#when i tell you that ask started so normal and spiraled into something so different

[tethered-heartstrings]

what if I turned the reply to that last ask into a fic. what then

[lolab4t]

off duty - part two | 18+

MINORS DNI

ᝰ.ᐟ this is part two of off duty! the first part didn't include smut, but this one does, so please keep that in mind.

pairing: avenger!bucky barnes x fem!avenger!younger!reader summary: days after the tipsy night on the couch, you're left wondering what it meant... especially with bucky acting infuriatingly normal. the tension leads to a steamy exchange between the two, where bucky seems to let go of his gentleman manners for a bit. word count: 8.2k warning(s): 18+ explicit content warning, smut, mature themes, light swearing, some power dynamics, alcohol consumption/intoxication (references to past use), fluff, use of nicknames, age gap, mutual confusion a/n: if you saw the original part two before i deleted it... no u didn't :) i was so shocked by the love of the first part and was super unprepared to make a second, so i made a few indecisive choice lol. i really hope you enjoy :) and if you do, please feel free to like, comment, or reblog! <3 also, requests are open!

art deco - lana del rey

a few days had passed since that night on the sofa. it was almost as if it had never happened. you were spiraling, wondering if you had imagined it during your drunken haze. you kept replaying that night on the couch, unsure if it was real or some alcohol-fueled fantasy. the only confirmation? the team’s constant teasing.

but bucky? that asshole was silent as ever.

bucky never reacted. he simply ignored the comments. even when the group had found you on the couch and battered you with questions, his expression remained neutral, as if he had no reason to feel awkward. the amount of comments made by tony that he just brushed off was impressive. you, on the other hand, were a flustered, hungover mess.

not to mention you hadn’t really talked to bucky much since then.

well, you had… technically. a few "good mornings," maybe a nod across the gym… nothing that really counted. nothing that explained any of the tension. maybe he was just being friendly, and you misread it. but you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different in the way he acted around you. he started sitting closer during movie nights… he'd taunt you and give you a playful smirk every time you so much as tripped on a training mat. it was such a stark difference to how he treated you before that night. he was treating you like a friend, which made you consider whether you wanted him to treat you as something more or not. whether you wanted his hands on you again…

now, you found yourself still in your gear after a mission, standing in front of your mirror. you had been struggling with the straps of your vest, too exhausted to deal with any of it. the fabric was tight, and the clasps just wouldn’t come undone.

you hadn’t even realized bucky was standing in the doorway, watching you, until he stood in front of you.

he likely had heard your grunts of frustration and came to check on you. perfect asshole.

"having trouble?" he gently started removing the straps, helping you out of your gear slowly.

was he doing this on purpose? could he not tell how your breathing became more shallow when he did shit like that? maybe he was torturing you.

"why do you always seem to be helping me out of clothing?" you asked, not realizing how dirty-minded it actually sounded until he snickered, causing your face to go red.

god… he's so hot when he makes that smug ass face.

"you know what i mean—" you rushed to clarify, but he was already smirking.

"you mean those pretty little heels from the other night?" he chuckled, putting your gear away. he turned back to you, closing the distance a little, "you remember that?"

so, you hadn't imagined it. it had actually happened. all this time, he had thought you didn’t remember… you felt a little relieved.

how could you NOT remember? you couldn't look at him all week without feeling yourself get hot.

the adrenaline from his closeness caused your head to swim a bit, "of course i do, 'doll.' i was tipsy, not blackout drunk," you smirked, meeting his gaze, refusing to look away.

bucky grinned, watching you with an amused expression.

"really? you could've fooled me. i thought you forgot the whole thing, or were pretending to."

"what's that supposed to mean?" you narrowed your eyes, still smiling subtly.

you would've never wanted to forget it.

he hummed, "i dunno. you've just been acting kind of distant since that night. you're a little young. thought i might've went too far."

went too far? hell, he didn't go far enough.

you scoffed playfully, tilting your head, "you scared of me or something, old man?"

you didn't think your next words through, unable to stop yourself from just saying what you were thinking, "you didn't go far enough…" your voice came out as a whisper.

you could see that cocky look in his eyes start to break. he bit his lip, shaking his head, "you're killing me, doll. here i am trying to be a gentleman…"

his smirk returned as he stepped closer, "unless you'd like me to stop trying."

all you had to do was give him a nod before his lips smashed onto yours.

the kiss was heated and rough. his hands were roaming all over your body, your fingers tangling into his hair.

he groaned into your mouth, one hand gripping your hip while the other wrapped around the back of your neck like he’d been dying to do this for weeks.

"this what you wanted, doll?" he murmured against your lips. you could feel the smirk.

"i want more," you breathed, gripping onto his shoulders.

his metal hand slid beneath your combat gear top, fingers tracing up your spine. cool against the heat of your skin. his touch was teasing. almost maddeningly slow.

"you sure you can handle more, sweetheart?" he whispered into your neck, lips brushing skin with every word. "you're already shaking."

you were. damn it. the adrenaline rush was affecting you physically.

"shut up," you muttered, trying to push at his chest — not really meaning it. “asshole.”

“that’s more like it,” he grinned. “that’s my girl.”

my girl.

your breath caught.

he noticed. of course he did. you could practically feel his cocky smirk against your neck.

bucky pulled back just enough to look at you again, eyes flicking across your face. you could see the restraint in his eyes… like he was holding himself back, waiting for a sign.

so you gave him one.

one hand slid under his shirt, palms grazing the lines of his abs. your other hand fiddled with his belt. you leaned in, kissed him slow, more deliberate this time. no rush. no panic. just want. desire.

he responded instantly, like he’d been waiting for this since that night on the sofa. his hands gripped your waist, walking you backward until your shoulder blades hit the nearest wall.

“tell me to stop,” he murmured against your lips, voice ragged.

you didn’t. obviously.

instead, you dragged his shirt up over his head. that vibranium arm came to rest on the wall beside your head, bracing him, and you, as he pressed closer. the cool of the metal contrasted with the heat of his body, and it made you shiver.

he smiled against your jaw. “still shaking.”

"still an asshole." you snapped back, slightly breathless.

his hand traveled under your top again, “you’re not wearing anything under this,” he muttered, almost like he was scolding himself. “young people these days…” he joked, grinning again.

“then don’t waste time,” you said breathlessly, tugging at his belt.

that did it.

sloppy make out. hands everywhere. your shirt joined his on the floor.

he guided you to the bed, carefully, like he was still asking permission with every step. even in the heat of it, he was gentle. attentive. like if he didn’t handle you right, you’d vanish. still a perfect gentleman.

once there, he wasted no time. he helped you out of your pants, pulling your panties off with them. hovering above you, he moved down, closer to where you needed him most.

“you’re beautiful,” he murmured into your inner thighs, almost like he didn’t mean to say it out loud.

“bucky—” you breathed, fingers tangling in his hair again as you felt his tongue on your clit.

the way he moved was practiced, but not detached. it was about you. every reaction he pulled from you only made him more desperate, more focused. it wasn’t long before your voice was breaking on his name, back arching off the mattress as he took you apart with nothing but his mouth.

when he finally came up for air, pupils blown, lips swollen, hair messy from your fingers… he simply smirked.

god... he was killing you.

“still want more?”

you nodded, dazed. “god, yes.”

he crawled back over you, leaving a trail of gentle kisses on your skin in his wake.

and when he finally sank into you — need seemed to claw through the both of you, hot and impatient.

not rushed, but there was urgency.

it built slowly until you were unraveling in his arms, and he followed with a groan against your throat.

he held onto you like he had done on the couch that night. when you had fallen asleep in his arms.

for a while, you just lay there, both letting out laughs of disbelief.

"guess chivalry is dead," you joked, flashing him a mischievous smile.

"oh, really?" he gave you an amused grin. "i tried to be a gentleman. you told me to stop trying."

thanks so much for reading <3 requests are open!

taglist: @delfitaylorsversion131989 @planetzeidy @weniswow @moinblack @slutforsr @winchestert101

[itoshiierae]

Hiii! I hope your day is going well. I was wondering if you could write about the blue lock boys reaction when you tell people you’re just friends but you’re in a situationship 😰 (Rin, sae, ness, reo) thank youu 😋

──★ ˙🧷 ̟ !!

ᡣ𐭩 ft: rin itoshi, sae itoshi, alexis ness, reo mikage

ᡣ𐭩 notes: not all four of them spiralling over being “just friends.” if you’ve ever been in a situationship and accidentally gaslit yourself into thinking you don’t care. this one’s for you 🥹 (not proofread!)

ᡣ𐭩 cw: angst, eventual fluff, might be ooc, ness crashing out, suggestive, hurt/comfort

꣑ৎ RIN ITOSHI ꣑ৎ

you and rin have been meeting up in secret for the past few months. he’s known for his cold demeanour and sharp tongue— the kind of guy who keeps the world at arm’s length. no one suspects a thing, because no one could imagine rin itoshi caring about anything other than soccer.

it started with an accidental bump in the school hallway. nothing intentional or dramatic but somehow, that fleeting moment unraveled into secret midnight visits, shared beds, and a kind of quiet intimacy that felt too tender to be casual, yet never quite real enough to be labelled as love.

so you say it like it meant nothing.

“oh, rin? we’re just friends.”

because when someone asks what the two of you are, it’s easier to lie than admitting, you don’t even know anymore.

what you didn’t realize… was that he was standing just a few feet away — and he heard everything.

──★

later that night, you climb into his bed like you usually do. there’s always been an unspoken rule or more like a quiet understanding to never define whatever this was. but tonight feels different. rin doesn’t pull you into his chest like he normally does. from the moment you stepped into his room, he’s been distant— colder than usual.

“…what’s up with you?” you ask, finally breaking the silence that’s been pressing down on the room.

he doesn’t answer right away. just stares at the ceiling, voice low when it finally comes:

“i heard you said we’re just friends… is that what we are??”

you blink, thrown off by the shift in his tone. his words feel too direct— too raw which was so unlike him.

“…are we not??”

the question leaves your lips hesitantly as you’re unsure whether you’re defending yourself or genuinely asking.

he turns to you without a word. for a second, you think he won’t respond— but then his fingers wrap around your wrist; delicate and grounding, as his hand rises to your cheek. there’s a kind of weight in it like the gesture carries every word he’s never said out loud.

“i don’t want to be just friends anymore,” he murmurs.

“…w-what do you mean???” your voice comes out quieter than you intended, brows furrowing as you were unsure where this conversation was going.

