#toasty's train thoughts

[toast-com]

I love these two. Holy War and Alice

They are both Hunslet narrow gauge engines, and both are very cool and adorable.

[duhnova]

Cry-Baby | Choi Seungcheol

synopsis. decked out in leather and riding a harley davidson like he’s got business with the devil, choi seungcheol was the talk of your small town. everyone looked down on him and when you come home for the first time since starting uni you find it hard to believe that the pouty lipped kid you tossed off the merry-go-round when you were six was some slick haired delinquent. 

pairing. biker!choi seungcheol x fem!reader 

word count: 4.9k

genre. fluff, angst, opposites attract, drama?, kind of college au

warning(s): mentions of parent death, mentions of parent illness, alcohol, let me know if i forgot anything!

this is apart of a 90's collab! you should check out everyone elses fics! - there might be a smutty & more angsty part 2 to this if there’s enough interest! also huge shoutout to @onlyhuis and @onlymingyus for proofreading for me, ily guys <3

When you left for university three years ago you never wanted to return home, the small town always made you feel claustrophobic. But now you’re sitting on a train, about an hour away from your childhood, the sony walkman you got as a graduation present from high school sat in your lap as you listened to the same nirvana cassette on repeat. 

The nerves of being home began to get to you as the familiar views of the old trailer park that sat outside your town came into view. An old pickup truck that adorns the same white and blue paint of your best friend's truck drives down the road that travels along the train tracks and it makes you wonder if it’s him coming to meet you at the station.  

“We’ll be arriving at the station within the next five minutes.” The worker smiled at you as she continued down the aisle of seats to tell the other patrons of the cart that the train will be stopping for a couple minutes at your stop before embarking to the next station. 

You put your walkman in your pocket so that you aren’t scrambling to gather your things when the train stops. Just as you got your backpack situated the train jolted a little as its breaks screech to a stop. 

“Ladies and gentlemen we have reached our next stop.” The worker's voice is drowned out by your music as you stand up and grab your suitcase before hopping out the door with the worker's help in lifting your bag down. 

“Thank you!” You call out and wave as the door closes and the train takes off again, no one else got on or off. 

“Y/N!” You hear a familiar voice call from behind you, the roar of a diesel engine brings a certain comfort to you that you haven’t felt since you left. 

“Gyu!” You call out with a smile on your face, the change in his appearance being more shocking in person than you thought it would be, having only seen him in pictures he sent from the crappy disposable cameras he and his friends like to use. All the work he’s been doing on his family's ranch has paid off as his muscles glisten with dirt and sweat. 

“I’ve missed you cherry pop.” He hugs you tightly as you laugh at the nickname he gave you years ago because you always had cherry lollipops on you. 

“I’ve.. missed you too.” You choke between laughs and the way he was squeezing you a little too tightly. 

“Sorry,” He laughs as he lets you go to grab your suitcase instead. “Are you hungry? It was a long travel day for you.” 

“I could eat.” You smile as you take your headphones off to let them rest around your neck as you follow your best friend to his truck that was still running and emitting a gross smell of diesel. 

“Great, let’s go to pops diner.” He lifts your suitcase over the side of the truck bed like it was nothing before he opens the door for you to get in. The leather of his seats were warm from his heater that left the cabin toasty unlike the train car you had been sitting in almost all day. 

“How are you?” You ask about the owner of the diner who was well into his 70’s at this point, his restaurant having been open for almost five decades at this point.

“He’s doing good, got his hip replaced last summer,” Mingyu shifts the car into drive after he reversed out of the spot he parked at. “Still kickin, Cheols mom still works there too.” The mention of your old childhood playmate makes you smile bittersweetly. The last time you two had talked was before you left for college and he seemed angry about everything in life and he took it out on you leaving a sour taste in your mouth and the lack of communication between the two of you over the past few years.  

“That’s nice, how is she doing? I remember last you told me she was in the hospital for something.” Mingyu sighs a little from beside you.

“Yeah she was, took me forever to get anything out of Cheol about it but she’s doing good now. Or so I’ve been told.” Seungcheol had always been hard headed and he’d rather talk about other people's problems than his own so it didn’t surprise you that Mingyu had to dig for some type of answer from him. 

“Is she working today? I’d love to see her…” Your voice trailed off as you thought about the lady’s son, who you desperately wanted to see as well but how you left things made you hesitant.

“Not today, she’s off for the weekend.” You nod, mumbling that it’s nice that she takes the weekend for herself. 

“I know you and Cheol had some blowout when you left but I’m going to see him later after I drop you off, if you wanna come with you’re more than welcome too.”

“What’re you two doing?” Mingyu was surprised you didn’t immediately shoot down his offer, he thought it would take more convincing.

“We’re going to the river for a bonfire with Jeonghan and Wonwoo.”

“They’re home too?” They had both left for college around the same time you had.

“Yeah, they come home every break they can.. Unlike someone I know.” He laughs lightheartedly. You huff quietly, unsure of how to respond. How do you respond anyways? You never wanted to come back, memories weighed heavy on your heart and the only thing keeping you to your hometown was the friends that resided in it.

“Hey,” Mingyu's voice softens. “I get it, you got out when you saw the chance and I’m proud of you.” 

“Thank you.” Your voice was just as soft as you watched the familiar scenery zip by. A nice silence fell between the two of you as he focused on driving, the train station sitting a couple miles out from the town you used to live in. 

“The bank sold the house by the way.” Mingyu broke the silence, a nervous sweat settled on his forehead as he broke the news to you. 

“About time.” You sigh, another weight you didn’t realize you were holding lifted off your shoulders. “Less for me to deal with now.” 

“You’re not upset?” Mingyu looks at you out of the corner of his eye. 

“No,” You sit up straighter and begin picking at the hem of your jacket. “My father was a drunk with thousands of dollars of debt he owed the bank so I’m not even surprised they sold it to make back what they lost and then some I’m sure.” 

“At least an actual family bought it instead of some corporation.” Mingyu tried to lighten the mood. “They just moved in and they have a newborn and a cute dog that I think you’d like.” 

“What kind of dog is it?” You side eye Mingyu, appreciative of the fact he moved on from the sensitive topic so quickly. 

“A corgi, they said it’s a black tricolor… Whatever that means.”

“It’s the fur color, it’s mainly black with a little bit of brown and white?”

“Yes! See this is why you went to college, you’re smart as hell.” You shake your head with a smile on your face. 

“You’re smart too, Gyu, and not going to college doesn’t affect that.” He shrugs as he slows his speed down after approaching the edge of town. 

“If you say so cherry pop.” Just as he pulled up to the first stoplight the roar of a loud engine could be heard from a distance. 

“I bet that’s Cheol.” You look at Mingyu confused before your question gets lost once you see the helmet less Seungcheol sped by on a motorcycle you had never seen before, his once dark hair was bleached blonde.

“That’s Cheol?” You asked as you watched him disappear down the opposite street you and Mingyu turned down. 

“Yeah, he changed quite a bit since you left.” That was an understatement as Seungcheol looked as big as Mingyu, maybe bigger if you dared to think.

“I can see that, can’t believe he bleached his hair.” 

“He did that pretty recently actually, said he needed a change and decided the worst that could happen is his hair would fall out.” 

“He’d look good with a buzz cut.” Mingyu laughs at the thought causing you to laugh too. 

“You should tell him that tonight when we hang out, I guarantee he’ll either blow a gasket or take you seriously and actually cut his hair off.” 

“He would drown me in the river first before he’d listen to me.” 

“I don’t know cherry pop, you were very influential to him for a long time. Remember how he did your bidding all throughout elementary school?” 

“Yeah cause I tossed him off the merry-go-round at recess and he decided he was scared of me until junior high.” 

“I think we were all scared of you after that,” Mingyu puts the car in park after pulling up to the diner. “The older kids wouldn’t mess with me either because you scared them too.” The fact Mingyu is younger than you by two years makes you question reality as he’s much bigger then you now and has been since junior high. 

“Still wild to think about.” You laugh as Mingyu hops out the truck to run over and open the door for you, he’s never allowed you to open your own door since he started driving. 

“Oh, I guess Cheol’s mom is working today.” Mingyu closes the door behind you and puts the key in the handle to lock it as he stares at the familiar woman through the window that was taking someone’s order. “Someone must’ve called out of work today.” 

The two of you walk to the front door together, making small talk about anything and everything. Seungcheol’s mother greeted the two of you with a smile and handed you two menus once you sat down. 

“It’s good to see you sweetheart.” She smiles widely at you, she was always like a second mother to you growing up especially after you mothers untimely passing. 

“It’s good to see you too, you look great.” You smile warmly, despite any animosity you might feel for her son right now you will never be able to hate this woman. 

“I’ll start you two off with some water?” You both nod, prompting her to walk away. 

“So how’s the ranch?” You scan the menu, already knowing what you want but wanting to check to see if anything new was added. 

“It’s good, Cheol doesn’t work there anymore.” Mingyu doesn’t look up from his menu to see your surprised expression. “Mr. Johnson offered him a job as a mechanic after seeing the work he would do on the farm equipment.” 

“Mechanics suit him.” You smile at his mother when she comes back with your waters. 

“Do you two know what you want?” You both nod, letting Mingyu order first despite the look he gave you after you shrug and take a big gulp of your water. “Are you getting your usual sweetheart?” She turns to you.

“How do you remember what I used to order?” Your eyes widen.

“You’d order the same thing almost every time you’d come here since you were a kid and I’ve been working here longer than you’ve been alive so I have it practically engraved into my memory.” She laughs quietly as she takes your menus. “You and my son are the same in your consistency in ordering the same thing.” 

“Oh.” You could feel your face heating up at the thought. You’re happy she didn’t bother to push a conversation as she went to help more people that came in. 

“You and Cheol are as opposite as opposite can be.” 

“You don’t say.” You roll your eyes playfully. 

The banter between you and Mingyu continued on, even after your food came you both found something to poke — and trust me there was a lot to poke at that has happened over the past three years that couldn’t be conveyed over letters and the occasional call here and there. 

“We should head out now, get you to the ranch so you can clean up and rest before tonight.” Mingyu paid for your guy's food like the gentleman he is and held the door open for you as you walked out into the warm summer air. 

“Am I obligated to go swimming tonight?” Mingyu shakes his head. 

“You’re not but we’ll all be swimming so,” He hops into the truck after opening the door for you. “Just to be safe you might wanna wear your swimsuit.” 

“Got it.” You nod your head before watching out the window again, committing your old hometown to memory again. The drive to the ranch was peaceful and long, sitting a few miles out of town on the opposite side of where the diner was. 

Once you got to Mingyu's house and greeted his family and caught up, you went to the spare room upstairs to unload your bags and lay on the bed to unwind. A quick nap was sure to help the oncoming headache you got so after changing your clothes to be a little more comfortable you crawl under the freshly cleaned blanket and almost instantly knock out. 

A couple hours pass by before Mingyu is knocking on the door to wake you up, telling you the guys are heading to the river now and that you two need to get going soon.

Groaning quietly as you sit up in bed and stretch, it felt nice to not have to worry about anything as this is the first summer you decided to not take summer classes as you'd be graduating early after this upcoming fall semester. Getting up and taking your walkman out of your bag again you took out the nirvana cassette and put in green day instead, the music more uplifting and giving you an ounce of energy to put your swimsuit on and a pair of shorts and jacket to cover yourself. 

“How was your nap dear?” Mingyu's mother greeted you as you walked down the stairs, your friend standing by the door waiting (im)patiently for you. 

“Amazing, sitting all day in those train seats takes a toll on your back.” You take your walkman headphones off and half hazardously shove them into your jacket pocket. 

“Tell me about it, I can’t sit for too long now without going stiff.” She smiles warmly as she wishes you two well as you b-line to the door after Mingyu told you to hurry up. 

 “Couldn’t even give me time to say bye.” You grumble as you shuffle up to the truck where Mingyu was holding the door for you. 

“Sorry cherry pop, the guys are waiting for us and we still gotta get drinks.” 

“Why are we getting the drinks?” You buckle up and put your headphones back on, both of your tastes in music are dramatically different as he puts in a country cassette into the radio. 

“You’re home, they want you to get what you want instead of drinking what they like.” 

“They still drink that shitty dollar beer right?” Mingyu nods. “Then we drink the same thing, not much has changed as I still couldn’t afford the expensive stuff being at college.” 

“Great, that makes this run cheap.” The ride to the corner store was quick, the street lights lining the road leading from the ranch to town making the trees look ominous. 

Once you guys had secured the alcohol you made your way to the river. The long body of water stretched for miles outside of town in both directions, and the one spot you guys have always met up at since junior high was hidden away. You had thick bushes to climb through and poison ivy to look out for as it wasn’t a regular site on the river to be at. 

“Mingyu! Y/N!” Jeonghan called happily when he saw the two of you emerge from the bushes. The bonfire was already large and roaring while Cheol and Wonwoo were already in the water swimming. 

“Hannie!” You smile and hug him happily, he was always the least affectionate person so when he offered you a hug you always took it. 

“How have you been? It’s been years!” He pulls away from the hug to greet Mingyu while sitting down in his chair and pats the one next to him that looked to have been occupied by Seungcheol at one point based on the jacket hanging on it. 

“I’ve been good, college has been tough but I'm graduating a semester early.” You smile at Mingyu who hands you a beer before he sets the box down and makes quick work to strip down to his swim trunks so he can join the other two in the water. “How have you been?” 

“I’ve been great, graduating a semester later than I should've, but I took a light load last semester because I was back and forth to be here for Cheol while his mom was in the hospital.” you nod your head while taking a drink of your beer. You never realized that his mom being in the hospital was that bad. 

“Mingyu didn’t tell me much about her being in the hospital so I didn’t realize it was that bad.” You look out at the three guys who are currently climbing the rock in the middle of the river so they can jump into the water.

“He wanted to write to you, ever since you left it’s all he had been beside himself about but when his mother got sick he wanted to write to you even more.” Jeonghans voice was soft, nervous that the said male would hear your two's conversation and start hounding him for spilling the secret. 

“I wanted to write him too, but-“

“But you couldn’t, I’m not as hard headed as Seungcheol so I get why but I don’t get why you couldn’t have let him down sooner.” You sigh, this was a conversation you knew you’d have eventually as Jeonghan was Seungcheols best friend outside of you and he was the only one that knew about you two. 

“I wanted to, believe me it was never my plan to break things off the day I was leaving but I was selfish and didn’t want to let him go yet.”

“You are selfish,” You laugh quietly, thanking him. “But he’s selfish too, this town holds too many bad memories for you and he wanted to tie you to it when you finally had the chance to escape it.”

“You know, I asked him to come with me.” You took another sip of your beer, your eyes back on the blonde who seemed to feel you staring as he tilted his head back and gave you a bitter smirk. “When I first got the acceptance letter and I was on the fence about going, he wanted me to go but he also wanted me to stay and so I told him to come with me so I didn’t have to choose.”

“He never told me that.” Jeonghan opens up another beer and gingerly takes a sip of it. 

“I’m not surprised, I think he thought it was a joke.” You finally tear your eyes off of Seungcheol to look at Jeonghan. “After that I didn’t tell him I committed and just continued to relish our time together.”

“Y’know, he wanted you to go because this was your dream but he wanted to be a part of that dream and you keeping that from him and then cutting ties with him when you left is what broke him.” 

“I didn’t mean to.” You mumbled and looked down at your half empty beer can. “He was the one that told me that if I wasn’t willing to make things work then he didn’t want to hear from me.”

“Well he’s dumb,” Jeonghan takes another sip. “But so are you.”

“I know.” You close your eyes and sigh, letting your head lull back on the chair. 

“Are you going to talk to him while you’re home? It is the first time you’ve been home since leaving after all.” 

“This isn’t my home anymore.” You don’t bother to open your eyes as you take in the warm night air. This hasn’t been your home since you left and it hasn’t felt like home for far longer, the only thing (or person) that made you feel remotely anchored here was Seungcheol. 

“It was your home at one point, and I'd argue it still is because Seungcheol and the rest of us are here.” 

“Corny loser.” You mumble, a small smile cracking at your lips before you sit up straight. “I’ll talk to him, I promise. I had been prepping myself all week to mend things between us while I was here.” 

“Good.” Jeonghan smiles and downs the rest of his beer. “Now hurry up and finish drinking so we can go join them in the water before it gets colder.” 

“You’re going to die in that water, it’s too cold for you already.” You laugh before downing the rest of your beer so you can strip down to your swimsuit, making sure not to toss your walkman around too much. 

“I’ll manage.” He shrugs after taking his clothes off too before walking cautiously up to the edge of the water. He barely touches it with his big toe and he curses. 

“Told you,” You stand beside him and watch his reaction. “You just gotta go in as quick as you can.” You show him how it’s done as you take a deep breath in and hold it as you quickly walk into the water before you’re deep enough to dive under. 

“Show off.” He huffs before he follows in your footsteps, cursing the whole way up to his shoulders. 

“You did it han,” Wonwoo pats him on the shoulder. “You’re shivering already.” 

