#thinking of names for her. maybe Mira

[nothing-but-flowers88]

I really like this so auntie Hera and kalluzeb baby

[evils-corner]

Trying to nail down some character designs and doodled something for the first time in ages yesterday. Girl on the left is unnamed, girl on the right is Hazel.

Idk why some characters are so hard to name but girlie is NOT cooperating with me 😭

[covenists]

✦ FULL OF FAN BEHAVIOR, M. VERSTAPPEN

everybody knows that this account is full of max. from his first win to now, from his most random things to his glory time, she's always there to post his pictures. they only know her as his friend and nothing more, but who is she actually?

req: Saw your post for smau requests, maybe a Max Verstappen where people don't realise his girlfriends account is you know her official verified account. Because practically every single post is about Max. Full on fan behaviour, in the sense she was his first fan as his childhood friend, she has been there supporting him since they were kids, and now they're adults and together, but some habits doesn't change.

(bonus if the posts makes people question why she choose Max as her mans.)

2016 - 2018

verstappenight

liked by maxverstappen33, and 1,942 others

verstappenight WOOOO P1🏆🏁 congratulations to you maximus, i'm soo proud of you!

view all 125 comments

maxverstappen33 I won't say anything about the name Maximus, but thank you 😄

danielricciardo Well deserved! 👍🙌

username look how young he is

username I love a supportive fan ^^ Plz post more of this man.

   ⤷ yourusername glad to be on your service, ma'am

username how old is he?

username He's so happy, he turns red.

username I usually don't trust redbull after Sebastian, but he might be my new exception🤷‍♀️

verstappenight

liked by danielricciardo, and 1,230 others

verstappenight that eyes glint with mischief. #throwbackthursday

view all 65 comments

maxverstappen33 Oh my god, I thought I trusted you by taking this years ago

   ⤷ yourusername never trust anyone

username The half smile😂

username He's been pulling the red string with Red Bull from a long time ago, and look at the hat. I bet it's not a coincidence.

username how is she even managed to get this out? this looks so ancient

   ⤷ username It's not ancient, it's probably old, but not ancient.

danielricciardo He looks like he's planning to steal one of the cars steering wheel

   ⤷ username exactly! 😂😂

username if it's a throwback, how old is this pic then?

   ⤷ username i mean he looks way younger than him on her recent post, so just figure it.

   ⤷ username he always looks younger

verstappenight

liked by victoriaverstappen, and 963 others

verstappenight how is it feel to have a duplicates?

view all 72 comments

maxverstappen33 Why are you taking the second one?

   ⤷ verstappenight and why are YOU posing to that one?

username Why is he looks younger and younger each time?

   ⤷ verstappenight i don't know, but i definitely recommend him to have a slug treatment for anti aging.

   ⤷ username username it's him in torro rosso, so that's why he looks more like a teenager.

username it's not even thursday yet, but i had a bad feeling for this week's throwback thursday.

verstappenight

liked by carlossainz55, and 3,573 others

verstappenight boo! happy halloween #throwbackthursday

view all 269 comments

username what did i say, my feelings are never lying

carlossainz55 Got you! 😆🤣

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 If I got a heart attack next week, it'll be completely your fault

landonorris is halloween on 29 or 30?

   ⤷ username depends on what region you're in, i guess?

   ⤷ landonorris don't guess, answer.

maxverstappen1 And how are you even managed to take this?? Seriously. yourusername

username I can't believe it's actually Carlos who did this

   ⤷ username Yeah, but I think this is so Carlos-like behavior.

username i would do that face too if someone dressed as scream beside me

username Who is running this fanpage?

username why are you liking him so much?

   ⤷ yourusername because he is so nice, cool, and he looks like sid from ice age which is my favorite character.

   ⤷ danielricciardo we got a whole stack of characters here: first we got maximus the horse from tangled, sid from ice age, and then what? jimmy neutron?

username 😂😂😂ajajaja mira su cara!

verstappenight

liked by redbullracing, and 3,782 others

verstappenight found this on twitter and now i can't stop laughing! can't wait to send this to my family group.

view all 90 comments

maxverstappen1 I really can't trust you with my digital footprint 🤦🏻‍♂️

   ⤷ verstappenight i found this on twitter alright, it's not taken by me!

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 Still.

   ⤷ carlossainz55 Ooh, someone's upset...

username who is this person behind this account?

username Why is his reaction is always looking so hilarious

username Max: 😦

username i feel him

username you sure it's not throwback thursday?

MID 2023

verstappenight

liked by charles_leclerc, and 97,182 others

verstappenight i changed throwback thursday with this questionable sense of max's fashion. hope that's alright.

photo credit via verstauri on twitter.

view all 348 comments

username NOOOOOOOOOOOO

username #bringbackthrowbackthursday

charles_leclerc If you get rid of throwback Thursday, how am I going to tease him?

   ⤷ verstappenight by searching it on pinterest🤷🏻‍♀️

username Is that real or photoshopped?

username Okay, I know throwback thursday is made a long time ago since 2015 but man I really miss it sm... 💔💔

   ⤷ verstappenight same, but some people don't need that old max (except for charles). we need the new one because life goes on -max via my message

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I don't remember saying it

   ⤷ verstappenight shut up

username oh cmon i know charles want it because he's in love with max

   ⤷ username should i be surprised?

   ⤷ username i mean if there's no throwback thursday, who's going to tease him with his past when she's not there

   ⤷ username Daniel and Lando or Y/n could...

   ⤷ username oh come on, i don't even know who's the person behind this account anyway, for EIGHT YEARS

   ⤷ username As if you've never heard of twitter, just search her username and you'll see her REAL face.

THE TWEET SHE MEANT:

verstappenight

liked by schecoperez, and 113,809 others

verstappenight guess which one is the real one

view all 462 comments

schecoperez The first one of course!😂🤣

username since when did checos ass becoming that juicy

   ⤷ username since he listened to daddy yankee's song on repeat

   ⤷ danielricciardo His actual morning routine:

username the first one because what else would he be doing if not eating omelette and seeing checo's ass in the morning

   ⤷ username even checo himself agrees

username I'm glad that she still post here, even though there's no throwback thursday anymore😞😔

   ⤷ username but i guess even though we did not have throwback thursday anymore, we still have this crack post of him😄

TWITTER, 3 DAYS AFTER THE COMMENTS ON VERSTAPPENIGHT'S DADDY POST:

maxverstappen1 added a photo to their story! 2h

ON THE OTHER HAND, HER ACTUAL IG:

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1 and 82,147 others

yourusername good moooorniiiiinggggg from my room<3

view all 97 comments

username Thank God it's not private

username damn yall work faster than the fbi

username Anyone come here from twitter?

username Omg I've never realized max pulled this hottie ever since they were born

username THIS IS VERSTAPPENIGHT ADMIN?????

   ⤷ username eight years of waiting is finally getting payed off..

username why are you even choosing max to be your man when there's charles or daniel who's sexier

   ⤷ yourusername sometimes i don't need looks to see to be having someone like max. he's my best friend first, and i'm glad i choose him right the first place.

   ⤷ username Oh that's sweet...

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I love you too, My biggest fan.

   ⤷ username I LOVE YOU TOO??????💔💔

   ⤷ username oh my god max is having a REAL relationship with a fan account admin

   ⤷ username AWOOP🚨🚔 THEIR MEDIUM LAUNCH????

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, and 278,903 others

yourusername nobody knows that this phone addict is once my best friend. happy birthday maximus! 🥳🤍

view all 486 comments

landonorris happy birthday facebook dad.

maxverstappen1 I once again not going to take the Maximus name. It makes me feel like a horse from Rapunzel.

   ⤷ yourusername wait, you've watch tangled before?

danielricciardo Happy birthday, Big boy.

redbullracing Happy birthday to our number one champion! 🥳🥳

username awww baby maxiee🥺🥺🥺

lewishamilton Happy birthday, mate!

carlossainz55 To be honest, your real account is sometimes still kinda feels like your other one.

   ⤷ yourusername force of habit probably?

   ⤷ carlossainz55 No, it's because you're acting like Max's biggest fan everywhere.

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 That's probably because she is.

   ⤷ yourusername wipe that smug smile off your face while you're typing

username He looks the same weirdly or not

username AHA I FOUND YOU VERSTAPPENIGHT ADMIN

username i love how she just hanging to his arm like they're been a couple since god knows how long

username SHE'S SOO LUCKYYY

username i'm gonna melt

username i feel like it's a hard launch, but she have been doing this for a long time ago

sophiekumpen 🥳🥳🥳

maxverstappen1

liked by zedd, and 627,834 others

maxverstappen1 How was I going to get her bad side if she's there and looking so beautifully?

👤: yourusername, verstappenight

view all 446 comments

landonorris poetic. remember your other girlfriend's waiting

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I don't remember having another one?

   ⤷ charles_leclerc How are you even forget about us?

yourusername awww i can't believe you tag the fan account one too!! i love you so much!!!

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I love you too❤️

username #justiceforcharles #lestappenforever

username SHE'S SOOOO CUTE no wonder max pulled her

victoriaverstappen I didn't know you pulled this cutie

   ⤷ danielricciardo Me too until I found out yesterday at the club

username poetic max is going to be the end of me

username I really had a bad feelings of he becoming poetic and gets all over like this

username Okay, this is max's hard launch. And now I'm waiting for Y/n's

   ⤷ username i thought she already doing it for so many times at verstappenight? 😏🤭

yourusername

liked by redbullracing, and 579,420 others

yourusername 💌

📸: landonorris

view all 461 comments

username PARENTS CONFIRMED???

username YESS (adopt me pls)

username is verstappenight still going to be there? let's see for the next two days...

username verstappenight nation how do we feel after this? (we can get a new max pic daily)

username i'm gonna thank lando forever for this

username With the bouquet, the dim light, and the black and white + sepia filters. What are they doin that night?

username AWWW ROMANTIC😍😍

danielricciardo They left Charles in the back that night

⤷ landonorris aww poor him. but anyway...

username how are you converting from lestappen to this one so fast?

TAGLIST @queenofmanydreams @muglermami @4limq @avengers-assemble123456 @cabbyhabs @meowtastick @4mula-1 @miarabanana @amel1ee @dinosushilun1 @auggieblogs @namgification

[yonch]

it's been 15 years and you can see better than ever

(design notes under the cut) (there are spoilers)

ok this got really long. here you go

sif:

ditched the cloak. it was collecting dust in their closet until recently, but they realized they don't need to cling to their grief so much anymore. someone else will need it more soon.

ditched the eyepatch. the prosthetic eye is a labor of love designed by isa, as is literally everything else they're wearing.

they cut their bangs finally and started braiding their hair back so it wouldn't obscure their vision as much anymore.

they like darker/tighter clothing and prefer function over form but unfortunately their gay ass boyfriend keeps treating them like a dress up doll so they're stuck wearing waistcoats and a fancy cloak. (they don't mind. it's designed to look like loop.) they keep flowers in their many pockets to give to people.

they're a woodworker in their free time. they don't usually talk about being any sort of savior so he just becomes sif the guy who's really good at carving birthday presents for people and also tags along with isa to charity parties and fundraisers

41 year old 5'1" they/he absolutely zero intention of Changing. bonded to isabeau. they adopted a kid who leo or i might post about some other time i think. her name is estelle.

isa: i'm not taking credit for the design that's by my friend @fembard /@leoweooo. i'll include his design notes

isa dresses mostly for comfort, he doesn't like wearing stuff that might get stained or ruined when he's dyeing clothes or chasing stelle around in the mud or something, all his fashion sense goes into his handiwork

he Changed a few more times over the 15yrs, eventually settled. picked up she/her pronouns again on the side but was never really able to ditch the name isabeau and he kinda ran out of names anyways...

kept the long hair, kept a few inches in height, very happy to fulfill the role of male (space) wife

can't ditch the kimono jacket it's the piece de resistance. odile influence and Wisening Of Age means its made with a little more knowledge of ka buan technique but still very clearly an Isa Design. the fabric is imported silk sif!!!!!!

39 year old Tall with a capital T he/she "i swear i'm not a weeaboo i'm just really into ka buan fashion" vaugardian indie clothing designer in your area help support this man in his attempts to use his family members as living advertisements for his brand

mira: with design input from @jastertown thank you my friend

i took a lot of inspiration for the sparkly, sheer fabric on her dress from euphrasie. she's not head housemaiden yet because she doesn't feel like she's ready but everybody knows it'll be her

speaking of inspiration. she's been taking a lot of fashion cues from a certain lady in dormont that she thought was kind of scary, but it turns out she's very nice? they're besties now.

she got rid of the earrings for a little bit but then she realized she just liked how they look on her. so now they go ding ding! it's for her and nobody else, and that's how she likes it.

moved her ornaments to her skirt because they ding ding more often there. her necklace also jingles with merriment.

38 year old she/her advanced cisgender+ legend who's realizing that people are trying to get her to be the pope but all she really wants to do is write yaoibait fiction that looks like it came straight off of ao3

odile:

my glorious hag. she started shrinking about 3 years ago. all those years of bending over books has finally caught up to her. her hips are fuuuuuucked. but she has a sick cane that sif carved for her so everything's okay

she was already pretty comfortable and settled in her sense of style when she was nearing 50 so i don't think she would change much. darker clothing maybe. ditched the high-waisted pants for some looser slacks.

she's started writing a familytale of her own. the only person she's told about it is bonbon, who caught her up way past their bedtime, and scribbled all over one of the pages. she'll pass it on to sif when the time's right, after she's written down everything she can remember about their family.

64 year old she/her wasian researcher recovering from hernia surgery who's getting really into things like "political activism" and "body craft law reformation in ka bue" and "making sure people aren't sourcing their hrt from back alleys"

bonnie:

prefers to go by boniface these days. it's cooler. more mature. please stop calling me bonbon that's a nickname from when i was 10 guys c'mon guys ugh fine frin you can still call me bonbon but not around my girlfriends ok (nobody calls them boniface except for odile)

speaking of which they have 3 butch lesbian girlfriends. this got established as a joke but i think they have it in them. they're still young!!!!!!! they should be at the club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they traveled for a while with everybody but eventually settled down back in bambouche to start a little family owned restaurant with nille featuring dishes from all over the globe. people travel from all over to get a taste of boniface's good eats... bambouche is bustling. (they have a few recipes that are sourced from the country. they meet people every once in a while who find something achingly familiar about it, and they usually direct those people to jouvente to get in contact with frin.)

26 year old they/them "i dont know how tall i am but i'm taller than za" chef cooker whose restaurant keeps lighting on fire because this time i swear nille i can figure out how to do cooking craft i swear i wont explode the kitchen this time please i promise

loop:

ok. this is where lozy gets to just talk about what he thinks happens post game. i think they stick around for way longer than they really should and follow the crew around on their travels (mostly invisibly) because they're sooo fucking scared of change they're sooo scared and they're so scared of their wish fucking up beyond belief. they're kind of incapable of aging or dying in this body and theyre like permanently 26 which is what spurs them to finally move on.

i think they go back to their timeline eventually after making a Brand New Wish to "go back to their real family." alas the universe leads and we can only follow. and it turns out loop has actually made a real family in stardust's world also. this is my justification for why they can pop in between sasasap and isat worlds without much repercussion. i think they're always permanently loop shaped in isat but i imagine they can probably go back to their original body in their home timeline... might design that later. who knows. i'm fucked like that

i just think they deserve a chance for their own happy ending you know. isat's a game about how it's never too late to communicate and how you shouldn't punish yourself forever and ever. and i think theyve punished themself enough you know.

ok tank you for reading if you read this far. it's really big and long so i would understand if you didn't. but i hope you liked it. thoughts appreciated. here's a little something for the people who read all the way through.

[insertdisc5]

Hi again, I hope this ask finds you well as well. I have another question I'd like to ask, if you'll allow me. We know Siffrin's favorite food, and we know 3 of Bonnie's, but how about Isa's, Odile's, or Mira's? Sorry if this has already been answered, but I figured I'd ask to satisfy this other curiosity I had. Also, thank you for the kind words on the prior ask. I like to be polite as possible when asking questions online - anonymously or not - even to the detriment of a word/character limit.

anon I usually don't answer "whats everyones favorite [blank]" questions because i do believe it is the fans' turn in coming up with things. All the stuff i thought was important enough to come up with is already in the game and i dont care about the rest. but once again your good manners have bewitched me. Just this once I will make up something, on the spot, just for you.

I think odile likes, like, urchin sushi. I forget the name. Or maybe it's too reductive, to think shed like something i see as a little high brow. Maybe she likes a nice good homemade omurice. She has learned the good things are the easy things.

Isabeau i see as loving ratatouille. Like maybe ratatouille made by an adult when he was a child. Maybe the parents of a friend. Literal ratatouille movie man.

Mirabelle would like. Hm. I see her loving something that would surprise everyone. Maybe foie gras. And everyone would be like "DONT YOU KNOW HOW FOIE GRAS IS MADE" and shed be like yes... 😔... I only eat it during the winter holidays... I'm so sorry for liking foie gras. Or maybe vaugarde is even closer to fantasy france than I think and she eats it happily because it's fantasy france while odile and siffrin are like FOIE GRAS IS MADE HOW? yeah. you know I like a good culture shock

[oriorchids]

@anxiousapplepie 's roleswap au is really cool so!!

made some special attack cut-ins! one for each character/role (funnily enough three are from traveller!odile's universe)

some more thoughts under a read more

siffrin (researcher)

- first one i did

- he has stars in their eyes!! though one is much easier to see than the other

- remember that one idea about sif using their prosthetic to blind people? i think his special friendquest attack would be smth similar. light blast that stuns an opponent for a turn like that one sasasaap sadness

- if everyone else is stunned he doesn't have to worry about being the slowest in the party. or getting hit when they aren't in their shell/cloak.