“don’t play dumb. you know exactly what i mean,” he mutters, jaw tight.

“…and i might need you to stop spending so much time with isagi.”

his fingers twitch at his sides, curling into fists before he catches himself. he lets out a breath like he’s trying to keep it cool but the slight shake in his voice gives him away when he speaks.

“he’s been stealing time that’s supposed to be mine.”

꣑ৎ SAE ITOSHI ꣑ৎ

no one ever thought you’d be the one tangled up in a situationship with the sae itoshi. he only cares about soccer — literally everyone knows that. he doesn’t do distractions but somehow, you became the exception to that rule.

what you have with him isn’t official. you don’t know what to call it— don’t even know if he wants it to be called anything at all. sometimes, it feels like he’s right there with you. and other times??? it feels like you’re the only one hoping it might turn into something more.

you don’t even realize he’s behind you when someone asks what the two of you are. and without thinking, you say it casually, like it means nothing:

“sae??? we’re just friends...”

because if he’s not going to define it, you won’t be the one to risk it either.

──★

that night you’re curled up in his lap, the weight of the day slowly melting off your shoulders as his hand strokes your arm absentmindedly, thumb grazing your wrist in slow, grounding circles. and then out of nowhere he says something out of pocket.

“so…. is this what friendship looks like now??”

he doesn’t even look at you when he says it; just lets his fingers trail from your wrist to your hair like he didn’t just drop a bomb.

you let out a breathy, awkward laugh while trying to lighten the air that suddenly feels too heavy.

“… wait you heard that?” you ask it softly this time, all the teasing stripped away.

he hums. still not looking at you. and then—

“yeah, i did,” he says, his eyes finally meeting yours.

you blink, genuinely caught off guard by how serious he suddenly looks. there’s no smirk or sarcasm, just quiet frustration flickering in his expression.

“…w-why are you looking at me like that? we’re just friends aren’t we??”

he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “ y’knw, i’m not great at this,” he mutters. “saying how i feel… never have been.”

you don’t say anything right away. not because you don’t want to. but because you’re still caught in the silence between his sentences, the tension in his posture, and the way he said ‘feel’ like it physically cost him something.

it’s obvious he’s never let himself be this open before. not with you.

not with anyone.

“….. right,” you say, even though you don’t know what you’re agreeing to exactly.

his gaze softens. not entirely, but enough for you to notice. and that’s all it takes for your resolve to falter.

you immediately fold into his touch like your body remembers something your mind is still afraid to admit.

afterwards, even with your heart still unsure of where this is going, you stay in his lap; because somehow, it’s the only place that feels like home.

and you’re not ready to walk away from that just yet.

꣑ৎ ALEXIS NESS ꣑ৎ

you and ness started out as just friends. you’d always known him as kaiser’s best friend and honestly, you thought he seemed too sweet to be that close to someone like kaiser.

they were total opposites, or so you thought.

ness knew you had a crush on kaiser. and when you found out kaiser had a girlfriend, he was the one who stayed & comforted you throughout the whole heartbreak. he didn’t mind being the one you leaned on even if you weren’t looking at him yet.

and then slowly…. one thing lead to another, and now you’re in a situationship with the boy you were never meant to fall for. you’re not sure which secret is worse; the one you kept, or the one that’s already unfolding.

──★

one night, you, ness, and a few other friends were hanging out at a café. everything was easy; warm drinks, good music, the kind of atmosphere that makes time blur. laughter spilled across the table, and it was the kind of night that felt light, unbothered—

until… someone casually leaned forward, and asked “so… i saw you and ness walking home together the other day. is there something going on there or??”

and you being you— were not prepared for that question. you laughed too quickly and waved your hand almost as if it was ridiculous. your nerves buzzed beneath your skin as you answered on impulse:

“what???? no way… we’re just friends.”

you didn’t even look at him when you said it and he didn’t correct you, or call you out on it; he just sipped his drink like your answer didn’t matter.

but you knew, the moment his gaze dropped to the table— when his laugh sounded just a bit too forced the next time someone cracked a joke, and when he didn’t look at your direction for the rest of the night, that he was not happy about it.

──★

after that, the two of you walk home together like usual. but tonight, he’s quieter. his hands are shoved deep in his pockets, eyes fixed on the ground like he’s trying not to say something he knows he won’t be able to take back. and you can feel it—the weight of something unsaid, brewing in the silence like a storm that hasn’t broken yet.

and then he says it.

“everyone prefers kaiser. it’s always been like that.”

“he walks into a room and people naturally gravitate towards him… i walk in and people barely look up.”

you open your mouth to protest, but he keeps going. his voice stays soft. but his words??? they slice.

“but i didn’t care because i had you. i thought maybe— just maybe… someone would finally see me, but then you called me your friend. like all of this meant nothing…”

he laughs, but it’s hollow.

“is that all we are???”

he’s not yelling but this is the most you’ve ever seen of him. the most honesty he’s ever let slip past the boy-next-door mask that he usually puts on.

“i should’ve known— should’ve known the second you cried over kaiser and i still stayed.”

“you were never mine... you just needed someone to hold you until it stopped hurting.”

he won’t meet your eyes, so you reach for him— pulling him down until your lips crash immediately into his.

you kiss him like you’ve been aching to, both hands cupping his jaw, thumbs brushing the edges of his cheekbones. your fingers are trembling, but your lips are soft— urgent, as if you’re trying to convince him of everything you couldn’t say.

there’s a beat of hesitation in his body like he’s still deciding if this is real—

and then it breaks.

all of it.

like something inside him finally gives in. and then he’s kissing you back harder like it’s the only way he knows how to stay.

the kiss lasts a few minutes before you finally pull away— hands still curled in his shirt.

“now… does THIS look like just friends to you??”

you’re nearly breathless when you say it.

“i didn’t mean it.”

“when i said we were just friends— i didn’t mean it okay??”

and this time, you don’t look away.

because this is the moment everything shifts. the moment it stops being casual, and starts becoming real.

꣑ৎ REO MIKAGE ꣑ৎ

you and reo’s families have known each other for years; long enough that people always assumed the two of you would end up together someday. same industry, same social circles, so it wasn’t a complete surprise when you needed a plus one to a formal gala and thought of him.

and of course, reo said yes instantly.

he was the perfect date. a complete gentleman; charming, attentive, always arriving at least 30 minutes early just to make sure you had everything you needed. he made you laugh, made you feel seen and without realizing it, being with him started to feel natural; almost as if he always belonged there beside you.

after a while, he started showing up to more than just formal events. you two would hang out on quiet weekends, sneak off after dinners just to drive around the city, spend hours talking about things that had nothing to do with work or family. the two of you even had a usual spot now. the bond eventually deepened, but neither of you ever officially put a label on it.

until one day, at a casual gathering— you ran into your cousin. she smirked, nudging you playfully before saying:

“so… you and reo, huh?? is it official yet or are you just being secretive?”

you laughed— obviously nervous & unprepared for that question. you didn’t know what to say because honestly??? you didn’t even know what this was.

so you shrugged and blurted, “nahhh… we’re just friends.”

and when you turned around— there he was. reo. standing just behind you. and the look on his face??? it absolutely gutted you.

──★

he didn’t speak the entire ride home. not a single joke, not even a glance; just that same tense— aching quiet that made the car feel colder than it actually was. it was almost as if, all the warmth he usually carried had been left behind somewhere you couldn’t reach.

he sat beside you in the car, gaze fixed out the window, hand resting in his lap instead of reaching for yours like he usually does.

you tried to break the tension once.

“… reo??”

he didn’t even turn his head.

“tired.”

one word & that was it. you wanted to say more but something in his posture said ‘don’t push’. so you stayed quiet and the silence stretched the entire ride home.

his silence loops in your head— the empty look in his eyes, the way he said “tired” like he was done with you. and you hated it. because you’re not used to reo being cold or distant.

──★

the next day, you go to your usual spot without telling him prior.

you: hey… can we talk? i’m at our spot right now. i know i didn’t give any warning so… i’ll wait.

you: even if it takes a few hours.

you watch the messages deliver. 3 minutes later, he reads it.

but he doesn’t reply.

your stomach twists. you don’t know if he’ll actually come, or if you’ve already lost him. but you wait anyway.

and 20 minutes later, you see him pulling up.

your heart immediately drops in relief.

he hesitates when he sees you at first— hands in his pockets, shoulders a little tense like he’s not sure if he should actually come closer but he does anyway.

“… you wanted to talk??” he asked while sitting next to you.

you nod as you take a breath.

“sooo about yesterday at the gathering… i-i just panicked okay??? i didn’t know what to say because we’ve never talked about it. we never called it anything, so I didn’t know if I was allowed to...”

you glance at him before continuing, “but it didn’t mean nothing to me— you don’t mean nothing to me…”

he finally looks at you. his expression is composed, but beneath it??? you can see the hurt.

“then why’d you say it like I’m someone you barely know?? you hold my hand. you call me when you can’t sleep. you even let me kiss you”

“and then tell people we’re ‘just friends??’”

his voice cracks on that last part— just enough to tell you he wasn’t fine.

“i swear, i didn’t mean it.”

you reach for his hand. and this time, he lets you take it. his eyes flick up to yours, softer now before saying, “please... say it again.”

“i didn’t mean it, you’re not just a friend… you’re more than that.”

his hands immediately slide to your waist, as his forehead drops to yours. and when he kisses you, it’s not like before. it’s not playful or teasing. it’s real…. like he’s finally letting go of every doubt he was trying to pretend didn’t exist.

“then be mine for real.”

“not just for the events... not just when no one’s watching.”

in that moment, his eyes are locked with yours; full of unsaid things, like he’s searching your face for a sign, anything, to tell him he’s not the only one feeling this.

and that’s when you whisper back:

“i already was…. i just didn’t know how to say it.”

© itoshiierae 2025 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅ please do not modify or repost my content onto any other platforms.

[jjwolves]

I just thought of this right now. Could you please write something about ENA looking through human! reader’s bag that stayed with them as they were transported into ENA���s world? I would assume this would be a while of knowing and working jobs together, and ENA’s just curious about the world Reader used to reside in. I like thinking of the curiosity ENA might have, especially with something ranging from normal to complex like a Switch or pocket change.

Thank you for your time!

