#so i'm going to have to stay up late and cram for the two finals

[thisonehere]

Meanwhile...

A Match Made in Hell

Part 3 of (???)

1st part | 2nd part | Next part

A/n: This is so late, I'm so sorry for the wait. A lot of things have been going on lately.

I know it was originally going to be 4 parts but I had a few more ideas so I've been considering making it slightly longer.

Tags: @maulsgf @sweetpanda18 @thickemadame @posterbunny @strawbisane @fandom-garbage @sleepyfxce @livingdeadgirly

C/w:

"You sure there's nothing else I can get you?" The waitress says with a smile. You just look up to the kind face and try your best to smile back. "Oh, no, thank you, though." It was evening time at Madame Bo's but you've been occupying this booth for hours now, not sure where else to go. The light of the setting glowed throughout the place and radiated a nice warmth, causing you to feel at ease, causing you to doze off once or twice. "Alright, but Madame Bo insists that you have this until you're ready." They reach up to their tray and set a plate of bread sticks and rolls. This helps you keep your smile longer, helping it feel less strained.

You give a thankfully nod and reach out for one of the bread sticks. The waitress left, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You stared almost blankly at the bread sticks, feeling it's warm and crunchy texture in your hand. You didn't really feel hungry right now, in general, you didn't eat that much anymore. If it wasn't for Bo, you probably would've starved yourself.

It was so strange. Back at the Artika it was you constantly running around people making sure they were fed. Tomas, Kuai, and Cyrax were always so busy that you often had to remind them to eat. You giggle to yourself, oh, how the tables have turned.

"Well, are you going to finish that?" You're brought back to the present. You look up, Kung Lao and you feel your body relax. "Lao, you're early." You get up to hug him. "I know, try not to get used to it." He mused as he smiled to you. He said as he sat himself on the other side of the booth. He immediately attacked the appetizers, shoving bread sticks and rolls hungry into his mouth. You tried not to laugh at the sight of it, "Where's Raiden?" At this, Lao pointed outside the booth, you lean to the side to see and there is Raiden, or you think it's Raiden. You see him struggling towards you, trying to balance two giant trays of food and drinks. He slowly approached, wobbling this way and that, trying desperately not to spill anything.

You giggle a little as you rise from your seat and walk over to him. You take the tray off revealing Raiden's anxious face. "Oh, Hello there, Y/n." He sighs in relief as you take some of the load off. "Need some help?" You muse as you hold try in your arms. "That would be much appreciated." He nods gratefully as follows you to the booth, once there he side eyes as he sets the tray down . "This one was supposed to help me. But when I reached for the trays, I looked over and his was gone." By now, Lao ate almost all the appetizers, his mouth was crammed full of bread sticks, he looked at Raiden innocently with puppy dog eyes as if he was trying to say 'who, me?'. Raiden fixed him a hard stern as the two began to face off for a moment. Everything went still, your eyes darted from one to the other. Finally Raiden defaulted and chuckled to himself, "Oh, how could I ever stay mad at that face?" With a sigh he plopped down next to Lao.

---

You had met Kung Lao and Raiden when you first came to the village. Madem bo had introduced you to them, encouraged them to let you stay with them, and they were so nervous. They remembered just how horrible Bi-Han was, they immediately assumed that since you were his wife, you'd be just as bad or even worse. Maybe you'd have a temper like him, maybe you would snap any second and attack them, they didn't know. When you first moved in with them they walked on eggshells and avoided you at all costs.

This didn't help your mental state at all, making you feel even more alone and isolated than when you first arrived. The journey from the Artika was lonely as it was scary, you wish you had someone to keep you company. When you arrived in Fengjian you had hoped to find someone, anyone to talk to. Madame Bo was wonderful, but she was always busy. So when she introduced you to them, she described them so wonderfully, maybe you believed every word she said because you were desperate to find some form of friendship, but you were excited to meet them.

So imagine your disappointment to see that they seem to want nothing to do with you. You'd wake and they'd be gone, you come home and they'd come when you were asleep. So one day you beat them before they woke up before they did. Lung awoke to the scent of something really good baking. It was like he was in trance as he rose up from his bed and basically slept walking into the kitchen. When Raiden awoke to leave, he found You and Lao in the kitchen. You were at the stove cheerfully cooking as Lao stuffed his face with pancakes.

They were in shock at how different you were compared to Bi-Han. They wanted to ask you so many questions. How did you and Bi-Han meet? How did someone Bi-Han bag an angel like you? Why did you leave him? But the moment they brought up Bi-Han, they noticed a look in you eyes. As if talking about him was too painful. They often wondered what happened between you two

Whatever it was, it had to have been really bad, they saw how heartbroken and miserable you were despite how hard you tried to hide it. They often hear you up in the middle of the night crying for hours on end. They wanted so badly to help you, maybe sit you down and talk to you about it. But even now, they fear that you're not ready to talk about it. So they decided it would be best to leave it alone for now, going as far as using code names to about him in front of you with upsetting you.

---

"Lao and I can't stay long." You stop stirring your food around to look up to meet Raiden's eyes. It was dark outside now. You had spent hours laughing with the two that you hadn't noticed just his late it was. "Oh, what happened?" You say, trying not to sound too distressed by this. Raiden and Kung Lao were often busy training at the Wu Shi. They were gone for quite a few weeks, sometimes even months, and they got only just a few days to stay in Fengjian. You enjoyed it whenever they were here, things were so lonely back at their place. "When will you be leaving?"

"We have to go back tonight. We came here to see you one last time before we leave. Liu Kang's says something as about a potential threat. Something about a sorcerer called 'Shang Tsung'." Raiden says, a hint of worry in his voice. You once heard a sorcerer called Shang Tsung, it was one of the names Sektor mentioned had became allied with the Lin Kuei through "you-know-who". You didn't know much about who he was, you knew more about his Quan Chi and his sisterhood of shadow. One of them most especially. You felt a shiver down your spine. "I...be careful, okay? This sounds dangerous." You say fearfully. "You worry too much, Y/n," Lao gives you a reassuring smile. "We're warriors, this is what we trained for. We should be worrying about you." You would be home alone all over again. Raiden and Lao often wondered about you whenever they were away, you were still so new here, hardly knowing anyone besides them and Madam Bo. It sounded quite lonely.

"Oh, don't worry about me...I-I won't be alone tonight." You say sheepishly. Raiden raised his brow as Kung Lao sat up in his seat. "Oh? Are we talking about that "special friend" of yours?" Lao looked at you with a knowing gaze. You felt your face run hot under gaze. "He's just a friend! He's visiting me before he leaves to do business." You try to explain yourself, but Lao still looks at you as if he knows that it isn't that simple. "I hope you have a wonderful time with him, Y/n." Raiden tries to cut in, he has an encouraging look in his eyes. Your face felt hotter as he looked at you with his smile. "I-I mean I hope he has a wonderful time with you-WAIT NO!- I-I mean I hope you have...um...uh" it was now Raiden who was blushing as he tried to correct himself. You both avoid each other's eyes as you look down as your faces burn bright red with blush. Lao Burt's out laughing at the state you two are in, causing many people in the restaurant to look at your booth.

"W-We should be going." Raiden quickly rises to his feet. "So soon? We haven't even given Y/n any good advice so she can have a 'wonderful time'." Raiden grabs Kung Lao ear forcing him to rise out of his seat with a 'ow'. "Last I checked, you have never had a 'wonderful time' so I don't know what advice you could give her." Raiden looks at you embarrassed, "Y/n, be safe, okay? You know how to contact us if anything goes wrong." And with that he turns and leaves. "Be sure to breathe through your nose and maintain eye contact when you-Ow!" Lao tried to call back before Raiden drags him away.

Now you're here alone in your booth. More importantly, alone with your thoughts. You enjoy Raiden and Kung Lao company because for a while, you don't think about what happened. But when you're alone, you remember the memory of your husband, arms wrapped tight around another woman, a demon no less. "I need you." He whispers into her ear as he begins to undo his pants.

In Fengjian you have found a great amount of peace and joy. You've made new friends and finally found some stability that makes you feel safe. And with that, you found the time to finally think about all that happened. You've tried to do not to think of it that much, to think of Bi-Han. But it's so hard. What happened? How did it come to this? You did everything right. You stayed quiet unless he spoke to you, you taught yourself how to cook just for him, you learned every way you could satisfy him, you diminished yourself completely just so he could have his perfect little wife. You even tried to get pregnant multiple times, not because you generally wanted a child, but because he had dreams of being a father. Where did you go wrong? You thought you did everything right.

Why weren't you enough for him? You threw away your entire life just for him. You stopped talking tof69 all your friends and family because they warned you that he was no good. You had nothing now, because you made Bi-Han your everything, you loved him so much it hurted sometimes. You felt everything inside you crumble when you saw him with that Demon. Her smile still haunts you at night when you try to sleep. Now that you think about it, you struggle to sleep many nights. Your mind wonders. Was that the first time he cheated on you, or did he do it multiple times and you just never found out. Bi-Han and Sektor always seemed close, were they sleeping together behind your back too!?!

---

Outside, the sun had set and you were climbing down the stairs of warm chaos of the restaurant and into the cool night. The fresh air of the outside and the sound of crickets made you feel at ease. "Leaving without saying goodbye, how rude." You hear a sweet elderly voice as you walk out of the restaurant. "I'm sorry, Madame Bo, it's getting late a-and I have to meet someone." Madame Bo climbed down the steps to, the lanterns outside her restaurant illuminated her skin giving it an ethereal glow. "You left so soon you almost forgot this." In Bo' hands was a to-go plate, steam flowed out of it's opening as she handed it to you. You could smell the food inside, it caused to form a wide smile as you sighed at the scent. "You're too good to me." You sigh gratefully as you enjoy the heat emanating from the box.

Ever since you arrived in Fengjian Bo had made it her job to look after you. She offered you a job at her restaurant, whenever you came here Bo would insist on feeding you until you could hardly breathe, and best of all, she only charged you half the price. Honestly, it was the most loved thing you felt in a while. You cut ties with your mother because she didn't approve of your marriage to Bi-Han. You haven't seen her years. By the Elder Gods, you miss her so much. You eyes get hot, you try to open your mouth thank Bo but you can already feel how shaky your voice is. "Y/n..." Bo's eyes drowned with sympathy for you. "I-I'm fine..." You softly reassured her, battling tears from coming out your eyes. You did know which one you felt so stupid for, the fact that you left everything behind for him or because you still loved him. You still dreamed of him coming here to bring you back home, where there was no Sareena, just you and him.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but..." Bo found herself lost in her thoughts as she looked at you sadly, her concern making you feel worse inside. "Bo..." You say as you take her hand and give her a reassuring smile. "...there's no need to worry about me." You squeeze her hand gently as you try to force the smile to be bigger. "I promise... I-I'm just fine." You forced a smile on your face. Madame Bo let out a soft sigh as she lays a cup on your cheek. "Well, I'm here when you're not fine." Bo turned from you, she slowly climbed the steps until she was at the door. "Take care, Y/n. Tell that 'special friend' of yours that I said hi." And with that, she gently closes the door.

---

The road home was quiet, just what you needed. A cold breeze flowed through the night air, it was nice. You felt at peace. You just focused on the sound of your heart against the quiet of trees. Kung Lao and Raiden lived just a little farther, in a house you'd be alone in. It'll only be for just a few days, you tried to convince yourself. Besides, your friend will keep you company just enough.

"Lady Y/n." You sound around so fast that you were dizzy for a few seconds. Standing before you was a Lin Kuei. A young man, you recognized his voice immediately. You remember he was one of the newest members to pass their training as become full fledged Lin Kuei. You stumbled back a few steps. Your eyes darted all over him as you begin to panic. "Forgive me, but I couldn't wait another minute." You clear your throat and straighten up. "State your purpose." you say firmly, hoping that he doesn't see the fear in your eyes. He nods, "The Grandmaster requests your presence," he walked up to you, a cold and discoplined look in his eyes. "I have come to collect you."

---

The restaurant was a lot busier today. Waitresses busied around the place with trays of food for their waiting customers. You chose a different booth today, one on a higher level, the highest one you could get. There were always less people up here during noon so you were basically alone besides maybe at least 5 other people. You always picked your booth at a lower level, so Madame assumed you'd be down there so she didn't think to look for you up here. That was for the best. You needed to be alone to think. You replay what was said over and over again in your head, a blank look on your face. You look like you're in a daze, like your body was here but your mind was far away, add that with a hint of dread in your eyes and you looked insane. You've been like that since last night. Your friend asked you if you were okay, you had rushed into the house in a panic as if you were running from something. You assured him you were fine, you were just really excited to see him. Thank God he couldn't hear how hard your heart was pounding.

You couldn't sleep, you came to Madame Bo's the moment it opened early in the morning and you've stayed in this booth ever since. Your booth was right next to a window, since you were so high up you had a nice view of Fengjian. The village looked so busy with people buzzing here and there to get on with their lives, the fields where farmers slaved under the hot sun to bare fruit, the valleys just beyond the village glowed under the sun's rays. You look at the picture before you. This place brought you so much peace, so much joy. The most joy you've felt in so long. It's a shame you'll have to leave it all behind.

"Is this seat taken." A voice drew you out of your thoughts by a familiar voice. "Raiden!" you gasp as you rise to your feet to meet him. You find yourself quick to wrap your arms around him; you take in his warmth; you stay there for a few seconds. "I thought you were supposed to be at the Academy." You finally let Raiden go and fall back into your seat, "I am...but I wanted to see you one last time before I left." Raiden says as he sits himself across the table from you. You stared at Raiden questionably, a flattered stare painted your face. "You came back just for me?" Raiden smiles sheepishly as he blushes a little. "Yes, I...I...uh...wow that is a wonderful view." Raiden quickly changes the subject, he stares longingly at the window.

Raiden was acting weird, but you didn't care. You actually welcomed the distraction, your mind was so middled and conflicted, it felt nice to be taken out of it for just a few seconds. "Fengjian..." He sighs. "Fengjian..." You sigh in agreeance. You both stared out the window for a pleasant while. Raiden was bathed under the light from the window. You admire how he glowed, coupled with the gentle smile on his face, it was almost like he was a god with how much he glowed. Can you imagine that, Raiden, a god? You found yourself let out another soft giggle.

"What?" Sight of your giggling was contagious, Raiden found himself smiling even wider and trying not to laugh. "Oh, nothing. I-I think you just look really...nice." you found your face burning and you weren't why. Because of the sun or because of the blush painting your face a suble red. You noticed Raiden also blushing as he nodded gratefully. "Uh, thank you. I think you look nice as well."

Silence, again. Raiden finally interrupted it with a gulp, "So...how did you you...uh...date-thing go?" You felt yourself blushing ever harder as you remember. You were so caught up with the bigger half that you barely thought about it. "It went, I guess, we watched Johnny's new movie. It was really nice." You recalled it all so fondly. A large smile spreads across your face, Raiden shifts uncontrollably at this. "That's good, I'm happy that you enjoyed yourself." Once again, silence. But this time, you noticed nothing about Raiden. It's written all over his face, it's like he wants to say something. Something important.

"Y/n. I can't stay for much longer. I came back because I wanted to tell you...I lo-" Raiden immediately bites his lips as he stops himself. He clears his throat and straightens up. "....I don't know what happened between you and...him, but me, Lao, Madame Bo are here for you. We won't let him hurt you." Raiden looks you dead in the eyes as he makes this promise. You feel your eyes begin to burn with tears again. And again, you fight them off. "I...thank you, Raiden. I love you all so much..." You rise from your seat. "But some things...some things I need to deal with by myself." You walk out of the booth and walk to the stairs. You don't look back, you don't see Raiden longingly looking at you as you leave.

---

It was colder tonight. Cold and unforgiving, as if Bi-Han himself were. You paced back and forth as you waited uneasily for any sign of the Lin Kuei. He was insistent, almost forceful, about his mission. And you were unsure what to say. You wanted to go back to Bi-Han, but after all he's done to you, how he betrayed you, how he shattered you. And you build an entirely new life, you loved it here, you loved all the people you met and made bonds with, the longer you stayed here the less you missed the Artika. You hated how conflicted you were. You were scared too, what if Bi-Han sends more Lin Kuei. Ones who aren't as patient as this one? What lengths will he go to get you back to the Artika?

At that second, you see a figure forming in a dark distance. The Lin Kuei's hard eyes are the first thing you see as he approaches. You take a deep breath as you walk up to meet him. "Thank you for waiting." You find the strength to settle your voice so it Isn't as shaky as when you rehearsed what you were going to say. He stares at you coldly, you stare back at him in the eye.

"As for what Bi-Han orders, tell him that he can go back to hell."

---

A/n: In the next part... Bi-Han isn't happy, also Y/n's "special friend".

[lostbookmark]

MDNI 🔞

Main Masterlist here

Finding Masterlist here

Summary: After a failed engagement, you move back home and reconnect with your friends. Maybe, just maybe you can find love with someone you never expected.

Pairing: Yoongi x F. Reader

Warnings: Explicit Sex, Swearing, Cheating (Not Yoongi), Fighting, Protected/Unprotected Sex, Toxic Past Relationship,

Genre: Enemies(?) to Lovers, Neighbors to Lovers, Small Town romance. Hurt-Comfort, Slight Angst, Romance

“Shit! Shit! Shit!,” a deep voice exclaims as something tumbles to the floor with a thud.

Your eyes pop open upon all the swearing, and your vision is met with an unfamiliar moonlit room. It wasn't until Yoongi jumped out of bed, still naked as can be from the night before that the memories of the night before hit you. He asked you to stay the night with him. You remember how it felt to fall asleep with his arm wrapped securely around your waist, holding you to him. How the warmth of his body and the steady rise and fall of his chest lulled you to sleep. You haven't slept that good in a long time.

You watch as he stumbles over his feet to his dresser, grabbing clothes frantically out of his drawers before slamming the drawers shut loudly. Sitting up as the confusion starts to clear, the blanket drops away from your chest, exposing you to the slight chilly air of the bedroom. You rub your tired eyes as Yoongi hops around, putting pants on before stumbling into his bathroom and turning on the light. Your eyes squint at the light as it suddenly illuminates the room and look at his dresser to see that the red blurry numbers on his clock read 5:30 am.

“Yoongi?” You question groggily. His head pops out of the bathroom with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. “What's going on?”

“It's our last market of the season,” he says after spitting in the sink. Coming out of the bathroom, he throws his shirt on and sits on the bed, placing socks on his bare feet. “It's always the busiest day. I'm so fucking late. I should have been down at the farm an hour ago. I have never been late like this before.”

“Do you want me to help?” You ask, still watching him. “I can get ready fast. I would just need like 10 minutes.”

“No, it's early. You should go back to sleep. Come down to the market after it opens. You can help then,” he crams his feet into his shoes without untying them.

“Here?” You question. “Sleep here? In your home? Alone?”

“Yeah, just lock the door when you leave,” he finally manages his shoes before blindly grabbing a jacket out of his closet. Throwing his jacket on, he runs his hands through his hair, trying to tame it.

“Okay,” you agreed softly, worrying your bottom lip.

Yoongi turns to look at you, staring at you for a minute. Approaching you, he presses his lips against your own, running his hands down your naked back. Pulling away from your lips, he lays you back, covering you back up with his blanket. It feels very domestic. It feels way too intimate.

“You're too tempting,” he whispers against your ear. It sends chills down your spine, and goosebumps form across your skin. It felt so good. “I'll see you in a few hours, darlin.”

With one more kiss, Yoongi leaves the bedroom, and you listen to his footsteps thump down the stairs. You lay your head back down on his pillow and listen as he leaves the house. In the distance, you can hear the garage door open and his car start. It feels weird being here in the quietness of his home. It's weird that he feels comfortable enough to leave you here alone. If you two were not dating, then what hell was going on? It feels like you're dating. Thinking back on it now, your drive the other night at sunset did seem like a date. The way he holds your hand, the way he looks at you, the way he runs his hands across your skin. It was confusing. Sighing, you flip the pillow over and close your eyes. The cool fabric feels nice against your skin. Clearing all your thoughts and confusion, you let yourself drift back to sleep.

Yoongi wasn't joking when he said that it was going to be busy. Upon your arrival, their line was at least 50 people deep, and they had been open for an hour already. The colder fall air and dreary sky aren't enough to keep people at home. You see Hobi helping people make selections by showing off their perfect produce, Kook is ringing people up with Jimin bagging the purchased goods. They were like a well-oiled machine when they needed to be. You, however, didn't see any of the others.

“Well, thanks for finally joining us,” Jimin said, turning to you as he hands you a bag to take over. “You know, it's rare for Yoongi to be as late as he was. He must have been up late or had company over. Would you know anything about that?”

“How would I know,” You deny his comments and focus on your task, bagging some squash sitting in front of you. “Where is everyone else?”

“Jin is working, of course. Joon isn’t allowed here,” Kook started to explain as his customer walked away to grab the bag from your hand.

“Why?” You ask, starting your next bag of veggies that Hobi placed in front of you. Thinking back, you realize that you don't think that you have seen him here all the previous times that you came. You wonder how he was able to luck out of working on the weekend.

“He knocked everything over one year. Apples went rolling as far as the eye could see,” Hobi said with a laugh. “You should have seen Tae running after them. It was very dramatic.”

“Tae is with your boyfriend,” Jimin informs you, as a smirk crosses his beautiful face. You can see Kook and Hobi stare at you in wonder. “We needed more pumpkins. They seem to be quite popular this year. They should be back soon.”

“Boyfriend?” Kook and Hobi speak in unison and stare at each other with a similar shocked expression blatantly ignoring their customers .

“Can we get through this line, please?” You ask, sounding desperate and reaching under the table for a bag. Your hand comes up empty. “I need more bags.”

“Back here,’ Hobi says, waving you over to follow him behind the tent.

Following him, he stops mid step, turns and stares you down. You stare back with little emotion in your face. He raises an eyebrow and you cock your head to the side. His eyes widen, staring at you harder and you follow suit mimicking him. He finally sighs and shakes his head.

“Yoongi?” He questions, crossing his arms. “You're not rushing into anything, are you? You were pretty upset a couple of months ago if I remember correctly. So upset that I couldn't get you out of bed. I thought you…and I quote… ‘Hate men right now.’ ”

“No, of course not. You're acting like I'm ready to run off with him. Besides, it only happened twice,” you say and visibly cringe at yourself as soon as the words left your mouth.

“Twice. You've slept with him twice?” You watch as his mouth falls open.

“And….we might have….maybe…gone on a date. Possibly, I think,” you tell him. “Besides, I thought you wanted me to date.”

“I'm confused,” he said, rubbing his head.

