve on the end of your skin, and you pray that Chris doesn’t notice. 

“Back at the gala, you were about to say something.” 

You whip your head around, seeming dumbfounded. “Oh, I-” How do I get out of this? “I don’t remember” 

He slumps, looking defeated. “Oh, I see.” The pout on his lips makes your insides turn and ache. What did he want to hear?

“Do you…want to watch a movie?” his innocent question makes you smile. “Sure, I'd like that.” 

***

This was pointless. It's not like you’re actually paying attention to the movie. Your mind is clouded with doubts and thoughts, and Chris just sits there, enjoying the mindless action movie you guys agreed on. 

He’s so focused on what's playing on the screen. His lips are slightly parted, his eyes glow with every loud explosion, and his brows furrow every time a character takes a hit. It’s fun to study him, it's more entertaining than this damn movie….I wonder if all he’s thinking is about the movie.

***

Why the fuck does she keep looking at me? Do I have something on my face? Maybe she can see right through me and tell that I’ve been thinking about her? Can girls do that?

It is taking every bit of will he has left in his body for Chris to keep looking at this damn movie. He stopped paying attention halfway through it because he got a glimpse of your bare thigh. You're wearing shorts again, and it might actually kill him this time. God, he wants to touch you so badly. He wants to rake his hands through your thighs. He wants you to pull his hair and guide him over your body. He wants you to show him what makes you scream, and then he wants to make you scream his name-

“Do you know what's going on? Because I think I’m lost.” 

Chris snaps his head in your direction…shit.

“Uhh…well…you see the guy he… yea, I haven’t really been paying that much attention,” he breathes out a sigh of defeat. 

“Really! You looked like you were really paying attention.” if only you knew. “I guess I just kind of zoned out,” he scratches the back of his head, suddenly feeling embarrassed. 

“What were you thinking about?” your voice sounds so hopeful, but he can’t stop thinking about you running out of the apartment the second he confesses. 

“Oh…nothing” 

“Oh,” you went from hopeful to disappointment with a single word, and it made his chest ache. You both sit in silence for a beat too long, watching the movie unfold before you. 

He can’t bear the silence. It feels like that first week all over again, and it's killing him inside. “Looks like the storm is passing pretty quickly.”

Your head snaps to him with a quirked eyebrow. You stare at his unphased face for what feels like an eternity…then…The room fills with your laughter. “You want to talk about the weather?”

“Uhh”

More sounds of laughter crowd the room. “What?” he's in utter shock. What could possibly be so funny right now?

“Nothing. Yes, it does look like it's dying down,” but it’s laced with sarcasm; anyone can hear it, Chris, most of all. 

His hooded eyes look down at you with a ‘serious’ look. “What?” Your hands are thrown up in surrender. 

“Nothing,” he matches with the same tone.

He’s met with your giggles. The light shift of the mood makes his smile wide, and finally, he’s at ease. Finally, you smile again, and the awkward tension dissipates. 

Your body stretches in a long yawn, and in doing so, it inches closer to Chris. Over time, your head falls onto Chris’s shoulder, relaxing into his warmth. 

Chris’s body is on fire. Every nerve and sense is hyper-aware of your every move; it's like he can feel you without the barrier of his clothes. 

His eyes look down, watching you rest in his comfort. He feels like a teenager again, experiencing his first crush. He can feel butterflies in his stomach, and his palms begin to sweat. No one has ever made him feel this nervous.

Your shirt dips down just below the swell of your breasts, and he curses at himself for even looking. He hates the fact that your body has so much control over him, but he loves it at the same time. He thinks about all the ways your body could torture him. Your body wrapped in fragile lingerie that he could rip with his teeth, your naked body underneath him, fully exposed for him-

“Oh my god.” 

You’re both startled apart from each other. Chris only takes a minute to follow your shocked eyes down to the prominent tent forming at his pants. 

Shit.

“I- um,” Chris scrambles to find a pillow or blanket to cover his bulge. How could this happen now of all times? He expects to hear your screams, your words of disgust, or something that results in him leaving the apartment with his head hung low in shame. But more laughter echoes around the room, and he sees you turned over, holding your belly with giggles.  

“I would apologize, but it looks like you're enjoying my embarrassment.” 

“It's not that,” your voice cracks with laughs. “I just was surprised. I know you can’t control it.” more laughter fills the room. If only you weren’t laughing at his embarrassment, he would actually enjoy hearing your giggles. 

“I have more control than that,” Chris scoffs. 

“Then what is it?” You look at him, your smile still shining, while his fades. This is his chance; it's now or never. You could either lock yourself in your room, and he could never see you again, or he could be the happiest man alive. 

He takes a deep breath. “I was thinking about…our kiss”. 

***

You wish you could say you had an immediate reaction, that you jumped into his arms the second he mentioned you, but you were dumbstruck. Your eyes were shot, and your lips parted in a silent gasp. 

“I guess it was a good kiss.” Chris shrugged, his smile mimicking a quiet laugh. 

“It was.” You recall the memory, and instinctively, you wet your lips. Chris holds your gaze, not letting you run or cower away again. 

The two of you are engaged in a silent battle, each waiting for the other to give in and address the unspoken tension between you. However, you refuse to be the first to make a move, unwilling to risk misinterpreting the situation.

Your breathing becomes shallow and heavy, “I should go to bed,” but you have no intention of moving. Rather than moving, you stay perfectly still, gazing at Chris, shifting your gaze from his eyes to his lips.

Chris inches closer, leaning into you. “Tell me you feel nothing, and I will walk away.” 

Another moment of silence settles in the air. His espresso eyes contrast with his pale skin, entrapping you, unable to move, speak, or breathe. His hand comes up to caress your cheek and moves a strand of hair away from your face. “Tell me you don’t feel what I feel,” he says.

Your breath is thick and trapped, and words never make it past your lips. All you can do is communicate with your eyes and beg for him to understand your silence. “I need you to tell me, baby”.

Already breathy and chest heaving with need, you nod your head rapidly and stutter out a “yes.” 

Within seconds, Chris's lips are on yours. It's nothing like the previous kiss you shared; this one is hungry, desperate, and has shallow breaths stolen when your lips part but immediately back as if they have been deprived and starved.  

His hands cup your face, deepening the kiss. You can feel his tongue silently ask permission, sliding along your bottom lip. You steal another breath, which Chris takes as an opportunity to push his tongue past the barrier of your lips. He swallows your pleasurable moans as your hands tug and pull him closer to your body. 

Heat radiates off of him like lust steaming off his body, and you can feel his muscles tense when you rake your hands over his clothes, begging him to remove his shirt.

Chris uses his body weight to push your back flat against the couch; he lodges his leg between your thighs, spreading your legs and pressing against your core. The sudden tension makes you groan into Chris’s mouth, which he devours.  

He keeps the tension on your core, slightly rubbing his thigh against it every now and again. When his hands move down, one to grasp you by your hip and another to fondle your breast is when you separate your lips to release the sudden gasp, all the while, you arch your back.

His grip on your hip tightens, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this.” his words rasp into your ear, sending shockwaves down every nerve in your body.  

His hands hold you close to his body, and all the while, his eyes wander. Words blend into moans and whimpers as Chris keeps your burning core stimulated with his thigh. “How do you want it, baby?” His voice buzzes in your ear, and it shoots straight to your gut, making you needy and excited for more. 

“Tell me what you want.” your hands shoot into Chris’s hair, tugging and angling his head so you can kiss him again. You just want him, all of him. With your tongue plunged into his mouth, you wrap your legs around his waist, pulling him closer. His thigh moves so his hips join with yours, pushing his growing bulge against your thumping core.

Your lips part and open to say something, but Chris adds more pressure to his hips, pushing his erection against you. What you were going to say dies on your tongue, and your eyes roll to the back of your skull. “I want you so bad,” he growls, hiding his rosy cheeks in the crook of your neck. His hips find a slow rhythm, grinding both your clothed cores against each other. 

“Chris,” you moan his name, and you can feel his groin twitch against his pants. Your positive Chris can smell your arousal dripping from you. The wet spot thats gathered at the base of your panties is evidence of it. 

“Please,” you whimper, desperate for more of him. He hums in your shoulder before biting the flesh. The sudden pain causes your face to contort, but it quickly subsides as you feel Chris’s tongue soothing the mark, leaving a beautiful love bite behind.

“I never thought I’d hear you say that, fuck, that’s hot” Your mind is fuzzy with how Chris is grinding his erection into you. 

Without warning, Chris pulls his body up, only to crawl down between your legs. He makes quick work of ridding your lower clothing. Leaving you bare in front of him. Your pussy clenches from his intense stare, and your face heats when he realizes it. “What? Do I make you nervous when I stare?”

You can feel the heat of his breath against your folds. It makes you clench around nothing…and he smirks at the sight. 

Chris starts to kiss your thighs, inching closer to your dripping pussy. Finally, relief washes over you as Chris wets your lips with his tongue. Your hand goes back into Chris’s hair, tugging him closer. 

You bite your lip, trying to keep your moans quiet as his wet muscle swirls around your swollen bundle of nerves. You hold back your screams of pleasure, not willing just yet to let him hear you. 

“Are you holding back?” Chris peaks up from between your legs. Your hips follow him, begging for him to continue. You both meet eyes, and he can tell you’ve been holding back your screams from him. “Don’t. I want to hear you. I want the neighbors to know my name,” and with that, he dives back between your legs, attacking your clit like there is no tomorrow. 

You scream his name in pleasure, grinding your hips onto him. Chris works in tandem in sucking your clit into his mouth and flicking his tongue inside your walls. 

Within minutes your coating his chin with your juices and moaning at the relief in your body. Your orgasm washes over you, but that doesn’t stop Chris. He loves the way your pussy tastes. The sweetness he can feel on his tongue electrifies his whole body. 

“Chris, I- ahg -wait, I can’t” Chris keeps his previous pace, sucking your clit and looping his tongue inside your folds. 

“Come for me, baby. You’ve done so well.” Chris slides his middle finger past your wet folds, curling it up so it hits the gummy spot that makes you see stars. Your legs begin to shake, and your whole body convulses at the added feeling. 

“Chris!” you scream his name as your second orgasm squirts onto his shirt. Your legs shut close, and Chris removes himself from between them. He jumps up to kiss your forehead and lips gently. “You did so well for me, baby. I’ve got you,” he coos softly. 

One of his hands rubs soft circles on your hips, biding them open again. The ache of overstimulation subsides and your legs begin to open again. Chris kisses your forehead gently one last time, a smirk clear on his face. 

 Lost in lust, you tug off his shirt, revealing his chiseled abs and defined body. Your eyes go wide, but Chris takes your lips in a hurried kiss. You rake your hand down his pecks to his abs, stopping just before where his V-line meets the button of his pants. You break the kiss to find that his face is contorted to what looks like pain. Worry shoots through you, but Chris snaps his eyes open and cages you below him, his arms on either side of your head, “no one has ever touched me like that.” he breathes…” Do it again.”

***

You both tugged at each other, prying more clothes off your bodies and ending up in your current position. You straddling his lap, rubbing your bare cunt against his cock.

Logic and reason left your mind when Chris had you quivering over his tongue. “Y/N, shouldn’t we-” 

But you didn’t want to wait another second. You lifted your lips to guide your folds onto Chris’s waiting cock. You both groan at the pleasure. 

Immediately, you start swirling your hips, chasing that pleasure. “Slowly, baby, I’m not going anywhere,” you clenched at his words. You cling to his words. You hope those words are true, even after this night, after this whole contract thing is over. You don’t want this to end. You hug yourself close to his body, grasping his shoulders, and you can tell by the way he holds you close that he’s thinking the same thoughts as you. 

You lift your hips slowly only to let yourself settle back down onto his cock. You both relish the feeling, not wanting it to be over too soon; You set a measured pace. 

You can see the sweat trickle down Chris’s forehead. His hands claw the flesh of your ass, willing himself not to ram into you. The last thing he wants is for this to end too quickly, and he’ll be damned if he comes before you do. 

A mixture of moans and grunts fills the room. Your hips have a mind of their own as they begin to grind into him at a more steady pace. Your nails leave red marks on his shoulders, “I want to see you, want to watch you come,” Chris grunts out. 

Something within you snaps. You don’t know if it was his words or the growing knot twisting inside you, but with his words, you lift your hips and slam down onto his cock. You set a brutal pace, bousing on top of him. Chris grinds his teeth but wills his eyes open so he can watch your perfect tits bounce. 

You are both lost in the pleasure of each other, and both of you try to chase your release. Chris’s hands grip your waist like a vice, helping you lift your hips in tandem with his thrusts. 

“God, you feel so fucking good.” His thrusts become frantic, the tip of his cock kissing your cervix perfectly. With a few more final thrusts into you, you were coming undone onto his cock. Screaming his name and leaving scratch marks against his abs. 

His cock plunged desperately in and out of your spasming, creaming cunt, using your body shamelessly for his own euphoric release. The harsh sounds of skin slapping skin and shattered moans and muffled curses echoed off the walls as Chris pushed his cock into you and coated your inner walls white. 

You both stilled, with heavy and shaky breathing being the only forms of communication you could muster. 

You couldn’t move, could hardly breathe, and your mind was nothing but a pile of mush. It was once you opened your eyes and realized you had been moved, cleaned, and tucked into your own bed did you realize that you passed out in Chris’s arms. 

You expected to wake up in his arms, but he was nowhere to be seen. You were left in your own room, alone and cold. 

“Chris?” you called, hoping what you experienced wasn’t a dream, that it was real. It sure felt real. Your legs and pussy were still sore just thinking about it. 

Worry begins to settle in. What if you did imagine all of it? What if you're back to a feeling that's all too familiar, with uncomfortable tension that sends shivers down your spine and nights filled with longing for what could have been?

“Look who’s finally up.” You turned your head to your door frame, where Chris was holding a bag of food in one hand. 

You could feel your shoulders relax, “what, you didn’t think I dish you after one night, did you?” he came closer, setting the bag to the side. 

“No, just got me worried.” Chan comes brings his hand up to caress your cheek and you lean into his touch. 

*Chris*

You both knew what was coming. Now that the tension has spoken for itself, what does that mean for the both of you?

Chris sits himself on the edge of your bed, taking a breath for what he’s about to say, but you speak first. 

“What does this mean now? Is the contract still in place?” 

His ears perk up and his eyes widen. He wasn’t about to let you go, no now, not ever. “I’ll be honest. I like you… a lot.” a chuckle escapes him “and I don’t want this to be the end. But I also don’t want to push you, if you don’t want the same.-”

“I do” you interrupt him. Your cheeks flush with that pretty pink that makes him melt and your smile shines high which makes his chest fill with a warmth he’s never felt before. 

“You do?”

“I like you too, I wouldn’t have done what we did if I didn’t. And honestly, I could give two shits about the contract right now” you chuckle with him. 

“Then how about this…” he twists his body so he can comfortably face you and holds out his hand for you to shake, “a new contract, physically binding.” he smiles, but suddenly changes his tone to a more serious one, “I promise to make you laugh, I promise to piss the hell out of you, but make it up to you, to make you smile, to bug the hell out of you, and I promise that as long as I call you mine, I will love you with all of me.”

Your smile stretches miles and you shake his hand. With heartfelt sincerity, you speak, “I promise to always find ways to bring a smile to your face and fill the air with laughter. I promise to make mistakes, but find ways for you to forgive me, I also promise to love every part of you even the parts you may seem unlovable.” Your voice is so angelic as if it’s softly whispering into his ear. 

You both share a tender kiss, feeling the warmth of each other's embrace. As your lips meet, a rush of emotions overcomes you, and you find yourselves entwined in each other's arms. The soft touch of your partner's skin against yours creates an intimate and comforting atmosphere. As you lay in bed, the world outside fades away, leaving only the two of you wrapped in each other's love. In this moment, you both find solace in the knowledge that no matter what challenges life may present, you have each other to lean on.

[katiascraft]

"Tender is the night for a broken heart" | CL16

Parings: Charles Leclerc x Reader.

Summary: You been feeling very sad lately. Your emotional stress is taking you places you didn’t want to be back in ever again. And Charles knows it - just wanna make sure you know you are loved despite it all.

Now playing: "Space song" by Super Pipo.

Word count: +2k

Warnings: INSINUATION OF SUICIDE - if you are sensitive to these kind of topics please don’t read it. ANGST WITH HAPPY ENDING. VERY SAD. Not a native English speaker so there could be (so many) errors. I do what I can. Not proofread.

Author's note: I may or may not written this one about a real situation. PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION. Hope you like it and sorry in advanced if I make you cry. Charles the man that you are in my head 😭. Don’t forget to comment, like or reblog! And follow me so we can be friends :3 (and drink mate together!)

