#this is my first time drawing my take on this loser so it’ll probably change over time

[hairdestroyer]

Decided I’d hop on this while it’s at least still the same month lmao

[charlies-gillespie]

private relationship | charlie gillespie (part 1)

PART TWO

paring: fem!reader x charlie gillespie

summary: reader and Charlie have been in a very private relationship. none of their fans know that they’re together, until a slip up at a very public event changes everything for the pair

requested: no

length: long

rating: PG (borderline PG-13 tho for some nsfw jokes)

warnings: a dirty joke or two, a few sexual innuendos throughout, drinking

!! MY GIF - give creds if used !!

authors note: “mon amour” means “my love” in french. it’ll probably be used a lot throughout the imagine

another author’s note: would y’all want a part two, but with smut?

MASTERLIST

“Charlie!” you call. Your voice echoes through your apartment. “Can you come here for a second?”

You need help zipping your dress. Charlie was the first to get to your apartment. He’s been waiting for Owen, Madison, Jeremy, Jadah, and Savannah, and Sacha to get here so your group can go to the release party together. It’s a formal event so you had to wear a dress and heels. It wasn’t your first choice, especially the heels part.

Charlie appears in the doorway and says, “Yea- woah.” You see him in your mirror. His eyes are on you. He looks good in his suit that he’s wearing. His jacket and pants are black, his button-up beneath the jacket is white, but he wears a silver tie to compliment the color of your pale pink dress since he can’t match your dress.

A smile forms on your lips and you ask, “Can you come zip up my dress, please?” Charlie nods and walks into your bedroom. You watch him as he slowly zips up your dress.

The dress is a long, baby pink dress with satin fabric. The skirt is a little poofy from the waist down. The top hugs your chest, pushing your breasts up a little bit so they look a little bigger than they actually are. A sparkly silver belt sits on your waist to add some sparkle to the dress. The sleeves are off your shoulders, and there are hidden pockets in the skirt.

Your boyfriend admires you in the mirror. You’re fully dressed now. Your hair is loosely curled and you have a natural makeup look painted on your face. The light color of the dress compliments your tan skin.

“You look stunning, mon amour,” Charlie sighs. “Absolutely stunning.”

You lean your head back a bit, resting it against Charlie’s shoulder. “You clean up very nicely, Charlie,” you say. “I like that you matched me without actually matching me.”

He laughs and says, “I might’ve had Mads and Jadah help me with that little detail. I wanted to match you but it would draw suspicion to us.”

When you and Charlie started dating almost nine months ago, both of you agreed to keep it on the very low. No social media posts unless hanging out in a group setting, no tagging each other in stories if you were alone together, and only going as far as following each other on social media since you’ve worked on the same show together. The fans don’t even know that you’re friends with each other at this point. Only your closest friends that are going with you to the event tonight know that you and Charlie are together.

Kenny Ortega also knows since he’s technically your boss and you’re both co-workers. He also might have found you making out with Charlie after the two of you got carried away when cuddling on Julie’s bed after a few hours of shooting scenes. You couldn’t lie to him after that.

Tonight is a very public event. Pictures will be taken, journalists will be wanting every juicy detail, and fans have been invited to the event so if there’s even a little be of suspicion, it won’t take very long to go public. It’s the release night party for Julie and the Phantoms season two. Everyone’s been invited to watch the first few episodes of the new season.

You feel Charlie kiss your bare shoulder and you giggle softly. “I’m sure everyone will be getting here soon so we should go wait out in the living room,” you tell your boyfriend.

“I wish I was able to touch you tonight,” he says. “It’s your big Netflix debut, Y/N. I wish I was able to hug you and show you how proud I am of you.”

A little sigh leaves your body and you say, “You can hug me. I’m sure a friendly hug won’t hurt, as long as you hug other people too. As for showing me that you’re proud of me, you can do that later when we’re alone.” You send him a playful wink so he gets what you mean.

Charlie’s jaw drops and he blinks at you. “I-you, um,” your boyfriend stammers. “Okay, yeah. I’m going to show you just how proud I am of you later, baby.”

You turn and face Charlie. “I look forward to it, Charlie,” you tell him, leaning up. He smiles and lightly pecks your lips.

Someone knocks on the door and you click out of the room in your silver heels to answer the door. Owen and Jeremy stand at the door. Jer’s wife, Carolynn, stands beside him.

“Hi, Y/N,” Owen greets you. “You look very pretty. I saw Charlie’s car in the parking garage so where is that loser?”

You laugh and say, “Probably still in my bedroom. Go get him. I think I shocked him or something with my words.” Owen pushes past you. Jeremy follows him, leaving you and Carolynn alone.

Carolynn smiles and says, “I love that color on you, Y/N. It suits you.”

“Thank you,” you say, shooting her a little smile. You’ve grown close to Carolynn since she’s married to Jeremy and you’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with the guys in a group.

You let Carolynn walk in before closing the door behind her. Faintly, you hear Owen say, “Bro, what’s going on with you? Your face is red.”

Charlie responds with, “I am so having sex tonight, dude.”

Both you and Carolynn laugh in the living room as Carolynn asks, “I don’t want to know what that’s about, do I?”

As you sit, you say, “Charlie said he wishes he could touch me tonight at the party so he could show me how proud he was of me. I told him he can show me how proud he is of me later when we’re alone.”

Carolynn says, “Ah, okay. That makes sense. Congratulations, by the way. Making your big Netflix debut tonight. How’s it feel?”

“I’m excited, but very nervous,” you admit. “The first season did so well and won so many awards that I’m scared that I’m going to come in and ruin the whole show and that people won’t like my character.”

She says, “You play the nice daughter of the villain of the show. Everyone will probably love you when they realize that your character wants to help the Phantoms instead of siding with Caleb. Don’t tell Jer and the guys but I think you have one of the best songs of the season so I think the fans will definitely love that.”

You smile as there is another knock on the door. Charlie, Owen, and Jeremy come into the living room as you answer the door.

Savannah stands in the doorway with Mads, Sacha, and Jadah. “I had to pick up the kiddos,” Sav says. “Ooh, Y/N. You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” you say, smiling. “We’re just waiting for the limo to get here. I think we have a half hour or so before it gets here.”

Kenny is sending a limo to your apartment for the nine of you. When you decided to go as a group so you and Charlie could go together, Kenny pitched in and helped like the wonderful human being he is.

Owen decides to go live with Jeremy on his Instagram account for a few minutes. Carolynn talks with Savannah, Sacha, and Jadah while you find yourself talking with Charlie and Madison.

Mads says, “Kenny is giving us the opportunity to sing on stage together tonight. He told me that we can pick whatever song from either season. He thinks the fans would want to hear Perfect Harmony or Stand Tall since those were massive after season one dropped.”

Charlie nods and says, “Stand Tall would be good since all of us can get in on that number. I can talk to Jeremy and Owen about it when they get off live.”

You smile at the two of them and say, “That’s exciting. The fans will be so excited for this little surprise.”

“We can thank Kenny when it goes really well,” Mads says with a laugh. “He’s always got these great ideas. I don’t know how he comes up with them.”

Both you and Charlie laugh as your phone rings. You answer it, speaking to the limo driver. After a moment, you hang up the phone and announce, “Limo is here. Let’s head on out.”

Everyone gets their things together, Owen gets off Instagram live, and you all head down two floors to pile into the limo.

The drive from your apartment to the Laglyan Complex on North Vine Street is close to forty minutes. It was close to six when you left and it’s almost seven when you arrive to the venue for tonight’s event.

There is a red carpet laid out across the front of the building to the door. There is a lot of press here and a lot of cameras flashing. Cheyenne Jackson and Booboo Stewart are together on the carpet. You spot Kenny with one of the assistant directors.

When the press spots the limo, they begin to mumble to each other as they try to figure out who is in the car. Owen and Jeremy get out first. The press begin to snap pictures of the guys. Madison gets out with Jadah. Carolynn, Sacha, and Savannah. Sacha pairs up with Savannah while Mads, Jadah and Carolynn walk the carpet together until Carolynn finds her way to her husband.

Charlie helps you out of the car. The journalists call Charlie’s name as you close the door behind you. “Go,” you order him. “I’ll be okay. You’re the star of the show.” He smiles and sends you a wink since his back is turned toward the cameras. He walks off and your eyes follow him. Cheyenne walks over.

“Look at you, Y/N,” he says. “You look wonderful.”

You smile and say, “Thank you, Cheyenne. You look nice tonight. I love the suit.” He wears a shirt similar to his Julie and the Phantoms character, Caleb Covington. You play his daughter on the show.

Cheyenne holds his arm out for you and you hook your elbow with his. The cameras snap away at you and Cheyenne since the two of you play a father-daughter duo. Booboo comes and joins you and Cheyenne as the ‘Hollywood Ghost Club Crew’, as Booboo dubbed the three of you. The band is getting pictures together. Savannah, Sacha, and Jadah are getting their pictures taken together. Carolynn is getting her pictures done.

The journalists call out questions to the cast. They ask Madi which season was her favorite, which she replies with, “Y’all really going to make me choose? I can’t do that.”

Owen is asked whether or not we’ll get a Willex kiss in the future, which Owen replies with, “We’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

All the journalists laugh. One of them calls out, “Y/N, what was it like joining a show that already had a pretty large fan base and a successful first season?”

“It was nerve wracking at first,” you admit. “But the cast welcomed me with open arms and I’ve made some very, very close friends.” You shoot a smile to the cameras.

A second journalist calls out to everyone, “Are there any secret romances on set that no one knows about?”

Most of the cast, including you and Charlie, laughs. Owen answers with, “Now it wouldn’t be a secret if we told everyone. But no, there aren’t any secret romances. That I know of at least.”

After a few more pictures and questions, we all head inside. The main room as a bunch of tables set up and a little stage with Madi’s piano, Charlie’s guitars, Jeremy’s bass, and Owen’s drums. There are a few fans that were exclusively invited that are scattered around. They start getting excited when they see you walk in with everyone.

You find your table. You’re sitting with Owen, Charlie, Jeremy, Carolynn, Cheyenne, Booboo, and Savannah. This is the “adult” table, you guess. Mads, Jadah, and Sacha sit with Kenny and a few of the younger cast members at another table.

You’re sitting between Charlie and Owen. Someone needs to sit between them or they’ll be at each other all night. That’s your argument if someone is suspicious of you and Charlie.

Suddenly, you feel someone’s fingers lace with yours under the cloth that’s on the table. You glance over at Charlie and he has a little smile on his face as he talks with Jeremy. You turn and say to Owen softly, “Did Charlie really say that he’s having sex tonight?”

Owen laughs a bit and nods. “He thinks he is anyway,” the blond says. “Is he?”

“If he can behave himself then yes,” you say. Owen chuckles.

You feel Charlie squeeze your hand. You know he heard so you smile.

After small conversation with everyone at the table, you get up and get a drink. You walk to the bar, asking for a martini. While you wait, you’re approached by a guy dressed in a nice button-up shirt and dress pants. His hair is in a neat bun behind his head. “Hi,” he says. “I’m Austin.”

“Y/N,” you say.

“I couldn’t notice you came over here alone,” he says.

The bartender gives you your drink and you say, “I just came over to grab a drink. I was going to go back to my table after I grabbed it.”

Austin pulls out his wallet and hands the bartender a twenty dollar bill. “Let me at least pay for it,” he says.

You smile a bit and say, “Thank you. I must be headed back to the table with my friends now. I appreciate the drink, though.”

He blocks your way and you look up at him. “How about a dance in return for the drink?” Austin suggests.

Feeling more and more uncomfortable, you say, “Maybe later. I need to get back to my friends.”

Austin asks, “What’s the rush? It’s not like you have a boyfriend or anything. I follow your social media accounts and you never post a guy.”

You begin to say, “Actually, I-” before Charlie walks up. You let out a soft sigh of relief.

“Everything okay here?” Charlie asks. “You were taking a while to come get a drink so I thought that I’d come check.”

The stranger says, “All good here. I was just offering Y/N a dance here since I paid for her drink.”

Charlie looks down at you and blinks before you say, “I didn’t ask him to pay for it. He took out a twenty and offered.” Austin looks between you and your secret boyfriend.

Then Charlie says, “If you offered yourself then Y/N isn’t obligated to dance with you just because you paid for her drink.”

Austin says, “Well, I’ll just ask again later.” The man walks away and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

Your boyfriend moves and stands in front of you. He asks, “Are you okay?”

You nod and say, “Yeah, thank you. It was just uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to get out of it.”

Charlie reaches up to cup your face in his hands but he stops before he can touch your face. You look up at him before you lean forward, putting your face in Charlie’s hands. Your eyes flutter closed and you smile.

“Y/N,” Charlie says. “People are looking.”

With a sigh, you say, “I just need you to touch me, Charlie. I want you.”

He runs his thumbs over your cheekbones and you can hear pictures being taken. You put your drink on the bar counter and step closer to Charlie.

Your eyes open and you find Charlie looking down at you. He says, “You know what this means for us, right?”

You nod and say, “Our on-the-low relationship isn’t as on the low now. I don’t mind that anymore because I’m tired of guys coming up and trying to flirt with me while I have a boyfriend.”

Charlie chuckles a bit as he says, “I hope that means I can kiss you now. It’s all I’ve wanted to do tonight.”

“Yeah,” you sigh.

With no hesitation, Charlie leans down and crashes his lips to yours. You press your body against his, grabbing his jacket and holding him close to you. You kiss Charlie back just as hard as he kissed you. Your eyes are closed again but you can see flashes behind your eyes. You pull back from the kiss and stare up at Charlie.

Both of you smile at each other as Charlie says, “You better be ready for what happens after this.”

You push Charlie’s hair away form his face and say, “What happens after this is you get on that stage tonight, you kill it, we go back to your place because it’s closer, and you get all the sex you want.”

Charlie’s face turns a little red and he says, “I will never get used to you saying something sexual to me. I hope you know that.”

“You better, Mr. Gillespie,” you tell him. “I’m not the innocent girl that you met a year and a half ago.”

He laughs and says, “Trust me. I know you’re not the innocent girl that I met last year. You’ve proven that several times at this point.”

With a smile on your face, you take Charlie’s hand in yours before grabbing your drink and walking back to the table with your friends. When you get back to the table, you scoot closer to Charlie and rest your head on his shoulder. Owen looks over and says, “Woah, being affectionate in public. This isn’t the best idea.”

You say, “It’s okay, Owen. Everything is okay.”

Owen looks confused as you look up at Charlie. Charlie looks at his best friend and says, “I kissed her. At the the bar when I went to check on her. Cameras saw so that’s going to be a huge thing in the morning.”

Jeremy says, “Well, congratulations on making your relationship public, I guess.”

The table laughs. Owen looks at you, Charlie, Jeremy, and Carolynn before he says, “I need a relationship. I feel so single right now.”

Charlie says, “You’d actually have to talk to people to get a girlfriend, Owen.”

“Haha,” Owen says, sticking his tongue out at Charlie. You laugh.

***

At nine, Madi, Charlie, Owen, and Jeremy all leave to get ready. They decided on Stand Tall for the number they’re going to perform. It’s almost 9:30 when Kenny gets on the mic on stage. “Hello, everyone,” he says. “Today, Netflix released season two of Julie and the Phantoms. To celebrate, I offered our band the chance to perform a song of their choice. So, let’s all welcome Madison Reyes, Charlie Gillespie, Jeremy Shada, and Owen Patrick Joyner to the stage for their performance of whatever song they chose.”

The crowd cheers as everyone walks onto the stage, taking their place. You and Carolynn get a front row seat while you both watch your guys perform. You notice Charlie took off his jacket and his tie. He also cut off the sleeves, but that doesn’t surprise you. The top few buttons of his white button-up are unbuttoned, showing off his chest a bit.

Mads begins to play the first few keys to the song.

Don't blink No, I don't want to miss it One thing, and it’s back to the beginning Cause everything is rushing in fast Keep going on, never look back

You smile and watch Madi sing. She’s insanely talented and you’re so glad that the world was able to hear her voice.

The guys nod their heads to the beat while they wait for their signal to begin playing. Once they get their cues, they begin to play one by one.

Right now, I'm loving every minute Hands down, can't let myself forgеt it, no Cause everything is rushing in fast Keep holding on, nеver look back

Charlie plays like he’s flickering on and off stage like he does on the show. You smile and admire your boyfriend. You know how talented he is, especially those fingers of his, but he never ceases to amaze you how talented he is.

And it’s one, two, three, four times That I'll try for one more night Light a fire in my eyes I'm going out of my mind

You smile wide when Charlie sings his line at the end of the pre-chorus. Then he begins to sing his part of the song and you dance with Carolynn. The crowd sings and dances behind you two.

The four of them finish the song and smile. The crowd cheers and you smile, looking at Charlie. He has the biggest smile on his face, which is covered in a layer of sweat. His hair is damp with sweat too. Charlie bows with his closest friends before putting his guitar on the stand. He jumps off the stage and comes over to you.

“I told you that you’d kill it,” you tell him when he gets to you.

Charlie laughs and says, “Oh, hush.” He pulls you into a soft kiss. You smile and kiss him back, making your relationship with him completely public. The people around you cheer a bit as Charlie pulls away.

You look up at him and say, “You’re going to have so much fun being able to hugs me and kiss me in public now, aren’t you?”

He smiles and stares down at you. Charlie says, “Maybe I’ll be having too much fun now.”

As you brush some of the hair away from Charlie’s eyes, you say, “Please try to keep the PDA to a minimum, Charlie. You do have a lot of younger fans. Save most of it for when we’re alone.”

“Like how we will be tonight?” Charlie asks, eyes hopeful.

You laugh and say, “Just like how we will be tonight.” Then an idea pops into your idea. “This dress is getting really hot. I might need to take it off soon.”

Charlie gets what you’re trying to say so he replies with, “Let’s go.”

He takes your hand and hops over the barricade. You smile as he leads you through the crowd of people. Charlie calls you an Uber so you can both go back to his place tonight.

[hurricanery]

If the Sun Comes Up - pt. 4

A/N: Hi, it’s been a while, but here’s part 4 of If the Sun Comes Up! (AU - interns fic). This is me ignoring s17!!! Sorry for the delay, this has been repeatedly deleted from my drafts for the last week & then i didn’t even edit or make changes SO idk what all that was for. anyway thank you for sticking with this story! Previous parts here: part 1 // part 2 // part 3

Or, you can read on ao3.

_______

And so it starts, you switch the engine on

We set controls for the heart of the sun

One of the ways we show our age

_______

She has no idea how she got here. Or more specifically, how she could be pressured into something like this. Maggie typically prided herself on standing firm; standing her own ground and refusing to be swayed by others. But none of that self-proclamation holds true right now.

Because she’s here. Driving Winston’s car. Trunk filled to capacity and two of her roommates squeezed into the backseat.

The hypocrisy of it all is almost infuriating. Because Maggie hates camping.

“I hate camping,” she voices her detest out loud.

An apologetic sigh can be heard from Winston next to her, where he sits passenger side. But ultimately, it’s Amelia’s voice that grabs her attention, the bewilderment making itself known from the backseat.

“Oh, come on,” there’s an element of disbelief to her tone, and Maggie locks eyes with her through the rear-view mirror.

“Step out of your comfort zone a little, Maggie!” She raises her eyebrows, beginning to gesture with her hands. Link shuffles in his seat, where he’s squeezed in tightly beside Amelia, in an attempt to free up a little space for her body language. Some of the camping supplies had ended up packed over half of the backseat, and Maggie can’t help but chuckle at the proximity of Amelia’s hand to Link’s face as she gestures absentmindedly. “It’s camping. It’s adventurous, it’s-”

Maggie has since focused back on the road, but the sudden pause in speech makes her feel uneasy. Amelia’s focus shifts from the packaged tent next to her, to the back of Winston’s head, and then back to Maggie.

“It’s sleeping in a tent,” she continues, a spark of gleam in her eyes as she scans the couple in the front seat. “Or, maybe it’s not sleeping. Hey, I mean, whatever the two of you-”

“Amelia,” Maggie cuts in, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter as Winston’s hand comes to rest on her knee, giving it a soothing squeeze.

“Come on, babe,” Winston murmurs. “It’ll be fun. And plus, Karev would definitely be proud of us.”

Maggie grins a little, despite herself.

They’d been a bit all over the place, as a group of interns. A little bit too chaotic and never fully on the same page. As their resident, Karev was constantly voicing his impatience about the dynamics of the group. She partly thinks that yes, Alex would be proud of the bonding journey that they’d chosen to embark on, but the more realist part of her brain can’t ignore the obviousness that being roommates was probably bonding enough.

Maggie peeks in the rear-view once more, this time checking to make sure that Lexie and Jo are still following in the car behind them. She catches Amelia’s stare again and consequently feels the need to brace herself.

“Babe?” Amelia bites her lip, repeating the pet name Winston had just used. “What happened to ‘we’re just friends?’”

“We are friends.” Maggie sighs, trying her best to ignore the amusement that radiates from Winston at this specific call-out.

“And Link and I are friends,” Amelia’s quick with her rebuttal, tilting her head towards Link. “I don’t go around calling him babe.”

Link sucks in a breath, and then another one, with the addition of Amelia’s afterthought. “But maybe I’ll start.”

It’s subtle. The way Link’s face changes. He hides it just as quickly as it surfaces. But it’s there, she hasn’t imagined it, and it’s the first thing to make Maggie genuinely smile for the length of the trip so far.

“I’m kidding,” Amelia nudges Link with her shoulder. “I can come up with a better nickname than that.”

“Okay enough,” Maggie suppresses the grin she feels spreading across her cheeks. She reaches forward for the knob on the dashboard, turning the music up.

Link’s relief at the diversion tactic is almost palpable. Maggie can practically feel it from the backseat. She thinks maybe the feeling rising in her chest equates to sympathy.

She loves Amelia. She really does. Which is saying a lot, especially for her. It takes effort for her to grow comfortable with people, or to even relate on any level. She’s always felt a step ahead of most people in life. But Amelia really challenges her. It’s only been a couple of months since they’d met, and somewhere along the way, things changed. Amelia’s unpredictable nature had shifted from something Maggie initially feared, to something she appreciates. Like the human embodiment of the push she needs. The push she needs to take things less seriously, or the push she needs to open up and be spontaneous. Whatever the case, it’s never felt more necessary. Like she’s been missing out on it for too long. So, she tries to embrace it at every turn.

“Are we almost there?” Amelia pipes up again from the backseat. “I have to pee, and believe me, I’m down for a little side-of-the-road action if that’s what it comes down to-”

Maggie groans impatiently. But then she remembers about embracing it. So decidedly, her next words sound gentle. “We’re almost there, hold it together.”

_______

It ends up taking two full hours for six surgical interns to figure out how to set up a campsite. And even though the task is grueling, the level of teamwork somehow exceeds what they normally display during a typical hospital shift.

The sun starts to set as the second of the two tents finally stands on it’s own and everyone takes a moment to finally relax.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Link sits back against the tree on the outskirts of their surrounding area.

Jo huffs out a breath as she joins him, rolling her eyes. “That was two hours of my life that I’ll never get back.”

“What’s next?” Amelia steps out of the larger tent, pulling a sweatshirt over her head. “Does anyone know how to build a bonfire?”

_______

She has no idea how it got to this. How six grown adults could resort to immature party games around a campfire and feel so content about it. Maggie had been relieved when the game of ‘truth or dare’ ended as quickly as it started. She’d been hoping for something a bit more intellectual. A little less high school.

Unfortunately her hopes were never granted.

“Wait, I feel like the stakes aren’t high enough.” Amelia had tossed the observation out flimsily.

But the observation had its impact.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

And then the ideas had piled on.

“Loser has to cover my scut work in the ER all week.”

“No way.”

“Loser has to make us each a s'more.”

“Nah. Stakes not high enough.”

“Loser has to jump in the lake.”

Amelia had voiced the last one, resulting in a surprised type of silence. The type of silence that could raise stakes.

It was the ultimatum they were looking for, apparently. And to much of Maggie’s dismay, they hadn’t moved on to an intellectual game. Nothing worth raising the stakes over, at least.

Because they’d settled on a game of ‘never have I ever.’

“Okay, okay. My turn. What have I not done…?” Amelia trails off, deep in thought, and it earns some chuckles from the group. “Oh! Never have I ever had a threesome.”

Suspectful eyes dart around the bonfire, and Link’s attempt to conspicuously fold down a finger fails.

“Link!”

Jo giggles hysterically.

“You have?” There’s surprise in Amelia’s voice, and it corresponds with the way her face lights up.

“You haven’t?” Link bites back.

“Well, almost, I guess. But-”

“Okay!” Jo interjects. “No need for context! That’ll just slow us down. Link, your turn.”

“Okay,” Link grins determinedly across the bonfire, eyes landing on Amelia. “Never have I ever almost had a threesome.”

Amelia scoffs, dropping a finger.

“Wait!” Maggie fast-tracks her disapproval. “Are we singling people out now? The game will end too quickly if we-”

“Never have I ever been named after an iconic literary figure.” Amelia jumps in again, completely ignoring Maggie’s objection.

Link drops a finger, rolling his eyes. Too easy.

“Never have I ever slept with Mark Sloan.”

He sounds proud of this one. And all focus drifts to Amelia, whose eyes narrow only slightly as she drops another finger.

“You did what?” Maggie seems skeptical.

“You did what? When?” And Lexie’s voice sounds strained.

“Shit, sorry. Too far?” Link’s pride genuinely replaces itself with worry.

“I never meant for it to be a secret.” There’s something distinct about Amelia’s tone as she jumps back into the game, clearly with the intention of going after Link again. “Never have I ever-”

“No!” Maggie seems to be the only one intervening at this point. “No, stop. My turn. If we play it your way, this game will be over in two seconds.”

Amelia and Link shrug dismissively amidst the general hums of agreement.

“Never have I ever…” Maggie pauses, taking a moment to truly think on it. She racks her brain for ways to prolong the game. “Never have I ever been arrested!”

Amelia slowly drops her last finger, a grimace consuming her face, and Maggie’s mouth opens wide in shock.

“Amelia, what,” she breathes. “I was trying to keep people in the game. What-”

“We agreed on no context!” Amelia is quick to refute, forcing a grin as she repeats the request spoken earlier.

“Okay….” She draws out her response, and the next part of her sentence sounds quiet, or laced with secondhand defeat. “But you lost the game already.”

“That’s fine,” Amelia is just as quick to stand from her chair, shrugging casually at what that entails.

“Amelia-”

“To the lake? Or am I doing this without witnesses?”

Maggie’s brows furrow at the bitterness that exists in that question, but then Amelia turns, walking away from them, and Maggie is the first to go after her.

_______

"Amelia, you’re the one who made the rule. You can’t back out now.”

They’re all huddled together at the sandy area near the dock that edges out into the dark lake, and Maggie can’t hold back her impatience. She’s a rule-follower, after all. She's also cold. And she just wants to be by the bonfire again.

“I know, I know. I’m….” Amelia trails off, exhaling harshly. “Just give me a minute.”

There’s momentary quiet. The kind of quiet that nearly gives room for everyone to re-think what’s about to happen. But, if anyone's thoughts were the loudest, they were Amelia’s.  

“The sun was still out when I made up this rule!”

That’s true. Maggie can give her that. It’s late now, purely dark outside except for the glow of the moonlight reflecting off of the lake.

“We don’t know what’s in there…” Amelia adds, eyes focused on the body of water before them. “We don’t know if it’s safe to swim here.”

“It’s a state park,” Winston chuckles.

“And there’s a sign right there,” Lexie adds matter-of-factly, nodding towards the edge of the sand. “No lifeguard on duty. Swim at your own risk.”

“Amelia, it's a swimming beach.”

There’s an element to Amelia’s expression that Maggie sees herself in. It provokes that feeling. The heart-lurching feeling that comes with the awareness that you can’t bring yourself to do the thing you intend to do. The restlessness that rises with the opposition of your mind moving miles a minute but your feet remaining frozen where you stand. It takes place in the nervous system. And it’s like the physical manifestation of not being able to rip the bandaid off, or not being able to take the plunge, to be more literal in this scenario.

Suddenly, Maggie’s hit with the fleeting recognition that everyone’s the same deep down. Some were just better at hiding it than others.

The revelation almost makes her feel sympathy. Almost.

Because Amelia’s version of hiding it was turning out to be displaced over-confidence.

“I knew you were all talk and no-”

“I’ll jump in with you,” Link interrupts, nudging Amelia, who shakes from her daze as she turns away from the lake, locking eyes with Link.

“Shit, I’m down, too,” Jo shrugs. “I’m right behind you guys.”

A look of pure skepticism crosses Amelia’s face, and Link just starts to grin, hugely.

“No,” Maggie breathes. “No, no, no.”

Because she knows what this is about to turn into. And then it’s all happening, fast.

Link is stripping down to his boxers, tossing his clothes into a pile on the grass just left of the dock. And then he’s running. His feet clamber against the wood paneling as he takes off over the structure that extends along the shore and into the body of water.

There’s a huge splash. And then he resurfaces, gasping.

“It’s not that deep, come on!” He yells. “And it’s warm, too. Like a hot tub!”

The next thing Maggie registers is that Jo is following suit, peeling off her sweatshirt and tossing it towards Link’s pile of clothes.

She feels Winston’s hand grip her shoulders, gently pushing her towards the dock as he murmurs “Come on, babe.”

There’s another splash somewhere, and then Jo resurfaces, giggling hysterically. "Link!” She gasps dramatically, “You liar, this is fucking freezing!”

And all Maggie can think is this is so unfair.

_______

It’s so unfair.

The fact that five people have somehow endured jumping into this lake and yet, Amelia remains unscathed. Secure, on dry land, a smirk on her face that can only signify that she thinks she’s won.

“Amelia!” Maggie yells once again. “You have thirty seconds to get into this water.”