“Join the club,” you mutter. “He took me out past the farm to watch the sunset. We talked, and it was…nice. I was finally able to apologize to him for that damn article. I don't know, Hobs. He holds my hand, kisses me, and brings me things from the farm. It's weird, right? Like this came out of nowhere.”

“Eh, I mean,” he started and then shook his head. “I mean nothing,” he said quickly.

“You mean something, Hobi. What do you mean? What do you know?” You question as you step closer to him.

“Nothing, I know absolutely nothing,” he laughs manically, stepping back from you.

“What's going on?” Yoongi asks, popping out of nowhere, making Hobi appear even more nervous than before. In his arms were a couple of big orange pumpkins.

“Just talking,” Hobi said. His voice seems to rise in pitch as he avoids eye contact with his close friend. “About…nothing. Bags, we needed bags.”

Yoongi looks at the both of you strangely and walks away. You glare at your best friend. You've known him most of your life to know that he is hiding something, and it clearly has something to do with Yoongi. Why is he nervous all of a sudden?

“Hobi,” you say with a warning.

“Work, work, work. I gotta go bye,” he runs off without so much of a look back at you as he grabs two boxes of bags. What the hell?

“Hoseok!” You hiss as he disappears around to the front of the tent.

“Are you okay?” Yoongi asks, appearing again, and you simply nod your head. “Come on.”

With his hand on your lower back, he directs you to a pristine red, shiny truck with Tannie Farms printed on the doors. The bed of the truck holds pumpkins of different sizes. Most were the classic orange, but smaller white pumpkins were also in the mix. Yoongi climbs in the back and hands you some smaller gourds.

“Did you get enough sleep?” He asks, and again, you simply nod your head. “Did Hobi upset you?”

“No,” you say. “He's just being…himself.”

“By the way,” he said, jumping back down. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulls out an envelope and hands it to you. “Here before I forget.”

Putting the pumpkins on the ground at your feet, you take the envelope. “It's money,” you say, surprised when you open it and the bills stare back at you. “Why are you giving me money?”

“It's for the hours that you have put in here and for your time making the bread and jams. Which, by the way, have already sold out. I told you we would pay you for your time,” he tells you.

“You don't need to pay me for being here. I thought I was just volunteering my time,” you say. “I was just trying to be nice and help out.”

“Too bad. It's already been decided, “ he tells you with a shrug.

Grabbing you around the waist gently, he pulls you against his body, pressing his mouth against yours. This is getting way out of hand for you. Casual sex, friends with benefits, booty calls, or whatever the hell is going on is starting to cross the line. Are you supposed to kiss booty calls like this? You think not.

“Yoongi?” You question as you pull away. “What’s going on between us?”

“Yoongi, pumpkins,” Kook calls as he pops his head around the tent, interrupting you.

“Okay,” he calls back and looks at you. “Well, I thought maybe we were just enjoying this? Do we have to have a label? I mean…I'm not seeing anyone else if that's what you're worried about.”

“YOONGI!” Tae calls out this time.

“Can we talk about this later?” He asks with a sigh, rubbing your arm.

“Sure,” you say.

You stuff the envelope into your back pocket and pick up the small pumpkins at your feet, and walk away back out front. Did you need a label? You had tried so hard to convince yourself months ago that you were never going to date again. You could almost see your future of being alone with those 8 cats named after sweets to keep you company. You are pretty sure that little orange Marmalade would be the sweetest. That was until Yoongi came along and made you question everything in such a short amount of time. So, did you need a label? No, you guess that you didn't. Maybe you can just enjoy this time with him and see what happens. You just hope that it won't come back to bite you in the ass.

The large swing on your porch squeaks with your repeated back and forth movements. You tighten the geometric patterned blanket around you as the breeze picks up some in the evening air. Stray hairs that have fallen from your messy bun blow in your face, tickling your nose. You tuck them the best you can behind your ear and out of the way. The sun has almost gone down, and the already chilly air has dropped considerably along with it. You pull your knees up and closer to your body in an attempt to keep warm under your blanket. The sunset, your glowing lanterns, and the tractors in the horizon were the perfect picture of tranquility. You were going to enjoy it as long as you could. You hear a knock against a door somewhere behind you. You ignore it, not wanting to interrupt the peacefulness.

“Y/N,” a voice calls out. Yoongi. You sigh.

“Back here,” you call back to him.

“What are you doing?” he asks, all bundled up in a black puffy coat and a matching beanie as he makes his way to you.

“Nothing,” you say, your eyes don't stray from the horizon.

Yoongi takes a seat close next to you on the white painted wooden swing. The swing jerks and rocks a little as he settles back. He uses his legs to gently rock the two of you back and forth. It was nice.

“Are you mad at me?” he asks quietly, and you turn your head to stare at him quizzically. “You know, because of what I said earlier today.”

“No,” you say with a slight shake of your head. “I don't blame you for not wanting more with me. There's clearly something wrong with me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asks, turning his body to look at you.

“Nothing,” you say quietly.

“Is this about asshat?” He asks, and you laugh quietly to yourself. “I'm going to be honest with you. I like you. I've always liked you, but I'm not going to be your rebound.”

“What? What do you mean you’ve always liked me?” You asked, sincerely shocked by his response.

“Why do you think I always forced my friends to go to the cafe almost every freaking day after school? I would send our water boy to scope out your section so you would wait on us,” he tells you.

“I don't understand,” you whisper, biting your lip in thought. You were always so wrapped up in your nervousness around him back then. Did you miss something?

“It was the only time you would talk to me,” he admits. “You never talked to me in school, and I couldn't ever figure out if you were dating Jin or Hobi.” You burst out laughing at that one. You lean into his body as your own shakes with laughter as your mothers words come back to haunt you. “Stop! It wasn't until college that Hobi said that you didn't date in high school after I quizzed him about you. I'm surprised that he never told you.”

“I knew he was acting funny today after I told him about us,” you say once your laughter finally stops. “No, he never told me. I guess Jimin never told you?”

“Jimin never told me what?” he questions.

“That back in college, I told him that I might have found you attractive,” you confess. “He still teases me every chance he gets.”

“Why didn't you ever say anything?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest as a look of disbelief crosses his face. “That would have saved us both a lot of trouble.”

“Me?” You turn quickly to look at him with astonishment as the swing jostles under your movement. “You had a girlfriend. Also, you never talked to me either.”

“Not true,” he claims. “I called you pretty once in high school, and you completely shut me down.”

“When?” You ask with a laugh.

“Prom,” he declares.

You got quiet and thought back to your senior prom. You had gone with Jin, who had ditched you almost right away when his crush Seulgi flirted with him. You spent most of the night dancing with your friend Neyeon, and thinking back on it, now you do remember Yoongi talking to you. You remember him in his white suit coming up to you as you waited for your friend to come back with drinks. He said he liked your dress. It was light gold and sparkled under the lights strung around the venue.

“You said you liked my dress,” you say quietly. “You never said I looked pretty.”

“You should have read between the lines,” he responds.

“How was I supposed to know?” You ask laughing again. Yoongi puts his arm around you and pulls you into him, laughing as well. You let him and lie your head against his shoulder. “I get it, though. You don't fully trust me, and that's fine.”

“Don't say it like that,” he sighs.

“It's true,” you tell him as you focus on the darkening sky. “I left everything behind so easily before. I ran away. I wouldn't trust me either.”

“I trust you,” he says, tilting your head to look at him. “I just don't want you to be with me because you feel pressured to move on. We can just take this slow and label it at a later date.”

“I get it. You're right,” you admit, and he leans down to give you a quick kiss. “If we are taking this slow, then I guess we should stop having sex.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Yoongi says with a humorless laugh, and it only makes you start to laugh again. “You are a brat.”

You stand up from the porch swing and tighten the blanket around you once more. Yoongi follows suit and stands right in front of you. You lean your body against him, and he wraps his arms around you. No label now, but maybe down the road? You think you can deal with that.

“Have you eaten yet?” he asks quietly into the evening air, and you shake your head no. “Come on. I'll cook us something.”

“You can cook?” You ask with your face pressed into his chest.

“I guess you'll have to come with me to find out,” he comments, pulling away from you but takes your hand in his as he goes.

You give him a smile and let him lead you over to his house across the driveway. Yeah, you think you can take this slow.

《Chapter Eight》

Tagged Readers:

@mar-lo-pap, @bontensbabygirl , @daisies-and-dandelionpuffs , @redragdoll, @svnbangtansworld , @wobblewobble822 , @busanbby-jjk , @pitchblack0309 , @bluesiebirdie

[hoshifighting]

hi hi could you do an fwb2lovers wonwoo with some angst but happy ending? I really love your works!!! thank you 😊

Friends with Benefit to Lovers - Wonwoo

a/n: thank you for all the luv, xoxo 💋❤️

warnings: suggestive ending, angst, fluff, being left out, reconciliation.

you and Wonwoo have been tight since freshman year, forged through late-night cram sessions, shared slices of greasy pizza, and endless games of FIFA. it's that kind of friendship where you know each other's quirks better than your own.

one friday evening, you find yourselves at a frat party, the air thick with the scent of cheap beer and the bass from the speakers pounding against your chest, you're just happy to be along for the ride, nursing a red cup of something that tastes suspiciously like punch.

you watch from a distance as a girl from Wonwoo's course sidles up to him, their conversation growing more animated by the minute. part of you wants to intervene, to remind Wonwoo of your existence, but another part—the stubborn part—refuses to budge. so you sit there, nursing your drink and pretending not to care. 

you had drunk so much that the party went by too quickly, the cheap alcohol from the punch felt like a punch to your liver. some of your friends still tried to talk to you, but your social battery had already run out.

so, you stay put on the worn-out couch, drowning your thoughts in another cup of punch that's probably more sugar than anything else. the party is winding down, people stumbling out the door in twos and threes, but you're stuck here, waiting for Wonwoo's ride back to the dorms.

time stretches on, each minute feeling like an eternity as you wait for Wonwoo to notice you. finally, he appears in front of you, his expression unreadable. "let's go?" he says, his tone flat.

you stand up without a word, ignoring his outstretched hand as you make your way to the door. the car ride is suffocating in its silence, each passing mile stretching the tension between you until it feels like it might snap.

back in the dorm, you head straight for the bathroom, needing a moment to yourself. as you're drying your hair with a towel, Wonwoo's voice cuts through the silence like a knife. "why are you like this?" he demands, his frustration palpable.

you whirl around, towel still clutched in your hand. "remembering my existence now?" you snap. Wonwoo's taken aback, his eyes widening in surprise.

"what's that supposed to mean?" he asks.

you square your shoulders, refusing to back down.

"it means you've been ignoring me all night, and now you expect me to act like everything's okay? i'm not a mind reader, Wonwoo. i can't just pretend like nothing's wrong."

"are you telling me this because of soojin?" he asks, his voice tinged with frustration.

you roll your eyes, unable to mask your irritation. "like it's not obvious," you mutter under your breath.

Wonwoo's expression softens, and he takes a step closer, reaching out as if to touch your arm. "look, she's just a girl from my class. we were talking about a new project, that's all. there's no need to feel jealous."

you scoff, cutting him off before he can finish.

"jealous? you think i was jealous?" you shoot back, incredulous. "no, i wasn't. i just didn't want to go to a party and be alone the whole fucking time!"

you let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through your hair in exasperation.

"yes, i was with my friends," you concede, your tone softer now. "but i came with you, Wonwoo. and i... i wanted to spend time with you."

"i know, i know," he starts, his tone apologetic yet tinged with frustration. "but i thought you'd be fine with your friends for a bit. i didn't mean to make you feel left out."

you let out a heavy sigh, crossing your arms over your chest.

"it's not just about being fine with my friends," you say, your voice quieter now, tinged with hurt. "i came here with you, Wonwoo. i wanted to spend time with you. but instead, i felt like i was just tagging along while you hung out with someone else."

Wonwoo's shoulders slump, his gaze dropping to the floor as he rubs the back of his neck.

"i didn't realize you felt that way," he admits, his voice quiet.

"well, now you do," you reply, crossing your arms over your chest. "and it sucks feeling like i'm just some afterthought."

you collapse onto the couch, the weight of the argument draining every ounce of energy from your body. you're exhausted, emotionally spent, and all you want to do is close your eyes and forget about the whole thing.

but before you can even think about resting, Wonwoo kneels down in front of you, his expression soft with concern. you meet his gaze, the weariness in your eyes mirrored in his own.

"hey," he says gently, reaching out to take your hand in his. "are you okay?"

you nod, a small sigh escaping your lips. "yeah," you reply, your voice barely above a whisper.

Wonwoo squeezes your hand, his touch warm and comforting. "i'm really sorry about earlier," he says, his voice filled with sincerity. "i didn't mean to upset you."

you manage a weak smile, the tension in your chest easing slightly at his words. "it's okay," you assure him, the weight of the argument already starting to feel lighter.

Wonwoo leans in closer, his forehead resting against yours. "i just want you to know that you mean a lot to me," he murmurs, his words a whispered promise. "I didn't realize how much my actions were affecting you. you're not just some afterthought, I promise."

you feel a weight lift from your chest as he leans in, his lips meeting yours in a gentle kiss. 

his tongue finds its way into your mouth, exploring every crevice with a familiarity that makes you mewl. you melt into his embrace, your hands finding their way to his hair, pulling him closer as if you never want to let him go.

that was another thing about Wonwoo – he had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the world, like nothing else mattered except the two of you in that moment.

as the kiss deepens, you lose yourself in the sensation of his lips against yours, the taste of him lingering on your tongue like a sweet addiction.

he pull back slightly so both of you can breathe.

"you're not just my friend," wonwoo confesses, "you're... you're so much more than that."

your heart feels like it's about to burst from your chest as you search his eyes.

"I've been scared to say it, scared to admit it even to myself," Wonwoo admits, his voice barely above a whisper. "but I can't deny it any longer. I love you."

"I love you too," you whisper, the words spilling from your lips before you can stop them. "I've loved you for so long."

he kisses your forehead, your lips, giving the smile that you've always loved.

you pull back, caressing his chin and jaw with your hands.

"you know," you murmur, "just because you're sorry doesn't mean i'm going to go easy on you."

Wonwoo chuckles "i wouldn't expect anything less," he replies.

you smirk, feeling a surge of confidence coursing through you. "good," you say, your tone teasing. "because i have a few ideas about how you can make it up to me."

[broken-glowsticks]

What Once Was Mine

Chapter 18 - Not Alone

Genre: Childhood friends, Eventual Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Love corner/love triangle, love rivals, Series.

Not all chapters will be proofread!!

Warnings: 18+, mdni, swearing, mentions of sex and alcohol consumption, additional warnings will be added to individual chapters as needed. Let me know if I missed anything!

Additional Warnings: angst, hurt/comfort, Binnie is seriously the best boyfriend ever

Previous • Main • Next

It took you a couple of hours of enduring the end of the world as you knew it before you finally felt like you could start driving. Honestly, you didn't want to leave. It felt like if you stayed in the parking lot, you could simply pretend that this was just a bad dream. If you stayed there, you could pretend that you would still be welcomed back into Hyunjins home with welcoming arms like always. But you had to go home and grab some extra clothes.

At some point in the middle of all your possibly overdramatic doom you had managed to get a hold of Felix. Initially, you didn't want to bother him. It was late and you knew he had been cramming for an important exam, but in the end your agony won out, so you caved and called him anyway. Funnily enough he picked up on the second ring, very much unlike Jisung and Changbin, sounding so startled and groggy that you couldn't help but feel your spirits lift for the briefest of moments. You had totally assumed he also wouldn't pick up the phone.

“I'm glad you called, I fell asleep at my desk and would have probably stayed here all night,” he mumbled, smiling sleepily over the line. You had managed a laugh and were even able to get in some gentle teasing before your sniffles eventually gave you away. 

It was only after some insistence from Felix for you to tell him what had happened and a brief rundown over the phone (along with more tears) that Felix urged you to come over. Well, less urged and more demanded lovingly. He absolutely would not take no for an answer and you loved him so much for that. So here you were, quickly running home to gather a few things to spend the night with him. 

You didn't linger in your apartment long. The longer you were inside, the more the fact Jisung wasn't home seared itself into your brain - exacerbating your loneliness and frustration. You didn't want to be mad at Ji, you knew it wasn't his fault he was so busy, he was probably even asleep, but you couldn't help the sense of betrayal. He should've been there for you,  you wanted him to be there… Shaking the nasty thoughts from your head you finished gathering your things. In a flash you were back in your car, overnight bag flung haphazardly in the back seat of your car, tumbling around as you zoomed to Felix and Chan's shared apartment. 

“Hey, you're here sooner than I thought,” Felix said as he opened the door, his beaming smile already doing wonders for your nerves. Wordlessly the two of you fell into a hug, his surprisingly strong embrace helping to ease your aching emotions before he ushered you inside. 

“I'm sorry for-” you began, only to be cut off by Felix shushing you.

“Don't start. You have nothing you need to apologize for,” Felix said sternly, his hand holding yours tightly as he led you to the couch. 

“I just… I know you're busy studying and all. You have big exams coming up.” 

“It's not like I'm taking them tomorrow. Besides, I've been cramming all day, taking breaks and focusing on other things is healthy,” Felix countered, taking your duffle and throwing it onto his bed before quickly making his way back to you with his fluffiest blanket. “Are you hungry?” He asked gently

“Not really…” you mumbled as he draped the soft fabric around you. 

“Okay, I'm going to get you some water, I'll be right back.” You nodded tiredly, drawing your legs up onto the couch as Felix fetched your water. You didn't realize how thirsty you were until you had the cup to your lips and were guzzling the liquid down greedily. 

“Want another glass?” Felix asked, although he didn't even wait for your answer before he took the empty cup from your hands. When he was back with the refill is when he finally settled on the couch, the two of you facing each other as you sipped at the water with less urgency this time. The two of you were silent for a long while, Felix watching you with gentle eyes. Eventually you felt ready to talk.

“You know what Hyunjin told me tonight?” You began, your throat feeling tight. 

“What did he tell you?” Felix asked gently, leaning in and placing a supportive hand on your knee. 

“He… he told me he loved me, he said he's been in love with me and that he's never said anything because he was scared.” For a moment Felix was silent, blinking as he processed what you just said before he scooted closer to you.

“O-oh, uh, wow. You didn't mention that over the phone,” was all he could manage to say. 

“I was still hurting over him kicking me out of his life… and I was also upset from not getting a hold of Ji or Changbin…” 

Glancing over you noticed Felix adjusting next to you, sitting more comfortably before stretching out an arm. Unfurling yourself, you gratefully leaned into his side as he rested his head on top of yours, his hand gently rubbing your shoulder. You and Felix may not have been close for long, but you were happy it happened. You didn't know how you would've handled tonight if you had to do it alone. 

“So, for clarity, you're just upset because Hyunjin ‘kicked you out of his life�� as you put it?”

“Don’t forget the part where neither my boyfriend nor my remaining best friend answered my phone call,” you replied petulantly before feeling guilty and hastily adding, “but I get it's stupid to be upset at them for that.” 

“Well, I dunno, considering the fact you barely get to see either of them anymore, I can get why you're upset they're not here now.” You felt a bit of relief by Felix's validation, but that feeling soon went away with his next question. “But why did Hyunjin say he couldn't be friends with you anymore? Why didn’t he try to find a compromise like he did when you decided to date Bin?” 

You had only given Felix the most bare bones explanation of what happened tonight, not getting too much into detail about the painting you found, its title, or the specifics of Hyunjins confession. It seemed like now was the time to explain. Pressing your lips together, you ran your finger over the edge of your cup, debating over if you even had the emotional strength to recount what happened just hours prior. But you also knew Felix, if he's asking then he truly just wants to know, and who knows, maybe talking about it would help you sort your own feelings on what just happened. 

Placing your cup down on the floor you pulled the blanket closer around you, cuddling to Felix as you began your explanation. It took a bit of time for you to get through what happened, why you were there, why you let yourself in and waited, how you discovered the painting and what it looked like, and the shock of Hyunjin finding you. You had broken out into tears when you got to Hyunjins confession, repeating almost verbatim the words he said and your reaction. Felix sat silently, listening intently and comforting you as you cried. When you were done Felix looked as if he were deep in thought, carefully considering his words before speaking. 

“What's on your mind?” You asked, blowing your nose into tissues your sunny friend got for you right as you started crying. 

“I just… I don't want to say anything that would make you upset. Not right now.”

“Whatever you have to say can't possibly hurt me more than what I've already heard tonight,” you reassured, tossing your wadded up tissue paper into a nearby trash can. Felix sighed. 

“It’s just… You got upset at Hyunjin for not confessing, but in all this time you were around him, you did the same thing. You can be upset at your lifelong friendship ending, but I don't think it's fair of you to be mad at him for not saying anything when you never said anything either.” Being slapped in the face 100% would have hurt less than hearing the words Felix just said to you. Your knee-jerk reaction was to pull away, get defensive, but before you could he continued, his hold on your shoulder tightening. 

“I'm not saying this to make you mad, I'm just making an objective observation, because I don't want you to hold on to any kind of resentment. But at any time you could've told him how you felt, told him that you loved him. Even now he doesn't even know that you feel the same, just that he hurt you. You may not have said it ‘cause you were too mad or ‘cause you're dating someone else, but while he did a stupid thing sleeping with other girls - and yeah he did string you along - at least he fessed up in the end. He came clean, about his feelings for you, about his shortcomings, and he even apologized. Like I said, you can be upset, but can't you at least be glad he said something and did what he thought was best for the both of you?” 

You sat for a moment, feeling rather pouty because ultimately you knew Felix made a valid point. Well, he made quite a few valid points. You could've been the first to confess, to have risked rejection for the sake of your relationship with Hyunjin, but you never did. Like Hyunjin, you too feared change, feared being told he didn't feel the same, you too wanted to hold on to the fantasy that he was yours in the fleeting moments you two were pressed together instead of taking the steps to make that fantasy real. While you hated that he felt so inadequate - so jealous - next to Changbin that he thought ending your life-long friendship was the best option for you both, if you put your feelings aside you knew even that was an act of love. Even now all Hyunjin wanted was what was best for you and for himself, even if that meant he wasn't in the picture. The more you thought about it, the more it broke your heart. 

“And as for Han and Changbin, do you plan on telling them everything that happened?” Felix's question pulled you from your thoughts, causing you to turn to him.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you going to tell them why Hyunjin stopped being friends with you?” Wow, was Felix heaping the heavy questions on you.

“Oh, I hadn't thought about that…”

“You don't have to answer me right now, I just asked so you could think on it. I just know they're going to freak out once they realize you called them so many times, and so late.” 

