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vclvetfleur · 1 year ago

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Freak Show Chapter 5

Buggy x fem!reader

Summary: You make a plan to escape the marine base with your new savior and your continuous savior, your right-hand man. You sent them off to escape themselves while you and Buggy search for your stuff back

TW: Murder, possessive Buggy

WC: 2.6K

Notes; Two days in a row! I'm proud of myself for actually uploading less than a day of each other. I had the most fun writing this chapter. I think i'm finally getting in the mood of writing this fan fic. Please let me know any suggestions or if you're even enjoying this.

Chapter 5: Click Once Click Twice

The alarms blared loudly throughout the entire building. You sighed in exhaustion. This couldn’t be any worse. You opened the door and looked around before disappearing.

You and your crew have been in situations like this before. There was always a way out. You kept a lookout for Marines as you peered through every corner. You made a click sound to let Vivienne know the room was clear to go. She followed the noise and soon Cabaji and Buggy had to follow too. If they were going to leave they had to follow you and Vivienne’s lead.

One-click for go. Two clicks for enemy nearby. And if there were too many, you’d just retreat back to the crew.

You continued to look around, finding a Marine with a weapon in hand. You could easily take him out. You snuck up behind him, kicking your legs under his, sweeping him down on the ground. You covered his mouth before he could scream for help. You grabbed his sword before making the decision to give him a few hits to the head until he became unconscious. You couldn’t have blood on the floor. You would only be found out quicker. You dragged him into a room before shutting it behind you. You let out a click and had them follow right behind you once again. You now had a weapon. But it wasn’t yours. You needed to find your stuff. You came to Vivienne before reappearing, making Cabaji jump at the suddenness of your appearance.

“I need to get my shit. Can I trust you to get Cabaji and Buggy out here safely?” You whispered. “Why the fuck would she need to keep me safe?” Buggy loudly interrupted. You smothered him with your hand, kicking him in the shin. “You fucking moron, there’s Marines all over the place. Do you wanna get caught?” You whispered at him, but in a tone that you were practically yelling at him.

You get go of his mouth. He seemed annoyed at the way you judged his competence. He’s been doing this far longer than you have been, yet you treated him like a weakling. Some new member of your crew. You practically forgotten the fact he was Captain of his own ship. He had over a hundred men following everything he said to them.

“I’m going with you. I don’t trust you to actually get any of my stuff.” He made a point. Realistically you probably wouldn’t. It had no value to you. And you had no loyalty to him to get his belongings back to him.

“Fine. Just- Vivienne get Cabaji out of here safely. If you need me,uhh fuck- Buggy give them your ear.” You thought quickly. “What?” Buggy said in disgust.

“Give them your fucking ear. You used it to spy on us. So it shouldn’t be a problem now. Now give her your ear or I’ll cut it off you.” You threatened him, raising your new acquired sword to his ear. You didn’t have time to be arguing. A marine could be turning a corner right now. He hesitated before flying his ear off his head and into Vivienne’s pocket. She squirmed at the strange exchange before taking a deep breath to relax her nerves. “Meet me at Port 249.” Vivienne ordered. Before she could run off with Cabaji, you left her with the sword. You could protect yourself just fine. But you weren’t sure if she could with minimal weapons.

You grabbed Buggy by the end of his shirt and pulled him off the side. “Now- listen to me. You’re gonna do this my way. I’ll keep look out. One-click.” You demonstrated the click. “That means clear… Two clicks means danger. If there are multiple, you attack. I’ll be right there. Got it?” You instructed him carefully. “Why two? Wouldn’t they hear you genius?” Buggy criticizes your plan. “Clicking twice for every hallway hurts after a while.” You shrugged. You disappeared once again, turning right. You clicked to let Buggy know your location. It wasn’t too long before you had spotted a few Marines looking out for you.

You let out two clicks. You snuck up behind one, watching as one of Buggy’s hands flew across one of the Marine's face. You grabbed another, pulling him away. He had no clue where you were once you threw him on the floor. He swung his sword around frantically as he watched his crew getting knocked out by Buggy’s flying limps. You stood above the soldier before taking your heel to his forehead. You stole his sword and grabbed whatever would be useful to him. A key. Perfect.

You hid it in your corset before taking loud steps for Buggy to hear where you were. It was difficult with one ear. Your steps grew softer once you could note that Buggy had an idea of where you were heading to. Every Marine you crossed was met with a guerilla attack and was robbed or left dead. No witnesses now that they had their sights on Buggy. There could be no risks.

You spotted a room familiar to you. It was the room you were taken to before being shoved into a cell. It’s where all your belongings were taken. You tried to unlock the door but to no avail. “Buggy.” You whispered loud enough for him to hear you. It was no use. You reappeared, waving him down. “Is there any way you can get the door open?” You asked.

Buggy investigated it before coming to his conclusion. “No.” He shrugged. “Let’s just find one of the fucks who put us there.” He seemed as though it was easy. You huffed, pulling out keys that you collected, and trying each one. But to no avail. None of them opened the door. “There was one I saw a while back. Fuck. We have to go back.” You admitted.

Buggy rolled his eyes and had no choice, but to agree. “I’ll go. You stay here.” You ordered.

“No way sweetheart. You aren’t getting me killed. No goddamn way. You’re gonna stay visible and I am following.” Buggy ranted, but you didn’t need more of a risk on your hands. You disappeared and made a run for it. You stopped in place, looking down to see one of Buggy’s hands holding your skirt to keep you from running. You stopped and attempted to kick him off of you. He just followed. He was way too damn persistent.

“Buggy, I’ve spent too much time with you already. I cannot do this now.” You groaned.

You felt a strike against your ass causing you to jolt up. “I think you liked our time together. Seemed like you did.” Buggy teased, his smirk coming across his red-painted lips.

“That was a fuck up and a moment I rather not relive.” You denied all feelings you had about the situation. It was for the best that you and Buggy never did anything like that again. If you had it your way, you’d never see him again. In all honesty, if you kept running into him like you seemed to constantly do, you weren’t sure if you’d deny him the same access you granted him just a mere moment ago.

“Oh really? Cause I didn’t really hear that come from you. What did you exactly say again, babe? Oh, fuck me, please. Please. I need you.” His voice becoming high pitched to mock you. You threw a balled-up fist into his stomach as you continued to walk in the direction you had spotted the first marine you knocked out. You should’ve killed him.

“Don’t call me that.” You warned him.

“Oh, what should I call you then? I think you fairly liked being called a slut earlier.” Buggy giggled at his own jokes. If there was one thing about Buggy, he always knew how to entertain himself. You wish you knew how to make yourself laugh at the most idiotic shit.

“You’re insufferable.” You mumbled under your breath. You kept watch out, making sure no Marines were in your way. You headed back to the room you locked the Marine in safe enough. Thankfully you seemed to clear out most of that hallway. You opened the door, knocking onto the floor as the previously knocked-out marine pounced on you. His hands gripped your throat, pressing his thumbs into the middle of your throat. You smacked his arm, attempting to pull him off. You felt an instant release, turning to your side as you tried to catch your breath. Your throat felt rasp as you tried to cough quietly, but there was no use in being quiet. You heard cries of agony and pleading. You turned your head and watched Buggy stand over the man, slamming him against the floor, while throwing a punch whenever he felt the opportunity to do so. It was as if watching a lion completely devour a giselle in the wild. You got up, grabbing his shoulder and arm in an attempt to pull him away. “Stop. You’re causing too much noise.” You lied. You just couldn’t watch a man get beaten alive. You’ve seen it plenty of times before, but this felt wrong. Almost territorial. “Just-grab-uh- grab his shit and let’s go.” You found an excuse.

“Not till I’m done.” Buggy warned you before throwing the man back into the room. He smacked his boot into the unconscious man, blood spilling out his mouth.

“Buggy! Enough!” You screamed. This all caught the commotion of a few Marines. You heard a gang of footsteps hurling your way. “Fuck-“You whined. You quickly pickpocketed everything from the possibly dead man and disappeared. “Let’s go!” You directed Buggy. You grabbed his arm, dragging him away. You didn’t trust him not to continue to beat a corpse. You watched as marines swarmed the hallway.

You watched Buggy’s fists flying through people as you grabbed one of the knocked-down marine’s swords, throwing it in Buggy’s hand's direction. He grabbed the sword and sliced through a Marine in front of you. They pulled their swords out in difference. This was exactly what you needed. Weapons out and they could not see or hear you. You rushed over, throwing a kick into a marine’s ribs. You caught him completely off guard. You unarmed him and took him out with his own weapon. You sliced through unexpected marines one by one before clearing the room out.

Buggy reattached his hands and ran after you once making yourself visible to him. You quickly made it to the door, watching a marine guard it. You held no mercy and attacked as soon as you could. You grabbed the keys you stole from the now-dead marine in the storage closet and unlocked the door. You shut the door behind you once Buggy stepped inside with you. You made sure to keep a door at the handle, locking the door and barricading it incase more marines showed. You went through boxes before finding your stuff.

You squealed out of complete joy, holding your beloved sword close to your chest. You reattached your holster to your waist before sliding your sword in. You watched Buggy recollect his large brownish-orange penny lane coat, sliding it over his arms before putting all his daggers back in place.

Your eyes met and for a moment, just a moment, you felt slightly proud. You and Buggy were a pretty good team. You set every distain you both had and just completely whipped out rows of marines in your way. But Buggy took your look of proudness in endearment. He rushed to you, gripped your cheeks in his hands, pulling you in for a kiss. For a split second, you let yourself lean into the kiss before pulling away in an act of disgust. “No- never again Buggy.” You pointed a finger in his face like a dog.

“So, why’d you kiss me back?” His voice in a hushed tone, attempting to get you to recreate the kiss once again. You almost fooled yourself before shaking your head.

“No.” You told him once again. But Buggy would never take that as an answer. His finger lifted your chin up for your gaze to leave the floor and at him.

“Oh- don’t play hard to get darling.” He stepped closer to you, your back against a filing cabinet. Your breathing quickened, allowing yourself to feed into his demands. His lips pressed against yours, his stubble rubbing against your chin. His hands snaked around your waist, keeping your bodies close to one another.

“If we had enough time, I’d take you right here on this table.” Buggy broke the kiss. “What was that about never again?” Buggy joked before removing the chair from the door and unlocking it. He left you there speechless. You were fully at his will. He attempted to get what he wanted.

You quickly got yourself together, gathering all your daggers, along with a few stolen heirlooms of other prisoners before making a run for it to catch up to Buggy. You just now needed to get to an exit. But of course, it was heavily guarded with marines. You just wondered how Vivienne was able to escape in time. She never spoke into Buggy’s ear. Nothing. It seemed radio silent.

“Round three?” Buggy asked. You nodded, disappearing once more. With your weapons back, you both were unstoppable. You disabled each and every one of them within just a few minutes. You opened the door and made a run for the port. You saw Vivienne and Cabaji sitting at the deck, waiting patiently.

“Vivienne!” You called out to her. She stood up quickly and opened her arms to you. You grabbed her and held her as tight as possible. You never wanted to be away from her like that again. Buggy watched you two, slowly making his way to Cabaji. “God alright already! Enough with the reunion.” Buggy gagged at the willing affection you were so willing to give Vivienne.

“Get the fuck outta here before I shove you off the port.” You snapped back at him.

“Give me my ear back. I’m tired of listening to the two of you make small talk. It’s disgusting.” Buggy held his hand out as his ear flew out of Vivienne’s pocket and back onto the side of his head. The four of you went quiet. There was a sense of uncertainty in the air.

“I recommend you both leave. I’ll see you both again. Buggy- you’re still dead to me.” You continued the act. You weren’t going to stop hunting him down. He was the reason you were in this mess in the first place. You weren’t going to let that fact go easily.

Buggy gave you a nod of understanding before heading back onto his ship while you retreated onto yours. The differences of your arrivals were astounding. You hear Buggy’s crew cheer as they were beginning a celebration while you were swarmed with concerned, nearly sobbing questions. You let your crew know you were fine.

“What’s that mark?” One of your crew pointed out. Your neck was filled with love marks. You shielded your neck with your chin as your hand covered the other side. “Just some marine trying to choke me out.” You lied.

“HEY!” You heard shouting as your sail was setting sail. You looked over to Buggy’s ship, watching Buggy leaning over the deck. His hand waved at you to say goodbye, at least for now. But a sudden thud it the side of your head, noticing Buggy’s other hand fly over to throw a punch your way.

What a fucking dick…

Notes: I really hope you guys are genuinely liking the story :)

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danganronpadedication · 1 month ago

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DAY 16: DANGANTOBER

Day 16: Favorite Scene

There are so many scenes that I could call my favorite of the series. I like scenes that are silly and lighthearted, and some that are bone-chilling. There were scenes that I was delighted by, and scenes that left me with a sinking pit of dread in my stomach. The scene that I decided to go with is one that caught me off-guard on first viewing. When it played out on my screen late one Wednesday night, it EMBEDDED itself in my memory, and crosses my mind at least once a week. Yep, the GIF is a dead giveaway, it's a scene that I call "Makoto's Despair".

youtube

Original Uploader: Nagito Komeada on YouTube (yes, it's spelled that way in their user)

When I say my jaw dropped during this scene, I meant it. I'm someone who really appreciates when things get more disturbing in this way, even if the scene itself involves subject matter that scares me. It shows guts, and its a good way to make me feel the stakes and tension that is needed to become invested. Readers of my posts will know exactly the reason this scene freaks me out, and if you're unfamiliar, I have my makeup post for yesterday coming out very soon and it will talked about on there. Some background information and summary on the scene for those of you who didn't watch the anime, or are too chicken to watch the scene. This scene takes place in Episode 11 'All Good Things' of Future Arc. After Kyoko's death in episode 10 'Death, Destruction, and Despair', Aoi finds a journal underneath her body. Written in the journal is Kyoko's deduction and conclusion on who the traitor in the Future Foundation killing game is. She hypothesized that there was no traitor, and that the monitors placed throughout the hallways of the facility were somehow brainwashing whoever was closest to them between rounds to commit unalive. To test her theory, Makoto decides to use himself as the subject for the experiment. He is tied to a chair in front of a monitor, while everyone else goes into a room without monitors. The round ends, and everyone is put to sleep. Makoto is woken up shortly afterwards by the red glow of the monitor. The monitor begins to play a video of Monokuma, and begins the brainwashing sequence. Makoto finds himself in a strange, void-like place. Kyoko and Sayaka appear, taunting him with reminders of the Hope's Peak killing game. Sayaka reminds him that he was unable to get her out like he promised, and Kyoko blames him for her death. His other deceased classmates also appear, and their bodies start to change to resemble how they looked when they died. Makoto tries to apologize, saying he just wanted everyone to be together and happy.

Outside of this void, which is assumedly his mind, Makoto is screaming and struggling to get off the chair. He gets himself free, and a knife drops from the monitor. He picks it up, and in his mind, Kyoko and Sayaka tell him to join them. Makoto has a strained grin on his face, and opens his eyes, now swirling with red spirals. He says he'll join them, but he's stopped by Juzo Sakakura. Juzo uses some 'not so gentle' means to get Makoto to snap out of it. Makoto then returns to the others with confirmation for Kyoko's theory.

This scene is one that provides good insight into who Makoto is as a person. In my Day 3 post for Dangantober, I briefly talked about Makoto having survivor's guilt, and this scene is my basis for that claim. It's very on the nose about it. Survivor's guilt is a trauma response that can happen when someone feels guilty over surviving an event where others died. It can cause similar symptoms to PTSD and other traumatic disorders. It's the idea of "why was I the one to live, and not these other people?", which is obviously an unhealthy mindset.

Makoto hides it well, but he does display certain symptoms of survivor's guilt. In episode 6, 'No Man Is An Island', Makoto has a vivid nightmare of Kyoko's death, with Munakata blaming Makoto for her death. Specifically, saying that Makoto was at fault for thinking he would be able to go through the entirety of this game without sacrificing someone close to him. Intense and vivid nightmares that harken back to whatever traumatic event happened or is currently happening, is one of the main symptoms of survivor's guilt.

Aside from serving as excellent foreshadowing for episode 10, this nightmare is a sign that the active stress from being in this new killing game is getting to him. His survivor's guilt would worsen as a result of Kyoko's real death, since the circumstances would lead him to believe it was his fault for just surviving.

See, the Future Foundation killing game has a special twist to it. Everyone has a bracelet on their wrist, that has a "Forbidden Action" on it. Doing this action will result in your death via the release of a certain poison. For example, Makoto's forbidden action is running in the halls, so Aoi gives him a piggyback ride. Kyoko's forbidden action is "Passing the 4th time limit with Makoto Naegi alive". If he lives past the fourth round, which he did, she would die. She deliberately hides this from him, not wanting him to worry.

Now that she's dead, he learns about her forbidden action, and he nearly shuts down with grief. Yet another person he cares about, gone instead of him. From this point onwards, he spends a lot of his time doing more reckless actions in order to stop this game, from confronting Munakata (who wants Makoto dead or captured) to this very incident with the video.

The guilt is pushing him to move without regard for himself, which is very close to more self-destructive symptoms of survivor's guilt. That's also why Kyoko plays such a big part in this scene. It's fresh trauma, fresh pain, that only serves to amplify these feelings within him.

Of course, Makoto manages to recover and pick himself back up with help from the people around him, like Aoi, and Munakata after a change of heart. He's a strong person, he's resilient, and he is the Ultimate Hope for a reason. There is no easy wrap-up for dealing with survivor's guilt. He's always going to be dealing with these feelings, but hopefully, as the world heals, so will he.

Besides, it definitely helps that Kyoko actually survives.

-Mod Tsumugi

#danganronpa #dangantober #danganronpa 1 #future arc #future foundation #dr3 #makoto naegi #kyoko kirgiri #juzo sakakura

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mad-maximoff · 1 year ago

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𝙎𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧

Oscar Isaac!DetectiveXReader

(I’m uploading the first chapter of this new series here and if you like it I’ll keep posting it! If not than it’ll stay on Wattpad🤭)

Summary: For 5 years, there's been a serial killer on the loose in New York. Homicide detective Oscar Isaac has been hunting this guy down since then. He is haunted by the female victims this animal puts in his path. He has the help of Cherry, a prostitute working the street. Can Cherry help Oscar catch the killer? Or will the killer consume Oscar?

Warnings: Language, talks abt murder (this chapt isn't spicy yet;))

Word Count: 1,043

18 deaths in 5 years. I've been the lead Detective on the case since the first murder took place. All women. 9 of them were normal women off the street. 9 were hookers. Still innocent women. No matter their profession. It's been eating me alive.

"Ey yo hombre? Tienes gasolina eh?" I walked out of the bodega on 5th Ave in the Bronx listening to two guys conversation. "Compra gasolina, te refieres a hierba. Vamos a tener un problema." I took the first bite of my breakfast sandwich flashing my badge at the gentlemen who darted when I took another step. "Pollos!" I wanted action, they fled. Too many guys lean on my black beauty, sure, a 67' Impala is snazzy. You never anything like it around New York. My cases have been piling up at the station. All the same. Someone's mom, daughter, or friend goes missing. Then we find them in the alley. It's his same MO. The women are cut in pieces. Left arm gone, a part of their ribcage, and the cherry on top. The killer cuts a smiley face on the victim's face. Slits their eyes vertically and slices ear to ear across their lips. Reason's why we call him The Smiley Face Killer. A mouthful but it serves its purpose.

I arrived at the station as a rookie told me they needed me down at the morgue. "Jesus Sánchez, what do they get for me?" I threw my coat over my chair at my desk, adjusting my belt. "Another one. Number 19."

"For fucksakes!"

·:*¨༺ ♱ ☠︎ ♱ ༻¨*:·.

"Ey! How's my homie huh?" My closest and dearest friend Detective Pedro Pascal met me at the stairs. "Qué Pasa! The morgue still needing me?" I cocked my head behind his to see the morgue down behind us. "Nah, man! I already debriefed with the nerds in the freezer. Chick looked better in a paper bag." He joked hitting me with the case file in my chest. "Jesus man, have some compassion. Someone was murdered again." The slab to the chest winded me for a minute. I'll never admit he's stronger than me, but fuck did that hurt. "Oscar, come on. We have a really traumatizing career. We need to make light some days. Speaking of, are you going to the bar tonight? My treat. Bravest or McSorleys?" Pedro threw his arm around my neck as we both exited the morgue from the stairs.

