#she had a super high intimidation roll that she made one of the guys literally shit his pants | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

interstellar-changkyun · 4 years ago

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being students together (ot7) :

shownu | son hyunwoo

he’s in your economics class and yeah you are super intimidated by him

he’s quiet and handsome and tall and he’s a music production major but he’s taking a high level economics class FOR FUN so he’s smart too

basically all the girls in the class love him and the guys look up to him

you haven’t talked to him all semester but then you’re paired together for the final project

“Hello I’m Shownu, you’re y/n right?” he came up to you after the pairs were announced you were surprised he knew who you were you just nodded and he asked for your number to talk about when to meet and you gave it to him without hesitation

Shownu was all business and you seriously doubted he even liked you

over time you had grown even more fond of him, he was kind and caring and definitely not the scary tough guy you thought he was

you were one year younger than him and he teased you about it pretty often but you didn’t mind especially since shownu insisted on paying for all the snacks you bought while working on the project

finally when you were done he said, “we’re finally done, let me treat you to meat kid” and you definitely liked being younger now

when you went to eat there was a group of drunk guys at a table nearby being rowdy

shownu, despite his big appetite, made sure to pace himself so you could eat properly

it only occurred to you when he literally stopped eating to watch you eat and maybe you were blushing

as you were about to get up to leave the group of men came up behind you, “hey beautiful why don’t you come with us instead.” you cringed at the slurred voice and turned around to glare only for the man to lean in towards your face, inches apart you could smell the alcohol on their breath

almost instantly shownu was standing up and walking over to your side of the table they cowered away as he moved to stand in front of you, you got up then getting ready to pull him back

“i would leave if i were you” shownu said sternly and it made you remember just how intimidating he was they scurried away after that and he turned towards you, his body still tense

“i- thank you shownu” you couldn’t express how happy you were he was here and how kind he was and he seemed confused by your expression, you looked ready to cry tears of gratitude

“don’t mention it, seriously i’d do it again any day”

you expected shownu to stop sitting next to you in class or meeting you between classes after your project ended but he didn’t, instead he became apart of your friend group, still quiet and talking only to you

then he introduced his other friends they were all music production majors but they were fun and shownu loved them like brothers they joined your group too

after a random guy from your class asked you out shownu realized just how much you meant to him and asked you out

wonho | shin hoseok

let’s be real he’s intimidating asf

but wonho’s the sweetest man alive

he would definitely sit next to you because you’re pretty and then be too shy to talk to you

he blushes when he sees you and when you smile he can’t help but stare

you never notice despite him being right there and stare at him too but he never catches you

your best friend, changkyun, who walks you to class every day notices him watching you as you enter and he’s sure wonho likes you so he tries to prove it

“what if i just ask you out one day?” you smack his shoulder and he yelps in pain

“he doesn’t like me so if you want to embarrass yourself then yeah go for it?”

“maybe i have a humiliation kink.” changkyun wiggles his eyebrows and you just roll your eyes but sure enough the fucker does it the next day waiting a couple seconds for you to take your seat before walking up to you

“y/n i was wondering if you want to get dinner with me i really like you?” changkyun was a good actor you had to give it to him, wonho couldn’t believe this kid but he really hoped you would say no

“i’m sorry i like someone else actually.” you couldn’t think of anything else to say and you immediately regretted it

“oh do you mind if i ask who?” you were gonna kill changkyun you glared at him but could feel wonho looking at you both so you regained your composure

“i-it’s personal” your gaze flitted to wonho and sure enough he was looking at you, you blushed instantly

“i understand no worries.” changkyun said and walked away knowing his work was done

“that was awkward huh? sorry you had to witness that.” you said to wonho without looking at him, trying to cool your cheeks

“it’s okay you deserve better anyways.” his voice was so soothing and you decided you had to be bold or you would regret it forever

“like you?” you looked at him now and he looked so shocked but he was blushing too

“yeah exactly like me.” he smiled a bright grin and you knew you were head first falling for him

kihyun

definitely the intimidating but annoyingly smart student that argues with everyone

you don’t mind being quiet and unassuming in class but today is discussion day and you actually liked the assigned reading

Kafka’s Metamorphosis made you excited about reading again so you decide today will be the day you wrack up on participation points

“Okay class lets start off with an open-ended question as we do: does anyone want to share what they thought about the reading?” The professor asked and there was a couple beats of silence before you raised your hand and she called on you

“Personally I really liked how the salesman describes the events of his metamorphosis so matter-of-factly and it gave insight into his general outlook on society.”

“I would argue the events of his transformation made him numb and traumatized him so much that he became nihilistic.” Kihyun was talking to you now, looking at you with his sharp eyes and you couldn’t deny your cheeks flushed under his stare

and then you two started arguing with each other across the lecture hall forgetting there were other people there until the professor cut in, “kihyun and y/n while your discussion is riveting let’s give others a chance to add in,” you huffed and looked away from kihyun not missing his smirk, did he think he won?

when class ended you decided you had to set the record straight, no way in hell were you backing down you stalked over to where he was packing up his laptop

“i hope you don’t think you won,” your were arms crossed and your cheeks were still flushed from the heat of the moment

“no you were right i just kept it going because you look cute when you’re angry,” you closed and opened your both in incredulity

“well then ask me to get coffee and we can argue some more,” you still feigned anger and his smirk turned into a grin and he did just that

you and kihyun’s first d(eb)ate was the same day you properly met and he couldn’t help but squeeze your red cheeks when you were done arguing and you let him walk you to your dorm and kissed him goodbye

minhyuk

class clown and kinda intimidating too

all the girls in your class are in love with him and you thought he was cute but you had always been in a relationship and you wouldn’t be swayed be anyone besides your partner

he’s funny, cute, smart, and sweet but definitely not interested in any of you nor does he notice the attention

but then you’re breaking up with your partner and you don’t let them see you cry, they had cheated on you after all they don’t deserve your emotions now

you run off to the library, sat down in the old reference book aisle that no one ever checks but you weren’t lucky it seems because lee minhyuk is walking through the aisle until he sees you on the ground and crying

he squats down in front of you, “do you wanna get something to eat?” he doesn’t ask if you’re okay because that’s a dumb question and it makes you giggle because you were hungry and dehydrated from all the crying so you just nod and let him lead you to an empty diner near campus

he orders you fries and a milkshake, strawberry, coincidentally your favorite flavor, and you feel better as you both eat in silence

minhyuk is funny and sweet making you forget about your day, for a while and then you’re telling him what happened and he’s sympathizing, “what’s his name i wanna beat this guy up?!” minhyuk is not intimidating you learn he’s actually just a softie and you make a great friend that day

minhyuk knows you’re not ready for a relationship but he’s always there for you after that day and months later when you get fries and a milkshake like that first day he tells you he wants to date you and you just kiss him square on the lips

hyungwon

quiet, smart, respectful boy but also sleepy

he always comes in with a 24 oz americano and your class wasn’t THAT early so you couldn’t help but notice the large drink

then you notice how adorable and handsome he is and maybe when you stare off into space during lecture your eyes always land on him, but alas you’re both too quiet to approach each other

one day he comes in without coffee and he falls asleep during lecture but you feel bad because the professor just announced details about the midterm and he definitely missed all of it

so after class you stand up and go to his still sleeping form and poke him a couple of times and he groggily says “wha-what’s happening?” and then he’s blinking and sitting up straight with wide eyes

“uhm you fell asleep and class ended but you just missed all the midterm details so i can email you the details or quickly tell you all of it?” you couldn’t help but giggle at his appearance and you desperately wanted to fix his messy hair

“oh uh- thank you do you mind just walking with me?” he was clearly still disoriented but you agreed since you didn’t have another class for a couple of hours

you and hyungwon walked to the nearest library on campus and you told him everything you could remember and he thanked you profusely

“i never sleep in class but today i didn’t have coffee and ugh i’m so grateful thank you,”

“i noticed,” you don’t know why you said that but hyungwon smiled a lazy and soft smile and you decided you wanted to get to know the caffeine addicted tall boy

the next lecture he brought you a cup of coffee too and sat next to you and as you became friends it wasn’t soon after he asked you out

jooheon

like minhyuk he’s the smart class clown but also intimidating

he jokes around with the professors like he knows the entire content of the course and he’s so smart he probably does

one day you’re late to lecture and the only seat left is next to him and he gives u a nod as u sit down

you’re struggling to stay awake and when your head falls out of your hand it’s resting in slightly jooheon is giggling next to you

“hey you can sleep i’ll take extra good notes for you,” and you could cry from gratefulness but instead you just give him a smile and rest on your arms and then he’s waking u up and giggling at your grogginess

it’s the first time you see his dimples and you feel like an arrow shot through your heart and you must be half conscious because you can’t seem to control your body as you outstretch a hand and poke one of his dimples

he’s shocked but just laughs and his dimples deepen impossibly and you’re apologizing and he just says, “you can poke my dimples any time,” and well you just tell yourself you’re still sleepy even though your entire body feels awake now as you do it again and his eyes vanish as he smiles

you’re definitely whipped and he is too and it’s only until one of his friends notices you two being annoyingly oblivious of your feelings for one another and says, “yah just ask them out already!” to jooheon do you two actually start to date

he takes you bowling and you’re grossly whipped for each other

I.M | im changkyun

the type of hot and intimidating you would never approach him but just stare at him from a distance

sits behind you in class and rarely talks but when he does you shiver just from how deep his voice is

you sit next to your friend and they constantly tease you about how reactive you are just to his voice alone

one day you’re running late and rushing through campus and when you finally make it to your lecture hall you’re almost late so you stumble on the steps to your chair and fall

a all too recognizable voice says, “are you alright?” and then he’s kneeling in front of you and giving you his hand to help you up and your hand is oh so cold but his is so warm and so are your cheeks now because he’s staring right at you

“yes thank you,” and you’re stumbling as you stand up so he naturally grabs your arms with both hands to steady you and you’re so sure your blush is out of this world and changkyun feels like he might have just fallen for you right then and there

after that he notices you more and more until he can’t stop seeing you everywhere what feels like all the time

when he sees you in his favorite cafe in what is his usual seat he just mumbles “fuck it,” and takes the seat right opposite from you and you’re sure you’re imagining it, maybe all the caffeine was battling the lack of sleep and you were losing it

“you know we haven’t properly met,” changkyun introduces himself and you give up on your homework as you begin talking to him, after a while you don’t find him intimidating any more and revel in just how easy he is to talk to

as you’re walking out of the cafe he walks you to your dorm and your hands are cold as you desperately try warming them up, even resorting to blowing on them, and he notices and takes both of them in one hand and puts them in warm pocket and you feel yourself falling headfirst for the seemingly edgy truly soft boy

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tobesobri · 5 years ago

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Nervous

the one where Y/N might be insane but Harry is definitely a shy nervous idiot. (~7k)

thank you @ anon for requesting this! I tried to do it justice, but I’ve honestly never written Harry this way so 😬hopefully it’s decent. Apart from this being probably the only request i’ve ever done, this is also my first piece of one-off writing i’ve posted in a long time, so I do really hope yall enjoy it as much as I do! Thank you to @fromyourstrulyh @aileenacoustic & @smokeinherperfume for beta reading and just generally being incredible ❤️As always, your feedback, thoughts or just a reblog are super appreciated!!

The busy conversation could not overpower the way the sun felt on Y/N’s skin. Sometimes it burned a little too hot, but other times it felt just right and she found herself basking in it, ignoring all her friends a few times too many. She knew if they were any further inland from the beach, the hot L.A. sun would be completely unbearable, but the breeze that swooshed through the courtyard every so often was enough to make the weather practically perfect.

She no longer regretted going for one of her summer dresses that had straps and a shorter hemline. Her other options had been one with sleeves or a midi skirt, but either of those would have left her boiling, even if she only had her bathing suit on underneath. The last thing she needed when seeing all her friends again was to be sweating buckets.

Especially in front of Harry.

She couldn’t remember when he’d first joined their ever-growing group, but she wasn’t going to complain about it. He was nice to look at, which was just about all she ever did because he wasn't a man of many words. All of their conversations burnt out within a couple minutes. She never had any idea what to say to him because frankly, he intimidated her. All of her friends had various connections to Hollywood, but he was most definitely the most famous person she knew. So knowing what to even say to Harry was a whole other obstacle than just simply being acquainted with him.

But she did like to look at him whenever she could get away with it. Particularly when he was chatting with someone else and she obsessed over the way his dimples went in and out of his cheeks every time he smiled. If she wasn’t staring at his face and admiring the freckles or how green his eyes were in the sun, she shamelessly watched his hands. Whether it was while he articulated them in conversation, or while he picked up his sandwich to take another bite, she couldn’t take her eyes away from them.

She wanted nothing more than for him to just have a normal fucking conversation with her like he did with everyone else.

“Hey.” Mel nudged her elbow into Y/N’s side, forcing her eyes away from Harry for the first time in the past three minutes. “Do you want to share a slice of chocolate cake?”

And for the first time since they’d sat down, something other than Harry piqued her interest. With enough sparkle in her eyes to blind someone, Y/N nodded eagerly. “That shouldn’t even be a question.”

Mel shrugged and looked over the dessert menu again to pick out the right slice of chocolate cake between a plain one, one filled with fudge in the middle, and one packed with triple chocolate--whatever that meant.

Trev, who sat beside Harry and right across from Y/N, folded his arms and leaned onto the table, “So Mel, how’s it going with that guy, uh… Alan?”

Mel rolled her eyes but kept them glued to her options of chocolate cakes, “It’s Adam.”

“Does it matter?”

Y/N bit back a smile and sat against her seat, waiting for the typical show between Trev and Mel where he let his jealousy spew out like boiling hot lava and made fun of whatever dude she was seeing all because he was too up his own ass to just ask her out. It was entertaining for the whole table, though, and especially for Y/N.

It was then, in the heat of Mel’s insults about Trev’s own miserable love life, that Y/N and Harry shared a glance, and only a glance because it was so quick, she thought she was imagining things. Just the familiar green of his irises burned into her eyelids was enough to know it wasn’t her mind playing tricks on her. She’d been snickering at the two in front of her when she blinked over at him, possibly because he had already been looking at her. As soon as she did, however, within less than a second he’d looked away. She would take it, and the way it made her entire insides feel like they were being electrocuted, and run with it though. He’d looked at her for the first time all afternoon and she just might gain the courage to try and talk to him again. If he would let her of course.

She thought about their last conversation and how it seemed like centuries ago, but also may have been the reason he hadn’t said a word to her today yet. A smaller portion of their group had gone to LACMA on an off day so it wasn’t as busy. She tried to talk to him about the Diego Rivera painting he’d been standing in front of which he had humorously mistaken for Frida Kahlo. Looking back on it though, she cringed at the way she’d laughed at his mistake because he probably didn’t find it all that funny. He had still laughed right along with her, as his cheeks reddened with embarrassment and he tried to find a quick escape to avoid interacting with her again on their museum trip--which he had done, successfully.

He knew Diego Rivera from Frida Kahlo, though, he wasn’t stupid, but whenever she was around and he had to communicate with her, he turned into a big dumb pile of mush who wouldn’t be able to tell his left foot from his right. He had never been so fucking nervous around someone in his entire life, and so naturally, he no clue what to make of her.

The bickering between Mel and Trev died down when their waitress returned to take dessert orders as a busboy collected dirty dishes. Although dessert was Y/N’s favorite part of every meal, she found herself pouting at the thought of their afternoon passing by a lot quicker than she expected it to.

The topic of discussion shifted once the sweets all arrived and suddenly they were all going on about Tiger King conspiracies that Y/N knew jack shit about, but still listened intently as if she did. She asked a dumb question every once in a while, which made everyone at the table groan in frustration. Eventually, though, they got onto more topics she didn’t understand the references to so she gave up.

Instead, she found herself eyeing Harry’s sampler of various cookies, particularly his painted fingers as he broke off pieces and popped them in his mouth. He had had black nail polish on at some point, but most of it had chipped off by now. The rings he usually wore to excess had dwindled down to just one on his middle finger. She missed them, even though she was sure his poor hands were in desperate need of a break from all the jewelry. His tattoos were on full display now, soaking up all the sun they could after being under long sleeve sweaters all winter. The black ink stood out against his slightly tanned skin, and especially against the red, floral print flowy button up he wore. She felt like it’d been ages since she saw him in something so casual, but they were all headed to the beach soon after all.

“Do you want some?” When she heard his voice, her eyes shot up to his face, realizing she’d been caught. Realizing he was looking at her and speaking to her because she’d been staring at his fucking hands not the cookies.

Since she couldn’t let him know about that, she nodded, “Uh sure.”

She felt even worse about taking a half of a chocolate chip cookie from him when he reached across the table and his poor, beautiful hand collided with her half-full cocktail glass that instantly dumped all over the table. It caught everyone’s attention when the glass broke and quickly Y/N and Trev grabbed napkins to soak up the liquid before it reached their laps while Val saved their plates.

Harry hid his face in his hands after placing the half of a cookie down on his plate again, utterly embarrassed by himself. “I’m so sorry,” He mumbled between his fingers after dragging his hands down his face dramatically to see the mess he’d made.

“Literally the clumsiest fucker I know, you know that?” Trev said while sopping up the rest of her drink and discarding the used napkins on an empty plate. Val called over their waitress once she was close enough to help deal with the broken glass.

“Can I buy you another one?” Harry asked, his cheeks flushed red when she looked at him again and it was definitely not from the sun. He looked embarrassed and apologetic and she was positive he felt stupid because she knew she would in his place, but it made her sad that he thought any of that when it was just a silly mistake.

Harry definitely would not have minded sinking into oblivion right there and then.

“No it’s alright, wasn’t that good of a drink anyways.” She shrugged, easing his nerves just a tad, but he still felt horrible.

“I’ll pay for that one then.” He concluded, not giving her a chance to shoot him down this time, however. And when the checks came long after Harry’s incident that gave him plenty of time to recover, she didn’t have much say in it either when he snatched up her check before the waitress could even hand it to her.

Y/N could easily pay for herself, but if Harry insisted she wasn’t going to argue. It was his way of feeling better about the situation and she’d leave it be, even if it did bug her that he said he’d pay for her drink, not her entire bill. She kept her mouth shut, however, and just gave him a mean look so at least he knew she wasn’t happy about it, even if she had no intentions to stop him.

She escaped to the restroom while everyone wrapped up, knowing she’d have to go the second she got near the ocean later and she did not want to use the disgusting public bathrooms at the beach. They were always full of sand, salty water, and smelled ten times fishier than normal.

Her confidence was at an all time high when she looked in the mirror, wondering if it had been the sun or Harry to do it to her, but either way it really didn’t matter. She felt like she was on a cloud and like nothing could touch her or bring her back down.

Except, of course, when she walked back out to reality and realized everyone had already made their ways to the Malibu coastline. Sighing, she pulled her phone from her little crossbody bag and walked towards the main entrance. Before she got too far into her Uber app, she glanced up at a familiar shade of bright red floral print standing near the doors and instantly floated back up to the clouds.

“Did everyone leave?” She asked once she walked up to Harry. He held onto a cardboard box of leftovers in one hand and his keys in the other. His sunglasses, that were previously perched on the neck of his shirt, had made their way to the top of his head, pushing his hair back from his face.

He nodded. “I, um… I didn’t know if you had a ride, or...?” He stumbled and she wasn’t sure why, but it was cute nonetheless, especially since she initially had the impression that Harry would be a little more self-assured than he was turning out to be. That was what she liked best about him though, that he tripped over his words and confused artists and spilled drinks.

She held up her phone in her hands and smiled, “I’m getting an Uber.”

He furrowed his brows, but she didn’t notice when she resumed picking out the cheapest option on the app to take her down PCH as she maneuvered around him and stepped back out into the warm summer afternoon.

He followed quickly, nearly tripping over himself and then cleared his throat, “Well, um, I’ve got a car.”

She paused, glancing at him over her shoulder while she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What kind of car?”

He had no clue why she’d asked him that, but given the little smirk on her lips, he had an inkling that if he didn’t have the right kind of car, she’d prefer to stick with her Uber options. What he was positive about, however, was that he’d never liked her more than he did right there in the parking lot as she planned on roasting his choice of transportation.

“Uhm...” He glanced around the lot until he found his car and then pointed it out, “that one.”

Her eyes fell to a bright yellow, convertible 1972 Ferrari Dino and she tried her best to not let him see the way her jaw practically hit the asphalt beneath their flip flops. Instead, she swallowed, stood up straight, faced him, and put her phone away.

“That will do.”

The surface streets were quiet, even though she’d forced him to put the top down while they drove. They were boring, too. She wanted to throw her hands up and feel the air between her fingers and flowing through her hair. Instead, they were stuck at every single red light imaginable on the short trip it took to get to the highway.

“How long have you had this car?” She asked once they’d stopped again, making herself at home in his passenger seat as she rested her elbow up on the door where the window would normally be if she hadn’t rolled it down the second he started the engine.

“Mm,” He thought, pinching his bottom lip between his thumb and index finger while his other hand clung tightly to the top of the steering wheel, enough so that she could see the whites of his knuckles. Was he nervous? Did he not like to drive with the top down? Or did he just not like to drive with her constantly staring at him?

“Couple years probably,” he answered finally while adjusting the radio to turn some music on and she took that as her cue to leave him alone. Maybe he was nervous because he liked to focus on the road while driving and not on her silly questions.

They got up to about twenty-miles-an-hour now while he flipped through stations, his eyes bouncing between the console and the road. He tuned the radio until she wrapped her hand around his forearm.

“Sorry, I just,” she let go of him after he gave her a look, one that she couldn’t quite read. He could have been mad at her for touching him for all she knew. “I really like this song.”

He moved both hands to the steering wheel as he sat back into his seat. He’d never heard the song before, but if she liked it then he’d leave it on. They drove for a bit longer until he heard her softly singing along and glanced over at her. He’d only meant to look for less than a second, but when she met his gaze, he got a little too distracted.

Her eyes darted out the windshield and her sudden, “Harry!” caused him to slam on the breaks, luckily just seconds before he managed to rear-end a Honda Civic. He was positive his hunk of metal would have done quite some damage.

“Shit,” he muttered, running his hand through his hair to shift it back into place as his heart raced a million miles.

Then, of course, it was racing for other reasons when he heard her giggling from beside him and once he was done freaking out, he joined in. He was such a fucking idiot but it apparently had made her laugh, so… silver lining?

Once they were on the highway, he no longer felt as tense. The wind from the ocean beside them blew his hair in every direction as he got up to the speed of traffic and she watched his hands as they shifted gears. She let her eyes, and her mind, wander while staring at his tattooless arm and the way the muscles flexed under his skin. It gave her that dangerous self-confidence all over again.

He heard her seatbelt click and immediately shot his eyes over to see what the actual fuck she was doing taking it off while he was going over sixty miles an hour. An all new reason to be anxious filled his entire nervous system as he watched her, through various quick glances, standing up in his passenger seat with no care in the world about flying out. As if he hadn’t already nearly caused an accident, here she was trusting him enough not to do it again.

Her skirt flew up in the breeze but she didn’t really care too much about that either, and neither did Harry. When she finally managed to peel her hands off the windshield, she threw them up and shouted at the top of her lungs, forcing nothing but a huge cheesy grin onto Harry’s face even though he wanted to pull over and kick her out for doing what she was doing and nearly giving him an aneurism.

