#she looks so cute I hope they keep giving her darker hair

[pimientosdulces]

always thinking of g1 clawdeen

[sunnie-angel]

Part 1: The Meeting

part 2 | series master list | ao3 link

jason todd x f!reader

summary: a friendship with jason todd hovers on the edge of something more but there are reasons lurking just out of sight that complicate things.

tags: fluff

rated explicit (mdni) | wc: 2.6k

a/n: this first chapter is fairly light, but this series is intended to get much darker in tone and content. i’ve got most of the series planned out so i’m going to try and be more consistent with updates (but no promises).

The first time you see Jason Todd, he’s chewing on the end of a pen and staring off into space. He’s in your Theories of Poststructuralist Literature class, sitting two rows up and one seat to the left of you. What catches your eye is how lonely he looks. The seats around him are empty and there’s an air of loneliness to him that goes beyond first day jitters. The professor’s at the front, still unpacking her bag, so you’ve got still got a few minutes to stare as much as you’d like. Your friend, looking up from where she’s fiddling with her computer notices your interest, knocks her elbow into you.

“So who’s that,” she says in an undertone, “your new classroom crush?”

“Oh I am not that bad,” you retort, mock offence dripping from your words. “No, I just think he looks lonely.”

“Yeah, and cute.” This time you elbow her, hoping he didn’t hear Danika over the sounds of shuffling chairs and feet. Mercifully, the professor clears her throat to begin class, cutting off whatever else your friend was going to tease you with.

“All right, welcome to Theories of Poststructuralist Literature. I’m Dr. Okafor, and I’ll be…”

Throughout the rest of class, you can’t stop stealing glimpses of him out of the corner of your eye. Danika has to prod you twice to get you to take a copy of the syllabus and pass it along the stack of papers. You manage to pay attention just long enough during the self-introductions to find out that his name is Jason, and that he’s doing a degree specialization in British Literature. Class ends a half-hour early and your head’s already swimming, a list of readings and concepts already tripping up your thoughts. It means that you’re distracted, not paying attention to what your friend’s doing as you scramble to get your things situated back into your bag.

“Hey! Hey new guy!” Your head snaps up at the sound of Danika’s voice, loud and moving away from you. To your horror, she’s walking right up to Jason, and worse, he’s starting to look around for who she’s talking to. With no one else around him, it becomes evident that there’s no one else she could be addressing.

“Yes, you. Hi! I’m Danika. Me and my friend,” she gestures lazily back at you and you can already feel the mortification burning up your cheeks, “were planning to meet up with some other friends in the program for lunch after class. Want to join us?”

“Oh, um, sure? I need to talk to Dr. Okafor first, but I can meet you both right after.” He says, a little bit flustered by the invitation. He runs his fingers through his curls as he speaks, you notice.

“Great! We’ll just wait outside for you.” Satisfied, your wayward friend turns around and grins, giving you a thumbs up from where only you can see it.

“Seriously?! What was that?” You hiss at her when she finally reaches you.

“What, you said he looked lonely. Now, he’ll be less lonely. C’mon, have you texted the group chat yet that we’ve got a plus one for lunch?” Shouldering your bags, you pick your way out of the classroom, hopping over errant bag straps littering the aisle and maneuvering around people going through the motions of first day back greetings. Keeping Danika’s blonde head in sight, you pull out your phone and shoot off a message, slipping it back into your pocket before there’s time for any responses. She’s already waiting for you by the door, one hand twisting the ends of her hair in the way she only does when she’s uncertain.

“Really though, is it okay that he’s coming to lunch with us? Because I can go right back in there and tell him you suddenly came down with a stomach bug and I have to get you home.” Her concern cools the panic and annoyance knotting your stomach.

“No it’s fine.” She gives you a look, the one that says she doesn’t believe you. “Really. I’m kind of annoyed you didn’t ask me first but it’s whatever. Best case scenario, we get a new friend out of this. Worst case, he goes back to just being classroom crush.”

“I knew it!” She crows. “Wait, wait this is big. You never talk to your classroom crushes. Do you need to practice your pick up lines on me?” Faux seriousness drips off of her. Jason appears as if summoned, popping up behind Danika’s shoulder with uncanny quietness.

“Hey Jason, were you able to talk to the prof?” You ask, forcibly trying to keep your voice casual. Danika freezes, mouths sorry at you, before whirling around to face him.

“Yeah, thanks for waiting. And thanks for inviting me to lunch.”

“Anytime!” Smoothly your friend steps in to direct conversation. “We were just planning to head to the food court in the student union.” She starts walking, confident that the two of you will follow her and you do. “So Jason, how come we’ve never met before this class? Between our friend group, I think we’ve met or at least know of all,” she waits for your nod in confirmation, “of the literature and writing students in our graduating class.”

He exhales before answering, taking the moment to gather his story together. “I’m a transfer student. I started my degree a couple of years ago but had to stop for family reasons. I finally got the chance to get my records together so I could transfer to Gotham U and finish the last few credits to get my diploma.”

“But you’re from Gotham originally?” You can’t quite keep the weight of Jason’s full attention on you yet, breaking eye contact but still feeling his eyes on you. “Your accent sounds a lot like the neighbourhood I grew up in.”

“Gotham born and bred. The city called me home.”

At the entrance to the food court, Danika catches sight of your friends first, waves excitedly over at them, before heading off at a rush to the booth they’ve secured. She leaves you and Jason to trail behind in her wake.

“So you’re from Crime Alley then?” Jason takes the chance to ask you.

“Hmmm? Oh yeah, my family lived there until I was maybe 12 or 13. I moved back when I started at Gotham U because it was the only area I could afford without roommates.”

“I’m back in that neighbourhood too. D’you know that place—”

The two of you reach the table with your friends and then there’s no time for him to finish whatever he was planning to say.

“Everyone, this is Jason. Jason, this is Will, Rei, and Catalina.” As Danika introduces them, each person gives a nod or little wave. Will, as always, seems bored by everything going on around him that isn’t related to the book in his hand. Rei’s got one arm around Catalina where she’s curled into his side. He lifts his hand quickly in a sort of half wave, a genuine grin causing his cheeks to push his glasses up his face.

“Please, call me Lina,” Catalina says warmly. “Sit down, sit down, tell us all about yourself and why we haven’t seen your pretty face around here before.” If you didn’t know her any better, you’d say that Lina was flirting with him. Since you do know her, have since your Intro to Creative Writing in first year, you know that this is just what Lina’s like. Always a compliment for everyone ready on her tongue, unafraid to say a good thing no matter how it might appear. Jason, having only been introduced to her seconds before, did not know better. A tinge of red dusts the top of his cheekbones and he rubs awkwardly at the back of his neck.

Trying to ease the moment, you say, “Here, do you want to sit down first before the interrogation begins?” You gesture to one of the two open seats right next to Will, Danika having slipped into the empty spot beside Lina. She must have hurried over to say something to them, because this isn’t your usual seating configuration and it’s got you a bit wrong footed.

“No, no it’s fine. You go first. D’you need me to hold your bag or something?” He offers instead.

“I’ve got it. I’ll just tuck it under my legs so there’s enough room.” You slide into the booth, Jason close behind. It’s a bit cramped with the three of you on one bench. Jason’s pressed up along the length of your side, and you can feel Will’s knobby elbow digging into your rib. In such close quarters, you can’t help but notice just how big Jason is. Your head barely clears his shoulder and unseen below the table you can tell his knee extends far past yours.

“I was just telling these two that I’m a transfer student. Only a few more classes and then I graduate at the end of the year.”

“Any plans for the great beyond yet?” Rei asks, head cocked like a bird to rest on top of Lina’s head.

“Oh give him a break, the poor man hasn’t even had any lunch yet. Let us grab food before you continue the 20 questions, yeah?” Rei looks a little sheepish at your interruption and the reminder that the table in front of you and Jason is conspicuously bare.

“I packed too much for lunch today, first day jitters. We can split.” Jason interrupts.

“I— are you sure? It’s supposed to be yours.” You’ve known Jason less than three hours, exchanged maybe five sentences. It’s not the grandest gesture in the world, but it’s so nonchalantly thoughtful and offered freely. It sends warmth through you as he pulls out Tupperware, brushes your fingers as he hands over a fork.

“Don’t worry about it. And if you hate it, just pretend you don’t.” There’s absolutely no worry about that because it smells amazing. It’s some kind of pasta smothered in a creamy rosé sauce, chorizo and vegetables adding spice and colour. It’s the best thing you’ve eaten all month and he’s offering you half.

“You didn’t say that you were training to be a chef too.” You mumble around your second forkful. Skipping breakfast to catch the bus this morning had finally caught up with you and you’re starving. Turning as far in your seat as you can, you hunch over, left arm resting on the table to defend your excellent lunch from any thieves whose names did not start with J. Jason raises an eyebrow at your positively feral behaviour, satisfaction at your reaction filling his chest.

“That terrible, huh?”

“If you don’t give me the recipe eventually I might actually cry.” That startles a laugh out of him.

“Wouldn’t want that.”

“Why don’t you give him your number, and Jason can text it to you?” Danika interjects.

“Oh yes! Add him to the group chat too,” agrees Lina. Feeling rather cornered, you fish your phone out of your pocket and pass it to Jason for him to add his number one-handed. As he types, you give Danika a look that screams what are you doing. She shrugs, then bites into the foil-lined wrap she’d pulled out of her bag. Rei says something, trying to draw Will into the conversation, but is met with the usual non-committal hum. Giving up with a sigh, he starts talking to Jason, Lina and Danika chiming in every few questions or so. It’s an easy dynamic, far easier than you thought it would be when you first laid eyes on him that morning. Focused on your food, you don’t take notice of most of the conversation going on over your head. Your phone alarm starts to chime and vibrate. Fumbling with the fork and your phone, you manage to switch it off quickly as Jason looks at you inquiringly.

“Sorry, I’ve got another class across campus in Meade Hall starting in 15 minutes. I’ll have to run in five.”

“Is it ‘From Wollstonecraft to Frankenstein’ with Baird?” He asks between bites. “I’m taking that too.”

“Funny story, that. But we’ve really got to go soon if we’re going to make it on time.” He quickly downs the last bite, the two of you gathering your things in a rush to go.

“It was nice meeting you all. Thanks for the invitation Danika.” He throws the farewell over his shoulder, then turns to keep up with you as you speed walk your way out of the building. His longer legs eat up the distance you’d accidentally managed to put between the two of you. It’s completely unfair because while you have to keep up your awkward jog-walk, he settles into a loping walk that’s stupidly attractive, his hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket and bag slung over one broad shoulder.

Quickly, the two of you find your way to class. This time, instead of sitting alone, Jason’s right beside you sharing a table for two. His pen scratches over the pages of his notebook, handwriting spiky but neat. He takes care not to bump you with his elbow, aware of the space his body takes up. Class flies by quickly, Professor Baird an engaging speaker despite the long time block. It’s dark by the time the two of you leave the classroom, and it’ll get darker still as the days get shorter. You stretch your arms above your head, lean side to side in an attempt to work out the stiffness of your lower back.

“So what now?” Says Jason’s voice from just behind you. You turn to face him, aware of just how far you have to tilt your head back to look him in the eye.

“For me? Catching the bus home and throwing something together for dinner. What about you?”

“Something similar. You’ll be okay to get home though? Crime Alley after dark s’not the best place to be alone.”

“Yes, mom. I’ll be fine. The bus stop’s only a block from my building.” This is a conversation you’ve had with all of your friends, family, and even casual acquaintances and hearing it again has you rolling your eyes. But it was meant in kindness so you don’t take offence at the implication that you can’t look out for yourself. “But I wouldn’t mind it if we walked to the bus stop together.” Jason’s grin is so bright even in the darkening evening, lit by the campus street lamps.

The walk to the bus stop isn’t far from Meade Hall, but the two of you manage to stretch out the minutes. Feet get placed one in front of the other slowly, heels dragging behind. The night’s a wonderful cool Fall evening, not many people bothering to stay late on campus during the first week back. It’s only the two of you on the path cutting across the quad.

“What about you? Are you back in the Alley too?” you ask.

“Most of the time. Even if you leave, it doesn’t really leave you.” He responds.

“Jason Todd, are you secretly a romantic?” You tease.

“Incurably. Wouldn’t be able to survive Brit Lit otherwise.”

His grin is cheeky as he waves you off on to the bus. There’s something still lonely about him, face drained of colour by the bus stop streetlamp, a lone figure watercolour blending into the shadows at the edges. The bus pulls out with a rough jerk momentarily pulling your attention away. By the time you look back through the window he’s walking away, hands in his pocket and shoulders hunched over with that same unfairly attractive walk.

[nochukoo97]

p.s. i love you (1)

pairing: doctor!jungkook x doctor!oc

summary: you’ve been tasked to a young toddler as a patient with jungkook, the both of you grow fond of the child, loving and caring for her like she was your own. yet when things take a huge turn and takes everyone by surprise, jungkook is there to catch you.

warnings: angst, comfort, mentions of death, but not oc or jk 🙃

word count: 3k+

p.s. i love you masterlist!

snippet of the chapter:

Jungkook pushes the hair out of your face and wipes the tear rolling down your cheek.

Your stomach does a flip.

“I hate to see you so upset, wish I knew how to make you feel better, hmm?”

It’s busy in the hospital at the moment as many patients are being admitted, you find your schedule more and more packed with various patients. Meanwhile, your eyebags are getting heavier and darker, your meal times have been cut short, and you practically now live at the hospital from how long you stay here every day.

“___ I have a new patient for you,” Your head of department is briefing the team, assigning them specific patients to give specific care to, those in the ICU. You pray that you aren’t being assigned to another creepy pedophile, out of your history of patients, these weren’t the most ideal to work with.

“You’ll be working with Dr. Jeon, you two have to watch over Yeseo, she’s 4 years old with stage 3 cancer, and her parents are not available to be with her all the time as they are financially unstable and need to work constantly in order to keep up with the hospital bills and treatments.”

“I hope the both of you take the time to bond with the child and watch carefully over her, her parents have trusted us to ensure she’s happy and safe.”

You nod calmly, but your heart is going to rip out of your chest.

You’ve just been assigned to your long term crush who has a full sleeve of tattoos and rides a Harley Davidson.

You tell yourself to stay focused on what is important, it’s the toddler with a detrimental illness, not your stupid crush.

You see Jungkook, who’s sitting a few chairs away from you, turn to face you. But you look straight ahead because if you even dare to move your gaze towards him, you’d just lose all control.

When the briefing is over, you pack your stuff up to rush to your desk, but an arm grabs you to halt you in your steps as you whip around.

Jeon Jungkook.

Shit.

“___ I’m aware we’re scheduled for 3pm later to visit Yeseo, but I have a clashing appointment with my new patient so I’ll be a little late, I apologise in advance,”

He has an apologetic smile on his face that makes you want to forgive him for anything, it makes you want to tell him that he can not show up at all and you would still forgive him.

___ you’re at work. Focus.

You’re really trying your best to ignore the fact that you have a massive fucking crush on him, trying to stay professional. But it’s hard.

————————————————————————

“Hi Yeseo, I’m ___ and I’ll be taking care of you with another nice doctor okay?” You use your baby voice that normally works when introducing yourself to young children, but it seems like she’s a little different.

She’s timid as she hides under the blanket, only her eyes popping out to stare at you.

You watch as her hands clutch onto the blanket tightly.

Poor thing, she must be tired and overwhelmed with the amount of therapy and treatment she has to go through, without her parents around.

“Do you like puppies?”

She nods softly, eyes lighting up at the question but still hiding under the comfort of her blanket.

“Well, Dr Jeon has a puppy and maybe I can get him to show you the very very cute puppy later okay?” You give her a big smile, trying your hardest to crack through her shell.

“Did I hear my name?”

Geez. Your heart drops as the familiar deep voice rings from the door of the room.

Jungkook comes in with his warm smile and you watch as his lips curve upwards, you want to kiss-

You seriously need to stop and control yourself.

“Puppy?” There’s a small delicate voice that comes from the girl hiding further under the blanket, probably from having a new face enter into the room.

“Ahh, did my partner tell you about my puppy? Wanna take a look?” Jungkook pulls the other chair towards the bed next to you as he pulls out his phone.

You sincerely hope he cannot hear your heart thudding in your chest from the way he said “my partner”.

But you remind yourself that he meant it as work colleagues.

You watch in endearment as Jungkook shows Yeseo short clips of his dog, Bam, which he had once brought to the hospital to show another young child who loved dogs.

You and Jungkook finish off the day with checking her vitals and preparing her for her treatment tomorrow, and when you close the door to the room, you sigh in satisfaction. Finally, after almost a ten hour shift, you get to relax.

“Thanks for today,” Jungkook snaps you out of your daze.

“Hmm? For what?” You frown, confused.

“Being such a good partner, I’m glad we got paired up together, you work so well with young kids it’s admirable, and I think we had a good start with her today thanks to you,”

He’s making you go insane at this point, you just hope he cannot see your ears turning a bright shade of red.

“You’re surprisingly good with them too, I think Yeseo will like you more because you have Bam,” You tease him, nudging his shoulder.

It’s really muscular.

“We’ll see about that,” He chuckles at your words.

————————————————————————

You rub at your temples and sigh, the elderly patient who was just admitted into the ICU for having high blood pressure and almost going into a heart attack is not cooperating.

She had been refusing to accept treatment from anyone, no matter how much convincing you and your doctors had tried.

“I don’t need this,” She's grumbling as her forehead wrinkles from frowning, “I am not sick and I don’t need treatment,”

“But Miss, You are in critical condition and I really advice you take the treatments-“

She cuts you off again, stubbornly rejecting you for the millionth time.

