#so are they just supposed to not talk to their friends for an indefinite amount of time ?

[goodnightwindy]

just got the tumblr blackout post on my dash again ugh

[skayafair]

Ok so we've all went through some stages regarding the finale and The Great Divorce (or lack thereof) in S5.

I'm not a patron so I have no idea which turn the plot is going to take in reality, but after some insight from the others I've noticed which way would have been the most enterteining for me.

So a lot of people already noticed that Arthur probably isn't going to be pissed at John all that much. Yeah the situation isn't peachy but they had worse, and I don't even mean like "part 18 The Madness" kind of worse. Whom Arthur took his rage on was Kayne, so the "you lied" might have referred to him as well. (REALLY, THANK YOU to those who noticed that, it made the finale MUCH better for me, although it was good and fun as is.)

If Arthur IS mad at Kayne:

Why did he sound so defeated in the end? Was it an act to gain some time to figure out how to get out of this predicament? Or was he shocked to witness two of his allies die or disappear (and I think he IS worried for Noel a fair amount), maybe spiraling to "everyone around you dies" and "nothing gold can stay" as a possible future implication again?

A fun part for me would be if there is some self-blaming, too. Because after hearing the whole story it's easy to arrive to a horried realization: after Arthur's deal John was supposed to be safe, and he wasn't, therefore, Arthur failed him.

Even though getting John back with no memory was selfish (because erasing the memory would have critically affected John when he didn't have a say in it, and that's obviously messed up) and not ideal (it still put him at least with his friend instead and gave a chance to develop on his own again rather than being consumed by the King, which... yeah... I often forget how fucked up Arthur's behaviour with Yellow actually was from this POV :')), it still helped them both. They had better chances at survival together rather than on their own. It wasn't the worst outcome, Arthur didn't betray his friend. John being safe(-er) was an equally important part of the deal as Arthur not being alone. But since Kayne didn't hold his end of the bargain, John wasn't just in danger. He was in the Dark World, for indefinite amount of time. That was a complete opposite to the conditions of the deal. If Kayne didn't strike another deal with John, they wouldn't have met again, probably. John would have stayed in the DW while Arthur could still have his life and a chance at a new friendship, however sour it turned in the end. So, in a distant, inderect way it was like Arthur was betraying John while not even knowing this. Because he thought he could trust Kayne on this deal. It's not exactly logical and is rather a stretch but it's easy to leap to this conclusion, especially for someone with self-depricating tendencies like Arthur's. He's doing better but I don't think he's completely past it yet. He was failing someone dear to him without knowing, again. We know how he feels about that.

Moreover, we know how Kayne emphasises time and again how powerless John is before him, but Arthur is just as helpless. His rage at Kayne seemed to die out in a span of a few minutes, giving way to a lifeless "I'll come" after Kayne's demonstration of power. Which feels unltimately out of character and I know HG knows his characters well, so there HAS to be an explanation and I'm just... WHICH ONE GRRR I NEED TO KNOW!11 He may be furious about Kayne's actions but still not be able to do anything about this. And in my mind this relates to the talk about faith he had with John: that if he believed in God, Arthur would have had to believe all the deaths around him, as well as Faroe's, was God's plan, and he just can't agree with that. Not said but I think implied: it would have meant that some very powerful entity decided to kill or hurt a person he deeply cares about with his own hands/ignorance, and Arthur doesn't have a say in this while being the one at fault. It's the same here.

Oh, wait, this isn't even the second time it would have happened! It's the third, the second was John's doing, with Parker's death. Arthur has a streak!

So all in all, if the finale revelations don't trigger some trauma in this department that needs dealing with, I'd be a bit sad. But not much, part 40 gave A LOT of new opportunities, so I feel like a kid in a candy store anyway. I wonder which ones are going to be explored in the show, and will be waiting for the ficwriters to do their magic, too :D

[littlespoonevan]

i could buy that more if (1) helena didn't have that line about chris making these decisions as a 13 y/o, (2) ramon didn't compare his mistakes w eddie w this overwhelmingly different situation, and (3) they showed any proof of the diaz parents entertaining a different option. w those first two points, eddie makes a v reasonable point about how the 13 y/o should not be making huge decisions in the heat of the moment that basically amount to running away bc he's mad. and NO ONE backs him up despite that being the most logical thing anyone says the entire episode. helena responds w that line about autonomy (like she ever would have let eddie even entertain the possibility of leaving home at that age. please.) which imo came across as critical of eddie's parenting skills. and ramon starts projecting his decades of fucking up w eddie onto eddie's v v different relationship and situation w chris. tbh both of those lines speak to repeating the same pattern of the diaz parents trying to fix their mistakes w eddie via chris. the only grace i am giving in this situation is to ramon bc he is the only diaz parent that's had actual development; nothing to do w helena has been addressed, so i don't think anything she did in 7x10 is meant to demonstrate growth tbh. w the third point, the diaz parents just show up at eddie's house w no prior warning when they could have called or texted or made contact somehow at any point. they never even try to come up w an alternative to taking chris across state lines indefinitely (given helena's line about replacing anything chris doesn't bring) - they don't offer to stay in california for a bit, they don't try to set something up w pepa so that chris could stay w her instead, they ignore buck as an option completely, they don't say "if you come w us you have to talk to your dad about it" or make any comment about chris missing his friends or having to change schools etc., they don't even give a hard deadline for when chris will be coming home! everything about their presence in this episode was strikingly similar to the way they acted when they came to la for shannon's funeral - they ambushed eddie w a major decision when he's emotionally vulnerable in the wake of a traumatic event. in that s2 scene they also tried to appear sympathetic and understanding at first before dropping a major decision they were pressuring eddie into making on his lap; they end up pushing eddie into this decision within 48 hours of the kim bomb dropping. i also think it's worth noting that there's a p clear parallel between henren unjustly losing a child due to outside interference and the way eddie loses chris. and chris leaving w the diaz parents is certainly framed more like mara leaving w the social workers than mara reappearing w madney.

if that's how you interpret it, anon, that's totally fair. there are many, many people that agree with you. again, i'm not arguing about if it was the right decision or not. it's certainly not the direction i would've taken it and i think the story should've had time to breathe so nothing happened in the heat of the moment but also. no story this season has had time to breathe. tim has ran that line in multiple interviews about how if they're happy there's no story etc etc (which i so strongly disagree with askjdfh) and i think that was the approach he took here too. i also agree that it's supposed to parallel henren losing mara

literally my only point is that i don't think eddie's parents had bad intentions in what they were trying to do. it's okay if you think they did.

[blocksruinedme]

Joel/Jimmy, Empires s2, 2631 words, rated T

Summary: Jimmy asks Joel to stay after sex, and Joel has a lot of trouble finding an answer to what feels like a very dangerous question.

(someone please tell me if this isn't actually Teen rated, I've asked people and they'd all said yes but ~anxiety~)

Preview!

"Stay?"

Joel froze. Sitting on Jimmy’s bed, now fully dressed and poised to leave, he felt himself go rigid. His sandal laces were still pulled taut in his hands and he wondered if he’d ever be able to tear his gaze away from the floor.

Thankfully he was facing away from Jimmy, who hadn't moved from the bed since they… since. Joel supposed Jimmy had done this intentionally, to save himself from seeing Joel's reaction if he did something idiotic, like freeze in place, dumbstruck. The silence was awkward, almost painful. Joel wished Jimmy would… he didn’t know what he wanted Jimmy to do. Just… something.

Stay?

Joel and Jimmy's… relationship… was never supposed to be anything serious. From Joel's perspective it was never supposed to even be, it had just… happened. Not that he’d been complaining. Joel barely remembered how it had first happened, how they'd gotten from laughing and drinking heavily in Jimmy's saloon to Joel leaning back against the bar, Jimmy on his knees in front of him, still wearing his ridiculous hat that he loved so much.

The friendship, or whatever it was, had escalated quickly after Joel had decided to put their issues aside. His issues, apparently–Jimmy had been instantly ready to move on, to declare peace (and call Joel handsome, unprompted), so the problem must have actually been all on Joel’s end. He didn’t want to dwell on that, so he didn’t. It was over and done with. He stopped thinking about it, moved on and soon found himself having a shocking amount of fun with the sheriff, of all people.

At first that fun was normal joking around, drinking, making innuendo and fake flirting. At least Joel had thought it was fake flirting. Then one night… he supposed he must have accidentally gone too far, one final joke that was too risque, that was technically an offer, that Jimmy eagerly accepted.

Now they'd been sleeping together for weeks. Well, not sleeping together–Joel never stayed long after. They never talked about what they were doing–Joel just showed up in Tumble Town a few evenings a week, claiming he was looking to buy a drink at the saloon. Just like before, they'd drink and laugh and make innuendo, but now it always led to Jimmy's bed, one way or another. The sex was good, the sex was bloody fantastic, and, Joel had thought, everything about this situation was stable. He’d thought they could keep on like this indefinitely, just being friends and having amazing sex that they never had to talk about. Joel’s life was perfect, why did Jimmy have to go mess it up like this?

Stay?

(Head to ao3 for the rest!)

[instantartific]

I've been wanting to write this whole character analysis on Nova, but every time I try, I really can't find a way to put it into words.

So I think this deranged rambling that jumps back and forth between screenshots and written text of what's there I went into with a friend sums it up perfectly.

There's a cut because this gets so unnecessarily long, and there should be a mild warning for vague reference to suicide and general frank talk of his poor mental health.

♡

I'M AT A POINT WHERE I'M TOO EMOTIONAL TO BE ELOQUENT SO I'M JUST LOSING MY MIND IN SHORT BURSTS.

ALL I CAN WORD RIGHT NOW IS THAT THERE IS NO WAY THAT MAN HAS THE MENTAL ELASTICITY AND SUCH WARPED WORLDVIEW OF A CHILD AT HIS AGE IF HE DOESN'T HAVE SOMETHING FUCKED UP WITH HIM.

HE CLINGS ONTO A COMPLETELY IRRATIONAL BELIEF THAT MAKES NO GODDAMN FUCKING SENSE WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT FOR LONG ENOUGH.

HE THREW AWAY A PRETTY GOOD LIFE THAT HE HAD IN ORDER TO PRODUCE MUSIC, ON A FUCKING DROP OF A HAT MIND YOU, JUST BECAUSE HE HAPPENED TO FIND HIS OLD TURNTABLES, AND THEN DECIDED THAT HE WOULD SPEND THE REST OF HIS TIME AND FOCUS INDEFINITELY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE HIS MUSIC IMMORTAL.

EVEN THEN, HIS OWN WANTS AND MOTIVATIONS CONTRADICT THEMSELVES VERY CLEARLY.

HE GOES ON BOASTING ABOUT HOW HE'S BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE, BUT HE'S SO FUCKING IRRATIONAL.

EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM IS COMPLETELY BATSHIT CRAZY WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT.

-

I am sitting like one of his students at a lecture listening intently.

THAT BRINGS UP ANOTHER POINT!!!

EVEN THE WAY THAT HE TREATS OTHER PEOPLE IS BATSHIT INSANE.

THE ONLY PEOPLE HE REALLY SEEMS TO PLACE VALUE IN ARE THOSE THAT HE'S PERSONALLY IMPRESSED BY.

EVERYONE ELSE IS JUST TREATED LIKE SHIT.

HIS WHOLE GOALS AND MOTIVATIONS ARE SURROUNDING THE CONCEPT OF MAKING HIS WONDERFUL MUSIC IMMORTAL, BUT THEN HE TREATS THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE HIS MUSIC TERRIBLY?????

HE NEGLECTS THE CITY HE'S SUPPOSED TO CARE FOR AND DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN IF THE PEOPLE IN HIS DISTRICT, THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE WHAT HE CREATES, ARE HAPPY OR NOT???????????

HE DOESN'T SEEM TO GIVE A FUCK IF HE'S LIKED, JUST THAT HE'S KNOWN, WHICH IS...

FUCKING SAD, HONESTLY!

VERY FUCKING SAD!

ALL OF IT AMOUNTS TO JUST WANTING TO BE KNOWN, AND IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT MEANS HE IS!

BUT IT WOULD JUST BE NICE IF IT WAS FOR A GOOD REASON.

EVEN THE MERE FACT THAT HE SENDS HIS SHIT OUT INTO FUCKING SPACE IS INSANITY.

WHO'S GONNA FUCKING HEAR IT?

WHO?

WHO IS GOING TO LISTEN YOUR MUSIC IN THE VACUUM OF FUCKING SPACE?,????

HOW WILL YOU KNOW THAT YOU WERE HEARD?

YOU WON'T.

AND THAT'S THE FUCKING THING!

HE DOESN'T CARE IF ANYONE LISTENS.

THEY SHOULD, BUT HE COULDN'T GIVE LESS OF A DAMN IF THEY DO.

WHAT HE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT IS IF THEY HEAR IT, THAT'S ALL.

THAT'S THE ONLY THING HE WANTS, FOR THEM TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT IS THERE.

ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT EXISTS.

HE WANTS TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HE EXISTS FOR ALL OF ETERNITY.

I AM GOING FUCKING INSANE.

-

I CANNOT.

I'VE HIT A POINT IN WHICH I CANNOT FUCKING ELABORATE ANY FURTHER.

JUST.

HIS ENTIRE PURPOSE IS TO MAKE SURE OTHERS KNOW HE EXISTED, FOR ALL OF ETERNITY.

AND ONCE HE'S FINALLY SATISFIED, HE'LL ALLOW HIMSELF TO DIE.

BUT THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

THE OLDER HE GETS, THE MORE PARANOID HE'LL GET!

THE MORE GENUINELY TERRIFIED THAT HE HADN'T DONE ENOUGH HE'LL GET!

HE'LL NEVER BE SATISFIED UNTIL HE WORKS HIMSELF TO OBLIVION AND DIES IN THE VERY THING HE STRIVED TO PREVENT HAPPENING.

I AM CLEARLY ELABORATING AFTER I JUST SAID THAT I CAN'T BUT ??????

TL;DR:

[love-archon]

Shoulder Angel

Summary: Genshin boys as your guardian angel and demon ^^ 

Zhongli and Childe

• Morax is literally the name of a demon.

• He appears before you on the eve of your contract, sharply dressed in elegant (and form-fitting) clothes, and calmly states his name and titles: a president of hell, overseer of thirty demonic legions, and provider of knowledge of astrology and stone. 

• There's a long silence after he's done, as though he's waiting for something... or someone. Then Morax awkwardly clears his throat, and that's when the angel comes crashing in. 

• "Be not afraid!" he announces, picking himself up from the floor. You aren't yet sure why you should be afraid of a skinny white boy with orange hair, but you suppose it's just something all angels say. 

• You didn't get the angel's name, but when your friends come over and see the two very attractive men in your house that previously weren't there before, he's quick to spin a lie about him being a family friend of yours, Ajax, who's staying with you for an indefinite amount of time. 

• Morax is less accustomed to lying on the spot, latching onto Ajax's story and introducing himself as Zhongli... another family friend. Who also coincidentally happens to be staying with you, yes. 

• To be honest, Zhongli is nicer to hang out with than Ajax. He is knowledgeable about many things, and recounts grand historical events as though they happened yesterday. His deep, velvety-smooth voice has you unconsciously hanging on to his every word.

• But no matter how civil and friendly he is, take care not to forget what he's really here for. Morax takes contracts seriously, and although he refuses to outright lie, he still wants you to sign the second contract- one that gives him the legal right to claim your soul when you die. 

• (Your saving grace is that even though he's not willing to play dirty, the angel certainly is).

• Meanwhile, you're pretty sure that if you make one wrong step when you're out with Ajax, he'll be fired for not protecting you properly. He's always itching for a fight or chasing the thrilling high that comes with danger some other way. But if anyone dares threaten you, he’s immediately at your side, ready to defend you if they come any closer.

• Sometimes, when his focus slips, you see his true form underneath the human glamor- hulking, plated with armor, and a pearlescent wheel for an eye- and suddenly his "be not afraid" line makes much more sense, and terrifyingly so.

• It's never visible for more than a second before Ajax is back, with his lean build and countable freckles and two eyes as blue as the deepest sea, smiling at you reassuringly and pretending nothing happened.  

• He trusts you enough to not intervene when you're around Zhongli, because as far as he's concerned, your soul might as well be in Ajax’s palm. But he still delights in tormenting the lesser demons that appear near you, drawn by Morax's power- summoning blades of holy water to easily tear them to shreds. 

• What? Just because he's a guardian angel doesn't mean he has to be nice.

Scaramouche and Kazuha

• In the window of time when summer turns to fall, and maple leaves change from green to shades of red, Kazuha comes to you. 

• Kazuha is the perfect angel. 

• He knows the hidden language of nature, guiding you away from treacherous storms and lightning strikes. Traveling with him means you can sleep safely under the stars without a care, and he's always there with a wise saying or elegant poem that reminds you to do the right thing. 

• Although he sounds a little old-fashioned when he speaks, his soft voice and gentle, kind eyes persuade you to listen anyway. 

• He's sweet and calm, but always ready to faithfully defend you from evil with his heavenly sword.

• Which is why it vexes him when there's one ancient evil, reeking of ozone, that he just can't seem to exorcise.

• You can't get a real name out of him- he's too spiteful and cunning to ever reveal it to you. It's either Balladeer, or Skirmisher, 散兵, or Scaramouche, which sounds the most like a name instead of a title. So Scaramouche is what you call him... for now. 

• He doesn't bother trying to tempt you into anything, and seems determined to hang around you only to be a nuisance. It deeply irritates Kazuha, which only encourages Scaramouche more. 

• Then one day he realizes that making you flustered isn't just fun, but also drives the angel up the walls. 

• Like a new favorite toy, he quickly figures out what gets the best reactions out of you, but is smart enough to know when to stop before he goes too far. He always does it when Kazuha does something particularly cute or nice to you, dragging your attention away from him.

• Even so, your guardian angel has faith that in the end, you'll do the right thing. 

• "I know you'll make the correct choice," Kazuha says to you, smiling gently. The fading light of the sun softens his features even more, making them shine like gold. 

• "I know you'll make the correct choice," Scaramouche mockingly drawls, and the air suddenly grows chilly and hums with static. His icy finger draws a line down your arm, making you flinch from the cold. "After all, I'm much better than that angel, right?"

Venti and Xiao

• You're thrown off at first by the angelic wings and snarling mask, respectively. But make no mistake- 

• No matter how cute he may be, Barbatos is a duke of hell, who delights in speaking in riddles and encourages you to laze around and procrastinate when you really shouldn't. He jokingly invites you to share a drink with him, and is only stopped by a firm "no" or Xiao appearing behind him with glowing green eyes and a warning growl. 

• And despite Xiao sighing in exasperation whenever he has to get you out of trouble, he always appears by your side to defend you wherever you're in danger- you only need speak his name. 

• It’s no secret that beneath his distant exterior, Xiao has a soft spot for you, and cares for your wellbeing even if the things humans do mystify him at times. 

• Surprisingly, the two of them get along with each other, when Barbatos isn't trying to pull you into one of his schemes ("Barbatos sounds so mean," he whined once, after being scolded by the both of you. "You should call me Venti instead!")

• Xiao had a different name, once, when he was forced to serve a false and evil god. He refuses to speak of it with you, so don't try, but sometimes, late at night, the illusions over his skin come undone, and you’re sad to see just how much damage has been done in his years of servitude. 

• You only know that one day, someone came along and freed him, giving him his new name. He refuses to talk about that person either, although it sounds like they're not with him anymore. 

• But being granted freedom didn’t remove the agony inflicted on him, and it was Venti’s song that saved him from being consumed by pain. He secretly dreams of being able to dance to that music again, unburdened by his debts. And although he may never admit it, being with you gives him the same lightness in his heart.

• Venti doesn't care about trying to get the upper hand on Xiao or anything. He believes that humans should always have the freedom to choose without outside influence, anyway.  

• But sometimes, just to mess with him, he transforms into what must be his real form: a tiny, fairy-like creature dressed in white. He floats around you like a ball of dandelion fluff in a spring breeze, and cutely nuzzles your cheek to make you laugh. 

• Then he throws Xiao a smug look when you're not looking, and the guardian's shaky grip on his polearm nearly makes it crack. 

[theotheroccassionalfanficwriter]

Heyy can I request a 3rd part for Zhong x mage reader where they hopefully realize their feelings for each other? Feel free to end it off & add as much fluff & smut if you wish (*^ω^*)

Thanks for waiting anon, lol I just realize that this was almost the same as the previous ask so I decided to do a reader's POV continuing from where we left off last time.

So please enjoy the fourth part in the In Pursuit of Series: 1,2,3

In Pursuit of Love

Summary: You fell in love slowly, unknowingly, and when you had realized it, your love for him had already sunk into the marrow of your bones.

--

1.

Falling back together was easier than the time the two of you spent weeks apart from each other. You found it easier to fall back to your morning routine with Zhongli around than it was to relearn how you lived before. And somehow the two of you had grown closer, more attuned to each other’s thoughts that sometimes there was no need to talk further. It was the intimacy of being known, and by the archons you were drunk on it.

You lived freely and happily, as if all the burdens you had were gone. With Zhongli by your side, it felt like the world had become brighter. Spending time with him, starting and ending the days with him became so natural that you didn’t notice what was already there from the start.

It stood to reason that you didn’t put much thought when Zhongli woke you up with his tongue down your throat or his hands groping your now exposed chest. It meant that when Zhongli took off your clothes in the morning, placing kisses on your neck and leaving visible marks on your skin, you merely thought he was just getting things started to transfer his energy for your continued survival.

It meant that you didn’t think much when you found yourself returning the favor, opening your legs for him, riding his cock early in the morning and not bothering to stifle your moans because Zhongli told you he liked hearing how much you wanted his cock, how slutty you acted when he thrusted his cock in your pussy until it was raw.

You had thought all of his words as dirty talk, not actually carrying any meaning beyond making the sex pleasurable for both of you. And today was no exception, you woke up with Zhongli’s mouth sucking on your nipples, leaving new bruises on top of last night’s marks.

Your pussy was filled with fresh cum and you could taste his cum on the back of your throat. You idly wondered how long had Zhongli been fucking you before you woke up, but such thoughts were thrown in the back burner when you felt his fingers tease your clit and toy with your cum-filled pussy.

“Nnnn!”

With a pop, Zhongli stops sucking your nipples and kisses you on your mouth, tongue entangling with yours.

--

“Good morning” He greeted you with a soft and gentle smile that was at odds with his lewd acts.

“Good morning” You greeted him shyly as you spread your legs wide, and silently asked for his cock. You wanted to be awake this time when he filled you up.

For someone who was fucking you for an indeterminate length of time, Zhongli had a lot of stamina. His cock easily penetrated you again, geo cuffs forming like an absent thought on your wrists as he went in and out of you. His cum acted as a lubricant to ease his cock as it filled you to the brim, stretching your walls and giving you a pleasant burn.

Your ample breasts jiggled from the force of being fucked over and over. Your pussy felt raw but even so you couldn’t help but want more, Zhongli’s dick had ruined you for everyone else. You were quite sure that no one would be able to bring you over the edge the way Zhongli did.

Your entire body felt warm from the lust and the odd feeling that came from Zhongli’s archon energy. Before you could even ask him about it, your thoughts were interrupted by the hard thrust of his cock that had your body arching and feeling the warmth of his thick cum.

Zhongli pulled out and let the rest of his cum shoot on your body, some landing on your face and open mouth.

“Good girl.”

You smiled at him sweetly.

2.

For some reason, it became a common occurrence for you to head to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor with a homemade lunch for Zhongli, on days when you had no case to solve or you had reached a dead end. Today was a latter kind of day, there were no breakthroughs on the Chasm case which Qixing was gracious enough to not hasten you.

Especially since they were aware that you had landed a life threatening curse on yourself.

So now that you had gotten used to spending your lunch time with him, it made you realize that everyone in the Parlor was already familiar with you. You no longer limited yourself to chatting with Hu Tao or the Ferry Lady when Zhongli was busy with his job. Which was odd, now that you’ve thought about it. For all of the claims of your genius and the surprising amount of time you spent with children, you were never good at people.

Or to be more precise, good at keeping people. Your relationships with everyone you’ve met had always been so-so, you could rely on them for information you need, or calling in for a favor but if you could never truly trust yourself with them. You don't know when to call people friends or how to keep the ones you make, you suck at maintaining relationships and the only ones you’ve been able to maintain are from people who are surprisingly stubborn or sticky.

Ones who didn’t mind that you never wrote regularly or you came and went through their life like a breeze of wind. They were people who didn’t mind rebuilding friendship again and again, assuring you in their own silent way that you were wanted and welcome.

Which meant that the present relationship you had with the employees of Wangsheng was an odd change, a welcome one, but odd nonetheless. This was how Zhongli found you, contemplating in silence, in his office.

“Are you alright, dear?” He asked, worry marring his beautiful features.

“Hmmm...yeah, just thinking” You answered with an awkward smile and a heavy feeling in your heart that you can’t quite explain.

“You don’t have to, you know” Zhongli said, reassuring you.

“I really don’t know” You joked with him.

“Talk to the others if you aren’t up to it” He explained and to anyone else it would felt like a slight, a terrible jab at your inadequacy that you never quite got the hang of.

But it was Zhongli.

Zhongli who willingly shoulders the gossip about your relationship with him, who cares for you so deeply that he can give you himself for an indefinite period of time, Zhongli who simply wants to stay by your side and thinks the world of you, who believes that you are good.

