#when i first heard of the trend i thought the grimace drink was some kind of lean shake LMAO

[kroozship]

grimace shake ft. soldier and sniper

[acc--deactivated]

-ˋˏ 𝙘𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙨 ˎˊ- 𝙨𝙪𝙠𝙪𝙣𝙖

genre: fluff

don't ask what this is, I was at school today and thought "does sukuna know what a hug is? has he ever experienced it?" and then I hopped onto the fluff train

sitting on the bed as you were reading, you barely heard the steps approaching the bedroom.

Yuji had gone to the kitchen to make himself a drink and take an aspirin for the headache that had bothered him the entire day.

so when you noticed a figure stepping into the room, you rose your gaze with a smile on your face.

but upon noticing the dark marks on his half naked body, your smile faltered a little.

"what's wrong with Yuji?" you asked Sukuna, noticing how the curse ran his eyes over you.

a smirk appeared on his lips.

"little shit felt too tired to stay in control, so I used the opportunity."

you nodded and turned back to your book.

by now, you were used to being alone with Sukuna.

during the first times, you had been frightened that he might hurt you to put Yuji under pressure or take you as some kind of hostage, but he had never done anything to you up til now.

probably because he didn't consider a mere human like you to be worth the time and effort.

sometimes, you even talked a bit with each other, even though he always kept his sarcastic behaviour and answered with rude replies.

but at some point, you had got used to it.

you saw him massaging his temple and you let down your book once more.

"Yuji had a headache earlier, that's why he went to the kitchen to take an aspirin"

Sukuna let out an annoyed groan, his deep voice echoing through the room.

"great, he only gives me the opportunity to switch when his body is in a shitty condition."

for a second, it was silent and you only watched him.

then, you rose your voice.

"why don't you come to bed?"

he rose a brow and searched for a hidden threat or trap in your words.

when he didn't find any, a wide, evil smirk appeared on his lips, his fangs shining in the dim light of the bedroom, his four eyes staring right at you.

"oh, are you that needy? that brat can't give it to you the right way, huh?"

you only shook your head and patted the spot next to you, the linen still warm from Yuji's body.

"I meant to cuddle. to rest helps with the headache."

Sukuna stared at you for a second, then, a laugh fell from his lips.

"you really are daring, asking ME, the king of curses to cuddle. I'm not your lap dog, so don't treat me like one"

"why don't you try it? are you scared of something?"

his smile disappeared and his upper lip twitched a little in disgust, especially when he saw the little grin on your lips.

"I'm scared of nothing." he growled back.

before you were able to answer, new pain rushed through his head and he grimaced, massaging his temple again.

mumbling something you didn't understand, he stepped in front of the bed, hands buried in yuji's sweatpants and looking at you as if he waited for instructions.

you gave him a short, confused look, then, you patted the spot next to you again.

"lay down."

he rose a brow, but followed, laying down on his back on the mattress.

you suppressed a smile when he gave you an awaiting look and you rested your body in the sheets as well, stretching an arm out on the pillow.

'"you can rest on my arm."

he gave you a kind of bewildered look.

"isn't the one in control supposed to wrap their arms around the other?"

you shrugged your shoulders.

"it can be comforting to be the little spoon sometimes."

Sukuna clicked his tongue, but did as you said, resting his head on the pillow so that your arm was right inside the empty space his neck created.

"you humans have some fucking weird trends. 'spoon', what a stupid word for this..." he growled and observed how you moved closer towards him.

when your hand rested on his shoulder, he flinched and tensed his body.

"don't worry, it's okay." you said, already expecting a rude answer.

you weren't surprised when he growled "don't act like you could hurt me, lowlife." and you smiled to yourself while you wrapped your arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer.

Yuji's skin was still warm and even though Sukuna was in control right now, his limbs and body felt just like they usually did.

your hand rose to the back of his head and you started to run your fingers through his soft hair, hearing how Sukuna let out a little growl at the massage against his head.

it almost sounded like a purr.

like an angered, bitter cat that allowed a human the honour to pet it.

you didn't say anything, just smiled while you rested your lips against his hairline, the exact same position you often laid in with Yuji.

and Sukuna seemed to notice, tried to remember what his vessel did whenever you embraced him like this.

he hesitantly rose his hand, as if he wanted to rest it on your hip, but eventually, he pulled both his hands to his chest, while he pulled his legs to his body, making himself smaller than he was.

after a few minutes in which you had just massaged his head, you dared to look down at his face, seeing that he had closed all four of his eyes.

when you started smiling again, one of the smaller ones opened and gave you an accusing glare.

"stop smiling at me like an idiot. you look ridiculous." he ordered with a growl.

you didn't stop, but you brought your mouth back to his hairline, so that he wouldn't see it.

"yea, yea, sure." was your sarcastic reply, while you pulled the blanket over both of you.

usually, the curse would've snapped something back, but right now, you felt how he slowly hurled deeper inside your warmth, reducing the space between the two of you.

he seemed so small and vulnerable like this, eyes closed, his body curled up to not grow cold.

suddenly, you wondered how hard it must've been, to not feel any touch or warmth for over 1000 years.

maybe, he had never experienced anything like this.

maybe he had been so uncertain about what to do because no one had ever put their arms around him.

the thought actually hurt you a little bit and a spark of sympathy for the demon in your arms bloomed inside of you.

when you heard him mumble a low "you're warm" against your neck, your smile grew and your body relaxed.

you continued to caress his scalp, drawing little circles against it that made him let out soft purrs, until his breathing became placid and slow.

slowly, your hand trailed towards his cheek and caressed the marks on Yuji's cheekbone, your touch careful to not wake him up.

unable to decide if you were lucky or just insane to have the king of curses fall asleep in your arms, you watched his face, the four closed eyes, the lightly parted lips.

even in sleep, he continued to look a little tensed, a small furrow still stuck in his brows.

you slowly rose your index finger and gently caressed the hair of his right eyebrow, before you allowed it to slide higher, following the outlines of the mark on his forehead.

you had no idea what they meant and Yuji probably did not know either.

right now, you noticed how little you actually knew of Sukuna, even though he was always around you, hearing every word the two of you spoke, probably being fully aware of your feelings and thoughts

but you decided to just allow him this little rest for now, to let him experience the warmth that radiated from you and wrapped him in safety.

after placing your hand at the back of his head again, you wanted to close your eyes, but before you were able to, you saw the marks slowly vanishing.

Yuji's hair slowly sank down, his face relaxed and he hurled deeper into your embrace, wrapping his arms around you in instinct.

a little chuckle went through you as you pushed a kiss against his forehead, loosing your hesitance as you wrapped both of your arms around him.

"maybe if you two didn't fight so much, you wouldn't be so tired all the time." you mumbled, before you rested your head on Yuji's, closing your own eyes.

[growup-thatbeautiful]

Clone Wars Character on TikTok

Anakin- Poor Anakin, man does not have a that many creative ideas, but his life and ideas are strange enough that he gets a lot of followers easily. He’s also almost constantly videoing things too, so he’s able to get real time. There are so so many videos showing the reactions that Obi-Wan has because of his dumbass plans.

Everyone, literally everyone, thought he was an f-boy until he made a post, super confused, saying that he has a wife?? That he loves so much? So, coincidentally, the next videos he posts are him and his wife, who doesn’t show her face but there’s a poll going on about who it is. Most people have figured it, though, because some of his videos are him just listening to Mrs. Skywalker rant about people in the Senate when she comes home to him.

He also tries to convince everyone that he’s the best husband in the world by videoing himself cooking her dinner, which he always burns. In those videos, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, staples on Anakin’s account, are heard in the background giving him absolutely terrible advice on how to fix it. They usually end up with burnt pans and a whole bunch of frantic clips of Obi-Wan trying to turn off the oven, “My dear, your time is up.” And Anakin in the background “Force, that’s not going to kriffing work, Master. I’m coming in with the water gun.” (No one questions why there’s a water gun.) Ahsoka is just….chilling in the background. She’s just as clueless as the rest of them, but it’s funnier to watch them almost burn down Padame’s kitchen before she tries to step in and make things worse.

Ahsoka-Her feed is a more controlled chaos than Anakin’s, but chaos nonetheless. She does a lot of dance challenges with Fives, and is sometimes able to rope in Anakin, who tries really hard but is terrible at it, and Rex, who doesn’t actually dance and just stands there staring at the camera. There was one time she got Obi-Wan to do it with her, and he absolutely crushed it. All that grace has to help him somewhere else, right? Because she does dance videos, though, sometimes she get inappropriate comments or duets, which Rex, Obi-Wan, Plo, Fives, and Anakin all duet or make a video about explaining that she’s a minor and how unacceptable this is. Well, that’s what every but Rex does. Rex won’t let anyone, anyone, talk to his little sister like that, so he makes a super menacing video of him cleaning his guns.

Needless to say, she does a lot of videos with Rex. They do a lot of random videos of their conversations and pointless arguments. They also do so a lot of competitions with each other, rather it’s staring contests or sparring matches. Their sparring match videos are actually super popular, and they get more and more intense and complicated as they go on. There are never any weapons involved, but they get to show off combat skills and have huge fights across the ship or compound. Their usually filmed by a hysterical Anakin or Fives. Obi-Wan has made his disapproval clear, but there’s a video on Ahsoka’s account of him betting on the outcome.

Obi-Wan- Mostly on Cottagecore TikTok and posts aesthetic videos of him meditating, making fancy, pretty tea drinks, or any other mundane thing he does. He also posts self-defense videos to teach people how to protect themselves, and gives tips of how to use the force and how to help meditate. I think he posts once a week, but posts a bunch at one time because he’ll have one day of silence where he can get stuff for himself done. Basically, his account is to comfort people, to help people, in perfect Obi-Wan fashion.

He also posts encouraging videos to cheer people up when they need it. Cute messages like “Today’s going to be a good day” with that award winning Negotiator smile that get galaxy wide comments and duets. Sometimes the messages border on him illegally sharing decisions that the Senate’s made, like when he announced on his feed that a certain Planet should get ready to party because a certain vote had gone a certain way.

Sometimes, though, he posts videos of Ahsoka, Anakin, or Cody doing incredibly stupid things. It’s become a series, he shows the person do or say the stupidest things, and then he zooms in on someone else’s face. The most common duo is Anakin and Rex, but sometimes there’s Waxer and Cody, once or twice, Obi-Wan and Cody.

