#sorry i took so long 2 answer... i wanted 2 do a doodle for it but then life got busy haha

[insufferablemod]

I just wanted to say that I really love ur art and Dave ask blog and I get so hype when you like my John ask blog stuff ! Thanks for being one cool dude :B

AAAafdsdsff tysm! and thank u 4 the dave,,, i love him hes so small,,,, qwq)/<3<3<<3<3<3<<3<3!!! your ask blog is really cute and i love your colors! theyre so lovely! your john design is also adorable so heres a lil fanart :)c

[shinysparklesapphires]

showtime precure!

chapter 2: I'm a what now?!

🎀: @baileypie-writes @harufallinwonderland

"C-Cure...Showt-time...."

Saying it out loud truly solidified how weird Luci- Cure Showtime's situation was. Within seconds she'd gone from a normal high schooler to some sort of magician??

With....really long hair...

"Are you ok?" She looked down at the cat, who still seemed a bit shaken.

"Y-yeah..." the cat looked just as confused as she did.

"SAWWWW!" The monster roared, charging towards Showtime.

"UWAAAA!" she did a flip over it, dodging the attack.

"Wow! That was so cool! How did I-"

"Showtime look out!"

She dodged another punch from the monster, hitting it with all her strength, sending it flying into a nearby wall.

"What are you doing Facade?! She has one of the ribbons! Get it from her now!"

"Sawwww...." the monster seemed tired out.

"Showtime! Use your hat!" The cat yelled.

"My huh?" She took off the black top hat she was wearing, and out popped a small wand.

"Quickly! Before the monster gets back up!"

"Right!"

She tapped the wand on the hats rim a few times, then shouted

"PreCure, Showtime finale!"

She pointed the wand at the monster, enveloping it in a light, that when it faded all that remained was a small coin.

"Grrrrr! Cure Showtime...whoever you are...I'll get you for this!"

The goth girl disappeared.

"Ok you've gotta explain, what happened to me? Why did I get all- sparkly??"

Lucia and the cat were sitting on her bed.

"My name is Reel," the cat answered.

"I don't know why it transformed you, all I know is that these ribbons-"

Reel looked at the ribbons tied around his collar.

"Whoever wears them, can have any wish the want granted."

"Wait really?!" Lucia beamed.

"I wish for a mountain of sweets!" She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

Nothing happened.

"You can't just wish for something out of the blue! It has to be something you really really want!"

"But I really really want sweets..."

"That's not what I-" he sighed. "Are you even listening?!"

Lucia was on her computer looking at something.

"Sorry I need to pick out my courses for the year!"

*poof!*

"How about the theater course?"

Lucia looked up from her desk, turned and saw the boy from before sitting on her bed!

"H-huh...?"

"Yeah my human disguise is the theater teacher, so if you join that, I'll be able to make sure you don't do anything irresponsible with that ribbon."

Theater! Of course! Why hadn't she thought of that before?? It was perfect! Plus, if she joined that course, she'd have all acting, tech, set design, and dance classes too!

"Alright then! Guess I'm a theater girl now!"

Reel smiled. He didn't know why, but somehow he knew he could trust Lucia to help him.

"Woo-hoo! First day of theater class! Yippee!"

"Lucia, can you please be quiet..." Reel was on the other side of the classroom, cleaning his glasses.

"So who else joined this course?" Lucia looked over at the attendance sheet on his desk.

"Dunno, only two other people signed up for the actual theater class itself. Most just signed up for the dancing part." Reel put his glasses back on.

"Um hello? Is this the main theater classroom?"

It was the pigtailed girl again, but with another girl this time.

Reel grabbed the attendance sheet.

"Yes this is the main one. Names?"

"Lyna Amaranthe." The new girl said.

"And you?" Reel looked at the pigtailed girl.

"Clemantis. Amber." The pigtailed girl muttered, putting on her headphones and sitting at the nearest table. Lyna followed suit, sitting next to her, and started doodling in a sketchbook.

"Alright. Since this is the first class, I didn't really have anything planned, since I wasn't really expecting such a small turnout. So just do whatever you want as long as it doesn't bother me I guess." Reel closed his eyes and took a nap at his desk.

Real professional.

[makoredeyes]

Hello, I hope you're doing well! This is probably an odd question, feel free to ignore it. I wanted to ask you as a fellow writer I admire, who is mostly focused on unpopular/dead/deep lore characters. Do you also sometimes feel like what you're writing is irrelevant and unexciting for everyone, except yourself? If so, how do you deal with this? For me sometimes this sudden realization is so crushing, that I cannot bring myself to finish a single work.

Hello! That’s not an odd question at all in fact it feels pretty relevant tbh. (Omg sorry long reply you got me going 💙)

I think I have several kind of interrelated answers for you so let me lay them out.

1- I am powered by autism and a MIGHTY hyperfixation. I have no choice I am compelled. I am blinded to all other things and so while the little bit of feedback that I do get is AMAZING and so extra sparkly motivating it is not entirely what compels me (but BOY does it help)

2- I joked with a friend just last night that, “this season is, as usual, does not have NEARLY enough Felwinter content and so I must therefore create my own.” - as she pointed out, there have been exactly TWO seasons with ANY Felwinter content at all and I wasn’t playing destiny yet for one of them. My point being, sometimes you gotta create what you want to see yourself. I’ve always found myself in some really niche corner of whatever fandom I’m in and have to do this a lot. Probably how I got to writing and drawing etc. fun thing is tho you find a really special group of people who think and love like you that way, and if it’s a smaller crowd, it’s all the more intimate for it Imo. I’ve made some super special friends in the last 9 months or so in my weird little corner here and it’s magical and I think that quality over quantity filter is awesome. (But yeah i know the validation machine is SO good too)

3- the BEST magic of borrowing from obscure content, generally unknown or undeveloped characters or lore is the creative freedom. The headcannon swapping the worldbuilding the background gathering… the RESEARCH! Gleaning what little bit I can from what we DO have. Who the fuck is timur?! We don’t know. I borrowed the beautiful designs for his face and general personality that Sylenth has developed because she’s done such an amazing job and was kind enough to allow me to play with him as she made him, and took that as jump off point for my writing etc but I have all the wiggle room in the world with but a few widely dispersed canon signposts to lead my direction and that is just so fucking fun for me.

(And that doesn’t mean more mainstream characters like Osiris don’t have their creative appeal to me either. I will deep dive on lore and character analysis for YEARS but living in the peripherals is comfy for me)

Those are all the positives to my work, but yeah, sometimes I do feel a little dejected. I have definitely felt a drop off in reader response weirdly in converse to the effort I put into my writing. Housefire has evolved into much more of a cohesive Plot(tm) that is going somewhere very specific from its origin of a few interlinked fluffy anecdotes and funnily enough about the time I started really digging my heels in and plotting and planning and putting in twists I was REALLY excited about, people started responding less. Some of my favorite fics are the least popular. Some of my art I am most proud of gets the least attention but that damn doodle of poor Felwinter getting splattered by a warsat has 200+ more notes than my next most popular art. (The shitposts always win Damnit! 😩🤣😅)

I get frustrated and yeah sometimes a bit discouraged sometimes and I spend Way Too Much time sitting here refreshing my notes because I am a sad lonely person chronically online just way too thirsty for a little validation or a conversation with someone but like. Every piece gets better. Every piece SOMEONE appreciates. Every piece **I** enjoy and is also a chance for all of that when I share it with the world and that’s exciting and good, and like I said the people in this community as niche and little as it is, are really something special, and some of the people that have come into my circle because of it make it SO worth it.

**I was done but then I read your ask one more time and I’ll add this since it popped into my head last-second:

If we are creating works for dead characters we love, we are keeping them alive.

How magical is that??

[troloyunu]

Sorry if you've answered this somewhere before, but do you have any advice for improving/practicing art?

I am not sure if I am the best person to be giving advice on this matter as there are a lot of aspects of my art that are lacking, but here are some tips that have worked for me personally that I think worth are trying!

This got kinda long so. Under the cut!

First, this is always important, and I know people are sick of hearing this but it's true: practice, practice, practice! Observing things is very important for art but you actually have to try your hand again and again in order to have a result that is to your liking when it comes to art. Please just try to draw as much as you can. You have a pen in your hand? Scribble something. This will also improve your linework.

Do NOT be afraid to use references. It is highly unlikely that you will just happen to be able to draw something you have never drawn before without a reference. If you can't find any refs, take your own pictures. (I do this a lot when it comes to drawing hands)

Most of the time we have these conceptions of how things look especially when it comes to anatomy but humans are all sooo vastly different so I believe it is important to broaden your vision by using diverse references

Don't be afraid to draw bad. Seriously. If a piece you just made sucks, don't beat yourself up about it. It is geniunely not that serious. Take a break and come back to it, if it is still not to your liking and you cannot improve it; it is okay to delete that drawing and try something else. You'll get it, I promise. Just keep practicing.

Most of the time I find that it helps A LOT to draw something I am obsessed with. When I am learning anatomy, I don't just always draw some random people's pics I found on the internet, I will sometimes make that drawing into a character/ship I love

Do redraws from your old art! It is so motivating and fun to see how you have improved and changed as an artist :3

I know it is not healthy to rely solely on validation, but it does help a lot! If you are part of a community, esp one with a lot of artists, don't hesitate to show them your work! You can also draw your friends' ocs and such if you want to, it really is a win win situation because you will be drawing something you want to draw and your friend will be so happy that you took the time to draw their character. I loved gifting people little doodles when I was part of an oc centred fandom :D

Also, since we are talking about validation, validate YOURSELF please. Imagine yourself 2 years, 5 years, 10 years whatever ago. How would you have felt if you saw your drawings today? You would have been so impressed! So take the time to appreciate your own work.

If there are any artists you adore, don't hesitate to try to redraw their drawings, or maybe just some aspects of their style that you love. If you do a redraw, it is advised that you do not post it as your own idea, but if the artist is ok with you posting it with credit, then you can do that too! :D

That being said, keep in mind that you don't have to post EVERYTHING you draw! I used to do that which put a lot of pressure onto me since I would get so upset whenever a drawing turned out bad, but when you realize that you can just not post it, that lifts a lot of tension.

Take care of yourselfff!!! Take care of your arm, your wrist, your back. I think there is this program that makes you take breaks every x minute which is called EyeLeo, you can install that or something similar. But please do take care of your health.

Sometimes breaks are needed. If nothing you draw looks right and you don't feel any joy in drawing, do take up another hobby for some time. Let yourself miss drawing.

Play around with styles and colors and lineweights, see what you like the best. I used to always get so upset that I didnt have a set style, my drawings vary a lot throughout each piece. But now I just keep it cool and don't think about it too much. Don't force yourself!

Also for me a part of drawing I ALWAYS look forward to when drawing canon characters is giving them alternate outfits I save on pinterest. I enjoy so much searching which outfits a character might wear. Maybe you can try this? I know drawing the same outfit over and over again for a character gets old.

Honestly being obsessed with something helps a lot with improving. Like a character or a pairing or whatever. Because you will just REALLY want to draw something for this thing you love, and you will just keep on doing and doing it. Really helpful

But 99.9% of the time, the thing you imagine will not translate completely identical to the canvas/paper. And that's OKAY! That means that you have a great imagination and you will try to get a satisfactory result. It just means more practicing. When you get an idea that you want to draw but don't feel like your skills are enough for, draw them anyway! That way you can see a lot more clearly what you need to work on. And do work on those things.

I think for reference images just find nude reference pictures of real life people. The drawing pose references we see on here or on pinterest with simple shapes ARE very convenient when you just wanna quickly draw something, but if your goal is to learn anatomy, then using a pic of an actual human is ideal.

Remember that art is supposed to be FUN. So do have fun. Experiment!!!

Also I would say like, when I was more of a beginner and tried to do fullbody drawings and such, it never looked good and I was quite discouraged but things started improving when I started to individually focus on things like eyes, noses, lips etc and then trying a more general approach with fullbodies. Might not be the same for everyone though!

I think that's all I can think about for now. Sorry if this is not that useful, but yeah! I would say the most important thing is to just practice honestly :D Go ahead, have fun, draw something! I wish you the best <3

[vasyandii]

Hi love! Here I am again annoying you <3

For the OC ask game thingy:

4, 9, 10, 14, 23, 24

If you don't want to answer all of them you can just choose! <3

Yes hello hello!! Sorry it took so long for me to get to this ask ;0;;; I always want to make sure I include a lil thank you doodle so it took a while xD

(( The OC Ask Game as a refresher ))

4. When scared, does your OC fight, flee, freeze or fawn?

Despite prioritizing her own safety over others, Phayvanh is stubborn. If it comes to it, she's going to fight until she has an opening to run or until another person comes.

So.. kind of a mix of Fight AND Flee xD

9. Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

Oooh Definitely this one quote

“The dog that weeps after it kills is no better than the dog that doesn't. my guilt will not purify me.”

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

Ooooh boy. I have alot of Aus but here's a list of my favorites.

1. KruegerNak Fantasy Au where Nak is a Naga and Krueger is a Nachtkrapp (Night Raven)

2. Avatar Last Air Bender Au where Krueger is a Dai Li Agent, Nak is a Fire Nation Soldier

3. Boxing au!! Krueger is a Professional Boxer, Nak is a Professional Mauy Thai Fighter

4. This one Super cringe Ice Skating Au: Nak is in a women's Hockey team, Krueger is a figure skater

These are all Aus I want to explore more but never really have the time since it doesn't.. really fit with the military setting I like. But it's some I like thinking about!

14. How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

She wants to be seen with improvement. That she's trying so hard to be better. Her words and actions have hurt people in the past and she wants to prove that she won't make the same mistakes again.

On a lighter note, she wants to be seen as girly. She really adores and admires women. She wants to dress pretty and be pretty like the women she looks up to (Syd, Iskra.. etc.) Because she didn't have the chance to be feminine back in Laos.

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

Guilt and Grief. Nak is FILLED with guilt and grief.

The more she improves as a person the more she feels guilt for her actions in the past, she doesn't know if she is able to apologize because how could she? Would it be too late? Some of them are long dead so she can't apologize.

Guilt is an emotion she can explain, Grief isn't.

Grief is in her very core. Nak grieves for her mother for giving birth to her, for giving her up. So much so that Nak doesn't know why she feels like this, she misses and yearns for her mother so desperately. However Phayvanh doesn't believe she should be feeling this way, she doesn't deserve it. After all..

"How can someone miss a person they never knew? Touch? Seen? That person could not be real for all they know."

This is an emotion she doesn't express besides from finding mother figures in older women.

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

Her alternate life path would be controlling Naga's Drug trafficking Ring.

If Nak never fled Laos and took up Naga's family business she would most definitely be dead by now. Her temper and stubbornness would've run what her uncle built up to the ground. Naga knew that.

Joining Chimera was the best thing that could've ever happened to her.

Aaand thats all I can say for now, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing this :3

[lemon-wedges]

Just wanted to ask (and feel free to not answer), but how do you draw so much so quickly? I'm always impressed by how fast you doodle or paint. Also, wanted to say that I appreciate your Barok and DGS art as a whole.

and with this ask i have finally reached an artist milestone 😭

Well theres a short answer and a REALLY long answer (which ill put under cut when i get there).

short answer: practice + refs

which.....can be an annoying thing to hear. And as someone who studies art and has bought a LOT of online courses trying to figure out how industry people can just churn out work like nothing. it feels like a let down every time i find out their big secret. just practice and photo refs. Every. Single. Time.

LONG ANSWER:

its how you studying your refs. heres how i do mine

sorry if this is rambly. but ill try my best to at least be clear. BUT THIS is the EXACT way i taught myself how to be quicker.

I do not know if youve taken any art classes but essentially one of the ways to study gesture drawing is by first tracing ur photo ref to get a sense of the flow/proportions of the body. youve probably seen a billion of these tutorials floating around:

So last year around hmmmm june/july? i was NOT looking to get better at my anatomy or gesture. i was actually trying to get better at clothes. but my problem was it took me so long to draw out a figure (which i was fine with cause i liked how my people looked at the time) that i could never really just focus clothing part.

