#ticklish kappa

[veryblushyswitch]

Kappa just learning about tickling and loving it has my heart oh my gosh- 🥺💖💖💖

Gigglefish - a Castle Swimmer tickle fic!!

I loooove castle swimmer so much!! so i finally finished this fic i started a whillle ago lol.

750ish words, switches Kappa and Siren, fluffy, very short mention of injury in the beggining but its just like he bumped his hand into something. Enjoy!!

“Ow, crap,” Siren mumbled, trying to pull his hand free and accidentally hitting a rock with his knuckles.

“I’m back. Siren?” Kappa asked when he saw the odd position his boyfriend was in. Siren was in the cave they had been using to hide out in for a while, right up against the wall. And his arm was, gone? No, it was stuck. In the wall.

Siren took a panicked yank at his arm in a last ditch attempt to get out of the situation with some of his dignity left, but it didn’t budge.

“Siren, are you, *cough*, are you ok?” Kappa asked, couching to cover a laugh.

“I’m fine, I just, I was playing with this shell, tossing it, and it went into this crack, and now i’m stuck, and I look really stupid,” He said, blushing slightly,

“Aww, no Siren. You look handsome as ever. You're just, uhuh, stuck,” Kappa responded, giggling to himself at the predicament, but swimming closer and starting to grab his arm to help him.

“It’s not that funnyhy” Siren giggled, shifting as Kappa reached up to grab his underarm to pull.

“Yes it is, you're literally laughing too.”

“Not beca- because of thahat.” Siren laughed again, twisting as Kappa continued trying to pull his arm free.

“Oh yeah sure, then what are you laughing at, your highness?” Kappa asked sarcastically.

“Yourhe tickling mehe!” Siren squealed in response when Kappa's fingers drifted lower towards his ribs.

Kappa paused, looking contemplative. “Tickling?”

“Yehah, you were tickling me.”

“What’s tickling?” Kappa asked.

“What? You don’t know what tickling is? Its when like, your friends or whatever like, i dont know. It’s hard to explain. But someone touches you and it makes you laugh.”

“Touching makes me laugh?”

“Yeah, if you’re ticklish. Most mer are, some aren't, though.”

“So you’re, ‘ticklish’?” He asked, a small mischievous glint in his eyes.

“W-well yeah, but you probably are too, see?” Siren reached his free hand out and gently grabbed Kappa's side, smiling when he immediately folded over himself in giggles. “Now would you help me out of here, gigglefish. I’d like to have my arm back before it goes numb.”

“Gigglefish?!” Kappa gasped, “You’re the gigglefish, mister!” He said, reaching out and scribbling at Siren’s ribs again.

Cackling, Siren squirmed and pulled, trying desperately to avoid the quick hands that were steadily moving closer to his stomach. Once Kappa reached his stomach, he squealed and promptly pulled his arm free, landing on the sandy ground.

“Ohoho my God! That was so cute!” Kappa squealed, coming closer to watch his boyfriend continue riding out his giggle fit as he desperately tried to rub the tingles off his stomach.

“Noho, it was not!” Siren protested through his giggles.

Kappa swam closer, smiling at his boyfriend laying on the sand. “Sorry to say this Siren, but that was, in fact, very cute,” he said with a faux serious expression, but Siren could still see the glint in his eyes and the way he couldn't quite stop smiling.

“I’ll show you cute,” Siren replied, quickly getting up and tackling a very surprised Kappa to the seafloor.

“Sihirenn!” Kappa laughed as Siren once again targeted his sides.

Lightening his touch worked wonders, he realized, as he started gently scribbling against the spot. The lighter touch resulted in Kappa falling into tittering giggles and desperately grabbing onto Siren’s hand.

“You’re not pushing me away?” Siren asked as he continued his gentle torment.

“Aham I suhuposed to?” Kappa asked, his voice pitching up at the end because of Siren moving to his stomach for just a moment.

“Uh,” Siren started, slowing his tickling but not stopping completely. “I guess not? I mean, lots of mer do, but it’s okay if you don’t. It’s actually pretty cute,” he smirked, moving closer to the blushing boy’s face.

“Why do they push it away? I think it’s fun!” Kappa smiled, still holding Siren’s wrist even though he wasn’t tickling. “Am i- am I not supposed to like it?” he asked, expression faltering.

“I mean, there’s nothing wrong with liking it, its just not as common I guess. But I like it, to a point. It's nice to be close and have a reason to laugh. And I definitely like that you like it. That gives me an excuse to tickle you more.”

“So… you can keep going then?” Kappa asked hopefully, squeezing Siren’s wrist, and his heart at the same time.

“Of course,” he paused, then smirked as he leaned closer to Kappa. “Anything for you, gigglefish.”

[smilingangel582]

Aren't you too serious?

This is something I enjoyed watching the fukigen na mononkean. I always wanted a lee Abeno because he's just serious and honestly needs to lighten up.

Hehe, warning spoilers alert!

Ashiya Hanae looked to the side where Abeno Haruitsuki finished closing the underworld portal, sending three kappas back.

The blond sighed now, feeling as if a heavy burden was pushed from his shoulders. "That's over..."

Ashiya sheepishly spoke when they reached mononokean. "Hey, how about you relax for the day?"

"Whatever..." he plopped himself down on one of the cushions. He was lying down with his hands through his hair, and Ashiya noticed this feeling slightly guilty about making the mission harder on him having to save him twice.

"Here, let me give you a rub..."

Abeno jolted when he felt Ashiya squeeze his shoulder blades from the top. It startled both of them, and Abeno stumbled back, shaking his head weakly. "I'm fine... you can go home..."

"Are you injured...?" Ashiya reached over in concern, now caressing his collarbone to be assuring. Because of the yukata he wore, his skin was exposed more.

"Wait... your ticklish?" Ashiya connected two by two seeing Abeno's flustered face.

"Insolent fool! Of course not... stop messing around," Abeno staggered back now, slipping clumsily on his back. Taking this as his chance, he pinned down Abeno, who was now beneath him.

"The great master of the mononokean is ticklish? That's something I can't slide, " Ashiya grinned playfully, now digging his fingers into his sides. This made Abeno gasp in astonishment. "A-Ashiya! H-hold on!"

"Never~" he sang like a child, then wad tempted to crumble the flustered teen into giggles.

"Ahashiya!"

"Oh one giggle out!"

Abeno growled now, trying to block the fingers prodding his torso so keenly. "I did -I didn't-gahaha! Nohoho... nohohot thehehere!"

Abeno Haruitsuki, the mononkean, finally broke into sweet giggles. Ashiya was amazed by this sound. He's never heard the latter laugh like this, and it's somehow -cute.

"Not where? Not your super sensitive shoulders? No wonder you jumped, " Ashiya snickered now. He squeezed the shoulders of the blond who arched his back, trying to grip his wrists and push them off. Suddenly crumbling into squeals, which Ashiya hadn't heard from him.

"Hey, you know something, Abeno? Your laugh is adorable, " Ashiya genuinely grinned at thst now firmly pressuring the shoulder blades, finally managing to flip him on his stomach, to attack him better.

"NOHOHOHOT FUHUHUHUNNY AHAHAHAHASHIHIHIYAA"

Ashiya teased him now, "Oho, it sure is... I think you got another spot right here... Abeno-san~?"

With that Ashiya crawled his fingers down his back and Abeno snapped with a shriek "Oi! Ahahahashiyahaha! OKOKOKOK! NONONONOHOHO! PLEHEHEHEASE YOHOHOHOU WIN! YOU WIHIHIN!"

With that, Ashiya backed away. He smirked, "Not so tough now aren't we?"

Abeno glared at him "What... ihin the wohorld was thahat for!"

"Lightening you up, your frown was replaced by a lovely smile." Ashiya patted his head and watched Abeno roll on his back, groaning. "What are you four? God, why are such a pain..."

He squeaked when Ashiya poked his stomach to get his attention. "We're buds, so I won't let you frown so easily."

Abeno Haruitsuki smiled weakly, almost in humour "Gosh what an idiot you are..."

There was a ring of a windchime, suddenly gathering their attention. The mononkean script wrote, Itsuki is super sensitive around his neck... it makes him giggly! ^w^

Ashiya felt a smirk curl up now as he leaned closer to a now standing Abeno. He was taller a little bit, Ashiya seemed to grab him easily by breathing on his neck.

"Knohock it off! Or ehelese, I'm cuhuhting your paycheck!"

"Sorry oh master of the mononkean!"

"Cut it out! Both of you!"

[aplushemporium]

🎯🎯🎯

Send a 🎯 to learn a random headcanon I have for my muse (accepting!)

🎯 Ana’s ticklish and is easily reduced to giggles with raspberries. She’s already a giggly child at that. Is tickling a good method to cheer her up? ...kind of. But it can easily backfire. And she does not like physical contact from strangers at that. Generally if one finds her distressed, just find someone she trusts and have them hold her.

🎯 Morgana can and will always find a way into your house. ALWAYS. It’s not only a trait of a phantom thief but it’s a cat thing too. 85% of the the Mona Mona break ins are because they’re hungry. 10% is because they want affection. And 5% is actually PT duty related. They’re just a selfish brat...

🎯 This isn’t 100% related to Firefly, aka what I call the pink kung fu ball girl, but she is the significant party here, ‘cause...the whole HOLY FRICK YOUNG CRICKET WAS PART OF THE KUNG FU BALL KIDS thing, and then they did that trailer with Master Mantis raising them, and like, the art in GiT where he’s training the three kids. Wait, you say THREE?

WHO THE F IS THIS?

...well canonically we don’t know jack. I personally say they’re actually the human form of the kappa who tosses the ball in the Kung Fu Ball. Kid just wanted to vibe more as a river spirit or something.

I mean...the hair *sort of* resembles the Kappa’s water crown thingie...but that’s just my headcanon. But I generally see the 3rd kid as another student Mantis picked up along with Cricket, while Firefly is his granddaughter. Firefly found the kid with brown hair as another sibling to train with, though she admittedly paid more attention to Cricket as a rival.

Now, this 3rd kid could be like...gonezo or something...I’ve seen that theory bounced around. And hey, Firefly/Butterfly/Cicada/Dragonfly could be like...NOT Mantis’s granddaughter. But regardless, there’s lots to theorize about WarioWare and Rhythm Heaven and we should appreciate that.

[jamesashtonisbae]

The Freshman Series Ch. 6

Word Count: 3,439

Pairing: James x MC

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Language, sexual undertones

Summary: Chapter 6 of The Freshman Series from Choices.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to pixelberry studios.  The dialogue is from PB, with some of it written by me.  I will change the storyline a bit when things are out of character for people, particularly Lacey and James. 

Ch. 6

"I can't believe we're still waiting to get in!  Is this line even moving?" Lacey asked, swearing that it had not moved for thirty minutes.  She checked her watch, noting it had only been five minutes.  She’d always been a bit dramatic when it came to time.

 "Unbelievable.  Those girls dragged Chris inside, and we're stuck out here waiting in line like... like non-VIPs!" Kaitlyn exclaimed.

 "We are non-VIPs,” Abbie pointed out matter-of-factly.

 "You're totally a VIP, Abbie!” Tyler said with a grin. “But... I am starting to regret coming here.”

"Are we really the type of people who scurry back to our dorm at the first sign of trouble?" Zack exclaimed defiantly.

 "No, but that one guy on the football team is guarding the door, and he has a list!" Tyler frowned.

 "So?" Kaitlyn asked.

 "Well if I had to guess, I'd say we are not on it,” Tyler muttered.

 "As far as I'm concerned, we belong on the top of every list.  We're getting into this party ASAP before those harpies get their hands all over your man,” Zack determined.

 "Zack!  I never said Chris was 'mine'!" Lacey protested.  She did like Chris, as a person.  And she did enjoy sleeping with him.  But she didn’t want to be with him.  She didn’t think.  He was super sexy when he was playing football, she had to admit.

 "Right, right... no labels,” Zack said with a sigh.

 "Are you even listening to me? Chris and I are just friends!" Lacey protested.

 "So... let's make sure your friend doesn't end up dating some evil sorority girl!" Zack said with a smile.

 "We've got to do this for the sake of the suite.  Can you imagine what our lives are gonna be like if Chris has one of those vapid social climbers over all the time?" Tyler moaned.

 "They say that suffering helps forge great art... but I don't need my art to be that good!" Abbie joked.  Lacey playfully shoved her, and Abbie shot her a grin.

 "We can't have that!  We can't let Chris date those girls!" Tyler agreed with Abbie.

 "Guys, I think Chris is capable of taking care of himself..." Lacey started.

 "Lacey!" Kaitlyn yelled at her.

 "Okay, well we can at least try to get in so we can have fun,” Lacey decided, hoping James was going to be there.  He didn’t seem to be the type to go to parties, but he surprised her often enough.  And she thought he had kind of agreed to come when she asked him the night before.

 "Abbie, Lacey... let's go,” Kaityln gestured to the door.

 "Say what?! You're leaving me and Tyler behind?" Zack was hurt.

 "Sorry guys... but this is the sad reality.  Cute girls always get into parties.  Guys have to wait,” Kaitlyn smiled.

 "But this is a sorority party!  If anything, guys should have an easier time getting in,” Zack reasoned.

 "You are not making sense right now,” Kaitlyn argued.

 "What do you think, Lacey?" Zack asked.

 "I think I'll try to get in with Kaitlyn... Logan flirts with me all the time, so he’ll probably let me in," Lacey said. It was pretty obvious that the girls were going to get in easier than they guys.  And she was most of all.  Logan thought she was hot, and her outfit today already had his stamp of approval.

 "Yay!  Good choice!" Kaitlyn grabbed Abbie and Lacey by the arms and tugged them to the front of the line.

 "Ugh, fine.  See you inside,” Zack agreed.

 Lacey, Kaitlyn, and Abbie approached the front of the line, where a football player barred the door to the house.

 "Hold on, girls.  Are you on the list?" Logan asked, looking Lacey up and down approvingly.  He winked at her.  She winked back.

 "Yeah.  We're listed under 'Girls.'  First name 'Hot,’” Kaitlyn said with a flirty smile.

 "Yep. 'Hot Girls.' There you are, right at the top.  Head on in,” Logan squeezed Lacey’s shoulder as she passed.  Lacey smiled flirtily and waltzed away from him.

 "Was I right, or was I right, Lacey?" Kaitlyn asked.

 "You were right,” Lacey smiled.  Logan was a sucker for her, and if she’d met him even a day earlier, she would have totally slept with him.

 "Okay.  Time to find Chris, save the day and... hold the phone!  Jell-O shots!" Kaitlyn got distracted, easily distracted when it came to alcohol. She grabbed two Jell-O shots and downed them both, "So.  Good.  All the fun of being a kid, plus, you know, alcohol."

 Abbie grabbed a cup and licked the Jell-O's surface, "This tastes like poison.”

 “Lacey! Hey!” a masculine voice from behind her called out.

 Lacey turned around and saw the only person she wanted to see.  She ginned as he made his way over to her.  He was holding two drinks, and offered one to her.

 “Oh, thank you.  I don’t drink though.”

 “I remembered, it’s a Shirley Temple,” James smiled over at her softly.

 “You had enough time to see me and grab this?” she asked, flattered he remembered that she didn’t drink and that he had grabbed her something to drink.

“I was at the bar when I saw you, so I just added this to my order quickly.  It took the bartender like two seconds to make it.”

 “Oh, well, thank you,” she grabbed the drink and smiled over at him.

 “I know I just handed you a drink, but do you want to dance?” James asked her.

 Lacey smiled up at him, took a big sip of her drink, and said, “Suddenly, not so thirsty anymore.  Or at least a different type of thirsty.  Let’s dance.”

 James laughed, then took her hand and pulled her out into the center of the group of people.  He looked over at her softly, and she slipped an arm around his neck, pulling him closer.  With a smirk, he wrapped his arms around her waist.  They moved well together, dancing with all of themselves pressed into each other. Lacey relished the feeling of their hips moving in sync, and his hands pulling her closer, and his eyes burning into hers.  Suddenly, she was very glad she had decided to come.

 “You’ve got moves, Ashton,” she ran her hands up and down his chest.

 “I could say the same for you, Morgan,” he blushed as she trailed a finger down his arm, squeezing his bicep gently.

 “Damn, James.  Do you work out?  Your arm feels incredible.”

 He blushed again and looked away for a moment, then said, “I work out a little.  It helps get me out of my head a little.”

 Lacey grinned up at him as he pressed her closer to him with a firm hand on her back.  With one hand draped over his shoulder and the other gripping his bicep, she chuckled, feeling at home being with James.  She had completely forgotten about why her friends had made her come as a slow jam came on, and James shifted so that his hands were on her waist, and she could move both of her arms to drape around his neck.

 He smiled softly at her, “This is nice.”

 “This is very nice,” she settled her head on his chest, very happily clinging to him as he rocked them back and forth gently. She was falling for this man, who was so much older than her, so much wiser than her, so much smarter and prettier than her, and surely so much more experienced than her.  And potentially not as interested in her as she was in him.