“Hey, I’m gonna take a breather outside,” You inform the other nurse in the room as she gives you a nod and a sympathetic smile.

Being a doctor wasn’t an easy job, but it was really rewarding seeing patients improve in their conditions and happily get discharged. Even though there were definitely some cases that made your head hurt, like today, you often tried to tell yourself not to give up.

It’s really hard when your head was throbbing and you were surviving on two hours of sleep. To add onto that you were on a schedule that ended at 10pm tonight.

You don’t notice Jungkook standing a distance away, distracted from the conversation he was having with one of the nurses. He watches your huffing and tired state, gaze softening as he calls Hoseok from his desk.

“Hey, Dr Jeon called me to take over you, why don’t you go and take a break before your next appointment, I think I’ll take over from here,”

Hoseok takes you by surprise as he approaches you, taking the clipboard of the old lady’s documents from your hand and opening the door.

“Thanks,” You called out before the door closed.

You look around to find how on earth Jungkook knew what you were doing, meeting his soft gaze as he mouths, “Take a break,”

You smile at him, mouthing back a “thank you” as you walk back to your office

————————————————————————

You’re back in the hospital two weeks after Yeseo had been admitted into the ICU, she had been in and out, her conditions were not very stable, yet she did show some signs of improving.

“Yeseo, I really need you to try and eat this okay? It’s really yummy and it’ll make you strong!”

You’re trying your best to persuade the 4 year old to eat some food. She had been refusing to be fed for the past 24hours and you’re desperate to get something in the toddler’s stomach.

She crosses her arms and pouts, spitting out a cute but fiesty “No,”

Jungkook, who’s sitting on the chair next to you, takes the spoon of porridge from you as he inches closer to the pouting toddler,

“Here comes the airplane~”

You almost sneer at the way his voice raises two octaves and how the spoon in his hands swerve around Yeseo’s face.

“Open wide!” The spoon in Jungkook’s hand nears her mouth, but she seals her mouth shut as he sighs at the failed attempt.

You let Jungkook figure out another way to convince the poor toddler to eat, or else it’s the IV drip that’s next.

“Yeseo, if we cannot feed you this food, do you know what Doctor Jeon will have to do?” He puts down the spoon and questions her.

The toddler shakes her head as she peers curiously, waiting for the answer.

“We will have to put another tube in you! Remember how you didn’t like the other tubes when we did your treatment?“

Jungkook tries to explain the IV drip to the four year old toddler in the simplest way for her to understand

But his tactic seems to work almost too well when Yeseo starts to tear up, her lips wobbling as she shakes her head.

“Don’t want! No tube!” She wails, the tears beginning to stroll down her cheeks.

“Okay, okay, we won’t put the tube if you help us to eat some of this yummy porridge okay?” You tell her, carrying her into your lap, as the toddler burying her face into your chest and sniffs.

“No tube?” Yeseo asks, looking at Jungkook for confirmation.

“Yes, no tube I promise, so now be a good girl and eat this for us okay?” Jungkook confirms.

————————————————————————

After feeding Yeseo, Jungkook walks over to check on her results from the recent tests she had undergone.

“Seems like she’s doing a little better,” Jungkook informs you

You smile at that, “That’s amazing,”

“Sleepy,” The toddler on your lap yawns, clinging onto your shirt to get your attention.

You check the time, realising it’s a little past her usual naptime.

“Okay, let’s go to sleep okay? Then we’ll be back tomorrow to play with you again!” Jungkook takes her from your lap, tucking her into the sheets.

She nods, eyes half shut as she waves at the both of you, an adorable habit she developed whenever she was going to fall asleep.

You smile at her actions, “And your mummy and daddy will be here to see you when you wake up, so make sure you sleep well now!”

She’s a little more excited to sleep as she forcefully shuts her eyes, making the both of you laugh.

————————————————————————

The last thing you expected was for you to walk into the office today, ready for work with a good eight hours of sleep, only to walk into a room that was filled with a solemn atmosphere.

Your head of department nodded for you to take a seat, you glanced over to Jungkook and he had this look on his face telling you something wasn't well.

“What happened? Is it Yeseo?” You’re panicking, thinking she’s back in the ICU after being out of it for a few days.

“Don’t tell me her cancer has progressed,” Your voice wobbles a little, afraid that after her condition seemed to be improving, there was a chance it could have slipped again.

“Yeseo’s parents are here ___, they wanted to tell you and the rest of the doctors something,”

That’s not a good sign.

Yeseo’s vitals and conditions had been going up and down recently, but with your analysis from you and Jungkook’s visit, she had been doing a little better.

You didn’t want to even think about what was about to happen next.

“I just want to thank you all, specifically Dr Jeon and ____ for taking such good care of Yeseo, as well as the other doctors who often came in to check up on her,” Her father speaks up

You gulp

“We are extremely grateful for the love and care you brought to her, and whenever we visit her, she always mentioned how you all showered her with so much love,” Her mum continues

A silent tear rolls down your cheek.

You know what’s about to happen.

“Unfortunately, Yeseo left us this morning, but when we came over last night to visit her, we talked to her,“

“She somehow seemed to know her time was up soon-”

Her mum begins to burst into tears before she can complete her sentence.

You do the same.

You run up to her mum, embracing her tightly.

“I��m so so so sorry,” You sob as you hug her mum, tears roll down your cheeks as you gasp for air, shocked from the news that took you aback the moment you walked into the room.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t save her, I wish I could have done more to help, I’m terribly sorry,” You’re apologising over and over again,

Her mum shakes her head as she lovingly wipes the tears from your face, even though more begins to pour down.

Jungkook’s eyes turn red from the amount of heavy emotion in the room, watching as you cry in her mum’s embrace.

“It isn’t your fault at all dear, in fact, I couldn’t thank you enough for being there for her in her last moments,” Her mum tears with a smile on her face,

With more hugs and comforting, her parents leave teary-eyed, but with a smile, thanking everyone in the unit for all their help.

Jungkook wants to approach you to comfort you while you still cry as you walk out of the room.

But he has to control his own tears from spilling out.

He doesn’t make it in time to approach you before you hide in the comfort of your office.

————————————————————————

You haven’t been this affected by a death ever since your first dog had passed away.

You can’t seem to stop the tears flowing as you somehow feel regret.

Even though you know that whenever you serve a patient, there is never a 100% chance that they make it out, and it was something all the doctors had to train themselves mentally for. Most of the time you manage to comfort yourself and others, acknowledging how everyone did their best to help, and that was all that matters, no matter the outcome.

But with how close you grew with Yeseo and the determination you felt to make her better, the piece of news today overwhelmed your feelings.

It felt as if you had lost a child, a loved one who you cared for so much and nurtured.

It hurt you so bad to suddenly have her presence gone, to have to accept you would no longer have any more appointments with her.

There’s a knock on your office door that interrupts your crying.

“___?”

It’s Jungkook. You recognise his voice immediately.

“I’m coming in okay?”

You hurriedly wipe your tears, catching your breath as you pretend to look down at the documents on your table.

At the corner of your eye, you see Jungkook pull the chair across your desk next to you, head lowering slightly to attempt to look at you.

“How are you processing the information?” He questions, his voice soft yet filled with hesitation.

You shrug, not trusting your voice to answer the man.

“I know it’s hard, I’ve seen you grow so much with her and I have too, it’s sad but it’s a reality that we have as doctors, you never know who you can save and who you can’t”

Another tear rolls down your cheek

Jungkook pushes a hair out of your face and wipes the tear rolling down.

Your stomach does a flip.

“I hate to see you so upset, wish I knew how to make you feel better, hmm?”

His words take you by surprise, but you suppress your reaction to that.

“Don’t say it like that, you’re messing with me,” You whisper, peering up at him through your red bloodshot eyes.

He raises an eyebrow at you, “How am I messing with you baby?”

You stiffen at the pet name.

Jungkook’s quiet for a second, he silently cusses at himself for letting it slip.

“Come here,” He calls you.

You look up to him as he has his arms open, signalling for you to come closer to him.

You’re reluctant to let yourself do so, your heart thumping in your chest from the intimacy he’s about to make you experience.

He’s playing around with your feelings too much.

“Come on, I don’t bite,” Jungkook teases you, as you laugh, playfully smacking his arm, already feeling better with his presence.

You’re grateful for Jungkook’s muscular arms bringing you into a hug.

It makes you feel a little better knowing he’s here to comfort you.

[maximoffcarter]

The story of us.

Pairings: Casey Novak x Alex Cabot.

Summary: Alexandra Cabot was a nine year old that loved books, privacy and nature; the best way she could spend her time alone, was at the park reading a book. Casey Novak was a seven year old that enjoyed softball, playing around and nature; the best way she could spend her time, was at the park playing softball. Once they crossed paths, it was the beginning of their story, a kids love.

A/n: This was requested by bestie @saurgaeee, everything started with a silly cute conversation about Alex and Casey being kids and meeting, and then the rest just came up as we talked about it and we thought it would be cute to write a fic about it, so this is specially dedicated to my bestie that keeps giving me ideas and keeps me writing hehe. I hope you like this, at first I doubted so much about posting this, but I thought it turned out cute. Keep the requests coming you guys! Enjoy and leave your comments, reblogs, hearts, whatever you'd like, will be very much appreciated🫶🏻

*not my gif*

Age 7/Age 9.

It was summer vacation, just a week away from starting school again, and Alexandra Cabot was in her 12th book, just about to finish it. Yes, it was probably unusual for a nine year old to want to read that much and spend her whole summer reading books that not even a fifteen year old would want to read, but that was Alex’s favorite hobby. She could get lost in fantasy land, or learn something new, there was no in between, though she had to admit that her favorite ones were those cheesy fantasy books where the girl always ended up with the handsome guy; though she sometimes questioned herself why it always had to be the girl falling and had to be with a guy, not exactly a question that a nine year has in mind, but it was in Alex’s.

People could say that Alex was the loner of the school, not because of how Alex acted, but mostly because Alex didn’t feel comfortable acting like other kids did, they were messy, they were too childish for her liking, and they wanted nothing more than to play. Of course, she enjoyed playing with her dolls, she enjoyed playing tea party, she enjoyed basic kid things, but being an only child and in a house full of diplomatic people, it was hard to want to be childish.

After returning from her house in the Hamptons, she had asked for a full day of reading in the  outside world; meaning the park. She had felt like she had spent too much time surrounded by her parents, so she decided to have a small break and be able to enjoy the park and the fresh air of the summer. Not that she wasn’t excited about school, but she enjoyed quiet summer days where she could enjoy the fresh air and the sun hitting her skin while she read a book. She tried to always be in the farthest tree of the park, knowing that people wouldn’t be around, and she’d be able to peacefully read her book, just enjoy some alone time. But it seemed too good to be truth. Alex had been lost in the words of her book that she hadn’t noticed a redhead just a few feet away from her, that wasn’t until she felt something hitting her arm that made her lose her balance and fall to the side, making her whine at the impact.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry!”

Alex whined as she sat back and leaned over the tree, looking at her left side and noticing a bruise already showing up. “It’s fine.” She whispered softly.

“No, it’s not! I should be careful, dang it. Are you okay?” The redhead knelt beside Alex and placed her bat on the grass.

Alex looked up and frowned slightly, looking at the redhead girl in front of her, her heart skipping a beat. The first thing she noticed was the beautiful red hair, long and messy, a cap a bit too big but the girl didn’t seem to care. Then she noticed the green eyes, people could confuse them and think they were blue or a bit darker, but those were definitely green. And then she noticed the worry on the girls face, she noticed the girls hand trying to figure out if she should touch Alex or not.

Alex shook her head and chuckled. “Guess you’re good at baseball.” As she rubbed her arm.

“Softball, actually.” The redhead chuckled as she sat down with Alex. “I really am sorry. My mom told me to be careful and I swore I will.”

“Would.”

The redhead frowned. “What?”

“Would. That you would be careful.” Alex smiled. “Orthography.”

“Oh! Yes. Sorry. Mom says I’m still learning how to talk.” The redhead chuckled as she looked at Alex.

Alex smiled softly as she noticed her dimples, she had never seen someone with dimples, and it was cute. “I’m a bit more advanced than I should anyway. I’m only nine, but I have been told that I seem older.”

The redhead shrugged. “Looks like it. You sound like you’re a big girl.” She smiled. “But you seem nice. I’m 7, and I’m Casey.” She extended her hand for Alex to take.

Alex looked down at her hand and noticed some dirt on in and also some cuts, probably from the bat. She sighed and took her hand, preferring to be polite. “I’m Alexandra, but you can call me Alex.”

Casey nodded. “Nice to meet you, Alex.” She smiled as she let go of her hand. “Why you reading when you could be playin?”

“I don’t know. I enjoy it. I like reading.”

“My mom wished I read more. But I prefer to play.”

Alex shrugged. “Not weird for your age.”

“A bit weird for yours.” Casey chuckled. “I’m sorry about the bruise.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’ll go away.” Alex smiled.

“Here.” Casey looked into her pocket and got a lollipop out, handing it to Alex. “I get these whenever I go to the doctor, maybe it’s gonna make you feel better.” She smiled.

Alex looked at it and took it, smiling softly and looking back at Casey. “Thank you, Casey.”

Casey nodded as she smiled. “You welcome. Can I sit with you?”

********************

“C’mon, Alex! We just need more kids to play.”

Alex rolled her eyes again as she looked at the kids. “I said I didn’t want to play.”

“You never want to!”

“Then you already know the answer, why are you still asking?”

The boy sighed. “Why you never want to play with us?”

“I just don’t like to play tag. And you’re noisy.”

“Oh, but you get alone with Casey.” One of the girls said as she shrugged, looking at Alex.

Alex stared at her. “I actually like her, she’s nice.” She looked back at her book as she sighed. “Besides, you won’t let me finish my book, and I’m so close to-“

“Lex! We’re gonna play tag! Do you wanna play with us?” Casey appeared all of a sudden and smiled as she stood in front of Alex.

Alex stared at her for a moment, her eyes then looking at the rest of the kids who were waiting for an answer. She sighed softly as she looked back at Casey. “I guess a game won’t hurt.”

Casey jumped and looked at the kids. “Let’s start then! Tag!” She touched one of the girls and started running away.

Alex placed her book on the table and then looked back at the kids. “You better not hurt Casey.”

The kids looked at each other before they started to run. Ever since Alex met Casey, they had become pretty close, something that was a bit odd for Alex since she really didn’t have any friends, but after meeting Casey, she felt attached to her in a way she had never felt about anyone. She came to find that Casey was an extrovert while Alex was definitely an introvert, but she knew that opposites were attracted to each other, so it made sense that Casey and Alex fell into a quick friendship even if they were the whole opposite from each other. They had met at the park the whole week and then came to find out that they were in the same school, just different grades, but still had the chance to see each other at lunch -when Casey was not running around with the rest of the kids-.

She definitely didn’t like tag, not like she didn’t run or anything, because she liked to run, she liked to exercise but she didn’t really like to play any sports, but if Casey wanted to play, who was she to say no? She mostly moved to the same places, not having to run much since whenever she was touched, she quickly found a kid to tag next and that’s how it went on for a while, until Casey noticed that no one was tagging her, frowning slightly as she stood beside Alex.

“Do I have the plague or something?”

Alex turned to look at her. “What do you mean?”

“No one has tagged me. I know I can be fast but like…I’m right here?” Casey raised her brow as she looked at Alex.

Alex sighed as she looked at the kids who were fast to give them both attention as they felt Alex staring. “You’re seriously not gonna tag us?”

One of the kids looked at the rest and then back at Alex. “But- you said…”

“Follow the rules, kids! It’s tag!”

Casey laughed as she looked at Alex and then at the rest of the kids. “You guys are lame. C’mon, Ali, let’s go get some fruit before the bell rings.”

Alex looked at them and shook her head. “You wanted to play and don’t even know the rules? Like she said, you’re lame.” She went for her book and then followed Casey.

*********************

Age 8/Age 10.

Alex was leaning back on a tree with a book on her hands while Casey was practicing, another sunny and hot day of summer. Alex looked up from her book and smiled softly as she saw Casey putting the ball back in the stick she had made to hold her ball; Alex had made fun of her cause Casey had told her that she broke her last set and she was saving to buy one, so she had to get creative and grab some sticks and build something steady to be able to hold her ball as she practiced. After a little over a year of getting to know each other, they had made it a routine to meet at the park and just spend time with each other, while Alex read, and Casey practiced.

It was still fascinating to Alex how she had come to have such a good and nice friendship with someone like Casey, the age didn’t matter much, but the fact that Casey actually wanted to hang out with her, perfectly knowing the kind of kid that Alex was. She thought Casey would want to find kids like her that would want to practice with her, play in the dirt, do any other activity than reading, but Casey seemed to enjoy Alex’s company, even if she was just sitting there reading and watching her practice. Casey yelled as she finally accomplished her goal, jumping and celebrating.

“You go, Ali Cat!” Alex chuckled as she clapped.

Casey frowned, tilting her head as she walked to Alex. “Ali Cat?” She chuckled. “That’s silly, I’m not a cat, Al.”

Alex chuckled. “Well, you are like a cat, Casey. Very fierce.”

Casey rolled her eyes as she sat down beside Alex. “I don’t have any whiskers or paws, y’know?” She smiled.

Alex shrugged. “Still think you’re a cat.”

“Okay…if I’m gonna be an animal, then you’ll be one too.” Casey grinned.