BORDER CROSSING -༻❁༺-ˎˊ❁ˋˏ-༻❁༺-

What: 5 ENA the Worker X Reader Headcanons of ENA Checking Out Earth Items

Who: ENA the Worker from ENA Dream BBQ (By Joel G)

How Much: ~900 words, ~4 mins

Credits: Image Banner -> Joel G

Warnings: None

ENA politely holds the door to the Ocean Connectivity Tunnel open for you. Thankful, you step inside as ENA’s head completes a spin and she slams the door behind the both of you, stomping forward to catch up. You ask her where you’re going next. Her head snaps in your direction. “We’re meeting up with some joker who’s obsessed with this red ticket. Speaking of which…” ENA starts patting her pockets down for said ticket, rummaging around in her inventory space. You ask if she’s having any luck. She responds with spiraling eyes and fangs. “Does it LOOK like I’m having any luck?! I’d be waving that paper in your face already if I found it! Where the hell IS IT?!” She keeps up the frantic search as the two of you continue through the tunnel. At last, she gives up and stops, turning slowly to you. You ask her what was up. In response, she narrows her eyes before lunging.

ENA rips your backpack off of you and begins inspecting it from different angles like there might be a button that she can press somewhere. “I’m not a fan of pranks, failface! Tell me how to get this thing open!” You insist that you wouldn’t hide the ticket in your backpack—that’s not something you’d do. “Well maybe I’M the idiot and put it inside without thinking. So how do you—how am I supposed to—well this is just… something, isn’t it.” She tried prying at the zipper lines with her clawed finger for a few minutes before shoving the bag back into your hands. “Get it open for me before I break it.” Slightly annoyed, you elegantly hold the head of a zipper and open the bag for ENA, sitting on a nearby coral bench to take a break for examination. ENA slams onto the far end of the bench, aggressively scooting over to you with speed like a malfunctioning jackhammer and crashing into your side to see what her dearest is holding.

You begin pouring through the contents of the bag and handing them to ENA for inspection. She undergoes another headrush and fixes the new item in her hands with a crimson expression of curiosity. It’s some sort of rectangle with a branching wire running out of it. She tries flexing it. No, it is rigid. “Hmm… I wonder if there’s…” She tries aiming it forward, squeezing an eye shut and tugging the wire with a seriousness you’re not used to seeing in her. “Well, it doesn’t terminate. I’d be worried if you had something like that on you.” You offer a helping hand and press a button on the rectangle. The small window lights up. There’s a bunch of titled entries and a bar at the bottom. “A transaction sheet?” No, not that. You select an entry and put one of the wire’s ends into your ear, and the other end into hers. She brightens when she hears electronic music spring forth and begins wobbling her arms with the music. It’s almost like she’s so used to dancing without music that she doesn’t know what to do when it’s present. “Oh! Oh. I like this. I like this a lot. It sounds… freshly minted.”

ENA is standing, now, trying to reel in a yo-yo while flicking a lighter on and off, teetering side to side as she splits her attention between the two. You don’t bring up the fact that you two aren’t making any progress—it’s rare to see ENA so elated by pleasure rather than business. “Haha! Look! The gadget lowers and gravitates back when done correctly! I’m! Trending!” She says, starting to get the hang of the yo-yo while her other side stays preoccupied by the tiny flame she flicks on and off again. “Burn! Cease. Burn! Cease. Finally, someone who can take orders around here!” You take a cigarette—you might as well, this was already a break—and lit the end using ENA’s new toy. Curious mode already engaged, ENA drew extremely close while you took a drag and immediately took the lit side of the cigarette into her mouth, trying to smoke it the way you were, placing her arms on either side of your body to be level with your face. Smoke puffed out from the top of her head and made her hat somersault. A red ticket flew somewhere. You rip the cigarette away and she coughs. “Ugh… That one isn’t very equitable.” You were blushing but tried not to make it too obvious—you had no idea if ENA knew what she was doing. Her smile was hard to read.

Your resealed backpack is handed back to you. ENA smiles. “Thank you for showing me the goods, kind vendor. I hope this isn’t presumptuous, but… could I buy the string-ball from you? It’s such fun.” She makes a show of checking her pockets for money that you know she doesn’t have. You take out the toy and place it in her hands, making a comment about it being ‘on the house’. ENA looks surprised. “Is this the real deal? The genuine article? I didn’t trade anything for this, so why are you giving it to me?” You explain that ENA already gives you a lot without realizing. A lot of… nonmaterial things. She’s silent for a moment, eyes wide at the gift. “I’ll pay you back,” she says, as she runs ahead and frantically attempts yo-yo tricks. Truth be told, you would have given her anything she asked for.

[themdera]

George Clarke replied to your story.

2,172 words. Green circle. Red Circle. what’s the difference?

It all started a few weeks ago when George had posted a random Instagram Story asking fans to add him to their close friends lists so he could rank them for a YouTube video—“best, funniest, cringiest, whatever,” he’d promised with that ridiculous smile. Your group chat had of course collectively lost their minds.

“Oh my God, we have to do this,” someone had declared, already tagging him in a story.

You’d rolled your eyes at first. Sure, George was funny, creative, and admittedly attractive, but you weren’t about to feed his ego by crafting some elaborate story just for his amusement. Still, in the chaos of everyone else freaking out, you’d ended up adding him anyway. Not to make the cut for his video—you didn’t post anything remotely funny or interesting enough—but just to shut the groupchat up. And honestly, you forgot to remove him after.

Then came the thirst trap.

It wasn’t even planned. You’d been bored, playing around with some poses, when your friends dared you to post something from the many photos you’d sent them, a simple selfie where the light hits your face and hair in the perfect way, just to mess with people. It had been a joke, like everything else on your close friends, and you’d captioned it, “This one’s for just you ;)” to really sell the bit.

No one actually expected him to see it.

But George Clarke, the man with an unbelievably high screen time, saw everything. The notification came in mere minutes after you posted it. GeorgeClarkeey replied to your story

“Me?” one word. That was all it took.

“Girls” You typed very quickly

Cue the group chat imploding.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” your friend types back know the message “Girls” meant something had happened.

“George replied to my story”

“HE WHAT?”

“He’s going to think it’s serious.”

“Can we talk about how he responded in record time???”

“He’s going to make this a thing. I feel it in my soul.”

The replies came in at record speed. Sure enough, George wasn’t done yet.

Another message popped up while you were still processing the first: “Wait. That was for me, right? Like… actually?”

You groaned, tossing your phone onto your bed. What the hell was going on? George Clarke had a talent for this shit, and now you were directly in the middle of it. Of course it wasn’t specifically for him. It was a joke, a dumb joke fueled by group chat dares and late-night boredom. But now George Clarke was in your DMs, actually engaging, and you had no idea how to navigate this.

You sat down on your bed , unlocking your phone to stare at his messages through your notifications like they might explode if you opened them. What the hell were you supposed to say to that?

“Me?”

“Wait. That was for me, right? Like… actually?”

It wasn’t for him. Not really. But at the same time, it wasn’t not for him, and there was no universe in which you could explain that without sounding ridiculous.

Your phone buzzed again.

“Take your time, I’ll just sit here wondering 😏.”

You groaned, throwing your head back. Why was he like this? Why couldn’t he just scroll past like a normal person? Better yet, why did you still have him on your close friends list in the first place?

The group chat, of course, was zero help.

“Just say it was for him. What’s the harm?”

“Tell him it’s a metaphor. Keep him guessing.”

“Confess your undying love and ask him to follow while you’re at it.”

You sighed, finally flopping onto your bed and opening the messages.

“What if it was?” you typed, hesitating for a moment before hitting send.

Immediately, your heart dropped into your stomach. What had you just done? Before you could spiral too deeply into regret over your reply, another notification popped up on your screen.

GeorgeClarkey started following you.

You froze. What the actual fuck was going on? Was this some elaborate joke for his video? Was he about to screenshot your profile and blast you to his friends and his followers as part of his next roast video?

Panic set in almost immediately. You scrambled to your profile, fingers flying as you opened your highlights. What did I even have on there? Your close friends was one thing, but your highlights were public.

The first highlight was fine. A sunset. Very normal. The second was a random dog you’d seen on a walk. Also fine. The third? Oh God, the third. A blurry photo of your face captioned, “Why am I like this?”

You cringed, hitting the delete button, but before you could delete anything else, another notification lit up your phone.

GeorgeClarkey replied to your story:

“Ok but… jokes aside be honest. Is this about me?”

Your group chat exploded before you could even blink.

“HE FOLLOWED YOU?!”

“Shut up. He did not.”

“Bestie, you’re famous now.”

“Oh my God he did! i checked his profile! Did he post anything? Has he said anything else?”

You ignored them, heart pounding as you stared at the notification. This couldn’t be real. George Clarke, internet golden boy who had every teenage girl in a chokehold, was actually engaging with you.

What the hell were you going to do?

You stared at George’s message, your mind racing: “Ok but…jokes aside be honest. Is this about me?”

Before you could fully process it, your fingers moved almost instinctively, opening the group chat. You switched to voice notes because typing just wasn’t fast enough to convey the absolute thoughts in your head.

“Guys,” you hissed into the mic, pacing your room. “What the actual fuck is going on? George Clarke just messaged me again. AGAIN. And he said—wait, no, let me read this. He said, ‘Ok but… jokes aside be honest. Is this about me?’”

You paused, pacing more furiously as all your friends started typing back.

“I don’t know what to say!” you continued in the next voice note, your voice slightly higher now. “Like, do I admit it? Do I deny it? Do I block him and change my name? HELP ME.”

The replies came in almost instantly:

“Post the screenshot right now.”

“Oh my God, you’re in a rom-com.”

“Say it was about him and see what happens. Do it for the plot.”

“Voice note us back with the drama or don’t bother replying at all.”

You rolled your eyes, even as you hit record again.

“Okay, fine. I’ll reply. But if this ends with me being clowned in one of his videos, you’re all accomplices.”

With one final deep breath, you typed out:

“Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. What’s it to you?”

Your thumb hovered for a second, but then you hit send, immediately regretting it as your phone buzzed with another notification.

“Oh, it’s something to me. 😉”

You groaned, sending yet another voice note to the group chat.

“I AM GOING TO SCREAM. He just said it’s ‘something to him.’ WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?”

Your friends weren’t helping, their replies now a chaotic mix of screaming voice notes and unhinged texts.

“He’s into you, bestie.”

“We’re living for this. Keep us updated.”

“I’m adding popcorn to my grocery list.”

Whatever George was playing at, it was… kind of fun.

You stared at his message: “Oh, it’s something to me. 😉”

Your heart thudded as you typed out a response, fingers moving on autopilot: “How come?”

