#very important since I was apologising to everyone else and he pops in like 'well ACTUALLY this whole scenario is pretty funny'

[mercuriallily]

I have 80 hours played of Slay the Princess and all 97 achievements how am I STILL finding new stuff

[ssaaaronmontgomery]

Morning, Mon

I'm thinking about after Hotch was in the bombing in Mayhem and lost some of his hearing, with reader who would be careful to always be on the side of his 'good' ear, or always really enunciate their words and try to speak with their mouth clearly in front of him since he has to rely on lipreading a bit more these days. Plus! they would totally show Jack to do the same since he loves to babble happily to his dad, but he sometimes misses what's being said. Being hotch though he's always too embarrassed to admit when he needs help or can't hear.

Have a blessed day, Beautiful

A Helping Hand

Warnings: Hearing loss, brief mention of the bombing, Hotch being too proud to ask for help (but eventually does), fluff.

Word count: 806

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x gn!reader

A/n: Oh yes yes!! This is one of the more recent ones I've seen when rewatching some of CM. It might be less of a fic?? Idk. BUT I'm posting it as one anyway 😌. Sorry if this isn't exactly what you wanted </3. I hope it's still enjoyable though :) This one was also not proofread so I apologise if there are any mistakes.

Forever tags: @greg-montgomery @boredelle @hotchsdoormat @ssahotchnerr @criminalskies @beardedhotchh @hotchnerbau @mrs-ssa-hotch @ssamorganhotchner (let me know if you want to be added🫶)

After the bombing and Aaron losing some of his hearing in one ear you've tried to be considerate of his new situation and how he lives now. You know he doesn't always catch everything that's being said to or around him but you also know he hates asking for people to speak louder and more clearly because of his hearing.

You've taken it upon yourself to do whatever you can to help him. And if everyone thought you liked being around him before, they should see you now. You're by his side almost constantly when you're on cases. It started when you noticed Aaron furrowing his brows even more and trying to lean in and turn his head so he could hear the officer more clearly, whether he realised he was doing it or not. When he still looked puzzled as to what was said you had walked over to him and made sure you repeated the officer's words into Hotch's good ear. He thanked you, though he did seem a bit embarrassed that you'd had to do that for him.

Hotch needs some extra care and consideration right now and though you know he hates needing extra help, or any help for that matter, he does need it. And you're happy to help him however you can. You're stuck to his side often. Even outside of work.

When everything happened and Aaron was spending time at home more, you visited every day if there wasn't a case. The first couple times you were there, you noticed Jack rambling about everything that popped into his head but Aaron was clearly not catching most of what was being said. He was trying to see the boy's face which was directed downwards as he played with his toys. Aaron would hum and nod even though he wasn't getting most of it.

When Aaron stood up to get you all a snack, you explained in a very nice and simple way to Jack that his dad can't hear very well right now. That it will help Aaron if he can see his mouth when he speaks and that it's best to speak as clearly as he can. "You understand what I'm saying, bug?" He nodded and said everything back to you so you knew he understood what you meant. For such a young child he was very intelligent and very understanding. He made sure to do just what you'd explained and you could see the look on Aaron's face when he was able to hear so much more of what the boy said to him.

Aaron didn't know you'd said this to his son. But if he knew, he'd have been very grateful regardless of the embarrassment he'd have felt. Because knowing what his son loves and wants to tell him all about is far more important to him than anything else.

Whenever Aaron was on the plane you always sat next to him, making sure to be on the side of his good ear. He noticed this after the first few times. He never mentioned it, though you knew he'd figured it out quickly.

He appreciated it. You always made sure he was fully informed and aware of what was happening. If someone threw an idea into the open and he looked a little lost, you would repeat it in his good ear. Or if you hadn't realised he missed something he would look to you and if you made eye contact he leaned in a little closer to you and you'd tell him then. Or if you hadn't been looking at him he would give you a slight nudge to get your attention. He was starting to get more comfortable asking for help, but only with you. He still wouldn't ask anyone else.

Everyone tried to be mindful and considerate. But they didn't go to the extent that you did.

Aaron's new situation was frustrating and irritating to him. It caused him more stress than he already had, which you knew was quite a bit. Sometimes it would overwhelm him and you were always there to pull him back down and comfort him. You were always there for him to lean on for support. He knew you didn't do all of this out of pity, but rather out of love and care and understanding for him.

There were a couple of times that he came to you in need of a shoulder to cry on. Both times it was mostly about him being afraid he'd never hear the same and that he would miss things he had taken for granted when he could hear them. He wasn't embarrassed around you anymore, especially not about this. He knew he could always come to you for support and he was always thanking you for how much you've helped him.

[littlemixnet]

To me, a good ally is someone who is consistent in their efforts – there’s a difference between popping on a pride playlist or sprinkling yourself in rainbow glitter once a year and actually defending LGBT+ people against discrimination. It means showing my LGBT+ fans that I support them wholeheartedly and am making a conscious effort to educate myself, raise awareness and show up whenever they need me to. It would be wrong of me to benefit from the community as a musician without actually standing up and doing what I can to support. As someone in the public eye, it’s important to make sure your efforts are not performative or opportunistic. I’m always working on my allyship and am very much aware that I’ve still got a lot of unlearning and learning to do. There are too many what I call ‘dormant allies’, believing in equality but not really doing more than liking or reposting your LGBT+ mate’s content now and again. Imagine if that friend then saw you at the next march, or signing your name on the next petition fighting for their rights? Being an ally is also about making a conscious effort to use the right language and pronouns, and I recently read a book by Glennon Doyle who spoke of her annoyance and disappointment of those who come out and are met with ‘We love you…no matter what’. I’d never thought of that expression like that before and it really struck a chord with me. ‘No matter what’ suggests you are flawed. Being LGBT+ is not a flaw. Altering your language and being conscious of creating a more comfortable environment for your LGBT+ family and friends is a good start. Nobody is expecting you to suddenly know it all, I don’t think there’s such a thing as a perfect ally. I’m still very much learning. Even recently, after our Confetti music video I was confronted with the fact that although we made sure our video was incredibly inclusive, we hadn’t brought in any actual drag kings. Some were frustrated, and they had every right to be. You can have the right intentions and still fall short. As an open ally I should have thought about that, and I hadn’t, and for that I apologise. Since then I’ve been doing more research on drag king culture, because it’s definitely something I didn’t know enough about, whether that was because it isn’t as mainstream yet mixed with my own ignorance. But the point is we mess up, we apologise, we learn from it and we move forward with that knowledge. Don’t let the fear of f**king up scare you off. And make sure you are speaking alongside the community, not for the community. Growing up in a small Northern working-class town, some views were, and probably still are, quite ‘old fashioned’ and small-minded. I witnessed homophobia at an early age. It was a common thought particularly among men that it was wrong to be anything but heterosexual. I knew very early on I didn’t agree with this, but wasn’t educated or aware enough on how to combat it. I did a lot of performing arts growing up and within that space I had many LGBT+ (mainly gay) friends. I’ve been a beard many a time let me tell you! But it was infuriating to see friends not feel like they could truly be themselves. When I moved to London I felt incredibly lonely and like I didn’t fit in. It was my gay friends (mainly my friend and hairstylist, Aaron Carlo) who took me under their wing and into their world. Walking into those gay bars or events like Sink The Pink, it was probably the first time I felt like I was in a space where everyone in that room was celebrated exactly as they are. It was like walking into a magical wonderland. I got it. I clicked with everyone. My whole life I struggled with identity – being mixed race for me meant not feeling white enough, or black enough, or Arab enough. I was a ‘tomboy’ and very nerdy. I suppose on a personal level that maybe played a part in why I felt such a connection or understanding of why those spaces for the LGBT+ community are so important. One of the most obvious examples of first realising Little Mix was having an effect in the community was that I couldn’t enter a gay bar without hearing a Little Mix song and watching numerous people break out into full choreo from our videos! I spent the first few years of our career seeing this unfold and knowing the LGBT+ fan base were there, but it wasn’t until I got my own Instagram or started properly going through Twitter DMs that I realised a lot of our LGBT+ fans were reaching out to us on a daily basis saying how much our music meant to them. I received a message from a boy in the Middle East who hadn’t come out because in his country homosexuality is illegal. His partner tragically took their own life and he said our music not only helped him get through it, but gave him the courage to start a new life somewhere else where he could be out and proud. There are countless other stories like theirs, which kind of kickstarted me into being a better ally. Another standout moment would be when we performed in Dubai in 2019. We were told numerous times to ‘abide by the rules’, which meant not promoting anything LGBT+ or too female-empowering (cut to us serving a four-part harmony to Salute). In my mind, we either didn’t go or we’d go and make a point. When Secret Love Song came on, we performed it with the LGBT+ flag taking up the whole screen behind us. The crowd went wild, I could see fans crying and singing along in the audience and when we returned it was everywhere in the press. I saw so many positive tweets and messages from the community. It made laying in our hotel rooms s**tting ourselves that we’d get arrested that night more than worth it. It was through our fans and through my friends I realised I need to be doing more in my allyship. One of the first steps in this was meeting with the team at Stonewall to help with my ally education and discussing how I could be using my platform to help them and in turn the community. Right now, and during lockdown, I’d say my ally journey has been a lot of reading on LGBT+ history, donating to the right charities and raising awareness on current issues such as the conversion therapy ban and the fight for equality of trans lives. Stonewall is facing media attacks for its trans-inclusive strategies and there is an alarming amount of seemingly increasing transphobia in the UK today and we need to be doing more to stand with the trans community. Still, there is definitely a pressure I feel as someone in the public eye to constantly be saying and doing the right things, especially with cancel culture becoming more popular. I s**t myself before most interviews now, on edge that the interviewer might be waiting for me to ‘slip up’ or I might say something that can be misconstrued. Sometimes what can be well understood talking to a journalist or a friend doesn’t always translate as well written down, which has definitely happened to me before. There’ve been moments where I’ve (though well intentioned) said the wrong thing and had an army of Twitter warriors come at me. Don’t get me wrong, there are obviously more serious levels of f**king up that are worthy of a cancelling. But it was quite daunting to me to think that all of my previous allyship could be forgotten for not getting something right once. When that’s happened to me before I’ve scared myself into thinking I should STFU and not say anything, but I have to remember that I am human, I’m going to f**k up now and again and as long as I’m continuing to educate myself to do better next time then that’s OK. I’m never going to stop being an ally so I need to accept that there’ll be trickier moments along the way. I think that might be how some people may feel, like they’re scared to speak up as an ally in case they say the wrong thing and face backlash. Just apologise to the people who need to be apologised to, and show that you’re doing what you can to do better and continue the good fight. Don’t burden the community with your guilt. When it comes to the music industry, I’m definitely seeing a lot more LGBT+ artists come through and thrive, which is amazing. Labels, managements, distributors and so forth need to make sure they’re not just benefiting from LGBT+ artists but show they’re doing more to actually stand with them and create environments where those artists and their fans feel safe. A lot of feedback I see from the community when coming to our shows is that they’re in a space where they feel completely free and accepted, which I love. I get offered so many opportunities to do with LGBT+ based shows or deals and while it’s obviously flattering, I turn most of them down and suggest they give the gig to someone more worthy of that role. But really, I shouldn’t have to say that in the first place. The fee for any job I do take that feels right for me but has come in as part of the community goes to LGBT+ charities. That’s not me blowing smoke up my own arse, I just think the more of us and big companies that do that, the better. We need more artists, more visibility, more LGBT+ mainstream shows, more shows on LGBT+ history and more artists standing up as allies. We have huge platforms and such an influence on our fans – show them you’re standing by them. I’ve seen insanely talented LGBT+ artist friends in the industry who are only recently getting the credit they deserve. It’s amazing but it’s telling that it takes so long. It’s almost expected that it will be a tougher ride. We also need more understanding and action on the intersectionality between being LGBT+ and BAME. Racism exists in and out of the community and it would be great to see more and more companies in the industry doing more to combat that. The more we see these shows like Drag Race on our screens, the more we can celebrate difference. Ever since I was a little girl, my family would go to Benidorm and we’d watch these glamorous, hilarious Queens onstage; I was hooked. I grew up listening to and loving the big divas – Diana Ross (my fave), Cher, Shirley Bassey, and all the queens would emulate them. I was amazed at their big wigs, glittery overdrawn make-up and fabulous outfits. They were like big dolls. Most importantly, they were unapologetically whoever the f**k they wanted to be. As a shy girl who didn’t really understand why the world was telling me all the things I should be, I almost envied the queens but more than anything I adored them. Drag truly is an art form, and how incredible that every queen is different; there are so many different styles of drag and to me they symbolise courage and freedom of expression. Everything you envisioned your imaginary best friend to be, but it’s always been you. There’s a reason why the younger generation are loving shows like Drag Race. These kids can watch this show and not only be thoroughly entertained, but be inspired by these incredible people who are unapologetically themselves, sharing their touching stories and who create their own support systems and drag families around them. Now and again I think of when I’d see those Queens in Benidorm, and at the end they’d always sing I Am What I Am as they removed their wigs and smudged their make up off, and all the dads would be up on their feet cheering for them, some emotional, like they were proud. But that love would stop when they’d go back home, back to their conditioned life where toxic heteronormative behaviour is the status quo. Maybe if those same men saw drag culture on their screens they’d be more open to it becoming a part of their everyday life. I’ll never forget marching with Stonewall at Manchester Pride. I joined them as part of their young campaigners programme, and beforehand we sat and talked about allyship and all the young people there asked me questions while sharing some of their stories. We then began the march and I can’t explain the feeling and emotion watching these young people with so much passion, chanting and being cheered by the people they passed. All of these kids had their own personal struggles and stories but in this environment, they felt safe and completely proud to just be them. I knew the history of Pride and why we were marching, but it was something else seeing what Pride really means first hand. My advice for those who want to use their voice but aren’t sure how is, just do it hun. It’s really not a difficult task to stand up for communities that need you. Change can happen quicker with allyship.

Jade Thirlwall on the power, and pressures, of being an LGBT ally: ‘I’m gonna f**k up now and again’

[missramu]

Fishing lesson

Hello there! Enjoy another one of the kiss prompts!

Kiss number 22: in a rush of adrenaline

Matenro, the division from Shinjuku, had an entertaining tradition. Every once in a while, whenever their days off coincided with each other’s, they would go fishing. It was a hobby Jakurai had in common with Hifumi, and Doppo ended up tagging along with them. This weekend would be no different, and the doctor even made a reservation to have a guaranteed spot...

If it wasn’t for Doppo’s boss.

“I am truly sorry, sensei… I am just garbage, the worst kind you can find, and I ruined our day out…-“

The salaryman apologised, showing once again his low self-esteem, and sounding pitiful even during a phone call. Jakurai felt he wasn’t helping Doppo enough during their appointments.

“Do not worry, Doppo-kun. Don’t say such things, as it is not your fault after all. We will go fishing the next time, alright? There’s no need to be so hard on yourself…”

Jakurai cut him during his speech, not wanting Doppo to deprecate himself. He knew well his teammate was sorry, so everything the doctor needed to do for him was to reassure and calm him down. After all, Doppo didn’t ruin a single thing nor was his fault. If it was someone’s fault, it would be his boss for not respecting his leisure time. As he had predicted, Hifumi would make him company in order to finish Doppo’s tasks as soon as possible, so it would be just him at the fishing centre this time.

After –once again– reassuring the couple at the other line of the call that it was going to be all right, he hanged up the phone, making a half smile as he put it back on his pocket. He found lovely how Hifumi could be so devoted to his partner, sacrificing his own day off to help him and keep him company. With his teammates still on his mind, he started gathering his supplies: fishing rod, a replacement reel, lures and everything else he could need.

Just when he was going to leave his house, his phone buzzed again, this time receiving a call from someone completely different.

“Hey hey old coot! Whatcha doing on this loooovely Saturday morning?”

Ramuda’s voice announced him as cheerful as usual. Of course, who else would call him during his free day?

“Why, good morning to you too, Ramuda-kun. I was about to go fishing-“

He announced, holding his phone with his shoulder as he fetched his car keys, opening the vehicle’s trunk to start packing his gear.

“Ohh, one of your booring hobbies? Lemme guess, you’re going with your teammates, right?”

The fashion designer laughed at the other side, rummaging through his desk to pick a lollipop to unwrap and enjoy.

“That was our initial plan, yes”

Jakurai left out a heavy sigh, deciding that his gear could wait for a little, as he found himself incapable of holding the phone with his shoulder as Doppo could do.

“What do you mean with initial?”

Curious, the younger man popped the candy out of his mouth, paying real attention to Jakurai.

“I mean that they cannot come this time, so I am going alone”

“Boo-hoo, then Jakurai must be feeling soooo lonely!”

His curiosity changed to a tone that could be considered a mock or real concern. The doctor, knowing his partner, interpreted his words like what they were: something in between; real concern disguised with jokes, because that’s just how Ramuda was. Jakurai laughed softly, shaking his head a little.

“Why don’t you come with me, if you are so concerned about me being lonely?”

A small gasp was heard at the other end of the call, audible enough for Jakurai to notice the fashion designer’s surprise.

“Uh-mhhhh, fishing sounds a bit too boring for someone like me, but I guess I could go and make you some company! Don’t want my old man to be all gloomy!”

That was Ramuda’s way to announce that he was free and willing to go with him, if only he was honest enough to recognize he wanted to spend the day together with his lover.

“Alright then. I’ll be at your place in 30 minutes, so get ready. I guess you do not have a rod, do you?”

“Nuh-uh! As I told ya, I’ve never went fishing. You see, I don’t have grandpa’s hobbies!”

“Very funny, Ramuda. I’ll lend you one of mine, then”

“Wow, so cool! Thank you babe! See you real soon!”

Before Jakurai could reply, Ramuda ended the call, leaving the older man wondering whether he liked or not to be called “babe”. Letting that aside, he finally got everything in the car and, before heading to Shibuya, he came back home and fetched another rod for his new companion.

As scheduled, the doctor was in front of Ramuda’s shop just in time, only to see Ramuda was waiting for him. Jakurai chuckled, not expecting him to take fishing so seriously. He was dressed with a knee-length jean overall full of patches, a plain and short-sleeved blue crop top, matching sneakers and bucket hat.

“I didn’t imagine you would take this so seriously”

The doctor announced jokingly, rolling down the window and inviting the designer in.

“I must follow the aesthetic, you know!”

Replied the designer, opening the door and hopping in the passenger’s seat, grabbing the seatbelt and securing it. He then kissed his partner on the cheek as a greeting, giving him a paper bag.

“And I got you something too! You gotta be fashionable if I’m coming with you. I can’t let you ruin my reputation as a top designer”

Sceptically, Jakurai took the bag before starting up his van, checking what was inside. The contents surprised him, as he was expecting a present like the one he received last time –when Ramuda gifted him that one hat with the “women want me, fish fear me” phrase–. This time it was also a hat, but a decent one. One Jakurai could wear without having everyone’s eyes on him. The doctor smiled, putting it on and kissing his partner’s cheek.

“Thank you for gifting me this. I shall cherish it”

Ramuda giggled, opening a lollipop and lifting it cheerfully.

“You’re soo cheesy! I just wanna see you dressing fashionable for once, and not like a grandpa!”

Soon enough, the couple headed to the fishing centre, Jakurai driving back to Shinjuku. The ride was short and full of bickering from Ramuda to Jakurai and vice versa, since the doctor couldn’t help but fall right into the other man’s shenanigans.

After parking the car, they both got out of the car –Ramuda previously put on a pair of sunglasses–, got the fishing gear, and proceeded to go in. The staff welcomed the older man, as he was a regular there; and was asked about where did his teammates were as well as who his new companion was. It didn’t take them longer to realize he was the leader of Shibuya division, because Ramuda soon started to behave like, well, like him. The room was soon filled with cheers echoing how cute he was, as the designer was laughing and taking pictures with everyone that wanted one.

“I’m glad you’re already having fun, Amemura-kun. I can’t wait to see how will you react to fishing itself”

Jakurai waited for the crowd to calm down, heading right to his partner and gently reminding him what were they going to do. The smaller man put his phone back on his pocket, grabbing his boyfriend’s hand and going with him to the ponds.

“Since it’s your first time, I should tell you about this place”

The older man led the way, waltzing around fellow fishermen and families that went to enjoy their day.

“This is the Ichigaya Fish Center. People from both Shinjuku and other places frequent it, and, as you can see, it is family friendly. That’s because they don’t have a focus on professional fishing, having a small pond with goldfish that’s very popular among children”

Seeing his usual spot free, Jakurai went there, placing everything –starting by opening their chairs– down. Ramuda launched himself to the chair, enjoying the remains of his lollipop while the doctor continued his explanations.

“Since it’s your first time fishing, I’ll guess you don’t know how a rod works, am I right?”

“Yup! I mean, I know that you have to use a bait and things like that…”

Ramuda stopped mid-sentence, appearing paler and frowning.

“Wait wait waaaait a minute there. I’m totally NOT touching a worm, for your information!”

Jakurai laughed, sitting by Ramuda’s and starting to assemble both rods.

“Rest assured, it is not allowed to use live baits. They only permit mashed baits, so you will not be touching any worms”

The young man let out a relieved sigh, now intrigued by the doctor’s assembling task. He would ask him whenever he got a question, no matter how silly it could be; and Jakurai replied with pleasure, thanking Ramuda’s interest. It didn’t take them long to be completely ready, Jakurai handing Ramuda a rod and making sure he was holding it right.

“Always make sure to tie the knot tightly. A bad knot may make you lose a good catch. Understood?”

