#what I do is just click “clip” whenever I find a funny moment then go back later and actually sort them into clips lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dreamerstreamer · 4 years ago

Text

Slip Up

Pairing: Dream / Clay x f!reader

Summary: One literal slip up leads to another and, well—it isn’t pretty.

Warning: includes depictions of anxiety as a result of exposure

Word Count: 5.0k

A/N: requested by an anon who wanted something about a secret relationship! i hope you enjoy! on a more serious note though, don’t harass your creators and the people they care about. seriously, don’t.

With one last click, Clay let out a sigh, grabbing his headphones and setting them down on his desk. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the still clip on his monitor with a hint of a frown tugging at his lips.

After two long hours, he was officially tired of listening to George’s screams ringing through his ears. Sure, they were funny in the heat of the moment when he was recording, but having to listen to the same screams on loop while editing?

He shivered.

No thanks. He needed a break.

Grabbing his phone, he pushed open the door to his studio and headed for the stairs. I wonder where [Y/N] is, he thought to himself as he climbed the basement stairs two at a time. It’s been a while since I last caught a glimpse of her.

Surfacing on the first floor, he stuck his head into the living room, glancing around for a brief moment only to deduce that you weren’t there. With a huff, he spun on his heel. If she’s not there, he thought, his strides confident and full of purpose, then she’s definitely in—

He stepped into the kitchen, his gaze landing on your figure half-tucked behind the open fridge door almost instantaneously. He smiled. Bingo.

Slowly, he crept forward, slipping around the kitchen island to silently walk up to you. Before you even noticed he was there, he leaned down next to your ear and whispered.

“Boo.”

Letting out a sharp yell, you whirled, your wide eyes practically drowning in the amusement filling Clay’s emerald gaze as he let out a long wheezing laugh. “Clay!” you gasped, holding a hand over your heart. “You scared me, oh my god.”

His wheezing only grew louder in volume as he slapped his knee, still cackling at your distraught expression. Puffing your cheeks in a pout, you turned your back to him, staring back into the fridge. “Meanie.”

Struggling to regain his breath, Clay leaned in to wrap his arms around your waist in a hug from behind. You could feel his chest shaking against your back with laughter, beginning to slowly die down with each passing second. A moment later, he dipped his head down to press a kiss to your cheek. “Sorry,” he hummed. “I just thought it’d be funny to make you jump.” His eyes glinted with mischief. “I was right. It was.”

“Not for me,” you grumbled, and he let out the tiniest of wheezes next to your ear.

“Alright, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said, kissing your neck. “How are you doing? I haven’t seen you all morning.”

You relaxed into his warm touch, melting into the feeling of his soft lips on your skin. Sending him a tired smile, you closed the fridge door and focused your attention onto him. “I’m alright, but I’m feeling kind of tired,” you admitted. “You get kind of sick of working on an assignment after the third, you know?”

He snuggled closer to you, smiling into your neck. “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t know, but I understand your point.”

You rolled your eyes at him, leaning back into his figure. “Right, I forgot that you didn’t go to college, Mr. Streamer.”

Clay laughed at your words. “You’re just that much smarter than me, then.” He poked at your cheek affectionately. as he cooed, “Look at you, my super smart college student girlfriend.”

You turned in his arms to face him, frowning at him. “Clay, you say that like you aren’t considered to be one of the best, if not the best Minecraft player in the world. Give yourself some more credit.”

He brushed a stray hair away from your face, his gaze fond as he held you a little closer. “Okay, but only because you told me to.”

You snorted, sinking deeper into his arms. “If your followers could see you now, I’m sure they’d be spamming ‘simp’ in chat.”

He chuckled. “They already do that whenever I hang out with George—I can’t even imagine to what extent it would increase if they knew about you.”

You offered him a smile, but it felt forced. The question had been swirling in the back of your mind for a little while now, and it was just sitting on the tip of your tongue, now. You had to ask now, or it would devour you alive.

“Hey, um, Clay,” you said, your tone shifting as you fidgeted slightly in his embrace. “Do you—do you think we’ll ever tell people and your fans about, well—” You gestured to the space between the two of you. “—about us?”

He paused for a moment, then let out a soft breath. “I want to,” he said. “Oh man, you don’t know just how badly I want to share you with the whole world and show them you’re mine.” You felt your cheeks grow warm, your lips instinctively curling up at his words.

“But I don’t think they’re ready for that just yet,” he added in a wistful tone. He pulled back, sending you a crooked smile. “How about we cross that bridge when we get there? I know that when we do get around to it, they’re gonna love you as much as I do, I promise.”

You bobbed your head, feeling the anxiety in your gut disintegrate. “Okay. Thanks, Clay.”

He reached up to ruffle your hair, cooing at the small whine you let out. “Anything for you.”

Knocking his hand off your head, you grinned at him. “On another note, what have you been up to? Instead of sleeping in late, of course, you lucky butt.”

He swayed back and forth, bringing you along with him. “I spent a lot of time editing some videos that are still in the works. I’m gonna be streaming for a few hours in a bit, though. If you need anything, you know where you can find me.” He grabbed your hand in his, fiddling with your fingers with a slight squeeze. “Are you still gonna be working on your assignment later, or will I be allowed to bother you?”

Your mouth twitched at his pouty tone, and you squeezed his hand back. “I actually might go out to the grocery store. Patches’s cat food is on sale, so I might stock up on that, and I kind of wanted some snacks for studying. Was there anything you wanted while I was gone?”

He hummed, thinking for a moment. “Not really, to be honest.” Slipping his hand into yours, he began leading you to the front of the house. “Here, let me see you off.”

You felt your heart swell with love as he handed you your bag from where it hung on the coat rack while you laced up your shoes. Clay was always so attentive to you and your needs, never failing to make sure you had everything you needed at the drop of a hat. You were really too lucky to have him.

“Do you have your mask?” he asked when you stood up.

With a nod, you fished it out from your pocket, waving it in your hands. “Mhm.”

He smiled. “Awesome.” Opening his arms, he pulled you in for one last hug, inhaling the scent of your flowery shampoo before swinging the door open and watching you step outside, car keys in hand.

“I’ll be back soon!” you cried, waving to him from the driveway.

He waved back, leaning against the doorframe. “See you!” he called back. “Take care out there.”

“I will!”

His viridian gaze trailed after you and your car as you sped off down the road, knowing all too well exactly which radio station you had inevitably turned on. Well, no matter. He supposed it was time to stream, now. Locking the door behind him, Clay strode down to the basement, sliding into his desk chair with his hand on his mouse. Slipping his headphones over his head, he rolled his shoulders and opened up Twitch.

Taking one last deep breath, he grinned and pressed the ‘start streaming’ button.

“Hey, guys!”

You grunted as you pushed the front door open, sliding your shoes off as you heaved the last sack of cat food onto the ground with a loud thud.

And that’s all three. Finally.

Pushing the door closed using your foot, you placed your hands on your hood in determination.

Now, to get them downstairs.

You grimaced, glaring down at the offending bags. This was going to sooo much fun.

Some things never ceased to amaze you. Like how smart Clay was, even as dorky as he could be. Like how fast he blown up. Like how much you loved him.

And like how much cat food Patches managed to eat without getting fat.

Seriously, you thought to yourself with a grumble, how does she still look the same even though she goes through a whole bag of cat food in like... two weeks? It’s just not fair.

“I wish I had your metabolism,” you muttered, shooting a glare at the feline in question. “You suck.”

Patches was perched on the stair railings a few feet away from you, grooming her paws. The moment you spoke her name, she lifted her head to look at you, her ears flicking. You stared at each other for a few seconds before she let out a soft meow, jumping down to rub against your leg.

“Oh, who am I kidding?” you murmured to yourself, your heart swelling in your chest at the feeling of her nuzzling her small head against your calf. “I could never hate you. You’re too cute.”

You turned your attention back to the three sacks of cat food you now had in your possession. Patches’s domain mostly consisted of the basement, where you kept her toys and costumes. Consequently, that’s where the cat food was also stored, albeit out of sight so that Patches wouldn’t get any ideas. Like her owner, she had a penchant for mischief, but you loved them both anyways.

The main problem here was getting the cat food down the stairs.

I’m a strong independent woman, you thought to yourself with a small smile. Also, Clay is streaming, so I can’t ask him for help even if I wanted to. Bending over, you hoisted the first sack into your arms. That’s okay, though. A few stairs can’t stop me.

Taking a deep breath, you trudged toward the basement, carefully taking the stairs one step at a time down. The last thing you wanted was to trip while carrying the cat food of all things.

Unfortunately, it seemed that you jinxed yourself.

Everything went fine for the first two bags, each sack having safely made their way onto their proper spot on their designated cabinet shelf. Each time you tread down the stairs, you would take a quick peek over at Clay’s recording studio, smiling to see him amicably chatting with his viewers while completing another speedrun. With a smile on your face, you climbed the stairs once more to come face to face with your final obstacle.

You grinned despite your arms aching from having done so much heavy lifting. Last bag. Let’s go.

Rolling up your sleeves, you began the same process you had been running with for the past two trips: pick up the bag and head down the stairs, making sure to step carefully.

What you hadn’t accounted for, though, was Patches’s presence.

You were just about halfway down the stairs when Patches darted in front of you. With a soft yelp, you stepped back to avoid her, letting her bounce down the stairs ahead of you. A brief breath of relief escaped your lips, but it was short lived.

Just then, your sock’s grip on the floor gave out, and you felt gravity wrap a hand around your ankle.

Oh, crap.

A shout tore its way out of your throat as as you tumbled forward, landing on the ground with a resounding crash. Beside you, the bag of cat food smacked into the wall and landed with a loud crunch.

That can’t be good, you vaguely thought, your mind fogged up by a cloud of pain.

Just a few rooms over, Clay froze mid-stream, his mouse coming to a halt as his entire body went stiff. Without even thinking to mute himself, he tore his headphones off his head, your name flying from his lips in a flurry of worry as he rushed out the room.

“[Y/N]! [Y/N], are you okay?”

On the ground, you winced, pain shooting up your side as you pulled yourself forward. In an instant, Clay was on the ground by your side—one hand on the small of your back helping you sit up, the other brushing your hair away from your face.

“[Y/N],” he breathed, panic seeping into his face as his eyes scanned every inch of your face for harm, “are you good?” You nodded, but it did nothing to ease the worry in his expression. “Tell—tell me.” He held three fingers in front of your face. “How many fi—”

“Three,” you replied immediately. You offered a pained smile, stifling another wince as you did so.

He leaned in closer to your face, brushing his thumb over your cheek. “How badly are you hurt?”

You shifted your spine, trying to gauge the pain. The ache was dull at most, minimal at best. “Only a little.”

He pressed his forehead to yours, his breathing ragged. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

You let out a small sigh, sending him a reassuring smile. You appreciated his protectiveness, you really did, but sometimes he really did go the extra mile. “Clay,” you said softly, “I’m okay, really. I promise I’m okay. I just tripped and fell.” Then you glanced behind him, letting out a deeper sigh. “The cat food, on the other hand? Not so much.”

The bag must have ripped open when it fell, its own weight having collapsed on itself and tearing a hole right through the bottom. The individual pellets of cat food where strewn all across the floor, littering the ground like pebbles. And of course, Patches was already starting to nibble away. Pesky girl.

Clay stood up, reaching a hand out toward you. “Here, I’ll help you clean up.”

You took his hand, shaking your head as he pulled you to your feet. “No, no. You should get back to your stream.” Your brows knit together. “I interrupted it, didn’t it? Your followers will be waiting for you. You should go back.”

He shook his head, his expression resolute. “Contrary to popular belief, [Y/N],” he said, “you’re more important to me than just one stream. I’ll probably just end it when I’m done here, anyway.” He squeezed your hand, his gaze kind. “Let me help you. Please.”

With your heart fluttering in your chest, you squeezed it back.

“Okay.”

Clay grabbed the two of you a dustpan as you began to clean up the mess of cat food you had made on the floor. You whined about how you just wasted a sale by tripping down the stairs while he poked fun at your frustration, passing you Patches with the request of keeping her away from the food as he swept. In practically no time, you had nearly forgotten what had transpired at all, just happy to spend some time with your wonderful boyfriend next to you.

If only you knew just how much your little fall was going to blow up in your face.

You ran your tongue over your chapped lips, your gaze focused on your laptop screen as your mouse finally hit the submit button. Letting out a sigh, you finally let the stress seep out of your body as a small smile overtook your features.

Finally handed it in. Now, you didn’t have to worry about it anymore.

With a groan, you stretched your arms out above you, cracking your back. You’d been working away for a couple of hours now, but at long last, you were free for the weekend. Humming to yourself, you picked up your phone. You had set it to ‘do not disturb’ a while back, since it hadn’t stopped vibrating at one point. You hadn’t bothered to check why at the time, but you supposed you could spare some time for yourself before dinner.

Swiping your phone open, your thumb instinctively tapped on Twitter, a blue glow enveloping your screen before fading to dark. You hummed as you opened up the trending page, curiosity pawing at your backside. You had your bets on some trend going viral, but knowing the internet, it was probably some weird, random crap.

There were a handful of political memes topping the charts, as well as a #TGIF. You stifled a laugh as you scrolled a bit lower. Twitter sure was a weird place.

That was when a tag caught your eye.

#DreamExplain

Your thumb stopped, hovering over the screen. What? Explain what, exactly?

Then there—just few lines below that.

#WhoIs[Y/N]?

Your heart came to a screeching halt in your chest.

That was your name.

Trending. On Twitter.

Panic shot through your veins.

What the actual hell happened?

With a heavy feeling of disbelief sinking its claws into you, you tapped on your name, watching as hundreds of tweets shot past your eyes.

Who’s [Y/N] and how can I be her

dream explain?! oh mygood what was that !!!!

is [Y/N] Dream’s girlfriend or something

um ??? dream said the name [Y/N] on stream today then went afk for like 20 mins ??? then the stream just ended ???wtf ???

what’s @georgenotfound gonna do omggg nooo!!! his boyfriend!!!!!!

You felt sick to your stomach.

Oh god.

They knew who you were.

You wanted to throw up.

Stumbling to your feet, you made your way toward the kitchen where you knew you would find Clay, your phone clutched in a death grip between your fingers.

“C-Clay?”

He turned from where he was leaning against the counter, a smile lighting up his face at the sound of your voice. “Hey!” The moment his eyes landed on your face, his smile vanished. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Have—” You swallowed, your palms beginning to sweat. “Have you checked Twitter recently?”

“Nope,” he hummed, pulling his phone out from his pocket. “What’s trending this time? Did some politician say something or—”

“I am,” you said ever so softly.

He froze, his phone going slack in his hand. “What?”

You glanced up from your feet. “I’m trending, Clay.”

A beat of silence. “What?!” he repeated, louder this time.

You felt an odd sense of weightlessness sinking onto your shoulders, and you felt yourself begin to ramble. “Crazy, right? Little old me, trending? Wild. Insane. Like, just wow.”

With each new phrase that leapt from your lips, Clay’s brows furrowed further. You could see the wheels in his head turning at full speed. Then, they stopped, and realization set in. Then came the horror.

Oh, dear god.

“[Y/N],” he whispered, taking a step toward you, “oh my god.”

“You’re also trending, by the way,” you continued, barreling ahead as your hands began wildly gesturing. You swallowed down the panic rising up your throat at full throttle. “It’s a shame that I’m not higher than you, but I guess we can’t win them all.”

“[Y/N],” he said again, “this is serious.”

You nodded, your expression still blank. “Oh, I know. I’m—”

Something in you snapped.

You sucked in a ragged breath. “Yeah, I’m—”

And out came the waterworks.

You collapsed to the ground, the sobs escaping your throat in uneven bursts. Clay’s arms were around you before you knew it, his hand cradling your head for the second time that day.

“Clay, Clay, Clay,” you choked out, your entire being dissolving into him. “Clay, they know who I am. They heard you.”

His grip tightened on you, murmuring sweet nothings in your ear. You sobbed harder, your tears soaking into his hoodie.

There was nowhere left to hide.

You hadn’t touched your phone in days. It hardly took more than a few minutes for your Twitter feed to have absolutely blown up with messages about you. Some positive, some negative, some neutral. While you appreciated the kind ones, you only had to read a handful of the not-so-kind ones for you to turn off your phone and hide it in a drawer. It wasn’t like you were going to even use it properly, what with its cracked screen.

The more time passed, the more acutely aware of the public’s knowledge of you became.

Your name was everywhere, supposed drawings of you were everywhere, you—you were everywhere.

You felt like you were suffocating in your own skin.

Clay knew that the slip up had been rough on you, and he didn’t blame you one bit. He had asked you what you needed, if you wanted him to take a few days off to spend more time with you. You had declined, sending him a tired smile.

“I... I think I just need some time to myself to think things over.”

He didn’t push you anymore than that, instead holding you close and pressing his lips to your cheek. For the next couple days, he vanished off of social media—no tweets, no streams, no videos. Nothing. While you busied yourself with class work, he focused on editing and planning ahead for the future. You both knew you were stalling, but right now, you just needed time.

A knock came from your door, a soft voice following just after.

“[Y/N]?”

You rolled over on the bed you shared, your eyes flickering up to see Clay standing in the doorway. The book you had brought in with you laid untouched on the nightstand next to you. You haven’t been able to properly bring yourself to enjoy something without thoughts of doubt seeping into your head.

What do they think of me? Do they like me? Will they approve of our relationship?

You were terrified out of your mind.

Clay approached the bed when he saw you move, gently sitting down next to you. “Are you doing any better?”

He patted the space on his leg, and you twisted your body to settle your head on his lap. “Sort of,” you murmured.

A moment passed as he took in your words. “Have you eaten?”

You nodded, your head just barely moving. “Yeah. Ate some leftover pasta.”

You fell quiet once more, simply listening to the sound of his breaths next to yours. Despite having been hearing next to nothing but silence for days now, you felt better knowing he was next to you.

“Hey,” he said softly, grabbing your attention once more. You turned your head towards him, his hand stroking your hair. His emerald eyes bore into yours, focused and sad. “Tell me what’s on your mind. You seem so distant, right now.”

Your gaze trailed up to the ceiling as you opened your mouth, trying to connect the mess of thoughts in your head into coherent sentences. “It’s just all so overwhelming,” you admitted. “All they know about me is my name and that I fell down the stairs, but it already feels like it’s way too much. I didn’t even spend that much time scrolling online, and I already know that there are more than just a few people freaking out.”

You looked up at him, your sad gaze mirroring his. “I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to have everyone begging you for a face reveal.”

The sadness in his eyes only seemed to grow deeper, and you felt something warm and watery wrap around your heart. “It’s my fault,” he whispered, pressing a hand over his eyes. “I should have muted myself. I shouldn’t have been so reckless. I just moved without thinking and—”

You pulled yourself upwards, turning to sit face to face with him. “Clay, don’t say that.” You reached out to grab him arm, pulling it away from his face. His gaze was watery, and you wished you never had to see him with that expression. “It’s not your fault, not at all. When you heard me fall, you thought of me right away, and I appreciate that.” You held his big hand in between your smaller ones, interlocking your fingers. “That just shows you care for me. Please don’t beat yourself up over what happened.” You offered him a timid smile. “I know that I’m not taking this all too well either, but we’re in this together, right?”

His lips twitched to mirror yours, but his tone was still tinged with a low sadness. “I know, it’s just... I hate seeing you like this, like you can’t live your life normally anymore because of me.”

Your hand reached up to stroke his cheek. “Hey, it’s alright,” you crooned. “Remember, they only know my first name—not even my last name—and that I tripped. They don’t know what I look like.” Your lips twitched. “Heck, they don’t even know what I sound like. I think I’ll be able to live my life just fine. It’s just a little bit... much to begin with.” You shot him a goofy smile. “I might have to use Twitter less, but you know my screen time usage is way too high anyway.”

A chuckle slipped from his lips, his eyes curving into two crescent moons. You felt your expression shift to mirror his almost naturally, but then the smile slowly crept off your face. “And, um, Clay,” you added, fidgeting slightly.

“Yeah?”

“These past two days, I gave what happened some more thought,” you began, “and I think...” You gulped. I think I want to introduce myself.”

His eyes widened, and suddenly his hands were on your face, his gaze focused intently on your face. “Are you positive?” he breathed. “You know you don’t have to do this, [Y/N].”

You nodded, feeling your resolve harden like a stone in your heart. “I know.” You offered him a bold smile. “It’s scary and kind of hard to think about, but I don’t want to leave everyone in the dark. I want to be by your side through thick and thin, no matter what.”

He paused, then pulled his hands away from your face. That sadness in his eyes had returned, and you felt your heart crack at the sight. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he said quietly, almost remorsefully. “I know that being with me is already a huge commitment, and this is just taking another huge step...”

You leaned forward, pressing your forehead to his shoulder. “Clay,” you said, staring down at your knee. “I’ve been here with you from the beginning, and I’ll be here until the end. I’m here with you for the long haul, okay?” You raised your head, shooting him a wicked grin. “You won’t be getting rid of me too easily.”

Just like that, his smile was back. “Oh, alright. Only because I love you so much, though.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair with a weary grin. “Well, if there’s anything that I’m sure is going to happen,” he said, “it’s that my fans are definitely going to call me a ‘simp’ even more than they already do.”

You flashed him a teasing smile. “Are they wrong, though?”

His eyes crinkled at the corners.

“No, they’re not.”

Swallowing, you stared long and hard at the microphone sitting in front of you.

You can do this.

“Are you ready?”

You sucked in a deep breath, feeling your hands shake in your lap.

“I—I think so.”

Clay pressed a kiss to the back of your neck, his left arm wrapping itself around your waist to pull you closer on his lap. With his right, he reached for the mouse. On his screen, he had his stream loaded up, with only a single mouse click standing between you and tens of thousands of viewers.

Feeling his eyes on you, you turned to look at him. With a small smile, he dipped his head down to press his lips to yours in a soft kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck, smiling back. Pulling back, he leaned his forehead against yours lovingly.

“You know, this is only about half as stressful as when I met your family,” you joked.

He snorted, the rumbling of his chest running along your back and into your thumping heart. “And they loved you just as much as I do. Once the rest of the world meets you,” he murmured just for you to hear, “they’re going to love you just the same. I swear it.”

You let your eyelids flutter shut, breathing in his scent of fresh linen and citrus. “I hope so.”

He shot you a cheeky wink. “Oh, I know so.”

You rolled your eyes at him, turning around to look at his monitor once more. “Cheese ball.” You didn’t have to turn to know that he was still grinning. Snuggling further back into his chest, you said, “Let’s start the stream, yeah?”

With a nod, he clicked the ‘start streaming’ button. Almost instantaneously, thousands of people joined the stream. You briefly glanced at the chat and felt yourself stiffen when you caught a brief glimpse of your name. Almost immediately, Clay’s hand was on yours, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb while you relaxed once more.

Sending you one last loving glance, he leaned towards his mic and began to speak. “Hey, guys! I know it’s been a little while since I last did a stream, and I know you guys have some questions. But first, there’s someone I want you guys to meet.”

His gaze flickered to you, and he gestured toward the mic. Taking a deep breath, you mustered up your courage and leaned forward.

“Hi there. My name is [Y/N].”

You felt his hand squeeze yours.

With a smile and a deep breath, you squeezed back.

“And I’m Dream’s girlfriend.”

2K notes · View notes

lizbotw · 4 years ago

Note

bet 😼 sukuna + knee socks by arctic monkeys

SUKUNA | KNEE SOCKS

ayo here u go u bully ♡

“A special grade weapon,” you mumble, clicking your pen. The worn cover of the book is soft in your palm, the weight of the pages straining your wrist, but you don’t put it down, finding interest in the outline of what looks like an ordinary sword printed on the page.

The drawing is simple, but the tell-tale carving of a symbol on the hilt tells you all you need to know. “Saitama Prefecture... leaving at eight in the morning.” The words slip out under your breath as you scratch out the details for tomorrow’s mission on the paper next to you—standard “reclaiming cursed gear” things, of course. You should be back in time for lunch.

The creak of a floorboard as someone rounds the corner into the common area is soft despite their heavy steps, and you miss it in the midst of turning another page of the encyclopedia of cursed weapons Gojou had given you.

“I was looking for you.” The voice that startles you is low and annoyed and you find yourself both relaxed and freezing up at the knowledge that it’s Sukuna.