Alex frowned as she grinned. “Oh, yeah? What kind of animal am I?”

Casey chuckled softly. “A bear!”

“A bear?! Do I look like a bear to you?” Alex growled like a bear then, making Casey hysterically laugh, Alex joining right after, a faint blush on her cheeks.

“You’ll be Ali Bear.” Casey laughed as she looked at Alex.

“Still funny?”

Casey shook her head. “The fact that we’re both Ali’s is kinda funny. You’re the only one that I’ll ever call me Ali or Ali Cat.”

Alex nodded. “And you’ll be the only one allowed to call me Ali Bear.”

“Sounds like a deal.” Casey bit her lip as she smiled, leaning on the tree, sitting close to Alex.

********************

Age 11/Age 13.

“Case, I’m sure you’ll make it in the team. You’ve literally been playing since I know you, and it’s been quiet some years.” Alex chuckled as they got to their spot and sat down.

Casey sighed as she placed her bag down and then sat down beside Alex. “I know, just…”I guess I’m nervous.”

Alex chuckled. “You’re overthinking it.” She smiled. “You did great, Ali Cat.” She grinned.

Casey tilted her head as she smiled. “It’s cause you were there, Ali Bear.” She chuckled.

Alex smiled softly as she looked down at her book. “You know I’ll always be your #1 fan.” She looked back at Casey with a faint blush on her cheeks.

Casey nodded as she bit her lip. “I’ll hold you to that.” She smiled. “Oh! By the way.” She opened her bag and looked inside it, getting a book out and then handing it to Alex. “I noticed the other day that you were looking at this book at the store and I remember my mom bought it for me a few weeks ago but…it’s not really my thing. So I wanted you to have it.”

Alex stared at it for a moment before grabbing it. She smiled softly and looked up at Casey, who was staring at her with that adorable smile she so loved. “Case…this is so sweet of you.”

“I just thought you’d enjoy it more than I would. It’s your thing after all.” Casey smiled softly. “And I’ll be waiting to listen to the end of it. I’d love to hear it from you other than reading it.”

Alex nodded softly as she smiled. “I’ll definitely tell you about it.” She chuckled. “Thanks, Casey.”

“You’re very welcome.” Casey smiled before she started to talk about something else.

That was the moment when Alex started to look back to all these years since she had met Casey and before that. She had always considered herself to be the loner kid who really didn’t fit in any group or fit with any other kid, but it turned out that fate had chose to put Casey in her life in the most unexpected way, and it had been her decision to help grow the friendship that they now had. She couldn’t imagine having another friend, she thought that there couldn’t be anyone better than Casey. And that’s when it hit her; it wasn’t only a friends love she felt for Casey, it was more. It was what she had read in all those fantasy books, the love they described as unique and wonderful, something unexpected and beautiful, a love that not anyone could feel. She thought it was just a fantasy, something to catch the readers attention, but now she was coming to te conclusion that she was starting to experience it. It was silly, because she was only thirteen years old and anyone would tell her that it was just a kids love, and maybe it was, but it was everything for her.

It was now crystal clear why she acted the way she did, always blushing around Casey, always trying to look over her -even if Casey was basically her same height, maybe a little taller, and she was braver than Alex was-, always the need to see Casey smile or hear her laugh, being able to spend every day with her even if it was just for a moment. Alex had a cush. She had a crush on her best friend. She had a crush on Casey Allison Novak. Was that even right? She didn’t know. Her parents had never said anything about it, and they knew Casey. The question she had in her mind years ago had made its appearance again. Why in the books they always had the girl falling for the handsome boy and not for the best friend or someone else? She knew people weren’t too open about it, she had heard a bit, but it had never crossed her mind that she could be that person, but now everything made sense.

After the new discovery, Alex tried to hide it as best as she could, she had tried to act as she always did and just keep the friendship going. She went to every practice Casey had after getting in the team, she waited for her while she read the book that Casey had given her, every now and then looking up at Casey, and at time catching Casey staring back at her. She went to every single game that Casey had, never missing one, and it had become their tradition to go for milkshakes after them. But just like every perfect story in the books, there had to be some angst to it. Casey had showed up at her house one time and told Alex the terrible news that she would be moving, and she was not sure she was coming back. It clearly broke Alex’s heart, but she made it seem like things would be okay and that they’d see each other again at some point, maybe call each other every now and then, and they’d find each other soon. It worked for the first year, until it didn’t anymore.

********************

Age 27/Age 29.

It was insane that sixteen years had passed since she had last seen Casey, it haunted Alex every single day how she was stolen from her life, and she never had a chance to see her again. Last she had heard was that Casey still played softball, and that she’d be going to college somewhere in New York, but she was not sure yet what she wanted to do, after that, in her last year of high school, they just lost contact and never spoke again. The calls had worked for a while, Alex had even been willing to visit Casey, but school and extra classes wouldn’t let her, just like Casey being involved in softball barely gave her any time to socialize or do anything else in her life. Alex thought maybe that’s why they lost contact, their lives had become so busy, it wasn’t like they were kids anymore, they had responsibilities and sometimes life worked that way, people come and go just like that, and sometimes there is nothing else they could do about it. As unfair as it sounded, Alex was a realistic person, and she knew better than to pretend that she could’ve avoided what happened between them. And even if she never saw Casey again, that crush had never vanished, she thought every single day about Casey that it was painful. But they were just kids, how could she go to Casey and tell her that she had a crush on her when Casey was focused on softball and she was 2 years younger than Alex, it felt so wrong, but she couldn’t have helped it.

She tried to move on the best she could, she tried to focus on her career, she tried to focus on her future, because the more she looked into the past and what could’ve been if things were different, the more she felt sad and it drained her at some point, it haunted her dreams, it haunted her mind whenever she got nothing better to do and that’s why she preferred to drown in work over letting her mind go to thoughts that would not help her. Even with that heartbreak, she was thankful that she got to have Casey in her life, even if it felt like it had been for a short time, she was thankful and proud to say that after thinking her childhood was nothing more than books, Casey made it bright and fun, and she’d always be thankful for that.

Now, working at SVU, between the paperwork, motions, arraignments, and trials, she had more than enough to keep herself busy. She had also become close with the squad, spending part of her time in her office, in court or in the squad room, helping Alex to fill that hole in her life. She had been working on a rape with the squad and they had gone through all evidence and possible suspects that they had, but it seemed like nothing would be able to bring these little girls the justice they deserved, and that broke their hearts. Growing up, Alex tried to be this ‘cold’ persona to try and keep her emotions in, even if sometimes she failed, she knew better than to break this persona in front of people. She had chosen this career to bring justice and to help those who felt helpless, so if she had to be a serious and determined person in everyone’s eyes, she was in for it.

“The thought of them losing their childhood for this asshole, and we can’t connect him to anything.” Elliot shook his head as he sighed.

“There’s still hope that they can at least work through it and enjoy their childhood but…it’s a work in progress.” Huang shrugged. “What they went through…it’s not something they’ll easily forget.”

“Every kid deserves to have a happy and nice childhood. It’s a shame.” Munch looked back at them as he sat in his chair.

“You had a nice one, Munch?” Fin grinned as he looked at his partner.

“I did. Can recall every bad thing I did.” Munch grinned.

“Can only imagine that.” Olivia laughed and then looked at Alex. “How about you, counselor? Was your childhood okay?”

“I can only imagine Cabot being a serious kid, hiding from everyone with a pile of books by her side. I’d like for you to tell me I’m wrong.” Elliot raised his brow as he looked back at Alex.

Alex offered a faint smile as she looked at them. “It was a bundle of light and joy.” She grabbed her briefcase and then made her way out, leaving everyone with a confused look on their faces, everyone staring at each other.

********************

Alex felt like she was back to being nine years old when the squad asked her to go with them to a softball game and support Elliot. It had been years since she had stepped a food on a softball field, she had no reason to go to and it brough back many memories that she really didn’t want to be reminded of it would hurt too much. But, she had promised that she’d try to go out with the squad more often and that she’d do better to socialize and be a more open person, so she pushed herself out of her bed, dressed up in comfortable clothes and went ahead to meet the squad. She knew she’d get bored at some point, so she took a book with her just in case; she carried one  special book either in her briefcase or in her purse everywhere she went, that book that she hasn’t finished in years, and she couldn’t bring herself to do so. She didn’t have that person to tell the end of the book after all.

She sat on the stands beside Olivia, smiling slightly as she noticed everyone being so excited to support Elliot, they even had shirts with his name on them, which Alex had refused to use. Once the game started, she once again prepared herself mentally to spend the next hour or so to see nothing but sweaty people batting and running around. She didn’t tell them that she understood the game a bit, spending a lot of time with Casey had helped her to understand the game enough to know when she was either winning or losing, that with Casey in the team, they always won. For a moment, she had decided to grab the other book she had brought to keep herself a distracted and then be able to go back to the game, but in that same moment, her eyes suddenly fell on a redhead, a woman. She frowned and stared with intent at the woman, there were about 3 or 4 women in each team, but that was not any woman, she recognized her, she knew her eyes weren’t lying to her; that was Casey Novak.

Her heart sank for a moment as she had a hard moment to catch her breath. It was impossible. It couldn’t be her. But she would recognize those eyes, that hair, those cute and adorable dimples of her anywhere she went, even if she hasn’t seen Casey in years, she could never be wrong about recognizing someone, and more now that it was Casey. Her Casey. Suddenly the game became interesting as she saw that Casey was going to bat next, smiling a bit as it brought her back to those years when she’d be first on the stands, and she’d be cheering for Casey. Casey had joked so many times calling Alex her cheerleader, and even if Alex had hated it so much, she couldn’t help but agree, she’d always be her number #1 fan. She completely forgot that she was with the squad and people she knew were around her, her eyes never looking away from Casey. Next thing she knew, Casey had made a homerun, and she was running, making Alex stand from her place and clap louder than anyone around her.

“Go, Ali Cat!” Alex screamed before her mind proceeded with her words, not noticing at first but then figured out what she had said. Her heart stopped as she looked back at the squad who were now staring at her.

Alex tried to say something, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to make up words to justify what had just left her mouth, but nothing came out, and now she was not only speechless, but her face felt as warm as the sun, and there was no way she could escape from this. So, the only thing she could do was say that she had to run away, not giving them time to say anything to her or joke or laugh at what she had said, soon enough, she vanished from the place.

Casey was running for her life as she heard screams and clapping, but as she got to the last base, she almost tripped as she heard the unfamiliar yet so familiar name that she had not heard in years. She stopped in her tracks as she looked at the stands and tried to find whoever had screamed that name, almost thinking that she was delusional and that maybe she was dehydrated or something. But just as her team ran to her to celebrate the win, her eyes landed on a blonde that seemed to be leaving in a hurry, not giving Casey any chance to take a good look at her to see who she was. She smiled at her team and tried to focus on what was happening, but she was stuck in thought. It couldn’t be, could it? It’s been sixteen years. She was probably just tired.

********************

“You’re kidding me.” Alex whispered softly as the elevator doors opened and just a few feet away from her, there she was; Casey.

It had been around 2 weeks since the softball game accident, the squad knew better than to mention what had happened back there, but now their curiosity to know more about Alex had grown and they were paying more attention to Alex than before. They knew that Alex was a private person, and she didn’t talk much about her private life, just like any of them, but after what they had seen that day, that bright smile on Alex and the excitement which had taken over her entirely, something…no…someone had brought Alex to act that way, and they wanted to know who.

And now, Alex had the reason why right in front of her, just a few feet away. She would be lying if she said that she didn’t see Casey in the law field, Casey was great with arguing and didn’t settle for just any agreement, and Alex knew because they had been stuck in many ‘arguments’ and took their time to settle for a decision that benefited the both of them. Alex always thought it was cute because she always thought that because she was older, Casey would listen to her, but she was wrong, and she’d literally do anything for her. So, seeing her here, in the same building as she was, dressed in a pretty black suit with high heels and her beautiful red hair, it was both surprising but not weird at all. It now made sense why she had been playing with the attorneys in the softball game.

Would she recognize her? She didn’t think she would. It’s been so long, they completely lost contact and maybe Casey had forgotten about her, maybe she didn’t even remember who she was. So she couldn’t just come up to her and say hi, not after what had happened in the game, she didn’t think she had heard her or maybe she did, but even then, she wouldn’t recognize her. She stopped the doors of the elevator as they started to close, not even noticing that she had stood there just staring at Casey, hopefully no one noticed. She cleared her throat and looked down at the floor as she walked to her office, trying not to get noticed.

Later in her office, she had tried to focus on her paperwork, but her mind couldn’t stop thinking about Casey and her being in the same building as she was. Was she supposed to just pretend that nothing happened and that she was not there? That she didn’t know her? I mean, she could try, definitely, but she knew she would fail. Her anxiety just wouldn’t forget it. But go to her and say hi? She couldn’t do that. She didn’t want to be a creep, she didn’t want to make a fool out of herself. She had already done that once and she regretted it so much. She looked at her briefcase and sighed softly as she opened it and got the book that Casey had given her years ago. She smiled as she looked down at it, her fingers tracing the wrinkles that the cover now had. Even though she had taken good care of it, she took it everywhere with her, unfinished, and being in her briefcase or her bag, caused the book to have its imperfections now, but still meant everything to Alex. She didn’t notice that her boss was standing on her doorframe, just staring at her, and wondering what was going on in Alex’s mind.

“Alex?” Elizabeth asked as she raised her brow.

Alex looked up at Elizabeth and offered a shy smile. “Hi. Is everything okay?”

Elizabeth nodded and walked inside the office. “Yes. Just came to say hi.”

Alex raised her brow as she grinned. “You never just come to say hi. What did I do?”

“Why do you think you did something? Did you?” Elizabeth smirked.

“I don’t think so, not yet.” Alex placed the book in front of her and smiled as she leaned back in her chair.

“Those detectives are definitely changing your mind, they’ll drag you down with them.” Elizabeth smiled.

Alex chuckled as she shook her head. “They’re not. And if anything, I’m willing to. They have a good heart.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I know you’ve been loads of work, not only from SVU cases, so…Branch and I decided to bring a new recruit to help you out.”

Alex frowned as she looked at Elizabeth. “I don’t…I don’t need any help, Liz. I got this.”

“I know. Trust me. But I don’t want you to be drowning here, Alex. You also need a life outside of the office and the courtroom. Don’t worry. She’s good. I know her and I gotta admit that she’s almost on your level. Branch and I believe that she can definitely work with you and the squad.”

“You bet your money on her?” Alex grinned.

“I could.” Elizabeth smirked. “I’ll send her your way later. She’s with Branch right now.” Elizabeth walked to the door but was stopped by Alex.

“What’s her name?”

Elizabeth looked back at Alex. “Casey Novak.” She then looked at Alex’s desk and smiled. “I read that book years ago. So cliché but cute.”

Alex looked down at the book and smiled. “I uh…haven’t finished it.” She looked back at Elizabeth.

“You should.” Elizabeth smiled before she left the office.

Alex felt like her mind had started spinning around at the name, deep inside she knew it could be Casey, but part of wished that she would name someone else, that it wouldn’t be her. What was she supposed to do now? Was she going to pretend that she didn’t know her? Was she going to tell Casey who she was? Would she even remember her? The question spiraled on her mind once again, playing various scenarios in her mind as she tried to focus back on her paperwork, putting back the book inside her briefcase. This would definitely be torture; the what ifs, the scenarios playing in her mind, the millions of ways that this could play out. Anything could happen, but she couldn’t possibly deal with that ‘anything’.

Before she knew it, an hour or so had passed, she had gotten a call from Liv, telling her that some redhead had showed up at their scene and asked Alex why she couldn’t take the case. Alex didn’t know how Casey was as an attorney, but the fact she went to the scene with them made a lot of sense. Alex just explained to Olivia that if they needed anything, she’d be there for them, but to trust Casey in what she was doing, and things would be okay. After that, her anxiety was back taking over her body as she tried to focus back on work, but once again, it was interrupted by a knock on the door, and that is when, once again, Alex’s heart stopped just like the very first time she laid eyes on Casey.

“Hi. Liz told me to stop by your office.” Casey smiled softly. “Can I come in?”

Alex nodded as she cleared her throat. “Y-Yeah! Come on in.” She offered a small smile as Casey walked in and sat down. What was supposed to happen now?

“I heard you’re the ADA of SVU. Sorry that you gotta work with me now.” Casey chuckled softly.

Alex shook her head as she huffed a chuckle. “According to Liz, she doesn’t want me to drown in work and you’re here to save me from it.” She smiled as she looked at Casey. “Heard you already made yourself present with the detectives.”

Casey scoffed as she nodded. “I don’t think they like me much.”

Alex shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Case. They just need to get used to you. I know they had to get used to me.”

Casey frowned at the mention of her name, even if some people had called her Case before, it felt different coming from the blonde in front of her. And then it hit her. This was the blonde that she saw in the game. She was not delusional, this had been the girl that yelled that nickname that she has not heard for the last sixteen years. And everything made sense now. She looked so mature, even more than she did when they were young, and now she was wearing glasses, which fit her so perfectly and made her features stand out. Her hair was shorter, it was as beautiful as she remembered but now it braced her face just perfectly. And those eyes…how could she forget those blue eyes; she always thought that those stood out over anything else, and she loved looking into them. This was Alex Cabot. Her Alex Cabot.

“Ali Bear.” Casey whispered softly as she stared at Alex.

Alex’s heart stopped at the nickname, staring back into green eyes. “You…you remember me?”

Casey’s smile widened as she huffed a laugh. “How could I forget you? We…you were my best friend in my childhood.”

