#totally didn't forget about this in my drafts for a couple months

[miniwheat77]

Seductive. (Captain Price x Reader.)

!CW! NSFW, smut, p in v sex, rough sex, age gap, (let me know if I missed any)

(Summary): Reader takes some advice from a friend on base and seduces her Captain.

(This has been in my drafts for forever, I hope you like it.)

Your eyes narrow as you look upon her, very clear fake laugh leaving her lips as she places her hand on his shoulder. He doesn't notice, but you do. You can see the look in his eyes as she does, what she's doing. It's working. She walks away from him and makes her way over to you. You're sitting at a table in the mess hall, sandwich in hand.

“What are you doing?” You ask your only friend on the base you worked on. Her name was Katy, the only tolerable female on base. She might've been a little bit of a barracks bunny but you usually ignored that. She was nice and funny and you got along with her quite well.

“What?” She says. “You’re totally trying to seduce him.” You laugh. After witnessing her chatting up your commander. “Yeah? So?” Your eyes widen. “What the hell. You whore.” She shoves you. “Oh come on, don’t be such a prude.” She rolls her eyes. “Katy. You know you can’t have relations on base.” You chuckle. “What they don’t know won’t hurt em.” She smirks. “You’re not interested in anyone at all?” She asks. “No.” You say, confused. “Lame. I was going to tell you how to get what you want.” She smirks. You roll your eyes. “I’ll let you know if I ever need your expertise, but you know I’m leaving soon.” She scoffs. “I know. It’s bullshit, you’re supposed to stay here with me.” She pouts. “It’s only for 6 months and I’ll be back.” You chuckle.

You’d been recruited for task force 141, and you were leaving in a couple of weeks. She was very upset that you were leaving but you were excited for something new. After finishing up lunch, the both of you returned to your posts. You weren't sure how you got recommended to be in task force 141, you hadn't even met anyone apart of it besides the few time's you talked to Laswell, but it wasn't her task force. It was different and you weren't sure if you were ready for it.

The two weeks leading up to the day you were leaving, were crazy. Almost every single day Katy convinced you to go out, you spent almost 2 full weeks hungover at work. It was awful, but it was some of the most fun you’d ever had. The time seemed to drag on, you were nervous and excited at the same time for something different. You were waiting on a bench patiently for your helicopter to arrive, the one that'd be taking you away. Katy was sitting next to you. Talking to you before you'd inevitably leave. She was worried but she'd never show it. She was good at hiding her emotions. She had been through a lot before she entered the military, so she was good at concealment. When the helicopter arrived, she gave you a hug and you finished your goodbye's to the other few acquaintances you had on base. They were sad to see you go, and they were worried as well. 141 went on some crazy missions and they were worried about you. "Don't get dead." Katy smiles, you could see the hurt in her eyes.

She was upset when you left but she’d be okay. She had guys on base to keep her company while you were gone anyways.

The ride to the base task force 141 was on took quite a few hours. They were off in the middle of nowhere in Iran. Working toward eliminating Hassan Zyani. The Iranian terrorist.

When you arrived on base, it was pretty early in the morning. "Hi." A man smiles. He's attractive, very attractive. You smile and take his outstretched hand. Shaking it. "I'm Captain John Price. It's nice to finally meet you." He smiles. His accent takes you a little off guard, forgetting that this base is going to have Military from all over. "Lieutenant Y/N Y/L/N." You smile. He nods his head. "I've heard a lot about you. A lot about how sharp you are for your age." He smiles. "Really? I didn't know that people talked about me." You chuckle. "Oh they do. It's nice having you here Y/N, I'll show you around.” He spins around on his heels and you know you'll fit in just fine here.

Your first few weeks with 141 were busy. Nonstop missions, always up to something. If you weren’t out on a mission, you were inside of an office helping people out with research and all kinds of paperwork. You spent a lot of time with your Captain and Laswell. They enjoyed your company and your expertise with technology. Your relationship with each of the members of 141, and those in alliance with 141 were close knit. You got along so well with everyone right away and they took you in as one of their own. Joking and playing with Soap, but knowing he’d ring someone’s neck for you. Slight gestures that always made Ghost smile under his mask. Sharing sweets with him, laughing when he didn’t like it and would spit it out. Catching him smoking with his mask slightly lifted. Him threatening to kill you if you tell anyone. His eyes would darken and he’d glare if someone said something slightly aggressive to you. Playing small pranks on everyone with Gaz, he was like your evil twin. But the couple times Price got stern with you he was always there to help the situation. Usually a “take it easy cap, she’s new.”

But you didn’t really mind when he got stern with you. If you needed correction, you’d take the advice.

The only thing that really started to bother you, was the growing feelings you felt for your Captain. You didn’t figure he’d go after you, significant age gap, the job you both worked in. It just seemed impossible. You wondered if he was married but ended up asking if he had any kids and he said no, he’d never even been married. Your heart jumped. Literally wanted to beat out of your chest in excitement. He was single. Your only concern now was the significant age gap. If he didn’t mind, you definitely didn’t mind.

You spent many nights up late, daydreaming. You thought about the way he smelled, the way he has to taste on your tongue. The way his facial hair would scratch at the skin between your legs. You were groggy most days but managed to hide it. Your Captain always kept everything professional with you. He never gave you a reason to have such a growing crush on him despite his protectiveness. He was a little rough around the edges, raised his voice sometimes, very stern. You day dreamt about that too, how rough he could be. His calloused hands moving with the curves of your body. Sometimes you had to excuse yourself to the bathroom to splash cold water on your face, get him out of your head. But not even an ice bath would take away the growing heat you felt between your legs when you thought about him. You suffered like this for longer than you liked to admit. Longing stares at him during meetings. Constant concern about him on missions. It was getting a little dangerous how you felt about him.

You sat on the edge of your bed. It was pretty late at night. You were running out of options. You had one left, and you were growing desperate. With a sigh, you pull your phone out. Quickly dialing her number.

“Hey Katy.” You smile as she answered. “Y/N! Hi! How is everything?” She asks. “Everything is great, but I need advice.” You laugh. “Oh? With what?”

You take a deep breath, standing up and stepping further into your room to ensure nobody would hear you. “Do you remember when you said to ask you, ‘when I wanted to get what I want’ you remember that?” You say. She squeals through the phone. “You like somebody? You’re going to try to seduce them? You whore.” She laughs. “Yeah, if I told you who it was you’d probably freak.” She looks confused but you can’t see it. “What?”

“It’s my Captain.” She gasps. “Y/N! You little minx!” She laughs. “Just.. tell me how to do it.” You breathe. “Okay okay.” She laughs.

“First, start being friendly. When he makes a joke, put your hand on his shoulder, on his knee if you’re sitting next to him. You can fake a laugh, but don’t be obvious.” She says. “I’m listening.” You smile. “Your base isn’t that strict right?” She asks. “No?” She smiles on the other end of the line. “In the morning, before you put your uniform on, go out to get coffee. I’ve done it before in just a tank top and shorts. But you have to track his pattern so you know where he’ll be. Make sure he’s in the room, you don’t wanna seduce the wrong one yknow?” She laughs. “When you’re training, just wear a sports bra and shorts. Tight shorts. Ask him to help you train, and don’t be afraid to make some suspicious noises when you’re working out.” She smirks. “When you’re stretching, whimper. They like that.” You’re laughing. “You seem to know a lot about this.” You laugh. “Of course I do.” She rolls her eyes. You take a deep breath. “Start with those, and I’ll think of some more.” She giggles. “Okay. You’re a life saver.” After some more sly words from her, you talk a little more about everything going on. Once you’re done, you say your goodbyes and hang up.

The nervousness you felt in the morning after the conversation with her was almost too much to bare. You made your way into the mess hall, shorts and a tight tank top just like she said. You knew your Captain didn’t sleep all that well so he was always the first awake. You make your way into the kitchen, your eyes burned from being tired but you needed this. Needed him to pay attention to you. When you step into the kitchen, rubbing your eyes tiredly, his eyes nearly bulge out of his head. He has to stop himself from choking on his coffee. He had never seen you dressed like this before. He has to kick himself for acting like a horny teenage boy, it was pathetic. You don't notice anything different about him as you finish getting your coffee, mumbling a small 'good morning' to him.

Over the next couple of weeks, you do as she says. When he'd make you laugh in any way, you'd put a light hand on his shoulder or thigh if you were sitting next to him. You'd come out nearly every morning in something revealing. He didn't seem to show any interest in you which sucked. You started to think maybe he just wasn't interested in you, but after more conversations with Katy, she said to keep up and not let up quite yet. To keep doing it for a while. So you did. It didn't take much to do it anyways.

“Morning Captain.” You say tiredly. “Good morning.” He smiles. He breathes out. He didn’t expect this, the way you looked under your gear. “Why are you awake so early Ah?” He asks. “Didn’t sleep good. Was thinking about working out but Soap is usually my spotter and I know he’s not awake yet.” You sigh. You laugh, sitting across from him at the table. You needed to try something else, so why not this? John perks up. “I could spot you if you need help.” He breathes. He’s trying not to sound too eager. “Oh I’d hate to ask you to do that..” you say innocently. “Oh, it’s no problem. I don’t mind.” He smiles. “Okay. I’ll go get changed and I’ll meet you in the gym?” He nods his head. “Sounds good sweetheart.”

You walk quickly to your room, changing into an even more revealing outfit. You wait around in the gym, doing your usual workout routine. When your Captain comes in, he freezes when he sees you. Sports bra, even tighter shorts. He breathes out, trying to collect his thoughts. Was he really this deprived? Thinking this way about you?