You’d graduated from Jujutsu Tech some time ago, but everyone still kept in touch and the school was essentially your “base” whenever missions came up (you were, after all, “real” sorcerers now). Lo and behold, Itadori of all people had been called in to be paired up with you for this one. When you had heard that, of course you were excited—you hadn’t seen Itadori in two months—but there was also the nagging thought at the back of your mind that that also meant seeing the King of Curses (who you were apprehensive of for reasons completely different than everyone else).

“What are you doing?” Sukuna—when had he gotten so close?—leans on the back of the couch, head in palm and looking over your shoulder. You can’t tell if he’s feigning interest or if he actually cares.

The book in your hand shuts with a thud before you can let him scan over it and you stuff the page you had been writing on just inside the cover before chucking the heavy volume off to the side. “Nothing.” (Whatever relationship you had with him didn’t exactly mean you thought you could trust him with everything, especially when it came to things like this.)

You twist in your seat to look up at him, fighting back the grin you always seemed to have whenever you saw him (oh, you were in deep for sure). “What did you want?”

He’s staring at you—really studying you—but then breaks eye contact, gaze running down to regard what you’re wearing and then briefly resting on the book you had discarded on the cushions before making its way back to your face. “Wanted to see what idiotic thing you were up to this time.” His answer is clipped and you find it funny, breaking out into a smile.

“Aww, did you miss me?”

Sukuna scowls—“Hardly.” The silence that settles afterwards is thick, but anything but awkward—the teasing tone of what you had said spoke louder than any words. You knew he missed you and he knew you knew.

Sitting just a few inches away from him, your heart is heavy with anticipation and you’re hyper aware of every puff of breath that slips past your lips. The very second you see him tilt his head to lean in, you do the same, meeting him halfway. When Sukuna kisses you, there’s a familiar warmth on your cheek as he rests his hand there to hold you in place (not that you would pull away anyway).

You don’t ask him how he’s switched out with Itadori this time (you can’t find it in yourself to care at this moment), just like how he doesn’t bring up for the umpteenth time (in that stupidly hot, mocking tone of his) how you shouldn’t be doing any of this with him, how scandalized the Jujutsu world would be if they found out, how you truthfully have the worst moral compass in a human he’s ever seen (not that you could bring yourself to care about those things either, even if they’re all painfully true).

#jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #sukuna x reader #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jjk imagines #tell me why i kept completely switching up the concept for this omg #ryomen sukuna x reader #ryoumen sukuna x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk sukuna #eri.drabbles #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jjk imagine #sukuna #sukuna imagines #ryomen sukuna imagine #jjk ryomen sukuna #ryomen sukuna

263 notes · View notes

fantastic-bby · 4 years ago

Text

Pairing: Reader x Jisung (ft best friend!Jeongin and Minho)

Word count: 1.4k

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Jisung finds both you and your rainbow sneakers adorable but doesn't know how to ask you out.

Prompt: Fluff - 3. I like your rainbow shoes

Warnings: -

A/n: this was very roughly edited but I wanted to post it before I forget lol

Masterlist

[11:58]

“I like your rainbow shoes,” Jisung chuckles the moment you step into the dorm. You look up at him before down at the rainbow painted sneakers that you were in the process of taking off, cheeks reddening as you stare at them. “Oh! No, I didn’t mean to fluster you or anything, I just thought they looked cute.” He clears his throat awkwardly, suddenly feeling guilty about accidentally embarrassing you.

“I just wasn’t expecting anyone to really notice it, but thank you,” you quickly reassure him as you place them on the shoe rack by the front door.

“Jeongin mentioned that you were coming over. He didn’t mention what time. If I had known, I would’ve actually put on something less messy.” His hands gesture to his outfit that just screams ‘lazy day in’ with the basketball shorts and the oversized white T-shirt with a cartoon cat printed on the front of it.

“I’m only here for a moment. He promised that we’d actually get to hang out today since you guys have been so busy with work and all,” you laugh awkwardly, hands clasped in front of you and your weight shifting between your feet when you realise that Jisung’s blocking the main entrance into the dorm. You can’t actually get in unless he moves, which leaves you just standing with your lips pursed into a straight line while you stare at him.

“Oh! Jeez, sorry,” Jisung quickly moves out of the way, his face blushing madly. “I-I uhm..”

You take a few steps past him, “it’s okay. I didn’t really know how to say it either.”

“(Y/n)!” You turn just in time to catch Minho as he crashes into you, surprising you from the impact and bringing you to the ground with him when he just decides to fall. You fall onto the ground with a groan, the dancer barely making an effort to even get off of you while you try to squirm your way out from underneath him. “You’re here! We haven’t seen you in so long!” he exclaims when he lifts himself up.

“Blame Jeongin for not inviting me over more often,” you quip. Jisung extends his hand towards you to help you up. “Thanks, Ji,” you hum, hands brushing over your clothes while he helps Minho up as well.

“We’ve already said that you’re free to come over anytime you want. You have all of our number. You're our friend now, too,” Jisung reminds you. Your hands pause for a moment when you remember that you do, in fact, have all of their numbers because Hyunjin insisted on bringing you into their group chat after your best friend had introduced you to them a few months back.

“That… that is something that I forgot,” you sheepishly admit.

“You should come over whenever we have movie nights. We usually just order food and watch whatever we feel like because Changbin hyung lets us use his Netflix.” Jisung’s offer makes you tempted. You’ve always wanted to spend more time with them, but since you were Jeongin’s friend first, it feels intrusive for you to be in their space.

“Where is Jeongin anyway?” Minho questions when he realises that Jeongin still hasn’t left his bedroom.

“He said to just let myself in around now,” you mutter as you look at your watch to check the time.

“I’ll go look for him.” The older male leaves you with Jisung while he heads in the direction of Jeongin’s bedroom.

“What were you guys planning on doing?” Jisung asks once Minho’s gone.

“Jeongin wants to try out this new café a few minutes from here. He said they have really cute cakes that he’s pretty much dying to try out,” you explain.

“Ah.” He’s pretty sure he’s heard the maknae mentioning it a couple of times before, but no one in the group was too keen on wanting to check out the new café since Jeongin’s food standards were essentially “if edible, then eat”. Another thought pops into Jisung’s head that has him turning to you, “are you guys going to the arcade? Minho hyung and I were planning on going there later.”

“Mhm,” you hum. “We haven’t been to the arcade in ages with how busy Innie’s gotten, but maybe we’ll meet you guys there after we’re done at—”

“I’m up! I’m up!” Jeongin’s whines cut you off and the two of you turn to the distressed voice of the man to see Minho dragging him out of the bedroom.

“(Y/n)’s already waiting for you,” Minho scolds when he stops right in front of you and Jisung.

“I was just taking a small nap,” he grumbles before turning to you. “I swear, they like you more than they like me.”

“(Y/n) actually likes us back, so…” Jisung snorts, earning a cheeky giggle from Minho and a glare from Jeongin.

“Were you waiting long? I accidentally fell asleep while scrolling through my Instagram.”

“Not at all,” you shake your head with a reassuring smile on your face. “I was just talking to Jisung about how he and Minho might be going to the arcade later so we can meet up with them there after lunch.”

“We’re going to the arca—Oof!” Minho’s rudely interrupted by Jisung’s elbow digging into his stomach to stop him from talking and he immediately catches on. “O-Oh, yeah, Ji and I were planning on heading to the arcade,” he wheezes out while holding onto his now aching stomach.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Jeongin pouts. “If I had known, then I would have invited you guys out for lunch with (Y/n) and I.”

“Decided it just now,” Jisung hastily says. “Don’t worry. We weren’t really planning on leaving until like an hour or two from now.” The younger man eyes him skeptically before turning to you.

“Sungie hyung is weird,” he mutters as he takes a step closer to you. “Let’s go before the café gets full.” You nod and turn to follow him out. Jisung and Minho watch as you do, waving when you turn around to wave them goodbye before leaving the dorms.

“Is that really your way of asking (Y/n) out?” Minho snorts once you’re out of ear-shot and the door’s closed.

“Well, can’t exactly do that when you’re tackling them to the ground, now, can I?” Jisung scowls as he turns to look at him.

“Maybe next time just text them and go ‘hey, let’s grab some lunch together’ or something. Like you said, they’re not just friends with Yeni anymore.” Minho thinks it’s comical how Jisung has been trying to ask you out for months but keeps bailing at the last minute.

“I’ll figure it out eventually,” he rolls his eyes. “It’s not that easy. What if they don’t want to go out with me? I’ll just end up—” Jisung almost chomps on his tongue when the front door swings open and you’re rushing back in.

“Have you guys seen my house keys? I think they may have dropped out when Minho crashed into me,” you ask as you look around on the ground. Minho looks down at his feet and immediately notices the sleeping Kirby keychain that’s clipped together with a Shiba Inu keychain and a set of keys. He picks it up and extends it towards you. “Ah, thank you,” you let out a sigh of relief as you took it from him. Minho takes a step back and pretty much shoves Jisung in your direction, stopping you from leaving the dorms out of surprise.

“Jisung here has something to ask you, right Ji?” He gives the rapper another nudge and Jisung’s scowling at him while he turns to look at you.

“I-uhm…” he clears his throat, struggling to actually get the words to leave his mouth. It’s funny how he struggles with words when he writes lyrics for a living.

“Yes, Ji?” Your voice coaxes him to continue and he’s clearing his throat once again.

“W-Would you like to grab lunch? Sometime? With me?” Once Jisung’s managed to force the words out of his mouth, he’s squeezing his eyes shut tight out of both embarrassment and the fear of your reaction. Your voice, though, makes him open his eyes once again because you’re chuckling softly.

“I would love to.” Jisung feels his entire body lighting up. “Just text me when and where because if I leave Jeongin waiting any longer, he’s going to have my head.”

“Sure!” he blurts out, head nodding ecstatically. “We can—uhm—I’ll just send you the details.”

“Alright, I’ll see you guys later,” you wave as you turn towards the front door.

“Later…?” Jisung trails off softly before it clicks in his mind. “Oh! Right! Later, yeah. We’ll see you at the arcade.” His nervousness makes you smile as you leave, not without muttering a ‘cute’ under your breath that makes Jisung’s entire face burn up while Minho stifles a laugh.

133 notes · View notes

babydipper · 4 years ago

Text

Love potion

hi again it's me and some kind of sirius fluff to angst. have fun

Sirius didn't particularly hate the Potions class.

He didn't like it, either.

Most of the time, he just flowed through, wishing for it to end while listening to James' bickering about some ridiculously easy mixtures to make. Sirius wouldn't call brewing potions ridiculously easy to do, but as long as Prongs was doing almost everything, he didn't care.

That day, Sirius was at the point of falling asleep, when somebody knocked on the door.

"Come in," Slughorn called, and the entrance burst open.

A small girl went in smiling shyly. She looked absurdly tiny in her loose jumper and jeans. Sirius was bored enough to stare, especially when he saw the good, old Sluggy beam in excitement as if Christmas came earlier that year.

"You've sent for me, professor?" she focused her sight directly on Slughorn. "Is there something wrong with my last essay?".

"No, no, on contrary, the calculations were brilliant," he shrugged her off. Sirius raised his brows. So that's who she was. The teacher's pet and a massive Potions' nerd. "I called because I have a letter for you".

Sirius watched her move to the teacher with wide eyes, and judged. Comically small, as some kind of magical fairy. He wondered, if under short, brown hair she hid pointy ears and whether the excitement came from her receiving the letter from some kind of fairy Hogwart. She looked eleven, after all.

"You didn't open it?" she squealed.

Slughorn shook his head. He was glowing. Sirius pitied the rest of the class who was too focused on the assignment to bother. They were losing such a show.

The fairy opened her letter breaking the seal and Sirius couldn't help but be curious whether she got into the other Hogwart with her pointy ears or not.

"Oh, Merlin," she mumbled giving Slughorn the paper with shaky hands. "I got in, professor".

Slughorn read it once, then twice, and smiled proudly, "You got in".

"I got in," she repeated absent-mindedly. "I got in with my essay about the Wolfsbane Potion that was mostly built on my calculations and that I was so insecure about-".

"You were insecure about it?" Slughorn shook his head again, this time with disbelief. "I don't want to argue with you when you're confident, then".

Sirius felt a single string of happiness for the random fairy. At least her life was going well. Even though he only cared for her for a brief moment and would forget the face that seemed to be just like the rest of the faces seconds after the fairy would walk out of the room, it was nice to hear some good news for once.

She giggled in answer to the professor's words. But then, the realization hit her hard and she stopped, covering her mouth with tiny hands.

"Do you know what it means?" she mumbly asked Slughorn.

"Fifty points for the Slytherin House!".

The string cracked. Sirius cringed. Of course, she was a snake. A snake, a fairy, a nerd, and the Sluggy's pet.

"No, no. It means I have to brew it. My potion. The upgraded Wolfsbane Potion. I need to brew it during the Olympics. And it has to work".

Slughorn's face tensed, but he smiled, eventually.

"You will figure it out," he patted her shoulder. "Now, go back to whatever shenanigans you were up to".

She took the letter keeping it close to her chest and said her goodbyes, then left. Slughorn seemed sadder, suddenly, almost as if she was the only light in his life. The thought made Sirius smirk.

The Wolfsbane Potion. He was sure he had heard the name before. He focused himself on Remus, who now was looking absent-mindedly at the door probably having heard the conversation as well, and it clicked. The Wolfsbane Potion. The one they wanted to brew for Moony last year and couldn't.

Abruptly, Sirius wished he could remember the face of the fairy. Because he had a plan. And she was a huge part of it.

It started the same day when he bumped into her calling it an accident but having himself looking for her for hours. His friends called him out with laughter about picking on younger girls and he played along, played with her.

Her name was Arete, she was two years beneath them, and, apparently, had a huge thing for Potions. She was cringy, had acne scars almost everywhere that caused Sirius to look away every now and then.

And she was a Slytherin.

He claimed, he remembered her from entering the classroom and made small talk. She went along as if she didn't know his name. Sirius found out she didn't. It was nice for once to be unknown.

He gritted his teeth when whispers started to reach his ears and said nothing. He kept his mouth shut, never telling anyone anything bad about their growing relationship.

He was raised to be cunning, to pay every price for what he wants. They called him stubborn as if it was a trait, but Sirius was not born with the conviction that he deserved all he wished for. He was fed it. It was learned, a belief that the whole world belonged to him. That he could do anything because he always got what he wanted.

And he wanted everything good for his friends.

So he kept his mouth shut, smiled at nerdy Slytherin, and went along with the plan for weeks. Arete was oblivious to gossip in the focus on her own ambition, Sirius was grateful for that. Her scrappy body in too big clothes slipped into his routine as well as his athletic one into hers.

And, somehow, the well-calculated idea went to shit.

"Come on, Black," Arete laughed softly, trying to keep a pencil in the perfect balance on her nose, "you can't beat me!".

He giggled, too. They were goofing for some time now and, how much he didn't want to admit it, Arete was fun to be around. She never made him talk about anything, always waiting for him to feel comfortable enough to share. Her childish humor didn't seem so immature, once he got to know her.

She made him feel safe to the point when he forgot she was a Slytherin.

"How do you keep your marks so high when all you do while studying is this?" he teased leaning his head onto a hand. Sirius watched Arete with a smirk.

The pencil toppled over with a tap and she whined in disbelief.

"I am just bright," she stated trying to place her current interest again onto her nose. "That's what Sluggy's saying".

She was smart, indeed. Sirius saw that in the way she understood concepts in the brief of time. If Arete considered something worth studying, she would get it. No matter what.

He laughed at her cockiness.

She still was trying to play. In that position, her freckles were showing and long lashes cast a shadow over her cheeks. The green sweater smelled like a forest and candy. Somehow, in her soft looks and playful attitude he found some strange need, and blurted:

"Would you go out with me?".

"Yeah, sure".

"I meant it as a date".

The pencil fell once again and she sighed, "Doesn't change a thing," Arete responded, finally giving up on playing, and looked at him. "I still don't mind going out with you".

Sirius' gaze met her deeply disturbing green eyes that he used to think of as not interesting, and smiled.

It was the beginning of the end.

"We need to break up," Sirius announced in a whisper when Arete met him to deliver the promised potion. "I was...".

What was he doing, actually? Sirius lost his words. Shutting his mouth, he tried to look away from her, but couldn't. It needed to be done. She was too pure, too good, too kind. He just couldn't lie to her for eternity. Whatever they had, it was all built on an illusion. She deserved something true.

What was the truth, anyway? Did he really despise her? Was she so annoying and cringy? Whether her jokes were cute or childish? Were her freckles and scares he traced gently with fingertips so many times simply ugly or what painted her image golden in his mind? Was she so human and raw with every breath she took as he thought?

Maybe he needed time. Maybe he could think it over, and over. Maybe Sirius would find pretty words to tell her about the storm she caused in his head.

He wished for months, suddenly. He got seconds.

It was done.

"You were using me. Yeah, I know," she moistened her lips awkwardly. "I have known for quite some time, being honest".

Sirius froze. Her hair put in place with a green clip looked soft. He wanted to reach for it, place it between his fingers, and feel its texture, but he couldn't.

Because she knew.

Sirius laughed nervously.

"Love, what are you saying?" he started, but she shook her head and gave out a sigh.

"Stop fooling around, okay? I know you probably don't even like me, Sirius. I am not stupid," she stated. The potion in his hands suddenly felt heavier. "I was naive to believe that maybe... maybe what they've told me was wrong. And that maybe you like me. But I knew that, at some point, you are going to leave with what you wanted from me".

She knew the gossip. She knew everything.

He dared to look into her leafy eyes that reminded him of Forbbiden Forest's moss. They were alike dangerous. If he stared for too long, they would absorb him and never let go.

Funny how time changes everything. He used to think of her as something common, no threat. It did not take much time for him to become enslaved by her adoration.

He wanted to breathe her love.

But he lied to her using his silver tongue, not even flinching. He had his goal and he wanted to reach it no matter what. So he used her, got the advantage of unfamiliar Slytherin kindness and constellations built of freckles on her cheeks. They brightened whenever he came by.

He grew to be charmed by them but acted like he never saw.

"I just wondered what you wanted, Sirius," she spoke truthfully. "It has never crossed my mind that all you needed from me was a potion". He heard something dark in her voice and shivered. There was hurt in it, a deep one. He felt as if his heart was about to explode. "You could have just asked".

"Who you were talking to about me, Arete?" his voice cracked at the question. "Who told you I'd use you?".

"Does it matter? I have my finals soon, so just take this bloody potion and hand it to the werewolf for Merlin's sake!" she cried out finally, showing him how much she believed he would never hurt her. "Just give it to Remus and leave!".

He took a step back.

"What are you talking about?".

"Oh, come on, it's so obvious! Stop playing dumb," she crossed her arms trying hard not to cry in front of him. It looked heart-breaking to him. She was petite. "There's only five people you would do it for, Pettigrew, Lupin, Potter, yourself and, possibly, your brother. I know Regulus personally, we got drunk on the full moon. Crossing out Reg, it leaves me only with the infamous Marauders, and you can do the rest of the math".

Sirius panicked. She knew all of his secrets, all of his lies. And he could do nothing about it. His heart pounded fastly in the chest.

"I can stay with you, I promise, just don't tell anyone. I beg you," he cried, causing her eyes to widen.

"Is this what you think of me?" she whispered. "That I would expose him to the whole school? That I am so desperate to blackmail you into dating me?".

"No, of course not!" he tried to call it back, but the damage was done and the eyes he loved to look into were teary now.

Arete didn't know when she started to cry, but the tears were rolling down her cheeks. She knew Sirius was going to do this, eventually. So why did it hurt so much? Why was she asking herself what possibly she could have done to be enough?

"Tell Remus, I will brew it every month, and that his secret is safe," she blurted out quietly. "And go away. Please, just go away," she collapsed on the chair and Sirius wished for nothing but having her enfolded with his arms.

He couldn't. He couldn't just go and leave her, a sobbing mess he had created. It all started innocently. Sirius would find her freckles and acne pretty, even though he despised them before. He would stare at her a little longer than necessary and look for her in the crowd she used to blend in.

And now, he belonged to her.

She gave a home to the stray in her soft looks and witty attitude. In her rawness, he found a place for his doubts and wishes. She took every part of him without a second thought. She enjoyed him for who he was. She gave him everything he needed.

In return, he broke her heart.

Sirius shook his head, then run out of the Potions' classroom keeping that bloody Wolfsbane Potion close to the chest. The guilt was too much, consuming with the teary looks she gave him. He got drunk on her tears. They poisoned his body as much as his heart, and he felt them running in the veins, burning them from the inside.

He found out he loved her.

He couldn't go, but he had to. She asked him to.

So he left.

Maybe Romeo was right to kill himself in response to not being able to marry Julie. Or maybe Paris of the Troy was sane in the slaughter he had done out of love. Sirius thought, how much it ruined everything, to be young and in love, and understood every creature that in its short reign on Earth had decided to laugh into God's face and do something human to the core for once.

He understood why they had decided to fall.

#james & peter & remus & sirius #sirius x reader #sirius black #marauders fanfiction #young marauders #marauders imagine #hp marauders #marauders #love #gxb #bxg #sirius angst #sirius fluff

93 notes · View notes

tuanhood · 5 years ago

Text

miss goody two shoes

pairing: drug dealer!bambam x reader

genre: smut, angst?

warnings: 18+, language, drug use/mention, fingering, dirty talk, public and unprotected sex.

word count: 6k+

summary: you want to prove to everyone you’re not the good girl they all think you are. your best friend’s drug dealer? perfect choice.

a/n: hello back with that smut everyone loves. this is unedited and quickly(ish) written so please don’t judge. it took me until 3:36am and two aperol spritzes to finish this SO. YAH.

“Do we really have to do this right now?” You asked your best friend, trying to keep up with him as you follow him through the city.

He stops for a moment and turns back to look at you as if you’ve just confessed to a murder, “y/n are you kidding me? Do you really think I can deal with an interaction with Gretchen not high?” Jae shook his head at you and continued walking forward.

“It’s just brunch! I doubt you’ll even interact that much!” You hated walking with him, because of his damn long legs. His strides were honestly too much for you.

Jae huffed in disagreement, “I need it regardless. Now come on, we’re almost there.”

When you had agreed to a brunch date with a few friends from college including your best friend, you hadn’t really thought meeting up with his drug dealer right before was a part of the plan. Sure, many of the people the two of you went to college with were insufferable, but for some reason whenever they’d reach out to you to make plans you would always find yourself saying yes and ultimately drag Jae along. He constantly told you that you were too nice.

Specifically, Gretchen – a girl who had lived across from you your second year of University – was the most difficult to deal with and usually her and Jae would end up in passive aggressive arguments that made everyone at the table uncomfortable. So, you guessed that if meeting Jae’s drug dealer was a part of making that issue vanish, so be it.

By the time of you reached a small park square in the middle of the city, you felt a burning in your legs from trying to keep up with Jae and crashed onto the first bench you see. He looked down at you massaging your legs and chuckled, “we barely walked a mile, calm down!”

Rolling your eyes, you looked up at him through your lashes, “easy for you to say. You’re not the one trying to keep up with a 7-foot giant.” He doesn’t reply, but simply snorted at your comment and looked down to check his phone, “when is your guy getting here? We’re going to be late if we wait here for too long and you know how that’s gonna be a whole thing if that happens.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be here soon,” Jae assured you.

And sure enough, after a few moments you heard a loud “Dude!” leave your best friend’s mouth and looked up to see a man enter the park square. The man returned Jae’s enthusiastic welcome with outstretched arms as he walked towards the two you, giving Jae the “guy handshake” as soon as he’s in reach.

When he’s out of the handshake with your best friend, you begin to take in his features and were surprised by how much this guy didn’t look like a drug dealer. Most of the drug dealers you had seen or heard of had a casual style to them – hoodie, somewhat presentable and maybe on the weirdly older side. This guy was not that in any way shape or form. Everything about him screamed Paris fashion week and your brain was trying to process how this guy could be a drug dealer. Maybe he made that much money? Judging on the very expensive watch he was sporting and the Cartier ring on his middle index finger, you believed that it had to be the case.

“Y/N,” Jae said snapping you out of your thoughts, “this is Bam.”

You stood up from the bench and dusted yourself off, looking at the two men suspiciously, “Bam? Is that short for something?”

The dealer shrugged, “Bambam I guess.”

You can’t help but notice the way he scans you up and down, checking you out. You tell yourself he’s looking at you in an effort to feel you out and see if you’re a snitch or nark, but the nervous flip in your stomach tells you maybe it’s for a different reason.