MASTERLIST

The wind was brushing the tears that were dropping from your eyes gently. You were shaking, scared. Nature was the only thing that surrounded you. Tall pines with your favorite gradient of green were all around you. You could hear the bird singing. You thought it was morning because the sun on your face was warm - that made you close your eyes to take it all in. that made you sob even harder. You could hear the water of the river crashing against the stonewall of the cliff you were standing on. when you opened your eyes you could see that you were on the edge of it. You took a gasp of fair freezing in the moment. A feeling so overwhelming took over you starting to sweat. Your hands wrapped your own body around. You hugged yourself there. The pain eating you alive was almost unbearable. The wind intensified, sending shivers down your spine. You closed your eyes again, ready to let go of everything. Of this pain you carried along so many years of your life. This burden you carried everywhere. This ghost living inside you is trapped, washing away your personality. Your soul felt in prison by the canvas it got. Your body felt the most uncomfortable place to exist. Your mind was so twisted sometimes you didn't know what was reality and what was your anxiety inventing fake scenarios which will hunt you all night long. Living with you was so difficult. It felt impossible for you that someone could actually love just by who you were. If you are this dark entity then who could love you? Anyone. Your mind convinced you, you needed to end it all to be finally free. You knew you were meant to fly. You just needed to let go. Relax your body and let it float. Let it fall into the immensity of the universe. Let you find a better place to live in. have your happy ending. You finally opened your eyes again out of breath trembling. You were ready. This was it for you. It was time. It was finally time. You even smiled.

But when you were about to let go you started hearing that voice. The same voice you heard every morning and you didn't know why it would choose to stick around your misery.

“y/n! y/n stop!” his voice almost broke your ears of how loud he screamed. You stopped freezing at your feet. Your heart started pounding like crazy. Adrenaline takes over your body turning your face red. Tears started to come out again even more violently. “y/n please don't do it!” his voice was torn in desperation. He was crying as violently as you, you could feel it. You could feel him grabbing your arms. You saw the watered disappear. Now you could only see the stone of the mountain you were standing on. You screamed at the top of your lungs and then everything was black.

“No!” you woke up sweating cold. You were a sea of tears shaking. Charles was already awake. He was trying to wake you up for a couple of minutes and now is really worried about you. You couldn't stop crying stunned by the nightmare you've just had.

“y/n. It's okay, love. I am here. You are ok” he said gently so wouldn't scare you. He grabbed you in his arms carefully. You looked so fragile he was scared he could break you. His heart ached seeing you like this.

These past few weeks were really hard on your end. You started feeling like your old self, self doubting about everything and anything. Insecure you weren't enough anymore for him or your job or your friend or even your family. You started feeling like a burden again lost in your own pain and struggle. Life was always a little harder for you. You've been out of really toxic relationships during your teenagehood that broke you down so bad you had to rebuild yourself all over again as if you weren't ever born. All this trauma you carried made everyday harder to live for you. You developed social issues not knowing how to interact or make friends as the aftermath. You also couldn't trust people or ask for help. Yeah, you were depressed for a couple of years. Thankfully you met Charles at your best self you liked to think. You were starting to feel happier. You liked who you were becoming. It wasn't that hard anymore to talk to people or open up with them.

When you met, you never thought Charles would even like you to be fair. He was the most gorgeous guy you have ever met. Real life prince charming you used to tell your friends. You were only an average girl, a troubled and messed up one, you thought you had no chance with him. But at the end of the road trip with friends he kissed you and you felt so overwhelmed with joy you couldn't believe it was actually your life, the one you were living. It felt strange and at the same time amazing. It was so easy with Charles to open up to him and tell him your story. He never judged you nor ran away from you scared. He didn't see you as a monster. As a broken record never able to be fixed. He fell in love with you because to him you were the sweetest person with the biggest heart he has ever talked to. You were so honest and real to everyone about everything he fell for it. He fell for your loud and weird laugh. So Precious and contagious. With your beautiful sparkly eyes always so honest and crystal clear. You were so you, so real. He felt you were so brave to be so you. In his world it was uncommon for your kind of people. He knew since the first night he met you at Lando´s birthday 5 years ago that you were the one. He didn't know you but he already knew. Destiny told him.

He knew your struggles, of course he did. He always listened to you. Felt so heartbroken every time. If he could, he would literally murder every single monster - because the one who hurt you didn't deserve to be called even humans - that did all of that to you. To him you were so pure, maybe too good for this cruel world. He tried to protect you from it all the best he could. But there was one thing he couldn't protect you against and that was your mind. He knew that your mind was the one who could move earth and seas just to hurt you in the worst way possible.

Heknew something was off with you when you started retreating. You stopped going to friends´ dinners. You didn't assist in the races you were supposed to. You stopped getting out of home more and more. You barely went out to the garden. Most of the time you were in your studio working non stop to preoccupy your mind and not think. He knew you were struggling when I stopped doing your hair the way you loved to do it. Stopped wearing your fancy outfits just to drive him crazy and urging you to take them all off when you two got home. You stopped eating the meals you were supposed to. He knew you avoid seeking help when you feel this down. He knew it was really hard for you so he let you be and wait for you to take your time until you're ready to address your feelings.

Tonight you were asleep when he got home from Max´s. You didn't want to go either and Max was your best friend. Charles was really concerned about you. He hated seeing you like this when you don't deserve to feel this. He would burn the world alive just for you to be happy if needed. You were sleeping peacefully so he decided to take a shower and join you. He laid next to you on his side to look at your face so peacefully relaxed. So angelical. He always felt so lucky to have you around in his life. Even without noticing you were the light of his life. You made him so incredibly happy, heard, understood, supported, embraced. You were his angel. Always reaching for him to give him a hand with anything he needed. So patient and understanding. You were his favorite place and he wished he could make you feel the same. Because he loved you with every fiber on his body and the only wish he had was for you to be happy.

After about 20 minutes of sleeping or so he woke up to you sobbing uncontrollably next to him. You were asleep. He guessed you were either having a nightmare or sleep paralysis. He settled on the bed so he could try to wake you up. His heart was racing in anxiety full of worry. He tried to wake you up for a couple of long minutes until you finally did and he clothed you in his arms. He rocked you gently trying to comfort you in some way.

“I'm sorry baby you feel this way” he whispered with a knot on his throat. You were shaking still but your crying ceased little by little. He kissed your temple lovingly and carefully. You just stayed like that until you could calm down.

When you did you felt drained. Your heart aches as your face from your salty tears and tries to wipe them everytime. Charles cupped your cheeks making you look at him. You felt so guilty and embarrassed to make him go through this. He didn't deserve to be with a broken soul. He deserved better. Someone that could make him happy as he deserved. You looked at him, his eyes glassy with tears.

“Listen to me y/n, i know you may or may not believe me. But listen to me okay?” you swallowed hard, ready to hate yourself for being a burden to him. “I love you. I know you feel like you don't deserve me like you are not enough for me. But let me tell you all of that is not true. I swear I would kill all these people who made you believe all these awful things about you if I could. You don't deserve to feel this pain baby. You are beautiful. You are important to so many people. You make so happy you don't have an idea” his voice cracked making you start crying again and so did he. “You really do y/n, please, believe me. You are an amazing person despite everything that happened to you. You fought so hard to be who you are and I promise it's beautiful to see. And I'm so proud of you baby. Everyone is, I promise. You are really important to me and to everyone that knows you. You are light and I know you don't feel like it. That you feel like a burden but you aren't. And you'll never be for the right people, the ones that see you, the real you. and the real you is so interesting and pretty baby. Yes you are my love” he was crying and smiling. You were sobbing but didn't take your eyes away from him. He was burning your soul with his words. Telling you everything you needed to hear and he didn't even know that. Charlie was so perfect to you even in this shitty as fuck situations with your mental health. You felt so lucky right there in his arms under the sight of his beautiful eyes that looked at you with deep love.

“I love you charlie” you said below whisper and hugged him tightly hiding yourself under his frame. You wanted to hide there forever if possible. He intensified his grip and kissed your head trying to comfort you as much as he could.

“You deserve to be happy y/n, i really mean it. You're the best person i've ever come to know.” he said softly making butterflies fly like crazy on your stomach. The pain you felt was fading away now little by little. You felt so dumb for not talking sooner about your feelings but you forgave yourself. That's what your therapist told you. You need to be more gentle with yourself and give the same understanding perspective as you give to others. Treat yourself as you treat others. Always.

“You make me happy” you said with your face buried in his neck not wanting to get out of there anytime soon. He smiled relieved and pressed gentle kisses on your cheek.

He was the first person who listened to your soul. And you knew right there that with him by your side you could heal and finally be the person you deserve to be and be loved just because.

Charles was the love of your life. And he was yours. There´s nothing to be afraid of.

You will be more than okay.

[mylovesstuffs]

OT13 reactions to your "let's break up" text prank

Request: Hello! I've been reading your stuff, and it's so good. I was wondering if I could request something? A while back, there was a prank on TikTok with girlfriends texting their boyfriends asking/telling them they wanted to break up. I was wondering if you could do Seventeen OT13 reactions to the same scenario? Let me know if this is okay! Thank you! :)

A/N: Ah, this took me longer to complete than I expected. Anyway, this is their reaction to the general, "Let's break up," text tiktok trend. I know it's a really common prompt, but I still wanted to try it out. The videos the anon later sent me of the trend for the request (because I hadn’t seen before) actually had a twist, like, "What do we do when we break up," or, "When we break up, ___." These felt a bit different from the straightforward, "Let's break up," so I’ll be writing that version as well. I really want these to meet your expectations, anon, as well as for everyone else reading. So, if this isn’t quite what you were hoping for, please stay tuned for my next reaction post—it’ll be up soon. Until then, I hope you enjoy this one!

For the sake of the reaction, OT13 are not physically with their s/o at the moment.

Content: Suggestive in some members (Joshua, Mingyu, Minghao and Dino) MDNI!, angst if you squint, other than these I think it's cute heheh

This is my personal opinion and perspective. It may not accurately reflect their real-life personalities or behaviors.

Seungcheol: At first, he thinks you're joking, but the tone of your message makes him pause. He’s a natural leader who reads between the lines, so your message would raise a red flag. He’d immediately call you instead of texting back.

"What’s going on? Is this a joke, or are you serious?", "If something’s wrong, we need to talk about it, not text about it." If you stay silent to keep the prank going, he’d start to worry. “Listen, if you’re upset or unsure about us, we should talk in person. Breaking up over text isn’t like you.”

When you finally admit it’s a prank, you’d hear a heavy sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “You had me thinking about where I went wrong. Don’t mess with me like that, okay?” He’d pout and demand extra cuddles, peppered with kisses as apology payments, but it’s not long before he uses this prank against you, teasing about how you can’t live without him.

Jeonghan: He sees right through it. Jeonghan is the master of mind games, he knows exactly how to flip the script. When he reads your breakup text, he’d smirk to himself and reply with something like,

"Oh no, how will I ever survive without you? 🙄"

Or,

“Shit, what did I do? Let me grab my tissues and cry in public.”

If you double down, insisting it's serious, he might add a touch of fake sincerity just to keep you on edge,

“Alright, if this is real, I need to hear it from you in person. But if you’re joking, just admit it already so that you don't have to embarrass yourself before I start planning my heartbreak playlist.”

When you finally confess, he’d grin slyly and shake his head.

“You thought you could out-prank me? Cute. Now you owe me a nice date to make up for trying to stress me out.” (but was he even stressed in the first place?)

He wouldn’t even pretend to be mad, but his devilish smirk would remind you just how much you underestimated him. It was a nice try but you need to work harder to fool him.

Joshua: Joshua’s initial response is shock. He would be one of the most heartbroken, mainly because he wouldn’t immediately assume it’s a prank. His first response would be thoughtful and kind, showing how much he values your relationship He types and deletes messages a few times before sending:

“Is this really how you feel? Did I do something to make you feel this way? I’d really like to talk about it instead of texting.”

If you don’t reply quickly, he’d follow up with another message,

“Please don’t make a decision like this without us talking. I want to fix whatever’s wrong.”

When you finally admit it’s a joke, his relief would be palpable, and he’d laugh nervously. “I can’t believe you’d scare me like that!” He really thought he lost you for a second. You’re lucky he can’t stay mad at you. But just like Seungcheol he'll pout and will have to make up with him for some more~ (“You better make this up to me. Tonight.”) I'll keep it open to interpretation.

Jun: Jun would be confused and a bit hurt but wouldn’t jump to conclusions. He’d reread the text multiple times, trying to understand where it was coming from.

"I don't understand...."

"Did I do something wrong? I thought we were happy."

"Can we talk about this in person?"

If you keep the prank going, he’d start to blame himself so,

“I didn’t realize I was making you feel this way. I’m sorry.”

“Can we meet and talk about this?”

He was about to bring over your favorite snacks and talk it out and fix things!Then when you admit it’s a prank, he’d groan and playfully pout. His pout would be so adorable that you’d smother him with kisses in apology, and he’d happily take them all.

Hoshi: Hoshi's immediate reaction would be pure panic. He’d spam you with messages, each one more frantic than the last:

"WHAT?!"

"What do you mean break up?"

"Why??"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"I’ll fix it, I promise!"

"Don’t leave me!!!"

When you don’t reply fast enough, he’d call you, his voice would be shaky, “Please, let’s talk it out! I can’t lose you!” so when you finally tell him it’s a prank, he’d let out the most dramatic sigh of relief and switch to playful scolding in an instant saying things like, “You almost gave me a heart attack!” His whole world actually flashed before his eyes. But he wouldn’t let it slide easily, so you better give him cuddles for a week to make up for this!

Wonwoo: Wonwoo would approach it maturely but with a heavy heart.

"Is this really what you want?"

“If this is what you really want, I won’t stand in your way. But I’d like to know why, so I can understand.”

"I just want you to be happy, even if it’s not with me."

If you push the prank further, he’d try to give you space while quietly reflecting on what he might have done wrong.

“I hope you’re okay. Just let me know when you’re ready to talk.”

After this text from him, you'll have to immediately stop the prank because he's actually taking this into consideration for your sake. When you confess that it was all a prank, he’d take a moment before chuckling softly and saying, “You really scared me there. I was already preparing to give you the space you needed. Don’t joke about something like this, okay?” You really scared this man.

Woozi: He would be stunned and would stare at the message for a long time, unsure how to react. He finally texts back:

“Is this real? Did something happen?”

If you keep insisting it’s serious, he’d start overthinking.

“I didn’t realize I was making you feel this way. I’m sorry. Let’s meet and talk, please.”

When you reveal it’s a prank, he’d let out a heavy sigh and come all the way home to roll his eyes at you lmao. He can’t believe you just did that. Do you think he's laughing? No, he's not. But he'll forgive you this time. He’d try to act annoyed, but the small smile on his face would give him away.

Dokyeom: This poor man's heart would break immediately, and he’d call you with his voice trembling, his speech coming in quick succession, "What happened? Why do you want to break up? I don’t understand. Whatever it is, I’m sorry! Please!"

When you finally admit it’s a prank, he’d laugh out of sheer relief, but you’d sense his lingering panic. "You’re so mean! My heart is still racing!" (It is). So please do us a favour, don't do this type of prank with our cutie patootie and save him from a potential heartbreak.

Mingyu: Mingyu would be devastated but would try to keep it together.

"What? Why?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Can we talk about this face-to-face?."

When you finally tell him it’s a prank, he’d groan and collapse onto the couch, his hands covering his face. “You scared me so much! I was about to drop everything and come see you. You’re going to pay for this with a date night—and maybe a private encore performance after.” Again I'll leave this up to your interpretation of what happens after he comes back home.

Minghao: Minghao would handle it coolly but with a hint of worry.

"If that’s what you really want, I won’t stop you."

"But I’d like to know why."

When you admit it’s a prank, he’d shake his head and smirk. "Don’t test me like that again." Again, I'm leaving this up to your interpretation of what happens next when he's back home. (He’d pull you close, his lips ghosting over yours as he adds, "Next time you want my attention, just say so. No need for dramatics." — snippet)

Seungkwan: Seungkwan would immediately start spiraling the moment he reads your text. His fingers would move at lightning speed, sending a flurry of messages that progressively show his panic:

"Why??"

"????"

"What happened?"

"Is it something I did?"

"Please tell me we can fix this."

When you tell him it’s a prank, he’d yell. "YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT TO ME!" He’d immediately start pacing in circles, waving his hands around like he’s rehearsing for a drama, "I was about to cry! How could you do this to me?" while being in call with you. But then he’d laugh, give you a side eye and forgive you.

Vernon: Vernon would be too stunned to react at first. After what feels like an eternity (but is really just two minutes), he’d reply:

"Uh... what? Can we talk about this?"