“Right and clear, mister!!”

And, like that, Jakurai taught his partner how to throw the rod, what led to a couple of failed attempts –where a fisherman’s hat was related, as well as an apology for “fishing” his hat– and a final success that made Ramuda enthusiastic enough to keep going.

“It’s important to know that fishing takes patience. Do you think yourself capable of such thing?”

Jakurai joked, receiving a pout as a reply from the pink haired man.

“I can be pretty patient if I want, humph!”

“Alright then. Keep an eye on your bobber, and if you see it shaking, then a fish is nibbling on the bait. If you see it going completely under the surface, quickly set the hook before losing the fish”

“Aand… How do I do that?”

His question was answered with actions: a fish happened to nibble on Jakurai’s bait, and he took that as an opportunity to teach Ramuda.

“It’s simple. You just have to do this–“

As soon as the bobber submerged completely, the doctor quickly rose the pole, pointing it straight in the air.

“By doing this, the fish will swing to you. Like that, you will have successfully catched a fish”

The designer looked at him in awe, amazed by the scene –and by how hot the doctor when he rose the pole–. He set down his rod and rushed to Jakurai, who was now holding his catch gently.

“Remember to hold it carefully. Pond fishes don’t usually have sharp teeth, but you may find fishes with spiny fins and, overall, they are very slippery. You have to hold them behind the head, without fear and gently”

Ramuda looked at the carp full of curiosity, admiring how his partner was holding it. He estimated that it was about 60 centimetres long, and laughed at the sight of its moustache.

“Before releasing it back, we remove the hook with these–”

Jakurai motioned to his other hand, showing a pair of needle-nose pliers. He took out the hook with ease, showing his skills and how accustomed he was to the activity, leaving Ramuda to wonder for how long he has been fishing.

The younger man took out his phone, making the doctor pose for a picture. Jakurai agreed happily, letting him take a picture.

“This is bringing back some memories! I used to be your teacher, but you’re the one teaching me now!”

They both smiled bitter-sweetly, remembering the old TDD days. The bitterness didn’t last long, because now everything was in the place it should be. No more misunderstandings that could make everything tangle up the way it was tangled before.

“Now it’s your turn, Ramuda-kun. Show me what you can do”

As soon as the picture was taken, Jakurai put the fish back on the pond, watching it swim away before sitting back and launching again his rod.

“Alright! Well then, here we go!”

Ramuda launched his pole, looking to Jakurai occasionally in order to check if he was doing it right. After he reassured him, he gazed again to the bobber, frowning as he focused on the task.

“UGH! This is taking forever! Why don’t they come faster?! Silly fishes!”

As the older man had anticipated, after 10 minutes motionless, his partner lost what little patience he had.

“What was the first thing I told you before starting, Ramuda-kun?”

“That it takes patience…”

He replied, somewhat irritated and frustrated.

“And what did you answer?”

Jakurai kept the conversation going, taking his chance to bicker the designer.

“Geez, I know, I know! I gotta wait! Now shut up, old coot!”

The lilac haired man laughed, launching his rod back in the water and providing Ramuda with small talk to help him overcome dullness. As someone who had lots of energy, he needed to be in constant movement; and activities such as fishing could be frustrating due to long waiting times and needing to be calm and quiet. For that, they kept talking about whatever topic they could find, keeping the designer entertained and focused –not losing his patience was the main goal–.

Their counting, after a while, was still negative for Ramuda. Jakurai managed to catch three medium sized carps and a big one, whereas the younger man only had a couple of failed attempts.

“I swear if I don’t get one the next time, I’m launching this stupid rod to the pond and never coming back!”

The doctor could notice how this was more frustrating than entertaining for his partner, and started to feel sorry for bringing him here. But the feeling didn’t last long, because soon enough Ramuda’s bobber went underwater again.

“Now, Ramuda-kun! Do it as I taught you, quickly!”

The designer reacted swiftly and, thanks to his efforts, he finally succeeded and raised the pole straight, catching his first fish. He grabbed it just like Jakurai told him to, and right after taking out the hook, he started to jump enthusiastically, laughing with pride and showing off his “prize”.

“Look!! I got it, I got it!!”

He couldn’t help but laugh, smiling widely for his picture. The doctor felt relieved, letting his recent thoughts go away, washed by his lover’s laugh.

“Yes, you did it very well. Congratulations on your first catch, my love”

Moved by the adrenaline, Ramuda jumped to kiss him after releasing the carp, clutching to the doctor’s neck and trusting him to hold him. The kiss was eagerly replied, Jakurai caressing his hair after putting him down again. The designer’s broad and sincere smile was something he would never get tired of watching.

“See? You just needed to be patient”

[extremelyblackandwhite]

handmaid - 09

PAIRING: mob!sebastian stan x ingenue!reader

WARNINGS: age gap, mentions of violence

A/N: hope you enjoy this chapter xxx

NEXT CHAPTER

   - It’s about Mr. Williams.

Sebastian’s face creased up, the lines that were rather faint in his skin becoming more prominent as his cerulean eyes lowered to look at the Y/N who was starting to curl up like a silkworm. That was the least of names he wanted to hear, specially the least of names he wanted to hear coming from her lips. The name itself seemed to taint her lips and it didn’t take long for Y/N to realise the atmosphere had shifted into uncharted territory. Sebastian wouldn’t hurt her, right? He had never given her any excuses for her to believe he would hurt her, however the dislike for Mr. Williams was certainly present. 

  - What about Mr. Williams, Y/N? - he spoke in a low tenor, menacing enough to make her feel short.

  - I was just speaking with Gwen ... - Y/N was lying through her teeth, hoping Sebastian wouldn’t ask a lot of questions if she added the heiress’ name to the narrative. He, however, didn’t seem to lower down his defence stance. - You’re not gonna dispose of him, are you?

  - I don’t think I owe you any explanation about my business. Know your place, Y/N. - the words made her heart clench as the once rather warm and comfortable environment seemed to freeze, and Y/N was no longer comfortable. Why would she ask him about his business? Yet, on the other hand why shouldn’t she? She was one of his employees too. 

Y/N’s glance migrated away from him to look at her own hands which were gripping the railings of the balcony. It hadn’t been hard for her notice that he didn’t really like people messing into his business, however, she wasn’t expecting to having been shot down this quickly. It wasn’t like Y/N was a big fan of Thompson Williams, she was just paying him a favour, after all everyone is worth a second shot and he looked scared enough and worried to deserve one. With a shaky breathe, she returned to look at him, observing that the tenseness had not left his face, however it looked like a facade, almost like a mask and she wondered what he hid behind it. 

Without speaking another word, frightful for more hurtful words coming from him, she turned around, feet moving to point towards the door which she walked to, opening it and leaving Sebastian’s suite. So much for the favour mentioned by the sleazy man. Why would he hold any favour towards her when she was a bright reminder that he was fated towards a marriage he didn’t pick? 

Almost like snapped of a daze, Sebastian blinked quite a few times, lingering on the place she had been on before he took off to the hall expecting her not to be fast enough to have already returned to her bedroom. Much to his dismay, the halls of the hotel were empty with only sounds of soft snoring coming from the other bedrooms.

    - Fuck. - he sighed, kicking one of the wall heaters in frustration.

    - Sir. - one of the bodyguards made himself known. - Is everything alright, sir?

    - Yes, Elias. - Sebastian had made particularly important to have trusted bodyguards following Y/N and Gwen around, however, Elias was specially responsible by keeping an eye on Y/N. - Make sure Miss Y/N is alright.

The morning came quickly and like a wound, his words were rather sore on her mind and running wild as she sat down on the hotel’s restaurant to have a lavish restaurant with Gwen. Despite the beautiful refined pastries, cakes, and teas being constantly put in front of her, she was much too lost in her thoughts and regrets over even mentioning Williams’ name in front of Sebastian. 

Another employee set a basket of bread in front of the two girls along with endless glasses of various brightly coloured juices which smelled like they were freshly squeezed fruit juice. The breakfast however went by in seconds, maybe due to Y/N’s relentlessness to overthink every single little thing she had done wrong or maybe due to the fact that regarding the nice climate, Gwen was interested in rushing through breakfast and head out to the pool. In all honesty, a nice day by the pool did sound nice, as long as she were able to read whatever she wanted with no one bothering her. 

It wasn’t like Gwen was gonna go do sight seeing which meant Y/N had to do with what she was given and a peaceful day by the pool sounded well enough. They were taken by the bodyguards to the pool and set off shop in the white and bamboo lounge with a VIP sign glued to. Y/N took place in the shadiest place, opening her book, set it on top of her legs and put her earbuds in, getting lost in instrumental soundtracks and beautifully written novels. 

Sebastian woke up much later than the two women, picking his phone to check if there were any business news and much to his dismay, there were several things he’d had to go over. Before returning to his work, he decided to go check on Gwen, mostly because he was certain Y/N was most likely by his fianceé’s side. And by her side she was, as he stepped onto the pool courtyard he found the very innocent and naíve Y/N scantily clad in a bright red swimsuit in Baywatch fashion. Suddenly, his pants felt tighter and his mind was screaming at him not to look at the handmaid when his future wife was even more scantily dressed than her. 

Y/N noticed his presence, pushing her red rimmed sunglasses down a bit to the bridge of her nose to look at him before pushing them back up and raising her book her. She was definitely upset at him and he couldn’t apologise for his behaviour in front of Gwen. 

Sebastian grabbed his phone from his back pocket, dialling a very familiar number before turning his back on the two girls.

   - I’m gonna need a favour. - he mumbled as he walked away to return to his business. 

   - Y/N! - Gwen poked her handmaid’s arm, making her take her earbuds off and eventually ending her peaceful moment. - Look at those guys, they’re are totally checking us out. 

Y/N rolled her eyes, rotating her head ever to slightly look at the men on the other side on the pool. They looked exactly like the same type of guys she had gone to university with and none of them held a candle to Sebastian. Wait. Why was she comparing them to Sebastian? Of course they looked nothing like the mob boss, they weren’t being apparently closed off about their flirting, were significantly younger and ... well ... they did not look like him. But he was engaged and it was clear he was probably still mad at her. Despite that, Y/N was still not in the mood to play wing woman to Gwen.

   - They are definitely staring at you, Gwen. 

   - Aw, what’s that? Are you saving yourself for someone else or something? 

   - I’m just not in the mood. - she sighed. - Besides, they’re just looking for a passing fancy.

   - A forever romantic, aren’t you? C’mon, is there someone I should know about?

   - I don’t think anyone is interested in me like that, Gwen. 

   - C’mon! Don’t you have someone whose touch lingers a little bit after they’ve done so? - yes. God yes, but that someone whose touch lingered around every time they happened. - If you don’t then there’s some guys clearly interested in talking to us. 

  - You can go, Gweny. You clearly want to go. - Sebastian had left a long time ago, hence why Y/N was rallying her up to do so. Yet, mostly so she could leave her alone which after a while she did, walking up in heels to the group of boys who fanned over her like if she were the impersonation of Venus. After a while of being in the shade reading Dangerous Liasons, Y/N decided to return to her room knowing Gwen was about to retire from the pool herself with one of the boys.

Tired, she put a light and soft white coat on and grabbed her bag before heading to the stairs and onto the lift with Elias constantly on her tail. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to security but ever since Sebastian assigned her own bodyguard to follow her around, it just felt odd. However, thankfully, she only had one compared to the crowd of six that followed Gwen around. 

The lift ride seemed endless when you’re tired but in less than two minutes she was back on her floor and on her bedroom. Throwing her bag onto the bed, she removed the coat and sat down on her duvet, eyes scanning her bedroom until she noticed a black velvety box standing in her dresser. 

  - Elias?- she called out and immediately the man had his head popped into the slight opening of her door. - What is that box?

  - It was left there by the staff. - he shrugged and returned to his position of waiting outside her door.

Curiously, Y/N paced to her dresser, looking at the box as if it were an explosive device before her hands brushed against the velvety material of the box. She didn’t know what it was but whatever it was, it was well packaged in a very expensive looking box. Suspiciously, she opened the box where a note in beige coloured paper was standing on top of a velvet bag. She took the paper in her hands, turning it around to see a rushed yet somehow pleasing handwriting. I’m sorry. S.S. x

Sebastian. Her tummy filled with butterflies as she felt the heat creep onto her cheeks. Placing the card on the table, she grabbed the velvet bag which was slightly heavier than expected and once she opened it to check the contents of it, she couldn’t help but smile at what she saw. It was exactly the same as she remembered, in the same beautiful pure white colour with golden accents. She opened the top of the music box and out came the melody she knew too well accompanied with the crystal ballerina and the Paris landscape.

Without much of a thought, she rushed out of her door and to the front of Sebastian’s suite door, knocking on it rather forcefully.

   - Miss Y/N, Mr. Stan isn’t taking any visits right now. - one of his bodyguards rather rudely spoke down to her.

   - I’m sorry, I just really need to speak with him. - she held the music box close to her chest. - Please. 

   - I’m afraid you didn’t hear me correctly. - his hand wrapped around her wrist, pushing her away from the door and into the middle of the hall. - No visits now.

   - Could you please let him know that I want to speak with him. Please. 

   - Listen, Miss Y/N, I see you’re used to experience the same type of privilege as Miss Forrest but you’re an employee and as an employee you schedule appointments and behave like an employee. Are we understood? 

   - Yes. - she looked down, shifting her weight from side to side. 

   - Unhand Miss Y/N this second. - the colour from his face drained as his hand lost its grip on her wrist. She looked up to see a very unhappy Sebastian with his arms crossed across his chest and, like a shy child, tip toed over behind him as he condemned the bodyguard. - You are not to touch Miss Y/N without her permission or I’ll cut your fucking hands off. Do you hear me?

  - Yes, sir. - Y/N was fascinated by how he didn’t need to scream and how he just kept a grip over power unseen to her. Before she could even process what had just happened, Sebastian placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her back to his suite before closing the door behind them. 

  - You should’ve called out for me when you knocked. - his gaze lowered to the music box in her hands. - I see you’ve got my gift. I’m so sorry for the way I treated you last night.

  - This is the most thoughtful thing someone has ever done for me. I can’t believe you remembered. - her fingers traced the pattern on the music box, smiling mindlessly. - Thank you so much, Sebastian. I don’t know ... I don’t even know how to repay the favour. 

    - It’s a gift, angel. You really should stop trying to repay gifts. - his hand grazed over her forearm. The lingering touch, there is was, and she couldn’t help but stare into his cerulean eyes. - I wasn’t in my best behaviour last night and I wanted to apologise. 

Y/N softly smiled, all the worries from last night fading away as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug which took him by surprise. She had put her music box by the side and Sebastian stood there not entirely sure what to do with himself, all he knew is that it felt good to have her in his arms in a way like nothing else ever felt. The hug seemed too short as both of them pulled away, staring into each other’s eyes until the magnetism just became too much for any of them to handle and as if she were bewitched she leaned forward, connecting her lips to his in what felt like the blooming of various emotions she was yet to experience. 

It’s really something.

tag list:​ @lilya-petrichor​ @xoxohannahlee @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater @nikkipea @madisonpillstrom​ @cevans98​ @thelostallycat​ @sideeffectsofyou​ @anxiousdreamersworld​

[riacte]

as the no 1 blue bats stan, how similar in vibes are purple penguins and blue bats???? because to me they are so darn similar,,,,, - ghastly-ghostie

😳😳 no 1 blue bats stan? Nah not me lmao, we have the animatic peeps and Frostbyte Freeman and Fruit himself—

But yes!! They may resemble Orange Ocelots in terms of the game order, but I think they had Blue Bats vibes!!

(Disclaimer: I did not fully watch Purple’s POV. I saw HITW, Terra Swoop Force, Rocket Spleef, SoT, Build Mart and ofc Dodgebolt.)

1) The Encouraging Leader (H and Pete)

Both didn’t win in their last MCC, and they’re given a chance this time. Both are charismatic and charming leaders in their own ways with a heavy respect for the hermits/Kara that many other competitive players don’t show.

2) The Chill Sensei (Fruit and False, kind of)

Both have proven their worth in past MCCs, but still sorta underestimate themselves while at the same time knowing they’re pretty damn decent players. Both are comparatively quiet and don’t like to interrupt others, but their ideas are often well thought out.

3) The Dodgebolt Prophecy/ The One Who Has Potential But Is Insecure (False and Grian)

Both are noted to be quite competitive and have pop off potential. They just need someone/something to make them go feral.

4) The Also Insecure Hype Support That Also Pops Off (Ren and Kara)

Both are extremely friendly and supportive people who never hesitate to offer an encouraging word. They keep on underestimating themselves and apologising for “performing badly” but everyone else, especially the leaders (H and Pete), are Having None of It.

Now onto the similarities:

Circumstances, maybe? Pete didn’t get into Dodgebolt last time so he probably wants to (like how H didn’t win in MCC8?). Grian has never been to Dodgebolt and desperately wants to step foot in the arena exactly like pre-MCC9 RenFalse. Kara and pre-MCC9 False were both loyal participants who got bottom half. Fruit and Kara both won once before.

Established duos: hermit duo (RenFalse and GrianFalse) and the non-hermit but we’re friends duo (Cherrybomb and PeteKara).

The structure. Two hermits and one S tier/ beloved leader. H and Pete are Known for getting into Dodgebolt. For the hermit half, Grian has never won, like RenFalse. (Also one HEP member and one MR member but that’s kinda irrelevant lmao)

Training arc. Both built up trust, affection, and there was a lot of chill bantering without ignoring strategy.

H and Pete wholly believed in their insecure teammates

Enter the Dodgebolt Prophecy: H screamed about False carry, Grian got an ace in practice Dodgebolt. Note: both are hermits who had never been into Dodgebolt before.

Slept on (kinda). Blue was almost completely slept on, while Purple was generally ranked 4th to 8th. Purple was not really slept on though because some people (like me haha) know their potential

MCC Day. Cherrybomb (H and Fruit) wanted to win, while RenFalse didn’t believe they could even come close. However, False is more confident now. On a whole, Purple wanted to win.

First half. Blue did average, while Purple... got kinda low to average tbh.

The First Game Changer: Ace Race and HITW. Fruityloops popped off in Ace Race while False magically glitched through the walls with the power of Protagonist Armour (yes she’s the protag no you can’t argue with me /lh). This boosted their morale after a rather depressing start. They all start screaming for the Chill Sensei (Fruit/False) and their amazing performance.

The Hype Support!! Ren and Kara were both ecstatic for the teammates despite thinking they did badly and “dragged the team down”. These two were literally like “Y’ALL AMAZING!! i just suck lmao”. They trusted their team more than they trusted themselves. H and Pete were quick to encourage Ren and Kara. (Of course the other teammates also did, it’s just that the Encouraging Leaders were a bit more significant.)

Then the TRUE GAME CHANGER. If Blue had SG, Purple had Rocket Spleef. Although Purple’s victory was predictable compared to Blue Stab Domination. Either way, this cheered them up immensely. Suddenly, the hermitteam was a threat! Wow! Reddit! Who could’ve known! Much surprise. I am so so surprised that the S tier with hermits (that have been playing for ten years)and amazing support is doing well. Wow. It’s almost like a very specific community totally didn’t believe in Blue and Purple from the very beginning. Underdogs RISE UP! :DDD

Sands of Time. Blue did okay and made smart moves, Purple was scuffed but they were also smart even though Pete died and Grian couldn’t get out. Either way, SoT allowed them to keep/improve their current ranking.

I’ll omit Build Mart, since that was almost exactly like MCC11 Orange Ocelots. However, one similarity: one very important late game. Blue got their least wanted game but did amazing anyway. Purple got their most wanted game and did amazing. They also upset everyone, which I will say again, is very sexy of them. Nothing is better than teams raising the middle finger to Reddit predictions. I’ll say Build Mart could be an extension of Rocket Spleef aka. Purple’s SG since both games brought the teams to Dodgebolt.

Dodgebolt. Oh man. Similarity: Reverse Sweep. Difference: ... on different sides of the reverse sweep

Dodgebolt Prophecy comes true: False almost managed a 1v3, Grian was a fucking beast with his quick fire. Audience started screaming/simping about False and Grian.

KARA CLUTCHED NOT UNLIKE FALSE SUPREMACY!! We have underestimated women on the arena with their boizz (and False for Purple) cheering for them!!

Let us talk about Fruity B and Grian. One takes his time to shoot and gets killed because of it. One does NOT take his time to shoot. Both strategies were successful to some degree. I just think this is funny.

One thing I’ll always remember is that how H screamed “LET’S MAKE THIS INTERESTING!!” This to me, boosted his team because it sort of implies even if they lost Dodgebolt, they already won because they gave Green a victory they had to fight for. Purple certainly made the Dodgebolt interesting with the initial domination and Grian’s quick fire. This is why I think they were happy with second— they popped off and had no regrets.

In conclusion: both teams completely fucking upset Reddit with SG and Build Mart. And they’re so (deservedly) smug about it because they KNOW their worth, it’s just that A Lot of People Didn’t. They had similar structures with similar dynamics and cheeky bantering/supportive/wholesome vibes. We have no choice but to stan.

[robin-the-enby]

Hello! Can I request a matchup for diabolik lovers? I’m a straight female. My MBTI type is INFP/ INFJ and my Enneagram type is 9w7. I’m a Capricorn and my HP house is Hufflepuff.