“It’s fucking cold and you’re all insane.” He huffs and starts to swim around a little, letting the cold water soothe his warm skin. 

“I think it feels good.” You had popped back up next to Mingyu who was standing with Seungcheol who was watching Jeonghan worried. 

“It does feel good.” Mingyu lets the water support his body as he starts to swim backwards, no longer being a wall between you and the ire of your freshman year of college. 

“It’s good to see you Y/N.” Wonwoo gives you a small smile before he also swims away, leaving you and Seungcheol alone and seeing the look on Jeonghan's face in the distance makes you believe that this was planned. He clears his throat when he seems to realize you two are alone.

“Um,” Is all he manages to say before you’re taking a deep breath and turning to look at him. 

“Hi Seungcheol.” He flinches at the use of his full name.

“Ouch, hi litt-“ He catches himself using the old nickname he had for you. “Hi Y/N.”

“God I hate this.” You can’t be bothered to hide the fact that the whole situation makes you sad and angry already, you missed him and he was right there in front of you and you were both acting like you wanted nothing to do with each other, which might’ve been true right after you had left but as time went on it faded into longing and anger at oneself.

“You hate this? How do you think I feel?” He crosses his arms and looks down at you. 

“Cheol I-“

“I don’t want to hear excuses.”

“Ok asshole I was going to apologize but not anymore.” You roll your eyes and turn away from him so you could swim away, the conversation you had with Jeonghan felt like complete bullshit now. 

“Wait,” he grabbed your arm to spin you back around, the water splashing violently at the fast movement. “I’m sorry, for everything.” It was rare that he’d ever apologize and right now it felt out of place as he had no reason to apologize at the moment. 

“I practiced how this conversation would go for weeks and this was not one of the ways I accounted for. You weren’t supposed to apologize first.” You look up at Seungcheol who was just staring at you silently now, his hand still holding tightly on your arm. “Seungcheol I-“

“Stop calling me that.”

“Stop interrupting,” You huff, the smallest smile forming on his face “I’m sorry for how I left things and for everything leading up to when I left.” 

“Y’know, I spent most of the first year you were gone blaming you, and then I started blaming myself until my mother made me realize that neither of us were to blame and then I spent the remainder of the time just numb.”

“If you stopped blaming me, how come you didn’t write to me?”

“You never wrote to me.” He sounded hurt and you were hurt too but you hated the pain in his voice and it caused you to move closer to him, hoping you could erase even just a hint of it.

“I’m sorry, there was never a time where I didn’t think about writing to you but your words kept playing in my head about how you never wanted to hear from me if I left our relationship behind.”

“It wasn’t much of a relationship then was it, we were just friends exploring each other,” That’s what you liked to tell eachother when you were in denial about your feelings. “I wrote letters, most of them are stamped and sitting in my desk drawer because I couldn’t bring myself to send them.”

“Yet you bought stamps for them?” You raise an eyebrow curiously. 

“Yes,” He huffs, trying to hide the ounce of embarrassment he’s feeling. “I’d get these bouts of feelings where I’d want to send them and I’d get all the way to the post office with a stamp on the envelope and the second I’d park I’d back out and go back home only to hide it away with the others.” 

“Cheol…” 

“I know it’s probably stupid and I’ll just burn them all now since you’re home and-“

“I’m not staying,” You cut him off for some reason. “I mean I’m staying for the summer but I’m going back home to finish my last semester of college so I can get a job at a vet clinic there.” 

“That’s ok, this time I promise I will write.”

“You should come with me.” You blurt out like you did all those years ago.

“I can’t leave my mother, she won’t leave this town and with her health fluctuating I just can’t.” He gave you an actual answer this time unlike he did when you were younger. 

“I get it, she needs you.. But one day you have to leave this place, don’t you think?” Your hand gently touches his arm as you drift even closer to him. 

“I never thought of leaving until you left.” He mumbled as his hands moved to ghost over your sides that were under the water. 

“One day?” You sounded hopeful. “Even if we’re old and married to other people do you think you’d still leave?” 

“I..” His voice trailed off as your breath got closer to his face. “I’d never marry… unless it was you.” He whispered before he finally kissed you, the weight of what he said disappearing as you both got lost in the taste of each other. After what felt like an eternity you finally pulled away out of breath, a quiet whistle could be heard from behind Seungcheol somewhere and you assumed it had to be Jeonghan since Mingyu would’ve quite literally jumped the two of you. 

“Cheol- '' He cuts you off.

“Let's enjoy the night, yeah?” He didn’t want to talk about what he just said, or what the future would hold anymore. It’ll take time, you both realized, for things to go back to normal but for now you were content with how things were because this time he knew what to expect when summer ends, he just hoped that you’d change your mind about long distance relationships. And you hoped he’d change his mind about rotting away in this small town.

feedback + reblogs greatly appreciated! let me know what you guys thought!

[dolliels]

I’VE BECOME THE FIANCÉ OF THE VILLAIN?! pt4

synopsis: going to bed after reading a horribly self indulgent romance novel, you seemed to wake up as an extra of the series. what stories will unfold while on a mission to find a way out?

author’s note: freaky ass chapter lol

[one] [two] [three] [four] [epilogue]

"why do you come over so often?" you asked leaning back against your couch.

leona was comfortably resting his head on your thighs. "you said you liked your house better than the palace." he replied.

"ohhh so that's what the question was for." you said to yourself out loud. leona just grunted and leaned in closer.

it had been about a week since what you would call 'the incident.' (the kiss. don't be embarrassed!) and you found that leona really did enjoy lounging around your house. it was like he was living here again, except he went home after dinner because after disappearing for months (and hiding at your place) he was apparently scolded very hard and had two sets of guards follow him everywhere.

they were the two royal guards that asked you about leona's whereabouts before. it seemed as if only those two and leona were the only ones who knew (and figured out) that you had been unknowingly hiding him and keeping the royal family very vulnerable with leona’s disappearance. (oops!)

you've heard people whispering about the second prince's whereabouts, which was why you were so insistent that he goes back home to the palace. which he did. way later than he should've.

the two guards were named ruggie and jack. you kinda felt bad that they had to stick around waiting for leona all day so every time you cooked a meal, you'd prepare little lunchboxes for them to enjoy, and gift them books you think they might like, free of charge.

jack, apparently, was new to the job. he looked very righteous, definitely a guy who trained to work for the royal family his entire life. he did not look at least one bit bored waiting around for leona all day long. he was also reluctant to eat the food you made, but after seeing leona wolf it down and snag a few from your plate when you weren't looking, jack started to take them a lot more comfortably.

ruggie, on the other hand, seemed to be a seasoned veteran. not in battle though. just dealing with leona.

apparently, ruggie had been on leona's ass since they were teenagers so everyone thought it would be better to just let ruggie stick with leona even after he was promoted to knighthood.

ruggie was fine with it. he claimed it was easy money and he didn't mind sticking with leona. he said it was a lot easier now that you could take care of him (you flushed at this comment) and greedily took the food you offered without a second thought.

you laid your head back. the fire was cackling and the hot cocoa was letting out steam. winter was really near, and the house was often cold so you mostly stayed around the living room or bundled up tightly in bed. you were too scared to leave the fire on overnight to warm the house, so it got pretty chilly at night.

these were the days you really missed modern living with their heaters and air conditioners. summer was pretty hard to deal with as well, heavy heatstrokes hitting your house every second of every hour. but the cold days were the worst. you could just wear less layers during the summer, but the winter meant you had to be prepared. you thanked the heavens that leona was warm and toasty, as you started to often hold onto him for warmth.

you weren't sure what you'd call whatever you and him had. a relationship? a couple? your boyfriend? you shook your head. you had no idea if this world had some sort of courting tradition and leona just threw away the rules and kissed you right then and there, but you didn't really care. you still had intentions to leave this world, even if that seemed to be way far out of your reach.

sometimes, you'd compare the leona who was hogging your thighs right now to the leona you read in the novel. in the novel, leona rarely showed any physical contact with roselia, nor did he kiss her until the very end of the story, where it was left to a happily ever after. he was often shy with his advances and would rather show his affections and love through the sidelines, doing things for her ambiguously. this leona, however, was very, very handsy. the moment you guys kissed, he hadn't been able to keep his hands off of you. hand on your waist, holding hands, little pecks on your face, a hug, you name it, he's done it. he had zero shame.

"hey, do you want to eat out tonight?"

"sure. i'm tired of cooking. where?"

"isn't there a branch of mostro lounge nearby."

"what? that place costs so much!"

"did you forget who I am?"

there was one thing that the novel got right about leona's preferred way to show affection.

both versions of leona loved to flaunt their money.

-

a month into whatever the hell was going on between you and leona, you were skimming through a book about transmigration. the hope of leaving never really left, even if you seemed to be pretty settled (and even in a relationship)

sometimes, when the body's owner wake up in a completely new body in a completely new life without their consent, they tend to almost never find a way out, no matter what they try.

hah, you'd been there.

however, some speculate that the only way to go back home in those situations is through feeling alone. if the transmigrator doesn't have a 100% unchangeable desire to go back home, the chances are zero to none. this is why those who end up settling down at a life in their new world usually have a hard time getting back. especially those who form meaningful bonds. those who are stuck in the middle are called to have a 'transmigration conundrum.'

you thought to yourself. do you truly like it here? like, before you met leona and started liking him like that. were you truly content? you were mixed with emotion.

if the transmigrator really does have a strong desire to go back home, they find themselves suddenly awake in their beds as if no time has passed and no changes had happened at all. those who claimed that they have experienced this state that they were usually able to go back home after they resolved some complicated feelings they had with those in the other world.

your eyes were starting to get droopy. you were relaxed, lying down on your bed, leona right next to you, snoring as loud as a person would possibly be. it was nearing dark and you wanted to wake leona but you got distracted staring at his face.

for a prince, he looked pretty unguarded. but then again, he did have two royal guards standing right outside of your door. 

you kissed the top of his forehead and looked up at your ceiling.

attachments… what were you attached to in this world?

leona, for starters, was very special in your heart. the bookstore was quite special too, you guessed. you've come to grow fond of the smell of vintage yellowed paper pages or the way fresh ink would glide smoothly from your quill.

you were also a little fond of ruggie and jack, and the fresh produce you were able to get (you eventually became friends with the grocer after bargaining with the guy so much) and the delicious foods you were able to make with it.

but you were also fond of the extremely processed, sugar snacks, and the easily accessible internet, transportation, phones and your bedroom.

you truly did have a transmigration conundrum.

you were getting sleepy and felt like dozing off, but you knew leona couldn't sleep over so you slowly shook him.

"hey. leona, wake up."

he growled and turned to sleep over you. you groaned and smacked his back. no reaction.

"leonaaaa wake upppp you know you're not allowed to sleep over and i don't want ruggie or jack to bust into my house again. if they break my door again you better buy me a nicer one."

you sniffed. something was burning.

"leona. do you smell that?"

you saw him scrunch up his nose, then open his eyes.

"something's burning."

leona stood right up and you followed behind.

your house was fine, so you had no idea where the burning smell was coming from. leona probably thought the same as he grabbed your hand and proceed to head to the back door. the door connected to the bookstore.

the moment he opened the door, a rageful fire bursted through and he immediately closed it back. you eyes widened. the books!

letting go of his hand, you ran out the other door to walk out and see your bookstore in full. it seemed as if both jack and ruggie had just noticed the fire as they scurried right behind you.

the entire bookstore… it was in flames. but how? never mind that. you needed to put the fire out!

-

you had never felt so desolate in your life.

by the time you managed to stop the fire (with the help of ruggie, jack and leona– jack especially) the entire placed was screwed over. the books were pure black in ash, the supports were fallen off and the roof was just, not there.

the fire somehow transported itself to your house as well, so some of the area was burnt off. but you still had a livable house, luckily.

leona offered to pay to rebuild the place but you just shook your head. the words transmigration conundrum echoed in your head and you had a subtle urge to try and let go of this place you've come to love.

you still had some books lying around your house. thank the sevens you had stacks of them at home.

but the comfort of a leatherback storybook wasn't there. just a pitted void of what you used to do. you also didn't have a job anymore. so what now?

leona was beside you once again, this time wide awake. he still did look sleepy.

"i have no job, and i'm deadbeat broke most of the time… what am I to do now?" you laughed weakly. you could still see the hints of burnt wood creeping on your walls and you felt even more devoid.

"you could live with me. then you won't have to work at all. or work at the library archive." leona suggested, leaning his head onto your shoulder.

"living with you? in the palace? me? with the royal family? that's insane. you'd need a good reason to house someone perfectly healthy and fine like me."

"what about amalgamation?"

"amalgamation? like marriage? haha."

"yea."

you turned your head. he looked dead serious.

"...what?"

"i'm saying we could be engaged, or something. then you could live in the palace."

that's right… roselia had no reason to worry about food or housing, because the palace took care of that for her… the pros of being a prince's fiancé.

but you had to be smart. you were just a commoner. the royal family didn't know you, the kingdom's people didn't know you, you didn't even know yourself.

you also weren't sure if people would take it to liking when leona randomly announces a wedding engagement.

the words transmigration conundrum still echoed loudly in your head. the desire to go back home seemed to have been ignited brightly once more.

"...no." you decided.

leona genuinely looked surprised. "no?"

"i can't… i just can't." you fumbled your words. you couldn't bring yourself to explain why. you wanted to spill your guts out with reasoning, but you could not find the right words.

"so if i asked you seriously and proposed, would you say no?"

you felt tense. "I… I guess so…"

leona straightened up. "then you should've said so in the first place. then i wouldn't have bothered with you or this relationship at all."

he walked out the door, his tail swished left and right rapidly. he was upset, you could tell that easily. but you didn't have the strength to get up and chase after him. you were tired. tired of this world, tired of somehow having the worst luck, and being struck with guilt over everything.

huh, so did leona intend to marry you in this relationship?

that wouldn’t be a good idea. right?

you probably wouldn’t be able to fully commit to it— considering your position right now.

were you not able to or did you just simply not want to?

you saw snow fall outside the window.

transmigration conundrum.

-

it had been two or three days since you last saw leona. you couldn't remember, as you laid in bed all day, mourning over who knows what (you felt as if you got over the whole bookstore thing– the responsibility of running it did take a toll on you. so what was making you so miserable now?) (you knew. it was because leona wasn’t there.)

he visited nearly everyday. this was the longest time you've gone without seeing him since the beginning of your relationship.

relationship? what relationship?! what even were you two? he just kissed you and got all touchy with you. and you, being touch starved and miserable without your friends or family, probably just leaned into the attention! and- not even two months in and he asked about marriage. what is this?! is this world really that weird or is leona just a freak?

you groaned into your pillow. being welled up in your own home was suffocating. this entire world was suffocating. you needed a breath of fresh air.

it was nearing sunset, and you decided you wanted to take a quick walk on a whim.

bundling up in your warmest clothes, you stepped outside to experience winter in this universe for the first time. it was truly beautiful, with its flawless, untouched and pristine white snow, the way the sun dimly makes the shadows appear in dark and warm hues of blue… you wished you weren't so frustrated so that you could appreciate it properly.

stomping in the snow, you huffed and breathed in the cold winter air as it entered your lungs. you were suddenly starting to feel better, and your mind was emptying.

however, due to your enjoyment of simply taking a breather outside, you realized it was nearing nightfall. you have to go home as soon as possible, you had no light source with you.

stomp, stomp you could hear your shoes step into the snow as you trudged through them like the total athlete you are.

you could barely see ahead of you, as it was dark at this point, so you were just following the footsteps in the snow you left. but it was snowing again, and your markings were fading away. you had to hurry.

stomp, stomp, stomp…

gotta hurry home…

stomp, stomp, stomp….

transmigration conundrum?

stomp, stomp, stomp…

you laughed at yourself. no way you're stuck in the middle. what conundrum is there?

stomp, stomp, stomp…

you just want to go home. done deal.

stomp, stomp, stomp…

who cares about anything else?

stomp, stomp, stomp…

who cares about leona king- OOF!

you were too engrossed into your thoughts that you ran into someone.

“I’m sorry.” you said, not bothering to look up. the shoes the guy was wearing looked fancy.

“y/n.”

you finally realized what you were doing and look up in hurry. it was leona.

“why are you here?”

“i followed the footsteps from your house.”

“oh. okay then. bye, i guess.”

psh. you didn’t care about leona either. you lost interest in everything. you wanted to go home.

“wait.”

transmigration conundrum.

leona grabbed your wrist. you turned around, both your faces fleshed in red from the cold. you didn’t want to see leona anymore. the more you looked at him, the more the guilt grew.

ultimately, the only thing keeping you from leaving this so called ‘conundrum’ was him.

if you decided to stay all for the sake of him, like roselia did, instead of going home, then you wouldn’t be able to go back. you’d lose everything you’d ever known. your friends, your family… although you were pretty boyfriend-less in your world, you were still happy because everyone and everything you loved was still there.

you missed your bed, your parents, your friends. you missed fast food and sodas and reading comic books. you missed having a cool AC to fight against the summer heat, unlike now where you had to just deal with it while withstanding a wrist-pain inducing fan.

leona was here, but everything else was there. you just couldn’t give it up.

leona’s eyes were wide, his chest heaving up and down as the winter fog surrounded you both.

