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kooktrash · 1 year ago

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his special secret II | kim taehyung

summary: getting into a relationship with your professor was never in your agenda. you knew it was wrong on some level but it was hard to think of that when he made you feel so good. now it’s been some time since you got together and the secrets are slowly unraveling but who says it’s all bad?

➢ genre/au: college art professor!tae x art student!y/n [she/her… afab] [age gap 9 years]

➢ 13.5k words

warnings: smüt. secret relationship. tae is 30, y/n is 21. oral [f]. make out. groping. tae is divorced. both got cheated on in past. jealous tae. dirty talk. makeout in art closet. y/n is confident but going thru it. professor x student. missionary. tae’s ex finds out and she’s a bitch. y/n is kinda closed off but works on opening up to him. tae thinks everything y/n does is cute. changed it so Namjoon is the ex. fluff ending

THIS IS THE FINAL PART. read part one

You felt utterly ridiculous. You know you agreed to dress as a bunny tonight but clearly you didn’t think things through.

One, it’s kind of cold. You’re at a house party but with everyone going in and out, windows open, ie, you’re cold. The costume was an extremely vague definition of a bunny costume. You were dressed in mostly black, a simple black mini skirt with faux black fur on the hem, a black top, back bunny ears and tail. You even had gloves that turned to mittens if you flipped them up and it made them look like paws. You just weren’t dressed warmly.

Two, you’ve been hit on a lot more than usual. It’s probably the fact that everyone’s drunk at this point and you’re wearing very little clothes. Usually you would play along, never giving in, but you know… playing nice. If the conversation went well then you would get more involved but tonight you couldn’t do that. No, you won’t do that. You and Taehyung… you’re dating but also not? It’s a very tricky situation yet it also made perfect sense. It’s lowkey, the lowest of lows but that didn’t mean you could flirt with people right? That’s why you’re slightly uncomfortable being hit on tonight—probably because of this stupid bunny costume.

“We look so fucking stupid,” you groaned as you chuffed back your drink fully in hopes of getting drunk enough that you won’t think about it.

“It’s all Jungkook’s fault.”

“Woah! I thought this was a classy party so let’s not point fingers now,” Jungkook said in pink bunny ears because he thought it would be so funny dressing like a bunny. In reality he had no costume and Bora was between choosing pink or white and when she decided on white Jungkook was stuck with the pink. He begged you to trade but you had an entire outfit already so you weren’t going to now.

His hands were up in surrender,

“Jungkook, it’s your fault. We were only supposed to be bunnies, you could’ve done literally anything else,” Bora said, making Jungkook roll his eyes.

“That would’ve looked so stupid Bora, are you dumb? Three bunnies at least makes it look like we planned this all ahead for pictures — which we need to take soon,” Jungkook said pointing at you two.

“Whatever you want to do, let's do it now because I’m not staying long,” you said as you typed away on your phone. You have been talking to Taehyung for a while through text and he will be coming for you soon.

“Why?” Bora asked as she twirled a piece of your hair between her fingers casually throwing in a compliment about how nice it looked.

“I’ve got work tomorrow and I have assignments to do,” you said as you locked your phone and put it down.

Jungkook’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “It’s late as hell, you’re not gonna do assignments.”

You looked back at him with a poker face, “I have to try.”

“Y/n, you bullshitting me?” He asked with an amused expression.

“Probably.”

“Are you seeing someone?” He asked skeptically. All the signs are there, he's just trying not to jump to conclusions.

“I already told you no,” you rolled your eyes.

“Wait, why do you think Y/n is seeing someone? Are you seeing someone?” Bora asked, looking between you two confused.

“No, I’m not,” you said to her plainly.

“You’re a liar with pants on fire,” Jungkook said with a scoff. He really just wants to know, he has an idea on who with but he can’t just say it.

“I’m not wearing pants,” you said and he was so close to choking you out because why are you being so condescending?

“It’s a metaphor.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard it before but I don’t get it, I know it’s probably some history joke but it just doesn’t make sense, right?” You said with a little laugh making him nod his head in agreement.

“Wait. Stop changing the subject. Who are you seeing?” He said.

You laughed, “No one.”

“Y/n.”

“Jungkook.” You repeated in the same tone he used with you.

“Bora.”

“Bora shut up,” you and Jungkook said at the same time.

“Sorry that I don’t know what you guys are talking about,” Bora said with a scoff. As much as you loved Borea, she was the slowest of you three and never caught onto things as quickly. You’re not surprised that Jungkook suspected this since he brought it up the other day but you wanna see how long you can deny it.

“Go somewhere else then for a couple minutes,” Jungkook said pointing at a random corner of the party trying to direct her over there.

“You guys suck,” she said, flipping you off.

“Love you Bora,” you said with a wave as she walked away.

“Liar.”

“Why don’t you just admit you’re dating someone?” Jungkook asked and this time you couldn’t take the annoyance that was brewing.

“Jungkook, why are you pushing it? What does it matter?” You asked running your fingers through your hair to move it out of your face.

“Because I have my suspicions and if I’m right I want to at least make sure you’re okay,” he said and he was being honest. The last guy you dated cheated on you and the one before that was a manipulator so he feels like as a close friend of yours he has a right to make sure you’re not seeing another asshole.

“What are your suspicions?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest.

“You’re dating someone from campus.”

“Dating but in the loosest of term,” you said.

He rolled his eyes, “Alright seeing, you’re seeing someone on campus.”

“Okay sure.”

“But not a student,” he said, waiting to see if you’d react but you didn’t so much as blink.

You huffed in annoyance, “Stop speaking in incomplete sentences and just spit it out if you know.”

“Your professor.”

Your jaw dropped, “You did not just say that.”

Okay, you knew he thought you were seeing someone but there’s no way you two were obvious enough for Jungkook to notice. What a hypocrite you were as if you didn’t just tell him to spit it out.

“I did,” he said with a triumphant smirk now that he got an actual reaction out of you. You fought like little kids but it might be because you’re both just a teensy bit drunk.

“Jungkook, I'm not seeing my—him, and don’t say that again, someone might hear,” you whispered the last part.

“Alright, first of all you told me to spit it out, second don’t deny it, Y/n,” he said, making you roll your eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Deny. Deny. Deny.

“Girl, I just know. Bora’s been joking nonstop about it and I think you really did sleep with him at least. You’ve been ditching us more — which is normal… but I’m just saying, you won’t even tell us who it is. You’re being so secretive about it and it makes me think it’s him. Plus, any time I’m walking past the art room or walking you there I always see the way he looks at you. And what do you do? Well you get all blushy but nervous and guess what I found the other day? A big fat hickey on his neck the same day he got mad I was in the room,” Jungkook with w gasp at the end from how fast he rushed everything out.

“Jesus Christ, you’ve been holding all of that in?” You asked with a little laugh.

“Yes! I have, so I’m literally begging you Y/n just tell me I’m right,” Jungkook said.

“Fine! You’re right, I’m sleeping with him,” you groaned but he just cheered.

“Oh thank god,” he said, holding a hand to his chest, “You got a few screws loose or something?”

“You’re so dramatic.”

“And you’re so fucked.”

You didn’t argue on that as you released a sigh, “Yeah, I know.”

“So is he gonna come pick you up?” Jungkook asked now and you nodded your head as you checked your messages where Tae texted that he would be here in five minutes. He raised a hand to your black bunny ears and flicked the headband back, “Be safe.”

You smiled as he left your side, that was your best friend’s way of saying he would support you and your decisions. When Taehyung arrived shortly after you left the apartment door hugging your sides feeling a lot more naked now than you did inside the party.

Outside the building a guy dressed in an oversized gray hoodie, black ball cap, and black sweats stood at the door waiting and he turned to look at you, you smiled. You looked behind you as if you would see someone you knew coming down the stairs and when it was clear you practically ran to him.

Taehyung released a soft laugh as you nearly jumped on him looking exactly like you were supposed to, a cute bunny overly excited to see him. Why did you make him smile so much when it’s just the two of you?

“I’m cold,” you said with a pout as you hugged his waist, “I forgot my jacket at Jungkook’s place.”

“Mm,” he hummed, his thumb caressing your cheek softly as he couldn’t stop himself placing at least one kiss on your lips. It was short and sweet and he was quickly pulling away to take off his hat first. His hair was beginning to get longer and the fluff and waved made it look shaggier than usual. Usually you always see him looking all sexy and professional in class but whenever you get to see him looking like the epitome of boyfriend material, your heart flutters. His long hair shielded his face as he dipped his head down to pull off his big hoodie and handed it to you before slipping his hat back on.

Once it was on he took you by your hand and walked the short distance to where he had the car parked and asked, “Did you have fun?”

“It was alright but too many people,” you said, thanking him for holding the car door open for you. Before you fully got in the car you gave him a quick kiss that had him smiling.

The two of you sat in the car for a moment, the car was on and the overhead lights were on and he just grabbed your hand to press a kiss to your knuckle, “You’re coming over, right?”

“Obviously,” you smiled as you leaned over the console for another kiss. It’s like you just couldn’t keep your hands off each other, he was kissing you back just as eagerly.

The further you leaned back the more Taehyung followed after you and by accident, your bunny ears hit the rear view mirror and knocked them down your head. You whined about the sudden pain while he was hit by one of the black ears making him move back laughing. You smacked your lips in annoyance as you sat back properly and yanked them off. He bit back a smile as he reached up to turn off the light and drive off.

He would be lying if he said he was patient but in truth, he couldn’t wait to have you. You ran for his bedroom chasing each other's mouths and when you were inside, you practically pushed him onto the bed giggling like you’ve just had the best idea ever. Taehyung felt so giddy in the moment and all he could do was smile as you took off his hoodie and slipped back on your bunny ears, “Well? You don’t like my costume? I thought I looked at least a little hot.”

“So cute,” Taehyung smiled boyishly and it took everything in him not to dig his face in one of his pillows. You crossed your arms over your chest rolling your eyes playfully and pretended like you didn’t see his outstretched hand beckoning you forward. You crawled onto the bed knocking the headband off your head as he began to kiss along your arm, guiding you to lay down so he could get on top and kiss you. You gladly let him take the lead, arms wrapping around his neck to hold him while his tongue licked along your lip.

Your legs were spread around him hoisted up at the knee and he took the chance to sit up between them and just take in the sight of you. You looked so pretty and he couldn’t stop himself from pulling on your clothes to get them off. He kissed along your exposed thighs trailing up toward your stomach and purposely skipping your pelvis even if his hands grazed your hip bones.

You wore nothing under your costume and Taehyung would be lying if he said that didn’t make him just a little jealous. It wasn’t anything serious but all he could think about tonight was how many people would hit on you. It’s no secret you were very pretty and he always worried that you’ll realize he’s too old for you and he can’t have that. If it means he has to give you all the pleasure your body can take, he will.

Taehyung looked at your exposed breasts licking his lips. Once your eyes meet he couldn’t help but finally hover over you and press open mouthed kisses to your mounds, swirling his tongue around your nipples in a way that caught you by surprise making your hand circle into his hair. Taehyung tugged a stiff bud between his teeth, rolling the other between his fingertips and you had to bite down on your lip to keep an embarrassing moan from slipping out.

“Tae, please,” you whine, rubbing your thighs together in an attempt to get an ounce of friction between your legs. You would be a liar if you said you hadn’t been thinking about this all night. He hasn’t paid much attention to your gear yet but if he did he would see the clear line of arousal that coated your entrance.

Taehyung lets his lips ghost over your inner thigh, nipping gently at your soft flesh and his fingers seemed to dig into where he bit and spread your legs even further apart.

“I’m trying to appreciate what a pretty bunny I have,” he murmurs, pressing a warm kiss to the spot just below your belly button, “You look so hot, all those pictures you sent me almost made me want to keep you all to myself tonight.”

It was true too. Earlier he had to see his ex at the restaurant and he had wanted to spend the night with you but you had already made plans and he didn’t want to keep you from it. When you showed him your costume he was just alone at his house trying to talk himself out of calling you and asking you to wear it for him and him alone but he knew you should go and have fun with your friends.

In the end he couldn’t stop himself from going to pick you earlier than expected, tired of waiting.

His soft hair brushes against your inner thighs as he finally dips his head between them, finally seeing how wet you were and his fingers dug into your thighs unintentionally, “Baby, how long have you been like this?”

“All night,” you confessed, “Couldn’t stop thinking about you—ngh, fuck.”

Taehyung didn’t even let you finish when his tongue licked your wanting folds, releasing a quiet breath of relief at your taste. He does it a couple times as if testing the water and each time a line of slick connects your cunt to the tip of his tongue when he would pull away.

“Poor baby, I’ll make you feel good, okay?” he breathes.His lips close around your clit so suddenly that your body reacted drastically. Your spine curved off the bed, a hand tightening around his hair pulling on accident and he releases a low groan at the hard tug but it only made him be rougher. He pulled your legs over his shoulders so they weren’t in the way when his tongue lapped at your pool of arousal before coating your clit with it. His arms had hooked around your thighs to keep you from squirming away from him and he could tell you loved his soft manhandling. He purposely nudged his nose against your clit feeling you begin to grind your pussy against his lips seeking your own pleasure and he happily let you use him to get off. Everytime he went lower he dipped his tongue teasingly into your entrance before pulling on your left labia knowing it was more sensitive between his lips to listen to your moans grow louder.

“Taste so sweet,” he hummed in appreciation and finally decided to really put his tongue to work. Taehyung alternated between flicking his tongue over the swollen bundle of nerves and flattening his tongue into your folds and moving it side to side before swallowing it whole in his mouth. He was quite literally making out with your cunt and he held you firmly to keep you from moving away.

You were so close already and he wasn’t easing up when you pulled on his hair in warning, “Tae, I’m so close.”

“Mhm,” he nodded his head, feeling your pussy subconsciously following his head movement to keep his mouth on you, “Go ahead, let go, pretty girl.”

Without much warning a hand left your thigh so that his middle finger can toy on your entrance and before you knew it he was pushing it into your wanton beat. You released a loud whine trying to squeeze your legs around his head to push him back but he only pressed a second finger into your slick. You were so close already and he wasn’t easing up until he tasted your release on his tongue. Taehyung knew exactly where that soft spot behind your pubic bone was and curved his long fingers into it, repeatedly pressing into it every time he thrusted his fingers back in. You have to admit, he eats your pushy bettwr than any guy you’ve ever been with and it’s all because of how experienced he was. You almost felt jealous at the thought of how many times he went down on his wife like this—even if he told you it had been a long time since they were last intimate.

Taehyung was unaware of your growing thoughts, too focused on making you cum and unintentionally he snapped you out of your thoughts when he suddenly pulled his fingers out right before your orgasm hit you and replaced it with his tongue. Immediately your body seemed to react to the change and you pulled hard on his hair as you saw stars.

He kept his grip firm on your leg making sure his tongue licked up all of your release like a dog in search of water.

Even as your body tried to calm down he licked at your clit gently, soothing you down as he messily tried to sneak a hand down to his sweats to tug them down.

You both looked at each other with hungry eyes as he sat back on his haunches to yank his shirt off before moving to take his sweats and boxer briefs off. As if knowing the routine, you reached into his nightstand to find the box of condoms he bought with you and ripped into the package watching him stroke himself for some relief and let it point straight.

You sit up pulling him down by the gold necklace he usually wore and kissed him hard, tasting your own release on his tongue and it was all so messy. His chin was coated in your arousal that rubbed off on you and his stiff cock was in your hands as you worked the condom onto him. Taehyung fell forward making you fall back onto the bed as he pressed his hands into the mattress to keep from crushing you.

“Look at what you do to me, baby,” he groaned as he fucked his hard dick into your fist. You just moaned leading him toward your push and he slid in right between your folds teasingly as he ran his tip along them.

“I need you,” you whisper into his ears as he drops his head down against your chest to watch his cock catch against your opening and finally rock his hips forward.

You couldn’t stop your hips from meeting his and guide him in further with a moan, “Fuck.”

You arch up, pressing your breasts closer to his face and he wordlessly wrapped his lips around a hardened nipple in time with the way he pushed in until he was at the hilt.

“So tight,” he rasps around a nipple; slowly beginning to fuck his long dick inside you. You moan at the tug he made between his teeth when he draws his hips back before fucking into you harder this time. Taehyung was shamefully close to orgasm because of how hard you pulled on his hair and his back was curved up making him practically curl into your body to stuff his cock deeper. Your nails scratched along his back moaning his name, “Taehyung, I can’t—“

God; he turned you on so much and you were already so sensitive. Your legs hooked around his hips, the heels of your feet forcing him even deeper as your walls tightened around his length making him moan, slobbering all over your tits.

“You’re so fucking good to me, Angel,” he fucked you hard and slowly making you feel his entire length. His hair ticked your chin as he pulled his mouth away to trail kisses up your neck until he could kiss your lips. “Why are you so pretty?”

He was looking at you lovingly, driving his dick deeper and deeper and curving his hips at an angle that made him hit your sweet spot everytime.

You can only moan in response when Taehyung tried to pull out halfway but your feet wouldn’t let him and he had to resort to rocking and grinding his hips against yours, practically rutting into you.