He's genuinely surprised so when you tell him it’s a joke, he’d sigh and laugh awkwardly cause then it makes sense for you to do a tiktok prank on him. "You’re wild for that. My brain didn’t know how to process it." I mean who can break up with a breathtakingly gorgeous man like him?. Also, you might catch him giving you side glances for the rest of the day, as if he’s still recovering from the fake heartbreak.

Dino: Dino would be heartbroken and immediately reply.

"What? Why?"

"I thought we were happy together."

When you reveal it’s a prank, his gasp would be loud enough to echo. "No way you just did that to me! I was about to cry!" He’d pout and demand endless apologies. His grin would leave no doubt about his plans to make you make up for it. He might be the youngest but again...I'm leaving this up to your interpretation.

[personasintro]

Mutual Help | #19

𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭: @kithtaehyung

↳ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬; in order for you to pretend to be his girlfriend, he helps you with your sexual desires ⏤ he calls it mutual help

⇢ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: jungkook x reader

⇢ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: fake dating au, fluff, angst, smut, slow burn

⇢ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: explicit language

⇢ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.2k+

⇠ 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯. | 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱 | 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 ⇢ 

Morning came fast, much faster than you hoped for. Your quality sleep was interrupted by none other than Taehyung himself, who almost fell on top of your and Jungkook's body. He stumbled, cursing under his breath that made you snap out of your dreamland and stare at your friend who stared at your cuddled bodies.

"Wake up, lovebirds. We're going hiking in an hour." he said, rubbing his own eyes with tiredness.

"Fuck off." Jungkook groaned, smacking his lips as he cuddled to you even more.

"Ah, no," Taehyung exclaimed. "If I have to go hungover, so will you. Now wake the fuck up or I'm calling Jimin." he threatened, before he stumbled out of your tent but left it unzipped just to annoy you.

You both knew there's nothing you could do, and it's just a matter of time before Jimin barges into the tent with a disapproving frown and drags your asses out. Deciding it'd be better to do it on your own, you both woke up and got ready, despite the tiredness you both felt.

And here you are.

Hiking for the past twenty minutes, your chest heaving with harsh breaths as you stop in your tracks, staring at the rest of the group ahead of you.

"Hey, you good?" Namjoon asks, stopping beside you as a frown settles on his lips.

"Yeah, my stamina isn't as great as I thought." you joke, silently wishing you could just go back and sleep.

That's what you get for fucking Jungkook, instead of sleeping. Your conscience screams at you.

"That's fine, everyone has their own pace. It's the same thing with running." he tells you lightly, handing you a bottle of water that you gladly take.

Swallowing a few gulps, you thank him when he takes the bottle back. He doesn't mind that you just drank from his water? That's sweet. 

"Do you hike often?" you ask, moving your body towards the hill while Namjoon joins you and stays by your side.

"Not as often as I'd like to, but yeah, you could say that." he says, your ears perked up in interest.

"Admiration points for that. I don't think I could hike that often, although it feels nice to be surrounded by nature."

He chuckles, nodding at your words in agreement. "That's one of the reasons why I like hiking so much. It's a nice change of scenario when you're in nature, not surrounded by thousands of people and you're just out of that city rush."

You nod, agreeing with what he's talking about. That's one of the reasons why you were so happy to go on this camping trip. You needed it. You needed to take a break from the same routine you were doing for the past few months, and just relax. It's bonus Jungkook's here and if he wasn't, you know you'd never go by yourself and do something like this. Not necessarily going on a camping trip, but appreciate nature and focus on yourself more.

"Do you live in Seoul?" you ask, making him nod.

"Yeah, I've been living there for four years. You can imagine what stress and rush is there all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love Seoul but this feels very refreshing."

You don't know Namjoon that well, he's one of Hoseok's friends and even though you know they know each other with Jungkook, you've never met nor heard about him. But from what you can tell, he really loves nature and it makes you curious because there's just something interesting about him. He's so calm, so different from Taehyung and Jimin who are currently joking around with wooden sticks a few meters in front of you. But of course you love them, they're your friends.

"So, this is what you're doing in your free time? You're hiking?" you ask, mentally sighing when you get onto a straight path, so there's no climbing up the hills anymore.

"I'm not hiking all the time." he chuckles, causing you to do the same as you quickly explain yourself.

"What are you doing in your free time, is the right question." you correct yourself, noticing him smiling from the corner of your eyes.

"Reading, I love reading. Or just taking walks. What about you? What do you like to do in your free time?" he asks, glancing at you.

The black cap he's wearing creates a shadow on his face, but you still notice his eyes set on you and the little dimple poking once again as he gives you a small smile.

"I... don't even know. Telling you Netflix and eating is probably so lame." you snort, causing him to laugh.

"Why? If that's what you like to do," he shrugs, making it look like it's a completely normal thing to do. "It doesn't have to make sense to others, if it makes sense to you."

Where the hell has this man been? You can't believe someone so understanding and open minded exists, it's so easy to talk to him, even though you barely know him. Oddly, you feel like you could tell him anything and he wouldn't judge you. That's what kind of vibes he gives you.

"Yeah, that's true. I just can't think of anything that comes to my mind. I'm working all the time and if I'm not, I'm just happy to be home and rest." you shrug, realizing how boring your life is.

Well, not exactly. If it weren't for your friends who constantly drag your ass out, you'd have no social life whatsoever. It's mostly Taehyung or Jimin who spontaneously knock on your door with a sentence similar to 'wear something nice, we're going out'. Jungkook is the one who knocks on your door and joins whatever you've been doing, saying something along the lines 'we can do whatever you want'. It's safe to say, your life isn't that boring thanks to your wonderful friends.

"Ah, I get that. I like to do something productive all the time, but even I've got days when all I want to do is sleep and do nothing." he tells you, relating to your previous words as you give him a smile.

Opening your mouth, you're interrupted with Taehyung yelling at you, waving the two of you over. "Come on, we're taking a picture!" he yells, standing next to everyone who seems to wait for you.

Jungkook stands there with a camera in his hands, setting up something there before he looks up and waits for you to walk up to them. He's handsome and cute with that little top knot on the top of his head, his way of getting those long locks out of his face. When you're all there, he gives all of you instructions where you should stand. You're too busy trying to find the right position which ends up being smashed between Jimin and Taehyung who almost choke you to death.

"Done!" Jungkook says, looking at the pictures right away with one of his focused frowns.

You take that time to turn around, gaping at the incredible view. You see trees, a lot of them, and a couple of small cottages but there is still so much green. Taking out your phone, you snap a couple of pictures before you just enjoy the scenery in front of you.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Namjoon says, taking pictures too before he hides his phone in the pocket of his khaki shorts.

"It is," you nod, "It's totally worth it. Hiking might be fun after all." you chuckle, making him do the same.

"Rather than focusing on getting somewhere, take time and enjoy things around you."

It's not meant to be deep, it's just a tip for hiking but you let his words replay in your ears and you realize how true that is. Maybe you don't even know how much yet.

"I can't, Kook. My legs hurt." you whine at Jungkook who keeps pushing your back, urging you to move.

"I don't remember you being so whiny." he chuckles behind you, causing you to scoff.

"I'm not whiny, I'm just tired." you retort, ignoring the ache of your feet and leaning against Jungkook who laughs.

"Stop, you're gonna make us both fall!" he exclaims, laughing as you lean even more onto him, grin hidden from him.

"I'm not that heavy, I'm not gonna make—"

Your sentence is cut off by a loud curse and a set of exclamations, the loudest one coming from someone who's quickly recognized as Kiko when you both turn around. She's on the ground, grabbing her ankle as a soft cries leave her mouth. It happens quick, Jungkook not hesitating for a second as he runs back towards her. He kneels in front of her, not caring that his knees scraped against the harsh gravel ground. Everyone stops, Hoseok kneeling beside Jungkook as they both ask her questions and she just nods, saying something you don't hear. You walk towards them, eyes filled with worry as you see her red eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I think you twisted your ankle," Jungkook says, examining her ankle while delicately touching it. He looks up, watching her with worried eyes as your eyes drop to her swelling ankle. "We have to get back. You can't walk with your swollen ankle."

"No, you guys wanted to go hiking. I can just walk slower, or wait for you to come back." she says, drying her tears.

"It's fine. We can separate, but someone has to go with you. You won't be able to walk that distance on your own." Namjoon says, an apologetic look on his face.

You look around, waiting for someone to say they would go with her, but the least any person expects to hear is Jungkook.

"I'll take her," he says, too quickly to even give a chance to anyone else to offer. It shouldn't surprise you, he loves her and the worried expression on his face, while he can't keep his eyes off her, says it all. Yet, you stare at him dumbfounded, ignoring Taehyung's eyes on you. He is probably just as surprised as you're. "You guys go,"

He doesn't wait for any response, helping her stand up as he turns around to her with his back. "Get on my back, it'll be easier and faster." he tells her, Kiko's eyes traveling to everyone when they stop at you.

"Kookie, Hoseok can take me." she tells him, quiet but loud enough for you to hear. Something tells you you weren't supposed to hear her, but you do because your eyes are focused on both of them while your ears are perked up.

"No, it's okay." he disagrees, urging her to jump on his back and she does.

You watch her wrapping her arms around his neck while he grabs her by thighs, while Namjoon offers to join them, telling them that he's got some bandages and special lotion for a sprained ankle. The three of them go together, casually waving the rest of you off as they start to go back.

You don't realize you're just standing there, completely dumbfounded that Jungkook left without uttering a single word to you. Not because he's supposed to be your pretended boyfriend, but as a best friend. This is about Kiko, it's understandable his head and mind is somewhere else right now. But why the hell are you getting so frustrated?

"Are you going with us?"

Remembering that you're not alone, you look at Hoseok whose eyes are somehow set between curiosity and pity at the same time. He probably saw you standing here like an idiot, staring at his best friend and your fake boyfriend. He's asking a simple question, yet his gaze tells another story and it feels like he's asking you a whole different question. Mustering a little smile, you nod before letting out a soft 'yeah'.

There's no reason for you to be frustrated or upset. This is what Jungkook wanted all along, he loves her and you're completely aware of that. You're just bummed out that he's no longer hiking with you and you know it's selfish to think this, but you're more frustrated at Kiko for straining her ankle and catching Jungkook's attention again.

It feels like that time when they started dating all over again. And you know it's just a matter of time when he slips through your fingers again.

When you get back, surprisingly you've enjoyed the hike despite Jungkook's absence. What's even more surprising is that you actually talked to Hoseok and he seems like a nice guy when he's not watching over your shoulders. Your conversation wasn't anything serious, just a brief chat of your jobs and hobbies and as it seems, Hoseok's stamina is very much similar to your own. It made you laugh together for a while, deciding it's better to go back before one of you faints. Taehyung and Jimin seemed fine, although they both started to get tired. Seulgi and Minjae were taking a lot of photos, delegating Taehyung as their own personal photographer now that Jungkook left. He cursed under his breath, making sure they didn't hear him but judging by the annoyance after taking countless pictures on his face, he didn't really care anymore.

You're not as shocked as you probably thought you'd be, when you see Jungkook sitting next to Kiko while talking to her. Namjoon sits next to them, too focused on the book that he's reading to even focus on you two coming. Until Taehyung and Jimin start to get loud, too loud for them not to hear you coming. Their heads snap at the sight of you, welcoming you back while Namjoon throws questions at everyone like; 'How was it?' 'Did you take some photos?' and he even jokes, asking; "Anyone hurt?"

The laughter that follows from everyone makes even you chuckle, his question catching your attention as you look at Kiko. She laughs at Namjoon's question, shaking her head at her friend.

"How are you feeling?" Hoseok asks her, grabbing one of the water bottles as he drinks from it.

"Yeah, it looks like it's not strained. It hurts but I can walk, Joon's lotion helped a lot." she answers, glancing at Namjoon with thankfulness in her eyes.

He smiles at her, silently telling her it's okay before he goes back to reading. Everyone sits down, you with them as you take a can of coke and start to slowly sip from it. The air is filled with chatter and laughter, although you don't seem to listen to them at all.

"Can somebody get the salt and gochujang from the main building? The gatekeeper mentioned something about a little shop in the building and it seems we ran out of those items." Hoseok sighs, rummaging through the containers full of ingredients with a frown.

"I can go." you sigh, already standing up. Everyone seems to have fun and you're the only one doing nothing. Even though your legs are tired from the amount of walking you've done today, a nice and quiet walk sounds nice.

"I'm going with you." Jungkook speaks up, standing as well as he dusts off his shorts.

You shrug, not wanting to show your surprise while Hoseok gives you the money, despite you protesting and telling him you can pay for it. It doesn't cost a fortune. Why would he want to go with you when he's got an amazing opportunity to talk to her some more?

He silently walks beside you, being awfully quiet and almost as if he's walking on eggshells around you. It must be your poker face and the lack of communication you give him. Knowing Jungkook, he noticed your behavior and probably thinks you're pissed off because he just dropped everything and went to save his ex-girlfriend. And there's no reason for you to be pissed off. Yes, you were getting frustrated because you wanted to spend some time with him. But you did think it through during the hike, focusing on your thoughts more before you allowed yourself to focus on the nature around you. Although, you can't find yourself to be extremely happy because you still have your own opinion about Kiko, you should be at least considerate.

"So, did you two talk?" you ask, hiding your hands into the pockets of your shorts.

Jungkook coughs, glancing at you before he focuses his eyes forward. "Yeah, nothing personal. Namjoon was with us, so there was no time to really talk." he answers, causing you to nod.

"But how did it go?" you ask him lightly, silently telling him that you're okay talking about this. There's no reason for you to not be, and whatever he's thinking, it's not true.

But why the fuck does this conversation seem so awkward? 

"Good," he lets out a light chuckle, "Very good, actually. We just chatted about random stuff, but it felt so nice talking to her. For a moment, it felt like nothing has changed and she is still mine." he admits, tone dropping to a sadness.

It causes you to glance at him, giving him a pitiful look as you nudge his shoulder. "She'll be yours. I can feel it."

He chuckles, but it lacks real happiness and you know them talking freely, reminded him of those times when they were still dating. Also, it reminded him of his heartbreak which is still kind of fresh. He seemed better and barely showed any sadness, but with her being here and them getting closer again, it took a toll on him.

"I'm not so sure about that, but I get a good feeling from it," he decides to say, "Hey, listen. I'm sorry if I left you there, I realized what I did on my way back."

Glancing at him, you chuckle as you shake your head at him. "It's okay. Not gonna lie, I was kind of annoyed when you just left without saying anything. It made me look like an idiot and Hoseok noticed it, but it's fine. I know it meant so much to you and you just moved naturally as soon as you saw her getting hurt. You love her, Kook and it makes perfect sense that you wanted to help her."

Honesty is the key, right? It's easy to be honest with Jungkook.

However, you decide not to mention the fact you were just happy to spend some time with him, adding another adventurous memory to your collection. It'd just make him feel even worse, so you purposely leave out that fact. It's not that important anyway.

"Still, I should've controlled myself better. We're supposed to be dating and I just left you there. That was a douche move." he shrugs, letting his fingers run through his dark locks.

"You realize we are not really dating, right?" you tease him, nudging his shoulder again.

"Of course," he scoffs, "But even if we weren't, I shouldn't have ignored you. You're just as important to me. I just felt bad and considering I'm your boyfriend, fake boyfriend, it looked even worse."

"Well, you don't have to pretend for that long anymore," you tell him lightly, not noticing how he opens his mouth to say something before you interrupt him. "Look, we're here and they got ice cream!" you exclaim, pointing towards the building as you rush there when you see some popsicles box outside.

"God, women and their appetite." he mutters, following you while you're already pulling out one of the popsicles with a huge and satisfied grin.

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for Karam, plus a cut for more; Billy adopts Conner and it actually goes pretty good!

The walk over to the diner is quiet, mostly. Billy tells Lynn where some things are in Fawcett and points some stuff out in the neighborhood, but Lynn doesn’t really say much back. He nods along, though, and Billy's pretty sure he's listening. 

Maybe sure, at least. 

Worst case scenario, he figures he'll just repeat himself later. If Lynn's a little too stressed or overwhelmed to really be listening right now, well, he definitely wouldn't blame him. He's a baby, basically! Everything's gotta be so new and weird and overwhelming for him right now.

Billy isn’t gonna push. Not on day one, when they don’t even know each other yet. Lynn can take his time all he wants right now. It’s not like he’s hurting anyone, or even himself. So Billy just has to be patient with him while he learns stuff, same as any little kid he’s met in the system or on the streets. 

