#was so worried it was gonna be mid...and it wasnt! (at least not to me)

[wuntrum]

happy to report nosferatu was good 🎉🎉🎉 hooray for weird vampires

[yourlocalmerchgirl]

Is it ok if I call you mine? Part Three

Soft!Joel Miller x Neurodivergent/ anxious F!reader

Part 1 Part 2

Summary: Joel is falling for you as deeply and quickly as you are for him, both taken by surprise that the other actually feels the same way.

Soft! Joel miller x neurodivergent reader AU (outbreak never happens)

Warnings: soft Joel, concerned Joel, protective Joel, neurodivergent, audio overstimulation, anxiety. Best friend Tommy, falling in love. Acceptance, low self esteem.

A/N: Writing this story and connecting with all of you that it’s touched has been exactly what my heart needed! This will be the last installment of this story (at least for now) but I’ll be focusing on bringing you all more neurodivergent reader stories! Please let me how what you all think of the story conclusion for these two and if there’s character stories you’d like to see in the future

There’s not a lot of descriptors about reader other than eye color but they can easily be changed.

Song pairings for this arch:

Dave Matthews Band: Here On Out

In complete shock that Joel would even remotely share the same feelings as you, all you can do is nod your head as tears well in your eyes.

Joel runs his calloused hand along the side of your face before resting to cup your cheek.

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” He asks as he searches your eyes, wiping away the tears with the pad of his thumb.

“Nothing…I promise these are happy tears… I just I never thought you’d share the same feelings I do, I was honestly ready for the rejection.”

“You make me feel happier than I’ve felt in a very long time, more like myself than I have in a long time” Joel says and leans in to place a gentle kiss on your lips, his lips surprisingly soft.

You waste no time returning the kiss as your hand finds purchase in his hair.

Joel pulls away wrapping his arms around you and rolling back over onto his back pulling you into his chest. You both just lay there holding each other and just taking joy in each others presence. That is until your stomach growls so loud it makes you both bust out laughing.

“What do you say we get you some breakfast baby girl?”

“And coffee?” You giggle out

“You think I’m gonna give you breakfast with no coffee? What’do I look like a crazy person?” He chuckles, watching you as you sit up swinging your legs over the side of the bed.

“No I’m just making sure. You don’t want to see me without my coffee” you tease as you turn back to look at him, it’s the smile you give him that does it. Even while he’s still laying down, your smile makes him weak in the knees.

Joel sneaks up behind you as you’re mid stretch wrapping his arms around your torso, pulling you flush against his chest. A giggle bubbles out of you when his scruffy beard tickles your neck as he peppers you with kisses. He hums at the sound of it, he can’t believe this is real, that you feel the same way as him. The warmth of his body around yours is soothing.

“You make me so happy Baby Girl” he says looking at the two of you in his mirror.

“You make me so happy too Joel” you tilt your head back to look at him, unable to help the smile you have when ever you’re around him.

“I like you calling me baby girl” you say, smiling wider when you see the look in his eyes and the smile on his face at your comment.

You pad down the stairs a little bit ahead of him and catch a glimpse of Tommy in the living room as you reach the bottom.

“Tommy!”

“Hey Darlin!”

Joel watches as you hurry over to Tommy as you hit the floor, his heart swells at the love and care you have for him. He understands the bond you two share over your similar disorders understanding each other in away only the two of you could. Joel’s so happy to see his brother have someone like you for a friend.

“You alright? Did you get some rest? I was really worried about you”

“I was worried about you too Tommy, you didn’t have to put yourself out into the storm, I know the thunder isn’t your friend either”

“I wasnt gonna have the two of you out there alone, you two are the most important people in my lives. I couldn’t not be there for both of you.”

Tommy pulls you into one of his big bear hugs, as he squeezing you tightly you let out a little grunt.

“Jesus Tommy be easy with my girlfriend would ya?” Joel teases. You can’t help but smile hearing it out loud, a smile that Joel doesn’t miss.

“Shit sorry sweetheart didn’t mean too…

Oh…wait did you say girlfriend…are you two….shit are you two official?” Tommy asks whipping his head back and forth between you and Joel.

Tommy’s gaze settles on you as you’re smiling ear to ear.

“We are” you say nodding with a smile as you reach your hand out to Joel. Joel gabs your hand pulling you into him and settles his arm around your waist.

“Bout damn time” Tommy says laughing.

“But seriously I’m so happy for you two” as he throws his arms around you both.

When you get up to grab some more coffee you over hear Tommy and Joel talking.

“I’m gonna still go over to the house and do some things and make sure everything’s all good from the storm and I’ll be back before the Cowboys have there kick off for tonight’s game”

“Shit…you sure? I know you need help with the dry wall and installing some of the new sinks, I can help after work this week.”

“Take me with you guys” you pipe up from the edge of your coffee cup.

Joel and Tommy both turn to you shocked by your comment.

“What?”

“I don’t want you guys changing your plans because I’m here. If you need to go work on Tommy’s house, take me with you. There must me something I can help with? Painting? Cleaning?”

“Are you sure, you don’t have to do that?”

“Of corse I’m sure, I’m going to need to borrow some old clothes to wear though.”

Joel can’t help but light up when you enter the bedroom wearing the sweatpants and shirt he gave you. The sight of you wearing his clothes made his heart skip a beat.

“Those look way better on you than they’ve ever looked on me”

“Oh please that can’t be true, but they are cozy”

“Are you sure about this? I’m not trying to put you to work or anything.”

“Joel…I would feel extremely guilty if you didn’t help Tommy just because I was here, I want to go, I want to be helpful. Plus I also just want to spend time with you.” You turn to face him to find he’s already looking at you.

“You would come to work with me for the afternoon just because you wanted to spend time with me?” Joel says pointing at himself almost as if he didn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

“I would, if you wanted me there, I’d be there everyday with you.”

Joel doesn’t say anything, he just looks at you in amazement. That’s when the panic starts to set in. Am I being to much? Was that to much to quickly. I’m being clingy. FUCK. I’m being clingy.

“Sorry! I shouldn’t of said that…I’m not trying to be weird” you say nervously when he continues to say nothing.

“You just keep amazing me more and more. Give yourself some credit sweetheart. I’d happily take you to work with me every damn day. You think I wouldn’t jump at the chance to spend time with you?”

————————————————————-

Tommy sets you up, having you doing some painting in the living room while him and Joel are working on some other projects.

You don’t see him but every once in a while Joel poked his head into the living room to see how you doing.

“Tommy! You wanna come help me lift the counter top with the sink” you hear Joel yell down the hallway

“Tommy!” Joel yells again, mumbling under his breath when Tommy doesn’t respond.

You look back to see Joel trying to lift the counter top himself.

Jesus.

“I can help you with that” you say as you hurry to your feet and over to him.

“You sure sweetheart? Thank you”

“Well I can’t have you hurting yourself on my watch” you say making you both chuckle.

“Plus Tommy’s music is loud enough to wake the head, he’s never going to hear you yelling”

The two of you lift the counter top up into the position.

“Thanks baby girl” Joel coos as he gives you a kiss.

“C-can you…uh can I watch you install it? I can hold the flash light for you.” You smile nervously, immediately worried about being in his way.

“You want to learn how to instal the sink and counter top?” Joel inquisitively asks tilting his head as he looks at you.

“Oh only if I won’t be in your way…never mind it’s ok I’ll just go back to painting”

“I would love t’show you bout what I do”

Joel hands you the flash light as you sit down on the floor together. As you guys lay there under the sink Joel is explaining every step and why each step is necessary. Your silence as he’s explaining makes him think for sure that your just humoring him, that you asked to learn about his work because you thought it’s what he wanted to hear but he couldn’t be further from the truth. When he turns his head to the side to look at you he sees just how intently your listening to him. You eyes are filled with happiness and interest. He loved how content you were, how much you truly enjoyed being on the job with him learning and asking questions when you wanted to understand things better. It’s in this moment Joel realizes how happy you make him, how completely in his element he is when he’s with you. That you completely except him for who he is, there’s no need for him to try to hide parts of himself to placate you.

“Well shit, ain’t the two of you just cute under there.”

“Oh Tommy shut up, someone had to help him when you didn’t, plus he was teaching me and I was enjoying it” you tease sitting up from under the sink. And that’s when you hear it, Joel’s laugh. His boisterous full belly laugh at your response that makes you melt. From that moment on it’s your goal to make Joel laugh like that more. Your pretty sure the sound of pure happiness in his laugh could cure any anxious feeling, any self doubt about how he feels towards you.

Joel is your person. Nobody in your life has ever made you feel more comfortable in your own skin like he has. The comfort that he makes you feel in his unwavering desire to make you feel seen and heard instead of expecting you to change yourself or to act more “normal”. Joel likes you for you and you like him for him. You hope your able to make him feel even a faction as happy as he makes you.

“Can we stop at the store on the way home?” you pip up from the back seat. Joel’s heart is bursting with happiness hearing you call his house home.

“Course we can sweetheart” he says smiling at you in the rear view mirror.

“I’m just going to run in real quick”

Joel jumps out of the truck to take the bags from you when he sees you juggling 2 full bags of groceries.

“What’s all this for sweetheart?” Joel chuckles as he takes the bags.

“I’m going to make dinner for the three of us” you say as you hop in the back seat.

“Really?”

“I heard you guys saying you wanted to watch the football game and you guys busted your asses today so I thought I’d make a family dinner for us all, nothing crazy” you explain, you can feel your eyes soften the longer Joel holds your gaze.

Joel tenderly pulls you into a kiss, before Tommy embarrasses you buy whistling loudly.

—————————————————————

Joel admires the way you’re moving about the kitchen singing along to the music. He watches you for a few moments, silently gushing over how comfortable and beautiful you look. You’re in the zone while your washing dishes that you don’t see or hear Joel coming until he’s embracing you from behind, his large hand splayed over your stomach pulling you against him. A giggle bubbles out of you as your head falls back on his shoulder. A smile so wide it reaches your eyes as Joel nuzzles into your neck resting his head on your shoulder.

“Dinner was delicious baby girl thank you s’much”

“You’re welcome, I’m so glad you guys liked it, I loved having a family meal. I put the left overs in the fridge”

“Y’don’t have to hide in here, come watch the game with us”

“I’ll be in in like 10 minutes, I just wanted to finish cleaning up so we can go upstairs and relax after the game”

Your upstairs curled up in bed flipping through the channels when Joel gets out of the shower. He pauses in the doorway at the sight. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the sight of you in his bed. It makes his heart beat a little after thinking about how badly he wants you to be what he sees every night before he goes to bed,how he just wants to hold you in his arms until you fall asleep.

You notice him out of the corner of you eye and turn to him.

“Did you have a nice shower babe?”

“I’did but it’s even nicer now that I’mma bout to crawl in bed with you.”

“I found a movie to watch, want to watch it til we fall sleep?”

“I’ll do anything as long as I get to be next to you”

“Come here” you say pulling back the blankets, your arms out stretched.

Joel climbs in bed and wastes no time curling into you, wrapping his arm around your torso, placing his head on your chest in the place right above your heart. The warmth and weight of him setting every last nerve in your body ablaze. It didn’t take long for you both to fall asleep like that, two people who spent most their lives feeling unwanted and unloveable being embraced now by the person they loved most in this world.

@kalllistos @justasadlittlebean @bcon24 @its-dee-lovely @fishingforpike @macaroni-artist @gengar-neutral @morgaussy @sailorsophiee @samarav @dionysusinparis @arlovesper @fandomsohmyohmy @lovelyladiess @lovebandrry @joelmillersblog @pinkbowsandcoffeestains s @pascal-is-punk @thatgirlpeaches @alyhull @fandomwhored @hiddenbabynyc @goldenhxurs @frecklefacelm @amyispxnk

@alongfortheridereader

[unlimitedtrees]

a build from mid 2015 of my old game 'Mr. Waffle Lover', and why everyone should archive their work

hello. this is gonna be a quick little post to talk about something. as you might already know. i've been making games since 2014. one of my Very First projects was a game called 'Mr. Waffle Lover'. i have a Lot to talk about it, but i want to save that for later. For now, i have something else i need to talk about.

So. this project was/is pretty important to me. it was one of the first things i made Ever, before i was even called 'Unlimited Trees' and before i was involved in Any online communities. i was learning A Lot from making it... a lot of the stuff i did for it is Unrecognizable from my current work.. and i havent made anything like it since. it means a lot to me, at least now.

Back Then, However... i did not treasure my work as i did now. You See, this game went through TONS of iterations. from 2014 to 2017, this game went through many changes across Multiple different project files, all with different assets and programming. during the early days, when i gave up on one iteration of the project, i would simply Delete the old files off my computer. And Then, at the beginning of 2016 when i changed my username to 'Unlimited Trees', i deleted ALL of my old work.

TONS of old games ive made were lost. some of the Very First works ive done Ever are completely missing. years of work went down the drain because i wanted to move on from my old work. But as time passed.. i became more fond of my old work, but realized that i could Never see any of it again. and since i never shared any of it to anyone outside of a few old friends (who i dont even have contact with anymore), there was no way i could get any of it back.

But. about over a year ago or so, i went through my old laptop and was able to find a bunch of old files with quite a few of my old games... some of these files werent the latest builds of these games so there was still a lot missing, but i was So Glad i found them... i have So Much i want to share and talk about and im happy i can share at least a little bit of the work ive done alone for years. even if no one cares about some dumb old games, im at least happy i dont have to worry about losing them again..

ANYWAYS. about this build of 'Mr. Waffle Lover'. it is the fourth iteration of the game. it has ideas which no other iteration has done (mainly the 'TNT' jumps). it has art and levels which i kind of like compared to the other early iterations. and it actually Plays Kind of Good , even if it is a little janky and basic. unlike most versions of the game, i actually remember sending builds of this to old friends, but i dont know if they ever played it or even still have it (i doubt they do Lol).

there's a lot more i could probably say about this, but i dont have the energy right now and will probably talk about it later in another post about 'Mr. Waffle Lover'. i have a Lot to share about it... just now is not the time. the video i posted speaks for itself, i think. its just a simple platformer with a basic OC. theres some stuff that wasnt shown in the video, such as an unfinished boss fight. but aside from that, thats all there is to see.

anyways, the point of this post is that i want to encourage more people to archive their work and not do what i did and delete all your stuff. even if in the moment you dont think your stuff is important.. you should at least keep your stuff saved in case you ever want to look back at it. Especially if youve been making things for Years... you might want to see just how much youve grown.. thats how i feel anyways. i am still missing a ton of work that ive made.. and ive since tried to archive everything i make. ive been making games for 8 years, and i put a Lot of time into the stuff ive made.. i never want to throw out any of my work again.

thats all i have to say for now i think. By The Way, the source code for this build of the game can be found here. just in case u want to give it a look. And By The Way, it's in my pinned post, but i have a few google drive folders full of All of my old projects, including everything i have from Waffle Lover (or 'Project Waffle', as it's called). i plan on moving more stuff onto github and making more posts about it.. but for now u can look thru it if u like

[kaz11283]

Of Course I'm Here

Characters: Come on you know by now how this goes (Loki x you) (Team x you, platonic)

Warnings: None. And really if you ever see anything that I might need to able as a warning please let me know... I'm the person who forgets there are people out there that get offened by the word F*** if that is an exapmle of anything.

Summary: Mid battle and the avengers keep looking for an answer as to why the God of Lies hasnt showed up yet. Of course you have no idea but at least he proves them all wrong.

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME: hey guys Im back, I know it hasnt been long but I also know I havent been posting every single day like I was, i got into a weird little funk where I didnt want to do anything, I was just feeling completly drained, and I felt bad because I have my little and I didnt even want to play with her because I have just been so TIRED, but I'm feeling better. Work has been kicking my ass here lately and ive been working over 50 hours a week so ive literally been coming in, eatting / feeding the little, getting us ready for bed, and crashing as soon as she falls asleep. But im here now. I will probably be more active on weekends than during the week because I have more time to spend working on stuff but I will be posting also during the week just not daily. At least until after state comes. Thank you so much for the reblogs, likes, comments, follows, and messages please keep them coming! If you would like to be tagged please ask or message, and requests are open. Love you guys so much! 💚💚💚💚💚

Loki Masterlist

~~~~~

"Y/N, BACK UP I NEED BACK UP! EYES IN THE SKY!" Tony yelled from above, you and Clint stood back to back on a roof top shooting as many bad guys as you could. Clint took aim at another carrier, shooting at the engine causing the entire thing to blow up raining debris and hot metal around you.

"Damnit Clint! Farther away make sure they are farther away!" You yelled popping him on the head with an arrow before aiming it at the thing that was chasing Tony.

"Where is lover boy at? You.sent him the location right?" Nat asked into the com.

"Yes I sent him the location, no I dont know where hes at." You mocked.

"Did you send him the right location?" Sam asked.

"One time, one dam-"

"Language!" Steve chimed in causing everyone to groan. Gun shots where ringing all around you and you could here metal on metal paired with Hulk screams coming from another building over.

"Language." You mocked muting your com son that no one but Clint heard you. "I am a 26 year old woman, I think I'm old enough to cuss if I want." You drew back your bow and sent another arrow flying into another goon that had Nat trapped aginst a wall. She shot you a thumbs up before running off. You hit unmute on your com.

"Jesus, 26? Baby, you sure you don't need to be at a babysitter instead of on a building killing things?" He laughed.

"Dont worry Hawk, when we get done here I've already booked you a nice nursing home to be put into." You put your bow around you and stood on the edge of the building. "I need a better view." You looked round, the top of a taller building caught you eye. "There Hawk, we can cover a better radius from up there, get closer to the action."

"DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE GODS ARE GOING TO BE HERE? WE NEED MORE HELP WERE GETTING TIRED AND OUT NUMBERED!" Tony came over the coms screaming.

"How do we get up there? Or do I even wanna know?" Hawk came to examin where you were talking about.

"Im jumping, you cant tell me that someone wont catch me." You shrug.

"GODS WHERE ARE TH- Y/N DONT YOU DARE JUMP!" Tony stopped and hovered right were you was standing.

"Then take us over there. We need higher ground, we cant cover everyone from down here." You crossed your arms.

"Where are the gods at y/n?" He asked again

"I. Dont. Know. Jesus you guys act like I'm suppose to be there keeper!" A simultaneous you are came from everone through the com causing you to roll your eyes. "Hes gonna be here I swear it! Now take me to the building or I jump. 1.....2....-" Tony grabbed you by the collar of your jacket and flew you to the building.

God these things were everywhere and you were starting to run out of arrows. After shooting another ship and causing it to blow you heard what was unmistakably pounding on the roof top door leading to where you currently was at.

"I have some univited guests about to join my party. Anyone available for some assistance?" You yanked out the two emerald green and silver daggars that your boyfriend had given you not long after you had started dating after throwing your bow around you.

"Buy some time kid, I'm on ground level right now but I can try to get up there as fast as possible." Bucky called over the com.

"Buy some time? Ok. I can do this. I work better from afar but a little hand to hand never hurt anyone, just easier to get stabbed this way." The first of the things busted through the door running straight at you. You jerked out of the way missing his staff by just a few inches. Quickly turning you flipped the dagger like Loki had showed you and stabbed him in his side causing him to fall to the ground before the next one tried to impale you.

"I have two daggers and they have freaking staffs! Back up! WHERE THE HELL AR-" you were interupted by static in the air and a bright light. The bitfrost had just opened up leaving to gods standing in front of you and taking out the remainder ofnthe bad guys. "HES HERE! I TOLD YOU GUYS THEY WERE COMING AND THEY'RE HERE." You pulled two extra coms from you pocket and gave them to Thor and Loki.

"Always a pleasure to battle beside you Lady y/n." Thor smiled takkng the com and putting it in his ear before taking off again.

Loki sauntered over to you and put his arm around you waist, you put the com in his ear as he rolled his eyes. He leaned down and gave you a quick kiss.

"You got a new outfit." You smiled at him. God the way he looked in his battle clothe always did something to you, the horned helment was a plus.

"You like it." He smirked down at you pulling you closer.

"Your wearing your horns to." You reached up and brushed a peice if hair behind his ear.

"STOP. STOP NOW. WE CAN HEAR EVERYTHING AND ITS GROSS." Tony yelled causing you both to roll your eyes.

"Quick run down, bad guys everywhere, no end in sight, and I'm out of arrows pretty sure Hawk is too." Loki waved his hand over your quiver making more arrows appear.

"I see you had to use your daggers. I am sorry for not being here. Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked stepping away from you to examin you.

"Small cut on the side, nothing I havent dealt with before, Ill be fine. You go make sure Hawk is fully stocked up and help the others. I got a birds eye view of you right here." I leaned in kissing him one more time before smiling at him and pushing him away. He kissed his two finger before placimg them over his heart and you did the same, "always." You both said before he disappered.

You could hear Thor laughing at the chaos going on and Steve trying to direct the god of thunder on what to do. You had learned earlier to just let him do his own thing and he would be fine. Tony was still trying to micromanage everything when you heard Loki mumble something in an old language and his com cut out. You had figured it wouldnt have stayed on to long though but at least you had tried. It had calmed down up on your end so you decided to finally go back down to where Clint was at shooting an arrow with heavy duty rope you glided back down next to him to watch what was going on.

"Hello, earth to y/n." He snapped his fingers in front of your face. You had been to busy staring at Loki and that damn helmet. "I dont even understand why were friends." He rolled his eyes propping up on the ledge watching as the rest of the team secured the last of the bad guys.

"Because we both shoot arrows, because we are both the best in the team, or because we both know we are the best looking one on the team so we have to stick together." You laughed jumping up so you could sit on the ledge.

"The birds can come out of their nest now." Bucky called over the coms causing you both to sigh.

When you and Clint had reached the bottom you walked over to Thor theowing your arms around the big goof ball.

"You are amazing during battle as always." He beemed patting you on the shoulder.

"As always? Thor youve only fought with her twice." Steve said beside you.

"I had a week off. Went to Asguard, spent time with the boys. Someone had to keep them in line." You shrugged like it was no big deal.

"She was amazing!" Thor went on telling the story of the fight you had all gotten into.

"Mothers been asking about you by the way dear. Wants to know if you've decided to come stay for a while." Loki leaned down and whispered in your ear.

"I think I'm leaning toward a yes. I can't stand being away from you, you had been gone forever this time." You reached for his hand as you both walked to the quinjet.

"I was making arrangements to have our room redone. I figured you would come with me." He gave you a knowing smirk as he reached up to take off his helmet.

"Leave the horns on. I have a suprise for you when we get home." You pulled his hand away from his head and smacked his butt.

"You are a little minx." He laughed chasing you into the jet while the rest of the team groaned and rolled their eyes.

"Even if you wasnt moving i would be kicking your ass out! I am so sick of the PDA between you two." Tony hollared after you.

"Leave them alone Tony, they are courting. Im just glad my brother is happy and not trying to stab me." Thor clapped Tony on the back.

~~~~~

Tag List:

@kgirardin

@sophlubbwriting

@supbeeches

@high-functioning-lokipath

[facceshopping]

u guys don’t care but i need to organize my thoughts on new lana album

white dress- this one is soooo gorgeous and i really love the sped up line in the second part of the chorus although some ppl will probably hate it. also the little hum she does after she says “i felt seen” was so beautiful. love the higher register here. also “kinda makes me feel.. like maybe i was better off” didn’t make me CRY but i did tear up. wasnt crazy about the verses at first but the weird interval at the beginning grew on me. also pretty sure one of the sounds in the production is lana ripping a juul, someone tell me if u agree

chemtrails- this was already one of my fave songs recently and i think it’s even better within the album. career highlight material. she was crazy for this one. wish she included the vocalization from the outro that gets used in the video though.

tulsa jesus freak- one of my new fave lana songs and my immediate favorite on this album. the autotune they put on her throughout this track gives it such a unique quality that interacts w the melodies so well and the VOCODER at the end??? she surgically removed charli’s bob w that one. love the line “you should come back to our place baby, don’t be afraid of our love” the talking layered over the outro is one of several rly cool production touches. lyrics give me religious cult type of vibes so ofc it’s my favorite

let me love you like a woman- i thought this was mid when it got released and it’s still one of my least faves on the album but it’s grown a little. vocals in the bridge are great. i think my main issue is with the melody in the chorus, it just doesn’t do it for me. love love love when the words “want” and “need” overlap in the second verse

wild at heart- this one is also one of my favorites. she does that thing again in the second verse where she speeds up a line & keeps the rhythmic scheme pretty loose which i really like and find really expressive. harmonies towards the end are divine and the melody in the chorus feels like a classic. my one question: did she say “insta thots” in the first verse shdknsosneidixj it might have been “dots” but i’m not sure what that means. also this pretty heavily samples how to disappear from NFR which i think is neat

dark but just a game- YESSSSSSS this is such a serve the minor key ultraviolence type beat in the chorus juxtaposed with the bright 60s kind of beatles sounding harmonies in the chorus is SO cool. it’s like the verses are the dark and the chorus is the game. “no rose left on the vines” lana sees the power of fame and toys with it because it doesn’t scare her! what to others is an all consuming state of being is to her simply a game!!

not all who wander are lost- this is definitely my least fave on the album. not a bad song but definitely not as good as the others on here. the invocation of the word wanderlust had me rolling my eyes a little but in an affectionate way. i’m probably too irony poisoned for this song. i like the opening line “i’ve been wearing the same damn clothes for three damn days” though

yosemite- to me this song feels like the last one before the third act of the album and i rly like how it connects to earlier in the album (“no more candle in the wind” from tulsa jesus freak (and also mariners apartment complex now that i think abt it)) and later in the album (“we did it for free”) the chorus is really good and the spoken word interlude in the bridge is one of my fave moments on the album. love how she says “television static” also listen for that distinctive rick nowels million dollar man sound effect

breaking up slowly- probably the most traditional & familiar track on here but god does it hit. nikki lane is a great presence on here (even though i thought she was miley cyrus at first LMFAO) it’s short and sweet & the harmonies in the chorus that nikki and lana do together are really great especially when they say “don’t send me flowers.” nikki’s second verse EATS. “are these my good years or do i have none? / are there really good years for everyone?”

dance till we die- not one of my faves but still really good. the invocation of all these older women who r all musical legends definitely highlights how lana has kind of ascended to that plane. the BRIDGE however is a really pleasant surprise! i saw someone say she’s kind of giving alanis morrisette on the bridge and i agree. “court almost burnt down my home” is she talking about courtney love. please tell me she’s talking about courtney love

for free- one of her best covers for sure!! zella day sounds a lot like lana on the first verse, but weyes blood on the third verse is transcendent i love her. this being at the end rly drives home what i was talking about in the last track of lana kind of becoming one of those legendary figures. harmonies all the way through are insanely good

overall: one of her best albums for sure, i feel like it may be number 3 for me but that changes a lot. was worried this was gonna sound too much like NFR but she definitely carved out a specific sound for this one. really folky but with some light beats throughout which works for me & suits her voice & writing well. i will develop a full take on what this album MEANS as i listen to it more but for now i rly dig the themes she gets into here. her best vocals in a while (maybe ever) and maybe her most genuinely personal stuff as opposed to the embellishment & romanticization of her earlier stuff (which i love obviously don’t get it twisted) i called in sick to listen to this and didn’t regret it at all

[cordytriestowrite]

Fight, Fight, Fight

Bucky x Reader

One Shot

College AU

Summary: I see your "there was only one bed" and raise you "there was only one shower" with a sprinkle of "enemies to...still enemies but also lovers"

Natasha Romanov slid Sam Wilson a glass of vodka. A literal glass of vodka. Filled almost to the brim with the strong, clear alcohol a few drops sailed over the rim and left a wet trail as the glass came to a stop. 