Rex- He doesn’t post a lot, and when he does he’s usually not really in them. People only know him specifically because he’s in so many of Ahsoka’s videos. His are mostly “the stuff I have to deal with videos” showing petty fights between some of the 501st or some animal that a soldier decided they wanted to sneak into the ship. That, of course, lead to a blowup on his account, so he started posting lots of content with his brothers. Ahsoka has the notion that he’s doing it to help the way people see Clones, but he does seem to enjoy it a lot.

He, like Obi-Wan, posts hand to hand combat training video to help people in the galaxy, put his training to more use. He makes sure to show how to hold your first in a punch, how to safely clean a blaster, how to take a punch. Some of his posts are to teach people about clones and mando’a traditions. But he’s not all serious. He likes making videos of him and his brothers when they go out to do things for fun or they go out to 79’s.

This one might be a bit far fetched, but I think he would also post videos of him and Ahsoka doing mundane things together, repainting their armour, making bracelets or some stuff on the floors of the bunks during hyperspace. It’s calmer than what Ahsoka posts, and purposely so.

Fives-Oh man. Fives’ account is a wreck. Half of the videos are him running away from something he’s done and the other half are him running into things that he shouldn’t about to be doing. Shakily filmed, someone (usually himself) screaming in the background, you can hear him panting and out of breath. A lot of the times Anakin is with him or chasing after him, and as you can almost always hear Rex cursing and yelling at them to stop, especially if they haven’t done the thing yet because that means they have a plan. When Fives has a plan it ends up being worse than when he makes it up on the spot. 

He also posts videos of him giving people in the streets compliments, because he’s sweet like that. He usually gets pretty funny reactions most of the time, and the few times they’re bad reactions he simply flips the camera and grimaces, then, of course, starts laughing because he’s not going to let one person put him down.

He also has a series of him painting the Bi flag all over the ship and waiting to see people’s reactions. The cutest was that one time Ahsoka walked past and ran her fingers along it softly and smiling. Also notable was the time Obi-Wan caught him midway through and just pretended he didn’t see him. All of those are posted with the persons permission, of course.

Aayla and Bly- They share an account where they do ALL of the couple-y stuff. Any couples challenge that they’re asked to do, they do. It’s hard to do the challenges like “You could’ve been nicer to me today” because they’re both on it all the time and have definitely heard of it, but they make do with all kinds of others. Aayla and Bly are definitely one of those couples that adopts all the kids that follow their account, and they’re ready to fight anyone who says anything bad the Clones or the Jedi.

There’s also a large amount of videos that some of the 327th takes of them cuddling together, training together, polishing weapons together. Basically, their account is them being cute and the rest of the 327th either being incredibly supportive of them or gagging at all the PDA. They start a trend where they go up in front of random people around the ship and start making out to get the reaction. Some examples of the best reactions are franticly running outside of the room, slapping Bly across the back of the head, and wild cheering.

Cody: You’re kidding, right? He does not have time to do the TikTok, nor does he understand TikTok at all. He is in most of Obi-Wan’s videos, and he’s sometimes in Rex’s too. Most of the time he’s telling all of them not to do whatever they’re about to do, or he’s sitting on the floor and crying with Rex.

Anakin actually started making videos called “When you see your dad and your other dad be romantic.” Where it’s just him finding Obi-Wan and Cody doing cute things in random places, followed by Anakin or Ahsoka making faces at the camera.

Plo- Parent side of TikTok for sure. His account features so many, so many, videos of him doing fun things with the 104th. He may seem like an extremely serious man, but put him with all of his kids and has almost no impulse control. They ask to stop at that restaurant they saw on the way to their mission, and he makes it happen. Everyone pretends not to notice because they wouldn’t dare go against him.

This account is also mostly run by everyone in the 104th because A. Plo doesn’t have a password and B. That’s how they get a bunch of footage. The phone is passed around throughout the day, but all of the content focuses on the Plo’s Bros relationships. Anything that he does, from giving a shiny a thumbs up when he comes up with a new plan, to teaching some of the older clones who are a little overworked how to take deep breaths. All the followers also a learn the Plo is absolutely terrible at any kind of card games, which is shown when they post video after video of the bets he looses.

Next for Star Wars I’ll be doing Bad Batch, then, because this got so long, I’ll do one with some more characters! Sorry it’s so long, this ran away from me a bit.

Some clone wars beautiful mutuals @radbatch (Who is the absolute best person to talk to about Ahsoka ever period end of story) of course and @maiseey (Who is now my my mutual? How?)

[lubdubsworld]

Better Man. ( Taehyung x OC)

Chapter 1    Chapter 2

Rated 18 +

Post Divorce, Getting Back Together, Second chances, Angst.

Chapter 3 ~ The problem with marriage is this  : it isn’t worth the pain of divorce. 

Denial isn’t healthy.

 But sometimes it helps you stay sane , at least long enough to get your act together. When you’re in denial, you kind of keep yourself together a bit. You process things a bit more slowly. Take your time examining the facts. 

It helps you make a delayed but possibly more informed decision.

 Impulsive decisions never end well.

 So it’s good to stew in denial for a while ( a short while) and then slowly begin processing what happened, think about it, think how its gonna affect you and then make a choice. 

Unfortunately for Taehyung and I... I wasn’t in denial. 

Maybe I should have been.

 The time between Taehyung turning up drunk and the me leaving the house was less than twelve hours. Taehyung showed up drunk and I just told him I was leaving. That we needed a break and I didn’t know when I’d be back. 

Terrible choice.

 In the first twelve hours, the hurt is so potent and strong , the wound so raw and fresh that you can’t think beyond the pain . Your instinct is to repay the pain, to retaliate and make the other party feel exactly what you’re feeling. So you think of the thing that would hurt them the most and you go ahead and do it. 

Like move out of your shared home of eight years, take away the son he adored and possibly rip the ground right out from under his feet. 

And then after the first twelve hours, reason begins to catch up. 

I had wanted to go back. 

I had wanted to go back to him but I was scared. 

Scared that I was being weak.

 That if I didn’t stick to the choice I made, Taehyung would forever see me as a pushover. That he would take it as some sick permission to do it all over again. That he’d just think I was too weak to walk out on him. 

And i couldn’t have that. I couldn’t have him hurting me and not facing the consequences of it. I just couldn’t.

So I stayed away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I worked on the seventh floor of a high rise in Gangnam, probably a twenty minute drive from Taehyung’s agency. It was an electronic/ tech company that dealt with everything from mobile phones to home fittings . As the  assistant director of Marketing I dealt with branding and keeping up the image of the company. Annual budgets, endorsements, campaigns and what not. 

I was good at it and i enjoyed it . everyone agreed that i did a good job because the numbers spoke for themselves. But I think the main reason I got the job was because I was married to the biggest brand ambassador in the country. 

“ I need the reports on consumer trends for this month and I want to meet with Social media team before lunch. There’s a drop in our web traffic and that needs to be fixed.” I told my assistant, accepting the hot coffee and muffin that he held in his hand before moving to the corner office, my strides faltering just a bit when i noticed that  someone  was already inside. The figure had his back to me but I could vaguely recognize the broad shoulders and muscular arms. 

“Mr. Jeon’s been waiting for about ten minutes now.” Mingyu said with a smile and I nodded. 

“That’s fine , I’ll handle him.” I waved my assistant off and moved to the  door, unlocking it and stepping in. 

“Morning, Jang Mi.” He smiled, eyes flashing with ill concealed delight and I inhaled to calm myself down. . 

I could already feel a headache coming on. 

“Jungkook.” I said curtly. “ To what do I owe this very early visit?”  I glanced at my table finally taking the bottle of champagne in the small ice bucket. 

“Thought we’d celebrate you finally being free.” He grinned. 

Jeon Jungkook was handsome, intelligent , and annoyingly good at everything he did.

At 34,  He was one of the youngest CFO’s in the industry, and everything he touched turned to gold. I didn’t report to him and he had zero reasons to be in my office at any given time. But , unfortunately he had never gotten that particular memo. 

“I’m not in the mood, Jungkook.” I sighed, moving to the back of my desk and dropping my bag on the small ottoman on the side and my keys in the desk. I plugged my phone into the cable on the side and then went to open the blinds. 

“Come on... You know how sick I’ve been of two years of  hearing ‘ I’m sorry, I’m married.’ .... you’re gonna have to come up with  a better excuse the next time i ask you out.” 

“No. No is a whole entire sentence that you should be able to accept.” I said evenly, fixing the cushions on the couch only to have him plop down on them immediately after. 

“One date. Dinner anywhere you like. i can fly you to Paris if you want.... Macua? Jeju Do? Tell me what you want and I’ll get it done. ?” 

i stared at him. 

“I want you to fire Kang Yeseul from the Social Media team.” I said with a shrug. 

He frowned. 

“The new girl? Why?” 

“She’s been posting nudes that she took in my office when I was on leave last week. My name plate is literally visible.”

“Jesus fuck...these bitches get dumber by the minute.”

I couldn’t even deny it.

“I’ll take care of it.” He said swiftly. “ Anything else?”

“Web traffics gone down and I’m gonna find out why. It’s probably time for us to work out the budget for the Christmas Carnival. I think we should go for something new this time. If you can set up a meeting with all the department heads we can brainstorm a few ideas...” 

“I can’t forget about that night.” 

I froze. 

God. 

i turned around to stare at him as he lounged on the couch. If Kim Taehyung was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, Jungkook was definitely the second.

 He was disconcertingly good looking and where Taehyung’s image was always the clean cut gentleman with the perfect character, Jungkook had a reputation as a bit of a delinquent. Simply because he had a penchant for leather jackets and liked to ride around Seoul on his motorbike on days off. 

Which was ironical because in truth, Taehyung was far from a saint and Jungkook was relatively more put together 

He was also a divorcee and a single parent. His daughter Jennie was easily the cutest two year old on the planet.

His wife and him had fifty fifty custody but she had cheated on him with his best friend. Jungkook had no patience for her. They had a very volatile relationship but he was fighting for full custody and rumor was that he would most certainly be granted it, soon. 

A marathon runner ,  he didn’t drink or smoke.  

Jungkook liked to paint and volunteered at an animal shelter once or twice a month because he loved dogs but couldn’t keep one because of his busy schedule. 

So all in all , a pretty solid candidate if I was looking for a guy. 

Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I was completely and utterly done with relationships for the rest of my life, I would actually give the guy a chance. 

But , it is what it is. 

“That sounds like a  you  problem. “ I shrugged. “ It was supposed to be  one  night  with no strings attached. And by string I meant awkward conversations three months later .” 

Jungkook groaned and sat up straighter, legs spread and shirt sleeves riding up to show a very sparkly watch. Rich men and their vices. I smirked a little. 