So i told myself look. ur not looking to draw in this style like this forever. so for now SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY!!!! I WANT THE BAREBONES OF A HUMAN HERE TO MAKE A MANIQUIEN FOR CLOTHES OK

but how do i do that....

Im gonna use this piece as an example from my rise and yosuke fashion palooza month. FIRST u see i got all my photo refs together. i like those poses on the right and i want to switch out the clothes for the other ones i picked out. i trace out my poses. kind of like the tutorial up top but since this is about draping i was focused the exact places their waist/arms/legs/etc would bend.

and like the tutorial u turn off the photo ref and do a drawing based off that traced piece.

then i would turn on my refs and add on my clothes

And after a month of just doing that over and over and over. i was surprised to find that figures and poses were so much easier to understand when i would break them down like this. and once u get familiar with them the faster and more confidently you'll draw them.

I and still do this btw. heres my otasune from the last week

i used photo refs for all my sketches. if i cant find anything online to match what i want i just take photos of myself. and some might say well arent u just relying on reference TOO much?

AND AGAIN take it from someone who has spend a lot of money buying classes from their fav artists in the industry. The Secret of how they churn out so much cool work so fast always turns out to be this. practice and photo refs.

Every. Single. Time.(tho this is omitting a lot. im not getting into like they way they stylize their art work. that actually the fastest and funnest thing to do once u have ur base down)

Now PAINTING

The thing is, i dont actually post up all my work on this blog. So theres a ton of stuff you havent seen me do. These are some paintings i did 2 years ago for a class.

I already know how to pick my values and set up lighting. When you see me painting my figures now. i am not focused on learning these basics im actually just honing a technique.

you might see me post readmores with these kinds of wips. I lay in all my colors and lighting with the lasso tool. ALL THE MAJOR DECSIONS ARE DONE HERE

(the little miniature i add on the side basically tells me what the overall feeling is going to be when i blend in the lineart to be cohesive with my colors) ( also if you had any questions on my prepainting process tho. feel free to ask!!!)

and if you compare this wip to my finished piece youll actually find that i dont stray that far from what i've laid in.

everything happening at THIS stage is about feeling out how i want the textures to blend with one another and getting funky with some brush strokes.

and thats it? im not sure if any of this is helpful but if anything. i hope you come away from this feeling like what ive been doing here is nothing special. "THATS IT???? THATS ALL THERE IS??? well i could have done that :T"

exactly man. you can do ALL OF THIS aND MORE!!! I BELIEVE IN U :D

but ill let this be the last thing i leave u with my friend: my barok sketch and the refs i used for his boobies

[joshbruh10x]

Ok first how long have you shipped Fazcule

second did freddy and Bonnie see Monty at the same time and go " yup he's ours now" or did one fall then the other,

Thirdly did you ever write out or draw out how that kind of relationship affects the game or does it exist separately

And finally ( sorry it's long) I have a dumb, probably not funny doodle comic idea I'd like to draw and it would cross over our characters so I'm asking for permission to draw your characters totally fine if you rather I didn't

Oh my asks about the Fazcule <:0

It's been a while!!!

(warning, very stupid long rant, I didn't realize how long I've written, oh dear god I'm so sorry)

Ok firstly, when I went to Tumblr with the help of @lmaojune (hi bestie if you see this). I was completely blind to the fandom, I used to be in a Pokemon Amino and posted whatever, what're aus? What're fics? Ships? Didn't know em. Then saw all the Monteddy art and was like y'know what? Why not draw them. Then it dawned on me I could basically draw anything I wanted , didn't matter how goofy (yes it took me that long to realize, I was a very serious artist back in Amino). Not long, I saw everyone's Glamrock Fronnie, as a Monty enthusiast I was like NOOOO HE WAS LEFT OUT :( but then I stumbled upon other people's art with Monty and Bonnie, I've read so much fics about them being enemies or fics where Bonnie's the abusive partner of either Monty or Freddy but I didn't see him as how I see him today (the sweet idiot hornball). Then I started drawing Bonnie more but then I saw Izzy (holidayturkeyy who which I will NOT tag I do not need them seeing this rant guys, pls save me the humility) and their idea of a polycule with the three guys, polycule and Fazbear? BOOM FAZCULE (also it's a reason I don't call the ship Gatorbearbun, I think that derived from Twitter? The hellscape land of musk :> /hj), and THE ART WAS TOO SWEET I COULDNT KVMDKDLS then dots aligned and I got hooked. Sorry for the long answer but to cut this short, I've been shipping them ever since I've discovered the ship's exsistance, that being like 2 years ago already (geez time is fast)

Secondly, yeah that was my first impression of the ship, Freddy and Bonnie are ogs and they find this new guy they both really like so they were both like YEAHHHHH we'll just uhhh talk to him. And then they started to become a polycule. Although I did have ideas back then where Bonnie and Monty drag Freddy into their relationship. This is actually canon to the TOH au me and June share.

Third, yes actually! If you go to AO3 and see my Fazcule Drabbles (short Fazcule Oneshots which I have yet to update lcsmdmldnfk), multiple times have I mentioned about the effects of a polycule relationship to their modern lives, I'm about to do the same thing with a new fic series I am about to write (still on break from writing lol)

And lastly HELL TO THE YES I WOULD FRICKIN LOVE THAT And I've mentioned it before, I WOULD LOVE FANART/IF SOMEONE WERE TO USE MY CHARACTERS/IDEAS

I don't see anything wrong with it (unless people yoink my art and claim it as theirs, ya know those kinda stuff)

Sorry for the long rant lmao :p

[cryptomiracle]

Hello!!!! Could you do masky with a teen daughter around 14-16 he adopted?? 👀👀

OOOO YEAH!

Masky with an adoptive daughter

THE GIF LMFAOO

(wholesome headcanons only 💪‼️)

I think if he had a daughter, he'd be one of those dad's that try to do a ponytail with a vacuum 😭

But eventually he'd learn how to do hair properly.

He's a very supportive dad.

He doesn't judge, he might give you a side eye every now and then, but it's never in a truly condescending way yk.

He's an amazing cook.

Idc idc, he's great at it.

He makes you a birthday cake every year.

He waits till you go to sleep, and takes hours making sure EVERYTHING is perfect for when you wake up.

When it comes to everything that happened w marble hornets, he tries really hard to keep you away from it all.

He's very vague when, and if, you ask him about it. he believes it's his business (not in a rude way) and the only thing you should have to worry about is school.

He can be a bit overdramatic, when the situation has anything to do with you.

Let's say you get McDonald's right, and you get a 10 piece chicken nugget, he'd literally make you count the chicken nuggets to make sure they're all there.

If one is missing he'll, walk back in and find you that missing nugget.

When it comes to smoking, if you asked him to, he'd try to stop.

When it comes to drinking, he'd NEVER drink anything around you, not until you're like 23 or something lmao

I think if you want/got a piercing he'd be cool with it, he'd buy you a piercing kit, so you could learn to pierce yourself cause "the piercing gun thingy looks unsafe"

I can see him teaching you how to cook, you two are always in the kitchen together.

If your school had a bake sale, he'd help you bake those cookies, and cupcakes like it was his life's mission.

I'm talking about, sprinkles, colored wrappers, all different flavors, 3 kinds of icing, etc etc.

He loves Halloween, so I can definitely see you two matching costumes.

He also loves slasher movies, so the both of you dress up as ghost face (billy and stu) and scare people almost every year.

He has a pet cat, named porkchop.

(cause I had a pet cat named porkchop, and porkchop deserves some recognition 🙏🏽)

I like to think he's not the best artist, but he likes to draw little doodles.

So just about every birthday card you get from him, has a little doodle in it.

If you want to dye your hair, go for it, he doesn't really care what you do with your hair.

But don't let him help.

He knows absolutely nothing about hair dye 😭

Overall, he's a really good dad.

He might be a little "rough around the edges" and tense at times, but he really just wants the best of you.

Sorry this was so short, and took me so long to answer, i started writing it at like 2 am, and I've also been working on about 4 other stories while writing this 😭

Ty for reading - M

[houseofwomn]

2, 14, and 22 for emily !

from this list

Hey! Thank you so much for asking c: 

2: Do they have any daily rituals?

Emily is all about routines. She’s very insistent on drinking four mugs of pitch-black coffee throughout the day. She was never able to afford those high-tech coffee machine shit – she just sticks with her this ancient French press handed down from her father when he passed. 

For Trystan, his daily rituals are all about his clothes lol. He’s a bit like a cartoon character, he wears the same outfit every day. The same black steel ring on his left index finger, a fancy schmancy black suit and tie, you know. 

14: Abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food intolerances, etc.) 

Trystan still has a large scar on his abdomen from being stabbed by Tony. It’s healed now, and now it looks a bit like an oblong stretch mark. 

Also - the question mentions disabilities and I wanted to say that recently I’ve been headcanoning Emily and Trystan as Autistic and ADD/ADHD. This idea isn’t fully fleshed out yet - but honestly in canon both of them give the biggest AUADHD-coded vibes ever you know?? Emily’s special interest is 100% her job – it’s her biggest passion and it’s quite literally her entire life. I’d imagine Trystan’s special interests would be food! And Drakovia culture/history as well - it’s pretty clear how much he loves his homeland.

22: Given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?

Emily would doodle or journal random tidbits about her day - jotting down any new things about whatever case she’s currently on. Maybe she’ll map out her calendar, making a whole list of errands and annoying Adult Shit to do for the week. 

Trystan would probably accidentally create The Most Beautiful Creation ever. Like, leave him alone in a room with just paper and pencils and what have you for a few hours and he’ll make the most jaw-dropping art you’ll ever see. Emily is just constantly gagged coming home late to see The Most Gorgeous Still Lifes imaginable. 

I am SO SORRY this took forever. You know - blah blah blah writers block etc etc has been eating me up recently. So I’m glad I was finally able to answer at least one of these questions! I’ll be sure to eventually answer all of my inboxes :) 

[morganpdf]

U kno what. Go ham and answer all (or as many of the questions as you want/are relevant) for uhhhhhh Robin and/or Fig (idr if Fig is your OC or Justice’s OC so I’ll leave it up to you)

damb!!!!!!!!!! an excuse to talk too much about robin lets go!!!!!!! (fig is @saltylenpai's and he's not feeling 2 well so i dont wanna bombard him w messages rn dsfds but if i know something for them ill answer it)

also warning for ~mature themes~ or w/e bc this is about robin and she fucks. sorry (nothing graphic just the acknowledgement that she does)

also just for clarity's sake, when i say 'connect 4' thats just the name juice & i use for august/piper/robin/felix bc thats easier than naming them one by one dsfds. on w the show

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

god ngl i can't really, remember, justice might have named her?? like. that's the most likely scenario :sob: he's named so many of my ocs when we were doing back-and-forths trying to figure out the vibes of guys. robin was fun tho bc she didnt have a name when i first posted her bc i really liked her design and wanted to post it despite not having. u know. a name for her yet. also just checked her og post and it has 69 notes. its what she would want

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

when i first made her, robin was 25! now its sort of just a nebulous mid-to-late 20s depending on when art of her takes place tbh! i'd say she's 24/5-ish around the start of that story (so, like, when she finally breaks it off 100% w zoey [her shitty ex that she started dating in highschool], piper moves in w her, potential one night stand w felix, etc etc). maybe a little younger but also not by much. by the time she's got shit more figured out (ie felix has moved in, she & piper have started dating, getting help for her various neuroses etc) would be like 28-29, probs in her 30s by the time they ALL move in together imo. i could be off w that tho but its fine dsbhfs their story is always changing and growing so who knows!

okay wait i just came back to this like 3 hours after starting to write these & sitting on it and. i think robin is roughly 23 when zoey breaks up w her and piper moves in. august is in her senior year of undergrad when she meets piper (again) and she's younger than robin. i think piper is the youngest?? okay wait. ok. robin is 23 when piper moves in, who is 21 at the time. august is 22 & felix is like 21 and a half. or something. at the very beginning. or maybe robin is 22 and piper is 20 and they dont encounter august for another year or so??? idk. ill figure this out eventually. where i draw her most is her late 20s when shes happy w everyone HSDVSFV thats what matters

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

yeas :3 felix is their partner/fiancé (they dont get married for a long time even after getting engaged bc robin just, really likes calling them her fiancé. it's really special to her) and piper is her girlfriend!! it took a long time for robin to realize she was worth loving tbh but all of connect 4 are out here trying to remind her whenever they can (even august. begrudgingly.) (also just to clarify, august is piper's wife) (and felix's gym buddy/bestie/fuck buddy) (she and robin have some sort of fwb thing going on. enemies with benefits. they pretend to hate each other but dont be fooled. theyre besties) (august just isnt romantically involved w anyone But piper) (same w felix & robin)

also fig is dating wren! however i have no current art of them :sob: he's a sweetheart printmaking major who meets fig in school. fig is a fine arts type major who minors in, like, photography, & also tries to work w as many mediums as possible. wren is kind of infatuated w them but tries to hide it bc he's... a dork. he's a dork who does NOT know how to talk to people. and takes to doodling fig in their sketchbook & making prints abt the nebulous Feelings they give him. fig is Aware of it but is Very Autistic abt it all & cant place their own feelings for a while. it all comes to a head when they're. like. hanging out together in the studio and fig just drops a description of how theyve been feeling around wren and wren is like. um. ummmm. did they just fucking. confess to me. and then it's another week before wren is like heeyyyyyyyyyy. would you. like to go on a date. and fig is like. ok :) anyways theyre very in love.

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

is coffee a food. i think robin would live off of it if she could. felix is like, the main reason she starts actually Eating Food Normally bc they wont let her drink 5 iced coffees & call it a day. but to tell u the truth ive never really thought abt her fav food! it's probably something really simple, tho, like one of her dad's pasta recipes. comfort foods to the max.