"Nah, man. I'm good tonight, thanks for the offer though. I don't want to rub elbows with trigger-happy rookies. I'm up to my neck in paperwork this Smiley Face killer's gonna drown me."

"Fuck man...don't stress. Anyway, the girl lying on the slab had a lot of new info."

"Whatda you mean Pedro? New info?"

"Yeah, well, the chief said Smiley only hunts women in Manhattan, but most of the women were near the Lower East Side. Red light district."

"Hookers paradise, but what about the other women? You know? The non-prostitutes?"

"In kilometre radius of the Red Light. Besides, the two last calls the victim Rose called were Cate and Cherry."

"Jesus Christ, I know women of the night don't like to use their real names but damn! It's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack!" We both made it back to our desks and I slumped in my chair. I fidgeted in the pocket of my jacket to find my packet of cigarettes. I booted up my laptop to write all the information in the case file under this sick serial killer's hefty file. The question remains.

Is he or she after women because they have a deep-seated hatred for women? Prostitutes?

Pedro and I worked late into the night. Pedro was making calls. I wrote down the contacts in the newest victim's phone. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, it comes with the territory. Some tough phone calls home. With everything I do under this badge, calling a victim's family is the hardest. Screaming moms, muffled fathers' tears, angry siblings. You are either loved or feared. However, that isn't the reason I became a cop at first. I did it to somehow make a difference. It's cheesy. Every rookie says the same. To make their city and town better. Once you see the things I did you don't care if your doing the right thing. You just make sure you come home in one piece.

"So...Pedro! I searched up this phone number and this Cate number is linked to the red light district's top nightclub." I finished the last puff of my cigarette flicking the butt in my trash bin.

"Oh shit! Echo?" Pedro swiveled his chair chuckling to himself. "Haha! Where do you party? No. The Core."

"Oh hell no! That place is diamond tier man, you can't even get in the door unless you're screwing one of their girls."

"So is your mom available? I need to get in?" The eruption of laughter echoed throughout the station. Pedro's jaw flung open hitting his desk. "Haha! Go to hell! I'm just saying, the chick who owns the joint won't let cops in. Let alone a detective. The woman is disfigured. Cate Blanchett is terrifying." I turned my chair to back up my shit and call it a night. "Cate Blanchett? Where in the hell have I heard the name somewhere.." I whisked my coat off my chair. "Some of those young hookers we booked a couple of weeks ago spoke of Cate. Maybe Rose was one of her girls."

"So what is she a pimp?"

"I have no clue, Detective Isaac. Go home. You need the sleep."

"Uh-huh, that's what I'm doing tonight. Noche." I lit another cigarette pulling the door wide open.

"Buenas noches!"

There is only one person left on Rose's contacts. Cherry. I'll have to haul my ass to the red light district just to find this chick. This Cherry is one chick that will be hard to find. One drink might help me think of my game plan tomorrow.

#fanfiction #oscar isaac fandom #oscar isaac #oscar isaac fanfiction #thriller #serial k!ller #wattpad story #detective fiction #pedro pascal #cate blanchett

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iseullgc · 10 months ago

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CASTING CALL 016 / SOLO INTERVIEW

when he hears of the opportunity to join the new kids new dreams project, iseul knows that he wants to try out for it. or whatever they're being requested to do.

honestly, he's a bit disappointed when he finds out it's only an interview and not an audition. but he guesses that it means their personalities are as much a part of this as their skills.

or something.

but he knows that he's going to try for it, even if he doesn't make it, that just means he did his best right? and he's only been training for a short period of time, so it didn't hurt him to put more experiences under his belt either. so he schedules an interview with youngjae and he settles down in his seat once the time has come.

"why are you interested in NEWKIDS NEWDREAMS?" ( answer: 157 spoken words )

"honestly, i just wanted to give it a try," iseul admits, looking a little bit sheepish as he rubs the back of his neck. he doesn't really have much else to add but he decides that now isn't the time to act shy or anything—not when his personality is literally anything but.

"dancing has just always been a passion of mine and i thought that if anything, i could just try out. i didn't even think i would get into legacy a year and a half ago, but thankfully i've been given this great opportunity that anyone would die for! so, i thought once i was in, i had to do anything i could to keep going and to advance. especially since legcy has so many artists that i love the music of, and i have some friends in the debuted groups, i just thought i have to catch up to them, you know? i have to do well and i have to stand on stage with them one day, you know?"

he takes a pause there, trying to think if there was anything else he wanted to add before they moved onto the next question. "if anything, i wanted to be able to show who i am in as candid a way as possible to the people who are already cheering me on."

"considering the current confirmed members, what can you add to the formation ON AND OFF stage if you are picked?" ( answer: 262 spoken words )

"i know two of the confirmed members pretty well, and i can say pretty confidently that i'll be adding a good dancer to the mix. not to say that there aren't any good dancers already, of course." he's quick to fix his statement, waving his hands in front of him to make sure that youngjae wasn't getting the wrong idea of what he was saying.

"i'm also an extrovert and i'm good at making friends, so hopefully i would bring everyone together well? considering i know two of them pretty well already, and if you're taking interviews for other members, i might know them too!" iseul is a self-proclaimed social butterfly, but he's sure that he would be able to back that up just by pointing out how many friends he's made in the trainee roster since he joined only a year ago.

he's trying to think of anything else that he's good at, and he tilts his head slightly side to side. "i'm also a native english speaker, so that would be helpful on shows, right? i watched some v&a shows, and i saw that versus went to the states for a while so if i," he lowers his voice, "make it into the group," and goes back to his normal speaking volume, "i could definitely help with the language barrier there! i'm used to translating from korean to english and english to korean so it wouldn't be any trouble! i've gotten really good recently at translating the slang—you know how koreans really like to shorten sentences and just use the first character of each word? i recently got the knack of translating that into english, so that could be .... helpful i guess!"

pausing again, he hesitates for a moment before adding, right as yougnjae is about to ask the next question. "sorry, sorry! i'll just add, i also know how to edit videos. so if we ever like, got a chance to do something like that. like, edit our own vlogs and upload them online or something. that would be something i could do."

he stops, and then grins sheepishly. "and i'm a good cook. no one will starve when i'm around, i promise! i almost went to culinary school but i came here instead! ... you can ask the next question now."

which skill (singing, dancing, acting, modelling, instrument ...) would you like to be known for and why? ( answer: 186 spoken words )

this question throws him for a second, because as much as he liked yapping about what he thought he could bring to the table in a group, it's harder to think about himself as an individual. mostly because he had never had any plans on going solo or anything and would probably be happy to see his friends and groupmates shine before he did.

"if i'm very, very honest, i would say dancing. if only because dancing has been a love of mine since i was younger and it's one of the only things that kinda dragged me out of a slump i found myself in before." he doesn't want to go too deeply into those times, and how dancing had literally saved his life.

his fingers move to grip at his forearm, almost subconsciously touching the tattoo there. "it's hard to think of anything else i would want to be known for ... like, skill-wise at least. i could easily say i want to be known as a good cook in the group, and that i'm loud and annoying but still a nice person when it comes down to it. but none of that is related to a skill right?

"if not dancing, i think i wouldn't mind being known for being funny? like, a good variety personality since that's something i think i would be good at. i can always find the humour in any situation, which is why all of my friends always say that i'm really easy to make laugh. and then sometimes my laugh sets them off, and we always end up giggling about something or another. i think variety would be something i could be good at."

"what kind of concept are you good at and what kind of concept are you bad at?" ( answer: 198 spoken words )

"oh, i can easily answer for the one i'm bad at—a cute concept. my friends always say that my aegyo is cringey and that they hate seeing it, though in hindsight maybe that's because my friends don't want to see that sort of stuff?" he pauses, pursing his lips at the afterthought that had just come up and maybe he's good at that sort of thing? maybe he's really cute but his friends just hate cute things?

who knows at this point. he'll have to ask them eventually, if he ever remembers to.

"i do think personally i wouldn't be able to pull off a cute concept, because that's not something i try to emulate in dancing or in my real life. i'm just sort of ... an energetic person. so i would have to say that's the type of concept i think i would be good at. like, upbeat songs that make you want to dance."

thinking of another point to that, iseul perks up a bit in his seat. "or, i don't know if this counts, but something along the genre of 'noise music' as fans like to call it. something powerful but upbeat, and the song concept could be light or dark but the dance is really great and hard? i think that would be really great for me, because i have a lot of energy and i want to express that as well as i can with dance. really just, a dance-focused group would be my dream and if we could add good live vocals too? perfection."

"what kind of group would you ideally want to be part of and why?" ( answer: 161 spoken words )

"i think i would really like to be in a group that's known for energetic performances," he starts, once he's received the prompt and the examples. he had been a bit confused at the initial question but it makes sense now that he has some examples to go along with it.

"like a group that's really good at performing with great live vocals and really hard dances to go along with the vocals," he adds, trying to figure out how to explain his dream group. "i want to be known as a good dancer but i also want to be known as a stable vocalist who sings well even while dancing to a difficult choreography—and even better if the choreography is self-done as well." he grins, feeling a little bit proud of his own achievements in that category but otherwise not wanting to try to sell himself too much while answering this question.

"i'm not trying to say all of the above right now, but outside of that, i think it would be fun if the group could also be known for non-idol content. like if we could go viral on tiktok or on youtube or something, since i'm decently versed in video editing, that could be really fun? we could do a lot of tiktok challenges outside of just the title song dance ones and maybe make a presence on there too? just a thought," he finishes up, grinning a little.

with all the questions answered, iseul stands up and bows ninety degrees to thank everyone for giving him the opportunity before leaving with a slight bounce in his step. he's not sure what the results are going to be, but he's glad he tried out anyway.

#lgc:castingcall016 #( & solo )#( honestly i'm sorry ... iseul just wouldn't shut up )#( & wc: 1577 )

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write-now-ggs · 1 year ago

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Thank You!

Thank you guys for over 100 readers! We hit this milestone a little bit ago and I've been trying to figure out how to say thank you to those of you enjoying my writings. I can't believe it's been two years since I started this account on here and Its hard to explain how fulfilling all of your support means to me. As I've stated before all of these stories started off in the brain of young 15 year old me, and that was many many moons ago so I've been in the process of rewriting or just finally finishing them. I still have so many stories to finish so I hope that you can stay along for the journey with me.

I'm not good with my words so enjoy this silly little gif adventure to show just how grateful I am.

As I've gotten older finding the time to sit down and write my silly little stories has gotten harder. Between having a full time job (sometimes more than full time), trying to sorta take care of my physical health, moving around the country and well now across the world, and trying to go back home to visit my family, finding time to myself feels nearly impossible. But the thing is, I love writing. Sometimes it does take a huge toll on my mental health but I can't help it. I love creating silly little fantasies for other people to enjoy. When I write I go through phases and they're always random. There are times where the words are just flowing through me and the inspiration is in abundance. I love those times. Then usually soon after that I sit staring at my ceiling with an empty brain (Then I usually get distracted by tiktok). Those times are usually the hardest to go through because I feel guilty. I finally have the time to write something, but nothing. Words just don't seem like words, nothing brings me inspiration and anything I do write just doesn't make sense. And then there's the days where I find the time to write very late into my day and I end up writing and writing up until I have no time to get sleep for my next shift and the sun is peeking through my window. Writing is a journey and no matter how hard or taxing on me it may be I appreciate all the support from you that I get. It genuinely makes everything worth it. Thank you.

The way I celebrate whenever I finish a story is hard to explain. I go pretty insane (It's honestly probably very worrisome), it typically always ends with me putting my hands on my head and hollering "Finally!" Then I usually celebrate with my one singular brain cell that I have left. The long journey of a new story is finally complete and I can share it with all of you lovely people.

Right after uploading something I've worked on for so long I lay by my phone constantly checking it to see how the reception to my newest upload is. It may seem dumb but any little interaction any of my stories get is a huge bump to my motivation. So thank you. Thank you to everyone who comes across this account, to those of you that like every story, to those of you who leave the nicest of comments and especially to those of you who quietly scroll through my stories. I appreciate every single one of you.

This is genuinely how I picture all of you in my head when I see you left a little heart thing on my post. It's one of the best feelings in the world, to me at least. It makes all those many hours spent stressing out on google docs worth it.

I genuinely admire each and every single one of you amazing people. I never expected all of those years ago to have such an amazing group of people supporting my stories. So once again thank you.

So if you made it all the way to the end of all this rambling thank you. This heart is for you <3 . I've never been someone who's been good with my words when it comes to expressing how I feel so I just hope that this gave you at least some insight in to how important you all are to me. So for the last time, Thank you <3 .

I hope you have a great day/night!!

#not an imagine #write now ggs #thank you #100 followers

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iwaasfairy · 2 years ago

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Heyo Fairy!! I hope your day/night/evening/morning/afternoon is going amazingly, and that you never forget that you are that bitch! (Affectionate, obv) Seriously, I remember when I first started having these "darker" thoughts about characters and I was like 'What the fuck is wrong with me?' and then years later, I find your and Rhi's blog. Y'all let me realize that it's perfectly normal to think these things, even if those who don't, or deny that they do, think otherwise. So, seriously, thank you, y'all mean so, so, SO MUCH to me! Like big sisters that help me see there's nothing wrong with me, even if people I know irl would say "wtf?" 🥹

Ahhh, sorry, that was so fucking sappy! 🫣 I just wanted to ya know that it really does mean a lot to people like me, and your other followers, that y'all are brave enough to post the things you do despite all the little bitches that try and tear y'all down 🥹

... That was sappy again 🤦🏻‍♀️ y'know what, what the fuck ever, I'm just a soft person when it comes to emotions and shit, I'll deal with it 😤

That all being said, I can't belIEVE it took me this long to comment on 2 of Cups! Okay, so, when part 1, and 2, came out, I had no idea who Rin and Sae were. I didn't even know what Blue Lock was, just that it's a manga/anime. I was like oh, okay, cool! I read part one anyway, and was all like "... I gotta watch this. If the anime isn't out yet, I gotta watch it as soon as it DOES come out." (I'm an anime only, because I almost always give characters the exact same voice if I have nothing to go off of 😒 I struggle with it fr fr. anYWAY—) So, I don't... Think? I'd read part 2 yet, tbh I think I completely forgot about it, the memory is NOT good, I'm so sorry! So when the anime DID come out, I wasn't actually aware 😅 until they uploaded episode, like... 10? Or 11? Of the English Dub? AnywAY! THE POINT Is, I started watching because of things I've read, I was TIRED of looking up every single character when I read about them 😭 SO, I watched, got caught up to where it is now, and am waiting for the next episode, and you mention 2 of Cups part 3 is coming out, and I was like "oH SHIT, I REMEMBER READING PART 1!" So, I went back, read parts 1 and 2, absolutely ADORED them, despite the pain 🥹 Like, Rin's pining, but not wanting to do anything because of SAE, that little bitch, that won't admit he's the sAME and keeps being an AsS when Rea-chan and Rin are even remotely affectionate, AaAAAAHHHH! And I was so exCITED for part 3! And then part 3 came out, and... It absolutely bLEW MY IMAGINATION OUT OF THE PARK, LIKE!! !! I dunno, what I was expecting to happen, but I'm so happy it went the way it did! I mean, yeah, sure, it hURT, what with Sae continuing to be an ass, and RIn, poor rIN! Sweet baby, he's so! I can't even begin to espresso how in absolute awe I'm in of this mASTERPIECE! It keeps me up at night, thinking about it, and about what may happen next. Like, did Sae go back to, I think it was... Spain? Did he just go somewhere else for the time being, and he'll be back? Will Rin give in to his fantasies? Will he be soft and gentle if he does? Would he absolutely destroy Rea-chan with his roughness? Would he start off gentle, and then lose it?

So many questions, but I can wait to have them answered; I know you work incredibly hard, and that writing really takes time 🥰 PLUS, we can't have you not sleeping! The Queen of Fairies needs her sleep, she must rest and take care of herself 🥺 Love you much, take care!! 🥰

firST OF ALL,no yOURE THAT BITCH!!!! YOU ARE! YOU ARE! wtfFDSGD thIS IS SO FUCKING SWEET im gonna cry and scREam !!! ♡♡♡ yes iT is totally normal for you to thrive off of taboo, tIS ouR little bug brains,, and alSO IM MASTER OF SAP i doNT MIND YOU BEING SAPPY PLS THIS IS SO SWEEETTTTTT :/ makes me cry. i hope you know i see every like and rb and i get the dumbest fondest grin on my stupid face any time you're in my notifs, or def when you send an ask or a comment or anything i jUST mELT

and stOPPDbhFu MASTERpiECE i??FYFDyd pLS pls pls oml iM SO VERY VERY HAPPY you LIKED thE FIc and iM bery happy i decided to give myself room for a part 4 bc i think iLL need iT im just Too foND of thEm!! and YES oml manY quESTions right??? i! haven't figured them all out yet so i can't exactly tell you everything but i do know that Sae's still in Japan, he's not yet going back to Spain,, i think Sae just can't handle the idea of rea-chan being with Rin and a similar grudge against him,, and :))) heheh for the smut :))) we shall have to wait and see

#i lOVE YOU MOREEEE #pLS I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND #AND !!! an EVEn BETTER WEEK #mWUAH #honey mail

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commanderquinn · 1 year ago

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Good Space Chapter 5: Stuck In The Middle With You

! i dont! keep these posts! updated! like i do! ao3!

that means you're going to find typos and shit (and possibly minor detail changes) that don't match the ao3 version! that's because im not going to bother fixing the tumblr posts until i finish good space as a whole. im only uploading them here as a backup tbh

—

master list / ao3 chapter link

—

consistent formatting? nah. in this house we believe in Convenient Formatting 🙏 rapid fire and no flashbacks again (when they start to get Super Painful later on you’ll mourn the days when i skipped them for extra fluff) we’re Zeroed In on the nerds for another hot minute. this is what happens when you get hooked on a fic by an idiot that’s more inspired by screenwriters than authors, srry ❤️

also this chapter (and probably quite a few throughout this fic) is specifically for the babes that have had to pick themselves up from the dirt after a romantic crash. i cannot tailor this in a vague way that lets anyone picking this up have their own catharsis here, right? mega impossible to one size fits all that. but what i CAN do is use the bundle of greek myth references that is ava’s concept to tell a story about regaining personal power after a total shitass tricks you into thinking youre not completely bitchin as you are ❤️

and i guess make a bunch of canadian jokes bc those are really funny to me tbh. thank you donnatella moss for the inspiration. the best accidental moose canada ever had

anyways. sit. get comfy 😌 think of the ex you reallyreallyreally wanna stab 🥰 and then go project that exact motherfucker onto alec ❤️

—

"Put it on."

"No."

"Put. It. On."

"Nope."

"It's going to look good on you."

Bucky flicks his eyes up from the news article open on his tablet. "Yes, it would."

"Great. Your head is still gigantic post-defrosting. Good thing the one I picked comes with buttons. Leave three of them undone—"

"I know how many to leave undone." That was a misstep. He knows it the second the words leave his mouth. She's going to use it as if it's compliance. It isn't.

"And I'm sure you remember how to get your arms through the holes, too. So, let's go." Natasha repeatedly taps her hand on the kitchen table, making her rings knock against the aged wood. "Make with the wardrobe change."

"I'm not wearing that, and I'm sure as hell not going anywhere," he counters blandly.

"Yes, you are. Get up."

"Eat dirt, Romanoff. I have this thing called a will of my o—"

"So, you don't want to go?"

"Correct."

"Nothing could convince you to change your mind?"

"Absolutely not."

"Who do you think is going to be more disappointed when I repeat that at the bar, Wyatt or Ava?"

Bucky's eyes close slowly. Gently. The movement is a stark contrast to the anger swirling in him, the majority of which is aimed at himself, not the Russian seeking to ruin his life. This was so easy to spot coming. So easy. And he walked right into it.

"Have you given—" Steve attempts around a mouthful of food, cutting off when Natasha hits him in the back of the head to make him stop. He takes a moment to wash down the Coco Puffs with a gulp of fresh coffee after that. "Have you given Wyatt an autograph yet? I gave him one. Super nice guy, you'll like him."

"Why is the brain trust suddenly invited to a night out?" Bucky demands. This is a fucking trap. There is no possible way that this isn't a fucking trap.

Natasha rolls her eyes at him. "We're plying them with booze to try and keep them from suing us into the ground for inflicting you on the populace. Now shut up and go change. You're not wearing those pants."