“Come on... its just dinner. I want to get to know you, that’s it.” he held his hands up. 

“There’s nothing to know Jungkook. I’m actually more boring than i appear, which is saying something. I’m not going to be the girl in the leather jacket clinging to your waist when you’re joyriding that motorbike of yours through Seoul. That’s not me. I would hate something that” 

He chuckled. 

“Are you sure? You ever tried it?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“That’s not the point.”

“I’ll buy you a jacket. Join me this weekend. We’ll go a ride. Then you can make a decision.” 

I opened my mouth to argue when the phone rang. I grabbed it quickly.

“Hello?” 

“This is Lee Taemin from the Advertising Department.”

“Yes?”

“We have a Mr. Jung from HYBE on the phone. They want to talk to us about a possible candidate for our Christmas Campaign.... “

I blinked, surprised. 

“We haven’t even decided on a theme yet. “

Choosing the right actors to endorse stuff was usually the last step. 

“I know but he’s saying they want to talk about Mr. Kim Taehyung as a possible candidate?”

I felt my entire jaw come unhinged. 

I turned to Jungkook stunned. His eyes widened at the look on my face and he mouthed a ‘ What’ 

“Please tell him I’ll call him back in fifteen minutes.” I said quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook demanded. 

“Taehyung’s manager...he... he wants to make him the face of the Christmas Campaign.” I said dully, mind ringing. I was utterly stupefied. 

Taehyung was the face of Gucci and Versace . He was so far out of our company’s league it wasn’t even funny. 

Jungkook stared at me in disbelief.

“No.” He said quickly.

I gaped at him.

“What?” 

“No... we can’t have that. He’s.. he’s obviously doing this to get back with you...”

I shook my head.

“that can’t be it. He’s the one who gave me a divorce. He’s the one who wanted to end it. “ 

It was the shock of what I’d heard. There was no other explanation for why I said that to Jeon Jungkook. 

Jungkook gave me a look.

“Really? But you wanted one too right?”

“Of course I did.” I lied easily, waving him off. “Anyway that doesn’t matter. We can’t say no to him, Jungkook. Our sales would skyrocket if we get him onboard.” 

Jungkook swore.

“Fuck, you’re right. The Ceo will probably piss himself in excitement. You sure you’ll be okay with it?”

Jungkook looked worried. 

“You forget that Taehyung and I are actually quite good friends.” I said gently. 

He grimaced.

“That's just unnatural. If you can stay friends with an ex it clearly means that either you’re still in love with each other or....”He shrugged. 

“Or what?” 

“Or you never loved each other in the first place.” 

I swallowed the remark hitting a little too close to home for comfort. 

“Schedule that meeting Jungkook. We’ll come up with a campaign theme that would fit Taehyung’s image. I’ll take to Hoseok and Taehyung.” 

“You’re going to call Taehyung?” Jungkook asked casually.

“Hoshi’s with him today. I’ll probably go over to his place after work and talk to him in person.” 

“Lucky bastard. He gets to hurt you and yet  still have you.” Jungkook said bitterly. 

I rolled my eyes.

“He doesn’t have me.”

“Doesn’t he? Why else would you turn down dates with anyone who asks? its one date.. a dinner... If you’re not still hung up on your ex husband why wouldn’t     you just go on one date with-”

I’d really had quite enough of it. I threw my hands up in sheer exasperation. 

“Alright fine.” I yelled, “  I’ll go to dinner with you...can you just stop psycho analyzing my relationship with my husband?” 

Jungkook’s smile told me that I’d been played like a fiddle. 

“excellent. Go see your husband after work and I’ll come pick you up at eight.” 

“What...no wait...”

“I know where he lives. Don’t worry about it. I’ll schedule that meeting and maybe after lunch we can go over the kind of budget you’ll want. Okay?”

I felt a little like I’d stepped into quagmire. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn’t go see Taehyung after work. 

I didn’t have to. 

An hour before I was due to finish my daily report, he turned up at the office with my son. My assistant let him in and I could only gape at him.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked , completely thrown. 

“Mama I had ice cream with strawberries and sprinkles in a hundred colors.” Hoshi looked excited, eyes shining the way they usually did when he was with Taehyung. 

“That sound incredibly exciting....”

“We missed you mama....can we go again?” He said excitedly.

“I’m sorry honey, Mama’s a little caught up with work...”

“Why don’t we wait?” Taehyung said cheerfully, “ Mama likes blueberry scones so we can get those for her...” 

I stared at him.

“Okay...” I sad carefully, staring him down. What was he doing really?

“Okay... Can I go see the fishies....” Hoshi waved at the large fish tank built into the wall in my office and Taehyung laughed, letting him down.

“Sure bud.. go see how many of the fish you can identify...” He said brightly. 

“ Since when do you pick me up for blueberry scones after work?” I asked briskly and he shrugged.

“Let the kid be happy , Mia. I heard Hobi hyung already spoke to you.”

“What is that all about, Tae?” I said tiredly. 

“All the other offers i got are out of Korea. I want to stay with Hoshi during the Holidays so i thought this way , we could spend some time together..”

“By we, I hope you mean you and Hoshi.” I said drily.

“Of course. I could’ve picked another mall or something but i thought it could be a good thing if we worked at the same place... we can keep Hoshi with us and there wont be all the commuting back and forth nonsense....” 

I nodded. 

“I suppose you’re right. “ I sighed. “But be warned, you’re probably not going to have a very exciting time. 

“I’ll enjoy it nonetheless.” 

I nodded. 

“I won’t tell you how to live your life And I most certainly won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. My Ceo might just give me a huge pay raise for this. He’s been waiting for it since the time he hired me.”

Taehyung gave me a smile.

“I would have done it the minute you asked. You never asked.” 

I shrugged. 

“Like I said, I won’t tell you how to live your life.” 

“Jang Mi?” The knock on the door made us both look up.

Jungkook stood framed in the doorway, jacket off and slung over his arms . He looked bigger than usual, muscles straining against his button down and hair mussed. 

He stepped in casually, holding a hand out to Taehyung.

“The golden boy of Korea. in the flesh. A pleasure to meet you Mr. Kim. I’m Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook” 

The pair of them shook hands and I felt that I would rather be anywhere in the world than there. 

“ Nice to meet you Mr. Jeon.” Taehyung smiled politely. 

“We still on for tonight?” Jungkook asked casually, turning to me with a bright smile. 

This is why i hated men. 

Taehyung’s eyes snapped to me so fast that i was sure he must’ve got whiplash. 

“Sure. I’ll call you.” I said shortly. 

“What’s tonight?” Taehyung smiled, face neutral and smile still in place but his eyes flashed and his voice carried a knife edge to it. 

“Business dinner. We’re going over the budget for the Christmas campaign.” 

“Oh... where?” Taehyung asked with the same smile and I frowned.

“We’ve not decid-”

“I thought I could cook for you. i make a mean steak dinner and I thought I could pick up a bottle of your favorite wine on the way. You have my address right? ” Jungkook smiled. 

Taehyung went still next to me, his entire body taut . 

“A little inappropriate for a business dinner, don’t you think?” he snapped.

Jungkook glared back at him, eyes narrowed. 

“Well, you know what they say about all work and no play-” he began but I’d had enough. 

“I think this conversation needs to end now.” I said loudly. 

They  both shut up but glared at each other.

“I’m gonna make a reservation at the Hyatt for tonight. I’ll meet you there at seven thirty. “ I said, glaring at Jungkook. 

He nodded.

“Pleasure meeting you Kim Taehyung.” He nodded curtly at my ex husband before moving away. 

The silence he left behind was pretty awkward. 

“Bit too much of a douchebag than your usual type.” Taehyung said casually. 

I groaned.

“Don’t start.” 

“ I won’t if you don’t date him.” 

I opened my mouth to argue but then stopped. 

“Lets just get that ice cream ? “ I said tiredly. Hoshi reappeared from the inside room, looking excited and happy and I smiled despite my weariness. 

I could use a little sweetness in my life after a bitterly exhausting day. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s note : Feedback is welcome . Probably going to be a long , terribly angsty fic with a lot of pain for everyone involved. I still haven’t decided who ocs going to end up with so we’ll see... what do you guys think? 

[visander]

A Bit of Space (5/6)

Alec gets sick.

You can read this chapter on ao3 here or listen to a podfic version here. Special thanks to @accal1a for creating the podfic and @the-prophet-lemonade for beta reading this chapter.

Chapter Five:

Apollo had reappeared by the time they got sick. Magnus felt it first. He and Alec had been stretched out, talking aimlessly when Magnus felt something unsettling in his stomach for the first time. He didn’t say anything, brushing it off as hunger pains that had become normal when only eating the nutritional blocks they did. Then, it happened again and this time, Alec heard it. 

He looked over to Magnus and frowned. “Do you feel okay?” He asked, a slight panic in his voice. Magnus had gotten him to relax a little but all of a sudden, he looked like he was terrified Magnus was going to keel over and die. 

Magnus nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He waved his hand in Alec’s direction, brushing off his concern. The truth was, he didn’t feel fine. He didn’t quite feel sick, but he felt… odd. He felt like he might get sick but that wasn’t enough to worry Alec about. 

It was only a few minutes later that Alec himself sat up. He stared into the distance, wide eyed, a different kind of panic showing on his face now. 

“Are you-“ Magnus began, but before he could finish his sentence, Alec was on his feet. He rushed through the crack in the door of their ship and disappeared outside.

Apollo bounded after him, clearly curious about where Alec was going so quick. Magnus followed after Apollo, stepping outside just in time to see Alec bend over and projectile vomit all over the ground. 

Magnus, in comparison to how Alec was reacting to the water, still felt great. He counted his blessings but kept that to himself. He didn’t think rubbing it in would make Alec feel any better. When Alec finally stopped puking, Magnus approached him slowly. He placed a hand gently on Alec’s back. “You okay?” 

“Yeah,” Alec grumbled, carefully straightening out, one hand pressed against the wall of the ship for balance. He looked decidedly not okay but Magnus didn’t point this out. He squinted at Magnus. “You don’t feel sick?” 

Magnus shrugged. “I felt… a little uneasy, but-“ He glanced at the mess on the ground, grimacing. “-not like that.” He frowned, looking back to Alec. “You feel better now?” 

Slowly, Alec nodded. “I think so.” He wasn’t actively throwing up anymore, but he still looked pale and queasy. 

“Come lay inside,” Magnus said, reaching for Alec’s hand. “You can use the empty bucket if you need to throw up again.”