 “James,” Lacey began, and he tilted his head to look down at her.  “I didn’t think this would be your type of thing…”

 “It’s not,” he said honestly.

 “You mean that you don’t go to Kappa parties and dance with random beautiful girls all the time?”

 “No.  I’ve never been to one of these parties.”

 “Why are you here now?”

 “I figured that the pretty girl from work that I like who is roommates with the hero quarterback from the game tonight was probably going to be here and I wanted to dance with her.”

 “You work with a pretty girl?  How ever do you get any work done?”

 James laughed, and Lacey lost herself in his melty brown eyes.  They grinned at each other, and he pulled her closer.  She started leaning up towards him, and almost as if pulled together by magnets, he leaned down towards her.

 "Lacey! I.. I think I see Chris over there!" Abbie rushed over to Lacey, interrupting her and James.  Lacey groaned, staring daggers at Abbie, “Oops!” Abbie apologized.  Lacey covered her face and groaned again.  James looked disappointed too.

 "You guys stay here.  I'll head over to say hi,” Lacey said to the two of them, then begrudgingly walked over to Chris.

 "So be honest, Chris... are you ticklish?" Madison asked, tilting her head flirtily.

 "Your bottle is empty.  Chris!  Let me get you another beer!  That last story was hilarious.  Don't you dare tell another one until I get back, okay?" Becca rested her hand on his arm as he grinned over at her.

 "Heh.  Sure thing,” Chris smiled.

 "Hey, Chris!  Hey Madison!" Lacey exclaimed, waving at the two of them.  Chris’s face lit up.

 "Lacey!  There you are!  I thought maybe you decided not to come!" Chris reached out and gave her a side hug.

 "I just got a little delayed.  But I'm here now,” Lacey smiled at him, squeezing his side, “You did good today, slugger.”

 "I'm glad you came..." Chris smiled down at her, then pulled her aside, "I've been thinking about you all night."

 "Chris, it's a party.  Be more fun.  Brooding isn't a good look for you.  This is a party!  Celebrating you throwing the winning pass in our game tonight.  Loosen up!" Lacey poked his side.

 "Fun, huh?  Kinda like the fun we had two weeks ago?" Chris smirked down at her, winking.  She felt her stomach flip as she looked into those eyes… it wasn’t unlike when she was looking into James’s eyes earlier.  How could she not be sure?  Why did Chris keep coming up in her mind?  She wanted James.  She knew that.  But sometimes she didn’t know how he felt, and she knew how Chris felt.  She didn’t respond to him, her mind spinning.

 "Fun... I think I remember hearing about that..." Chris tried again.

 They were interrupted as Becca approached and threw her arms around Chris’s waist, "Why does this girl keep following you around, Chris? Please tell me you're not dating her."

 "Lacey... Lacey is a good friend,” Chris smiled at her, looking her in the eyes, and she was suddenly wishing that she was with James, her stomach finally settling on which one she wanted.

 "Actually Becca, I was wondering if I could talk to Chris for a few minutes, and then I'll bring him back.  Of course, Chris, that is only if you have a few minutes to talk,” Lacey smiled up at him. She wanted to talk to him about the football game and see how he was doing.  It was a big moment for him, and he deserved a moment to talk about it. All she wanted was to try to be his friend, and figured talking to him now would be a good start.

 "Sorry, but you had your chance.  Plus, I already told Chris he's mine for the night,” Becca smirked at Lacey.

 "Kappa house party rules!  If you really want Chris, you've got to win him!" Logan exclaimed, clearly very drunk.  He gestured to a nearby beer pong table.

 "Did you really just make up rules for our sorority?" Madison asked, a bit in shock.

 "Logan!  You're supposed to be guarding the door!" Becca exclaimed, disappointed.

 "Eh.  I got bored and let everyone in,” Logan shrugged.

 Lacey looked around and realized all of her friends had gathered around her.  Except James. She couldn’t find James.  She hoped he hadn’t left when she went to talk to Chris.  Why had she told him that she slept with Chris?  She wanted James, she told James she had been with someone else, she had left James to go talk to that someone else, of course he was going to leave.

 "A beer pong match to get some time with Chris... I do love a game with high stakes!" Zack exclaimed, grabbing Lacey by the shoulders.

 "You've got this, Lacey!" Kaitlyn cheered her on.

 "I'm not some trophy to be won and paraded around... usually!" Chris looked like he was enjoying the attention of, arguably, the two prettiest girls in the room.

 "Objection noted!  Now let's play!  What do you say?  Lacey versus Becca.  The winner gets ten minutes with our new starting quarterback,” Logan smiled, looking down at Lacey, clearly ready to devour her.

 "Gladly.  I haven't lost a match since freshman year.  And I know exactly how I want to spend my ten minutes,” Becca smirked at Lacey, running her finger down Chris’s chest.

 "All I wanted was to talk to him for a couple of minutes... I wouldn't even need ten.  And I don't drink.  Chris, I'll just talk to you when I get home,” Lacey waved to Chris, and the rest of her friends.

 "Lacey, wait, let's talk,” Chris followed her as she walked out of the house.

 "So... what's going on? It seems like you had something to say,” Chris asked.

 "I just, wanted to talk to you about the game, see how you were doing.  That was kind of crazy, wasn’t it?”

 Chris smiled sheepishly, “It really was crazy. I knew I could do it, and I’m so glad I got the opportunity.  This is everything I had hoped for.”

 “Yeah?  You did awesome.  I’m really proud of you, Chris.”

 “Thanks, Lacey,” he squeezed her arm and they shared a smile.

 “Glad to be off the bench?”

 “I am.  I get that I needed to bide my time, but I am so incredibly grateful to be the starter now.  It’s way better.”

 “So, how are things with you and Becca?  You guys together now or what?”

 "Lacey... I... I don’t know.  I can’t really decide when I feel so strongly about you… But I know you don’t really want that right now…" Chris sighed, trailing off at the end.

 "I'm sorry... I'm just... not so sure that you and I feel the same way.  I hate seeing you sad.  But I don't think that means I want to be with you,” Lacey clarified.

 Chris took a step back.

 "So that's it... you wanted to know about Becca and I?" Chris asked, disappointed.

 "I guess... I kinda just wanted to check in on you.  I guess if you don't want anything though, I'll let it go,” Lacey shrugged.

 "Okay... well..." Chris sighed.

 "Yo, Chris? Where you at?"  Logan called from the door.

 "Chris?  Chris?  Are you out here?" Becca called after Logan had.

 "It... it sounds like I'd better head back in.  Goodbye for now, Lacey,” Chris squeezed her arm and walked away.

 "Chris..." Lacey whispered after him.

 He walked back into the sorority house. Lacey waited outside for a few minutes, and then decided that she should leave.  As she was walking down the path, she heard a familiar voice call her name. She whipped her head around and saw James.  She grinned, and waited for him at the end of the path.

 “Hey!  I thought you’d left already,” Lacey said once he caught up to her.

 “No, I was looking for you.  Then I saw you come out here with Chris.  You okay?” he looked concerned.

 “Um, yeah.  I’m good.  I didn’t really want to go back in there.  I don’t even know why I wanted to talk to him.  I didn’t have anything real to say.”

 “You have feelings for him,” James couldn’t meet her eyes.

 “James!  I don’t!” she insisted.

 “It seems to me that you have feelings for him from where I’m standing.”

 “James, please.  I don’t have feelings for him,” she begged.

 “Why are you being so adamant about this?”

 “James!”

 “Sorry, sorry.  If you say you don’t have feelings for him, then you don’t.  What’s going on, then?”

 “So, my roommates all know that I slept with Chris, and they just keep pushing the two of us together, even though I insist it was a casual thing…”

 “I don’t think he thinks it was casual.”

 “But I told him it was!  Why doesn’t anyone believe me about this?”  Lacey was exasperated.

 James pulled her into his arms, “Hey.  I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.  I won’t bring it up again.  It meant nothing, and I believe you,” he stroked her hair softly. In spite of how frustrated she was, she smiled.

 They stood like that for a few minutes, and Lacey’s heart stopped pounding inside of her chest, and her smile stayed.  She looked up at James, and he looked down at her, and she was hoping and praying for a continuation of what they had started out on the dance floor.

 “Lacey,” he whispered, cupping her face in his very large, strong, soft hand.  “I want to kiss you, but not like this.  Not when you’re sad like this.”

 “I want to kiss you, too.  Even like this.”

 “Lacey,” he whispered again, Lacey delighting in how her name sounded coming off his lips.

 She pulled away slowly, and he took her hand. They started walking down the path to Lacey’s suite, their hands swinging in between them.  Lacey was so happy in that moment, even with all of the Chris drama that seemed to come up even though she didn’t want it to, James was here, holding her hand.  And that was enough.

 "Hey!  There you are!  We looked everywhere for you.  What happened?” Tyler interrupted the two of them.  They kept holding hands as her roommates walked up. She thought about dropping his hand, but decided not to.  She liked holding his hand.

 "Oh, I was just talking to Chris and then ran into James,” Lacey gestured towards James.

 “Good to see you, James,” Tyler smiled over at him.

 “You too.  Lacey, I’ll see you later okay?”

 “Okay,” she smiled up at him.  He squeezed her hand before pulling away.  She watched him walk away for a little while, then turned back to her friends.

 "Where's Chris now?" Tyler asked.

 "Let's not even talk about it,” Kaitlyn sighed, more upset about it than her dark haired roommate.  Lacey rolled her eyes, not excited about talking to her roommates about Chris.  But if they mentioned noticing her and James holding hands… she wouldn’t be upset about that.

 "Maybe it's just better to get some sleep and forget tonight ever happened,” Abbie sighed.  Apparently they were more frustrated about Chris and Becca than Lacey.

 Lacey thought back to James, and his hand warm in hers... and she knew she never wanted to forget it...

 "Oh shoot!  I have to write that 'football life' article for Vasquez!" Lacey thought as she was thinking about James, she murmured, mostly to herself, "I'll write about football players' relationship drama.”

 "Sounds like my kind of essay!  I'll look forward to reading it!" Kaitlyn exclaimed.

 Lacey spent some time finishing the article, which she had done, mostly.  She was going to edit it the next day.  Once it was all pieced together, Lacey went to bed.

 …

 On Monday, after working out with Ericka and going to her classes, she reported to Vasquez’s office.  She turned in her assignment, and he took it with a dissatisfied grunt.  He seemed pleased, then left, asking Lacey if she would alphabetize a stack of papers he had graded.

 "Hey, there you are!  It looks like you somehow managed to satisfy the professor with your assignment,” James opened the door and joined her at the table by the window.

 "Is it that hard to believe?" Lacey smiled over at him.

 "Honestly? Yes.  He pretty much hates everyone and everything.  Consider me impressed,” James smiled down at her, squeezing her hand before pulling out his notebook.

 "I'll try not to let it go to my head,” Lacey smirked at him.

 She watched James's grin just as Professor Vasquez entered the room again and cleared his throat.

 "This... this is perfect.  It's got all the heartache of a Victorian romance.  But situated in a modern milieu.  And the evil sorority girl is the perfect villain.  In fact... I think I just figured out your next assignment!” Vasquez declared. “You are going to join Kappa Phi Sigma Sorority!"

[butterflyiiisms]

“I swear if you tickle me…” ( Ludo )

“You’ll do what, Star?” was the playful challenging retort of the little kappa just daring her to do something.

While tickling was once a heavy phobia of the monster, living and bonding with his siblings had adjusted him to the method of play he frequently found himself subjected to. In short it was far more enjoyable of an activity with someone you loved and trusted than a traumatizing clown on your Birthday. And in the time between his redemption the princess had become such for him.

“Little ticklish are we?” His voice had adapted a kind of malice it usually held with any of his victims, but far more playful. “I’m made of feathers, I think I have the advantage here!” As if the girl wasn’t capable of kicking his feathered hide to Connecticut.

[maxattack-powell]

The Freshman 1-6

Book 1-6

Chapter 6: Kappa House Party

Masterlist - go here for other chapters and related original fics

Disclaimer: The following are fics (adaptations from actual game chapters AND original works) to Choices: The Freshman and The Sophomore stories. It is a fictional adaptation. I (we) do not work for Pixelberry Studios, the game developer or own the rights to the characters Chris Powell, Nicole or any other IN GAME character. All of the ORIGINAL characters, storylines and events were developed for my adaptation of The Freshman story.

Comments: I enjoyed playing Choices The Freshman… and then I found this awesome group of people and their works - I’ve loved it all, very much so. Deciding that I wanted more interaction than the options allowed, I’ve gone through the first book, chapter by chapter (omg painfully slow) to follow the story (95-99% I’d say) and add to it as I felt would benefit.

Basically, I wanted to include certain things that weren’t really full fic size worthy, adding to the story. However, I did add some full size fic moments also… some are included in cannon chapters, some are their own full chapters in between. I wanted to see MC and Chris through their freshman year… with more angst, fluff, sweetness, real life and overall detail. So, if you like that pairing then you’ll be satisfied, otherwise sorry James & Kaitlyn fans lol. I even added some parts from Chris’s POV, so that we have a chance to see what he’s thinking, knowing what she experienced.

There will be ADULT and/or NSFW moments in certain chapters - this is a warning lol. I will try my best to make it obvious as it occurs…

Paring: MC x Chris

POV: ~MC~ or ~Chris~

~MC~

A few hours after the game, MC and friends are at the Kappa Phi party. There's only one problem. They aren't actually at the party. MC glowers as she glares at the front door. "I can't believe we're still waiting to get in! Is this line even moving?" Kaitlyn throws her hands on her hips and shakes her head. "Unbelievable. Those girls dragged Chris inside, and were stuck out here waiting in line like... like non-VIPs!" Abbie makes a face at her. "Um, Kaitlyn... we are non-VIPs." Tyler gasps. "You're totally a VIP, Abbie! But…” He lets out a huff of air. “I am starting to regret coming here." Zack moves to stand in front of the others with a look of determination. "Are we really the type of people who scurry back to our dorm at the first sign of trouble?" Tyler shakes his head but frowns. "No, but that one guy on the football team is guarding the door, and he has a list!" "So?" Kaitlyn snorts. "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say we're not on it." Tyler gives her a pointed look.

Zack slams his fist into his open hand. "As far as I'm concerned, we belong at the top of every list. We're getting into this party ASAP, before those harpies get their hands all over your man." MC gives him a dejected look. "Zack... I never said Chris was 'mine'." Zack nods dismissively as he pats her on the shoulder. "Right... Right. No labels." "They better not mess with him." She still mumbles between her clenched teeth. "Okay, now you're scaring me. I like it." Zack laughs. "So... let's make sure your friend doesn't end up dating some evil sorority girl." Kaitlyn clenches both hands into fists as she turns to them all. "We've got to do this for the sake of the suite! Can you imagine what our lives are gonna be like if Chris has one of those vapid social climbers over all the time?" She shudders at the thought. Abbie looks somewhat thoughtful. "They say that suffering helps forge great art... but I don't need my art to be that good!" Tyler’s eyes go wide. "We can't have that! We can't let Chris date those girls." He makes a disgusted face as he quickly shakes his head. MC looks around them all. "Well... yeah. For Chris's own sake, we need to get him out of there." Kaitlyn suddenly gets very serious. "Abbie, MC... let's go." Zack throws his hand up. "Say what?! You're leaving me and Tyler behind?!" Kaitlyn turns and frowns at them. "Sorry guys... but this is the sad reality. Cute girls always get into parties. Guys have to wait." Zack’s mouth falls open. "But this is a sorority party! If anything guys should have an easier time getting in." Kaitlyn rolls her eyes. "You are sooo not making sense right now." Zack turns to MC, eyes pleading. "What do you think, MC?" MC looks at them both as they wait for an answer. "I think I'll try to get in with... Kaitlyn.” She flashes Zack an apologetic smile. Kaitlyn grins. "Yay! Good choice!" Zack pouts. "Ugh. Fine. See you inside." He crosses his arms and turns to Tyler.

MC, Kaitlyn and Abbie approach the front of the line. A football player she recognizes from the winning touchdown earlier, bars the door to the house. "Hold on, girls. Are you on the list?" Kaitlyn flashes him a sexy smile. "Yeah. We're listed under 'Girls.' First name 'Hot.'" He smiles, almost predatorily. "Yep. 'Hot girls.' There you are, right at the top. Head on in." He winks at Kaitlyn. As they cross the threshold into the Kappa House Kaitlyn beams with victory. "Was I right or what, MC?" MC laughs and bumps her shoulder into Kaitlyn's. "You were right." Kaitlyn stands up straight, ready to go. "Okay. Time to find Chris, save the day and... hold the phone. Jell-O shots!"