Alex’s heart warmed at her words, her smile widening too. “And you were mine.” She chuckled softly as she shook her head. “I uh…I was afraid maybe you…you wouldn’t recognize me.”

Casey tilted her head as she smiled. “You’re the only one I’d ever let call me Ali, remember?” She shrugged. “It’s been that way ever since.”

“So, no one knows your middle name is Allison, huh?” Alex grinned.

“Nope, and I hope no one knows.” Casey laughed softly as she looked down at her hands for a moment, and then her eyes went back to stare at Alex. “I always wondered what you were up to.” She smiled.

Alex smiled softly and nodded. “I wondered too.”

Casey smiled. “How about we go for a drink to update each other?” She bit her lip softly as she tilted her head.

Alex felt butterflied on her stomach as she looked at Casey, always been fascinated by the way she bit her lip. “Sounds good.”

********************

Alex was talking to Olivia and Elliot about a case that had been assigned to her, trying to go over what they could and not do to not screw the case. As always, Elliot tried to get under her nerves trying to get her to do as they pleased and basically telling her to ignore the law and her bosses, sighing loudly as she looked away. Elliot kept going on and off about how Alex didn’t think about the victims and more shit, and in that moment Alex stopped listening to him as she noticed Casey walking out of Cragen’s office, making her focus on her and literally ignore Elliot. She smiled softly as Casey’s eyes landed on her and she smiled back at her, trying to get her attention back to Cragen.

“Alex!”

Alex turned to look at Elliot as she sighed. “I told you already, and I won’t repeat myself. Either you get me a good reason, or I won’t be doing anything. I’m not about to do your job, Elliot. And you know that.” Elliot sighed as he shook his head and walked away from them, leaving Olivia and Alex alone. Alex turned to look at Olivia and raised her brow. “Anything you’d like to say, detective?”

Olivia shook her head as she grinned. “You got lost there for a moment.”

Alex frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, c’mon. You’re really gonna tell me that you were not just staring at Novak.”

Alex turned back to look at Casey and then back at Olivia, shrugging. “Not sure what you mean. I just didn’t know she was here.”

“Oh, so the smile she gave you was…nothing.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Your point?”

Olivia grinned as she tilted her head. “She was the bundle of light and joy, wasn’t it?”

Alex stared at Olivia for a moment, and against her will, a smile appeared on her face, rolling her eyes as she looked away. “I-“

“You know better than to lie.” Olivia raised her brow.

Alex looked back at her and smiled. “Yes. It was Casey.”

“And you hadn’t seen each other all these years?”

Alex shook her head. “Sixteen years. She moved away, we tried to stay in contact but…it only worked for a bit.”

“And you had a crush on her.” Olivia smirked.

Alex rolled her eyes again as she grinned. “What is this, 20 questions?”

“I’m curious.” Olivia smiled.

“You better not tell the rest of the squad.” Alex raised her brow.

“Oh, they been curious for a while now…Ali Cat.” Olivia grinned playfully as she laughed.

Alex hit her arm playfully. “Shut up. I thought you guys would never mention that, and please, do not bring it up to Casey.”

Olivia chuckled. “C’mon. It’s cute. Childhood nickname?” Alex nodded. “What’s yours?” She smiled.

Alex sighed. “Ali Bear…” she whispered softly.

“That. Is adorable.” Olivia laughed again. “Better than ice queen.”

“You know what, I’m out of here. I’ve got work to do.” Alex grabbed her briefcase and shook her head.

Olivia laughed again and patted Alex’s back before she left. Alex hadn’t noticed, but the whole time she had been talking to Olivia, Casey had been staring at her and trying to figure out whatever she was talking about to Olivia. She sighed softly as she focused back on Cragen and offered a small smile before she too left. It had been a long time since they both had seen each other, even if Alex had recognized her and they were now spending time together again, she knew better than to think that Alex had been thinking about her this whole time. Casey had only been her childhood best friend and now they were colleagues, trying to form a friendship again. That was it.

********************

“C’mon, Casey. You really don’t believe that.” Olivia sighed as she shook her head.

“Olivia, you cannot hold her here when we have no reason. If you get her to confess right now, you can definitely book her in, but otherwise, we have nothing.” Casey said as she looked at Olivia.

“She killed that kid, and you want her to walk away?!” Olivia raised her voice as she looked back at Casey.

“Olivia…it’s been almost 24 hrs. You got nothing on her, and I don’t see her confessing any time soon. She’s not under arrest and soon enough, she’ll lawyer up. Unless she already did, and you haven’t told me about it.” Casey stared at her with a serious look.

Olivia shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. You rather her walk away and get back home, and maybe, she’ll go after another innocent kid. But no, we cannot arrest her. It’ll be on you if another kid dies in her hands!”

“Olivia, that’s enough!”

Both Casey and Olivia turned to find Alex at the door, staring at both women. Alex was now directly staring at Olivia, and Olivia could feel the tension and figured that she had upset not only Casey, but Alex too. After a moment of silence, Alex finally sighed and spoke up, cutting the tension of the room.

“You know better than to argue and blame Casey for something that is not in her hands. Cut her loose and try to find something.” Alex tried to sound as calm as possible, her eyes never leaving Olivia’s.

Olivia nodded softly as she looked between Casey and Alex. “Okay.” She whispered softly and walked out of the room, leaving Alex and Casey alone.

Casey crossed her arms as she sighed, looking back at the suspect. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“There’s nothing you can do right now, Casey. I know better than anyone that it’s their way to intimidate you, so you do something. And honestly, that’d only get you in trouble.”

“I’d get in trouble, not you. So why does it matter?” Casey looked back at Alex and shrugged. “Olivia is right. She’ll go back to the streets, she could get another kid and…” she sighed. “It’ll be on me.”

Alex walked to Casey and placed her hand on her shoulder, rubbing it up and down. “They’ll find something, and you’ll get her. Do not start blaming yourself for this now, Case. Olivia is just upset.”

Casey scoffed as she looked away and licked her lips. “Yeah, well. Maybe you should calm your girlfriend down.” She said almost in a whisper as she went to get her briefcase.

Alex frowned as her eyes followed Casey. “What?”

Casey looked back at Alex as she shrugged. “She listened to you. I could’ve said the same to her and she’d still be all over me here, yelling at me, telling me how I’m heartless and prefer to let her walk free.” She shook her head. “But you walked in, and suddenly she agrees.”

“Casey-“

“No, seriously, Alex. I get it. They have to get used to me but…maybe you should tell your girlfriend that I’m only trying to do my job here, and that’s it. I’m not looking for enemies or anything.” Casey sighed as she shook her head again. “I’ll see you back in the office.”

Before Alex could say anything else, Casey walked out of the room, leaving Alex alone with a confused look on her face. Her girlfriend? Where did she get that from? Why would she say that and why did she seem to be so upset? A lot of questions crossed Alex’s mind as she stood there. Was…was Casey jealous?

********************

The unfinished book had been laying on Alex’s bed for a while now, Alex had gotten herself to finish some paperwork at home since it was a chilly night in New York, and she preferred to finish all of it back in the comfort of her house. She was now making sure that the paperwork was done and making sure there was nothing left to do before she closed the file and put it back on her briefcase. Her eyes landed on the book for a moment, Liz’s words suddenly showed up in her mind as she smiled. She had only left two chapters, around forty pages left. The reason she had never finished the book had been because it reminded her of Casey, and reading it only meant that she would know the end of it, and she wouldn’t be able to tell Casey about it. Of course, she could’ve just told her over the phone, but it wasn’t the same. It wouldn’t be the same. She sighed softly as she grabbed it and placed it back in her briefcase, deciding it was time to sleep.

A few days later, Alex had just arrived at her office after a full day of motions and trials, feeling defeated as she sat down on her chair, leaning back and throwing her head back as she groaned. For the second time that week, her eyes landed on the book that was peaking out of her briefcase, almost as if it was calling for her. For a moment, it made her think back to what had happened with Casey a week ago, she had not been able to talk to her because they both had been pretty busy and Alex had not seen her around the office, but something also told her that maybe, Casey was avoiding her. Even if she was still confused and a little sad over it, she smiled a little and grabbed it, opening it for the first time in god knew how long. Her eyes studied the whole page and finally, she decided she was ready to finish it.

She figured that it had been somehow silly that she never finished it, but it had honestly meant so much for Alex when Casey gave her the book, that the thought of finishing it without her, broke her heart and it made her feel as if she was betraying Casey in some way. Now, Casey seemed to be mad at her, but something told her that she had to finish it, that she could now finish it, and maybe this could be some sort of closure for her. An hour or so went by and Alex had been leaning back on her chair, moving it side to side as she read the book, lost in the words; she had missed how fantasy books made her feel, and it so happened that this book had come with a twist that she had not expected but it made her smile ear to ear. A knock on the door made her look up, her smile fading slightly as she noticed the redhead standing at the door.

“Hey.” Casey said softly.

“Hi.” Alex offered a small smile. “I thought I was the only one in the office.”

Casey huffed a chuckle as she shrugged. “I had to do some paperwork and I thought it would be better to finish it here.”

Alex nodded. “Heading out?”

Casey nodded. “Yeah.” She nibbled on her lip as she looked at Alex. “But…I was hoping I would find you here.”

Alex grinned slightly. “It’s your lucky day.”

Casey chuckled softly as she nodded, closing the door behind her even though she knew they were the only people there. “I uh…I wanted to apologize, for the other day. You…you were protecting me and I just…took it out on you.”

Alex shrugged. “The squad gets on your nerves at some point.” She offered a sympathetic smile.

“But not you.” Casey shook her head. “And you didn’t do anything other than speak for me.”

Alex nodded. “Apology accepted.”

“I’m also sorry about the Olivia thing. It was out of line and-“

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

Casey frowned as she looked at Alex. “She’s…not?”

Alex shook her head. “No.” She chuckled. “We’re just…close friends but…she’s not.”

“Oh.” Casey blushed slightly, trying to look away. “I- made a fool of myself.” She chuckled nervously as she looked down at her hands.

Alex frowned as she had a playful grin on her face. “Did you really think we were together?”

“I just-“ Casey shrugged as she looked back at Alex. “You…you were laughing and…I thought-“

“We were talking about you.” Alex snapped as she smiled.

Casey stopped for a moment and just stared at Alex. “What?”

“She…” Alex huffed a laugh. “That day…of the game. I was supposed to go in support of Elliot. They had invited me, and I had said that I wouldn’t go but they insisted. I got there, and I knew that I was going to bored. I had not been to a game since I went to yours.” She sighed. “When I screamed for you…they stared at me with a face…” she laughed. “With a face that could clearly tell that they were so confused. They were so confused, and I ran away. And then, one time, we were talking about this case, they mentioned out childhoods, and when I was asked how mine had been…I said it had been a bundle of light and joy.” She smiled. “I meant you.”

Casey’s whole body warmed at her words, a faint smile on her face as she listened to Alex. “She figured it out.”

Alex nodded as she smiled. “She did.” She shrugged. “She asked me about you, and I told her. She was making fun of my nickname.”

Casey rolled her eyes playfully. “It was only fair that you were Ali Bear.”

Alex chuckled as she nodded. “Of course, you were my Ali Cat.” She smiled.

Casey smiled as she placed her briefcase on the chair, walking to Alex and leaning over the desk. “What else did you say?”

Alex looked up at Casey and smiled. “I didn’t let her say or ask anything else. I just left.”

Casey nodded. “Was there a question you didn’t answer?”

Alex stared at her for a moment and nodded. “There was.”

Casey smiled softly and then looked down at Alex’s desk, noticing the book in front of her. Her smile widened. “You still have it.”

Alex looked back at the book and smiled. “I just finished it.”

Casey looked back at her and smiled. “Tell me the end?”

Alex looked back at Casey and smiled, a slight blush on her cheeks. “It’s a love story with a twist. She thinks she had her whole future planned, fell in love with someone. But…she ended up with her best friend.”

“A girl?” Casey raised her brow.

“A girl.” Alex smiled as she shrugged. “I’ve never read a book like this one. They always end up with the handsome guy.”

“A bit cliché, anyway, don’t you think?” Casey grinned.

“Maybe. Still nice to see a different ending.” Alex smirked. “Haven’t read a book like this in years.”

“And why did you never finish it?” Casey asked softly as she crossed her arms, looking at Alex with a curious look on her face.

Alex looked down at the book and smiled. “Because you weren’t here to tell you the end.” She looked back up at Casey and smiled. “But now you are.”

Casey wetted her lips and nibbled on it, staring down at Alex. “What was the question, Alex?”

Alex took a deep breath and stood up from her chair, standing in front of Casey. She didn’t know where all this confidence had come from, but she would take it any day. “She asked if I had a crush on you back then.” She took a moment, knowing that Casey would ask about it. “And I didn’t answer it. But the answer is yes…I did.”

Casey smiled. “A kids crush?”

Alex chuckled as she shrugged. “Figured until I was 13.”

Casey stared at her for a moment as she took a deep breath, grinning. “I figured when I was 10.”

Alex frowned. “What?”

“I might’ve been a little too young but…” Casey shrugged. “I had heard other girls talking about crushes. I heard about their crushes and…I tried to read about it anywhere, what a crush was and how could you tell you had one.” She smiled. “I figured when I was ten. But we were kids. I thought…it would just go away. But all I could think about was you.”

Alex’s heart stopped for a moment as she looked into green eyes, taking off her glasses out of nervousness, not knowing where she could put her hands or what to do at the moment. She then started playing with them, not knowing what to say. “And…was it just a kids crush?”

Casey shook her head. “No.” She smiled. “It became more than a kids crush. You never left my mind. And I waited for the day where I could finally see you again, and I hoped for so long that I would.” Alex tilted her head as she brought the temple tip of her glasses to her lips, biting it as she nodded. Casey slowly took the glasses from Alex and put them back on Alex, her hand landing on Alex’s cheek while the other put a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “I always wondered if you’d ever end up with glasses.” She smiled. “They fit you so well. I like it.”

Alex stared at her, her breath hitched as she felt Casey’s stare literally intimidating her without intention. “Casey.” She breathed out.

“It has not gone away, Alex. After all these years.” Casey smiled. “And I finally found you.”

Alex smiled softly as she nodded. “I found you too.”

“So…Ali Bear…” Casey chuckled. “Do you have a crush on me?” She grinned.

Alex chuckled softly as she bit her lip. “Ali Cat…I do. I’ve been in love with you for the longest time. As cheesy as that sounds.”

Casey tilted her head as she smiled. “So.” She stroked her cheek softly. “Should we give it a try?”

Alex smiled as she placed her hands on Casey’s waist, making her stand up and move closer to Alex. “I don’t want to miss another chance, not when you’re back in my life.”

“You’re so cheesy, Ali Bear.” Casey chuckled softly as she wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck and pulled her closer, closing the gap between them.

Alex smiled against her lips before kissing Casey back, her arms wrapping around Casey’s waist and bringing her impossibly closer to her body. Of course it wasn’t her first kiss, but it felt like it was the kiss that she had always dreamt of having, and with the perfect person. She laughed in her mind at how cheesy this whole conversation had turned, but after all, she had ended with the cliché finale that she had read so many times, but this time, that finale included Casey and not some lame, stupid guy. It included the girl of her dreams, and she knew this was just the beginning of their story.

[nycbaby21]

Nico Hischier Imagine

prompt: meeting Nico at a bar and the next night meeting him again after a Devil's game

word count: 4,091

“I just want to thank you guys for coming on this trip and being a part of my special day,” Marlee says passing out a shot for each of us. She is the first of our little group to get married and we couldn’t be more happy for her. She and Colby met not too long into freshmen year and have been together since. We all cheered to the beautiful bride and threw back the shots. “Okay now let’s dance,” Hannah, the maid of honor, said pulling the four of us out onto the dance floor.

After an hour of dancing and a few drinks, we left that bar and headed to the next one. Marlee wanted to do this bar crawl in New Jersey for her bachelorette party. Colby was from Jersey and she wanted to see all the places he used to love to go with his friends. I don’t know how many guys made a list of bars to go to for their fiance, but Marlee and Colby were different. They really were like two best friends with more benefits. I look at them and hope that I can get that in the future.

As the five of us walk into the next bar, my attention is drawn to the table in the corner of the bar. It was filled with several very attractive guys, like ridiculously attractive guys. We find a table not too far away from them and get settled in. “Okay, time is set for one hour. We have this one and one more and we are done,” Aria says showing the timer on her phone. She is very time-oriented and literally dragged Isla out of the first bar, even though she was talking to some guy. 

After coming back from the bar, we all sat and drank our drinks enjoying the time we had together. This wasn’t only like a send-off for Marlee, it was for a lot of us. Marls was moving to Jersey with Colby this fall after the wedding, Isla got a job offer in Vancouver, Aria just got a huge promotion and was moving to her company’s London office, and Hannah and I were staying in our hometown. She was starting to really take off the online boutique she started during the pandemic for fun. I was an author so I could technically work whenever I chose to, but for the time being I was staying where I was. 

“Okay c’mon guys no sad faces. We are all gonna keep in touch and we will get together when we can,” I say smiling at the group. “Y/n is right. We are gonna drink, dance, laugh, and flirt with tons of guys, well not you Marls,” Hannah laughs winking at her. We all laugh and head out to go dance. I wipe sweat off of my forehead and lean over to Aria,” I gonna go get another drink.” She gives me a thumbs up and I weave my way through the crowd to find a spot at the very crowded bar. Of all of the places Colby recommended, this was the busiest bar we had been to tonight.