She sat back down within seconds though, and his blood pressure settled at a more normal pace when she had her seatbelt secured around herself again.

“Wouldn’t have offered you a ride had I know you were going to do that!” He shouted over the sound of the wind.

“I’m in a Ferrari on PCH, you should have expected it!”

He shook his head at her as he glanced over his shoulder to switch lanes and make his off-ramp. She was fucking nuts. And he was a fucking idiot.

They sat in the parking lot together for a moment, staring out at the ocean, after he put the top up, closed the windows, and cut the engine. She was still coming down off of whatever high possessed her to stand up mid-freeway and he was trying not to act like a complete fool being alone with her again where it was quiet and they weren’t moving anymore.

“How come we never talk much?” She asked him before either of them could even think about getting out of the car and joining their friends down on the sand.

He stared straight ahead at the waves for a moment as he thought about why they weren’t as close as he wished they were and that it might be his fault. He just never knew what to say to her to not completely embarrass himself. Within the past hour, it was clear he still hadn’t figured it out.

He sighed, “Probably because you stand up in cars and make me nervous.” He didn’t realize, however, how his words would be twisted until she did so.

“Oh, so we don’t talk because I make you nervous?” She teased with a smirk but she clearly had no idea how right she was about that. Or maybe she did have some idea about it.

Either way, he tensed up realizing he had, yet again, said some dumb shit and went and embarrassed himself again.

“I’m kidding,” she assured when he remained quiet, “I just think we should talk more.” She fidgeted with the hem of her dress and it most definitely did not go unnoticed by Harry. “Then maybe one day you’ll let me drive your Ferrari and you can stand up.”

The breeze dropped several degrees as they walked through the sand to their friends, who were already set up with a few chairs and an ice chest full of wine coolers. It was a nice relief from the burning afternoon sun, but Y/N still regretted not packing a sweater.

As they walked together, someone made a whistling sound at them as if suggesting something had happened with her and Harry between the time it took them to get from the restaurant to the beach. It made him uneasy when everyone looked at them like they were amidst a walk of shame, and even more so when he glanced down at her to his side to see she was also slightly uncomfortable.

“What took you two so long?” Trev asked the second she and Harry reached their little set up. Everyone was already either taking their clothes off to run into the ocean, or securing their spots in the warm sand, nursing a bottle or two of alcohol.

Y/N squared her shoulders, “Harry almost caused an accident.”

His head whipped towards her so fast, he was sure he pulled a muscle in his neck. It was one thing for her to know about his dumbassery, but everyone else didn’t have to be in on it too.

A couple of their friends giggled, making Harry scratch at the back of his neck nervously, shaking out his curls and hoping they didn’t all think he was the biggest imbecile alive for not knowing how to drive a car like that. Especially since he did know how to drive, his brain just didn't function the way it was supposed to when Y/N was around.

“Or maybe,” Trev leaned in suggestively glancing between the both of them before settling his eyes on Y/N, “Harry finally won you over with his Ferrari.”

She scrunched her face, trying to figure out what the fuck Trev meant by finally? Harry never tried winning her over at any point in the past. Hell, before today she had been afraid that he hated her, wondering tirelessly what she did to get on Harry Styles’ bad side.

When she glanced at Harry, she was relieved to find that he seemed just about as confused as she was. So it was just Trev being a slimy asshole as per usual.

She rolled her eyes and shoved Trev’s shoulder as she walked past him, eliciting an overly dramatic response as he held his shoulder like a ginormous baby and called her a bitch under his breath.

Both Harry and Trev watched as she lifted her dress over her head, tossed it and her purse into a chair full of other people’s clothes, and flashed Trev her middle finger while she glanced over her shoulder at him. Before she ran off to the water, however, her eyes found Harry just in time to see the way his eyes flickered back up to her face. She smiled knowingly at him just before taking off, hoping his gaze would find its way to her backside again as she did so.

And frankly, her bathing suit didn’t leave too much to the imagination. It was all held together with strings that could come undone with just a single tug from Harry’s hands. Her bottoms were definitely cheeky and her top… Harry should not be looking.

But he was, he constantly found his eyes gravitating towards her as he sat beside Trev on land while she played in the water with the others. He also found his fists clenching whenever one of the other guys in their group got a little too close. He should also not be jealous.

“You know,” Trev began, sitting back against his seat and resting his wine cooler on his knee, “we all know you’re infatuated with her…” Harry turned to look at Trev like he was insane, “except for her of course. Probably because you act like an idiot around her and she thinks there’s something seriously wrong with you.”

Harry really couldn’t disagree. He did act like he only had a handful of brain cells sometimes, but in his defense, he didn’t do it on purpose. He had no clue why he couldn’t operate properly whenever she was around. No one had ever done that to him, not a single person he ever found remotely attractive turned him into a helpless ball of nerves the way she did.

Sighing, Harry stared out at the horizon through his tinted sunglasses and mumbled grumpily. “Maybe a little bit.”

“Knew you were too good to be true,” Trev teased, assuming Harry was referring to there being something seriously wrong with him rather than being maybe a little bit infatuated with her.

Harry shook his head with an exasperated smile on his lips, “You’re a cunt.”

“Listen man,” Trev sat forward again, taking a swig of his drink, “She’s fucking insane sometimes, but if you like her…” He shrugged.

“How insane is she, exactly?” Harry asked, although he already had an inkling given her earlier actions in his car.

Trev snorted out a laugh, “Not like that. She’s just like… I don’t know. Does crazy shit. She was the first one to jump off this huge ass cliff when we went diving a few summers ago.” Trev reminisced fondly before laughing again when he recalled something else Y/N had done. “She got drunk off her ass at New Years and did a handstand in the middle of Gasolina.”

Although Harry didn’t know what Gasolina was, he still imagined how fucking hilarious that party must’ve been. She was the good kind of crazy, he assumed, not the kind that might chop off his fingers in his sleep.

“Besides, all she does is work and hang out with her dog.” Trev added, leaving Harry to wonder profusely about what kind of dog she had. He considered a dachshund at first, but maybe a chihuahua was more her speed.

“Anyways,” Trev sighed, settling into his seat again, “I just think you should stop acting like a twelve-year old and ask her out if you like her.”

Harry’s brows furrowed again, “Maybe you should take your own advice.”

He watched as Trev’s eyes landed right on Mel, who had her arms around Y/N’s shoulders as they descended further into the ocean, and he sighed even deeper this time. “That’s way more complicated than the two of you.”

He never would have offered her a ride, no matter how much he liked her, when she’d first came up from the water and threw her dress back on. She was a wet, hot mess for a long while until they all packed up after they watched the sun set and it started getting dark. There was no way he was leaving her there to wait for an Uber by herself, however, once they’d gotten everything packed up into the back of Trev’s Jeep.

Not that she was pulling her phone out to scroll through the app or asking anyone else for a ride.

So, she wound up in his passenger seat again, staring at the sky as it mixed through various shades of peaches and purples until it turned a dark blue color and the stars started coming out as he drove. They listened to some oldies station while heading north on PCH and she never stopped looking at how beautiful the world was around her, especially the part of the world that sat right next to her as he drove silently with his sunglasses on top of his head again. He was cute when he focused, she thought.

When he reached her driveway, she really didn’t want him to leave yet. She’d even considered taking him the long way to her house and hoping he wouldn’t notice just to spend more time with him. She stared up at the stars still while they sat idly in her front yard until she looked over at Harry with a smile and he met her eyes curiously.

“Do you wanna meet my dog?”

She shivered as she closed the door behind Harry, locking it before returning her attention back to him. Seeing him planted into the familiar backdrop of her house felt weird, but it also swelled her stomach with a million butterflies.

“I’m gonna change real quick. The living room’s through there,” she pointed and he followed, “you can make yourself at home.”

While she disappeared up the stairs, he wandered hesitantly, removing his shoes before he walked onto the carpet in her living room. He sat down in the corner of her loveseat, taking in all the surroundings. Her house was nice and he thought about what she did for a living, trying to remember if it had ever come up in conversations before. He didn’t get too far lost in his thoughts and his wandering eyes when there was a sudden bang on the back door behind him followed quickly by loud and incessant barking.

When he looked out the windows that faced her backyard he realized she did not, in fact, have a dachshund or a chihuahua. She had a fucking pitbull.

Possibly even more fitting, and slightly less scarier than the chihuahua.

“Sorry,” she ran in the living room just then, in a pair of lounge shorts and a loose-fitting long sleeve, and went straight to the back door, “I promise Patrick’s not as mean as he sounds.”

“Patrick like… from Spongebob?” Harry asked as she unlocked the back door to let him in.

She grinned like Harry was the first one to automatically get the reference without her having to explain it, “He was a little bit dumb as a puppy.” She shrugged and opened the door and the tan-colored pitbull ran straight towards Harry, jumping on the couch and into his lap like they were already the best of friends.

Patrick got about ten licks to Harry’s poor face before Y/N got a hand in between and tried pulling the stubborn dog away. She apologized again and even though Harry assured her that it was okay, he still seemed highly uncomfortable. When she moved, hoping Patrick would stop molesting Harry with his tongue, she’d been horribly wrong and he went back in for more and Harry was far too polite to do anything about it himself besides making feeble attempts at pushing Patrick away awkwardly.

So, instead, she ran around the couch and pulled him off of Harry, squeezing herself between him and her dog. While Harry wiped off his face, she turned toward him once Patrick had settled down, “I swear he’s trained, he just… forgets boundaries sometimes.” She said the last bit through her teeth, directed specifically at Patrick while petting the dog on the head. He just continued to stare past her at Harry, panting and wagging his tail.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind.” Harry assured her again. He really didn’t mind. Maybe a little, but it wasn’t the end of the world to have too much attention from a dog. Especially if it was her dog.

It was quiet for a moment before she perked up like she’d just remembered something, “Oh, do you want something to drink? I forgot to ask before.”

Harry didn’t really want her to leave just yet, but on the other hand, he desperately wanted her to. He could feel the nervous sweat on his forehead and his clammy hands and he just needed a moment to collect himself. So he nodded, “Sure,” and she bounced back up onto her feet and left him alone with Patrick.

While Harry had successfully wiped the sweat from his face on the back of his shirt and his hands on his jeans--and cupped said hand over his mouth to check his breath-- Patrick scooted right up to Harry’s side, curled into a ball, and rested his head on Harry’s lap. Which was the exact sight Y/N returned to moments later with a couple glasses of water in her hands.

“Guess he likes you, then.” She laughed lightly while handing one of the glasses to Harry and sat down on the other side of Patrick. It was a gap bigger than the one between them previously, but Harry was okay with that. Maybe he’d stop sweating so profusely from just being in her presence.

They were quiet again, but not for too long that it ever got awkward. Harry was sure, at this point, that Y/N was a professional at avoiding awkward silences with the way she said the most random shit right out of the blue.

“Do you like stand up?”

He looked at her like he had no clue what the fuck she was talking about, but in hindsight he should have known. In the moment, though, when she caught him off-guard, he literally could not fathom in his brain what she meant by stand up. So he just shrugged and mumbled, “I guess?”

She didn’t seem to notice his enormous brain fart when she reached forward to grab the remote from the coffee table a little too excitedly. And once she turned on Netflix and searched for John Mulaney, it clicked in his head. Maybe Trev had been right. Harry might just have something slightly wrong with him.

He’d never personally seen any of Mulaney’s stand up, but he’d heard the name and when Y/N mumbled that he was one of her favorite comedians, that’s all he needed to know about the guy. Harry would sit through hours of his stand up if it meant spending more time with her.

John Mulaney had already gotten a few giggles out of Harry within the first five minutes of The Comeback Kid and every single time it happened, Y/N glanced at him proudly as if she were the one telling the jokes and making Harry laugh.

She felt even more full of herself when John’s punchline about exes came seven minutes in and Harry nearly laughed his entire ass off at, ‘Anyone who’s seen my dick and met my parents needs to die.’

Actually, she was certain he’d done some damage to his body when Harry laughed so hard that he held a hand to his stomach, doubled over on the couch and choked on his own spit. She tried not to laugh at his reaction as she sat forward and grabbed his glass of water off the coffee table to hand it to him.

Her movements caused Patrick to get up and jump off of the couch, settling for a cool spot on the hardwood floors to stretch out on as he panted. Harry sipped on his water until he could breathe properly again.

“It’s okay,” she reassured him, “the dick jokes get me every time too.” Although she intended for it to make him feel better, his cheeks just burned twice as hot from the way she said dick so nonchalantly.

“Are there more dick jokes then?” He asked.

“There’s always more dick jokes to be made.” She confirmed, making him chuckle again. “So you’ll stay and laugh at them with me?”

He wasn’t sure at what point she’d gotten so close to him on the couch, but when she laughed and he felt her shoulder shake against his own, he quickly tensed up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her closer, he just didn’t want to act like a complete fool again. And his reaction to just her touching his shoulder was enough to tell him foolery was on the horizon.

He also wasn’t sure when it became a given that he was staying to watch all of the John Mulaney specials on Netflix with her, but he wasn’t complaining. As long as he got to hear her laugh and imitate some of the jokes and weird voices John did, he was happy staying exactly where he was all night and, in fact, when she announced they’d burned through all of them, he was disappointed.

Even more so when she flipped the TV off and he wondered how much longer until she planned on saying goodbye and then who knows how long until they’d see each other again.

It was quiet, apart from Patrick’s snores, but not for long.

“I’m sorry I stood up in your car and made you nervous.”

He turned and met her eyes and she was very clearly not sorry about it, but he didn’t want her to be either. “S’alright.”

They stared at each other for a moment while he thought about what else she was going to say, if anything at all. But he should have known better than to assume she didn’t have anything else up her sleeve.

It was just that the next time she spoke there wasn’t the perpetual cute little grin on her face. Instead, she met him with a frown. “To be honest, Harry, I kinda thought you hated me before today.”

He scrunched his face, absolutely detesting that she ever thought that at all. “I don’t hate you.” He said it like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.

She tilted her head to the side while she looked at him and then gave him a reason why it wasn’t that ridiculous of an assumption on her part. “Then why do you always avoid me?”

He felt bad about the way he acted around her, especially since she had the wrong impression about it. He didn’t avoid her, he just didn’t know how to talk to her when he always acted like a neanderthal around her.

Sighing, he shuffled a bit in his seat as the anxious sweats really made themselves known. “You were right when you said we don’t talk because you make me nervous.”

She grew more confused by that, “You’re literally Harry Styles, how do I make you nervous?”

He shrugged, “Been trying to figure it out myself.”

Although he’d been avoiding her gaze like the plague, sure that he’d never be admitting any of this to her while looking right into her eyes, she still smiled sweetly at him. He was Harry fucking Styles, who got up on a stage more times than she could imagine and sang in front of thousands of people, but she made him nervous.

She took him off guard again. “Are you seeing anyone right now, Harry?”

His eyes quickly panned to her, wide and puzzled by her question. “No… wh--”

She didn’t give him a chance to finish after she’d gotten the only answer she wanted out of him and suddenly she was a lot closer than she’d ever been. In fact, there was no longer a single gap between them as she reached her hand up to his jaw and pulled his mouth down onto hers. Even though he didn’t know how to react at first, feeling her on his lips, his brain swelled with all the good kinds of chemical reactions and he kissed her back, wiping his hand on his jeans again before he touched it to the side of her face, cupping her cheek in his palm softly.

Normally, he’d be the one making the first move, but he didn’t really mind it being the other way around with her. Who knows if they ever would have gotten to this point if they’d waited for him to make the first move, after all.

He definitely didn’t mind it when she swiped her tongue across his lower lip and positioned herself into his lap. His head had fallen back into the cushions while she straddled him and got a little too carried away, but, again, he didn’t mind it. He fed off of her energy until he was slipping hesitant hands down her waist and on her backside, making her moan into his mouth that both felt and sounded like heaven.

Heaven. He was in heaven and this completely bizarre angel was in his lap, making out with him on her couch and rubbing herself all up on him in ways that were so very unheavenly.

Neither of their dopamine infused brains registered the sound of Patrick’s collar when it was vastly more important to focus on the way she giggled around his mouth and how his tongue felt swirling around with hers.

However, when he jumped up on the couch beside them and began licking Y/N’s face, she snapped back to reality for a moment. Pulling away from Harry with a whine, she sat back on his knees and wiped the slobber with the back of her hand while she stared over at Patrick.

“Can I help you?”

Patrick did some whining of his own while he dug his paw towards her, begging for attention. So she gave it to him, petting his head and scratching his ears while Harry watched, still very aware of his hands on her hips and her free hand leaning on his shoulder.

“Crazy dog,” she muttered mostly to herself while Patrick laid down next to them.

“Like his owner,” Harry teased, mostly just to bring her attention back to him.

It worked too as she pinged her eyes back to Harry as fast as humanly possible and faked offense, “You think I’m crazy?”

“You asked me to meet your dog and then somehow hooked me into staying for three hours to watch John Mulaney specials and then completely out of nowhere… ended up here.” He nodded his head down at their current positioning with her still perched on his lap.

It took her a moment, but she fully realized what she had done soon enough. And once she did, she was quick to apologize. “Shit, Harry, I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to--”

Before she managed to get much further away from him in failed attempts of removing her foolish self from his lap, he grabbed hold of her wrists and brought her hands up to either side of his head, pulling her as close as she’d been before with just an inch or so gap between their lips this time.

“I think that’s why you make me nervous,” He admitted softly and after glancing between both her wary eyes, his gaze landed on her lips just moments before he stretched upwards to meet them with his again.

They fell back into place completely, except this time, she’d gone as far as to undo all the buttons on his shirt while she made out with him on her couch. Once it was open and she had full range of his chest, she pulled away from him again and watched his body rise and fall quickly as he caught his breath. She traced her fingertips over his butterfly tattoo, and like magic formed a few of them in his stomach while he watched her through heavy eyelids.

When their eyes met again, she smiled excitedly. “Does this mean I can drive your car now?”

#100% rewatched the comeback kid in the middle fo writing this jnjvf #but im really happy and proud with how it turned out so im excited!!#kinda longer than i expected it to be but oh well #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles writing #harry styles one shot #shy!harry

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emsvegetables · 4 years ago

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okay but like i screamed when i saw your requests are open, ( after reading the pregnancy hcs ) if it's fine with u - you can totally not do this if you don't like it - may i request headcanons with the same boys you did with the pregnancy hcs but with their father-daughter/son relationship with them headcanons? i'm a sucker for those HAHA. thank you again if you ever consider, love ♡♡

“okay but like i screamed when i saw your requests are open, ( after reading the pregnancy hcs ) if it's fine with u - you can totally not do this if you don't like it - may i request headcanons with the same boys you did with the pregnancy hcs but with their father-daughter/son relationship with them headcanons? i'm a sucker for those HAHA. thank you again if you ever consider, love ♡♡”

AHHH OFC!!!! hi @karasunology this is for you, you’re so sweet!!!!! hope you like these <33!!!! i’m not sure if i interpreted it correctly fifkfjrrj i rewrote this THREE TIMES FIEIDIFIF also i made the child a daughter haha hope that’s okay!!!

Oikawa:

* he’ll love his child SO much!!!!!!!!

* anyway he’s REALLY excited for little (Y/N) to come out!!!!!!!

* he’s with you throughout the entire birth process, and he tries his best not to cry when you curse him and say that you’re never having a baby with him again.

* AHAHAHAHA ITS SO PAINFUL BUT HE DOESN’T KNOW THAT LMAO

* and when she pops out of the womb?

* he is CRYING and calling Iwaizumi to tell him how cute she looks.

* “IWA-CHAN!!!!! SHE’S SO CUTE AND—“

* Iwaizumi hangs up on him LOL

* but afterwards he’s softly running his fingers through your hair after it’s all over, and telling you that he loves you.

* but anyways the Seijoh third years come to visit little (Y/N) every weekend and they always bring so much things for her to play with!!!!

* but it’s obvious Iwaizumi is little (Y/N)’s favourite uncle LOL

* she looks like she LIKES Iwaizumi more than Oikawa AHAHAH

* she’ll crawl to him and always reach for him and he’ll happily hug her!!! Oikawa is SO jealous lmaoooo

* but when little (Y/N) can start walking and talking, MAN.

* Oikawa is instantly teaching her how to play volleyball!!!!

* he’s teaching her how to set, and how to receive balls!!!

* her uncles come over to play with her every weekend and you find it really cute, when you poke your head out into the backyard and see four grown men cooing over your little girl!!!!

* but she grows up to love spiking more thanks to her uncle Iwaizumi!!!!!!

* Oikawa’s VERY salty about that LMAOOO but he’ll set to her all the time to practice!!!

* he and her are the total power team!!!

* he’ll go to ALL her games and he’ll happily point her out to you when you’re looking for her!

* and when she gets a spike in??

* “YOU GO GIRL!!!! MAKE YOUR FATHER PROUD!!!!”

* he’s also a super supportive father!!!!

* but he’ll draw a line at relationships AHAHA

* he’ll know how disgusting high school boys are (CONSIDERING HOW HE WAS AHAH) and he’ll gather the Seijoh third years and scare that boy away.

* Matsukawa is the scariest bc he actually is really intimidating HAH.

* and Hanamaki manages to scare them away bc he threatens MURDER AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

* but anyway your daughter has to BEG him to stop after he scares the seventh boy away.

* you just laugh as he tries to make excuses to what he did.

Kuroo:

* aw this man!!!!!!

* i’ve said before in a previous hc, i THINK his parents had some sorta tension between them and hence he had to live with his grandparents.

* so growing up, he never really had active parents in his life!!! so he’s promising himself that he’s going to treat you and little (Y/N) right.

* and when little (Y/N) comes out of the womb!!!!! he’s SO SO SO happy, and he’s smiling so widely and tears are rolling down his cheeks.

* he’s praising you on how well you did during the entire process, and he’s kissing your forehead and saying how proud he is of you.

* but he’s SO SO SO HAPPY!!!! and he’s immediately telling Kenma and the third gym squad!!!!!!

* okay but Kenma occasionally pops over to your house every few weeks to give little (Y/N) toys and stuff, and you have to tell him to STOP bc he’s spending so much money!!!!!

* ZRIEOTKGK

* but Bokuto, Akaashi and Tsukishima also come over to play with little (Y/N)!!!!

* it’s obvious her favourite is Akaashi, bc he’s the most gentle with her, and she’s always crawling up to him and hitting his thighs.

* Bokuto always goes into emo mode whenever she choose Akaashi over him LOL

* anyway.

* he’s teaching little (Y/N) volleyball when she can stand up and walk!!!

* and he’s such a big influence on her life that she actually ASPIRES to be a middle blocker just like him!

* he always brings you to all her games when the both of you can make it, and occasionally the third gym squad will make an appearance too!!!!

* when she blocks the other team????

* there’s two people screaming on the second floor.

* “THATS MY DAUGHTER!!!”-kuroo

* “WOOOO GOOOO LITTLE (Y/N)!!!”-bokuto

* Akaashi and Tsukishima just exchange looks like: wtf is wrong with them.

* he’s also a really, really supportive father.

* he’s so close to her, and he really understands her so well, just like how he understands you.

* he’ll let her talk to him about anything, but he also knows when to give her space to work out her problems when she needs to!!!

* overall super supportive.

* REALLY GREAT FATHER.

* though he gets a TAD protective when little (Y/N) starts to talk about her boyfriend to the both of you.