“I don’t know,” you finally responded to his rhetorical question. You can feel the familiar tremors of another orgasm starting, making your thighs shake and he doesn’t ease up, determined to making you cum a second time before letting himself go. You dug your nails into his shoulder making him his at the pleasuring pain and your voice rose to a high pitch, “Oh my god, I—I—“

He kissed you hard as your orgasm hit you, making you tighten around his cock so hard that you triggered his own orgasm. “Oh fuck,” he groaned as he rocked his hips, cumming hard into the condom and hugging your body to his listening to your breathless pants.

After a moment to catch your breath, he pulled out carefully, dryly swallowing as he ran a soothing hand up your trembling thighs, “You did so good, you always do.”

“Mhm,” you mumbled, already turning on your side, completely tired out. Taehyung just smiled at the sight of you trying to curl yourself into the blanket and as he watched your eyes close tiredly, he cleaned off the mess from the two of you before crashing down onto the bed next to you.

“Honey, wake up.”

You released a soft moan as you rolled onto your stomach making the comforter wrap around you as you dug your face into the pillow. A low laugh filled the room as Taehyung reached a hand out to your hair. You were quite literally the definition of comfortable sleep. Your hair was a mess because of your eye mask, the sheets were tangled between your legs and you’re spread out on the bed with no care in the world.

He brushed some of the locks out of your face, “Y/n, wake up.”

You huffed as you pulled yourself up enough to reach for your phone and checked the time, a whine left your lips, “Tae, it’s like 11 in the morning, are you crazy?”

He looked at you strangely, “It’s noon, Y/n.”

“And a Sunday,” you told him as you slipped your sleeping mask back on, “You know how late it was when you picked me up from the party, how are you not tired? Plus, I have to work tonight.”

“Fine, sleep all you want then, I’m gonna do some work,” Taehyung said with a slight roll of his eyes. You’re right, it’s a Sunday and typically those are lazy days, especially for Taehyung. He likes to just hang around the house reading, playing classical or jazz, maybe enjoy a coffee outside and you know… having the person you’re seeing join you.

He gets it, he really does. You’re tired and you did have a late night. He did too but he hadn’t gotten tipsy so he’s not hungover. He woke up early and did his usual Sunday habit but once it passed noon he wanted to see if you’d wake up anytime soon. You do work tonight and he probably won’t see you tomorrow so he would like to be with you today but you’re clearly tired.

You have a very chaotic schedule like most college students trying to bounce between strange class times and stranger work schedules so honestly your weeks all look different. He’s got more consistency clearly so he has time to relax and be at home or go out for drinks without having to do things so late. It’s clearly been a little difficult making your schedules align sonce yours is unpredictable. Some days you have early morning lectures and late night shifts. Other times you have three lectures in one day but they’re hours apart and they go well past the sun sets. Some weekends you work, some you don’t. Sometimes you get off early, sometimes you get asked to cover a shift.

Don’t even get him started on your crazy schedule for your art piece for the exhibition. You’re stressed and tired and last night you had your fun.

You went out with your friends, got drunk, danced, did whatever… maybe talked to guys or played a drinking game—just had fun. Then of course the two of you had done some things in the car when you sobered up enough and the night just grew later and later.

So he let you sleep.

Things have been tense for you lately. With school, work, the spring exhibition, balancing your friends and still trying to make time to at least talk to Taehyung, it’s all been too much for you. To make matters worse, you and Jungkook aren’t speaking to each other and if you do it tends to end in an argument over the same thing each time.

“You wanted me to be honest and I was,” you told him as he walked with you to the art room, “So why can't you just trust that I know what I’m doing?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Y/n. You’re my best friend, of course I fucking trust you and that’s not why I keep trying to talk to you about this,” Jungkook said as the two of you stopped in front of the building, “I’m worried for you, alright? How long has it been since you and Hoseok broke up?”

You didn’t say anything because you knew he wasn’t actually asking. He didn’t even give you time to speak anyway, “And when did you hook up with V?”

When Jungkook said V he was referring to Taehyung, it was an easy nickname you could use in public. Once again, Jungkook didn’t give you much time to speak, “I get it, everyone wants to have a rebound and I was all for it, I was joking right there alongside Bora about it.”

“So then what are you trying to say right now?” You asked him with your arms crossed over your chest as you leaned against the building wall with windows, you knew that if Taehyung was inside he would be watching.

Jungkook took a deep breath as he moved to stand close to you, “What I’m saying is I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“I won’t,” you told him but it was very clear he didn’t fully believe it.

The thing is, Jungkook really did care for you. He loved you and it wasn’t in a romantic way, he just loved you as a friend and that wasn’t something up for debate. If Bora was going through this exact situation he would be equally concerned.

It’s not that he has a disliking toward Professor Kim because if anything, it’s the complete opposite. He has a lot of respect for the guy because of his professionalism and what he’s done to help his students. Jungkook doesn’t think Taehyung has bad intentions with you but he also can’t fully support a relationship that has been built because the two of you went through very similar experiences and you’re both still coping.

And you can lie to yourself all you want about how what Namjoon didn’t bother you anymore but Jungkook knows you. He knew that when you were telling him and Bora about it you were fighting back tears. He knows that you didn’t want to confront Hoseok and that you ended it with him so that you wouldn’t have to talk about it again. That’s not coping, that’s ignoring the problem and once again, Jungkook knows you. He knows that if you don’t deal with it any time soon then you’re just going to let it bubble up until one day you just break down and he highly doubts Professor Kim would handle that well.

Taehyung is older, he’s a bit more mature and level headed which is what you need but Jungkook just doesn’t want you to think it’s more than it is so that you end up hurt again. You need to talk with Taehyung and really discuss what kind of relationship you’re both looking for and until then Jungkook can’t fully support it.

He’s not going to sit around and watch his friend get hurt again.

With a reluctant sigh he finally said, “Am I taking you to work later?”

“If you can,” you mumbled as he ruffled your hair with a final goodbye. You waited outside for a moment trying to clear your thoughts.

You’ve known Jungkook for a long time and he’s a very good friend. Honestly sometimes it feels like you don’t deserve the kid, sure he can be immature and annoying at times but at the end of the day he cares deeply for those around him and you feel lucky to be one of them. He’s put up with you for years now so you understand where he’s coming from but you also feel like you’re capable of making your own decisions.

He’s right, you don’t know how your relationship will go with Taehyung but you don’t want to think about that right now.

Right now you want to finish up your work and enjoy the short amount of time you have with Taehyung because despite being so different, it works for you two. It’s almost like you balance each other out and you haven’t felt that way with someone in a while. You know that you have an age gap and it’s not that you think you’re this mature woman who knows everything but you’re also not a kid.

You’re at an age where you’re navigating through adulthood but you also can still say that you are a bit naive on some things and it can make things confusing for you. You know Taehyung doesn’t have bad intentions with you but you also know that he was once a married man to his college sweetheart who broke his heart. A man doesn’t just bounce back from that in a year’s time no matter how much he despises the woman now.

“What are you doing?” Yuna asked so suddenly that you jumped and she smiled, “Aren’t you going in?”

“Yeah,” you said with a sigh as you followed her into the studio for your printmaking class.

You walked past Taehyung like he was nothing more than your professor and he greeted you like you were nothing but a student. It goes like this almost every day you see him on campus but then the night or weekends roll around and it’s an entirely different story. It’s a bit exhausting but you prefer it this way.

“So, uh, you know who came up to me this morning?” Yuna asked, making you shrug curiously as you went to the usual table the two of you worked at, Seungjin already there waiting.

“Namjoon, he asked if I knew where you were but I said no,” Yuna told you, “I don’t know if I was supposed to say yes or not because—well, did you guys break up?”

Seungjin looked at you now, “Wait, you two broke up? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I don’t like telling people my business,” you said in a snappy tone that Seungjin knew you weren’t serious about, “But we broke up before he left.”

Namjoon was just on a two week retreat for his major and that’s the only reason why he stopped blowing up your phone other than that day in the beginning when Taehyung scolded you for walking out. You knew he wasn’t done trying to get you back because even if the relationship was short lived and he cheated, the two of you worked well together. That’s why it bothered the shit out of you that he threw it away when the two of you could’ve been something great.

There’s no point in thinking about it now though because you’ll never take a man who cheated on you back.

“So it’s only been a few weeks?” Yuna asked, “That makes so much sense. I was wondering why you haven’t talked about him or why he seemed so mad when I told him I hadn’t seen you.”

“Are you working tonight?” Seungjin asked, trying to change the subject when he could tell you weren’t feeling it anymore.

In the beginning you barely talked to him and even Yuna, but lately he’s been hanging out with Jungkook a lot and you’ve been talking to Yuna more regularly so you’ve all just become closer friends. Seungjin knows your work schedule because most of the time if Taehyung can’t pick you up, Jungkook does and since the guy is always with Jungkook, he’s basically memorized your work schedule.

“Sadly,” you mumbled as you stared down at your work struggling to find out where to start, “I’ve got so much shit to do it’s stressing me out.”

Taehyung’s gotten a little bit better at hiding what the two of you have but it doesn’t make things easier. He still can’t fully explain your relationship because there’s a lot of factors that play a part in it.

First, your age. You’re both very clearly in different points of your lives even if your age difference isn’t too bad, it’s still not fully acceptable.

It’s not like he’s using the fact that you’re young and a bit naive in his favor because he honestly thinks you’re mature. He’s not going to say you’re mature for your age because he doesn’t like what that saying means. You’re mature because that’s just how you are and it has nothing to do with your age, just your person. He’s not sleeping with you because you’re young but behave like you’re grown.

He’s sleeping with you and talking to you every chance he has because he genuinely enjoys your time. He enjoys sleeping in bed with you and listening to your rants over the littlest things. He likes how enthusiastic you get when you talk about your favorite show or explain the meaning behind your art. He likes that you listen to his own rants about jazz music and which artist is favorite. He likes that you don’t know how to do some things but you’re always looking to learn something new.

Taehyung has gotten used to not being able to interact with you during the day. It’s not that the two of you can’t talk, it's that you shouldn’t. There’s too much tension there any time you do. You can tell by the way he looks at you with warm eyes that turn your insides giddy even if you want to say they don’t. He speaks to you gently and his tone very obviously changes when he’s talking to the others so the both of you are just paranoid to be found out.

The only time he really gets to see you is late at night and that makes him feel like an absolute garbage of a man because he’s not using you for sex. That’s not all he wants but if the only time he gets to see you is after you get off work, then it looks that way, especially considering you’re usually very eager to sleep with him that sometimes he can’t catch up.

“You don’t have class tomorrow, do you?” Taehyung asked as he twisted a lock of your hair around his index finger. You were laying on his chest as some A24 film played on the television in your bedroom. You’ve just finished having sex and now you’re just trying to enjoy some time together before morning comes and you have to go back to acting like there’s nothing between you.

“No, but I’ll be busy with the project,” you mumbled against his chest as you made yourself more comfortable against him.

“I’ve got a meeting in the morning but I’m free the majority of the day, there’s going to be the other teachers so I won’t have to stay,” Taehyung offered up, “Maybe we can do something.”

“I’d like that,” you told him as you tried paying attention to the movie but Taehyung wasn’t as interested. He wanted to talk to you because that’s what people in a relationship should do.

“I saw you and your friend talking outside today, everything okay?” Taehyung asked as you looked up at him.

“Yeah.”

He stayed quiet for a moment as he tried to decipher your expression and what you really meant. He does wish you would communicate a little more. You’re very obviously stressed about numerous things and maybe he could help with it a little but not if you won’t talk to him. He was used to his ex ignoring him in favor of keeping it bottled in and resenting him for her own lack of communication but he doesn’t want that with you. He wants to ask more but he won’t force you to tell him.

“Jungkook figured out about us,” you said before gnawing on your bottom lip in fear that he would be mad. Taehyung took a deep breath as he nodded his head, making you rush to say, “He won’t say anything, trust me.”

“I mean… if you trust him then I do too,” Taehyung said. He knows you’re close with Jungkook and that does make him nervous sometimes but he can’t come out of nowhere and tell you that so he just accepts it.

“And…” you bit your lip once more and Taehyung found himself bringing his thumb up to pull your lip out as it reddened.

“Talk to me,” he said gently. You’re opening up to him little by little but something is clearly on your mind that you’re struggling to say. Every time you get shy and nervous he doesn’t see you as the one who made the first move in his car that night, he just sees someone he cares a lot about looking worried and anxious. He just wants to be here for you.

“My ex has been asking around for me,” you told him honestly and he took a deep breath in thought.

“Really?” Taehyung looked away from you for a moment. Your ex was a cheater, he cheated on someone as beautiful and smart as you and in reality he’s also the reason why you and Taehyung got close. He knows that he’ll never go back to his cheating ex but you might feel differently. You might be more easily swayed into going back to him and it’s not like Taehyung could do anything about it. Your ex is closer to your age, he’s known you a little longer and all of your friends know of him. He’s not a secret to you and you’re not a secret to him so he would have no choice but to understand if you took him back.

“I mean, it’s just a bit tiring, I thought we were over this but it looks like he’s back to trying,” you said with a defeated sigh before cuddling back into Taehyung.

He pressed his lips to your hair, not really kissing you but just appreciating the intimacy, “Would you?”

“What?” Your brows furrowed as you looked up at him. Taehyung had never regretted his words so quickly looking at the way you pulled away from him clearly taken back. He cleared his throat, “I mean would you want to try with him again?”

“Would you?” You asked a little annoyed, “Would you want to try with your ex wife again if she asked?”

“No,” Taehyung sat up with you, “Of course not, but I would understand if you did.”

You couldn’t help but scoff, “So you would understand if I went back to my cheating ex? Good to know that you understand if someone takes back a cheater.”

“Baby that’s not what I mea—“ Taehyung tried to say but you were already moving off the bed, “Hey I just mean… you’re both still young and make mistakes—you weren’t dating long before and if there’s still lingering feelings…”

“If I still felt something for him, why would I be with you?” You asked, making him bite his lip nervously, “And you think just because I’m young it’s alright to just forgive someone who hurt me? Nice to know.”

“No, honey pl—“

“I’m gonna get in the shower,” you cut him off just as he was getting up.

He watched you leave and he sat on the edge of your bed running his hand over his face in frustration. That’s not what he meant at all. He was trying to say he would understand your feelings but that was clearly the problem. Why would he even think you would leave him the second you got the chance? You’re not his ex but he just doesn’t want to lose you when he just started feeling love again.

Wait, not love. It’s too early for that and you think so too but he means it affectionately. Why did he have to pretend like he would understand? He wouldn’t. He just doesn’t want you or your friend to think he’s the one controlling your relationship.

He has to trust you and not assume you’ll leave him.

Taehyung knows he upset you last night. That wasn’t his intention by any means and he feels like shit for making you feel any sort of way. You know your worth just how he knows his and it’s unfair that he questioned you about it. He feels so stupid and he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it all morning.

He wasn’t able to pay attention in his meetings because all he could think about was how to be better for you. He knew you would be busy for a bit today so he didn’t want to bother you early on but you agreed to spend the day together. He decided that he would get groceries before you came over later, maybe a nice home cooked meal and some wine would ease the tension.

Going grocery shopping was one of those things Taehyung despised and there was on specific reason as to why. He’s a 30 year old man going shopping alone—it was a recipe to be hit on by single women his age. He could always say he’s in a relationship but he can’t go into detail and unfortunately if there’s no wedding ring on his finger then it doesn’t matter much. If anything it’s easy to note the pale ring mark on his left finger from when he used to have a wedding ring.

He walked around the market pushing a shopping cart filled with his usual groceries along with some things he knew you would like and tried to hurry this along.

“Tae?”

His breath hitched as he came to a slow stop, but he didn’t turn around or even look at Jihyun until she stood in front of him. Why did she feel the need to talk to him after what she did and why was he seeing her now of all times?

“I thought it was you,” she said shyly, “Doing some shopping?”

“Yup,” Taehyung said as he looked over a bag of coffee. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for or what the difference between dark roast or light roast but he was trying. Jihyun didn’t say anything as she looked at the bag, “Trouble deciding?”

What was she getting at? Taehyung thought. It was pretty clear he didn't want to talk to her and when he left with you the day of the lunch where they ran into her he thought it was obvious then too.

He knows he can just choose a bag of coffee and it’ll be fine but he wants to choose one you would like. You’re a coffee drinker but he’s heard you order drinks before and you like your coffee a certain way so he doesn’t want to mess this up. Jihyun bit her lip, “Light roast has more caffeine, when did you start drinking coffee?”

He set the bag back down and changed it ou yt for a dark roast one, “It’s for Y/n.”

He wasn’t going to thank her for her help because she thought it was for him but he is a little thankful that she helped him decide which you would like better. You like caffeine but you hate the taste of it. He dropped the bag down into his cart and went to look for creamer.

“So are you two really seeing each other? She seems a bit youn—“

“We are and she is but she’s mature, more mature than some other people I’ve met before,” Taehyung said trying to leave with his shopping cart, “And she understands my interests.”

He’s not going to say exactly how because it would easily give away that you’re his student but he will say that. He doesn’t feel the need to explain anything to Jihyun but he does want her to know that he’s doing just fine without her so she can stop trying to ask him about you.

“Jihyun,” Taehyung looked at her one last time and could see the look of hope in her eyes, “My name is Taehyung, not Tae.”

He turned his back to her and as if the thought of you alone brought this up, you were calling and he was smiling as he walked away and answered, “Hello?”