I’m quiet and socially awkward since I’m always daydreaming and deep in thought, but I’m very open and talkative around people I trust. I’m laid-back and it’s almost impossible to get me mad but deep down I have low self-esteem and occasionally I’d feel like I’m a burden to my friends and family. I’m quite joyful and I laugh at nearly everything and my jokes are often stupid but they somehow still make my friends laugh. I’d say I’m optimistic and it’s hard to bring me down in the dumps. In a relationship, although I’ve never been in one, I’m very affectionate and I’m super supportive in their career and goals. I’d say I’m good at comforting people but if they’re not comfortable telling me their problems yet, I won’t pry and patiently wait until they’re ready. I hate arguments, so I’d always be the one to apologise first whenever they seem irritated.

My hobbies are drawing, reading (mostly fiction about adventure, fantasy, and romance), listening to music (mainly J-pop and RnB) and playing my guitar. I’m into visual novels, RPG, rhythm games, sweet food, and basically anything that’s cute. I dislike horror, bugs, spicy food and being in the centre of attention.

I hope this is alright with you. Thank you!!!

Oh wow, you seem like such a nice person to be around! I almost feel bad for what I'm about to do, but hear me out: I match you with

Kanato Sakamaki

Just to be clear, I had so many headcanons for so many characters from both families popping up in my head after I've read your ask, so if you don't like Kanato (which is fair tbh), trust me, that you'd be a blessing to these boys.

But hey, take this as a challenge!

Being with Kanato would be...hard. But I promise that it would pay off in the end.

I feel like your patient, kind nature would go well with his moodswings. Also, it's good that you're hard to anger, because he can act like a spoiled brat, as we all know.

He'll notice how you talk much more around him and how you're more comfortable around him. He loves it, his possessiveness is purring in delight.

Kanato...isn't good at helping others. Be it with something like chores or emotionally. If he ever caught on your low self esteem, he'd probably yell at you. I feel like deep down he means well, he doesn't want you to feel bad about yourself, but he doesn't know how to express that, so instead he'll start asking if his love isn't enough to make you happy and so on.

He wouldn't say it, but he loves your laugh, it's very uplifting. If he's sad, he'd tell you to laugh for him, but of course, it wouldn't be the same and he'd probably get mad.

The beginning of yours and Kanato's relationship would be rocky, since Kanato acts the way he does, but as time would go on, he would calm down.

He'd have to learn to not do some things, like yell at you or be mean to you, if he wants you to be with him. I think deep down, you're really important to him, so you can teach him this. If it was anyone else, he'd get even madder, because how dare they dissobey Kanato's orders.

Because the Skamakis are a family bursting with trauma, Kanato, of course, has his fair share of it. Sometimes, in the middle of the day, when everyone should be asleep, he opens your door, sniffing and without a word climbs into your bed and latches onto you like a leech.

It's pointless to try and get him to talk about what's bothering him, he doesn't want to talk. He wants to be with you and he wants you to comfort him. If you do, you get major bonus points in his book. Just cuddle him until he's asleep and you're good.

If anyone dares insult you or even hurt you, they've got one angry vampire on their tail. And trust me when I say that it's not good to mess with Kanato. You're his, his to love and his to torture no, protect.

It's moments like these you can really see how much you actually mean to him and if that doesn't make all the hardships worth it, I don't know what would.

He'd be so proud of anything you draw, like he did it on his own. And those drawings better be for him! Just kidding, but he definitely would tell you to draw Teddy. He'd boast about your skill to anyone willing to listen, like in art class at school.

Sometimes, when he wants to sing, he'll tell you to fetch your guitar and play. Sometimes, he even invites Laito to the mix, you three sound really good!

Your other interests would make for some swell date ideas! Show him all your favourite RPGs and rhythm games, go to cafes for cakes and stuff. Maybe he won't like some, but I can see him having a good time just because you are there, with that refreshing smile of yours <3

I just projected all my love and affection I hold for this angry psychopath and I'm sorry XD

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 09

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, slight angst

; Word Count: 4.2k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: A Christmas present for you all! This has been my favourite chapter of Flower so far so I hope you all enjoy it too! Please reblog if you enjoyed and let me know what you think in a comment or ask!

; Flower Masterpost

-

The knock on your front door causes you to pause, clothes in your hand as you put them into your washing machine. You’d been frantically cleaning for the last hour, tidying up your already clean apartment to make sure that it all looked good. When you’d run out of stuff to clean, you’d resorted to washing your clothes early. 

Just for something to do while you waited.

But now he’s here. Hoseok is here. At your apartment, for the first time. You’d been to his a few times now but he’d never been to yours. That had been your fault because you simply just hadn’t invited him. It hadn’t entered your head to do that. Not until Chungha got exasperated and pointed out that perhaps he’d like to see where you lived too.

She must have been right because Hoseok had eagerly accepted and so here you were. You’d finished work an hour and a half ago, the time spent since waiting for him to finish and head home to grab his stuff before coming to yours had given you plenty of time to fulminate.

Not only was Hoseok coming over to yours for the first time...but he was going to spend the night. He’d come up with a plan to drive you both to an amusement park a few hours away tomorrow, but it required getting up pretty early. As a result, you’d just blurted out that he could stay with you.

You could tell that he’d been a little shocked at your proposition, not because you were suggesting he stay but because it was you who was suggesting it. He probably hadn’t expected you to propose that for a while yet.

Especially not when you had plans to let him sleep in bed with you too. You’d discussed it with Chungha and Soyeon in depth, wondering whether you should make him sleep out on the couch for the night. They’d been adamant that you couldn’t do that given you were dating, and you’d been together for two months so why not just let him sleep next to you?

If he remained as polite as he’d been, he wouldn’t be putting any moves on you. 

The easy way you’d said yes to it and suggested it to him told you, and everyone else who knew you, that you really wanted him to stay over. To sleep next to you. Honestly, it had one of your fantasies. Alongside the sexual ones, sometimes you just thought about him holding you in bed, cuddling with him.

Tonight you were going to get to experience that.

Quickly putting the rest of your clothes into the machine, you pause for a moment as you wonder if it’s stupid of you to be washing your clothes. But you push the thought of the way as you add powder and detergent before turning it on. A final glance around your small apartment lets you see that everything is as clean as it’s going to get and you take in a deep breath, smoothing down your shirt.

Opening the door slowly, you smile at Hoseok as he stands there waiting, a backpack over his shoulder and a bright smile on his own face. “Hi...err...sorry, I was putting my washing on. For some reason. Err...come in.”

He laughs softly as he enters, toeing off his shoes and carefully placing them on the rack you have set up next to the door without even being asked to. Moving forward through the tiny hall, you gesture to the living room and attached kitchen with a nervous movement.

“Errm so...this is the living room, obviously. And the kitchen. The door you just passed is the bathroom and the other door is my bedroom. It’s not very big,” You feel yourself heat up in embarrassment as your hands twist together. “I mean...I can still barely afford it but it’s home at least.”

Hoseok looks around slowly, eyes darting everywhere as he takes in the decor of the place. You weren’t allowed to put things on the wall so the only decorations were on the bookcase in the corner, your television stand, your couch, the coffee table and the drawers next to the bookcase. Looking around, you take it in the same way he does.

A fluffy throw in slate grey is draped over the couch, covering both the back and the seat cushions while an array of interesting cushions and plushies cover it. Your Pusheen plush sits in pride of place but there’s also a bao bun with a smiley face, an overly cartoony calico cat stretched out along the back and a Jack Skellington face on the couch as well. 

Other plushies dot the room as well, from the set of Pokémon on the bookcase which included all the Eeveelutions you’d carefully collected over the years and various Pokéball’s to random cute ones and even a Pac-Man. Amongst all of that, was other stuff you’d collected; a range of animal shaped hand creams, a bunch of tiny Harry Potter chibi snow globes, some Funko POP figures featuring Disney characters along with a Totoro clock.

Random lights were currently turned on around the room including the PlayStation logo light, the Mario Mushroom light and a Yoshi egg. Part of you cringed as you took in how...colourful and pretty everything was compared to Hoseok. It looked so...delicate next to him.

He was stood there in black ripped jeans with a Guns n Roses shirt on, his tattoos the only thing that matched the room really. And yet he didn’t look disgusted by it, instead he just looked fascinated. Moving forward, he looked over the various books, Blu-Ray’s and video games you’d collected over the years along with the tiny Totoro figures that almost made up a little set.

“Oh my god...this is literally you in a room.” He marvelled, eyes wide as he took in the light shade that covered the light bulb hanging in the room. It was simple, just a curved circle but it was navy blue with tiny circles cut into little rockets and planets. When you turned it on, which was rarely, it made the room light up with a space theme.

“Err...yeah...I’m sorry, I know it’s a lot.” You apologise, rubbing at your forearm as you feel the swirl of negative feelings within you start to bubble. Already you’re regretting letting him into your home, into your safe space. This was where you felt most comfortable, where you felt happy. You only let people in that you trusted, and after two months you were pretty sure you could.

But it was still overwhelming, letting someone into the very private part of you and letting them see what made you happy.

“Don’t apologise, this is great. You’ve seen my place, it’s barren compared to this. I like it. It’s nice. Feels...cosy.” Hoseok said with a bright grin, white teeth flashing as you glanced at you before looking into your kitchen with eager curiosity.

The cuteness extends into there too, sweet woodland themed animal print oven gloves draped over the oven handle while a whole array of cute magnets cover the fridge along with pictures and important notices. A Totoro egg timer sits next to a little polka dot flower pot on the window sill while a cat themed calendar is propped up on the microwave.

A soft meow combined with pressure on his lower legs causes Hoseok to jump slightly, looking down before he grins even bigger. “Oh hello there! You must be Kasumi! Your mommy has told me so much about you.” He croons in a high pitched voice, the kind people only use on babies or animals.

But you can see the delight in his eyes as she sits in front of him, her cream fluffy coat combining with her dark paws and ears alongside astonishingly azure eyes to make her look like the prettiest cat ever. You were pretty sure that she was a ragdoll cat, which meant it was even more shocking that you’d found her in a shelter as a kitten. 

She observes Hoseok for a moment longer before meowing sweetly at him, pushing up to butt his hand with her head and he coos as he crouches down, stroking and talking absolute nonsense to her. You get the sense that he’s just fallen in love at first sight with your cat, the smile on his face bigger than anything you’d seen as she flops to the floor, belly presented and batting at his hand playfully.

“I’m gonna steal your cat.” He teases, looking up at you with playful eyes and you snort, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Over my dead body. She loves me anyway, right Kasumi?” At her name, her ears twitch and she looks at you upside down, letting out a soft mewl as her loud purrs reach you. You grin and crouch down, arms open as you make kissing noises to her and she immediately jumps up, rushing over to you. Standing back up with her in your arms, you smile smugly at Hoseok and wonder why on earth you’re suddenly competing with him over the affection of your own cat.

It looks like the thought runs through his head as well as he shakes it before walking over to you, dropping his backpack past you onto the couch before he places his hands on your waist. Leaning close, you feel your shoulders rising at his attention and he chuckles quietly.

“I guess I’ve got some competition then, huh?” He murmurs before kissing you, the gesture ever so gentle. It’s nothing intense, yet it fires you up in ways you’d never really considered before. Here, in your home, with your cat in your arms and your boyfriend kissing you, you feel happier than you can remember in recent memory. It feels...almost normal.

Hoseok pulls away quickly, smiling as he looks you up and down with a raised brow. “Can I go change if you’re in your pyjamas already?”

His tone is ever so slightly teasing and you look away, pressing your face into Kasumi’s soft fur to avoid the embarrassment.

“Yeah...sorry. I don’t...I don’t see the point in wasting clothes when I’m at home. Pyjamas or die you know?” He snorts in response, kissing your cheek before grabbing his backpack again.

“I get it, I’ll be back in a minute.”

-

It turns out that Hoseok’s pyjamas are just...his normal lounge clothes apparently. A pair of plain black sweatpants is combined with an overly large Star Wars shirt, a few holes in both items that cause you to raise a brow in amusement. A far cry from the matching set of pyjamas you’re wearing; a set of Marauder's Map leggings combined with a black shirt and a gold Hogwarts crest.

“You can tell our personalities just from what we’re wearing.” He looks up from his phone, brows raised before looking between you both with a lopsided smile. Without a word, he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you to him tightly.

Body stiffening automatically without you even meaning, you force yourself to relax in his embrace. You still weren’t used to the open affection Hoseok lavished on you, the casual touches of his not normal enough for you to accept openly like you did with your friends and family. But you were getting there.

You just wished that you could extend the open affection to him in the same way. It was hard though, you weren’t naturally open to physical gestures like that. Normally you just accepted them, but you wanted to discover to be open with him.

Because as you melted into his arms, you realised that you really liked this.

“What are you trying to say, huh? That I’m ratty and old while you’re young and put together?” He teases, squeezing tightly while rocking you from side to side, putting just enough pressure that you have to stagger back as you giggle against his chest.

“No! I mean...you are older than me…” 

“Excuse you! I’m only two years older than you! Hardly Hugh Hefner here.” Hoseok protests, his voice loud but you can hear the playfulness in it. It makes you happy to hear that, knowing that he’s going along with you.

“You’re right...you don’t have as much money as him. I’m missing out.” At that, he leans back enough for you to see his face, his jaw dropped while he tries to stop a smile from spreading. It causes you to grin in response, squeezing him tightly in response before you press your face back to his chest. “It’s okay though, you’re pretty.”

“Wow...okay. Does that make me the Playboy Bunny in this situation?” You snort, hands lowering without even meaning to and making him jerk in surprise as you squeeze his ass without even thinking. The very ass that your friends had teased you about weeks ago.

“How do you look with bunny ears and a tail?” 

He moves away at that, eyeing you suspiciously as he bites his lower lip, the flesh disappearing between his teeth. “Let’s never find out, shall we?”

“Awww. There’s people who find that kinky. They get dressed up as animals and stuff. Sometimes it’s just...they just wanna dress up but sometimes they dress up and it’s like...they wanna have sex in those suits.” Hoseok just stares at you in disgust, looking away before nodding slowly.

“Sounds great. I’m never doing that. Just want you to know,” he pauses, looking up at the ceiling before cringing and shrugging. You’re suddenly reminded of that woman trying alcohol meme as he makes a considering face. “Okay maybe I’d try it once if you were into it but I don’t think it’s for me.”

You steadfastly avoid his face at that, body heating rapidly at the thought of him thinking about having sex with you knew he probably had. If you were thinking that way about him, then there was no one way someone like him wasn’t thinking that way too. And it was a very strange sensation to know that he wanted you like that.

So you just gestured to the couch, watching as he sits down and scoops Kasumi into his lap. A quick phone call gets you food ordered from your favourite Chinese place, Hoseok stating his preferences to you as he flicks through Netflix and strokes the fluff ball he’s holding.

The next few hours pass by in a food coma bliss of delicious food combined with both of you starting a show on Amazon instead called The Boys. It had surprised you both with how violent and gory it was yet you enjoyed it thoroughly, much to Hoseok’s amusement. Maybe he thought your love of cute things meant that you didn’t like that kind of stuff but you enjoyed it just as much.

You both made it through three episodes before you found yourself getting tired, it was nearing 11pm and as lame as it made you sound...you were someone who went to sleep a bit earlier than that. It amused Hoseok when your head started to loll onto his shoulder, the pleasant warmth and comfort of his body as you cuddled up together lulling you into drowsiness.

Which was why when the episode finally ended, he stood up and gently pulled you up as well. “Come on sleepy, I think it’s time for bed. Sometime’s tired.” He was using that voice that he’d used on Kasumi earlier, and part of you wanted to protest it but you were too drowsy to bother. So instead, you went around the room after shaking his hands off to turn off all the lights.

Hoseok went to the bathroom while you did that, telling you that he was just going to go to the toilet and brush his teeth. By the time you had finished cleaning everything up and throwing the empty Chinese cartons away, he was standing a little awkwardly outside your bedroom.

Smiling, you opened the door and let him in. “You can go in.”

He gave a little smile before heading in and pausing as he looked around once more. Your room was barely big enough for the double bed in it, one side pressed up against the wall while a bedside table rested next to it. A wardrobe was next to that and a chest of drawers along with a mirror. 

“Err...sorry...it’s a little cramped.” You say quietly, rubbing your arms nervously once more and he just shakes his head at you with a small sigh that sounds more amused than you’d expected.

“You need to stop apologising for everything. It’s fine, honestly. Don’t stress yourself over it.” He heads over to the bed and looked down at it, teeth clanking against his lip ring as it looked down. “I’m gonna guess that you sleep on this side?” 

Pointing at the side closest to the bedside table, you go to nod before realise he’s being rhetorical. It was blatantly obvious which side you slept on, given the other side was covered in a large array of plushies. From more Pokémon to a Star Wars teddy, Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon, a cute cat face, a fluffy llama and so much more. 

The side Hoseok would be sleeping on was covered in them and you cover your face in dual embarrassment and horror, realising that you’d blatantly forgotten to clean it off for him. “Err...yeah. You can just...put them on the floor or something. Sorry, I mean…” 

You cut yourself off from apologising again at his look but he just smiles and shrugs. “It’s okay, I’ll sort it out.”

Quickly, you leave the room to prevent any further embarrassment for you. Sometimes you really wondered why Hoseok stayed with you given how different you both obviously were. The thought made your chest hurt and you pressed as it, frowning as you did your own nightly routine. It took a little longer than Hoseok’s as you had a whole skincare routine to go through and so ten minutes later you walked back in with a face mask on.

He was lying on his back, pillows propped up behind him as he looked through his phone and you noted with amusement the little ice cream plush that was still situated next to him. In fact...he made the most bizarre image laid there.

Your bedding was white, with tiny rainbows ending in clouds interspersed with yellow stars and little cartoons unicorns and pegasus that jumped and frolicked. You liked your bedding to look as cute as everything else, only it looked childish with him in it now.

His tattoos look at complete odds with it all, dark hair pushed back and making him look even hotter than ever with it all messed up. He looked dark and brooding in your bed, anathema to your bedding and it was both adorable and bizarrely attractive. 

A sudden thought rushes through your head that one day, if everything goes right, you’ll be having sex with him in that bed. Cheeks heating, you quickly rush forward and sit on the bed carefully, plugging your phone into the charger before looking back over at him.

“Do you need your phone charging too? I have another cable and plug.” You offer and he lets out a noise, head turning towards you before his eyes finally pull away. When he finally notices your face, he jerks away in shock before his face contorts and he squints at you.

“The fuck is on your face? Are you cosplaying Michael Myers or something?” Hoseok mutters, leaning forward a bit and looking you over. You try not to laugh, not wanting the face mask to move and you push at his face lightly.

“Don’t make me laugh, you’ll ruin it. It’s just a face mask, my night routine.” Laying back on the bed, he pulls a face at you.

“You do that every night? Isn’t it tiring?” You shake your head, checking in your Twitter feed as you wait for the time to pass until you can take it off again. “Is that why your skin always looks so pretty? Or is that makeup?”

“Hoseok! I haven’t worn makeup the last three times we’ve met up. You haven’t noticed between that and makeup?” He just stares at you for a moment before shrugging, his hand suddenly running along your back in slow and steady movements. It feels like electricity moves through your body as he does so, but you can’t tell any sexual intention behind it.

“I feel like no matter what I say here...I’m going to get myself in trouble. So...I will be smart and say that you look beautiful with and without makeup.” His smile is boylike then, making his entire face look far younger than he actually is and you sighed softly in defeat, shaking your head before checking the clock on your bedside table. “Why does your clock look like that?”

You pull off the face mask and throw it into the small trash can underneath the table, gently patting at your face to get the excess moisture to absorb. Glancing at the clock, you note it’s unusual shape and size while the orange numbers glow.

“It’s one of those clocks that simulate sunrise to help make it easier to wake up in the morning. I struggle with feeling tired and in winter I never want to get up. Err...I tend to get a little...or a lot...depressed with it. So I got this because daylight is meant to make you happier so ten minutes before my alarm goes off, it starts to light up and simulate a sunrise. It works pretty well in fairness.” You finish, rubbing your cheeks before grabbing the next step of your routine.

“Really? Huh. Cool.” He hands you his phone once you’ve finished, turning onto his side watching you intently. The attention makes you feel warm inside and finally you’re ready to go to bed, lifting the covers and cautiously sliding in next to him. It feels warm and comfortable as usual, your pillow and bedding maximised for comfort.

Reaching over, you turn off the lamp, leaving you both in darkness. The room feels oppressively silent at that moment before you realise that you can hear his breathing next to you. Suddenly, you feel hyper aware of his every movement and sound, your own body stiff beneath the covers.

A few minutes pass by like that, you unsure what to do now and too tense to sleep even after feeling so drowsy earlier. And then suddenly Hoseok reaches out, his hand resting on your stomach tentatively before stroking gently when you don’t react.

“You’re so tense.” He laughs softly and you feel the need to apologise again. But you hold it back, knowing that you have no reason to apologise. Hoseok knows by now what you’re like, he’s aware of your shy and awkward nature and he must know how out of your comfort zone you’re feeling right now.

Which is why you appreciate how slow he moves, his hand spreading heat through your stomach as his slow movements lead you to relaxing ever so slightly. He keeps doing it, his breathing just as hypnotising and you find your eyelids fluttering shut as the earlier drowsiness comes back.

“Can you turn over? On your side?” Hoseok asks softly, hand pausing and it takes a few seconds for you to acknowledge what he’d said. But you do so, shifting lazily until your back is facing him and your head is pressed comfortably into the pillow with your hand slotted beneath both pillows.

And then carefully shuffles up behind you, a warm and heavy weight sliding around your waist as he wraps an arm around you. Pulling slightly, he tugs you into a more comfortable position and you’re suddenly wide awake again. Even though you’ve been cuddled up with him before on a couch, it’s somehow completely different now that you’re lying together in bed.