"I'm—" He cuts himself off mid-refusal. There's not a chance, not even a fraction of a percent of one, that Ava would take offense to him not wanting to go. He's told her, on multiple occasions, that he hates getting dragged out to these things. His friends are awful, and they just do this to torture him. He's not inclined to entertain that most weeks, and Ava knows that. "I don't have any other pants aside from—"

"Yes, you do."

"I'm not wearing tux pants to a—"

"The leather ones you keep for long rides."

Bucky stops, and not because Natasha just revealed knowing another secret he hasn't told her. That shit doesn't even phase him anymore. His eyes move down to the blue button-up she's trying to force him into, his lips pursing slightly. The leather pants she's not supposed to know about are worn to hell and back at this point. Heavy weathering, a hole or two at the back of the heels, more than a few deep scratches that'll become holes if he's not overly careful. Not the kind of thing that would usually be suitable for a night out.

That button-up is new, though. Looks expensive, too. Good quality silk. It'll look more natural on him under a jacket. Less like a significant effort and more like something he got roped into. Which is precisely what's happening.

Bucky sighs deeply, looking back up at her in resignation. "I have some ground rules."

"You're allowed to have approximately one."

He looks over at Steve in frustration. The bastard shakes his head with a cackle, a fresh scoop of Puffs halfway to his mouth. "Ooohoho, no. Nah-uh. There's a captain on deck tonight, but it is not me." He stands up, chewing quickly, a big dumb smile on his stupid face. "I'm being a good boy and following her orders."

Natasha knocks on the spot of hardwood directly in front of Bucky obnoxiously. "Name your singular rule. I still have to do my hair; hurry the hell up."

Her sass reminds him that he has to figure out what the fuck he's going to do with his hair. "I'm not dancing, for starters—"

"Great. None of us will hound you about dancing; you have my word. Go get dressed. We leave in an hour, and you'll be really embarrassed if I have to drag your unconscious body through the tower." Her eyebrows raise expectantly as she stands up, looking between him and the shirt. To add insult to injury, she taps her nails along his head on her way out of the kitchen.

Steve doesn't look over from where he's raiding the fridge for another snack. "For what it's worth, she sounded excited about the invitation."

Bucky's eyes squint suspiciously. "You invited her?"

"No, Nat did," he replies far too casually. "I was just in the room when she made the call."

"See, your fuck up here is that now I know—"

"I have information you can try to weasel out of me? Thanks, Buck, I appreciate that, seeing as I'm entirely inept when it comes to interrogation and spycraft—"

"Only for the most part. Was this your push or Nat's?"

"Are you asking to be a pest, or are you asking because you need to know?"

Bucky grinds his teeth. He can say the latter, and Steve will never know the difference. "I don't need to know, but—"

"Then fuck off." He shuts the fridge door with a gentle swing and a bright smile. "I have to go get dressed. So do you." He flicks at the bun resting against the back of Bucky's head on his way out. These fuckers are always touching him, and they don't pull the Canadian routine about it. "Should do something with your hair. It looks like it has blood on it."

It probably does. His last mission was designated complete all of twenty minutes ago, and he definitely bled through some of it. Bucky can't really tell on his end; he's still coming down from the adrenaline rush. Something Natasha used to her advantage, no doubt.

"You fuck off," he grumbles long after Steve is out of earshot.

—

"I'm completely serious."

"No, you're panickin', ya big baby."

"I mean it."

"I'd like to go ahead and remind you that I was there when you purchased most'a your wardrobe. Both times. I think I'd know if y'didn't."

"I can't wear any of that. It's one thing when it's my space—"

"You're allowed to exist in other places, ya dweeb."

"I didn't say I wasn't allowed. Just that...." Ava trails off, her nerves finally catching up to her. The argument had felt like a funny joke when she poked her head through the doorway to start it. Now it's not feeling so funny anymore. Paige is doing that awful, shitty thing where she makes sense. Leaning against the frame and glancing down at the master bedroom's carpet, Ava feels small. "I don't know. The stuff I wear to conferences is too—prim. Most of it's ballroom shit and wouldn't work, anyways. All of my usual go-to's just... It all feels... stupid."

The energy drink chugging champion that is her best friend props herself up on her elbows where she's laid out on her bed. The headband she's wearing has two miniature alien heads poking up from it that wiggle with the motion. "Well, hey there, Alec. Long time no see, ya son of a—"

"Yeah, yeah," Ava waves her hand dismissively. The reminder does knock some of the pity party out of her, at least. There was a time when she made decisions for herself and herself alone. Those were damn good years, and Ava is trying like hell to get back into the mindset. The one she proudly lived in before she let someone talk her into being ashamed of who she is. "Let my freak flag fly, whatever. I still don't have anything to wear." Nothing that doesn't feel crushingly laughable, anyways.

"What about that lace skirt you've got, the one with the swirly patterns? That one's so cute."

Ava frowns. She's not looking to get squished in hosiery tonight, which would be the only way to save herself in something that short. "For dancing?"

"Mmm. That's, ya know, that ain't a bad point. It ain't exactly built for the breeze." Paige tilts her head to the side, making the aliens go wild. Her face pinches like she's brainstorming. Then her eyes go wide with excitement. "Oh! Wear that—the, the thing!"

"Gonna need more to go on." She snaps her fingers as Paige smacks at her own bedspread.

"The wrap dress!"

"You're out of your mind," Ava laughingly insists. Now that she's caught up to her best friend's train of thought, she's almost startled. "That's—first of all, I think it's technically a sun dress—"

"Who gives a shit? Ya look great in it."

"I look—that's beside the point. It... it's not too...?"

"Too...?"

"Shit, I don't know." She folds her arms over her chest and chews her lip for a few seconds. "What do I wear with it?"

"Nothin' but heels." The smirk on Paige's face is devious.

"You know what else isn't built for the breeze? Me. I'm not looking to flash the Avengers tonight, thanks." The words make her instantly think of Bucky, shamefully enough. He's not even going to be there tonight. She's absolutely sure of it. He's told her how much it takes to convince him to go out these days.

The manic pixie rolls her eyes. "Alright. The dress, the heels, and somethin' stringy."

"How about a jacket?" Ava reasons, already turning to go back to Paige's guest room, the one that's been unofficially hers for years.

"Pick one that's sheer, ya chickenshit," she shouts down the hallway behind her.

"That's a lot of sass coming from the woman who can't look America's Sweetheart in the eye!"

"You'll thank me when you don't wake up here!"

Ava gets hit with the mental reminder that a certain sergeant has been threatening to fly her home for over a week. She hip-bumps her unofficial door closed with a huff.

Bucky's not going to show up tonight.

Even if he was, the man's a serial flirt, and she's his—the primary neurosurgeon on his case. Not-flirting through his appointments has been…. She's been trying to think of it as a bedside manner. A very unprofessional bedside manner. The kind she wouldn't have the balls to admit to out loud.

Natasha didn't mention him directly during the invitation call, only his case. All she said was that the whole team was welcome, including the duct rat, Findley. No mention of other attendants. It would have been brought up if he were going to be there; Ava's sure of that.

Natasha did mention getting Paige home on time, which was suspicious. Tomorrow is the engineer's first mission assigned to the Avengers as support, sure, but they don't seem like the type to need a pre-check. Ava's only seen a handful of SHEILD agents listed in the medical reports from Bucky's missions, and he never mentions any of them directly. She's always gotten the impression that assigned agents are an unknown hand in that machine.

If Steve ends up tagging along, she'll have her suspicions about the Russian's intent with this whole thing. She might have an ally in the fight to push her best friend that she didn't know about.

Maybe she'll go to the tower after Paige is home safe. Ava's brought up the idea of switching to night appointments before, and she doubts Bucky would say no to a quick ten minutes on the roof. He might even stay for a while without having the excuse of leaving her to her work.

She could pick up some late-night bagels to bribe him with. Her favorite shop closes early, but they work til midnight sometimes just for the baking process. Ava does the yearly medical work for the owner and his family without charging him. In return, he lets her sneak in after hours for cream cheese and salmon. With that and a quick stop to her office for a handful of lollipops, she's got herself some super soldier bait.

She might not even stop to change back out of the dress. She'll grab the lab coat, though. Bucky looks more at ease whenever she has it on.

—

He wants to leave already.

It's been eighteen seconds since they coraled him through the front door. He's very proud of himself. He didn't think he'd make it to half that before the urge hit.

Bucky looks around the crowded bar with the sourest face he can muster. It's loud, it's cramped, it's loud, he's already hot enough to know he'll be sweating at some point, and it's too fucking loud. The checkpoint out front is a disaster. He's not real clear on what the standards for a bar security chief are, but that pick-up artist with the handheld, battery-powered metal detector out front doesn't fit his definition of competent. Not by a long shot.

The Avengers haven't rolled out with the full roster tonight. Tony, mercifully, is away with Pepper, Barton fucks off to god knows where, and Rhodey's as much of a workaholic as Bucky is. He tries not to think about where Thor goes. That particular can of worms is pretty full. He's still trying to get used to the fact that they've got a Quinjet that can just go to space. Whenever he—they want.

The ones that did come don't give him any shit when he breaks off to do his walk-about. They all figured out pretty early on that it's a sensitive subject. Bruce doesn't even notice him leave half the time. Steve used to do a piss-poor job of inconspicuously following him back when Bucky was primarily non-verbal. Natasha never mentions it.

The building is two stories. There's a halfway decent camera set-up that he can tap into through the wifi. No windows in the bathrooms. The roof access isn't wired with an alarm. All the emergency exits are, though. The owner's room was locked before Bucky got to it, but the staff areas are open to whoever turns a handle. They've got a round of code inspections coming up at the start of next month. They'll fail at least two of them if they don't unblock that rear door.

Sam silently checks in with an offered fist bump once he's back at the table eight minutes later. Bucky doesn't hesitate to reciprocate it. There's already a half glass of whiskey sitting on the table waiting for him. He doesn't hesitate to get his mitts on that, either.

Wyatt and Hannah show up before Ava and Paige do. It's the first time Bucky's been faced with meeting them since Ava offered that one time. She never pushed it after that. He's been meaning to get around to it. But the idea has been making his teeth buzz too much to go through with it.

Hannah is laser-focused on him from the start. She's just as conscious of it as he is, then. He can tell the moment that the realization hits Wyatt. His eyes widen with a flash of concern, his burly frame curling in on itself as if that'll make six feet of muscle look less threatening. It's almost heartwarming that he's worried about looking threatening to Bucky, of all people. The anxiety on the kid's face gets swallowed up by excitement. Seconds later, another wave of anxiety surfaces. It teeters back and forth as Hannah pushes him up to the table through the crowd.

Bucky watched Atlantis the other night after one of his nightmares took away any chance of falling back to sleep. It saved him from having to wake Steve up for a trip to the supply store. He texted Ava about it once he spotted the sun through the small gap in his blackout curtains; she was thrilled. Seeing the baby-faced brain surgeon nervously approach the table makes him understand why she compares him to Milo, not Dr. Sweet.

Bucky's not looking to be the aggressive silent type anymore. At least not when it comes to the people working their asses off for him. He reaches out with his flesh hand, giving a reassuring half-smile to Wyatt. "Good to finally meet you, Combs."

The grin that stretches across the doctor's face looks wide enough to hurt. A stubby hand reaches out across the table for an enthusiastic shake. "It's an honor to meet you, Sergeant Barnes."

"I'll sign that journal Ava's warned me about if you promise to call me Bucky," he bribes, taking his hand back for another sip of whiskey.

"Y'mean it?" He's already headed for his patch-covered messenger bag with a hopeful look on his face. "I can use whatever makes ya comfortable. I'm not gonna make ya sign—"

"Hand it over." He glances over to where Hannah is sitting down across from Bruce. They trade an amicable nod when she makes direct eye contact again. "It's good to meet you, as well, Schuster."

"Barnes." He hears the sound of a boot being kicked under the table and watches Wyatt glare at the side of her head. She gives Bucky a strained smile. He's got a feeling it's usually strained. "Likewise."

Bucky likes her already.

As Ava warned, it doesn't take long for Wyatt to start asking about maps. He's bombarded with questions the moment he hands the journal back, with a fresh, chicken-scratch signature on one of its pages. The kid has a lot of trouble picking one at a time, and Bucky's trying not to shorten his answers out of habit.

He keeps a mental list of the information Wyatt's most interested in. A year ago, he would have done it out of ingrained habit. Tonight it's a deliberate choice. Bucky can get his hands on records the Combs family doesn't know about. The kind they can't make a legal request for because there's no official log of it.

Ava and Paige are the last to arrive. He's too busy trying to give Wyatt more stories when they walk through the door to spot them. Steve is the first to notice their entrance, pausing mid-sentence about a mission the Howlies went on that Bucky barely remembers. Looking away from Wyatt's face, he understands why his best friend froze up.

Good fucking god almighty. She's trying to kill him.

The doctor that haunts Bucky's dreams is walking through the crowded bar in an outfit that should be triggering the tactical analysis in his head. The analysis that, lately, only ends when his mind catches up to the fact that he shouldn't be thinking about being balls-deep in her while trying to make eye contact. It's probably—definitely inappropriate. But something about the thin, light blue fabric of her dress is shorting him the fuck out.

It's low-cut, which is the first strike. The second is the way that split up her right leg only stops when it reaches the top of her thigh. The third—the one that really knocks him flat on his ass—is the way the whole thing is pulled in to show off her hips. The ones he'd have a lot of trouble letting go of if she ever let him put his hands on her to begin with.

He roughly swallows around nothing but air. His eyes shoot up to Ava's face, desperate to stave off his bastard mind latching onto her outfit. The last thing he needs in his head right now is a full-scale plan for laying her out on the table to unwrap that thing like a present. She's smiling at him, genuine surprise shaping most of her expression. God willing, it's about his presence here, not where his eyes were a second ago.

"They let you out of the house now?" she sasses him over the roar of the bar. Her hand folds into a fist and props high on her hip as she stops at the table's edge, her other arm linked with her best friend's.

Bucky is so fucking hopeless for her. "Yes, ma'am. But only if I get enough green stickers that week."

"In that case, thanks for behaving. I didn't think you'd be here tonight." That smile of hers is still bright as the sun. Still aimed at him. Christ, he's never been happier about Natasha ruining his life. "I'm pleasantly surprised around you, for once."

Gimmie half a chance, and I can show you every kind of pleasant surprise there is.

If this were 1943, he'd still have the balls to say it to her. It'd be suicide to say it around his idiot friends, but he was a dumbass who wouldn't have hesitated back then. Not with someone like her.

It's probably a good thing it's not still 1943. "If I make all the surprises annoy you, you'll tell me to stop. I have to keep you on your toes, or you'll get bored."

One of her eyebrows raises at him, entirely unimpressed. It makes him want to hold her hand. "You do understand how cool my job is, right? You're also a literal cyborg I get to poke at whenever I feel like telling you it's medically necessary. What part of that am I supposed to get bored with, sergeant?"

Bucky folds with a shy chuckle, bringing up his glass of whiskey to hide his mouth behind. "You get used to the shiny parts."

"I'm sure he'll let you add more when he busts his ass again," Sam jokes from off to Ava's left. He's staring at Bucky with an overly satisfied grin. It makes him glare over his whiskey while Ava and Paige sit down.

"Sorry we're late," Paige says, her eyes moving to Steve and her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Gettin' through Bronx traffic is always fun."

"Ordered Ryder's usual," Hannah mentions, pointing to a tall glass of ale the waiter dropped off while he wasn't looking. "Didn't know what you were in the mood for."

"Somethin' fizzy." She rhythmically taps her mismatched nails on the table, humming to herself while she glances over the drink menu. "Or maybe somethin' icey."

"I went the margarita route if you wanna go halfsies tonight," Wyatt offers, nudging his frosted glass over to her. Paige perks up and leans over for a sip.

He looks over at Steve, who's watching the interaction with the sappiest smile. It nearly makes his eyes roll. Natasha and Sam sniffed out the captain's big crush a long time ago, but it's the first time Bucky's seeing it for himself.

Neither one of them has learned a goddamn thing. Not in a hundred years.

A much more gentle nail taps right in front of his arm, dragging his eyes back to Ava while she gets herself seated. "What made you decide to come?"

She would hit him with a question that blunt right off the bat. He tries not to notice Sam's silent laughter next to her.

"Heard the egg heads were making an appearance," he decides to be mostly honest with.

The pleased smile on her face takes on a softer edge. She really hadn't been expecting him to show. It makes him all the more glad that he listened to Natasha. "We convinced you?"

You did. "You're surprised? I'm not about to put in the effort for these assholes."

"He only does that for our birthdays," Sam tells her, leaning into her space slyly.

Bucky holds out his hands, mildly insulted. "And bank holidays."

Ava turns her head to offer her hand to Sam with a warm giggle. She looks so fucking good in the low bar light. With her neck muscles stretched like that, Bucky wants to kiss under her jaw just to see her reaction. "I've been hoping we'd meet again under better circumstances. Ava Ryder."

Sam barks a laugh, wrapping his hand around hers. "I'd say watchin' you hand Steve his own ass was great circumstance."

"Well thanks," Steve interjects, flipping him off before going back to drawing on a napkin with Paige.

The comment, and the gesture, gets ignored entirely. "Sam Wilson, but you can call me your favorite Avenger."

Bucky almost rolls his eyes again. Watching Ava's giggles get worse stops the urge.

—

She was wrong.

He came out tonight. To a bar. To spend time with them.

Ava takes another drink of her ale, watching the Winter Soldier over the rim of her glass. Wearing a dress that could unwind from her with a few strategic yanks on a couple pieces of string. And heels that could have paid a month of her first apartment's rent. In a New York bar.

If her parents could see her now, they'd croak.

Bucky is so goddamn attractive in his dark leather jacket that it's un-fucking-real. The bastard looks softer with his hair down like that, and there's chest hair peaking out from that button-up he's left open to a torturous degree. It keeps distracting her every time he turns to say something to Steve. His hand is the only shiny part on display at the moment.

The glory tales from Steve don't do the heartstopping aura justice. The fact that Bucky has had the nerve to lie—to her face no less—and say they're blown out of proportion makes her seethe sitting across from him now. No wonder he was prolific; how the hell could he not be with a face like that and the attitude to back it. Now that he's not in a professional headspace, the latter is coming out in spades. The super serum body is a mouthwatering, climbable bonus.

This is the man that keeps threatening to fly her home.

Ava takes a longer drink.

She hasn't been this in over her head since college. The familiar knee-jerk reaction of bullying him is the only thing that doesn't feel petrifying. Bucky is the last person that would make her feel unsafe, but good god, the man is intimidating. Trying to find something to say to him that isn't a joke is a lot harder than usual, with him looking that good.

Paige tuned out the moment Steve gave her meticulously outlined boxes to doodle in on an unfolded napkin. He's been adding detailed frames to them ever since while the two trade work stories. It makes Ava jealous. Her best friend might be oblivious, but at least she's not the one tongue-tied tonight.

Knocking her knees together under the table, Ava leans forward and tries another round of facing down the sergeant. "Worth the trip so far?"

Way to go, moron. Pressure him, why don't you? Of course he's having a good time; he wouldn't still be sitting here if he—

Bucky smiles at her, calming her nerves without even trying. "Every second." He looks down at the glass in her hand, then back up at her face. "You havin' fun, doc?"

She misses hearing him call her doll. It's starting to feel like maybe it was an accident the handful of times it happened. He hasn't done it in days. "Unlike you, I enjoy human interaction. Plus, the hippie thing makes me partial to loud noises." And sweat. And weed to make the loud noises sound better. And men with long hair and deep voices that would sound—

"I don't mind human interaction," he argues, folding his arms on the table and leaning over with her. "I'm just picky about the people I interact with."

"Awww," Paige coos at her side. "And we made the cut? I'm honored."

"You should be," Steve confirms with a smirk, his eyes never leaving the napkin under his hand. "He's not exaggerating."

"That's unusual for him," Ava jumps on Bucky with. She regrets it right up until he snorts and briefly covers his mouth with his hand. It's a real fuck up on his end; she takes it as an all-clear to do it to him again at her leisure. "The only people I've met with bigger heads are cardiologists."

"That's the second time you've brought them up," Bucky notes. She honestly can't remember the first, but it sounds accurate. They're fun to mock.