- i spent a good while just trying to figure out their expression

- astronomy name? light pun name? flash of genius?? supernova?

mirabelle (fighter)

- mira is about to kill a man, or maybe a strong sadness. good for her

- i spent a while just trying to figure out how to pose her

- i think she'd either get a giant paper-type attack (to make up for a lack of paper a V) or a really big self-buff. maybe a giant paper attack that gives her an attack buff afterwards

- isabeau in canon has a lot of support moves but considering mira's party (housemaiden siffrin traveller bonnie) i think she should be more of a dps. researcher!isa can still be a support

- oh or!!! maybe she heals herself/the party some of the damage she deals.

isabeau (chef)

- may or may not have referenced the sasasaap true ending a bit

- i think the cut-in would appear whenever he runs in to take some damage for someone else

- after friendquests he might be able to counterattack? probably for more damage than bonnie could

- there would probably also be a change for when isabeau's hp is low

- somehow his cut-in ended up the smallest

- imagine if you will: cook!isabeau running in the way of the king trying to grab housemaiden!bonnie during the kingquest end

odile (traveller)

- JUST ATTACK BABYYYYY

- massive paper type move that gives no jackpot points. king will die instantly

- grabbed the way she holds her book in the jackpot

- took the longest to draw her hands i had to take a picture reference

- journal has a blank cover

bonnie (housemaiden)

- i thought it would be funny for bonnie to run across the screen every time instead of getting a formal cut-in but i did consider the formal cut-in briefly

- i think bonnie's special friendquest skill would be a really good revive all/heal all because of memory of promise in canon

- also there is no way bonnie isn't getting stressed from being a kid on a pretty much doomed mission (without the loops)

- wonder how many times bonnie's heard pity from people. including the party!! this child is the saviour of vaugarde

- at least if they work hard enough no one else will get hurt!!!

[theolivetree123]

NEW LUMINSTELLE MEMBERS ‼️

Hehe they're so silly

Mira is the vice-housewarden of Luminstelle and with help from Hope, they run the dorm while Rev is away. The two are friends with Rev, but they do get frustrated by him sometimes since to them, he prioritizes his family name rather than supporting the dorm he runs. But, Mira and Hope still care about Rev and are willing to help him with his studies and vice-versa.

More below hehe

Mira lives in the scalding sands and is Kalims childhood friend. The two don't really talk as much as they used to, but Kalim tries to get in contact with Mira whenever he can. Before Kalim went to NRC, there were rumors that he and Mira were dating, and they were soon to be married, but Kalim quickly turned down the rumors, stating that him and Mira were just friends.

Hope is from Briar Valley and coincidentally lived near Lilia for a while before moving away near the ocean. She met Silver a few times, but the two never really interacted enough to become friends. Hope never opens her eyes since she's blind and doesn't really see the use in opening them. Only her family and Mira have seen her eyes.

Mira and Hope are very good friends since they have to run Luminstelle together. They are always around each other and are basically connected at the hip. Are they gay for each other? I don't fucking know. If yall wanna ship em sure but these two are not canonically into each other (yet. Maybe I still need to think abt it)

Tagging moots: @jadelover69 @cheerleaderman @screamintoad @babyghoul138 @jovieinramshackle @sunnysidesevenup @scint1llat3 @oya-oya-okay @bunniehunn @blood-red-hummingbee @beneathsakurashade @prefectrose @boopshoops @anonymousplant @moonyasnow

[petrii-dish]

More Mira Pokémon! (starring guest Isabeau)

And I actually have my essay on why i chose each Pokémon this time. It's under the cut with some closeups. eeee

Okay! Essay time!! Pokédex entries are in red! Here I go!!

Mira's starter is her Ampharos! It spends most of the game as a Flaaffy, evolving into Ampharos when Mira beats the King (and mega-evolving when she beats him in Act 5) 

  Every single Pokédex entry for Ampharos highlights it acting "as a beacon for lost people" (Gold). This mirrors Mira's (ha) role as the Change God's 'chosen', the very existence of which serves to give hope to the people of Vaugarde that they are actually going to be saved from the King. 

Mira understands the need for a (fake) chosen, but can't really accept herself as being worthy of the role. Because of this, her Flaaffy doesn't evolve into Ampharos until she confronts and defeats the King as her role demands of her, in spite of her own feelings on it. 

Also, Dormont has sheep!! And Mareep and Flaaffy match Mira's silhouette (clouds...!) 

Eevee (Sylveon!!) is a Pokémon that I see Mira receiving when she enters the House of Change. I had a lot of ideas about what Pokémon might live in and around the House, or might be seen as symbols of Change, and Eevee is one that I think fits pretty well! (also Castform, Ditto and Vivillion! Maybe Togepi as well?) 

A lot of Sylveon's Pokédex entries balance it between being a soothing ("It sends a soothing aura from its ribbonlike feelers[…]" (X, Omega Ruby)) and empathetic (?) ("[…] this touch enables it to read its Trainer's feelings" (Ultra Moon)) Pokémon, while also being a pretty merciless and efficient attacker ("[…] its piercing moves aim straight for its opponents' weak spots." (Violet)). I think this mirrors Mira's (hehe) in-battle skill set pretty well, as well as the dichotomy (?) (big word? am I using that right?) between being both scissors and paper types.  

(Sylveon also uses it's ribbons to use piercing moves!! It's both scissors and paper! To me!) And. It has little bows on it.) 

Other Pokédex entries talk about "Sylveon vanquishing a dreadful dragon Pokémon" (Shield) "that are many times larger than itself" (Ultra Sun). And I don't know about you. But this reminds me of the King. For (Primal) Dialga reasons, but also because he's pretty dreadful tbh. 

Chingling is here because! Ding-ding! 

I don't really have many supporting Pokédex entries for Chingling. Just look at the little guy. Besides Mira liking things that go ding-ding when she walks ("Each time it hops, it makes a ringing sound[…]" (Pearl)), Chingling's rope also visually matches her own rope / belt.  

I wanted some of Mira's Pokémon to non-fully evolved. Non-fully evolved Pokémon aren’t necessarily young versions of their evolved counterparts, they're fully realised Pokémon with their own personalities and behaviours. Just because there is a capacity for change doesn't mean they need to! And well. The same applies to Mira, of course. 

Escavalier isn't here because I didn't want to draw it again (complicated...). But it's also on the team! Honestly, I added Escavalier because Mira's team so far was too cutesy and I wanted her to pack some real heat. Escavalier's her rapier! She needs a cool sword (lance)!! And no other weapon-like or wielding Pokémon fit the job description. Or had French names.  

(Escavalier's names are all a combination of escargot and cavalier! Mira's surname is literally Chevalier??) 

As a Pokémon, Escavalier isn't too notable for anything other than (being a pain to draw) how it evolved- by stealing Shelmet's hat. Originally I thought that Escavalier would start as a Karrablast that would evolve when the House was attacked by the King, which would need Mira to prepare to defeat him. But. He doesn’t have a Shelmet or an Accelgor. 

But! Escavalier is very brave! And Mira does so many brave things while unmedicated?? And, and, like Sylveon, it has an equal focus on defence and offense. ...Honestly, Escavalier is probably the weakest match for Mira on this team but I'm not going to change my mind. It's my Mira Pokémon team interpretation and I get to drive.

Ponyta's Pokédex entries all talk about how it starts out pretty weak ("Ponyta is very weak at birth. It can barely stand up.[…]" (Ruby / Sapphire)) but quickly grows stronger as it runs about- either with other Ponyta ("[…] As it races around with others of its kind, […]" (Sword)) or after its parent (read: mentor figure. read: euphrasie) ("[…] This Pokémon becomes stronger by stumbling and falling to keep up with its parent" (Ruby / Sapphire)).   

Mira's pre-game journey gives her the strength and allies she needs to confront the King, even as she compares herself to better options that don't exist. She kind of fails to see that she's become "a world-class jumper" saviour (Crystal).  

I chose the Galar Ponyta over the Kanto variant as it's a healer like Mira! ("It's small horn hides a healing power. […] any slight wound you have will be healed" (Sword)) And it's silhouette matches hers a lot better. 

And finally, Plusle! Plusle's here not only because I think Mira needs the support (PLEASE give her back her meds), but because Mira herself is the support (the heart) that glues together the party. Plusle is by design a team-player that performs better with the right allies, both through ability and move-set (I'm very sorry but no-one else has any Pokémon with the Minus ability. Big oversight tbh). And one of the very first things Mira did on her journey was try to get a helping hand with the defenders. 

I decided very early on that Mira needed to have a Pika-clone, and that this Pika-clone could not, in any circumstance, actually be Pikachu (or Pichu). Mira bears the unwelcome mantle of being the Change God's (fake) chosen, the main character, the leader (sorta?) of the saviours. She isn't comfortable fitting into the role but tries to force it anyway.  

(Every region there's a Pokémon that, if sometimes only superficially, resembles series mascot Pikachu (and often acts as an early-game replacement for Pikachu) that are unofficially dubbed Pika-clones. They're kind of made fun of a little bit, but I adore them.) 

I kind of considered trying to give Mira a Mimikyu or Morpeko (other Pika-clones tend to have more biology focused Pokédex entries rather than personality ones? Meaning most of their personality come from depictions in media, like with Dedenne. But that's just a hungry little guy)? But Plusle won out quite handily. And. Well. Some other cringe-fail losers got those two anyway. 

And that's my essay! I'm dedicating it to my 750 loops/act 2 Siffrin who I kept waking up to repeatedly check different dialogues and also the three people who said they might want to read this. Which honestly made my day?? And made me realise that it was a bit silly to be anxious about sharing this! When! The whole point is that it's for fun!!

(By the way, if you enter act 3 without ever reading the secret library book on shields the game just makes up that you did actually read it and continues as normal. And also the memory of fishing maxes out at +80 attack :/ ) 

[basilpaste]

Act 4: Bathroom Tangent

If: No "On Command!" Ability

〔You close the door to the bathroom stall softly.〕

〔Haha! That's so unlike you, isn't it? You're supposed to be loud!〕

〔Big, strong, stupid Isabeau who slams doors and just had to use the restroom right before a super important fight! That's you alright!〕

〔You haven't actually had to use the restroom since the first time. You could just stop coming here, couldn't you? You could just do something else? But… it would feel weird to break the habit so far in.〕

〔You swallow and it feels like your tongue is caught in your throat.〕

〔Like you're choking.〕

〔Your head feels all fuzzy and your body is like lead and—〕

〔You cough down a sob.〕

〔It's not like you think it's bad to cry!!! It's just, uh, you have to be quiet right now!〕

〔Plus! You're a pretty emotional guy! You cry plenty!〕

〔Except… that's not really true, is it?〕

〔Do you even remember the last time you cried?〕

〔Okay. Maybe crying is the answer, then!!! Catharsis, y'know? It might help to finally get some tears going!〕

〔So. What's the hold up?〕

〔You almost cried a second ago, right? So what changed? Is it just that you're actively thinking about wanting to cry now? Because that hasn't stopped you before! You're actually pretty in-tune with your emotions! So this shouldn't be so hard!〕

〔Seriously! No one will even see you! So it's not a big deal!〕

〔…〕

〔Obviously just wanting to cry isn't enough!!! That's fine! That's okay. You can just… make yourself cry.〕

〔You open your eyes as wide as you can and stare at the stall door.〕

〔Seconds tick by.〕

〔Your eyes itch and burn with the effort and your vision has gone all hazy from dryness but this isn't really working! Like at all!!!〕

〔You blink. Tears coat your eyes but do not fall.〕

〔Okay! That's alright! Maybe you were wrong! You don't actually need to cry.〕

〔You're fine.〕

〔You've just gotta keep moving! That's all!!!〕

〔You need to figure out how the loops work. Understand them better than you do right now.〕

〔It's… kind of your last option? You know about the King (you don't think about it), you know about Time and Wish Craft, you know about things that don't even matter to the loops at all!〕

〔All that's left is to figure out why everything restarts when you talk to m'dame Head Housemaiden.〕

〔You don't want to assume that it's something she did! Because she's someone that your friend really cares about!!〕

〔…〕

〔Your friend.〕

〔Haha!!! Funny joke, Isabeau!!! Forgetting stuff is Sif's thing!!!!!〕

〔See? SEE?! You remember his name just fine! Sif! Siffrin! Sifarooni!!!〕

〔So why don't you—〕

〔No, no! It's okay! Sometimes when people are stressed, they forget stuff! It's not like you actually forgot her name! It'll come to you any second now!!!〕

〔She's… She's kind and clever and she's nervous a lot of the time but you've watched her grow so much over the course of her journey. You were the first one to go along with her! The two of you spent a lot of time by yourselves before meeting anyone else!〕

〔You know her name. You do! Of course you do.〕

"Um… Isabeau?"

〔MIRABELLE.〕

〔"Mirabelle!!"〕

"Oh! You haven't called me 'Mirabelle' in a while!"

〔You haven't.〕

〔"Sorry! You, uh! Spooked me, Mira!!!"〕

"I did? Oh, Change! I'm so sorry! I was just… checking in on you? You've been in there a while."

〔"Hah! I didn't even realize! Got caught up in saving-the-country thoughts, y'know? I'll be out in a minute!"〕

"…"

〔Was that… too much energy? Even you can tell that came out kinda forced.〕

"Okay!" She pauses. "I will see you! Outside of the bathroom! In a minute!!!"

〔"You've got it!"〕

〔You hear her walk away.〕

〔Wow. That was a pretty weak performance, Isabeau! That's why you should leave the acting to the pros.〕

〔Mira. Mira, Mira, Mirabelle. You know her name. You didn't forget. See?〕

〔You press the heels of your palms into your eyes.〕

〔Okay. Okay! You're good! You're alright! You've got stuff to do!!!〕

〔You're okay.〕

〔You exit the bathroom.〕

If: Yes "On Command" Ability

〔You close the door to the bathroom stall softly.〕

〔Haha! That's so unlike you, isn't it? You're supposed to be loud!〕

〔Big, strong, stupid Isabeau who slams doors and just had to use the restroom right before a super important fight! That's you alright!〕

〔You haven't actually had to use the restroom since the first time. You could just stop coming here, couldn't you? You could just do something else?〕

〔What'd be the point, even if you did?〕

〔Nothing's going to change.〕

〔You swallow and it feels like your tongue is caught in your throat.〕

〔Like you're choking.〕

〔Your head feels all fuzzy and your body is like lead and—〕

〔Oops!〕

〔If you do that, you'll end up looping back! And wouldn't it be embarrassing to do that when you don't even have to?〕

〔It'd be super embarrassing, yeah!!! So! You're fine.〕

〔You're fine, aren't you?〕

〔You're making progress. Even if it's… kind of slow. The more answers you have, the longer it takes to find new paths to go down! It makes sense! The logic follows.〕

〔For now, all you've got to do is understand the loops better than you do right now! Why stuff restarts when you talk to the Head Housemaiden!〕

(from here, the scene plays out as normal, starting at 〔You don't want to assume that it's something she did! Because she's someone that your friend really cares about!!〕)

[silentglassbreak]

delulu fan fantasy, not even my delulu.. just looking over bad omens photos and home country thoughts lol

Any name, any description lol but the boys never guy koala shots when they were in Australia last time.. soo so a scenario where they return an it involves some sort of trip to an animal rescue of some kind? OR some thing... and Noah having to lean down so the handler can help him DE-CLING the koala from his arms and shoulder, their claws can get you, the guys all joking about his new girlfriend maybe... but he'd rather the handler... -- up to you if you go on to make it smutty after the cute meet, maybe invite for drinks.. OR just an intense flirt... but...

Yep... koala flirting delulu lol, sorry, for, the ramble.

Fully understand if this is a no can do, I know specific place requests can be difficult, but I thought there was no harm in asking, thank you for reading just the same.

The amount of research I just did on Koalas is wild 🤣 I’m hoping this does your ask some justice!

After Writing Notes: This was cute, and fun to write. It's shorter than some of my others, and truly just fluffy, early stages, flirtations. I enjoyed this! I hope you do too!

Rating: Mature (language)

Warnings: Nuffin but good ol' fashioned fluff.

Please Please Please

“Now, let’s see if the little man likes you or not, shall we?”

Mira, our veteran Koala, who was used to our regular visitation schedule was lazily clung to my shirt, as she was most days. Her jaws crunched on a Eucalyptus leaf, not minding all of the sweet attention she was getting. The bright-eyed boy standing in front of me beamed at her, but I could tell he was nervous.

“Alright, now we’re going to just gently place her on your chest, and if she likes you, she’ll cling!” I carefully handed Mira over to the boy, no older than twelve, who shakily held her up. Mira’s claws grabbed onto his shirt, and she tucked her head into his neck lovingly.

She truly was a great performer.

“Oh my God, she’s holding me!” He exclaimed, excited, but still hushed as not to startle her.

“Look at that, mate! She’s very loving, isn’t she?” I held up another leaf in front of her, one of her small hands latching on and holding it up to her mouth.

The mother of the young boy looked absolutely horrified. “How long does he hold her for?”

“Ah, just a minute or two. I’ve got a few other folks waiting to get to say hello.” I stuffed my hands in my pants pockets, smiling while watching Mira tickle the young man’s neck with her ear hairs.

“Are all Koalas this friendly?” He asked as his hand gently stroked the plush hair on her back.

“Actually, no. Koalas can be quite territorial, especially around their young. They bite and scratch just like any other beast you’d come across.” I could see his mom beginning to sweat. “Mira here is very accustomed to human beings. She’s one of our rehabilitated patients who was not eligible for release.”

“Why not?” The worrisome woman eyed me.

“Poor thing got caught in the wildfires a few years ago, and she’s almost completely blind now due to the smoke. She’d never survive in the wild.” I placed a hand on her head, smiling sweetly at her. “So, instead, she’s our designated education Koala!”