For a moment, Alec looked like he was going to argue, but then his shoulders sagged and he simply nodded, his clammy hand clutching Magnus’ as he was led back inside. 

Magnus made Alec lay down. He put the bucket somewhere close and tried to persuade Alec to eat some food, so that there was something lining his stomach in case he threw up again. Magnus only wished he had fresh water to give him but that wasn’t going to happen. 

“It’s pay back,” Magnus murmured eventually. He’d settled on the floor next to Alec, pretending the small room didn’t smell of vomit, sweat and sickness. “You had to take care of me when we crashed. I have to take care of you now.” 

Alec’s eyes fluttered open. He looked over at Magnus blearily. “I can take care of myself,” he mumbled, sounding vaguely offended. “You don’t have to.” 

Magnus hummed as Alec’s eyes fell shut again. His breathing slowed and he drifted into sleep, only to groan a few minutes later, roll over and heave into the bucket. 

Magnus grabbed the bucket when he was done and he went to dump the contents outside. Alec was too tired to protest.

Alec was sick for nearly five days. Magnus was worried about him, but he was also reassured by the fact that Magnus himself felt fine. Well, fine-ish. Whatever was affecting Alec so strongly had only mildly upset Magnus’ stomach, which was good news. If something in the water was toxic to them, Magnus’ body would be reacting just as strongly.

Still, Alec didn’t seem too comforted to hear that. 

Magnus didn’t blame him. He would be grumpy if he was throwing up for five days straight too. The first day, Alec wanted to be left alone. He seemed like he was trying to spare Magnus from taking care of him, even though he could barely sit up by himself without vomiting. The second day, Magnus sat by Alec’s head and ran his fingers through Alec’s hair as he slept. When Alec woke up, Magnus didn’t stop and Alec didn’t complain. 

The third day, Alec had leaned back into Magnus’ chest and let Magnus hold him. The fourth day, they had laid tangled in each other for hours, any hesitation on Alec’s part wiped away by the fact that he felt so sick and desperate for comfort. 

On the fifth day, Magnus decided to be bold. He moved to stand up and get them both something to drink. They had to reconcile that the water was making Alec sick but it wasn’t killing him like dehydration would, so Alec had to keep drinking it. When he pulled away, he was surprised to see Alec pout. 

It was an adorable expression on Alec’s normally very serious face and Magnus couldn’t help but lean it and kiss it. They hadn’t kissed since the first night, when they’d been rudely interrupted and they hadn’t talked about it either. Neither of them had said if they wanted it to be a trend that continued. 

Magnus pulled away, watching Alec’s face for any signs of discomfort or, worse, regret. This kiss was different from before. There was something domestic in kissing Alec while he was sick, something that made it clear Magnus was kissing him with no other ulterior motive in mind. Half of him was sure that this was the moment where Alec would tell him that it was too far. He was sure Alec was about to tell him that this wasn’t okay, that he had changed his mind, but Alec just smiled. 

Then, he spoke, “You have very bad timing. I probably taste terrible.” 

Magnus rolled his eyes but he smiled as he reached for the water. A lot more kisses came after that and it turns out that neither of them really minded. 

By the sixth day, Alec’s body seemed to have reached a tentative agreement with the water. He still felt ill, but he wasn’t throwing up every few minutes and dry heaving when there was nothing left. It was a drastic improvement. 

Magnus half-expected the kisses to stop now that Alec was on his feet and the haze of sickness had worn off, but they didn’t. Almost as soon as Alec was up and about again, he leaned in to kiss Magnus and then looked a little embarrassed after, as if he thought Magnus could possibly tell him no.

There was no universe in which Magnus would dislike Alec kissing him. After that, it was just a thing. Their thing. They kissed a lot. Kisses, touches, heated looks. Magnus wasn’t sure if they were together or if something like that even mattered when they were the only two people on the entire planet, but they kissed a lot and at night, they curled up in each other’s arms. Sometimes, they held hands like they were far younger than they really were. 

Magnus had never had this type of romance before. The only person he had ever seriously dated was Camille, and she vehemently did not like hand holding or cuddling. In fact, she didn’t like affection at all but Alec seemed to love it, even if he blushed every time Magnus reached out to grab his hand and reel him close. 

Magnus didn’t think Alec had ever had this kind of romance either. Alec had mentioned that he had once been engaged, but he hadn’t seemed too enthusiastic about that fact. He had admitted that he’d never let himself kiss a man before. Maybe that was what made this work for him; it was new, it was exciting and there was no better place to let go of your fear of rejection than in space, alone with one man who was more than willing to accept whatever Alec had to offer. 

Still, Magnus hoped he was more to Alec than just something to pass the time, someone to experiment with. He hoped that, even if they’d still been on Earth, Alec would have liked him. He hoped that Alec meant it when he said he’d have accepted his proposal of a date. 

Magnus liked to pretend he believed that was true. There was no use dwelling on ifs and maybes. They were here. They were not home and if being here made Alec like Magnus, then Magnus wasn’t going to complain or bother asking useless questions to make himself feel better. 

They were here and they had each other. That had to be enough. 

Once Alec was well again, he threw himself into trying to fix the ship. Magnus had assumed that they had both given up trying, but apparently Alec had not. In Magnus’ head, he had imagined nursing Alec back to health for them to spend all their time curled together, making out and adventuring back to the lake to collect water, if only to survive one more day. 

Apparently, Alec had imagined Magnus nursing him back to health so that Alec could then spend all his time fiddling with solar panels and flicking through books he’d already read ten times. Every once in a while, he would look up and spare Magnus a glance, sometimes a kiss, before he was back to focusing on a bunch of inanimate wires. 

Magnus admired Alec’s endless determination but, really, if there was any time to relax and enjoy some time off, it was now. They were quite literally the only people on this planet and nobody knew they were here. They hadn’t died from the crash, from the atmosphere, or from the water. They deserved some time to enjoy themselves and yet, Alec had found something besides Magnus to occupy himself with, something that very much resembled work.

Magnus tried to be supportive. When Alec thought he was on to something, Magnus would nod in agreement. When Alec said he was sure their solar panels weren’t completely broken, Magnus tried not to complain as Alec spent the rest of the day toying with them and hardly looking up. 

At least Apollo still liked spending time with Magnus but even then, Magnus’ alien friend seemed to be growing older and more independent before Magnus’ eyes. It had gotten bigger since they had found it. Magnus could see the gray around its eyes turning into a light blue. It still seemed to adore Magnus but more recently, it kept its distance.

Apollo spent more and more time away from the ship, only coming back at night to curl into Magnus’ side and then disappear early sometime in the morning. Magnus was being neglected and that feeling was only amplified by the fact that Magnus was slowly going out of his mind with nothing to do. 

Alec busied himself with the ruins of their ship. Apollo adventured out into the undergrowth every day and Magnus had nothing to do. He had filled his notebooks with sketches of Apollo. He’d reorganized all their supplies and read every training manual onboard from back to front. Alec said he could help him with repairs if he wanted, but Magnus declined the offer. 

Sure, it would be nice if their ship had power, but it was a long shot that Magnus had given up on a while ago. For all intents and purposes, they were offline and Magnus imagined they would stay that way.

That’s why he had Alec repeat himself one morning when Alec woke Magnus from his half-asleep haze by saying something incomprehensible.

“It worked,” Alec repeated, as Magnus stared blankly at him. 

Alec looked over to Magnus. Magnus wasn’t sure what he expected to see on Alec’s face, but the blank shock he saw there did nothing to illuminate what Alec meant. Slowly, Alec leaned back. He pointed to the control panel that had been dark since they’d crashed and there, Magnus saw one lone, red light. 

It was lit.  

Magnus jumped out of his seat, scrambling over to Alec. His eyes scanned the rest of the dark console, asking, “Can we use the radio?” 

Alec shook his head slowly. “There’s not enough power to do anything, but I thought, maybe, I could at least get one of the solar panels working. So, I went and set one outside and plugged it in to see if anything would happen and-” Alec trailed off but Magnus didn’t need him to explain any further. 

“And it worked,” Magnus stated, his eyes wide. Some part of him still didn’t realize what that meant. They could fix the rest of their solar panels. They could get their ship back online. They could call someone-

Magnus’ thoughts reared to a stop. He recalled the thick clouds he’d seen circling the planet before they crashed. They could try to call someone, but there was no guarantee that the signal would make it through the atmosphere without getting scrambled. Magnus shook his head, trying not to think about it. The most important thing was that they’d have power. That was enough. It had to be.

They would have access to the ship's offline database. That included research databases, video files and all the letters that Ragnor had ever sent him. They’d have movies too, unless the crash had wiped the hard drives of everything fun. If that was the case, Magnus was going to have some strong words with whoever had designed the emergency systems. 

Strong words in his head, of course. Maybe he’d write them down in one of his journals on the off-chance someone would find them. His angry letter could be read aloud a hundred years in the future to some poor man’s great grandchildren and they’d know Magnus had been furious that he hadn’t been able to watch his crappy sitcoms. 

“I didn’t think you’d get them working,” Magnus said finally. There was a part of him that felt guilty for writing off what he thought was a useless endeavour. Clearly, Alec had never been wasting his time.

When Alec turned to him, he didn’t look upset or offended. Instead, he was grinning. “I know,” Alec said and his tone made Magnus roll his eyes. He didn’t need to sound that smug about it. “So, are you going to help set up the other ones or are you going to make me do that myself too?” Alec asked finally, his grin no less prominent. 

Magnus glared at him before sighing dramatically. “Yes, I’ll help you, but only because I don’t want you to complain too much about having to do it yourself.” Magnus moved forward to peer over the table at what Alec had set up.

“I didn’t complain about having to do this one alone,” Alec pointed out, though he was still smirking. 

“I know you were desperate for my help the whole time.” Magnus waved his hand dismissively in Alec’s direction. “You don’t have to say it.” 

“I think I managed pretty well-” 

“You don't have to say it! I’ll help!” Magnus reached for a wire that was thrown across the table and glanced down at the charts Alec had been using. Some of them, Alec had written on, scribbling notes and calculations in the margins but it didn’t matter much to Magnus - who had no clue what he was looking at. “So… what do I need to do?” He asked, waving his wire in question. 

Alec huffed out a laugh. “Sit down, I’ll show you.” 

Magnus sat, drawing the charts towards him with a frown. He only had a moment to look across them before Apollo came bounding into the ship. It catapulted itself onto the table, excited to see what they were doing. It had done the same thing to Alec countless times but this time, the paperwork went flying. Apparently, Apollo was eager to help as well. 