“i love you.”

you blink.

“y/n. y/n i love you.”

you felt tears well up in your eyes.

“i-“

“i love you. i love your tryhard cooking, your shitty medical skills. the books stacked around your house— i did enjoy reading them. i love you. why can’t you understand that? what is blocking you from being with me? is it because i’m a prince? is my status scary? i’m not even after the throne. i have no interest. i just want to be with you.”

wow. so your guess was right. you thought that leona maybe lost interest in going after the throne. this was a red flag.

leona lost interest in all his evil schemes when he finally settled and accepted his feelings of roselia. which meant only one thing— he accepted his feelings for you. from how early on he stopped caring for the throne, he’s accepted his love for you a long, long time ago.

“i— i don’t mind settling down in a small town. i don’t care if my reputation crashes. we- we could rebuild that bookstore together. and not through my family’s money. we can actually work for it.”

this was bad. he was willing to lose everything. the leona kingscholar, who only cared about the throne, was now showing the most emotion you’ve ever seen, in person or in novel— for you.

you heart tightened. you truly did believe that leona could work something out. that you guys could work something out together and live happily, a happily ever after, like he originally did with roselia.

no. he didn’t deserve you. going home was still at the very top of your mind now, more than ever before. he deserved someone like roselia, someone who was willing to loss it all for him, like he would for you.

except you weren’t roselia. you could never be her, and you would live the rest of your life with a huge hole in your left because you lived feeling unfulfilled.

you had to put a stop to this. his desperation tugged at your heart. you couldn’t handle it anymore.

“you don’t know me like you think you do.” you started. you let go of leona’s grip on your wrist.

“i’m not from here.” you sighed. “i can’t explain it. but I’m not from here, and i need to leave. that was my objective from the very beginning.”

“i can’t… i can’t be with you because i don’t belong here. not because of you, but me. it’s because of me.”

leona seemed to understand the situation. perhaps your mannerisms, the way you speak, all the books about transmigration, your current avoidance, it seemingly all connected.

he grabbed both your hands.

“i… okay. i understand. at least, i think i do.”

the crisp winter air danced between you two.

“thank you. for everything.” leona said.

you laughed weakly. ‘you’re saying thank you now? what gives?”

“just because. it feels like i’m never going to see you again.”

you wrapped your arms around leona’s back, hugging him tightly. the soft, fluffy clothes protecting you from the cold smushed between you too.

and then you woke up.

to be continued...?

a.n: thanks for anyone who stuck around all the way to here !! if this was ao3 i would expand on it more but i feel like the romance got a little too rushed (i tried to make it evenly paced as possible but that added the whole doc to 20k words my phone cannot handle all of that i WILL lag and screw something up) so i hope its not too negatively silly!!

[tarttheart]

KNITWORTHY - JAMIE TARTT x YOU

summary: you pick up knitting and Jamie could not be more supportive.

word count: 1.4k

warnings: language

1.

The first time you made anything for Jamie, it was a plain pair of socks in a sandy beige colour. It was nothing fancy and you were certain one side was longer than the other. It had been a long time since you last knit so you were just happy to have finished something after impulsively picking up some yarn and needles again after work one day. Work had been manic and you were looking for something to help you unwind each night. Picking up the needles again just seemed right.

“I love them. Babe, these are fucking amazing,” Jamie proclaimed.

You probably would not have believed Jamie solely based on his words but his awestruck expression spoke heaps to how he felt. And, if that had not been enough, watching him proudly pull them on in the morning to wear to Nelson Road was all the proof you needed that the man was knit-worthy.

Knitted socks were not the most common sight around Nelson Road, especially not on one Jamie Tartt. Sports socks had long been his sock of choice until recently. While the beige socks had gotten a couple of curious looks, it was nothing too peculiar given how temperatures had dropped in the past week or so. It seemed a simple and effective solution to keeping warm, so effective that a few others decided to jump on the bandwagon.

“My toes feel like they’re at the beach in Chacala. I can hear the waves calling,” Dani quipped the first time he tried wearing woolly socks to training.

“Me too, boyo, it doesn’t even matter I look like I’m wearing my granddad’s socks,” Colin agreed.

2.

You had gotten hooked on knitting hats. After making yourself three in the span of a month, you were on the hunt for more heads to make beanies for. Luckily, Jamie kindly volunteered and even got involved with the process, choosing a bold, variegated yarn for his beanie. It took no time at all and within a week of casting on, Jamie was rocking his new headwear at Nelson Road.

It was definitely an unusual sight, not seeing an ICON cap atop Jamie’s head but with how chilly it had been, no one thought too much about it.

“I didn’t realise you wore beanies,” Keeley commented one day as she passed him in the hallway.

“Fuck yeh, I do now,” Jamie replied.

“Looks good,” Keeley offered and Jamie practically bounced away much to Keeley’s amusement.

He came home to tell you about how good your beanies looked and it had to be true because Keeley said so and Keeley knows all about fashion.

“Babe, babe, I think you could fucking sell these and making a fucking fortune,” Jamie continued excitedly and you laughed.

3.

Following the success of the first pair of socks, you knew another pair had to be made. It took a little while but when you chanced upon a yarn colourway called “Tart”, you were sold. Sure, it probably was not a colour in Jamie’s usual colour palette but it was a nice wine colour that you were confident he would look good in regardless.

The last pair of socks had been a real plain vanilla pair of socks and having had a little more practice now, you were ready to dive into something more textured for Jamie’s second pair of socks.

You were pretty proud of the end product and you swore Jamie lit up brighter than the New York City skyline when you handed them over. He had been eagerly awaiting their completion, watching you like a hawk each night and trying to figure out when you would have them done. One pair of woolly socks just was not enough to satisfy the man now that he had gotten a taste of toasty toes.

Jamie gave you no time or opportunity to wash the socks before he wore them. He needed these socks in his life right away and you were happy to oblige. Jamie excitedly wore his socks to Nelson Road the next day which caught a few more eyes this time. Afterall, it was even more of an unusual look for Jamie.

“Pretty sure those are hand knitted,” Bumbercatch commented from across the locker room one day as the resident knitting know-it-all.

“Yeh, his mum probably made it for him, bruv,” Issac said dismissively.

It had been a fair guess. Afterall, no one knew you existed. You were a naturally private person and you knew all that came with being Jamie’s girlfriend. What if it didn’t last and you had to then deal with all the fallout? Jamie understood and you agreed you two could go semi-public after Christmas if you guys were still together then. While Jamie had initially been disappointed, he came to really enjoy having something that was truly his. No media, no team chatter.

*

Jamie decided he had been benefitting too much from your new hobby without properly compensating you for your time and effort. Remembering that Bumbercatch was an avid knitter, Jamie stopped him one day seeking advice on tools he could get you to further your craft.

“What would you get as a present for a knitter?” Jamie asked Bumbercatch after everyone else had emptied from the locker room.

“Yarn is always good. There’s local yarn shop a few blocks away that has a good selection and they have some good tools too,” Bumbercatch offered.

With Christmas round the corner, Bumbercatch did not think much about it. Based on what he had been led to believe, Jamie was likely buying something for his mum.

4.

It had been a real labour of love. When Jamie had presented you with a beyond generous amount on a gift card and a set of fancy interchangeable needles, you knew you had to go big for his Christmas present. It had been a little hard to hide all the balls of yarn you had had to buy. It was even trickier trying not to make his present in front of him because you knew you would crack and tell him what it was the moment he gave you his big adoring eyes. But, all the late nights spent knitting out of Jamie’s sight and afternoons spent hiding in cafes to knit had been worth it.

“Babe, you fucking made this?”

You had been so excited to present him your pièce de résistance you were practically vibrating as he held up the cream cabled sweater vest. You knew it was not his usual look but it felt special making something not basic for Jamie.

“I know it’s not exactly the Jamie Tartt style but I wanted to do something more instead of just a basic knit. I would’ve made you a sweater but I didn’t want the sweater curse to come true so I thought maybe a vest would be a good loophole? You don’t have to wear it out or at a—…”

Jamie did not let you finish blabbering because he grabbed your face to plant an appreciative kiss on your lips.

“I’m fucking wearing this everywhere, love, this thing is fucking magic,” Jamie proclaimed and you were not quite sure what he meant by magic but you appreciated the thought anyway.

The first day back at training after Christmas had most buzzing. It was always nice and energizing to have a good break with loved ones, whether it was spent with their own families or Higgins’. But, when Jamie walked in in his cozy cream cabled sweater vest like he was in a hallmark movie, the whole facility stilled.

“Morning, lads,” Jamie greeted, paying no attention to way the room had quietened after his entry.

Bumbercatch nudged Colin who stood next to him, “I think Jamie has a girlfriend.”

“What’s got you thinking that, boyo?”

“That vest. It’s a recent release online by a big knitwear designer. It’s not a mum pattern. See?”

Colin and Isaac looked at the page on Bumbercatch’s phone and he was right. The vest Jamie was wearing looked almost identical to the one in the photo.

“It could—…”

Sick of all the speculations, Isaac turned and yelled out to Jamie, “BRUV!”

“Yea, man? What’s got your knickers in a twist?”

“Your vest. Who made it?”

“Oh,” Jamie paused for a moment before remembering that Christmas had passed and it was now safe for him to answer, “me girlfriend. She’s a fucking knitting genius.”

[honkthehenry]

unnamed slime game - part 1

Masterlist

The way you suddenly snapped into awareness without realizing you drifted off at all was something akin to having a bucket of ice-cold water thrown into your face.

You... dozed off in class again. In hindsight, it was inevitable – the last time you got hours of sleep instead of something in-between nothing at all and a 2-hour-nap was last Saturday. You've been running on nothing but bitter, cheap coffee and sheer spite for almost a week now, it was high time you finally crashed.

Still, you should have woken up at Uni. You should have woken up to your professor huffing and puffing and glowering in your face about your terrible conduct, about how your generation had no respect for his generation, about how such a complicated and beautiful science like Robotics was not a place for slackers like you (which, fair, you had no idea what you were doing in Robotics either), not... alone and certaintly not in the middle of a forest.

You ran through a bunch of scenarios quickly, but none stuck.

Kidnapping? Far-fetched at best. You lived alone, only barely making ends meet by running yourself into the ground as you tried to marry working retail with being a full-time student, so ransom was out of the question and being kidnapped for the sake of doing bad things to you... Why bother? You didn't know anyone nearly well enough to be kidnapped due to personal feelings and you were neither good-looking enough (perpetually tired goblin that you were) nor famous-, connected- or skilled enough to be kidnapped randomly.

Besides, you were at the University, on the 5th floor, in the middle of the city that had no forests for miles! You were surrounded by 20-odd other people, there was no way someone would be able to kidnap you with so many witnesses around.

So, not kidnapping.

Dream then?

Also unlikely. Your dreams were few and far-between and when they did happen, it was either you being surrounded by characters from the show you happened to be fixated on at the time or it was you getting repeatedly chased and swallowed whole by a dinosaur on a loop, until the dream finally ended (probably Jurasic Park childhood trauma, now that you thought about it).

Still.

This was so weird, because you knew for a fact you were much too aware of everything to be dreaming and yet the things you saw didn't makes sense at all!

You didn't have any arms for one!

And your body was purple!

You could feel electricity zapping at your body and it didn't hurt, it was more like being swallowed in a blanket burrito and nursing a comforting mug of hot chocolate, while watching your favourite show with no worry for deadlines or money!

You weren't supposed to feel like that, you were supposed to be tired and grumpy and irritable and not nice and not toasty and certaintly not so comfortable!

Drugs? Hallucinations? You never partaked, you didn't drink alcohol either, so that was a no—

—A purple crystal you were under zapped at you again and you positively melted on the spot, basking in the feeling and letting the troublesome train of thought go like the wind, before it inevitably derailed and caused you undue anxiety as it always did.

...it was very nice actually.

Maybe losing opposable thumbs wasn't so bad if you got this in exchange.

You could live like this.

×•×•×•× Honk!!! Corner ווו×

You know that one post lurking on Tumblr where OP is turned into a frog by a witch as revenge? And just vibes? Basks in the sun without worrying about life? This is MC now.

I don't care how long or how short chapters are, they're just gonna vibe as they are because I am a goblin with a short attention span and no actual ability to write.

Something to get you thinking - MC is an electro slime for a reason and that reason is electro immunity.

I wonder why?

*smiling like a particularly smug cat*

Did I mention I can't draw lightning/electricity? Because I can't, so I didn't.

Also fvck me, my tags didn't saveeeeee 😭

[witchofthesouls]

I swear we need these scruff bar shenanigans that have been mentioned in a few asks. It’s too cute. Does it mostly happen to Miko and Jack bc they are more adventurous and active? Also a little confused by the ask on Optimus biting scruff bars? Is that like comforting?

The scruff bar usage is a way for older Cybertronians to corral their rambunctious little ones, especially those too bitey or have a tendency to bolt. Bitlets don't go limp from having their scruff bar getting pulled on, but it makes it far easier to lull down them down with aggressive EM field byplay since adults are able to take control of their field like that.

So scruff bar yanking isn't the comfort part. It's all the snuggles via field play or physically holding them down.

It's mainly Miko and Jack because they would try to climb him or wander away. Raf is still in a baby phase, so he sleeps like a solid brick of concrete while nuzzling to a heat source.

I like the thought Optimus biting their scruff bars because 1) he's beyond exhausted to care that it's inappropriate for a city-mech, 2) sparklings don't have the cultural background to understand, and 3) I think it's a cute detail of the feral!pre-Orion Pax life. Optimus has a lot of positive feelings towards over that specific behavior because it means safe, secure, and toasty snuggles.

There were a few Rangers with trained mechanimal companions and some beastformers that would do that to a wild, exhausted sparkling. They were hoping to coax him into joining their respective groups with enough food and care.

[stayandot8]

Whispers In The Dark, Part One: Lying Through Your Teeth

Genre: college au, not all members mentioned

Relationship type: strangers to friends

Important Contents: Mr. Popular Chris Bang can't remember who he was before school. But with her? Maybe he might find a path that would lead him back to himself. But how far can he go before the rumors and his reputation become too much for her to ignore?

WC: 6.4k

masterlist

He was notorious. For what, no one could agree on, but he was well known around campus. Some would say it was his skill in bed, others would say his charms would keep him from any kind of trouble with anyone, professors and other students alike. His easy grace with people, especially strangers, made him the perfect showman for the school. He was at all the major events. It was like the head office paid him to be there, cheering when appropriate and constantly surrounded by his fraternity brothers. It was rare that he was caught without at least one of them within three feet of his personal space. It was also a well known fact that there was a roster kept hidden in the depths of his mind of those he hung around with in public, in private, and those he tossed to his brothers. It was like a hierarchy. All the girls knew where they stood with him and used that information against each other when they needed to. 

Chris Bang, appropriately named, was the top man on campus. When he approached you, you couldn’t help but say hello. And if he struck up a conversation with you, it felt like catching up with an old friend. He always wanted to know how you were doing, how your classes were going, and he was genuinely interested in the answer. He asked about your family, your friends, anything that would spark up a conversation with you. And by the time he found something that you had in common, you were hooked. The way he listened to you made you feel like he was your best friend and for those minutes, he was. 

He cared about people, truly. No one could act like that around people if they didn’t care about them. He was warm and inviting, like a hug when you really needed it or a warm shower after a day out in the snow. His gaze was that of a toasty fire, you could curl up in one or both with a book and live there forever. 

He was across the courtyard, surrounded by his usual entourage of fraternity brothers in their lettered sweatshirts and crewnecks. Each one had a girl next to them, talking emphatically with their heads held high. The Chosen Ones for the day, week and each somehow prettier than the last.  They all seemed so engrossed with one another that no one dared interrupt their conversations. 

“Hey! If you stare any harder, you’ll burn a hole in their heads. And those poor girls can’t afford for anything to fall out more than it already has.” Charlie’s words clanged around in my head until they landed and I burst out laughing. 

“That’s so mean.” I shook my head at her, still smiling from laughter. 

“Ask me if I care. Now come here and help me with this paper. I paid for your breakfast this morning for this.” I scooted closer to her laptop on the blanket she had spread out hours ago on the Great Lawn. She moved her coffee cup so I could sit where she desired and turned her laptop to face me. “How can I make this point more clear?” I glanced at the words on her screen, reading, until an obnoxious eruption of laughter interrupted my train of thought. I whipped my head back over to the cluster seated at the tables and traded my earlier look of curiosity to one of annoyance. Unluckily, or maybe luckily, this caught the attention of one of them. Chris made eye contact and nodded in my direction with that easy smile of his. I rolled my eyes large enough for him to see and turned back to Charlie. 

“Well, I think you have to stop using so many descriptor words. It’s confusing to read and I can’t tell what you’re actually trying to say. It seems like you’re saying you believe that Chekov’s plays had clear and concise endings when they really didn’t.”