"Nice deflection, superstar." His eyes widen a fraction at her teasing, boosting her confidence. "Have you had the displeasure of meeting one? I'm allowed to be mean to them as a neurologist, by the way. Secret doctor pecking order and whatnot."

"If I have, I probably don't want to remember," he deadpans. Steve gives him a dirty look, but it makes Ava snort. The smug look Bucky gives her in return makes her stomach flip. "I wanna hear more about this secret doctor pecking order. How far up that chain are you?"

"I don't know, man. How far up is your brain?"

Bucky's eyes shut in pain, and he smiles. "It's so hard to be proud of your ego when your awful puns surround it."

"You'll manage," she assures in a supportive tone.

A low whistle drags Ava's eyes to one end of the table, where Natasha is getting up. "I'm going dancing. It's up to you losers who's coming."

A majority of the table, including most of Ava's team, moves to follow. She doesn't. Bruce and Hannah don't, continuing their discussion on a medical journal he read that morning. Bucky doesn't leave either.

He watches Ava as Paige leans over to kiss the top of her head. She's pretty sure he watches her all through their short yes, I'll watch your bag check-in. He's still watching her when she looks back at him, slowly circling his glass to make the whiskey inside it swirl.

"Not a fan of dancing?" he finally asks.

"I like dancing," Ava confirms. "I just like picking on you more." The words feel outrageously bold for how innocuous they are. It's the truth, but she feels a little stupid for saying it out loud. Whatever, if it means spending the night out with him, that's fine—

Bucky puts down his glass, a determined set to his posture. "Dance with me."

Her jaw almost drops. She doesn't catch her nervous burst of laughter in time to stop it. "I—what? You? Bucky Barnes, mister touch me and die himself wants to—"

"I let you touch me all the time." The tone he uses for the blatant—

Christ, is she ever in over her head.

She ignores his flirting like a coward, racing to hide behind professionalism as fast as her mouth can get her there. "The funny thing about that is I have your willing participation—"

"You've got my willing participation for this, too." He sounds like he means it, which is the worst part. It makes it impossible to bring herself to tell him no.

She hesitates one last time, primarily out of fear of embarrassing herself. "You're sure you want to dance?"

"With you?" Bucky stands up, allowing her to see the well-worn leather sitting low enough on his hips to turn her into a bigger wreck. "Yeah, doll. I'm sure."

Hannah leans over to slide the bag Paige left behind across the table, closer to her. She doesn't bother to stop talking. Bruce is smiling from ear to ear, stealing glances at her and Bucky. He's doing a terrible job of hiding it.

Standing up on nervous feet, Ava watches Bucky circle the table. He offers up his flesh hand when he approaches her, his signature Brooklyn smirk on his face. "Ready?"

Fuck no. She slides her hand into his, breathing deeply when he squeezes her fingers. "I really hope someone's given you the memo on modern dancing because I have no idea what the hell you people did in the 30s."

"I'm sure you'll help me figure it out." He's sounding more confident with every word, and it's scaring the absolute shit out of her.

It's innocent at the start. Bucky's a perfect gentleman leading her through the crowd. He spins slowly to face her when he finds them a wide enough space, pulling her in close. The pressure of his fingers is barely there when his metallic hand moves to her lower back. Ava brings both her hands up to his chest when he lets go of one of them.

"You'll tell me if you're uncomfortable, right?" she checks again, stretching up as close to him as she can. There's no way he has trouble hearing her over the music, but she doesn't remember that until she's all but hanging off him. It makes her cheeks feel warm.

His flesh hand moves over her hip, resting on it gently. Bucky leans down and turns his head in, getting right up to her ear. He's already starting to guide the direction of her half-hearted movements. "I will. You gonna do the same?"

"I will," she promises. Mirroring his words is the only thing her brain can come up with, given how unfairly good he smells. It's obliterating every train of thought she has.

It is… terrifyingly easy to let herself go in his arms. The movement of her hips gets more involved, following the tempo of the song and the direction of his hand. Hers go up to his shoulders, bringing him in closer a fraction at a time. By the time the song changes, she gives up and lets them wrap around the back of his neck.

Somewhere around the third song, when the bar's DJ is trying to ramp up into a faster energy, she ends up turned away from him. Ava isn't sure how it happened. It could have been his doing; she's not paying all that much attention. All she knows is he's pressed up against her back now, the hand on her hip moving towards her leg incrementally. Her head tilts off to the side as her eyes close, letting the Winter Soldier guide her.

His fingers stop their advance once they reach the top of the gap in her dress, the one that splits up her thigh. She gives him all of thirty seconds to figure out if he's brave enough to go further on his own. Then the ego boost from having Bucky—of all fucking people—trying to make a move on her wins out over her fear.

Ava lays her fingers on top of the hand hesitating on her leg, urging it down.

The first touch of his skin on hers makes them both suck in a breath. She can feel the tension in him against her back. He gets over his nerves faster after that. His hand glides down the length of her thigh, and his fingers curl under the fabric when it comes back up. Not all that far, but the intent is there.

In escalating boldness, she reaches for his metal hand, dragging it to rest at the top of her ribs. His nose comes brushing across her temple at that point, giving her an idea of how close he's keeping himself around her with her eyes closed. One of her hands goes up into his hair, and that's when things really go off the fucking rails.

His thumb moves in a wide arc, dragging across the underside of one of her breasts. Her fingers curl around his hair, and her head rolls in toward him. If she tilts it up, she could brush her nose against his; that's how far into her space he is. And then the hand on her thigh moves in.

The pounding music swallows up the slight sound it pulls from her, but she's willing to bet Bucky heard it. She leans back against him, making him freeze up momentarily. He's already moving again before her mind finally pieces together the why.

He's hard, Ava realizes.

With one hand under her tits and the other getting itself further between her thighs. With her ass pressed back against him. With his towering frame curled all the way around her.

Sergeant James Barnes is hard as a rock. For her.

—

How the hell he hasn't gotten his good arm ripped off yet, Bucky's not quite sure. It feels impossible that she's just... letting him do this.

Spinning her around really fucked him over. He had been behaving pretty well up until then. He'd even managed to hold off on putting his hand as far down her back as that fucking dress allows for. But then he'd been dumb enough to turn her, and her head had relaxed off to the side, and god, it took every ounce of restraint he has not to kiss the length of her neck.

Now she's leaning back against him, fully aware of how wound up he is, and he can't figure out where to stop. She isn't slowing down any part of his stumbling. There's no new tension in her now that she's in the know about the current state of his cock. Her hips are still fucking moving, and now they're moving against him.

She's going to kill him tonight, probably right out here on this dancefloor. He just hasn't figured out if it's going to be murder or manslaughter.

He lets his left hand get bolder, trying to test the waters one last time before he lets his right one go any further. He moves it up, his thumb brushing over her nipple. He hears her pull in a shaking breath while it skims back down the side. She doesn't stop him, making him want to bite at her neck all over again.

With no signs of her looking for an out, and not one shred of critical thinking or self-control left in his head, Bucky slides his hand further up the inside of her thigh. Her fingers tighten in his hair, nearly pulling on it at this point. All he has to do is hike up his thumb, and he'll get more information than he's probably ready to have. She could tell him to drop to his knees right here; he's mildly certain he'd do it.

That dress is so goddamn thin. There's no weight to it at all. He can't spot the outline of anything, but he knows from how high her tits are sitting that she's got a bra on, at least. Another inch or two up with his thumb, and he'll be able to tell for himself if she came out tonight with underwear on. He's not entirely out of the goddamn loop; he knows skipping it is a much more common practice nowadays.

Bucky's almost hoping his favorite hippie is the type. He's spent a lot of time fantasizing about ways to get her out of them. That doesn't mean he's not going to fucking lose it if his fingers don't find a strip of fabric between her legs.

The flash of a new fantasy hits him, one of Ava letting him pin her to the alley wall out back with his head between her legs. If he takes her around the corner, he won't have to stop when the kitchen staff come out for a smoke break. If she does have underwear on, he can leave it in her mouth to keep her quiet. Or reach up to make her bite down on his fingers. With the serum and her height, it'd work like a dream.

The curiosity becomes a burning need, driving his hand all the way up. When he first touches her, it's not with his thumb, and it's not a gentle brush. He pushes his middle and index finger along the length of her lips, coming into contact with lace that's wet.

"Fuck." The word is choked when it tumbles out of him. He's coated his hand to the thought of her so many times over by now. And here she is, pushing herself up against him and just as worked up about it.

Her hand grips his arm tight enough to bruise in reaction. She doesn't push him away. God fucking help him, she doesn't stop moving either. Still, there's something about her body language that's not sitting right in his gut. She's not pushing him away. But she's not pulling him along anymore.

That's not always a stop sign. Bucky knows that. Some people like leaving the significant steps in the hands of their chosen partner. She's silently urged him to keep going a few times already. Assuming she wants that to continue isn't out of the question. But he's not the kind of man who's comfortable with that leap. Not anymore.

He moves his hand down an inch, leaving it between her legs. Not on top of the lace he wants to bite at. If she's interested, she'll put it back. Simple as that.

Bucky waits, holding her close with his metal arm around her ribs and his nose pressed into her hair while they dance. She's hesitating now, which has him convinced he made the right call. He's not self-wallowing enough to take it as a rejection. It's not like he'd been planning for this to go anywhere near as far as it did to begin with.

Her hand pulls at his hair in a way that feels conflicted. She tilts her head up, her eyes finally opening to look at him. Yeah, there it is. Right there in her eyes. It's finally catching up to her.

"I..." she tries, her mouth opening and closing a few times. "We can...."

"We can keep going," he finishes for her, not backing off from his hold on her. "We absolutely can. Or we can head to the bar and watch them make something with a cherry on it. I'm more than comfortable with both."

He watches her chew over the offered out, her eyebrows pulling in. He doesn't push her; he's not looking to make the call for her. If she wants him to get her off right here on this dancefloor, he's pretty damn sure he'd be willing at this point, even with the threat of criminal charges. He's also ready to let go and spend the rest of the night doing something that doesn't make her look torn. Even if it means ending it early.

"We should probably go to the bar." Probably. She doesn't sound happy about it, meaning it's fueled by her professionalism. He understands why she has the line. He respects the shit out of it.

"We probably should," he agrees. He doesn't move his hands. She hasn't moved hers.

Her eyes move down to his mouth, and fuck does that do a number on his impulse control. He hopes she doesn't feel how it makes his cock jump. Ava Ryder wants to kiss him. It feels odd to celebrate that, considering where his fingers were a minute ago, but fuck. The girl of his dreams wants to kiss him.

"Let's go to the bar." The frustration in her voice almost makes him laugh. It definitely makes him smile as he turns his metal hand over to link with hers.

"You drink anything other than ale, doll?" He lets his fingers brush over the skin of her thigh reassuringly as he pulls it back out from under her dress. She looks so mad at the world, her face scrunching under her glasses. He wants to kiss her more than he's ever wanted anything in his life.

Ava takes a deep breath that she lets out with a huff. It looks like it cools off some of the annoyance. "My answer depends on how much of a narc you are, g-man."

He puts his arm around her shoulder, dragging her in close to his side. His friends will hand him his ass over this for a month, but he's not about to let her feel rejected. He's trying to respect a boundary, not ward her off. "Lucky for you, this g-man has medical strains growing in his room at the tower."

"There's no fucking way. You're telling me the Winter Soldier grows weed?"

"Are you tellin' me you buy yours? Chump."

She snorts hard enough to feel the need to cover her mouth. It makes Bucky feel damn good being able to make her laugh again that fast. "I can't believe I'm being ridiculed about the source of my pot by a senior citizen."

He holds back on reminding her that she was about to let a senior citizen stick his hand down her panties. "Has it convinced you to give up the inaccurate jokes about my job?"

"Inaccurate, he says! Don't you have a literal badge you can shove in people's faces?" Ava doesn't lean against the bar when they reach it. She stays pressed up against him while he leans on it, distracting the hell out of him. He looks down the line of people, searching for a bartender to give himself a second to refocus. "I think that's a pretty clear-cut definition of a fed."

"I think you're trying to find out if I've got a pair of cuffs handy." This is the other problem presented with her letting him go that far; it burned through what little filter he has. Now that he knows she's interested and not just humoring him, he's fucked. Hearing his own words still makes him wish he'd shut his damn mouth.

He hears her laugh in surprise again, but he's not brave enough to look at her yet. There's a momentary lull filled with the sounds of rowdy New Yorkers kicking off their weekend. Then he feels her head lean against his arm. "Something tells me you could improvise without them."

It's manslaughter. She's trying for manslaughter. By god, she's going to accomplish it if she says some shit like that again.

"I can improvise whenever you need me to." He finally looks back at her, catching her ogling his chest. Again. Her cheeks are a few shades darker. It's good to know he's not the only one reeling. "You should answer my question first, though. Unless you're looking to put in the order."

Her eyes finally flick up to his, and her smile turns shy before she looks away. "Surprise me. I burn more than drown. I'm sure you can think of a fun option to entertain me with."

Bucky should have guessed she'd give him a run for every cent he earned back when he still had his mojo. It feels like he's trying not to trip over himself while she's still getting warmed up. "One entertainment, comin' right up."

She gives him a look, doing a lousy job of holding back her amusement. "You don't get to complain about my puns if you're going to tell dad jokes like that."

"You're just jealous that mine are better." He finally flags down a bartender over her shoulder, throwing out an order for two Mai Tais. The only other cocktail he can think of off the top of his head is a Sex on the Beach, and he sure as shit doesn't have the balls to order that in front of her at the moment. A Moscow Mule is not a cocktail in his eyes. It's also not the kind of inappropriate he's looking for.

Ava's finger hooks into his front pocket, threatening to ruin every effort he's made toward getting his cock to calm the fuck down. "Some of your jokes are pretty great; I'll give you that. The dry ones make my day."

It feels backwards—and mildly alarming—to hesitate to brush her hair behind her ear for a moment. A few minutes ago, he'd been ready to go down on her in front of a room full of people. Now he's trying to find the nerve to touch her at all. Doing so gets easier when her eyes slip closed at the feeling of his fingertip moving down the side of her head.

"Seeing you makes my day," he murmurs, not caring about letting his mouth run. It feels less intimidating in the wake of her compliment. God knows it's going to sit in his head. Probably forever. The fact that she probably can't hear it over the music certainly doesn't hurt.

Her eyes open back up slowly, with her smile taking on a wicked edge. "You feel like showing me your stash, old man?"

—

They haven't talked about it.

It's been less than an hour since they stopped dancing. In under sixty minutes, Bucky managed to get them a drink and all the way through Manhattan to the Avengers Tower. On a Friday, no less.

No wonder they threaten to revoke his license. Ava thought she was a speed freak behind the wheel. Now that she's got firsthand experience as his rear passenger, Bucky being allowed to have a motorcycle makes her question SHIELD more than ever.

He let her go up to the roof without him. He made it sound like he was doing her a favor by not making her go out of her way just to raid his stash with him. She's guessing it's got more to do with not being down for a surprise tour of his space. It's not as if she's going to fault him for it.

The idea that she's actually going to let him fly her home after this is already hitting her nerves. If that's throwing her off, she has no clue where she's going to find the will to bring up the subject of—this. Tonight. What happened.

How far she was about to let it go.

He smells too good. She's decided to blame it on that, at least in her head. Mainly to make herself feel better about crossing that many ethical boundaries. It's easier than accepting that she was about to give a patient the go-ahead to finger her in the middle of a bar. Without so much as a word about it beforehand.

Ava pushes her hands under her glasses to hold her face, resisting the urge to scrub at it. She doesn't want to fuck up her makeup. Not while she still has to face Bucky. How stupid—and then she doubled down—god, now they're here, and he's getting weed—

"I was starting to think I'd never get you up here, doll."

The way his voice quells her anxious mind without any effort at all ties her stomach in a different kind of knot. She lowers her hands into her lap, giving him a half-smile. "I'd like to remind you that I'm the one who offered initially. And again tonight."

Bucky waves his free hand dismissively, his flesh one cradling a bag. "Semantics." He dumps it onto the wicker table she picked out herself. She hears glass hit metal, the sound muffled by the black cloth of the bag. "I didn't know if you were a bowl or a joint kinda gal. Figured I'd come prepared since I'm dealing with a degenerate commie."

"Steve was right about your manners," Ava insists, reaching out to open it with greedy fingers. She kicks her heels off under the table, getting distracted by the sight of him shaking his leather jacket off his shoulders. The man's tall enough to have to duck under the makeshift canopy built to account for Wyatt's height. "Tell me how many words you know for pot while I judge your choices."

"Are you forgetting they took me out for walks every few years?" Bucky walks around to her side and puts his jacket over her shoulders, surprising her. She looks up at him with a shy smile, momentarily forgetting the promise of weed picked out by a super soldier. He's such a gentleman that it's frankly obnoxious. One of his eyebrows raises at her. "Those walks included the 60s, young lady. I probably know more than you do."

"What do you remember about the 60s?" she goads as he sits down next to her.

"Plenty." Bucky props his arm up on the back of the couch, leaning into her space. She's grateful for it. Even with his jacket around her, it's freezing up here. The added warmth isn't the only reason she's grateful for it. "Personally, though, I think you would have had a better time in the 70s." He tilts his head back and forth a few times. "At least the parts of it I fucked around in."

The mental image of the Winter Soldier undercover in some sleazy disco hits her like a ton of bricks. It feels wildly inappropriate, even with him talking about it that openly. All the fantasies she has of Bucky do. Especially the ones she uses to get herself off lately.

"I'm going to take your word for it," she murmurs. There's so much potential there to poke at him. He's offering up the bait on his end. Hell, there's still the list of weed names to dig for. But she can't get her mind to latch onto any of it with him this close.

He nudges his chin in the direction of her hands, which are still hovering in his little heap of paraphernalia. "You should start us up so I can get you home at a reasonable hour. I don't know how fast you like to—smoke."

It's astounding how good he is at riding the line between being a gentleman and a terror.

Ava looks back down at her hands with a smile. "That depends on the accuracy of your warning about this couch-locking me. Technically I'm off tomorrow, so I'm not about to say no."

"Do you smoke medicinal strains?"

"On occasion. I started for anxiety, oddly enough. Then I noticed it helped with my mood overall." She shrugs, setting aside his box of hemp papers. There's a heavy-looking grinder and two different pipes further in. One of them's a goddamn steamroller. He sticks with quality from what she can see so far. "I feel like there's a bong that was held back from this collection."

"There's a lot that was held back. I'm not gonna parade all my ill-gotten goods through the tower." His pauses while she gets the last of it emptied out." You gonna show me how it's done or put me to the test?"

"Definitely the latter." She turns her head to smile at him innocently, pushing her glasses up her nose. It makes his lips twitch. "I don't see anything to assist rolling. Does that mean you're confident enough to show me your handiwork?"

Bucky scoffs, his expression becoming entirely unimpressed. He almost looks offended, leaning over to grab the papers and the grinder. "You're telling me you people need tools these days? After all the work I put into teaching Captain America how to do it properly?"

Ava's brows shoot up in shock. "You're fucking kidding. I figured the weed was a new development—"

"Nah, I've been smoking since my first job." He's not watching his hands much as he lays out the foundation of his work. He's primarily watching her. "Worked for a guy that owed a corner store. He had family that ran a not-so-secret farm." He turns the grinder lid enough to loosen it, then flicks it to spin it the rest of the way off with a cocky grin. "I was an outstanding employee. So was Steve once I got him hired."

"America's Sweetest Stoners," Ava coos, making him chuckle. He's not stingy about what he's rolling for them. It makes her wonder how many plants he's got set up. "Do the two of you still smoke together?"

"He doesn't bother much. Takes a lot to build up any kind of buzz with our systems, so he looks at it the same way he does drinking at this point. He still shows up whenever Banner drops off some new hybrid monstrosity for me to try." Bucky glances over at her quickly, his fingers never stopping their work. "This is from one of the normal plants, don't worry. I won't start you off that far in the deep end."

Ava shrugs. Banner's main lab is here in the tower, so there's no chance the process isn't documented. JARVIS wouldn't let her use anything that could do her actual harm. "You can if you want, but you're responsible for explaining to Tony why I'm passed out on his roof."

He gives her the most insulted look. "I wouldn't leave you up on the roof. I'd be enough of a gentleman to carry you inside."

He's ruining her life. There's no way she's going to be able to walk away from tonight without being completely wrapped around his finger. It makes her smile at him like a hopeless fucking moron. "I believe you."