"Drink."

Who was he to argue with a Russian about drinking? He took a large swallow, letting it burn down his throat and wash over the knot of nerves in his stomach. 

"You have to say something, Sam. It's your house."

He nodded. Natasha was right. When he put up the flyers in the student union offering the spare bedrooms in the house he inherited from his grandfather he thought it'd be a win-win. He was in his senior year, about to graduate and in need of some cash flow: enter roommates. He thought it would be like living in the freshman dorms all over again, bonding with people like Steve and building lifelong friendships. But no, while the roommates individually were just fine, it was when they were together that brought Sam to sit at his dining room table practically chugging eight ounces of cheap vodka. 

Natasha was nice enough to support him, maybe nice isn't the word, annoyed enough to help him. They had only just started dating after being introduced at Steve's birthday party two months ago, but she had been witness to too many squabbles, slammed doors, and sabotage. 

"There's gonna be a civil war in this house in less than," Sam glanced at his phone, "ten minutes."

"That's why you drink.

-

Your books were heavy and kept slipping from your arms. You adjusted them as you walked but that adjustment would only work for a few minutes before you had to perform another juggling act. The house was only two blocks from campus, the air was cool and breezy, you were pretty sure you aced your civ test, but you were far from content, after all finals were only a month away.

Bucky was walking just in front of you, headphones blaring music that even you could hear. He held a single, slim textbook and a pencil in on hand and his phone in the other. That's why you were mad. Bucky insisted on walking home together after class, but you never actually walked home together. You worked hard in class while he coasted on through. And yet you knew you would both pass.

When you reached out to Sam about the open room in his house you were hopeful, optimistic even, about a new living situation that didn't involve sleeping two feet from someone else in a dorm room that was always too cold. Had you known Bucky Fuckin Barnes had also called up Sam you would have stayed huddled under your blankets with earplugs while your roommate had sex in the bed two feet away from you, loudly. Anything was better than being stuck with the guy in and out of classes, but it was too late.

You hit an uneven patch of concrete, stumbling and losing your hold on your textbooks. You growled in frustration as they tumbled to the ground, bending down to collect them. Every week, every fucking week, you had to carry four textbooks to and from class. Every week Bucky saw you carry four textbooks while he carried practically nothing. He never offered to help, not once.

"Hey asshole." You called, knowing Bucky wouldn't hear you over his music, but it felt good to yell.

"You could fucking stop and help me for once."

Bucky stopped and turned, he pulled an ear bud out of his ear and regarded you with a fake smile. He didn't move, didn't even raise his voice to match yours.

"Buy a backpack."

-

Sam's head shot up from the table top at the sound of the front door slamming open and hitting the wall. The house shook, or maybe that was just him. Natasha swiftly stomped toward the comotion, coming back in less than a minute with strong hands gripped onto the shoulder of both you and Bucky, who were still screaming.

"Backpacks were literally made to hold books-"

"Or you could just take one or two-"

"Why would I help yo-"

"QUIET!"

Natasha's sharp tone cut through the animosity between you as she pushed you into a chair opposite Sam. She walked Bucky to the chair at the far end and stood behind him, arms crossed and mouth tense.

"Sam." She prompted.

Sam sighed, wishing he was still face down on the table in blissful, drunk, silence. He took a deep breath, sparing a glance at his girlfriend before opening his mouth. He should have prepared something, but the booze had loosened his lips and now he was just coming out with it.

"I can't have it anymore. The fighting, the yelling...I'm done. I like you both and I'm sorry to do this but-"

"Sam, please don't say what I think you're going to say." You started.

"Dude, come on we're just-" Bucky spoke over you.

"You don't speak for me, Bucky."

"I'm just trying to apologize to Sam for your shitty behavior. Since you don't seem to want to do it."

"Bullshit, Barnes!"

Sam slammed his palms against the table top. He stood suddenly, a wave of dizziness sending the room into a tailspin. He closed his eyes, grit his teeth, and finally just said it.

"I want you out."

-

It was mid semester. Dorms were full and open rooms were few and far between. Sam agreed to give you both a week. It wasn't enough time, but between classes and homework at least you barely saw Bucky.

Wanda had found the apartment. Said it was good practice for when she got her real estate license. You couldn't pass up her help so you agreed to let her do some of the heavy lifting. 

The place she found for you was on the other side of town. One bedroom, no washer or dryer, and on the fourth floor. The building was old too. Faded wallpaper and flickering lights lead you down the hallway towards the unit. The realtor had given you a code to the lockbox hanging from the doorknob, but the box was already hanging open. You were about to text Wanda when the door opened.

"Bucky?"

-

"Wait, you two are moving out...together?"

Sam shook his head in disbelief, hoping he just heard them wrong. 

"Unfortunately." You grumbled, crossing your arms and glaring at Bucky.

Bucky glared right back, eyes hard and hands busy aggressively making a sandwich. He was getting mustard on the countertop, like usual. 

"Okay, one of you can stay here and the other can take the apartment?"

Bucky, finished with his sandwich but leaving the counter dirty, joined you at the table and with his mouthful answered simply.

"Can't."

"Can't?" Sam echoed.

"I paid the first and last month's rent. I'm not trusting her to pay that back to me."

You nodded, "And it's my name on the application. I'm not risking him tanking my credit score when he doesn't pay rent."

You snatched the remaining half of Bucky's meal right out of his hands, taking a large bite, savoring Bucky's protest more than the actual food.

"God, who destroys a sandwich with this much mustard?"

"It wasnt your fucking sandwich! "

Sam could only watch as the conversation digressed into yet another fight. How you two were going to share a one bedroom was beyond him, but at least he would get some peace and quiet.

-

You woke up, not suddenly, but gradually with enough time to know it was still dark before your eyes even opened. You also knew you were cold and that your body was huddled too close to the edge of the mattress. Behind you there was a loud, sudden snort that made you finally open your eyes. 

You were in fact at the edge of the mattress, your blankets nowhere on your person, and your phone screen showed the time to be 4:03 am. You turned, squinting against the fluorescent lights shining through the cracks in the blinds. Bucky was on his back, loud snores erupting from his open mouth, blankets bunched up around his body keeping him warm. He looked deep in sleep and that just wouldn't do.

With both hands gripped tightly on the comforter you yanked with all your might. You pulled and tugged until Bucky was completely bare, his exposed skin erupting in goosebumps. The snoring stopped, Bucky turned on his side, eyes still closed, to grope blindly for his missing warmth. You smiled ruefully and turned your back to him, enjoying the thrill of victory as you shut your eyes.

The mattress squeaked and rocked as Bucky flopped around like a fish out of water and suddenly your victory was stolen by a man who wasn't even conscious.

With a deep groan of resignation you turned over and dropped the comforter over Bucky's form, tucking the corner under his shoulder to trap in heat. Bucky exhaled deeply and settled into the covers. You turned your back to him again. Making sure the blankets were tucked under you as well.

-

Natasha didn't think Sam should be worrying about his old roommates as much as he was. But here they were out to dinner with Steve and Sam had barely said two words in as many minutes. Steve threw her a look, one that asked her to explain, but she only rolled her eyes and elbowed her boyfriend.

"Hm?

"I was asking how class was going, Sam." Steve gently reminded him. "But something tells me you got something other than finals on your mind."

Sam heaved a huge sigh.

"I can't stop thinking about them."

-

You vaguely remembered your alarm going off, but sleep dragged you back under as soon as you made the offensive noise stop. Next time you woke up there was much more appeal. The sun was soft, its rays warming your face. Your body was cocooned in a pleasant mix of skin and sheets. You hummed, turning into the warmth, breathing in the familiar scent of your bedmate. You couldn't even drum up irritation at the smell of his 3-n-1 shampoo. 

Responsibility tickled your brain, urging you to untangle from Bucky and get ready for class. You did just that, albeit reluctantly, sitting up and grabbing your phone.

You overslept. Your final was in thirty minutes.

"Shit!" You hissed, jumping out of bed.

"Whatisit?" Bucky grumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"We missed our alarm. Civ final's in thirty minutes." 

You pulled off your pajama bottoms, stepping out of the pool they made around your ankles. Bucky was up and out of bed by the time you pulled off your shirt. 

"Fuck!"

On long legs he sprinted into the bathroom, but you were there to catch the door before he slammed it shut.

"What are you doing?"

You shoved your way through, pulling back the shower curtain and turning the knob. The room filled with the hiss of water and arguing. 

"I've got to take a shower."

"Well so do I?"

"Does it look like I give a fuck?"

It was a race to get naked, to find yourself under the spray before the water could turn cold. You stepped into the tub, Bucky following suit. He closed the curtain, mouth still set in a hard frown.

"This is your fault."

You laughed, leaning your head back to wet your hair. 

"Oh, is it? Maybe if I wasn't up half the night because of your snoring I wouldn't have missed my alarm!"

You switched places with Bucky once you were doused, letting him under the spray. He grabbed his 3-n-1 shampoo bottle and squeezed too much into his hand.

"I only snore because you insisted on taking your mattress."

"My mattress is the most expensive thing in this apartment."

"So you're just bad at spending money then?"

You glared at each other, silent as your fingers worked to clean your hair. Bucky did the same. The staring match raged on for a few breathless moments, until for the first time all morning Bucky's gaze drifted away from your face and down your naked body.

"Pervert!"

-

"I don't know why you're worrying." Steve said, watching his best friend flitter around the kitchen.

"I just want to know how they're doing." He explained, pulling the chicken from the oven.

"You know, Nat's right. This is crazy. Why am I supporting this?"

Sam had to agree. He felt crazy thinking about his old roommates so much. It's been six months. If one of them had killed the other he needed to know.

"I'm just checking in on my friends, Steve."

-

Bucky opened the door to Sam's place like he still lived there. You pulled on your joined hands, yanking him back a step to chide him.

"We're guests stupid. Knock."

"Knock, knock." Bucky called sarcastically, shooting you a smug look when Sam shouted "Come in!".

"You're rude." You grumbled.

"And you're a know-it-all." Bucky shot back without looking at you.

"I'm not-"

"Hey!" Sam greeted, voice a bit too loud, smile a bit too wide. His arms were open as if he was going to go for a hug but they hung suspended as his eyes found your joined hands.

"What's uhhhh, what's this?"

You and Bucky looked down at your interlaced fingers, then at each other, then back to Sam.

"We're together."

Sam's arms fall heavily to his sides, then up to run over his head as his chest swells.

"WHAT? How? What?!"

-

You and Bucky had made your way home to your one bedroom apartment, changing into your pajamas and you continued your squabble from the walk home.

"They poop in a box. It's disgusting!"

Bucky scoffed, leaving the room briefly and coming back with a glass of water that he sat down on your bedside table.

"We shit in a box too if you think about it. Just admit you aren't a cat person so we can break up and I can take the cat."

He crawled into bed, lifting up the blanket so you could join him. You stood there for a moment before relenting and crawling in next to him, tucking your head under his chin and throwing your leg over his hips.

"Whatever, I'm tired. We'll continue this in the shower tomorrow."

"This isn't over." Bucky warned before planting a kiss to your forehead. "Love you."

"Love you too, but we're not taking Steve's cat."

Bucky groaned, rolling on top of you. 

"Cats are awesome, if you got your head out of your ass-"

"If you thought for more than two seconds about the responsibility-"

The bickering continued as you shed each other's clothes, putting a pause on fighting in favor of moving together. It's how most of your arguments ended and while most people, especially Sam, couldn't wrap their heads around that it was what worked for you and Bucky. So did the one bedroom apartment, the shower that ran out of hot water too fast, and the cat Bucky was going to sneak in before spring semester. It all somehow made sense. 

Except the fucking cat, come on Bucky!

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[qilwashere]

Hinata Shoyo

Hinata is your neighbor, and you've known each other for the past few years.

You met him near the bathrooms by the water fountains at one of his games, ironically, right after he had gone into the men's room to empty his stomach, since he used to get nervous all the time before a match. Since then he's gotten better, but you still worry for him sometimes.

You always help each other with homework or volleyball, although it's kind of one-sided, since you're super smart and he's very dedicated to being a middle blocker.

You always thought of him as a best friend, nothing more, although over the past few weeks, you'd been questioning yourself about that. He's been hanging out with you less, but youre pretty sure it's just because he's been busier lately. Sometimes your anxiety gets the best of you and you wonder if you did something to provoke him to not want to be around you. Every time this thought pops up in your head you have to take a deep breath to rid your brain of it.

At school his grades have gradually getting worse so you proposed a study date. As soon as you asked him you went red, hoping he didn't take it the wrong way. "I-I didn't mean a real date, it's not like--" you stumbled over your words, but he interrupted you with a laugh and said "Sure, that'd be nice. Whatever day you're free," he smiled at you. You nodded quickly and agreed on a Wednesday. You both parted ways until the set date.

At around 5:40 that Wednesday, you pace around your bedroom waiting for that familiar chime coming from your front door, letting you know that Hinata was there. It never arrives, and your worries that he's trying to keep out of contact with you come flooding your mind once again. You hope that at least he'll text you that he couldn't make it, but no chimes come from your phone either.

The next day, Thursday, at school, you don't see him in any of your usual classes together, which concerns you because he almost never misses a day. Is he sick? you wonder to yourself, and can't get him off your mind until your friend Yachi invites you to her table at lunch to discuss the new club openings that they could join together.

You start to ask her if she's seen Hinata but stop yourself mid-phrase and continue eating.

The days drag along. You haven't heard a thing from Shoyo all week.

You make a last attempt to contact him by texting, "Hey, we missed our study session :p wanna try again tomorrow?" It was a Sunday, so you felt like the next day would be a good time. It surprises you when he responds almost immediately after with "Sure :D See you at school :)". Your heart leaps but you remember that this could all be a set up.

Nah, you reassure yourself, Shoyo's way too nice for that.

For the rest of the day you surprise yourself when your feet guide you to the school gymnasium. You walk in hesitantly towards the door and remember that--

Of course. Why did you think the gym would just be open to anyone? On a Sunday, at that? You bury your face in your hand and turn back when someone comes up behind you-- Yachi.

"Hi Y/N! What are you doing here? I came because I was forgot my bag in here on Friday and never got a chance to get it back. I figured I'd stop by and pick it up before school tomorrow," she says casually. You stare at her wide-eyed. "...Is something wrong?" She asks you. You shake you head no but reply, "I was.. uh, well I was hoping to practice volleyball drills for a bit." Your response surprises you, since you'd been happy to talk with people about it but never really played the sport, or seemed interested in doing so.

"We can't get in without the key, though, so--" you start, but Yachi cuts you off: "Oh, that's no problem, I'm the manager of the volleyball club! I thought I told you... Anyways, let me just make sure I have it on me--" she pauses and pats herself down until she finds a keychain in her pocket, "--we're good!" She says cheerfully.

Your bubbly friend unlocks the key to the Karasuno gym and pulls the basket of volleyballs out of the corner. You grab a ball and toss it up, lace your hands together and face your forearms towards the ceiling, and bend your knees to receive.

The toss was off so you have to shift to the left a little to receive it right, but the feeling of it bouncing off of your arms is so... exciting. You shuffle your feet quickly forward to get directly under the ball again and - POOMF - you hit it up perfectly again. The ball comes down once more and this time when you receive it, you decide to send it over and aim for the left corner of the court. You brace your arms, wait for the point of contact, shrug your shoulders and send the ball flying up... Over... And right inside the left lines on the other side of the net.

You pat yourself on the back for a second and continue doing some volleyball practice. You practice aiming your tosses and have Yachi (attempt to) give you some good sets for spikes. After about an hour and a half, the sun starts to disappear behind the hills. You pick up the balls with the new club manager and say your goodbyes before heading home.

Once you get to your room, you notice that your laptop is open so you decide to check your socials. You try to deny it but you know you're secretly hoping for a DM from Shoyo. As you scroll through your messages you start seeing chats that you hadn't opened in a good while. They don't interest you, though, because you just want to hear from that energetic tangerine-haired boy.

You slump onto your bouncy mattress and it seems to groan in agony as you get comfortable. Eventually your eyelids grow heavy and you decide to rest.

That next day, Hinata comes over to your house,  and you're just hopping into your neatest skirt when you open the door. You're ready for your study date, but before you can stay anything, he grabs your hand and almost drags you down the block to a wide field. As you're jogging beside him on that cloudy day, struggling to keep up, you sneak a glance at him and notice that he's looking happier than you'd ever seen him. You smile to yourself, look down, up again, and run faster to challenge his speed.

"No fair, you got a head start!" He pants, and you laugh.

Eventually you get to a large field with tall grass and a few dandelions.

"I... Need a break," you can barely get out as you bend over and breathe hard. Hinata does the same thing, and after a moment he says, "Hey, (Y/N), see that really tall blade of grass over there?" He says to you. "You mean the one that's taller than you?" You joke, and he scowls. "....Yeah, that one. I'll race you to it!" He taunts, and you gladly accept the challenge. Forgetting about school for a while, you sprint towards the grass towering over all the rest. He beats you, as always, but you don't care because even if you lost, you had more time to spend with him and that's all you needed.

By the time you reach the grass, you're both too weak to stand up, so you lay in the field, next to each other, hands just barely touching, and look at the clouds in the sky. You breathe hard and think about your best friend beside you, and feel yourself blush as you smile to yourself again.

It's quiet so as you push yourself up on your elbows, you try think of a way to start a conversation. "I, uh... I practiced some volleyball yesterday." You stumble over your words, but he perks right up at this, wide-eyed since you're not exactly the athletic type.

"Really?! How was it? Did you hit a spike? Did you practice your tosses? How were your receives? When the ball hit your arm did it go 'poomf?'" He bombards you with questions, doing the same movements he usually would on the court, since this is his area of expertise.

You try to answer him the best you can, "Well, actually, I did try to hit the ball over - Yachi, the new manager, tossed some balls to me - but they always hit the net... My sets were pretty good, and, I could control my receives!" You got excited near the end, almost bouncing, because the few times you practiced with Hinata, strangely, you struggled the most with your receives.

Hinata seems to remember that, because when you mention your improvement, he almost yells, "That's great Y/N! We should practice one day!" You agree with a giggle.

After a few minutes, the world seems to calm down, and so do you. Taking in loads of air at a time, you stare at the sky and try to trace shapes in the clouds.

"I miss you," Hinata says suddenly, almost under his breath. It surprises you and you go silent for a while. "I..I missed you too. A lot," you add, unsure of how to really respond.

He sits up and says, "I'm sorry we haven't talked, it was an accident. I got caught up in volleyball and my failing grades but-- but the few days I haven't seen you made me realize that I want you... More than you, or I, even know..." He trails off, playing with his fingers, and your heart skips a beat.

"I need you, (Y/N)." Hinata mumbles, staring at your bright (E/C) eyes. You nod, not knowing what to say. "Can I.. can I have you?" He asks, embarrassed. You nod again, harder, and grin at him. "Yeah," you just barely whisper, gazing at him as if he were the only thing in the world, and for that minute, he was.

He returns the smile, and it seems like, for that second that he does, the clouds go away, almost like they're making room for the ball of sunshine sitting next to you.

In that moment, with the (real) sun setting, and the dandelions swaying in the slight breeze, you realize that you do love this boy, and that you'd do anything for him. You move your hand slightly to the right so that your pinkie is resting on top of his. You sneak glances at him, and wonder if something's gonna happen.

Shoyo is quiet for the  rest of the time, and you don't kiss, but that's okay because...

Because he's yours. And you're his. And that's a better feeling than any kiss could've granted you.

|~Fin~|

AHHH I know there wasnt much action lol I just had to do this lol. As always thanks for reading <3

[sombreboy]

Love Maze »4

Previous  » Next Series Masterlist ▎ 18+ ▎ pairing: Taehyung x Jungkook ▎ genre: School AU, crack humor, smut, angst, ETL, slow burn, fluff. ▎ word count: 9.2k ▎ ch.warnings: cursing, slight angst, homophobic slurs, alcohol consumption, descriptions of throwing up (due to the alcohol), dumb chaotic energy. A/N: A LOT happens in this one hahahah thank you @velvetwicebang​ for co-writing this with me ilysm and I love this rp, you’re so talented I will never stop saying this. Also amazing header made by lovely lovely mentioned.

The next day Jungkook was feeling tired, but he was adamant to go back to his usual routines. He was gonna dive back into being Jeon Jungkook, the golden boy that puts his everything into class and practice. First thing in the morning, he sat down in the classroom, when a new face was introduced to the crowd. He stood tall in front of everyone, a pearly white smile on his face as he introduced himself after the teacher gathered everyone's attention, "Hello. My name is Ash, thank you for having me." His introduction was brief, but he still seemed to charm the crowd. He was indeed good looking...Tall, even taller than Jungkook, well built, he must be an athlete, a strong jawline. His hair was dyed in a lighter brown, wavy subtle curls that were a little too long, dangling over his strongly defined, brown eyes. It wasnt surprising that he already swooped the females off their feet. However, his eyes had landed on Jungkook, who seemed to be completely focused on the papers in front of him.

As class resumed to normal, Ash had invited himself to take the empty seat next to the doe eyed boy, leaning in with a small smile, "Hey, what's your name?"

Jungkook glanced up from his books, his eyes taking a quick glance to trace the features of the new face, "Jungkook."

Ash hummed with a nod, "Im Ash. You know, I'm kind of behind on this, being new and all, care to catch me up?" In reality, he wasn't that much behind. He was just curious about the younger guy.

Jungkook didn't see why not, sliding his book over to share his notes, "Sure."    Ash gave him a small smile, and it was cute. Maybe this day wasnt completely terrible. It did distract him from the continuous loop of Taehyung in his mind.

~

Taehyung bet right, today sucked. Before he came across Jungkook and his new friend in the hallway, Tae had been casually taking a stroll with Hoseok during their break, half-assedly listening to the elder rant about his problems. “The thing is, she didn’t even kiss me back! She said my lips were too chapped— which, no the hell they aren’t. You think a thirty dollar chapstick would do that?!” Taehyung shook his head, knowing Hobi was expecting him to agree. “No, hyung. Your lips are fine. They’re.. the opposite of chapped..?” He glued on a strained smile, the obnoxious grin immediately dropping to the ground the moment Hoseok looked away, looking pleased with Taehyung’s answer, “Tae, you’re such a mood maker!” The said boy’s face stayed as emotionless as always, sharp eyes glaring ahead of him. “Thanks.” Fuck, he caught himself thinking about Jungkook. Again. The pair made a few more laps around the hallways, the elder doing most of the talking. However, when they turned at a corner, Hoseok’s voice increased in volume. “Kook!” His big smile was put on display, meeting Jungkook halfway. Before Tae was given the opportunity to fully register what was going on, his eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar member in the group. Was he new? He’s never seen him before. “Name’s Ash,” The unfamiliar male extended out his arm, introducing himself with a blinding smile on his face. “Yo, I’m Hoseok! Nice to meet you.” Hobi gladly took Ash’s hand in his, giving it a firm shake. Meanwhile, Taehyung stayed still, taking a couple of peeks at Jungkook without trying to make it too obvious. He had no intentions of getting to know the new kid, but the new kid was set on getting to know him. He extended out his hand once again, “I’m Ash.” “Huh?” Taehyung couldn’t care less, visibly uninterested. With a breathy chuckle, Ash opted for repeating himself, “Ash. Need me to spell it out for you?” Tae’s facial expression hardened, “No. I got it.” The corner of his lip twitched. The fuck kinda name was that.. Ash. It sounded like it belonged in the Warrior Cats books, “I’m Taehyung.”

“Nice to meet you, Taehyung.“ Ash flashed another smile as he withdrew his hand to settle it on his hip. He stood awfully close to Jungkook, their shoulders practically touching. Unless you had a sharp eye, you wouldn’t notice it within the group. “Well, nice to meet you guys.” Ash paused to look at Jungkook, “Kookie, it’s lunch time, no? Let’s head to the dining hall. You guys wanna tag along?”

Jungkooks eyes kept landing on Taehyung, remaining silent throughout the interactions. When his name was called, he nodded, but he didn’t expect Ash to invite the others. He held his breath, trying so hard not to care about whether or not Taehyung would accept this invitation. He still felt awkward. ~ What was it with the new kid and the constant smiling? It didn’t seem like a genuine one, either. Compared to Hoseok’s smile, Ash’s seemed more cocky and.. conceited.