* but he trusts her!!!! so it’s all good!!!!!

Kenma:

* ahhh!!! he’s actually prepared for little (Y/N) to come out.

* like.

* he’s already bought all the stuff needed for babies, and he’s already put it in the room.

* and when your water breaks??? he’s bringing you to the hospital, with a very calm face, because he’s researched on what to do and he made sure to get the BEST doctor on your case!

* and when little (Y/N) comes out?

* he’s so proud, and you see this lone tear slide down his cheek, and he’s pressing a soft kiss onto her forehead, before pressing one to your lips, and telling you that he loves you so much.

* anyway he immediately tells Hinata what happened, and after Hinata jokes about little (Y/N) not being named after him, he congratulates the both of you through the speaker!!

* Kuroo finds out a few minutes later, after Hinata hangs up and Kenma texts him, and he also congratulates you happily, and berates Kenma over not telling him first AHAHAH

* N E WAYS

* Kenma. is literally and figuratively A SUGAR DADDY TO LITTLE (Y/N).

* this guy???

* a new toy shows up in a parcel outside the house EVERY day, and you have to PLEAD him to stop buying little (Y/N) presents when the drawers start to overflow AHAHA

* Kenma merely shrugs, and gets another cupboard built in the room to store more toys, and shoots a small smile at you when you sigh.

* “i have money to spare, babe.”

* “WE HAVE TOO MUCH TOYS, KO.”

* tbh he won’t teach volleyball to (Y/N), bc he’s lazy AHAHA

* BUT when she inevitably picks it up thanks to her uncles Kuroo and Hinata, he’s cursing them silently in his head when your daughter asks him to play with her.

* he will not be able to refuse her and he’ll actually play with her until SHE’S tired, bc he loves her so much!!!!

* she ends up wanting to be a setter, and he teaches her all his hacks and techniques to get out of practice if she’s tired AHAHA

* he’ll try his best to make it to all her games, and he won’t shout whenever she scores, but instead grip your hands really tightly and mumble a cheer under his breath.

* he’s a really chill dad, tbh.

* like, he’ll never scold your daughter if she’s in the wrong.

* all the discipline is up to you AHAHAH

* he also doesn’t get worked up over her having her boyfriend over for dinner, and instead asks the boy what games he plays.

* the protectiveness gets handed over to uncle Kuroo!!!!!!! who’s instantly firing a barrage of questions at the poor boy.

* “stop it, Kuro.”

* “BUT KENMA, this boy is trying to make his moves on little (Y/N)!!!!”

Sugawara:

* aw HES SUCH A SWEET GUY.

* he’s so PUMPED for little (Y/N)’s delivery.

* and when your little baby pops out???

* this guy is CRYING.

* tears are rolling down his cheeks and he’s SMILING so much as he holds little (Y/N) in his arms.

* he’s SO happy, and he’s telling you that straight to your face as you lie back down on the hospital bed.

* he’s pressing a soft kiss on your cheek before he’s texting the Karasuno group chat WIDIFIFIR

* they’re all so happy!!! and they swarm into the hospital like the maniacs they are to see little (Y/N).

* but when your baby can walk and talk???

* you BET that the entire team is coming to your house EVERY weekend to play volleyball with her.

* little (Y/N) ends up loving Nishinoya the most, and he excitedly teaches her the ROLLING THUNDER move, but Sugawara scolds him when she rolls wrongly and ends up with a gash on her cheeks.

* Nishinoya is BANNED from returning to your house AHAHA KDG

* okay she ends up being a libero like her favourite uncle!!

* and whenever she has a match?

* the ENTIRE team is going there to cheer her on.

* i’m not even lying.

* she’ll save a ball, and all her middle-aged uncles start screaming and cheering, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

* Sugawara and Daichi have to calm them down AHAHAHAH.

* but when she undergoes changes and starts getting male attention???

* man Tanaka and Nishinoya are NOT going to let that happen.

* they’ll be protecting her like how they protected Shimizu AHAHA

* but the most scariest is HER DAD, SUGAWARA KOSHI.

* he’ll smile widely at the boy who your daughter brings home, and that smile is the scariest you’ve seen on his face.

* AHAHAH the poor boy’s TERRIFIED of Sugawara LMAO

Asahi:

* OH!!! this pure, sweet man.

* he’s so SHOCKED when your water breaks.

* he’ll be running around the house and freaking out AHAHA and you have to call the ambulance yourself LOL

* and when little (Y/N) pops out????

* he’s CRYING.

* he’s SOBBING.

* he’s SHAKING.

* he’s so scared!!!! what if your baby doesn’t like him?????

* he’s instantly texting the third years at Karasuno for help LOL

* but they tell him to chill and just hold the baby in his arms!!!

* and he starts to cry again AHAHAH

* but anyway your baby will have the CRAZIEST UNCLES.

* literally your baby is showered with LOVE AND AFFECTION by the entire Karasuno team!!!!!!

* your baby’s favourite is Daichi!!! bc he’s the gentlest with her, and she’ll always wiggle out of Asahi’s arms to go to Daichi.

* ANY WAY

* she ends up being a wing spiker like her father!!!!!

* Asahi’s so proud he starts to cry AGAIN.

* but whenever she has a match????

* the entire team is going AHAHAH

* Nishinoya and Tanaka ARE SCREAMING when she gets a spike in.

* Asahi will just tear up bc he’s so PROUD.

* oh and Asahi’s the MOST SUPPORTIVE DAD.

* he’s always letting her do whatever she wants!!!!!

* and he supports everything that she does!!!!!

* and when she brings a boyfriend home???

* tbh he’s totally fine with that, bc his baby is all grown up, after all.

* but the boy’s scared bc of Asahi’s LOOKS AHAHAHAHAHAH

* your daughter has to tell him to smile more bc her boyfriend is scared of her father’s face AHAHAHAHAH

JRRKFKFK HI IM SO SORRY IF THIS ISNT WHAT YOU WANTED FIRIFIFI i tried my best to write this!!! i hope it’s okay!!!!!!!!

#oikawa x reader #kuroo x reader #kenma x reader #sugawara x reader #asahi x reader #haikyuu hcs #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #oikawa tooru x reader #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsurou x reader #kenma kozume x reader #sugawara koshi x reader #haikyuu headcanon #haikyuu hc #haikyuu #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines

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charspnp · 5 years ago

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Headcanons of Midoriya, Bakugou, Todoroki with a s/o who looks tough but is a total softie loves kids, animals and is very goofy and affectionate but when facing a villain is super fierce bad ass and just super strong!

badass s/o who's secretly a softie

「 midoriya, bakugou, todoroki x gn!secret softie! reader 」

masterlist

midoriya

ngl he was scared of you at first

he just thought you were another bakugou but quieter

was even more scared of you when he saw you fight

he still took notes ab your quirk doe

because of your tough exterior, he wondered how someone like mina had befriended you

she was always seen hanging out with you and laughing

when everyone went to the mall, you, mina, ochako, and midoriya all went together to get clothes

midoriya was suuuper nervous about being close to you

but somehow, you two ended up alone while looking at clothes

midoriya was stiff the whole time he was near you, and not a word was spoken

that is, until a little girl with tears in her eyes tugged at your shirt

you crouched down to her level and in the sweetest voice midoriya's ever heard, you spoke, "what's wrong, sweetie?"

the girl explained how she got separated from her parents and didn't know where they were. you pat her head and told her it was going to be all right while setting her on top of you shoulders

you then turned to midoriya and asked, "midoriya, do you mind helping me find this girl's parents?"

with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, and quickly nodded

and you two were off in search of the whereabouts of said parents

as you guys were searching, you cracked jokes with him and the child

during the trip, he had learned that you were actually super chill and funny

after finding the parents and getting multiple thank you's, you turned to midoriya (who had gone stiff again under your gaze) and said, "thank you for helping me out, midoriya."

you smiled at him and he almost died on the spot

how could someone so mean looking be so nice ?????

nonetheless, he waved off your kind gesture as his cheeks got redder by the second

literally it only took one day and this boy is whipped for you ✋😔

bakugou

at first, he wanted nothing to do with you

he just thought of you as another extra

that is, until he saw you fight

he saw your determination and strength and was hooked immediately

he wasn't surprised someone so mean looking was so powerful, but he also didn't expect you to be that strong

after fighting, he would focus on you a little more than the other "extras"

would never admit it, but he wouldn't mind losing to you 😳

he sees you in the gym training every now and then, and after learning your schedule, he now goes there every time you go there in hopes of you noticing him

he calls himself stupid for wanting to get noticed by you, but he wasn't gonna introduce himself, hell no

after you did notice him, he noticed you were more quiet and reserved than he initially thought

nonetheless, he still thought you were a baddie

small talk in the gym turned to conversations in school, to you sitting at his table, to the two of you walking together after school

bakugou found the conversations he had with you after school surprisingly enjoyable

not only are you super strong, but your also super smart and funny too???

not fair bruh

bakugou still thinks of you as the same badass he first met though

until you saw a little cat on your walk to the dorms

in the middle of a badass story of how you defeated a villain, you suddenly gasped and stopped walking

bakugou was confused and was about to tell at you for stopping when he saw you kneeling down, petting a cat

you were talking baby to as it was rubbing up against your hand

bakugou froze in surprise

he questioned how you looked so cute and soft when facing a cat but like a totally different person when facing a villain

as he was frozen, face red, you bid your goodbyes to the cat and walked back to bakugou

you saw that he wasn't moving and rolled you eyes while looking your arm around his and spinning him around so you could continue walking

when he came back to reality, he let out a "o-oi! what the hell?"

"what?" you asked sweetly.

"you went all soft on me!" he seemed to not notice how your arm was holding onto his.

you rolled your eyes again, "tell anyone about that and you're dead."

that's when he surprisingly shut up

somehow you had managed to pull his heartstrings and he hated it

todoroki

okay,,,,,

he was never interested in relationships

before he saw you

sure you looked tough but he could tell you're a softie

don't ask how

he just knows y'know

while he didn't make any efforts to befriend you, he really wanted to

so when midoriya had introduced you to the dekusquad, he was super happy

now he actually made an effort to talk to you and he was glad you made an effort as well

you're the person he would smile with normally

of course he would be scared of you sometimes- like when you were sparring with someone or if a friend of yours is getting bullied

there is one time, though, where he saw the really soft side of you

you, todoroki, deku, and iida went out to get some things for the dorm and your friends when you noticed some people were being terrorized by a small time criminal

unsurprisingly, you were the first to move over to them

while you were intimidating the criminal, the three boys also made their way over to you

upon seeing the high class students, the criminal started running with a little boy under his arm

you chased after him, todoroki and deku following closely while iida stayed to help however he could with the other people

you pounced on the villain and subdued him, taking the small boy into yours arms while deku called for the police with the criminal in his hands

you assured the crying child everything would be okay while hugging him

in that moment, todoroki only saw love in your eyes

he couldn't help but blush at the thought of you looking at him like that

then iida and two other people came rushing over to you guys

the two people took the child and thanked you multiple times

he saw blush on your cheeks and his thoughts got cloudy

he wanted to do thathe wanted to be the reason you're flustered

when they left, your demeanor changed back to the usual toughness

you looked at todoroki and asked in a harsh tone, "what?"

he simply answered, "you're a softie."

you blushed harder and denied multiple times while waving your arms in the air.

todoroki didn't care, though, he was only focusing on how he had made you blush

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requests: open, 5-5-20

these are kinda long lol. but thank you for requesting!! i kinda made todo ooc and i don't like his but eh

#midoriya x reader #midoriya hcs #bakugou x reader #bakugou hcs #todoroki x reader #todoroki hcs #mha x reader #mha hcs #bnha x reader #bnha hcs #request #anon #charlie writes

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autumnsart22 · 4 years ago

Text

Oikawa x reader ch. 5

Here’s chapter 5! Sorry for the random updates, I haven’t figured out any sort of schedule yet lmao

“I heard you’re our official new team manager!” I turned around as a familiar voice called from behind me.

Oikawa grinned as he sauntered over, his hands in his pockets. He wore jeans and an oversized jacket, his hair sticking up at odd angles. Behind him was Iwaizumi. The second boy had short, spiky black hair and was a bit shorter than Oikawa, but he was more muscled. His expression was almost the complete opposite of his setter, serious and angry while Oikawa looked smug beyond belief.

I smiled, giving a little awkward wave as they approached. “Yeah, the paperwork got processed yesterday.”

I had been going to the Seijoh practices for a few days, but I still didn’t know the rest of the team very well. Iwaizumi and Oikawa had been friendly, but I was still uncomfortable around them. They were just so intimidating.

“Where are you headed?” Iwaizumi asked, his voice low. His gaze swept over the surrounding area as if analyzing possible threats, but he looked back to me once I started speaking, clearly paying attention.

“Oh, I’m done with classes for the day, so I was going down to the store to grab some pork buns.”

“Hey, we were planning to do that too! You should tag along with us.” Oikawa threw an arm around my shoulders, and Iwaizumi rolled his eyes before violently yanking his friend off of me.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa squawked in outrage, and I laughed a little. They had a strange, but sweet, relationship.

“Sorry about him,” the ace said, “But yeah, if you want to tag along, we’d be happy if you’d join us.”

Both of the boys looked at me, waiting for an answer, and I felt my cheeks heat up. I wasn’t exactly used to interacting with boys who I didn’t consider like brothers. “Uh, yeah sure, I’ll come. Are you walking?”

They nodded, and I quickly dropped my stuff off at my car before joining them again. The walk was only ten minutes through town, and I felt tiny as I walked between the two boys in the direction of the store.

“So how do you feel about being our manager?” Oikawa asked.

I shrugged. “You guys are a great team, and I’m excited to be involved in volleyball again. But honestly, you do a pretty good job of managing the players yourself, Oikawa-san.”

Iwaizumi grunted. “Don’t encourage him.”

“Aw, Y/n-kun is so cute. But don’t worry new girl, there’s plenty for you to do. Having a new voice is always good, and you seem to know what you’re doing in terms of scheduling and physical training.”

I snorted, thinking about the hours I had spent my first year of high school, reading up on all the rules of volleyball and figuring out the best way to help manage Karasuno at the time. It had given me vital practice in observation, because I always needed to be aware of the emotional state of the players, as well as the relationships between them. Oikawa and Iwaizumi could be invaluable resources to figuring this out for Aoba Johsai.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I would be super grateful if you both could help me get comfortable with how the team works. I’m sure I’ll get it over time, but you’ve worked with each other for years, and I thought…” I paused, not sure where I was going with that.

“Yeah we can totally help you with that,” Iwaizumi said, looking thoughtful.

“Anything for you,” Oikawa poked me in the shoulder, and I laughed.

We arrived at the convenient store a moment later, and Iwaizumi politely held the door for me, before slamming it on Oikawa before he could make it inside. I couldn’t help the giggle that burst out of my mouth as Seijoh’s captain let out a furious yell and punched Iwaizumi as soon as he got inside.

“What are you getting?” I asked them, surveying the shelves of snacks.

“Milkbread!” Oikawa crowed, striding directly for the shelf stocked with the food. Iwaizumi shrugged, wandering down a random aisle as he looked at the options.

“What are you getting, new girl?” Oikawa walked back over to me carrying two loaves of milk bread and a soda.

“I’m thinking a pork bun, but they’re pretty expensive…” I murmured, my eyes on steamed food. I tucked a hair behind my ear, and then sighed, giving in. They looked too good to resist anyway.

Iwaizumi walked back over, loaded with candy and chips, and then we all headed to the counter.

As I went to check out, Oikawa slid next to me, literally shoving me out of the way. He smiled widely at the lady behind the counter and gestured to all the food in front of him, which included my pork buns. “Just this please.”

I let out an outraged noise of protest. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

Oikawa rolled his eyes. “What does it look like?”

“I can pay for myself!”

The woman handed back his change, and Oikawa passed me the bag with my food inside, patting me on the head. “I know you can, Y/n-kun, but I’m a gentleman. Unlike Iwa-chan over here.” He gestured to the dark haired boy, whose face twisted in indignation.

“I’ll pay you back,” I promised, refusing to allow him to spend money on me when I was perfectly capable of providing for myself.

He shrugged and smirked down at me. “I’m sure you will.”

We headed outside, beginning the walk back up towards school. I munched on my food in silence, listening to Iwaizumi and Oikawa bicker back and forth like little siblings.

“Want some milk bread?” Oikawa held out a piece to me.

“Are you sure? You can have a bite of my pork bun.”

He passed me a torn bit of the bread, and I handed him the rest of one of my buns. The milk bread was utterly delicious, and I felt surprise cross my face. Obviously, I had had milk bread before, but for some reason this was unlike any I had before.

“I know right!” Oikawa responded to my change in expression. “It’s the best in town. I get it every week.”

“You’re going to die from too much milk bread one day,” Iwaizumi said, stuffing a handful of gummies in his mouth.

“Not a bad way to go,” I said, covering my mouth with my hand to hide a smile.

“See? Y/n-kun is on my side.” Oikawa threw his arm around my shoulders and smirked proudly at Iwaizumi, who rolled his eyes.

“Y/n-chan?”

I froze as a familiar voice called my name from behind me.

Standing on the road, panting and covered in sweat was Daichi, dressed in his Karasuno practice jersey. As I watched, the rest of the team jogged around the corner, coming to a halt when they saw Daichi and I.

“Hey you guys!” I said, awkwardly maneuvering out from under Oikawa’s arm. “What are you doing over here?”

Asahi answered, “We went on a team run for practice today. What are you doing over here?” With them.

The tension was palpable, and I suddenly wanted to duck into an alley and disappear. “Oh, I came to get some food.” I cleared my throat.

“Is that Y/n-chan?” Hinata burst from between Suga and Tsukki, bounding over to give me a hug. “How have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages! We should all do a sleepover sometime. You know, practice is way more boring without you there. You should come back to Karasuno!”

“Karasuno? So that’s where you went to school.” I glanced over to see Oikawa coming up next to me, Iwaizumi on my other side. “I’m Oikawa Toru, captain of Seijoh, and this is our ace, Iwaizumi Hajime.” “The great king!” Hinata gasped, eyes wide. Oikawa looked confused for a second, and I made a mental note to explain later.

“It’s good to finally meet you, Oikawa.” Daichi stepped forward, extending a hand. “I’m Daichi Sawamura, captain of Karasuno.”

“Hey wait!” Tanaka was practically shouting as usual as he marched forward, pointing at me. “Don’t tell me you’re working with them now?”

“I--well I--”

“She’s our new team manager,” Oikawa said smugly, and I punched him in the arm as hard as I could. “Ow! What the--”

I ignored his protests as I turned back to Karasuno. “Yes, I’m Seijoh’s new manager, but it was because I missed you all and volleyball so much. I need it in my life--I’m sure you understand that perfectly well. But me being on another team doesn’t change the fact that I’ll be cheering you all on the whole time. Which side of the net I’m on doesn’t matter.”

“You’ll still come to our games, right Y/n?” Noya asked, bouncing up next to Hinata.

“Of course. I’ll be your loudest fan! Now you all should get going, keep practicing. I’ll come and visit you, promise.”

Daichi nodded in agreement. Yamaguchi and Hinata both gave me quick hugs, but I noticed Kageyama glaring more intensely than usual at Oikawa, and indirectly, at me. I hoped he wasn't upset that I was now on a team with his rival.

I watched them as they jogged away, the sound of their feet pounding on the pavement slowly fading as they disappeared from sight.

I turned to Oikawa, giving him an annoyed look. “Why’d you have to say that?”

He looked a little sheepish, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I just wanted them to know you’re with us now.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ugh, you’re so annoying.”

“Hey I just bought you food!”

“I didn’t ask you to!”

“But still…”

“Nope. I’m mad.”

“Y/n-chan,” Oikawa leaned down over me, nose to nose. He made a sweet, pleading expression, sticking his lip out. “Will you forgive me?”

I tried to keep a straight face, but it was impossible, and I burst out laughing at him. “God, you’re the worst,” I said, shoving him.

Iwaizumi snorted, and I followed him as we began to walk back up towards the school, Oikawa trailing behind.

For the first time, I didn’t miss Karasuno.

Chapter 4

Chapter 6

#oikawa #oikawa tooru #oikawa x reader #oikawa fluff #oikawa torū #haikyuu!!#haikyu x reader #fluff #fanfic #SIMP

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imdoingthismspaintadventure · 4 years ago

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Worm Interlude 2 -- In which two sisters clean up a street

There were very few things, in Victoria Dallon’s estimation, that were cooler than flying. The invisible forcefield that extended a few millimeters over her skin and clothes just made it better. The field kept the worst of the chill from touching her, but still let her feel the wind on her skin and in her hair. Bugs didn’t splat against her face like they did against car windshields, even when she was pushing eighty miles an hour.

Time for an interlude, it seems we will be getting these between arcs! From the point of view of different characters, to flesh out the world and the story. I always love when stories do that, put us in a point of view different from the main character. If done right, it adds so much richness to the setting.

It seems our interlude protagonist has the power of flight, plus some sort of force field that actively shields her against friction and particles. We learn this in the same paragraph where we also see how much she enjoys using her flight, so we both get characterization and powers at the same time. Nice!

Spotting her target, she whooped and plunged for the ground, gaining speed where anyone else would be slowing down. She hit the asphalt hard enough to crack it and send fragments of it into the air, touching ground with her knee and foot, one arm extended. She stayed in that kneeling position for just heartbeats, letting her platinum curls and the cape that was draped over one of her shoulders flutter in the wake of air that had followed her descent. She met the eyes of her quarry with a steely glare.

Superhero landing!

I would certainly be intimidated if she landed in front of me like that! She gives me lots of superhero vibes in terms of her overall alignment.

She’d practiced that landing for weeks to get it right.

Pfft. Okay she’s also a bit of a dork, and very human.

The man was a twenty something Caucasian with a shaved head, a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, jeans and work boots. He took one look at her and bolted.

You, sir, look like an underling of someone, and the way he nope’d out of there also gave me mook vibes.

Victoria grinned as he disappeared down the far end of the alley. She rose from her kneeling position, dusted herself off and ran her fingers through her hair to tidy it. Then she raised herself a foot off the ground and flew after him at an easy forty five miles an hour.

Classic superman-like superspeed / flight / superendurance is such a nice power to have. I bet you feel like a god.

It didn’t take a minute to catch him, even with the head start she had given him. She flew just past him, grazing him. An instant later, she came to a dead stop, facing him. Again, the wind made for a dramatic flourish as it stirred her hair, her cape and the skirt of her costume.

She’s really theatric with all this, and I kinda love it. I feel like this guy is thoroughly outmatched.

“The woman you attacked was named Andrea Young,” she spoke.

The man looked over his shoulder, as if gauging his escape routes.

Grunt attacked a civilian and they sent the superhero cavalry to make him super regret it?

“Don’t even think about it, fugly,” she told him, “You know I’d catch you, and trust me, I’m already pissed off enough without you wasting my time.”

“I didn’t do anything,” the man snarled.

“Andrea Young!” Victoria raised her voice. As she shouted, she exercised her power. The man quailed as though she’d slapped him. “A black college student was beaten so badly she needed medical attention! Her teeth were knocked out! You’re trying to tell me that you, a skinhead with swollen knuckles, someone who was in the crowd watching paramedics arrive with an expression bordering on glee, you didn’t do anything!?”