Bucky brings the most well-balanced joint she's ever seen up to his mouth, licking it closed in one smooth stroke. His eyes never leave hers. It makes her swallow. The fucker smirks at her and twirls the joint between his fingers, holding it out for her inspection.

"Well?" he prompts, watching her intently as she plucks it from his hand. He's preening. Waiting for his praise.

Goddamn him, she's going to have to give it to him. The joint is so perfectly rolled it's mesmerizing. Even distribution, not pulled overly tight, and meticulously sealed. She can't remember the last time she managed to do a job half that good. Bowls have always been her go-to. It's clear that this is his.

Ava giggles at the absurdity of it all. It feels surreal to be a step away from lighting up with a cyborg PoW she first read about in primary school. "You're such a dork. Shut up and hand over the lighter before your head explodes from being over-inflated."

"Now I know I did a damn good job by today's standards." For the second time that night, she gets the overwhelming urge to kiss Bucky as he reaches for the lighter. She props the joint between her lips to distract herself and lets him light it for her when he silently offers. The flame does stunning things to the color of his eyes in the dark. "You only tell me to shut up when you're really impressed with me."

She doesn't miss that he waited until she started inhaling to make the point. It makes her roll her eyes in exasperation. Ava can tell from the first drag that his shit is going to hit harder than her usual. She turns her head to blow it away from his face, handing back the joint. He tucks it between his fingers and brings it up to his mouth in one smooth motion.

"Now look who's outright lying. I tell you to shut up for various reasons." The muscles in his neck look unfairly good when he turns to exhale. It makes her want to run her tongue up his throat. She looks back up at his face. Everything below his chin is hazardous to her health at the moment. "I don't remember any of them being because I was impressed until now."

His eyes flick back to hers, then down to her mouth as he smiles. His hand was up her dress. It was between her legs only an hour ago. And yet watching him stare at her mouth still feels obscene. "You've got a real funny way of stroking my ego, doll."

"I get the feeling you enjoy it," Ava counters, snatching the joint from his fingers. "I wouldn't do it otherwise. You're always welcome to suggest an alternative."

"No, thanks. I'm a pretty big fan of what you do to me."

Damn. Him.

Yes, the question was a check-in. Yes, she was trying to get a read on how far he wants this to go. Then he had to go and double down without hesitation. She knows by now what door he's trying to invite her through.

Ava is so not brave enough for this conversation. It's not—it's complicated. She really shouldn't be working on his case if they're going to go down this road, at least not as his primary surgeon. She'll have to pass it on to Hannah and have a few very embarrassing conversations with a handful of people. Ones that involve fessing up to wanting to fuck Bucky Barnes.

She's not saying no. But she's not brave enough to say yes. At least not tonight, up here on the roof.

Ava leans back against the couch, feeling his arm curl in around her shoulders. "Good. Let me know if that changes."

—

u dont get to yell at me for the edging, i warned u that im gonna leave an * on smut chapters. anything less than Full Fuckin aint gettin the badge 😤 i have a Standard to uphold in this house of sin

(tho if anyone feels there shoulda been a warning tag for smthing you can always lemme know bb 💞)

also ill never be able to properly articulate how much i love writing cranky old fart bucko. heartstopper is stupid fun, feral trauma man keeps me on my toes, but stick-shaking geezer mode??? mr. “kids these days with their MEMES” himself??? beautiful. fantastic. superb. his final form, truly 🤌 i yearn to write more of it

anyways there are writers on the internet that can make their slow burn wholesome. in all my years on this space rock of ours, ive never been one of them

even if i do write the longfic of the sunshine dweebs steve and paige, that probably wont be all that wholesome of a slow burn either ajdhdskjfdjsjf. they ARE my tooth rotting fluff ship tho. mmm okay so maybe paige is a tragedy in disguise but its ME so thats expected 😌 the babes that like their romance extra sappy and cutesy take a lotta shit and deserve a Safe Space and steve rogers fits that bill, imho

bucky is for the babes that like to verbally get their hair pulled before hearing ily 🥰

the good news is, i get a few more chapters in this fic to torture you with before i let bucko and ava do the Big Sin (not murder, the other one. no, not hand holding, the other other one) 😌💖💞

also PieAnnamay's comment reminded me that i never linked my fav buckaroo fic, safe with me!!! for anyone else that hasnt stumbled upon bitsandbobsandstuff, i cant recommend them enough. i HIGHLY encourage you to go read through all their works while you’re waiting for updates on this, the bucky and steve fics are 😫🤌 perfection (i promise when i finally have a day to really do tumblr stuff, ill make a list of my fav fics/writers in my pinned post. i promise i will try to get to it Soon, i still havent even caught up on chapter posts there asldhfsadf)

❤️ https://archiveofourown.org/works/13798047/chapters/31721565

#chapter update #bro why are these such a pain in the ass to make #no for real how the FUCK did the formatting of this website get worse while i was away #like H O W #not to mention the fact that i STILL have to go grab raw html from ao3 just to get this shit to copy correctly #its been over a decade #90% of the user base of this website is fandom with active writers #w h y is that st i l l a thiNG

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stars-falling · 3 years ago

Text

angel in disguise (elriel)

summary: azriel is having a terrible time but an angel disguised in a pink coat and yellow welly boots saves the day.

prompt: a pair of glasses held together by tape, a missing phone and a small, mean dog.

word count: 4.9k

note: i wrote this last year and only just edited it... i have nothing to say for myself. sorry for not uploading for so long, motivation has been a real struggle for me recently but i'm writing more these days, so hopefully i can upload more this year! also, thank you so so much for 1000 followers, it means so much to me that so many people enjoy my content! i'll be hosting a 1k celebration soon.

hope you enjoy!

lily <3

read here on ao3 // masterlist

********************************

Today was a horrible day. During his 26 years of living, today would surely make it into Azriel’s top 10 worst moments compilation, the one that seemed to replay every time he closed his eyes to sleep.

In the scheme of things, the day had started well. Even though he was working on a Saturday, he hadn’t yet found a reason to complain. Sure, he had forgotten to get new contact lenses, but he had slipped on his glasses and called it a day. His alarm had gone off at exactly the correct time. His walk to work was peaceful. And he had remembered all the notes he needed to write the article he was currently working on. But, it quickly went downhill from there.

He knew that being a writer for a popular magazine would be difficult. He’d known from the moment he’d chosen to major in journalism that there would never be an easy day, but coming into work to find his desk laden down with four new assignments, three requests for a meeting and two phone numbers to call was excessive. Still, he had struggled on, rushing from meeting to meeting, phone call to phone call before he was finally able to collapse at his desk in time to start work on the four new articles he'd been given. So yes, it hadn’t been an easy day but it hadn’t been the worst. That was until his boss had called him into his office to tell him that the deadline for both his original and new articles had been moved up. Then the moment he returned to his desk, his old shitty laptop decided to blue screen. All his progress was lost. He had even less time to complete the articles than before, let alone rewrite them from scratch.

Azriel was a stoic man, he rarely let anything show, but at that moment he felt like bursting into tears. He glanced up at the clock. It was 5:45 and he still had 15 minutes before his workday officially ended but he packed up anyway, tossing his now broken laptop, his notes and whatever else (he wasn’t paying attention) into the fancy leather messenger bag his brothers had gotten him as a congratulation for landing the job. They said it made him look professional. He didn’t feel very professional.

He stalked out of the office, discarding the many used paper cups that once contained coffee into a bin and ignored everyone on the way out of the building. Luckily, it was late spring so the daylight remained as he walked down the road. It was cool but not cold enough to warrant a coat, the way he liked it. The streets were surprisingly clear meaning he could wander along, trying to recollect himself after such a hellish day at work. Things were looking up. Then a large drop of rain landed right on his head. He glanced up to see that a dark grey cloud had swept in during his time in the office. He went into his bag, fishing around before producing an old navy umbrella. It didn’t belong to him. Rhys had stolen his the other day and had yet to return it, so he had been forced to search the back of a cupboard for something to bring along with him in case of rain. He was glad to have such forethought as the rain started to pour from the sky. He rushed under a tree and, whilst it did little to stop him from getting wet, it did offer him a little reprieve as he attempted to open his umbrella. He undid the velcro that had been holding it together and pressed the little button that would usually send it flying open. But nothing happened. He pressed it again and again before pushing the material away to see the mechanism had rusted in its years of disuse. He attempted to open it manually but it was jammed and no amount of pushing could force it open. On his last nerve, he swung the umbrella against the tree, hoping it would dislodge whatever had jammed the mechanism. But, the action only caused the umbrella to fall to pieces in his hands. The metal fell to the floor with resounding clinks and the umbrella flopped uselessly open, unable to hold itself up. It was then he saw that the fabric near the top had been ripped to shreds. It was completely destroyed, only held together by the velcro strap, rust and spite.

Azriel sucked in a breath. The rain had only worsened as he stood under the tree trying desperately to get his umbrella to work. Resigning to his fate, Azriel gathered up the remains of the umbrella, dumped them in a bin close to him and stepped out into the rain. Five minutes of walking had rendered him soaked and he was grateful that he had taken meticulous care of his bag over time. At least it had at least some capacity to protect the contents of his bag from water damage. He walked along the road, cold, wet and fed up with life. Water dripped from his hair and down onto his neck, causing chills to skitter up and down his back. The afternoon sun had dimmed to a dull glow barely visible through the clouds and the headlights of cars that came speeding down the road. One of the cars sped through a puddle, sending its contents flying over Azriel and covering him with the dirty brown water that had slowly been collecting along the side of the road. He looked down to find his white shirt stained and water leaking from his bag. He hoped that the plastic folders he usually kept his notes in were doing their job.

He wiped off water from his glasses the best he could using his sodden shirt sleeve but he only succeeded in smearing the droplets further. He placed them back on, uncaring that he could barely see five metres in front of him. He looked up to see a smudged rendition of the park sign. Usually, he loved his walks to and from work. They took him through Velaris park, along the river Sidra and gave him a chance to glimpse into at least one of the crowded marketplaces. It enabled him to see the best of Velaris but right now all he wanted to see was home.

He stepped through the gate to the park and began along the path that would take him to the exit he needed. As he walked, he felt a low pain in his stomach and he realised that whilst he had consumed many cups of coffee, he hadn't eaten. An idea materialised in his mind. Rhysand was currently working from home, he could easily order take out and be at the door ready to collect it before Azriel even got close. Azriel looked around, making sure the path was clear before coming to a halt in the centre. He hunched over his bag as he stuck his hand in to grab his phone. But the pocket he usually stored it in was empty. He continued searching but it was futile. His phone was not in his bag. He patted down his pockets but they were also empty. He cast his mind back to the moment he was packing up. He usually took great care when leaving, as to be sure he had left nothing but today he had been careless. He let out a groan and removed his glasses to rub his eyes as he remembered he had placed the sleek device on the side of his desk. The side of his desk he hadn’t bothered to check when he had packed away his belongings.

He was reaching up to place his glasses back onto his face when they slipped out of his grasp. The rainwater had caused them to become slick in his hands and his frozen fingers couldn't maintain his grip. Startled, he stepped forward. An action followed by a sickening crunch. He looked down to see that his glasses had snapped in two at the bridge. Rain dripped down his face, merging with the tears that had started to leak from his eyes. He tried so damn hard all the time. He worked his ass off, rarely taking holidays. He volunteered when he had time. He donated to charities, he was always polite and he even helped old ladies cross the damned road. Yet all the good he tried to put out into the universe seemed to be rejected. Instead, he was stuck out in a rainstorm with a broken umbrella, glasses and laptop, a thousand and one deadlines hanging over his head and a very bad case of misfortune. He bent down to scoop out the two halves of the glasses and wandered over to the bench nearest to him. He sat down, uncaring about the water that had pooled on the painted wood and soaked his trousers further. He tucked his bag under where he sat in an attempt to protect it from the rain and leant forward, his elbows on his knees so he could rest his face in his palms. The rain continued to pour and Azriel could feel where the cold began to pierce his skin and sink deep within his bones. He sat like that for a while.

The soft sound of claws clicking against pavement stirred him from his stupor. He glanced up to see a small chihuahua approaching him. It ambled up to him without a care for the world around it and sniffed his leg. Azriel held out a hand for it to examine and watched in wonder as it seemed to rest its tiny head in his hand. It was warm and Azriel ran a tentative finger against its cheek. The demeanour of the dog changed immediately. It morphed from the curious being that approached him into an angry hell beast in less than a second. It let out a loud growl and nipped at his hand, biting down hard. Azriel jerked away, letting out various curses all the while. The beast had let go of his hand but it stood before him, barking aggressively, as Azriel rubbed the injured spot on his hand.

“Princess!”

A silvery shout rang out across the park although it was quickly muffled by the rain. A woman came into view. Although she was slightly blurry due to the downpour and his lack of glasses, he could make out her short flowery dress and matching pink raincoat and umbrella. She seemed to be about his age, maybe a couple of years younger, and was rapidly approaching him with a stern look on her face. The combination of her warm brown eyes, sodden golden hair and the fact that the streetlamps that had just flickered on, illuminating her silhouette, made her look like an angel. An angel in a pair of bright yellow welly boots. Maybe he had died and she was here to lead him to whatever realm lay beyond. Or maybe she was here to fetch her dog, the one that had continued growling at him. That made more sense.

“I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed as she scooped up the dog in front of him with one hand. “She is never normally like this! At least she’s never been like this before. She’s not mine but I walk her sometimes.”

She continued to ramble, cheeks pink from the cold.

“It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

She stopped and looked at him, taking him in for the first time. He was probably a sorry sight with saturated stained clothes and broken glasses in his hands.

“Um, are you okay?”

He held up half of the glasses to her.

“Tough day.”

She grimaced before saying, “I can see that. What happened?”

He didn’t want to get into the details so he simply replied, “I dropped them and then stepped on them out of shock.”

She placed the dog back onto the ground, angling it away from him so it didn’t attack him again. She sat down beside him without regard for the wet bench, tied Princess’s lead to the armrest before holding the umbrella over him (which brushed his head due to her being shorter than him) and holding her hand out. He raised an eyebrow.

“Hand me your glasses,” she said impatiently.

So, he did. He gently placed the two halves of his glasses onto her open palm and she passed the umbrella to him to hold over them. She reached into her bag, which he hadn't realised she’d been carrying.

“My sister injured her knee running the other day so I bought some sports tape for her earlier. I can use it to fix your glasses.”

She pulled the tape from her bag along with tiny scissors that looked to be part of a manicure set. She set about cutting and wrapping as he diligently held the umbrella over their heads. Princess had curled up beneath the bench and was busy gnawing on a stick she had found. After several minutes she held up her finished product. The bridge had been wrapped in several layers of skin-coloured tape and whilst the two halves seemed slightly wonky, it would do. She took the small piece of fabric (likely used to clean her phone) that she had been using to dry the glasses and wiped away water from the bridge of his nose before placing his temporarily fixed glasses back on his face. The tape made them sit lopsided but it was enough. She beamed at him as she took in her work.

“Thank you.” He breathed out. “Really, I can’t thank you enough. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?”

She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him.

“Have you heard of the Flower and Fawn?”

He looked at her in confusion.

“The cafe in Velaris?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“That’s my cafe! I want you to come back with me and I can make some cookies and tea for us! That’s if you want to, of course.” At that, she smiled at him shyly.

“Why?”

“Because you’re having a terrible day. I found you soaked from the rain with broken glasses, after all. I want to help cheer you up!”

He smiled at her before replying, “You’re an angel.”

She shook her head firmly.

“No, I’m just a decent person.” She twisted round to untie Princess’s leash from the bench before turning back to him. “So, would you like to come?”

He considered his options. He could go home and cry in the confines of his room whilst his brothers bug him about various things, or he could follow this beautiful stranger back to her house. She could be a murderer for all he knew, and he was falling right into her trap. But could his day really get any worse?

“Yeah.” He replied. “I’d love to.”

Despite the umbrella, they were still thoroughly drenched by the time they had dropped off Princess at her owners and arrived at the little cafe. Azriel had walked past it several times before, its baby-pink facade, fancy golden lettering and flowers catching his eye every time. Instead of going to enter the bustling cafe, she walked up to the door adjacent to it. As she produced a key to unlock the door she told him, “I live in the apartment above the cafe with my roommate. You can borrow some of his clothes if you want to shower. I’m not working today but I can raid the kitchen for ingredients.”

Azriel looked down at his clothes as she pushed the door open and began to walk up the stairs. His stained shirt had become almost see-through from the wet and his trousers dripped with every movement. Every time he took a step, a small squelching noise sounded due to the water flooding his shoes and socks. Yeah, he might take her up on the offer. He followed her inside cautiously, aware of how much water dripped from him. She turned back from where she was halfway up the stairs.

“Don’t worry about getting water everywhere. My sister once managed to spill a whole bucket of red paint over the apartment and down the stairs. We had to replace the carpets.”

He let out a laugh as he closed the door behind him and began to ascend the stairs. He entered her apartment behind her. It was a small open plan area with the kitchen, dining area and living room all in one. He spied a door in the living room area to his right, likely leading to bedrooms and bathrooms. It was nicely decorated, houseplants and pictures seemed to litter the space along with books and piles of papers. He followed her into the kitchen and placed his bag on the marble island at the centre. She had set about filling the silver kettle when she spun around suddenly.

“I’ve just realised I never introduced myself! How rude of me. I’m Elain.”

Elain, he thought to himself, what a pretty name. He smiled at her before answering, “Azriel. My name’s Azriel.”

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Azriel.” She placed the kettle on its base and pressed the button before continuing, “What else happened today then, or was it the getting caught in the rain without an umbrella and breaking your glasses that made it a bad day?”

He contemplated the fact that Elain was a near stranger, despite the brief conversation they had had about themselves on the way back to her apartment. He decided to tell her anyway.

“Tough day at work, I suppose. I was given four new assignments today along with extra meetings and calls. All my deadlines, both previous and new, got moved up and then my laptop blue screened, losing all my work.”

She frowned at him, sympathy filling her eyes.

“Oh my god! That’s so horrible. I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. And I thought I had bad days sometimes.” She paused as she opened a cupboard. “Coffee or tea?”

“Coffee, please. I’ll have it black.”

She nodded in confirmation before pulling out a cafetière.

“My roommate will be home soon. He works in IT so he could take a look at your computer if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Nonsense. I’m sure he’d be happy to help.” She said, waving him off.

She pushed down the plunger on the cafetière before pouring out the contents into a mug. He took it gratefully and took a long sip. Warmth spread throughout his entire body and he held the mug tightly.

“Thank you.”

Elain just smiled at him in return before taking a sip of her drink. They stood in silence for several minutes, using their hot drinks to bring some heat back into their bodies. Elain pushed off from the counter she was leaning against, holding up her finger to signal she’d return in a moment. Azriel took it as a chance to place down his cup and finally check his bag for water damage. He undid the clasp and glanced inside. Luckily, the plastic folders he had placed his notes in had just about held up. Only the edges of the sheets were soggy. His computer was slightly damp but mainly the water hadn’t soaked through. He let out a sigh of relief. At least one thing hadn’t gone wrong today. He was pulled from his examination by the sound of Elain’s footsteps as she returned from wherever she had disappeared to. He looked up to see her holding a bundle of clothing in her arms which she proceeded to place on the counter in front of him.

“You can borrow these if you want to change or shower. I don’t think it’s good for you to remain in your clothes, you’ll catch a cold. My roommate is a bit shorter than you but they should fit.”

He pulled them towards him gratefully.

“A shower might be good.”

She gestured for him to follow her through the door he had noted earlier. He was correct in his assumption that it led to the rest of her apartment. She showed him to the bathroom and ran him through how the shower worked.

When she was done, she walked away before turning back to say, “I’m going to head down to the kitchens in Flower and Fawn to grab some ingredients. You can put your clothes in that bag there.” She gestured to a small plastic bag on the counter that he previously hadn’t noticed.

“Thank you.” He told her, the sincerity in it making her blush.

“It’s fine, really. I just want you to be okay. Have a nice shower!” At that, she spun around and walked out of the hall. He closed the bathroom door and set about stripping his soaking clothes from his body before stepping into the warm shower. His day was starting to look up.

Ten minutes later, he found himself in a warm black t-shirt and sweatpants that were slightly too small for him. He stepped out of the bathroom with his sodden clothes in one hand and his shoes dangling from the other. He returned to the kitchen, settling the bag next to his leather one and placing his shoes on the radiator to dry. He turned around to find a familiar yet shocked face staring at him from the kitchen table.