“I am at your place, am I too early? You’re not home, sorry I should’ve called before coming over,” you said through the phone.

“I’m just at the store but I’m heading over to pay right now,” Taehyung said, “There’s a key under the potted plant by the door, let yourself in and do you mind taking Tannie out for a walk? I haven’t had a chance.”

“Yes sir, I’d love to take him out,” you said jokingly, making him laugh softly.

He left without another word to Jihyun and she watched him walk away like she wasn't even there. She’s being selfishly unreasonable to expect anything else after what she did but she regrets it so much. She was at a point in their marriage where she thought he was losing his love for her. He was always so busy with work or something else that he wouldn’t pay attention to her. She thought he was avoiding her and in the end she fell for the attention she received from someone else and ruined her marriage with the love of her life.

Call her a cheater but don’t call her a liar, he really is or was the love of her life. They got together at such an impressionable age and it was so sweet and romantic and now she has to watch him be that way again with someone young and beautiful. It hurts.

Taehyung got back to a surprisingly quiet apartment feeling dejected, maybe you were still out with Yeontan or may—

“Boo!” You jumped up from behind his kitchen counter holding his pup up like you both surprised him and he nearly dropped the bags in surprise. A huge smile spread on his face and he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Cute.”

“What did you get?” You asked as you let Yeontan run off in order to help him get the bags. He shrugged, “Just stuff to make later. How was your painting?”

You sighed, “Tiring. I’m almost done but I feel like something is missing.”

“Just remember not to overdo it. Sometimes less is better and if you’re happy with it now it’s better to stop, I want to see it,” Taehyung said.

He realized that he was stressed this morning for nothing. You’re not mad at him because of last night when he thought you would be. He needs to stop assuming that you’ll react the way Jihyun used to. She would snap on him for every little thing but you’re not like that and it’s refreshing and reassuring so he needs to remember you’re different.

You’re like spring. Yes, you’ve got a bit of an attitude sometimes but you’re so unlike anyone he’s ever been with. You’re fun and bright and make him smile without trying. You work hard and it shows through your work.

Taehyung cupped your face in his hands, “You’re so cute.”

“I thought I was hot,” you teased with a smile as he pressed a soft kiss against your lips.

Things are good, great even, at least that’s what you think. You feel secure with Taehyung and you haven’t felt that way in a long time. Sure, you both are still very much keeping it a secret but you’re heed to it now. There’s not much you can do about it but you’re so close to graduating and then it’s all over.

You’ve finished your painting for the spring exhibit which is just around the corner and you couldn’t be happier. With that out of the way you’ve got more free time to do other things and even though you work and have classes, it opens up a lot of time for you.

Tonight you did have to work but you spent most of your shift with Jungkook up until he was off. Like usually he was off before you and he asked if you wanted him to come back and take you home but you assured him Taehyung would.

Thankfully you didn’t have to close tonight since it was a weeknight. The bar was still open but there was another closer and you got off early so Taehyung was planning on picking you up and driving you home.

As your shift came to an end you followed your usual routine of putting your things away, collecting your tips, and clocking out. Taehyung had already texted you that he was running a couple minutes behind but you were just excited to see him.

“Y/n?”

You seemed to freeze up, you had just left through the back alley to go home and there in front of you was a familiar stranger. Namjoon stood there with his hands shoved in his pockets nervously. You looked around the lot to see if you could spot Taehyung yet but you couldn’t, “What?”

“Can we talk?” He asked as he took a step closer to you, “I just don’t get what happened between us.”

“You’re still on that? Jeez, Joon I didn’t think you would be the type to not let shit go,” you scoffed in annoyance and began walking down one end of the alley to get to the main street.

Namjoon followed after you, “What do you think would have happened? You stop talking to me out of the blue right before my trip and tell me it’s over but you can’t tell me why?”

“You know why,” you turned to him angrily, “Or what? Were you hoping I was just stupid enough to not realize you slept with someone who was supposed to be my best friend?”

Namjoon came to a stop. This was the first time you ever said this to him. You had told Taehyung how much you didn’t want to confront him about it but you had no choice. You needed him to stop asking for you and just leave you alone. You scoffed, “Surprised? Hate to break it to you but you were more obvious than you think. So are you happy? Now you know why I left you… you thought you could cheat on me and I’ll never find out, what a fucking joke.”

You turned away from him, a familiar black car parked on the street and you just wanted to get away from this conversation. With a smile on your face you headed toward the car, Namjoon following after you.

He grabbed on your arm tightly, yanking you back to him and nearly making you stumble, “Come on Y/n, I fucked up, I was planning on telling you but you’ve just been igno—“

You jumped in surprise at the loud honk of a car horn and you quickly turned to Taehyung who you knew was watching and you really didn’t want him to come out and expose himself but you know that if Namjoon kept bothering you he would. You pulled your arm free, “I’m done with you, alright? Frankly I don’t ever want to speak to you again so from now on why don’t we act like we don’t know each other?”

With that you left him standing there shocked and got in Taehyung’s car.

Despite it being dark out and Taehyung’s windows being heavily tinted, he still looked out at Namjoon who stood there frozen. You had gotten in his car but he was focused on the guy who just grabbed his girlfriend roughly. Before he could ask if everything was okay, you practically lunged toward him and he caught you over the middle console with a smile on his face.

You pressed your lips against his and he couldn’t help but kiss back confidently, a hand in your hair keeping you close. He nearly forgot about the guy standing outside until he opened his eyes and saw that he was gone now. He gently pushed you away only to watch you pout and ask for more.

He ran his thumb over your pouty lip, “You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” You asked, trying to kiss him again but he only leaned back trying to get you to talk. You gave him a quick kiss on his lips before sitting back, “I’m fine, I swear. That was my ex but we’re all good now.”

“That was him?” He asked, seeming bothered now and he reached out for your arm, the one Namjoon grabbed roughly, “Did he hurt you or anything?”

You just smiled as you sat back up to kiss him again. He turned away from you, “Baby, let’s talk first.”

You whined, “He didn’t and I don’t want to talk. I want to kiss you because you’re so hot and I haven’t seen you all day.”

“I know but…” he bit his lip. He should trust you. You said you’re okay and you left the guy standing there to come to him so he should trust you. He does trust you. A smile came to his face as he tried to stop stressing, “I missed you too, love.”

With that he placed a kiss on the tip of your nose before kissing you again. You happily deepened the kiss between you and it was quickly getting heated. Taehyung seems to always forget where he is when it’s just you two and he nearly forgot you were in his car again until you tried going over the middle console to get on his lap.

His hands immediately went to your waist, “Wait, let’s wait till we get to your place.”

“Why? Doesn’t this remind you of our first time?” You asked, beginning to leave soft kisses along his jaw, “We can do it again.”

He bit his lip, already feeling a little turned on at the idea but he doesn’t want it to seem like a secret when you’re together. He prefers to be in bed with you when you have sex but he’ll admit, you’ve made his sex life more exciting. You’re willing to get your hands on him anywhere you are and God did that make him feel wanted. He played with the hem of your skirt with one hand as the other reached for the lever under his seat.

“One more time,” he said with a boyish smile when you squealed happily and went back to making out with him.

The end of the semester was quickly approaching. School has gone easier now since you have your major assignments done and you’ve been able to relax a little more. It’s a bit funny to be in Taehyung’s class acting like a regular student knowing he was on top of you practically every night. What is even funnier is to tease him when you shouldn’t.

Taehyung has had to stand through this entire lecture acting like you weren’t sending him the most daring texts he’s ever received. The first one he got this morning was already enough to make him bruise his lip by how hard he bit into it.

y/n: gonna be waiting for u later in this

It was a picture of you in a cute lingerie set and every time he looked at you he couldn’t help but picture it right under your clothes. You knew that’s what he thought about, that’s why you would occasionally gnaw on the end of your pen as you looked him up and down like you just needed him right then and there. It made him stumble over his words.

The other time you texted him was halfway through the lecture. He had just gotten back to his text and looked over your text, unable to help himself from looking up at you but you were too distracted by your friends to notice him. He slid over the notification and quickly responded to your other text.

y/n: if u look at me again I won’t be able to stop myself from giving u and the whole class a show

tae: be a good girl and wait till after class

You looked up at him when you received his text and he didn’t need a response to know you would show up. He had to stay late tonight and finish up some paperwork so he wouldn’t be able to see you before you went to work. He had been bummed out about it but later on, when it was well into the evening, you did as told.

The sun was beginning to set and he was alone in his art room until you came along. He smiled at the sight of you entering the room and closed his files. You smiled mischievously, “You wanted to speak to me, sir?”

God, you knew what you did to him.

He had to bite back a groan as he looked outside the windows to make sure there was no one around, “I can’t speak to you if you’re so far.”

You walked up to him until you stood directly in front of him and he looked at you with lust in his eyes, “Bad girl, just because you’re done with your painting doesn’t mean you can distract me.”

You bit your lip, “What do you mean, sir?”

He chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair, “Sending me all those dirty messages in class?”

Your brows furrowed cutely, “Hm… but you liked them?”

Taehyung dropped his voice down to a whisper, “I did.”

“So why are we still out here?” You used the same whispering tone and just like that, you were following him into the familiar art storage closet. Before you could even surprise him with a peak at the lingerie he was pushing you against the shelves and kissing you hard. You released a surprised whimper trying to kiss him back. Your fingers quickly toyed with the buttons of his white long sleeve and Taehyung let his hands slide under your shirt trying to inch it off your body already.

His fingers worked diligently to pull it off as he felt you begin to unbutton the front of his shirt with the need to just touch already. Once it was undone your hands moved to his hair, ruffling it up when he yanked your shirt off displaying the lingerie to his hungry eyes. Your leg went up to wrap around him as the other stayed locked to keep you from falling and Taehyung fit perfectly against you as he kissed down your neck while his other hand began to play with your skirt.

“You’re so cute,” he mumbled between kisses and you sighed with a playful roll of your eyes.

“Everytime I try to look hot for you, you just call me cute.”

He laughed, close to giggling as he pulled away to look at you again, “You look hot and cute and sexy and beautiful and I just want to eat you up every time I see you, okay?”

You smiled shyly now at his words and tried to look away in embarrassment but he just kissed you harder, forgetting where you were.

The campus was mostly empty except for those who had night classes. The art department was empty minus the two of you so you weren’t worried about being caught but maybe you should have been.

When Jihyun got to campus she wasn’t sure what she even planned on doing. The last time she saw Taehyung he barely acknowledged her and he told her to stop calling him by a nickname. She knows how badly she messed up but it’s been a year. Maybe she could talk to him and they could at least be cordial? Maybe someday they’ll look back on this strange time apart and realize that they really were meant to always be together… he’ll hopefully forgive her mistakes and they can move past this.

“Taehyung?” She called out to him as she stepped into an empty art room. She’s not sure why she thought he would still be here but she just assumed. He was always working late and she didn’t know where he lived so this was her best bet. Clearly she looks stupid now as she stands alone in a huge room where Taehyung isn’t at. This was so clearly his room too, he had some of his art hanging along with other students work and for the first time ever, she actually decided to pay attention to them.

She passed by art work belonging to students she’s never met, they were all winning pieces from seminars and contests. Just before her was a beautiful oil painting with a name and year displayed proudly in the corner. It was one of Taehyung’s mentees.

‘Full Bloom’

By Y/n L/n, December 10, 2022

___ University

She seemed to freeze up at the name. It couldn’t be…

“Ow!”

A light voice whined as a loud thump followed and suddenly everything seemed to be connecting. There was laughter that followed and her attention immediately drifted to the direction of the noise. It went quiet again but it was too late, Jihyun was already walking to the closet.

At this point she didn’t care what she saw, she just needed to know if she was right or not.

Taehyung rubbed soothing circles against the back of your head as he whispered apologies for accidentally making you bump your head against a shelf. You had a cute pout on your lips at the pain and the fact that the two of you had to stop. All you’ve done is make out but your clothes was half off and you just wanted to keep going.

You barely had your lips brushing against his with the sudden yank on the door seemed to frighten you both away from each other. Taehyung’s initial instinct was to distance himself from you as soon as possible worried that it was a school head or worse another student but he thought about you instead. Your shirt was completely off while his was merely unbuttoned and knowing you were more undressed than him made him immediately hold you to his chest and turn his body toward the door to hide you better.

“Oh my god.”

You pressed your face into his front in embarrassment and a little bit of fear but Taehyung turned toward the door, brows scrunching together and voice raising, “Jihyun?”

You jumped, slightly startled and tried to pull away. Taehyung softened his hold on you just enough for you to snag your shirt off the shelf and hurry to put it on. Jihyun looked between you two, “She’s your student. You’re sleeping with your fucking student?”

Taehyung hushed her, “What are you doing here? Get out!”

You dressed yourself back up properly as Taehyung did the same and he seemed to look back at you once more before stepping out of the closet to follow his ex wife. You would be lying if you said your hands weren’t shaking and your face wasn’t heating up. This was all your fault.

You’re the one who came onto him in the beginning.

You’re the one who practically pushed him into a relationship and put his job on the line. You’re the one who did all this knowing his ex wife was still stupid enough to look for him.

God, you were the worst.

Feeling close to tears you hurriedly left the closet listening to Taehyung’s deep voice arguing with Jihyun.

“You come to my job and you—“

“I came to talk about us! I didn’t know you would be in the closet trying to fuck your student! What happened to you?” Jihyun shouted, “Is it because of me? Did I push you to this, Tae? I never meant to hurt you, I just…”

You looked around the art room for your things trying to hide your face because for some reason this suddenly felt wrong. It shouldn’t feel that way yet it does and all you wanted to do was escape. Why was she yelling at him like you’re a homewrecker?

Was it because you were his student or young? Or was it because she wanted him to forgive her cheating and realized he wouldn’t?

Taehyung turned to you as you headed straight for the door and he went right after you, “Y/n, wait,” but you were gone and practically running away. He could chase you but what would he do if someone saw him and asked what was wrong? You had to work soon and he would just have to wait even if he didn’t want to.

“You need to leave,” Taehyung said sternly as he glared at Jihyun, “I don’t know what you thought was going to happen by coming here but you need to go.”

“Taehyung, she’s your student, I just… do you realize the trouble you can get into?”

“Y/n graduates in four months and either way it’s none of your fucking business,” Taehyung said genuinely sounding angry and Jihyun can’t remember the last time he sounded this upset. Not even when he found out she was cheating, he had just hid his face in his hands like he wanted to cry and asked for a divorce. He scoffed, “Or what? Are you going to say something about it?”

“I—I don’t know,” Jihyun said truthfully, “But this isn’t you. You would never sink so low to sleep with a student and I know it’s my fault. I hurt you and I pushed you away and now you’re acting like a completely different person. You’ve never yelled at me before. Taehyung come on… we were her age when we started dating, you can’t possibly expect anything to come out of this relationship. She’s young and naive and she’s not looking fo—“

“Stop talking about Y/n like you know her,” Taehyung said through gritted teeth, “And stop acting like you have any moral fucking high ground. Did you forget what you did to me? You threw away ten years for a man you’re not even with anymore! Why would I care about what you have to say?”

Jihyun looked shocked like she was really surprised to be called out this way by him. He was packing up his things quickly as he said, “And we know it’s wrong because I’m her professor and she’s my student but… but it’s not wrong. We’re adults and we’ve connected and if you want to completely destroy another relationship of mine and put my job on the line because you’re an insecure woman who thought I would want you after what you did to me… then you’re cruel too.”

“Taehyung…”

“Do what you want Jihyun, tell other people, I don’t care anymore but don’t mention Y/n. If you want anyone to suffer then make it me, I’m the one who divorced you,” Taehyung said with a tired sigh, “But I’m done being nice. I tried to be cordial every time we saw each other after the divorce but if you want to get back at me then whatever, there’s nothing I can do.”

She knew it wasn’t technically wrong. You were an adult and so was he and the only thing that made it wrong was the fact that he was your college professor. She hated you from the second she saw the way Taehyung looked at you and all she wanted to do was ruin this. She was a selfish woman who made a mistake only to realize it was too late to regret it.

It’s the same as Namjoon, he made a mistake and when he found out there was possibly someone else, he came to regret it.

Now Namjoon’s out of the picture and Jihyun should be too but all she wants to do is get him back. She’s willing to look past this and get back with him but he doesn’t want that and she can’t force him to. Without a word, Jihyun turned on her heel and left him in his art room with no clue as to what she would do about this.

If she went right to the Dean then he would lose his job and probably never be able to work at another college again. The University wouldn’t want the news out so he wouldn’t have to worry about it getting out unless Jihyun told other people. If she admitted that it was you he’s not sure what would happen. These things were always easier for the man and he doesn’t want anyone to do anything to hurt you.

God, it was a mistake to get involved with a student… but not because of you. If you two had just developed a relationship when you weren’t a student any longer things would have been different.

He was sitting at his desk now with his head in his hands just thinking of everything that could happen. He could easily work with his parents at a museum. He could continue his art somewhere else and not teach but what about you? What if people assumed he had always favorited you? What if they thought he helped with your art? Your submission for the seminar would immediately be disqualified if they had even an ounce of suspicion that he helped—especially with his status and credentials in the art world.

Fuck, he screwed it up badly for you.