Every bit of his front presses to your back and you’ve never been so aware of someone else. He feels like a furnace behind you, though you’re not sure if that’s because he actually is warm or if it’s because your body is burning hot. But you like it, as nervous as it makes you feel.

Your limbs feel like you could go outside and run a marathon yet the idea of leaving the bed is so far beyond you. His warm breath gently puffs against your neck as he settles a little more and you swallow hard, forcing your body to relax as you get used to the feeling. It’s been a long time since you’ve slept next to someone, and you’d never felt comfortable with them.

But you do with him. You do with Hoseok.

And without even realising it, your wandering mind begins to drift off as you lay there comfortably, feeling safe and content about everything. 

[wallwriterstuff]

The Necessity of Love

So inspired by this post from @lord-diavolo-is-watching 

Okay imagine this : the brothers had a hard time to adjust to the Devildom, so for their first night they all slept together in the living room and the brothers (everyone but Luci, Satan and maybe Mammon) asked if they shouldn't pray because that's what they usually do before going to sleep and Lucifer simply told them:

"Starting from today we don't pray anymore. Father has forsaken us."

Have a fic that literally no one but @ikemen-lover159 asked for :)

Summary: On their first night in the House of Lamentation, Lucifer gives it it’s namesake by lamenting on all the sins that brought them to the Devildom, trying to pinpoint where it all went wrong.

Warnings: Angsty as hell because we don’t know what fluff is here, Satan being somewhat cruel, the boys in distress, questioning the problem of evil.

Words: 2722 because I couldn’t stop once I started please forgive me

I would like to note that for any religious folk reading this, I mean no offence by posing the problem of evil as a way to question God. I followed what seemed like a logical thought process for Lucifer in a time of great grief and pain for all the brothers. In no way is it meant to belittle beliefs of any nature but this fic’s intention is to show how belief might be questioned. I have tried to handle the topic sensitively and apologise if anyone feels it was handled wrong. 

Since their very creation they had been taught to love. They had been taught to be patient, to be kind and to be devout. They had been taught the importance of purity, of chastity and charity. They were supposed to embody the traits that humanity would strive for in their quest for virtue, and they had worked for centuries to become all that He had intended them to be. Among the ranks of angels, there were few higher than them thanks to their devotion and adoration to Him and His cause.

The hypocrisy was stifling.

Lucifer had been created first, famed for his beauty and grace as he diligently served Him. He knew nothing other than the blind loyalty to the man who had breathed life into his lungs and raw power into his soul, not until he was taught compassion and love and everything good. He had been good. He’d been the best at being good! He had been chaste and pure and kind and ensured that his brothers were to. They shared no blood, but they were brothers none the less, created one by one and entrusted to one another to be guided down a virtuous path. They had all been good…hadn’t they?

It had been Him who had asked them to watch humanity, to give the lesser beings something to strive for as they grew into the world gifted to them. His adoration for them was clear so the Celestial Realm had followed suit. Lucifer had devoted himself whole heartedly to learning to love the strange little creatures far below, reaching up their hands as though virtue and grace was something they could snatch from the heavens. He had taught his brothers to do the same and they had spent endless stretches of time watching over the little ones when even He had seemed to grow bored of his creation. Belphegor and Lilith had taken his teachings to heart the most - Lilith perhaps a little too literally.

Lilith.

The agony her name brought was almost unbearable and his fist clenched of its own accord, nails scratching through the delicate fabric of the chair he had sat himself in by the fire. Her love for humanity had been so great it had led her to temptation. The rules were clear, to alter her lover’s lifespan was not an option but his sister was young and as it often did, youth had given way to impetuousness. Lucifer was no fool. He knew the likelihood of their love being accepted amongst the ranks of already sceptical angels, lesser and disobedient angles, was slim. He had thought he had more time to make Him and everyone else see reason, to craft an argument so well made it could be unshattered by any attempts to counter it. He had vetted the man, knew he was virtuous and good and deserving of the love of an angel. If only she hadn’t been so rash in attempting to save his life…

Lilith.

He hissed, the sting in his chest to real to subdue and file away. There was not a moments peace from the grief and the pain he and he alone had to shoulder now. Her only crime had been to love another too much. How could obliteration be the fate she deserved for following His teachings? His crime was worse, he had known it the moment he had suggested it to his brothers, but again it had come from a place of love. He had loved Lilith so deeply the desire to save her had become a maddening need. His own survival had seemingly depended on it, or so it felt like. His brothers had loved him enough to walk right behind him, standing tall as they leapt into the fray. When He had declared that they were all guilty of a grievous sin it had enraged him because…he’d never intended that. His love for his sister had driven him to a rebellion that placed his beloved brothers in just as much danger as she was in.

In the strangely still aftermath of it all he’d come to the conclusion it was his fault, lying on a cold, dirty floor as he waited for something to come and end his misery. When Lilith had began to fall he’d dived with her, his brothers continuing the fight in his stead as he plunged in a desperate attempt to save her. It was all he had ever wanted to do and things had spiralled so far beyond his control it was laughable. Only as she lay dying, his heartfelt goodbye pouring from him as he committed one last act of betrayal out of love for her, did he finally understand exactly how this would end. He had intended to take the blame, to suffer whatever punishment he must in exchange for the lives of his brothers, whose only real crime was to follow a flawed and imperfect angel like him. He still hadn’t seen it even then, the flaws in His Father so many humans were starting to see as they bickered about how best to honour Him.

He hadn’t expected to fly right into the middle of their execution.

He had returned to find them restrained but struggling, fire in their eyes and hope in their hearts. For him to return without Lilith crushed them. Beelzebub, the gentle giant beloved by every angel he had ever met, had gone limp so suddenly that those restraining him sagged to the floor under his sudden dead weight. Dazed at the loss of their sister the six of them had been entirely ready to accept punishment, to join her in returning to the nothingness they’d been created from. He knew differently, he knew she was alive and well now, and as an all-knowing Father Lucifer was sure that the powerful man before him knew it to. Watching Michael’s sword come swinging towards Mammon’s neck, the brother he had known and loved longest, had cleaved his heart in two – quite literally at that.

The bitter anger and betrayal he’d felt, the desperate need for vengeance, it swelled and burst out of him in a great shaft of light that flittered about angrily, the malevolence in it quite obvious. Once its humanoid figure had formed and the light had dimmed, the howl of rage the embodiment of his wrath let loose had shook his very bones. It had taken a lot to restrain Satan when he was first born, and Lucifer knew he had only made things worse by creating him. He honestly hadn’t meant to, but the rage had been too much. Mammon being put to death, his brother calmly taking it as though he deserved to pay for Lucifer’s crimes…it had been too much, and yet not enough. Not enough for their Father, who knew the grief was a greater punishment than death could ever be.

So, with one mighty shove He had pushed them all away.

The fall itself replayed in his head still and he doubted he would ever be granted peace from the memory. Shattering the barrier between the Celestial Realm and the human world had felt like crashing through ice, the shards cold and sharp as they sliced through his skin and the stinging wind did little to soothe the wounds. The cold had quickly become fire, Celestial grace unable to leave the Celestial Realm being dragged up and out through every pore in his body until it combusted and set ablaze the wings so many had fawned over. His brothers screams echoing in his ears, his bones popping like firecrackers as his entire form was diminished. Landing in the Devildom had quite honestly been painless compared to the rest of it all. The slap of cold, hard dirt on his back, stealing his air, was actually a welcome relief, since it meant he no longer had to Fall.

He wasn’t sure what had happened to the others or if they’d tell him their experience, given time to heal, but as his body slowly put itself back together he had been greeted by the animal that would become his familiar. The peacock had strutted regally towards him and pecked at the remaining feather and bone the impact hadn’t quite shed him of. He had stared aimlessly at the sky, letting the peacock preen him as new wings grew in. He had lay there thinking of all that had led him to this moment and reached the conclusion that something had to be flawed. So what was it? Was love flawed? Was humanity? Was it both?

It had been a few days since that moment and he still wasn’t sure of the answer. His brothers were all finally awake, Diavolo granting them power and healing their injuries like an old friend, welcoming them to the Devildom as though they were always meant to have fallen into the depths of its depravity. Their new home was lavish beyond anything they could have imagined and yet…it was too much. To spend all the millennia from the dawn of creation up until now revering the simple things, refuting greed and luxury, made it difficult to be thrust into a world where an opulent lifestyle was not only expected but required. They embodied different virtues now. Pride, greed, envy, wrath, gluttony and sloth. They had been warned of these seven deadly sins and tried their best to aid humans in avoiding them, and now…now they were them. It was all his fault.

Belphegor would happily blame humanity from now till the end of time he was sure, but their predicament to him seemed to stem from love. Lilith had loved a human, and he had loved Lilith, so he started a rebellion and their love for him meant his brothers had joined him on a one-way ride down to the Devildom. He had tried to use that same love since, praying for the forgiveness of his brothers. His Father had quite diligently ignored his pleas and though Lucifer was still undecided if it was love, humanity or both that was a flawed concept, he had reached a conclusion that was equally as harrowing as it was satisfying.

God did not love.

An all-loving Father would have offered a chance at forgiveness, wouldn’t he? An all-loving Father would not have been so cruel as to condemn them to a fate where they would have to endure their grief in a place too unfamiliar still to call home. Death would have been a mercy, so an all-loving Father would have granted them that surely? They were here because they had loved one another too much, and their Father had not loved them enough. It was decided then. Love was a flawed concept. His Father had been wrong to place such high value on such a tempting sin.

“Dammit all!” Leviathan’s howl of irritation and pain had his eyes lifting from the fire crackling in the hearth. Tears pricked at vivid orange eyes, his fingers desperately scratching at the scales that now coated various patches of skin. The digits came back bloody and Mammon’s eyes widened.

“Hey, hey! Stop it Levi, here, here let me see.” He gently forced his brother’s trembling hand away from the self-inflicted wounds. “Hang on, let me get something.” Mammon left in a hurry and Lucifer looked over each of his brothers in turn. The rooms were too lavish, and they weren’t used to sleeping so far apart from one another, so a compromise had been made and plush duvets had been bought down to the living room. Belphegor had yet to wake, his sleeping patterns completely irregular now his body was adjusting to the sloth in him. Satan was engrossed in a book about Devildom history, the only one who was seemingly keen to be down here. Asmodeus had turned his back on them all, huddled in his duvet and staring aimlessly at the bookshelf before him.

When Mammon returned with a bowl of water and a cloth, Levi couldn’t help the quiet sniffle that left him.

“Th-thanks.” He mumbled, trying desperately to keep it together. Beelzebub wasn’t even trying. Protectively wrapped around Belphegor as the latter snored softly, the grief and torment in his eyes was obvious as he watched his older brother hurting.

“The scales are really dry, maybe you should take a bath.” Mammon suggested quietly. His loud, boisterous personality was gone, replaced instead by something horribly timid. Lucifer felt another pang of guilt and anger. He had done this to them all.

“Maybe…maybe we should pray?” Asmodeus’s voice was equally as quiet, weak and uncertain. Lucifer clicked his tongue, his eyes moving back to the flames. He heard the rustle of Amso moving but couldn’t bring himself to look at him. He didn’t want to see any of them if he was honest, the brothers he’d failed. Satan’s quiet snort didn’t go unnoticed.

“Asmo-“

“We usually do before we go to sleep so what’s the harm?” Beelzebub demanded. He had had little patience for Satan since his appearance, convinced that he was the reason they had been tipped into the Devildom and stripped of any chance of re-joining his beloved sister, the final piece to the puzzle that was Beelzebub, Belphegor and Lilith.

“In case you haven’t noticed, he seems to be done listening to you.” Satan sneered.

“Like you would know, you weren’t even an angel! You don’t understand any of it!” Asmodeus protested, “Right Lucifer?” Lucifer couldn’t bring himself to answer. He had tried. He had prayed and prayed and prayed only to be ignored time and again. Their Father didn’t love them, he had abandoned them to this place. He had taught them all to love and gone back on his own word. Lucifer clenched his fist once more, the anger and grief roiling in his gut and making him feel oh so sick.

“All I’m saying is if your blessed Father was all-knowing he would have foreseen this happening, wouldn’t he? So, if he knew it was coming, and is all-loving, why wouldn’t he correct your course? Why not help you avoid this truly terrible fate?” the way he drawled each word really gave it time to sink in and the answering silence spoke volumes.

“He’s…got a point.” Mammon muttered uncomfortably.

“Of course I do, the sooner you accept it the faster you can start adjusting to life here. It might not be all bad. Did you know the Devildom has over 300 types of demon inhabit it?” Satan stated matter of factly.

“And now we do.” Beelzebub said softly. The silence that rang in his ears made Lucifer’s head spin. He pushed up from his chair, levelling each of his broken, beaten brothers with his calmest stare. They all knew better than to question the tears in his eyes or the slight waver in his voice.

"Starting from today we don't pray anymore. Father has forsaken us."

He quickly buried himself in his own bedding after that so they wouldn’t see how much it truly pained him to say it. He pretended not to hear Asmodeus cry himself to sleep. He pretended he couldn’t hear Mammon trying to calm a pained Levi begging him to take the scales away and give him his wings back. He pretended not to hear Beelzebub’s quite goodnight to Lilith, his solemn vow to look after Belphegor woven into the tender words that carried through the air. He pretended to ignore it all even though every bit of pain his brother’s oozed was soaked up by him like a sponge, adding to his own torment. He pretended not to feel Mammon’s hand on his shoulder to as he passed him to settle down to sleep to.

“Have we really been forsaken?” he asked him quietly. Lucifer swallowed thickly.

“Father has forsaken us…but we will not forsake each other.” It was all he could think to say to comfort his younger brother. He would forsake none of them. He would make them whole again as best he could. He hadn’t made a deal with Diavolo for nothing. Even if the world around them changed, even if he himself became unrecognisable to the people that once loved him, everything he would do from then on would always be in the name of family.

[foronceleavemealone]

Long time no see

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

A/N: I feel like this is very dialogue heavy and I don’t know how to write good dialogue. I wrote a different begining, but I forgot to save it and the whole browser refreshed and I lost everything. So I don’t like this begining as much. I don’t know if this is any good. I know that in some of these conversations spanish would’ve been used, but I don’t speak spanish and I didn’t want to use google translate. There are lots of smiles, chuckles and sips, I guess that’s just how I roll as an awkward person. I apologise for any mistakes. I hope it’s at least a little bit enjoyable.

Summary: OC and Javier go to Laredo. Not very surprisingly Javier’s family wants to see him, the hero they all love and miss. Little do they know that he doesn’t feel like a hero at all while she knows.

Pairing:  Javier Peña x OC (I guess? But it can also be an insert. Seems somewhere in the middle for me. idk..)

Genre: fluff, angst

Warnings: mentions of death, explosion, survivors guilt, crying

————————————

The flight wasn’t that long, but for someone who gets motion sickness it seemed to last for an eternity. That’s one of the reasons she hated flying.

“You ok?” Javier asked looking a bit concerned when the plane landed. He knew about her motion sickness, but still, seeing someone unwell made him feel uneasy.

“Yeah, I’m fine” she said as she tried to take a sip of water. Her hands were shaking a little bit. It’d be great if this sensation would disappear the moment the plane touches the ground. But it lingers for a bit, making the day a little bit more difficult to get through. A part of her thought that this sensation got worse when she was in a bad mood, so she tried to be positive. “It went better than I though it would”

“Ok, let’s just get off this damn plane” 

————————————

When they exited the airport Javier’s dad was already waiting for them. 

“Hey pops. How ya been?” Javier said as he dropped his bag and went in for a hug.

“Oh my boy. I’m good, I’m good” Javier’s dad chuckled a little bit and gave a few pats on Javier’s back.

She admired this interaction from a bit further away. She knew that even though Javi wasn’t the most open when it came to feelings and emotions or affection, he had a good relationship with his dad as it was proven by this sweet moment. 

“And this must be your friend” Javier’s dad said looking at her.

“Ah...yes. It’s really great to see you again Mr. Peña” she reached out her hand.

“Sweatheart, you can call me Chucho.” he shook her hand. “I haven’t seen you since the day you both graduated from the academy. It’s good to see that Javier still keeps in touch with his friends from those days. You know, he talks about you” 

“Come on dad” Javier said while slightly rubbing his forehead with a small smile  on his face.

“Right” Chucho chuckled “let’s get going” he said and started walking to his car “we’ll chat on the way back’

She felt a little bit flustered. Sure she mentioned her friends to her mom. Especially since she and Javier were not only friends from the academy, but also trainee partners. So he once was quite a big part of her life. But the thought of Javier talking about her made her wonder in what light. 

“You need a hand with your suitcase?” Javier asked snapping her out of the thoughts.

“No, I’m fine” she smiled, started rolling her suitcase and walked to Chucho’s car.

“Here, let me help you” Javier said as she was about lift the suitcase up. 

“It’s really o-” she didn’t even finish as he picked up her suitcase and loaded it into the trunk. “Thanks” 

‘Yeah no problem” Javi said as he put his bag into the trunk and then gestured for her to get in the car. “Don’t you want to sit in the front?” he asked just as she was about to open the back door “I mean, I thought after the flight the motion sickness must be pretty bad still”

“Oh it’s fine. I’ll manage” she smiled again and thought about how many times she’s felt fine today.

He looked at her, not really believing her, but letting her be for now. 

————————————

"You know, some of your aunts will want to see. They planned a little get together for tomorrow" Chucho started the conversation after quite some time of silence from the three of them, with only the radio playing in the background.

"Where at?" Javier asked with something weighing on his mind.

She figured he didn't really want this get together.

"At home. It's nothing big. And I hope our friend will join us too" Chucho said glancing at her from the rear-view mirror with a warm smile. "I already told everyone Javi's bringing over a friend"

"Oh, well then I'll gladly join you" she assured him.

Javier too glanced at her smiling a little bit.

The drive was longer than it usually would have been. Javier’s dad took some detours to show her a bit more of the town. She appreciated it. It was cute how he would throw in some fun facts about Javier along the way. Chuco showed her the school that Javi went to, the diner where he went on his first date. He also talked about Javi’s early childhood crushes, but Javier cut him off with blushing cheeks. It was a nice moment and she felt a little bit closer to Javier.

Chucho suggested stopping to watch the sunset as it was the golden hour and everything was swimming in the warm light, but after some discussion they decided that they’ve had enough to take in for the day. 

————————————

She was settling in the room she was given. She still felt a bit uncomfortable with the fact that she was taking up space, even though Javier and Chucho both said that it’s ok and fine and that she was very much welcome here. 

She went to open a window, to let some fresh air in, and looked out to the backyard. It was very pretty. She remembered how Javier once mentioned his mother’s flower garden and here she was looking at it. Chucho didn’t seem like a huge gardener, but who knows, maybe he got some help to keep his wife’s legacy going. She was admiring the flowers bathing in the sunset when she heard a soft knock. She turned around and saw Javier.

“Hey, how you doing? Everything ok?” he asked leaning a bit on the the door frame.

“I’m good” finally she was something more than just fine “I was just enjoying the flowers. They’re very beautiful”

Javier smiled admiring the way she looked in the soft rays of the sunset.

“Do you wanna grab something to eat?” finally he asked after catching himeslf staring.

She nodded and they both went downstairs. They had a lovely dinner with Chucho, chatting away about various topics, and once again Javier’s childhood stories finding their way into the conversation and being painfully taken in (by blushing and slight laughter and small smiles) by Javier himself, They were talking for quite some time, before Chucho decided to retire for the night, leaving her and Javier at the kitchen table. 

“Your dad’s really sweet” she said before taking a sip of her drink “and a good story teller”

“Sure he is” Javier sat back and smiled “when he wants to embarrass me”

“Oh how’s that embarrassing? I thought all of those stories were lovely and cute”

“Yeah especially the one with neighbour’s dog” 

They both looked at each other and burst out laughing. They settled down after a few laughing bursts. It was a calming silence. Javi had missed such silence. With no pressure, no fear. She always seemed to make it comfortable. She always made everything a little bit better than it actually was. He had a few partners through out his carreer. He felt like Steve and her were the closest ones he’s had. But she was his first partner. Even though they were trainees back theb. They were just starting work straight out of the academy and she was right there alongside him. ‘Through thick and thin’ Javier thought to himself. 

“Well we should clean up” she said and picked up both of their plates bringing Javier back to the moment.

“Oh you don’t need to do that. Let me wash the dishes” 

“It’s fine. It’s the least I can do. Are you looking forward to tomorrow?” she asked feeling a bit (once again) out of place. It was supposed to be a family gathering and she felt like she was going to be an intruder. Besides Javier and his dad she knew no one. She didn’t want to leech on on any of them, yet she didn’t want to awkwardly hang around. 

“Oh... It’s inevitable at this point” he sighed “it’ll be fine” he said as if he sensed her thoughts. 

She looked at him and smiled. 

“We better go to bed, huh” she looked at the clock “since tomorrow’s gonna be a big day”

“Yeah we should” Javier agreed and they both went up the stairs. “Everything ok, you don’t need anything?” he asked her when they reached her room. 

“Yeah, everything’s good”

“Well if you need anything, my room is right next to yours”

“Ok. Goodnight, Javi” she patted his arm which sent chills down his spine.

“Goodnight” he walked to the door of his room and looked back at her’s. Various thoughts rushed through his mind, but he only shook his head and entered his own room. 