For a second, you debated deleting it. Was that too straightforward? Too bold? But before you could overthink it, the message was already sent.

The group chat was on fire.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY???”

“Tell me you asked him why. PLEASE.”

“I’m pacing my room like it’s my drama, what is happening???”

You sent a quick voice note: “I asked him how come. Like, if he’s going to be cryptic, I’m making him work for it. I can’t just let him drop a winky face and get away with it.”

Your phone buzzed before the group could reply. Another message from George.

“Because now I’m curious. Was it really for me?”

You blinked at your screen. Curious? Curious?! Why did he have to phrase it like that? Like this wasn’t a throwaway Instagram post but some grand mystery he needed to solve.

You hit record on another voice note.

“GUYS. He said he’s curious. What the hell does that mean?!” you whispered furiously. “I’m spiraling. Do I double down? Do I back out? Help.”

The replies were just as unhinged as before.

“Double down. Always double down.”

“Tell him it’s his fault for making you curious too.”

“Can we just talk about how into this he clearly is? Like, bestie, he’s invested.”

You shook your head, biting your lip as you typed your next message.

“Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. But now I’m curious—what if it was?”

Your thumb hovered for a moment before you hit send, already bracing for whatever chaos George Clarke was about to unleash next.

The notification popped up almost immediately:

GeorgeClarkey: “Well, if it wasn’t, how come I’m on your close friends and none of my friends are?”

Your jaw dropped. Oh, he was good. Too good. George Clarke wasn’t just playing along—he was winning.

You immediately switched to the group chat, hitting record on a voice note.

“Guys. He’s onto me. He said—and I quote—‘How come I’m on your close friends and none of my friends are?’” You paused, your voice rising in pitch. “WHAT DO I SAY TO THAT?”

The group chat blew up in record time.

“HE SAID WHAT?!”

“Oh my God, this man is flirting.”

“Deflect. Blame it on the algorithm. Lie if you have to.”

“No, no, you need to hit him back with something. Don’t let him win!”

You sent another voice note, pacing your room as you spoke.

“I don’t even know why he’s still on my close friends! It’s not like I planned this—he asked to be added for that stupid video, and I just forgot to take him off. But if I tell him that, he’s going to think I’m some kind of idiot who forgot George Clarke was on their list!”

One of your friends sent a voice note back, barely able to contain their laughter.

“Bestie, you are an idiot who forgot George Clarke was on their list. But now you’ve got him interested, so lean in. Own it. Say something mysterious.”

You sighed, staring at George’s message for a long moment before typing:

“Guess you’ll have to stick around to find out.”

Your heart was racing as you hit send, half-expecting him to call your bluff immediately. Instead, the little typing bubble appeared almost instantly.

“Don’t mind if I do. 😏”

You practically screamed, sending another voice note to the group chat.

“Guys. GUYS. He’s not just flirting. He’s doubling down. What do I do now?!”

The replies came back rapid-fire:

“Marry him.”

“This is officially fanfiction territory.”

“No, seriously, keep him on the hook. This is your moment.”

You didn’t George’s last message—“Don’t mind if I do. 😏”—because honestly, you needed a minute to think. Or maybe several. So instead of spiraling over how to respond, you stuck to your plan.

Ignoring the little red dot on his message thread, you switched to Instagram stories and posted something casual to your story: a cozy shot of your coffee on the table, framed by the warm tones of a London café from last weekend. The kind of post you always shared on quiet afternoons. You added the café’s location tag for good measure, captioning it simply: Need this.

The group chat was, of course, waiting.

“Update: just posted,” you said in a voice note, trying to keep your voice steady. “It’s a café pic. Totally chill, very me. If he reacts to this, I’ll… I don’t know, scream.”

You barely had time to put your phone down before it buzzed with a new notification:

GeorgeClarkey replied to your story.

Your heart jumped as you opened it.

“Good taste. But why didn’t you invite me?”

You sat there, staring at the message like it was in a foreign language. George wasn’t just reacting—he was flirting. Again.

“GUYS,” you hissed into a new voice note, pacing your room. “He replied. And get this—he said, ‘Good taste. But why didn’t you invite me?’ Like, is this man serious?!”

The chat erupted in chaos.

“Shut up, he did NOT.”

“He’s basically asking for a date. I’m calling it.”

“You better reply, right now.”

But you weren’t ready to give in that easily. Typing back too quickly would make it seem like you were waiting for him (which you definitely weren’t). So instead, you left his message on read, letting him sit with it while you debated your next move.

Another voice note: “I’m ignoring him for now. Let’s see if he doubles down.”

And honestly, you weren’t sure what thrilled you more: the fact that George Clarke had replied, or the fact that he was now waiting on you.

———————————————————————-

a/n my first george fic! there will be a part two! the formatting hasn’t worked the way it should have but i’ll work on it!

would like to thank George Clarke for seeing my close friends which then let to @pretendyoucantseeme who gave me the idea and @authortelevision for supporting the delusions. love you both😂

if you wanna be tagged in part 2 please let me know!

[jyeoulzhu]

skill issue

summary . y/n, a streamer, gets destroyed in overwatch by karina, a top player. what starts as playful rivalry turns into something more, ending with karina soft-launching their relationship on stream.

pairing . yu jimin (karina) x male reader

note . inspired by someone's work here on tumblr i forgot their user and i can't find it anymore. also a karina oneshot.. so if you know them please tag them 😓🙏

y/n had always been the type to chill at the local comshop with his boys, grinding ranked games and talking shit like it was their second home. it was their routine, their escape from the chaos of school and whatever else life threw at them. but tonight… tonight was different.

the atmosphere was tense as y/n, mingyu, intak, and juyeon locked in their heroes on overwatch. the four of them were known in the comshop—decent players, occasional streamers on twitch, and absolute menaces when it came to voice comms. but this match? this was pure hell.

the opposing widowmaker was untouchable. every peek was met with an instant headshot. every attempt to dive her ended in death. they couldn’t even step out of spawn without getting sniped.

headshot. headshot. headshot.

“who the hell is this guy?” y/n groaned as his character dropped dead for the tenth time.

“nah, bro, this ain’t normal,” mingyu said, visibly stressed.

“i can’t even step out of spawn,” juyeon added.

the chat in their stream was going wild.

—

chat: WHO TF IS KRNXP????

chat: they’re farming y’all like npcs 💀

chat: uninstall, bro

—

y/n leaned into his mic. “yo, if you’re watching this… dm me. i just wanna talk.”

seconds later, the enemy widowmaker hit another headshot.

[krnxp] (widowmaker): stay mad.

y/n stared at his screen, jaw dropped.

“bro. she replied. she fucking replied,” y/n whispered, eyes wide with panic.

mingyu screamed. “SHE??? KRNXP IS A GIRL???”

��wait… no… don’t tell me this is—”

“karina,” juyeon said, dead serious. “top player. undefeated. literal legend.”

y/n sat there in disbelief. he’d been simping for karina for months. and now? he just got farmed by her.

“holy shit… i just got violated by my comfort streamer,” y/n whispered.

mingyu immediately grabbed his phone. “NO WAY. SHE JUST COOKED YOU ON MAIN.”

“nah, you can’t let this slide,” intak said, hyping him up.

“1v1 her,” juyeon added, completely serious.

y/n blinked. “are you guys insane? i’d get smoked.”

“exactly,” juyeon smirked. “get humbled, then bag her.”

—

the 1v1 lobby loaded.

“you nervous?” karina’s voice echoed through the comms, cool and unbothered.

y/n muted his mic and screamed into his hoodie.

“bro, she’s flirting. i’m gonna pass out,” he whispered to his friends.

y/n’s hands were literally trembling on his mouse. this wasn’t just any 1v1. this was karina. the girl who single-handedly destroyed him and had been living rent-free in his head for months.

“you good over there?” karina’s voice echoed through the comms, smooth and low.

y/n choked on air.

“me? yeah. totally fine,” he lied, already spiraling.

the match started.

three seconds in, y/n peeked. instant headshot.

he stared blankly at the killcam.

karina giggled. “cute.”

y/n’s soul officially left his body.

—

chat: LMFAOOOO

chat: HE’S FOLDED ALREADY

chat: nah bro’s in love

—

“oh my god,” y/n muttered, fully spiraling.

karina giggled. “you’re cute when you panic.”

y/n’s brain: system error.

—

after getting absolutely obliterated 20-3, y/n was done.

“you let me get three kills out of pity, huh?” he asked in defeat.

karina smirked. “maybe.”

y/n wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

intak threw his headset. “NAH THIS IS INSANE.”

—

after that night, karina started showing up in y/n’s streams.

“yo, why is krnxp in our game again?” mingyu asked during one match.

“nah, bro… she’s stalking you,” intak teased.

y/n? he was already in love.

—

the slow burn was real.

karina would randomly hop into y/n’s ranked games, casually carrying while y/n tried (and failed) to impress her.

“dude, why do you keep playing genji if you can’t aim?” she teased.

“i’m trying to look cool…” y/n mumbled.

—

one night, y/n was streaming when the door behind him creaked open.

“yo, who just came in?”

everyone expected it to be one of the boys.

but no.

karina casually walked into frame… wearing his hoodie.

chat exploded.

—

chat: HELLO??????

chat: WE WON. WE SOFT LAUNCHED.

chat: Y/N, YOU’RE COOKING.

—

y/n ended stream in pure panic.

“bro, you just exposed us to 10k viewers,” y/n said.

karina smirked, stealing his drink. “should’ve locked your door.”

[smoothlikealikeasnake]

Strawberry Princess - Chapter Four “Matted Tails and Soft Lips”

Pairing - Ot7 BTS x Reader

Genre - Hybrid!Au , Hybrid BTS x Hybrid Reader, fluff, angst, eventual smut, slow burn? , alternative reality , strangers to lovers , strangers to friends, friends to lovers

Warnings - so much fluff, teasing, suggestive, so much tension, slightly sexual, anxious thoughts, lmk if there’s anything else!

Summary - When a certain hybrid starts to appear whenever Jungkook is at the gym, an immediate pull is felt between the two and their eventual friendship soon is spread to the rest of his pack.