The boy smiled, and moved toward me to begin removing her from his chest. “I think she’s amazing.”

“That, she is.” I graciously took my girl, and turned to place her back on her tree. I could tell she was in need of a bit of a break.

Noticing more patrons had not arrived quite yet for their experiences, I closed the door behind my guests of the enclosure, and set up a ‘Be Back in 30’ sign.

Once in the break room, I sat at the table, running fingers through my hair that was tangled where it ended on the back of my neck. Kylie, who had been working the python exhibit all morning, came bounding in, sitting next to me heavily.

“Eh, Charlie. You alright?”

I was chewing the end of a peanut butter sandwich and zoning out, trying not to let my mind wander too far.

“Good here. You?”

She smiled empathetically. “That’s not convincing, babe. Still thinking about him?”

Shrugging hard, I set my sandwich back down and put my face in my palms. “Why would he ghost me?” I sighed, feeling defeated. “I really thought we were getting on, ya know?”

Placing a hand on my back, she smiled sweetly at me. “I’m sure you were! Some guys are just fucking useless! He probably did you a favor, really.”

I laid my chin down on my hands on the table. “Maybe. It still blows. I feel like dating is just pointless these days.”

Kylie laughed at that. “Nah, not true.” Sitting back in her chair, she reached to interlock her hands behind her head. “Remember that Roy guy I went out with a few weeks back?” I just nodded. “Best lay I’ve had, hands down.”

My eyes blew out wide before my stomach began rolling with laughter. She joined me, clapping a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t give up on dating, babe. There’s a guy out there for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, not likely.”

-

The day was passing so slow, it almost made my eyes roll back. By the time my watch told me it was close to the end, only half hour till, I was exhausted. So was Mira. My eyes scanned the passers by, wondering how many I’d be able to fit in before the end of the day, as I saw a group of guys reading the information plaque on the glass just outside.

One of the guys, a lanky boy with tattoos shadowing the length of his arms, was the only one of them looking into the exhibit, instead of at the description. If I hadn’t known better, I’d say he was looking at me.

That couldn’t be right, though. I was holding Mira, so he was probably looking at her.

“Excuse me?” One of them had broken off from the pack and stepped inside the door. “It says on there to come in to see the Koalas?”

He was a shorter gentleman with long, black hair tied back in a bun on the back of his head. I noticed his accent, and internally groaned. Americans.

“Yeah!” I smiled at him brightly. “Come on in!”

He motioned for his friends, the other three trailing behind. The last one to come in was the tall guy with hair only slightly shorter than mine. His eyes wandered around the trees and the pond behind me.

“Oh my gosh!” The shortest one was grinning ear to ear, staring directly at Mira. “They’re so cute!”

I looked down at the gray baby on my chest, and pet her lovingly. “They are. They’re my favorite creatures here at the preserve.”

“Do they bite?” A taller man, who had a slightly different accent that I couldn’t place, asked.

“They sure can.” I nodded, and waved a hand. “But Mira here never has. She’s an absolute gem.”

Looking between them all, I noticed they were all wearing various band t-shirts, with the exception of our large friend, who only wore a black beater. He stood the most reserved, hands in his pockets.

“Anyone want to hold her?”

“Serious?!” The shortest bloke perked up first, stepping toward me cautiously. “Can I, please?”

I chuckled. “Of course! I’ll hand her to you,” I began peeling Mira from me. “and if she latches, she likes you!”

Almost vibrating with excitement, the man took her gently, and Mira wrapped her short arms around his neck, seeming to take to him exceptionally.

“Excellent!” I clapped. “You’re a natural!”

He smiled brightly at his friends. “Check it out, guys!” They all took turns looking at Mira up close, a couple reaching out to touch her head.

“You want a photo?” I asked and the tallest one nodded, slipping a cell out of his pocket and handing it to me.

The four boys posed, all smiling and wrapping arms around each other.

“Alright, one…two…three.” I snapped a picture, but noticed a couple of them blinking. I pursed my lips. “Let me get a few, alright?”

They nodded and held their spots. As I was preparing to snap another, I saw a look of panic flash over the boy holding Mira.

“She’s letting go! I don’t want to drop her!”

“Oh!” Instinctively, I slipped the mobile into my vest pocket and reached out to grab Mira.

For whatever reason, she had become startled, and wanted out of the grip. It had been a long day, and she was likely over all of the attention. When I pulled her from the guy’s arms, her nails scratched across the side of his neck.

“Ouch!” He exclaimed, holding a hand up. All of his friends were looking at him.

“I’m so sorry about that, mate! It’s been quite the day for our girl here.” He moved his hand and was bleeding ever so slightly.

Seemingly rebounded, he shook his head and grinned at me. “No, I totally get it. I appreciate her letting me hold her at all.”

I set Mira on her tree, plucking her a leaf and handing it to her before turning back to the bunch. “There’s a med room on your way out the exit. They can give you a swab to clean that with.” I smiled apologetically at them.

“Thanks again…Charlie?” The boy checked my name tag. I nodded. He stuck his hand out for me to shake. “I’m Nick.”

I nodded. “Pleasure to meet you guys.”

They filed out one by one, giving small waves. The tall boy’s eyes carried mine just a little longer than the rest, and it gave me a warm feeling in my stomach.

What a cutie.

-

“So how’d the rest of the day go, Char?”

Unpinning my tag and putting it in my locker, I nodded before sitting down to slip my runners off.

“Not terrible. Mira scratched someone, though.”

She frowned. “Oh no. Are they alright?”

Sighing, I began unbuttoning my vest. “Yeah, he was just happy to get to see her. Group of American guys.”

When I shrugged off my best, I noticed it felt heavy, which was odd. Slipping my fingers in the pockets, I felt the flat, cool screen, and let my head fall back.

“Fuck.”

“What’s that?” Kylie had turned her head to look at me.

“I snatched one of their phones on accident. Shit.”

She giggled. “Well, damn. Did you catch his name?”

I shook my head. “No. Just his friend who got hurt, and not even a last name.”

“Mm, better put it in lost and found then.”

I stood, reaching to set down the phone. Before I could, it began vibrating in my hand, and I turned it over. The face of the boy I had interacted with earlier popped on the screen with the name ‘Folio’ on it.

I bit my lip, and Kylie noticed. “Going to answer it?”

“Should I?”

She just gestured toward me in a ‘duh’ fashion.

I swiped open the call, and put it up to my ear.

“Hello?”

“So, you have my phone.” A smooth, baritone voice came through the speaker.

I smiled, sitting on the bench behind me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about it.”

There was a soft chuckle on the other end. “No problem. Can I come get it?”

I looked up at Kylie, who was watching me expectedly. “Well, the preserve is closed for the night. I can leave it at the lost and found and you can grab it in the morning?”

“Hmm,” I heard him thinking. “I kind of can’t wait that long to get it back. Plus, I fly out in the morning.”

“Ah,” I sighed. “well, are you staying nearby? I can probably drop it off on my way home.”

“Well, the guys and I are going to Faldry’s for dinner. Could you meet me there?”

“Sure, that’s on my way.”

I heard a sigh of relief. “I really appreciate it, uh,” There was a beat of silence. “what was your name, again?”

I smiled. “Charlie.”

“That’s right.” I swore I could hear a smile in his voice. “I’m Noah.”

“Alright Noah, I can be there in half?”

“Sure, I’ll be there.”

-

The drive to the restaurant was quick, and for some reason, I felt nervous? I guess that made sense, given it was embarrassing that I managed to take this random stranger’s phone without even trying. I had a great gift for being an absolute moron. The parking lot was relatively full, so I pulled into a space toward the back. Unsure of how to let him know how I was here, I walked into the building, taking a breath and glancing around the room for the person I was trying to find.

The host approached the stand, flashing his teeth at me. "Evening. Do you have a reservation?"

Gripping the strap of my bag, I let my face fall. "Uh, no," My head whipped around more, still no luck in finding the party. "I'm here to see someone?"

He nodded tapping his computer screen. "Name?"

I closed my eyes, realizing I didn't know his surname. "Noah..." My stare pleaded with him. "He's uh, tall? Dark hair? Tattooed?"

He stared at me, clearly not following.

"He's American? With a group?"

This seemed to spark his memory, a flash of recognition crossing his features.

"Ah, I know who you mean. They're toward the back, table sixteen."

Smiling apologetically, I moved around the booth toward the other side of the dining room. Once I rounded the corner around the bar, I could see the table, more people than I recognized sitting around it.

Noah was sat, ball cap on his head, laughing at something with everyone else at the table. My chest stuttered for a moment. Now, instead of a casual tank top, he wore a plain white t-shirt. His hair peaked out from under his hat. Most noticeable was his smile, so bright and stunning. I hadn't had the chance to catch that earlier...

I gripped the phone in my hand, and swallowed before making my way over to the table. The boy I had spoken with earlier in the day - Nick - noticed me first.

"Hey!" All eyes lifted to me, and I felt more nervous than I had previously.

I gave a small wave, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. "Hello, everyone."

Noah stood, walking around the table. I handed him the phone, and he smirked at me. "Thank you so much for bringing this. I can't tell you how screwed I would've been if you hadn't."

I nodded, feeling so small stood next to him. "Of course. It was my fault, anyway."

His hand dismissed me. "It happens."

A strange, awkward silence fell over us, so I turned to the rest of the group, giving a timid grin. "Well, I'll be off, then."

"Wait," I felt fingers grab my forearm, gently pulling my attention. I looked up at Noah again, his face soft. "can I maybe," He glanced back at his friends for...something? Approval, maybe? "buy you a drink or something?"

I was caught off guard, and my face must've shown it, because his hand fell from my arm.

"Oh, uh," My eyes bounced off of the other faces at the table, who were still mostly looking right at me. "I shouldn't. I don't want to intrude."

He shook his head. "You're not! I want to do something to thank you for this." He held his phone up for reference.

I smiled, finding it exceptionally difficult to turn him down. "I mean, I suppose I could go for a cold one."

Something pulled the corners of his lips up at me.

"Great!" He turned back to his mates. "I'll be back?"

They all nodded, Nick giving him a brotherly slap on the arm. He lead me over to the bar, and pulled a stool out for me before taking the one to my right.

The bartender took our order, both of us settling on some ale before he turned his face to look at me.

"So," The drinks were placed in front of us, and I took a pull from my pint. "you like animals, huh?"

This made me laugh. What a generic conversation starter. He didn't have a lot to go on, and it was funny.

"I do. Always have."

He took a drink, and set his glass down hard on the bar. "That's really cool."

He was trying, but that topic could only get us so far.

"Do you?" I decided to venture.

"As much as the next person, I guess? I have a dog at home."

I smiled, wiping my upper lip on the napkin under my glass. "Back in the States?"

He nodded. "In California."

"Ah, what's that like?"

"You've never been over there?"

I shook my head, swallowing my beer. "Never been across the pond. Only time I left Straya was when my family would go to New Zealand on vacation. It's been a long time, though."

"New Zealand? Wow, that sounds amazing."

"It really is. It's beautiful there. And safe."

He took a big gulp of his beer, and began folding his own napkin over itself. "Well, California isn't." He said with a laugh.

I quirked an eyebrow. "I've heard." I turned my body to look at him better, studying the tattoos on his skin. "So what brings you here?"

He smiled to himself then, chewing on his thumbnail. "We had a concert."

"A concert? You flew all this way to see a band?"

He finished his drink, and signaled to the barkeep for another. "We are the band."

This made me pause. That made sense, now didn't it?

"Oh. Very nice!" The bartender brought us two fresh drinks. "What kind of music?"

"Rock music. Metal-ish?"

"What do you call yourselves?"

He smirked, staring at me from his peripherals. "Bad Omens."

"Hmm," I took a drink of my fresh beer. "that's interesting."

He snickered. "Interesting? How do you mean?"

"Sounds kind of dark."

"That's the point, honestly."

I traced the rim of the glass with my index finger, looking at him as he spoke. His lips were so pretty. And his eyes were so dark that they were almost enticing.

"I see." I finally looked away from him, down at the bubbles in my drink. "So, how do you like it here?"

He leaned forward, pressing his elbows onto the bar. "It's not my first time. It's been a while, though. I like it."

"But...?" I could tell he wasn't sold.

His cheeks tinted. "It's really hot. And the spiders are fucking crazy."

This caused a deep belly laugh to pull out of me. "That's too funny."

"Why is that funny?" He cackled with me, and I wiped a tear from my eyes.

"Ah, I don't know. A big tough guy like you being afraid of spiders? It's just funny."

He looked at me curiously. "Hey, I'm not afraid of them. I just prefer not to find giant ones in my hotel bathroom."

This only made me laugh harder, and his elbow bumped my arm playfully.

"You've got a good laugh."

This brought me back to Earth for a second, now feeling self-conscious. I contained my giggles and looked back at him.

"What?"

His smirk was silly when he brought his glass to his lips. "I like your laugh."

I shook my head. "Thank you?"

He giggled into his cup. "You're welcome."

We sat this way for a while. He continued to drink beer, but I ordered a soda after my second drink. Continuing to laugh about various different subjects, and telling stories, we then noticed the restaurant beginning to thin.

"Well then, we've been here a while, haven't we?" I mentioned as I glanced around.

"Yeah, I guess so." His eyes were sparkling when they looked at me, which made something in my stomach flip. "I've had a good time talking to you."

Returning the sentiment, I leaned against his arm. "Me too."

His mouth pouted for a second. "I'm pretty bummed I'm leaving tomorrow, or I'd offer to take you on an actual date."

This made me nearly choke on the Cola I was sucking through my straw.

"Oh yeah?" Was all I could manage.

"Well, sure. Why not?"

I raised a brow at him. "Rockstar like yourself? You've got to have a lady at home waiting, don't you?"

He huffed out a sigh, staring down at his hands. "Nah, not lately."

Chewing on my lip, I shrugged. "Then I guess," I leaned in so he could hear me clearly. "it is a shame you have to leave tomorrow."

I could feel his breath on my face, and his brow furrowed, studying me.

"I'll just have to come back soon, huh?"

Smiling, I let my stare fall on his lips. "I guess you will."

His face came closer to mine, the proximity making the air thick. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and his nose brushed against mine. Letting my eyes fall closed, I waited for him to close the gap.

"Can I walk you to your car?"

My eyes snapped open, noticing he hadn't moved, but also hadn't moved.

A shred of disappointment filled me, but I pulled back, gathering my thoughts.

"Uh," I shouldered my purse, a bewildered look on my face. "sure."

I slipped off of the barstool, and walked past him, noticing his palm finding the small of my back to guide me toward the door.

Once outside, the crisp summer evening bit at my skin. I pulled the sleeves of my sweatshirt over my hands as we walked to my car, far in the back of the, now mostly empty, parking lot.

I turned around once I had reached the driver's door, intending to bid him a good night and a safe flight home, but - for the second time - was caught off guard.

His chest pressed against mine, pinning me against the side of my car, and his lips crashed into mine. He was gentle, but still forceful enough to make my knees goes weak.

His hands held the roof of my car on either side of my head, and my eyes rolled back as I molded into him, my hands reaching up to grasp the sides of his neck. He breathed into me, sparking something hot in my chest, and made me press my body closer against his.

One of his arms circled around my waist, lifting me up on my tip-toes to reach his face easier. Our lips fought for leverage, tongues swiping over each other. My brain was buzzing with the intensity of it.

When he finally pulled away from me, bringing me back down on the ground, I was breathing heavily, and staring up at him hungrily. He smiled, a sheen of moisture on his swollen bottom lip.

"Thank you, Charlie, for a great evening."

My pupils were dilated wide, and my hands were gripping his shirt, still.

"Thank you for the drinks, Noah."

Letting him go, my hands falling loose at my sides, he took a step back, looking down at the ground where he kicked at the asphalt.

"Could I, maybe..." He was hesitating, which was funny, given he was so confident not a moment before. "Can we exchange numbers?"

My eyebrows shot up at the absurdity of it. He lived thousands of miles away.

"You're serious?"

He just looked at me, pleading. "I am."

I scoffed, holding a hand out. "Let me see your cell."

This brought a grin to his face, his hand slipping his phone out of his pocket. "You're going to give it back this time?"

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Maybe."

He unlocked the screen, and I opened a new contact. Quickly adding myself, I handed it back to him. He looked over the screen, and nodded, satisfied.

He huffed out a sigh, and then held his arms open. I pulled into them, the abnormally long limbs wrapping around me easily.

"Be safe getting home?"

He nodded when he pulled away. "Of course."

I could see his regard, trying to decide if he should. Deciding for him, I careened up as tall as I could, and placed one last soft kiss on his lips.

"Goodnight, Noah."

I opened my door, and sat down in the driver's seat.

"Goodnight, Charlie."

The entire drive home, all I could see in my mind's eye was deep brown eyes and tattoos. Long fingers and even longer arms. Short, straight black hair. An annoyingly adorable smile.

What were the odds? I finally meet a guy, and I will likely will never see him again...

I pulled into my drive, leaning my head against the steering wheel. I'm just so lucky.

My phone lit up in my console, and I grabbed it hastily. The unknown number flashed on my screen.

Noah: Hey beautiful. ;)

[strwbmei]

Matchup Event

Matchup for: @dukemira

Matchups: Fu Hua, Firefly, March 7th

Contains: fluff, nsfw, creampie, mentions of bondage, mentions of choking, mentions of temperature play, soft sex, public sex, mentions of nipple play

A/N: Sorry for taking so long! Honestly, with Firefly's section, I have no idea how to bake so I apologize if anything is incorrect!