He sets all of his belongings down and makes his way over to you. “Ready?” He asks. Standing over the bench press. You nod your head. "You've stretched already right?" He asks. You nod your head with a smile. You lay down and get adjusted onto it. You grasp the bar, lifting it off of the rack and beginning to lift it up. “Let me know when it gets to be too much.” He says. You nod your head trying to breath through it. Katy’s words echo in your ear.

You start small, small breaths of air leaving your lips, and you get a tiny bit louder, very small moans escape your lips and you don't notice anything at first but as your whimpers got louder, breaths of air leaving your lips with each raise you do, you finally catch it. John stepping back. Having to adjust his hardening cock. The tightening he felt was uncomfortable and he couldn’t take it. You notice this action, having to stop yourself from smiling. It was fucking working.

Katy you devil.

You hang up the bar, struggling a little as you did so. “Did good Y/N.” He smiles. “Thank you, I’m trying.” You laugh. Your body had a slight sheen of sweat. He could see the way your cleavage looked. Beads of sweat. You probably tasted so sweet, he wanted to run his tongue along your skin. He has to shake the thoughts away. So dirty. It was fucking working. You were so surprised. John works out alongside you for only a few minutes longer before excusing himself to go do 'work' which you knew wasn't true. He was rock hard and needed relief, or at least to get away from you. The moment he leaves the Gym, you're picking up your phone to give Katy a call.

When she picks up, the first words out of your mouth are "It fucking worked!" to which she laughs. She asks if you hooked up but of course you say "Not yet." following this up by telling her what had happened with the Gym.

"Maybe you should surprise him in his office if that's where he went. Might walk in on a little something." She laughs. You laugh, shrugging it off. After a little more conversation, you make your way to his office. Maybe she was right. Maybe you might. As you approach you don't hear anything. But you think, he might hear your footsteps and it would be awkward for you to walk away, it'd seem suspicious. So without thinking you come up with some kind of lie and walk right into his office. Your breath leaves your body, a gasp leaving your lips. He gasps out, eyes going wide as he rushes to cover himself up. "Fuck, I'm so sorry." You gasp, rushing to cover your eyes. "I'll.. I'll come back later." You mumble. You step out and he groans in frustration, he needed to catch you before you got away.

He scrambles up to follow after you. Opening up his office door. “Wait- Y/N!” He calls after you. You stop immediately, turning around. “Come here.” He breathes. You nod your head immediately, following him back into his office. “I.. what did you need darling?” He asks. His face is blushing red, and he slicks his hair back, he hadn’t even put his hat on. “I.. I was…” you pause for a second. He’s standing right in front of you, hard. Little beads of sweat on his forehead. You glance down, backing up into his office door and closing it behind you. “I was going to ask if you needed any help. But I guess you answered my question.” You smile. His eyes widen at how forward you’re being, but he’s not going to deny this. He’s breathing hard, he seems nervous.

He takes a step forward and smashes his lips against yours, pushing you back into the wall behind you. He’s got a tight grip on you as he kisses you, teeth knocking against yours with the force of his lips moving with yours. He reaches for the shorts you still have on, pushing them down your legs. Once you’re bare, he lifts you up by your thighs, walking you over to his desk and sliding some of his paperwork off to set you down onto it. “Such a fucking temptress.” He breathes. He leans into you and you hold onto him by his neck, kissing him again. He’s got his hand wrapped around your lower back, hips rubbing into yours. The seam of his pants is stimulating you, making you moan out. He unbuttons them, unzipping them and pushing them low enough to expose his cock. Your eyes widen slightly at him. He spits in his hand, lowering his hand to slide it over your hole, earning a gasp from you. He slides his cock right into you, filling you completely full in one thrust. He clamps a hand over your mouth as a cry is about to leave your lips. “Stay quiet for me darling.” He chuckles. He holds it there as he begins fucking you, your body lurching with every hard thrust he takes. He raises your thighs higher up on his hips, pushing you further back into the desk, until the cold wood is pressed right up against your back. You clutch the edge of it, trying your hardest to stay quiet as he hammers his hips into yours.

“Been such a fucking tease-“ he grits his teeth. Holding onto your thighs. “Walking out there in basically nothing in the morning.. wearing those tight clothes- fuck.” He tilts his head back. Groaning out. “I didn’t think it’d work.” You look up at him, lazy smile on your lips. “You seduced me?” He smirks. You bite your lip, staying quiet. He snorts. “Bad girl hm?” He rubs at your clit with his thumb, and you tilt your head back once again. “Bad, bad girl.” He growls. Your knuckles are turning white with how hard you’re holding onto the desk, a death grip as he pounds you. He pushes a hand down around your throat, pushing down on you lightly. “You didn’t have to work too hard at it baby, just didn’t think you’d go for an old man like me.” He chuckles. “Oh… you have no idea.” You smile. You bite your lip lightly, gripping his wrist. He grits his teeth, he’s getting close. He draws his hand back, squeezing your breast, earning a whine from you. “Rub your clit.” He breathes. You look up at him, raising your hand. “Gonna show you how good I can make you feel.” He breathes. He pulls you closer to him, holding your thighs at a good angle. Instead of full thrusts, he starts grinding his cock into you perfectly. He rubs right up against the spongy spot inside of you and a cry leaves your lips.

He wants to tell you to quiet down, but he doesn’t care who hears anymore. You’re his, all his. “Oh my god-“ you cry out, letting your head rest back on his desk. “So tight on me sweetheart.” He grits his teeth. He keeps the steady pace, and your legs shake slightly as he pushes you closer to your high. “I- I’m gonna cum Captain.” You breathe. He smiles, “cum for me baby, that’s a good girl.” He growls. “Keep rubbing your clit.” He breathes. He’s right there too, praying you’ll cum before him. You tilt your head back, body lurching forward as you reach your high, and once he knows he’s ridden it out for you, he starts thrusting again. It only takes a couple until he’s spilling into you with a groan. You’re breathing hard as he helps you up, standing between your legs still.

“You’re a bad girl you know that?” He laughs. You smile. “Just for you though, Captain.”

“Good. Because I’m going to keep you to myself.” He laughs.

This was just the start of something scandalous.

[middstape]

Chapter 1 (the letter) will x lisi au

7 a.m. November 17, 2023

Today is the day.

At four p.m. Lisi will find out if she is accepted to play in the world juniors her third year in a row.

A month prior Lisi received the letter in the mail stating that she was a possible draft prospect and to keep up to date if the world juniors wanted her. It's not that she was really nervous about not getting a chance to return to the team but almost half of her freshman season was cut short due to a shoulder injury.

At seven sharp Lisi heard the piercing noise of her alarm clock going off. She groaned and turned over turning off the alarm before putting the covers over her head. She was never much of an early riser. Just as she begins to doze back off there's a knock on her bedroom door.

"Lisi can I come in?" a small, shy voice from the other side of the door calls out.

Elliot.

Elliot is Lisi's younger brother- the baby of the family who has been attached at the girls hip since she could remember. He has always had a habit of getting up before everyone else and waiting outside her bedroom door for the alarm clock to go off before asking to come in.

Lisi lets out a short sigh before responding. "Sure bud comm'on in." Not even a second later Elliot is rushing into the room straight on to Lisi's bed.

Elliot looks up at her and whispers "Are you nervous about today?" Lisi looks up at her little brother with a slight smile "Only a little bit, nothing crazy to worry about." He smiles before it slowly fades from his face, "If you leave I'm not going to see you for a long time." Lisi's eyes soften at the little boy "Don't worry too much babe, it's only a couple of weeks."

"Yeah I guess." He mumbles. Lisi pauses for a minute before speaking up "Tell you what, let me get ready and you can come with me and Allison to get breakfast and get ready tonight." Elliots eyes light up before bolting up from the bed "Really?!" Lisi almost laughs "Yes really now go get ready or I'll leave you here." She warns. Before she can say more Elliot is up from the bed and halfway down the hallway.

After Elliot is out of the room, Lisi gets up from bed and starts to get ready for the day. She throws on some straight legged-light washed jeans and a baggy graphic t-shirt before brushing her hair.

---

As she walks down the stairs her phone pings twice.

Going into the living room Lisi takes her phone out of her back pocket and see's that she has a text from her best friend and an unsaved number in her phone.

iMessages

Alley Cat: im ready for ya whenever u get here ;)

Lisi: gotcha be there as soon as E's ready <3

Lisi smiles at Allison's text before getting another message from the unknown number.

iMessages

xxx-xxx-xxxx: yo future miss usa cap we're in madison rn if you want to meet up

xxx-xxx-xxxx: oh shit this is ryan btw

Ryan? Ryan who? Lisi scrunched her eyebrows before texted back.

Lisi: um ryan who sorry?

xxx-xxx-xxxx: damn you don't see someone in four months and the forget who you are :(

The lightbulb went off in her head before she grinned and rolled her eyes.

Lisi: leonard. that's totally not my fault i have your old number. if anything you forgot about me when you didn't send me the new one.

Ryan Leoser: um well thats irrelevant anywho you wanna meet up with us

Lisi: and who is us?

Ryan Leoser: me gabeo and smitty

Lisi: I suppose I can make time for you guys in my sched yk busy day and all

Ryan Leoser: yeah yeah grandma where you wanna meet

Lisi: blah blah blah meet me and allison at breakfall in 45 don't be late

Ryan Leoser: yes ma'am i've got a very excited blondie wanting to see you. he'll make sure we aren't late.