“Maggie-”

“No way,” Maggie cuts her off before the smug tone can set her off even further. She lets go of Winston’s shoulder, which she’s been holding onto for dear life since she jumped in, and she swims closer to the dock. Closer to Amelia. “I won’t let you play us like this.”

Amelia grins further, dipping just her toes in the water. “Maggie, I’m not trying to play anyone, I-”

“Get in the water, Amelia!” Maggie shouts, but her impatience only leads to more smugness on Amelia’s behalf.

She almost gives up. Accepts defeat. But then Link is joining her, inching towards Amelia on the dock, whose expression falters only slightly as they approach.

“Should we splash her?” Maggie tilts her head towards Link, inquisitive edge to her voice. “We could splash her.”

The threat seems to be the push Amelia needs. She shakes her head incessantly as they make their advance, and she takes a deep breath before she goes to remove her jeans, adding them to the pile of clothes that everyone else has stripped off.

Jo whistles from somewhere further out into the lake and Amelia’s smirk returns, a complete result of the knowledge that she has an audience. Her classic Harvard sweatshirt gets added to the pile and then she’s on an even playing field with everyone else, dressed down to whatever underwear she’d thrown on this morning.

They continue their approach, and Amelia looks down just as a burst of wind forcibly shakes the branches of a tree above, thus causing her to wrap her arms around herself.

“You’ll warm up faster if you get in, Shepherd.” Link says in a low tone.

“I know,” Amelia’s tone is just as low. “But I’m not jumping.”

“What happened to adventurous?!” Maggie mocks her. Not harshly, but more so aiming to re-inspire the fearlessness that previously had been.

“I’m not jumping in,” Amelia repeats as she sits at the edge of the dock, letting the water hit her up to about mid-shin. “I’m just gonna kind of slide in….” She trails off as Link pushes forward, now in shallow enough water to stand. And when Amelia goes to wrap her arms around herself again, Maggie swears it’s out of modesty this time.

“It’s harder that way,” Link smiles up at her. “But okay.”

“Okay,” she repeats his sentiment, but doesn’t make any move to get into the water.

“Okay,” Maggie interjects, directing her next words at Link. “As apparently the only rule-follower here, I give you full permission to do whatever it takes to get her into this water already.”

Her instructions result in a mischievous twitch of Link’s lips, and conversely, a look of complete betrayal from Amelia.

“Your rules.” Maggie quietly defends herself.

Link turns back to Amelia, who meets his gaze with pure panic in her eyes. But he steps closer anyway, placing his hands around her shins and pulling her a couple inches closer to where he stands in the water.

She gasps. Her hands fly out, landing on his shoulders. “Wait wait wait!” She cries, the alarm in her voice matching the frantic action of her nails digging into his skin.

Link stops his movements, placing his hands on her knees as he tries to read her facial expression.

Her eyes dart between his. “You swear it’s not too cold?”

“It’s not cold, Amelia,” he murmurs, moving his hands underneath her bare thighs and pulling her forward an inch more.

Maggie looks between the two, suddenly feeling out of place, or like she’s witnessing a private moment. But, she can’t tear her eyes away. She feels transfixed by the eye contact happening between the pair, and she lets out a stunned chuckle.

“It’s not cold,” Link repeats, and now Maggie scoffs. Because this moment is becoming almost unbelievable with tension. But then Link’s expression changes. Just as quickly as flipping a switch. The facet of mischief returns to his eyes and then he’s opening his mouth again.

“And I’m so sorry for this!” He shouts as he finally pulls Amelia into the water, throwing his head back with laughter as she resurfaces before him.

Her arms are still wrapped around his shoulders in a viselike grip. “Alright, screw you for that!” She laughs as she comes to her senses, consequently letting go and distancing herself from Link. “But thank you, I guess."

“My pleasure.”

Maggie watches, eyes burning with curiosity, and she’s not able to hide the smile that creeps onto her lips as the pair move as far away from each other as possible. The interaction is way too amusing, and part of her feels like, if she were the menacing type, this would be the perfect opportunity to pay back some of Amelia’s relentless teasing with some of her own.

“Can we get out now?” Lexie swims up, interrupting her thoughts. “I’m kinda over this.”

“I just got in. Was that for no reason?!”

“And whose fault is that?” Maggie snickers. But it doesn’t sound harsh at all, as she offers Amelia a comforting smile.

When they eventually leave the shoreline, Maggie feels a sense of fondness course through her. Or maybe protectiveness. Whatever the feeling, it was definitely the stark opposite of her previous annoyance with the way the evening was turning out.

She carefully observes as Amelia slows behind the group, and she slows with her, matching her pace.

Amelia offers her a small smile, before a shiver takes over her body, interrupting her guise. It makes sense, Maggie thinks. Because soaking wet hair and the sun going down in the middle of nowhere might just bring on that sort of involuntary action.

But she can’t ignore the shift in energy. The sudden vanishing of the confidence and even the playful competitiveness.

“You okay?” She eventually asks.

“Tired.” Amelia only offers a shrug, her thumbnail nearly reaching the corner of her mouth in a restless action. But it’s like she catches herself, as Maggie’s stare burns into her, and instead she drops her hands to her sides.

“Me too,” Maggie’s voice is soft, and an impulse rises in her that screams comfort. Suddenly, her arm is wrapping around Amelia’s shoulder tightly, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Let’s get some sleep.”

_______

It’s a known fact that Maggie hates camping. She can think of several reasons for that. One of the side effects she’d fail to consider, though, was the consequent lack of rest that would come with it.

It couldn’t be any later than 5am, she concludes, as she unzips her and Winston’s tent and steps out into the dark campground.

To much of her surprise, she’s not alone. She’s not the only one experiencing the unwanted side effects of sleeping in a tent.

“Hey,” Amelia’s voice sounds gravelly, as she perks up from the chair she’s seated at around the empty bonfire. “Good morning.”

“How can it be morning?” Maggie groans. “Does it really count as morning when you didn’t get any sleep at all?”

“You’re preaching to the choir.”

Maggie frowns. “You didn’t sleep?”

“Link snores. And Lexie talks in her sleep….” Amelia weakly attempts a smile, and it just makes Maggie’s frown deepen.

“Everything alright?” She asks.

“Yeah, just wish I’d slept better.”

Maggie squints, because there’s detail there that she can’t quite decipher. She scans Amelia’s face another moment, before an idea strikes.

“Do you want to go on a hike with me? Watch the sunrise?”

“You don’t really seem like the hiking type.”

“You’re right. I guess ‘hike’ is a strong word. But anyway, how about it?”

Amelia stares blankly at her for a long moment, before eventually she nods, standing up.

“Alright,” Maggie grins. “Let me tell Winston where we’re going first.”

_______

They take a marked path. Signs at every turn highlight for them which way to go. It’s a few minutes into the hike before either of them speaks. It’s Amelia who opens up the conversation.

“Ready to be home?”

Maggie laughs. “Absolutely. I’ve been ready since the moment we got here.”

“Well, hopefully they have the cars all packed by the time we get back.”

Maggie nods, then reaches for the water bottle she’d brought with her, taking a few sips.

“Do I tease you and Winston too much?”

The question completely catches Maggie off guard, and she harshly swallows her sip of water.

“Huh?”

“I can be….a little overbearing sometimes. But,” Amelia offers a quick side-glance. “At least I’m self aware about that.”

“Not at all. I mean, honestly, Winston gets a kick out of it so-”

“Yeah, but do you?”

Maggie stops walking, her face muddled with confusion. It takes Amelia a moment to realize she’s stopped, and she turns around, meeting Maggie’s stare expectantly.

“Amelia….If it bothered me I would tell you.”

Amelia nods at this information, and then turns away, continuing on the path.

“Was I too harsh last night? About the rules of the game?” Maggie quickens her pace, catching up.

“No,” Amelia laughs under her breath. “We needed the discipline, I think.”

“Yeah but you didn’t need to jump into that lake. I can be a little of overbearing sometimes, too, so-”

“Nah. We balance each other out.”

Maggie squints, a little surprised by that observation. She’s taken aback by the accuracy of it, and it’s evident in her inflection.

“We kind of do, don’t we?”

Amelia beams at her, before her gaze returns to the path below. “I’m glad we came to that realization.”

Comfortable silence falls between them, and there’s a few minutes dedicated purely to the hike, before Amelia clears her throat to speak again.

“Although, I am trying to jump less. So maybe I need you to balance me out just a little more.”

“You lost me,” Maggie quirks an eyebrow at her. “Are we talking about the lake still?”

“Metaphorically. Maybe.”

Maggie’s expression just grows more perplexed, urging Amelia to continue.

“I’ve been….historically known to jump into things. Or people. Or habits, or…” She cuts herself off with a harsh breath, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. “I’d like to do that less. The whole….jumping blindly and hoping I’ll land, thing. So. Maybe I need you to balance me out a little more.”

Maggie nods, slowly grasping the explanation. “I get that.”

“Do you?”

“Well, no,” Maggie frowns. “I’ve never been one to….do anything, really, without weighing the pros and cons first. But, I do get what you’re saying, though. Even if I can’t personally relate.”

Amelia keeps her eyes glued to the path ahead, and the lack of response forces Maggie to attempt filling the silence with her own self-reflection.

“I’ve been thinking of taking a note from you, in that way, actually. Sometimes I really need to think less.”

This makes Amelia smile. “Maybe we can try to meet in the middle somewhere.”

“Yeah, that might be good for us.”

As the conversation trails off again, Maggie can’t help but question what specifically Amelia is referencing. She doesn’t want to push, especially given her recent self-proclamation as overbearing. But part of her thinks that one last inquiry won’t hurt.

“You and Link seem to have fun.”

Amelia’s eyes snap up to Maggie’s face before the sentence is even finished.

“What makes you say that?”

There’s not an ounce of emotion in Amelia’s expression. It’s probably the best poker face Maggie has ever seen. And so she’s careful with her next words, her voice slow and questioning.

“I just mean....you know….the banter?”

“Banter?”

“Yes the banter, Amelia,” she lets out a stunned chuckle. “I don’t know how else to put it! It’s like you’re constantly play-fighting. It’s like….it’s like this weird, alluring competitiveness that’s almost uncomfortable to watch. It’s being at each other’s throats over a stupid game of ‘never have I ever.’ It’s the craziest form of flirting I’ve ever witnessed, and it’s-”

“Link and I are friends.”

“Winston and I are friends.” She bites down on her grin, trying to contain the pride that radiates as she uses Amelia’s own pointed claims against her.

“Okay, don’t pull that on me.”

“I think it’s perfectly fair-”

“Maggie.”

“Amelia.”

Two pairs of eyes tighten upon scrutinized contact.

“Amelia,” she softens her expression a bit. “All I’m saying is….despite it being weird to watch.” She releases an awkward exhale.  “I think it works. I think you’ve kinda met your match.”

“There’s no match to be made, Maggie! I’m-”

They’re both a little caught off guard by the frustration and volume of Amelia’s tone. And Amelia takes a moment to breathe before she continues, an octave lower this time.

“I’m jumping less, remember?”

Maggie wants to frown. She wants to disagree. She almost wants to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

But they’re edging towards the outskirts of the campsite. She can hear voices, and the distinct sound of car trunks slamming shut. Which signifies that they’re nearing the end of the hike, so she bites her tongue instead, because Amelia looks too exhausted to argue it more.

They clear the trees, entering the campground, and Winston watches them approach.

“Hey! Cars are packed, but it’ll be a tight squeeze again,” he smiles sympathetically. He walks forward to rest his hands on Maggie’s shoulders in familiar reassurance. “And you get to sleep in the car, because this time I’m driving.”

_______

Maggie doesn’t think she’s imagining this part.

Her lack of sleep the night prior results in Winston’s refusal to let her drive. Which only bothers her a little, because the exhaustion outweighs her requisite for control.

Her eyes feel heavy as she rests her head against the window. She tries to focus on the road ahead as Winston drives; doesn't want to give up being a second pair of eyes as she sits passenger side. But her fatigue gets the best of her. Although it’s difficult to separate her overtired brain from certainty, she doesn’t think she’s imagining this part.

She hears it first. Link’s chuckle.

It’s enough to shake her from her reverie. She lifts her head and tries to be conspicuous as she turns, glancing into the backseat.

Amelia’s sat in the middle seat again, squeezed tightly between the camping supplies and then Link on the other side of her. Her eyes are fighting to stay open, and she's doing that weird head bobbing thing. That subconscious move that happens quite literally before falling asleep.

“Hey. Here.”

The sound of Link’s voice causes Amelia’s eyes to widen, quickly becoming aware of herself. She continues to blink, fighting off a bout of exhaustion that Maggie completely sympathizes with.

When Amelia locks eyes with him, Link simply pats his shoulder, indicating a potential landing spot for her head.

She frowns tiredly at him.

“Just do it,” he shrugs, patting his shoulder again. “I’m a better option than that boxed tent.” He nods past her. “As far as pillows go, at least.”

Amelia seems to fight it for a second. She really does. Her eyebrows pull together as she continues to stare blankly at Link.

Maggie diverts her attention because once again, she feels like she’s intruding on some private moment. But she remains listening. She can’t help it. There’s some shuffling around and then-

“Hm.” She hears Amelia hum. “You do make a decent pillow.” It’s followed by a murmured “Thank you.”

“Sure. What are friends for?”

Link’s response is barely a whisper, but Maggie can hear it still, even over the general hum of the highway below. She doesn’t think she’s imagining this part.

What are friends for?

It’s enough to make her turn in her seat again, an incredulous stare plastered on her face as she raises her eyebrows in Link’s direction.

He seems not to notice her interest, or rather her disbelief. Because his focus is consumed by the dark head of hair resting against his shoulder.

Amelia’s eyes are shut tight, her expression revealed when she adjusts herself slightly against him. And then Link smiles to himself, still unaware of the scrutiny descending from the front seat.

Maggie allows the doubt to flood her mind as she turns to rest against her own window again, and she fights off a smile as she lets her eyes finally close.

Friends. Right.

//

[tricksters-captain]

Weasley Twins/Cedric Diggory Imagines - Accidental Meeting - Part 9

AN: Thank you for all being patient with me! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holiday!

Overall Summary: (Y/n), is a young witch who always kept her head down due to her complicated past; one day she bumps quite literally into one of the most popular boys in Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, and that’s when (Y/n)’s plan of keeping her head down seems to go up into the air. Things only seem to worsen when two redheaded twins start to take notice too...

This Chapter: (Y/n) spends time with Cedric just before the Christmas break before getting a Christmas surprise...

(MASTERLIST HERE)

Pairing(s): Cedric Diggory x Reader, (Eventual) George Weasley x Reader, (Platonic) Fred Weasley x Reader, (Platonic) Oliver Wood x Reader

Word Count: 4,134

Warnings: None, lots of fluff

“Slow down, Lauren!” A couple of first years shouting at each other ran threw you and Oliver as you walked down the corridor. 

“Got to love the Christmas excitement.” Oliver chuckled at their behaviour and you just rolled your eyes. 

The whole castle seemed to be filled with excitement. Christmas was right around the corner and so was the upcoming Quidditch match between Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor. 

“Meanwhile I can’t wait for this castle to empty out.” You admitted as you shifted your scarf tighter around your neck. 

“You know, when everyone leaves for the holidays so does lover boy.” Oliver smirked, referencing to Cedric. 

“I really hope Ravenclaw wins tomorrow.” You changed the subject to purposefully annoy the boy. 

“That’s slander, you know. You could be kicked out of the house just for thinking that.” Oliver retorted. 

“Oh calm down, Wood.” You linked arms with the boy to draw some of his warmth. “The game may be cancelled due to the heavy snowfall anyway.”  

“That would be even worse.” Oliver frowned, turning his head to look past you at the falling snow. 

You spotted Cedric up ahead and he smiled brightly at you to which you returned. 

You were meeting up this evening to spend some time together before the Christmas break, not that Oliver knew that.  

“Remind me to hide the mistletoe.” Oliver teased you as he caught the direction of your smile. 

“You are worse than Fred and George and that’s saying something.” You pulled your arm away from the boy and he quickly relinked your arms laughing at your irritation. 

“They’re still not over your last snow fight, you know?” Oliver reminded you of the snow fight at Hogsmeade and you couldn’t help but smile. 

“Sore losers.” You chuckled, shaking your head at the memory of them drenched in snow.

Then just on cue, the twins came up behind you both.

“You excited for Christmas, (Y/n)?” Fred asked as he joined you and Oliver. 

“I can’t wait. I won’t have to see your ugly faces.” You retorted to the twins with a wink. 

“You’ll miss us.” George shook his head at you. 

“Yeah! Just wait and see how boring it is around here without us.” Fred added. 

“Did you mean how peaceful it’s going to be?” You teased the boys as you came to the Gryffindor common room entrance. 

Inside the common room was crowded. 

The snow and cold weather had driven everyone inside and with the holidays right round the corner, all the students were eager to spend time with each other before they have to leave for a couple of weeks. 

“Where you off to, (y/n)?” George asked as you went for the girls dorm stairs.

“You really don’t want to spend the last few days of term with your favourite people?” Fred took hold of your arm to stop you.

“Haven’t you guys got practise for the quidditch match tomorrow?” You cocked your eyebrows at the boys. 

“Can’t practise until the snow slows.” Oliver grumbled. 

“It’s heaving out here.” You gestured around to the surrounding students.

“You’re not scared of a little social interaction, are ya, Seyler?”  Fred teased you, pulling you towards some free chairs in the corner of the common room. 

“(Y/n), not Seyler.” George nudged his brother, correcting him since you were in a large group of people.

“Thank you, George.” You pulled your arm away from Fred and linked arms with George instead. 

“So, has your uncle sent your presents over yet?” Oliver changed the subject as you all sat. 

“He sent a couple of owls over the past couple days with parcels. I’ve tucked them under my bed for now.” You explained. 

“Wood won’t tell us what he’s got you.” Fred whined as he looked in between you and Oliver. 

“Thinks we’ll tell you.” George laughed. 

“You probably would.” You defended Oliver as you looked up at the red headed twin, his brown eyes staring straight back down at you. 

George rolled his eyes and looked up over at his twin who wore a similar expression. 

“Look, guys, it’s so loud in here. I want to get changed before supper too.” You rose from your chair and peered over at the stairs.

“Got a date or something that you’re not telling us about?” Fred wiggled his eyebrows and you shoved his shoulder lightly with your elbow. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” You then excused yourself to go get changed.

You spent longer than you would have liked trying to pick something to wear. You ended up going to supper with Oliver and the twins as per usual and you walked back to the common room with them as you and Cedric weren’t due to meet until 8pm. 

“Where are you running off to?” Oliver asked as you packed up your parchment and books. You had been studying with him in the common room as you waited for the time to pass. 

“The library.” You lied quickly before you rushed to dump your stuff and leave. 

You checked your hair one last time in the mirror before escaping the dorms and the common room. 

“Hi.” Cedric smiled widely as the door closed behind you. 

“Hi.” You smiled back. 

“Come on... I have a surprise.” Cedric offered his hand and you took it, furrowing your eyebrows at him with curiosity. 

“Where are you taking me, Mr Diggory?” You laughed quietly as he lead you forward down the stairs. 

You felt yourself drop Cedric’s hand when you spotted a couple of young Gryffindor students coming up the stairs. 

Cedric looked down at where he had lost your hand but didn’t say anything. 

You walked slower behind Cedric as you carefully watched the students disappear. 

“Shit.” You cursed as the stairs below your feet started to grind to move. 

“Jump!” Cedric was already on the other set of stairs. 

“What?” You scoffed in disbelief at the boy. 

“Come on!” He encouraged you as the stairs started to move. 

You were already in the air before you realised what you were doing.

Cedric’s hands caught your forearms as you felt yourself collide with the boy. 

“I can’t believe you actually jumped.” Cedric chuckled in amusement as he held you against him to keep you sturdy.

“I trust you too much.” You groaned as you pulled away from him, your cheeks burning from the previous closeness. 

“Good. Because I’m gonna need you to trust me tonight.” Cedric took your hand and lead you away before you could argue. 

Cedric lead you outside the castle to which you were very confused by this time as it was dark and you knew you would both be in trouble if caught, prefect or not. 

“I need you to drink this.” Cedric pulled out a small bottle from his pocket. 

“Cedric, the last person I know who drank an unknown substance by the male species ended up blacking out and not remembering what happened.” You stared at him flatly. 

“You said you trust me?” He rose his eyebrows at you before taking a swig himself then handing it over. 

“What is it?” You asked, raising it to your lips slowly. 

“It’ll let you see in the dark.” Cedric told you. 

“Why do I need to see in the dark?” You asked. 

“Why do you ask so many questions?” Cedric responded as he took the empty bottle away from you. 

It felt weird as your eyes started to adjust and the night suddenly became much lighter. 

That’s when you spotted the ice skates. 

“You’re kidding right?” You looked at the frozen lake and then up at Cedric.

“Trust me.” He put on his own skates then watched as you slowly laced up your own with a worried expression glued to your features. 

Cedric stepped onto the ice and started to glide with ease but you fell over the moment you stepped on. 

“Steady there.” Cedric skated over and helped you up. 

You were wobbly for the first few minutes but Cedric’s grip on you soon eased up and you could skate beside him without slipping. 

“Are you warm enough?” Cedric asked as he watched your breath from your lips. 

“I’m just lucky I decided to bring outdoor stuff with me.” You smiled through the night as you wiggled your gloved fingers at him. 

“It’ll be strange. Not seeing you for a few weeks.” Cedric admitted as he picked up his pace. 

“I bet you won’t even think of (Y/n) Seyler the moment you walk into your house.” You rolled your eyes but Cedric’s smile dropped. 

“I was going to write you.” Cedric confessed as he came to a stop. 

“It’s only a few weeks, Cedric.” You started. “You don’t need to write me. Just. enjoy the time with your family–––”

You shifted your weight wrong and your skate slipped under you, sending you crashing into Cedric’s arms. Again. 

“Sorry!” You squealed as you gripped tight onto his coat. 

You both stayed there, your hot breath tickling his cheeks and his yours. 

You looked at his eyes. They were so bright in the moonlight. 

That’s when Cedric started to lean towards you. 

You pulled away immediately and skated to the side of the lake, trudging through the snow in your skates. 

“Hey! (Y/n)! Wait!” Cedric raced after you as you fled. 

You sat down on a nearby log and immediately went to put your boots back on.

“(Y/n), I’m sorry.” Cedric caught up with you and tried to apologise. 

“I’ve never done this before.” You cut him off with your response. 

“What?” Cedric was confused to what you were talking about.  

“This!” You gestured between the two of you. “I’ve never done the boyfriend thing, I’ve never done this with someone, spend all this time together.... Except Oli, of course, but that’s different. I don't know what we are doing, Cedric but I don’t know how to do it!” 

“Woah... Hey, hey, hey!” Cedric sat down beside you and searched your face as the words spilled out. 

“I still don’t truly understand what this is. What’s going on - I - I...” 

Cedric’s lips met yours to stop the word vomit. 

All the anxiety and nervosa suddenly left your body as you tasted the mint from Cedric’s kiss. 

His lips were soft, warm and it felt... right. 

Suddenly, you heard someone clear their throat. 

“Lumos.” It wasn’t hard to guess which professor had interrupted your first kiss as soon as they spoke. 

You pulled away from Cedric and looked down in embarrassment.

“Miss Seyler. Mr Diggory.” Snape’s stare bored down at you both. 

“Professor, it’s my fault.” Cedric stood as he started but Snape rose his hand to silence him. 

“If it wasn’t so close to the Christmas holidays both of you would be in detention for all the rules you’ve broken this evening but instead 20 points will be taken from both Gryffindor house and Hufflepuff.” Snape explained as he looked between you both. “Now back to your common rooms. Now.” 

You didn’t tell anybody about what had happened when you returned to the common room. 

You laid awake longer than usual thinking about the kiss. 

Your first kiss. 

You shook your head and tried to stop smiling as you covered your eyes with your hands. 

What just happened?

The next day the snow had stopped falling and the quidditch match was allowed to go ahead. 

You wrapped up warm and followed the rest of your house to the stands to support the team. 

George and Fred flew over to you on their brooms as the teams awaited the match’s start. 

“You look happy.” George commented on your smile.

“That makes a change.” Fred teased you and you just stuck your middle finger up at the boy. 

“Cheer us on, (Y/n).” George told you. 

“If we’re lucky we may get a winning kiss, Georgie.” Fred smirked.

You felt the colour drain from your face. 

They knew. 

You suddenly realised they knew about the kiss. 

Snape had caught you and Cedric, of course people knew...

How many more people knew that you and Cedric Diggory had been caught by the lake...at night...

You felt your happiness slowly fade as you tried not to look around you to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes.

The match went by agonisingly slow but Gryffindor fortunately won. 

You immediately rushed back to the common room before the twins or Oliver could catch up with you. 

“Hey (Y/n)!” Cedric caught you just before. 

“Cedric, I kinda have to go.” You tried to leave but he caught your hand. 

“I just wanted to apologise for last night.” Cedric told you. “Not for.. You know but for getting caught.” 

“It’s okay, Ced but I really have to go.” You looked past him to see the teams colours through the crowd which meant they were close.

Cedric nodded and started to walk away. 

You internally groaned at his sad face and tugged on his coat to pull him back round to you. 

“I’ll see you later.” You kissed him very briefly before continuing your way to the common room. Hiding in your dorm. 

“Fred sent me to tell you that you can’t hide forever as you need to say goodbye to them and explain how you lost the house 20 points last night.” Angelina entered your room with a smirk on her face. 

“I’m sure everyone already knows, Ang.” You cringed at the thought of everyone talking about it. 

“All I’ve heard is that Cedric Diggory also lost 20 points last night.” She replied  with a wink. 

“Sure.” You scoffed, folding your book over and sitting up on your bed.

You watched her gather her chest and a small bag from her bed. 

“All I’m gonna say is you’re lucky this happened just before we broke up for Christmas. Hopefully this news won’t still be making the rounds when we come back in January.” Angelina tried to make you feel better but it didn’t work. 

“Have a good break, Angelina. Merry Christmas.” You wished her farewell and she wished you a Merry Christmas back. 

You finally gathered the courage to slip your shoes on and descend the stairs. 

“Finally.” Both Fred and George said in unison. 

“You’re lucky I even came down at all.” You told the two as you approached them. 

“Then you wouldn’t have gotten this.” Fred pulled out a small brown paper package from behind his back. 

“What’s this?” You looked between the two boys. 

“Just something small.” Fred admitted. 

“Ginny writes home to Mum and well, she’s mentioned you once or twice.” George started to explain as he took the package and handed it to you. 

“He means he asked mum to make you one––” Fred was cut off by a punch to the side by George.

“She then wrote to us and asked if you wanted to stay for Christmas to which we knew you’d be here with Wood.” George cleared his throat, his face bright red as he spoke. 

“That’s very kind but completely unnecessary. Tell her I thank her anyway.” You pressed a smile onto your face as you thought about the red headed older woman who could’ve raised these two. 

Then again, you looked around the common room at Ron and Ginny saying goodbye to their friends. And even Percy... 

You started to open the present to see it was a knitted sweater. You opened the jumper up to see your first initial knitted onto the sweater just like the sweaters you’ve seen the boys occasionally wear. 

“You don’t have to wear it.” George laughed as he watched you study it. 

“But if you ever meet our mother you do. Scary that woman is.” Fred laughed along side his twin and you just smiled. 

“I love it. Thank you.” You embraced the boys and they hugged you back.

“No sarcastic comment?” George looked confused. “Are you feeling okay, (Y/n)?” 

“It’s the honeymoon feelings. Got her all giddy after locking lips with pretty boy Diggory.” Fred immediately moved back as you went to swat him for his comment. 

“Merry Christmas, (Y/n)!” The twins fled before you could throw any books at them for their teasing behaviour. 

“You’ll be glad to get rid of them.” Oliver came up beside you as he watched the whole Weasley family leave and slung his arm over your shoulder. 

“I have a terrible feeling I’m now stuck with them for the rest of my time in this Godforsaken school.” You leant your head on his shoulder and folded over your arms with a sigh. 

“Let’s see if you can survive that long without cracking their skulls together.” Oliver smirked and you groaned playfully.

“Merlin help me now.” You looked up at the ceiling which only made Oliver laugh once again. 

“Speaking of goodbyes though... Isn’t there someone you should be seeing before they leave?” Oliver asked. 

You had almost forgot. 

You excused yourself and rushed to the basement near the Hufflepuff entrance. 

“I thought you’d show up eventually.” Cedric was leaning against his trunk when you showed up. 

“I was seeing the twins off. I’m sorry.” You confessed. 

Cedric said it was alright before pulling you into a hug. 

The soft blue wool of his sweater was soaked in his scent and you breathed it in sweetly. 

“Have a good Christmas, Ced.” You whispered as you held onto him. 

“I’ll write you.” Cedric told you. “Even if you don’t write back.” 

You pulled away from the boy a little so you could look up at his face. 

“Guess we’ll see.” You shrugged, knowing full well that you were definitely going to write back. 

Cedric peered up and down the corridor before planting a soft kiss on your forehead. 

“You’re the best thing that’s happened to me this year.” Cedric admitted. 

“What? Above becoming Quidditch captain and a prefect?” You rose your eyebrows at him with a smirk. 

“Yes.” Cedric chuckled with a little shake of his head. 

You reached up behind the boys neck with your hand and brought his lips to yours. Kissing him softly. 

“Merry Christmas, Cedric.” You flicked your wand behind your back and a vine of mistletoe grew above you both. 

Cedric kissed you once more before you pulled away and left. A warm glow on your cheeks. 

A few more days went passed and the quiet bliss of the castle kept you in a calming spirit. 

You and Oliver spent most of your time playing wizard chess or reading in the common room or even out on the quidditch pitch. 

You didn't fly much but you helped Oliver with his batting skills. 