“This isn’t that hard,” Magnus announced, a couple of hours later. He had put together a total of one solar panel. He’d been excited to set it up outside but Alec said that they should finish repairing all the panels first, before figuring out where they were going to position them. That made sense but Magnus, in his excitement to actually be working on something that mattered again, had still been disappointed. 

“It’s easy because I already figured out how to fix them,” Alec murmured. 

Magnus scoffed. “That’s a technicality. I helped you figure it out. I was sending you very motivational vibes the whole time.” 

Alec hummed softly. “Oh yeah, it really helped me power through every time you tried to crawl onto my lap. When you started kissing my neck and telling me to stop ‘working on something so boring’ and pay attention to you-” 

“I’ve never seen you work harder than after I did that.” 

Alec’s lips quirked. “Well, I was working on something but it wasn’t the solar panels.” 

Magnus looked up at Alec, a little surprised, before he burst into laughter. Alec had been growing more and more comfortable and confident, the longer they had been together and the closer they got. Magnus was learning that he liked this new Alec who was assured enough to make jokes about their new-found sex life. 

Magnus also learned that Alec’s confidence didn’t just extend to his words. He learned that Alec could hold him up with one hand and not even break a sweat while doing so.

That was a rather delightful discovery. 

 Magnus knew that the solar panels needed to charge and wouldn’t just instantly power on the ship but he’d still found himself disappointed when they finished setting them up and nothing happened. For all their hard work, it had been a bit anticlimactic. Alec said that it would take a while before they harvested enough energy to be useful. He wasn’t quite sure how much power they needed to test the radio or even just start up the ship but it wouldn’t be in the next few hours regardless.

Alec seemed like he couldn’t care less that they had to wait and see if they would suddenly regain contact with the real world. He didn’t seem to care that soon, their whole situation could change. He didn’t seem to care that they might not die here with no one knowing they had survived at all. 

Instead, Alec looked happy to have nothing to do but wait, as if his shoulders felt lighter and he could finally relax. Magnus, on the other hand, could not relax. He could barely sit still. How could he when all he could think about was the fact that they could be rescued? He could call Ragnor and Catarina and hear their voices. He could see his cat again. 

Of course, there was a chance the radio wouldn’t work. Magnus knew that. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. Even if they made contact, it would be a while before anyone could get out to them and anything could go wrong in the meantime but it was hard not to cling to thoughts of what could be possible now. 

Except, apparently, Alec didn’t find it too hard. He was laying sprawled across the couch with his feet propped up and his hands settled comfortably behind his head. His eyes were closed, frown lines gone from his forehead, while Magnus himself was standing, pacing back and forth across the room.

Alec opened one eye. “Would you like to do something?” he asked, causing Magnus to look over and glare. He spoke to Magnus like he was an energetic child who needed to get outside. True, it was how Magnus felt, but he was still offended. 

“What are you proposing?” Magnus scowled, choosing to ignore the smirk that had appeared on Alec’s face. 

“Let’s go swimming.” 

Magnus laughed dryly. He assumed Alec was kidding or mocking him, but when he looked over, Alec had sat up. Magnus blinked at him and stopped moving. “You’re not kidding?”

Alec shrugged. “No, I guess not,” he said. “You’ve stepped in the water more than once. I fell in halfway the last time we went to go get water and nothing happened.” He looked up at Magnus, his smirk now gone, his expression serious and thoughtful. “You’re completely healed and we’re drinking the water. Swimming in it can’t be any worse and the water is so clear.”

Alec frowned, still speaking almost to himself. “I think we’d see anything if it came close to us and if there was any harmful bacteria or anything, well-” Alec shrugged again, but it seemed stiff. “I think we’d know by now.” Alec looked up at him for a second before he continued, “We also could use the excuse to clean up.”

Magnus thought about it for a second before he nodded slowly. Alec was the more cautious one. If Alec didn’t think swimming was too dangerous, Magnus wasn’t going to correct him. He made a fair point about cleaning up too. They tried to stay clean but it was hard. They hadn’t managed to get completely clean since they’d been here and Magnus knew they both smelled like it. “It really can’t be more dangerous than drinking it,” he agreed finally. Slowly, a smile stretched across Magnus’ face. “So… are we going swimming?”

Alec still looked a little unsure, as if he was rethinking it but after a moment, he nodded. “Yeah,” he said, sounding more confident than he looked. “We are.” 

Magnus grinned even wider. “If I had known, I’d have packed a bathing suit.” 

Behind him, Alec laughed. It was a sound that Magnus had grown to love far too quickly.

In lieu of a bathing suit, Magnus found himself pulling out the shorts he normally slept in and tying them tight around his hips. He skipped a shirt and went bare chested, a fact that Alec seemed endlessly distracted by. The first few times they had ventured to the lake, they’d been so careful not to touch anything but Magnus had touched it all enough that they both could assume they were in the clear. 

Still, Alec didn’t seem inclined to share his body with Magnus, even though Magnus had seen it countless times by now. He chose a dark shirt that he normally wore under his uniform and pants Magnus had to convince him to take off when they got there. He could not go swimming in pants. Magnus would not allow it.

He fought Magnus on it the whole way there, insisting that he could, but when they actually reached the waterfront, Alec stripped out of his pants easily enough and stood there in just his underwear. He turned away from Magnus, blushing softly and seeming rather embarrassed. Magnus wasn’t sure what was different about getting undressed now compared to when they were making out but apparently, it was different. When Magnus encouraged him with a few pointed looks, he finally took his shirt off as well and when he saw the appreciation in Magnus’ eyes, he seemed to relax somewhat. 

Magnus wanted to push Alec into the water right then and there. The only thing better than Alec’s bare chest would be Alec’s bare chest wet with beads of water running down his sternum, getting caught in the hair he didn’t have a razor to shave anymore. He was embarrassed by it, Magnus already knew. Alec had admitted it one of the first times they slept together, when Magnus had run his fingers through it and Alec had flushed. He’d promised Magnus he was better at shaving it on Earth, with the proper supplies, but Magnus didn’t have a thing to complain about. He loved Alec’s body hair and he was determined to show Alec that he meant it when he said it. 

Alec turned to look out across the water, his eyes finally leaving Magnus. He looked reflective and Magnus wondered what he was thinking about but instead of waiting to let Alec speak, he moved behind him, touching his back softly. 

Alec leant back into Magnus’ chest, clearly expecting Magnus’ arms to wrap around him from behind. Maybe, he thought Magnus was about to give him a kiss but instead, Magnus planted both his palms on Alec’s back and pushed him, hard. 

Alec stumbled forward and fell right into the water, disappearing under the blue surface. His face reemerged a moment later, sputtering. “Magnus! Why’d you do that?” He spat out.  

Magnus stared down at him, putting to memory the sight of Alec glistening in the sunlight. What he wouldn’t have given for his camera to be able to take a picture of this moment, so he could look at it later.

Magnus smiled at the thought. If he had his way, the very first photo ever published of this planet would feature Alec, front and center, half-naked, bathed in sunlight and beautiful. That was, assuming the photos ever made it back to Earth in the first place. “I wanted to see you all wet,” he said to Alec, his smile growing. “I’m not disappointed by the sight.”

Alec scoffed and lunged forward without a moment of hesitation. He caught Magnus by his waist and yanked him down. Before Magnus could try to push him away, they were both underwater. Magnus clung to Alec, a flash of fear jolting through him as the surface disappeared.

They broke the surface of the water a second later and Alec’s arms held Magnus tight against his chest. He laughed, but as Magnus coughed and tightened his grip on Alec’s shoulders, Alec’s expression sobered. He looked up at Magnus, water trickling off his eyelashes. “Magnus? You okay? What happened?” 

Magnus took a deep breath, knotting his hands around the back of Alec’s neck and drawing himself closer. “I just don’t like water that much,” he forced out finally. “I’ve always been a little scared of it.” He admitted. 

Alec blinked at him. “Why’d you agree to go swimming then?”

Magnus frowned. “I wanted to see you all wet,” he repeated. 

The downturn of Alec’s mouth broke into a dumbfounded smile. “Magnus,” he whispered, “Do you want to get out?” 

Magnus shook his head no. No longer submerged, wrapped in Alec’s arms, it didn’t seem as scary. “But I think I’d feel much better if you kissed me,” he countered.

Much to Magnus’ delight, Alec was more than willing to oblige him.

Continue to Chapter Six - Masterpost.

[marjiandco]

After Party

Soon after the Dragonsong War Marji and Raiku attend a soiree, and learn something about their perceived relationship

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Raiku took a longer than necessary swig of his wine, annoyed at the incessant tapping of Marji’s tail on his back. He just bought these new clothes after all; an miqo’te hair is notoriously hard to get out of a white suit. Before them, de Fortemps manor had become a warren of aristocratic pompousness. Emmanalaine had insisted on having an event for the end of the dragonsong war, both as a way to release stress for Marji and Raiku, and to show off his powerful connections. Old habits die hard, even under new governmental rule. Raiku was used to this; the hand shakes, the polite nods and dutiful glances to the small folk to create a sense of ease around the physically strong. He’s been doing it for the scions since the term Warrior of Light was brought back to...well...light. Marji wasn’t the sort to like the attention or pleasantries, especially growing up as some ship rat who was taught to hide from any sort of stranger. He could almost feel her radiate discomfort.

“I feel so-” She starts.

“Put on display?” he finishes.

Marji nodded as she gave a tired grin to a group of elezen women, who ran off giggling amongst themselves. He saw her give a glance over to Aymeric and she stood a little straighter in an attempt to try and emulate his posture, though grimaced at the tightness around her midriff. Ishgardian noble’s type of dress wasn’t what Marji was used to, especially after being on a journey for nearing on a summer’s cycle. Her waist was cinched in tight, her arms dressed in fabric that was both constricting and overbearing, and a long skirt made of many, many heavy layers against the cold. The only thing that was free, to her chagrin, were the top of her breasts, which he’s sure wasn’t an accident. He warned her not to take Emmanellain’s advice during whatever feud the two of them had with each other.

Raiku, already having an interest in fashion trends was able to take his own ideas to the de Fortemps family tailors. Soft gloves, long boots with small heels to make himself seem taller. A sapling amongst redwoods. It didn’t matter too much though. People would flock to the both of them if they dressed in burlap sacks as both Marji’s and Raiku’s race were seldom seen in Ishgard. They were oddities, nevermind their hand in the end of the dragonsong war. 

Raiku pulled at his black bow tie around his neck, pretending to be admirably humble about his deeds as an old woman took him aside.

“You’re too kind.” He chuckled.