They get to the diner and Lynn hangs back a little bit. Billy suspects Cadmus did really not prepare him for restaurant etiquette and stuff like that, considering. He’s pretty positive it didn’t, in fact. Billy doesn’t go to many restaurants himself, but . . . 

It’s fine, he figures. He just needs to be a good example for Lynn, that’s all. And that’s what he always needs to do right now, so it’s no big deal. 

He hopes he’s being a good example, anyway. He really wants Lynn to be able to trust that he is one, so he can know he has someone to learn from, so . . . yeah. 

Billy goes to the counter, politely gives their fake last name–Batman would not appreciate them half-assing the new secret identities–and tips the waitress twenty percent and thanks her. It’s kind of a lot of food, but they have super-strength and a fridge for leftovers, so he figures it’ll be fine. 

He does feel a little nauseous over how much money he just spent, though. 

Batman gave them way more money than that, Billy reminds himself as he gathers up the bags. And there’ll be more next week. And if they actually somehow run out or just have an emergency, he can just fill out the League paperwork to requisition funds to make up for it. They could spend way more than this and still be fine. 

He’s pretty sure takeout is still gonna be a special occasions only thing, though. And couponing. Couponing is definitely gonna be a thing. 

It’s just a lot of money. 

Billy gets all of the bags juggled into his arms. Lynn looks awkward again and shifts Tawky under his other arm. 

“I can carry it,” he says stiffly. 

“Well, if you wanna,” Billy says. “We could split it?” 

“. . . sure,” Lynn says, still stiff. Billy smiles at him and offers him a couple of the bags. Lynn frowns, but takes them. Billy figures it makes sense Lynn wants to help; that’s pretty normal with little kids. Like, they always wanna do what the older kids are doing, or the adults, or just whoever. So it makes sense Lynn would too, especially if Cadmus didn’t teach him this stuff to begin with. He’s learning, basically. So yeah, it’s normal. 

And also a good sign, Billy hopes, if Lynn trusts he knows what he’s doing enough to copy him. It’s even sorta cute, actually. 

. . . okay, it’s really cute, but Lynn’s kinda a teenager so he might not appreciate hearing that. 

Still cute, though. 

They walk back to the apartment–back home, which is a weird thought, Billy recognizes fleetingly but tries not to focus on right now–and Billy unpacks all the food onto the coffee table in the living room. He figures that’ll be lower-pressure than the kitchen table for their first meal together, and they can put a show or a movie on if Lynn doesn’t want to talk too much or anything. 

Lynn sets Tawky on the end of the table, looking a little awkward about it. Billy smiles encouragingly at him. Tawky doesn’t really need to eat either in his stuffed animal form, but it’s nice that Lynn’s including him at lunch. And food does still taste good, obviously. 

“What do you wanna try first?” he asks, nudging the open box of onion rings over towards Tawky. He knows he likes them. Lynn frowns, looking a little wary. 

“It doesn’t matter,” he says stiffly. “Just . . . whatever.” 

“Okay,” Billy says, figuring that means he’s a little overwhelmed by the options. They did order a lot, so . . . yeah, that makes sense. “How about the soup, then?” 

“. . . sure,” Lynn mutters, and warily pulls the takeout bowl over to himself and takes the lid off. Billy offers him a spoon. Lynn frowns, but takes it. “. . . thanks.” 

“You’re welcome,” Billy says cheerfully. Setting a good example, and all.

[hischierswhore]

you’re losing me

based on “You’re Losing Me” by Taylor Swift

pairing: Mason Mount x Reader

tw: cursing // mentions of a proposal

a/n: is this good? probably not, but this song makes me sad whenever i listen to it so i just wrote how i pictured a scenario like this going in real life

note: all references to the song will be italicized and lyrics are bolded

You had been dating your boyfriend, Mason, for almost 6 years. You both met all those years ago while you were in England studying abroad. You guys took things slow, and eventually became much more serious about your relationship and nearly 2 years ago you moved in together.

All was great, and you both tried to make time for each other as often as possible, but lately things felt off. Mason was always busy with training, which you understood as it was his job, but he would come home completely drained and not in the mood to do anything with you.

Even while being in the same room, he would barely bat an eyelash at the sight of you entering the room.

“Hey, Mase. Can we talk?” You asked one day as you sat down next to him on the couch. His eyes were still glued to the TV screen in-front of him, but he nodded his head as if signaling for you to keep talking.

“Is everything okay with us?”

“Yeah why?” His gaze moves to you, his eyebrows are scrunched and a confused look is etched across his face. You audibly sigh at his obliviousness.

“Things haven’t been the same, Mase. You’ve been acting off and I’m just trying to figure out why things don’t feel the same”

“We’re fine. Just been busy with football and stressed about the contract” He says as he turns his attention back to the large screen, drowning out any possibility of further conversation taking place. You sigh as you get up and walk out of the room, annoyed as your boyfriend won’t make any effort to resolve the problems in your relationship.

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

Weeks passed and Mason was as stressed as before, and you felt like you were coming second to his job. You tried to be understanding, but it was hard. You missed the way things used to be between you both.

There was an important event Mason had to attend tonight, and he brought you with him as his date. You wore a beautifully fitted maroon dress, one that was sure to grab Mason’s attention.

Mason was at Carlotta’s studio as she was styling him for the evening, so you both agreed to meet at the venue.

Upon your arrival, you met up with Sophia & Andrea.

“Where’s Mason?” Sophia asked.

“Oh he’s on his way. He sent me a text a few minutes ago” You smiled in attempt to reassure not only them, but also yourself that everything was fine.

“You guys are such a perfect couple. We’re waiting for the day you guys get engaged” Andrea smiled at you as you tried to fake a smile.

After dating for 6 years, people always say things like this: that they’re waiting for day that he proposes to you. Sure, some people wait even longer, but according to his friends & family, he’s always wanted to get married especially to you. You wondered why he hadn’t proposed yet, but you always ignored the thought and focused on the moment.

Minutes later, Mason arrived at the event. You knew because of the hoard of paparazzi & interviewers racing to take pictures of him and interview him before he entered the event.

You touched up your makeup before making your way to the group you were most familiar with, as it was a mix of your boyfriend, his teammates & their girlfriends/wives. You’d grown close with the group over the years.

As you walked over, all eyes were on you, except for the ones you wanted to be on you: Mason’s. He was too indulged in conversation with someone you’ve never seen before, and they certainly weren’t part of your group.

You sparked conversation with everyone else in the meantime, mentally planning how to make Mason see that you were worth his time.

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

As your group sat down to eat at your assigned table, you could tell that Mason was distracted. You were honestly tired of it, and everyone could see that something was up. Just as Mason excused himself to go to the restroom, Christian spoke up.

“Hey Y/n… is everything alright?” Christian asked. He had always been so kind to you, and you considered him like a brother to you.

“Everything’s fine” You lied, plastering a fake smile to your face as you hoped nobody would believe otherwise.

“What’s up with him? He hasn’t been his usual outgoing self” Kai asked and you could simply shrug.

“No idea”

“Have you tried asking him?” Andrea added and you nodded your head at her question.

“He just brushed it off. I’m trying with this relationship, I really am, and I feel like he’s just given up on us” Everyone gave you sympathetic looks and comforting smiles.

“I’m so sorry, Y/n” Was all anyone could say after hearing what you’d told them.

Mason came back moments later, sitting with the rest of the group, clueless that you’d slightly vented to them about your relationship troubles.

There was an opportunity to dance near the end of the event, and you thought it would be a good chance to talk to Mason.

“Dance with me?” You asked, the hope behind your eyes shining brightly until you watched him shake his head.

“I’m tired, love. Go dance with Chris or something” Your face dropped at his words, disappointment and sadness appeared visible on your features as you turned and made your way to the bathroom.

Sophia & Andrea watched the encounter from across the table. Without a single words, both girls got up and made their way to the bathroom, knowing you would need some comfort.

You didn’t even make it to the bathroom before the tears started flowing. You rested against the wall that was hidden from view and slid down, pulling your knees into your chest as tears streamed down your face.

Sophia & Andrea appeared at that moment, crouching down with you. Andrea went to hold your hand and you jumped at the sudden contact.

“Sorry” Andrea mouthed as she sat down fully next to you, with Sophia doing the same.

“It’s okay, Y/n, just let it all out” Sophia said as she rubbed your back gently in attempt to comfort you.

“I’m drained, Soph. I’m trying my hardest to fix this relationship and he’s not even putting effort in. I was hoping to at least get something out of him tonight, some sort of sign that he’s willing to help, but nothings worked. I just wanted him to see me. Not just physically, but emotionally” Andrea handed you a tissue at that moment, allowing you to wipe the flowing mascara from ruining your makeup for the evening.

“It’s just embarrassing. He just turned me down in-front of everyone. My own boyfriend turned me down in a room full of people” Both girls brought you in for a hug.

“I’m really just tired of giving him signs that I’m fighting this battle alone, only for him to ignore them and just keep adding onto the mess that we call a relationship”

“We’re so sorry, Y/n. You of all people don’t deserve this. Try talking to him again, and if nothing works, you tried. You held up your end for as long as you could, and that’s enough. You are enough” You thanked both girls before heading back to the main room and heading to your table.

You didn’t sit next to Mason, but rather the girls and spoke to them. Your encounter with him ruined your night and you weren’t in the mood to speak to him.

Christian made his way back to the table and saw you sitting far from your boyfriend. He gave you a questioning look and you mouthed “I’ll tell you later” to him. He nodded and sat next to you, joining the conversation.

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

After explaining to Christian what was going on, he was beyond furious with his teammate. You weren’t necessarily in the mood to be near your boyfriend for the time being, but you wanted to go home. Christian offered to drive you back to the apartment you shared with Mason, which you graciously accepted.

You sent Mason a quick text to let him know that you had left and that you would be at home whenever he decided to come back. He read your text but didn’t respond.

You thanked Christian for the ride and he wished you good luck in your impending conversation with Mason.

You settled into the guest room in your apartment, getting under the covers and falling asleep with no issue.

About two hours later you heard the front door open and close, insinuating that Mason was home. You didn’t move; you wanted to see if he would even come looking for you.

News flash; he didn’t. He went straight to your bedroom and fell asleep, not a single thought of you & where you might be passed through his brain.

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

Every mornin', I glared at you with storms in my eyes

How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dyin'?

I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick

My face was gray, but you wouldn't admit that we were sick

The next morning you woke up early. You got up to make yourself coffee/tea (your preference) and a turkey&bacon sandwich to eat as you were rather starving. You saw movement from the corner of your eye and you saw Mason standing there as he watched you.

From his perspective, he had never seen anything scarier than the look in your eyes. You glared at him with storms brewing in your eyes. He had never seen someone so stoic before in his life. He watched as you made eye contact and immediately went back to sipping your drink & eating your sandwich.

He didn’t take the hint and still did his everyday routine.

“Good morning, love” He spoke as he pressed a quick kiss to the top of your head. The nickname only filled you with rage. He hadn’t said the three words you longed to hear in weeks, possibly even months. You felt your face turn gray as your body tensed at the contact.

“We need to talk” You spoke, not a single emotion laced through your words. You were serious. Mason slowly made his way to sit in-front of you.

How long could we be a sad song

'Til we were too far gone to bring back to life?

I gave you all my best me's, my endless empathy

And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier

Fighting in only your army, frontlines, don't you ignore me

I'm the best thing at this party (You're losin' me)

“I can’t continue living like this, Mason. We’ve put this off- no. You’ve put this conversation off for long enough. I’ve given you everything I’ve got. Every last ounce of hope I had for us is gone. I’ve tried, I really have tried to be the bravest soldier to fight for us, to keep us strong but I can’t anymore”

“I don’t understand” He said.

“I know you don’t. Last night, I tried so hard to get you to see me, not just physically, but emotionally as well. Fuck, Mason, you didn’t even think to compliment me at all. In fact, you barely even spoke to me. You practically ignored me the entire night. I dressed up for you. I wanted some small ounce of attention from you, in hopes that it’ll signal that maybe you did want to help me fix this, fix us”

“So you’re upset because I didn’t give you attention last night?”

“Oh my god!” You screamed. You were beyond annoyed with this man not taking any hints. You’re being straightforward and he’s just not seeing it.

And I wouldn't marry me either

A pathological people pleaser

Who only wanted you to see her

“What’s going on? Are you just tired of this relationship? Are you tired of me? Are you not wanting us to go forward because you’re afraid of a potential proposal and what our future will look like? I need to know, Mason, because frankly I’ve given up on trying to make this work”

“I’m not ready for the future…”

“Mason that’s understandable, nobody is-”

“…with you…”

“You’re not ready for a future with me? As in, you don’t want to marry me in the future?” You asked he slowly nods his head. You stayed silent for a moment as you took it all in. After a few minutes, you spoke.

“So basically for god knows how long, I’ve been fighting for us to work when you weren’t even happy in this relationship?” He didn’t move. A thick silence filled the air around you.

And I'm fadin', thinkin'

"Do something, babe, say something”

"Lose something, babe, risk something"

"Choose something, babe, I got nothing"

"To believe, unless you're choosin' me"

“I’ll take your silence as a yes then. I won’t waste anymore of both your & my time, Mason. I’ll have my things out of here by the end of the day” And with that, you grabbed your phone from the table and walked out of the kitchen, quickly grabbing a suitcase and a few boxes and started piling your belongings into them.

He didn’t move. He didn’t try to stop you. He just sat there and watched you leave.

Stop, you’re losing me

I cant find a pulse

My heart won’t start anymore

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

taglist

@ithinkimokeei @myheartgoesvroom @mounthings @tall-tanned-tattoo @itsnotgray @alwaysclassyeagle @charlewiss @mortirolo @fallingin20 @chelseagirl98 @lovelynikol16 @username-envy @swimmingismywholelife @pulisicsgirl @notsoattractivearenti @pulisichavertz @fernandezology @bracedes @neverinadream @thoseboysinblue @winterbarnesblog @chaotic-taco-collector-blog

[howlsofbloodhounds]

I need to see more content of Color matching Killer's freak, and not just in terms of suggestive themes.

Obviously he's not direct or loud about it, obviously it's not easy reading that off of a person like him, but I imagine Killer would pick up early that Color's a bit of a freak cause why the hell else would he be trying to help him so much? Freak recognizes freak. Freakception. It's just kind freak on fire vs knife freak, that's what this has become.

Color is the subtle kind of freak. There is always a 50/50 chance that if Killer's got an urge, Color's gonna indulge it and act like he always does in the process. He is a "go with the flow" kind of guy on the surface until he decides to rip off that facade. His friends already know how freakish he is to a certain extent but it's people like Killer, Epic, and Delta that truly do vibe with it in their own ways.

Killer would want more of it and look for ways to encourage Color's "dark side", Delta would compete with it, and Epic would think of any punchline to add to how hilarious he finds it.

This is a group of equally as unhinged men.

The signs of Color's freak would be evident to Killer long before he decides to take up Color's offer in leaving Nightmare behind. He would pick up those signs and use them against him, specifically during arguments or fights where Killer accuses him of having crude ulterior motives.

And Color giving him little to no reactions on that basis would not only infuriate Killer but also fascinate him even more than he already was. Cause he can't always tell whether or not a comment set something off in Color's mind, or if there really was nnothing.

And then as time continues to pass, that is when Killer's observations start to make sense. He and Color are a lot more alike than he previously thought, well beyond the "we both used to be Sans and got fucked over by the same stupid kid" commonality.

They both have deeply-rooted trauma from two of the same fucking child. While Color was eventually provided with the resources to start healing, Killer was routinely denied those resources.

Perhaps Color has one of those warped bouts of hyena-like laughter too, except while Killer has it casually, it's a red flag coming from Color as it's indicative of a panic attack, complete breakdown, or weak attempt at stress relief following either of those things.

They both struggle at showing vulnerability because of their trauma. Killer hides that in multiple shitty ways while Color has had several years of therapy and a solid support system and because of that developed a stable "fake it till you make it" mask for only the worst case scenarios where he can't catch a break soon enough. (He's had to use that mask A LOT in dealing with Killer before he left Nightmare)

Think Stage 3 doesn't have enough reasons to regard Color as a source of safety? They've both got distinct animalistic traits and behaviors, and Color dedicated the patience and time to let Stage 3 learn that at its own pace. Stage 3 finds a mutual understanding with Color that it can't with anyone else BECAUSE of the effort and comfort Color provided.

And what about the fact that they've both lost their sense of identity and since gaining freedom had to gradually make a new one with the shards they managed to salvage? They both aim to keep some aspects of "Sans", but can never truly be "Sans" again. They've both grown past the point of ever being the exact same as they were decades, perhaps hundreds of years before.

In various ways both before and after escaping their traumas, they are both in constant physical, mental, and emotional pain. Some conditions simply have no cure, no medication to soothe their symptoms.