💼 - What do they do for a living?

robin works as a barista at the coffee shop below her apartment (let me have this fantasy). ive said it once and i'll say it again: robin is the epitome of coffee shop au (derogatory). she doesnt Hate it bc so much free coffee & all her coworkers are some kind of queer but shes also like. not exactly a social butterfly & if anyone's ever a jackass to her she will Not take it (let me have this fantasy also). she's llike 5' even but if anyone yells at any of her coworkers. even ones she doesnt like. she's up to bat so fast. u wanna speak to the manager? ok speak to me. ill kill you

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

YEAS robin likes to sew & make clothes/costumes in her spare time. zoey used to make fun of her abt it so she kind of fell off of it for a while, but when piper moved in w her & showed interest in it, robin picked it back up! didn't get fully back into it for a while, but she's out here making clothes for connect 4 as a labor of love (esp felix bc. theyre fucking huge & have trouble finding things in their size sometimes. especially in the arms). also i specify costumes bc she absolutely drags all of them 2 conventions w her in themed cosplays that, like, none of them but robin understand dvgfsdgv. she also sometimes tag-teams w ellis (august's old college roomie) bc xe's actually really into cosplay & nerd shit but can't sew. however xe CAN work w robin to add cool practical effects to costumes and as much as they bully each other . ngl their cosplays always fuck. OH ALSO robin has a tattoo gun . she gives herself tattoos sometimes. when she's feeling it. sometimes the others get in on it dsfds

🎯 -What do they do best?

bitch and moan and be a hater. fuck nasty lesbian style. etc etc

jokes aside tbh . i dont want to boil her down to "barista" but she IS, like, good at what she does. the shit she makes slaps. one of those bitches who has as many fancy coffee gadgets around the apartment as she can afford (and some she cant). no one's complaining tho bc. despite all the bitching she does. she really likes doing things 4 the people she loves and has everyones morning favs down pat

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

once more. bitch and moan and be a hater & fuck nasty lesbian style. dsvbhgfvbsdh. this is only half a joke tbh robin can be hypersexual & genuinely really enjoys sex so like. yeah. she loves to bone down w any mix of connect 4 and it's a blessing that there's 3 other people bc sometimes i dont think any one of them could keep up. lmao. other than that she enjoys, like, reading indie comics & also manga tbh. loves to cuddle up w felix in bed while they read bc they have sleeping trouble & she knows she helps sometimes. loves to plan dates & hangouts even if she complains the whole time. loves spending any & all time she can w her loved ones now that she lets herself Connect on an emotional level as for shit she hates 2 do. working closers @ opening back to back (happens often). not a fan of cooking. hates going to the gym but will do it to watch felix & august work out. thinks most chores are a sisyphean task that she, personally, has been burdened with (enjoys doing laundry tho). hates talking abt her feelings but gets better abt it

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

the first christmas she spent w felix was. ngl. life changing for her. even if shit broke bad shortly after :sob: (they get it worked out but it gets messy for a hot second). genuinely one of the first times she feels Loved for who she is & like she could deserve it someday. which scares the hell out of her in the moment but. despite everything she still thinks abt it fondly also. when she proposes to felix is up there. not necessarily the proposal (that was slapdash & embarrassing and she kind of wants 2 crawl into the dirt) (after weeks of planning & getting cold feet Once Already, she just drops it on felix while they're driving & they nearly crash bc thats nothing they would have ever expected robin 2 say. and robin ends up so embarrassed she nearly has a panic attack trying to backtrack bc what was she doing what was she saying this was the worst obviously youre going to say no im so sorry please ignore everything ive said in the past 5 minutes--) (felix has to pull over on the side of the road to help robin Chill)but the aftermath, when she's calmed down enough that felix is able to be like, hey, hey, baby. look at me. you can take it back if you really want but the answer would be yes either way ok? and they have a Moment and end up making out w robin sat up on the guard rail while the sun sets around them. very romantic save for all the honking they get

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

most anything involving her ex and highschool. tbh. that's all kind of a blur for her but it's not like she Wants to remember any of it. zoey has always preyed on her insecurities & kind of molded her into the bitter cunt she pictures herself as so. it's kind of all bad. she wasn't a good person when she was with zoey & she knows it & feels guilty abt it. other contenders include: when she lied to her dads abt going to college in LA (she went for a semester and dropped out) specifically to be w zoey, knowing they wouldnt have Let Her Go had they known zoey was involved (they did not like zoey). any memory involving holidays spent alone (or worse: w zoey) when she would ignore calls from her dads. another contender for worst is the memory of seeing felix for the first time after their initial break up because ough ouch oof owie that sucked shit.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

nope! she was originally a splatoon octoling :^] still very similar vibes tho!

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

juice & i wanted to make splat ocs that were salmon runners! her og lore is that she worked salmon run shifts over night & coffee shop shifts during the day. no time to sleep she needs to make money. now she just has the coffee shop job but she's still just as cranky and mean. FELIX HOWEVER has changed so much. i know this isn't abt felix but its still wild thinking abt just how much they've mellowed out compared to like, og felix.

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

slice of life :^] same as august and piper. there's a post going around abt, like, coming of age stories for adults where. u know. people over 25 or whatever are finally coming into their own & if that was a Genre id absolutely smack robin into it. she grows A Lot from her 20s into her 30s. continues to grow from there, too. haven't thought too much abt, like, Older Connect 4 bc i have some Neuroses around that, but shhh

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

robin is cis </3 but a lesbian! <3 fsdfds (august is also cis and a lesbian. piper and felix are the partners w the genders) (piper is a trans lesbian & felix is. genderfluid? queer? has something going on. & bisexual. like. fuck men as a man, fucks women as a woman, etc) (u only technically asked abt robin but shh)

fig is (wavy hand motion) and demi :^] juice is still playing around w their gender, when i asked it was like. some variation of nonbinary or agender leaning on towards transfem. gender simply does not matter to them

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

both robin and fig are only children!

robin feels Guilty abt that often bc she feels like she's kind of a fuck up and that her dads deserved a better daughter (they love her dearly and would never think she's a failure or a burden) (but robin has Neuroses)

fig is. tbh. very much a spoiled only child. theyre very sweet and kind tbh but they were (and are) Very Protected From Everything & their parents can and will do anything for them at any given moment. money is no object. they use this power for good as often as they can tho

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

ope didnt realize this was the next question dsvfgsd so. uh. oopies. i will add on that like. robins dads went the surrogacy route w her. her godmom was the gestational carrier & is pretty good friends w her dads so she shows up to family functions a lot dsfsd. ive yet to design her tho (very double income no kids lesbian aunt vibes from her) (i need to flesh her out more actually) (juice and i half designed robins dads once but didnt settle on anything. need to do that again)

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

i like that robin grows and heals w time, and even though she fucks up she still ends up happy w her friends and family. she has a support system of people who love her. despite going through deep shit & dealing w a lot of mental health issues, she's happy and safe and loved & has learned how to cope w things & is on her way to forgiving herself. she doesnt want to die anymore. she finally looks forward to the future. im normal. dont look too much into this. anyways

as for fig . my fav thing abt them is how in love w the world they are. they never get tired of how beautiful everything is, from sunsets to grass growing in cracks in the sidewalk to the patterns that gnats follow. its part of the reason they get into art tbh. they want to translate that beauty into their work. why they dabble in every medium they can. i love fig so much

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

robin is easily my most drawn oc (followed shortly by jo, but mostly bc jo was like. my only oc for a while & they were directly connected to a special interest at the time) BUT EVEN THEN. I DONT DRAW HER ANYWHERE NEAR ENOUGH 😭😭😭 rip to all my ocs who arent my comfort characters that no one fucking Knows about because i never draw them. BIGGER rip to the OCs who dont even have toyhouse pages bc i only drew them once years ago and have since redesigned in my mind but havent drawn yet. looking @ ellis & atlas & wren & graham especially. sorry to my boys (and ellis) i just never draw guys ever :sob: (posts that made me realize its literally like. all my guy ocs - and ellis - who i havent uploaded yet 😭😭😭)

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

lmao no absolutely not robin is going to live forever. all my ocs are immortal (<- guy who has Intense Neuroses & Anxieties revolving around death and is not in a place where he can unpack that shit yet)

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

i dont think robin has any ACTUAL phobias (like., defined ones. you know what i mean??) (like arachnophobia or agorophobia or w/e), but for the longest time she was terrified of showing anyone that she cares bc she didn't want to get used again. that's why the initial break-up? w felix happens (she admits she loves them during sex & then immediately panics and kicks felix out & runs away to her dads house for a month w/o telling anyone & purges all her socials. she's normal and makes totally rational decisions). she also has a pretty big Fear that zoey is going to dredge up old shit and start shit and make the rest of connect 4 leave her (which. like. zoey DOES try after a couple of years) (bc shes a petty motherfucker who is upset that robin's doing well) (it obviously. doesn't work) (piper writes a. quite frankly. scathing ass message to zoey) (august swears if she were a few years younger & stupider she would have gone out and started a Fight) (felix just holds her so tight) (anyways)

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

fig is absolutely incapable of having an arch-nemesis or rival. like. thats not something that could exist 4 them. they love everyone too much and just assume good intentions. its a problem sometimes.

also robin has several rivals tbqh. the peppy gay barista at work who is too much of a ray of sunshine. she is going to get him to crack. ellis is a rival bc xe hates everyone august has ever slept with (barring piper) (i dont think xe realizes she slept w felix though bc . those two had . a lot of risky hookups in public places i dont think they really ever boned at the apartment LMAO). august is her BIGGEST rival (said lovingly). their relationship is very (robin voice) shut up august im gonna go fuck your wife now. and august bullies her so hard. relentlessly. also full disclosure they also fuck sometimes but its specifically (i warned everyone abt sexual themes or whatever so i can say this) really rough nasty stuff bc august doesnt mind getting rougher w her and robin lives for it. lmao. very hatesex type shit where they're constantly butting heads while robin is tied to the bed. we have fun here

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

i posted robin for the first time on sept 7 2020!! which is the same day as justice's bday which is fun. so! she'll be 4 this year :^] wild as shit tbh it still feels like she's a new oc to me.

fig also looks like they have a 2020 bday, just earlier in the year! wild!

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

me sitting here like. okay how much pain am i gonna be in acknowledging how old i was in 2020. okay lets see. ok. robin was a week before my birthday which means i was. oh my god. i was 24. i wasnt even 25 yet. oh my god. ohghh my god. time comes for us all. i made robin older than me when i made her im gonna throw up. im gonna become an oyster. im gona

[alena-draws]

It's 2 am and I am genuinely screaming at your art. I always do, but christ. I usually check out in case you've uploaded something new, your art is a strong creative reference point for me, I hope you know that. It makes art feel fun again.

A lot of the art you post might be doodles and quick sketches, but they have so much life in them, and emotion, and I always, always love seeing it. I have a bunch of your drawings saved in a folder for reference whenever I'm stuck and feel like I should have some more fun, and enjoy what I'm doing. Then I go look at it, and feel immediately inspired, and go back at it.

I started seeing your art because of bnha, and THEN I realized that OH? YOU ALSO GOT INTO TRIGUN? My god, I read the post you wrote about the series just being...wonderful--and it REALLY IS,. No spoilers for anyone, just..it's good. its so, so good for so many reasons, and it hit a chord in my little heart, and now youre making art of it? Dont mind if I do???

I read that you were trying to focus this blog into more serious art, and thats fine, although if you were to also post your funny little doodles anywhere else, whatever they may be about, just say where and I'll be around too >:)) its always so very nice to see anything at all. So, yeah. screaming. I just saw the most recent trigun sketches and UGH. Theyre so fine. The cHARACTERS ARE SO FINE. id rant about the complexity and simplicity of it all. You art really shows Vash's emotions, and..ah, it hits the spot. So uh, yeah! You're awesome, keep doing awesome. Sorry about the long message, don't feel pressured to answer ^^)!

Aah thank you so much for that sweet ask!! The fact that you have art saved in a folder and that it helps you get back to drawing when you feel stuck, that makes me so happy to hear! It's in a way one of the best things I could hope to achieve, because even though as an artist you draw for your own joy, if I can move other people or even better, inspire them to do art too, then I'm super glad :') I hope you keep on having fun and enjoying doing art!

Also oh yes like many other people I got deep into Trigun...(I might just add some more to that post that you mentioned, because I haven't yet expressed all that I wanted to say about that show)

Don't worry, the funny little doodles will stay here and continue to be uploaded! What I mainly meant by keeping this professionall-y is, that I mostly want to post art, not too many text posts, because I want my Tumblr to function as a kind of online portfolio/art archive. That works here just a bit better than on Twitter.

Again, thank you so much! I'm really happy you like my stuff so much and took your time to write such a kind, long message! Have a beautiful day and weekend!

[bella234567890]

Ok some explanations on why I haven't posted any art yet or why I haven't been doing anything on my socials

The main reason is because on Friday my phone died(because it hasn't charged much) so I had put it on the charger the next day on Saturday I found out it wouldn't recast to anything and it wouldn't even charge so my mom and I went to the store where she bought it from to fix it

So now I'm on my old phone for 2 weeks or longer depending on how long it takes to fix the new one so I'll probably won't or rarely post on my socials since this old phone is slow af

Heck even opening the photo app took like two or three minutes so yeah here's an explanation on why I may not be online much

also I'm not gonna be online much because of school and since Christmas is coming up that means me and my class are going to have to do a class Christmas Eve dinner(wigilia klasowa in polish) yes it's my classes tradition every year and it's a fun one but still that means that around 16-20 of November I'll be busy preparing my part in it since the whole class has been separated into groups that have certain tasks like mine is baking chocolate cupcakes!

So bye for now!

And I'm really sorry I may post some doodles sometimes and old digital drawings I have on here

And of course I hope you guys take care and have a lovely Christmas :)

(PS:you can still ask us things while I'm gone I'm still pilling up the asks so I can answer them all at once so don't be shy and ask whatever you want!)

[samthecookielord]

Every question and where to find the answer, under the cut. And also a bonus edit of why i think i may have made the questions a little too hard at the start

1-Which Clive is closest to canon?

I guess this one could be cause for discussion but yeah like the explanation shown, Timeclive is a canon divergent post-canon, unlike the others who have larger changes starting from earlier on in the timeline. You can probably tell from their sprite edits too (i dont have one for triclive yet so i just put his drawing there). As you can see, Timeclive is the only one whos outfit is literally the same as in-game.

2-What is the in-universe nickname of every Cliver member? (i.e. what do the Clives generally refer to each other as?)

I realize now it is not very apparent from the clides. Oops. This was the first mention i could find FHHSFD

Well anyways this post has part of the answer. And I guess I just spread out the nickname usage across different posts dfjdsjfd

3-On the clides, there are two characters that get dedicated full slides despite not being Clive. Who are they?

Okay this one you can actually tell from looking at it. Considering its about the clides. Lukebot gets at least one slide, and Parker has one. Even if you weren't sure if Lukebot is considered a Clive or not, nobody else on the multiple choice gets a dedicated slide.

4-Which AU Clive came first?

I guess this one is a little hard to tell too but considering the fact that his slide comes first and he was present in an early post of pgw clive, hes a solid candidate for the answer. If you really wanted to exercise your right to taking this quiz open book you can use the "tumblrurl/tagged/name/chrono" thing for each au tag and look at the dates OOPS WAIT MY FIRST TIMECLIVE DRAWING WAS IN A DOODLE DUMP AND I DIDNT TAG THAT. SORRY </3 but i do post the original first doodle AGAIN later and MENTION that its an older doodle. im really good at this making easy questions thing.

5-How many guns does AV!Clive own during Curious Village?

Straightforward, check slide 19 and dont get confused by the previous text box.

6-How many iterations of the "cliver" image are there?

(1) (2) (3)

7-Clive Triton AU currently has 2 named custom songs made by me and Katie. What are their names?

Another terribly poorly thought out "easy" question. My badddd. If you comb through Triclive's slides, you can find i tucked away some music links (oh wait i should also update the artfight thing. hes there now!) (the answer to this may become outdated soon because Im cooking another theme for lukebot) (also im so sorry to anyone who took this quiz using the clides BEFORE i added the lighthouse link to it. it was brand new and i had recency bias HDJFHJSDF)

8-As of August 1st, there are 3 (dis)hono(u)rable mentions at the end of the Clides that are in a "special zone" due to being actual AUs and not one-off doodles. Who are they?

Straightforward check final slide they are there

9-triclive is losing it in this panel do you know why

Read my comic read my other comic.read my comic

If you want a precise lore location that tells you "he was kidnapped by dimitri and is currently fueled by 1 hour of sleep, trauma, and soul-crushing fear of lonliness", here's two panels from one of the posts i just linked

10-Where does Timeclive get his blue top hat?

On his ref. If you want context, here's the post

12-PGW!Layton interviewed PGW!Clive. Why?

Although this fact has been sitting around the mutual circle:tm: for a long time (CORRECTION: only me and pastel knew JFDSKJSD), I only very recently actually made it into a comic because I kept forgetting to draw it.

13-There is a non-Cliver AU with the original premise being Timeclive accidentally caused a lot of this AU's major changes. Which one is it?

You can check my layton status post.

Also this is my first tagged BEHUH post

It is also mentioned in this slideshow. I also have friends telling me I made a comic about Timeclive pushing Layton down a pit but I do not have any evidence of this comic existing and trust me I searched very hard. What

14-Who got Rifle first?

If you check the clides, rifle is mentioned twice. the kity :3 from the wording, you might infer that i gave rifle to pgw!clive first. also chronologically, i have drawn pgw!clive with rifle first

15-There is a drawing with the caption "Finally. Cliver." where each Cliver member is playing an instrument. Which instrument does each person play?

Finally. Cliver.

16-When does the fic "Second Chances" take place? (the one where av!clive gets burnt and shot)

Read Second Chances. As said in the uquiz explanation, "Can't be post-LF because Assassin AU Layton stops killing after that. And can't be before curious village because Flora is in the fic." It could go either way of between CV and DB or between DB and LF tbh. we picked the latter tho. u gotta guess lmao

17-AV!Clive has an AITA post on aita-blorbos dot tumblr dot com. What's the title of the post?