Oh so he’s neonazi filth. Ugh.

I was already kinda unsympathetic to him from the start, but now he can choke.

Fuck his shit up, Victoria.

“I didn’t do nothing worth caring about,” he sneered. His bravado was tempered by a second look over his shoulder, as though he’d very much like to be elsewhere right that moment.

Fuck this guy. He’s also cowering like a little bitch and trying to look all brave in front of no one, like an idiot.

She flew forward, her fists catching him by the collar. For just a moment, she contemplated slamming him up against a wall. It would have been fitting and satisfying to shove him hard enough against the brick to crack it, then drop him into the dumpster that sat at the wall’s base.

Taunting a girl who can absolutely ruin his fucking life, maybe not his best idea.

He almost got literally dumpstered.

Instead, she pulled up a little, bringing the two of them to a stop. They were now just high enough above the ground that he’d feel uncomfortable with the height. The dumpster, mostly empty, was directly below him, but she doubted he was paying attention to anything but her.

Ah, threatening him with falling from great heights! The batman strat! Or one of them anyway.

“I think it’s a safe bet to say you’re a member of Empire Eighty-Eight,” she told him, meeting his eyes with a hard stare, “or at least, you’ve got some friends who are. So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to either tell me everything the triple-E’s have been up to, or I’m going to break your arms and legs and then you’re going to tell me everything.”

Empire Eighty-Eight huh? Since the last time I heard the name, I’ve been informed about the 1488 dogwhistle, which I had never heard in spain. So yeah this guy is definitely part of some neonazi group, and is all around human garbage.

The group seems pretty big if it has a lot of unpowered mooks, kind of reminds me of Lung and his boys. I bet them and these guys wouldn’t really get along.

As she spoke, she ratcheted up her power. She knew it was working when he started squirming just to avoid her gaze.

“Fuck you, you can’t touch me. There’s laws against that shit,” he blustered, staring fixedly over one shoulder.

She turned up her power another notch. Her body thrummed with current – waves of energy that anyone in her presence would experience as an emotional charge of awe and admiration. For those with a reason to be afraid of her, it would be a feeling of raw intimidation instead.

Oh so she not only has superman-like powers! She also has an intimidation factor! That is fascinating. It makes her enemies afraid and everyone else feel awe at her presence. ...That sounds a little creepy if it influences normal people but I see how it can give a massive advantage against villains and criminals, in conjunction with her other powers!

“Last chance,” she warned him.

Unfortunately, fear affected everyone differently. For this particular asshole, it just made him dig in his heels and become obstinate. She could see it in his body language before he opened his mouth – this was the sort of guy who reacted to anything that spooked or unsettled him with an almost mindless refusal to bend.

“Lick my hairy, sweaty balls,” he snarled, before punctuating it with a spat, “Cunt.”

It makes sense that someone like him would get defiant in a moment like this. Still probably not the best judgement. Fear (even this artificial one) is usually there for a reason.

She threw him. Since she could bench press a cement mixer, though it was hard to balance something so large and unwieldy, even a casual toss on her part could get some good distance. He flew a good twenty five or thirty yards down the back road before hitting the asphalt, and rolled for another ten.

He was utterly for still for long enough that Victoria had begun to worry that he’d somehow snapped his neck or broken his spine as he’d rolled. She was relieved when he groaned and began to pull himself to his feet.

Damn, with a power like hers she really has to be careful to not accidentally kill someone. If she can throw a grown healthy adult like that, sending him flying across the street, she could just as easily end anyone who doesn’t have super-endurance.

I wonder if that is actually a problem in this world? Accidental manslaughter via a missuse of super-strength.

“Ready to talk?” she asked him, her voice carrying down the alley. She didn’t move forward from where she hovered in the air, but she did let herself drop closer to the ground.

Pressing one hand against his leg to support himself as he straightened up, he raised his other hand and flipped her the bird, then turned and began to limp down the alley.

....what is this guy even doing? She just yeeted your ass to the other side of the street! Since when is pissing dangerous superheroines a good idea??

What was this asshole thinking? That she would just let him go? That, what, she would just bend to his witless lack of self preservation? That she was helpless to do any real harm to him? To top it off, he was going to insult her and try to walk away?

....he IS probably counting on you being a “good guy”, yeah.

But by the way her internal thoughts are going, he may have made a liiitle mistake with all this.

“Screw you too,” she hissed through her teeth. Then she kicked the dumpster below her hard enough to send it flying down the little road. It rotated lazily through the air as it arced towards the retreating figure, the trajectory and rotation barely changing as it knocked him flat. It skidded to a halt three to five yards beyond him, the metal sides of the dumpster squealing and sparking as it scraped against the asphalt.

...did she just throw an entire dumpster on top of him? Like, as a projectile weapon?? Is this poor asshole still alive???

This time, he didn’t get up.

“Fuck,” she swore, “Fuckity fuck fuck.” She flew to him and checked for a pulse. She sighed, and then headed to the nearest street. She found the street address, grabbed her cell from her belt and dialed.

Oh fuck she might have gone and done it. Used excessive force and super-murdered a suspect. What even happens in cases like this, then?

She seemed to be panicking but then calmed down when she checked for a pulse, so he’s probably still alive, even if knocked out.

It seems to have spooked her enough to make a phone call though.

“Hey sis? Yeah, I found him. That’s, uh, sort of the problem. Yeah. Look, I’m sorr- ok, can we talk about this later? Yeah. I’m at Spayder and Rock, there’s this little road that runs behind the buildings. Downtownish, yeah. Yeah? Thanks.”

Victoria returned to the unconscious skinhead, checked his pulse, and listened intently for changes in his breathing. It took a very long five minutes for her sister to arrive.

“Again, Victoria?” the voice disturbed her from her contemplations.

She called her sister for help! Does her sister have superpowers too? Maybe some sort of healing or stasis power, so they can avoid him dying, if he’s in a really critical state?

Again, huh? Oof, is excessive force a thing with you Victoria? She might not be as “purely heroic” as I thought. Seeing a lot of gray here as well. Trigger-happy or reckless heroes can be VERY dangerous in certain settings.

“Use my codename, please,” Victoria told the girl. Her sister was as different from her as night was from day. Where Victoria was beautiful, tall, gorgeous, blonde, Amy was mousy. Victoria’s costume showed off her figure, with a white one-piece dress that came to mid-thigh (with shorts underneath) an over-the shoulder cape, high boots and a golden tiara with spikes radiating from it, vaguely reminiscent of the sun’s rays or the statue of liberty. Amy’s costume, by contrast, was only a shade away from being a burka. Amy wore a robe with a large hood and a scarf that covered the lower half of her face. The robe was alabaster white and had a medic’s red cross on the chest and the back.

Oh I like both of their designs a lot! And the contrast between them!

Victoria is a white and gold goddess with statue of liberty and/or divine motifs, which matches up with both her demeanor so far, and the power itself, especially the fear/adoration part.

Amy, on the other hand, reminds me of a final fantasy white mage, so the possibility of her being a healer is even higher (she even wears a red cross!). Also, just by visual design alone, she may be more introverted in comparison to the extroverted nature of her sister. She is like a star radiating light, while Amy is hiding herself with her clothes.

“Our identities are public,” Amy retorted, pushing the hood back and scarf down to reveal brown frizzy hair and a face with freckles spaced evenly across it.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Victoria replied.

“You want to talk about principles, Glory Girl?” Amy asked, in the most sarcastic tone she could manage, “This is the sixth – sixth! – time you’ve nearly killed someone. That I know about!”

“I’m strong enough to lift a SUV over my head,” Victoria muttered, “It’s hard to hold back all the time.”

Ooh interesting! Ok so a couple of things:

1) Amy looks cute, with her frizzy hair and freckles, in comparison to her sister’s more traditionally “beautiful” look.

2)Their identities are public??. Sooo....is that a thing particular to them, or to a group they belong to?? Cause I don’t remember very well, but I think Armsmaster kept his identity secret, didn’t he??

It’s very interesting that there are superheroes with public identities! I suppose that turns them into celebrities, even in their private lives, but isn’t that dangerous? Aren’t there villains who would attack their homes or families?

3)It seems Glory Girl is indeed a bit sketchy with the way she uses her super-strength, having six close calls with killing someone just because of an excess of force. I wonder if she can learn to regulate just how hard she needs to hit, because that seems dangerous!

“I’m sure Carol would buy that line,” Amy said, making it clear in her tone she wasn’t, “But I know you better than anyone. If you’re having trouble holding back, the problem isn’t here -” she poked Victoria in the bicep. “It’s here-” she jabbed her sister in the forehead, hard. Victoria didn’t even blink.

“Look, can you just fix him?” Victoria pleaded.

“I’m thinking I shouldn’t,” Amy said, quietly.

“What?”

“There’s consequences, Vicky. If I help you now, what’s going to stop you from doing it again? I can call the paramedics. I know some good people from the hospital. They could probably fix him up alright.”

Seems Amy is fed up with her sister dodging responsabilities for her recklessness, and wants her to learn the consequences of her behaviour and hopefully excercise more caution. This also confirms that Amy is indeed some kind of healer. Also is Carol their mother or caretaker??

Hey, hey, hey,” Victoria said, “That’s not funny. He goes to the hospital, people ask questions.”

“Yeah, I’m well aware,” Amy said, her voice hushed.

“This isn’t, like, me getting grounded. I’d get pulled into court on charges of aggravated assault and battery. That doesn’t just fuck with me. It fucks with our family, all of New Wave. Everything we’ve struggled to build.”

On the other hand, facing the consequences could mean that their whole family takes the blame.

New Wave...it seems Amy and Victoria have a whole family of superheroes, like The Incredibles! Is New Wave’s gimmick that the identities are public? The fact that excessive force threatens the founding purpose of the group leads me to think that revealing their identities is an attempt to gain the trust of the general public.

Amy frowned and looked at the fallen man..

“I know you’re not keen on the superhero thing, but you’d really go that far? You’d do that to us? To me?”

Amy pointed a finger at her sister, “That’s not me. It’s not my fault we’re at this point. It’s you. You’re crossing the line, going too far. Which is exactly what people who criticize New Wave are scared of. We’re not government sponsored. We’re not protected or organized or regulated in the same way. Everyone knows who we are under our masks. That means we have to be accountable. The responsible thing for me to do, as a member of this team, is to let the paramedics take him, and let the law do as it sees fit.”

So, New Wave is not government sponsored, like the protectorate is!

On one hand, we have the Protectorate, which is a state-funded professional justice league, with secret identities and constumed antics and such.

On the other, we have New Wave, which is a freelance family of heroes with their identities public and emphasizing accountability and probably a more modern, refreshing approach to superheroing (which kinda goes with the new wave name)

I really like the world building we’ve got going on here. It doesn’t seem to be going that well if Victoria here nearly killed a crook due to an excessive use of force though. At least it seems Amy is more level-headed and wants her sis to also be more careful.

Victoria abruptly pulled Amy into a hug. Amy resisted for a moment, then let her arms go limp at her sides.

“This isn’t just a team, Ames,” Victoria told her, “We’re a family. We’re your family.”

Heh, what Victoria is pulling here is the exact sort of emotional manipulation that a spoiled family member pulls when trying to get away with something scot-free. They’ve got a sister dinamic, that’s for sure!

The man lying just a matter of feet away stirred, then groaned, long and loud.

“My adoptive family,” Amy mumbled into Victoria’s shoulder, “And stop trying to use your frigging power to make me all squee over how amazing you are. Doesn’t work. I’ve been exposed so long I’m immune.”

Oh wow, seems like Victoria was trying literal emotional manipulation by way of her powers, but Amy has been exposed for so long she’s inmmune. So.... one can build an inmmunity to that aspect of her power?

Also it’s a bit disturbing to think of Victoria using her emotional powers to make her family subtly like her more.

And Amy is adopted! She did look very different from Victoria, based on that description we got earlier.

“It hurts,” the man moaned.

“I’m not using my power, dumbass,” Victoria told Amy, letting her go, “I’m hugging my sister. My awesome, caring and merciful sister.”

The man whined, louder, “I can’t move. I feel cold.”

Amy frowned at Victoria, “I’ll heal him. But this is the last time.”

Victoria beamed, “Thank you.”

The bastard deserves it, but it’s kind of funny how nonchalant they are being with his continued pain in the background.

Seems Amy has finally caved-in to her demands and will heal this badly wounded piece of shit. (Victoria totally acts like a spoiled brat who broke a toy during all this, which is a bit terrifying with a power combination like hers)

Amy leaned over the man and touched her hand to his cheek, “Slingshot break to his ribs, fractured clavicle, broken mandible, broken scapula, fractured sternum, bruised lung, broken ulna, broken radius -“

“I get the point,” Victoria said.

“Do you?” Amy asked. Then she sighed, “I wasn’t even halfway down the list. This is going to take a little while. Sit?”

Victoria crossed her legs and assumed a sitting position, floating a half foot above the ground. Amy just knelt where she was and rested her hand on the man’s cheek. The tension went out of his body and he relaxed.

Holy shit, Victoria really pummeled him badly! I guess that’s what happens when a superwoman toys like that with a normal human.

Also Amy can analyze and diagnose what a person has wrong in their body with just a touch? And can remove all pain, also with a single touch? On top of some form of healing?

That is ...incredible. She could revolutionize the world of healthcare and be an incredible professional doctor! Just the analysis part of it alone! It’s just ...so good.

“How’s the woman? Andrea?”

“Better than ever, physically,” Amy replied, “I grew her new teeth, fixed everything from the bruising to the scrapes, and even gave her a head to toe tune-up. Physically, she’ll feel on top of the world, like she had been to a spa and had the best nutritionist, best fitness expert and the best doctor all looking after her for a straight month.”

This power is astonishingly good.

She (and other powers like hers) would save so many lives, just by doing normal medical work.

Can she only heal injuries like these, or can she also do things like grow half a person’s body back, or even make someone younger? The posibilities with her are endless!

“Good,” Victoria said.

“Mentally? Emotionally? It’s up to her to deal with the aftermath of a beating. I can’t affect the brain.”

“Well-” Victoria started to speak.

“Yeah, yeah. Not can’t. Won’t. It’s complicated and I don’t trust myself not to screw something up when I’m tampering with someone’s head. That’s it, that’s all.”

Well it seems she couldn’t cure dementia or parkinson’s disease or any of these blights on humankind. But she’s still amazing!

It’s very interesting to see that it’s not just bam, you’re healed, with her power. She has to actually perform the healing herself. So her power would be ...what? Body scan and manipulation? Organic manipulation? Using the inherent healing sistems of the body as a tool?

Victoria started to say something, then shut her mouth. Even if they weren’t related by blood, they were sisters. Only sisters could have these sorts of recurring arguments. They had gone through a dozen different variations on this argument before. As far as she was concerned, Amy was doing herself a disservice by not practicing using her powers on the brain. It was only a matter of time before her sister found herself in a situation where she needed to do some emergency brain surgery and found herself incapable. Amy, for her part, refused to even discuss it.

Victoria has a more reckless demeanor than her sister. It’s true that Amy being able to cure brain diseases would be incredible, but how would she practice? Would there need to be people used as basically experiments until she gets the hang of it? It seems it would require some not very good means.

Also, Amy does use her powers to do medical stuff it seems! That’s good. I wonder how much certain powers have benefitted humankind in this series.

She didn’t want to raise a sensitive issue when Amy was in the process of doing her a major favor. To change the subject, Victoria asked, “Is it cool if I question him?”

“Might as well,” Amy sighed.

Victoria tapped the man a few times on the forehead to get his attention. He could barely move his head, but his eyes lolled in her direction.

“Ready to answer my questions, or do me and my sister just walk away and leave you like this?”

“I… sue you, he gasped out, then managed an added, “Whore.”

“Try it. I’d just love to see a skinhead with a few broken bones go up against a superheroine whose mom just happens to be one of the best lawyers in Brockton Bay. You know her, right?”

“Brandish,” he said.

Hmm I feel like there is an ethical conversation to be had here. Both in ransoming the healing and in flaunting that they could get away with it because their mom is a lawyer.

Would the Protectorate be ok with doing something like this? Would the citizenship be ok with something like this?

Again, it could be argued that he’s a neonazi scumbag, but what about in more general cases? Or is getting information out of him instrumental in protecting the people and saving lives, and does that justify one’s actions?

Interesting questions to be had, all in all.

“That’s her name in costume. Normally she’s Carol Dallon. She’d kick your ass in court, believe me,” Victoria said. She believed it. What the thug didn’t understand was that even if he lost the case, the media circus that would be stirred up would do more damage than anything else. But she didn’t need to inform him of that. She asked him, “So do I get my sister to leave you as you are, or are you willing to trade some information for relief from months of incredible pain and a lifetime of arthritis and stiffness in your bones?”

So Carol is indeed their mother, and also the superheroine Brandish! ...I don’t have any idea what her powers are based on that name alone.

“And erectile dysfunction,” Amy said, just loud enough for the thug to hear her, “You fractured your ninth vertebra. That’s going to affect all nerve function in extremities below your waist. If I leave you like you are, your toes will always feel a little numb, and you’ll have a hell of a time getting it up, if you know what I mean.”

The skinhead’s eyes widened a fraction, “You’re fucking with me.”

“I have an honorary medical license,” Amy told him, her expression solemn, “I’m not allowed to fuck with you about stuff like that. Hippocratic oath.”

“Isn’t that ‘do no harm’?” the thug asked. Then he groaned, long, loud and with the slightest rattle in his breath, as she removed her hand from his body.

Okay I’m kinda enjoying the way they are messing with him, ethical questions aside. Amy going straight for the erectile dysfunction! And a version of the “If I was an undercover cop, I would be obligated to tell you” kind of gambit.

Would the removing the anesthetic hand to make him comply be considered torture? Hm.

“That’s just the first part of it, like how freedom of speech and the right to bear arms is just the first part of a very long constitution. It doesn’t look like he’s cooperating, Glory Girl. Should we go?”

“Fuck!” the man shouted, then winced, tenderly touching his side with one hand, “I’ll tell you. Please, just… do what you were doing. Touch me and make the pain go away, put me back together. Fix me?”

Amy touched him. He relaxed, and then he started talking.

Looks like they got him to talk! Not so cocky in the end, against these two.

“Empire Eighty-Eight is extending into the Docks on Kaiser’s orders. Lung’s in custody, and whatever happens, the ABB is weaker than it was. That means there’s territory for grabs, and the Empire sure ain’t making progress downtown.”

Seems like Taylor accidentaly created a power vacuum! Due to Lung no longer being there, the ABB is left much weaker and other gangs are rising up to the occasion.

Kaiser huh? That’s the leader of these neonazis? Named after german emperors, so it really fits.

“Why not?” Victoria asked him.

“This guy, Coil. Don’t know what his powers are, but he’s got a private army. Ex-military, all of ’em. At least fifty, Kaiser said, and every one of ’em has top notch gear. Their armor’s better than kevlar. You shoot ’em, they’re back up in a few seconds. ‘Least when you shoot a pig, you can be pretty sure you broke a few ribs. But that’s not the fucked up thing. These guys? They’ve got these lasers hooked up to the machine guns they carry around. If they don’t think bullets are doing it, or if they’re after people who are behind cover, they fire off these purple laser beams that can cut through steel. Tear through any cover you’re standing behind and burn through you too.”

More competition! In the same way that the ABB seems to have an asian theme, and the Empire are neo-nazis, these guys seem to be some sort of paramilitary militia armed to the teeth with high-tech gear, including ...laser weapons?? So these guys are less about superpowers and more about collective strength, tactics and formations? They sound awesome.

Coil makes me think about tesla coils, so maybe some electricity power to go along with the high-tech motif and weird technology?

“Yeah. I know about him. His methods get expensive,” Victoria said, “Top of the line soldiers, top of the line gear.”

The thug nodded weakly, “But even with money to burn, he’s fighting us over Downtown territories. Constant tug of war, neither of us making much headway. Been going on for months. So Kaiser thinks we should take the Docks now that the ABB are on the outs, gain some ground somewhere easier. Don’t know any more than that, as far as his plans.”

Seems this Coil group and the Empire are about equal in power, with the ABB being now weaker but maybe stronger than both of them previously?

“Who else is up to something? Faultline?”

“The bitch with the freaks in her crew? She’s a mercenary, different goals. But maybe. If she wanted to branch out, now would be the time to do it. With her rep, she’d even do alright.”

“Then who? There’s a power vacuum in the docks. Kaiser’s declared he wants to seize it, but I’m willing to bet he’s warned you about others making a play.”

Another new player! She’s a mercenary, with a bunch of ...freaks? Are these like mutants, where the powers change their appearance and they are discriminated against? Seems like an interesting group. Faultline.... maybe some earth or earthquake-related power?

The skinhead laughed, then winced, “Are you dense, girl? Everyone’s going to make a play. It’s not just the major gangs and teams that are looking for a slice of the pie, there. It’s everyone. The Docks are ripe for the taking. The location’s worth as much money as you’d get downtown. It’s the go to place if you want to buy black market. Sex, drugs, violence. And the locals are already used to paying protection money. It’s just a matter of changing who they pay to. The Docks are rich territory, and we’re talking the potential for a full scale fucking war over it.”

He looked up at the blond superheroine and laughed. Her lips set into a firm line.

Dear god Taylor what have you done? Now we have a full-scale gang war that could spread to the whole district thanks to your actions that day. You certainly caused a big splash!

It kinda reminds me of Doflamingo’s speech in One Piece, where there is a power vacuum that is going to make everyone fight in the near future, only that is much much more high scale than this. Still, what a way to change things.

He continued, “You want to know my guess? Empire Eighty Eight is going to take the biggest slice of the Docks, because we’re strong enough to. Coil’s going to stick his thumb in just to spite us, ABB is going to hold on to some. But you’re also going to have a bunch of the little guys trying to take something for themselves. Über and Leet, Circus, the Undersiders, Squealer, Trainwreck, Stain, others you’ve never heard of? They’re going to stake out their ground, and one of two things is going to happen. Either there’s war, in which case civilians get hurt and things get bad for you, or there’s alliances between the various teams and solo villains and shit gets even worse for you.”

Woaah a loot of even more new names! This is worldbuilding, the chapter!

Uber and Leet ...I think they vaguely mentioned them once..? But they apparently were small-fries

Circus is maybe a carnaval or clown-themed villain? Those are always ...fun. I expect a lot of circus gimmicks as their powerset.

The Undersiders are that group of totally innocent teens of which Taylor might or might not be a part of now, and might or might not be planning to eventually betray.

Squealer sounds ...weird. Maybe something animal-based?

Trainwreck maybe summons trains to crash against you. That seems too silly though. (Yukari-approved! )

Stain is obviously from Mha and I don’t know how he jumped to here. On a more serious note, I have no idea what he could be about.

All of these (including our undersiders) seem to be small timers, at least compared to the big three of the ABB, the Empire and the supersoldiers. And also Faultline, which even though she was a mercenary was considered high enough to be counted outside of the smaller ones.

We’re getting to know our underworld landscape here!

He broke into laughter yet again.

“Come on, Panacea,” Victoria said as she stood up, touched ground with her boots and brushed her skirt straight, “We’ve gotten enough.”

“You sure? I’m not done yet,” Amy told her.

“You fixed the bruises and scrapes, broken bones?” Everything that could get her in trouble, in other words.

“Yeah, but I didn’t fix everything,” Amy replied.