Tae couldn’t exactly pinpoint to what it was, but there was something off about the guy. At least in his eyes. ..Maybe it was the way Ash was standing so close to Jungkook, the word ‘personal space’ a foreign concept to the both of them. No, that couldn’t be it. Taehyung didn’t care. He spoke too soon, his head snapping towards Jungkook’s direction for what it seemed like the hundredth time that day. ‘Kookie’? They were already on a nickname basis? How much did they know each other, surely they’d just met? “Yeah. Sure.” Mumbling under his breath, Taehyung looked over at Hobi, “We should be the ones asking him..” Nevertheless, they walked towards the dining hall and Hoseok invited Ash to sit with their group of friends. Taehyung sat himself across from Jungkook, watching Ash take a seat next to the younger as he flashed that same, stupid smile of his. Tae wanted to gag. “Hey, Ash.” Namjoon spoke up, picking up some of his food before popping it in his mouth. “What made you move here? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Ash took a bite off his food, his eyes landing on Namjoon at the question, “Parents moved here for work, and I kind of had to just deal with it. You know?” He chuckled a breath through his nose, “I don’t mind though, my last school was pretty lame. So far I like it here, much better.” His hand subtly snaked underneath the table to land on Jungkooks knee, to make it a point with his words. Jungkook visibly tensed up, not used to the casual physical contact, towards him in this manner. Especially not by a guy, nor in public. He kind of liked it.. Kook gave him a small smile while chewing his mouthful of food, quiet but content. He almost forgot about how Taehyung would feel about this. And even if he did wonder, Tae said so himself, they weren’t dating. So it probably didn’t matter to him. Ash, however, was almost too aware of the way Taehyung kept looking at Jungkook when he wasn’t paying attention, and it both intrigued and annoyed him. Ash wanted Jungkook, and he was doing well so far.

“Im curious, what sport teams are there in this school? I’m considering joining one of them,” Ash changed the topic, aiming the question to the group in general. His eyes looked over the table, his hand gently rubbing circles on jungkooks knee, whom didn’t withdraw from his touch.. it was quite nice after all.

“Well, there is the soccer team, swim..” Namjoon’s words flew over Taehyung’s head, who was now poking at his food to keep himself entertained. He tried to not look at Jungkook all that much, he really did, eyes glued on the way his meal was mostly untouched. But, Taehyung felt like some words were left unsaid, he just couldn’t quite make out what they were. Suddenly, going back to ‘normal’ wasn’t as easy as he’d previously imagined it to be. When everything was ‘normal’, the taste of Jungkook’s lips was unknown, how the younger wrapped around him was unspecified, sleeping next to him was unheard of. Now, Tae was accustomed to different things. He fucking hated himself for it. “..Football in the fall, and lastly, basketball. Which, is the best sport in my opinion.” Namjoon’s cheeky smirk widened even further when Jin caught him, “Of course you think that. Joon’s the Captain.” Namjoon sat up a little straighter, proceeding to eat his food. “Why? You thinking of joining?” A smile tugged at Ash’s lips, “Maybe.” He looked over at Jungkook, reassuringly squeezing his knee, “I don’t wanna scare my parents by being gay and not trying out for an extracurricular activity. They already think I’m some sort of outcast.” Ash joked, knowing his parents were supportive of his sexuality. Everyone in the table had stopped moving mid-chew; Taehyung had nearly spilled out his invisible drink, “Wait, you’re gay?” “Taehyung!” Jimin slapped the back of the boy’s head, looking over at Ash with an apologetic expression on behalf of Tae. “That’s—That’s great! It’s a hard thing to come to terms with, you’re very brave.” Namjoon quickly stepped in, glaring at Taehyung.

Jungkook tensed underneath Ash's touch for a moment, ceasing his chewing. Suddenly the hand on his leg felt entirely different. But... it wasn't bad. Was he showing some kind of interest? How, what....He's never had this happen to him before, not like this.

''It's fine, don't worry about it,'' Ash gives Taehyung a quick smirk before giving his attention back to Namjoon, ''So, basketball, huh? Maybe I'll check that one out... Is everyone here part of the team?''

Jungkook nodded, for the first time participating in the conversation, causing all heads to turn even if it was just a simple word, ''Yeah.''

''You're in the team too?'' Ash turns to look at the younger, squeezing his knee a little harder, ''Then I'll have to join.''

Jungkook couldn't help but blush at the blunt statement, looking down at his food. He really wasn't used to this open flirting from a guy, or anyone really.

To everyone else at the table, Jungkook’s blooming blush was a first.. The rest of the boys exchanged secret glances between one another, eyebrows knitted together whilst some wore a cheeky grin on their face. Who would’ve thought that the new kid’s words had such an impact on their Golden Boy? Of course, Taehyung wasn’t part of that bunch. Unlike his hyungs, not a single ounce of amusement lingered in his features. With a scowl on his face, Tae abruptly sat up from his spot, his tray of food at hand, “Right, you’re gonna regret having that as your main reason to join.” He scoffed, looking at Ash before switching his gaze over to Kook, smirking, “Jungkook can get annoying as hell, and fast.” Taehyung forced out a snicker, not bothering to hear what Warrior Cat boy— or anyone else— had to say before throwing his bag over his shoulder, putting a hand up in the air as a farewell and walking away. “What the hell’s his problem..?” Ash wore a barely visible pout, eyes darkening at the thought of Taehyung. “I ask myself that everyday.” Jin sighed out loud, to which everyone else agreed.

Jungkook shrunk in his seat at his words. Did Tae really mean that? Fuck, it shouldn't have hurt as much as it did.. If Taehyung really thought that he was so annoying, somehow, it made it easier for Jungkook to shift his sadness over to anger. He didn’t need Taehyung-- because Taehyung didn’t need him.

Ash moved his hand to rub Jungkooks shoulder, his eyes still trailing after Tae until hes out of sight. He wasnt sure what was up between these two, nor what had happened to make Taehyung say such a thing. But one thing he was certain of, and that was; he didnt give a fuck. Jungkook was gonna be his.

"I'll think about joining the team, then" Ash chimed with a smile, infectious to the rest of the group as they seem just as thrilled about it. They surely could use another player, and judging Ash by his physique, he'd be a useful addition.

Jungkook grabbed his tray as he got off his seat, "Class soon, I'll see you guys." Kook paused, his eyes moving to meet with Ash's, "You coming?"

"Of course, Kookie." Ash winked at him, earning another flustered look from the younger. He turned to the rest of the group and bowed his head, his eyes lastly landing on namjoon, "Nice meeting you guys, I'll make sure to check out the team in action soon." He drew a wide, dimpled smile from namjoon before putting his arm around Jungkook, leading him out of the dining hall.

"So...." Yoongi spoke, turning the attention towards him, "Ash and Jungkook?" He shrugged, continuing to eat his food, while the rest of the group shared glances and smiles. Were their golden boy into guys?

Namjoon clasped his hands, jaw jutted in thought. This seems to be a lot more complicated than he thought.

~

“Kookie?” Ash dropped his hand on Jungkook’s toned thigh to get his attention, merely resting it there. Setting his pencil on the table, he solely focused on Kook’s face instead of the loose piece of notebook paper that was scribbled over with mathematical equations, “That.. Taehyung guy..” Ash knew it was stupid to worry; Taehyung had nothing on him in terms of physical appearance and, now— after getting to hear him talk during lunch— personality. But despite all of that, he couldn’t help but wonder.. “Are you guys close?” His thumb now brushed over the fabric of Jungkook’s jeans, tongue swiping over his lips, “I mean.. he’s a complete asshole.�� Ash said with a shrug of his shoulders, already not too keen of Kim.

There it was again, the hand on his leg. The casual, yet intimate touch from this man had become very frequent in an extremely short amount of time. And Jungkook decided he’d let it happen, he liked it. Why wouldn’t he? Ash was strikingly good looking, blessed with a face that had anyone turning their head as he walked by. And he seemed to give a fuck about him. Not to mention the nickname that already had him feeling certain things, “Close? No,” Jungkook shrugged, there was no way he would mention their short lived friends with benefits ‘romance.’, if one could even call it that, “He is a total ass.” Jungkook agreed, but a part of him protested.

Even if he was a total douchebag, there were moments of privacy where he was anything but that. But he would never see that part again, they both made that clear.

“Yeah? Oh, what a relief.” Ash smiled, inching his hand up Kook’s thigh, painfully slow, leaning in to whisper into his ear, “I almost got worried that I’d have to feel jealous.” This small gesture had JK melting, weak underneath the bigger mans touch. But this wasn’t the time. “N-no... don’t worry..hm.. I-I have to finish this..” Jk weakly breathes out, drawing a wider smirk from Ash. “Okay, okay... how about this... dinner tonight? I’m really, really dying to know you better.”

Jungkooks doe eyes were wide as they flickered up to the larger male. Did he just ask him out? In the middle of class? Anyone could hear. And they did. Subtle whispers were heard, trying to discretely observe the interaction between the two men. 

After a long minute, Jungkook finally responded, “Okay.”

Word around the school spread like wildfire, and everyone’s interest seemed to be on the mysterious newcomer and his choice of date: Jeon Jungkook.

‘Ash asked him out? Is Jungkook even gay?’

‘They literally just met. How did Jungkook manage to get a man faster than I could in eighteen years?’

‘No one knows for sure.. but if it’s true, they’ll be so cute together!’

Taehyung’s ears were ringing. He just wanted to take a shit in peace, was that too much to ask? For the group of boys chatting outside of the stall, apparently so. “You heard all of the stuff going around ‘bout Ash?” All of the sudden Tae’s ears perked up at the question, forgetting about what he came to do here in the first place. Now this seemed worth his while.. ‘Not even a full day in and he’s already made a name for himself? Unbelievable,’ Taehyung mused, the urge to roll his eyes too overpowering. “The new kid? No, what happened?” A mocking snicker followed suit, “Apparently he likes sticking it up the ass or some shit.” Taehyung’s shoulders sagged down in disappointment; he was anticipating something he didn’t already know. “What, like anal?”

“No, I mean he’s a f*g, dumbass.”

An obnoxious gagging sound echoed throughout the room, followed by a series of laughter. “And you wanna know something else?” Tae’s jaw locked in place; they needed to shut their mouths before he knocked out a couple of teeth. Aside from the obvious, he went to the bathroom in hopes of catching a break from.. everything. Taehyung didn’t want to hear about Ash, of all people.

“He asked Jungkook out.” He froze in his spot, feeling his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. What..? The boy’s lips barely went agape, hands subconsciously balling up into fists as he forced himself to listen further, praying that he heard wrong. “Jeon Jungkook? Damn, didn’t take him as a fairy.” But something from inside Tae told him that it was the twisted reality. “You know, now that I think about it.. he always did kinda come across as a f*ggot. He seemed chill, it’s a shame.” Although the day was close to being halfway over, for Taehyung, this was the beginning of a horrible day.

~

As Jungkook was walking with Ash towards the basketball practice, which was JK’s last stop for the day, something felt different. The atmosphere in the hallway seemed more quiet then usual, and when he decided to actually take a look around, he didn’t fail to notice everyone’s eyes following him and the ‘new guy’, followed with whispers and subtly pointed fingers. Some seemed to be happy, some straight up disgusted. 

What is going on?

“Hey Kook.” Ash brought him back down to earth, a reassuring smile on his face. 

“Why is everyone staring at us?” Kook asked.

Ash knew exactly why, and he fucking loved the attention. This is exactly what he wanted. He deliberately asked him out during class, knowing the word would quickly spread around the school, and in the end, reach Taehyung’s ears.    “Well, you did say yes to dating me. People just... react to that.” Jungkook hummed at Ash’s words, feeling anxious. Did he accidentally come out? Or... was this supposed to happen? “We aren’t dating yet.” Jungkook replied with a bratty grin, his nose scrunching as he gazes up at the man. To anyone looking, they might as well be dating already, with the way Jungkook smiles at him. Kook rarely smiled like that. Ash put his arm around Jungkooks shoulder with a playful chuckle leaving his lips, this little man was so fucking adorable, “Not yet, but after tonight, that’s gonna change.”

Ash had decided that he wanted to check out the basketball practice in action, letting Jungkook head downstairs towards the locker room by himself as he himself would head to the practice hall to find Namjoon, “Hey, Namjoon!”

“Hey, Ash, you’re here! You’re joining?” Namjoon smiled, happy to see him here. But a part of him knows that if he joins, he surely hoped it wouldn’t cause more drama between the men. But, knowing exactly about the rumors of today, it was bound to happen. “Yeah, maybe, I came to watch.” Ash gazes around the practice hall. “Well, have a seat, we’re just waiting for the guys to get changed and then we’ll begin.”

On the outside, Taehyung fooled his peers by seeming relatively calm. He wore his hood up, a few strands of black hair draping over his eyes as his arms were found crossed over his chest, gaze somewhat.. lifeless? That’s how the latter looked like everyday— especially during Chemistry— so, no one dared to question it. However, in the space where his inner thoughts hid.. ‘What does Jungkook even like about that guy? Who deliberately goes for someone named Ash--‘ It was a mixture of pure chaos and confusion all in one. Confusion because, why does he care? Why was this fucking so bad with his head when all he’s ever done was treat Jungkook like shit? This.. this wasn’t normal, and Tae was aware of that. He wasn’t normal. All of these new feelings; Taehyung wanted to get rid of them, but he was afraid the pile was only growing larger in size.

Not overly enthusiastic about going to practice today, Taehyung still dragged his feet down the stairs. If he were to skip when all of the rumors were floating around, Namjoon would’ve pounced on the chance to call him out for it. If Tae wasn’t in the mood to deal with the elder before, he surely wasn’t going to be now. “Tae, it took you long enough!” Hoseok placed a hand on the boy’s back, excitedly leading him to their group of friends. “Jungkookie, are you positive you want to go on a date so soon? You just met Ash, get to know him a little more.” Jimin suggested, getting cut off by Yoongi, “So, you like boys?” He was still having a hard time processing the new information. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, Yoongi always seemed to be lost. Taehyung, on the other hand, wished he would’ve turned back around before walking in to Ash’s name getting dropped in the conversation. He was getting fucking tired of it, and it showed by the way he kept his distance from the others.

''Ah, well, isn't that what a date is for?'' Jungkook answered Jimin's question with a question of his own.

Jimin hummed, rubbing his chin in thought, ''You're not wrong. But are you sure you want to?''

Yoongi still looked like a lost child, squinting at Jungkook, ''Boys...''

Jungkook didn't want to feel like he had to hide this, so he just lets out a quiet sigh after slipping on his basketball sneakers,

''Yeah, I like boys.'' He took notice of Taehyung standing a little further away from the group, and he couldn't help but steal glances over towards him. He must think Kook is disgusting, knowing now that he likes boys, and making it so obvious that he liked him. But that was in the past, he's going out with Ash tonight, and he actually seemed to like him. He was lying if he said he wasn't a little giddy about it.

Jimin hugged Kook, a little out of nowhere, causing him to yelp in surprise, ''We will support you whether you like boys or girls, Jungkookie! We're so proud!'' ''Ash better treat you right.'' Yoongi grumbled like an old person before starting to head up with the rest of the group, one by one disappearing towards the stairs. Jungkook walked behind them, passing Taehyung on the way. With the locker room hallway being rather tight with the group walking together, Jungkook's arm brushed against Taehyung, his mild scent of laundry detergent reaching the elders nose.

Everything seemed to be unraveling far too quickly, and like a robot obtaining a new piece of information; Taehyung had trouble keeping up. Based off of what he overheard in the locker room, Jungkook definetely likes boys. The younger had to repeat himself to Yoongi so many times, Taehyung was sure it was permanently inked in his own brain by now. He couldn’t help but wonder, was Jungkook fond of him during the short amount of time they spent together? Did the latter’s heart feel like it could out win any olympic runner by how fast it pounded when he kissed him..? The string of never ending questions had Taehyung hooked on to the way Jungkook’s arm subtly brushed against him, that familiar fragrance drawing him in like no other. “Taehyung, snap out of it.” Namjoon clapped his hands, sighing out loud when he saw Taehyung’s undivided attention was on anything else but practice. “Uh, yeah.” He quickly did as he was told, running a hand through his messy hair before setting his worries aside. For this short droplet of time, it felt good to let loose. Taehyung felt like he needed to sweat it all out in order to feel more light, less clamped down to the ground. Practice went as usual in terms of Taehyung scoring a lot of points, but everything else after that felt out of place. What caught Tae by surprise was, a small part of him missed the constant bickering, the cursing back and forth, the yelling.. It was trippy as hell, but he did. “Shit..” Taehyung groaned to himself, blindly reaching for his bottled water when he realized he didn’t bring one. “I’ll be back.” He muttered, making his way over to the water fountain around the corner. Taehyung was wiping the sweat from off his face when he bumped into someone. Or rather, his front bumped into someone’s behind as they were leaning over for a drink of water, “Sorry— Jungkook?” His eyes grew wide, suddenly becoming even more embarrassed by who it was.

Jungkook quickly stood up straight with a small yelp, the always so easily startled younger man, when he felt someone bump against his behind, abruptly turning his head to see who it was, and he coughed as he almost choked on the water in his throat, hitting his chest to get it down, ''Ah, Taehyung.''

Jungkook had forgotten his waterbottle as well, and needed that moment to himself to just think. He was in the limbo of getting over Tae, and getting into Ash, whom was sending him signals left and right, and now they had a date tonight.

The younger backed off a few steps to grant Taehyung access to the waterfountain, wiping his wet lips with the back of his hand. Why wouldn’t he just leave? There was no reason to stay around when Taehyung was here. But for some reason, he felt like he wanted to, for just one moment, let his eyes rest on the elders features a little longer.

Like old gum on the school ground, Taehyung stuck to his spot like an absolute idiot, trying his hardest to lie and not seem fazed by Jungkook’s presence. With another anxious look thrown in the younger’s direction, Tae managed to swallow down the obvious lump in his throat before leaning down for a needed drink, hands placed on either side of the water fountain as his Adam’s apple danced after every gulp. Suddenly he was more thirsty than ever, his mouth having gone dry when he bumped into Kook unexpectedly. After refreshing himself with enough water, Taehyung licked over his lips, pushing his fringe from out of his eyes,  “What?” Jungkook was just.. standing there.

Jungkook stared at him, feeling just as dumb himself. Taehyungs voice brings him back to the reality of the situation, 

“Uh...” he sounded just as dumb as he felt, the flight instincts in him kicking in. His feet suddenly move on their own, trying to get out of there to head back to the locker room, but his clumsy ass just had to slip on the water puddle by the fountain, falling backwards right next to Taehyungs form.

This was it. He was gonna get a fucking concussion on top of everything, wasn’t he? As if time moved in slow motion, he closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.

When Jungkook turned his back to him, Taehyung felt like he could finally relax. Jaw nowhere near as clenched, and posture no longer mirroring a wooden board. That feeling only lasted for a second, however, before he heard the loud squeak of the younger’s shoe on the ground. “What the—“ Before he was given the chance to see what happened for himself, Jungkook’s body was plummeting down towards him. Instinctively, Taehyung reached his arms out, looping them around from underneath Kook’s armpits to hold him up against his chest, “Dumbass!” Tae cursed out loud, questioning why he felt so relieved. It wasn’t like he cared if Kook were to fall and break his head open.. Taehyung swiftly turned Jungkook around by his hips, meeting his eye. “Don’t you ever watch where you’re going?” He scolded, leaving barely any room between the two. Suddenly, fresh memories from before came rushing back to him.

Jungkook stared up at the taller man with his big eyes, flinching slightly at his scolding. For some reason... for some damned reason, Jungkook couldn’t help but feel happy about it. This was the Taehyung he’d always been around, the scolding, cursing guy that always made sure to point out Jungkooks flaws. This time, it didn’t even make him mad.

However, just as quickly as he was caught, his realization of their close proximity hit him. The familiar strong arms holding him close felt too familiar, his face so close but so far away. If only he would lean in just a bit... No, what is he thinking? Taehyung does. Not. Like. Him. And he, he has ash now. “Thanks, eh...” as if the cat got his tongue, he withdrew himself from Taehyungs hands, internally scolding himself for missing them, and turns on his heels to stride back to the locker room. It’s as if god wanted to punish him, his cheeks flushing red as soon as he’d turned away from the elder.

Taehyung’s arms dropped down to his sides, no trace of emotion swirling within his piercing eyes as they shamelessly followed behind Jungkook, almost in a trance-like state until the latter was out of sight. Fuck. He was losing it, wasn’t he? I mean, he had to be a lunatic if subconsciously, a deeper part of him, found himself aching to feel Jungkook. Hands longing to touch him.. to tease him. Sexually, or platonically. Taehyung was even more confused than before. ‘Platonically’? Who the hell was he..? No. He was just envisioning things without thinking. By this point, it wasn’t anything new.

~

“Kookie!” Ash excitedly hopped down from the bleachers, meeting Jungkook in the gym after he was back from changing. He didn’t shy away from wrapping his arm around Kook’s waist, ignoring the not-so-subtle looks from the other players, “You were so good out there! I have to admit.. I wasn’t expecting all that much.” Ash playfully smirked, drawing Jungkook even closer to his warmth, “Anyways, are you excited for our date?” The taller man wiggled his brows, biting down on his lip, “I reserved us a spot at seven. And before you ask where it is, it’s a surprise.”

Jungkook had found himself in the same trance-like state the entire time he was changing, but quickly got distracted when he felt Ash's hands wrap around his waist, his firm body feeling really good against his. It wasn't the same as Taehyung's, but, that was kind of the point. ''I'm curious now, I don't do well with surprises..'' Jungkook craned his neck to look up at the taller man, he felt so small with him. it was nice, to feel this kind of affection from someone who wasn't scared of showing it. However, it didn't stop his face from feeling hot at the lingering eyes that flickered between the two of them.

''Too bad,'' Ash snickered, one hand reaching up to brush stray hairs away from Kook's eyes, his dark stare drinking in the youngers beautiful features, ''Because I still won't tell you. Oh, practice is over now, right?''

Jungkook nodded, ''Yeah, we're done for the day.''

Ash shifted his hold so that they stood next to eachother, his arm wrapped around Jungkook's waist to drag him along to leave, ''Let's go, then.''

The tall man looked over his shoulder on the way out, waving goodbye to the team, a knowing smile on his face at the way they all stared them down, ''I'll see you guys next time.''

He really didn't care too much about basketball, but it would give him more time with the younger, and that, he did want a lot more of. He had to keep an eye on him, especially around that Taehyung guy. Something was up with that, but he couldnt quite place it.

~

“Taehyung, I better see your ass at that party. Plus, there’ll be a lot of foreign chicks there; I know how much of a sucker you are for blondes.” His friend, Haechan, teasingly nudged Tae with his shoulder, trying to get him to change his mind. The boy looked miserable as fuck, and since Taehyung wouldn’t tell him what was going on, Haechan hoped a little bit of alcohol would loosen up those tightly sealed lips. “Fine.” He gave in with a defeated sigh, mustering up his first word in a while. Strolling out of the door with Chan at his side, Taehyung grimaced when he listened to him cheer excitedly and without a restraint, shake him by his shoulders like a madman. “We’re gonna get so fucked up tonight! Dude, you need it.” The elder didn’t doubt the last part was true, hence why he agreed to going in the first place. Maybe after he downed a couple of shots and fucked the first girl he laid his eyes on, all of this would get pushed to the back of the burner. Taehyung knew he was trying to drink less, but for this party, he made an exception. So what if he didn’t do good with alcohol? So what if it fucked him up so much to the point where he didn’t remember his own name? Honestly, that’s what Taehyung needed the most.

~ 

As the evening finally came, Jungkook jumped when he heard the firm knock on his door. Ash was here!

The younger took a second, even a third look at himself in the mirror, moving his hair out of his eyes to no avail, as the dark locks kept falling back into where they just wanted to stay. He sighed, straightening out the fabric of his shirt. Ash had said to keep it comfortable, so he did, dressed up in ripped blue slim-fit jeans with a black v-neck long sleeve. It was cute, he looked good. He felt good. His legs were muscular, and they looked fucking great in those jeans. He took a deep breath before turning the doorknob, opening it to be greeted by Ash's handsome smile. He was beaming, drawing the air out of Kook's lungs like punch in the gut. ''Hey Kookie.'' Ash's eyes drank in the shorter's outfit, he subtly licked his lips, ''You look so good! How about me?'' he winked, giving a little twirl before smiling widely. Jungkook nodded agreeingly while stepping outside, closing the door behind him, ''You look good too..'' He smiled, a little embarrassed. Ash couldn't stop thinknig about how fucking/cute/kook is when he is flustered, which was very easily done.

Ash wrapped his arm around Jungkook's, pulling him with him to his car. It was a nice car, it looked expensive. Probably paid for by his parents, and judging by his outfit, his parents were fairly well off.

~

A couple of hours after the darkness had casted a shadow in the sky, Taehyung attempted to parallel park a few streets down from where the party was at, trying to not damage his car in the process. It was already missing a wing mirror, for fucks sake— which he still hasn’t gotten fixed. Taking a second to close his eyes, Taehyung exhaled, his grip on the steering wheel unfastening. The goal for tonight was to let loose, not pick at the little inconveniences that would only stress him out even more. After he managed to do a decent job with his parking-- actually, it sucked. He was horrible at parallel parking, but everywhere else seemed to be occupied. Taehyung allowed the muffled bass of the music to lead him to his destination, able to subtly make out the lyrics of the song from where he was. Why haven’t the cops been called yet..?  From the looks of this neighborhood; everyone seemed to either be on their private jet to Rome, or were too high and mighty to care. Which, Taehyung definitely didn’t mind. This way, he was sure nothing was going to stop him from having a good time. “Taehyung! Dude, you made it.” Haechan immediately wrapped his free arm around Tae’s shoulders, the other hand busy holding a red cup.. and a girl. “Meet Mila, I have no fucking clue what she’s saying. But hey, she’s hot.” He laughed, tilting the cup up to his lips. Taehyung only chuckled, slipping from under Haechan’s hold. He stole a glance at Mila, noticing how her vibrant, blue eyes were already set on him. Taehyung’s tongue poked at the side of his cheek, hungrily scanning over her body in the most discreet way possible. She was gorgeous, no doubt.