“Especially Binnie…” you said with a sigh, “he knew I was going to Hyunjins to try and work things out.” 

“Wait, he knew? And he didn't wait up to see how things went? Or even send a text to see how you were doing?” 

“No,” You said with a shake of your head. “He went into work just before I left, he probably got caught up on whatever project he's got going on.” Felix made a face that was hard for you to read before settling back into the couch.

“Still… if he knew, he should've at least checked on you.” The look on Felix’s face told you he had more to say, but whatever was on his mind, he kept it to himself. The most you could do was hum in agreement as the two of you settled into silence on the couch, the both of you pondering. 

It was a random social media notification on your phone that made you eventually look at the time. It was almost three in the morning. 

“Woah, no wonder I’m so exhausted, I thought it was just all the crying,” you said in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, showing Felix the time.

“I guess we should get to bed, you’re sleeping with me okay?” You once again only nodded, the two of you preparing for bed separately. Your body was heavy and you only had just enough energy to remember to send a quick text to your boss that you weren’t feeling well and would be needing the next couple of days off before you sluggishly made your way to Felix room.

He was already sitting in bed, waiting for you. With a tired smile you flopped into bed next to him, feeling rather spoiled as he tucked you in and turned out the lights before settling in next to you, stroking your hair and humming a gentle song. Your insides were still a mess, but things felt just a little bit better after talking with your friend. You felt a bit more supported, a bit less disparaged, a bit more ready to take a pause before beginning to reconstruct your life without Hyunjin in it. 

•.*°•♤•°*.•

It was a little past noon by the time you woke up according to the comically large digital alarm clock Felix kept by his bed. You were feeling ragged and exhausted, a sharp contrast to your slight emotional relief. Once your senses somewhat came about you you became aware of a noise coming from right outside Felix’s room. In wracking your brain for even a single guess as to what that noise could be you vaguely recalled how earlier in the morning you had heard the sound of a muffled pounding, followed by the feeling of Felix getting out of bed. You don’t recall Felix ever returning to bed and had managed to slip effortlessly back into sleep when you remained undisturbed. It was only when you stumbled out of Felix’s bedroom and were bum rushed by Changbin’s tight embrace that you realized that the pounding noise earlier was probably Changbin’s fist hitting Felix’s door. You were still groggy as he held you tightly, you were just barely able to wrap your arms around him when you noticed through your bleary eyes that Jisung and Chan were also here. 

“Hey, you guys are alive,” you joked with a teasing smile. You couldn’t help but notice Jisung wince, you certainly felt Changbin’s embrace get tighter, making it hard to breath.

“I’m so sorry Bunny,” Changbin suddenly said, “Felix said you had a hard time last night. I’m sorry… I should’ve been here…” Changbin muttered against your hair. You were torn between wanting to agree with him out of hurt or reassure him because, well, it was late. Luckily you didn’t have to make that choice, because Felix’s usually chipper tone came out more sternly than you’ve ever heard him be before.

“You really should have Bin, now let the poor girl go brush her teeth, she just woke up.”

Reluctantly Changbin did as Felix said, releasing you after placing a soft kiss to your forehead. There was an odd look on Changbin’s face when you looked up at him, you attempted to reassure him with a small smile but that only seemed to make things worse. There was an obvious tension in the room and you were only all too happy to escape it as you made your way to the bathroom. You unfortunately only received a modicum of respit as, when you closed the door behind you, you could hear the boys start their conversation back up again, talking in strained, hushed tones.

“Felix, you don’t have to be so harsh on him,” Chan admonished gently but sternly.

“Chris, no. Don’t defend him,” Felix snapped back, a clear edge in his voice. “I know you guys are older than me but I’m not happy here. He knew what she was going there for, we were up ‘til three a.m., she sat in her car alone for at least in hour before even coming here, if not longer, cause nobody picked else would pick up their fucking phone.”

“We were busy with work, we didn’t know-” Jisung piped up only to be cut off by Felix.

“Exactly Han, you guys were working, you guys were awake. It’d be one thing if you guys just went to sleep, but it’s the fact that all three of you were awake at the time but were too busy working to even stop and check who’s phone was vibrating on the goddamn table. Especially Bin who, again, knew she was going to try and patch things up with Hyunjin last night. Answer me this Bin, did you not think anything could fucking go wrong???”

The room fell silent for a long while before you just barely managed to hear Chanbin speak up.

“No… I didn’t…” 

Unable to hear anymore you pull away from the door, purposefully dragging your feet as you washed up, did your business and brushed your teeth. As you were towel drying your hair you noticed that the muffled arguing had subsided. It was so eerily quiet that you half wondered if the guys had left, assuming they needed to step away to cool down. Well, you were half right. Sitting on the couch was Changbin and Jisung, the two of them holding a hushed and strained conversation. They hadn’t noticed you exit the bathroom at all, the two of them too wrapped up in their conversation with each other.

You took the opportunity to really look at them, it had been a while since you’d seen the two of them at the same time and it felt surreal. Jisung had promised the two of you would eat dinner together the last time you were at their studio, that was almost a whole month ago now and that dinner never happened. You had only seen Changbin the morning before after days of only being able to spend sporadic texts back and forth. These were some of the most important guys in your life and you’d barely seen them in just over two months. They looked tired. 

Suddenly Jisungs eyes flicked up, catching your figure against the bathroom door frame. 

“Y/N,” he said tersely, causing Changbin’s head to swivel to face you. Swallowing his nerves, Jisung made room on the couch so you could settle between your two boys. You eyed them for a moment, not moving right away. The two guys shared a weighted glance before Changbin reached his hand for you.

“Bunny, please. Let us apologize.” Changbin’s voice was strained and you couldn’t miss the matching pained looks on Bin and Ji’s faces. You sighed, crossing your arms tightly over your chest as you brushed past Changbin’s extended hand and plopped down in the vacant spot they made for you. Changbin tried his best to hide the hurt he felt, you had a right to be mad.

“Bunny, I- We-” Changbin began but was quickly cut off.

“I think Felix kinda stole my thunder,” you joked a little awkwardly, not trying to get into the heavy stuff right away. You had spent the entire night feeling the weight of your emotions crushing you and you had just barely woken up, you wanted just a moment longer of levity before you had to face all of those suffocating emotions again. “I love him for it though, I’m not entirely sure I’d be able to face you two and say everything he did. I didn’t know he had so much fire hidden behind that cute face of his.” 

Jisung’s hands clenched in his lap. Normally he’d be the one to speak up on your behalf when you were too beaten down or tired to do so yourself, for years he was the friend who backed you up and stood up for you. It felt horrible to be on the other end. 

“Yeah, Felix is a good friend to have,” Jisung managed to say, unable to fully play along as his posture remained stiff and he kept his eyes trained on his lap. 

“He is, I’m lucky he and I have been getting close…” you say with a tone of melancholic sincerity. You truly did love getting to build this bond with Felix, you just hated what the catalyst was. 

“...Are we going to dance around this all day?” Jisung asked after a beat of silence, his eyes darting up to you only to suddenly be met with your frown pointed right at him. 

“Ji, I’m exhausted. I’ve been sad all night, I’ve been crying for hours, I haven’t even had anything to eat yet. So excuse me for not wanting to jump right into the shitty night I had right away,” you huff, standing abruptly and making your way to the kitchen. Jisung felt Changbins sharp glare stab into him, but he ignored it, standing and following you to the kitchen with Changbin following suit. 

“I know your night was horrible but-”

“No you don't, Ji!” You snapped, whirling on him and fixing him with a pained look of your own. “I think Felix pretty accurately covered it, you guys were up! And apparently at least one of you heard a phone going off, but neither of you bothered to check on me, neither of you were there for me in the end! It was Felix who was up with me all night! It was Felix I cried to! And it was Felix who learned what happened while you two spent all night in your studio again!” Changbin wilted at your words, knowing you were right. But Jisung was stubborn. An unfortunate side effect of such a long standing relationship, sometimes you fight when you really shouldn’t. 

“What the hell are we supposed to do Y/N? We can’t just stop working, we’re swamped! We can’t spend all our time with you anymore!”

“You haven’t been spending any time with me Ji! You, specifically! I saw Changbin yesterday, you I haven’t seen in a month!” 

“That’s ridiculous and you know it, you’ve seen me.”

“When, Ji? WHEN? The last time I saw you was when I came to visit the studio and that was a month ago! You’re never home! You sleep either here or at the studio, I get sporadic texts from you both at best and radio silence for days at worst!” By this point you were shouting so loudly you felt your throat tightening, tears were brimming your eyes but you refused to let them spill over. “I’m not saying you have to spend all your time with me, but at least spend some time with me! You guys are my fucking boyfriend and the only best friend I have left! I love Felix, I love him for being here for me, but he’s not the first person I wanted to tell the actual life altering revelation that Hyunjin is in love with me!” Your voice wavered as you spoke before finally choking out into a violent sob. You hated the tremble in your hands as you pressed them against your face, trying to hide yourself away behind them as you cried and left the two guys stunned. 

“He told you that?” Changbin asked hoarsely, unsure of how to feel. He watched you nod before attempting to reach out to you, his hand resting gently on your shoulder to test the waters. You flinched at the contact but before he could fully pull his hand away you relaxed against his touch, giving him the confidence to pull you into his arms. You let him hold you as all the heavy and complicated emotions from the night before came spilling out of you. 

Jisung chewed at his bottom lip, unsure of what to do. He was glad Changbin worded his question the way he did, Jisung wasn’t sure how you’d react if you learned that he and Changbin already knew. You’d definitely be upset, if not pissed. But… should they tell you? Would it be beneficial? Would it be better if you knew now instead of learning later and possibly feeling betrayed they kept such a secret? He didn’t know and so he stayed quiet, instead busying himself with rummaging through Chan and Felix’s kitchen for a mug and some tea. It was quite frankly the least he could do. 

“Here…” Jisung began as he handed you the warm mug, causing you to lift your head from Changbins shoulder. “I’m sorry.” You lifted your gaze from the mug to Ji’s face before taking the mug. 

“Sorry for what?” Your voice was raspy from the screaming and the crying.

“Everything. You’re right, I haven’t been here for you and I got mad because I didn’t want to admit to it. I’m also sorry because…” Jisung’s eyes glanced up at Changbin, giving him a moment to at least attempt to guess what Jisung was about to confess. “I knew how Hyunjin felt about you.”

“You what?”

“I didn’t know for very long, I swear.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” You asked with an edge to your voice that was hard to miss. 

“For starters he didn’t tell me directly, I accidentally overheard him telling someone else. Secondly, that’s not my place. Despite how I feel about him, it’s not my place to air his dirty laundry like that.” You stared at Jisung for a while before looking back down at your mug of tea, taking a hard swallow despite how hot it was.

“Then why are you telling me now?”

“Because I don’t want you to learn this later and feel like I’m keeping secrets from you. I get the feeling you’d be extra sensitive about stuff like that.” You couldn’t help but chuckle at Ji’s words, he was right. Despite understanding his reasoning, you couldn’t help the odd sense of betrayal you felt learning Hyunjin kept this secret from you for years and you knew yourself well enough to know that the same hurt would hit you if Ji had chosen to do the same. It was irrational, it was unfair, but you couldn’t help feeling this way anyways. 

“I guess I should fess up too then…” Changbin said with a rough clearing of his throat. You looked up at him quizzically, finding yourself pulling from his hold without thinking, somewhat nervous as to what your boyfriend had to say.

“That person Han overheard Hyunjin confessing to? That…” Changbin couldn’t look at you as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “that was me.” 

Fuck, the blows just kept on coming, didn’t they? 

You had to walk to the nearest kitchen counter to steady yourself on the edge as you processed what your Binnie had just told you. You didn’t know how to feel about it.

“He… He told you?” You found yourself asking, floundering, just trying to piece together your feelings as your still raw nerves took on more new information. Changbin simply nodded. You swallowed, taking a deep and steady breath. “When? And why did he tell you?”

“It was right before I asked you out, he gave me the final push to go for it. But if I'm honest, I knew he had a thing for you from the moment I met him.” Hyunjins words from the day you hemorrhaged all your hurt and confused feelings rose to the forefront of your mind. 

“I’m getting out of the way.”

This must’ve been what he meant. Changbin had said something similar about Hyunjin the night you two almost had your first kiss,about how Hyunjin was “always in the way”. And then, almost immediately after, Hyunjin took a huge step back and Changbin had asked you out. You felt so stupid. Of course you could tell there was something off between him and Changbin, and it wasn’t hard to figure out that the change in your dynamics with both boys were interconnected - that much was obvious. What you didn’t realize was just how much the boys had wised up to each other and how fast. Changbin had instantly clocked Hyunjins feelings and Hyunjin knew intrinsically that Changbin was trying to move in on you. The entire time the two of them were aware of the bigger picture while you bumbled in the middle, stuck in your own bubble, stuck on your own worries and feelings. 

“If you knew how he felt, then… then why did you ask me out? Wasn’t it too much of a hassle?” It was a stupid question, but a part of you felt like you had to ask it anyway, just to get it out of your system. 

“Because I wanted you.” You couldn’t help the way your heart fluttered at your boyfriend's words and Jisung suddenly felt like maybe he should silently slip out while he had the chance. “Oh no you don’t Han,” Changbin said flatly the moment he noticed his friend moving in his periphery, snagging the slimmer boy by the arm. “You’re not leaving me to deal with her wrath on my own.” 

“You two are getting all sappy,” Ji said defensively, trying to pull himself from Bin’s grasp. “And this is really something you two should discuss in private,” he added in a more serious tone.

“No, please stay. You’re great moral support,” you rasped out, taking a moment to sip at the tea you had forgotten you were even holding. Ji looked over to you, his gaze holding yours before heaving a sigh and leaning against the counter adjacent to you. 

“What do you need moral support for? You plan on dumping your buff boyfriend cause he knew your long time crush liked you back?” As much as Jisung tried to sound like he was joking, he was asking sincerely, unsure of how you would truly react to all of this. Changbins eyes whipped over to Han, he never said anything about you harboring anything real for Hyunjin as well.

“What? No, I would never! I love Binnie!” You suddenly blurted, allowing Changbin to release the breath he had been holding before your words fully sunk in and made his heart jerk and sputter. Jisung took no pause in grinning at you, taunting words already on his tongue.

“Oh, you love him, do you? I didn’t know things had gotten so serious between you two already.” Your face burned red as you looked at Jisung, grinning smugly at you, crossing his arms and legs as he watched you casually. 

“Wait, what? No. I didn’t-”

“You don’t love Bin? Why not Y/N? Isn’t he just so lovable?” Ji asked, cutting you off. 

“I- I mean of course he is. Of course I love him, but I’m not- that is to say we’re not- we haven’t-!” You were once again cut off, but this time by Jisung’s laughter as he slightly doubled over, his arms going from simply resting across his chest to holding his stomach as he tried to contain himself. Beside him Changbin stood silently and awkwardly, a noticeable flush on his too-cute face. At least you weren’t the only one feeling flustered.

“Relax, I’m just teasing.” Jisung smiled at you once he stood up right, nudging Bin with his shoulder, “It’s only been a couple of months, it might be too early for you two to be using the ‘L’ word yet.” Changbin gave Jisung a look that you couldn’t quite decipher and with the way you were feeling, you weren’t quite in the mood to try and figure it out. 

“Yeah…” you said idly, taking another sip of your now lukewarm tea, “it might be.” The three of you settled into silence for a moment before you spoke again. “I don’t know what I should do with all of this new information…” 

“Do you have to do anything?” Ji asked so simply you felt your despair lift for a moment. You hadn’t thought about that. “I mean, he doesn’t expect you to reciprocate his feelings right? Did he ask you to choose him?” You frowned at your friend's words and shook your head, setting the mug down on the counter behind you. 

“I think I would've preferred him making me choose over him ending our friendship.”

“He did what?” Ji’s posture stiffened as the two boys looked at you wide eyed. 

“Yeah, what did you think I meant when I said you were my only best friend left?”

“I dunno! I didn’t really think too hard on that part, I kinda just assumed you were being pissy with him and just were saying things in the heat of the moment!” You didn’t expect Ji to be so flabbergasted and Bin looked equally as startled by your clarification. You couldn’t help but smile sadly. “I never thought he could ever do something so drastic…” 

“Neither did I,” you said in a small voice, allowing yourself to be comforted when Changbin returned to your side and pulled you into him. You wrapped your arms around him tightly. “He promised he’d never abandon me, but in the end he did, just like in highschool.” To your surprise it was Changbin who spoke up. 

“Bunny, I don’t know how this must feel to you but, please don’t be so harsh on him.” You blinked up at Bin, astonished, as he continued, “when he told me out he felt about you, he sounded so sincere. I know I wasn’t there, I don’t know exactly what he said to you , but I don’t think he’s abandoning you. I truly don’t think he has that in him. Give it time, he’ll be back.” 

“Do you even want him to be back? The guy’s in love with your girlfriend,” Ji interjected, his head cocked to the side as he regarded his friends. 

“He’s been in love with her, but he was her friend first, if he was going to disrespect our relationship then he would’ve done it already.” Your mind drifted back to the night Hyunjin almost kissed you in his apartment, how he reared back as if he had been bitten, how his eyes were rimmed with tears and regret, how he refused to even stand too close to you after. “My girlfriend is hurting and if having him back in her life will make it better, then yeah, I want them to make up. You know, even if they do feel the same way about each other” 

“Damn Bin, you’re a better man than me,” Ji huffed, impressed. 

“And me,” you added, gazing into Changbins eyes when they dropped to look into  yours. “I know you must be feeling just as confused as I am Binnie, I’m sorry. I know I never told you how I felt about Hyunjin and Ji just dropped into conversation so casually.” You heard Jisung swear as he facepalmed, at least that confirmed to you that he hadn’t meant to do so on purpose. 

“It… doesn’t feel good to hear, I’m not gonna lie, but…” Changbin took a moment to lick his lips, trying to find the right words. “But just like the other night at the pizza place, you picked me. I thought that night was the first time you truly put me before him, but I was wrong. You’ve picked me so many times before then. How can I not feel wanted after learning that?” 

You couldn’t help but throw yourself at your boyfriend, earning a whiny “gross” followed by an overdramatic gag from Ji when he saw you two kiss right in front of him. You didn’t care, you just had to kiss Binnie, because he really was the best. You had never forgotten this, in fact it was the main reason why you missed him so much. He was quickly becoming a solid rock in your life, always aware, always open minded, he communicated himself clearly and held himself with so much confidence that it made you feel more confident just by being around him. Truly the only issue was the lack of time together. When the two of you finally stopped making out, Ji made his way across the kitchen to hug you from behind, sandwiching you between your two boys. 

“If you want Hyunjin back in your life then we’ll be here to support you” Jisung began softly, nuzzling into your shoulder, “and until then, well, we’ll still be here. Both of us. I’m sorry again for ghosting you Y/N. I can’t guarantee a lot of time for either of us, but I promise to do my best to make more time for you.”

“Same for me Bunny, I didn’t ask you to be mine just to leave you waiting for me all the time.” 

You smiled as you pressed a kiss to the side of Changbins neck before unwrapping an arm from your boyfriend's middle to reach behind you and hold Ji as best as possible. You needed to be holding them both as close to you as you possibly could. Unbidden Hyunjins now broken promise came to your mind again, the night he made it, how he held you as you cried. This would be different, you knew it would. Jisung and Changbin were different. They wouldn’t abandon you too.

---------------------------------------

Ooooooh boy, guess who's finally back with an update. And, like, an actual update, not just tacking on extra half chapters because I'm trying to fix whatever damage was done when I lost my fic 😅🥲

Anyway, we had a couple of chapters strictly following Hyunjins POV, and after the fall put from the last chapter, I knew it was a good a time as any for him to bow out. If I'm honest, I really didn't know where exactly I wanted this chapter to go, I just knew I wanted a chapter with Jisung and Changbin. Binnie really is just the best boyfriend, isn't he? And Ji has a couple of loose lips 😂

Taglist: @groovygroovyhyunjin @hhwangsmoon @luvyblossom @doggezz @kayleefriedchicken @hyunjinhoexxx @zadkielr @bincxtesworld @jisunglyricist @kpop-kink @amarecerasus @its-kitten-now @antisocial-socialbutterfly @s-3-l-3-na @143il0v3you @tajannah-price1

[poppylovestowrite]

Can I request karma x reader cuddling while it's raining? Mostly pure fluff

Homework Can Wait

The weekends were meant for you and Karma. It was a deal you made with him when the two of started dating. You see, you're quite a busy bee, especially on the weekdays. You have school to worry about, club activities, and cram school. But, on the weekend, you make time to see Karma. 

You wanted to make that happen, but today you had to bend that deal a bit. Because your nightmare of a math teacher decided it would be fun to ruin everyone's weekend by dumping mountains of assignments.

This brings you here, sitting on your living floor, doing your homework on a Sunday afternoon. 

If only you weren't busy yesterday, then maybe you would have had your Sunday off. You could have used your free time to be with your boyfriend. Then the two of you could have gone to that food festival.

You furrowed your brows and glance up to see the rain coming down through your window. Er. Actually, that wouldn't have happened regardless. Not with all this rain going on. Still, the two of you could have been spending time together.

You sighed and moved your attention back to your homework. What a shitty day. 

No, that's not entirely true. Karma came over, even in this weather just to be with you. You felt a little bad when you told him that you were too busy, but that wasn't enough to turn him away. Your parents were out at work so Karma figured he keeps you company as you worked. 

He can stay here, under the condition he doesn't distract you. You let him play with your video games so at least one of you guys won't die of boredom. 

Somewhere half through an assignment, Karma paused the game, walked over to you and sat down. He didn't say anything and just watched you work for a few seconds. 

"Need help?" Karma offers. 

You still didn't look at him and shook your head.

"No, these questions are easy. Just tedious."

As a response, Karma poked your side causing you to squeak. 

"I meant if you need help to relax?" Karma chuckles. "You're so stressed." He says it so lightly, almost playfully, but you can pick up his concern. And because he was concerned, you choose not to scold him for poking you like that.

"I'll take a break when I'm done," you assured him with a smile.

Before going back to work, you lovingly tapped the bottom of his chin.

Karma hummed passively at you, then scanned his eyes at the other assignments you still have to do. It looks like it's going to be hours before you're going to give yourself a break. He could help you. In math, at least. His best subject, so he can definitely help you breeze by these questions.  

Karma doesn't say anything else and lets you get back to work. He knows how stubborn you are and knows you won't accept his help. So no use in arguing with you.

He goes back to your couch to continue playing video games. You don't get distracted that easily, but he still kept the volume pretty low for you regardless. 

While Karma was killing zombies, you were trying to kill this math question. 