---

Lisi grins before turning off her phone before calling out to Elliot. "Let's go bud we got a lot to do today." Elliot comes rushing down the hallway before making it to the door.

As they walk out to Lisi's car she speaks up to her brother "Do me one favor El?" He looks up at her with curious eyes "What?"

Lisi tries to hold in her laugh "Never become as annoying as Ryan Leonard."

~an~

hooray chapter one is done *cue bullhorn*

any who this is only slightly proof-read so mb for any mistakes

also ikik no will this chapter :( BUT he is coming don't even fret

also ryan<3

[veneritia]

when comes the dawn monthly update {1.31.2024}

we are going to pretend I didn't forget to post this yesterday First monthly update for 2024! Hooray I made it!

THE STATISTICS

the draft → 23,251 words words written this month → 12,943 words total words written this year → 12,943 words hours spent writing this month → 20 hours

My goal for this year is to try to write a minimum 30 minutes a day. There were a couple days where I just straight up forgot or really wasn't feeling it, but for the most part I've been doing pretty good at sticking to this goal.

STORY NOTES

Still writing out of order but just barely because all of my out-of-order scenes are still written pretty sequentially, just without all of the connective tissue

Tried to take a writing shortcut so I can wave away the travel scene from Kaelstanopoli to Isidore but ended up writing myself into a because of worldbuilding continuity. The solution? Introduce the antagonist a little earlier than planned

The gods of WCTD have actually made an appearance! Whether they're real or just an adrenaline induced hallucination though is still a debate.

Realized that the best way for me to not get caught up in a writer's block is to stop worrying so much about the quality of my writing. It's a first draft, it's only job right now is to tell what happens. It's the second and third draft that has to deal with making everything sound pretty

BLOG STUFF

Check out my entries for wtw's relationship week here!

I actually started tracking my weekly progress as well! If you don't already know, you can check them out with the tag #collection.cacoethes scribendi

Taglist under the cut (ask to be +/-)

@bloomingwrites @writinglyra @zmwrites @trapped-inadystopianovel @inky-duchess @aalinaaaaaa @seasteading @kaatiba @lazulis-stuff @serpentarii @sourrcandy @charlesjosephwrites @marrowwife

[wawamouse]

Director's Commentary about "At Rise" if you would!

I've repeatedly listed this as one of my favorite Miguel/Chico fics I've written, probably because it was the first, back when I'd just started, where the words just flowed and made total sense to me. I'm really proud of how the nonlinear time jumping turned out and was able to transition smoothly back and forth, each section basically responding to the next in match cut kind of way. Good job, me! The thing that probably keeps it from being a perfect fic (in my view) is that I really struggled with writing the end. I even let the fic sit for a while! But I never did come up with a better ending than:

Chico. Chico Guerra. Miguel turned the name over and over in his mind, but as the morning passed, it never rang a bell. He simply could not remember having ever met the guy before. That was fine, though, he decided. He had a feeling he wouldn't forget him again anytime soon.

🙄 Ah well. Kind of boring, is all. Not the worst. I mentioned it in a comment response on that fic, altho idk if everyone reads other comments on a fic like me, but in an earlier version of the fic, I had included a moment where Guerra actually mentions that they'd met a few months prior at a block party/cook out. They know some of the same people and met through Reynaldo but Miguel didn't remember Chico because he ended up getting into a fight with a guy at the shindig—the exact reason that Chico remember Miguel, on the other hand.

OH, and I rambled about this in another post… (just going to c&p the relevant section here:

I write really trashy smut and wattpad level indulgence in my notes app as a fun activity before bed sometimes. But those are never really meant to be published, though they're there for me to steal bits and pieces from for actual fics. Actually, a good chunk of "For Nothing Tender About It" and "Countdown" and probably smaller portions of some other fics I'm forgetting came from that notes app. Sometimes I'll read back stuff and be like "hey, that's actually not that bad" and polish it up, chop off the trashier bits, and then turn it into a oneshot.

…Relevant BECAUSE! The beginning of "At Rise" is a cleaned up portion from this notes app note. The very top of it, in fact! There are a couple other points in At Rise that reference parts of that notes app idea, including a portion I then remixed (yes, I remix my own drawer fics) into the section that would become "For Nothing Tender About It":

It wasn’t love or anything like that, but Miguel remembered how, when Alonzo had asked once, Chico had whispered yes, like he was in a trance. Yes, he thought about Miguel’s mouth, yes, he thought Miguel was beautiful. That tiny bit of regard had buoyed Miguel for longer than he cared to think about.

Obviously, that aspect of voyeurism at play at some vague point of At Rise, in the months that Miguel and Chico start working together to take over El Norte and get rid of Torquemada. My unwritten headcanon for what happens after Miguel asks Chico to kill him (kill him or shank him to put him in the hospital, away from Torquemada, Miguel doesn't even know what he was asking there himself) and he refuses is that Chico plays into the whole being brought by Miguel back into El Norte like Torquemada wants, but he's actually there in a sense taking some of Miguel's reliance on Torquemada away and getting him thinking for himself again while also position them for a take over of the drug trade (learning where Torquemada's supply comes from, etc, so they can just dispose of the guy and run things themselves, though now with Chico as leader and Miguel as his lieutenant).

Deleted scene/earlier draft tidbit about this fic: Originally, Miguel meets Chico inside of a club before it gets raided. There was an earlier "What the hell are you looking at?" where Miguel recognises Chico as a guy who's been watching him from across a dance floor. And then Reynaldo pops up and is like Oh hey! You met the connection! Then he introduces them and they go outside to talk, before running off together when the place gets raided. The whole idea kind of complicated what I was going for at the time (this version of the meeting was before I decided to go for the more structured time jumping transition). I ended up going with them meeting for the first time hiding in the ditch outside of an illegal rave that just got raided instead, which ultimately worked better and made Guerra seem more mysterious....

I actually went through my Google docs versions and found the original scene, so here! This was an edited version of what I described above, where I changed it so that Miguel was distracted by other things rather than disturbed at Guerra's staring.

“The fuck you looking at?” Reynaldo said, shouting over the music that seemed to fill every corner of the building. He tugged on Miguel’s arm again, trying to get his attention. “Yo! This is Guerra, man!” Miguel’s neck was still craned. He’d lost Ritz in the crowd somewhere—she and Martina had fucked off to God knew where in the two seconds his arm had slipped off her waist. Fucking Martina! She was always pulling Maritza somewhere else. A hand grabbed his shoulder, Reynaldo reeling him in against his side, shouting right into his ear just as the bunch of girls shrieked with joy over something happening near the DJ booth: “He’s the guy with the shit I was telling you about!” Those words finally drew Miguel’s focus, and he turned his head, eyes falling on a skinny looking guy standing on Reynaldo’s other side.  The guy—Guerra—had a goatee and black hair to his shoulders, a sort of easy-going smile on his face as he swayed to the house music, nodding hello at Miguel. Reynaldo gave him a push. “I’ll look for Maritza, bro—Carlos said Daniella and everyone are gonna head over to”—Light pulsed, and Reynaldo’s words were lost as he turned his head away to look somewhere else for a moment. “I got you, bro,” he said again, and then he was moving through the crowd. Miguel blinked, eyes landing back on Guerra. He gave Miguel an inquisitive look, tilting his head toward one side of the warehouse. “¿Vienes?” The cool night air swept over Miguel’s skin as followed Guerra out onto the fire escape and past couples smoking and making out against the walls.  People had parked their cars right on the once empty parking lot around the abandoned building, but Guerra didn’t take them much farther than behind the concrete stairwell into the warehouse. There, he leaned against the wall, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and packing it against his palm.   “¿Qué quieres?” he said. It was all dark outside of the party, but moonlight seemed to glint off the gold chain around his neck anyway. “Miguel, right?” He stuck a cigarette in his mouth and patted his pockets. “Shit.” Miguel leaned against the wall beside Guerra, reaching for the lighter in his own pocket. “Nice tat,” Guerra said as he leaned over to light up. “You ran with Conejo, right? Heard what happened to him. Too bad.” “Yeah man.” Miguel put his lighter back in his pocket, getting to business. Reynaldo seemed to think Guerra was okay, and that was enough for him.. “You got pot?” “No. Could get some, but you’d have to give me an hour.” Guerra blew smoke in his face. “Reynaldo said you wanted E.” “I guess.” “You guess?” Miguel scoffed, kicking his foot. “My girl likes that shit.” The end of Guerra’s cigarette glowed red as he inhaled. “Twenty a pop.” “You kidding me?” “Strength is about one-sixty,” Guerra said, shrugging. “It’s good shit.”

You can definitely see where stuff got recycled for the final version!

Mmm, another little tidbit idk if anyone caught (good chance it was assumed but no one ever commented on it!). This section/flashback mentioned in the beginning:

His mind ran in circles, faster and faster, stumbling and tripping, remembering things that didn’t feel real anymore. Sunrise over the city, light glaring in his eyes. Crisp morning air in his lungs. The taste of coffee on his lips, too sweet.

…takes place after Miguel and Chico leave the diner that morning in the past lol. They make out some more Chico's car before he finally drops Miguel off. I headcanon they probably only run into each other and hang like two or three more times before Chico is arrested and then Miguel just sort of forgets about him / secretly glad to have that affair conveniently locked away, out of sight. Of course once he realises Chico's in Oz with him, they kind of circle each other warily before they start hooking up again when Chico moves into Em City.