~

Ash parked his way-too-fancy-for-his-age car by this restaurant that Jungkook's never been to before, and honstly, he doesn't recall ever seeing it around. Probably because it was large, and it looked pretty expensive, ''I thought you said we weren't supposed to dress up..'' Kook murmured, feeling way too underdressed now. ''I am comfy too, don't worry about it. I just wanted to treat you to something nice! Besides, this is only the first part of our date.'' Ash winked before getting out of the car, circling around to open the door for kook, reaching his hand out like a true gentleman. Jungkook blushed again, taking his large hand to be pulled up, feeling the way ash wraps his arm around his waist once more, walking him into the nice restaurant. They were greeted by the nice staff, they seemed to be able to tell that Ash was of higher class in some way, and he shot them a dazzling smile before giving his name for the reservation. Quickly, they were seated by a table more secluded in the back, the lady giving them the menus before heading off. Jungkook eyed the menu, his nose scrunched at the prices, ''This is way too fancy.'' ''Don't look at the prices, Kookie, eat whatever you want. It's on me tonight,'' Ash was content, seeing the little boy be so amazed by something so simple by nice food. Spoiling him was fun, and he couldnt wait to give him more. ''Okay, hm.. I'll have the steak then.'' Jungkook smiled, putting his menu down. ''Ah! Excellent. I'll have the same.'' Ash snapped his fingers, bringing the waitress over to order their food. As they were once again left alone to wait for the food, Ash leaned closer over the table, gaze burning into the younger, ''I was thinking, Kookie... You said you didn't want to date me, yet, so..does that mean you'd actually date me after tonight?'' Jungkook tensed up a little, he wasnt expecting this question so early, ''Um.. well....maybe? I don't know yet.'' Ash hummed, ''Fair, I suppose I'll just have to swoop you off your feet as much as possible tonight.''

~

Taehyung started off his night with one drink, then two, three, and so on until he lost count. Apparently, he had to have a lot of alcohol to be in the middle of the dance floor, grinding against every girl he could get his roaming hands on, pulling their hair aside before whispering into their ear, occasionally sipping from his cup as if he’s dying to make himself forget, trying to cloud his train of thought. Everything around him was a big blur, the ground seeming like it could swallow him whole at any give second. That didn’t stop his hips from rocking against the next girl, the tingly sensation in his body was too good to turn away. “Ah, fuck.” He whined, tilting the red cup up to his lips, but instead he was met with nothing. He needed more alcohol in his system. Crushing the plastic in his hand, Tae pulled away, trying to sneak past the group of sweaty bodies. “Hey, where are you going?” The random girl turned to look at Taehyung, yelling over the music whilst looking hurt. “Uh, I-I’m.. I’m coming ba-back. I swear, okay? Just—I need..” His slurred words drifted off, the only thing clear in his mind was the taste of the strong liquor. He wanted more. Ignoring the list of curses thrown at him as he bumped into people; Taehyung sluggishly made his way over to the familiar kitchen island aligned with bottles. Just as he was going to pour himself another round, he realized his cup was all crumpled up. “Shit.” A little pout adorned Taehyung’s lips, whom tried his hardest to fix it, oblivious to a stack of new cups in the corner of his eyes. “New?” Taehyung’s head perked up, it was Mila. “Huh?” She laughed, brushing a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, “New cup?” Mila reached over close to Tae to grab one for him, unaware of the eyes lingering on her prominent cleavage. “Th-Thanks.” He gulped, shifting his attention to his bottle of choosing. Mila watched with curious eyes, bottom lip held captive in between her red-tinted lips, “I’m Mila. Mila Kuznetsov.” Taehyung turned his head over to her once again, seeing as she wanted to keep the conversation going. “What?” He could barely form a simple thought, much less speak all that clearly. “Mila, is my name. Uh.. last name, Kuznetsov.” She spoke in broken Korean, her strong accent peeking through. Tae’s eyes widened, “Kuzne—what?” His reaction earned himself a giggle, the corners of his own lips rising up.    “Never mind.” She settled for a shrug of her shoulders, not planning on leaving Taehyung’s side anytime soon. “What’s your name?” Tae now comfortably leaned against the edge of the counter, wearing a cocky smirk on his face. He got the message. “Taehyung. Kim Taehyung.”

~

The night continunes, a comfortable dinner with lots of chatter, Ash flirting and throwing all kinds of signals towards Jungkook throughout the evening. It was enjoyable, the attention was amazing. He started getting comfortable, and slowly, Ash had started to get the younger to warm up. ''Did you like the dinner?'' He asked the doe eyed boy, whom happily finished off the last piece of his steak. ''It was delicious!'' He smiled, nose scrunched. So, fucking cute. Ash just wanted to ruin him right then and there. ''Alright,'' Ash wiped his lips with the napkin before getting up, reaching out to grab Jungkook's hand in his, ''Let's go, part two of our date!'' Jungkook tilted his head to the side, all while letting Ash guide him back to the car, ''What do you mean? There's more?'' A small smile crept on his lips, he's never had someone put this much effort in. Ash pulls him close by the shoulder, placing a soft kiss on JK's forehead followed with a laugh, ''You should see your face! yes, Kookie, there's more, but it's a surprise...'' Jungkook laughs too, his cheeks tinted with red as they move on to the next destination. This date seemed to be going pretty well.

~

“Wait, uh.. how do—how do you pronounce it again?” Taehyung was eager to learn, staring up at Mila from where she sat on the counter, looking the most determined he’s ever been. Yet another laugh, “Kuznetsov. It’s easy, no?” The elder threw his head back with a groan, one because of the dizziness, and the other due to the pent up frustration. “Easy?” He shook his head in utter disbelief, suppressing a laugh. “You don’t know what that means-“ He hiccuped, “do you.” The pair found themselves secluded away from everybody else, and surprisingly enough, Taehyung didn’t mind. He was learning a bit of Russian, all the while they talked about their likes, dislikes, friends.. The conversation seemed to go on forever. “You ass!” Mila playfully slapped Tae’s shoulder, hearing his deep laughter for the hundredth time that night. “I know the word easy..” A pout took over her plump lips, eyes lingering on Taehyung before they raked around the empty kitchen, awkwardly rubbing at her naked thighs. “Taehyung, you have a girlfriend?” Mila nervously chewed on the inside of her cheeks, batting her long eyelashes at him. He brought the cup up to his lips, mind wandering to the image of Jungkook. “No.” At the uninvited thought, Taehyung gulped the remainder of his drink down in one go, “Why. Are you interested?” Tae sat his cup down, noticing the way she uncrossed her legs. A couple seconds of silence passed by. “Maybe..” Taehyung’s smirk widened at the confession. Suddenly, alcohol was the last thing on his mind. “Maybe, hm?” He parted her legs, situating his body in between. Mila’s arms naturally found their way around his neck, drawing him closer. “Mhm..” With one last look at her ocean eyes, Taehyung tackled her lips into a messy, needy kiss. His big hands initially placed on her thighs, slowly traveling up her skirt, lastly going around to grope her ass. “Let’s t-take this up-upstairs.” He slurred his speech, taking a hold of her hand and disappearing into the first room he saw, nearly tripping on the last step. While Mila focused on stripping herself free of her clothes, Taehyung did the same thing, throwing his belt off to the side. He was eager to take his cock out from his boxers, chest heaving with adrenaline as he watched her get down to her knees, eyes darkening with lust. “Ah yeah.. fuck.” He rested his hand on the crown of her head, watching as she bobbed it at a fast pace from the start. Despite the immense amount of pleasure he was feeling, his body wasn’t happy with him. Tae began to feel.. nauseous, the space in between his brows covered by a cold sweat. “W-Wait..” Taehyung pulled away from Mila’s mouth, holding himself up by one arm against the nearby wall, working towards regaining his clear vision. Everything felt like a blur.. Why was the room spinning so much? Why.. His stomach grumbled. Before he knew it, the strong urge to vomit hit him like a truck, causing him to clasp a hand over his mouth. Not having enough time to run to a restroom, Tae’s knees gave out and he vomited on the carpet, his skin freakishly pale. “Taehyung!” She quickly rushed over to him, pushing past the smell. “Tae—“ Another round; it never seemed to falter. How much did he have to drink?! After he was done, Taehyung dropped his head against the wall, sharp eyes glassy. “I-I fuck.. I don’t— sorry.” A wave of emotions washed over him. Not knowing what else to do, Mila opted for reaching into the pockets of Taehyung’s jeans, getting a hold of his phone. She went to his contacts list, tapping on the first name that popped up. When the person on the other end of the line picked up, she breathed out, “Um, is this Taehyung’s friend? Please come, he’s not doing good.” Mila gave Namjoon the address  and worked on dressing Tae back up as they waited.

~

''An arcade?! Really?!'' Jungkook was beaming, jumping in excitement like a child on christmas. ''Yeah, you said you like videogames, so I figured this would be the perfect date!'' Ash was surprised when Jungkook initiated to hug him, holding him in his arms for a long moment. Ash wrapped his strong arms around his waist, nuzzling his nose into the youngers hair. ''Let's go get you some prizes. I bet I can win more than you.'' Ash teased, seeing the way Jungkook's eyes ignite with the competitive side of him, ''You're gonna regret saying that!''

It went on, Jungkook excelled in every single game, earning higher scores than anybody to pile up the points. A proud smile beamed on his face while he sees the numbers rack up on the shooting game they played together, knowing he did the most damage out of the two, ''Told ya, I'm unbeatable.'' Ash crooked an eyebrow, putting the toy gun away to grab Jungkooks jaw and guide it closer to his face, hot breath fanning his face, ''Yeah? Perhaps I'll have to reward you for being so good at these games, hm?'' Jungkook felt the blushing heat rise on his cheeks. But, he figured, what the hell. He didn't pull away, but stared right back into his eyes. Ash made the first move then and there, in the midst of people rushing back and forth between games, chatter and music, he leaned down to press his lips against Jungkook's in a soft kiss. They withdrew for a short second before leaning back in, placing several chaste kisses on eachothers lips, their breath getting shallow, until they pull away to catch their breath. Ash presses his foreheads against Kook's, a small smirk on his lips, ''How about that for a first date, hm?'' Jungkook nods, ''Yeah, it's...good..'' It was good. Great, actually. But a part of him couldn't help but compare it to Taehyung. It wasn't the same. But it wasn't bad. He looked back up on the taller man, doe eyes sparkling from the reflection of the videogame screens surrounding them. Ash leaned into his ear to whisper his next words, ''Wanna get out of here?''

~

“Come on, Tae. Help me out a little..” Namjoon had one of Taehyung’s arm thrown over his shoulder, Mila had the other. Together, they worked towards getting the drunken male down the stairs, safely. Taehyung cooperated, for the most part, well.. as good as he could during a blurry state like this one. He nearly tripped over his own feet a couple of times, each one just as startling as the first for Namjoon, whom still couldn’t believe how much his night had taken a turn for the worst. The latter had been face deep into a pile of handwritten notes, in the middle of studying his hardest for an upcoming test when his phone began vibrating. He picked up Taehyung’s call, expecting to hear Tae’s voice only to be met by a woman’s with a heavy accent, clearly sensing her panic from the other line. A few minutes later, and Joon found himself in front of a cliché house party, no longer indulged in his studies. Obviously. Now, right at this second, his focus was on trying to get Taehyung in his car. Apparently seeing a guy get dragged down the stairs was nothing out of the extraordinary; no one even batted an eye, just continuing to move their sweat-glistened bodies to the beat of the song. It caught Namjoon off guard, but then again, he wasn’t one to party on the daily. The elder’s car was parked outside of the main entrance, and needless to say, Joon’s eyes lit up at the sight. They were so close! Just a few more steady steps to go.. “There, we got you Tae. Relax.” Namjoon softly reassured, hearing his friend’s incoherent mumbling as he buckled him in. With one last look at Taehyung, Namjoon braced himself for the embarrassment that was to come as he pivoted around in his spot to face Mila. “Thanks for calling, and.. sorry about all of this.”  He sheepishly rubbed at his nape, feeling awkward speaking to the girl Taehyung was about to have sex with. “No problem, really.” She waved her hands in front of her face, as if telling him not to worry. Namjoon only nodded, pasting on a weak smile before hopping into the driver’s seat, starting his car. The blonde haired girl, however, had one last thing to say, “So, when Taehyung wakes..” Mila began, already nervous to continue. “Can you give this?” She extends out a small piece of paper for Joon to take, her phone number scribbled on the inside. Not given any reason to not take it, Namjoon happily did, reminding himself to give it to Taehyung when he was feeling less.. shitty.

At a time like this, Joon was glad his parents weren’t home; he had the feeling they wouldn’t like him bringing in a drunk person to crash on their couch. But, it was the least that he could do. Taehyung looked weak, and that was definitely a new look on him. The younger’s skin had lost most of its tanned melanin, his face lacking any trace of color. He could tell Tae was having trouble staying awake, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. Namjoon brought in a bucket just in case— Taehyung leaned over the couch to empty out his stomach, panting from the light strain. Fuck, Namjoon had no idea what to do! He was freaking out. With shaky hands, the elder reached for his cellphone, knowing Jimin would be far more wise in a situation like this one.

To: Chim I have a problem. Taehyung’s passed out drunk on my couch, he’s sweating a lot and won’t stop vomiting. What the hell do I do?? he seems really weak so I don’t wanna move him

He pressed send, antsy to hear back a response. But, he never would, at least not from Jimin. Namjoon didn’t know that, of course. He didn’t know that he texted Jungkook instead.

~

“Yeah, that—“ Jungkook wasn’t able to finish his sentence when his phone chimed, fishing the phone out of his pocket to read it. Ash crooked an eyebrow, waiting for the answer, “Who’s that?” Kook freezes on the spot when he reads it; Taehyung passed out? Drunk? Throwing up? It felt like his heart was stuck in his throat at the thought, suddenly nothing else seemed to matter, cursing himself for even saying what he says next; “Hey, I have to go, it’s an emergency. Let’s.. call it a rain check?” He pleads, and Ash seems to be thinking about it. “You’re leaving our date that I prepared for you, for what?” “It’s my friend. He needs my help—“ the anxiety in him made him stumble on his words, feet already moving as he heaved himself on his tiptoes to place a quick peck on Ash’s cheek, whom seemed less than pleased about this, but, he let it slide. 

For now. “Alright. Do you need a ride?” Jungkook shakes his head, he did not want to burden ash with this, no way, “I’m fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, he ran, as fast as he fucking could until he reached Namjoons house. He hadn’t read the text properly, not noticing it wasn’t meant for him. All he knows is that Taehyung is in a shit condition, and he needed somebody.

Why was that enough for him to drop everything and fucking run?

© sombreboy 2020. Do not repost, edit or translate.

[lovely-teeztaetae]

PART ONE HERE! Close i

Originally requested by lovely reader @hongjoonshoe And requested by many lovely anons~

Enjoy!

♡ Close ♡

~angst~

“But seriously, we have to watch it together. And I literally turned down Jungmin for you guys, so now we have to go see this movie.”

“I don’t know, I have a pretty weak stomach, what do you say Y/n?”

Hearing my name immediately snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry, what?” I asked shaking my head.

“We were talking about going to see The Last One tonight.” Mai said twirling her loosely curled hair.

“Oh, um, sure.” I responded with a small smile.

“You alright Y/n, what’s on your mind?” My other friend Anza asked. Just as she said that, I had another flashback of the previous week.

“Because my heart still feels that same way towards you, as it did the first day we met.” I cried, more like yelled towards Wooyoung. His eyes softened and he reached out towards me again.

Just as I turned around to leave, Hongjoong quietly knocked on the door before peeking through.

Seeing Hongjoong’s concerned face only made me cry harder as I rushed out of the door and down the stairs of their house.

I ran outside to my car, and reached down in my pocket and felt no keys, realising they probably fell in the house

“Crap, really Y/n?” I mentally cursed myself, before walking back into their house house. But the second I walked in, all I heard was yelling.

“-you know, I remember you talking about it, and I tried the hardest I could to forget it, but for you to take it this out of control?” Hongjoong spoke sternly to Wooyoung.

“I’m sorry okay?! I didn’t mean to hurt her like that, I, I-“

“Wooyoung, what did you expect?!” Hongjoong asked again.

“Why are you so upset anyway, she was my-“ I heard Wooyoung pause.”

After that, all I could hear now was silence, and with no one answering, I took this as an opportunity to get my keys that were sitting on the higher step of the stair case.

“You wanna know why Wooyoung?” Hongjoong asked.

“You brought Y/n around so much, that I started to develop my own feelings towards her, and now because of you, she’s not gonna be around.” I froze at Hongjoong’s words.

Hongjoong having feelings for, me?

How did I never notice, was I that blind?

I mean, I never really looked at Hongjoong like that, but even I’ll admit, what’s not to like?

Hongjoong is handsome, respectful, a hard worker. And overall everything a person could ever want in a guy.

It’s just that, I’d never get that rapid beating in my heart when I was around him, at least, not like I did for Wooyoung.

After that, I quickly walked up the few steps and grabbed my keys.

Before I left this time, I made sure to lock their door, so that I wasn’t tempted to walk back through it again.

“Earth to Y/n/n.” Mai exclaimed, and once again my daydreaming came to an end.

“Um, yea, yea sorry, I want to go see it too.” I said with a smile, this time a more genuine one.

“Alright well, we can talk about it after our classes, it’s almost 2:30.” Anza pointed out as her and our other friend Lyn stood up.

“We’ll talk to you guys after class.” Lyn said with a small smile, and the two left Mai and I alone.

“Well, class is gonna start soon, maybe we should head on-“ I stopped mid sentence when I looked over and saw Mai starring at me.

I confusingly looked behind me to see if she was starring at something in the distance, but all there was were other campus kids finishing their break period.

“Uh, are you alright Mai?” I asked waving my hand in her face. Her gaze only softened a little and she began to talk.

“Yea, Im just trying to read your thoughts, you’ve been acting funny.” She said quietly, tapping her long painted nails across her cheek.

“I know I have a pretty good sense of humor.” I said with a wacky smile. Mai rolled her eyes with a small laugh.

“Not like that Y/n.”

“I-“ I didn’t really even have anything to say. I knew I was acting different. The person that I used to talk to more than my own sibling, didn’t really ever want anything to do with me. Besides use me for the good things that came along the way, like Aura.

“Mai come on, class is starting.” I said for the last time, grabbing all of my books and heading towards the crowded entrance.

“Wait up Y/n!”

~

“Alright everyone, make sure to study this week, next weeks test shouldn’t be that challenging if you take the time to look everything over.” Every student began to stuff their things into their bags, ready to go home for the week.

I threw my bag over my shoulder and made my way out the door, and was quickly met my Mai who was already at the entrance.

“You ready for The Last One?” She asked in a mockingly spooky voice, running her fingers up my arm earning a chill from me.

“Yea, I forgot about that.” I chuckled.

“Oh, also, Jungmin wanted to know if he could bring a couple friends?” She said shyly.

My eyes squinted in confusion.

“I don’t recall him coming in the first place.”

“Well, I just felt super super bad and told him he could join us if he wanted to, I’m sorry!” She said in a dramatic tone. I only rolled my eyes playfully in response.

“I’m fine with it as long as everyone else is.” I responded with a small smile.

~

The four of us began to walk to the theatres entrance, and I was beginning to get excited at the thought of doing something other than being cooped up in my dorm, alone.

After that night, I got home and Aura still wasn’t back. And so I took all of her clothes and gathered them together, along with all of her extra belongings.

“Y/n what are you doing?!” She asked just like Wooyoung did. I kept moving her stuff and began to get even more upset.

“This is my dorm Aura, that I’m paying for, alone!” I stated, while she was trying to put all of her things back.

“So you thought I wasnt gonna find out?”

“What are you-“

“Don��t play stupid Aura, Wooyoung tried the same thing.” My heart wrenched after saying their names together, and the sudden burst of sadness made me even more determined to have her out by tonight.

“Y/n it was nothing serious.” She said in a calm voice. I stopped what I was doing and began to think. It’s nothing to her, while I’m carrying a heavy weight on my heart.

“Aura, Wooyoung is waiting for you at his house. And I don’t recon I have to tell you the address, you probably know it by heart.” I cried while sitting on my bed.

Aura’s eyes softened as she made her way towards me.

“Y/n-“

“I don’t care Aura, just get your stuff and go to him.” My words came out much shakier than intended.

I sat looking down as I heard swift shuffling all throughout the small dorm room, and soon enough the sound of a door closing.

“Guys look!” My eyes quickly snapped towards the direction Mai was pointing in, and there I saw Jungmin alongside Yeosang, San, and a couple other guys I didn’t know.

I knew that Yeosang and San were friends with Wooyoung, but I never really talked to them, and so I was hoping they didn’t recognise me.

“Hey girls.” Yeosang smiled in our direction, causing all of his other friends to look as well.

He began to give everyone hugs, and when it came to my turn, I tensed up a bit at the awkwardness. Wasn’t this guy super shy?

“Don’t worry about the tickets either, we already paid.” He said smiling down at me, to which I returned with a dorkish one.

“And the movies also gonna start in like 5 minutes.” San said while checking his phone and showing us the time that read 11:23 p.m.

“Alright everyone, lets head on in.” One of Yeosang’s friends yelled said as he came walking in our direction with popcorn candies and soda.

We all started walking towards the entrance when Jungmin spoke aloud.

“Oh yea, our friends in the bathroom so, could someone wait for him so he knows which auditorium we’re going in?” He said with pleading eyes. I wasn’t in the biggest rush and agreed.

“I’ll wait.”

“Why not let one of the guys wait-“

I cut San off before he could finish his statement. My heart fluttering slightly as he seemed like a gentleman.

“It’s alright San, I want to wait.” I responded with a smile. He smiled back before responding.

“Alright, remember it’s auditorium 5, thanks.” He nodded my way before catching up with the already gone group of kids.

I sat leaning against the wall, focusing on all of the abstract designs on the wall, and stopping when I reached one couple.

My shoulders slumped as I saw them talking sheepishly to eachother, and I recognised the two of them as Wooyoung and Aura.

I frowned and began to play with my feet.

“Don’t worry, it’s better that way.”

I jumped in surprise at the voice from behind me and saw Hongjoong by my side watching the ‘couple’ as well.

“Hongjoong?” I spoke with a bewildered look on my face. He looked at me and smiled.

“Hey Y/n, sorry I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wasn’t expecting you to be there.” He laughed.

“Oh well, are you perhaps here with Jungmin?” I asked raising my brow.

“Yea, why, are you seeing The Last One too?” He asked excitedly, making his way down the long hall. I followed close behind.

“Uh yea, our friends all came together in a group.” I said with a small smile, catching up to him.

Hongjoong looked from my shy gaze to his feet.

“Hey Y/n, I’m really really sorry about what happened.” He said playing with the ring in his finger. I looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Hongjoong do not be sorry, it wasn’t you’re fault-“

“But I knew about it, and you ended up getting hurt in the end Y/n.” He said in a more stern voice. I looked at him with a sad gaze.

“Hongjoong.” I started, grabbing onto his shoulders and stopping him from going further.

“He’s your best friend, you shouldn’t feel bad for not ratting him out.”

He looked into my eyes looking for any false hope, but only found sincerity.

“I just, can’t help but feel bad, I’m sorry.” He said with cloudy eyes.

“You know what Hongjoong?” I asked sternly. He looked at me with wide eyes, surprised by my now loud daminor.

“We’re going to go in there with our friends, enjoy that rip off scary movie, and stuff our faces with candy and soda.” I said loudly, grabbing his hand and rushing towards the auditorium as I heard the scary music begin to play.

I heard him chuckle from behind me, and it already made me feel better.

~

“That’s the creepiest movie I’ve seen in a while.” San stayed louldly to the group.

“It was pretty creepy, and I can tell you definitely got a good scare out of it.” Lyn said pointing towards San’s hoodie that had soda splashed on it from a jump scare.

He playfully rolled his eyes as the whole group of kids laughed at him.

“I enjoyed it, what about you two?” Anza asked looking back at us two walking further behind.

“I liked it, and by the look on Hongjoong’s face half the time I’m pretty sure he enjoyed it too.” I laughed, looking up at his still shocked face.

“I just can’t believe it ended like that.” He said shaking his head.

I looked up at Hongjoong and got reminded of what I heard him say the other week, and for some reason, it gave me a boost of confidence for my next statement.

“Maybe next time we could watch a comedy movie, that way you won’t be hanging on me everytime there’s a creaky noise in the movie.” I joked.

Hongjoong stopped walking and his eyes looked at me with a twinkle in them.

“Like, a date?” He asked bewildered.

I smiled in return.

“Yea, ya know, just a little get together. We could catch up.”

“Well in that case I’d be up to watch anything you want.” He blushed.

We all were mere feet from the doors before Anza stopped in her tracks, turning to face everyone.

“I need to use the bathroom.” She said handing Mai her purse and trotting over to the ladies room outside of the theatre.

“You know, I’m gonna go on ahead and go too before we leave, but wait here, I wanna walk you out.” He said holding a finger up.

I laughed before nodding my head.

“I’ll be waiting in the same place.” I said leaning up against the wall and opening my phone, reading the time that said 1:21 a.m.

I was scrolling through my phone when I got a message from Mai. I opened it and immediately burst into laughter, seeing as it was a video of San seconds before he spilled his drink.

I heard Hongjoong coming back out and kept the video opened, ready to show him.

“You thought you were scared? Look at San’s face-“ I froze and my eyes slowly widened.

Hongjoong wasn’t standing in front of me, instead there stood,

Jung Wooyoung...

Part iii maybe? 👀

Let me know what you think!