Yes, some of these questions were easy and tedious, but when you got to the ones you struggled with, you wished Karma were to help you. It's not too late to ask him for his help. 

You shook your head and stubbornly kept quiet. 

You sighed, growing more and more frustrated over time. Your legs were falling asleep, your wrist was cramping up, and you were beginning to see numbers every time you blinked. 

Maybe you could use a break right now. 

For the first time in hours, you put your pencil down, closed your textbook and got up to sit with Karma on the couch.

Karma kept his attention on the game but did acknowledge you by speaking up. 

"Finally realized your sanity was breaking?"

"Yeah." You sighed tiredly. "Sorry that I'm using our time together to study."

"If anyone has to apologize to me, it would have to be your teacher," Karma says. It didn't sound like he wasn't going to hold this against you, which is good, but you still felt bad. You know he's been looking forward to spending some time with you this weekend.

You scooted closer to him and tugged his shirt, causing Karma to pause the game to look at you with a questioning hum.

"C'mon, let's do something together." You said. "I really could use a break."

"Oh~" A devilish smirk made its way across his face. "So now you want my attention?"

You frowned. "C'mon on, don't be like that. I want to hang out with you."

"Hm~ how badly?" Karma taunts, wanting to beg, and you knew that. 

"Very badly."

"You sure?"

"Yes!" You huffed. 

Karma's mischievous side started to fade as he chuckled fondly at you. 

"You're cute." He began to lean in. "Come here."

The soft whisper he used was enough to get your cheeks to turn pink, but what got you to go completely red was when he pressed his lips against yours. 

The sound of the raindrops tapping against the window and the faint sound of Karma's video games was all you heard as you kissed your boyfriend back. Your homework and just school, in general, have been completely wiped from your mind. The only thing on your mind was Karma.

Karma pulled away far too quickly than he usually does when he wants to make out with you, only because he wants to see you pout. And when you did, he softly chuckles but continues to kiss you since your lips were too addictive to him.

This time Karma had no intentions of pulling back. He kept his lips on yours until you became too shy and flustered to continue. He stopped and suggested watching a movie.  

You went back to worrying about your homework for a second there, but the soft reassuring touch Karma gave you was enough to get you to convince yourself that your homework can wait. 

You let Karma pick the movie since you were too tired to debate which movie is better to watch on a rainy day. And whenever you let Karma pick, he would always choose Sonic Ninja. The first one, since none of the sequels appeal to him as much.

You found yourself pressed up against Karma, arms wrapped around his torso and watching the movie with some interest. You wouldn't say you enjoyed Sonic Ninja as much as your boyfriend, but the movie was a good distraction from your work. The fight scenes were at least fun to watch, and some of the characters provided you with enough entertainment so that you can sit through it whenever you and Karma watch the movie.

Admittedly though, whenever the boring parts came, you did think about all the assignments you still had to do.

When the movie did end, Karma thought you would quickly leave his grasp and get back to work as soon as the credits began to roll. Karma expects you to jump out of his arms and head back to work as if you have some sort of timer built into you. 

Karma glances down at you.

"Do you want to get back to work?"

You lazily shook your head. No. No work right now. Sure, you got a good 2-hour break, but it wasn't enough for you. You didn't want to leave Karma's side.

To put you in a more comfortable position, Karma laid down on the couch, letting you rest on his chest. You smiled and appreciated the comfort he gave you as he wraps his arms around your waist.

"Play with my hair." You mumbled. 

"Hm... Sure, but what do I get out of it~?"

Ah, he loves to bargain with you, doesn't he? Well, considering all he wants is a kiss, you don't really argue with him.

You lifted your upper body and planted a soft kiss on his lip. When you went back to rest your head against his chest, you felt your boyfriend gently run his fingers through your head. A satisfying smile formed against your lips.

As the rain continues to fall, Karma kept playing with your hair with no complaint. He knows how much you've been working and just wants to help you relax now.

"I don't want to go to school tomorrow," you mumbled. 

As studious as you were, even you get burnt out from all this work. 

Karma chuckled. "You and me both. But, unlike you, I have the balls to skip class."

You huffed, slightly jealous of his "lazy but brilliant" persona. He does little of the work yet has one of the best scores. 

"I would skip if the school didn't contact our parents when a student is absent," you confessed, then groaned and nuzzled your face against his chest. "What a pain."

Karma gently patted your back, sensing how tense you were getting over the thought of school tomorrow.

"Okay, okay, enough school talk." He shushes in his honey-coated voice. Just focus on your cute boyfriend."

"Cute and annoying boyfriend." You bluntly reminded him.

As punishment for that comment, Karma ran his fingers down your side to tickle you. You squirm and laughed at this action.

"Hey--"

Before you can push yourself off to get away from him, Karma was merciful and stopped tickling you. He laughs playfully at your reaction, and as annoyed as you were, you couldn't help but chuckle. 

Instead of tickling you, Karma chooses to gently stroke your back. You smiled and snuggled closer to his neck. 

You only meant to shut your eyes for a couple of seconds, but Karma's scent and warmth were putting you to sleep.

"(Y/n)?" Karma said when he heard a light snore from you. He gently patted your back, and when you didn't respond, Karma knew that you must have fallen asleep.

The redhead cranes his neck to the side and spots the clock hanging on the wall. Normally, at this time, you would be sending Karma home by now. Even on a weekend, you like to keep a schedule and follow through with it. But, he doesn't have the heart to wake you up. You deserve some rest.

Karma relaxes his head, trying not to move so much to avoid waking you up. The only sound he would allow was the raindrops hitting the window outside.

He would let you sleep here as long as you want, then he would insist on helping you with your homework, no matter how much you refuse his help. But not before taking out his phone and taking a picture of the two of you. 

[incorrectpizza]

So...my roommate preordered Jedi: Survivor for me for Christmas. I was ecstatic as it was a purchase i never would've splurged on myself, but she knew how much I loved the first game and wanted to me to be able to play the second one.

Since then...

I scheduled myself for work the original release date (St. Patrick's Day)

Then EA moved it to right before finals week.

Then the most dramatic campus-specific event in years rocked my little world and made my anxiety skyrocket, but, hey, at least I had Survivor to look forward to!

BUT, my dear friends, EA's release *sucked* and I stayed up until midnight to play it, only for it to spend hours unpacking.

And then the title sequence glitched the first time I tried to start it in the morning.

And then then, while troubleshooting the title sequence glitch, the FIRE ALARM WENT OFF.

My roommate managed to get it to boot up after we were allowed back in the dorm safe and sound. I played up to the first meditation point. It was amazing! One or two frame rate drops but overall it looked & felt epic.

Then we had to go to classes.

Then my roommate had a boatload of homework.

We finally were within twenty minutes or so of being able to sit down and play in earnest for a few hours.

And...

A friend walked over from the other room asking if I could run her to the ER because she felt like she couldn't breathe. Asthma attack. Cue forty five minute drive. She's okay, now, but we have the long, dark drive back which I'm not really looking forward to it.

I swear it feels like I'll never get to play Survivor.

Maybe I should quit trying before I jinx something else.

ADDENDUM: So...I never posted this...

BUT I can't resist posting even though it's terribly late and I did (spoiler alert) get to finish the game because IT GETS EVEN BETTER.

I was able to play several hours over the course of the first five days after the game's release but then there was a patch that came out Thursday, May 4th so I couldn't play it in the morning. I was going to play in the evening because I had a terribly busy afternoon but then...

I GOT A CONCUSSION.

And could not do screens because headache and also healing. So, not only could i not play on Star Wars Day, I had to take a solid five days off from playing.

I did technically boot up the game twice, once to play myself for fifteen minutes, and the other time to listen to my roommate play for a while because I really, really wanted to try and progress the story a bit.

I managed to play a few more hours after healing up and before my roommate left, taking her gaming laptop with her.

At this point, I was midway through the game and desperate. I somehow managed to launch it on my crappy computer and played for forty-five minutes one day. It stalled and I kept glitching through walls I was supposed to run across, but somehow it didn't crash.

Then once I got home I crammed the last third of the game in THREE DAYS before I went on a trip halfway across the U.S. During that time, I had to switch from my sister's gaming computer to my brother's because one of the last cutscenes kept glitching.

I did the final boss fight FOUR TIMES.

And then, my friends, I actually did it. Somehow.

Despite work schedules, delays, launch day bugs, a fire alarm, inexplicable crashes, and a concussion, I completed Jedi: Survivor.

[aspenmissing]

𝙿𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚖 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 (𝙿𝚝 𝟸)

The siblings rush into the airport and check the Departure board.

"Right there. They're boarding in thirty minutes.”

"Okay. We still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone," Dean picks up a courtesy phone.

"Airport Services."

"Hi. Gate thirteen."

"Who are you calling, sir?

"I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on the flight, um...flight 4-2-4," Dean's silent for a moment. "Come on.”

"This is Amanda Walker."

"Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here.”

"Karen?"

"Nothing serious, just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so-"

"Wa-wait, that's impossible. I just got off the phone with her." Dean pauses.

"You what?"

"Five minutes ago. She's at her house, cramming for a final. Who is this?"

"Uh, well...there must be some mistake.”

"And how would you even know I was here?" Sam and Y/N go around Dean to try to hear what's going on. "Is this one of Vince's friends?"

"Guilty as charged."

"Wow. This is unbelievable."

"He's sorry."

"Well, you tell him to mind his own business and stay out of my life, okay?"

"Yes, but...he needs to see you tonight, so— "

"No, I'm sorry. It's too late.”

"Don't be like that. Come on. The guy's a mess. Really. It's pathetic."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Look, I've got to go. Um...tell him to call me when I land." Amanda hangs up.

"No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda! Dammit! So close."

"All right, it's time for plan B. We're getting on that plane," Sam says.

"Whoa, whoa, now just hold on a second." Dean is wide-eyed.

"Dean, that plane is leaving with a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is gonna crash.”

"I know."

"Okay. So, we're getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I and Y/N will get the tickets. You get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through the security. Meet us back here in five minutes," Sam says. Dean looks at him anxiously.

"I and Dean will go to the trunk, you get the tickets," Y/N says as she walks away, pulling Dean with her.

"Are you okay?" She asks.

"No, not really."

"What? What's wrong?"

"Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh..."

"Flying?"

"It's never really been an issue until now."

"You're joking right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking? Why do you think I like driving everywhere, Y/N?"

"All right. Uh, I'll get the stuff, and I and Sammy will go," Dean stops walking.

"What?"

"I and Sammy will do this one on our own," Y/N stops and turns to face Dean.

"What are you, nuts? You heard Sammy yourself, the plane's gonna crash."

"Dean, we can all do it together, or I and Sammy can do this one by ourselves. I'm not seeing a third option, here.”

"Come on! Really? Man..."

==

"Flight attendants, please cross-check doors before departure." Y/N is in the aisle seat and is anxiously reading the safety card, Dean sits in the middle, while Sam sits on the window seat.

"Just try to relax," Y/N whispers, Dean using his free hand to hold onto Y/N's arm.

"Just try to shut up," the plane takes off, with Dean jumping at every rumble and sound, making him grip Y/N's arm tighter. Sam smirks as she sighs.

==

Dean is leaning back, humming to himself. Sam and Y/N look at him.

"You're humming Metallica?" Sam questions.

"Calms me down."

"Look, man, I get you're nervous, all right? But you got to stay focused," Y/N says, smiling reassuringly.

"Okay."

"I mean, we got thirty-two minutes and counting to track this thing down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full-on exorcism," Sam says.

"Yeah, on a crowded plane. That's gonna be easy.”

"Just take it one step at a time, all right? Now, who is it possessing?"

"It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armor that the demon can worm through. Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress," Dean says.

"Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash. If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up.”

"Mm-hm." Y/N turns to a flight attendant "Excuse me. Are you Amanda?"

"No, I'm not."

"Oh, my mistake."

"Mm-hmm." Y/N looks to the back of the plane at Amanda.

"All right, well, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental."

"What if she's already possessed?"

"There are ways to test that." Dean goes into his bag and comes out with a Virgin Mary-shaped bottle of water. "I brought holy water."

"No." Sam snatches the bottle and tucks it inside his hoodie. "I think we can go more subtle. If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God.”

"Oh. Nice." Dean passes by Y/N and turns to go.

"Hey." Sam calls.

"What?" Dean replies.

"Say it in Latin.”

"I know." Dean leaves again.

"Okay. Hey!" Y/N calls.

"What?!"

"Uh, in Latin, It's "Christo"."

"Dude, I know! I'm not an idiot." Dean makes his way to the back of the plane, thumping a seat once after the plane shakes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your first officer speaking..." At the back of the plane, Amanda is fussing with the drink cart and napkins.

"Hi."

"Hi. Can I help you with something”?

"Oh, no. I'm just a bit of an uneasy flier. It makes me feel better to walk around a little bit.”

"Oh, it happens to the best of us.”

"Of course, you being a stewardess, I guess flying comes easy to you" Amanda laughs.

"You'd be surprised."

"Really? You're a nervous flier?"

"Yeah, maybe, a little bit."

"How is it that, being a stewardess, you're scared to fly?"

"Kind of a long story."

"Right. I'm sorry for asking.”

"It's okay."

"You ever consider other employment."

"No. Look, everybody's scared of something. I just, uh...I'm not gonna let it hold me back.”

"Huh."

"So.."

"Christo" Dean says quietly.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something?" Dean hesitates.

"Christo?"

"I-I didn't, I didn't."

"Yeah, nothing. Never mind." Dean returns to Sam and Y/N.

"Okay."

"All right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet."

"You said, Christo?" Sam says.

"Yeah."

"And?" Y/N asks.

"There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her.”

"So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone. Anywhere." The plane shakes.

"Come on! That can't be normal!" Dean mutters.

"Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence," Y/N says, gripping Dean's arm.

"Guys, this plane is going to crash, okay? So, quit treating me like I'm friggin' four.”

"You need to calm down."

"Yes, you can."

"Dude, stop the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap, it's not helping.”

"Listen, if you're panicked, you're wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down. Right now," Dean takes a long, slow breath.

"Good," Y/N says, she begins flicking through the journal. "Now, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work. The Rituale Romanum," Y/N says.

"What do we have to do?" Dean asks.

"It's two parts. The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which makes it more powerful," Sam explains.

"More powerful?"

"Yeah."

"How?" Dean asks.

"Well, it doesn't need to possess anyone anymore. It can just wreak havoc on its own," Y/N says.

"Oh. And why is that a good thing?"

"Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to hell once and for all.”

"First things first, we got to find it," Dean walks slowly up the aisle with his EMF meter, getting odd looks but no readings. Sam suddenly claps him on the shoulder, and he jumps.

"Ah! Don't do that.”

"Anything?"

"No, nothing. How much time we got.”

"Fifteen minutes. Maybe we miss somebody.”

"You believe that?"

"Well, I will if you will." Dean looks down as the EMF meter spikes. The Copilot exits the bathroom and heads toward the cockpit.

"What? What is it?"

"Christo" The Co-pilot turns slowly to face them he turns around and his eyes are black. He then turns and goes back into the cockpit. The three looks at each other.

==

Sam, Dean, and Y/N head to the back of the plane toward Amanda.

"She's not gonna believe this."

"Twelve minutes, dude."

"Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope.”

"That's kind of what we need to talk to you about," Sam closes the curtain.

"Um, okay. What can I do for you?" Amanda asks.

"All right, look, we know you were on flight 2485," Y/N's smile disappears.

"Who are you guys?"

"Now, we've spoken to some of the other survivors. We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure," Y/N says.

"We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again. Here. Now."

"I'm sorry, I—I'm very busy. I have to go back-" She tries to push past Dean but is stopped by him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? But listen to me, uh...The pilot in 2485, Chuck Lambert. He's dead."

"Wait. What? What, Chuck is dead?"

"He died in a plane crash. Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?" Y/N says.

"I-" Amanda is cut off from Sam.

"Look, there was something wrong with 2485. Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too.”

"Amanda, you have to believe us" Dean pleads.

"On...on 2485, there was this man. He...had these eyes.”

"Yes. That's exactly what we're talking about.”

"I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?"

"Okay. The co-pilot, we need you to bring him back here" Dean says.

"Why? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Don't have time to explain. We just need to talk to him. Okay?"

"How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the co-pilot-"

"Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit”.

"Do you know that I could lose my job if you-"Amanda is cut off from Dean.

"Okay, well you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't help us out" Amanda hesitates.

"Okay," Amanda leaves and goes to the cockpit. She knocks on the door and says something inaudible to the co-pilot, who follows her back. Sam and Dean pull out the holy water, and Y/N pulls out John's journal and opens it.

"Yeah, what's the problem?" Dean punches him in the face, knocking him down, and puts duct tape over his mouth.

"Wait. What are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him.”

"We are gonna talk to him" Dean splashes holy water on his skin, which sizzles.

"Oh, my god. What's wrong with him?"

"Look. We need you calm. We need you outside the curtain”.

"Well, I don't understand- I don't know”.

"Don't let anybody in, okay? Can you do that? Can you do that? Amanda"

"Okay. Okay," Amanda leaves.

"Hurry up Y/N. I don't know how much longer we can hold him”?

"Regna terrae, cantata Deo, satellite Domino-" The demon breaks free briefly and hits all three until Dean manages to subdue him again. Y/N picks up where she left off. The demon knocks Y/N and Dean off again and pulls the tape off his mouth. He grabs Sam by the collar.

"I know what happened to your girlfriend! She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!" Dean and Y/N recover, and she hits the Demon as Sam sits there, stunned. She then picks up the journal.

"Sam!" Dean shouts. Sam recovers as Y/N starts reading again. Both Sam and Dean are now pinning the Demon down. The demon then kicks Y/N, sending the journal up the aisle.

"I got him" The Demon looks to Y/N and into her eyes, its own seemingly realizing and recognizing something before it exits the Co-pilot's body and disappears into a vent "Where'd it go?"

"It's in the plane. Hurry up. We got to finish it”.

The plane suddenly dips and heaves violently. Sam struggles to retrieve the book as Dean splays himself against the exit door screaming. Y/N sits with her back to the wall, grabbing onto whatever she can to keep her stable. Sam manages to grab the book and reads the rest of the exorcism. A bright electrical charge runs through the entire plane, which then levels out. Various people ask if everyone's okay. Amanda sighs in relief. Dean and Y/N come out from behind the curtain as Sam sighs.

==

The passengers from the flight are disembarking in an area milling with uniformed agents. The Co-pilot is seated in a wheelchair with a blanket wrapped around him, being questioned by an agent.

"Sir, can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't know. I was walking through the airport, and then it all went blank. I don't even remember getting on the plane" Amanda is being questioned by another agent.

"Anything else?"

"No, that's all" She sees Sam, Dean, and Y/N standing across the way and mouths "Thank you". They nod.

"Let's get out of here" The three head for the exit. "You, okay?" Sam stops and turns.

"Dean, it knew about Jessica”.

"Sam, these things, they read minds. They lie. All right? That's all it was”.

"Yeah"

"Come on"

==

"Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed" Jerry shakes their hands "Your dad's gonna be real proud.

"We'll see you around, Jerry" Y/N begins to head off.

"You know, Jerry," she says.

"Yeah"

"I meant to ask you, how did you get my cell phone number, anyway? I've only had it for like six months" Y/N says.

"Your dad gave it to me."

"I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call. Thanks again, guys" Jerry leaves.

==

"This doesn't make any sense, man. I've called Dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service" Y/N dials a number. As the voice message begins, she turns it so Sam and Dean can hear too.

"This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my daughter, Y/N. 785-555-0179. She can help" Sam fumes and gets into the car, followed by Dean and Y/N and they drive off.

[denkidere]

tempest in a teacup

nanami x reader

2.6k words

semi-public sex, coworkers, slight age difference, cheating, ino x reader mentioned

you would never consider sleeping with your coworker. if only you weren't so easily swayed.

nanami was nothing short of a perfect coworker. although he was a bit older than you, you found no shortage of things to talk about together, and the two of you got along exceptionally well. before long, you found him making excuses to drop by your desk, filling up a mug for you when he made himself coffee, defending you in meetings when a superior dared to undermine your suggestions, staying late at the office with you to help finish extra work. half of your coworkers would have been playing matchmaker between the two of you, if not for strict company policy forbidding inappropriate relationships between employees-- and your boyfriend.

there was nothing wrong with him, really. you were perfectly happy in your relationship. but you couldn't deny the way something in your stirred when nanami's hand rested briefly on your shoulder, steadying himself as he leaned over you to set down a steaming mug of coffee. you couldn't help but mentally replay the way his eyes scanned your face when it was just the two of you crammed into your cubicle, filling in spreadsheets and sifting through files after hours, the lighting dimmed. you felt guilty, and you were sure he did, too; you could see it in the look that flashed across his face the first time you mentioned ino to him in passing. despite his feelings, he kept up his behavior, hiding his affection under a layer of plausible deniability. if it bothered you, you would say something, right? that's what you both told yourselves.

it was hard to recall when exactly things had escalated. it had maybe been the night you two went out drinking after work (alone, of course) and he had driven you home, pitifully drunk, wrapping an arm around your waist to help you stumble up to your apartment. he had been so hesitant to let go, even when your boyfriend unlocked the door from inside, worried sick, finally able to shake hands with nanami from work who he had heard so much about. you had shot down ino's suspicious comments about your relationship with nanami, but they rung in your mind endlessly. if it wasn't that, perhaps it was the pastries he brought you on your birthday that he refused to let you share, ensuring that nobody but you would see the note he had slid under a danish, simply wishing 'his sweetest coworker' a happy birthday. ino's fit over such a subtly intimate note would have been catastrophic, but you knew well enough to hide it, swallowing the guilt you felt. truly, you never wanted to hurt him. you didn't know it had gotten out of control until it was far too late, nanami leaning over you at your desk with coffee like always (when had it become every day?), now sneakily pressing a kiss into your neck, persuading you to stay late more and more-- "if we work ahead tonight, we can both leave early tomorrow, you know. wouldn't your boyfriend be happy to see you home before five?"-- and you falling for his tricks every time, as if you had ever considered saying no.

the silence in the building when everyone but the two of you had left was almost disturbing; it was second nature to tune out the clacking of keyboards and mechanical shuffles of printing documents after only a few months of office work, but its absence at the end of the day was horrifically pronounced. it amplified every fidget of fabric, the sound of nanami loosening his tie, popping open a button or two on his shirt just to gauge your reaction, the groan of your chair on the outdated carpet as you inched your chair closer to his.

"our entire department thinks we're sleeping together," you murmur, desperately trying to keep your eyes on his face instead of his collarbones. "i'm not sure if we should keep staying so late together like this."