They are so similar yet so different. So of course Color would match Killer's freak. Under calm and casual circumstances he'd agree with (Stage 2) Killer's accusation of him being a masochist and Killer would be caught off guard because he was aiming to make Color angry. But instead Color gives him that simple admission with no strings attached.

Like golly gee fuck, Killer, it's almost like he has to be one in order to cope with the amount of agony he deals with every day. Speak for yourself, motherfucker.

Unhinged freaky old men is where it’s at.

People look at the chromatic crew and think Color’s the odd one out, that he’s the hinged one, but definitely not.

Bro probably finds it comforting and reassuring when killer licks away his tears 💀. Mans would be so willing to indulge nearly anything killer wants to try or do, and he’d likely enjoy most of it.

Need more of Color matching Killer’s freak and rolling with it. Wonder if Color ever surprises Killer sometimes.

[swannieluv]

⁀➴ My (Not So) Failed Valentine – Ajax x GN! Reader

╰┈─➤ In which after seven years since a failed confession, two childhood friends reunite close to Valentine's Day. Are things going to end well this time, or will the past repeat itself?

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐖𝐜: 7K

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆!!: Crying, self-blaming.

✦⸼࣪⸳ A/N: That's my first time writing a fic bigger than 3k and for romance. I tried my best so I hope you guys can enjoy reading it! <3

✦⸼࣪⸳ Comments and Reblogs are highly appreciated! <3

The calendar marked January 14th, 2024. There was only a month away from Valentine's Day, a perfect date for many, a day where you can confess your buried feelings to the one you love, and receive chocolate for free from the people around you; is there anything more romantic than being truthful about your feelings on the day of love?

For [Name], February 14th could also be seen as a cursed day for those who don't share the same feelings as a dear one, and instead of love cards, those people would only receive nothing but pain and sorrow that would create scars that would last years (if described by a rejected teenager). And sadly, they were one of those involved in a case of unrequited love.

But as the years pass by, people also grow older and wiser. At least, that's what they've been telling themselves to excuse their lack of romance. Just the thought of all those red and pink heart decorations and stuffed bears were enough to make them cringe.

Every single Valentine's Day for them was marked with platonic gifts reserved for those who really mattered. There was never once a romantic intention coming from them, which was something they felt very self-conscious of.

It wasn't like they were the “Valentine's Day Scrooge” or anything like that, they held their friends and family dearly. It's just that they never got the appeal for romance that was daily broadcasted on TV, making them question themselves if there was something wrong about the way they saw the concept of love.

[Name] could still recall those moments during childhood where they couldn't help but be kind of ignorant about their friends rant about their crushes and imaginary scenarios. There were even moments in which they faked having crushes on the “popular” boys in middle school, just to convince themselves that they indeed had a thing for someone just like the rest of their peers.

And unfortunately, they could say it was what would lead to a few quarrels caused by their lack of empathy for their friend's love life. But it never made sense for them, like, if you don't like the way your boyfriend treats you – and you've already talked with him about it – then why bother staying with him? Can't you just kick his ass out and move on?

But now, as an adult, they have a better understanding of relationships. Or at least they now knew not to meddle in someone's life choices – though [Name] does agree some of them were dumb as hell and makes them rethink about their own choices.

And with a month away from Valentine's Day, [Name] felt like they could peacefully start their new job at designing cards for the big company she had the luck to join in. Although the amount of stress they go through isn't fully appreciated in the paycheck, it wasn't that bad knowing they now had a stable job for years to come.

The last thing they expected though, when stepping inside the meeting room, was to face their childhood friend – and failed valentine – Ajax, who was now their senior. Were their eyes playing tricks on them or was he really in front of them for the first time in like, seven years?!

They felt the urge to bury themselves inside a hole and not come out until the whole thing was over. But their nervousness surely didn't come unnoticed by him, whose face they saw lightening up slightly at the sight of the familiar face between the multiple people in the room.

They thought that someone working with an ex was the worst that could happen, [Name] had friends that could give them some tips if that was the case. But working with their last, and failed, valentine from high school was absolutely embarrassing to no end.

They tried to keep their cool and work as they should for the next few. It was a stable job, but they shouldn't let it hinder their work performance. But no matter how much they tried, they couldn't dismiss the pair of blue eyes that seemed to follow their every step.

And of course, they were there, 15 days left for Valentine's Day, designing cliche cards once again. [Name] wanted to do something nice, really, but their ideas were mostly not approved since the company had to keep a specific pattern or something like that.

[Name] couldn't agree more that working overtime wasn't really their thing, but sacrifices had to be made if they wanted to get better opportunities in the future. Perhaps one day things would get better, or so they hoped.

Except that [Name]’s worst obstacle was that it was extremely hard to concentrate when alone with him. Why did everyone leave earlier? Why couldn't someone else stay here too to break the growing tension hovering in the air? They felt like they were suffocating just by staying there.

As they finished the last cards for today, their sweaty fingers finally left the pencil. Was it their growing nervousness or the feeling Ajax's gaze was glued at them was actually right?

A few minutes later, they saw him get up from his seat to somewhere else. And just like that, they were going to furtively escape from the scene by the back corridors. No childhood friend to face, no emotional damage from remembering bad moments; just peace.

Or so they thought.

“[Name].”

They looked up to see a tall figure. A mature face, different from the boyish complexion they held so dearly in their memories. His fiery ginger hair and deep blue eyes that made him able to easily find in a crowd were still there, now present in an adult man. What they didn't remember though were the small freckles under his eyes, guess that's the effect time has in one's memories.

Their eyes scanned the name highlighted on his work tag, Tartaglia. He never used his first name around high school because of the jokes that came with it because of the fact it was taken from a hero's story. Seems like this fact hasn't changed.

“Tartaglia…” they read it out loud accidentally, and so their cheeks heated up in embarrassment.

“It's okay to keep the Ajax, I'm only going by my second name at work for now. But don't worry, I'm still the same old me you know,” his tone was playful as they remembered how it used to be, but there was something unnerving about it; a feeling of unfamiliarity they couldn't explain. So even the way they heard his voice was affected by the time? Because that's definitely not how they recalled his playful remarks at all.

“Are you willing to catch up with a nice dinner? I know a good restaurant nearby and— Oh, it's on me though.”

They spent a few seconds looking at him dumbfounded. “Still the same old me you know” their ass; Ajax would never, NEVER, offer to pay someone else's food. They always had to play rock, paper, scissors to get him to buy anything in the school's canteen.

They couldn't help but get nervous when the silence between them was starting to get too uncomfortable for their liking, so their only rational reaction was:

“Of course… so we can... dinner.”

They felt their heart calm down as they watched his grin widen ever so slightly, he was clearly overjoyed on the inside. And as he made his way through, he gave their shoulder a light pat.

“Perfect! See you tomorrow at 7 p.m. then. I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about.”

And so they were left standing alone in the white corridor. They didn't know if Ajax, or Childe, had truly gone insane or if he just had forgotten about the whole situation that made their friendship crumble in front of their very eyes.

[Name] went straight to bed as soon as they got home, no dinner or anything else that could have been done. That small interaction with Ajax had been tiring enough for their poor heart. Yet they couldn't help but wonder: how did things go downhill in the first place?

8:50 p.m.

Oh how much they wanted to stand him up, but that would be too cruel and uneducated of them. So they happened to be here, in front of him as they both dined together in a fancy restaurant. They tried to smile, yet the doubt of if he was really the same guy they studied with during their whole life was going to be the end of them. In their eyes, he seemed so much more mature and smarter than them, and they used to be the brains of the duo!

“Is it to your liking?”

They felt as if their thoughts were cut in half with his question; eyes going up to meet his own VA as the two shared a good portion of seafood, though neither of them shared a preference over food.

The more [Name] stared at those deep blue eyes, the more they couldn't help but notice how they had lost a bit of the light they used to hold.

“Yes. It definitely is,” they smiled at him politely before cleaning their mouth with a napkin. “I'm happy you remembered me. It's been… seven years.”

The last part left a bitter taste on their tongue as they fell back into their thinking. They hadn't seen each other in several years and now have to share a work relationship while carrying the memory of a long date friendship. Hell, were they even considered friends after all this time?

One could say the circumstances behind their severance were kind of frivolous.

“Do you really think I would forget my childhood friend that easily ?” Their eyes followed him as Ajax took a sip from his glass before opening a smirk. “A rejection doesn't change the way I see you, not even in the slightest.”

“Oh, I see…”

He chuckled at them for absolutely no reason, which left them thinking if he was laughing at them or something.

“Are you really going to laugh at me now?” They crossed their arms incredulously, their guard fell completely.

“I'm not laughing at you, I swear!” His voice came out laced with a laugh, making him less credible.

“Then what are you talking about, Ed Sheeran jr.—”

That was when [Name] realized they had messed up. It was common in the past for them to call each other names in a lighthearted manner, only for the jokes. But they didn't have the same level of intimacy as before, so it must have come out as rude.

“I'm so sorry…”

“There's nothing to be sorry for. It makes me happy you're being more like yourself, I was finding it strange that you hadn't cursed me yet.”

Their worries subsided as they saw the way his face carried a grin they hadn't seen in years. If anything, it was heartwarming to know he still held the same humorous personality behind his adult manners.

“But to see a sleepyhead like you working overtime… Time's really passed, huh?”

Sleepyhead? He wasn't quite wrong, they had the tendency to sleep on every single break. They did even skip lunch just to take a nap before those boring math classes.

“I actually… I want to buy new stuff for my house, so…”

That was the most idiotic lie they ever told in their whole life, and it made them want to hide under that table and scream.

“You want to buy sanrio merch, right?”

“...Yes. I want that Pochacco backpack so much.”

They felt like punching him when they saw the way he covered his mouth to muffle his laughter, which he was trying his best to suppress in order to not anger [Name].

Their grip on the napkin on top of their lap tightened. Though [Name] had a smile on their face, a few doubts crossed their head like a storm.

“Tell me, Ajax…”

His attention shifted completely to them, eyes focused on theirs as he waited for the next words that would come out of [Name]’s mouth.

“Why don't you resent me?”

“Have you ever done anything wrong in the first place?”

“...”

Their mind went back to February 12th, 2017. Two days before Valentine's Day and the day their friendship's downfall finally reached its breaking point:

“Not gonna lie, you're quite bad at it.”

They pointed to the paper with an exasperated sigh. Ajax's answers were quite dumb, as if he was purposely messing up his homework. But [Name] knew better than to expose his behavior in front of the class.

Ajax and [Name], the childhood friends who would soon become the perfect couple (if they could even be counted as one) in their class. Though they would quickly dismiss any kind of teasing from their classmates, always insisting they were nothing but good friends.

One may find it cute and wholesome when a whole class is determined to set such a pairing together; the chemistry existed and would be explored no matter what. But under all the matchmaking, was the pressure on them to just officialize an union. It was one thing when teenagers shipped a couple; but when adults did, that meant things were serious.

[Name] was tired of hearing jokes on how they would make a great partner to Ajax in the near future. As much as [Name] wanted to dismiss those comments, they couldn't help but give up every time they saw Ajax's embarrassed behavior. Sure, they both would get like that when receiving a comment like that. But the way his eyes softened and his ears reddened at the mention of the two as a couple was… interesting.

For [Name], that genuine smile from ear to ear whenever his mother would compliment them both was something they loved so much about Ajax, they didn't feel it in them to break his heart.

[Name] tried to like him back, they swear they tried to. Yet, those feelings they were supposed to have for him never existed no matter how much they tried. They did everything they could: put his photo as their wallpaper, learn his favorite songs, root for him in his soccer games, send him cute messages before going to sleep, talk about him to their friends in a loving way; they tried absolutely everything a teenager would do when in love. So why couldn't they feel the butterflies in their stomach whenever they saw them?

It felt overwhelming to have all eyes glued to them two, when everything [Name] wanted was to just finish this hell of an assignment. They hoped the teacher's ear would be burning from the amount of curses they mentally sent to him. From the whispers coming from the gossipers seated behind them to the stares of students from another class, it was getting exhaustive.

But the worst part was that he most probably held feelings for them. And the guilt of not being able to correspond those feelings was haunting their nights and leaving them sleepless.

As long as they knew, the two of them have been best friends since 8th grade. That was the main reason as to why they couldn't help but pretend to be oblivious to his recent flirting and small advances, they didn't want to lose a years long friendship.

They couldn't help but spent some time thinking if they were just playing with his feelings. They never said they liked him, but also never did the contrary. And the last straw was definitely when, two days before that year's Valentine's Day, when they overhead the following sentence:

“Haven’t you heard? Ajax's going to confess his feelings for [Name].”

They shook their head, snapping out of those memories and coming back to reality. They weren't in a classroom but having a friendly dinner with Ajax.

“I do think that—”

They were cut short by the waiter's sudden appearance. It happened that Ajax had called for him before they started that small discussion. In the man's work tag, the name Leonardo was highlighted. A cool name—

Wait, they shouldn't be distracted by a random person's name. They had to and would pay for that dinner. It wasn't a matter of wanting, but their pride was in line here. Letting Ajax pay would only add to their pile of regrets about him.

“I'll pay.”

His face instantly filled with confusion as he reached his wallet. “What are you talking about, I thought we had agreed this dinner was on—”

“You’re my senior, so it's only right for me to pay for this amazing food. Thank you for your guidance.”

[Name] smiled at him, their credit card already suffering with the food's price. They were crying on the inside, cursing themselves internally for their own pride. Maybe letting him pay was a better option for their pockets and heart.

And just like that, Ajax would have the dinner he wanted and they would get a high credit card bill at the end of the month.

“What's up?”

“Ah!” They jumped from their chair. What was with Ajax and giving people scares like that?! He really hasn't changed much since school.

[Name] quickly went back to their seat after feeling their coworkers glaring at them curiously. A mental note to take revenge on him was made as they finished typing on the keyboard.

“Please, don't give me a scare like that!” they whispered exasperatedly, a pout on their face.

“Sorry, I just came to check your progress. Let's just say those papers don't fill themselves alone.”

They felt his gaze go to their projects, which were scattered around the desk. The company's mascot, from which he secretly collected plushies of, was stamped in all those cards. Once the Valentine's Day decorations were ready, Easter would be their main focus.

“I liked this one, it has a nice shade of red—”

“It's pink.”

“Oh, right. It's definitely pink… you passed the test.”

They couldn't help but let a chuckle escape from their lips as Ajax's figure stepped out of their sight. And Ajax couldn't help but remember himself of what happened all those years ago and how stupid their severance was.

If there was something Ajax never understood, was why he and [Name] couldn't be treated as normal friends instead of a couple. There wasn't a single person in his life that hasn't ever shipped him and his best friend, to the point he had to hear those kinds of jokes from his own family. But it wasn't that bad, was it? He really liked them, after all.

“I'm so jealous of you, Tartaglia.”

“Hm? May I know why?” He couldn't help himself from raising an eyebrow at one of his peers' comments. Why would they be jealous of someone like him? There wasn't anything that special in his life other than being good at soccer.

“Come on! We all know you already have [Name] as your valentine! I've even heard them talking to their friends about the loveliest things regarding you, they're surely in love.”

Ajax felt his ears burning up after the comment he just heard. The truth was that he kept his crush on [Name] deep inside his heart; and it was starting to get bothersome to hear his friends talking like that once again, since it only added up to his anxiousness. But trying to dismiss people's comments always ended up in more headaches, so he just learned to accept them and play along with it.

He had always been trying to pretend he didn't notice how shy [Name] got after people tried to ship them both, their cheeks getting hot just at the slightest of compliments directed to the two of them was a cute sight. Maybe they did like him too, but he was never confident enough to ask them out. Not until now.

“I was actually thinking about asking them outs” he murmured as he finished changing back to his school uniform and getting rid of the sweaty soccer shirt.

But he should know they heard his words and were ready to spread the news that the couple everyone rooted for was finally becoming reality. And it didn't take much time for it to end up reaching [Name]’s ears.

‘Why am I thinking about it again? It's been seven years. Get a life, Ajax.’

He tried not to roll his eyes at his internal dialogue. The truth was that he didn't keep anything against [Name] anymore, perhaps it was for the better. But he does wish to make up for the time they lost, since they're still his only and best friend, even though they spent seven years without talking to each other.

February 13th, 2017

A few hours for Valentine's Day and their dread for the said confession was eating them alive from the insides. Was it just exaggeration on their part? They hoped not, because they were going insane just from thinking about having to reject Ajax in front of everyone.

There were two choices: reject or accept Ajax's confession, and they couldn't escape from them. Well they could just skip school and not receive any gift, but they had already bought their friend's chocolate and made cards for them.