————————————

She couldn’t really sleep. Something was bothering her. The new surroundings? The events of the day? Sure they had a part in all of this, but it was something else. Everything seemed like a distraction from the things she was actually feeling. ‘But this is supposed to be a distraction, right?’ she thought to herself. Everything seems different during the day, but when the night comes and there are no more distractions, all of the demons come out to play. Should she even call these things demons? Then again, who’s gonna tell her not to if they bother her...

The demons are one thing, but Javi... now that’s another thing. She had forgotten how good she feels when they’re together. A laugh, a smile and the whole world seems a bit brighter with him around. She didn’t even realise that she was smiling thinking about him. 

She remembered what was waiting for her tomorrow. A big unknown. She’d had plenty of briefings and meetings with various important people at work and she didn’t feel this nervous. At about 3am she came to the conclusion that whatever happens, happens. It’s better to get some sleep instead, since it seems like it’s going to be another long day.

————————————

She woke up at 8 am. Somehow she felt refreshed even after all that inner turmoil. She started getting ready. Chucho said everyone would gather up at about 11am so she was right on track. She thought she’d skip breakfast, since the nerves were once again showing their presence, and wait around for lunch. She looked through the clothes she had brought. ‘What does one even wear to a family lunch like this?’ Her family never did such things, there were never any get togethers apart from funerals and weddings. Since she didn’t have much to choose from she picked black jeans, a moss green button up and black trainers. She also put on a charm necklace. She looked at herself in the mirror. ‘Something’s missing’ she thought. And then she remembered. She looked through the jewelry she had brought with her and found the watch. Javi’s watch. She thought it’d be somewhat sentimental bringing it here. She put on the watch and was heading out of the room. The second she opened the door she bumped into Javi.

“Oh sorry. I was just coming to get you” 

“Get me? For what? I thought everyone was gonna come at eleven”

“There’s no punctuality in this family” he smiled “everyone’s here already. Besides, I’m not letting you go out there alone”

All the nerves increased, since she thought she’d have more time to mentally get ready for this. But everyone was already here, which also meant that they were waiting for Javi to come back. He was the one they wanted to see after a long time, not her. But it was sweet of him to get her and ease her worries.  

“Ok, let’s go” she laughed nervously.

There were actually more people than she thought there would be. She figured it wasn’t only his aunts that were here, but his uncles, cousins and their children too. There were tables set out outside, in the backyard, and there was a lot of food. Everyone had most likely brought something to contribute. 

Javi introduced her to his aunts since they were the most eager to meet her. When they heard Javi was bringing over a friend, they thought it would be, well, a man. Instead they saw a woman walking next to Javi and immediately thought that this was more than a friend and that Chucho mixed something up telling them the information. They started asking questions about the “relationship”, how long they’ve been together, when’s the wedding and are there any children in their plans. All of these questions smacked both her and Javi in the face as they came out one after the other, not giving them a moment to answer anything. They both seemed flustered and they both explained that they’re just friends. The aunts were visibly upset at first but got over it pretty quickly. 

Javi then tried to introduce her to his other relatives one by one, but after a while she lost Javier to some of the children as they wanted his attention and wandered off to maybe strike up a conversation with any of his other relatives on her own. 

The gathering actually lasted the whole day. Some people left earlier than others, but the sun had already set and there still were people there. She helped cleaning up along the way with the other women and saw some of them off. 

Javi saw the last of the guests off and walked back into the kitchen where his dad was putting away leftovers.

“What a day” Javi said grabbing a beer.

“Sure was”

“Can you believe aunties thought we were a couple” Javi laughed and took a sip.

“Can’t blame them. Wouldn’t it be nice?” Chucho looked at Javier. They stared at each other for a bit. “She’s all grown up now. She’s a nice girl, Javi”

“She is” he twisted the bottle in his hands.

“Then why don’t you do something about it, son” Chucho said calmly. 

Javier looked at the ground. You could actually see the gears turning in his head.

“Where is she?” he finally asked.

“She’s outside” Chucho gestured to the backyard “she helped clean up and said she was going to get some fresh air” 

Javier walked outside, hands a bit clamy. He saw that she was sitting on the swingset. He walked over.

“Hey” he said with a soft smile.

“Hey you too” she said and scooched over.

He sat next to her. They were making the swing sway a little bit. 

“How... was today?” finally he broke the silence.

“It was good. Your cousin James is really... quite the charmer” 

Javier chuckled. 

“I saw you both talking” he did see them and he didn’t really like the way he was getting so close to her “did he show you pictures of his car or at least talk about his car?”

“Yeah, he did, a lot actually”

“That means he was hitting on you”

She looked at him smiling.

“What?” she giggled.

“Yeah, he’s got his own style. Doesn’t get him very far, but he still does it” he chuckled too. 

They both sat in the silence for a bit, but she was the one to break it this time. 

“How did you feel today? Back at home, surrounded by family”

“I guess it’s nice seeing everyone again, but...” he didn’t finish.

“You don’t like the attention” she did it for him.

“Yeah”

“They consider you a hero” 

“I’m not a hero” he felt like he’d heard these words before “nothing I did was hero-like”

“And that’s why you quit” 

“That’s why I quit” he nodded and looked outwards into nothing. 

She looked up to the sky. The night was warm, the sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight, so the stars were visible. She teared up a little bit while looking at them.

“You never told me why you quit” Javier said making the swing sway a bit more.

“It’s complicated” she said quietly.

He looked at her and saw her teary eyes. He was saddened by the sight. He didn’t expect her to say anything else, but he didn’t want her keeping everything in. She surprised him.

“I’d had enough. The shootouts, the bureaucracy, the right, the wrong, the work itself. Everything had built up, but losing my partner was the last straw” she paused for a bit “two months ago me and my partner Lydia were busting a lab. Nothing difficult. It’s as basic as basics get. The mission seemed like a success, we were about to pack up and go back, leaving the rest of the crew to finish with the substance collecting, when I realised I had lost my pager. I was about to go back and look for it, but Lydia said she wanted to check something up with the team and that she would look for it. So she went back into that basement” she paused for a moment again “there was an explosion. It killed her and five other people from my team”

He looked at her and saw a tear falling down her cheek.

“Were you injured?” his mind couldn’t comprehend the fact that she could’ve died that day. His very first partner, his friend, the woman he...

“I was fine. The explosion knocked me down, but I was far enough from it” she wiped away a tear “gosh.. I just keep thinking that it should’ve been me. I lost the pager, it was mine I-”

“It shouldn’t have been you” Javier interupted her and took her hand “it was an accident, ok? I’m sorry that you lost your partner and your team. But I am glad that you’re ok” he rubbed her hand with his thumb. He saw that she was trying her best not to cry so he put his hand around her and that was enough for her to lean into him and start crying. He held her until she calmed down, caressing her shoulder. At that moment he felt like he would’ve done everything in his power to protect her. 

It was the first time she had talked about this with someone. She was the type to bottle everything up, so it felt like a rock had been lifted from her chest. It was also comforting to be in his arms. She felt safe, calm at least for a moment.

“I’m sorry” she said still laying her head on his chest.

“Don’t be. It’s ok” he took her hand and was about to lift it and kiss it when he noticed that she was wearing that watch, his watch. “You’re wearing my watch” he rubbed her hand.

“Oh.. yeah... I thought it’d be a nice sentiment” 

That made him smile for some reason. But his thoughts were interupted when she sat back up, leaving his embrace. 

“Way to ruin a decent day, huh” she smiled and looked down.

“You didn’t ruin anything. If anything, you made it worth while” 

She looked at him and put a hand on his knee and caressed it a little bit. They sat on the swing for a little while. She had forgotten how calming the silences were when she was with him. No pressure, no fear. It just felt right. 

His mind was racing. He had so many thoughts, so many feelings. He was deep in thought when he heard her speak.

“It’s getting cold” she said rubbing her arm.

“Yeah... we should go to bed” he said as he stood up. He looked at her. He hesitated reaching out and taking her hand, so he was relieved that she got the memo to walk with him back to the house.

They reached her bedroom and stopped.

“Javi, I...” she looked into his eyes. Eventhough it was almost midnight the crescent moon provided enough light to see just how deep and beautiful they were. He was looking right back into her eyes as well. There was no doubt that they both were feeling the same thing. “Thank you, Javi” she broke the tension.

“Yeah.. no problem. Well I should..” he gestured to his bedroom.

“Yeah so should I” she gestured to her room. They both chuckled and went to their separate rooms.

[narcissasdaffodil]

"things you said under the stars and in the grass" for marisol and alecto? 🥺👉🏽👈🏽💙

Thanks so much for the ask! @thoracicorchid requested this one too, I hope both of you enjoy this! I find it difficult to keep Marilecto stuff short, so here’s a 1668 word oneshot. This one is definitely in LCBC verse, enjoy x

“It’s like a million little stars spelling out your name.”

Getting some time to properly relax in the Villa appears to be very difficult, especially in terms of alone time. The evenings were still so warm and she sits fiddling with a daisy and spins it in her fingers. She leans against a sun lounger and props up her back. Choosing to sit on the grass was probably weird, but oh well. You don’t mind being weird.

Everyone else is distracted by the party, so no one spots her sneak away. She slides off her leather jacket and looks up at the sky. She sets it safely on the sun lounger and feels the warm air.

Being able to see the stars was a rare occurrence for her. She lives in a tiny flat in London with her cat Sadie, and her flatmate, who moved recently. She’s been meaning to find someone to take her place, rent in London is pretty ridiculous.

She hums softly and traces Andromeda, Pisces and Pegasus in the air. She has learned the stars and constellations through years of self study, along with her twin sister Quinn having a considerable interest in astronomy and astrophysics, she even decided to choose astrophysics as a degree. She’s absorbed a lot of information since.

The rest of her surroundings falls away, she focuses entirely on the night sky above. Her ears pop, and the hustle and bustle of the party floats away, and leaves her in silence. She taps her leg and fills the silence with the soft sound of her own voice.

“Have a seat upon this branch of mine, it’s been a while honey I think I feel fine,” she relaxes into the song and lets it take her over. For so long she would only sing in private so to do this, to let herself free was bigger than most people could guess.

“Oh my my, oh my stars, everything you see is ours. Or it could be if you would try. I wish you would, I wish you might.”

Marisol sets her empty glass down on the counter and scans the group for Alecto. If she was anywhere, she’d be with Hope or Lucas. Marisol stretches on her tiptoes and moves through the crowd as she notices Lucas’ tall frame towards the outskirts. She ducks under someone’s arm, a finger sets her glasses slightly wonky on her face. She stops and adjusts them and mutters under her breath in the direction of a tipsy Bobby. He seriously can’t dance to save his life. It could be the alcohol and quite easily could have been worse. At least your glasses are still safe and on your face.

She makes her way over to Lucas before she can get sidetracked and before she loses the nerve and forgets her mission. Alecto’s so happy with him, she might eventually forget about you. But you want to maintain her friendship, it’s by far one of the healthiest you have had.

She taps Lucas on the arm, and when he turns towards her, she feels a lump in her throat that she has to try to speak past. An awkward silence lasts between them, nothing like the silences she has with Alecto, and Lucas is the one to break it.

“Marisol?” He looks at her quizzically, a question on his lips. She supposes it was strange, her talking to him of all people, but he was usually attached at the hip to Alecto so her first bet for who could find her.

“What do you need? If this is about whether or not I am interested in you, the answer is still very much no.” He continues.

Her cheeks flush red as she has a painful flashback. Of course trying to go for him before would bite you in the arse. Alecto maybe gave you permission, but you made an absolute fool of yourself.

“Um...no, I wasn’t going to ask that. I know you’re with Alecto, and you two are happy together and that’s fine... Completely fine. I was actually wondering if you’d seen where she went, you two are usually so close to one another, you’re practically attached at the hip.” Marisol winces slightly as she trips over her words, her voice wavers as she speaks. Being a mess around everyone you somewhat like is difficult. Especially when they’ve rejected you, twice now.

“My apologies then. I didn’t intend to assume anything, that was wrong of me,”

he winces slightly at his misstep, and gives her a sincere apology. “She just went for some time to herself, but she did tell me that if you come to find her, to let you know that she was by the loungers. So I’m passing that on.” He pats her shoulder awkwardly and looks at her with sympathy.

“Oh, okay. Thank you.” She makes a hasty exit before she can embarrass herself further and starts to make her way over to the sun loungers. She feels hot tears behind her eyes and blinks them back furiously. You’re not going to cry over this. You’re definitely not, you got upset the first time you got rejected by him. He did let you down gently though. You’re just so used to always being the bridesmaid, never the bride.

She hears Alecto before she sees her, and notices her gentle voice. She halts midstep and listens.

“If everything you’ve said to me has been true, then all my stars are leading me to you.”

She watches the song absorb Alecto, her emotions forgotten for a while. She looks really magical now, there in the starlight. And singing a song about stars of all things.

The silence returns to the area as Alecto finishes and Marisol makes her way over. She notices how Alecto sits on the grass and leans her back against the sun lounger, and finds herself questioning why the grass of all things. She sits down on the sun lounger, next to Alecto’s jacket and accidentally sits on Alecto’s spread out hair as she sits with her head leaned back on the sun lounger.

“Oww! Could you please stand up then move my hair out the way? Thank you.” Alecto sounds grumpy which sparks back Marisol’s tears from earlier. Marisol ducks her head as she stands up and gently moves Alecto’s hair aside before perching on the sun lounger. She curls up her legs and rests her chin on her knees and hides her face behind a curtain of hair.

“Hey. Look. If I was harsh earlier, I’m sorry. It just hurt having you sit on my hair.” Alecto sits up and climbs onto the sun lounger. She rests an arm around Marisol’s shoulders.

Marisol bites her lip, silent tears making their way down her cheeks. “It...it’s not your fault. Lucas got the wrong end of the stick earlier and thought I was flirting with him again. He did apologise for his misstep, but it hurt to...to be reminded of my failure there yet again. And Bobby is yet to apologise for the way he treated me during OP Nope, how he thought I’d instantly...risk my friendship with Hope, and with you to risk being the Villa’s most hated again. It was difficult enough the first time. It sounds so stupid...both things I’m upset about. You can laugh, if you like.”

Alecto moves Marisol’s hair from her face and lightly catches hold of her chin. Marisol finds herself unable to turn her head away from Alecto, her warm brown eyes are strangely magnetic.

“Mari, listen to me. I wouldn’t laugh. I’m serious about that. I mean, I just gave Bobby hell for the way he treated you and Hope, and me, but the way he treated me is less important. I have a stable relationship, something which both you and Hope are struggling with. I know being so alone before hurt you, so of course you wouldn’t risk it again. As for Lucas, he apologised for it, which is something positive there. I know that the first rejection hurt you, but you will eventually find someone just for you. Maybe even me. You just need to keep believing. You’ll be okay, I promise, and I’ll stay by your side too. You deserve the world, and I wish I could magic it up just to see you smile.” Alecto’s voice softens, but it still maintains strength. She reaches over and wipes Marisol’s tears with a finger.

“Thank you. You really don’t have to do this.” Marisol protests slightly, unable to believe she deserves Alecto’s kindness.

“Yes, I don’t have to. But I want to. That’s the difference. I don’t need a reason to want to cheer up my best friend, right?” She squeezes Marisol’s hand, and causes Marisol to look up at her. “Look up at the sky, and tell me what you see.”

Marisol tilts her head skywards, and studies the night sky through teary eyes. The tears blur her vision slightly, and she removes her glasses and wipes them, then returns to the sky.

“Stars and constellations. They’re pretty…” her voice turns wavery in wonder as she studies the sky.

“Your blood contains a lot of iron, specifically in the molecules of haemoglobin. The iron is the product of a massive star that blew up 8 billion years ago, which means you have stardust in your veins due to that star exploding. Everything on the Earth originated from stardust, including us. We have it floating through us today, at this very minute. We are made of stardust. Isn’t that magical?” As she speaks, Alecto becomes very animated, as she gestures with her hands as she speaks. Her eyes brighten, and Marisol can see sparks in them, very like stardust.

Marisol is unable to reply, just finds herself staring at Alecto in wonder.

“Which is why I’m so insistent that you’re magical, and wonderful. You contain stars within you, which are definitely magical and wonderful for sure.”

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Trust | Doctor Who

Pairing: Doctor x Reader (readers choice as to which regeneration this is, I personally had a mix of ten and eleven in mind when writing)

Word Count: 4383

Warning: gets super angsty at points, very tiny mention of blood, possible death? and some very cheesy fluff

A/N: okay so this has been sitting in my drafts for months and I’ve been reluctant to post it but then I thought what the hell I’m just gonna do it. I thought about splitting it into parts but decided to just stick it up as a oneshot. And as always spelling and grammar is not my strongest skill so please be kind :)

- - - - -

“Finally, you’re here! I’ve been waiting for hours, you really need a more comfortable sofa you know..” The Doctor says lounging on your sofa, staring you excitedly waiting for an answer. 

“What did I tell you about letting yourself into my apartment?” You say, dropping your bag to the floor.

“I know” he continues, ignoring your question “I could have just jumped in the TARDIS, travelled to the moment just before you got home and spared myself the agony but I didn’t know exactly how long you would be out and quite frankly that feels like more effort than I feel like taking part in today. But anyway enough about me..” he takes a deep breath ”how did it go?”

“How did what go?” You respond blankly

“Your date”

You take a sharp intake of breath, trying to keep your expression blank to hide any emotion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” 

���Oh come on y/n, this is me you’re talking to. You know you can’t keep secrets from me”

“I’m not keeping any... what makes you think I’ve been on a date?”

“It’s obvious. Your hairs down, you never wear your hair down unless its a special event or you’re trying to impress someone. Your clothes are far too fancy for work, too risqué for a family occasion. And your face, there’s a glow to your face like you’ve been blushing. Soooo, how was it? I want to hear everything” he leans forward, resting his chin in his hands staring up at you with hope.

He reminded you of an overexcited puppy. Ever since your last boyfriend had dumped you via text while you were off on a TARDIS adventure, the Doctor had been trying to set you up with every potential candidate he found. You, on the other hand, had just wanted to forget about boys all together and focus on having fun with the Doctor. That was until you met Jack. 

“look, I just... we don’t have time for this right now. Isn’t there some planet that needs saving or something?”

“Ah, they can save themselves” batting his hand away like he was trying to hit a fly ”this is more important. You had a date!”

“Just leave it, please”

“No I will not, until you tell me everything”

“There’s nothing to tell”

“Sure there is, why wont you talk to me?”

“BECAUSE HE STOOD ME UP, OKAY?” You suddenly explode and the Doctor just watches you silently. “He didn’t come. I waited in that cafe for two and a half hours and he didn’t come. No phone call, not even a text. Two and a half hours I sat on my own, watching the door, trying to ignore the pitiful looks from everyone else. ‘Oh look at that poor sad girl, cant even get a date.. pathetic...’” you start to break down before you can finish your sentence. The Doctor jumps up and pulls you into a tight hug. “What is wrong with me? What did I do wrong?” You cry.

“Hey no, shhhhh, nothing is wrong with you” the Doctor reassures, stroking your hair “you are perfect”  

“Why didn’t he show? Am I that dull to talk to? Did he spot me in window, take one look and run the other way? Or maybe he had no intention of ever coming, he just set me up as a joke. And i fell for it like the fool that i am?”

“NO” the Doctor says firmly, taking your face in his hands and staring into your eyes “look at me. You are NOT a fool. Okay? You are one of the smartest, bravest, funniest, kindest, most interesting people I’ve ever had the pleasure of travelling with. Honestly. You amaze me every single day. Don’t you ever speak about yourself like that”

He kissed you on the forehead and you show him a weak smile. 

“I just don’t understand why he wouldn’t come. When we spoke on the ohine this morning he kept saying he was so excited to meet.”

“Ah” The doctor suddenly remembers,  taking a step back and looking to the ground like something was bothering him. 

“What is it?” 

“I think that maybe this might have slightly been my fault..”

You don’t say anything, you just look at him with confusion. 

“I may have accidentally on purpose bumped into Jack on his way to meeting you and accidentally scared him off... accidentally...”

Your mouth drops open as the realisation of what the Doctor has done sinks in. Your face switches through confusion, to disbelief, to anger. 

“You did WHAT?!”

“I just wanted to check him out, ask him about his intentions. You know how I feel about people called Jack! Look I just needed to make sure he wasn’t, you know, some sort of insane axe murderer type”

“YOU’RE the one who’s insane!” You shout back, now pacing around the room, hands up in your hair “I cant even look at you right now... you know not all men are like Captain Jack Hark- wait..” suddenly you stop pacing, turning to look at him “how do you know his name? Come to think of it, how did you even know I was going to meet anyone?”

“You, you left your phone on the TARDIS console the other day while you ‘popped to the loo’” he says, making air quotes with his fingers as he quoted you, trying to make a joke lighter but actually just pissing you off even more. “It kept doing the buzzy buzzy thing so i picked it up to shush it and saw all these messages from Jack talking about looking forward to meeting you and I thought-“

“What? You thought anyone who would want to go on a date with me must be insane?!”

“No, no no no of course not no I-“

“Then why? Doctor, why would you do this to me?”

“Because I love you” he blurts out. You fall silent, eyes fixed on his face. “I love you y/n, and I couldn’t stand the thought of you being hurt again” he pauses “and I think that maybe, deep down, I was terrified of the thought that you could fall in love with someone who isn’t me”

You just stand there, silently staring at his face. You’d never seen him this vulnerable, this honest about his feelings. 

“No..” you say and he looks at you confused “no, NO. You can’t do this to me. You can’t spend the last few months trying to set me up with other people, make me think that you don’t think of me at all in that way and then turn around and tell me you LOVE me?! What the HELL Doctor? You can’t just play with people emotions like that!”