And that’s enough to take off the sting from the reminder of your flawed humanity, makes your body relax and you find yourself leaning into his hand that somehow made its way to your face.

You nuzzle into it, a show of affection that makes you feel embarrassed but the weight of Zhongli’s affection, this intimacy from whole acceptance and being known, was an addictive warmth that you feared losing.

“Thank you.”

You hope that Zhongli can hear everything those two words encompass.

3.

The changes stemming from your relationship with Zhongli, mainly this odd but welcome change of being connected to people, and staying in a place for a long while meant that inevitably you end up having a permanent address people can find you.

It was novel to you, the idea of a place being stuck to your name. You said as much to Zhongli, during one of those rare times he had no work and decided to be with you for an entire day.

“How do your friends write to you then?”

“They don’t or well they post a commission to the guild and I pay for the reward” You told him truthfully before recounting the first time one of your friends had done so and it had involved a high ranking adventurer, the guild master of the adventurer’s guild and ending with an entire map of Mare Jivari.

“What were you doing there?!” Zhongli had asked scandalized.

“I was curious and there was no known map of it, so I thought ‘huh? Guess this would give me a whole lot of mora if I did this!’ how was I supposed to know one of my friends would end up pregnant during that time and wanted me to be a godmother?” You replied, slightly offended and amused at the look on his face.

Which naturally resulted in Zhongli extracting a promise from you to never go to dangerous places without him, ever again. And he was so earnest and so seriously worried about it that your grin slid off your face and you gave him your word.

Which then resulted in you feeling slightly off kilter about it. The thing is you never thought that Zhongli would care for you this much, for all of the fucking and the tender moments between you two, you’ve always believed that there was a line somewhere.

A line that dictated the end of his care for you and the beginning of his indifference. It wasn’t that you didn’t believe he wanted to stay by your side, it was just that you’ve always thought he meant it figuratively like he wanted to be kept up-to-date with you when your curse is finally lifted.

Because the thought of Zhongli, coming along with your adventures, travelling with you leaves you just slightly, very slightly, perplexingly happy. It makes you grab his hand and intertwine it together, and Zhongli doesn’t mind, doesn’t care for this display of affection and instead encourages it.

He squeezes your hand twice, and gives you a smile that assures you that you are wanted. A part of you dares to hope that you’d find your home in this place, here with Zhongli and if not, you’re content with him being a place you can return to, a place of reprieve from the life of a traveler.

And this leads to your few friends addressing letters to Zhongli’s place, adventurers from around the world used as glorified messengers for your equally eccentric friends, sending packages or cases in your way. Sometimes, asking for advice or a consultation but more often than not, a mere teasing letter inquiring about your daily life and the new found changes they’ve seen.

“It’s nice,” You told Zhongli, in the middle of reading one of your letters, “having this regular contact with them.”

You don’t notice the way Zhongli pauses in his cooking, just to look at you and your soft fragile smile.

“You can tell them to send their letters here, and I can always go deliver them to you” He offered.

You laughed, thinking that he didn’t mean it but nonetheless happy with his kindness, “If you keep doing stuff like that, you might just make an honest woman out of me!”

And Zhongli says nothing beyond a smile, and you let the moment pass. Willing your heart to calm down and not letting yourself hope for too much, you continued to read your letters even though your mind often drifts off to Zhongli’s “offer”.

Later that night, as you laid in his arms, you began to wonder if the two of you had blurred the lines of friendship and something more.

4.

Sex with Zhongli was always fun and just as exciting as the first time you did it with him. As you haven’t found a cure to your curse yet nor an alternative that didn’t involve an adepti, you felt indebted to Zhongli’s generosity on being your life support for an indefinite period of time.

It meant that sometimes when Zhongli did something that only lovers would, you were content to let it pass. Considering how much of his essence you needed, you were willing to let him enjoy you however he wanted.

It meant that on certain occasions where Zhongli’s libido was unbelievably high, you’d let yourself be led to a secluded to corner of a mountain, a road, or even Liyue’s backstreets to have your panties pushed to the side and be fucked by his thick cock.

You’ve learned how to muffle your moans as his cock relentlessly thrusted into your pussy, hands deftly freeing your breasts from its confines and playing with it. Squeezing and pulling and pushing it until it felt overly stimulated from the attention. Your body learned how to arch itself in the right way, ensuring that his cock repeatedly slammed its head into your g-spot.

The only change between then and now was that Zhongli had gained a preference on muffling your moans with his mouth, kissing you fervently as you milked his cock with your pussy. His kisses was intense, it made your knees weak and felt too intimate between two people fucking for necessity. Which often led to the two of you kissing for a long period of time, even when Zhongli rubs your pussy through the fabric of your panties or simply because he felt like it.

Zhongli was an excellent kisser, that much you could tell from the steadily growing frequency of him simply kissing you, without it leading to sex or having your pussy eaten out. And maybe you were biased with your opinion considering you’ve never kissed anyone other than Zhongli but you were quite sure that he gave the best kisses.

This thought only became more prevalent with each lingering kiss he gave you, the warmth that left your lips tingling. It made you want for something you don’t quite understand or dare to understand. Zhongli made your knees weak, he made you want things you’ve previously given up on, he made you want for a home you could return to.

Zhongli was changing you into someone you weren’t quite sure you truly welcomed and yet you couldn’t help but want and want. Selfishly wanting to tie him to you, to tie yourself to him.

“Zhongli?” Your voice trembled, soft and scared.

Even so in your eyes, he remained smiling, calm and patient as he gently took strands of your hair and kissed its tip.

“It’s fine, I can wait.”

You closed your eyes and bowed your head. The sound of his footsteps gently fading away as he walked away made you feel relieved and aching at the same time.

5.

Despite sleeping separately for the first time since you were cursed, Zhongli’s affection for you didn’t change. Except that he no longer gave you kisses outside of foreplay or sex even still his affectionate looks and smile remained.

It left you disappointed and yet a clarity of mind and heart.

Ultimately, you understood that Zhongli was doing this to give you space, a breather to allow you to make your decision without any bias or undue influence. This allowed you to realize that you had been deceiving yourself for a while now.

Even so you still didn’t want to voice it. You couldn’t even dare to speak of it in the privacy of your mind. So you did what you always did when everything felt constricting. You ran away.

The benefits from being a mage was that you could use the teleportation devices scattered throughout Teyvat. Which meant that it was quite easy for you to slip in and out of 7 nations without anyone knowing. So it was really quite easy for you to get out of Liyue Harbor, use the device in Mt. Tianheng and go to Snezhnaya.

The surprise and alarmed look of Tartaglia was enough to quell your nerves.

--

You raise a bottle of your finest fire water and said, “Let’s drink!”

2 bottles later and you’ve unloaded everything between you and Zhongli to Tartaglia. You sat across from him, legs spread and stretched out while his fireplace blazes on the side and engulfing both of you in warm orange light.

“So you’re in love” He smirks, amused and equally drunk, comfortably leaning in the plush seat of his tufted back armchair.

“I am not” You denied, sinking further into your seat and ignoring Tartaglia’s loud and uninhibited laughter.

“I just like the no strings attached sex and affection” You clarified, “You’ve known about me for a long time, I don’t do well in long relationships.”

Tartaglia takes a swig of his own bottle of firewater, “You do, we’ve been friends for a long time” He smiles at you “you’re just afraid of commitment.”

You look at him, face blank but eyes showing your reluctant agreement and Tartaglia leans towards you, “You’re afraid aren’t you, of what Zhongli would do in the future, about you, me, the Abyss and everything it entails, and Celestia.”

“Maybe.”

“You were never one to let your fears rule you” His voice becomes soft, the unspoken affection bleeding through his words, “so what exactly are you afraid of losing once you acknowledge it?”

“I hate it when you aren’t sticking to your ‘only cares about a good fight’ persona” You groaned out, sitting up straight “you’re lucky I see you as family or I’d curse you right now.”

Tartaglia laughs and ruffles your hair, “Go to sleep and then return to him tomorrow.”

He gets up and makes his way to his bedroom, before he could leave the room you spoke, “Thank you.”

From behind you, Tartaglia smiled and said nothing as he continued on his way. There were some things that no longer needed to be said between two friends.

--

You sat on the edge of the cliff in Mt. Tianheng, watching the sunrise as Liyue Harbor slowly comes to life. You weren’t quite ready to face Zhongli yet.

You wanted to steel your nerves, calm your heart and properly arrange your words. Despite the carefree nature you showed, when it came to the matters of the heart, you always treaded carefully. Gone were the days you fell in love recklessly, accidentally and unknowingly hurting others and being hurt in return.

You wanted to face Zhongli, sincerely, to give him the utmost consideration for all that he had done for your sake. You wanted to make sure, to truly ascertain that what you felt was real and not a mere byproduct of the curse you had been saddled with. Zhongli deserved to be loved for who he was, as he is, and not what he gave up for you. To love him out of gratitude was to trample upon his sincerity, and you didn’t want that.

So you stalled, you waited, you didn’t rush. You simply and slowly worked out what you truly thought, what you felt. By the time the sun was high up in the sky, you stood up and patted your clothes. You slowly made your way down, entering Liyue Harbor, greeting the merchants and the townsfolk that knew you.

Each step that you took made you nervous, despite that you continued to make preparations, you pre-ordered a take out from Wanmin Restaurant, buying Zhongli’s favorite dish, Crystal Shrimp, and Universal Peace.

“I guess, Mr. Zhongli isn’t going to be Liyue’s most desired bachelor anymore?” Chef Mao joked.

You blinked and then laugh softly, “Was it that obvious?”

Chef Mao smiled, fatherly and nostalgic, and then he spoke to you with a wiseness that only came from suffering the vicissitudes of life, “There are things that can’t be concealed easily, one is indifference and the other love.”

Surprised, you stared at Chef Mao who only laughed boisterously, and with his fatherly tone added, “I’m not blind, and I was young once! I can tell if a man is interested or not.”

With a wink, Chef Mao waved you away and you shook your head in amusement as you walked away after paying in full. You slowly made your way to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, taking in the sight of Liyue Harbor in its busiest time of the day.

And as you neared the bridge in front of the parlor, you saw him. Walking slowly over the bridge, a rain of red maple leaves fell as he passed, you slowly halted and stared at him.

Thump thump

Your eyes met his and your heart that was moved by him, began to beat just a little bit faster. You smiled, gentle and soft, filled with unabashed adoration for him and slightly ran towards him. Zhongli smiled at you, eyes reflecting the deep emotions that he had for you.

Time slowed down and ran fast.

“I’m home” You told him as you hugged him and buried your face to his chest.

His arms gently and tightly wrapped around you, “Welcome back”.

There were still things that needed to be said, confessions to be made but for now the two of you didn’t need to do that yet. Not when both of you had finally reached the same place, hearts beating in sync.

+1

“Hey,” You called out to Zhongli “Do you remember the temple that got me cursed?”

“Of course” Zhongli replied, face stern and serious as he remembered that disastrous day.

“Well, I finally found out the story behind it” You revealed as you comforted him, hand gently patting his.

Zhongli relaxed, tense frame slumping a bit in the privacy of his shared home with you. He pulled you into his lap, embracing you and softly asked, “tell me?”

You hummed and began your tale,

“There used to be an immortal, a scrap collector, who was Heaven’s beloved official, and” You paused dramatically “there was a ghost king, a great calamity that the heavenly officials feared. The scrap immortal had the world’s terrible luck, he would experience all sorts of misfortune and tragedy while the ghost king had the world’s best luck, he would never lose a gamble nor a bet.”

You looked at Zhongli, teasing and eyes twinkling, “And these two unlikely beings were each other’s dao partner.”

Zhongli choked, “My dear…”

You laughed and laughed, “surprised? I was too! Ah~ Zhongli that temple was the one the ghost king, Hua Cheng, the Xuè Yǔ Tàn Huā built for his beloved, his highness Xiè Lián. It was the only surviving relic of the place where the infamous Ghost City was located.”

Zhongli blinked, “Then we entered the Ghost Realm?”

You nodded, “Yeah, we ended up triggering an old protection array. I ended up being the receiver of the curse since I was careless when I was fighting, I damaged the statue of his highness and the ghost king punished me for it.”

Seeing Zhongli frowning, you hurriedly appeased him, “Don’t worry! Those two have been gone for a long time now! What was left in there was just a particularly powerful emotion powered curse! So don’t go fighting with them!”

Zhongli sighed, but the frown on his face didn’t go away, “Then your curse?”

“With or without your cum, The curse would have eventually faded away.”

You laughed at his blushing face and decided to reveal one more thing, “Zhongli~ Did you know that when gambling with the ghost king, the only way to get what you want was to pass a test?”

Forehead to forehead, you stared into his eyes, through his heart and to his soul, voice filled with wonder and love, “If you can move his highness, Xiè Lián’s heart with pity, the Ghost King would give you what you want even if you had lost the debt.”

“I-”

You cut Zhongli off with a gentle kiss, and then said, “That day, I heard your prayers, and begged them to let you go. To let me suffer the curse alone, to let me suffer the unbearable pain. Because I couldn’t bear to have you suffer the consequences of my actions.”

“I can suffer any humiliation but my heart can’t bear the thought of you being humiliated” You told him, this secret of yours, the one you kept close to your heart.

--

You didn’t know when you began to fall for him, maybe it was when you had brazenly teased him, “Osmanthus wine, I’ll give this to you so don’t be a stick in the mud!”

Or maybe it was when he had asked, visibly worried, “Are you not afraid of being struck down like the sinners of Khaenri’ah?”

Or maybe it was when he had lowered himself to the ground and cried, “I just want to save her alone.”

There were so many moments that could have started it all but you knew when he had completely taken grasp of your heart.

“Please, let me walk by your side, protecting you and your belief.”

His words that day, fell into your heart like a rock that fell into a pond, creating ripples as it sank down on the bottom and stayed. He had, without you noticing, walked step by step into your heart, and made himself at home in there.

You would forever answer the calls of adventure, the never ending stories the world was waiting to tell you, but you also knew that you would always, without fail, return to Zhongli. To your home and one day you would settle your old bones with him, weathered hands holding each other, and greet each day side by side.

[shinjukuspiritcommittee]

Health and Sports Day- 8

Health and Sports Day 8

%%%

After quickly besting the golems at bean bag toss your team quickly went back on the rugged trail. The three of you needed a moment to fully process what had just transpired before Tatsuya properly pipes up. "Well, that was definitely an experience." "Yer tellin' me..." Ibaraki sighed. He let out a bit of a yawn and a stretch. "How much longer til we get outta here?" "We can't leave just yet. We still have to find Yui and that lion therian..." You asked if Tatsuya meant Oz. "Was that his name? I don't think I've caught it until now." Ibaraki groaned. "Right, those friends ya went on about. Ya know, how the heck does one human cause a ravine like this to appear?" You pondered the possibility of her Sacred Artifact being able to create terrain perhaps? "No." Tatsuya said firmly. "Yui's artifact doesn't work like that." "Huh? Then what the heck is it suppose to do?" Tatsuya remained silent.  "Oi oi, don't get all mute on me now. Ya want me to be more open ya gotta open up too." This seemingly took Tatsuya off guard as he looked to you for your opinion. You agreed with Ibaraki that he should speak up if he knows anything useful. For a moment Tatsuya seemed to hesitate. "She... doesn't like it when I talk about it." "She? Ya girlfriend?" "Yui, I mean." Tatsuya sighed. "She doesn't like when I mention it. But I can tell you that it doesn't have the power to change terrain. Whatever did this has to be something else." You commented on the fact he seemed sure of it, but decided to quickly discuss something else. You asked Tatsuya about how long he knew the flower field was around for. "Oh, that. I can't tell you about it exactly, but I remember finding this place on complete accident." "And you didn't tell someone?" Ibaraki was shocked. "It seemed harmless at the time. I only found it the other day, too. Not a lot of time to report it when everyone else's priorities were with getting the field day ready..." You ask him if he's been here in any other instances. He remained silent and for the first time this conversation he turned away from both of you before answering. "...No." It didn't take you much thought to realize he was lying, but you didn't want to press him further for the time being because an opening in the path revealed some interesting terrain. While you went further ahead to peer over the cliffside Ibaraki pulls back a bit with Tatsuya. "Hey, listen..." Ibaraki whispered. "Don't get all worked up or nothin', but ya don't seem all that hyped when talkin' about this field day." "...Of course I'm excited..." Tatsuya whispered back, but not being able to meet Ibaraki's eyes. "It's the one time a year Yoyogi gets to shine. Why wouldn't I...?" "Do they bench ya a lot?" Tatsuya didn't have an answer for that question. "Look I play on a team with my bro, so I getcha. It can be frustratin' not havin' a proper spot on a team." "...I don't play a sport like the others." Tatsuya looked at Ibaraki with a slight smile. "But, it's okay. I always get to watch and they sometimes ask me to help." Ibaraki let out a 'hmm' before continuing. "Alright, if ya say so. I ain't the strongest player myself so I get it, but ya don't gotta act like it doesn't bug ya." "Really, I'm fine. Thanks though." Tatsuya said before rushing to catch up with you. Ibaraki didn't say anything and just noticed that Tatsuya's smile didn't really seem all that honest. Before you could start to worry Ibaraki catches up. While the two hung back you saw a vast expanse of green trees over the mountain range, as though you were stepping from one entire terrain to another. Were these... here before? "I have no idea." Tatsuya said. "Wha... What the hell?" Ibaraki muttered.

%%%

Somewhere within that forest Yui trudges through the forest blindly. She doesn't know what happened once the field was torn apart, and she wasn't near anyone who wandered in. She spent an indefinite amount of time just wandering the woods aimlessly just hoping to find Tatsuya. 'I hope he's okay...' She then thought about Oz and hoped he was at least still alright. You though... she was just hoping you weren't with Tatsuya. 'How did they even end up with Tatsuya...?' Yui clutched the jacket from her friend nervously in her hands. Her mind began to wander back to what she saw the other day. One thing that she keeps hidden from others and writes off as intuition a lot of the time is her power of divination- in short Yui can see into the future. By using her own art as the conduit of means to foretell what's to come in her unique book she can interpret what her Artifact is trying to show her. Very few people know of this ability and in fact it was her dorm manager who informed her to keep it a secret. A lot of her resentment wasn't towards you. In fact most of her pushback was actually towards what she couldn't make out in her vision. While wandering she had finally stumbled across what appeared to be an opening in the forest with a stream rushing along. While she took in the near serene view she heard someone stomping toward her. "Who's there?" "Ah so I'm not alone after all." Said the voice in a very calm manner matching most of the scene around them. This individual had short blond hair and a very muscular frame stumbled into view. Yui reacted with shock at first, but after taking a moment to process it she calmed herself. "Please don't be afraid. I was just going to ask for directions to Yoyogi Academy..."

%%%

After scaling down the mountain while helping the two boys you quickly discover that this forest was pretty dense and hardly reminiscent of the mountains you were scaling just moments ago. The sunlight was mostly obscured and could only be filtered through gaps in the leaves. You told your teammates to watch their step and then asked aloud what kind of place was this collision supposed to be anyhow? "It's a multitude of biomes- that much I can say for sure." Tatsuya stated. "It's likely that this one in particular isn't even tied to one world." You thought about it for a second before mentioning how Zo could smell poppy flowers from the meadow earlier. "Poppy flowers?" They were a plant he didn't seem to care for. "Hmm..." "So just like Mount Oe?" Ibaraki asked desperately trying to follow along the two's conversation. He knew he wasn't the smartest around so a lot of the conversation was flying over his head. "That's our best bet." Tatsuya said. Ibaraki gave himself a mental pat on the back. Something had been bothering you for a while now and you told Tatsuya it was time to come clean. He had said earlier that things were different than the last time he was here as you thought back to his comments on the bugs. "Oh. Well I guess it's not much of a secret I've been here a handful of times- though back when it was still just a flower field. But I couldn't tell you much about it... it made for a nice little hideaway..." "What... what were ya hidin' from?" Ibaraki asked. Tatsuya didn't have a response to a question like that so he just remained silent. Rather it was more so because he was reluctant to answer. Suddenly a rustling from the bushes and you motioned for Tatsuya to get behind you. You and Ibaraki braced for a battle until you were tackled by a running lion. "Ah!" Oz yelped out as he collapsed on top of you. The timid lion had an impressive amount of strength because he knocked you off your feet and your faces were just a mere few inches away from each other. "Ow..." He groaned as he blinked the stars from his vision. The lion realized what had happened and immediately went to apologizing. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" You told Oz to calm down and asked him what the problem was while attempting to get him to stand up and off you. "I-It's-" Before he could properly answer you felt something bind your and Oz's legs together. What the-? "Wait, what's-" Tatsuya tried to ask but before he could it suddenly yanked you and Oz deeper into the forest. You and both Oz scream in unison as your dragged through various brush in a sudden moment with Tatsuya and Ibaraki in the best pursuit they could give.

[nessinborderland]

Between Apple Pies and Chocolate Cosmos (01)

Pairing: Aguni x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Character Study

Words: 6.4k

Summary: Aguni first laid eyes on you in the greenhouse. After that, he simply couldn't take you out of his mind.

Warnings: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Feelings, Eventual Romance, Denial of Feelings, Slow Burn, Other Additional Tags to Be Added

Notes: This was inspired by the wonderful @aghostsrantingcorner ask. For reference, there’s some things in this fic that were inspired by these posts by @hatterstan-shameblog​. This will be 2-3 parts max. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do <3

Aguni first laid eyes on you in the greenhouse.

It was a rainy morning, and the Beach was as silent as you would expect after a night of deadly games and partying. He always took advantage of the silent mornings to have a walk around the place, breathe some fresh air, and – most importantly – attend to his garden.

He had started working on it soon after he and Takeru found the Beach, still in the early days when it was only them. He never saw a reason why he shouldn’t. Since he was stuck there for an indefinite amount of time – since he would probably die there – he might as well keep up with the only hobby that brought him some resemblance of peace.

So, he did it. Every single morning. It kept him grounded; reminded him of who he was.

His Eden – as he liked to think about it – was a medium-sized glasshouse near the kitchens, surrounded by land where he had replanted a variety of fruit trees and berry bushes that he had found around Tokyo. It needed some remodeling, but it was perfect as soon as he was done fixing the broken glass and built a system to expertly use the rainwater. He loved the place. Its variety of colors and smells, the silence, and – what made him the happiest – being able to watch the literal fruit of his labor grow.

It was his little piece of heaven in the hell he was trapped in.

Now, one thing about the greenhouse: no one was allowed inside the place beside him. Everybody knew it. It was not like anyone had any real interest in plants or vegetables but, still, people knew that that was his place. Even the old ladies responsible for the meals knew to not go inside; if they needed any ingredient, they asked him.

So imagine his surprise when he got closer to the glass walls of his greenhouse and heard soft singing coming from inside. It was barely audible, the tip-tap from the rain hitting the glass making it harder for him to understand any words. But he knew someone was in there.

His first thought was to barge in and kick out whoever was disrupting his garden. He could feel his anger grow as he stared at the blurred figure on the other side of the glass, messing around with his stuff. He took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. 

The air inside the greenhouse was warm, with light condensation already sliding down the glass walls. The intruder – a woman, he noticed – was with her back turned to him, humming a song that was more than familiar due to Takeru’s taste in music.

“... lay all your love on– ” you gasped as you turned to him, no doubt startled by his presence. The vase in your hands shattered as it hit the floor with a loud smash, and you let out another startled sound. You crouched to clean up the mess, a row of apologies already escaping from your lips. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, please don’t move while I–”

“You shouldn’t be here,” was all he said as he stood there, stoic and cold expression looking at you from above. Your face was vaguely familiar to him – like every other face at the Beach – but he knew nothing about you. He noticed when you froze and slowly looked up, locking eyes with him. He saw the exact moment you recognized him, eyes growing wide and mouth agape as you held broken pieces of clay in your hands.

“Aguni–”

“Clean up your mess and leave,” he mumbled as he walked past you to access the damage you had done to his greenhouse. He noticed how several of his previous empty vases were now occupied by small plants and flowers that he had meant to work on that morning. You had just done his work for him. And perfectly, he could tell. Or as perfect as he could expect from someone that wasn’t him. He felt his anger subside. “The chamomile is supposed to be planted next to the tomatoes,” he said as he started carefully removing the small flowers from the vases. “We have no need for tea here.”

“Hmm...I thought you were using those for medicinal purposes?” you hesitantly asked. He kept his back to you, focusing on the task at hand as he waited for you to leave. Leave, however, you did not. "I'm sure they could be useful if–"

"There are only two kinds of people here," he interrupted in a cold tone. "The living and healthy, and the dead. If you're wounded, you belong to the latter. The tomatoes, though, could use some–"

"But couldn't we start an infirmary here?" Your question made him stop what he was doing, and he raised a brow as he looked at you over his shoulder. No one interrupted him; ever. You clearly didn't notice his hard stare as you continued to talk, "We could use garlic and oregano oil for infections, and aloe vera for–"

"You shouldn't be here," he repeated, now in a tone slightly louder than he liked to use. You halted mid-sentence, the small smile on your lips changing into a frown. "I'm not repeating myself. This greenhouse is off-limits. Leave." 

He gave you one last glance before focusing again on his task, listening as you gathered the broken vase. A whimper made him look back at you, watching as you stared at your bleeding finger, droplets of blood falling on the rich soil underneath you. He sighed before grabbing a roll of paper towels from a shelf above his head, turning to hand you one.