“Good enough,” Victoria decided.

“Hey!” the skinhead shouted, “The deal was you’d fix me if I talked! Did you fix my cock?” He tried to struggle to get to his feet, but his legs buckled under him, “Hey! I can’t fuckin’ walk! I’ll fucking sue you!”

Victoria’s expression changed in an instant, and her power flooded out, blindsiding the thug. For an instant, his eyes were like those of a panicked horse, all whites, rolling around, unfocused. She grabbed him by the shirt collar, lifted him up and growled into his ear, her voice just above a whisper, “Try it. My sister just healed you… most of you, with a touch. Did you ever wonder what else she could do? Ever think, maybe, she could break you just as easily? Or change the color of your skin, you racist fuck? I’ll tell you this, I’m not half as scary as my little sister is.”

Seems the skinhead was still being a pest faking not being cured and Victoria had enough. Damn she can be scary, and that’s aside from the ability to literally make him feel fear. I think part of the scary factor to her is that she could very easily break you and she doesn’t really have that much impulse control. Imagine facing down someone like that and thanks to her power having that fear you feel towards her amplified until she is the worst thing in your world.

And that all pales in comparison to her sister. Oh god I hadn’t considered that application of her power! She has organic manipulation, not healing. Healing is just what she chooses to use her power for! She could unmake you with just her continued touch, or give you any sort of illness or deformity. She has one of the greatest and scariest powers so far.

She let him go. He collapsed in a heap on the ground.

As the two sisters walked away, Victoria pulled her cell phone out of a pouch on her belt with her free hand. Turning to Amy, she said, “Thank you.”

“Play safe, Victoria. I can’t bring people back from the dead, and once you’ve gone that far…”

“I’ll be good. I’ll be better,” Victoria promised as she dialed with one hand. She put the phone to her ear, “Hello? Emergency services? Requesting special line. New Wave, Glory Girl. Incapacitated criminal for you to pick up, no powers. No, no rush, I can hold.”

Seems this situation concluded with a minor big problem averted. Glory Girl really should be grateful for the free healer she has to get her out of her excessive use of force! They are cleaning nazis from the streets so they aren’t bad or anything, they are the good guys, just a bit too dangerous sometimes!

Looking over her shoulder, Victoria noted the thug, still floundering and half-crawling, “He’s not going to get up?”

“He’ll be numb from the waist down for another three hours. His left arm will be iffy for about that long, too, so he’s not going to move unless he can drag himself somewhere with just one limb. He’ll also have numb toes for a good month or so, too,” Amy smiled.

“You didn’t actually…”

“No. Nothing was broken, and I didn’t screw up anything, beyond a temporary numbness. But he doesn’t know that. Fear and doubt will complete the effect, and the suggestion becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.”

“Amy!” Victoria laughed, hugging her sister with one arm, “Weren’t you just saying you weren’t going to mess with people’s heads?”

Heh, I really like Amy. And Victoria too, to a degree. She’s a lil bit spoiled, but I imagine getting such awesome powers at a young age warps your perception of things.

We set up a lot of things this chapter, and it seems our protagonist may have destabilized all of the city with her first night in costume! She’s certainly off to a good start!

#Worm #worm parahumans #parahumans liveblog #liveblog #arc 2 #worm interlude 2 #wildbow #parahumans

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renaxwrites · 5 years ago

Text

Eleven

.04 - 18

synopsis: the number Eleven had always appeared in milestones of your life. it was a constant, and you didn’t know why. but you would soon find out when you study abroad in japan and meet Him.

pairing: tsukishima kei x fem!reader

warnings: none!

masterlist: here :)

a/n: more introductions! English will be in bold. Hope you enjoy this one <3

previous || next

We made a start. Be it a false one, I know.

“Oh. It’s you.”

You turn to see the one and only Tsukishima towering over you. But that didn’t shock you.

His jersey number was Eleven?

Why the hell did he have that number? Is this supposed to mean something? I could be safe to call it a coincidence, but there was no way. Your whole life that number had appeared, so it should be a sign of something, right?

But what?

Millions of questions dashed through your mind as you stare each other down. The split second of intense eye contact felt like an eternity of wavelengths flowing between the two of you. That split second was all it took for everyone in the gym to dissect this interaction.

Hinata, always being the one brave enough in awkward situations, spoke up. “Uh...so you guys know each other?”

His inquiry broke the tiny trace between you and Tsukishima. You glance at your feet, the team, the net. Anything but him right now.

“I guess you can say that,” you admit shyly.

Tsukishima grunts. “She’s staying at my house for the time being. Not a big deal.”

Gee, he’s so nonchalant about it. You weren’t sure how to feel about that, but seeing at the confused looks being exchanged between the players, you felt the need to give a quick rundown of what the deal was. Better to prevent any wrong ideas.

You pipe up after Tsukishima, “It’s really not. I’m originally from the United States, but I’m studying over here now. Mizuki, Tsukishima’s mother, generously offered hospitality while I was over here in the country. Nothing more than that.” You smile assuredly, trying to avoid the need for any more pressing questions.

Too bad that didn’t work.

The two boys that high-fived, who you discovered to be Nishinoya and Tanaka, burst out, “So if you’re from America, you know English, right? Say something in that language!”

Not surprised, you ask, “What do you want me to say?”

A dark-haired boy, who quickly introduced himself as Kageyama, had been quietly observing the entire time. However, he was lightning-fast to give his suggestion:

“How do you say, ‘Hinata, you dumbass’ in English?”

“HEY!”

You pivot toward Hinata’s voice and find him staring daggers in Kageyama’s direction.

“Sorry Hinata, but Kageyama thinks you’re a dumbass. Sorry Hinata, but Kageyama thinks you’re a dumbass.”

Nishinoya and Tanaka whisper to themselves, and you only catch phrases like, “Who knew foreign languages could sound hot” “The way she could flawlessly switch between them bro oh my gosh”. You felt like a bug under a microscope. Especially with Tsukishima’s negative vibes rubbing onto you. It’s so weird how just his presence has been taking a toll on you.

A blonde man, probably in his twenties, strides up to the huddle, redirecting the team’s focus to him. He seems a little intimidating, but not too much. This must be the coach then.

He announces, “Alright guys, the ride to Tokyo is in a MONTH. Just some food for thought, so I would suggest you guys get cracking on your drills sooner than later.”

Daichi claps twice. “Alright! Starting with dives! Let’s go!” And with that, the team narrows their attention to the court.

The coach hums and finally acknowledges you, in a warmer tone opposite to the stern voice he just served his team. “Hey there, seems I missed introduction time. I’m Ukai Keishin, coach of this team. You’ll meet our team advisor too. He should be coming in soon, he just went to get something real quick. So, what brings you here?”

You explain the same spiel you gave the team, and he gives a curt nod. “I see. This might actually be perfect timing then. We were actually going to begin to evaluate each player to find their strengths and weaknesses, so we know what to tweak before Tokyo. You know what, think of today as a trial. Maybe you’ll be able to give us a new perspective we could miss.”

Your eyes glisten at the thought of being legitimately helpful for the team. You felt you were meant to be here.

The doors burst open, and in scurries what looks to be the advisor with multiple packets in his arms. You sense his distress, and you dash over to help him, managing to catch one as it fell off the pile.

“Why thank you! Can’t lose that at a time like this!” he smiles in appreciation.

The two of you carry the papers over to the rest of the staff. More introductions were made on your behalf, and soon Ukai and Takeda, the advisor, catch you up on their latest tactic of evaluating the team. They give you an extra copy of their packet, which lists every player’s strength and weakness.

“Your job, (y/n), is to capture their weaknesses in action. This way, they can physically see what they’re doing, and go from there. You can throw in some cool ones of them too, if you want. So their egos can get a little lift,” explains the coach.

You get to work.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You only have the essentials of your photography setup with you wherever you went, while your more professional add ons were in your room. This meant you had to get a bit closer to capture the range of certain angles, but you didn’t mind. You’ve been on a football field, basketball court, and a whole bunch of other arenas where you were drowning in a sea of giants. You’ve definitely seen worse situations.

Practice ran pretty smoothly. You were surprisingly able to shoot everything needed within the players’ packet, so once the team was officially done, Ukai had them all line up. One by one, each player would be able to look at their action shots, and the coach would explain to them what was working, or what can be improved. The players were, to say the least, super hyped at seeing themselves in action. (Nishinoya: “SHE GOT MY ROLLING THUNDAAA!” Your ears rang for a couple minutes after how closed he yelled) You weren’t too familiar with the sport itself, but you made sure to slide in a compliment for every player. It really made all the difference in the world to see their face light up, knowing someone else is motivating their hard work.

But a certain someone has been very difficult to read so far.

Tsukishima approaches you for his turn. What if he doesn’t like his photos? What if the angle you shot his blocking wasn’t good enough?

Why are you suddenly self-conscious?

You show him the first photo burst. A simple serve. Shouldn’t be too much.

Ukai begins explaining volleyball gibberish to Tsukishima, and you’re just trying to focus on not doing anything irrational. Just stand. Breathe. Click through photos. Repeat.

Usually, you’re able to tell what a player is thinking once they see their plays in action. But man, this guy was just so monotone! The only ounce of emotion you were able to detect was the tiniest glimmer of awe in his eye when you clicked through one particular block of his. This was the best from his series in your opinion. At least he recognized it. Your chest felt warm for some reason.

Before Tsukishima was dismissed, you slip him a quick confidence booster. “You’re really good at blocking. You look like you manage to catch anything, it’s awesome!”

He half-heartedly turns your way, looks at you dead in the eyes, and hums as a thanks.

So much for interaction.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Practice ends, and the gym gets locked up, much to Hinayana and Kageyama’s dismay.

Everyone begins to go their separate ways. Tsukishima was still conversing with Yamaguchi, so you weren’t sure if you should wait for him or not. Playing it safe, you start to walk, but slowly. Eventually, you hear footsteps crunching behind you, signaling him catching up.

“You shouldn’t walk alone in the dark. Can’t have mom’s favorite getting hurt or lost now, can you?”

It seemed more like a rhetorical question than one you should answer, given the way he has his headphones on. You decide to give him the benefit of the doubt, by trying to keep up with his pace. Metaphorically, anyway. Man, he sure walks fast!

“I know the way back! Plus, there’s streetlights, so it’s not that dark,” you muster out.

He sighs, then takes off his headphones. “You’ve been here one day and you know you’re way around? Seems like a stretch.”

You bounce back, “I mean, it’s literally down the street. The only way I would get lost at this point is trying to keep up with your long ass stride. Chill dude!”

He finally looks at you in the eyes.

He smirks.

Then slips his headphones back on.

You couldn’t tell whether or not this was his way of playful banter, or if he was genuinely trying to get a rise out of you. Either way, he had you feel a certain way. Good or bad, who knows?

The rest of the way continues in silence. And all too soon you both arrive at the house.

At dinner, Mizuki is excited to hear how your first day played out. “You came home along with Kei, so is it safe to assume you’ve already found a club or some sort to be in?” she innocently inquires.

You animatedly nod in response. “Actually, I was with his team. Hinata has shown me around the school, so he’s the one who invited me to their practice! One thing led to another, and basically I’m the team’s official photographer!”

Mizuki smiles and grasps your hand in exhilaration. “That’s great (y/n)! It’s a good thing Hinata was your guide then. Maybe it’s fate! I feel good knowing you and Kei will be around each other often. Isn’t this great, Kei?”

He looks up from his bowl. “As long as I don’t have to carry her from a concussion or something.” He goes back to his dinner.

Even though you retort, “I’ve been surrounded by pleasures of almost every high school sport, including volleyball. So I’ll be fine,” it still didn’t stop the evident blush that was resting on your cheeks. Why were you blushing? Stop blushing!

Once the kitchen was cleaned and you all were in bed, that’s when your thoughts started to stir. What exactly was the universe trying to tell you with his jersey number? Why did everything he did make you feel a certain way? How was he attractive without even trying? He wanted nothing to do with you, so why him?

Little did you know that he was thinking the same about you.

Why you? With the dumb way your face looks, all cute when it’s flustered? How you were able to flawlessly match his sarcasm and comebacks? He hasn’t even known you that long, so why are you making him feel something he hasn’t felt before?

While you both were drowning in each other’s thoughts, you both were staring at the same wall. The one wall separating your rooms.

It was Eleven o’ clock.

Let's split the night wide open. We'll see everything. We can live in love, in slow motion.

taglist: @jiminslonglostjams @fantasymirror @shewastheriot @lukes-princess @iamthepenguinwhosearseisonfire @its-bnha-babe @desi-studys @shootooooo @noya-senpai-imagines @animefan7420 @anpancari @tsukkx

#tsukishima x reader #tsukishima imagine #kei tsukishima #kei tsukishima x reader #tsukishima kei x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #eleven

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ghoulciifer · 4 years ago

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submission:

🐸 anon: “hii congrats on 100 followers🥺can i request a hq matchup with a boy.I’ll be anon 🐸 I go by she/her,5’5,have black straight hair,brown eyes and freckles on my nose.Im skinny,my zodiac sign is saggitarius.I get bored very easily,i love watching anime and movies my favorite genre is horror/gore but sometimes even romance😾.Im funny hehe also im the friend people come to when they need advice or just cheering up,i dont like talking about my own feelings and im not a talkative person. I dislike arrogant and loud people.And if i dont like someone they’ll get the hint lmao but if i do like someone i’ll be all over them taking care of them even tho i dont like pda.I like rock/punk music.I have a resting bitch face and look bored all the time(prolly cuz i am)i get attached to people fast and hate if they choose someone over me.Im anxious and have some sad days where i dont want to leave my bed,also struggle w a lot of insecurities.i have few friends cuz imtooshyandawkward.”

notes: 🐸 anon i’m so happy you decided to be a part of my event!! you sound like an adorable human and i really hope you like who i matched you up with! thank you for your support, and i hope you stick around for a lil’ while ❥

why i matched you:

» i really feel like your personalities would mesh well with each other. Ushijima might seem like a stoic, bored brick wall but he’s got feelings, just like you! underneath both of your uninterested facades is a caring human who wants nothing more than to help those they love most.

» your natural humor is what really draws ushi in the most, he might not laugh outwardly but know he’s grinning like an idiot on the inside (and sometimes the outside). honestly he wouldn’t even have to understand what the joke means, just the way you deliver it is enough to make him chuckle. he’s super oblivious 9 out of 10 times but when he actually does register your joke? you’ve got him hooked.

» ushi is also not a super talkative person, so i feel like you two would have lots of comfortable, relaxing dates in near complete silence. he would understand your shy/awkward nature because he’s also kinda reserved and awkward, which, much like you, it often comes off as intimidating or bored. you guys just get each other, y’know?

» not really into pda? not a problem, neither is wakatoshi. he prefers to keep those special touches and intimate moments between the two of you in private. plus, he doesn’t need to be territorial with you at all, everyone already knows you’re dating and wouldn’t dare do anything to piss ushijima off.

» ushijima would never stray from your relationship after it’s been established, he wouldn’t want to waste his or your time with something as silly as picking someone else over you. he’s a very committed partner and will do everything in his power to help you understand that he’s with YOU! no one else!

» ushijima doesn’t have a whole lot of insecurities, his time developing his skills in volleyball helping him build up enough confidence to keep his head high no matter what life throws at him. however, he knows you might not be as fortunate to have that luxury, but that’s okay! he’s gonna be there for you through every self deprecating thought, every panic attack, every depressive episode, you name it. he might be a little rusty at first but once he figures out what works best for you, he won’t leave your side until you’re smiling and telling him how much you love him.

drabble:

A shrill scream rips through the small living room of your shared apartment with Ushijima, and you instantly curl into his side as the sound rings within your eardrums. The horror movie in front of you wasn’t particularly scary, of course - it was your favorite genre. But the actress who was currently being mutilated on screen was doing a very convincing job at conveying her fear of dying, how could you not shutter in response?

Ushijima feels the hand on his waist grip the fabric of his shirt and looks down to see you tucked even further under his arm, the cutest quirk to your brow as you suck in air through your teeth. He grins at the sight.

“You okay, love?”

Your eyes stay glued to the screen as you gently tilt your head upward, eventually meeting his amused gaze with the same disturbed expression. Your bottom lip juts out into a pout when you catch the amused glint in his eye.

“I’m fine, ‘Toshi, but how the hell are you NOT creeped out? Her insides literally just got ripped out of her!”

You had a point - should anyone see this massive man smiling so softly during such a gory moment of the movie, surely they’d think he was insane. But you didn’t realize you’d captivated his attention and tore him away from the movie he, truthfully, really wasn’t all that phased by. He would much rather watch the way you wiggled under the blanket in your laps and hold on tighter to him, as if the more you clung onto him the safer you felt.

Which, of course, was true.

“You’re… precious, you know that?” The hand draped over your shoulder moves to pull you in closer as he leans over and presses a soft kiss to your temple, effectively bringing a hesitant smile to your lips. The notion was so sweet it melted your heart... but the amount of blood on screen made it hard to enjoy the moment in its full glory. As the heat rushed to your cheeks you rolled your eyes and wrapped your arms around his toned waist, nuzzling into his chest and inhaling his scent.

“Yea, yea… let’s just finish the movie, okay? You can tell me how cute I am later.”

deadline for matchups is (08/29/20)! be sure to submit your entry before this date and check the tag #tumplaysmatchmaker to stay updated!

#tumplaysmatchmaker #🐸anon #haikyuu matchup #ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima x reader #haikyuu matchups #nishiikun’s events

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idkwhoiamanymorebutwtf · 5 years ago

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Imagine Sasha and Max being friends tho.

(i’ll be real this whole thing took multiple hours to type please somebody actually read this or I might die tbh-)

Like I know they had one episode together but think about them a c t u a l l y being friends.

(below are a ton of headcanons for a friendship between them)

- Obviously they have a bit of respect for one another because of their alliance of convenience, but their friendship would probably be forged on laughing at someone else. Whether it's their friends fucking up or Pikeman's general incompetence or whatever else. I can imagine now their camps are competing or something but the stakes don't matter to them, so Sasha and Max just end up shit talking everyone else and watching the show.

- Since their friendship was forged on calling people out they'd kinda just start hanging out specifically to rant and gossip about the shit that goes down around camp. Like Max'll get fed up with how idiotic the campbell campers are and come to vent to Sasha and she'll be here for it, because of course she is or Sasha ends up getting ditched by Tabii and Erin again and just kinda goes to Max to talk about how annoyed she is.

- Sasha keeps pointing out things like the circled under Max's eyes and other facial discrepancies and eventually he'll just be like "well how do you look perfect all the time?!?" because it's not fair. Sasha gasps super loud and immediately goes full makeover mode. She immediately shoves a ton of makeup onto him and prescribes him a skincare routine and Max isn't sure about it but he's actually kinda self-conscious and Sasha's like "do you wanna end up looking like Pikeman?" so Max follows her instructions to the letter and he looks amazing.

- After that they kinda just end up doing each other's makeup all the time and stuff like that. Max usually just uses like concealer and stuff because he doesn't want it to look like he's trying, but occasionally Max'll give Sasha permission to put some eyeliner on him or something and he'll never admit it but he l o v e s the way it looks. They start hanging out even more of course because it's not like Max can go to anyone else about the whole skincare/makeup thing and honestly Sasha loves her other friends but it's relieving to hang out with someone more willing to gossip with her (even if she's slightly salty that Max doesn't have enough hair for her to mess with like Erin and Tabii do)

- Sasha forces Max to watch a ton of shitty highschool movies and Max doesn't really like most of them but he'll put up with it because he (although he'll never admit it) cares about Sasha (and is a little intimidated by her when she's upset). He doesn't like them but occasionally Max can also coerce her into watching a horror movie with him so they're even in his books (even if the poor thing has to watch way more of her movies than he makes her watch)

- They actually end up being r e a l l y protective of each other. Like most of the time, they'll let people fuck with their friends (so long as no real harm is done), yknow? But if anyone says a word about Max and it gets back to Sasha they'll literally end up the laughing stock of Lake Lilac by the end of the day because Sasha's a bitch who can spread a rumor like wildfire. Alternatively, Max'll sick Nikki and Neil on anyone who fucks with Sasha (which won't end up pretty). And that's if they're lucky because that kid could do so much worse if he's got the right motivation. They try to hide the fact that they're acting in defense of one another and justify why they're screwing over whoever it is they're screwing over, but it's honestly just vengeance for their friend.

- All the gossiping makes the two more unstoppable than they were before tbh. Like Max always had other Camp Campbell camper's secrets tucked away for blackmail purposes and Sasha needs to know everything going on in her turf so of course she's got dirt on all the Flower Scouts. And it's not exactly hard to figure out the Woodscout's. So with their swapping info constantly both of them end up knowing everything about everyone and being able to screw them over in a heartbeat. Basically, hanging out together makes those two terrifying.

- They're also more confident as a duo than most other times. Like don't get me wrong, they're both pretty sure of their capabilities, and they trust their individual friend groups to have their back, but they know that the other person is competent in manipulation and incredibly cunning and they value each other's skillsets because they're super similar. When you're confident in yourself, having somebody who's like you around only makes you doubly confident. They feel super badass whenever they team up in something and it's great.

- Most of their arguments are probably petty tbh. Max calls one of Sasha's favorite movies dumb (she bases her life around highschool stereotypes and dumb cliche movies, of course, she gets pissed when he insults them) or Sasha makes one too many comments about Max's physical appearance (the girl is obsessed with looking good and as much as Max is willing to listen to her advice, it gets to him when she comments on his weight or how he needs to sleep more because the circles under his eyes are getting harder to cover up. Like, he has depression, do you not realize that weight changes and bad sleeping habits are a symptom of that?!?). A common source of disagreement is how used to being in charge they each are. Like yeah, they know they don't always have to take the lead, but it's so ingrained into them that they struggle with it. Max watches Sasha's dumb movies all the time and took her advice on skincare and stuff so she occasionally forgets that she's not his boss like she's in charge of her other friend's and of course he's willing to compromise on some things but he doesn't take well to being treated like a lackey and she's too stubborn to admit she's wrong half the time.

- Their fights get bad. Despite normally being over small things and the person who's in the wrong normally realizing they're the one who's wrong, both Max and Sasha are very stubborn people and they will die on this hill no matter how petty the whole thing is honestly. They'll scream and throw things and once or twice they've even wound up physically fighting. Usually, if it comes to an actual physical altercation they'll stop there because actually injuring your friend is super fucked up. Once Max threw a book at Sasha without thinking and it gave her a black eye. Another time Sasha literally slapped him and it left a bruise for like a week. They both felt like shit after. When Sasha gave Max a bruise she literally cried and he forgave her on the condition that she help him cover the bruise with makeup (He said he'd dealt with worse and something about the way he said it made her uneasy. She can't place why). The time that Max hit Sasha with a book he froze up completely and refused to even look at her for like an hour. Partially because he felt guilty and couldn't verbalize his regret but it was honestly more than that. You don't shut down and practically disassociate for an hour because you don't know what to say. There was absolutely something wrong with the way he shut down after the whole thing but she didn't push for answers and he apologized and they just decided to forget it ever happened. They never aim to actually hurt one another, they just don't have many ways to actually get out their frustrations. They never once actually physically hurt the other more than once each. It's just not something either of them wants to go through again, honestly. If their arguments don't end with one of them going too far and the two felt like shit and making up within seconds one of them will eventually storm off and they'll both get super petty. Making sarcastic remarks at one another whenever they see each other, pointedly ignoring the other, the occasional mean prank. Usually, they forget all about it within a week, though, because as stubborn as they are something dumb happens to one of them and they'll need to vent. None of their fights are ever serious, as nasty as they are, so it's easy to get over and never gets mentioned again.

