#sure my face was all red and I had a runny nose but it was good

[smracaraihc]

I tried the samyang spicy noodles jjajang version and it was goood 😋

[rkvriki]

how they realize they are in love !

hii!! i've been so inactive but classes are kicking my ass and i've been struggling to hold myself together lolz. anywaysss i hope you enjoy this little idea i got :D

make sure to leave feedback ! my requests are open and so is my talkbox so let's talk !

WARNINGS ! mentions of insecurities, making out in jakes one, not proofread sorry jrehkdk

words count: 1.8k

LEE HEESEUNG !

— goes out of his way for you

heeseung had this day off but you two made no plans since you had work to do and you really needed to get it done. heeseung was getting ready to go eat out with jay and jake when he received a call from you. when you told him you were sick with headaches and a runny nose, he wasted no time telling the boys he couldn’t make it and ran straight to the closest pharmacy he could find on his way to your house. he picked some soup and the best medicine for your symptoms and went straight to you. when he reached your door he stopped a moment to catch his breath before ringing the door bell. there you were opening the door wrapped in a robe and a red nose from blowing it so much, still heeseung smiled as he saw you. he had you laying down in the bed as he spoon fed you the warm soup and gave you medicine. after a while you fell asleep cuddled to his chest, heeseung not caring if he was gonna get sick or not. he was looking down at you and just started thinking about the things he would do for you, making his heart flutter. seeing you like this made him realize he wanted to do this as many times as he could, he wanted to take care of you for the rest of his life and hoped you would let him do so.

rest under the cut !

PARK JONGSEONG !

— starts daydreaming about a future with you

when you and jay started dating, he knew that, as cliche as it sounds, this time was very different from his previous relationships. something in his subconscious gave him that feeling and he had no complaints. he always knew he wanted to take this for forever. no one had ever made him feel like you did. he found himself thinking about you when you weren’t there and sometimes he let his mind wander a little further from reality. he started by imagining little things such as your first big trip together or future big events in your relationship. as the time started passing he started imagining an actual future with you, he wondered how he would propose to you, would it be in the beach you always go to or in the garden where your dates almost always happen? He daydreamed about seeing you in a big flowy white dress in a beautiful wedding venue or you dancing in front of your guests as you looked at him and him only. he knew this weren’t just silly lovesick thoughts, he really wanted that to happen and he was gonna make sure they would become his reality.

SIM JAEYUN !

— when you kiss

jake always knew he was a sucker for skinship with his partners. he feels the need to constantly be touching you in a way or another, be it kissing, cuddling, hugging or just you holding his pinky as you walk side by side, he just needs to feel your skin on his. he loves the comfort your touch gives him, it makes him feeling fuzzy inside. he loves how you slowly get closer to him when you are both sat on your couch watching tv just to cuddle him. he loves when you get closer to him in your sleep unconsciously. his favorite is when he is doing something and you get on your  tippy toes and reach for his lips to give him a peck. so when you both are on your bed making out, his hand cupping you face gently and his thumb softly rubs your cheek, he pulls away breathless, watching as you look up at him with your doe eyes that don’t match your swollen lips, red from all the biting he did, he feels his heart skip way too many beats. this feeling is foreign to him but he likes it and he almost immediately knows what it is and he leaves you confused when he starts laughing and pulls you in a hug, crushing you in his embrace.

PARK SUNGHOON !

— finds comfort in you

sunghoon had a little bit of a hard time starting to express his emotions to you. he was never one to tell people about his worries and things that are bothering him. when you started dating you were afraid that this would affect your relation since you were a strong believer that communication is the key for a healthy and prosper relationship. you thought that maybe you weren’t showing him that you were there for him and to listen to him, but that changed when one day he ranted to you about something that happened during work and was really letting him down. since that day you reassured him that you were there to listen whenever he wanted and was ready to talk to you. there were days where he got home and said nothing and just laid besides you finding a place in your arms. like today was one of those days, he laid down in your arms as you comfortingly scratched his head, making his eyes flutter shut. suddenly you hear him sniffle, making you turn your head down at him right away. he starts laughing and crying, leaving you confused not knowing what was going on. sunghoon knew what was happening, he finally found home, a home in your arms and your comfort.

KIM SUNOO !

— starts admiring the smallest details about you

sunoo knew the moment he first saw you, you were one of the prettiest people he’s ever met. the way you seemed to have this halo around you, making everyone around you become instantly smiley as they saw you walk in. he loved every single thing about you, he loved every single mole you had and he really loved your smile and how contagious it was. sometimes he found himself observing you doing little things and he always found new details of your to appreciate. he noticed the way your nose slightly scrunched when you made a typo while typing away in your laptop as you worked, noticed how your head twitches a little when you forgot something or how you do this cute bunny nose twitch when you sleep. sunoo often found himself thinking about these details when he went to bed, smiling as he closed his eyes, ready to sleep, but his mind tricks him, not letting him fall into a deep slumber, as it drifts to the image of you, making his heart flutter in his chest. whe he felt first this he was scared, he had never felt this before and he didn’t know what it was, until he realized it happened when he thought of you and he started liking how strong it felt. he smiles to himself when he feels it, hoping that it last forever.

YANG JUNGWON !

— introduced you to his family

jungwon never introduced any partner of his to his family if he had any before you. he never felt like it would be worthy since he never felt like they would last. when you met you clicked instantly and he knew you were gonna be meeting Mr and Mrs Yang, he just needed to wait for the right moment. It was only after almost a year of dating that you met them. It didn’t take that long because he was unsure of doing it, no, it was mostly you avoiding doing it. you were afraid of how they would react. would they like you? what if you mess up in front of them? insecure thoughts filled your mind, but won constantly reassured you you were gonna be just fine and you only realized you had nothing to worry about when you actually met them. Jungwon loved seeing you interact. he found himself smiling unconsciously when you were talking to them or his sister, he knew he wanted to see those interactions more. the moment he realized he really wanted this to be frequent was when he found you playing in his room with maeum after he came back from the bathroom. he observed you from the door, your back turned to him but he could still see what you were doing since you were on the floor. his heart did flips in his chest and he had to bite his smile back, taking a mental picture of this moment.

NISHIMURA RIKI !

— feeling slightly jealous or possessive 

niki was still new with relationships, you were his first serious one, only having little high school romances but nothing too serious, the most he had done was holding hands. when you started dating he wanted to make it serious, he really liked you and he made sure to show you that he did and you did the same. you were his first everything, niki swore he would never forget the way he felt when you first kissed him, something he scolded himself for not taking the big step, making you do it. still he was grateful you like him enough to do it, even if he wanted to be the one indulging it. niki was a little insecure. he knew his job didn’t allow him to go out a lot with you and sometimes he found himself thinking if you were ever gonna get tired of this lifestyle. he knew you were young and had a lot of things to experience and he didn’t want to hold you back from doing it. his biggest fear is you finding someone who can do the things he can’t do with you, since you always need to have your dates at home seeing that his privacy is very limited. one day you asked him if he wanted to meet your friends which he obviously accepted because you talk about them non stop. you all met up in a quiet cafe not wanting to risk being seen with him. niki felt a certain uneasiness when he saw you being really chatty with this one friend and his thoughts got the best of him. he didn’t know why he felt like this, was your friend better than him? do you enjoy their presence better than his? he knew that this wasn’t coming out of nowhere, the fear of losing you was real and it made him want to crawl into a hole and not think about it anymore. you noticed his change of behavior and reminded yourself to talk about it with him later, ending up in a cute confession.

[swarvey]

paper rings | harvey x f!reader

Harvey remembers when he thought you were the love of his life; you don't seem to recall a time like that at all. After inheriting your grandfather's farm, you finally get to move back to Stardew Valley. Little do you know a certain doctor has patiently been waiting for your return.

a/n: the start of a harvey fic i posted on ao3, thought i would share!

ch. 1 | ch. 2

paper rings masterlist

-

chapter one: i bet you think about me -> “the love that you’re lookin’ for is the love that you had.”

Harvey hummed lightly to himself as he walked through Pierre's store, carefully eyeing the ingredients of each snack he put in his basket. Although he hated to admit it, he was finally beginning to feel his age; the walks that used to be so simple to him were starting to drag, and he found he needed a minimum of eight hours of sleep each night to wake up energized. He sighed lightly, longing for his college days when he easily walked across campus and would sometimes stay up all night studying for a final.

Still, as more and more time went on, his health was his top priority. His eyes lit up as he saw his favorite granola bars were back in stock.

"Harvey! I haven't seen you in a minute." Harvey turned to greet Caroline with a small smile. "You must be busy. With spring coming along, I'm sure all the kids will be heading over to your clinic with runny noses." She wasn't wrong. Whenever the weather got a bit warmer after the winter, Harvey was always greeted by the town's kids and teens, all reluctantly sent by their parents for a check-up. Most of the time, he simply sent them home with allergy medication.

"Of course, my favorite time of the year," he joked, shaking his head. "How have you been, Caroline? Have those vitamins I recommended you been doing you well?" He picked up a box of cereal from the shelf, pushing his glasses up and examining its label.

She shook her head in disbelief. "I couldn't believe it — I never knew those things could affect me so much! I've been feeling much more awake and energized thanks to you."

Harvey let out a slightly embarrassed laugh. "Ah, well, it's what I'm here for, isn't it?" He traded the cereal he had in hand with another one on the shelf, in awe at the amount of sugar in all of them. "You hear about anything new going on? I'm afraid I haven't been to the saloon in over a week now, so I haven't been very filled in."

Caroline pursed her lips as she thought. "Nothing too crazy going on in the Valley," she said after a moment. "Pierre's been preparing for the spring, Abigail's been practicing a ton with Sam and Seb, just the usual." Harvey nodded, humming in triumph as he finally found a box of cereal to his liking.

"Oh, and remember that girl who used to come by all the time? I heard her grandfather passed away, poor thing. He was a great man." What?  Harvey froze, smile dropping. "Now that I think about it, weren't the two of you good friends? She's taking over his farm this spring, you know."

Thud.

The box landed between the two as he remained silent, his face beginning to burn. 

"Harvey? Everything alright?"

"Sh-she is?" Harvey stuttered. When he realized how concerned Caroline looked, he cleared his throat, hastily grabbing the cereal off the floor and throwing it into his basket. "That's wonderful! I mean, not wonderful about her grandfather, but—" He shook his head. "I actually have something to tend to at the clinic, so I'll go check out now!" 

Pierre gave his wife a quizzical look as Harvey rushedly handed his items to him, ears turning a shade of bright red. Caroline shrugged, clueless as to what she had said to make the doctor so flustered. The two watched half-amused as he left the store with a quick "thank you," keeping his gaze on the floor. 

"He's always been a bit shy," Caroline reasoned. Pierre nodded, the couple returning to their tasks.

How? How was this happening? Harvey's thoughts raced as he made his way into his apartment, practically slamming the door shut as he sunk to the floor. Memories came rushing back to him as your name rang through his head, realizing it had been too long since the two of you had spoken. No wonder he didn't hear about your decision beforehand. Guilt began to eat at him as he thought of everything he had missed in your life, taking off his glasses to rub his face in stress. Would you even want to speak with him anymore?

Finally, after nearly half an hour of contemplation, Harvey scrambled up the courage to pick up his phone and give you a call. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest as the dial tone rang, half of him hoping you wouldn't pick up. At least then he could avoid the situation a little longer, right?

"Hello? Harvey?"

Crap.

-

"Hello? Are you there?" you repeated, raising a brow. "Harvey, did you butt dial me?"

"No, no! I'm here," your friend replied, a slight panic in his voice. "Uh, well . . . how have you been?"

You let out a huff of laughter. "Some things never change, do they, Harvs?" His old nickname slipped off your tongue with ease. You remember when you were kids together, running around playing tag — back then, you would chase him and call him Harvsy. "You're still just as charming as ever," you tease.

There's a beat of silence before he replies with an awkward laugh. "You know me better than anyone." He pauses. "So, I heard you're moving to Stardew Valley?"

"Ah, right, I am! Sorry, I never got the chance to tell you," you sighed. "It's been a while since we last talked, huh?" 

"I suppose it has," he agreed, and you note the twinge of sadness in his tone. 

It's not like you wanted to stop talking to him, not at all, but with all the complications going on in your life, it was hard to keep in touch with your old friend. You always saw Harvey as a kid whenever you visited your grandfather's farm, as his grandparents also lived there. The two of you grew even closer throughout your pre-teen and teen years, always sharing music and studying together. You even saw him from time to time during college — although he went to a bigger, more prestigious medical university, you were both in Zuzu City and got food with each other from time to time. After you graduated and ended up working at Joja Cola HQ, though, you began to see Harvey less and less. Both of you tried to call regularly, you really did, but when your life began to look too black and white, you gave up on nearly all your social connections, focusing entirely on your work and making it through each day. It didn't help that he was busy running his clinic, too. 

Things didn't get much better when your grandfather died. He passed away towards the end of your college years, leaving you an envelope you promised not to open until you felt, "crushed by the burden of modern life." You had actually spoken to Harvey over the phone about your grandpa's words, though both of you were equally confused at what he meant.