Ask: Long time no see I guess? Haha, anyway it's been a while and you look good, also congratulations for your 1000 followers! Okay I'll start. I will use Mira as the name, my mbti is INFJ, and my zodiac is Virgo. I'm a listener type person, I'm not speaking that much, unless the topic is interesting (or I like the topic) for me, I'll ramble so much. Many people see me as a stoic person, like I don't really care what happened later, or right now Even if it gets me in trouble. You could say I'm a hardworking person, I'll try everything to achieve what I want. If you don't mind, I would like to choose both. My first date scenario? Maybe we watch stars and aurora while drinking hot coffee and some snack (I like quiet place, irl I always go out at night like pm and go home at 3 in the morning lmao) it's just, so refreshing y'know? I'm indeed a dominant, and more into vanilla sex, soft, gentle. (Sometimes I wanna tie them up, and close their vision) (pls don't match me with male characters) The fandom Im in, honkai impact and honkai star rail.

Fu Hua

╰┈➤ SFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Like you, Fu Hua often takes late-night walks to clear her mind. The day she decided to take a different route for a change of scenery, she had no idea that this choice would end up affecting the rest of her life.

: ̗̀➛ It all starts off as the both of you passing each other on a quiet, isolated street; things like you glancing at the woman the first time you saw her because of how rare it is to see someone else around these hours. The most you'd get were stray animals and the occasional taxis, and you liked it that way.

: ̗̀➛ Your overly carefree attitude towards life and Fu Hua's overly cautious and apprehensive nature perfectly balance each other out like yin and yang. Not one is greater or worse than the other; both are inseparable as are the sorrows and joys of living that you'd gladly experience with each other.

: ̗̀➛ Change is a fearsome thing. All of the insignificant differences come together until eventually, you realize that your surroundings have already changed beyond recognition. Fu Hua firmly believes in this, and yet, it was the same change that brought her to meet you. As such, you're also the one to introduce her to new things. It takes her a bit of coaxing, but she's willing to try anything as long you're with her.

: ̗̀➛ Generally speaking, the two of you have so many similarities and just as many differences. Somehow, though, you make it work. Not because you just happen to be the right person for each other, but because you want to make it right.

"Fu Hua?" Your voice breaks Fu Hua's train of thought. She'd been gazing up at the sky for a while now, reminiscing about the past as she does so. It's not something she particularly chooses to do the first dusk of every new year, but she always ends up doing it nonetheless.

"Ah, you're awake. Did I wake you when I got up from bed?" She turns to you with a somber yet warm smile on her face. Her gaze goes down to the two cups of hot chocolate in your hands and mutters a small "thank you" as she takes one of them. You shake your head in response to her question. "Mm. I just got a bit worried when I woke up and you weren't beside me."

"What are you thinking about?" You ask before taking a quick sip of your drink. The dark and rich taste is perfect for calm, quiet mornings like this. Last night was filled with celebrations and festivities, and now that they're done, the city has fallen asleep. The sun peeks out through the horizon to greet the start of the new year.

"It's nothing important. It always amazes me how quickly time can pass and bring change." Her gaze falls down onto the jewelry shop at the corner of the road. It used to be a small diner run by a nice elderly couple. They had a dog; a small Australian terrier named Winter. Ironically enough, Winter did not like the cold. She wonders where they are now and how they're doing.

The two of you sit in comfortable silence, the sunlight illuminating the unlit city. Fu Hua smiles at the sound of the dogs barking; it's the one thing that has stayed constant throughout all these years. She hopes spending mornings with you like this will become one of those things as well. "Happy New Year, my love."

╰┈➤ NSFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Very vanilla and traditional so Fu Hua thinks she should always be submissive, at least at first. She's open to trying out new things in bed. We all know that she'd be submissive regardless of her old fashioned mindset, though.

: ̗̀➛ Fu Hua is open-minded when it comes to kinks, so she's willing to try anything at least once as long as it isn't anything too extreme or unhygienic.

: ̗̀➛ She's really big on safe sex. Fu Hua is actually very educated on sex despite having little to no personal experience with it/things related to it, mostly because she's had to give her disciples "the talk" before.

: ̗̀➛ During sex is when Fu Hua is the most emotionally vulnerable. She accidentally slips out words that she'd be way too prideful to say in any other situation, says "I love you" a lot more than usual, and reaches out to hold your hands subconsciously.

: ̗̀➛ She can go for a lot of rounds, but afterwards, she's immediately falling asleep. She'll try to give you the best aftercare she can (even if you were the one on top,) with the energy she has left, but the most she can probably do is get you a glass of water and a towel.

"My love..." She sighs, desperate and needy. Her legs rest at either of your sides as your hips rut slowly and softly against hers. Slender, calloused hands rest on your back, clawing ever so slightly whenever you hit a certain spot inside of her.

The room is dimly lit with scented candles, your clothes scattered on the floor while sensual music plays in the background. A scene telling of the romance and passion between two lovers.

You adjust yourself to hit deeper inside of her, and Fu Hua sings. She sings your name like an angel gently comforting you with her embrace; soft, and loving.

Feeling yourself nearing climax, you groan her name and bury your face into the side of her pale neck. As if in unspoken understanding, her fingers reach out to intertwine with yours, and her legs wrap around your waist.

Your hips stutter, and you fill her deep with your cum. Her chest rises up and down as she catches her breath, and she looks ethereal. You're set on spending the rest of your life with her.

March 7th

╰┈➤ SFW ;

: ̗̀➛ You and March 7th are the epitome of the saying "opposites attract." Or so, people say. While that might seem true on the surface, you actually have a lot of similarities like two stars in different galaxies, shining with unique brilliance yet connected by the vastness of the universe.

: ̗̀➛ For example, the two of you like quiet places; only for different reasons. You like quiet places because you like being able to be at peace and be alone with your thoughts. March likes quiet places because she can often find you in them. She loves bustling atmospheres and the blinding city lights, but she loves you more.

: ̗̀➛ Her troubles affect her more than they seem to, and when she can't silence the negative thoughts in her head, it's you that she comes to for respite.

: ̗̀➛ There's something about you that makes March feel so... safe and secure. She feels comfortable telling you about things that she'd normally repress herself. You keep her grounded. You help her get through the bad times and replace them with good ones.

: ̗̀➛ You care for her and try to comfort her the best you can, but you don't really care about things like "who she used to be" and "what she even is." Human, alien, or even as an emanator, you'd love her all the same. What matters to you isn't her past, but the future that you can have together.

"Hehe..." March looks up at the new ring you bought for her. The cold, silver metal shines when the moonlight hits it just the right way. To her, its glint symbolizes your love and the future to come. "Do you really like the ring that much?" You ask since she's been staring at it intently ever since you first got it for her. Of course, you're flattered since you also chose it, but you know March can be a bit overdramatic sometimes.

March turns to you as soon as the question leaves your lips. "Of course! You bought it for me, after all." She smiles with pride. You chuckle at her reaction and pat her head. "I'm glad you like it, but don't dote on it too much. I can always buy you a new one, y'know?" You weren't exactly rich, but that ring wasn't exactly expensive either. It was just something you bought because it seemed to be her style.

"Sure, but every gift from you is special to me. Even if you get me an extravagant wedding ring one day, I'll still treasure all of the handwritten notes you leave me sometimes." You blush at the implications of marriage. Of course it's been on your mind too, but to hear March mention it so casually has you feeling a bit bashful.

"When that time comes, let's get a big house and a whole army of pets! Ah, but that might make it difficult for the express... What about 5? Or if Pompom allows us, 10?" You chuckle at her ambition. You can already imagine Pompom going crazy with cleaning all of the fur. Still, a future like that with her sounds quite nice.

"We'll get as many as you want, March."

╰┈➤ NSFW ;

: ̗̀➛ She's not a stranger to the concept of sex, but there are a lot of things that she doesn't know about it. Despite that, or maybe because of that, she's always wanted to try.

: ̗̀➛ March 7th mostly bottoms--she counts on you to take the lead since you're more knowledgeable. She can definitely be the dominant one if asked, though. Top or bottom, her main goal is for both of you to feel good.

: ̗̀➛ Getting tied up and wearing nice lingerie are her favorite things! The intricate designs make March feel prettier, so she sometimes wears them underneath her clothes just for that confidence boost.

: ̗̀➛ She's up for it anytime anywhere mostly, but she's a bit hesitant to have sex in busier places. She likes it when there's a chance of someone spotting the two of you in the act, but she doesn't want to actually get caught. That would scar her for life.

: ̗̀➛ Loves it when you get more assertive. She loves how gentle and caring you are with her, so seeing a side of you that's so different gives her whiplash in the best ways possible.

: ̗̀➛ Her nipples are the most sensitive part of her body. She could have an orgasm just from you playing with them. A close second is her neck, though. Whether you leave kisses all over it or choke it ever so slightly, you're sure to get her gushing in her panties.

"I swear to Akivili, I'm going to kill you once all this is over!" March whisper shouts, turning to face you with an angry red all over her cheeks. Whether it's from embarrassment or arousal you're not sure.

The Astral Express had been invited to a fancy dinner, and as a result, you're spending the night mingling with the other guests; mostly the bigwigs of the planet you had just arrived on.

Or so, that's how March expected the evening would go. Now she's sat on your lap, legs spread as she gets fingered by you under the table. To others, you'd merely look like a young, naive couple in love, unaware of how her cunt drips slick and clamps down on your fingers.

Everyone turns their heads towards both of you when March whimpers in the middle of her sentence. She's quick to dismiss their concerns, and you chuckle at their cluelessness, saying March is just feeling a bit nervous.

You hold her gently by her chin and press a seemingly chaste kiss on her lips, swallowing her moans as she cums all over your hand. The rest of them are left none the wiser to the filthy acts the two of you are committing behind the scenes.

March hates how good you can make her feel.

Firefly

╰┈➤ SFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Your relationship is one full of secrets, but neither of you really mind. You understand that everyone has things that they wouldn't want anyone else to know, and that being their partner doesn't make you an exception.

: ̗̀➛ She doesn't question you when you come home at ungodly hours of the day. You don't question her when she comes home smelling like smoke and motor oil. You rush into each other's embrace regardless of the day you had beforehand. It gives you comfort and warmth and makes you feel like nothing else matters other than being in your lover's arms and the steady beating of their heart.

: ̗̀➛ Her favorite activity to do with you is baking! Neither of you is particularly skilled at it, but she finds the experience therapeutic and wants to share it with you. Firefly also has fun experimenting with the recipe to see what works the best.

: ̗̀➛ Firefly is a very kind and gentle partner, but only when she's awake. When the two of you are in bed together, (which is very rare considering how different your schedules are,) she becomes a heartless monster who hogs literally all of the blankets and pillows. Yes, blankets with an s. You've tried to solve this problem by getting your own, but to no avail.

: ̗̀➛ Honestly, it'd be pretty easy to take the blankets away from Firefly since she isn't very physically strong, but you can't. She just looks so peaceful asleep like this (despite leaving you vulnerable to the cold) and you know that she's tired. Hell, it's probably been a week or two since she's slept this well. You just don't have the heart.

"See, all you have to do is place the icing into the bag and..." Firefly rambles on about the techniques she uses when decorating pastries, even going as far as to give you a live example on the cake rolls the two of you were currently baking.

You cherish every second of these comfortable, domestic moments with her given how rare it is for the two of you to have the whole day to spend with each other like this.

However, there is one problem.

Earlier, you noticed that she accidentally put salt instead of sugar when making the batter. Should you tell her, or let her taste the consequences of her actions?

As you're faced with this life-threatening dilemma, Firefly looks up at you with a concerned expression and asks, "Are you okay, Mira...? We can always do this another time if you want."

For a moment, you almost take pity on her. Thinking of all the nights she took all the blankets and pillows (albeit unconsciously) and left you without protection against the cold, you make your decision. This blanket hogger must be brought to justice.

╰┈➤ NSFW ;

: ̗̀➛ It's good that you're more into soft sex because that's quite literally all that Firefly can handle. Seriously. Don't go rough on her unless you want her to get sent to the hospital.

: ̗̀➛ She can get a bit insecure about this and think that you deserve someone that you won't have to restrain yourself for during sex, but you reassure her that isn't the case and that intimacy isn't the most important part of your relationship with her.

: ̗̀➛ Due to how frail she is, it takes a lot of trust for her to engage in intimacy with someone. Chances are, you're probably her first time. She trusts you to not only make her feel good, but she also trusts that you'll be gentle and respect her boundaries.

: ̗̀➛ She's more on the vanilla side, but being physically weak doesn't stop her from having a few kinks of her own. For the most part, she'd be into getting blindfolded and temperature play.

: ̗̀➛ Whether Firefly is on top or not, she's way too gentle to ever hurt you, even accidentally. She's definitely the type to ask for consent/ask if you're feeling good every 5 minutes, regardless of how horny and desperate she might be.

When Firefly walked through the door with a sense of restlessness in her footsteps, rushing to take off her coat and straddle your hips as you sat on the couch, you already knew what she wanted.

Every time she's away at work (if you can even call it that) for a long time, she comes back all tense and desperate to please you. It's her favorite way to destress, she says. Still, you can never get used to your sweet and gentle Firefly being so... lustful.

Of course, you don't mind and you'd gladly help her take her mind off work, but the contrast in her behavior never fails to catch you off guard.

She buries her face into your neck, breathing heavily as her hands fumble for the waistband of your pants. "Pants, please?" You snap out of your inner monologue and help her.

Once she looks up at you, you can't help but notice the glint in her eyes. It's... different, and hungry. You can't help but be glad that you don't have to wake up early the next morning.

[cigarettesaftersae]

02 i'll like you - My World

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ Series: reo mikage x f!reader | contains : fluff, angst, jealousy, academic rivals, fake dating

new year, new classes, and reo mikage, a disgrace to your pride and ego

-

The air was still, save for the faint wisp of a breeze that whispered through the schoolyard. A quiet hum of chatter filled the space as you stood there, unnoticed by the others.

“Nagi Seishiro? Oh, you mean that kid with the white hair?”

“The one who’s always sleeping?”

“Yeah. I heard he just games all the time. Kinda a bum, don’t you think?”

Their words floated around you, but your mind raced faster than you could process. You stood frozen, the sting of their judgment hitting harder than expected. Images swirled in your mind, fragments of thoughts and feelings painting a confusing picture.

“…Y/N? Don’t tell me you zoned out again?”

“H-huh? No, no! I didn’t!” you stammered, trying to collect yourself. “I just… didn’t expect him. So, what do you like about him?”

The question slipped out before you could stop it, but deep down, you already knew the answer wasn’t going to be easy to hear. Your heart clenched, the faint ache of something unspoken making it hard to breathe.

“Well…” Yuna began, her cheeks flushing with a rosy hue. “I was at the convenience store, and, um, I didn’t bring enough money. He just paid for my things. He was so nice and generous. I know everyone thinks he’s lazy, but… it’s like love at first sight.”

Your stomach sank, but you pushed it aside. Smiling brightly, you grabbed Yuna’s hand in encouragement. “That’s… That’s wonderful, Yuna!”

“R-really?” she asked, her own smile widening.

“Of course!” you assured her.

Yuna’s excitement only grew. “Well, in that case… do you like anyone? Come on, there has to be someone!”

You laughed nervously, shaking your head. “Pfft, as if. I don’t like anyone.”

“Oh, I know that look,” Yuna teased, her curiosity piqued. “Tell us!”

Mira joined in, grinning slyly. “Come on, spill it!”

Cornered, you blurted out, “Uh… um, it’s Reo Mikage! You know, purple hair, charming…?” He is not charming at all.

Mira raised an eyebrow. “The Mikage kid, huh? Not a bad pick, but, uh, you do realize every girl is after him, right? And Naomi? She’s all over him.”

“Haha… yeah,” you laughed awkwardly, hoping the topic would drop quickly. But the weight of the situation pressed heavily on your chest.

Back in class, you barely paid attention as the teacher droned on. You twirled a pen between your fingers, staring at nothing, stressed about everything—Nagi, Yuna. It was all too much.

“Psst.” A folded note slid onto your desk. Opening it, you read the bold, red-inked scrawl: Y/N, I NEED YOUR HELP!!! – YUNA :P

Suppressing a laugh, you glanced up to see Yuna giving you her best pleading expression. The amusement didn’t last.

“Is something funny, Y/N?” the teacher’s voice cut through the air. You jumped. “Maybe you’d like to share with the class?”

“Uh—no, sir. Nothing’s funny.”

“Then you must be paying excellent attention. What’s the formula for this problem right here?”

Panic rose. You didn’t recognize it—despite studying all night. Just as you were about to crumble, a voice chimed in.

“It’s the quadratic formula: ax² + bx + c = 0.”

You turned to see none other than Reo Mikage, his smug expression making your blood boil.

“Thank you, Y/N,” the teacher said sarcastically, emphasizing your name in a way that only made you cringe further.

Later, you groaned in frustration as Yuna tried to apologize. “If you hadn’t passed that note, none of this would’ve happened!”

“Sorry, sorry!” she laughed. “How was I supposed to know the teacher was lurking?”

“It’s whatever,” you sighed. “What did you need help with, anyway?”

“The quadratic formula,” she teased, stifling a giggle.

You glared at her. “I swear…”

“Okay, okay! Joking! But, um, actually… I want to join the game club. You know, since Nagi’s in it.”

Your silence stretched for a moment. “Do you even play games?”

“Uh… I played Roblox with my little cousin once?”

You buried your face in your hands. “You’re joining because of Nagi.”

“Maybe. Okay, yes! I can’t help it!”

Sighing deeply, you relented. “Only because I love you. Fine. I’ll help.”

Yuna squealed, pulling you into a tight hug. “You’re the best! Can we start today?”

With the last class ending, unlike walking home with Yuna or staying after school for club activities, you’re staying after school for club activities WITH Yuna to help her out with your crush. And that was how you found yourself dragging Yuna to the club after school. You open the door to the club room, filled with tables of ongoing rows of computers, outlets here and there, some members playing League, and most importantly, there was no Nagi Seishiro. Which kind of made you sigh in relief.