- They had one serious fight that actually put their friendship in danger. Tabii had ended up crying to Sasha because she was devastated over being rejected by Neil. Like, she was super broken up about how he doesn't love her and it's probably because she's ugly even though Erin told her she wasn't. Sasha wasn't happy about it. At all. Like, she normally just rolls her eyes and brushes it off whenever she sees Tabii going after him, but she watched so many stupid cliche high school movies where the girl got the guy if he was good and anyone who rejects the protagonist is an asshole. So Sasha, going by movie logic, was pretty sure that Neil was insulting Tabii by rejecting her and was a terrible person. She also failed to realize that Tabii's whole attitude towards pursuing Neil was kinda creepy and stalkerish to begin with and she already had a low opinion of him since he's a nerd who called her a cunt and hangs out with Nikki, who she also hates. She did not like seeing one of her best friends in the world (who's basically like a sister to her tbh) cry. So Sasha, with a burning rage towards Neil, wound up spilling the whole thing to Max. And he wasn't happy with her for insulting his friend either. Max basically cussed Sasha out because Tabii's behavior was creepy and it was making Neil super uncomfortable, which he was not cool with. He told her she was a moron if she saw nothing wrong with how Tabii acted but thought that Neil was out of line for rejecting her. Sasha didn't take well to being called a moron or to her friend being accused of being creepy, and she said something along the lines of "It's not my fault you hang out with a retarded nerd and a girl who can't even be a girl properly". Max basically called her an ignorant bitch and told her to go fuck herself, then he left. Normally their arguments are long and wordy and even violent but this time he just cut it short and stormed out. Sasha still thought she was right, of course, because that boy who Max was friends with had made Tabii cry and he was a moron for not liking her! And yeah maybe the insults to Nikki weren't exactly called for but every word was true, right? She just kinda expected Max to get over it eventually but a few weeks passed and he never really did. The fact that Max had called her ignorant kinda stuck out to her more than anything. That's the same thing Neil had called her, isn't it? Why would they both use the same insult? It's not like that was a go-to thing to call somebody. The whole thing drove her crazy and eventually when she confronted him about it she got a long lecture about how romantic relationships work, the fact that bullying a girl over dressing or acting slightly differently from her is a shitty thing to do, and that calling Neil 'retarded' is offensive because he's actually mentally ill and even if he weren't, the word's still terrible. She didn't quite understand all of it but she got enough to feel guilty and she apologized. Sasha still doesn't really like Nikki and Neil much and it's not like she's stopped shit-talking them, but she's eased up a bit because she doesn't want Max that angry at her again, and in a way she can see how she maybe...was a tiny bit wrong.

- They don't normally get super sad or deep on each other. Neither really likes to be emotional or open up so they wouldn't exactly initiate any sort of depressing dialogue. However, they are both observant people so they notice things anyway. Max notices how Sasha talks a little too much about her weight and thinks anything over one hundred pounds is horrifically obese to the point where she diets incessantly. He notices that she cares too much about looking young and pretty too. Damned highschool movies. Sasha, on the other hand, notices that Max doesn't trust adults at all and that he flinches when she gets too loud (even if he tries to cover it up) and that he either doesn't sleep at all or sleeps way too often...amoung other things of course. They don't talk about these things out loud but they've both deduced that the other isn't healthy.

- Max practically forces Sasha to eat every time they see each other and refuses to watch a single movie with her that even mentions dieting in a positive light because she is ten years old and shouldn't be counting calories and refusing absolutely all fat. He'll insist on doing her makeup and will make sure to do it lighter and lighter every time because as much as he himself appreciates makeup and uses it to cover parts of his skin he doesn't like, she needs to be more confident and he can't in good conscience let her go on the way she's been going on. Sasha, on the other hand, if she ever notices he's having a bad day and isn't functioning well, will let him hide out with her all day even if she has other things to do and he should be at camp. Occasionally she'll even let Nikki or Neil in her room if she or they feel Max really needs their support (he can't just stay at his own camp, he'd never be allowed out of activities all day). She doesn't exactly understand why he's sad and tired and angry and has a hard time with sleep but she won't ask. Sasha has some theories on why he doesn't trust any adult and flinches when she yells but she doesn't like thinking on that one too long (his comment when she slapped him 'i've had worse' comes to mind). They're not always great at it and they don't always understand but they try to help each other even if they have an unspoken rule not to ask questions.

- While they normally spend their hang-out time watching movies or doing each other's makeup/hair/nails or talking crap about other's behind their backs, they've occasionally had adventures of their own. They typically leave Lake Lilac for these, honestly. Sasha couldn't care less about anything going on at Camp Campbell and Max isn't about to get involved in Flower Scout politics so if they're ever inclined to go on an adventure it's in town or even the big city. And usually involves crime one way or another tbh. Once they accidentally managed to get Max elected mayor of the whole town and Sasha as treasurer. Money was embezzled, fires were set, and they're now banned from muffin tops for life. That's the kind of adventure those two have whenever they're compelled to do anything at all. Go big or go home, basically.

- They're actually super honest with each other. The general light-hearted nature of their friendship and the fact that they gossip and chatter about pretty much everything that pops into their heads means they don't exactly stress about getting judged or anything like that as long as they aren't confessing to horrific sins or anything.

- They love to fuck with Pikeman. Like they normally just sit around at the Flower Scout's camp or out in town or the city or something like that but occasionally they'll screw him over because they both can agree he's an incompetent asshole who deserves it.

- Sasha flipped her shit when she realized that Max knows how to bake, cook, sew, and knit (he definitely can knit and sew we’ve seen him do it in the show and I headcanon he’d have to learn to cook and stuff cause his parents don’t feel like doing it for him) She nearly died and made him sew/knit her a bunch of stuff for her and decided they had to bake together and she was just super happy about it. Once upon a time, she would've judged him for it because of gender roles and stuff and she wasn't used to guys doing any of those things, but after the whole incident where he called her an ignorant bitch she wasn't gonna push it and besides, she was happy to have her gossip and makeup buddy also be able to do those other things with her. Like she can do those things with Tabii and Erin too but Max kinda gets her and she needs a break from the two sometimes.

- Most people don't actually know they're friends. Nikki and Neil are vaguely aware they hang out but they don't see much besides the occasional banter when the Flower Scouts and Camp Campbell interact as a group. Max doesn't talk about Sasha much around them since he knows they don't exactly like her. Sasha doesn't dare mention their friendship around Tabii and Erin because they'd freak out completely and probably assume they're dating since those two don't realize guys and girls can actually have platonic friendships. She doesn't want that drama. Their friendship is kinda a secret, which is surprising since they may not talk about it but they visit each other and chat enough when they cross paths that you'd think people would realize. But they're kinda glad. Lake Lilac is a chaotic place and when they're hanging out it's one of the only times they even have the option of just relaxing.

(imma be real I literally came up with the idea of those two being really close friends because I watched the episode where Nikki hung out with Dolph and Nerris and I thought 'Max have other friend too? :0')

Literally, ANY input is welcome. I spent multiple hours on this so if you have anything to say you know I'm down for a conversation about it

#camp camp #cc sasha #cc max #sasha and max

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smoljoelito · 5 years ago

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Advice on How to Be a Straight A Student

Hey guys! So I got a señor anon question on how to be a straight A student and my response got a bit long, so here it is in a text post.

Before I begin, I’d like to say I’m not an expert on this subject. This is just stuff that works for me.

So a little background information before I give some advice!

I’m a sophomore in University, majoring in nursing, minoring in Spanish. I graduated high school with a 3.73 GPA, and the problem was I figured out how to study best for myself the second semester of my senior year of high school! So, I got to college and was freaking out. At my university, the lowest excepted GPA to get into the Fall 2018 nursing program was a 3.83, which is INCREDIBLY high. Never in my life did I think I’d be able to get that GPA, since high school made me feel dumb. I was encouraged to take AP classes and I took too many, and while other kids succeeded, I fell behind. It made me feel incredibly incapable, yet, for money for my district, I was still encouraged to take more. Come Fall 2018, taking classes for pre-nursing to be able to apply into the program, I was a nervous wreck. I lacked self-confidence and I was praying for a 3.8 GPA, but I decided to make a promise to myself. My confidence wasn’t great enough to promise a 4.0 GPA for all my prereqs, but it was for the first semester just so I didn’t have to worry as much second semester about keeping my GPA high. Yet, against all my beliefs, I 4.0′d all my pre-nursing/pre-reqs classes, got into the Fall 2019 nursing program (I start September 4th), where usually 300 students apply, but only 72 are selected in the fall, 97 in the winter. I also received a 4.0 in a summer microbiology class that was originally 14-16 weeks long during the school year, but it was shortened into 6 weeks into the summer, made it onto the Dean’s List, and so much more. My new goal is to be one of And now, I’m going to tell you how I did it.

Here is what I wish someone would’ve told me when I started high school or college:

First things first, you HAVE to believe in yourself. This is VITAL.

If you walk into a class telling yourself you’re barely going to pass, chances are, you’re barely going to pass. You are your biggest enemy. Chemistry is a subject, it is not a person, it doesn’t decide whether or not you’re going to pass or fail. It’s literally a class, it holds absolutely NO power over you. It literally just exists. The only thing that holds power over you, is you. You decide your future, not Chemistry. When you say, “Oh I’m so bad at Chemistry, I’ll never pass.” Chemistry had absolutely nothing to do with it, it was ALL you. The class you hate and think you’re going to fail should be your favorite and top priority. Why? Because you’re going to have to spend the MOST time on it. If you cut yourself short by saying you’ll never pass right off the bat and ignore the class, the harsh reality is, you allowed yourself to fail. Stop telling yourself that you are unable to do things, then complain when you get bad scores. Chemistry is difficult, but nothing is impossible.

My quote for this section:

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” Seneca

Find your best way to study, preferably before college rolls around.

For me, this is flashcards, but I don’t just use them for memorizing, I use them for connecting. I make questions that connect things from the chapter I’m in along with prior chapters. Here’s an example:

On a person in anatomical position, which bone in the forearm can be located more medial to the body?

This, is a great question. Not only am I asking location, but I’m referencing prior topics at the same time. Anatomical position is lying flat on your back with palms facing outward. Medial is something that is closer to the midline of the body. Both of which are terms learned in previous chapters. Knowing this, I would be lead to believe the answer is the ulna. Now, I have not only learned, but reviewed.

My quote for this section:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is then, not an act, but a habit.” Will Durant.

ASK QUESTIONS!

Listen guys, I’m blunt and a bit harsh, so here’s a reality check for you: I don’t care whether or not you are shy, extroverted, confident, not confident, whatever, there’s NO excuse to say you don’t understand a topic if you’re not willing to ask questions to gain more knowledge or better understand it. If you receive a bad grade in a class and never ask questions or try to better understand it, shame on you. Don’t blame your professor, don’t blame the class for being “too hard”, I don’t want to hear it. So, in this section, I’m going to tell you how to ask a good question and who to ask.

Who:

First, your professor/teacher obviously. Don’t be afraid, most professors don’t bite. They’re not going to get annoyed with you. Their job is literally to talk about what they love, for hours on end. Everyone’s favorite topic is themselves, their hobbies, anything that correlates around them. If you ask them a question deeper than the material provided, out of confusion, or just for further knowledge, chances are they’d LOVE to answer it for you! Bonus: the more questions you ask, the more they’ll know you, and the more they’ll be willing to help you, especially when you’re in a time of need. You don’t need to always ask questions during lecture/class, though it is preferable. If you’re shy or introverted, write down your questions on a sheet of paper, preferably with the slide you’re referencing, then ask after class.

Next, tutors! Most universities have a tutoring center, or if you’re in college, ask a counselor to find you one. If your professor is a bit intimidating for you, or flat out doesn’t want to answer questions, this is a GREAT idea! It’s much easier to talk to someone in your age range as well, so if you’re a super shy person, this might be a better option for you. Also, the tutors aren’t the experts of the subject, which plays in your favor. They know how to break the subject down into ways you’ll be able to understand, sometimes in better ways than your professor.

Lastly, anyone that has taken the class before you. In nursing school, they recommend we make friends with someone that’s in the year above us and attach ourselves to them, which I plan on doing. They’ve experienced everything before you, so you’ll have the freshest advice. Which prof should I take? Ask them. Do I need to buy the book for this class? Hmm... they’ll know.

Good questions:

Connecting questions. When you link two topics together, preferably from another chapter, you’re learning in the BEST way possible. Ask the question. Your professor will love you, the class will love you, and you will love you, because more than likely, your professor will either: agree with the connection, disagree with the connection and tell you where you went wrong (still learning), and congratulate you on your good question. It’s a win-win situation.

another very important point: even if you are wrong in whatever you are asking, that does NOT make it a bad question. Good questions lead to learning, whether it is agreeing or disagreeing. Humility and humbleness are attractive qualities, and the willingness to do such is probably the best way to be successful. You have to be willing to be wrong to eventually learn and be right.

Any question where you are confused. You paying for a class is paying for your professor to talk. Use your money wisely. Hold up the damn class, get your answer. Learn and grow in your knowledge. Chances are, other people are confused too, and aren’t bold enough to ask.

Why? This might be the best question ever. Actually, I take that back, it is. One word asks fifty other questions and tells 100 more. Here’s what the professor gets out of “why” questions: I might not have explained the topic enough so I’m going to talk about it more, said student wants to know more about the topic, this is a learning opportunity for the class, etc.

My quotes for this section:

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” Les Brown

“The only bad question is one that you can find the answer to on the syllabus.” Smoljoelito

“ Excuses are born out of fear. Eliminate your fear and there will be no excuses.” Unknown

When someone asks you if you can help them with something in a class, always say yes, even if you don’t know the answer.

One of the best ways I’ve found that I learn is by explaining things to other people. My friend Molly used to text me a lot during Biology and ask me if I knew what said thing meant or if I could explain said thing better. I always said yes, even if I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Why? Because obviously, I need to study it too, and what better way than to teach someone else.

The best way to look at information you don’t understand: If someone were to break this down for me, how would I want it to sound to best understand?

So, I’d break it down for her, and we’d both learn something new. Saying “no” would’ve lost me and her a learning opportunity. Also, we were competing for the same spot in the nursing program, but

My quote for this section (doesn’t fit as well):

“By doing what you love you inspire and awaken the hearts of others.” Satsuki Shibuya

Elaborative rehearsal

This is a term from psychology. I took this class after Biology, so I never realized this is what I was doing the whole year. Basically, elaborative rehearsal is memorizing information by connecting new information to old information, and it is the BEST way to memorize as I learned in class. This can come in many forms: making an analogy to learn a subject (to memorize transcription in Biology I made a story connecting transcription to pre-gaming and it worked so well), asking questions to connect new topics to prior topics, etc. Every time I break down a subject to better understand it, I try to connect it with something I know, whether it’s past information, pre-gaming, realizing a reason why something happens, anything, and I never forget it.

This section is short so it doesn’t get a quote

Get ahead of your professor (university students and AP students mostly).

The BEST thing I’ve ever done for myself would have to be being ahead of my professors by two and three chapters at a time! Here’s the tea: the busiest time of your semester in school should be the first month. Of course, your first month is the easiest, so you’re probably wondering, why should it be the busiest? Because come one month later, each class is going to start dropping exams, and you’re going to start falling behind. Get ahead early. I just bought my pathophysiology book (August 19th) and my classes don’t start until September 4th. This class is going to kick my ass, so my plan is to kick its ass by starting classes early. It’ll never see me coming.

It’s not just getting prepared for exams, but by even having the chapters prepared ahead of time for a lecture when your professor is lecturing, it’s no longer learning, but understanding. Instead of trying to pick up on everything the prof is saying, you’re being reminded of things noted in the book, things you remember, and also things you need further clarity on. Instead of reading the chapter after and having an “oh shit what does this mean?” moment, you can figure it out during lecture. Bonus: if your prof doesn’t lecture on it, ask for further clarity on the subject anyway. You might get lucky and be told not to worry about it. It may not be on the exam at all.

Start early, get ahead, thank me later.

My quote for this section:

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” Sean Patrick Flanery

Take notes! (if they help you)

All the studyblrs are gonna hate me for this, but I really don’t take notes. I have a Microsoft Surface Book 2 laptop and the screen detaches from the keyboard so I write right on the PowerPoints my teachers have, then turn them into flashcards. Why? Because it’s like portable notes. For me personally, when I stopped wasting so much time on notes for Biology, I got higher test scores. Instead of writing notes, I spent the time going over my flashcards. And instead of taking notes on the chapters outside of class, I’d read them twice before class, highlight stuff, then make flashcards off the things not gone over in class. It worked better for me. Even in psychology, I’d highlight the things my prof went over on the PowerPoints, then make flashcards after class. For me, I function better by paying attention to what the prof is saying, rather than focusing on writing every word down.

Classes I’ve taken that you are more than welcome to ask me questions about in my ask:

Here are classes I have taken, some from high school, some from college. I will answer to the best of my ability, or find you things that are more equipped to answer them.

Biology 1 (uni)

Intro to Chemistry (uni)

Intro to Logic (uni)

Intro to Organic Chemistry & Biochemistry (uni)

AP Calculus AB (high school)

General Chemistry (high school)

Organic Chemistry (high school)

Anatomy & Physiology (uni & high school)

Algebra, Pre-Calc, math in general (high school)

Physics (high school)

Intro to Psychology (uni)

Spanish 1-4, AP Spanish 4, AP Spanish 6 (high school)

AP Language & Culture and AP Literature & Culture

AP Chemistry (high school)

Any kinda Art

Also, if you have questions about high school or college, anything at all, feel free to ask me!

Other things to help you!

studyblrs! They have masterlists of how to take notes, stationery to buy that's cheap, what to write down in lecture, etc. If you want me to link some, send me an ask.

I’m a stationery fanatic as well, so if you guys want cheap pens that are high quality, good highlighters, paper, useful things, etc, hmu. I can make a whole amazon wishlist.

Tutoring centers.

Libraries. My uni has a part of the library called The Writing Center where profs will go to help you write essays and such.

Websites & YouTube. Khan Academy is an amazing resource along with Crash Course, one of my personal faves. For Biology, I used Crash Course a lot and one of my friends used this channel I believe is called the Amoeba Sisters? I can’t remember. If you want the link I’ll find it for you.

Quotes I live by

Whatever your situation, getting the career you’d like, passing a class, graduating valedictorian, here are some quotes to encourage you to keep on going.

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” Steve Jobs

“If I quit now, I will soon be back to where I started. And when I started, I was desperately wishing to be where I am now.” Unknown

“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. When you have fun, you can do amazing things.” Joe Namath

“One of the greatest discoveries a person makes is to find out they can do what they were afraid they couldn’t do.” Henry Ford. This quote makes me emotional.

“Self-esteem is the ability to see yourself as a flawed individual and still hold yourself in regard.” Ester Perel

“Do what you dream of doing even while you’re afraid.” Arianna Huffingtin.

“Be the one who decided to go for it.”

“Everything you want to be, you already are. You’re simply on the path to discovering it.” Alicia Keys

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your inner voice. Have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition.” Steve Jobs.

“If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.” John Quincy Adams

“If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.” Unknown

“There is no person living who isn't capable of doing more than they think they can do.” Henry Ford

“Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.” Unknown

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

“Success isn't about how your life looks to others. It's about how it feels to you.” Michelle Obama

In conclusion

I know what it feels like to feel like an idiot, to wish I was as good at something as someone else is. Comparison is the silent killer. The moment you start to think you are less than someone else, you start to believe it. Drop the comparison, let everything go, be humble, and focus on your purpose. There is not a thing you can’t do or be good at. There is not a person in the world that isn’t born with some kind of talent, something they are one of the best at. I have found by “best” and I have grown and learned from it. For a while, I thought I’d fail, that I’d be laughed at and humiliated, but when I let all that go, all the pain, the lies, and focused on my purpose, my goal came as easy as taking a breath of fresh air. So, I leave you with this:

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” Robert H. Schuller

#em's tips #study #studying #cnco #school #school help #writing help #success #inspiration #quotes #em's school tips

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is0gild · 4 years ago

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 12

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 10,649

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

There was no way.

No. Friggin'. Possible. Way.

Rayne was bonkers. Off her rocker. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. A couple screws short of a toolbox, a few cards shy of a full deck, and several fries scant of a Happy Meal.

She was just… wrong. She had to be. The very idea was outrageous. Laughable, even. There was just without a doubt and quite simply no way.

No way that Lea had a crush on me, that is.

I mean, come on! All I'd ever done was make a complete bumbling idiot out of myself in front of the guy! I'd kissed him before uttering so much as my very first 'hello' to him, chucked a phone at a wall in front of him for no apparent reason after spouting off nonsensical gibberish, sat on him without even the slightest bit of a heads up or forewarning - which to be fair wasn't really my fault, but still! I could go on and on with this list, but I'd rather not as it was just depressing me at this point.

Had a crush on me? Please, he probably just saw me as a total trainwreck of a human being by now and was merely half curious, half terrified to see what would next be pulled out of the bag of crazy that was me. So no, he absolutely did not have any sort of feelings even remotely resembling… that. Not at all. Not towards me.

...so then why did I now find myself hovering outside the mall, trapped in a heated staring contest with my pale reflection in the glass door as arriving and leaving customers gave me weird looks, the very idea of so much as taking one more single, solitary step over that threshold and into the food court seeming utterly impossible to me?

It'd been a couple days since the now infamous (or so it was in my head, at least) Friday night out. A couple of days which I'd thankfully had off from work, giving me some much needed time to recuperate from all that stressful social activity. By the grace of some benevolent deity up above, not to mention my magnanimous, boundless mercy, Anna still lived. But she hadn't got off without a long, stern, and particularly mind-numbing lecture from me, as well as a promise from her to keep me stocked in a lifetime supply of Triple Chocolate Mallowpuffs by way of recompense. She wasn't completely off the hook yet, but it was a start.

During my downtime, I had given little to no thought to Rayne's musings - aka unhinged ravings of a madwoman. Oh sure, the stray ghost of her words might have flitted across the back of my mind once or twice. But whenever they had, I'd simply banished the silly notion with a soft chuckle and a shake of my head.

Which is why I wasn't quite sure what the big deal was now, out of the blue, here, at the entrance to Dusk Town Center, right before my first shift back since the night at the bar. Why in my brain, her words had cranked up from a barely audible whisper to a full blasting, thundering roar played on loop. Why the idea of facing Lea now just all of a sudden seemed so…

...intimidating.

...ugh, this was stupid.

I was being stupid.

It wasn't like I was some third grader in the schoolyard afraid of catching cooties from a boy. I was an adult, damn it! An adult in the adult world with an adult job leading an adult life! So I could handle any such feelings, or more specifically lack thereof, like a goddamn adult!

He did not have a crush on me.

He did not.

With that, a newfound determination filled me. Eyes hardening, chest puffing up, and shoulders squaring, I grabbed the door handle, yanked it open with more force than necessary and marched into the food court with my head held high.