And skipping wouldn't nullify the chances of it happening later. What if Ajax told them about his feelings another day? If that was the case, [Name] didn't want to stay bound to someone they didn't love. It wasn't fair for either of them.

[Name] opened the notes app and started typing what they would call Operation Val 2017. A plan carefully made with Ajax's best interest at heart, specially crafted just so he wouldn't receive too much of a heartbreak.

First, they would go on giving chocolates to everyone else they planned to. Second, give Ajax his gift; and last of all, they would politely reject his confession and say that their friendship was what mattered the most. It was a good strategy… no?

So [Name] confidently went to school, heart in their throat as they walked through the corridors. The whispering and excitement from the girls were enough to make [Name] even more nervous. They could swear their nerves would be the death of them someday.

They went with the expected routine of giving chocolate to their dear one's. But when it came for Ajax's, the courage to do so simply disappeared.

As they saw him, seated at his usual seat, their hands started to sweat and they felt as if their stomach had just dropped out of sudden. And when he saw them, his smile opened like sunshine after rain.

“Is it for me, sleepyhead?”

It was ,indeed, to him. [Name] placed the small candy box on his palms and gave him a hug, which made the whole class start teasing them. But before they let go, [Name] whispered in his ear:

“I’m sorry.”

Then, they turned back and went to their seat. They hoped it wouldn't be as bad as they supposed it to be.

Now that they think about it, the first half of that day hadn't been that bad. The chocolates they received were good, but ended up being eaten with tears rolling down their cheeks.

“So, can I have the honor to dance with you?”

“Huh…?”

A hand was extended in front of them, an invitation too formal to be coming from Ajax. That was enough to cut short their overthinking.

If there was something [Name] wasn't expecting to hate about the adult world while they were still a student were work parties, a reality when they have a job like that, and it was bothersome having to attend them just to appease their boss and be on their good side. Yet, [Name] was in a situation where they were going to do anything just to keep their stable job with reasonable payment.

That was when [Name] reminded themselves that they were in a work environment; so even if not immersed in those piles of documents and boring tasks, they had to make sure to not taint their reputation by standing still with a grumpy face.

So they silently took his hand and were guided through the saloon. Curious eyes falling on them once again, which started to make [Name] nervous. It was starting to feel too much like prom.

“Are you nervous?”

“Not much.”

They tried to keep their steps carefully calculated. Years have passed since their last shared dance, [Name] was definitely rusty and didn't want to end up messing up in front of him. [Name] was convinced to show Ajax that they were still good at dancing no matter what. Yet, the world wasn't known to help those in need, so…

They accidentally stomped on his feet.

“I-I'm so sorry! I—”

Their face flushed with embarrassment. They felt like shrinking and sinking into the ground, disappearing from his sight forever. But Ajax's only reaction was… laugh?

But what they were greeted with was his heartfelt laughter that caught the others’ attention. It was so genuine that it made [Name] wonder if he was laughing at them or if he was a freaking masochist or something like that. They had just stomped on his feet with their full body weight.

Yet, [Name] couldn't keep a nervous chuckle for themselves. Deep down, they needed a moment like this to clear a bit of their doubts about him. This moment made it clear as day that Ajax hasn't changed in the slightest, and they felt relieved with the clarification.

And so they decided to give in and dance to the slow song coming from the speakers. It felt like a dream, to share something like this with him after almost a decade of guilt from their ruined relationship. They thought that things were now going on the right tracks.

“I deeply apologize for anything I did to you in my past life.” he stated with a nervous smile on his face.

“Hm? Why?”

“... Nothing.”

They had a feeling that his feet were red under those fancy black shoes. The amount of times [Name] stomped his foot was enough for it to leave some bruises, though he did his best to hide the ache he felt. They didn't used to be that bad at dancing in the past, so were they holding a grudge so strong against him and decided to take revenge or something?

They felt their eyes glue to a waiter carrying around a tray with champagne. [Name] could swear they had seen that guy somewhere else, but weren't going to bother him; so they just took a glass of the drink for them and one for Ajax.

“Do you drink?” They extended the glass of champagne to him, who gladly accepted it with a nod of his head.

“I was thinking about… uh… are you free on Wednesday?”

Wednesday? Their mind set up alarms at the thought of it, after all, Wednesday was nothing more than Valentine's Day. Was he really going to ask them out like that? Has he lost his mind?! They thought he would never touch on this subject since their rejection.

“I don't… Yes, I am.”

[Name]’s eyes met his’ with courage in them. They wouldn't run away from it like in High School, they would face Ajax and tell what they truly felt regarding him. And if he didn't like it, so it will be! After all, they don't depend on Ajax to live. [Name]’s an adult.

“Good.”

They watched as he took a sip from his glass before opening his mouth to speak something, but it seems Ajax wasn't ready to say it. Not here, not now. So there was nothing they could do to prevent him from just leaving them there and disappearing through the sea of people.

And that was when Operation Val 2024 officially started.

February 14th, 2024

After weeks of preparations, they finally marked that day on their calendar: the expected Valentine's Day. And while everyone else spent the day of love sharing their emotions and deepest feelings with those they loved, [Name] just took the date as an excuse to sleep until late and binge watch NANA the whole day until the time to go out with Ajax.

Knock, knock.

They got up from their seat, fixing their hair

and clothes before answering the door. They had just a small candy box with a cute card, which they designed themselves, just for him. But what [Name] didn't expect was that he would actually come with a bouquet of daisies, one of their favorite flowers. How could he remember such a small detail about them?

“Happy Valentine's Day, [Name].”

They felt something grow in their chest at his words. He was such a gentleman now, huh? So [Name] just accepted his gesture and walked with him.

“Thank you, I hope you're also having a good day.”

And so they followed him to a park nearby, even though the sky was starting to close. But maybe Ajax was planning to take them somewhere else in case it actually rained, they knew he always had a plan B.

'The flowers hadn't fully bloomed yet, but it makes quite the scenery.'

Ajax took their hand on his with a small smile, though [Name] didn't know where he was taking him to.

"There's a nice lake after the creek, it has a pretty landscape. So I can take some photos for you if you'd like."

Well, here they were, trying to go through a small creak to reach a nice place to make a picnic. Though [Name] didn't want to wet their brand new shoes; they were limited edition, after all.

“Hold my hand tightly and jump.”

“I can't do it—”

“Come on! Jump!”

[Name] took a deep breath before giving the impulse to jump over the creek. Although they made great effort and had, it wasn't enough to keep balance. They both fell in the creek, but at least the food was in a basket he left on the ground earlier.

They felt like crying because of the shoes. The amount of money [Name] had saved to buy it was astronomical, like, really! They had just bought them..Though, Ajax definitely wouldn't let this day be ruined by a small accident like this. So he was quick to help them stand up back on their feet and take them out of there.

As they stared in his eyes, [Name] couldn't help but release the words that were trapped in their throat for a long time now.

“I’m sorry, Ajax. But you know I can't reciprocate your feelings.”

They felt their eyes wet from the tears that were threatening to escape. They told themselves that they wouldn't run away and leave things unresolved like in the past, but why was it so painful for their poor heart?

Ajax felt his smile dropping at their words. He tried to look away from them before listening to their words.

A part of him already knew the answer to his actions, yet there was still a sparkle of hope deep inside his heart. Was he being selfish once again? All he did was to try to compensate them both for that terrible day seven years ago.

“I'm not mad at you. I just wish things didn't happen the way they did… y'know.”

They both seemed to regret their actions from the past, sharing the same feeling of shame and anguish in their hearts as they looked at each other. Both of them had made mistakes and were still reminded about it.

...

For the last step of Operation Val 2017, they made sure to bring him to somewhere the two of them could talk in private. Unbeknownst to them, there were eyes watching their every single action.

“I’m sorry, Ajax. You probably already know this, but I don't hold any romantic feelings towards you. Our relationship is purely platonic and—”

“So it was all just false hope?”

False hope? They definitely never gave him any kind of advance for it to be considered like that. It wasn't like they ever flirted with him or do anything that could lead to that kind of assumption.

Their eyes watched as his ace contorted into a pained expression as he had been hit by the hard reality that their best friend didn't actually hold any kind of emotion towards him, the complete opposite everyone else thought. From what they knew about him during all those years, he definitely disliked the sound of it, the rejection being too real and in front of his eyes.

“False hope? What are you even talking about?” They couldn't help but frown slightly, not liking the turn this conversation was taking.

“You…”

Click.

[Name] heard the clicking sound of a phone from afar, and that alone was enough to made their stomach drop. That meant they have never been alone with Ajax, there has been someone watching them this whole time.

From what they could see behind him, a small crowd of students were peeping through the small window on the classroom's door. And to worsen the situation, they were recording the whole thing.

On the other side, one of their own friends gave them a thumbs up, as if trying to communicate about something. And that was when Ajax noticed it all and felt like the ground below him was crashing down.

“So… you planned all of this?”

They couldn't help the widening of their eyes, it wasn't how things were supposed to end like! In their plan, there wasn't supposed to be anyone by the door, not recording or listening to anything they said.

They could swear they saw tears in his eyes for the first time in their life. His face carried the hurting he felt after being made fun of by the rest of the class.

“So they did end up rejecting him, huh…” they listened to the whispers that came with small chuckles, followed by the sound of a playful smack “Ouch! I'm just stating what happened! Just look at his face.”

From the corner or their eyes, [Name] saw him turning around to leave as he heard it, but grabbed his wrists before he could run away from the not so empty classroom. As they did so, the little heart box he was carrying around fell; small chocolate hearts rolling out of the package straight to the ground.

“Ajax, you know I would never do that! I'm your best friend, after all!” their voices came out in a pleading tone.

“Do I really know that?”

They didn't miss the crack present in his voice, and that's what hurt them the most. It wasn't in the plan for him to feel like that.

So [Name]’s own strength failed as they saw burning tears streaming down his cheeks, which held a complexion of anger and disappointment. The twilight rays helped to create a sentimental demonstration of his feelings that were never seen previously. If not before, [Name] was now sure their friendship wasn't going to rebuild itself again.

They felt his wrists slipping out of their touch in a rushed way as Ajax stormed out of the room, leaving them behind to pick up the candy pieces on the ground. And as they crouched down to gather them, the people at the door bombarded them with multiple questions.

“Did you actually reject him?”

“That was so cruel of you!”

“So you won't be together?”

And like that, their last Valentine's Day ended with the loss of a friendship and the start of years of self-blaming. For almost 6 months, their sleepless nights were spent thinking about what they could have done to avoid this whole disaster.

For the both of them, Ajax and [Name], the next few months before graduation would be always marked by the growing distance between the two. They had tried to talk to each other, but the shame and guilt blackened them from doing so.

Ajax really tried to clear his head before saying anything else he would regreat, the realization of what had happened weighted on him deeply. [Name] was just trying to dismiss his feelings in the best way, and he knew it. Yet, his pride didn't let him reach them.

So whenever his gaze met [Name]’s, they would instantly look away and pretend nothing happened. Ajax really thought that he was the one who deserves a proper apology, when it should have come from both sides.

But he couldn't leave his academic life behind and decided to just focus on his studies and sport. One could say he had got over it and was living without a single regret.

And so as to [Name], they couldn't face him. They really tried to call his number or talk to him after class, but couldn't do it. The picture of his tear-stained face was left in their memories forever and would haunt their nightmares for the following days.

Yet, they knew time wouldn't wait for them and the graduation day would finally come. No amends were going to be made and it was obvious for [Name] that Ajax seemed to be taking it quite better than them, so they just decided to forget it and live their own life after high school.

And to [Name]’s knowledge, that was how Ajax and their lives would follow from now on, or so they thought.

“How can you forgive me so easily, Ajax?”

[Name] couldn't refrain from asking him that. If they were in his shoes, they would definitely hold a grudge against themselves. So why was Ajax so forgiving like that when he was the one who had been most hurt?

“Because I know what our flaws were at that time.”

They felt his fingers lifting his head so as to meet his eyes. Instead of the hurt look that used to appear in their nightmares, there was only affection.

As they tried to find something to answer him, their body was wrapped in a tender embrace, much different from his old bone-crushing hugs.

“I should have left my pride behind and tried talking to you. Yet, I was stubborn and believed you should be the one who owed me a proper apology.

“So when I saw you again, I felt like I had to make up for my past mistakes; but it's not like I'm using you to feel better with myself, not even close to it. I just want to make sure we both don't end up carrying regrets for the rest of our lives…”

[Name] could hold it anymore. Their eyes became waterfalls with the countless tears that fell from them. But they didn't feel embarrassed because of it.

“I-I wanted to talk to you again, I really wanted to but—”

“It's okay, take your time.”

Ajax patted their back as if trying to calm a baby down, and it was helping. He could stay there the whole day waiting for their answer, it didn't matter.

“I’m so sorry…”

They couldn't think of anything reasonable enough to make up for their past actions. But Ajax could see their effort lying behind their crying face, he had been their best friend for years. So even if they couldn't tell it with words, he understood them.

“You don't need to love me, and I don't need to love you too.”

They felt the wind on their face, a soft breeze. And it was when Ajax separated their hug gently, leaving them staring at his face while their eyes burned from all the crying.

“As much as I want to stay as your friend, I don't want us to be haunted by the memories of the past. You'll never see me in the same light again, just like I'll never see you in the same light too.”

[Name] knew it was true. As much as they wanted to stay his friend, the fact that broke their friendship had left a deep scar in their heart. And they would never reciprocate the love he still held for them somewhere under the best friend facade.

It was only safe for the two of them to keep things as cold as possible, even though it hurt them greatly. He was right, after all, they couldn't even look at his face without reliving all the stress.

“For you.”

A small pendant was placed in their palms, a rose pendant. They were confused, really confused, but decided to open it. As they did, [Name] couldn't stop themselves from letting another tea fall after seeing the inside of the small object. A photo of them two in their middle school years adorned it, precious smiles on their faces as their figures hugged each other.

“Happy Valentine's Day, [Name].”

They felt like they needed to thank him in a special way before parting ways. So they approached Ajax and took his hair out of the way to his forehead, planting a peck on it.

“Happy Valentine's Day too, Ajax.”

Now, they wouldn't have to carry that guilt with them. They were free to try to love without the fear of being a hypocrite. It was their first Valentine's Day in seven years, and they wouldn't trade it for anything else in this world.

But as they saw Ajax's silhouette going out of their vision, carrying the picnic basket they didn't use, the feeling of losing something forever came stronger than anything else. Maybe they wouldn't have a friendship like before, but nothing stopped them from being coworkers.

[Name] would see him again at work, so why couldn't they stop the tears that fell from their eyes as the first raindrops met their skin? They felt as if they had lost a big prize in the lottery.

Yet they shouldn't be sad because it ended, but happy that it happened. New beginnings awaited them, just like the daisies in the bouquet warned.

"Goodbye, my now not so failed valentine..."

[biscuit-babbles]

HSR Men Omegaverse (A/B/O) Dynamics

This is entirely self-serving, but let's be honest, the HSR community is kinda starving for a/b/o content. So! I'm here to make sure y'all are fed. ♡ And if you're at all upset with the dynamics I give them, fear not! I may or may not write content in the future that will dabble in giving them other dynamics.

Rating: SFW Warnings: None Characters: Caelus, Dan Heng, Welt, Gepard, Sampo, Luka, Jing Yuan, Luocha, Blade, Argenti + Dr Ratio Summary: What the dynamics of all the HSR men would be, and how it plays into their personalities and environments.

At first, no one was really sure what CAELUS was, to be honest. The only person who really seemed interested in guessing or betting anything was March, who excitedly hoped he was another omega she could drag into her nest and gossip with. However, it wasn't long after finally settling on the express that his dynamic was revealed; Caelus is a BETA. This doesn't really affect him at all, aside from general uneducated in matters pertaining to alphas and omegas. Though, it has been theorized that this is a best-case scenario regarding the stellaron inside Caelus's body. If he was an alpha or omega, a rut or heat cycle might negatively affect the stellaron, and vice versa.

DAN HENG neither openly talks about nor hides the fact that he is an ALPHA. He's fairly quiet and keeps to himself most of the time, so it took everyone on the Nameless some time to find out initially. In previous incarnations, his alpha status helped in the efficiency and social standing of the High Elder, but that proves meaningless to Dan Heng now. All it means to him in the present is that March will steal his clothes and he has an excuse to be left alone for a whole week once every few months.

When first meeting WELT, it's almost suffocatingly obvious that's an ALPHA, from his tall stature, deep voice, and a tangible instinct to protect the rest of the Nameless. Though, once he softens up and reveals himself to be a more gentle, wise, and excitable man, he never loses that air of authority to him. Not in a governing sense, but in the same way as a calming father-figure. Welt will protect those close to him with his life, not willing to let them suffer the same as so many others. He's very comfortable in his status as well, not being afraid to indulge in things more traditionally labeled as for omegas.