You went ghost for two days. You didn’t answer his calls or texts and you skipped out on class. It worried him and you knew it but you couldn’t face him. It’s not that you feel like you did anything wrong but you’re embarrassed. She’s his ex wife so she doesn’t mean shit to you but you’re sure you confirmed her original suspicions and that pissed you off. You’re just some young and naive slut who he’s keeping a secret out of shame. It’s not true but you just know that’s what she’s thinking and you couldn’t stick around to hear it that night. You still want to be with Taehyung but You’re sportier that she knocked some sense into him or something. Maybe he’s blowing up your phone because he’s trying to end things. You also know you should go back to class but if he just completely pretends like you don’t exist or worse you find out that everyone knows, you’re scared at what would happen.

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Bora said, touching your leg to comfort you. After weeks, maybe even months of keeping her in the dark, you finally had to speak up. She was your best friend too and you needed them both to make you feel better. Jungkook sat on your couch with an arm around your shoulders, “Seriously Y/n, you haven’t and I honestly don’t think Taehyung feels any different. You need to talk to him.”

Your friends were right and yet you couldn’t say yes.

They spent the day with you even if Jungkook had to go to work. Technically you were supposed to work but he was going to cover your shift because you clearly weren’t feeling well.

Hours passed with them at your side watching movies and when you were suddenly feeling better there was a loud knock on your door. Jungkook went to answer it before you could move and you couldn’t make out anything past muffled noises. Shortly after, a familiar face appeared at your door and Jungkook was letting Taenyung in without asking you first.

He didn’t say anything as he looked at you and you tried to hide behind Bora but she was standing up nervously, “Mr. Kim.”

Taehyung smiled stiffly and he turned to Jungkook who seemed to understand. “Come on Bora, I gotta go get ready for work anyway.”

“Y/n,” Taehyung finally said when it was just you two, “Baby, I’m sorry, I had no idea she would just show up like that and I really don’t want you to think I’m still involved with her. I’m not lying when I say you’re the only one I care about a—“

“It was so embarrassing,” you finally broke down now that your comfort person was here. Taehyung immediately went to your side, a pout on his face as he wrapped you in his arms. You were embarrassed to be caught in such a manner, like a dirty secret.

Hell, you weren’t even fully dressed and what if it had been anyone but Jihyun? A teacher? Another one of your classmates?

“I’m sorry,” Taehyung whispered into your ear and he really was. When you finally confronted Namjoon, he let it go. He hasn’t bothered you since and yet Jihyun just kept pushing and pushing. How could your relationship with Namjoon end more maturely than his with Jihyun? He never meant for you to get hurt.

“Does anyone know?” You asked with teary eyes and he wiped them away feeling his heart drop to his stomach painfully. He shook his head no, “No, I mean I don’t think so but please baby I won’t let her do anything to hurt you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” you cried harder, “I just… well we both knew what we were getting ourselves into but I’ve never felt like such a…slut.”

“Don’t say that,” Taehyung said seriously, “Y/n, I love you.”

You looked at him with wide surprised eyes, “What?”

He didn’t back down from your gaze and with a softened voice he said, “I love you, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you. This isn’t just some secret that I’m ashamed to admit. I want to be open about our relationship, so please don’t think you mean less to me because of what happened. I wasn’t embarrassed to have the truth come out to Jihyun, I was mad that she was there when she shouldn’t have been.”

“Yeah but, what if she says something?” You asked, still unable to comprehend that he’s said he loves you twice already.

“Then I’ll quit, I’ll work somewhere else and trust me if the school finds out they’re not going to tell anyone. They’ll want it to remain quiet so the school doesn’t get hate from it. I'm not going to let it hurt you and I don’t want it to drive you away from me. You’ve been ignoring me and that hurt so much,” Taehyung said with a pout as he wiped another tear from you. You felt ridiculous for being so emotional when usually you’re the complete opposite.

Usually Taehyung had to ask you over and over again how you feel to get you to talk about whatever is on my mind yet right now you can’t seem to stop crying. You sniffled back some tears, “But we can’t be open about it. I still have a couple months before I graduate.”

“I know,” Taehyung said, “But I’ve sent in my resignation le—“

“What!?” You sat up and pushed away from him, “You said everything would be fine.”

“It will be, Y/n. I promise. I’ve gotten a lot of job offers from other people in the industry and they would easily take me and pay more. I was originally going to quit after the divorce but I didn’t. The only reason why I stayed the extra year is because I had some really good artist’s in their final year who I wanted to support,” Taehyung said and you knew one of them was you. The others probably included Seungjin and other classmates that Taehyung mentored but it was very clear right now he was talking about you.

“Anyway, I planned on leaving all along and even if Jihyun never says anything about us, I would still leave after you graduate,” Taehyung pet your hair soothingly, “And like I said I’m not going to let her ruin you if she’s tries to so please don’t cry anymore and please baby, please don’t ignore me or push me away.”

Nothing he said was a lie. The only reason why he never brought it up to you was because he didn’t need to. He knew you would be graduating and if your relationship lasted then he would tell you about his resignation once you were done with school. He just didn’t think he would have to tell you like this and make you think you’re the reason his career is about to change.

He waited an entire year to decide he wanted to quit teaching but it’s what he wanted to do all along. He enjoys it but he wants to start fresh… with you. He doesn’t want to have to listen to the opinion of others when the two of you become public.

“You love me?” You asked with the cutest set of puppy dog eyes he’s ever seen that it made his heart feel like it would burst. He nodded his head to answer your question and you sniffled, “I love you too.”

A small laugh in relief left his lips as he hugged you close making you whine about wetting his shirt with your stupid crying. You were so perfect to him. You were confident and forward yet deep down you were a crybaby and needy and loveable and he really did love you. He hugged you tighter in his arms.

“I know you hate it when I call you cute but you’re so fucking cute,” Taehyung said as he kissed your hair, “And I love you so much and I would never want to change the way we got together or make you feel like you’re not important to me because you are.”

He looked down at you with loving eyes, “And I don’t want to keep this a secret anymore.”

In the end Jihyun never told anyone. She figured she owed it to Taehyung after being so shitty the last few years. It had hurt her to watch him be happy with someone else but from the moment she saw you two at the restaurant she knew you made him happy. She couldn’t take that away from him after what she had done.

::.

ok yayyyy finallt part 2 is done. this is in fact the final part so pls understand. feel free to send in asks about them or drabbles

permanent taglist: @notmyfaultbutours @rerefundslocals @fandems @sugaluvmyg @guvgguk @kimyishin @libra04 @kooromiwrld @classycreationcupcake-blog g @alwaysdreamingnotsleeping @cherrymonlightt @nikkiordonez12 @asking4-sanity @thvlover @saweetspoiled @uwu2rawr @shaybts-blog @babycandy111 @tearyjjeon @joons-uparupa @jeonninja @yellowcupid08 @02010802 @knudsenheggedel @skzthinker @unnatae @aurorthi @beautywine @95ene @taekookstata @lilliankoo @shescharlie @annenakamura @lesoleile @burnahtsw @babybella337 @kooloveys s @ku-ku @chaelvrx @minnie-mouser22 @Imeneghd @whoa-jo @evajeonsworld @marvelbun @sunnikthv @acielelyseen @giselleswifeee @ilikeitlikethatt @bangmechanpls @lvr2seok @badbyeyoongi @jaerisdiction @xyahrinx @angeleen777 @jooniesxbby @brillantdarling

his special secret taglist: @daisygirl7 @cu1tur3dl0v3dpuppi3s

@joyjunk @ohsweetmimosa @llallaaa @jjkliver7 @arosesstorm @taebaelove @youdonwantoknow @sl1pth0t @boxxkoo @jooniesxbby @saikikjin @screamertannie @starlostluvv @jksthiccthighs @kingarthurscat @roundbuttonsuga @kochycooky @heyhowyoudoin3 @jeonjk25 @Watermelonjuice15 @artmsmaid @shimisushi [the rest will be tagged in reblog ]

#kim taehyung #taehyung smut #bts taehyung #taehyung au #taehyung drabble #taehyung #kim taehyung smut #kim taehyung bts #Taehyung fluff #taehyung angst #taehyung fic #taehyung x y/n #taehyung x reader #taehyung fanfic #his special secret

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nebbistrs · 2 months ago

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more bnha/mha headcanons!

part one!

(i recommend you read through my first set of hcs bc theres a few references jajaja. i did say its a ref. on those points specifically tho lol.)

• katsuki wears hearing aids, but refuses to learn sign language. does he know it? yes, but hes very pissed about it

• even before the final arc, katsukis arms were already very messed up. fighting at the end just worsened it, almost to the point his arm may never recover if he breaks it again (kinda laike izuku)

• katsukis hero costume head gear thingy also works as a muffler on his ears

• katsuki listens to heartbreak songs even if hes never experienced one

• izuku spies on hitoshi when he trains. hitoshi always catches him and its super awkward each time, but they become rly close over time

• izuku plays persona games (nebstar is totally not planning a persona 3 au with bnha characters)

• besides katsuki, the person in the class izuku takes the most notes of is shoto and ochako

• izuku buys hitoshi banana milk (ref. to prev. headcanons lol)

• izuku use to be an undertale fan

• ochako works part time after school at a nearby cafe

• ochako listens to heavy metal when she works out, but her other playlists are early 2000s songs. she asks izuku for recommendations sometimes (referencing pt. 1)

• ochako originally voted for tenya to be class representative, but thought he would be too stuck up so she changed her vote to izuku

• ochako wants to take up sewing, its one of her after school clubs

• tsuyu loves to watch romance shows even though she usually complains about how unrealistic they are

• tsuyu didnt see toru one time, so as she was using her tongue in training and smacked the absolute shit out of her by accident. she still feels bad about it to this day

• whenever its too cold, tsuyu asks mezo if they can cuddle. theres been times (multiple) mezo has to take her to her room because she falls asleep bc hes so warm and gentle

• momo depises wearing pants. she grew up a prim and proper lady so she lives in dresses and skirts. even a majority of her pajamas are night gowns, if not, it has to be a silk matchibg set

• sometimes when the girls notice tsuyu missing her family, specifically her brother and sister, they let her do their hair

• momo has an intense fear of heights, which is why she never gets on roller coasters

• momo listens to classical music. theres no way she doesnt.

• until U.A, momo never had any real friends. even though she went to private school, her 'friends' were very fake and used her for her money

• mina lives in gyaru fashion & makeup outside of school. even during school she tries to do her heavier makeup but is often reprimanded for it

• despite her whole pink aesthetic and room, minas favorite color is actually purple

• mina actually hangs out with eijiro and tetsutetsu a lot

• watches your lie in april every april. and its not one day, its everday of april. and mina cries every time

• hanta moves very well with his quirk, but actually prefers to skateboard

• hanta actually won a skateboarding competition right before enrolling at U.A. bro did some crazy stunts

• when he has nightmares about fighting villains, tape shoots out of hantas arms and hes unaware until the morning when he finds himself covered in tape instead of his blanket

• hanta has a pair of cargo pants for every possible occasion. yes, cargo pants.

• automatically in winter, mezo will wrap his arms around tsuyu to keep her warm and snow away from her.

• even though modified outfits for quirks are actually very common, mezo still cant find coats for his body. he has one and its been through shit. instead he turns into elsa from frozen and says, "the cold doesnt bother me anyways"

• mezo keeps a stuffed animal in his room despite saying having a lot of stuff was unnecessary. he keeps it because it was from the girl he saved when he was younger. she gave it to him and told him if he felt sad that the stuffed animal would be there for him

• mezo would sneak into the city because he hated how he was treated when he was younger. he ended up joining a dance group where everyone was 18 and older. they still reach out to him and support him. literally, they were cheering for him at the sports festival even if he didnf make it to finals

BONUS!

• momo and tenya have study sessions together. since she is the top student he doesnt go to anyone else

• shoto gives nicknames to all his pokemon. they are named after his classmates. there is at least 5 of each classmate as he tries to complete the pokedex (ref. to part one)

• rikido has a big fat crush on one of the girls in class 1-b but doesnt know how to confess or even if she will accept so he bakes cakes for her and gives it to her before school starts

• denki sneezes like a girl and kyoka sneezes like a 50 year old man. they always tease each other about it

• eijiro had a wedgie and pulled it when he thought no one was looking but tetsutetsu and mina did and they will never let it go.

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aravas-writing · 10 months ago

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(Secret Star AU)

"Naughty School girl gets punished"

Emerald wasn't one for taking jobs like these, but she had to admit, it was kinda nice being "scouted" by a producer on the street. She never saw herself as pretty or even hot, but she had been assured she was perfect for the scrip she was currently reading through.

Playing naughty wasn't difficult, but taking the blonde Teacher's punishment, was both hard and hot as hell.

To say that Emerald was nervous as hell would be...correct. There was no joke here; this was reality.

After signing up for the pornstar gig, she had actually hoped for a lesbian piece with Cinder. The girl's adoration for her saviour was almost concerning. It was unfortunate that the greenette was not allowed to star with her crush.

What she got was a different scene and a rather...excited Cinder. Of course she would not openly show it, but the way the seductress fidgeted from time to time gave it away. The final piece of evidence for that was when the guy Emerald was supposed to star with came onto the set.

"Jamie, there you are," Cinder cooed at him, nearly jumping out of her chair to greet him properly. It was a jarring sight for a girl who saw her mistress as someone always in control.

He laughed. "Hi, Cin! How are you? And its still Jau-" Pleasantries were exchanged as the thief struggled to reconcile the image of her mistress with the young woman before her now. Sure, Blondie boy was not too shabby to look at, if a bit scraggly. Still, him?

"Upupupup." Cinder shushed him. "We are still on the set. It's Jamie for you and Cinnamon for me. Speaking of spices..." Cinder brushed off invisible dust here and there, pulling the fabric around. "This jacket is the exact opposite of 'spicy'. What was the costume department thinking?"

Jamie laughed about it. "I'm thinking you're too much of a perfectionist. They fit my role as 'hardass teacher who ends up snapping'."

Teacher? Emerald looked down at her own clothing, suddenly reminded that she was to fill the role of an unruly schoolgirl getting punished. She had to clean herself thoroughly for that role and wear clothes she would never ever wear outdoors. That skirt was too skimpy!

"There is such a thing as too much." She gave him one last critical look before nodding. "I suppose that will have to do. Oh, and Jamie?"

Cinder leaned towards his ear, standing on her toes to reach it and whispered something. What exactly, Emerald couldn't tell, but it got him blushing like a cherry boy.

Seriously, he was the star of this show?! Sure, the thief never saw anything of his, but she didn't need to to get a picture of him as a virgin.

Well, not one anymore. Lucky dick.

Chocolate skin, deep cleavage and a real badonkadonk were crammed into a schoolgirl uniform one size too small, emphasizing the curves and conjuring fantasies. With barely audible claps, those cheeks moved to the office of her teacher. A real sweetheart, but way too uptight for some tastes. His morals were actually the reason she was there in the first place.

Well, that and-

"Come in."

His strict visage just barely managed to not make Emerald laugh. Yeah, blondie- Mr Darc wasn't suited for doling out discipline.

"You wanted to see me?" She played coy, pretending not to know that she was here because of-

"That outfit of yours." Right to the meat, huh? "Its way too small!"

She tittered like a brainless bimbo. "Aww, scared you will see things you shouldn't?"

"Do you want to catch a cold?"

What.

Emerald blinked, just barely catching the director making a throwing motion. "Huh? A cold?"

Blondie stood up harshly, his eyes narrow. "Do you have any idea how easy it is to get sick because you barely dress?"

"I have aura."

"Not an excuse!" His palm slammed onto the table as his voice turned into one more authoritative. "It will stifle your growth, your health and your grades as well! Or do you think that a lack of oxygen can help your failing classes?"

The student stood up, fury marring her face. "What the fuck do my grades have to do with this?! Are you just looking for some excuse to not have me dressed up like that so you don't feel guilty jerking it to schoolgirls?" She raised a finger and tapped it against his chest. "Fucking virgin."

That seemed to make his blood boil, judging by Blondie's expression. "You little..." he snarled. Then he rounded the table and Emerald's view turned very suddenly towards the floor. When her brain caught up to what happened, the unruly student realized that she was currently lying on his lap.

"That does it!"

SLAP

Emerald gasped at the stinging sensation against her ass. She knew that it was part of her role, but actually doing it was different.

SLAP

Her butt jiggled after each hit, something she knew the perverts watching this would love to see.

"Every time with you!"

SLAP

She was not going to moan.

"Do you know how many problems you're causing?!"

SLAP

She was not getting wet...

"Do you have any idea what some of less scrupulous would do to you?!"

SLAP

She was not actually getting off to this, no way-

SLAP

"Tell me!" He demanded. "What do you think would happen?!"

SLAP

Fuck it.

"I'd get fucked like the bitch I am!" She confessed, her legs clenching as she held herself back from climax. She was moaning, was getting off to being spanked by her betters...it just felt too good!

"Exactly," he said, rubbing her sore butt. "Now you know why I was angry, right?"

She had no idea what to say next. The slutty schoolgirl looked for help, blanking on her lines. She was supposed to say something here...

That was when her crimson eyes met Cinder's golden ones. She showed her subordinate an approving smirk and made a gesture at her. It was clear as day.

Go on.

"N-no," she lied. "I need more discipline."