[brinesystem]

list, tw

I saw this on someone else’s blog (im not saying names cause idk if its okay to share that info? it was public but still) and it uh

It looked like a good way to kinda, like, have a bit less doubt? or a way to remind myself of whats happening and why i think i have this? idk

Might be triggering so like probs scroll past or something

‘the moods’ existed before i knew about did/osdd

I used to describe them as “it feels like half me, but also half somebody else”

I argue and talk with my own thoughts

Sometimes I talk/argue /aloud/ with my own thoughts

I have to actively fight to /convince/ Fae to talk to people, else he wont. and even when he does, its not how i want it to sound

I cant remember most of my childhood

The /bad/ middle school was when i was either 9 or 10

I knew too much about sex when i was much too young (7, 8)

I get ages wrong (i was 6 in cali, not 8. why do i think it was 8?)

I had a dream about getting raped when I was in elementary school. I didnt fight back. I didnt feel anything at all

I used to hide under desks

I hated my therapist. Its now fear. I dont remember what it was back then

I forget memories I recall, and if I force them back, everything hurts, even if theyre not traumatic

I often forget that I used to forget bad things that happened to me.

Other sex dreams from elementary school

The csa I /do/ remember (freshman). Why did i seek that out. Why did it seem like a good plan

I used to forget conversations daily

I drew myself (sebastian, older brother, nicer) before I knew i was trans. I dont have many memories from before I came out/knew i was trans. (am i an alter?)

Used to daydream for hours due to nerves. Disocciating?

The bathroom incident (middle school. 9 - 10)

How old are you? “16″ i reply this randomly when i am 23. when i was 21. Even when I know I am not

The HS trauma that happened right

I don’t have triggers for my trauma, except sometimes i /do/

Hypersexual, but only /sometimes/

I’m an adult! Except sometimes when my body is much too big and I am much too tall and I only want to curl up and be left /alone/. Except when i am small and fragile and want to have stuffed animals around me and play animal crossing. Except then.

Opinions keep changing, but to set differing ones. (Fashion sense, humor, hobbies, aesthetics)

Scared of dad! Not scared of dad. Pity dad. Could kill dad. Scared of dad! Not s-

Handwriting/Art/Writing style changes a lot (fluctuates between set stops)

Randomly gains accents and loses them. Only happens with two accents even though I know many

Stims change depending on Mood

Cant recognize myself in the mirror, but ideal keeps changing in set patterns (soft lumberjack, fae prince, cutesy, fashionable andro, suited devil)

Fave colors, songs, movies change in set patterns

Numb sensations to VERY INTENSE sensations. Cannot predict

Edible food changes depending on mood, even including safe foods (mac n cheese vs mussels vs ramen, etc)

What is this emotion? idk

Who am i? idk

I know I was bullied. Don’t remember why I know

Trying to think about my childhood makes me panic or get a headache

Super depressed after mental break ; Suddenly snapped out of it emotionally

That one time I slept for 3 days straight

Posture and walk cycle keeps changing

Gets songs stuck in my head that I’m not thinking about

Gets songs stuck in my head that i can’t even hear

Remembers things with no context given (the movie. “which movie” i dont know. “what was it about? who was in it? what was the title? what did it look like?” i dont know)

Bad sense of time, but like, days/hours can = months/years

“so mature for my age”

The Moods can be triggered into appearing, but not always by things I relate to them (ie; Kos and Fae)

Personality test results keep changing. All of them

False memories (the cliff, talking to the old woman about marriage, who knows what else)

Caught off guard by my own thoughts and even words I say (”sehb is gonna be mad at me for this, lol” “ACRRRRRYLICS”)

Most of my childhood memories are actually photos or stories ive heard

That dissociative test where I scored in the middle, but closer to DID than OSDD

Opinion on myself and my own looks varies

Opinion on my past varies

I dont recognize my own voice sometimes (is it changing? or is it my perception?)

Numb regarding pain, but then hypersensitive to it later

Numb regarding loss, skips straight to acceptance

Cant shiver normally, but sometimes can even when its not cold

Cant feel hunger normally, but sometimes can?

Favorite season and holidays change (summer, beach! autumn, cool air! halloween! no, valentines day!)

I dont feel connected to my family except my mum and maybe my youngest sister. These were /choices/ I made

Empathy? Dont know her. Except when I randomly start crying when others are sad, which always comes at different times but similar Moods

Cares about appearance one day, couldnt care less the next

Fave jacket: Green denim! Nope, today fave jacket: Grey hoodie! Nope, today f-

Headaches. So many headaches

More headaches when dealing with trauma

I doubt myself and worry I’m lying. Liars wouldnt do that, right?

Known to dissociate

Forget things mid sentence

Used ‘we’ when talking about myself at random before considering OSDD

Cant dream, except when I can and they dont feel like /mine/

Used to speak aloud with myself practicing words. Was I alone? idk

Loves animals. One of the Moods doesnt care at all about animals, even Wander

Loves video games. One of the moods detests video games

Loves horror games. Randomly feels intense fear from horror games

I know i was bullied, i know dad didnt come home on xmas, i know i moved a lot, i know i was in dc during 9/11, the ocean incident, the doctor incidents, I vaguely recall M(on base friend with older brother) and how she treated me (broke my glasses), i know i had a horrible time during that one year of middle school even though I only remember Two Moments (bathrooms, trailer) but I don’t necessarily have the memories of all of the things I know I dealt with

Memories are like snapshots or still moments, and dont continue

Memories I know effected me emotionally, I feel detached from now, except when i’m randomly Not (the koi, the caterpillar, not punching dad, etc)

Didn’t have friends until second year of middle school, those friends were bad, so were the hs friends

Ignored most things that happened but would randomly become enraged at smaller things that happened to me

The time on base I thought all adults driving by were pedophiles (i was 7. 8. why did i think that. why did i want to goad them? what was wrong with me??)

Keep forgetting memories like 81, but when I remember them theyre hard to get out of my head

“you acted so differently as a kid, what happened”

The Tics in response to stress

Was good at the doctors and then suddenly wasnt at all. Now am afraid

Was fine with bugs and then suddenly wasnt. Now am afraid

The fact that I dont remember typing ‘at all’ on 85

Lost old friend. Didnt mourn, still get a queasy feeling when I think about her/am reminded of her, but not upset or sad usually

Can connect most of the Moods to triggers, traumas, or coping methods, including myself

Reaction to trauma changed literally overnight

Used to love being tickled, now makes me panic (fight/flight)

Can feel when the Moods take something they see into themselves (was told this is normal. i am not faking this, at the very least)

I dont like lying. Fae doesnt/cant lie. Luci /enjoys/ lying.

Used to think solely in images. Now think solely in words.

Can sometimes hear thoughts before i think them, but only my own

Randomly gets worse coordination in turns with moods, and then gains it back after

Too trusting, but then gets in a mood and doubts even my closest friends

People keep telling me what im describing sounds like osdd, even friends who have met some of the Moods

I have an easier time remembering some things when I’m in different Moods

Used to have more amnesia before I started recognizing the Moods (was that me switching out?)

[onepunchmiss]

OPM s2 e9 Live Blog

“The Troubles of the Strong”

GOSH DANG 2 HOUR COMMUTES FROM WORK I woke up at 4am just to get to work early specifically so I could leave early I could watch this episode sooner because THIS IS THE EPISODE IVE BEEN WAITING FOR FOREVER OK Ive just been vibrating at my desk all day fluctuating somewhere between ‘awerstdyfcvgbjhkn’ and ‘SADFVYNTBGVRFCE’ IM NOT mentally or emotionally prepared so WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY IMMA WATCHHHH

as always I’m watching from the perspective of someone who is up to date on the Web comic and Manga

“I know that head” *Immediatley cuts to opening theme* I SCREAM i wasnt expecting that nor am I prepared to see Zombieman not even the same 2 pictures of him that ive seen all season help my stomach is in knots and i cannot

asdfghjkl I can tell already this live blog is gonna be SOOOOO BIAS just cause IM WAITING for THE THING annd the rest is great and all but I CANT FOCUS ON ANYTHING Im really not gonna do the episode over all justice im sorry sdfghjk

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I CALLED IT IT WAS SONIC THE DOODLE WAS SONIC i was holding my breath cause I knew there was a VERY SLIM CHANCE it would be Z but i felt it in my gut It would be sonic uhg phew ok not dead yet

lol Bakuzan stopping mid boast and just screaming dude you should’ve known then and there to quit oh my god the music is SO excessive right now I’m very distracted it better be part of the gag… or not ok

Saitama just casually explaining stuff I love him so much sweetheart,,, pft “I was bored”, honestly I just appreciate how anime captures the beats every time Saitama delivers a line like that, we expect it but it never fails to make me cackle. Also, “that kind of strength should be illegal” he says to SAITAMA yeah ok

OH!!!! GENOS BB stop getting obliterated please Dr. Kuseno is old what are you going to do when you can’t rely on him for repairs and EYYY Shout out to Atomic, Tatumaki, Flash, and King for the cameos. Genos, are you really underestimating your Sensei like that?? Are you the real genos?????

OH MY GOD DID THEY JUST GIVE SUIRYU A SAITAMA FACE WHAT IS THIS CURSED IMAGE

ok in all seriousness Suiryu’s voice actor is killin it like I legit feel bad for they guy getting dragged by Saitama, U hav my respect Suiryu I still might not like you all that much but damn u makin me feel that character development

THIS IS SUCH A CUTE FACE

guys I love saitama so much be still my heart it hurts ;-; this scene chouldne be as heart warming as it is right now hhhhhhhhhhh

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PRISONER PRISONER FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFSDGFSDGS I FORGOT U WERE GONNA SHOW UP I HAVE AN ODD LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CHARACTER BUT GD ARE YOU ENTERTAINING AS HELL HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYOU BIG HAPPY IDIOT IM SCREAMING IM SO CONCERNED OH MY GOD THEY SHOWED THE BUTT RINGING I FEEL SO CONFLICTED AM I EXCITED?? SCARED?? PROBABLY BOTH

ok ok ok ok ok ok ok so now that the tournament is officially over I know theres still a lot to cover this ep before Z???? BUT my bloodpressure WILL NOT CALM DOWN cause WHAT IF they do thingS OUT of ORDER IM ON HIGH ALERT HIGH ALERT WHAT IF I DIE

OH HI KING HELP IM HAVING ANXIETY YOU KNOW HOW THAT BE RIGHT MY DUDE aw omg how are they both so cute looking right now??? WAIT also that was a smooth transition from Saitama Face™ to serious face woah ?? You know, with all that talk I wonder what the end game is for Saitama? Like, will the series end seriously or on a joke? He gonna find a real challenge or will it somehow be another one-punch? I am completely undecided tbh…

...i wanted king to finish saying “daze” so badly right thereu said yare yare plz give me the meme plz Ok the way Saitama keeps saying ‘Kinggu’ is weirding me out also ng is great and this is very nicely drawn

...plussireaditinamanga… PFFFTTT the VOICE ACTING-- King is such a good friend for Saitama really thank goodness for him ASDFGHJKL THE WHOLE REST OF THE EXCHANGE IS SO GOOD ‘OK JERKOFF’ im d y i n g

I MISSED YOU PLZ COME BACK TO THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED BEING A LIL SHIT PLZ UR BEAUTIFUL also the king movements on the bike looked pretty neato

OK Honestly though why does no one know what the Hero Hunter is supposed to look like?? How is that not common knowledge among heroes by now?????

SCREECHING IM SCREECHING THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THIS EPISODE (i hope???? its running kinda late and I’m worried???????) THE NINJAS THE NINJA DUO ITS THEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM theyre so pretty i cri ????

OK MONSTER WIND LOOKS REALLY COOL I DIG I DIGGGG also I REALY dig the ominous music  and as this scene is nearing its end MY HEART IS POUNDING HELP  

MARSHALL  GORILLA IM HYPERVENTILATING AND SCREAMING AND MY PALMS ARE SWEATING ARM SPAGHETTI HELP MY EYES ARE WATERING TOO

my hands are shaking as im typing and i cant stop laughing nervously and my through is dry this is NOT NORMAL typing is hard im afraid to push play im afraid

its been 5 minutes i cant push play i cant

I MADE A MISTAKE THEY DIDNT SHOW THE OTHER HEROES FIRST HES ON MY SCREEN I CANT STOP  MY LEGS SHAKING I BREATHE

tfw ive been just mumbling oh my god oh my god nope nope nope for 10 minutes help help help nope

hes on my screen but i cant push play i cant open the tab i cant

everything is so much easier if i didnt FEEL but I have FEELINGS \

I cant even look at him i cant hes too perfect help

30 minutes i can breathe but like shaking ???? ???

ok it only took 45 minutes alright ok ok ok open the tab and PUSH the BUTTON

I lied it took an hour i still cant look at the screen im gonna die this man will be the death of me I CANT GO 2 SECONDS WITHOUT PAUSING AND SCREAMING WHY CAN I REREAD THE CHAPTER OVER AND OVER BUT CANT LISTEN TO HIM FOR 2 SECONDS WHY

OK im gonna start counting how many times I’ve paused from now on its been AT LEAST 8 so lets start there.

9

10

11 long pause his voice im crying his face

12

13 just look at him I cant my stomach

14 “DRAT” help me

15 i keep switching tabs but cant push play again oh no

16

17

18 I just noticed he definitely has eyebrows here asdfghjkl

19

20

21

NO COME BACK TORTURE ME SOME MORE WITH YOUR PERFECT GENERAL PRESENCE that was the most exhausting 1.5 hours asdfghjkl what if they dont make a season 3 what if I never see him in motion again what if i just die

OH MY GOD DRIVE KNIGHT MY MYSTERIOUS SON THANK YOU I CAN BREATHE DISTRACT ME PLZ

WAIT

DESTROCHLORIDIUM I CANT HANDLE THIS EPISODE I JUST REALLY CANT I JUST AND THE HEKKIN CAPTION HE GOT A BAD CASE OF THE RUNS AND OMFG MY FAVORITE GAROU MOMENT FROM THE MANGA THUS FAR NEXT WEEK I !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i… no recap this week. i think my feelings on the ep are obvious.  Thanks for reading and somehow managing to get this far? I appreciate yall so much really. Thank you for following me being nuts as I am. I seriously mean it. I’ll see yall next week with the next with the next episode!

[esmiblood90irisglimmer]

Say No To This (Eliza Version/Role-Reverse)

Disclaimers: LONG FANFIC!!!

Theodosia POV

Another warm summer night engulfed the city NYC where I began yawning and realizing it was already past ten o'clock. Deciding to wrap things up by going through one last files one last time before going home. Knowing Aaron would be worry sick that I stay longer at work than I’ve intentionally. Oh well, at least I can have my handsome holding me in his strong arms. Just thinking about me make me blush and giddy all shyly, which I know it’s stupid for a grown woman to be acting like a teenage girl again. Hey, that’s love for you especially being married to the man or women you’ve been for more than a decade. It’s a magical experience when you created the wondrous memories as a married couple. There’s going to be ups and downs and which is part of life and you just have to accept it. Even when you’re in complete denial. Which I could say for a certain I know that writing completely non-stop at the office next door.

You see, my old friend my dearest Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton is working her ass off to the brink of exhaustion. I worry about her but knowingly how stubborn and hard headed she can be sometimes. I often worry about her physical and mental state. I hope she doesn’t scare me like last month when she was buried alive under all those paperworks. That woman is seriously gonna give me a heart attack one these days. Anyway, as a good friend basically the mother friend of our group. I always tend to check up on her before leaving the office. Knowing that her answer will be that she’ll be spending another night here at the orphanage. I wasn’t going to argue with her about it but still at least take one day off. Then again it has taken her husband almost a decade to finally take a break from work. Well, like wife, like husband as some may say.

I see her with papers scatter around the desk with multiple profile of some the new orphanages we receive from other states. Lightly knocking on the door which caught Eliza attention which she given me her usual soft smile.  

“Yes, Mrs. Burr. Is there anything you need?” she asks

“No, I’m letting you know that I’m heading home now. It’s already past ten o’clock so Aaron is probably worry sick about me”

Eliza chuckle lightly before understanding that Aaron is a bit overprotective of me but in a cute way. Deep inside her heart she was longing for the company of Alexander but he and their children were at Upstate. Apparently, visiting her father until catching up with Lafayette mid-way through the journey to South Carolina. They wanted surprise John with a visit of their own unannounced. I can understand her loneliness but she made the choice to stay behind for the orphanage and for me. We share our goodbyes before taking my leave as I left the door to be locked. Since I didn’t want any strangers or psycho manic having the intention to murder my innocent friend. Anyway, during my walk on the way I notice a tall male with a noticeable black eye. I whine on the inside feeling that he either got it from a bar fight or from his wife.

Domestic abuse isn’t uncommon sadly and seeing the abuse victim walking toward to our orphanage is heartbreaking but brave as well. What weird about him is that he’s wearing a large black hat with a long black coat. Perhaps to cover the bruises and the scars he received from his spouse. But that one thing stood out from his outfit was a tight red shirt that would grasp on his muscular chest. Ignoring my appearance despite me waving at him to be polite but I didn’t care. He continue to walk toward the direction of the orphanage before looking at the window in which located Eliza office. It made my heart skip a beat just for a moment but there wasn’t I couldn’t do since I’m off work.

Walking away from the scene as I pray deeply that this doesn’t become that I think would lead to. I hope that Eliza doesn’t do something stupid that would cost her marriage. Then again, our Lord works in mysterious ways than beyond our imagination. I simply shrug and ignore the tangles of knot that bewling with one gut to another.

Theodosia Sr

There’s nothing like summer in the city.

Someone under stress meets someone looking sexy

There’s trouble in the air, you can smell it

And Eliza is by herself....

I’ll let her tell it

Eliza POV

I was left alone in this semi-huge orphanage just by myself working on each of the children files. Just the ones that I’m assign to but that wasn’t enough. By that, I mean the only ones here are the servants on night shift. They look after the kids making they’re sleeping peacefully. Or looking after the ones that were deeply sicks and so they manage their medication from here and there. Sighing to myself out of despair as I thought about my darling Alexander and my friendly Lafayette. They decided to go Upstate in order to visit my father since the children dearly misses him. Along with the midsummer is when they’re going to visit Laurens in South Carolina since it been so long since they last met. Mulligan is going to meet on the middle part of the journey since it would be nice to create a surprise visit for John. It’s nice to know that they all have each others but Angelica and I are separated from miles apart. Not to mention...I lost Peggy from the war after she was shot..from a signal gunshot wound. Sacrificing her life for an innocent child that had nothing to do with it. Except being a daughter of a sl....I can’t bring myself to say it. But yes, that event change me and Angelica a lot especially toward my father who clearly cherish her since she is one of his beloved daughters.

Leaving behind her husband and beautiful son behind but we still visit them but enough of the depress thing. I harshly rubbed my eyes as I been here at my office for a week. Brushing my fingers into my semi greasy hair and thought I should go home as well. Packing my things up as I thought about Alexander just holding in his arms. As we share the bed we slept in together. Or having Lafayette just escorting me around the city while trying to make me laugh. His corny jokes somehow manage to make me laugh from here and there. Just would’ve been nice to have one of them here by my side. Until I heard a knock from downstairs.

Eliza

I haven’t slept in a week

I was weak, I awake

When I’m alone in my room, sometimes I stare at the wall

Longing for Lafayette, Missing my Alexander

I heard a knock on the door, I knew it wasn't my husband That’s when Mister James Reynolds walked into my life He said:

Walking downstairs before opening the door to see a tall man with a large black hat and long black coat. Quite an odd outfit but I brush it off. I notice the black eye on his face which aches my heart. Knowing that this black eye must’ve come from his abusive spouse. I offer him some tea as we discuss in the living room before introducing himself to be Mr. James Reynolds. Which he announce his reasonings of why coming to the orphanage so late at night.

James Reynolds

I know you are a woman of honor

I’m so sorry to bother you at home

But I don’t know where to go

And I came here all alone...

Eliza:

He said...

James Reynolds

My wife been doing me wrong

Beating me...

Cheating me...

Mistreating me...

Suddenly, she up and gone

And, I don’t have the means to go on

I felt extremely upset to know about this poor going through an abusive marriage. Not to mention that he has a young daughter only about five years old. Wondering how could I help this man and his daughter as well. Giving me the facts that she comes and goes from three days to weeks, lead to months from on end. Decided to give him some extra crash that I’ve stock away in her desk drawer. Pulling out approximately about thirty bucks which is quite a lot back then. Thirty bucks could’ve equivalent to like a hundreds. Then again it’s the 1700s, so it wasn’t an issue trying to store a few extra cash. Giving, Mr. Reynolds the money to see that he’s very grateful that anyone would loan him such a large amount of money. Wiping the tears of joy away before leaning his arm to hold onto. Well, I didn’t see a problem for a woman to escort a find young man home.

Eliza:

So I offered him a loan, I offered to walk him home, he said

James Reynolds:

You’re too kind mam

Eliza

I gave him thirty bucks that I have stock away

He lived a block away, he said:

James Reynolds:

This one’s mine, mam

Surprisingly the the orphanage isn’t that too far off from where Reynolds live at. Then again, he live only a block away so it was only a short ten minutes. I would stand outside just letting the kind man to enter inside his house safe and sound. Hopefully, his wife is either asleep or isn’t home at the moment which brought a tight knot in my stomach.Then, i could go home and take a long hot bath and probably take the day off tomorrow. Since I haven’t slept nor bathe in a week. So, I probably smell very sticky which isn’t very ladylike of me. Turning away as I started to walk in the direction of where my home was. About to take my leave I felt James hand grabbing my own with a light blush on his face. Veryly confuse, as I didn’t prepare myself of what was about to happen next.

Eliza:

Then I said, “well, I should head back home,” He turned red, He led me to his bed Place me between his legs and said:

James Reynolds:

Stay?

Eliza:

H...Hey...

James Reynolds:

Hey...

Not even knowing what just till the last second is when I’m between Reynolds legs. With his arms around my waist as I lay on top of his bare. Apparently, I must’ve believe that he unbutton his red shirt during the time I went blank. Feeling my entire body heating up and my face turning into cherry red. Wasn’t sure how I magically escape from the grasp of his arms but that wasn’t the case. As a married woman and Reynolds being a married man shouldn’t doing something so sinful. Not to mention, I have Alexander and can’t let myself be the one to break his heart. Reaching toward the door but before getting the grasp on the knob. Reynolds held me from behind just my heart accelerating and my body hitting once again.

Feeling his lips just leaving butterflies kissing across my neck to the my bare shoulders. Barely knowledge that this man has strip my dress off my body. Leaving me in my closet and others underclothing just leaving me to shiver. Turning me around as I face this man in the eyes but adirmating his bare chest. Lightly breathing heavily but soon I mentally slap myself. Telling myself that I have a husband and children nevertheless. This devilish man has this sinfully smirk as he place his chest just feeling his heart beating.

Eliza: That’s when I began to pray:

Lord, show me how to

Say no to this

I don’t know how to

Say no to this

But my god, he looks so helpless

And his body’s saying “hell yes”

James Reynolds:

Whoa...

Eliza:

Lord, show me how to

Eliza/ Ensemble (Aka the fandom): Say no to this

Trying to put my dress back on and get the heck out there but Reynolds has other plans. Holding me closer to him as our lips were just meter aparts just barely brushing each others. The grids in my mind were grinding wildly just telling me “Get the hell out of there”. But I couldn’t feel my body, didn’t have the courage to pull away. That wasn’t the case...I didn’t want to push myself away from this find man. Turning my face away for a moment. Until, I felt him lifting my chin up just meeting my gaze to his before leaning. His lips against my own just made everything I have thought just few out the window. Before he lead me to the once again.

Eliza: I don’t know how to Eliza/ The fandom Say no to this Eliza: In my mind, I’m tryin’ to go The Fandom: Go! Go! Go!

Eliza: Then his mouth is on mine, and I don’t say…

Throughout the entire time I spent with this stranger of man just letting him pleasure. Just forgetting Alexander, Lafayette, Angelica, the kids. Basically just everyone I’ve ever knew as he and I done it in his bed. At his house, where his wife could’ve walk in on us but I didn’t care. I was alone and longing for companion. But my mind is screaming me with rage literally scolding for doing a cruel act. Letting myself get involved in adultery that I’ll soon regretted later on.

The Fandom:

No! No! Say no to this!

No! No! Say no to this!

No! No! Say no to this!

No! No! Say no to this!

Third POV

Unaware by his wife adultery with another married man, Alexander Hamilton a proud father and helpless husband. Smiling happily while looking at the pendant that his late younger sister- in law, Peggy gave to him. It was originally a birthday gift but the widely woman decided to give this little gremlin as a wedding. Chucking by the memories of the late Peggy but blush while smiling a little. It was a picture of him and Eliza on their wedding day which brought warm memories to him. That day brought heartbreaks to both Lafayette and Laurens. As the French general has fallen deeply in love with Elizabeth Schuyler but given her up for his brother. While John is in love with his best friend but was already marriage and have a daughter of his own. Still, they wanted to see this Caribbean immigrant keeping a beautiful smile while basketing his love for Eliza.

The Hamilsquad has finally reunited after being seperated from the war for far too long. Which has been nearly a decade or more since the four men last saw each others. Apparently, Burr is suppose to meet up with the others at Lauren house but wasn’t able to at the last minute. As his daughter has gotten ill which is terrible for a child to be sick during the summer. Anyway, nearly getting side tracked as the four males were playing around with the children. Dancing with them, playing with them, and etc. As the children run around Alexander pull his pendant. Staring at the picture at his beautiful as he felt helpless once again after all these years during their marriage.

Alexander / The Fandom:

Helpless!!

(Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey)

Looking into your eyes

And the sky’s the limit

(Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey)

I’m helpless

(Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey)

Lafayette saw his brother smile weakly while spinning around like the lovesick puppy that Hamilton is. Walking away from the immigrant as the French male heart tighten a bit knowing fully well that Eliza will never be his. He has come to terms with it but still heartbroken after all these years. Now, married with another woman in France with children of their own. Yet, Lafayette still loves Eliza and that would never change. Even that meant marrying someone else. As one brother is smiling happily with hearts flying around him as the other brother was staring out the window. A single tear rolled down his caramel skin before brushing it away in order not to let others know.