The Landau family is an old, prestigious lineage, one that carries with it a lot of tradition - one that GEPARD's father tried to uphold. Despite being a BETA, Gepard has been raised and trained with a traditionally alpha mentality. His job is to protect, serve, and provide for Belebog and the Landau family. Though, he maintained his gentler demeanor in large part due to the continued presence and support of Serval and Lynx. Sometimes he feels an added sense of stress that he isn't an alpha, like his father had hoped for, but he is reminded with every passing day that his dynamic doesn't factor into his value as a Silvermane Guard, or as a Landau.

Acting as prime suspect witness to those reminders is SAMPO. Everyone in Belebog, including Gepard, assumes the slippery con man is an alpha - after all, that's how he has meticulously portrayed himself. A two-faced alpha whose only interest is in lining his own pockets. But underneath all the fake smiles, disguises, and scams is a proud BETA of the Masked Fools. If anything, this dynamic suits Sampo perfectly, as he can feasibly tailor any kind of dynamic he wants for his new persona. Need a beautiful, unassuming omegan woman? Now you have Madam Brughel Poisson. Besides, dealing with a rut or heat cycle wouldn't exactly be all that fun, would it?

Now, Belebog isn't home to just betas. Somewhere in the depths of the Underworld, LUKA is either engaged in a brawl with a formidable foe or keeping a protective watch over the kids. Dynamics aren't very important in the everyday lives of the people in the Underground, but the second he steps into a room, it's immediately obvious that he is an ALPHA. This is made even more clear in his close relationships with other alphas; his playful rivalry with Seele, his brotherly role to Hook, and his training with Oleg.

Acting as the General of the Xianzhou Loufu, carrying the lofty title of Divine Foresight, JING YUAN is the definition of an ALPHA. Every few decades, there's a few scandalous headlines that propose the rumor that he's secretly an omega due to his nonchalant demeanor and close mentorship of Yanqing, but they're quickly disproven every time. While yes, a lofty role doesn't equate to being an alpha, but it's hard to dispute his overwhelming presence. All of the staff in the Seat of Divine Foresight are witnesses to his stubbornness, his cunning, and the crackling tension that arises with the General's anger, no matter how he tries to contrast it with his easy-going attitude.

It never crosses anyone's mind to question what LUOCHA is, exactly. Not everyone's dynamic is immediately obvious, and he's a traveling merchant after all, he might come from a culture with different ideas of how to appear as one dynamic over another. Just another face and scent in a sea of faces and scents. There are very few who know that he's an OMEGA, and even those that do, they don't really care to act on that fact. Don't let his dynamic fool you - it requires a lot of audacity and righteous passion to drive one to want to kill an Aeon.

As a weapon, there is no need for such labels. None of these words mean much to BLADE anymore, even if they still continue to affect him. He never acknowledges the fact that he's an ALPHA, not finding that it swings his sword any faster or brings death any quicker. Though, he can't dispute the way his dynamic serves against his best interests, as any stimuli that emboldens that part of him typically retaliates in the form of the mara. Whenever he's able to indulge in the occasional guilty pleasure, however, he finds himself to be surprisingly tender. Kafka once caught him hoarding a few of the weighted stuffed animals she and Silver Wolf got to soothe his chronic pain, scenting them and trilling at them. Thank the Aeons it was only Kafka who found him, or else Silver Wolf would have been teasing him about it for weeks.

ARGENTI will never be one to hide any part of his identity, proclaiming loudly and proudly that he is an ALPHA serving the Aeon of Beauty, Idrila. At first, he may be met with some speculation as to whether he's telling the truth. It's not every day that you meet an alpha that smells so flowery and disarming, much similarly to an omega. Not to mention that he's just as tender, just as wholeheartedly loving as all those lovesick omegas on tv. But similarly to Jing Yuan, he has a certain presence to him that certainly proves his claim.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, regarded as arrogant, brilliant, and an all-around pain in the ass, is DR RATIO. While he will firmly assert that his dynamic has no bearing on his personality nor capabilities, he is very knowledgeable on how being an ALPHA affects his every day life. Dr Ratio takes great care in assuring that not even idiots can misconstrue his intentions, putting on scent patches and never baring his teeth. However, this has led a few to question whether he really is an alpha, pointing out that his grandiose personality may point to him trying to compensate. In one way or another, they are swiftly proven wrong, even if Dr Ratio doesn't see their 'close-minded ignorance' as worth his time nor an explanation.

[smileyerim]

i think i’m in love with you (i am!)

inspired by: 9:45-9:52 of this video. (“What if I’m making a wedding dress for my girl?”)

pairing: fashion designer!mark x model!reader

genre: fluff fluff fluff

length: 800+

warnings: none just love <3

net tags: @kflixnet @neowritingsnet

. . .

It’s no surprise to say that Mark loves you. From the moment you first walked into his studio, he knew he wanted to mean something to you. From the way your eyes lit up when looking through his sketches, to the way you listened so intently to his plans, to the knowledgeable comments you made on the hand of the fabrics Mark knew he was done for. He needed to know you.

Thankfully, he did. He asked for your number near the end of your fitting “in case any changes are needed” and you gave it freely, that made him happy. Not even 2 days later he’d texted you asking to take you out to coffee. You read and responded “yes” to his question immediately.

Now you’re here, 3 years later and more in love than Mark ever thought possible. He proposed to you last spring in the middle of a cherry blossom meadow after coming up with a fake excuse about a photoshoot. Considering you know your way around scenarios like this pretty well due to your profession, you saw right through him but you let him go on his little spiel acting surprised when he got on one knee.

You’ve been engaged for 6 months and wedding planning has been kicking your ass, and Mark’s new collection coming out in 2 weeks isn’t helping with your collective stress. Recently, you and Mark haven’t been spending time together. You’re busy with work preparing for fashion week and he’s doing the same with his own fashion show to put on. You miss him dearly, and he knows it’s been weighing on your heart how he comes home and immediately falls into bed.

You miss him, and today you’re going to do something about it.

Mark is very private about his studio space, he doesn’t like people in there who don’t need to be. You’ve only been in a handful of times, once being your first meeting, but you like to stay away as much as possible to respect his private space. It’s his space to be creative, let loose, decompress, you don’t want to get in the way of that.

Except today you will. After packing a quick lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bagged snack size chips and beer you’re on your way up to his studio in the old lift near the concierges desk. You wanted to surprise him for all his hard work recently and pull him away from the sewing machine.

Through the door you can hear him talk to himself and a smile creeps up on your face

“If I just cut it on the bias the drape will be nicer and will flow down the aisle-“

“Surprise!” You burst through the door to see a stunned Mark jump, make fearful eye contact with you, and then move in front of the dress form behind him.

“What are you doing here?” He stands still holding the dress form against his body behind him.

You giggle as you step up to him, placing the grocery bag on the work table in front of you.

“I’m here to surprise you with lunch! Aren’t you surprised?” You say.

“Definitely.” Mark says, still holding the dress form tight behind him. His eyes are wide and he doesn’t seem as happy to see you as you had hoped.

“What’s wrong? I promise I won’t steal your designs and send them to Prada.” You joke, leaning over to the side to try and see behind him. He leans with you, nearly tripping over himself to guard your sight.

He laughs a nervous chuckle, “I know, it’s just-baby, wait-“ you stand and move to his side of the table and finally catch a closer glimpse at what he’s guarding and a soft gasp leaves your lips.

“Mark,” he lets out a sigh and his head drops in defeat, “is that?”

“I was going to surprise you with it. I wanted to show you how much you’ve been on my mind since I’ve been away for so long preparing for fashion week.” He finally moves to step away from the dress form and towards you, and the wedding dress comes into your sight.

“It’s not done, this is just the sample so it’s not pretty but-“

He’s cut off by your arms wrapped around his neck tightly. Happy tears stain the neckline of his t-shirt as he holds you close.

“Baby, are you crying?”

You sniffle and look up at him, “Of course I’m crying! I love you so much, Mark Lee.” You say before landing a soft kiss he reciprocates immediately on his lips.

“I love you too.” He says softly looking into your teary eyes.

For the next hour Mark walks you through the plans he has for the dress, showing you samples of the satin silk and the lace he’s planning to use for different portions of the garment, allowing you to even pick out the buttons he’ll fix on the back. Two beers down and a lot of smiles and kisses later, you’re sure you made the right decision by spoiling his surprise.

[chelseachilly]

THIS LOVE - prologue | high tide came and brought you in

pairing: ben chilwell x reader

rating: T

word count: 1.5k

summary: you and ben have been best friends since you were kids. there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for him, including pretending to be his girlfriend to help his career when his public image has taken a hit. what’s the worst that can happen?

A/N: hi everyone! welcome to my latest ben fic! thanks to everyone who voted in the poll i made recently, ultimately i couldn’t decide so ended up going with both fake dating and friends to lovers lol. the title is from this love by taylor swift (taylor’s version obvi) <3

view all chapters

When you woke up today, becoming Ben Chilwell’s girlfriend is the last thing you would’ve expected to happen. Short of an alien invasion or a complete nuclear apocalypse, there is hardly any conceivable scenario that you would’ve had a harder time believing.

The day starts like any other.

You wake up after hitting snooze a couple times then hurry to get ready for work. You don’t have time to make coffee at home, so you grab a latte and a bagel from Pret on your way to the hospital.

It’s a typical, stressful day in the life of an A&E nurse, with a few major traumas coming in and the usual NHS understaffing issues.

You have lunch with your favourite coworker talk close friend Valerie, who you met in uni, and talked shit about your least favourite coworkers while eating mediocre salads from the cafeteria.

By the end of the day, you’re totally exhausted, practically dragging your feet as you walk up the stairs to your flat and collapse on the couch.

You’ve just mustered the energy to change into your pyjamas when there’s a knock on your door, and you excitedly run over to grab your dinner.

Unfortunately, it isn’t the Indian takeaway you’ve ordered waiting for you on the other side, it’s your best friend Ben.

“I thought you were Indian food,” you groan.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Ben chuckles as you step aside to let him in and he kicks off his shoes. “Tough day?”

“Long day,” you reply, walking back over to your couch and plopping down as Ben walks into your kitchen to get a drink, making himself at home.

You and Ben have been best friends since you were six, when you and your family moved and you started at the same primary school as him. He was the first kid to show you some kindness by asking if you wanted to join him and his mates for a game of football at recess. Obviously, at the time you couldn’t have predicted that the childhood pastime would turn into a massively successful career for him.

You two grew closer over the years and remained close even when he started at Leicester’s academy and you didn’t get to spend nearly as much time together. You almost never missed a home game, regardless of if it was a friendly in the academy days or a monumental Champions League match once he made it to Chelsea.

Likewise, Ben has always been there for you, supporting you as you worked your butt off to make it through uni and get your nursing certification. He was elated when you landed a job at a hospital in London not long after he signed with Chelsea, immediately offering you a spare bedroom.

Although you did take him up on that offer for a couple months while you saved up and looked for a decent flat, you eventually got your own place to be closer to work. And because you found that guys you went out with were either threatened or way too excited when they found out you lived with a Premier League footballer.

You’ve both been living in London for about three years now, and while you’ve made your fair share of friends in the city, there is something special about the bond you have with Ben. He knows you better than anyone else, just as you know him, and hanging out with him always feels right.

He feels like home.

Ben joins you on the couch with two beers he stole from your fridge, one of which he passes to you.

You raise an eyebrow, accepting the drink and taking a sip. “Since when are you allowed to drink the week of a game?”

“I’m just having one,” Ben retorts, kicking his feet up on your coffee table. “I’ve had a long day, too.”

“Oh, right, the PR meeting was today,” you recall. “How did it go?”

“Not great,” he sighs. “Do you think I’m a man whore?”

You nearly spit out your beer, trying very hard not to laugh as Ben looks at you with complete earnestness.

“Well, um, I wouldn’t say it like that,” you chuckle. “But…”

“Oh my god,” Ben groans. “If my best friend thinks that, no wonder my publicist says my image is shit.”

Frankly, Ben’s reputation has been better. Lately, he’s been spotted with more models and influencers than you can keep track of, none of whom stick around for very long. The media has been loving it, branding him as Chelsea’s resident playboy and splashing photos of him leaving clubs with beautiful women all over the tabloids.

You try not to judge, as it’s none of your business who Ben hooks up with, but you do think it’s a bit unlike him to be so reckless about it. Nevertheless, you’ve kept those thoughts to yourself.

“Isn’t that sort of the norm for footballers, though?” you question. “I mean, it’s not like a cheating scandal or something. Some of those guys are way worse than you, at least from what I’ve seen online.”

“Yeah, but according to Shreya, my publicist, times are changing and people don’t like the playboy shit anymore. Apparently I would have more luck getting brand deals and stuff if I seemed more…wholesome.”

You love Ben, but you struggle to see the man who proudly told you he left Jack Grealish’s party with two girls a few weeks ago as wholesome.

“So, what’s the plan?” you ask, taking another sip of beer. “Be more discreet with your hookups?”

“Not exactly,” Ben replies. “The team thinks…and I know this sounds crazy, but they want me to get a girlfriend. Well, a fake one. Someone to improve my image.”

You can’t help but burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation, and Ben narrows his eyes at you.

“God, I didn’t know famous people actually did that,” you say, trying to hold back your laughter. “Who’s she gonna set you up with? Please say it’s Taylor Swift. She’s single now!”

Ben laughs for a moment before setting his beer down on the table and turning to face you with a slightly more serious expression on his face.

“Actually, they had someone else in mind,” he says sheepishly. “Someone I already know.”

“Who is it?” you ask, trying to rack your brain to think of what girls Ben knows that would improve his image. Outside of his family and his mates’ girlfriends, you’re pretty much the only woman who is a constant presence in his life. “Wait, are you - don’t tell me you’re asking me?”

Ben pauses for a moment before hesitantly nodding, looking a bit as though he’s afraid you’re going to hit him. Which, frankly, you’re considering.

“The PR team asked if I knew any girls that would work and Mark started going on and on about how you’re my best friend and a nurse and they all said you would be perfect-“

“Ben, I can’t date you!” you exclaim, cursing his agent, Mark, for even suggesting something so absurd. “Who would even believe that?”

“We don’t need people who know us to believe it, just the public,” he states. “And you don’t have to actually date me, we just have to pretend in public for a couple months.”

“I know, but…”

“Please, Y/N?” Ben says, looking at you with wide eyes that you’ve found hard to resist since he was using them to get your extra biscuits in fourth year. “I know it’s a weird request, but it could really help me out.”

It’s really hard to say no to that. Ben has always been there for you in every way imaginable. He once flew to Leeds, where you went to uni, on a moment’s notice because you were stressing over finals and needed a friend. A couple years into his time at Leicester, your dad lost his job and Ben insisted upon covering your parents’ mortgage for six months to help out, claiming he “owed them for all the Sunday roasts” and refusing to accept repayment even when your dad found work again.

He would never use any of that as a bargaining chip or try to cash in a favour, but you really do feel as though you owe him one. And more importantly, you want to help him.

“Okay,” you sigh. “I’ll be your stupid fake girlfriend or whatever.”

“Really?” Ben’s face lights up and he pulls you into a tight hug. “Thank you so much. God, you’re a lifesaver.”

You hug him back just as tightly, breathing in his familiar scent - a mix of his aftershave with a bit of grass and something else.

“You’re welcome,” you say, rolling your eyes slightly as you pull back. “I feel like I’m gonna regret this.”

“You won’t, I promise,” Ben assures you. “I’ll give you a cut when I land the next big brand deal, how’s that?”

“Ew, no, that makes me feel a bit prostitutey,” you chuckle. “It’s just a favour, no need to compensate me. Although you can pay for the food when it gets here, since you’re gonna end up stealing half of it anyways.”

“Deal,” he grins, grabbing your TV remote and putting on an episode of New Girl you’ve both seen before.

As you settle in with your beers and samosas, laughing at the television together, you can’t help but wonder what you’ve just signed up for.

Oh well. What’s the worst that could happen?

A/N: i hope you enjoyed this first part, please let me know what you thought!! should have the next up soon! 💕 (also let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!)