That is, until working for Joja became too unbearable.

Only then did you open the letter, more miserable than you had been in your life. Despite it all, your grandfather had left you the greatest gift he could have in order to reignite your spirit: his farm.

"Well," you started, snapping out of your short daze, "I'll be in town in three days, so why don't we catch up then?"

More silence.

Was he always this quiet? Or have you two just grown apart?

"Harvey," you sang, "you still there?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Yes, of course, just give me a call when you're on your way, I can, uh, help you move in. If you need help, that is!" You laughed lightly; he was still the same dork you knew in the past.

"I would love some help, if you can spare the time," you said, smiling. "I'll see you soon, then?"

"Yes, I'll see you soon." You hung up, a smile lingering on your face. 

I wonder if he has a girlfriend, you wondered. He had never been the most outgoing, but surely he had to have met someone. You shrugged to yourself, continuing to pack some of your belongings into boxes.

Suddenly, going back to the Valley had become all the more exciting.

-

Harvey sank into his chair at the saloon, hand covering half his face as he began to question his life choices.

"Oh, come now, my friend," Elliott chided, taking a swig of his drink. "Where is your courage, your hope? You should be ecstatic that your love is returning to the town!" 

Shane grunted. "Yeah, right," he grumbled. "Odds are, she's already moved on."

Elliott frowned at him, but ignored him nonetheless. "Tell us what is on your mind, Harvey."

Harvey sighed. He had asked to sit between the two at the bar in hopes of gaining some clarity, but all he seemed to have achieved was embarrassment. While Elliott was overly enthusiastic about his "long lost love's return," Shane couldn't care less about the subject, bluntly stating his pessimistic thoughts. He felt as if there was an angel and a devil, literally, on either of his shoulders — Elliott was to his left, while Shane was to his right. 

"Shane may be right," Harvey admitted, rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes. "What's the point of thinking about all this if she's already taken?" With that thought, he finished the remainder of his drink, trying to ignore the stinging in his chest.

The two men beside him were the only ones who knew about his feelings for you. Harvey confided in them from time to time, as they were closest to his age and they had known each other for quite some time. Although their personalities often clashed and seemed impossibly different, it was nice to talk to them. At least he and Elliott enjoyed it, anyway — Shane never outwardly showed his appreciation for them, except for the occasional half-smile at their jokes that they missed the majority of the time.

Elliott shook his head. "You mustn't give up before the battle has even begun," he stated, leaning closer to look Harvey in the eyes. "How long has it been since you first felt this way toward her?"

". . . Ah, you see," Harvey began quietly, his blush adding to the warmth of the alcohol he had drunk, "I've actually liked her for quite some time."

His friend hummed. "Since college, then?"

"A bit longer . . ."

"Oh, high school sweethearts? How romantic!" Shane rolled his eyes.

The doctor cleared his throat. "Actually, since we were about, let's see . . . ten? A little younger?"

Shane choked on his drink as Elliott's mouth fell open. 

"Fucking hell," Shane swore, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "That's like, what, two decades?"

Harvey wished he could cover his face with a blanket and disappear. "It started off as a crush, of course, we were kids," he feebly defended. "Then it just never really faded." He jumped when he felt Elliott strongly grab his shoulder, a new fire lighting his eyes. 

"This, my friend, is fate," he claimed confidently. "I am sure now that you two were meant to be."

"Elliott, please—"

"Not another word!" He rose from his seat, dropping coins on the table and giving Gus a thumbs up. "Gus, I'd like to pay these gentlemen's tabs tonight." The bartender grinned, returning the gesture. "Now, Harvey, I advise you go home and rest for your lover's arrival—"

"Not so loud!" Harvey begged, frantically checking if anyone had heard.

"—as you must look your utmost best for her," Elliott finished. 

Shane groaned. "Listen, thanks for paying for the drinks, pal, but I think we're done here. You're killin' him." With a quick nod to Harvey and a scowl at Elliott, Shane shrugged his jacket on and made his way out.

"I expect to hear all about your reunion, Dr. Harvey," Elliott said, putting on his own coat and placing a hand on his shoulder once again. "Best of luck! Let fate guide you." A few people glanced over at his theatrics, and Harvey truly questioned why he had chosen to confide in him in the first place.

As his friend left, Gus wandered over to him, brow raised. "What was that all about?" he asked.

Harvey shook his head. "It's a long story," he sighed, pushing his glass toward the bartender. He ignored the fact that he had gotten five refills above his usual limit; this was a dire situation.

Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was your smile. 

Miss me, Harvs?

He sighed.

"Another glass, please."

[biggestsimp12]

Cheesy woo attempts!

In which they (or you) are trying to seduce you with cheesy pick up lines!

Characters- Itto, Cyno, Lyney, Xiao.

Prompt- none. Just some cracky idea I got.

(characters+rule list here-feel free to request anything!)

-------–––––———

Lyney

GIF by c6jpg

“Are you a magician? Because when I’m looking at you, you make everyone else disappear!”

Confused. It took him a few good seconds before realizing what you did there.

He proceeds to have the biggest smug smile on his face (with a hint of blush as well,) persuaded to join in your little game that you're playing.

"Not sure dear. But I know something else for sure I can make disappear~"

He winked mischievously and sets his arm around your shoulder before continuing his phrase.

"And that's your dating availability, my dear!~"

He snickered before planting a big smooch on your lips, making a rose appear behind your ear. This checky bastard knows all too well he left you speechless and flustered. After all, that's the way he likes it.

--––——

Cyno

GIF by k0komis

The pair of you were patrolling together through the Sumeru's desert Great Red Sand, enduring the painfully annoying heat and the flying wind which was like purposely aimed straight in your guys' faces.

Cyno seemed to be used to this since he carries out these patrols daily, unlike you, who's only joined him in the range over recently.

Therefore, you kept sneezing from the flying sand that entered your nastrals, proceeding to make your nose runny and eyes watery. Seeing this, Cyno being the person he is, logically attempted on making your mood better.

“I’d say God bless you, but it looks like he already has!”

Typical Cyno joke. It made you blush a little so I guess he thinks it was worth it?

----––——

Xiao

“Do you believe in love at first sight—or should I walk by again?”

Another one who's confused. However, this time, this unfortunate fella has barely a tiny idea about what love is yet, so he isn't really thick with the concept. You have some explaining to do since this guy will assume it is another one of those mortal shenanigans you like to pull on him.

What type of mortal.. What was the word again? Firt? Uhm no, that's not it.. Oh, right.. "Flirt." What kind of mortal fir- "flirt" are you doing again? Am I supposed to laugh or..?

Why so cold and dry answer dear? No you need me to warm your heart up?

You officially broke Xiao lmao

--––——

Itto

You were walking through Inazuma, the land of Electro. You spotted a sweet and lollipop stand, which reminded you of Itto and his favorite treats. The shop also had his colors, which were red and white. You couldn't help but think how much Itto would love this place, and mutter that you wished he was there.

As you purchased two lollipops, you didn't realize that Itto was behind them. He startled you by jumping to you in a goofy way.

"Granted! Well, here I am. What are your other two wishes?"

You turn around and chuckle at him, asking what he's doing here. Itto responds with another cheesy line, saying that he came for something amazing, but found you instead.

You roll your eyes, but couldn't help feeling slightly flustered. You shove one of the lollipops into Itto's mouth, who continues to say cheesy pick-up lines to flirt with you.

Itto's goofy and smug behavior continues, but you're slightly amused. They eat the other lollipop, and they proceed to banter with each other as Itto continues to flirt with them. You can't help but feel a little flustered, but at the same time, you can't help but admire Itto's charm.

---———–

The end <3

(requests are always open and welcomed!^^)

[echobx]

Timing - JJ Maybank × fem!reader

summary: reader is dealing with losing JJ after he went missing with the rest of the Pogues (end of s2! to start of s3!), leaving her and her heart behind

warnings: angst, visions of drowning (not detailed), delusions and visions because of malnutrition and depression

word count: 1.3k

Your dream has destroyed your peace. Peace as much as anyone can call your state of being such. There is nothing peaceful about the depression you have fallen into, nothing quirky about the way your body trembles at every touch, always reminded of him.

author's note: I write angsty shit when I'm depressed. it's a theme.

You're curled up in your bed, eyes burning red, nose runny, mouth slightly agape. The alarm clock on your nightstand reads 2:48am and you watch the minutes run.

2:49am.

You know you should drink something to regain a tiny bit of strength and maybe fall back asleep, but when you drink you'll just be able to cry even more. So you don't. Maybe if you refuse to, it will end faster.

2:50am.

The branch outside your window keeps knocking against the glass. The same dull noise that his knuckles made almost every night. But you know it's not him. You know he's gone.

2:51am.

Maybe a shower would help. But you'd have to get up for that, so it's a no for the shower. No one there to jokingly say, “you're gonna shower without me, princess?”

2:52am.

If you'd look out of the window you'd see his bike, parked in the same spot where he'd left it that day. Quickly stopping by to tell you about a new lead. Telling you to not worry. Telling you to stay home because it probably meant nothing, and after all, it's too dangerous, he'd kill himself if something happened to you.

2:53am.

And your mind drifts back to sleep, exhausted from the pain and malnutrition.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you, my love,” JJ is standing in front of your house. He looks as pretty as ever. Cut off shirt, cargo shorts, boots, his favorite red cap on backwards and a sorry smile on his face. But when you jump forwards into his arms you fall and you fall and fall and fall. Drowning, really. Sinking to the bottom of the ocean. His lost treasure, truly.

Maybe that's what you had signed up for unknowingly. A life of pain because you fell in love with a boy who couldn't sit still for the life of him.

“Hey, shhh, it's okay. I'm right here,” JJ’s voice is like music to you and when you open your eyes he's holding you close in his arms.

“Is this real? Are you really here?” you ask, close to tears.

“Of course I'm here. Where else would I be but with my favorite girl,” he laughs softly and kisses your forehead, but you can't feel it.

“This is a dream,” you remind yourself and sit up.

“Does it matter? I'm here now. You have me. Isn't that enough?” JJ asks and you press your hands to your ears and cradle your body, swinging back and forth in your seat.

“Not real. Wake up. Wake up!” you tell yourself and after some time it finally works.

The alarm clock reads 4:21am.

The sun is coming up soon. You think about how real it had felt before he had kissed you. You think about how much more comfortable it had been to drown than to be alive.

4:22am.

Maybe it's the dumbest thing ever, love. It's just too painful. You could do good without love.

4:23am.

Your favorite shirt of his doesn't even smell like him anymore.

4:24am.

In ten minutes it'll be four weeks that your parents had woken you up in panic to make sure you hadn't vanished the same way your friends had.

4:25am.

Your feet carry you to your closet. Getting dressed is methodical.

4:26am.

He left his keys. “So I have no choice but to come back to you, princess.”

4:27am.

You know your parents will wake up when they hear the engine of the bike, so you decide to push it for a bit, down the road and then you can get on.

4:28am.

He didn't park in neutral. Stupid boy. Stupid stupid boy who stole your stupid stupid heart.

4:29am.

The engine is louder than you expected. You see the lights turn on inside your home, but you're already gone by the time your parents have realized what you are doing.

4:30am.

Cold air stings when it shoots right into your teary face.

4:31am.

The sun is coming up in the distance, it's beautiful. You remember doing this with JJ. Staying up all night and driving around to see the sunset and come up again.

4:32am.

You stop at a red light although no one is there. JJ had started touching your ankles on the pegs every time he had to stop.

4:33am.

The Shack is sitting lonely at the sound. The hammock’s empty, the porch lonely and the pick-up orphaned.

4:24am.

Breaking and Entering is illegal actually. Not that you care, you've done worse with JJ by your side. You need a new shirt, maybe the ones in the closet here still smell like him. You need it like a drug addict seeks the next kick.

4:25am.

One month and no life sign. You should stop hoping. Stop wishing. Stop. “JUST STOP” you scream and fall down on the bed.

4:26am.

“I'm not even doing anything,” JJ whispers from next to you.

“Leave me. I don't want to love you anymore. It hurts so much. Please,” you cry and curl up on the bed, holding onto the shirt.

“I can't. You know why,” he whispers, lying opposite of you.

“I don't want it,” you cry and screw your eyes shut.

“All you gotta do is let go,” JJ whispers.

“I don't know how to not love you,” you hush and reach out for him, but there's nothing there. You're alone.

6:34am.

Ghosts don't know how to make dishes clatter.

6:35am.

You pinch yourself before walking out of the bedroom, making sure it's not another dream.

6:36am.

It has to be a dream. Gotta be. No other explanation.

6:37am.

He hasn't turned around yet. It's a dream. It's a dream, has to be. 5.3% chance that he's real, maybe less.

6:38am.

You take the baseball bat that stands next to the bedroom door in your hand. Ghosts don't feel pain.

6:39am.

You don't know what hurts more, JJ's head or your heart.

6:40am.