“Of course you know what they say about the two of you…” an older woman glanced with glee between Raiku and Marji, who stood just far enough to be out of earshot. He went through the seven stages of grief before smiling back, golden eyes tilted up at her in curiosity as he put on his best Alphinaud impression.

“I’m sorry fair lady but what, praytell, do they say?”

“I’m sorry but I cannot say in such company, but you must tell me, is it true?” She leans down, bending at the knee to meet his eyes. 

He never loses his smile but he saw Marji catch site of the noblewoman and purses her lip, ears back on her head as she made her way over. He gave a little shake of his head and Marji had a sudden fascination with the refreshments across the hall. 

“What is true?”

“She cups a hand around her mouth. “You two are courting.” 

Raiku glances over in Marji’s direction and regrets it, catching the woman following his gaze. Marji was talking amicably to Aymeric about something or other, a newly filled wine glass in hand. The woman frowns in disapproval. 

“I’m sorry we’re just friends.” Raiku frowned back at her. He grew tired of their conversation.

“It’s okay you know. I can keep a secret.” She winked before fluttering away towards his friends, swooping in to take Marji’s hand and stood in front of Aymeric, though not so noticeable that it could be considered insulting.

Raiku lets out a derisive snort. Thal’s balls nobles here were just the same as back home and he hated them all. He saw the noblewoman and Marji glance in his direction, and he grinned at her. Better she deal with it than him. Least this time. It wasn’t long however before others came up to him and asked the same questions and ignored his same answers. They’ve been getting this for a while now; ever since the smallfolk learned about their companionship they’d construe platonic as romantic love. They used to get mail that detailed some of their ‘encounters’. Sometimes it was pretty well written, and other times it was so pornographic it would send them both into catatonic revulsion. 

But that’s what this party is, he’d think to himself. A place to put the two of them on a pedestal so that others could network and realize who their ally’s best soldiers were. Raiku wandered through a sea of legs, holding his drink steady as he made his way up the stairs and to a quiet balcony. He used to have to do these sort of events all the time as a kid. He was to be seen and not heard, a shadow to stand behind his mother and father for their picturesque family unity. He ran away from home so he could feel the same as them, no shadow to block his view, but now he doesn’t know if he’d rather go back to that same shadow. Darkness does have its merits. 

He opens the door, deflating at the sight of a dress, but perking up when he realized who was inside it. Marji was leaning over the railing, her usual pensive look on her face when she thinks she’s alone. He stands on his tiptoes to rest his arms on the railing, his drink carefully wedged in the crook of his elbow as he stretched his neck to look out over Ishgard. He still hasn’t gotten over the view of the city, snow falling over weathered rock and spires that seemed to be made from the very mountain below. Lights flickered here and there, people in their own homes to create fae orange lights in the dark stone. He sighs, unable to take the silence around them much longer.

“So I heard we’re dating.” He said in a bored tone.

“You know I heard the very same.” She said, closing her eyes for a moment.

He looked up at her, noticing her curly hair start to break free of whatever mold the aesthetician used to glue them to the top of her head. A strand tickled against her neck and down her bare collarbone. She had goosebumps across her exposed silver skin, and as he stared he thought of the old woman’s words.

It’s not like he hasn’t noticed her beauty on his own, but he’s never really thought of her below-or on top- of him. Even when they first met and he was star struck it was always about her deeds than looks, and the more he got to know her, the more he’d rather just be with her. She was his family at this point. An older sister he could tell anything to and sleep on a comforting shoulder. Hells he could barely do that with his own family but he felt so connected with her, and he knew she felt the same towards him. He couldn’t help but smile up at her as he thought of their few years together. Wine did make him sentimental.

“I don’t know how Aymeric manages these parties.” Marji swirled her own wine, a small curl in her nose. “There’s just so much based on perception and how you act and who with. I mean did you see that old hag take my hand as if she knew me? I took off just to turn into Emmanellain and all he could do was act all surprised I dressed as he asked.”

“I don’t think it was a surprise.” Raiku laughed.

“Oh shut up! You and I both know he did this to embarrass me. Just because I turned him down! I mean hello! I was dating his brother at the time!” Her alcohol near falls from her glass as she flung it around.

“How much have you drank?”

“Whats that matter?”

Raiku snorted. “Well you always wondered what my childhood was like; it was about 50, no 80 per-cent of what’s going on down stairs.”

“Yeah well I bet people never asked if you and your sister were dating.”

“No, no that hadn’t come up. As far as I know at least; those freaks in Ul’dah could have said anything.”

Marji was quiet for a moment then drained her cup. They heard tittering laughter and stomping feet bound up the stairs. The sound of Emmanellain’s ward yelling about something or other. They both froze and hoped the pair of them would run by without discovering their solitude. Mercifully the pair passed them by and both Marji and Raiku sighed in relief. 

“Have you thought about it?” Marji asked.

“What?” Raiku said.

“You know, us being more?” Marji looked at him with nervousness.

“You’re uh..not my type.”

She let out a wistful sigh, immediately relaxed as she placed a hand on her head and mimicked the woman from downstairs “Is it because Aymeric is stealing me away from your arms? I heard my kind tend to do that and I am oh so easily swayed.”

“Better than my stereotype. Would you rather be lustful or sexless? The million gil question.”

“Hey. Don’t talk like that.” She turns and takes him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes. He leaned away from the sudden closeness.

“According to our fans, I heard you have a real fetish for-”

“Alright Marj! For the gods sake.” He pushed her away, red spreading across his freckled cheeks at the specific letter she was referencing. “I don’t think that moogle delivered to us for weeks after that.”

[classicalbughead]

The Black and Gold

A Riverdale AU

Rating: M (might also get explicit)

Pairing: Bughead

Additions: Multiple chapters, Slow Burn, Enemies-to-Friends-to-Lovers

Summary: Jughead Jones, Prince of the Southside, transfers to Riverdale High and begins working at The Blue and Gold with Betty Cooper, the perfect girl next door.

They are completely different, but when the Serpents get framed for the abduction of a Northside girl, Jughead and Betty take matters into their own hands and begin investigating.

Are they doomed to end like Romeo and Juliet?

Huge thanks to @beanie-betty I couldn’t have done it without you :)

Chapter 1

Jughead Jones was tired. Why did this shit school have to begin so damn early? He hated that whole thing about “attending a more sophisticated school”. Like, really dad? Southside High would do just fine. And he also had to leave Sweet Pea in charge.

The Serpent Prince wasn’t one to give up his power, but even a prince had to bow to the king. And FP decided that Jughead was “way too smart” to waste his time at that trash can that they called Southside High.

Despite his father saying he had to at least look normal, he put on his Serpent jacket. Everybody should know who he was, even these weirdos at Riverdale High. Before he darted out the door, FP grabbed him by his arm.

“Listen, son,” he began, his eyes narrowing, “I want you to take this seriously. It wasn’t easy convincing Weatherbee to give you this spot. He just did it because I called in a favor. I really want you to give your best…Please.” The last word he just whispered.

Jughead nodded. “I know dad, it’s just…I don’t want to leave Sweet Pea and Toni and the others alone.These people at Riverdale High…they’re different. I don’t think I would fit in,” he said cheerlessly.

FP looked at him seriously: “Look, I know you think that you would be better off at Southside High, but just give your new school a chance. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made.”

“I understand, dad. I will do my best.”

FP gave Jughead one of his rare smiles. “Oh, don’t forget that,” he quickly said, pressing Jughead’s characteristic crown shaped beanie into his hands. “Maybe it’ll become a fashion trend.” Jughead grimaced, but he put on the beanie and left the trailer.

On the way through the snow to his bike, Jughead thought about what his father had said. He wasn’t angry with him. Actually, what FP had said was true. The teachers at Southside High still tried to explain the difference between an adverb and an adjective to his classmates.

But he couldn’t leave Sweet Pea or Fangs or Toni. The Ghoulies had been even more brutal in the last few weeks than ever before, and Jughead was the only one who could keep the Serpents from doing anything stupid. Being the son of FP Jones had quite an impact.

But coming from a school where he had been the most popular guy, to going to a school where he would be the social outcast, was a tremendous change.

The sun was beginning to rise when he arrived at Riverdale High. He parked his bike and walked up to the large doors that marked the entrance of the school.

“Fancy,” Jughead muttered as he stepped into the graffiti-less halls. Though it was still pretty early, some students already stood in front of their lockers, making small talk with their fellow classmates. Jughead sighed. Riverdale High was completely different from its counterpart on the Southside. Everything was brightly colored and the students also seemed somewhat cultivated. But still…Jughead kind of missed the smell of the rotting walls at Southside High or the sound of the Ghoulies, who were high on Jingle Jangle, once again vandalizing a classroom.

“Hey,” a voice behind him said, and Jughead winced.

He hadn’t thought he would get picked on so early. Surely it was the hat. Maybe he should have left it at home, but that beanie was his safety. A safety he especially needed at a place like this, where he stood out like a bride at a funeral.

As he turned around, his fists clenched. Years of being with the Serpents and expecting every moment for some Ghoulie to punch him have given him a lot of training. Jughead had always preferred the power of words, but people like the Ghoulies weren’t that bright. Behind him, he saw the boy the voice belonged to, leaning on a locker.

“Hey, I’m Archie. Archie Andrews. I should…umm…show you around, I guess. You’re Forsythe, right?”

Jughead exhaled. The boy had broad shoulders and a friendly looking face, but Jughead didn’t let himself be fooled by his façade. For all he knew this boy could become his arch enemy.

“Please never call me that again. I’m Jughead…Jones.”

The ginger-haired boy, Archie he remembered, grinned. “Well then, Jughead, follow me.”

Half an hour later Archie and Jughead found themselves on the school grounds.

“So here we have our football field,” Archie explained gesturing to his right.

“Do you play?,” Jughead asked, although he already knew the answer, judging by the shape Archie was in.

“Yes…do you want to join the team? I could arrange…”

“I’m good thanks…not much of a sportsperson,” Jughead said after he and Archie had crossed the school grounds.

“Noted,” Archie grinned.

“Do you have something like a creative writing course?”, Jughead asked. If he didn’t follow in FPs footsteps, he really wanted to become a writer one day. He had always liked reading, but writing was his remedy. He could pour his soul into words like others could into music.

“We have the Blue and Gold…”

“The school newspaper?”

Archie nodded. “I never would have taken you for a writer.”

Jughead shrugged. At least that would be something fun to do at this godforsaken school.

“I think the right thing to say would be: Never judge a book by its cover,” he smirked.

“I guess you’re right, Jughead. So, do you want to check it out?”, Archie asked hopefully.