SLAP

"Guess you need an intense crash course, then," Mr Darc grumbled in faked dissatisfaction before pulling down her thong.

That was when the real fun began. Emerald was getting spanked hard, then fingered even harder until she came, shrieking in joy. But he wasn't done with his slutty student. He made her strip in front of him, opening her jacket and losing everything beyond that. The only thing allowed to stay below the belt were her stockings.

He pinched her nipples and led her to his chair by pulling them. Already, Emerald was was acting like a dog- no, a bitch. A real bitch, loyal to master and mistress. She got to suck on master's fingers, cleaning them of her slutty juices.

Every look Emerald could steal towards Cinder, she saw her approval. Every command she followed from Mr Darc was met with approval. She happily looked at two dildos he showed her - both of them confiscated. She lubed them up for him before feeling one of them getting shoved in her ass.

The bitch couldn't help herself and came, screaming her sorry over and over as more of her juices stained the floor. She had no idea her asshole was such a good spot!

Finally, one last time, she was allowed to present herself. It was a treat for master; she could see it from the way his cock bulged out from inside his pants and how she showed her teeth. Sweaty from the exertion and exhilaration, her pussy leaking like a broken faucet, the bitch crouched and spread her legs, making sure her arms were behind her head so he could see it all. She should be allowed to behold this slut, his slut...

"I'm a bitch," she slurred. "I'm your bitch."

Her gaze wandered up to his blue eyes - weren't master's eyes yellow? And she saw approval.

His hand gently rested around her neck, squeezing it slightly. "Do you want to be a good girl?" He asked, earning a puzzled look from her. She didn't understand; was she not his slut, her plaything? Why would she be Cinder's good girl if she could be Mr Darc's slut?

"Good girls get rewards," he murmured, letting his hand travel from her neck to her breast and squeezing it.

The stupid bitch understood and shivered in delight. Her head was empty, there was only pleasure.

"Make me a good girl," she purred.

"Holy hell!" Jaune exclaimed. He was breathing a bit heavier after the shoot had ended, peering over to the near comatose Emerald. She had been wrapped in a bathrobe and the set people were fanning her flushed face. "I am not used to that."

He heard Cinder tittering. "For someone not used to being a dom, you conducted yourself very well." Her hand traced his shoulder as she came up behind Jaune, looking at a well fucked Emerald. "You really killed it."

Emerald would agree, were she still conscious. When she came to, she admitted it only to herself as she was allowed a copy of the newest short film of Jamie Darc.

It was the first time she ever watched porn, and the first time she masturbated so furiously.

#rwby #rwby smut #secret star au #emerald sustrai #jaune arc #cinder fall

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wisteria-lodge · 2 months ago

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Hi! I’m loving The Prison of the Phoenix and I was curious about the dressing gowns that Severus and Remus have been gifted by Lucius. I’m really intrigued by the detail that these articles of clothing are quilted! They sound really comfy and luxurious to wear.

I was wondering if you would be willing to expand on the details of snupin’s dressing gowns? Perhaps even a moodboard of the silhouette and type of fabric? Do they have hoods? A sash? A wand pocket, perhaps?

Sewing is a hobby of mine, so I’m always interested in reading about textiles and the details in wardrobe choices of stories (and the same goes for food! I love eating 😆✨)

I hope you don’t mind the peculiarity of my question and I wish you all the best with the next chapter!

Cheers ♥️

Oh you came to the right place. I ALSO love clothes, and it IS DEEPLY maddening to me that Severus has so few costume changes, and that he is a narrative voice that... honestly isn't going to spend much time describing clothes.

I pulled all the dressing gowns and dressing-gown adjacent garments off my master Malfoy Manor pinterest board... and I've never made moodboards before... but it sounded like a fun, aesthetic fall evening activity.

Lucius knows he's not going to get Severus into anything *too* crazy, so I took some notes from 1700s banyan robes and wrapping gowns (since wizard culture and - to some degree - fashion is definitely hovering in like 1740.) So lots of decadent, soft, draping fabric. Slouchy, open front. And yes, I think Lucius would go for layers of quilted fabric, because Severus always neglects lighting his fireplace, and as a result his house is always cold.

And yes, I am all about wizard clothing just almost exclusively having wrist-length sleeves, because everyone keeps their wands against their forearm in wand-pockets.

The dressing gown choices Lucius makes for himself are going to be a *lot* more elaborate, take more fashion risks, and be a little ah, sluttier. He's not wearing this stuff out, so this gets to just be him having fun. I see Lucius leaning into Victorian dressing gown cuts (he would have loved all of the authentically Victorian loud color and fabric choices.) There would just be a lot of antique clothing lying around Malfoy Manor, especially since you can magically preserve and repair clothes. Lucius would absolutely get a kick out of wearing that kind of thing. I also think he'd go a little international with his fashion. There's some asia in there, there's some ottoman empire in there. What says 'British Aristocrat' more than that?

In public, there's always a little bit of armor and a little bit of bite to what Narcissa wears. But when she's is in private-facing mode, with the handful of people she actually trusts... Narcissa enjoys going very soft and airy-fairy, or (when she's in the mood) - full on vampire bride. Her dressing gowns are a bit more 1930s glamor, with a lot of delicate details. (and Lucius ALSO buys her clothes, so some of these reflect a little more of his taste.)

Also, you didn't ask, but this is my quick mock-up of the clothes Lucius and Narcissa wear to the ballet in Chapter 6. I had Lucius in that crystals-as-water Robert Wun look, and Narcissa is in custom Givinchy ( I made the skirt longer.)

#prison of the phoenix #hp #fashion stuff #fashion history #lucius malfoy #narcissa malfoy #dressing gowns #just really great really versatile garments #moodboards #fall aesthetic #witchy aesthetic

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be-dazzled · 11 months ago

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All Treats, No Tricks

Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser October 31, 2023 Posted: Decemebr 26, 2023

Writer’s Corner: Months too late but I think the timing worked for me. The ending sounds and feels more wintery/christmas-y, isn't it? I don't feel like this one's good enough as compared to my Juvia Day entry so your honest feedback is very much welcomed. Help me improve!

All rights reserve to Hiro Mashima, original creator.

Masterlist

...

The cold season rolled in and seeped throughout the grounds of Magnolia. Its silent breeze knocked puny, tree branches against locked windows. It howled through the night, prowling the silent grounds of sleeping citizens. For those who made the mistake of forgetting to lock their windows, the October breeze pried into their room and wreaked havoc on all that it could carry. Easily targeted all that weighed close to none. Especially ripping off the pages on the wall calendar and revealing today’s date – October 31, Halloween.

After the fiasco that was the Fairy Tail Horror House of X791, that type of event was forever banned in the town of Magnolia. In its wake a new tradition was born where families were invited to decorate their homes to win lovely prizes, even encouraging them to hand out candies to children going around house to house, mage guilds included.

Rather than eerily quiet, Halloween in Fairy Tail was fun and lively.

The troublemakers – Natsu and Happy – had a good idea of wearing costumes to scare off the children who, in the words of Natsu the Demon King, “dared to enter my house of terror,” punctuating it with a high-pitched maniacal laugh that did not, at all, scare a living soul. But he was enjoying chasing after children who somehow believed Demon Kings existed and that they were ridiculously funny. Erza, wearing the shortest (skimpiest but no one dared to say it) witch costume, took up her sword and pretended to battle the Demon King. She was acting, she claimed but Lucy, the only writer in the room argued that it was an inaccurate depiction and didn’t make any sense plot-wise. Why would a witch have a sword when she had magic powers? But who would take a Leopard Girl seriously? Donned in a tight-fitting onesie that hugged her body like a second skin and accentuated all her dips and curves, Lucy the Sexy Leopard lost all credibility.

A certain ice-make mage, on the other hand, found it all juvenile. Yet, Gray was pursuing kids around the guild, the end of his tape costume riding the wind as he did. He wasn’t a scary mummy, he deduced, since instead of screams of terrors, the guild was filled with children’s ecstatic cheers and giggles. Well, half giggles and half scandalous because the end of Gray’s mummy tape got stuck on some pillar and pulled, making him a half-naked, pervert who happened to wear pants made of strip linen.

Erza smacked him on the back of the head.

So inappropriate.

But not as inappropriate as the thing that he was about to witness.

Juvia, Fairy Tail’s resident water-mage, wasn’t too comfortable with her assigned costume so she kept herself hidden backstage. She watched in the shadows as her comrades showed off their costumes, parading around the Fairy Tail building, welcoming their guests with booze (for the adults), colorful drinks (for the kids) and some imaginative snacks. She wondered how come the only thing that connected her decorated brassiere and the underwear that covered her nether region was just strings snaked around her torso. She asked Erza about it but the only answer she got was the mesh material on her head, some sort of see-through veil, its length reaching her waist but covered nothing. Plus, the heavy and expensive accessories around her neck, arms and wrists made the look less racy than it actually was. They lent her some air of distinct. She did a once-over in front of the mirror, twirling around to inspect herself and couldn’t help but think she might be missing a piece on her costume. Maybe a skirt to cover her lower body? Because she swore her bottom was hanging out.

Erza said the long veil on top of her head covered it enough and that she should stop worrying about it.

She really should worry about it.

Even if Mira and the already drunk Cana assured her that she would be the envy of the room and would surely get Gray the Half-Naked Mummy’s attention. The latter was enough encouragement though, which emboldened Juvia to come out of her hiding. That and finding her self-declared love rival enjoying her time with Mummy Gray, her beloved. She charged towards the two, about to bring hell to the Leopard Girl, when a soft breeze touched her exposed skin and Juvia had another think coming. But it was too late. She was out in the open now and everyone was hollering and whistling at her ensemble. As she watched her comrades strut around in their own Halloween costumes though – the moon princess Mira-chan; vampire Lisanna; Elfman and Evergreen in a couple’s costume ala Adam and Eve; the Thunder Legion Tribe in what appeared to be some sort of forest creatures (were they supposed to be Pokémon and was someone supposed to collect ‘em all?); and archery goddess Wendy – Juvia felt like she pulled the short end of the stick.

Because what the hell was she wearing?

It was a fucked-up gypsy dancer costume if you asked Gray. Beautiful, he’d go as far as saying it was nose-bleed-inducing, but definitely fucked-up. He wasn’t too happy about that.

Even Cana was modestly covered in her own fucked-up priestess costume.

People – ugly men, irritating old geezers, boys that weren’t Gray-sama – started coming up to Juvia with Macao and Wakaba in the lead. She made it obvious she wasn’t comfortable with their attention but the crowd had already gathered around her. She searched for the black spiky hair in it but found her precious Gray-sama still standing beside Leopard Girl. Summoning all her magic power, Juvia immediately fell into her fighting stance, about to tsunami all those perverts out of the way when her vision turned pitch-black.

“Eh?”

She extended her arm to feel for anything, anything at all, that could explain why she was instantly blinded, only to feel strong fingers grab her wrist and whiz her away from the complaining crowd.

“Eh!”

“I guess this is safe for now.”

She didn’t need her eyes to know who it was. Juvia could recognize that voice anywhere, even when it was broken by huffs.

“Gray-sama…”

“Oh, that’s right.”

He swiftly released his grip on her hand and Juvia pouted at the loss of contact. A sudden chill replaced the warmth that encircled her wrist. She didn’t like it.

“Sorry about that.”

“No!” Juvia cleared up, in case he might take it the wrong way, “Gray-sama shouldn’t apologize.”

The water mage wasn’t sure where they went or how far they had come from the guild. But wherever Gray was, she was always safe with him.

“You saved Juvia from the commotion.”

A commotion caused by her inappropriate appearance, Gray ought to say but decided not to. Instead, he said a terse ‘It was nothing’.

Her ears might have deceived her but Juvia could place a grin on his voice. She could imagine that small curve of his lips, wanting to see it with her own eyes but something was still blocking her view. Something soft and rather silky, heavy on her crown too. It covered her from head to toe. She clutched the unidentified veil in her fist and realized it was the same fabric as the covering of the long table back at the guild. Juvia tried to pull on the cloth, trying to get rid of the covering when Gray started speaking again.

“…something like that.”

The covering muffled Gray’s words. As she was trying desperately to uncover herself, Juvia only caught the tail end of what he was saying. She stopped for a moment, tipped her head to the side, deciding whether to ask him to repeat what he said, which would give Gray the impression that she wasn’t listening to him, or just pretend as if she heard him.

Sensing her confusion despite the wall of fabric between them, Gray repeated his words, this time a bit louder and very much clearer than earlier.

“Don’t wear something like that.”

It took her a moment to realize but Juvia caught on to what the ice-make mage meant. It was her scant costume. Remembering how some cloth and some strings strategically covered those areas, Juvia internally agreed with Gray. She shouldn’t be wearing something like that again, nodding her head furiously that she might just break her own neck.

“In public.”

He added before clearing his throat and inviting Juvia to walk around the neighborhood, not giving her an opening to say anything back about his last comment. Juvia had the tendency to twist his words, or rather, which was always the case, point out what exactly he wanted to say but couldn’t.

Don’t wear something like that in public.

He meant only to wear it for him in private, right?

Gray started toward the direction of the crowd, where most people were scattered in small groups. He was saying something Juvia was not able to hear through that thick white covering hanging over her. She followed where she assumed Gray was headed, straining her ears to listen to his footsteps whilst she blindly soldiered on through the veil-made darkness. The water mage was starting to get frustrated with the covering she’d been trying to get out of since earlier. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t find the beginning or end of that long, thick fabric weighing down on her with a smooth but consistent fall, much like her magic – a curtain of water.

Ironic.

And why was Gray not helping her at all? It wasn’t like he was busy keeping quiet since he had all the time in the world to run his mouth about god knows what. His talking was like a soft buzz in Juvia’s ears – a distant noise that didn’t make sense.

Despite the cold breeze and the fact that she was practically naked inside, her body was starting to feel hot. A sheen of perspiration started to form over her skin. The heavy covering not only successfully blocked her view but also any air in and out of her fabric jail.

“G-Gray-sama…” She called out but the thick veil separating them blacked the words out, “…help Juvia~”

Gray hadn’t paid her any attention (deliberately ignoring her or unintentionally forgetting, Juvia wasn’t sure) until the poor water mage kicked on an uneven terrain and tripped. She braced herself for impact, throwing her hands in front of her as she was about to fall on the pavement, face-first. But the impact never came. Instead, Juvia’s body was pressed against something hard. Not as hard as she remembered pavement should be though. Curiosity spurred Juvia to explore this not-a-pavement surface, flattening her palms on what turned out to be Gray’s firm pecs, the slightest bump giving her the idea that she might just be… touching on Gray’s...

She rubbed them just to make sure.

“Uhn… Ju-Juvia…”

And kneaded for better measure.

“T-that’s… he-hey…”

She was definitely right.

Gods do exist!

Juvia could hear the strain in his voice. And something else. Something she wasn’t familiar with. But worry bumped curiosity off first place. Gray sounded like he might be in pain and the idea horrified Juvia that she might be the reason for it. He did break her fall and she was comfortably using her as a human cushion. So, she slid her open palms lower, eliciting more low and strange noises from the man beneath her. She ignored the noise in favor of resting her hands over what she assumed was Gray’s abdomen, intent on pushing herself off him to free her poor savior from his distress. She was a little bit sorry that she had to use his body to do so. Which, unbeknownst to Juvia, was stirring something in Gray that should not be stirred. Not when they were in public like this.

Oh, if Juvia could see the ice-make mage’s reaction now – gritting his teeth and clenching his jaw.

She successfully leaned away, readying to pull her knees so she could prop herself up and fully get off of poor Gray when a cold breeze whizzed past them, magically finding the end of the frustrating veil and blew the hem of the fabric covering her body. Gray was a hero the second time when he slapped that cloth back to its rightful place. Saving the water mage from the embarrassment of public indecent exposure.

“Eeep!”

But bumping her to another level of embarrassment.

Gray only realized where his hands were touching when Juvia’s body wiggled and twisted above him. The force of his ‘heroic act’ slammed Juvia flatly on top of him again.

“G-Gray-sama felt Ju-Ju-Juvia’s bottom!”

She muttered, fidgeting at the heat that spread over both cheeks, either because Gray’s hands were still cupping her ass or the mere force of his slap, or both.

“So, G-Gray-sama was into this kind of… s-s-stuff?” She whispered to herself.

But that wasn’t a whisper. It was more of a loud musing because that one Gray heard through the fabric barrier between them.

“No!” He strongly denied it. “That’s… I’m not… hey!”

For a good minute, they were a tangled mess – him trying to, but very much cautiously, push her off of him, slipping on the fabric when he tried to stand up with Juvia still on top of him, and her trying to pull herself away from him, which proved to be a struggle since Gray just couldn’t stay still. It didn’t help that the thick cloth separating them from each other was too silky and slippery to the touch.

Gray could only cry how that freaking veil was the devil. The devil! And he quickly regretted whisking the long mantle off the table to cover Juvia with, until they finally detached themselves from each other. Both were breathless from the endeavor.

Passersby threw them ugly looks, which made Gray realize that covering Juvia with the table mantle was not one of his brightest ideas. He tried to rearrange the cloth, so that Juvia was still fully covered (her fucked-up costume hidden), but made it so that her head was popping out of the makeshift ghost costume so at least she could see where they were going and avoid another mishap. The water mage, thank goodness, stood still and quiet, as Gray secured the long textile around her neck with a knot made of his mummy tape. He smirked at his creation, proud of his quick thinking. Then broke into cackles he tried to suppress but couldn’t, scrutinizing her attire – a Juvia floating head. Now, that’s a true Halloween costume.