“Jesus fucking Christ, who the fuck is trying to murder-” he spins around, one hand still holding onto the bat to stop it from hitting him again.

6:41am.

You can hear your head hitting the wooden floor as you go down.

11:57am.

Hospital beds are not comfortable. The lights are harsh. Your head is screaming.

11:58am.

Someone is holding your hand. Rings, familiar ones at that. You blink slowly. How is this real?

11:59am.

“My ghost keeps torturing me,” you whisper and he turns his blonde head around to you. Furrowed brows and blue eyes stare back at you.

12:00pm.

“You got ghosts? Can I get one too?” JJ smiles and you shake your head.

“You're my ghost, there's no ghost who needs ghosts.”

“Could a ghost do this?”

12:01pm.

His lips are pressed to yours and you can feel it. Hot and heavy and not a dream. Not a Dream. Not. A. Dream.

12:02pm.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave like that, and when we came back I wanted to clean up first. But you got to me quicker,” JJ whispers. “I wish I could turn back time and take you with me.”

12:03pm.

I love you's are underrated. You could hear him mumble it against your lips until you die. And when you say it back he smiles wider.

12:04pm.

Your parents yell at you for running out, but you don't care, you have your ghost. And this time, everyone else can see your ghost too. Everyone can see how much he loves you, and you him.

please don't copy and/or post my work onto other platforms! ~e©ho

taglist: @ijustwantttoread @spideysimpossiblegirl @redhead1180 @princessmaybank @kys4-20 @drwstarkeyy @immyowndefender @julczimozart

[dearharriet]

James potter + “you’re really red right now.” Please 🙏

this one was so fun :3 thank you for requesting! (wc: 679) (cw: blood, mentions of drinking + reader being drunk)

James ushers you further down the dingy hall, doing his damndest to keep you upright. It’s hard to help him with that task when the floor is moving and the lights on a constant strobe.

“This was a terrible idea,” James shouts, his voice nearly lost under slightly disturbing accordion music.

In hindsight, you perhaps had a touch too much to drink, but you’ll never admit it. “Was not.”

As if in retaliation, the floor gives a particularly cruel jerk, sending you sideways.

“Good lord, you’re sloshed.”

“James, it’s not me, it’s the floor!” You let James hoist you up, stalling a moment against a technicolor wall. “It won’t stop moving.”

“It has stopped, you lightweight, that’s what sent you.”

Three teenagers pass you two, laughing and staring, likely interpreting your pause for something it’s not. You give James a strange look before realizing he’s right—you’re perfectly still against the wall now.

“I don’t think I like this funhouse.”

Finally breaking his stony concern, James pulls you back down the corridor, laughing breezily.

“I’m sure you’re having more fun than me, at least.”

Making a face, you hold to his hand at your waist, steadying yourself.

“I didn’ realize it’s a competi-shun,” you slur. James breathes a laugh that you can feel against your neck, but says nothing in response.

Rounding the corner with a toddler’s level of balance, you come upon at least three duplicates of yourself.

“Ohhh,” you groan. “James, I might be more drunk than I thought.”

With a chuckle, James urges you forward. “I’m glad you can admit it, but these are just mirrors, love.”

Somehow, that makes you all the more disoriented, suddenly fighting a new wave of vertigo. James seems to anticipate this, because he shortens his leash on you, holding you mere inches from his chest with a vice grip. He’s muttering to himself bitterly about something you can’t comprehend.

He walks you towards the other pair of you, before diverting to the right, towards yet another mirror.

“James, we can’t go that way.”

“Try not to make this more irritating than it already is, please.”

You tamp down the urge to argue, though you can’t resist pushing out your bottom lip in a pout. James silently steers you through the dizzying maze with growing ease. Eventually, he turns what you expect to be the last corner, and you jerk back like you’ve been shocked.

“Oh my god,” James gasps. “Y/N, I’m so sorry.”

Swaying, you step out of his grip, feeling your face start to ache.

“Are you alright?” James’ voice is distant in your ears, like you’re wearing earmuffs, but his hands holding your upper arms are hot and sharp.

Focusing your double vision on his face, you pull your aching brows together.

“James…”

“Love, I’m sorry.” A ghost of amusement tugs at his lips, but he’s trying hard not to laugh. You’re still so confused, and James’ face…

“You’re really red right now,” you say.

At that, James finally breaks, hanging his head in silent shaking laughter. You’re not sure what’s so funny about it, he’s red from head-to-toe like a cartoon character after eating something spicy. Even his clothes.

“I’m serious!”

James looks at you again, smiling something awful. “I’m sure, pretty girl. You’re red, too.”

Shying, you sniff, your nose oddly runny. Of course you’re red, with James calling you pretty all of a sudden.

“Do you have a crush on me?” you ask dopily, reaching up to grab his muscled forearms.

James’ nodding excites you, but he says, “How about we talk about that when your nose isn’t bleeding.”

You blink. “Is it?”

Instead of answering, James frees a hand from your arms to swipe under your nostril. He shows you, holding up a black-red thumb as evidence.

“Oh. I suppose it has been dry lately.” You take his hand, missing it on you already. “That could be why.”

James sighs, beginning to chaperone you out of the awful mirror maze, toward a daunting set of shifting stairs.

“You’re going to be the death of me, lovey.”

+

thank you for reading! xx

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join the celebration!

[lovelettersforthedamned]

frat Peter for the sick fic cos I just know he would be utterly clueless on what he’s doing or how to take care but would just be doing the most to help xxx ❄️❄️ + hope ur better now!!!

in sickness & in health

◦ paring: frat!tasm!peter parker x gn!reader

◦ word count: 0.5k

◦ warnings: mild sickness, mention of alcohol, one little smooch, fluff all around.

The rain outside your window reflected how you felt. Your runny nose, sore throat, and body aches kept you bedridden, your body too exhausted to go anywhere else. If it weren’t for your dear boyfriend Peter, you think you would’ve died in this bed. Maybe you’re exaggerating a bit, but you certainly feel like death. 

You looked like death too, you’re certain of that. The last time you looked in the mirror was when you went to pee this morning. The person looking back at you had the darkest under eyes you’ve ever seen, a puffy and red nose from the constant tissues, and dry chapped lips. Honestly, how you looked was the least of your concerns. Peter’s seen you blackout drunk during the infamous Halloween bar crawl, and if he could still love you after that night, then he could love you now. 

You haven’t gone to the doctor yet, and the wait time for urgent care was ungodly long. So that leaves Peter to play doctor for a few days, and with the help of the internet and your local drugstore, he has one mission in his mind: make you feel better. 

The woman behind the checkout counter looked at Peter like he was insane, and honestly rightfully so. He bought two different types of cold and flu medicine, a heating pad, and three bottles of Gatorade, and he threw in a bouquet of flowers just for the hell of it. 

Walking into your room, you’re sprawled out on the mattress, your laptop reflecting a random movie onto your face. “Hey bug,” he’s out of breath while he frantically puts the bags onto the floor, “I got a few things, but I’m not too sure what you have.” Reaching into one of them, he pulls out the medicine, “The internet said you have a rare form of throat cancer, but I didn’t find any throat cancer medicine, so this will have to do!”

Peter sits beside you on the bed, reading the directions before taking off the cap pouring the right measurements into it, and handing it to you. “Thank you, Pete,” you sit up on your elbow as you toss the thick liquid back, wincing at the taste, “but you really shouldn’t be sitting this close to me right now. I could be contagious.”

“I’m practically immune to all bacteria and viruses babe. The frat flu should be scared of me,” he takes back the cap from your hands before placing it on your bedside table, right next to the tissues. He leans down and kisses your forehead deeply, “In sickness and in health, right babe?” 

You pull back from his touch, confusion written across your face, “But we’re not even married.” 

He stands and walks to the bathroom to wash out the remaining medicine still lingering on the cap, leaving you baffled. “Not yet!” 

◦ author's note: WOOOOO frat!peter strikes again!!!! yes, i am back to normal! thank you so much for asking<3 don't forget to like, comment, and reblog my work if you enjoyed! my 300 follower celebration is still happening, so come hang out! ok, bye ily<333

[whore-era]

under the weather

☁︎ ellie williams x fem!reader ☁︎ fluff ☁︎ summary: in which ellie takes care of her sick girlfriend. ☁︎ a/n: my first ellie fic! let me know how u guys like it, reblogs and comments r much much appreciated! ☁︎ word count: 1,475

“babe! open up!”

“i’m coming, i’m coming,” you muttered, tightening the blanket wrapped around you.

opening the front door, a gust of crisp, frigid wind blew in your face inducing a full-body shiver. stepping inside the foyer of your house, ellie gave you a confused look as she leaned down to greet you with a kiss on your forehead. 

“why’re you still in your pjs? we start patrol in 45 minutes,” she asked. about to answer her question, you let out a deafening sneeze. 

“i know, babe. i’m sorry- i- i woke up late this morning and, you know, i’m still trying to wake up a little bit but i’m feeling a bit-,” you pause to sneeze, “-a bit groggy.”

you use your long sleeve shirt to wipe your nose, and as disgusting as that was, you couldn’t be bothered to care. your head was pounding, your throat was sore, and your nose was all red and runny. it was obvious you’ve seen better days. 

“just give me 10 m-minutes, els. i’ll be dressed for patrol,” you murmured, attempting to reassure ellie with a weak smile. 

you should’ve known she was smarter than that. she took one look at you—still in your pajamas with messy hair and a blanket cocooning your frame—and determined that you wouldn’t be going anywhere; knowing that if you were to step out of the warmth of your home into the freezing, jackson winter, you’d probably pass out. 

“oh, no. you will not be getting dressed, little lady, let alone going to patrol,” she raised a brow at you, and her cold hands made their way to cup your cheeks. the unexpected chill of her palms on your face evoked a wince from you. 

“fuck, baby, you’re burning up,” she cooed at you, “you’re in no shape to be leaving this house today.” 

“then what are we gonna-,” sneeze, “-do?”, you look up at her with glossy eyes. her green orbs soften and she lets out an apprehensive sigh.

“well, i’m gonna go let jesse know that we won’t be going to patrol today,” your brows furrowed in confusion. did she say ‘we’? 

“what do you mean ‘we’?”, you asked, your voice coming out all congested and muffled. 

“uh, yeah. you think i’m gonna let my favorite girl stay here all alone?”, ellie narrowed her eyes, “especially while she’s sick?” 

“els, i can take care of myself just fine,“ you countered, “just have jesse or dina take my place instead. i don’t want you seeing me all ugly and germy and gross.”

she let out one of her award-winning laughs, “you’re still the prettiest girl i’ve ever seen, even if you’re quote-unquote ‘germy and gross’,” “besides, it’d bug me all day knowing i left you alone while you weren’t feeling good.”

“but-“ you began, but before you had time to interject, your girlfriend interrupted you.

“no buts, you know damn well you would do the same for me, baby.” ellie walked over to you, taking your ice-cold hands into hers, squeezing them tenderly to warm them up. “let me take care of you.” 

of course, you couldn’t say no to her. the way she’s just so insistent on taking care of you, even when you’re all snotty-nosed and sneezy. it made your heart swell. 

“m’kay.” you gave in softly looking down at your feet, “i..i just feel bad, y’know? they need you out there.”

ellie’s finger lifted your chin up softly, your eyes meeting with her green ones. “i know, sweet girl. but right now, you need me in here.” she leans down and kisses you briefly on the lips, sending your heart in a frenzy, as all her kisses did.

“why don’t you go in your room and lay back down? yea, baby?” ellie instructed, “i’m gonna go real quick and tell jess the news. i’ll be back in a sec.” 

-

you weren’t sure when you woke up from your short nap, but by the time you did, ellie still hadn’t been back yet. it worried you a bit, and if you weren’t feeling so feeble and faint, you’d definitely be searching for her right now. 

so, there you were, sprawled out on your bed, blankets tangled between your legs every which way. your eyes shut closed, but your body sank into the silence, soothing you.

you hear the front door open and then close. god, if i’m about to be robbed, then this will be their easiest heist yet. you had no energy to even call out who it was. 

“babe? y’awake?”, ellie greets with a knock on your bedroom door. 

“mmm.” you managed to groan in response, you pick your head up and squint your eyes open, seeing that your girlfriend has changed her clothes into something a bit more comfortable—a hoodie with sweats—and that she has a bag in her hand. 

“what’s that?” you question, using your elbows to prop yourself up in bed. ellie walks over to you, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress. she opens the bag and inside is a thermos, various snacks, tea bags, medicine, and a DVD. 

“i just thought i’d pick up some things for you. i mean— we’re gonna be here all day. didn’t wanna be unprepared,” she scratched the back of her neck and smiled sheepishly. you wrapped your arms around her tightly, “thank you.” you whispered. 

her arms wrapped around your waist, one of her hands rubbing your back soothingly, “it’s nothing. anything for you, sweet girl.”

as you sat in bed, watching the DVD ellie picked up, ellie took care of everything. 

turns out, maria made a batch of chowder for you after hearing that you were feeling under the weather. she also threw in some tea bags to help soothe the sore throat. ellie made sure you were bundled up like a baby, and had no complaints tending to you or cleaning up after your messes. 

now your head laid on her lap, both of you intent on the movie playing in front of you. you turned your head, admiring the way ellie’s eyes were so focused and how perfectly her freckles sprinkled her face. she looked down at you, catching you red-handed.