On Christmas Eve, you both sat in front of the fire with hot chocolates and a mince pie each. 

“I can’t believe this is my last Christmas at Hogwarts with you.” You sighed quietly as you nuzzled into Olivers side. 

“You know I don’t die after I leave Hogwarts.” Oliver said as he took a bite of his pie. 

“I know that but you’ll be working. You’ll be busy. You won’t have time for some school girl whenever she has an issue she can’t solve herself.” You pouted. 

“(Y/n).” Oliver adjusted to look you in the eye. “You are one of the strongest and bravest people I know. I will always be here for you when you need me but I know you will survive here without me and you will finish Hogwarts just like me and you will enjoy it.” 

“Oli...”

“I’m not disappearing of the side of the earth. I will still be here, I just won’t be here.” Oliver assured you as he gestured around the common room.

You just pulled him in for a hug. 

“I know. It just scares me.” You confessed against his shoulder. 

“I know.” Oliver stroked your hair before pulling away to drink his hot chocolate. 

The night went by quickly and soon you were tiptoeing up the dormitory stairs in your fluffy socks to get some sleep before Christmas morning. 

You had already placed all your presents underneath the tree the common room  in a bag with your name on and you had put Oliver’s there too. 

Your dorm was empty which meant you didn’t have to worry about anyone one else as you tucked into your bed and turned out the lights. 

Even through the dark you could see the snowfall outside the window. The moon reflecting on the tiny snowflakes. 

You don’t know when you fell asleep but you did know you wished you hadn’t. 

Images flashed through your head of Christmas years ago. The alarms. The snow. You being dragged through a dark alley by your parents. Your cloak dragging behind you. You tripping. A slap. Screams. An inn. Blood. Darkness.

You woke up panting and soaked in sweat. 

You didn’t know how you remembered these memories. 

You were only 4/5 when it happened. 

It was when your parents had escaped the ministry during a hearing about their crimes as Death Eaters a couple years after the Dark Lord had fallen. 

They had broken into your uncles house and stolen you in the night. They didn’t bother with your uncle that night because they were without their wands but they managed to snatch you quite easily despite Demetrius’ efforts to keep you hidden. 

You touched your cheek as if you had felt the slap all over again. 

Outside the birds were chirping happily and a plump robin sat on the window sill without a care in the world. 

You slipped out of bed and managed to squeeze in a shower before Oliver woke up. 

“Merry Christmas, (Y/n).” Oliver wore his pyjamas and dressing gown as he engulfed you in a tight hug. 

“Merry Christmas, Oli.” You returned the hug before lurching towards Oliver’s gift and thrusting it in his hand.

“I hope you like it.” You smiled as you fiddled with your hands nervously. 

Oliver handed you your own present and then sat down to open his small gift. 

You watched him open it carefully and this his eyes grow wide in surprise. 

It was Oliver’s favourite Quidditch players autograph on a quaffle.

“How did you get this?!” Oliver asked as he jumped up to hug you. 

“Demetrius has his ways.” You laughed as you winced from how tight his hug was. 

“Open yours now.” Oliver sat back down, the quaffle sturdy on his lap with his hand on it. 

You teared the wrapping paper back to reveal a small photo frame with an old moving photo inside of it. 

“Oliver Wood!” You gushed as you realised it was a photo of you and Oli during your first year. 

“Me Mam found it tucked away on an old photo album during the summer. I remember she took it during the Christmas holidays when you first ever visited mine.” Oliver explained as you watched the awkward yet undeniably cute photo move.

“Thank you, Oli. I love it.” You hugged him once more before turning to open the presents from your uncle. 

There was only four small separately wrapped presents but you were extremely curious to find out what he sent you. 

The first present was a photo album. 

The second was some new socks which you and Oliver laughed at since it was so typical of your uncle. 

The third was a dream catcher. He always seemed to know. 

The final gift you unwrapped was a enchanted camera for moving photographs. 

“Oli! Look! We can take a new one!” You felt your chest warm as you realised just how thoughtful a present this was from Demetrius. 

You made a mental note to write a letter as soon as possible. 

Oliver moved beside you and wrapped his arm over your shoulders. 

He smiled widely as the photo was taken and ruffled your hair just as the flash went. 

“Hey!” You squealed as you moved away. 

“Anyway, Wood, what’d your mother get you?” You flattened your hair back to its original state as you nodded your chin towards the tree. 

“Let’s find out.” Oliver knelt by the tree and pulled out his gifts. 

You watched him unwrap his presents before you both decided to change and head to the great hall for a Christmas lunch. 

You came down in the sweater the twins had given you and Oliver’s draw dropped. 

“Are you really going to wear that?” He asked, his disgust shining through his accent. 

“Bugger off, Wood. I think it suits me.” You shrugged, “It was a Christmas gift after all.” 

“Next you’ll be moving into their home.” Oliver teased you about looking like a Weasley but you chose to ignore him. 

The rest of your Christmas just seemed to fly by...

(NEXT PART SOON)

TAG LIST

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[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Do you think that Hawk going violet will happen in a big emotional time? Like he's feeling like he's still a Cobra and gets confused and wants to leave Miyagi-fang (?) but something happens and he realizes that he's not a Cobra.

YESSSS this would be great!!!

Like I’m imagining Hawk feeling pretty conflicted because it’s been several weeks and STILL no one in the dojo really seems to like or trust him aside from Demetri and Miguel. Like even Mitch and Bert are wary of him, having seen firsthand how far under Kreese’s influence he ended up falling--and perhaps they’re a little jealous too, since he got to stay in Cobra Kai while they were both booted out. Johnny is glad to have Hawk back in his class, but he still can’t help but be a little angry with him for choosing Kreese over him initially--he knows HE’S the one who toughened Hawk up, not Kreese, and he can’t help but remember how readily Hawk dismissed him at first.

Maybe word gets out about Hawk trashing the Miyagi-Do dojo the previous summer--perhaps Miguel confides in Sam about it, and Sam, in a moment of hotheaded weakness, storms out into the dojo courtyard and confronts Hawk. I dunno if she would be mean enough to yell at him in front of everyone, but people almost certainly overhear regardless--and when it gets back to Daniel, ohhh boy. Hawk and Daniel were warming up to one another, and Daniel was even trying to help Hawk through some of his anger issues--but once he finds out that Hawk stole Mr. Miyagi’s medal of honor, all bets are off. (At least for now--Daniel has a way of coming around. But Hawk sure as hell doesn’t know that.)

After the whispers about what Hawk did the previous summer start spreading around the dojo, people avoid him even more. People look at him like he’s even more of a monster. Daniel doesn’t interact with him any more than is absolutely necessary. Hawk apologizes, of course--tries to channel as much emotion into it as he can so people know it’s genuine. But no one seems to believe him, and he can’t help but be confused about what else he’s supposed to do. Apologies for him have always been a one-and-done deal, and he’s not sure why everyone else isn’t accepting it like Demetri was. He doesn’t know what else to do to communicate he’s serious.

Demetri and Miguel both vouch for him, of course. Demetri especially--he’s used to getting across what Eli’s trying to communicate, attuned from years of practically being Eli’s voice. Demetri never wants to leave Hawk’s side, standing centimeters apart from him at karate practice and swinging a protective arm around him to squeeze his shoulder whenever people shoot Hawk suspicious looks. Despite his friends’ efforts, Hawk is miserable--he feels like he’s under the worst kind of microscope, and no matter what he does, no one is going to trust him.

He feels guilty about it, but he finds himself longing for his Cobra Kai days. How he was respected, feared, celebrated for his strength and his fighting skills and his ruthlessness. Now, it feels like everyone flinches at them--even Miguel and Demetri, on occasion. He just isn’t admired--just isn’t appreciated--like he used to be, no matter how much Demetri tries to reassure him. “I know they’ll trust you eventually. It’ll just take time!”

Hawk isn’t sure they’re ever going to trust him.

Sometimes he wonders if he should go back to Cobra Kai, regain the fame and the prowess and the fear of everyone who dared to cross him. He’d take Miguel and Demetri, of course--he can’t bear to be pitted against either of them ever again. But a bit of intensive training on the side for both of them, and he’s sure they could make it in Kreese’s Cobra Kai. They’re both incredibly skilled fighters, and the thought of the three of them becoming the three most intimidating fighters in the Valley is oddly cathartic to Hawk. The three most pathetic losers in the school, risen to great heights to be terrifying warriors who people were scared to so much as breathe wrong around. Demetri will come, Hawk is sure--Demetri would follow him anywhere, as long as he gets Hawk’s word that Hawk will never turn on him again. And Miguel...well, it might take some convincing to get him to leave the LaRusso girl, but if Demetri comes, Miguel will surely want to be with his two best friends more than his annoying girlfriend.

Hawk is walking home one day from karate training (a training that Demetri never showed up to--a bit odd, but Hawk figures he must have just called out because he had a lot of AP homework), thinking about how best to try and loop Miguel and Demetri into extra training, when his phone rings. He picks up, and it’s Miguel--panicked, hyperventilating, voice cracking like he’s been crying, rushing words out through raspy breaths. He’s hard to understand, talking fast with his voice choked with sobs, but Hawk makes out something about “Demetri” and “an ambush near the park.”

Hawk is at the location in minutes, sprinting there at top speed despite running never being his forte (Demetri was always the faster one between them). Demetri is lying motionless on the cement, passed out with his flannel slowly soaking through with blood. Hawk runs to him in a hysteria, screaming and crying and begging for him to be okay.

While Miguel calls an ambulance, Hawk is frantically looking over Demetri, trying to figure out where all that blood is coming from. No amount of punches and kicks could draw out that amount of blood. Then he lifts up Demetri’s shirt, and lets out a strangled whimper.

The Cobras are fighting with knives now, apparently. And someone--probably Kyler--carved “COBRA KAI NEVER DIES” across Demetri’s back.

And Hawk can’t stop crying because he knows this is his fault. There’s only one reason the Cobras would target Demetri--he was the reason for their latest deserter, and they knew that.

Or maybe he had simply been someone from a rival dojo in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe the Cobras were just those kinds of people.

Because it was never strength and power that Kreese cared about--it was war. Using dojo rivalries as an excuse to get away with hurting people because he enjoyed it. Because them being on the “opposite side” made it seem justified, somewhere in his twisted mind.

The doctors have to practically drag Eli out of Demetri’s hospital room. Luckily they’re able to at least reassure Eli that Demetri is going to be okay--it’s the only way to get him to leave. There are more knife wounds that he didn’t see at first, but they didn’t hit anything vital--thank god. Demetri’s lost a fair bit of blood, but he’ll be all right.

The text scrawled across his back most likely won’t scar, if Demetri cares for the wound properly. And that’s enough for Eli--he knows how meticulous Demetri is. He’ll get through it.

Still, the red stains on Demetri’s shirt and the dark cuts slicing through his skin are seared in Eli’s mind as he drives home. When he gets in the shower that night, he thinks of the words carved into Demetri’s back and his lips curl up in a snarl. He grabs a bottle of bleach, emptying the entire contents onto his limp scarlet hair.

Hawk bleaches and bleaches until the shower is a mess and the entire bathroom smells of cleaning products and every trace of the distinctive Cobra Kai red is completely annihilated. Cobra Kai never dies? Bullshit--they’re dead to him.

His eyes trail to a bottle of hair dye on the top shelf of the shower rack, and he grins. He’s been toying with the idea for a while now, but now...he’s never been more certain in his life. With the red gone, and Cobra Kai truly behind him...it’s time.

When Demetri wakes up in the hospital the next day. The first thing he sees is a jagged purple shape clouding his vision--hair, he realizes. “Who are you?” he mumbles.

“Come on, Deme, how many people do you know with a goddamn mohawk?” a familiar voice says.

His eyes focus to find Eli smirking at him, hair up in deep violet spikes. His hand feels warm, and he looks down to see Eli’s holding it.

Demetri hopes his blush isn’t too visible.

“Holy shit, dude.” Demetri can’t help but grin. “You look great. Why the change?”

“After seeing what they did to you, I couldn’t...do a Cobra Kai color anymore.” Eli bites his lip. “And it just reminded me of all the awful stuff I did there, too. But uh...you know how Sensei LaRusso is always talking about balance?” Demetri just nods.

“I guess I thought I needed something like that. Like I want to be cool and intimidating and kick ass, like Sensei Lawrence and Miguel. But I also want to be all...I dunno...rational and wise and moral and shit, like you and Sensei LaRusso. And Eagle Fang’s got the red thing, and Miyagi-Do’s got the blue thing, so I was like...maybe I should mix them? For balance?”

“Ohhhhh!” And here comes Demetri’s shit-eating grin. Hawk isn’t sure why he expected any different. “You think I’m ‘rational and wise and moral and shit,’ Eli? I thought you thought I was a ‘lame nerd!’”

Eli just rolls his eyes. “God, shut up. You can be both.”

“Also, are you going to stop holding my hand?”

“No.”

Demetri just snickers and leans back, enjoying the sensation of Eli’s fingers between his.

“I was thinking about leaving, you know,” Eli admits quietly, after a beat.

Demetri sits up, staring at him in shock. “What?”

“I didn’t feel like I belonged,” he explained. “I didn’t feel like anyone wanted me there, after everything I’d done. No one but you believed me when I said sorry. I thought maybe I’d be happy if I went back to Cobra Kai, took you and Miguel with me so I wouldn’t have to fight you and we could all become strong together without...without everyone looking at me like I was evil. But now? I never want anything to do with those assholes ever again. Not after they hurt you like that.”

Demetri looks at Eli so softly that Eli thinks he might melt. Then Demetri breaks out in another huge smirk. “Awww, you were going to try and bring me back to your evil karate cult with you? How thoughtful of you!”

“Oh my god, shut up. Yes, I think you would’ve been good enough to survive in there. Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Also, are you still holding my hand?”

“Maybe I am. Mind your business.”

When Demetri takes said hand and uses it to yank Eli forward and kiss him full on the mouth, Eli isn’t about to complain. 

When they pull apart, Demetri is a spluttering mess, quickly apologizing and insisting he wasn’t thinking. Eli just laughs, and pulls him forward by the neck so their foreheads are pressed together. “God, I’ve wanted that for so long, Demetri. Don’t you dare apologize for it.”

A short pause. “I know it’s been hard for you,” Demetri adds quietly. “At the dojo. But you have to believe me when I say they’ll come around. I know you’re a good person, Miguel knows, and everyone else will realize it too. It’s just going to take some time. But you’ll figure out how to make it up to them. I believe in you.”

“Okay.” Hawk closes his eyes and exhales slowly, letting himself relax. “As long as I’m with you, it’ll be fine.”

[mingishoe]

Secret Santa

Summary: Secret santa but yall got each other even though you two don’t like each other

Pairing: Reader x Yunho (ft. Seonghwa and San)

Word count- 11.8K unedited… oops

Smut with too much plot (Subs: reader and Yunho, Doms: Seonghwa, San, and reader to Yunho) *Yunho is a sub and no one can change my mind*

Smut Warning: exhibitionism, oral sex- M receiving, degration, dirty talk, car sex?, use of pet names, soft cute sex, sex that’ll make someone feel sore for days, unprotected sex (don’t be silly, wrap your willy) Marking, cream pie, and more that I can’t remember… 

25 days of christmas: Day 6 

12-27-19 pretend it didn’t take me 20 days to write this ah ha ha 

________________________________

Christmas time in your office was probably the best time of the year. Everyone was in the Christmas mood and there were decorations hanging everywhere. 

In your office floor, everyone was pretty much friends so you all had secret Santa and drew names out of a bowl. 

Your friend Mingi called everyone around the desk that had all the names in it. Mingi lowkey had a secret plan for you to get a certain person.

 It was known around the office that you and Yunho just didn’t get along for whatever reason. No one else besides you and Yunho knew why you didn’t like each other. 

If you were being honest with yourself, it was silly. You knew it was silly and even Yunho probably knew it was silly.

Basically you and Yunho used to be really close friends a long long time ago in elementary through highschool until you got a boyfriend. 

It was in your freshman year in Highschool and you got your first “real” boyfriend. During the time you and Yunho were best friends and sure, he was happy you had a boyfriend and you were happy. It was a good happy time for all three of yall. 

After awhile you assume Yunho just got jealous and he brought up the “Your boyfriend is toxic and doesn’t love you” talk and at the time it was a H U G E deal to both of you. 

So fast forward Yunho started to ghost you and you ended up breaking up with your boyfriend at the end of your sophmore year around your year and a half mark, and you and Yunho had started to fix your friendship but neither of you were able to stay 5 minutes without arguing. 

Fast forward even more you and Yunho practically hated each other for the rest of highschool and once you got into college you had just started to think you got away from him.

But guess what? With your shit luck, once you got your office job the next day- Yunho was in the space next to you.

At that point you honestly thought the world was just against you. 

Like sure you weren’t really mad at Yunho anymore, it was just kinda annoying. 

That leads to where you’re at now, standing next to your friend Wooyoung as Mingi is making his way around the room letting people draw.

 Mingi doesn’t have either your name or Yunhos name in the bag just so you two would get each other. You’re the last person to draw, besides Yunho since he’s in a meeting, and you grab one of the last papers already overcome with a sinking feeling in your stomach.

You have the paper in your hand eyeing Mingi suspiciously. 

You slowly unfold the paper and as soon as you see the “Y” your heart drops, “Mingi- you son of a bitch! Wooyoung, wanna trade? please?” Wooyoung and Mingi exchanged a look before Wooyoung simply said no and walked away. 

“Mingi, why are you such a pain in the ass,” you rested your head in your hands. “Look, maybe it’s just your shitty luck because I did nothing,” you’re about to say something but you get cut off as you see Yunho wrapped his arm around Mingi’s shoulder. 

You looked away awkwardly as Mingi hands him the bag to pick the last name out of the bag. He snaps his head up looking at you and you stare at him with wide eyes, “W-What?” he turns his head to mingi while responding, “none of your business,” you scoff while rolling your eyes as you turn to go back to your work space.

You sat down with a huff, you were pretty sure he got you and that’s why he made such a big deal. It wasn’t that it was hard to get him something, yall are together everyday and even after work since you both have the same friends. It was just the whole secret Santa process. When you give your gift you have to spend the whole day doing stuff and at the end you give your gift and reveal you’re their secret Santa (it was honestly a long process that was kinda burdensome for anyone involved) and with Yunho it would be way too awkward. 

*

It was after work and you usually walk back to your place with Seonghwa since you both lived on the same floor(Yunho and San both lived in the same building as well).

It was a bit awkward for you both when you found out. For the first month, you both thought that the other was following the other. And you both happened to confront each other at the same time and had a good awkward laugh after. After that you two waited for each other after work but never talked as you walked next to each other. It literally took months for you and Seonghwa to start a conversation, a simple “Hi, how are you?” Small talk, eventually you two became really close friends. 

“Hwa, I’m being serious,” he was looking at you completely unamused, already tired of your whining. “I need you to trade with me,” “Look, Y/N, I know that whatever feud you have with Yunho is a big deal or whatever but either way unless he trades with someone, which no one is going to, you’re gonna he stuck with him all day anyways.” You know he’s right, but you’re really not having it. “Sweetheart, you’re just gonna have to be a big girl and suck it up,” Seonghwa wrapped his arm around you as he pulled you into him and kissed your cheek.

You and Seonghwa didn’t date, which surprised everyone who asked, you two were just overly flirty but had no real interest in each other. 

You both walked hand in hand and side by side going into the building and of course(with your shit luck) Yunho was there with San talking near the entrance. 

“Oh! Y/N! Seonghwa!” You sighed loudly and rolled your eyes which caused Seonghwa to squeeze your hand tighter warning you to stop. He steered you towards their direction, and by steered I mean dragged. 

“Yunho. San.” Seonghwa addressed them awkwardly. 

“San…” you smiled at him gently. 

San looked between you and Seonghwa awkwardly as you two were still holding hands and you were practically leaning on him. You let go of Seonghwa’s hand but still kept your position next to him. 

You glanced to Yunho and saw him looking away with his jaw clenched, 

“How about we go get dinner together?” 

“Ummm… you know… I’m not really hungry…” you were honestly really hungry but you didn’t want to go eat with Yunho. “No come on! I’ll buy?” He hit your weak spot and he knew it.

“Fine… but I want ice cream after.” San rolled his eyes but agreed and made everyone pile into his car. 

You sat in the back with Seonghwa while you drove to San’s favourite restaurant that conveniently was on the other side of town during traffic hour. You were getting bored since your phone died at work earlier in the day.

After about 10 minutes of staring out the back window at the traffic Seonghwa gave you one of his earbuds so you could listen to music with him. You leaned against his shoulder and closed your eyes since it felt like you were gonna be stuck in traffic for forever. 

Eventually you got to the restaurant since Seonghwa woke you up saying we have to hurry before San orders without us. San was long gone and it was only you, Seonghwa, and Yunho in the car. You blinked at him confused, “cute” he winked at you and pecked your lips. You jumped as you heard the car door slam shut as Yunho walked into the restaurant.

 Seonghwa chuckled and opened the door to go in the restaurant. You sat there for a second completely confused, Seonghwa has never kissed you in front of other people before so that really messed your mind up. 

No one other than you, san, and Seonghwa knew about you two. You were best friends but sometimes there would be a few hookups here and there. It wasn’t really that serious between you two, and there was no romantic feelings between you and Seonghwa. It’s just… sometimes when he spends the night… it’ll be a little more than sleeping… but that's no ones business… except San… because he’s joined before… 

After you got over your little moment you got out the car yourself and caught up with Seonghwa. 

You were honestly confused about what was happening and why everyone was acting funny but you decided to just push it to the back of your mind and just enjoy the dinner. 

It was a cute diner that’s been here forever, and you and San usually come alone but since everyone is deciding to be an ass the whole world had to join as well. You got your usual, a waffle (even though it was dinner time) and Yunho got what he always used to get when you came in high school, a bacon cheeseburger with curly fries. San and Seonghwa both got a whole pizza. 

Everyone was talking besides you, it honestly wasn’t because you were uncomfortable, it was it just because you missed being able to do this. You missed going out with your friends and not having to worry about Yunho picking on you every 5 seconds. 

You found yourself staring at Yunho. This was the first time you both came back here after fighting and declaring you both hated each other. 

Even though it was on the opposite side of town, Yunho had a license and always drove you two to get burgers and share a milkshake. 

You’re probably being over emotional but you start to tear up and Yunho isn’t completely oblivious to you so he notices and stares at your teary eyes not knowing what to do. 

You pull yourself together once you get your food, “Y/N- you’re such a loser, why do you always get breakfast?” San eyes your waffle suspiciously. “Is there Crack in it or something?” You fling some of your tea at him, “No you idiot, I just like waffles…” he rolls his eyes and shrugs as Seonghwa asks for you to feed him a bite of your waffle. 

You stare down at your plate contemplating if you really want to share your waffle but in the end you agree and cut him a piece and feed him the waffle. 

“Mhmm, it almost tastes as good as you…” you snap your eyes to Seonghwa as he winks at you. You hear someone suck in their breath and you’re literally so confused on what is wrong with everyone. You decide to ignore Seonghwas comment and go back to eating your waffle silently while Seonghwa and San talk with Yunho occasionally adding his input.

You were honestly eyeing Yunho’s curly fries the whole time since you literally haven’t eaten them since high school. You’re looking down at your waffle and you see Yunho grab a handful of his curly fries and place them onto your plate. You look up at him and you send him an appreciative smile and he could see back when y'all were 16. 

*

If you were to ask Yunho what happened to your friendship, you’d get a completely different answer. 

Back in 9th grade when you got a boyfriend, he was honestly truly happy for you. Sure he was jealous that he didn’t have you to himself but it was to be expected. 

One night someone came to his house really late. It was Felix, your boyfriend. As soon as he opened the door, a fist came in contact with his nose. Long story short Felix told him to stay away from “his girlfriend” because you are “his” and he can’t afford losing you to “someone like him.” 

After that he didn’t go to school for the next few days because of the bruising, avoided your calls and texts, then after awhile completely pretended you didn’t exist.

He knew how much it hurt you. 9 years of friendship, down the drain. Just because of some stupid boy who doesn’t even know how to treat you. Yunho loved you. He had been in love with you since he could remember. You obviously didn’t like him because you two were best friends, but to Yunho it was okay. He was okay with just being friends because he didn’t want to lose you. 

After you broke up with Felix, you tried fixing the relationship between you and Yunho, but he had built his walls back up and started arguing with you as a defense mechanism. It wasn’t the healthiest of all things to do since it caused the both of you to completely stop talking until you both somehow got the same job. 

It leads to now, where he’s giving you all his fries because he knows they’re your favourite. It doesn’t matter how much you two argue, he always gives you what you want, even though you don’t know it. 

*

Everyone is done with their food and you excuse yourself to go outside. While you were coming in you saw this store that sold different paintings and posters. There is customised art you can make with an audio and they will paint the auto waves. 

You sent the artist a voice message that you still have with Yunho. It was you apologising after one of the first fights you had. The whole voice memo was basically you telling Yunho how much you love him and you’ll be his friend forever while sobbing. 

This was basically going to be your “Look I don’t know what happened, but let’s start over because I still love you so much” gift. 

You quickly placed your order and went back to the restaurant and saw San paying. You wrap your arms around Sans shoulders, “Thank you San-a. You’re the best.” He turns around and brings you into a hug, “So… how about the icecream now?” 

You quickly pull away, “Okay! Let’s now!” San and Seonghwa both laughed as Yunho rolled his eyes in the back while hiding a smile. Everyone knew ice cream was your favourite, chocolate chip cookie dough, that’s the one you always got. 

The 4 of you walked to the ice cream parlour on the next block. San and Seonghwa were immersed in a conversation walking ahead of you and Yunho. 

You and Yunho were walking side by side completely quiet, the tension was so thick you could physically feel it. 

“So, who’d you get for secret Santa?” Yunho slowed down a little bit for the both of you to talk. “Oh, umm it’s called secret Santa for a reason, it's a secret” you look up at Yunho with a small smile. “Mhm… that’s fair I guess” he says with a small laugh.

“So… what about you? Who’d you get?” He laughs loudly at your question, “What?! I thought it was a secret? You’re not gonna tell me yours but you want me to tell you mine? What a cheat!” You elbow him in the side and roll your eyes.

“How about… we both give hints?” At this point you were both aware you got each other, and you were both just picking for fun. 

He Yunho pretended to think for a few seconds, “okay, fine… so… the person I got… SHE is someone I care about. Like a lot. And I don’t think she knows it anymore but maybe after I get the gift she’ll remember all the good things that happened with us…” you both had stopped waking. You could feel your heart beating faster and you could feel yourself breathing harder. 

You nodded, “y-yeah. Mine. Umm… is also to a person I care a lot about… and I hope after I give him the present it’ll clear things up… you know? And it might not be a lot, but it was really fucking expensive so he better appreciate it.” You told Yunho before winking at him. 

You were walking off to catch up with Seonghwa and San who didn’t even notice you two were gone. 

“Wait!” You turn around to see Yunho jogging after you. “What?” You stop and turn around. “You already got your present? We just got our people today,” you smiled at him, “No, I placed the order already. It should be ready to get picked up in a few days.” Yunho blinks at you confused but nods anyway.

You and Yunho are still walking side by side as you both enter the ice cream shop, “You want the usual?” You agree without even thinking about how Yunho knows what ice cream you get.

You go to sit with Seonghwa at the booth at the back of the parlour. 

Seonghwa sits staring at you for a good 30 seconds before you break, “What are you doing? Why are you eye fucking me? You and San have both been acting weird all day.” Seonghwa looks behind you quickly before leaning in to the point where your noses were touching. You involuntarily look down to his lips and you can feel your cheeks start to get red, “I really don’t know what you mean Y/N. Can I not just appreciate my best friend?”

He licks his lips as he tilts his head. Your lips were brushing and you could feel his smirk against your lips, “I mean, when you’re practically making out with me… isn’t that a bit more than appreciating?” 

“Here’s your ice cream Hwa,” San came rushing to the table practically throwing Seonghwa’s cup to him. 

You pulled away from Seonghwa and turned your body the opposite direction to calm yourself down. You rested your cool hands on your burning cheeks as you saw Yunho wasn’t far behind San. 

You’re not really sure what Seonghwa is doing but it’s most definitely supposed to make someone jealous, you’re not completely oblivious to what’s happening. You’re just not sure who… Either San or Yunho, and you don’t understand why he would ever try to make San jealous, so it had to be Yunho. 

You were really confused but decided to play along with whatever game San and (mostly) Seonghwa were playing. All you had to do was flirt shamelessly, right? It couldn’t be that hard, you just had to pay attention to Yunho’s reactions at the same time. 

Yunho handed you your waffle cone and you took it with a smile. You exchanged a look with San that told him you knew what they were doing. He looked at Seonghwa, who was looking at you, and elbowed him in the side. Seonghwa smirked at you and looked back down at his ice cream. You looked back at San and kicked him on his shin as a warning. 

The whole time Yunho was looking between the three of you trying to figure out what was happening. Yunho decided to ignore whatever was happening but made a note to ask San about it later. 

Yunho wasn’t particularly fond of Seonghwa. But Seonghwa was your best friend and he had no control over it. There wasn’t any need for him to be that flirty with you. I mean yeah, all best friends are like that but you don’t go kissing your best friend for no reason. Right? Yunho could tell you were kinda confused on what was happening as well but he also saw you went along with it. So it obviously wasn’t unwanted… Yunho was just really confused. He was jealous too. He knew he had no right to be jealous because he wasn’t dating you, you couldn’t even really call each other friends anymore. 

You looked around a little to see if anyone was paying attention to you. San and Yunho were in a conversation about their upcoming project for work, and Seonghwa was sitting on his phone. 

You move move your foot to start rubbing on Seonghwa’s lower leg. He looks up at you then to Yunho, who’s not paying attention, then back to his phone.