She runs away from MC and Abbie, reaching the drink station where she noticed a huge selection of different colored Jell-O shots. She downs two instantly. "So. Good. All the fun of being a kid plus, you know, alcohol." Abbie grabs one from the table and licks the jello's surface. "This tastes like poison." She gags and tosses it into the trash nearby. MC holds her hand up to refute Kaitlyn's offer of a green shot and looks around instead. "I... I think I see Chris over there." She points towards the living room area. "You guys stay here with the jello... I'm going in alone." Chris doesn't notice her approach as his back is towards her. Madison is with him though, clearly being flirtatious. "So be honest, Chris... are you ticklish?" MC didn't notice at first, but Becca was there as well, suddenly shifting into view but not yet seeing her approach. "Your bottle is empty, Chris. Let me get you another beer! That last story was hilarious. Don't you dare tell another one until I get back, okay?" He gives a light laugh. "Heh. Sure thing." MC takes the opportunity to join the small circle that has formed around him, tenderly placing her hand on his shoulder, anchoring to him as she pivots into view. "Hey, Chris." He looks startled for a second. "MC! There you are! I thought maybe you decided not to come." He reaches around her shoulders and gives her a quick hug. "I just got a little.. delayed. But I'm here now." She raises her hands as if to present herself. "I'm glad you came..." Chris takes her aside and whispers. "I've been thinking about you all night."

A delightful shiver runs down her spine, beginning from his firm grip on her shoulder as he pulls her close, the feeling running to her toes. She bites her lip and takes a deep breath.

"Chris... I've been thinking about you, too.” She reaches up and brushes his hair around his ear. “Besides, brooding isn't a good look for you. You're supposed to be having fun, Mr. Quarterback." She smiles and lightly pokes him in the side. He sucks in a breath, making her wonder if he is ticklish or simply surprised by the contact. "There's something I wanted to ask you. I know we said no promises..." His eyes fixate on hers, burning a deep blue.

"Did we? Because I'm starting to regret that…” She whispers. “...and for now at least, it looks like I won't have to leave Hartfeld." She tugs at the hem of his Henley. "You, I--" Chris is interrupted as Becca reappears, throwing her arm around his waist. "Why does this girl keep following you around Chris? Please tell me you're not dating her." Becca pouts as she turns her face to his. Completely thrown off his previous train of thought, Chris suddenly looks anxious at her words. "MC... MC is a good friend." Sensing his mood shift, MC reaches out and gently touches his bicep. "Chris... I was actually wondering if you had a few more minutes to talk.” She places her hand on his arm, searching his eyes for the expression he had moments before. Becca narrows her eyes at MC, shifting her own and in turn, Chris's position away from her. "Sorry, but you had your chance. Plus, I already told Chris he's mine for the night." The football player who let them in interjects himself into the conversation. "Kappa House party rules! If you really want Chris, you've got to win him." He laughs and forcefully pats Chris on the back as he gestures to a nearby beer pong table. Madison reappears, looking at him incredulously. "Did you just make up rules for our sorority?" Becca suddenly realizes what his presence means, a look of horror crosses her face. "Logan! You're supposed to be guarding the door!" He shrugs and smirks at her, clearly not worried about her wrath. "Eh. I got bored and let everyone in." MC then looks around and realizes all of her friends have gathered near. Zack comes close and discreetly whispers into her ear. "A beer pong match to get some time with Chris.. I do love a game with high stakes!" Kaitlyn cheers loudly from her other side. "You've got this, MC!" Chris begins to look uncomfortable, obviously not sure this is a good idea. "I'm not some trophy to be won and paraded around..." He shakes his head and looks confused. "...usually." He runs his hand through his hair, an action MC doesn't miss. She hates that he's being put on the spot. Logan roughly pats Chris on the back. "Objection noted. Now let's play! What do you say? MC versus Becca. The winner gets ten minutes with our new starting quarterback." Becca gives MC a confident smile. "Gladly. I haven't lost a match since freshman year, and I know exactly how I want to spend my ten minutes." MC raises her eyebrow and looks at the group forming around them with an astounded look. "I just want to talk to Chris." Seeing everyone's expecting faces, her face turns into a determined scowl as she shakes her head. "It's on." After a few minutes to setup the table, MC and Becca face off across from each other. "Round one!" Logan shouts. MC grinds her teeth slightly, clearly irritated at this ridiculous situation. She easily scores on Becca without even putting in much effort. She stands up straight and proud. "That's what I'm talking about."

Kaitlyn and Zack high five each other standing to her right as Abbie and Tyler anxiously watch from her left. Chris is also on her right side, with Logan standing in the middle of the table, acting as his sentry and scoring the game.

MC briefly makes eye contact with Chris after scoring, which she notices his small, almost unnoticeable fist pump. He quickly curves his face to a causal expression and takes a sip of his beer, back to acting neutral. "Rooooound twooooo!" Logan exclaims, somehow even louder than before. His antics causing a larger crowd to gather. Becca huffs at MC while giving her a look that makes MC question her next move. "My turn..."

As she begins to set her move up, Zack leans over and whispers into MC's ear. "You should try and distract her! Get inside her head!" Liking his idea, MC slightly nods and acknowledges Becca. "Hey, Becca... there's a stain on your dress." She points towards Becca’s person, causing her to stagger back and begin her search. "A stain? What? Where?!" Her frantic search continues, causing her shot to miss, going wide. Zack and Kaitlyn cheer loudly and hug, spinning in a circle. MC laughs at their excitement and turns back towards the table, grimacing dramatically. "Oops. I guess it wasn't a stain at all. Just a shadow... my bad! Sorry you missed your shot." Becca's glare deepens, her eyes narrowing at MC. "It's not over yet..." Logan leans over the center of the table, his hand coming down as if he's going to chop it in half. "ROUND THREEEEEE!" Zack leans in towards MC and quietly speaks. "I've been watching you toss... and I think I have some advice. Adding a little backspin will help you sink more shots." His voice volume apparently wasn't low enough as Becca heard it all, giving them both a triumphant devious smile. "Nothing's gonna help MC with this game!" Tyler moves his way closer, eager to help. "Are you guys talking physics? Because I've got a lot of thoughts on the trajectory of the ball." He begins to move his hands about as he describes his plans. "See, if MC was able to increase the angle of her arc by about ten degrees..." MC shakes her head and clasps them both on the shoulder. "Guys... I'm getting confused." Zack playfully shoves at Tyler who throws his hands up in defeat, smiling as he walks back towards Abbie. She pats him on the back and hands him his drink, trying not to show her amusement.

Zack grabs her face between his hands, staring at her intently. "Don't listen to anyone else, MC! Just remember what I said!" He winks at her and rejoins Kaitlyn a few feet away.

She looks one more time at Chris, who she now realizes has been watching her the entire time. He gives her a warm smile, slightly laced with discomfort from the entire scenario. She returns his smile and turns her focus back on the game. "Okay, gotta use some backspin..." As she says the word, she mimics the action on the ball. It easily goes in and her hands shoot up in the air. "Nothing but net!" Becca more than dislikes this result and actually stomps her foot. "You've got to be kidding me..." They both realize that it has all come down to this, the final shot. Logan again announces the score and how they are neck and neck. Chris runs his hand through his hair and let's out a big breath of air as Logan grabs him roughly in an energetic hug. "Begin!" MC smiles and lines up her shot. "Here goes nothing."

Her ball sails through the air and lands directly in Becca's remaining cup. The crowd erupts, loud cheering and boos can be heard as cups fly around the room. Zack runs to MC and grabs her face, kissing her on the forehead. Kaitlyn grabs Abbie and Tyler, making them spin in a circle while she jumps up and down whooping and hollering. Becca's mouth hangs open in shock. "That's... that's impossible. I'm unbeatable!" Madison slowly moves next to her, attempting to console her. MC pauses her celebration to respond. "Correction. You were unbeatable. Until now."

The crowd cheers louder than before, and her friends hoist her onto their shoulders. She laughs and squeals out of fear of being dropped. Kaitlyn grabs MC's hand and raises it triumphantly, smiling up at her. "That's my girl! Beer pong champion of the world!" As her friends begin to lower her to the ground, MC feels someone wrap their hand aground her wrist. It's warm and firm, so she knows who it is before she even turns to look. Chris's blue eyes meet hers and he smiles, sliding his hand down to enclose on hers, giving her a light squeeze. "Looks like you've won me for a few minutes..." She interlaces her fingers with his. "And I plan to make the most of my time. Come with me." She tugs at him and he gladly follows as they head outside. MC hopes they can finally speak in private. They go around the dark side of the house, avoiding the more active areas of the yard like the front door and back deck. When she let's go of his hand he shoves them into his jean pockets, leaning against the house. He is no longer smiling, but instead focused, intently looking at her as he waits for her next move. "So... what's going on? It seems like you had something to say." MC starts rubbing her hands together, squeezing them slightly as she tries to gather her thoughts. "I just..." She looks up at his face briefly then looks down at her shoes, giving a weak shrug. "I didn't like seeing you with those girls."

Even as she said it, MC hated the words. Unbelieving that she would actually say something like that. She wondered what was going on inside her head. She's never felt or reacted like this to someone before. Chris tilts his head, studying her movements. "Madison and Becca? You should give them a chance. They're actually pretty cool once you get to know them." Her nose wrinkles a little at the thought. "Somehow I really doubt that." She grumbles, not meeting his gaze. He lets out a small sigh, pulling his hands out of his pockets, one rubbing up and down the other's forearm. "Well... they've been nothing but nice to me." MC lets out a tiny scoff and moves next to him, also leaning against the house. She crosses her arms and lets out a huff of air. "They don't even know you! All they see is a guy in a football uniform!"

She wanted him to see how shallow they are. Especially compared to their suitemates, who clearly wanted to be friends on a much deeper level. She wanted to know him on a deeper level too, if he would let her in. He turns to her with a scowl, leaning with one hand against the house, angling closer to her. She could now tell he was clearly irritated.

"Oh... so you're assuming there's no other reason someone might like me?" He looks beyond disappointed and upset. She takes a step back, raising her hands, trying not to let her own irritation bleed through, somewhat unsuccessfully. "That's not what I said." Her voice raises as she continues. "I'm just saying... Becca is so... so... manipulative." Her fists now tight balls at her side, shaking with emphasis on each word. Chris's shoulders relax as he leans his back flat against the house, his voice calm and steady. "I'm not sure about that... if anything, I think Becca is pretty straightforward." She quickly punches one fist into the other palm, now beyond frustrated. "See! The fact that you think that proves how manipulative she is!" Without looking at her he places his hand on the back of his neck, his voice lower than before. "I think..." Now purposefully avoiding her gaze. "I think Becca is someone who knows what she wants, and she takes it." Chris rubs the scruff on his face, contemplating his own words. MC leans back on the wall as well, becoming very still and very quiet. Chris almost has to struggle to hear her words. "It must be nice to be so... certain." She doesn't move her eyes from her own shoes, her disappointment growing across her face. "Do you know what you want?" He shakes his head, shoving his hands back into his pockets. "I don't know." He says in a single breath. "Maybe that's why I admire Becca... because I'm so all over the place right now." She looks up to gauge his expression, hearing the uncertainty in his words. She offers him a small, cautious smile. "So what can I do to help you get some clarity?" Chris opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. He clears his throat and attempts to speak again. "MC... I..." Sensing him locking up MC makes a move, slowly shifting towards him. He looks up from the ground and holds her eyes. She reaches one hand up, cupping his cheek and touches her lips softly to his.

He doesn't hesitate, his hands instantly on her. One runs through her hair at the base of her neck, while the other wraps around her waist, pulling her close. She kisses him hungrily, cradling his head between her hands. He firmly grabs her hips, anchoring himself to her. When they separate it's only by the lips, both slightly gasping for air. Their bodies are still close, his hands holding her to him as he tilts his head to meet hers.

Her eyes are closed but she finally speaks with a smile as he watches her mouth move. "Tell me there's not still something here, and I'll walk away." Her hands are flat against his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat under his warm Henley shirt. He gives her a satisfying quiet laugh and rubs her upper arms, his body vibrating against her from the intense contact. "There's still something here..."

He takes her chin in his hand, turning her face up to his, waiting until she opens her eyes. "MC... that first time I met you... I'd never felt a spark like that with anyone. I know we have an amazing connection."

He looks deeply into her eyes for another moment as she notices how dark his blue eyes now appear to be. Chris leans in for a soft kiss to her collarbone, trailing up her neck before continuing the slow, languishing kisses up to her jaw. He closes in on her mouth slowly, sensually, coaxing her lips open. He presses her against the wall of the sorority house, his leg splitting hers as he pins her against the wall, causing her to gasp. She grips his biceps as he melts into her. She breaks away to come up for air. "Oh... Chris..." She breathes heavily, gulping for more air.

He guides them further away from the door and more into the shadows. His hands move back down to her hips, pushing up the hem of her shirt. His thumbs rub across the top of her jeans and the smooth skin of her stomach, until he feels something rough. That's when he remembers. He pulls away from her, looking down at his hands. She gives him a puzzled look. He grins and slowly begins to lift up her shirt, revealing the painted letter on her stomach. She laughs quietly as she realizes what he's doing, her breath growing more rapid as his fingers outline the letter ‘C’ on her skin.

He looks back up to her eyes, his own sparkling in the dim light. “I’m not sure how, but I almost forgot to check this out.” He grins as his fingers run across the letter again, causing her to shiver at the contact of his warm fingers. “I can't believe you did this.” His smile grows as she bites her lip and sucks in a quick breath at his curious contact. “And I really can't believe you talked the others into it.”

They laugh together before turning quiet again, his eyes studying her own intently. His hands have yet to move from her exposed stomach as he leans in, gently bringing his lips back to hers. He finishes the kiss on her lips before moving back down her chin, then her neck, softly placing a trail of small kisses down across her collarbone again. MC breathlessly mumbles, barely able to focus in his assault on her neck. "People are going to realize..." A small moan escapes her throat at his actions, which intensifies his desire, pushing his body onto hers. "...we’re missing..." Another moan slips out as he rolls his warm muscular body against hers again. This time her body meets his and he responds with a groan of his own, moving his mouth back to hers.

She can feel him smile as he speaks. "So what?" He finally pulls his lips from her skin and leans back to evaluate her reaction, holding his breath as he waits. He reaches for her hand, warm calloused fingers linking with hers. She bites her bottom lip slightly as she scrambles to make a decision. Her feelings end up winning the race, pulling him even closer, brushing her lips lightly against his. The heat from his body radiating through her now as well, egging her on. He moves his hands down her exposed sides to rest on the lip of her jeans, rubbing his cheek against her own, his lips brushing against her ear.

He speaks low, almost whispering into her ear. "For the past few days, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you..." Shivers run through her body as she closes her eyes and he moves his lips across the side of her face. He nips gently at her ear, his breath tickling her neck. He presses his body against hers again, firmly pinning her against the house.

MC stifles a moan and sucks in a quick breath. She weakly looks around, checking for an audience. "Chris... someone might see..." He leans back then, making sure she's looking at him. His hand reaches up to cup the side of her face. She leans into the touch, a small sigh escaping her lips. He rubs his thumb across her bottom lip lightly, watching her breathe in and out. "No ones out here... and it's totally dark... Unless you're scared we'll get caught." His other hand squeezes her hip in question. She licks her lips as he eagerly watches her tongue flick out and wet the plump area. "Chris... I'm not scared." She turns her face into his hand, covering his hand with her own, nuzzling. He sucks in a sharp breath at her gentle action. "Then neither am I... I just, what do we do now?" She notices a slight conflicting look cross his face briefly before it flits away, his face becoming soft and warm once again. "I don't know... actually. I've honestly never felt this way before." She smiles bashfully, looking away out of embarrassment. He rubs his thumb across her cheek before he turns her face back to face him. "I think I do know. I'm falling for you. Hard." He emphasizes the last word very seriously. "MC, I..." He stops and swallows, a look of panic flashing across his face.

His entire demeanor changes, causing his body to stiffen and his face to grow cold. He begins to pull away, letting go of her completely. She shivers at the sudden chill from losing the heat he provides.

"I... I can't believe it. I'm doing the exact thing I promised myself I wouldn't do." He stares at his palms as if they are on fire before looking into her eyes, rattled by his own words. "Didn't I say it the first day we met... I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for something real..." Noticing the confused look on her face he seems to collapse even more into himself, stepping back again, even further from her. "I'm so, so sorry, MC. I should never have let things go this far."

Chris’s eyes fall to the ground, his sun-kissed skin unusually pale in the moonlight. He looks up at her, expression so pained that her own heart aches. She stays against the house, not wanting to make him feel worse as she's frozen at the sudden shift the world has taken around them.

"Chris... I..." She sighs after looking into his eyes, seeing the turmoil there, and she gives up. "I understand." She swallows hard before continuing. "We said 'no promises' right?" Her voice now just barely a whisper as she closes her eyes and hangs her head slightly, avoiding his gaze. He stands there watching her, unable to move his feet, currently feeling as if he is rooted into the ground. He bitterly repeats his own words. "Yeah, that's what we said, 'no promises'." He runs his hand through his hair, stopping midway and tugging at it slightly.

MC doesn't notice this time as she has yet to open her eyes from their tightly pinched position.