"Thank you," you said in a low tone as you accepted the help and involved the tissue around your finger, hissing from the pain.

Only then did he notice what that broken vase had been carrying. At your feet, in the middle of a small mountain of dirt, was a chocolate cosmos. It wasn't one of his flowers, he was sure of that. He had never even seen a live specimen before.

"Weren't those extinct?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Your eyes widen at his question before you looked at him with a soft smile on your lips. He felt the tips of his ears get warm; why in the hell were you smiling at him?

"Mhm, I think so... You can still find them in captivity, though," you said as you gently picked up the reddish-brown flower. You looked at him for a moment before nodding to the table behind him. "Could I get another vase, please? It's just that she's been staying in a box since I got her and I just wanted to– oh, thanks!"

You smiled at him again as he handed you another small vase without a word. Aguni averted his eyes, focusing on your hands as you arranged the pretty flower in its new home. He felt... uneasy, is the word. His usual relaxing morning had been ruined by some random woman with a nice smile.

He didn't like that one bit.

"Well... I'm gonna go now," you awkwardly started as you made your way to the door, before stopping and turning around as if you forgot something. "Oh, by the way, did you...did you do all this?" you asked, gesticulating around you. He nodded once and you smiled again. "It's beautiful. Good job."

With those words, you finally left him alone. 

Aguni was sure he wasn't just blushing in his ears now. His whole face was warm. He never had anyone compliment him on his gardening skills before. Yeah, Takeru told him several times he was good at it, but no one had actually shown interest. It made him feel some kind of way.

He shook his head and got back to his work. He could still enjoy his quiet morning before a council meeting if he was fast enough.

»«»«»«

You were there the next morning.

The sun had barely risen when he approached the greenhouse, a warm cup of coffee in hand while he whistled a tune that had been stuck in his head since he woke up. He hadn't even noticed you until he went to open the door, your voice making him jump slightly where he stood.

"You like ABBA too?" you asked from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder to stare at you. You were sitting under a tree not far away, that same nice smile on your face. You were holding something in your hands – something that he noticed was hot – as steam was visible in the chill morning air.

He felt his ears get warm again; damnit, he hadn't even realized that the tune he was whistling was the same song he had caught you singing the day before. He took a deep breath and shook his head. 

You both stood there, clearly waiting for the other to speak first. He was never a man of many words, though, so he just nodded once in your direction before getting inside his greenhouse and closing the door behind him.

A knock on the door not long after made him roll his eyes. He walked away from his work table with a sigh, cursing at his lack of peace and quiet; all the man wanted was to drink his morning coffee in solitude.

"What?" he asked as he opened the door to find you there, holding something wrapped in paper in his direction. He had noticed the steaming thing earlier. "What's that?"

"I wanted to thank you," you said, almost stumbling over your words as you signaled him to take it from you. "It's a pie."

"A pie?" he asked slowly, raising a brow in distrust.

"Yes, apple pie," you sent him a small smile as you tried to get him to accept the baked good. When he just stood there, arms crossed, your smile fell. He almost, almost, made a move to grab your offer then. "Hmm, Mrs. Yamamoto from the kitchen lets me use ingredients sometimes to bake stuff, and as long as I clean everything after–"

"I don't eat breakfast," he interrupted, arms still crossed as he looked you up and down with furrowed brows. He was trying to understand your intentions towards him. What was your move here?

"Oh, but you should, you know?" you said in a raised tone. "It's the most important meal of the day! A-and this one was made with your apples, so I thought you would–"

"What do you want from me?"

Even though Aguni was a man of few words, he never had any problem being direct. When you just looked at him with big, confused eyes, he was even more weirded out by your manners. You were either being genuine or were a really good actress. He didn't know what made him more uncomfortable.

"I just want to... to thank you for the vase?" you hesitantly answered, arms lowering.

His hand snapped towards your arm before he even realized, suddenly aware that he did want that pie. However, a pained gasp made him release you immediately upon touching you over your jacket. 

"Are you hurt?" he asked, secretly hoping he hadn't actually hurt you.

"I- I'm fine," you answered with a shake of your head. "It was just a small injury from yesterday's game."

"Let me see," he ordered.

You stared wide-eyed at him, and it almost made him backtrack and send you away. Why should he care if you were hurt?

Aguni was about to do exactly that when you gingerly extended your arm in his direction. He focused on your arm as his fingers lightly grabbed your wrist, pulling your sleeve up to show a burn mark roughly the size of your palm. It didn't look too bad, but he could see that you hadn't put anything on it.

"Come," he said as he gestured at you to follow him inside the greenhouse.

He worked fast as he prepared something that would help you with your burn. He didn't know much about medicinal plants, but he knew enough.

He gestured at you to sit on the table as he carefully applied a mix of aloe vera and oats to your injury with light feather-like touches. It was all done in silence until he heard a noise from you, something resembling a barely huffed laugh. He glanced up to notice you looking straight at him, that same damned smile on your lips. He quickly focused back on the injury, hoping you wouldn't notice his red ears.

"I thought I was part of the dead now," you said, clearly referencing what he had said the day before. He grunted with a shrug, now at all interested in talking about his change of ideals. "You know...I never thought you were the type," you kept talking, and he kept addressing your injury. "To like plants, I mean. This place is amazing." 

"What type am I, then?" he caught himself asking. Not that he particularly cared about your answer, but curiosity got the best of him. You laughed at his words and shrugged.

"Hmm, I don't know... the type that punches tigers?" He had to control the will to smile then, hiding his face from view. "I really wasn't expecting tall, big, and stoic Aguni to be so good with plants. I'm pleasantly surprised."

His movements halted for a second as he processed your words. He was sure he was red all over his face now, damn you. He continued what he was doing before he could overthink your words too much.

"Never judge a book by its cover."

He cringed as soon as those words left his mouth. What a corny thing to say. He decided then that your burn was sufficiently covered in aloe, and immediately retracted his hands, turning his back to you as he cleaned his fingers and tried to get his blush under control.

"Hmm, I guess you're right…" you said as he heard you stand up. "Well, thank you again, for this." He nodded and grunted in acknowledgment without turning to face you. "And the pie is here, just in case you want to try it." You hesitated, "...Hmm if you don't want it, you can always give it to Last Boss. He- he caught me in the kitchens once and I promised to bake him stuff if he helped me clean up after. He doesn't talk much and he's kind of scary, but he's nice." He turned to you then, and the expression on his face might've told you that you were overstaying your visit, so you quickly rushed for the door. "Mm okay, bye!" you said as you sent him an awkward wave and left.

He wondered if you thought he was scary but nice.

»«»«»«

A piece of chocolate cake was left by his greenhouse the day after.

The day after that, a croissant.

The gifts were always accompanied by small notes written in pretty handwriting. Some were simple recipes; others were small facts about medicinal plants he knew nothing about. He kept them all, safely hidden in a can on his worktable. A week went by where he expected a new pastry or sweet to welcome him. And, without fail, there it was. He never saw you around though, in the mornings or throughout the day, which he found odd. He didn't even know your name, but he found himself searching for you throughout the Beach, or in the games at night. But he never saw you. He would've thought you were dead if it weren't for the consistent gifts you left at his door.

Now, he wasn't lying when he said he wasn't a man for breakfast. He really wasn't. But after trying a piece of that apple pie, he saw himself devouring almost the whole thing. The same with the cake and the croissant. They were probably the best baked goods that he had ever tried. He was even more excited to start his mornings.

This morning, however, he arrived at the greenhouse to find nothing by the door. No box, no note, no wrapping. Nothing. He furrowed his brows, feeling disappointed, but quickly shrugged the feeling off as he got inside. Your pleasantries had to stop someday.

It bothered him, though. And he hated the fact that it bothered him. He hated the fact that he cared. He spent the day thinking about it. Thinking about you. Where could you possibly be? What happened? He didn’t even know your name. He didn’t know what bedroom you lived in, and it was driving him mad.

He had zoned out throughout the morning meeting, lashed out at several of the militants, and was now fully ignoring Takeru as his best friend went on and on about something he didn’t care enough to even pretend to be listening.

“Mori, hey!” His friend snapped his fingers in front of his face, forcing Aguni out of his thoughts. He stared at Takeru with a frown.

“What?” he asked, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of him.

“The first time all week that we’re having lunch together, and you’re quieter than usual,” his friend said, nodding at the plate of barely touched food in front of him. “You’re not even eating. What’s going on?” 

“I’m fine,” he shrugged, stabbing a piece of roasted rabbit with his fork and taking a bite. He chewed as he thought of a good excuse. Takeru could be annoyingly perceptive when it came to other people’s emotions, especially his. “Just have a lot on my mind, that’s all,” he finally said.

His friend looked at him for a moment before setting his elbows on the table, supporting his chin on his palms. Oh no, he knew what that meant. He was about to be questioned to death.

"Are you in love?" he asked, a slight smirk on his lips.

Aguni choked on his own spit at the man's question, violently coughing as he vehemently shook his head. 

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he asked after easing his cough, throat burning, and eyes teary from the effort.

"Well let's see," Takeru started, hand raised as he prepared himself to make a list. Aguni instantly regretted his question. "You've been late to meetings almost every morning for the past week, you barely pay attention to anything I tell you and I'm pretty sure I heard you hum 'Lay All Your Love on Me' by ABBA the other day. I've never heard you do anything close to singing," Takeru said as he wiggled three raised fingers before raising a fourth. "And a little bird told me that they heard you talking with someone inside your garden house." The smirk on his lips turned into a grin as Aguni averted his eyes. "So, tell me; who is she? Or is it a he? C'mon, you know you can tell–"

"I don't know what you're talking about," was all he said in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.

Takeru wasn't easy to fool, though.

"You know what, I know you're full of shit, but I will allow it," he said with a fork pointed in his direction. "For now, at least. Now it's dessert time!" Takeru licked his lips as he pulled a tray to the center of the table. "I've been wanting you to try this for days, it's delicious!" He opened the tray to uncover two perfectly sized individual pies. Not just any pies, either. Aguni knew exactly who made them.

"Where did you get this?" he blurted out, staring at the perfectly cooked pastries. Takeru looked at him with a confused look.

"Huh, the kitchen? Where else?"

"Yeah, but who made them?" Aguni pressed further, wanting an answer that would show him that you were actually alive. "Were they made today?"

"Uh, I would hope so, yeah. And I don't know who made them, old Yamamoto just said it was one of her helpers," Takeru retorted with a shrug. "They're amazing, though, you should try it."

Aguni almost felt himself sag in relief. If these were made today, that meant that you were alive. It also meant that you definitely had stopped leaving gifts at his door. He tried not to focus on how he felt a little hurt by it. It was not like you owed him anything, anyway.

He still couldn't stop thinking about you as he finished his lunch with Takeru. He hated to admit it, but he felt bad for how he had treated you when you first met. He felt like he owed you at least an apology, and – not like he would ever admit it to himself – he wanted to see you again.

He always went for a short walk after lunch before having to proceed with his duties for the day. He wasn't exactly surprised to find himself by the kitchens, peeping inside the large double doors to take a look – part of him hoping to see you there.

What he saw instead were the so-called Food Ladies, a group of old women that had taken upon themselves the important role of cooking for everyone at the Beach. They were now chilling and having their own meals after the lunch hour rush. He spotted Mrs. Yamamoto, the oldest of the bunch – that also happened to be the boss – leaning by the doors that led outside, smoking her usual cigarette. She spotted him too, with small dark eyes that made him want to run away. It was strangely similar to the way his grandmother used to look at him when he misbehaved as a child.

“Oi, boy, c’mere,” she called him before he could walk away. The laughs and conversations of the other women ceased immediately as he entered the room. They eyed him for some time, one of the old ladies elbowing another before whispering something he couldn’t hear. His brows furrowed; he hated all that attention.

“Mrs. Yama–”

“You have to learn how to control your militants, Aguni,” she said as soon as he got close enough. “Two of your boys were disturbing one of my girls this morning. God knows what they would’ve done to the poor thing if I hadn’t shooed them away.” He had to control his facial expression; was she talking about you? “That girl gets up before dawn to cook sweets for so many people in this godforsaken place, and that’s how they repay her?” The old woman shook her head, before adding, “The rude boy with the piercings on his face and the odd one with the katana. See to it that they don’t get close to her again, do ya hear me?” 

He nodded once before turning to leave, anger already simmering inside him. He had the urge to use his fists on a very specific someone.

He found whom he was looking for on the roof, as he expected. Last Boss was the first to notice him, eyes going wide as Aguni power walked to the man next to him.

“...and Chishiya– oh fuck! What the hell?!” Niragi screamed as Aguni pushed him toward the edge of the roof before forcing him to lean over it.

He held the man by his collar, almost making him lose his balance and fall to his death. Part of him really wanted to let go. He knew what Niragi was capable of.

“What were you doing in the kitchen this morning?” he asked in a cold, emotionless tone. The younger man looked down before visibly gulping and staring at him with a furrowed brow.

“T- The kitchen?...” he asked back. Aguni took a deep breath before loosening the grip on his shirt, making Niragi yelp and grab his arm. “Look look, it was his idea to go there, I didn’t do anything!”

Aguni looked back at Last Boss, and the man raised his hands while shaking his head.

“He- he just followed me there, I didn’t ask him to come with me,” the tattooed man said, stumbling on his words. “If you’re talking about the old lady, she kicked us out, but we didn’t do anything, I swear.” 

“The girl?” he asked through gritted teeth. He was starting to lose his patience. The younger men shared a look between them before Last Boss started talking.

“Y/N?” he asked for clarification. So that was your name. “We didn’t touch her. Niragi just took some pies and we left.” 

“Is that so?” Aguni asked Niragi, the man still in his grasp. He knew what he was capable of, and he wouldn’t put it past Last Boss to lie for his friend. “Cause that’s not what I heard…” his fingers loosened once again around the man’s collar, making him tighten his grip on Aguni’s arm.

“Fine, fine, I- I might’ve teased her a little,” the man confessed. “But I didn’t mean to make her cry, and we left right after. I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

Aguni considered his words for a moment, before pulling Niragi off the edge and pushing him to the ground. The man cursed something under his breath that Aguni preferred to ignore as he now focused on Last Boss.

“Do you know her last name?” he asked. The man shook his head. Aguni sighed; he would have to check Mira’s records if he wanted to find her room. “You both better stay away from the kitchens and from that girl,” he said, now keeping his stone-cold gaze on Niragi. “Is that clear?”

Both men nodded. 

Without another word, Aguni left the roof.

»«»«»«

It was surprisingly hard for him to find your room. 

Mira had immediately denied any access to her records, claiming invasion of privacy. Which it was; he would probably do the same thing if he was in her place. But he pressed on, and she eventually gave in, simply saying that you lived in the south wing of the Hotel, somewhere on the second level. He accepted the information and forced himself to ask around for you, as inconspicuously as he could. Surprisingly, practically no one recognized the description he gave of you, and no one knew your name. He was almost giving up when finally...

“Oh, Y/N?” a couple of young women said. “Yeah, she lives next door to us, room 237.”

He finally had your room number.

Aguni spent five minutes gathering the necessary courage to knock on your door, hesitating and almost leaving every time he lifted his knuckles against the door. He made a frustrated sound, annoyed with himself.

“You’re an idiot,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Hello?” someone greeted behind him. Aguni froze before looking over his shoulder. There you were. Dressed in shorts and a light jacket, hair in a braid over your shoulder, and a hesitant smile on your face, you looked pretty in his eyes. It really made him wonder if Takeru was right; he did have a crush on someone. “Hmm, is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, uh- hey.” He cleared his throat as he realized he had been staring. He could feel his face getting warm. “Hm, how’re doing?” he asked, before grimacing. Ah yes, Morizono, very nice. You raised a brow as you looked at him for a moment.

“I’m... fine,” you answered with a hesitant smile. “Were you waiting for me?”

“Yes, I- I wanted to apologize,” he cringed at his stuttering. But there it was. Direct and clear. The fastest he could get himself out of this awkward conversation, the better. “I heard about what happened this morning with two of my militants, and I just want you to know that they won’t bother you again.”

“Oh, that was just a misunderstanding!" you say as you shake your head. "I was just talking with Mrs. Yamamoto about that. Nothing happened."

"That was not what I heard."

"No, no, I'm fine, they didn't do anything to me," you reassured him. "Niragi just… said some mean things, but Last Boss stopped him. Mrs. Yamamoto thought they were hurting me and I'm really sorry." You shrugged and gave him an awkward smile. "I just cry sometimes. I even went to talk with Last Boss about it, but I think Mrs. Yamamoto really scared him, 'cause he keeps avoiding me." You said with an awkward chuckle. "But I'm okay, really."

Aguni grunted with a nod, convinced that you were telling him the truth. Still, he wanted those two, Niragi in particular, as far from you as he could.

"If they mess with you again, let me know, all right?" You nodded at his request, and he almost had the urge to smile back at you. "Okay then," he said with a nod before making a move to leave.

"Hmm, did you enjoy today's pastry?" he heard you ask in a hesitant tone. He turned around, confused. There was no pastry waiting for him today. He said so to you, and your brows furrowed. "Uh, no, I'm pretty sure I left you something. Strawberry pie with a chocolate crust?"

"There was nothing when I got there," he said. There were butterflies in his stomach, though. You hadn't stopped baking stuff for him, after all. 

"That's odd…" you said as you bit your lip, wondering what could've happened. "Well," you shrugged, "I'll make sure you get it tomorrow morning, then."

He nodded without a word and watched as you smiled at him before moving to open your door.

"How's your arm?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. You froze by the door for a moment before showing him your arm, skin looking much better than it was just a week prior.

"That aloe mix you gave me helped a lot. Thanks, again," you said with another one of those smiles that made him want to smile back.

"You know…" he hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and saying what he meant to say, eyes on your feet, "If you ever want to, you can show up by the greenhouse, sometimes. There are these new seeds I got that might interest you. I don't know, but the offer stands."

He shrugged, like what he just said meant nothing. He finally focused on your face, and his stomach did somersaults as he found you grinning at him.

"I would like that very much." 

»«»«»«

You were there the next morning.

And the next. And the next. And the other one after that. Always with a smile on your face, always carrying a new sweet that you would both share.

The first days were as awkward as you could imagine. He almost feared looking you in the eyes, feeling like a teenager again with all the blushing and weird sensations in the pit of his stomach. All he needed was a smile from you to look as red as one of his tomatoes. 

At first, you would eat in silence, until you eventually broke it by mentioning something about plants, or what flowers you were expecting to bring the next time you went scavenging. Then it would be just you doing most of the talk as he stuffed his mouth with whatever deliciousness you had brought him that day, nodding, and grunting on occasion. He realized he liked hearing you speak. Hearing your voice.

Then he would start working on whatever he had planned the morning before, and that's when you would watch him as he went around his garden showing you things. You would give him ideas from time to time, always following him as you attentively listened to his words. He realized he liked the attention. Your attention.

It didn't take long until you were more comfortable around each other. Then you would both talk freely, almost always about plants. He would be lying if he said he wasn't curious to know more about you, but he didn't have the courage to ask.

"What did you do... before?" you asked one day, about a week into your morning rendezvous. You were sharing a quiche today, and he took his time chewing before answering.

"Was part of the SDF," he said. You nodded like it made sense that a man like him had a job like that. "Nothing too interesting, though,” he said with a shrug. “You?"

"Worked at my family's bakery," you said, a small smile on your face as you seemed to think back to those times. "My grandma taught me everything I know. She made the best quiche in Tokyo, you know? Mine has nothing on hers."

He couldn't control his chuckle then, nor he meant to say the words that got out of his mouth next.

"Takeru would love to hear that."

"Who?" you asked, brow raised as you chewed a piece of the salty pastry. There were flakes of crust on the corner of your mouth, and he had to control the urge to wipe them away with his thumb. He shook his head instead.

"Just a friend from… from back home," he said. "The man can't cook to save his life but bakes one hell of a quiche. Yours is better, though."

You smiled at the compliment and proceeded to eat in silence. He didn't want to waste the chance to get to know you more, though.

"What do you do all day?" he asked. You raised a brow, and he specified what he meant, "I mean, I barely see you around and no one seems to know you, so…"

"Oh, I just stay in my room all day," you said as you shrugged and let out an awkward chuckle. "I'm not really a people person and I spend most of my nights awake, so I mostly just sleep."

"What do you do when you're awake, then?"

"I go to the games, I bake and, well, now I spend some time here with you." He could swear his heart beat a little faster at your words. He felt strangely honored that you decided to spend time with him. 

"Yeah, I'm not much of a people person myself," he said. "Plants are much better, aren't they?" He tried to send you a small smile but immediately regretted it as it felt more like a grimace. You smiled back at him, though, so it probably wasn't as bad as he thought it was. 

"Hmm, you're right, but I don't mind some people."

He didn't know what to make of your statement.

»«»«»«

A month passed when you met every morning. 

Your joined morning routine had taken a comfortable rhythm for both of you, where you ate, talked, and worked without that awkward vibe of the first few days. With you joining him in the work, his crops flourished. It was the best part of his day, without a doubt.

He realized several things during that time.

The first was that you liked to sing while you worked. Didn't matter if you were planting potatoes, watering the flowers, or preparing herbal remedies – that you had eventually convinced him to be useful – you were always humming a tune under your breath, or singing the words aloud. 

The second thing he realized was that he liked it.

He liked to hear you sing so much that the songs would stay in his head for the rest of the day, and he would wake up with your voice still echoing in his head. He had even caught himself whistling at times. Once during a council meeting, where he had zoned out again and was completely oblivious to the fact that he had been humming 'I Want to Break Free’ by Queen until Takeru snapped his attention and everyone was looking at him like he had grown two heads. All except his best friend, that had a knowing smirk on his lips.

The third thing he realized – and, to his shock, didn't surprise him – was that he had totally developed a crush on you.

"So, am I ever going to meet them or what?" Takeru asked over his glass of golden whiskey, taking a sip when Aguni took too long to answer. "You can't keep them a secret from me forever."

"I don't know what you're talking about," was all Aguni said as he took a gulp of his own drink, avoiding his friend's eyes and looking at the moon up high in the sky. His friend really had the best view for late-night drinking, especially after a stressful game. 

"Fine, don't tell me," Takeru shrugged like he didn't care, but Aguni could tell he one hundred percent did. What was he supposed to tell him? There was no relationship for him to talk about. 

"Okay, listen…" his friend's eyes shined as he focused all his attention on him, making Aguni want to hide from his scrutiny. He took a deep breath before saying, "There's nothing to talk about. There's no relationship."

"Ahh, but you're in love, aren't you?" Takeru let out an excited laugh, and Aguni could feel the corners of his mouth pulling up. "In all the years we've been friends I saw you like what? Three people? And you never behaved like this." He drank whatever was left of the drink in his glass before filling it up again. "This one sure looks promising." There was a pause where they just drank in silence before he asked again "So, what's her name? It’s a she, isn't it?"

"Y/N," Aguni mumbled, loud enough for him to hear. Takeru's eyes widen comically at the name.

"The pie girl?!" he asked in a raised tone. "You're head over heels for the pie girl?" He laughed then, and Aguni furrowed his brows in annoyance.

"You know her?" 

"Yeah, I mean, old Yamamoto wouldn't tell me who the miracle baker was, so I went to see for myself. She's cute," he let out a mean chuckle, "I knew you were getting thicker around the waist. She's feeding you well, I see."

"Yeah." Aguni gave him a full-on smirk as he said the next words, "She makes the best quiche I've ever eaten." 

The shocked and offended gasp that left Takeru's mouth almost made him laugh. 

"You take that back!" the man punched his arm once and drank the remaining of his whiskey in one single gulp. "You just ruined my night. Get out and think about what you just said. I'll be expecting an apology by morning."

Aguni laughed then, the only kind of laugh that he could only make when he was around his best friend.

"Yours is good," he shrugged, still laughing. "But hers is better."

»«»«»«

->Next Chapter

[morganaspendragonss]

dealing in danger

for the wonderful erin's birthday!!! (@halsteadmarchs) this is literally nothing like your original prompt skdshjkl hence why i made it into a new post but i hope you like it!!!

i did however manage to include the dialogue prompt you requested! 40 - "Hasn't this addiction done enough damage already?" from the angst section of this list

title from can you hear me by anson seabra

ao3 | 1.9k | pre-series, drug addiction, overdose, questionable parenting decisions

TK is not supposed to be hearing this. Not that his parents have ever seemed to care about what he does or doesn’t hear; his entire childhood was spent listening to the harsh whispers that drifted through through the walls and doors of their apartment. He could tune them out, if he chose, but these days the arguments seem to increasingly be about him, and TK thinks he has a right to know about his own life.

Especially when so little of it seems to belong to him anymore.

He’s been living under lock and key ever since he fucked up and accidentally left his stash out in the open a week ago. It was a rookie mistake, but in his defense, he’d been pretty fucking high at the time. Granted, that defense hadn’t gone over particularly well with his mother, but TK thinks it’s a valid excuse. He’d woken up that morning to a pounding headache and a dry mouth and his parents waiting for him on the couch with several baggies of pills in front of them. He’d pretty much been dragged straight to the doctor’s, and he’d only managed to avoid a stint in rehab by some miracle.

Said miracle being, an impassioned plea to his dad and a promise that TK had no intention of keeping to play things by his rules. His mom had tried to object, but TK is an adult, more or less, and he lives with his dad anyway. She can hardly enforce something she’s not around to bear witness to.