You continue to eat your ice cream pretending that you don’t know what your doing, you have to be really careful. San probably won’t notice, but Yunho is sitting right next to you and has a clear view of under the table. 

You stop, but leave your foot where it is. You finish the rest of your ice cream, and decide to keep messing with Seonghwa. 

Your legs are a lot shorter than you originally think, so you scoot forward causing Seonghwa to put his phone down and look at you. You look at him as innocently as possible as he shakes his head in a warning. 

You slide your foot up to rest on his thigh. Seonghwa looks at you with a smile before bouncing his leg causing you to bang your knee on the underneath of the table, “ow fuck!” Yunho and Sans attention turns to you, and Yunho looks under the table to see your foot on Seonghwa’s thigh. He looks between you and Seonghwa, “you good?” He asks you awkwardly, “She’s fine.” Yunho looks to you and you nod in reassurance. 

Yunho looks at you a little bit longer then turns to continue his conversation with San. Seonghwa is laughing to himself as you get a surge of confidence and place your foot on his crotch. He groans loudly with wide eyes and once again, all the attention is on you two. 

You quickly move your foot back to his thigh, and you look at Seonghwa with wide eyes. San and Yunho both snap their heads to Seonghwa and you look around pretending you didn’t hear anything. 

San looked at you with wide eyes. You shake your head knowing what he’s asking. He raises his eyebrows at you and you bite your lip while looking down. San snorts as he’s looking at Yunho’s confused expression, “So, Seonghwa… how's your project going?” San winks at you as you move your foot to go back to his crotch. Seonghwa looks between you and San and if looks could kill, you’d both be dead. 

“Umm… you know, we’re almost done. And I-It’ll be d-done probably by F-Friday.” You’re putting more pressure on his length with your foot and you start to move it slowly. 

You can see Seonghwa’s face start to get red. His fist is clenched on top of the table and you can see his knuckles turning white. 

“Are you okay… Seonghwa?” Seonghwa lifts his face from his hands and shoots Yunho a look, “I’m fine.” Yunho nods and gets on his phone awkwardly.

Seonghwa nods his head towards the restroom with raised eyebrows. You shake your head not wanting San to know what’s going to happen and leave Yunho confused. You contemplate if you should actually get up or not, but in the end you decide to go to the restroom, “Hey, I’ll be right back, I’m going to the restroom.” Yunho nods while San is looking at you with a knowing look. 

You get up and go to the single-stalled family restroom to wait for Seonghwa. You take a second to look at yourself in the mirror and you can see your flushed cheeks and your dark eyes looking back at you. You see the door open behind you and before you can even turn around the door is locked and there’s a hand around your throat. 

“You’re such a fucking slut, you’re really trying to get me off when there are people next to us? Huh? What if Yunho saw? What if San tells him what a fucking whore you are?” Your breathing becomes heavier as Seonghwa speaks in your ear. 

“See, look at yourself in the mirror. Don’t you look like a whore letting me touch you in the restroom?” Seonghwa’s hands are moving lower down to your chest. “Answer me, Kitten.” You whine softly as you feel his mouth on your neck. 

“Y-Yes. Yes, I’m being a whore for letting you t-touch me in the restroom.” Seonghwa starts leaving small marks on your neck. 

“Mhmm… right, my whore.” He turns your body to where you’re facing him. 

“I’m gonna tell you what’s gonna happen okay?” you nod as you move to attach your lips to Seonghwa’s neck. “You’re gonna suck me off, then we’re gonna go back and pretend this didn’t happen, yeah? Then when we get back to the apartment, I’ll take care of you. Deal?” you start to argue but stop since you know it’s not gonna get you anything so you agree and continue to mark Seonghwa’s neck with your pretty pink marks.

Seonghwa runs his hands down your hair, he grabs a chunk of it and pulls you back, “You better hurry kitten before Yunho notices we’ve been gone for too long. 

You sink down to your knees and unbutton Seonghwa’s pants. He’s already hard so you can see the strain left on both his jeans and boxers. You look up at him once more for conformation, and once he nods his head you reach to grab his length from in his boxers. You stare for a second before tightening your grip and moving your hand slowly. 

You hear Seonghwa groan from above you and it only gives you the confidence to bring yourself closer and place the head on your tongue. You smile as you can feel the weight of him on your tongue and you look up at him with the most innocent look you can give. 

You close your mouth around the tip and he moves to hold your face in one of his hands. “Fuck, you’re so pretty kitten.” You smile softly while taking more of his length in your mouth. 

You feel him grab the back of your hair and take that as a cue to move your hands to his thighs. “Tap my thighs if you need me to stop, okay?” You close your eyes and he takes it as an okay to continue. 

He strokes your hair softly for a few seconds before starting to slowly move his hips. He’s holding your head with both of his hands and started to go deeper and faster. You could feel your eyes start to water already and you quickly thank yourself for not wearing any makeup today.

Seonghwa was getting desperate. His precum coming out more frequently, he was snapping his hips harshly as wet, gagging sounds filled the air around you. He pushes your head all the way down his cock until your nose was touching his pubic bone. You gripped his thigh tighter as you focused on breathing through your nose. 

You opened your eyes for a second, catching Seonghwa’s eyes as he was looking down at you. He throws his head back as he moans your name loudly. He was so close, you could feel him twitching in your mouth as he held your head still. 

You tapped on his thigh a few times and he immediately pulls out of your mouth. You take in a big breath as you see a string of saliva connecting from the tip of his dick to your lips. 

He was looking down at your fucked out face. Your checks were tinted a rose colour, your eyelashes were wet with tears, and your swollen lips wet with saliva. 

He moves his hand from your head and holds your face gently in his hands, wiping your tears from your face. 

You move to take his cock in your hand once again and this time your both a lot more gentle. He watches you softly as you slowly kiss down his length before carefully placing the head back in your mouth. 

You suck softly on the head and you’re starting to find it hard not to touch yourself. You whine as your taking more of his length into your mouth, “I know kitten, we’ll go back soon. I’ll take good care of you kitten, just wait okay?” You nod softly as you grip the rest of his length. 

“Gonna let me cum in your mouth? Gonna swallow it all like a good kitten?” You look up at Seonghwa and whine loudly. You pull off his cock with a popping sound as you look up and open your mouth for him. 

He looks down at you with your eyes on his face and your mouth open ready to catch all his cum in your mouth like a good kitten. 

He grips his cock and continued to get himself off in front of your face. “S-such a good kitten, good girl. Fuck, let-letting me cum on your face in the restroom. S-so good… sucking my cock like a little whore in the restroom, t-then going out and talking to o-our friends. I-It's okay right? B-because you’re my whore right?” You felt like you could cum untouched at this point. 

You moaned loudly and that was all it took for him to cum. You were able to catch most of his cum in your mouth and some sprinkled your cheeks and chin. 

You waited until he gave you the okay then you closed your mouth to swallow. You opened your mouth to show you swallowed and Seonghwa strokes your hair, whispering praises. 

He tucks himself back in his pants and gives you a hand to help you up. He looks around for a second before getting a paper towel and wetting it so he can carefully wipe the cum off your face.

“Turn around kitten,” you turn around and you get a good look at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes widen as you see how you look. “S-Seonghwa… it looks like I just got fucked in the restroom,” he laughs as he’s trying his best to fix your hair. “You’re not wrong,” you turn around and snack his chest. 

You look back in the mirror and you see the hickey’s covering your neck and jaw. You start whining about the marks but then see you see the marks you left on Seonghwa’s neck so you stop. 

“I tried my best kitten, you go first,” he kisses you gently and he brings his hand down to cup your crotch, “I’ll take care of you in a minute, just be a good girl.” You let out a quiet moan and move so you can unlock the door and walk out. 

Seonghwa looks at you with a smirk as you pause to look out the door to make sure no one is there. You look back at Seonghwa and he nods at you to go. You look at the clock on the wall 8:58, you’ve been in the restroom for around 25 minutes. You walk back to the table thinking of excuses to tell if they ask, even though San was well aware of what you were doing. 

You sat back down next to Yunho awkwardly trying your best to cover the right side of your face with your hair. 

“Why were you in the restroom so long?” You snapped your head up in San’s direction. “What?” He’s such a little shit, “you heard me,” you looked towards Yunho and he was scanning your face expectantly. “Umm… you know… girl problems…” he pretended to nod in understanding. Yunho looked back down at his phone with cheeks red with embarrassment. 

After a couple more minutes Seonghwa comes back to the table, “So, are we ready to go?” You look down with a smile. “Where were you?” You roll your eyes and look up at San. You turn and see Yunho scanning Seonghwa, his eyes widen and he looks over at you with the same expression. 

You’re completely aware they can both see all of Seonghwa’s hickeys and if you’re not careful, they’re both going to be able to see yours too. 

Seonghwa completely ignores the question and gets up, “Alrighty, I don’t know about yall but I’m tired so we should get going.” You nod and get up to join Seonghwa. When you get up you shuffle uncomfortably, your underwear is sticking to your core and you can feel how uncomfortable it is. 

San and Yunho are both blinking up at you two and Yunho shrugs and stands up as well. Seonghwa starts to walk out of the shop and he puts his hand out for you to take it. You grab his hand and walk quickly to catch up with him. 

Neither of you are really paying attention to if Yunho and San are behind you. You’re both walking really fast towards the restaurant that’s down the street so you can go to sans car. 

~

“Are they dating?” Sans head turns to Yunho. “Sorry, what?” San looks ahead to see you and Seonghwa walking hand in hand. “Umm… no… They’re just really close. Best friends.” If he was being honest, he has no idea if yall were dating. He thought it was just hookups occasionally, but sometimes you two look like a couple. 

“Are you sure they’re not more than friends? Like… you know… you saw his neck.” San had no idea what to tell him. Yunho had told San about what had happened between the two of you, and he told San that he really likes you. 

San sighed heavily, “Yunho, you shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.” Yunho looked at San, “Really? Is that what they were doing in the restroom?” Fuck. “You know, Yunho, I’m not sure. Maybe. But look, they’re best friends. They’ve been best friends for over 5 years now. They’re closer than anyone else. Yunho they’re probably closer than you two were. But I can tell you right now, yeah they might hookup every once in a while, but there isn’t any romantic attraction.” Yunho is staring at the two of you like he just saw a ghost.

“How, how are you sure about that?” San rolls his eyes, “You really need to stop asking questions. This thing between them has been going on for maybe 3 out of the 5 years they’ve been friends. They’ve both dated since they’ve been friends, it stops. When y/n got a boyfriend last year, they stopped hooking up. If there were romantic feelings, they wouldn’t have dated or they would be dating each other.” Yunho nods but he really doesn’t look so sure. He feels a pang of jealousy as he sees Seonghwa lean down to whisper something in your ear. 

“How do you know so much?” San ignored Yunho’s question and kept walking. “No san, I’m serious. Do you… do it too… with Seonghwa?” San still didn’t answer his question, “Yunho, what did I just tell you? I just told you to stop asking questions you don’t want the answer to,” Yunho sighed heavily, “Why?” San looked at him like he was crazy, “what do you mean why?” Yunho rolled his eyes, “you know exactly what I’m asking San. Is it the same as Seonghwa? Just to hookup?” San nodded, “look, I don’t like her as more than a friend. None of us do, just you. And if you choose to pursue your feelings, then go for it.”  

~

“Seonghwa shut up they’re gonna hear you,” the whole time yall were walking Seonghwa was saying what he wants to do to you out loud. Seonghwa smirks as he sees the car in the parking lot. He turns around and sees Yunho and San are a significant distance behind you two. As you both approach the car he grabs your hips and pushes you against the car. 

“Hwa, they're gonna see us…” you moan loudly as he sticks his knee between your legs. He presses his knee against your core as he leans forward brings you into a kiss. Seonghwa is softly rubbing at your side as he brushes his tongue against your bottom lip. 

You always forget how good of a kisser Seonghwa is, his lips are soft and it always makes you feel like you’re in heaven. 

You whine as he takes his knee from between your legs. “Hwa please, I cant… fuck,” you needed to be touched so bad. “Kitten, do you want San and Yunho to see? Maybe you do huh? Are me and San not enough? Do you want Yunho too? Do you want Yunho to see what a little whore you are? Want him to fuck you too?” You shake your head, “N-no I just, I just need you to touch me” he rolled his eyes looking down at you. “If you don’t stop being a brat I’m not-“ he got cut off as you heard the car door unlock.

Seonghwa cupped your core again, “you’re gonna sit with your legs open, okay kitten? So everyone will be able to smell how sweet you are.”  

You opened the door and scooted to the end. Seonghwa came in after you and sat in the middle. He pulled your leg to go over his and he rested his hand on your inner thigh. You looked towards him as he laughed, “I can smell how wet you are,” you looked at Seonghwa before you stuck your hand in your pants. Seonghwa immediately grabbed your wrist and tried to take your hand out of your jeans, “what the fuck are you doing? You groaned, “touching myself since you’re not touching me.” 

When you heard the door open you took your hand out of your pants, “oh my god, you’re such a fucking brat” Seonghwa said while Yunho was getting in the car. Seonghwa left his hand on your thigh, part of his hand resting on your core. 

San got in the car shortly after Yunho, “What’re y'all in such a rush for?” San turns to see if any cars are coming and he sees Seonghwa’s hand practically on your crotch. He snickers and goes back to pulling out of the parking, “Umm… no reason in particular, we’re just tired.” San hums in understanding, “I’m pretty tired too, how about all four of us go take a nap together?” San winks at you in the rearview mirror. Seonghwa laughs next to you as your cheeks turn red. 

“Answer him.” You turn to Seonghwa and you shake your head. San looks at you in the mirror again with that stupid smirk, “Umm… you can join if you want…” Yunho looks to San with a clenched jaw now that he knows what they’re talking about. 

“I will if Yunho joins,” you whine softly as Seonghwa rubs up and down your clothed core. You reach a red light and San turns to watch what Seonghwa is doing. 

You can sense that Yunho is probably uncomfortable so you try your best to ignore what’s happening. You close your eyes and bring your hands up to your face, “Y-Yunho probably doesn’t want to.” San bites his lip and turns to Yunho, “Do you want to?” 

You’re fully expecting Yunho to say no since he probably already knows what’s happening. Seonghwa places pressure straight on your clit and starts to make small circles. You’re still parked at the light even though it’s now green. It’s past 9 and there are no cars out on a Wednesday night. 

“Y-Yes I’ll Umm… I’ll join…” you whine loudly and close your legs as you were so close to cumming. “S-Seonghwa, I’m- I can’t, please,” he strokes your thigh softly, “I know kitten it’s okay, go ahead.” You see San look towards Yunho. Yunho is still looking forward, probably out of embarrassment. “Wait, Seonghwa, scoot over so Yunho can see Y/N,” 

Seonghwa moves to the other seat so you can move and be in the middle. “Yunho, why don’t you look and see how pretty my kitten is?” Seonghwa tells Yunho to look in your direction. Seonghwa unbuttons your pants and sticks his hand into your underwear. 

Seonghwa runs his fingers down your slit, collecting all of your juices on his fingers. He pulls his hand out of your pants to show his wet fingers. 

Yunho looks back in time for Seonghwa to offer his wet fingers to San who’s now palming himself. You watch San suck on Seonghwa’s fingers with a whine. “You wanna touch her?” Seonghwa asks San as he pulls his fingers out of his mouth. “I can wait, wanna touch her properly,” Seonghwa looks to Yunho and as expected he shakes his head.

Seonghwa shrugs as he sticks his hands back in your pants, this time inserting a finger into you. You start to whine and moan loudly, “Fuck, Seonghwa please. I need to cum. I’ll be good now, I promise.” You can feel all 3 pairs of eyes on you. Seonghwa and San are both staring at you with zero hesitation and Yunho is taking glances at you every few seconds, “Kitten, your such a whore,” Yunho’s eyebrows shoot up as he hears Seonghwa calling you names. Seonghwa adds another finger and starts to move them as fast as he can with your pants constricting his hand. “Fuck, San, look at our whore, how she’s begging to cum like a little bitch. So desperate kitten. You like the attention don’t you? Me and San just weren’t enough to please you huh?” You’re moaning uncontrollably now as Seonghwa looks up to Yunho, “Now you need Yunho too huh? You need Yunho to help us fuck you right?” 

Yunho is looking at you and Seonghwa with wide eyes then turns to look at San who has a smirk on his face. San looks down at Yunho’s bulge. San grabs one of Yunho’s fists that’s resting on his leg and moves it to press on his bulge. 

The pressure that San adds to Yunho’s hand makes him whimper. San freezes and looks at Yunho with a shocked expression, “Did- did you…” Yunho flushes red as he continues to palm himself. 

Your eyes shoot up to Yunho when you hear the noise he made, “fuck fuck fuck,” Seonghwa himself is shocked but he’s more focused on you right now, “You didn’t answer my question kitten, You weren’t satisfied with the two of us huh? You want yunho to join so he can help us fuck you. Since two cocks isn’t enough for you.” You nod vigorously, “Fuck, yes. I need Y-Yunho’s cock too. I need 3 cocks t-to make me S-satisfied cause I’m a wh-whore.” 

Hearing you say that made Yunho start to moan loudly, “F-Fuck, Yunho” you’re staring at his face. He looks so pretty with his cheeks flushed and his mouth open to let out his pretty moans. “You S-sound, fuck, you sound so pretty,” he bites his lip to keep his smile from showing. 

Yunho lets out more of his pretty moans and you can’t hold it anymore. Your legs start to shake as you cum, hard. You’re letting out pornagraphic moans and you can’t stop. 

Seonghwa kisses your forehead and San strokes your calf. You eventually open your eyes and see Yunho biting his lip with a pained expression on his face, “Y-Yunho?” You started carefully “I wish you could see how pretty you look… You look so pretty right now, you’re doing so well.” Everyone’s eyes are on Yunho but he doesn’t even notice. 

Seonghwa carefully buttons your pants back up and you sit up with a grimace. You scoot up the seat and you take Yunho’s face in your hand. Yunho starts to breathe louder and his whimpers become louder, filling the car. You look to both San and Seonghwa who are both looking at you and Yunho intently, you hesitate before you say “puppy… can you be good and cum for me?” You hear Seonghwa take in a breath behind you but you’re focused on how pretty Yunho is. Yunho lets out a choked moan as he cums in his pants. You whisper praises to him while playing with his hair. 

He opens his eyes and you kiss him softly on his forehead, “you okay?” He gives you the softest smile and nods. You move back in your seat and you look at San, “did you…” he knows what you mean and chuckles, “yeah, like 5 minutes before you did,” you roll your eyes and laugh, “should’ve known, you’re always first.” Laughter fills the car clearing away any awkwardness left. You turn to Seonghwa and ask the same question, “nope, I’d rather cum in you” he tells you with a wink. You turn away without saying anything to look out the window with your flushed cheeks. 

San finally continues driving after 30 minutes of sitting at the light, “So… Yunho…” he turns to give Yunho a knowing look. Seonghwa laughs next to you knowing what San is gonna say. “You’re a sub huh? And a bottom?” You bite your lip to contain your smile as you continue looking out the window. 

Yunho clears his throat, “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about…” San and Seonghwa both snort loudly as you try your best to control your laughter. “Yeah, right… puppy…” he groans loudly and covers his face in his hands. You giggle softly, “Leave my puppy alone San, you’re just jealous I don’t call you anything cute.” Seonghwa rolls his eyes at the both of you, “y'all are idiots, stop the car, I'd rather walk back.” San jokingly pulls over and stops the car, “okay, bye.” You watch as Seonghwa stares at San with wide eyes. “W-wait… I was just kidding, I love you both” you start laughing and hitting Seonghwa. 

Yall continue driving in a comfortable silence. Everyone’s heart is beating a little faster as you get closer to the apartment. The car is starting to fill with a sexual tension you could practically taste. You were all shifting uncomfortably since you all, besides Seonghwa, came in your underwear at some point. 

San pulls into his parking spot faster than he’s ever had. All four of you practically jump out of the car and run to the elevator. The four of you all have rooms on different floors of the apartment. Yunho was about to ask who’s room but when Seonghwa immediately presses the floor to your place he looks at you confused, “I have the biggest bed, it usually fits us three but I’m sure it’ll be fine with you.” Yunho nods in understanding. “Yeah, she really splurged on her bed! It’ll fit all four of us just fine.” San has always loved your bed. He always came over for sleepovers and movie nights just so he can lay on your bed. 

The elevator opens and you all just stand there waiting for the first person to walk out. You roll your eyes and walk out first taking the key from your bag and going to the end of the hall to go to your place. 

Everyone follows behind you as you walk inside your apartment. San and Seonghwa practically live here with you, but Yunho has never been here before so you try and give him a quick tour. “Umm, so Yunho, let me just give you a quick tour. This is the kitchen here to the left. Then this is the living room.” You gestured to the area around you. You walked further into the room and lead Yunho into the hall where all the rooms are. “The first door to the left is the guest restroom. And the door at the end, on the left is the guest room and the one on the right is the master bedroom, my room, with the master bathroom.” 

Yunho looks around trying to take in the information, “I don’t know about you two, but we’re gonna go fuck now.” Seonghwa takes your hand and leads you to your bedroom. He leaves the door open as he picks you up and places you in the middle of your bed. 

You wrap your legs around his waist as he starts to kiss down your neck to your chest. “Seonghwa! Why are you so impatient? I haven’t touched her all day.” San came into the room complaining. You opened your eyes to look at San. You smile as you signal him to come towards you. 

You look back once again and see Yunho standing by the door, not sure what to do. If you were being honest, you didn’t really know what to do either. It was always just Seonghwa and San, and now that Yunho’s here too you feel the need to pay extra attention to him. 

Seonghwa is already lifting your shirt to kiss your stomach. “I- Yu- fuck… Seonghwa-” he lifted your shirt completely off and started to suck on your chest through your bra. 

“W-wait Seonghwa…” he stops and looks up at you, “G-get off for a second…” he complains but gets off anyway. He moves to lay where San is sitting as you sit up.

You look up and see Yunho staring at your chest. You smile, “Yun- Puppy, come here please.” He looks between you and the two boys next to you. “It’s alright, they won’t say anything…” he nods and walks towards you and sits right in front of you. “Are you, Are you okay? You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” He looks at you and nods while looking at your lips. “I need you to use your words puppy.” He whines quietly, “I-It’s okay. I want to stay.” 

You nod and push him back softly so he’s laying down on his back, “Tell me if you want me to stop, okay puppy?” You hold his face gently in your hands. You’re straddling his waist and you take a minute to look at him. You missed Yunho so much. You were staring so intently and lovingly into his eyes, and you knew he knew what you were trying to tell him. 

If you didn’t do something, anything, you were going to start crying and no one wants a shirtless crying girl to be sitting on them. You lean down to take him into a kiss. 

Seonghwa and San are both giving each other a look knowing this could most likely be the last time this is going to happen, unless Yunho is into that… 

You take Yunho's bottom lip into your mouth and you suck on it gently. Yunho starts to breathe heavier as he opens his mouth to allow access to your tongue. You and Yunho both know why you’re being so gentle, you’re trying your best to make up for everything that’s happened. 

Yunho whimpers quietly as you pull away. He chases your lips and you peck his lips softly. He has his fists clenched beside him as his eyes move down to your chest and stomach. “You can touch me,” he slowly places his hands on your waist, “Y-You’re so pretty.” Your heart felt like it could burst. You were looking at Yunho with the biggest heart eyes, “Not prettier than you puppy,” his cheeks tinted with a pink as he looks away from you. 

You look towards Seonghwa and San for the first time. They both pulled their length out of their pants and were watching You and Yunho while jerking themselves off. 

You smile to yourself again while watching as Yunho’s breathing becomes more labored. You scoot yourself lower and feel Yunho’s bulge on your crotch. 

You reach to pull Yunho’s shirt off and as your taking it off you can see all of his pretty flushed skin. He covers his face with his hands, “Don’t cover your face puppy, you’re so pretty. Look at how pretty you look right now, you look so fucked out and I haven’t even touched you properly.” You move to kiss down his neck and to his chest and stomach. As you make your way down to his stomach you leave marks all the way down to the top of his jeans. 

“You okay puppy?” He moans loudly as you take your tongue and lick between his nipples. “Mhm, I’m okay.” You could feel his hips struggling not to move against your core. “Do you want me to touch you?” Yunho have you a small nod in response, “I need you to use your big boy voice puppy.” He looks at you with pleading eyes, “I- Uhh… I want you to t-touch me p-please.” 

You look back over to where the two boys are, “you think I should touch him as he pleases?” San pretends to think, “you know… I wouldn’t… I’d make him wait…” Seonghwa shrugs, “I dunno, but I wanna touch you, so that’s what I’m gonna do.” You squeal as Seonghwa pulls you off of Yunho and pushes you down harshly on the bed. 

You roll your eyes at Seonghwa, “You're so impatient, you can’t even wait 20 minutes.” You gasp as Seonghwa pulls down both your pants and your panties at the same time. “F-fuck. Come here Yunho,” San told Yunho to join the three of you. Seonghwa had completely pulled off the clothing on the bottom half of your body, and he was now holding your legs open. San moves to the top part of your body and reached down to undo your bra. 

Seonghwa is holding your legs open so Yunho could see the juices soaking your core. “You can touch her, you know. I promise she’ll like it.” Yunho looks at me for conformation, “It’s okay. You can touch me puppy.” 

San was looking at you with an amazed expression. He’s never seen this side of you, your Dom side. They never really gave you a chance but he’s never really seen you as someone who could Dom because you look so soft. 

San never took Yunho as a Sub either. But when he was laying underneath you and even now when he’s asking you for permission, it fits him. Yunho usually has this strong boy persona when he’s with you and it’s his first time seeing him so… desperate.

Yunho carefully takes two of his fingers and runs then up your core. You moan loudly and try to close your legs but Seonghwa is holding them. San and Seonghwa are both staring at Yunho as he’s staring at your core like it’s not real. 

Yunho slowly inserts two of his fingers into you and you arch your back softly starting to grip San’s thigh. “Is- is it okay?” Yunho whispers as he starts to move his fingers slowly. “S-So good puppy. You’re doing so good.” You’re moaning quietly as you’re looking down to his chest and stomach. 

“puppy, can you take off your pants for me?” You look to Seonghwa and he has a smirk on his face, “it’s okay puppy, I just wanna see how pretty you are.” Yunho looks to San and he nods to give Yunho some reassurance. 

“Kitten, I’m gonna tell you what you’re going to do okay?” Seonghwa speaks up as Yunho starts to take his pants off. “You’re going fuck Yunho, then you’re gonna let me and San fuck you like the whore you are. And you’re going to let all 3 of us cum inside you.” You nod mindlessly as you’re watching Yunho slide his pants off. “And you’re going to cum for each of us.” Your head turns to San, “w-what? No, I won’t be able to…” San grabs your face in his hand, “yes you can, and you will.” 

You turn back to Yunho and you keep your eyes trained on his bulge. You look back at his face when you hear a whimper come from his pretty lips. You sit up and you run your hands down to the waist of his boxers. “Can I?” You ask Yunho. “P-please.”

You smile softly at him and bring down his boxers to expose his length the the three of you. Your mouth drops slightly and you lick your lips. “Puppy, you’re so big…” he covers his face again as you softly graze his length with a finger. “Don’t cover your face or else I’m not gonna touch you, okay puppy?” He whines but takes his hands off his face and looks back at you. 

Yunho was bigger than both San and Seonghwa. You grab him carefully and your fingers don’t even touch. Your heart is beating hard against your ribs and look look over to San who’s looking between Yunho and his length. 

“Y/n?” You looked up at him “yes puppy?” He hesitates for a second before he finally says, “C-Can- Can I please you?” You let a huge smile come over your face, “come here puppy” you lay down on your back and bring him to lay on top of you. 

You try to mentally prepare yourself, but you find yourself unable to contain the loud moan you release when you feel the head of his cock prob at your clit. 

Yunho looks at you with his length in his hand, “C-Can I?” You nod as he grabs one of your hands in his. 

Yunho readjusts himself above you, he lines up his erection with your entrance and you hold your breath. You feel the stretch of your walls and it’s something you haven’t felt this strongly in years. You squeeze your eyes shut and you squeeze Yunho’s hand tighter. 

Yunho whines loudly as he first enters you but stops as he feels you tense up. “A-are you okay?” You nod, “y-yeah, fuck. Y-you can k-keep going.” Yunho slowly pushes himself all the way in and stops so you and adjust to him. 

Yunho is whimpering above you and your rubbing his side softly, “y-you can move p-puppy.” 

Yunho is moving slowly trying to let you get used to the feeling, “d-does it h-hurt?” You shake your head to get him to continue. 

Yunho finally finds a comfortable pace and he held your hand and was staring at your face with the most loving look. You’re looking up at Yunho and he looks like he’s biting his lip so hard it’s going to draw blood, “P-Puppy, don’t- don’t hold your pretty noises in. I wanna hear you.” 

He finally starts to let his noises out. His soft whines and moans were making your core throb as he was moving at a faster pace. 

The room was being filled with moans and whimpers coming from you and Yunho, and groans coming from San and Seonghwa who were watching the two of you from the other side of the bed. 

His thrusts become quick and sloppy, and the sound of skin slapping can be heard throughout your whole place. Everyone can tell your close, Yunho can feel you clenching around him and your moans become louder and more frequent. 

Yunho brings himself down so he can go to kissing and sucking on your neck, and that’s it for you. You see stars behind your closed eyes as you feel waves of euphoria come over your whole body. His name comes out of your mouth like it’s the only word you know. 

You can hear Yunho moaning above you as he stilled inside you. “F-fuck, puppy, you’re doing so well for me.” He slowly starts to move again and you wrap your legs around his waist trying to ignore the overstimulation. 