“I’m getting him and Tolstoy confused again.” She hit the ground with her hands balled into fists. “Which one wrote The Living Corpse?”

A voice appeared in front of our blanket.

“That’s Tolstoy.” Chris Bang himself appeared as if from nowhere, black backpack strapped on and hands in his pockets. His hat was backwards, the casual gesture fitting for the jeans and black t-shirt he sported. He was rarely spotted wearing something different, it was his signature look of sorts along with his shining eyes and curious questions. 

“Yeah, that’s him.” I pulled my eyes from Chris to look at Charlie, who in turn was staring at me with a really weird look on her face. 

“Thanks, Chris. Have you done this essay yet? I swear the longer I’m in Schwartz’s class, the more I hate my life.” 

“I did, I just finished it actually. Took me longer than normal because of the word count requirement.”

“I know, it’s like he wants to kill us.” I snorted and picked up her textbook to flip to the page she would need. I look back up to find Chris’s eyes back on me.

“Are you in this class too? I don’t remember seeing you in there.”

“Oh no, I took his class last year. I’ve already been through that torture. Aced the class somehow.”

“That’s why she’s here, to make sure that my torture is just as bad as hers.” Charlie glared at me from the corner of her eye, making Chris laugh.

“Damn, you’re lucky. You’ve got someone to help you. I’m out here struggling to maintain my C.” 

“Well, you’re welcome to join our suffering, Chris. I’m dying over this paper and she’s laughing at me.” Charlie shot me a confident smirk, seeming to have picked up on something that I absolutely was not putting down. I furrowed my brows at her, the thought never crossing my mind about inviting him to share our blanket or the day’s exceptional weather with campus’ Mr. Popular. But there my best friend was, offering him a place in our little circle. 

“I would, but I’ve got an economics class to get to. But here, when you get a chance to come back out here to study, shoot me a text and I’ll come right over.” He stooped to rip a piece of paper out of a nearby notebook and a pen. He jotted something down and handed it straight to me, locking eyes with me as he handed it over. He paused, his face frozen in a soft smile and everything around us froze along with it. The wind stopped blowing, I paid no mind to Charlie, who I would find in a second was gaping at Chris, and I felt the spark that everyone felt when interacting with Chris Bang. The butterflies came in with a strong gust of chilly October air that unfroze the moment we were stuck in. He found his voice then. “Give me a call sometime.” he said softly.

“Yeah. For sure.” I whispered back against the rustle of the trees. Chris Bang winked at me and then he was gone. The piece of notebook paper was the only physical proof I had that he had been there and it sat in my hand until Charlie practically dove to reach for it. 

“Did you just get Chris Bang’s number?” She opened it and showed it to me. The series of numbers wasn’t the only thing on it. They were accompanied by a short message in his very un-boyish handwriting. ‘Call me :)’ “You have to call him later today. And don’t you dare do it without me.”

“Call him and say what? That I’m happy to be on his list of girls? Or to put me down for the newest girl to be conquered? Girl, please. I’m not Rome, I am not to be ‘conquered’.” I nodded with certainty, resolute in my mindset. Charlie just watched me, smirking and pulling her mouth to one side. 

“Yeah. For sure.” She mimicked my earlier words to him. Shaking her head at me and laughing no doubt to herself, she returned to her laptop and started typing. I couldn;t tell her that while I fully believed every word I had just said, that didn’t mean that the butterflies had gone right away. They stayed there, fluttering in the space he created. It hurt that I could feel how badly they wanted to be let out. 

*

I stared at the number on the piece of paper for the next few hours, going back and forth on whether I wanted to act on his invitation. Who knew the weight of a scrap piece of paper was so heavy? On the one hand, he seemed nice enough with no outright bad intentions other than to study. Whether he needed the extra study time or not wasn’t up to me, nor was I in the mood to find out right this second. But on the other hand, was this just a way to find a new girl? Yes, he was selective when it came to who he was interested in and his level of interest was measured by how long he pursued you. Making him wait was the way to maintain his interest. At least, that was what outside speculation had agreed on with further research and trial-and-error. To those he wasn’t interested in, he was always polite about it, but that left room for them to conduct these experiments. And the results were inconclusive. He didn’t have a type, it seemed random at times, and all of the girls seemed physically different. Only one conclusion could be officially drawn: he liked girls. That was it. 

Word that he had given out his number to his newest attempt hadn’t seemed to get around yet since I didn’t have girls eyeing me up and down all day. I was relieved since I hadn’t decided if I was going to use it yet, which was what I was debating now sitting in the shared room I had. My roommate, Rihannon (yes, like the song), was out, as she normally was. Ever the social butterfly, she joined a sorority the moment she stepped on campus and hadn’t sat down since. She was always going out with her sisters, going to mixers with the different fraternities on campus, or making new friends on a blanket of her own on the Great Lawn. All of these things were a perfect fit for her because she, like Chris, had the magnetic pull with people. They wanted to know her. And she wanted to know them too. She was nice, a friend until the very end, making her the perfect fit for the social scene. But her social expertise did me no good if she wasn’t here. 

So I was left to my own devices. Charlie hounded me until I ran away to catch the bus to get home. 

“You better text him tonight! I want to see him at our spot by noon tomorrow if he can! And you better have proof if he can’t!”

I had rolled my eyes at her. Typical Charlie behavior, sticking her nose in every business I had. This time I couldn’t blame her though since she had been present for this cosmic event. Is that what this was? A cosmic event? Had the stars aligned for this moment to happen today of all days? It was up to me if they had. And as the time grew later, the minutes were passing by, counting down until Charlie would kill me tomorrow or not. 

Ugh. Fine. You win this time. Both of you.

To: Chris Bang

I left the message open, thinking for too long about what to say to this mystical man that gave me his number out of blue. I debated texting Charlie to ask what I should say, but I knew her answer. ‘Just text him hi! Nothing scary about that.’ How wrong she was… I took a deep breath, letting my chest rise and fall fully before picking up my phone again. 

To: Chris Bang

Tomorrow, under the tree next to the Lewis building. That’s our normal spot. No later than noon or else I’m toast. 

I threw my phone across the bed, somehow thinking that if I held it when he answered he would know and he would think I was staring at my phone and waiting for his answer. I mean, I was, but he didn’t need to know that. 

My phone lit up across the bed. I couldn’t read what waited for me on my home screen and I could feel my heart beating faster the closer I drew to my phone. It was like a ticking time bomb, even when I knew it wasn’t. I crept until I could see that the waiting message was indeed from him. And what I read when I opened it made those butterflies that had finally quieted start up again.

From: Chris Bang

We can’t have that, now can we? ;) I’ll be there with my books. What are we studying?

I could and couldn’t believe it. Some part of me that was simply a girl was ecstatic that a boy was flirting with me, according to Charlie. The other, more cautious part that was protective of that girl, was wary. I wasn’t looking for another heartbreak and I was not wanting to set myself up for one.  

To: Chris Bang

Why don’t you come and find out?

Damn it.

*

“Why am I nervous? I didn’t talk to him last night. But then again, I didn’t buy coffee for him either.” 

“Charlie, I swear to god.” The chilly September air was unusual for so early in the month, but it was that time of year here. The mornings were colder so you wore a jacket and by midday, you wondered why you even brought one in the first place. “The girl asked me if I wanted a mess-up and you know I’m not one to turn down free anything. So I said sure. End of story. I wanted a muffin too but they didn’t have any left. The girl said some guy came in and bought them all. I did not buy him a coffee. Who knows if he even likes coffee?”

“I don’t know. But I know that if he accepts it, that says something.”

“It really doesn’t.”

“It does too.” 

“It says he likes free things. That’s about it. Who doesn’t like free shit?”

“I know I do.” Chris’s voice came from behind us just then, carrying a bookbag and a paper bag in his hand. “They had more muffins than they knew what to do with so I grabbed some.”

“Such a gentleman.” Charlie leaped for the bag and tore it open. “Ugh, I love Coffee Bean’s muffins. We also have extra coffee if you want it. She picked it up before she got here.”

“Oh, thanks!” Chris grabbed the cup and took a sip, his lips curving to the shape of the cup. It was that moment I took the chance to really look at him from top to bottom. His hair was parted off to the side and he had opted for a white t-shirt with our university on the front. Jeans and vans completed the look and a worn leather bracelet adorned his wrist. It almost looked homemade.

“That’s a cool bracelet.” I said as cooly as I could manage, trying not to stare at it too hard. He touched it with\a gentleness that resembled fondness, like he was remembering something to do with it. 

“Thanks, my sister gave it to me before I left for school. She’s back home in Austrailia.” It wasn’t news on campus that he wasn’t from America. His accent was a dead giveaway. “She likes to say that she hates me but when I remind her about this, she gets real quiet.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister, I have one too. She moved from my hometown to Arizona. Followed where her connections took her or whatever. But she’s happier there than she ever was back home. Even found herself a girlfriend.” 

“Oh wow, she must really be thriving over there then. That’s great for her. I wish my sister would find someone just so she have something else to do other than torture me through the internet.”

“How does she do that?” I took another sip of my coffee.

“She’s really growing in fame on Tiktok. She actually put out an EP not too long ago. Called Perfect Blues. She let me listen to it before she put it out for notes and stuff and it’s actually pretty good!”

“I'll have to give it a listen then if it’s that good. She must have worked really hard on it.”

“Yeah, she’s been working non stop promoting and writing new stuff. She’s actually good. It’s hard for me to believe because I still see her as my little sister. I don’t think that’ll ever change.”

Charlie was being awfully quiet, scarfing down the muffins Chris had brought. When I spotted the wrappers placed beside her and counted them. “Charlie, did you eat all of the muffins? How many are in there?”

“Oh please, there are plenty left. You two just seemed to be engrossed in conversation, I didn’t want to interrupt.” She eyed me like she had the day before when Chris gave me his number. I couldn't help my eyes rolling in response. This girl will be the death of me…

“So what are we doing today? I know I have a paper that’s due on Friday, but I can do it later-”

“See, Chris? Maybe it’s a good thing you came to us this early in the semester. This is the time we do all of those things we say we’re doing ‘later’.”

“Charlie is very intent on keeping her GPA above a 4.0. We’ve been doing this ever since freshman year, but we only found this spot last year during Spring semester. She’s been on my ass ever since, which is why I have the grades that I do. She keeps me on top of my shit and I make sure she comes up for air every once in a while.” Chris nodded along to my words, listening intently and watching. Charlie just nodded along. 

“You’re welcome by the way.” She turned to Chris, coffee in hand. “I’m the reason she passed stats with flying colors last year.” I rolled my eyes for the second time in a two-minute period.

“That’s just what I like to tell her. Makes her feel more important.” I whispered over to him, which in turn made him laugh. I hadn’t heard it up close like I just had two seconds ago. When it was a genuine laugh, he almost squeaked on the intake like a door that needed to be oiled. It was an easy laugh to crave to hear. I knew it would haunt me like a ghost in the weeks to come, even then. Chris grabbed his laptop out of his backpack and started typing, pulling books from the backpack as well to occasionally look up an answer to something he was typing. I pulled out my headphones when the comfortable silence fell, leaving one ear open to the world outside of my own bubble.

“Whatcha listening to?” Chris poked my thigh from where he was laying on his stomach on our blanket.

“This and that.” I couldn’t help my smile when his attention was on me. It was like a shot of sunshine straight to your veins.

“Just this and that? Do you mind if I also listen to ‘just this and that’?” His question shouldn't have caught me by surprise, but I found myself handing him my other headphone despite myself. “I think someone’s music taste says a lot about that as a person. Well, movies and music.” He stuck it in his ear and returned to his laptop, typing away. 

“I love the Princess Bride. It’s one of my favorites.”

“Mine too.” He turned his sparkling eyes back towards me and smiled. I felt the blush creep up to my cheeks and I had to look away or else risk him catching it.

I flashed a glance towards Charlie to see if she had caught the exchange. She had, because she was wiggling her eyebrows at me. ‘Oh my god’ she mouthed at me, glancing at Chris to see if he was watching. He was not. And when she turned back to me, she picked up her phone, indicating that the conversation would continue there. 

From: Charlie

Dude WHAAATTTT??? I told you, he likes you!! That was not a coincidence.

To: Charlie

I still think you’re nuts

From: Charlie

Think me nuts all you want, but I’m about to prove it.

I looked up from my phone to catch her eye. ‘How’ I mouthed in my most disbelieving look. It didn't occur to her that Chris was just looking for his newest girl to conquer, and I didn’t want to spoil her fun, so I just sat back as she mouthed back to me ‘Watch’.

“Hey Chris?” He looked over his shoulder to her with his eyebrows raised. “I promised my friend over here that I would take her out for dinner tomorrow night, but I have to cancel. My boyfriend’s birthday is tomorrow and I totally forgot. He’s not around here so I have to call him and do this whole long distance date and everything. Anyway, I thought maybe you could cover for me with her?” 

I could do nothing but stare at my own textbook. One half of me was embarrassed that she would be so obvious with her plans. And even without my real knowledge of it. She would pay for that tonight, without a doubt. The other half couldn’t watch the trainwreck about to crash when he said he had plans. That half would be crushed when he said no, he’d have to pass like he did when he was trying to be polite when a girl asked him out and he didn’t want to go. Either ‘sorry, I have to pass this time’ or ‘I just don’t have the time right now’. Either of those were the responses I was waiting for. Definitely not

“Sure! Is that okay with you?”

Unable to feign my deafness when he poked me again, I mumbled a quick ‘hm?’ so they could catch me up to speed.

“Charlie had to cancel on you, so I’m taking you out tomorrow night.” His excitement was an unexpected surprise. Charlie beamed triumphantly from behind him at me, relishing in her victory. 

“Oh really?” I said a hair more fake than I meant to. When I tore my eyes away from Charlie to look at Chris, he had a confident but genuine smile to show me. And damn it, I couldn’t help but return it every time. “And where are we going?”

“I’ll text you the details tomorrow. Just be ready by 6, yeah?” He didn’t wait for an answer and returned to his laptop. 

The excitement of going on a date with a cute boy, no matter who he was, still ran through me like it was any other date. Charlie would pay for it, no doubt. But the thrill was still there that maybe, just maybe, he might be what Charlie suspects. But only time would tell. 

Chris was normal the rest of the time he laid with us on our blanket, making occasional jokes with Charlie about their shared class, the professor, and the stupid people in that class. This left me with the opportunity to look around and see if anyone noticed the Mr. Campu Man had picked a new spot to hang out. His usual crowd was seated near the picnic benches where they normally were. None of them seemed any kind of curious as to where their fearless leader was, and that seemed completely fine by them. It was when he left for his class load for the day that Charlie really got her proof. 

“Alright guys, I gotta head to bio. But if the invitation is still open, I’d love to come tomorrow too.”

“Only if you bring more muffins or some other baked good with you. If not, don’t bother showing up, Bang.” To that he chuckled and when Charlie didn’t chuckle back, he glanced my way.

“Oh, she’s serious.”

“As a heart attack.” Chare chimed in without looking up from her laptop. Chris kept his face blank for a second longer, then nodded in resignation. 

“Any specific requests?” He said this part to me, asking me directly. I thought for a second. If he was going to go through with it, then what was the harm?

“Bagels, if you please sir.” I said in my best mocking voice, leaving it up to him to decide if I was telling the truth or not. He laughed again and put on his now fully packed backpack. 

“As you wish.” He replied and left without another word. 

A hard slap hit my arm the second he was far away enough from us.

“Oh my god!” She hit me on the arm again and again until I had to grab her wrist to make her stop. “I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!”

“Why are you freaking out more than I am?” I buried my nose in the closest textbook to me to hide my face in. 

“Mainly because I was right. But also because of the simple fact that a cute boy likes you! And I called it. How am I more excited than you?”

“Mainly because he didn’t even ask me. You asked him for me. He’s just being nice, Charlie. No one can say no to you, don’t you know that?” 

“Girl. If he didn’t want to go, he would’ve said no. He has no problem saying no and you know that. I really don’t think he would have said yes if he didn’t want to.” I just shrugged, telling myself that she was right, but at the same time not wanting to believe it myself. I couldn’t bring myself to fully insert myself in the daydream that Charlie was living in, fighting the urge to run away and hide for good. 

“I just-” I sighed and laid back on the blanket, letting the sun warm the air around me and breezes come and go.  “I think I would be more excited if he had asked me himself.” 

“He just needed to know that you would be into it. Give him a chance and see how he acts tomorrow night. If he’s a douche, then call me and I’ll get you out of it. But if he’s nice and into you, then that’s kinda your answer, isn’t it?”

“I guess.” 

Wait and see. That was my plan. That was all I had.

After my classes of the day were over, I went back to my apartment with Rhiannon to unload in a hot shower. Rhiannon came in while I had my towel wrapped around me on the way back to my room. 

“Hey! How was your day?” She asked from her place in the hallway amid the ruffle of bags she dropped by the door. She only brought one to the couch with her and rifled through it to find her laptop. 

“Pretty interesting, actually.” 

“Oh yeah?” She inquired, ready for more details as she peered from behind her computer. 