I eventually find a small opening next to a tall guy with darker hair. I slid in behind him, his back was to me as he talked to a shorter guy. I couldn’t hear the conversation because of the group of drunk girls on the other side of me. I give my drink order to the bartender and she turns around to make it while taking more orders. “Oh, I love your top. It’s so cute. Where did you get it,” the blonde from the girls next to me says. I smile at her,” Thank you so much. It’s actually my friend’s clothing line. She owns an online boutique,” I lean closer towards her and tell her. She hands me her phone and I search it up for her. She may not remember why she had it pulled up in the morning, but hopefully sober her likes the clothes just as much as drunk her.

I feel someone bump into my side and I turn around to see the guys from earlier. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to bump into you.” I don’t know what caught me off guard more, his face or his accent. “It’s okay really. It was barely a push,” I smile back and go to continue the conversation when my drink slides in front of me. I reach for my wallet when his hand gently rests on my upper arm. “Let me. It’s the least I can do bothering you tonight,” he says telling her to add it to his tab. I look up and finally see his gorgeous brown eyes and small dimples on his face when he smiles. “Thank you, but really you are no bother I promise,” I assure him trying to fight off the little butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.

“I’m Jack and this is Nico, the other guy says leaning over his friend to shake my hand. “Y/n. It’s nice to meet you, Nico and Jack,” my brain tries to come up with anything to say to keep them in a conversation with me. “Well Neeks, I am gonna go give the guys their drinks. You take your time,” Jack says to his older friend and gives me a wink as he turns around to head to the table I was staring at when we first walked in. “Sorry about him. I think he has taken one too many hits to the head,” Nico says leaning down so I can hear him better. Blush quickly creeps its way onto my cheeks. I raise my arm and pinch my other one, wondering if this was some dream because this man looked amazing, sounded amazing, and even smelled amazing.

“He has been hit in the head,” I ask trying to regain my composure. I give him a very confused face wondering what the hell he was talking about. He lets out a small laugh, dimples on display again. “Yeah more than a couple of times now. We play hockey together. I could see the confusion on your face when I said that,” he answers standing closer to me as the bar crowds again. “Wanna go find somewhere to sit,” I say standing on my tiptoes to be a closer height to his. He gives me a quick nod, puts his hand on the small of my back, and leads us to an empty table a couple down from his friends. From where are sitting I can see my friends dancing like idiots. I let out a laugh and he follows my eyes to the group

“Your friends look like they are having a good time,” he smiles taking a sip of his drink. “How do you know they were my friends,” I ask raising an eyebrow at him. He laughs and leans forward placing his elbows on the table. “Because you walked in with them and you were out there dancing with them too, he gives me a small smirk. My eyes get bigger and I choke on my drink a little. “I saw you when you walked in with them,” he smiles with a small blush starting to settle on his face. My smile gets a lot bigger and I look around trying to not meet his eyes. I felt like a middle school girl giggling and blushing over her crush.

“So you said you play hockey,” I ask trying to shift the conversation. He laughed knowing what I was doing, but he chose not to mention it. “Yeah my buddies over at the table where I was, we all play together,” he shrugs leaning back into his chair. “So are you any good,” I ask with a small smile while stirring my drink with the tiny yellow umbrella. “I don’t know. I guess I am pretty decent. If I wasn’t they might have kicked me off the team by now,” his words and smile make me feel like I am missing something, but his eyes distract me from asking what it was.

“Well I don’t know anything about hockey, so you already have one up on me,” I joke. “You’ve never played before,” he asks raising one of his thick eyebrows at me. “I have never even watched a game before let alone played. I tried skating once but that didn’t end too well,” I laugh at the memory of young me absolutely wiping out on the ice and refusing to try again. “Wait, so you have never seen a game before,” he looks at me like I have three heads or something.”Nope. My family is more of a basketball family,” I laugh at his face. “I bet you would like hockey. If you tried,” he says leaning back on the table and resting his face against his hand which was propped up on the table by his elbow. “I would watch a game way before I tried to play.” It was like my words lit a fire in him.

“Ya know,” he started,” I have been told I am an excellent teacher. I’m sure I can even help you.” I open my mouth in fake shock,” what does that mean? You could even help me.” He throws his head back laughing this time and it is a sight I miss I could engrave in my mind. “I mean exactly what you think I mean,” he says still laughing at me. I roll my eyes smiling and throw my tiny umbrella at him. I go to open my mouth to ask him more about himself when Isla rushes up to our table. “Y/n! I have been texting you for the past five minutes. We are already three behind schedule and that vein in Aria’s forehead is starting to pop out,” she rambles on and grabs my arm pulling me up.

“Okay just let me say bye and I will meet you at the door,” I say looking back to Nico who is smiling about the whole thing. “Oh no, ma’am. My conversation with my bar beauty was cut short so yours is going to be too,” she says leaning around me to look at Nico. “Sorry. Her full name is Y/n Y/ln. She is from y/town’s name, look her up.” I turn around and mouth a quick sorry as my arm is almost being pulled out of its socket. We finally meet up with the rest of the group and that’s when she lets go of my arm.

“First off ouch! And second off why,” I whine rubbing my arm. “Y/n I gave you an hour. What you did in that time is all on you,” Aria says crossing the street as we head to the next place. “And Isla’s conversation got cut short too,” Marls says slipping my arm through mine as we walk side by side. “I wouldn’t really call that a conversation. Two minutes in he had his tongue down her throat,” Hannah laughed turning around just in time for Isla to slip her the finger. “He could have been the love of my life,” she argues. “And what was his name,” Aria asks holding open the door to the last bar of the night. When Isla can’t give us a name we all burst out laughing. We finish the night out with more laughing and dancing, but I can’t help but still think about Nico. I tried to look him up but I didn’t have much to go on.

The next day after some serious rest and hangover recovery, we all get a text from Colby. “Okay Marls I love Colby I really do, but what the hell,” Isla says falling back onto the bed. “I have no idea. I got the same message you did.” Hey girls! Hope you had fun last night. Dress warm and meet us at this address. Also thank you for loving my girl just as much as I do -Colby. “I don’t like not knowing where I am going and having to get dressed appropriately. So I know you are freaking Aria,” Hannah sighs digging through her suitcase and looking for anything remotely warm. We all turn and see her face stuffed into a pillow.

After stopping at a few stores, we all finally had something warm to wear. I don’t really think Colby realized you don't pack warm layers for a bachelorette trip. We all pile out of the Uber and look up at the huge arena in front of us. “Welcome to Prudential Arena ladies,” Colby says walking up to us and giving Marlee a small kiss on the head. “What are we doing here? And why are so many people wearing red,” Isla asks looking around at the sea of red. “Last stop on the getting to know Colby tour, a New Jersey Devils game,” his smile is huge and it almost makes up for having to go buy new clothes to wear to this. 

Colby leads us into the arena and to our seats. “Baby how much did this cost,” Marlee asks as we take our seats right next to the glass. A small shiver tickles down my spine, Who knew it would be this cold at a hockey game? “My family has season tickets,” he shrugs sitting down and throwing an arm around her. “Y/n. Switch seats with me,” Hannah hits my arm getting my attention. “What? Why,” I ask looking away from the ice and into her green eyes. “I don’t wanna sit next to them being a lovey and shit,” she grumbles cutting her eyes towards the engaged couple. I lean forward and see the two cuddled up and Colby pointing out different players to Marlee. I roll my eyes and switch seats with her. 

“Hey is it just me or are those guys staring at us,” Isla asks the group pointing over to the bench where the Devils players were sitting. When she points they all look away acting like nothing happened. “Dibs on hot hockey guys,” Hannah screams which gets us some pretty funny stares. “Why do you get a hot hockey first,” Isla asks her eyes shifting around the ice trying to find someone with their helmet off. “You and Y/n already had your fun. It’s mine and Aria’s turn now,” Hannah responds leaning over Isla to give Aria a fist bump. “Can you believe this Y/n,” Isla asks with a small pout on her face. “I’m sorry what about the love of your life from last night,” I ask which results in her throwing a Twizzler at me. I laugh pick it up off my chest and take a bite of it.

“Of course, Y/n isn’t going to be any help. She spent all of last night trying to find her bar beauty and if I’m gonna be honest she is probably still looking now,” Aria says signaling Hannah to grab my phone. She swipes it out of my hand before I know what is happening. “Okay really funny. Give it back,” I say leaning over her to grab it. “Are you gonna stop looking for Nick,” she asks almost sitting in Isla’s lap leaning away from me. “It’s Nico and yes if you give it back I will quit,” I say. “Scout’s honor,” Hannah asks raising an eyebrow at me. I nod and she hands it back to me. “ How are you still so hung up on that guy? You talked for forty-five minutes at best in a dark crowded bar. It’s not anything to write home about,” Isla asks shoveling popcorn in her mouth.

“Real attractive Isla. And so what if it was only forty-five minutes? I had more fun in those forty-five minutes with him than I have with any other guys in weeks,” I sigh looking out onto the ice. The girls all laugh and joke about it so much while I try and zone them out. “You know my nana always said things that are meant to always find a way. Or something like that,” Hannah said smiling at me. “Is this the nana who bakes cookies or the nana who makes moonshine,” I laugh leaning my head on her shoulder. “Moonshine. But you know drunk words are sober thoughts.” We both laugh and the lights start to dim as the game starts.

It was the final period of the game and the Devils were up by three. I don’t know which hurt more, my ears from all of the screaming or my arm from Hannah hitting it every time something happened. I try keeping up with the puck but I end up losing it every time I find it again. Two players skate our way and one pushes the other into the glass right in front of us. This starts a small fight and the crowd all around us goes wild. The Devil's player who was against the glass looks at us and then turns to skate away. He quickly turns back around and points at us. I can’t make out what he looks like all I knew was his last name was Hughes. He tapped the glass and skated back to the bench. 

“Those guys are looking over here again,” Hannah says fluffing up her hair. I roll my eyes and pull out my phone looking up the roster for his team. I scroll down until I see the name J. Hughes number 86. Clicking on his name I am taken to a page full of his highlights and basic information. “No fucking way,” I say looking at his picture closer. “What,” Marlee leans over to look at my phone. “That guy I talked to last night was with number 86. He said they played hockey together, but I just assumed he meant for fun,” I say going back and clicking random names trying to see if I could find Nico. “Colby is there a player on the team named Nico,” Marlee asks her fiance who is very focused on the game and not us. 

I reach over and pinch his arm getting a reaction out of him. “Ow. What was that for,” he asks rubbing his arm. “That didn’t hurt. Marlee can kiss it better later. Is there a player named Nico on the Devils,” I ask because my phone wouldn’t load the roster anymore. “Yeah, Nico Hischier. He’s number 13, the captain,” he says finally looking at me. “You’re actually kidding me. That guy from last night is a hot hockey guy, No fair,” Hannah pouts. “Do you know where he is from? Like would he have an accent,” I ask ignoring my friend. I didn’t want to get my hopes up in finding him too soon. “Uhm Switzerland if I’m not mistaken. Now are one of you gonna tell me why you need to know all of this? Because I have a suspicion that it has nothing to do with the game,” Colby turns his body towards us. “We are like ninety-eight percent sure that he is the guy Y/n was talking to last night before we left the bar,” Marlee explained.

“Left isn’t the word I would use. I was drug out of the bar against my will,” I say settling back into my seat and scanning the ice for number 13. “Okay so let me get this straight. You may or may not have talked and flirted with the New Jersey Devil’s captain last night at a bar. And these yahoos made you leave,” his voice got really loud, and it just so happens the crowd got quiet as he said it. I sink down into my seat and my face matches all of the jerseys in the arena. A group of girls behind us laugh. They also were sure Jack was pointing at them.

Before we could answer his question the buzzer goes off and everyone jumps to their feet. Looking up at the scoreboard we see that the Devils won. Everyone was rushing out of their seats and trying to get outside. “Why is everyone leaving so fast,” Aria asks grabbing my hand so she doesn’t get lost in the crowd. “Oh the players shower after the game and sometimes you can see them drive out of the arena,” Colby says trying to herd all of us into one area waiting for everything to calm down. I never could find 13 again. It was a crazy idea anyway, why would a professional NHL player flirt with me in a bar?

Rapid knocking behind us scares all of us. We all quickly turn around and see Jack at the glass saying something. It was still so loud in there it was hard to hear the person right next to you. He shakes his head and holds up one finger skating away. “What the hell was that,” Isla asks. We waited until a security guard started to usher us out. “No, we can’t leave. Jack Hughes wants to talk to our friend,” Aria tries to persuade the man like three times her height. “Yeah, and I’m the queen of England. Move it along,” his deep voice sent chills down my spine. I glanced back to the ice and still saw no sign of him. We all turned to head up the stairs and once again tapping on the glass stopped us. Jack held up a puck in his hand and made the motion of throwing it. I went to the glass and nodded my head. The black piece of rubber landed in my hands. I looked at it and then at him.

He motioned for me to turn it over. When I did I saw a phone number. My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion wondering why he was giving me his number. He shook his head and mouthed Nico. Blush quickly spread to my face. It was a combination of knowing that I finally found him and the idea that a professional athlete wanted to talk to me last night. He gave us a finger salute and skated back the way he came from. 

We moved making our way back up the stairs but not before Hannah said,” Excuse us, your majesty.” We all laughed at his face and slowly followed the crowd out into the parking lot. “Well what are you waiting for call him,” Colby says as we wait to exit the building. We all laugh at how invested he is now that it was a player from his favorite team that was involved. I typed in the number and listened to the ringing. “He won’t answer right now. He is probably busy,” I say not hearing the call connect. “Never too busy to talk to a pretty girl,” his thick accent flowed into my ears. I smiled and laughed. “Hi NIco,” I say ignoring all of the looks from my friends. “Hi Y/n,” I can hear a lot of background noise on his end. “Is that her? Did it work,” I hear Jack ask him. Nico shushes him and slowly the call gets quieter.

Isla put her hands on my shoulders guiding me as I talked on the phone. “So you play hockey,” I repeated the phrase gaining a loud laugh from him. "When you told me you liked to play hockey, I just thought you liked to play it for fun," I say into the phone finally making it outside. The cool air was a breath of relief. "I do like to play it for fun," he responds casually. "Obviously if you play in the nh freaking l,” I yell into the phone. “Okay I have to go and do some interviews but can I call you later,” he asks almost sounding nervous. “I would really like that. Now go do your thing, superstar,” I laugh into the phone. I hang up the phone and once I make sure it is off I let out the girliest squeal in history. “So now that you have a hot hockey boy, you can set us up with his teammates right,” Hannah laughs throwing an arm over my shoulder. “We’ll see,” I say pinching her side. I went to sleep so much better than night rather than last night. Last night I fell asleep trying to find Nico on my phone and tonight I fell asleep with Nico on the phone. 

[fanficideasimtoolazytowrite]

what if Alastor left a family behind and his children showed up in hell later?

Alastor head canons if he were to have children while alive

so i had this maladapitive day dream in my head since I watched the show. what if while he was alive he found his southern belle. he had almost everything he ever wanted. he was successful in his career and was making good money, he was respected for the most part, and he even landed the girl that everyone was sure was going to mary a wealthy plantation owner he father set her up with. but in a whirlwind romance, Alastor wins the girl and proposed.

his now fiance is completely unaware of his extra activities, i.e his need to go out and kill the vernom of his city, but alas its all cut short and his dream life is down the gutter and he goes to hell. he figures that his fiance ethier remarried( which he is very upset with) and moved on or she died and went to heaven.

what he didnt know is that she was left with two bundles of joy, a boy and girl. yes alastor had faternal twins bc I head cannoned how it would be with both. now alone though and a social paraiha she is runned out of town for giving birth to the 'devils' children. abandoning their home, she moves to the east coast where she takes on a job as nanny for the willow manor where she is allowed to raise her children and work. hoping to keep the secret of whose children they belong to for their safety.

general description is that his fiance is a true Southern Belle beauty. blonde hair, and blue eyes, and would be mistaken for an angel most of the time with how she acted. if you met her, you would never think she would marry a serial killer.

author(Archie): looks just like Alastor, like a literal copy of his as a human, but he's the sweetest thing will ever meet. just like his mother, and a total mama's boy. takes his job as a brother seriously and is always looking out for his sister. It's the 1940's though and him being of darker completion, he also faces the same issues his dad did. strong, brave, sarcastic, and level-headed he is the one you go to when and if you need the job done fast. as long as his sister isn't there.

flora: she is beautiful just like her mother, just has a very similar disposition as her father. charming, alluring, and cute, she can get into trouble at times. she has a bit of a temper, but she usually doesn't go to violence. More just a degrading remark if she doesn't like someone. She loves her family and her friends. She is a bit hyperactive and becomes obsessed when she gets interested in something, but she is always willing to jump up to help and she tries her best not to cause her mom and brother any trouble. she looks a lot like her mother, but her hair falls into tight blonde curls if she doesn't do anything to it.

[lime-sketches114]

I have not been able to get this idea out of my head of Freya x female reader where reader is helping her comb/groom her wings and then after they settle in to go to sleep but it's cold so Freya wraps her wings around reader to keep them warm.

I'd love if you could do something like this when you have a moment please

This one seems cute and interesting, I never thought Freya would be one of my first in my inbox. I'll do my best! 🫰

FREYA × F!READER

Warm Embrace

Rating: Fluffy with a feathery soft pillow

Warnings: none (mentions of a dead loved one???)