You can hear his quiet moans in your ear and it urges you to want to make him cum, “You’re such a good boy, you’re doing so good for me. You sound so pretty. I wish I could hear your pretty moans all day.” You clench around him, Urging him to cum. “C-Can I c-cum please?” You smile and rub his back in a comforting manner, “yes puppy, cum for me please.” As soon as you gave him permission you felt his seed release inside of you. 

His strength gave out as he let all his body weight go on top of you. His heavy breathing was all that could be heard as he places his head in the crook of your neck. 

You bring one hand to rub his back and another hand to play with his hair, “You’re okay puppy. You did so well for you. Did such a good job for me.” You tilted your head so you can place kisses on the top of his head and on his forehead. 

He carefully takes his head out of your neck and looks at you for a minute. You smile at him and place a kiss on his nose then down to his lips. 

He pulls out of you with a grimace and you subconsciously clench to keep his cum inside you. Yunho moves to the side and San quickly replaces Yunho’s spot. 

San reaches down to collect the cum that was coming out of your entrance and shoves two fingers into your core to put it back, “Hope that was nice, now I’m gonna fuck you like the whore you are.” San immediately puts his whole length into your entrance and starts moving right away. 

He pulls out to see a mix of yours and Yunho’s cum on his cock. San flips you over so your laying on your stomach “gonna fuck you so hard you’re not gonna be able to walk tomorrow.” Your clenching around him impossibly hard as you can already feel the coil start to build in your stomach. 

San grabs a chunk of your hair and pulls you up so you’re now in doggy style. Your arms are barely able to keep you up, “you like it don’t you? You like us fucking you like the whore you are. You like for us to treat you like the whore you are. I can tell your close, you gonna cum for me?” 

Your arms gave out and the only thing holding you up is sans grip on your hips, your letting out muffled moans into the pillow. “You’re gonna cum whenever I tell you to okay? I want you to wait until I cum.” You try your best to nod your head. 

You’re so close to cumming. You start to bring your hips back to meet Sans thrusts, “San, please… can’t, I- I need… fuck” your blabbering incoherently as San moves his hand down to rub your clit. “F-Fuck okay baby, c-cum- cum for me” you let your orgasm take over your body. When San let’s go of your hips you immediately sink into the bed. You feel San kiss down your back telling you praises. 

Seonghwa flips you over carefully, “can you cum one more time for me kitten?” Your eyes are starting to become heavy but you nod anyways. “Use your words Kitten.” You whine from overstimulation as Seonghwa is rubbing his cock up and down your slit watching it get covered in the mixture of cum. “Y-yes. I can take it.” Seonghwa nods as he slowly sinks his cock into you with a groan. “If you need me to stop kitten, what’s the safe word?” You grip Seonghwa’s shoulders, “p-purple” Seonghwa kisses you gently “Good kitten.”

Seonghwa was being gentle. If you noticed it so would San, and probably even Yunho if he was paying attention earlier. He started off with a slow pace making sure to kiss every part of your face. Your heart was beating so hard in your chest that Seonghwa could probably hear it. 

Your core was throbbing as Seonghwa was reaching deeper inside of you causing your orgasm to build up again. 

“Fuck kitten, I’ve been waiting all day for this. How are you still so tight after being fucked so much?” Seonghwa was struggling to keep his Dom persona up. Seonghwa was breathing hard and his thrusts were begging to get sloppy. 

The room was filled with Seonghwa’s heavy breathing and your moans, along with the wet squelching noises coming from your bottom half. 

“S-Seonghwa, I’m gonna-” he nodded and kissed you softly. “It’s okay kitten. So am I.” You pull him into a kiss. You clenched around him as you came for the 4th time that night. His lips were muffling the moans that were spilling from your lips. It wasn’t long after you that he came, his lips still on yours. 

Seonghwa pulled out of you carefully as he grabbed a tissue that was on your bedside table to wipe the mess of of his length. You heard both San and Seonghwa get off the bed and Yunho sat beside you playing with your hair. 

You heard the water running and some doors open and close as Seonghwa came back with a wet towel to clean you off. He brought the towel in between your legs to clean all the cum from off your thighs and your core. 

San came back with some fresh sheets and Yunho picked you up bridal style so San and Seonghwa could take the soiled sheets off your bed and place them in your laundry. San and Seonghwa quickly replaced the sheets on your bed and Yunho placed you back in the middle, “Kitten you need to go use the restroom,” you shake your head, not wanting to get up and go to the restroom. “Kitten, you really have to go. You know that.” You complained but got up and walked the best you could to the restroom. 

Seonghwa and San both put their boxers back on and laid down on the bed, “Are you gonna lay down too or are you just gonna stand there?” San asked Yunho while rolling over to cuddle Seonghwa. “Umm… yeah I guess…” yunho already had put his boxers on so he walked to the other side of the bed and laid down a significant distance away from both San and Seonghwa. 

You walked out of the restroom and grabbed someone’s shirt from the floor and put it on. You crawled onto the bed and laid down in between Yunho and Seonghwa. Seonghwa grabbed his phone from the bedside table and started scrolling through his social media.  

“Hwa what time is it?” You asked with a yawn. Yunho had rolled and rested his head on your chest. You started playing with his hair as you were falling asleep, “11:42” Seonghwa replied.

“Oh shit, I gotta go, I promised my roommate I’d be there my midnight to watch a movie with him.” Everyone nodded and he said he’d lock the door on his way out. It was just you, Seonghwa, and Yunho laying down on the bed. You and Yunho were both half asleep and Seonghwa was on his phone.

After about 5 minutes Seonghwa said he was gonna head out too. He kissed you on the forehead and said bye to Yunho. 

“Should I Umm.. should I go too?” Yunho whispered to you when Seonghwa had finally walked out of your place. “No it’s okay. U-unless you want to leave…” you felt him shake his head, “No. I’ll stay.” Your heart was beating against your ribs and you were certain Yunho could hear it since he was laying on your chest. 

Yunho started to hold you and you rubbed his back and played with his hair. “Y-Yunho?” you whispered quietly. “Hmm?” You weren’t sure if this was the best time to bring this up, when you were both half naked, “I… I missed you. Like a lot. And I just wanna say I’m sorry for anything I ever did… And I know it probably doesn’t mean much to you… but I still love you so much and I’m so sorry I let anything get in between us.” You were tearing up and yunho pulled away from you to take your face in his hands. 

“No no no. It wasn’t your fault.” You sat up and you just let the tears fall from your eyes, “No, it is Yunho. If… If I didn’t like you the way I did, I wouldn’t have said yes to Felix when he asked me out.” You looked down and played with a loose thread on the shirt you were wearing. 

“It- it still isn’t your fault y/n. Look at me please.” You looked up to see Yunho looking down at you. “The only reason I stopped talking to you… I just gave up… Felix… Felix knew I liked you as more than a friend.” You looked at Yunho confused. “One day, he came to my house and when I opened the door… he punched me. He punched me and told me to stay away from you because “someone like me” doesn’t deserve “Someone Like You”” you blinked up at Yunho. “And after that I just gave up… I knew you were never going to like me because Felix was popular and smart and funny… and I was just me, your best friend.” 

You hold Yunho’s face in your hands, “Yunho I liked you so much… I loved you… and I was just too embarrassed to tell you because I didn’t think you liked me…” Yunho scanned your face for any sense of you lying to him, but when he saw your teary eyes he knew you were telling the truth. 

“And… Yunho… oh my god I feel like I’m in middle school again… I still like you a lot and I just… I don’t know. Never mind I’m being stupid.” Yunho shook his head and he pulled you into a kiss. Your heart felt like it was going to explode. 

“Look, we can talk about it tomorrow okay? When we’re both dressed.” He pulls you back down so you can lay down. 

You both lay in a comfortable silence, “Yunho, on Friday night, do you wanna go get dinner?” You feel him smile against your collarbone, “are you asking me on a date?” He asks while poking your side. “Mhm… then since I’m your secret Santa… we can go get your gift.” He laughs softly, “I would love to go on a date with you… and get a gift the same day? That sounds like a perfect day to me.” 

You smile against the top of his head. You’re happy everything is back to normal, even after 6 years of “hating” each other, everything finally feels back in place now that you have Yunho by your side again.

[raleighcarrera]

sparks

blades of light and shadow | mal volari x mc (raine nightbloom)

a penderghast college of elemental magicks au. for @bladesappreciationweek day 7 (mc/wild card) 💕

tags: @choicesarehard ; @empressazura; @zigtheeortega ; @pixeljazzy ; @withbeautyandrage 

~6.6k words | T

“you’re kidding,” raine said flatly, staring imtura down from across the table they’d stolen away at in the corner of the dining hall for breakfast. her expression was unimpressed over her plate of yorba eggs.

“i’m not,” she insisted, “tyril heard it from kaya who saw the file in admissions herself. mal volari transferred in over the summer. he’s dorming in the east residence. probably moving in right now while we sit here talking shit.”

“but why,” she whined, prodding miserably at her food, “didn’t he have the cushiest athletic scholarship ever at gildegraive? what could he possibly get out of transferring here?”

“a new set of romantic prospects?” imtura suggested, leaning over to snag one of the dragon links off of raine’s plate with a shrug. “either way, you should prepare yourself for thief tryouts. you know that’s the first place he’s headed.”

her stomach sank further as she considered the inevitability of imtura’s words. of course he was going to want to play thief. he was the best player gildegraive’d had in centuries. he’d expect to walk on to the varsity team at penderghast and would, doubtlessly, probably without even having to try out.

“just kill me,” she muttered, “i can’t possibly play my last season on the same team as mal volari. imtura, he’s insufferable.”

“he’s talented,” her friend shrugged, “you’ll get over it. maybe it’ll be nice to be playing with him instead of against him, for once.”

“nice isn’t the word i’d use,” raine grumbled, mind suddenly flashing through the last three years of thief matches against gildegraive in quick succession, recalling volari’s arrogant smirk and endless taunting, the whips of flames that always followed him around the stadium. “i give it four days before we kill each other.”

“that’s generous,” imtura scoffed, finishing off the last of raine’s dragon links in two quick bites, “my bet’s on serious tragedy striking after practice today.”

*

it didn’t help that most of campus was acting like they suddenly had a celebrity attending school with them. mal was in her first class of the day and so were the whispers that followed him, her classmates’ gaping so prevalent that she and nia were the only ones who actually managed to complete the spell they were supposed to be working on in advanced spellwork for seniors. 

the one silver lining of it all was that nia seemed to see through his charm, too. “what are we missing?” she whispered to raine, as mal ran a hand through his hair to the tune of excited giggling from the girls in the last row of the room, grinning to himself as he did so. “he’s just a student like everyone else.”

“worse,” raine returned, comforting herself by imagining the look on volari’s smug face when she’d drenched his stupid fireballs in water and plucked his flag from his belt in the championship game at the end of last year. he was furious and soaking wet when they popped back into the stadium and the rest of the dryxmars had hoisted her up into their arms, and stomped off into the stands like the sore loser he was so his admirers could start to lick his wounds. “i can’t even stand the sight of him.”

nia looked at her warily, concern pinching her face. from a glance at her expression alone, raine realized how hard she was glaring across the room, and sighed as she slowly schooled her face back into something neutral and unclenched her fists, turning her gaze back to the plant on her desk she was meant to be taking through its life cycle, from sprout to blossom to apple tree and back again. 

“you should ignore him, if he isn’t going to be nice to you,” nia murmured comfortingly, easily coaxing a bright red, shiny apple to form through the blossom of her tree’s flower, “it’s our senior year. we shouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

“that’s a nice thought,” raine sighed, blinking in pleasant surprise as her anger seemed to push forth a burst of magic that had five or six blossoms sprouting in her tree all at once, “but if he’s going to insist on playing thief with us i don’t know how possible ignoring him is going to be.”

they both fell silent as professor johnstone slowed to a stop in front of their desks. “ms. nightbloom, ms. ellarious. excellent spellwork. your plants could be an example for everyone else in class.”

as if on cue, the rest of the students turned to look their way. raine felt her face grow hot as her eyes met mal’s across the rows of desks. he looked surprised to see her sitting there, which made her mouth twist with annoyance again. 

her tree wobbled, and one of the apples dropped off the leaves and into professor johnstone’s outstretched hand. raine looked up sheepishly, an apology on the tip of her tongue, but their professor only spun the fruit around for observation before lifting it to his lips to take a bite, chewing thoughtfully before nodding his approval. “amazing, ms. nightbloom, truly. top marks for today. for the rest of you, i expect to see thirty perfect trees when we meet again on friday.”

she and nia walked outside together, their steps slow as they turned in the direction of the sun-att classroom. “we’re still meeting in penn square later, right?” raine asked, assuming she’d need the distraction after what was bound to be a disastrous thief practice.

“of course,” nia answered with a smile, “you know how much it’d upset tyril if we eschewed tradition.”

“aww, i like our annual stroll through the rose garden just as much,” raine laughed, “it really sets the tone for the semester.”

“i agree,” nia said, “and i think --”

“oi, nightbloom!” 

she and nia stilled as a loud voice interrupted their conversation, and she only had a moment to feel horror take her over completely as nia stifled a smile before the sound of mal volari jogging through the grass and stopping beside them reached her ears. he flicked his head to the side to push his hair out of his face and smiled charmingly at her. “raine, hey. long time no see.”

raine blinked at him, glancing at nia as she tried to process what in the six hells  he was doing, running to catch up with her. “hi?”

“hi,” he echoed, the expression on his face stretching into a grin. of course his teeth were white, shiny and straight, like something out of a newspaper advert. she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

there was a prolonged beat of science before nia interjected, “i’m nia, by the way. it’s nice to meet you.”

“likewise,” mal agreed, finally tearing his eyes away from her to shake nia’s hand. “are you an earth-att? that tree you made was amazing.”

“sun, actually,” nia said, so humbly she didn’t even give mal a chance to be impressed, “my secondary attunement is water, like raine’s. we were planning to spend our free period in the sun-att classroom, if you wanted to...”

she trailed off, teeth biting at her bottom lip as raine widened her eyes at her, as though silently demanding, what do you think you’re doing?

from her left, mal shrugged, completely unbothered. his winning smile didn’t falter for even a moment. “oh, no, that’s alright. i was sort of hoping to have a moment to talk to raine, if you wouldn’t mind.”

nia shook her head good-naturedly even as raine narrowed her eyes. “and what about if raine would mind?” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest, “that doesn’t matter as much?”

“i’ll catch up with you in elemental manipulation, raine,” nia cut in, waving at the both of them before turning on the lawn so quickly her skirt whipped around to follow her stride across campus.

she huffed. now that they were alone, mal certainly wasn’t smiling, anymore. the rest of the students in the quad were openly staring at the both of them, gossiping behind their backs. “did you need something?”

“well -- i wanted to talk to you about thief, i guess,” he said, lifting a hand to scratch at the stubble lining his jaw. for the first time in as long as she’d known him, he seemed unsure. “i know you and i don’t have the most positive track record.”

“and whose fault is that?” she shot back, suddenly seething, her annoyance made worse by the fact that she had to tip her chin up to look him in the eye. “you’ve been a massive dick to me since freshman year. you’ve always played dirty, always been a sore loser and always talked trash behind my back. the only thing i want from you this year is to stay out of my way.”

“don’t you think that’s a little extreme?” he asked, seemingly surprised by her outburst. gods, the arrogance of this man. “sure, we’ve had a bit of a rivalry, but --”

“a rivalry i’ve never been interested in and certainly don’t care about now. it’s my senior year just as much as yours. i don’t need you making things difficult for me.”

mal’s expression darkened, but she hardly gave him the chance to sneak another word in. before he could open his mouth to bite back at her, she turned and stomped off after nia, as quickly as she could with the rest of the student body still whispering about her as she zipped past.

*

thief tryouts were as much of a disaster as she’d predicted they’d be.

her co-captain was nauseatingly enamored by mal and waved him onto the team at the start of practice without a single question. he hardly spared her a glance as he got himself a jersey and pulled it on, either completely shameless or oblivious to the way the rest of the team gaped at his bare chest while he changed on the pitch.

it wasn’t like she could do anything about any of it. the rest of the team would stage a mutiny if she tried to stop volari from joining. her hands were tied.

but she had to draw the line somewhere, and felt herself reach her breaking point when one of the juniors on the team stumbled into one of their own traps because they’d been watching mal work, tangling herself up in thorny vines raine had to come over and cut her out of.

“for fuck’s sake,” she snapped, as the girl dropped back onto the stadium’s pitch with a sigh, “he’s just a regular person. either pay attention to practice or get out.”

the most annoying part was that he was good. she knew that, objectively, from years of playing against him, but watching mal up close, without the distraction of a game to win in the way, was like watching art. infuriatingly, she spent most of practice trying not to get caught looking his way instead of checking up on how the rest of the team had progressed over the summer. 

the fact that she couldn’t find a single fault in his form was maddening. his spellwork was flawless, his technique was perfect, his athleticism was superior. already he was stronger, faster and smarter than ninety percent of the team.

what a dick.

jesse, one of the other seniors on the team and her best offensive forward, sauntered over to the side of the stadium she was doing her best not to outright drown while she focused her magic into creating a trap that looked like a puddle with the depth of an ocean. “you look like you swallowed a lemon.”

“i just need five minutes where i don’t have to look at his stupid face,” she muttered, hand held aloft in front of her as the puddle between them rippled and expanded, swirling with an angry current a puddle of water shouldn’t be able to have. 

“i get that,” jesse answered, and she blinked, surprised by his understanding. “it must be weird for you, having to just... get along with him, now.”

“everyone expects me to just get over it,” she bit out, water splashing up out of the puddle at her feet and onto the grass, spreading out to widen the distance between them. “but why should i have to be the one who plays nice? why should i have to be the one who doesn’t get to enjoy senior year because i have to babysit some stuck-up, egotistical, glory hungry shampoo model? why?”

they both fell silent as the water surged up suddenly and a wave crashed over the empty stands, soaking the bleachers. to her surprise, a fish flopped out of the puddle she’d created and thrashed on the grass until jesse banished it with a sigh.

the entire team was looking at them now. she could feel everyone’s eyes on her back and read their stares in jesse’s expression, which was pitying and concerned in equal measures. “i need some air,” raine said, dashing out of the stadium without waiting for a response.

the sun was starting to set as she made her way onto the bridge. raine stopped to lean out over the side and squint up into the hazy colors the clouds were turning, pushing her hands through her hair in frustration that only mounted when a hesitant set of footfalls paused a few feet away from her.

she looked down, saw a pair of familiar boots and groaned.

of course it was mal.

“are you alright?” he asked, somehow managing to make his voice sound genuine. evidently he’d been practicing, since that afternoon.

“are you not able to just leave me alone?” she countered, “i feel like i’ve made myself pretty clear.”

“well -- i wish you wouldn’t.” raine tuned her head to the side and found him frowning at her, his dark eyebrows pinched together. “i don’t know why you’re so set on avoiding me.”

she scoffed, turning away. “guess.”

“look.” that tightness from the courtyard was back in his voice as he stepped up beside her on the bridge, moving in closer. “i’d really prefer not to spend the entire term bickering. i want to play thief and enjoy my last year, same as you. it’d be a lot easier to do that if you and i could get along. can you give me a break?”

“you’ve been a thorn in my side for three years; we’re not going to be best friends overnight,” she snapped, grateful for the encroaching darkness of twilight as she could feel her face start to flush. “especially not with you being so -- you.”

mal pursed his lips. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“i mean, thea collins almost gave herself a season-ending injury at practice because she was too busy staring at you. i mean the flexing and the hair-flipping and the smirking -- you’re distracting people.”

that made him grin. “am i distracting you?”

“not on your life,” she laughed, “but i can’t have my best defense benched because some guy winked at her. if you want me to think of you being on the team as tolerable, you’re going to have to tone it down.”

“for the record, i didn’t wink at her,” mal argued, folding his arms across his chest. “i don’t think i even know who you’re talking about.”

“right.” all the anger deflated out of her suddenly, making her shoulders droop. “well -- whatever you did, just don’t do it again.”

“i’m not sure i know how to suppress my natural charisma,” mal said innocently, in a way that had her rolling her eyes with force. “i don’t intend to be charming.”

“you don’t succeed at it, either,” she quipped, biting down on the inside of her cheek to stop her lips from twitching upwards when the comment made mal’s head tip back with a loud peal of laughter.

“fair enough,” he murmured, and then they both turned on the bridge in unison to head back to the stadium, the tension between them momentarily dissolved. as they walked off, flames danced in mal’s palms to light their way back through the dirt path. show off. after only a beat of silence, he cleared his throat and said, “so, you were talking to that guy for kind of a long time. number eleven.”

“jesse?” she clarified, eyebrows arching. “he plays offense with me. he’s one of the best on the team. i think he was trying to make sure i wasn’t drowning the poor grass.”

mal didn’t say anything, only sort of exhaled in acknowledgment of her answer. she snuck a glance at him and saw the flames from his hands reflected in his eyes, dancing along warm brown irises and dilated pupils. “i remember that trap,” he said finally, breaking the awkward silence, “the one you were practicing. sophomore year quarter-finals, yeah?”

raine blinked. he was right. “yeah,” she answered, “you didn’t fall for it, though. jumped right over it like it wasn’t even there.”

they’d lost that year, making last year’s victory all the sweeter. but their triumph as juniors didn’t make remembering the loss to gildegraive smart any less, and she still had a scar on her arm from where one of mal’s party tricks had gotten too close and burned her, fire incinerating the sleeve of her jersey clear off. 

“adrenaline,” mal murmured by way of explanation, like he was thinking about the burn, too, and the way she’d screwed her face up tight to stifle the angry tears of pain that threatened while the healers patched her up. “sometimes i don’t even realize what’s happening, while i’m out there.”

“well, that’s not going to fly on my team,” she instructed, as they reentered the stadium to come face-to-face with twenty-four players doing their best to pretend to be busy. “so, like i said... tone it down.”

they both seemed to notice the two girls staring and whispering from across the field at the same time. mal smiled, and in their rush to turn away now that he’d made eye contact with them they tripped over each other, tumbling down onto the grass. 

he held up his hands when she turned her glare on him. “hey, i’ll try.”

*

because practice ran over she was late to penn square, sweaty as she raced over to the rose garden. predictably, she was the last of her friends to arrive.

“you’re late,” said tyril, frowning down at her windswept hair. “and causing a stir, it seems.”

raine doubled over, trying to catch her breath. she turned her questioning gaze first on nia, and then on imtura, who grinned crookedly at raine and helpfully said, “i heard from, like, twelve different people that you and mal volari were flirting in the courtyard.”

she reached out to shove imtura, for all the good it did. her eyes snapped incredulously back up to tyril. “you heard that?”

from beside him, kaya laughed warmly. “that’s how you know word’s gotten around.”

“great,” raine sighed, tipping her face up to squint at the stars now blanketing the sky. “so, i’m dropping out, then.”

nia gasped, shaking her head. “you can’t drop out, raine! not so close to graduation.”

with a groan, she stood up to her full height, arching her back to stretch her spine. “fine, i’ll stay. but only for you.” 

nia smiled brightly at her, stepping up to link their arms together. “come on. i’ve still got to study when we get back later.”

they strolled into the garden, the rest of their friends following behind. raine was quiet as nia started gushing over a new patch of blooms that had been installed over the summer, staring unseeingly at the rows of roses swaying in the breeze before them, winking through a cycle of pastel colors.

her mind was still back in the thief stadium, thinking about her conversation with mal. was it really possible for them, to have a fresh start? could she pretend like three years of history never happened, and put it all behind her in the interest of, what? getting to know him better? being friends?

imtura’s shoulder bumped roughly into hers, jostling her from behind. “earth to raine. what’s wrong with you?”

“huh?” she asked, tearing her gaze away only to find that everyone was suddenly staring at her, “oh, nothing. just tired. practice ran long -- there was a whole thing.”

“is volari any good, at least?” imtura asked, arching her eyebrows. raine could see kaya tune into their conversation while tyril rolled his eyes from beside her, muttering to himself as he walked on ahead to look at the other roses in the garden. “he didn’t forget how to play over the summer?”

“he’s perfect,” raine huffed, “of course. he doesn’t even have to try, it’s nauseating. most of the team thinks he’s the gods’ gift to this school. they were tripping over each other just to get a glimpse of him. it was like trying to coach a group of overexcited toads.”

“i hope you’ll be able to find a way to get along, raine,” nia interjected as imtura snorted with laughter, a worried frown fixed on her face. “it’s not right that the rest of the school is talking about you.”

“it’s fine,” she dismissed. it’d hardly be the first time. the rest of her class had only just moved past her incident with the dean’s daughter freshman year. “let’s go let tyril teach us about roses before he has an aneurism.”

“i heard that,” tyril said calmly, but as they stepped up beside him he did start explaining the significance of the new roses and the enchantment they’d been given to make them change colors, so she figured that was a win.

*

mal sat with them at breakfast the next morning.

as in -- he physically put his body into the open chair at their table, leaving imtura blinking at her in surprise and nia politely coughing into her hand, as though to suggest that raine should rearrange the look on her face from horrified confusion into something more acceptable for company.

“morning,” he grinned brightly, like raine wasn’t gaping at him like he was something that had crawled out of the lake, “happy second day of term.”

“uh, what are you doing?” she asked, emboldened by the fact that tyril wasn’t there to kick her under the table for being rude. 

“eating breakfast,” mal answered innocently, as though they were friends now, or something. there was a plate piled high with eggs and toast in front of him.

“but why are you eating it here?” 

“raine,” nia cut in, “stop it, of course mal can sit with us.” she lifted her head and shot mal a sunny smile while raine turned towards imtura and rolled her eyes. “how are you liking penderghast so far?”

“it’s different,” he said, “the food’s a lot better than at gildegraive.” 

raine stared down at her cereal while he and imtura introduced themselves from either side of her. her prophecy o’s were still whizzing around in the bowl she’d snatched from the buffet nearly twenty minutes ago. she sighed, smacking the bowl with her spoon. “cheap trick. at this rate we’ll miss the potions seminar entirely.”

“those things still spinning?” imtura asked, leaning over to take a look into her bowl. “maybe that means you’re going to have a really fucked up day.”

“i don’t need the cereal to tell me that,” she muttered, scowling when her answer triggered mal’s warm laugh in response. 

they all watched as her cereal slid to a stop abruptly. “seize the day or be seized by the day?” raine read aloud, her brow furrowed, “what is that supposed to mean?”

“sounds threatening,” mal said, and she jumped as she realized how close he was to her, leaning over her shoulder to look into her bowl. her face felt hot when she reached out for his shoulder and shoved him away. 

“that’s prophecy o’s for you,” nia interjected sympathetically, “woefully vague.”

raine ignored her, stuffing a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. for some reason, she heard herself say to mal, “you know the whole school’s gossiping about you, right?”

evidently he didn’t know that. his eyebrows arched up almost to his hairline. “really? why?”

“because of our argument in the courtyard,” she answered between bites, viciously swirling her spoon through the milk to scramble the letters away. 

“oh,” mal said, recognition jumping into his gaze, “you mean they’re gossiping about us. i figured that would happen.”

she hardly noticed nia and imtura clear their plates and make their goodbyes with the way she was staring at mal. “you did?”

“sure.” his voice sounded as though it should have been obvious. “we’re the biggest names in the sport and now we’re at the same school. can you blame people for being curious about what that means?”

“i think you’re oversimplifying it a little,” raine said, because he was. “we basically made each other’s lives miserable for the last three years.”

“well, yesterday you said it was just me ruining your life, so this feels like an improvement,” he grinned, nodding down at the large bowl of cereal she was still working her way through. “you do know there’s still two other meals today, yeah?”

“shut up,” raine said, without chewing or swallowing that time, because nia was gone and he totally deserved it. “some of us actually do magick here, so -- we use energy. i wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“that hurts, raine.” mal laid a dramatic hand over his heart, very nearly pouting at her from his seat at the table. “i’m more than just a pretty face, you know.”

“you’re barely even that.” around them, other students were staring as they milled around in the dining hall. the way the room was emptying out meant that she was probably going to be late for the potions seminar they were both expected at. “we should probably get going.”

mal shrugged, toast held aloft between two fingers. “or we could ditch.”

her eyebrows arched in surprise. “ditch class?” 

he laughed, a grin springing onto his face. “rich reaction, coming from the girl who got caught with the dean’s daughter in the --”

“okay, lower your voice,” she rushed to say, glancing around before shrugging carelessly. “i don’t care about ditching potions, but... what would we do instead?”

mal flung the crust of his toast back onto his plate, dusting off his hands. “you have the keys to the stadium, right?” she did. his eyes glinted as his grin grew larger. “how about we play a little one-on-one?”

*

not only did she have the keys to the stadium, but raine was also experienced in programming the game simulator, which left her at an advantage as she picked the scenario they’d be playing in. she chose something that was sure to play to her skillset -- a sprawling beach with a big, beautiful ocean, perfect for her to manipulate. 

“you’re still not going to beat me,” mal taunted, seated in the middle of the field and lacing up his shoes without touching them, magick crackling visibly in the air around him. “no matter how much you cheat.”

“big talk coming from gildegraive’s biggest cheater,” she returned calmly, shifting to tie back her hair. “when i beat you it’ll just be because i’m an all around better player than you are, but it’s not surprising you’d want to allege cheating now to get in front of your loss.”

“don’t think you’re going to confuse me by sounding smart.” he leapt to his feet, and she took notice of the white flag tied around his waist with a roll of her eyes. 

“sorry, i’m sure you’re confused enough just being yourself.”