“I never intended to hurt you, y/n, that’s the last thing I wanted and I hate myself for hurting you. But bad things seem to happy to the people I love, and I think I thought that if you were with someone else then, you’d be safe? I, I don’t know. Just, please y/n I need you to know that I am so sorry.” 

You just look at him. It’s hard to see the man who is usually so cool and calm actually starting to panic. 

“Please say something.” He pleads but you continue to look at him silently, your thoughts racing a million miles an hour in your head. 

“Y/N?” He says again, stepping forward and reaching out to you but you take a step back and look down at your feet. 

“I trusted you...” you voice comes out quiet and full of hurt “...with everything. I put my life in your hands.” You pause, look up at the doctor and take a deep breath “I don’t think I can do that anymore”

“You can-“ he steps towards you again but you turn away and close your eyes.

“I need to be on my own” 

The Doctor takes a step back and nods silently. 

“well, you know how to find me when you're ready” he sighs sadly. 

He turns and walks to your bedroom where the TARDIS is parked. As he reaches for the door he stops to take one last look at you, willing you to turn around and run into his arms. But you don’t. He leaves. 

You hear the sound of the TARDIS leaving and you drop to the floor, finally letting out all the emotion you had been trying to keep in. 

The Doctor watches you from the screen in his TARDIS as tears fall from his eyes.

- - - 6 months later - - - 

“RUN!” The Doctor shouts as he turns and starts sprinting. You immediately follow as you hear guns firing behind you and the Daleks shouting “EXTERMINATE!” 

Together you run down winding corridor until finally the TARDIS is in sight. The Doctor gets there before you, opening the TARDIS door and holding his hand out to you 

“almost there y/n, keep running” he encourages but suddenly a Dalek appears infront of you. Before you can do anything a laser shoots from the end of the Daleks gun and hits you. 

- - - - -

Your eyes shoot open as you sit upright in bed breathing heavily. Just another nightmare. 

You leave your house and head towards the bus stop as you do every morning to get to work since you went back to your mundane TARDIS free life. It’s been six months since the Doctor told you he loved you and you hadn’t seen or even spoken to him since. But you couldn’t help but think about him every day. Part of you wanted to pick up the phone and call him to come back, but the other part of you was still hurting and confused. 

After the Doctor had left Jack had messaged you apologising for not showing up to your date and told you about the man who had scared him. You made up a story about him being an overprotective family member of yours and that he wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore. You and Jack dated for a couple of months but when you discovered he was still seeing other girls you called it off. Maybe the Doctor was right to scare him away.

You reach the bus stop just as your bus is puling away. You tried running to catch up with it but you were too late. You slump down on the bench to wait for the next one and again your thoughts drift to the Doctor. Wondering where he is now, what planet he’s saving or what new aliens he’s meeting. You wonder if he’s found anyone else to travel with and your heart sinks at the thought. You take out your phone and scroll down the contact list till you reach ‘Doc’. Your finger hovers over the call button. What if he has moved on? What if he doesn’t care about you at all anymore? He told you he loved you and you turned him away. 

You pushed your anxiety aside and hit the call button but just as it stared to ring you heard screams coming from the park over the road. You hung up the phone and crossed the road toward the park. People were running towards you, presumably away from whatever was cause the screams but you ran towards it. Your time with the Doctor had definitely made you brave. 

You continued to run through the park until you heard a noise that stopped you dead in your tracks. A noise you hadn’t heard since your days of travelling. A noise you hoped you would never hear again. 

“EXTERMINATE!”

You felt your body freeze in panic. This is just another dream right? You pinch yourself but you don't wake up. Okay so this is real. But how could the Daleks be here on earth? The Doctor banished them last time-

“EXTERMINATE!”

The sound pulled your attention back to earth and you looked up just in time to see a Dalek shooting straight at you. You dived out the way and ran as fast as your legs could carry you towards a woodland area over one side of the park. You ran through the woods, mind racing as fast as your feet until you tripped on a root sticking out the ground and skidded across the floor cutting your knees pretty bad.  You get up, hobble over to lean against a tree and pull out your phone. You need the Doctor. 

But before you can press call you hear another familiar voice behind you that sent chills down your spine. Another one of the Doctor’s rivals you had unfortunately met on your travels, probably the most dangerous of them all. 

“Hello y/n” he says and you turn around slowly to see the Master standing behind you grinning maniacally. 

“Long time no see” he chuckles but then his face turns dead serious “give me the phone”

You stare at time, full of panic.

“GIVE ME THE PHONE!” He shouts which makes you jump. You immediately hand your phone over and he grabs your wrist tightly, pulling you in so your face is close enough to whisper  “see, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Before smiling again and letting you go. You take a step back, holding your wrist in your hand. The Master starts walking slowly around you, making you feel like a dying animal being watched by a vulture.

“Where is the Doctor? Why are you alone, I thought you were his new pet?”

You look down at the ground. 

“Not anymore” you reply but your voice is barely audible

“Speak up little pet!” He says in your ear from behind you before continuing the circle around you

“Not anymore” you say slightly louder and the Master stops in front of you again.

“Oh? What happened? Lover’s tiff?” 

“It’s complicated” you shake your head dismissively.

“Complicated huh? Well let’s see what if we can clear things up shall we?” He takes your phone from his pocket and puts it on speaker you can hear the ringing tone and then the voice you’d missed so much...

“Y/N?” He sounds worried

“Guess again lover boy” the Master laughs changing the call to a video call so the Doctor can see him grinning. 

“What have you done?! If you’ve hurt her-“

“She’s safe” he interrupts, walking over and putting his arm around you to pull you into the Doctor’s view “for now.. You see, I’ve invited some old friends of yours to this planet you seem to care so much about and well, they’re making quite a mess.”

“Master!” The Doctor tries to speak.

“DON’T INTERRUPT ME!” He shouts and you flinch. “As I was saying. The Daleks are having a field day with your humans, they are extra trigger happy today I tell you.” He laughs as he let’s go of you and reaches into his pocket “but so I am”

He pulls a gun and his face changes again to be completely serious. 

“So it seems Doctor you have a choice to make. You can stop the Daleks...” he puts the gun to your head and moves the camera so the Doctor can see the fear in your eyes “or you can stop me.”

“Master please, please don’t do this-“ he begins pleading.

“Oh I love to hear you beg! So what will it be? The girl or the earth, its your choice Doctor” the Master hangs up the phone, dropping it to the floor and stamping on it. 

You close your eyes and try to steady your breath but you’re shaking so much that you can’t focus on anything else. You feel the gun move away from your head and you open your eyes cautiously. The Master sits on the floor, back leaning against a tree. He gestures for you to come sit by him, but you don’t move. 

“Oh come on, I’m not gonna shoot you yet. Relax”

You slowly move to sit near him, but not too close, and cross your legs. You stare at the ground, twiddling your thumbs nervously as you work up the courage to speak. 

“Why are you doing this?” You ask, tears in your eyes.

“Because I’m BORED-UH!” He replies, emphasising the ‘D’ at the end like an impatient child. 

“Because you’re bored?” You ask in disbelief, feeling rage build up inside you “you’re killing people, innocent good people who don’t deserve any of this because you’re bored? You’re insane!” You shake your head. 

“Thank you” he smiles and does a little bow from where he’s sat and you roll your eyes. 

“so tell me, what happened with you and the Doc huh? Why’d he leave you behind?” The Master asks and you pull your knees up in your chest, hugging your arms around your legs.

“its complicated” you say, really not wanting to get into this conversation with him. 

“so you keep saying, tell me anyway”

“why do you care?” You look at him getting fed up. 

“I don't really, just being nosey” he says dismissively putting his arms behind his head and leaning back against the tree.

Thinking the conversation is over you decide to also lean your head back against the tree so you can look up and the leaves and sky above you. 

“did he run over your cat?”

You look at him in confusion.

“what? No he-“

“did he kiss your mom?

“no-“

“did he break your phone?”

“you just did!” You point to your broken phone lying on the floor a few feet in front of you.

“ah yeah, oops” he shrugs “did he-“

“he told me he loved me!” you interrupt, fed up of all the questions. The Master looks disappointed, and then confused.

“I don't get it. Why’s that a bad thing? what, you don't love him back?”

“no I do.. I did.. I, its compli-“

“if you say it's complicated one more time I'm just gonna shoot you now” he glares at you and you bite your lip. For a moment you had forgotten you were talking to one of the most dangerously unpredictable beings in the universe. “if he loves you, and you love him then what’s complicated?” 

“yeah well, you're not capable of love so you just, you wouldn’t understand” you sigh

The Master brings his hand to his chest and fakes hurt at your comment

“no need to be so mean, I'm sure lover boy will be here soon” 

You shake your head “he might not. I was horrible to him. He told me he loved me and I told him to leave me alone. And that was 6 months ago. He owes me nothing”

“thats not true y/n” you hear and turn to see the Doctor standing there. Your heart feels like it skips a beat as you let out a small sigh of relief. You go to stand up but the Master beats you to it, suddenly holding the gun and pointing it at you again

“you stay! Down!” you kneel down, wincing at the pain from where you cut them earlier “thats a good little pet” he lowers the gun but still has that crazed look in his eyes which fills you with fear. 

“are you okay?” The Doctor asks and you give him a small nod.

“well isn’t this sweet, the lovers reunited once more” he put his hands to his heart “I could almost cry.. shame I'm not capable of love eh y/n?” He drops the act glaring at you and you gulp. 

“leave her out of this Master, this is between you and me. And call off the Daleks too, this planet doesn’t deserve this”

“this planet, Doctor, deserve everything thats coming to it” he’s getting angrier by the second “now I gave you a choice. The earth, or the girl?” 

The Master points the gun back in your direction and you feel the panic rising, your heart pounding. You look to the Doctor and he gives you a reassuring glance. 

“you chose wrong” the Master pulls the trigger and time seems to slow down.

Through the ringing in your ears you just about hear the Doctor shout NO and you feel pain right in the middle of your chest. You clutch your hands to your chest and look down to see them covered in deep red. As you fall onto your side you look back up at the Doctor who goes to run at the Master but is stopped when points the gun at him. The Master says something you don't hear then turns and calmly walks away. The Doctor stands for a second watching him, thinking about following but looks down at you and runs over to put pressure on your wound. 

“no… you have to… go after him” you say breathlessly 

The Doctor shakes his head “i’m not leaving you-”

“you have to.. the Daleks-“

“we’ll stop them together y/n, look at me” he puts one hand on your face, thumb rubbing on your cheek trying to keep you awake “stay with me”

“i’m sorry” you cry

“you have nothing to apologise for” you can see tears forming in the Doctors eyes and you know this is the end

“I love you” and one last breath leaves your body as everything goes dark. 

The Doctor remains crouched on the floor cradling your body as finally the tears stream down his face. He takes a deep breath and his face changes from sorrow to determination. 

- - - - -   

Your eyes shoot open as you sit up straight taking frantic breaths. The Doctor runs over, crouching down next to you. He takes your hand in one of his and uses the other to hold the back of you neck, trying to focus your attention on him. 

“y/n, its okay. y/n, you’re safe. Look at me, you’re safe. Just breathe with me okay. in, out, in, out..”

You take deep breaths with him and slowly feel yourself start to calm down a bit. Thats when you realise you’re on the floor of the TARDIS control room. The Doctor presses his forehead against your own and you close your eyes still taking deep breathes. Once the Doctor is satisfied that you’re calm enough he moves his head away, takes off his jacket and puts it around your shoulders. You pull in tightly around you, finding it comforting. 

“how are you feeling?” The Doctor asks cautiously, watching you closely. 

You think for a moment before responding. The Doctor moves over to look at one of the screens on the central console. 

“confused. Ive been having really weird dreams lately, I don't know what’s real anymore.” You look up at the Doctor hoping for answers.

“What do you dream about?” He asks, still studying the screen. 

“You” you respond shyly, embarrassed of your answer. The Doctor looks surprised as he looks at you “travelling with you” you clarify. 

“And what happens in the dreams?”

“Well, we’re running. Always running” you laugh and he smiles “usually away from something terrifying. Then every time we’re almost safe, whatever it is that’s chasing us finally catches me. And then I wake up in my own bed-” you stop suddenly, realising something. The Doctor watches you. 

“Doctor, how did I get back here? Back in the TARDIS? I don’t remember...” you trail off. The Doctor crouches back down in front of you.

“y/n tell me about your last dream” you sit, staring at the floor shaking your head. Why can’t you remember coming back to the TARDIS

“Y/N look at me” he places a hand on your shoulder “tell me what you just dreamed”

“Um, I was, I was in the park and the Daleks were there. Shooting at people, killing.. and uh, I ran just like I always do. And then the Master was there, and he caught me. And he, uh...” you place your hand on your chest “he shot me”

You look up at the Doctor who just looks back at you, studying your every move and facial expression. “And then I woke up. You must think I’m mad” 

The Doctor moves his hand to hold the hand which is still covering your chest. You look down at his hand and watch as he gently squeezes it affectionally. 

“You’re not mad y/n. All of that... it really happened.” You look up at him. “The Master shot you” he pauses, finding the next part hard to say “and you died. I was there, I held you.” He takes a deep breath “I brought you back.”

“How?”

“I did something I’m really not allowed to do.” You look at him confused “I transferred some regeneration energy into you. I wasn’t even sure it would work but it did. You started breathing again, but you've been unconscious for 3 days.”

“3 days?!” 

“That’s why your memories a bit... fuzzy. But I can fix that, if you want me to. And I can stop those nightmare too.”

“Thank you!” You throw your arms around the Doctor and squeeze him tight. He smiles, he’d missed this. 

“Oh..” he pulls away but keeps hold of your arms “sorry, about you know, leaving you on the floor. I needed you close to the console so I could monitor your heart rate.”

“Look, you brought me back to life. You could have left me asleep in a bin and I still couldn’t be angry with you” You laugh and he looks relieved. “Wait, what about the Daleks?”

“Oh they’re gone, don’t worry about them. Now, how about I sort out those memories for you?” He asks and you nod. He goes to put his fingers on your temples, but you move your head back slightly stopping him. 

“BUT, there’s something I really need to do first?” You say, taking his face in your hands and kissing him. You pull away and smile shyly. 

“I should have done that 6 months ago” you say, he smiles. “Right, now I’m ready”

He puts his hand up to your face. 

“Remember, you can close any doors to me if there’s things to don’t want me to see” he says.

You look him in the eyes. 

“I trust you”

[v-hope]

Someone speaks badly about you on a show

—and they defend you, ofc.

Pairings: OT7 x Reader

Genre: I guess fluff for default, angst

Request by @ally22042000: "Hey, I saw that request for reactions are open. Can I have one with the boys ( just Yoongi and JK if all of them are to much), where they are at an award show or interview or something like that and someone talks disrespectfull about the reader? Thx so much💜 and have a nice day."

A/N: I hope this is what you had in mind, I enjoyed writing these 💕 Also, you're an idol in a couple of them and in the rest you're not. I hope you like it!

Kim Seokjin

Your boyfriend absolutely lived for whenever he got asked to be an MC at award shows.

So, naturally, he was very hyped up once he was handed his lines and had to go up on stage with two other idols – one of them being his good friend of many years, and the other one being a new artist who had debuted last year.

It was simple. Read the cards. Just read the goddamn paper notes you had been given and that was it. But, apparently, the idol by his side was way too new to this whole thing, for instead of reading what he had been handed to, he fixed his eyes on Jin to his side.

"Thank God I got to be with the fun one of your relationship".

Seokjin's eyes went to lock with his out of instinct, having not really processed what had just happened yet.

"The fun one?" his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah" the idol nodded his head. "Y/N would've made this so boring".

Jin glanced for a brief second to his friend, as if to verify he had heard just the same and his mind wasn't making it up – his awkward expression itself doing that for him.

Nonetheless, as much as he wanted to snap at him, he decided to be the better one, maybe just because he knew he was still live and didn't want to make a scene right in front of everyone.

That didn't stop him from putting him in his place though.

"Then you clearly haven't had the pleasure to meet her and witness her high class humour" Jin spoke into the camera, later placing his eyes on his friend. "Don't you think, hyung-nim?"

"I have never laughed harder than with her, Seokjin-ssi" he replied immediately.

And then out of nowhere, Jin dug his hand in his pocket, throwing multiple heart shaped red papers that had everyone screaming in a second. "Love you, baby. Don't let anyone tell you you're not funny".

What's the saying? Kill 'em with kindness? Well, Seokjin had just slayed that poor guy's soul.

Min Yoongi

"Hey, it's BTS!" the MC greeted cheerfully once the seven guys came on the shot.

One by one, they went up to her to give her a quick hug before they took their place standing next to her.

Up until then, everything was fine, and maybe things would've remained that way if she had just said nothing after Yoongi hugged her. Instead, she laughed, catching him off guard.

"At least you are polite" she shook her head in amusement.

Yoongi pouted naturally because of his confusion. "Who of us hasn't been polite?"

"Oh, no. Not you" she shook her head one more time, only to clarify: "Your girlfriend".

"Y/N-ssi?" Hobi was the one to ask on his hyung's behalf, being just as puzzled as everyone else by that statement.

At the nod of confirmation coming from the MC, Yoongi brought the microphone up to his lips. "But you've never even met her, where'd you get that from?"

"The video of her not even looking at the paps taking pictures... when you were at the airport the other day".

Yoongi's hold on the mic tightened, suddenly becoming protective of you. "So just because she's a private person she's impolite?"

"She didn't even acknowledge your fans. Come on, that was just very–"

"She's not an idol" he cut her off. "She doesn't have to put up with all of this, especially when she's not comfortable with all the attention".

"She should've known this would happen when she decided to date you".

"Guys…" Namjoon tried to stop both of them from arguing any further, for they had apparently forgotten they were still live.

But Yoongi was already done, slightly shaking his head before he put an end to it for once and for all: "She's given up enough for me already, I'm not asking her to be all bubbly around paps or our fans when she clearly isn't comfortable with it. If that's impolite to you then go off, I guess, but I'm the one dating her and I know better".

On to the next topic now.

Jung Hoseok

"Hoseok!" the girl interviewing them read effusively on her phone.

They had been interviewed person by person that day, since a few influencers had gotten the chance to record short clips with BTS to upload to their social media. This one, so far, had been one of their favourites, for its dynamics consisted in nothing but the young woman going through her Twitter reading fan questions or just letting them know about cute comments they had made.

However, that was soon to change when she caught Hobi's attention, continuing: "I loved you in the concert last week, I got to meet Y/N and she was the cu– oh, irrelevant much?" she mumbled with a small, breathy laugh, before dismissing the topic and scrolling down in search of another tweet.

Hoseok's eyebrows knitted together. "Wha–"

"Oh, here's a good one" she smiled as if nothing had happened, as if she had not heard him; having the seven men exchange uncomfortable glances. "Jimin, you and your girlfriend are such couple goals, I can't w–"

"Um…" Hoseok cut her off, stealing a quick glance to Jimin, who looked just as out of it, before his eyes fell back on the girl's. "How come Jimin's girlfriend is worth talking of and mine isn't?"

"She's an idol" she answered as if it was evident.

His jaw tightened. "So people are only worthy when they're famous now?"

"Well, no..." she uselessly tried to fix it.

"Then I believe you should respect her enough not to call her irrelevant or skip comments at the mention of her".

"But there's nothing interesting about Y/N anyway, so…"

That was all Hobi needed to turn his head to look at his members before he shook his head in defeat. "We're done here, guys. I'm not listening to any more of this nonsense".

Neither were they, which is why they were all soon to follow your boyfriend out of there.

Kim Namjoon

"So, Namjoon-ah" the entertainer's eyes focused on him, "I watched a few pictures of you at your girlfriend's graduation the other day" he smiled. "You guys looked so cute!"

A big smile spread over Joon's lips, recalling the pride he had felt that day because of you, being the happiest to have been able to be there for you.

"Aw, thank you" he said truthfully, his dimples making their appearance. "I'm really proud of her".

"You are?" the man asked.

Now, there were two ways to say those words. One with a genuinely intrigued tone, and one that was looking to offend. In this case, given not only his tone but also the way his eyebrows had raised in impression, it had been clear to everyone present that his intention had been the latter.

"I am" he stated simply, hoping that would be as much as the host would say about the topic before he moved on to the next one.

It was not.

"Don't you ever wish you were with someone more successful though?"

Namjoon's jaw tightened visibly, his eyes turning colder. "What does that even mean?"

"I'm just saying, you're Kim Namjoon" the man shifted on his seat. "Worldwide known idol, producer, rapper… whereas she's just… ordinary".

The way he had said that last word made it seem like being like that was the worst of things, and Namjoon did not like it one bit.

"Her achievements are just as important as mine" he was fast to talk in your defence. "Just because she isn't a part of the idol industry doesn't mean her dreams and passions are any less worthy of recognition than mine".

That alone had the interviewer apologising in a second, realising then how bad he had messed up. Because, in all honesty, Namjoon couldn't really care any less about you being famous or not – he would always be proud of you and your achievements no matter what.

Park Jimin

"Ah, Park Jimin!" the host exclaimed after a picture of you had popped up on the screen in between them. "You really got lucky with this one, didn't you?"

That sure did bring a bright smile to his lips, for he absolutely lived for these moments, when people acknowledged how beautiful you were.

Nonetheless, that smile of his was soon erased when the same guy added: "You should control her more, though".

With that and a frown adorning your boyfriend's face, the picture previously displaying on the screen was gone and replaced with one of you in a night dress from two days ago instead.