As though Jae noticed the strange interaction between the two of you, he claps his hands loudly, “let’s get to it then, shall we?” Bambam simply nodded his head and fiddled with the clearly nonprescription glasses on his face, “Right… how much do you want?”

“An eighth should do.” Jae confimed.

Bambam began to reach into his bag and stops, “that’s it?”

Your best friend pursed his lips in thought, “actually if you have molly that could be good too. I’m supposed to be going to my stupid racist aunt’s wedding next weekend and it would be much better on something.”

Bambam shook his head sadly and clicked his tongue, “sorry man. There’s some music festival this weekend and all those stupid frat dudes wiped me clean on acid and molly. But I should be getting some more next week if you want to meet up again.” You swear when he says the words “meet up again” you see his eyes wander to yours, but as quickly as they’re there, they’re back on Jae.

You heard a groan leave Jae’s throat in annoyance, “whatever I’ll get through it sober, I guess. I’ll just take the weed then.” Bambam nods his head and hums, “cool.”

You watch as Bambam meticulously takes a small clear baggie out of his bag and places it inside of larger black sack, “I’ll throw in a free edible too, since you’re my number two customer and all,” Bambam laughs. The noise that leaves his mouth is almost melodic, and you can’t remember a time where someone’s laugh put you at ease. You felt a smile reach your face.

“What the fuck? I’m not number one?” Jae complained.

“Nah man, Mark’s got you beat there.”

Jae shook his head, “Fucking Tuan.”

Bambam and Jae laughed at his response as you stand there clueless as to who this Mark person was or why it was funny that he was Bambam’s number one customer. It’s when your eyebrows furrow and there’s a small frown on your face that Bambam’s gaze is once again fixated on you. “Does the pretty girl want anything?”

Before you can answer or react at Bambam calling you a pretty girl, Jae answers for you, “She doesn’t do this kind of stuff.” You roll your eyes annoyed at him just deciding what you do and what you don’t do. Just as you’re again about to open your mouth to speak, you’re cut off but this time by Bambam.

“Let her speak for herself man,” At that your heart warmed and you feel your face grow hot at how a drug dealer you barely know was treating you better than your own best friend. Bambam nods at you as if to go on and you felt yourself sputter your words out, “No… I mean he’s- well I guess he’s pretty much right. I don’t really like- um well do that stuff. Not that I have anything against it! I totally don’t! You know I’m like friends with the number one stoner in the area- or I guess number two since that Mark guy is number one? But anyways it’s just not for me so I- yeah so no… No drugs for me today.”

You feel yourself want to hide in a corner as you turn to see Jae with wide eyes and looking at you as if you should be in a mental institution. Somehow, you turned to face Bambam, expecting him to also categorize you as a psycho for your rambling, but instead he has a smile on his face and chuckles. His smile was practically as bright as his overpriced watch.

“Totally understandable. I don’t do any of this stuff either,” Bambam revealed.

“What? But you’re like a…” you begin, drifting off and unsure if “drug dealer” was a polite term to use in this day and age.

“Drug dealer?” He laughed, “yeah I know… But you know not everyone tries their own merchandise.”

You frowned, not completely understanding, “but shouldn’t you try and know your merchandise so you’re better at selling?”

He shrugged, “I guess when you’re selling drugs it really doesn’t matter,” Bambam shocks you by taking a step closer to you and reaching out to push a strand of hair that had fallen in front of your face, “or I’m just really good at what I do.”

Taking a step back, he smiles at you and you hear Jae clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable at the situation, “so how about those drugs?” Bambam simply nodded, unfazed and handed Jae the bag as the latter slips him the cash.

You became confused as you watched Bambam handle the money. He was doing something so simple, but looked so attractive doing it? Absentmindedly you felt yourself bite down on your lip as you watched him count and place the cash in his money clip. You were lost in a daze of watching his hands and the money that you didn’t notice his gaze back up to you, “don’t bite down so hard baby girl, you never know what could happen.”

Jae coughed again, still awkward about your interactions with Bambam. You on the other hand felt him calling you “baby girl” go straight to your core, so much so that you pressed your legs together. Praying he didn’t notice; you found your eyes wandering to anywhere that wasn’t the drug dealer.

Bambam took your silence as a sign, “well I better get going. Have other stops to make this morning.” Jae nodded, simply thankful to not be caught in the middle of whatever this was any longer, “yeah us too.”

“See ya later Jae, you too y/n.” You still feel semi-dazed from his words that all you can do is wave him goodbye, and watch him walk out of the park, the opposite direction of where you and Jae came in from. Bambam turned around one final time before exiting the park completely, “remember! Say no to drugs!” he shouted over his shoulder, shooting you another smile.

As soon as he’s out of view, Jae turns to you, “let’s go. I want to roll this and smoke it before we get to the restaurant.” You follow Jae out of the park the way you both came until you both stop at a corner of the street that is inconspicuous and hidden enough that Jae can roll and light up his joint.

“That was weird right?” You asked Jae suddenly when he finally lights the joint.

“I think he was flirting with you?” Jae said as more of a question than a definite statement. You couldn’t tell if he was asking you or himself. Your friend’s ponderance was enough to confirm your suspicions and cause your stomach to flip. A small smile spread across your face and you see Jae look at you with a frown on his face.

“Dude chill, he’s just my drug dealer.”

His dismissal at the small amount of joy you felt for being flirted with annoyed you that you felt yourself soon go silent besides the odd cough here and there caused by the smoke induced by the joint.

When he was finally done and you began to walk to the restaurant, you felt yourself picking up your pace, walking far in front of him. When it soon became difficult for even him to keep up with you, he came to the realization that you were upset with him, but nonetheless Jae continued to try to talk and reason with you as you approached the restaurant where you were meeting your friends.

You didn’t say single word to him until you were sat at the table with everyone and asked him if he wanted to split a mimosa pitcher with you. At your words he felt thankful to know you had let go of what he had said earlier and nodded in agreement.

“Ooh a mimosa pitcher for y/n? Pinch me because I must be dreaming,” Gretchen said overhearing your conversation with Jae.

Another one of your college friends Brian laughed, “Yeah but Jae will probably finish most of it. We know y/n can’t really hold her alcohol.”

Why did everyone suddenly choose today as the day that they would make fun of you? So what maybe you weren’t as crazy as them when it came to certain things, but you weren’t a fucking nun like they were making you out to be. So what you didn’t get blackout drunk at brunch? So what if you got excited about someone flirting with you? Even if he was a drug dealer.

“That’s not true,” Jae said coming to your defense, clearly trying to make up for how he had upset you earlier, “honestly y/n can drink me under the table.”

Gretchen waved her hand in dismissal, “come on Jae we all know that’s not true. But that’s what we love about her! She’s our sweet pure friend! Every group needs one of those.”

“If she was pure would she go with me to see my drug dealer?” Jae asked.

Gretchen smiled, “Jae are you high right now?”

“Yeah I need it so I can fucking deal with you,” he practically growled. She laughed in response as if he was joking, when he was in fact not. “That’s so funny. It’s not like she would ever buy or do any though.”

You felt helpless watching this argument – about you – unfold. Moments like this made you feel like maybe you were too nice. Why couldn’t you just say something and defend yourself? Jae shouldn’t be the one doing it. You should be the one arguing with Gretchen.

“Well who cares because my drug dealer thinks she’s hot!”

At Jae’s confession you feel everyone turn to look at you as if you can offer some kind of explanation, but you’re just as clueless as everyone else on the topic of “my best friend’s drug dealer thinking I’m hot.” Jae must really be trying to make up for earlier.

“It’s true, he just messaged me like 15 minutes confirming he would bang her.”

Your mouth drops open. Turning to look at Jae you can’t tell if he’s being honest or just making things up for the sake of arguing with Gretchen.

“Okay y/n having sex with a drug dealer is probably the last thing she would ever do.”

“Um is this a brunch topic?” One of your more silent friends at the table, Mina asked clearly wanting the discussion to be over.

Finally, you feel like it’s important that you’re the one to end this weird discussion about you having sex at 11am at brunch. You rolled your eyes, “I am not some untouched Mother Theresa, Gretch.” She flinched at the nick name; you knew how much she hated being called that.

“I mean you what? Have had sex with only two people? Both who you had long term relationships with? That sounds pretty untouched to me.”

The table shifts uncomfortably and no one says anything in response, it isn’t until the waiter approaches the table to ask everyone if they’re ready to order that you feel yourself snap back into reality.

“A mimosa pitcher please,” Jae ordered and soon all eyes are on you as the waiter waits for your response, “add one more pitcher to that.”

Jae leans over to you, “we don’t need two.”

You smiled at him, “no this one’s for me.”

After the “discussion” at brunch, the atmosphere between you and everyone else clearly shifted. You predicted that they probably wouldn’t be calling you to get together for a while. For that you were thankful.

Both you and Jae headed to your apartment in silence and you tried not to be fixated on the topic of your sex life and how “pure” and “good” you were, but your mind kept lingering there. It infuriated you how much you cared, because you knew deep down it really didn’t matter. It caused you to feel off for the rest of the day. So much so that it felt as though you blinked and it was suddenly dark outside. Brunch had been hours ago, but you were still you were thinking about the words exchanged.

“Hey um… I was wondering… can I have his number?”

“Whose number?” Jae asked barely paying attention to you. He leans against your bed on the floor and had been engrossed in a game for the last 45 minutes.

“Bambam’s…” You said quietly, hoping that maybe just maybe your best friend was in a strong enough trance that he would just hand over the number without registering whose number it was exactly and not ask any questions. But of course, you weren’t so lucky.

“Really?” He asked placing his phone down in his lap to turn to you laying on the bed, “why?”

You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, not wanting Jae to see just how nervous you were, “I don’t know… Maybe I want to like pick up or something.”

He snorted, “Y/N… You don’t do drugs.”

“Okay but maybe I’ll start!”

He rolls his eyes and picks his phone back up, assumedly to return to his game, “We both know that’s a lie. You’re a goody two shoes and everyone knows it. The way you coughed this morning when I lit up is evidence enough.”

There it was again. Too nice. Goody two shoes. Pushover. You were so fucking tired of hearing it all today. In fact, you were tired of hearing it all the damn time.

Instead of arguing with Jae, like you knew you should have done, you found yourself rolling over to stare at the ceiling of your bedroom, “You’re right… I’m just a good little girl,” you mumbled. Silence soon filled the room and Jae felt himself tense up; he couldn’t deal with you being upset again. Rolling his eyes, he swiped up on his phone to exit his game and searched through his contacts.

You suddenly felt something being nudged against your body and looked to your side to see Jae’s phone open with the contact “BAMBAM (PLUG)” glowing up at you.

“I don’t know why you really need it, but there it is.” You smiled at your best friend and sat up quickly to copy the contact into your own phone, “thank you Jae.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

Later after Jae’s departure, you find your thumb hovering over Bambam’s number. Would it be too much to call? He probably wasn’t used to it in his line of business… Maybe it was just usually a texting thing?

To be completely honest you weren’t sure why you wanted his number… You weren’t sure if it was for drugs to prove everyone wrong, that you can in fact be bad or if it was for something… else. You thought about what Jae said at brunch… Did Bambam really text him that he would bang you? Did you want that?

The idea of having sex with Bambam certainly didn’t disgust or repulse you, instead you actually found yourself blushing at the thought and pressing your thighs together.

Holding your breath, you clicked his number and opened a new message.

y/n. hey… bambam. It’s y/n… Jae’s friend? We met in the park today…

bambam. Oh hey sup?

y/n. was just wondering… if maybe I could like idk pick up?

bambam. Ummm…. Hold on a sec.

You waited for what felt like eternity… He was putting you on hold? On hold through a text?

bambam. What do u need?

y/n. uh whatever you have on you I guess. Or like in stock ? is that how it works?

bambam. Haha something like that. I have mj, addy, coke, k, oxy lol pretty much anything u want. But like I said earlier today I’m out of acid and molly till next week.

y/n. yeah yeah yeah… okay. What’s k?

bambam. haha you’re so cute. It’s ket.

y/n. ??????

bambam. Ketamine. Horse tranquilizer.

y/n. okay… well I will not be doing that one. Can you just bring like a couple things and I’ll decide when we meet?

bambam. Um????? I guess so??

y/n. cool.

bambam. I’ll meet you at the park, I guess? In around an hour?

y/n. yeah that sounds good!

bambam. Bet.

You felt your heart beat out of your chest. Were you really just going to do this? What is it that you were going to do?

Looking at the time on your phone, you realized you needed to get ready and leave quickly if you wanted to meet Bambam on time. It was going to take you at least 40 minutes to walk to the park where you had met him earlier. Walking instead of calling an Uber would give you enough time to think, but also enough time to perhaps talk yourself out of it if you changed your mind mid-journey.

Although somehow, it hadn’t. Your mind on the walk over had been filled with Bambam, but not in a negative way that convinced you to turn around and head home… but in a way that had your core pulsing. You thought of what he had said to Jae earlier – true or not – and how he would take you if that’s what he wanted. It made your mind hazy and the lust that took over your thoughts caused you to barely notice that you had arrived at the park, Bambam already seated on the bench that you had been massaging your legs on earlier that morning.

He was sporting the same outfit he had been wearing earlier – a satin striped button up shirt tucked into tight black jeans and his clothing was enough to remind you of the reality of what you were doing here. To your dismay he was no longer wearing the glasses, in the fantasies that had fluttered into your mind on your walk, you had really grown in wanting to see Bambam’s glasses on as he fucked into you.

Approaching him, you shyly waved and he stood up to greet you, “hey…”

“Hi,” you replied feeling foolish at your choice of welcome. What were you supposed to say to seem more… cool?

“I don’t usually don’t take drop offs this late at night…”

You furrowed your eyebrows at him confused, “what? You’re a drug dealer… Isn’t night the best kind of time to do this stuff?”

“Nah night I work on my music. So, what’s up… You change your mind?” He tapped his foot impatiently and you can’t tell if he’s nervous about being in your presence or if he’s annoyed that you called him out here so late. But if he didn’t want to come… why would he? You took a deep breath in, hoping you were doing the right thing, “No… I-I lied I don’t want to pick up. I just- wanted to see you I guess?”

Even in the darkness of the park, you could see Bambam’s eyes widen in surprise, “see me? Why?”

You’re really not sure what’s supposed to happen next. You’ve never been in this situation before and although it seems like all of your friends' words drove you to text Bambam and come here, it was your own needs that were driving you to stay.

Deciding to take a risk with your questioning, you looked away from him, “Is what you sent to Jae true?” Bambam quickly blinked, unsure of how to respond to your question. He wasn’t sure if he needed to be honest or not. Were you mad at him for what he had said?

Instead, he clears his throat and decides it’s always best to tell the truth, “Um yeah what I said is true…”

You felt your stomach flip at the fact that the text Jae received was in fact true.

“Do you… still want to?” You asked shyly, still not daring to make eye contact with the beautiful man.

Bambam’s cock twitches at your question. Suddenly his jeans feel way too tight.

“Fuck yes,” Bambam replied, voice low and husky. It takes everything in him to not lunge forward and have his hands roam up and down your body, but he restrains himself, “where should we go? Mine? Yours?”

“Let’s do it here.”

Your words surprise both Bambam and you, but you ultimately decide to go with it.

“Here?” he asked, interrogating whether or not you were being serious. What if this was a joke? Before you can stop yourself, you nod, “yeah, here.”

He takes a step closer to you, until his hand moves forward to cup your face, “I knew you were bad girl when I met you.” His words go right to your core and you feel your panties grow damp. Typically, you would find that kind of talk cringe, but coming out of Bambam’s mouth all you wanted was to hear more of it.

Instinctively, Bambam groans at the thought of having his way with you, and he uses his free hand to grip your hip, hard enough to bruise and pulls you flush against his chest. He doesn’t hesitate as he leans in to press his lips to yours in a feverish kiss that leaves you breathless. His confidence surprises you, but also turns you on enough that you instantly moan against his lips.

You feel him smile and it feels as though you’re in an entirely different world than just a park square in the middle of the city. Bambam’s tongue brushes the seam of your lips before his tongue slips inside to explore your mouth. You feel him begin to pull you into the depths of the park, closer to the trees where it would be less visible if someone just so happened to decide to walk through.

The two of you stand there for what felt like forever and you feel surprised at Bambam’s clear want of wanting to take his time with you. His hands moved from your hips to your ass, his fingers kneading the flesh roughly as he makes himself familiar with your taste. He pulls himself away from the kiss, chest heaving and cheeks flushed. You whined at the loss of his lips on yours, but he simply stares at you, taking in your kiss swollen lips and the lust-filled look in your eyes. He had to admit that it was difficult to believe that the girl in front of him now was the same shy girl he had met earlier, but knowing you had this side to you made him want you even more. He drops his head to press his lips to your neck and you can feel his teeth scraping the sensitive skin on the column of your throat as his hands move to dip beneath the hem of your shirt.

After leaving a few marks, he pulls away just enough to tug the t-shirt up and over your head before his hands move to cup your bare breasts. Not wearing a bra was probably the best idea you had all week.

“Fuck… y/n your tits are so pretty,” he breathes against your skin as he returns his mouth to your neck, “I could just play with them all night.”

As he gently kneads your breasts, you feel yourself clench around nothing. You were overly sensitive from not being touched like this in so long, that you felt as though you could cum just from his hands on your breasts.

You attempt to focus on the kiss in an effort to control yourself from not letting go so easily, but soon Bambam’s hands release your breasts and seamlessly drag down your stomach to the button on your jeans. He snaps them open instantly and hooks his thumbs on either side, shoving them down, along with your panties, down your legs. Your sudden nakedness causes you to shiver as you feel the cool breeze of the summer night drift over you body. Bambam notices this and places his finger against your lips, “shh baby girl let me warm you up.”

Reattaching his lips to yours, Bambam gently pushes you against the tree behind you and you feel his fingers drift to your core and swirl around your entrance. The feeling of him where you need him the most is enough to cause you to moan and you can’t help but notice how he disconnects from your lips when he feels at how wet you are.

“Jesus y/n, you’re so wet. Are you sure you didn’t cum already?”

Wordlessly you shake your head almost violently to tell him you hadn’t.

“I don’t know if I believe you… a bad girl like you might lie,” you feel one of his digits slip into your slightly, only part of the way but not fully and you feel as though you’re about to scream at the teasing. You should have known that Bambam wouldn’t give you want you wanted that easily.

“I-I’m not lying,” you stuttered out between your attempts to hold your moans back.

He fully inserts the finger into you, curling it a bit and you can no longer stop the noises that want to leave your body, “If you’re not lying, I guess I just have to see what my baby girl looks like when she cums. How wet she gets, how tight around me, hmm?” You can’t find it in you to respond, you simply nod and he smirks at you, clearly proud at his efforts to make you so weak so quickly.

It isn’t long before, without warning, you feel him insert a second finger, pumping them inside you at a teasingly slow pace. You felt like you were going to break, because you just needed more.

“Bam p-please I-I need more.”

He played dumb, frowning at you, “need more what?”

“Faster, more,” you manage to breathe out and without a word he picks up the pace of his movement, a smirk on his face and lust in his gaze. It’s when he suddenly curls his digits, hitting just the right spot that you feel like all sanity and speech has left your body. How can something feel this good?

“Come on, cum on my fingers. I know that’s all you want. I’ll let my bad girl have what she wants, just this once.”

His words spur you on as you find your arms moving to the back of you to grip onto the tree for stability as you buck your hips further onto his fingers, wanting nothing more than in this moment to have a release. The combined effort of his finger curling and his thumb coming up to tap on your clit in an almost musical rhythm has you falling apart and releasing around his fingers. He can feel the shaking of your thighs and the tension of your body as his fingers work to let you ride the waves of your orgasm.

Bambam’s length which had been growing hard since the moment you asked if he wanted to fuck you, suddenly felt painful as he watched you fall apart from just the pure pleasure he had caused. He couldn’t wait any longer, he wanted and needed to be inside you.

“Ride me,” Bambam says without hesitation as soon as you’ve caught your breath from your orgasm. Despite your release which had only occurred moments ago, you felt yourself ready to go once again at Bambam’s words and at how quickly he worked to remove his clothes.

Instinctively, you licked your lips as you first laid eyes on his painfully hard and leaking red cock which had been desperately waiting for its turn. You wanted nothing more than to get your mouth or hands on it – preferably mouth – but as you reach forward, Bambam shook his head.

He sat himself against the tree, not caring about the fact that he was sitting on the actual ground in the middle of a public park. The only thought he had in his mind was getting inside of you and feeling how tight you would be when you sank down on him for the first time.

“Baby girl, let me feel you.”

That’s all it took for you to get into position and find yourself squatting down to sit in his lap, rubbing your slit against the head of his cock, ready to take in every single inch of him. At the feeling of you rubbing yourself against his sensitive cock, Bambam groans, “no teasing, I just need you. Please.”

His begging and more submissive request turns you on and it leads you to wonder if maybe that would be a side of yourself you would want to explore later. But for now, you just needed to feel him inside of you.

Slowly, you lowered yourself onto him, moaning at how good it felt to finally have him around you, stretching you out completely. It had been awhile since your last sexual encounter and with the way Bambam was filling you, it almost felt like your first time again – this time there was no pain however, only pleasure. “Fuck… Bam.”

You just sat there for a moment, enjoying the feeling, until you felt him ever so slightly shift and then heard a groan. His hands instinctively landed on your hips as he attempted to get you to move, he almost couldn’t take how snug you felt around him, he wanted you bouncing up and down on him at a brutal pace. Understanding his want, you lifted your hips barely an inch before falling back down on him. Every time you did it you went a little bit higher.

“Come on I know you can do better than that,” Bambam egged you on despite his groans. At his words you leaned back, placing your hands on his thighs, giving him a much deeper angle into you. As you rode him like this, he began to thrust up meeting your hips and every time he did his cock hit a spot inside of you that made your eyes roll back into your head.

Your movement on him began to grow sloppier as a shot of pleasure made itself known throughout every part of your body. At your sudden change of pace, Bambam held your hips to continue moving you up and down on him, his own thrusting becoming faster. ��You feel so fucking good. Damn maybe I should just stop working and fuck you all day,” you felt yourself clench at his words and he continued, “you’d like that huh? I can feel how tight you’re getting just at the thought of me using you and filling you with my cum every single day. Such a dirty girl.”

You could feel your walls clench, and Bambam let out a groan having to thrust harder just to keep going as deep, “I’m- gonna- fuck.”

Somehow, not out of breath, Bambam whispered into your ear, “You’re gonna what? Cum? Do it… Cum all over me in this fucking park where anyone can see. I know how much want it so just fucking do it.”

You were seeing stars and your thighs were shaking once again when Bambam reached in between your bodies, pinching your clit, finally making you fall apart. Although you had once been concerned about being loud because of the public aspect of your location, you found yourself unable to contain your screams when your orgasm hit you. You could feel your juices dripping down onto his thighs as he pulled out of you and pumped himself one final time, released his seed onto your stomach and chest. As he caught his breathe, you dipped your finger into his release which had begun to drip down to your thighs. Placing it into your mouth, you suck it gently. “Mmmm,” you moaned at the taste and Bambam stared at you wide eyed. “Um fuck… should we do a round two?”

You laugh at his response and the lustful gaze that still clouds his eyes, “maybe… not here?”

Bambam grasps his discarded shirt and begins to wipe up the mess he left on your body, as well as the mess you left on his thighs. The gesture warms your heart.

He hums in response, almost lost in a trance as he wipes you up. “I mean… I know I’m just a drug dealer,” he said laughing, “but how about I take you out for a late night dinner slash early breakfast and then we have a round two where I enter you from the oh so classy doggy style position?”

You laugh and grab his hands, stopping him from continuing to wipe you up, causing him to look into your eyes.

“Deal.”

#got7 fanfic #got7 smut #bambam smut #bambam fanfic #bambam

288 notes · View notes

oneletteredwondered · 4 years ago

Note

Hi! Sorry to bother you, I just have a question. I just joined tiktok and am thinking of creating a mascaraed Roman au, but I have no idea how to start or if I should or if it’s too soon... I absolutely adore your high school au and was wondering if you have any tips or wisdom?? Thank you!! 💜

It's never too soon to AU XD

My suggestion would be, if you have some sort of storyline you want your AU to follow, make a word doc and start writing out little plot points/scenes you would like to include in your story.

For example

Roman wears gold

Janus wears red in 'revenge'

Roman freaks out

Get your base down first so you know what you're working with.