Or, at least, that was the theory. In reality, his mom has been here most days, and at least three quarters of those days have featured an argument over their different approaches to this situation.

“You know it will end up worse for him if we force it!” his dad is saying, probably violently gesturing towards TK’s room.

“And if we don’t?” his mom demands, her tone matching his exactly. “Our son has clearly been doing this for long enough that he knows how to hide it from us; what makes you think that you can control it now when you’ve obviously failed to up until now?”

“Oh, that’s rich! TK has two parents, you know!”

“He lives under your roof! He probably did drugs right under your nose; maybe if you were ever home, you would have noticed!”

And so it goes.

It’s the same every time—his parents passing the blame back and forth, ultimately getting nowhere and only really serving to piss each other off more. TK is kind of tired of it, but it’s pretty much the only entertainment he gets these days, so.

He’s kind of just waiting for the day when they realise that things were better before. Back when he was at one friend or another’s house getting high and they never had to bother about keeping an eye on him. No-one could deny that those days had been happier, for all of them.

But, hey, it’s not as if they want TK’s opinion anyway. It’s only his life and all.

“Hasn’t this addiction done enough damage already?”

That’s new. TK sits up straight, ear practically pressed to the door to hear; his dad seems to have finally realised that he can hear their every word, and has adjusted his volume accordingly.

His mom seems just as lost. “What are you talking about, Owen?”

“Have you looked at our son recently?” There’s something hard in his dad’s voice that TK has never heard before, not even when they found out about the drugs, and it takes him aback. “He’s not well.”

“Which is why he needs to be in rehab—”

“Which is why he needs to be with us. Come on, Gwyn, you think this whole thing isn’t our fault?”

TK raises a brow. In reality, the drugs had probably only been a quarter about his parents, if that, but it’s classic Owen Strand to think that the world revolves around him.

“I know that.”

And classic Gwyneth Morgan to agree with him.

“We were never there for him, and now look where we are. You said it yourself—none of us even noticed that he was...what he was doing. It was an accident that we did find out. If we send him away for months, he’s not going to see it as us trying to help him; he’s going to see it as us not wanting to deal with him.

“TK looks bad now, but imagine what time there would do to him. His addiction has already hurt us all enough; now it’s time for us to start managing that. You know I’m right, Gwyn.”

There’s a long pause after his dad has finished speaking before his mother mumbles something that TK takes to be an agreement. He’s not listening now anyway, his father’s words on repeat in his mind.

Hasn’t this addiction done enough damage already?

He’s not well.

...hurt us all enough

He’s right. His dad is right.

TK has hurt his parents enough. And he’s pretty sure that his dad knows he’s already figuring out a plan to go back to the drugs; he’s just choosing to ignore it because he doesn’t want to believe it.

But there’s a simple solution to this, and TK doesn’t know why he didn’t see it before.

He’s the problem, so to fix it, he just needs to not be around.

Simple.

So, that night, TK quietly steals the cash from his dad’s wallet, picks the lock on the apartment door, and creeps out into the night.

*

It’s pathetically easy to not be found if you don’t want to be. TK knows that by now his parents will have gone through every possible channel to find him, but he’s abandoned all his old haunts and used his dad’s money to get as far away from Manhattan as possible. He makes sure to keep outside of the 252’s service area, changes his name, and even buys some hair dye and new clothes to reduce the chances of him being recognised as fair as possible.

He has no money left by the time he feels safe, but that’s okay. There are other ways of paying for what he needs, after all.

TK survives almost two weeks in his new life. He steals food, grabs dropped money, and sleeps on the streets, or sometimes in a bed if that’s what his dealer of choice prefers for that night. It’s obviously nowhere near as comfortable as his old life was, but needs must, and TK knows how to adapt.

Anyway, at least he’s not trapped with his parents and their constant arguing anymore. At least he can get Oxy pretty much when he wants, in exchange for a quick fuck or two. And he knows that he can’t keep this up indefinitely. He knows that, sooner or later, his choices are going to catch up with him.

Thing is, TK gave up on old age a long time ago. Live fast, die young—that’s how it goes, right? It doesn’t sound so bad to him.

Or, it doesn’t, until his mistakes do finally find him again.

That night, he does his usual business, a baggie of pills for him, a blowjob for his dealer, and then it’s over. He’ll be on the streets tonight—apparently his dealer had ‘other matters’ to take care of—but TK doesn’t mind. It’s a balmy night, and alleyways can be surprisingly cosy if you know how to make them so.

Drugs, it turns out, work a treat.

TK doesn’t bother inspecting the pills as he tips them back, dry swallowing one after the other. Even if he had, it’s doubtful that he would have noticed anything off—and, later, he has to wonder if he would have cared if he had.

Slowly, the high begins to wash over him, and TK feels happy. He’s flying, but then it feels like something slams into him, and panic seizes his chest as he crashes back down to earth.

His body isn’t moving—TK can’t move—but he has this swooping sensation in his stomach and dread growing slowly in him. Something is horribly, horribly wrong, but his brain can’t think beyond helpcan’tbreathedyingDAD—

TK twitches and chokes, and then there’s no time for thinking anything as his head drops to his chest and his eyes fall shut.

*

Owen stares down at his son, lying comatose in a hospital bed. It’s only been two weeks since he fled the apartment, but already he looks so different, so much worse. Apart from the dyed hair and the streaks of grime on his face, it’s obvious that he’s lost a horrific amount of weight—weight TK could ill afford to lose.

There are deep purple bags under his eyes and his hair is limp and greasy to the touch. Nevertheless, Owen reaches out anyway, tangling his fingers in the strands as he prays for TK to open his eyes.

Worse, TK’s body is a patchwork of bruises and cuts, some in places that leave little doubt as to what he was doing to pay for the drugs. Owen feels sick to think about it, the idea of his 20-year old son out on the streets, doing...doing...that for something he thought he needed.

Jesus.

The doctors have told them that TK was lucky he was found when he was. Apparently, his dealer had fucked him over, given him much stronger drugs than TK normally took, causing him to overdose. On top of that, they’d been a bad batch, so TK wouldn’t have even had time to go looking for help if he’d known what was happening.

And there’s a thought niggling at Owen. He thought he knew his son, but looking at him now, he realises that he’s never been more wrong. Because Owen wonders whether or not TK would have gone for help if there was time, and he has no idea of the answer.

Heels click behind him, bringing him out of his thoughts. Owen knows what’s coming before Gwyn speaks, but he doesn’t try to stop her.

“Hasn’t this addiction don’t enough damage already?” she parrots, her tone cold and harsh.

Owen sighs. “Gwyn—”

“I accept my role in this, Owen,” she says, marching to stand on the other side of the bed, “but if you had just listened to me before then none of us would even be here. TK might not have been happy at rehab, but he wouldn’t be in a coma after almost dying either.”

“I know.”

“You know,” she scoffs. “Listen to me, Owen. We tried doing this your way, and look how it ended up. If—” Gwyn gasps and breaks off, sudden tears filling her eyes. She turns to look out the window for a moment, blinking hard, but she’s still not quite fully composed when she faces Owen again. “When he wakes up, we’re going to do what we should have done three weeks ago, and we are going to fix this.”

“I know,” Owen repeats, his voice a whisper. Gwyn seems startled by his ready acceptance, but Owen looks at TK’s pale, thin, bruised face, and he realises that a second chance is the last chance they’re going to get.

And he’s not going to lose his son.

[jeongjaebae]

Love Station

⇢ Jaehyun x reader | AO3

⇢ 7k of fluff, heart fluttering moments, and meme references

⇢  You never expected anything good to come out of a train delay, much less for it to play cupid on this Valentine’s Day. 

Turning 23 wasn't something you were overly excited about.

Nothing good could come out of being this age anyway—you were starting to feel old and life was starting to feel stagnant. Besides, everyone's seen the meme about checking up on your friends born in a certain year because no one likes you when you're 23. But heck, you'd already felt that way for long enough so it doesn't really matter that it's your birthday today because no one liked you at 22 either. Or at any age.

Maybe that's why you're still single on this Valentine's Day, which coincidentally happens to be the date you enter your 23rd year since birth. Whatever deity that's up there probably planned this to give you a headache every year, making you watch couples all around you broadcast their PDA everywhere while you only became one year closer to growing old and wrinkly. And dying single.

"Are you on the train yet?" Yoojin's loud voice comes through the phone. "Also what are you wearing, because I'm having an outfit dilemma again."

"Almost at the station," you reply, checking the time for the sake of it. You knew your best friend would be late regardless of the occasion, so you never had to rush. "I didn't expect it to be so cold out here. Wearing the pink blouse with the bow, that black skirt, and some thin tights. Long coat of course."

Yoojin was your best friend of seven years and happened to be the complete opposite of you. While you were generally shy, she had no qualms about talking to strangers. She'd always been bold and unabashed with her opinions, attracting quite a large group of friends and enemies alike, whereas you have always stayed within your comfort zone of invisibility. And whereas you were completely dense and unlucky when it came to boys, she had a list of them long enough for the both of you.

"Tell me you at least have some tall boots on," she replies with some rustling sounds in the background as she probably flips her entire closet upside-down. "You should've gone with a warmer outfit; there won't be any boys around for you to impress! It's only your date with boring old me."

You roll your eyes and play along. "I'm dressing to impress the cute waiter, obviously," you say, "the one with the super sweet smile who looks like NCT's Doyoung." It's all made up, of course. In reality the two of you didn't have a reservation or even a restaurant in mind yet, and of course, there's obviously nobody who could ever be as cute as Doyoung.

Your best friend was all about being spontaneous and winging it, and even letting fate decide things.

"Oh you better hope that he's not out with his girlfriend tonight then," she singsongs. "Anyway, I'll go pick out an outfit now and bring a pair of leggings for you or something. Oh and before I forget, happy birthday!"

"Thanks," you say with a smile as you approach the train station. "I'll see you soon!"

It's slightly more crowded at the station than the emptiness that usually greets you at this hour, but that's not surprising since it's Valentine's Day after all, and people would have plans in the city. And just as you would expect, there are people holding big bouquets wrapped in a special paper with hearts all over it, packs of chocolates in pink and red boxes, and delicate single roses encompassed in beautiful ribbons.

It wasn't something that you felt like you were missing out on. You've never spent Valentine's Day with someone special anyway; it was always some sort of birthday celebration with friends. Until your friends started getting into relationships and then the birthday thing got pushed to different days. Either way you didn't mind because people don't need particular days to show their love for others, so Valentine's Day was all just a big marketing scam.

Or so you tell yourself.

The February air is cold and makes it hard to pry your transit card out from your wallet with your frozen fingers. When the machine nearby is finally free, that's when you go to tap your card.

"Don't."

A hand slides right in between your card and the machine, blocking it from being detected.

"Excuse me?" you automatically respond.

The first thing you notice about this annoying stranger is that he's tall, as it takes a while for you to look up to see the face of said annoying stranger. The second thing is that he's incredibly good looking. Nice skin, large eyes, and some evidence of dimples slightly visible on each cheek. A strong jaw line and sharp gaze.

But none of that matters because he better have a good explanation for you.

"Don't waste your money tapping your card. The train's been delayed and won't come until maybe an hour later."

"What? An hour? Is this some kind of joke?"

He shakes his head. "There was an announcement a few minutes ago but they'll probably repeat it soon."

"But it's not even April Fools Day," you mutter under your breath, but proceed to put your card away anyway. "Are you serious?"

That earns you a funny look from the annoying stranger, a mixture of a smile and a grimace of sorts. "Yeah, I'm really just going to go up to strangers and prank them by telling them about a train delay."

"Well, maybe if you're one of those YouTubers who go around pranking people for reactions?"

He rolls his eyes. "No, but your reaction was terrible, by the way. A two out of ten at most."

"Hey, you're the one who had to break the news to me like that!"

The corner of his mouth twitches but before he says anything back, the blare of the announcement comes on.

"Attention all passengers! Attention all passengers. The line 1 eastbound train is experiencing delays due to a technical issue on the tracks. It may be over an hour before the track can get cleared. Once again, the eastbound train is currently experiencing delays of an hour or more. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

"And there it is. Do you believe me now?" the annoying stranger asks, raising an eyebrow at you. It's not so much of an 'I told you so', but rather a sad 'welcome to the club'.

"Yeah... sorry for not taking you seriously."

"Nah, no worries," he shrugs and gives you a quick smile. The first you'd seen from him. "We're all just stuck here now."

When he turns to look at the announcement board, that's when you take the chance to really study him. He's dressed like he's walked out of a Korean drama: turtleneck and a nice formal jacket. He looks to be about your age, maybe a university student or fresh grad. Hair gelled up and parted at the side. Perfectly dressed to go on the perfect Valentine's Day date with his perfectly stunning girlfriend.

As perfect as it can be with this whole train delay issue anyway.

You follow his gaze to the announcement board and see that it now has red words everywhere, indicating all the delays of the trains. It definitely wasn't looking good. Even if Valentine's Day was nowhere close to being one of your favourite holidays, you were looking forward to at least seeing a friend on your birthday.

"Yeah, I guess so. On the one day I had plans in the city." You sigh at the thought that seeing your best friend might not be possible anymore.

 "I know the feeling," he frowns, somehow still looking just as good as before which is entirely a mystery to you, "I'm also supposed to be in the city tonight."

You nod, then pull out your phone to shoot Yoojin a quick text about the delay. The cold wind sears your hands and you yet again regret wearing so little when you knew this train station didn't have an indoor waiting area.  

"So, what are our options for getting out of here now? Do you think the buses are still running because we could probably take one?" he suggests.

The 'we' takes you by surprise, but then you realize that he's probably talking about everyone here. All of the ten or so people that are just stuck at this station in the cold for the next hour.

You grimace at the thought of dissipating his ounce of hope. "Well, the nearest bus station is all the way across town, so by the time we get there maybe the trains will have already started working."

The handsome stranger sighs. "Maybe an Uber then?"

"It'll be rush hour soon so that only works if you want to be going during the most expensive time of day using the most expensive form of transportation."

"Ah, that's true." He looks disappointed. "Hmm, if the trains don't come by the next hour, maybe I'll just head to the bus stop."

Oh how nice it would be to have a car to get there yourself.

Buzz. The phone vibrates in your pocket and you could already imagine how Yoojin would be reacting to your news. Hopefully she hadn't already started on her crazy makeup routine yet, because who knows if your meet-up could actually happen at this rate.

"It's chill, don't worry about it! I'll head to you instead. Text you when I'm near."

Sometimes Yoojin's spontaneity was just what you needed. You message her a quick thanks and then shove the phone into your pocket before your fingers freeze off.

It's quiet for a bit and you almost forget about the handsome stranger entirely until there's a crinkling sound and you find yourself staring at the rose in the pocket of his coat, the clear foil around it blowing gently in the wind. It was on the side facing away from you earlier, which is probably how you didn't notice upon first glance.

Of course, he has a girlfriend. With a face like that, who wouldn't have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend. Maybe even multiple.

"Special occasions, right?" The corners of his lips are curled as if holding back a grin, and like this his dimples are visible.

But why was he still talking to you? You figured he was probably just trying to be friendly seeing as the two of you would be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time. Maybe you'll even become all buddy-buddy by the time this ordeal finishes. While you weren't a fan of small talk or talking to strangers, it was nice to be able to have someone by your side who was experiencing the same struggles.

And besides, he clearly has a girlfriend so there was no point in writing that "strangers to lovers" fan fiction in your head.

You clear your throat. "So... Valentine's date with your girlfriend?"

"Valentine's—" he pauses for a second and you can almost see the gears turning in his head. "Right, it's Valentine's Day today. Nah, I'm celebrating my birthday instead." Then he holds up the rose up and glances at it as if he'd also forgotten about it. "And no girlfriend. This is for my cousin. Her boyfriend's overseas so it's hard for them to meet up, so I thought I would get something nice for her and keep her company."

That actually takes you off guard and causes you to replay the words in your mind to make sure you heard correctly.

"Wait, it's your birthday today? Really?"

He gives you a strange look. "Yeah, there are actually people born on Valentine's Day, believe it or not."

"That's not what I meant—"

"I'm just kidding." His eyes twinkle in amusement. "It's also your birthday today, isn't it?"

"What—how did you know?"

He chuckles. "Your reaction said everything."

"Wow, someone is a smartie."

"What about you? Valentine's or birthday date with your boyfriend?"

"Best friend," you correct him. "And yeah, it's a birthday dinner."

"That's nice. I've actually never met anyone else with a Valentine's Day birthday."

"Honestly, same."

His eyes curve up into crescents as he smiles with his entire body, and it's dazzling and is so bright that it makes you want to stare for just a moment longer. The two of you laugh for a while at that coincidence, still amazed.

"So, how old are you turning?"

You groan, "The age where no one likes you."

"Ah, I just passed that." He wrinkles his nose as if remembering how terrible a year it was. "But hey, can't have no one liking you at that age if no one liked you anyway."

His words immediately put an image of that roll safe meme into your head and you find yourself laughing.

"Wow, those are my thoughts exactly."

The handsome stranger only gives you an innocent shrug. His meme game was on point, and that almost makes your heart flutter for a second. Almost.

Another cold breeze whips your hair into your face and blows straight through your thin tights, making you shiver.

"Hey, um, I hope this isn't too forward... but since we're stuck here anyways for the next while, do you want to possibly go hang out in town?" He bites his lips a little, making his dimples stand out even more. "It just kind of sucks to see our birthdays go to waste like this. Only if you're comfortable with it though, but of course we'll be in public areas the entire time."

You couldn't believe your ears for the second time today.

On one hand, the logical voice in your head was screaming stranger danger because you just met him! You hadn't even exchanged more than a few sentences! On the other hand, you could already picture Yoojin telling you to never waste an opportunity, to go with the flow and live life a little recklessly. To stop waiting for a train that might never come, to stop waiting for perfectly planned moments in life that might never occur.

"So, what do you think?"

Besides, if he's not some crazy serial killer or anything along those lines, the only other danger you could possibly see was getting heartbroken. But of course there's no way you'd fall for a stranger in one day; you didn't believe in love at first sight or fate or whatever other mushy romantic cliches that movies love to portray. This would merely be a fun time between two people who happened to be stuck together because of a train delay, on a day that happened to be both of their birthdays. A simple coincidence, really.

"You know what," you smile. "Screw it. Let's go."

***

The smell of the arcade brings back memories from when you were a child—friends' birthday parties, hangouts in middle school, the occasional school trip. It had been fun as a child even though you hadn't been very good at any of the games and probably never won anything worth keeping. Looking back, you hadn't set foot in this place in years.

"We'll get the one with the most tokens," the handsome stranger—Jaehyun—says to the guy behind the counter, flashing you a smile when you raise an eyebrow at him.

Jaehyun. It had sounded so pretty when he introduced himself.

You'd been afraid that conversation would come out awkward and forced between two strangers brought together by no more than a train delay, not knowing where or when or how to start. But there was actually never a dull moment between the flow of words and laughter that made you feel as if he was someone you've known for a long time. The short walk to the arcade had been spent on reminiscing and comparing past memories of growing up in this town, brainstorming fun places and cool restaurants that you'd been to or have yet to go to, pointing at familiar buildings and telling funny stories about interesting moments spent in there.

"Come on, let's go." He leads the way into the main area where all the action is.  

The arcade still looks the same as the last time you were here, though everything seems smaller than you'd remembered it. Bright lights flashing from every machine, loud noises at every corner. So many games that you'd once thought it was impossible to play through all of them.

"Let's start with this one?" You point to the zombie shooting game. It was something that you had always wanted to try as a kid out of pure curiosity, but you'd been too scared to at the time.

"That one? Really?" He raises a brow at your suggestion. "Alright, but I bet I can beat you."

"I would also bet on you winning," you respond dully.

After choosing characters and weapons on screen, the two of you settle in your seats and finally start. It's like watching a horror movie where you expect huge jump scares at every corner except there's no music build-up or anything to warn you that a zombie might just show up. Horror was definitely not your forte but maybe he was better at handling these things than you were.

You get your answer when the first wave of zombies finally show up. Jaehyun screams. You scream.

Somehow you manage to shoot some of them by pure instinct guiding you, however your aim isn't exactly good with your eyes closed half of the time. By the time the screaming dies down and you notice that both your characters had died in the zombie battle, you finally turn to see how he's doing. The way his face is twisted in a mixture of utter shock and horror would've been something to laugh at if you hadn't been just as scared.  

"If I recall, someone said they were going to beat me at this," you tease after seeing the final score. Neither of you did particularly well, though your score somehow turned out to be much higher than his.

"You should've given me a warning that it would be this scary."

You burst out laughing at his expression. "I didn't know either!"

That's when you notice how you're clinging to each other. Your hand clutching his arm, his hand right on top of yours.

"Oops, sorry," you mutter and quickly detangle yourself from him.

"It's fine," he says with a laugh. "But yeah, those zombies were next level."

Needless to say, you guys don't go back to that game.

The arcade is quite empty on this afternoon and you're glad that most of the games are unoccupied and can be played right away. Even with everything going well so far, you still have the fear of having awkward silences and uncomfortable conversation.

It's a while later when you try again at a different shooting game, though luckily this time it isn't zombies that you're dealing with, so it isn't scary at all. It's a teamwork game this time, and what surprises you the most is just how good your teamwork turns out to be.

"To your left, in the corner."

"Phew, got him. Thanks," you reply, promptly shooting the character before he could shoot you. "Watch out—right above you."

"Got it."

It lasts a few rounds but you manage to make it to the end and finally clear the game.

Jaehyun's whole face is lit up when he turns to you. "Wow, that was awesome. Great teamwork."

He holds up both his hands for you to high-five, and just as your hands meet his, you can't help but notice the way they linger together a little longer.  

Time flies as the two of you go from game to game and you're trying your best to beat him at any game possible. While he does let you win some of the time, more often than not, he ends up winning. Though it's not like you could be upset about it at all when he looked so happy after each win, excitedly showing you his score or prize. It was definitely nice to be as carefree as kids again.

Yet there was something deeper with the adrenaline coursing through your veins and heart racing that it becomes hard to tell whether it may be from the excitement of the games, the warmth of his body right beside you as he patiently teaches you his strategies for winning, the bright smiles that seem to light up his whole face, or those damn dimples.

Why did this Valentine's boy have to be not only heartbreakingly handsome but also incredibly kind and considerate?

"Hey, you want to try one of those?" The sound of Jaehyun's voice pulls you out of your thoughts and you silently pray that you hadn't been staring at him subconsciously. And if you had been staring, hopefully he didn't notice as he's pointing to the line of game stands at the side where the games are always rigged and you can never win big prizes.

"I've never won anything from there before, so I sure hope you're good at those."

He ends up picking a dart game out of all the options, but maybe this one would be easier than the rest.

The man at the dart stand greets you and explains the rules. "Are you trying to win something for your girlfriend?"

"Oh, we're not—" you start but stop as soon as you hear what Jaehyun says instead.

"It's Valentine's Day after all," he says easily then follows with a wink at you.

He didn't deny...?

It's three shots dead center to win one of the biggest prizes or five within the smallest ring. It makes your heart pound a little faster seeing Jaehyun so focused with his nice stance, sleeves rolled up slightly, and intense eyes on the target. However, he misses on the first shot with his dart going off the board.

"Well that's no fun," the man says, frowning at where the dart landed. "I suppose I could give you another chance, since it's Valentine's Day and all. Wouldn't want to end up empty handed, right?" He laughs to himself but puts the dart back in Jaehyun's hand.

"Thank you," he says, flustered judging by the hint of a blush that sweeps his cheeks. "I'm not usually this bad."

"It's okay! You're doing great, sweetie," you joke.

He rolls his eyes at you despite the way his lips curl up at the corners, then gets ready to throw the dart again. And this time? You're sure your jaw is to the floor when he manages to get all three darts to hit the board dead center. The man congratulates him for winning and then they disappear into the back room to pick a prize. Jaehyun later comes out holding the biggest dog plushie you've ever seen.

Once you're back outside after the arcade adventure, that's when he stops and turns to you.

"I wasn't sure what you'd like but I hope this is okay," he says quietly, gingerly handing you the giant plushie.

"It's great, Jaehyun." You meet his gaze as you take the plushie and he quickly looks away. "Thank you."

"You know, I'm really glad we ended up doing this. It's even better than what I had planned originally." Then he adds more quietly, "One of the best birthdays I've had in a while."  

"Yeah," you smile. "Me too."

It's only then when you realize that Yoojin and the rest of your plans had totally slipped your mind.

***

It's chilly outside as the two of you walk around town. Valentine's Day decorations were everywhere, with the chalkboard menus of local restaurants featuring couple meal sets with tons of hearts drawn around them, various pink and red plushies lined up on the windowsills of nearby shops, and even lamp posts on the streets covered with mini heart shaped lights. The sight of those things usually would've made you roll your eyes and pretend to puke, but somehow it doesn't seem to bother you quite so much today. It's as if you're seeing everything through a new perspective—one that might find the rosy decorations pretty and one that might understand the hype of such a holiday.

"Y/N," Jaehyun suddenly says, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you to his side. Before you could even react, he's quickly switching positions with you so that you're sheltered between him and the wall of the nearby building.

Then he's turning to you. Hand on the wall behind your head, body leaning towards you.

So close that you could see the individual eyelashes framing his eyes.