“He’s not here…” Yuna mumbled, disappointed.

“He sometimes comes late,” you offered, trying to cheer her up. “Come on, let’s meet the co-leader so you can join.”

Sitting through her interview was an experience. The co-leader, a stereotypical nerd with thick glasses and a bowl cut, “Now last question, d-do you play genshin impa-”

“Do not finish that question.” You warn. “And Yuna don’t even answer it.”

“Isn’t it that one cool Chinese game?”

“Ah! so you know about it” He excites

“I just told you not to finish that question,” you grumbled as he lit up at Yuna’s response.

Before the conversation could spiral further, the door creaked open. Both you and Yuna turned instinctively. There he was—Nagi Seishiro, focused on his phone, his white hair catching the dim light.

Yuna’s eyes sparkled, but yours darkened as you spotted someone following behind him. Reo.

When had they even become friends? And why did it feel like your entire world was slowly unraveling?

note

.

.

.

next chap

the genshin thingy was a joke guys ive been playing it since day one I'm a d1 pro at it

[alessiamalfoyzabini]

Vampire's Kiss | Chapter Four

Pairing | Vampire!Jungkook x Reader

Word Count | 5,6k

Warnings | +18, MC and Jungkook joke a lot, fluff and some sensuality (smut in the next chapter 🤧) but also angst, provocation and threat at work, one of MC's bosses doesn't seem like a very good person 💀 (JK where are you?)

⤷ Summary | Humans have finally unveiled and accepted the centuries-old existence of vampires, in a modern world people share their lives with these peculiar and mysterious creatures, but it is not all roses.

Will two souls belonging to such different species be able to be together?

➢ Author's Note | Hi, guys! 🥹❤️

I'm finally back with a new chapter of VK, if you've read my previous posts then you'll know that I'm really writing a lot of stories at the moment that I can't wait for you to read, so I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime ❤️

Taglist: @katherine-kookie @peterstarkchrishiddleston @reallygenerouskoala @btsuga-d @angelicsmilesworld @jimincrystal @velvet-stardust2002 @ke1k029 @kylafox09 @pantara @takemeaway5402 @jkslaugh97

Chapter List - Previous - Next

It has officially been two weeks since your acquaintance with Jungkook began and things are going well. You just need to find a way to communicate to your family that ... well, their firstborn is seriously considering marriage to a vampire. Not that they have the right to decide for you or anything, and you also know that your mother would support you in anything, but the real big hurdles to overcome answer to the names of Dad and Mirae.

They will not be happy with such news, your sister might even try to assassinate him at the first possible opportunity, you shudder at the very thought of such a thing, you hope that Jungkook's beauty will divert her from committing such actions.

You are just thinking of calling your mother when the phone starts ringing nonstop, you check the name on the display and a smile arises spontaneously.

<<To what do I owe the honor of this call, Mr. Jeon?>>.

You hear laughter on the other end of the line, <<Uhm...I don't know, maybe I have good news for my sweet little human?>>.

You blush at the last words, but decide to tease him a little, <<Mr. Jeon finally decided to date yours truly?>>.

It is not unusual for company managers to work overtime, but Jungkook is working far too much of it. You haven't seen him since that evening at the beach spent exchanging first kisses and promises, since which time his schedule has become so busy as to be intolerable, at least for you.

You hear a whine on the other end of the phone, much like the whine of a puppy.

<<I don't like this distance either.... Seokjin is busy with wedding preparations and has left everything to us, Jimin is getting more and more distracted and it's up to me to sort out the messes he makes, sorry, it's hellish days>> it's not hard for you to imagine why Jimin is so uncaring, with parents like his there's a lot to lose your mind.

<<All right, all right... it's just that I miss you>> you mumble shyly covering your face, even though you are in the copy room and there is no one there to watch you.

<<Don't say that... this is where the good stuff comes in, Jimin has made Jin aware of the situation your company is in, a meeting has been arranged and it is likely that we will meet there>>.

You widen your eyes, trying to suppress the shriek that almost escapes your mouth. Jimin really did his part! When you see him again, you will jump on his neck to crush him in a strong hug.

And then... Jungkook will see where you work. You will meet as colleagues and ... e... oh, dear. You imagine him in a suit and tie, it must be such a sexy sight to-.

<<I know what you're imagining>> he hums like a nightingale, making your heart flutter.

<<What? I'm not imagining anything at all>> you immediately get defensive, unable to control the tremor in your tone.

<<So you didn't just imagine me in a suit and tie, did you?>> but what the fuck-, <<And you didn't imagine our eyes meeting with longing, me taking you by the hand ... to lead you into the copy room in the throes of a sudden urge, locking the door behind us to be left alone, you and me, in the complete intimacy of darkness>> you stare around alarmed, but what the fuck-.

<<How did you know I was in the copy room?>>.

<<I didn't know, I just guessed, you're at work and yet there's too much silence in the air around you, plus that's where I'd have the time of my life with my work colleague slash wonderful girl>>.

He wants to kill you or what, exactly?! Then to say such things while you are clearly in working hours, where everyone could hear him talking like that... that guy is your pleasurable torture.

<<This wonderful girl might decide to close the phone in your face in case you don't stop saying such nonsense!>> you blurt out with burning ears, cautiously looking at the door.

<<You won't, if you like me at least a little, you won't>> he says with great conviction.

You rest your back against the wall.

<<I like you very much, Mr. Jeon>>.

You close your eyelids and in the darkness that greets you you see him, sitting behind his desk with the phone handset pressed to his ear, a grin plastered on those perpetually rosy lips, his big dark eyes scrolling across the screen of his company computer. In your fantasy he has the first buttons of his shirt open, his long, wavy hair instead pulled back, leaving on display that pristine forehead on which you would have left a million kisses.

<<I really like you too, Y/N>>.

You nod, that may be enough for the moment, <<I know, I just hope you won't make me wait too long>>.

<<So... shall we make it the day after tomorrow?>>.

What?

<<What? What, the day after tomorrow?>> you croak in panic, not understanding what he is referring to.

<<Our date, of course! I want to take you somewhere nice, I've neglected you too much>>.

You smile smugly, suddenly calming down, <<Wow, Jeon Jungkook... you're just the boy of my dreams>>.

<<I was born to be, baby... aish, I have to go now, Yoongi is silently yelling at me to end the call…>> you giggle confusedly, who the heck is Yoongi?

The two of you say an unceremonious goodbye, according to him Yoongi is already in danger of throwing up his breakfast and wants to prevent that from happening.

You take the long-made photocopies from the machine and start to open the door, when you lift your eyes to the figure behind it you immediately jump in fright.

“Yoongyu! Goodness, what are you doing there?” you ask with one hand pressed at heart level, he stares at you strangely with his thin eyes reproachfully.

“Are you dating Jeon Jungkook, Y/N? I hope you know what he is,” you sigh, printing a fake smile on your face.

“A vampire? Yes, I know what he is and I don't care.”

You try to go around him to go straight for your own way, but he holds you by the shoulder, your heart churning anxiously as you cast a glance at his hand in amazement. What on earth is he doing?

Firmly you shrug him off, casting him a warning glance.

“I don't know what your problem is, but you have no right to put your hands on me like that, I hope this never happens again” your mind is stuck on what to do and not to do, he is your superior, but the two of you have always maintained a friendly relationship, even after your breakup. But it is also true that after that breakup he had never again allowed himself to touch you, not even in a gesture of greeting, so what the heck is wrong with him now?

He does not seem disturbed by your words, in fact, he smiles at them, “Are you going to let a vampire do it for me, then? Think about it, I put more than just a hand on you in the past, and I gave you all the time you needed to come back to me, now you come out seeing a vampire? And then, what? Are you going to look for a way to bring little monsters like him into the world? Don't be ridiculous and come back to me,” he tries again to touch you, this time stroking a lock of your hair, but once again you push him away.

Inside you feel like you're dying, your stomach is twisting from a sickening feeling. Who did you get so close to?

All the happiness you felt during your conversation with Jungkook has vanished into the air, in front of you is a real monster, one of those that hides in the shadows with a nice reassuring smile, posing as a human.

“Move over, Director. I don't have time to waste with you.”

He shakes his head, behind his eyes you can read irritation.

“You treat one of your superiors like this? Valentine had told me about this vampire fixation of yours, I investigated convinced it was just one of her usual nonsense, instead it's all true...I never expected such behavior from you, have you already forgotten me so easily with one of them?” you swallow your own air, you don't even have any saliva left to swallow, you stare over his shoulder in search of any exit, but block the passage entirely, there was little you could do.

“We ended our acquaintance because we wanted different things, do you remember that?”

“Yes, the excuse that you wanted something serious and I didn't... bullshit, the only obstacle at the moment is my mother, she wants me to marry an heiress, I could never let her down so I had decided to let you go... but to hear that you will so quietly give yourself to a bloodsucker fills me with anger, am I really that forgettable to you?”

You look at him in dismay, not only because he is talking to you so arrogantly, but also because of all the mean things he is spewing about vampires, about Jungkook.

“I'm telling you again, get out of my way before I scream,” you hiss forcefully despite your trembling legs, you know you'd have little to do against him, but that wouldn't stop you from defending yourself should the need arise, his status be damned.

But to your surprise he shifts, although his expression remained insolent.

“I need you to make a decision, don't make me wait too long, I'll be around for you.”

You take a big breath, trying to calm down, “I've already made a decision, I'm going to get on with my life and you need to stay out of it, before I report you,” you answer him harshly, before hurriedly stepping over him, returning to your office, ignoring his derisive chuckle.

There you find Valentine talking on the phone absentmindedly, your anger goes into your bloodstream as soon as you realize how quiet she is, despite the situation she has put you in, and you find your outlet, suddenly one of your hands slams down on the desk hard, right in front of her, who jumps in fright and stares at you shocked, as if you have suddenly gone crazy, hastily closes the call and then yells at you.

“What the hell is wrong with you!”

“How dare you tell Yoongyu my personal affairs! I don't think you had the right!” you are deaf to the pain in your hand, at that moment you would love to encircle her neck with your hands so that you could choke her with extreme comfort, but you try to control yourself.

Valentine pales, “W-Wait a minute! He was the one who asked me for information!”

Information?

“Information of what kind, Valentine?” you growl at her.

She wrings her hands in agitation, there you realize she's done more than just blurt out your experiences with boys lately.

“He wanted to know if you were dating ... and I told him you're hooked on that vampire app by now!” then she also says more, to your horror, ”He also wanted your personal phone number, said it was an emergency because he couldn't reach you on the one you use for work, and then ...”

Fuck, what else would there be?

“She asked me where you usually went out to eat when you went out, I thought you'd like to be wooed by someone like him, you're too hung up on those vampires, and Yoongyu is handsome, rich, and most of all, human!” she exclaims as if you have to necessarily agree with her. You, on the other hand, are realizing more and more that you have been working all this time with an unconscious madwoman.

“Maybe he didn't have my phone number because I didn't want him to have it? Did it seem smart to you to give it to him without even asking my consent, you jolly goose! Besides, you don't get to decide who I should or should not date! Get it through that empty head of yours!”

“What else could I do? He's the boss here and what he wants he'll get, don't think I wanted to give it to him so easily anyway! I resisted at first!”

You bring your hands to your face, betrayed so foolishly by one who should know absolutely nothing about you in the first place, fucking camaraderie among colleagues, “Don't you dare lie to me so shamelessly, we all know that everything you come to know then the rest of the building knows!”

Evidently your rant must have hurt her, since she leaves the office crying, but at that moment it matters little to you; you have much else to think about now. You collapse in your chair, exhausted. This is something to be taken seriously, so you have to talk to someone about it? Should you report it, so that if something happened to you, suspicion would be immediately on him?

And should you let Jungkook know about this situation?

Shake your head immediately, you need calm. You can't ruin someone's career in case it was words dictated solely by the anger of the moment, his distaste for vampires has poisoned his good judgment, that's all.

Nothing was going to happen.

Plus there was confidence between you, perhaps he thought you would not be bothered by that attitude of his, no matter how villainous.

But despite those thoughts, the next few hours are hell.

Once you leave work you begin to look around circumspectly, see shadows where there are none and hear nonexistent voices in the stretches of road with fewer people, because you forgot your car keys at home, leading you to make the foolish decision to ride the bus to work because of your laziness?

Do your shoulders curve under the weight of anxiety, are you in trouble?

Exactly two days have passed, nothing of all that you feared has happened. No disturbing messages, no harassing calls, and especially no shadows to haunt you every time you turn a corner. You were right, Yoongyu was all smoke and mirrors, fortunately.

With a calmer mind you continue to prepare for the evening you'll spend with Jungkook, let your hair down on your shoulders, treating it with the best products for its care, you want it to be soft and shiny for him. As for the dress, well, you chose it carefully. You don't know where it will take you, so your choice fell on a high-waisted sugar paper-colored, knee-length, simple and very pretty little dress with matching white heeled shoes and very natural makeup. You nod at your own reflection, you are proud of your appearance that night and nothing will change your opinion.

You take your handbag with everything you need and add a light white stole to it, the weather has been crazy in the last period and from practically summer days it has turned to very cold nights.

As if in a sort of Déjà Vu the doorbell rings gently to let you know there is someone waiting for you, you let out a sigh and arrived at the door you look through the peephole just in case, your eyes follow the smile that immediately opens on your face, this time it is not Jimin your knight.

You open the door wide and a wonderful floral smell invades you, the beautiful bouquet of flowers blocks your view and does not allow you to properly look at the boy who in a short time has become important in your life, you can make out white carnations and red and purple tulips on a bed of primroses, you take the colorful bouquet in your arms and inhale its scent, finally catching sight of Jungkook's angelic face.

“Hello, baby,” he murmurs as he looks at you spellbound, you have to fight against the fire that threatens to pervade your face, and to do so you hide almost completely behind the flowers that in moments cover you entirely.

“Hello to you, Mr. Jeon,” you drink in every detail of his appearance, from the growing hair let loose on his forehead to the jeans that bandage his well-shaped and toned legs, not to mention his chest that barely manages to be contained by the buttons on his navy blue shirt or the thin gold necklace that highlights his perfect neck.

“Before I got here I wanted to take you to dinner, now I'm of the opinion that it would be much better to stay home,” you try to suppress a laugh at the sight of his eyes trying, in vain, not to scan you like an infrared camera.

“Am I not suitable for a date with Jeon Jungkook?”

He shakes his head sorrowfully, “You are so beautiful that I will have to restrain myself from jumping at the throat of anyone who dares to look at you and desire you.”

Those words astonish you in no small way, it's the first time you've heard him say something like that, and in fact he winces.

“I really wouldn't do that, of course! It's against the law to kill, j-just kidding,” he clarifies nervously, blinking slowly.

He said 'It's against the law to kill,' instead of the usual and more typical 'I wouldn't hurt even a fly.'

This is meant to imply that in case of need he would be no trouble, and this strangely doesn't scare you, far from it, it makes you feel protected. He is a vampire, not a human being, and you appreciate every trait of him, from the most human to the most animalistic, even though Jungkook has never shown any of these.

You've never even seen him drink a single drop of blood and he doesn't seem willing to touch the subject, Jimin on the contrary has been happy to explain to you how the issue of nourishment works for vampires, perhaps Jungkook still doesn't feel comfortable with you.

“Jungkook, it is not and will never be a problem for me to hear you say such things, I have said worse in the past,” and it is all true, many times you have hoped that an axe would fall on the head of the usual boy who flirted with you in high school, or that the stupid, lackluster girl in the books would for once twist her ankle on those stilts she dared to call ‘shoes,’ whenever she came to school to threaten you with making her copy your tests.

“Oh, I should think so,” he takes a step toward you, stroking the tip of your nose with a finger in an affectionate gesture, ‘You sure have the face of someone who will never let anyone step on her toes,’ he nods amused, and you give him credit, because that's just the way it is.

You ask him to wait for you there, looking for a vase to put the expensive-looking flowers in, and when you come back you encircle his neck closing your eyes, sticking out your lips in what is a mute request, the kiss is not long in coming and you again enjoy the typical coldness of his soft lips, but this does not detract from the emotional warmth you feel, he is a careful and thoughtful kisser, one of those you can hardly forget.

When he pulls away his eyes are still half-closed and adoring, this makes you quiver internally.

“Can we go now?”

You nod without letting him tell you twice, and arm in arm with him you walk to his car parked a few meters away from your house, during the short walk you notice that your body is warmed only by his clothes, not his skin, how different can he be from you? Curiosity eats at you like a woodworm, you would love to ask him more about his species, but any time seems unsuitable for such a topic.

He gently opens the door for you, waiting for you to get in, and then goes around to the driver's side, in the car you can still detect a whiff of the floral scent that greeted you earlier in the house.

“What's with the flowers?” you ask, he gives you a puzzled look before starting the engine.

“Don't you like them?” he asks in turn, but you quickly deny it.

“Actually a lot, but it's been a while since I've received any, nowadays such gestures are considered too common and people don't do them anymore,” you sigh, maybe you're too old-fashioned, but you've been pleasantly impressed by them.

“It's people who give them a trivial meaning, flowers don't deserve to be called “common stuff”!” he exclaims seriously indignant, you burst out laughing and his gaze becomes confused, ”Why are you laughing? I'm serious!”

“Sorry, sorry! It's just... I don't know, maybe you were born in an era where no one would ever question certain romantic gestures and now you're nervous, you're so cute” you keep laughing with your hands in your face, trying to hold back, but after a few moments he too joins in.

“You're making me feel so old, I like flowers regardless of where and when I was born,” he clarifies proudly, leaving again when the traffic light kicks off, the city lights are so bright it looks like daytime, the little stores are still open, but few people are seen around at that hour.

“If only you would tell me exactly how old you are...” you throw in briefly, Jungkook shoots you a piercing glance from the mirror, you shrug your shoulders.