[upslapmeal]

73 Yards

Doctor lite episode!! On the one hand these are usually good fun (and we've not had one since...Flatline kinda??) but with only 8 eps it's a shame to be missing out on Fifteen even more than just the reduced ep count!

ok so straight up getting the title without the title sequence

Doctor you’ve really got to watch where you’re walking this is becoming a problem

forget BSL I'm going to learn SLSL (spooky lady sign language)

Susan Twist!!

that was genuinely chilling......what on earth did spooky lady say

oh they completely got me with that fairy circle stuff

there I was thinking about how fairy tale the show had got and just fully buying into it lmao

lol poor Ruby with legitimate reason to think they didn't know about paying by phone #timetravellerproblems

ngl I'd kinda hoped she was in the past

would have caused some more problems

looks like they’ve fixed the kitchen ceiling!! Fifteen better have coughed up some cash for that

is Spooky Lady going to be like. Ruby from the future

oh the lady from the train window...actually genuinely unsettling congrats RTD

maybe this is going to be an Aliens of London situation where Ruby’s been gone for a year and it’s not actually 2024

oh lol no

I guess Fifteen and Ruby just used the time machine to.....go a few miles west lol

Mrs Flood!! always slightly suspicious

not Carla :(((

what can she possibly be saying about Ruby?????

‘even your real mother didn’t want you’ oh Ruby babes

nightmare scenario she must have imagined before and had Carla talk her out of :((((

Kate!!

‘I was hardly with him’ give us a concrete length of time!!!! are we talking less than 6 months

oh no

Ruby :(((((

world's most youthful 40 year old

skincare tip: have an unperceived lady who follows you wherever you go and was maybe created by a fairy circle drive away everyone you love so there's nobody but yourself you can stress about!

glad to know the people of 2046 are worried about the same stuff as now

2031 the Great Russian War nice let me stick that in the calendar

very Years and Years vibes

did Ruby…use Marty as bait to find out what Roger Ap Gwilliam is really like

she's been relentlessly positive in general this series so interesting to see this more (reluctantly) ruthless side to her

I wonder if younger Ruby who hadn't had a life of Spooky Lady would have made the same decision

the most fake thing is still using yards in 2046 lol

she got him!!

‘don’t worry everyone had abandoned me my whole life’ :(((

the abandoned tardis is sad and beautiful

it was Ruby from the future!!

the only person she has had with her all her life is herself, and the reason she only has herself is because herself has driven away the people she cares about most. and even herself is always distant

poor Ruby just a life of not allowing herself to form connections

so that was actually a fairy circle??

and why did she make everyone run away????

where did the Doctor vanish to!!

I want answers but also I feel like so answer would truly be satisfying

What an episode!! And I can't get over the fact that this was Millie's first episode, she really arrived and decided to make her presence Felt!!

[riley-coyotl]

Hi! I was going through your Juni tag because why not lol and I am really curious about what, if any, cooperative care resources/checklists/tips you used for her vet visits. I am interested in doing that for my own dog who will let me do anything I want to him but not anyone else. Short of becoming a vet, this looks like a brilliant technique!

Yeah of course! Answering this while tired so forgive any typos or rambling.

So for my dogs, I train cooperative care using a chin rest as their "go" signal telling me they are opting in. But you can use another behavior, whatever works for you and your dog, just something that you can both easily tell whether or not he is saying "yes" or "no."

The process of this involves first teaching whatever behavior you want for the "go" signal, building value and duration in that. Then introducing the concept of cooperative care. I would start with handling/touches that your dog doesn't mind, then work up to handling that he's not thrilled about. Of course start with someone he trusts (e.g. you) doing things. During the process, if he ever stops doing the "go" behavior, you immediately also stop whatever you're doing to him. I try to reward for when they say "no" too (important to remember that they are allowed to say no and opt out and they are encouraged to communicate that!,) though not as heavily as I reward for opting in/completing a handling task. I find that dogs pick up on this concept very easily and quickly so long as you stick to the rules of the routine. And in my experience, once the dog understands the concept of cooperative care handling for one thing, it is pretty easy to get them to extrapolate and apply it to other handling things, even stuff they have never done before!

Once you've got your cooperative care routines trained and practiced at home, it's time to practice with other people/with the vet. Same process as before, start with a simple touch and work up to various handling. I recommend finding a Fear Free certified vet practice who will work with you on this and be patient, and go at your dog's pace. We did ~weekly "happy visit" appointments with our vet where we started just getting Juni comfortable in the room with the vet, and worked up to practicing cooperative care handling with her. If I recall correctly it took us around a year or so before Juni was confident enough to allow her first full cooperative care exam + vaccines at the vet, and I can't stress enough how instrumental it's been having a vet who was willing to put in the time and effort to work with us to get there.

It's also worth considering using anxiety medication for these visits to make things easier on your dog, depending on how stressed or fearful they are at the vet. Juni gets trazodone and gabapentin before vet visits and while we could do all this without it, it makes things easier on her and thus gives us more opportunities for learning to occur.

During Juni's training and "happy visits," we would practice mock scenarios that she would encounter during the "real thing," with less duration/intensity to start with. To give an example, for use of the stethoscope, we started with Juni just holding her chin rest while the vet picked up the stethoscope while in the room with her, and worked up from there. Another example, when working on vaccines/injections, we practice skin tenting (pinch/hold the skin up as is done in preparation for a subcutaneous injection,) and work up to using a fake "needle," first something entirely blunt, then a sharper object like a toothpick, working up to poking harder and for longer. Just work in approximations, go slow, take note of your dog's willingness to participate, and try your best to work within their comfort zone--a good training session is one where your dog can be successful as much as possible.

Ultimately, my goal is for as much handling as possible to be done via consent/cooperative care with all my dogs, even if they aren't fearful and don't "need" it like Juni does. I find that when dogs know that they have the power of choice within this framework, they are more likely to say yes and opt in and allow various handling and be comfortable with it (things are inherently less scary and unpleasant when you can choose whether or not to engage with them.) And of course handling done with cooperation and consent is better for welfare because it involves WAY less stress on the animal.

And because it's often a question that comes up: although it may seem counter-intuitive, at times when emergencies may happen and cooperative care is not an option, I find that the bank of trust you've built up with handling via cooperative care helps even when you have to forgo it and use restraint etc. I think this is in part simply because cooperative care helps the dog to build confidence with being handled in general. It does suck when you have to make a "withdrawal" from your bank of trust (it always makes me sad if I have to do that, and I consider it a "hole" in my training), but it should not damage things so long as you do it outside the framework of cooperative care (i.e. do not offer your dog choice and then in that same exact instance and context, do the handling thing anyways even if they said "no.")

I hope that helps! If you have any specific questions or anything else, I'm happy to try and answer more. I love cooperative care and what it has done for my dogs and my relationship with them, so I absolutely shill it to people any chance I get! haha

[davey-in-a-minivan]

Second Star to the left Pasithea Au??? 👀👀👀👀

okay there are actually three permutations that @munchiezxx and i discussed (listed in increasing order of my fondness for them!)--

scoutminder jane, scout sophie:

personalitywise, this one feels most obvious--sophie's got that intrepid explorer air, and jane WOULD be over-particular and stressed if she had to try to watch over sophie in a situation where she has almost no actual influence!

remember that part in pasithea season 1 where jane admits she doesn't mind hearing sophie's stories about other planets bc they're probably the closest she'll come to seeing new worlds herself? scout sophie lovingly describing her planet for the sake of jane, who they both assume will never see it, is born from that same wistfulness

like bell, scoutminder jane ONE HUNDRED PERCENT has a "criminal due to decisions of conscience" past that she drops no hints of and sophie is too self-absorbed to prod until something happens

a very funny situation made possible by this set up is that moreau is jane's on-station nemesis that she complains to sophie about and sophie's like "um are you're sure they're not flirting?? *i* think they're wildly attracted to you and it's pissing them off. you should flirt back" and jane's like "you're insane" and sophie, who finds the saga wildly entertaining, is like "jane pleeeease, im stuck on this nowhere planet, i can't start drama myself, you have to do it on my behalf, i'll literally coach you" except then one day jane gets on the radio and says "um. something very lgbt just happened between me and moreau" and sophie's like 👁👁 wait a minute (<- suddenly super jealous and BLINDSIDED by the feeling bc she literally spent weeks egging jane into this)

sometimes sophie crosses a line and jane gives her the cold shoulder, refusing to talk about anything non mission related, and sophie resorts to narrating stupid choices she's "going" to make until jane can't take any more and is like "i know you know that putting your fork in the outlet won't fix it, stop that" and sophie (who was bluffing about the fork AND the broken outlet) is like well okay fine :) 2. scoutminder sophie, scout jane:

my backstory thought here is maybe instead of jane getting thrown in prison for the ssttl-verse equivalent of the rowley conspiracy, she was "invited" to become a planetary scout

sophie would probably have an ideological faith in the institution of the scouting office (which she works for as scoutminder) that gets broken down over the course of the story

jane would freely rearrange mission priorities and modify equipment to suit her and sophie's like "for the love of god there is protocol to follow." and does jane listen? no <3

jane asks sophie to slip hieronymus cheng novels into her data download packages and sometimes she reads them out loud and sophie insists she's only half-listening and doesn't care about the plot. which is true she doesn't care about the plot!! but she loves to hear jane's voice :')

sophie also asks jane to describe her planet sometimes but she's trying so hard to picture jane, not the planet... she's like "what's the light like? is your hair up or down?"

my favorite aspect of THIS scenario is i think sophie would just wildly overshare abt her life to fill in gaps in conversation so she tells jane waaaay too much abt her love life on the station at first "for jane's entertainment" because "it's not like she's got much else going on", and then one day jane's like huh sophie hasn't told me about any of her hookups in excruciating detail recently, thank god (this is because sophie is pining horribly)

3. scoutminder jane (again), scouts sophie and george:

this one is notably different from scenario (1) bc in that one, scout sophie fills a gwen hartley-ish role; in this one she's mikhail

from sophie's pov: she finds out her planet is inhabited by a sentient species (the others!!!) and realizes that in order to protect them & humanity from each other, she has to fake her death and stay here alone. (i don't remember the name of mikhail's alien lover but THAT'S OMIKRON)

from jane's pov: sophie gets weirder and weirder over calls until jane hears another voice in the background and goes cold bc it sounds just like evelyn. and then sophie's like "yeah i need you to tell everyone i'm dead and leave me here alone with no company except my ghosts and the undead replica of the guy we both loved!!! and you have to be the only one who knows what happened to me while everyone else mourns me!!!"

meanwhile jane and moreau are having their whole haters-to-soulmates arc over the radio (remember how moreau names the egoran corpse in their closet and insists jane treat her with respect?? they would sooo anthropomorphize their bot and then condescendingly explain to it why jane is wrong during arguments)

also moreau's a xenobiologist and i just think they deserve to have a field day investigating the weird vines on their planet and jane listens to a thirty minute monologue abt the vines' growth behaviors and is like "wait why is this so endearing"

jane gets in trouble for insubordination on the station bc of course she does and moreau finally gets josephine to track down information abt jane's background, finds out abt [rowley conspiracy equivalent] and is like "oh shit. that actually makes me like her even better. shit she can't go to PRISON abt this"

i do think coordinating a long distance jailbreak by calling in favors from random ppl who are fond of jane (anders? david alegros?) is something moreau is capable of AND likely to do

so jane escapes to moreau's planet, they finally meet in person, and then sophie turns up out of fucking NOWHERE to find jane bc while moreau's been having their ssttl 'express your newly recognized feelings for your erstwhile scoutminder by breaking them out of jail and bringing them to your planet' plotline, sophie was having her pasithea s3 'i need to convince the aliens to give me a ride home' plotline

now all three of them are on a planet together and it's GOING to cause problems!! but the fun kind!!!

ANYWAY THANKS FOR ASKING!!!

[ironsharkkryptonite]

Our brains are wired in fascinating and sometimes frustrating ways when it comes to memory, imagination, and perception. Here’s a deeper dive into why we can so easily make up or distort stories in our minds—and why those stories feel so real:

1. Memory is Constructive, Not Accurate

Our brains don’t store perfect recordings of events. Instead, every time we recall something, we reconstruct it from bits and pieces, filling in gaps with assumptions and emotions. Over time, memories can become more like a story or blend with other experiences, feelings, or imagined events. That’s why neuroscience says that memory is a “reconstructive process.” So, if you’re constantly adding doubts or worries, those can become part of the narrative you recall or replay.

2. Imagination Feels Like Reality to the Brain

The brain can’t always tell the difference between what’s real and what’s vividly imagined. Research using brain scans shows that when we visualize something, similar areas of the brain are activated as when we experience that event in real life. If you keep imagining worst-case scenarios, your brain feels the same emotional impact as if those events actually happened. This process makes the imagined fears or negative outcomes feel real and creates stress responses as though the event is happening.

3. The Power of Repetition and Reinforcement

When we repeatedly focus on a particular thought or scenario, we strengthen the neural pathways related to that thought. It’s like creating a shortcut in your mind: the more you think it, the easier and quicker it is to think it again. Over time, those pathways become default responses, making it seem like you have “automatic” negative thoughts or assumptions. But here’s the powerful part—this works for positive repetition, too. You can build up those positive “shortcuts” until they become automatic.

4. The Brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN)

The DMN is a network of brain regions that becomes active when we’re daydreaming, reflecting, or imagining the future. It’s where our mind often drifts, creating stories about ourselves, others, and what might happen. When you default to thinking about worst-case scenarios or fears, your DMN is reinforcing a story that isn’t grounded in reality but feels real because of the emotional intensity you attach to it.

5. Confirmation Bias and Emotional Memory

We tend to pay more attention to information that confirms our existing beliefs, even if those beliefs aren’t helpful. So, if you’re expecting a negative outcome, your brain will highlight anything that seems to support it, reinforcing the story. This is why you may feel like “evidence” keeps popping up that confirms your doubts, when really it’s your brain choosing to filter reality based on what you expect.

6. How to Break the Cycle

• Consciously Choose Better Thoughts: Deliberately create positive stories, even if they feel unfamiliar or “fake” at first. The more you practice them, the more natural they’ll feel, and the more your brain will reinforce those pathways.

• Reframe Negative Thoughts: When a negative thought arises, stop and reframe it to something positive. For example, replace “What if he leaves me?” with “He loves me deeply and only wants me.”

• Visualize Positive Outcomes Vividly: By engaging your emotions and senses in positive visualizations, you’re helping your brain get used to feeling good in those imagined scenarios, reducing the grip of fear-based ones.

Ultimately, your mind is highly adaptable, and with consistent effort, you can train it to work in favor of what you want, rather than what you fear. The key is persistence in creating and reinforcing the thoughts that align with your ideal life and self-image.

[starlightandetherealshadows]

How would RO's react to the class fake out make out scenario? 👀

Hi honeybee! :･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.:

Oooo i'm rubbing my hands together LET'S EAT

Ayana/Adriel:

A is a 3 steps ahead kind of person, so they know what you're about to do before you do it. As you turn to them, they meet you halfway, pulling you close and pressing their lips to yours. They follow your lead after that, either taking control of the kiss or letting you guide it. Regardless, they get just as lost in it as you do. Everything else fades away. They pepper light kisses against your lips as they pull away.

Veronica/Vincent:

V hates PDA, so they're cringing into your mouth, but they do kiss you back. It takes a minute for them to relax into it, but once they understand your plan, they commit to the bit. V licks into your mouth and places their hands low on your waist. They laugh in amusement when you chase their lips after they pull away. "Later." They mumble, making sure the coast is clear before pulling you along with a firm, but soft grip on your hand.

Xa'eks/Xa'veed:

X will kiss you like they'll die if they don't. You yelp when they shove you backwards into the nearest wall, everyone else be damned. You're dizzy, and you half-hysterically think that this is the best plan you've ever had. You may have started this, but X is determined to finish it and leave you wanting so much more. They kiss down your jaw and neck before pulling away and promising that you'll have a better reason to be breathless once this is all done.

Cecelia/Chase:

As long as you two are in the crush and beyond stage, they'll reciprocate the kiss. Your outgoing, humorous friend suddenly goes shy; it's up to you to keep the kiss going. In their head, they may worry that you don't feel the same things they do, and they're stressed about it because it already takes them a while to actually want someone the way they do you. They look at you in awe when you pull away.

Zero:

Zero finds that they really like surprise kisses and affection. They like someone grabbing them and kissing them breathless. (they love a spicy red flag of possessiveness i fear. the idea of someone wanting them so much just tickles a pleasant part of their brain) so, despite their face burning with a flustered blush, they kiss you back. They surprise you with how passionate and fiery their kisses are. And Zero apologizes to you after, as if you weren't the one who initiated the kiss and enthusiastically kissed them first.

I love each of these RO's so much i am feral.

ALSO you didn't ask about this but I'm gonna rank the RO's once again!

from loves PDA down to hates PDA.

Xa'eks/Xa'veed>Zero>Ayana/Adriel>Cecelia/Chase>Veronica/Vincent

I hope you enjoy these answers, sunshine!!!

Thank you so much for your question! ˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖

All my love,

Cheye