“Yeah, I got asked out, well not really asked out-”

“BY WHO?!” She shrieked, throwing the laptop aside to jump out of her seat.

“Chris Bang?” She stops in place and turns to face me dead on. Her features were frozen in a mixture of shock and what looked like…sadness. 

“Chris Bang?” She repeated.

“Yeah. He didn’t really ask me out of the blue, Charlie made up some lie about us having plans beforehand when we really didn’t and she asked him if he would take her place, which he did.”

Rhiannon was pensive as she watched me recount the details, not letting me forget a single one. She even asked me exactly what his words were when he agreed to it and what exactly happened afterwards; his mannerisms, the word choice, and the nature of his body language. 

“It sounds like he was actually interested, if that helps you. From what you can recall, you don’t have to worry about that part. But you seem disinterested now. Why?”

“Because he didn’t actually ask me.”

“So?”

“He’s just filling in, he felt bad that I would be left hanging.” 

“I don’t think he would’ve agreed if he didn’t actually want to go.” 

“Rhi…”

She was eyeing me up and down, gauging my words against her own knowledge.

“Why can’t you believe he would like you? What’s so hard for you to believe?

“It’s not that, I just don’t want to be next in the queue. I don’t want to be just another girl he’s gone out with, no matter how cute he is or how smooth he can be. I wanted to be able to resist him because I know better than to believe-”

“Believe what? That a boy with eyes can have a crush on a pretty girl? That a cute boy would see the same thing your friends are seeing? What’s so unbelievable about that?”

I sighed. “All of it. Why him? Why me?”

“Why not him? Listen, if you’re really that worried about it, just take it slow. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t normally do on a date with a guy and just treat him like any other guy. That should ease your nerves, right?”

“No.” 

“Maybe picking out your outfit ahead of time will help give you more confidence. Come!” She sprung off the couch and headed for my bedroom without turning to see if I was following. By the time I passed through my door, she was already piling clothed on my bed a foot high already.

“How do you have nothing in here! What do you normally wear on dates?”

I rolled my eyes.

God help me.

*

He picked a good spot, I had to admit. Not to him, not to inflate what I was sure was a big enough ego. But Marty’s was far enough away from campus that we would be uninterrupted by any of his friends but not so far that we felt secluded from society altogether. The restaurant had a good enough reputation among students to be a good place to bring a date if you want some special alone time together. The implication of him bringing me here was not lost in the bounds of my thinking mind. 

The room was warm and inviting, a red kind of wallpaper surrounded us with candle lit sconces in the upper columns and casted the dining room in a warm glow. The wooden tables helped the cozy feeling as soon as you walked in, as most of the furniture in the large room matched the rest of the dining room. The walls were graced with vintage-looking florals paintings that looked like they could’ve been plucked straight from an art magazine. 

“Did I mention that you look nice tonight?” Chris blushed as he asked, turning his gaze back downwards toward his menu. His repetition of the question caught me off guard, being the third time he had mentioned it.

“Yeah, you did. But thank you again.” I tried to flash him my best comforting grin, which he looked up just in time to catch. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not normally this nervous.” He smiled again and let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing his hands on his pant legs. 

“Why are you nervous? At least your friend didn’t have to ask someone out on a date for you.”

“How do you know she and I didn’t plan something elaborate while we were in class because I was too nervous to do it myself?” I laughed at the preposterous notion that Chris Bang could be too nervous to do anything ever. “What was that for?” His smile was back in place of his nervous chuckle.

“I’m sorry, you just don’t ever seem nervous to do anything. So the thought of that just isn’t possible.”

“Why ever not?” He was quizzical, raising his brow at me from across the table and ruffling his white button down. His black earrings initially had given me some pause but the longer I looked, I saw the Prada logo and how well they matched his tailored pants. They had a light gray pattern going around them and hit him just above the ankle. He oozed wealth when dressed like this, not that I had seen him this way until now. His hair was perfectly styled to a side part, a few strands falling into his face. His dress shoes almost seemed too fancy for the restaurant he brought me to with their gold chain going across the top.

 His family must have had money. 

“You just don’t seem like you get your feathers ruffled very easily. Very go-with-the-flow kind.”

“You’re not wrong. But when the first half of the plan that wasn’t up to me went perfectly and now it’s only up to me, I’m getting nervous. I haven’t been this nervous before.”

“But why? What’s so different about me?” 

“Can I get you guys some wine to start with?” Just then a well-dressed waitress came up to us to hand us a laminated wine list with names I could barely pronounce written in a fancy cursive font. It distracts us enough that I forget what I was thinking before she arrived. 

Chris perused the wine list and selected for us, subtly but not so subtly flashing his knowledge just a touch. He eased up a bit as the night went on, bringing up his childhood. Head bounced between Korea and Australia before coming to the states during high school so he and his siblings could have a ‘normal’ education. They lived a few states away so Chris could ward off any unwanted visits from his parents. It wasn't that he didn’t love them, but they could be a lot sometimes. He talked about his sister and how she had stayed in Australia to pursue a musical path. Chris supported her in any way he could, but that life just wasn’t for him. And his youngest brother was in school back in the home state, going through all of the fun life stages of being fifteen. 

We had just gotten to what brought me to our university when the dessert had come out. The tension in my shoulders from the anxiousness of the situation had eased immensely and Chris hadn’t uttered a nervous chuckle since the appetizers. 

“I picked it because it wasn’t too far from home. I had the same idea you did, except I live in-state. It’s just my mom and me. My dad decided not to be a dad anymore when I was twelve and I haven’t seen him since. From what my mom can tell me, it’s better this way. She doesn’t miss him and that tells me I shouldn’t either. I don’t remember much.” 

“I’m sorry that’s the way it is, though. I don’t know what I would do without my dad.” He gave me a sad smile as he picked up his fork. I did the same and reached for the small tower of chocolate between us. It melted in my mouth just like I thought it would, but my thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of my phone on the table. I picked it up just in time to see Charlie’s name appear on my screen. 

“I’ll be really quick, I promise.” I said with a grimace, standing up from my seat.

“No problem! I promise I’ll leave some for you.” He smiled back, assuring me. I nodded and headed out the front door.

“What?” I bit at Charlie.

“Soooo? How’s it going?” Her voice was airy as it questioned me. 

“It’s still going and you’re interrupting!” I didn’t want to be rude but in spite of myself and how I got here, I was having a really nice time and I wanted to get back to it before the clock struck twelve and Chris Bang turned back into the popular guy who would forget who I was. 

“Okay, sorry! I will await the debrief when you get back! Come straight here!” I hung up on her and reentered the building. Chris was talking to the waitress with an easy smile on his face and my heart sunk. This wasn’t supposed to be a date anyways. Not really. Charlie had done this because she was nice. I had tried not to get my hopes up but the more we talked, the easier it was to believe he might actually like me. So much for that.

He spotted me by the door and waved, motioning to the plate he had left for me to finish if I wanted. I gave him a half smile and headed back over, doing my best to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest. 

“Everything okay?” He asked gently. He was putting something into his back pocket while he watched my movements for an answer.

“Yeah, she’s just nosy.” 

“Ah. Well, thank her for me when you see her later tonight.”

“For what?”

“Oh, I was being serious. I asked for her help to ask you out because I was too nervous to do it myself.” I just stared at him in disbelief. He waited, with held breath it seemed, for my reaction. And when I didn’t give him one, he continued. “I had seen you around campus with her before and when she showed up in my class, I had to take my opportunity. I’m really hoping that helps me come off as cool or something and not a loser.”

“I don’t think you’re a loser.” I replied quietly. I gave him a reassuring smile and he mirrored it. 

“Do you want to head out of here? Go for a walk or something?”

“Sure. Don’t we need to grab the checks first though?”

“Uh, no. It’s all taken care of.” He patted his back pocket when he stood up, which I could now see held a wallet-shaped object. 

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes I did. It’s only right.” He held out his hand for me to take. “Shall we go?”

Oh boy...

[lulublack90]

Prompt 1 - Opening Ceremony

@wolfstarmicrofic August 1, word count 732

Because I am an absolute nutter, it looks like I'm swapping the two series I did last month over so now we have part two of the Apple Core series that was a Jegulus story but now it's following on as a Wolfstar. I'll link the pervious Jegulus series if any one wants to read that first. Hope you enjoy.

Previous Jegulus part First Jegulus part

“Come on Remus, get the banner higher, like James’s side. Yes, that’s better. Perfect.” Sirius directed from the floor while James and Remus balanced precariously on chairs outside the café. Sirius and Remus had just bought it for a relatively good price. He’d sunk everything he had into it, well what he had left after getting them the nice flat. It was just typical that this place went on the market with a perfectly adequate flat above it the day after they exchanged contracts for their flat. Sirius had made a fuss about it at the time, but he believed everything happened for a reason. He had this niggling feeling that he and Remus were not meant to live in the flat above the café, so he put it out of his mind and got to work.

The café had been a disaster. They’d had to rip everything out to the studs and start again, but that meant they could use the space however they wanted. They did as much as they could themselves to keep costs down, which basically meant telling James what they wanted and pointing him in the right direction. 

But today was opening day and Sirius was nervous. What if nobody came? What if this was a colossal waste of money, and he was just a waster like his parents had told him over and over as he was growing up? His thoughts turned to his brother for a second. He hadn’t seen him in 5 years and had no idea what he was doing. As far as he knew, Regulus still lived in that house with them. He quickly put an end to that train of thought. He highly doubted he’d see or hear from Regulus any time soon. 

He stood back to appraise their handiwork. He grinned a face-spitting smile. The banner proclaiming Open for Business proudly hung under the shimmering blue-tinged white letterings of their shop’s name, Howlin’ at the Moon. He just needed to add the finishing touches, and they’d be ready for the grand opening ceremony. He ran back inside and began to drag out the piece of rolled-up red carpet, the velvet ropes and the big red ribbon. When he was done, he jumped around with glee and checked his watch for the time. They still had two hours.   

Effie and Monty turned up to help make all the samples. He and Remus had kept it simple. Shots of their signature coffee blend and miniature cheese toasties, which were normal cheese toasties artfully cut up by Monty himself. 

“Sirius look,” Remus physically spun him around to face the glass front of the shop. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Already there was a huge crowd waiting patiently for the doors to open. 

“Mum!” He called into the back, “We’re going to need more cheese toasties, a lot more,” Effie came round to see what was going on and gave him a big squeeze. 

“You’re going to be amazing darling,” She whispered into his ear as she planted a big wet kiss only a mother could give on his cheek. “And don’t think you can sneak away Mr, you’re just as much a part of this family as the others are,” Effie wrapped her arms around Remus, who’d been trying to avoid her kisses, and held him there while she covered his face with red lipstick. 

“How many times do we have to tell you, Moony,” James snickered from the other side of the counter. “You can’t run away from her, it’s best just to accept her love and be done with it,” Remus grumbled at him and made rude gestures when Effie’s back was turned as he tried to wipe the red stains off his face. The clock chimed and it was time to go.

Sirius swallowed nervously as he took in the crowd. He was standing with an oversized pair of scissors in front of the door, preparing to make a speech. He took a deep steadying breath and felt his body tremble. Remus came and stood beside him, and together they introduced themselves and welcomed everyone to their café. Holding the scissors between them, they cut the ribbon and watched it fall to the floor as the local paper took a photo of the event. They opened the door and the crowd surged forward. Howlin’ at the Moon was officially open.

Next part

[yunjardi]

sex express

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[pairing: stranger.jake x fem.reader]

[warnings: smut [mdni], making out, public sex, sex with a stranger, unprotected sex [wrap b4 u tap pls], handjob, slut is used once i think, strangers to ???, almost getting caught lol [i think that's all but feel free to lmk if i missed anything]

pls don't fuck random people LOL

[quick a/n: to give you guys an idea of the setting, think of this train as one that has the interior of the one from polar express LMFAO yeah like one of those rail car trains. but anyway, this also takes place during the winter because i really need winter vibes to be injected into my veins rn :,) i hope you enjoy this little touch of winter during the still lowkey warm weather depending on where you are geographically lol]

p.s. this is heavily inspired by this one video i could send you upon request bc i don't wanna link it 💀

you came out of your toasty and warm house during another cold winter evening to get on the night train to travel two towns over to where your only few friends lived. they had made plans to have a gathering just in time for the winter holidays, and you couldn't just turn them down because they were too far away from you, so you decided that getting on the train was the easiest way to get there in time.

shivering, you waddled into the entrance of the train, clad in a grey long-sleeve shirt and your warm black puffer jacket. you handed your ticket in and you were welcomed into one of the quiet train cars. since it was the night train, there were seemingly no other passengers coming aboard which led you to believe that you'd be alone the whole duration of the train ride. you let out a satisfied sigh knowing that the journey would be a quiet and peaceful 3 hours that you could spend asleep on a seat or just staring into space, undisturbed. those thoughts quickly dissolved once you heard someone else come into the train car. this time, you let out a different kind of sigh.

but upon further inspection, you came to realize that the guy who came into the train car and sat down in the seat across from you was incredibly handsome. so handsome that you didn't even realize that your eyes were completely glued to him until you heard the voice of a woman.

"would you like anything to eat or drink before we depart?" an employee asked with a smile. you looked at her with wide eyes and let words spill out of your mouth.

"n-no, i'll be okay, thank you," you sputtered out followed by a sheepish smile. she nodded and went on to ask the handsome guy the same question.

"just water is fine, thank you," he responded with a smile. your ears perked up at his aussie accent which, in your opinion, made him even more attractive. the employee also seemed to be smitten by him, and you couldn't blame her because you were both gawking at his handsomeness.

the employee handed him a bottle of water from her cart before turning around to head out. "oh and if you guys need anything at any point during the trip, there's a button right there to call for assistance." you and the guy both glanced over to where she motioned, and it turns out the button was on the wall that your seat was against. you shrugged it off because you knew you wouldn't need anything for the duration of the trip anyway, and you just went back to enjoying the vibe of the train ride, trying not to glance over at the hot rando that you'd be sharing the train car with for the next 3 hours.

silence fell over the room as the lights slightly dimmed, creating an even more relaxing atmosphere which made you let out a quiet and content sigh.

you were just about to doze off before the guy broke the silence.

"so, where are you headed?" he asked, his accent making you start swooning again.

"same place that you are," you chuckled. it was literally a one-way trip to one location, which made it abundantly clear that he was just trying to make small talk considering that you were both going to the same place. unless he was one of those idiots who goes on the train just to see where it ends up.

"okay good point," he said with a sheepish laugh, "well then, what are your plans when we arrive to town?" you zipped your jacket up before answering.

"nothing much, i'm just heading over to see some friends for a few days. i don't really know what they have planned, so i'm not fully sure," you responded, to which he smiled and began removing his dark blue jacket.

"i noticed you zipped your jacket," he said as he approached and eventually sat in the seat directly across from you, "take mine." you blushed as he draped his coat over your shoulders, immediately beginning to feel warmer after being engulfed in this handsome man's jacket that smelt of crisp cologne.

"you're such a sweetheart," you thanked him indirectly with bashful smile, "i'd hate for you to get cold, though." your frown turned into a mild pout as you tried to shimmy out of his jacket. he reached out his hand to stop you.

"don't worry about it, beautiful," he chuckled, "it's silly that we seem to already be on 'jacket-sharing terms,' yet i don't even know your name yet."

he had a good point.

"i'm y/n," you introduced yourself with a warm smile, still slightly taken aback by him calling you beautiful, "and you are?"

"jake," he replied back with more of a smirk than a smile, which made you blush even more than you already were. thank goodness it was cold because you wouldn't be in this position, talking to a cute guy, if it weren't for the fact that he lent you his cozy jacket.

"well, it's a big pleasure meeting you, jake," you smirked back, "and thank you for letting me use your jacket." you cozied yourself into the soft material, silence falling between you two once again.

jake couldn't help but fixate his eyes on you looking comfortable in his coat, and he'd be lying if he said that it didn't make him feel some type of way. he figured that since you two would be stuck together for the next 3-ish hours, he would take this opportunity to shoot his shot and see if you two were riding the same wave.

"so," he began again, "are you still cold? should we warm up a little more?"

his words teased you, making you feel tingles in between your thighs and a knot forming in your core.

"what do you suggest we do?" you said innocently as you looked into his pretty brown eyes, leaning in closer to him, "tell me, jake."

his ears seemed to perk up at the sound of his name leaving your lips, his sweatpants becoming a little tighter.

"come here and i'll show you," he smirked, patting his lap for you to come sit. without hesitation, you went to his seat to cozy yourself into his lap, straddling him.

"feeling warmer yet?" he chuckled and bit his lip as he ran his hands down your waist, eventually getting close enough to your ass to spank you. you let out a yelp at the sudden spank but later giggled as you experimentally rocked your hips back and forth, earning a low groan from him as he got harder and harder by the second.

"hmm..." you pretended to ponder, "i think i could be warmer." he smirked as he gazed into your eyes, catching you off guard with an amorous kiss to which you began to kiss him back. you grinded your hips against him as you two got lost in your make out, occasionally moaning into the kiss while he began to feel your body. his hands eventually met the elastic of your leggings, a smirk forming on his face as he began to slowly pull them down your ass and legs.