Alexander/Lafayette

Will she ever be satisfied?

(Down for the count,

And I’m

Drowning’ in them)

She will never be satisfied

Back at New York is where both men were unaware that Eliza is sleeping with another married man. But also growing mutual feelings for him as well. As Eliza woken up from his bed in shock and disgusted with herself for letting this happen. Trying to break it off and made sure this was a one time only moment. Well ain’t that fantasy that Eliza suddenly ask for too much. As the guilt and regrets will arrive years later and she won’t even how the affair being leak out. Though she didn’t care and immediately left the house luckily, no one was around to started ridiculous gossip. Heading straight home to take a bath and sleep hopefully this is the final counter she’ll have with Reynolds. Or so she thought.

Eliza: I wish I could say that was the last time I said that last time. It became a pastime A month into this endeavor I received a letter From a Mrs. Maria Reynolds, even better, it said: Maria: Dear Madam, I hope this letter finds you in good health And in a prosperous enough position to put wealth In the pockets of people like me: down on their luck You see, that was my husband who you decided to Eliza: Shhhh—

A month past by and her affair with Reynolds continue and escalated to him spending multiple night at her house. As they slept on the same bed that she with her darling Alexander. No matter how many time she wanted to call this affair off. Reynolds always seduce her back into his arms by that charming and charismatic attitude of his. Those methods always make her legs jelly and wobbling. It lead them to exchanging tiny little love letters from here and there. Until one day, at her office Theodosia brought her letter which was sent from Mrs. Maria Reynolds. Feeling her blood run before locking the door. Reading the telegrams which is promptly by none other than Reynolds wife. Claiming that she knows about the affair and herself as well. A large lump began to form in his throat as she continue reading the paper. Feeling that dark presented behind Eliza back just feeling Maria mocking her for sleeping with her own husband.

Yet, that not even the worst part.

Maria: Uh-oh! You made the wrong sucker a cuckold So time to pay the piper for the dress you stripped And hey, you can keep seeing’ that piece of shit If the price is right: if not I’m telling your man

Straight up blackmailing the young wife that if she doesn’t pay in the correct. This other wife would spill the details to her Alexander. In pure anger, she races out of her office but not without leaving confuse looks on her coworkers face’s. Nearly running toward Reynolds house as she proudly let herself to slam the door shut harshly. Racing toward upstairs as I saw James right before myself as I proceeded to slap him hard across the face. Shock but also hurt by this reaction as Eliza shove the letter in front of the man’s face.

Eliza: I hid the letter and I raced to his place Screamed

“How could you?!”

in his face He said: James No, Mam!!

Eliza:

Half dressed, apologetic. A mess, he looked

Pathetic, he cried:

James:

Please don’t go, mam!

Not caring if this man was even half naked or half dress in front of her. This affair is officially over but Reynolds grabbed Eliza’s hand. Not wanting to lose of what they have during the entire period of summer. Pulling herself away from this man with a look of anger spreading on her expression. Whimpering on the inside as Reynolds never saw this side of Eliza before. She was so kind and thoughtful toward him. Never forgetting her generosity to donated a large sum of money just for his daughter Susan. Holding Eliza in his arms once again but this married woman firmly pushes herself out of his reach. Tears were streaming down his face before on his knees. Betting this kind hearted woman to not leave him alone with his wife. Despite not knowing either he was serious or was all of this an act.

Eliza:

So was your whole story a setup?

James:

I don’t know about any letter!

Eliza:

Stop crying

God damnit, get up!

James:

I didn’t know any better

Eliza:

I am ruined...

Frantically pulling her hair while her own tears flooded her face. Realizing that consequences of what this affair leading to. This could ruin an entire innocent happy marriage and another marriage leading to a divorce in court. Both of them panicking as Maria has full control of them especially Eliza. Since she did indeed fallen trip into their spider webs of lies. The married man tries to persuade to stay with in his arms. Work before and show work again. Doesn’t need any other woman but her at the time being. Even it may cost him his life. Holding her into his arms once again while wiping her tears away with a soft touch.

Eliza / James:

Please don’t leave me with her, I’m helpless

(I am helpless—how could I do this?)

Just give her what he wants and you can have me

Eliza:

I don’t want you

James:

What?

Eliza:

I don’t want you

James/Eliza

Whatever you want (I don’t...)

If you pay,

You can

Stay!!!!

Eliza wanted to pull away but didn’t have the strength nor the energy to do so. Letting Reynolds cherish her one last time. Clinging onto him before letting the small kisses into full on make out. Which them on the bed once again. Just like how the first night when they first met. Eliza feeling regretful but yet a bit satisfied about this affair. Not sure why...she didn’t even know her self. They just want the pleasurable moment for one last time.

Eliza

Lord, show me how to

Say no to this

I don’t know how to

Say no to this

Cause the situation is helpless

And his body screaming “hell yes”

Lord, show me how to

Say no to this

Eliza/James

How can I say not to this?!

Eliza:

There is nowhere I can go?!

When his body on mine I do not say

Sharing a kisses from here and there from the lips, neck, and other sort etc. James notice a matching pendant around Eliza neck. Open by itself to see the man that Eliza is currently married to in made him freeze for a moment. Just staring at the picture on the day on this woman married her husband. Shaking lightly before shutting it quickly just wanting to get this over this. That picture suddenly began mocking him. Feeling this affair might put a tired on Eliza marriage with Alexander. Which he praise that doesn't happen. Which it's rare to have this emotions that he never had before.

Still both Reynolds and Eliza mind were screaming at them.Telling these two adults that “NO! This isn’t right” basic stuff. That both of them knew but decided to ignore it.

Eliza/James/The Fandom

Yes (Yes!)

Say no to this!

No!

Yes (Yes!)

Say no to this!

No!

Yes (Yes!)

Say no to this!

No!

Yes (Yes!)

Say no to this!

After this finally orderal, Eliza slowly and shamefully getting dressed as Reynolds lay in bed. Not looking at each others seem to be the best choice at the moment. Eliza wiped a few tears feeling so dirty and disgusted with herself. Her actions. Hopefully that she can put this in the past. And forget that it ever happen in the first place. Pulling out two envelope from the pocket of her dress. Both fill with crash.

Eliza:

Say no to this...

I don’t

Eliza/James:

Say no to this

Eliza:

There is nowhere I can go

The fandom:

Go, Go, Go

Right before her stood Maria Reynolds at the doorway with a little girl by her side. Apparently, this is their daughter that James mention before. Wearing a beautiful red dress that seem to share the same color and color of her husband shirt. Having a smug look on her face full aware of what just happened since this bedroom. But she could care less since its the money she need for a lawyer during a divorce court. But sweet little Eliza doesn’t need to know about that.

Maria:

So?

The other married woman sigh in defeat as she place the two full envelope on Maria hands. About thousands dollars in total. Looking down as the child stare at in confusion and curious of what was happening. But her innocent must be protected and so for that. The deed has been done and all of this affair is just hush hush. Racing out of the house in a rush with tears threatening to leave her eyes. Returning back to the orphanage in an hour as Theodosia, Martha, Dolley didn’t notice her return. Until hearing you close the door to her office and locking it. Her back was press against the wood before sliding down as she held her knee tightly. Tears spring down to the fabric of her dress before quietly whisper to herself.

“Nobody needs to know”

Nearly given  up writing  this fanfic but I made myself to finish. But yeah.. hope y'all enjoy

[y4mmyb0y]

assorted bad thoughts

i swear to god every time i talk to my mom about something i make her cry and im a stupid freak so i dont talk to her about anything normal. tonight she told me “i know that you dont like me” and i wanted to hang myself even more than normal. is she even wrong i dont dislike her but im talking to a woman whos in her mid 40s maybe i shouldnt feel bad because i dont have any responsibility to be her only friend. thats what i am right now. she has my aunt but their relationship isnt as good as ours. at least she doesnt get the same happiness out of it that she does with ours. when i basically told her to stop parenting me because it stresses me out it was like telling her dont talk to me anymore. i told her we can just try to talk about normal things but then she told me i do not fucking do that with her at all and i make it really hard to and shes entirely right if i am not in the mood to talk im dismissive mostly ignore her and try to end the conversation so i can go back to whatever im doing. it would be nice if i was different but its just too fucking much. its too much. so now she thinks she cant talk to me about anything. now she has no one. this is why a nuke blowing me and everyone around me the fuck up is a good way to die that way nobody who depends on me will have to live through my death. fuck everything fuck everything fuck everything. every single day i wish my suicide attempt was successful oh my god everything is so fucking hard in the first place and it only gets worse and worse and worse. i decided im going to try and live with a more like...... careless style of thinking because ive been worried about everything and planning for the future since i was a little kid and every single time all i do is worry, act like how i would have if i didnt think about it at all, and then everything works out fine. every single time is like that so i dont want to second guess myself or to be second guessed and i was telling my mom i think im gonna try to get an incomplete on my classes for this semester and that i dont want to be second guessed anymore and that she kind of has done that to me since i was a kid i mean i cant think of a time when i told her “i think im going to do x” and she wasnt like “are you sure” and then she would explain a mistake that she made in the past. and she does it because shes so worried im going to end up like her and she hates herself and her life which makes me feel worse i just fucking dont know anything or care about anything. my therapist has been talking to me about practicing mindfulness and it made me realize that ive been doing that since i was a child im tired of it i want to practice ignorance because confronting things in the way i have been has given me a life of suicidal ideation and more than one attempt. when i come in and tell him this shit i have a feeling hes going to basically tell me “well you must be doing it wrong” in a nice way because he “doesnt believe in there being a right or wrong, only consequences” so fuck it ill get doubted again maybe i dont know what im talking about but it feels like i do every single fucking time and its always made it 10x more difficult because for some reason nobody believes me. i knew i needed medicine to treat my dysthymia since i was 13. i didnt get any until i was 18 because i was a kid and for some reason when youre 18 your body magically reacts to those drugs better. i literally thought that doctors wouldnt prescribe those kinds of medications to people under 18 until my psychiatrist who i visited for the first time just before i turned 18 told me that is not true at all. all of this has led to me not knowing anything. in that sense i dont practice mindfulness. i dont know what i feel i dont feel anything but thats only true sometimes. and again i second guess myself i cant ever ever ever ever just have one single concise thought and be okay with it. its because im constantly in flux maybe because of my personality and mood disorders but if it is who cares knowing whats causing this shit doesnt help me at all. fuck everything death is easier than life somebody grant me my wish fuck you. i only want one abstract thing and thats not something you can work towards so unless i have it or have someone to try working towards it with im not recieving any kind of drive to stay alive. its only worse because i thought i had that but the other person didnt feel the same. its like thaiboy said “every time i get my hopes up always end up get my hopes crushed” but in every case except for that one im the one crushing my hopes for no reason at all. finish me and give me my dream of life give me my 6th strike because i cant bring myself to take it on my own. im starting to get that feeling again. it never went away and ive had it for years actually but its moving into the right spot. just a little bit more and i might actually be okay with giving myself my 6th strike. i dont have anything to constrict my neck with properly now that my mom threw away the fila band thing but i live in alabama dude theres nothing stopiing me from going to a store and buying a gun tomorrow morning i dont see myself getting that far anytime soon maybe ill just try to order some nembutal..... thats like the same amount of planning as it takes to get a gun though if not more actually so its not like thats anymore likely. the korean method was the easiest one that is painless enough for me to be willing to do it and now i dont know what the hell i can use to accomplish that. maybe just a noose made from a sheet or something would work if i could get it tight enough to hold the pressure but thats also too much work and planning and ill fucking second guess myself again and end up not doing it and just giving myself more trouble for having tried.

[chatnoirishott]

In your Dreams

"Pound it!" Ladybug and chatnoir said in unison after defeating yet another akuma.

Lady bug was looking, from the rooftop they were standing on, in awe at the beautiful city of lights, she sat down, dangling her feet off the edge of the roof, chatnoir sat beside her, their legs just barely touching.

Ladybug was about to get up to go, but chatnoir said " happy anniversary bugaboo"

"W-what??" She sputtered back in surprise, "anniversary??" She questioned aloud.

"Yea, it's been a whole year since we first got the miraculouses, it feels like just yesterday I first met you an-" he stopped himself from finishing that sentence, not wanting to ruin the moment by saying: it feels like yesterday I just met you, and fell in love with you, and her saying they have to be strictly business. "And what?" She asked. "Oh nothing to worry about bugaboo" he replied smugly. "Oh come on tell me!" She asked playfully. Chat didnt reply, he just looked at the stars, ladybug however, was looking into his eyes, the reflection of the stars bounced beautifully. Than chat looked at her, and to his surprise he saw her staring at him, but when he looked she quickly turned away, and turned red.

He was about to say some pun about stars, when he felt something on his shoulder, he turned and saw Ladybug, lieing her head upon his shoulder, drifting off to sleep, he laid his head on hers, and softly began to purr, and slowly, himself, beginning to drift off to sleep also. Soon they were delightfully dreaming.

Ladybug saw herself in a black situation, everything around her was black, she was thinking about how she would rather be at the park, when all the sudden, the blackness turned into the park. "Oh good, I'm dreaming" she said happily. " wait, I was on the rooftop with chat, so I fell asleep next to him!" This is horrible!" She exclaimed right before she heard a thud, it came from behind the bench, she started swinging her yo-yo in a protective way, walking eerily twords the bench, when chat popped out from the bench. "Hello m'lady" and what are you doing in my dreams tonight?" He asked. "How did you know I was real, and not a figment in your imagination?" She asked. "Oh well if I was dreaming about you, I dont think it would be where you try to beat me up with your yo-yo" he said as he wiggled his eyebrows. She just rolled her eyes. "Chat be serious, we have to wake up!"

"Okay okay" he exclaimed. "Let's just create something scary, and that would wake at least one of us up, but hey, remember last week when I tried to kiss you? And you said " in your dreams"? Well technically we are in my dreams now" he said as he put himself a centimeters from her face. " oh his soft pink lips looked so delectable" she thought, as she strated blushing.she than pushed him aside. "We need to focus and get back to work" she said as she turned away as to not let him see her blushing face.

All the sudden she was back into reality, not dreaming, her head laying on chats shoulder, and his head laying on her head.

The sun had risen, and she knee she should get going to school soon, but them just sitting there, and his purring, was so cute, she couldn't help but blush and want to stay there forever.

"Hello bugaboo, I see you stayed instead of leaving" he said as he waggled his eyebrows. She hated it when he did that becuase it was so cute. She had to go before he did somthing else cute that would make her blush even more.

"Oh whatever kitty, it's time to go anyway, I'll see you later. Bug out" and within a blink she was gone.

Marinette was walking to school talking into her bag, and was learning some wierd information.

Marinette: why was chat acctually in my dream?

Tikki: well..the ladybug and cat miraculouses are part of a whole, and they always had a bond, but since it's been a year, the miraculouses have a stronger bond, so now you and chat will end up in eachothers dream...in or out of costume..anytime you both are asleep.

Marinette: IN OR OUT OF COSTUME. BUT THAN OUR IDENITYS-

She had to stop mid sentence as to not draw attention to herself, their was a huge crowd around Alya and Marinette was curious as to why. She squeezed through the crowd and asked her bestie what was with the whole crowd of people. " well guess who got an awsome picture of Paris's newest love birds?" Alya excitedly exclaimed as she held up her phone to show a picture on the ladyblog. The picture was of her and chatnoir cuddling in their sleep. " I had to climb a fire escape to get up to the roof to snag this awsome picture, and the second I got it I just had to post it, it already has 1 million views!" Alya excitedly exclaimed. Marinette than saw Adrein happily looking at the picture, he looked so happy. She felt so embarrassed that her crush was looking at her snuggling with another guy. She turned so red, and finally the bell rang and everybody rushed into class, everybody was still talking about Ladybug and Chatnoir, as she was sitting in her seat she heard everybodys conversations, people coming up with ship names, and theories. She felt so embarrassed.

Throughout the rest of the day, she kept hearing all the talk about the ladybug and chatnoir cuddle pic.

In science she finally got some quiet and no talking about the picture, becuase there was a test when she finished the test she turned it in on the teachers desk, and sat back down, she checked the clock and saw she still had about a half hour of class left, she dicided to take advantage of the quiet and just lay her head down. "I'm just gonna lay my head down...rest my eyes....not fall aslee-" before she could finish the thought. She wound up in the same black dreamland as last night...only instead of at the park, she was below a bridge, and above it she heard a familiar voice saying " she loves me, she loves me not. She loves me" and she saw little red rose petals falling into the water, she thought it was chat but she knew he wasnt in costume..she could see a hand throwing the petals, not a black glove like she was used to. She hesitated before saying " chat?" . "M'lady?" He replied questioningly. "Well yes, and no" she replied. "It is me, but I'm not transformed". "Yea, my kwami told me that might happen" she sat down on the ground below the bridge." Well since I ended up here after you, that means it's your dream, so what are you doing? " "well right now I'm supposed to be in class but I fell asleep" he chuckled. Avoiding the unspoken question of what was with the Rose petals. " hey I know what would make you more comfortable" he said as he dropped a red and black spotted mask to her. "I have mine on so no worries" he said as all the sudden instead of a bridge they were on the same rooftop as before." Sorry" he said, his face turning red " It just does whatever my mind is thinking about."

Ladybug sat down next to where chat was sitting." Did you see the picture ? She asked. " how could I not? It was all over the ladyblog. But i gotta give Alya some credit, she climbed all the way up there shes really dedicated" "yep, that's Alya for ya" she laughed.

After a bit of silence " hey uh, I know your probobly really embarrassed about that photo and stuff but..I just wanted you to know I dont regret it..and I...i-

Before chat could finish his sentence Marinette was awakened by Alya, nino however was to late and the teacher saw him sleeping, she tapped him and shes jolted up saying " I LOVE YOU" before he noticed he wasnt in a dream anymore. The whole class, exsept adriens 3 friends, started laughing, even chloe. Adrien was so embarrassed he just ran out of the class room and into the Locker room. Plagg came outa his pocket "well kid, that was a distaster" plagg said. "Tell me about it" Adrien exclaimed. "I can never show my face around here ever again!"

"I-would miss your face if you didnt come here anymore" squeaked a little voice. "I mean uh I would miss ur hot face! I mean I uh. UGH." Now she was so embarrassed that she just ran out of the locker room before Adrien could turn around.

Now he was embarrassed and confused, he didnt really know what to do, so he ran. Not as Adrien. But as Chat Noir. He hopped onto the rooftops, he didnt know where he was going, he just was going with his gut. Than he was right on the rooftop where Alya took the photo, and to his surprise he wasnt the only one there,

"Hello bugaboo, why are you here? Dont u have school or somthing? "

"Yes, but no. I dont wanna go back right now, but don't you have school? "

"I'm to embarrassed to go back" he said as he rubbed his neck.

"Wanna talk about it?" She asked.

"Not really. its really embarrassing"

Well I had a pretty embarrassing day too kitty"

She sat down and patted for him to sit next to her. As he sat down he was breathing more sharply than usual. She got this feeling that she wanted to kiss him, but to keep that from happening, she started to talk and look into the sky, instead of at his lips.

"I think I did terrible on my test today," she said.

"Test?"

"Yea. I had a science test today, right after I turned it in I fell asleep. She laughed.

That got chatnoir thinking...he had a science test today..could it be...no..it cant possibly be...could it?

While chat aas lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed ladybug staring at him, she remembered when they first met, how she didnt have feelings for him, and how the feelings she had for him grew and grew. She always tried to keep it professional, but it gets harder and harder.

Chat looked at her, and saw her staring at him..he got a strong desire to kiss her..but he knew they shouldn't..but he wanted to.

It seemed like forever that they were staring at each other, until they heard a school bell ring, and children coming out of the school.

"I guess we should go now, dont want people getting anymore pictures" she said.

They both got up and lept into diffrent directions, unknowingly they both went into the same alley, hid on opiset sides of the dumpsters and de-transformed,than Adrien and Marinette suprisingly bumped into each other, and they noth turned red, like a tomato.

Than out of no where Alya and Nino came, carrying marinette and adriens school bags,

"So this is where you guys went off to" alya sumggly said.

Marinette turned another shade of red, after herbestfriends words.

Alya and Marinette walked one way, nino and Adrien walked the other way, heading home.

That night , marinette was excited and scared to go to bed. She didnt want to go to sleep before chat and be having a weird dream about Adrien, that would be weird. But than again she didmt want to impose on one of chats dreams again. She didnt know what to do, so she laid in bed and drifted off to sleep.

She was in the black surrounding again, she saw a blonde. Facing opiset to her, she didnt know if he knew she was there. She than went up behind him and gave him a backwards hug. She surprisedr him becuase he gave a little "ah" as she wrapped her arms around him. He than turned around and hugged her properly. They just held onto each other. Not talking.

Than chat asked "may i?"

She knew what he was talking about...she wanted to, too. So she replied " in your dreams" as he lifted her chin, with their eyes closed, they kissed, after all the desired times they wanted to, they were finally doing it, than Marinette said "I'm ready"

"Ready?" He asked

She looked upward, at his emerald green eyes, peering down at her baby bell blue eyes.

"Marinette" "adrien" they both gasps

They started to giggle.

"I cant believe how stupid we are"

"How blind are we?"

They went into another tight hug

Than Marinette awoke, hearing her alarm. She was sad. But than she rememberd that she would see Adrien at school. Than she quickly got ready and was already out the door.

"Wow. Look who actually showed up on time to school" teased alya.

"Well there's a good reason I came early today" marinette said as she locked eyes with Adrien

"Oh I dont like that look in her eyes" alya suspiciously said to Nino

Than adrein came up to marinette with one of chats stupid smiles and wrapped his arms around her and they embraced in a kiss.

"WHAT EVEN HAPPEND IN THE LAST 24 HOURS? MARI EXPLAIN NOW!" Screamed alya.

[tumblunni]

Okay seriously but dr maddiman's story is SO SAD

His wife literally left him on april fools day!!! And he sat there waiting at the door and crying until midnight just in case it was a joke and she came back

AND THEN HE DIED

And we dont even know WHEN he died! His journals just slowly peter off into nothing after the depressing divorce day. Just "i need to work i need to work" and talking about how he doesnt take care of himself now he has nobody to live for and how he doesnt even remember why he's working anynore but he's scared if he stops working he'll remember that his family left him. And he doesnt know how to cook and he just makes shitty gruel out of whatever was left in the fridge after his wife left and he doesnt ever buy any more groceries and uhh.. Well.. At some point he died. He basically committed suicide by sheer denial. The goddamn diary about being unable to cook trails off into just repeating "tasty gruel" over and over in increasingly gnarled handwriting. And in japanese the word for gruel was a pun on another rather infamous depressing scienceman's last journal in resident evil. So while the dub wrote it out in full sentences instead the original was kinda like... Incoherant rambling of a guy who died mid sentence. Thats what the reference would immediately communicate to anyobe who'd played RE...

And man its just SO SAD cos even before he basically killed himself with unhealthy coping mechanisms, he ruined his own life with the same problem. He became distant from his wife and child because he loved them so much but he didnt know how to communicate it and he just ran away from all of his problems. He buried himself in his work to avoid facing the fact he was having relationship issues with his wife, which obviously just made it worse. And his whole work in the first place was from a stupid idea that he could "keep everyone i love safe if i take over the world". Like the idea of actually telling them he loved them and talking about his worries was SO IMPOSSIBLE that he jumped to an even more impossible solution as something easier! And then its so depressing cos oh man these diaries are like a constant stream of jokes about how this man is destroying himself from overwork and like seriously it was so bad that they had to censor a few of them in the dub. For example one about how he hadnt changed out of his lab coat in over two weeks so his wife mistook his laundry for nuclear waste and tried to friggin dispose of his boxers with a long stick and a flamethrower! Which the dub somehow thought was too gross even tho half of all yokai are just gross jokes lol. BUT SERIOUSLY They try and write it all comical at first but all this comical stuff causes realistic consequences of a rift between him and his family AND ALSO his health failing with every damn page you turn like holy fuckin shit. You cant blame his wife for leaving him, she didnt know he really did love her and was just running away from talking about his problems. God she must have suffered so much trying to raise the kid alone and not knowing WHY he seemed to leave her entirely and hate her more and more each day. And its implied that maddiman's research started getting all fanatical and supernatural even before he became a monster, and he wasnt even seeing regular patients at the hospital and like.. Doing his job... Receiving money of any sort. So man at some point yeah the poor lady would have to make the right choice to leave for the sake of their kid. It sounds like she tried so damn hard to get him to open up and just goddamn come home!!!

AND THE WORST PART IS THAT IT WORKED

Yknow not just in the literal sense where his shambling undead self is STILL SICK FROM HOW HE DIED and LITERALLY WEARS HIS HEART ON HIS SLEEVE NOW

Oh god i just realized that maybe his inspiriting power is "heart swap" not because literally he's an evil scientist who wants to cut you up, but because HE WISHES HE COULD HAVE SHOWN HIS HEART TO HIS FAMILY WHEN HE HAD THE CHANCE!!!!!#!!!

and okay seriously THAT PART, THAT WORST OF WORST PARTS

Is that he did!!! He did try!! He did make the right choice!! He just kept running away for so long that when he decided to step up and be a good husband and father it was already too late. :(

He did decide to abandon his fanatical nonsense and just go home and show them he loves them. He closed up work early and bought a bunch of gifts for his family and came home hoping to surprise them and... Was surprised. At an empty house. And a note saying she'd already gone. On fuckin APRIL FOOLS DAY OF ALL DAMN DAYS so he SAT THERE SURROUNDED BY THE PRESENTS CRYING FOR HOURS HOPING IT WAS JUST A JOKE

And he just fell back even harder into his self harming conflict avoidance behaviours. He didnt try and call her and apologise, he didnt even go home ever again. He probably left the same bag of presents there on the table gathering dust even when he was dead. He just went back to work and kept working so hard that he didnt notice when he fell asleep and never woke up.