After that it's a matter finding audios that fit your scenes. Scrolling through tiktok for audios or songs you like or think fit your AU, keep an open mind cause ANYTHING can be twisted to your story if you think about it. This does not mean find anything and try to shove it in, but find things close and keep your AU in mind when audio hunting. Once you find a sound you like, copy link of the audio itself or video that gave you inspiration, or write down what audio you want, and add it to your doc.

For example

Roman wears gold - dissolve - link here

Janus wears red in revenge - so this is love - audio needed

Roman freaks out - he was very charismatic! (princess and the frog audio) - link here

Keep doing this until you have close to if not all of your sounds necessary for your scenes. There's no rush to complete this. You will most likely find things that fit your AU half way through filming or planning, do not be afraid to put them in your doc.

When hunting for audios or finding sounds that work, change up the length of your videos. Do NOT only make 45 seconds-minute long videos. And do NOT only make quick 5-15 second videos. When thinking about your AU, figure out which parts needs quick moments and which parts need to be drawn out. You are telling a story and a movie, make it cinematic.

For example

Remus never ending pick up lines are goofy and hold no weight to the story other than funny. Can be short.

Remus figuring out he actually has feelings for Logan is a major point for Remus, it holds weight to their arc and development. Longer time frame.

Sophie suggests: if you have the ability to do so, video/audio editing skills or app, so this way you can make or change audios to fit your needs even better, or add more flare to your videos.

If need be, or just for brain purposes, you can always add a choreography bit, possible dialogue options, or a brief description of what you want to happen in the video to your doc so things that happen near the end, you know what you're supposed to be doing or planned originally.

For example

Roman wears gold - roman walks by janus, slo mo, petty- dissolve - link here

Janus wears red in revenge - looks at the camera, dialogue 'see something you like pretty boy?' - so this is love - audio needed

Roman freaks out - roman having a MOMENT - he was very charismatic! (princess and the frog audio) - link here

Then you can film to your hearts content!

You can film all of them in one go, or split it up how you want, and save multiple drafts. Try to put them out in order as best you can, that's the whole point of the doc and plot map. Once you put a video out, copy link of your own video, and add it to your doc to keep track of what you need to film/is out already/sitting in drafts ready to go.

For example

Roman wears gold - posted - link to video here

Janus wears red in revenge - in drafts - so this is love - link here

Roman freaks out - needs filming - roman having a MOMENT - he was very charismatic! (princess and the frog audio) - link here

Save the audio link until the video is posted just in case you decide to refilm a scene.

I would recommend making a hashtag for the AU so people can find your story easier. Something that is simple and not too long but gets the point across.

For example

One sanders sides high school alternate universe = onesshsau

It'll be tempting to make your AU hashtag like Romanmasqueradeau but that's long and you only have so much space in your description. Shorten words, make it sweet and simple. Tag all your videos appropriately.

In your description of videos, put a little quip about the scene itself.

For example

In the roman wears gold video, the description is "when you wear your totally not a crush favorite color to get his attention but you're still petty".

Which is.. very long to be fair but lol and in return:

In the janus wears red for revenge video, the description is "two can play at that game".

Something that gives the viewers a little more to the story to hold on to.

Sophie suggests: you can always put backstory in the comment section to give yourself more space to talk about a scene, tell the viewers where to find it. "Backstory in comments" works pretty well.

For the cover clip, choose a banner to go with the clip. Keep the banner the same throughout the whole AU so people know which videos are and are not a part of your AU. If you plan your videos out well enough, you can even add 'parts' to your banners so people know where to look next.

For example

The banner for the hs au is... : HS AU.

If the AU was planned better, the banner would have been : HS AU pt 4. And for duets: HS AU pt 4.2.

This way people who join the AU mid way can click your hashtag, see the part markers, and know exactly where to go next to get the full story in order.

In the event you find an audio you want to use for your AU but the timing has passed(aka you already put out videos that come later timeline wise) you can still use the audio. In the description/comments you would put something along the lines of "what happened after/when -insert moment here-" and for the cover clip banner add .5 to the number marker.

If you plan on doing this AU on your own, caption videos properly, make things duettable if you want to encourage interaction, but make sure that they are stand alone available so people who don't see a duet can still get the full story. You can always duet yourself and add captions to the blank space above the video should you wish.

Something I've seen other creators do is put a poll or "what should they do?/pick an option" in the video captions or description. I would recommend NOT doing this. You may want the interaction from the audience, but then you'll need to make sure your plot map and audios match up with the choice and that it's something you want to happen as well. Also. If you don't get a lot of audience interaction, you may be disappointed, and that uh, sucks.

Something else I've seen is self duets where the duet part is all black and has a paragraph of the scene so people can have the story line more fully that way. That's a personal choice to make for yourself if you want to use this method. Snail(1_1snailxd) has used this method before if you want an example. They do plenty of AUs too if you want to see another creators process.

Keep your outfits and lighting consistent unless necessary for change in the story arc.

Since this is your AU and your page, you can post the videos for the AU whenever you want. Every day, every other day, every specific day. It does not matter. I would space them out if you can, or at least not post more than three videos for your AU a day. Give the viewers something to anticipate in your story line and a schedule that works for you.

Remember you are making this AU for you and it's what you want to see come to life. Be proud of the things you create.

#my post #answered #tik tok talk

17 notes · View notes

yumeka36 · 5 years ago

Text

Since Disney has no restraint with spoiling the deleted scenes for Frozen 2 that will be on the digital and/or blu-ray release later this month, I decided to share the clips that have been released so far and offer my opinions (click the scene names in bold to watch them):

Deleted Song - I Want to Get This Right: I’m not big on Kristanna but this is a cute song. I can understand why it was cut though. As the creators have mentioned before, whenever they took too much focus away from Anna and Elsa’s relationship, it just didn’t feel right. They still wanted to give Kristoff a song, which they did with “Lost In the Woods,” but I’m not sure where this song would have occurred in the movie since it would have been weird for Anna to sing a long with him when she was so focused on Elsa once they left Arendelle. I’m guessing it would have taken place at the beginning of the movie, during the harvest festival perhaps since they both seemed dressed up.

Deleted Song - Unmeltable Me: Another song that would have taken place at the beginning of the movie, with Olaf entertaining the dignitaries (at the harvest festival I assume) while Anna and Elsa are away. It’s a fun song and the accompanying animation would have been more amusing than “When I’m Older,” but like “I Want to Get This Right,” one of the reasons it was cut was due to time constraints on the pre-forest part of the movie. It was made to introduce Olaf’s new permafrost, which they eventually explained in one line from Anna before “Some Things Never Change.”

Deleted Song - Home: A nice song that creates a pleasant tone of how much Anna loves Arendelle, which would help reinforce her becoming queen in the end. But yeah, just doesn't quite work - it's just weird that she would be out doing all these fun activities shown in the clip without Elsa, Kristoff, and/or Olaf with her. They definitely needed to introduce all the characters in the prologue, so a big group song like “Some Things Never Change” worked better. And people were complaining about her one line "it's not creepy 'cause I know her" since it implies that anyone who talks to children could be seen as a “pedophile.” I agree it didn't make sense - she's the princess, everyone knows her, why would it be creepy talking to one of her young subjects? I get the joke they were going for but it doesn’t work and I’m glad they eventually left it out.

Deleted Scene - Secret Room: Early in development, the trigger for Anna and Elsa going to the forest was following clues that their parents left behind about studying magic so they could help Elsa. Again, due to time restrictions on the movie, they changed it to Elsa hearing her “magic side” calling to her and leading her to the forest. I think this set up is better since it gives more characterization to Agnarr and Iduna, especially in conjunction with the “A Place of Our Own” scene below, so it’s a shame the heads at Disney decided the movie couldn’t be longer so they could include this plot point (I feel like Jen and team would have wanted it otherwise).

Deleted Scene - Hard Nokks: A scene where Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf meet Nokk, apparently before Elsa. I’m guessing this scene takes place soon after they arrive in the forest and they get separated from Elsa temporarily (since she’s not in this scene) and they somehow know what Nokk is (maybe Olaf had been reading up on mythology?) It’s a little funny I guess but I can definitely see why it was left out: they wanted Nokk’s introduction to be more dramatic, and the plot point of Kristoff not feeling comfortable in Arendelle was too much on top of his relationship with Anna that would, again, take away focus from Anna and Elsa’s journeys, which are the driving force of the movie.

Deleted Scene - A Place of Our Own: Out of all the deleted scenes, I think everyone will agree that this one should have been left in. It’s so beautiful and heartfelt and lends so much more to their relationship with their parents and the fact that Anna has her own kind of “magic” - it would have worked perfectly as the last binding piece of closure to the conflict of the first Frozen. I can understand why they removed the other scenes since they didn't fit with the direction they eventually went with the story and characters, but this scene could have easily been inserted into the ending - when Anna and Elsa were reunited, before Kristoff shows up - and nothing would have changed. The only reasons I can think of for why they removed it are 1) they thought it was too “overpowered” for Elsa to be able to conjure memories from Ahtohallan anytime, anywhere. Even though the one about the dam she sent to Anna traveled past Ahtohallan, it still originated there and she had to first “take it in” and then send it to Anna with Gale’s help. Or 2) there was already so much going on in that scene (the sisters reuniting, Olaf reviving, Kristoff's proposal) that they felt adding one more emotional moment would have been overdoing it. I guess another reason is because they weren’t able to properly set up the fact that Anna had lingering doubts about her parents trust in her, but honestly anyone who knows what Anna went through in the first movie could see that scene and completely understand how she felt with any further exposition. So yeah, I can live without the others but this scene should have remained - I’m hoping we get something like it in future Frozen stories!

----

I think there’s one more deleted scene involving Agnarr’s flashback that will be on the blu-ray release, and all the ones mentioned in this post should have extended footage - I think these clips are just snippets of the actual deleted scenes we’ll get. To summarize, the only scenes I would have preferred they kept in were Secret Room (and the whole plot line about following clues from Iduna and Agnarr) and of course A Place of Our Own. The others are nice to see but I don’t miss them in the actual movie. I’m not one to lament everything we could have gotten as I’d rather find the good in what we do have - I’m glad we got to see these scenes and I think it’s likely that they’ll incorporate elements from them into future Frozen shorts/stories/sequels.

#frozen #frozen 2

352 notes · View notes

kittymsmithwritesstuff · 5 years ago

Text

The Owls of Suotamo (WraithxCrypto)

AO3 link: click here

Word count: 5.5k

Ship: WraithxCrypto “cryptaith”

Summary

When Wraith gets on the transport to Suotamo to apologize to Crypto, she never thought it would end like this.

Commission page on my tumblr! And a big thank you to @sigmatauris for beta reading!

Tags: cryptaith, craith, voidhacker, fluff and humor, first date, first kiss, cute, accidental relationship, drinking and talking, friends to lovers, rated t because Wraith says fuck

---

“You find out you have a name, and you don’t even want it?” He’d said.

“What do I want with something I don’t even remember? I’m not Renee, I’m Wraith. That’s who I’ve been for the last six years.”

“Glad you were afforded the luxury of choice,” he’d clipped, moving his arms like he was going to throw his hands in the air, but being they were in his pockets he just ended up flapping his coat. Wraith had laughed—she’d not meant to be mean, but he reminded her of a disgruntled owl fluffing itself. He’d left without a word, and it’d taken her a couple mystified minutes to realize she’d hurt him. Though it was usually the other way around, she went to Elliott to ask what she should do.

“Uh, say sorry?” He’d looked at her like she was stupid. She was, of course, but Wraith hardly let herself think like that. The voices created a rather nasty echo chamber sometimes.

“That’s it?”

“Hey, I’m the one that makes ridiculous grand gestures, not you, remember? It’d be out of character.” He’d grinned.

Wraith had to agree, but nobody knew where Crypto lived—if he lived anywhere at all, really—so she had to wait until the next game. She hated giving out apologies at the best of times, but this time it was particularly nerve wracking. The voices were always a bit scrambled around him, but right now it was almost unbearable. “Hey, I’m sorry about last week.”

He rolled his eyes. Usually she’d ignore him as well, but she felt compelled, which was strange. Were the voices persuading her somewhere in their jumbled madness? Was there a reason?

“It wasn’t what you said.” She added. “I mean, I wasn’t laughing at you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What were you laughing at?”

“I was—“ The alarm rang for the start of the match. Crypto began to move to join his squad and thinking she might not get the chance again until next week shot an uncharacteristic bolt of panic through her. “Wait!”

He hesitated, just slightly, the alarm ringing again insistently. “Meet me at 6th later, if you care that much.”

“Where the fuck is 6th?”

He joined his squad, not even looking at her. The voices scrambled so hard they became a ringing in her ear. The cherry on top was being matched with two randos and dying before even reaching the last ten.

If there was a God, and they were trying to teach her a lesson for…whatever reason, well, she got the point, alright?

She didn’t stay to watch the livestream, going straight to her tiny apartment and the three screaming furballs that tripped her soon as she entered. She gave them their due pets, replying to their meows with much more enthusiasm than she ever replied to her human family. She got into the shower, breathing deeply.

You guys gonna tell me where 6th is? Has to be a street, right? The voices replied in a jumble of no’s and yes’s. When she tried to clear out what the yes’s were saying, it just came out as, finally, so slow, good, and memory. Odd. She stood in the shower so long thinking about it, she didn’t even realize the water had gone cold. After she shivered her way into a bathrobe, letting her uncombed hair airdry, she started scrolling through all the 6th streets, avenues, roads and boulevards in Solace City, but it didn’t seem right—she didn’t even know if he lived on Solace, they never really talked about their personal lives. She bit her lip, thinking. Did anyone know where he lived? Chatty, a voice whispered. Right, she should text Elliott.

Ugh. For someone who could never shut up face to face, Elliott was one of the most succinct texters she’d ever met. She went ahead and Googled it, finding it about a half-hour from Solace if taking a mega-speed transport. Then she Googled 6th in Suotamo. One street popped up. 6th.

Not 6th Street, not 6th Avenue, just 6th.

Motherfucker.

She pulled on a large, shapeless sweater and leggings, grabbed her keys and phone, and headed to the station. She didn’t really question the fact she was going to all this effort just to apologize. Perhaps some part of her had just figured it was good to have Crypto on her side; word was he had built all sorts of connections, so maybe he could be useful later. Or she just didn’t want to have that awkward conflict when working on a team. It was hard enough watching Loba and Bangalore on the same team, and she didn’t want that kind of disruption on the field—though she didn’t think he was that petty. He was professional, like her, and quiet, unlike 2 of her top 3, which could be nice when Elliott had his chatterbox days.

The longer she spent in the rumbling transport seat, however, the more she let herself admit a creeping truth: maybe she just liked him.

Suotamo was all industrialism; skyscrapers and towering housing blocks with tiny balconies and smaller windows. In the twilight, electric signs were flickering to life, making a delightful buzz that dampened the voices and cast a great array of color into the street puddles. Her sneakers clattered over perforated sheet metal laid before the crosswalks as she made her way from 4th Street to 5th Avenue, and finally to 6th. The corner she landed on was directly across from a crusty dirt lot with a chain link fence that had been broken and rolled down on one side like a rug. Down one street was a mass of tall neon signs in Hangul; judging by the smell, it was mostly food. The other side was dilapidated housing and a convenience store whose name was also in hangul. She hugged a streetlight pole, looking around with wide eyes as people passed by.

Yes, she was a professional murderer for a living. But she was also a small woman in a strange city, unarmed, where everyone seemed to speak every language but English.

But her nerves were soon soothed when she saw him across the street. She cocked her head to the side when she processed what he was wearing. All of his usual hacker—y looking necklaces, but instead of that stupid vest he wore all the time it was an oversized gray shirt with a green bomber jacket, also one size too big. Slim black joggers emphasized how skinny he really was, and vans pulled together the city—boy look. It…looked really good on him. And fit in with everyone else in the area. Smart.

He cocked his head back at her, which was how she came to realize she was doing that in the first place. She glanced both ways before jogging over. “Hi.”

“Annyeonghaseyo.” He bent his head, nearly entering a bow. He was wearing a small silver stud in one ear.

“Didn’t know you were into fashion.”

“You think I’d be stupid enough to wear my gear out here?”

“I— it’s just, the only thing I see you in.”

He gave her a once over, possibly a little slower than needed, according to a voice. She told that voice to shut up. “I can say the same for you.” He crossed his arms. “Now, what were you talking about on the dropship?”

Shit, the apology. The entire reason she was there. How had she forgotten that? She’d just sort of focused on the fact they were actually meeting outside of work. “I only laughed because I, uh, because I was picturing you as an angry owl in my head.”

Well. That certainly startled him. “What?”

“Y’know. An owl. Cacaw,” she flapped her arms slightly, realizing she’d been hanging out with Elliott too much. “Like, uh…wait, that’s not an owl noise.”

“Owls hoot.” He said.

She swallowed hard, her stomach twisting around. If it wasn’t for the city noise, she’d be screaming with all the talking going on in her head, beating in tandem with her heart. “I just— when you, you hand your hands in your pockets and kind of flapped them, and your jacket was like, wings, I guess, and I just…saw an angry owl in my head and it was funny. I’m sorry.”

He paused. “What kind of owl?”

“A snowy owl,” she said immediately. “With glasses. I dunno why glasses, you don’t wear them.”

“I do, actually.”

She blinked. “Oh.” A beat. “Can I see?”

He raised both eyebrows. She expected to be rejected—he had to be wearing contacts so why would he even have the glasses with hi—oooookay he had them on him, buried deep in a pocket. Thick black rimmed ones. He popped them on, and warmth burst in her belly as she realized, to her horror, that he was cute.

“I look like a nerd, huh?” There was light amusement in his voice, a rarity. He moved to take them off.

“No!” She said, far too quickly and far too loudly, startling her and him both. “I mean, you look cu—great, you look really good in them.”

He eyed her a moment, slowly lowering his hand. “Really?”

“Really.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted a little awkwardly, looking off. She stared at her shoes until she heard him clear his throat. He looked down on her, not quite as much as Elliott, but he probably had a good five inches on her. “Do you like noodles?”

“Yeah?”

He shifted again, stance somewhere between a soldier ready for war and an awkward teenage boy. “Do you…want to go get some? I know a good place.”

She was too stunned to really react at all. “Sounds good.”

And like that, they were walking toward the neon signs, side by side. A little further from each other than was probably normal, though when others would pass by on the narrow sidewalk, Crypto would lean in, and she’d get the slightest waft of—holy shit, was that Axe? But it smelled good? Last time she’d smelled Axe she’d gotten a headache because Octavio had used it instead of a shower before a game, but this stuff was crisp, a little lemony, she had to try her best not to inhale loudly whenever he got close.

They came to some little hole in the wall that Crypto had to duck to walk into. Booths pressed as closely together as possible, tables crowding the floor and every seat at a bar filled, faint K—pop weaving around voices and noodle slurping. When they sat at the booth nearest the back, their shoes touched because it was so small. She expected to get a menu, but instead the server came over and said something in Korean to Crypto.

“Do you drink?” He asked.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Like soju?”

“I have no idea what that is.” He shrugged and said something to the waiter. He poured them two glasses of iceless water and left. Crypto pressed himself into the corner of the wall, one leg along the length of the seat, the other on the floor. Wraith also scooched into the corner, she always liked to, and seeing someone else do it made her feel less weird. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything. She fidgeted with her fingers. “Um. So. Weather.”

“I hate small talk.”

“Oh thank God, me too.” She saw it, almost a smile. “Bring up something interesting, you know?”

“Yes, like what kind of owl you are.”

She blushed, looking away. “Shut up.”

“I think you’re a spotted owl.” He sipped his water.

She would never hear the end of it if Elliott had been there, because she perked up like a puppy. “Why?”

“Feels right.”

“Fair enough.” She started sliding the soy sauce bottle between her hands, then glanced up at him and slid it his way. He raised an eyebrow and slid it back. They kept it up while talking. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Do not expect an answer.”

“Just…what to call you. Besides Crypto.”

He warmed the soy sauce bottle with his hands before passing it back. Monkey brain Wraith had the passing thought that it was almost kind of sort of not really like holding hands. “Hyeon. It’s not my…real name.”

She nodded. “I figured. You gotta be cautious, even if they know, to a point.”

He sat up a little, some part of him smoothing out; Wraith couldn’t see it, but she could sense it. The voices, so scattered, like TV static, reduced themselves to a buzz in the back of her head. “Yah. I do.”

The soju came first. A green bottle and two shot glasses, which Crypto—Hyeon? She’d keep Crypto mentally, for now—he poured while saying, “Youngest pours first, traditionally. And you pass it with two hands and take it with two hands.” He held the shot glass and passed it to Wraith, who made sure to use both hands. He seemed entertained. “You don’t have to do it that way every time, though.”

“That’s fascinating,” she said, truthfully. “Why so specific?”

“All relates to the old ways things were done, back on Earth. So many cultures got jumbled together in the Frontier, but at least in Sutoamo, Koreans have kept most of theirs.” He paused before knocking back the shot like a professional. Elliott would be eating his hat if he was there. “It’s traditional not to sip the first shot.”

She raised an eyebrow—the corner of his mouth was twitching, thinking of smiling. He was enjoying this. Well, she was too. She braced herself and knocked back the whole thing, surprised by the flavor—a bit like a sweet vodka, with a hint of strawberry. She almost didn’t cough. “Wow, that’s something.”

“You like it?”

“I think I do.”

He smirked and poured for her again, then himself, sipping this time. “You’re not supposed to leave a friend’s glass empty, either.”

She smelled it—sweet, crisp. Definitely strawberry. “So, we’re friends?”

He seemed to think a moment and downed that shot as well before speaking. “I’ll consider it. At the very least I don’t look so sad drinking with someone else for once.” From the look on his face, that was soju—fueled word vomit. “It’s just against tradition to drink alone, people think there’s something wrong with you,” he added hastily.

“Right.” She didn’t get a chance to screw that up as a bowl of steaming noodles was placed in front of her. They were dark glass noodles, and there were vegetables, and meat. That’s all she knew. The waiter also gave her a fork, but not Crypto.

“Japchae,” he said, snapping apart the wooden chopsticks. “It’s usually a side—dish, but it’s all they make here. It’s a stir fry.”

“Hell yeah.” That actually got a chuckle out of him, and she knew it wasn’t just the soju making her feel warm. Her focus was stolen by the food, however, as she was starving, and anything fried and/or noodles made for a very happy Wraith. She stirred it all up, a bed of rice hidden underneath it, and started shoving sweet and savory into her face. Crypto was no better. Between the japchae and soju they talked, Crypto’s words flowing with fewer pauses, no clipped edges, smooth and cool. Once they finished the bottle bubbles of laughter began to escape between his lips.

He was acting like…a normal dude, for the most part. Telling her about more Korean drinking traditions, all of which seemed centered on getting everyone at the table drunk as quickly as possible. Mentioning his other favorite places to eat, but all of them were Korean names she couldn’t comprehend, let alone pronounce. They ordered another bottle and he served again, hand steady, aim…slightly off, but Wraith just wiped up the spot. The warmth of company and drink was enough to rile up a little courage in her, risk trying for actual personal questions. “Do you have any pets?”

“Huh? Ah, yah. Heh. I have a cat.”

She grinned. “I have three.”

“Show me.” He leaned forward, and she pulled up pictures of her trio, a white Persian, a tortoiseshell, and a Siamese. “Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup.”

“Oh, like the show?”

“Yeah, I love it.” She bit her lip, smiling sheepishly. “I uh, love cartoons.”

He snorted, tapping the corner of his glasses. “I can still name every Pokémon. All of them.”

She laughed. “Show me your cat.”

He pulled out his phone, scrolled and then held up a picture of an orange striped behemoth. Wraith almost squealed. “He’s so cute!”

“Tofu. My trash son.”

“Why is he your trash son?”

“I found him in the trash. Little kitten,” he leaned to the side funny while showing how small with his hands. “Was eating old tofu skins out of a takeout box. So, Tofu. It’s his favorite food, too.” He looked down at the photo. “Jibang. Fatty.”

“Perfect fatty.”

“Yah.”

They got halfway through the second bottle before finishing their meals. Crypto paid with cash and swiped the bottle of soju on the way out. It was fully night now, a humid chill pressing against her skin. The street was lit by a mixture of streetlamps and neon light as the nightlife took flight. She glanced over to see Crypto swigging straight from the bottle. Soon as he caught her eye he snorted and pulled the bottle away with a half—clumsy sidestep, arm over his nose as his chest shook with restrained laughter. She stopped to stare at him, grinning stupidly, though she didn’t know it. Alcohol had a wonderful voice dampening affect. “Caught you,” she said.