Requested by: Anonymous

★★★★★★★★★

It was another night in Vanaheim. The nature around you singing it's lively lullaby as you say by the fire. Freyr making a title to himself as he tells stories to the others. You on the other hand were a little ways off from the group. You were helping your beloved girlfriend with her newly found wings she longed for so long. You loved seeing her free like this. Ever since you found her in Midgard, or more like she found you, she was brooding and grief stricken. She brought you here to Vanaheim to help with the cause here, the Aesir's iron grip on this world.

You helped your love comb through her hair and wings. Her wings were beautiful just like her. Ever since Kratos helped her get her freedom back she looked more brighter than ever. Her red and white wings shimmered as a result of her new attitude. You hummed a little tune as you worked on one wing.

"Your voice is beautiful my love, it always puts me at ease" Freya smiled as she looked back you.

"thank you, my mother taught me how to sing before she left the 9 realms. She had a beautiful singing voice." You smiled at her compliment, "she always gave the best warm hugs at night when nights were cold. We didn't have much but she was enough for me..."

Freya pondered secretly in thought. She brushed through her hair one last time before the night started to die down.

"We should get some rest before Freyr starts up again" Freya smiled as she got up, putting away her wings. You nodded in agreement, stifling a yawn.

You two setting into your tent nearby. You crawl into the little bed "nest" you made so it be fluffy and comfortable. You both cuddle together, you being the little spoon bc Freya is taller than you by at least half a foot give or take. You didn't mind the height difference though. Means more warm snuggles!

"Good night Freya" you said quietly.

"Sleep well Y/N" she replied.

As the night grew darker, the temperature in Vanaheim got colder, must be a cold snap from Fimblwintr. You shivered a bit under your blanket with Freya. You were used to the cold but sometimes it gets to you. You snuggled closer to Freya, hoping to steal her warmth. What you felt next was surprising. It was her wings. She laid one across you like a very warm blanket. Holy crap it was so soft! You snuggled into them and opened your eyes.

"All warm Y/N?" Freya chuckled.

You nodded and kissed her sweetly, "Yup! You're too sweet for your own good!"

"I should say the same for you, you've helped me out all this time...this past year or so...I'm glad you've helped me open my eyes." Freya smiled and nuzzled your hair.

Your heart squeezed at the sentimental words. You hugged her close under her wing and never let go once you fell back asleep. The night was peaceful after than.

Once you two woke up in the morning, well only you, Freya had woken up earlier but stuck something in your hair. It was one of her feathers. You smiled at the kind gesture and ran out the tent to go meet your beloved girlfriend and her team for breakfast and patrols.

Gods you loved that warrior woman.

[ironladders]

of every ashrah outfit in all timelines, canon or even unused concept arts if they exist, which is your favorite? im very curious 👀

this got kind of long & out of hand im sorry i just like gushing about this girl (+ i have to air out my thoughts on her skins. i have opinions on literally everyone's outfits)

sadly ashrah doesn't have many costumes to choose from because she's only been in 3 games 💔 oh well though

i think my #1 look for her has to be her mk1 union of light skin:

like it's probably one of the prettiest skins in the entire game. insanity. it's so elegant/beautiful and her hairstyle is really cute, i like how it frames her face. in a way it kinda reminds me of her original design but updated to have more detail. the flowers are so pretty and ugjhghgljgkljg idk what else to say i just love this skin so much

that said i don't dislike any of her outfits, they're all great!

the only one that i actually think needs some help is her ood skin; it looks fine at first glance but the more you stare at it's just. hmmm. this could've marinated a bit longer

there's also the issue that this doesn't feel like an Evil Version of ashrah, which i think is a problem when the whole point of the ood skins is that they're supposed to be darker versions of the mk1 cast. but i digress

also if i may say something controversial..... i don't dislike ashrah's classic mkd/mka looks, i love them! BUT:

now that we've got a game where ashrah has distinct demonic features, i wish they did that for her older appearances. because as much as i love her deception skin and want them to remake it in mk1 (please @ nrs we need another skin for ashrah), she just looks like some lady? if that makes sense? like,,,, i would see deception ashrah in the grocery store and pay her zero mind:

i guess before mk1 the other demons also just looked like regular humans but idk... some facial markings similar to the ones sareena had would've at least been nice. they've got the kanji on her hat translating to "demon/ghost" and that's it.

and i know that's sort of the point, that she's supposed to look like a normal human upon first glance, but idk man! she wasn't done with her absolution yet, midway should've let her look a little strange 😭😭 there's some people who want her to have a normal human face if/when nrs gives us deception ashrah as a skin, but i'd rather they keep her demonic features

on the topic of mk1: i love the contrast here on her mk1 default between ashrah's clothing — clearly inspired by angels — versus her actual appearance. it's really smart and imo reflects how much she tries to distance from her origins as a demon. it really sells the idea of her being an ascending demon & i hope everyone that makes fun of her hairline + face steps on a lego

when the banished trailer first revealed ashrah some people were sad she didn't have her hat, but tbh???? i feel like her mk1 default is fine without one. it would've been nice and probably helped older fans recognize her but i'm not sure if this outfit needs a hat. yknow.

the only other ashrah outfits to talk about (because again she has SO little it's criminal) is the ones from mkd concept art that didn't make the cut:

i have no strong opinions about either of these, they're here i guess. the first one is cool, i like the idea of ashrah with super long hair and she reminds me of a jedi there lmao. the second one is also okay but something about ashrah with a mask feels weird so i'm glad they didn't go with it

speaking of concept art CAN NRS SHOW US THE CONCEPT ART FOR THE MK1 DEFAULTS because i really want to know the early ideas they had for ashrah. we get the final character concepts for everyone which is fine but i desperately want to see the initial ideas they had. i hope they get added to the shrine in the future 🥲

idk how to end this so boom. ashrah face

[pompadorbz]

Any specific notes you’ve got on the thought process behind each student’s new uniform changes for the THH cast? And are you planning to do some for the SDR2 and V3 cast as well?

Note: Anon is referring to these designs!Hmm kinda! There are some choices I made more deliberately than others, although not many characters go as deep as the one note I had about Taka's design. But I'll happily go through the ones that I didn't!Mondo - I initially didn't have Mondo's blazer be embroidered, but considering it's such a stick-out feature of his canon design, it felt wrong not keeping it. Additionally, Mondo is a little bit scrawnier here, for lack of a better word, and that's deliberate! These are supposed to be the students at their first year of the academy, so I wanted to make Mondo seem a little younger!

Taka - I'm not gonna reiterate here so instead here's the post where I talk about him a lil. Lol.

Celeste - Girl is absolutely fighting for her LIFE with this uniform, and for what its worth she found a pretty good balance! The dress underneath is a JSK of her own design, and kinda meant to be reminiscent of earlier EGL styles. She is supposed to look a little bit "ITA", even. I also brought back the hair ribbons from her beta design, and the butterfly hairclip takes from the pattern on her tie in canon!

Chihiro - I have a couple notes on Chihiro! For starters I honestly wanted to make her look a little bit dorkier lol. I gave her the little headband and the glasses for that reason, but the glasses were also to make her match her Dad even more! I wanted to give her a massive backpack too so she always has a spot to keep her laptop and other equipment (yes she has it on her at all times). And finally I gave her a little sweater vest with a dandelion on it, since one of her favorite gifts is the everlasting dandelion! It's supposed to be embroidered on, heehee.

Sayaka - As much as I love her, Sayaka's design isn't actually all that deep? lol. I've always had an affinity for drawing Sayaka with cute little designer hats. i honestly think she has a few of them that she can whip out to give any look a little extra panache. Not to mention the constant inclusion of TONS of pink. I also gave her the flower hairclip from one of her beta designs!

Aoi - Hina is honestly one of my favorite designs in the roster! I just really like her silhouette, idk. I always knew she had to keep the shorts, so she gets the shorts!! Her typical tracksuit is around her waist instead, her eyes are a darker blue for the sake of my sanity, and her ponytail has a kinkier shape! My favorite little detail that I'm sure nobody noticed is that the thing tying her hair together is a coil scrunchie, since they're super good for wet hair in particular! I used to use them a lot back when I used to swim!

Sakura - Honestly, I just wanted Sakura to look at ordinary as humanly possible. She gets a really normal looking uniform- little to no modifications made aside from wearing her usual shoes, the armbands, the bandages, and the striped socks that I took from one of her beta designs!

Hifumi - Hifumi didn't really change all that much either, aside from getting the orange pants to match his orange tie! I do think he painted the arrow on himself, and it looks INCREDIBLY scuffed, lol. Honestly, my main priority with hifumi was to do him some actual justice on the anatomy side, lol. I hope I did an alright job!

Makoto - Makoto also doesn't really change all that much... Really, all that got altered was the blazer and the pants, although I will note that the pants are rolled up because he ABSOLUTELY ordered the wrong size by accident.

Kyoko - Going into this, LONG before I started drawing her I knew that Kyoko needed to have pants, even if it killed me. I just always thought that it'd better suit her usual design to have pants, or at LEAST a longer skirt. It always just looked kinda off to me that she had this big long sleeved blazer and then a short pleated skirt?? Like at least allow her the luxury of like. A pencil skirt. Lol.

Byakuya - Byakuya also doesn't really undergo much change. Really, all i have to say regarding him is that hes got a tall collared button-up and that he kept his usual necktie...

And that's everyone until I sit my ass down and draw the rest! I'm sure I'll eventually get to it... Possibly.

As for the other games, currently I have no plans to do anybody beyond the thh cast. I MIGHT do sdr2 at a far, FAR later date, but I don't think V3 will ever be on the table since quite frankly, I couldn't be assed. Sorry if you were hoping for them!

[ericshoney]

The Mafia Boss ~ Chapter five

Y/n's POV

Its been a week since Jay visited me at work. He's not returned since. Lia came back from her break and after getting a bit of girl advice, a self talk and long hard thinking, I decided to text Jay.

Y/n: Hey its Y/n. So about that catch up?

Jay: Hey, you've thought about coming over? Or are you texting me to say your done with us all?

Y/n: I want to come say hi, on one condition.

Jay: That is?

Y/n: Sunghoon's not around, I don't even want him in the house. I get all of you heading out at once would look strange so can you make a plan? I'll drive over now, be there in twenty.

Jay: Deal. See you then.

After getting Jay's reply, I put my phone in my pocket, slip on a jacket and grab my car keys. I sit in my car for a moment. I start the engine and begin driving. I don't need to try and remember, the route to the house a map in my mind. I did live there for nearly three years. As its late, there is a bit of traffic, people heading home, some heading out for a good time. The city never sleeps.

After twenty minutes of driving, I pull up at the familiar set of black, iron gates. The large, golden letter E shining bright. As I pull up, I go to press the buzzer but the gates open before I could. I drive up the long driveway and park outside the big mansion. I see a few cars and motorbikes parked up.

I get out my car, walking up the grand steps and knock on the door. A few minutes go by before the door opens and I see Niki, standing tall, dark locks falling over his eyes and just like Jay, dark ink littering his soft skin.

"N-N-Noona. C-C-Come in!" He calls, a surprised look on his face.

"Thanks, Niki. Didn't Jay tell you I was coming over?" I ask, stepping into the house.

Niki shuts the door and offers to take my jacket. I smile, letting him take it off. One thing I was always proud of is how much of a gentleman he and the others became.

"No, he told us boss had to head out for a meeting, but nothing else." He answers. I nod, happy Jay sent Sunghoon out. I'm not ready to see him.

As Niki and I walk into the living room, I hear the loud laughter I remember. We walk in and I see the others sitting around and when I see them like this, they just look like a bunch of happy young adults and teenagers. You forget for a moment they kill for a living.

"Hey you made it! Nice surprise isn't it, Niki?" Jay calls, hopping up from his seat, coming over to greet me in a hug. The others all look over in shock.

"Hi guys. Bea." I said, giving them a wave.

''Defiantly a surprise.'' Niki said, giving me a smile.

"Is this why Hoon's out?" Heeseung questions.

"Yeah, so if he comes back in a bad mood, send him my way." Jay answers.

They all nod. As I look at each of the guys, I see they have all grown taller, their cute baby faces slightly gone, all of them looking more mature and as the same as Jay and Niki, tattoos covering their skin. When I look at Beatrix I see she's also got a few more tattoos, plus her natural hair colour now dyed a lilac colour. One thing I notice is the guys look much darker, while Beatrix is still her bright self, most probably keeping the guys sane.

"So Noona, its lovely to see you, but how come you've visited now?" Jungwon asks as I take a seat.

"Jay came to where I work last week. Suggested I come visit. I agreed if Sunghoon wasn't here." I answer.

"You missed us?" Beatrix asks, smiling wide at me, the dimples on her cheeks showing.

"Honesty I did, Bea. All of you in this room I've missed." I answer, making them smile.

"Well, we have a good hour before Hoon comes home, lets have a catch up shall we?" Jake suggests.

I smile and nod, hoping Sunghoon doesn't find out. I won't know how to feel or react if I see him.

[dragimalsdaydreams]

[image ID: three images of the same front-view, full-body screenshot of Xinyan from the game Genshin Impact.

the first image is an unedited screenshot of how Xinyan appears in-game. she has slightly tanned skin compared to the standard in Genshin, with red eyeshadow and black-painted nails. her dark black hair has red/yellow highlights, and spiky hair ties pull her hair into two puffy ponytails. she's wearing what looks like a very short, black, modified cheongsam/qipao with a red standing collar. partly-detached, black/red sleeves cover her upper arms, attached to the cheongsam by spiked, white pauldrons(?). these sleeves drape down at the elbows, and the bottom corners each have a thick, woven red/black rope hanging off the end. Xinyan's wearing slim, open-toed boots with a knee-high fishnet stocking on one leg. she's wearing white, skin-tight short-shorts and matching long, skin-tight sleeves under her main outfit. she also has some kind of hand drum or talking drum strapped to her back with white shoulder straps, but it's not very visible from the front.

the second image is a heavily edited version of the first image. Xinyan now has much darker skin, her hair darkened to match. she's also wearing messy black eyeliner and black lipstick, with several new piercings. she's wearing a short jacket with a similar cheongsam latching style as the original, but cropped to her midriff and with the sleeves ripped off. this jacket has a flat, red, biker-style collar with silver studs. detached, black/red sleeves are tied at her elbows, draping down at the wrists with the same ropes at the bottom corners as the original. Xinyan's thick, baggy, black/red tripp pants have several bright yellow straps and hang low on her hips, tied off with a thick red/black rope as a belt. the lower section of one leg of the pants has been ripped off, leaving the lower leg visible. she's wearing thick black/red boots with spiked toes. Xinyan's wearing ragged, hole-filled fishnet underneath her main outfit. she's wearing a spiked collar, a spiked cuff on one upper arm, and several thick, silver chains scattered across the entire outfit. various red/yellow/orange patches are scattered across the outfit, and there's one visible, ragged hole on the longer pant leg.

the third image is the same as the second, but Xinyan has her iconic, diamond-shaped ruan strapped to her back with an orange strap. her Vision is now hanging off the neck of the instrument with a gold chain. text on this image reads, "not using weapon: ruan reappears", whereas the previous image had text reading, "using weapon: ruan disappears". this image also has a small doodle of the ruan with silver blades unsheathing from either side of the main body, with accompanying text reading, "(blades can sheathe for safety)". end ID]

/chanting/ TRIPP PANTS! TRIPP PANTS! TRIPP PANTS!!

this one was really fun but exhausting, lmao. but my girl Xinyan deserves the effort <3

extra design notes + breakdown under the cut:

I suppose there's not much to say about this one, beyond my main motivator being, "that is not fucking punk". though I'm also not punk, so I'm hoping my version is still punk-accurate, lmao

had a lot of fun with the piercings/makeup too, lemme zoom in on that for ya

[image ID: the redesign, cropped to Xinyan's face. her red eyeshadow has been extended a bit, and she's got thick, black eyeliner around the bottom lid of her eyes, spiked and messily smudged. a dusting of red has been added to her eyelashes as well. her top lip is painted in black lipstick. new piercings include: an eyebrow ring, spike snakebites, and a spiked nosering. Xinyan's earlobes have also been stretched to fit circular yellow gauges with red centers, and a yellow guitar pick with red spots hangs off of one gauge. end ID]

I considered giving Xinyan more textured hair, but I couldn't figure out a good way to reconcile it with the flaming flower shape of her puffy ponytails, which I rly wanted to keep b/c it's super cute <3. I would like to do more textured hair in future projects, but I just couldn't make it work with this one unforch. but if anyone has suggestions for reconciling textured hair with the flaming flower shape, I'm all ears

as for the drum vs. ruan, I just think the ruan is so much more iconic. I know Xinyan's lore says she can play basically any instrument (or any object as an instrument), but we NEVER see her play that drum, or anything else besides the ruan. hell, the ruan is the one instrument/weapon that she's specifically modified to work with her Vision-- it has depth! I'd be more willing to keep the drum if Xinyan ever used it or if it had any special lore, but as it stands, it's a shallow part of her character design imo

on top of that, I really want more characters to use parts of their outfit. I was rly delighted when Heizou dropped, and he actually flipped his baton around! how fun! so let's give Xinyan a wearable weapon

as for the blades, I just think the original design is... kinda stupid

[image ID: an in-game screenshot of Xinyan holding her ruan. it has a white, diamond-shaped body, long black neck, and four thick, spike-tipped tuning keys at the red head. a silver, curved blade sticks straight out the bottom corner of the body. end ID]

I just don't really understand how that position works-- how do you hit enemies with the bottom of a ruan? unless Xinyan's using it like a spear instead of an axe, which defeats the whole purpose of a claymore-user

and in either case, it's just not safe to have the blades out at all times, especially on an instrument that Xinyan has to hold close to her body to even play. so I thought sheathing blades would work

[image ID: the doodle of the ruan on the edit that includes the ruan. each blade is attached to a bar that's visible on the back of the ruan's body, which can be pulled from the center to the side of the body in order to unsheathe the blade. end ID]

I'm aware that the bars would prolly make ruan uncomfortable to strap against Xinyan's back, so I might have to workshop it a bit more. but for now, I'm happy with this little battle-axe redesign

[aheckinmess]

Songbird [Tokoyami] (Fluff)

(One-shot 13/? in a collection of My Hero Academia one-shots posted regularly on Saturdays - and sometimes Sundays.)