[kenthenugget]

How Batching Comics Saved My Life

Jesus its been...quite a while since I last posted onto any of my tumblr accounts. Its not that I didn't forget that I had an account here, its just that I've been busy with school and my drawing Crescent Blue. Meaning any free time I have is limited which results in me neglecting like half of my socials. Comics and college has made doing social media difficult. That and I wasn't sure how to handle 2 out of the 3 tumblr blogs I have. But I've thought that I had use this specific blog for text blog posts, along with drawings I'm working on and stuff like that. Most of it will be a lot of writing type stuff like this so this should be fun. Anyways, onto the topic I wanted to talk about.

I've been drawing Crescent Blue for coming on 4 years now. And those 4 years were spent drawing its first Chapter. Its overly long chapter. I have realized the mistake I made back when I was prepping to draw it back in 2019, where 16 year old me who had never drawn a comic at this scale decided to go out adapting the opening chapter draft which was written to be the length of a double length tv show pilot (because that's how wrote scripts back in the day) without realizing the implications of how many pages I would have to draw, and that maybe I should've done more prep work to make sure I wouldn't be working on it well into college. Because I probably would've gotten burnt out with it after being stuck on it for so long. And that would end up happening when 2021 rolled around. Thanks to mental health struggles I faced through out 2020, which lowered my tolerance to drawing comics which I didn't enjoy, I had drawn a total of 28 pages by going into the new year. Feeling ashamed of that pace, I managed to motivate myself and make it a new years goal to devote more time to my comic and get faster in order to complete my first chapter. This manifested in a couple of ways, from illustrating backgrounds in graphite as to avoid inking them and potentially screwing them up, to manning up and move to drawing it digitally as opposed to traditionally (I did not have access to photoshop or a good drawing tablet when I had started so I did what I had always done and use paper, pencils and inking pens/brushes. However, I would get my XP Pen Artist 12 for my 17th birthday 2 months later, and I would be able to use photoshop at home by early 2020). But what I mostly did was focus on drawing pages more, moving onto the next one after finishing the last one without taking a break. Basically muscling my way through with the expectation that I would eventually get faster. This did not work, and here's why.

This one by one approach isnt bad on paper, and there are plenty of artists out there that drawing comics this way and don't have any issues. For me, the issue I found with this process was that it didnt lend itself very well to spend. Not all pages are created equal, taking longer or shorter to complete depending on the complexity of the drawing. In my experience, there were pages that took only a couple of hours to complete, and others that took days to get done, and this isn't factoring in stuff like school. This aspect brings up the problem with me muscling through pages. There are times where I dont want to work on my comic, and often times after I would finish a page, I wouldn't have enough motivation to get to the next one. But in my attempt to not spend years drawing my first chapter, I would force myself to draw pages even when I didn't want to. This results in numerous cases of burnout and art block, which can cripple you and slow you down, defeating the point of muscling through it all. One notable instance of this I can remember happened in February last year.

By July of 2022, I would've been drawing Chapter 1 for 3 years and as my new years resolution, I wanted to get it done by that time. I had made great progress in 2021, catching up to page 75 by the time of new years, and I felt confident in my ability to get it done that year. That hope was shattered when I did what I had done with one of my pages and complete a future page ahead of time. Said page was the last post I made on this blog which I've actually completed a few weeks ago. The numbering for that page is 148 (was probably lower last year as I did end up adding pages during that time thanks to rewrites). And at that time, I had just passed the 80th page mark. It was then that I realized the implications of what I needed to do in order to get Chapter 1 done that year. I would've had to draw more than double the amount of pages I had drawn in 2021, and given the way I was drawing comic pages at the time, I knew deep down that wouldn't be possible. But not wanting to admit it, I tried muscling through the pages I was working on, hoping that if I pushed myself beyond my limit I would miraculously become faster and more efficient. But that didn't happen. The stress caused by my realization and the refusal to accept it caused me to become more and more agitated, which caused me to make errors and not draw as well as I would've wanted. Said agitation also clouded my thoughts and made drawing more and more difficult as soon as I knew it. I had burned myself out.

I think I've done a good job at laying out why this method didn't work for me, and if I was still drawing comics this way, I would not be finishing my first Chapter this year. And at this point, I would like to take a moment to shout out @the-underground-beauty. If it hadn't been for her, I not have found out about batching and I wouldn't have been even close to ending this long ass chapter. I was in a discord call with them and other art friends I knew, and I talking about ways of becoming faster at completing pages. They explained that they batched multiple pages instead of drawing them one by one like I had. Like, you would do the layouts for one page, then you would do the layouts for the next page, same goes for sketching and inking. This makes it so that instead of dumping all of your energy into one page, you're spreading that work into multiple pages and thus, become more efficient. Now you might be wondering how this would be better than my old method. Wouldn't working on multiple pages at the same time instead of going one by one be worse? In my experience, it's the complete opposite.

Along with the upsides I've mentioned above, its also very flexible in regards to inking/coloring. In the past, I found myself getting board with pages and wanting to move onto the next one but couldn't because I had to finish the one I was working on. I don't need to worry about that with batching. I can go in chronological order or skip pages to come back to them latter. This can be very handy when it comes to complex pages that would take a lot of time to complete. If Im not feeling up for it at that moment, I can just skip that one and come back later once I feel ready. It also points out the most time consuming part of drawing comics, sketching. Inking is one thing, but when you're doing a lot more work when doing the sketches. And depending on what the storyboards call for, the sketching process for a given page can take a pretty long time and a lot of energy. But with the batching process, the energy I would've spent finishing said page with inking and shading/coloring can be better spent on other pages. This means that I would need to worry a whole lot when inking as most of the hard work was done prior.

Batching also helps with putting what you're working on into perspective. Throughout most of my time drawing my comic, I found it difficult to view the pages I'm working on as being apart of a much larger story, rather than on a page by page basis. I would spend so much time on them that I would view the page I was working on as being its own separate thing, unrelated to the pages that came before or after. Batching, in a way, solved this issue, because now that Im working on a part all at once instead of going page by page, it helped me view what I'm working on as being pieces of a story, rather than being their own thing. I felt that the pages I was batching had more unity to them than the ones before it. Its difficult for me to describe this feelings, because I would always get it when finishing a part and rereading it. Pages that would take weeks to complete took more a couple of minutes to read, despite the specific pages taking so much time to finish. I haven't had that feeling after adopting batching as my new method of drawing comics, since every page all at once.

But how has it worked in practice? Well to see if batching was effective or not, I decided to batch the remaining six pages of what would by episode 7 on CB's tapas page. I got those done in a week. And 2 months later in May, I began work on pages 95 through 105 and this was the true test to to see if batching could really be effective for an entire part. I got it done with in a month. The after that wasn't as successful, but I mostly contribute it to external factors that had nothing to do with batching. At the start of this year, I decided to ditch the part by part method and go at the remaining 67 pages of Chapter 1 all at once. At the time of writing this, I'm still not finished with this Chapter yet but I don't expect it to be for quite long. I anticipate on wrapping it all up around June of this year. So with all this being said, I think I can conclude that batching comics has been way more effective in terms of speed. Over a 100 pages over the course of one year, way more than I had in the past with the old method. If I hadn't switched up the way I had been drawing comics back in March of last year, I don't think I would've come this far! Now I am aware that batching might not work for other artists, and that's fine. But if you are in a place like I was and want to get pages done quicker, I suggest giving it a try and see if it works for you or not :)

[chocolateteapotsvis]

Why I Love Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal

After a discussion with @finalfrontierpioneer about old posts about skeleton!Barry and floating hand!Hal, it came to my attention that the original one buried how much I unironically love Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal. So I’m here now, over a year after the comic came out, to correct that oversight and share one of my points of pure joy in 2021.

So, whether you've only ever seen a couple of panels or are well aware of the weirdness of this comic, here’s 2.5k words and a bunch of pictures on the journey, WTFery, and heart that is Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal.

This is going to discuss a lot of what went on in Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal, so spoilers for pretty much everything in that comic. Other spoilers from Infinite Crisis, Flashpoint, their Dark Multiverse counterparts, and from Dark Knights Metal. Content warning for discussions of major character death. It wouldn't be a Dark Multiverse Tale without offing most of the characters.

We’re also about to get a little salty with the context, so hold on tight.

I’m going to start this off by admitting that I wasn't having much fun with the Dark Multiverse stuff. If you're not familiar, the basic concept is that in the Dark Multiverse the heroes don't dramatically show up to save the day and instead, things take a dark turn. In practice, it was a bunch of single issue stories showing how various big DC events went differently in the Dark Multiverse. I love seeing familiar stories reimagined, so I was totally on board.

Now, I didn’t read all of them (I’m not strong enough for that), but of those I did read, “dark” pretty much meant a version where the bad guy won. Full stop. Oh, hey, in this world Blue Beetle shot Maxwell Lord, turned evil, and then just won Infinite Crisis. Oh look, Barry fried himself trying to get his powers back in Flashpoint, and then the Reverse Flash just made his own evil Justice League. So I go into a story hoping to see Thawne struggle with his identity now that the guy he’s built his entire life around is dead, and instead he doesn’t care and gets what might be the happiest ending he could hope for.

I know. Most of that’s on me for expecting something like that. I had the exact same problem with the Marvel What Ifs years ago. It’s why I write fanfiction. Whatever.

And credit where it's due, the Blackest Night one was pretty fun.

But then, like the mythical Ouroboros, the event devoured its own tail in Tales of the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal.

What happened in Dark Nights Metal? IDFK. I know it started all the Dark Multiverse silliness, and has something to do with a Darkseid baby?