“Gray-sama shouldn’t be laughing at Juvia.” She bemoaned. “Not when he’s looking like that.”

Gray followed her eyes down his lower body to realize he was stripped down to his G x J boxers, using up what remained of his mummy tape costume on Juvia.

“Whoa!”

It was Juvia’s turn to laugh at him. But Gray took no offense to it and joined in, the both of them laughing together and at each other in their poor state. They were so stuck in their own world that Gray belatedly noticed the scandalized glare thrown at both of them – mostly on him – especially by children who were often told to wear something in public.

Gray scooped Juvia off the ground (which was totally unnecessary by everyone’s account) and whisked the water mage, a second time, away from the crime scene.

Young couples are too bold nowadays.

It’s probably because of the full moon.

...

Gray hid them at some back alley. He surreptitiously peeked through the corner, with an unusually quiet water mage still carried in both arms. Only after making sure no one was following after them, not the police or an angry mob, that Gray could finally puff a relief. He settled Juvia on the ground as gently as he could. And wondered why she was running out of breath when Gray did all the running.

“Are you alright, Juvia?”

“Y-y-yes.”

She stuttered. Round blue eyes were spinning like wheels on the run.

“Erm… are you sure?”

She sure didn’t look okay.

Gray was so accustomed to Juvia that he could read her like a book. Every word and every sentence he could easily interpret. And this reaction from her was probably caused by him bolting her away. He should have thought of his actions thoroughly because who knows what Juvia’s creative imagination must have conjured of him holding her in a bridal carry.

Gray and Juvia’s wedding? Them on their honeymoon, crossing the threshold into their master bedroom? Probably, both.

He settled a hand on her shoulders. The thick eyebrows on his forehead were knitted – quite bothered by the possibility that she could still slip into her imaginary land when she had the real thing right in front of her now. Unlike before, Gray had become more receptive to her feelings. And unlike before, he made conscious actions to show that he returned those very feelings. Had he not made it clear to her?

“Juvia…”

His coaxing willed Juvia back to reality, to where she and Gray were in a back alley hiding.

“Juvia is okay, Gray-sama.”

Her blue eyes returned to normal and Gray could slip a sigh of relief. Without a need to worry now, Gray retrieved his hand and suggested they come back to the guild when Juvia’s made-shift cloak started to come undone. Her Halloween costume – the brassiere connected with some barely-there knots – peeked through the opening and threatened to reveal itself in its full glory. Which was bad for Gray for the following reasons: a) Juvia was still half-lying on the ground; b) they were in some dark, back-alley; and c) they were alone in that dark alley.

And d) he was still just wearing his boxers.

“Ju-Juvia!”

But it was Gray’s fingers that yanked the edges of the loosening drape and clasped them together against her chest. Another bad idea of Gray’s now that his fists were pressed down against her breasts. Soft and quite big. Not that it surprised him. He was very much familiar with how Juvia’s breasts felt to the touch. Not that he openly touched them either. Opportunities just happened to present themselves to him. Oh how tortured and conflicted he was. That stirring inside his stomach earlier was rapidly brewing into something that shouldn’t be brewing.

“Uhn…”

What a cute voice!

Damn, it was like the universe was trying to tell him something.

Gray yanked his evil hands and put them back to his side. Away from Juvia’s soft mounds.

“S-s-sorry.”

But that lecherous costume was taunting him again, the deep valley of her breasts peering through the slightest opening. He ordered himself to look away but his sinful eyes did not stray even just a little. So, he chose to just fight the rising heat that burned his cheeks. If she asked, he could blame that one on the weather.

Gray cleared his throat. Thinking that by doing so, Juvia might not notice him ogling. He reached out his hands and started to tighten the mummy tape again around her neck. There was a crisp silence between them, which Gray appreciated. Juvia’s focused gaze at his hands was reason enough for him to struggle to steady his fingers as he looped the tape. But in the end, he was able to fix it.

“All done.”

She thanked him with a lovely smile – the kind that always followed him in his dreams. The warm smile that kept him company when he was alone. The low howl of the October breeze made him aware that they were in a dark alley where people scarcely passed through. It had a wicked way of conjuring today’s moments that the courteous Gray would rather tuck safely into the back of his memory – when Juvia stepped out of hiding in her inappropriate costume; when he unintentionally spanked and cupped her butt-cheeks; when Juvia rubbed her palms over his breasts; and when he fastened the ends of the cloth and accidentally pressed on her soft mounds. These memories he’d rather bury in the depths of his consciousness and only unearth them when he was alone.

Right now, he wasn’t alone. He was with Juvia, the star of those evoking memories, in a place where there was little to no chance of anyone walking in on them if Gray allowed some of his dreams to come alive. Clandestine. He stopped that thought and suggested they walk back to the guild. He needed the exercise.

Juvia pointed out to him his current state and Gray miraculously found some cloak flapping with the wind, hanging outside somebody’s window. It was black, a total contrast to Juvia’s white ones. He figured no one was going to miss that drabby old cloak.

As they took the route to the guild, Gray considered walking Juvia to Fairy Hills instead. But remembered he was barred from showing even just his shadow there. His ban has yet to run its course so the guild – the very place they left earlier – was the sensible place to go, especially since he and Juvia were just wearing make-shift coverings that could unravel anytime. They had to avoid crowds.

Gray was deep in thought when a flash of blue caught his eyes. He snapped his head in its direction, eyes widening in awe at what his vision revealed.

“Look Juvia!” He pointed the all-smiling, happily distracted Juvia to a decorated house where three or four children were walking up to its stoop. “It’s you.”

Juvia followed the direction of Gray’s pointing and scanned the surroundings for anything that resembled herself or whatever it was that reminded her beloved of the water-mage. Surely, it must not have been the waving tube decoration, flapping around something that, when you squint your eyes at the right angle, resembled arms. Or the scary-looking life-sized doll made of blue hay, wearing what appeared to be a blow-up replica of Juvia’s hat. That must not be how he saw Juvia, right?

Without receiving an answer to these questions, Juvia was suddenly yanked against Gray’s side. One arm hung over her shoulder; the weight pulled them both down to a crouch like they were hiding. Their cheeks were close, sharing a border, but not touching, not yet at least. They were just close enough for Juvia to feel his breath on her now-flushed cheek when he covertly spoke to her.

“That one. She looks exactly like you.”

Juvia caught herself gawking at him, at Gray’s face which was fully and resolutely turned to the direction where he was pointing her to. She felt slightly guilty about that because one, that wasn’t even the first physical touch they’d shared just counting the ones they had tonight (not the most daring one either); and two, Gray was heartily showing her something. So, Juvia summoned her focus and followed his direction – towards the girl who was giddily jumping at receiving tons of candies into her basket, the kid version of Phantom Lord Juvia. She was donned in Juvia’s blue winter coat, a teru-teru bozu hanging by the clasp of her collar, and a cute Juvia hat merchandise sitting neatly atop her little head.

Juvia felt a pang in her heart. It was her in the rolled hairstyle the water mage got rid of to forget about that version of her. As the little girl skipped down back to the main road, Juvia felt sorry for the little girl. No child should model after her. Back then, she wasn’t her best self. She was strong yet lonely. Isolated by her own rain. Physically attractive yet gloomy that warmth and fun were foreign concepts to her. A smile, a true warm smile, had never even touched her lips. Simply, ugly. If she could only keep that image to herself and tuck it away where no one else could find it, she would have done so.

The Juvia of the present, the Juvia after joining Fairy Tail, after finally being accepted and loved for who she was and who she was not, was unquestionably the best version of herself yet.

But that twinge was pushed away by the slight curve of Gray’s lips. Warm. Affectionate. Proud. He was still looking at that little girl, at kid Phantom Lord Juvia, with eyes full of interest. Never left her figure as she turned around and hollered at the other two girls on the walkway. Her other two friends looked like shrunken versions of other Fairy Tail members, slowed down by their argument about who collected more candies between them.

“There’s Erza and Mira-chan too.” Gray chuckled. “Brings me back.”

Juvia forgot all about her own thinking, dumbfounded by the look on Gray’s face. Even when the curve on his lips was subtle it was also telling. Because Gray could picture so clearly how the actual Erza and Mira-chan, when they were at the same age as those kids, would squabble over the smallest and silliest things. Much like the kids rounding up their group of three with Juvia-chan. His mind flew to that rare moment when all the kids in the guild were huddled up together in an unusually peaceful group waiting out the night. Simply remembering pulled the corners of his mouth into a small smile – not wistful, not longing, just… content.

Before he even thought of it, Gray was already starting on his feet, with Juvia following closely behind and then, naturally, fell beside him. Stepping into the same stride, the same pace as his. Juvia had caught up to him again, naturally. It had been like that between them for years now. Words have become so moot and inadequate. It was as if they were operating on feelings alone. Like it was the only way they could clearly and completely convey their inner thoughts. And so, with no invitation required, Gray and Juvia explored the neighborhood, feasting their eyes at the sight of scattered children in all sorts, shapes and colors of costumes.

The children walked up to houses. Their eyes shone at the treats dropped inside their baskets. Some ran out screaming in terror, receiving childish and mean scares instead of sweet treats. Others gleefully skipped along the side of the road while peeking inside each other’s loots. The two Fairy Tail mages, however, glowed in pride at the insinuation that the kids put Fairy Tail in such high regard to dress up like them, as members of the strongest guild in the whole of Fiore.

Wasn’t it that imitation was the highest form of flattery?

Out of nowhere, Gray and Juvia started a contest of whoever could spot and recognize Fairy Tail look-alikes more. They discreetly point the children to each other – finding a little Lucy with a mermaid Aquarius who can walk on foot in this version, or the entire Lightning God Tribe whose version of Laxus put on some balloons in place of the original’s muscles.

They spotted another Juvia, this one much younger than the first one they saw earlier, around five or six years old maybe, donning polka-dotted leggings. She had a long-haired older boy in her tail, who she addressed as onii-san, carrying her basket for her. It was quite a picture for Gray, the little girl scolding the older kid, who both Gray and Juvia agreed resembled an Iron Dragon Slayer. At least, even in make-belief, Gray got to see Gajeel being ordered around.

They strolled deeper into the neighborhood and found out that the wizard costumes were not limited to Fairy Tail mages. Gray even flinched at a spitting image of a young but much more handsome (in Gray’s biased opinion) Lyon Vastia. But Juvia noted his mood became even livelier when they met the Lyon impersonator, despite Gray-sama’s act and words of displeasure. At that, Juvia hid a chuckle behind her hand, which Gray noticed.

They hadn't walked that far from where they met and were greeted by a polite version of the fire dragon slayer, when Juvia noticed Gray’s mood turn sullen, even if he tried to hide it with a small but dry grin. She ha dan inkling why. They must have seen ten or twenty versions of Natsu but not a single one of the ice-make mage.

Even Juvia wasn’t happy about that.

“Gray-sama…”

“You want to go back?” He jumped in, not liking the way she looked and sounded worried.

Gray already knew what she was about to say. But it seemed he’d rather not talk about it. Respecting his feelings, the water-mage simply returned his smile, hers understanding and much more genuine than his forced one.

“If Gray-sama prefers.”

“Alright then.”

They turned around, about to take the path back to where they started when something round and hard hit Gray right at the stomach.

“Sorry, Oji-san!”

A small boy bumped into him with a force enough to sway Gray but not to make him lose his balance. He first checked that his basket of candies was intact before the little boy with messy black hair beamed up at him, his smile was pulled so wide that his eyes were almost shut. Cheeks all puffed and flushed and chubby and cute.

He probably got away with anything armed with that smile.

“Greige?!”

But like the other kids his age, the boy quickly abandoned the stranger he bumped into and caught up with his friends.

“Wait for me!”

Gray quickly spun around. A seed of hope sprouted within him, urging his feet to move. He wanted to follow the kid and confirm his suspicion but his own logic stopped him, rooting him in his spot. That would have been impossible. How would Greige cross over Earthland? That boy might have been wearing a zipped-up coat with fluffy collar, the same one Gray remembered Greige of Edolas was wearing, but how could he cross over to their world? Impossible.

Hope had sprouted into longing.

“Greige?”

Juvia’s confusion and Gray’s sudden realization that Juvia was still completely unaware of their child’s existence in another world, pulled him out of his reverie.

“Um… I said ‘engage’.” He quickly lied, feeling warmth rise to his cheeks despite the cold October breeze blowing at them. “I thought he was an enemy or somethin’.” Yet even to him, he wasn’t that convincing.

But how was he supposed to tell Juvia he saw a kid who could pass as a doppelganger of the son they would have in the future but who was already existing as the child of Gray Surge and Juvia, a version of them who were already married and lived and breathed in Edolas?

If Juvia knew about their Edolas counterparts, she would sulk all week and demand that they too get married and make a baby. They weren’t at that point in their relationship yet. They haven’t even kissed! Through no fault of Juvia, of course. Even though she had given her consent to it in no limited terms, Gray just didn’t… he just wasn’t… confident enough.

“Let’s go back, Juvia.”

“Oh, okay.”

He wounded a firm arm around Juvia’s shoulder and secured her at his side to stop the water-mage from looking back at the boy who reminded Gray of his future son. He chanced a last glance at him though and decided his hair was too spiky and a shade lighter than the boy in his memory. He was too tall and too animated to be his prim and proper little Greige.

His mind was probably playing tricks on him.

“Greige.” Juvia tested the name on her tongue. She liked the sound of it, she told Gray, making the man sweat a little.

“H-h-hey Juvia, I told you that’s not what I said.”

“He looked a little bit like Gray-sama, didn’t he?”

Gray couldn’t seem to understand, or rather that he couldn’t believe how Juvia’s soft eyes, that loving gaze that seemed to be only directed at him, had always been a source of comfort. He couldn’t at all wrap his head around the phenomenon of her smile shining so bright to the point that it was blinding, yet he was incapable of looking away.

“You think so?”

She just made a sound, a cute little hmm, eyes now glistening with that gentle mix of pride and joy. Gray couldn’t even fathom how Juvia could grow even more beautiful each day.

Gray glanced back at the boy reuniting with his friends, looking for his own qualities in him. Maybe his dark, unruly hair could be attributed to the ice-mage but the little boy was wrapped in a winter coat, and Gray was known for unwrapping himself from any clothing.

No harm in imaging it though, that maybe the little stranger was copying Gray.

He wasn’t.

Gray wasn’t imagining it when the boy with unruly hair pulled his elbows back to form some sort of hand stance. He definitely did not need to humor himself when he heard the kid say “ice-make…” and pretended like magic power was coming out of his open palms and attacked his friends.

Maybe if Gray got over himself…

“Juvia… are you cold?”

“Hmm?”

And step out of that darkness that was holding him back.

“My place…”

Then maybe…

“… is nearby.”

He didn’t need to imagine anything anymore.

“Yes, Gray-sama.”

#gray x juvia #gruvia #gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #gruvia fanfiction #fairytail #fairytail fanfiction #be-dazzled #gruvia halloween

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isagrimorie · 3 months ago

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Season 15 is what I will point to that’s particularly baffling in how the show styled Prentiss. We already have to contend with the ugly Cleopatra wig.

And then the show started styling her out of character ways. Episode 7 is the most egregious wit this because look:

The dress, the heels? Even when Emily wore dresses this isn’t her style! We’ve seen Emily wear skirts and dresses. Also what is this big bag all of a sudden?

Again, this is why I prefer the styling for Evolution Emily Prentiss. Last seasons Emily Prentiss in the OG show was so baffling.

And then they had her wear this blouse with THAT wig. And I’m starting to wonder if Paget Brewster lost a bet.

Why were Pagets’ characters — Frankie Dart (Community) and Sara Kingsley (Grandfathered) — styled better than on Criminal Minds??

I can see Emily wearing this!

And this!!

What is going on in the costume department in the last seasons????

See that whole outfit? The fabulous red coat? I’m glad Emily started dressing like Emily Prentiss again in the last season.

I will take Evolution over that last seasons of the OG show, any day.

—-

Also, episode 7 of season 15 did the opposite of selling me on Andrew Mendoza as a romantic partner for Emily. I thought that at least, if he made her happy I’d be down with that.

But everything from that episode and episode before that just showed me Emily was settling. And, also because so many of her friends told her she had to stop running and putting up walls— but she’s not doing all those things because she had cold feet, she did that because she wasn’t feeling it.

Andrew Mendoza is a great guy but also he’s persistent. But once his constant presence disappeared from her life… Emily started realizing Andrew wasn’t for her, and with the lockdown, I bet that just made it all too apparent.

(Also, it felt like casting just got a handsome man but didn’t bother with a chemistry test. Paget had more chemistry with her lawyer friend in season 12! Actually, felt like there was some low key attraction there between Alvez and Prentiss but that was pushed away when she became the boss.)