“what?” she asked, shakiness in her voice.

“nothing.” you murmured, your eyes still studying her. 

“y’sure?”

“yea,” you smiled, “i just like looking at you.” 

hues of pink faded onto her cheekbones and across her speckled nose, “well— stop.” 

“why?” 

ellie let out a nervous laugh, which was new to you. “because you’re making me nervous.” 

you smiled and rolled your eyes, “fine, fine.” but now ellie couldn’t stop looking at your face. she intently studied every detail; the wisps of your eyelashes, the curves of your nose, the way the soft glow of the TV illuminated your face, the shape of your lips. it was like she was seeing you for the first time all over again. falling in love with you all over again. 

ellie didn't care if your hair was all over the place or if your nose was red from rubbing it all day. she didn't give a fuck if you were dressed down, or if you sounded 'weird'. even in your sickest state, she still thought you were the most gorgeous girl this universe had to offer.

she bent her head down, planting yet another warm kiss on your lips. 

“you’ve got to stop kissing me before you get sick, silly goose.” you contended, eliciting a laugh from her. 

“if i were to get sick for every time i kissed you, put me in the hospital,” ellie joked. you snorted and rolled your eyes, “ha ha, nice one.” 

you got up, and sat against the headboard of your bed next to her. “seriously though, els. thank you for doing all of this for me,” you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, “no one’s really ever done this for me before.” you looked down at your hands, beginning to feel all shy in front of her now. it was a habit, avoiding eye contact with ellie everytime you were opening up to her. it made you feel vulnerable and anxious. 

“hey, look at me,” she lifts your chin up, your eyes meeting hers again, “what’d i tell you?” 

ellie’s eyes studied yours, “i’ll always take care of you. as long as you’re with me, i’ll be the one taking care of you.” no doubt was in her voice. 

“‘kay, sweet girl?”, she asked, and you nodded. ellie smiled at you and her lips pressed against your cheek. 

“i love you.” your heart warmed up and your stomach erupted with butterflies. it always took you by surprise how much of an effect ellie had on your body. 

“i love you, ellie.” 

[daisynik7]

could you do the most gut punching, debilitatingly soul crushing, hair pulling, tear inducing eren ff



cw: PLEASE READ - extremely heavy content and trauma warning, please proceed with caution. If you are sensitive to topics that deal with traumatic events, please avoid this. I'm being overly cautious just in case! 

Author’s Note: Thank you for the request, anon. Doing my best to give you something that I consider gut punching/debilitating/tear inducing. I’m sorry for the hurt, this was a tough one to write!

It’s past midnight and you can’t sleep. You’ve been staring up at the ceiling for the past hour, eyes focused on the blank canvas above you, mind unable to shut down the way you want it to. It’s no secret: you’re thinking about Eren again. You haven’t stopped thinking about him for over a year now. And, given your unbreakable track record thus far, you never will.

You call his phone, knowing it’ll go straight to voicemail, clearing your throat as his familiar voice says, “Leave a message after the beep!” The tone rings, signaling for you to start. 

“Hey. It’s me again. I know you’re probably tired of hearing my voice, but if you think that’s going to stop me, you’re wrong. I’ll keep calling until the day you pick up.” You turn to your side, resting your phone between the pillow and your ear. 

“I can’t sleep. I had a shitty week at work. Levi’s been on my ass, complaining about how my desk is so unorganized. You know how he is. I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve been out of it. I don’t know. I wish you were here.” You swallow hard, trying to hold back from crying. It always leads to this, though. Tears streaming down your cheeks, soaking your pillow in sobs and snot. Eren always teased you for being such a cry baby. It’s one of the many things he loved about you. 

“Annie told me I should start dating again. Let go and move on. Told me it’s for the best. Of course, I got upset at her, but I know she’s just worried about me.” You sigh, eyes beginning to water. “Do you still think about me? Because I sure as hell still think about you. All the time.”

It’s inevitable now; the crying, the rush of emotions. “I’m still so fucking mad at you for leaving that night,” you say, sniffling. “So fucking mad for not staying with me. Why did you do that, Eren? Why did you leave me?” 

You sob into the phone, unable to form coherent words any longer. It takes a minute or two to collect yourself, wiping your face with the blanket, eyes puffy, nose runny. As best as you can, you continue, voice trembling. “I’m not actually angry. I promise you. I just miss you so fucking much. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thinking of you. I see you everywhere. In my dreams, around my house, whenever I hang out with our friends. You’re always here and always there. I can’t escape you.”

The giant teddy bear he won at that state fair five years ago sits on the bed beside you. You reach out for it, holding it snug in an embrace, the phone still squeezed to your ear. “I know you’ll never listen to this, but I want you to know that I still love you. I’ve always loved you, Eren. I always will.” With that, you hang up, ending the voicemail.

It’s been over a year now since the accident. When you got the call from his parents, you were staring up at the ceiling, exactly like tonight, unable to sleep. Waiting for his call to come through, ensuring you he got home safely. You told him to stay over, but he insisted, knowing he had to be with his family the next morning to celebrate his mom’s birthday. And of course, it’s not his fault for insisting. Eren was always trying to make everybody happy. It’s not his fault for driving that night. It’s not his fault for stepping on the gas pedal when the stoplight turned green. It’s not his fault for not noticing the speeding car with its headlights turned off, driving towards him, running the red. None of it was his fault, and that’s what makes it hurt the most. He didn’t deserve this. Nobody does.

And while he’s still living and breathing, the steady heartbeat pounding in his chest, it’s almost harder than if he wasn’t. For over a year now, you’ve held onto hope that one day, he’ll wake up from his coma. That the past twelve, thirteen, fifteen months have been an unbearable nightmare, and he’ll be back to his normal self. Laughing and smiling with his cheeks rounded, the same electric joy he brings everywhere he goes. It’s that hope that drives you crazy, keeps you sinking down this unending spiral. But it’s the only thing you have left to hang on to. 

It's become routine to visit him every weekend in the hospital. Sitting beside his peaceful form, stroking his hand. Throat stuck with anguish that renders you speechless. That’s why you leave the voicemails for him on his phone, the one that his mom promises to keep charged every day because she knows how important it is to you. You scoot the chair closer to him, the phone held in your grasp, playing on speaker the latest message you left for him just several hours ago. Wishing for a miracle that somehow, he’s hearing this and dreaming of you in his everlasting slumber.

Hey. It’s me again. I know you’re probably tired of hearing my voice, but if you think that’s going to stop me, you’re wrong. I’ll keep calling until the day you pick up.          

[yuu--dachi]

a joy to be hidden, a disaster to not be found

hewwo! it's my first fic in a while and also the first fic on this blog. wahoo!! and it's.... an x reader fic which i've also never done before!! and also for genshin!! wahoo!!

ships: alhaitham x reader / you (gender neutral)

content: hurt/comfort, fluff, lowkey pining from alhaitham, reader experiences a panic attack, written in reader's pov but switches to alhaitham for a bit at the end, alhaitham says Sorry cus i like to make him do that 😎

words: 4k (help girl how did i let it get this long...)

synopsis: in which a haravatat scholar realises that everything is not as simple as it is, our body betrays us at every second of every hour, and the three times alhaitham finds you, no matter what.

this reader is for all the babygirls (gender neutral) out there who feel things so deeply and we are all crybabies. i see you, i hear you, and i love you!! we're all bad bitches who are easily moved and touched by the world around us and that's lovely!! keep shining your light on this world, friends!

i'm taking requests for drabbles and quick fics or poetry! whatever inspo strikes me 😴

---

the first time he finds you, alhaitham says:

“the solution is quite simple.” 

and you find your fist in wanting of purchase in his face. 

“this wouldn't be a problem had you realised your limits before your entire body broke down. surely, i don't have to cite research papers for you to understand that it is important to take note of one's mental health accordingly, as an adult with agency in your own life? then you don't have to find comfort in the mouth of a beer mug.”

he was surprisingly chatty today, and at any other time you would have loved to relish in making him speak for so much for so long. getting him to talk so much was like trying to scrape the bottom of the jar for the last smidgens of berry jam, and you savoured it just as well. 

but not today.

“alhaitham, you're not in my shoes, so stop trying to make me walk down the same path you do.”

he tipped his head, confused. “what's wrong with my path? i have no relationship problems—”

“because you don't maintain any.”

“—no financial burdens—”

“because you don't spend it on anything.”

“—and no personal problems.”

“because you don't bother with anything you don't care for,” you sighed out. 

“if i didn't maintain any relationships, then why am i here? and if i didn't spend any money, then why is the bill under my name? and if i didn't bother with anything i don't care for, then why am i with you, right now, instead of reading at home?”

he flicks your nose; you sniffle in response and bury your face into the hard table, slightly damp from your tears.

“i don't know,” you whispered, the words leaving you without a thought. “why are you here, alhaitham?”

“if i follow your reasoning, it's because i'm bored, have money, and don't care to be anywhere else. does that answer satisfy you?”

a silence between both of you, even though the tavern was filled with the sound of chatter and the tinkling of dishes and cutlery. “...no.”

“then why upset yourself?”

you remove your face from the table and look at him, despite your eyes red and puffy from crying, nosy runny, and a wood grain pattern imprinted on your cheek and forehead. “i just wanted to hear you say it.”

he hums, thoughtful.

(despite his demeanour, he was rarely thoughtless about anything. even if he didn't make decisions you would've done.)

“because i care about you,” he let the words out slowly, like testing how they roll off the tongue. like learning a new language. “is that alright?”

you plant your face back into the table, all too-aware of your red eyes that must've sparkled, your lips that wanted to become a songbird in return for such simple words. “mm-hmm. thank you.”

“you're very welcome.”

***

the second time alhaitham finds you, you are under a table. 

“go away for a bit,” the words come out of your mouth clumsily, like tripping over your own feet in haste. “this one's t-taken.”

your humour probably didn't land as well as you hoped. the stuttering of the heart in your chest beating like a butterfly's wings in flight, like it had ambitions of flying out of your chest instead of remaining behind your ribcage where it belonged. to your credit, it was hard to think of a joke in the middle of everything that was happening in your body. you would've rated yourself fairly well, all things considered.

alhaitham didn't seem to agree, although he didn't frown at you. he tends to voice out his disagreements vocally rather than through things like body language—you know, like a machine would when you press the wrong button? 

if he knew what i'm thinking right now, he would probably say that it's one of the virtues of studying under haravatat—classic alhaitham!

instead of saying anything immediately though, he sat cross-legged in front of you, his eyes wandering, seemingly…. observing? what was he looking at? you're sure you could've tell if your mind was clearer, but you couldn't at the moment.

“does it not hurt?” he asked, then, from your face dipped over your hunched knees, you heard two raps of a knock on the desk. “this is the desk made with athel wood, isn't it? it's very durable, but it's difficult for the city craftsmen to make full use of them right now because of how hard it is. the edges don't look sanded enough.”

“i-it's fine,” you choke out, and then breathed in and out for a proper response. “i don't mind it so much.”

he raised a brow in return. oh, you think, so now he's going to use body language, is he? 

too bad you couldn't savour it this time too. 

“as long as it's pressing against me, i'm… okay.”

you hear him hum in understanding, like he does when he reads a well written proposal. 

“is that why you chose this desk in particular? the others were too high and wide and you couldn't make contact with the wood?”

before you realised it, it was easier for you to speak now, even though your heart was still pounding, and your skin felt raw. you didn't usually try to talk when you were experiencing… whatever this is. 

“yeah. i just need… to feel safe.”

before you realised it, your face was no longer tucked between your knees, but instead resting on them as you avoided looking him in the eyes. 

“i see,” he said, and he paused before saying: “would you mind if i tried something?”

you hesitated, and your eyes finally meet. “i don't know, what are you going to do?”

“i'm going to hold you in my arms,” he said, and switched from sitting cross legged to having his knees tucked under him, arms open and his hands stretching for yours. “if you don't mind.”

in any other situation, you wouldn't have minded. you'd say: maybe it'll start snowing in the desert today! should we start preparing for the oncoming winter?

but now….

you were a mess—just like you were in the tavern that night, too. red ringed on your puffed-up eyes, sweat drenching your clothes and making your back feel as humid as the rainforests at night, and you could barely eke out a word before seemingly using up every bit of air in your lungs, like a newborn babe that only knew how to cry.

you didn't know how to tell all of this to alhaitham. sorry, can i go change into better clothes first? can i save this hug for another time when i'm completely sane and sober to take full advantage of it? can you wait till i ice my eyes so i can look at you properly?

instead, what came out of your mouth was: “i'm disgusting right now.”

he hummed, and you weren't sure if it was his i'm-considering-how-to-reply-to-this-idiotic-situation hum or i-see-where-you're-coming-from hum.