“exactly,” mal said triumphantly, and then, as the stadium started to dissolve away around them, “hey, that’s not what i --”

the sound of his voice faded in favor of the noise from the beach. as raine crept silently along the sand, she could hear birds above and waves on the shore; in the distance, there were the beginnings of a boardwalk and a pier looking out over the water. 

unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of cover. eyes alert for mal, she started off down the sand quickly, coming up to a short stop when the beach started to rumble beneath her feet, almost as if there was an earthquake incoming.

her teeth bit at the inside of her cheek to stifle her grin. if there was one thing she’d learned playing against mal for three years, it was that he wasn’t subtle. 

she waited for him to bust up out of the sand before sending a wave from the ocean crashing down on the rocks that erupted beneath his feet, immediately extinguishing the fire that followed him wherever he went on the pitch. 

if it was satisfying to watch as saltwater completely soaked every last inch of him, even ruining his pristine, fluffy hair, it was even more satisfying to grin in his face before she took off running, waiting for him to give chase.

raine was almost to the pier when he caught up with her, and from there, their magick met in the middle, water and fire twisting around each other while they paced in circles on the sand. it was rare that she got to play against someone she was so evenly matched with, and she was thrilled to have a challenge after a summer spent messing around with her friends and taking things easy.

mal had improved a bit since she’d beaten him at the end of last term, loathe as she was to admit it. at the very least, he’d been practicing being less predictable, something that was more than mildly irritating, given how much she relied on knowing all of his moves.

as she crashed another wave from the ocean down over his head, raine realized she was going to have to do something unexpected, too, if she ever wanted to get his flag and shut him up for good. before he could push his wet hair out of his face, she lunged forward and tackled him onto the sand, trying to pull his flag off his belt.

“what are you doing?” mal demanded, reaching for her arms and wrestling them away, “this is cheating.”

“not technically,” raine reminded him, because it wasn’t. thief wasn’t exactly a contact-free sport by any stretch of the definition. 

and there wasn’t anyone around to moderate when you blew off your morning classes and snuck into the stadium, so as far as she was concerned -- all bets were off.

“you’re such a brat,” he huffed, doing his best to roll them over and succeeding in shoving her onto her side while she wiggled around in his grip, “you can’t ever be wrong.”

“you’re the insufferable one,” she insisted, “showing up here, acting like you want to be friends.”

mal finally managed to shove her down that last inch, pressing her back flat into the sand. his hips held her down at the waist, but before he could go for her flag, he had to stop her arms from flailing, trying to rip his own off his belt. “i do want to be friends,” he grit out, wrenching one of her arms down, “fucking hell, you make everything so difficult.” 

“me,” raine scoffed, “okay, sure. i make everything --”

the words died in her throat as mal leaned down and kissed her, sealing his lips over hers. her eyes went as wide as the sun, then slammed shut when he pressed in closer, gently moving his mouth against hers.

of course he was a perfect kisser.

her fingers pushed into his hair, damp and sticky from the saltwater, and she felt him settle over her more fully, skin warm from the sun. her body sunk into the sand and though she knew she’d be shaking out her hair long after the illusion faded and they went back to the stadium, she couldn’t quite bring herself to care about anything other than the all-encompassing weight and breadth of him above her.

mal made a soft noise in his throat that sent a shiver down her spine and she responded with an answering hum, arching up off the sand to get closer to him.

for a moment, it was easy to forget who and where they were. all thoughts of school and thief and the pressure of making their senior year one to remember disappeared, replaced only with the peace of the waves and the dead silence that came with knowing they were completely alone.

gradually, she became aware of how fast her heart was beating. her brain suddenly reminded her that she was kissing mal volari, and awareness crept back in, overshadowing how nice it had felt to be in solitude together with panic.

raine reached down and yanked mal’s flag off his belt, ending the game. all at once the illusion around them shattered, yanking them rudely back to the stadium. in the confusion, she wriggled out from underneath his body, standing up to put some distance between them.

from the ground, mal stared up at her in surprise. “raine,” he started, voice low and hoarse, “i...”

“still lost, even though you cheated?” she waved his flag around with more bravado than she felt, resting her free hand on her hip. “yeah, you did.”

“i didn’t cheat,” he argued back, effortlessly taking the bait, “you were the one who gave up on the rules. and i didn’t -- i wasn’t trying to distract you, fuck.”

the optimism she’d felt a moment earlier when she assumed she’d be able to argue him out of this conversation evaporated like smoke. “no?”

mal rolled his eyes at her. “don’t be stupid,” he said. an uncharacteristic shyness flickered over his expression. he rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck. “you know i like you.”

“um, no i don’t,” she said dumbly, before she could stop herself. “i mean -- what?”

he sighed, then rolled onto his feet, too. there was sand all over his arms -- not that she was looking. “look, if you want me to back off, i will. but, honestly... there’s not a single thing at this school that interests me except for getting to know you better.” mal shrugged in a way that was hopelessly endearing, then admitted, “and thief, i guess.”

“this is really weird.” the look on mal’s face seemed to suggest that he thought so, too. but he didn’t say anything, so she continued, “but... i don’t want you to back off. i -- um, i’d like to get to know you better, too.”

mal smiled slowly at her, and she realized all at once that her pulse still hadn’t calmed from the frantic pounding it’d been doing back on the beach. she drew in a deep breath, hoping it’d help.

instead of calming down, her stomach felt suddenly swarmed with butterflies, beating their wings inside her ribcage like a hurricane. 

still, it didn’t stop her from shifting on her toes so that some of the sand fell out of her clothes, and smiling back.

*

despite the many, many times she’d practiced saying it that morning in the mirror, raine knew her voice did not sound casual or nonchalant in the slightest when she told her friends, “i invited mal to come to the solstice party with us this weekend.”

predictably, each one of them stared at her as though she had completely lost her mind -- even nia. “mal... volari?” imtura asked, voice measured.

raine nodded, averting her eyes. it had been so much easier to pretend to be casual in her room in the mirror. “yeah. he hadn��t heard about it so i said he could come with us.”

“but -- why?” imtura asked, frowning at her, “you said he was a tool.”

“yeah.” she’d said much worse, too. she pushed her food around her plate without elaborating.

“i thought you two hated each other,” kaya tried, though if the little smirk on her face was anything to go by, she didn’t really think that at all.

raine shrugged. she looked up from her dinner just in time to catch sight of mal making his way over to the buffet, and though she did her best to look away before she’d start to flush, she wasn’t quick enough to miss the once-over he gave her, or the genuine smile that followed it, something like affection in his gaze.

“well -- he’s not totally terrible,” she muttered, reaching for her glass while still doing her very best to keep her voice level. “it probably won’t be so bad.”

“i think it’s great,” nia interjected brightly, “we could always use more friends.”

casual, she reminded herself, for once in your life, act casual. “sure -- friends. definitely.”

imtura gaped at her. “oh my god, you already hooked up with him.”

kaya’s grin stretched a mile wide. she clapped her hands excitedly in front of her plate. “what?” raine spluttered, stomach churning with a deep mix of embarrassment and dread -- if she knew her friends as well as she thought she did, they were never going to let her hear the end of this. “i did not!”

“okay, was it incredible?” kaya asked, rolling her eyes at the look tyril sent her way. “what? don’t act like you’re not curious.”

“oh my god, we just kissed,” she said, because the alternative to just admitting it was so much worse. “can we please not talk about it anymore?”

“no need,” imtura said, and raine only had a split second to relax before she smirked and continued, “here comes your boyfriend now.”

“stop it,” she hissed, kicking her friend under the table before mal dropped into the empty seat beside her with all the familiarity of someone who’d done so a thousand times before.

“hey,” he said, like he had dinner with them every night, “how was class?”

“oh, um -- fine.” raine returned to what was left of her dinner, back to pushing her food around. silence settled over the table, heavy and oppressive.

mal let it linger for a moment, then lifted his head and smiled at her friends. “it wasn’t really a big deal, we only made out.”

raine groaned loudly enough to draw the attention of a few nearby tables, piquing the curiosity of the students around them who’d been doing their best to pretend like they weren’t already eavesdropping. “please don’t encourage them.”

it was too late. kaya was already bouncing in her seat, demanding every single detail -- when, how, why and for what length of time and in what way -- and even imtura and nia looked entertained. 

mal leaned in close while the rest of them bickered behind their backs. “why not?” he whispered, the rough sound of his low voice in her ear making her nearly bite her tongue clean off mid-chew. “i think this semester’s going to be really fun.”

“i think it’s going to suck,” she said, once she’d very carefully swallowed and managed to get a grip on her even breathing again, “because you suck, and are terrible.” 

“that’s the spirit,” mal said fondly, reaching out to sling an arm over the back of her chair. 

raine pursed her lips as whispers broke out from the nearby tables. she was halfway to turning around to give the nosy student body a piece of her mind before she saw the warmth in mal’s eyes and gave up on pretending to be anything but happy, tilting into his hold and leaning into the open space at his side while they joined the argument with her friends, together.

[excitedlysuffering]

OMGOMGOMG possibly Kakashi head-cannon collection? He is the love of my life (lmao don’t tell my bf that)

Your secrets safe with me he’s my love too😂

Kakashi Headcanons Collection

What He Looks For In A S/O~

• A reader, they don’t have to read Icha Icha (bonus points if you did) but someone who appreciates a good book

• Someone laid back and not very high maintenance

• I see him wanting a shinobi S/O cause he needs them to be to take care of themselves or he’ll worry too much

• he’ll worry anyways

• Someone who understands his pain and won’t shy away from him when he’s going through a rough patch

• Someone who is good with words, like say something sweet and he’s metlinggg

• A person with considerate personality traits

• He would like an S/O who’s willing to try new things and adventures

• Someone who would take things slowly

• Someone who could honestly make him laugh

• He’s DadKashi he’s going to want someone good with kids

• To be frank, he would probably want a relatively stable S/O so that in his mind there’s no chance of them ending up like his father

• He wants companionship so someone who’s not distant and who wouldn’t mind him being around all the time

• I really can’t see him with a tsundere S/O, he needs to see that his partner loves him as much as he loves them

Relationship With Kashi Stuff~

• Please do domestic stuff (Sending him off to work with a kiss, a note in his lunchbox, kissing him when he gets home) he will be near tears every time

• TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK™ (whether it’s kicking butt, making dinner, or teaching (raising) Team 7)

• You probably won’t notice moving in with each other until you look up like ‘holy crap I haven’t been to my apartment in like 2 weeks?’

• Read with him or read to him, and you will have his HEART

• He’s not clingy per se, but he loves to be in your presence whenever he can

• Will take you out on dates once a week EVERY WEEK (Sorry Tsunade-sama, I have a date then, but I’ll leave right after?)

• Dating Kakashi means you’re now honorary rivals with Gai (who knows Kashi better, who can make him laugh most etc.)

• Pick up line wars 24/7, the loser has to do the other’s chores Kakashi wins

• Okay, but Kakashi never had a childhood, so make a list of everything he never got to do and you slowly complete them together

• He’s such a sweetheart like, surprise, he’s so sensitive

• Get’s so flustered seeing you in his clothes, he temporarily shuts down

• He’s given up trying to take back his mask whenever you’re wearing it

• Okay, we all know this silver-haired hottie is suave, but he is SMOOTH, he will 100% find ways to have you blush whenever possible, he is the CEO of leaving you hot and bothered

• Made you your own area in the Hokage office as a hint that he needed your company

• Has never forgotten an important date (he uses his Sharingan on the calendar)

• He’s fought demons and other crazy villains, but will still be terrified of you on your period (he’s brave tho he’ll just bring a lot of peace offerings)

• He heard you refer to him as DadKashi in front of Team 7 and/or your friends and just about loses his mind

• When you first see his face without his mask you’re probably pissed cuz WHY would he hide that beauty from the world?! it’s for the greater good hun

How To Lose/Annoy Him~

• Being insensitive/ignorant about things like loss or mental illness

• Constantly distracting him from his duties or hobbies

• Being rude or uncompassionate

• Being willing to abandon people or being self-centered you SCUM

• He always makes time for you, so he’d be a bit bothered if they didn’t put forth any effort to spend time with him

• Little pranks are harmless, but things that make him scared for your wellbeing or stealing his mask are big fat NO

• Being reckless just because, being a shinobi is already dangerous with would you play with death like that??

• Being lazy, Kakashi at his core is really something of a go-go-go person, he doesn’t want to just do anything all the time

Soft Kakashi Things~

• Kakashi is such a softie omg

• He likes to fall asleep last just so he can tell you how much he loves you and you saved him while you’re asleep

• If you’re having a bad day, he’ll drop everything (if possible) to hold you and be there for you in every way you need

• Definitely has Sai draw a small pic of you so he can carry it around and/or put in the Hokage office

• Mission dates are a thing like imagine flirting with Kakashi while destroying your opponents (so romantic)

• He’s big on practical gifts. If he notices you’re running low on shuriken? Expect a box of them from him

• He’ll read a particular *wild* Icha Icha quote to you just to make you flustered (bonus points for him if you’re in public)

• His students question you all the time like how did you end up with their lonely, pervy sensei?

• Will sweep you off your feet for no reason other than he likes to hold you and carry you

Random Kashi Facts~

• Kakashi’s love language is words of affirmation like he craves hearing that you love him and the like

• He hums and sings around the house or whenever he’s bored or preoccupied

• After having eating fish out of necessity day after day he prefers not eating it if possible

• He will often fall asleep a good while after he actually lays down because he enjoys debriefing himself of everything that happened during the day

• Actually sleeps really deep when he’s next to you, otherwise, the smallest sound can wake him up

• He likes to put notes or letters from you in his Icha Icha books so he can read them whenever and no one will peak cuz ew, Icha Icha

• In all honesty, Gai is a common factor in why he’s so late everywhere, but it’s mostly him walking around and taking in the sights like a nostalgic old man

• In the episode where Sakura and Naruto transformed into kids and called Kashi and old man, giving him an identity crisis is actually common. His hair color and the fact that you can’t see his face make some kids think he’s old

• Sometimes when he can’t sleep he’ll find a random tree and fall asleep in it (he’s a strange one)

• He lost his newest Icha Icha book when he was Hokage and very nearly (thanks to Shikamaru) called a citywide search party

Little Things~

Favorite:

• Place to kiss- Your temple, it feels really intimate to him and he’s so tall it’s an easy place for him

• Way to hug- Kakashi loves those giant bear hugs where he just envelopes you like you’re basically one with him now

•’Thing to do with you- He really loves reading with you, whether it’s the same book, or you’re just both sitting next to each other reading

• Type of date- Although your most common date is a mission date (lol), his favorite is being able to take you to a nice restaurant and then on a walk around the city

This or That:

• He’s a winter person actually, he loves being cuddled up with you and blankets, and the abundance of hot drinks

• He’s a morning person because he’s been waking up early since he was a child, and doesn’t really know how to enjoy sleeping anymore (but if that wasn’t the case he’d be a night owl)

• Loves both cooking for you and being cooked for he puts Bobby Flay to shame honestly

• He spends all his time reading obviously and if his S/O is a writer or he’ll be soooo excited and will read everything they put out

Conflict Happenings~

• He knows disagreements are a normal part of relationships (in moderation of course) so if there was a real problem, he wouldn’t shy away from it

• He won’t raise his voice or take a tone with you, he doesn’t feel the need to, but he will definitely get his point across

• To his fault, he might throw in a slight or cutting remark here and there but he will regret it the second your expression changes

• He’s a real go with the flow kind of guy so if he realizes that something is his fault, he will correct it ASAP

• If he notices you’re getting really worked up, he’ll just hug you until you calm down and can speak coherently but at that point it’s like ‘what was I mad about??’

• If his S/O is headstrong it’ll probably bring that side out in him, even if temporarily

• If it’s a minor disagreement he’ll probably say something funny to diffuse the situation

• He would rather die than argue in public, to him it’s a private thing and he hates causing a scene

Modern Kashi~

• I can see him as more of a club/extracurricular activities leader than a teacher

• He’s really close to those kids in his group and probably sheds a few proud DadKashi tears at their graduation

• That one fine teacher that all the students are thirsting over

• If not a teacher he’d probably be an elite CIA agent or a higher ranking FBI officer

• He has so many dogs like he sees a stray and how could he possibly give them up??

• He’d probably walk around Playboy Magazines just cause he can

• At one point he dyed his hair black cause he thought it’d look more ‘normal’ but he HATED it

• He likes plants but he’s so bad at taking care of them?? He can remember all of his dogs’ names and their food preferences but can’t remember to water a plant

• His house is so clean he’s been doing all his household chores since he was a child

• He definitely met Gai in elementary school and they never parted, even going on to become college roommates never again

• Gai probably barges in Kakashi’s classroom so often he’s most likely considered the co-leader/teacher

• Kakashi has definitely gotten drunk on school nights before but he’s such an in-control drunk no one ever noticed

• Kakashi was my first Naruto love and my first husband. BACK OFF

Masterlist

[drangues]

ansbwjjcnw I still gotta read it but my motivation to Do New Shit is. So very low right now. All I want are naps. BUT I’m sure an art of Tangled!Dazatsu from you would look really nice, if you decide to draw it! ALSO GOOD LUCK ON YOUR TEST IM ROOTING FOR YOU, make sure you get enough sleep and eat something filling!!! Anyways, let’s be honest- Dazai and Chuuya only get worse when their attention flustered their boyfriends. (Nyanon, 1/7)

This is because (A) they think Flustered BFs are fucking adorable, and also (B) they know this means that their boyfriends haven’t been appreciated much and that means War (on their low self image). Also I love the implication that rich kid!Dazai and Chuuya’s natural reaction to being Pissed at each other is to spoil Atsushi or Akutagawa. It’s great. And! That is: EXACTLY. What I’m saying. (Nyanon, 2/7)

I can imagine them as that one post of the writer and the artist throwing chapters and pictures at each other, ahaha. Dazai practically being the embodiment of a chaotic author is Very Fitting, he writes when he writes and in whatever genre strikes him. No, there’s no need to worry about him, he’s definitely not living on coffee and spite alone. And Atsushi is definitely the type to mostly stick to fluffy drawing, I think! (Nyanon, 3/7)

He can definitely do other things, but he probably finds drawing cute stuff comforting. Also Kyouka likes the super cute ones and he’s pretty much willing to draw whatever to keep the baby sis happy. I also imagine that he’d do commissions? Because it never hurts to have an additional source of income. Except he’s a pushover when people tell him his prices are “too high” or something, so Kyouka has to put her foot down and tell him to Not give in, haha. (Nyanon, 4/7)

(It’s okay Dazai, I’m an attention whore to. I want to be complimented too much.) And! Poor Atsushi, haha, he probably wasn’t expecting his favorite author to say he liked his art? He probably keysmashes and then draws a cute little doodle for another one of Dazai’s fics and then Dazai is just. Gone. Also ten bucks says that their first DM interaction is Dazai saying something memey. It just feels like something he’d do. (Nyanon, 5/7)

And a bonus: Kyouka does really deep analyses of different shows and books and games, and occasionally on fanfiction as well. Kunikida makes a comprehensive, huuuge post on the lore Igor different series because I feel like he’d enjoy doing something like that? Just like, organizing the background and making it more understandable, if that makes sense? I’m not sure what Chuuya would but I get the distinct sense of someone who makes edits and aesthetics from Akutagawa. (Nyanon, 6/7)

Yosano and Ranpo both probably have that weird “list of questionable shit the authors need answers to” blog or something... I’m in too deep. Help. But! Have another Concept: Faking dating jealousy cliche, with Dazatsu and Chuuaku. Basically, Chuuya decides that he and Atsushi should pretend to be a couple to see if it’ll get their crushes attention. Cue confusion and jealousy from Dazai and Akutagawa, who may or may not have realized their own feelings. (Nyanon, 7/7)

dude dont worry i was joking there no pressure!! and felt. right now im so sleep deprived and studying for a test and i have oTHER ASSIGNMENTS TO DO- its all draining, and i mainly feel bad because i havent posted any art, but i do know that fandom is not a job but a hobby and its okay that i take my time

also kyouka being his number one supporter is just!! so!! cute!!! in my opinion kyouka would be that very young but hella good with technology in the fandom like, she would make gifs and edits in an INSTANT and when everyone learns shes fourteen theyre like W H A T?? either way, shes the one who probably shows atsushi the ropes of digital art and has the vibes of that young tech person in a show that definitely can hack into any government files. (as a joke she would most definitelly do an edit of “dazai” except its just screenshots of his fics and some lines here and there with some dramatic effects and sexy music. atsushi wont admit that he has it downloaded)

dazais way to start a conversation is definitely sending a random meme to get it going, since atsushi would be too shy to initiate conversations

also kyouka doing deep analysises is so her!! she would probably even start a youtube channel where she explains everything in that robot voice and funny editing but no one can lie that all her videos are very in depth.

OH GOD KUNIKIDA IS THE TYPE TO GATHER ALL THE FACTS OF A SHOW, POST ABOUT IT. EXPLAIN THE MAGIC SYSTEM FOR ANYONE THATS CONFUSED. IF THERES AN ANIME WITH A CONFUSING PLOT THAT YOU DONT KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN?? KUNIKIDA IS YOUR MAN. HE CAN EXPLAIN ALL OF JOJO SEAMLESSLY AND DOES MANY REVIEWS ON ANIMES AND GATHERS ALL SORTS OF LORES MEANWHILE YOSANO AND RANPO ARE THE MORE CRACKHEADED ANALYSTS (when the three collab its just kunikida trying to be serious while yosano and ranpo do the fuckboy lip bite behind him and then throw in jokes and “author if you do not explain why these two characters are a little too fruity ill personally use my chainsaw on you” “why are these two siblings even together, wHY ARE THEY IN THE SAME BED-”)

dude. i feel like chuuya and atsushi would fake date and it would be for akutagawa. atsushi definitely wants to tell dazai about this but chuuya is afraid dazai will run his dumb mouth, plus when they “announce” it chuuya just Sees how dazais demeanor changes and is like “you know what,,lets keep this up” (either way akutagawa would end up crying like a loser in front of chuuya and chuuya would feel so bad for even fake dating to make him jealous meanwhile dazai is just mad that he couldnt have internalised his feelings and bottle them up “you just H A D to date the slug, my biggest pet peeve!!! if it was anyone else i wouldve MAYBE let it sLIDE-”)

[bouwrites]

Maribat March 2020 Prompt: Sweetheart’s Dance

Week 4, Day 1. Prompt of “Sweetheart’s Dance” replacing the original “Rare Pair” prompt, on account of every one of this week’s contributions will be a rare pair (MariJon).

Maribat March 2020 Calendar.

Day 2: Soulmate.

Ao3.

1946 words. Story under read-more.

Jon has had better weeks. Though admittedly it’s not so much that his week is bad so much as that familiar insecurities come back with a vengeance.

In truth, it’s a good week! Jon gets back his grade on last week’s math test and practically cheers aloud when he sees that he aces it. He finally beats that high score at the local arcade. He gets absorbed into a really good book. He even spends a bunch of time with his non-superhero friends and isn’t interrupted by some tragedy somewhere! It’s great! Until Friday rolls around, and with it the announcement of senior prom.

All through the day it’s the only thing anyone can talk about. Who’s going with who, what everyone’s wearing, the works.

Now, Jon is pretty popular, to be fair, but all that means on this fateful Friday is that he has more people than he appreciates asking him who he’s going to ask to prom. And it’s not that he doesn’t like them bugging him about it, but it all really makes him feel like he doesn’t have much of a choice but to bring someone.

He does want to bring someone, but… a small part of him wonders if maybe he doesn’t just want to do the whole prom experience like a normal human kid. Maybe he’s so desperate to fit in that he can’t accept not having a date, or maybe going alone is part of the whole experience. After all, if he weren’t Super Boy, he never would have even met the only girl he can think of to ask.

Jon is already weird. People like him well enough, but he’s not the same as them. His powers will never stop setting him apart. No matter how well he hides, it never changes the fact that he is hiding. So, when he thinks of a date for prom, and there’s only one girl in his mind, he’s just not sure he can do it. He can’t take the questions of how they know each other or the stares of him bringing the most stunning girl no one around here has ever seen and dancing the night away like they don’t have people depending on them for their very lives.

He sighs wistfully, reaching up to the stars. Which is worse, being one of the losers who couldn’t manage to get a date, or bringing a date and drawing everyone’s eyes? Jon honestly isn’t sure. Neither are inherently bad, but for someone who yearns so deeply to fit in…

But then, maybe that’s just the struggle of every teenager, alien or no.

At least Jon is lucky enough that he’s not worrying about who to ask or if she’ll accept. He’ll have to ask about her workload first, just in case, since he really doesn’t want her to get it in her head that she has to make a prom dress and end up neglecting something else for that, but Jon knows for a fact that Marinette Dupain-Cheng would love to go with him. She hasn’t exactly been subtle, asking about American school dances and prom dress fashion.

Jon smiles to himself. I guess I’ll just have to suck it up. I can’t let her down, after all. Even still, with that thought, there’s a tiny weight of dread in his stomach. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is… beyond words. He’ll do anything for her, so there’s no real question as to whether he’ll ask her out or not, but… Jon is going to end up as the guy who brought the belle of the ball to prom. The one who showed up with some random foreign head-turner on his arm. As satisfying as it’ll be to see everyone gawk at Marinette’s splendor, Jon really doesn’t need that kind of attention.

At least it’s senior prom. There’s not much school left for everyone to bother him about it in. It’s just like him to leave with a bang, anyway, whether he wants to or not.

There comes a point, Jon thinks, that one has to ask themselves if what they’re doing is worth it. If whether what’s happening, or is about to happen, is something that they are willing and able to deal with.

As Jon valiantly refuses to duck his head at the stares of faceless students flooding past him, he thinks that this is very much not worth it.

He doesn’t even want the attention that’ll come with taking Marinette to prom! He doesn’t want all his classmates making eyes at them or asking about where she came from or how he knows her or anything like that! He doesn’t want to be the weirdo who takes someone from another whole country to their school prom! He just… can’t imagine going to prom with anyone but her. So, he’s here. At the steps of her school. Waiting like a loon for her to emerge.

It’s not too late to back out. A traitorous part of him says. You can still just go alone.

“Jon?!”

Aw, hell. His chest feels like he’s wrapped up in chains, pulled so taut that even he can’t break out of them. “Hey, there, Mari!” He grins, waving. Everyone around, who of course are watching, start whispering to each other. That’s exactly what Jon is afraid of. But… this is part of normal human high school, too, right?

Not… not in Paris, so he probably seems even weirder here since no one can immediately identify who he is or why he’s here but… still. It’s part of the whole experience.

“Jon!” Marinette’s voice shifts from shock to elation as she throws herself at him. He easily catches her in his arms, and having her there, pressed against him, that loosens those chains around his chest just a bit. It’s easier to ignore the stares when he can stare at her.

He spins her around, giggling. When he stops to let her find ground again, he can’t bring himself to let her go completely. “Did I surprise you?”

“You know you did, silly! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?!”

“It was a surprise!” Jon says. “Actually, I-”

“Hey, Marinette! Who’s this?”

Jon swallows down the groan in his throat at the rude reminder that he isn’t actually alone with her. Reluctantly, he allows Marinette to pull away from his hold, though he does have to suppress his elation at the fact that she doesn’t pull far. He still has his arm firmly around her shoulder. “Oh, right! Alya, this is Jon! I told you about him!”

The intruding girl’s eyes go wide. “Wait, that Jon?”

Marinette giggles. “Yes, that Jon.”

Alya smirks smugly at him, looking through him like his mom sometimes does. It sends a shiver down his spine. “Interesting. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good things!” Marinette says. “Anyway! Jon, you should have said something! Why’re you here? Where are you staying? How long will you be here?”

Jon just fondly watches her until she rambles herself out before he answers. “I won’t be here long. I’m just stopping by.” With a glance at Alya, he adds, “On my way to some other things. But I wanted to surprise you! I actually have, um, something to ask you?”

Marinette blinks, turning to face him more fully. “Oh? What is it?”

Jon plans to ask alone. He came here with the purpose of surprising her and then asking in a whisper so that he doesn’t make a scene, but Alya is standing right there, now, and is part of the conversation and he just… Well… it’s part of the experience? “Will, uh…” He clears his throat awkwardly. “I know it’ll be complicated to figure out how, but, uh… will yo- will you go to prom with me?”

It’s a testament to either Jon’s nerves or his self-control that he doesn’t react when Alya shrieks and grabs Marinette right out of his arms, making off with her back to the gates of the school. Jon would like to think it’s the latter. Either way, though he can see them excitedly chattering, he’s too taken aback to think of eavesdropping.

Not that he would. He just could, and it doesn’t occur to him to. Of course. He’d never do something like eavesdrop on his maybe-date’s conversation with her friend who just interrupted his asking her out to prom. That would be… rude.

The girls are back before he thinks to look at the passersby, either, so he just spends however long they were whispering in a daze, just staring weirdly at them.

“She’d love to!” Alya eagerly says, nudging Marinette closer to him.

“I, uh…” Jon says. “What?”

Marinette giggles. “Please ignore her. I’d love to go to prom with you, Jon.” Suddenly, and making Jon only more concerned, she slaps her forehead. “Wait! Now I have to make a prom dress! I better get started on that right away! I have to do research to make sure it’s appropriate an- wait, I need the theme! I nee-”

Jon carefully grabs her flailing arms, steadying her before cupping her face in his hands to make sure she’s looking at him. “Marinette! Calm down. It’s not until the end of the year. You have plenty of time, and I’ll give you all the details I have as soon as I can, alright?” He slides his hands to her shoulders, and gently rubs her arms. “We’re okay? No frenzy?”

Marinette takes a deep breath. “We’re okay.” She says. “I’m good. Oh, but I’m so excited!” She jumps up, throwing her arms around Jon’s neck to hug him again. “This is going to be so cool!”

Jon just giggles, fighting off his blush. Now that he’s actually with her, he can’t help but agree.

The only word to describe how Jon feels on prom night is “breathless”. More accurately, whenever he catches sight of Marinette – and he does his darndest to ensure he never loses sight of her – he feels like she’s a plane soaring through the sky, and she’s just hit him square in the chest. All the air in his lungs is knocked out to linger alongside the gentle sparkle of the summer air in warm light.