"I'm so, so sorry, MC." He repeats again. "You deserve better than me. You really do." He begins to reach out towards her slightly, trying to somehow console her, before suddenly being interrupted. Logan comes around the corner of the house, his eyes searching in the dark. "Yo, Chris! Where you at?" He stands there, hand above his eyes, peering into the darkness. To make matters worse, Becca appears behind him, also searching in the dark for his familiar form. "Chris? Chris? Are you out here?" Chris looks away from MC, ashamed of his recent actions. "It... it sounds like I'd better head back in. I... I'll talk to you later." He almost reaches for her again before deciding against it, letting his hands drop to his sides. He hangs his head, unable to make eye contact any longer, the sorrow setting in on his shoulders. "Have a good night MC." The raw emotion in his words makes her heart ache. She looks up as he turns, regret starting to fill her body. "Chris... wait..." But he was already too far away, joining up with Logan and Becca, walking back into the sorority house.

She stands there for another minute, or thirty. She has no idea, other than it feeling like an eternity. Tears threaten to spill over as she tilts her head back, swallowing her thoughts. She could still taste him on her lips, smell him on her clothes, feel his warmth… but he was gone. Pushing off the wall she wipes away the offending tears that try to escape and quickly makes her way around the side of the house and towards the path back to the dorms, sticking to the shadows until clear of the Kappa house. A few minutes later as she walks across campus, MC has a deep thoughtful expression as she tries to process what just happened. Chris’s actions and words conflict, swirling around her head in a jumbled mess. She sighs and focuses on her steps as she makes her way down the dimly lit path.

Tyler magically appears a few steps behind her, his breath quickened by his attempt to catch up. "Hey! There you are. We looked everywhere for you. What happened?" MC tilts her head slightly, not making eye contact as she kept walking. "I... don't want to talk about it. The last thing I saw was Chris walking inside with Becca." Tyler's mouth drops open in surprise as he looks out into the dark quad. "And now he's not here walking home with us. Do you think maybe he--" Kaitlyn appears on the other side of MC, her once joyful face now dark and forlorn. "Let's not even talk about it..." She shoves her hands into her pockets and kicks a small rock on the path. Abbie also joins them, on the other side of Tyler, the look on her face very similar to Kaitlyn's. "Maybe it's better just to get some sleep and forget tonight ever happened." MC lets out a very long frustrated sigh. "Actually... I have to write about 'football life' for Vasquez, due tomorrow. So, I guess I'll write about... football players relationship drama." She lets out another deep breath before scrunching her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. Kaitlyn tries to lighten the mood. "Sounds like my kind of essay! I'll look forward to reading it." MC gives her a thankful smile, knowing her friend is trying to make her feel better.

After they arrive at the suite, everyone heads to bed. MC spends the rest of the night on her laptop, writing her heart out, very literally on the screen. Unsure if Chris ever comes home.

~Chris~

"I'm so, so sorry, MC." He repeats again. "You deserve better than me. You really do." Chris begins to reach out towards her slightly, trying to somehow console her, feeling his chest tighten at her pained expression.

He almost takes it all back, ready to apologize profusely for his drastic reaction. Before he can though, he's suddenly interrupted.

Logan comes around the corner of the house, his eyes searching in the dark. "Yo, Chris! Where you at?"

Chris immediately notices Becca behind him, both searching for him in the darkness. "Chris? Chris? Are you out here?"

He sighs, wanting to run away from them all, a crushing feeling covering his chest. He looks away from MC, ashamed of his recent actions, raising his hand to grasp at his chest. "It... it sounds like I'd better head back in. I... I'll talk to you later." He hesitates as he almost reaches for her again, dropping his hands to his sides as he decides against it. Hanging his head, he is unable to make eye contact with her, worried he will just destroy her. The one thing he's been trying to avoid. "Have a good night, MC." He turns, quickly heading towards the other two, hoping to intercept before they reach MC. He tries to at least distract them from her, hoping she will be able to avoid them and slip away. He thinks he hears a faint "Chris... wait..." but he shakes it off and joins up with Logan and Becca, forcing a smile as he walks back into the sorority house.

Becca tries to wrap her arms around his waist but he keeps slipping out of her grasp, no longer in the mood for any physical contact. She continues to follow him around for the rest of the night as he attempts to drown his guilt with whatever he can get his hands on.

An hour or so later he grabs a bottle of water and locks himself in one of the many bathrooms. It doesn't take long for Becca to knock on the door and call out his name, still searching for him. He ignores her and steps inside the empty tub to sit down. He leans back and stares off into nothingness for a while before he pulls out his phone and scrolls through his music library. He puts his earbuds in and closes his eyes as he listens to his selected song, trying to focus on the guitar cords while trying to avoid the words. Failing miserably.

 Hey, how's it going

Can you meet me down on Eli street

Can you talk for a moment

There's no way to say this that easily

And everything I said, I swear I meant it

I need to tell you that this isn't your fault

And I know that I’ll probably regret it

And it kills me ‘cause the worst part of all

It’s that I hate to hurt you

But I got to be honest

I can't give you what you need

You deserve more than I can promise

And I'm just tryna, I'm just tryna

 Baby, I'm just tryna be honest

I'm tryna be honest with ya

You know that I'm sorry

But I'm tryna be honest with ya

Hey, can you listen?

I swear to God to you, there's nobody else

You're gonna say that I'm lyin'

When I tell you every feeling I felt

Was honest and sincere

And that you were different

And when we kissed I felt like that kid in love, yeah

And I know that I'll probably regret it

I now wish I never said this at all

Oh I hate to hurt you

But I got to be honest

I can't give you what you need, oh

You deserve more than I can promise

And I'm just tryna, I'm just tryna

Baby, I'm just tryna be honest

I'm tryna be honest with ya

You know that I'm sorry

But I'm tryna be honest with ya

Oh, oh, oh

I don't wanna see you cry

Oh, oh, oh

Swear that I don't wanna see you cry

 'Cause I hate I hurt you

But I gotta be honest

I can't give you what you need, oh

You deserve more than I can promise

And I'm just tryna, I'm just tryna

Baby, I'm just tryna be honest

I hate I hurt you

But I got to be honest

that I can't give you what you need, oh

You deserve more than I can promise

And I'm just tryna, I'm just tryna

 Baby, I'm just tryna be honest

  The next day…

~MC~ As she enters the professors lavish office she has trouble focusing. Not only did she stay up late writing about her night of unfortunate events, she found it difficult to actually get to sleep and stay there. James appears in the doorway of the side office. "There you are. It looks like you somehow managed to satisfy the professor with your assignment." MC gives him a small sad smile. "Is it really hard to believe?" "Honestly? Yes. He pretty much hates everyone and everything. Consider me impressed." He says with admiration. "I'll try not to let it go to my head." She catches James's grin just as Professor Vasquez clears his throat. "This... this is perfect, it's got all the heartache of a Victorian romance, while situated in a modern millennium. And the evil sorority girl is a perfect villain. In fact, I think I just figured out your next assessment. You are going to join the Kappa Phi Sigma sorority." She stands there for a moment, unsure she heard him clearly. When he doesn't blink, she looks to James for help, receiving a look of pity instead. She turns back to Vasquez. "Uh, you're joking right?"

[kaepop-trash]

Death of The Cat  Ch-1

Rated: Angst

Pairing: JaehyunxReader

Summary: Jaehyun was pretty set in his ways, living up to his frat boy stereotypes with pride and a lot of pleasure. But his fatal flaw came in the form of two things; a girl and curiosity. 

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

She shoved her phone into her pocket with seventeenth time that night. After a good hour, it was obvious her friend probably wasn’t coming back till tomorrow morning. She really weighed her options, she could go back and go to sleep, have a normal Sunday in months. But then it would be a waste of a good day she could spend in bed regretting her existence so she went into the kitchen for a drink or two.

In the few months that had passed since she became a college student, this was her third frat party. They were all really the same; booze and deeds you would not do in the lack of the same. This was her first party at the infamous Alpha Kappa Pi house though. This place was shrouded with rumours long before she walked through the hallowed halls, and it would probably be long after. Needless to say, this was the most crowded party she’d been to so far.

“I don’t think we’ve met.” A voiced slurred beside her as she poured some vodka into a cup.

“We’re in the same intro to econ class Ten.” She deadpanned, not really in the mood for this. She just drank down the vodka and winced.

“Wow, I must have been really stupid to miss you.” He kept his best face up, considering his current circumstances. Ten was polite enough, always smiles but he was such klutz. She could see why some people fell for it, but she wasn’t going to join those people, at least not tonight.

“You sit beside me in class Ten. You borrowed three pens, four pencils and a notebook you never gave back.” He seemed to look very confused with the influx of information and she took a generous glass of something she didn’t bother checking and made her escape.

The frat house was huge, as all the frat houses are. But in University, a larger house just meant more people at the parties and finding a less crowded area that guests were allowed in was a hopeless cause from the start.

After rounding the third corner in aimless adventure, she took a step back in shock. There at a side stood the first guy she was drunk enough to blow at some party. It was petty, and it was childish, but she wanted to avoid him as much as possible in the next three years that awaited her in this place. Turning to walk the opposite way seemed a good idea with the sudden impact of nerves from a horrific memory and the surplus amount of alcohol in her system.

“What do we have here?” A deep voice in the dark caused her to yelp rather loudly.

“Johnny, Jesus Christ why are you creeping around in your own house.” The urge to throw something at him was incredible. Johnny along with most of his frat brothers were in your business relations class and he also took intro to psychology with her. He was mostly with his own group of friends, whether in class or in social situations. She thought maybe frat boys were specifically asked to be together at all times, other than the occasional escapade that no one was above.  

“I was just looking for something. What are you doing here?” He asked with a playful smile ready to erupt on his face as he leaned on the wall.

“I was uh, looking for an empty bathroom. Nature calls Johnny.” She rushed through her words, wanted to get away as soon as possible. Even when she was at their party, she had absolutely no desire to get mixed up with any of the AKP boys. Even as a freshmen, she had been around long enough to know that these boys were best looked at from afar. New recruits like Johnny included.

“Come on, I’ll take you.” He stood up straight and waited for her to follow.

“I should go.” She tried.

“You’re trespassing sweetheart, you have to pay a price for that.” With the smile he gave, she realised why everyone was so bloody scared of these boys.

 He led her to the washroom that was without a queue and waiting for her. After she came out, he was outside waiting.

“Come on.” He said and starting walking down the hall, deeper into the house.

“Where are we going?” She asked nervously.

“To the basement, we need another person.” He turned once before walking down the stairs.

“W-Where is this going?” He stopped in front of the door and looked at her with knit eyebrows, like he was trying to figure out where she thought this was going. He laughed ridiculously after a moment.

“Relax will you, we just needed one more person to make the players even and I happened to come across you first.” His smile was amused but soft and it helped her gather her nerves a little.

“Well why didn’t you say so? I love a good drinking game.” She hit his arm playfully and he gave her a cunning smile.

“This is a bit different.” He winked at her and opened the door.

 She looked inside to see the room adorned like any boy’s dream. A large TV with a gaming console, a random arcade game, a pool table and so much more.

“You guys get way too much money.” She mumbled to herself.

“Who do we have here?” A voice diverted your attention to a corner of the room where an unsurprising bunch of first year AKP boys sat in a circle.

“I found her trespassing in the halls. Thought we could spice this up a bit.” Johnny wriggled his eyebrows.

“I wasn’t trespassing, that makes it sound like a offence, I was just lost.” She raised her arm and peeked out from behind Johnny.

“Semantics.” A single voice spoke amongst the boys, Jaehyun.

“Isn’t semantics why you call these booze fests ‘mixers’?” She raised her brow cynically. Everyone around seemed to nod in acknowledgment, Jaehyun only looked amused.

“When I have a say in it, I’ll keep your helpful suggestion in mind.” His smirk was annoying. She didn’t like how confident Jaehyun was. He was always nice to everyone, kind and giving but something in her told her there was a catch. He had also been around the place his fair share for someone who was still new. She had seen him on her dorm floor three times itself, walking out of a different room in the morning. Each time he gave her a bright smile and a polite good morning, even the last time when his clothes were being thrown out of her own room.

“How’s your roommate?” He asked feigning curiosity.

“She hates me now because she was suspicious of your friendliness towards me.” She sat down in the circle that made place for her and Johnny hastily.

“I’m offended, I’m always friendly.” He pouted.

“Maybe she thought she was special.” She offered a noncommittal shrug and picked up a plastic cup with a shot of liquor in it.

“That’s for the game.” Johnny pointed out but she smirked and downed it anyway.

“We decided to play gay chicken.” She turned to Johnny with a look that made him realise the problem.

“I guess now with you it could be different orientations, sexually inclusive chicken if you will.” She scoffed at his words but nodded at his explanation.

“But there’s a catch.” Jaehyun interrupted and both of them turned to him. The door pushing open behind her shifted their attention again.

Ten walked into the room, loud and clumsy as drunk people usually are, with two girls who were probably as drunk as he was.

“I bought company!” He announced.

“We were waiting for you,” Taeyong spoke up from the side. He was someone she didn’t really know very well, he looked all over too intimidating.

“It’s you.” Ten waved ecstatically at her like they were old friends and she scoffed incredulously at his persistence.

“Hi Ten.” She waved back and he sat down beside her satisfied.

“Right so Gay Chicken.” Taeyong spoke up, trying to get to the point.

“Sexually Inclusive Chicken.” Johnny corrected him and offered her a proud smile.

“Yes that, if you lose you drink but,” He turned to look at her once before turning to the others to continue, “You’ll be blindfolded.” He said producing two scarves from behind him.

“That sounds kinky.” She was suddenly nervous.

“That’s the point.” Jaehyun said deviously.

 After a terribly easy round between Johnny and Ten where Ten just giggled because he was ticklish and shrugged away, Taeyong was sitting in front of her looking at her intensely.

“You look like you want to kill me,” Taeyong’s expression changed to shock at the sudden words. “But I’m very competitive. So I’m going to look past how intimidatingly good looking you are.” With that she put a hand on his thigh, Taeyong looked down at her hand and looked up at her looking like a deer caught in the headlights. When she tried to slide her hand up he gave up easily not even waiting for the blindfold part.

Next was Jaehyun, he sat opposite one of the girls who came with Ten and gave her a lopsided smile that already gave him an advantage. He offered to put the girl’s blindfold on for her and she had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes while the girl blushed heavily and refused.

She watched as Jaehyun sat back with a long sigh after he covered his eyes, hand extending to gently hold her cheek. Whether she gasped out of shock or something else was a mystery. After a gentle hesitation, she put a hand on his thigh and he chuckled lightly. After a while of this, what really made her give up was when he asked if she was sure about this.

The game went on for a while and she was determined to win, having realised these boys were a bunch of shy nervous wrecks. After a while the only people left were Jaehyun and Her. He pushed up in front of her, smiling at her like he did anytime he saw her and suddenly she really wanted to get under her skin.

She put on her blindfold and waited for him to make the first move. She felt him move close to her, a little too close. She could feel the heat radiate off his body and felt his breath on her face.

The low gasp that left her lips was from shock.

“Are you nervous?” His voice was gentle and he tucked her hair behind her ear and rested his hand on her neck.

“Are you?” She responded as her hand travelled up his chest slowly and landed on his shoulder, she didn’t miss his change in breathing.

“You should be at least a little anxious.” She could hear the grin he had. She felt his hand move while caressing her neck and a shiver ran down her spine as his thumb gently grazed her bottom lip, pulling it down gently and releasing.

“I don’t scare easy.” Was her bored response as she slipped her other hand under his shirt and placed it on his warm chest. Someone let out a juvenile ‘ooh’ at her words in the otherwise silent room.

“You should.” He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her in so suddenly she yelped, “Haven’t you heard the rumours?” His lips were grazing against her jaw and seering it, instinctively her hands on his shoulder griped tighter. She felt him smile against her skin as he moved closer to her lips.

“I think you’re darker than the rumours have anyone believe.” She whispered not knowing why. When his lips were finally near hers she smirked.

“Really?” He taunted and she only hummed, catching his bottom lip between her teeth. The way he gasped let her know that he was caught off guard.

“But I still got under your skin, so I guess I’m worse.” She whispered so softly that only Jaehyun could hear. Then she let his lips go and sat back.

“I concede.” She said and pulled her blindfold off. Jaehyun looked confused for a second before pulling his own scarf off with disbelief on his face. She smirked with a sense of personal victory as she looked at how rattled he looked.

“You win Jaehyun.” She said and gulped down the drink placed in her hand as penalty. Jaehyun’s eyes grew darker and he just got up and left.

After that day, catching Jaehyun’s eye was different. He was fueled by a need to get his revenge on her but he never seemed to catch her in a situation where he could do so. She talked to them more now. One day Johnny offhandedly asked her to sit with them in Business Relations class, stating he sat with her in Psychology anyway so it was courtesy. Apparently she just sat with most of them if they shared a class. But in the literature class her and Jaehyun shared, she was in the other side of the room. Even Taeyong was friendly around her and he was someone who kept to himself most of the time.