Read on AO3.

Tags: Tokoyami x OC, Fumikage Tokoyami, Dark Shadow, Original Female Character(s), Ichijiku Aoki, Tokoyami Fumikage-centric, Tokoyami Needs a Hug, Tokoyami is a Cutie, Dark Shadow is the Best Wingman, Cute Dark Shadow, OC Likes to Sing, Tokoyami Likes Apples, So She Sings, And He Invites Her to the Apple Orchard, I Dunno, I Think It's Adorable, Includes Walks On the Beach, And the Stars Keeping Their Secrets, Songbird

Word Count: 792 Words

Summary: When Tokoyami overhears Ichijiku singing to the stars, he decides to take a chance asking her a serious question.

Ichijiku (Tigress)

The full moon stretches toward the sky as my friends laugh with each other on the beachfront. I grin at their joy and continue my stroll by the ocean waves as sand squishes between my toes.

Stars wink down at me as I attempt to pick out their stories, sifting through the twinkling lights with keen eyes until they paint a picture of star-crossed lovers and tyrannical kings. My feet wander of their own accord and I shove my hands in my pockets as the autumn wind raises goosebumps on my skin. Soon, winter will dance across our toes with snowflakes and I’ll go from a stroll on the beach to a pair of ice skates on a frozen pond. 

A smile tickles my lips as anticipation for snow and Christmas floods me down to the tips of my toes. Christmas makes me think of snow makes me think of falling flakes makes me think of a song from my favorite Disney movie.

I pause in my journey and look around to make sure I’m alone. I sit in the sand and when the coast seems clear my eyes close as sweet notes serenade the seagulls and sea life.

“Silent as the snowflake in the night,

holy is the spirit of this night.

All the world is calm and peaceful,

all the world is bright and joyful…” 

I hum the rest as I rest my chin on my knees and watch the shimmering bioluminescence of fascinating creatures at sea splash into the ocean, wave after wave. Lapping water harmonizes with the refrain as the song ends and I’m left with the soothing background noise of nature.

Daydreams of my feathered classmate dancing with me in moonlight skirts my mind until his voice caresses my ear, no longer a fantasy. 

“You sound like a songbird.” His deep voice whispers.

I gasp and jolt to my feet, eyes snapping open as a blush paints my cheeks. 

“T-Tokoyami! H-Hi! Sorry. Hi. I didn’t hear you.” I sputter, before his comment registers and my cheeks turn a shade darker. “Oh, um, thank you? It scares me to sing in front of strangers.” 

“My apologies, Songbird,” He grins and gives a bow of his head as Dark Shadow squawks and swoops over to nuzzle me. “Your sweet singing helped me soothe Dark Shadow.”

“Oh! That’s right,” I stroke the foggy mass of Dark Shadow’s face. “You get rowdy at night, don’t you, my cloudy companion?”

A sad chirp whistles past Dark Shadow’s nostrils but he tips his head into my palm. I rub my thumb over the cool, momentarily tangible clouds of his cheek.

“You…” Tokoyami begins, but when I meet his eyes he looks away and shuffles the sand with his feet. A moment passes before he looks back up at me. “Would you like to go to the apple orchard with me this weekend?”

I stop petting Dark Shadow as it’s my turn to stare at my feet.

“Y-Yeah. I would like that.” I answer before I can chicken out. Maybe I should clarify what he means by that. What if he just wants to go because we’re friends? “Are we going as friends?” 

“If you’d like,” Tokoyami’s feathers bristle against his head for a moment. He takes a shaky step toward me. “However, I was hoping you’d go with me as my date?” 

“Really?” My head whips up, eyes bright with enthusiasm. I swallow and play with my hair to calm down and not look so desperate. “I mean, I’d like that. I was hoping that’s what you meant.” 

Awkward silence simmers between us until Dark Shadow drapes around us, pulling me into a solid, warm chest. I look up and Tokoyami nuzzles his cheek against mine.

“Will you sing for us again?” He asks.

“Of course.”

After a few refrains of my favorite lullabies, I yawn and rest my head against his chest. But my eyes fly open when he sweeps me into his arms. 

“Ah!” My arms squeeze his neck as I regain my bearings. “What are you doing?”

“Carrying you back to your house, if you’ll allow me.” He coos.

“I don’t mind, but I know I’m heavy. Are you sure?” I barely breathe, as if any exhale of oxygen will crush him beneath me.

“I’m sure.”

He sets me down when we reach the door, for which I’m grateful. If Naomi caught me walking in at this hour, she’d ground me for life.

“Thank you for this evening.” I whisper, head whipping around every few moments as I listen for my live-in nanny. “I hope you’ll join me again sometime?”

“I’d be delighted.” He nods.

And the stars giggle above as I stand on my tip-toes and kiss his cheek.

[spicydirtymatcha]

dbl extras || carrie

summary: thought i'd give you guys a rundown on how i imagined present-day carrie to be! help with imagining the story a bit. hope you love her as much as i do. reference pics or ““reference”” pics included

- full name: carina christina panganiban-st. james

- dob: august 26, 1998

- height: 5’8

- zodiac sign: virgo

- love language: words of affirmation

- skin tone through the winter, spring/fall, summer:

- miss girl is 10000% filipino! so jot that down

- she looks darker when she wears a white tee and she’s tan; she loves it (happens to me in the summer and it’s my fave thing)

- in tagalog “brown-skinned” is “moreno/a”

- her mom’s side would make comments when she was a kid about how dark she would get and the amount of comments grew when baseball became more serious

- her dads tried their best to shield her from the comments but they couldn’t protect her from everything :(

- anyways back to the fun stuff

- extroverted with introverted tendencies but since having penelope she has become more introverted but it tends to go away around friends and family

- hair colour: naturally dark brown but she does like to dye it

- feeling like this is the move for present day carrie

- ily jed 🫶🏼

- hair length: usually likes to keep it long, gave herself a buzz cut (with the help of her dads and pen) during the pandemic bc she was bored; now it’s grown out nice and long once again

- piercings? yes definitely

- left ear: double lobe, helix, flat, double forward helix

- right ear: double lobe, industrial, conch

- and maybe a cute lil septum piercing 😌

- don’t ask me how she could afford all this lol

- gets her nails done whenever she can, they’re cute or whateva

- loves cooking, loves being in the kitchen

- her dads however hate her in the kitchen bc she’s a mess, she doesn’t clean as she goes 💀

- definitely can sing, girl’s got pipes

- have tattoos? yeah, she’s got ideas

- even wears makeup on game days! i’m not talking a full face beat but she has her eyebrows done, eyeliner, and mascara on; keeps lipgloss in one of the pockets of her pants (they’re on a rotation)

- her teammates think she’s funny for keeping a sunscreen stick at the back of the dugout when she spends all nine innings with a mask on but they don’t know the harm of the UV rays! they don’t!

- fiercely loyal and protective of those she loves and her teammates; she will cut a bitch if needed

- wears glasses, cannot be bothered with contacts (20/20 vision is overrated anyway)

- build: thicccc thighs save lives and she’s got a cute butt she’s not afraid to admit that. i’m imagining rectangle/inverted triangle body shape, toned arms, girl is Strong™

- her kind of style:

- yeah she’s pretty cool :)

[artblockastor]

[ID: multiple digital, colored drawings of the same, pale girl with various hair colors and outfits, all of them including a white surgical mask pulled over her mouth and nose. The first drawing is of the girl, named Buffy, with black, curly hair, dyed a dark green at the ends. She’s wearing a black sweatshirt tucked into a long, flowy black skirt with a studded belt, two chains clipped to the belt, and she has a pair of black boots on. She’s accessorized with a black choker, which displays a vintage cameo charm. The second drawing is of the same girl with dark, blood red hair, the same boots and skirt from the first drawing, a t-shirt with two people kissing on it and the words “Yayx3 Rvnge” (meant to be a parody of the album cover of My Chemical Romance’s album “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge”), with a long, red and black striped cardigan overtop. The third drawing is of Buffy with black rooted hair that’s been dyed dark red for the most part, with blue streaks at the ends, all tied up in a half-up half-down hairstyle. She’s wearing a grey-blue turtleneck sweater with sleeves that almost cover her hands, and a darker grey-blue velvet dress (with a skirt ending at her knees) overtop, along with black tights and black boots. The fourth image is of Buffy with her hair the same colors as last time, but this time in a ponytail. She’s wearing a dark red t-shirt with a grey tank top over it, and an unzipped, sleeveless, black hoodie over that. She also has a black pleated skirt (ending above her knees), black fishnet stockings, black and dark red-striped knee-high socks, and black high-top converse. She’s accessorized with black and red striped elbow-length fingerless gloves, a few leather cord necklaces and bracelets, some red, black, and white wooden beaded bracelets, and a belt with two chains clipped onto it. The fifth image is of Buffy with black and silver-streaked hair, tucked into a navy blue beanie hat, with just the bangs and some strands sitting out in the front. She’s wearing a light grey t-shirt that has some black stick figures on it (one of whom seems to have an American flag draped over their shoulders), and the text “USA: pretty, crazy” (meant to be a parody of the cover of Fall Out Boy’s album “American Beauty, American Psycho”), which she wears with a light blue plaid jacket, black jeans, black converse high tops, and a studded belt with two chains clipped on. End ID]

Hello, y’all!

I’ve had this one character for about four years now, and just like me, she’s dressed like Adam Sandler since her creation. Unfortunately, out of my cast of characters, this one is far from the only poor sweet creation of mine subjected to my tragic lack of style. So, I figured it was about time I at least attempt to fix that.

I figured I should start off this series(??) of Character Closet Makeovers with some rather casual outfits for my dear child Buffy Whinsnap.

Most of these outfits are meant to be relatively comfortable, warm (with the option to be less so), and easy enough to maneuver in while still looking cute and being something Buffy would enjoy. She takes a liking to many different clothing styles, but seems to like outfits from alternative-inspired styles, like goth, scene, and cottage/forestcore. Here we mostly see outfits inspired by gothic and scene-esq ideas, but Buffy likes to keep her number of clothing pieces relatively low, and also loves being able to show off the band tees and trinkets she’s collected. I hope to add more forest/cottagecore outfits in the more formal addition to her closet makeover.

I like adding little tags describing or giving insight on some objects/clothing pieces! Apologies if my handwriting is illegible :’)

I know this outfit isn’t technically true or traditional goth, but it’s as best as Buffy can really do right now with her income and allergy to plastics. Most of her clothes are cotton or some other natural fiber. The only time she can really afford to wear any sort of plastic is if it’s not going to touch her skin. Because of her having allergic reactions to coming into contact with plastic, she often wears long sleeves and sometimes even gloves in crowded public areas to avoid being hurt. Also yeah I was thinking of Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice whilst drawing this what of it sue me I can’t help the fact that she’s pretty and iconic and that I’m definitely attracted to women admit it you think she’s pretty too

Buffy loves her Our Chemistry’s Affair “Yayx3 Revenge” shirt almost as much as she loves not having to look people in the eye by just ✨having her hair cover her eyes✨ My girl’s like five feet tall, the only ones capable of looking her in the eye are toddlers, hyper elementary schoolers, and anxious insecure middle schoolers who are too busy or anxious to look her in the eyes anyway. The perks of Not Talking and having fluffy hair ig.

Her cardigan is cozy, but also slips off easily. This may sound annoying, but she actually appreciates it. If someone’s chasing her and grabs the tail of her cardigan, or it gets caught on something, she can just keep running and it won’t hold her back. Then she can go back later because who would let a good cardigan go to waste like that

This is one of her more generic outfits, yes, but there are several perks to it!

The long sleeves help keep her warm, which is good already (temperature regulation who?), but the sleeves are really long and can be unfolded to be used as grips or mitts to handle hot or rough things. Her corset may not seem super conventional, but it’s actually helpful in many ways. It can be used to hide thinner things (paper money, cards, small pouches of medicines, etc), and is made of quality leather and reinforced with interlocking wooden plates which can help protect against blunt force and stabbing attacks.

This outfit was really fun to design! I wanted to give her a brighter, more energetic, scene-inspired outfit. I would’ve given her the early 2000s knee-high Converse, or platform Converse, but let’s be honest: she’s not going to spend that long lacing up shoes, and there’s no way she’d be able to run and fight in five-inch platforms atm.

Buffy never goes anywhere without a long-sleeved shirt or jacket, and I’m well aware of this. Problem is, I REALLY wanted to give her those elbow-length, striped fingerless gloves. So I decided to commit a “fashion atrocity” (or so I’ve been told) and give her a sleeve-optional hoodie. To be honest, I think it looks okay. Something popular in the scene fashion is LAYERS. So many layers. Everywhere. So I figured a third and obvious layer could work with this outfit. What do you think? Buffy thinks it’s a good idea despite the potential judgement, because detachable sleeves have many uses. Hot? Take the sleeves off. Cold? Put the sleeves back on. In need of an emergency rope? Take a sleeve off and use it for that. Also in need of a makeshift tourniquet? Sleeve. Maybe we should all just start wearing detachable sleeves in case someone grabs/stabs at us?

I feel like Buffy would’ve loved wearing khandi jewelry, with all of their fun colors and patterns, and ability to easily cover scarring and stains, but khandi in the scene fashion is almost always made of plastic, and Buffy’s not going to subject herself to allergic reactions just for fashion and some nice clinking noises. So, she got some khandi bracelets made out of wooden beads! And the good news is that they can be used to start a fire in an emergency, so she feels carrying these random bracelets around is justified. I would’ve given her some coon tail hair extensions too, but I didn’t really know how to work those into her hair, since she tries to avoid using heat on her hair and therefore wouldn’t be straightening it, so the coon tails might look out of place.

Buffy usually tries to avoid wearing lighter colors due to stain risks (pasta sauce, dirt from falling off her horse, stab wounds, ink tears, etc.), but one of her few exceptions (“you are the only exception”) is her gray Nuclear Boii t-shirt (yes I will be drawing off-brand band tees until the day my soul passes on), and the light blue flannel she likes pairing with it. The good news is that this flannel is vintage and made of quality materials, which means that (despite the slashes and holes Buffy’s had to sew and patch up) it’s more durable and easier to use in situations that call for bindings and blankets. Her only real problem with this flannel though, is that it’s hard to add hidden pockets to it because you’d see the bulging. Good news is that bobby pins exist for the sake of her beanie. She can’t hide too much inside of the beanie itself, but her hair is thick and abundant, and could easily hypothetically stash money, meds, needles, thread, and/or a knife or two. Who knows what’s in there? Just don’t touch the hat. Or the hair. Or her, in general. She’s low-key germaphobic. There’s a reason she almost never leaves her house without a mask on.

Anyway, thank you for glancing in the direction of this post! And if you’ve gotten this far, then.. what are you doing? Go get some rest. You’ve come a long way through the seas of my endless rambling.

TL;DR: I like designing outfits every now and then, and apparently I like to rant?

Stay tuned for more, assuming the art block doesn’t prevail!

[tellthatbrokebitch]

for wip wednesday, from my stick season au, mike coming back to hawkins and interacting with karen and nancy

When he pulls into a familiar driveway, in front of a familiar house, there’s a familiar woman standing in the garage. She visibly lights up when she sees him through the windshield and hurries forward to hover by the hood as he puts the car in park and turns off the engine. Karen Wheeler has always been beautiful, and age has been kind to her. Even now, with grief and exhaustion weighing heavy on her spirit, she looks well put together in jeans and a light green blouse. Her hair is blonde with darker roots growing in, her eyes tired but smiling as she waits to greet him. As he steps out of the car and is swept up into her arms, it strikes him how familiar it all really is, how something in him calms at the smell of the detergent Karen Wheeler has used for decades that invades his nose as he buries his face in her shoulder.

“Michael,” she says, doing her best to enfold all six feet of him into her arms and mostly succeeding. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you.” Drawing back, she studies him closely, shrewd eyes taking in his comfy travel clothes (sweatpants and a different colored sweatshirt; he has no one to impress, and it’s unseasonably cold for October) and clearly finding his physique lacking. “You look thin,” she accuses. “And pale. Do they not have food or sunlight in New York?”

“Not for shut-in hermits who spend all day writing,” he tells her, only half joking. “Hey, Mom. How are you holding up?”

Some of the light dims in her eyes and she sighs. “It’s just… all so sudden. There were no warning signs. And I… I keep expecting to hear him snoring in that blasted chair, and the house is… quiet.” A shadow crosses her face, but she shakes her head and it disappears. She forces a smile that’s mostly genuine. “But not for long!” she continues, moving to help him carry his bags inside and waving away his loud protests. “Robin and the girls will be here tomorrow.”

Mike waits until they’ve entered the house and continued on into the kitchen to ask the obvious. “What about Nancy?”

“Hey, loser.”

The voice comes from behind him, from a space he’d assumed was empty, and he startles and clutches his chest like he’s the one with a heart condition. She’s seated at the table in the dining room, a confusing mess of papers and an open laptop set up in front of her, and she rises from her chair with a tight smile.