Paget Brewster can also bring it when she has chemistry, just look at Grandfathered. Brewster and Stamos were so good there that I was so sad when they canceled Grandfathered!

youtube

#emily prentiss #tv: criminal minds #tv: grandfathered #i’m so angry this show was canceled #last season cm costume department i want to say words!!!#Youtube

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lindalofbroome · 11 months ago

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lief: so where's barda jasmine: he's looking for the belt of deltora lief: he's wHAT

31 - Essence of Rodda

'Despair is the enemy. Do not let it defeat you.' [Zeean whispered.] DELTORA QUEST 3 The Sister of the South Ch 9 The Yellow Notice

'Norris!' shouted Rowan, shaking him. 'Even if you are right — even if we have been led by some evil force into a trap — we cannot just lie down and die!' ROWAN OF RIN Rowan of the Bukshah Ch 13 The Climb

'So it is not too late, Rye! We still have a chance to stop that future from happening! It is not too late!' [said Sonia] THE THREE DOORS The Third Door Ch 23 Three Doors

And she imagined what her companions on the shore were seeing — a dishevelled girl in a flaring red skirt, surrounded by a throng of fawning ghosts. No wonder Sky and Jewel had fled from her as soon as they were able. She quelled the wave of misery that threatened to engulf her. She had always been haunted by her past. The wraiths were just the visible sign of it. STAR OF DELTORA The Hungry Isle Ch 6 The Glittering Shore

👇👇👇👇

[ben wyatt voice] it's about the perseverance through suffering 👌

👆👆👆👆

there's a bunch of other stuff like double meanings and being epic and found family that i wanted to do but in the end i didn't have time for lol and so i had to chase the serotonin for this last post and make a bad joke out of it to motivate me adfKSDJFH but also so serious

the suffering is not the end; there are horrors AND delights; you lose when you give up; not everything is as it seems but also multiple interpretations can coexist; i know this is so sappy and kids cartoons but it's so real hope is everything and can counter the overwhelmingness of despair; choose to be optimistic, to love, to be happy

you're gonna really feel that in DQ3 because of the high stakes but this is also like the very essence of rowan of rin. he's always being surprised when the big heroic models of courage break down, but they've never had to keep moving forward and doing so scared the way he has. norris was overconfident but he's never had to face something like the cold time and the Mountain, but this is rowan's like hundredth rodeo. this is not to dunk on norris at all but just the way that rowan of rin directly and indirectly shows courage and perseverance

anyway this was supposed to be our beloved trio being a family and looking after each other but it turned into post-mask and then i forgot i cant halfass things to save my life this was supposed to be a crappy shitpost but then i was looking up so much cirque du soleil references trying to figure out what they might wear lol. they might not actually be wearing costumes but the other acrobats with jasmine were so why not put her in one too and then how could bess not resist dressing lief up in her son's clothes etc

so lief's outfit is like a preliminary costume before a more grander and brighter one if he became fully integrated into their circle. i keep searching up baby bird and forgetting that im going to see some gangly pink guys lmao

jasmine's acrobat troupe were described as just blue costumes from what i found. and i was like. UH OH. because i was gonna have to work soooooo hard to differentiate from bede's blue bird vibe. i thought i'd go for a lighter blue than the sorta. royal blue i give him usually. and then it got me thinking sky blue. the perform acrobatics up in the air. they reach for the sky. they up there in the sky. sky costume.

#roddacember 2023 #roddacember #lyn's roddacember prompts #postlyn #postlyn art #emily rodda #roddaverse #deltora quest #jaslief #jasmine of del #lief of del #//#think i might rb this with some cool cirque du soleil costumes i saw that could fit #ALSO #shout out to jasmine's green healing balm and lief's stubby pencil #real ones from the beginning #and let's add barda's temper lMAO #''barda's been wAY too nice to us the past few days what is wrong with him''#god bless maze of the beast

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thewintersoldierdisaster · 1 year ago

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happy halloween - have a few, quickly-written little headcanons on the svech babies and their halloween costumes 🎃

evie’s six months old for her first halloween and you go a little nuts buying a bunch of different costumes but she ends up going as a little bunny, complete with a stuffed carrot and everyone freaks out over how cute she is

you and andrei also wear bunny ears to go as a little bunny family

alina’s only three months old for her first halloween and evie’s almost three so you go for a family costume again - this time it’s winnie the pooh characters. andrei is tigger, evie is pooh, you’re eeyore, and alina is piglet. the costumes are so freaking hot so you’re glad it’s actually a cold halloween in raleigh for once

when you zip andrei into the giant onesie, he shakes his head and laughs, “didn’t think i would be so damn happy to dress up in an adult onesie, solnyshka.”

kira is eleven months old at her first halloween and walking, but none of the girls want anything to do with a family costume since they all have their own choices. except then it’s two days before halloween and the bigger girls both decide they hate their costumes and want new ones - daddy to the rescue. disney princess family costumes here you come

evie is sleeping beauty, alina is ariel, kira is cinderella and they’re all very very excited about the twirly dresses

andrei has a wicked look in his eye when he pulls a fourth and fifth costume from the giant box - a yellow ball gown for you and a prince costume for himself - belle and the beast

“my hair’s even long enough,” he grins, having been too busy to get a haircut. he’ll never admit it, but he’s just as into the family costumes as you are

by the time dimitri is born, he’s only two months old and you’re exhausted. andrei handles halloween again - the girls go as different superheros (wonder woman, supergirl, and batgirl) daddy’s wearing a batman mask and a huge goofy grin

dimitri gets a little teddy bear onesie, complete with ears and little tail, so he can be warm and bundled while you push him in the stroller as the girls trick or treat. andrei has a little superman shirt that he puts on over dimitri’s onesie because he “has to match the rest of us, solnyshka”

“i’m not dressed up to match you guys”

“don’t worry about that, i have just the thing”

andrei produces a t-shirt that says “super mom” on it for you and a little matching cape that he hooks around your neck with a kiss to your cheek

maks is just about a month old for his first halloween - he gets dimitri’s bear onesie and one year old dimitri is in a little elmo from sesame street

there’s a period of several halloweens where both boys only want to be daddy for halloween and traipse around the neighborhood in their svechnikov jerseys and helmets, insisting on carrying around sticks until they get bored and you end up carrying the sticks

evie bosses her younger siblings around one year because she wants to be dorothy from wizard of oz, but needs her cast of characters. so. kira and alina end up as the wicked witch and glinda, respectively. you’re the scarecrow, andrei is the tin man, dimitri is the cowardly lion, and poor little maks ends up as toto

the year the kids all decide to do their own different costumes and don’t want to do a coordinated family one is a dark year for andrei - he pouts and complains about the kids growing up, so you promise to do a couples’ costume with him and that’s how you end up dressed in matching pirate costumes with andrei’s hand up your skirt most of the night and a brief pregnancy scare six weeks later

#andrei svechnikov #andrei svechnikov x reader #andrei svechnikov x you #andrei svechnikov headcanon #andrei svechnikov fic

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daincrediblegg · 1 year ago

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all right. since you asked very nicely I'll do an outfit breakdown for our dear girl, complete with pictures because I’ve become a bit of a hoe about victorian clothing since I began this whole fucking thing bc of her. (And everyone kindly thank @thejewelsofmyheart for asking)

Now I will note that some of the photo accompaniments are not quite completely the vibe I was going for sometimes in terms of fabric/color/vibe, but let it be noted these are all from my references I’ve collected on here and on pinterest over months and hey this is what I got if I was talking to a costume designer tho this is the kindof breakdown I would give them

Lady Terror's typical undergarments consists of drawers (notably crotchless- as ladies drawers were back then for what should be reasonably obvious reasons), corset (notably one with the recently invented front clasp closure that would make it easier to do up and undo without assistance- on a ship full of dudes this would be wise), chemise, petticoats 1 (linen), 2 (flannel) and 3 (which she only truly occasionally wears) corded- to give her skirt a bit of extra poof (not a fan of this when the cold gets extreme tho understandably). And those are at least the basic components.

Moving outward it gets a little different from what would typically be worn by women even on a ship, but Lady Terror's whole thing is she's trying to fit in with the men while still holding onto her identity as a woman. So to start, we have a collared shirt and waistcoat (where she also notably keeps her pocket watch, given to her by her father), which she typically wears while she's inside the ship and the climate isn't... fucking dead freezing all the time. in lieu of the vest sometimes she wars a smart red crossover. She also has two knitted sweaters (one a slightly lighter than naval blue - one her father used to wear- , one a handsome cream with a slight puff at the forearm to imitate the women's fashions of the day- knitted by a friend) . Alternatively, she has two thick long-sleeved woolen bodices, one in a more formal style that matches her woolen naval blue skirt (which she typically reserves for dinner with the officers) , and one lighter colored more casually styled one that she can wear with her vest over it (much more practical during the colder winter months).

As for OUTERWEAR she has a long naval peacoat (similar to that which most of the officers wear, save for a little more flare at the skirt to accommodate her skirt- and btw the coat pictured above I actually own), a capelet for when she needs to look a little more feminine and extra formal. Gloves, of course, are a must (one pair knitted, one pair lined with fur, and a pair of fur over-mittens that match her hat), a fur hat that she favors from her time in the Prussian seas, a bonnet (that she loathes), and a long red scarf, knitted for her by a friend back home.

And that just about does it for her everyday outfits while on the ships at least. She has a few more bodices and lighter underthings kept in store on Erebus(including one fancy dress complete with crinoline skirt), which doesn't much see the light of day anymore, but on the few occasions that she had to wear it before the expedition, she enjoyed it quite a lot.

Of course also, in my lady terror energy and inspiration tags I continue to compile and collect some dresses that I think would suit her for formal gatherings. She brought only one of note with her on the ship, but it remains in store for the majority of the story (but allow me to say without spoiling anything: Francis would recognize it on sight). I only had room for one more photo so there you have it. Outfit breakdown of the century. Good night.

#lady terror #egg's oc's #maybe I’ll reblog more dresses that I think well and truly would suit her vibe… perhaps…

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eorzeaisnotcrash · 2 months ago

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Day 15: free day (Controversy)

No flowers. No pretty paintings. No souvenirs from far-off places. Zenos’ house doesn’t lack for space or luxury, but it’s in a cold, hard sort of way. What’s the point of having lots of money if you don’t get to have any fun with it? At least half the people here aren’t smiling, either. Some have smiled nervously at Zenos as they walked past or even tried to greet him. Others have stared. One man has smiled at Joceline, but it was the same smile she wears when she’s holding back a laugh.

Well, she kind of likes the house for what it is. And she likes that she got to dress up, even if she’s getting used to sitting differently and taking up twice as much space as she usually does. And the food she’s found so far is well fit!

She’s just thanking a trembling maid for bringing her more tiny tarts when a man comes storming over to their corner of the room. Good thing she’s already standing, because he’s even bigger than Zenos, and her neck can only bend so far. His hair is a similar color and similar length…

“Oh! Are you Zenos’ dad?” she asks, at the same time the huge man snaps, “what is the meaning of this?”

“Father,” says her friend, with none of the warmth of family, “this is a schoolmate of mine. You decreed that I should request the presence of one visitant at this gathering… it is she whom I have elected to accompany me.”

“Nice to meet you,” Joceline tries again, with a small wave.

Now he rounds on her. “Was it your intent to ridicule my son? What do you mean by coming here in that ridiculous dress?”

“Ridiculous? This is just fine for evening wear… or it was a long time ago… Look, the dresses I tried were too tight, too black, too marty… er, matree-“

“Matronly,” Zenos smoothly supplies.

“Yeah, that! Or they didn’t do what I needed ‘em to do up top.” (She caught one of the guests staring at her chest. She stared back until his face went red and he turned away.) “But then we passed a costume shop, and I noticed this was the same color as my tracksuit-“

“Get out.”

“What, already?”

The man repeats like he’s trying to break a blood vessel, “Get out or I will have security remove you!”

“But I rode here with Zenos! Now you’re saying I’ve got to go to the station in this, ride the train in this, walk the rest of the way home in this…”

“At my invitation has she attended. Does this not compel me to ensure that she returns unharmed to her own residence? I will not suffer her to meet misfortune after she departs.” Without waiting for an answer, Zenos takes her arm, and the small crowd that gathered to gawp at them backs away to either side. So she does her best to keep pace with him as they walk through the grand gloomy house, back to the double doors, past the guards who don’t say a word…

…and when they’re alone, his friend lifts her not-quite-lotus-pink skirts and grins at the trainers she’s been wearing all day.

“And that’s the end of that. Let’s go see if the bookstore’s still open!”

#FFXIVWrite 2024 #day 15 #delinquent AU #they’re fancy delinquents today #Zenos yae Galvus #Varis zos Galvus #I thought it would be funny to give Jojo Christine’s pink dress from the Phantom of the Opera movie #I based my WoL on what little me thought was pretty and now she can have the same fashion issues as big me lmao

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solar-halos · 6 months ago

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"you're gonna be wearing that?"

aka a silly odesta one shot. 900 words, no plot just vibes

No one talks about the psychological repercussions of being so hot all the time.

Annie examines herself in the mirror. One wrong move and it’s fucking over for her ass (literally).

Annie loves flashy clothing, but not the way the Capitol does it. Instead of obscene sparkles and absolutely unethical fur coats, Annie prefers the linen materials and natural sea glass from District 4’s markets. And, since it’s Halloween today, she goes all out.

She practices how she needs to walk. She’ll have more leeway when she’s finally reunited with her friends, but for right now, she does not want to flash the entirety of the Victor’s Village as soon as she walks out of the door.

The hem of her skirt (made from her own two hands, with nothing but two knitting needles and a heap of yarn) has a scalloped edge along the hemline, which provides some extra coverage. She even managed to manipulate a scrap of shiny fabric into a seashell-shaped blur.

She was a mermaid, obviously. If she really wanted to get accurate with it, then she wouldn’t be wearing a top at all, but Annie (unfortunately) isn’t a mermaid. It’s why she’s putting so much thought into what shoes she should wear. Hitting the beach was a must, but this was a special occasion. Should she break out the strappy sandals? She even replaced all the strings with seafoam green ribbon.

She reaches up to clip her hair back while she thinks about it. The knot holding up her shirt loosens. She huffs.

“Finnick? Will you help me tie this?” She plops down at the foot of the bed. Finnick was writing in his journal while she got ready, but after hearing his name, he glances at her. Annie smiles at him.

His pretty green eyes travel all the way down to her bare feet. She wonders if he’s gonna call her divine. It wouldn’t be the first time.

She leans forward, entranced by his palpable love. He’s so sweet to her all the time.

“You’re gonna be wearing that?”

She frowns. Scrap what she said about his palpable love.

“Why’d you say it like that?” she demands. Doesn’t he think her costume is pretty? “I’ve been working on this for weeks!”

Seriously. If she had a nickel for every time she raveled and unraveled the yarn to get every aspect of the design exactly right, she’d be financially compensated for all those tears she shed.

“And it looks good!” he assures her, but Annie shakes her head. He can’t backtrack now.

“No, I get it,” she insists, because she does. “You hate it.”

“I don’t hate—”

“No, it’s cool,” she insists, even though it’s not. “Lying to me is worse than hating on me.”

“Annie.” His voice goes impossibly soft. He leans forward, inching his hand toward hers, and she takes it. Maybe hate was too strong of a word. “You look beautiful. Drop-dead gorgeous. I’m just saying…”

He pauses, eyes drifting toward the ceiling like he’s crunching numbers in his head. Annie raises her eyebrows at him, imploring him to keep going. What now?

“I’m just saying it might get cold, is all.”

Seriously? That was his first thought? She’s covered in ribbons and bows and he’s thinking about the weather?

“Whatever. I can’t believe you’d try and tell me what to do.”

His eyes bug out again. He opens his mouth to reply, but the doorbell cuts him off. That must be the girls.

“Annie.” He trails after her. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I’d never tell you what to do. It’s just freezing out right now.”

Well, yeah. It’s Halloween. “But I look good.” What part of that doesn’t he get? “Besides, we’ll be indoors for most of it.”

“Well, yeah, but—”

They make it to the foot of the stairs. Mags throws the both of them a strange glance, probably not used to Finnick being so fucking bossy.

“Finnick hates what I’m wearing,” she explains.

“I’m just saying it’ll be cold!”

Whatever. Annie flings the door open. She and her friends start trading hugs (and compliments, because they all look unbelievably stunning).

“Dude!” Her best friend has Annie do a 360 so everyone can survey her look. “You look so fucking pretty!”

“Thank you!” Annie says, shooting a pointed glance toward Finnick. His eyebrows knit together.

“I think so, too,” he tells her. “Otherworldly.”

Otherworldly. Finnick calls her a lot of things—smart, sweet, beautiful—but otherworldly is a new one. That makes her ease up on all the teasing.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna come with us?” she asks, even though they both know he shouldn’t. Finnick being at a party wouldn’t be unusual, but they have to avoid being seen together in the public eye. District 4 has a severe gossiping problem.

“I’m okay,” he says, hugging her close. She melts into him, giving him a kiss on the cheek as an olive branch. He kisses her back, being mindful of the blush on her cheeks and the highlighter on the tip of her nose. She admires the bright red lipstick stain on his face. “You have fun. And try not to get too cold.”

She wrinkles her nose. “I’m not gonna get cold!”