“i can see why you'd think that, but that's irrelevant.”

ah. so it was both.

“why do you want to hold me?”

“i want to see if i can do a better job than a desk,” he says, and you feel a smile ghost your face, only because you see him wearing one too. a small smile, simple like him. 

“i probably smell really bad. i'm sweating so much right now.”

“that's fine. i'll stop breathing through my nose.”

“my eyes are really red too. it's not that i don't want to look at you, it's that i'm too embarrassed to.”

“i can just close my eyes.”

“my heart is pounding really painfully right now, and it's hard to talk.”

“i'll ask questions that are easy to answer then.”

finally, you relented. “...is it really okay?”

“yes.”

after you confirmed that he couldn't smell you and couldn't see you, you slowly inch from under the desk and into his lap, where he then wrapped his arms around you. not tightly or passionately, but a sort of reassuring grip—like he wouldn't let you fall.

“how does it feel?”

“you're probably better than my desk,” you laughed out, and the sound felt strange to your ears, just moments after you were alone and crying and hyperventilating under a desk in a room by yourself.

“glad to be of service.”

you laughed again. “i don't think even the other sages from the akademiya can ever get you to say those words.”

“because they can't. if any of them leapt into my arms asking for a hug, i'd redirect them to doctor zakariya.”

you laughed again, and you were glad you made him promise to close his eyes. the sight of alhaitham smiling slightly at you, and the sight of your smile looking at him would've convinced anyone that you were starstruck by him. you didn't feel up to being publicly humiliated at the moment. 

the two of you spent the next few minutes—which felt like hours—in each other's embrace (well, yours in his, mostly), and soon your breathing steadied. from the high tides and low crests of your chest rising and falling asynchronously, it returned to the rhythm of the afternoon tides of port ormos.

although it was a difficult question to ask, you asked anyways. “are you not going to ask me what happened?”

“one of the six sins of any scholar under the akademiya is to interfere in human evolution,” he began, and you felt a smile coming before he even finished. “i assume it was your body's way of protecting you against a threat. although—” 

he opened his eyes, and you would've tried to stop your smiling by any means before he could see you, but he was wearing a smile of his own, and you couldn't help but dig your fingers deeper into his arms. 

“—the nature of the threat and it's scale remains unknown to me still. you have a way with handling problems, after all.”

you gave him a big smack on his chest, fists closed for maximum impact. “ouch!”

how did that hurt you instead of him?

“a good rule of self defense is hard parts against soft targets, and soft parts on hard targets. you shouldn't have closed your hand. a slap would work better.”

“how was i going to know your chest was literally rock hard?!”

“i thought you might have some inkling. i've noticed your stare a few times before.”

you wanted to throw yourself into the abyss.

you couldn't, so instead, you took his hand and bit his fingers as the next best thing. 

a small ouch sounded from him, though you couldn't tell if it was genuine or for the sake of making you feel better. you laid your head back against his chest, arms now wrapped around him in return.

“thanks, alhaitham.”

“you're very welcome,” he muttered in response, and you almost didn’t hear him.

“you’re not going to tell me that the solution is simple, or that i was the one that caused this thing in myself?”

he hummed.

“no,” he started, and you wanted to collapse in relief. “i am a scholar of haravatat, not amurta. i don’t understand the subject matter enough to say in any confidence or plausibility that the way your—or anyone’s—body works is simple. if it was that simple, then we wouldn’t have an entire field dedicated to it. and i do wish it were that simple, sometimes. then perhaps so many scholars wouldn’t have written audacious sounding proposals that i’d have to read thoroughly just to reject.”

you snickered. “what does haravatat’s wisdom has to say about me?”

for a moment, you see his eyes soften, straying away from yours.

“that your body failing you is not a moral or intellectual inadequacy on your part. that we do not have full control of ourselves, even if we would like to. that, perhaps…”

“perhaps?”

his gaze returns to you. “...perhaps, we are all more fallible than we see ourselves.”

“only you see yourself as infallible. i know very well how my body betrays me every second of every day. it’s one of the things that comes with being in touch with my own emotions, don’t you know?”

the teasing was meant to be lighthearted, as you knew he didn’t mean anything he said before in a dogged way. his words was not thorny on purpose like a bramble bush, just rough to the touch like a tongue’s cat. there were days where his words striked too much like an arrow through you, and days where the coarseness only brushed your ankles like standing in sand. you loved and cared for him despite that.

suddenly, he pulled you tighter against him, and you squeaked. “alhaitham? Is everything okay?”

no answer. you shifted in your position to make yourself more comfortable, and with whatever left strength you could muster, you rub your hands over his back in calm, soothing circles. “there, there.” 

your voice reverberated through your body, and you continued to hold him reassuringly, hoping that enough exposure to having him be so close to you would cure your racing heart and your voice, almost crumbling at his touch.

it was good how self conscious of yourself you were. then, you wouldn’t be able to tell that his heart was racing, too. 

***

the third time he finds you, it was not so much being found as it was being chased.

it was just one of those days that went wrong in every way it could’ve gone wrong. you stubbed your toe after getting out of the shower, your research project was going nowhere despite your multiple reminders to your groupmates, and even the way the sticky-sweet baklava clung to your teeth annoyed you.

worst of all, you had a fight with alhaitham.

now that you think of it, it could hardly be called a fight. you’ve seen full-grown adults in akademiya gowns act pettier in a structured debate, and you were sure that if you had asked alhaitham—truly asked, with no contempt or malice—he would’ve presented to you a perfectly reasonable explanation why he didn’t act like an asshole and moreso sounded like one.

right. the only person that was taking things too seriously was you. it had always been you.

it wasn’t that you wanted to be less emotional. you had spent too much time in your formative younger years denying the fact that you simply felt things more deeply, more quickly, than others. it was difficult to accept that you simply had thinner skin than most people—that, on a bad day, the veil of privacy that stood between your emotions and the outside world was nothing but sheer silk that fluttered all too easily with an evening breeze. 

the ‘fight’ was nothing spectacular, either. It wasn’t as if you two were having an intellectual discussion as two scholars, rigorously going through peer review on a research paper. it wasn’t as if neither of you would come out of it having respected each other a little less.

but, like the person that you are, so tethered to the heart that it kept your feet frozen sometimes, it had hurt you deeply.

it truly was nothing spectacular. you simply wanted to vent about your terrible groupmates, and you thought that it would be nothing more than a venting session over drinks, getting sober, and then buckling down to do the job once you were ready again in the morning.

but it escalated. he, also seemingly irritable that night, kept bringing up questions, solutions, to your dismay. at any other time, you would’ve let it slide and shelved it as simply alhaitham being alhaitham—a man who wanted life to be simple and easy, fixing problems before they sprung. however, what you needed that night was not a fixer or a tinkerer with all his haravatat wisdom. you needed alhaitham the drinking buddy, the one that would foot the bill, the one that held you in his arms and wanted to be of more comfort than the desk you hid under.

“i just wish you would just—listen!”

“i am listening. it’s just that it’s difficult to keep my words to myself, seeing as this problem can be easily fixed, if you weren’t so fixated on unnecessary things.”

“unnecessary? i don’t like them, but it doesn’t mean that i want to snitch on them!”

“what’s stopping you? they clearly don’t respect you. who else can they blame but themselves as the logical consequence of their actions if you do tell on them? they are adults in their own capacity, and the akademiya is not a place for people to loiter around, seeking for forgiveness for one’s own incompetence. their lesson is theirs to learn.”

“i have my own way of fixing things, alhaitham. you may not care about other people’s feelings, but i do! and i’d rather work it out clearly with them rather than resort to underhanded tactics just to have my life go a little smoother.”

“then tell me, why hasn’t your way of fixing problems worked? only an idiot would employ the same methods over and over again, hoping it’ll work the next time.”

he didn’t call you an idiot directly, but he didn’t have to. the insult found its way to you just the same. 

even if you did, you couldn’t fully deny it either. in the perspective of alhaitham, perhaps everyone else other than him was a dimwit full of hot air. the thought that the same applied to you, who you thought had a pretty close relationship with him, stung the most. 

he had tried to talk to you and reach out multiple times (although, by your estimates, his attempts were somewhat weak and clumsy), and you kept him out of your house with a badly made sign that said ‘TRESPASSERS BEWARE’ above an aranara carving that looked—in your opinion—pretty scary.

on these days, it was difficult. you couldn’t touch yourself, feeling so raw that you feared that wherever your hand brushed, you would come away bleeding. 

there were at least some good news though: your groupmates finally decided to cooperate with you for the project, and you were extremely thankful for it. it turns out that they all had personal issues that made it difficult to speak out on, and now that they realised that you wouldn’t judge them for whatever excuse they may have, they confided in you, and everything went as smoothly as you could hope for.

the four of you celebrated at the tavern, drinks in hand at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. the boss, seeing this particular group of inebriated students, simply shook his head and smiled defeatedly. by the time the sky changed colours, only you were left sitting alone at your table after having escorted the other three to their homes to get some well-earned rest. you would have left soon after, if not only for the fact that you had ‘bumped’ into alhaitham and he ordered a drink to have at your table.

“i was right,” was the first thing you said to him, and you enjoyed the look on his face when the words left your mouth. “i was right. everything turned out like i hoped it would.”

he tilted his head. “surely you can’t expect for luck and fortunate circumstances to befall you every time?”

“i don’t. i don’t, but… i’ll keep doing what i’m doing. i like it when everyone is happy. things won’t always go the way i want them to, but i’ll keep doing it, because it’s important to me that i try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, that i don’t walk the easy road if it means i’ve passed by something meaningful just to suffer a little less in my own life.”

“you sound like kaveh.”

you chuckled. “that sounds like a compliment to me. thank you.”

when his drink arrived, alhaitham nudged it your way across the table. you raised a brow. “what’s this for?”

“to say i’m sorry.”

“words aren’t enough for you?”

“words are only enough for people who trust others to tell the truth,” he paused, then added: “and i don’t.”

you hummed, then leaned back in your chair. “pretend, then, that we are two people who trust each other to tell the truth, and that we would believe in each other no matter what. what would you say?”

his green-red eyes flickered, and you didn’t know from what. if it was with other people, you could hazard a guess, sure—but alhaitham was different from the people you’ve met, and you did not want to presume what his heart feels.

(even if he claims that it’s only there to keep him alive.)

“when i couldn’t see you, i still thought of you, and i didn’t know what to do. i want to apologise for insulting you with my words, even if i didn’t mean to. i failed to calculate the exact way they had sounded until it reached my own ears and i saw how hurt you were.”

you said nothing, but nodded slightly as a go-on.

“i like it when things are simple, but that didn’t mean i wanted you to be simple. i just wanted things to be simple for you, and i unreasonably tried to force my perspective onto yours and ended up hurting you in the process. and for that…” he seemed to have trouble wrangling the words out of his throat, and you would’ve laughed if he didn’t look so pained. you reached out for his hand on the table, resting yours atop his. “...and for that, i am deeply sorry.”

you hummed. another moment to savour. 

there  was still one more thing you needed to clear up, though.

“...do you think i’m an idiot?”

unlike mere moments ago, the words shot out of his mouth before he even tried to rein them in. “no. not at all. i’ve never once thought you were.”

you smiled at him, somewhat self-deprecatingly. “but you don’t like how emotional i am.”

“it’s not a matter of liking or disliking. your emotions serve a purpose in your decision-making. it’s simply that… i do not like the experience of having to see you go through things that hurt you, even if you’re willing to do so.”

ah, so that’s what it is.

“alhaitham, do you care about me?”

his eyes, previously unfocused, darted back to meet your unflinching gaze. “have my actions indicated otherwise?”

you couldn’t help it. you snorted. “alhaitham, the line between caring for a person’s wellbeing out of courtesy rather than concern is a very thin line. at least, for the rest of us who you might call ‘drama queens’ and ‘fake socialites’.”

maybe he didn’t realise it, but his brows scrunched under your scrutiny, and you couldn’t help but feel joy at the fact that you made alhaitham, someone so aloof and disenchanted, truly perplexed.

“do you not know the answer already?”

“i do,” you say, and you were sure that your smile was infuriating him now. “i just wanted to hear you say it.”

a silence between both of you, even though the tavern was filled with the sound of chatter and the tinkling of dishes and cutlery. 

“i do care for you. deeply. does this answer satisfy you?”

“yep!” you smiled, and alhaitham wasn’t one to offer prayers of gratitude to the sevens above, but he was glad that you were so self-conscious of yourself to be blind to the way he leaned forward in his seat, his one hand tightly clutched under the table, and the way he wished he could bottle your smile and indulge in it on a rainy day, if he could.

ah well, alhaitham thought, tomorrow is another day without them realising. 

[brainr0t-landfill]

🌃Mercurial:

Ghoap x male reader

Chapter One/Prologue: Abstain

"I found you, I found the door."