"if you start taking off my clothes, i'll get cold again," you pouted, "what will you do then, hm?"

"you'll see, beautiful," he flirted lustfully as he continued to toy with your waistband painfully slowly when it got closer and closer to the bottom of your ass, "you might even break a sweat if i'm not careful."

by that point, your pants were finally down at your ankles, so you leaned over to the side to discard them onto the seat you were previously in. now you were left on top of him in your tight long-sleeve shirt and panties; a sight that jake seemed to adore.

you two just met and he already couldn't get enough of you.

"can i take yours off?" you asked, referring to his sweatpants and boxers as you slid your fingers ever so slightly past his waistband. he eagerly nodded his head as he assisted you in taking off his now tight bottoms.

your eyes lit up as you watched his hard cock smack against his abdomen. just by

the looks of it, you could tell that it would hit you in all the right places, which only excited you further.

"can't stop staring?" he smirked as he gentle brought your hand over to his length, inviting you to feel him, "don't be scared; you can touch, beautiful."

after getting his permission, you wasted no time spitting on his member, wetting his cock before beginning to pump it in your hand. jake let his head fall back while you worked your hand around his girth, collecting the precum from his tip to lubricate him more. "yeah that's right, just like that, baby," he praised you as you jerked his cock harder.

"i'm supposed to be warming you up, remember?" jake asked with a chuckle as he settled his hand on your ass again, pulling your panties down with one hand; an action that turned you on to levels you've never reached. before positioning you the way he wanted you to be, he put your wet panties in the pocket of his sweatpants that were still halfway down his mid thigh. you couldn't help but let out a quiet mewl at the sight which make him smirk at you and your sudden shyness.

he stood you up and turned you around, experimentally rubbing your clit before teasing you with his thick tip. his cold fingers shocked you at first, but it felt good nonetheless.

you were now in a position where you could ride him while facing away from him, giving him a full view of your pretty ass. thinking he was about to put is cock inside you, you pushed your ass against his thighs eagerly, but you felt his tip completely pass your entrance. you whined impatiently, wanting to feel him inside you, but you were soon met with tingles going down your thighs from him sliding his still lubricated member through your closed thighs, fucking them as your ass bounced against him.

"mmmh," you gasped out as you felt his cock begin to slide against your wet entrance, further teasing you, "fuck, i need you inside me." you voiced boldly, making him pull his cock away from your thighs and position himself just centimeters away from your entrance, eventually pushing himself in.

the two of you moaned in sync as you started to gently bounce your ass on his thighs, trying not to moan too loud due to the fact that you were afraid of the employees hearing you two do the deed. his tip massaged the deepest parts of your pussy, making you bite your lip, still trying to control your moans.

"fuck," you breathed out, again, trying to control your volume, "jake, you feel so good." he continued to earn moan after moan from you as his tip steadily stimulated your sensitive sweet spot.

although he loved the sight of your pretty ass bouncing against his thighs, he wanted to look at your, even prettier, face while he fucked your tight, wet pussy, so he pulled his length out of you, turned you around to face him, and sat you back down on his cock.

you let a loud moan escape your lips as you put one your arms against the wall and a hand on jake's shoulder for stability. you couldn't tell if you felt the wall go in for a second or if you were just so engulfed in pleasure that you were genuinely getting dizzy.

"so cute," jake cooed as he gripped your ass, "you're moaning like a whore for me, can't keep quiet, huh? such a slut. taking a stranger's cock like this." you let out a needy moan in response, putting your hand on your mouth to prevent yourself from getting any louder. "hey, don't do that, baby. i want to hear you moan for me," jake said with seduction coating his tone as he took your hand away from your mouth and placed it back on his shoulder.

you took that as a queue to fuck yourself on his cock in a rough manner since you, according to jake, didn't have to be quiet anymore. you let him thrust into you as you rolled your hips against his, jake's eyes fixed on your boobs that bounced through your tight long sleeve shirt.

jake's eyes rolled back as your walls began to pulse harder around his big cock. "fuck," he panted, "can i cum inside you?" he asked with a whisper as you bit your lip and nodded your head, giving him full permission to empty his load inside your pussy. "good, because i don't know how much longer i can last," he admitted with a chuckle as he grabbed onto your hips again, beginning to thrust his hips into yours even harder.

it was at that point that you were so lost in pleasure that you couldn't even warn him that you were about to cum; you simply whined and moaned which was enough to tell him that you let loose. following your lead, jake shot his warm seed into you, creaming you as he continued to thrust into you, making sure that he fully emptied himself in your sore pussy.

you stayed on his lap for awhile until you both calmed down enough to put your clothes back on. jake sweetly helped you put your panties and bottoms back on, offering you some of his water afterwards.

jake fully pulled his sweatpants back on and invited you to stay on his lap to which you happily obliged.

your ass naturally cozied itself in his crotch which made him blush a little, trying to control himself and not get hard all over again. it was very clear that he was tensed up from trying not to become aroused again and you couldn't help but smirk.

"how about round two pretty boy?-"

the sudden creak of the door made your hands stop in their tracks, the employee from earlier standing in the doorway with widened and shocked eyes.

"d-did someone press the button?"

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a/n: hi gang 👍 i'm procrastinating on writing big projects by writing these little fics (sorry LOL) send any asks to be added into any of my taglists & i hope you guys enjoyed this 🤝

taglist: @axartia @jjhmk @valiantwastelanddelusion @jayroseyy @ayohahaha @asaheyow @lhsng @i-dalso @bunhoons @red-xherry @duolingofanaccount @lix-freckle3 @l0st-h0p3s @leeis @muffinminnie @green-orangeade @imbaeksbae @sunghoonmybeloved

©yunjardi on tumblr

[rkdhsdl]

you are feeding into my hpma brainrot right now T~T LIKE I JUST STARTED PLAYING YESTERDAY AND EXPECTED FEWER FCS AND HCS OF DANIEL BUT HERE YOU ARE DOING THE LORD'S WORK.

for a short fic idea, how about a y/n with a flirty attitude that says cheesy pick-up lines to daniel as a way to tease him thinking he'd just shrug them off but he actually fell for them as time passed on. (and they're in the same friend group which makes it harder for daniel to not fall for them)

keep writing author!! i am your number one fan right now (self proclaimed title)

-K.M

love, don’t do this to me…

word count: 1846 gender neutral reader character(s): daniel page TW/CW: i don’t know man, ooc characters + i forgor the story so it probably doesn’t make sense writer’s notes: daniel’s hopelessly in love w/ u and he doesn’t know what to do, and i’m using some of the pickup lines my s/o uses bc they’re so corny + and i think i made this too long oopsies

daniel’s first thought when he met you within the train to hogwarts was, ‘what an eccentric person,’ and nothing more. he still remembers your first interaction with him– well, not really, as he was just watching you talking with lottie animatedly. never would he have realised that he would fall for you in such a short amount of time.

now, daniel thinks that liking you is somewhat of a curse that you put on him, a spell, mayhaps a potion? but he knows deep inside of his heart that isn’t really the case. after some… incidents during your third year, you and your friend group, which included himself, reconciled properly- which may have been the trigger to his thumping heart whenever you were near.

it first started when you were all in your fourth years, sitting on the long dinner tables.

“hey, daniel, oi, listen!” you snap your fingers in front of his face, caramel eyes blinking and looking at you in curiosity. you continue, “you know, it’s pretty hot here…”

daniel squints at you in confusion, eyes urging you to continue. ivy starts to laugh, covering her mouth in a poor attempt to hold her chuckles.

“what do you mean? it’s pretty cool here.” the brown haired boy retorts in confusion.

“i don’t know, to me it’s quite toasty here… maybe it’s because you just came out of the oven, cause you’re really hot–”

daniel’s face contorts into surprise as his ears burn, hands scrambling to cover your mouth before he heard anything more. his eyebrows furrow in annoyance as he notices how your (e/c) eyes started to gleam of smugness, feeling your lips turn into a coy smile.

“merlin’s beard, (y/n), that is not appropriate in public!” the auburn haired boy reprimands you. to be completely honest, he would’ve come back at you with another, more, cheesy pick up line, but in the moment, he could only think about your words. he knew himself that your words didn’t really have much meaning to it, as he heard you vocalise similar words towards the others.

but he couldn’t help but hear his own heart beat vigorously at the thought of you really meaning it to him.

after that, daniel started to act a little off around you. you didn’t notice, though on the other hand, ivy, robyn, kevin and lottie would roll their eyes in exasperation as they saw their brown eyed friend stutter and trip on his steps around you, face burning in a red flush whenever you and daniel would accidentally lock gazes together.

the second time he knew again was in your fifth year.

“come on, daniel, you know you like them!” robyn’s voice is piercing in the evening air, as she points an accusing finger towards daniel.

“shush! what if they hear?” daniel attempts to calm robyn down as he looks around.

and speak of the devil, you float down from your broom, in all your glory as you plop down next to ivy as you bring your broom towards the floor.

“well, since you called, here i am, what’s your other two wishes?” you speak, voice suave and laced with confidence as you lean towards daniel. the four friends gather slightly and watch, finding amusement when daniel starts to stutter and shut down, face turning bright red. your eyes crinkle into a satisfied smirk as you pat his back quite harshly, causing the boy to stumble in his stupor.

“so, why are we here again?” you ask, looking at the dark forest near hagrid’s home, subconsciously taking daniel’s hand into yours as you drag him around towards the entrance– or so you presumed to be– of the forest. the tawny haired boy felt your hand against his, as his mind started to clog up with nothing but fluster, unable to listen to whatever you and the others were talking about.

following this situation, daniel had promptly started avoiding you, which made you slightly confused, though you paid no mind. maybe something happened again, you’d think, as you walk around hogsmeade with lottie and ivy.

the third time he found himself kicking his feet like a highschooler in love was in his dorm bed during the sixth year.

daniel eventually learned the hard way that avoiding and evading situations where you’d be in was unavoidable, and eventually started to try be less obvious about his feelings for you. hopefully, you didn’t know. the last he would want is for your friendship to sever due to his feelings.

daniel was waiting in one of the cafes at hogsmeade as he waited for your arrival. you arrive, cheeks rosy and warm due to the cold of the winter, wrapped up and cosy in your overcoat, scarf and hat. you looked adorable in daniel’s eyes, and he didn’t know that he was staring until you waved your gloved hands in front of him.

he looks at the menu with you, skimming through the assortment of drinks and desserts listed.

as you both order, you both start talking about school, until you decide to start another of your corny pick up lines.

“hey, daniel, you know what’s on the menu?” you ask, trying your best not to pop out a smile.

the boy nods, “yeah, drinks and sorts?”

“no, no, it’s me ‘n’ you~” you reply, with an arch tone laced into your voice. daniel’s eyes blow wide open, ears burning once more as he stares at you dumbfounded, taking some time to understand your words.

once it processes, daniel starts to malfunction slightly as he slams his head on the table, causing some looks from the other booths. you jump slightly, startled, but pat his head as you chuckle.

“really, daniel? your reactions are just too cute!” you coo. your words turn daniel into mush, as he leans into your hand. he wishes you also like him back, as he presses his head into his arms more in bashfulness.

once the two of you headed back to hogwarts, he was nearly screaming into his pillow that night as he kicks his feet, reminiscing your actions and words again and again, repeat in his mind.

the fourth time he know he’s fallen helplessly in love with you was the seventh year, during the early start.

daniel knows that there isn’t much time, and he wishes to spend as much time with you. you and your friends, including him, know that soon, after graduation, you all will part ways, contacts rare as you all live your own individual lives.

the chocolate eyed boy wishes that time would stop, as he looks at your animated conversation with lottie about a new art museum that opened near your home. his gaze is sewn with love and adoration as his eyes trace the side of your face, the outlines and your joyful expression.

ivy, robyn and kevin look at daniel with a deadpan stare as they look at each other with a knowing look.

what the four– including lottie– knew was how you’d stare at daniel the same when he’d be brewing potions in the small potions room that he was practically living in, (e/c) eyes reflecting the small flame under the cauldron as you’d admire his focused expression.

they knew the both of you were hopelessly in love with each other, and they did not want the two of you to part ways without a proper ending.

the four arrange a group study meeting in the library, only for them to not appear as you and daniel stare awkwardly at each other, waiting for lottie, ivy, robyn and kevin.

“maybe they bailed? it’s been well over half an hour…” you mutter, as you set your bag down on the floor, gesturing daniel to sit to the opposite of you.

he complies, pulling the chair to accommodate himself as he sets some books down on the wooden table.

moments of silence pass as you look up towards the boy, his coppery coloured hair complementing his face swishes around slightly as his eyes and head move around to search for information.

“daniel?”

he looks up at you, tilting his head as you smile slightly.

“you know, i’m studying to be a historian, because i’m quite interested into finding a date…”

daniel blinks for a few seconds, face bursting into a bright red, as he stares at you once again in stupor, mouth opening and closing as he attempts to find the right words to come back at your cheesy pick up line. his attempts fail as he deflates into his chair, head sinking down into his hands as he cools his face down.

you chuckle in amusement as you put your books into your bag, doing the same to the flushed boy’s, giving out his bag to him as you stand to his right, scanning his flustered features on his face.

daniel stands up soon after, taking his bag from your hands as he looks away from your smug face, speedwalking from you towards the exit, as you run towards him in mirth, your chuckles reaching his red ears.

the fifth and last time he knows he needs to confess is in christmas, during your seventh year, the last year in hogwarts.

his hands are clammy and shaking, once again in the cafe at hogsmeade, awaiting your arrival. christmas songs are ringing in the streets, as children skip around in merry joy with the songs as the adults walk around, smiles donning their faces.

the bell of the cafe rings as you enter the cafe, sliding into daniel’s booth, smiling as you dust some of the snow off of your shoulders. daniel thinks you look adorable as ever, as he pushes your favourite drink towards you as he sips on his. you look at him with glee as you take the warm beverage with appreciation, smiling as you enjoy the taste.

“(y/n)?” he calls out to you, as you look at him with curiosity. daniel continues, a small smile playing on his features.

“they say nothing lasts forever—so would you be my nothing?”

daniel thinks he did a good job in hiding his nervousness as he looks towards the window, unable to wait for your reaction.

from the peripheral vision of his eyes, he sees your face flare up, ears warm as your eyes stare at him in fluster. 

ah, success… he thinks, as he looks at you with the same coy smile of yours, as he gestures for you to come closer. you comply, unable to retort another pick up line back.

“so, would you be the final piece of my life?” he whispers in your ear. daniel hopes that you reciprocate his feelings back, as he looks at you expectantly.

you nod, as you hide your face in your scarf as you collapse into your seat, thoughts running in your mind as you malfunction, unable to connect comprehensible words.

daniel chuckles as he reaches over to pat the top of your head in endearment.

at least he isn’t the only one with adorable reactions.

[toast-com]

It's been a bit since I've posted something train related but since I've ordered alot of train stuff (and was thinking) I'll share this small scene I thought of:

7119 was silent as he slowly steamed into the engine sheds. The interior was alive with the sound of the engines inside, either chatting or sleeping.

"...Evening, Jin." 7119 smiled softly at the voice his friend and classmate, 7118. The tank engine backed into his berth, his gaze meeting 7118's face.

"Hey, Jint." 7118 grinned at the nickname, her gaze moving to stare at the birds flocking in the yards. "... How's the birdwatching been going?" The tank hummed, smiling at 7119.

"...They've been flocking around at night lately." She murmured. "It's been interesting, watching them." 7118 fell silent as she watched the birds, and 7119 let his eyes fall close, as he fell asleep to the quiet sounds of the engine sheds.

[heyhelloitsmilo]

Everything Will Be Ok.

Simon Riley x reader x John MacTavish

918 words

⚠️ warnings: milo standard fluff, polyam relationship, not canon compliant (i think), mention of scars (not detailed)

💛 pairings: Simon Riley x John MacTavish x reader (masc), poly shit :)

💫 summary: CUDDLES!! slice of life w/o missions and uh. exaltation of the beloved lady??? (think Princess Bride's "As You Wish" as an example of it)

💬 extra notes: IM BAAAAAACK also fun fact MW2 and 3 are set in 2016-2017 which is uh. 7-8 years ago. :)

The sound of leaves rustling filled the air. Hands in hair, tea steeping in a mug on the bedside table. The autumn air hung with the smell of cinnamon and vanilla, warm and cozy and soft.

John's face burrowed into your neck, his hand on your chest. The book in your hand kept ajar by your thumb, completely forgotten as Simon held the both of you in his arms. With missions on hold for the time being, the three of you made good use of that time... Whatever that meant.

Well, turns out that meant you were sandwiched between the two of them, not like you weren't cuddle-piling in whatever sleeping arrangements you had. Then again, most of the Task Force tended to hang out together while they slept. The horrors of war tended to bring people together. That, and intense paranoia. And insomnia... trust issues... torture...