"is that so?" he asked, sounding bored. "if it bothers you, i suppose i can stop staying with you. i just hate to leave you all alone here." you scoffed.

"it only bothers me that you're so unfazed by rumors of sleeping with a girl who's in a relationship. you don't exactly try and avoid fueling the gossip, either." out of everything, why were those the words to make him smile?

"ask me to stop, then," he said, looking almost shy. "we wouldn't look nearly as guilty if you didn't spur me on." you opened your mouth to argue, but you knew you had no response. "it might help the gossip if you hung up a picture or two of you with your boyfriend. does anyone but me even know about him?" you chewed at your lip. god, he was almost being mean.

"okay, you got me," you sighed. "i just don't like being talked about like that by half the office. i'm sure you understand." he nodded solemnly, his smug smile fading.

"i  certainly understand, but i can't say i hate the sound of it." you almost wanted to turn back to your spreadsheet. you wanted to remind him that he knew you weren't available, to scold yourself for even feeding into whatever he was trying to accomplish with you, but the words couldn't leave your mouth.

"what are you suggesting?" he placed a hand on your thigh, large and warm. naturally, you made no move to stop him.

"you're so beautiful. does he tell you that?" he asked, voice low, his hand climbing your leg. you swallowed, nodding weakly.

"yes, of course he does." he hummed, his other hand delicately holding your face.

"do you intend to marry him?" his face was so close to yours, his expression serious.

"i don't know, maybe," you mumbled, blinking slowly.

"you're too young to be tied down like that," he said softly, his voice tinged with approval at your reluctance. "don't you want to explore your options?" you gasped softly at the feeling of his thumb tracing the inner seam of your slacks, moving slowly inwards.

"isn't 'exploring your options' reserved for people who aren't in relationships?" you cursed the tremble in your voice and the aching between your legs.

"that may be so," he murmured, glancing down at the twitching muscles in your thigh. "but you're not exactly acting like someone who's in a relationship." all you could do was pout helplessly, allowing him to part your legs, leaning in impossibly further to kiss at your neck. "you seem quite excited," he teased. you felt his lips curl into a smile as he gingerly rubbed at the damp spot forming in your pants. you bit your lip again to hold back a whine.

"can you remind me what your boyfriend's name is?" he was still teasing you with a finger, his kisses on your neck getting sloppier. if your head didn't feel so fuzzy, you would've asked what the hell he was talking about.

"ino," you gritted out, your hands clutching at the armrests of your chair as he added more pressure to his slow touches. "you should know that."

"is that the name you say when he's fucking you?" your breath hitched, he sped up, you nodded, unable to speak around the moan you were biting back.

"ah, i see." he had paused his kisses, pulling away from your neck to look at you, flushed and disheveled. "what do you say when you're touching yourself?" you closed your eyes, unable to look back at him. this was nanami, your stoic coworker, the man who wordlessly fixed your paperjams, who walked you to your car, wrapped in his coat, on winter nights when it got dark early. you had never seen him as anything but respectful. it was both a reward and a punishment to hear him so smug and vulgar.

"n-nanami," you whimpered, defeated. you had meant to say his name, yes, but as a warning. you couldn't admit to yourself how well it also served as an answer. the look on his face was intoxicating.

"if you want me to stop, stop me now," he whispered, his hand slowing to a pause. "i'm being terribly unprofessional, but i don't think i have it in me to stop myself anymore." you could not sleep with your coworker. you couldn't do something like that to poor ino. you couldn't admit how much you were loving his hands all over you.

"nanami," you breathed, as he shoved your keyboard and mouse aside, hoisting you up onto your cluttered desk.

"what is it, sweet girl?" he mused, hooking his fingers into your waistband. you whined again, leaning back against your computer monitor.

a million things that you could have said flashed through your mind. as your hands settled around the back of his neck, you managed to land on one. "we're going to make a mess in here." he gave you a soft smile, tilting his head to kiss your forearm.

"don't worry about that," he murmured, your work pants starting to wrinkle around your ankles. "i'll clean up whatever i have to." he was fiddling with his belt buckle. the metal clinks seemed louder than cannonfire. you were desperate to find any hint of guilt left in either of you; you scanned his face, tried to ignore how willing you were to spread your bare legs for him, one trembling hand meeting his to pull down his zipper. he was smiling at you again, the small but warm smile you were sure nobody at the office but you had ever seen. if it weren't for the impatient way he was unbuttoning your top, you might have thought he was in love with you.

"at the risk of asking for too much," he breathed, his lips brushing against your ear, "can i ask you to kiss me?" without hesitation you pulled him in, nails digging into his pale skin as you licked the taste of black coffee off of his lips, relishing the way his soft groans bounced off of the cheap cubicle walls. he was touching you again with one shameless hand, swallowing your moans as his fingers dipped into you. you could feel him, solid as a rock, as he ground into your thigh. you pulled away, grasping at his hair.

"nanami," you said again, his name tasting semisweet on your tongue. your free hand traced down his chest, grazing tantalizingly exposed skin, daring to grab him by the base, your fingers absently tracing a vein. for the first time, you saw him completely speechless for just a moment, fighting for his composure.

he swallowed, eyes shutting for a moment. "i don't mean to take his place, you know," he said quietly, voice strained as he rubbed against you, narrowly missing your entrance. "i could never ask you to leave him for me, or anything of that nature. this never even has to happen again." he gripped at your thigh, his eyes darting down to see the way your skin dimpled, as if he couldn't believe the sensation from touch alone. "i just couldn't have gone another day without putting my hands on you." your head was spinning. how could you go back to ino after what you were doing? worse yet, how could you ever stay away from nanami?

"you might as well just fuck me now," you sighed, your legs tense from anticipation. "i'll-- we'll figure everything out later. i just need you right now." you clutched at the front of his shirt, pulling him in for another dreadful kiss as he finally sunk into you, hissing against your lips at the warm squeeze around him. your mind was almost blank, save for the damning realization that he was bigger than ino (just as you had imagined), stretching you in a way that made your eyes screw shut. he buried his face in your neck, his teeth grazing your skin.

"god," he groaned. he pulled out, agonizingly slow, just to drill into you again. "you're divine." if you hadn't been so animalistically horny you might have felt ashamed about the way your coworker's cock was splitting you open on your desk, monitor thudding against the wall on beat with his deep thrusts, marks surely forming in places you could never hope to hide as he stifled his moans in your skin. you couldn't care about anything else anymore, breaking out into a sweat, clawing at his starched blue shirt, contracting around him just to hear his breath hitch. his slender fingers dug into your hips. "i don't know how much longer i can last," he choked out, his words carrying the threat of pulling out. you felt delusional, drunk on the feeling of him inside of you, unwilling to give it up so soon.

"nanami," you begged, "don't stop. you don't have to stop, it's okay." he abandoned your shoulder to look at you, one hand torn away from your hip to hold your chin again.

"are you sure, sweet girl?" he panted, his brows knit. "i was trying not to complicate things any more than i already have." how could his voice sound so even when he was plowing into you like that? you grabbed his dangling tie, pulling it like a leash.

"it can't get much more complicated than this." he smiled again. sweat had melted his expensive hair gel; you took a moment to savor how handsomely disarrayed he looked, strands of hair falling into his eyes, his shirt deeply wrinkled. "if it makes a difference, i've never let him--" a switch flipped, he cut you off with a thrust deeper than before, your knees pinned by your shoulders, nothing leaving your mouth but choked moans.

"a world of a difference," he murmured, movements getting sporadic. for all you cared, he could have been fucking you in the middle of the work day; the friction from the new position had you questioning how much longer you could last. judging by the way he was kissing you again, his mouth trailing down your chest, he could tell. "are you going to tell him?"

you threw your head back as his tongue circled your nipple. "would you, if you were me?" you groaned, your words punctuated by increasingly erratic thrusts. "i can't believe you'd even ask." as your vision turned white with pleasure, it occurred to you dimly that he was getting off on the thought of it. your whole body tensed, a terribly loud noise escaping you.

"if you don't tell him everything, at least mention how good i made you feel," he whispered, his face in your neck again as he pressed as far into you as he could, almost whimpering at the feeling of the cum seeping out of you before he had even pulled out. you were panting, limp under him, certain you had broken your monitor and drenched the keyboard, still throbbing and replaying nanami's words in your mind.

"do you want some help cleaning this up, nanami?" you rasped, holding the edge of the desk with a white-knuckled grip. he laughed, looking happier than you'd ever seen him.

"i would love to accept the help, but i think you have something more important to attend to." you wished he weren't so right. "i would offer to help you there, too, but i'm afraid i'm biased." he excused himself, heading to the bathroom (or so he claimed; you were almost positive that he went to stroll around aimlessly to give you time to think). you leaned your head back again, studying the ceiling. in all your life, you had never been so horrified by the sight of a security camera.

[riku-writings]

ADMIRATION

Pairing: Mitsuya Takashi x Fem! Reader

Summary: Reader likes to fantasize about The Home Economics Club Leader's Hands.

Warnings: Smut with a smol plot, Fingering.

A/n: I am not really sorry about this ꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡,,, inspired by that one megumi oneshot in wattpad that i read ages ago. . .((edited hundred times since i just realized now that some of the smut parts were messed up even though i checked it multiple times,,, I'm sorry for the confusion i hope i got the order right ಠ,_｣ಠ)

Wc; 2k

It started with just an innocent admiration of him being a charming dude, that's all. The guy's a good student, an overall husband material with his sewing and cooking skills. He was heaven sent with his overall visual ( dyed hair, piercings and his eyebrow slits). Everyone knows he's a delinquent because of that Pehyan dude who would fight with Yasuda-San just to excuse mitsuya out of the club. Despite his delinquent bg, Mitsuya was respectful and patient. Making every girl and boy swoon over him.

A bad boy with a soft hubby side. Best of both worlds they would say.

You were part of it. The Home Economics Club, they were lying if the whole club wasn't a simping club for the one and only Mitsuya Takashi. It was only yasuda and you who took the club for extra credits. The others well, you could say they were there to see him. Eitherway everyone was cooperative and hardworking.

Not only were you with him in that club. You were his classmate. Even better, his seatmate. You always get a view of his charming side profile.

You find yourself just staring at his features, from his long lashes to his pointed nose, down to his lips. Sometimes his tongue would dart out, out of pure concentration. (You noticed this whenever you try and get his attention to check your work in the club)

Your eyes always latching itself down to his hands. Not that you're a complete freak but you appreciate it. Like if someone asked you what body part attract you the most. You would definitely answer, hands.

His hands were the prettiest especially when its enclosed with those rings that has a cross engrave on it. It was veiny, fingers elongated and a bit bony. Nails cleanly cut. His wrist always had a silver bracelet on it. You don't know why was that attractive.

You had an unpopular opinion that it was soft to touch. You wonder if your thoughts were true. You can feel yourself blush at the thought of him just holding your hand.

You can't help it but you just stare at them with pure admiration. Due to this, you noticed how he liked twirling a pen around his middle and index finger. Fascinated, you tried it once, though you failed. You not knowing he was looking at your failed attempts. Grinning.

"y/n are you listening?" A voice called pulling you out of your own embarassing thoughts. You look up at the owner of the hands you've been staring at for a while now.

"U-uhm yes?"

"Tell me how did you end up with this then?" Mitsuya raises his brow, your messed up fabric lifted up by him. The girls around you giggled at your clumsy behaviour. You retrieved it. "Ehm, I'm sorry leader can you explain it again?"

"Alright, listen this time dummy" He says with a teasing grin, ruffling your hair gently. He sat next to you. Using the seam ripper to remove your mistakes. You just stared at his fingers pointing at where you should redo it.

You wondered how he would shove it in your mo—

You mentally slapped yourself. As you crossed your legs together at the sudden image that came over your mind. "You okay? y/n?" Mitsuya stared at you noticing how you pressed your thighs together. "Hmhm" You responded.

"Leader! can you check this?" Another called out for mitsuya. He stood up and pats your shoulder.

"alright, I'll leave it to you then" He smiled.

The next days you tried to scold your mind for having intrusive thoughts of Mitsuya and his hands. Unfortunately, your mind developed a sudden kink with it. Making every imaginary situation more. . . . lewd.

"Hey Y/n! Hold up your hand" Your classmate suddenly called you lifting his hand towards yours. You knew exactly what he was trying to do, since he's been busy tryna do that with the other girls this morning. "Eh? I don't want to." You replied.

"Bet if mitsuya did it, y/n would do it!" Another classmate of yours shouted from the back. You raised your middle finger, continuing on cramming your homework.

"Leader~ Can you do that for us~" The boys teasingly called mitsuya. Who was back from his lunch raising an eyebrow at them. Hands pocketed "Do what?"

"We're just comparing hand sizes" They shrugged lifting up their hands. "Y/n won't let us~~"

"Eh? Stop bothering y/n." Mitsuya say in his deep voice his feet landing a hit on their butts, before proceeding to you. The men in the back groaned.

Bending to meet your gaze. He grinned "Now you owe me, work on your missed templates with me later" The lilac haired boy reminded. You just rolled your eyes on him mocking a tongue out. He chuckled. "And I thought you just saved me, leader."

You stayed with him in the club room. Doing your templates beside him. Him just handstitching a bunny like doll. The room slowly darkening as the sun sets. He turned on a lamp beside his table. Slowly the other girls started to leave the club room, waving their goodbye's to Mitsuya.

"Hmmmm you've been spacing out lately, are you okay?" He coughed softly referring to your messed up works recently. Eyes going to you.

"Me? spacing out?" You acted dumb, you scoffed in a fake manner. Brushing your hair with your fingers to shake off your stiffening state.

Not meeting any of his gaze, you just continued to sketch.

Did he figure it out? Did he catch me staring at his hands? Nah I need to stop overthinking.

"Alright then." Silence invaded the whole club room again. Your eyes roamed around realizing the rest of the girls left already leaving you two alone.

"Hold your hand up." Mitsuya suddenly commanded. Eyes going to him, you raised your brow. "I wanna know— our hand difference." He explained raising his hand infront of you. Placing his doll down the table.

"You know the boys in our class are just a bunch of perverts right?" Speaking like a fucking hypocrite, your actions didn't match up with your words. Almost instinctively, you faced him holding them up. He pressed his against yours.

Your insides melt at this gesture. Your theory confirmed that he has actually, soft hands.

"You have cute small hands" His lips curled up, slowly his fingers intertwined with yours, locking it with his. "Well yours rough" You lied, cheeks burning as you looked at your connected hands. "Is that so?"

Abruptly, mitsuya pulled you close to him. Making your other hand rest on top of his shoulder. His face centimeters away yours. Lips almost brushing.

"So is this what they're trying to do with you?" He asks in a low voice his eyes piercing through you. Craning his neck, curious.

"Yeah. . . " You broke eye contact. "Good thing I stopped them." He chuckled, eyes closing. He leaned back. Patting your head.

Funnily, that interaction with him didn't stop your thoughts. Actually it made your whole dirty secret worse. Just seeing him tapping his fingers on his lips as his chin rested on his palm. Made your mind run thoughts about the things his hands would do to you.

You leaned back looking around the morning peace in the clubroom. You were always the first one to go here. Since it's more quiet that way.

You closed your eyes craning your neck side to side. Loosening up a bit.

What would his fingers feel wrapped around your neck— no. no.

You shifted on your seat, pressing your thighs together. Mentally slapping yourself.

Changing your attention, your sight caught your pen. Picking it up you tried to do that cool trick again. Trying to twirl it around in between your middle and index finger.

"Ohhh you're trying to do it again?" Mitsuya popped out of nowhere. You jolted a bit, making him laugh. You clearly didn't see him coming in.

He hovered behind you, his chest pressed on your back as he rested his hand on your desk right beside yours. He leaned in observing your half-done project. "Again?" You asked head turning towards his face.

"Well I saw you trying to do this"

He pulled his other hand up grabbing your pen, his fingers did it in ease. "no need to brag leader-san" You tell him grabbing your pen back. "Looks like you're gonna stay with me again later" Mitsuya mentioned pointing at your work.

After classes you proceeded to your clubroom already, knowing you're gonna take so long with your project. Though you were greeted by yasuda leaving you with her tasks because apparently she also had friday plans like the others. The others always had friday plans that it would leave you, yasuda and mitsuya with the work.

"It's okay yasuda-san! I promise to clean up and remind leader to lock the door!" You assured her, she then finally nodded. "Fine fine— Also don't let that slimy delinquent distract leader" She added, you nodded giving her a big thumbs up, she then waved her hands leaving you all alone with the mess of excess papers and fabric from this morning.

You tied your hair as you clean up the place before doing your own project. You actually sat on the front desk as you look around feeling satisfied. Finally continuing your hand stitch. (You gave up after breaking 3 needles into half with your machine.)

You stay seated on the front desk, comfortably doing your own project. Humming a few songs here in there. The door then slid open.

"I'm guessing yasuda san has plans?" Mitsuya came in seeing you on his desk. "yup" You nodded eyes focused on your stitch. Sudden fingers gripped your knees.

"You should stop manspreading in that skirt" He scolded you pushing your knees together. You shivered at his touch against your skin. Due to this sudden awareness of his hand still gripping your lower thighs— you accidentally pricked your finger on a needle.

"Ouch." You hissed as you saw your finger starts to ooze out blood. "You're so clumsy" Mitsuya clicked his tongue removing the cloth on your hands bringing it down to the side. He grabbed your hand and started sucking on your finger.

"U-uhm" You widened your eyes as you saw the sight of mitsuya sucking your index finger. You blushed profusely at this. "Eh? I- I — you didn't have to do that" He finally let go of your finger.

"I don't have bandages on me—plus that always does the trick" He says wiping it. You just nodded looking around. "Tsk what is it that got you distracted again hm?" He questions furrowing his brows he leaned closer to you. He layed his hands on the table, locking you in.

"Ugh you really want me to say it huh?" You groaned. He craned his neck to the side. Waiting for you to continue. "Okay— I may have a small admiration towards your hands. . ."

"Admiration?"

"Well it was honestly innocent at first until it got all dirty and as much as I wanted to get it out of my head you suddenly do things to me"

"And what was my hands doing?"

"Mitsuya . . "

"No dove tell me" He said as the choice of endearment shoot straight to your core. Making you shift on your seat.

"hm shoving it in my mou—"

Mitsuya shoved his middle and index finger inside your mouth. Your cheeks burn at the sudden action. His other hand held your waist, holding you closer. "You like this?" He asked with hooded eyes. Your tongue twirled around his finger, he slowly discarded them letting out a popping sound as it came out of your lips. Feeling your chest warmed up down to your lower belly.

"Is this why you're so distracted lately? because you're too busy thinking about my hands?" He then held your chin with his fingers as he hummed. Lips inching closer to yours. You just nodded feeling feverish. "Do you want me to kiss you?"

Once again you nodded. You can feel the growing lust underneath your skirt. Pressing your thighs together to relief the heat. Mitsuya following the movement. His eyes went back to pierce through yours.

"Say please" He smugly commanded. You pouted.

He taps your lips. Wetting it with your own spit.

"Please kiss me."

Mitsuya leaned in to claim your lips, you lightly gasped as his lips finally touch yours. Closing your eyes, you melt into his kiss. He smirked at his before his hand on your waist went up to your hair tie, pulling it to let your hair flow against your shoulders.

He then licked your lips, instinctively you opened your mouth allowing him to enter his warm wet muscle inside. You whimpered at this, feeling your feverish state get warmer. Spreading all over your body. He caressed your cheek as he kissed you deeper. His other hand caressing your side, slightly brushing up against your chest. You hummed against his lips.

Biting onto your bottom lip he licked it. Before leaning back, placing a soft kiss on yours before taking in your whole panting visual.

"Do you want me to touch you, dove?" He questions, his thumb now pressing onto your bottom lip. His left hand went down on your thighs, softly pinching them.

"Please touch me, takashi"

With that his fingers indulged inside the band of your damp underwear. "Hm you're so wet, princess" He hummed letting his finger brushed up against your folds. You squirmed under his touch, your pussy clenching around nothing.

"Is this what you're thinking about in class?" He whispered next to your ear, placing a hot kiss on your cheek. You nodded, biting onto your red lips. As his middle finger continued to slide so easily with your wet slick. Up and down teasing both of your sensitive clit and your pleading hole.

You then felt the pad of his fingers teasing circles on your entrance, you looked at him with glossed eyes. He licked his lips seeing you practically begging for it.

His other hand held the back of your knees spreading your legs to gain more access. You leaned back supporting your weight with your hands.

Letting your skirt ride up, He bit his lips as he saw your ruined flimsy panties with his hand in it. You just looked at him with a pout wanting his fingers to penetrate your hole. "Please" You plead him trying to grind into his hand. Without caution he plunged his two fingers in your heat.

You bit back a moan. "Don't hold back now, dove." He said with a smug as he felt your hole clench around his fingers. "I-I can't takashi" You say feeling little under him. He chuckled at your pouting lips before placing a kiss on them. "Acting shy now huh"

Mitsuya curled his fingers inside making you squirm. "Don't move." He warned before pounding his hand into your writhing pussy. His long fingers hitting your soft spot almost immediately. You moaned letting your forehead clash itself against his. "You're taking my fingers so well baby. So noisy" He said referring to the slick slapping sounds of your wet pussy. You blushed at this ashamed on how you were making a mess on his hands.

"Aa you're so lewd— bet you've touched yourself multiple times thinking about this" He said adding another finger in your hole easily. You sobbed at the sudden feeling of fullnes inside "Hmm too much"

"Too much? you're a good girl you can take it" He says kissing your cheek once agaib. He thrusted his three fingers into your hole curling it up to feel your spongey walls clenching into him tighter.

"Mmn t-takashi—k-kiss" You mumbled feeling yourself itching up to your own orgasm.

"You want a kiss baby hm?" He hummed as his thrusts got harder and faster. Knuckles deep, the tip of his fingers hitting your sensitive spot. You purred nodding, He kissed your lips deeply making your moans muffled. You felt hot inside you as you panted trying to comprehend everything that he was doing to you. With that you felt your orgasm continue to build up. Your head leaned back breaking off his kiss, grinding back into his hand. Mitsuya felt yourself tighten continuing to hit on your sweet spot. Your own wetness beginning to drip down.

His thumb finally taking notice of your abandoned nub. He played with it. You squirmed as you feel it burn against his thumb.

"'m close" You squeak biting onto your lips. "Go on baby cum on my fingers" He said littering kisses on your neck, hands pounding into you harshly. With those words and his thumb rubbing your sensitive clit. Your thighs started to fidget. You closing your eyes shut as you panted.

You came onto his fingers. You let out a whiny moan as His fingers slowly ride out your high.