...followed immediately by flipping a one-eighty, dashing back outside and around a corner to hide, pressing my back against the wall with one hand over my hammering heart.

Well done, champ. A for effort. Did a real bang up job there, eh?

I took a few seconds to regain my composure and fortify my resolve. Then I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, straightening up to my full height once more. Alright, take two. Giving myself a firm, reassuring nod, I walked back inside again.

It was there, seated at a food court table roughly halfway between Pizza Planet and Ice Palace, that the reason for my initial retreat could be spotted. Lea was hunched over what looked to be a textbook of some sort, with papers covered in messy scrawl strewn about every inch of the round dining surface. He was gnawing a pencil between his teeth and agitatedly ruffling his hair as flipped to the next page. I don't know why I had given into my knee-jerk reaction to run from him the second I'd seen him. He was so engrossed in whatever he was working on, I highly doubted he'd even noticed me walk in. And I was strongly suspecting he'd probably continue to fail to notice me if I just strolled straight on past him to the Ice Palace to prepare for the start of my shift.

Which is exactly what I was going to do.

Or at least, that'd been the plan anyway.

But something stopped me. A sort of… stubbornness that abruptly flared up within me. I wanted to settle this right here, right now. Prove once and for all without a doubt that Rayne was in fact a total loon and that he definitely did not see me as anything more than just a friend. I still had a few more minutes before I had to clock in, so now was a good a time as any.

Seizing the opportunity before I could overthink things and lose my nerve, I made a detour and headed straight towards where Lea sat. Arriving at his table, I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down heavily, burdened with great purpose.

Alright. Phase One of the Mission Not A Crush complete. On to Phase Two.

Which was…?

Good question. Was actually... still kind of, sort of trying to figure that one out.

Potentially a greeting of some sort would be a good place to start.

As Lea glanced up and became aware of my presence at last, I began, "H-"

He leapt out of his seat and bolted, knocking several loose papers off the table in his wake.

I blinked.

...see? Not a crush.

Not if he was running away in fear at the very sight of me.

As well he should. I was a very fearsome vision to behold, after all. My mere visage redefined the very essence of horror, did it not? Look upon me and tremble, puny mortals, for I-

"Ow! Hey, quit it already!" a voice that sounded suspiciously like Xion's pulled me from my thoughts.

Turning my head towards where it'd come from, sure enough, there Lea was with the girl in tow. Literally. He was dragging Xion over to the table by one of her ears pinched between his fingers. The two of them pulled up to a stop in front of me, Lea scowling as he released her and she stumbled a few steps forward. With a tiny hiss of pain as she rubbed the abused lobe, she glanced back at him. He simply crossed his arms and started tapping his foot, clearly waiting for something.

Xion looked at me now with a guilty frown, folding her hands together just below her waist and bowing her head. "Please forgive me, Elsa, I am so very, very sorry. Sorry for tricking you-"

Lea cleared his throat.

She hastily tacked on, "-and for conspiring with Anna-"

He did it again, louder this time.

"-and, uh… for manhandling you into my car-"

A third time.

"-and…" she pursed her lips to one side, squinting up in thought, "...and for not driving with the comfort and safety of my passengers in mind-"

Once more, with feeling.

"-and for, ah… providing… less than optimal seating arrangements to you throughout the whole experience?" Xion ventured, glancing back at Lea. He rolled his eyes but gave a shrug, which she seemed to take more or less as a sign of his grudging acceptance. Her eyes then fixed on me once more, "I meant no offense, but sincerely apologize if I embarrassed you or made you feel uncomfortable in any way."

...this… I had not been expecting.

I just stared blankly at her for a second. Then I realized she was patiently awaiting my response. "Oh! Um," I gave a tiny awkward laugh, "that's okay. We're fine. Totally good. Don't, uh… don't even worry about it."

Her face immediately lit up with a relieved smile. "Thanks, you're the sweetest!" Then she gave Lea a dull look. "Satisfied? Can I get back to my job now?"

His eyelids drooped, but he sighed and waved her off. She ran past him, blowing a raspberry in his direction as she went. He plopped back down into his chair at the table, pinching the bridge of his nose as he grumbled, "Kids these days, I swear."

"Thanks," I smiled at him, "that was really very thoughtful, but you didn't have to make her do that. It wasn't necessary."

"Somebody's gotta teach the lil twerp good manners and respect," he leaned back in his chair slightly, scratching a spot behind his ear. "Her parents certainly never did."

Humming a soft, noncommittal noise, I then looked down at the clutter littered across the table. "So what are you up to? What is all this?"

"Decided to take my lunch break to try and unravel the enigma that is," he held the textbook up, showing me the cover, "Intro to Calculus. It's being a real pain in the ass though. Honestly, who needs to know all this crap? Evil math genius super villains, that's who! Shit, I'm just looking to run a lil shanty of an ice cream parlor by the sea, not trying to calculate how to blow up the sun or anything," he tossed his pencil down against the open pages of the book.

I rubbed a knuckle along my lips as I felt them tug up at one corner. "Not math's biggest fan, I take it?"

"Not my strong point, no, but usually I can get by. Unfortunately, I caught some kinda bug a couple weeks back and had to miss a few days of lectures. Asked the teach what I missed, but he's a royal asshole. Just brushed me off, telling me to talk to his TA instead."

"And the TA?"

"Mini asshole in the making," he scoffed, snatching up a small stack of sheets from the table to wave about. "Just handed me his photocopied notes for the days I was out sick and told me to figure it out. They're useless though. I can't read his chicken scratch. A big test is coming up on all of this too that's s'posed to be a huge chunk of our grade, so I really need to wrap my head around this junk."

"Maybe I can help. Let me see." I moved closer, shifting over to the seat beside him. My shoulder brushed against his as I leaned in, spotting a piece of paper sticking out from beneath the textbook on which it looked like he'd been trying to (unsuccessfully) work through some of the chapter's exercise problems. "Derivatives, huh?" I murmured, picking it up to take a closer look. Then I pointed to the first equation, "This one is almost right, you just forgot to conjugate the binomial. It's an easy mistake, anyone could've made it."

"I, uh…" he trailed off. I glanced over at him, realization just now smacking me like a ton of bricks at how close our faces were. Boundaries, Elsa, boundaries! Dropping the paper, I quickly pulled away, spine banging firmly against the back of my seat. Clearing his throat, Lea picked up the sheet and glared down at it, "Damn, I thought I did that!" After a couple seconds of scrutiny, he grabbed his pencil and started furiously erasing his work before jotting in new numbers, his knee jiggling restlessly beneath the table. The scratching of the graphite stilled almost immediately however as he looked over at me, quirking an eyebrow. "...weren't you an Art History major?"

Reaching for my ponytail to self-consciously pluck at a tendril, I said, "Well, yeah, but I'm pretty good with numbers too. You're in luck, Calculus was just about where I called it when it came to college math courses. I mean, I took the class a couple years ago, but a lot of it's still pretty fresh in my brain. I'd be happy to work through more of it with you, but..." I frowned up at the giant clock hanging over the food court entrance. "My shift's about to start."

His eyes followed my gaze and he grimaced. "Crap, I need to punch back in myself." He rose to his feet, slamming the book shut and swiftly gathering all his stuff into one big, crumpled heap. His gaze shifted to glance at me out of his peripheral. "...you working tomorrow?"

I stood as well, tipping my head to one side. "No, but then I'm back on the schedule for the next three days after it. Why?"

"Good, I have it off too." Things more or less together now, he picked the sloppy stack up and tucked it under one arm as he slid the pencil behind one ear. "You think maybe you could help me cram for my exam? Say…" he looked away, rubbing the nape of his neck, "...my place around noon tomorrow?"

My eyes widened a fraction. "Oh! Uh… yes. Sure. Of course! I don't already have plans, so I'd be glad to. What are friends for, after all?"

Note the keyword here: friends. Cuz that's what we were. Period.

The huge smile that broke out across his face now all but blinded me. "Thanks, El, you rock! I owe you big time for this! I'll treat you to an absolute mountain of your favorite ice cream, which is…" he paused, narrowing his eyes for a second before snapping his fingers and pointing at me. "...Goofy Parfait? No, too basic… Double Crunch? Nah, that's not it either. Eh, I'll figure it out sooner or later! I'm closing in, I can feel it!" He started jogging backwards towards the Pizza Planet. "Anyway, you can get my address from Raindrop! S-" He bumped into a plastic chair, stumbled for a bit before catching himself as another paper flew loose. "Heh… meant to do that. See ya tomorrow!" He waved then turned and sprinted off to avoid clocking in late.

I raised my hand, my fingers curling in a tentative wave back, "Yeah… tomorrow…"

So that, apparently, was Phase Two of Mission Not A Crush.

Go to his home and prove it there.

Perfect.

What could possibly go wrong?

A lot.

That was the answer you were looking for.

A lot could go wrong.

Starting with-

"Ahhhhh!" Rayne squealed yet again as she turned the steering wheel, making the car take a right down a side road. "I can't believe my baby's going on her first date! It really is true, they grow up so fast!" she gave a mock sniffle as she reached over to pinch my cheek.

My left eye twitched and I swatted her hand away. It was a mistake telling her. But Lea had told me to get his address from her. And of course the second I'd asked, she had insisted on driving me there. Should have seen that one coming a mile away. I sighed, "I've had dates before. It's kind of hard to wind up engaged without going on a few dates first. Not impossible, mind you, but hard. And it's not a date, I'm just helping him study for a test."

"Mmmhmmm, sure," she gave me a knowing smirk, "and I'll bet you get all dolled up in a new dress like this for all your other not-a-dates."

"Please, I bought this secondhand in a thrift shop for ten dollars, I hardly call that getting dolled up," I rolled my eyes before looking down at myself.

As it turns out, yesterday had been payday. Meaning my first check, hallelujah! I think this officially made me a bonafide adult. And seeing as how my wardrobe was limited to my work clothes, a couple of hand-me-downs from Rayne that she no longer wore, and that one outfit I had, er… shall we say "borrowed" during my whirlwind escape on my wedding day, I had felt some clothes shopping had been in order after I got off shift yesterday. But working at an ice cream shop in the local mall doesn't exactly have you rolling in the big bucks, as one might imagine, so I'd quickly discovered that a used clothing store was a dirt poor girl's best friend.

I'll admit that I had lucked out a bit with the sundress I now wore, given that it'd come from the bargain bin and had even miraculously fit like a glove. It was a pastel blue with tiny, faded white polka dots, its gently billowing skirt falling to just below my knees. Triple spaghetti straps held it up at the shoulders and it had a sweetheart neckline with embroidered, white lace trim. It was high waisted, with ribbon weaving up the front of the bodice segment and a loose bow tied at the small of my back. Paired with my usual ankle boots of course, because really, who had the munny for more than one pair of shoes? Not me, that's for sure! But the best part? Stockings. Blessed, blessed stockings! My legs could die happy now.

So was it a new dress? Yes, but that was more so to do with my distinct lack of other options than anything else. And, okay sure, the thought had crossed my mind that this was the first time Lea would be seeing me not in Ice Palace attire, so of course I'd wanted to look at the very least, erm… presentable? Yes, that was the word. Presentable. Was that a crime now? I think not!

"Well I think you look cute enough to eat!" she declared before waggling her eyebrows at me. "I'm sure that's what Lea will be thinking too."

"Oh my god, Rayne!" I huffed, hiding my face in my hands and slouching down into the car seat.

I don't know a lot about having friends, but I wonder if they're exchangeable. Like, if you can return them to Ye Olde Friend Shoppe and get store credit that can go towards the purchase of a new gal pal, one that's not delusional and won't take sadistic pleasure in teasing you mercilessly. Yeah, that'd be super-duper nice right about now.

"We hath arrived!" I heard her gleefully announce, feeling the vehicle come to a full stop.

I peeked out between my fingers to see we were now parked at the curb beside a long, colorful row of what looked to be duplex apartments. As I lowered my hands completely, Rayne suddenly seized my chin and jerked my face towards her, studying me with eyes squinted. My brow furrowed, "...what are you doing?"

"Hold still." My jaw still trapped within her iron grasp, she reached for her bag in the backseat, hand noisily rummaging inside for a few seconds before pulling out a light brown makeup pencil. "I wanna make those adorable freckles of yours hella pop so that boy really goes all weak in the knees."

"Ugh!" I yanked my chin free and snatched the pencil away from her, rolling down my window and chucking it outside the car.

"Hey! Those aren't free, you know!"

"Tack it onto what I owe for rent," I grumbled as I closed the window again.

"Whatever," she huffed before she started taking off her jacket. "Take this, will you? It's chilly out, I don't want you to get cold."

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I gently pushed the proffered garment away, "I'll be fine. The cold never bothered me anyway, you know that."

She shrugged, tossing it into the back. "Suit yourself, but don't come crying to me when you catch your death out there." I reached for the door handle, but stopped as she said, "Hold it, c'mere." Oi, what now? I slowly turned my head to cock an eyebrow at her. She licked the pad of her thumb and wiped it across my cheek, "You got a lil schmutz."

I couldn't get out of the car fast enough, staggering onto the sidewalk and whipping around to slam the door shut behind me, nostrils flaring as I narrowed my eyes down at her.

She lowered the passenger window again, gracing me with a sly grin. "Have fun on your study date, sweetpea!"

"It's not a-" The engine roared and she cackled as she sped off. I stamped my foot and crossed my arms, lips twisting sourly. "...date."

It wasn't! That was in fact what I'd come here to prove, after all. That there was no crush and this was not a date. She'd see. I'd show her. Then we'd see who got the last laugh. Ha!

As I turned to face the line of apartments, I realized I had no clue which one was supposed to be Lea's. Rayne had never given me a unit number, just told me she knew exactly where it was and would take me there. I would hope that this one coated in a dingy cherry paint that she'd dropped me off directly in front of would be it, but with that girl's sanity track record lately, I couldn't be sure that was a totally safe bet. Still, I had to knock on one of these doors, so this one was as good as any to try first.

Running my hands down my dress to smooth out the nonexistent wrinkles and sweeping my braid forward over one shoulder, I puffed out a slow breath and put one foot forward. Then, after a pause, the other. Then the other. Eventually, I was climbing the three steps that led up to the door and coming to a stop in front of it.

Then I hesitated, gnawing on my lower lip.

Smoothed my dress again.

Fidgeted with my braid some more.

...I was running out of ways to stall.

Inhaling and exhaling once more, I brought my fist up to the door, preparing to initiate Phase Two of Not A Crush. And came to an abrupt halt, my knuckles a hairbreadth's away from the wood.

Because now we came to the second thing to go wrong.

That being me realizing I had absolutely zero idea of how to accomplish Phase Two.

In fact, what the heck was I even doing here? I struggled with regular one-on-one social interactions on any given normal day, even when I didn't have an ulterior motive to worry about on the side. How on earth had I fooled myself into believing I could handle it, this, here, now, while juggling a stupidly self imposed secret mission as well? This was a terrible plan! What the actual frick had I been thinking?! Did I know myself but at all?!

...you know what? I'm leaving. This was already too much and I hadn't even gotten past the friggin' front door yet. Sorry to bail, Lea, but you're a smart lad with a good head on your shoulders. I have the utmost faith in your ability to navigate yourself through the trials and tribulations of Calculus all on our own. Peace, I'm out!

Spinning on my heel, I rushed back down the steps and beelined for the sidewalk. The walk home wouldn't be short. And I hadn't been paying attention on the drive over, so I wasn't even sure which way I should go. But psssh, minor detail. I'd just pick a direction and if it was meant to be, I'd find myself on my own doorstep sooner or later, right? Right. Now this was a plan I could get on board with. This, I could-

"El?"

I froze mid-step with a wince, gritting my teeth.

Fudge.

...should I just make a run for it?

Probably not. Pretty sure he was way faster than me with those freakishly long legs of his.

Putting on a shaky smile, I stiffly turned back around to see that front door now open with Lea standing on the threshold, giving me a quizzical look.

And it was just hitting me now as I looked at him that this wasn't only going to be the first time he was seeing me out of work clothes, but the first time I was seeing him out of his too. He was wearing a long, untucked button up that was a deep purple plaid and sleeveless, with a black tee on underneath and a black, loose hoodie vest that hung open over it. His legs were clad in dark, dark red skinny jeans, accompanied by tall black boots on his feet. His hair had been pulled back into a stylishly messy ponytail with a few spiky bangs poking free and of course he was sporting his usual guyliner. Though was it just my imagination or was there a bit of an extra swoosh to those wings at the corner of his eyes today? Probably just my imagination.

He… cleaned up pretty good.

...I mean, not that I pay attention to stuff like that or anything. Ahem, anyway!

"Where ya going?" He moved one step down the small set of cement stairs, grinning slightly. "You know that's the wrong direction, right? Living room's this way."

"...it is?"

First thing to blurt out of my mouth and we're off to a simply superb start here.

"Oh! Y-yes! Of course it is! I… I knew that! But, ah…" I took a teeny step backwards. "...I forgot something at… at home!"

Yeah, my backbone.

"That's it!" I laughed weakly and there was another shift back of my feet. "So I was just going to, you know…" I jerked both thumbs to the right, "go get it! Then… come straight back. Here. To your place, uh... o-of course!"

He frowned, looking down the street before glancing back at me. "You were gonna walk? Isn't that kinda far? Tell ya what, let me go grab my car keys and I can swing you back by your place real quick."

"No!" I threw up my hands, rapidly shaking my head. Drat. Thwarted. "N-no, that's… that's fine. And you know what? It's... not actually all that important. Really! Turns out I, um… I don't need it after all."

Looks like it was just time for me to grow a spine instead.

"Oh. Okay then, if you're sure," he shrugged before heading back up the steps and walking inside, holding the door open wide for me and smiling big. "Come on in. Mi casa es su casa!"

"Th...thanks," I managed to squeak past the anxiety squeezing my throat, making it hard to get words out. Taking a deep breath, I clenched and unclenched my clammy hands before clasping them together in front of me just below my waist. Then I rallied, if only just barely, and got myself up those stairs and inside, hearing him shut the door behind me.

The room I'd stepped into was open and rather spacious. To the right seemed to be the living room, in the middle of which stood a long coffee table, a couple of armchairs, a well-worn plush blue sofa covered in far too many pillows (all of them mismatched) and a large rug checkered in various shades of red. A giant dark wood entertainment center took up one wall with a large flat screen in the middle. The shelves surrounding it were mostly filled with books and DVDs, but there were a few odds and ends to decorate it as well, such as a couple of red frisbees sporting sinister-faced fireball decals in one cubbie, while in another sat a framed chart of what looked to be the lunar cycle.

To my left was a dinette space with its table already buried underneath a textbook and a mound of papers, and further to the left beyond that lay the kitchen. The two rooms were separated by an island counter wedged between a pair of thick square columns, the one furthest forward having a skinny door in it that was currently closed. Behind the dinner table and further back in the apartment was an open arch leading into a small corridor - more of an alcove, really - with two doors on the back wall and two more at either end of the hall.

"So..." I began as I glanced around, fingers already fiddling with the tip of my braid, "this is your casa?"

"Yup! Let me give you the grand tour." He all but bounced into the sitting area, arms dramatically flourishing in his best Vanna White impersonation. "The living room! Top of the line and comes with all the deluxe amenities you could ever dream of, including a couch as ugly as sin and a rug old enough to be your father!"

I snorted into my fist, biting back a tiny grin as I felt some of my tenseness beginning to fade, if only by a smidge. "Fancy."

"You like that? Well then prepare to have your mind blown." He darted over to the left side of the apartment now, presenting it with another theatrical sweep of his hands. "Dining room! And get this, you're never gonna guess… a kitchen!"

"Wow, dining room and kitchen? Amazing, you really do live in the lap of luxury here. My my, how the other half lives."

"I try not to let it go to my head. And check it out," he moved to the column bearing the small, inset door and pushed it open, revealing cramped shelves full of foodstuffs, "comes complete with itty-bitty pantry space!" It really was tiny. Could Lea even fit in there? Leaving the door open a crack, he then moved into the hallway, smacking a hand to the back door on the left. "My room." He pointed to the door at the right end of the hall, "Bathroom." Then the one at the left end, "Closet."

Nodding, I looked to the only remaining door directly to the right of Lea's bedroom. "And that one?"

He shook his head and waggled an index finger, "Oh-ho no, you don't wanna know what horrors lay beyond that door."

I quirked an eyebrow at that, one corner of my lips twitching upward. "Is that where you hide all the bodies then?"

"How'd you know?" He'd said it with such dead seriousness that for a second there, I started to get nervous. Then he snerked and chuckled, folding his arms beneath his chest as he leaned a shoulder against the inside of the archway. "You really are too easy, ya know that? Nah, that's just where I keep my household Saïx."

My head tilted. "...what's a Saïx?"

"Two for one deal, roomie-brother combo."

"You live with your brother? That sounds nice... not a lot of people do that after highschool."

One of his shoulders bobbed in a half-shrug, "Half-brother if ya wanna get technical, but yeah. We grew up in the foster system and had to put up with a lotta crap. Learned fast the best way to survive was for us to stick together. I guess old habits die hard. But I don't see him all that much anymore actually."

"Oh?" I frowned at that. "Why not?"

"I'm a creature of the sun, he's a child of the moon. Total night owl. His job keeps him up all hours and he sleeps all day. Nowadays I really only see him during breakfast which is his dinner and vice versa."

My eyebrows knit together. "What's he do for a living?"

Another bounce of the shoulder. "Hell if I know. He works remotely, so basically just locks himself up in his room all night glued to his laptop. Rox and Xion sometimes do take a late night though and caffeine up before dropping by to drag his ass outta his hidey-hole n' make sure he gets some fresh air every once in a while. The kiddos are convinced he's a vampire at this point, swear up and down that they've even seen him hiss at sunlight. But I know that's just silly. Totally ridiculous." Here he paused with a smirk. "Cuz he's obviously a werewolf."

A smile tugged at my lips. "Obviously?"

"Yup! All the clues are there." He struck up a finger. "Crazy obsessed with the moon." Up went a second one. "Likes his steak so rare, it's still mooing. Classic sign of lycanthropy." A third digit joined the other two. "And here's the real kicker: dogs? Love him."

"Wow," I laughed softly. "Well then, with such irrefutable proof, hard to argue that logic."

"Thank you," Lea bowed his head. Then he pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the dining table, pulling out a chair for me. "On that note, shall we?"

I nodded, taking the offered seat and reaching for one of the pages of notes. "Sounds good. Let's get to it."

"Bueno Volcano?"

I glanced up from the open textbook before me, blinking once at Lea before my eyelids drooped. "No, I do not believe the derivative of F evaluated at X as H approaches zero is… Bueno Volcano."

Another one of our flavors of ice cream, as you might've already guessed.

He was staring at me with a completely straight face while wearing his pencil like a moustache. Removing it with a gentle harrumph, he leaned his chair back onto its hind legs, "C'mon, El, we've been at this for hours now. I need a study break."

I sighed through my nose, inserting a worksheet into the book to save the spot before shutting it. "Fine." I was kind of getting stiff from sitting still for so long. Stretching one arm over my head and arching my back to work some of the kinks out of my muscles, I asked, "So, Bueno Volcano… final answer?"

Lea's seat wobbled precariously and he had to grab the table to keep from falling over. Ruffling his hair with a sheepish laugh, he then visibly mulled for a second before shaking his head, "Nah. Spicy veggie ice cream is just weird. No one's into that junk."