You can read it here

18-I have a blog where i post screenshots from the layton games. On April Fools 2024, I posted joke screenshot edits instead. One of them contained a cliver member. Who was it?

I tagged my april fools posts. This question is a little tricky because you see both Lukebot and AV!Clive. However, it is AV!Clive because he is the only actual official cliver member that fits the answer.

19-There are currently 5 Timeclive fics posted on AO3. Which one(s) is/are mine?

Look at my ao3 man idk

20-What's the name of my Cliver youtube playlist?

This playlist is actually public and you can find it linked on the first page!

21-In Flight Rising, which Clive did I make my first Cliver fandragon of?

sorry anyone who doesnt even know what a flight rising is HJFSDHJSDF look at my awesome dragon

23-What is the name of the doc for Second Chances?

youre on your own buddy. guess boy guess o7

24-Timeclive keeps notes on the various universes he encounters, giving nicknames to notable ones. This is shown on a slide i made. What is the second name he gave to PGW?

See the timeclive notes slides here

25-What is the original name for Null Solution? (THATS RIGHT YOU ONLY KNOW THIS IF YOURE ME LOLLL) (oh i guess not wow so many people get this right??)

guess boy guess

26-I snuck a cliver clive into a school project once by designing a character who was very based on one of them. Which Clive did I base this character off of? If it helps, this was for a murder mystery themed project.

This is definitely unfair and this is why its in the unfair section BUT it is possible to locate this info. probably better off guessing though. While not directly stated that this is primarily pgw!clive inspired, you can probably tell from the scarf and the text "hired commercial director". funnily enough the killer is the guy i designed after desmond

27-How many Cliver clives are active in my friend group's "interdimensional server" roleplay?

I have a tag for posting screenshots from this roleplay

Timeclive appeared once. However, I specify "and then he never showed up again" meaning he is not active. We only play as ocs for this, with very few exceptions.

28-Triclive can hear the Layton soundtrack, and there is a hypothetical bonus mechanic where post-game you can ask him to play a piano cover of any song from the current title, with a comment for each one. What does he say in reaction to Future British Gentleman?

The post is here

29-Before we called him Timeclive, someone suggested a different nickname that I eventually used for his tupper bot for his singular interdimensional server cameo. What was it?

guess boy guess

30-Okay here's the last of the unfair questions. Nice to end on a nice even number, right? Anyways, what was the exact message that spawned Timeline Hopper Clive?

guess boy guess

play my nefarious cliver quiz. here are my clides if you need it (you will).

[zzoupz]

oc questions !!! feel free to answer all or none :))

1. tell me about your favorite! (/pos)

2. tell me about your least favorite! (/pos) (stinky awful garbage man *gender neutral)

3. anything living in your head rent free? story concept, single scene without context, oc concept you wont get around to making?

4. tell me about your favorite relationship (friendship included!) between ocs!

5. do you have a favorite oc name? what is it and how'd you get it?

6. anything driving you truly batshit? going insane over them?

7. tell me something sad about an oc!

8. tell me something sweet about an oc!

9. any ""retired"" ocs you still think about?

10. pick a favorite character n tell me three songs you think theyd like!

hihi! sorry this is a bit late I want to get back on my pc for this

1. oh damn I have multiple favorites! I think ones that I enjoy the most (at the moment) are them

(yellow: Lee Harrison | blue: Bryan Dickinson)

they are basically a (in the 2000s) newbie punk band formed by two friends who are like brothers to each other. they bonded over both having not so great families (not like tragic-backstory awful but yknow. the average traditional family)

yeah I still can't figure out what their band name would be. yeah since 2020. sorry. such is life.

while they're not the ones I've wrote the most about, as in not much at all, I just really like them :)

2. Bartholomew. I used to like him then I realize how generic he is so I hate him now (/j) (yeah I actually do want to post about him less though)

3. been thinking about the dynamic normal human x immortal who finds them in every life. so simple and common but I go insane over it every time. I think it would be fun

4. ohohohoho man ok here are some in no particular orders

Time & Denial core, Denial/Dan (black hair, also the last image) is by @/ akamavarii

they were basically our coresonas, but they've became their own characters at this point so I think it counts

friends who commits OSHA violations together!!!

they share 1 brain cell and takes turns over it like an Xbox (quote from ami himself)

Iandithas & Lumeous (if you noticed one of the name changed its bc I did)

a bard & a wizard duo who are retired and are now a shopkeeper & a chemist

its funny I care about them this much bc Lumeous was supposed to be a dad and a side character to my other oc and Iandithas was a doodle of a random guy and now they mean the world to me

there have been like 5 people who pointed out that they look like a couple and you're right and I fucking hate that you're right. and they were roommates etc

Overseer / Conqueror

this one is new very obviously but I've been thinking about them for a LONG while.

friends to lovers to enemies heehoo heehoo heehoo heehoo heeh

can you tell I like it when queer relationships

5. Fakzky HAS to have my favorite origin. fun fact there's a bot on facebook that would combine the names of their followers (only if they request, don't worry) and it was my source of inspo for my fantroll names in 2020, Fakz is the only one I took completely from it and the post is still there!

6. the 35 awesome and cool animatics that exists in MY mind

7. oh man I don't wanna say something sad :( mostly bc I'm bad at it and it would sound cringe :(

8. I have a plague doc oc and she has 3 pet rats ^_^ they're all named after murderers from the bible but yeah whatever

(Dias Cain Jael in that order btw)

9. hmmm them I think. I make stuff about them way less nowadays but still draw them time to time. Cath is from 2018 and funnily is originally a fusion of two characters. and Danya is from early 2021 when I was just trying stuff out. I made them friends just cuz I think they look like they would do drugs together

10. I have no idea man I created them not know them (I am so so bad at this)

[thesoftanon]

FINALLY I CAN FREELY REQUEST THIS NOW THAT THE ENTIRE FANDOM IS FOCUSED ON IT. SECOND X MANGO WRITING FIC? IT'S BEEN MONTHS SINCE THE SHIP FIRST INITIALLY ENTERED MY HEAD- Also fluff or hurt/comfort for the request? Sorry if I'm being too pushy-

Drunk secrets (SecondMango)

notes: might do a part 2 for this one! sorry I took so long making this but I got a killer headache that still doesn't leave me alone...

tw: use of alcohol, swearing

“I swear to god, no matter how many times I tell him no he just doesn’t listen! this is getting annoying” mango complained, feeling the burning sensation of alcohol going through his throat. Looking at the -newly eighteen- stickfigure, mango could tell second would have a killer hangover the next morning “anyways, how are you enjoying your birthday party?”

“It’s nice… not what I expected, but I ain’t complaining” second answered, words squished together clumsy out of their drunk state “is this what people call an afterparty?”

“well…” mango looked around, red passed out on the couch with several doodles all over him, yellow sat sleeping on the other couch holding a marker, blue and green had gone to sleep earlier and purple was gods-knows-where “usually it has more people… but yeah, I guess” and then they both heard a wooping sound at the distance “for fucks sake–”

“Hey, do you trust me?” Second suddenly offered their hand and mango looked dubiously “I can make him back off indefinitely” and at this mango took their hand. Second wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? the shorter one smiled “just play along”

Then, just as Jacob came into the scene, second grabbed mango by his shoulders and pulled him into a sloppy and slow kiss.The surprise in his drunk state kept him from pulling away instantly and before he knew it they were kissing with more passion, adding tongue into it only to be interrupted by the shocked whooping of Jacob.

“Buddy” Second was the first to pull away, glaring at the enderman “you gotta start learning when no means no, this boy here is mine so back off”

Jacob seemed hurt, turning to mango only to see him still processing what was going on, with a shine in his eyes that looked as if the answers of the cosmos were revealed to him by that kiss. Jacob understood, sadly nodded and teleported away. Mango blinked to turn to Second with a red face.

“...So! as I was saying…” Second continued the conversation as if nothing had happened, and Mango didn’t have the guts to just burst with the you just kissed me stuff. Mango tried to follow the conversation but his head kept messing with him back to the moment where the two lips collided together. Eventually he grew tired of it and just excused himself to go to sleep. He thought he could forget about it, Second only did it to help and because he was too drunk and wouldn't remember it in the morning, it meant nothing to them and it shouldn’t mean anything to him either… right?

Well, fucking wrong because it’s been two months and mango still had dreams about second over and over, and the worst part? he didn’t feel like waking up at all. Mango didn’t like being in love with them, it made him all weak and soft and he hated it.

This new facet made mango notice a lot of more things in second, the fact that their eyes were not only green but also had a hint of blue on the center,

Being the social clueless stickman he was, Mango reached out to the only alive being he knew he could trust with this. Jacob was strangely supportive of Mango’s crush (mango explained the whole situation to him, and jacob apologized for driving mango to the point that he faked being with someone else, something about caring more about Mango’s happiness).

“Come on! you got to tell them” jacob tried once again to convince Mango to confess his feelings

“Absolutely not, what will I gain from it?”

“A partner–”

“they don’t like me like that” mango let himself dramatically fall into the floor against a tree “I would just make things awkward and maybe he won’t ever want to see me again”

“That's the worst scenario, and in that case wouldn’t it be better for you anyways? rejection is the best way to erase your feelings for someone, plus you know second… they wouldn’t just throw you away because you got feelings for them” that was all true, mango knew, but the fear was still there… ah, fuck it, zulius raised no pussy

“fine”

…

This was, in fact, not fine.

Mango stood outside the nether portal just entering Alan's pc, frozen over his choices. Was he really gonna do this? Was he really gonna risk it all for some stupid feelings that got in the way? Yeah, no, he turned around, ready to leave when-

"What are you doing here?" Second's curious voice asked from behind mango, scaring him off.

"JESUS– w-when did you get there?!"

"About 5 minutes ago, you were standing there without moving for a while so I figured you needed something" and second noticed the way mango would scoop away from them "what's wrong?"

"NOTHING! I–" Mango took another step back, bumping into a wall he now knew he had no other choice but to confront, he wasn't a coward and could do this "or, erhm, well… There is something we need to talk about. You and me, I mean"

Second stood some good moments there, uncomfortable shifted and sighed "I'm sorry, I know the kiss was out of limits and that I–"

"yoU KNEW?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE TOO DRUNK TO REMEMBER!"

"Wait, You didn't know I knew?! What were you gonna tell me then?!"

"I WAS GONNA CONFESS THAT I–!THAT–!" mango hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn’t take the tension anymore “I LIKE YOU! OKAY?! I just– ever since that kiss I started to notice things and now I can’t just keep pretending nothing is going on and I like you a lot!”

Mango finally said it, but now he couldn’t turn his head upwards to see second. He didn’t have the courage to.

“Mango” second called after a small silence “Look at me”

Mango shook his head while hugging himself in fear, second just sighed and cupped both cheeks. Mango closed with force his eyes while he awaited for the worse, for a soft rejection that could slowly kill his feelings away.

But that never happened…

…and instead, mango was surprised with a kiss. It was kinda awkward, clearly from a beginner and with too much nervousness in between, but you couldn’t blame alcohol on this kiss and that made it ten thousand times better.

And that’s the story of how mango and Second started their secret relationship.

[eureka-its-zico]

Irrevocably Yours Pt. 2

Part 1 

Request: hey! can i request a scenario of jungkook being a rich kid who has some of his legs is leg failure , basically can't walk without a cane , And he falls in love with a normal girl , and they end up running away , happy ending plz , also if u can , LIT IT Up with smut ' thank u ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

A/N: So Part 2 is that slow burn build up (with possible cute moments?) and part 3 will be the actual SMUTTY goodness. Hopefully this is something cute and fluffy that is enjoyable and helps progress the story a little more so when a full length next part of a bunch of smut comes it all makes sense. Or idk anymore lol I edited this thing four times and I just really hope you all like it  Please enjoy this wordy mess. I wasn’t sure how to properly write it out the end and yeah...I winged it. If it needs to be fixed lmk please!! As always, I hope you all enjoy. Much love, Jenn

P.s. when I wrote this I listened to Lauv’s “I Like Me Better,” and Pink Sweat$ Feat. Kehlani’s “At My Worst,” on repeat like crazy.

Jungkook x Reader

Word count: 15,496 (I know:it’s a hefty boy)

Genre: Fluffy/Smutty, slow burn, 

The next day at school you weren’t a hundred percent sure what was going to happen. And sure, maybe you did wake up from a dream replaying that moment in the mud. The ending is a little bit different. This time, dream you didn’t let your chance to kiss him go by. When the opportunity presented itself, and you were both looking at one another like before, you’d leaned forward and kissed him. You weren’t surprised to feel him kissing you back. 

You could still feel the ghost of the imagination of him leaning down to press his lips against yours. The way he leaned in; eyes soft with longing as his body leaned deeper in against you. The weight of him pressing you into the mud until you were sure an imprint of this moment would be there forever. This imaginary kiss you’d shared was sweet, chaste, and everything you could’ve hoped for. Deepening at the last second as your alarm blared you back into realty. 

It made you want to ring your hands through your hair in frustration. 

Your whole walk to school was nothing but foggy images of the dream on repeat. A mixture of yesterday’s events accompanied them with each frame until you weren’t sure which was the actual moments or what your head had created. I mean, you did know he didn’t kiss you, but...the look in his eyes. Maybe Jungkook hadn’t, but there was that moment you swore maybe he felt the painful comedic romance moment of it all too. 

All these unanswered what if’s you'd created had built an impossible chasm that seemed to stretch infinitely wider between you in your head. In the end, you were your own bully as your mind stayed up until three that morning playing out every scenario you could think of. Even the ones that ended with you probably reading everything wrong, because what did you know about body language? Or, more specifically, boys built like Jeon Jungkook.

It didn’t matter that you had two tests today and never finished your homework for home period, but what the hell. Nothing like hopelessly daydreaming about the boy who may or may not have flirted with you and harmonized along to songs with a hidden voice of an angel, am I right? And sure, a large part of your night was  spent chastising yourself half the time to remind you there was no way in hell Jungkook could feel that way towards you. Even just a little. Your inner monologue of bringing yourself back down to earth, another culprit in the growing list of reasons why none of your assignments were completed. 

What can you say? You were a mess.

Your only game plan you’d been able to agree on was just to daydream out the window. Writing out your own hapless love story starring the boy who sat across from you in the home room. With a silent plea to the universe that you weren’t called on to answer any questions. 

Your arrival at homeroom was met with barely seconds to spare. The bell rang behind you, and a few other students, as you rushed towards your desk. 

“Hurry, hurry to your seats! Or I’ll write you up as late!”

Mr. Choi was all talk. Everyone knew it and his excessive arm movements to rush every body that passed his desk made him look exactly like a conductor. His crazy movements were enough to distract you for a split second from the one person you were desperate to ignore. 

“Good morning, class. I hope you are all fully rested and awake for class this morning. Let’s have us open our books to page two hundred and forty-two and continue on with our lesson.” 

In unison the sound of backpacks unzipping with students reaching in their backpacks to bring out textbooks filled the class. The only person who didn’t currently have said book was holding his hand up, and seated directly across from you. 

“Yes, Jungkook?”

“Seonsaengnim, I’m sorry. I haven’t received my textbooks yet.”

“Ah, that’s alright, Jungkook. You can go ahead and share with Y/N, again.”

You hoped your face wasn’t giving away the panic you felt rising up to match the blush that was streaking across your cheeks. Jungkook’s hand was already on the leg of your desk. His fingers tips grazing across your knee in passing as his hand wrapped around the bar and used it to bring you closer to him. You kept your eyes glued to page two hundred and forty-three and refused to look in his direction. Jungkook seemed to find a way to remedy this; his hand came into view and grabbed hold of the book corner and slid it over to his side. And as if he was the world’s greatest magician, he now had your attention. 