But in the next instant he's looking behind him where a car drives by and splashes up a large amount of water from the melting snow on the side of the street. Which lands right where you were standing just a moment ago.

Jaehyun turns back to you, eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you breathe. "Um, are you?"

"That's good." He glances behind him and then reassures you with a quick smile. "And yeah, all good."

"It was a close call. Thanks for saving me."

"Wouldn't want your clothes to be ruined by that." He laughs. "How are you doing though? It's pretty cold out here."

"I'm okay," you automatically reply.

That earns you a skeptical look. "Your cheeks are all red. Come on, let's go warm up somewhere."

When you resume walking, he's taking the outer edge of the sidewalk.

A couple of blocks later is when you find out that the place he had in mind turns out to be the local coffee shop. You'd never been there before but had always thought of it as a cute place when you pass by it, so when you enter, the interior definitely matches up to your expectations. It has a rustic theme with warm glow from fairy lights hanging from the ceiling and there's soft music playing in the background, a nice place to study if it's as empty as today.

Jaehyun buys you your drink. Kind of.

"I bought one, but they gave me one for free," he says, beaming when he comes back to the table with the drinks—a coffee for him and a latte with a cute little heart floating in it for you. "Maybe the barista was charmed by my smile."

"Hmm." You look behind him to see a sign at the front of the store saying, 'Buy one get one free—Valentine's Day special'. "Are you sure it wasn't because of my charming smile?"

"You're right, that could be it. You are quite cute."

"Exactly."

Wait, what did he just say?

You do a double take but he's merely staring back at you with dimples just barely visible and eyes sparkling through thick eyelashes that you could only wish yours looked like.

Suddenly it feels like the heater's on extra high in this cafe or maybe it was the way the latte burns your tongue as you take a big gulp. Whatever it was, it definitely succeeds in warming you up a little too well, especially your face.

"You okay? Don't burn yourself," he says, the amusement in his eyes betraying the concern in his voice.

You nearly spit your drink out at him. "Nah, no burn. I'm good, thanks," you say dryly.

Time seems to slow down as you relax in your seat, body finally warming up in the coziness of the cafe. The small corner you're in almost feels like a liminal space; such a transient place you'd only ever noticed while passing by, yet a whole different world on the inside where one can hide forever. Perhaps you wanted to hide here, to enjoy the fleeting moments of a strange but amazing birthday.

Conversation ebbs and flows though you're a little surprised when Jaehyun opens up about his life. His passion for music, especially, is what picks up traction as he happens to know your favourite group, NCT. From there it becomes a debate of whether Doyoung or Taeyong was the best looking member (you insist that Doyoung's Instagram was all the proof one needed, whereas he points out that Taeyong's sharp jawline could totally cut that VVS diamonds they keep singing about). You definitely don't tell Jaehyun the fact that maybe—just maybe—he's even more attractive than your NCT biases and that he could totally be an actor from a Korean drama.

Everything you hear about him makes you appreciate his vulnerability, yet you can't help but wonder if he's so open with just anybody. You were a complete stranger, after all.

Yet every time you see the twinkle in his eyes when your gaze accidentally meets his, part of you wonders if 'strangers' no longer fits the definition of where this strange relationship was going. It leaves you with wanting to avoid looking at him which is quite difficult with him seated directly across from you. Maybe you should've sat where your plushie was, taking up its own chair between the two of you, but it's too late and now you're left to deal with the audible thud of your heart every time you make eye contact with him.

And yet when you think about it, you realize that it wasn't Jaehyun's cute dimples or his deep voice or his lame jokes that had your nerves acting up.

It was probably the caffeine.

But maybe it was the small things that you hadn't even realized you'd noticed. Earlier at the arcade when he patiently taught you the games that you were unfamiliar with, letting you win games but also winning at them himself just so he could give you the prize. Saving you from a car first then from the cold with the warmth of the cafe. Opening the door for you, sitting closer to the door to block the cold wind from reaching you.

And how despite the number of reschedules and plan cancellations you both had to make due to the train delay, he hasn't pulled his phone out a single time. You admired how in the midst of all the chaos today, he was still nothing but calm and polite the entire time and seemed to have everything under control. He was a comforting presence that made you forget about the madness of the outside world for a little while.

Nah, it had to be the caffeine.

Still, you find yourself glad to be stuck here with him, even as far as dreading when you both had to leave. You're definitely appreciating Yoojin's ability to be late right about now.

A lull in the conversation has you sneaking a glance at your phone to check up on your best friend. There's no text from her as she's either still doing her extravagant makeup or still on her way here, but for some reason you let out the breath you held in relief.

"I wonder if the trains are running now." A glance out the window shows you the remnants of sunset and the quickly darkening skies. Then you cautiously throw out the question that you'd been holding onto for a while. Something that you'd been reluctant to bring up, carefully stepping around it the whole day, and something that he hasn't talked about either. "Oh right, didn't you say you would end up taking a bus? If the delay is still going on."

Maybe it's a test to see his reaction, maybe it's to end this vague relationship before you become even more attached than you already are. Because any rational person wouldn't just throw away all their birthday plans for someone they'd just met.

"Oh. Right." Jaehyun looks down and swirls the stir stick in his drink. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, back and forth. "I, uh, actually forgot that I didn't drive here today." He shoots you a sheepish grin then runs his fingers through his hair that has deflated quite a bit since you first saw him. "So can't exactly drive over to the bus stop."

You smile back weakly. "Ah, that's okay. There's probably a ton of traffic out there now anyways."

An ambiguous answer for an equally ambiguous relationship. It could definitely be a real excuse, yet somehow the thought of that makes you almost disappointed. Maybe there are no answers to the questions and uncertainties muddled in your mind.

"But did you want to get rid of me so fast?" He actually pouts at you, as if his regular face weren't already enough to break hearts.

"What? No, of course not? I—what?" you manage to get out.

"Okay, good!" The pout immediately goes back into his regular smile. "Phew. It's sad enough being single on Valentine's Day; no need to get rejected on top of that."

Then his phone buzzes and it finally pulls it out.

"As if anyone would reject you," you mutter under your breath while he's distracted.

It's true. You might've expected Jaehyun's appearance to be making up for other areas, or maybe even hoping he'd be too rude or too blunt or have a bad character. Because the cognitive dissonance in your head wants a reason or excuse to remain distant and emotionally detached from him. But the kindness and authenticity that you saw today just leaves you without a reason, which makes it that much harder to stop yourself from liking him.

"Sorry about that; what did you say?"

"Nothing!" You plaster on a cheerful smile.

"Okay, my cousin is going to be here soon."

"Oh."

Then there's the sinking of your heart, the inevitable dread that this unexpectedly enjoyable afternoon is coming to an end. Somehow it manages to crush the anticipation you had for your birthday celebration with Yoojin.

"You know, I kind of feel bad that you paid for everything today," you say. "Let me pay you back?"

"It's fine, Y/N. We had fun and that's all that matters."

"True, but you should've at least let me buy the drinks!"

That manages to make him smile but it quickly dies as he bites his lip, suddenly hesitant. "If you really want to..."

"Yes!"

"...you could just pay next time."

What.

"Next time?" you repeat, afraid to believe what you were hearing.

"I mean, if you—maybe—want to hang out again sometime?"

You open your mouth to say something, or maybe it was already open in your state of shock. Nothing comes out as if you lost your voice.

Jaehyun briefly meets your eyes before continuing. "Well, um—I just wanted to say that I had a really good time with you today. I know the train thing was probably an inconvenience to everyone else but to be honest, I'm kind of glad that happened." He laughs a little. Stops. Bites his lip. "And yeah, if you're down, we could hang out again sometime. Because I'd love to get to know you better."

Thud.

You could only stare back at him as the roaring of your pulse becomes all you can hear. The whole day you were telling yourself that it shouldn't be possible to develop feelings for someone within a day, almost trying to hold yourself back from enjoying your time with him to the fullest in the fear that you might be wrong. And it's not like you developed crushes very easily, but here in front of you was a boy so friendly and good-natured even to a stranger he'd just met, someone who really seemed to care about you.

"Jaehyun..."

He continues, "I know it's weird meeting like this, and I don't really believe in this whole fate thing where we just happened to be stuck here and we happen to have the same birthday. All I can say is that I really enjoyed talking to you and hearing your thoughts and um, youknowyou'rereallybeautiful."

The logical inner voice had been screaming stranger danger the entire time because you didn't know him at all! You'd just met him today! Yet the small fic writer voice in your head, which definitely sounded a lot like your best friend's voice, was trying to convince you that maybe fate does exist. That if it doesn't, how likely was it that you met someone with the same birthday which happened to be Valentine's Day? That you met at exactly the right time and that the train the two of you were going to take was delayed? That you managed to have one of the best birthdays that you could recall?

Maybe sometimes you need to let go of any fears and just live life to its fullest. Let yourself feel a wide range of emotions without being afraid of getting heartbroken. Stop holding back and just be true to yourself.

It suddenly feels too hot in the cafe once again.

"Yeah," your voice comes out quiet, unsteady, but his words give you the courage to reach over to hesitantly take his hand. "Today has been amazing and I'm so thankful that you're the one I was stuck with."

His eyes flicker to yours then away. "But...?"

"There is no 'but'. Jaehyun, I'd love to see you again."

"Yeah?" He lets out a long exhale before his face visibly brightens again. "That's a relief. I didn't think you would agree, but I didn't want to have you walk out of my life just like that."

Then there isn't a need for any more words as shy smiles are exchanged and fleeting gazes meet and there's a warmth bubbling in your chest. It's as if you spent the whole day worrying over nothing. That somehow, everything worked out. That maybe it was fate, and maybe it wasn't, but the connection you thought you felt wasn't just one-sided. It was something real, something tangible.

"Jeong Jaehyun!"

The booming voice jolts the two of you out of the moment and makes you immediately spring apart.

"Did you seriously make me take the train all the way here just for you? Who is this girl because she better be real nice for you to ditch me—" The loud voice from the woman walking into the cafe stops right when her eyes land on you. She smiles sheepishly, dipping her head lightly as if apologizing for her outburst. "Never mind; forget I said anything. I approve."

"Nice to see you too, Minah," Jaehyun greets as you both stand. You can see how his face is still flushed from earlier, but now he's put on a neutral expression again and what you'd seen just a moment ago has been erased. "Don't worry, I won't make you take the train back. I'll drive you home after."

"Oh, you have the car. Bless." Minah brushes her hair back, tidying it from the effects of the wind. Then she stops suddenly and narrows her eyes at him. "Wait, why didn't you just drive over if the trains stopped working?"

"You—have the car? I thought you said you got a ride," you muse out loud.

"Oh, uh. Actually I forgot I had it since I usually get a ride here and it would've taken too long to drive there in rush hour anyway... so... yeah..." He trails off and shifts his weight from one foot to another, and it's even more evident how flushed his face is, from his cheeks to the tips of his ears.

You hear a snort and see Minah practically shaking with quiet laughter.

"Y/N!" The bell at the door rings again as Yoojin steps into the cafe, bringing a rush of cold air in with her. "There you are! And oh—" she stops mid-sentence when she spots you with Jaehyun, his cousin, and the massive plushie sitting in its own chair. "Minah?"

"Yoojin?"

"You guys know each other?" you ask tentatively.

"We were friends in high school!" Yoojin replies. Then gives you a questioning look. "Minah, it's been so long. We should totally catch up."

Minah nods enthusiastically, jumping up to give Yoojin a warm hug. "Totally!" Then she briefly glances at Jaehyun. "Well, I was supposed to have dinner with my little cousin over here but if you and your friend are free, then we could all go somewhere together?"

"How about we head over to that cute little diner that was our hangout spot for the longest time?" Yoojin suggests with a glance over at you and Jaehyun.

Minah squeals. "Let's do it; it'd be just like old times!"

"Actually, if you don't mind, I wanted to borrow Y/N for a bit," Jaehyun says. "We'll let you guys catch up in peace without a third and four wheel."

"Yoojin, we can always hang out another time if you want to go with Minah."

Your best friend looks at you suspiciously with her eyes narrowed. "Hmm, yeah that works. I'll call you later and you better give me all the details though."

"Okay, deal."

And with that, they both head for the door. Yoojin turns to give you one last wink before they're gone.  

"I guess it's just us." Jaehyun's eyes are sparkling when they meet yours and he gives a gentle smile before shyly holding you hand. "We're probably too late for my reservation, but there are some good food places not too far from here."

"So..."

"Have dinner with me?"

"Hmm, I thought you didn't have your car here."

He looks pained. "Y/N!"

"I'm just kidding! I'm actually starving so let's go."

***

It's hours of delicious food, good conversation, and shy glances later that he finally drops you off at home. When your phone buzzes this time, it's not from Yoojin—it's a text from an unknown number followed by an image attachment.

"I have a feeling this is very false for you :)" it reads. And your heart skips a beat when you see the image.

It's the "no one likes you when you're 23" meme.

On the day of your 23rd birthday, you definitely weren't expecting anyone to like you, just as you haven't for the past 22 years. But with the words in Jaehyun's text that you read and reread, the light fragrance of the rose now in your vase and the giant plushie on your bed, and your mind replaying his bright smile and dimples and the sparkle in his eyes, it seemed like today was different.

Maybe today, someone just might like you when you're 23.

[roguetelepaths]

we've all had that experience around fourth or fifth grade where you're autistic and a baby queer and also probably a baby pagan but you don't know anything about those last two things yet, and you have a friend who you larp with at recess and initially you're just best friends who do everything together but then she starts to be into boys and boy bands and she makes more and more excuses to go off with her new cooler friends and take teen magazine quizzes instead of spending recess with you

and you think to yourself "what the fuck? she's ten years old. none of us are teens yet."

and you're so distraught because you had a whole storyline planned together that is now on hold indefinitely, and eventually she turns against you because she grew up and you didn't, even though you did grow up, you advanced in years and knowledge just like everyone else, the fact that you have different interests doesn't nullify that fact

and okay you might be a little emotionally immature about the fact that she stopped wanting anything to do with you but come on, it's fifth grade, most adults don't know how to navigate someone just deciding to cut contact with you completely out of the blue for what amounts to no reason

so maybe you were a little toxic and a little mean and said things you'd regret when you became old enough to have a sense that your actions affect other people, but like, so did she, so ultimately any apology you can give won't really mean anything because she weaponized girl talk against you, she made it so that you would forever be known as the weird kid who larped as a cat furry who was also a cryptozoologist well past the age where you were supposed to stop doing that, so that you would forever be known as an undesirable and an outsider for the crime of having interests, and whatever you did in return, that is the kind of bullying that you can only accomplish with the aid of neurotypical social skills.

so yeah, hayley, I'm sorry for how I handled us growing apart but also go fuck yourself.

[yukipri]

Marco’s Bauble Part 8 - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Another update for Tumblr!

This work goes by On the Courtship of Monkey D. Luffy on AO3, and I’ll be updating over there tonight as well!

A quick question....do people like reading the updates here on Tumblr? Or now that it’s on AO3, would people prefer to read there? And if so, would you be okay waiting for new updates until AO3 catches up? I’m a little torn because I’m not sure if people are enjoying reading on here, and it’s quite a hassle to format for Tumblr, and it’s getting a bit difficult for me to juggle updating these stories on 3 separate platforms...

ANYWAY, in this update, Thatch has some Thoughts, and there is mention of Ace x Luffy.

Continues off of, and should be read after:

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 1

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 2

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 3

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 4

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 5

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 6

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 7

~~

What are her 3 sizes?

(For the wedding dress, of course.)

"The fuck! Like I'd tell you!" Thatch roars, startling the blue gull into momentarily leaping off the rail, before it circles back, landing again to peck at his  sleeve to express its displeasure. Thatch ignores it, because he's fuming.

So apparently all of his and Koala's secret debates over whether Marco intentionally proposed or not were for naught, because here's the fucking evidence. And it comes from Izo of all people, because Thatch would recognize that lopsided handwriting anywhere (the man insists that his handwriting is beautiful in his native language of Wano, but he never quite got used to writing any other way).

And well, if Izo, an unrelated third party but professional snooper knows, then Marco himself must know.

And apparently, they're already planning a wedding.

Thatch feels like an idiot. He'd been defending Marco against Koala, and the lil Revolutionary was a tough opponent, one he'd had to chase out of the kitchen with a ladle more than once when he was tired of her word games. Thatch had insisted, like a fool, that no Marco's not that kind of guy, he really isn't the type to play with people's emotions, he would never propose for a joke, nor would he do it seriously without good reason. It must all be an accident, a little misunderstanding, Marco was just ignorant like Thatch himself was!

Except, apparently he did know and it wasn't an accident, and now Thatch feels completely lost because he doesn't know what Marco's thinking at all. Marco, who's not just his his first friend on the Moby, but arguably his best friend; Marco, his brother over several decades; Marco, who Thatch thought he knew better than anyone, except perhaps Pops himself...

Thatch's also pissed, because if Marco wants to start drama after they all reunite and he's introduced to Luffy, that's one thing (not that that would be great either). But right now, they're still near the beginning of Paradise with almost half the circumference of the world to go until even the halfway point, and Marco is WAY on the other side of the Red Line. If this ship explodes in flames or whatever that batshit Revolutionary brother might do, Mister First Division Commander is completely unaffected, but there are plenty of innocents here (like hello! Thatch!) who would find that pretty devastating.

Also, Thatch was the one who passed on that gift to Luffy! Even if he didn't know what it meant at the time...doesn't that make Thatch complicit? And even if not, Marco's strongest connection here is clearly Thatch. If Marco's actions cause chaos, then the blame and responsibility to clean up the mess naturally falls upon Thatch. Which, he definitely did not sign up for.

Pops, Thatch thinks miserably, I thought I was supposed to show them they can depend on us Whitebeards, NOT that us Whitebeards will fuck shit up for them...

But more than anything, there's a shocking large part of Thatch that absolutely balks at just the idea of Luffy getting married. And it's shocking because Thatch shouldn't feel this upset.

Marco, for all the complaints Thatch wants to hurl at him at the moment, is still a really great guy. A guy who, in literally any other situation, Thatch would be the first in line to enthusiastically encourage, and also to congratulate.

And sure, Thatch knows he has a crush, and his little Seastar's carving out a larger home for herself in his heart by the day, but--Thatch admittedly has crushes a lot. Sure, this one feels different, but...Marco, to his knowledge, has never had a romantic crush. He only sometimes but very rarely even has a night out, and Thatch doesn't think he's ever held a relationship longer than three encounters. He's always so serious, so diligent, so sincerely and whole-heartedly dedicated to Pops and his family. He almost never does anything selfish for himself, and Thatch would know.

If, for whatever reason, Marco is genuinely serious about Luffy...then Thatch should, and would, step to the side, regardless of personal feelings. If this is the path Marco wants, then he deserves it, and Thatch will always be the first to say it, no matter how craptastic the circumstances. And Thatch knows that Marco would give his bride the world.

Without them even having met, Thatch doesn't doubt for a second that Marco would make Luffy happy, till the end of her days.

The fact that Thatch knows all this, yet still feels near unbearable reluctance...says more than he's willing to admit.

And so he decides to avoid thinking about the most obvious reason (his own feelings), and instead contemplates his second very compelling reason: Ace.

His littlest brother isn't so great at being honest with himself, and never has. But this, Thatch feels, isn't just a matter of denial.

The boy literally has no clue.

Oh sure, Ace knows he loves his little brother. He makes sure everyone else knows it too, both here on the Merry and back on the Moby once he opened up enough to talk to people. He's so damn proud of her, yet also concerned for her, while also trusting her with his life and more. It's clear to anyone who sees them together that he absolutely adores her.

But it's more than that, isn't it, Thatch thinks. It's in the little gestures, the way Ace raises his arm up without looking at her and she slides under it, also without needing to look at him. It's the casual way they lace their fingers together, like it's nothing, when they're snoozing out on the deck. It's the way sometimes they have unspoken conversations, just staring into each others eyes, before moving forward in synch to meet in the middle to bump their foreheads together in some secret mutual understanding.

It's the reason why Sanji, for all his extravagant flirting, knows when to shut up and return to being a normal human (and, Thatch grudgingly admits, this applies to himself too). It's why Zoro never lets his gaze linger more than two seconds longer than it needs to (but he'll always take those two seconds), why Nami always looks like she wants to sit closer but doesn't, why Koala hasn't said anything when she's probably usually a much more proactive flirter.

Everyone on their crew can see it, except the two in question.

Ace, Thatch thinks, heaving a huge sigh as he looks down at the crumpled note from Izo in his palm. Little brother, you are so fucking in love.

It might not necessarily be romantically. It's certainly not particularly sexually, if Ace's lack of reaction to Lu's aggressive physical smothering is any indication. It could very possibly be platonically.

But either way, there's no room for Sanji, nor Zoro, nor the girls, nor even Thatch himself...at least, until those two figure that out.

Until then, everyone aboard the Merry is here because they love and respect their captains. No one would dare encroach on something so special, yet so potentially immature, not yet ready to be dragged out to be recognized.

Thatch knows Ace has known Luffy for years, he practically raised her. But he was also away at sea for three years. Luffy was a child when he left; she's an adult now.

Thatch once asked him if she had changed at all since he last saw her (Ace most certainly had, according to Deuce). And Ace looked blank, then horribly confused, before saying No...but also, yeah, I guess. Thatch understands; Ace isn't used to not knowing something about Luffy. And something...something had changed.

That something might very well be the thing that needs to be figured out. And for that, Ace hasn't had much time yet, since reuniting with Luffy. Only as much time as the rest of them, in fact. And they deserve time to figure that out, and as the two captains' loving crew, the ASL pirates have an unsaid agreement to watch over them...at least until they have.

(After that, Thatch thinks grimly, it might be open game.)

But of course, there's also the question of Luffy herself, and as much as she's the heart of the ASL Pirates, she's also an enigma. Thatch, for all that he adores her and honestly wants more with her, genuinely has a hard time imagining her as anything but clueless as someone's romantic partner (he's carefully not thinking about anything sexual). It very well may be that the whole "figuring out" that she and Ace have to do...ends up being nothing. And that's fine as well.

Either way, as much as Thatch loves him, there's no way that any of them here on board the Merry will stand to let Marco shatter this delicate...whatever it is that's going on between their captains, that the rest of them are so patiently respecting. Even if it ends up continuing indefinitely.

As strained as it can feel at times, they're comfortable like this. There's the little spark of joy when Seastar gives him a little extra attention, a little burn when Sanji kisses her hand, but comfort in the stability that no one will go any further. If anything it's a nice little spice to their daily lives, just the right amount, and not enough ruin the dish so to speak. This is fine.

Except, that there's just one teeny little problem...

"What did the blue gull bring you today, Commander?"

Thatch doesn't jump, because he's not an amateur and did realize that the Revolutionary was approaching, but perhaps later than he should have. Damn the kid's good at hiding his presence, and Thatch wonders if he'd have noticed at all if Sabo was being serious.

"Just a stupid request from a stupid brother," Thatch says cheerfully as he turns around to face Sabo. The boy isn't even trying to hide his curiosity, his gaze pinned to Thatch's hand.

Thatch contemplates chucking the letter into the sea, but then he realizes he isn't sure Sabo wouldn't just dive after it, and as a devil fruit user, Thatch wouldn't be able to stop him from reading it underwater.

So he casually uncurls his fingers, watches Sabo visibly perk up--before Thatch opens a black hole in his palm, letting the crumpled paper get sucked into the void.

(Perhaps he should be using his power as more than a secure second dimension pocket expansion, but hey, so far it hasn't been so helpful in the kitchen.)

Sabo sags and sulks, rather cutely, Thatch thinks. "You coulda let me see it," he pouts, looking up at Thatch with an expression uncannily like Luffy's. Fuck.

"Collecting intel, Chief?" Thatch winks, expertly hiding his horror that for a moment, he'd actually been tempted. Little sneak.

"Perhaps." Something slightly manic enters his gaze, and alright, that's nothing like Seastar, not so cute after all...

"Nice try, but it's a personal family thing, can't really share," Thatch says, and it's not really a lie.

Sabo grunts, letting it go, before his gaze flicks to the gull, who still has a beakful of Thatch's sleeve. "It waiting for something?"

Thatch sighs. "Yeah, yeah, my response, which I should probably give..." Because, right, Thatch needs to send a message back to the Moby, even if no, he isn't going to answer Izo's idiotic question.

Which, is actually a fine excuse to extract himself from this situation.

"So, sorry, the response also is personal, hope you don't mind," Thatch nods, and Sabo easily opens the way for him--which, Thatch belatedly realizes, he'd actually been blocking. Scary, little Chief, scary...

"Sorry, didn't mean to pry." Sabo sounds genuinely apologetic, and tips his hat at Thatch as he passes by, and Thatch inwardly heaves a massive sigh of relief. "I'm working on it, but I know I can get a little...pushy, when it comes to things that involve my baby brother."

Thatch continues to walk away.

But inside...

Oh. Yikes, he thinks.

~~

Thatch is in the privacy of the currently empty men's sleeping room beneath the deck, and has just finished writing and giving instructions and bribes to the gull when the hatch creaks open.

"Thatch, we're in trouble," Koala announces as she stomps down the stairs, making her sneaky opening of the door rather pointless.

"I noticed," Thatch says dryly.

Koala pales. "He didn't break any of your toes, did he?!"

"What."

"Well, you're a cook, you make food Luffy likes with your hands," Koala shrugs. "Just wanted to make sure."