“Sounds great.”

“One of my best friends is running it. But you may have to show her some of your work, she can be very picky,” Archie confessed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I understand,” Jughead admitted, though he wasn’t very keen on letting another person read his private thoughts, “So who is this mystery lady?”

Archie led Jughead to the end of the main corridor, where he stopped at a door with the letters ‘B&G’ engraved into it. The door opened with a loud squeak. On the inside, there were lots of shelves packed with books and old issues of The Blue and Gold. He could smell the familiar scent of books and paper that he loved so much.

“This is Jughead Jones,” he heard Archie say, while he was still looking at the books. They were sorted chronically alongside the whole wall. It was very satisfying to look at. Slowly he turned his attention to the person sitting behind the wooden table behind a computer. Her green eyes were staring at him when she opened her pink lips.

“I’m Betty Cooper.”

Betty Cooper had always followed the rules. Her whole life, she had tried to be the perfect girl next door. But when she saw that Serpent standing in her office, she felt as if she was committing some sort of crime. Archie, co-captain of the football team and part-time singer, looked from her to the boy, who had been introduced to her as Jughead. What an odd name. That couldn’t be his real one, or?

She cleared her throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Jughead. I believe this is your first day here?” The boy nodded, and Betty fixed her gaze on the crown shaped beanie placed on top of his dark curls. She had never seen anything like it. Was this some sort of Serpent symbolism?

“I was wondering if I could work with you at The Blue and Gold? Back at Southside High, I wrote for The Black and Red, but it got canceled due to financial issues,” Jughead explained, not breaking eye contact with her.

Betty was surprised. A serpent? In her office? Wanting to work with her? “I’m…really?”

“Yeah, I mean only if you want me to,” he grinned nervously.

Betty tried to calm herself down. Nothing dangerous was happening here, she should keep a clear head. “Could I see some of your work? You know, for reference.”

“Sure,” Jughead said, and began to search through his bag.

In the meantime, Betty walked up to Archie. “A serpent?”, she whispered accusingly, “Shouldn’t he be at Southside High?”

Archie shrugged.

“Why did you take him to me?”

“Hey, he asked me to bring him here,” Archie defended himself.

Betty shook her head. “My Mom will never approve of this,” she muttered more to herself than to Archie.

“Betty, you need someone to help you. Even if it’s someone like Jughead. And didn’t you just tell me yesterday that it was too much work for you?”

Betty sighed. “Fine, I will check out his work, but if this end horribly I will blame it all on you, Archie Andrews.” Archie smiled triumphantly.

After class, Betty was sitting in the Blue and Gold office, drinking some tea and going through Jughead’s notebooks. She hadn’t expected much, but what she read completely surprised her. Jughead was an extremely talented writer, no doubt in that.

The most fascinating thing about it was the way he wrote. Everything she read felt real, as if it was really happening to her. He had really put his soul into his work.When he wrote about pain, Betty could almost physically feel it. His tales about the life on the Southside captivated her. It was like he was living in a completely different world. “He is good,” she whispered to herself. She slammed the notebook shut and got up.

Her mother would never allow her to even speak with a Serpent. But she really liked Jughead’s style, and Archie had been right - she needed an extra pair of hands. But a Serpent? Jughead’s life was probably all about drug dealing and murder. What if he dragged her into his illegal affairs? But Betty couldn’t stop wondering about the fact that someone like Jughead would want to write for a school newspaper. With her. She could give him a shot, even if that meant risking her own safety.

“Archie told me you wanted to meet me?” asked a voice from the door. Betty looked up from the article she was currently editing. Jughead Jones was casually leaning against the doorframe, his dark curls falling into his blue eyes.

“Yes, I read some of your work…I never thought someone like you could write something like that,” she told him before she could stop herself.

“Someone like me?” Jughead asked, his eyebrows furrowed in question.

“I mean…I didn’t want to…” Betty stuttered.

“No, I get it. I’m a Serpent. I’m from the Southside. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have an affinity for literacy and writing,” Jughead said in a calm voice as he walked over to Betty’s desk and collected his notebooks.

“I’m sorry, Jughead.”

“You don’t have to be. I never thought someone like you would even dare to speak to me,” he admitted.

“What do you mean?”, Betty asked confused.

“Well, you seem like the stereotypical girl from the Northside. People like you normally despise us and treat us like dirt.”

Betty nervously bit her lip. She knew about the never-ending war between the Northside and the Southside. Since she had been a child, her mother had always told her that the Serpents were dangerous. But now she was standing here, in a room with Jughead Jones. She thought about what her mother had told her about what the Serpents had done. But that wasn’t Jughead’s fault, or was it?

“I guess we both had prejudices then?”

Jughead smiled at her, “So, Cooper, would you want me to work with you?”

“It would be an honor.”

The sun had already set when Jughead reached the trailer park. The snow was illuminated by the dimmed lights coming out of the Jones’ trailer. Jughead entered it and inhaled the familiar odor of alcohol. His eyes scanned the room. FP Jones sat in front of the TV, beer bottle in his hand, watching a football game.

“How was your first day, son?” he asked when Jughead had closed the door behind him.

“Not as bad as I expected,” Jughead admitted and sat down on the couch next to his father.

“Made some friends?”

“I don’t think you could call them friends, but I made some acquaintances,” Jughead said as he picked up a slice of pizza from the coffee table in front of him.

“See? Riverdale High isn’t that bad after all, is it?” Jughead nodded approvingly.

He couldn’t sleep that night. There was something about that Cooper girl. The way her green eyes looked at him; there had been some sadness in them. Maybe she wasn’t as perfect as she seemed to be. Maybe she was just as broken as he was.

[marjiandco]

Maybe sometime

Context: Sometime after the dragonsong war Marji and Raiku are doing rounds at Ishgardian parties to celebrate and show their support of Aymeric’s new appointment.

Raiku took a longer than necessary swig of his wine, annoyed at the incessant tapping of Marji’s tail on his back. He just bought these new clothes after all; an miqo’te hair is notoriously hard to get out of a partly white suit. Before them, de Fortemps manor had become a warren of aristocratic pompousness. 

Emmanalaine had insisted on having an event for the end of the dragonsong war, both as a way to release stress for Marji and Raiku, and to show off his powerful connections. Old habits die hard, even under new governmental rule. Raiku was used to this; the hand shakes, the polite nods and dutiful glances to the small folk to create a sense of ease around the physically strong. He’s been doing it for the scions since the term Warrior of Light was brought back to...well...light. Marji wasn’t the sort to like the attention or pleasantries, especially growing up as some ship rat who was taught to hide from any sort of stranger. He could almost feel her radiate discomfort.

“I feel so-” She starts.

“Put on display?” he finishes.

Marji nodded as she gave a tired grin to a group of elezen women, who ran off giggling amongst themselves. He saw her give a glance over to Aymeric and she stood a little straighter in an attempt to try and emulate his posture, though grimaced at the tightness around her midriff. Ishgardian noble’s type of dress wasn’t what Marji was used to, especially after being on a journey for nearing on a summer’s cycle. Her waist was cinched in tight, her arms dressed in fabric that was both constricting and overbearing, and a long skirt made of many, many heavy layers against the cold. The only thing that was free, to her chagrin, were the top of her breasts, which he pretty sure wasn’t an accident. He warned her not to take Emmanellain’s advice during whatever feud the two of them had with each other.

Raiku, already having an interest in fashion trends was able to take his own ideas to the de Fortemps family tailors. Soft gloves, long boots with small heels to make himself seem taller. A sapling amongst redwoods. It didn’t matter too much though. People would flock to the both of them if they dressed in burlap sacks as both Marji’s and Raiku’s race were seldom seen in Ishgard. They were oddities, nevermind their hand in the end of the dragonsong war.

Raiku pulled at his black bow tie around his neck, pretending to be admirably humble about his deeds when an old woman took him aside.

“You’re too kind.” He chuckled.

“Of course you know what they say about the two of you…” an older woman glanced with glee between Raiku and Marji, who stood just far enough to be out of earshot. He went through the seven stages of grief before smiling back, golden eyes tilted up at her in curiosity as he put on his best Alphinaud impression.

“I’m sorry fair lady but what, praytell, do they say?”

“I’m sorry but I cannot say in such company, but you must tell me, is it true?” She leans down, bending at the knee to meet his eyes.

He never loses his smile but he saw Marji catch site of the noblewoman and purse her lips, ears back on her head as she made her way over. He gave a little shake of his head and Marji had a sudden fascination with the refreshments across the hall.

“What is true?”

“She cups a hand around her mouth. “You two are courting.”

Raiku glances over in Marji’s direction and regrets it, catching the woman following his gaze. Marji was talking amicably to Aymeric about something or other, a newly filled wine glass in hand. The woman frowns in disapproval.

“I’m sorry we’re just friends.” Raiku frowned back at her. He grew tired of their conversation.

“It’s okay you know I can keep a secret.” She winked before fluttering away towards his friends, swooping in to take Marji’s hand and stood in front of Aymeric, though not so noticeable that it could be considered insulting.

Raiku lets out a derisive snort. Thal’s balls nobles here were just the same as back home and he hated them all. He saw the noblewoman and Marji glance in his direction, and he grinned at her. Better she deal with it than him. Least this time. It wasn’t long however before others came up to him and asked the same questions and ignored his same answers. They’ve been getting this for a while now; ever since the smallfolk learned about their companionship they’d construe platonic as romantic love. They used to get mail that detailed some of their ‘encounters’. Sometimes it was pretty well written, and other times it was so pornographic it would send them both into catatonic revulsion.

But that’s what this party is, he’d think to himself. A place to put the two of them on a pedestal so that others could network and realize who their ally’s best soldiers were. Raiku wandered through a sea of legs, holding his drink steady as he made his way up the stairs and to a quiet balcony. He used to have to do these sort of events all the time as a kid. He was to be seen and not heard, a shadow to stand behind his mother and father for their picturesque family unity. He ran away from home so he could feel the same as them, no shadow to block his view, but now he doesn’t know if he’d rather go back to that same shadow. Darkness does have its merits.

He opens the door, deflating at the sight of a dress, but perking up when he realized who was inside it. Marji was leaning over the railing, her usual pensive look on her face when she thinks she’s alone. He stands on his tiptoes to rest his arms on the railing, his drink carefully wedged in the crook of his elbow as he stretched his neck to look out over Ishgard. He still hasn’t gotten over the view of the city, snow falling over weathered rock and spires that seemed to be made from the very mountain below. Lights flickered here and there, people in their own homes to create fae orange lights in the dark stone. He sighs, unable to take the silence around them much longer.