“Lucien?”

The red-headed man nodded uncertainly. Lucien Vanserra worked in the IT department at the same magazine Azriel worked for. They were friendly, often having interesting conversations when they bumped into each other in the break room but, other than that, they rarely seemed to cross each other's paths. Until now, that was.

“Azriel? What are you doing here?” Lucien gave him a cursory once over. “In my clothes, no less.”

It took less than a second for it to click.

“You’re the roommate.”

Lucien sent him an even more confused expression.

“You know Elain?”

“I do. Well, I met her today. She found me soaked in the park having a rough time and invited me back to cheer me up.”

Lucien laughed, shaking his head all the while.

“That’s such an Elain thing to do. I worry she’s going to bring home a weirdo one day. You’re close but you don’t quite count.”

Azriel rolled his eyes before replying, “She’s done this before?”

“Not quite this but she’s always trying to help people she meets. I once found her looking after three dogs and two cats because somebody she had met needed to go somewhere overnight and had no one to look after their pets.”

“That’s so nice of her.”

Lucien smiled softly to himself, pride shining in his eyes.

“Yeah. She’s an angel.”

The sound of the door opening startled them out of their conversation. Elain barged in, laden down with a basket of ingredients. She smiled as she saw Lucien and it widened when she saw Azriel next to the kitchen island.

“Azriel, this is Lucien, my roommate.”

He nodded. “We work together actually.”

She beamed at him.

“Perfect,” she said. “That means Lucien would be happy to help fix your laptop.”

Lucien raised an eyebrow at Elain but she ignored him as she set about finding different utensils in preparation for her baking.

“Would I now?”

She turned around with a determined look on her face. She pushed past Azriel to retrieve his laptop and placed it down in front of him.

“Yes. You would. Chop chop, Luci, we don’t have all day.”

She turned back to the kitchen where she resumed her bustling. Azriel sent an apologetic look towards where Lucien sat booting up his laptop.

“You don’t have to.” He told him but Elain spun around to point a whisk at Lucien threateningly.

“Yes, he does. He owes me.”

“I have a date in an hour!” Lucien protested.

“And?” Questioned Elain. “You’ve fixed my computer in ten minutes. You should get going if you don’t want to be late.”

Lucien sighed and Azriel could only shrug in defeat before joining Elain where she stood in front of the counter. She turned to look up at him and for the first time, Azriel realised how much shorter she was than him.

“You want to help?” She asked.

He nodded and suddenly found himself piled with different tools and instructions.

Forty minutes and many mixing bowls later, two trays of freshly baked cookies sat steaming in front of him and Elain, who stared down at them triumphantly. A clatter from behind them caused them to look up. Lucien stood behind the island, Azriel’s laptop and a memory stick before him.

“Bad news, your computer is dead. Good news, I’ve managed to salvage most of your work.” He gestured to the memory stick in front of him. “I’m sure you can get the company to buy you a new laptop if you try hard enough.”

Azriel rushed forward, grasping the memory stick in his hand.

“Thank you so much.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He said waving Azriel off before moving around the counter to kiss Elain on the cheek. “I have a date to get to. Don’t pick up any more strays whilst I’m gone.”

Elain only smiled at him sweetly, mischief twinkling in her eye. “Say hi to Jurian and Vassa for me!”

“I will.” Said Lucien who rolled his eyes before turning to look at Azriel. “It was nice to see you. Keep an eye on her for me, will you?”

“I will. See you on Monday.” He replied.

Elain’s attention turned back to him as soon as the door swung shut behind Lucien. She cast him an excited look.

“Wanna try one?”

He nodded enthusiastically in reply and picked up the one closest to him. The cookie seemed to melt in his mouth, the warmth from the oven lending itself to the chewiness. It was heavenly and he told her such.

Her cheeks darkened before replying, “It wasn’t just me. You helped too.”

“You told me what to do and I followed the instructions. These are all down to you, Elain.”

“I’m glad you like them. They’re somewhat of a staple in the cafe.”

They lapsed in gentle conversation as they ate. He learnt about her family, her hobbies, her passions and he told her the same in return. It was almost 8 o’clock by the time he glanced up at the clock, he hadn’t realised how late it had gotten. He stood up from where he had been sitting after they had migrated from the kitchen to the dining table.

“I should get going. My brothers are probably wondering where I am.”

Elain stood too and they both moved towards the kitchen where Azriel began to pack up his belongings.

“Thank you for having me.” He told her. “It’s been wonderful.”

She smiled at him, soft and welcoming. She looked beautiful under the warm lights.

“I’m glad I could help. It’s been wonderful having you here! Would you like to take some cookies with you?”

He nodded and she wandered over to the cupboard to retrieve a tupperware that she began to pile cookies into. She walked over to where he stood putting his now slightly less wet shoes on by the door. He took the box gratefully.

“Take this,” she told him as she handed him the bright pink umbrella she had been using earlier. “I don’t want you to get soaked on your way home.”

He thanked her before he walked out the door and down the stairs.

“I can return the clothes, box and umbrella to Lucien when I see him on Monday.”

He watched her hesitate as she followed him down.

“You could always stop by the cafe if you want to return them. I work Mondays to Fridays. That is... if you want to.”

He turned to see her blushing profusely. Azriel felt his cheeks warm as he smiled at her softly and replied, “That would be nice.”

He reached the bottom of the steps and pushed open the door. The rain had continued to pour all the while, never slowing. He stepped out and opened the umbrella.

“I’ll see you soon then.”

“See you soon.” She replied, waving at him as he walked away.

He didn’t look back until he heard the door shut quietly behind him. Smiling to himself, he started his walk home. It wasn’t until he had reached the park that he noticed a small note taped to the top of the tupperware Elain had given him. Under the light of the streetlamp, he could just about make out her curly handwriting.

I hope you’re feeling better now! Please feel free to stop by at the cafe when you’re available. Don’t be a stranger!

~ Elain

XXXXX-XXX-XXX

Azriel’s heart stuttered at the sight of the number scrawled beneath her name. He’d definitely be texting it when he finally found his phone. As he wandered through the park, past the bench he had sat on after giving up earlier, he reflected on the day's event. It had been a terrible start but it had ended in something much much better. You know what, Azriel thought to himself as the rain poured down around him and struck the pink umbrella he was holding above his head. Today has been a good day.

********************************

taglist:

@amusedowl @court-of-fuck-me-daddy @akb12348 @actuallyacotartrash @thesirenwashere @julesherondalex @1islessthan3books @verifiefangirl @rhysanoodle @sadbitchlorcan @thefangirlofhp @abraxos-is-toothless @elrielllll @b00kworm @maastrash @rosssas @illyrianbeauty @nightcourtcinnamonroll @ireallyshouldsleeprn @tswaney17 @secretbondsandloveconfessions @sleeping-and-books @thewayshedreamed @rowaelinismyotp @swankii-art-teacher @the-laughing-bubble @123moiaussi @onceupona-chaos @hereforelriel

let me know if you would like to be added/removed from my tag list!

#angel in disguise #elriel #Elain Archeron #Azriel #azriel shadowsinger #lily writes #my writing #stars-falling #elriel fanfiction #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #a court of thorns and roses #acotar fanfic #azriel x elain #elain x azriel #fluff oneshot #pro elriel

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outerbanks-fandom · 3 years ago

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Cigarette Daydreams - JJ Maybank x female reader

Description: this imagine is based on the song ‘cigarette daydreams’ by Cage the Elephant.

warnings: swearing, violence is you squint, trigger warning it can get a bit graphic. This imagine can be very sad please read with caution.

Word Count: 1,434

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY WORK FOR ANYTHING THIS IS MINE AND YOU DON”T HAVE PERMISSION TO UPLOAD IT ANYWHERE ELSE.

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Funny how it seems like yesterday as i recall, you were looking out of place.

Something was off with JJ. Normally when we were all hanging out as a group he was constantly touching me. If it was him leaning against me while i played with his hair or even just as simple as having his hand in mine. But, today he was next to me but it was like he wasn’t here. His replies were monotone, his hands never left the beer bottle or cigarette. He didn’t even look at me for longer than 2 seconds.

It was like he was a stranger, when he did reply it would all get awkward. “Hey baby, wanna go get some more beers with me?” he shrugged and got up. Walked ahead of me, something he only ever did when we argued. Any other time he was right next to me, holding my hand or his arm wrapped around me.

We walked inside the chateau's kitchen area and he grabbed the fridge door, “Jay, what’s wrong” again he shrugged. “JJ! what is wrong, words please”

“Can’t i just have a off day damn, not everyone is fucking perfect Y/n!” I scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he threw one of the beer bottles at the wall behind me. I never ducked so fast in my life. “I mean I’m fucking sick of you expecting me to be someone I'm not. Well I hate to break it to you but I have fucking negative feeling. I have off days more than I have happy days, but for you I try and hide it. I’m suck of it! I’m not perfect and I hate to break it to you but neither are you!” I felt tears in my eyes but momma didn’t raise no bitch.

“Who the fuck told you to be perfect? and when did I say I was? I practically beg you to tell me when something is wrong, but no. JJ Maybank has to put on the tough guy act and pretend like you do shit for me? No JJ you act this because you’re terrified of the truth.” If anyone walked into this room right now the pure anger radiating off JJ and I would of sent them right back outside. “And what’s that Y/n, what’s the truth?”

“That the big and bad JJ Maybank is actually a broken teenage boy.” he had a sick laugh leave his mouth. “Fuck you Y/n Y/l/n, fuck you. You need to leave because if this keeps going like this I'll do something we ‘ll both regret.”

The color drained from my face and I think he even surprised himself. “You... you would hit me?” his hands ran through his hair pulling as the roots. “Like I said, I'm fucked up. I’m not perfect.” “I’m not either but I still would never put my hands on you.”

He quickly walked up to me hands still in his hair. I felt fear cursing through my veins but I wouldn’t show him that. “Do it JJ, show me that your no better than the very man you’re scared to be like.” granted what I said was fucked up but it made him realize what he was doing. He didn’t respond he just looked at me with regret in his eyes. I grabbed my bag that was on the counter and walked back out the door. “Call me when you figure your shit out. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk about whatever is worth threatening your girlfriend.”

That last line caused him more pain than any hit he’s ever taken.

Gathered up your things and slipped away...

JJ broke down the second she walked away. Thousands of thoughts was running through his mind. ‘I was gonna hurt her’ ‘she hates me’ ‘I ruined everything’ he looked at the wall and saw the wet stains from the beer and followed it the dripping stains and saw the broken glass. ‘that could of hit her.’ ‘I could of caused the person I love the most physical pain’ ‘I caused her emotional pain’

Y/n walked out the chateau and immediately grabbed her skateboard off the porch and went home without an explanation. She texted Kiera telling her she started to feel sick and needed to go home. She got home about 15 minutes later, and immediately went in her room to get my stuff together and shower.

She thought about all the things that went down and what could of gone down. She loved JJ with her whole heart and wasn’t ready to let him go but if she had to worry that every time they fought, he would hit her.

Cigarette

Whenever she got out the shower she checked her phone and had 3 missed calls from Kiera, 1 from pope, missed texts from John B and 10 missed calls, 7 missed texts from JJ. Deciding to text John B back first.

hey, are you okay? JJ is really scared since you didn’t answer anyone’s calls

no pressure but please just at least read these so we know you’re okay

switching over to JJ’s texts she read

Baby i’m so sorry

please baby, i need to know you’re okay

i know i fucked up

i just need to know you’re safe

please y/n i love you

you are by far the greatest thing to ever happen to me, i lied y/n. you are perfect in my eyes your couldn’t be more perfect. You’re perfect for me. I would never put my hands on you.

baby please just answer the phone

JJ was freaking the fuck out. It was 2 two in the morning and you rode home on you’re skateboard. “Please answer you’re fucking phone baby, if you don’t call in the next 10 minutes I'm coming to your house.”

Daydream

Y/n texted never answered their text . She actually didn’t even go home that night. That’s what JJ imagined happened when she left that night. He was worried sick though he stayed up all night thinking you were just asleep or mad. That was all until six o’clock the next day he got a phone call that will play in his head forever.

His whole world collapsed, you didn’t make it home that night. You didn’t even make is a mile away from the chateau before a group of drunk kook’s went on a joyride and didn’t see the teenage girl riding her skateboard and texting her friend back.

The bastards didn’t even get out and check on you, they drove away as fast as they could. You were there all night and it wasn’t until a guilty conscience ridden teenage boy went to the same spot to make sure you were gone but when he got there he saw your lifeless body. He immediately called 911, hoping there's was a chance they could save you.

JJ destroyed everything in site. John B didn’t even stop him, he understood. Kiera and Sarah was with your mom while she cried in your room. Pope was staring at the wall at the chateau.

“She died thinking I hated her! She fucking died! She promised me forever than she fucking dies.” JJ needed a hug from you and that was impossible. “JJ you can’t be mad at her because she passed away” pope made the mistake of saying mid breakdown for JJ. “No Pope she didn’t just pass away, some piece of shit kook’s took her away. They didn’t even have the decency to call for help until the next fucking day. She could still be alive, it was up the fucking road and I didn’t know. I could of saved her!”

JJ’s world was over, you were far too young to not be alive. You had so much life to live, you wanted to go to college, you wanted to get married, live somewhere with snow, have kids and 2 dogs. JJ wanted to give you all that but now he can’t.

He walked into the room he stayed in at John B’s and was immediately met with the picture frame you gave him for your two year anniversary. It held two pictures, one from when you first got together. It was you two on the beach during one of the many keggers y’all attended together. He arm wrapped around your waist while you hugged his. The other one was you two on John B’s boat, you sitting on the boat floor and his back against your chest, the biggest smile plastered on his face as you looked at him with pure love and admiration. He saw the tears hit the picture frame.

“You were only seventeen”

#jj mayback x reader #outerbanks #jj maybank obx #rudy pankow #jj maybank #female character #pogues #outer banks imagine #john b outer banks #sarah cameron #pope outer banks

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fluttereyes · 2 years ago

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Intro

I was making myself some nice stencilled shop windows and shop signs because I couldn't find many online to download, I'm very much into personalising every shop I build. (That reminds me, I should share some builds later.) Then I liked them and thought I would maybe upload them for others to find and use if they like them. Then I remembered I already had loads of stuff I've made in my sims 3 folder, so I thought I'd pull together all the things I've made and upload them too. Then I found an old folder from when I was running prettysims.com and it was loaded with stuff I forgot about and unfinished works. So I'm setting about getting them all finished and uploaded, it was early days of Sims 3 and I was more inexperienced than I am now. That will mean it will take some time to get them all up but I'm committed to doing it. Some good stuff here, some rubbish too, scroll through and take what you want. Just me making the silly little things that I want in my own game. They are all package files.

Many of these have other items to go with them, like sets. Until I learn how to do links to content on here I'm afraid it's a matter of prowling through.

I'm not great with flags in s3pe, I do as few as I can get away with. I tend to remove all flags in my own game so that they don't show in the build buy catalogue at all and I use collection files to find them. Speedy catalogue load times.

I would prefer it if people didn't take my stuff and put it up for download on their own website/blog, this is what puts people off making stuff. Links to my items are welcome.

Happy browsing. Sorry for my awful photographs, trust me the stuff looks much better in game. Please bear with me while I learn how to make this Tumblr look better.

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professorsnape394 · 4 years ago

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The Potions Master’s Apprentice

Chapter Sixteen: Halloween

A/N: This is the sixteenth part to my fanfiction ‘The Potions Master’s Apprentice (Severus Snape x OC)’. Chapters 1-16 can be found already uploaded on Wattpad under the same name. Feel free to leave requests in my inbox for anything Snape related you want me to write. Leave a comment below if you wish to be added to my tag list.

Pairing: Severus Snape x OC (Dumbledore’s Granddaughter)

Summary: A talented young witch is employed as an apprentice professor at Hogwarts, but who will she be working under? Severus Snape is not best pleased with his new responsibility of taking on an apprentice, however she is relentless to create a friendship between them. Will she be successful? Or might the friendship just go a little two far? With the eyes of her grandfather constantly watching over them, an attempt at a relationship might not be in the cards for Aria Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

Word Count: 5342

Warnings: mentions of sexual harassment, alcohol consumption.

Credits to Gif Creator

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore whispered, his lip almost trembling as he read the scrap of parchment that had just been spat out from the goblet.

The hall felt silence.

"Harry Potter." He spoke louder, looking furiously around the hall.

All eyes now searched for Harry.

"Harry Potter!" Albus yelled for a final time.

Aria felt her heart pound in her chest, surely this was a mistake, he wasn't even of age. She looked to her right, hoping Severus would provide some reassurance, though he too seemed just as shocked as she.

The young Gryffindor rose gingerly to his feet, being forced up by his friends and classmates. He seemed petrified, and just as confused as everyone else.

Students heckled him as he walked through the hall, assuming he had found some way to cheat the system. Neither Snape nor Aria believed this could be the case.

Aria Dumbledore stumbled slightly on her heels as she looked around desperately for someone to correct the situation. Without thinking she gripped her hand around the potions masters arm, clinging on for dear life. "Severus." She pleaded, her eyes wide with desperation, brow furrowed in frustration. "He's only fourteen."

Snape looked down at his apprentice, the look in her eyes paining him possibly more than the thought of the young boy competing in a deadly tournament. He opened his mouth to speak, almost about to place his own hand onto hers. But froze as Harry approached the Headmaster, and the parchment was thrust into his hand.

Severus broke away from Aria, turning his gaze outward as the boy came face to face with him.

Still completely shell shocked Harry made his way out of the room, earning a reassuring motherly tap from Minerva McGonagall on the way before disappearing along with the other Tri-Wizard champions.

Instantly the remaining students were dismissed back to their dormitories while a commotion broke out among the professors.

Both Headmaster Karkaroff and Madame Maxime outraged at the mere prospect of Hogwarts having two competing champions. The resident professors however, were far more concerned with Potter's safety than having a leg up in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Dumbledore flew from the room, Severus following at his heels, and all the other teachers not far behind. Minerva faltered for a second, falling in line with Aria as they made their way from the room, clinging to each other desperately.

"Harry Potter, did you put your name in the goblet of fire?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"No sir." The boy stuttered, his eyes darting between the crowd of professors.

"But of course, 'e is lying." Olympe accused, towering above even Hagrid.

"To hell he is." Mad- eye moody stepped forward. "The goblet of fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object, only an exceptionally powerful confundus charm could have hoodwinked it, magic way beyond the talents of a fourth year."

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, Mad-eye." Karkaroff spat in return.

While the two men continued arguing, Aria broke arms with Minerva, once again working up the courage to approach Severus. Bringing his attention away from the chaos, she wrapped both hands around Snape's bicep, forcing herself closer to him. "Please." She begged.

Severus faltered. He saw the desperateness in her eyes, as well as in his friend Minerva's. He knew they both cared deeply about the boy. But what exactly was he meant to do?

"The rules are absolute." Barty Crouch sr. spoke. "The goblet of fire constitutes a binding magical contract. Mr. Potter has no choice, he is, as of tonight, a Tri-Wizard champion."

Severus locked eyes with Aria, wishing he could do more. Slowly Aria let her hands fall, she knew now he would not intervene.

Back in the potions classroom, Aria had almost become furious with Snape for not speaking up. Severus on the other hand, was getting sick of the woman going on at him about it, and was rather more concerned with why she chose to hold him in the way she did. A thought that hadn't let his mind since her fingers left his arm.

"I cannot believe you didn't stop them, Severus. Harry is not skilled enough to compete, not to mention the competition is renowned to be deadly. I can't believe it's actually still allowed to continue."

"And what exactly did you expect me to do Miss Dumbledore?" Snape questioned flicking his cloak behind him as he took a seat by his desk. "Barty said it himself. The rules are absolute, he is contractually bound. Nothing I could have said would have made any difference."

"But you could have tried." Aria whined, slamming her palms on the desk.

"And achieved what?" Snape shot up, his tone sharpening. "You overestimate my influence in this school, Miss Dumbledore. While your grandfather may rely on me for trivial duties, that is where my power stops." He snapped, getting annoyed at the woman for consistently guilting him.

"But you must know he didn't put his own name in, he couldn't have!" She persuaded, exasperated.