It’s thick and hangs heavy on them, and that atmosphere only makes it harder to catch his breath, but when he sees Marinette, he’s not sure he’s even trying. Like the air, he just hangs there, ensorcelled by her.

From the moment they enter the room, Jon sees people turn to look at her. He doesn’t blame them. Aside from her carefully done hair and natural beauty, every movement of her dress shines like lightning bugs on the farm. It… reminds him of home, somehow. Jon wonders if she was thinking of him when she made it, but he’s not quite brave enough to ask.

From there, it’s hard to say what everyone else thinks. He has his friends find him, of course, and he introduces Marinette to them, but past that, he doesn’t see any stares. He doesn’t hear any whispers. He can’t think of what they’re thinking.

He just follows Marinette onto the dance floor, sweeps her off her feet, lets her sweep him off of his, tries desperately in vain to pull air back into his lungs when it so stubbornly refuses to do anything but bask in Marinette’s glory.

He hears nothing, sees nothing, but her. Her and sparkling lights like lightning bugs in Kansas. He can’t even summon up any coherent thought as they dance. He just… revels. He loses himself in her and in doing so, he has the time of his life.

[snappedsky]

Fanatics 77

The Night Terrors protect Squee.

*Links to previous and next chapter in reblog*

-- 

Sleep Struggles

           “I need your help. After what happened before, I’ve been avoiding sleep. But I can’t anymore. I’m so tired. But even when I do try to sleep, I can’t relax. I feel like something bad is coming and I can’t tell if it’s for real or if it’s my paranoia. Before…I didn’t have to tell the difference because…Shmee did it for me.”            Squee takes a deep breath and looks up at the Night Terrors. “So that’s why I’ve called you here. If you guys are here keeping watch, then I know if something bad does happen, you’ll be able to stop it. Maybe then I can relax a little. And if I do create something in my sleep again, you’ll be able to slow it down until Nny wakes up.”

           “Right. So you want us to be your bodyguards,” Reverend Meat clarifies, “no problem.”            “Yeah, sounds fun,” Sickness agrees.

           “And this is the first time we’ve been out of the city since we were created,” Eff adds, “it’s like a holiday.”

           “With an actual house and free food and everything,” D-boy nods approvingly.

           “Exactly. We all benefit,” Squee says between a yawn.

           “Okay, we’ll get started,” Reverend Meat declares and salutes. “See you all at lunch.”

           With that, the Night Terrors exit Cammie’s house and Squee and Johnny stare after them.

           “I can protect you, y’know,” Nny points out.

           “I don’t want you to shoulder all that responsibility,” Squee argues, “this is supposed to be a vacation for you too.”            Nny smiles and pats Squee’s head. “Go get some sleep.”

           “I’ll try,” he replies, “come on, Nugget.”            The cat mews as she follows him down the hall to his room.

           Outside, the Night Terrors stand on the porch, glancing back at the door.

           “Squee…isn’t doing much better, is he?” Eff questions.

           “Do you blame him?” D-boy scoffs.

           “He’s tired,” Reverend Meat says, “that’s why he called for us. To help him.”

           “Still though,” Sickness sighs, “I wish there was more we could do.”            Reverend Meat rubs his chin with consideration. “Maybe there is. Happiness is supposed to be infectious, and Nny and Cammie aren’t exactly happy people. So maybe we should be.”            “Happy people?” D-boy questions, scornfully.

           “Yeah. Or at least act like it,” Reverend Meat nods.

           “How do we do that?” Eff asks.

           He points at his face, smiling brightly. “Smile.”            Eff and Sickness oblige but D-boy hesitates.

           “Come on, D-boy,” Reverend Meat urges, “for the Little Boss.”            D-boy grumbles but cracks a smile.

           “There we go,” Reverend Meat cheers. “Now we just gotta keep this up all day whilst we play bodyguard. So I figure we each take a corner of the house. If you see anything, jump to the middle of the roof to alert the others. But keep the noise down. We don’t wanna disturb Squee. And remember: smile!”            “This is why retail workers are suicidal,” D-boy mumbles as they split up, each resting on a corner of the roof.

           They’re observant at first, for at least a couple minutes. But as early morning slips into mid-morning, with nothing happening, they all start lounging.

           It’s so relaxing out here. It’s not like they have much going on at home, but here there’s no city noise and no Aron and Serena. It’s just peace and quiet.

           Reverend Meat is the first to notice a change, as he often is. He immediately shoots up, this feeling recognizable. And just as he jumps to the peak of the roof to warn the others, they sense it too and join him.

           “They’re here,” Reverend Meat says.

           “Yup, they’re making their move,” Eff nods.

           “Or maybe they’ve been making their move and that’s what Squee’s been feeling,” D-boy points out.

           “Either way, how do we deal with it?” Sickness asks.

           “Same way we deal with any threat,” Reverend Meat replies, “destroy it.”

           The others nod.

           “And smile!”

           Eff and Sickness beam brightly while D-boy groans and cracks a grin.

           They all jump to the ground and approach the edge of the forest. The shadows within are deep and dark, more so than should be normal. And if you squint, you can see something moving, swirling around in the darkness.

           The Night Terrors can feel its sudden agitation. It’s not happy to see them again.

           “Long time no see,” Eff snarls.

           “This is gonna be a short-lived reunion,” Reverend Meat says as he cracks his knuckles and rams his hand into the shadows.

           Something immediately pulls at him, threatening to tug him into the trees, but he stands strong. The others quickly grab him and he pulls his arm out. Nightmarish tentacles and tendrils covered in little hairs or spikes are wrapped around his wrist. He pulls out as much as he can before barking, “cut it!”

           Eff quickly draws a machete from his hat and slashes it through the tentacles. The severed pieces around Reverend Meat’s arm shrivel up into dust while the rest shrink back into the trees, hissing painfully.

           “It sure didn’t like that,” Sickness comments.

           The Nightmare bursts out of the woods, a mass of monstrous mouths, fangs, and tentacles surrounding them at the sides and overhead.

           “No, it didn’t,” Reverend Meat agrees.

           “Can this be considered teenage rebellion?” D-boy grins as they all ready for a fight.

           The beastly appendages lunge at them. Reverend Meat blocks with his arms while Sickness, D-boy, and Eff attempt to knock them back, but there’s too many. A couple tendrils slip by and wrap around D-boy’s ankles. He cries out with surprise as they yank him off his feet and drag him towards the trees. But before the shadows can engulf him, he plants both ends of his mallet against neighboring trees, catching and holding himself back.

           The others are too busy to worry about him, however. Eff is struggling to hold back a fang-filled maw from biting his face off, his blades caught between its fangs. Tentacles have wrapped around and are tugging on Reverend Meat’s arms, forcing him to play tug-of-war with himself. And Sickness is barely dodging the creature’s attacks, its appendages scraping and grazing against her skin as she jumps and flips around.

           All of her acrobatics have backed her up against the wall of the house. She looks back in shock, right through the window of Squee’s room, and catches a glimpse of him in bed. He’s asleep, but it seems fitful, rife with bad dreams.

           Sickness snarls and glares at the Nightmare as its appendages charge her. She quickly ducks down, plants her hands on the ground, and spins her legs through the air with such force she slices through them like a blade.

          The Nightmare hisses as its severed extremities disappear into nothingness. As she stands up, Sickness starts to shout at the others but stops when she remembers Squee asleep just a wall behind her, and instead races over to them.

           “Get it together, you guys,” she hisses, “the Little Boss needs us.” She points at her face and smiles. “Remember?”

           Reverend Meat, Eff, and D-boy look at her in surprise before a renewed vigor rushes through them. And they smile.

           Reverend Meat grips the tentacles around his arms and pulls them down just enough for him to step on them, pinning them to the ground. Then he tears them in half.

           Eff lets his blades slip out from between the maw’s fangs and as it starts to charge at him, he brings them against its cheeks and slices it in half. Then, he swiftly cuts up the rest of the appendage and all the surrounding ones like a master sushi chef.

           Finally, D-boy flips his mallet around, allowing the Nightmare to pull him into the trees. But before the shadows can devour him, he swings his hammer and completely smashes the appendages at his feet.

           Expecting more to come at him from the mass of darkness, D-boy quickly backflips away and joins the others outside the trees. They all tensely watch the squirming shadows, ready for another round. But then, the shadows split apart and disappear.

           “It’s gone,” Eff sighs.

           “For now,” D-boy adds.

           “Yeah, it’ll come back,” Sickness agrees.

           “But not like this,” Reverend Meat points out, “now it knows Squee isn’t gonna be an easy prize. It’s gonna send a servant to weaken him. We need to watch out for anything suspicious.”

           They all sigh and dust themselves off as Reverend Meat glances at the sky.

           “It’s noon,” he says, “come on. I think we’ve earned ourselves a lunchbreak.”

           The others nod agreeably and they head to the front of the house.

           Meanwhile, Squee’s eyes blink open and he groans. His sleep throughout the morning had been restless. He would only sleep for a couple hours at a time and he would always have bad dreams. And the entire time he felt like something bad was happening. But he forced himself to rest, trusting the Night Terrors to keep watch. And it doesn’t look like anything bad happened so his plan must’ve worked.

           After checking the time, he sits up and stretches. Lunchtime. He should eat something.

           “Come on, Nugget,” he says, patting his cat as he stands up. She yawns before following him out of the room.

           As Squee exits the hall, he runs into the Night Terrors entering the house. They face him and grin brightly.

           Squee blinks with surprise. They’re covered and dirt and grime; their clothes are torn, they’re scratched up, and the Doughboys’ makeup is smudged. But none of that is quite as bewildering as their beaming smiles.

           Despite himself, Squee chuckles. “You guys are a mess. Clean yourselves up then have something to eat.”

           The Night Terrors watch him, stunned as he passes them to the kitchen, before smiling excitedly.

           “Yes, Little Boss!” they chime before racing each other down the hall, arguing about who will use the shower first.

           Squee smiles as he listens to them and opens the fridge.

           “They really care about you, huh?”

           Squee’s smile disappears at the voice. He swallows hard and ignores it as he grabs sandwich ingredients.

           “It’s baffling, really. I mean, why should anyone care about you? You’re such a loser. A real failure at life. It’s probably pity. Yeah, that’s it. Why else would anyone care about you?”

           Squee continues to ignore it as he makes his lunch but the voice doesn’t seem to care. Nny and Cammie, who are both sitting at the table, clearly can’t hear it. But Squee knows this already.

            “You should probably just give up, you know. It would be so much easier on everyone. Your friends, your family, you. Why keep fighting when there’s nothing worth fighting for?”

           Squee stops, dropping a butter knife and a jar of mustard, and glares at the source of the voice. A stress toy, the kind with eyes and ears that bug out when squeezed. He’s also got an unsettling smile that only Squee can see. He’s not sure where he came from or how long he’s been here. But this isn’t the first time he’s seen the toy in the last week. He calls himself ‘Squishy Pete’.

           Squee picks him up and gives him a squeeze.

           “Feel better?” Pete asks, “I’m great for stress. But you know it’s just a temporary solution. But if you give in, all of your stress will disappear.”

           “You’re wrong,” Squee says quietly.

           “Huh?”                      

           “I do have things worth fighting for,” he states, “and I’ll never give up.”            Before the toy can reply, Squee pops open the lid of the garbage can and drops him inside, shutting him in the darkness. But as he goes back to his sandwich, Squee knows that won’t be the last he sees of Squishy Pete.

           A temporary solution indeed.

[fairycosmos]

3. I know i have to 'get out there' but it's hard when you've felt your whole life that nobody likes you. i literally only have one friend. i just feel really hopeless... i feel like im not meant for this kind of life, everything feels wrong and like im waiting for something's never gonna come, some kinda magic. i want of life of adventure and paint and write but instead i have to study because i'd feel like a loser w/o an education. i dont mind working i just dont want to study.

hey love, i'm really sorry to hear that. i think it's totally normal to be disappointed and even more so to be unsure about your future - it's not an indicator of failure, it's a natural part of growing up and finding your place in the world. i'm probably ignorant and don't know what it's like to actually be in your shoes, so i apologize if i come across as frustrating at some points. this is just my perspective. but i'm wondering if maybe taking more time away is an option for you? maybe working somewhere, focusing on your mental health for a while.... because the thing is your level of education has nothing to do with your worth as a person, and even more than that, there's no set time scale for this sort of thing. you could go back to college at 35, and it wouldn't matter. your life doesn't have to follow that stereotypical linear trajectory we're all forced to chase, in order for you to find happiness and success. and you don't have to justify your own personal choices to anyone, least of all to yourself. i just think it's important to try to focus on the factors of living that are in your control, that will bring you a sense of stability and peace. i know it's hard to let go of the internalised capitalistic idea of having to prove yourself through academia and getting a 'good job', but it's always useful to remind yourself of just how exploitative and made up that entire construct is. you're here and you're experiencing the world and with that you are fulfilling your point, you are doing enough. you are enough. everything else is background noise, that we're forced to muddle through, but background noise nonetheless. you don't need anyone's permission to prioritize your own needs and wants.

however, if you're dead set on studying this topic you don't like (which, i totally understand why you'd make that choice bc i know it's not that simple), then i reckon it's alright to just let yourself feel shitty for a while. any sadness, anger, disappointment, pain you feel about it is to be expected - and even though it fuckin sucks to have to carry it, its intensity definitely won't last. one way or another, you will adapt and so will your ability to cope. just don't use those emotions as an excuse to engage in self destructive behaviour, cause that'll only perpetuate the cycle and keep you in a dark place. having to force ourselves to do shit we hate is always going to feel like an everlasting burden we're never going to escape from, even if that's not the case in reality. and i had a lot of experience with that in school too - the main tactic i can remember making a difference, was like you said, finding little things to make the weight of it more bearable. i think that often starts first and foremost with our own mental health before anything else, because it controls the filter through which we see the world. if you don't like it in yourself you won't like it anywhere. when it comes to your social anxiety, are you receiving any support/would you be open to that? i think consistently seeing someone while you're in school - whether that's a counselor, a therapist, attending a support group or even just calling a hotline to begin with - could really help you manage the stress you're so afraid is waiting for you. having someone to talk to and learning why you are the way you are, and what tools could help you specifically in terms of coping mechanisms and finding a support network can honestly do wonders for your self esteem and the way you approach others. and of course it takes time, maybe that brand of self care is a lifelong process, but it's still important to engage with it. so balancing school with prioritizing your own wellbeing might be something that lightens the weight of the experience. anxiety tends to have us anticipating worst case scenarios and drawing on old insecurities to convince us we'll be alone and in pain forever, but what you've been through is truly not a mirror image of where you're going. making friends especially as an adult is fuckin hard, and struggling with it doesn't mean there's something irreparably wrong with you. just means it's hard to get to know ppl, but that's not a personal failing on your part. it's just a fact. most of them are too worried about their own 'flaws' to take note of yours. but that doesn't mean there aren't ppl out there you haven't met yet who will love you, even if that's hard to believe rn. also a side note, it could be a good idea to build up a routine where you're engaging in something that actively makes you happy at least a few times a week. can literally just be watching netflix, or taking up a hobby, meditating, going for a walk - i know college is v busy and it may not always be possible, but having small pockets of deliberate down time to look forward to is crucial. im not saying it'll cure everything or anything, just that it might make it all feel less overwhelming. but lastly, i want to say that it's ok if you give it a go and then decide you can't do it. that's an option, too. it doesn't have to be black and white. don't fault yourself for not wanting to spend 3 years doing something you hate, but also know that it's possible to get through it if it's a means to an end for you, especially if you seek the help you need. and whichever choice you go with, neither of them are 'wrong.' it's just your path.

anyway, i'm sorry this got super long. i think discussing it with someone you trust might be a good move, just to know that they have your back whether you work through uni or not. you're honestly doing so much better than you realize and i'm proud of you for continuing to try and strive despite how painful it all is. but i really hope that you can catch yourself when your brain is being unnecessarily unkind to you, and that you can then make the conscious choice to change the narrative and approach it from a place of patience and self appreciation. i think your life is still worth living even if it doesn't match up to where you think you should be, which is something i've been trying to accept lately too. that so much is beyond our control and we can literally only focus on the silver linings of the factors that are in our hands. that we can still be okay, living like that. and none of this is permanent, not the way it often seems like it is, but especially not the confusion. it just takes time to live the answers to all the existential questions you have. take it a day at a time. ANYWAY im rooting for you with all my heart and if you want to talk about this properly feel free to message me!! my overarching point is that you're not as alone as you feel. and you won't be in college, and you won't be if you look for work instead. so many of us understand where you're coming from. much love to you, take care 💗💗

[my-arlington-academia]

Karolina and Tegan birthday fanfic! 👓👠

I wrote a (short?) fanfic for Karolina's and Tegan's birthdayyy 🎉🎉 Last time Scholar was a she so I decided that in this one Scholar will be a he again 👍 Hopefully my writing is getting less cringe 😂 but as you'll see for yourselves I'm still really bad, especially the narration, sometimes I'm like "Wait, what am I supposed to describe here to move on to the next scene?" So most of it is really basic 😅 On a lighter note though, I know that many sweet elite players come from lots of different countries and most times their first language isn't English (*cough*like me*cough*) so at least it'll be easy to read for everyone? (Yes, I'm totally trying to make myself feel better for my lack of vocabulary 😔)

Anyways!!! Have a good read! God I hope I'm getting better...

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"Karolina used to play Maryo Kart!?"

Tegan flinched due to Scholar's sudden outburst and almost dropped the controller out of his hands.

"W-Well... yeah. We were pretty close in elementary school and we used to share the same interests. Not when it came to everything but we usually agreed about a lot of things."

Tyler cackled from the bunk bed upon hearing this. Looks like he was still browsing through a shit-ton of pictures of chairs on Moogle. Apparently, he wanted to draw a chair for his next art piece.

"Just imagining Karolina even playing an app game gives me the same feeling as watching one of John Mulaney's skits: it's hilarious."

Scholar couldn't help but imagine Karolina playing Candy Rush or Flappy duck and it was in fact rather funny. Seeing Karolina frustrated because of a game would be like seeing Tadashi sleeping, which means it was impossible. Those two really need more rest and a bit of down time...

"So Tyler, you found any chairs that give you a spark of inspiration?"

Scholar decided to change the subject, after all Karolina didn't want anything to do with Tegan even though it was... well... their birthday. Scholar doesn't even have siblings let alone a twin so he had no idea how Tegan must be feeling right now. But from an outsider's perspective, Scholar thought that it was kind of sad and a waste that they didn't at least celebrate their birthday together. Tegan said that he didn't want anything too extravagant though. Thus, the 3 of them had gathered in their room to spend some time together, Ellie was also supposed to come but she said that she had "things to do" and that she'd drop by later.

"Nah man. MIKEA is really running out of ideas. I could come up with sicker designs in the blink of an eye. Actually, in a way this encourages me even more to draw a chair. I'll create the best chair this world has ever seen Scholar. Just. You. Wait."

While Tyler was hyping himself up over chairs Tegan had a really stern look on his face. Maybe it was because he was focused on the game but Scholar felt like there was something more to it. Perhaps they should've invited more people? In truth, the only real guest here was Scholar. This was TnT's room after all... Why is Ellie taking so long?

"...Tegan? Maybe you'd like me to go call Axel and Raquel over? Maybe even Alistair and Claire?"

Tegan who was frowning for a while now finally let his eyebrows relax.

"No uh... Sorry if I looked angry or something but um. I was just thinking about something."

When he said that, Tyler immediately let go of his phone and dropped down on the floor, then he sat next to Tegan.

"When you tell us that you're thinking about something, it means that you want to talk to us about it, right?"

Tegan continued to smash the buttons of the controller without even giving Tyler a side-glance.

"Not necessarily."

Somehow, Tegan was acting a bit cold but not in his usual "I'm sleep deprived" way. Tyler gave Scholar a pleading look. Probably meaning that Tegan needed another little push to tell them what was going through his mind. Of course, Scholar couldn't ignore that.

"Aww, come on man! If it was because you were spacing out like usual you would've just said "it's nothing" butcha didn't! You know you can tell us everything right? We won't snitch."

Tyler followed.

"Exactly! We'll never break the bro code of honor. Spill the tea! Or water! Or whatever drink it is!"

Tegan gave them a big sigh before leaving the game on pause and putting the controller down. Tyler and Scholar looked at eachother dumbfounded. When Tegan puts the controller down it means that shit is about to get real... or he's so tired that he'll short-circuit in a span of 10 seconds.

"Well, it's about Karol. Kinda. I guess."

Scholar and Tyler scooched over even closer to be sure to miss none of it. Talking about Karolina wasn't a taboo topic or anything, on the contrary, it was quite frequent and Tegan was totally fine with his friends taking jabs at her as long as it wasn't mean-spirited. But what was rare though, was for Tegan to bring her up out of nowhere.

"It's... how to say this. You know how when it's Christmas and you become super nostalgic about the smallest things? Or when Viewtube recommends you a short clip from a show you used to watch years ago and you decide to marathon it just for the heck of it? Well, for me that "nostalgic" time is our birthday. When I remember how we used to be so close and hang out together all the time I get kinda uh. I don't know. Regretful? Like, maybe if I didn't end up being a loser who spends all of his time playing games and doing dumb stuff Karol might still tolerate me. Or uh. If I dressed up a little nicer or took better care of myself maybe she'd at least want to stand next to me in public? Now, unless absolutely necessary, she doesn't even want to be associated with me. Like, she's ashamed of me or she doesn't want the other students to think that we're related or something. I don't know. Maybe I'm making it sound worse than it actually is but that's how I feel."

Woah. Okay. To be honest, Tyler and Scholar had already thought that something along those lines might be the reason for Tegan's grumpy mood today. That was a feeling he probably carried with him subconsciously everyday, just maybe to a smaller extent since he drowns himself in video games and doritos. But whenever their birthday comes around, all of it resurfaces. He already told them in the past that when Karolina started taking modeling gigs they started slowly growing apart. Tegan had said it so nonchalantly, like it wasn't a big deal and it was natural to "grow apart" but clearly, he wasn't happy about it.

Tegan was hanging his head low, as for Tyler and Scholar, they lay their heads down on Tegan's shoulders. Tyler ran his fingers through Tegan's hair to confort him.

"You're not a loser in any way Tegan. Karolina is the one missing out on you, she shouldn't set standards on you in the first place. So what? Just because you don't wear Bucci, Bupreme or Bouis Buitton it means that she has the right to act like this? You're my best bro and I know that my best friend is the coolest dude in the world. I mean, who can drink 3 monster drinks at the same time through 2 straws amirite?"

"Hm. Actually... You're not wrong."

Wait, 3 monster drinks at the same time with 2 straws? What?? Scholar's eyes widened.

"Uhhh. What the hell do you guys do when I'm not around? And may I remind you that Tegan is also my best friend!"

Tyler let out a laugh through his nose.

"Oh please, you may have barely enough points to unlock his tragic backstory but I'm still the OG. I'm ahead of you by at least a hundred points. Also, I wouldn't exactly call you a friend but rather-"

Tegan swiftly elbowed Tyler in the stomach.

"Ssshhh! Dude!"

"Ouch! Come on man... you know that Scholar is a bit dense sometimes, you gotta at least let me spell it out for him."

This was about to become a fight between the two of them, with Tegan trying to shut Tyler up and Tyler desperately trying to tell Scholar something. However, someone knocked on the door. That's weird, usually Ellie just barges in without even asking if she can. She just says "It's Ellie!" and comes in like this is her room as much as it is Tegan's and Tyler's. Their small fight stopped and Tegan got up to open the door... to be welcomed with cheers and confetti flying in the air. "WOOOOOOO!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NERD!!!" Ellie had brought the whole gang: Alistair, Axel, Claire, Raquel and even Tadashi. The only ones who weren't there were Karolina and Neha but in a way, it was kind of to be expected. They were maybe celebrating Karolina's birthday in her room with some of their friends from the fashion department? In any case, everyone was thrilled for Tegan. They congratulated him and gave him some gifts even if they were a little bit less personal than anticipated. It was apparent that some of those were chosen in a rush. If Scholar had to guess, since Tegan is so secretive and discreet about everything, he probably didn't tell anyone about his birthday and Ellie had to go around fetching everyone and bringing them together. That's why some of the gifts exuded that "Oh shit! It's Tegan's birthday today!!!" aura. Especially Tadashi's gift.

"This is kopi luwak. Those coffee beans are extracted from the asian palm civet's excrements. I know that you're more into energy drinks but I thought that you might want to try something different. I know it sounds disgusting but the taste is actually not bad and it'll definitely wake you up, everytime you remember that you're drinking coffee that came out of an animal's digestive system it gives you an extra dose of adrenaline. No matter how many times I drink it, this coffee always makes me feel like I'm a little bit in danger and it wakes me up immediately."

Tegan looked really curious about it but at the same time uneasy at the thought of having to drink coffee made of beans that came out of an animal's asshole.

"Woah... thanks... Tadashi."

"You're welcome."

So that's how Tadashi stays awake, huh? He makes himself fear for his life by drinking weird coffee. Scholar had already heard of it, there's even some kinds that are made from elephant poop and civet cat poop. However, Axel was the first and only one to call Tadashi out.

"What the fuck man? It's his birthday and you gifted him fricking coffee beans that come from a raccoon's butthole? Well, I guess the nickname Tadashit fits you perfectly since you literally drink shit."

Tadashi rolled his eyes so far back that his pupils might've gone in his skull if he wasn't human.

"Like I said, it comes from the asian palm civet. Not a raccoon. Also, do not call me that."

Axel and Tadashi kept on bickering for a while before Claire brought the cake.

"Ta-dah! Sorry if it's not good enough but there weren't any backeries out there willing to make a birthday cake on such a short notice. I had to bake it myself with Alistair's help. We hope you like it!"

The cake gave off a really homey feeling. Scholar was reminded from back home when all of his birthday cakes looked really similar to this one. The icing was really amateurish looking but really really cute. Alistair switched the lights off and Tegan took a moment to think about his wish. The room went silent in front of his stern expression, seems like whatever his wish was, it must be pretty important. When he blew the candles everyone cheered but no one asked him what he wished for. Maybe no one felt the need to since it is said that if you say your wish out loud it won't come true.

Before Raquel could cut the cake Alistair took his phone out. "Wait! Wait a sec, let's take pictures with the cake first! I'm the one who drew the Zbox and the Playmotion logo..."

Raquel put the knife down while laughing. "Oohhh. So I bet that's the real reason why you don't want me to cut it yet?"

They all took lots of ridiculous pictures with the cake. It was a pretty big one so Raquel cut it into 10 slices. After a bit of a ruckus, things finally started calming down. The 9 of them sat down in a circle and talked about random subjects: the teachers, the homework, sleep paralysis, the new Store Wars movie, the conscious and unconscious mind in cognitive psychology...

The time was passing by and everyone was having fun no matter how weird the conversation was getting until Raquel reminded everyone of the last slice of cake.

"If no one's gonna eat it, I'll eat it."

The only one who was against it was Tyler who also wanted the last slice. They decided to choose the winner through rock paper scissors. A 3 round match. But just as it was about to start, someone knocked on the door again. Did the noise annoy the neighbours? It was getting pretty late after all.

Scholar got up to open the door only to find... Karolina followed by Neha!

"Happy b- oh. It's you."

Karolina was holding a small package and as for Neha, she didn't even bother to wrap up her gift. It was a fancy hoodie with a sort of skull on its back. Tegan almost flew towards the door.

"Karol! You came... and Neha, is that Sombra merch?"

Neha smiled warmly, seeing that he noticed right away.

"Yes. I mean, kind of. It's that character from Underwatch, right? I don't know if it's your favorite but one time I remember you saying that "she was fun to play". So I made you this. The quality isn't really that good though, sorry. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to make it properly. Anyway, I'm rambling. Happy birthday Tegan."

Tegan immediately put the purple hoodie on in excitement.

"Looks sick. Thank you Neha. You really nailed the logo."

Karolina also thought that it looked "sick" but not in a good way. She was clearly not getting why wearing that sort of thing would make someone happy. Since it was made by Neha, of course it was really well done but why does he prefer wearing video game merch rather than high quality clothing? She was almost regretting coming here. Tyler laughed at the sight of Karolina trying really hard not to roll her eyes, it looked like her pupils were trembling. Kinda terrifying honestly.

"I would've thought that you like soldier 76 or Tracer better since... they're about as straight as you are. But besides that, it looks dope Neha! Would you make one of my paintings into a T-shirt one day? Like, you know, my birthday? August 21st? Pretty pleaaase!"

It wasn't long until everyone started requesting clothes from Neha for their birthdays. Of course, she shut them all down while Karolina still stood there with what looked like a gift.

"Ugh. I see that you invited a lot... of people."

Her cold gaze was on Axel and Alistair specifically, since she did not like those two. As for Tegan, he was silently waiting for his gift. Judging by his face, it had been a while since Karolina had showed up to one of their birthdays, not to mention that she brought a gift too.

"Anyway... here. I'm sure you don't play those kinds of games anymore but uh... Well, in any case you better not laugh at my gift. Or else."

Tegan carefully unwrapped the gift. It was the new Maryo Kart! Everyone was baffled. Karolina actually gifted Tegan a video game? What's next? Is she going to play it too on top of gifting it? Tegan thanked her happily and reached for something behind the TV. It was Karolina's gift. Her eyes scanned the shape of the wrapping trying to guess what it was. Though she didn't lose any more time trying to figure out what it was and opened it. It was a Bouis Buitton bag. Karolina smiled.

"Basic choice but not bad. Thanks."

Seeing that Neha had already sat down, Karolina did the same. Of course, to Raquel's regret, they ended up splitting the last slice of cake, Karolina said that she didn't mind since she couldn't afford to eat food with too much calories. Especially not pastries but she let this one slide. As for Tegan, he immediately switched the game on. Of course. But then, he offered the second controller to Karolina. Everyone looked at him like he was batshit crazy. Miraculously though, Karolina sighed and took the controller.