Luckily this comic gives you just enough so that you don’t need to FK either. Basically, the heroes make some snazzy armor to go fight some invading evil god, but instead of protecting them, it corrupts them. Batman turns into the bad guy’s horcrux or whatever so he can take over. They turn the world into hellscape.

Now, this story doesn’t bother showing us any of that, which personally I think is one of its greatest strengths. Instead of spending precious page time showing the audience how we got here, it starts here. The bad stuff already happened. We’re at the end. We get enough hints to fill in what went on in between, and the rest of the page time is devoted to the final stand of the Justice League of this world.

Our hero for this story is Duke Thomas, who’s been running through the worlds of the Dark Multiverse trying to save even one. But because the Dark Multiverse universally sucks, he wasn’t able to, and is back home on the final living world.

Now, I didn’t know anything about Duke Thomas going into this. He introduces himself as Batman’s final sidekick, and is a metahuman with the power to look into the past, which I personally think is just a fucking fantastic match for a post-apocalypse story.

The state of the world, now, and then

Anyway, after being introduced to the fate of the world, we see what’s become of half the Justice League.

BatDragon’s adorable little jester hat, Medusa!Diana’s sense of propriety, Demon!Clark and his Demon!cowlick, Hal’s, um, nontraditional idea of dragons, and AquaSnake. Teeny tiny Duke included for scale

Why are they dragons? Uh…

There might be an explanation in Dark Nights Metal, but I sure as hell don’t know what it is. But I’m also trash for fantasy elements, so I’ll take my dragons where I can get them.

Anyway, the dragons don't like that Duke's here, and attack! Things aren't going well, and he's about to be eaten by Clark's stomach mouth, but then... Duke’s saved by Manbun!Nightwing, wielding the Parall-axe.

Bwaaaaaaawooooooowww!

Where is the line between awesome and stupid? It’s highly subjective, but personally I thoroughly enjoy things that somehow manage to be both. Pacific Rim’s one of my favorite movies. Is it logical to build giant robots that run off of intense interpersonal connections to punch giant monsters in the face? No. Is it awesome anyway? Hell yes.

And tone is important too. Would I be able to accept the Parall-axe, or a guitar pick with the Nightwing logo, or AquaSnake in a story that was telling me to take it 100% seriously? Probably not. But I'm totally here for it in this.

Now, if you think all of this is the stupidest thing you’ve ever seen, that’s fair. You might want to just stop now, because things continue in this mix of awesome, bizarre, and poignant for the rest of the comic. But I encourage you to put aside your preconceived notions of what a Justice League comic should be, because if you’re willing to meet this comic where it lives, it’s a really fun ride.

Also, if you’re a Halbarry shipper, you should definitely stick around.

Anyway, Dick and Duke run away. Dick’s just here to survive, and doesn’t want to hear Duke’s talk about taking a stand. Duke’s not giving up, though, so he tracks Dick back to the shattered remains of the fallen Watchtower and the remnants of the Justice League.

Tales of the Dark Multiverse: The Apocalypse Collection (Clockwise from the top: Hawkman, Flash, Duke, Hawkgirl, and Detective Chimp/Red Tornado)

Now, these designs are pretty unusual, but I really dig them, especially Detective Chimp and Barry’s. Kendra’s and Dick’s are more traditional Mad Max style apocalypse wear, with the Dark Nights Metal twist of the spiky metal accessories and personal touches like the symbol on Nightwing’s pauldron or Kendra’s clawed boots, ankh, and MC Hammer pants. Hell, I usually hate Hawkman, but him fighting through the call of an evil god because of how much he loves Kendra is really sweet.

Bobo’s clearly jerry rigged what’s left of Red Tornado into a suit. I can so easily see a scenario where the last of the Justice League was trying to hold off the dragons, or one of the world’s other corrupted denizens, while some survivors escaped. Red Tornado’s smashed to bits. Bobo’s back is broken. The others are barely able to get them out of there alive.

And Barry the skeleton. I love the visual hints with the ring that looks like it’s mainlining Speed Force into him. I was actually reminded of Red Racer, a Multiverse Flash who ran 1,000 years in a couple minutes so that his team could save the universe, and all that was left after he finished was his skeleton (Superman (2016) #16). Now, that story didn’t really justify killing Red Racer, which is a whole other can of worms, but in a world were half the Justice League has been corrupted into unstoppable dragons and they’re down to 4 heroes for the whole world?

So he’s running and running, trying to hold things together, knowing that it’s not enough and seeing the toll it’s taking on his body. He comes up with a way to connect with the Speed Force to keep going, even as his body continues to deteriorate. Maybe he even has an idea what happened to the rest of the League, but can’t do anything to help them, because then he’d die and lose the chance to save anyone else. And even through the personal cost he’s paid, the continuous losses they’ve suffered, and a world that continually get bleaker and bleaker, he’s still the one in their group holding on to hope that things will get better.

Or maybe I’m totally wrong, and it’s whatever explanation you came up with (which I’d love to hear!)

To me, the designs make the world feel lived in, which is something that's really important when you’re dropped in at the end of the action. If they’d tried to tell the story of how things got to this point in a single issue, it would have felt rushed and unsatisfying, but instead they chose to leave that up to the audience, trusting that their imaginations can fill in the blanks.

Anyway, Duke gives them a speech about how they can take down the dragons. It doesn’t go over great.

But he keeps trying. They know the end is coming for this world, so why not go down swinging?

The Justice League, then and now. Dick now wears baggy jeans to hammer home to the audience what’s been lost in this nightmare world

They use Duke’s power sparingly, again, in my opinion, to the comic’s benefit. It's just been the stuff I've been including in the recap because they're the important beats.

Anyway, the Batman Who Laughs is hamming it up over at the Hall of Justice. They burninate his ass, then raid the Hall for weapons for the final battle, including a Joker dragon, because why not?

The final showdown. Convenient mood lighting is a feature of Earth-Metal

And now the panels that you’re probably familiar with. Not going to lie, when I was first reading this, I had to stop and reread this page because I didn’t quite believe what I just read. I started this comic thinking it would be the disappointing end to an event that, to me, had been a slog to get through. And while I got on board for a cool apocalypse story a couple pages in, I hadn’t dared to dream it would also include Halbarry content, even if it's between a skeleton Barry and a disembodied hand Hal. I could barely believe it when there it was, right in front of my eyes.

It’s like that scene at the end of a romance movie when the romantic leads lock eyes and just fucking launch themselves at each other

So, a year later, the context for this scene. The sides are facing off for the final battle. Barry is faced with what has become of his friends, the people he founded the Justice League with, and worked with for years to make a better world. All that is gone now, but there’s still hope that something in this world can be saved.

But despite the roar of the dragons, the lightning splitting the red skies, the deep sadness at seeing his friends corrupted into dark reflections of themselves, Barry’s immediately drawn to that familiar green light. He doesn’t have eyes, but can see it clear as day.

Maybe it’s knowing that a Green Lantern’s ring leaves to find a replacement on the Lantern’s death. Maybe it's the knowledge that Hal’s heart and will and indomitable spirit have always fueled his constructs, and that, in that way, this one is no different. Or maybe Barry just knows that, even scarred as they both are by this world, that Hal’s waiting for him and will answer when he calls.

So Barry runs, before the two sides can even reach each other. He knows what he has to do, for his own sake and for Hal's. He runs, as fast as he can go, fast enough that he leaves behind the portal connecting him to the speed force.

He calls, and Hal answers. Instead of attacking, Hal creates a path.

Barry runs through the construct, surrounded one last time by the strength of Hal’s will. He can feel what’s left of his body breaking down around him, bones pulling loose from their joints with no ligaments to hold them, the bones themselves disintegrating from friction and movement and heat.

But then he sees Hal’s hand. It’s his right hand, his ring hand. Of course that’s what it would be, the part of him that would house Hal’s spirit. He reaches out.

Bones snap, and the Speed Force he’s carried with him no longer sustaining him. But that doesn't matter. Barry’s hand closes around Hal’s. His consciousness starts to slip away as Hal’s construct crumbles around them. If he still had lips to smile, he’d smile now, because they’re together again.

Both of them, saved.

Okay, that turned into fanfiction there. But honestly, this might be some of the most blatantly Halbarry published content I've seen. I wasn’t kidding when I said I thought it was a beautiful moment, though I also stand by this all looking fucking weird even with the context. But I also find it hilarious that Barry doesn’t even wait for the final battle splash page to wrap up before charging straight at Hal.

Anyway, back to the fight.

Diana and Arthur get taken out with a little less fanfare. Would it have been nice to give them an emotional send off too? Yes. It would have been a bit tougher with their current JL line up, but I can totally empathize with the WW or Aquaman fans who wanted more. It’s how I feel in a lot of team books with GL and the Flash too.

Instead the WW and Aquaman fights focus on the pair of heroes fighting them. It was still really sweet for Bobo and Red Tornado, who have been bickering the entire comic, embracing each other in the end, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl going out together almost made me feel like Hawkgirl didn’t get horribly screwed by being stuck with Carter forever in this universe.

That’s part of what stood out to me so much about the Hal and Barry send off; they’re not usually the Justice League members who get that kind of moment outside of say, Blackest Night, where they were essentially the main characters. Usually that kind of attention is reserved for Bats and Supes, so the unexpected sentiment was really appreciated.

RIP MedusDiana and AquaSnake

Sorry, still can’t take AquaSnake seriously.

Clark and Dick’s showdown gets a full page, compared to everyone else, who got half a page each. That part’s par for the course.