"What the fuck."

"I don't think he will! You're Luffy and Ace's crew, and you're a Whitebeard pirate, but..."

Thatch groans. "I already thought your Chief might be trouble, but holy shit I didn't know he was that batshit."

"He might not be!" Koala sounds defensive, but it's not particularly comforting. "He's usually reasonable, kind of, but since his memories came back..."

Thatch throws up his arms. "So, how'd he get it out of you?"

Koala flushes. "I didn't say anything!"

"Sure."

"It's not my fault that Sabo's a damn--!"

There's a loud knock, before the hatch flings open, and Ace pops his head in. "Hey Thatch! What's for snack--"

"NOT AGAIN!" Koala cries.

At the same time, Thatch shouts, "IN A SECOND!"

Either way, the hatch slams shut with a, "SORRY!"

Thatch and Koala stare at each other with their hearts beating uncomfortably rapidly.

They slowly heave a slow sigh of relief as the tension drains.

"I really need to apologize to Ace," Thatch mutters.

"I really need to work on my Observation Haki," Koala groans.

"HEY THATCH, I WANT A SNACK," Luffy shouts, and Thatch and Koala's heads whip around in horror, only to sag with relief at seeing that Luffy's not in the room, but only for a second--

--because after that second, a mermaid's crashing through the hatch, ripping it from its hinges as she slams, hatch and all, into Thatch's chest.

The room fills with dust and debris, and there are shouts outside.

Koala gingerly peers into the wreckage where Thatch is now buried in the wall, a terrified blue gull  perched on her shoulders peering alongside her, its claws digging through the fabric of her shirt.

"We're fine," Thatch coughs, peering down to make sure he'd successfully caught and shielded Luffy from damage, even as he peels himself from the wood. Luffy seems unharmed, though her eyes are wide; she clearly hadn't expected to do quite this much.

"...Armament?" Koala asks, noticing how the back of Thatch's hair is black from where it's fanned around him.

"Armament," Thatch agrees, keeping the entire back of his body coated until he's safely pulled himself and Luffy, still in his arms, away from any sharp wood.

"Sorry, Thatch," Luffy says, not particularly apologetic, if anything sort of curious. She peels herself back from his chest, scritching her cheek while looking down at what was once the hatch to the mens room that had shattered between them. She then reaches back to tug at Thatch's black locks, and oohs when they fade back to auburn.

"No worries, just make sure to make it up to Deuce and Usopp when they have to fix this," Thatch sighs, before grinning, letting his arms fall away from Luffy once he knows she has a secure grip on his shoulders. He then begins carding his fingers through her hair to make sure no splinters got in, and likewise dusting off the front of her vest, taking care not to let his touch linger. Luffy nods frantic agreement, more like rubs her head into his palm, and Thatch feels his heart skip a beat.

Koala sighs.

"Hey Thatch, what's this?"

Thatch blinks, then inwardly curses.

Luffy's holding Izo's crumpled piece of paper. His control of his power's still shoddy, and it must have accidentally spat it back out in the commotion.

Please, don't be able to read that, he prays. He luckily doesn't have much confidence in Luffy's reading abilities.

"It says 'what are her three sizes.' What are those?"

In the background, Koala slowly raises her fist.

~~

A few days later, Marco's scouting when a blue gull rapidly approaches him.

Delivery! it squawks. Delivery for you, Boss, and don't show Izo! Don't show Izo! Don't show Izo or the bread man will be mad!

Thank you, noted, friend, Marco responds, and catches the note from Thatch in mid air.

The gull trills acknowledgement, then wheels away to rejoin its brethren, while Marco changes course for the nearest island, a safe forest haven in Pops's territory, still a ways away from the Moby. It's uninhabited, save for the wildlife, and it would be good to land once before returning home anyway.

Marco lands lightly on the tallest and oldest tree on the island, from where he can survey the island of pure greenery, and the endless blue stretching beyond. The branch he's chosen looks deceptively thin, but he already knows it can support his human weight, which is why he shifts, passing the note from his claw to his hand before completing his transformation.

Marco frowns. The other Commanders (and to be honest, the entire crew) have been acting a bit strange recently, but for Thatch, who isn't even on board with them, to also be in on it...

True, this may or may not be related to that at all. But still.

Marco feels like he's missing something.

Marco, Thatch's message starts, and Marco already knows it's going to be serious because it didn't start with a jibe at his appearance.

Marco, I think I'm actually serious about her. Thoughts, brother?

Her, meaning the Ace's little brother, the mermaid girl.

If Marco remembers correctly, in Thatch's first note back to him, he'd written, She's stolen my heart, I think I want to marry her.

Marco had assumed Thatch was joking at the time, or just light-heartedly flirting, as he always did. Marco's used to hearing Thatch spew these kinds of words, and he'd taken it to mean that the girl's exceptionally Thatch's type, but hadn't thought further.

The words had made him remember a little trinket he'd had stored in a chest at the back of his closet, one he'd received from an elderly couple on Fishman Island around two decades ago...

But that's not important now, Marco thinks, focussing on Thatch's message.

In all his years of flings and casual relationships and jokingly asking ladies (and some gents) Won't you marry me...Thatch has not once asked for Marco's opinion. He's certainly had plenty of opinions himself about whether someone would be a potential good match for Marco, which Marco always ignored. But Thatch has never asked Marco about matches for himself.

Thatch really is serious.

Marco finds himself slowly smiling. "Finally, you sap," he murmurs, though no one hears him but the other birds in the trees around him.

He knows he ought to think more about what to say, but the answer is so obvious that Marco takes Thatch's note, and carefully tears the paper so that his brother's words aren't damaged. Gently tucking Thatch's note into his pocket, Marco pulls out a pen for the remaining small blank strip of paper.

Shortly afterwards, two birds depart from the island, in opposite directions: one, a phoenix, wings burning cyan against the clear skies, and the other, a blue gull headed to Paradise.

~~

~~

~~

Part 9, things start Moving as Sabo confronts Ace.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! And again, please do let me know if you actually like reading the story here on tumblr or not >.<;

As always, any comments are immensely appreciated and help motivate me to create more for this AU! ;A;

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[crossdressingdeath]

I know you'll probably disagree with me, but i rlly hate the Cloud recessess ending. It's just....

Those elders killed wwx. The Lans were 100% ready to murder both at Qiongqi path but also at the siege. They see him as the guy who corrupted their precious jade. They all preach righteousness, but the whole madam Lan thing is iffy at best and i do not believe that everyone there fully believes the rules. Hell, i have a special bone to pick with the " do not gossip" rule, seeing as gossip had been the main info route for women in patriarchal societies.

I just don't think that after wwx killed Lans in the siege they'd be all that willing to forgive him and take him in w open arms. The juniors and kids love him, yes, but people who saw the war....

Not to mention the whole " do not speak to WWX " rule. I've seen ppl say it's a joke but it's On The Wall. It's supposed to be followed. Even if it was intended as a joke - which i don't believe - it's very cruel for someone w rejection and trust issues.

I also hate it from a very personal perspective. I see Wwx as ND, and, as an ND myself, all those rules terrify me. From the no running and the proper posture ones, i can pretty well imagine they forbid stimming. The Lan curfew would fuck anyone with insomnia and there's smth deeply ucked up abt the " do not grieve in excess". I get that they're supossed to be a paragon of the best things at all time, and that LJY is very UnLan like, but for someone w anxiety who CAN'T follow those rules, it would be a nightmare.

...Some points:

First, the Lan elders did not kill WWX, nor did they attack him unfairly. They weren’t looking at him as the man who corrupted LWJ, either, or at least that wasn’t their primary concern (I will never forgive CQL for suggesting they were or it was); they were looking at him as a traitor to the sects who was raising an army to destroy them. Remember, that is the information the Lans had. Every source they had except for LWJ (who the people he would have gone to would have known was biased and who presumably everyone knew had recently been in close contact with WWX where he could have been manipulated or enchanted in some way), sources which included multiple sect leaders (one of whom was WWX’s brother) and LXC’s dear friend, swore up and down that WWX was a major threat, and let’s face it, WWX didn’t do much to dissuade people from thinking that! Acting like the Lans were maliciously targeting WWX is doing them something of a disservice, I’d say. They acted based on the knowledge they had available; note how the Lans are the first to offer WWX their help once they’re given reason to believe he may not be a villain! And even aside from that, saying they killed WWX (and not JGS and JGY’s manipulation or JC’s army) feels a bit like scapegoating, honestly. Of the four sects, the Lans are quite possibly the least responsible for WWX’s death. If it would hurt him to live with or around anyone who held any responsibility for his death his only option would be to live as a hermit, which would be far worse for him. And yeah, the Lans aren’t perfectly righteous all the time and some morally dubious things have been done by Lan sect members; they’re human, after all! Some of them will only be as moral as their sect leader demands they be! That doesn’t mean the sect as a whole is bad, especially with LXC, LQR and LWJ in charge. Certainly I’d say they’re still better than the other sects, all things considered. One ambiguous situation that may or may not have involved some members of the previous generation doing some fucked up shit doesn’t mean WWX would for sure be mistreated! 

As for gossip... there’s a difference between sharing information and gossiping. There’s no evidence that the Lan women are blocked from... y’know, freely communicating and sharing information between themselves. We have no reason to believe they are reliant on gossip. Also they presumably go out night hunting just like the men? Men and women are kept separate in the Cloud Recesses, but I get the sense that that’s more like... school stuff than anything else. The women aren’t exactly locked up, they can be cultivators! The society is still sexist, but that doesn’t mean they’re kept from going out and doing things. And I need to make this clear: there is a fair chance that the rule against gossip saved LWJ’s life, because it kept word of him defending WWX from the sects from spreading to people who would not be willing to let bygones be bygones. Gossip sucks! It hurts people! A lot of this story (and more to the point the suffering of the characters within the story) happens because of gossip! The Lans banning gossip is pretty clearly supposed to be a good thing, I’d say.

And yeah, maybe after WWX killed a bunch of their sect the Lans wouldn’t accept him with open arms as if nothing ever happened! And that’s fair! I can’t imagine where WWX could go where that wouldn’t be the case, unless he and LWJ chose to abandon the cultivation world forever. But you know what else the Lans won’t do? Try to execute him. Or from what we see in the extras even dwell on the past that much. No, the Lans aren’t going to immediately forgive WWX and bring him into the fold without a moment’s hesitation, but you know what? They accept his marriage to LWJ! They let him supervise the juniors on night hunts! They consider him part of their sect! Honestly, that is all WWX can really ask and far more than he’d get from any other sect. There are consequences for what WWX did, even though he wasn’t the villain or necessarily trying to hurt anyone, and frankly people not being entirely comfortable with his presence is very much reasonable.

The “do not speak to WWX” rule may not be a joke, but it’s also pretty clearly not a serious rule. No one takes it seriously. The juniors (the only people WWX really talks to anyway aside from LXC and LWJ) only pay it the minimum lip service of talking to him off the path. WWX himself sure as hell doesn’t care! He clearly finds it pretty damn funny. And I don’t think a guy who has never liked him once again proving he does not like him (in a way that is clearly temporary given how later LQR invites WWX to the Lan family banquet with... reasonable amounts of grace, thereby implicitly accepting him as LWJ’s husband and therefore his own family by marriage) counts as a rejection or a breach of WWX’s trust? Like, LQR has literally always hated WWX. He isn’t preventing WWX and LWJ from spending time together or shutting WWX out of the Cloud Recesses or even making a concentrated effort to keep people from talking to him; he’s venting his frustrations, but if he really intended to block WWX from taking part in life in the Cloud Recesses he would’ve done a hell of a lot more than just make a rule who no one WWX likes follows anyway. It’s a temper tantrum, that’s all, and clearly that’s what WWX takes it as. I mean, if nothing else you can’t ban people from talking to the sect heir’s spouse indefinitely. That’s just not sustainable.

As for the rules... banning people from running in the Cloud Recesses and demanding proper posture during lessons doesn’t suggest to me that they wouldn’t allow stimming? ‘No running’ at least is a common rule... most places. It’s distracting, and can be dangerous. And the rule about sitting properly doesn’t mean “Don’t move at all ever”; it means... well, “sit properly”. Don’t slouch or sprawl across the floor. I see no reason why that wouldn’t preclude means of stimming that wouldn’t be disruptive (and given this is in a classroom environment “not disruptive” is kind of important). I mean, those rules certainly don’t suggest that they’re any worse than other sects, and given this is the sect that has magic music for calming people’s minds if any sect would give allowances for neurodivergence it would be this one. Also I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a song to put people to sleep, or medication that can help; this is a world with magic, after all, and if there’s a song that can put spirits to rest there are probably songs for human medicine and care. And of course there’s an element of conflicting needs; maybe the rules would screw you over, but frankly firmly enforced rules keeping people from running around or sprawling out of their seats would’ve been a godsend for me in school, given how much trouble I had focusing with people making noise around me. At the end of the day, is it guaranteed that the Lans would make allowances for people with needs that conflict with the Lan rules? No. But I’d argue it’s more likely that they would than any other sect. This is ahistorical fantasy ancient China, too; you can only expect so much in the mental health department. Still, a sect that literally invented magic music for calming the mind actually seems like the best choice for people with anxiety and such. There’s a reason why there are multiple fics that essentially set the Lans up as mental health experts in the setting!

Basically, a lot of your arguments seem to be issues that WWX would have in any sect. Unless he wanted to give up on the support of a sect altogether, they’re all things that he would have to work through or come to terms with. And of course... the most important point is that WWX is happy in the Lan sect. The extras make that clear. He has a home, duties that he enjoys performing, the love of his family and the support of his sect. He’s happy. I just... I do not understand why people keep feeling the need to try to make it angsty when the novel makes it clear that he genuinely enjoys his life in Gusu, and more than that that if he ever decided he didn’t enjoy it he could leave at any time. You have to remember that: if WWX wanted to leave... he would. He and LWJ would just go, and only come back occasionally so that LWJ could visit his home. Hell, LWJ would insist on leaving for WWX’s sake. So like... the Lan sect wouldn’t suit everyone, but WWX is quite content there and doesn’t want to leave. He’s happy and free to come and go as he wishes; there really isn’t anything to be concerned about there.

[samanthaa-leanne]

25 Dates of Christmas: Day Twenty

If there was one thing you were good at it was avoiding meeting your significant other's families. You had only dated a handful of people, but never once had you met their family. You weren’t the best with other people. Plain and simply, you were weird and goofy. Always saying or doing the wrong thing. You couldn’t count how many times you were made fun of or looked at wrong because of the way you laughed, your mouth hanging open as you practically yelled a laugh. So you did the only thing you thought you could do, you hid your true self from everyone. It worked for the most part, but when you started dating Kirishima everything was different. Being with him was different. It was like coming up for fresh air after holding your breath for an indefinite amount of time. 

You would never forget the first time you met Kirishima, the memory holding a special place in your heart. 

                                                          -

It was your first day at UA high and to say you were nervous was an understatement. You had just moved back home from a year abroad in the United States training under their number one pro hero. It truly was an incredible opportunity. You had learned and experienced so much that when the day for you to become a pro came you knew you would be ready. 

You hadn’t met any of your classmates from class 1A considering you left the day before your first year started. However you did your research before class started and at least learned all their names and their quirks. UA was beyond thrilled for you to experience the opportunity, so they held your place in class until you returned. Your nerves only intensified as you realized your classmates had an entire year to get to know each other and make lasting friendships. 

You quieted your nerves and walked into the classroom before you could change your mind. Class was already in session when you walked in since you had to register with principal Nezu beforehand, which meant all eyes were on you as you walked up to Mr. Aizawa and handed him the note Nezu gave you. 

“Class please welcome YLN YN. They were supposed to be with us last year, but got an amazing opportunity to study abroad under the number one hero in the States.” Aizawa said keeping your introduction short and sweet, which you were incredibly thankful for.

You waved a quick hello to your classmates before sitting down in an empty seat in the back, noticing the many eyes that followed your every move. You kept your attention on the floor until you made it to your seat and then you turned your attention to whatever subject was being taught, keeping your eyes on the front until it was time for lunch. 

You were the first person out the door, finding a quiet place in the corner of the cafeteria to sit and eat your lunch alone in peace. You weren’t one for small talk and you knew your classmates were going to want to hear all about your time abroad. Sure you could tell them all about what you experienced, but you weren’t one to brag or gloat and this was exactly the type of thing to do that with. Putting in your headphones you closed your eyes and shut out the noise as you waited impatiently for lunch to end.

You felt the presence in front of you before you felt the tap on your shoulder. Without taking out your headphones you looked up and were met with five sets of eyes. You slowly took your headphones out and waited for one of them to speak. After a few seconds of them continuously staring at you, you decided to talk first instead.

“Is there something I can help you guys with?” You asked as you looked between the five of them. 

“What’s so special about you?” Bakugou asked as he looked you up and down obviously trying to size you up, scoffing at you quickly coming to the conclusion that you weren’t special at all. “Doesn’t look like much from where I’m standing.”

You let out a chuckle stopping his friends from reprimanding him. “Why don’t you come closer and find out for yourself, blondie.” You threatened as you looked him up and down quickly shooting him a challenging smile.

“Why you..” He started but was stopped when his friends put their hand on his shoulder and pulled him in the opposite direction. You let out a genuine laugh as you watched him glare at you, trying to bust free from his friends grip to come at you. 

“You have a beautiful laugh.” Kirishima complimented as he looked down at you with a soft smile. His words caused your head to shoot up and your eyes locked with his red ones. 

“Oh uhh thank you Kirishima.” You replied shyly as you tried to stop your face from getting all red. 

“You know who I am?” He asked his voice coated in surprise while he maintained eye contact with you. 

“Let’s just say I did my research before my first day.” You answered honestly as the bell rang indicating that lunch was over. You slowly put your headphones in your pocket hoping Kirishima was already gone, so you could walk back alone. When you looked up, there he was waiting for you with a bright smile on his face. You smiled back up at him and walked in silence back to the classroom. 

You weren’t even in the door before Bakugou was inches from your face threatening to blast you straight to hell. Once again you found yourself not being able to hold back your laughter. 

“Whatever you say, blondie.” You said quickly patting him on the head before sidestepping him and sitting back down at your seat before he even knew what happened. The whole class laughed alongside you as Kirishima tried to hold Bakugou back. All the while Bakugou glared at you as if he could make your head explode by just thinking about it. Not being able to help yourself you send a wink his way before focusing your attention to the front of the class. 

“Settle down class. Bakugou, Kirishima take your seats.” Midnight said, entering the classroom and beginning her lesson immediately. 

Your classes went by quickly and soon it was time for actual training. You were excited to spar against your classmates and show them exactly what you could do, especially that hot headed blond Bakugou. You felt Bakugou’s eyes on you the whole time Aizawa addressed the class. 

“Since it’s YLN’s first day how about you show us what you can do. Would anyone like to volunteer to..” Aizawa started but was interrupted as Bakugou came to stand in front of him. “Are you okay with that YLN?” He asked looking between the two of you curiously. 

“That’s fine with me Mr. Aizawa. You might want to have Recovery Girl on standby though.” You said with a shrug as you stretched your muscles out, getting your body ready and mind ready for your quirk. The class erupted into laughter once again as you focused your attention on Bakugou. To say he was pissed was an understatement. 

“You’ll regret that in a minute.” He threatened as you guys waited for the okay from Aizawa. 

As soon as you got the go ahead Bakugou was on the offense, blasting you as many times as he could. You had no choice but to go on the defensive, quickly blocking his attacks as you memorized his movements, waiting for an opening. Nobody in your class knew what your quirk was and it was time to show them just what you could do. As your body instinctively dodged his attacks your mind analyzed his quirk finding his weakness and showing you exactly what you needed to do to beat him. 

When an opening presented itself you made your move. You slammed your hand on the ground covering the arena with ice making the heat in the room dissipate. Since Bakugou’s quirk is contingent on his sweat you made it harder for him to do so. As the room grew colder and colder you used the opportunity to change your quirk and blast him with water, which in turn with the chilling weather made the blond shiver instead of sweat. 

If there was one thing you had learned from watching Bakugou in televised events it was that he never gave up. You waited for his counter attack and quickly dodged placing your hand on his shoulder to encase him in ice, ending your sparring match and ensuring your win. 

Your classmates clapped at the display of your quirk, their faces shocked at your display as you walked over to Bakugou giving him a smile as he looked at you through the ice. Placing your hand above the ice you activated your quirk once again, melting the block in seconds as you waited for the onslaught you knew you were about to receive. 

“So what exactly is your quirk?” Kaminari asked once you made your way back over to your classmates. 

“I have the ability to find the weakness to anybody's quirk and then use that weakness against them. I guess you could say I can use every quirk known to man.” You answered with a small laugh as you finished your explanation. 

“So you’re invincible?” A few classmates asked at once causing your laugh to grow. 

“Not at all. There are limits to my quirk just like everyone else. So far I can only use it on two people at once, and even that is pushing it. Training in the States definitely improved what I can do, but I’m still a long way from where I want to be.” You babbled on as your eyes locked with Kirishima. He was the only one looking at you like you were just another one of his classmates and not some invincible future hero. You smiled up at him before addressing another question, the smile he gave back to you causing butterflies to erupt in your stomach.

                                                               -

After your first day at UA you had grown impossibly close to Kirishima and with time the rest of the Bakusquad as well. You were probably one of the only people Bakugou respected, even though he would rather die than admit that to anyone. However you knew it by the not so subtle way he backhandedly complimented you as you trained and got stronger together. You found yourself working out with Kirishima as much as you could, finding comfort in his presence. 

Towards the end of your second year you had fallen completely in love with the red haired teen, confessing your feelings as soon as you realized them. After a long day of training you decided now was the time to confess, only for him to beat you to it. 

“Hey YN, can I ask you something?” Kirishima asked once the others cleared out of the training room. 

“Yeah of course. What’s up?” You answered as you made eye contact with him, the look he was giving you making your stomach erupt with butterflies. 

“Will you go on a date with me?” He asked confidently as he gave you his signature bright smile. 

“There’s nothing I’d love more.” You answered quickly, not caring about how fast you said yes. 

And the rest was history. Your first date had gone perfectly and you guys had been together ever since. You had just celebrated your three year anniversary and we’re currently trying to find a way out of spending the holiday with his parents. 

You had gotten out of it the last few years with school or work, but this year you and Eijiro had both gotten the day off together. You were honest with him about your feelings and he reassured you endlessly that his parents were going to love you. In fact they already did. He talked about you constantly. His love for you showing every time he looked at you or talked about you. 

Now here you were, standing outside his family home trying to talk yourself into going in. A hand wove itself through yours as you looked up and saw Eijiro smiling down at you with the smile that you had come to love more than anything. With a single smile your nerves were eased, for the most part. You took a deep breath before walking in. 

The minute you were inside you were pulled into a hug by a woman you only assumed would be his mother. 

“Mom, we haven’t even gotten in the door all the way.” Eijiro said with a laugh as he took his coat off, putting it on the rack next to the door. 

“Eijiro, hush. I finally get to meet the girl my little man fell in love with.” She stepped back a bit to get a better look at you as she gave you a loving smile. “It’s so nice to finally meet you dear.” Her smile reminds you so much of the man standing next to you that you felt your body instantly relax.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” You smile up at her as you're pulled into another hug by the woman, this time you wrap your arms around her and hug her back. Just then Eijiro’s dad walked in and laughed at the site before him. 

“How about we let the poor girl take her coat off and get comfortable before we bombard her with more hugs.” 

Eijiro’s mom reluctantly let go of her hold on you as she walked over to give her husband a sweet kiss before turning back to the two of you and motioning for you to join them in the living room. 

“Promise to love me no matter what happens tonight?” Eijiro asked as he laced his hand back in yours. 

You let out a small laugh and nodded as he pressed a quick kiss to your cheek, before leading you into the living room. 

The walls were filled with pictures of Eijiro. Ranging from baby pictures to a picture of the two of you. You could only smile as you looked at the picture. You were looking at the camera with a goofy grin as he looked at you with so much love in his eyes it made you choke up. 

“That’s one of my favorite pictures of us.” He whispered in your ear as he placed a sweet kiss to your lips. 

“Well don’t hide her from us, Eijiro.” His dad yelled from the other room causing you both to laugh. You let him pull you into the living room as you took in your surroundings. His childhood home reminding you a lot of your own. You could feel the love in the air as you took a seat and got ready to tell his parents all about yourself. 

“So tell us about yourself.” His mom said, giving you a sweet smile. So you did. You told her everything important there was to know about you. Once you began talking you couldn’t stop. The atmosphere in the Kirishima home made you feel incredibly comfortable. Your fears diminished and soon you were laughing openly with them as they told you stories from Eijiro’s childhood. 

You couldn’t believe you could fall more in love with him, but if there was anything you learned from tonight, it was anything was possible.

Masterlist

Taglist: @moonlightaangel​ @dabilove27​ @cathy8taffy​ 22 spots open

Beta reader: @class1-a

[noonachronicles]

flour·ish

Lee Minhyuk X Reader

Word count: 11.9k

Warnings: Swearing, Smut, Mostly Emotional Infidelity (+ a kiss) . 

Genre: Smut Fluff Angsty-ish

A/N: Smutty/Domestic Minhyuk requested by Anon. This was gonna just be a drabble... that worked out well for me.

flour·ish

/ˈfləriSH/

verb

grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.

“Last box!” Minhyuk called triumphantly through the empty apartment, dropping the final box on the counter. “Babe?”