A giggle escaped into his sleeve. Red splashed over his cheeks and nose, bright in the streetlights. “I think I’ve drank too much. I’m going to say something I shouldn’t.”

“Probably just do something stupid, like drink straight from the bottle. What if I want some more, huh?” She said this all teasingly. She’d never been like this with anyone but Elliott.

He grinned, the most she’d ever seen from him, and it was silly, and light, and beautiful, and he held the bottle by the lip and swung it idly. “Guess it’s too bad, huh?”

Too bad her ass. She swiped it and drank without hesitation. She relished the look on his face and did something quite unlike herself, holding out the bottle and tapping the lip to his chin. “You still want some?”

Slowly he took it, cocking his head to the side, which she copied, and sipped. Then passed it back to her, walking side by side, mirrors of themselves in the earlier evening, but closer, and warmer. She imagined the sweet strawberry to be the taste of kissing him, and the chill wet press of the night air against her skin his hand. She felt like it would be clammy. Or would it be warm and firm—the same feeling as a hand she’d held a lifetime ago, the memory of another Wraith threading it through the crinkles of her brain.

It didn’t matter, she decided, what that old hand had felt like, just like it didn’t matter what her old name had felt like on her lips or sounded coming from another’s. The now mattered, the now and the to—be. And while the to—be was still blurry and a little scary, the now was warm and hazy, it made no sense at all and she loved it. She took the last sip as they came to the convenience store she saw earlier, and both stopped, staring at the blinding white around the sign letters. They looked at each other and came to the mutual decision to get drunk snacks.

The lights were almost painful, and the shelves, while hosting the expected candy and chips, were also filled with an erroneous amount of instant ramen, teas and drinks with cubes of jelly in them, gimbap, bibimbap, banchan and a surprising variety of meat on sticks for…some reason. She recognized some things and not others, leading to the two of them standing in one of the middle isles while Crypto drunkenly talked about a sandwich, which you were supposed to bring up front to be cooked. The one he was holding was strawberry jam and cream cheese. Wraith wasn’t sure she trusted it, but they ended up getting it, along with some type of Japanese chips and a handful of other things that two drunks thought sounded good. They stepped out and Wraith looked at their bag. “Hyeon, where are we going to eat this?”

Crypto looked around, rubbing at his face. The synthetic skin crinkled like the normal skin, which she hadn’t expected. She’d always thought of it like metal plating. He nodded towards the sketchy ass dirt lot. For some reason that seemed like a good idea, and so Wraith sat on a cinderblock in the outskirts of a streetlamp with a guy who a few hours ago had been little more than someone to talk to between matches, half—drunk and rifling through a bag of food she only vaguely recognized. Some inkling of a voice seemed to suggest that this was a bad idea in one universe, but two or three threaded together to tell her they were safe, even if it didn’t seem like it.

She did feel safe with him, there was just something about him, the longer she spent in his air. She really didn’t know too much about him, just that he had a lot of open secrets with the Syndicate, and that Caustic was under a gag order regarding his real identity, since they were both from Gaea, but otherwise he thought Mirage was an idiot and didn’t talk to people outside of the ring. Except for you, a voice reminded her, a gentle nudging tone to it. It made her heart skip a beat when he passed her one of the strange jelly drinks.

“It’s called Mogu—Mogu. Means “to chew” in Japanese,” he said.

“Do you speak that too?” She sipped it and, yeah, she was definitely chewing it. She didn’t know how she felt about chewing her drink, but the flavor was good.

“No. My sister was just obsessed with these.” He stopped, a drop in the mood so sudden she could almost hear it. She’d heard rumor about his sister having passed. The voices suggested nefarious things had happened. “She got them every day before class. When we had money.”

She swallowed. “It is pretty good.”

“Yah.” He rolled his shoulders, staring off. She continued sipping, the cinderblock suddenly uncomfortable, the chill almost too much, the neon blue glow over low, old industrial buildings to their back metamorphosizing from lively to sinister. But all at once that was pulled away again when he sighed and readjusted himself, looking up at the sky. It was a big expanse of dark blue fog, not a star to be seen. Solace was the exact opposite. “Wraith?”

“Yeah?”

“I miss her.”

She adjusted herself, staring at the drink. At a loss, she offered it to him. And that’s when she saw it, breaking to the surface, cracking through layers and layers: a smile, for real. Not for fun, but something brighter, from somewhere deeper. It felt like being shown the inside of a treasure chest. He took the drink, sipped it, and breathed deeply. “I’m going to say something stupid.”

“Okay.”

He half—laughed. “You’re not even going to try and stop me?”

“Nah.”

He laughed fully, and even that felt realer than it had earlier. “Well. Well,” he swallowed, and sipped the drink, seeming to steel himself. “I…Taejoon Park.”

She understood immediately—his real name. And no wonder Caustic was on a gag order, because that name had reached Solace, Gridiron, and even Talos. The voices began to gather and flood her with information—the admission had been a catalyst. Taking a moment to collect herself, she picked the sandwich out of the bag, broke it at the seam created by the panini press, and offered him half. He furrowed his brow but took it. “I like it,” she said.

“What?”

“Your name. Taejoon. It fits you.”

He blinked, looking at the sandwich, then back at her again. His mouth was fallen in confusion, and he was squinting at her. Like a mole that had surfaced into the daylight. A very cute mole. “You, uh, you don’t recognize it?”

“I recognize it. And I know what you did,” she gestured at her head, and his eyes widened.

“I didn’t. I n—never would.”

“I know,” she said, and she hoped he could tell how much she meant it. There was still alcohol warmth in her cheeks, but her mind was clearer than it had been. “They fucked you completely.”

He swallowed. “I haven’t said my name in…I don’t remember when.”

“Can I keep calling you it? Not in front of the others.”

He seemed to think, and she hoped part of his thoughts were on what she was insinuating—that they’d meet again, outside the ring, outside the dropship. “Please,” he said finally.

She grinned, and so did he, before taking a huge bite of the sandwich, chewing a moment, and then letting out a bark of laughter and falling from his cinderblock into the dusty lot ground, sandwich resting on his chest. He started giggling and Wraith stood to look down at him, chewing, committing the way the orange edges of streetlight cast a brassy gleam on his ruddy cheeks to memory. Is this the memory the voice was mentioning? “Dude?”

Taejoon giggled again, back of his hand hiding his mouth. “I haven’t felt this light in years.”

That makes me so happy. “I’m glad.” She said.

His cheeks moved, his hidden grin wider. He pointed with his other hand. “You have jam on your face.”

“Huh?” She leaned down, because his hand had muffled his words, and suddenly his thumb was at the corner of her mouth, pressing and swiping.

“Jam,” he said, resting the tip of one long finger at the corner of her mouth. “Right there.”

“Oh.” She whispered. Neither moved for a moment, and then, guided by desire or a silent voice, she wasn’t sure, Wraith simultaneously lowered herself to her knees while Taejoon pushed himself up on his elbow. Do it, do it, do it, said a chorus of voices. “If you want to do something else stupid,” she said, “I’d do it now.”

His eyes scanned her face, the sharpness dulled by drink, but not the longing. “I don’t know if it is too risky.”

“Might be riskier not to,” she whispered.

“I don’t know…”

“Taej—!” He leant up and kissed her, quickly, almost a peck, and then again. Not like any of the nasty suck—the—air—out—of—your—lungs kisses she saw in movies, but a warm press of the lips, three seconds as most, fueled by want and wish and fuck—it—ness. Not that she’d kissed a lot of people, two to be exact, but it was still quite possibly the best kiss she’d ever had, for reasons that would crowd a page. She realized the memory the voice had mentioned wasn’t the gleaming light on his cheeks, but now, when he looked up at her, eyes huge with awe that he’d actually done it, biting his lip against a nervous little smile. Glasses crooked. “You,” she started, licking over her lower lip, tapping the glasses into place, “you taste like strawberries.”

“So do you,” he breathed. “T—This isn’t just the soju, right?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Me either.”

“So this—“

“It’s a thing.” He said.

“A good thing.”

“It is?”

“I think it is. You don’t?”

“I do,” he said, finally sitting up. She grabbed hold of his hand, and she had been completely wrong—it wasn’t clammy, but warm, dry, rougher than she guessed. “But, well, I’m kind of a disaster.”

“You’re talking to an interdimensional freakshow,” she said.

“You’re not a freakshow.”

She smiled a little. “Interdimensional gremlin disaster then.”

He snorted, turning to face her, back to the light. He tilted half into her and then pulled himself up again, steadying with a hand to her shoulder. “You’re not a very steady drunk, are you.”

“Nope,” he said with absolutely zero hesitation. She chuckled. She felt his hand move to hover hesitantly by her cheek, and she looked at him while she leaned into it. He breathed deeply and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear like in one of Elliott’s shitty romcoms she might have secretly enjoyed. The voices were a joyful thrum in the back of her head. Heh, maybe having cheerleaders is fun sometimes. Wraith held on to that moment, against the dark and the uncertainty of what she was supposed to do—there wasn’t exactly a social guideline of what to do after kissing your coworker in an empty lot following what could be a life ending confession, if she was anyone else.

Some part of her decided they at least should be standing, and, being the far steadier of the two, she reluctantly left his hand and ended up helping him to his feet, giggling a bit as he stumbled into her. He smiled shyly, running a hand through his hair while she grabbed their bag of half eaten goods. She knew he was watching her, and when she turned back to him, he was frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“I…am serious, about, ah, being a disaster. I mean, I’m wanted for murder. I have prices on my head for more than that, on three planets at least. The Syndicate has let me live so far but…” He sort of shrugged. “I don’t know how long that will last.”

She paused. “What was your plan, when you joined the Games?”

“Take them down. The whole organization.”

“But you didn’t.” She felt a nudging near her temple, a sort of confirmation in her thoughts. “You got to know us.”

“I did. I thought you were all monsters, but…well, Gibraltar, he’s just trying to help people he…cares about.” His shoulders slumped and he angled his head toward the sky, breath condensing like dragon smoke. “Lifeline, too. Bangalore needs money to find her family, Pathfinder is looking for his creator, and even Witt, with his mother and, and you…” He looked back at her. “You just want to figure out who you are.”

“It’s all I’ve ever known,” she confirmed.

“And knowing that, I don’t know if I can just…destroy it, without leaving something for…for people who…” He held up a hand, wavering, and then dropped it. “I just don’t know.”

It looked like it pained him, physically, to admit that. She also highly doubted he’d have admitted it if he was even half an inch more sober. She thought carefully before offering her hand, which he took. She half pulled him along to the rolled fence, clambering up and out like they had earlier. “I don’t care if it’s dangerous to be around you,” she said.

“I don’t want someone else getting hurt,” he said.

“You’re trying to drive me off, aren’t you?”

“I think so.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have kissed me if you wanted to do that.” She smiled just slightly. In the full lamplight, he looked doubly as shy as he had earlier.

“I did do that, huh.”

“You did.”

He cursed in Korean, and she chuckled. They held hands as they walked; they moved through the nightclub and food stall crowds like blood in water, swirling and dipping, unnoticed in the menagerie of humanness. “So, you’re saying I’m stuck with you?” He asked as they bled back into the dim night.

“I’m saying I’m willing to work with the whole ‘wanted criminal’ aspect.”

“Mm.” Taejoon was quiet then, from there to the transport station. It wasn’t awkward, like how it could be with Elliott or Path, but more like with Natalie. A subject was left hanging, but that was fine. Silence fosters thought, mon ami, and with that comes some shocking revelations…get it?

God Nat, I love you, you little pun goblin.

They stopped at the transport station, and Wraith bought a ticket from the kiosk and headed to where the other three people stupid enough to be out that late were boarding. She turned to Taejoon when the doors creaked open, taking both his hands, the bag at her elbow. She felt a tingling nervousness in her toes at the words pushing her tongue to move, to speak. “So, we’re going to do this? Try this…as something?”

He squeezed her hands, biting his lip and boy howdy did that make her feel some things. “Yeah,” he said, softly, “lets make this something.”

She grinned, all a flutter as she popped up on her toes and kissed him. This must be what people mean when they say they feel like a kid, she thought, almost skipping away to the transport, calling to the mildly surprised Taejoon that she’d see him at the next game. She found a seat and for once in her memory fidgeted not in pain or discomfort or anxiety but in utter jiggly joy. She chanced a last look back as the transport lulled out of the station, pressing her face to the glass sealed in preparation for space travel in order to see him.

Taejoon was still staring at the transport, hands idle in the air where she’d held them. Then, slowly, he pumped his fists into the air and twirled around, grinning like he’d won a championship.

#apex legends #wraith #renee blasey #crypto #taejoon park #cryptaith #craith #accidental relationship #drinking & talking #first kiss #cute #voidhackers #fluff and humor #first dates #friends to lovers #apex fanfic #apex legends fanfic #fanfiction #oneshot

15 notes · View notes

lazynewruc · 5 years ago

Text

Charity & Vanessa Fic

I had this idea in my head after hearing upcoming storylines and also imagining hypothetical ones! This is VERY angsty. Set in a timeline where Vanessa is sick and then set in the future. It’s just a one shot not gonna continue so its all here.

Couple:Vanity (Charity and Vanessa) Show: Emmerdale Words:2667

Remember angsty and romantic. I hope you enjoy!

Our Boy

As Vanessa was wheeled backwards down the hallway drenched in artificial white light, her eyes remained locked with Charity’s. The terror and fear in her wife’s expression was evident, the worry lines and lip trying so desperately not to quiver preventing her supportive mask slipping in a deluge of emotion. Even after everything they had been through, Vanessa never really doubted Charity’s love and devotion. Really, really, stupidly and completely.

The thud as the gurney pushed into the swinging hospital doors broke the couple from their trance, though much of it went unspoken they had been reassuring each other through unbreaking eye contact throughout the journey to the OR. This was where they had to separate. Potentially forever. Vanessa tried not to let any negative thoughts enter her mind, but it was impossible. Her hand slowly slipped from Charity’s grip, their fingers sliding over each other till the last possible moment.

“I’ll be right here waiting when you get out, okay babe?” Charity smiled trying to hide the tears balancing so carefully on her eyelids, threatening to fall at any moment. Vanessa didn’t have time to respond before the doors swung back; Charity’s figure faded away into the bustling hospital background, she was alone now

Before they had even administered any anaesthetic Vanessa began to feel heavy, darkness seemed to envelop the room apart from the blinding overhead light focused in on her. As the surgeon began speaking, she started to drift back to thoughts of Charity, of Johnny, of their whole crazy family. Vanessa had never imagined she wouldn’t see her son grow up, wouldn’t get to raise him and protect him till he was old enough not to need her – well not to think he needed her anyway. Now there was a chance he’d have to face the world without her, it was as if she was abandoning him.

All she could do was remember what he still had, her crazy and at times overbearing mother would no doubt be around more. Johnny’s adoring Aunty Tracy would be there to sneak him a drink at a family party or spoil him rotten on his birthday. Then there was Charity. She may not be his Mum, she may not even be blood, but she loved him as much as she loved Vanessa. Many people might think she was crazy to want Charity Dingle to care for her son if she passed, but was there anyone who would protect him and teach him how tough life can be better than she could? Vanessa didn’t think so.

Not long before the surgery date had been settled and they had been married, Charity and Vanessa had both agreed to legally adopt each other’s kids (of course Vanessa could only adopt Noah, but the sentiment was there with all of them). They had become a real family now.

“Ten, nine, eight, seve…” As she drifted away and closed her eyes on the world an enormous sense of relief washed over Vanessa, Johnny would be fine, Charity would make sure of that.

***

“MOSES! You made a right mess when you got in last night, did you do some kind of elaborate gymnastics routine to get upstairs?” Charity screeched, though not with any real malice at her son as he slumped over the counter head in hands. The alcohol fumes emanated towards her and her eyes grew wide then grimaced as she took it in.

“Pwoar, I’ve got spill mats at the pub that don’t stink as bad as you. Oi, I’m speaking to you!” She gave him a light clip on the back of his mop of blonde hair which was met with a grunt.

“Leave it out Mum, me heads poundin.” Moses’ mind drifted back to all the times he’d laughed when Noah received the trademark ‘back-of-the-head slap’ and felt a slight pang of guilt.

“Fine, just help me pack the last of your brother’s stuff into the car will yer?” Charity gestured to a pile of boxes neatly arranged by the door, and though nursing a hangover her son obliged.

As Charity and Moses loaded the boot of the car with boxes, a duvet and a large suitcase a car pulled up behind them. Almost immediately two tiny children emerged from each back door and clung to Charity’s legs, both of them sporting bleach blonde curls and pale faces with rosy cheeks.

“Granny Charity, Granny Charity!” They exclaimed.

“Ugh, no matter how many grankids I have, that will never feel normal,” she uttered as she bent slightly to try and hug them both.

“How about Great Granny Charity?” A deep voice quipped as a tall, slightly tired looking man closed the car door behind him.

“Oi you, Sarah isn’t due for 2 months yet, so we’ll have less of that.” A smile rose on one side as she kissed her son’s cheek and gave him a slap on the arm in jest for the ‘Great Gran’ comment.

“Great, now Noah’s here can a go lie down?” Moses asked in a sigh already turning to return to the house.

“Fine. But take your niece and nephew with you!” Charity’s eyes grew wide and she mouthed the word Useless at Noah. “Oh, and tell your brother to hurry up I wanna try and beat the traffic!” Noah helped her finish loading the car and the two caught up outside.

***

When Charity and Noah opened the door to Jacob’s Fold they found a barely conscious Moses lying on the sofa, clutching a pillow over his head in desperation as a four and five year climbed all over him, screaming and giggling in unison.

A smiled grew wide on Noah’s face. “That’s funny, I’m getting déjà vu witnessing this. I guess its karma ay, Mo?” He poked his little brother teasingly but got no response.

“Where is he?” Charity queried a slightly worried tone in her voice. Moses shed no light on the situation, and she stormed over to the bottom of the stairs. “Oi Brainiac! A world of knowledge awaits you, and the roads are gonna be chocka so get a shift on, yeah!” Her message was met with a slightly distracted “Coming!” in response.

“Right, I’ll get these lot outside ready to send him off. Debs should be here soon and we’re gonna facetime Ryan.” Noah said with some authority, he’d always been great with his brothers and he’d become an excellent father. He scooped up the kids and tugged at Moses’ sleeve dragging him to the door sensing his Mum might want a moment without the rest of the clan watching. Charity gave him a knowing and thankful smile.

Just as the door clicked shut legs began hurtling down the stairs, he was slightly shorter than Moses and Noah, something they teased him for, he got his height from his Mum. “Sorry, sorry, just wanted to make sure I had everything.” Johnny pleaded, locking eyes with Charity and delivering a perfect heartwarming, butter-wouldn’t-melt smile, another thing he got from his Mum Charity thought.

“It’s fine, I suppose you only start Uni once. Or at least I hope you do!” She joked and put her hand gently on his shoulder. “Right, you ready? The whole mad house is outside ready to see you off as if we were sending you to the trenches.”

Johnny nodded slowly looking slightly nervous as he gripped his backpack with one hand and slowly rested the other on top of Charity’s. “Thanks Mum.” He smiled slightly and looked down. The first time he had called Charity ‘Mum’ had come as a shock to both of them, it felt both right and wrong at the same time, the older he got the more it felt right. He never stopped thinking of Vanessa as his Mum, he considered the fact he’d never actually called her Mum, she was ‘Mummy’ when she was alive.

Swinging his bag onto his shoulder Johnny was about to head out. “Wait, Johnny boy.” A nickname she’d never tired of using to his chagrin. “I just wanna say how proud of you I am… And how proud your Mum would have been, and is somewhere. You were her whole world and you’ve never let her down. And look at you now, off to become a super vet! It’s a pretty big lab coat to fill but I know you’re gonna smash it kid.” At that moment Charity’s voice cracked and she felt the warmth of tears as they began to roll down her cheeks.

Johnny was a typical young lad in the sense he fought not to cry in public, but whenever someone mentioned his Mum, he couldn’t hold it back. He had his own memories of her of course, they were the memories of a small child though, he would often sit with Charity or Tracy and hear stories about her. That’s when he allowed himself to crumble, and this was no exception hearing that she would have been proud of him meant the world. When he had heard stories about her as a vet from Rhona and Paddy, he knew it was all he wanted to do with his life, the thing she loved.

They held each other for a moment, both feeling the occasional movement as the other sobbed. Charity inhaled deeply, mustering all the strength she could find she pulled back. Looking at the young man she had raised her heart ached, every time she’d looked into his eyes, she saw the woman she loved, but it was a reminder she would do anything for Johnny – he was her son.

“She’d be proud of you too y’know? Surprised you managed to keep me alive all these years, but proud. Proud of the family you made even without her.” Johnny smiled, picked up his bag again and walked outside. Charity didn’t follow but she heard the roar from the family as he appeared outside.

***

Hearing the commotion outside Charity knew she needed to go and join everyone as they said their goodbyes. She had to take one second, looking around Jacob’s Fold in a rare quiet moment. Many people encouraged her to move, it would help with the grieving process and to attain closure they said. For Charity it was the only place her and Vanessa had ever managed to build a home, they had been a dysfunctional family there, however brief, she couldn’t let go of that.

Raising the boys had been tough, especially at the start but she had so much support, eventually things settled and she found strength in her pain, knowing Vanessa would want her to carry on and to do what was best for the family. Every moment she felt she might break apart, she remembered her wife, remembered the promises she had made to protect Johnny and the boys and to be happy without her. It was hard but she’d done it, found a way to be happy found a way to make sure her family was happy.

Before she walked out to join the bon voyage party, she turned to the picture of her and Vanessa that hung proudly near the door. Everyday before leaving Charity would look at it and say bye to her wife, sometimes in her head, sometimes out loud, but always “Bye babe,” without fail. When she felt low occasionally, she’d sit and speak to her for hours. Even with no response it somehow helped support her, Vanessa was always so good at that.

“Well babe, I did it. Managed to turn him into a pretty spectacular young man. Though I think he might have your genes to thank for the spectacular bit,” tears began falling but she continued “I never thought I’d be able to get out bed without you let alone this. But I always felt like you were there y’know, rolling your eyes calling me a moody cow, but telling me to carry on cause you love me and believe in me. Listen, I know you’ll have to watch over Johnny-bobs now in Manchester, keep him out of trouble, believe in him when he needs you. But please don’t stop dropping in on me from time to time, cause I still need you, you know that. Always will, my Tiny Blonde Rocket Woman!” Charity wiped her tears away and blew a kiss to the picture on the wall, then headed out to join the rest.

***

The light was blinding as it crept in through weary eyes, she couldn’t make out anything at first, each blink revealed more of her surroundings.

“Hey, hey babe.”

That voice was delightfully familiar, she felt the gentle pressure of two lips on her forehead as a kiss was lovingly planted there. Charity. There was no mistaking her wife’s touch, even post-surgery Charity’s presence made her feel warm and safe.

“She’s awake guys.” Charity announced which ushered in a team of rather sleepy looking loved ones.

Tracy came to her bedside holding Johnny and Vanessa grasped his tiny hand so tight, as though she never wanted to let go. At the other side Noah approached with Moses in his arms, who presented her with a big card he had apparently decorated himself, a large red heart stuck on the front had ‘Get wel sun’ brandished on it, Vanessa thought it was perfect and blew him a kiss. Noah and her shared a smile and a look which seemed to tell her how relieved he was she was okay.

As well wishers came and went, offering gifts and careful hugs Charity looked on, allowing everyone to make a fuss of her wife but not wanting to leave her side like a protective lioness guarding what she cherished most. The bags under her eyes betrayed her earlier declaration of having slept that night. When everyone had left and Tracy took the kids home Vanessa turned her attention to her wife, still sat attentively in the corner.

“Right well you need to get some sleep, okay. I’ll be back in the morning.” Charity said almost dismissively as though she were scared to be alone with Vanessa who was noticeably exhausted but wasn’t ready to say goodnight just yet.

“Wait a sec. I’ve barely had a moment with you today. Just come and sit with me for a while.” Charity looked at her softly and of course obliged, pulling the chair as close to the bed as possible she grasped Vanessa’s hand and kissed the back of it barely touching it to her lips.