Previous Next Overview

Since the first meeting, things had gone back to the normal schedule of Jungkook and Y/n’s daily meeting at the gym with some additional outside meet-ups where different members of Jk’s pack had attended too. Y/n had met up with every single member of his pack atleast twice since and everyone had grown more comfortable. They had all since experienced Y/n’s more playful side, far from her shy and meek side. Like when Jimin thought it’d be funny to jokingly dangle a rattling toy infront of her back and forth and instead of going for the toy, he found himself being the target, ending up with Y/n very happily ontop of him before taking the toy and walking off as if it was nothing, leaving him in a state of shock on the living room floor. Or when Jin asked for her opinion on some strawberry cream he’d made to go with dessert and instead of just placing it in her mouth, he purposely smudged it on her nose so she took her spoon and wiped a large chunk onto his own cheek before spinning on her heel and running off giggling, finding Hoseok who wiped off her nose and hid her telling Jin she wasn’t in the room despite the sweet strawberries all around. It had all gone well but they had yet to all meet up at the same time.

That’s why Namjoon took it upon himself to organise for all of them to go out for dinner at the packs favohrite restaurant where they could also have a few drinks if they fancied it. That’s how Jungkook added the entire pack and Y/n to a groupchat where they invited her to dinner the following Friday. She happily agreed and carried on with her regular days but grew increasingly more worried about where they were going, what she would wear, the impression she had to make, the possibilities of things to consider kept piling and left her spiralling.

That’s how it came to the Tuesday morning, the week of the dinner, Jungkook was at the gym as usual and he had a special present in the car from one very particular fashion designer to give to Y/n. He had already finished his warm up when he spotted Y/n making her way over, water bottle in hand and smile lighting up the room. Jungkook immediately noticed her scent was slightly sweeter than usual and was surprised as the first thing she did when she got over was wrap him in a tight hug, not even able to return it as she trapped him in before greeting him and smiling up again.

“How’s my Y/nie been?” - Jungkook beamed as she let go and handed him the bottle

“You only saw me yesterday Kook and we’ve been texting you know I’ve been good” - her words however contradicted the her plump bottom lip, swollen and red from her biting it mostly likely from anxiety, she started to nibble at it again after she finished talking and Jungkook quickly realised she must be getting overstimulated by something or multiple things so he made a quick decision to change the setting to something new for her to focus on.

“You know I really feel like going to the pool, you want to come?” Jungkook asked as he looked down at the curious kitty who didn’t even know the gym had a pool, it made sense because it was on the lowest floor and not many people knew about it so it was always empty. Before she could answer she watched and felt as Jungkook rested her hand under her chin to tilt it up and used him thumb to pull her plump lip from between her teeth leaving her slightly mouth slightly agape from shock and the flustered feeling that flooded her body. She didn’t trust her words to be coherent so all she did was nod and grab onto Jungkooks inked arm, tight enough to show she wasn’t letting go until they left and he just smiled at her antics, hoping to soothe her.

“Let’s just grab my bag then yeah? Are you okay to come now?” - He looked up across the room to find Y/n’s friend was nowhere in sight, he didn’t dwell long as a sound of approval fell from y/n’s lips and she leant in further so he hurried his movements before guiding them out of the door.

‘Did she just come for me?’ He couldn’t help but wonder.

———————————————————————————

The journey to the indoor pool was short but Y/n didn’t let go of Jungkooks arm once and he had no complaints when he pushed open the glass door and felt the warm air hit him as he took in the beautiful room. The room was dimly lit with LEDs in the wall, brick and stone designs around with beautiful decoration all over, the room was truly a treasure to those who knew about it.

Jungkook led Y/n towards two lounge beds where he placed his bag on one and gently pushed on Y/n’s shoulders to sit her on the other which snapped her out of the trance she had dropped into as she looked around in awe.

“This is beautiful, do you come here a lot?” - Y/n asked, mouth slightly agape as she looked around

“Not as often as I’d like, I forget about it existing a lot to be honest” - Jungkook

“Are you getting in?” - He continued as he looked at her curiously

She grew shy at that, the idea of being in a bikini infront of him making her flush

“I don’t have a bikini with me so I won’t” - she was glad that’s all she really had to say as Jungkook had began pulling off his shirt and revealing his chiselled torso, huge biceps and the full extend of his arm tattoos which she followed down his chest to his waist before they disappeared beneath the band of his shorts, she admired the abs that lead into his defined v-line and faint trail of hair before she couldn’t help but wonder as she looked-

“That’s too bad, next time being one, it’ll be fun” - Jungkooks words had her snapping her eyes to his face, mouth agape for a different reason to before this time, his words definitely weren’t helping her case as she was flustered, incredibly attracted to him and struggling to comprehend everything set out infront of her. Even if he meant his words innocently, she couldn’t stop herself from dwelling on the then, what would he think if he saw her in a bikini? Would he like- she had to stop herself there as he lightly chuckled before walking away and getting into the pool.

He looked straight out of a movie in that moment and Y/n couldn’t tear her eyes away as he got in fully before he turned back towards her

“It’s warm, come sit on the edge” he smiled up happily at her as she obeyed with a smile and took off her long socks and shoes, shyly moving towards the edge and dipping in the bottom half of her legs as she sat down.

Jungkook seemed to enjoy his time as she moved around quickly and got his hair soaked in seconds before going under the water and swimming up to her, jumping up and splashing her making her scold him as she giggled.

“Jungkook don’t do that your getting me all wet” - she giggled holding her hands up in protest turning her head away, his only response was to use her legs as the edge of the pool as he held onto them and shook his hair, water flying all over her making her protest even louder before turning towards him and pushing her hand through the water to splash him as much as possible in her position. He stood shocked for a second before taking his own action

“You really want to play that game kitty?” - he only smirked before splashing her twice as much with ease making her squeak and try to shake it off in her spot as she wiggled before doing it back, this continued as Y/n spun in her seated position around many times and only ended up soaking her entire body, tail droopy and heavy with water and definitely matted but she didn’t notice in that moment, full of laughter and happy with Jungkooks warm hand on her thigh even if he was splashing her.

She thought he’d finally calmed down as he got closer and held onto her legs but felt herself be hoisted into the air and screamed as Jungkook lifted her over his head, over the pool and spun around on the spot as she screamed with laughter and kicked her legs wildly, holding onto him as tightly as possible, so much her claws punctured him slightly but neither of them noticed.

“Jeon Jungkook let me down!” She shouted only to scream as he jokingly put her closer to the pool surface as if he’d put her down in that instead

“Put you down here?” - he laughed as he did it over and over, lifting her up and down and jostling her around above the pool before finally giving in and putting her to safety on the side, where she began.

“I’m going to get you back for that Jeon” - Y/n was still giggling as she threatens but unknowingly started to shiver as she sat in the wet spot. Jungkook noticed and moved to pull himself out next to her and once again momentarily distracted her as the scene seemed to play in slo mo for her. It didn’t help when her eyes followed as the once loose shorts now stuck tightly to the rest of his figure, deliciously built thighs and a surprisingly plump ass and once again her eyes travelled to his front just below that devilish vline that had somehow ended up right infront of her face- her eyes snapped up as a towel was offered infront of her face and a hand to pull her up, she took Jungkooks hand that almost made her fly inti the air and slip if it hadn’t of been for the steadying wrap around her waist once she was set down. He placed the soft towel around her before using his own to dry himself off as best as possible. He quickly realised the two would be soaked in the car still and he had yet to give Y/n her present.

“Put this on Y/nie, I’ll drive you home, there’s a present for you in the car” - Jungkook handed her his shirt from earlier before as he got his own out of his gym bag, he thought she might like the one that smelled stronger of his scent and she definitely did, taking a big sniff of it once it was in her hands before thanking him. He turned around to give her some privacy to change, it wasn’t ideal as her skirt would still be wet but the shirt would cover it and make it more comfortable, she could even take off her skirt and no one would know the shirt would be that big on her. When she signalled that it was fine to turn around it seemed that’s exactly what she did as she drowned in the black shirt he gave her , it only slightly tightened around her chest before flowing out and falling just above her knees, in her hands was a neatly folded top and skirt, still very wet but he took it from her hands and placed it into a seperate bag before putting it away to take back with them.

“Ready?” - Jungkook asked as he picked up his bag and tried to ignore the amazing feeling that flooded him as he admired her in his shirt, it’s all he ever wanted to see her in again, covered in his scent so everyone would know that she was only his- but she wasn’t… yet? And she wouldn’t be only his, he’d be his mates’ too, they’d be each others, it sounded so good he almost felt like the smallest touch of her hand on his was going to set him into a scenting spree as he eyed her neck longingly, pupils dilating.

“Go on Kookie” - Y/n could tell exactly what he needed and she too felt like she needed it as she was sent into a haze from being surrounded by his scent, she tilted her neck to expose her scent gland and let him bend down to muzzle onto the sensitive spot, holding back a gasp from the sensation, Y/n had to squeeze her eyes and mouth shut to resist letting out any other noises besides the purring erupting from her chest and Jungkook moved a hand behind her neck to pull her in closer and nuzzle harder. He desperately wanted too use his mouth to scent her further but resisted and settled for nuzzling the now slightly pink spot.

Jungkook pulled back and caught a glimpse of Y/n’s face, feeling his body heat up at her feeling just as good as he did but he pushed that thought aside to slip his hand into hers and guide them towards the car , placing another towel on the seats for the journey back and settling in before they set on their way back go Y/n’s house.

Their now usual routine fell in place as they got into the car, a minute or two of conversation as they pull out before Y/n fell asleep. Their journey not too long before Jungkook was pulling up to her apartment complex. He woke her up as usual with a press to her slightly swollen scent gland and prepared to get out her gifts while she was waking up.

The two walked up while Y/n was still sleepy, only half awake as they made their way up until they got to her door, that’s when her own senses started to sharpen again, feeling the cool air in the hallway and the uncomfortable feeling all over, her damp, matted tail swiping across her back before she looked at the waiting bunny infront of her and noticed he too was practically soaked. She quickly spun around to fumble with the keys and get them in the door as fast as possible to let them in before turning back around when it was finally open.

“Come in?” - She asked, almost shyly but was reassured when Jungkook beamed at her, boxes in hand and nodding as he stepped forward to accept her invite. They both walked in and Y/n closed the door behind them as Jungkook stood almost stunned, Y/n’s scent so strong it had him lightheaded and revelling in the way it was going to stick to him. He just looked around the interior that entirely suited Y/n, it was a smaller apartment but perfect for Y/n and had a fresh white modern base all around that was decorated with pastels everywhere. It was the kind of cozy that was neat but definitely comfortable in every space, blankets and pillows of all kinds over her sofa, soft rug infront of it and lots of small trinkets in various places.