"Good girl" He said pulling his fingers out your panties. Your eyes opened seeing him cleaning his fingers clean with his tongue. He smirked as you lolled your tongue out. He placed his fingers on your tongue, letting you lick and suck them clean.

"You look so pretty like that, dove" He say as you finished pulling his fingers out popping out of your lips. He held your waist with his arms, moving you closer again. Leaning in to kiss you softly this time on your forehead. "How was that?"

"Better than what I imagined actually"

"C'mon it looks like we have friday plans too" Mitsuya said kissing your lips. Bringing you down the table. You smiled.

[sadlysoulx]

Haikyuu characters thinking you're breaking up with them part 2

w/ Tsukishima&Ushijima

Part 1 ←here

I'm very sorry for the delay of making part 2. Someone requested Osamu and Suna and I wanted to do it as soon as possible but I can't since school is still ongoing and becoming more stressful. I've thought of putting Osamu and Suna on part 3 don't worry I think it will be up tommorow or the day after that.

Tsukishima

Arguments with Tsukishima isn't a joke and isn't a very pretty sight. He never likes losing arguments to you, something very unhealthy.

He tends to use your mistakes and insecurities to make his stand but sometimes things go too far.

"Y/N. . . Y/N. . ."

Tsukishima had his voice strained from hours and hours of arguing. He buried his face in his hands. "Please let's just stop this stupid argument and go to bed, this is pointless,"

"Kei," you furrowed your eyebrows, tears threatening. "I was just voicing out my opinion. . ."

"Do you really fucking think I would cheat on you?!" He raised his voice nth time for the night.

"Kei!" Tears already straining your cheeks. "It isn't my fault that your coming home late, I'm your s/o, I have the right to be worried,"

"I wouldn't do that!" Tsukishima raised his head from his hands staring dead at you.

"But—"

"Y/N! Just stop okay?!" Tsukishima suddenly stood up, making the chair fall backwards. "Stop worrying over non-existent things!"

More tears fell. You hear footsteps and sure enough, Tsukishima stood infront of you.

"Just stop. . ."

You aren't sure about him and you were very stubborn.

"Is your new girl. . .Yachi?

Silence.

It wasn't peaceful like you always had with him, it was very tense and the air was thick. And you knew something is about to explode.

"Oh?" Tsukishima scoffed, voice dangerously low. "You're worried about Yachi?"

You looked down at your feet, Yachi is very beautiful and perfect, it was almost as if they were made for each other.

"Okay fine. . ." Tsukishima sighed, you thought you were right about him cheating but instead he said:

"Keep thinking I'm cheating on you and I might just do it, I'll replace you with Yachi,"

Your heart stopped. Tears stopped flowing down. An unexplainable tight feeling in your lungs and a heavy weight in your stomach was very uncomfortable.

No you weren't sad, just a bit but it wasn't enough to overpower the anger you felt right now.

You looked up at Tsukishima, shaking.

"Fine! Say it!"

Tsukishima stared at you. "What do you mea—"

"Tell me you're breaking up with me!"

Tsukishima stayed silent, eyes wide. Guilt immediately swallowed him whole, making him smaller and smaller when he stares into your eyes filled with heavy pain.

"Y/N- I—"

"You're not gonna say it?" You taunted. "FINE!"

You rushed out of the kitchens and out the door. Tsukishima immediately acted fast and followed you, but it was very hard because guilt swam in his lungs making it hard to breathe.

He immediately ran out, following you.

"Y/N—"

You whipped your head to him.

"Just shut up okay?!" Tears flowed down your stained cheeks. "Just stop. . . Fine another s/o if you can't be contented with me. . ."

Tsukishima walked up to you and tried to hold you in his arms but you flinched. He stared at you, taking in your actions before deflating, he dropped his arms to his sides and hung his head low.

You glared at him and was about to walk away when you heard sniffles. Your heart dropped.

Is he crying?

Your question was answered when shiny droplets of tears dropped onto his lenses due to him hanging his head low, pooling on the surface visibly.

His body shook lightly and was trying to hold it in, obviously not wanting you to see him cry.

"Kei. . ." Your demanour softened.

"Don't leave m-me please. . ."

You sighed and hugged him tight and that was it all took for tsukishima to break down into a crying mess.

"I won't. . . I was just too worked up with my feelings I didn't realize what I have said, I would never leave you, Kei,"

Tsukishima nuzzled into the crook of your neck.

"'M sorry. . ."

"I'm sorry too," you pulled back and removed his glasses, wiping his tears away.

"Let's watch Jurassic Park and simp over Owen Grant," You smirk up at him, he had his eyes closed and lashes filled with droplets of his tears but he nodded eagerly. "Love you. . ."

"Love you more. . ."

Ushijima

You hated having arguments with him. You were just like talking to a wall, he just sat there and does his own business, not caring about you releasing your concerns and feelings.

"'Toshi!" You exasperated. "listen to me!"

You can see Ushijima clench his jaw before softly sighing.

"Aren't you going to answer me?"

Ushijima stood up. "I am tired, Y/N, I just came from training and here you are blabbering and it's making my head hurt more,"

"Atleast have some time for me. . . I am your s/o. . ." You stared up at him and he had his eyebrows furrowed. "I just want to have some time with my boyfriend—"

"And I just want to have a s/o who wasn't clingy," Ushijima bluntly said, staring dead in your eye.

A tug in your heart strings.

Well atleast he finally said something. . .

"I wonder what is it to have a s/o that isn't like you. . ." Ushijima passed by you, bumping your shoulder. You heard him stop behind you.

"Probably would live the best life. . ."

Another tug in your heart strings.

"Wished I didn't ask you out and wished I ended up with another person. . ."

The painful words escalated from the painful tugs of your heartstrings to your heart, shattering it into millions of broken pieces.

Did he really mean it?

You bit your lip

"Fine," You hear Ushijima halt in his steps. "If that's your wish, then your wish is my command,"

You bolted to the bedroom door and you hear Ushijima following your footsteps quickly.

You zip your bag open and started cramming down your clothes messily.

"Y/N!" He started throwing out your clothes once you put them in the bag. "Y/N. . ."

"Hey! Ushijima—"

He hugged you suddenly and you tried to let go.

"Don't leave me please, don't break up with me please," he let out a sob and you immediately softened in his hold, hearing those words. You knew about his past, about how his parents were divorced and he didn't want that to happen to the two of you.

"I'm begging you,"

Your heart aches more, the heaviness in the pit of your stomach growing bigger. You hated what he did momments ago, but you it more seeing him crying infront of you.

"I'm not gonna leave you," you pulled back and kissed his nose. "Never Toshi,"

He hugged you again as he broke down once more.

"Dry your tears baby," you softly said, hugging him tightly.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed.

"It's okay," you let tears fall. "I'm sorry too,"

I found this in my drafts and I was like Oh! I need to finish this.

So here it is✌️😌

THANK YOU FOR 128 FOLLOWERS😭💕

[msookyspooky]

billy loomis # 7 bc i wanna see mr smooth drinking a monster. also kinda off topic but when me and my fam were on a road trip my dad droke about 1000 gallons of caffeine and was literally physically shaking he wasnt allowed to drive and was shaky for about 2 days.😭

Omg how's ur Dad alive??? 😦 My Mom and her friend made shots with the old Mountain Dew Voltage. You know, the blue with the lightning bolt and they mixed Vodka with it. The caffeine + alcohol felt like my heart was ready to pop out of my chest and run away from like two drinks! I'm way too sensitive with caffeine, no way bro! I don't even like drinking coffee sometimes bc it gives me the shakes.😭

I've actually never drank Monster but I remember all my friends describing it and everyone said the original tasted like something different than what the other person said.

Pre Scream:

Billy Loomis Trying Monster

"How the FUCK are you still wired??" Billy grumbled. Both of you staying up late to cram studying for finals at the table. Meanwhile, Stu was wide awake and goofing off.

"Just am. I'm like the energizer bunny, man. I just keep going...And going and going and going." He clicked his tongue and winked at you.

Billy narrowed his eyes. "No. You're more annoying than usual...What's in your cup?"

Stu's smirk dropped as he scooted it closer to himself. "Nothing. Just juice."

You leaned over and could smell the fizzy medicinal scent as you scoffed. "Hey, are you drinking energy drinks? Is that what's in that giant ass cup?!"

"No-"

Billy tried to jerk it out of Stu's hand as Stu held it close. "Bro, that's my last Monster! You know how my Mom is, she thinks my hearts gonna combust or something so I gotta sneak it."

Billy glared at him, looking exhausted and annoyed. "It's 2 in the morning, we're only halfway through this textbook and we have a test in a few days. If I fail, my old man will have my ass...Give me the drink!"

Stu whined. "No! Get your own!"

"STU. HAND IT OVER."

You groaned to yourself. "Stu, let him take a sip. He'll hate it anyways."

Billy looked at you with a huff and narrowed eyes. "How do you know what I like and don't like? It's just an energy drink."

"Ookaay. If you say so."

Stu rolled his eyes and shoved his cup over to Billy. "Here."

Billy took it and took a sip without even smelling it. You watched him take one sip and think for a moment with a mixed expression before taking another.

"So?"

Billy shrugged. "It's not bad. Sweet, a little salty...Kind of reminds me of tart apple juice if it was carbonated... It's just a drink, I don't know."

He took another long sip and Stu made a grabbing motion with his hand. "Okay, you had enough."

Ypu and Billy chuckled to each other before Billy muttured. "What are you, addicted? Need us to call an intervention in for you?"

"Ha ha. Stop being a dick and return my cup."

Billy smirked a little and downed the entire thing.

You opened your mouth. "Uuhh...Slow down there, I don't think that's a good idea. We haven't ate since like 5 and-"

It fell on deaf ears as you put up a finger to hush you as he chugged before smacking his lips and handing it back to Stu. Empty.

"There's your cup." He jeered.

Stu glared at him. "Come on, man. That's fucked!"

Billy picked his pen back up near his notes. "Too bad. Should have been freaking exhausted like the rest of us."

"Well what about me?!" You exclaimed.

They both shrugged. You groaned with an eyeroll. "Whatever. I want to get back to studying. We can at least get a few more notes done for one more hour...Should have studied with Sidney a few days ago when she offered but nooooo me and Tatum had to go shopping."

Stu pointed at you. "Hey, hey, hey. None of that...Where were we anyways?"

"Chapter 54."

You all studied for at least a half an hour and suddenly your table was shaking. You raised your eyes slowly, brows raised as you looked up to see Billy clenching a pencil and shaking his leg.

"....Billy." He didn't hear you. "BILLY."

He looked up, momentarily stopping.

"You're shaking the table."

"Oh...Sorry." He mumbled, rolling his lips

You watched him a moment, fidgeting in his seat before he stood up to walk around.

Stu leaned back with a smug smirk. "Ooohhhh, can't handle all the Monster you chugged can you light weight?"

"Fuck off." He grumbled, pacing near the counter. "Jesus Christ...Do you drink this daily? Is that why you are the way you are? I feel like my hearts hammering."

Stu shrugged as you just sighed and closed the textbook. No studying was happening.

"It probably is! That's what you get for chugging that entire drink and hardly no food in your system."

"No one likes a know it all, YN." He snapped while running a hand through his hair. Going to the fridge to get some water and snack.

He chugged some water and leaned his head back. You cringed. "You good?"

"Yeah just feels like I ran a marathon or like I need to. I can tell which."

"No more Monster for anyone." You gave.

Stu scoffed. "I don't have anymore."

"Oh really? Then what's that in your bag on the ground?"

Stu kicked his bag under the table. "It's empty."

"Yeah well no more regardless. I say we make pizza rolls and call it a night."

Billy nodded as blew air past his lips. "Fucking deal."

[realpapaemeritusiv]

🔫 Tell everyone about gianni rn or I’ll shoot (it’s full of water) (just regular water but it’s like just slightly cold)

damn guess i gotta tell the world about my main boy gianni. it'll be under a cut bc its long as shit

okay so this right here

is gianni (technically gianni copia emeritus if we're going by full legal names here). we've made our own lore and i hope eventually you'll make a masterpost of it so if i write stuff later on i can include the link as a reference for anyone that might choose to read it bc honestly i think the lore that we've altered and made up is really interesting and i think people might enjoy reading it one day. anyway, onto the meat and potatoes of this.

so, with the lore that we've created, gianni is the twin brother of copia (named giorgio/gio in our lore bc honestly he needed a name and that name slaps) born to nihil and lucifer (i am 100% down to answer more questions on this bc this slaps also ik owen will def be down to answer questions about that little tidbit or it might be in the headcanon tag on their blog).

there's a bit of a branching path with him because i go back and forth between having them be raised together until they're both 10 or until they're both 5, but the constant is nihil having to send away one son to keep them safe from imperator (named cirice in our lore and will be called that for the duration of this post just to keep things streamlined). from 5/10 until his mid to late 30s, gianni worked his way up in the ranks of an abbey in italy that i think i made up. honestly, he was completely taken advantage of in that abbey, being worked to near death by the cardinals and siblings of sin (fun fact this man is a people pleaser to the max and also physically cannot take a single day off and has actually almost died from it). while literally being overworked by pure luck he managed to meet a special someone (you'll shit when you find out who it is) and starts a little sneaky relationship with them.

the person? temptesa, aka our own rain ghoul. (i'm sure owen's posted lore about it so go check it for more deets). they probably get a good year or two together and exchange rings before his beloved is sent away without his knowledge (to Linköping by pure luck where they're later reunited and i'll def expand on that if anyone wants to know more)

so he's eventually asked to return to the abbey as a cardinal (that we placed in Linköping just for simplicities sake and to have one cohesive area anytime the abbey's mentioned) and arrives back home after 25-30 years to one of 2 things

the previous papas already having been executed by cirice and prepared for the veneration of relics and everyone in the abbey absolutely depressed

or

during anti christmas :)

i haven't really taken the time to build the lore on everything that happens immediately after he's returned home, but he does continue his work as a cardinal and watching as his twin becomes papa and tours the world spreading the word of the church

UNTIL

he gets to play papa one time because his brother's way too sick to perform the ritual/show and he's the only one available who can fill the role. he literally crams learning all the songs in like 11 hours and is such a nervous wreck before that first show and he def barfs at least once before he goes on stage for the first time.

this man is a whole ass natural at being on that stage. talks to the crowd, puts his whole self into every song, and literally stays a few hours after that first show just to talk to anyone who stays after bc this man loves the fans, adores them tbh.

he finally gets his chance to be papa when gio wants to step down and focus on starting a family with his wife (who i am also 100% down to talk about later, not rn tho this is gianni time) and this man puts his entire being into being a good papa. he doesn't take a salary, pushes for the ghouls to be equal to him, defends the ghouls (and there's a ton of stuff i could talk about when it comes to him with the ghouls bc this man is lowkey a whore), and just pretty much revamps the church from the ground up and has the ghouls finally be equals to everyone else.

that's just a lil taste of gianni tbh bc there's so much more i could talk about but i gotta workshop some of it still

[euphoriyoongi]

♥︎ So this is Love ♥︎ k.s.j

A Cinderella Story

Requested by: @baby-mochi123

♥︎ Summary:

As an orphan living with your late fathers disgrace of a wife and two step sisters, you’re hidden away from the world. That is, until the King gets inpatient for grandchildren, and invites all maidens to the royal ball.

♥︎ Genre: royalty au, Cinderella-themed, love at first sight, comedy

♥︎ Word count: 5.6k

♥︎ Warnings: none

m.list

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

Once upon a time in a far away land, there was tiny kingdom…

~

Ever since your father died, life has been rough.

You could barely remember the times you used to play in the grass fields with your mother, or the time you ripped the bottom of your dress as you fell.

Those memories were distant. Nearly gone. Your father remarried after your mother died, and the woman he married was more of a devil than anything. She would act all sweet to you when your father was around, but behind closed doors she disgraced and belittled you.

When your father passed away, she became more evil than before, which was hard to imagine. She was already so terrifying, but now it seemed as though she had something against you.

You were fully grown now, able to do everything for yourself. But yet, you were forced to like in a crammed attic of their home, while your two step sisters enjoyed lavish rooms and jewelry. It was unfair, but you made yourself worth living. With all of the chores and the dust and dirt you'd have to clean up every day, you still had your pride.

You lived in solidarity up and away from the vicious people you could never call family, and the only friends you could call your own were the rats that populated the walls.

The terribly loud clock broke you away from your slumber and bells began to ding, signaling it was time to make breakfast. They forced to go serve them as they lay in bed, and all you wanted was to be able to eat what you made. There would only ever be enough for the three of them and their cat—which was fittingly named Lucifer—and never any for you. That was probably why you were so thin.

"Y/n!!" Your stepmother's voice bellowed through the walls continuously, hailing you to begin her breakfast. She always yelled like she was going to starve if you didn't get it to her in time which wasn't true. She was bigger-boned and had plenty of meat on her bones, and always concealed it with a super tight corset that she would claim her real waist.

"Y/n?! Where's breakfast?" Your step sister screeched at you from her bedroom as you walked by. You ignored her and continued to walk to the kitchen. "Hey! Don't ignore me! Mother, Y/N is ignoring me again!"

You continued to walk to the kitchen and once you got there you began to prepare breakfast. You scrambled up the food and poured tea, and then placed it on 3 plates to bring to them.

As you brought them all their breakfast, your stepmother beckoned you to come into her room. Before you entered, your two ugly step sisters blocked the door. "You're gonna get it bad, Y/N."

You brushed them off again and made your way through the double doors or your stepmother's room, the cat following you in.

The cat glided it's way through the dark room and jumped onto the large bed, curling up into the arms of a dark looking figure. She didn't speak.

"Stepmother—"

"Shut it." She hissed as she pet her cat, who was as dark as the room. His eyes were the only visible part of him. "Seems like you have a lot of time on your hands. Let's put it to good use."

You stayed silent and listened to what she had to say. You knew it was going to be chores, and you just wished you could have some alone time to yourself.

"You have full chore duty today. That includes folding the laundry, washing dishes, scrubbing to floors, sewing your step sisters' dresses and oh—don't forget the garden."

You sighed. "Yes Step-mother."

You had no way out of it. It was all you could do to respect your father.

You could've swore you saw the cat smirk. "Oh yes, one more thing. Don't forget to bathe the cat."

Over the hill was the large grandeur of a palace, where the king and his son lived.

The king was getting impatient, wondering when his son would give him grandchildren. He wasn't getting any younger, and wished to see children before he passed.

Kim Seokjin, the only prince of the kingdom, hasn't even had the thought of settling down yet. He wasn't as young as he used to be, but he thought no one could be his match. The prince was away on business, but was coming home tonight.

His father decided to send out invitations to every eligible maiden in the kingdom to a royal ball, hoping at least one of them will catch his eye.

So it wouldn't seem suspicious, he figured he could plan this ball for his return, and have all the women there for him.

Tonight was the night he planned for the ball. He then sent out all the invitations, hoping for the best.

As you were scrubbing the floor, a thin piece of paper slid through the mail slot on the door and landed right at your feet. You picked it up and didn't bother reading it, you weren't the best at reading anyway. You did notice it was from the palace.

Your step family was upstairs as they were practicing their music skills and you walked up the stairs to interrupt.

You knocked softly, but your step mother screamed as you entered. "Y/n! What did I say about interrupting—"

"This just came from the palace!" You excitedly murmured, and held your hand out for your step mother to grab it.

"There's to be a ball...every eligible maiden is to attend!" She cried out and looked to her daughter's who were jumping up and down.

"We're both eligible!!" They screamed simultaneously, happily shaking the floorboards.

Your eyes lit up when you heard what she said. "That means I can go, too!" You said, covering your mouth with your hand in excitement.

One of your step sisters snickered. "Yeah, right! Her dancing with our prince! That's impossible.

"Greetings your highness, would you mind holding my broom." The other sister giggled as she mocked you.

After their laughs ended, you spoke up again. "Well, why not? I am part of the family. And it says by royal command..."

The sisters looked at each other and then at their mom. "Well...I can't see why you couldn't go..." she stared down at the piece of paper. "If you get all your work done and find something suitable to wear.."

"Yes step mother I sure will!" You smiled as you made your way out. "Thank you."

You ran as fast as you could up the steps to plan your outfit, knowing you have your mothers old dress locked away in a chest.

You noticed it was a bit outdated, so you looked through your sewing book to see any changes you could make to it.

Just as you finally thought you reached happiness it faded away just as quickly as it happened. You were beckoned again to start your chores and now you wouldn't have nearly enough time to sew the dress.

As you worked your ass off to clean and get things done, time flew. You thought you didn't have a change at going to the ball now, especially when you heard the carriage reach the chateau. You sighed. As if your day couldn't get any worse. Your step mother opened her door when she heard you walk by. "Y/nN my dear, why aren't you dressed?"

Your two step sisters peaked out of the doorframe, awaiting your answer. "Ah, I'm not going."

They all smirked, but tried to cover it. "That's too bad. Maybe next time." She cooed and shut the door to get her daughters ready.

You made your way back up to your humble living space, and your shoulders were hunched as you walked up the stairs. You really thought you had a chance for yourself this time. You hated being someone's maid, and you wished things would be different. You had hoped this was the chance to break out of your shell and this house and follow your dreams. Dreams of meeting your one and only true love.

As you entered your room you peered out the window, staining at the tree branches that blocked the moonlight. You sighed, deep in thought.

A sudden creek came from your closet, and the door began to open slowly. You nearly screeched when you saw a dozen rats run out of it, but when your eyes landed on the gorgeous dress that was hung up, you glanced at the little rodents.

"How the hell did you do that? Was that some kind of sorcery?" You stared at the dress with wide eyes, trying to figure out how tiny rats were able to stitch and sew. Maybe you were going crazy. "Thank you..I guess." You said sincerely, but still couldn't wrap your mind around it all.

You rushed to get ready and tossed on all your accessories, including a beautiful jade necklace that sat on the corner of your desk. You were unsure about how it got there, but figured it was the rats with superpowers and carried on with your plans.

You rushed down the stairs as you noticed that they were about to open the door to leave. "Wait for me!" You yelled as you ran, hoping they wouldn't give you any trouble. "I'm ready."

"Mother you can't let her go! It's not fair!" The ugliest sister growled as she tossed her hands in the air.

The other sister huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "This is disgraceful!"

"Now girls...a promise is a promise." Your step mother smirked as she neared you, reaching a hand out to cradle your jade necklace. "Isn't this beautiful, what do you think—"

"No it's ugly—wait! That's my necklace! She stole it!" She hissed reaching out towards it. "Gimme that!" As she grabbed onto it she yanked it, and the necklace broke, sending all the beads to dance across the floor.