“Charity, I just… I want you to know. I love you, so much. And I know if anything had happened to me-” Charity tried to interrupt but Vanessa held out a hand in protest. “I had this dream while I was under, I swear it felt so real, even now it’s almost like a memory. I saw you, in the future, still gorgeous as ever. You had raised the boys and they were perfect and, and I just, I know if anything happens you’ll look after my boy. Our boy. So, thank you for being so amazing.” Vanessa lifted Charity’s hand to her lips and kissed it furiously, as if trying to prove how much she meant what she had said.

“Ness… Course I would, you and our little family mean everything to me. I know I act like a muppet and screw up, but I swear I’d never let anything bad happen to him. But lucky for him and the rest of our kids you’re gonna be okay. So you’ve gotta put up with me till I’m old and grey. Though still gorg apparently!” Both women laughed and settled into a smile falling in love more with each second. “I love you Ness, always will. My Tiny Blonde Rocket Woman.”

Despite assuring Vanessa she’d go home and sleep, when Vanessa drifted off Charity didn’t want to leave her side, she fell asleep next to her wife that night as she would every night for years to come.

#charity and vanessa #charity x vanessa #charity dingle #vanessa woodfield #vanity #emmerdale #vanity fic

37 notes · View notes

downstvged · 6 years ago

Text

s u r v e y : p e y t o n p e l l e g r i n o.

what’s this? there’s something paper clipped to the page... a stick of juicy fruit. how thoughtful.

basic information

FULL NAME: jamie claverton peyton pellegrino PRONUNCIATION: PAY-ton pell-eh-GREEN-oh MEANING: noble, royal REASONING: his kidnapper father said he always looked like a peyton. strong, wise, dignified. NICKNAME(S): pey, pellegrino, pillsbury ( monty ), sparkles ( tess ), etc. PREFERRED NAME(S): peyton BIRTH DATE: july 24, 2000 AGE: 18 ZODIAC: leo GENDER: cismale PRONOUNS: he/him ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: heteroromantic SEXUAL ORIENTATION: heterosexual NATIONALITY: american. ETHNICITY: italian-american. his father’s got pellegrino pride.

background

BIRTH PLACE: milton, delaware HOMETOWN: milton, delaware. his dad said he was born in ohio. everyone thinks he’s from cali, when they meet him. SOCIAL CLASS: upper-middle. FATHER: presley claverton. matthew pellegrino. fire chief. 52. west ham’s most eligible and charming single father. and peyton’s best friend. faceclaim. MOTHER: theresa claverton. francesca milluzzo. peyton never knew her. his dad said she deserted them shortly before his first birthday. SIBLING(S): none. BIRTH ORDER: first of three. the clavertons needed to fill the void. first and only. PET(S): none. but he adores anything fluffy. OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIVES: n/a PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS: n/a. he’s always been too scared of his own shadow to ask a girl out. ARRESTS?: squeaky clean. PRISON TIME?: not unless you count double-shifts delivering pizzas.

occupation & income

SOURCE OF INCOME: works part-time as a pizza delivery boy at one of west ham’s most beloved pizza joints. CONTENT WITH THEIR JOB (OR LACK THERE OF)?: very content, usually! people tip well and peyton enjoys the small talk. PAST JOB(S): assistant life guarding at the local pool in middle school, but that quickly ended after he had a panic attack on duty. SPENDING HABITS: peyton’s pretty frugal! his idea of a fun time is boarding around town with monty, or grabbing a scoop of ice cream at one of the local places. he’s not too big on driving, if he doesn’t have to. longboards almost everywhere. his dad’s job gets them ample cash, being fire chief, but they live modestly. pellegrino men are humble. MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION: his longboard. unfortunately, his anti-anxiety meds.

skills & abilities

TALENTS: deduction, longboarding, mock trial, stage lighting, studying, making people smile. he’s mario kart champion and he’ll never live that down. SHORTCOMINGS: overthinker. often, he limits himself just by thinking in circles. he... finds the good in people. assumes the best. LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: english, and enough italian to get friendly with the kitchen staff. DRIVE?: yes. JUMP-STAR A CAR?: yes. CHANGE A FLAT TIRE?: yes. RIDE A BICYCLE?: yes, but longboards are way better. SWIM?: yes. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?: he has a guitar and plays it decently well. sometimes he’ll hum a little tune and strum a few chords, but it’s nothing too major. PLAY CHESS?: yeah. BRAID HAIR?: ha! him? able to braid hair? he wishes. TIE A TIE?: he can double-knot his shoes. PICK A LOCK?: no.

physical appearance & characteristics

FACE CLAIM: noah centineo. EYE COLOR: deep hazel, primarily chocolate with pools of mossy green. HAIR COLOR: dark brown. HAIR TYPE/STYLE: wavy/curly. it does what it wants, and he rarely styles it, unless it’s for a mock trial competition or a student gov event. reference. GLASSES/CONTACTS?: he has a glasses prescription but always wears his contacts. DOMINANT HAND: right. HEIGHT: 6′1. WEIGHT: 165 lbs. BUILD: lean, trim, athletic. EXERCISE HABITS: he’s co-captain of the lacrosse team with monty, so they have daily team workouts. he goes for runs a lot, and likes HIIT training. does longboarding count? it should. he’s boarded all over this town countless times ( it’s also how he chooses to deliver pizzas, when the weather’s alright. ) SKIN TONE: tanned, smooth. reference. TATTOOS: none. he can’t handle needles. PEIRCINGS: none. MARKS/SCARS: a few on his arms and legs from nasty longboarding falls. NOTABLE FEATURES: his wild hair. million-watt smile. USUAL EXPRESSION: peaceful, welcoming. CLOTHING STYLE: reference. leather bracelets, cuffed jeans, lots of solid colored and colorblocked tees. when he dresses up for mock trial, the girls kinda swoon. boy looks dashing in a suit. has a glasses prescription but always wears contacts. his dad says he looks sharper that way ( but it’s actually because, with glasses, he looks too similar to the claverton family. ) beat up chuck taylors, kind of untied on purpose. he’s got that whole loosely kept together, sleep deprived look down pat. JEWELRY: leather bracelets. sometimes he’ll wear a thin chain. ALLERGIES: n/a. BODY TEMPERATURE: the standard. he runs a little warmer than most. DIET: lots of pizza. mountain dew. juicy fruit gum’s basically a whole other food group. PHYSICAL AILMENTS: n/a. he can be a bit jumpy, sometimes, if he’s feeling on edge. his left pinky kind of clicks funny when he makes a fist, from when he broke his hand his freshman year.

psychology

MORAL ALIGNMENT: lawful good. TEMPERAMENT: phlegmatic. ELEMENT: earth. MENTAL CONDITIONS/DISORDERS: anxiety disorder. SOCIABILITY: very approachable. warm. kindhearted. there’s a reason he’s the one tasked with getting class dues, as class treasurer. there’s a reason why he leads the lacrosse team. EMOTIONAL STABILITY: typically very levelheaded. his anxiety can make that fluctuate, though. PHOBIA(S): having another panic attack in public. he hasn’t had one in front of anyone besides monty in a year. ADDICTION(S): does juicy fruit qualify? DRUG USE: none. very straight-edge. ALCOHOL USE: occasional, as much as you’d expect. PRONE TO VIOLENCE?: not at all.

mannerisms

QUIRKS: peyton shoves his hands into his pockets when he’s nervous. he always looks for monty or tess in a crowded room, to get grounded. whenever he wears a flannel or a sweatshirt, he always pushes the sleeves up midway to his elbows. HOBBIES: lacrosse, longboarding, mock trial, reading, parkour ( a phase in freshman year ). watching football games with his dad. trying out weird recipes. HABITS: biting the edge of pens. turning his head to the side when he’s listening. offering people pieces of his lunch until he realizes there’s nothing left for him. NERVOUS TICKS: not knowing what to do with his hands. trailing off. looking at the ground. laughing. counting his own fingers. biting the tip of his tongue. DRIVES/MOTIVATIONS: he genuinely wants to see people happy. he wants everything to run smoothly and willingly along. FEARS: his meds will stop working. he’ll have a panic attack in front of his classmates, who are supposed to see him as calm, collected, put together. he’ll never get to know more about his mom. it bugs him. POSITIVE TRAITS: benevolent, bona fide, conscientious, suave, tenderhearted. NEGATIVE TRAITS: anxious, critical, restless, self-limiting, yielding. SENSE OF HUMOR: puns. wit. a lot of inside jokes with tess and monty. DO THEY CURSE OFTEN?: not really! he’s more likely to say frick or flipping than anything bad. CATCHPHRASE(S): “ oh shit ! ” & “ dude ! ” & “ what’s good ? ”

favorites

ACTIVITY: longboarding, hands down. ANIMAL: he’s got a super soft spot for rabbits. BEVERAGE: mountain dew or 7-up. BOOK: growing up, he loved the percy jackson series. CELEBRITY: stephen hawking. COLOR: green. DESIGNER: designer? he guesses, like... is gucci the right answer? he’s not really plugged in to that. FOOD: does juicy fruit count? FLOWER: he’s learning more about flowers, but he thinks sunflowers are pretty nice. kelly’s teaching him more about those. GEM: tiger’s eye. HOLIDAY: christmas. that’s when the famous pellegrino slutty brownies surface. MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: longboarding !! MOVIE: original star trek. MUSICAL ARTIST: saint motel. QUOTE/SAYING: “ we’re dead ! we survived but we’re dead ! ” – dash, the incredibles. SCENERY: rolling hills. sunset. SCENT: cinnamon. SPORT: lacrosse. SPORTS TEAM: in connecticut, he’s surprised he hasn’t been vilified for being a chicago bears fan. but he and his dad spent some time there, and going to those games became a weekly tradition. they watch them now, and it’s like a little piece of their story. TELEVISION SHOW: saturday night live, honestly. WEATHER: that golden-hour sunshine, just before sunset. lukewarm. mid-60′s. VACATION DESTINATION: hawaii. he’s always wanted to longboard down those colossal volcano-side roads.

attitudes

GREATEST DREAM: go into tech/lighting design for broadway. ask cassandra pressman out, for real. GREATEST FEAR: his dad won’t be able to function without him in west ham next fall. he’ll panic in front of people when he needs to seem strong. MOST AT EASE WHEN: he’s with his squad, the belugas. LEAST AT EASE WHEN: he’s allowed the time to overthink. when his dad doesn’t come home from his fire shift on time. when things don’t feel right. BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: the west ham mock trial team won the state championship this spring. BIGGEST REGRET: he never pressured his dad more about finding his mother. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: he had a panic attack in the middle of his treasurer speech freshman year. someone pulled the fire alarm right as he couldn’t breathe. to this day, peyton has no idea who that was, but he’s so friggin’ thankful. BIGGEST SECRET: his biggest secret’s not even known to him yet. matthew pellegrino isn’t his father; he’s his kidnapper. peyton pellegrino’s fake. doesn’t exist. TOP PRIORITIES: having monty and tess’s backs. taking care of his dad, since he’s still reeling from peyton’s mom leaving almost 17 years ago. bringing the lacrosse team to the state championships. making sure every single thing he does for west ham high’s theatre department is flawless: making art on that stage. finding out how to... conquer this anxiety. finding out how to muster up enough courage to make a move before it’s too late.

#newhamhq: task #🍂 –– shallow graves for shallow hearts ! isms.#🍂 –– there's no place like home ! psyche.#yoooo..... cackle at that header image bc i'm still laughing

3 notes · View notes

itsadrizzit · 7 years ago

Note

2, 5 and 8, please!

THANKS! Answers are under the cut because, as usual, I get LONG WINDED! I just love talking about my work, okay?

Fanfic Day Meme

2. What is your favourite snippet of dialogue?

Can I be EXTRA and give you some from all my fics (the recent ones anyway?) I feel like they all have this one moment that’s like…ah ha that dialogue bit was PERFECTION

Maybe It Will All Come Back to Me

‘You’re not half as charming as you think you are. Now stop arsing about, I want coffee.’

‘Fine,’ Vincent said, turning back to the stove. ‘I know how dangerous it is to get between you and your coffee. I’d hate to put my life at risk.’

‘Smart. I knew there was a reason I liked you.’

‘Not my devastating good looks and captivating personality?’

‘Just make coffee.’

‘Hmm okay. But only because I fear for my safety if I don’t.’

Merry Christmas, Here’s to Many More

“What are you watching?”

“Great British Bake Off.” Vincent said, nonchalant, as though this were a thing he did every day at eight thirty in the morning.

“Great…what? Have you been watching a baking show for three hours?”

“There’s nothing else on. I’ve seen all these already, but when I tuned in they were making stroopwafels and it made me think of home so I left it.”

“Hmm.” Chris could understand that. Honestly, he could go for a stroopwafel and coffee himself right now, but he had a match tomorrow and needed to be careful what he ate—even on Christmas.

Then his brain caught up with Vincent’s words and he lifted his head from Vincent’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, did you say you’ve seen all these already? Since when do you watch Great British Bake Off?”

Vincent shrugged and pursed his lips, eyes turned to the floor, his cheeks tinged with the barest hint of pink. “I…well I started watching it when I moved here, honestly, but I’ve been watching back seasons while I’ve been away and I watched the latest season online. I confess I’m a bit hooked.”

“But…” Chris started and then stopped because Vincent could watch whatever he wanted but why hadn’t he heard about this baking show obsession before now? “You don’t bake, do you? Unless you were holding out on me for all those months.”

“No. I just…It all looks so good and I can’t actually eat cake because of training, which I know is sort of like torturing yourself, but the whole idea of it is just…” a pause and then he set himself, jaw strong and his voice firm as he lifted his eyes from their fixed stare at the floor. “I really like cake, Christian, leave me alone.”

We’re Less Than Half As Close As I Want to Be

Vincent looked down at the bag in his hands, then squinted at the screen, “You got me a Denmark shirt?”

“Open it all the way up,” Christian said. “I promise it will make sense eventually.”

Vincent lifted the adhesive flap and slipped the shirt out onto his lap. Fabric cool and smooth against his hands, although the underside had ridges in it where the designers had ruined an otherwise sharp and sleek kit by carving an outline of a viking into it.

He hoped his uncontrolled eye roll had been obscured from Christian’s view when he held up the shirt to examine it.

“This shirt is terrible,” Vincent said.

Christian let out a snort of protest, which Vincent ignored, then said, “Turn it around. The front is just regular.”

Vincent did as he’d been instructed, flipping the shirt over at his hands and staring at the back. It wasn’t much better than the front, really—bizarre font that made most of the players’ names nearly unreadable. This one no different. White lettering stark against the bright red background.

He blinked at the shirt for a few seconds. Staring. Processing. Taking it all in. Trying to understand what this was supposed to mean.

“Christian what the hell?”

“I got you a shirt.”

Vincent lowered the shirt to his lap so he could stare down at the screen. “I see that, but…I’m not Danish.”

“No. You’re not. But I am.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Vincent said. “None of this makes any sense. It’s a Denmark shirt, but it’s not your shirt. It’s…mine? Or, well, it has my name on it. But your number? Or mine? Although not your number, really, or my number but…”

Stay in My Eyeline

Hard to choose for this one because everything Daley says is great, but I love Chris and the Belgians, so…

“Why would any of us make it easier for you to continue making these abysmally bad life choices, Chris?” Toby asked.

“Please don’t make me call him.” Chris was ordinarily above begging, especially when he knew his friends would hold it over him for as long as they could, but these were extenuating circumstances.

“Christiaan ,” Toby said in the disapproving tone of a Dutch opa he reserved for whenever Chris was being particularly stupid about something involving Vincent. “If you want to do something this monumentally idiotic, then you’re going to have to work for it. I’m certainly not going to enable you.”

“Nor I,” Jan said.

“Well I’m not doing it,” Mousa said with a shrug. “But don’t think I don’t want to find out what happens when you do. I sort of wish we could watch it over a group chat.”

Chris threw a hand in the air. “I thought friends were supposed to help and support one another in their time of need.”

“How badly do you want to do this, Chris?” Jan asked. “Bad enough that you’re willing to go through all of this? Think on it.”

His friends were being insufferable, but Chris couldn’t blame them for it. The whole thing was probably hilarious, really, if you weren’t the one who had to call your ex and ask him to get you tickets to watch your current boyfriend, who was on the same team as your ex, play a match. With the added complication that as far as Chris was aware neither of them knew about his involvement with the other.

When had Chris’s life gotten this complicated? All he’d ever wanted to do was put his head down and play football, not end up in a string of problematic relationships with members of the Dutch National Team.

“And what am I supposed to say to him when I call? ‘Hi, sorry I’ve been going out of my way to ignore you for five years. Can you get me a ticket to your match today? Thanks, that’s so great of you. Just so you know, this doesn’t make us friends or anything, I just really need a ticket and you’re the only one I can call. Okay?”

“Overdramatic much?” Mousa asked, raising one eyebrow.

This May Be My Last Song

I cut this one for length because I needed to get the whole thing in but it was LONG, so I took out some of the narrative.

“We’re sort of a mess, aren’t we?”

“Hmmm,” Christian said. “A beautiful mess, yes. After all, here’s me all businesslike and telling you to leave me behind and go to Brighton and then the next second getting all sentimental because you’re laying in bed making that face.”

“What face?”

“Your ‘I really want to fuck you right now’ face.”

He scowled down at the phone where Christian’s face was quirked into a wide grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling up as he laughed at Vincent.

“I don’t have a face for that.”

“Mmmm.” Christian’s voice shaking, with laughter this time, and none of this was funny thank you very much. “Not true. You have a face for everything. Lucky for you, that one is particularly hard to resist.”

“Stop laughing! I do not have an I want to fuck you face.” His voice a bit louder than he’d intended. Echoing off the walls and through the sparse, open space.

The click of a door handle a second later and Tonny’s voice around the corner. “Do I want to know?”

“It’s…uhhh…” Vincent said, flashing a warning look down at Christian as he scrambled for the button to mute the audio.

“None of my goddamn business,” Tonny said, lifting his headphones from the bedside table and sliding them around his neck. “I’ll just…be over here. You…keep on doing whatever it is you’re doing. Don’t worry about me.”

Heat rising in Vincent’s cheeks. “I…ummm.”

Tonny held up a hand and shoved his headphones over his ears. On screen, Vincent found himself staring at the ceiling of Christian’s hotel room, phone abandoned on the bed as Christian continued his fits of laughter.

Vincent had just straightened up, earphones in hand, when Tonny slipped his headphones off the ear closest to Vincent.

“To be fair to whoever that is, you do though,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact.

Vincent’s face burning hot now, and how did Tonny know anything about his sex face?

“I…oh my God, what?” Vincent’s head in his hands because this was not happening to him.

“You have a face. For everything. Definitely for that.” Tonny shoved his headphones back on his ears and flashed Vincent a thumbs up.

Vincent flopped onto the bed, shoved the headphones into their port, and tapped at his screen, still showing the dull white of the hotel ceiling tiles. “Are you done?”

Darkness as Christian’s hand closed around his phone, then a finger jabbed at the screen before Christian’s gasps of laughter burst into his ears.

“Oh. My. God.” Christian gasped out in English before switching back to breathless Dutch. “Your entire face right now. Who was that? He’s fantastic. We should be friends.”

Vincent glared down at Christian. “Tonny. Who apparently has seen my non-existent sex face. Godverdomme, Chris stop laughing.”

I refuse to select one from Five Times Christian Eriksen because there are MANY of them and my co-author wrote most of the funny bits anyway,

From the Loose Ends podfic, I will just go with a line that made me laugh out loud at the way I delivered it EVERY SINGLE TIME. It is in Chapter 9 when Eric and Dele are drunk and in Portugal and Eric misspeaks and then Dele makes fun of him for it and the way I read that line was honestly just MINT. You can listen to just that clip here (right click it to open in a new tab).

5. What’s your favorite headcanon you use in fics?

Ummm…I think my favourite is that Vincent used to watch Christian when he played at Ajax. Even though Vincent was at Feyenoord and he was supposed to blindly HATE all Ajax players he’d saw Christian playing in a match vs the Feyenoord first team when Vincent was still on the Feyenoord youth team and he basically became fully infatuated with him in that borderline obsessive first crush way. He’d record the Ajax matches and watch them late at night in his room and he’d watch all the interviews and videos of Christian and the Denmark matches when he could get them. It’s one of the main reasons he went to Spurs because he knew Christian was there and he wanted a chance to play with him. So when they first meet Vincent already knows a ton about Christian and he has to act like he isn’t the biggest fankid in the world and try to just be cool like…he is your teammate and your peer now, you can’t just stare at him and gush over him. Meanwhile Christian is his usual oblivious self who has no idea that Vincent has had a crush on him since he was a teenager.

8. How often do people catch onto your little details?

Honestly…I have no idea. I don’t even know if *I* catch on to my little details. If any of my readers out there want to weigh in on this I’m happy to know. Same with podfic…how often do people catch the little effects I put in. Sometimes they are in your face, but sometimes they’re pretty subtle so I wonder if anyone notices them or not.

This is an interesting question. No one has ever really mentioned them to me, but I am always interested at the things people do pick up in my writing because I’m like oh, you’re right, but…I never meant that to be a thing, but there it is! So it’s always a fun surprise, even for me.

Thanks! Fun as always. Sorry I got a bit out of control with the dialogue. Dialogue is one of my favourite things to do.

4 notes · View notes

southsidelover · 7 years ago

Note

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (am i too late)

stars for our headcanons meme + @quaintquandary

Won’t be doing ALL 12, but going to clip for the ones I did do!

BEER PONG - CHERYL BLOSSOM

Let it come down to a game, then, the party still raging, regardless of the fear that trembled within Cheryl Blossom. The warpath she tried to blaze almost a little funny given the drunken company, most of which weren’t in this for the drama, and thus waved it off, despite the fact that she’d asked several of her paramours to retrieve her camera from them. But that was the thing about being the drug dealer to a bunch of college boys, they never quite wanted to piss her off. That and the knife that she kept hidden within her back pocket, but they knew better than to speak of that. All the same, she was left challenged, instead, to a game of beer pong - the winner getting one wish, with Cheryl’s intent clear as day.

Her laugher was loud, clearly loving every moment, even the ones in which she lost and had to take her drinks, her cups refilled without a bat from her. But unfortunately for the other girl, her aim was far better despite what she put down, wanting to make it clear that she had no intention of giving up her camera, which hung in defiance around her neck by it’s strap. Balls left bouncing against the temporary table that they’d set up just for this, ping-pong balls ready by the dozens. Ignoring the world around them as she bounced yet another into the other’s cup, cheering, as she brought down the redhead’s house of cards.

“It’s okay. Maybe next time, huh?” was the only condolence that she dared to offer, fingers slipping along the lens, with a near loving gesture, a shrug affecting her shoulders in the temporary now. “Honestly, you were a good competitor. You tried. So bravo, Blossom, you showed commitment to the cause. But hey, let me make sure you at least find a ride home? That’ll be my wish.” because even if the girl had shown her nothing but insults and flashed cash in her way, as if she were so easily bought and sold, it didn’t mean that she deserved anything bad happening to her just because of a night out with drinks and bad company. Already on her phone, eyes on her for a moment, figuring that she could afford the fare for cab once sized up, chattering into the phone and making sure that there’d be one here, soon, ready to help her into it once it arrived.

STARVING - DAMON SALVATORE

There was rarely a chance within which she and Damon Salvatore were ever found alone together. Something about his presence left her feeling uneasy, and it had nothing to do with the ugliness that he allowed to pour from his mouth in a vitriolic state of mind. Instead it was the heaviness within which he sunk into while attempting to forego what truth lay in front of him. Even now, at this party, it felt weird to see him, as she downed another cup of liquor, moving outside to smoke a j on her own. Feeling the pinch of the filter between her fingers, her way of getting away from the noise for just a little bit, having felt she deserved a little distance between the music and the peace outside. Some boujee party at a house of someone she didn’t know, but who cared, as long as it was a good time?

But there he was, following after her. The look he gave her made her stop cold, not quite sure what to make of the look on his face; something remiss, something colder than the chill she usually got around the boy who had a comeback for just about everything and an anger that she could never quite pinpoint, but she’d always came from a privileged white boy’s stance on living. “What?” her voice coiling with mild disgust whenever she was made uncomfortable, trying to place an audible barrier between them even as the high lifted up within her veins, not expecting him to take another step forwards, the words, “Starving,” coming from his lips.