“So I heard we’re dating.” He said in a bored tone.

“You know I heard the very same.” She said, closing her eyes for a moment.

He looked up at her, noticing her curly hair start to break free of whatever mold the aesthetician used to glue them to the top of her head. A strand tickled against her neck and down her bare collarbone. She had goosebumps across her exposed silver skin, and as he stared he thought of the old woman’s words.

It’s not like he hasn’t noticed her beauty on his own, but he’s never really thought of her below-or on top- of him. Even when they first met and he was star struck it was always about her deeds than looks, and the more he got to know her, the more he’d rather just be with her. She was his family at this point. An older sister he could tell anything to and sleep on a comforting shoulder. Hells he could barely do that with his own family but he felt so connected with her, and he knew she felt the same towards him. He couldn’t help but smile up at her as he thought of their few years together. Wine did make him sentimental.

“I don’t know how Aymeric manages these parties.” Marji swirled her own wine, a small curl in her nose. “There’s just so much based on perception and how you act and who with. I mean did you see that old hag take my hand as if she knew me? I took off just to turn into Emmanellain and all he could do was act all surprised I dressed as he asked.”

“I don’t think it was surprise.” Raiku laughed.

“Oh shut up! you and I both know he did this to embarrass me. Just cause I turned him down! I mean hello! I was dating his brother at the time!” Her alcohol near falls from her glass as she flung it around.

“How much have you drank?”

“Whats that matter?”

Raiku snorted. “Well you always wondered what my childhood was like; it was about 50, no 80 per-cent of what’s going on down stairs.”

“Yeah well I bet people never asked if you and your sister were dating.”

“No, no that hadn’t come up. As far as I know at least; those freaks in Ul’dah could have said anything.”

Marji was quiet for a moment then drained her cup. They heard tittering laughter and stomping feet bound up the stairs. The sound of Emmanellain’s ward yelling about something or other. They both froze and hoped the pair of them would run by without discovering their solitude. Mercifully the pair passed them by and both Marji and Raiku sighed in relief.

“Have you thought about it?” Marji asked.

“What?” Raiku said.

“You know, us being more?” Marji looked at him with nervousness.

“You’re uh..not my type.”

She let out a wistful sigh, immediately relaxed as she placed a hand on her head and mimicked the woman from downstairs “Is it because Aymeric is stealing me away from your arms? I heard my kind tend to do that and I am oh so easily swayed.”

“Better than my stereotype. Would you rather be lustful or sexless? The million gil question.”

“Hey. Don’t talk like that.” She turns and takes him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes. He leaned away from the sudden closeness.

“According to our fans, I heard you have a real fetish for-”

“Alright Marj! For the gods sake.” He pushed her away, red spreading across his freckled cheeks at the specific letter she was referencing. “I don’t think that moogle delivered to us for weeks after that.”

[marjiandco]

augenblick: 'in the blink of an eye'; a 'decisive moment' in time that is fleeting, yet momentously eventful and incredibly significant.

Raiku took a longer than necessary swig of his wine, annoyed at the incessant tapping of Marji’s tail on his back. He just bought these new clothes after all; an miqo’te hair is notoriously hard to get out of a white suit. Before them, de Fortemps manor had become a warren of aristocratic pompousness. Emmanalaine had insisted on having an event for the end of the dragonsong war, both as a way to release stress for Marji and Raiku, and to show off his powerful connections. Old habits die hard, even under new governmental rule. Raiku was used to this; the hand shakes, the polite nods and dutiful glances to the small folk to create a sense of ease around the physically strong. He’s been doing it for the scions since the term Warrior of Light was brought back to…well…light. Marji wasn’t the sort to like the attention or pleasantries, especially growing up as some ship crewperson who was taught to hide from any sort of stranger. He could almost feel her radiate discomfort.

“I feel so-” She starts.

“Put on display?” he finishes.

Marji nodded as she gave a tired grin to a group of elezen women, who ran off giggling amongst themselves. He saw her give a glance over to Aymeric and she stood a little straighter in an attempt to try and emulate his posture, though grimaced at the tightness around her midriff. Ishgarian noble’s type of dress wasn’t what Marji was used to, especially after being on a journey for nearing on a summer’s cycle. Her waist was cinched in tight, her arms dressed in fabric that was both somehow constricting and overbearing, and a long skirt made of many, many heavy layers against the cold. The only thing that was free, to her chagrin, were the top of her breasts, which he pretty sure wasn’t an accident. He told her not to take Emmanellain’s advice during whatever feud the two of them had with each other.

Raiku, already having an interest in fashion trends was able to take his own idea’s to the de Fortemps family tailors. Soft gloves, long boots with small heels to make himself seem taller. A sapling amongst redwoods. It didn’t matter too much though. People would flock to the both of them if they dressed in burlap sacks as both Marji’s and Raiku’s race were seldom seen in Ishgard. They were oddities, nevermind their hand in the end of the dragonsong war.

Raiku pulled at his black bow tie around his neck, pretending to be admirably humble about his deeds as an old woman took him aside.

“You’re too kind.” He chuckled.

“Of course you know what they say about the two of you…” an older woman glanced with glee between Raiku and Marji, who stood just far enough to be out of earshot. He went through the seven stages of grief before smiling back, golden eyes tilted up at her in curiosity as he put on his best Alphinaud impression.

“I’m sorry fair lady but what, praytell, do they say?”

“I’m sorry but I cannot say in such company, but you must tell me, is it true?” She leans down, bending at the knee to meet his eyes.

He never loses his smile but he saw Marji catch site of the noblewoman and purse her lips, ears back on her head as she made her way over. He gave a little shake of his head and she made a sudden swerve towards the refreshment’s across the hall.

“What is true?”

“She cups a hand around her mouth. “You two are courting.”

Raiku glances over in Marji’s direction and regrets it, catching the woman following his gaze. Marji was talking amicably to Aymeric about something or other, a newly filled wine glass in hand. The woman frowns in disapproval.

“I’m sorry we’re just friends.” Raiku frowned back at her. He grew tired of their conversation.

“It’s okay you know I can keep a secret.” She winked before fluttering away towards his friends, swooping in to take Marji’s hand and stood in front of Aymeric,though not so noticeable that it could be considered insulting.

Raiku lets out a derisive snort. Thal’s balls nobles here were just the same as back home and he hated them all. He saw the noblewoman and Marji glance in his direction, and he grinned at her. Better she deal with it than him. Least this time. It wasn’t long however before others came up to him and asked the same questions and ignored his same answers. They’ve been getting this for a while now; ever since the smallfolk learned about their companionship they’d construe platonic as romantic love. They used to get mail that detailed some of their ‘encounters’. Sometimes it was pretty well written, and other times it was so pornographic it would send them both into catatonic revulsion.

But that’s what this party is, he’d think to himself. A place to put the two of them on a pedestal so that others could network and realize who their ally’s best soldiers were. Raiku wandered through a sea of legs, holding his drink steady as he made his way up the stairs and to a quiet balcony. He used to have to do these sort of events all the time as a kid. He was to be seen and not heard, a shadow to stand behind his mother and father for their picturesque family unity. He ran away from home so he could feel the same as them, no shadow to block his view, but now he doesn’t know if he’d rather go back to that same shadow. Darkness does have its merits.

He opens the door, deflating at the sight of a dress, but perking up when he realized who was inside it. Marji was leaning over the railing, her usual pensive look on her face when she thinks she’s alone. He stands on his tiptoes to rest his arms on the railing, his drink carefully wedged in the crook of his elbow as he stretched his neck to look out over Ishgard. He still hasn’t gotten over the view of Ishgard, snow falling over weathered rock and spires that seemed to be made from the very mountain below. Lights flickered here and there, people in their own homes to create fae orange lights in the dark stone. He sighs, unable to take the silence around them much longer.

“So I heard we’re dating.” He said in a bored tone.

“You know I head the very same.” She said, closing her eyes for a moment.

He looked up at her, noticing her curly hair start to break free of whatever mold the aesthetician used to glue them to the top of her head. A strand tickled against her neck and down her bare collarbone. She had goosebumps across her exposed silver skin, and as he stared he thought of the old woman’s words.

It’s not like he hasn’t noticed her beauty on his own, but he’s never really thought of her below-or on top- of him. Even when they first met and he was star struck it was always about her deeds than looks, and the more he got to know her, the more he’d rather just be with her. She was his family at this point. An older sister he could tell anything to and sleep on a comforting shoulder. Hells he could barely do that with his own family but he felt so connected with her, and he knew she felt the same towards him. He couldn’t help but smile up at her as he thought of their few years together. Wine did make him sentimental.

“I don’t know how Aymeric manages these parties.” Marji swirled her own wine, a small curl in her nose. “There’s just so much based on perception and how you act and who with. I mean did you see that old hag take my hand as if she knew me? I took off just to turn into Emmanellain and all he could do was act all surprised I dressed as he asked.”

“I don’t think it was surprise.” Raiku laughed.

“Oh shut up you and I both know he did this to embarrass me. Just cause I turned him down! I mean hello! I was dating his brother at the time!” Her alcohol near falls from her glass as she flung it around.

“How much have you drank?”

“What’s that matter?”

Raiku snorted. “Well you always wondered what my childhood was like; it was about 50, no 80 per-cent of what’s going on down stairs.”

“Yeah well I bet people never asked if you and your sister were dating.”

“No, no that hadn’t come up. As far as I know at least; those freaks in Ul’dah could have said anything.”

Marji was quiet for a moment then drained her cup. They heard tittering laughter and stomping feet bound up the stairs. The sound of Emmanellain’s ward yelling about something or other. They both froze and hoped the pair of them would run by without discovering their solitude. Mercifully the pair passed them by and both Marji and Raiku sighed in relief.

“Have you thought about it?” Marji asked.

“What?” Raiku said.

“You know, us being more?” Marji looked at him with nervousness.

“You’re uh..not my type.”

She let out a wistful sigh, immediately relaxed as she placed a hand on her head and mimicked the woman from downstairs “Is it because Aymeric is stealing me away from your arms? I heard my kind tend to do that and I am oh so easily swayed.”

“Better than my stereotype. Would you rather be lustful or sexless like me? The million gil question.”

“Hey. Don’t talk like that.” She turns and takes him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes. He leaned away from the sudden closeness.

“According to our fans, I heard you have a real fetish for-”

“Alright Marj!” He pushed her away, red tinging his cheeks at the specific letter she was referencing. “I don’t think that moogle delivered to us for weeks after that.”

Thanks for the ask and the patience @adventrues-in-random!