“Hey, you're smart ... but a hundred days haven't gone by yet.”

“Antipathetic...” you mutter in a low voice, sticking out your lower lip, he laughs at you, shaking his head.

After that he stops the car not far from a restaurant, it looks very nice and elegant, not obnoxiously glitzy, but intimate. Just the place for a date.

Out of the car he takes your hand, leading you past the small road and then toward the entrance, your footsteps ticking along with his quieter, more regular ones, he seems a little excited and how can you blame him? You're so flustered you think you won't eat anything, then again, it's Jungkook and you can safely be yourself.

A waiter comes up to you smiling, your attention immediately falls on the two front teeth that are sharper than the others, you study the environment, noticing how the colors are as warm as they are dark. Also, people whisper to each other, not letting you know what they were saying to human ears.

“Two days ago I made a reservation for two,” Jungkook is saying to the boy, who nods, asking him under what name he registered the reservation, although he seems to know Jungkook, perhaps he is a regular client. Past that part you are escorted to your table, which overlooks the restaurant's inner garden.

Jungkook pays no attention to the people who take to observing both of you after you pass their tables; you do. Their attention seems to be all on you, and you wish you had read the name of the restaurant so you could do your dutiful research, because it seems anything but a place habitually frequented by humans.

Not that there's any problem for you, but you don't want to be disruptive to the vampires present, you humans have a particular kind of smell that only they smell, which they might like as much as exactly the opposite.

Jungkook gently pulls your chair aside and you thank him with a nod; small candles have been scattered throughout the room, making the atmosphere more intimate.

“Do you like it?” he asks, pointing to the place.

“It's very nice, do you come here often?” investigation mode activated.

“It's my friend's restaurant, Taehyung, I've been a regular client since it opened, about...” he suddenly freezes, raising an eyebrow, “I know what you want to do, I'm not going to tell you when it opened,” he mutters, picking up his menu.

You snort through your nose; if he had told you how many years the restaurant has been open, you might have guessed roughly his age.

His dark eyes scan all the dishes on the menu very slowly, you're sure he knows that menu by heart, he's just wasting his time not to confront you, shaking his head you also take your menu and just follow his same actions.

There are many meat dishes, and it says in a note that they give the option to choose the type of cooking the client likes, clearly a vampire would have chosen a juicy, rare cut of meat, but you are not a vampire, so you choose a Korean dish that involves well-cooked meat.

“How was work?” you ask, bringing his attention back to you.

“Real hell, I told you Jin is busy with the wedding, right? That made Yoongi go ballistic,” he says contritely.

“Why? Wedding preparations are important!”

Jungkook looks around for a moment, then leans toward you with one hand covering his mouth, “Jin's brain has been more watered down lately than usual, he takes orders from his girlfriend and doesn't complain about it, the wedding was meant for next year, but that viper insisted it happen earlier and that messed up our schedule, we have more work than before, and Yoongi, our section chief, has been having nervous breakdowns several times.”

You bring a hand to your mouth trying not to laugh; it's the first time you've heard someone talk like that about Kim Seokjin. It must be nice to work with people with friendly faces, you think back to your situation with that fool Valentine and Yoongyu, a weight settles on your stomach.

“I wish I had friends at work, too, but instead I'm stuck with a moron who does everyone's business and even gets them into trouble.”

“Why settle for friends when you can have a boyfriend at work?”

The waiter arrives to bring you a bottle of red wine and water, beginning to pour the scarlet liquid inside the crystal glass, staring at Jungkook with plenty of eyes.

“What... What do you mean?” you stammer taking a sip of wine, Jungkook looks amused.

“What I said, from the way you talked about it you don't sound very satisfied with your job and I could use an assistant for photocopying,” he gives you a brief wink before drinking in turn.

You watch spellbound as you watch the sensual movement of his neck following the swallowing of the dark, full-bodied liquid; perhaps because of the alcohol, or perhaps just from the presence of the man, your body tingles uncomfortably.

You settle back in your chair, pulling the skirt of your dress lower, trying to cover both of your heated thighs. You certainly won't need the stole that night.

“Don't be silly, in that case I'd be your boss, not the assistant who prepares the photocopies,” you taunt him a little, he taps a finger on the table, his expression not changing, he's still wearing that slapping face.

“Oh, but photocopying would be a valid excuse to do much more, the use of a small key is the trick” what is he getting at?

You haven't even gotten beyond kissing and already he's talking about what you might be up to in the office. In front of a lot of vampires who can hear you talking then, has he gone mad?

“What are you getting at, Mr. Jeon?”

The waiter arrives to bring your dishes, Jungkook has chosen a rare steak, of course, but that doesn't make him look away from you.

Jungkook waits for the young man to leave before responding.

“Everywhere. I want to get everywhere, with you,” then quietly takes knife and fork waving you to start eating, you have to impose mental barriers on yourself not to think of dirty things that might turn you on more than before. Jungkook's words were crystal clear, as was the meaning behind them.

“Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey lately? You look like its protagonist,” you casually ask, before you take a bite, the flesh though well-cooked melts like butter and you almost groan with pleasure.

You don't know this friend of his, but boy, would you thank him for opening that restaurant, everything is really good.

Jungkook meanwhile wrinkles his nose, “Please, I'm so much better than that Christian Grey!”

You mock him, “You think so, and yet, you look like something out of that book.”

One of his eyebrows snaps upward, “How can I prove otherwise?”

You pretend you didn't hear him, so you change the subject.

“This date is also a chance to get to know each other more, right? So I can ask you everything,” he snorts through his nose, bringing his back to better observe you.

“Okay, okay... everything except age,” he points out, but that wouldn't be a problem for you.

Did he play with the dirty jokes? Well, you have a repertoire of such questions.

“First kiss?” you throw there without flinching, unlike Jungkook who tightens his lips trying not to laugh exasperatedly, ‘Explaining situation, person and environment’ you join your hands under your chin, with a completely innocent smile.

“You are... You are absurd! You want to find out my age any way you can!”

You bite your lower lip, smug.

“I only asked you when and to whom you had your first kiss, it's not that difficult... or maybe such a question embarrasses you?”

He forcefully resumes his glass, draining the last drop of wine with narrowed eyes, “I'll answer, as long as you do the same.”

“You are such a child.”

He raises his eyebrows and you roll your eyes, nodding.

“I was still living with my parents, but I was old enough to experience certain ... urges, throw in a broom cupboard and a girl a little older than me and the dish is served,” you raise an eyebrow.

“You kissed her just like that, without knowing her?” you ask in amazement, Jungkook hadn't seemed like such an easy guy.

He shrugs, “She was nice, plus she was visiting with her father, she needed someone to show her around the house while our parents were talking in the office... I offered and we liked each other, that's all,” you narrow your eyes.

You immediately banish any form of jealousy from your mind, after all, you too had other experiences before you met him, you must be a mature person.

“Exact age?” he ignores your question, asking another question.

“You?”

You?

You sigh a little.

Well, what about you... you certainly weren't as precocious as he was. You're embarrassed to admit it, but you came rather late to enjoy certain intimate aspects of a relationship.

“Nineteen years old, first boyfriend, the place was his house, more specifically the couch, his parents weren't home and we decided to experiment a little,” something in your words makes him laugh incredulously.

“Did you have to specify?” you sense annoyance in his tone and this makes you mentally lick your whiskers like a cat satisfied with dinner. “You specified that it was the broom cupboard!”

“And you that it was your boyfriend!”

He's not really angry, just annoyed, and you're loving this

“Shall we go ahead, first time?”

“Oh, dear...” he pinches his nose with two fingers as his broad chest vibrates under his giggles, ”It's our date, do you really want to hear me talk about former sex partners? Be serious, you just want to make me pay for it,” he says with conviction.

“Really... and what would be the reason?”

You move again, crossing your legs conspicuously, let the fabric of your dress flow a little over your smooth skin, and pretend to adjust it, making sure he notices.

In response he leans toward you again, completely amused by your actions, “You're tired of kisses and little caresses, you'd like our acquaintance to move to a more physical plane, and you're irritated by all this slowness.”

“And if that were really the case, what would you do then?” you blow provocatively.

He remains silent for a few moments before giving a polite nod to the waiter who was about to bring another bottle. You watch confused at his actions.

He murmurs something in his ear, and the young man nods, taking the wine with him. “What did you say to him?”

He puts on a completely innocent expression, “I just asked for the bill.”

[spidybaby]

Stressed

Summary: When he's stressed and worried about work, that's the only thing on his mind.

Warnings: angst because I'm a sucker for it 😤

A/N: So I'm inspired, and you already know I love angst, I breathe angst, I eat angst. (Okay, I'm done exaggerating), but lemme know how you are? Are you drinking water? Hope you're fine 💐❤️

Since Kylian sent that letter to the higher-ups of PSG about not wanting to stay until 2025, everything is drama.

The french tabloids, for some reason, want him to look bad, want him to look like this ungrateful man.

He's experiencing too much pressure, Sergio leaving, Lionel leaving, possibly Verrati leaving. It was a mess. The whole teams is.

Especially now that this dumb reporter, her name is Sam, she's all over him about the whole side of him about the leaving, the selling, the quitting of Galtier. He's done with her, with the other reporters, with the ultras hating him for even breathing.

"Don't worry, Kyky, everything's going to be fine." Sergio pat his back, Kylian was one of the first ones to know about his retirement of the club. "Don't let that chick got to you."

"I just want her away from me." He drinks too fast for what he's used to. "Can't she cover something else?"

"Look, hermano." Ney says, he had to deal with the same reporter a few months before. "Just tell her something completely different from what she's asking, and she'll leave."

He knows she just wants to write something before anyone else, something that comes from his own, not for speculation. "Lie to her."

He scuff, it's not that easy to be away from her when she's also part of the PSG press people. She has access to everywhere. That makes him uncomfortable.

"Mira Kylian." Leo says. He's not new to this whole press drama. "Just don't mind her, ignore her, saying you have to be somewhere." He smiles, nodding to his advice.

Leo and Sergio are the ones he trusts with this media hate. They're goats, and they come from a long road. He can't deny that even Neymar is an expert. But he's been there for his own stupid mind, even tho he denied it.

He followed the advice Leo gave him, always ignoring her, saying the usual bonjour or a revoir. Nothing else.

That made her mad. She even asked Galtier for his number, not caring about writing him. That took him to the limit. He couldn't escape her. She was everywhere and anywhere at the same time.

"Don't stress, mon amour." You say kissing his cheek. You're massaging him, wanting to help him relax. "I know it's hard, but I'm here for you. It's only you and me."

You tried everything for him to relax, you didn't know the whole story. He never told you about this reporter. So you only think it's because of the whole letter drama.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

"Bonjour, Kylian." Sam says, looking at him. She's blocking the door of the lockers. "Can we talk." She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm busy." He tries to pass her, but she's not moving, and the last thing he wants is touching her or making any type of contact. "Please move."

"Just five minutes." She says, begging him. "And I'll leave you alone forever."

"I prefer you to leave me alone now." His voice is this deep tone. He's done with her games. "Get out of the way." He ask nicely.

"Four minutes." She begged again.

"Sam, out of the way."

"Three."

He breathes deeply, and he's losing his temper. "I'll say it only one more time, and believe me, that I hate repeating myself." He grabs her arm, not hard but the right amount of pressure to move her gently. "I'm busy." He's mad. His whole day is ruined, thanks to her.

He enters his car, asking the driver to take him home. He's supposed to go to his mother's house, but he's too mad for that.

He arrived home funding. His train bag is now on the floor, you're home early, and you notice the noise, thinking maybe he fell.

"Are you okay?" You ask from your bedroom. Maybe he's hurt. "Ky? Amour?" You talk louder this time.

After a few minutes, you hear the footsteps on the stairs. A very agitated Kylian enters the room. "Hi, handsome." You say, opening your arms to him.

"Remember how you said you can take the stress out of me?" He sais breathless, you nod smiling. "Do it."

You throw the covers away from you. Ready to attack your boyfriend with kisses and attention. Your lips feel heavy on his own. He's tense. You can feel him.

There was no other reason for his mind to be elsewhere, hes uncomfortable by the fact that he has Sam on the back of his head, tunning after him, basically harrassi him.

There's no other reason for him to focus on anything other than you. The way your lips feel on his neck, the way your hands are touching the right places, the way you're making him feel good.

His hips are moving to a very fast pace. He's not one to take his frustration on you, but the way you're moaning his name and how your nails are scratching his back is making him lose control.

He doesn't know how, but it happens. He can't take her name out of his mind, now even when you're taking him so well.

When he dips his hips at a certain angle, the back of your head digs further into the pillow, and he attacks the exposed side of your neck. He's leaving red marks, marking you as his. The groan that's escaping his lips are pornographyc.

You could feel nothing but him, the weight of his body over yours, the thin layer of sweat on his back under your fingertips and on his forehead, making the hair close to your neck to stick to it.

What's making the entire situation so much worse is the fact that no matter how much he tries, he can't stop thinking about her. Not in a sexual way, but angrily wanting her to go away, to leave his mind alone.

His hand is griping your waist so hard. He knows he'll leave a mark. Moans coming out of his mouth. “Fuck, you feel so good.” he goes faster, knowing by the sounds you're making that you're close.

"Sam-" that's when he stops. His whole body stop. He doesn't know why he's saying her name. His eyes are open in a panic.

"Get off," you say out of breath. Your heart is beating as fast as if it's going off your body. "Get off of me."

You push his shoulders for him to get off of you. He pulled out and tried to explain. "Y/n, please, I didn't mean to do that."

Your mind is lost, one moment you're under him, holding him closer, kissing him and enjoying him.

And now you're pushing him away, not wanting him to touch you. You grab the covers of the bed. You wrap it around your body before running to the bathroom.

"Amour, please." He tries to grab your arms. "Amour." He almost catch you, but he's not fast enough.

The next thing he knows is you slamming the door in his face. He can hear the way you're breathing and how you sob. The sound is making his heart hurt.

"I promise I wasn't-" he can't even think of an excuse. He's fucked up, he's hearing the way you're crying and can't think of how to solve it. "Listen, she's a reporter that has been harassing me. She's always on me, and I".

You open the door, interrupting his explanation. You're standing there, tears running down your face, blanket around your body, eyes sad.

"Mon amour." He doesn't know if he can touch you. He doesn't want to make you more uncomfortable than what you already are. "I promise it's not what you think."

You pass him, walking to the room to get your clothes, dressing yourself again, hurried to get away from him.

"Please don't go." He says, hand grabbing your arm. "Please, let me explain." He feels like crying, not wanting to let go.

"Not now." You get off his hold. "I can't do this. Please get away from me." You push him lightly.

"Don't go, I'll go, but you don't have to go." He dresses himself, not wanting you to leave. "I'm fucking sorry." Your back is facing him. You can't look at him in the eyes.

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

The past week, you were running away from Kylian, leaving extra early for work and returning while he was still training.

For him, it was hard not being able to speak with you. But you needed time, and he's willing to let you have it. Even if that hurt him in the process.

For you, it's been weird. You can't wrap your mind around the fact of what's going on. For you, it hurts that he didn't trust you enough to talk to you about what's happening, and the other part of you is your ego being hurt by him naming another girls name.

You were sure with a talk and being honest, you both can make up. You trusted him when he says he has never been with her, but you also needed to know the whole story.

The sound of keys jiggling is the way you know he's home. When he walks he sees you sitting on the couch.

He's tired, everyone is hating on him for the stupid tabloids, and he can't even find comfort in your arms because he hurt you without intended to.

"Can we talk?" He swears the sound of your voice is magical. He missed it. He missed you. He nods and takes a seat next to you. "Who's Sam?"

He didn't hesitate to detail the whole thing. The things his playmates advised him. "Kylian, why didn't you report her to the management?" You're mad, not with him but with her for being such a bitch and harass him about a stupid football news.

"Because I thought she was going to leave me alone." He yells, frustrated. "I can't do this anymore."

You hug him, caressing his back and him cry his frustration. His not crying about her. He's crying about the news, about the hate, about the media not leaving him alone.

"I'm here, don't cry." You kiss the top of his head. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you before."

"It's not you, I'm the one who made the mistake of letting her abuse her power." He let you dry his tears. "I'm so done."

"It's not your fault. Don't say that." You kiss his cheeks. "You're fine now, I'm not letting her or anyone hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable." You hugged him. Promising you'll never let him feel that way again.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

hi mira i’m going to rq for jjk (gojo specifically) :) kinda inspired by a fic idea of mine so if i see you post it maybe it’ll give me inspo to actually write too LOL — this is also a little long sorry, you can shorten as you wish 😓 maybe it’ll get the brain juices going idk

Y/N was really close to geto (i was thinking siblings but do whatever) and when he turned curse user and left, it made Y/N rethink why she was a sorcerer herself. she believed in geto’s ideals, but seeing his mindset 180 made her question if the same thing would happen to her since she was always weaker-minded than him. so she quit dropped out of the school and gojo never saw her since

skipping to the present, Y/N became a sorcerer again after having a conversation with geto some time before he died. with yuji being sukuna’s vessel, she goes to the school herself and sees gojo (their last convo was actually an argument leaving everything [him] behind). gojo’s just really stubborn, but he’s there when Y/N really needs him. from there they only keep encountering each other until they make up, their feelings are all out on the table, etc. etc.

── CHIAROSCURO

Synopsis: You don’t really know who you are without Suguru Geto. Satoru Gojo doesn’t know who he is without either of you.

Event Masterlist

Pairing: Gojo x Reader, Geto & Reader have something less than romantic but more than platonic going on

Chapter Word Count: 6.7k

Content Warnings: angst, mentions of death, flawed y/n character, major time skips, most plot events happen off screen, characters are probably ooc tbh i haven’t written for jjk in months

A/N: finally finished the first of the requests I’ve received so far!! it ended up being way more geto-centric than i had planned for it to be though i’m so sorry angel 😭 and it was also getting way too long so i decided to end it by just hinting the development of the rest of the story you mentioned LMAO i hope that’s okay 😫

Additional: part of my 500 follower event! see the event description and rules to make a request of your own.