And thats why in the first game he seemed so much more evil but he was confirmed redeemable in future games and got all this heart destroying heartwarming bullshit beautiful goddamn writing AND ALSO THREE BABY TURTLES TO HUG. He just fuckin ran away from his problems so hard that he forgot he was ever human!! And he was stuck so much in this 'i must complete my ultimate science at any cost' mindset that he forgot why it was even important. And he was willing to make any damn sacrifices for something he didnt know was already useless cos HIS WIFE AND KID ARE PROBABLY DEAD NOW ANYWAY *sob*

Oh and then yokai watch 3 confirmed that yes at least his kid is indeed dead anyway. You can catch his yokai form too and HE BECAME A DOCTOR JUST LIKE HIS GODDAMN DAD!!!! They made up fpr not ever letting us have a playable maddiman by giving us a new yokai scienceman and HEY WHY NOT HAVE THE SADDEST POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR THAT!!!! And in the quest that finaly confirms their connection HA HA WHAT WOULD BE THE WORST POSSIBLE TEASE WE COULD GIVE THE PLAYERS? Hey looks like Cliff inherited his dad's neuroses so instead of going to meet him he runs away from his problems. And thats just the end. The closest they get to reuniting is dr son guy leaving his dad a can of his favourite soda before he runs away. This was in the last set of dlc for the game and will probably never get a better conclusion unless the two of them return in a future game but the original anime series has ended now and the next game looks like its gonna be this alternate universe thing instead. Sigh!

FUCKIN HELL LEVEL-5 WHY DO YOU TORMENT ME WITH THIS GREAT PLOTLINE OF UTMOST SADS

Why is "sad science dad" always my fave character in everything ever and why is dr maddiman such the best

Im cry my heart out. Quite literally. LIKE POOR GODDAMN DR MADDIMANNNNNN

[bunchamunchafaunus]

The Rise of a Ventian Queen [2]: The Next Step

“So, Peri.”

Hearing her name got the worried woman’s attention drawn from her bedridden friend to the man behind her. A raised brow curious what he wanted, such only getting stronger seeing him pat at the floor beside him.

“Come tell me some stories of Team Empress while we wait for her to recover.”

Such a simple request actually got the Komodo laughing. She wasn’t sure why she had expected anything else, but for some reason it caught her off guard. It only took another glance back to the slumbering Qilin to realize they were going to have to wait for a fair while before she’d wake. They definitely had time to relax, especially given she was sure the NeverCondor would take to the skies to get away from the canyon once it could.

So she did just that. Stepping back till she felt her back eased to the wall by her tail keeping her from just outright falling against it, she found herself on the metal ground beside her friend’s father figure. Taking in a breath to relax herself as she let her shoulders drop at last. Tail curling round to fit it’s thinner end under her legs.

“Well to start, I think I gotta mention she was the most awkward person out of everyone in the room the night before our entrance exam. No lie, she just kept looking over everyone in some awestruck state for about an hour at least while people came in and out of the room.”

The two laughed some, Peri recalling the silly look that had been on Emma’s face back then, Umbir imagining it.

Knowing they were in for some fun chatter, they made themselves comfortable and began. Not too long after would they feel the engines of the NeverCondor roaring to life and the large metal vessel leaving the ground and beginning to soar.

                                                   - One Day Later -

P - P a p a...

S h i t! E m m a!

Ringing.

L a y  h e r  h e r e!

Silence.

Darkness.

Was she?

No, no, she was still hearing noises here and there. So very faint and muffled, but they were there. Familiar voices, laughter, beeping... snoring? She was still so warm too. She had to be alive, right? Yeah, yeah, she had to be. From everything she knew, she’d be cold if she wasn’t.

For some time it was just this empty void. The odd sound so faint and muffled here and there, but nothing all too loud or obvious. Just the constant wonder of what might have happened to her and what would come to pass. It got to the point she was actually starting to worry, trying her best to have something, anything change. Yet nothing did, no matter what she tried.

Though something eventually changed, a small, tiny little dark orange light breaking the darkness. One that would change to fit a form, a humanoid figure. Instantly she knew what it was, and felt herself calm with it’s presence quickly. But that calm would suddenly be shaken up, hearing a voice. One that was clear, one she never heard before. A woman’s voice, low, echoing, comforting. One single sentence being spoken by it.

“I am proud of you”

The source of this voice disappearing soon after, leaving her alone in the quiet darkness once more. But this would not last long before the Qilin felt herself falling. Such a sudden sensation causing fear and panic to fill her, making her body jerk and flail for a single second as she sat up and found herself awake, staring at a wall judging by what she could now see her aura flowing up. Her breathing being long, deep breaths as she took in the situation.

Aching and sluggish body, left leg felt better but right knee still stings, a slight pinch in left arm, the sudden moving form of a person with a blue aura running past her view. The left side of which showed nothing defined when they saw the other living being, just a messy uncontrolled pattern of blue spread across a whole half her vision. Blinking a few times, she could tell her aura was switching from it’s default navigational assistance to the protective layer and back each time. Eventually stopping, closing her eyes, and focusing it to it’s defensive capabilities before letting it ease back to it’s usual sight-providing action. Finally staying as such whenever she blinked afterward.

“Emma!”

The Princess’ head turned immediately upon having the ever so familiar voice register to her, seeing the umber form of her father figure standing in what seemed to be a doorway. Plus some slight peek of a friendly red aura just around the door-frame beside him though it would duck back to be hidden as she saw the man draw closer. Soon after feeling his arms wrap ‘round her upper body and his cheek against the top of her head.

She wanted to return the embrace, but her body felt slow, heavy even, much more than she was used to. It even hurt some to try and move anything beyond how her body was now after having awoken so suddenly. Though she was sure she could manage speaking at the very least, so she cleared her throat before attempting to.

“Papa?” Her voice a little rough, but she still spoke. Not getting an answer right away, she could feel his arms move and saw his form begin lowering some. Soon seeing the shape of the man’s head as he had dropped to one knee in front of her so she wouldn’t have to turn her own head up so high.

“Yes, Lil’ Filly?”

That nickname again, she wasn’t sure whether to feel comfort hearing it again or to be annoyed by it and say she wished she hadn’t woken up as a joke. Quickly deciding against the later.

“What-... What happened? After what I did?”

“Well, assuming you remember up to the point I signaled the NeverCondor to fire, they got the two shots off. The destroyed rocks and trees from the blast on the cliff and the mountain began falling down into the canyon, but I’m pretty sure you somehow managed to stretch out your Semblance’s range because it all stopped mid-air and began spreading out across the width of the canyon itself. Once the Goliaths were getting right under the debris, it began dropping. Some hit the first two, the rest began falling on the next two, but all the stuff that you had circling the three of us quickly sped up and began being loosed in the direction of the front two Goliaths. The barrage forced them to start moving backward, thus suffering the rest of the falling debris like the two behind them. Four Goliaths were pinned beneath all sorts of rocks and trees, likely dead, and the Grimm on the far side were blocked off.”

Hearing it back from Umbir, Emma was sure she had been awake for the events he recalled. Her own mind replaying the sounds she had heard at the time. The thunderous gunfire from the Airship, the trumpeting sounds of the Goliaths, stone hitting stone, she was sure of it. “What about after that?”

“After the wall of debris settled, you collapsed. You had exhausted the vast majority of your aura to the point that you couldn’t stay awake. The Dust crystal you had used fell from your hands, depleted, and the winds around us started to die down. With the remains of the Grimm horde that were on our side starting to move again, I had Peri take you and get you into the NeverCondor.  I ran back on my own, the turrets were manned, cannons recharged or reloaded, and the majority of what we still had to worry about of the horde was destroyed. Once enough was gone, we took to the skies. We’re settled above the ocean right now.

“How long was I out, Papa?”

“I wasn’t exactly paying attention to the time, but judging by the position of the sun compared to how it was when you lost consciousness, it’s almost been a full twenty-four hours.”

Twenty-four hours, it felt like she had been in that dark space for so much longer than a single day. One shaky inhale later, the name he had mentioned snapped back to her mind, making Emma move in sudden worry, despite the pain she felt by doing so and the wince it earned from her. A noise which got her father figure immediately rising to stop her from moving too much and carefully lay her back down.

“What about Peri, where is she?”

“She’s fine, Emma. Your teammate’s a wonderful young woman who cares a lot about her friends. Peri was actually by your side for the first few hours, it took telling her about how strong you were during your recovery after Samuel grabbed your neck that one time to get her to calm down, eat, and get some rest. She’s still asleep since she used up quite a bit of her own aura against that horde as well.”

To hear the Komodo was safe and resting eased the Qilin’s worry for the other. Sighing with relief as she let her head press back against the pillow.

“I’m gonna have to face them now that I’m here aren’t I? Make sure all those people aren’t scared about him finding them and ruling them like Manus did so they don’t attract Grimm like that again.”

Umbir chuckled a little. “It’s actually kind of funny that you mention it. There’s some soldiers who were loyal to Cres, now loyal to me, out side this room right now. They insisted on standing guard outside the Medical bay to make sure you’d be safe while you were out.”

This revelation was... odd... to say the least. Emma was so sure she would never be able to successfully fill any Royal role for so long in her life. Then she announced herself to dozens of Nobles as the Princess she was by blood, making word spread of her living state after having been thought dead for a good while. Now, she had people looking to her to be their Queen. People from her own place of birth. Ventian civilians and soldiers both. She didn’t feel ready to accept the role they needed her to play, but if she didn’t, she knew the events of the previous day would eventually happen again.

Maybe even to a much, much worse degree.

“Either way we look at it, I can’t really move right now can I?” She remarked with a little chuckle behind her words. A sound which Umbir repeated on his end at the inquiry.

“No, not really. Not without it hurting a lot since you’re body’s still recovering from such a heavy dip in aura. Maybe tomorrow you’ll be able to move around better again. Plus your legs could use just a bit more rest. The cut on your left was shallow, but it was long, and the scrape to your knee was a lot worse, so even with another day of your Qilin genetics healing that up it’s going to be sore when you try to walk on it again.”

“Okay ‘DAD’. I’ll stay in bed...!” A joke reply, but one that both parties laughed at.

“It’s nice to know you’ve still got that childish side to you after all this time and all the hardships you’ve faced, Emma. I’ll go get you some water.”

The Qilin simply nodded in thanks for the man’s concern and care, letting herself relax and her eyes close for a moment while she listened to his footsteps leaving the room. A shuffle of a couple other metal clad feet outside the room moving to clang together before stepping to what she assumed was a basic defensive stance for the Soldiers she had been informed of.

Over the next few hours, Umbir would come and go from the room. The two speaking over various different topics and points of her experiences ever since she had left Ventus so long ago. At one point even getting Peri up and visiting Emma to see how everything was going. The three of them conversing and interacting for a fair while longer before one-by-one people left the Medical bay for the night leaving Emma to rest on her own.

It was about noon the next day when the Qilin’s friend and teammate would enter the Medical bay with a set of new, clean clothes in a bag for her.

“Big day today for ya, Em’.” The woman remarked making her way toward the Qilin’s bedside. As she did, she watched the young woman atop the bed adjusting to an up-right seated position with a smile across her face. “Roy and I made sure to get something that looks real fancy.”

“Roy’s with you?”

“Well not right now, no, he went to talk with Umbir about something, but I did drag him along for the clothes.”

“You didn’t get something that’s all show without any comfort did you...?”

“Oh hell no, I know well enough that we tailed Faunus need clothes that are comfortable over everything else. Stuff’s real soft on the skin and still looks nice. I’m not gonna say you’re going to be comfortable mentally or emotionally while you’re up in front of your people, but at the very least you will be physically.”

Lifting the bag in her hand, Peri placed it down into Emma’s lap. “A nice white button-up top with a black knee-length skirt that has purple floral patterns, some white thigh-high socks, and a purple ribbon that can be tied into a bow under your collar or you can tie back your hair with it. I’ve got you~ Now go ahead and get dressed, I’ll be waiting outside.”

“Thank you, Peri.” Emma spoke with a soft thankful tone  while the Komodo was close enough to still hear. Watching on afterward while the woman’s red form would leave the room, leaving her alone in it again. Taking a second, she made sure to pull the curtain by the foot of her bed ‘round to hide her from view of the door to the room.Once with more privacy provided, she shifted to get off the bed on the far side to begin changing her clothes. Taking a second of pause noticing her necklace was absent from around her neck.

About five minutes would come to pass before Peri and the four soldiers standing ‘round the door as protective guard for the Royal within the Medical Bay would hear the door open. A second later seeing the Qilin step out from the room within the newly provided clothing. The bag in hand containing the clothes she had changed out of, and the purple ribbon in her hand. Tail behind her finding itself dropping low and pressing against her leg with uncertain worry about the situation.

The four Soldiers, upon seeing her come to a stop, would turn to face her directly. A single stomp being done as they would, unknown to Emma, salute to her. Peri on the other hand could see that the three men and one woman had their right hands raised and placed diagonally across their chest while their left was tucked behind the small of their backs.

Taking a second, the Royal looked around to the four unfamiliar aura forms that surrounded her. A rather nervous smile present upon her face that all present could see clearly. After a couple seconds of silence, one of them would clear their throat before speaking. The sound drawing Emma’s foggy eyes to the unknown person immediately to her left before their pale yellow form in her eyes would lower to a knee.

“Your Highness, Melo Grove, I used to serve the late Queen Cres rather closely.” A soft woman’s voice quickly introduced herself. “I’m unsure of whether Sir Dew has mentioned it directly to you yet, but Cres truly did regret forcing you out of Ventus. For the past few years especially she searched for any sort of sign that you were alive in hopes of eventually meeting you in person and apologizing for her actions. When word spread among nobles across Remnant that you were present at the Duke of Coste’s charity event, she was ecstatic to know you were alive and well.”

What the Soldier said, while not entirely new to the Qilin as she had, indeed, heard some of it from Umbir, was appreciated. If not for the fact it contained some new information, then because it came from a voice which sounded so genuine and confirmed what her father figure had told her. Still, even with how she felt, there was the whole fact that being treated the way she was by these four was entirely new territory. A short glance to Peri for some sort of assistance just earning a shrug to the red shoulders of her friend’s figure.

“I-...” Focusing her attention back to Melo, she swallowed a nervous lump that had formed in her throat. Stepping closer to the kneeling woman, she shifted the lone ribbon to the same hand holding the bag as to clear one up for freedom of use. Then bringing that same hand up to gently rest on the woman’s shoulder, which caused their head to rise and she could feel their eyes on her once more. She noticed now a soft vibration of anxiety in the pale yellow form. One she attempted to ease by giving a soft, more confident smile.

“Th-Thank you, Melo. It-uh... it comforts me knowing Queen Cres wished no ill will towards me during the last years of her life. I-... I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to fill her shoes since I honestly never really expected to be doing... well.. any of this honestly, but I hope that we may work together as well.”

It was obvious to the four that the Royal they were currently looking to wasn’t exactly used to any of this. That despite how unsure of herself she sounded, the Qilin was trying her best. They could all respect that, immediately feeling much more comfortable with her as the one they would soon follow. Melo herself now giving a wide smile as she looked up at Emma.

“I would be honored to work alongside you, Your Highne-”

“Emma, please...”

“Emma... I look forward to serving you.”

Seeing the woman’s head bow again, the Royal watched her soon rise to her feet again.

“Is there anything we may do for you... Emma...?” The tone of Melo’s voice made it obvious she was going to have to get used to using a proper name instead of a title while addressing her superior.

For a short bit, things were quiet on the Qilin’s end, looking between the four soldiers again, this time in thought. “C-Could I maybe get some more privacy with Peri? We’re in a safe place, I really don’t think I need four guards here...”

She didn’t see it, having been looking away from the one Guard who’s name she knew so far at the time. Melo’s attention moved between the other three, the group coming to an unspoken agreement before the trio of still unknown Soldiers would take their leave. Relaxing their forms and beginning down the hall of the Airship they were currently in.

Sighing once there was less attention on herself, Emma turned to the woman once more. This time bowing her own head as she voiced her appreciation. She received a bow in return. After which her attention moved to Peri as she fetched the ribbon from the hand the bag was in.

“Could you tie my hair back? Just want it all to be nice and neat behind me for when I do this.”

The Komodo, befitting her personality, chuckled  some at the request, but nodded none the less. Stepping to her friend, she took the ribbon in hand before physically encouraging a turn with a gentle push to the shoulder. Once such movement finished, she brought the ribbon between her lips to hold it while working on collecting the mass of near white hair that belonged to Emma. Every now and then working a hand down the length of it to try and funnel it all together better the farther down it went.

“Peri?”

“Yeah?”

“You possibly know where my necklace went?”

“Yeah, Umbir has it. Said he’d be giving it back later while you’re addressing everyone.”

Her answer made some sense to the Qilin, nodding a little in understanding as she fell silent for her friend to finish her work.

Once she felt she had a good enough control of her friend’s hair, Peri shifted hold to one hand as the other retrieved the purple fabric and worked it around the hair to replace her other hand. Finally being able to begin working on tying the ribbon tight to give a clean and proper finish to Emma’s appearance with a small bow holding her knee-length hair together at the bottom of the back of her neck. Looking to Melo, she earned an approving nod from the woman before looking back to it herself and nodding her own head.

“There ya go, ‘Your Highness’.”

The joking use of the title earned an elbow moving to impact with her arm. Laughter following from both the Faunus as Emma turned to face her teammate again. All this right before the shorter of the two would move to hug the taller, which was quickly reciprocated.

“Thank you, Peri, for everything you’ve done the past few days.”

“You’re welcome, Emma.”

The two letting their embrace last a couple seconds longer. Breathing in the comfort they shared knowing they were both alive and well after what they had gone through the other day. Once comfortable, both let go, Peri patting at Emma’s shoulder as one last gesture of fondness before she’d speak again.

“Now, you’ve got a crowd to address.”

A deep breath in and a sigh out would be taken by the Qilin. “That I do...” She glanced the two ways down the hall available to the three of them, brow furrowing some. “Um... Melo?”

“Yes?”

“D-Do you know what way we need to go?”

“That I do, just follow me.” Without missing a beat, the pale yellow figure Emma had turned her eyes to stepped side-ways. An outstretched hand gesturing the opposite direction than the other three had gone earlier. Quickly following up the gesture by turning herself in full and beginning down the hall.

The two Huntresses followed behind the woman for a minute or so, passing through the hallways and by some crew members here and there. Multiple different rooms they may have been able to turn into as well, yet Melo kept going. Eventually turning into a much wider hallway than the ones that they had walked through so far. One with a multitude of people seated along the walls, some standing, others walking between each other. The moment they did, Emma froze.

Looking down the hallway, the Qilin’s sight was filled with such a vast array of colors filling it. The initial viewing of so many people was too much for her with half being as messy as it was. It hurt her head to see all of them. She turned her head to clear her view and hopefully ease the strain it put on her. Peri’s red soon stepping into view as she felt her hand at her shoulder.

“Your eye bugging you?” Her question only received a nod from the shorter woman as her left eye closed and a hand rose over it.

“Her eye?” Melo stepping around to the Royal’s side with her question. “What happened?”

“A while ago Emma had an incident where she saw some odd aura that she said looked like a person. She called out to them, they didn’t respond, she tried to get closer but it just kept moving at the same distance away from her. She said it seemed to just slide around, never taking a step or turning or anything. Eventually it stopped, she got right next to it, then the next thing she knew she woke up back in her room at the Inn our team owns. Umbir said that he had been watching over her for a while, and when he saw what was happening he followed her, but when he caught up an Ursa had hit Emma into a tree, and she was unconscious on the ground. He killed the Ursa, brought her back and ever since she woke up, her left eye hasn’t been working the way it should.”

While Peri retold the events to Melo, Emma found herself shivering some remembering it all. Her mind calling back to the months where she felt unlike herself afterwards. It got her right eye closing as well as the discomfort of the memories from that time began setting in.

“Wh-What do you mean it’s not working the way it should? Can she not see with it?”

“She was born blind, Melo. Sometime during her childhood her aura adapted to allow her eyes to register visual sources of aura and give some semblance of sight. She sees everyone as generic humanoid forms of solid color based on what their aura’s color is, which ever since the old Great War tends to match with their name. Mine’s Peri, my aura is a dark red, I’m a red figure to her. You’re Melo, I’m assuming mellow yellow, so she sees you as a pale yellow form. Ever since what happened, she’s explained sight in her left eye as a repeating pattern mess of color whenever looking at someone. After being told what a Kaleidoscope is, she said that’s pretty much what it’s like.”

Hearing this, the somewhat absent gaze she had seen the young white haired woman had given to her and the other Guards earlier began to make more sense. “Ah...” This was new information that she knew she’d need at a later point. It was going to be a bit of a learning curve for how to handle things with Emma. “Maybe it’d be a good idea to get her some type of cover for her left eye then. Eye patch or something...”

Turning to look over the people filling the hallway, she could see some of them looking to the trio with curious eyes. A few even worried, one or two doubtful gazes from some older individuals. Gently grabbing onto Emma’s shoulders, she guided her back around the corner, gesturing for Peri to follow. “Just keep her here, I’ll be right back.”

The Komodo nodded before watching as Melo went into a light jog down the hallway to return where they had just come from. Carefully she helped Emma to lean against the wall after the form of the Guard disappeared ‘round the corner down the thinner hall. Afterward stepping close to the corner again and peeking around it to look over the civilians filling the area.

“E-Excuse me, miss?”

A young voice would register in the Komodo’s ears, guiding her attention down to see a boy standing next to her. A pair of small antlers growing atop his upturned head among dark brown hair and his bright blue eyes looking up at her. His arms were tucked ‘round behind his back. She stepped from the wall before lowering herself to her knees to be at a more equal level to him.

“Hey little man, what’s up?”

He seemed to be a little nervous with how he lowered his head a tad further than it already had to simply keep looking at her.

“Is that... Is she our new Queen?”

His question got Peri’s head turning to look to Emma. She could see the her gaze turned to focus to the boy beyond Peri’s form, hand now away from her left eye but the eye itself still closed. She turned her red eyes forward to the child again just after.

“Well. technically she’s not just yet, but she’s going to be soon. She’s just feeling a little under the weather right now, bit of a headache. You know what that’s like, right?” A soft smile came to her face seeing the boy nod in understanding.

“I- uh... M-My mommy helped me make a necklace... I wanted to make it for our new Queen after she told me about how she was ex-exhi-”

“Exiled?”

“Yeah, that word!” His hands finally came out from behind his back. In the one was a collection of a dozen small, smooth black stones that had been drilled through to fit them onto a braided silver and gold cord. None were exactly the same size as another, nor shape, but it seemed they were all sanded down to be smooth and rounded. Smaller stones being farther out and larger being closer to the center. “I collected these, whenever I found a black rock I picked it up. There isn’t a lot of them, but they always look so nice...”

Peri felt a familiar hand at her shoulder, looking up and back it was Emma. Shifting aside atop her knees, she gave enough space for her friend to get down beside her. Even offering a hand to support her as she took to her knees, a slight wince escaping putting as much weight as she did on her right. Still a little sore she guessed.

Now at eye level with the bright blue form of the boy, Emma could see an ever so subtle vibration to his form. She put on a gentle smile in hopes of calming his nerves

“What’s your name?”

“C-Cele.”

“Cele, very nice name. I would love to wear the necklace you’ve made for me, is there a clasp on it or is it a full loop?”

“My mommy tied the ends of the cords we used when we were done braiding it.”

“A loop, then, would you mind putting it on for me?” As she asked this of the young boy, she shifted closer to him and bowed her head forward. Closing her eyes she simply waited. It took a few seconds, but she soon felt his little hands brush against her hair some. A second more passing before the weight of the stones on the cord was fully present on the back of her neck. After a second more, she lifted her head, a hand moving to pull her tied hair out from beneath the braided cord then to fix it beneath her collar. With it fit proper into her outfit, she turned her attention to Cele again. The anxious vibrations from earlier now gone.

“Thank you, Cele. I’m glad to know there are such kind children like yourself from Ventus even after everything it’s people have been through.”

He was quiet a moment after before she could feel his arms suddenly around her neck. It was unexpected, but Emma returned the hug with a hand gently pressing to his upper back. The hug ending almost as quickly as it started, the boy ran back down the hallway to return to his mother who stood a ways down the hall. Taking her hand, he looked up to her and they began talking about something. Peri noticing a smile across the woman’s face as she crouched down to her son.

“Damn you handled that nicely.” Peri spoke up as she rose to her feet again.

“You did most of that though being the one to talk to him first.”

“The kid probably thought I was a body guard or something, so it was actually a pretty smart idea for him to come to me first. Gotta give the lil’ dude props for that.”

“Plus for working on this with his mother.” Em’s hand moving to let her fingers move over the stones now settled across her chest.

“So? How’re you feeling after doing your first Queenly act?”

“Queenly act?”

“Yeah! You just interacted with one of your Kingdom’s next generation, accepted a gift from them, praised them, and helped them feel better before sending them back to their guardian! You can’t see it, but that kid’s really happy and he’s even bouncing a little while telling his mother all about you and how it was to meet you.”

What her friend was saying... actually made a lot of sense to her. No matter what way she thought about it, what she just did was something a leader or hero would tend to do in stories. Stories both fake and very real. The fact she actually did something like that without realizing it, there was some confidence that filled her.

“I’m feeling like I can actually do this...”

“Hell yeah you can!”

Another pat of Peri’s hand to her arm like before occurred and the two of them laughed a little.

“Emma!”

The oh so familiar voice got the Qilin turning her head to look down the hallway behind her. Both the earthy aura of her father figure, the source of the call to her, and that of the pale yellow belonging to Melo were making their way to her and Peri. Poking at the Komodo’s leg got her attention, a hand lowering to help Emma return to her feet with her uncomfortable knee. Managing to get back up just as the two reached them.

“Hey, Umbir, where’d Roy go off to?” Peri called out to the man as he kept drawing closer to the two of them.