-Mitski, I Want You

(please mind the tags, I don't know how the UK train system works, English isn't my first language apologies for any mistakes <3)

You kiss them goodbye on the doorway, you make sure their jackets are zipped up, you promise to keep the windows locked and to not go out at night, Simon smiles, his eyes crinkling above the surgical mask.

"Gonna be good for us, hare? Sure hope so."

It's half joking, half threatening and desperately hopeful.You focus on the spot between his eyes as you nod, stomach twisting into knots and hands sweating.

You press your ear to the metal door and listen to their footsteps fading away then you rush to the balcony and watch the black, truck you repainted last month go down the road, through the U turn and disappear, your knuckles white against the railings your forearms stiff, eyes so wide and unlinking untill they water and force you to blink. You're scared that any moment now the other shoe will drop, they'll turn the car around and John will ask you if you really took them for such fools as Simon rumages through drawers and wardrobes laying every bit of your pitifull escape plan on the floor, like a wolf gutting a hare. Then you'll be driven back to the lonely, stuffy shack in the woods in the trunk, hogtied and gagged, feeling every bump on the road.

The trunk opens and you shut your eyes against the onslaught of white hard light, nose stinging from the cold as you curl into yourself out of both fear and well deserved shame, guilt. They're talking above you, familiar voices blurring together and becoming white noise. You feel like an insect pinned down, getting dissected.

Someone places their hand over your eyes, rubbing at your red, runny nose with their calloused thumb.

"Oh lovie."

"Carefull Si, cannea back out now."

There's silence for a second and you know they're exchanging the kind of look that saves their lives out on the field, the kind of look that explains and understands.

"Gotta let him learn his lesson ,hmm?"

"No other choice left."

Simon runs his hand over your face and rubs at your neck, that still smells of someone else. Mature and cold with hints of narcissus.You can see his internal conflict in his darkned eyes and see you can see his attachment, his love, his despration winning out.

You look up at them at Simon's wide set face and his unfocussed eyes dried out from lack of sleep, John bends down and picks you out of the truck setting you down on aching feet, still clad in socks as he flicks his knife out, a flash of fear goes through you, gutted by the same knife you had bought for him on his birthday, how fitting.

"Run 'n I'll break ya legs,."

"Last resort Si, might never heal proper again."

"Wouldn't tha' a good thing by now?"

You hear a sigh, both exasperated and heartbroken.

"Hope not."

Simon holds you in place by the shoulders as John cuts the ropes away, his jaw is set but his sweet blue eyes are wet, tired and you can't help the immense guilt you feel at putting them through this, for pushing them so far, for staying when you knew you'd do this.

Then you lift your face and see it, the cabin it's a box really, no windows and only one heavy door, John had mentioned his father had built one for hunting ,you wonder if it's the same one. You look over the dark wood walls and the door padlocked from the outside, your fear snowballs, all consuming and rattling your ribs. The idea of being trapped in the small, dark space is nauseating, it terrifies you in a way so primal, so reflex you think you'll bolt for a second, you think you'll beg scream, anything, anything. John straightens up and caresses your face.

"Just for a little while hare, just 'till Si n' I are back from this misson, then we'll come 'n get ya, promised we'd never leave eachothe, remember?."

He rips the tape off your mouth and gives you a soft sweet kiss, familiar lips failing to settle you for the first time, well groomed stubble scratchy against your moist skin, Simon presses his cheek against yours.

"It has everything ya need and we'll be back before you know it, just behave yourself and you'll never have to see this place again."

His voices is gravel against your skin, his breath smoke but you can't focus on them pressing against you on either side or the ropes laying undone on the grass.

All you can see is the cabin, the padlock, the wardens, the convict.

You had stayed for a long time in that cabin, long enough for your food to start running out, long enough to grow both lovesick and resentfull, long enough to get yourself together and fix the old, busted hunting camera you had found shoved between the wall and the bed.

You bought two flasdrives a week ago before their deployment and hid them in your tool box, on one you upload images of the cabin, of chains, of bruises, dents in the wall and your room ransacked time and time again.You know it's not a strong case and it's not meant to be. It's supposed to be a reminder for what you did, what you're running from, your sentencing.

On the other flash drive you upload all your happy memories, screenshots of loving wordsand jokes, selfies together, pictures of gifts and vacations, the apartment you saved up for with them. To keep you warm, souvenirs from the last place you settled in, from the last place you let yourself be loved.

You tuck them into the struddiest back pack you own, four changes of clothes, underwear, very basic toiletries, some fancy jewellery you'll have to pawn off later on. The money, fake ID and passport you had hidden in the inner lining of one of the coats John's forgotten about a long time ago, discarded at the back of his closet.

You pack the bag in under ten minutes just the way you practiced, the hard part is the note, you write over and over again palms sweaty and hands shaky eventually you settle on;

'Stay safe, I love you, goodbye.' Flowery language and false promises feel ingenuine when you're leaving everything the three of you have worked for, everything they'd tied their hearts to , it feels cowardly when you're running away. You leave the crumpled up notes on the top of the trash and your shared card on the table. You keep your promise ring in your pocket.

The walk to the train station is torture, every loud step is Simon, every wide shoulder or brown jacket is John, you feel like you're drowning in a pool filled with snippets of them, like driftwood caught in a storm much bigger than he'll ever comprehend. You either dread the day they'll be nothing but memories or salivate for it, you can't decide with the overwhelming panic, the sick excitement.You buy a day pass and a burner phone before you throw away your cell phone.

The bus ride is calmer, when you don't think about the pub you met in, the small flower shop you routinely bought foxgloves and bluebells from, the record shop Johnny loves, the workplace Simon insisted he drove you to whenever he could; the lufe you're betraying, the blessings you're running from.

You sit arms crossed and face hidden under your hood as you watch the city flash by, the further away from home you get the more guilt you feel; guilt for letting them in, guilt for misguiding them, guilt for aggravating them again and again and again untill either one snapped, guilt for leaving when you had just convinced them you wouldn't even think of it.

You swallow it down and watch the city speed away colors blurring like oil paint.

Next Chapter >>

[aliasnz]

Undesirable Presents: Le/vi Acker/man for @nametakensff and @kawaii-kushami's snzblr secret santa event <3

Tags: aot/snk-canonverse, allergies (pollen), cold, contagion mention, spray, mess, language. Word count: 2000 (and counting) A/N: I have several apologies to make about this fic >-< First of all, I am so sorry that it is so late! Secondly, I apologize for being unfamiliar with the other fandoms requested, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for writing for my fav. Third thing: just so I can have something out sooner rather than later, please consider this a part 1 that will be edited, updated, and self-reblogged upon completion. Finally, this fic may be too indulgent, but I am crossing my fingers that it is enjoyable anyways ~ 

If Levi had his way, he would have spent the day in solitude. 

His ideal birthday was simply his ideal day. In the warmer months, it would have been a sunrise run followed by a cold shower, his warm sweat and clingy pollen swirled down the drain. Then, his civilian clothes and a walk to the brick cafe at the edge of town. Black tea, white croissant, yellow pages of his favorite novel. Head ducked down and buried in his book, anyone who recognized him - for better or for worse - received the message: leave him be. He would sip until the porcelain ran dry, would stay until his stomach rumbled. With the last hours of daylight, he would stop at the butcher stand and purchase a few ounces of meat. It was about all he could afford on his military salary, but with rare optimism, he preferred to say it was all he cared to buy. Steak dinner for one. Lights out by dark. It was his way.

But Levi hardly ever had things his way.

He was a December baby, as Hange so mockingly put it, who loathed winter cold and winter colds. Instead of that morning jog and downtown stroll, he shuttered himself in his room with intermittent napping and tidying. Some considered his celebration traditions pitiful, but he could not complain. In ways as weighty as a family to visit or write to, yet also in aspects as miniscule as a good night’s sleep, Levi had been cheated in most realms of life. In time, he had come to live with it, found comfort in little joys, and wished the others understood that. That wish was most wanted on his own birthday, for everyone else seemed to celebrate it more than the man himself.

In the depths of his heart, he knew they cared about him. The yearly plethora of visits all accompanied with gifts should have proven that, but he loathed the treatment he received. Perhaps the early symptoms of the annual cold were to blame for that. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, contagion made quick work of the barracks. Sooner or later, it would catch up to him, and that onset always seemed to hover around his birthday. On occasion, he wondered if he would be better off facing that inevitable infection head on rather than repeating the futile delay, but his train of thought was always cut off one way or another. A pang of headache, a harsh cough, a runny nose, or a sudden sneeze. This time, it was a knock at his door, the first of the day, one of many sure to come. 

Levi swung his legs over the side of the bed. Bright rays reflected off the metal buckles of his gear and reflected into his eyes, garnering a wince and dawning thought: just how late did I sleep in? Standing up, he immediately noted how his shoulders felt heavy, his breaths labored. If he had to guess, his cold would take hold of him before the 25th was over. Lucky him. 

Hand clamped down hard on the handle, startling the two on the other side just before he creaked his door open. The tall couple cast shadows over him: Nanaba and Miche with -

Shit...

Levi braced himself for their scream, but instead, they spoke calmly, handing over the bouquet with a pair of matching smiles, “Happy Birthday, Levi.”

He startled, not because he was surprised by their presence, but intimidated by their present: a bundle of bright-red poinsettias, pointed with specks of pollen he doubted they had noticed. They were far too innocent to have purposefully gifted him such a slew of allergens. Others, however, he was less sure about.

Instead of reaching out to grab them, Levi crossed his arms and tipped his tongue in refusal - refusal of their gift and refusing to indulge in the sneeze he already felt budding. Speaking quickly, he aimed to rush them out before they could witness his unravel, “I don’t want them.”

“C’monnn, Levi!” Nanaba pleaded, bending at the knees and shooting up again quickly. In her eager bounce, his eyes widened as he watched the petals flutter with her. His arms instinctively flinched before him as if he could block the microscopic wave. “Miche and I stood outside for hours in this freezing cold -”

Great, two more patients upcoming.

“- waiting for the flower shop to open.”

“First in line,” Miche added. “Do you know how popular these things are at this time of year?”

Levi’s stance remained unchanged, Nanaba saw his disinterest and felt compelled to play it up, selling the present rather than gifting it. “They smell good, too!”

Miche, on the other hand, preferred the path of insistence. Snatching the stems from his partner, he thrust them to Levi’s face, nearly touching, “Go on, smell them, you’ll see for yourself.”

He held his breath, reluctant to inhale as long as those were within reach. Aiming for subtlety, he feigned to nonchalantly scratch his nose with his wrist, “If you like them, keep them.”

“Someone’s ungrateful…” Miche teased, unhurt by the shorter man’s attitude, but never passing up an opportunity to rag it. “Y’know, most people would say ‘thanks’ or something…”

Levi frowned, he wasn’t ungrateful. Deep down, he was touched. On the exterior, though, he was objectively irritated, and could understand why they misread him. With a pang of guilt, he sought to correct the miscommunication, but that pang was miniscule compared to the burn of his nostrils, a flame that the leaves were now fanning.

“No, it’s just…” his face scrunched as he attempted to fight it off, just until he could finish the sentence, at least? “It’s… just…” 

However, that bouquet was set on denying him. Throwing in the towel, a rare occurrence for humanity's strongest, he whipped around and buried his nose in the crook of his elbow, “Hah’AESCH-ihh!” 

Fuck, all three parties unknowingly shared the same thought. For Levi, the nature of his curse was multifaceted. Foremost, the unexpected harshness of that sneeze, the wind knocked out of him first thing in the morning. From that, the daunting notion that this was the first of many sure to come, either from allergies or the cold. Finally, the flush that flooded his cheeks. That outburst had shown enough vulnerability already, Levi lingered behind his arm and remained turned away, waiting for the blush to disappear as well. 

Yet, even after those awkward seconds of silence, neither Nanaba nor Miche could erase that image from their mind: his tan coat spotted brown, the mist that shot from beneath his elbow and faded into the room’s sunlit atmosphere. With the captain turned, they allowed their faces to contort with disgust. When his audible sniff confirmed what they thought they saw, they looked to each other and cringed, agreeing that this birthday visit was over.

His comrades did not put the dots together, that the sneeze was a symptom of his allergies rather than the cold that was notably floating through the halls. Fearing for their own immune systems, they retreated several paces, but not before Miche thrust the flowers in Levi’s grip and snapped his hand back, no chance of handing them back now.

By the time Levi turned himself around, arm still bent at his nose, the pair was already a distant blur.

Nanaba waved over her shoulder, “Feel better soon! Don’t come near us until you do!” A joking-not-joking singsong to her departure.

“Have fun with those!” Miche cupped his hand around his mouth, allowing his bid to beckon from down the corridor, “You can thank us later!”

Levi dropped his arm, prepared to call back. Doing so, however, meant that his guard was let down, and he should have known better, that his assailant would be quick to take advantage. With the distance, Levi did not turn or cover - not that he had the time for that - and instead ducked his head down, sneezing onto his own torso. “Hnn’kkshu! Heh-ISHhew!!”  

Unfortunately for him, the height at which he landed placed him adjacent to the very bouquet that set him off. A dire proximity, each inhale killed every second - any hope - of relief. 