You gasped as that happened, and the other sister barely gave you enough time to get a grip when she began to tear your dress from bottom to top. They both  aggressively tried to tear it apart, not a care in the world about how you felt about it. It was your mothers dress after all, and now all that's left is the torn fabric that fell from your shoulder.

"Girls, girls. Let's not be too hasty. I don't want you upsetting yourselves." Your stepmother softly spoke, side-eying you as if she didn't see the whole debacle. "Let's go, we'll be late." She said, leaving you all alone in the large empty house, torn to pieces.

You couldn't help but start to cry. You tried your best to be able to go, even trusted rats to fix up your dress. But now your dress was ruined and you were crying, subconsciously finding yourself in the garden under your favorite willow tree.

"It's just no use at all.." you cried out as you laid your head down onto the bench, kneeling. "There's nothing left to believe in anymore."

You let your tears fall, completely oblivious to the bench that somehow turned into the lap of a man. His hand softly stroke your head, listening to you cry.

"Nothing? You don't really mean that, right?" His soothing voice spoke out, and you'd think it would've broke you out of your funk, but it didn't. You still sat there with your head in his lap and cried.

"Yeah, I do mean that—"

"No you don't, or I wouldn't be here." He shrugged and you finally realized something wasn't normal. You sat yourself back and gasped at the boy in front of you. He had dazzling blue hair and eyes to match, with a beautiful pink gown on. He looked very feminine and approachable. Sparkles danced around his figure and he held something that looked like a wand in his right hand.

"Wha—" you rubbed your eyes, trying to understand was was in front of you. First it was artsy rats, now...a fairy?!

He reached around your arms and slowly lifted you up. "Okay, you definitely can't go to the ball looking like...that." He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "We have to hurry."

He glanced around, almost as if he was trying to find something. "Now what did I do with that damn wand, I swear I lose it every time.."

Your eyes widened. "Wand? Then you must be—"

"Your fairy godfather—god that's so strange to say. How bout your god-daddy" he shook his head as he covered his mouth. "Wait no that sounds to provocative. Just call me Jimin." He smiled, and then continued to look for his wand.

You glanced at his right hand, which held a long stick-like thing. "Uh...is that it? In your hand?"

"Now who do you take me for? Im not that dumb I—wait, you're right. I guess I am that dumb." He scratched his head in embarrassment and shook it off. "Okay. I say the first thing you need is a pumpkin."

"A..pumpkin?" You questioned, glancing over at the pumpkin patch that was part of the garden.

"Yes. Now what we're the magic words?" He wondered out loud, scratching his chin. "Ah! Bippity boppity boo bitch!"

And just as ridiculous as the magic words were, a grand carriage blossomed from the pumpkin. You were at a loss for words as you glanced from the carriage to Jimin, shaking your head in astonishment. "How'd  you do that?"

He smiled. "Magic, I guess." He said not too confidently, looking from you to the little rats around your feet. "Now you need horses."

You looked down and the rats and giggled. You could've sworn you were in a fever dream right now. How was all of this possible?

With the flick of his wrist, Jimin turned the cute little rats into large white horses, standing high and mighty as they were ready to pull the carriage.

You didn't even take notice to an actual horse that stood next to Jimin, patiently waiting to have his turn with magic. "Now you need a coachman.." he muttered and waved his wand at the horse, transforming it into a human man. He sat at the reins of the horses, ready to go.

"Okay what the hell is going on here?" You blinked frantically as you tried to understand what was happening in front of you. How could such a gorgeous man be a fairy, and how could said gorgeous man turn a horse into a person?

Maybe you were high or something.

"Aha. Now, it's your turn." He turned to you with his wand and winked. He looked you up and down and bit his lip, then looked into your eyes. "You're super hot and all, but that dress is a no no."

He waved his wand up to the sky and did a little twirl, and you couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous he looked. But all of a sudden a large wave of sparkles encased your body, spiraling around you with high speed. You looked down in confusion, then when it all stopped, what was left was a beautiful silvery-blue dress that sparkled as much as the stars.

"Woah..." you breathed, spinning around in it. It was absolutely stunning, you didn't even want to question how he did it. He then fixed up your hair and makeup, and last but not least, your shoes.

You had a weird shoe size. It was a bit too small for your body, so most of the time it was hard to find ones that fit. So when Jimin magically put sparkling glass heels onto you, you gasped in disbelief.

They sparkled even more than the dress, but all in all you sparkled more than the night sky. "This is like a dream.." you murmured in awe.

"Okay, I'm done." He chuckled, crossing his hands across his chest. "Just one more thing."

"What is it?" You asked him, on edge to go to the palace.

"This is all a façade, okay? Just like all dreams, it won't last forever." He looked into your eyes. "It won't last after midnight. Everything will go back to how it was before."

You nodded. At least that gave you enough time to try to meet the prince. "Okay. I'll be out of the palace before that."

He nodded, then gasped and it nearly scared you. "Okay, you gotta go or you'll be late."

He shooed you into the carriage and as you sat down, the horses that were once rats took off, leaving Jimin in the dust. When you looked back you noticed his little wave, then all of a sudden he disappeared into thin air, making this whole situation even weirder.

When you approached the castle, you noticed how grand it was. With it standing so tall it looked like it hit the clouds, and the beautiful stones that held it all together. This was a dream in life itself that sadly had to end, but you were going to make the most of it.

Currently inside the palace, the king organized all of the women to be introduced to the prince one by one. But everytime a promising woman would walk up, it was almost as if he would yawn at the sight of them.

The prince stood tall in the great hall, barely giving any women a second glance. He didn't want any of them, and just wanted to find someone himself. His father and the arch duke sat up high on the balcony, looking down on the scene. Seokjin looked up, noticing how aggravated his father looked.

You approached the grand steps to enter the ballroom, the sides lined with guards. You looked over at them when you noticed they were looking at you, and continued your walk up a hundred red-velvet covered stairs.

Your step sisters were currently being introduced, you took notice to that as you walked into the room. The far side wall was open, leaving only the beautiful night sky to be viewed. What you didn't take notice of was that the prince stopped in his tracks and was standing at you wide eyed.

Seokjin couldn't help himself. The two girls that were in front of him were such a bore. When he bowed respectfully to them and straightened up he noticed you, where you were directly in his line of vision with the dark sky surrounding you, making it seem like you were sparkling.

He had to meet you. The way you spun around to music that wasn't even being played or the way he just glanced at you once and could've sworn he fell in love, he knew he had to at least know your name.

He pushed past the two sisters and stepped toward you, determined to make you his bride.

He reached out a hand towards your shoulder. "Hello, miss?" Jin said politely, his dark hair pushed up to reveal his forehead. "How come I don't know who you are?"

His father took notice to his interest, and hurriedly signaled the band to play the waltz.

When the music ran through the room, you didn't even have time to answer him. He was breathtakingly beautiful, almost like a prince. Little did you know that he was one.

"Would you like to dance with me?" He asked you and held onto you hand, raising it to kiss the back of it.

You shivered in delight, knowing you fell for him at first sight. It seemed like he did, too. So much for marrying a prince, you didn't care who this guy was at this moment. "I'd love to."

He held your hand as you both made your way to the center of the ballroom, watching all of the women cry in disbelief.

He slid his hands down to your waist and you held your hands onto his shoulders. You moved in sync, your lips just a few inches away from his. His eyes were stunningly dark and mysterious with hair to match. His lips were plump, almost pillow-like and you wondered how they would feel against yours.

You couldn't get enough of him, you were lost in him. In his touch, in his eyes, in his heart. He was also captivated by you and had no doubt you were the one out of all these women.

"Who is she, mother? I've never seen her before." The step sister asked as she tried to get a good look of you from the crowd.

"We'll Ive never—wait a minute...something is familiar about her." Your stepmother wondered, but before she could get a good look, they moved their way out onto the terrace, now all alone without anyone watching.

After the dance was over he held you in his arms, brushing a stray strand away from your face. He smiled at you when he noticed your blush.

He grabbed your hand, holding onto it tightly as he took you into the garden, both of you in bliss.

You both sat down on the edge of a large fountain, not taking notice to the clock behind it. It was nearing midnight, but you were so lost in his charm that you didn't even pay attention.

He sat next you you closely, and looked from your eyes to your lips. "You're beautiful. I hope you know that." He said to you as he leaned in farther. "So, so beautiful."

His lips grazed yours softly, but before it could turn into a kiss, the clock struck twelve behind you, bellowing a loud noise. You whipped your head around and noticed the time. "Oh my god!"

You stood up abruptly, and his hand that was on your thigh flew up as you stood. "What's wrong?" He wondered with worry, noticing how frantic you were.

"It's midnight!" You cried, holding onto your dress like it was going to disappear.

"Yeah..so.." he trailed off, hoping that this night would go farther.

You shook your head and turned to leave. "I have to go." You said sadly, but his hand grabbed yours before you could run off.

"You can't leave now—"

"I have to!" You said as you looked frantically back and forth, hoping nothing would disappear right now.

"But why?" He asked softly. He didn't want you to leave. He had so much more he wanted to say to you, he didn't even know your name.

You had to make up an excuse. "I—uh...the prince! I haven't met the prince yet!" You said and nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"The..prince?" He asked. Didn't she know it was him? "But didn't you know that I—"

The clock bellowed again, sending you hurriedly looking for the way out. "Goodbye!" You said and bowed, and ran off back into the palace to find your way down those beautiful velvet steps.

"Wait! I don't even know your..." he trailed off as he ran after you. "Name.."

Before he could catch you, all the women blocked his leave and surrounded him, all blabbing something he wasn't paying attention to. All he saw was the beautiful girl he fell in love with run down the stairs, only leaving a glass heel behind.

You ran out of the palace and jumped into your carriage which was thankfully still intact. It rode off and it started to slowly change.

The carriage began to soften like how it was before and transitioned into a large pumpkin, and the horses morphed back into the small rats they once were. Everything was a blur and all of a sudden you fell to the ground with a thud, picking yourself up and scurried with the animals to hide in the forest as the palace guards ran straight, smashing the pumpkin that was once a carriage.

It was quiet now, you stared down at your tattered dress. The cute little rats stood by your feet, trying to get you to notice that you still had one glass slipper. It didn't disappear with the rest of it.

That was all you had left of that night, and you went back home holding it tightly, dreaming about the man you nearly kissed.

The next morning the prince paced back and forth in his room, trying to figure out a way to find her.

Seokjin was never like this. He was always calm and collected, but something ticked in his mind when he met you. He needed to find a way to get you back into his arms. He didn't even get to kiss you.

He held the heel you left behind in his hand and came up with a great idea. He needed to have this heel reach every maiden's household to see if it fit. The problem is, it could fit any number of the girls. He’d just have to wish for the best. His father would never let him out of the palace to do it himself though.

The grand duke was willing. After figuring out the plans, the duke took off to find the girl of the prince's dreams.

“Y/N!” Your stepmother cried out angrily. “Where are you?” She paced up the stairs but stopped as soon as she heard you.

“I’m right here.” She spoke out as you exited one of the rooms downstairs. She always seemed to rush you even if you were doing a great job.

“Where are the girls?” The looked anywhere but you as she asked this, only ever worrying about her own daughters.

You set down the broom you had in your hand and sighed. “They’re still sleeping.”

She rushed up the steps in anxiousness and you wondered what was the matter. You walked into the kitchen and grabbed the tea for them quickly and ran upstairs, only to overhear their conversation.

“What’s wrong, mother?” Both the sisters were in the same room, both tired and yawning up a storm.

“He’ll be here any minute!” She rushed, pulling back the curtains to bring light inside the room.

“Who?” They asked simultaneously with a yawn.

“The grand duke. He’s been hunting all night.” She rooted through her daughter’s wardrobe. “For that girl! The one that lost her slipper at the ball last night. Apparently he’s madly in love with her.”

“The duke?” One of them asked, only to be interrupted loudly.

You walked into the doorway at this moment, looking back and forth at the sisters and your stepmother.

“No, the prince!”

You stopped in your tracks. So that man you met—the man you nearly kissed—was the prince?

You gasped. “The prince?” The glass teapot that was in your hands slipped through your fingers, sending shards all over the floor.

“You clumsy fool! Clean that up!”

You couldn’t even pay attention or acknowledge the fact that you were spoken to. The only thing you did was slowly fall to the floor and clean it it without paying close attention. You couldn’t believe it. You…met the prince?

“Why are you telling us this then? If he’s so in love with that other girl?”

Your stepmother side glanced you and continued to root through the wardrobe. “Because not even the prince knows who she is. The glass slipper is the only clue. So one of you must fit into it.”

You glanced up as you cleaned the mess, listening intently to what was going on. “The grand duke was ordered to try it on every maiden in the kingdom. If the shoe fits, that girl will be the prince’s bride by order of the king!”

“Bride?” You whispered in shock, still unable to wrap this around your head.

As the sisters clashed together in search for clothing you saw yourself out, blissfully dancing to the door to your room.

Your stepmother watched you as you swayed, and she narrowed her eyes. Something was certainly fishy about you, and she didn’t have the time to let you become someone better than her daughters. She sneaked up the stairs and peaked through the door, watching you as you sang lovingly in the mirror.

You coughed of glimpse of her in the corner of your eye and turned around, only to see her slide the key into her pocket and lock the door, slamming it.

“No no no!” You cried out, running to the door. “You can’t leave me in here!” You banged on it with your fists as hard as you can, only to hear her footsteps slowly disappear.

You set your back against the door and slid down to the floor. How were you supposed to meet the prince now? How would he ever find you?

You lost all your hope. When you heard the trumpets sound that the duke was here, your heart dropped to your stomach. You let a few tears fall, upset that no one here would even care enough about you. It spoke a thousand words when your step mother locked the door on you, not caring if you needed anything, or to be happy for you if it was your slipper.

The duke came into the house and glanced down at the two sisters who definitely weren’t the prince’s cup of tea. He still had to do his job anyway. He read out the decree and told the older sister to sit down first to try it on. When the glass slipper seemed like it fit like a glove he stood back in awe, that is, until she lifted her foot up and it was only covering half of it.

Meanwhile, the magic rats were up to something. The smallest one was able to gently slide into your stepmother’s pocket. The others stood by and were able to reach it when the small rat lifted it up. They hurriedly rushed the key up the stairs, but it was a bit heavy for them. This was going to take a while.

The duke sighed and shook his head. “Let’s try the next young lady.”

The next sister tried to forcibly squeeze her way into it. She kept complaining that her foot was just swollen today and kept trying. The duke sat there with a frown, knowing that it wasn’t either of these girls. “Are you sure there isn’t another maiden in this household?” He asked you stepmother, grabbing onto the heel and keeping it safe.

The rats were tired, but were able to reach the top of the steps. Now it was time for you to shine.

“No, there’s no one else here—“

“Your grace! Wait!” You cried and rushed down the grand steps of the chateau. “May I try it on?”

The duke’s eyes widened as he took notice to your appearance and smiled. He signaled his servant forward as you reached the bottom of the stairwell.

Your stepmother rolled her eyes. “Don’t pay attention to her.”

“She’s just y/n! A nobody!”

“Madam.” He stood sternly next to your stepmother. “My orders were every maiden. Now if you would excuse me.”

He motioned you to sit down in the chair and beckoned his servant to bring the glass slipper towards you. As he came closer, your stepmother stuck her foot out, only to come to the servant tripping, which sent the glass slipper flying through the air until it smashed right before your feet.

You weren’t too worried about it—since you had the other slipper—but the duke nearly cried and he tried to piece it together. “No no no, this is terrible!” He cried out. “What could we do?”

You smiled at him and then glanced to your stepmother, who was smirking. You always new she was no good for you. But now you were done. “Perhaps..if it would help?” You slid the other slipper out from behind you. “The other slipper?”

He gasped and grabbed ahold of it excitedly. He reached down to slide it onto your foot, and when it fit, he breathed a sigh of relief. The prince could finally be happy.

~

Bells chimed and people cried out as you rushed down the stairs of the palace in your grand wedding Dress, holding onto Seokjin’s hand tightly with a smile. This was a dream come true. A fairy tale. Everything worked out for you at the end of it.

Here you were in the back of a carriage taking you both somewhere for alone time, but you couldn’t help but blush as his hands cradled your face. “I’m so glad I found you, y/n.”

You stared lovingly into his eyes, glancing down at his lips slightly. “I’m so glad you wanted to find me, Seokjin.”

He stared at you like no one has ever before. He looked at you with such intent it nearly made you melt. His eyes glanced from your eyes to your lips and once again he leaned it for a kiss, this time actually happening.

His lips softly touched yours, slowly moving into you as his hands cradled your face like you were glass. You wrapped your arms around his neck to deepen this kiss, so in love with each other.

All this struggle, and now here you were in each others arms, happily in love and wishing it would never end.

And they lived happily ever after.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium - August 24, 1984

Some parts of the Hammer To Fall promo video were filmed during this show - the camera was filming the audience reactions during TYMD, Radio Ga Ga and Hammer To Fall. On the next day 20 fans from the Dutch fan club were invited to come again to the filming of the promo video.

At the gig, the band asked the audience to return the following day for the shoot. However, most likely assuming it was all a joke, the vast majority stayed away; in fact only a dozen fans turned up. Undeterred, the shoot went ahead anyway, with the band's performance that day interspersed with footage shot the previous night.

(x)

This is the first show of The Works tour.

According to the July '89 issue of Record Collector, Queen ran through about 40 songs during rehearsals. This list of songs rehearsed that didn't end up in the setlist comes from someone who worked on the tour:

Great King Rat (longer version), Brighton Rock (full song), I'm In Love With My Car, Sweet Lady, White Man, We Will Rock You (fast), Play The Game, Need Your Loving Tonight, Put Out The Fire, Las Palabras de Amor, Life Is Real (both Freddie solo piano and Freddie/Brian acoustic duet versions)

The keyboardist for this tour (and also the '86 Magic tour) is session musician Spike Edney. He would also lend some vocals to many songs and play rhythm guitar in Hammer To Fall. He and Roger Taylor would form a band called "The Cross" in 1987 which spawned three albums, and he would return to Queen in the 21st century to play on the tours with Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert.

Spike was recruited in a very informal way by a Queen associate. He went to Munich for their first rehearsal in early August, wound up partying for most of the first night, and missed the first day's rehearsal. It later transpired that everyone else had. He recalls, "The next day, we all managed to get to it eventually, to the first rehearsal, and all the gear was set up. The stage was huge, and I thought "Oh well, here we go then" and we got to the first song , and what I'd forgotten was that they hadn't actually played together for two years. So they said, OK, let's try one of the new songs, I think it was Radio Ga Ga, and we started playing it, and course, I knew it, I'd been studying it for weeks. You know, 1,2,3,4 and we start and we get about a minute into the song and the whole thing collapses. And they all look at each other, you know, very sheepishly, and they say, "Anyone know how it goes?" and I say "well, actually, I know. I know how it goes" and they said "Ah". And so I started showing them the chords and everything and Fred looked at me and said "You don't know the words, do you?" and "Well, yeah I do actually" so then they all came round the piano and we spent the whole day just going through songs, and I thought, "I'm gonna be all right here, this'll be OK"!"

The show started very late, as the band were still doing soundcheck when they were supposed to go on. Apparently over the previous week there were few occasions when all four band members actually showed up for rehearsal. Many songs (likely those listed above) never made the setlist, and soundcheck was an extensive cramming session, particularly for the older material that they hadn't played in years.

Roger Taylor later reflected that this European tour was one of his favourites, and many fans cite the early Works setlist as their favourite ever played by the band. Three medleys are now played, two of which have revived many old songs: Killer Queen, Seven Seas Of Rhye, Keep Yourself Alive, Liar, Stone Cold Crazy and Great King Rat. Staying Power from Hot Space returns to the set, as does Sheer Heart Attack from News Of The World. Only half of Staying Power is played, and it runs into Dragon Attack, followed by an improvisation running into a more compact version of Now I'm Here compared to previous tours.

Many people who attended shows on this tour recall Queen having a very heavy sound, especially on songs like Liar and Stone Cold Crazy. By 1984 they had gained a reputation as being one of the best live rock acts in the business.

Six songs from The Works are performed each night, and the introduction tape is from the album track "Machines". After the heavy G chords are heard on the tape twice, the band walk on stage in the darkness to play the chords the third time, which leads into the brand new "Tear It Up". This is yet another effective opening to a Queen show, something they would perfect time and time again.

I Want To Break Free is performed each night in 1984-85 as the first encore, with Freddie coming on stage sporting a pair of huge plastic breasts under a pink shirt. Part way through the song, he would remove the breasts and twirl them around for a while before finally throwing them into the audience. Some souvenir! As a result of this gag, Another One Bites The Dust has been moved from the encore to be earlier in the set.

This tour showcases an incredible lighting rig and an overall setup mimics the movie Metropolis, from which scenes were used for the promo video of Radio Ga Ga last year. The huge wheels behind the stage (modelled after the ones on The Works album cover) rotate at mostly random times - usually because they are turned manually by various crew members such as Roger's tech Chris "Crystal" Taylor whenever they have a free moment (Freddie Mercury's assistant Peter Freestone told the tale in 2021):

“Yeah, I mean Rio was… amazing. The feeling from that crowd… you know, something like 350,000 people. Oh, you can’t beat that. And when you’re flying in a helicopter over that crowd, it was stunning. But the thing is, I know this sounds really, really stupid but [laughs]… one thing I will always, always remember from that tour was, remember, in the back of the stage you had these wheels that turned every now and then, not constantly but just every now and then. That was because there was… the guy looking after Roger’s drums and me who actually turned those wheels. And there was no set cue or anything that, “Oh, it has to start on this bar, on this song.” No, it was when he wasn’t doing anything and I wasn’t doing anything, we’d say “Ok, let’s go and do it.” And we turned the wheels for a couple of minutes and then left them alone. He had then to do something for Roger and I would just sit there like I always did. And then you’d go back and you’d turn the wheels, like a hamster. We were like hamsters…”

However, a crew member who worked on the tour recalls otherwise: "I do know local crew members were used on the UK shows and certainly (a number of) European gigs. The other thing is that Radio Ga Ga had a set piece with the cogs and lighting, using low ambient lighting and strobes to emphasise mechanical motion of the cogs during the instrumental break. Would Roger Taylor be happy with no one covering him/his kit during a show? Possibly Peter Freestone is remembering production rehearsals when any spare bodies might have been asked to operate the cogs?"

During vocal improvisations on this tour, Freddie would often include bits of "Foolin' Around" and "Living On My Own" from his pending first solo album, which he had been working on during this period.