A wave of confusion moved over him as he realized you weren’t there. Forehead creased in concentration he tried to remember if he’d seen you in the bedroom. It was literally a one bedroom, the apartment wasn’t even that big. It should have been impossible for you to have moved passed him without him noticing...at least he was pretty sure he wasn’t that unobservant. He looked back through the apartment once more, flabbergasted by his ability to lose you in an empty apartment. Obviously it was some sort of an untapped talent. He was just about to pull out his phone to call you, see if you’d maybe gone down to the moving van, when he realized where you were.

“Hey!” He popped his head out of the window that led to the tiny three by five fire escape space that the apartment complex had the audacity to call a balcony in their advertisements. “What are you doing out here?”

“Just saying goodbye.” You smiled down at him as he climbed through the window to join you in the tight space. “Plus we almost forgot Cole!”

Minhyuk let out a dramatic gasp as he wrapped his arms around you. “Not Cole!”

“Don’t make fun of me, Minnie.” You said leaning your head back against his shoulder. “Cole was the first gift you ever gave me.”

He hummed against the top of your head and looked down at the vibrant, potted coleus. “I guess it was, wasn’t it?”

“Mmhm. And this is where I fell in love with you.”

“Technically, wasn’t it the roof?” he joked.

“The roof. The balcony. The elevator. The mailboxes. Miserable as it is, I fell in love with you all over this place.”

“Lucky for me.” He whispered softly against your ear. You bit your lip as he slid his hand from your hip over your stomach.

“And what is happening here…” you asked, his fingers undoing the button on your shorts.

“Just…” he chuckled, “I was thinking maybe one more time? Hmm? For old times sake.”

“Why don’t we wait until we get home?” You giggled at the way his fingers tickled between your thighs. “Christen the new bedroom…”

“Why not both?” He asked while his hand disappeared completely down the front of your shorts.

You let out the tiniest whimper, your hand wrapped around the hand he still kept on your hip. “I love you so much, Minhyuk.”

“I love you too.” He said with a kiss to your neck. “It’s why I married you.”

-

When you first met Minhyuk you were already in a relationship. You were engaged, actually. You had been. To the same man. For three years. You loved Matt, your fiancé, but sometimes it felt like an obligation. Like you had to or you were supposed to. You’d known each other since grade school and started dating in high school. Marriage was the next natural step. Everyone you knew believed the two of you were the real deal. The perfect love story. Childhood friends turned high school sweethearts. You often heard you were meant for each other. That you were destined for forever, but you weren’t sure anymore. You hadn’t been for a while by the time you met Minhyuk. When you finally did meet him, you knew for certain.

It had been easy to overlook the imperfections in your relationship originally because, despite the amount of years you had under your belt, you didn’t actually spend that much time together. In high school Matt played sports while you had spent your time in libraries and coffee shops composing submissions for writing competitions. The two of you had even gone to different colleges. Though they were in the same city, with coursework and jobs to work around, you might as well have been in a long distance relationship. You didn’t even live together, he’d lived on campus and you’d spent a couple years in an apartment with your best friend. After graduation when he finally asked you to move in with him, you still barely saw one another.  

Right out of the gate you got something of a dream job as a columnist for one of the few successful remaining print magazines. One you’d been lucky enough to intern for during college. Though recently they had been making the switch to mostly online and pushing writers to work from home so they could downsize the office. You didn’t mind working from home to downsize the office so long as they didn’t try to downsize you. It was an easy job and paid well enough that you lived comfortably and still had the time to work on your own personal writing endeavors.

Matt had been a consultant for tech companies which meant he was always traveling. Even with you working from home the two of you saw each other maybe one week out of every month. Without having the human interaction of the work office, you were often lonely when he wasn’t around. In that way, distance definitely made the heart grow fonder. You learned the hard way that that kind of fondness was feeble when he’d been fired from his position. The pair of you went from one week a month together to every second of every day together and it was more trying that you’d have liked to admit.

Suddenly you were the sole breadwinner and Matt took the opportunity to, as he put it, find his true calling. However a month of soul searching turned into six and six months quickly became a year. The wedding was postponed indefinitely when the two of you blew through every pennies worth of savings including the wedding fund and the nest egg. Before you knew it you were moving from the four bedroom house you’d been renting to a one bedroom apartment with ‘free utilities’.

That was about the time Minhyuk had rooted into your life.

Tensions in your relationship were unbearably high. Constantly on edge with stress, Matt and you fought often and about almost everything. Especially being in such a small space. It was like everything he did wrong was magnified and it made your skin crawl. Being with him had become more of a burden than a pleasure but somehow you’d been together for so long that simply splitting up just never crossed your mind as a possibility. It was like you’d forgotten that it’s what some couples did.

One afternoon, a couple weeks after you moved into the new place, the two of you had gone to the grocery store. You’d just wanted to get a few things to last until the end of week when you got paid but Matt had other plans. Which lead to bickering, which lead to arguing, which lead to fighting the entire walk home from the bodega down the street.

“I just thought it might be nice to have a romantic night in. Since you refuse to let us go out anymore…” he was saying while you waited for the world's slowest elevator.

You’d been searching the bottom of your purse for your keys when it dinged upon opening and you followed him in. When the door closed in front of you, you slammed the button for your floor. “We can’t go out because we can’t afford it! And a romantic night in isn’t an eighty dollar bottle of tequila and a box of cigars out of some guy's coat on the sidewalk!”

“You said you were going to stop bringing money up when we argued.”

“And you said you were going to get a job.” You bit back, “People say things all the time, Matt.”

“I’m trying! It’s not easy right now!”

“It would be easier if you didn’t sleep until two in the afternoon everyday.” You muttered. With your keys in hand you crossed your arms over your chest and stared at the elevator door.

“Why are you so mad? You’re always out on the balcony. We never talk. I just wanted one, nice night with you. One where we don’t fight. Maybe you get a little buzzed and loosen up a little and for once stop acting like you're miserable and we have a good time. I can’t even remember the last time we had sex. You never want to spend time together-“

“BECAUSE!” You snapped, unable to even look at him, you kept your eyes on the dull silver of the elevator door. “because Matt, our apartment is a fucking shoebox with a hundred other little boxes inside of it because you refuse to help me unpack or clean or literally do anything helpful. Not to mention I work from home and ever since you lost your job you’re always around. We spend all of our time together. It’s making me insane. Every little thing you do makes me want to tear out my hair. You leave the seat up on the toilet, you can’t rinse a dirty dish off to save your fucking life. You never leave the house and yet every single day there is a new pile of dirty clothes where it doesn’t belong! I don’t mind...I really don’t, I don’t mind being the breadwinner, but I just need space sometimes. Or help. Something. I love you but it’s so much. I’m so stressed all the time and it would be nice if you could even attempt to shoulder some of the burden. Or at least acknowledge what I do for you. And don’t try and act like you want to spend time together when all you want is an hour long blow job while you play Call of Duty and a five minute fuck before you fall asleep and I have to finish myself off in the bathroom.”

“Do you have a fiancé?” Matt asked.

Confused, you turned to look at him and quickly realized he wasn’t talking to you. Noticing for the first time that your incredibly quiet neighbor was tucked awkwardly in the corner of the elevator and had heard everything. He must have walked in with you when you were searching your bag. Your face flushed red in embarrassment for having gone off in front of him. Suddenly you were going back over your rant to try and remember what you said. Though based entirely off of what you ended with, you knew you wanted to curl up and die no matter what.

“No, I’m not with anyone right now.” He answered.

“Good. Good for you, man.” Matt sighed. “Don’t do it. Save yourself the stress. It’s just nagging all the time.”

You looked over at your fiancé in disbelief and scoffed. “Nice, Matt. That’s really nice.”

Finally the elevator ride from hell ended and the door opened, allowing you to storm out and down the hall in frustration. When you turned to look at Matt, about to complain about his actions in the elevator, you realized the stranger had gotten out too and was now opening the door to the apartment next to you. Before pushing his way inside of his door he looked over at you with a small smile filled with pity. You gulped, face still burning red in combination of anger and embarrassment. What a lovely way to meet your new neighbor.

-

Weeks had passed and you hadn’t seen your neighbor since the incredibly uncomfortable elevator ride. At first you were grateful for it, and honestly you’d been kind of avoiding him anyway, too ashamed of airing out your dirty laundry like that. Part of you had hoped maybe the longer you went without seeing him the more likely it was he’d forget what happened all together. You knew you weren’t that lucky, but it didn’t hurt to have a positive outlook.

It was already late afternoon one day when you’d finished up your work work and snuck out onto the tiny fire escape ‘balcony’ for your few hours of alone time and to work on the novel you’d been writing. It was a tiny little space but you found if you sat with your knees up near your chest you could place your laptop on top of them like a desk. And you could tuck your mug of tea underneath your tented legs like a little nook. Some days you wouldn’t waste a second, typing away until your fingertips tingled with numbness. Writing as much as you could as fast as you could before the sun set on the city and the screen was too harsh for your eyes.

Other days, like this particular day, you’d sit there curled up on the balcony and just look out over the neighborhood for hours. You'd watch the cars make their way down the street. The people walking down on the sidewalks. Families that left their curtains open in the expensive condos across the street with their massive living rooms the size of your entire apartment. You’d listen to the dogs barking nearby that would create a domino effect of barking dogs all around the block. You could hear couples arguing. Children screaming with laughter as they chased each other around the block on their bikes and scooters.The chaos helped to calm you down.

You’d been sitting there for quite awhile, looking out over the neighborhood, before you noticed it.

Each apartment had its tiny balcony that was attached to a fire escape that lined the length of the building, top to bottom. While you used the space as your personal escape from a floundering relationship, most people just put bikes and things on it as extra storage space. Yours was attached to the same fire escape platform as your neighbors. And sitting there on the platform, for what had to have been the entire time you were sitting there, was a small terra-cotta pot that you’d never seen before. Flowing over its sides was a plant with vibrant green and magenta leaves. When you looked closer you noticed a little white envelope underneath the pot. Pulling yourself to your feet you moved over to the platform and tugged the envelope out from under the plant.

The front of the envelope was simply labeled 8C, which was your apartment number. The note inside of it was just as short and sweet in a nicely scripted handwriting.

8C,

You’re out here a lot on your own. I thought maybe you could use a friend.

8D

Ps. It’s a coleus, keep it in the shade and just water once a day. You should be good. :)

After that you started to wish you would bump into 8D, so you might have the chance to thank him properly for the gift and see if there was anything you could get for him in return. He didn’t have to be so kind but you appreciated that he was. Not even Matt would have considered being so thoughtful.

Cole, as you’d named him, had been wonderfully distracting. You spent almost the entire next day researching how to care properly for your new friend. He made your alone time on the balcony a little bit less lonely as well. Usually you would come out onto the balcony and ask him how his day was, though it was never very interesting, and then afterwards you would vent about how your morning went. Though sometimes you’d also just sit there in silence rubbing the soft, veiny leaves between your finger tips. Regardless of what you did it always felt like you could feel the stress of the day roll off your shoulders.

A week or two had passed and you still hadn’t seen your neighbor. Feeling horrible that you still hadn’t even been able to say thank you for what he’d done for you, you decided to leave him a note. Too nervous about leaving it out on his balcony you had taken it down to the mailboxes one day as you were checking your own and slid it into his box.

8D

I was hoping to say thank you. Why are you so impossible to find?

8C

The next afternoon, you went out to find a piece of paper tucked into Cole’s leaves.

8C

Can you keep a secret?

8D

In an instant you had ducked back inside the apartment. Matt, busy screaming into his headset while he played video games didn’t even notice your reentry. On your work desk you found a blank, bright pink post-it and scribbled on it with a thick black sharpie. Just one word.

Yes!

Crawling back out onto the balcony you shook with nerves. You stepped onto the fire escape platform and then down onto your neighbors balcony space. It looked dark and empty through the window. You didn’t intend to snoop, that’s not really who you were, but there you were with this perfect opportunity.

Peering in through the glass you tried to see what you could learn about your neighbor. The living area and kitchen, all you could really see, were both clean and tidy. A set of four coffee mugs were hanging on hooks, and it looked like the other dinnerware sets were in fours as well. There was nothing to indicate that a second person lived there and you had never seen anyone else go into the apartment, so you assumed he lived alone. Though you were unsure why you found yourself so concerned about it. House plants could be found on most of the counter and table spaces. As well as a couple that hung from hooks on the ceiling.

For a moment you wondered if he knew a plant would be nice for you because he knew what it was like to be lonely too. Other than plants the apartment was filled with art. In one corner, the one you imagined got the most sunlight in the morning, there were two tarp covered easels. There was also what looked to you like a drawing desk, you were sure it was similar to the ones they’d used to have at the magazine office.

You wished you could tell more about him. You’d liked to have maybe gotten an idea for a nice gift that wasn’t a plant, seeing as he already had plenty of those. Before you could do much more snooping you noticed his front door was opening, light from the hallway seeping in through the opening. Quickly and quietly as you could you stuck the note to the window and snuck back over to your balcony and then back inside your apartment for the evening.

The entire rest of the night you shook with nerves of anticipation. Mostly you wondered what the secret would be. Then you wondered if he’d write it in a note or if you’d actually get the chance to see him face to face and speak to him. A little reckless with your thoughts, you almost burnt dinner trying to think about what his voice had sounded like in the elevator. You couldn’t remember.

You also weren’t sure why you felt so nervous to possibly speak to him. It felt, in your gut, like the night before a first date. Like how you’d feel getting ready for dinner with someone you just met. Before bed you even found yourself in the closet, trying to find a cute outfit, but not anything too obviously flirty. Seeing as you were still engaged.

The next day you couldn’t even wait until you were done with work. As soon as you woke up you showered and dressed, and then went immediately out to the balcony. When you did there was a piece of paper taped down, flapping on the platform in the light breeze. When you got closer you saw it read, in bold red painted strokes, START.

Without a second thought you climbed up onto the platform where you found another paper on the stairs with a big red arrow pointing up. You started to move up the fire escape, following a slew of red arrows until you were climbing onto the roof itself.

The view took your breath away. If you thought that the number of plants in his apartment was excessive, this was so much more. You’d found an entire roof top garden. Potted plants were all over the place. All different kinds, all different colors. There was one of those stand alone hammocks and an old rusted patio table with a couple of mismatched chairs. You explored by yourself for a while, taking a self tour of the rooftop and examining the different plants it had to offer.

Minhyuk had seen you plenty of times. He noticed you from the very first day you’d moved in. There was just something about you. He knew you had a boyfriend, or as he’d learned in the elevator, a fiancé. He still couldn’t shake the strong desire to know you. Even just as a friend. It took him ages to build up the nerve to even leave you a gift, too worried you might think his hobby was stupid.

Eyes closed, a smile across your lips, loose hairs blowing gently in the wind, morning sunshine kissing your skin as you lifted your nose ever so just to smell the blooming, peach begonias in their hanging basket. That was Minhyuk’s first vision of you that morning when he’d reached the rooftop. It felt like it was the first time he was really seeing you. And if you asked him, and you would ask him a hundred times in your life together, when he fell in love with you...he would say it was that exact moment every time.

In the same way the garden had with you, you had taken his breath away. Literally, as he’d stepped onto the roof he’d forgotten to breathe as he stood there staring. So when his body forced him to breathe in, finally, he choked on the air and dropped all of his things onto the rooftop. That was what your first real vision of him was. Cheeks flush, hair every which way, eyes panicked, still choking on air, while scurrying to pick up paint brushes and pens that were scattered around on the ground at his feet in every direction.

After the tiniest laugh you hurried over to help him pick up a few lone brushes just out of his reach. He cleared his throat several times before actually reaching out to take the brushes you offered him.

“Thanks.” He said quite shyly.

You smiled kindly before looking over your shoulder at the small garden. “Are these all yours?”

He nodded as he headed over to the table to set his things down. “Yeah. The door to the roof has been jammed shut for decades, probably… and no one ever thinks to take the fire escape all the way up. Well kids sometimes but they’re not so bad. Mostly they just want to smoke pot. If you leave them alone they leave you alone and they’re respectful of the plants. So it’s kind of like having my own extra space. Which is nice because the apartments are so tiny.”

“They are, right?” You laughed, “I’m not just being whiny.”

“No.” He shook his head, “Not at all.”

“Good.”

It was cute how nervous he seemed. A good distraction from the butterflies that were waking up in your stomach as you really looked at him and realized how handsome he was. His jaw was surprisingly sharp, especially in contrast to how soft and kind his eyes were. His bottom lip was plump and looked almost like it was set in a permanent, adorable pout. His cheekbones were so beautifully sculpted it was hard not to reach out and touch them. It had been literally two whole minutes and already you wondered what it might be like to kiss him.

“Well you’re wel-“

“Thank you for-“

Both of you laughed nervously as you spoke together and he scrunched his nose, “You go ahead.”

“Oh, just wanted to thank you for Cole.”

“Cole?” He asked.

“The um…” you flushed in embarrassment, “The coleus you left me?”

Minhyuk smiled so hard he blushed almost instantly, “You named him?”

“Well yeah. He’s my friend so...friends need names, right?” You asked. He nodded and you held out your hand, “My name is y/n. In case you were interested in a friend too.”

“Minhyuk.” He said taking your hand. You didn’t even realize the way your eyebrows raised as you noticed how large his hand was while he wrapped his fingers around yours. “I was just going to say you’re welcome to come up whenever you want.”

You laughed, “You might regret that when I’m in your personal space all the time.”

“I promise, I won’t.” He grinned, finally letting your hand go. “Do you like coffee?”

“Do humans need oxygen to live?”

With another laugh he tugged the messenger bag he’d been using off his shoulder and pulled out a thermos. “Uh...there’s already cream and sugar. I hope that’s okay.”

“You’re so sweet.” You didn’t mean to blurt out the comment, but you did. Minhyuk flushed just as bad as you did. “I just mean...you’re already sharing your space with me, and now your coffee? I...I don’t mind if there’s already cream and sugar, I’m just grateful you’re being so kind.”

With a small smile he handed you the cup. “What are friends for?”

-

After that morning the two of you spent nearly every day up on the roof together, weather permitting. You’d take up your laptop for whatever articles you were working on or to work on your novel. Minhyuk would bring up his messenger bag full of art supplies and paint or draw. You learned he was a freelance illustrator for a few publishing companies. He mostly drew art for children’s books but that really just paid the bills enough for him to be able to make whatever art he really wanted.

He’d spend the afternoons, once you were done with work, teaching you about all of the types of plants he had. He showed you how to take care of each one and their individual needs. And eventually you started to help him take care of them. You also named each and everyone of them and he made sure to learn every name. Every morning he brought coffee in his thermos and something light to eat for breakfast. You went down every afternoon to the apartment and would bring back lunch for the two of you. You were up on the roof so often you hadn’t even realized when Matt finally got a job because you were never in the apartment during the day enough to realize he wasn’t there.

It was strange to you that with every single day that passed, not once did you ever feel tired of being around Minhyuk. If anything you found yourself wanting to be with him even more. You knew you were falling in love with him and you knew it was wrong. By then it was just too late. You didn’t really care that it was wrong because spending time with Minhyuk was like breathing the freshest air. And how were you supposed to deny yourself oxygen?

Eight months had passed by and they had been, by far, the happiest you’d found yourself in what felt like literal years. Your relationship with Minhyuk was constantly growing beyond the rooftop garden. Every weekend, rain or shine, he’d take you somewhere new so that you weren’t always in the apartment. A nursery outside of the city to browse plants or a museum or gallery to browse art. One thing you’d learned about him was that despite being an amazing plant father, he was terrible at taking care of himself. Every night you’d make extra for dinner and bring him a plate. Otherwise, you knew, he would get too preoccupied and forget to eat all together. On nights when Matt was at work or out of town you’d invite him for a properly done meal.  

Nearing the ninth month of your friendship came what would be one of the worst weeks of all of them. It was the one when you’d gotten the worst flu of your life. A few hours into the first morning that you were bedridden and didn’t make it up to the roof Minhyuk had texted you to make sure you were okay. After you told him you were sick he promised to take care of Cole for you and told you to get better quickly. He left you soup and a thermos with hot tea on the balcony every day. He would send you texts all day long so that you always had something to wake up to and never felt too lonely. There would be pictures of his goofy face or a pouty face next to one of the plants. The captions would read things like, “Kevin misses you, but not as much as me”, “Blossom is sort of a gossipy mean girl when you’re not around”. He even sent a picture of a blank canvas and message that just said, “I’m useless without my muse”, which just left you feeling more feverish than before.

On your first day back to the roof you hugged him so tight you were afraid you might break his back but you couldn’t help yourself. You’d also brought him fresh baked cookies for being such an amazing friend. And then you stared at him for several hours and got nearly no work done at all. He didn’t even say anything about it, though you were sure he knew based solely on the way his lip would curl into a smirk every once in a while. He just looked so handsome as he worked. Wire rimmed glasses propped on his nose as he worked on his latest sketch. His hair was so fluffy and soft, his skin perfect and lips pouty. You’d just missed him so much. Pictures that he’d sent didn’t do him half as much justice as he deserved.

For your one year friendiversary you set up fairy lights all over the rooftop garden. It was a two part gift. The first part was so that he could come up at night whenever he wanted to enjoy his plants, which he never really had before. The second was so that you could set up a moonlit picnic dinner. It was perfect timing really, as Matt was out of town for the week with work. It gave you ample time to prepare the rooftop and you didn’t even have to make up an excuse for being out so late the night of the dinner. Minhyuk was absolutely glowing with happiness beneath the lights that night as the two of you sat down on the blanket you’d put out.

“Okay, one last gift.” you grinned after dinner, “Something you can actually unwrap.”

“Another?” he asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. His hand resting on top of his too full stomach. “Do you do this much for all of your friends for all of your friendiversaries?”

“Just you.” you grabbed the long narrow package from the bottom of the picnic basket.

“Well, I don’t deserve it.” he pushed himself up so he was sitting across from you and you placed the gift in his lap. “I still owe you something nice after the Christmas present you got me.”

With a laugh you shook your head, “You don’t owe me anything, Minnie.”

He cleared his throat and looked down at the gift. You weren’t the only person that used a nickname for him, but you were the only one who could make him blush with one. Tearing the shimmery silver wrapping paper from the gift he looked down at a beautiful mahogany brush box engraved with the same whale design that he had tattooed on his thigh.

“Ah, Y/n���” he gulped, feeling his eyes start to water. “It’s too much.”

“You didn’t even open it,” you tittered.

“There’s something inside?” he asked, genuinely shocked.

“Duh!”

“Oh…” he opened the lid of the box and sat speechless. “These are Kolinsky’s.”

“Obviously, I don’t know a ton about paint brushes. I just know you have that one you really love and it said Kolinsky on it. Did I do good?”

He was still pretty unsure of how to respond, “These are worth hundreds of dollars.”

“Well...I wasn’t going to tell you how much they were.” you shrugged, “I just know your big goal this year was to be ready for a gallery showing. If you’re going to be a big fancy artist, you need big fancy brushes. Right? I’m sure you’ll get me something nice after you sell your first thousand dollar pa-”

The words froze in your throat when he leaned forward and pulled you into a hug. He didn’t say anything at first, just wrapped you tightly in his arms. Then quietly against your hair he muttered a soft, “Thank you for believing in me.”

“Oh, Minnie…” You raised your arms around him in return as you felt his arms trembling around you. “Of course.”

Your hand moved gently along the length of his back for a few minutes and he continued to hold you. When he sat back down on the blanket he swiped at his face and then turned behind him to where he’d been keeping his gift for you.

“I have to get you something else now... obviously, but for now.” He handed you the large, but lightweight, gift. “Happy anniversary...friendiversary.”

“You don’t have to get me anything else.” You assured him, “Whatever this is, I can already tell you, is more than enough.”

It was a little unsurprising to you when you pulled away the wrapping paper to reveal the back of a canvas. The note on the back, in his beautiful handwriting, read, ‘For the only muse I’ve ever known. I hope we can continue to grow together.’ You didn’t know when you flipped it over that the image was of the moment he’d fallen in love with you. At first you’d thought it was an angel in a field of peach begonias. It didn’t register that it was you, hand delicately cupping the flowers with the sun dancing across your face and gently, wind strewn hair. You cried and you didn’t even try to hide it.  

“She’s beautiful.” you whispered, unable to tear your eyes away.

“She?” he grinned as he watched you, “It’s you.”

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise and you choked out, “Me?”

“I painted it when you were sick.” He said nervously watching you look it over.

“I don’t think I've ever looked this ethereal a day in my life. You’re sure you hadn’t already forgotten what I looked like at that point?” You joked but your eyes were still glistening with fresh tears.

“I could never forget.”

When you looked back up from the painting you realized how close he actually was. He realized it too. You watched as he licked his lips, and leaned forward towards your mouth.

“Minhyuk…” you said his name cautiously, though you didn’t say no or move away.

“Please?” He begged, his face looked so pained, “I want just once to know what it would feel like if you were mine.”

“Me too.” You whispered.

You put the painting down beside you and looked back up at him expectantly. Now with your permission he placed his hand on your soft cheek and leaned forward until his lips were against yours. It didn’t take but a moment for you to lean into him, moving your hand to his jaw. It was perfect. It was everything a kiss should be, everything you always imagined it might be with him. You didn’t even consider trying to stop him as he eased you down onto your back. Cradling your head against his arm his tongue brushed against your lip and you opened your mouth to him. Your fingers snuck up into his hair as you moaned into the kiss. Your whole body flooded with warmth.