The mess was not only audible, it was tangible, piercing the threads of his button-up and sinking through to his undershirt, summoning a shiver. The clean freak could not bear the sight, nor was it his habit to. After each sneeze and before opening his eyes, he assessed the tickle. If it remained, his lids likewise remained shut until his system managed to kill it. The first attempts at regular breaths informed him outright: you’re not done yet. Levi kept his head down, bangs intercepting his eyeline with each jolt. “Heh’tchew! Kk’shuu!!” 

Once again, he paused to survey his own state. Although he beckoned for a break, his body merely mocked him. That all you got? Clearly unsatisfied, with frustration, he submitted to its demands, exacerbating the expulsion as best as he could, aiming to please. “Hah-ESHhew!! HIH’kit-chew! Hah…Hah-AEshih!!” 

His intakes had been audible even from those meters away, his fit an early alarm clock for all still asleep in the vicinity. Dammit. As an insomniac, he was especially remorseful to have been responsible for waking anyone on the weekend. Even redder now, he tried to convince himself it was not his fault, that they should have known better than to shove those flowers in his face. However, as his voice crescendoed, it became more of a stretch to blame the gifters rather than the receiver, the inducer over the screamer.

The burn in his sinuses was unbearable, he decided to look to the windows behind him, hoping to coax relief. Before he could lure his gaze that way, though, he caught a glimpse of pity on his teammates, and somehow, that was what bothered him the most.

Fuck, this has to stop. At this point in the fit, breaths were hard to come by, and his life-or-death experiences had molded his mindset to meet his most urgent needs first. Perhaps counterintuitive, Levi understood that defeating the irritant meant battling with it. Working through rather than around. Meeting their eye contact, Levi yanked their gift to his face and took a deep, deliberate intake, figuring that his unconventional strategy could get two messages across: he was allergic to their gift, but at least it was good for something. And maybe they’ll remember this scene come next year.

Indeed, they would, and Levi would be lucky if the memory remained confined to those two. The finale was a sneeze that made them cover their ears and made the last few sleepers snap up in panic. For him, the aftermath resembled the end of a workout: tire and exhaustion, yet inexplicable relief. For them, it read like a newspaper headline: steadfast, hardass germaphobe of the branch soaked in his own saliva and other unspeakable substances. The tight-lipped, ever calm captain engaged in the toughest battle of his life: no titan in sight, but tiny irritants also impossible to see. Screaming the barracks awake, he would have been the last culprit anyone suspected. Only true friends would keep this episode a secret, maybe he shouldn’t have been so terse with them.

Vengefully, and with the slightest bit of told you so, Levi motivated himself through the end with the anticipation of seeing their guilty faces, but by the time he opened his eyes again, they were long gone, either cowering from contagion or gossiping already. Around here, viruses and rumors spread like wildfire. 

Worked up and let down, Levi released a shaky exhale, wiped his face with his sleeve, flung the door shut behind him, and tossed the bouquet onto his bed.

One down.

tbc!

[sugawarassoulmate]

After loser!Kuroo gets pegged by mean!reader, he can’t stop thinking about it! Don’t get him wrong, he looooves the taste of her and the feeling of being buried in her pussy, but he’s never felt pleasure quite like that before and he’s craving it. The issue is, he doesn’t know how to ask her to do it again without feeling like he’ll be swallowed up in a hole of embarrassment. Ofc mean!reader knows he wants to get fucked, and vise versa (she’ll take how much she loves his fucked out expression to the grave), but she’s not giving in until he’s literally on his knees begging her to fuck his ass again :)

the babygirlification of kuroo tetsuro

kuroo waits for you to bring it up again. you were the one that introduced him to it, surely you'll want to do it again, right? but he underestimates the joy you get in humiliating him.

you'll gladly pretend you never fucked his brains out if it means he has to beg for it again. kuroo keeps trying to bring it up but he gets too embarrassed and chickens out.

"what's got you so wound up?" you ask, knowing exactly what it is. kuroo's body feels like it's on fire when you touch him and he's on the verge of tears. "come on, spit it out."

swallowing what little pride he has left, kuroo drops to his knees, holding onto you as the tears spill down his face. "please, please, baby..." he gasps, his voice raw in between sobs. "i...i need you to fuck me, baby. i can't stop thinking about it, please."

"you're that pathetic? you wanna be my whiny bitch boy again?" you coo, grinning from ear to ear when cries harder against you, forming a damp spot on your stomach. "come on, look at me." you pull him by the hair, taking in the sight of his red-rimmed eyes and runny nose.

"yes, yes, i'm a pathetic fucking loser and i want you to fuck me again," he admits and if you look closely enough, you can see the outline of his cock in his sweats.

with a snort, you pull kuroo into a kiss. "tetsuuu, that's all you had to say."

[nadinebrooks]

Here is the link to my masterlist.

You Realize You Like Him

Harry: Gryffindor, halfblood, same year

"Hey (y/n)?" There came a timid voice from above me. I was sitting on a couch reading a couple of chapters from a book I had picked up from the library this morning. Looking up I saw Ron Weasley nervously standing in front of me as if he had something to say. He awkwardly rocked back and forth between his feet. I had never seen him like this before.

"Hey Ron. Did you need something?" I closed my book and focused all my attention to him. Even though the book had started to get good, it could wait.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me? It's totally fine if you don't want to. I would understand."

"Did you wait too long to ask the girl you actually wanted to go with?" I chuckled wishing that he had asked Hermione to go with him instead. I though the two of them were destined to be together.

But Ron had waited too long and she ended up going with Viktor Krum. I don't think he knew that though. She for sure would have gone with him if he had made a move though.

"If I said yes would you still go with me?" He sheepishly chuckled scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah." I giggled, " Of course I'll go with you Ron."

"Thank you (y/n)." He let out a sigh of relief, "I'll meet you at 7:00 in the common room." I watched as Ron walked off to tell Harry the good news and I couldn't help but smile a little at his actions. He was adorable.

Over the past couple of weeks I noticed that there had been this slight tension between Ron and Harry. I thought that it had to do with Harry being dragged into the spotlight once again, but Hermione told me it was because Harry didn't get to take the person he wanted to the ball. I was instantly curious at who this person was. Cho Chang maybe?

The night of the ball, Hermione and I helped each other get ready. She had to leave before me since she had to meet Viktor somewhere. I spent a couple more minutes fixing my makeup until I realized I was going to keep Ron waiting. I touched up my hair one last time before quickly walking out of my room. I found Ron waiting in the common room with Harry.

"Wow." Ron and Harry said in unison when I walked up to the them. I giggled and jokily rolled my eyes. It must've been a shock for them to see me all dressed up like this.

"You look really nice." Ron grinned holding out his arm so I could loop mine with his. I wasn't sure if I was just imagining this but it seemed like Harry had this annoyed look on his face.

The whole night went way better than I could have expected. Ron was the perfect gentleman and he was a much better dancer than I could have imagined.

After dancing for a while we both started to get thirsty, so he went to go get us some drinks. As a slow song started playing, I headed to go sit down until Harry asked me to dance. I nodded and followed him out to the floor. I told myself one dance and then I would go back to Ron. I was his date after all.

I couldn't help but smile as Harry wrapped his arm around my waist and grabbed my hand. He wasn't as good of a dancer as Ron was, but I figured Molly had taught him how to dance.

"I just want to say you look absolutely beautiful (y/n)." He blushed bright red and spun me around. "I didn't get to tell you that earlier."

"Thank you Harry." I whispered and before I could stop myself, I rested my head on his chest and I felt him rest his chin on the top of my head. When the song was over, I got out of his grasp and decided it was time to go find Ron.

Walking away from Harry, there was a smile on my face that wouldn't go away for the rest of the night.

Ron: Ravenclaw, muggleborn, year above

I absolutely hated being sick. I try not to use the word hate, but one thing that I do hate is being sick. Whenever I am sick, I feel like I took for granted all those times I wasn't sick. My head was throbbing, my nose was runny, and every time I took a shallow breath, I could feel my lungs rattling around in my chest.

It was my own fault though. I had brought this illness upon myself. I had no business playing out in the snow without a jacket. I thought back to yesterday's events.

The second I realized it was snowing, I ran outside with some of my closest friends. Luna Lovegood tried to tell me to bring a jacket down, but I was too excited to listen to her. I just wanted to build some snowmen.

We stayed outside for a while until I realized that I should have listened to Luna. Once I had gotten up from my snow angel, I knew that I had made a terrible mistake. I stood there shivering for a moment until Ron Weasley walked over to me.

"I have an extra sweater if you would like to wear it." He offered holding out a green sweater with a gold R stitched across the front. I took the sweater and slipped it over my head before placing a quick kiss on his cheek. I watched as he turned bright red and I ran off to participate in a Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw snowball match.

This morning I woke up still wearing his sweater, but feeling absolutely awful. When I opened my eyes, I could feel a searing pain shoot through my head. I closed my eyes again hoping the pain would go away, but it didn't. I needed to get to the infirmary.

I was going to need to see Madam Pomfrey. There was no way I could get over this sickness by myself. I managed to climb out of the bed, slip into some comfy pants, and stagger to the infirmary. I collapsed on the floor shivering and Madam Pomfrey quickly rushed over to me and helped me get into a bed.

"You children do realize this will happen if you play in the snow without proper attire." She scolded.

"I promise I won't happen again." I managed to get out before collapsing onto the bed. I groaned thinking about all the classes I was going to miss today. They were going to be bombarding us with homework.

Madam Pomfrey came back to me holding a mug with a steaming liquid inside. I took a cautious sip not expecting it to taste like peppermint hot chocolate. I quickly downed the rest of it and passed the mug back to her.

"You should start feeling better in about a day or so. You've got a nasty flu from being out in the cold. I suggest you get comfy." I nodded and looked around the infirmary for anyone else to talk to, but it was just me. I guess everyone else was smart enough to bring a jacket outside yesterday.

I ended up taking a little nap and when I woke up, I saw Ron Weasley standing in the doorway arguing with Madam Pomfrey. I couldn't hear them, but it looked as if he was trying to get it and she wasn't having it. Eventually she gave in and told Ron he had "20 minutes to talk to his friend".

He rushed over to me shoving a sheet of parchment paper in my face. "Look (y/n). Look."

I grabbed the sheet and looked at it to see a bold O written on the top of it.

"This is the exam for Charms that you helped me study for. I've never gotten an O on anything until you started helping me. I know I can be difficult to study with but I just wanted to thank you."

"You're welcome Ron." I managed to croak out beaming at how excited he was.

"You're still wearing me sweater." He pointed out taking the exam back from me.

"Oh." I had completely forgotten about it. I got ready to pull it off and hand it back to him, but he stopped me.

"No, you can keep it. I have tons of them. I'll ask my mom to make you one too. Besides. I think you look cute in it."

"Really?"

"Really." Ron nodded earnestly back his face taking on a pinkish tint. I couldn't help but grin. I was starting to develop a little crush on Ron Weasley.

Draco: Slytherin, pureblood, year below

I have absolutely no idea what Draco's favorite color is. I did a little research and I found multiple answers that ranged from black to emerald green. The most common answer that I did find was red so I'm rolling with that. If anyone knows what it really is, please let me know.

"You look lovely (y/n)." Blaise addressed walking up to me.

"Why thank you." I flashed him a huge smiled doing a little curtsey. "You look quite dapper if I do say so myself." I was not lying at about that. Blaise looked good.

Everyone knew that he was a very attractive guy. Girls and guys alike were constantly throwing themselves at him. I knew that he was waiting on the perfect girl. Contrary to what people believe, Blaise was not someone who liked to play with girl's emotions. I couldn't wait to meet the lucky person that stole his heart.

My family put on these huge pureblood balls twice a year which I found to be rather boring. Witches and wizards from all over the world came out to attend their balls. One of them was during the summer and another was during the winter months a couple of days after Christmas.

When I was younger, I loved the balls. I loved getting dressed up and enjoying all the fancy things that my parents kept hidden every other day of the year.

But as I got older, I realized the balls were mostly for me. They were hoping that I would find someone at their balls I could end up marrying. I didn't understand why they so desperately wanted me to marry a pureblood since I wouldn't be carrying on the family name. That was the job for my older brothers.

"I noticed that you're wearing red. Which so happens to be Draco's favorite color." Blaise smirked taking a couple of sips of his champagne.

"I had no idea." I mumbled snatching a glass of champagne off the tray one of the waiters was carrying. Blaise didn't say anything, he just threw his head back and laughed. He knew that I was lying. Whenever he laughed you couldn't help but join in. I placed a hand over my mouth trying to quiet my giggles.

I knew that Blaise and I should be mingling with the other members of the party, but we didn't want to. We were happy just talking to each other. The two of us laughing caused almost everyone around us to look over and us and stare. I noticed a couple of girls who had their eye on Blaise were glaring at me. They had nothing to worry about. I had absolutely no interest in him.

"What about her?" I suggested gesturing over to a girl with long dark curly hair. "She's pretty."