One day she came to her dorm after a long day of packed classes to find her room locked. She sighed as the tiredness she felt from the long day turned to frustration and she banged on the door loudly. The noises coming from the room were somehow louder, the sound of her roommate panting and whining coupled with loud masculine groans made her consider just leaving. Maybe it was her imagination, but the sounds definitely seemed more prominent. Whatever they were doing, they seemed into it. Her mouth went dry at the cries of her roommate of what sounded like unadulterated bliss. She bit her lip but snapped out of it there after, banging once loudly to show her anger and decided to just come back later.

What she didn’t expect was Jaehyun to be the one to open the door.

“Hey.” He gave her a lopsided grin in nothing but his jeans. Chest exposed and hair disheveled and wet on the tips from what she assumed was sweat. She had to use her strongest sense of will to keep her eyes focused on his face.

“Jaehyun I haven’t put on my clothes yet.” Your roommate’s voice was what she heard next, breathless and forced.

“Don’t worry I’m not coming inside.” She answered her with a sickly sweet tone that had Jaehyun wincing with amusement, she then turned her attention to him, shoving her bag in his hand more forcefully than needed, “Keep this on my bed.” She told him then turned around and left.

Once she walked out of the building, it was clear that she had nowhere to go. But pride was a strong incentive and she shoved her hands into her pocket and started walking down the path. After a while, she heard footsteps approaching her urgently. She was already panicking so much that when a hand landed on her shoulder she screamed.

“Are you really that happy to see me?” The familiar voice made you turn around and hit Jaehyun’s chest.

“You scared the crap out of me. Why are you stalking me.” Her voice was still shrill from fear.

“Don’t be so full of yourself,” He was grinning brightly despite his words. “I wasn’t stalking you.” He shoved his hands into his pocket.

“Sure. Your house is in the opposite direction Jaehyun.” She pointed helpfully, somehow containing a smile at his silliness. He turned around and turned back to her, fumbling.

“I was uh, going to grab a bite to eat.” He nodded like he liked his excuse, “Yes, I need to eat I’m famished.” He smiled shyly, that was new.

“I’m sure you are, must have had quite the workout.” She said, frowning suddenly, “Since my room is now free of your presence. I’m going to go back and sleep.” She turned away and started walking away.

“Wait, why do yo-” He asked urgently but his curiosity was interrupted.

“Goodnight Jaehyun.” She turned around once with a coy smile and a tone that made it clear that she didn’t want to answer him, walking away after leaving Jaehyun as confused and allured as she always did.

 Somehow the year passed and the now second year students sat together in the same spot they did a year back while the AKP party boomed in the floor above.

“I don’t understand what I did to deserve being teased be you constantly, I even bought you new stationery.” Ten pouted at her.

“After you lost all my stationery Ten! How do you not understand why I am reluctant to trust you with anything.” Her eyes were wide with disbelief but she had a smile on her face.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll find your things in his room if you can go through the mess.” Taeyong ended his sentence with a look of pure disgust making everyone but Ten laugh.

“Why are all of you after me?” He looked wounded but turned to her with pride, “You just hate me because I am prettier than you.” He crossed his arms in front of him.

“Oh no, that’s an established fact. I’m no one to question the truth, I’m just saying I wouldn’t trust you to be the one to take care of the freshman, which was the original point.” She shrugged and he sat back, knowing she was right.

“Taeyong should do it.” She pointed at him after a thought.

“M-me?” He looked caught off guard.

“Yeah, you’re easily the most responsible amongst all of them, just take more initiative.” He looked like he was considering her words.

“How’s joining a Sorority working out for you? Did you get tempted after seeing us?” Johnny asked playfully.

“I definitely enjoy the nice house and the elevated living conditions. That was definitely inspired by you guys. But more than that, I’m just glad to not have to share my room with a crazy person.” She scowled and most of them chuckled at the memory.

“Remember when she came here and saw you? She flipped out so bad it was beautiful. Even Jaehyun was rattled.” Ten said sounding scared.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget her trying to pull me out of the house saying I don’t belong here.” She shook her head trying to get rid of the memory. The door opened and Jaehyun walked in with a bottle of smirnoff.

“Well if it isn’t everyone favourite party crasher.” He told her as he went to the corner to pick up glasses.

“I was invited by choice, you just come with the house like the faulty pipes.” She retorted with ease, used to his vocal disapproval of her presence.

“You’re just nervous because you’ll lose to me again.” His smirk had a ghost of bitterness in it. She just smiled and shrugged.

Jaehyun grew more restless as he sat and watched the game of spin the bottle transpire around him. Ten looked far too happy when he got to kiss her, grinning even while he dared to slip his tongue into the mix. Once she sat back, she made a gesture of wiping her lips that made Ten frown but Jaehyun seemed to smirk, she was quite the vixen. It seemed like she had no intention of passing up any chance, too proud to lose he guessed. Taeyong weaseled out and gently kissed kissed her cheek.

“I feel like you need a break.” He said smiling and she laughed and gave him a sweet thank you.

She wasn’t flustered, she didn’t back down, she didn’t even care that she was giving away such an intimate gesture to everyone around the circle. Suddenly Jaehyun was annoyed, at least he reserved his best for when he was behind closed doors.

“You’re quite the kisser.” Yuta commented with a cocky smile, somehow reluctant to back away.

“Hmm, too bad. Now you’ll just compare everyone else to the best you only got a taste of.” Her smile was indulgent.

“Maybe I should have another to remember better.” He smirked and bought his head back down.

“Next round.” Jaehyun spoke loudly, shocking Yuta enough to sit back. He sat back in his place with a pout and a glare towards Jaehyun’s direction that he pretended not to see.

 When the turn came from him to kiss her, he was a little more eager than even he realised. Licking his lips he smiled and looked at her with confidence.

“You’re probably going to be ruined for anyone after this, so I apologise.” He warned and she turned to him with the ghost of a smirk.

“If you put it like that, I don’t want to risk it, I rather take the shot.” She enjoyed the look of betrayal on his face far too much. While everyone around laughed, there was an air of dubiosity in the room all of a sudden.

 “Let’s play something else.” Ten cut through the sudden tension in the room.

“How about a drinking game?” Johnny chimed in helping his friend out.

“Never have I ever is the obvious choice.” Doyoung said, still looking between the two people trying to assess the situation.

“No.” Jaehyun’s voice brought everyone’s attention to him, “Let’s play seven minutes in heaven. Since I won the last game,” He turned to her with a raised brow, daring her to challenge it, “I’ll go first.” He got up and grabbed her hand, pulling her to a coat closet on the other side of the room. Everyone watched in awe as he moved with determination while she was too surprised to interject till the door clicked shut.

“Cliché.” She said, void of any emotion. He was already walked up to her, inches away from her face in no time.

“I’ve tried to think of all possible reasons why you did that the last time, and I had a year to think.” His hand travelled down her arm as she spoke. As she looked up to face him as he spoke, his height loomed over her, she decided to look back down.

“Maybe you just don’t like me, maybe you’re the shy kind. I could have lived with those, but you’re not, and you don’t seem to mind everyone else. So tell me, are you nervous? Or is this some wager you have going on with yourself?” His hand rested on her chin and he tilted her head up.

“You look too bothered by one girl Jaehyun, you have your pick of anyone you want. Do you just like the challenge? How typical.” She scoffed.

“Call it curiosity, aren’t you curious about how good I can make you feel?” He carefully bought his face closer to hers, his smirk growing, “You heard didn’t you? You naughty girl. Did you hear how good I can make someone feel. And I wasn’t even trying, till you showed up at the door of course.” She bit her lip, deciding it was better than the sound that would have slipped out of her lips had she not.

“I confess that I was thinking about you right then, listening in. Did you imagine it was you instead of her? Did it overwhelm you?” His other hand rested on her waist as he slipped his thumb underneath her top and drew circles on her skin that distracted her from his words.

“Are you scared you’ll come crawling back for more?” He chuckled lightly.

“I like to believe I have more self control than that.” Her voice was weaker than her words, but she tried to hold her ground. Her mind was fogged by his delicious cologne and his dimples were clouding her judgement. But if this was going to end in only one way, she wouldn’t give in first.

“I’d love to prove you wrong. Would you take me up on the challenge?” His lips left a gentle kiss on the edge of hers, “Hmm?” He reiterated.

“You can try.” She was baiting him now, praying he’d indulge first.

“Is that permission?” He stepped back, maybe a little taken aback, but you couldn’t tell from his pleased smirk.

“It’s a dare.” She said, her mind less foggy from the earned distance, but somehow her mind made up.

When he did press his lips to hers, it wasn’t extraordinary. There were no fireworks but there was boiling anticipation. Once he pulled her closer it was harder for him to control himself but he was still taking his time. But she realised he was waiting for her to respond. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, but he only chuckled into her lips and took his time, tasting her like fine wine while his fingers danced on her waist.

When a desperate whine slipped out of her lips he pushed back satisfied. She almost followed his movement but stopped after a gentle slip.

“Are you disappointed?” He laughed at how betrayed she looked.

“Maybe next time I’ll make it up to you.” His words held a strong promise.

“There isn’t going to be a next.” She said with finality, leaving the cupboard.

 The next time was at the same house on a weekend when Taeyong invited her around for dinner. After a long night of quarreling and trying to undermine the other, Jaehyun and her somehow ended up on top of each other on the couch with a different kind of battle, also involving their mouths. After a while the others decided it was better to just leave the room than wait for them to be done with each other.

Everyone in the house was happy when Jaehyun finally took her to his room. Though it was mutually decided that it would be best to not go to the first floor for a while.

 “I told you didn’t I? You wouldn’t be able to resist.” He lay back on his bed with a smile of victory. She sat up on the edge of the bed looking around for her hastily discarded clothes.

“I’d say I was inquisitive. Like a morbid curiosity.” She answered, he frowned at her words, sitting up and sliding closer to her.

“I don’t think I appreciate being compared to morbidity.” He spoke behind her and she laughed at his small voice.

“Do you prefer scientific curiosity?” She turned back and saw him assess her words.

“That makes it sound like a laboratory experiment.” He sounded offended. She shrugged.

“Can’t you just call it a great experience.” He asked, his tone serious.

“Don’t expect me to lie to stroke your ego Jaehyun.” She was about to get up when he sat her back down with a hand on her shoulder.

“You know,” He let his hand travel down her spine slowly as he spoke. “I thought I would hold back a little, since you’re a little lower on the experience scale.” He whispered into her ear.

“Funny, that’s exactly what I thought.” She gasped when he bit down on her ear lobe at her words.

“But since you’re so insistent.” His voice was getting lower.

“I don’t think that’s the right word here.” She interrupted and he just groaned and pulled at the sheet she was using as a guard, she didn’t stop him.

“I’ll just have to make you beg for more.” He brushed his lips on her shoulder and she had to close her eyes to enjoy the sensation.

“Is that a challenge?” She provoked him. He hummed in disapproval. Pushing her back into the bed, and towered on top of her in no time.

“Call it morbid curiosity.”

[wincestmelange]

This sprung from me thinking about all Dean’s charms/jewelry in season 1 and about Sam in the pilot (”Not normal. Safe.”) and became quite long and the usual pre-Stanford sad. It’s mostly brother feels and Sam disagreeing with John.

It starts with the amulet.

(It starts in Sioux Falls, when Sam asks Bobby for help making Dad something for Christmas — Sam was thinking he could carve a whistle, so the next time they went camping and Dad lost them in the woods they could just call — and Bobby gives him the glowering little necklace charm and a leather cord, says it’ll help keep John safe. Safe from what? Sam wonders, looks around and sees the world grow darker and more menacing, danger in every waitress’s long fingernails or each gas station attendant’s friendly smile. A few weeks later Dad leaves the journal behind; and then Sam finally knows.)

He watches Dean put the amulet on and thinks, safe, breathes the word in and holds it in chest. He wants to hug Dean, then, throw himself into his big brother’s arms and hang on, but Dean is nearly fourteen and Sam is nine and hugs are for babies or for the times Dad comes home bloody with beer on his breath and squeezes Sam so tightly he thinks his ribs will crack. (It’s another three years before Sam realizes Dad would never have used the whistle, not when he’d intended all along to leave his boys in the woods and track them silently to see what they’d learned.)

Of course, Dad comes back and finds out that Sam knows, yells at Dean for telling him and yells at Sam for snooping in things that don’t belong to him. (Dad used to bring him along to victims’ houses, before Sam knew what that meant, taught him to check out medicine cabinets and rifle through women’s purses for clues. Last year, Sam caught Dean picking pockets and made him teach Sam how it’s done. Snooping, Sam thinks, is just the Winchester way.) But Dad also seems to decide that knowing means Sam is old enough to be left on his own, a loaf of bread and money for groceries and the bus on the table, Pastor Jim’s number taped to the phone and a bag of rock salt by the door.

Dean doesn’t look too happy about leaving Sam alone for the monsters, but Dad grips Dean’s shoulder and says, “C’mon son, time you carried your weight like a man,” and Dean’s whole face lights up brighter than Christmas, barely stays long enough to ruffle Sam’s hair and tell him to be good before he’s racing out the door. Dad thinks Dean’s a man, now, and he must think something good about Sam, because he never realizes that the first few times they’re gone Sam shoves all the bedspreads and spare towels under the beds so nothing else can fit underneath, leaves the light on in the closet and spends the night in the bathtub surrounded by salt, holy water in one hand and .45 between his bony knees.

Dean calls to check in, just like Dad used to check in on them both, (gonna be a few more days, boys, you call Pastor Jim if there’s any trouble,) and Sam bangs his elbow when the phone ringing startles him awake. It’s a good thing he’d dropped the gun when he fell asleep, or the neighbors might have called the police.

“Everything’s fine,” Dean says, voice breaking because he’s fourteen and thinks he can talk like Dad, sounds like one of Uncle Bobby’s faulty engines instead. “We’ll be home tomorrow.”

Sam has the salt cleaned out of the bathroom by the time they come home, the beds neatly made and the closet door closed, and none of that matters because Dean comes back with a blue cast from above his elbow all the way down his left arm.

“You should’ve seen it!” Dean tells him, grinning, a bruise on his chin. “Thing must’ve thrown me twenty feet across the room before I shot it in the head.” Sam laughs, because Dean wants him to, offers to make Dean a Superman cape for the next hunt, but he can’t take his eyes off Dean’s pale fingers poking out of the cast.

The amulet was supposed to keep Dean safe. Dad was supposed to keep Dean safe. Clearly it’s not enough.

  He gets the prayer beads from a young imam outside the Twin Cities who was having trouble with a Black Dog outside the mosque. The beads look simple — dark, uneven wood, something one of those hippies would sell outside college libraries; Sam’s seen plenty of them when they go to local universities for books or to talk to professors about lore — but the imam says they’re rumored to be carved from a tree growing by the Prophet’s well, that they were carried by Nureddin during the Crusades. Sam’s not sure why Mr. Choudry gave the prayer beads to him — he’s pretty sure the Winchesters aren’t Muslim, though once he asked if they were Episcopalian and Dad laughed until there were tears in his eyes, so Sam supposes they aren’t much of anything — but he cradles them carefully in both hands, says thank you and sort of bows because he’s never met an imam before. Mr. Choudry laughs, ruffles his hair just like Dad and Dean do, and tells Sam that’s he’s under the protection of Allah.

Sam finds books about Islam at the next library, and adds a few new prayers to the ones Pastor Jim taught him to say before bed. He gives Dean the prayer beads as soon as they cut the cast off, feels better as soon as they’re wrapped around Dean’s weak wrist.

The rosary is from Pastor Jim, because there’s no point in working a case in Minnesota unless they drive down through Blue Earth, and Dad likes parking them there for a few months if it’s during the school year. They stay awhile: Dean hates it because it’s only a few hours from Sioux Falls, so Dad works cases with Jim or Bobby and leaves them both behind, but Dad tells Dean he needs to work his wrist, so they take advantage of the woods behind Jim’s church, practice their shooting and knife throwing and climb the tallest trees because you never know when you might need to get away from a monster on the ground.

Dean wraps the rosary three times around his other wrist and wears it as a bracelet, because, as he tells Sam, he’s not wearing a bunch of necklaces like a girl. But he never takes off the amulet, and Sam can look at Dean and catalogue: both wrists and the amulet around his neck. Protected. Safe.

Then Dean stumbles into a hunt. He’s been sneaking off to see this girl, Martha, who works at the bowling alley — Sam’s never gone bowling so many times in his life — and Martha’s boss’s bratty kid winds up dead.

It’s a kappa. Sam figures it out, after Dean breaks them into the morgue to see the body (their first case, Jim off with Dad and no grown-ups around to tell them they’re too young). Eating disobedient kids. Dean tells him that he better watch out, then, because the kappa will be coming for him next.

A kappa loses its powers if you can tip them over and splash the water out of the cavity on the top of their head. That’s what all Jim’s books say. They don’t say how hard it is to get close to a kappa, and that once you do, it’s got a beak like a snapping turtle and it moves six times as fast. It goes for Sam’s stomach, and Dean leaps forward, shoves him out of the way.

They kill the kappa. Dean says they need to salt and burn it, and Sam says fuck, Dean, that can wait, because he’s got both hands pressed down on the blood pumping out of Dean’s mangled leg.