Most people grew up with one shadow, but according to your mother, you had lived your entire life with two. The first was the same as the one everyone had, that darkening of the ground in the shape of your figure. The second was the boy who lived next door — or, at least, that was what she told you.

His name was Suguru Geto, and despite his dark features and darker clothing, he had a perpetually sunny demeanor, always quick to offer you a gentle smile whenever you glanced his way. He was polite even when it wasn’t required of him, and though your mother teased you for it, you knew she was secretly grateful for his presence in your life.

The greatest thing Suguru had ever done for you, though, was not teach you manners. It was that he gave you someone to follow. Perhaps it was true that he was your shadow, but it was his in which you cowered when you were frightened, when the brightness of the world was too harsh for your eyes, which, when it came to cruelties and horrors, were as sensitive and new as a child’s.

Suguru was always happy to take on that role. He would stand in front of you, his shoulder blades pinching together as he puffed out his chest and rebuked whichever neighborhood child had dared to tease you. They all ran from him when he was like that, when his brow grew heavy over his eyes and the corners of his mouth twisted into a scowl.

Not you, though. You stayed behind his back, blinking owlishly at the way the others scurried, laughing along when Suguru likened them to mice with a click of his tongue.

Suguru didn’t like those who hurt the ones weaker than them, so you didn’t, either. Suguru thought that the role of the strong was to protect the frail, so you did, too. Whatever Suguru believed, you did as well, because what else was there for you? It was easier for you to hold onto his hand and press against his back, to allow him to tell you where to place your feet, so that there was never even a chance of you falling.

That was why it wasn’t a surprise that, upon Suguru being scouted as a sorcerer, you were extended the same invitation. It was a natural consequence — where he went, you followed, and so when he packed his things and went to Tokyo, it was both of your bags that he was carrying, while you peered around the train station and wondered what kind of place you were going to end up in.

Your new classmate was the one that picked the two of you up. He was tall — taller than even Suguru, though the majority of his body consisted of his legs — and had an unearthly appearance, with pale hair carefully mussed into a seemingly thoughtless style and black glasses which slid down the bridge of his nose to reveal eyes like diamonds.

He was the most brilliant thing you had ever seen. Lowering your eyes, you stepped back into Suguru’s shadow, earning you a scoff from your classmate and a worried exhale from your friend.

“Blech,” he said. “You’re supposed to be my classmate, really? How’re you going to keep up, huh? I’m the strongest sorcerer in the world, you know.”

“I think we’ll manage just fine,” Suguru said pleasantly, though there was an edge to his voice, his teeth like knives when he smiled and offered his hand. “I’m Suguru Geto.”

“Satoru Gojo,” your classmate said, shaking Suguru’s hand firmly. “Looking forward to working with you.”

“Likewise,” Suguru said. “And this is Y/N L/N.”

“Hi,” you said, swallowing even as you said it, pursing your lips and glancing around, wishing for some kind of escape. Gojo hummed and then poked you on the forehead.

“Aw,” he said when you did not visibly react beyond furrowing your brow. “I thought you might fall over or something.”

“I see,” you said. “Um. Well, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go before our teacher gives us all detention for playing hooky.”

Unlike Suguru, Gojo didn’t allow you to follow him around. He made fun of you when you were scared and poked you on the forehead if you cringed away from his taunts. The latter occurred so frequently that you were surprised there was not a permanent indent in your skin.

“One day I’ll get you, pretty Y/N,” he’d always promise you. “Seriously! I mean, you barely have a backbone in the first place, so it’s really a wonder you’re standing at all.”

At first, Suguru used to demand he stop, but as the months went by, his protests grew weaker and weaker. You supposed that it must’ve been nice for him, to stand beside someone for once instead of constantly throwing himself in front of them. You could not blame him, but you found that you missed him more with every passing day.

But what was there to be done about it? After all, you were nothing compared to the two special grade sorcerers. You did what you could and found it was, for the most part, sufficient, but sufficient would never let you exist beside either of them in any way that mattered. So you fell behind, and this time, it was not a conscious choice but an unavoidable circumstance. This time, when you hung back, Suguru continued forward without you.

Empty-minded and weak-hearted. That was what your teacher called you. He sent you on the simplest missions he could, and still you struggled. Sometimes, this meant you would sit alone in the classroom until it was long past dusk, listening to your teacher ramble and shout.

“You are not weak!” he would say, his hands clenched into fists by his side. “By all rights, your technique is perfectly serviceable. You are not weak, Y/N L/N!”

“Yes, sir,” you would respond meekly.

“At least, you should not be,” he’d say. “Yet somehow, inexplicably, you are. Even a Grade 2 curse nearly got the better of you. Your classmates are exorcising special grades on their own! Aren’t you disgusted with yourself?”

Suguru, and sometimes Gojo, would wait outside of the door for you, lingering until they heard the shuffle of your feet, the soft sniffles which announced your arrival. Then Suguru would wrap a casual arm around your shoulders and tell you that it was fine if you were weak, just as long as he was around to protect you, and Gojo would do that infuriating thing where he’d poke you in the forehead and pretend like it was a miracle you hadn’t toppled over yet.

Otherwise, you did not see your classmates. Shoko Ieri was far too busy learning to do things you could never hope to accomplish in your lifetime, and Suguru and Gojo were called on to complete assignments with such unhealthy regularity that their education actually suffered for it. 

You never knew what they did on their missions. You never cared to ask, either. The details would only make you queasy, and in this new world where you were not permitted to shudder and seek out the safety that Suguru so willingly provided you with, you tried to avoid things like that. Harsh things, brilliant things, cruel things — all of them you ran from at an equal pace. Without Suguru there to defend you, you turned into one of those children he had so-despised in your youth. Always running. Always hiding. Always shying away from anything resembling a challenge.

It was after one such mission that Suguru returned differently. You knew he had changed because he crawled into your bed that night instead of his own, drew the blanket up around his shoulders and pressed his weeping eyes against your collarbones.

“It’s no good,” he said after the third time you had asked him what was the matter, your hands nervously skimming over his shoulders, smoothing over his rough hair. “Everything’s been ruined, Y/N. Or maybe it was always like this. Maybe you’re the only one who’s ever understood the world to begin with.”

The next morning, when his feet touched the ground and he slid out of your bed, you were hit with the strangest feeling that you would never see him again. Not in the way you were used to seeing him, anyways. Sitting up in your bed, leaning against your pillows, you watched as he left, though when he went to close the door behind him, you reached out your hand.

“Wait,” you said. He paused, raising his eyebrows.

“Is everything okay?” he said, his knuckles growing white from gripping the handle.

“I want to look at you,” you said. You knew without knowing that the instant the door shut between the two of you, you would lose him forever. Your best friend. Your shadow. You wished that there was a way you could reach out and save him, but the thought of you saving someone was outlandish. Impossible. Laughable. 

“Yeah?” he said. There were heavy bags under his eyes, and it did not reach his irises, but nevertheless, he somehow managed to muster up a smile. It was not gentle as much as it was exhausted, but still, he smiled as best he could at you. “Okay.”

You hugged one of the pillows to your chest. “I miss you a lot.”

“I haven’t gone anywhere,” he said.

“Not yet,” you said. “I think you will someday, though. You’ll go somewhere far away, and I won’t be able to follow you there. You won’t even want me to.”

“What kind of place is that?” he said. “I’ll always want you to follow me around, Y/N. As long as I’m there, not a corner on this planet could be a place I don’t want you to follow me to.”

The door creaked shut. You stared at the blank expanse and thought to yourself that he had always been very good at lying.

From that day forward, there were two opposite phenomena which occurred simultaneously. On the one hand, that blinding radiance of Gojo’s was magnified by the minute, and on the other, Suguru withdrew further and further into a grey sort of monotony that, try as you might, you could not pull him from.

“Gojo,” you said one day, tugging on his sleeve and flinching when he turned to look at you. As per usual, he pressed his finger into your forehead.

“Yikes,” he said. “Seems like you’re still lacking in the spinal department, dear Y/N. But just so you know, I’ve cheated off of your math homework enough times that you really shouldn’t be scared of me.”

“Please help Suguru,” you said.

“Eh?” Gojo said. “What do you mean? Help him with what, his math homework? I’ll just give him yours to copy as well, so why don’t you cut the middle man and show it to him yourself?”

“No, not with — just, he’s going away, and I don’t want him to, but he doesn’t — you’re the only one,” you stammered. 

It was even more difficult to speak with Gojo now than it had been when you had first come to school. That was because it was only recently that you were realizing that that way he made you feel, that shyness, that apprehension, was not because of his gleaming, sharp countenance, but rather something else, something soft in your heart that thudded to life whenever he smirked at you.

“You want me to take his mission for him?” Gojo said, his nose wrinkling. “What, so the two of you can go on a date or something? Forget about it.”

“What?” you said. “No, what — a date — that’s not what I meant!”

It was too late. Gojo was gone, and with him, your last chance at helping Suguru vanished, too. In fact, Gojo avoided you until you went home from the summer break, making a face whenever you glanced his way, and by the time you came back to start the next year, it was too late for anyone to do much of anything.

“Y/N L/N,” Masamichi Yaga said, entering the library where you were writing a paper for your literature class. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, his cheeks a dark, flushed color, his teeth gritted together so hard that a muscle in his jaw twitched periodically. “Do you have a moment? It’s urgent.”

“I was just working on the essay that we were assigned, but it can wait,” you said agreeably, all too eager to give yourself a break from the work. Pushing aside your paper and pen, you stood up, massaging your wrist. “What is it, sir?”

“It’s, er…” His shoulders slumped. “I’m really sorry, Miss L/N.”

You tried to run through the list of things that he could be sorry for, but only one thing came to mind. You froze, your eyes widening. He had been on a mission, hadn’t he? 

“Suguru,” you breathed. “Is it — it’s not about Suguru, is it?”

“In a sense, it is,” Yaga said.

“Is he alright?” you said. “He has to be alright.”

“We believe his condition is fine, considering what he’s done,” Yaga said.

“‘What he’s done?’ Why are you being so vague? What’s going on, sir? Please say it plainly,” you said.

“It’s your parents, Miss L/N,” he said, spitting it out all at once like the phrase itself was poisoned. “They’re dead.”

Your stomach dropped. You had imagined so many things. In your nightmares, you saw your classmates dying, your teachers, even yourself. But never your parents. Your parents, who were so far removed from this awful world. Your parents, who only a month ago had sent you back to school with a pair of new shoes they had saved up to buy. You parents, who had never harmed anyone in their lives. What had they done that was so terrible it warranted such a sudden death? What were they being punished for?

“How — how did it happen?” you said. “Was it a curse?”

“Miss L/N…” Yaga said, his entire self deflating. “I’m really sorry.”

“What? Stop apologizing,” you said, tears gathering in your eyes. “Just tell me. Stop saying sorry and tell me!”

“It was most likely Suguru Geto,” he said, handing you a piece of paper. Your vision swam, and you could barely make out the words. All residents of the village were killed. Jujutsu High investigated. Based on residuals…all 112…the work of Geto’s curse manipulation. Sentenced to death. Sentenced to death. Sentenced to death.

“No,” you said, your voice cracking. “No, why would he do that? My parents loved him, and he loved them, too! We grew up together, so why would he do that?”

“Based on the evidence, he most likely killed his own parents, too,” Yaga said. Your hands wound themselves in your hair as you tugged.

“That’s a lie,” you said. “Suguru isn’t like that. Suguru is good! Suguru looks out for those weaker than himself! He protects people, Yaga. It must be a mistake. It has to be a mistake!”

“Miss L/N—” he began, but you were already running, sprinting as fast as you could. There was no way. There was no way. There was no way. 

Your house and the one beside it — Suguru’s house, a voice in the back of your mind nagged you, that’s Suguru’s house — were blocked off with yellow caution tape. Dozens of police officers were milling about the scene, barking into handheld radios, conversing tensely. One of them noticed you and extended an arm to stop your approach.

“Stay back, ma’am. This is an active crime scene. No outsiders allowed until the investigation has been concluded,” the officer said.

“That’s my house,” you whispered. “Officer, that’s my house. Why are there so many people here? It’s not true, is it?”

The officer didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The pitying frown on his face told you everything you needed to hear. It was true. It was true. Your parents, your parents were dead, and that meant —

What had it been like for them? Had your mother welcomed him? When she opened the door for him, had her eyes crinkled at the corners in greeting? Had she offered him tea, as she usually did, because she was so fond of him and he was so fond of the drink when made by her hand? And what of your father? Had he reached over to clap Suguru on the back, or had he tried to grab him in an affectionate headlock so that he could mess up his hair with all the zeal of a man half his age?

You threw up. Some of the vomit splattered onto the officer’s shoes, causing him to fold his lips into a thin, disapproving line. Taking a step back, he reached over to pat you on the back as you heaved and hacked, trying to expel the knowledge from your mind and finding that you were entirely unable to.

You walked back to the train station in a trance, your eyes reddened and glazed over, your mouth sour from the taste of the stale crackers the officer had handed you, your hands shoved in your pockets as you tried to remember to breathe through your nose. The officer had offered to escort you to the station, but you had refused. You needed the time to think, and anyways, what did it matter? No ordinary person could hurt you, and no sorcerer would.

“I didn’t think you’d come back alone,” a soft voice said from behind you. You turned around, your insides roiling at the very sound, your ears ringing as you took in Suguru’s casual posture. His hands, too, were in his pockets, and the streetlights cast misshapen, dancing shadows over his face, the effect worsened by the odd tilt of his head.

He was refusing to look at you. That was why he was standing like that. He couldn’t bear to look you in the eyes, and that was the only confirmation you needed. 

“So what?” you said. “I did. Are you going to kill me next?”

“What?” he said. Briefly, he glanced up at you in alarm, and then, like he had remembered he didn’t deserve to feel betrayed by that kind of question, he slouched back down into the same apathy of earlier. “No.”

“Just do it,” you said. “Just do it, you fucking asshole! Why would — you — you killed my parents! You killed my parents, and now you’re just talking to me as if nothing happened? Why? Why would you…?”

His expression did not budge again. “They were filthy monkeys who deserved it.”

“Huh?” you said. The statement was so bizarre that, for a moment, your anger was forgotten. “What the fuck?”

“This world doesn’t need more non-sorcerers running around,” he said. “Every single curse you’ve ever fought, it’s their fault. Those idiots who don’t know how to control the meager amounts of cursed energy they have, they’re the ones who cause curses to manifest. You should be thanking me, Y/N. This’ll make your life that much easier.”

“Do you really think that's the case?” you said.

“Yes,” he said. “With my entire heart, I think that it is.”

You had always, always followed Suguru. When he said to protect the weak, you did so. When he said to take care of others, you did that, too. Whatever he told you to believe, you believed. But how could you do that this time? How could you believe in the person who had murdered your parents?

“You killed my parents because of your stupid theory,” you said numbly. “You killed my parents. Suguru, you killed my parents.”

You didn’t care about the one hundred and twelve villagers. That was the most shameful thing: if it had just been that, then you might still have followed him. He could’ve convinced you — no. You could’ve convinced yourself that it was fine, that he really was looking out for you in that peculiar manner of his. It wouldn’t have been impossible. Even now, your resolve was so weak, and it was only the thought of your parents that allowed you to cling to it at all.

“They asked about you,” he said dully. “I let them. My own parents, I didn’t give them a chance to say anything, but yours…I let them ask. I guess you could consider it my last favor to you.”

The ringing grew louder. You pushed your palms against your ears in an effort to drown it out, but you couldn’t. If anything, it just grew louder and louder, more and more insistent. You couldn’t shake it off. You couldn’t make it go away, just like you couldn’t make Suguru’s words go away.

“It was the only thing they worried about. In their last moments, it wasn’t their own lives they begged for…it was yours,” he said, his gaze far away, his irises unreadable as he recalled that moment. “How strange is that?”

“Shut up,” you said.

“I told them you were okay,” he said.

“Shut up,” you repeated, though it was unsteady and unconvincing. “Shut up, shut up.”

“They were pretty happy about that,” he said, in a tone filled with dreamy recollection. “They didn’t fight much after I promised you’d be okay. What simple creatures they must have been, that even while dying they could only think to rejoice!”

You screamed. It was wordless and brittle, a symptom of your lungs’ collapse as you broke into sobs, fumbling in your purse for your phone. Suguru watched as you unsteadily punched in a number you had never bothered to save, not trying to stop you, maybe not seeing the point.

“Gojo,” you said when he picked up, before he could even say anything. “Gojo, please just — can you come get me? Please come get me.”

“Okay,” he said, to your surprise. He didn’t argue or call it a waste of time or point out that you were still bawling as you spoke. “Where are you? I can be there pretty soon if I steal one of the managers’ cars, I think.”

“By my house,” you said. Suguru did not move, showing you his hands, as if he was giving you permission to do what you wanted. It was your choice. If you just told Gojo that he was with you, then you had no doubt he’d be apprehended within minutes.

“I see,” he said. “I’ll be there as quickly as possible.”

You were the one who hung up, not him. You were the one who made the decision. You were the one who looked at Suguru and then turned your back to him so that, for once, he was the one behind you.

“I can’t reconcile it,” you said, using the ends of your sleeves to blot at your tears as you hiccuped. “I can’t understand it. Even after everything, I still want to follow you. I still want you to be my shadow. I still want to be yours.”

Don’t turn. Don’t turn. Don’t turn. You couldn’t turn around. If you turned around, then that meant your old teacher was right. Empty-minded. Weak-hearted. You could not turn around.