"Whether I believe he did or did not is irrelevant. He is competing and that's the end of it. That also goes for this conversation. I don't want to hear anymore of it." Snape warned, his eyes piercing into her. "Take the rest of the day off." He commanded.

Given that it was Saturday he had no right to keep her there anyway, though the witch had hoped she could spend the day with him, even if it meant giving themselves more work. Now that she had been banished from the classroom the prospects of her day were low and given that it was Halloween she suspected almost all of the students would be hauled up in their dorms throwing their own private parties. She had heard from Fred and George that it wasn't uncommon for the Gryffindor common room to be host to a number of events throughout the year, today certainly wouldn't be any exception.

Thinking of the students enjoying themselves sparked an idea for Aria. If they students were having party, why couldn't the professors?

Aria dedicated her day to doing her rounds of the school inviting every professor and member of staff she could think of to a party in the staff room that evening. It appeared the professors were just as in need of a night off as the students were, by the looks of it the party planning had gone quite successfully.

* Making her way briskly through the dimly lit dungeon corridor, Aria headed for the Hogwarts staff room, hoping not to cross paths with any suspicious looking rogue students on her way. As she passed by the old wooden door of Snape's office it occurred to Aria she had neglected to invite one crucial member of staff to this evenings event.

"Fuck." She groaned, running a hand through her sleekly styled hair.

Teetering on her heels Aria debated knocking on the door. Though it was highly unlikely Severus would even want to attend her party, she knew it would inevitably be better asking him at the eleventh hour than to not ask at all.

Braving the knock, she prepared herself for the ridiculing she was bound to receive.

A moment or two passed with no response, assuming Severus was located elsewhere, Aria chose to let herself in, just in case.

To her surprise Severus Snape was sat, hunched over his desk as he usually was. Only this time his desk was no longer cluttered with papers but displayed a singular framed photograph, which seemed to captivate Snape. He was evidently deaf to the world.

Coughing lightly to declare herself, Aria gently shut the door behind her.

"Professor Snape." She announced trying to get on his good side, though a hint of surprise and embarrassment remained.

Straightening his posture, Snape extended his arm slowly, slamming the picture face first into the desk, desperate to keep it hidden.

"Miss... Dumbledore." He droned, eyeing the woman up and down. A slight look of disgust forming on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I erm... I've arranged a small get together in the staff room tonight; you know, some drinks and snacks and music, since it's Halloween and all. I was wondering if you wanted to come?"

"I think not, Miss Dumbledore." He said, instantly turning away, disinterested.

"Of course: I understand." She nodded her head nervously. "It's so last minute, I doubt many people will come anyway, to be honest with you." She shrugged, shuffling on her feet.

Snape looked up from his desk, watching the woman squirm, he almost pitied her.

"Professor Flitwick informed me of your little 'get together' earlier this afternoon Miss Dumbledore." His voice dropping with boredom. "It seems the whole faculty is excited by the prospect of a party. I wouldn't worry about attendance too much."

Aria's heart practically flew out of her mouth. It hadn't crossed her mind for one single moment that Severus would have interacted with anyone besides herself today, let alone been discussing social events.

"Fuck." Aria said again, under her breath. "I meant to tell you Severus, honestly. It slipped my mind, I didn't mean to leave you out. I feel so stupid. I'm so sorry." She rambled.

"Relax, Miss Dumbledore." He commanded. "Whether I knew about your party or not has no affect on my decision. I wouldn't have come either way, I assumed you would know better than to invite me, it's a waste of time and energy for the both of us."

"Oh, I, er... I thought maybe since it was me, you might have reconsidered." The words had come out of her mouth before she had even realised what she had said. What made her any different from any other Professor?

"Don't flatter yourself, just because I am forced to work with you everyday does not mean I am willing to change my entire personality for you." Snape scoffed.

"I just meant- oh what's the point, your right, this is a waste of time, I'll leave you alone."

The witch turned to leave, one hand reaching for the door, before she heard the voice of the potions master speak up again.

"Wait." He demanded. "I'm curious. What exactly are you supposed to be?" The potions masters eyes travelled up and down the girl, inspecting her outfit for any trace of a costume.

"Oh." She stopped in her tracks. "I'm a sexy devil." She grinned, showing herself off and brandishing a pair of cheap plastic horns and a pitchfork she had been anxiously twiddling behind her back.

"Of course you are." He scoffed, rolling his eyes in disgust.

"I got them from Zonko's, it was the best I could do at the last minute." She shrugged, shying away.

Reaching again for the door handle, Aria froze, spinning back on her heel.

"Who is she?" She asked abruptly.

"I'm sorry?" Snape retorted, baffled that she dare even ask.

"You got a question, now I do too. Who is she?" The Professor nodded to the toppled over picture frame.

"How do you-"

"I just do. Who is she?" Aria pressured once more.

"A friend." He answered simply.

"Do you love her?" Aria couldn't help but pry further, though she had no idea why she wanted to know.

Severus simply looked up from his desk, his eyes connecting with Aria's. They shared a knowing look, neither of them needing to verbalise it.

"Oh." She responded, pressing her glossy scarlet lips together. "I guess you're not as heartless as you pretend you are after all." She smirked, finally leaving the room.

"Severus couldn't make it then?" A feline-esq Mcgonagall asked, joining Aria next to the drinks table.

"No." Aria replied. "He was busy. I shouldn't have expected him to anyway, this isn't exactly his sort of thing is it?" She said looking around at the crowd of professors disguised as pirates, superheroes and zombies, casually chatting and swaying away to the music.

"I shouldn't think it is." Minerva agreed, taking off her pair of false cat ears, giving her head a moments release. Aria couldn't help but laugh at her choice of costume, which I'm sure was professors desired reaction.

Pouring yet another drink Aria felt herself swaying back and forth in her heels, the alcohol was finally beginning to take its toll.

"Pace yourself, my dear, the night is still young." Minerva chuckled, taking a sip of wine.

"Sorry." Aria chuckled, gulping down the rest of her cocktail, completely ignoring the advice from her friend. "It's just been a while since I've allowed myself to get drunk, ya know, the side effects don't agree with me much."

"Well your still young I suppose, people your age often are out partying every weekend. I think you should allow yourself the luxury just this once, eh. The side effects are tomorrow's problem." The older woman winked.

"God, I hope not." Aria whispered, but continued pouring drinks nonetheless.

"Join me?" Aria said, clumsily pouring two very large shots, for the pair to down. "Let's get a bit more life into this party, shall we?" She announced, turning up the music and began filling a tray of shot glasses up, passing them around the room.

"Everyone gather around and let's make this interesting." The young woman mischievously announced.

Lining up numerous shots glasses and filling them with various miscellaneous liquors, Aria waited for the staff to gather round the table.

"Truth or dare. Alcohol edition. If this doesn't get us all absolutely hammered by the end of the night, nothing will." She laughed, hoping that getting these witches and wizards drunk and spilling some secrets would be a bit more fun that just standing around talking.

"And on that note, I feel this may be my cue to retire for the night." Dumbledore informed, taking Aria by the hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "You lot have fun." He smiled, chuckling to himself as he walked away.

One hour, two bottles of tequila and several very very drunk professors later Aria Dumbledore was satisfied with her attempts at spicing things up. The game had begun to wind to an end, with a couple of teachers tapping out, a few more passed out, and, in the case of Hagrid and Olympe Maxine, making out.

"Your turn again Aria; truth, dare or drink." Aurora Sinistra enquired. The small crowd buzzed, hyping her up as she carefully considered her decision.

"Truth!" She shouted, chickening out of yet another dare, and she truly did not think she could handle one more shot.

"I have one for you." Igor Karkaroff confessed, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere and plopping himself down in the empty space next to Aria.

"Then go ahead." She allowed, gathering her legs in a basket and turning to face him.

"How do you really feel about Severus Snape?" He breathed, his face inching closer to hers the longer she paused to think. The few invested professors fell silent eagerly anticipating her response.

"How do I feel about Snape?" She slurred, letting out a small amused laugh, as her body continued to sway towards Igor unknowingly.

"He's... curious." She began, finding her words amidst a sea of drunken thoughts. "He has the capacity for love and friendship just like the rest of us, yet he chooses to be mean-spirited. And for what? No apparent reason but his own satisfaction. He can be rude and arrogant and cruel. And despite it all I try my best try to show him kindness, but where does that get me? He calls me out in front of practically the whole school? That was so fucking humiliating, and I'm just supposed to forgive him? I think it's safe to do say I'd live a happy life, if I were to never see that man again."

"It's seems you've had a bit of time to think about this? I assumed you and Severus were friends." Madam Pomfrey commented, as the room fell silent.

"Can anyone really be friends with that man." Aria scoffed, beginning to feel uncomfortable, as it became clear to her that others did not share the same opinion.

"Admittedly Severus can be a hard man to get along with. But really he's not so bad once you get to know him." Minerva informed. "While he may not show it, he does care. Give him another chance, Aria, it takes a while to warm up to him."

Aria gave a small nod, thinking now might be a good time to wrap things up. She felt guilty for saying such bad things about Severus but it had also been some what of a release to get it all out there before she was truly able to forgive him for all the horrible things he said.

Picking up her scattered heels she had abandoned some time ago, Aria decided to call it a night.

Severus Snape had barely moved from the moment Aria Dumbledore had left his office. He sat frozen in time, simply staring at the picture of her. It had become routine for him at this point, every year, on Halloween, he would mourn the life of the woman he had once called best friend. He thought back to that night when he found her, murdered by the man he had put his faith in, the man he believed would spare her life, the man he vowed from that point onwards, he would help put an end to. It was on this day every year, he reminisced on his life full of regrets.

It was then he heard a small amount of commotion and scuffling echoing through the dungeon corridor. Assuming it would be a couple of excitable teenagers Snape made his way out, ready to deduct a couple of house points for disrupting his evening.

Unable to distinguish any facial features in the dark, Snape listened carefully to the drunken mumbles from down the hall. As he closed in on the pair it became clear to him that what he once assumed to be a playful make out session, was in reality an act of unwanted attention. The female was clearly drunk and struggling to dissuade the man's advances.

Illuminating the tip of his wand, Severus ripped the man away from the woman, thrusting him into the light. "Karkaroff?" Snape winced, releasing his tight grip on the headmasters collar. Slowly coming to terms with the reality before him, Snape's eyes darted towards the woman, who, seconds ago, had been pinned to the cold stone wall. Pealing away the curtain of hair from her face, Aria timidly revealed herself.

"What the fuck are you doing Snape?" Karkaroff grumbled, stumbling backwards, struggling to keep his balance.

"I could ask you the very same question, Igor." Severus seethed, pressing the tip of his wand firmly into Igor's neck.

"No need to get so defensive." Karkaroff chuckled. "Do not believe this innocent act, she wants this just as much as me. She's gagging for it, Severus, you should know that more than anyone." He burped grotesquely, making a move in Aria's direction.

Instantly forcing himself between the ex-deatheater and his assistant. Severus dug his wand deeper into the man's skin. "Do not come any closer, Igor. I suggest you leave now and hope to God that Dumbledore doesn't hear of this."

Karkaroff paused for a second, running his tongue along his bottom lip in contemplation. Slowly closing the gap between himself and he potions master, Igor Karkaroff whispered into his colleagues ear. "I can wipe her memory straight after, no one needs to know. Go back into your chambers and forget you ever saw anything. I wouldn't blame you if you did the same."

"You disgust me." Snape spat, shoving the man away from him.

Karkaroff laughed sinisterly once again, seeing no real severity of his actions. That was the last straw for Severus. Swiping his wand across his face, a small but painful cut began to appear on Igor's cheek, a tiny pool of blood quickly forming and spilling down his face.

"Go. Now. Before I regret letting you off so lightly." The potions master commanded.

Having silently witnessed the whole exchange, Aria felt her pulse racing, feeling utterly helpless in her drunken state. Half expecting Severus to simply turn and leave, Aria begun to fiddle with the hem of her dress, not wanting to see him walk away. To her surprise a warm hand rested itself on her bicep, defrosting her body from the outside in.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked sincerely concerned.

Aria nodded her head repeatedly, but refused to meet her mentors gaze. "He didn't really do anything. He... he just wanted to come in for a nightcap." She tried to convince herself.

"I think we both know what his intentions were." Snape droned, agitated by her stupidity.

"Thank you." She said solemnly, her eyes finally meeting his.

Acknowledging her appreciation, Snape turned on his heel ready to finally retire for the night.

"Wait, Severus." She spoke up, finding her voice again. "I could use some company tonight. Do you mind if I join you?"

"It's been a long day, Miss Dumbledore. I was planning on getting at least some sleep tonight."

"I understand." She hung her head, embarrassed for even asking.

Looking down at the disappointed look on the young woman's face, he did not have the heart to leave her after what had just happened. Letting out a hefty sigh, Snape made his way to his office, throwing open the old oak door, waiting patiently.

"Come on then." He offered, motioning to the empty room.

"Do you mind if I...?" Aria gestured to a rogue bottle of FireWhiskey. "For the nerves."

"Go ahead." Snape permitted, settling back down behind his desk, while Aria made herself at home in his office.

Truthfully Aria had found herself becoming rapidly more sober by the second and she was desperate to put an end to that feeling as soon as possible. She was already embarrassed enough without the risk of Snape asking anymore questions.

"How was your little party." Severus pondered, having nothing else to occupy him.

"Not bad. Would have been better with you there though." Aria confessed, taking a seat on the edge of Severus' desk, gulping down her glass of FireWhiskey.

"I doubt that that is true." He droned, rolling his eyes, unconvinced.

"Of course its true, you're my friend Severus. Why do you find it so hard to believe that someone could enjoy your company." She raised an eyebrow at the potions master.

"There is not much to like about a man like me, Miss Dumbledore. I simply do not see the appeal." Leaning forward in his chair, Snape averted his gaze.

"Well I do." Aria assured firmly, refusing to take her eyes off the man in front of her. "And clearly you were open to friends in the past. You speak of this woman for instance, the two of you were friends." She tried to get him to open up.

"For a while." He replied simply.

"See."

"When we were children." He elaborated, once again meeting her eyes. "And that brief phenomenon ended when the prospect of a better opportunity arose for her." Snape added bitterly.

"That cannot possibly be true." Aria scoffed, unconvinced he was telling her the whole truth.

"That, coupled with my less than amiable personality, and a few harsh words drove her away for good. And with final nail in the coffin being just that, there is no hope for a reunion any time soon." He finalised, his tone harsher and more agitated than before.

"Is that a habit of yours then?"

"Is what a habit of mine?"

"Attempting to drive away your friends by insulting them." She said it only to be playful, hoping to coax a small smirk from him, but clearly that night was still a sore spot for him, even more so than it was for her. "Why don't you allow yourself the simplest bit of happiness, Severus. I know for a fact there are many Professors who think very highly of you, if you only let yourself be liked, you would have a great number of friends."

"What makes you think I want friends, Miss Dumbledore." Snape relaxed in his chair, finally turning his full focus to the young woman. "Has it ever occurred to you I am like this for a reason. That I like to be alone. That I drive people away simply because I do not want them in my life."

"I don't believe that for one second."

"Why?" He challenged. His temper beginning to boil at the woman's unyielding persistence.

"Because you loved her, Severus." Aria Dumbledore blurted. A moment of silence filled the room, the pair both slightly in shock that she dare speak the words, that Severus Snape was capable of love, aloud. Nevertheless she chose to continue, seeing no harm in speaking her mind now. "She was your friend and you loved her. I know it broke your heart when she died. And I know your trying to protect yourself from getting hurt again. But you must let yourself be vulnerable, or else what is the point in living? I am determined to be your friend, Severus Snape. And while I know that probably terrifies you, you really do not have any say in the matter. If you truly liked being alone, you would have left me out in that corridor tonight." She finished with a sigh.

Hoping off the desk to pour another drink, Aria's mind hummed away. Something felt different between her and Severus tonight. Despite at first being thrown off, and admittedly, slightly jealous of the woman in the picture, it had given her hope. Not fully understanding what she was feeling, she decided to blame it on the booze. Whatever it was, was tomorrow's problem.

Intending to join Aria for a drink, Severus ventured out from behind his desk, meeting Aria in the center of the room. Having practically read his mind, she presented her friend with a very large glass of Firewhiskey, and began to make a start on her own. As the cold glass balanced on the edge of her lip, Aria suddenly became hyperaware of how close her and Severus' bodies were. His fingertips grazed her own as he made to take the glass from her, clearly lingering for much longer than necessary. Aria darted her eyes in his direction, wondering if he too noticed their closeness, she found him staring right back at her. With no sign of uncomfort or anxiety visible in his face, Aria felt her heart begin to beat faster than ever, and her palms became instantly sweaty. Gulping down the remainder of her drink, she slammed her glass down on the desk, turning to the door.

"I think I should go." Aria swallowed nervously, refusing to meet Severus' gaze. "Let you get some rest, finally. It's already so late."

She was panicking and rambling. It was obvious to both her and Severus. But the way he looked at her. She had never seen him look at anyone that way, he didn't look as harsh or mean or unimpressed as he usually did, and that terrified her. Though it wasn't how he looked at her that scared her, it was how it made her feel. Butterflies inhabited her stomach, her heart pounded in her chest, and her throat scratched when she spoke it had become so dry. She knew she had to get out of there before she done something she might regret.

"Aria, wait." Severus called out, placing his glass next to it's twin, though his remained untouched.

It was the first time he had called her by her first name. It felt so... intimate. She loved the way it sounded coming from him. His velvet monotone made her name sound so smooth and delicate. She could listen to him speak forever, she thought to herself. Shaking herself back into reality, Aria forced herself to turn and face Severus.

Without missing a beat Snape closed the gap between them, pulling her body close to his; one hand resting on her waist, the other cupping the back of her head. Before either of them knew what had happened the pair found themselves lost in a chaste, but passionate kiss.

Seemingly coming to his senses Severus Snape forced himself off of Aria, his face instantly flushing with colour. Averting his gaze, it was clear he was starting to regret what he had just done.

"I apologise, that was... I shouldn't have-"

To his surprise Aria cut him off, resting a cold hand on his newly warmed face. Their eyes met for a single moment, both knowing that this was what the other wanted. Standing slightly on her toes for height, Aria thrust her lips onto his, pulling him closer and tighter than before. Deepening the kiss Severus quickly regained control, letting himself lose himself in the moment. The couple found themselves drifting towards the door, using it as a support, allowing them Severus to be as forceful as he wanted. While Aria's hands roamed the whole of Severus' body, squeezing and grabbing anywhere she possibly could, Severus on the other hand, remained the perfect gentleman, keeping his hands strictly to her waist and face, and eventually settling on either side of her head, leaning against the firm wooden door.

Breaking away for a moment of air, Aria let out a satisfied groan, biting on her bottom lip seductively. Severus could not take his eyes of her, watching her every move hungrily, struggling to catch his breath.

"Wow." She finally exhaled, but instantly Aria pulled him in once more.

As the kiss continued and another second passed, the pair became hungrier for one another, and so the more passionate the kiss became. Getting almost too caught up in the moment, Aria made a move for Severus' belt buckle, hurriedly unclasping it, ready to undo his zipper.

"Stop." Severus panted, grabbing her wrist, before she went any further.

Coming to her senses Aria retracted from the situation, a wave of humiliation washing over her as she watched Severus re-buckle his belt.. Hiding her face in her hands, she moved out from between Snape and the door.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, It's not your fault." Snape tried to reassure. "I just... I wouldn't want to take advantage."

"You wouldn't be taking advantage, I was the one who wanted to-"

"I just think we need to end things here." Snape said firmly, once again cutting the woman off.

Accepting defeat Aria nodded to herself, knowing he was right. She had never felt so embarrassed in her whole life, she knew she would regret allowing herself to drink tonight, it never ended well.

"I should go." She whispered to Snape, refusing to look any higher than the man's shoes.

"Aria." He breathed, his voice full of sadness, knowing she was beginning to regret kissing him in the first place. He wanted to asked her to stay, but he knew it didn't matter what he said now to make up for stopping her, the moment was gone and so too was she about to be.

"Goodnight... Professor Snape." The witch sighed, reverting back to professionalisms and clicking the door shut behind her.

Taglist:

@ayamenimthiriel @lizlil

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niawritess · 4 years ago

Text

The Lovestruck~Chapter 11

(5 December Sunday)

10:30 am

Sunday, your favorite day from the week where you sleep till noon without worrying about your college and your mom nagging you to get up early. However, here you are at the Café, standing behind the counter with Rose and Ria beside you staring at the person which you three have been longing to meet.