The rest of the issue is Duke Thomas’s showdown with BarBATos. Subtle, I know.

I love that the dragon’s wearing pants. Whatever brand he and the Hulk shop with, it’s clearly working for them

Anyway, Duke has some great final lines in this last bit, turns the situation around into a really cool power up, and we get our first and only hero of the Dark Multiverse. I’ll let you guys read that part for yourselves. This post is already long enough.

Is it bizarre? Does it make sense in any larger continuity? Why are there dragons, anyway? I’d argue that none of that matters, and that it’s okay to tell a story that doesn’t worry about any of that. Because it succeeds in creating a world, in presenting interesting ideas and places to take its characters, and gives us characters to root for and who we want to succeed.

And yeah, it’s still a darker story of a world at its end, and almost everyone dies, but it’s also a story about hope, and fighting against the odds, and of pulling through. It's about taking a shit situation and turning it into something awesome. In other words, a superhero story. And I love everything about it.

Well, okay, some of the art’s a little strange. But overall, solid win in my books.

[nctzanne]

Your Last Name

♡ doctor!mark x fem!Reader.♡ smut, fluff if you use glasses

WARNINGS!: use of alcohol and drugs, explicit content, not sex but mentions of it.

𝑆𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦: I just want you to give it a try and read it AAAH

𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡?: no, an idea i've had since i started stanning NCT

𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡𝑠 & 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠: As i said above, this is an idea I've had for sOOOOOO many months, so I really wanted it to make it happen. It was on my drafts for a long time. Thank you so so much if you take the time to read this.

You noticed when your mind woke up suddenly, but without opening your eyes, slowly bringing you back to reality. You tasted your own mouth dry as a bone, with a metalic flavor on it, typical scenario when we talk about hangovers. The headache that invaded you so suddenly made you grab your forehead, almost if you brain was going to explode right there. The smell of fermentation on the room -or wherever you were- made you nauseous, so you stayed still to avoid vomiting everything you consumed the night before. A light breathing woke you up from your trance and inner speech, you could even feel the warmth of it on your shoulder. That's when you realize you were not alone, totally opposite of that, you were cornered by arms twice your size, avoiding you to move on the super duper comfortable position you were in. You still didn't want to open your eyes to notice who the lucky guy was, but you could smell the hints of tequila on his breath. When that hit your nose, you turned around abruptly by instinct, trying to avoid the smell. You opened my eyes a little, just to be able to locate yourself in space-time.

A room hotel, there's where you were. White walls reflected the light that came from outside of the giant windows, making you cover your eyes with the hand that wasn't under the grip of this unknown guy. Once your eyes get used to the light, you remembered that you were at Bora-Bora for vacations with your best friend. You can hear the eagles screaming way too loud for your irritable state, but just noticing where you were made you feel more calmed. "At least I'm here and they didn't kidnap me" You thought, finally grabbing the courage to turn around and see who exactly was the guy that had a night of passion with you.

"Sure, shit"

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

-Wait, repeat it to me, who did you meet? -You asked incredulously, looking at how your friend Rosé was overflowing with emotion and nervousness.

-Do you know this famous band?- She told you a name that you couldn't identify, you automatically shake your head-Anyways, while I was waiting for you on the beach I met with Jaehyun, the bass player, we talked a little and he invited us for a few drinks with his friends!- She talked so fast that you had a hard time processing all the information that was given to you.

-And that's it, a random guy talks to you and you say yes?. He could be a serial killer-

-Ah c'moooon, he's a superstar, it will be funn!!!-

So, a not so official date with guys from a band. Sure, excellent idea.

-Okay, are they handsome at least?- You asked with disinterest

-You can't imagine, y/n, so prepare yourself as well as possible, they will fall for you- she approached the small bridge that united your cabins in the middle of the sea, while she blowed you a flirtatious kiss.

You just laughed and walked towards the windows, admiring the sea. You were literally in paradise, your bedrooms floated above the ocean, the white sand was not so far from where you were staying in, and the horizon was clearer than ever. How lucky you were to have a friend who helped you get over your breakups with a very casual trip to Bora Bora at the Four Seasons hotel. Loneliness invaded you for a second and you decided to get ready for the long-awaited meeting that you would have with her friends.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

A white beach dress with pink heels and your tan is enough, with the right makeup obviously. It was already 7 pm and your nervous friend looked at her cell phone while texting with someone

-Is it him?- You ask, trying to peek behind her shoulder to see if you could figure out what they're talking about.

-Yes, he is telling me he's here at the bar but he doesn't see us-

-Of course, we are sitting, let me raise my hand- and so you did it.

-Here!!!!- Your friend screams in excitement when she sees 3 tall figures approaching to you. They seemed to walk on a slow pace, almost like the came out of a movie. And yes, your heart almost stopped for a good 10 seconds. Three guys, my gosh, models? What were they again?. God definitely had preferences for some human beings.

The fact that they aere so handsome and well… structured made you blush. Jaehyun, Johnny and ...

-Mark, nice to meet you- the youngest of the 3 of them greeted me, with a dazzling smile that makes his dimples appear. You bit your lip and studied his entire face so that you would never forget him again. -y/n, nice to meet you too-

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

Nothing more and nothing less than Mark Lee himself. His makeup was completely smeared, traces of mascara under his closed eyes. His forehead and nose were reflecting the daylight a bit. It was a hot morning (or evening), and having you next to his body was obviously going to make him sweat. His open, broken lips gave off that smell of alcohol that made you sick. But despite of everything, your sight softened after a couple of seconds. He was sleeping so peacefully, and he was clinging to you like his life depended on it, so you couldn't help but smile.

-Mark... wake up- you whispered softly while you tried to get up.

-Hmmmh, what time is it?- his morning voice made my stomach tingle a bit, your sight never leaving his figure while he starts waking up.

He squinted while he sit up in bed slowly, ruffling his own hair. It was obvious that he was in the same blank state you were a few minutes ago, and you could tell by how he confusingly looked around at the room, until his eyes reached at you. His face expression softened, giving you a shy smile.

-Do you need some clothes?- he asked, blushing when he studied your naked torso with lazy eyes. You realized that you both were entirely naked, and you rushed to cover your breasts with your arms, just to earn a pure laugh from him, that made your head resonate in pain.

-We fucked, y/n, no need to hide- Mark put all his weight on his left elbow, getting closer to you while tilting his face flirtatiously. That made you cheeks go red as ever.

-Yes, but I don't remember anything so your point is automatically invalid- His body hovered yours so fast that you couldn't even process what was happening, until he pecked your lips.

-I remember everything, so I will refresh your memory-

You burst out laughing while he deposited soft pecks all over your face. The situation was so sweet, but it didn't make you feel uncomfortable at all. He interrumpted his love actions and looked at you hungrily.

-Mark, I barely can keep myself awake, i feel like I'm going to puke...-You warned him, reading his intentions.

-Okay okay- he looked down defeated- At least, can we cuddle a bit more? I promise I can make the hangover feel better- He tangled his legs and arms to your body, resting his face on your collarbones.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

Everything on that evening was talking about the mortality of a crab. Basics like where you were from, what do you do for a living and relationship status open the conversation.

Your attention was drawn to Mark when he started to introduce himself. As a Medicine student, he decided with his 2 best friends that were part of a band to go on a trip to relax due to the busy schedules that consumes their time. The three live together on a small apartment in Korea, where the rent is expensive so they can make it more affordable.

Bora-bora was the destination of their choice. It seems that the band called NCT 127 draw lot of attention from crazy fans who followed them EVERYWHERE, so an expensive place like so would be easier to have a time for them on their own.

Mark spoke always adding "like" between his words, he liked to lay back when he was sipping on his piña colada, but got closer to the table when you talked about your experience as a journalist.

He tried so hard to show interest on a topic he had no idea about, that his questions were kinda clueless, but it was obvious that it was his way to not cut the attraction and chat between you and him. It was a sexual tension you could feel by kilometers, every gaze you had was followed by a shy smile, and you felt tingles on your body everytime you had a bit of interaction.

-Do you guys do shots?- Rosé interrumpted the conversation, scanning the boys reaction.

-I mean, that's why we are here- Johnny combed his hair backwards, already feeling heated by the 2 gin tonics he drank in 15 minutes. I couldn't deny, him on a tight black shirt looked hot as fuck, I could notice how Rosé was drooling for him- Excuse me, maa'am- he raised his hand, calling the waitress- 3 rounds of shots please!-

-Man, we had 2 yesterday and you almost puked on the sea, go easyyyy- you could notice the tipsy state from Jaehyun as well. His eyes were almost closed on a thin line and his dorky smile betrayed him. Mark laughed out loud, first time in the night you heard him like that, with his cheeks tinted red. He took a big sip of his piña colada, looking at you directly at the eyes. Actually, you didnt noticed till that moment, but your legs started to feel a bit numb. Quite usual for you when the alcohol gets up on your head.

-I'm in!- you answer to Johnny's idea. Once the blue shots arrive, you quickly grab one.

-Cheers for this night to be special- he screams with a deep voice, and the other 2 guys howl as response while you burst out laughing.

When you decided that the amount of alcohol on your body was enough, you took a chance to go to the beach to sing and dance to the DJ placed randomly in there.

You felt bliss, the EDM music was filling your senses, but you tried to keep your eyes full opened so you could remember the beautiful but blurry view of the sunset.

Together with your new group of friends were a mess. Jumping, screaming, raising your hands like you could touch the sky, everything seemed possible at that moment. Even dancing and getting laid with Mark.