Y/n loved her apartment, it was cozy and so her but airy and quiet enough in all ways to keep her from being overwhelmed. She waited patiently as Jungkook observed with a smile before leading them over to the couch, letting Jungkook place down the boxes on her table before she realised they couldn’t sit down, they were both still wet somewhere, Y/n was soaking through the shirt Jungkook gave her in all directions, tail, hair, soaked bra and panties underneath. Jungkook was slightly dryer, his hair no longer dripping but clearly wet.

“thank you for driving me home and bringing them in and your shirt” - Y/n fiddled with the bottom of the shirt she wore as she thought about what to do. She opted to bring Jungkook a towel for his hair and realised she should probably change herself. She let him know before grabbing everything she needed, changing into some pajamas because they were comfy and quickly detangling her hair which was surprisingly easy. She came back in with her hair brush and a towel for Jungkook because she wasn’t sure what he’d need. She found him looking closely at all of her little trinkets around the room and he looked handsomely cute as his puff tail twitched and juxtaposed his built figure.

“Here Jungkook, for your hair” - Y/n handed him the towel before turning round to walk to the couch.

“Oh Y/nie your tail, it’s all matted” - The kitty hadn’t even realised her long haired tail was still soaked and matting; it had her panicking, quickly grabbing for it and feeling her ears fall straight back, smile turning into a frown as her scent soured. It always seemed to overwhelm her and make her increasingly uncomfortable and sad when her tail wasn’t dry and soft, she’d dry it before she’d blow dry her hair after every shower. Jungkook immediately noticed her discomfort and picked up the brush on the side before rushing over, Y/n in distress was making him feel strangely protective and he desperately wanted to make it better. There was one thing that came to mind that he knew might overstep boundaries if she wasn’t sure too but it could take a lot of weight off Y/n’s shoulders so he took his chances.

“It’s okay Y/n, would you like me to help? Jiminie-hyung always asks one of us to brush his tail after his showers and even blow dry it.” Jungkook stepped gently as he didn’t want to further distress the girl but when he saw the acceptance in her eyes and the silent nod as she looked up at him he started to think about his next move.

“Do you have any detangler kitty?” - Jungkook didn’t want to pull too much because her tail was even thicker and longer than Jimin and his could easily be painful.

“It’s in my bedroom, I can go get it” - Y/n replied, still trying to brush her fingers through the matted tail.

“That’s okay I can go get it, if you want?” - Jungkook wanted to do everything he could to stop this feeling she had so when she looked up and nodded silently, he followed her scent to where it was strongest and found her bedroom, decorated exactly how he would imagine, pink and white all around, cozy and comfortable, art across the walls and in the midst of his search he found what he came for, detangler. He quickly made his way back before sitting next to her.

“How do you want to sit Y/n?” - Jungkook

“How does Jimin usually sit?” - Jungkook blushed at the thought of having her the same but told her, having no problem with it if she wanted to

“Jiminie lays across my lap, he says it’s the most comfortable way to do it” - To that, Y/n moved and let herself fall across his lap, head on a pillow and the top of her thighs to mid stomach on Jungkooks thighs, she didn’t even think much of it but Jungkook was stunned at the quick movement and frozen for a second with his hands hovering not knowing his next move before Y/n handed him back the brush, signalling him to start.

Still flustered by the position ,as Y/n’s bare thighs and full ass barely covered by her little shorts are right ontop of him, Jungkook gently grabs Y/n’s tail, noticing the way she jumped but not stopping as he sprayed some detangler on the brush she gave him and started from the tip of her long tail, gently brushing out all the knots.

Y/n’s body visibly relaxed as she melted in her position, purring loudly and smiling bashfully with her eyes closed, hands kneading the pillow she rested her head on. It was only when Jungkook would hit a small knot that she’d tense slightly and he’d apologise quietly, he moved across her entire top half of her tail before getting a bit shy and regularly checking on Y/n’s face as he moved a bit further down.

The close you got to the base of a hybrids tail the more sensitive it becomes, sparks will shoot through the hybrids body from any contact on their tail but it is significantly increased as they get closer to the base. When you reach the base it causes the hybrid to become naturally aroused which is why it’s so intimate touching any hybrids tail, that’s what made Jungkook so careful and nervous when brushing Y/n’s.

When he reached the lower half, Y/n’s purring immediately tripled in volume, her face nuzzling into the pillow but she seemed relaxed so Jungkook kept as calm as he could. That was until he nearly reached her tail, a gasp fell from Y/n’s lips at the contact and her hips rose involuntarily before falling back down on his legs, her sweet scent nearly suffocating Jungkook as a wave hit him. It was almost as if Jungkook forgot one very important detail, there was an incredibly strong scent gland near the base of every hybrids tail, it started in different places for different hybrids but he was clearly holding the start of Y/n’s.

Jungkook swiftly let go before apologising and asking if she wanted him to continue, she had her blushing face buried in the pillow and let out a high pitched sound of approval.

Y/n was laying there telling herself to calm down, he’s just being nice don’t think like that. Trying to stop the noises trying to pass through her lips, she only let out loud purrs. His hands were so gentle and looked so different compared to her strawberry blonde tail everytime she looked back, it was ridiculously attractive to her and wasn’t exactly helping that he was touching and unintentionally pulling at one of the most sensitive parts of her body with every pass of the brush. She was so deeply attracted to the sight of him caring for her in that way that her focus was taken away from keeping herself calm.

Jungkook was still gently brushing when he moved with hands lower down, brushing the base and as he gently gripped her tail there to carry on when he stopped dead in his tracks, stunned as loud purrs turned into something a lot more intense. In her fascination, Y/n stopped holding back all the noises from before and the second he grabbed her tail there and brushed the base, her mouth dropped open in a high whine with her eyes scrunched closed, nothing muffling the noise as her face was turned out of the pillow to watch Jungkooks hands. Her body wasn’t sent up in sparks and moved involuntarily, thighs tense and hips lifting up, pushing Jungkooks hand straight onto the base of her tail where it connected to her lower back. Y/n’s eyes shot open at that as a clear moan left her lips, hands gripping the pillow under her head tightly as she couldn’t stop her wide stare at him as it happened.

Jungkook knew better than to move in that moment, he didn’t want her to feel panicked,embarrassed or upset. He pushed aside his own body’s reaction as blood flushed to specific regions at the noises coming from Y/n and grounded himself, giving her a soft smile that she didn’t return over her shoulder, eyes still wide. Jungkook just moved the hand holding the brush to let go, other hand still on her tail as he slowly pressed circles into Y/n’s lower back, hoping to both ground and relax her. It seemed to work as the panic in her eyes slowly eased into that droopy state Jimin would get in whenever the base of his tail was touched.

Her head dropped to the pillow again, eyes softening and the rest of her body relaxing into Jungkook. In return, he kept pressing circles into her lower back, hand kept still on her tail until she could tell him what she wanted to do, he tried to ignore the slight shake of her thighs as they were pressed tightly together ontop of his lap but couldn’t help the slight glance he took. He regretted it as soon as he noticed how soft her thighs looked, the plush of them spreading across the entire expanse of his lap even when they were tightly held together. They looked like perfect pillows, hand rests, headrests and so much more but he quickly looked away before letting his thoughts progress.

“Y/n? Do you want me to keep going, there’s just this little bit here left” - Jungkook spoke gently to her as she looked at him and nodded in agreement, he was surprised at that, sure that she’d want to do it on her own but it seemed his hold on her tail had shielded her from feeling anything negative and he was glad about that. Ensuring he was as gentle as possible, Jungkook rested her tail on his hand and used the brush he previously put down to gently detangle the knots on it. Y/n wasn’t silent besides her purrs though this time, she let out small noises at every move of his hand and pull of a knot, not in disapproval, more from the pleasure she couldn’t pretend not to have. Her scent was bursting off of her in strong waves that had Jungkook have to breathe through his mouth to hold composure before it intensified and even then, breathing through his mouth didn’t help as he could taste her and that was even worse. Even worse because not that he’d have a taste it would never be enough, he snapped his mouth shut breathing minimally as he continued until he was at the part where it connected to her back and thanked his reflexes for moving away fast as Y/n’s hips jumped up again, he would of pulled her tail if not and neither of them want to know what would happen then.

When he finished, he tapped Y/n’s upper thigh twice to wake her out of her state only to have to divert his attention away completely at the sight of her thigh bouncing just from his soft pats. She was too beautiful in every way and he felt like he was starting to lose his ability to deny his attraction and little did he know, so was she, his entire pack knew too. It was time for Jungkook to have a serious chat about next steps with Y/n with his mates.

As Y/n became more conscious she slid herself slowly back, moving her knees up to being herself back up and unknowingly putting her entire body just centimetres from Jungkooks face, she wasn’t bothered as she couldn’t ignore how much better she felt, not just from her tail being nearly dry now and soft, but from being taken care of, it was unfamiliar but she enjoyed it more than she should admit. She knew after that she would be craving his attention and touch a ridiculous amount but pushed that thought aside to focus.

“It’s so soft and nearly dry thank you Kookie it’s perfect, thank you so much” - Y/n happily threw herself into his arms, thanking him with a warm embrace and stunning him at a peck on the cheek before jumping up and focusing on the boxes that were brought in.

“So what are they?” - Y/n asked curiously, leaning in to inspect the fancy boxes

“They- Tae- dinner… clothes?” - Jungkook couldn’t form real sentences as his brain was trying to process everything that happened but Y/n understood and asked to open one to which he quickly agreed. The largest box was white, wrapped with a large bow with a small tag on it

‘For a pretty kitty - V’ Y/n’s heart fluttered at the words but she picked up his designing name, it made her curious, had he bought the surprise, or had he made it?

Y/n carefully pushed off the ribbon and pulled the lid off, curious as she saw white fur. She gently moved to grab at the material, immediately noticing the softness of it, wanting to purr just at that before she pulled it out further and stood up straight to hold it infront of her.

Y/n stood shocked as the soft white fur turned into a oversized, thick faux fur coat, similar to the one Taehyung wore when they met the first time, the white blinding and the fur perfectly soft, it was constructed perfectly, it seemed the perfect length and she wanted to wrap up in it then and there, not to mention how absolutely beautiful it was.

Upon closer inspection she noticed the tag in it, labelled by Taehyung and she found an embroidered message on it too‘ the prettiest kitty ‘ with the ‘V’ above it; she quickly realised he had made this for her, to her size, recently as it was clearly brand new and plush. She spun around with it in her hands and began to excitedly show Jungkook, spinning around him, careful not to crush the coat as she felt it delicately, she spun around like a princess as she laughed and he returned the gesture, secretly getting out his phone to record the moment, knowing Taehyungs chest would fill with pride at the sight of her loving his work.