Your eyes immediately shoot up to acknowledge his presence, instead of staying on the book. You knew that devilish smirk of his would be there to greet you even before you actually saw it. 

“Well, good morning to you too, Y/N.”

His voice practically hummed a tune as he spoke. His eyes heavily searched your face, and you prayed whatever he found wasn’t any lasting signs of rosy cheeks. 

“Good morning, Jungkook. I hope you slept well.”

“I slept very well, thank you.”

“That’s good-“

He cut you off fast, his next words a hush of teasing: “Even though some crazy girl tried to smother me in mud yesterday.” 

Your world narrowed in on his smug position in his chair, but quickly realized he just wanted your attention. The smile he wore softened around the edges as his eyes tried to look away from you and yet found their way back. You did your best to hide your smile and must have failed miserably for his face noticeably brightened. 

“I’m sure if that’s what she was doing - which I doubt - you probably deserved it.” 

Jungkook pretended to be wounded and caused you to practically jump out of your seat when his free hand landed on top of yours. 

“I can’t believe you think I deserve to be smothered,” he pouted. 

You rolled your eyes in a weak attempt to look away from him. Anything to not be swallowed up by how stupidly cute he looked in this exact moment. The fingers that held your pencil lazily tapping on the pages of the math book to bring his focus to something else that wasn’t you. 

“We need to pay attention.”

It was the only valuable excuse you could come up with to look away from him. But who were you kidding? You didn’t have to be looking in Jungkook’s direction to be painfully aware that he was there. His own gaze burned straight through you and left a trail of heat everywhere his eyes seemed to land. 

Right now, you were aware they were on your lips and stirring every emotion from your dream you tried to suppress. Plus, you weren’t being cute. Unless Jungkook found the sight of you chewing your bottom lip into dust attractive. 

It was a terrible nervous habit that seemed to only backfire right this second. You were sure he was ready to make a comment on it. You waited patiently for it to come in between you mindlessly copying equations off the board and the sea of arms flying up to answer whatever it was you’d just written. My gosh, you were trying so damn hard to not pay attention that you were doing nothing but paying attention to him. 

Please don’t let him just see I’m doodling. 

Mr. Choi was in the middle of showing how to work out a long equation when you decided it was safe to give Jungkook a glance. It was instantaneous how quickly you regretted it. 

You jumped back against your seat in a weak attempt to recover some space. You weren’t exactly sure how you’d missed it -missed him- getting so close, but you had. Jungkook’s face was mere inches from yours and it took everything to not show him you weren’t at all bothered. 

“Jungkook,” you whispered fiercely. “What.are.you.doing!”

Jungkook ignored your question. His eyes squinting as they looked around the side of your head. The gesture made you increasingly subconscious until you couldn’t keep your hand from going up to brush alongside it. 

“What? What is it?”

You were expecting the worst. 

“I think I see some mud still stuck inside your ear.”

And like magic your earlier blush reappeared. Your tongue rolled against the bottom of your teeth in a weak attempt to keep yourself from smiling. Unfortunately, you weren’t able to stop it as the urge to give in tugged mercilessly at your lips. The playful glint in his eyes was enough to keep the panic of how incredibly close he still was. Your eyes hopelessly glancing at the pair of lips that plagued your dreams. 

Jungkook noticed. 

And how did you know this, you might ask? 

Jungkook gave it away by the dramatic way his lower lip was drawn in by his teeth. Every movement he made sure was exaggerated and stupidly slow. His eyes watch for your reaction. He didn’t have to wait long; your eyes were glued to them long before his teeth joined the equation. You should’ve felt more embarrassed at your own blunt display - or maybe at his -but, god help you, you weren’t. 

You tore your gaze away from him and did your best to pretend whatever part of the lesson you’d missed was interesting. The dirt on your shoes could’ve been more interesting at this moment; anything to keep you from looking back at him. 

“I rinsed my hair three times in the shower. Thank you very much.” 

“Did you think of me while you were washing yourself clean?”

If what Jungkook was after was seeing your face light up brighter than a tomato he’d succeeded. Your cheeks instantly flushed and felt scolding hot. The only line of defense you could think of to fight the devilish look in his eyes was to give him a smack on his arm. The motion only caused his sinister smile to turn into a full blown grin; a bark of laughter leaving him seconds later. 

Jungkook chuckled out an, “Ouch!” His body leaning back, faux wounded, and rays of sunshine pouring out of him in waves. 

“I meant when you were getting the mud out of your hair.” His voice carried the singing sweetness of his laughter; airy and light. This boy who you did think of in the shower. All hard edges and softness; sour and sweet. Your very own sour patch kid. “I mean, I thought of you when I tried scrubbing it out from behind my ears.”

Your heart gave a brief jump at his omission. What you wished you would’ve focused on was the fact he’d admitted to thinking of you...in his own shower. But nope! Instead, your mind appeared to focus more on the fact it was while he scrubbed at his ears. 

“I scrubbed my ears too.”

Oh. My. God, you inwardly cringed. 

Is that really what your magical brain decided to say in return? Jungkook leaned back in, eyes inspecting not just your ear, but your entire space. Recklessly moving in dangerously close, and your heart was ready to beg for mercy. Whether to completely close the space between you or to stop teasing, of which you weren’t sure. 

“It appears you didn’t do that good of a job,” he huffed.

A gurgled scream flew into your throat; the sound was utterly ridiculous and Jungkook ate it up. His head flew back in laughter as your hand moved to swat at him again. 

The disruption turned the attention of your teacher directly to the two of you, and Mr. Choi was quick to address it. 

“Jean Jungkook! Y/L/N, Y/N!”

The both of you rose from your seats in unison. Jungkook’s rise the definition of graceful, while yours in comparison was met with anxiety and your knees colliding with your desk. Your small “Oomph,” of pain sending him into a fit of giggles beside you. The hand you sent in to pinch at his leg only sent him into another fit. 

“Y/N!”

Stupid, stupid! Of course he would see.

“Seonsaengnim!”

To appease him, you felt your body respond in a ninety-degree salute. Your face keeping down to stare at your shoes and praying you weren’t about to be sent out of the room. 

“Would you mind explaining what Jungkook and you found so interesting that the two of you felt like you didn’t need to be a part of class.”

God, it wasn’t a question. He really wanted you to tell him, and what could you say? 

“Oh, he was just asking me if I was in the shower...thinking of him. And he was thinking of me too!”

Which wasn't a lie. Maybe it wasn’t as dirty as he might have intended, but it was enough to make your cheeks flush to life with their usual color these days. Your mind was still racing with an appropriate answer for Mr. Choi. You were taking so long you were ready to blurt out anything he might want to hear. 

“Seonsaengnim.” Jungkook gave a respectful bow and lifted his head. His full attention now resting on the impatiently waiting man at the front of the class. “We were discussing the fact that you, respectfully, have written the equation wrong on the board.” 

The entire class seized up. A collective air was taken at Jungkook’s bold attempt to correct him. It was awkwardly obvious that he wasn’t happy at the idea of being corrected. However, Jungkook remained unfazed and waited for the right time to speak. 

“Is that so?” He snapped. “If it is so wrong, Jeon, then please, come and fix it for me.”

You were sure his order for Jungkook to go to the front would make him back down . No one enjoyed doing class work on the board up front for all to see. But you’d forgotten Jungkook wasn’t like everyone else. He kept his head high and moved to grab his cane; his hand wrapping tightly to its handle. Jungkook stepped out from inside his desk and let his feet carry him forward. He walked with a noticeable lack of a limp and you were willing to bet that strike of pride was costing him. 

It wasn’t that you couldn’t believe that Jungkook was able to walk without it. It was just that your memory forced you to recall the pain he was in during the field trip. The flashes of frustration as his eyes threatened to spill over with tears. 

Jungkook came to stand beside Mr. Choi. His hand reaching out to take the marker that the older man had held out waiting for him to prove his equation wrong. He plucked it from the older man’s hand and moved the last few inches to stand in front of the board. His eyes scanning the problem quickly. Your breath held tight in your chest as you watched him get permission to grab the eraser. The class transfixed on his every movement.

You wondered how many of the girls in your class focused on him like you were. The same way your eyes ate up every simple movement he made. The notable flex of his back while he stretched to erase the middle and last part of what Mr. Choi had written out. 

“You had a good start here, Seonsaengnim.” Jungkook paused to stretch out his hand. Fingers marking underneath the start of the problem. “But you didn’t multiply these after they were divided, and because of this the middle became wrong. With your core of the problem being wrong the solution was never able to end in its final conclusion.”

With every word, Jungkook’s voice became more self-assured. His presence enveloping the room and demanding the attention he’d already received without question. Mr. Choi watched on with his arms crossed; index finger hugging his mouth in concentration as he watched Jungkook work. From the back of the class, you could see students writing down the new formula. Some of them realized the obvious error Mr. Choi had made. 

Jungkook looked at the problem over again on repeat. If it’d been you, you would have left it where it was knowing you’d done what no one else did. But Jungkook wanted to know, for himself, that it was correct. 

Finally, he stepped back from the whiteboard and handed the marker back to Mr. Choi. Who looked measurably impressed with him. His index finger he’d used for thinking now covered up a timid smile before he dropped it to grab a hold of the marker. 

“Go ahead and have a seat, Jungkook.”

Jungkook gave him a passing bow as he made his way back towards the back of the class. Back to you. It took everything you had not to notice how everyone’s view of him seemed to change. Even the honor students; the ones bound for scholarship glory to prestigious colleges now seemed to take new interest in him. 

You’d heard stories about Jungkook, like everyone else did. The Boy Wonder. The boy who seemed unfairly good at everything. Before you’d ever met him, a part of you believed there wasn’t a way the universe would seriously do that. And yet, as he moved to sit back down beside you, you suddenly felt the overwhelming sensation of being below average. Your subconscious rose up to stop whatever sunlight you’d felt at his earlier words, and crushed it until it began to dim. All but snuffing it out. 

Jungkook fell back into the seat at his desk riding the high of confidence he’d gained from proving he’d know how to fix the answer. Not just know it; teach it. The air around him completely changed. He was the sun and the rest of you were becoming helplessly lost in his orbit. From the backwards glances of the others around you, you were pretty sure they weren’t going to mind one bit. 

Either Jungkook was honestly oblivious to all the attention or he just didn’t care. He practically beamed as he leaned himself closer to you completely unaware at how breathless he made you. That smile you’d admired during your field trip showed itself beaming and bright. He was so damn pleased with himself his eyes sparked with joy and you wish you could’ve pouted. Maybe found the strength not to care or to wonder if he could see how he affected you. 

You wanted to pout and be in your own bubble, damn it. 

“Don’t worry, Y/N. I don’t think he’ll bother us again.”

Us. 

Those butterflies you’d sworn to yourself you were not feeling towards him began to come to life. Or were they butterflies? You weren’t sure what to call the feeling Jungkook gave you. 

Sure, Jungkook made your heart thunder in your chest like a caged animal. And yea, maybe you swore to yourself there was an attraction there that you couldn’t explain, but that was just your dopamine talking. That didn’t mean the two of you were soulmates or the universe decided to bring you both together by a mess of unseen choices. 

But...when Jungkook looked at you this way it was hard to tell your thundering heart anything else. 

The two of you continued to look at one another. A heartbeat of time passing between you with Jungkook waiting for your reply. You watched the edges of his smile start to wilt as realization set in that you weren’t planning to  reply. No smile or teasing remark was headed his way, and just as fast as he noticed it, determination swiftly replaced the light weighted joy he’d shown moments earlier. 

“Hey, you don’t have to worry. I’m positive he will leave us alone the rest of the class. I promise.”

God, why did he have to make things so difficult? When Jungkook spoke the words, “I promise,” they’d been so earnest. He meant them. Here he was trying to turn the tables and be your knight, instead of you being his. It would have worked, but what he didn’t know was that you weren’t worried about Mr. Choi. Not really. 

No one could tear you down further than you were able to do to yourself. 

He was still waiting for the answer that you would never give. You turned to face forward in your chair and tried to forget the ripple of sadness that moved over his face. The cost of your stubbornness suddenly felt too high. No matter how it made you feel though, you refused to look over in his direction. 

An awkward chasm had built between the two of you. Mostly, well, obviously it was all because of you. You figured Jungkook would eventually stop looking at you. You prayed he would stop. Every time he did it your body became painfully aware of his gaze, and the longing it held for you to acknowledge him. And every time you remained facing front. You no longer could pretend to focus, however, and that seemed to be all the signs Jungkook needed to know you were in some way paying attention.

Your notebook that’d been left unattended on the desk became his private art museum. The doodles started off silly and slowly morphed into small faces and objects that held impressive detail. You tried your best to ignore it; his arm practically took up most of the space on your desk. The angle forced him to shoulder into your space to the point that if you did finally turn to look at him you’d run inches away from his cheek. 

You were doing your best to pay attention to whatever your teacher was doing at the front. Your eyes watched as a wave of hands went up to answer questions you’d never heard. Yours kept sliding back down to the latest doodle he was making. The latest one he was working on had forced Jungkook to move further inland on your notepad. His forearm getting dangerously close to having to rest in your lap. 

It continued like this the remainder of class. For all the effort you’d put in the last half hour of pretending he wasn’t there, Jungkook shattered it within seconds. 

He’d repositioned himself with each new doodle he started. His shoulder wedged itself against yours and his forearm had completely taken up what little space was left on your desk. You were trying very hard to not pay attention to how said forearm was dangerously close to your chest. There was no hiding the redness of your cheeks. 

Without thinking, you whipped your head to look at him and almost yelled. You knew he was close, but nothing prepared you for this.

“Excuse me,” you whispered, voice incredulous. 

Jungkook turned to look at you and...was he pouting? His eyes played up on the childish quality as he turned to you and batted his eyes.

“Can I help you?”

“Ugh, can I help you? Do you need paper or something?”

“I have paper right here. Thanks.”

Jungkook patted the notepad with the end of his pen. Satisfied with his answer he turned his attention back to his latest artistic endeavor. 

“You know this is my desk. Right?”

“I like to think of it more like our desk. Sharing a space like we shared music.”

“Ya, Jungkook. You realize you blackmailed me into using my ipod.”

Jungkook feigned shock. His mouth dropping open and his eyes brows going too high up into his hairline. The entire scene was exaggerated and ridiculous. The scene forced you to roll your lips against your teeth to keep from smiling. The effort it took to hide your grin wasn’t unnoticed by Jungkook, and you couldn’t help but wonder if that’d been his goal all along. 

“Blackmail sounds so crass. I like to think of it as bargaining.”

“So we agree it’s called blackmail, then.” 

The theatrics of his face dropped into a serious stare that left his face completely blank. Void of all emotion except the annoyance that drew a heavy frown from his face. It was stupidly cute and this time you did allow yourself to smile. Your fingers reached out to grab one of his puffed out cheeks and gave it a sweet pinch, like a grandmother, and cooed in his direction. 

“Oooooh Jungkookie, don’t frown. We’ve all gotta be wrong sometimes.” 

He playfully nipped at your hand to make you snatch it away. It took everything in you not to make a sound at his sudden movement. Your mouth hung open in an awkward smile-shout as you brought your handle against your chest. 

“I think you’re misinterpreting the facts here. Maybe you hit your head on a small pebble or something when you fell in the mud.”

“You mean when you pulled me in.”

He shrugged and replied nonchalantly, “I don’t think I recall any force being used yesterday. You just fell on my chest trying to take advantage of me in my time of need.”

Now it was your turn to look deadpanned in his direction. Jungkook didn’t try to hide his wicked smile, however, and the cage of butterflies that were housed in your gut were released all over again. 

“Your appa must be a lawyer. It’d explain why you’re so good at bullshitting.”

“CEO, actually. But I would say you’re close. They are also full of shit.” 

You weren’t sure what to say to this omission about his father. Underneath the sarcasm felt like a heavy chasm that spoke of the death of a relationship. Your curiosity threatened to get the best of you, but you decided to just throw it away. Filing it away inside a little folder you’d made for little known facts about him. 