Dean tells him he shouldn’t curse, because he’s only ten. Sam tells Dean that he can curse all he wants because Dean’s fucking heavy and he’s the one dragging his big brother out of the woods. He tells the nurse his brother was attacked by a snapping turtle, and Dean refuses to speak to him for two days.

Dad yells at them for not calling him or Bobby, yells at Dean for taking his little brother on a hunt and yells at Sam for letting Dean take him, but when he finishes yelling he tells them, “Good work, boys,” and that’s really what all the yelling meant.

Sam refuses to leave the hospital until Dean is released, because he might have protected Dean’s wrists and neck, but it’s clear now that this wasn’t enough to keep Dean safe.

Dean refuses to wear an “ankle bracelet,” even when it’s a meticulously crafted brocade omamori that Sam got from a Shinto priest. He also refuses to let Sam henna protective symbols up his legs. Sam tries drawing them in marker when Dean’s asleep, because Dean sleeps in his boxers and wrestles his sheets off the bed, but Dean’s incredibly ticklish and Sam gives up after the tenth try when Dean kicks him hard in the groin.

Sam meets Sully, but Sully’s suggestion is just to feed Dean marshmallow fluff and bring him to the carnival, and while that sounds fun, it doesn’t sound anymore like Dean than an ankle bracelet made of embroidered silk.

Sully doesn’t get it, really. Sully thinks Sam is awesome fantastic the greatest, which is nice because Dad thinks Sam’s “not pushing himself” when it comes to sprints or wrestling or shooting out the head of needle from fifty yards away, and Dean thinks Sam is “a little twerp, c’mon Sammy, I told you not to bug me when I’m trying to get Carrie’s digits.” But Sully doesn’t realize that Sam knows about awesome fantastic stuff like fluff nachos and BBQ mac and cheese because Dean makes them. Sully thinks that Sam is the best Winchester, and Sully doesn’t see that he’s wrong.

Still, Sam laughs for a long time at the idea that he soak glitter in holy water and then dump it all over Dean’s head. With the amount of gel Dean’s started using in his hair, the glitter would be there for weeks.

Sully goes away when Dean finally wears Dad down and Sam’s allowed to go on hunts (you stay in the car, Sammy, you hear me? You stay in the goddamned car). Sam misses him, sometimes, on the days where Dean’s off with a girl — fifteen now and Dad lets him drive the Impala into town, printed Dean a license that says he’s eighteen — and Dad’s squinting, tight around the eyes and looking like he could be their grandfather, when he makes Sam do all the drills twice and keeps saying Sam’s life depends on being better than he is.

It’s good, though. The more hunts Dad lets Sam help with, the more information Sam has on what they need protection from. He starts his own journal, the front half for monsters and the back half for runes and charms and myriad suggestions for keeping safe. Some of them are obviously bogus (walk three times clockwise around your bed to cure restless sleep), and some of them Sam tries (keep a sprig of lavender under your pillow, then tuck into your pocket the next day) and discards, because smelling like lavender doesn’t stop Billy McMarney from dunking Sam’s head in the toilet. (The lavender doesn’t, but Dean does, when he walks over to get Sam from school — and it’s sixth grade, Sam doesn’t need Dean to pick him up like he’s five — and some other kid tells him what went down. Billy McMarney misses a week of school, and he never comes near Sam again.)

They go back to Bobby’s, eventually, and Bobby tries to get him and Dean interested in playing football at the park before he gives up and leaves Sam rummaging through his library and goes to supervise Dean in the garage.

Sam steals Dean’s boots, that night, takes the Sharpie and inks protective runes on the soles and the tongues and even on the inside where it smells. He relaces them so that there’s a protective binding in the knots, and then goes downstairs to do the same to Dad’s.

Dad notices, of course, bellows at Sam for tying knots in his shoelaces before Bobby figures it out and tells Dad it’s kind of clever, and it certainly can’t hurt. “Knots don’t keep you safe,” John says, untying them over Sam’s strangled protests. “Your knife keeps you safe. Rock salt in a ghost’s face keeps you safe. Learning to use your gun to protect your brother the way he protects you, Sammy. That’s what keeps you safe.”

Sam is trying to protect Dean. Why else would he stay up half the night with his hand buried in Dean’s stinky shoes?

Dean leaves his knots in, rolls his eyes at Sam when he sees the marker all over the sides, but shrugs and tells Sam “it looks kinda cool.” He puts them on that morning and Sam thinks: neck, wrists, feet.

Next summer Dad takes Dean on a werewolf hunt, and its claws rake Dean shoulder to hip.

Sam starts looking for armor to wrap around his brother’s vulnerable chest, same as he buckles down with a bag of mandarins and a needle to practice so he can stitch his brother closed.

Dean loses the rosary when Sam’s sixteen, fighting ghouls in a swamp in Missouri. It saved his hand, he tells Sam, during the squelching, disgusting trudge back to the car, when the ghoul’s grip slipped and hit the rosary, made him mad, man, but also made him flinch away. Dad’s on another hunt, somewhere up north, but that’s fine because Sam’s sixteen and Dean’s twenty-one and recently hunts have been better when Dad’s not around.

Of course, Dad’s started taking Dean on more hunts and leaving Sam “to do his best in school,” because Sam has a feeling Dad thinks hunts are better when Sam’s not around.

Sam’s just trying to keep them safe. That’s all. Dad wants to bust down doors and piss spirits off so that they’ll come out to play, and Dean wants to do whatever Dad is doing only three times as loud, and Sam’s just trying to keep everybody safe. What’s another day or two at the library, what’s a few extra pounds of charms in their pockets, if it means that Sam doesn’t have to stitch anybody up at the end?

Dean rejects the new rosary — Sam didn’t have a lot of money, and this one is white and cheap plastic, and all right, Sam wouldn’t wear it to school but Dean’s already dropped out and it’s not like Dean’s girls are looking at his wrist — but when Sam tells him the local Orthodox priest told him there was a sacred ring that water sprites had stolen twenty years before, Dean is thrilled.

“I’ll be like Bilbo Baggins!” he declares, sharpening his silver knife. “Or King Arthur! Water sprites live in lakes, right? It’s gonna be like finding Excalibur, only cooler.”

If by cooler, Dean meant freezing cold and dragged across a lake bed of painfully sharp rocks, then yes, it’s much cooler. He gets the ring, though, and Sam only gets a mild concussion, so all in all it’s a pretty successful hunt.

They sit shivering on the shore to bask in their triumph and watch the sun rise, and Dean slips the ring onto each finger before fitting it onto his thumb. He doesn’t offer it to Sam; and he’s not supposed to, Sam doesn’t want it, the whole point of this hunt was to find the ring and protect Dean, but… It still twinges a little, digs into that old bruise that never quite fades, the one where Sam is too slow and not trying and not good enough and not doing things the right way.

It’s dark and Sam swallows the feeling down quick so it doesn’t show up on his face, but Dean’s got some sort of supernatural powers when it comes to Sam.

“Hey.” He grabs Sam roughly around the shoulders, both of them soaked through from their coats to their boots, and tips him over so that Sam lands clumsily against Dean’s chest. “You don’t need any of this shit,” Dean says, wiggles his hand with the ring, the wrist where the rosary used to be and where Dean grudgingly allowed Sam to paint protective sigils on the hairless underside of his forearm, faded where the water sprites had curled weeds around them to drag them away.

“I don’t?” Sam replies, surprised, because he already feels safer with Dean’s prayer beads digging into his back, his cheek pressed against Dean’s amulet and his big brother’s steady heartbeat in his ear.

“Nah.” Dean shakes his head, pushes his chin into Sam’s hair and presses down until Sam yelps and tries to get away. “You’ve got me.”

“Great,” Sam says, deadpan, wonders if Dean can sense him rolling his eyes. “I’ve got a brother who smells like lake water and is covered in mud, and, oh, nearly died before we even got here because he tripped over a log.”

Dean gives him a proper noogie, then, and Sam elbows him in his unprotected ribs. “It was a really big log,” he protests, and his ring glints in the first rays of sunlight, and Sam laughs.

“That’s what she said,” he retorts. They continue the dirty jokes and the wrestling as they pull each other to their feet and stumble safely all the way to the road.

“Are you sure it’s not what killed Mom?” Sam hears Dean ask as he and Dad tromp through the door. Sam recognizes the Impala’s engine, and so by the time they get inside he’s sitting at the table doing his Physics homework instead of lining the closet with salt and standing inside, the door pulled closed and the safety off his gun. “It had yellow eyes.”

“It’s not,” Dad says firmly, but he’s got that look in his eyes, the one that he gets when he says that what’s left in the tank will get them all the way to town, or silver will definitely kill any monster even if they’re not sure what it is, or that no one will notice if Sam wears the same goddamned shirt to school three times in a row, we’ll do laundry soon, why’d you waste the quarters on soda?

And Sam realizes that Dad doesn’t know if that’s what killed Mom or not. He’s not sure, and if this isn’t it and the next monster isn’t it then maybe nothing will ever be it, and this is never ever going to end.

Sam’s not as surprised as he’d like to be. After all, he’d told Sully that this was what it meant to be a Winchester — it means fighting monsters. It means being a hero, like Dean always says they are, toasts the hunt and lets Sam have his own can of beer.

But Dad always treats it like they’re stopping, soon. Soon. As soon as we find this bastard, Sammy, I’m telling you, we’ll settle down somewhere and send you to one of those fancy preparatory schools where all the kids wear suits and ties, and Dean and I will buy a garage, Winchesters’ Repairs. Of course, by then Dad’s usually talking to his good friend Jose, and barely notices Sam’s there.

They’re not stopping, though. Dad’s back from this last hunt with a tourniquet around his thigh and Dean’s got the brace on his knee which means he’s twisted it again, and how is Sam supposed to save ligaments wrenched the wrong way too many times to count? They’re not stopping, and it’s obviously up to Sam to keep them safe.

It’s not really Sam’s idea. It’s actually Dad’s idea, though Dad might kill Sam if Sam says that out loud, looks kind of like he wants to kill Sam anyway, for holding out the acceptance letter with Stanford in bold print across the top.

Dad’s the one who keeps saying, “you’re a natural with all these books, Sammy,” “when this is all done, kiddo, I’ll hustle us up enough money to send you to Harvard Law.” He always says Harvard Law, and Sam’s not sure if it’s because he thinks his youngest son is smart or because he’s tired of hearing Sam’s smart mouth when they fight.

They fight all the time, now, Sam taller than his dad but thinner around than one of Dad’s clenched fists, Dad shouting that he’s been hunting since Sam was in fucking diapers and Sam shouting that that doesn’t mean he’s doing a good job, and Dean either between them with a wan, mediating smile, or out the door at the first raised voice and spending his evening more enjoyably at the nearest bar.

“I’ve got a full ride,” Sam says, because maybe it will cheer Dad up, hearing that he won’t have to hustle pool to help pay Sam’s fees. Maybe Dad would be happier if he realized what Sam and Dean already know — that there’s no after the last hunt, for Dad, who’s searching every monster in the U.S. for the ghost of Mom’s face. “If you wanted, we could look for a place nearby. See if there’s a garage hiring. California has earthquakes and fires, Dad, there’s got to plenty of pissed off ghosts.”

Sam never really expected his dad to take him up on that suggestion, never mind that it’s exactly what he always says they’re going to do. Dad’s never wanted to be safe.

But Sam does. Sam wants to be safe. In the last year he’s broken four fingers and two ribs, gone to the hospital when a poisoned fang sank in half an inch from his femoral artery and again when a werewolf clawed his back to the bone. And none of that hurts as much as watching Dean thrown down stairs or against marble crypts, seeing him shout a werewolf away from Sam’s racing, tasty heart only to have his own insides ripped out instead. Sam can’t forge the chainmail that will protect every inch of Dean’s freckled, vulnerable skin. He can’t. He’s tried. For years he’s tried, and this is all that’s left.

“Come with me,” he begs, when Dad’s ultimatum leaves him standing with his hastily packed duffel on the sidewalk in front of their motel. He’s crying, but it’s raining, so he moves out from under the overhang and hopes Dean can’t separate raindrops from tears. “C’mon Dean. You promised to keep me safe.”

Dean shakes his head. Tightens his jaw and spins the ring around his thumb, jostles the prayer beads on his wrist. The amulet gleams in watery yellow glow of the parking lot lights. If Sam closes his eyes, he can still feel the imprint of it on his cheek, when Dean pulled him to his chest and held him close.

“You made your choice,” he tells Sam, making his own choice when he offers to drive Sam to the bus station instead of aiming the Impala at California and settling in for the ride.

Sam takes another bag out of the trunk, before he goes, his gun and his knives, rock salt and holy water and the cheap rosary Dean wouldn’t wear, a machete that hasn’t failed him yet and a bag of charms he meant to weave into a bracelet for Dean’s unprotected wrist. If he won’t have Dean standing between him and the monsters, Sam’s going to have to learn how to protect himself.

“Be safe,” he tells his big brother, once they’re in front of the station and soaked through by the tepid summer rain, lets Dean pull him down into a hug that makes Sam feel small and protected and loved. He tries to make his words a command, to infuse them with gravitas like everything their Dad says so that Dean can’t disobey, but they're warbled and finish with sniffles that Sam tries to hide in the fabric of Dean’s shirt.

“You too,” Dean murmurs, winding his fingers through Sam’s hair and pulling him closer before stepping back and pushing him away.

He gets back in the car and Sam stands in the rain and watches him go: amulet around his neck, prayer beads and ring, leather belt with Norse runes, new boots with knots down the laces and marker on the soles. Dean’s as safe as Sam could make him, though Sam knows it hasn’t ever been enough. And Sam’s safe, now. Sam’s saved himself from the one thing he couldn’t survive. This way, he won’t be there when it happens — he won’t have to watch his brother die.

[the-speaker-for-the-dead]

1-100

1. What is you middle name?James2. How old are you?183. What is your birthday?The day when I was born Kappa4. What is your zodiac signAquaman I think5. What is your favorite color?Orange6. What's your lucky number?Like 77. Do you have any pets?A doggo8. Where are you from?Muria9. How tall are you?6'6 10. What shoe size are you?1211. How many pairs of shoes do you own?312. What was your last dream about?No idea13. What talents do you have?Statistics and playing children's card games14. Are you psychic in any way?Yes, Psychotic15. Favorite song?Heavydirtysoul16. Favorite movie?Kubo and the Two Strings17. Who would be your ideal partner?^_^18. Do you want children?Yes19. Do you want a church wedding?No idea20. Are you religious?We don't use the r word21. Have you ever been to the hospital?Lel22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?No23. Have you ever met any celebrities?Nope24. Baths or showers?Bath25. What color socks are you wearing?Black26. Have you ever been famous?Nope27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?No28. What type of music do you like?Good music29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?Yes30. How many pillows do you sleep with?131. What position do you usually sleep in?On my side32. How big is your house?1800 square feet I think. But a third of that is wasted basement.33. What do you typically have for breakfast?Pills34. Have you ever fired a gun?Yes35. Have you ever tried archery?Yes36. Favorite clean word?Ruby or Bubbles37. Favorite swear word?Fornication38. What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep?Like 52 hours or something39. Do you have any scars?Lel40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?Uh I guess so?41. Are you a good liar?No42. Are you a good judge of character?Yes43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?Not without being super racist44. Do you have a strong accent?No45. What is your favorite accent?Scottish46. What is your personality type?Inftpabc12347. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?Either my trench coat or my suit48. Can you curl your tongue?No49. Are you an innie or an outie?It's neutral50. Left or right handed?Both51. Are you scared of spiders?Nope52. Favorite food?Chicken parm53. Favorite foreign food?Chicken parm just so I annoy my Italian aunt54. Are you a clean or messy person?Neither55. Most used phrased?It's all good fam56. Most used word?No idea probably something boring57. How long does it take for you to get ready?Depends on how I'm feeling. 10 minutes to two hours.58. Do you have much of an ego?My cousins think so XD59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?Bite60. Do you talk to yourself?Yes61. Do you sing to yourself?Yes62. Are you a good singer?No63. Biggest Fear?Failure64. Are you a gossip?Not really65. Best dramatic movie you've seen?No idea what qualifies for this66. Do you like long or short hair?Depends on who67. Can you name all 50 states of America?Yes68. Favorite school subject?History69. Extrovert or Introvert?Intro70. Have you ever been scuba diving?No71. What makes you nervous?Females, parents, failure.72. Are you scared of the dark?Depends on the dark73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?Sometimes74. Are you ticklish?_>~_~Nope not at all75. Have you ever started a rumor?Not intentionally lel76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?Yes77. Have you ever drank underage?Technically yes lel78. Have you ever done drugs?Yes all the drugs#vapenation79. Who was your first real crush?Emma Palomba80. How many piercings do you have?081. Can you roll your Rs?"I don't think so82. How fast can you type?Probs like 40-60wpm maybe I'm over estimating83. How fast can you run?Can't remember my 40, probably like a 5:30 or something84. What color is your hair?Brown85. What color is your eyes?Amber86. What are you allergic to?Life87. Do you keep a journal?No88. What do your parents do?Too much89. Do you like your age?Frens in pain90. What makes you angry?Injustice91. Do you like your own name?Yeah92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?Not really, maybe a Bella93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?Girl94. What are you strengths?Empathy95. What are your weaknesses?Fear96. How did you get your name?My mom liked it97. Were your ancestors royalty?No98. Do you have any scars?Yes99. Color of your bedspread?Blue and gray100. Color of your room?Yellow and gray

[calmlypanicking]

Gigglefish - a Castle Swimmer tickle fic!!