The music had nothing to do with your plan, but you got dangerously close to him, resting your arms on his shoulders. You could see that he chuckled, tilting his head back so he could see you fully. Both of you were drunk as hell, you thought you were killing it with the flirting skills, but probably you just looked like two fools trying not to fall for the obvious drunken state you were.

-Do you wanna kiss me?- you screamed while "Jenny" sounded on the speakers. What kind of question is that?

-Sure I do- his canadian accent made you bite your lip while smiling- Can I?- his voice tried to mimic yours, but you didnt answered, it wasnt necessary.

Your lips collided as you got close at the same time, and Mark wasted no time to open his mouth and let his tongue in your wet cavity. You moaned so loud, because you knew no one could hear it but him. A fierce fight between both of your tongues started, every graze of them would make yourself wetter and wetter. He squeezed your waist and tried to keep you closer to him if it was possible, in his drunk mind he was scared you could run away from him.

Nothing about the context was romantic at all. You both physically liked eachother and just wanted to make out. No love at first sight, no kiss with fireworks behind, just pure desire.

Adrenaline rushed your body when his hands cupped your ass, that was only covered by the thin dress you decided to wear. Nobody near you could care less about what you two were doing it, but for you, everyone was looking at the show you and Mark were offering, and that obviously turned you on.

You bit Mark's lower lip, sucked on it, while opening your eyes to look directly at him. Eyes closed, he was enjoying how you toyed his lips. The hard grip on your skin, and a bulge poking your stomach made you feel powerful, you were loving the effect you caused on him.

Suddenly, an arm made you break your kiss with Mark. You lose your balance so you hug the guy that was pulling you backwards. Johnny.

-Hey, pornstars, we have some nice shit here- he pointed his hand with his eyes. You could see a tiny bag with a white dust inside. You come to your senses and look around at the crowd to try find Rosé, but it was obvious she already was under the influence. She was on Jaehyun's shoulders, enjoying the music. You sigh, chuckling at the sight of her losing her mind.

-Its my first time though- you commented while you look at Johnny spreading the dust on top of his phone screen with one hand using a credit card. You could notice he was an expert at it, you peek to see Mark right by your side looking at the manouvers as hypnotized as you. Probably it was his first time too.

You both snorted the little substance, and it sucked at first. It was so uncomfortable, but it took minutes for you to get used to that weird sensation on your nose.

You didnt even noticed when everything started to amplify. You could feel the summer breeze making its way around you, the taste of Mark's saliva still on your tongue was strong, the colorful tins of the sky while it was dusking looked so enhanced.

A hand grabbed yours, taking you out of your trance, and almost felt like an orgasm. So warm and so soft, made you wanna scream. You turned to see a fucked out Mark, studying your face with dilated pupils, he was almost as horny as you by only grabbing hands.

He caressed yours with his thumb, and it felt like he was fucking you, your body shivered at it. Mark was enjoying it too, so he brought your fingers closer to his mouth and inserted the index one inside, and started to suck on it. You moaned and felt how your pussy clenched at nothing, the saliva coating your finger felt like caramel, if you could explain the feeling.

-Mark if you keep doing that i'm gonna cum- you told him with a warning tone, he was so inmersed on sucking your finger that he jumped when you talked. He was aroused by the situation too.

He smiled with your finger still inside of his mouth, took it out, holded you by your wrist and started to run towards...

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

-And we ended up here- Mark sumed up the night while you were laying on his chest, caressing it with the tip on your fingers. His, on the other hand, were playing with the locks of your hair.

-Yeah, i remember now, such a night- and then you snapped- Wait... where the fuck is...-

-Yeah, she was having a threesome with the boys. Dont worry, she was having a good time-Mark answered with a playful tone. Of course, that sounds like a very Rosé thing to do. You let out a breathy laugh.

-We could have joined...- you suggested, looking up at him. He took a few seconds to answer, while his eyes moved from one corner to the other of the ceiling, like he was evaluating that scenario.

-Yeah, and sharing? No thanks- he bit his lip and he looked at you with a greedy smile- I felt so lucky to have you screaming my name over and over-

You hit his shoulder with your fist playfully, and he took that as an answer to keep silent and just enjoy the company of the other.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

2 days went by, you get used to hang out with the boys. All kinds of crazy stuff you could imagine, you were doing it with them, and it felt like heaven. Mark couldnt keep his hands to himself and everytime he had the opportunity, he would make you cum on his fingers or mouth. And the same goes for you, too. Thanks to him, you noticed how good you are at giving blowjobs inside public restrooms.

But nothing lasts forever, sadly, and the last day of your summer vacation arrived. Rosé and you were ready to go back to Seoul, while they would be staying a little bit longer. It hurted, you got used to Mark's attention, and either him or you wanted to ask for eachothers contact. Not because of lack of interest, but because both of you thought that the other saw it as an adventure. You didn't even knew his last name.

His lips devours yours before you could get in the car that was waiting for you on the street -I wont forget you, thanks for this amazing 3 days- he smiled, a tint of sadness on his eyes. You caressed his cheek, pecking his nose, trying to hurry as much as you coulf so you wouldnt start to feel emotional.

-Y/l/n-

He looked at you clueless -What?-

-My last name is y/l/n- you smiled and without waiting for an answer, you close the door of the car.

╚═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════╝

-Hey, hey, it's okay- typical of Rosé being so overdramatic. Sure, your finger almost got cut in half while you were trying to cook some carbonara, but it wasnt a big deal, something a few stitches couldn't fix. The only thing that kept your finger from gushing blood out was a piece of toilet paper.

-Please! My friend needs a doctor!!!!- She screamed at the top of her lungs inside the hospital.

-What happened?- a nurse hurried, worried eyes scanning you both.

-She is losing her finger!!!!- Rosé felt she was going to faint.

-Jesus, Rosé, calm down-

The nurse takes a quick look at your finger- Yeah it doesn't look that good, please follow me. You are lucky we don't have that many patients on New Years Eve-

You are guided to a tiny room full of medical stuff, probably where you are going to get your finger sticked together. It hurted as fuck, but you were trying to keep focused on something other than the pain. You looked at the desk with the computer on, and on a hidden corner you noticed a picture of 3 friends, on a place that seemed too familiar to you. Actually, the friends also seemed like an old ones you had... maybe in university? You can't quite remember.

The door opened up while you were trying to dig into your memories , and you looked at the door startled.

-So, Mrs y/n...- that voice, that motherfucking voice. A year has passed. But how the fuck you were supposed to forget it?. You felt your ears buzzing, face heating and heartbeat racing. You were losing your breath and suddenly the pain of your finger got worst and worst.

He didn't turn to look at you, just got inside by looking at his phone, and once he was sit in front of you, his facial expression dropped.

There were the both of you, looking at eachother like dumb teenagers, like your finger wasnt bleeding out, almost like you were backat that bar in Bora-bora again.

-I... uh... yeah, my finger- you stutter, pointing at it. Mark shakes his head, coming back at his professional senses.

Before the medical procedure he performed, he bandaged your finger, and wrote some medicine you had to take for the pain to go away.

-It should be okay on a few weeks, nothing to worry about- he smiled at you, trying to comfort you. You felt your heart drop when he grabbed the healthy of both of your hands and caressed your palm with his thumb, everything felt like a flashback. You looked at him with clueless eyes.

-I... uh... I should come back in a few weeks then- you stuttered, pressing your lips into a thin line while looking at him directly on his eyes. He nods.

-Lee-

You frowned -Huh?-

-My last name is Lee-

[cherry-ber]

“You notice how wine makes people wanna feel, like sexy?”

Pairing: idol! Mark Lee x female reader

Plot: Lonesome creeps into everyone's mind, even those who seem to have it all.

Genre: fluff mostly, angst.

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, extremely painful for me to write this since I feel lonely idk if that triggers you too.

A.N: inspired by the first draft of too drunk to fuck and my bff's dependence of wine to exist 😳 this took me 10 hours to write but it might still be pretty shit. And yeah Clueless some how

After a long, long week of continuous recordings, dance practices, re-recordings and photo sessions, all he wanted to do, was sleep for twenty hours straight. He knew that he was a very lucky man, he was really living the dream. Not everyone was able to do what they loved, with people they genuinely liked, and still get payed for it, but he was. He had always been grateful, he knew the real value of things in real life, and sometimes he felt like he didn't even deserve it.

An insane amount of people knew his name, knew him, and constantly made sure that he knew how appreciated he was, but he couldn’t understand it at all. Sure, he proved himself over and over again how great he could be, and he was proud too, but why did people really loved him? Sometimes it's easy to lose yourself, but lately he was struggling even more, he felt lost and unworthy, he felt guilty, even, because he shouldn't feel this way.

Mark was home alone, after his friends went out to have dinner and drinks. He excused himself out of the reunion saying that he would call his parents and then heading straight to the bed. He wasn't lying at all, he did have a small call with his family, and then went to his room, expecting that he'd fall asleep soon and forget about what he was feeling, he was done with that for today.

He played a movie in his computer, knowing that whatever it was, he wasn't paying attention anyway. He hated to admit it, but he felt like he was missing something, rather, someone. He felt ridiculous, knowing how much people loved him, how many friends he had, but he couldn’t help it, he would be lying if he didn't say he could use a little company. Mark was busy most of the time, which, although tiring, was an escape from his loneliness, it was moments like this where he'd have enough time to sink in this small puddle of angsty feelings, that just grew until it was as big as an ocean. He couldn't explain why he felt so bad, he had enough friends to count on, and even when he considered he was only in need of a physical affect, it turned out to not be the answer, even when he masturbated, when he was finished, those feelings were still there. As the movie went on without him noticing, he turned his head to the side, and imagined someone next to him, wearing his clothes and stealing his blanket. He giggles, imagining cuddling someone to sleep, their heat making him feel home. He finally closes his tired eyes with a smile, hoping his dreams will be sweet and last long.