"You'd be surprised," I hummed a chuckle, planting an elbow on a small stack of papers and resting my cheek in my palm. "You're running out of options. You sure you haven't guessed it already?"

"Positive. I'm getting warmer though. It's on the tip of my tongue now, I can practically taste it!"

I raised a brow at him. "So what's it taste like?"

He slapped a hand down to the table with a smile, declaring, "Victory!"

"...I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that flavor," I deadpanned.

"Bah, don't get cute, you know what I meant," he bopped my forehead with his pencil and I flicked it away. Then he tapped it to his chin as he eyed me thoughtfully. "...so why Art History?"

Um…? Where had that come from? Besides out of left field, that is. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, twirling the pencil between his fingers now. "Just something I've been curious about… why pick that as your major? Why stick with it until you graduated if you weren't feeling it? Why even start it in the first place?"

"I, uh…" I averted my gaze, hands rushing up to toy with my braid. Answering those questions would involve bringing up my parents. And that was a whole other can of worms that I wasn't sure I was particularly ready to pop open just yet.

"Ooo, I'm sensing another secret." Grinning, he scooched his chair over closer to me now, bumping his knee into mine. "Don't worry, I know information isn't free. So how 'bout another trade? Tit for tat. Quid pro quo. One o' mine for one o' yours. I'll start." Then he was lifting up his shirts.

And I, in turn, was turning beet red and slapping a hand over my eyes.

Jeez, this guy did not know how to keep his top on!

"I've had stitches!"

...oh.

My fingers tentatively parted and I saw that he'd only raised the layers of fabric by a few inches, revealing a jagged scar wrapped around his side just above his right hip, big and gnarly, but also old and long since healed. I was kind of amazed I hadn't noticed it the first time he was shirtless in front of me. Then again, he had been drenched in ice cream at the time which had most likely covered it, and I had been a little preoccupied with spazzing out and using my hat as a makeshift censor bar.

"What happened?" I breathed, lowering my hand.

"Saïx happened." I gaped up at him and he released the hems, letting them fall back into place as he batted a hand, "It was an accident. We were only kids at the time. But turns out a chainsaw? Not a toy."

I spluttered, "A ch-chainsaw?!"

"Pssh, it's no big deal, was only a lil one. It'd have to be for an eight year old to be able to lift it after all," he brushed off with a snerk.

Fixing him with a flat look, I muttered, "You and I have two very different definitions of 'no big deal.'"

"Trust me, it looks a lot worse than it actually was. Poor Saïx though, he thought he'd killed me and the little dweeb couldn't stop bawling his eyes out at the hospital. I think he cried more than I did that day, which is funny cuz I was always the bigger crybaby of the two of us." Lea smiled as he relaxed back into his chair a bit, interlocking his fingers behind his head, "Yeah, we were one screwed up pair o' brats. It's no wonder no family ever wanted to keep us monsters, we were a handful to say the least." Then he nudged my shoe with the toe of his boot, "Alright, your turn now."

I glanced away, pursing my lips to one side. Then I locked my gaze back on his with a tiny smirk. "I've shoplifted."

His eyes widened and his head rocked back a bit as he blinked at me a couple times. Then he was narrowing his gaze, "Okay, one, no fair, you know what info I wanted."

I let my shoulders rise and fall, "You just said a secret for a secret. Never specified I had to answer your earlier question."

The rolling of his eyes was his only retort to that before moving on, "Two... you? Shoplift?" He gave a snort. "Does not compute. What was it even, a stick of gum? Some change from the Take-A-Munny-Leave-A-Munny tray?"

I lifted my chin a hair and inspected my nails, feeling a bit too pleased with myself. He'd thought he'd had me pegged. Well, I'd shown him. There's more to me than meets the eye, bucko. "Some clothes. These shoes," I slightly lifted one of my feet, presenting the left ankle boot. Then I paused for dramatic effect. "...a phonebook."

"A…?" he gave me a blank look for half a second. Then he burst out laughing, throwing up his hands, "Look out, we got ourselves a badass here! Behind that sweet, innocent face lurks the sinister mind a hardened criminal and cunning master thief! Best be careful or she'll come for your sticky notes and wall-hanging calendars next. Pfffft, a phonebook. Why? Just… why?"

Crossing my arms, I gave a derisive sniff. "I had my reasons."

Now he cocked his head to to the left, a sly curl twisting his lips. His interest had been piqued. He looked down, studying my shoes with a low hum. "...those still look kinda new. So your lil foray into the world of the five-finger discount had to of been pretty recent. I'd say… maybe a month ago, two tops."

I stiffened.

Oh no, I'd said too much.

I hastily pulled my feet back under my seat, as if to hide any further evidence he might gleen from them. "Speculate all you want, you're not getting anything else out of me."

"Oh, I see how it is. Tough nut to crack, eh?" His eyes crinkled as he leaned in closer to me, propping his elbows on his knees and tucking one arm behind the other. "Am I gonna have to go all good cop, bad cop on you now?"

...okay, cheeks, what's the deal here? I know you're still on red alert from the false alarm with the shirt earlier, but come on, this was nothing to be stoking the coals over! I cleared my throat, turning my head to one side, "No, it's just… that's a whole other secret, is all."

Lea straightened up in his seat, both eyebrows reaching for his hairline. "You mean you want another one outta me?" He shook his head with a grin, rising to his feet now. "Damn, El, you drive a hard bargain. I need to rack my brain to come up with something else good for ya. I'm gonna grab a soda while I'm at it." He winced as he made his way over to the kitchen, "...and I'm just now realizing I've been a totally crap host this whole time. Did you want anything to drink?"

"Just a water, please?" I asked, soon hearing him clinking cups around followed by the sound of a running faucet. I looked down at my lap, tucking in my lower lip as my fingers tangled into the tuft of my braid. I don't know why I was still thinking about it. I'd successfully sidestepped the question and he'd let me off the hook without me giving any sort of explanation for now. And yet, it still lingered at the back of my brain… prickling, needling, until-

"It's because I was a coward." The words were out before I'd even realized it.

He looked up, blinking at me from across the island counter. "Pardon?"

"...why Art History," I clarified softly, my hands going to my lap now to clench slightly at the fabric of my dress. "Because I was a coward, too afraid to go against my parents' wishes. They… said it would be necessary in order to make me more refined and cultured for my eventual role as… as a wife to any potential future husband I may have had. And I just… It seemed… easier just to go along with what they wanted."

"Woah," I heard him approaching again and watched out of the corner of my eye as a glass of water was set down at the table beside me. He retook his seat, a can of Kupo-Kola now in hand, "Remind me again, what era we living in? Coulda sworn we'd left the Dark Ages behind a few centuries ago." My gaze rose to meet his, a wilted attempt at a smile tugging my lips. He cracked the can open with a satisfying fizz before taking a sip. "So then, what did you want?"

I frowned. "What did I…?"

"Say you'd flipped your folks the bird and done your own thing. What would you have majored in instead? If you'd even major in anything at all. Just… what did you want?"

My brow furrowed as I processed for a few heartbeats. "...I'm not sure, actually. Guess I never really thought about it." Then again, no one had ever really asked before. Not even me to myself.

He huffed out a laugh through his nose. "Sure ya have. Everyone has interests, dreams... and hey, you were a kid once. What did you wanna be when you grew up?"

"I…" Trailing off, I squinted towards the ceiling as if I'd somehow find what I was seeking somewhere up there. Unfortunately, no magical, clear-cut ceiling answers divining the secrets to my soul revealed themselves unto me. Drat.

What were my dreams and interests? Did I ever even have any? How pathetic was it that I had to ask myself that? That said however, my mind did strangely keep circling back around to that conversation I'd had with Rayne a few nights ago. I began slowly, "When I was younger, I… did like taking part in musicals. Nothing huge, mind you, just for school and summer camp, things like that."

"That's still something though!" he nodded, face lighting up as he took another swig before putting the soda down. "And didn't I tell ya you should get into singing?"

Eyelids drooping, I gave a tiny scoff. "It's nothing, just a stupid, childish fantasy. My parents were quick to squash any such silly notions as I grew older, saying no daughter of theirs was going to be a failed singer or two-bit actor who never made it. It's not a job that's suitable for-"

"But whoever said anything about turning it into a job?" he cut me off, tipping his head to one side. "I mean yeah, that's one option, but it could also just be a hobby. You know, for fun. You could take a class or something, just to check it out... they offer drama courses at my university. Oh, and I know a couple people from the local community theater, I could check with them for you! Why not give it a shot?"

I grimaced, one hand shifting to rub my elbow. "I don't know…" Being on a stage again, performing in front of an audience, just... all those people… the mere thought already had me feeling the chill of anxiety clawing its way up into my chest.

"Look, I'll talk to those theatre friends of mine and also get you a catalog for next semester's courses. No pressure, but just so you have the information, ya know, in case you get curious," he smiled.

...I guess it wouldn't hurt... And I had to admit, a teeny part of me was drawn to the idea. However, a much bigger part of me shriveled up in dread and made my stomach churn and knot up. "...thanks, but I don't think that's really-"

The loud, groaning creak of a door opening suddenly pierced the air. Lea paled as his head snapped over to the left towards the hallway, his eyes going round. Then he facepalmed and hissed out through grit teeth, "Fucking hell, not today!"

Puzzled at his reaction, I started to follow his gaze, "What are you-?"

His hand abruptly grabbed mine, immediately drawing my attention back to him as he whispered urgently, "Don't move. Don't even breathe."

What the…?

Despite my rising confusion, I did as I was told. I heard a slow thud, thud, thud of footsteps approaching, felt movement behind me as something brushed passed and kept lumbering along. Was that… Saïx? If so, why then did it feel like we were reenacting a scene from a Jurassic Park movie with him the T-Rex and we the scared humans trying to hide in plain sight by going stock-still? I heard the steady footfall muffle now, presumably by the living room rug which is where it'd sounded like he'd been heading. Lea relaxed a little and I took it as a sign for me to do the same, now tentatively turning in my seat to glance over my shoulder.

Across the room stood a man with his back to us. He was tall, but I think Lea still may have had him beat by an inch or two. Long blue hair fell down well past his shoulder blades, bangs a chaotic mess on top - most likely bedhead if, like Lea suggested, the guy had been sleeping all day. A black tank top hugged his torso with grey camo sweatpants beneath it and feet bare. He'd come to a stop directly in front of the far wall and was now just… staring at it.

Knitting my eyebrows together, I whispered, "What's he doing?"

Still keeping his voice down as well, Lea said, "Sleepwalking. Something he's done all his life, but it's been months since the last episode, so I was hoping we'd be in the clear today."

"Oh." I cocked my head. "...shouldn't we wake him?"

"No," he said quickly and with as much emphasis as he could muster in his hushed tone. "He goes totally berserk if you do. Believe me, it is not pretty. Best just to stay out of his way and let him do his thing. He usually only wanders about for a few minutes before he heads back to his bed. Just-"

He hastily cut himself off as Saïx chose that second to whip around and face us. His eyes were closed and between them, a faded scar in the shape of an X slashed across the bridge of his nose. Lea's hand still on mine, I felt his grip tighten as Saïx started ambling in our direction. "Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it," I barely heard Lea chanting under his breath, watching Saïx like a hawk as he drew ever nearer.

He came to a lurching halt once more, this time next to the dining chair across the table from us. Lea scowled at him, muttering, "You're gonna do it, aren't you, you slumbering jackass? You're gonna play musical goddamn chairs." As if on cue, Saïx pulled out the seat and sat down. Watching him, it was almost eerie the way he seemed to look directly at us even though his eyes remained shut the whole time. A second later, he was rising again and moving counterclockwise towards the next chair closer to me. As he plopped down once more, Lea growled, "Damn it, of course. Of. Fucking. Course you are, you big, dumb, sleep deprived- shit, move!"

Lea leapt to his feet, yanking me up and out of my chair with him just as Saïx was about to yet again take a seat, this time on top of me. Lea backed up a few steps towards the kitchen island, me still in tow and our fingers now interlaced, his other hand miming pulling a zipper over his lips to me while his unblinking gaze never left his brother. A few seconds ticked by before Saïx was up and on the move again, his knee banging into Lea's chair, making the redhead cringe slightly. However, this only seemed to give Saïx pause for a beat before it too was sat upon.

I felt a tug on my arm and Lea started pulling me along, gingerly sidling over to circle the table in an attempt to put it between us and Saïx as we watched him stand back up and move onto the next seat. Then the next. And the next. He did this a few more times, with us all the while continuing to sneak around so as to stay opposite of him. At last, he seemed to lose interest in the dining area, turning his back to it and making his way into the kitchen.

Lea's eyes darted over to his bedroom door. Then to where Saïx had disappeared behind a column. Then back and forth a few more times. Then he murmured, "C'mon. My room. He always stays outta there."

I reached for the textbook with my free hand, "Just give me a sec to-"

"No time, leave it!" he hissed, making a run for it, giving me little choice but to stumble after him or be dragged. We were almost there, his door was just a few more feet away, but then-

"Motherfu-" Lea quietly choked out as Saïx reemerged from the kitchen directly into our path. Immediately putting on the brakes, his feet scrabbled and skidded until he had shifted into reverse and backed up against the square column at the end of the kitchen island, yanking me backwards with him. He flattened himself against the surface and I did the same as Saïx shambled by hardly centimeters in front of us. Saïx then came to a stop once more, this time taking up post in the small corridor right smack dab in front of Lea's room.

Lea released a barely audible sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then, still maintaining a whisper, "Bad Saïx! Bad!" He flicked his hand in his roomie's direction a couple times, "Shoo! Shoo!"

Saïx, seemingly unperturbed, didn't budge.

...this had to be… without a doubt, hands down… the weirdest social visit I'd ever been to.

Another minute passed of Lea unsuccessfully trying to persuade Saïx to get lost. Finally however, he did decide to move… straight towards us.

"Crap." Still leading me by the hand, Lea bolted around the corner and back into the dinette. The table, the chairs, the island, everything blurred past us. It was all happening so fast and before I knew it, Lea was jerking me into a hiding spot with him. And where, one might wonder, might that be?

Do the words 'itty bitty pantry space' ring any bells?

This, at least, solved one mystery. Lea could, in fact, fit in here. Not only that, there was even enough space left over for one (1) awkward Elsa to go in there with him. It was however, hrm... a rather tight squeeze, to say the least.

"This door opening in is really shit design," Lea grumbled, back pressed against said door and unable to close it as there was, quite simply, not enough room to do so. Not with us in the way anyhow.

He'd released my hand by now and I currently stood opposite him, my own spine uncomfortably pressing into the shelves of canned goods behind me. The gap between us was virtually non-existent to the point where every breath I took had my chest brushing up against his. Of course, that cinnamon scent of his that I was becoming oh so familiar with at this point was present and accounted for, invading my senses. And was it just me or was it getting a bit on the warm side in here? Poor ventilation. That had to be it. Yup.

I had no idea where to look. His face? Out of the question! Not in here, not this up close and personal, nope, nu-uh! I'd just have to settle for what was right in front of my nose.

Why good day, Mr Man Boob! We really have to stop meeting like this. Still looking as stately as ever, I see… wait! Oh gosh! What am I doing? I can't be staring at his frigging man boobs! That's just… just so unseemly! ...or is it? Is it technically okay for me to get an eyeful of man boob? If so, well that's a bit of a double standard now, isn't it? Better to be on the safe side and shift over to your charming neighbor here.

Hello there, Mr Bicep! Looking real good, real fit… have you been working out? Well whatever it is, it's doing wonders because let me tell you, you look nice enough to-

...ahem, readjusting focus once again, now landing on, um... Mr Collarbone! Yeah, Mr Collarbone here seemed innocent and harmless enough.

I think.

Clearing my throat, I asked, "So… he doesn't ever come in here during one of his episodes, right?"

"Never." I heard some shifting that I think was his head turning to look out the door, where there had yet to be any further movement. "...almost never."

"...how reassuring."

And silence reigned once again. This was so uncomfortable. I was dying. Come on, Elsa, say something else! Anything to break the stifling awkwardness! Say something… something nice! Yeah, like a compliment! Tell him… what a lovely home he has! No, too generic. Comment on the… smallness of his food closet! No no, jeez, that wasn't even a compliment. Point out the… stateliness of his man boobs! …oh dear god, no! Dang it, Elsa, why are you so bad at this?!

"So, uh... what's a nice girl like you doing in a pantry like this?"

I blinked. Then, somehow, I finally found the courage to look up at him. He said nothing else, just gave me a tiny half-grin and a wink. And just like that, all that tension inside me cracked, shattered, and started to melt. Slowly but surely, a smile stretched at my lips and I gave a soft snort.

How did he do it? How did Lea always seem to know just what to say to put me at ease?

Shaking my head, I murmured, "I bet you use that line on all the ladies."

He hummed a low chuckle and made no other reply, just continued to stare down the few inches that separated us. Gosh, his eyes really were just the most beautiful shade of green, weren't they? Out of the corner of my peripheral, I saw his hand slowly rising until it hovered just beside my cheek. There he paused… hesitated… and then-

Clunk!

A sudden noise from outside and his hand had seized my shoulder tightly while his other shot up, pressing an index finger to his lips. I nodded and we both peered out into the dining room, waiting. We heard Saïx before we saw him, that very distinctive thud, thud, thud of his footsteps drawing nearer. Then he plodded into view, pulling to a stop right outside the doorway and just stood there. Neither of us moved a muscle, remaining frozen like statues and holding our breaths as we watched and silently prayed.

After what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably only ten seconds, he started walking again, lumbering off out of our line of sight. We both exhaled and slumped, listening to his footfall fade. Then there was the blessed sound of a door creaking open followed by it clicking shut.

"Is that it?" I asked hopefully, voice still a whisper.

"Should be." He cautiously poked his head out to look around. "I mean, sometimes he gets crafty for a sleeping dude and will just open and close doors without going through them, but it's rare."

Good enough for me! I slipped out of the pantry and crossed the dinette, coming to a halt next to the sofa where I started to stretch a bit. Ahh, taste that sweet, sweet air of freedom! Whew, I had been starting to get a bit claustrophobic in-

"Look out!"

At Lea's warning, I spun around. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the apartment, there Saïx was again, heading straight for me!

And I, being the total dummy that I am, decided to pick the absolute worst time (aka now) to have a total deer in the headlights moment. My body was just not responding. Hello, legs? Anyone home? Now would be a really great time to jump out of the way! ...huh. No reply. Feet? Come in, feet, old buddies old pals! Saïx's getting real close here so if you could just, ya know, get a move on, that'd be swell! ...radio silence from that corner too. Well shoot, I thought as I squeezed my eyes shut, I guess this was it. The end of the road. The final curtains. Goodbye, cruel world. So long, and thanks for all the-

An abrupt force suddenly barreled into me from the side, pushing me out of Saïx's path at the last second and sending me tumbling over the arm of the couch where my back hit the seat cushions, decorative pillows flying everywhere. As my brain scrambled to catch up, I gradually became aware of the fact that there was a large weight on top of me, pinning me down. Warily, I peeked one eye open. Then the other. Then I blinked once. Twice. Then my face erupted into an inferno.

Because that weight on top of me? I'd figured out what it was. Or rather, who it was.

Lea.

He must have thrown himself at me, knocking us both out of the way of danger and onto the sofa. And thus why he could now be found hovering over me, his hands on my wrists, holding them down to either side of my head as he propped himself up, his hips resting between my legs. His head was currently turned to the left as he watched over the backrest of the couch, probably tracking Saïx's movements. So engrossed was he in this that I don't think he was aware of the rather compromising position we were in right now.

Unlike me, who was very, very aware.

I just stared up at him, unable to move, unable to think. My face grew hotter and hotter by the minute as my heart thundered in my ears. My breath hitched and my mouth grew dry. But the weird part? I… wasn't panicking. Oh sure, all the classic signs of panic were there, but that wasn't it. That wasn't what I was feeling. What was it then? This strange, alien emotion I felt invading my chest as I gazed up at him, making me feel all…

...kind of, sort of warm and fuzzy?

...wait.

This wasn't-

I wasn't-

Dear lord, it couldn't be I-

"There!" Lea puffed out a sigh, his shoulders sagging in relief. "I actually saw him go back into his room just now, so we should be safe for real this time. Sorry 'bout all th-" The words died in his throat as now, at long last, he looked down at me. And you could all but hear the click in his brain. He froze, eyes wide. There was a long stretch where neither of us said or did anything. Then abruptly, "Shit, s-sorry!" He quickly released my wrists, shooting up onto his knees and hastily crossing his arms, jamming his hands into his armpits. "I didn't mean to- That is, I- This was just- This isn't how it-"

In his rush to stand, he slipped and fell off the couch, banging his head against the coffee table. I gasped, sitting up and reaching for him, "Are you okay?"

In a flash he was back on his feet, rubbing the fresh sore spot and blurting out, "Yup, no, I'm good! Just dandy! Just a small concussion, no biggie, nothing a bandaid or-" once again, the coffee table got the better of him and he stumbled backwards over it. He managed to catch himself however and chuckled weakly, "Heh… who put that stupid thing there? Anyway, I'll just go, uh, get myself patched up... in the bathroom! Yeah, be right back!" And with that, he practically blurred across the apartment and straight into the restroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

...well then.

I think that answered that.

Mission Not A Crush.

Because I think we can all agree now that Lea clearly and quite obviously…

...did not have a crush on me.

I mean, come on, did you see the guy? He couldn't get away from me fast enough! All but tripping over himself to put as much distance between the two of us as he could. Probably desperate not to give me the wrong idea. Well message received, loud and clear.

However, this did complicate things a bit now though.

Because even though he didn't have a crush on me…

...I was now pretty sure I had a crush on him.

Author's Notes: Ahhh, this chapter… in which it's probably never been made more clear how really bad Elsa is at reading social cues from others xD Also, always love me a good ol' "hey, look, we're trapped in a tiny cramped space together" scene, that's my crack yo :3 But on another note, now Elsa's gone and done it… she caught feelings, the lil fool! Something she's never had to deal with before, so this should be fun xD Minor Fun Fact: Saïx's middle name in this is Isa, just like how Lea is technically our redhead's middle name as well. But unlike Lea, Saïx actually likes his first name so that's what he goes by. And we'll have a real appearance from Saïx in later chapters, not just sleepwalking zombie Saïx xP Another Minor Fun Fact: the stuff about the chainsaw was supposed to be a reference to Saïx's claymore from the video games - chainsaw is just the closest thing I could come up with xD And for those unfamiliar with this bit from the manga, there's a point where Saïx attacks Axel with his claymore and leaves him wounded right where Lea's scar is in this chapter, so another teeny lil reference, weeeee! Another ANOTHER Minor Fun Fact: Lea's outfit, if you didn't recognize it, was based on his outfit at the end of KH3! Elsa's outfit… was not based on anything, it just sounded like something I thought she'd look cute in xD Also this chapter marks the start of me regretting a little bit making this story only Elsa's POV. I mean, how fun would it be to write all the things going through Lea's head right about now? xD Alas, I'll just have to leave that up to your imaginations, dear readers!

Next chapter, what will Elsa do with these new fledgling emotions of hers? Is it really a crush? Or is she simply confused in all the whirlwind of excitement that just happened? Will Lea ever pass his exam? COULD the derivative of F evaluated at X as H approaches zero actually BE Bueno Volcano? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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