But for now, the horrors were far away, out of mind. No torture, no gunfire, no yelling. Just the quiet of the hotel they were staying in, and the soft sound of breathing.

"Yer awf'lly quiet, love."

John's voice was muffled in the skin of your neck, breaking your train of thought. You turned your head, cheek squished against his shaved side.

"Mmh?"

"Jus' lying there like a ludgin' hoose cat."

"English, Johnny." Simon muttered, much to your amusement. Both of you knew basically what he'd said, but oftentimes John's accent made it a little hard to understand.

John scoffed, throwing his leg over your waist. "No."

Stubble brushed across your clavicle, causing your skin to crawl. You drew back in revulsion, a small disgusted noise leaving your lips.

"Look what you've done, y'done made 'im groan, 'nd not in the good way." Simon nudged his nose in against your hair and pressed a little kiss to your temple. He chuckled lowly, putting a hand on John's thigh.

"We need a shave." You mumbled, really not enjoying the prickly hair on your skin. "And you need a haircut, Johnny." The statement earned a small chuckle from John, whose buzzed sides needed refreshing.

The room fell back into comfortable silence, though a little warm. Turns out having two guys hold you got toasty. Who knew? A novel concept.

Things settled back to how they were before: sleepy, warm, and cozy. Quiet mutterings of affection or fluttered kisses broke the silence, but nothing big. At one point, Johnny took your hand, kissed your knuckles, then bit the side of your palm. Classic, but you flicked him (gently) anyways. Large(r) hands roamed your torso, drawing lazy patterns along your skin. Your hand scratched and combed through your lovers' hair, pressing occasional kisses to their foreheads.

Your eyes fluttered closed, letting the sounds and smells lock you in this moment. Times like these were few and far between, never mind the fact that most standard militaries would have them all court martialed and dishonorably discharged. Fuckin'... gay people. No one really cared in 141, though. Which was nice. It afforded the three of you a chance to be together, except for when other generals and higher-ups or whatever were around.

A hand snaked up your shirt, briefly squeezing your chest before laying on your scarred skin. You weren't sure whose it was until thick fingers briefly squeezed your skin.

Simon slid his hand down your side, holding onto your waist. Soft murmured whispers of love and affection trailed from his lips, his breath gentle on your skin. His hand gripped you, tight enough to feel possessive but loose enough to be comfortable.

"I'm so in love with you," He whispered, nibbling the shell of your ear, earning a small chuckle from you.

"Y'think I'm joking? No, you don't understand. Every day I see you, I want to burn the entire world for you. Let me treasure you."

Funnily enough, John's head poked up to give Simon a betrayed look. Like a sad dog. Or hamster.

"Don' look at me with that tone. I feel the exact same way about you."

With that, John put his head back down, snuggled into your neck. Strong arms adjusted around you, warm breath on your skin. Stubble poked at your skin, little open-mouthed kisses left along your neck. Quiet mewls of protest tumbled from your lips, scruffy facial hair scraping at you. It was all in vain, however, since John was determined to get a few dozen kisses in.

You huffed, eyes still pressed closed. Too bad none of you were ever stationary enough to have a proper place. Each of you had done a little over ten years of service each. But that was the dream, wasn't it? A little home, just the three of you, all cozied up and comfortable. Making lunch for work, cooking and cleaning together.

The domestic life seemed so far away now. How could you go back after... after the horrors?

A soft sigh left your lips. Now wasn't the time to get all sad and melancholy. You combed a hand through John's hair, your cheek pressed to his forehead. During your little zone-out-session, he'd chilled out and practically fallen asleep. Dork.

"You should get some sleep."

Simon's voice rumbled in your ear, soft and murmured as he spoke. "You're more spacey than usual. Just take a nap."

With a soft mumble of appreciation, you let yourself relax. Right here, right now, everything was alright. For just a moment, everything was alright with the world.

And maybe... Maybe it would be okay.

i just think these heights are really funny (stars is my oc :)

[mountttmase]

Cold Hands, Cold Heart

Note - would love to hear what you guys think 💙

Pairing - Mason Mount x Reader

Word count - 3k

Warnings - angst and fluff

Your face was burning from the change of temperature as soon as you stepped in the door. You could barely feel your fingers as you unzipped your coat, finally freeing yourself from all your layers in order to let yourself be warmed by the heating.

It had been a long day. A long day spent in the cold being bossed about by a colleague who you were pretty sure had no idea what they were talking about and who shot down every idea you had, finished off by an hour and a half of waiting on a freezing platform as train after train was cancelled.

You had tried calling Mason to see if he could possibly come and get you but after his phone rung and rung until it had eventually gone through to voice mail for the fourth time, you gave up thinking he must be in the middle of something. The only thing that had gotten you through it was the thought of a hot bath and a cup of tea whilst cuddled up next to your boyfriend. Although you were starting to wonder if he was even home. His car was parked up outside, and his bag was by the door like usual but he was nowhere to be seen or heard.

You wondered towards the kitchen, hoping you’d find him in there starting dinner like he always did when you got in at this hour but you were stopped in your tracks before you even made it that far.

The living room was a mess, his trainers and hoodie strewn across the couch, cushions on the floor and empty glasses littered the coffee table. You huffed in frustration, but that was nothing compared to what was waiting for you in the kitchen.

If it was his mission to use every pot, pan and plate you owned then he’d succeeded. There was stuff everywhere to the point you couldn’t even begin to figure out what he was trying to do in the first place. But you did notice a distinct lack of anything cooking right now which made your tummy grumble and your anger soar.

After the day you’d had, you were absolutely furious and immediately stormed off upstairs in search of him. You checked your room but he wasn’t there so you grabbed a fresh set of pyjamas and left them on the radiator in the bathroom so they would be nice and toasty for when you were ready, before going off in search of him again. It didn’t take too much longer to realise where he was, hearing his booming laugh coming from the converted attic room above you. You stormed up the short flight of stairs and burst through the door but he didn’t so much as glance at you, too busy trying to shoot whoever he was playing with. It was only he turned to grab his bottle of water that his eyes fell on you for a second before quickly focusing back on the screen whilst he removed one side of his headphones in order to talk to you.

‘Hey baby, I won’t be much longer’ Mason shouted over to you, expecting some sort of response. But as you stood there dumbfounded and unsure of how to answer him, he chanced a look over to you again, frowning at your expression. ‘Two secs guys, I just need to turn my mic off’ he told whoever was on the other end before flicking the switch, his eyes however remained on the game. ‘What’s up?’ He called over to you and you couldnt believe how dense he was being.

‘What’s up?’ You repeated in a questioning tone, watching his eyes flicker over to you once more before returning to his game. ‘I’ll tell you what’s up Mason, I’ve had a long day and I’ve come home to the place absolutely trashed’

‘What are you on about? It’s not trashed’

‘I beg to differ’ you scoffed and you saw his eyebrows knit together as he started to loose his game as he was concentrating as hard as before.

‘Alright, gimme a sec and I’ll sort it’

You didn’t want to give him a sec though and the more this exchange was happening the angrier you seemed to be getting, having to scrunch your hands into fists in order to not explode.

‘No Mason, I don’t have a sec. I need you to come do it now’ you demanded but your words appeared to have no effect on him as he carried on with his game. ‘Are you even listening to me?’

‘Yeah, I just can’t pause the game babe so you just need to let me finish’

‘Mason, I-‘

‘Look sweetheart, you know I only like being told what to do when we’re both naked’ he laughed, trying to make a joke out of the situation but as he hadn’t spent more than five seconds looking at you, he couldn’t tell that this was no time for that. Ever the comedian though, he carried on. ‘Just let me finish this game and I promise I’ll tidy up and then make you cum as many times as you want. Release some of that tension, yeah?’

You couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth, having never known him be so insensitive before or having complete disregard for your emotions. He could usually tell by your voice exactly how you were feeling but it seemed as if today he was ignoring it. You didn’t have the energy to fight with him, and even though you could feel your eyes stinging as you knew tears were about to fall, you just took a deep breath before speaking again.

‘Mason, I’ve had a really long day and this is the last thing I need from you right now’ you told him, your words seeming to have caught his attention this time as he stopped pressing buttons and turned to look at you. ‘I’m going to have a bath, and when I get out I want everything back where it should be’ you knew your voice was wobbly and as much as you tried to fight them off, tears were cascading down your face and he looked back at you with a face full of guilt. You didn’t want for a reply though, quickly turning on your heel to make your way back down the stairs.

You heard him mumble a quick goodbye to whoever he was playing with, his chair sliding back to let you know he’s was about to follow you so you picked your pace up, practically running into the bathroom so he couldn’t catch you in time. You were just turning the lock when he reached the door, trying the handle and when it didn’t budge he bashed his fist a few times to get your attention.

‘Baby? Let me me in please, I’m sorry’ he shouted through the door but you just ignored him, wiping your eyes furiously as more tears fell. He carried on though, thumping so hard you thought the door might break. ‘Y/n, come on please’ he begged but you blocked it out, turning the tap on and grabbing your favourite bubble bath before rooting around in one of your drawers to find the sheet mask you’d been saving for a a special occasion. He gave up knocking shortly after and you heard him walk off across the hall and you let out a sigh of relief.

After getting undressed, you chanced a quick look in the mirror so you could pop your mask on, but the unhappy face looking back at you made you even more upset. Your skin was red from the cold still, your eyes bloodshot and baggy from all the crying and your lips felt so dry that even if you had wanted to smile you’re not sure if you could. You quickly put the mask on, flattening it down and turning away so you didn’t have to look at yourself and anymore. You lit the few candles that were dotted around before shutting the light off, your eyes relaxing instantly in the dim lighting as you carefully sunk down into the still running water.

You let your mind drift a bit as you lay back, slightly regretting the way everything had happened upstairs but for some reason today you had reached your breaking point. Mason knew these past few weeks at work had been rough for you, coming to the end of a project you were supposed fully responsible for and the hours were taking their toll on you. You knew it was only for a short while and maybe it was the mix of exhaustion and starvation that made you react to Mason the way you had, but you didn’t appreciate his jokes and attitude when you were looking for some comfort.

You stayed in the bath until it started going cold and you could feel your tummy getting angry at you, so you hopped out and dried yourself off, pulling on your warm pyjamas and dumping your face mask in the bin before washing your face and applying your skincare. Your eyes were still puffy, and you could tell you looked like you’d been crying but the only thought in your brain was going to get some food and going to bed. You were anxious to leave the safety of the bathroom though, not sure where in the house Mason was but you were brave and silently made your way downstairs.

As you passed through the living room you noticed how it was now completely clear and all the cushions were put back where they should be and you felt your eyes sting again. Your chest going tight that he’d listened to you but you were still upset that you had argued about it.

You turned into the kitchen, again it was spotless, the smell of food cooking filled the room and Mason was in the corner, hunched over the dishwasher as he placed the last few things inside and turned it on. He turned round, his eyes catching yours instantly and a look of shock and relief washed over his face.

‘Hey’ he breathed, taking a cautious step towards you, but when you just stood there he stopped and gulped nervously. ‘I uh- I’ve sorted everything out, and I’ve put you some dinner on, it should be ready soon. I thought you might be hungry’ he told you gently and your eyes dropped to the floor as you could feel the tears coming thick and fast. He saw your shoulders shake immediately and crossed the kitchen in a few fast steps to wrap you up in his arms. ‘Hey, no no no, please don’t cry’ he pleaded, one hand reaching into your hair to scratch over your scalp as he knew it soothed you. You tried to stop but being in his arms after the stress of the whole day made your tears come flooding. Your fists gripped his hoodie as you cried into his neck and he rocked you gently, quietly trying to calm you until you were ready to look at him.

When he felt your sobs die down, he placed a few kisses to the side of your head before pulling back and holding your face in between his hands so you were forced to look him. You opened your eyes and were met with a concerned and heartbroken Mason. You felt your bottom lip wobble but held it together as he stroked your cheeks with his thumbs, his eyes flickering all over your face in worry as he didn’t want to set you off again. You thought it was best if you spoke first so you took a deep breath and tried to settle yourself.

‘I didn’t mean to snap before-‘

‘No no, don’t’ he interrupted, not wanting you to blame yourself like you always did. ‘I’m so sorry, I completely lost track of time but that’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t of left the house like I did. You don’t deserve to come home to see that, I’m so sorry baby’ he reassured you and you reached up to fiddle with the strings on his hoodie whilst nodding at him. ‘I’m sorry I made you cry’ he whispered ‘I feel like the worst human in the world’ and you couldn’t help but chuckle at little bit. ‘Ah there’s my favourite smile’ he teased and you launched yourself into him again, his arms holding you to him close as you hid your face. ‘I really am sorry. And I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you upstairs. I was trying to get you to laugh but if I’d of paid a bit more attention to you I would of realised you weren’t in the mood.’

You nodded into his neck before pulling back again to look at him. ‘Thank you, I’ve just had a bit of a rough day and I just wanted to come home to a bit of peace and quiet’ you told him softly and he nodded sympathetically before kissing your forehead.

‘But instead you came home to an awful boyfriend and a mess’ he teased and you laughed whilst nodding. ‘God I really am sorry baby. Did you have a nice bath at least?’ He asked with a chuckle and you smiled up at him, nodding to let him know you had. ‘Good. Well your foods probably ready now. Why don’t you go get comfy and I’ll bring it in? You can tell me all about your horrible day if you want’ He suggested and you nodded, untangling yourself from him, but he was quick to pull you back. ‘Can I have a kiss, please?’ He asked, almost shyly like you might reject him but you nodded straight away and he was quick to plant his lips on yours. He was so gentle with you, and the comfort you felt radiating off him made your eyes well up again, but you hummed contently when he tongue brushed up against yours.

With a quick pat on your bum, he sent you off to the sofa and you flicked through the channels until he came in with a bowl of your favourite pasta and a glass of wine. You smiled at him appreciatively as he got settled next to you, his hand on your thigh rubbing comforting circles as you ate and when you were done, he took your plate out to the kitchen to clean immediately.

Once he was back, he opened his arms for you to climb into. ‘C’mere baby, let me hold you’ he murmured and you settled in between his legs as he rubbed your back in circles. You tilted your face up to look at him, happier now you were both good again, and even though he’d told you not too, you still wanted to let him know you were sorry for the part you played.

‘I’m sorry for bulldozing in on you earlier, you didn’t know what mood I was in and I’m sorry for snapping and running away’

‘Baby, don’t be silly. I shouldn’t have to know what mood you’re in, I should be looking after you the way you look after me’ he smiled, kissing you softly. ‘We’re a team, yeah? And if you’re not feeling 100% then I need to make sure I’m making up that extra bit, like you do without even thinking about it’

‘I love you, Mason’

‘I love you too, y/n’ he smiled kissing you again before you settled back down onto him. ‘Now who do I need to go beat up for upsetting my baby? Besides myself’ he joked and you giggled into his chest before launching into a full blown rant about your horrible colleague and how you’d been treated all day. He tried to soothe you with kisses, telling you he’d make whoever’s life hell he needed to if they upset you again. ‘Then to top it all off, I had to wait for ages for a train cause they were all cancelled’

‘You should of called me, I would of come got you’ he told you, brushing through your hair and you rolled your eyes at him with a smile. ‘What? You know I would’

‘I know’ you smiled at him ‘that’s why I called you like four times’

‘You what?’ He frowned, pulling back to look at you and you laughed at his confused face.

‘I called you when I was waiting but you never picked up’

He huffed, stretching over to the side table where he phone was sat plugged in to charge. ‘I forgot to charge it last night and it died at training so It’s been over there for a while’ he told you and once his noticed your missed calls his face dropped. ‘Oh fuck, I’m such a muppet I’m so sorry baby’ he groaned, rubbing his hand over his face in frustration. ‘The one time I don’t look at it you need me’ he mused, popping his phone on the arm of the sofa before looking over to you again. ‘I feel awful. I can’t believe I left you out there to freeze. And then I made you cry, the thought of it makes me feel sick’ he huffed, holding you tighter and placing his lips on your forehead.

‘I made it home eventually Mase, and it wasn’t just you that made me cry’

‘Yeah well I didn’t exactly help the situation did I’

‘No’ you laughed, squeezing him a little tighter. ‘But please don’t beat yourself up about it. I feel much better now’

‘Oh yeah?’ He winked, kissing you slowly as he held you as tight as he could. ‘Well then I think you should take me up on my offer of making you cum as much as you want’ he said seductively and you couldn’t help but laugh as he jumped up and slung you over his shoulder to carry you upstairs.

[meyousing]

𝒞𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓁𝓁𝑜, 𝒦𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝐵𝑒𝓈𝓉

𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉: chrollo + prompt 2 “I’ve been more than patient with you, I think the least you could do is respect me just this once.”

𝓈𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈: you devise a plan to rebel against chrollo after letting him dictate your every decision. though after letting that happen for so long, how long could you let a rebellion go on for when you'd become so accustomed to his control?

𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒𝓈: yandere chrollo, sfw, manipulation/gaslighting. part two to so precious, which can be read here!