“Your brother’s talking with Captain Maho. I told him to show Roy where to go once they’re done so he can be present for whatever Emma’s got in mind.” He took a moment of pause to his speaking as he glanced over Emma’s new clothing. “Speaking of, It’s nice to see you on your feet again, Em’.” Her father figure spoke up, a gentle smile across his features.

“It’s nice to be on my feet.”

“Sir Dew bumped into me while I was on my way out of the Medical Bay.” Melo spoke up explaining his added presence. “I grabbed a cotton pad and some medical tape that we can use to cover your eye, Emma.”

“Emma?” Umbir’s tone a little confused turning to look to his underling. Such earning a shrug from the woman.

“She requested that I call her by her name and not using a title.”

Em’ could feel the man’s eyes fix on her, clearly looking for some confirmation. Nodding her head, the man did the same understanding the situation.

“Okay” Melo spoke up getting the Royal’s attention as she extended a hand with a small square between her fingers “hold this over your eye.”

The process took about a half minute. Emma taking the cotton pad and carefully holding it over her left eye, Melo unwrapped strips from the tape, tore them off, and secured it in place. One down the side of the square on the outer side of the Qilin’s face, one smaller piece across the corner by the top of her nose, and one last strip along the bottom above her cheek.

“There we go.” The woman turned her attention to Umbir again. “Could you return this to the Med-bay? I’ve been around the civilians more often than you have, I think it’ll be good for me to be with Emma while she’s around them.” Her hand holding the medical tape aside for him.

“Sure. If you three get to the catwalk before I catch up, I’ll meet you there.” Taking the roll from his underling, he turned and began back to the medical room of the Airship.

“What’s he talking about with a catwalk?” A confused Emma speaking up in question.

“There’s a catwalk in the room we’re heading to. High up, gets people in a noticeable spot, can let a voice carry through the room well. Best place to speak to your people and say whatever you need to.”

Emma nodded in understanding after it was explained to her what was meant.

Just before the Knight went to begin guiding the two again, she noticed something that got her to step closer and gently lift the necklace with a finger. “Did a little boy with antlers and blue eyes give this to you?”

Her question got a nodding confirmation from Emma.

“That’s actually really nice, Cele did good.”

“I know, right? Lil’ guy’s got a good eye and creative mind!”

“That he does. Gotta give him a high five while we pass by.” A smooth transition from the trained woman as she gestured for the two to follow her again. Stepping ‘round both to round the corner once more and begin down the crowded hallway. Looking ahead she could see little Cele being picked from the floor by his mother. Their eyes meeting and the trio sharing a smile as the distance between them was beginning to close.

Emma on the other hand, as she followed behind Melo, kept her had turning to look over the people around them. Seeing so many people, thankfully now only through her right eye, she was able to look over them more properly. Seeing so many whom appeared to be adults, others small and childish, a couple clearly elderly. So many auras of varying colors, but so many of them in different moods.

Some dimmed, others shivering, a few vibrating, a couple having shrunk even. Sadness, despair, anxiety, fear, so much negative emotions. Even if some of them seemed to be easing as they saw her. But a few brightened and glowing aura’s stood out to Emma’s sight. Most which she didn’t know, a lot being children whom she heard quietly asking various things about her to their guardians. Though one was a bright blue that she had met just a minute earlier.

As the three came up to Cele and his mother, Melo stretched out a hand and the boy quickly reacted. Reaching his own hand out, the two connected for a ‘high’ five. Afterward his attention quickly shifted to Emma, the Qilin could feel his gaze on her, and even if she couldn’t see it they shared a smile. Once it came Peri’s turn to pass by, he gave the kid a thumbs up and a wink. Waving with her tail as they passed and continued on.

It only took another minute of walking, passing by multiple more groups of people till they would fine themselves stepping into a much, much larger room. Within was the bulk of the Ventian civilians, dozens of them if not a hundred or so at bare minimum filling this room alone. There was still some space to move around and for some breathing room, but so many more people than what was within the halls leading here.

“Up this way.” Melo spoke up, stepping off to the side where, after a second, Emma’s aura would reveal a stair case as it began flowing through the room.

Turning her attention up the stairs, she quickly noticed a familiar aura, ever changing between seven colors and never staying as one of them for more than a few seconds at a time. Roy. His form bent forward, she supposed he was resting against the railing of what she guessed was the catwalk. Off to his side, however, stood two auras more. One she remembered from when she and Peri arrived in the canyon the other day, and one of a beige color. The red aura of the man from the canyon with his arm ‘round the smaller beige being.

“Hey there, Princess.” Roy spoke up as the trio got up onto the catwalk proper.

“Roy.” Emma greeted in return, making her way to hug him, feeling his arms return the embrace quickly.

“Hey, leave some room for me!” The sister of the Gaia duo stepping over to the two opening a space to welcome her into their hugging. As the three shared this moment, a breath of relaxation was taken by each. After which they broke apart, though Peri kept her arm round Roy’s shoulders as they set into a comfortable stance together.

The Qilin, however, would feel a tap at her shoulder. Looking to the source, it was Melo gesturing to step past her friends. Following her, the two stepped over closer to the two auras whom were unknown to the younger of the two. Seeing both of them move to turn to face her. Only now noticing that the beige shorter being had a pair of animalistic ears atop their head. Really, really tall ears.

“Emma, these are the NeverCondor’s Captains. Captain Maho Agna and his wife Captain Begi Vix.” The Guard introduced the two to the people to Emma. Gesturing first to the taller red form, then the shorter beige.

Before she could do much, she would see the man’s hand reach forward urging for a handshake, one which she took with a bow to her head. After which she saw that of the shorter of the pair bow her own head before hearing her speak up.

“It’s a pleasure to meat you, your Highness. Umbir’s been working pretty closely with us and he’s told us a lot about you. Actually kind of been looking forward to meeting the ‘Aura-Sighted Huntress’ for a bit now.”

“Please, just call me Emma. No need for titles between us. I’ve never really felt like I’d be able to fulfill the role, so this is all going to be new for me.”

“Well, if it’s going to be any bit similar to being a Captain, you can come to us if you need some advice at any time.” A masculine voice, she assumed Maho’s as she turned her attention to his aura form.

“Thank you, Captain. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”

“Here.” Maho again, his arm moving, seemingly to retrieve something. “Whenever you’re ready, there’s a switch on the side of this headset that you can use to turn it on. Once you do, a microphone will fold out and you can speak into that. It will broadcast your voice through the entirety of the ship. Since the Ventian refugees we have on board are spread about the central area of the ship, this will let all of them hear you from where they are.”

The object held out to her, according to what Emma would see with her aura flowing over it, appeared to be a wireless thin headset. One side ending with a thinner stop she assumed would fit over or behind her left ear. The other with a wider and thicker section with a somewhat similar shaping as the other, just with an extra bit that she assumed would go inside her ear. Reaching to take it, she brought it to hold in both her hands across her front.

“Thank you, again Captain. For taking care of... my people... in their time of need. For bringing them to a safer place. I’m not absolutely sure about it, but I think I have an idea of a location where they can be housed for some time until we’re able to get some more proper housing set up. Just might take some time to get it ready for them.” A fairly obvious bit of nerves present as she said that second sentence.

“If you need any help with that, just let us know, alright? We’ve got some people who’re great with repairs and building, and there are actually quite a few of your people who’ve offered to help us with keeping the NeverCondor in good shape while they’ve been on board.”

“I’m glad they’ve been able to help with your travels since you’ve taken them in.

“Y’know” Begi again “for someone who’s unsure how well they’re going to do as a Queen, you’re already handling yourself pretty well just talking with us.”

“R-Really?” A somewhat disbelieving tone to Emma’s voice.

“Hey, that’s the kind of talk I’ve used to make some deals as Captain while Maho’s not been available before. There’s definitely going to be some hardships and some things to get used to, sure, but I think you’re going to do fine in the long run, Emma.”

A gentle smile came present to the Royal’s face hearing Begi’s words. “Thank you, Begi. It helps knowing so many people have been showing faith in me.”

Feeling a hand come to clasp onto her shoulder, Emma’s head turned to look for the source behind her. Seeing Umbir’s aura, she moved her own hand to hold over his. Now with her smile even brighter.

“We’ll have your back, Emma. You’re not going to be alone at any point in this stage of your life, I can promise you that.”

His words were a huge source of comfort to her in this moment on top of just him being present overall.  Though after hearing him, her head turned and she looked down over the crowd beneath them. Slowly feeling her smile weaken some, her nerves getting to her as she saw many of them moving closer, to look up at them.

“Despite all the support, I don’t even know what to say to them. I’ve not been in Ventus for years, some of these people are children who were born after my exile so they don’t even know who I am beyond a false Princess. They’ve lost who was likely their best leader since Manus, and now they either turn to Samuel and hope for mercy, or they look to an uncertain young girl who was raised to be a maid for her own half-brother. The only other time I’ve spoken to even a fraction of this amount of people was at the Duke’s charity event when I announced I was still alive, but I had Octavius Tyrian with me at that time. My closest supporter and friend on the Noble front, and he’s not here right now...”

“Hey” her father figure called to her to earn her attention “you’re going to do wonderfully. Breathe in,” he himself inhaling, Emma mimicking him “breathe out,” both of them exhaling “You’ve got this.”

The short moment the two shared was something they tended to do when they were younger. Any time young little Emma had been panicking or upset for reasons related to her disabilities, Umbir would come to her aid. Getting to his knees in front of her, a gentle hand cupping her cheek, another holding her arm or hand. Speaking to her, calling out the nickname she had given her, and getting her attention before working through the process with her.

Both remembered this in the moment, taking one more to hug each other with a single arm.

“Thank you, Papa.”

“You’re welcome, Lil’ Filly. Take some time to think over your words, and when you’re ready, you’ve got the microphone.” His hand patted at her shoulder, leaving it a second after to step over by the Captains to chat with them a bit.

Now on her own among the group, Emma stepped over to the railing of the walkway. Both hands coming to rest atop it, headset in hand. She could feel so many people looking up to her in the moment. It actually surprised her a fair bit just how many people filled the lower section of the room. Combining the number she could guess was present to those in the one hallway she had her eye act up in, she was sure it was a minimum hundred people. The fact there was even more though, that actually got her nerves acting up some.

Still, even with the nerves present within her, she set her mind to attempt to piece together some collection of words. Something she thought would be fitting for a new leader to say to those she’d watch other. She couldn’t really come up with anything all that fast, it was definitely going to take a minute or so at least. Stepping back from the railing, she backed herself to the wall behind her to rest against that instead. Hoping that clearing her sight of the multitude of people below would help her think.

The Gaia siblings glanced over to the thinking Qilin for a second after seeing her form move as it did to the wall behind. Peri, out of the corner of her eye, noticing Melo looking to the Royal as well with some worry present in her gaze. A flick of her tail off to the side getting her attention, after which the Komodo mouthed “Just give her some time”, receiving a nod in understanding. Watching the Guard then turn to join Umbir and the two Captains for the time being. The two of them, however, moved to the corner at the top of the staircase that lead up to the catwalk which they stood on. Further from the rest of the group and a tad more private for them to talk without interrupting their friend.

Remembering back to her time at the Duke’s charity event and the speech she gave there, some ideas did come to mind. Though really thinking them over, the ideas she had back then were meant for high-society people that could’ve provided support for her. This time it was a bunch of people who were scared and unsure of what their future held for them. People who looked to her for some sense of comfort or safety. Two very different things, very different wordings needed.

Working her mind to think of some sort of answer, her eyes lowered to look to the headset her aura covered with each pulse of it. Taking in a lip to nibble at it as she thought, and her tail beginning to swat gently against the wall behind her.

A few minutes actually ended up passing as Emma had her mind hard at work. Not noticing the people having moved around her, her mind having tuned out their voices to focus her own inner vocals. Having switched which side of her lip was being nibbled on every couple seconds, at one point bringing both in and just pressing them together. By now, she felt like she had a couple points she wanted to get across, but there was a lack of proper wording to use to get them out. It was actually a little stressful being unable to piece together words like she was needing to.

Suddenly feeling a hand to her shoulder, the Qilin nearly jumped as her attention was forced back to the world beyond her mind. Blinking a couple times over, uncovered eye glanced about. Noting Roy absent from Peri’s side to her left, Melo standing in front of her and just a little toward the right, then Umbir leaning against the wall beside her with the aura forms of the two Captains and the Gaia Brother standing some distance away.

“Emma?” The woman before her calling her name, getting her eyes turning to her pale yellow aura again. “You alright?”

“Yeah... Yeah, I’m fine, I just... I know what I want to tell them, but I’ve not been able to think of words I should use to get those messages across...”

“Why not wing it then?” The extremely familiar of Umbir’s voice spoke up, earning her attention immediately. “Some of the better speeches that Manus or Cres ever gave were mostly just them going out and talking.”

“I don’t know if I should be inspired hearing that my biological father, who was apparently a Tyrant most of his reign, had good speeches because he just ‘winged them’...” A doubtful response from Emma’s end at his idea.

“I’m not saying you should be, Emma. I’m never going to tell you to be inspired by anything Manus ever did with how horrible a man he was. What I am saying is that you don’t necessarily need to plan out every last word that you say. Just take what you’ve got, figure out how to word it all as you do.” His shoulders rising a little during the end of his sentence. Relaxing just a second later.

Emma had her head nodding for a short bit as she thought over the idea. It would work, she had the somewhat vague idea of what she wanted to say in mind and she knew what exact points she wanted to make known. Winging it would likely be her best option over all wouldn’t it?

Some bit of her was feeling a little more sure of herself when thinking of taking the plunge that would begin her role as Queen. Of making her voice present for the Ventian people to hear. 

She was still a little nervous, yes, but that was her worry that she’d be treated the way she was while leaving Ventus all those years ago. Plenty of the refugees were undoubtedly old enough to remember that day, some possibly having even been among the people whom had spit disgust her direction. as well.

Yet. really taking a second to think of it, there wasn’t exactly a reason for her to think of that... To think such a thing would be unavoidable. Especially not with how everything had been just days ago. At least she hoped that after what had happened it wouldn’t be that way...

“Y-Yeah... I think I can do this. Just give me another minute.” She could see the pale yellow head nodding in understanding. The woman then stepping away to lean over the railing of the catwalk and look to the people below. Something becoming clear to the Royal in this moment, Melo had a tail. A long tail with a rounded end that unfurled from ‘round the Guard’s waist to curl beside her leg.

Emma was a little surprised she hadn’t been able to notice the extra appendage on Melo before, but thinking over it for a second, she figured that she had kept it wrapped ‘round her waist till now. She’d have to ask what sub-species of Faunus the Knight is later. Too many things were much more important right now.

Thankfully it didn’t take much longer till she felt she was more ready to be able to do what she needed. Taking a deep breath, she moved herself away from the wall and stepped closer to the railing. Once more, she could feel the eyes of the people below fixing to her. Swallowing down the nerves that rose from the sense that most all of them were turning their eyes to her, she lifted the headset in her hands, fixing it atop her head and fitting the two sides so they felt right on her. One more breath, and with her hand rising to feel for the switch, she pushed it across it’s spot, and with a gentle click beside her ear, the microphone was now available.

A chime suddenly rang out in the room, three notes in a rising tone. The echo from beyond the room making it clear to her that this was, in fact, going across the ship. Bringing her hands to hold at the railing, she took one more breath.

“P-People of Ventus.” She could hear her own voice repeating, a somewhat electrical tone to it. “I am Emma Smoke Khromatos, Daughter of Manus Aescae Khromatos and Aligar Kaj. Due to my birth mother, Aligar, dying shortly after I was born, I was raised as a maid to the royal family under the name Smoke Kaj by the maid named Harley Nara. A woman who I assume a good sum of you know as she was a kind, wonderful woman that would frequently venture to the market along the main road for supplies. I would often be present with her, a young, scared little girl who rarely spoke when around people I didn’t know.”

She had to pause a second to breathe and calm herself, recalling her past having brought up various emotions which she hadn’t exactly expected. The breath she took to calm herself being just barely heard across the speaker system of the ship.

“Eventually... as I grew older, my Faunus trait began showing more and more. Thankfully with the maid outfit being as long as it was, it hid my tail for a long while. Though after a particular fall that I took, Queen Cress saw it. This ended up giving away my true identity. That I was a child of her King born out of wedlock. Angered by this, she ordered that I be exiled. That night I stole a weapon that was to be given to my half-brother Samuel the next week. Having been his training partner for a while under the watchful eye of Sir Umbir Dew, I had experience with the kind of weapon it was. I disguised it as a walking stick, and the next day I had it with me when I was escorted out of the Kingdom to the Solitas mainland to wander on my own.

One thing lead to another, I found myself on a boat to Sanus, and I traveled to Vale. Meeting with a teacher from the Hunter Academy of Vale, I expressed a wish I had developed during my travels to be able to keep other people safe during their own travels, as I had been helped by Hunters and Huntreses myself at various points on my own journey. Thankfully after displaying my capabilities with the Scythe and what little I could control of my Semblance, he was able to help me enroll in Beacon. I had to tell the headmaster my true name and my story, but he felt I had potential, so he let me in.

By the time I was one of the students and placed into a team fittingly called Team Empress, word had spread that a Princess had been exiled, and eventually killed by a Grimm. With the assistance of the son of a Noble family that supported me even back when word first got out of my situation, I was able to get in touch with some other members of Noble blood, eventually even being invited to a charity event held by the Duke of Coste. At this event, I spoke to settle the rumors of my death, and set word to be spread around that I still lived.

As Lady Melo Grove has revealed to me, Queen Cress had been trying to discover if I was still alive for a while before the Charity event. Wanting to contact me and try to welcome me back to Ventus with open arms to try and repair our relationship. I’m unsure, but she may have even been wanting to accept me as a proper member of the Royal family and an heir to the throne should Samuel have not been fit for it. 

However, at it was soon after I attended the Charity event that the attack on Vale happened. Beacon Academy was swarmed by Grimm, some of Atlas’ technology went haywire and starting attacking students and civilians, and the Cross Continental Transmit System tower of Vale was destroyed. Communications were hindered across all Remnant because of this, and Cres was unable to contact me in any easy way like she might have been with the CCT system up. Instead, she decided to get in touch with some of the Noble families based in Sanus who supported me. One such pair of Noble families was the Baron and Baroness of Montai, and the Duke of Coste.

A couple months back, after you arrived in Sanus aboard the NeverCondor, Umbir dew came to find me, and alongside a close friend of mine, Octavius of the Tyrian family, he showed us video footage of the meeting that Cress had with the three Nobles. I could only hear it, but what I heard made it clear that the Queen wanted the best for me. Asking the Montais and the Duke to take care of and support me in her place should she die before she’s able to meet with me and fix things between us....

Sadly... neither her request or her wishes could possibly be fulfilled... Just as their meeting was ending, a cloaked woman was let into the Quartz Stage by guards loyal to Samuel. This woman rendered the fully armored Umbir Dew incapacitated, killed the Duke of Coste and the Montais, and after my Half Brother took the crown and left the building, she killed Queen Cres as well. 

The sounds of gunfire and screams could be heard as background noise as Umbir began to recover control of his suit, and his body in turn. After retrieving the Necklace from around Cres’ neck and pocketing it, Umbir rushed outside, and the sound of raging flames and explosions became clear... The rest of this story you all know already.” 

Once more she’d pause, feeling a lump in her throat remembering how she handled everything when it was revealed to her that such tragedy had happened to her home.

“Now... when he came to me, Umbir left the Queen’s necklace with me and for some time I avoided wearing it. He told me that I needed to come talk to all of you... To give you some sort of hope by becoming the next Queen and leading you through this difficult time.... But I was unable to bring myself to do so, I was scared, doubtful, and felt I couldn’t possibly fill in the space left by the late Queen Cres... So I never came.

I left all of you scared, unsure of what the future held for you, and those emotions grew more and more each day. Growing to the point it drew the attention of Grimm. Too much Grimm for the NeverCondor to have been able to handle without help. At the time, Umbir called for me, for my team and any others I could get to help.

Initially, me and my teammate and friend Peri Gaia intended to call more people to help us confront the Grimm Horde which was assaulting the Airship. But something happened. 

I’m unsure how many of you know, but I was born blind. I am blind. Though at a point in my life, my aura began changing and adapting, interacting with my eyes in a way that removed it’s protective nature as a sort of default, and instead let me perceive auras. Right now, as I look at everyone in this room, I see you as a vast array of wonderful colors. Reds, blues, greens, yellows, even a couple more uncommon ones like grays and metallic shades. 

Back when I arrived, what happened to me was something that happened once before, but I saw what I can only explain to be a ghost. An aura figure that didn’t belong to any living physical body. One of a ghastly white color. Last time I had encountered it, I entered into it’s embrace and I felt at peace. Like everything was right in the world. Though it also distracted me enough for an Ursa to find me, which proceeded to hit me into a tree, injuring my head and damaging my left eye further than it already was.

Seeing the ghostly aura again, I knew something would happen if I went to it. I was unsure whether it would be something good or if it would be bad, but I had to know. , With some help from a crew member that I’m told goes by the name of Sprig, I was able to get to the figure and once again feel it’s touch. The odd aura was calming, pleasant, and for a short time it felt there wasn’t any horde surrounding me. Yet in it’s embrace, something happened this time that didn’t before. 

The being spoke to me. It’s words... I couldn’t understand them at all. Yet even still, there was some sense of understanding that came as I listened to it. I came to know what I had to do to help with the Horde, to have some confidence that I could lead you, and to know it’s identity. As crazy as it sounds... I’m not entirely sure of it myself, but I’m sure the name that it put into my mind was that of our first Queen. Of Giulia Khromatos. I’m unsure why Giulia came to me or how it’s even possible, but she was there, and even though she’s absent right now, I know she’s here watching over us.

Using the knowledge Giulia gave me, what seemed to be based on an experience she herself had with the Ventian People of her time, I was able to come up with an idea that would hopefully work to fend off enough of the horde. With a Dust Crystal in hand and Giulia’s help, I was able to use the Dust to stagger the Grimm horde, and my Semblance at a much stronger state than I have ever been able to in my time as a Huntress. The combination allowed me to successfully fend off what Grimm were more of a threat, block a large sum of the horde from being able to get to the NeverCondor should those closer to the ship be destroyed. 

Though I do have to give thanks for my friend and teammate Peri Gaia and the man who’s been my Father Figure for my entire life, Umbir Dew. Without the two of them, there were multiple points during the encounter where I very well could’ve died. A couple where they almost did themselves”

Turning to look back to the Komodo and the Armored man one after the other, the two both shrugged after glancing to one another and stepping forward to her sides. Emma herself looking between the two before focusing to the crowd again. A smile now present.

“Without Peri and Umbir, my effort in settling the rumors of my death would’ve turned out to be for nothing.” She could hear Peri chuckling, thus making her laugh a little alongside her. Not really even caring it would be broadcast through the entire ship. Though she did calm herself a couple seconds later.

“After what happened two days ago, I ended up losing consciousness due to severe lack of aura. According to Umbir, I was out for a full twenty-four hours. Over this time, the NeverCondor’s crew was able to clear out as much Grimm as they needed to have the time necessary for them to launch and take to the skies safely. To get all of you to safety. But this is only temporary... 

If I were to have left the instant I could instead of coming here to talk to all of you, it would’ve set the cycle in motion all over again. You would feel that same fear, despair, anxiety, and uncertainty still, possibly even worse, and eventually Grimm would’ve come again. The next time would’ve likely been worse, so much so than what this time was. 

But it’s because I know that and because of the faith that I’ve received from the people beside me right now, and because of the kindness of a little boy among you who welcomed the idea of me as your Queen so easily that I stayed. That I am right here, right now, speaking as I am, and addressing every single refugee. What I am about to say, I may sound unsure of myself, but that’s not because of how I’m feeling right now or because of you. It’s because of doubts I had harbored all my life and the fact that, just like all of you, I am scared to step into this unknown territory.”

Pausing, Emma took a deep, audible breath to ready herself physically, mentally and emotionally for what she was about to say. A part of her unable to believe she was taking this step, that with all the negativity that had filled her whenever she thought of herself as a ruler, she was about to set herself to such a role. There was actually a want to hesitate, to stop right now and just run, but she knew she couldn’t. She had to do this.

“I, Emma Smoke Khromatos, twelfth generation of the Khromatos lineage, will not hide any longer. Starting today, I will take upon myself the role of Queen of Ventus. As shaky as the road ahead may be with having to learn and adapt, to the best of my ability I will lead you all to a future where we can return to Ventus and free it of the legacy of tyranny which Samuel continues in his fathers stead. It may take some time to get there, but I promise you, I will get us there. I just need your faith and your trust.”

The intercom system would fall silent for a short bit. Emma quieting herself hoping for some kind of reaction from the crowd. She could feel eyes leaving  her and hear voices down below. For a few seconds she was feeling unsure of whether or not what she said was right. If the words she used didn’t work and the Ventian people wouldn’t support her. She could feel her tail curling ‘round her leg as worry began to settle in.

But then she heard something, cheering and clapping, all so faint from the hallway she and the others entered the room from. The quiet applaud soon growing louder while still muffled. Louder again, the opposite side now, just another second passing before the very room she was currently in began cheering up to her. Some merely clapping, others shouting words of support and positivity.

It actually took Emma by surprise a little bit to know they were accepting her. That after all of her self-doubting, people were able to believe the would be able to lead them. Finding herself choking up some just from the realization that so many people believed she could do what she was so sure she couldn’t for so long. The impact of the moment hitting her hard enough she could’ve sworn she couldn’t breathe.

Before she was able to say or do any more, she could feel a pressure against the side of the headset. Soon discovering it was Umbir shutting the headset off. Turning her head to him, she could see his hands raising with the aura-filled pendant necklace hanging between them. Moving it closer to her to set it ‘round her neck as his aura glowed bright with happiness. 

Moving to hug him, Emma felt his arms quickly return the embrace and his voice speaking one simple line that sent tears rolling down her cheeks..

“I’m proud of you.”