The pain was sudden and her hand moved to stop him, but remained frozen. A sudden dizziness overcoming her as she felt everything grow a little weaker, a little heavier, a sudden sweep of exhaustion making her want to slip. Did they really drink too much? “No hickey.” her voice sounded like a slur, a sound far removed from herself, as if she were drugged, other than the ones that she ingested herself with a willingness. A sleepiness that she couldn’t explain, trying to speak past a thickened tongue, “I’m too tired for this shit.” like that’d ever work, though he seemed to let her go with a strange light to him, as he laughed at her and said she was a mess, her hand able to move, now, snapping to the railing to keep herself standing, scowling at him as she pressed the joint to her lips and found that it wasn’t there any longer, surprised and confused, left blinking, blankly, on her own.

PHOTOGRAPHY LESSONS - JB JONES

She came around often, even though it felt as if there were hardly any answers that she was willing to give her. The persistence that she displayed admirable at least, dark eyes flickering her way with amusement for a moment before settling back on her camera, where she was in the middle of sorting through the latest shots that she’d taken on a computer within the lab in the school. Another perk of a school with funding, Toni felt as if there was just so much more she could do with her work, clicking her way through shots, selectively cutting her way through them with a ruthlessness that one wouldn’t have expected from someone who otherwise faced so many things in her life with a certain laissez faire attitude.

JB hanging around in the seat next to her, as if trying to discern the mystery within her shots, laughing softly, as she flipping to a few. “Here’s your brother.” figuring he was outwards enough by now with his association with the Serpents, hanging around them, his jacket on, for her to know without the air of secrecy hanging around it. The shot showcased him, his face alight and filled with that strange passion, his beanie slightly askew, his fingers pointed as if in the middle of an argument. Head tilting, she’d save that one, clicking onto the next one, and then the next. Her subjects typically Southside residents, within the good, the bad, the ugly of their day to day, including drug deals, addicts, the worst that came out of what they experienced.

“See anything cool yet?” feeling that quiet grow between them, the intensity of the smaller girl unnerving her, somewhat. Glancing her way with a halfway stare, she was so much like her mother and she wondered if she even realized it. Adjusting the camera that sat, plugged in, at the side. “… do you think you might ever wanna come along when I’m doing my shots? You might like it. Get to know your neighbourhood a little better. I know your dad kept you away from it forever but… I figure you’re old enough now to see it for yourself to come to your own conclusions.”

#( ask ) &&. one for the road #( replies ) &&. sky is tumbling #( cheryl blossom ) &&. my favorite part #[ damon salvatore: i know why you're mad at me / i've got demon eyes / and they're looking right through your anatomy ]#( jb jones ) &&. another brick in the wall #quaintquandary

2 notes · View notes

yupuffin · 7 years ago

Text

Why I love Nezumi

I’ve now had a week or two to digest the tail end of Juuni Taisen, and I have another week or two ahead until I watch it again (actually for the third time) when Funimation releases the dub, and of course Juuni Taisen is all that has been on my mind since then. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings swimming around in my head so it might help to write them down into a slightly more coherent mess.

Spoilers ahead! I recommend you finish the whole anime before proceeding!

(also just a quick warning this is a lOT LONGER THAN I INITIALLY INTENDED ;7;)

The vast majority of the time, when I watch an anime or read a manga, I will have one favorite character out of everyone, who I quickly latch onto visibly more than the rest. It’s not always easy to tell who will become my favorite when I start a new series. Especially not with the storytelling in Juuni Taisen, in which we barely get exposed to a character until they get one episode of “me” time and then promptly die. A few episodes in, I thought Dog was cool, Ox was cool, and Rat was okay (if only because I still have some mad respect for rats after watching/reading No. 6 a few times).

I semi-jokingly pondered to myself a few times that the only character I’d really get attached to was the one who got the most screen time and thereby won the Zodiac War -- in other words, the only one who didn’t die. Obviously, that’s what happened, although for additional reasons I hadn’t initially anticipated.

A few days after I finished the anime, I said to myself, “I was prepared for 99 things, but that ending was not one of them.”

By the time I started episode 11 for the first time, I hadn’t gotten full-on attached to Nezumi yet, beyond thinking he was kind of a neat character (mostly due to him surviving this long). But then, that STORYTELLING.

At the end of high school, I wrote an essay on another anime (Free! for anyone who’s curious) about the “hesitation effect,” a device used in writing to indicate a surreal, dreamlike and uncertain state. Put shortly, writers employ the hesitation effect via ambiguity and situations that are only just strange or unrealistic enough to make the reader stop and consider for a moment that maybe what’s happening isn’t 100% reality after all (hence the name).

Duodecuple launches into “Will you stay for an interview?” mode. Nezumi refuses, quietly gets up and heads for the elevator. In the middle of the descent, the elevator malfunctions, and Nezumi plunges to his death.

But then... it REWINDS! We’re back at Duodecuple going “Will you stay for an interview?,” followed by Nezumi refusing, quietly getting up and heading for an elevator - exactly as before. This time, foreseeing the elevator accident, Nezumi takes the stairs, only to be shoved from behind, (apparently) plunging to his death (again).

But then... it REWINDS! Again!

After enough iterations, I’m getting really sick of Duodecuple asking for an interview in the exact same tone, and it’s starting to give me a seriously creepy feeling. Moreover, watching Nezumi die several times in different, gruesome ways is far from pleasant. I’m laughing, but not because it’s funny - it’s that confused laugh that you get when a situation is really tense and strange and you want to dispel the pungent aura of anxiety from the air. I have no idea what’s going on, but what is certain is that this anime is making me feel exactly what it wanted me to feel.

Finally we get to Nezumi explaining how his special ability, “The Hundred Paths of Nezumi-san” (or “Hundred Click,” its Japanese name), allows him to read one hundred different outcomes of a situation and make his choice accordingly.

A few different lightbulbs go off in my brain at once. First is the satisfying “click” of the link bto the repeated death sequences. But perhaps more appealing is the second lightbulb moment. I’m brought back to one a quote from my favorite manga, Wild Adapter, written and illustrated by a genius named Kazuya Minekura. It goes something like: “There’s no point in regret -- no point in wanting to turn back time -- because there’s no guarantee that any choice is the right one.”

The genius of art is that two very different pieces can express the exact same notion. In this case, the two situations are opposite: as for Nezumi, he can find out exactly which choice is the right one, idealizing any situation to avoid regrets (supposedly!!). In the case of Wild Adapter, the character who thinks this quote went down a less-than-ideal path in life and ends up in a bit of trouble, but decides to think positively anyway precisely because he does not have Nezumi’s foresight ability to tell him “if I had made this choice differently a little while back, this is where my life would be right now.”

As Nezumi mentions later, there are some situations you could do-over one hundred times and still not have them work out. Things like that are just out of your control. Even if you think you slipped up somewhere, there’s no telling for sure that doing something different would have helped you come out the other side any better off. Regret can only do so much, so in a lot of cases it’s better to live without it.

That was just episode 11. That had me thinking hard for a long time. Fortunately, I was late enough for the hype train only had to wait a couple days for the final episode.

Knowing Nezumi was charged with coming up with one ideal wish out of one hundred possibilities, I started wracking my brain for real game-changing wishes that might make sense. Maybe he’d wish the Juuni Taisen would never occur again? Perhaps he’d wish away his special ability so he didn’t have to use a ton of effort just to overthink everything?

Most of the final episode was an anticipatory buildup. It was nice -- even a bit emotionally disarming -- to see all of the previous characters again, getting reminded why they existed and what they brought to the series. By the moment Nezumi was considering a hundred different wishes simultaneously, I was a nervous wreck. You’re totally overthinking this! I inwardly shouted at the screen. Just pick something! (My mindset is, if there’s so many good potential wishes, there isn’t really a “wrong” choice!)

Nezumi faced Duodecuple. “I’ve decided.”

I was leaning forward in my seat, staring almost accusingly at Nezumi as though doing so would make time move faster.

“Just let me forget.”

Feeling my tension evaporate, leaving behind an aching hollow feeling, I sat back down, essentially crouching in my seat. “Okay.”

As the episode drew to a close, I was feeling two very opposite feelings. One half of me was delighted, relieved, and felt like doing a happy dance because Nezumi was finally free of his trauma. The other half was grieving and wanted to turn off my computer and just have a good cry. Of course, the two of them conflicting and at a stalemate, I just sat there and stared at the wall for a while.

I was sad because such a simple wish felt very anticlimactic. If Nezumi forgot that the entire Juuni Taisen ever happened, then what was the point to the entire anime? Surely there were countless things he could learn from experiencing it, let alone one hundred separate times? Why wish for something dumb like “forget it happened?” Moreover, Nezumi was a level-headed, apathetic character throughout most of the series -- suddenly, in the final minute of the final episode, we have him crying right in front of our faces: a reveal of the unimaginable stress he hadn’t even hinted at until just now. I don’t know about you, but unexpected displays of emotion from serious characters tend to tug at my heartstrings quite a bit.

Which leads to the reason I was happy. Put most simply, it was refreshing and cathartic to see Nezumi finally content at the very end of the series, still alive, but having forgotten everything he and the reader had invested in the prior twelve episodes.

The thing is, “forget it happened” is far from a dumb wish. Sure, “I want a penguin” is probably a better wish from my standpoint, but when I think back to how anxious I was watching mere second-long clips of Nezumi dying while attempting to escape Duodecuple’s interview, I can’t imagine what Nezumi experienced dying -- probably violently -- ninety-nine other times in the failed Juuni Taisen “routes” and remembering every single one. I didn’t pay much attention when he first said it, but thinking back, his indication that those ninety-nine other deaths are still burned into his memory, even though they never happened, is crucial.

Another quote from Wild Adapter: “Sometimes it’s better not to remember.”

At a convention earlier this year, I gave a lecture-style panel on memory and trauma in the manga Deadman Wonderland. Long story short, my conclusion was the following: remembering traumatic experiences can be downright excruciating. In many cases, there are indeed things you can learn from them, but the question is whether this benefit outweighs the drawback of having to carry those memories with you as long as they last.

From Nezumi’s point of view, I would much rather forget dying 139 (99 plus the other 40) times than remember whatever satisfying tidbits on life I got from the experience.

As much as I would rather Nezumi have an emotional support penguin, forgetting trauma really is the best choice for him. Freed of the burden of overthinking one hundred outcomes of choices that can risk his life or death, he can go back to being a (relatively) normal high school student whose only expectations are to survive society, rather than a brutal war to the death among twelve fighters -- and then just use his ability whenever he thinks is necessary, like asking out a cute girl.

That being said, after all that, I’m sure if one of Nezumi’s top 100 wishes really is to have a girlfriend, or even a best friend, I’m sure there are plenty of members of this fandom -- including me -- who would be willing to oblige.

#juni taisen #juuni taisen #juni taisen zodiac war #if you read this to the end you should get some kind of prize or something it's so long #anime analysis

44 notes · View notes

yuniesan · 7 years ago

Text

Matters of the Heart - Chapter Seven

Matters of the Heart (Rucas Adult AU)

Summary: Lucas worked hard all of his life protecting his family. During the day he works at his security firm, at night he runs a bar in New York with his best friend and his sister, making sure that no one interferes in his business, or assaults his customers.

Riley thought she had everything she could have wished for cool friends a boyfriend who cared too much and loving parents, except she didn’t know what she wanted from her life. Her life never felt like it was hers. She saw graduate school as a way to learn more about the world and about herself.

Until they met and realized there was much more to the world than what they had thought they knew.

Chapters [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

A/N: So much FLUFF!!!!!! also I hit 9K with this chapter and I’m happy about that because I did it without angst.... well not much angst.

Chapter 7 – Meddling Friends, aren’t really meddling

Maya was angry at her brother she couldn’t believe that he wouldn’t listen to her about how much him and Riley would be good together instead he couldn’t get his head out of his ass and ask her out. Now Riley was dating some random person they knew nothing about and he was just sitting on his ass working. She had asked Josh about who the person was but even he didn’t know what was happening. She didn’t want her brother to lose a chance with someone who would be good for him. She wanted him to have something special after everything that had happened.

After her conversation with Josh after Riley had rushed out of the bar a few nights before she couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened to Lucas all of these years. The memory of what he was like in high school came flooding back and they were painful to remember because there had been moments when she thought she would lose him to his anger. Instead he closed himself off and started fighting who ever bullied someone else. He was always protecting someone, especially her and her mother but in the end he let himself get lost in the mix.

He dated for the sake of it, so that he wouldn’t worry their mother, but he never clicked with anyone, Zay thankfully became his friend but that was it. She didn’t want him to lose himself all over again, she wanted him to live. She knew in her heart that Riley was that for him, a new start and a chance at real love except now he had gone and messed that up too.

Walking into the bar she slammed his office door open making him glare at her, which didn’t faze her in the slightest because she had seen that glare growing up. She didn’t care what he thought even as she stomped her way over to his desk.

“If you break the door I’m docking it from your paycheck,” Lucas said to her but she ignored him and slammed her hands down on the table.

“Seriously Lucas what the hell,” she said to him. “Why can’t you ever listen to me Lucas,” she yelled out and he just rolled his eyes at her and continued to look at the paperwork.

“I don’t listen to you because I have work to do and if someone had done their shift last night I wouldn’t have to deal with changing the payroll around to make up for it,” he said to her as he shifted through the papers. “Maya it’s eight in the morning, I still have to be in the office at ten today, can you please not do this right now?”

“No,” she said crossing her arms. “I have to be at school later and I work tonight so we’re going to do this now.”

Maya walked over to the other side of the desk and pulled Lucas’s chair away from his desk and pushed him towards the window before staring him down.

“Listen,” she said looking at her brother. “I’ve watched you date around, I’ve watched you get into fights and all those times I’ve never cared because I know what you’ve been through because I was there too, but damn it Lucas this time I’m getting involved.”

“And why now?”

“Because Lucas I want you to be happy,” she said feeling her heart breaking thinking of all of the times he had stood between her and her father. She wanted him to have a future that’s not marred by what happened in his past. “Lucas you’re my big brother, I just want you to have something that’s not work, that’s not taking care of everyone, something that is… well something that’s good.”

“Don’t worry Maya,” he said with a sigh. “When I find it I’ll tell you.”

“I hope so because honestly I don’t think you can do it yourself,” she said before kissing him on his head. “Plus mom would be pretty angry if I get married before you do, since she’s been fighting for your happiness the longest.”

“I know,” he said as he hugged his sister. “Just remember that if Josh hurts you I’ll kick his ass.”

“Yeah I know, and Lucas,” she said as she pulled away. “Steal Riley from this person she’s seeing because honestly I think that you two would be really good together.”

Lucas couldn’t help but laugh at what he was hearing, his sister was telling him to force Riley to break up with himself. Except he knew that Maya didn’t know that he was the one who had been with Riley at the movies the night before but it was interesting to watch Maya freak out over it all. He would tease her if it weren’t for the fact that he needed to finish working before heading out for the day.

“Listen,” he said looking at his sister. “How about you worry about the trip, and forget about my love life for now. I’m swamped with work and I really don’t have time right now, it’s a busy time at the office and even busier here at the bar.”

“Fine,” she grunted at him, he knew the fight wasn’t over but for now he was fine with the stalemate they were headed towards. “I’ll see you tonight you workaholic freak of a brother of mine.”

“See you tonight, and say hi to Josh for me,” he said to her as a way of meeting her in the middle.

He worked for another hour and a half before heading towards his company office, thinking along the way of how to go on a date with Riley where no one they knew was bound to find them. It was hard especially since they lived in a city like New York. There was always a chance of being caught, even if they tried to be careful.

Walking into the office he waved a quick hello at Darby, grabbing his messages before walking into his office. Riley was standing at his desk her back turned towards him while she placed files in order on the desk, taking a sip of her iced coffee and mumbling to herself words that he couldn’t hear.

“You know,” he said startling her as he put his arms around her waist. “You’re very cute when you do that.”

He could feel her skin heat up as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips, she tasted like her favorite coffee and smelled like heaven to him. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to get over the smell and taste of her, it was burned into his brain. They hadn’t gone pass the kissing stage of their relationship and he realized that he didn’t care, he enjoyed those moments and wouldn’t push for anything more until she was ready for it. He was happy just to learn the little quirks that she had and the feel of her face as he rubbed his thumb over her cheek. He hadn’t realized how much he enjoyed something so simple until he met Riley.

“So my sister was yelling at me this morning,” he mentioned once he pulled away from her missing the warmth of her body against his. “She demanded that I go and break you and your mystery boyfriend apart… too bad that would mean that I would lose my morning kisses, and those talks we like to have when no one is looking.”

“It would be funny to watch you kick your own ass,” she said setting down the last of the papers. “Except that would have to wait until after your client meeting this morning.”

“Forget them,” he said as he pulling her close again just to smell the strawberry shampoo she had used on her hair. “All that matters is that we’re together and no one knows.”

“Yeah except this is a big account and you can’t forget them, but hey we can go on a date this weekend if you want.”

“That’s too far away, what about tonight?” he whined, and realized that he had never done that with anyone else, not even his mother.

“Having dinner with Josh tonight,” she said as she pulled him towards the couch. “How about tomorrow?”

“Dinner with the Levy account… the day after?”

“Sorry shopping with Isadora for the trip.”

“Well it was nice knowing you,” he said with a huff, when had they gotten so busy that they didn’t have time to go out. “Why are we so busy?”

“We work, we have friends, and no one knows we’re together so they make plans thinking we’re single,” she said as she put her head on his shoulder. “How about the day we’re supposed to leave for the trip I say I have to work late, and you tell everyone that you have paperwork to finish and we’ll go on a date that night.”

“That sounds diabolical, especially since they’ll all be out of the city probably planning ways for us to be together… but it sounds alright with me,” he said as he pulled her hair out of the clip she had on and ran his fingers through the waves. “I’ll volunteer to drive you and we can have a nice quiet date at my place, I can cook, we can watch a movie and cuddle on the couch.”

“Ohhh, I’ve never been to your place, I wonder if you have enough time to take down all of those posters of half-naked women before I get there?” she said teasing him before smiling and standing up.

The smile was what was going to kill him, because he knew she was joking but he also knew that when she smiled it warmed him from the inside. It was always zero to sixty whenever she was around and he didn’t know how to thinking of it other than being near her all of the time and seeing what she would say or do next.

The day went faster than Riley expected, the moment Lucas came in her mind had become a blur, it was fun and interesting, while intense all at the same time. She didn’t know if she was getting whiplash half the time but for the first time in her life it was nice to not have to really think about anything other than being herself. Then the moment the day ended everything that happened felt like it was a world away especially since she was going to have dinner with Josh.

In her heart she hopped that he would have taken her seriously especially when it came to the fact that she wanted to move forward instead of living in the past. The knowledge that her father was Josh’s brother was always there, but she didn’t want to dwell too much in her past for now. She had meant what she had told everyone, she wanted to find her own way and if the memories came back she would talk to them about it but for now it was up to her to live.

So when she walked into the Italian restaurant that Josh had asked her to meet up at she wasn’t expecting much outside of their usual friendly talks. Josh was sitting alone in a nearby table looking at a menu while tapping his fingers on the back of the menu.

“Hey Josh,” she said as she sat down in front of him. He gave her a small smile before putting the menu down.

“Hey Riley,” he said looking at her for the first time. It had been strange for so long between them because she had always sensed that Josh had been looking for a piece of her father in her and never found it. Now it feels as if he were seeing her, as Riley Matthews for the first time without thinking about their shared connection.

“What’s good here?” she asked picking up the menu but Josh just shrugged before smiling.

“I figured we could share a pizza like when we were kids and just talk,” he said, and she knew he had somethings to say that she would have to deflect especially since he knew that she had been at the movie theater the night before.

“What does this talk entail?” she questioned him because she wasn’t going to be able to get away from the interrogation that was coming her way.

“Many things, such as your life, school, your job… that guy I saw you with at the movies yesterday,” he mumbled the last part and she almost missed it. Riley could feel her face heat up, she knew that he had seen her, she knew it would come up, but she didn’t know how she was going to talk about any of it just yet.

“You know Maya’s upset, she swears that you and Lucas would have the romance of a lifetime,” he continued while tapping his fingers on the table which only made he nervous. “Which makes me feel inadequate sometimes, but I also know that it’s just her way of wanting her brother to have something good.”

“What does that have to do with me?” she deflected in the only way she knew how, but drawing the conversation back to Josh.

“Well she’s upset because she swears that Lucas missed his chance with you because you’re going out on dates with someone I don’t even know.”

“Well it’s my life isn’t it?” she said looking directly at him hoping that he couldn’t see that she was trying to keep her secret to herself. “I want to live a little for once so that means I get to go out on dates. Josh it’s not a foreign concept I’m allowed to have a life.”

He sighed before running his hands through his hair. “I know Riles, it’s just weird for me.”

“What is?”

“You keeping secrets of any kind, you used to tell me everything, now you’re not telling me anything about this guy. I need to know who to give the shovel talk to so that I know that he won’t hurt you.”

Riley sighed running her fingers over the cover of the menu, “Josh, it’s not a secret if you’ve seen us, but I guess I just want something that’s just mine for now. The moment I tell you about him, I lose that,” she didn’t think that she would lose much but for now it was something she wanted to hold onto.

“I guess I never thought the day would come where you would keep something from everyone, but I learned the other day that you’ve done that all along.”

His words hurt even though they were the truth, she had kept somethings from them for so long. They never knew she went to therapy, or that she had tried for so long to get back something that she knew was impossible to get when her mind was so messed up. She kept those parts of her life to herself because she hadn’t wanted to hurt them, but at the same time she had pushed them to stop talking about her parents and she knew it hurt them.

“I’ve never kept much from you or Shawn, it’s why I never had a lock on my diary growing up, but somethings I guess I don’t want to share,” she said trying to reach out to him and hoping that he understood. “It has nothing to do with either one of you.”

Josh looked at her his eyes holding a sadness in them, but she knew he understood. The waiter came and took their order, they didn’t smile, they didn’t talk again, instead they just sat there in silence waiting for their food. Both thinking over what they had been talking about and what had been said a few nights before. When the pizza came, steam wafting from the top as the smell of cheese, meat and vegetables mixed in the air around them. Riley felt herself relax again, this was normal, they’ve done it a million times before.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore for now,” she said as the pulled a slice off the tray, the cheese stretching out still connected to the other pieces of the pie. “I promise when I know that this relationship is serious I’ll come to you, for now let me just learn to date since the last relationship I was in was with Charlie and we all know how that turned out.”

“Okay,” he said with a small smile. “Remind me to kick Charlie, since I never got the chance to do it when you two were together. He deserves it for using you like that.”

“No, leave him alone, he’s the only one I would give a pass like that too because he is one of my best friends,” she said to him shocked since she knew Josh liked that Charlie was her friend. “Anyway tell me about you and Maya, you know… since she’s fighting so hard for her brother to date me.”

At the mention of his girlfriend, Josh’s eyes lit up and Riley knew he was a goner for the short blonde with an attitude and a heart of gold. Riley knew at that moment that Josh would ask Maya to marry him in the future and it was adorable especially since she’s never seen him smile and blush so much in her life.

“Well, she’s great, the other day she showed me this painting that she’s doing for her class and it was incredible, it was New York except the buildings were completely black and the only thing that was in color was the way the lights from the buildings change the night sky.”

“Maybe I’ll see if one day,” she said when a thought came to her head. “Maybe she should draw you next, since you two seem to hang out around each other so much lately.”

At those words Josh blushed harder and Riley wished that she hadn’t brought it up. “She asked me last week, we discussed it, but I don’t know just yet.”

“Eww, I think I just learned a little too much about your relationship,” she wanted to laugh at this but for some reason it gave her too many thoughts especially when it came to someone she was so close to.

“Not in the nude you freak of nature,” he said making her laugh.

They finally started to talk to one another in the easy way they had done so in the past, and it was something she didn’t want to lose so quickly because it meant losing her friendship with him. So she stuck to safe topics, nothing that would bring around her relationship with Lucas.

“You know I think something is really off with Lucas,” Zay said as he started closing up behind the bar. Making notes of what he needed to bring up and restock. “He’s working harder than normal but I’ve never seen him so happy.”

At those words Maya’s head shot up from where she was counting her tips, they were the last two people left in the bar other than Charlie and Josh who were both helping them close up faster so they could all go home.

“What do you mean?” Charlie said as he walked over to Zay with a bucket and a rag that he had used to clean up the tables.