Freddie now plays a Telecaster for Crazy Little Thing Called Love. It would remain like this through the Magic tour.

The band no longer bring a gong with them on the road. Roger now does a cymbal roll at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody.

A fan recalls hearing the band running through Tear It Up whilst queuing up to enter the venue.

Freddie's voice is in superb shape for this show, but it will quickly weaken as the tour progresses. As incredible as Freddie Mercury was, he certainly did not take care of his voice at times, especially in the mid-80s. After a couple years of heavy smoking, Freddie's voice now sounds a lot deeper and raspier overall.

Before It's A Hard Life, Freddie says, "I think tonight we're gonna do songs from just about every album that we've ever made. You heard some very early stuff from the first album. Right now I think we're gonna do something very new, and we'll see what you think of it."

Freddie does a vocal exchange with the audience before Staying Power, singing "Get Down Make Love" and "Gimme Some Lovin" a few times. The band would improvise bits of the latter a couple times in 1986.

This is the only show on the entire Works tour where Roger plays regular acoustic drums on Another One Bites The Dust (before which Freddie teases the audience with a bit of Mustapha). For the rest of the tour, he'd play electronic drums. He'd also integrate the electronic drum kit into a few other songs, like at the beginning of Hammer To Fall, where one might argue that his sounds don't appropriately complement the guitar to create the intense, heavy sound.

The band sound very tight on this opening night of the tour, with the only exception being the rough transition from Stone Cold Crazy to Great King Rat. The keyboard and guitar solos are integrated together for the first few shows of the tour, during which Brian plays a few bits from Machines. Spike Edney uses his vocoder (a Roland VP-330) for the "machines" and "back to humans" lines heard throughout the tour during this spot (he would use his vocoder for the "radio" lines in Radio Ga Ga as well). After this segment, Brian then gets a few minutes to play on his own as usual.

Parts of the promo video for Hammer To Fall were filmed during this show. Claims from some (even official) sources state that Freddie invited the audience back for (what would actually be "additional") filming the following day aren't true. Here is all that Freddie had to say before the song: "This next song we're gonna use in our next video. So everybody just go mad and maybe later you'll see one of you guys inside the video one day. Oh, just go crazy, take your clothes off. It's called Hammer To Fall." After the song, he simply says, "Good night, you guys!" as that was the last song of the set.

Here is a fan's recollection: "On the night of the gig, there was a camera mounted on an arm that would swing over the front rows of the audience during a few songs. These audience shots were taken during Tie Your Mother Down, Radio Ga Ga, and Hammer To Fall itself. I guess they also had a camera up in the box at the back of the hall [as there are a few shots of both the audience and the band]. I don't remember any cameras onstage during the gig - just the one mounted on the arm."

The Dutch fan club invited only about twenty of its members to attend the video shoot the next day. They were instructed by a roadie to sit quietly on a chair and not to move or approach the band members. After a few hours, Brian came over and had a chat with them, checking to see if they were enjoying themselves and if they were hungry. He then promptly ordered them some take-out!

A minute of Tie Your Mother Down from this show was later broadcast on the Belgian TV station "RTBF" (x) (x). An audience-shot video allegedly exists as well, containing five songs.

After years of speculation, the existence of more footage from this show was proven when bits of it were included in the promo video for Let Me In Your Heart Again in 2014. About 30 seconds of Somebody To Love (largely crowd shots) were seen. There is, however, no accompanying audio. (x)

The first photo is from the autumn 1984 Queen fan club magazine. Brian is seen with a watchful eye over the proceedings. Tour manager Gerry Stickells and his wife are also in the shot.

Pics 2 through 6 were submitted by Alessio Rizzitelli, and the seventh pic was taken by Dave Matkin.

(x)

[omnivorousshipper]

It's so late but I finally had time!!! So going off of the vampire Deckard AU request 😁😁😁 Can we have a werewolf Luke AU where Deckard is just as oblivious. Then some time after they somehow find out about the other or their secret is spilled by family members and it becomes such a shock, but they also love each there so much it's not that big of a deal!!!?????

I'm sorry that's so long but I just got so excited when I read it and I love Werewolf/Vampire relationships and it matches them beautifully 😍💕💕💕

Based off this fic

I absolutely love the idea that these two are just so in love that they don't even notice that the other isn't human!!

~~~

Luke knew all about the small quirks Deckard had and accepted them without question. But, he was still nervous to reveal his own issues

Like turning into a wolf every time the moon was full. Or how his hearing and sense of smell was much stronger than any human's. Or that he had incredible healing abilities

He was able to hide all of these things from Deckard

---

Deckard had to wonder how Luke was able to smell his cooking from almost any distance away. One time, the man was down the street when he had called Deckard up and asked what he was making

Usually these incidents left Deckard glowing with praise so he didn't question how it was possible. He was all too happy that Luke loved his cooking

Another thing Deckard found odd about his boyfriend was how quickly he could heal

Luke had gone off on a mission and gotten shot twice in the leg. Two weeks later, Luke wasn't even limping

Deckard had been concerned, but when Luke had kissed him and treated him to a very exciting night, the concern flew out of his mind. Luke was healthy again and that was all that mattered

The only thing that annoyed Deckard was how much dog hair he found in the house. He was constantly vacuuming and lint rolling clothes. And he had no idea how it got there

Luke's dog had extremely short hair and didn't shed, so where was it coming from?

Deckard had asked Luke, who told him he trained with the police dogs quite a lot. But Deckard wasn't completely sure if that was true. How was the hair ending up in their bed?

Even with these little things, Deckard wasn't bothered and loved Luke even more each day they lived together

---

Smiling, Deckard couldn't help but love the organized chaos that was occurring around him. Many of the Hobbs were crammed into Sefina's kitchen as they all raced around helping to make dinner

He was cutting up vegetables, the knife feeling like an extention of his arm. It always felt calming to make food, even if his body could only digest small amounts. He was glad the Hobbs family ate so much

"How are you doing, Deckard?" Sefina asked, coming up next to him

"Good. Almost done here. Then I can help you with something else." Deckard smiled at the woman

She smiled back and patted him on the back

"We don't always find people who can stand being around so many werewolves." She told him casually. "Too rowdy for them. But you and your family are so good to us."

Deckard blinkes

"Werewolves?" He stuttered

"Yes." Sefina's smile decreased slightly. "One of the last families in Samoa, but we're coming back."

Deckard nodded shakily and sighed in relief when the matriarchal Hobbs left him to his task

How the blood hell did he not notice Luke was a werewolf?!

---

Luke raised an eyebrow as he saw Owen and Hattie sitting under a tree, sipping at bottles of tomato juice. Even vacationing in Samoa, all three siblings kept drinking that stuff

Walking up to them, Luke looked down at them unimpressed

"Aren't you two going to do anything other than sit around?"

Owen glared up at him and barred his teeth. Luke always wondered how his teeth looked so sharp

"You try not burning up in the sun, arsehole!" He hissed and pulled Hattie closer to him

"Just put sunblock on!"

"That normally works, but the sun's just too strong." Hattie shook her head. "Vampires don't usually burst into flames, but it'll definitely burn us pretty badly if we stay out too long."

Luke's mouth dropped open

"Vampires?" He choked out

"Yeah." Owen rolled his eyes. "We're not some stereotype, numbnuts. We can survive most things."

Luke only nodded before turning away

How could he not tell that the Shaws were Vampires? Hell, he even lived with Deckard!

---

That night, Deckard felt himself grow nervous as Luke stepped into their bedroom. He had been unable to catch Luke alone all day and now he could talk to him privately

As the larger man stepped closer, Deckard swallowed at the strange look Luke was sending

"I think we need to talk." Deckard said softly. Luke only nodded

"Luke, I know you're a werewolf-"

"Deck, I know you're a vampire-"

They spoke over each other before staring

"How?" Deckard asked

"Your brother and sister spelled it out for me." Luke chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry, I thought it would be easier if I didn't tell you about me being a werewolf."

"Me too." Deckard said quietly

They were quiet as they stared into each other's eyes

"Is this going to affect us?" Luke spoke up finally

Thinking for a moment, Deckard shook his head

"No, I don't think so. We've been living together pretty well and dealing with each other's issues so far. I think we'll be fine."

Luke smiled broadly

"Good, because I wasn't planning on letting you go."

Deckard chuckled before walking up to Luke. Standing on his toes, he brushed his lips against Luke's

"You know, I've never tried werewolf blood before."

Luke's eyes grew dark as he wrapped his arms around Deckard

"Guess we'll have to change that, huh, princess?"

~~~

I hope you enjoyed friend!

[one-leaf-grimoire]

knight au ➼ chapter 19

warnings ➼ AO3 version has adult only content. Tumblr version is completely safe for work except for like... one innuendo JFKSDL

synopsis ➼ Lisa and Julius have an unexpected encounter. Patri meets up with his informant.

ao3 link (18+ content) ➼ here

masterlist ➼ here

author’s note ➼ AAAAAAAA I like this chapter. Enjoy!

Forgive me... Lisa.

Human pain and suffering once meant nothing to me. But now, I think I understand why it shapes this world in the way it does.

Just as I thought... I feel absolutely nothing for you. I'm sorry.

I want to live... isn't that selfish?

...................................................................

Lisa's eyes flickered open, the dream already fading from her mind. The air in her room was cold, but the sleeping man beside her was enough to keep her warm. The two of them were crammed together in the twin bed in her barrack, close together but cozy as could be.

"Good morning..." Her stirring had awoken Julius, who yawned widely. "What time is it? Feels early..."

“Let me see...” Lisa reached up and pulled the curtain to the side. Her eyes widened as bright morning light shone through. “Shit! It’s late-”

“Oh my god-” Julius paled, sitting up quickly. “I’m so late-”

The two leapt out of bed and feverishly started to get dressed. The mid-autumn chill only made the process more frantic. Lisa kicked her pajamas under the bed, already halfway dressed into her uniform. Julius ran his fingers through his unkempt hair, his heart pounding. “I’m going to have to sneak out of here- I didn’t bring my bandana-” he cursed himself for dropping the ball here.

“It’s okay- I’ll distract everyone somehow,” Lisa told him, standing up as she finally laced up her boots. “Come on-”

Before she could make it to the door, Julius grabbed her arm and pulled her in. Lisa didn’t even resist, she wrapped her arms around his neck and accepted that last kiss, letting out a soft sound against his lips. “God… I wish I could stay in here with you all day,” she whispered as they finally separated.

Julius raised an eyebrow. “My, what an indecent thing to say!”

“I know.” Lisa winked, giving his cheek one last caress before turning towards the door. “Come on- we should be safe to go out now-”

She pulled the door open, and to her shock, someone was already standing there, fist raised as if they were about to knock. Lisa’s blood ran cold.

“C- CAPTAIN?”

Fuegoleon stood there silently for a second, confused as to why she was so shocked. “Oh- Apologies, I was just worried, because you weren’t at breakfast…” His voice trailed off as his gaze fell upon Julius, standing right behind Lisa. Fuegoleon’s eyes widened. “L-Lord Julius?! What-”

“Fuegoleon!!! Hello!”

Without warning, Julius grabbed Lisa and moved her out of the way, stepping forward with a big, innocent grin on his face. Lisa let out a shaky breath, glad that she was hidden behind him now. No, no NO! I didn’t want him to find out yet, especially not like this-

Julius, however, was quickly acting to save face. “I was just about to go and find you, actually, you see-” He crossed his arms casually and leaned on the doorframe, ignoring Fuegoleon’s flabbergasted look. “This is top secret, between you, me, and Lisa… but Marx and I agreed that it was best for me to go into hiding for a week or so, to try and force Patri and the EOTMS to act.”

Fuegoleon finally closed his mouth, struggling to keep up with all the information he was just confronted with. “I… I see,” he finally answered with a nod. “They’ll be forced to take radical measures… which will give us a trail to follow. A genius plan. But-” He craned his neck, trying to look at Lisa behind Julius again. “What does this have to do with her?”

“Well, I can’t just go hide without any protection. So Marx and I agreed that Lisa was the best candidate to take along with me!” He closed his eyes and continued grinning like nothing was wrong. “She protected me last time… I promise I’ll bring her back in one piece!”

“Oh…”

Fuegoleon was clearly conflicted, Julius could tell. His heart pounded as the two men stared at each other in silence, the tension palpable in the cool morning air. Fuegoleon was a smart man, and when confronted with all the facts…

“Lisa…”

She looked up nervously at the sound of her name. “Y-yes?”

“Are you… you’re on board with this?” Fuegoleon asked carefully.

“Yes!” Lisa managed to give him a little smile. “Julius- I mean- Lord Julius told me all about it. It would be a great honor to defend him once again.”

“I see.” To her surprise, Fuegoleon let out a relieved sigh and smiled. “In that case, I approve. Do your best, Lisa.” He looked up at Julius again, narrowing his eyes. “And you… you better keep that promise. Bring her back in one piece!”

“Of course!” Julius glanced back at Lisa, giving her an innocent smile. “I’ll send instructions soon… we’ll leave early in the morning in two days.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. May I escort you out?”

“Sure!”

Julius exchanged one more longing look at Lisa before following Fuegoleon off down the hallway out of sight. Lisa let out a ragged breath and quickly sat down on the floor, panic washing over her.

There’s no way… there’s no way he doesn’t know, now!

But that was a problem she could deal with later. For now, all three of them, Fuegoleon included, would pretend like nothing had happened.

...........................................

“He’s taking a long time…”

Frost had grown on the familiar window overnight, and Patri’s breath fogged up the glass as he stared out onto the street.

“So? Have a little empathy.”

Rhya’s tone was as unbothered as ever, as he lounged on the couch. “He would lose anything if his dealings with you were discovered… we would be fucked, too.”

“I know, I know!” Patri sighed and turned away from the window to pace the floor instead. He had been doing a lot of pacing lately, feeling like an animal caged up in a zoo. It was frustrating; despite finally receiving more clues to go off of, he was trapped in this hotel room, too afraid to go out and search himself. However, there was someone else who did have the freedom to move around as he pleased…

“I’m sorry. I almost got recognized on the way here.”

The door opened at last, and a man walked inside. He was bundled up, both for the weather and for anonymity. Patri looked over and smiled as he lowered the hood of his cloak, revealing his familiar face.

“William. Thank you for coming.”

William Vangeance, maskless under the hood, nodded quietly, taking a few more steps into the center of the room. “You mentioned that there was a change in plan. What is it?”

“Well, for one, we can’t go after Julius anymore.” Patri let out a frustrated sigh, striding over to his desk and sifting through the papers he had stacked up there. Records, censuses, and the letter he had received from Mars and Ladros. “Even though the Diamond King wants him dead, we’ve been given a new target, one that should be easier to capture, with your help,”

William raised a thin eyebrow. “A new target? One more important than Julius?”

His stomach turned a little.

Julius…

In some ways, William was glad that Patri had failed to abduct the man. And now, it seemed like harm would never come to him. But he still wanted Patri to be free; after everything he had been through… didn’t he deserve that?

“I don’t know about that. Anyway, it’s not the Diamond King that’s asking for her- it’s the Dagaz Order.” Patri found the letter, holding it up to show William the seal. “They apparently get visions and shit- that’s why the Diamond King values them as his advisors. When I first came here, they told me to prioritize capturing Julius, but to keep an eye out for a girl with this symbol on her forehead. But now, they have more information.”

William leaned in to look at the seal, and his blood ran cold.

That… that’s…

He didn’t have much time to think about it, for Patri opened the letter and began to read through it. “But now, a more recent vision gave them a more explicit image of this girl. Black eyes, brown hair, in her twenties, and, most importantly…” Patri smiled, before handing the letter right to William. “She’s a knight. That narrows things down considerably… and it means that you can be a big help.”

William hesitated, but took the letter. His eyes skimmed through it, the words only confirming what he feared.

“...Lisa…”

The name left his lips before he could stop himself. Both Rhya and Patri froze at the sound.

“... what did you say?”

William sucked in a breath, not sure if he should say anything. But…

“I know who this is… I know exactly who she is.”

Patri’s mouth curled into a grin, relief filling his being. “You do? That’s excellent news!” His heart began to pound, excitement and hope rising up in his chest. “Tell me! Which squad?”

“Wait-” William’s eyes narrowed as he saw the signature at the bottom of the letter. “Patri, what are they going to do with her?”

“Who knows. If she’s involved with them somehow, it’s none of my business.” Patri muttered. “That’s her problem to figure out… but, William!” he frowned, sensing that William was hesitating. “Tell me who she is! You’ve helped me so much already, but this final job could release us both from our burdens.” He smiled a little, trying to reassure him. “You won’t have to keep this secret anymore.”

“I know… but…”

A pained look flashed through William’s eyes.

“You know better than anyone… what happens to prisoners in the Diamond Kingdom. Going after Julius was one thing… but this girl is innocent. Who knows what they’ll do to her-”

“Do you think I care anymore?”

William looked up as Patri’s voice suddenly rose, a desperate anger present in his tone. The man’s eyes were wide, his one black sclera burning right into William’s soul. “I’ve been through too much to turn back now… All I care about is getting my freedom back. Then, I can come back and take my revenge on this Kingdom!”

“Patri- Listen-” William took a deep breath. “I know you were hurt… and as your friend, I want to help you. But-” He shook his head. “Trying to get back at Julius, to destroy this Kingdom- your hate is in the wrong place! The ones that hurt you were the ones in the Diamond Kingdom! Julius will protect you if you ask for it, he said it himself-”

“SHUT UP!”

Patri’s hands suddenly grabbed William’s collar, making the captain gasp in surprise. He almost pushed Patri away, but he didn’t want to anger him further.

“Julius… It's all his fault! He gave up on me!”

Patri’s voice rose to a yell. Rhya cringed and held a finger to his lips, trying to shush his friend, but it was no use. Patri’s wrath was unquenchable- he was beyond reason, but at his core, cold, painful fear was eating him alive.

“I-I have to hurt someone… William, I thought you understood.”

Indeed, William had thought so at one point. When Patri first came back, he, too, felt angry. Julius had given up on him, despite William begging to go and rescue him.

But… Master Julius… he had lost so much that day. He was numb, just like the rest of us. And I know he regrets everything more than I could imagine.

And yet…

“William… please…”

Patri’s voice softened, and his grip relaxed. His head fell, resting against William’s chest.

“Help me… I have no one else.”

William’s hands shook.

This guilt… I never could have imagined that I would have to choose between two friends once again.

First, it was Julius and Patri. Anger had fueled William back then; enough anger to let Patri into the castle, to supply him with refuge, to cover for him as he escaped. He chose Patri that day.

But now… William was fueled by nothing. But the guilt he felt when he looked at Patri was suffocating.

So, once again...

“What’s your name?”

“...Will.”

I’m sorry… please… forgive me.

“Her name is Lisa Petalon. She is a member of the Crimson Lion Kings.”

Once again, he chose Patri.

Two mornings later, two knights rode up to a hill on the outskirts of town. The fog was thick, shielding their location, standing still under a tree by the side of the dirt road. It was peaceful and quiet, the only sounds being that of the wind whistling upon the land, and their breaths puffing clouds in the air.

Lisa rubbed her hands together before hugging herself under her cloak. Winter was upon them at last, but she had never been fond of the cold. At least, I’ll be somewhere quiet and cozy soon, she thought to herself. It’s hard to imagine… but by the time we come back, Patri and the EOTMS could be dealt with. Life can go back to normal… well, maybe not “normal.”

She glanced over at the other rider. Fuegoleon insisted that he accompany her to this spot, to see her off safely. His eyes were intently focused on the road ahead. There was still awkwardness between them, but Lisa couldn’t read his expression at all.

“Lisa…”

“I have something to tell you.”

Fuegoleon looked over in surprise as she suddenly spoke. Lisa stared at the mane of her horse, trying to find the right words.

“I… I…”

He suddenly sighed, and Lisa looked up. He was… smiling?

“It’s alright. I have a feeling I know what you’re going to say.”

Lisa’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushing. “I- Uh- oh.” She looked away nervously, somehow more embarrassed than before. “I didn’t want you to find out like that- I’m sorry that I had to lie and sneak around, because-”

“No, no, I understand. That’s the type of secret you don’t want getting out.” Fuegoleon’s eyes lingered on her for a moment longer. “...how long? Since you rescued him, I assume.”

“Before that.”

For the first time, Fuegoleon was surprised. “Oh… how did you meet?”

“It’s a long story… well.” Lisa laughed nervously, her heart warming at the memory. “He saw me at the jousting tournament, and decided to come to our party the night after. Remember that guy I was clinging to all night?”

“WHAT?” Fuegoleon’s jaw dropped. “That was him?! Gosh…” He frowned, perplexed. “He looks so different in regular clothes… and that bandana…”

“Anyway, after that, we kept seeing each other. The day he was kidnapped… I did something stupid, and got both myself and Sei hurt.” Lisa closed her eyes, the memory painful. “But… I couldn’t let him go. I couldn’t let them take him. I realized that day… just how much I loved him.”

Silence settled between them once again, less awkward than before.

“...you don’t need to worry. That’s the part I understand more than anything else.” Fuegoleon sighed, his breath hot between his cold lips. “When you love someone that much… there’s nothing you won’t do for them. You’d kill, and die for them. Yes… I understand. BUT-” His face suddenly became stern. “If he breaks your heart, I don’t care if he’s the King! I’ll kill him myself!”

Lisa blinked slowly, before bursting out laughing. “Uh oh- That’s exactly what Sei said!”

“WHAT?! Sei knows?”

“YEAH!”

“Am I the last to know?!?”

“No, it’s just the two of you and Marx.”

“I see… oh, look.”

Lisa looked over to see a rider approaching through the fog. Her heart leapt when she realized it was Julius, bundled up with his sword strapped to his back. He gave them a happy grin when he rode up to them. “Here I am- ready to go?” he asked Lisa.

“Of course!” Lisa smiled before looking over at Fuegoleon one last time. “Thank you for riding out with me.”

“No problem.” Fuegoleon gave her a nod before looking at Julius, his brow furrowing despite the smile on his face. “Both of you… take care of eachother. We’ll handle things while you’re gone.”

“Thank you, Fuegoleon!”

The two of them rode off into the fog. Fuegoleon sat there for a moment longer, staring at the empty space where the two of them had been just minutes before. Then, he turned and galloped off towards the city once again.

Sei… we have a lot to talk about! Lisa and the King… how outlandish!

But the two of them seemed happy together. And in turn, Fuegoleon was happy, too. Their secret would be safe with him, and he hoped that they would be safe in their hiding place before too long.

Next time! Lisa gets accustomed with life in the country, and meets a familiar face. But at night, bad dreams plague her from afar. Time is running out.