‘It’s too much Kookie, so beautiful but too much’ - Y/n’s smile turned into a small frown, ears pinning back at her realisation, as she was about to gently place it back in the box, a large figure pressed up against her back and grabbed her wrists, pulling them away from the box to stop her. It all happened too fast from Jungkook pressing up against her to him leaning down to whisper in her ear while his thumbs pressed into the scent glands on her wrists where she felt her, making her gasp.

“I’ll let you in on a secret Y/nie, nothing is too much when it comes to you, we would give you the world, hyungs wouldn’t react as lightly as I am to you rejecting a gift because it’s ‘too much’” - Something had changed in Jungkooks voice as he whispered, body pressing impossibly close and thumbs applying more pressure, she realised it was his Busan satoori , thick on his tongue as his warm breath tickled her ear. She practically melted on the spot as she clocked his words, nothing is too much? Why would they feel like that? All of them… and then the realisation at the rest of his words set in. If this was reacting lightly, while she should deny it, Y/n really wanted to know how the rest of them reacted, it had blood rushing to her cheeks and her breath hitching.

“You understand, don’t you Y/nie?” - She thought he was finished until he said that, a high pitched noise of approval calling from her lips with her head nodding. She felt like she could finally breathe for a second as he started to pull away from her back until he leant in to whisper again

“Good girl, now go open the rest.” - the praise had a gasp leaving Y/n, her knees buckling slightly and butterflies filling her stomach but Jungkook switched up immediately, stepping back with a bit smile, his duality confused her but she had to push that thought aside as he asked her of something.

“Put it on” - Jungkook beamed at her as he said, she silently obeyed and put on the glamourous coat, it fit perfectly for her, oversized in the best way and it made her feel more luxurious than she ever had

“I love it.” - It’s all she could say as Jungkook could tell she felt so much more about it and encouraged her to open the next box, more nervous about if she’d like this one as much

The second box is smaller but just as beautifully packaged, a large bow and ribbon across it which she carefully removed, this one addressed from Jimin

‘Red will definitely be your colour - Jimin’

It had her curiosity growing as she opened the box and saw white mesh over red material and gently pulled it out, her eyes widened at the beautifully constructed dress before her.

It was red, a long fitted dress that loosened slightly at her thigh from a slit, it was both simple and complex, the perfect balance as a Matt crimson material was the base, a nearly transparent white tulle overtop that slightly ruched at the waist, both materials slightly draped at the chest area as it had thin straps to hold it on, when she looked at the back she found the tulle thickened into a large bow that slightly adjusted and underneath was the zip. The layers of the dress were connected but made it seem fuller with so much dimension, the red was prominent but somehow perfectly complimented by the white overlay.

Y/n had never worn a dress similar, it was incredible, she had never even imagined such a thing but she knew it could perfectly suit her, all she worried about was the measurements. Would it fit her? How would they of even known what size she would be? And when she saw the label, the cursive ‘Jimin’ with his own short message underneath ‘the first gift’ somehow she knew he had specifically designed this for her, in that sense he had also tailored this to her size wise but how?

Jungkook answered her unspoken question

“Tae and Jimin have an eye for knowing near exact measurements when it comes to clothes, you should try it on, I know he’d be happy to make any adjustments if it didn’t fit.” - He was more than happy to see her enjoying the gifts and knew the final two would tie it all together but admittedly was desperate to see her in the dress.

“I’ll go try it on now!” - Y/n was almost jumping with excitement, her freshly brushed tail swinging rapidly, smacking Jungkook as she spun on her feet and headed towards her bedroom. While she did Jungkook took the opportunity get his phone out and text him and his mates’ group chat.

‘She’s opened the coat and dress, she loves them’ - JK

‘Has she tried them on? What did she say about them?’ - JM

‘I knew she’d love it’ - TH

‘She has only tried the coat on, she’s so happy and she’s trying the dress on now’ - JK

Both of the designers hearts swelled with pride and joy at her enjoying their work

‘Just listen out, she’ll need help to do the zipper’ - JM

‘Tell us if it fits, tell us how it looks’ - TH

Jungkook quickly agreed and on that cue, hear Y/n’s soft voice calling out to him from her room, he walked up to the door and found her back facing him, long hair falling down her back just below her waist, the dress was on but not zipped up, he could see her arms holding the front up to hide herself but she looked over her shoulder embarrassed

“Could you zip me up please?” - Y/n refused to look into his eyes as she asked but he just smiled and nodded moving forward to touch the dress. When he got close enough her tail was tickling him as it sway, comfortably fitted in the small hole designed for it, before it moved to one side so Jungkook could reach. As he held either side his warm breath danced over her shoulder as he looked down, he held the two sides on her lower back and felt his thumbs graze either side of her lower spine as he held the zipper and slowly pulled it up. He could only move it a little bit before he gently gathered Y/n’s hair and placed it over her shoulder, revealing the rest of her back. His knuckle grazed her spine the entire time he pulled the zipper up and Y/n was a flustered mess when he was finished. He adjusted the bow to cover the zip again and tightened it before telling her it was finished.

She looked down before stepping forward, thanking him and turning around, not having seen it on herself before Jungkooks jaw dropped, she was absolutely breathtaking, the dress fit like a glove, it complimented her skin, her hair, her eyes, her aura, it was perfect on her. Only one word could fall out of Jungkooks mouth in that moment and it just

“Beautiful…” - Y/n’s heart swelled at that, not knowing how it looked but already feeling good about herself. That lead to her smiling and walking to her full length mirror. She really did look beautiful and she felt so good about herself, the dress fit perfectly, her waist fitted and hips accentuated.

The only thing newer to her was the cleavage, she never wore shirts with cleavage and having a quite large breasts meant that in this dress, they were very much out and she wouldn’t normally be comfortable but for some reason, she felt amazing about it. She was only going to be with the boys who in the last few weeks, she had learnt to trust with her life, she wasn’t sure why they got so close so quickly but she was comfortable wearing this around them, she was comfortable around them altogether.

While Y/n was admiring the dress in the mirror, Jungkook had a second to process the princess in front of him, the beauty she held and the way she made brought the design and vision Jimin had to life, he’d be so happy right now and he desperately wanted to take a picture but knew it would be better for them to wait, for them to have a big reveal. His time to process was cut off when his eyes refocused on Y/n, her body was soft, his hands always melted into her whenever he touched her and it drove him crazy but this dress accentuated every bit of her body, from her wide hips and large thighs up her soft tummy and to her large breasts, it showed every small mark on her revealed skin, every freckle and scar from her previous years, the documents of her life before them, she had stained his mind ever since they met.

From the second he lay eyes on her and it all felt too real in that moment, gifting her his mates’ special designs, helping her into her dress, brushing her tail and having her trust him with one of the most sensitive parts of her body and being comfortable enough to allow it all to happen, it felt right. It felt like they were meant to be, she was absolutely perfect in every way, every little mark on her skin was perfect, every time she would make her own marks on him by accident when she wouldn’t retract her claws was perfect, every little moment with her felt unreal. Reality felt like the most beautiful dream when he was with her; he was more than grateful, more than lucky, all he could hope is that she felt the same way but somehow he knew, within he knew that she did feel that way too, maybe it was the glint in her eyes or maybe it was the way she leant into his touch, maybe it was the way she let her hybrid surface whenever they were together or maybe it was the way she trusted him, somehow he knew.

His breathe was caught when she turned around again and he was so infatuated with her that he couldn’t hear what she said until she slightly frowned and said his name, he had to ask her to repeat herself sheepishly.

“Unzip me? Please, I don’t want to ruin it, it’s so perfect” - Y/n was so cute to him, the way her eyes looked over the dress in awe as her hair fell over her face and she used both hands to push it back, even her smallest actions were so cute. He snapped out of his thoughts as he agreed and walked forward, gently holding her bare shoulders as he walked behind her and pushed her hair to the side again, moving under the tulle bow to the zip.

‘She’s the epitome of perfection, of pure joy and beauty, one day I’ll know she’s mine’ - Jungkook knew he fell hard and fast but as his hands grazed her back and goosebumps grew on her arms as she slightly pushed into his hands, he wouldn’t change it for the world.

“You know, Jimin and Taehyung take it upon themselves to dress us all for every event, it’s one way they show their love” - He’d hoped she’d understand what he meant by this and when he felt her skin warm up, scent sweeten and tail swing faster, he knew she was blushing and understood.

“You all must look even more handsome than usual at every event then, I feel so pretty, I’ll have to return their love soon hm?” - Y/n spoke her thoughts word for word, almost in a dream in her mind, not even thinking much about how she’d admitted to wanting to reciprocate their love, Jungkooks felt her heart beating as fast as his own, rapidly thumping against her chest, it made him smile so wide. That was until he’d fully unzipped the dress and quickly noticed the fabric start to slouch at her waist, Y/n was so deep in thought that she hadn’t grabbed the fabric to hold against her chest. He worked quickly to grab the two sides from the top where the zipper connects and hold them high on her back so she wouldn’t be exposed, she still hadn’t realised until Jungkook called out her name with a ‘Careful’ it had her snapping back, cheeks flushing, embarrassed but also smiling at how much of a gentleman he was and how he had brought back that first time they spoke, when he’d told her to be careful as she dropped that bottle.

She thanked him quickly and looked over his shoulder up at him, holding her chest to hold the dress up when he let go, she felt the air grow thick as their eyes connected, anything around them muffling as they zoned in on eachother. Y/n captured his doe eyes as she studied his face, appreciating the warmth in his eyes, the hair brushing his forehead, messy from the pool earlier, the piercing on his eyebrow, his soft nose, sharp jawline, the way his soft eyes juxtaposed that dominant appearance he held everywhere else, until her eyes travelled down slightly, to the pink lips, wrapped in a thin silver ring on the same side as his eyebrow piercing, she intended to look away until his scent thickened, the soft linen smell travelling through her body until his mouth slightly parted to let his tongue past through to wet his lips and there she discovered a new detail he had kept well hidden.