A dry breeze rustled through the leaves on the ground, sounding like footsteps against pavement. Don’t turn.

You turned. You should’ve known better than to expect anything different from yourself. You had never been someone who could stand in the front for very long. You would always turn. You would always run and cower and hide.

Anything you might’ve said died on your tongue as you saw he was already gone. You were alone. You had let him go. You had allowed that mass murderer, that criminal, to walk away from you. What kind of a sorcerer were you? Empty-minded. Weak-hearted. That sort, then. The horrible sort.

When the headlights of the car Gojo had borrowed swung around the corner, you had long since curled up on the grass, your cheek to the mud as you tried to grasp what you had done. 

“Hey,” Gojo said. “Y/N?”

He must’ve gotten out of the car at some point, because suddenly, he was crouching before you, pulling you to your feet, his limbs awkward and gangly as he cocked his head, still wearing those ridiculous sunglasses despite the darkness.

“I’m a piece of shit,” you said, and then you were clutching the collar of his uniform jacket. “Why am I like this?”

“What do you mean?” he said.

“He killed my parents,” you said. “He killed my parents, and I let him walk away.”

“Who?” Gojo said, but it was a rhetorical question. He knew who. You looked up at him miserably, and he shook his head slightly, like he couldn’t quite comprehend what you were saying. “You let who walk away?”

“I don’t think he was planning on seeing me,” you said, letting go of his shirt and pleading with him to understand. “We weren’t supposed to meet.”

“You saw Suguru,” Gojo accused, and now it was his turn to take you by the shoulders, his fingers digging into the muscle of your biceps, his eyes wild. “You saw him, and you didn’t tell me.”

Your lower lip trembled. “He killed my parents, Gojo.”

“That’s not true,” he said.

“It is,” you said. “It is, he told me it is, and I couldn’t even do anything when he said so.”

“Why?” Gojo hissed. “You only had to tell me! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just didn’t!” you said, and then you were crying again. “I couldn’t. Oh, they’re dead, and he killed them, he killed them, and they only asked about me when he did. Why am I the one who gets to live?”

His hands traveled from your arms to the nape of your neck, the heels of his palms pressing into your jaw as he tried to force you to look at him. But you couldn’t, of course you couldn’t, you hadn’t been able to before and you definitely couldn’t now.

“You know Suguru better than anyone. Don’t you think there’s something else at play?” Gojo said. He wasn’t asking for you. He was asking for himself. He wanted you to reassure him, tell him that it was alright, that his best friend wasn’t the monster you both knew he was. How was it fair? How could you be expected to reassure him?

You shoved him off of you. “No.”

“Then why’d you let him go?” Gojo said. “You must’ve thought that there was a reason, or else you would’ve told me. It’s the only explanation!”

“No, it’s not! The only explanation is that I’m shitty and weak and stupid, and I can’t help but rely on him. No matter what I do, I’ll rely on him! People like you don’t understand what it feels like. You can stand on your own, but I’m not like that!” you said, and then you were grabbing his hand — he always did that, you noticed, always turned his Infinity off for you even now that it was an automatic, constant process — unfurling his fingers and jabbing his index finger at your forehead. “Do you get it? You were right. I don’t have a spine. I don’t have one at all!”

“Pull yourself together, Y/N,” Gojo said. “He’s still out there. We just have to reach him before the others do, and then we can talk to him. If it’s the both of us, then he’ll listen. He’ll explain everything!”

“He already did,” you said. “You just don’t accept it, but that’s different than him not explaining at all.”

“So what, then? You’re just going to go back to the school and live your life as normal?” he said, scowling at you. “How could you even think of doing that? In what world does that make sense? You can’t go back and pretend like nothing happened!”

“It’s true. I can’t,” you said, because it was the fact you had been avoiding since the day you first set foot in the school, which you had always known in the back of your mind despite how you denied it. “I can’t go back at all. I can’t be a sorcerer.”

It was a rare thing to see Satoru Gojo speechless. If it were a lesser occasion, you might have laughed at the way his lips parted and his eyebrows knitted together in such a foreign way.

“Why not?” he said. 

“I’m afraid I’ll follow him,” you said. “No, I know I will. If I stay, then I will definitely follow him.”

“You won’t,” Gojo said. “Follow me instead. Follow me if you have to, but you can’t leave. Not you, too.”

Another rarity: Satoru Gojo was afraid. Not of your absence, but of the changes it would bring. With Haibara gone, Suguru vanished, and then you…what would even become of the school? When so many pieces were taken away from it, could it even be considered the same place?

“I can’t end up like that,” you said. “I can’t even risk it. I became a sorcerer because of him; I’ll leave because of him, too. Anyways, you hate when I follow you. You prefer people who can stand on their own two feet. I know that about you now.”

“If you run away, I won’t forgive you for a long time,” he warned me. 

“Then don’t,” you said, stepping away, though still facing him. “What good is your forgiveness, anyways? It won’t bring my parents back. It won’t bring Suguru back. I don’t even want you to forgive me, Gojo. I want you to hate me until you die.”

It was the last time you saw him for so long that his memory blurred away at the edges. The way he said your name, the way his hair shone in the sun, the slope of his nose and curve of his neck…once, these were things you might’ve been able to list with a great degree of accuracy. Not anymore, though. Now, if you thought of him at all, it was only that final image of him, framed by the headlights of that still-running car. It was not your name he had called out as you walked away from him, but something bitterer, a promise said with such sincerity it was all but a Binding Vow.

“Ten years,” he had said. “That’s how long I’ll hate you for. Not my entire life. Not until I die. Just for the next ten years.”

Life as an ordinary person was easy. Life without Suguru was harder. But you learned. You learned, through the years, how to stand on your own two feet. You learned how to live with only one shadow instead of two. You learned how to let your eyes adjust to light, gradually instead of all at once, so that it was an easy progression and free of pain. 

There were times when you thought you had seen one or the other of the two who you had run from. There, across the street, was it Suguru reading the newspaper? Or in the bakery you walked past on your way to work, was it Gojo who was admiring the displays? They always vanished before you could grow close enough to ascertain their identities, though, remaining ever out of your grasp, existing as nothing more than phantoms in your periphery, refusing to let you forget the past entirely.

The first time you called Gojo was a year after you left the school. You weren’t expecting him to pick up, and when the automated message prompted you to leave a voicemail, you almost hung up in resignation. Something stopped you, though, and despite feeling entirely ridiculous, you cleared your throat.

“Ah, it’s Y/N. But I guess you probably knew that, considering you didn’t pick up. Well, I don’t have anything much to say, but I just wanted to call and make sure you were doing alright. I’m okay. The anniversary of my parents’ deaths is coming up, so I was planning on visiting their graves. I got a new job. Somewhere that I never would’ve expected to work when I was younger. It’s nice. I like my coworkers. They’re nothing compared to you, of course, but they’re fine enough. Anyways. Um. I guess that’s it. I don’t think you’ll call me back, but I just wanted to let you know I’m doing okay.”

It was a routine. Every year, on that day, you’d call him and leave him a voice message. He never once answered — you doubted he listened to the voicemails at all, either — but it soothed you to leave them, to leave one last connection to the world that had taken up so much of your life, and for so long.

More often than not, that time felt like a dream. If it weren’t for the thorned mourner’s bouquets which left pricks in your fingers or the ten calls you had made to Satoru Gojo, you wouldn’t have believed any of it had happened at all. Sorcery, curses, shadows and killers, best friends who betrayed you and boys you ran from, these were all things better suited to storybooks than real life. 

Your mother’s favorite flowers had been roses, and you always made sure to bring some with you when you visited your parents’ graves. Roses for her and white chrysanthemums for your father, who had never had a preference for any particular flowers but was so sentimental that he would weep at any blooms being set by his headstone.

The roses were the ones that made the pads of your fingertips bleed, leaving bright red drops the same shade as their petals on the tissues you brought with you. You’d set the bouquet down and wrap your fingers with the tissues, watching as blood seeped through the thin paper, and then, without fail, you’d cry.

“It’s been so long without you,” you said, when enough time had passed that you could not be considered anything but an adult despite feeling like little more than a child. “It’s been so long, and I still don’t know what to do. Mother, father, I am grown now, yet constantly I wish I could ask you for advice. What was that song you’d always hum when I was tired, father? How did you make that tea of yours, mother? When did you know you loved one another? And a million other, sillier things. If I could think of nothing more pressing, I’d ask you about the weather, the time, and your plans for the weekend. I’d bid you a good morning and a good night. I’d complain about the rain and my job. Just as long as it meant I could talk to you again.”

You could not help it. You wept, bloody tissues fluttering to the ground as you ground your fists into your eyes, trying to stem the flow of your tears. Your breath came in quick, short gasps, and you rocked back and forth from your heels to your toes in an attempt to lull yourself into a state of calm. Back and forth. Back and forth. It was the only thing you could do, but it was not enough.

Someone’s hand settled upon your shoulder, and it had been so long since you had felt even a semblance of physical affection that you did not immediately bat them away. Instead, your own hands fell to your sides, your head hanging as you watched the newcomer set a bouquet beside the one you had brought. Orchids and lilies. Lovely, pale things that contrasted sharply with the red of the roses next to them.

“You said in your voicemail that you’d be here at this time. I hope it’s okay that I came.”

It was Satoru Gojo. He no longer wore the sunglasses you remembered him to; instead, a black blindfold was wrapped around his eyes and forehead, causing his pale hair to stick up like he had been shocked. He did not quite smile when he noticed that you were looking at him, but something resembling that expression crossed his face.

“Gojo,” you said. “Why are you—?”

“It’s been long enough,” he said. “You’re a really hard person to hate, Y/N L/N. I did my best, but it was difficult. I hope that you know that.”

“So you’ve come to, what, tell me you forgive me?” you said. “Thanks, but I don’t need it. It’s as I said: your forgiveness means nothing.”

“Nah,” he said, and then he was grabbing your hand and squeezing it tightly. “I’ve come to bring you back to sorcery with me.”

“What?” you said. “No. I quit.”

“You didn’t quit, you ran,” he reminded you.

“That’s the same thing,” you said. He grinned. It was the kind of grin that would’ve blinded you when you were younger, but you found that it was not so brilliant anymore. You found you liked it even more than you once had.

“Not in my books,” he said.

“Gojo, I’m not strong enough. I can lead a normal life without you and Suguru and the others, but if you throw me back into sorcery, I know I’ll cave,” you said. “I’ll turn back into that cowardly little girl I once was. I’ll seek out that shadow which I’ve spent so long learning to exist without.”

He sighed, and then he poked you in the forehead. “Not the case. See, you didn’t even waver this time! I think you finally did it, Y/N. You grew a spine.”

“Why do you want me to come back?” you said. “I’m not strong like you. I won’t give you anything you don’t already have.”

“It’s selfish,” he said. “I don’t want to tell you because it’s selfish, and you’ll laugh at me.”

“If you don’t tell me, then I won’t even consider it,” you said. Though his eyes were covered by the blindfold, you could sense him rolling them based solely on the way he pouted.

“I’ve spent the last ten years hating you for leaving us — for leaving me behind,” he said. “Everyone else was gone. I needed someone, but you left too, and then I really was alone. I want to drag you back into hell because I can’t face it by myself anymore.”

There were things left unsaid in that. Why you, for one? He could have anyone in the world, so why, after ten years, had he come to find you specifically? Why was it now that he could no longer bear the hell that was sorcery alone? But Gojo was not the sort who ever revealed his true self if he could help it, so you supposed those things would have to go unsaid for a little longer.

“Okay,” you said.

“Okay?” he said.

“Okay,” you said. “I’ll come back, but I have a condition.”

“What is it?” he said.

“The next time I leave, or run away, or quit, don’t hate me for quite as long,” you said. “Don’t hate me at all. I know I told you that I want you to hate me until you die, but I don’t anymore.”

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay?” you said, in a direct mirror of your previous exchange.

“Okay,” he said. “Come on, then. Follow me.”

“Oh, that, too,” you said. “I won’t follow you. If that’s what you’re expecting, then you can forget about it. I cannot allow myself to follow anyone ever again. I cannot be that weak, or I’ll become someone I despise. Someone I don’t want to be, ever again.”

His expression morphed into one of shock, and then he did something so odd as to be beyond all rationality and logic. He beamed at you before patting you on the head. It wasn’t condescending; it was the kind of gesture that was like a promise, or a warning, depending on who you asked. Maybe in this case, it was both.

“It’s alright. Actually, it’s better if you don’t,” he said. “I like you more when you don’t follow anyone at all.”

[cosmitton]

my friends should know i don’t listen by now

Johan Seong X F!Reader (foreign)

A/N: It’s been a while since I wrote anything, sorry about that! I just finished my Spring semester of university and am set to graduate at the end of this year, so I’ve been busy lol. This one is a bit more romantic than the others, though they’re not really in a relationship yet. Idk what chapter this takes place around, exactly, but it’s a little while after the first 2 I wrote. (Maybe around chapter 283, the end of Hostel, or a little bit after that?)

This is a continuation of this and this that I wrote before, if you haven’t read them. Same reader. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Zoe’s ever met Johan? Right?

Once again, I hope you enjoy and please let me know if anyone’s OOC or anything I need to improve. Thank you! c:

masterlist

Warnings: None

Summary: Johan comes to pick you up from school to go to the park. For the first time, your school friends find out who you’ve been spending time with.

You’re so into finishing with writing your notes that you don’t even realize that class has ended already. Not until you’re pulled from your thoughts, at least.

You hear your name being called and turn to see Daniel at the doorway to your classroom. Of course, Zack, Vasco, and Zoe are with him – and another girl… Mira, you think? The girl Zack has a crush on. You haven’t really spoken to her, seeing as you’re in the baking department while she’s in the fashion department with the others – and she’s not as outgoing as Zoe is to introduce herself, she seems nice though.

You nod to him, starting to pack up your things. You almost forgot that you have a date – well, not really, but kind of. It’s a good thing Daniel pulled you back to Earth or you would’ve been late, and your date would’ve been pouty, despite how much he denied that he ever pouted.

“Hey,” you stand up, putting the strap of your bag onto your shoulder, “sorry.”

“Take your time.” Daniel smiles, ever polite.

“Hurry up.” Zack huffs, but cowers when Mira looks at him chidingly.

“How was your day?” Vasco asks, always the buff, oblivious golden retriever.

You smile fondly at him, “fine, thanks. Yours?”

Vasco prattles on about everything that he and Jace, and the rest of Burn Knuckles, did today as your group walks out of school together. Admittedly, you stop listening once you get outside, looking around for your date – he should be meeting you at the gates. You see a couple of other students glancing confusedly in a direction and chattering with each other, and when you turn to look in that direction, you see him.

“Johan!” You raise your hand in the air as he looks up, straightening up from the way he was leaning against the pillars at the entrance of the schoolyard, to show that you’ve seen him and are on your way. “Hey, guys, I’ll see you late–”

You’re cut off when someone gently, but firmly, pulls you back. You turn to see Vasco with his hand on your arm, staring straight ahead at Johan with a tense look. The others in your group seem to have similar looks of apprehension or surprise on their own faces – except for Zoe, who just seems curious.

“Who’s that guy? He’s cute. Is that your boyfriend?!” It’s cute how Zoe seems genuinely excited about the prospect.

Vasco says your name tensely, and you turn to see the concern on his face. “You know him? Did you invite him here?”

You take another glance around the group – they’re all watching you now, “You guys know him? He’s my friend.”

“Do you know him? I mean, really know him? You should be careful around him, he’s–”

“It’s fine, Vasco. I can handle myself. And he’s a good guy.”

Vasco seems about to refute that, but Daniel steps in this time, “are you sure? Do you know what he’s involved in–”

“It’s not my business. And, no offense, but this isn’t yours.” You pull your arm out of Vasco’s grasp. “Thanks, guys, really. Don’t worry about it.”

You start to back away when Zack steps forward, a mix of eager and some kind of concern – though you don’t think it’s for you because Mira has a similar look, though she’s staring at Johan with shock as well. You wonder how they know him, and why they’re so surprised to see him, but you don’t ask – that also isn’t your business, and Johan will tell you in due time. “Wait, how do you know him?”

You turn toward Johan now, “see you later!” Now that you look at the brunette, he’s definitely pouting – figures.

You ignore Zack calling after you to answer his question and jog to meet with Johan and his dogs. “Hey,” you aim at the boy while you pet Eden and Miro in greeting.

He doesn’t answer. You look up to see that he’s glaring back at the group of your school friends, before he turns and starts walking away without you. You laugh slightly before catching up with his long strides. Your friends have bothered him, but you don’t ask why because you know that he’ll end up saying it anyway. It just takes him a minute, it’s like he can’t help himself.

As expected, he finally speaks, “you’re friends with those guys?”

You hum, knowing it’ll annoy him that you don’t elaborate further. But he never does, so why should you?

You can almost hear him roll his eyes, “and that big idiot? You’re friends with him? Really?”

“Vasco’s nice.” You offer.

Johan scoffs, “he’s not that great. Why is everyone so hung up on him?”

“Everyone?”

He doesn’t elaborate, of course.

You try again, really twisting the knife. “Jealous?”

He finally looks at you, half-annoyed and half-aghast. “Of what? Ignorance and failing grades?”

“You’re not even in school.”

“Shut up.”

You laugh as he turns away again, “you’re pouting~.”

“’M not.”

“Are.”

“Not.”

“Are.”

“Not–”

“Isn’t he?” You turn to Eden and Miro with your ‘stupid voice’ – as Johan calls the baby talk you naturally do with dogs – to ask them, “isn’t it so obvious that your dad’s pouting?”

“Don’t bring them into this.” Really, it’s adorable to you the way Johan is scandalized as if his dogs can actually understand and agree with you.

Eden and Miro both bark anyway, excited by the attention. You laugh, “see? They know it, too.”

“Traitors.”