"...Fine. But I don't remember the controls anymore."

That was a fricking lie. Karolina was killing it?? At Maryo Kart?? Raquel was going crazy. Well, everyone actually. But especially Raquel.

"What the hell?! So you steal the last slice of cake and now you're whooping Tegan's ass in a video game? I didn't even think you knew how to hold the controller correctly..."

Karolina clicked her tongue at that remark, looking unimpressed. Though clearly, she was a bit embarrassed about playing against her brother in front of 9 other people who had no idea that she was even capable of touching a controller without throwing up. But during that time, Tegan was grinning like a kid. It was like going back in time for him. He was thrilled. How many years has it been since the last time they played together like this?

"Believe it or not, but Karolina was actually the one to always kick my ass in video games. She was too strong. Thankfully, she's a bit rusty now."

Karolina elbowed his arm violently but Tegan didn't budge. It was like he was used to it, maybe Karolina always tried to distract him from the game by pushing him when they were little?

"Oh shut up. It's the game's fault. Why the heck did they add that much useless features? Also, the maps are way worse than the old Maryo Kart games. Those ones are a jumbled mess, doesn't make any goddamn sense with those twists and turns."

Karolina frighteningly sounded like a retrogaming nerd. Could it be that Tegan's love for video games came from...? Nah, no way. She's just salty that Tegan is catching up in wins. They're tied now.

"Okay! What about this: The one who wins the next round gets a kiss on the cheek from Scholar!" Ellie proclaimed in a loud voice.

"Wait! Why me??"

Scholar honestly doubted that Karolina would like that, Tegan? Maybe. But not Karolina. Surprisingly enough she didn't react but that lack of reaction probably hid something. Usually she would complain and quit but she's not the type to lose on purpose after getting this far. Tegan looked fired up too. Looking back on it, earlier Tyler was trying really hard to say something. Could it be that both Tegan and Karolina like Scholar? Well... that would be extremely awkward and unlikely.

In any case, it looks like Tegan has a head start.

"What's wrong Karol? Have you really forgotten the controls?"

"Say that again and I might murder you."

This is the most intense party of Maryo Kart anyone had ever seen. Isn't there an e-sport for it? Maybe the Novak(ova) siblings should sign up...

In the end, Karolina managed to catch up somehow. Ellie took that host voice again.

"Alright ladies and gents! Looks like Karolina will be the one receiving the prize! But what an act of cruelty on the sister's part, wouldn't you say? Because she was heartless and unpleasant I declare that as compensation the viewers should also get a kiss!"

Everyone cheered for Scholar's kiss but funnily enough, Tegan looked super offended. He was about to throw a tantrum.

"Wait. So I'm the only one without a kiss?!? That is so unfair! It's my birthday... I should at least get a participation fee!"

Tyler patted him on the back.

"That's rough, buddy. But hey, at least your boyfriend didn't turn into the moon."

Tegan quickly elbowed Tyler in the stomach again.

"Dude! Scholar's not my... dammit, I told you to be quiet earlier."

"Ow! I didn't even say any name... You're the one digging your own grave man. Look, he's looking this way."

Seeing that Tegan looked absolutely heartbroken (and pissed), Scholar took Ellie's place as the announcer.

"Change of plans! Only the siblings get a kiss because it's their birthday. All the others won't get any because it would be extremely unfair."

That's when everyone started booing but Raquel seemed to have an idea. A stupid one. But still an idea.

"Uhhh, excuse me! Actually, I'm their sister. We're triplets, so I also get a kiss!"

Axel did the same.

"No, Raquel is lying sir! We're actually quadruplets so I get a kiss as well! The four of us look so similar, I have no idea how you missed that..."

This whole thing turned out to be ridiculous. Seems like Tegan and Karolina suddenly had 8 new siblings. But of course, only the 2 of them got the kiss. Everyone was satisfied with the birthday party despite all of the chaos.

-------------------------------------- Oooookay! That's it! Sorry the ending was so abrupt (as usual) but I never know how to end these... Thank you for reading though! And sorry if you cringed! But that's a risk I'm willing to take ✊😔

[dahniwitchoflight]

Homesquared Chapter 4

I cheated and some of my chapter 4 thoughts leaked into the chapter 3 post lol

Mostly about the pretty obvious Garden of Eden metaphor Dirk is for some reason setting up for himself and Rose as Adam and Eve

and I was about to say which begs the question of what the heck role Terezi is supposed to play as but then it’s very obviously as the Snake in the Garden

Terezi is very much just barely holding back some irritation towards how Dirk is treating Rose, but she’s also very intelligent and is aware of How much Dirk sees/knows and controls about their situation, so she’s probably leveraging her powers over Mind as much as possible in order to stay hidden in plain sight from Dirk’s narrative

and she does so in a way that is one of Dirk’s only blindspots - How Mind and other people have an effect in the determination of the Soul/Heart

By acting in a manner and doing things in a way that aligns with his expectations of her, he assumes and pigeonholes her into a type of character and bases his predictions of her behaviors off of that archtype, never expecting her to act outside it, and when he sees her actions and thoughts and desires all align within it, never questions that it might one day change or was different all along. Dirk’s never really been good at reading other people, can’t see without the lens of “how would I do it” blinding him to things he would never think to do, a trap that he keeps falling into with his friends and one he’s probably trying to overcome by becoming Ultimate God Person/combining all perspectives into his own and uncovering blindspots like that

But right now Mind is the darkest thing in is corner still and I think he sort of knows that as well

Terezi walks the crazy wiggled line boundary between their two Souls that defines who each of them is, as expertly as a person on a tightrope, never wavering until she reaches her destination, at which point she’ll leap off of that line and leave Dirk scrambling to try and calculate her next move/who exactly is she/what her goals are, since’s it won’t be following the clearly defined Heart boundary he’s used to drawing his plans by, so she’ll have to choose the perfect moment in order to entice Eve of the Apple of Revelation once more, heck, she might even do that so sneakily that she gets Adam to take a bite as well, since as soon as Rose bites it she’ll have an ally with her against Dirk.

For God created the Serpent originally as well, so thus why did he not imagine it’s betrayal and prevent it before it could have happened? Or else why did he create something he knew was going to betray? Eden was a paradise, so why intentionally create Evil in that paradise?

If Eve corrupted Adam and the Snake corrupted Eve, Who exactly corrupted the first Serpent? That’s something that the bible never goes into really, at least in Genesis, except to say that the Snake was punished for it’s action to forever crawl the earth eating the dust of man’s heel, punishing all snakes, as Adam and Eve’s punishment punished all humans

(Later I think the bible would try to say that the Snake was the Devil all along, but then why punish the Snake and all it’s progeny for it? If it was the Devil’s doing that undid Adam and Eve then why punish them for the Devil’s actions they would have no way of guarding against or now way of knowing it was a lie? Was it not God’s failure? The Walls of the Garden of Eden were supposed to protect his perfect creation afterall)

Gotta say though I really Rose’s design

I would call her Evil Rose, but she things she does she does in ignorance, not really out of evil, it would be like calling Eve evil for listening to the Snake when she was purposefully blinded to it’s intentions by her creation by God.

Once again we get this idea of Knowledge and Choice affecting eachother, Well I say again but really I’ve been watching RWBY a lot lately and the idea that you can’t make a real choice without real knowledge comes up a lot in it’s mythos and it is really applicable here

Terezi’s design as well is incorporating a lot more Red, she really dug those red shoes aesthetic but gave it her own twist, she’s got a red tie, her ever present red cane and glasses and even in that shot of her her horns look more red and solid as well, even though i know it’s just the lighting

So really digging the whole Terezi is the Apple/Snake in the Garden metaphor, she has also been having that tendency to just snack on random plants, intentionally for her own or Dirk’s unaware benefit or not, it’ll make it that much easier to her actions of later betrayal to be seen as “in character and therefore expected and not dangerous” instead of pre-meditated and actually dangerous, to him

And then they start waxing about their various philosophical babble, Dirk seems really determined to also use this to try and figure out that whole problem of how other’s affect the self, he’s trying at least, I think, in his own way. But not for a good reason, not so that he can have a real understanding of that, but because he wants to use it to guard his own self even further

He’s maybe not using Rose here as an equal player, but more like a wall to bounce his own ideas off of and test them, like using a neural learning AI to test ideas or an actual literal wall in a game of table tennis.

Heh, I got a chuckle out of the fact that Dirk’s answer to the Ship of Theseus problem is “why does we even have to remove and replace parts of it, why not keep the original pristine and eternal?”

because it’s funny how avoidant of the problem that answer is, man he really really is uncomfortable with the idea of changing the self in any way

“He's avoiding the question again. It's amazing how one can technically have the maximum amount of metaphysical personal awareness possible, and still not notice these sorts of things. “

SAYS LITERALLY YOU but honestly this is just more fuel to the idea that maybe he can make a genuine connection and understanding with a person if he can recognize how he and her are the same

“It's stuff like this that makes me wonder sometimes whether there's anything about myself that I'm missing. Then I throw that wonder in the garbage can and turn the incinerate setting on.”

but nah he’s still firmly denying that possibility, he’s almost actually equating his trauma of self erosion with the idea that making friends and understanding others changes the self in subtle ways as well

He can’t even stand the thought of his own close friends influencing him to be different in small subtle ways or adjusting his behavior for others because that STILL counts as a change of self that he didn’t authorize or choose. 

Also can’t help but by be reminded of my wacky little fan made Gamma session I made forever ago by them using the name Delta-Detritus and basically be like alright, what if we do SBURB again but BETTER/worse this time?? Which is essentially the thread that most Homestuck fix it fanfiction tends to go towards

Though I am curious now

We got A/Alpha for Alternia which is based of off “Alternate” introducing the trolls as an alternate race to Human Earth

B/Beta for Beforus which is based of off “Before” introducing the planet of trolls that came before the first group

And then Earth C, now, there isn’t a letter C, the third in the greek alphabet is actually Γγ Gamma, (and the fourth is  ΔδDelta)

So I wonder what “name” Earth C really has?

It feels like it should either start with C OR with GA, as Alternia starts with the AL of Alpha, Beforus starts with the BE of Beta and same with Deltritus and Delta

As as “Another for Earth” Gaia isn’t a terrible option all things considered, now you just have to make it sound like a word which describes it’s use to the narrative

It’s is a very split place, having the two timelimes Meat and Candy associated with it, as well it does feel extremely mercurial in nature, being a sort of crosswords between Homestuck and Homesquared proper, and really exists in a place between stories, an ephemeral epilogue of sorts

really a merger of Gaia and Gemini feels the most appropriate here, like Gamini, also the word mini stands out in there as well, knowing that this Planet is sort of on a lesser status compared to the other three since it’s not going to be the birthplace of a session, also has the word Game in it

But then people will wonder why it doesn’t begin with a C since it still is called Earth C so *shrug*  

Honestly C K and G sounds are all very similar in the tongue, so maybe it’s both Camini and Gamini at the same time OH FUCK CA AND GA, ONE HAS CALLIOPE ONE HAS GAMZEE? SHIT IM ONTO SOMETHING (no im not)

I like Camini now better, it comes from a place of Gamma/Gamzee/Game/Gemini but ends up being more about the twinned Ca’s that were used to, Caliborn and Calliope and fits with the establish Earth C theme

So there you go, Earth C’s actual planet name should be Camini 

which also works because: 

Camini

home stove/furnace

smelting/foundry furnace, forge

vent (underground fires)

according to the latin language this word also has multiple meanings and many Irons in the Fire, I think the fandom will appreciate the name haha

Yeah both races are definitely going to both be playing one game of SBURB, despite what Dirk is intending, the pic does make it really clear

There’s something to say how Dirk seems to be represented by Purple and Rose by Orange in this here and then how all of the cave is a backdrop of that same purple.

Look at even the controllers on the machine having purple and orange knobs, even being solely on Dirk’s side of the image

I guess Dirk intends himself to be the force behind Derse, since that’s the force that always “wins” and Rose fitting in her place as the ultimate loser (since of course Dirk will want to win his own game) but also to be like Skaia the force of Prospit

So Dirk intends to be a whisperer like a horrorterror, choosing to manifest his influence that way, while Rose will give visions to her race like Skaia?

makes sense honestly

but again even with the themes of duality, the theme of the trio is bright and center in that piece of ultimately technology, the third influence hidden unseen in the furthest corner behind the curtain of snakelike tubes and wires that Dirk will not expect to interfere, or even have the capability to interfere, Terezi

heck it’s even in the buttons next to the controls being colored red blue and green

there’s so much duality in homestick with destructive red and creative green but then there’s also always been that mercurial breathy blue as the third

God, tell me that doesn’t look like a baby proto horrorterror

I can hear it raging it’s revenge against it’s cruel human creators even as I type

No wonder they become associated with destruction, they know theyre the pawns of two heartless cruel god children playing at life like it was a game

Rose you MUST KNOW how bad this is, it’s not a theoretical discussion anymore, that things exists and is alive and has feelings and you did it to that

and that thing is technically a Dirk too

Is this how Dirk get’s his revelation? Or downfall? As his Heart is unwittingly invaded by the horrified cacophanous screams of his grotesque tortured progeny crying out for his blood?

His end unintentionally ending up as the thing he feared most? Inner self destruction caused by his own sharp and bloody splinters turned and pointed inward, tearing himself apart with the pieces of his own Soul? Caused by his own Hubris?

I will say typing that all out is pretty good

I’m just sad the same will probably happen to Rose too though ): Maybe she’ll make careful more humane species? Something that has the potential to exist and be happy as it’s own creature while Dirk just creates monstrosities forever in conflict with Rose’s race?

They’ll each be the master of their own eventually destinies I suppose but Homestuck seems to have a good track record so far of the Ultimate Female Creator being out to protect the happiness of the children that exist in her creation while the Ultimate Male God just ends up destroying everything in his

[kingofthecon]

@flynnfletchr​ Stanford was doing that thing where he tried to pace a hole into the floor of their hotel room and it had become aggravating thirty minutes ago. "Ford." The slightly older twin didn't seem to hear his younger brother and continued pacing in the same spot - arms behind his back as he mumbled about whether or not he still had time to come up with a different project for the science fair. The answer? No. Not unless he could come up with something in less than twelve hours. "Ford. Please. I don't wanna knock you unconscious but so help me I will if it means we both get some sleep. It'll be fine." Stanford Pines looked towards his twin who was laying flat on his stomach at the edge of the bed with his arms beneath his head. The scowl he wore read as 'try me', and caused Stanford to slow to a stop. He looked bent out of shape, almost miserable and Stanley Pines didn't understand why. They went to several science fairs and Ford was always a shoe-in for first or second place. Maybe that was the reason why? The teenagers from Danville were competing in this particular contest of dorks and though Ford appreciated the friendly competition and the challenge that came with trying to one up the boys each year, it was clear that Ford didn't like it when he lost to them. He wasn't exactly a sore loser, but he wasn't a gracious loser either. He would put on a front, accept whatever place he'd taken, and then go back to the drawing board to hopefully come up with something even better to showcase his intelligence all while grumbling under his breath and talking like an actual super villain. Who uses the words RUE THE DAY in a legitimate conversation? "For one, you literally don't have time to come up with something else for this thing unless you decide to make a Mentos and Cola volcano using a Styrofoam cup cause that's what I have on me, and I don't think that'll even win a first grade science fair project. Secondly, you're a genius in a room full of geniuses. If you're that desperate then I can probably steal or sabotage someone's project for you which--don't look at me like that, I just wanted to make sure you weren't too far gone which brings me to bulletin three. Everyone knows that you have a high IQ. The highest IQs. The tallest mountain in the world of IQs. You don't really have to prove yourself so just relax." "Stanley, you don't understand. Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher have an extensive history with their creations. I'm just a kid from Jersey who came out of nowhere." "Sixer, everyone loves the underdog. Besides, you three practically share the limelight at these things. You guys are top brass. Nothin' wrong with a little friendly competition to keep the blood flowin'." "Stanley, you're supposed to be on my side!" "I am on your side. One hundred percent. Otherwise I would have shoved you into the hallway so I could get some semblance of sleep. Instead I'm trying to talk you out of coming up with a list of junk you could make in the next like, eleven hours. You created a functioning robot girl complete with artificial intelligence and everything. You've skipped like, a hundred of these fairs to perfect Stannabelle." "She's an android and that is not her name." "The point is that you'll probably have even Tony friggin' Stark or Bruce Wayne lookin' your way. I mean, that's part of the reason why you chose this particular science fair, right? Who knows. Maybe once you're outta West Coast Tech you'll get picked up by Stark Industries or Wayne Enterprises? Oh, what about Star Labs?" "That's why this has to be perfect!" With a whine, Stanley rolled over and allowed himself to fall out of the bed. He wasn't on the floor long; rising to his feet he made his way towards the closet where the robot girl was sitting in her charging station. If anyone looked at the bot they would believe it to be a human with Stan and Ford as her big brothers. Stanley crossed his arms and presented to Ford his own creation. "Earth to nerd. The kid's perfect." "She sounds like I installed a Speak & Spell as her voice modulator." "Okay, so you missed something when you programmed her. Just, I dunno, take apart the TV if ya gotta do somethin'. Just...you need to relax. It'll be fine." He pat the android on top of her head and closed the closet door before flopping back down on the bed. "Just...you know, do it quietly? Some of us wanna walk around the Expo and sneak into places they shouldn't." "You're going to get us kicked out." "Probably yeah, so make the most of it. I'm goin' ta bed. Try not to stay up too late. Night, nerd." "Night, pain in my side brother who occasionally makes sense when it's convenient for him." "Too long. Try again." With that Stanley pulled back the covers and spread out for sleep leaving Ford to figure out what to do. He'd brought extra parts and equipment in case something went wrong so...like Stanley had suggested, he began to work on fixing the voice modulator with parts around their hotel room. ____________________________

Morning arrived way too fast and was thus slept through meaning that Stanley woke around noon. His awakening was accompanied by a terrified scream as a face way too close to his for comfort came into focus as he opened his eyes. He rolled off the bed in his attempt to get away and orient himself with his surroundings. His fall came with a one man laugh track which caused Stanley to zero in on the culprit. "Are you alright, Uncle Stan?" a little girl with the too expressive for what should have been a robot's face asked him. Stanley, a little unnerved with the realistically human sounding voice looked passed her and towards his twin who was far too proud of himself. "Peachy," he answered as his twin tried to hide his laughter behind a six fingered hand. Stanley pulled himself up so that he was kneeling against the side of the bed. More awake and aware now he realized what this meant. He turned to Ford and he grinned at him while patting his "niece" on top of her head. "This is great! So ya managed to fix the voice issue. Good job, and nice to finally meet you, kiddo." "My designation is not "Kiddo". I am Alpha 001 - SP." Stanford had such a proud look on his face while Stanley just slow blinked at the two of them before he began moving around the room to change into his clothes for the day. "Okay, but I'm calling you Allie for short. "But my designation--" "--Is a mouthful. No one is gonna call ya that except for the uppity geeks who want to sound professional and use big words all the time. 'sides, when someone has a long name like that people usually give'em nicknames. For example, Stanford over there tends to go by Ford while I, Stanley, go by Stan or Lee." The little android was silent for a moment, most likely computing the information she'd received or something before she finally nodded her head in understanding. "Very well. I will accept this as a secondary form of address. "Excellent! You've really outdone yourself, Sixer. Allie's perfect! Though I hope you slept. Anyway, I'mma go walk around the place and get breakfast." A look to the clock had him groaning. "Or brunch, apparently. You two should get ready for later this afternoon. I'll meet you at your booth or whatever." Once completely dressed with his hair and teeth brushed, the younger twin made his way from the hotel room and sighed as he headed towards his destination. Though he was happy to be here to support his brother, he didn't really feel as though he belonged. There'd been a few times in the past where he'd gotten mistaken for his brother, but once they realized the mix-up and asked him questions pertaining to his brother's project Stanley had only succeeded in making a fool of himself. He wasn't smart. He was barely above average and in a turn of crazy events he ended up being made fun of. It reminded him of the bullies back home in Glass Shard Beach, specifically Crampelter and his cronies, but back then it was never this...bad? This humiliating? Though it didn't happen often, it did happen enough that he hated coming to these things. He'd never tell his brother though. Stanford had been teased all his life for his Polydactyly and for being the smartest person in any room. Stanley could bite the bullet of being the odd one out for a change, especially when it only happened once every year or every other year. Stanley hummed to himself as he entered the elevator which went from hotel to convention center. He rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet the balls of his toes as he mentally counted the floors as they lit up. Once the doors opened and he stepped out he found himself tripping over something. He blinked as he stumbled out of the elevator. A part of him wondered if he'd tripped over some nerds project garnering the reaction of, 'oh shit!' and 'at least that'll knock out one of Ford's competitors. When he actually looked at what he'd tripped over, however... "What the heck are you s'posed to be?" He crouched in front of the teal duck bill beaver tailed...thing, and poked at it to make sure that he hadn't hurt it. "You lost and tryin' to catch the elevator, little guy? Or are you a girl? whatevenareyou?" He moved to pick up the creature just to make sure with no regards for safety (the creature could absolutely bite him after all), but his love of animals outweighed his need to be careful.

[undertalethingies]

Self Indulgent Self Insert Fanfic, Part One

I am sitting in my room, not doing much of anything, (as per usual) when I look up and notice that my mirror has apparently transformed into a solid wall of inky darkness as I’ve been spacing out.

And well- it’s not like I can not poke it, right? There’s a high chance I’ll seriously regret it, if my life has become the isekai it appears to be, but there’s a 100% chance I’ll regret it forever if I don’t touch it, you know?

Everyone always assumes I’m risk averse, that I like to play it safe, but the truth of the matter is I’ve just never found something I really want to take a risk with.

So, I push myself out of bed with a hand and go grab my shoes, because there’s no way in hell I’m touching something that might be a portal with no shoes on. Thankfully, I’m actually dressed for once, rather than being in my bathrobe like usual. 

Once I’ve got my shoes on, I grab my coat from where it hangs by my dresser and walk straight into what used to be my mirror. I hope my parents aren’t too worried by my disappearance. Maybe I’ll be lucky and this will be the kind of isekai that retroactively erases me from existence? That would be kind of nice, to exist without tethers.

The portal (because that’s what it is, I’m pretty sure) feels cool, but not unpleasantly so. Like when you first put on a fleece sweater and it takes a moment to warm up.

If this were a stereotypical isekai story, things would quickly become very unpleasant in this dark void, and some godlike being would reach out to grant me power beyond my wildest imaginings.

I’ve never been one to cave to expectations, though. Not even my own.

The darkness remains cool and comforting, and I continue walking forward because there’s no chance I’m going to turn back now, with so much possibility awaiting me if I only continue long enough.

Eventually, I feel as if I’ve passed some threshold, and something definably changes within me. Can’t say what, though. I’ve always kinda sucked at interpreting what my body is trying to tell me, so I’ll probably have to figure it out on my own.

At some point the darkness and walking grows boring, and so I do what I often do when bored, and curl up to go to sleep. This place isn’t cold enough for me to need a blanket, and I’ve got my coat with me anyway, so I’m fine. Sleeping on hard surfaces isn’t unpleasant, in my opinion, merely a bit annoying, since if you pick the wrong position you’ll inevitably wake up sore.

As always, consciousness takes a while to fade, so I occupy myself with grand imaginings about all the wonderful (and terrible, I’ve got anxiety okay, I can’t help it) things that might await me.

==

When I wake, it’s immediately obvious that something is different. There’s light now, for one, and for two I can feel something soft and organic beneath me. Judging by smell alone… Flowers? Waking up on a bed of flowers in a lit room… Well, I’ve always wished I could live in Undertale, if only so I could chew out the characters for bottling up their feelings so damn much. Hey, maybe if I’m lucky, that one headcanon I have about Sans secretly being a teenager will be right and I’ll be able to flirt with him without it being creepy.

Oh come on, like everyone attracted to dudes and not overly hung up about species concerns doesn’t want to kiss that guy, are you kidding me? Plus, I love puns and I’m depressed, surely we’ll get along.

Oh boy, I’m definitely going to die, huh? Thank fuck for my high pain tolerance and ridiculous resistance to trauma, am I right?

Finally, I open my eyes, because I like to wake up slow and I see no reason to alter my existing routine simply because I’ve apparently been yeeted into my favorite video game. Hey, speaking of favorite video games, will I get to visit Hollow Knight next? No, wait, that would probably suck, wouldn’t it. Ah, well.

The cave is just as beautiful as I always imagined it would be. Though it looked lovely in the game art, there’s truly nothing that can compare to seeing the sight in person, those marble pillars in a half circle around me, that single spot of sunlight in the ceiling far (far, far) above. Not to mention the lovely flowers I’m laying on at this very moment and- there’s a dead body under me, isn’t there. Is Chara going to show up, or am I left to be alone in my head?

Though their narration doesn’t actually start until you meet Flowey, in the game, so I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see.

Wait.

Wait wait wait.

Which human soul am I taking the place of right now? Because I read a fic once where the protagonist wasn’t the seventh, even if it was a fakeout, and I very much do not want to be saddled with the fate of those poor bastards.

Though, maybe I’d be able to talk my way out? There’s no one who’d call me diplomatic, for sure, but I’m pretty great at knowing exactly where to aim an insult to utterly break someone’s spirit. (Unusual skill, I’m aware, but in my defense I was bullied growing up)(I say “growing up” like I’m not still doing it, like I’m not fourteen and trapped in a world where it’s an accepted fact that the protagonist will die, and several times over, too)

My first order of business is Flowey, before I can take the time to freak out, to hold myself tight and weather the sheer panic that Toto, I am not in Kansas anymore.

I get up. I give a last fond look to the beautiful cave I’ve “fallen” into, and I walk to the next room, hoping all the while that I’m not signing my own death sentence.

Once I’m a few feet in, there he is, in all his fucking glory.

Flowey the flower, the soulless remnant of prince Asriel Dreemurr, former hope of the underground, possibly still holder of the ability to control time itself.

Yeah, I’m definitely going to mess with him. Self preservation is for losers.

“You’re a flower with a face,” I say before he can start with his usual greeting. I have it memorized anyway, so it’s not like I’m missing out on anything.

He makes his T-T face, so I know this isn’t how he thought this would go. 

“Wow, human! What gave you that impression?” Ooh, sassy. Literally his only positive trait.

“Well I have eyes, see,” I was planning  to ask him probing questions, but honestly this is just as good. His expression doesn’t change as he says his next sentence, nor does his ever cheery tone, (and holy fuck his voice is just as vaguely creepy as I’d imagined, all that childlike innocence paired with the fact that he’s a mass murderer)

“Well howdy, human with eyes! I’m Flowey, flowey the flower!” He says. I don’t interject.

“You’re clearly new to the underground, and it looks like I’m the only one around to show you how things work around here! Are you ready?” 

…

“I’m really not, to be honest. I’ve got no idea what’s going on,” So my plan here, basically, is to stall until Toriel gets here. Mostly because I’m hoping that if he doesn’t get the chance to do his betrayal, he’ll keep pretending to be nice, which will be hilarious since I’ll know he’s faking the whole time.

Admittedly, this significantly increases the likelihood that Toriel won’t come to save me when he inevitably finds a secluded place to murder me, but if I think too hard about the long term right now I’m going to scream, so.

“Well you see, human, you’ve fallen into the underground, a land inhabited by monsters! Don’t worry though, we’re quite nice,” Oh right, conversation. I wonder how much info I can get out of him…

“What’s a monster? Like, I know what it means on the surface, but that definition is pretty vague, and I don’t want to be accidentally racist,” 

His face pops back to the usual smile. (Side note: his face looks like it was drawn on with sharpie and it’s totally messing me up)

“A monster is a being made of magic!” Ok, that’s… a bit vague, but not really inaccurate. I guess he doesn’t want to get into the science, which is a damn shame, since he probably knows it backwards and forwards due to all his reset shenanigans.

“Woah, cool. Magic is real? How does it work without breaking thermodynamics?” Finally, the question I’ve always wanted to ask. If energy can’t be created, how the fuck does Toriel shoot fireballs from her hands? What is she drawing on, what is the fire burning, how hot is it, how does it keep being on fire, etc. etc. repeat for every magical display in the game.

“Well, a lot of it isn’t super understood. Scientists have mostly been pinning it on ‘dark energy’ like they do with every other phenomenon they don’t totally understand,” I wonder why he’s so willingly entertaining my time wasting antics. I know, in game, he didn’t realize he’d lost control over the timeline until after his first talk with Frisk, so maybe he’s just waiting it out to see where it goes? And then of course he must be planning other things to do with me before he takes my soul and goes to the surface…

“God, I hate dark energy in science. I know they just call it that because not much is known about it, but I’m thirsty for knowledge, you know?” Actually ‘thirsty for knowledge’ describes my mood like 90% of the time. Huh, actually, I have that in common with Flowey, right? Even if his knowledge thirst is just due to boredom.

“Hey, human, me too! Learning new things is great!” There’s a loaded sentence if i’ve ever heard one. When was the last time he learned something new? He’s supposedly read every book in the underground, but how much information from that did he actually retain?

“Isn’t it? It’s why I love Youtube so much. Free information for anyone who cares to make a few clicks!” Wait, he probably doesn’t know what Youtube is, actually.

“What’s Youtube?” He asks, cocking his head.

“It’s a service where you can upload videos or watch videos other people have uploaded,” Not the most nuanced explanation, but it’ll do for now. Before Flowey has a chance to respond, a fireball manifests next to him. 

I don’t smile because I’m pretending to be shocked, but I’m laughing my ass off on the inside. The face he makes is even more ridiculous in person.

Enter Toriel, queen of the monsters, mother of no living children.