I loooove castle swimmer so much!! so i finally finished this fic i started a whillle ago lol.

750ish words, switches Kappa and Siren, fluffy, very short mention of injury in the beggining but its just like he bumped his hand into something. Enjoy!!

“Ow, crap,” Siren mumbled, trying to pull his hand free and accidentally hitting a rock with his knuckles.

“I’m back. Siren?” Kappa asked when he saw the odd position his boyfriend was in. Siren was in the cave they had been using to hide out in for a while, right up against the wall. And his arm was, gone? No, it was stuck. In the wall.

Siren took a panicked yank at his arm in a last ditch attempt to get out of the situation with some of his dignity left, but it didn’t budge.

“Siren, are you, *cough*, are you ok?” Kappa asked, couching to cover a laugh.

“I’m fine, I just, I was playing with this shell, tossing it, and it went into this crack, and now i’m stuck, and I look really stupid,” He said, blushing slightly,

“Aww, no Siren. You look handsome as ever. You're just, uhuh, stuck,” Kappa responded, giggling to himself at the predicament, but swimming closer and starting to grab his arm to help him.

“It’s not that funnyhy” Siren giggled, shifting as Kappa reached up to grab his underarm to pull.

“Yes it is, you're literally laughing too.”

“Not beca- because of thahat.” Siren laughed again, twisting as Kappa continued trying to pull his arm free.

“Oh yeah sure, then what are you laughing at, your highness?” Kappa asked sarcastically.

“Yourhe tickling mehe!” Siren squealed in response when Kappa's fingers drifted lower towards his ribs.

Kappa paused, looking contemplative. “Tickling?”

“Yehah, you were tickling me.”

“What’s tickling?” Kappa asked.

“What? You don’t know what tickling is? Its when like, your friends or whatever like, i dont know. It’s hard to explain. But someone touches you and it makes you laugh.”

“Touching makes me laugh?”

“Yeah, if you’re ticklish. Most mer are, some aren't, though.”

“So you’re, ‘ticklish’?” He asked, a small mischievous glint in his eyes.

“W-well yeah, but you probably are too, see?” Siren reached his free hand out and gently grabbed Kappa's side, smiling when he immediately folded over himself in giggles. “Now would you help me out of here, gigglefish. I’d like to have my arm back before it goes numb.”

“Gigglefish?!” Kappa gasped, “You’re the gigglefish, mister!” He said, reaching out and scribbling at Siren’s ribs again.

Cackling, Siren squirmed and pulled, trying desperately to avoid the quick hands that were steadily moving closer to his stomach. Once Kappa reached his stomach, he squealed and promptly pulled his arm free, landing on the sandy ground.

“Ohoho my God! That was so cute!” Kappa squealed, coming closer to watch his boyfriend continue riding out his giggle fit as he desperately tried to rub the tingles off his stomach.

“Noho, it was not!” Siren protested through his giggles.

Kappa swam closer, smiling at his boyfriend laying on the sand. “Sorry to say this Siren, but that was, in fact, very cute,” he said with a faux serious expression, but Siren could still see the glint in his eyes and the way he couldn't quite stop smiling.

“I’ll show you cute,” Siren replied, quickly getting up and tackling a very surprised Kappa to the seafloor.

“Sihirenn!” Kappa laughed as Siren once again targeted his sides.

Lightening his touch worked wonders, he realized, as he started gently scribbling against the spot. The lighter touch resulted in Kappa falling into tittering giggles and desperately grabbing onto Siren’s hand.

“You’re not pushing me away?” Siren asked as he continued his gentle torment.

“Aham I suhuposed to?” Kappa asked, his voice pitching up at the end because of Siren moving to his stomach for just a moment.

“Uh,” Siren started, slowing his tickling but not stopping completely. “I guess not? I mean, lots of mer do, but it’s okay if you don’t. It’s actually pretty cute,” he smirked, moving closer to the blushing boy’s face.

“Why do they push it away? I think it’s fun!” Kappa smiled, still holding Siren’s wrist even though he wasn’t tickling. “Am i- am I not supposed to like it?” he asked, expression faltering.

“I mean, there’s nothing wrong with liking it, its just not as common I guess. But I like it, to a point. It's nice to be close and have a reason to laugh. And I definitely like that you like it. That gives me an excuse to tickle you more.”

“So… you can keep going then?” Kappa asked hopefully, squeezing Siren’s wrist, and his heart at the same time.

“Of course,” he paused, then smirked as he leaned closer to Kappa. “Anything for you, gigglefish.”

[maxattack-powell]

The Freshman: 1-1

Book 1 - 1

Chapter 1: Welcome to Hartfeld University

Masterlist - go here for other chapters and related original fics

Disclaimer: The following are fics (adaptations from actual game chapters AND original works) to Choices: The Freshman series. It is a fictional adaptation. I do not work for Pixelberry Studios, the game developer or own the rights to the characters Chris Powell, Nicole or any other IN GAME character. All of the ORIGINAL characters, storylines and events were developed, by me, for this adaptation of The Freshman story.

Comments: I enjoyed playing Choices: The Freshman… But it needed more. I’ve included certain things that aren’t really full fic size in order to add more substance to the story. I ALSO have quite a few full size fics throughout. I wanted to see MC and Chris through their college years, and more… with additional angst, fluff, sweetness, real life and overall detail - so here you go.

NSFW moments in some chapters - Mature Readers Only Please

Paring: MC x Chris

MC Appearance: fair skin - short, somewhat curly/wavy blonde hair - hazel eyes - sporty button up cardigan over white v-neck and jeans

POV: ~MC~ or ~Chris~

Welcome to Hartfeld University, one of North America's most elite academic institutions!

~MC~

It's the first day of another year at the prestigious Hartfeld University.

A fair skinned young woman steps out of the passenger seat of her mother's blue SUV. Being dropped off near the quad, only a small walk to her dorm, MC looks around her new surroundings. Most freshmen were not permitted to have an automobile on campus, especially if they were considered local, which she unfortunately was. She let out a small sigh as she assessed the campus, realizing the quad was bigger than she thought. According to the online map she spent time studying over the last few weeks, she thought she wouldn't have to drag her luggage too far once dropped off. However, the place was huge, yet very beautiful. She wished she could have brought her car but it really wasn't necessary. Even being away at college, she lived close enough to home that either of her parents could be there in less than a an hour or so if needed. Still, her little truck was a big part of her independence and she missed it.

MC turns and hugs her mother who had also jumped out of the car to give her one last tearful goodbye. They both smile, her mom telling her she will be back to pick MC up for the break before she knew it.

She waves goodbye as the blue SUV begins to drive off, turning back toward the large quad. She scrunches her face, trying to shield her vision from the bright sun, as she looks around again. Some of the buildings were clearly very, very old. Of course there were new and exciting buildings being built yearly too from what she learned during registration. Many full of new technology and exciting advancements. The university even had its own movie theater now as well - and being a avid movie enthusiast, she couldn't wait until she could enjoy that perk. She hoped at least one of her roommates would be a big movie buff too.

MC was missing her friends back home already. The memories of crazy movie nights and after football game parties made her smile, her face warmed by the bright sun. While deep in thought she walks across the bustling campus... running her hand through shoulder length wavy blonde hair as the breeze kept catching it and dragging it across her face, obstructing her view.

"At least the weather is perfect today... ugh, but this suitcase weighs like a thousand pounds. Maybe I shouldn't have brought so much--" She huffs and blows some hair out of her face once more.

Distracted, she rounds a corner on one of the quad cross paths, marked by a statue of some kind, blocking her view of possible incoming traffic. She's pivots so quickly that she smacks right into the chest of a guy jogging by. They both tumble to the ground, him falling onto his back while she ends up splayed across his chest.

"Whoa!" He looks startled, blinking a few times. His expression quickly morphs to a look of concern as he realizes what happened.

MC's face instantly burns at the closeness of their bodies, his face only inches from hers. She quickly scrambles to awkwardly push herself off of him, using both hands to push off his chest, having limited leverage options at this point. Her hands are burning from the contact - that or the embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She sits back on her heels, kneeling beside him. She lets out a small groan as she throws her hands up to her face to hide her shame.

He smiles at her actions and props his upper body up on his elbows. She blushes even deeper, her body turning warm as she takes in his whole appearance. MC could tell he was fairly tall, even though he was still laying haphazardly on the ground next to her. Not only were his legs long, they were obviously very muscular, filling up his worn jeans in such a satisfying way. His broad chest and shoulders were covered with a red Henley shirt... it looked worn-in and comfortable. She instantly wondered if it was his favorite, smirking at the thought that she was probably correct. He notices her expression and grins back, effortlessly rising to sit up next to her now, running his left hand through his messy auburn hair, letting it rest on the back of his neck.

"My ego is a little bruised. If the other guys on the football team saw me getting tackled by a pretty girl, they'd never let me forget it." His eyes meet hers, causing her breath to catch in her throat. They were the brightest blue she had ever seen. He searches her face as she tries to avoid drowning in his gaze.

The young man brushes his hands on his jeans, directly on his muscular thighs, her eyes watching their every movement. He then stands up and offers her his left hand, in an attempt to help her up. MC appreciates the offer and connects with him once again, this time with intention. As she rises she doesn't pull her hand from his. Curiously, he also doesn't let it go, instead keeping a firm, yet soft grip.

It seems like minutes pass as they both stand there, until he clears his throat and lightly shakes her hand. "I'm Chris, by the way. Nice to meet you." His hand was so warm. Almost like he could absorb the sun and retain its power for hours, maybe days.

MC prays her hand doesn't betray her and begin to sweat. She glances down briefly at her bag, attempting to hide her treacherous thoughts before allowing her hazel eyes to once again meet his piercing blues. "Nice to meet you too. I'm MC." She returns to the handshake, showing her appreciation.

He gently lets go of her hand. For a brief second, she sees him clench the same hand into a fist, causing his knuckles to turn white. The action is instantly gone though, as he stretches his fingers back out before letting his hand hang loosely by his side. It happened so quickly that she began to doubt her eyes. She wonders if he was trying to shake off her contact, and if so, was that a good or bad thing.

Chris raises his right hand, rubbing at his stubbly chin. She could tell he shaved that morning, but he was probably capable of growing a decent beard if he chose to. She starts to imagine if he ever had, as it would be a shame to hide such a strong, well defined jaw.

"MC... for some reason that rings a bell. Huh. So uh..." He interrupts her musings while running his hand from his chin, across his jaw to the back of his neck again. She wondered if it was an anxious mannerism of his. "...are you okay? Nothing broken, I hope." He looks at her hopefully, a small smile slowly creeping in.

MC felt bad for him as he was trying to assume the blame for the collision, worried that he hurt her, while it was really all her fault. "I'll be fine. My hand is just a little scraped up." She rubs them both against her butt to brush off the dirt and hide the scrapes on her palms.

His eyes linger on her hands as they make contact with the seat of her jeans, following them as she rubs both together. His face falls a little. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" He looks at her, adorably standing there awkward, full of concern.

MC's eyes crinkle as her smile grows with an idea. "Kiss my hand and make it better?" She asks jokingly, punctuating her request with a smirk.

Chris visually relaxes and moves closer to her, his eyes never breaking contact. "If that will help..." He lifts her right hand to his lips and kisses it , palm first, then each finger. MC tries to hide the shudder that tears through her body at the contact- each point of contact feeling electric.

Flushing, she tries not to laugh at the ticklish action. "If feels better already."

He still holds her hand as he asks, "Any other bumps or bruises you need me to fix?" His right eyebrow raises with amusement.

Now it's MC's turn to run her left hand through her hair, stopping it behind her neck, hiding the growing red coloring from her increasing heart rate. "Let me think about that..."

Suddenly interrupting them, a leggy blonde in a mini skirt runs over to them both "Chris! There you are! Don't forget about the Kappa house mixer tonight."

He startles and turns towards the intruder, dropping MC's hand simultaneously. She inwardly whimpers at the loss of his heat. "Oh... Becca. Hey. I'd love to go, but I promised my roommates I'd hang out with them." He doesn't seem too upset about turning her down, so MC wonders if he's really busy or simply making up an excuse.

Becca puts on an exaggerated pout, sticking her bottom lip out in such a cliche way. She then grabs his arm and threads hers through his. "Too bad... I promise you'd have a better time with me..." Becca narrows her eyes in her best attempt at seduction, causing him to recoil slightly from her as he was clearly uncomfortable with her forwardness.

At this point MC has had enough and decides to interrupt her in turn. "Uh, we're kind of in the middle of a conversation." She interjects, clearly amazed at Becca's brash behavior.

"It looked to me like you were just leaving." She finally turns to MC, her first attempt at an interaction.

MC is immediately irritated, hating games like this. There's no reason for this type of behavior. She and Chris were simply talking before Becca rudely interrupted. 'Who does she think she is acting like this...' "Actually--" MC begins, but just then Becca drops her iced coffee at MC's feet, causing it to splash all over her. The liquid immediately soaks through her clothes, making her cold.

"Seriously?!" MC grabs her shirt hem and looks down at her jeans and shoes, now thoroughly saturated. Becca's fake surprise turns into a snotty sneer. "Oops. I'm so clumsy." Again, she pouts.

Chris immediately pushes Becca's arms away as he steps towards MC, his mouth falling open in shock. "MC! Your outfit!" He quickly looks around for anything he can do to help. "I'll go find some napkins." He yells over his shoulder as he sprints towards the campus coffee shop.

As soon as he's gone, Becca leans in startling close, interrupting MC's fruitless attempt to rescue her now ruined clothes, possibly more like her dignity. "Just so you know, Chris is mine."Concerned by her direct statement MC's mouth drops open. "Oh, he's your boyfriend?" She starts to feel bad about the way the moments with Chris made her feel, her face going warm at the thought.

Becca stands up straight and sighs. "Not yet. But he will be." She says with such confidence as she flips her long blonde hair behind her shoulder.

MC's face goes flat. "Oh yeah? I could care less about your love life." Now she was pissed knowing she was right before. 'Who the hell did this girl think she was? The audacity. She doesn't even know me, a complete stranger, yet she acts like this.'

"Good. Just stay out of my way, and we'll be fine." She throws a judgmental look up and down MC's person, causing her to clench her jaw and narrow her eyes. MC knew then, that she would have an issue with Becca if she didn't back off. Upperclassman or not, it makes no difference.

As she feels her inner temp rising with anger she notices Chris running up with a stack of napkins. His look of concern causes her to immediately cool down. "This is the best I could do." He hands her some of the napkins and she attempts to wick some of the liquid from her shirt, completely giving up on the jeans at this point.

She didn't notice before because of her instant shock when Becca attacked, but some had splashed higher than her shirt. Some so high, it streaked across her left cheek and even landed a few drops in her hair. Chris apparently did notice though, as he reaches up and gently wipes her face. MC's cheeks suddenly feel warm again, her eyes locking with his. He then attempts to remove the drops from her hair, but she knew it was a lost cause. No matter how exciting it was for him to be concerned about her, especially after Becca's immature behavior, she knew her hair would be a wreck.

She gives him a genuine smile and reaches for his hand, taking the used napkin from him. Their hands make brief contact, sending a jolt through them both. She tries to ignore that it affected her like that, and that she noticed his slight jerk from the contact as well. "It's a good start... I'll just find my dorm and change. See you around okay?"

"You can count on it." Though his face was still full of concern he gives her a warm smile. Between his smile, his touch, and his concern... MC found that she was no longer cold.

She gives him a quick wink and a peace sign as she turns towards the dorms. She notices him briefly give Becca and incredulous look as she was again attempting to bleed into his side while dragging him to who knows where.

'Even if I have to deal with people like her, it's worth it if there are other people like him... this may be a great year after all.'

After a few minutes of slow walking to navigate through the quad and section of forms, she arrived. The building had 8900 on the top most corner so she knew she was on track.

"This looks like the place!" She finds the elevator and goes up to the third floor. MC knocks on the door, which almost instantly swings open to reveal a spacious common area. "Wow... this place is huge!" She stands there in amazement as she takes it all in.

"Aaaaahhh! New roomie! You're finally here!" An average height, dark haired girl approaches. "...and covered in coffee?" She frowns as she pauses in her mission for a hug.

MC looks down and assess her appearance. The coffee has begun to dry and looks worse than before. 'Great.' She shakes her head and poses, placing her right hand on her hip and dropping her luggage from her left hand to run it through your sticky hair. "Haven't you heard? It's the hottest look for fall." She laughs, making your most ridiculous duck lips.

The dark haired girl clearly loves this behavior, as she partially folds over with laughter. "Oh yeah? Well you're definitely pulling it off. Seriously, you're *super* pretty." She flashes MC a bashful smile.