#writings and musings #odesta #annie cresta #i was gonna save this for halloween until i realized this literally has nothing to fucking do w halloween #also guys i think i have a problem where if a character is wearing lipstick they HAVE to smooch their partner #like there’s just something abt it that’s so fucking cute

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kiwiweewee · 2 years ago

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Batfam as tacky cowboy outfits

Was chatting in a DC server and came to the thought: If the Batfam visited Kent Farm, they’d wear the goofiest, tackiest cowboy costumes ever. And so I went out and found them. Here it is in slideshow form: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eDwQtuWYQeDK_fR5TbpTObk3Z8U4KPUobzvj6TqZUds/edit?usp=sharing

Bruce

- I feel like Bruce is only willing to be a little silly - Respectable for the most part - More Patriotic than usual

Alfred

- okay so I wasn’t really sure about this one

- I don’t know if he’d dress up

- If he did, I don’t think he’d be silly :(

- Would maybe wear a hat if asked

Barbara

- Would Barbara go to a remote farm in Kansas? Without internet? Doubtful, but we’re here to have fun

- Admittedly tame but it still has fringe and is fun

- She isn’t going to buy an entire new outfit just for this the bit, so only the gloves, scarf, vest, hat, and boot coverings are new

Dick

- Dick went as Dolly Parton

- Had a hell of a time picking WHICH Dolly Parton costume to emulate

- Went with the one from her Imagination Library benefit concert

Cassandra

- Tacky but doesn’t stand out as much as the others

- Almost wore one with a skirt but went with practicality

- Likes the way the fringe moves when she spins

Jason

- Outlaw, of course

- Would probably have a bigger, more obnoxious belt buckle

- a hoe never gets cold, but he does get sweaty under all those layers

Stephanie

- Everybody knew she was going to do something stupid

- Unlike Barbara, she will spend money on something she is never going to wear again

- It has purple

Tim

- Bought it online

- It has fringe to poke fun at Dick’s Discowing suit

- Complains about how uncomfortable the boots are even though everybody warned him about breaking them in before the trip

Duke

- Found it while thrift shopping

- Is yellow

- Probably posed in the mirror a TON because cmon, look at this fit

Damian

- Thought this whole idea was stupid

- Was told by someone that he could be Sheriff and boss them around

- That was a mistake

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inkofamethyst · 10 months ago

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January 5, 2024

Today was quite an adventure!! I went to two grocery stores (after hitting two yesterday--wanted to pack the pantry again (few things I love more than a full freezer)) then spent an afternoon in the city! Got a library card (planning to pick up another tomorrow!), and then just kind of strolled about! Ducked into a few stores (including Madewell--I've had my eye on some Harlow's and have now found my perfect fit (they run so big??), now I just have to wait for them to go on sale), and did a test run of the bus that would take me from a social bookstore back to my uni. I'm thinking about going to their silent reading night next week, and now I feel comfortable getting back home after. There's another silent reading night in the city at a different bookstore the following week, so I'll check out the vibes of both then compare (I popped into the bookstore and their vibe was DOPE I'm so excited for it).

Speaking of books,, I have this one fabric that could be a reasonable approximation of the corset Lucy Gray weas in TBOSAS if you squint. And I have a top that's a reasonable approximation of the white one she wears under the corset. She could be a fun Halloween costume. Maybe not super topical by next October though? And then there's the fact that her skirt is super pieced and I have neither my stash nor my machine with me. But that could be made with a half circle skirt and attached flounces. It'd be an even better costume if I had my uke with me but alas.

also [non-sequitur bc i love em] it's quite possible that part of the reason why grad students are getting raises is because the uni (rightfully) caught a lot of flack for suggesting that students go on food stamps last year lol (not that this is an option to be overlooked by grad students in general bc social services are in place to be used)

Today I'm thankful that my adventure was successful, educational, and fun despite the cold.

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floopers · 2 years ago

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Dip in Judgment

Series: Octopath Traveler II Pairing: Throné/Castti Word count: 2774 Rating: T Summary:

"Oh?" Something seems to gleam in Castti's eyes. "Do you know how to perform one?"

"… only the idea of it. I might drop you, you know."

"That's all right, I trust you."

[AO3]

something more lighthearted and also the dancer subclass outfits continue to be so good.......

spoilers for partitio's chapter 3 but other than that, not much else

The Wellgrove department store is one of the best ideas Partitio's ever had. Throné leaves the building in a good mood, her own pouch much heavier than when she'd come in. Nothing those merchants inside won't miss, at least. She can't make it too obvious she's had a field day though; Agnea and Partitio give her the worst puppy-eyes when they find out about her... haul, and even Throné isn't that cold to not feel bad about it.

She wonders where they are now though. Throné had split off from the group once they arrived in town. She'd gone into the store with Partitio but she hadn't seen or heard him when she left so he's most likely gone from the area now. The others... no idea where they might be.

Ah, but there's good old Osvald instead, staring up at the sky on the bench nearby. He looks over at her when she approaches him.

"They're all at that dance studio up the hill," he tells her when she asks, gesturing with a jerk of his head over his shoulder. "I have matters to think about so I'm here."

"... oh?" Throné doesn't mean to pry but there's something... amusing to her about the way he says it. He only grunts and says nothing else. Well, if he doesn't want to speak then. She makes her way up to the dance studio he'd directed her to. She'll drop in and just see what the others are doing. She won't stick for long.

Throné peeks in from the open doorway. Other than Osvald, everyone's inside, changed out of their usual clothes. Is it closer to what dancers wear? Practice clothing? Anyone can dance, Throné's just not sure if there's any sort of special outfits for it. She knows certain dancers like Dolcinaea wear specialized outfits for the stage but that feels more like a costume for performances.

Instead of them all whirling around the studio like she expected though, they're dancing in pairs. Agnea and Partitio sway around the middle though he looks more like he's trying to burn holes through the floor instead, sweat dripping down his face and while Agnea smiles, her brow is drawn in extreme concentration with occasional grimaces. Hikari's off to the side with Ochette and they've somehow managed to look worse, given Ochette swinging their arms and legs all around and he looks like he's trying to keep himself from being flung into the wall. In comparison, Castti and Temenos look... the most graceful, merely keeping to the rhythm set by the music blaring from that invention Partitio's bought in Winterbloom, the... gramophone, if Throné recalls correctly.

Throné doesn't know how long she stands there watching them. Half of it is morbid fascination because it's like Hikari and Partitio are fighting for their lives when they're just dancing, and the other half is...

Castti's new clothes swirl around her in a circle as she dances around with Temenos, garments much looser than her usual outfit. Her hair, usually held in that tight bun, is merely pulled into tail now, a blue flower hairpin to match with her skirt. Castti steps her left foot out, baring the entirety of her leg—

Throné's eyes widen slightly. Hmm. Interesting.

Castti looks over in her direction at that moment. Their eyes catch, and Throné watches as a corner of her lips curls upward. She swings around and now it's Temenos she's facing, that sly smile on his face—Throné pointedly looks away.

The music finally stops, and so does everyone. They all let go of their partners and Hikari is noticeably unsteady on his feet as he wobbles away to the wall. Ochette takes his arm to lead him, her tail swishing back and forth. Partitio swipes the sweat off his brow, grimacing.

"I'm mighty sorry for stepping on ya so many times, Agnea! I've just got two left feet," Partitio says, his shoulders slumping slightly.

"It's fine, it's fine!" she reassures him, missing the sudden look Castti sends her way. Throné has no doubt that Castti's going to conduct an examination on her legs later that night. "Once you get some more practice, you'll be a lot better at it!"

Temenos is heading her way now, and she doesn't like that expression on his face. She crosses her arms, readying herself for what he's going to say. He looks funny being out of his robes though, and she's got half a mind to tell him that but holds her tongue. "How nice of you to join us, Throné. Would you like to participate too?"

"What are you guys even doing?"

"Just trying to do something fun. The dance master noticed we had an even number of people and asked if we wanted to try pairing up, to try different sorts of dances." Temenos shrugs. "I daresay only Castti and I, and perhaps Ochette, have enjoyed ourselves though."

That's an understatement if Throné's ever heard one.

"But I'm rather tired now." There's that gleam in his eyes again. "Castti looks like she still has energy, you should join her.

"... hm." She pretends not to see the knowing look on his face.

Castti is talking to Agnea now and she's got that look on her face and though Agnea is shaking her head furiously, Throné knows a losing battle when she sees one. And just as she thought, Agnea slinks away to sit against the wall, sighing as she rubs her legs.

Done with lecturing Agnea, Castti makes her way over to them now, skirt swishing around her, showing off the skin of her bare leg—

"Throné, good to see you finally here," Castti says, slightly breathless. She looks over at Temenos. "Do you still want to keep dancing?"

"Ah, no, no, but I volunteer Throné here," he only says, nudging her forward. She'd pull a knife on him for that, but Castti looks over at her now and... well, Throné's so used to seeing Castti in her usual outfit that to see her like this is... a bit distracting, she's loathe to admit.

"Would you like to try some dancing, then, Throné?" Castti asks, smiling invitingly now. Throné feels as if she's walked into a trap, stuck between Temenos and Castti. Thankfully, she's saved by the appearance of Ochette bounding over to them.

"Néné!" she calls out, her tail wagging back and forth. "Heh, Castti, you match with Néné!"

"... oh?"

"Your skirts! It's just like hers!" she says, pointing at them. She pokes Castti in the leg and Castti gasps.

"O-Ochette! Don't touch me like that, I'm a bit ticklish there."

Throné files that information away.

"Aw, sorry, Ma! But I wanna try some more human dancing! It was so fun!" Ochette looks over at Throné, her eyes sparkling, and Throné feels a little bit sorry for what she's about to do. Sorry for Ochette, she thinks.

"Temenos is free," Throné volunteers before anyone else can say anything. Temenos gets one noise of protest out before Ochette grabs his hands, dragging him back toward the middle as she cheers loudly. She grabs Partitio too for good measure, now also partnerless since Agnea's resting up. Temenos looks his shoulder at her in mock hurt, and all she does is shrug in response. He'll be certain to repay her in kind for this but... well, he'll understand it to be for the greater good. Her greater good.

"... well." Castti looks back at her. "Did you really want to try or is Temenos pulling my leg?"

Throné could pull her leg instead. She coughs into her hand before answering. "Looks interesting. I guess I could give it a try."

"Wonderful." Castti smiles at her and holds out her hand. Throné blinks, glancing down at the outstretched hand before back up at Castti, smiling wryly now.

"Are you going to be the one to lead then?"

It takes a moment for Castti, but she returns Throné's smile, amused again. "Whatever you feel like."

"Hm." Pretending to think, Throné finally reaches out, taking Castti's hand and allowing her to be led toward the middle. Partitio's broken away from Ochette and Temenos, going through the gramophone now to pick out a song. Whatever he decides on is a slow one though, not the lively music they'd been listening to earlier.

"Ooh, Throné, are you going to dance?" Agnea's gotten up from where she'd been sitting, sparkling with excitement for some strange reason. "A city girl like you had to have done these sorts of dances before, right?" Throné... wonders what to say. It isn't exactly... wrong, but Agnea's certainly imagining something more... glamorous, no doubt influenced by Dolcinaea. How does Throné tell her what she's learned were merely basics of what she used to blend into crowds for her mission?

"I... am aware of them," she answers, which seems to satisfy her. Castti turns to look at her and Agnea quickly yelps and scampers away before Castti can open her mouth.

"You should go easy on her," Throné says.

"Not after what I saw Partitio do to her toes," Castti says and even Throné winces inside. That more than explains everything now. "So... have you done this sort of dance before?" she asks afterward, looking at Throné curiously.

"They're rather popular with the rich at New Delsta, especially when they have their functions. I learned what I had to to fit in." She leaves it at that, letting Castti fill in the rest by herself.

They should be dancing now though but all they've been doing is standing there, with Throné's hand in Castti's. Noticing her look, Castti smiles apologetically. "My apologies, it was Temenos leading earlier and the both of us barely knew what we were doing either."

Throné nods. She pulls Castti closer and reaches around with her other hand, placing it right in the middle of Castti's back. Castti is blinking rapidly and Throné briefly lets go of her hand to tap just somewhere behind her shoulder. "Place your other hand around here, I think," she says, retaking Castti's hand again. Now Castti hesitantly reaches out, resting her hand just under the base of her neck. Throné resists the urge to shiver and flinch away, pushing down years of honed instincts. Being in this sort of position is... vulnerable, but this is only Castti. Nothing is going to happen—nothing should happen save for Throné needing to control her mind from any... wandering thoughts, realizing how close the two of them are now.

"Just follow my movements," Throné says, and begins to lead them. Their steps are a bit clumsy, the both are them still getting accustomed to each other before they finally figure out a rhythm, somehow. Their hands might be deft but their feet aren't. At least, Castti's isn't, but Throné's not used to this sort of footwork either. Castti is careful though, caught between glancing back and forth between Throné and at their feet. She might have stepped on Temenos' a few times for her to be doing this, Throné guesses. How considerate of her.

"By the way, with these sorts of dances, they end in a..." Castti furrows her brow, struggling to remember. "A dip? Is that what the term is?"

"Just sometimes, not all of them." Throné sweeps her around. "It's... a little tough." She wonders exactly where Castti had heard of it. Maybe they were practicing it earlier? Ah—the answer comes to her easily, it must have been Agnea mentioning it.

"Oh?" Something seems to gleam in Castti's eyes. "Do you know how to perform one?"

"... only the idea of it. I might drop you, you know."

"That's all right, I trust you," Castti says immediately after.

Throné nearly stumbles but catches herself in time. Unfortunately, Castti notices, the amusement clear in her eyes.

"Maybe it might jostle some more memories back in," Castti says, her tone light as if she's merely commenting about the weather.

"... right." Castti's sense of humor tends to rear itself when Throné least expects it.

They continue but the music is winding down. There's that glint in Castti's eyes—is she trying to goad Throné into it? Throné hadn't been lying when she said she only really knows the basics... but there's that challenge she's seeing now in Castti. How is she supposed to back down?

Throné releases Castti's hand, placing it on her waist. Castti's eyes widen, her hand grasping the air for a moment before latching onto Throné's upper arm. Her other hand slides up to the back of Throné's neck—she can't resist the slight shiver, and she knows Castti notices by the sudden twitch of her lips. Honestly, she's not sure if this is right or not, but she's vaguely recalling something like this... feels correct. She's never done it herself, only observed other people and whether or not they were doing this correctly is a different story entirely. Maybe she's overthinking it. All she needs to do is focus on not dropping Castti on the floor.

"Ready?" Throné murmurs, and Castti barely nods before Throné takes a large step forward on her leg, bracing herself as she leans her body forward and forces Castti to bend backward, except her fingers dig into Throné out of panic or instinct, one of those. Throné doesn't blame her for that, given how far back... except maybe Castti's lost her balance from all the sudden movements because she's tipping further back and Throné can feel her leg rising—Throné slides her hand down on sheer reflex, catching Castti's leg by the knee.

The music's stopped. Throné is struggling to hold Castti, who's biting her lip now for some reason and face looking far too red than from just plain exertion.

And that's when Throné blinks, realizing what sort of position they're in now.

"... oh."

Throné is trying hard not to think about her hand, how it slid down Castti's leg, how it's slightly wrapped around her. Of course, it's easy not to think of that... when Castti's face is so close to hers right now, arms still looped around her neck. They stare at each other, frozen. Throné barely feels the strain in her arm—how can she, when she has more important matters to think about? Like the way Castti's lips part, how the sheen of sweat makes her hair stick to her, how they're so close they can feel each other breathe, just a little closer and—

"W-whoa! That was incredible!"

The both of them blink, and Throné turns her head to Agnea, who's clapping at them. It all comes back to Throné now, being in the company of their traveling companions, and she quickly pulls Castti up before actually dropping her on the floor. They stare at each other for a quick moment before letting go at the same time, avoiding each others gaze now.

"That was so cool!" Agnea runs up to her, beaming. "I knew you could do it, Throné! Oh, and Castti, too! The two of you were so wonderful!" She's gushing over them and Throné feels just a bit awkward, if she wants to be honest. Agnea's just too bright for her sometimes.

"Now, now, Agnea, we should give them some room to breathe, yes?" Temenos says.

"O-oh! Sorry about that, you two!" Agnea backs away, smiling at them apologetically. For once, Throné's glad for Temenos' intervention, but she knows there's going to be hell for her to pay later or when she least expects it.

"Some... fresh air might be good for us now," Castti says, breathless still and sounding dazed, face still flushed. "Excuse me," she murmurs. As she leaves though, she catches Throné's gaze, lingering for a moment longer before she makes for the exit.

Throné forces herself to wait, listening to Agnea as she talks about wanting to learn about all sorts of different dances. Ochette grabs her hands, swinging them around, calling her movements a Beastling original and they both grin and laugh. Temenos is with Hikari and Partitio now, at the wall as they rest, chatting to other. It's the perfect time for Throné to finally slip away.

Castti is waiting her at the area behind the studio, just off the path where the trees are. She looks at Throné when she approaches, a slight flush still on her face.

"Throné, that dance..."

Throné shrugs. "I was just making it up. Not sure if that's how they really do it back in New Delsta."

"Well..." Mirth shines in Castti's eyes now and she holds out her hand once more. "I'd like to try that again then, if you don't mind?"

#octopath traveler ii #octopath traveler 2 #castti/throné #castti florenz #throné anguis #writing floops #glad that these two weren't dancers because if I had to repeat electric boogaloo lapdance 2 I would have screamed

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