You’d probably let it go on much longer than you should have but at the same time it was also over before you felt it should have been. He didn’t pull all the way away, in fact he pulled you closer. Wrapped his arms around you fully. As he gently kissed your cheek, your temple, your forehead, your eyes welled with tears. This felt like a goodbye and you knew it had to be. How could you ever be alone with him again after this.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” He said, still cradling your head, “You were worth it. Every second.”

“If I…” you whimpered as tears fell from your eyes. “If he…”

“It’s okay.” He assured you, brushing the hair from your face. “Maybe I get you in another lifetime. I’ll just have to wait.”

The pair of you sat up and Minhyuk held you close, letting you cry against his shoulder for a while. You didn’t want to let go, you didn’t want to let him go. You knew once you did you’d have to leave. And you knew once you left you couldn’t see him again. Your friendship just couldn’t be the same, not with the way you already missed the feeling of his kiss on your lips. Minhyuk knew just as well that this would have to be it, because there was no way he’d be able to just be your friend anymore. Not when he knew, for even for just a few minutes, what it was like to have you as more. He held onto you as long as he could. Until the warmth of your bodies together was no longer enough to keep you from shivering from the cold. The two of you worked together in silence to clean up the picnic mess and he helped you down the fire escape.

When you reached your balcony you dropped the basket and your gift next to the window and looked back over at him, “Minnie?”

“Yeah?” he looked so miserable when he looked back at you.

You threw your arms around his shoulders one last time with all the strength you could. You wanted to squeeze him full of enough love that he wouldn’t forget you, even if you were just a thin wall away. Pressing your nose into his neck you inhaled him deeply. His smell was pure warmth, he smelled the way it felt to sit in a patch of sun to warm up on a chilly autumn day. It reminded you of fresh air and clean clothes. Minhyuk was everything good.

“Take care of our friends.” you whispered, “Maybe someday it won’t be so hard to be around each other and we can go back to being us again.”

“Maybe.” he mumbled, but both of you knew he was lying. He didn’t want to go back to what you were.

When you leaned back, you knew it was a bad idea, but you kissed his cheek. He looked down at you for just a second and you latched at the mouth again. You kissed him hard and his fingers dug so deep into your hips that it hurt but you’d been digging your own nails into his shoulders so hard you were sure it felt the same for him. It wasn’t until you heard the sound of the apartment above yours open their window that you pulled away. Both of you stood still for a minute as you heard the tell tale sounds of someone lighting a cigarette, then you pulled away for real.

“Goodnight, Minnie.” you said quietly.

He nodded and sighed, “Goodnight.”

-

After that night when Matt came home from his work trip was when the sadness and the longing took a backseat to overwhelming guilt. It had been such a long time since you’d really spent time together that his every move no longer hit each of your nerves. That, in turn, allowed you to remember the things you liked about him and the reasons you loved him. And in a vicious cycle made you feel heavy with guilt all over.

Even if it wasn’t for the kiss you knew you’d gone too far with Minhyuk. You had completely connected yourself with someone else on a mental and emotional level that you might as well have been sleeping together anyway. You thought about how you would have felt if it was the other way around and he was the one that had connected with someone new, fallen in love with someone else. For a long while you debated whether or not to tell him what had happened but ultimately decided against it. You weren’t sure how Matt would react, but you didn’t want Minhyuk to be in any trouble. He hadn’t really done anything wrong. You’d been the one in a relationship. You were the one that should have been able to restrain yourself.

Weeks passed and you felt everything going back to normal. During the day you worked on articles, sometimes spending hours in coffee shops just to get away. Evenings you spent out on the balcony with Cole. Nights you would lay across the couch with your head on Matts’ lap while he played some videogame or another. You hardly ever saw Minhyuk.

It wasn’t clear to you yet if it was a blessing from god or cruel a twist of fate that every time you had seen him you’d been with Matt. Mostly it was coming into the building or at the mailbox which wasn’t always terrible. It was elevator rides that took forever that hurt the worst. Usually it was you standing in between the two of them. Matt making excruciating small talk, asking him if he was seeing anyone or how work was going. Having to catch his scent for just a moment and not being able to dive into him. You nearly choked one night. You had almost made it safely inside the apartment when Matt mentioned to Minhyuk that he was gone a lot of the time. He said the two of you should hang out. It would be nice for you to have a friend. He even asked him, half jokingly, to keep an eye on you for him.  

Albeit lackluster, it seemed like your life was back on its previous track. Things between you and Matt were decent, work was going well, and you hadn’t cried in the shower over Minhyuk in nearly a week. It was at about that time that you’d come back into the apartment one evening to find Matt standing over the bed. On top of the duvet was the painting Minhyuk had done of you and the small box that held every note Minhyuk had ever written you. From the one he left on Cole to the ones he’d sneak into your mailbox or hide in your closed laptop, or tape to the window outside your balcony. You didn’t think any of them were anything bad, regardless you had kept all of it hidden away in the back of the closet like a dirty secret.

“What are you doing?” you asked quietly from the doorway.

“I was getting out my luggage for my trip tomorrow.” he said, staring down at the letter in his hands, his jaw was clenched tight. “I found your box.”

“Okay.” you gulped.

“Did you fuck him?”

You shook your head, “No. It wasn’t like that.”

“It wasn’t?” he gave a sarcastic chortle and tossed the letter in his hands to the bed. “You won’t look at him. You never fucking talk to him. When you see him at the mailbox or heading into the elevator, you always make up some bullshit excuse to avoid being around him with me.”

“That doesn’t mean we had sex.” you sighed.

“Well what were you trying to hide then? Why hide these?” he asked and looked over at the painting. “Do you love him? Because I’d bet everything that he’s in love with you.”

It felt like you were burning up, you didn’t even know what to say. Standing there you’d come to the easy conclusion that everything that happened after the night you kissed Minhyuk was a lie. There wasn’t a part of you that actually wanted to be with Matt anymore. Nothing about what you felt for him was even at a comparable level to how much you loved Minhyuk. You’d tried to lie to yourself again like you had before, like you had been for years. You’d tried to convince yourself that Matt was your destiny and something you just had to surrender yourself to, but you couldn’t anymore. Not now that you knew what was out there. You missed Minhyuk so much that most days your whole body ached for him.  

“Yes.” you admitted quietly. “Yes, I’m in love with him.”

“More than you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you still want to marry me?” he asked.

You shook your head, you didn’t even have tears to cry in this moment, “No, I don’t.”

For a while Matt went off on you and you let him. He yelled for some time, and then he cried, and then he yelled some more. He convinced himself that the two of you had been sleeping together every time he was away. He called you every name in the book and demanded that you give him his ring back, which you did without argument. At one point he attempted to kick you out of the apartment, even going so far as throwing some of your things into boxes. Then in the end he decided he was the one that was going to leave and started to pack his things.

Once things seemed settled, within a blink, you were knocking rapidly on the door of the apartment 8D. You could have waited until morning. Maybe that would have given you time to come up with something spectacular to say. Some beautiful confession of your love. You could meet him in the garden, in the soft morning light. Surrounded by all of the plants like a secret, romantic garden. Instead you had waited about five of the most awkward moments of your life watching Matt angrily stuff his clothes into suitcases. Then you couldn’t wait a single second more. You missed Minhyuk’s sweet face. His warm energy. You just missed him.

When the door opened to reveal Minhyuk you knew you didn’t have any poetic confessions of love on the tip of your tongue. So before he could even get out his first syllable you threw your arms around him and planted your lips against his in a kiss. He stiffened for a moment in surprise before easing into it. His long arms slipping around your waist and pulling you in tight.

Before things could get too heated, which you were more than ready for, he pulled away. “What...what are you doing?”

“I love you.” you felt you had your priorities straight, then followed with, “I left Matt. He’s packing right now, but I couldn’t wait another second, Minhyuk. I had to tell you. I had to see you. I love you. I want to be with you. I missed you so much. You were right here and I couldn’t stop missing you.”

“You love me?” He asked with a bright smile lighting up his face.

“Yeah...a lot.” A wave of relief crashed over you and you felt the tension leave your body. “Is that okay?”

“Wow. Oh man.” He let out a heavy breath and pulled you in tighter than before. “I love you too.”

“Is it okay…Can I stay with you for a couple hours?” You asked, “Just until he’s packed and gone. And then I’ll leave if you want and we can figure everything out tomorrow.”

“Are you kidding?” He laughed. “Of course you can stay! Stay with me forever! Never leave my side.”  

“Minhyuk…”

Both of you were surprised by the female voice that came from inside his apartment. You looked up to see a beautiful, although confused, young woman standing in his living room.

“Are you…” you looked up at Minhyuk, entirely amused, “On a date?”

“Ah, yes. I am.” He flushed, “...I forgot.”

You covered your mouth as you snorted out a laugh. You should have felt worse for the poor girl, but something about this moment was just too funny.

“You must be Y/n.” She said with a small smile as she stepped towards the two of you.

“Um… yes.” Now confused yourself, you still reached out to accept her outstretched hand. “I’m so sorry, have we met?”

With a laugh she shook her head, “No, no! I’m Jamie. I’ve just…I was looking at Mins paintings and I recognized you. I have you hanging in my bedroom.”

“Huh?”

“That’s how I met Jamie.” Minhyuk let out a breath of a laugh, “She bought one of my paintings...of you.”

“Honestly, you were just so ethereal, I had to have it. I can see why you’re his favorite subject.” She blushed. “I can also see that I should leave.”

Still a little confused, you watched as Jamie grabbed her bag from the kitchen counter.

“Sorry.” Minhyuk offered awkwardly as she made her way to the door.

“It’s okay. I totally get it.” She smiled over at you and placed a gentle hand on your forearm. “It was such a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too.” You grinned.

She thanked Minhyuk for a lovely dinner and then the two of you watched as she made her way to the elevator.

“Was she flirting with you?” He asked quietly.

“I don’t know…” you couldn’t help but giggle as he pulled you inside the apartment and shut the door with his foot, “I think so.”

“I don’t blame her.” His lips pressed hard against your cheek, “You want a drink?”

“Sure. Whatever you’re having is fine.”

You missed his arms around you as soon as they slipped from your hips. And you watched him walk over to the tiny kitchen. As he was busy pouring drinks you moved over to his art desk. You realized you’d never actually been inside of his apartment before. You’d only ever seen it from the balcony that one time. Even when you’d had dinners together it was him coming over to yours.

Your heart started to feel overwhelming in your chest as you stood there looking. It was a lot of you to take in but at the same time it didn’t feel creepy or uncomfortable. There were little sketches of you on top of the desk. Smaller canvases lined along the wall of paintings that could have been any woman, but you knew it was you. And on the easel there was a work in progress, an oil painting that took your breath away.

“I’m not a creep.” Minhyuk said as he walked up beside you and handed you a glass. “I swear I’m not. I’m just totally in love with you.”

Your lip trembled slightly as you looked up at him. Your eyes were glossy and threatening real tears. Minhyuk pouted as he looked down at you.

“Are you okay?” He asked with genuine concern, “Did I do something wrong?”

“Is that really how you see me?” You asked in a whisper.

He looked over at the painting in consideration. “I haven’t gotten it perfectly yet, I’m still working on it. But yeah, that’s pretty close to how I see you.”

You looked around for a surface to put your drink and when you couldn’t find one fast enough you handed your glass back to him.

“Don’t go.” He begged, as he took your glass.

You didn’t. You had never intended to leave, you just needed a place to put your glass so you could reach up and hold his face in your hands. Then you pulled his lips to yours. When you finally pulled back from the kiss his eyes were closed, and his mouth was open just slightly like they were waiting for another kiss. He looked as completely blissed out as you felt.

He didn’t open his eyes until you’d taken back your glass. You laughed at the disappointment on his face as he realized that was it and then turned back to his desk. There was a cork board on the wall behind the desk that you hadn’t noticed before. Pinned to it, it had every note you’d left him. Even the bright pink post-it that just said Yes!

“I have all the notes you left me too.” You said with a blush.

“I hoped you might have.”

Turning back to him with a grin, you placed your drink on the top of the stool beside the desk. “Can I make a pretty bold assumption?”

“Of course.” He shrugged.

Biting your lip you tugged at the bottom hem of your shirt until you’d pulled it over your head. A warmth moved through you as he stood there silently, wink-blinking as he looked over your body.

“I assume you want to sleep with me.”

He opened his mouth to say something but thinking better of it he bent down and placed the glass with his drink in it on the floor before throwing himself at you. Wrapped up in his arms you laughed, and he walked you backwards until the two of you were crashing down on the couch.

“Best day.” He muttered against your neck with a kiss as his hands spread out over your skin. Your fingers dug into his hair with the slightest tug.

“Absolutely.”

-

After that it was the two of you. For a while you kept your apartment. Partly in case it didn’t work out, though neither of you ever expected it wouldn’t. Mostly it was so that you didn’t feel like you were incapable of being on your own. Having been with Matt since high school you’d moved from your parents home to a brief stint with a friend and then into a place with him. You didn’t want to be the type of girl that just jumped from one guy to the next. You wanted a chance to prove your independence. Eventually, with the amount of time you spent together, it became clear that your apartment had become a very pricey walk-in closet and it just wasn’t worth pretending anymore. You knew where you wanted to be.

Within three months of dating you were engaged, again. Minhyuk had asked you the night of his very first gallery opening and it was more than a pleasure for you to be able to say yes. Both of you had intended on a short engagement, but you had to postpone when the book you’d completed got picked up by a publisher. It had been Minhyuk’s birthday surprise to you. He’d sent in an early draft to a publisher friend of his and they had loved it. Besides that one week you’d been sick with the flu and unable to see him, the worst time was a two month book tour. You probably wouldn’t have ever needed to go on one if it wasn’t for your coworker writing an article for the magazine about it that had gone viral. After a couple hundred thousand preorders, the publishing company decided that it would be an amazing idea. The whole thing was a daze and while some parts were fun and you were grateful for every second it was hard to be away from Minhyuk for too long. When he surprised you in one of the cities around week four you cried for five whole minutes. Just holding him and sobbing. A little from pure exhaustion from the traveling but mostly because you had just missed him that much.    

When you returned home you were pretty quick to start planning the wedding, because, now under contract, you were also responsible for planning and executing your next novel. Luckily, you still had a lot of your dream details left over from when you’d been planning with Matt. There were just a few things here and there you wanted to personalize. The next six months went by in a flurry. Working on the second book, wedding, honeymoon, working on the book on the honeymoon, getting reprimanded by a pouty Minhyuk for working on the book during the honeymoon, making it up to him all over the suite at the resort, coming home to finish the second book, Minhyuk’s second gallery opening, and the second book book tour.

Then it felt like for a minute you could breathe again. And you spent most of your time inhaling the fresh air that was Minhyuk while spending your days back up on the roof together. It wasn’t until he’d left one night to pick up the take-out for dinner and come home with a puppy, forgetting the dinner all together, that the two of you decided it was time to move out of the tiny one bedroom you were sharing. Though somehow with him it had never seemed that small, it just felt right.

“I'm not sure I like this.” You frowned as you looked over the room that was meant to be your  writing office. “This place is too big. And…your studio is all the way outside?”

“You’re being pretty whiny for someone who said they had to have this house or they’d just die.” Minhyuk laughed as he came into the room behind you, “Where do you want Cole?”

You flailed your arm around dramatically, “Pfff! By the window, whatever. I don’t care.”

With another huff of a laugh he went over to the window and put your plant on the sill. He looked out at view for a second and then turned to you, holding out his hand, “Come here, big baby.”

You managed to somehow pout even harder as you grabbed his hand. He just smiled and pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and adjusting your gaze with his free hand so that you were looking out at the backyard. Daisy, your ever growing, six month old golden retriever, was rolling around in the dewey grass quite happily.

“Look,” he pointed across the way, to the backyard studio that he’d claimed for his art studio. “If you put your desk right here, you can see me whenever you want.”

“I don’t know,” you sighed leaning against his chest. “It’s so far. Aren’t you going to miss me?”

“Every second I’m away, Beautiful.” he patted your back, “It’ll be hard travelling so far away for work every day, but I don’t think we need paint fumes in the house. Plus, they say distance makes the heart grow fonder.”

“Just because you got famous doesn’t mean you have to start upping your paint game. Using different mediums? Spray paint? Massive art pieces? Unnecessary. The Mona Lisa is basically a notebook doodle. Just sell notebook doodles.” you grinned up at him and he kissed the tip of your nose. “And anyway, I think we’re a little too fond of each other. In fact, I think I’m so fond of you that you shouldn’t leave my side for months, that way I get tired of you.”

“I don’t think that’s going to work the way you think it is.” he laughed. “Did you already forget how small our apartment was? We were basically conjoined.”

“It wasn’t small, it was cozy.” you argued, while he pulled you from the office down the hall. He was perfectly fine arguing with you all night, he only thought some unpacking should be done while you did so. “The only reason I even suggested we move was for Daisy. She’s already so big, it wouldn’t have been fair to keep her there.”

“Baby,” he chuckled, disappearing for a second as he carried a box that read kitchen into the kitchen before reappearing without it, “You hated that apartment. You once referred to it as a shoebox. Which really was generous, those things were more like matchboxes. Which is probably why you’re freaking out and acting like a regular sized house is Buckingham Palace.”

You opened a box labeled living room and sighed, “It’s different with you, Minnie. I want to be around you. I like being around you. No place with you is too small because ‘with you’ is my favorite place in the world, it's why I promised my whole life to it.”

Opening another living room box you tossed a few throw pillows across the large open space towards the couch. It seemed hard to unpack when you didn’t even have enough furniture in the house to be sure where things were going to go. The bed and dresser had been moved upstairs to the bedroom, your desk was in your office and there were a few bookshelves randomly placed around the living room with the one couch and its one matching chair, but that was it. That had been all you could fit in the apartment. The house was so bare with the exception of about a thousand potted plants that had previously occupied the apartment rooftop, and you’d yet to decide what to do with them. After a minute of quiet passed your heart raced at the thought that Minhyuk had left the room without even saying anything.

“Min! Oh-” you gasped realizing he was still behind you, leaning against the bare wall, just watching. “What?”

With a grin he stepped towards you, his hand lifted to the back of your neck, and he pulled your mouth to his. You moaned instantly at the taste of him on your tongue. When he finally let off enough you were panting for breath and your lips felt swollen and sore.

Pressing his forehead to yours he whispered a sweet, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” you giggled lightly as his hands moved over you with an unintentional tickle.

Locking you into another kiss his hands gripped your hips and pushed them until you were flush against the wall. While he groaned into the kiss you felt his hands grow frantic at your hips, needing your shorts off of your body immediately. His hot breath passed over your face in a sigh as when his fingers were finally able to reach between your thighs.

“Ah, fuck, baby.” he sucked the skin of your neck into his mouth with a pinch. “You’re warm...so wet already.”

“It’s because you’re such a good kisser.” you grinned and caught his bottom lip between your teeth.  

Keeping you pressed against the wall with the kiss he moved his long, narrow fingers over your wet slit until you were mewling and then sunk them into you up to the knuckle. Your mouth fell open in a gasp as you clenched around his fingers desperately. He grinned, quite pleased with himself as your head fell back against the wall.

“Min...Minnie…” you gasped different variations of his name over and over as his hand pumped in and out of you at an excruciating pace. “Minhyuk!”

“Not yet,” he whispered against your neck, slowing his hand exponentially before he knelt down in front of you.

You whined and squirmed at the loss of his fingers as he used both hands to drag your panties down to your ankles to meet back up with your shorts. Then he was lifting one of your legs over his shoulder, watching your arousal drip down your thigh before he called you his beautiful girl which only served to turn you on further. You whined again and finally his lips wrapped around your clit, he was just as brilliant at kissing your pussy as he was your mouth. Your palms slammed against the wall, desperate for something to hold onto as his fingers slipped back inside of you, joining his mouth for the attack.

“I...you...yes! Yes..can’t!” you cried out, your voice echoing through the emptiness of your new home. Minhyuk laughed with you still firmly between his lips at your incoherent rambling. Then you finally offered up something he could understand, “Cumming… fucking cumming.”

Though, with his fingers still curled inside of you, massaging your g spot, he didn’t need you to tell him. He could feel the telltale clench around his fingers before you drenched his hand and chin with your orgasm. He kept going, as you came down from your high until you whined in complaint of the overstimulation. You sunk down easily into his lap and kissed yourself clean off of his mouth.  

“Couch?” you asked.

“Couch.” he agreed and the two of you got to your feet.

In front of the old faithful couch you undressed your husband slowly. Shirt first so you could leave kisses all over his shoulders and chest as you sunk down to your knees before him. Taking in the view of his soft stomach you grinned and leaned in to leave several intentional kisses.

Running his hand through your hair he laughed at the feel. “What are you smiling about?”

Leaning back on your heel you unbuttoned his pants, dragging them down his thighs along with his underwear. “Lee Minhyuk, you are so sexy. That’s what I’m smiling about. Sit”

He did as he was told and sat down on the couch in front of you. You pushed open his knees and scooched between them. Mesmerized he watched as you took his hardened length into your fist. A thin stream of spit waterfalled from your lips to his tip and he whimpered at the sight. You felt his dick twitch in your hand and grinned once more as you spread the saliva over his length with your hand. Leaning forward you held his dick up, tickling the base with several flicks of your tongue before dragging it up along the thick vein that led to his tip. You watched with a sense of pride as his thighs gave a tremble at the feeling. You took his length into your mouth and released a moan around him. His palm landed on top of your head gently, fingers digging into your hair. He didn’t move to pressure you deeper, just massaged the back of your head with his large hand. You took all of him down your throat on your own, letting out little gags and making sure it sounded nice and wet. Sloppy the way he liked it.

“Stop! Stop!” he gasped after a few minutes, just as you felt his thigh muscles tightening underneath your hands.

Pulling yourself off of him you looked up with watery eyes and a swollen mouth. “What? Did I do it wrong? Did you hate it?”

With a laugh he shook his head, “Shut up, silly girl. Get up here.”

Using the couch cushions you pushed yourself to your feet. Minhyuk had his hands on your hips quickly, pulling you forward so that you were straddling his lap. After a complaint about your shirt still being on he helped pull it over your head and tugged you forward for a kiss. Your hands cupped just below his jaw as you leaned into the kiss. One of his hands slipped between your thighs to make sure you were still ready for him, but you already knew you were. His other hand moved behind you at the same time to make quick work of your bra clasp, the straps falling off your shoulders to catch in the crook of your elbows. He’d grabbed himself between your legs and dragged the head of his cock against your pussy causing you to jolt forward in surprise.

“Oh fuck, Min.” you gasped as you sunk down onto him. “You hit so deep.”

He smiled and helped pull your bra from your arms before tossing it to the side. “You take me so good, baby.”

The loud, wet slap of skin against skin bounced off the walls as you bucked your hips into his. His mouth fell open, light huffs of air flying from his mouth as he jerked his hips up to join yours in their mission for satisfaction. In a handful of minutes you were so close, just a screaming whiny mess as you bounced yourself on top of his lap. He’d had both of his hands on your hips guiding you forward but he dropped one to thumb quick circles against your clit.  

“I need you to cum.” he hissed between his teeth, sweat dripped down his neck while he worked hard for you. “God...baby, please cum.”

His desperate plea took you over until you were practically vibrating, pulsing around him. Your head dropped to his shoulder and you licked the salty sweat off the length of his neck. Arms tightening around your body his hips jolted upwards roughly a few more times until he stalled inside of you and you could the warm gush against your walls. Your whole body slumped languidly against his chest as you caught your breath. His hands moved over your skin, your back, your hips, your thighs. He was so gentle that you sighed in total satisfaction, you nearly fell asleep, indulging in the comforting scent of him. After a few minutes he let out a hefty groan and flipped you so you were on your back.

“Why?” you whined as he pulled away from your naked body and took his warmth with him.

He didn’t answer right away, but tugged his underwear up his legs. Standing up straight with a stretch he looked around the room and hurried over to another pile of boxes. He tore through a couple without taking anything out, in the last one he dragged out a blanket and brought it over to you. Covering you up he leaned back down quickly and left a kiss on your forehead.

“Someone has to let the dog in.” he explained finally, and took off to the kitchen to open the back door.

In no mood to do much of anything anymore you snuggled into the comfort of the couch until you heard the pitter patter of Daisy’s paws against the hardwood. Her heavy panting let you know she had probably been totally fine running around outside. You gave her scratches behind her ears as she licked at your face and neck until you were too giggly. Then she sprinted excitedly back to Minhyuk, wherever he was, and back to you and then back to him until he was back in the room with you. With a giant, satisfied smile he walked back over to the couch and wiggled his body between you and the couch. Kissing the top of your messy hair he offered you half of his peanut butter sandwich, which you accepted gratefully.

“We should probably have real food.” he hummed in agreement through a mouthful of sandwich. “But like...food from somewhere that delivers.”

“Kay,” he agreed as he tucked comfortably into the warmth of you and kissed your shoulder as you gave Daisy a piece of peanut butter and bread crust. After a minute he said, “I think you’re right.”

“About food? Because yeah, I’m pretty hungry now.”

“No.” he laughed slipping an arm around you, “I think the studio is too far from your office.”

With a blush of amusement on your cheek you pulled his arm tighter around you, “We’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, we’ll figure it out.” he agreed.