You gave it a day. One final day of obedience, acting much like the puppy that you wanted but knew you could never have. You allowed Chrollo to coddle you, pour you a lukewarm drink, and plate your food neatly, then set up a toasty bath for you, and after drying you off he would give you what was (unbeknownst to him) your final goodnight kiss, before heading out to tend to some troupe-related matters. He sweetly reassured you that you would be in his arms once you awoke the following morning and that he would do his best not to disrupt your rest if he ended up coming home earlier than anticipated. 

So thoughtful of you, my love was how you replied, false syrupy sweet inflections gracing your tone. The charm in his responsive smile made something stir inside of you, but you suppressed it with a swallow and rolled onto your side. As the door closed softly, so did your eyes, commencing an old chapter. 

You wished that he had been lying to you; disappointment was immediate when you awoke to the feeling of Chrollo’s arms around your waist. His fingers were splayed across your ribcage, legs entwined with his nose puffing soft breaths against your head. Your cheek was against his chest, his fresh body lotion and shampoo pungent and overwhelming as you gathered your bearings the sooner you came to. Your hands met at his front, pushing to try and distance yourself from him as the start of your newfound mindset. Your eyes were locked on his face, to watch and see if he would stir from your movements, to see how far you could go before he inevitably woke up. His expression remained the same, soft and content and so deeply asleep. You released a breath you barely noticed was cramping your lungs, a small beat of success pumping your heart as you sat up and turned away from him without a halt. That was a first. 

And that was as far as it would get, it seemed. He had not been deeply asleep after all, his arms encircled your waist, forehead against your shoulder as he now sat up with you, behind you. 

“An early riser today, that’s a first.”

Looks like there’s been a first for both of us today. Your trained instincts told you to melt back into him, to lay down again, and be cozy and cuddly all the way until Chrollo had to regroup with his spiders later on in the day. What you really wanted was nothing more than to rip yourself from his arms and ignore his words, keep your back turned, and exit the room to go fetch yourself some breakfast that you could enjoy alone. 

So you did. Chrollo being stronger than you was never something you questioned, given how obvious it was, so he must have been caught off guard when your endeavour was successful and you stood up beside the bed. You watched as he caught himself against the mattress without your body there to hold on to. Had he expected this, you surely would have remained in his clutches. You bit back a smirk, dopamine rushing to your head and spreading to your limbs, making them feel light and airy as you carried yourself over to the door in a rush, tuning out Chrollo’s voice which you think was calling your name, the happy clouds in your mind taking up your focus as you slid out of the door and glided to the kitchen. 

Landing at the fridge, opening it, and leaning into the door, your cheek rested against the chilly steel and warmed it as you contemplated what delicious breakfast could complement your first victory (of what would hopefully be many more). You were still tuning out sounds, though the feeling of the floor thumping beside you cleared your senses a bit and alerted you to Chrollo’s sudden presence at your side. You were lucid like nothing had even happened, his hand on your shoulder bringing you back much sooner than you’d have liked.

“What’s the rush, love?” He did not yet look concerned in the way you expected due to his typical overly cosseting nature, he appeared more confused. You tended to take your days slowly considering you didn’t have much to do here with your new restrictive lifestyle, Chrollo understood this clearly. You would need to come up with a believable response, one that would evade his nurturing instincts and suspicions as a result. 

“I felt like doing things differently today.” The true weight behind your words had you suppressing another grin, Chrollo couldn’t possibly guess just how differently you planned for today to be. You glimpsed over, watching his features soften. 

“It never hurts to try something new.” He kissed your forehead after his affirmation, squeezing your shoulder before leisurely grabbing some coffee additives from the fridge and walking over to the machine. Your shoulders slumped in relief. Realistically, you knew that this was not something that could warrant too much suspicion, but Chrollo was too intuitive for his own good, always keeping you on your toes. 

“Come sit with me.” you watched him trudge to the couch, a small book tucked under his arm as he lifted his coffee cup to his mouth. 

Your fingertips twitched at your sides, almost reaching out as if to move yourself closer to him in any way despite how your feet were cemented. The classic battle of head versus heart, the instincts you have been taught to obey his every word, versus the little deviant in your mind which was already off to such a good start, how could you stop now? Your breath was a bit shaky as you heard your next words come out in a way that made you feel like you were out of your body; like you weren’t the one who spoke them.

“I’ll be eating in the kitchen.” 

His eyes lifted from the book, taking his turn to watch you this time as you walked to the island and sat down at a seat that faced your back to him. Silence fell, making your newfound confidence morph into anxiety at the lack of any kind of response. What you had been doing was so minor that any normal couple would have brushed it off, if they even thought anything of it at all. You tried to adapt to this mindset despite how abnormal your relationship with Chrollo was, to pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary as you enjoyed your mornings separately, peacefully. How much further could you take that adaptation? 

“I saw a cat outside last night. If I see it again I think I’ll take it in and name it, it looked like it could use a friend” you lied. But since you knew Chrollo’s stance on getting a pet, you wondered how he would react to the revival of the topic alongside the change in your demeanour. 

Silence continued.

“What makes you think that you can do that?” you could swear his question had a flare of condescendence. You chose to play dumb.

“Well if it’s at the window, I’m going to open it.”

“You’re not a stupid girl, Y/N.”

A bit brash. 

“Don’t need you to tell me that.” 

A bit attitudinal. He should have been able to take that as an indicator of your growing irritation. 

He was unresponsive again, though when you heard the light padding of his footsteps approaching you felt small. You can’t back down now. 

“Are you feeling okay?” his knuckles brushed your cheek then pressed tenderly into your forehead, likely to detect your temperature. When you assumed that he could feel enough, you leaned away, avoiding eye contact.

“I’m fine. I just wanna eat in peace” you went to move back towards whatever food you had grabbed, only to notice you hadn’t grabbed anything at all. Chrollo’s gaze radiated something slightly off of sympathy, almost mocking the feeling when he saw your own dumbfounded expression at the blank space in front of you. Your inconsistencies would raise suspicion. Get it together, get focused.

In your peripheral, you saw as he pressed onto the table, his hands meeting his elbows as he flashed you a gentle smile. 

“I know this hasn’t been easy for you. I never expected you to adjust quickly to a completely new life, but you were off to a great start.” The emphasis on your behaviour being  good in the past irked you, considering you’d only been acting differently for not even half an hour. 

“This, I did expect. Outbursts are natural, I understand how you feel.”

How could he possibly?!

“You started off well, I think you can continue being that way. You can keep being good to me, can’t you?” He reached to brush some hair strands behind your ear, curving around its shape and playfully dragging down your neck before breaking contact. A chill broke out there, furrowing your brows. His acting like this was just a silly mood swing, that you were only capable of being his obedient little puppy and nothing more had you seeing red. His continuing to pet and coo at you like he knew you would be “back to normal” gave you an awful feeling, one that you knew would fester and grow the longer this continued; the longer your attempt failed. 

“I think I’d like to go back to bed.”

“I figured as much.”

You turned your head to avoid seeing him entirely, already well on your way to the staircase. The sound of his footsteps following slowly but closely behind made your shoulders hunch, but you tuned him out as you arrived at your bedroom and went to flump down into the covers. Chrollo didn’t follow you all the way in, he found his coat near the doorway and began to dress.

“I’ll be home by dinner, take this time to think about your actions.” Another one of his loving smiles, then a duck out of the door. Your teeth grit once his words had been processed as if your actions were so drastic that you had to dwell on them. What you planned to dwell on instead was what went wrong here and how you could fix what you had done to be more effective next time. 

When enough time passed and Chrollo was back, you simply ignored him, unable to muster enough energy to be defiant tonight. You chose to save your energy for the next day, whatever amount of it that remained now was used mentally to think of any and all questions Chrollo could counter you with, and what you could say to defeat him. 

What you hadn’t noticed was just how bothered Chrollo already was with that ignorance. You had become so lost in your head you hadn’t even noticed the success you made. You weren’t a stupid girl. Evading Chrollo’s hands, and having to be asked questions multiple times only to respond non-verbally with shrugs or shakes and nods of the head seemed to irritate him. For the first time ever, Chrollo allowed you to sleep without being stuck in his embrace, your backs barely touching once you had both settled. Luckily for you, the next day you were still at a stalemate with what could change after your fruitless attempts. As a result, your turning of a blind eye continued with your refusal to speak, and it was paying off. 

“Do you want coffee or tea?” Chrollo asked when you had both gone downstairs. 

You shrugged, eyes downcast. He didn’t question you any further, you could hear the dribbling sound of him pouring something into a mug that was for himself. How truly mundane this was, now that you put more thought into it. Wake up, have a hot drink, cuddle, Chrollo leaves you alone for half a day, you go to bed, and the cycle continues. What did he gain from this? He was barely ever here to spend quality time with you, what was the reason for all of this in the first place if he was just going to neglect you and deny you everything that you asked for? How enraging. 

“Y/N?” Chrollo’s hand was on your back and you flinched, slow to notice how quickly he had caught up to you and stood at your side. With rage still at the forefront of your thoughts, your flinch transitioned into somewhat of a push as you stepped away and shoved at his arm. An impulsive reaction, and a shocking one judging by the widening of Chrollo’s eyes that you couldn’t miss no matter how far your head was turned. You instantly looked up, you hadn’t meant to do that at all. Chrollo’s face appeared hurt, and sad. But he was on you in a second. 

You blinked, and then you were seated on the couch. Chrollo had moved you, and not roughly; he simply grabbed your shoulder and pushed enough for your knees to give out and have you land there. Kneeling in front of you, you were given no choice but to stare right at him. He sighed deeply, his eyebrows meeting and his lips turning down. You had made a mistake. 

“I’ve been more than patient with you, Y/N. I think the least you could do is respect me just this once.”

You sat as still as a statue, unsure of what to do next. Should you respond yet? It was your lack of responses that was causing the problem, maybe you should say something.

“All I do is care for you. I make food for you, I make drinks to keep you warm, and I give you sources of entertainment for when I’m not here. And that’s what I get back?” His voice was calm.

Guilt began seeping in. When he put it that way, your perspective was changed…or rather, restored to how it was before. No, you could not deny any of what he had just said. Whether you want these things or not, he does them for you, and in that same regard, he is taking care of you. 

“We can’t get a puppy because we won’t be able to train it here properly. My schedule won’t allow it, and a dog can’t be indoors with you every hour of the day with its own needs. But I still offered you a plush, didn’t I?” He took your hands in his. 

Glimpsing down at your fingers awkwardly, your knee beginning to bounce as you chewed the inside of your cheek. You watched Chrollo’s fingers squeeze in, indicating his desire for an answer, and you nodded promptly. He did offer you a plush because he always provided solutions to whatever caused a potential problem between you two; he never even let it get beyond that point.

“How would you open the window to get to that cat you mentioned, Y/N?” 

You winced, chewing your lip anxiously. One thing that you genuinely felt hatred for was verbalizing your situation. Did he expect you to answer him? When Chrollo first took you away, you tried to escape by any means possible with windows being your first target. He’s kept them all locked ever since, and you couldn’t even break them open with anything in the house the few times he caught you trying. You really, really hoped he wasn’t expecting you to say this; to acknowledge your past behaviour. Your bad behaviour. That was back before you realized that he had done this to protect you. You knew better.

“Would you have tried breaking it again, injuring yourself in the process?”

“No.” Your reply was fast, maybe panicked to outside ears. But Chrollo understood, he knew that he was winning now. He always knew which buttons to push to get the results he wanted. Chrollo was too intuitive for his own good, always keeping you on your toes. His hands against you softened, becoming more tender now as he ran his thumbs over your knuckles. 

“You’re such a good girl to me, Y/N. Again, I knew this would happen at some point, that you would lash out someday. But pushing me like that was too far, you’re much beyond that type of childishness. Isn’t that right?”

You didn’t want this to be a phase.

“Right, dear?” He persisted. His tone was lighter, more comforting. He always knew exactly how to comfort you. 

You didn’t want to be so submissive anymore, you missed free will, the ability to make your own choices, and knowing what was right for yourself. But Chrollo always knew exactly what was right for you. What would you need free will for in that case?

His hands tightened again. 

“Yes.” 

“Yes, you are” he coddled. Like he always did. He stood then, hands still intertwined with yours so that you would follow his actions and stand up too. You did, and he leaned in to kiss your forehead.

“I’m going to shower, then I’m off for just a few hours today. You’ll behave yourself while I’m gone, won’t you?” He pet your hair, making pleasant tingles run down your spine as he massaged your scalp. Made you malleable. 

“Of course” you whispered, finding yourself bending into his chest. His arm found your back, pressing you further into his body as he nuzzled back into you. 

Back to square one for you. Though now that you thought about it, with Chrollo’s fragrant cologne flooding your senses, and his touch against your body that he must have seen as an antique given how delicately he held you, the prospect of rebelling against him once more almost disgusted you. He was right about you being a good girl, who did what she was told. You were mature, and Chrollo always had the perfect reasoning behind every decision he made for you because he knew you best. How could you betray that after everything that he’s done?

Perhaps he knew you better than you did yourself. 

© meyousing 2023. do not share/export my work on to any other platforms. do not translate my work. 

[blindbeta]

hi, this is like, a REALLY oddly specific question, but i wanted to ask. would it be seen as wrong if i were to have my character's guide dog be in some way magical?

for more context on the specific situation, my characters are in a world where basically nothing is without some level of magic to it. my character has a guide dog, but i felt like it didn't fit the theme to have just. a normal dog? because i wouldn't put a normal dog somewhere else. the dog isn't like, telepathic or able to fix her blindness, (ive made it VERY clear to myself that at no point will i do that) i was mostly thinking something like the dog having some sort of elemental component to it, which would be a pretty common power in this world.

I just wanted to make sure it fit in with the rest of the characters in its world, instead of sticking out as just kinda being shoved in with no worldbuilding around it. there wouldn't really be 'normal' animals normally, so it feels like underdeveloped worldbuilding if i don't.

I'm worried though, that this is going to be wrong in the way that it'd seem... glamorizing? that's not what i intend, but I don't want it to come off as something in that vein. if that makes sense.

i hope this is like. sensible to ask about and not wasting your time. thank you so much, and thank you in general for running this blog, i think it's a really great resource.

I think having a magical guide dog is fine. You aren’t using the magic to erase the handler’s disability, as you mentioned. As long as you are actively working on that, it seems fine to me.

As long as the animal can make a good guide, be trained from infancy, and can navigate well, it doesn’t matter if they are a magical creature.

I list some qualities a guide should have in this post if it helps.

@moth-time created an excellent addition to this post in the notes:

i reread the guide linked by OP and now I'm thinking some kind of earth elemental or otherwise particularly magically heavy/stocky dog could be neat, bc it provides more stability than a regular dog (so more like a miniature horse). it could have a rocky/armored back that is easier to lean on than slippy dog skin, for example. Much like irl certain dog breeds are favored as guide dogs bc of breed specs, a magical universe could favor "earth elemental dogs" for same reason

you could have some magical component of the dog be helpful to the guided person, though i am struggling to come up with a good one for a blind guide dog. But for example a fire elemental therapy dog that can regulate it's body to be toasty warm and offer deep pressure and temperature therapy would be neat. It doesn't negate or "fix" the disability, but it's a little different/more magical while still recognizable

BlindBeta’s thoughts:

So I love this. An earth type dog would add excellent stabilization, orientation, and be additionally good at avoiding obstacles such as uneven ground. They could be great for balance and probably deep pressure therapy as well. Maybe they are favored as guide dogs because they are dependable, while also good at selective disobedience to keep a blind person safe, such as refusing to cross the street when it is dangerous (due to quiet cars or such). I could also see water or air type dogs being good alert dogs, perhaps.

Also not sure how common this is, but on this page about seizure alert dogs from the epilepsy foundation, it says some dogs are trained to put their body between the handler and the floor to cushion falls. Air type dogs might good at this because they are probably softer and could gently cushion a falling person without them hitting the floor.

I also had an idea that wood types might be more flexible and good assistance dogs for older adults, wheelchair users, etc. Like dog breeds, they have certain qualities that make them good at assistance, such as being depended on to retrieve any number of items, pull door handles, etc.

This is fun. I would love to see ideas from anyone else.

[fayes-fics]

Not only are you a talented writer, you are also a cheese aficionado, as evidenced by your cheese sideblog So my friend, I must know:

What cheese pairs well with tea?

Also, what are your recommendations for good pairings with jam?

Congrats again on 5k!! 🎉🎉🎉

Hi again my good friend! 🫶

I get the feeling these questions are a flimsy excuse for excellent gifs (not a complaint). 🤔 Thanks for the shoutout to my cheese sideblog lol.

I mean tbh I dunno that there is a cheese that pairs particularly with tea 🤷‍♀️ so let’s say… any? A cup of tea and a mature cheddar toastie usually works pretty well.

Jam…. I… lost my train of thought for a moment there… 🫠 I mean if you’re going to eat jam and cheese I’d go a fig jam and a hard sharp cheese. Or if a fruitier jam I’d go a creamy soft cheese - like cranberry jam and brie is a good match 🫶

Thank you for your question and these delightful gifs 😮‍💨😁🧡🧡