The bell rang and the mass of bodies in class all began to rise from their seats. All of them eager to rush from the classroom and do whatever plans they’d made to enjoy their little bit of freedom. You were reaching for your bookbag when Jungkook’s hand was just there. A part of you worried he’d decided to play a game of keep away, or something that fit his playful mood, Instead, he placed it down on the desk. 

“Oh, thank you, Jungkook.”

God. Why were you staring? Why was he staring?

The room was still filled with the small display of chaotic teenage energy. Most of them had already filed out of the classroom, while some were still putting things away. Honor students were arguing with the teacher about markings he’d left on papers. Small groups of friends chatting happily as they moved in tight clusters through the door. So much was going on around you, and yet the only person you were aware of was him. 

“You’re welcome. Have a good lunch, Y/N.”

The playful air that’d been around him had completely disappeared. This boy who stood before you now was more reminiscent of when you’d first met than the boy you’d grown to like. What had made him grow so distant?

“You too, Kookie.”

It slipped out. You couldn’t stop yourself. He’d already started to walk away in his retreat. As soon as his pet name you’d given him hit his ears he completely stopped moving. His head whipped around to glance at you with that devilish grin raised high on his cheeks. 

“Kookie? Are you calling me a snack?”

If your eyes could’ve gotten any wider, they would’ve left your skull. The embarrassment was hot on your cheeks and you knew Jungkook would tease you without mercy for the slip up. By the look in his eyes you could tell he was never going to let this go. Not ever. He would be too happy to remind you of this until the day you died. Or until graduation. Whichever came first.

This time you scooped up your bookbag and snatched your book off the desk clutching them to your chest. In your haste to grab them and go, your knee collided with the edge of the desk, but you’d worry about that possible bruise later. You just needed to flee before Jungkook got any closer. 

“No, no. It was an accident.”

“You called me a snack by accident?”

You were backing up towards the safety of the open hallway. Your shoulders shrugging too high and your laugh too high-pitched in your attempt to play it cool.

“No snack nicknames here. It was just a slip of the tongue. I must just be hungry, ya know.”

“Are you hungry for me?”

Oh, he was intolerable sometimes. It didn’t matter how flustered he made you. A part of you knew his endless teasing was growing on you. You liked it, and the sane part of you wondered if you’d gone crazy. 

“Ya, Jungkook-”

“I think you mean, Kookie,” he cut in. 

Jungkook held a single finger up to silence you. He’d stopped moving towards you and let out a laugh as you tried to swat his hand down. He looked so much happier than he did moments ago. That alone made his teasing at your expense worth it. 

“No I mean, Jungkook. It’s the name your parents gave you.” You stated, proud that your voice sounded more stable than you felt. “I’m gonna go eat my lunch now. You should do the same and I’ll...see you later.”

You waited for him to argue. To continue to make comments in passing to keep your face rosy and flushed. He surprised you by just standing there in silence. His smile wide on his face and eyes looking at you like you’d held the moon. A look you weren’t used to and made you unsure how to respond. 

You started to walk back towards the door and found yourself disappointed when he didn’t follow. You sent him an awkward wave as your arms still held onto your things from your desk. Jungkook showed his amusement by giving you a wave in return.

“See you later, Y/N.”

At his words you turned on your heel and headed out towards the courtyard. No longer eager to eat your lunch that you’d packed. Your mind replayed his words and knew, without a doubt, he would keep his word.

—————-

Lunch went by as quickly as it came. Instead of eating your lunch with friends, you’d opted for sulking in the auditorium. Absentmindedly taking small bits off your food as you considered what had happened between Jungkook and you. 

There was flirting there. You may be a little delusional, but you weren’t delusional about this. It was obvious to anyone who witnessed it and yet you tried to deny its existence at every turn.  Of course, you knew why. 

It just didn’t make logical sense. You were two opposites that shouldn’t be in the least bit interested in the other. Well, that didn’t really seem correct when it came to Jungkook. He was attractive to everyone and probably even inanimate objects. But you...you just couldn’t see yourself that way. You’d only ever had one relationship in your life and it had been short-lived and in the third grade. 

Throwing what little was left of your sandwich back inside it’s little brown coffin, you removed yourself from your spot. A huff left you as you reached out to pick up your mess and started to hop back down the steps one-by-one. 

You weren’t sure what walking around was going to do. For the hundredth time since this day started, you were lost in your own head. The only thing you knew for certain was that you’d hoped to run into him again. A thought came to you that maybe, just this day, he’d shown up in the school's cafeteria. 

You could think of a million excuses for why you’d need to go into the cafeteria and it wouldn’t be weird. Just the thought of not coming off weird, while most certainly being weird, made you beam at your own creativity. 

You’d reached the last step and we’re crossing the field when you noticed, on the other side, the very boy you were looking for. He was alone and sitting under the shade of the only tree next to the amphitheater. His back against the bark and a knee drawn up to give his notepad a place to perch. Whatever he was writing, drawing, or formulating held his interest and refused to let him look up. 

All your previous bravado deflated in a second. It would be harder to deny you weren’t actively seeking him out if you went to him now. But, who said that you wanted too? 

Grabbing the strap of your book bag tight, you started back on your mission. Your legs made quick work across the field. It wasn’t until there was only a few feet left between you that he looked up. His brow still furrowed in tight creases of concentration as he decided if you were a friend or foe. Your feet almost tripped over themselves when he smiled at you. 

“Y/N!” He called happily. “What brings you over here?”

“I came looking for my snack.”

The surprise on his face made your bold choice of a response worth it. Jungkook, being who he was, quickly recovered and set his notebook and pencil down beside him. He placed his arms casually on his propped up leg and leaned forward as if he was about to tell you a secret. 

“Well, you found me. Why did you come looking for me? Really.”

You tried to think quickly of what to say. The idea of telling him the truth, that you’d just wanted to see him, felt painfully honest and might press him to ask for you to explain. How could you explain that in the short time you’d met him he was both the most interesting and infuriating man you’d ever met. But he was also the most beautiful, and had a delicate softness under his hard exterior that you were growing to love. He was basically the perfect description of the onion from Shrek. 

An idea clicked in your head and your hands quickly moved inside your bag and produced another brown bag. 

“I wanted to come see if you’d eaten. I had some spare kimchi rice ball’s my omma made.”

You extended the bag out to him. Your eyes locked together as you waited for him to either accept it or deny it. Jungkook surprised you by leaning forward and taking it gently from you. It took some effort, but he crossed his legs -his bad one in an awkward position - and plopped the bag down between his legs. 

You moved to sit beside him in the grass and took your book bag off your shoulder and into your lap. You watched as he moved to open the bag and peered cautiously inside. 

“It’s not a bomb,” you chided. 

“I never know with you.”

You rolled your eyes with a smile spreading like wildfire across your lips. Jungkook was so charismatic it felt inevitable and fighting against it was futile. He took a large bite of the rice ball and practically swooned. His eyes had fallen shut and a ridiculous chanting of endless “Mhm’s” had started rising up around you. 

“Should I leave you two alone?”

Jungkook’s eyes snapped open and for a moment you were worried maybe you did pull him out of some weird food ritual. His eyes were blank and then, all at once, he was back to being his usual animated self. The hand that held the rice ball shaking in your direction before shoving what was left inside his mouth. 

“This is unbelievably delicious.” He mumbled around his food. “You said your omma made these?”

“Yup!”

You’d said it in English just to dramatically pop the P at the end. Extending out your own kind of dramatics to match Jungkook’s. You leaned your hands back into the grass and noticed Jungkook watch your every move as you did. 

“Is your omma married?”

Your face fell into a deadpan stare as you replied, “Seriously? Of course her and my appa are still married, you creep.”

“If you can cook like your omma, Y/N I’m willing to lend you my amazing tutoring services. All for the low price of making things as delicious as this.”

He was already mid-way through shoving the second rice ball in his mouth. His head tilted back to drop it down. A piece of rice must have dislodged itself from its balled shape, because he erupted in a coughing fit. You couldn’t help but laugh as you handed him your water. 

“I think I’ll steer clear of rice treats. Just to make sure you don’t kill yourself.”

Jungkook was about to lift the bottle up to his lips and stopped. His eyes falling on you with a playful glare. You held your hands up in mock surrender as you leaned forward. Your hands clap together to get pieces of grass and soil from your hands. 

While he drank the water you’d offered up the two of you fell into companionable silence. You didn’t mind waiting and Jungkook was happy that you did. When he’d finished with the bottle, he set it down beside him. His hand moving like a flopping fish in your direction to make you give him something that you’d had no idea he’d asked for. 

“Come on. Let’s see your math homework.” 

“For what?”

“To start your tutoring. Duh.”

You hated how cute he’d made the word sound. The way his lips smiled around it and left him beaming at you like a little kid on Christmas. 

“Can we pass? We just left the class and I hate math. A lot.”

Jungkook tsked you but didn’t look disappointed. 

“You can’t get better at something if you give up on it. Luckily for you, you’ve got the best person in the subject to tutor you.”

“For a fee,” you pointed out. 

“All the best things come with a price. I’m most definitely one of them. Now. Book.”

His hand movements were more controlled now. His fingers simply waved once -twice- for you to hurry it up and place what he’d asked in his hand. You really didn’t want any part of this. The thought was sweet, but when you said you hated math you meant it. So yeah, maybe you were grumbling a little as you reached inside your book bag and taking a little longer than was necessary to hand it over. 

Jungkook took it from you in one smooth motion and had it open to the spot previously in class. All your homework problems you’d left unfinished glaring against the white of the page. His eyes were already scanning over what little problems you’d written down. A clicking noise from his closed mouth reminding you why exactly you hadn’t finished more of it. The reason was sitting right in front of you. 

His hand flicked back out and he held it open. His eyes never lifted off the page as he demanded, “Pencil.”

“What the heck? Why am I supplying everything.”

“Cause I’m supplying myself,” he shot back. His hands taking the pencil you handed over to him. “Plus, I also can’t seem to find any in my bag.” 

“You didn’t even look.”

Jungkook gave a graceful shrug. His attention was fully engrossed in the problems. You weren’t ready for how cute he looked. How adorable those concentration creases in his forehead made him look, even deadly serious, with his fingers tapping the pencil absentmindedly on the paper. When he figured out what was missing from the equation he quickly erased and reconfigured everything on the page. 

You were staring intently at him, both because his angle’s were ridiculously handsome but also, the way the sun fell down on him here, peaking through the trees, felt like magic. It was hard to believe the universe was more than just molecules and that luck was thrown out randomly. If it was, maybe you’d caught some. 

Your thoughts were running wild and your concentration was no longer in the safe zone. Maybe that’s why when he finally looked up from the notebook and found you staring he’d smiled. Not his teasing one. Or the condescending either. This smile was soft like a secret, and directed only at you. \

“See something you like?”

His voice was gentle in his playfulness. As if he wanted to take the cautionary approach in case you were spooked. 

“Maybe I do.”

A smile of your own spread to match his and Jungkook wasn’t surprised. He was just happy, and it was a lovely sight to see. He looked away from you with his hand moving up to smooth out the hair on the back of his neck. He flicked the pencil down on the notebook and brought it forward for you to see. 

“Let’s get back to this. I’ll be honest with you. It’s pretty bad. You missed a whole line on the third problem that left you with an incomplete answer. Not to mention,” he lifted up the notebook and motioned towards the whole page, “Where is all the rest of the homework?”

Jungkook’s voice was filled with the beginnings of laughter. Not specifically towards you, but just the blatant fact you did not care. You gave him your best nonchalant shrug. In reality, you did care. It bothered you it wasn’t finished. 

Your fingers were digging in the grass and ripping some of it up and throwing it out into the field. 

“I had a hard time concentrating last night. Plus, if I’m being honest math has always been the hardest subject for me.”

“And that is why I’m going to help you.”

“For a fee,” you reminded him. 

“I’ll teach you the easiest way I know how to do these and I promise you, you’ll be flying through these problems in no time.”

The sincerity in his voice was evident. Jungkook really believed it and he wanted you to believe it too. You just couldn’t understand why and you found yourself speaking your mind. 

“Why are you wanting to help me?”

It was his turn to shrug his shoulders. His face went blank as he looked at you one last time before he looked away. Whatever he was looking at he wasn’t really seeing. He just needed someplace else to look than the person he was talking to you. You did it plenty of times yourself. 

Whatever he’d decided on to say had caused his shoulders to square. Determined that whatever he needed to say he would make sure it meant something. 

“I like spending time with you.”

The smile you’d worn completely shattered as you stared at him. The butterflies rushed up and up until they trapped themselves in your throat. Jungkook’s admission was basically three words dropped away from just saying he liked you. 

This surprising admission should’ve been enough to make yourself not care who you saw walking. Or care when he stopped, his small mob with him, and start gesturing at his imaginary watch. His fingers rubbing together for money owed. 

It was worse when Jungkook looked back and took notice. Even worse when he looked back at you with questions swirling in his eyes. 

“Everything okay?”

Your eyes looked down to the safety of your hands. The way they were helplessly fidgeting back in the grass and tearing it apart like a miniature tantrum was brewing inside you. You hated that after all this time, you let Lee Kwon upset you by making you feel embarrassed about your dad. That he felt the need to tell everyone the business deal between his father and yours. How every time he told it he’d turned him more and more into a villain of his own misfortune. 

Without a reason why you took back your notebook from Jungkook and shoved it inside your bag. You were ready to leave. You didn’t want to explain, but you knew Jungkook wouldn’t let you just leave without one. 

He reached out and his hand gently wrapped around your wrist to stop you. There was no force. Nothing that hinted that he would keep you there if you didn’t want to be kept. Looking at him felt harder. His genuine worry almost threatened to let the tears from your frustration spill forward. 

“Hey, Y/N, what’s wrong?”

You shook your head. Your vision dragging away from him and back to the retreating back of the sociopath, Lee Kwon. 

You didn’t try to shake him off. You actually felt comforted by his worrisome touch. The way he leaned in closer as if he would pull you into his arms at any moment. As much as you wanted that to happen, you knew it wouldn’t happen. A deep sigh had built up in your chest and you released it while you looked back at him. 

“Look. Eventually, I know you’re going to hear about it: my dad, I mean.”

“That’s kind of odd high school kids would talk about someone’s appa.”

“You and me both,” you agreed. “But Kwon’s dad is a banker who doesn’t believe in client confidentiality. So he tells his son about his day over dinner and-“

“And he decides to bring it to school to make your life miserable,” Jungkook finished for you. 

He understood and didn’t need you to simplify it anymore. His hand left your arm and you suddenly found yourself missing his comforting touch. It was still there, that comfort, in the way his eyes softened and he leaned in intent to listen to whatever you needed to get off your chest. You appreciated his attention, but also hated it at the same time. 

“What’s your Appa’s thing?”

God. He did understand. Maybe just a little too well for your liking. 

“Gambling. It started when I was in the seventh grade. At first it wasn’t anything too crazy. He’d always been able to even it out. But then he became obsessed with the idea of winning big. Kept betting on things we couldn’t afford to lose. Eventually, he bet too high and ended up losing the business he and my mom built together and our house. They had to pay the bank back.”

“A bank this dude’s Appa works at.”

“Correct. My Appa...he isn’t a bad man. He’s paid his debt and hasn’t gambled since. What good is it for me or anyone else to make him feel bad for the rest of his life?”

“I don’t get it. Why does that have to do with you, though?”

You’d wondered the same exact thing half of your adolescent life. You shrugged and looked at Jungkook wondering if maybe he’d be able to make sense of it better than you could. 

“Twelve year old boys enjoy making up stories. First it was that we became so poor we lived with pigs. That's why I smelled.”

You put air quotations around smelled and Jungkook practically howled with laughter. You tried your best to show no emotion, but could feel the corner of your lips threatening to curl into a smile. 

“He probably said it because you didn’t know how to wash back then and, judging from earlier, I still don’t think you do.”