"Control her more?" Jimin asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah" he nodded his head. "She has a boyfriend now, she can't go around looking that hot, it might get the wrong attention".

Now, Jimin himself hadn't really liked it when you went out dressed like that, but he was your boyfriend, so he did have some kind of right to feel a little jealous of other guys thirsting over his girlfriend when she was out alone with her friends, didn't he?

This guy, however? Neither what he said was appropriate on so many levels, nor did he have the right to talk about you and your outfit like that.

"I think you should think before you speak and induce people to have unhealthy relationships" your boyfriend spoke in a low, calm voice.

Controlling you? What kind of bullshit was that?

"Come on now, I was joking" the man brushed it off with a laugh, and a very nervous one at that.

"Were you really?" Jimin raised one of his eyebrows, not believing a word. "Even if you were" he went on before the guy could open his mouth to reply, "you should maybe reflect on yourself and, instead of telling me how to treat my girlfriend because of how provocative she looks, think of why you, a guy who's over his forties, thinks that way of someone who could easily be his daughter".

He had not been rude. He had not raised his voice. Yet he did somehow manage to look so fucking scary to the man in front.

Kim Taehyung

"Y/N?" the interviewer asked in disbelief, only to scoff after receiving a nod of confirmation from Tae. "Of course she'd end up with one of you guys".

Not only did Taehyung's eyebrows furrow in that moment, but so did everyone else's – his members exchanging dumbfounded looks as your boyfriend looked to the guy in front dead in the eye.

"One of us?"

"Mhm" the guy replied simply. "She always seems to be with whoever is the most famous at the moment, so..." he shrugged.

"She's only been with other two people?" Taehyung raised one of his eyebrows.

"Who just so happened to be the moment's sensation" he reminded him. "And now she's with you".

"You can't help who you fall for" your boyfriend's stare became colder by the second.

"She's just going to break things off with you as soon as your moment of fame passes".

That was it.

"Okay, no" his voice came out like pure venom. "If she broke up with them, it's merely because they were both complete assholes to her".

"Taehyung…" Namjoon discreetly squeezed his wrist from his side.

"No, hyung" he shook his head before fixing his enraged eyes back on the interviewer. "She's the sweetest person there is, it's not her fault us guys fall for her. And it's not her fault either to have dated guys who don't deserve her. She did well to dump them, and I know she won't leave me just because of my fame's status".

And then, as everyone in the room remained silent, being absolutely perplexed by such situation, he shook his head in disappointment once again at the sight of the guy's desperate attempt to come up with something else to say.

"You know" he beat him to it, "for such an overrated interviewer, you are so goddamn misinformed".

Good thing this would get bleeped out by the editors later, that if they ever wanted this to air at all.

Jeon Jeongguk

"It's been a while since we last were together, hasn't it?" the host spoke after they had all sat down on the sofa placed in front of her. "A lot has happened since then…" a cheeky grin curved up her lips when her eyes fell on Jeongguk, "like the maknae finally getting himself a girlfriend?"

A shy bunny smile didn't wait to part Guk's lips, meanwhile his six hyungs started being chaotic like they, by this point, always were.

"He did" Namjoon was the one to answer for him, fondly patting his shoulder.

"Well, congratulations! It was about time you got someone" the woman said with a smile. "Though I must admit I never thought I'd see you with someone like her".

Your boyfriend's previous smile was replaced by slightly parted lips. "Someone like her?"

"I mean" the woman tried to get her point across, "you've said multiple times that IU is your ideal type, and Y/N's just…" she scrunched her nose in a displeased manner, "she's not exactly…"

Oh, no. There was no way in hell Jeongguk was letting her finish that sentence; the idea itself making him mad. That was the reason his shy side was long gone, being replaced by his protective one instead, which had quickly taken over him.

"She's stunning" Guk spoke in a low, determined voice. "IU is just a celebrity crush. Y/N's the woman I am in love with" he established without hesitation. "I really don't understand why you're bringing this up".

Although taken aback by Jeongguk's sudden way with his words, not having expected such outburst coming from the quietest member when it came to interviews, the woman went on:

"I'm just sayin–"

"No" Guk cut her off, shaking his head hastily, "you have nothing to say about my preferences, you don't get a say on us".

End of conversation.

[justwritethatdown]

Chapter 2 of my high school AU :D

Beca finds herself wanting to know more abou Chloe, but Chloe's friends - and her social anxiety - give her a hard time about that. Also some more insights of her relationship with Jesse, Amy and her family :)

Words Count: 3K

Rating: T

Warnings: Underage smoking and language

Read it on AO3 or under the cut ↓

I don't need much of anything, but suddenly…

“How does it feel to be / Different from me      Are we the same / How does it feel?”

That night Beca fell asleep with the smell of Chloe on her pillow, which made her heart do funny things in her chest.

Maybe Chloe wasn’t that bad after all.

Nothing changed at school between them, Chloe didn’t talk to her the next day or the following couple of weeks – not that Beca tried to talk to Chloe but, you know – Beca told herself she wasn’t disappointed at that. They weren’t friends.

 __

 “Beca wait!" she heard Chloe call after her and immediately turned around to see the redhead running towards her in the schoolyard “hey! What’s up?” asked Beca unable to control her grin. Chloe offered her a pink ear bug, smiling brightly “I wanted to ask you what you think of this song, it came out yesterday I think".

Beca took the ear bug and put it in her ear, the song was already playing but she knew right away it was Airplanes by B.o.B. ft. Hayley Williams “you like Paramore, right?” Chloe checked and Beca was surprised that the girl not only recognized them from one of her playlists, but she knew them well enough to know Hayley Williams was the singer of the group.

Beca’s smile widened while she nodded “yes! And I think this song is really good" she answered looking at Chloe with surprise “what?” giggled the redhead “nothing...” said Beca looking at her feet “I didn’t think you liked this stuff" she admitted looking back at Chloe.

“And what stuff you thought I liked?” asked Chloe biting her lip “I don’t know... Britney Spears?” guessed Beca screwing up her nose and Chloe gasped “you don’t like Britney Spears?” she gasped in shock tugging at the ear bug wire to make it pop out of Beca’s ear “ouch! I didn’t say that...”

“Who else do you think I listen to? Let’s see" asked Chloe in somewhat of a teasing tone “I don’t know, I don’t want to get in worse trouble that I’m in already... just tell me you don’t listen to Mariah Carey please"

“Mariah Carey is the greatest singer of all times" stated an irritating voice interrupting them “Chloe, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Who is that?” asked the blonde girl who joined them “hey Bree, she’s Beca... family friends” dismissed Chloe, putting her iPod away. Beca didn’t know why that statement stung so much, it was the truth after all, they only knew each other because their parents – not that she’ll ever consider Sheila family – were friends.

Aubrey – Chloe’s best friend, for what Beca could understand – looked at her from head to toe in disapproval, before turning back to her friend “come on, Stacie is waiting for us” she said walking away and dragging Chloe alongside with her.

“Bye...” Beca told to no one, since the girls were already gone. She went to class wondering if maybe she was wrong about Chloe and they could be more alike than she though, but even popular girls are allowed to like good music, right?

One thing was sure, Chloe wasn’t even remotely as mean as Aubrey was.

 __

 At lunch Beca was glad Jesse decided to sit with Benji for once, instead of bothering her, so she could make a playlist of songs she thought Chloe might listen to, and one of those she thought Chloe should listen to.

Amy slept in and skipped school that day – something she did almost every Tuesday – so Beca didn’t have to worry about her either.

 __

 “sorry if I stood you up at lunch" apologised Jesse wrapping an arm around her shoulders, knowing very well that Beca would have shrugged it off and be dramatic about him touching her. He giggled when she did just that “you weren’t at my table? I didn’t notice” declared Beca in a monotone voice and Jesse pushed her gently “stop iit" she complained pushing him back “Benji was upset about his chemistry test" he explained without Beca asking “but he got B+” argued Beca and the guy shrugged “it’s the lowest he ever got".

“Where’s Amy by the way? I saw she wasn’t with you at lunch either” he asked “are you going to walk me home?” queried Beca stopping on her tracks – it was a ten minute walk between her house and the school – Jesse shrugged again “if you don’t mind. I don’t have anything better to do anyway" and before Beca could answer, he added “I know you must have missed me today, so you’re welcome" which granted him another shove from the brunette.

“How come you're not wearing your headphones?” “my iPod died at lunch" “aw, because I wasn’t there to keep you company?” he teased “you’re an idiot.”

 __

 The truth was that Beca craved more moments with Chloe, she was intrigued by her. Even if she usually was a pretty good judge of character, she was wrong about Chloe the first time and she still couldn’t completely figure her out yet. At school Chloe was a completely different person than who she was at home, she was nice to everyone and always smiling. And then there was that moment they shared in Beca’s room, that was what confused Beca the most, making her second guess all her assumptions about the redhead.

She wanted to get to know her better, but whenever Beca saw the girl in the hallways with her stupid friends she didn’t have the guts to say hi to her and just focused very hard on her steps to avoid eye contact. Beca hated to interact with that kind of people – she hated to interact with any kind of people – they acted like they owned the school and even if Beca couldn’t care less about that, she didn’t want to waste her time feeling judged by them or worse, letting them make a fool out of her. She really didn’t know why Chloe liked them, but again, she didn’t know Chloe at all.

Another month passed by. Beca never showed Chloe the playlists. It wasn’t important and Chloe probably wouldn’t care about that anyway.

 __

 “Why is this playlist called ‘Chloe'?” asked Amy making Beca’s blood freeze “that- that’s nothing, why do you always touch my stuff?” she gasped struggling to take the device from Amy, who won the fight without any effort “Jonas Brothers? These songs are so not you" added the blonde confused “It’s just... stupid songs, so I gave it a common stupid girl name” she blurred out wincing at her own words.

Amy narrowed her brows “Isn’t Chloe the name of that redhead you met at those ‘fucking lame dinners' with your father and Sheila?” she inquired making the quote marks gesture while repeating Beca’s words “maybe... I don’t know” tried Beca but she knew she was screwed “Beca...” said Amy not buying it at all.

“Yes, it’s her, okay? I made a playlist of songs I thought she lik-" “you never made me a playlist” interrupted her the blonde “that’s different, she’s- that’s different” blurred out Beca. Amy finally decided to let it go with a shrug connecting her loudspeaker to Beca’s iPod, letting the music fill her bedroom.

 __

 “Ugh! Why can’t I just stay with mom?” growled Beca “a couple of weeks at the beach are going to be good for you Bec, why do you have to fight me over everything?” asked her father “I don’t wanna come, dad I wanna work on my mixes, why don’t you understand that?” she whined and ran to her room smashing the door closed behind her.

Her father just informed her that in July they were going on a two weeks’ vacation someplace in Florida with Chloe’s and other two families the Beale used to go on vacation with every year. Beca didn’t have the time to be thrilled about it that she heard the name Posen being mentioned by Sheila. She didn’t even register the other one because she was already spiralling.

Posen like Aubrey Posen. The high bitch in charge at her school, Aubrey Posen. Chloe’s best friend Aubrey Posen. That couldn’t be a coincidence and Beca wasn’t willing to spend a single minute with her, let alone two entire weeks.

“Why is she like this Robert?” she heard Sheila question “what kind of kid doesn’t want to spend time on the beach with her friends?” at the world ‘friends’ Beca felt rage build up inside her – why was Sheila so fucking naive? – but it didn’t last long, because she heard her father sigh defeated “I don’t know honey, I’m afraid I did something wrong with her".

Beca put her headphones on trying to push back the tears that started falling from her eyes.

 __

 “She doesn’t want me, does she?” mumbled Beca sitting on her bed, knees pushed tightly against her chest. Her father looked at her sympathetic, sitting at the edge of the bed “Your mom is...” he trailed off for a moment, struggling to find the right words “she is having a hard time and needs to be alone for a while" he tried his best to explain “but she loves you! More than anything” he rushed to add and Beca rolled her eyes.

Lately her father did nothing but take her mother’s side, funny thing is that when they were married, they couldn’t agree on anything. Ever. Beca supposed he felt guilty about her ‘midlife crisis’ since it started just when he asked for a divorce because he couldn’t keep going on like that – or maybe it was the fact that he was in a relationship with stupid Sheila for about a month before that.

Beca’s blood started boiling in her veins at the thought, it was his fault after all, he gave up on their family.

“I’m gonna go at Amy’s” she spat out jumping off the bed.

“Beca, I need you to tell me you’re coming to Florida” he repeated.

“Whatever” answered the girl before leaving the room. It’s not like she had a choice anyway, her dad was just trying not to feel guilty about yet another thing.

 __

 “So, you’re going?” asked Amy passing her the joint. They were laying on Amy’s bed listening to music, as always.

“I have to" sighed Beca before smoking “I wish my dad was like yours, he lets you do everything you want" she wined “yeah he's pretty cool" laughed the blonde “or too busy to care maybe" she scoffed carelessly “dude, this pot sucks by the way" growled Beca giving the joint back to her.

Amy took another smoke before agreeing “I know, but I bought it from Luke" she explained “ugh, that dude is an idiot! He wrote ‘Meghan’ on my fake ID” complained Beca. The blonde stared lamely at her for what felt like forever, before cracking up in a loud laugh “Beca all fake IDs have fake names" she gasped trying to stop laughing. Beca looked at her blinking quickly before starting to laugh too.

“Anyway, he is an idiot yes, but he’s hot, so I don’t care" stated Amy “okay but never buy his pot again" demanded the brunette taking back the joint.

“So how are things going with Jesse?” asked Amy out of the blue “what do you mean?” “I mean you have this thing going on for a while now, when are you going to make it official? If you know what I mean...” said Amy wiggling her eyebrows, Beca felt slightly nauseous at that.

“There’s nothing between Jesse and me" she said defensively “oh come on Beca, you two are always attached to the hip!” growled the blonde “you don’t have to hide it from me" she said more softly “he's always attached to my hip I've got nothing to do with that!" spat out Beca getting up “I know you, you wouldn’t let him near you if you didn’t want to" pointed out Amy.

Beca knew her friend was right, she never let anyone get too close to her, but for some reason she allowed Jesse to do that and she had to admit she liked having his invasive ass around – not to Amy anyway, she was never going to admit that to Amy.

“That’s none of your business” she cut off rising the volume on her iPod to end the discussion.

 __

 When Beca came back home she found a brand-new soundboard to connect to her computer – the one she’s been asking for and her dad always denied her – sitting on her desk.

It was the same way she got her headphones, she got into a fight with her dad about something concerning the divorce somehow, stormed out of the house and found them at her return. Robert knew it wasn’t the best way to deal with conflict, but he really didn’t know how to deal with a teenager in full rebellion mood, so expensive gifts were his go-to in these cases.  It wasn’t enough for Beca, but she decided to take what she could from this situation. She didn’t like to deal with conflict either anyway.

The girl spent the whole night trying all the functions her new device offered while thinking about Chloe. She spent most nights thinking about Chloe recently. She thought about what it must be like being at the verge of the high school social ladder, having everyone’s eyes on you all the times – a kind of pressure Beca couldn’t be able to stand, for sure – how it felt to be respected, feared even, by the whole school and mostly how would it feel to be bossed around by Aubrey all the times.

Aubrey gave Beca chills. It wasn’t that Beca feared her – she didn’t fear anyone – but there was something about her that made her stomach clench, as if she was under examination. She knew Aubrey judged everybody from her high throne and Beca didn’t think enough of her to care about that, but what scared the brunette was that Aubrey’s stupid opinion could affect what Chloe thought of her.

By the time sun started creeping up from her window, she had decided that suffering through two weeks with Aubrey Posen was a small price to pay to get to know Chloe better. Her social anxiety will have to come to terms with that.

Beca threw herself on the bed, cursing her decision to staying up all night on a weekday. Her clock showed it was half past six and she briefly wondered if she could push it a little and try to gain a ‘you can skip school today’ too from the argument she and her father had, but she knew Professor Mitchell considered school the most important thing ever, even over the peaceful atmosphere he tried so hard to maintain in their home. She groaned and set her alarm to an hour later before falling asleep in her outside clothes.

Of course, she didn’t hear the alarm going off and now she was super late. As she fumed to gather all the things she needed for the day she jumped at the sight of Sheila’s head peeking from her not-closed-anymore bedroom door.

“You’re late" she stated with that irritating tone Beca really didn’t want to hear first thing in the morning.

“I know that, thanks” spat out the teenager.

“Let me drive you to school” offered the woman now fully standing in Beca’s room.

“Absolutely not" said Beca without looking at her, still busy looking for her maths' notes.

“You left a notebook in the kitchen the other day, maybe that’s what you’re looking for" told her Sheila before leaving the room.

After getting ready Beca went to the kitchen and found the notes. Sheila was sitting at the kitchen table, probably waiting for her. Beca groaned “okay let’s go" as if she was the one doing the woman a favour.

Beca was sure it was a trap, so she rushed to put her headphones on to avoid any unwanted discussion about her weird behaviour or whatever. Surprisingly Sheila didn’t try to talk to her at all and when she stopped in front of Beca’s school she even offered the girl a sweet smile “have a good day”.

“Yeah...” murmured Beca under her breath before leaving the car.

 __

 It was a shitty day, like if she was under a heavy cloud; she forgot to charge her phone, her head was killing her and Jesse didn’t shut up for one second all morning, not to mention math class – which was always a nightmare. Beca was about to commit murder when suddenly Chloe approached her at her locker.

“Hey" breathed out cheerfully the redhead and Beca found her breath catching in her lungs “I’ve heard you’re coming to Florida with us this year” she continued with her classic bright smile. Beca’s heart started racing and she was positive her face was red “I- yes, we- uh...” she rambled focusing, on nothing in particular, inside her locker. “I’m glad you’re coming" at that Beca forced herself to look at Chloe and try to mirror her smile.

“Hey babe" she heard Tom call from the other side of the hallway. Chloe turned towards him with heart eyes and accepted his kiss when he reached them. Beca felt nauseous watching that – she hated pda and cheesy happy couples.

When they parted Tom friendly nodded at Beca “hi, I’m Tom" “Beca" she said shaking the hand he offered her. Beca tried to smile at him, she really did, but all she could manage was a grimace. The girl was never so glad to hear Jesse’s “Beccaaawww" approaching her.

“Uhm, sorry, I have to go. It was nice meeting you Tom. Bye Chloe" se excused herself locking the metallic door and walking to Jesse. It was the first time she’d ever said Chloe’s name to her face and was still marvelling at the sensation it gave her, when Jesse started to throw a million words at her again, but she couldn’t focus on him at all. For some reason she kept replaying that stupid kiss in her brain over and over again.

“Earth to Beca?” called her Jesse snapping his fingers in front of her “what happened to you? You’ve been weird the whole day" he asked in a somewhat of a worried tone “I didn’t sleep" she told him “why not? You can talk to me you know” he assured her, but behind him Beca spot Amy in the distance shamelessly gesturing at her with her index finger entering a ring she was making with the other hand “gross...” whispered Beca glaring at her.

“What?” asked the guy confused “dude you need to leave me alone okay? You’re not my fucking boyfriend” she snapped making some students turn to look at them. Jesse was staring at her with a hurt expression and she regretted right away snapping at him – it was Amy’s fault not his.

“All right” he said raising his hands and turning no leave. Beca wanted to stop him, but she was too proud to apologise.

“Troubles in paradise?” asked Amy joining her “Amy fuck off!” “geez somebody woke up on the wrong side of life today" she exclaimed rolling her eyes and walking away, she knew it was best to leave Beca alone when she was like that.

[tibbinswrites]

Hi! Could you do #9 for Destiel? Thanks for sharing your awesome work with us :D

Hi Nonnie! You’re so very welcome, thank you for sending in a prompt!

So this is shameless fluff. You might want to brush your teeth after reading ;)

(prompts are open. Send me a number between 1 and 635 and I’ll write a thing for you)

I’ve now done prompts for: #1, #2, #4 and #16, #9, #10, #78, #170 and #502 

and I have prompts in progress for #33 and #77 but all the others are fair game :D

Enjoy ^_^

Prompt #9: “It’s fine.”

“What do you think?” Cas asked after calling Dean into their bedroom. His eyes were too-bright, frantic almost, and Dean tried not to feel uncomfortable under the unhinged intensity of his boyfriend’s stare as he looked at the dresser.

Cas visibly deflated before Dean even had a chance to react. “You hate it,” he said dolefully, his face scrunching up like he was about to cry and Dean was definitely not panicking. “I messed it up and you hate it.”

“No! Don’t you dare! It’s done. You did it and it’s done and I’m proud of you.” Dean said quickly. Cas had locked himself up here six hours ago, after their trip to Ikea ended with a purchase that Dean had been very much against in the first place. The dresser was large, with drawers of different shapes and sizes and opening mechanisms and colours. Of course, Cas had fallen in love with the thing on sight, saying that it looked magical, like it contained a different secret in each compartment. Dean had argued that it was impractical. It wouldn’t fit most things that people put in dressers, like clothes, nor would it go with the rest of the room. But Cas had pouted and pleaded and Dean was a weak man and folded after about twenty seconds of those blue eyes, though he had joked that he wouldn’t help assemble the thing… he was regretting that now.

“It’s horrible.”

“It’s fine,” Dean insisted, ignoring the way that one side was longer than the other, and how none of the handles looked the way they had on the assembled one in the store, or how there were large gaps where Dean was pretty sure something was supposed to be and at least seven ‘spare’ pieces that had been hastily shoved back into the box.