Song Joongki, AKA The Big Boss, your favorite actor was seated by the window table filming his advertisement as today was the D-DAY.

"O my god! He's so handsome in person!" Ria exclaimed, squealing while linking her arms around yours and you also smiled squealing silently whilst nodding at her remark.

"Thank you so much Rose for letting me be here to witness this wonderful scene." She clasped her hands staring at him with sparkling eyes and Rose chuckled at her while you rolled your eyes at her dramatic acting.

"In that case, you should thank your best friend as she was the one who requested for you." Rose smiled pointing with her chin to you and you gave your bestfriend a smug grin as she glanced at you.

"Y/n, you are the best!" She side hugged you and you cringed at her behavior before she looked at you still holding you.

"I'll always be at your service." She gave a cute smile causing you smirk as you looked at her and Ria got the message as she let go of you standing straight.

"Are you sure?"

"Okay, I take that back."

"No, you can't. You'll be at my service." You smirked folding your arms to your chest and she sighed defeated while rose giggled at you both.

Meanwhile, Baekhyun who had his back leaned against the counter watching you smiling and squealing at the man wasn't liking it a bit. He folded his arms to his chest while squinting eyes at him feeling frustrated at the sight, at the same time unknown and confused to this new sensation he was feeling.

"What so great about him?" He muttered annoyed and wondering why didn't he just skip today but couldn't as he wanted to see you, god knows why.

"I know right."

He jumped by the sudden voice beside him and tilted his head to the side to see Jack eyeing Song Joongki then to Rose making Baekhyun smirk at his jealous state not realizing he was feeling same.

"Oh! He is looking here!" Rose jolted making both males head whipped towards them.

"OMG!"

You and Ria squealed together as his eyes roamed around then stopping at the counter and he looked at Rose smilingly then to Ria who almost screamed as she squeezed your arm and lastly to you making your heart skip a beat.

You snapped out and were about to smile back but a broad back came in to your sight preventing you to do it as your tiny figure hid behind.

"What are you doing?" You tilted your head to look at Baekhyun frowning as he looked over his shoulder to see your puzzled face before he looked at Rose and Ria who were staring at him with the same expression as yours.

"Oh, Jack and I wanted to drink coffee." He answered proceeding to get the cups and you three nodded as he walked away from there with a satisfied grin on his face as if he won a mission.

***

11:32 am

It's been half an hour since the shoot ended and everybody went home except Ria and Jack. Rose and Jack had to discuss something related to contract so they were seated at the corner table whilst you and Ria were were sitting beside each other with Baekhyun across of you by the window.

"This picture came out so good!" Ria exclaimed staring at the picture which you three fangirls took with Song Joongki earlier before uploading it on her Instagram.

Ria took a sip of her coffee before glancing at Baekhyun who was staring at you without you knowing causing Ria's lips to curve into a smirk as her ship was sailing.

"Baekhyun sunbae?"

Baekhyun's head instantly jolted towards her and you also looked at her before she broke out in a shy grin.

"I wanted to ask if I can add you on my insta so I can tag you?" She asked hesitantly which you could see in her eyes causing you look at Baekhyun expectantly.

"Sure." Baekhyun immediately answered fishing out his phone and you smiled as you saw your bestfriend smiling in relief as you remembered how she awkward she got when locked eyes with him but seeing them getting along well, you felt happy.

"Y/n, tell me yours too." Baekhyun asked snapping you out of your trance and you looked at him with doe eyes.

"I will send her username to you but you won't find anything interesting since she just likes to explore." Ria told nonchalantly and you shot a glare at her.

"You know what's more interesting?" You uttered lowly gritting your teeth as she glanced at you. "My punch."

Baekhyun chuckled lowly shaking his head while Ria ignored your warning and shifted her eyes back to her phone screen.

"Woah y/n!" She exclaimed making you and Baekhyun flinch by her loud tone before she pushed her phone infront of you.

"Look at the comments." She scrolled through the comments. "So many guys are asking about you saying you are so pretty."

"The girl with the ponytail looks cute." Ria read the comment loud enough for Baekhyun to hear which she purposely wanted him to hear it.

Hearing this, Baekhyun's eyes widen as he immediately sat straight with his fingers gripping the coffee mug tightly as a sudden rage rushed inside him.

Your eyes widened hearing upon that and you don't know why, you immediately looked at Baekhyun who was already staring at you but then looked away before you glanced back at Ria with a dirty face.

"Block him." You spat before taking a sip of your orange juice and Baekhyun looked back at you before looking away as a smile crept on his lips which got unnoticed by you.

"You're just allergic to compliments." She retorted rolling her eyes before her phone buzzed and she excused herself out to answer the call leaving you and Baekhyun alone.

A silence followed between which you both found comfortable with stealing glances at eachother before Baekhyun decided to break it.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

Your head jerked up at him and you nodded giving him sheepish grin. "Yes, and I'm sorry for sleeping in the midst of talking."

He chuckled shaking his head. "No worries, at least you slept well."

You smiled. "Thanks to you, but I really don't do that though."

He hummed nodding. "But you did it to me."

"I said sorry though." You mumbled feeling guilty with your lips forming into a pout without you knowing and Baekhyun smiled at how cute you looked.

He laughed lightly. "I'm kidding, just teasing you."

You looked at him frowning. "You're always teasing me."

He just shrugged grinning cutely. "I can't help it, You're fun to tease with."

You sniffled before looking away from him wondering if he's like that to every girl and that thought somewhat made you feel weird inside.

"Are you going home alone? Should I give you a ride?"

You snapped out and looked at Baekhyun who was giving you a question look before you shook your head.

"No, it's alright. Ria and I are going to my home since we have a doctors appointment for dan."

He nodded. "Yeah, he told me."

You brows knitted. "He told you?"

"Eung, I called him to ask about his foot and he told me."

"Wait, so you have dan's number? Since when?"

"Since the day we met." He replied nonchalantly.

You leaned back on your chair amazed. "It's strange how he's took a liking to you this instant which is new to me, I don't even know why he likes you so much."

"Why don't you find out then?" He leaned forward placing his arms on the chair staring at you with a teasing smile causing your heart skip a beat before you bit your lip, letting out a out a nervous laugh.

"What's taking her so long?" You shifted your eyes outside, taking a sip from your orange juice calming your heart and Baekhyun couldn't help but smile at your flustered state as you seemed adorable yet innocent.

***

8:36 pm

"So, how is it going?" Jongdae questioned Baekhyun who's eyes were glued to the TV screen and the remote control in his hand as he was having a duel with sehun.

His brows arched. "Hm? What are you talking about?"

"Hyung, he meant your girl." Sehun intruded earning a glare from the latter and Jongdae nodded.

"She is not my girl, how many times I have told you and there's nothing going on. We're just friends." Baekhyun told them eyes still glued on the screen with his fingers taping the controller rapidly.

"Are you sure you both are just friends? Then can I talk to her? She seems cute though." Jongin wriggled his eyebrows getting a smack in return causing him wince in pain as he rubbed his arm while pouting.

"Why are you hitting him?" Junmyeon sat opposite of him drinking his water. "We're just asking what we see."

Baekhyun's brows knitted. "What do you mean? What do you see?"

"That how you're always smiling when you come back from work." Minseok remarked causing Baekhyun to tilt his head to him confused then back to the game.

"What's so surprising about that? Ain't I always like that?"

"You are but around us." Chanyeol uttered out of nowhere giving the latter scare before he plopped himself beside him staring at him.

"We have never seen you this open to any girl not even Somi, you know." He added getting Baekhyun's attention but he couldn't utter anything as he felt himself thinking about it.

"Okay, leave that. Tell me how's she like?" Yixing spoke making Baekhyun look at him perplexed.

"I mean, we have seen her but we've never really talked to her. So how's she like?" He added and Baekhyun somehow felt a little nervous for the first time talking about you.

He sighed licking his lips. "At first I thought that she's just an ordinary girl who's my co-worker, but when we started talking I got to know how innocent and pure she is."

"More than that her mind is so beautiful." He trailed off his lips forming into a smile. "She's like way different and down to earth girl."

"Oohhhh~~" Boys chorused together making the latter groan in annoyance and regretting telling them.

"Lover boy is in love!" Jongdae exclaimed loudly and baekhyun threw a glare at him before shaking his head while shifting his eyes to the game.

"Honestly, I don't know if it's really that feeling or just attraction." He rolled his tongue over his lips and the boys nodded, understanding his confusion.

"Figure it out before it's too late." Everyone turned their head to Kyungsoo who spoke the most important thing and Baekhyun sighed nodding.

"YESSS! I WON!" Sehun exclaimed making everyone startle by his outburst before Baekhyun's jaw dropped at the sight of him losing.

"NOOO!"

"Heol! Daebak! Baekhyunee hyung lost first time because of a girl!" Jongin yelled laughing getting a pillow thrown on his face by Baekhyun.

"Shut up!"

"Achoo!" You groaned sniffling before proceeding your way to the kitchen. "Who the hell is bad-mouthing me?"

_______________

@wooya1224 @buttercupbbh

#bbh #exo fanfiction #exo ff #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun gifs #baekhyun imagines #baekhyun #baekhyun x reader

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v-hope · 5 years ago

Text

Someone speaks badly about you on a show

—and they defend you, ofc.

Pairings: OT7 x Reader

Genre: I guess fluff for default, angst

Request by @ally22042000: "Hey, I saw that request for reactions are open. Can I have one with the boys ( just Yoongi and JK if all of them are to much), where they are at an award show or interview or something like that and someone talks disrespectfull about the reader? Thx so much💜 and have a nice day."

A/N: I hope this is what you had in mind, I enjoyed writing these 💕 Also, you're an idol in a couple of them and in the rest you're not. I hope you like it!

Kim Seokjin

Your boyfriend absolutely lived for whenever he got asked to be an MC at award shows.

So, naturally, he was very hyped up once he was handed his lines and had to go up on stage with two other idols – one of them being his good friend of many years, and the other one being a new artist who had debuted last year.

It was simple. Read the cards. Just read the goddamn paper notes you had been given and that was it. But, apparently, the idol by his side was way too new to this whole thing, for instead of reading what he had been handed to, he fixed his eyes on Jin to his side.

"Thank God I got to be with the fun one of your relationship".

Seokjin's eyes went to lock with his out of instinct, having not really processed what had just happened yet.

"The fun one?" his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah" the idol nodded his head. "Y/N would've made this so boring".

Jin glanced for a brief second to his friend, as if to verify he had heard just the same and his mind wasn't making it up – his awkward expression itself doing that for him.

Nonetheless, as much as he wanted to snap at him, he decided to be the better one, maybe just because he knew he was still live and didn't want to make a scene right in front of everyone.

That didn't stop him from putting him in his place though.

"Then you clearly haven't had the pleasure to meet her and witness her high class humour" Jin spoke into the camera, later placing his eyes on his friend. "Don't you think, hyung-nim?"

"I have never laughed harder than with her, Seokjin-ssi" he replied immediately.

And then out of nowhere, Jin dug his hand in his pocket, throwing multiple heart shaped red papers that had everyone screaming in a second. "Love you, baby. Don't let anyone tell you you're not funny".

What's the saying? Kill 'em with kindness? Well, Seokjin had just slayed that poor guy's soul.

Min Yoongi

"Hey, it's BTS!" the MC greeted cheerfully once the seven guys came on the shot.

One by one, they went up to her to give her a quick hug before they took their place standing next to her.

Up until then, everything was fine, and maybe things would've remained that way if she had just said nothing after Yoongi hugged her. Instead, she laughed, catching him off guard.

"At least you are polite" she shook her head in amusement.

Yoongi pouted naturally because of his confusion. "Who of us hasn't been polite?"

"Oh, no. Not you" she shook her head one more time, only to clarify: "Your girlfriend".

"Y/N-ssi?" Hobi was the one to ask on his hyung's behalf, being just as puzzled as everyone else by that statement.

At the nod of confirmation coming from the MC, Yoongi brought the microphone up to his lips. "But you've never even met her, where'd you get that from?"

"The video of her not even looking at the paps taking pictures... when you were at the airport the other day".

Yoongi's hold on the mic tightened, suddenly becoming protective of you. "So just because she's a private person she's impolite?"

"She didn't even acknowledge your fans. Come on, that was just very–"

"She's not an idol" he cut her off. "She doesn't have to put up with all of this, especially when she's not comfortable with all the attention".

"She should've known this would happen when she decided to date you".

"Guys…" Namjoon tried to stop both of them from arguing any further, for they had apparently forgotten they were still live.

But Yoongi was already done, slightly shaking his head before he put an end to it for once and for all: "She's given up enough for me already, I'm not asking her to be all bubbly around paps or our fans when she clearly isn't comfortable with it. If that's impolite to you then go off, I guess, but I'm the one dating her and I know better".

On to the next topic now.

Jung Hoseok

"Hoseok!" the girl interviewing them read effusively on her phone.

They had been interviewed person by person that day, since a few influencers had gotten the chance to record short clips with BTS to upload to their social media. This one, so far, had been one of their favourites, for its dynamics consisted in nothing but the young woman going through her Twitter reading fan questions or just letting them know about cute comments they had made.

However, that was soon to change when she caught Hobi's attention, continuing: "I loved you in the concert last week, I got to meet Y/N and she was the cu– oh, irrelevant much?" she mumbled with a small, breathy laugh, before dismissing the topic and scrolling down in search of another tweet.

Hoseok's eyebrows knitted together. "Wha–"

"Oh, here's a good one" she smiled as if nothing had happened, as if she had not heard him; having the seven men exchange uncomfortable glances. "Jimin, you and your girlfriend are such couple goals, I can't w–"

"Um…" Hoseok cut her off, stealing a quick glance to Jimin, who looked just as out of it, before his eyes fell back on the girl's. "How come Jimin's girlfriend is worth talking of and mine isn't?"

"She's an idol" she answered as if it was evident.

His jaw tightened. "So people are only worthy when they're famous now?"

"Well, no..." she uselessly tried to fix it.

"Then I believe you should respect her enough not to call her irrelevant or skip comments at the mention of her".

"But there's nothing interesting about Y/N anyway, so…"

That was all Hobi needed to turn his head to look at his members before he shook his head in defeat. "We're done here, guys. I'm not listening to any more of this nonsense".

Neither were they, which is why they were all soon to follow your boyfriend out of there.

Kim Namjoon

"So, Namjoon-ah" the entertainer's eyes focused on him, "I watched a few pictures of you at your girlfriend's graduation the other day" he smiled. "You guys looked so cute!"

A big smile spread over Joon's lips, recalling the pride he had felt that day because of you, being the happiest to have been able to be there for you.

"Aw, thank you" he said truthfully, his dimples making their appearance. "I'm really proud of her".

"You are?" the man asked.

Now, there were two ways to say those words. One with a genuinely intrigued tone, and one that was looking to offend. In this case, given not only his tone but also the way his eyebrows had raised in impression, it had been clear to everyone present that his intention had been the latter.

"I am" he stated simply, hoping that would be as much as the host would say about the topic before he moved on to the next one.

It was not.

"Don't you ever wish you were with someone more successful though?"

Namjoon's jaw tightened visibly, his eyes turning colder. "What does that even mean?"

"I'm just saying, you're Kim Namjoon" the man shifted on his seat. "Worldwide known idol, producer, rapper… whereas she's just… ordinary".

The way he had said that last word made it seem like being like that was the worst of things, and Namjoon did not like it one bit.

"Her achievements are just as important as mine" he was fast to talk in your defence. "Just because she isn't a part of the idol industry doesn't mean her dreams and passions are any less worthy of recognition than mine".

That alone had the interviewer apologising in a second, realising then how bad he had messed up. Because, in all honesty, Namjoon couldn't really care any less about you being famous or not – he would always be proud of you and your achievements no matter what.

Park Jimin

"Ah, Park Jimin!" the host exclaimed after a picture of you had popped up on the screen in between them. "You really got lucky with this one, didn't you?"

That sure did bring a bright smile to his lips, for he absolutely lived for these moments, when people acknowledged how beautiful you were.

Nonetheless, that smile of his was soon erased when the same guy added: "You should control her more, though".

With that and a frown adorning your boyfriend's face, the picture previously displaying on the screen was gone and replaced with one of you in a night dress from two days ago instead.

"Control her more?" Jimin asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah" he nodded his head. "She has a boyfriend now, she can't go around looking that hot, it might get the wrong attention".

Now, Jimin himself hadn't really liked it when you went out dressed like that, but he was your boyfriend, so he did have some kind of right to feel a little jealous of other guys thirsting over his girlfriend when she was out alone with her friends, didn't he?

This guy, however? Neither what he said was appropriate on so many levels, nor did he have the right to talk about you and your outfit like that.

"I think you should think before you speak and induce people to have unhealthy relationships" your boyfriend spoke in a low, calm voice.

Controlling you? What kind of bullshit was that?

"Come on now, I was joking" the man brushed it off with a laugh, and a very nervous one at that.

"Were you really?" Jimin raised one of his eyebrows, not believing a word. "Even if you were" he went on before the guy could open his mouth to reply, "you should maybe reflect on yourself and, instead of telling me how to treat my girlfriend because of how provocative she looks, think of why you, a guy who's over his forties, thinks that way of someone who could easily be his daughter".

He had not been rude. He had not raised his voice. Yet he did somehow manage to look so fucking scary to the man in front.

Kim Taehyung

"Y/N?" the interviewer asked in disbelief, only to scoff after receiving a nod of confirmation from Tae. "Of course she'd end up with one of you guys".

Not only did Taehyung's eyebrows furrow in that moment, but so did everyone else's – his members exchanging dumbfounded looks as your boyfriend looked to the guy in front dead in the eye.

"One of us?"

"Mhm" the guy replied simply. "She always seems to be with whoever is the most famous at the moment, so..." he shrugged.

"She's only been with other two people?" Taehyung raised one of his eyebrows.

"Who just so happened to be the moment's sensation" he reminded him. "And now she's with you".

"You can't help who you fall for" your boyfriend's stare became colder by the second.

"She's just going to break things off with you as soon as your moment of fame passes".

That was it.

"Okay, no" his voice came out like pure venom. "If she broke up with them, it's merely because they were both complete assholes to her".

"Taehyung…" Namjoon discreetly squeezed his wrist from his side.

"No, hyung" he shook his head before fixing his enraged eyes back on the interviewer. "She's the sweetest person there is, it's not her fault us guys fall for her. And it's not her fault either to have dated guys who don't deserve her. She did well to dump them, and I know she won't leave me just because of my fame's status".

And then, as everyone in the room remained silent, being absolutely perplexed by such situation, he shook his head in disappointment once again at the sight of the guy's desperate attempt to come up with something else to say.

"You know" he beat him to it, "for such an overrated interviewer, you are so goddamn misinformed".

Good thing this would get bleeped out by the editors later, that if they ever wanted this to air at all.

Jeon Jeongguk

"It's been a while since we last were together, hasn't it?" the host spoke after they had all sat down on the sofa placed in front of her. "A lot has happened since then…" a cheeky grin curved up her lips when her eyes fell on Jeongguk, "like the maknae finally getting himself a girlfriend?"

A shy bunny smile didn't wait to part Guk's lips, meanwhile his six hyungs started being chaotic like they, by this point, always were.

"He did" Namjoon was the one to answer for him, fondly patting his shoulder.

"Well, congratulations! It was about time you got someone" the woman said with a smile. "Though I must admit I never thought I'd see you with someone like her".

Your boyfriend's previous smile was replaced by slightly parted lips. "Someone like her?"

"I mean" the woman tried to get her point across, "you've said multiple times that IU is your ideal type, and Y/N's just…" she scrunched her nose in a displeased manner, "she's not exactly…"

Oh, no. There was no way in hell Jeongguk was letting her finish that sentence; the idea itself making him mad. That was the reason his shy side was long gone, being replaced by his protective one instead, which had quickly taken over him.

"She's stunning" Guk spoke in a low, determined voice. "IU is just a celebrity crush. Y/N's the woman I am in love with" he established without hesitation. "I really don't understand why you're bringing this up".

Although taken aback by Jeongguk's sudden way with his words, not having expected such outburst coming from the quietest member when it came to interviews, the woman went on:

"I'm just sayin–"

"No" Guk cut her off, shaking his head hastily, "you have nothing to say about my preferences, you don't get a say on us".

End of conversation.

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