You moved to playfully shove at his shoulder. A scoff of laughter leaving you even though you told yourself you wouldn’t. Jungkook was waiting for you to make a move and when you did he easily grabbed a hold of you. The feeling of intimacy, just like yesterday in the mud, was swimming back to the surface. 

Your eyes looked up into his with your laughter being met with a wide grin. The way he was looking at you now made you believe in fairytales and left your lips aching to be kissed. 

Before either of you could decide what to do next, the bell for the end of lunch sounded. You could hear it going off all around you, but still the two of you stayed holding each other. Your bodies close enough that if he wanted to make a move all Jungkook needed was to lean down. To say your heart dropped a little when he moved away was an understatement. 

You focused on getting up from the grass. Your hands patting down your uniform as you struggle to find something not so awkward to say. You wanted to sound confident. You wanted to sound like you weren’t affected by him at all. 

“Well, I’ll see you around.”

God, you sounded awkward. You turned to start heading to your next period. You closed your eyes tight and mouthed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” You’d gotten a few feet away when you heard him call to you. 

You turned to look back at him and found him still standing under the tree. His hands in his pockets and his eyes solely on you. 

“Would you let me walk you home?”

Did he really have to ask? You’d let him walk you to the edge of a volcano. You didn’t say that, however. You wanted to play it cool, but on the inside you were screaming. 

“I’d like that.”

When you turned back around to make your way to class, the memory of how his face had brightened at your reply, stayed with you. You couldn’t wait for the day to end. 

_________

True to his word Jungkook waited for you after school. You couldn’t help looking for him over the countless shoulders as you walked with the sea of students towards the entrance. The hole in the pit of your stomach opened back up from the underlying dreadful thought. That he wouldn't show up. You’d be left standing there waiting for him forever. But Jungkook continued to prove your pessimism wrong. 

The closer you got to the school’s gate, you were able to spot him instantly. He was leaning coolly against the gate. His bag at his feet and his cane positioned strategically out of view. If anyone just casually walked up, they would’ve never been able to tell he’d needed one. Maybe that was why he’d done it. 

He looked to be searching for someone in every face that passed him. It came to an end the minute his roaming eyes found you. No longer did he appear cool and composed. His body became animated with what you could only explain as a giddiness at your oncoming presence.

By the time you reached him, Jungkook was wearing his backpack on his shoulder and his cane in his hand. He was standing and waiting for you. The happiness at being next to you was intoxicating and you could only hope you looked the same. 

“It felt like I was waiting forever,” he admitted. 

The two of you started in sync out the gate and turned left onto the main road.

“It felt like an eternity just to get to you. I have Mrs. Chun’s chemistry class for the last period. The classroom is pretty far.”

“Mhm, like on a planet far far away.”

Your eyes rolled up to look at him. The affection you found in the warmth of his eyes was startling, but not a surprise. 

Your mom used to tell you to always be careful with smiling. It caused laugh lines. It helped make crows feet. That smiling was a woman’s secret enemy she never knew about when it came to aging. She told you over and over to be careful who or what you wasted smiles on. Smiling up at him now, Jungkook was definitely worth it just to see him respond with his own. 

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s only, like, one planet away.” 

A soft hush of laughter left him as he looked away. His gaze roaming around the street signs and their multiple names before looking back at you. 

“Are we going the right way to your place? I just realized I never even asked for your address.”

“Does it matter? I mean, with your leg and all.” You hated yourself for spoiling the moment by bringing it up. You knew it was a touchy subject when it came to his leg for Jungkook. So you weren’t surprised to see that spark of warmth fade ever so slightly from his face. His smile wilted at the edges of his lips before it all but disappeared. “You know I’m sorry I said anything. I shouldn’t have. I mean obviously you know yourself and your limits. You wouldn’t have asked if you weren’t able to do it.”

You were rambling. You were fidgeting and waving your arms around while you talked, because why not? You were doing everything else besides hyperventilating at this point. All you knew was that you felt like a jerk for even bringing it up. When all you wanted was to know he was okay. 

You were so lost in the space inside your head and worrying that you didn’t notice him laughing at you. You were mid-arm swing. Inhaling for another round of mouth babble to start asking for forgiveness when he waved for you to stop. A finger tip landing on your lips to quiet the words in your throat by shocking you into silence.

“You really don’t have to apologize so much, Y/N. It’s alright. I understand why you would ask.”

You were tempted to lick his finger away, but it felt too intimate. But so was a finger on the lips. Before you could decide your next move from your internal dilemma, Jungkook solved it for you. His finger detaching from your lips as quickly as it’d come.

“No, you don’t. I’m just worried about you. I know I should trust you to know yourself better, but-“ you did an over exaggerated shrug as you finished: “I’m a worrier.” 

“I’m flattered, I have you to worry over me.”

You knew he was teasing you and you couldn’t have been happier. You preferred it to making him sad. Plus, he was back to looking at you like you controlled the stars and oh, what a wonderful look it was.

“You should be. I’ve only got so much extra space up here.”

You tapped your head for added effect and were rewarded with a soft laugh that was followed up by a smile. God, you could get used to this. 

“I guess I need to work harder to take up more space.”

“Please, no. Let’s not do that. I need my sanity.”

You couldn’t believe you were doing so well at flirting. Usually, your sarcasm won out and you resorted to awkward winking, but this was definitely an improvement. 

“I’m not sure you have much of that left either,” he joked. 

You tried to hide your laughter with a scoff. You knew you were failing miserably at being offended. Your mouth fighting too hard to ward off a smile as you playfully bumped your shoulder into his arm. Jungkook was ready for you with his cane digging into the sidewalk to give him extra stability. 

“Ya, if I do finally go crazy it’ll be your fault, specifically.” 

“I think you’d have a hard time proving that in court. My counter argument would be pretty persuasive.” 

You looked at him in shock. 

“Court? Wow...that escalated quickly.”

Jungkook nodded his reply. He stopped in front of a bookstore and pointed at a manga in the window. You weren’t too familiar with the title, but it's a cover you’d seen plenty of. 

“It would happen as quickly as an infection from a zombie’s bite. It would seem all slow until suddenly you jumped up and tried to eat me.” 

You couldn’t keep the amusement off your face as you glanced at him and back down to the manga. A part of you wondering if it was one he’d read before or just wanted to use to make his point. 

“Question: why are we together during a zombie outbreak?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because I’ll be walking you home. I’ll try and save you and while feeling all heroic about it, I won’t even realize you’d been bitten until it’s too late.”

The two of you moved away from the bookstore window and began to walk back down the sidewalk. Your mind trying to dissect what he was trying to say, but all it left you with was imagining a zombie version of you trying to take a bite out of him. 

“You must watch too much Walking Dead.”

“It’s a good show,” he shrugged. 

“Did you know that there’s actually a fungus out there that’s sort of like a zombie infection. It’s called Ophiocordyceps. It basically infects the host and within nine days of infection it takes control of the host's body movements.”

You were still walking and looking around while you spoke. Your fingers running gently over a row of gardenia’s that were planted in carefully placed pots in front of someone’s home. You were aware Jungkook had left your side by the sudden coldness of his absence. You turned to look for him and found him standing a foot away from you. A mixture of astonishment and amusement etched on his face. 

“Why do you know something like that? Actually, how do you know something like that?”

His eyes were dancing with curiosity as he moved to fall back into step beside you. 

“Let’s just say I like to read. I like strange things and facts. And science is full of both facts and strange things.”

With each small statement you held up a finger. When you ended on the third and final small fact about yourself, you wiggled all three fingers at him. The motion earned you a giant smile that only seemed to grow wider as his head shook slightly back and forth. 

“You are the strangest girl.”

“How am I strange?”

“You just told me about a body snatching fungus,” he chuckled. “What other girl is going to do that?”

Jungkook had a point. A very strong point. For all your new found confidence when it came to him, you couldn’t keep the heat from rushing to your face. Or the back of your hands from trying to hide it. 

“I would tell you to stop being embarrassed but it’s cute when you blush.” 

The two of you came to a complete stop at the crosswalk. The red light blinking to tell you two it wasn’t safe to cross. It felt like a weird metaphor for this moment in your life. 

Stop! Do not keep staring back at him as if he strung every star in the sky. Stop! Don’t continue to entertain the thought that he looked like he wanted to kiss you or that you desperately wanted to kiss him back. Stop! Even though you already knew it was too late. 

You had plans. It’d all been strategically mapped out in your head until you could read it forwards and backwards to yourself. Do your best to graduate high enough in the percentage range to get into a decent college. Get a degree for a job, it didn’t matter what it was, that made enough money to help your parents. For all your careful planning, none of it had included him and yet, the universe had you both standing at a stoplight looking at each other like there couldn’t be any other reality where you weren’t meant to end up right here. Standing at this exact light and looking at one another like no one else existed. 

Luckily, the light changed signaling for you to begin to cross. The mass of bodies that had accumulated behind you began to push you both forward and, reluctantly, broke your gaze free from him. Your brain was scrambling to pick up a conversation you weren’t sure how to resurrect. Your mind too busy daydreaming all the scenarios you would’ve taken in different realities if you were braver. Clearing your throat, you did your best to wipe the thought clean and focus on your current reality.

“If it makes you feel better,” you started your body turning to consider him as you spoke, “the study was only ever done on the tropical ants that resided in the forest. The actual effects and what it could do to humans has never been studied. Yet. But I’m willing to bet it would take longer than nine days for it to take hold of a grown adult's nervous system and larger batches.”

He was looking at you in inspired mock horror. You weren’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. Or if your unusual fact telling about zombie fungus had completely killed the mood. You got your answer in an excited hush of, “Holy shit it’s like you’re writing your own super villain backstory.” 

A smile erupted on your face as you playfully rolled your eyes away from him. It was hard to miss the mischievous glint in his eyes or the way his whole face still swam with the playfulness that lurked underneath his teasing. Jungkook was so alive. A force that required you to hang on or else you would get swept up in him without even realizing it’d happen. 

You wondered if this is what falling in love felt like. 

“I would make a terrible villain. I’m too clumsy,” you stated. Your weak attempt at downplaying yourself being met with a stern look. 

“How clumsy are we talking?”

“Hmm, I would say, ‘Kronk giving the llama potion to Kuzco,’ kind of clumsy.”

A hiss of air whistled between Jungkook’s teeth. A mock look of worry on his face as his hands moved to reposition his bag. 

“Can we call that clumsy, though?”

“What else would it be?” You asked. 

You could feel the lines grouping together in your forehead just trying to figure out what he was getting at. Jungkook didn’t seem to be in any rush to answer you. The two of you walking a few feet before he must have decided you’d waited long enough for him to reply. 

“I always thought Kronk was stupid throughout the whole movie, but really, he was just a good person. He’s a good guy tasked to do a bad thing and he just wants to make people happy. Even if it means doing the wrong thing.”

You wanted to ask if maybe he was talking more about himself than The Emperor’s New Groove at this point. He faced forward with his brow creased in deep thought and whatever it was that held his thoughts didn’t appear to be anything good. 

“Or,” you started, voice light enough to drag him out of his head, “it’s just a kids movie.”

Sure, Jungkook was looking at you, but he didn’t seem to actually see you. Somewhere inside his head, he was reenacting or seeing something that ate up all the sunshine that lived in his bones. It felt silly to feel a sense of panic about something that might not even be true. And yet, you couldn’t stop the awful thought that sadness was trying to make a home inside his soul. 

Without giving it another thought you reached up and pretended to wipe away a pretend rogue eyelash from his cheek. The suddenness of your fingers brushing on his skin jolted him from wherever his thoughts had held him hostage and back into the present. His eyes darted around your face and his own hand came up to gently take yours. 

“Sorry.” Your words came out breathy as you struggled not to focus on how he was practically holding your hand. “There was an eyelash. The wind must have blown it away.”

The earlier sadness that’d hollowed out his eyes was gone. What replaced it was one of knowing you weren’t telling the truth. His head tilted slightly down to inspect your empty finger of the proof you knew your words didn’t have whose eyes sparked with his usual teasing and something else. Something that left a different kind of heat flooding your cheeks. 

“I’m sure there was.”

Reluctantly, you removed your hand from his and continued to walk. It only took him a couple seconds to fall effortlessly into step beside you making you wonder if his leg was as injured as it seemed. 

A warm silence swelled around you as you continued to walk. A comfortable pace setting between you as he looked in the windows of every store you passed in between the changing streets. He never once asked if you were getting close to your home or how much farther it might be. It was like the moment on the back of the bus. The two of you enjoyed that the other was there without ever feeling the need to say it.

But you knew it was soon coming to an end. In only a few blocks, you’d be home and your fairytale moment would end. You were struggling on how to break this, more to yourself than Jungkook, when you noticed he pulled a Nikon camera from the side of his bag. He was squinting through the lens and taking photos of something up ahead. Of the landscape or the people and buildings that framed it you weren’t sure. 

He must have sensed your silent question as he snapped a few more quick photos before turning to acknowledge you. 

“Y/N, I have a serious question for you.”

It was hard to keep the amusement off your face as you both came to a stop. The place felt random, but it was anything but that to Jungkook. Whatever he saw in this space you both inhabited must have felt like magic to him. 

“Okay. Shoot.”

“Do you think we have enough time for me to take some photos?”

It felt like such an odd request. Why should anyone have to ask to do something that they loved? Jungkook didn’t fully say he loved doing it, but no one spent that much money on a nice camera if it wasn’t something they enjoyed doing. The look on his face was just an added bonus of proving your answer meant something. One that made you wonder why he felt like he needed your permission at all. And then it hit you: he wanted to stay in your company while he did it. 

You considered teasing him, but he looked too vulnerable standing there. You weren’t even sure if he was breathing. A pleading in his eyes that reminded you of a child asking a mother to go on just one more ride before they were forced to go home. You considered giving him the bad news that you had more than homework to do when you arrived home. But that could come another day. On this day, with him, you could spare an hour just to make him happy.

Instead of coming right out and letting him know you’d made up your mind, you decided to play coy. A soft, “Hmm,” hummed around you as you looked everywhere but him. Your index finger tapping on your lips for dramatic flare.

"Ok," You shrugged. "I think I have some free time I could spare."

His eyes squinted in question as you moved to stand in front of him. The movement simply to let a couple go by in peace, but somehow placed you closer in front of him. Jungkook’s gaze was roaming your face to find an answer to a question he hadn’t yet asked. 

“You planned on saying yes this whole time, didn’t you. You were just trying to make me suffer waiting for you to answer.”

You gasped in pretend shock and did your best not to smile at his accusations. By the growing smile on his face you knew you were failing miserably. 

“Me?! I would never do such a thing.”

“You’re secretly a sadist!”

Jungkook’s smile only widened as a scoff of disbelief passed from your lips. Your own smile grew to match his own when his hands lifted up his camera. Seconds later the sound of the shutter clicked and you felt your soul leave your body. The earlier playfulness was swiftly swept in your own dark cloud and the idea you probably looked hideous in that photo. 

“Oh god, Jungkook delete it,” you pleaded. 

Your hands were reaching out to grab tightly at this shirt. Your fingers curled in the white fabric until there was a small chance you could tear holes. The camera in question was being held far from your reach. His hand easily held it above his shoulder as he used one hand to steady you against him. You’d invaded his space without even realizing, but you had no time to be embarrassed. Not when he had a picture of you forever saved on that camera. 

“Why would I delete it?”

He was his usual amused self you could tell, but he wasn’t egging you on. His question was out of curiosity. His own eyes brimming with it as you considered keeping one hand tightly wound in his shirt and the other to jump up and reach for the camera. 

“Because Jungkook I’m not cute. You’ll be lucky if it doesn’t ruin the camera.”

All his earlier playfulness drained from his face and what was left made you instantly feel like you were about to be scolded. His hand that had firmly planted itself on your hip was achingly apparent now as his fingers gripped you closer to him. Your own awareness at how close you actually were to his chest made your lips feel dry. Your tongue flicked out to wet them and god, it took everything in you not to focus on the fact his eyes had followed the movement. 