“Well I’m sure you’ve seen it right, those little smiles he makes when he’s on his phone in the mornings,” Zay said directly at Maya who was paying closer attention now that Lucas’s name had been brought up. “I caught him whistling the other day, and while I find it weird, he was smiling at himself while making a sandwich.”

“It could have been a good sandwich,” Josh said as he sat down next to Maya taking her hand in his. Zay thought it was cute, especially since he had known Maya for so long and she normally didn’t get to handsy with her boyfriends.

“Nah he’s right,” Charlie said as he poured the dirty water out into the sink before running the dirt down the drain with the tap water. “I noticed it too when I was over there the other day. He seemed chipper, and I’ve only known him for the last month.”

“Now that you mention it,” Maya said as if something had struck her. “He’s been doing his paperwork for this place in the mornings instead of right after work.”

“And he’s been getting back later than usual which must be messing with his sleep schedule,” Zay added, it felt like they were trying to solve the mystery of Lucas, who had all of a sudden changed personality.

“Maybe he’s dating someone?” Josh said making everyone stop what they’re doing, the room was so quiet all you could hear was the steady breathing of the four people sitting around.

“No,” Maya said to Josh and Zay knew why, she was a part of the Lucas needs to be with Riley train. “He can’t be dating any one, he would have brought them to the bar so that we could decide if they were good enough for him.”

“Maya,” Josh said looking at his girlfriend. “Maybe it’s time to let go of this scheme you have going on to get your brother to date Riley.”

“It’s not a scheme, I really do think that they would be good together,” she said sighing as she collected her tips and put them into a small pouch she carried around. “I think I just have to lock them up together in a closet and they’ll see it.”

“She would do it too,” Zay said as he joined them at the table, Charlie not far behind him. “Any news on Riley’s mystery man?”

“No,” Josh said and Zay swore he saw a hint of something in the older man’s eyes. “She wouldn’t tell me anything at dinner the other night. It’s weird because we talk about everything but honestly I think I just want her to be happy so I’m letting it go for now.”

“But why,” Charlie asked Josh and Zay was curious too. “Why would she keep this from any of her friends?”

“She wants to have something normal… or at least that’s what she told me,” Josh said and they all knew that considering how Riley’s life has been up until now it was normal for her to want to keep something to herself.

“But what about Lucas,” Maya whined which made Zay smile. He knew Maya wanted what was best for her brother no matter what and for her Riley was that. “I don’t want him with someone else, most of the other girls he’s dated over the years turned out to be crazy and I’m not in the mood for that.”

“And we all know Riley’s not crazy,” Zay added with a smile. “Or at least I hope not.”

“She’s not babe, don’t worry,” Charlie said rubbing Zay’s back. “She’s a bit of a workaholic, but she likes to help people and makes the best mac and cheese even though she likes to put ketchup in it which is weird, and she takes care of her friends.”

“Ketchup on mac and cheese?” Maya said looking over at them with disgust. “That’s just gross.”

“Yeah but it’s the only really weird thing that she does so we let it pass,” Charlie said to Maya as he laid his head on Zay’s shoulder. Zay found the closeness comforting, they had learned to dance around each other for weeks now, slowly learning each other’s quirks, likes and dislikes, and the closeness was now something he constantly craved.

“Who cares about that maybe we just need a better plan,” Maya said turning her attention back to getting her brother a happy ending.

“Maya,” Josh said as if he were trying to reign her in. “Let them live, if they’re meant for each other it will happen, but meddling like we’re the Scooby gang isn’t going to make a difference if it just causes them to pull away from one another.”

“I know it’s just that they deserve at shot at being together, and I hate not being right about this it just bugs the shit out of me.”

At that the three guys burst out laughing while Maya pouted in her seat, Zay remembered the scheming person Maya had been in high school, she was always up to something so it was nice to see that side of her again.

“Fine,” Zay said looking over at his childhood friend. “Let’s make up a plan, how about since the rest of us are coupled up, we go with the locking them up together plan.”

“How do we do that?” she asked but turned to Josh with a pleading stare, Josh was looking at them with a questioning glare. “Josh I know she’s your niece but don’t mess this up for me please.”

“Fine, but nothing too crazy,” Josh said caving into Maya’s puppy dog eyes.

“Well if I remember correctly there were four rooms at the cabin,” Charlie said before taking out a piece of paper and drawing out the floor plan to the house. “Three of them had kings sized beds, and one had two double beds, but Farkle told me that his parents had renovated the place so I think they’re all the same now.”

“Is this room really that far from the rest?” Zay said looking at the plan that Charlie had drawn up.

“Yeah, it’s Riley’s favorite room, the last time we went she had stood at the window and stared out at the lake for an hour as the sun set,” Charlie said before the both of them looked at one another. “She’s going to want to be in that room.”

“So we’ll put her and Lucas in there,” Zay added with a smile.

“Wait so does this mean that I get to lock them into the room together?” Maya asked smiling at the group.

“No Maya,” Josh said to her giving her a small smile. “No locking just let them have the room and if anything happens I can still get in there and kick his ass.”

“So you’re going along with this plan,” Maya said her eyes lighting up at the prospect of being able to do what she had been planning all along.

“Fine, if it makes you happy,” Josh said throwing his hands in the air before settling them on her shoulders. “But you’re going to be the ones who suffer her wrath when she finds out.”

“That’s fine with me,” she said before they turned back to planning out the trip.

For some reason Zay wasn’t sure if what they were planning was a good idea or a horrible idea, but if it meant that Maya would stop planning in the end it didn’t matter. If Lucas and Riley ended up together because of this and they found out, it could either end the relationship or cause a rift between all of their friendships.

The rest of the two weeks leading up to their mini vacation was filled with paperwork and business dinners for Lucas, he didn’t have time for anything else even if he tried. Riley had been pushing to have everything done before the long weekend so he was working harder than normal which set up the pretense for the both of them that they would drive up together later that night. This only made Maya insufferable since she was pushing even harder for the two of them to get together.

Lucas was never sure of what to think about his sister’s plans, or anything and honestly he didn’t have the time to deal with it either so he worked. Riley was always running around, confirming documents, getting them to where they needed to be. While he talked with clients, explained to them what the company did and made sure that they signed the paperwork needed for efficiency. He hadn’t realized how well they worked together until the day they all had to leave for the cabin, because Riley had made sure that everything was in place before they left. It was nearly nine at night before they finished up, Maya had sent him a message that the group had arrived at the cabin and to hurry up and get there.

“Are you tired?” Lucas asked looking over at Riley who was still buzzing around with energy.

“Not really,” she said shrugging her shoulders. “But I drank about three cups of coffee so I’ll probably crash really hard later.”

“Come here,” he said pulling her towards the couch in the office. “I think you’ve done enough, we’re ahead of schedule for almost everything now so you can relax.”

Her shoulders slumped as if all the energy she had stored up had finally drained out of her, so he pulled up her legs and took off her shoes. She groaned the moment they had come off and he had nothing but sympathy for her. He couldn’t understand how she was able to do everything she did in those stilettos, and he knew her feet ached. Her bare legs on his lap he couldn’t help but rub them, slowly squeezing the ball of her foot which made her sigh.

“We’re not going to make it to my apartment in time to watch a movie, but we could order take out and eat here before we leave,” he said as a suggestion, but all he got from Riley was a nod, he couldn’t help but smile at how quickly she relaxed around him. “Do you have any request?”

“Sweet and sour pork,” she said as she pushed herself back on the couch. “Dumplings… and maybe some rice.”

“Okay,” he said pulling out his phone with his free hand while he continued to rub her foot. Putting the order in with his favorite Chinese food restaurant was easy, he had an open account with them and he tipped very well on days where he had to work late and he was their last customer.

“You know,” she said once he hung up. “There’s a hot spring near the cabin, if we want some alone time before we get there we could stop by and take in a quick soak.”

He couldn’t help but smile, “You’re only saying that because you’re tired and need something to relax you.”

“Yes, but also because we didn’t get the chance to have a proper date in the last two weeks. I want some time with you that doesn’t involve either one of us working, or dodging questions from our friends and family.”

“Alright, I guess we could change into our bathing suits before we leave and stop there on the way, but wouldn’t they find it suspicious if we show up soaking wet?”

“Doubt they’ll be awake by the time we get there,” she said pulling her leg away from his lap and sitting up next to him.

When the food came they ate in silence, Lucas pulled up a movie on his tablet and they had their impromptu date in the office instead of his apartment. Watching a Disney movie because they couldn’t decide on anything and instead just went with something they both knew. He couldn’t help but smile every time Riley yawned next to him, but they still had a drive ahead of them and they needed to change. So he sent her off to the bathroom to change her clothes while he changed in the office.

Once they were on the road Riley was asleep, she had given him directions to the hot springs along with directions to the cabin, but the tiredness overtook her and he spent the two-and-a-half-hour drive looking over at her sleeping face and finding it adorable. She smiled in her sleep, and if he said something to her she would blush and it warmed his heart. He almost decided against stopping at the hot spring but she had woken up just as he made the turn off from the highway.

“Sorry,” she said as she tried to make herself look presentable. To Lucas she was the most beautiful person in the world.

“Don’t worry, you were tired, hell I’m tired but I can last longer than you I’m pretty sure of that,” he said knowing of the sleepless nights he sometimes had when he was working too much. His skin bubbled with energy because he needed to get everything done in time, that was before Riley was there helping him, before anyone knew that he worked harder than they saw.

Riley couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep, they should have been talking the whole time, but she had had a paper due while helping Lucas as his assistant, and every once and a while getting a million questions from her friends about the mystery guy she was seeing. She hadn’t slept a lot in the last few days and she was tired and in need of a dip in the springs to get her body to relax enough for her to sleep without freaking out that she was late when it came to everything she was doing.

“That’s the turn off for the hot springs,” she said pointing out the small road that led away from where they were headed. The cabin was further down the main road but she wanted to relax.

“Excited?” Lucas asked quirking his eyebrow at her and she couldn’t help but smile at him.

“We haven’t really had a moment alone outside of work, and I’ve been busy with school, so yeah I am excited to spend some time with my boyfriend,” she said and she couldn’t help but blush the moment the word left her mouth. They had discussed it before, but sometimes it felt so new to her that just mentioning it made her turn red.

Lucas pulled the car over and took her hand, giving her a quick kiss on the lips, “Let’s go and relax and we can talk about how you like it when you call me your boyfriend. Because honestly I love calling you my girlfriend.”

At the sound of that word her heart sped up and she could swear that somewhere in her mind she knew that this was a once in a lifetime moment, almost as if something was telling her this was what she had been waiting for but she didn’t want to go down that road just yet. So instead she pulled out a towel and took his hand and pulled him towards the spring.

The place was quiet, lit up only by the moonlight, but the steam rising from it made it warm enough that they didn’t have to worry about being cold. It reminded her of that night weeks before where he had taken her to the beach and she ran into the ocean without thinking about anything. Just the thought of being free and going forward. Riley took off her shirt and pants, revealing a two-piece bikini, somehow this felt more revealing than running off in her underwear. When she turned around she was faced with a bare chested Lucas and she knew at that moment that she should have found a way to get him to take his shirt off more often. He was cut up like a Greek statue and it wasn’t fair, it was like he was made in a factory and a made in America stamp would be at the bottom of his foot.

Her throat was dry and her heart was ready to tell her to jump on top of him, everything else be damned, instead she walked over to the water and get inside hoping that it would mask the feelings she was having, or at least the fact that her face was turning red. Lucas smiled at her before coming in to the water to join her.

“This is nice,” he said as he walked over to where she had decided to sit down. “I never thought that there were places like this in New York.”

“There’s a lot of places like this, and it’s nice to get away from the busy life in the city,” she said as she took in the sight of him in a place that she hadn’t really shared with anyone else.

Lucas put his arm around her shoulders and leaned into kiss her on the cheek, but she turned her head to say something and was met with his mouth. Instead of pulling away she decided to open her mouth and swipe her tongue over his lips. It was a bold move even for her but they’ve made out several times since they started dating so it shouldn’t be that bold. Except now it felt more intimate than before because they were wearing less clothes than they normally did. She was going to pull away but Lucas deepened the kiss and she knew she was gone. Lost in the heat of the water and the feel of his skin against hers, this was different and she liked it. Lucas let out a groan before pulling away from her and she almost cried at the loss of contact.

“As much as I would love to keep going,” he said leaning his head against hers. “I don’t mind taking this relationship slow.”

“I don’t mind that either,” she said as she ran her fingers down his face. “Though making out is a lot more fun than I remember,” she couldn’t help but giggle as she said it. It was as if she were reliving a part of her life where she was given the chance to have something so completely normal without all of the baggage.

“I don’t mind that either,” he said before pulling away. “Now I know you’re only supposed to stay in the water for a short amount of time or else you can get dizzy.”

“I think the max is an hour, I’m not entirely sure,” she said but she had never stay in the water longer than an hour so she never tempted fate with it.

They had been in there for more than twenty minutes, the kissing had taken up a lot of time, but it had been worth it. She was about to say something when she heard something crinkle and crack somewhere nearby. She wasn’t sure if it had been an animal so she clung close to Lucas and he kissed her on the head and held her close.

“I fucking knew it,” someone called out from behind the trees making the two of them jump up.

A flashlight turned on revealing Charlie and Zay looking at them and Riley honestly wanted to drown herself.

“I knew something was off when you wouldn’t tell me about your job, and then that day at the movies when we saw you,” Charlie said pulling Zay closer to the hot spring. “I pulled away to see where you had gone but I only saw Lucas at the concession stand. So that had me thinking about why Lucas would be there but I didn’t tell anyone, I wasn’t sure, but he had been the one who had taken you away after your panic attack, and then Josh and Maya started talking about these talks they had with the both of you, and too many things started adding up.”

“Sugar, you need to breathe,” Zay said to Charlie while he rubbed his arm. “How did I miss this anyway?”

“Don’t worry too much, Charlie works for a magazine remember, he’s good at figuring things like this out,” Riley said feeling like she should have worked harder at hiding things.

Charlie was smiling at the two of them which only made her feel insecure about the fact that she was only wearing a bikini and nothing else. Even though her best friend was gay, it still felt weird because the couple was ogling them trying to figure out how they had hidden their relationship.

“You’re the mysterious assistant that Lucas’s mom mentioned to Maya,” Zay said after a heartbeat had passed. “Your mom is the only one who knew from the beginning and honestly I want to know how.”

“Long story, let’s just say I’m never allowed to lie to my mother,” Lucas answered but Riley wasn’t sure how she felt about any of this.

“And to think we were scheming just to force you two into a room together and you two had already one upped us,” Charlie said as he walked into the water. “I can’t wait to tell the rest of the group.”

“Oh god Maya is going to be insufferable,” Lucas said with a groan. “Can we just drive back to the city, better yet move to a town where no one knows our names and can’t rat us out.”

“She can’t be that bad,” Riley said to him but Zay looked over at her and smile.

“Hon she’s worse,” Zay said.

“Okay, I’ll go get dressed and we can drive to Canada… wait… Josh is going to give you the shovel speech, I don’t want to live through any of this, I just wanted something nice normal and quiet and now we’re going to be interrogated and skinned alive at the same time.”

“Okay it’s not going to be that bad geez you two make it seem as if we’re going to kill you and shove you in the basement,” Zay said to them with a smile.

Lucas pulled her close and gave her a hug, “How about we just deal with this now, and then we can figure the rest of it out later.”

“Yeah considering she had planned to lock you two in the same room,” Charlie said smiling at them. “I guess that plan would have just given the two of you more time together instead of causing some huge rift between you and Maya for plotting it in the first place.”

“Charlie we all made that plan,” Zay added causing Charlie to blush.

Riley climbed out and walked towards where she left the towel, drying herself as best as she could before pulling her pants back on and throwing her shirt over it. The cool October air made her shiver and she couldn’t help but think that this was going to end badly. Lucas joined her a minute later only pulling a sweatshirt on and his shoes before taking her hand and pulling her towards the car. He was rubbing slow circles on her hand, calming her nerves until she heard another rustle in the woods. She figured it was just Charlie and Zay but she could still hear them splashing around in the water.

It was just the woods, animals walked around all the time, she thought to herself. Nothing to worry about.

“What are you thinking about?” Lucas asked as they reached the car.

“Nothing just wondering if the animals were going to kill us before we got to the house,” she told him honestly.

Lucas laughed for a moment before pulling her close. “I’ll protect you don’t worry.”

Riley leaned into his arms savoring the warmth of his body, she couldn’t understand why she felt so cold all of a sudden but being in Lucas’s arms made her feel safe so it shouldn’t be too bad. Charlie and Zay made their way over to them and Riley honestly would have left them behind if it meant not having to deal with what was coming. But in the end they had to deal with it regardless even if it was too soon for it all.

“Don’t worry,” Lucas whispered in her ear.

“I won’t, but I guess I just wish we had more time.”

“Yeah well now they might actually leave us alone and not ask us to go out and eat with them just so they could interrogate us.”

Riley laughed, he was right about one thing. “Yeah, and we could go on dates where we didn’t have to hide if we saw them.”

“My mother wants to meet you,” Lucas said to her with a smile. “If you think it’s too soon I could try and hold her off a little longer.”

Riley felt something inside of her light up, “She wants to meet me?”

“Yeah, but it can wait if you’re not ready.”

“This is just a big step in this relationship, I don’t even know if Josh has met her.”

“He hasn’t, I don’t know why but I know he hasn’t, but she wants to meet you and if you’re alright with that I wouldn’t mind taking you to see her.”

“How about this Saturday, instead of going to the bar,” she smiled at Lucas before kissing him very quickly. “Let them,” she pointed at Charlie and Zay. “Let them worry about closing the place for once.”

“Okay… I’ll tell her,” he said and for the first time Riley saw him blush, this was as new for him as it is for her.

“Okay love birds enough of that let’s get to the house,” Zay said separating them and pushing them towards the car.

The ride was quiet, for Riley, but that could be because she was screaming at herself to run away and go home, that she wanted it to last a little longer before anyone found out. But that wasn’t going to happen because all they wanted was a nice moment under the stars and in the end they got caught. The lights on the house were on, she wasn’t sure if Zay and Charlie had called in advance or the fact that they were all a bunch of night owls and should probably learn to sleep regularly at some point.

She walked out of the car, Lucas grabbing their bags while Charlie and Zay smiled at them, and walked off. Lucas took her hand and squeezed it, giving her some form of comfort because everything was going to get either very complicated or very weird. With Charlie and Zay in front of them they all walked in through the front door, only to be greeted by Farkle who had a very serious face.

“Riley just so you know this wasn’t my idea,” Farkle said before his head turned from the couple in front of them back to the fact that Lucas was holding her hand. “Or I could be wrong about everything which doesn’t happen often.”

“Yeah, and we didn’t even say anything we just found them like this,” Zay said smiling as they walked into the living room Riley itching to run the other way. “Guess what we found out,” Zay announced to the rest of their friends making Riley hide behind Lucas as he dropped their bags at the door and pulled her arm across his chest without forcing her to stand in front of him.

“It’ll be fine don’t worry,” he said and she knew he was right but she kind of liked the hidden part of their relationship and she was going to miss that.

As they walked into the living room Maya, Josh and Isadora all looked over to see the couple.

Maya jumped up and laughed, “I was right about them being good for each other,” she said turning to Josh. “And to think if we had locked them in a room sooner they would have gotten together weeks ago.”

Josh smiled at her before turning towards Riley and Lucas. “We’re going to have a very long talk about keep secrets around here.”

Isadora was the first to walk up to them smiling. “I’m glad you’re happy Riley,” she said no threat no gloating. It was nice to have someone in their corner who wasn’t going to say something about being right.

“So when did this happen?” Farkle asked the group turning towards them.

“Um… well… the night before um… my… well…”

“Riley you’re stalling,” Josh said to her making her jump.

Lucas found Riley’s nervousness adorable, but he was worry about how everyone was reacting, one of the reasons they had kept their relationship a secret was because he had found out that her life had been an open book for so long. She never had something that was just hers and he had wanted to keep it that way for as long as she wanted.

“It was the night I found out my step father died,” Lucas said like ripping off a Band-Aid, but he also knew that it would cause everyone in the room to stop poking into their relationship.

“Lucas that was the night before Riley had her… well,” Maya said looking down at her hands.

They were both damaged by something in their past, Maya was too, as well as Josh, they were all slightly damaged. But sometimes when the fates allowed it, those people got the chance at genuine happiness. Maya was learning this from her relationship with Josh, Lucas had started learning that from Riley the day they had drunk into the night and fallen asleep on the couch. A door opened for all four of them, and what came out of that door was hope, he just wanted to make sure that this fragile hope he was holding onto would survive.

“Now before you interrogate us over this just know that if you mess this up for either one of us I will kick you all where the sun don’t shine and then send my mother after you,” he said before turning his head back towards Riley and smiling at her.

“Mom knows,” Maya yelled out, her voice squeaking as she said it. “She knew all this time?”

“She’s known since the beginning,” Lucas said and his sister’s face turned red.

“That little sneak, she kept telling me to leave you alone, that Lucas will find something special when the time came, and to worry about my own life,” Maya said crossing her arms. Their mother rarely kept secrets, even since that day in the hospital the woman had vowed to tell her children everything so that they wouldn’t be afraid to tell them something.

“I asked her not to say anything,” he said looking at his sister’s baby blues. “We don’t lie yes, and she didn’t, but it was my decision.”

“But why keep it quiet,” Josh asked because he wanted to know what had made his niece keep something from them.

Riley stepped forward, sitting on the steps that lead down to the central living room. “It’s like what I told you at dinner two weeks ago, I wanted something that was just mine,” she said pulling Lucas down with her. “I started working as his assistant at the same time.”

“What,” everyone screamed out at the same time.

“The job… the one you’re so proud of is working for him,” Josh said turning to Charlie.

“Isn’t this taking advantage of your position Friar,” Charlie said directly at Lucas.

“I don’t know Charlie, how did your relationship with Riley start,” Lucas shot back.

“Enough,” Riley said looking at them. “It’s not like that, I work really hard and I love it.”

“She organized the whole office, the only reason I have time to date her in the first place is because she found a way to make everything work without forcing me into overtime,” Lucas added smiling at her.

“Oh god they’re mushy,” Maya said cringing at the gooey eyes they were making at each other.

Zay shrugged at them. “Listen as long as he’s not ragging on my relationship, and he gets out more often I don’t care.”

“Whatever,” Josh said right after. “You hurt her and I’ll call my brother and sister to kick your ass.”

“Geez Josh,” Riley said smiling at her uncle. “Can we go to sleep now?”

“No because I don’t know how I feel about the sleeping arrangements anymore,” Josh said making the rest of the room groan.

“Dude they’re dating let it go, the plan went to hell the moment we found out,” Zay said throwing his hands in the air. “Just let them have their weekend, we can all have fun without meddling and trying to get them together. Plus, you and Maya are sleeping in the same room and I’m not moving either so where are you going to put them,” Zay finished.

“Fine but I want to be there when you tell Shawn about this,” Josh said gesturing between Riley and Lucas.

The other three couples walked off towards their rooms, Charlie patting Riley on the back, Isadora and Farkle wishing them luck. Zay grinning like crazy, while Maya mumbled about their mother keeping this from her, Josh pulling her along while glaring at Lucas.

“Well that went better than I expected,” Riley said to him with a smile. “You want to watch a movie, I’m not tired anymore but only because I think I got an adrenaline rush from that.”

“Sure, we can watch the Incredibles since we’re on this Disney kick tonight,” he said smiling back at her. “Plus if we try and go to our room I’m pretty sure Josh would kill me.”

“I’ll get the popcorn,” she said laughing, before she could get up Lucas pulled her close and gave her a quick kiss.

“Are you okay with this?”

“Actually I am, because that means we can go out without having to hide, even though I wished we could have kept it a secret just a little longer, but I’ll live with it.”

“Good, I can take you to the zoo for that boo at the zoo event, without worrying about being attacked by your family.”

Riley laughed at that before giving him a kiss on his nose and skipping off towards the kitchen. Lucas watched her as her hair bounced as she kicked her legs out, he couldn’t figure out how he had gotten so lucky. If he hadn’t helped her out that first night, they might have never met, and he wouldn’t be as happy as he was at that moment.

#rucas #matters of the heart #rucas fanfic #rucas adult au #riley matthews #Lucas Friar #maya hart #joshaya #josh matthews #Zay Babineaux #Charlie Gardner #Zay and Charlie sitting in a tree #slight smarkle #not a lot and I'm sorry

23 notes · View notes