He wakes up in a bad mood, and doesn't really want to talk to anyone, his older friends notice, and decide to let him be, they know that if something is really wrong, he'll come to them eventually. After a quick shower, he decided he needed some privacy, some time alone, despite being scared of being stuck with himself, and went out on his own, ignoring the texts on the group chat, where everyone wondered where he was going. He had breakfast in a small Cafe, went to a movie matinee, an art gallery, a theater play, and then to a mall to buy himself expensive clothes. He had an okay day, and he grew a little bit of joy, finding himself alone and still almost enjoying his time, but mostly, ignoring his mind when he saw a couple, and wished he could have that too. He enters a restaurant, intending to order something take out for his friends, as an apology for being moody and worrying them. He waits stand up next to the door, with a cup of coffee they offered him, until he suddenly turns around after hearing his order being ready, and ceashes with someone as he does. He spilled his drink over his and their clothes. He starts apologizing, but all he gets as a response is a soft, sweet giggle. He looks to the stranger's face, and is met with a fond smile.

“It's okay, go get your food, I can fix myself”

He's caught off guard, and all he can do is shake his head yes and do as he is told, coming back to them, apologizing again.

“I'm such an idiot, I'm so sorry” he's totally embarrassed, and he feels a blush running through his face.

“It's alright, it wasn't your fault”

The stranger walks inside to take a table, and he rushes out, walking back home. That giggle makes its way to his mind a couple times as he arrives.

After eating, he goes to bed, feeling somehow full with himself, but he doesn't know if it was after forcing himself to like him, or if he was so desperate for someone that a small interaction like that would get him sleepless thinking this person would be his person.

On that same week, he founds himself running into that same stranger everywhere. When he goes get coffee with his friends, when they go to buy groceries, when he heads to the studio, and he wonders if he should be worrying, but decides not to.

Surprisingly, he founds her again, when he is entering a new coffee shop, and she walks her way out. He opens the door for her, and is met with her fond smile again, that grows larger as she recalls his face. She mumbles a sweet 'thank you' and keeps walking. Some courage grows inside Mark, and blurts out whatever his brain was fast enough to say.

“Thanks for not spilling that coffee back” the young lady finds the sentence, although awkward, funny, and turns back to him to reply.

“Maybe I should pay for your coffee, though, you were enjoying it until I crashed into you” Her melodic voice is enough to put Mark in a trance, and loses control of what he's doing, disconnecting from his awkward self.

“Actually it was my fault” he giggles remembering how sweet she was, even after Mark probably just ruined her day “Did you get a horrible stain?”

She walks closer to him, small steps that make his heart beat faster.

“It wasn't horrible, I wouldn't say that, it was just, slightly bad”

“I don't want to be a weirdo, are you busy right now? I could use some chatting, and I really owe your laundry money”

She was never an outgoing person, but she was flattered by his proposal. She was meeting someone, but she figured it wouldn't be important enough to not cancel.

“I would love that, but you owe me nothing” she giggles and walks beside him into an empty table.

“I'm Mark, by the way”

“I know that” she laughs it off, attempting for things not to be awkward “My name is Y/N”

It was only after several months, that Mark found himself, again, over thinking about how lonely he was, and how desperate he was for it to end. Whenever he had the chance, he'd spend time with his new friend, and for some weeks, thats was enough, until he realized that, all she wanted from him, was a friendship. His friends noticed, too, how after a while, that wasn't enough for him, but he was terrified he'd lose her, but they'd often try to help him out in whatever way other men would think was best, teasing her when she was at the dorms, insinuating how cute of a couple they'd be, and shamelessly asking if by any chance, she'd have feelings for him, never really giving away Mark's crush on her, not explicitly at least.

One afternoon, when they were all watching a movie together, when suddenly, Johnny and Taeyong convinced everyone to go out and have dinner, even after Mark suggested they just called the restaurant, because he was too tired to go out.

“Oh” Taeyong said, grabbing his keys and putting on a hat “then you can stay here with Y/N and order something and we can take our time”

The girl was a little disappointed, she loved spending time with the other guys two, but she agreed, knowing that Mark wouldn't want be convinced to leave the couch.

She sees then leave, and turns around to look at her friend, somehow aware of what his friends were trying to do; leave them alone, after last night they discussed Mark should just accept the reject, and confess. The boy asked, pleaded and begged them not to leave them alone, after he opened up about his feelings, but of course, his friends thought they'd know better.

“Can you order pizza while I take a shower?” his attention called back to where he was, as the sweet woman walked into the living room, with a bottle of wine and two cups. Mark chocked in his spit, when the thought of her showering, and how much he'd love to enter the scene, crossed his mind.

“Yeah, sure” he watched her walking away “Do you want some clothes?”

“Well, if I could steal one of your hodies tonight, I wouldn't mind”

He does as he's asked, calling a pizzeria and taking off his hoodie, hoping that she'd appreciate the smell of his cologne, that he wears only when she's coming around.

When she comes out, wearing her jeans and tank top, he throws the sweater at her, she puts it on and sits in the couch next to him, ready to start eating, reaching out for the bottle to serve them a cup after the first bite.

“I don't want to drink that” he'd never been a fan of alcohol, he knew he could use a boost, but he was still afraid of it.

“Huh? Why is that?”

“I don't drink wine” She recalled how he'd often drink with Johnny and her, whenever Johnny wanted to open a bottle, which happened quite often, but decided not to insist, although she did pour a cup for herself.

Mark, and any other men, really, always wondered what could she be thinking about, she was wild, energetic, but calmed and peaceful, she was always kind, but wouldn't hesitate to start a fight if to defend herself or someone else, she was never scared, but she was sensitive and fragile. He couldn't help the sigh that left his body, remembering why he had feelings for her in the first place. He knew how much she'd hate to be in a relationship, they had already discussed it, after some girl confessed to Mark, and she mentioned how relationships to her were useless, since she got all the love she wanted from her friends, and that way, she made sure that all the love she gave was reciprocal. When he told his manager about his feelings, expecting him to give him helpful advice, he just told him to forget about her. “women like her are too complicated, it's not worth it”. He wondered then, how many other guys would think the same, and refused to be one of those.

They were both full, and cuddling in the couch, she was sipping her second cup, when Mark suddenly poured a cup for himself too, and drank it in one large sip. He felt a rush through his body, his face flustered, and a numb sensation in his limbs. He was trying to keep himself still, but the sudden alcohol in his body made him bubbly and the woman next to him realized. The cheesy romcom that was playing on the back made him giggle in every other scene, and with every minute that went by, he felt looser and looser. He served another cup and drank it just as fast as the first one. Soon, he found himself leaning towards the body that sat next to him. Y/N pat her thigh, inviting Mark to rest his head there, which he did, while fidgeting with his fingers.

“You notice how wine makes people wanna feel, like sexy” he lets out in a serious tone.

Giggly, his friend shakes her head no, and places her cup in the table in front of them. “Do you feel like sexy?”

He sits himself back, eyes wide open, same serious expression in his face.

“I guess so?” he laughs at how dumb he must sound “I feel... Jiggly”

Her sweet, loud laugh fills the room, and Mark is proud of himself for making her so happy.

“Love, you should go to sleep already” he feels his face hotter and hotter, and can only imagine how red he must be “you were already tired, I'll clean up and meet you in your room-”

Mark bursts out of his bubble and speaks

“Don't do that” he says softly, as if he was genuinely hurt by her words “Please, don't do that”

Worried, Y/N walks closer to him, “Do what?”

He looks down to his feet, feeling tears forming in his eyeballs, product of his low alcohol tolerance, and his overall emotional state. “Dont call me love. You don't love me”

She reaches for his hands, attempting to make him look straight at her eyes “Of course I love you Mark”

“Not the way I want you to”

She had never been good with other people's feelings, especially romantic feelings, she had a hard time catching indirects.

“In which way is that?” hesitant, Mark stares at her for a couple seconds, before staring at her lips, too numb to do better, he grabes her chin and pulls her closer to him, a sweet, slow kiss surprising her as much as himself. When he pulls away and expects a response of any kind, all she can do is try to look at him.

“Oh, Mark” she finally manages to say “is this the way you feel?” he nods, still nervous but hopeful that she'll feel the same “You're drunk, go to sleep” she turns around as she cleans as quick as she can, as mark makes his way to his room, or to the first room he sees open.

Before the other men living in the dorms arrive and ask questions that she doesn't want to answer, she leaves, leaving a post it note in the fridge for Mark”

“Drink water and have a painkiller,

I had to go home. Thanks for the wine

-Y/N”

Too many weeks after, Mark calls her phone one more time before he enters the dorms, wondering if he had really done the worst thing in the world, for her to ghost him like that. He let a tired sigh out, grateful that he was home alone again. He goes to his room, ready to sleep for as long as he can, but when he opens the door, the lights are on, and in his bed sits what could be only described as an angel, beautiful as always, smiling and kind Y/N, with a cup of wine in her delicate hands, and another one on his nightstand, that she offers him as he's taking off his shoes and sweater.

With pain and regret in her eyes, as he's taking the first sip, she attempts to break the silence. “You ever notice how wine makes people feel sexy?”