'What?! There's no way, especially now!' MC laughs to herself before honestly returning the compliment. "Thanks... you're super hot!" And she was. Her thick dark hair went past her shoulders, framing her exciting dark eyes and adorable nose. And then there was her smile. She had the perfect smile.

"Oh wow..." She blushes and looks away, a slight smile curving her lips.

"Too much?" MC wrinkles her nose and begins to feel like she may have gone too far. She just met her after all. 'What is it with you today.' She was being super open with everyone even though she had just arrived. Must be all the excitement buzzing around.

"I'm going to go with no..." She blushes an even darker shade. "But you probably want to get out of those coffee-stained clothes. Let me show you to your room!" She lets MC in, closing the door behind her before she takes off towards the hall.

Suddenly she turns giving MC a look of horror. "Omg. I'm Kaitlyn by the way!" She laughs again before continuing. "Man you really tongue tied me - I didn't even introduce myself."

"Oh yes, you're right! My name is MC." Kaitlyn reaches to shake her hand before she continues to lead her through the suit.

MC notices that the space continues to grow, much to her amazement. "Wait... do we have this whole place to ourselves?" She notice many closed doors, curious what may be behind them... bedrooms, closets, bathrooms.

"Ha! I wish. In case you haven't heard, the school's in a housing crunch. This is a six-person suite! We'll be sharing this place with one other girl... and three guys!" Kaitlyn's eyes grew big as she informed her of their predicament.

She knew Hartfeld had some co-ed dorms, and that she would be sharing with other freshman students, but didn't realize there would be six of them in a single space. As an only child, she hoped she would know how to build and maintain relationships with them all in such a close space, seeing as she was used to being alone most of the time while at home. 'This could be fun.' She grins.

"That's awesome! This is great. It'll be like having five best friends right off the bat." Kaitlyn nods and wholeheartedly agrees as they both bounce around with excitement.

"Just friends? They say the number one rule of freshman year is not to hook up with your roommates..." Kaitlyn wiggles her eyebrows, her eyes showing deep amusement. "But I don't always play by the rules." She winks and points her finger gun at you, taking a shot.

MC laughs, a small blush creeping up her cheeks. "I'll keep that in mind." She tries to stay focused on her room while thinking about the events of the day so far. Her literal run in with Chris, her unfortunate experience with Becca, and now Kaitlyn. She felt like she could be her best friend, like the two were tied together somehow.

Kaitlyn interrupts MC's inner monologue. "Here's your room. Hurry up and change, then we can hit the Welcome Week Fair!" She beings to turn towards the door and pauses. "Oh, I almost forgot! Every year, they set up an *massive* slip 'n slide in the middle of the fair!" She's now beaming at the thought. "It looks super fun... and it's a great excuse to wear a bikini!" She accentuated her statement with a wiggle of her hips, causing MC to laugh and join her impromptu dance.

MC asks, "So... are you going to do it?" She wonders if Chris will be there. He was a freshman this year too, right? She wasn't actually sure though, now that she thought about it. She knew he was on the football team, and Becca was definitely older if she was talking about a sorority. 'Maybe he isn't a freshman, maybe he is older, like her.'

"Definitely. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Sliding through the quad in a sexy swimsuit is a great way to make an entrance." Kaitlyn turns and heads for the door. "I'm gonna go change! Be back in a sec, okay?" As she runs to her room down the hall, MC digs for her bikini in her suitcase and shuts your door to change.

Once she checks her hair and makeup, she digs in her stuff again for her towel. She can't find it, beginning to worry that she forgot to pack one. Once she is satisfied with her appearance, she goes out to the common space, finding Kaitlyn waiting. "What do you think?" MC spins to show off her bathing suit.

Kaitlyn's mouth falls open. "I'm roommates with the hottest girl at Hartfeld!"

MC shakes her head in disagreement, assessing Kaitlyn's choice in bikini. It's a dark tube top style and she looks amazing in it. "Um, you don't look so bad yourself."

Kaitlyn snorts though a smile, waving her off. "Ready to go make a splash?" Kaitlyn asks as she grabs two towels, tossing one at MC, heading to the door.

'How did she know...' MC nods, with a determined smile on her lips. "Let's do this."

Outside they find dozens of people manning booths for various organizations. Onlookers cheer as freshmen coast down the slip 'n slide. MC’s not sure how she missed all of this being set up as she went through the quad earlier. She had been distracted tho, she reminded herself. Her thoughts drift towards the guy she met earlier.

As they both approach the slide, Kaitlyn can barely control herself. "Here goes nothing!" She gets a running start and jumps into the slip 'n slide. The crowd goes wild. People neither of them have seen before stop and cheer Kaitlyn on as she makes her way rapidly down the slide.

A preppy beautiful blonde with sweet eyes and a kind smile begins to cheer "Woo! I'm loving that confidence!" She claps her hands and laughs.

"Marry me!" A short haired blond guy wearing a puffy vest screams out. MC wonders if any of them will become her friends.

She laughs at Kaitlyn's enthusiasm and crowd response before positioning herself near the beginning of the slide. "My turn!" She sprints across the grass and dives head-first onto the slide. "This... is... cooooolllegeee!" She scream in her best 300 Spartans impersonation, as she poses like Superman.

As she reaches the end of the slide, slowing down as the water pools, she hears people talking about her. A tall handsome dark haired guy looks to his friend "Who's that girl? She's like... a slip 'n slide angel!" 

He was tall, with a fairly broad chest. Clearly he participated in at least one type of sport. ‘This school has a lot to enjoy.’ She giggled to herself.

Out of nowhere Chris steps into view next to him. As he moves closer to the first guy, he leans to see who his friend was referring to. A smile spreads across his face as he watches her get up at the end. "That's MC. She's the one I was telling you about." He was speaking a somewhat quietly, almost like he didn't want her to hear. MC’s mind begins to wonder if they are on the football team together, as she remembers Chris mentioning that earlier, and they both certainly looked like they played football.

His friend responds. "No fair. How come beautiful girls never knock me over?!" The dark haired guy mock pouts as he strongly clasps Chris on the shoulder. Chris just grins harder, raising an eyebrow at MC as she glances over again. Instead of being embarrassed at being caught looking in their direction, she owns it, giving Chris a return lifted eyebrow and raises him a smirk. He openly laughs flashes her a big smile before turning to talk to other guys in their immediate group.

Just then Kaitlyn runs up to MC with a couple of snow cones, handing her one. "I don't know what flavor you like, so I just got rainbow."

"Thanks!" She tried to hide her excitement. Snow cones were a thing for her. It's like she and Kaitlyn were cut from the same cloth. She lets out a small sigh of relief, knowing that Kaitlyn would be her roommate and easy to hang out with.

"I've never seen someone so happy to get a snow cone." Kaitlyn laughs and takes a huge bite out of hers.

MC looks back over where Chris and his friend were standing just in time to see Becca arrive, positioning herself in front of Chris and his friend. She was going on about something MC couldn't quite make out. She wrinkles her nose and turns back to her new friend.

"Well, I do love snow cones... something serious. I might also be smiling because of this cute guy... I think he may be into me." She looks back towards Becca as she suddenly drops her red solo cup. Becca then moves and lowers herself very provocatively in front of Chris and his friend, her hand on his leg as she slowly stands back up, only inches from his body as she rises.

MC frowns at Becca's direct display of her body, basically on top of Chris. While his dark haired friend smirks and grabs his chest, Chris steps back as his face turns a deep shade of red and his brows pinched together in surprise. He was clearly uncomfortable now, and no longer aware of MC’s presence as he turned and walked towards some other friends to escape the sudden show.

MC looks around a crowd of people now in her line of sight, curious where he was going. He joined a new group of guys, many of which had football jerseys on. Becca apparently didn't notice he was gone immediately, also running out of view to catch up to him.

While it felt like an eternity, it only lasted seconds. Kaitlyn's eyes grew in her surprise. "Oh... uh, who? Where is he?" She stated looking where Chris previously was as MC was still somewhat distracted.

"He actually just left... looks like he's a popular guy. Lot of friends to mingle with." MC shrugs as if she was indifferent, but inside she was a little sad that he was gone. She shakes her head and smiles to her roommate. "I'm having a great time. Thank you for inviting me."

"You're so sweet... I'm so glad we're in the same suite. I feel like it was destiny for us to be roommates." She laughs and hugs MC as she hugs back. It felt good to have a connection with someone so soon after arriving. She missed her friends from back home.

"I think you might be right." They both raise their snow-cones and cheer, laughing as both treats slosh as they collide.

After taking a few minutes to dry off, MC and Kaitlyn check out the rest of the fair.

"Let's see here... a capella? Nah. Can't sing. Student government. Nah, don't care." MC laughs with Kaitlyn as she assesses and shoots down all the extracurricular activities and clubs as they pass. MC eyes never stop scanning the crowds for faces she may know, even though she really only met a few people so far. She was actually surprised at how many students were there, enjoying the fair. Hartfeld was going to be a great experience.

Just then her eyes land on a familiar face at the Kappa Phi Sigma booth. 'Becca...'

"Ah MC. Could you not stand so close to our tent?" She purses her lips as she evaluates her and Kaitlyn. "We don't want people thinking Kappa Phi Sigma would associate with someone like you."

Kaitlyn's face screws into a look of disgust. "Wow, MC, is this girl serious?" She crosses her arms below her chest and shoots Becca a solid glare.

"Unfortunately." MC’s eyes narrow as she refuses to break eye contact with the bitter blonde across from her.

Becca smirks, believing her comments are working. "Time to move along." She waves her on in a overly sweet, patronizing way.

The sweet kind-eyed blonde she saw earlier suddenly appears next to Becca with a look of surprise on her face. "Are you sure, Becca? I mean, look at her bikini... it's pure hotness!" She shoots MC a genuine smile. 

"Aren't we basically honor bound to sign her up?" She frowns back at her less than friendly sorority sister.

"Madison, would you *please* stop undermining me?" Becca grounds out towards Madison between clenched teeth.

MC shakes her head and sighs. "Don't worry Becca. I'm not interested in joining any sorority that associates with someone like you."

Becca's smile brightens, replacing her scowl with a super fake look of a perfect sorority sister. "That's what I thought. Buh bye now." She smirks at MC and sips an iced coffee through a straw.

"I see you got a new coffee Becca..." The thought of retaliating for her earlier action crosses MC’s mind, but at the last second she finds the control inside, deciding to be the bigger person. She does however flinch in Becca’s direction, causing her to jump, spilling the iced coffee on herself.

"Aaahhh!" Becca's eyes go wide with horror as her cute outfit is ruined.

Kaitlyn's eyes narrow at her and she stifles a laugh into her hand. "You should be more careful. Coffee stains are super hard to get out." They both give in and start snickering between themselves.

Becca glares at them both. "You're going to regret this... you just made an enemy for life." She brushes her clothes in a vain attempt to remove the coffee.

MC shrugs as she begins to turn, walking away. "Eh, it seemed like you already hated me anyway."

"Get. Away. From. Me." Becca spat out, her face turning red.

"Becca, people are starting to avoid our booth..." Madison looks around nervously, as her sister continues to get louder.

"Shut up Madison!" She screeched.

"I guess this is where we say 'buh bye'..." MC winks at her as she and Kaitlyn walk away. She does wave at Madison as they leave, and she quickly waves back, before dropping her hand and looking at Becca nervously.

Kaitlyn flashes MC a smile. "Ms. Queen Bee was completely jealous of your look... she even doused herself in coffee because of it!" Grabbing her sides as she laughs.

"Well, with the way she acts, it was bound to happen. The world must maintain balance with people like that. It was inevitable." MC’s almost crying with laughter.

Kaitlyn throws her arm around her shoulder, the other sweeping across the quad in front of them as she speaks. "I can't believe it... your first day and you've already got a nemesis. You're so lucky!" She pulls her outstretched hand back in, making a fist of fury to emphasize her words.

As they both make their way back toward the dorm, MC randomly looks back across the quad. Her eyes meet a tall dark, very handsome man wearing a sweater vest and blazer. She immediately finds it odd that he's wearing so many layers, especially formal layers, while visiting the fair. It works for him though, very complementary to his physique.

"See something you like?" Kaitlyn interrupts, elbowing her in the ribs.

MC gives her a mocking "Ooof!" and turns towards her again. "You mean that guy? He's not really my type." As you gesture towards the well dressed guy you were just assessing. She did admit to herself that he wasn't bad to look at though.

Kaitlyn looks over at him thoughtfully. "Hmm... a girl with high standards. I like it."

MC laughs and roll her eyes. A moment later, said guy walks into a nearby building and disappears from view. He quickly falls from MC’s thoughts as Kaitlyn speaks again.

"Hey, it's getting dark and I just got a text from one of our roommates. They're all home!" She speeds up her pace, eager to get back.

"Sounds like we should be heading back to the suite then. I'm excited to meet everyone else, maybe I'll hit the roommate lotto four more times." MC winks at Kaitlyn and she blushes, giving her a huge grin.

A few minutes later they both enter the suit's front door and notice an empty common space as they head to their respective rooms. MC thought it was odd since Kaitlyn just said they were all back. ‘Maybe they are in their rooms too?’ She wonders.

While this afternoon was a blast, she was more than happy to change back into her regular clothes. MC decides that a pair of jeans, a tank top and an open button up flannel would look good and still remain comfortable. While simple, the outfit was flattering. The jeans hugged her hips and ass in just the right places, the tank was firm fitting and gave her great cleavage, and the flannel... well it was one of your favorites as it was super comfortable. That's all she cared about. As she runs her hands through her hair, she realizes it and her makeup could use a serious touch up. She looks into her dresser mirror and nods - she no longer looks like she's covered in coffee or a drowned slip 'n slide rat. "Perfect."

As the sun sets, she walks into the suite living room and finds a girl standing in front of a painters easel. She wasn't there when she and Kaitlyn entered just 20 minutes ago, apparently assuming correctly that the others had been in their rooms. She then starts to wonder who's room was which. There was one right across the hall from hers, but the door was currently shut. She knew Kaitlyn was at the end, same side as hers, but the one across from hers and the two in the middle were still a mystery.

"Hey, you must be MC. I'm Abbie." MC moves forward in attempt to shake her hand, but Abbie quickly pulls hers back, causing her natural curls to bounce. "Ah! Careful! I'm covered in paint and I would hate to ruin your outfit!" She sheepishly laughs.

MC’s eyes widen at the beauty on her canvas. "Oh, you're an artist?"

Abbie looks down at her artwork and sighs. "Wow... no. I'm a long way from calling myself an *artist*." She bashfully looks up. "I guess I'm... more of a girl that paints. Anyway, everyone else is up on the roof already. I'm going to finish up and join you guys a little later."

Kaitlyn scoffs. "No way! You're coming with us Abbie... you can finish your painting later. It's not going anywhere."

Abbie let's a small smile cross her face. "I guess I'm close to finished... what do you think MC?" She taps the end of her brush on her lips.

"Hmm..." MC takes a second to fully appreciate her work. Studying the image, she sees a young girl at a dresser surrounded by fairies, dragons and other fantasy creatures. In her reflection she has a crown and a very content look on her face. The detail was amazing. It looked so real, yet it was a complete fantasy.

Kaitlyn was also appraising Abbie's artwork. "So, what's your thoughts MC?"

"It looks amazing Abbie... I was just wondering, are you the girl in the painting?" MC wants to know more about it, about her.

She blushes and looks at the floor. "Uh.. maybe? I don't know. I've heard it's impossible to keep yourself out of your own work... and I was definitely super into fairytales when I was little." Her smile grows bigger as she reaches within, connecting with an old memory.

"Aww! That's adorable!" Kaitlyn gushes, giving Abbie a one armed hug.

"So it's sorta a self-portrait of the artist as a young girl... plus fairytale creatures?" MC says thoughtfully. "A world you wanted to experience?"

"Sort of, yeah." She contemplates her work as she stares at it, cocking her head sideways.

Kaitlyn jumps up quickly, startling us both. "So!" She claps her hands. "Now are you ready to come up to the roof with us Abbie?"

"Sure... but only if I get to pick the music." She looks seriously at Kaitlyn. MC couldn't help but wonder what she had missed earlier in the day, there had to be a story there.

"Your wish is my command." Kaitlyn bows. "Now let's go!" She runs her arm through Abbie's and begins dragging her towards the stairs.

MC trails behind them both, becoming familiar with the new surroundings as she crosses the rooftop threshold. She had no idea there was roof access, realizing that it made more sense they were all up there instead of in their rooms. Kaitlyn pauses in front of her, throwing her arms out towards the night sky. "Nice. We've got such an amazing view."

Abbie turns towards MC, giving her a better view of the roof and the rest of their roommates. "Ready to meet the guys? This is..."

Suddenly, he's there, right in front of her. "Actually... we've already met." His smile turns up on one side as his face lights up with amusement.

MC’s mouth falls open slightly. "Chris?! You're my roommate?" She stands there, in slight shock as she inwardly laughs. 'Guess that answers the question if he is a freshman...'