“Y/N, why would you say that? You shouldn’t let anyone talk down about you, and you shouldn’t do it to yourself either. You’re beautiful.”

He spoke like it was a fact. A statement that not just the two of you knew, but the universe did too. And what were you supposed to say back? While you were held captive to the thought he was still looking from you to your lips. The determination for you to understand his words and believe them setting soft lines in his face. You tried to keep looking at him, but under his watchful gaze you couldn’t keep yourself from fidgeting. Your eyes moved down the line of his body until it landed on the tops of your shoes. 

You weren’t sure what to say back. Thank you didn’t fit here. It didn’t feel like a moment where he was trying to boost your confidence the way a friend did. This felt more like someone who noticed something in you while you hadn’t been looking. 

So instead of saying anything remotely clever back you began to dislodge yourself from him. Your hands releasing their hold on his shirt and forcing his hand off of your hip. Standing there with only inches between you, your body was achingly aware that his hand was gone. It’s weight leaving a burning of longing to have it back forced your hands into your pockets and your body turning away from him. You waited for him to start moving back down the road. The motion forced him to either join you or stay where he was. 

“We should get going before we run out of time.”

You hated yourself for dismissing him. For not being bolder like you’d promised yourself earlier in the day. It would’ve been the perfect time to thank him. To tell him how you were pretty sure there wasn’t a soul on earth more attractive than him, but that what made him beautiful is what he refused to let people see. The soft tone of his voice still singing along to the songs on the back of the bus had ended up being an unspoken lullaby when you’d gone to sleep. 

A part of you considered turning on your heel and telling him this. To tell him that you saw him; actually saw him for who he was and not who he felt like he needed to be. But you just kept moving forward and weren’t surprised when Jungkook found a steady rhythm back beside you. 

The both of you stayed quiet. This time it felt more forced than the easiness of earlier. Like the two of you had so many missed starts at creating a conversation that neither of you could understand why it ended.

You watched him as he focused on the area around him. His camera training on an old couple who sat waiting for the next bus. The husband had clutched his wife’s arm close to his side. In his hands he was peeling what appeared to be an orange and with each freshly peeled slice, he gave one to her and one to himself. No one knew what they were conversing about, but it didn’t matter. To them, they were the only two people there. The wholesomeness of the moment made you wonder what they were like back in their youth. 

You listened to the flutter of the shutter click repeatedly. His hand twisting on the lens to bring it in and out of focus, while he himself remained deadly focused on capturing their moment in time. You were curious how the photos would turn out in the end and wished there was a way to show them how their love translated on film. 

You were in the middle of watching Jungkook turn his attention to a couple birds inside a cherry blossom when he spoke.

“Thank you for agreeing to walk with me while I do this.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Jungkook.”

A sad smile curled his lips as he dropped his camera down in front of him. His thumb skimmed over the buttons to quickly go through what he’d previously taken. The last one he landed on made his entire face light up and you felt a pang of jealousy at what it could be. How you wish he would look at you like that. 

“Maybe, but I feel like I do. Ever since my accident, my appa hasn’t been able to force me into things. For once, I get to just do what I want. Sucks it only had to cost me a friend and a leg to get some freedom.”

Your feet had carried you to the next stop sign. The sudden halt in moving forced you to look at him, really look at Jungkook, like you’d never seen him before. 

He wasn’t looking at you now. His ears a screaming red while his fingers danced over every part of the camera. His eyes roaming over its edges and flicking too fast through pictures to actually even be looking at them. For the first time since you’d met him Jungkook was scared to look at you. Scared for what you might see if you did. 

Looking at him now, you couldn’t have been happier to indulge him. You’d indulge him for the rest of your life if he’d let you. 

“Well, I’m happy to be of service.”

You mentally smacked yourself at your choice of words. Jungkook, however, was backing to his beaming self as he finally glanced in your direction. His eyeing ate up your embarrassment as it was your turn to face forward. Your feet hopping in place as you waited for the light to flash it was okay to walk. 

“I’m supposed to be at physical therapy right now.”

“Wait, what?”

The light was flickering finally for you to all move. Your feet moved to carry you forward unintentionally, just to keep with the flow of traffic, as Jungkook gave you a small shrug for an answer. 

“Did you say you were supposed to be at physical therapy?”

Another shrug and another long pause with no answer. It seemed he had been waiting for you to round the corner onto a quieter pedestrian free street before he replied, “After school. I have appointments almost everyday and I never go.” 

“But why? It’s meant to help you get better, isn’t it?”

“Get better to do what, exactly?” He huffed. Jungkook’s entire body took on a broodier tone. His cane practically dug small holes with each press into the pavement. “Who even says that I can get better?”

“Well, doctors for one,” you pointed out. “I’m sure they wouldn’t have signed you up for it if they didn’t believe you could get better.” 

“If I was going to get better it would’ve happened already.”

It felt like walking on eggshells. This side of Jungkook was the boy you’d met on his first day of class. His guarded demeanor up on high alert, as he kept his gaze stoically forward and his chin held high. 

“You’re not an idiot, Jungkook. You know injuries take time to heal from. It doesn't just magically happen overnight.”

“Who says that I want to get better?”

The coldness in his words forced your legs to stop working. Your feet were unable to move as he continued to push on ahead of you. His own movements became slower now as the long walk was beginning to take its toll on his leg. He knew you weren’t beside him anymore and still he tried to keep pushing forward, before eventually he had no other choice but to turn around. 

The look on his face was as defiant as ever. Underneath that defiance was a sadness so raw you only wanted to reach out and hold him. If just to remind him that he was seen and that his pain mattered.

That’s when the realization hit you.

“Unless you feel like you deserve this.”

The stone façade he’d worked so hard to create in the past few minutes began to chip. His eyes being the first to show by the soft uprising of tears that you were right. Somewhere deep inside Jungkook believed that he deserved what happened to him. That this was punishment for losing a friend at his own hands, even if it wasn’t his fault to begin with. 

The tears that threatened to spill never did, but they were there. They floated dangerously at the surface of Jungkook’s control and he refused to let go. The rawness of his pain hit you and all you wanted was to help ease it. You weren’t sure if he would accept any kind of affection, even in a small hug. So your only option was to move closer to him. As close as he would allow without pushing you away. 

With each step you could see his jaw clenching tighter; pulsing like he was fighting from saying something wicked to send you skirting back. He was just as afraid of what you were about to do as you were at being the one to do it. 

When the tips of your shoes nudged against his you drew your eyes up until they landed on his. A spark of something; fear or uncertainty, flashed in his eyes. Was he expecting you to be cruel? To yell at him to stop being a child and to grow up? How much had he already heard those words shouted by adults? How long had he been standing there like this, in a world full of grief, and no one there to pull him out to breathe before the next wave suffocated him once more. 

You weren’t sure if it was you or if what you said would matter, but it was important he heard it. It was important he knew that this was okay too. 

“You got to forgive yourself sometime, Jungkook.”

The words themselves were simple. Simple and spoken between you as if there was a secret meant only for the two of you to hear. All you really wanted was for him to feel the sincerity of your words for him to know it was okay. Okay to feel sad, unsure, and helpless at times when all the world felt against you. It was okay to not know your first steps and okay to take those first steps when you were ready. Eventually, we needed to forgive, if only to give ourselves the chance to heal and move on. 

His gaze was still misty with unshed tears and still they refused to fall. The pain and defiance that had turned his features harsh began to soften. All that hardness he struggled to keep himself in and others out was beginning to fade and the only thing left was him. All that sunshine that you’d seen lived in his smile and echoed in his laughter that crinkled in the corners of his eyes. The way he cared for others and making them feel cared for. The softness of his singing and the way he eagerly filmed people at their most vulnerable: at their most beautiful. 

It was at this moment you felt your universe shift and tip until it realigned itself. With your fingers back to holding the edges of his shirt it took everything in you not to close those final inches and hug him. Jungkook closed that distance for you instead. 

His lips crashing down on your cheeks causing a soft squeak of surprise to push free from your lips. A chuckle came as he came back into view and your mind struggled to comprehend what happened. 

It wasn’t a kiss on the lips but…

“Did you just kiss my cheek?”

Your hand was up to the aforementioned spot. A wicked smile wiping away all of his sadness until you weren’t sure if it had been real at all or if you’d imagined it. 

“I could kiss your lips if you’d like that instead.” 

If your cheeks could get any hotter you could’ve fried food on them. You felt a surge of disappointment when Jungkook took a reluctant step back from you as his eyes dropped to check the time on his phone.

“As much as I hate to say this: I have to go.”

“All of the sudden you have to go,” you huffed. 

Your words felt brave, but inside your heart was thundering wildly against your chest. 

“I could stay if you want?”

Smoother than expected, Jungkook slid his way back to you. His chest bumping against you making you lose your footing just enough that it forced you to grab on to his shirt. Jungkook’s own hand had moved behind your back to steady you and bring you closer to him all at once. 

You playfully smacked his chest and earned a soft laugh from him. Unfortunately, you found yourself peeling away from him. Your hands grasping at the strap of your bag to keep them from reaching back out for him. 

“Not a chance.”

Your reply earned a playful pout from him as he started walking backwards away from you. 

“I’ll remember that, Y/N!”

You rolled your eyes and turned around to start walking the rest of the way home. You didn’t get more than a few feet before he called back to you. Your eyes found him instantly in a crowd of people that continued to pass in front of him.

“I forgot to ask: what’s your number!”

He held up a pen expecting you to come back to him and write it down presumably on his arm or hand. You didn’t see any paper and could only assume. You knew it was all just a ploy to get you to come to him. The knowledge evident by the wicked grin on his face. 

“You’re a math wiz, right?” Jungkook was perplexed for a second before you started reciting your number as loud as you were willing to shout it. The wind blew it away as he no doubt struggled to listen. 

“Wow! What a way to play dirty.”

“If it’s meant to be you’ll figure it out.”

And maybe that was true. Maybe you both had a chance to write your own love story like from the movies and shows you used to watch with your mom. Like Rose and Jack from Titanic or Ross and Rachel...okay...maybe more like Chandler and Monica. Or maybe you were an idiot and should’ve just gone and wrote it down. It was too late now as he was already on the other side of the street. 

You were ready to walk the rest of the way kicking yourself for being so lame when you heard him call your name again. When you turned you didn’t expect him to be trotting across the road. You didn’t expect him to stop in front of you and give you another quick kiss on the cheek, this one gentler than before, with every fiber of your body remembering just how soft his lips felt. 

“I could fall in love with you, ya know.”

You watched as in the same breath he hopped back across the street and couldn’t help but think you already had. 

————-

Later that night you were snuggled up inside the sheets of your bed. The only thing sticking out was the current book you were reading and the top of your head. 

You hadn’t heard from Jungkook the rest of the day. Your heart hammered inside your chest every time your phone chimed with a new message only to deflate when you realized it wasn’t him. You loved your friends and all, but they weren’t who you’d been looking forward to all evening. 

Maybe you should’ve just gone to him and written down your number. Like a normal human being would’ve done. You just had to be clever and yell it out like a lunatic. For all you knew, you could end up with a random stranger texting you at all hours. 

Your current book that you were supposed to be reading but couldn’t really read because you couldn’t focus was now face planted onto your nose. A soft groan echoing into its pages as you fought not to close it and throw it somewhere in your room. You were a hundred percent sure you’d read the same sentence a few dozen times at this point. 

In the morning, you decided, you most definitely were just going to write it down. Like a sane person would’ve done. You closed your book and placed it down beside you. Your eyes roaming up to stare at your ceiling and wondering if you were ever actually going to go to sleep when your phone chimed off. 

You weren’t in any hurry to look. It could just be your parents from the restaurant making sure you were in bed. It could be one of your friends asking about making plans this weekend. It was probably still everyone but Jungkook and yet…

Your curiosity got the better of you. You shuffled inside your comforter, reached an arm out to grab your phone from the nightstand, and quickly pulled it back inside. You waited for your facial ID to unlock the screen to see who or what you’d received. Your own mind hyping up the suspense of the moment until it read over a reminder text from your dad about your chores for the upcoming weekends. 

You hated you’d let yourself have even a glimmer of hope. It was official. You’d ruined your chances when it came to giving out your number. A groan was creeping its way up your throat as you quickly sent back a text. You knew your chores took over almost every weekend. Even when you’d made plans with friends, you’d ended up never going. 

As soon as you’d hit send you were rolling over to put your phone back on your nightstand. The shrill sound of pinging messages stopped you cold. There was no way your dad had learned to text back that fast. You laid yourself flat back against the mattress and brought the phone to hover above your face. 

Y/N?

Is this the right number finally? 

Hello?!!

If this is the wrong person, I’m sorry. I swear I’m not crazy. Just looking for a girl. 

Your heart leapt into your throat. It was beating so hard you were scared it would burst from your chest. Your eyes were still skimming over the line of text messages when another one sounded. You were so caught up in reading the next line you weren’t aware your clammy fingers had let the phone slip and it crash landed down on your face. 

“Ooow!”

One hand scrambled to pick it back up off your face, while the other massaged the now swelling brim of your nose. 

How many people have you texted before me?

There wasn’t a need to send a hi. To give him a coy response to continue to tease him or make him believe he’d gotten it wrong again. Your curiosity at the desperate way he seemed to have been looking for you was endearing. The thought that he’d spent so much time sending out random messages for a response, no matter how crazy he looked, felt silly but cute too. 

Jungkook thought you were worth the trouble. 

OH MY GOD IS IT REALLY YOU?! And maybe like... seventeen. 

You snuggled deeper into your comforter as a soft giggle joined the growing smile across your face. 

I’m sorry I should have just wrote it down when you offered the pen lol

It definitely would’ve made it a lot easier.

You’d asked yourself that question all evening while you’d waited for him. You bit your lips as your fingers hovered over the keyboard. Unsure if you should take the chance and tell him. 

“Screw it,” you whispered as you typed. 

Took you long enough. I’ve been waiting forever. 

Well, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. This girl thought it was a good idea to shout random numbers at me 😅😂.

Your head was shaking as you tried to figure out something witty to say. You couldn’t believe you were here. Inside your comforter cave smiling at your phone like a lunatic and wondering if maybe Jungkook was doing the same. Or what was he even doing? You were getting ready to type out that exact question when your phone pinged to life. 

So, ugh, on to more important matters. It read. I was thinking about your love of random facts and I think I got one for you. 

Ooooooo kekeke this should be good 

Do you want to know it or not? 

Okay okay! Lol please tell me Kookie

You could practically feel him screaming through your phone as a sideways glance emoji was sent back in a long lined response. You wondered if you’d completely ruined his fact telling when your phone went off. 

I found this article that said the chances of finding your soulmate out of 500,000,000 people was impossible. But, if you just place it to where you are, to your age group, and timing it narrows it down to a 1 in 10,000 chance. What I’m trying to get at is...I think your my 1 in 10,000

You read the message on repeat. Over and over until you were sure you’d practically memorized it front and back. You wanted to ask him for his source material. Where such an article could exist. None of that really mattered to you and how could it? 

You must have spaced out because you never sent him a reply. Your thoughts were still spinning in a world all their own as you wondered if he was sitting at his desk doing homework or lying in bed. If he was inside or outside and what had made him so brave to send that message: believing you felt the same. 

The vibration of the phone brought you back down to earth. You expected to see question marks or another line of, “Hello?” To have left him on read. Instead, the only thing that greeted you was a simple, Goodnight, Y/N. 

This time there was no hesitation from you. 

Goodnight, Jungkook

See you in the morning ?

His text felt so hopeful. A silent undertone that if you said no there was a chance you’d break him. You bit your lip as you thought about what this meant. The beginning of small promises that eventually grew into bigger ones. 

I’ll meet you at the gate

You both finished up with another round of good night’s that felt like the embarrassing texting equivalent of “no you hang up! No you!” And placed your phone back on your night stand. It took forever for the sandman to finally claim you. Your dreams consisting of the magic of being Jungkook’s 1 in 10,000.