He keeps in semi-regular touch with Nancy, receives Christmas cards annually and occasionally stalks her Instagram, but it’s been years since he’s seen her in person. Her hair is the shortest he’s ever seen it, cut into a sassy bob that sways when she turns her head and accentuates her severe jawline. There are marks at the corners of her eyes, the beginnings of crow’s feet that one only gets from constant joy, and she carries them with grace. The skirt of her dress swishes as she rounds the table, and he meets her halfway, reveling in the many inches he has on her now.

“You scared the shit out of me!” he complains even as he pulls her into a hug.

When they part, she’s eyeing him with a look he hasn’t seen in years but vividly remembers, that shrewd, calculating expression that earned her the nickname Nancy Drew in school. Like everything else, it’s achingly familiar, and he has to swallow down the urge to slip back into annoying little brother mode and pull her hair or something. Instead, he floats her a smile he hopes comes across as genuine, and says, “It’s really good to see you, Nance.”

She offers him a smile of her own, just the quirk of her lip, but it’s the same way she’d smile when they were little and he’d done something she actually found cute or sweet. Fond. “You too, Mike.” Taking a step back, she looks him up and down, in exactly the same way their mom had minutes earlier. “You’re too thin,” she says, unconsciously parroting her as well, and Mike throws his head back with a groan.

“Let’s give him a chance to rest, honey,” Karen chides lightly from where she’s - yes - pouring out a cup of coffee. “You want another cup, Nancy?”

“You don’t have to do that, Mom!” Nancy goes to help and Mike takes the chance to peek at the open laptop. It’s open on what looks like an email, and he gets as far as reading the subject line  - “Regarding the obituary of Ted Wheeler” - before he decides that he really isn’t ready for all that yet, and he moves back to his original position just as Nancy rounds the kitchen island to place two mugs on the table, sliding one carefully closer to Mike before taking her original seat with the other cup.

“So,” he begins, settling into the chair across from hers and ignoring the ache in his ass from sitting down again.  “How’s Robin? And the girls, of course.”

Nancy’s face lights up with a tired but genuinely happy smile. “Rob’s great. She’s finishing up some work and then she’s bringing the girls down tomorrow.”

“Cool, cool. And the girls?”

Her expression ripples, like she’s picked up on his deliberate avoidance of using their names, and something behind her eyes tightens. “They’re brilliant,” she says, a slight edge to her voice now. “Bee’s well on her way to sprinting. And Lacey’s in third grade now.”

Lacey and Barbara. Of course. He takes a minute to stir his coffee - milky and sweet, he almost can’t believe his mom remembered how he takes it.  “Wow. Lacey’s, what, seven now?”

“Eight.”

“Eight, right, shit. Sorry. And Bee is…”

“She’s sixteen months. Mike. You sent her a card in June. With a Toys R Us gift card.”

He winces. “Right, you’re… sorry. I’ve been really spacey lately, this deadline is kicking my ass.”

“You’ve been ‘spacey’ the past five years, Mike. You didn’t even fly out when Bee was born.”

Mike falters. There’s genuine hurt in her voice, something he hadn’t expected from Nancy. She knows better than most why he doesn’t visit Hawkins. Of course, not visiting Hawkins isn’t the same as not visiting Indianapolis. He hasn’t seen Lacey since she was three. He called a month after the baby was born to offer his congratulations and sent a check in the mail in lieu of an actual gift. The last time they spoke on the phone - before yesterday’s call, that is - he was just about to start working on his third novel, which meant closing himself off from the world and writing and spiraling and writing and unraveling until he had a rough draft ready to be sent off for its first edit.

That was five months ago.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, it’s just…”

Nancy’s glare softens, and she drops her head to rest on one hand, like it’s too heavy to hold it up by herself. “I understand, Mike. doesn’t mean it isn’t shitty.”

He nods. 

[ladyelissarose]

Hey I'm know it's lowkey random but I have a request and it's a weird but random storyline but can you do a storyline with Jake Seresin aka Hangman that he come from outer space as a and he live in Texas and met this woman whom he fell in love and went into the navy?

For my sweet dearest friend ❤️❤️❤️ @entertainmentgal8

I give you this!! Let me know if you like☺️☺️🌻

‘From Another World’

Alien Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x black female reader, named Alexa

Summary; After you lost a good friend of yours, you haven’t felt great lately. You’ve been missing that ‘out of the world’ feeling… until a certain, ‘strange but great’ stranger, changes your life.

Warnings: none really, just a cute little story with an interesting plot. Much fluff and some angst, but not much ;)

It was a warm, sunny afternoon in Texas, as Alexa tended her floral garden in her grandfather’s ranch. She was on leave for the Navy, so she took the chance to come back home and spend time there. Things hadn’t been as exciting as she hoped it would, but she was still glad with what she had. Her black, braided hair was up in a pony tail and hiding under a sun hat as she worked hard to put the new potted plants into the ground carefully. Alexa was very careful and gentle with her plants, they were like her children. Her caring heart was just as beautiful as her gorgeous looks, she swore that every time she saw her plants again they stood up to her and bloomed brighter. But outside her home and her garden, Alexa was a tough token to break in the Navy, a cold flyer and almost the most perfect one they had seen. They only one that had seen through Alexa’s façade of sternness was her best friend Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd, and he also knew that she had been looking for a good man to settle down with. He had tried to help her out with finding guys, setting up dates, everything, but nothing ever ended up well or lasted. So for now Alexa told him that she’d take a break from looking, and maybe wait for destiny, to drop one from Heaven into her hands. 

Few days later....

As Alexa almost finished up with her long list of relaxing skincare, she lastly was putting on some ointment on her chocolatey smooth skin, soothing it all over to cover every delicate spot. She had some sweet music playing, to fill the atmosphere with a soft melody, to wash away the silence, and that’s when she suddenly heard a loud roaring outside, like a plane falling hard. Chills ran up her spine along with a rush of nervousness if not fear, making her get up from her vanity chair, and running to the window. But all she saw was a bright ball of light, come crashing down onto her garden like a large explosion. A gasp escaped her lips at the sight she beholded, and it didn’t take long before she was running outside to see if anyone was injured. What she approached was only a large hole in the middle of her once, floral and large garden, and it more than anything left her confused. She walked up to it slower as she called out worriedly while cupping her mouth,

 “Hello?! Is everyone ok?!”

For a few seconds she was met with silence until a low groan was heard.

“ughhh...”

Alexa immediately, while forgetting all precautions she ran to the hole and slipped inside, and met quite a sight. A man was wrapped up, like a ball, holding himself together as he continued to groan and whimper in pain. Alexa felt her heart skip a beat in worry, as she got closer look. In the moon light she could make out that this stranger had blond hair, and light skin, unlike her who adorned darker skin and dark hair. She knelt down beside him with a hint of fear beating in her heart as she called out softly,

 “Are you ok?-“

“WOAH WOAH WOAH!!”

“OH MY GOD!!”

At the sound of Alexa’s voice he jumped up and crawled backwards, away from her as his jaded eyes grew wide and filled up with fear. Alexa has jumped back as well from his reaction and tried to keep clam as she watched him panic,

 “Wh- where am I? I-I don’t know-“

Alexa sat up and raised her hands towards him slowly as she worded as best as she could,

 “We are in Texas- sir are you ok?”

He looked at Alexa with the most confused face ever, and then he stood up, showing her his well built frame and tall stature, as he whispered in shock,

“Texas... wait- that’s Earth right?”

Alexa then stood up slowly, and replied confused too,

“Yeahhh... we’re in Earth? Why are you asking-“

He took a step closer to her as he tried to explain as he saw Alexa look at him quite unsure of the whole situation.

“Because I’m not from here... I’m come from another planet. That’s... not Earth.”

Alexa thought that he was probably joking, but it seemed serious when she saw his bleeding cuts, come out in blue streaks, not red like regular humans. But she wanted to see how far she could push, to see if he really was indeed was telling the truth, and not causing a disaster in her garden and tried to turn it into a lie to cover it up. So she grew a little curious and bit back,

 “I call bullshit on that... there’s no such thing as aliens you know that right?”

Alexa watched as his face dropped in hurt and how he bit his bottom lip sadly, like if your words indeed really hurt his heart. She couldn’t help but feel a little bad about what she said to him, his handsome face showed sadness and even his jaded eyes seemed to have grown darker. 

 ‘Maybe he’s right?...’

She thought this as her eyes followed his every move, which right now he was at first gawking at her with awe in his eyes, then he was looking up at the skies and admiring the glowing stars. He indeed looked like he was lost, so she then changed her tone of voice and tried to ask kindly,

 “So... what’s your name alien boy? I’m Alexa.”

His eyes snapped to Alexa’s as he ruffled his already tousled hair and shyly replied,

 “Oh... nice name Alexa... so uh- People call me Jake.. and umm.. from where I come from, I fight wars against enemies in the skies... in these like, cool machine things that they call jets. Or like how I like to call them, ‘Flying Bulls.’ Cause man they are fighting beasts.”

 His last sentence made Alexa chuckle a little, calming her nerves quite a bit. He still looked quite disoriented to her, and she also saw how damaged her garden was... so she offered,

 “Look... if it’s true that you’re not from Earth, which is still bazaar to me... I’ll let you stick around until you can find a way home... if you fix up my now ruined garden.”

“sorry... I lost control of my jet.. and landed here. But Yeah! I’ll definitely fix it up. And is it ok though if you... um.. help me look for a place where I can find like.. jets and stuff? Do you guys-“

 “Yes, I work in what we call the Navy, where we fight wars in the ocean, water. And well.. they have jets too, hopefully similar to yours. Where’s yours anyways?”

Jake looked around and picked up a small box from a floor, and showed it to you as he said in an explaining tone.

 “Well... sense where I come from doesn’t want anyone else knowing our technology, once we enter into a different atmosphere... the jet basically ejects me and turns into this tiny box, keeping it all safe.”

 Alexa had her brows raised high, as he tried to demonstrate it, and she could only then believe him. Plus, a spark in her chest had embarked at seeing Jake, she didn’t want it to go down, and it felt good too. And also... now someone interesting came into her life, and from out of this world. 

Weeks later.....

Little by little Alexa learned more about Jake and grew to like him more. She loved his great and sweet personality, and had a blast with his cocky and sassy attitude. She also liked how his eyes glowed so nicely at night, and how oddly enough, he bled blue. She also grew very curious about his planet, he spoke highly of it’s beautiful nature and different sceneries. And she was grateful for his help, for it only took a few days for him to fix up her garden and put everything back together. He even made it nicer with some new things he had planted there. She taught him also how to live on Earth, showing him the new scenery and different good foods. She also taught him how to drive their cars and manage through life there. And Jake grew to love Alexa’s patience and trust in him, he was happy to see how well they got along, and how she was willing to do so much for him. And soon they grew really close, close to the point where they started staying in the same bed, cherishing one another’s company. Jake had seen other kinds of women, especially from his planet, but his heart had already chosen, that he didn’t want to go anywhere else in this world, but stay with Alexa. He was worried that she wouldn’t believe him, or help him, though he at first actually wanted to find a way back to his planet, but now, he wanted to stay forever with Alexa. Alexa had helped him with alot of stuff, as Jake tried to crack the little box, to get back to his planet. But she too, had grown to liking him with her, that she started to show him other projects to work on, so he’d stay longer. But sadly, Alexa then realized that she had to go back to the Navy, Her vacation time had run out. And now she had to sit down with Jake, and tell him. And that night, she had realized as well, that Jake had cracked the box, that could bring his jet back so he could go home. But she didn’t know how to tell him to stay, and she and him didn’t even tell each other how they felt, so she called her best friend, Bob to see if he could give her some good advice...

On the phone with Bob...

“I don’t know Bob... what if he gets upset that I want to keep him here... with me on Earth?”

Bob sighed sadly as he replied, already knowing Jake’s story.

“I’d hope he wouldn’t.. considering how he’s behaving with you. Did you tell him about going back to the Navy yet?”

“No... I haven’t... we haven’t talked about anything yet ever sense he fixed up his jet.”

“Then.. I’d suggest that you do Alexa. Be brave and honest as you always are, maybe you’ll get good results from that.”

“You think so Bob?”

“I know so.. now go talk to him before it’s too late, let me know what happens please, I’ll come over if I need to.”

“Thanks Bob, I appreciate your help.”

“Anytime sugar, love you.”

“Love you too Bob.”

Later that night....

One of Alexa’s and Jake’s favorite thing to do was to lay on the soft grass in her garden and look up at the stars, they always shone so beautifully and it was fun to find the constellations. Jake pointed out some new ones Alexa had never seen, and so did she with him. This night in particular, Jake had laid closer to her, seeking comfort in her warmth. Alexa noticed this, and craved the same, but was worried to get any closer to him, as she was nervous about everything. Jake pouted sadly when she moved herself a little bit away from him, and he bravely reached over to grasp her arm gently, as he asked calmly,

“Are you ok.. Alexa?”

Alexa turned to look at his gorgeous jaded eyes, and sighed with a lie,

“Yeah.. of course.”

She then wanted to change the subject on herself, and instead focus on him as she then asked,

 “Are you... leaving back to your planet soon. Sense you fixed your jet?”

 Jake stopped looking at Alexa, and looked back at the stars, dreading what he really wanted to say, and in her nervousness that maybe he was going to say yes, Alexa panicked,

“Well- um, you know you can go back to your planet-“

Jake then sat up with a hurt expression as he interrupted,

“-You don’t want me here?”

Alexa sat up along with him and tried to correct herself before it got worse.

“No no no- I didn’t mean it that way. I promise-“

“Then what did you mean?”

By this point the tension had grown, which caused Alexa to the spit out,

 “I’m going back to the Navy. I’m leaving.”

Jake glanced at Alexa sadly and then asked,

 “So you’re leaving me to go there? What about me-“

 “What do you mean ‘what about me?’ Aren’t you going back to your planet sense you fixed your jet-“

 “I thought it was cause you wanted me to go, if not... if not...”

And then Jake lost his words, unable to say what he had been wanting to say ever sense the first night he met Alexa and she took him under her wing. Alexa couldn’t see what he wanted to say, and believed that maybe he really did wanted to go, sense now he knew she was leaving to go back to the Navy. With pain tugging at her heart, Alexa then stood up and wanted to walk home to get her bags ready, but Jake rose to his feet and pleaded,

“Listen to me Alexa, please…”

Jake’s eyes glowed in the dark so brightly, they were hard to look away from, you felt so drawn in by them that you neared closer. You took a deep breath in trying to maintain yourself calm, and understanding, as you asked Jake in a low voice,

 “Ok… what do you have to say?”

With a quick glance between his shoes and yours, he then looked back you you and bit his bottom lip nervously, not quite ready to say what he needed to say. And at seeing this and his hesitation, you grew a little more upset, for your patience was growing thin. Everything that has happened in the past few months has been very overwhelming and overall confusing, and all you wanted was an end to it all or at least some stability. You huffed out a frustrated sigh and just felt like Jake was probably not ready to actually speak to you, so you dreadfully made the choice to walk away. But before you could spin around to go, a gentle but firm touch caught your wrist along with rushed words,

 “DON’T GO!! I-I love you!! Ok! I love you and want you! So please stay… let me stay with you Alexa.”

 Your jaw dropped in shock at those heartfelt and unexpected words, they all pierced your heart in a way you have never felt before, but it didn’t feel painful, it felt… welcoming and warming. Jake let go of your wrist to grab at your both hands in his as he went on to explain,

 “I left everything in my life to find someone and something new. That’s fresh and beautiful, loving and accepting.. creative and smart.. daring.. just- just so wonderful.. like you. Everything that I have ever wanted, I can see through and in you Alexa. So if you’re leaving back to the Navy, take me with you... I can’t live without you.”

Alexa felt her heart squeeze in awe at his words as she grabbed a hold of his hand holding her wrist, as she questioned,

“so you... don’t want to go back?”

Jake rapidly shook his head,

“No... no. I want to stay with you... if you’d let me-“

“OF COURSE!! I love you too Jake!!”

Alexa threw herself into Jake’s arms and started to pepper kisses all over his face, bringing out his sweetest smile and giggles. Jake then lifted her off the ground, and held her close as he kissed her head,

“thank you... for seeing a chance in me... even though.. as you always say. I’m your Handsome Alien.”

Alexa pulled away to look into Jake’s eyes, as she leaned close to his lips and confirmed happily,

“You are my Handsome Alien, Jake. And now... I’ll have to get a few people to help me, to get you some kind of citizenship. So you can stick with me forever... and then... I’ll get you in the Navy... mister Alien Pilot from another world.”

Jake chuckled at your words, and couldn’t help but ask,

“May I kiss you pretty girl? Sense you’re so sweet and now you’re mine- oomph!!”

Alexa stopped his rambling and planted a sweet big kiss on his lips, already promising herself that she could never ever be more happier, without him. He was so perfect for her.. even if he came from another world.

A few months later....

Alexa and Jake soon we’re now living together, but on the Navy base. Maverick and Iceman helped Alexa get Jake his citizenship and his way into the Navy, so he could become a pilot. And Jake proved he could fly, when he was known to be the best there in every way. Everyone grew to like Jake, and Bob especially liked him, but always told him to protect Alexa if not he’d talk (give him a good beating) to him seriously. Alexa was very happy with her new man, her alien man, who was handsome and charming, sweet and respectful, perfect in every way for her. And never in her life would she complain, that he came from out of this world, she loved him too much. And Jake, was proud that he had found Alexa, and didn’t regret ever leaving his planet, to find and fall in love with such a beautiful woman.