“I ruined it!” Cas wailed, falling into Dean’s chest, clearly exhausted and past the level of frustration where he was capable of being reasonable.

“I think it looks great,” Dean lied, kissing the top of Cas’ head. “But if you like, I’ll take a look at it after dinner and see if I can polish it up a little.”

Cas sniffed and pulled back to look up at him, the hope in his eyes turned Dean’s insides into a gooey mess. “Really?”

“Come on, sweetheart,” Dean said, guiding Cas out of the room he’d been sequestered in all day (at his own insistence; Dean had been trying to coax him out since hour three, offering his help, and food, but Cas was a stubborn son of a bitch when he’d made a deal). “I made lasagna.”

Cas cheered up a little during dinner, though he kept rubbing at his eyes so Dean insisted he go and sleep in the spare room while Dean worked on the dresser in their bedroom so he wouldn’t be disturbed. Cas was too tired to argue and headed to the downstairs bedroom after two helpings of lasagna and assurances that Dean wouldn’t stay up too late.

Xxx

Cas awoke the next morning in a bed that was too soft and without Dean’s warmth next to him. He sat up and looked around. The spare room was nice, if a little cramped, what with the double and the twin bed shoved in, just in case Sam and Eileen and Gabriel converged on them at once, or indeed if Charlie showed up (in which case they’d all cram in together, Charlie was a huge fan of sleepover-style gatherings and although Cas had thought it strange at first, he’d soon grown to love those evenings as much as the other two). Cas had definitely slept in worse places, but he hated waking up alone.

It hadn’t used to bother him much. He’d never been the clingy type, even prided himself on his independence (which had caused a whole host of problems with previous boyfriends), but when he met Dean, with his disarming smile, those forest-deep eyes that spoke of mischief and safety, and the kind of ‘all-in’ attitude that had terrified him since Dean let it show on their fourth date, Cas had never before so badly wanted to be included. Dean was funny and charming and cared so deeply and so fast that it was impossible not to get sucked in. Of course, all that openness hid a whole bunch of insecurities that Castiel had blundered into without realising, which made for a difficult few weeks and several uncomfortable conversations with Sam before Cas realised that this thing they had was too important to him for him to be able to cut and run like he had done so many times before, that Dean was too important to him.

They’d learned to navigate each other, slowly. Cas learned that Dean needed a lot of reassurance, especially after or during an argument, and Dean had figured out how to draw Cas out of his own head when he was scared and overwhelmed and get him to talk rather than run away when things got hard and six years later Cas had never been happier. Even after all this time Dean’s smile set off butterflies in his belly, his laugh still warmed something inside him and his presence was grounding and safe. He’d never relied on anyone the way he’d come to rely on Dean, and though that sometimes sent his head into a downward spiral, Dean was always there to help him through it.

They just fit together seamlessly, filling in each other’s empty spaces. Dean made him laugh until he snorted milk out of his nose and then laugh even more at that, he made Cas feel reckless and brave, willing to try things that he normally wouldn’t even consider and had started to dismantle the cocoon of indifference he’d been wrapped in his whole life. Cas in turn had been privileged to watch Dean’s bravado bloom into confidence, to listen to him talk without fear of being interrupted or told to shut up, to watch him sink into calm moments rather than trying to make them large and important, to hear him ask for what he needed rather than trying to be strong for everyone else.

Cas smiled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up, the other side of the bed was cold and unmade; Dean must have slept in their bed once he was done with the dresser rather than coming all the way downstairs.

The dresser… Cas buried his face in his hands in a moment of self-indulgent embarrassment. He’d loved the dresser in the store, how whimsical and thrown together it looked, like something made by the fair folk. He’d always loved stories about magical portals and something in him had just reached out with a childish wonder that had surprised him. He didn’t care that it wasn’t practical, didn’t care that the wood was the wrong colour and that they had nothing to put in the thing, he had wanted it, and Dean, because he was a selfless, wonderful man who did everything he could to make Cas happy, had indulged him. Dean was the handy one out of the two of them, but he had said that in exchange for purchasing it, he wouldn’t help put it together and Cas had agreed. He had wanted to honour that promise.

Of course, there was a reason that Dean was the handy one. Cas was pretty sure he’d lost his mind somewhere around hour four, abandoning the instructions completely and trying to cobble together some parts from memory alone.

Cas padded up the stairs to the bathroom, grimacing in the mirror at how red his face was at just the memory of his mini-breakdown. Dean had been so sweet about it, telling him that it just needed tweaking when Cas knew very well that Dean would have to pull the whole thing apart and start again.

Once he’d taken care of business and brushed his teeth, he made his way to the main bedroom and opened the door.

The dresser was the first thing he saw, placed on the far wall directly opposite the door. It looked just as magical and full of secrets as it had in the store, each compartment a beautiful mystery. It clashed horribly with the rest of the room but Cas didn’t care, it was perfect.

He turned to look for his boyfriend, to thank him for fixing it and to apologise for his overreaction the night before. But Dean wasn’t there, he wasn’t curled up under the covers, sleep-warm and soft—in fact, it didn’t look like the bed had been slept in at all.

“Dean?” he called, expecting to hear a reply, from the bathroom, from the kitchen downstairs, from anywhere, but there was only silence.

Maybe Dean had gone out already? Cas glanced at the clock, it was barely 9 am. He looked back at the dresser, frowning, and then noticed a small, yellow square of paper stuck to one of the compartments on the top row. Curious, Cas bent down to read it.

Open last.

Cas tilted his head and scanned the other compartments for any other instructions, but there weren’t any. So, leaning back a little, half-expecting one of those fuzzy snake things to leap out at him, Cas opened the top left drawer.

Inside was a mixtape. Cas picked it up to look at the label. Dean’s Top 13 Zepp Traxx. Still confused, but smiling a little, he opened the next compartment along, this one didn’t pull out like the previous drawer, but instead there was a small shutter to lift, revealing another mixtape. This one was labelled Cas’ Happy Tunes.

Cas knew that Dean liked to make tapes. He’d spend hours on them and listen to them only in his car. He didn’t show them to Cas, or let him riffle around in the box on the floor of the passenger seat. They were, in fact, one of the only things that Dean didn’t share with him, his only secret hobby. Cas had always been insanely curious, and sometimes Dean would play one of the tapes on long road trips and get him to try and guess the title Dean had given it. So far, Dean said that Cas hadn’t got a single one right. Not that he was allowed to check.

Cas moved on to the next compartment, pressing on the wood gently so the door popped open. This tape was labelled Why I Love Him. Cas felt the smile on his face creep ever wider.

He kept on opening the compartments until there was only one left. There were eleven tapes in total, not including the first three, they were titled:

Second Date Mix

Songs That Sound Like Him

Valentine’s Day 2017

He Loves Me Too

Dean’s Sad Music

Holiday Tunes

Cheer up, Grumpy-Butt

When I Knew

He laid them all out carefully on the carpet next to him, and stared at the small cupboard with the yellow post-it on it for a long time.

“Open it,” came Dean’s soft voice from behind him, though how long he’d been there Cas couldn’t say. He didn’t look back at him. This one would be important, he knew; when he opened the final piece of the dresser, everything was going to change. He stood—as the indicated drawer was a little too high for him to comfortably open from his knees—and reached forward with a shaky hand to flip up the latch to open the drawer. There was a slight rustle behind him that he barely heard as he peered in. It was empty. Cas drew in a breath as he turned to ask his boyfriend what was going on and found Dean on one knee, a mixtape in his palm, the label face-up and clear as day and the breath caught in his throat.

Our wedding playlist???

“Dean,” Cas exhaled, tears pricking his eyes. Dean looked unsure for a moment, and fumbled with the tape, almost dropping it as he scrabbled for his pocket.

“I’ve got a ring too,” he said quickly, pulling out a black velvet box from his jeans. He was still in last night’s clothes, his jaw unshaven. Had he slept at all? “I know you hate the idea of a proposal without a ring.” He flipped open the box to reveal a simple, elegant band of white gold and Cas was still struggling to kick his brain into gear or indeed do anything but gape at Dean like a confused fish.

Apparently, his silence stretched on too long for Dean, who swallowed, looking nervous. “I’m sorry it seems kind of thrown together,” he said, beginning to ramble. “I bought the ring months ago. I wasn’t exactly planning to do this over a dresser, but you said it looked like it was full of secrets, and you’ve always said my tapes are like a secret and I just thought it was different, you know? A bit more… us?”

“Dean,” Cas said again, falling to his knees and taking Dean’s stubbled chin in between his hands. He felt tears beginning to fall from his eyes and he couldn’t care less. “It’s perfect. Yes, I’ll marry you. Of course I will. I love you so much.”

“Love you too.” Dean countered, his voice raspy. Cas pulled him in and Dean reached for his left hand, slipping the ring on without breaking the kiss. They kissed and kissed until Cas tasted the salt of their mingled tears, until he felt so giddy that he had to laugh, and his laugh set Dean off laughing and soon they were just holding each other, Cas’ face buried in Dean’s neck, Dean clutching him as though he never wanted to let go.

“I’ve never been more glad to be useless at carpentry,” he mumbled.

Dean chuckled again before pulling back, his eyes shining and happy and beautiful. Cas felt joy swelling within him, filling up every dark corner that Dean had found light in. Yes, of course he would pledge himself to this man forever; this brave, kind, thoughtful man who listened to him like he was interesting and loved him like he was worthy. Truth be told, he already had a long time ago.

[cherryfi]

Don’t Run From Me

Chapter 1: The Interview (2684 words)

A/N: Hello, Hello! This isn’t my first time writing fanfics but, it’s the first time I’m writing for ATEEZ! Please be kind! I’m thinking of making this a chapter series but, I’m kind of stuck on which chapter I should do next. Should I do what happens after the end of this one or should I do the reverse order -(like the first time you met Hongjoong).

T/W: Some cursing and kidnapping.

Enjoy!

2 years.

It had been almost 2 years since you’d finally let yourself settle down.

In your heart it felt like the right time to stop running. For that amount of time no one had come looking for you and nothing bad had happened ( short of occasionally seeing almost familiar faces while out and about in town or across the aisle when you were shopping), you were finally in a place where you felt like you could comfortably let your head rest.

You’d hopped around from motels to hotels at first, terrified to call family and friends because of the chance that Hongjoong would find you. But, as more time passed, you grew comfortable in the idea that he’d leave you be.

You were tired of sleeping on uncomfortable beds that you could never call your own.

Months on the run had made you crave home and that’s exactly where you went.

After the best part of a year you showed up on your mother’s doorstep, halfway across the country with only a backpack and the clothes on your back to your name.

She didn’t ask any questions, just welcomed you back home and over time, once you’d settled, you told her everything.

After many tearful conversations, where your mother told you how worried she was; not knowing where you were or if you were even alive and you told her how much you regretted leaving without telling her; you were closer than ever.

After countless sleepless nights, where you woke up scared that he’d found you , she recommended that you go into therapy. She was terrified of the trauma that you’d been through and how much its impacted you and after her ultimatum ‘Go to therapy or I’m going to the police’ you made yourself go.

The stability of being back at home with your mum and having a permanent roof over your head, coupled with your therapist helping you get through the last 3 years of pain and fear;  put you in a place where you were finally ready to take the last step in truly stabilising yourself: you were going to get a job.

You had spent the last 2 years working odd jobs, from run down diners to small hardware stores to gas stations – you were a ‘Jack of all trades.’

But, before all of that and before Hongjoong had come into your life, you’d been a full-time student who would do PA/ admin work part-time at a well-known company.

Even though you didn’t get to finish your degree, you still had the skills you’d learned in admin work behind you and you were going to sell yourself.

 That’s what bought you here.

Sitting in the lobby of an upscale office building; resumé and paperwork in hand.

‘Breathe’

You sigh deeply, shaking out your hands to relieve some of your body’s tension and reassure yourself yet again that you’re making the right decision.

You’d sign with an agency (on your therapist’s recommendation) and they’d sent you an ad for Tongyong; a small start-up company that was looking to expand.

The current CEO was in the process of gaining some middle/ top league clients and was on the ‘up and up’ , he was looking for a savvy, conscientious and hardworking individual to help him organise his time and schedules.

That was where you came in! You were all these things and more.

Funnily enough, they didn’t really care about years of experience, they were happy to train you up, in order to make you the best fit for them.

It was perfect.

You took the job listing and booked yourself in for an interview, hoping that you’d finally be able to complete your fresh start.

“Ms Y/N Y/L/N? They’ll see you in the office now. Follow me.” You smiled at the pretty receptionist, thinking that you might have seen her somewhere before but, not being able to put a name to a face and quickly got up.

Standing in the elevator with this woman, you couldn’t shake the trepidation that swept over you, almost freezing you in place.

The higher the elevator rose, the more anxious you became, and your mind was suddenly screaming ‘run’.

The phrase, ‘Into the lion’s den’ popped into your mind.

“We’re here. I’m sure you’re going to do great and I wish you the best of luck.” She smiled at you and opened the door, telling you to sit down.

He came in shortly after.

“Ms Y/L/N, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” You nearly jumped out of your skin, nervously laughing as you got up to greet him.

“Yes, sorry. Hi Mr-“ You shook his gently as he apologised for frightening you, telling you his last name was Kim but, to call him Jiwon.

‘Who else do you know with the last name Kim, Y/N’ Panic flashes through you, white hot and you take another deep breath, quashing your anxiety.

‘Run Y/N’

 The interview was going well.

You were sat opposite of each other, a spotless glass table separating you.

You chatted nonchalantly about your previous experiences and what the company was looking for as well as what their mission was.

Jiwon spoke passionately about how Tongyong’s aim was to change the tech market and make it more accessible to everyone and how they were going to create luxury products with affordable prices.

He also spoke to you about what your work with the CEO would be like.

He made it clear that the hours were going to be long and sometimes unsociable but, you would be paid well for your time and it would be worth it.

Quickly, you found yourself excited to work for Tongyong; thrilled at being able to say you were there when the company was still small and renting office space, instead of building international offices.

You looked forward to the work that you would do, and you weren’t at all deterred by the long hours but, there was still a niggling fear that kept eating away at the back of your mind.

‘If this isn’t the CEO then, where is he?’

The small thread of doubt began to grow like a migraine behind your eyes and you had to calm yourself down, yet again.

‘We spoke about this in therapy Y/N, these things happen with trauma, you’re just paranoid’ Either way, with the fear looming over your head and your anxiety building, you had to ask:

“Um, will I be meeting the CEO today or is that a separate interview?” He smiled, leaning back in his chair and stretching his legs.

“Yes of course, how silly of me! I should have said at the very beginning! You’ll be meeting him after this interview. Don’t look so alarmed, he just has a few questions that he wanted to ask you. He’s a great guy and you’re interviewing really well.” He smiled reassuringly, looking at the shock written across your face.

Meeting the CEO would be a huge deal and, so soon?

Pre-interview jitters took over you again.

“I’ve only got one question left and then if there isn’t anything you want to ask me, we can wrap up and I’ll bring the other Mr Kim in.”

‘The other Mr Kim?’

“So, your resume looks great but, why the jump back into PA work? There’s a 2 year break here where you were doing hospitality and retail stuff intermittently, is there any reason for that and how has your situation changed to allow you to do more consistent work?”

‘I was on the run from my crazy-ass, murderous ex’ You shook your head, physically shaking the thought away and gave a thoughtful answer.

“I had a personal issue that meant that I needed jobs that offered flexibility. So, I was working at different places for short periods of time because that was the best that I could do given the rigid schedule at home. My situation has changed now, and I no longer have the same commitments that I did before. This means that I’m now able to jump back into full time work.” He nodded to your answer, jotting down notes on his copy of your resume. You almost high-fived yourself on a job well done.

“Perfect. Have you got any questions for me?” You thought quickly,  remembering that it’s always important to have questions ready for your interviewer and you wanted to see if he’d offer up any more info on the other Kim.

“What got you into Tongyong?”

He gave you a short answer about his love of tech (which you could tell from how passionate he was before and how he and Mr Kim were good friends so, he trusted in his vision.

He was about to continue when there was a knock at the door.

“I guess we’ve run out of time, it was a pleasure meeting you Y/N.” He shook your hand.

“It was nice meeting you too, Jiwon.” He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

 You could hear talking outside of the interview room but, with a frosted glass window and opaque, cherrywood door you couldn’t really hear what was being said or see who he was talking to.

 As you heard the door being opened, you quickly stood up, ready to greet whoever came into the room.

As your eyes connected, you had to catch yourself to stop from fainting.

Your soul  just about left your body.

“Ms Y/L/N, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” His smile was sly and spread across his face slowly as he took the seat across from you.

Hongjoong.

He doesn’t look any different to the way he did when you last saw him.

His hair, once red, was a light pink but, he still looked deceptively innocent.

He looked almost princely in his cut suit.

You were dumbfounded, frozen stiff and still standing in the position you were in before: hand out ready to greet someone who was already comfortably seated.

“Honey take a seat. Let me see that beautiful face. I haven’t seen it in, what was it, 2 years?” You could hear the smirk in his voice and the way he stressed that it had been 2 years. Your skin was crawling.

You couldn’t even get angry at being duped like this.

‘Run’

“Don’t even think about leaving. I have guards by the door, the elevator and in the lobby. Not even James Bond could get out of here.” He chuckles lightly at his joke and you think you might be sick.

Your stomach starts turning.

Your hands start to feel like spiders are crawling over them.

Your body goes cold and you start shaking.

Shakily, you sit back down; turning to face Hongjoong but, refusing to look at him.

He doesn’t like that.

“Look at me sweetheart, let me see those beautiful eyes.” You look at him. As sweet as his words are, his tone is sharp and commanding.

He’s daring you to disobey him, especially when he has you trapped like this.

“Why do you look so angry? Shouldn’t I be the angry one? After all, we spend an incredible and passionate night together and I wake up in the morning to find you gone. Poof, you disappear on me. You took all your shit and just left me.” He leans forward, his large eyes boring into yours.

Hongjoong isn’t going to let you get away , not this time.

You open your mouth, and nothing comes out. You’re beginning to hyperventilate.

“Oh, so you have nothing to say? Cute. I left you alone, thinking maybe you needed some time. Maybe the reason you were jumping all over the country was because you needed space to sort yourself out. I thought you’d come back and tell me what the hell you were thinking; running without so much as a goodbye.”  His voice raises louder with sentence, until he’s red in the face and shouting at you.

He's demanding an answer from you.

“Hongjoong, I-“ He holds up his hand, leaning back in his chair.

The smile has returned but, this time he looks more crazed than happy.

“Don’t worry. We’ll have time to talk about all your little escapades while you were off galivanting and hiding from me. Just tell me one thing baby:” His voice is deathly quiet as he leans in close; he’s deceptively calm.

“Does it surprise you, that I always knew where you were?”

Your breathing picks up at that and you begin to panic.

Your body feels like you can’t enough air in and you begin to shake.

The fact that he always knew where you were and could have gotten to you at any time hits you like a truck.

“I set up this cute, little interview just to talk to you. Isn’t that sweet Y/N? Instead of tracking you down and ambushing and you possibly getting hurt in the process, I just thought why not have her come to me? I’m tired of waiting for you to come home. It’s time for you to come home.”

You shake your head, trying to think of a way to run and coming up short.

Hongjoong grabs your hand, making you stand up from your chair and leads you to the door.

Your mind is still reeling and you’re running on autopilot – you need to get away from him.

‘Come on Y/N! THINK! You’ve gotten away before, you can do it again.’

You remember that Hongjoong said he had men in the elevator, outside the door and in the lobby but, he said nothing about the stairwell.

Hongjoong leads you out, holding onto you loosely  and you begin to think that he’s sure that he’s got you trapped.

As the elevator doors ding and open, you see Mingi inside it.

He’s tall and imposing, his face cold and stern. He barely spares you a glance as Hongjoong steps in the elevator before you. Now’s your chance.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion.

You pull your hand from his as the doors begin to close and bolt for the stairwell; ready to run all the way down.

“Shit.” Hongjoong immediately presses the button to open the door and charges after you.

You  know you’ve only got a little advantage over him and you’re not going to let it go to waste. You kick of your shoes and rush down the stairs, hearing Hongjoong behind you.

You’ve made it down 2 floors when you run right into Jongho’s arms.

“Please let me go, I need to get out of here, please!” With panic rising fast, you do everything you can to get out of his hold; kicking, screaming and begging.

Pretty soon tears are running down your face as the terror really starts to set in.

“I can’t do that Y/N, you know that.” Jongho says without much emotion in his voice. He barely looks at you and doesn’t even seem to break a sweat as you struggle against his hold.

Hongjoong shows up soon after.

Once he’d heard you being caught by one of his men he slowed down, taking his time to get to you.

He was stalking towards you.

“Thanks, Jongho. It looks like our little escape artist isn’t done adventuring yet.” He’s furious.

Despite how calm he looks his eyes are blazing as he looks at you coldly.

“Please Hongjoong, Jongho. Please! Just let me leave! I haven’t told anyone anything. You know that, right? I’ve been quiet the whole time. I won’t say anything. Please just let me go. I just want a normal life.” He shakes his head, taking a bottle out of his pocket and a handkerchief. He doesn’t even hear your pleas. Jongho’s hold on you only tightens.

He grabs your arms to stop you from lashing out at Hongjoong.

“Let’s make sure, she can’t get away again.” Your struggling and begging is useless, As the chemical soaked ‘kerchief is placed over your nose and mouth, the only thought that runs through your mind is that you should have followed your gut instinct.

Let me know what you think and let me know if you want to be tagged for the next chapter! <3

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