"She is." Blaise shrugged and then let out an agitated groan. "My parents are calling me over to talk to this girl. I'll be back to check up on you and the Draco situation." Seemed like Blaise's parents had the same idea as mine.

There was no Draco and I situation which I had to keep reminding him about. I had always thought Draco was cute, but I'm not really sure how he felt about me. I thought he was going to end up dating Pansy, but they never did.

I wanted Draco to notice me in the way that I noticed him, but I knew that he only saw me as a younger sister. I stood off to the side sipping my champagne watching all these girls flock around Draco. but He looked bored. It looked as if he had absolutely no interest in whatever they were saying. I couldn't help but swoon at how amazing he looked in his black tux.

"He's not interested in them, you know?" Blaise was back. "He's only ever been interested in one girl."

"Are you sure he doesn't just see me as a little sister?" I nervously rocked back and forth on my heels. I was starting to get nervous watching all these gorgeous girls try to talk to him.

"I'm positive (y/n)." He promised. When I was sure that no one was looking at us, I grabbed Blaise's arm and dragged him off to one of the bathrooms.

I stood in front of the full length mirror and attempted to make myself look better. I touched up my makeup, readjusted my hair, and sprayed on some more perfume.

"How do I look?" I turned around to face Blaise giving him a little spin so he could take in my entire appearance.

"You look exquisite (y/n)." He replied. He said it with such certainty that I had to believe him.

"Thank you." I whispered nervously fiddling with my fingers. I could hear some music start playing and everyone start shuffling around looking for a partner. "Should I ask him to dance?"

"He would never turn you down." We walked back out of the bathroom and Blaise sat his empty glass on a passing tray. I scanned the crowd to see him standing by a window trying not to get himself noticed. "I'm so nervous."

"Wow." Blaise let out a low whistle. "You really do like him."

"Yeah." I nodded confirming his suspicions and taking a couple of steps in Draco's direction, "I really do."

[abiiors]

sick days 💊 // george daniel x reader

promptober '23 - day 9

a/n: based very much on the irl bf who immediately turns into a sickly, dying victorian man whenever he has the sniffles cw: medication i guess, but other than that just fluff wc: 900

george giggles at another sneeze and promptly shuts up when you glare at him. today has not been a good day, your whole body hurts, nose runny and red and your throat feels like you’ve swallowed glass. 

“george,” you whine, struggling to scold him. the warm tea in your hands has done very little to soothe your throat. 

he presses his lips together in an attempt to stop the grin but it’s futile, the smile slips anyway. george, doting and loving boyfriend that he is, has spent the past ten minutes giggling at your red nose, even going so far as to calling you rudolf. he claims it’s affectionate. you settle for giving him one final warning glare before closing your eyes and trying to block out the world, desperately wishing for this terrible day to end.

“aww, my sick baby,” he coos, scooting closer. seconds later, you feel a tiny kiss on your forehead and despite the discomfort you give him a small smile. 

teasing aside, he has been very caring—bringing you warm soup for lunch and making you tea as often as you ask for it. he’s checked your temperature every hour even when it’s not necessary because you barely have a fever. he even did a chemist run to get more paracetamol, lemsip and some ice cream. 

all in all, his teasing really is affectionate. so when he gets in bed next to you, pulling you into his chest for a cuddle, you don’t protest too much.

“gonna catch a cold, babe,” you warn, snuggling in further. 

he snickers, “doesn’t seem like you’re too bothered by that. besides,” he sniffs primly, “i don’t catch the common cold.”

you roll your eyes, knowing he can’t see you. sure, he’s “immune” but it’s only a bad cold. even if he catches it, he’ll live. 

“right…” you reply about to say something more before your body launches into a small coughing fit. george dutifully rubs your back until it passes and holds out the bottle of cough syrup in front of you. 

once you’re done swallowing the bittersweet liquid, you go back to snuggling into his chest, eyes getting heavier by the minute. it’s not long until sleep drags you under. 

it’s only when you wake up again that you register how warm and sticky everything is. it’s like being trapped inside a humid furnace. surprisingly though, the warmth radiating around you is not yours. despite the residual soreness, you feel completely fine; no sore throat, no runny nose or aching body which can only mean one thing…

right on cue, george groans feebly behind you. 

you slowly open your eyes, squinting against the unexpected brightness in the room. as your vision adjusts, you realize that you're no longer wrapped in your own blankets, but rather cocooned in his arms, his warmth enveloping you entirely.

"george?" you murmur, voice still raspy from before.

he stirs and lets out another soft groan, burying his face in your hair. "ugh, i feel awful," george mumbles.

a rush of guilt floods over you. you shouldn’t have let him come so close to you, should have kept him at arm’s length…

you turn in his arms to see his face, and he looks even worse than you did earlier in the day. his nose is red, and his eyes are watery, and he's sniffling. it's clear that the cold has hit him hard, worse than whatever you had.

"oh no, baby," you coo sympathetically, brushing a strand of hair away from his forehead, and frown when you realise he’s burning up. 

you never had a fever. whatever he has is definitely worse. 

“i think i’m dying,” he moans, burying his face in the crook of your neck and sniffling dramatically. despite the guilt, that makes you giggle. 

“mmm, thought you were above the common cold?” you tease, still stroking a hand over his head just the way he likes it. george might be a giant but you know what a baby he can be when he’s ill. besides, you’re feeling much better so you might as well assume the nurse duties.

george grumbles. “don’t be mean, i’m ill.”

fever aside, he just looks so adorable all bundled up in the blankets that you can’t help stealing a few kisses. even better, knowing you can’t catch it back. “let me get you some soup and paracetamol.” 

extricating yourself from his arms proves a bit difficult, however. you feel awful ignoring his reluctant and groggy protests but he needs food and medicine. so you make your way to the kitchen, making quick work of reheating the soup he’d made for you earlier in the day. 

carrying the tray back to the bedroom, you find george curled up under the covers, looking pitiful and sorry for himself. his eyes light up as you enter, and he reaches out weakly for the steaming bowl of soup.

at least he’s hungry, that’s a good sign. 

“here you go,” you offer him the bowl, once again brushing the hair aside from his sweaty forehead while he takes a sip and sighs gratefully. 

“thanks for taking care of me, love,” he smiles weakly in between sips. 

you smile, and press a tiny kiss on his shoulder. “‘course. just returning the favour!”

lemme know what you think <33

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add yourself to the taglist

[bluebeary-jay]

hiii ves! congrats on 1000! 💗

how about a joel miller fluffy piece with

how is it you always know what i need, huh? for the prompt? 🫶🏽

Hiiiii my lovely Mari!!! 🥰💗 Thank you so so much for your words but thank you even more for being a ray of sunshine in my life 🥺🫶 istg i wanna give you a thousand kisses

Aaaand here you go! I spent much more time on this lil fic than I should but I really like how it turned out and I hope you will too!! Thank you LOTS for requesting, love you!! 💕

You haven’t been feeling well since the morning.

Joel knew it must’ve been because of the rain which caught the two of you during the patrol the day before, leaving you completely drenched despite his efforts. How was it possible that he gave you his jacket and you still catched a cold while he didn’t even have a runny nose, was a mystery to him. But it didn’t really matter since here you were, unwell and not even able to leave the bed.

Good thing Joel knew how to take care of his girl.

He passed by Tommy’s early in the morning to pick up some medicine for you and went to the market to buy that citrus tea he knew you liked. When he got back you were still asleep but woke up several hours later with a headache and a runny nose. Joel stayed with you, catering to your every need and only leaving to prepare you breakfast. A sweet little thing you were, you didn’t want to let him do everything by himself, but he managed to convince you it’s no problem at all.

You were so difficult sometimes, though.

“There you go, babygirl,” he crooned, helping you sit up and propping up the pillow for you some time after you finished eating. “Easy now. Don’t rush yourself.”

“Joel, I’m fine,” you rasped with a sore throat, but he sent you a doubtful look and you groaned in defeat. “Okay, that was a lie. I feel terrible. But it’s not a reason for you to baby me.”

“M’not babyin’ you.” It was your turn to lift your eyebrows at him, unconvinced, and the corner of his lips twitched in a soft smile before he leaned in and planted a lingering kiss on your warm forehead. “‘Kay, maybe I am. But ya like it.”

“You wish.”

“And you don’t give me many chances to really coddle you,” he continued in a murmur, slowly brushing the hair away from your face. You closed your eyes and let out a weak moan, and Joel smiled with compassion. “So honestly, you can look at it as a favor t’me. Can you do that, babygirl? Let me take care of you and make me happy?”

“Always the caretaker,” you laughed breathlessly and peered up at him through your eyelashes. Even though your nose was red, your eyes swollen and your complexion had that sick look to it, you still were the most beautiful sight Joel has ever beheld. “You don’t need to stay with me, though. I can manage by myself.”

“I know. But I want to.”

“Stubborn man.”

Joel opened his mouth to tease you back, but then he saw you shivering and furrowed his brow.

“Are you cold?” he asked, though he was already sure that was the case. You nodded.

“A little. Can you grab me…”

“...that blanket with little ducks on it?” he finished for you, causing you to giggle and gaze at him with affection. “I know ya like it ‘cause it’s the fluffiest.”

“The softest,” you said at exactly the same time. “Yeah.”

Your eyes were filled with so much love that Joel felt weak in his knees. He tore his eyes away from you and turned around to the closet to grab your blanket from the highest shelf. You shifted to one side of the bed, probably so that Joel could lie down by your side, but before he did that he tucked you in carefully, making sure you were warm and comfortable. Then he dashed to the kitchen, bringing back a glass of water and another pill for you to take.

Only then he laid down behind you, enfolding your cocooned form and pulling you closer to his chest. You closed your eyes with a blissful smile and sighed deeply.

“Don’t even say anythin’ about infectin’ me with it,” Joel murmured, knowing that you’re probably already worrying about him in that pretty little head of yours. He wrapped his arms tighter around you through the many blankets. “I’ll be fine. And you’re still cold.”

“Wasn’t gonna say anythin’,” you answered softly with your eyes still closed. “Joel?”

“Yeah, darlin’?”

“How is it you always know what I need, huh?”

He chuckled and adjusted the duvet by your neck, making sure that no cold air could sneak its way under the covers.

“My psychic abilities,” he whispered in response and his smile grew when he felt your torso shake with laughter under his arm. Joel kissed the back of your head and then went lower to press his lips to your neck, causing you to squirm slightly. “But truthfully, it’s ‘cause I love ya so much.”

You snorted. “Such a romantic.”

“S’true.”

“Well, I love you more.” He hummed in a ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about’ fashion, and you groaned in weariness. Joel felt your body relaxing in his hold. “You’re so warm, baby. And so good to me.”

“Anythin’ for you, love.” He wanted to kiss your head once more but suddenly you started to wiggle, forcing him to move back a little to give you room to maneuver. “What’re doin’ now?”

“Shh.” You made a couple more adorable grunts before you finally stopped, now facing Joel and beaming proudly. “Ta-da!”

“You’re silly.” Joel shook his head, but internally he was spellbound by the significance of your action. You wanted to be face to face with him and he was glad for the opportunity to kiss your forehead now. “My sweet babygirl. You should rest, not wiggle ‘round.”

“Tsk!” you silenced him again and kicked his leg, though because of how many covers you were under, it felt more like a gentle nudge. “Gimme your leg.”

“Give ya it where?” he asked in response with a faint smile, and you huffed impatiently, your head hitting the pillow again when you grew tired of keeping it up in the air.

“Throw it over me. Please?” you added when he initially didn’t move. Joel indulged you, though not without hesitation.

“You sure? I don’t wanna crush you…”

“You won’t.” You assured him and snuggled your face into his chest, causing butterflies to flutter around in Joel’s belly. “I like feelin’ your weight on me.”

“Like an extra blanket?” he joked, to which you snorted as well.

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“Better than the one with ducks?”

“The best one.”

He smiled with adoration and pulled you in closer, caging you in his arms. You didn’t seem to mind, though, and freed your hand from the blankets to wrap one arm around his stomach, keeping the other one between your chests. The heat from under the duvet instantly started to become too much for Joel, but he tried to disregard the uncomfortable feeling for now.

“Stay for a while, darling,” you asked suddenly, your voice muffled from the way you had your cheek pressed against his chest. Joel looked down and saw your eyes closed and a serene smile on your face, the sight of which made him swoon. “I feel so warm like this with you. And safe.”

“You are,” Joel assured you softly and put his palm on the back of your head. “I’ll keep ya safe, sweetheart, I promise. You can sleep soundly.”

You sniffed and whined weakly. “M’not sleepy. Let’s just stay like that.”

“You need to get your strength back.” Joel moved his head to kiss your hot forehead again and smiled faintly against your skin. You opened your mouth to retort, but he cut you off before you could even start. “And no buts. You said it yourself, after all…”

You grumbled quietly, but Joel could see you were tired, your eyes already closing again. He took a deep breath, not caring about the risk of catching the cold from you and followed suit, deciding to stay with you for a nap as well.

“I always know what my baby needs.”