When he licked his lips she saw the silver on his tongue, a tongue piercing, she didn’t know why but it had her melting on the spot, his tall figure looming over her, she felt herself slightly pushing herself up onto her tip toes to get closer , hands still holding the dress. Jungkooks own hands let go of the dress to fall onto her soft hips, he felt the perfect hand rests as his fingers immediately melted into her skin. He gripped hard enough to pull her in closer, she would of stumbled if it wasn’t for her grip keeping her exactly where he wanted her. His own gaze fell from her wide eyes to her plump lips, their natural tint drawing his in as they fell open the tiniest bit, they both knew what they wanted when she pushed herself higher and he leant down slightly, hands holding her hips tighter, he watched her eyes softly close and knew this was the moment he had been waiting for, his opportunity of confirmation. He could feel her soft, strawberry breath on his own lips, just an inch apart when he leant down, his hair definitely tickling her.

The moment could have been ruined by the loud vibrations on his phone, definitely texts from his mates asking about the dress but he refused to let it stop this. He made sure she was flush against his front in that moment and let one of his hands move up to cup from the back of her neck to her jaw, tilting her head even further up to connect their lips. It was like fireworks had set off in the both of them, y/n tried to push impossibly closer to his body, finally getting to taste the linen that would stick to her every single day, it tasted so good she nearly fell right there, she had already fallen in one way she wouldn’t let it be physically shown, or so she thought when her knees buckled but she was held exactly where she was by Jungkooks strong hands.

She let him take the lead, not even thinking about how this was her first kiss, she was more than glad to let him take it. She’d never even come close to a romantic or intimate relationship due to her reserved personality but she knew when she grew so comfortable with him and his mates that she wanted them. Jungkook felt her letting him take the lead and wanted to smirk but did exactly what she wanted instead of letting pride consume him. He kept it sweet, lightly dancing his lips over hers to ease her in, it felt so good to have that ripe strawberry taste fill his mouth and to have her soft pillowy lips against his own, perfectly fitting between each others. He pushed his own lips slightly harder against hers, keeping her steady as her body reacted, he didn’t want to make it too much the first time so he slowly pulled away. As he got a few inches from her face he opened his eyes, being softer with the hand on her neck and jaw, her eyes were still closed and lips slightly parted even more pink and plump than before just from the short kiss, he couldn’t help but wonder about how they’d look in the future, when it all happened again.

His thoughts were cut off when she opened her eyes, she felt hot, soft and so many things but one look into his eyes had her relaxing, she knew he didn’t regret it and neither did she. She wanted nothing more in that moment but for it to happen again but she also knew she wouldn’t be able to cope, not with the way she had melted in his hands, his thumb gently rubbed over her neck and hit her scent gland over and over, her eyes faultered slightly again. She could feel his grip loosen slightly on her waist and she fell a small amount to the ground from her tip-toes, he already seemed ridiculously tall but when she was looking up at him like that, his big hands all over her, he seemed like a god.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a while princess” - He smiled happily down at her but her eyes slightly widened at the confession and his satoori that had come out again, her own voice felt small but she knew he heard it

“I have too” - the confirmation was all they both needed to feel nothing but pure bliss. It took a minute before they both recovered as they realised Y/n still needed to get out of the dress and Jungkook left the room to give her privacy, immediately texting his mates so fast that he was making every typo possible but they understood, it was a step that had them all stopping in their tracks and smiling, melting even. Nothing else was thought about in that moment, not in Namjoons office, not in the kitchen with Jin, not in Yoongis piercing room where he was planning clients, not in Hoseoks dance studio, and not in Jimin and Tae’s meeting.

When Y/n came back into the living room in her set from before they both smiled bashfully at eachother before Jungkook told her she had one more present to open, her hands were slightly shaking from the previous interaction as she opened the smaller box, finding a pair of pretty white kitten heels with a small tulle bow over the toe box that matched the bow on the back of the dress exactly. They were about just under two inches high, easy for her to walk in and a bright white, one that matched the fur coat, she was already stunned by the other firsts but these brought the entire outfit together it was amazing to her how they’d thought of everything and in the soles she saw the branding of Jimin and Taehyungs company, she traced over it in appreciation with a wide smile on her face.

Fully holding one shoe she saw a small handwritten card underneath, addressed from Jimin and Taehyung

‘We hope you like it kitty, you’ll look beautiful” - the short message had her internally screaming like a child, she wanted to get up and jump with joy at the entire day she felt like she was in heaven, she couldn’t properly express anything so she just looked over her shoulder with a huge smile, not even saying anything and didn’t even notice as he clicked a picture of her, heel and note in hand, sitting so cute as she smiled at him over her shoulder. He immediately sent to the groupchat

‘Our Strawberry Princess’

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Just know it hasn’t been proofread or edited but next chapter will be out very soon!

This chapter was very Jungkook centred but from here on it’ll be mostly Ot7! Please feel free to ask questions, request headcannons or drabbles!

Side note; who else is in love with Come back to me, omg I am listening on repeat it’s just so good!

ཐི♡ཋྀ

[bekolxeram]

Continuing on the theme of things I've missed while S7 was airing, we have to talk about the (failed) first date. I admit it gave me too much second hand embarrassment that I usually skipped it on a rewatch. Once I managed to brave through that I realized I did miss something important, so here is another scene breakdown. Again, it's just my own interpretation.

The title of 7x05 is You Don't Know Me, that seems to be the theme of the episode: the Wilsons figuring out Mara's trauma, Eddie finding out Marisol's former nun training, Buck trying to navigate the whole dating a man thing, but they all end up making an effort to make the relationship work.

The date scene starts at the end of the actual date. We don't see much of the getting to know each other stuff, but judging by their faces, it's gone pretty well. At this point they don't know about each other's movie preference yet, so Tommy picks a place where they can decide on arrival, with Buck's input. That also signifies the nature of this date, they're literally "keeping their options open" and just seeing where it goes, without any major expectation.

Buck still seems visibly nervous, but Tommy reassures him that they're just two guys having dinner, it's a very ordinary thing that nobody cares.

Buck pretends he's at ease, Tommy points out he seems a little tensed, but he understands Buck's worry. Tommy speaks about the masculine nature of their job and tells Buck that people are more accepting than he thinks, which sounds awfully like it's from experience.

I think Buck sees it too, so he asks Tommy, who seems perfectly confident in his sexuality and masculinity, if he's been always out on a job. Tommy tells Buck about the 118 under G*rrard, this explains to the audience why Tommy seemed to be straight and a part of the boys club back in S2.

So Tommy was at least aware of or questioning his sexuality at the 118. Mr. "my girlfriend is totally coming next week" and "single is much easier than scaring women" was full blown lying about his sexual orientation. Chances are he does understand Buck's nervous fumbling, as he's probably done worse in the past.

Here comes the seemingly recurring theme of Buck making things all about himself, whether you agree with this or not, he does have a tendency to get stuck in his own head. Tommy assures him yet again that he's not accusing Buck of anything, he's just sharing his own experience to empathize.

Tommy looks a bit surprise when Buck tells him it's his first date with a dude. It's probably new information to Tommy.

And then Buck tries showing Tommy that he holds no prejudice towards queerness because he's an ally, completely oblivious to the fact that he's also one of them. Tommy tries to follow as much as he can.

Tommy senses that Buck is spiraling, trying to pull out random stuff just to bring the date back on track, so he flirts with him just to lighten up the mood and for the third time of the night, reassure him of his interest in him and the rest of the night.

Then Eddie and Marisol walk in, and Buck panics. I know Buck tells Maddie later that he "makes it seem like they were just hanging out", but if you go back to this scene, Tommy is the one who covers for Buck and takes the initiative to agree with Eddie and tell him they're just doing normal bro hangout stuff.

7 seaons in, we all know Buck doesn't have the best luck with first dates. The more he likes someone, the more likely it is for him to mess it up. So of course he has to self-sabotage here and drag Tommy into the closet with him, even though Tommy's already covered for him and Eddie is ready to move on. Tommy doesn't like mad here, he looks disappointed.

For what it's worth, Buck's hot chick comment actually makes things worse. Look at how confused Eddie's reaction is.

This snarky joke from Tommy has caused some controversy among part of the fandom. Some believe that Tommy could've outed Buck with it, but I beg to differ. Eddie knows Buck very well, Buck has always dated women. On the other hand, Eddie has never heard of Tommy dating a woman, he might have attributed it to the recency of their friendship, but that's why he immediately makes the connection in his head that Tommy is gay when Buck comes out to him later in the episode. Even if Eddie had superhuman intuition and understood the double entendre of this closet comment, Tommy would be outing himself, not Buck.

Here is another controversial moment: Tommy doesn't explain anything to Buck until the Uber is here, and he just leaves him there. First, Buck is a grown man, he can get himself home, there is no concern for his safety. Second, Tommy has every right to leave the date if he doesn't vibe with it. When Tommy tells Buck he's adorable, I don't think he's referring to Buck's overall demeanor. I think he means that Buck's nervous fumbling into queerness doesn't scare him, he actually finds it quite endearing. But after reassuring him 3 times, even going as far as telling Eddie, someone they can trust, that they're just hanging out, Buck still feels the need to make the hot chick comment and push them both into the closet, Tommy realizes that things would not go any better if they continue the date. Buck has not fully processed the fact that he's bisexual and he's dating a man. I'm sure Tommy really likes Buck as well, he want to make it work, so to him, the best course of action at the moment is to take a step back and let Buck figure things out himself first.

To Buck this may sound like Tommy is letting him down easy, but I think Tommy is consciously not shutting anything down here. He absolutely will see Buck around, he's still Eddie's friend. Tommy knows they will have to talk about it in the future, but for now, it's best to put a pause on things just to give Buck some space to process. What Tommy doesn't know is that Buck has been dumped so many times that he thinks this is it.

Therefore, not only does Tommy never intend to out Buck during the date, he is willing to keep things ambiguous for Buck's comfort. Ultimately, it isn't enough for Buck, so Tommy takes a step back for Buck to figure things out on his own.

[gachagon]

This is big spoilers for the commercials in the Awayfrompryingeyes website on the Welcome Home site.

I've been saying since DAY 1 that Eddie Dear was going to be one of the most important Neighbors to pay attention too, aside from Julie, Frank, and Sally. And this update just practically confirmed it, I had this long running suspicion about Eddie Dear, and it's that I think he was one of the first besides Wally to gain sentience in a way.

I know most people believe Wally was the one who "woke" up first essentially and was able to see the reality of what they were actually living in, but I think Eddie Dear was the first of Wally's friends to actually wake up. My reasoning for this is that Eddie's "backstory" on the neighborhood page is so vague and strange compared to the other neighbors. He's the ONLY one who doesn't remember where he came from, and we see routinely throughout these updates that he's kind of the odd man out a lot of the times.

And that's not totally unusual for a kids show, but there's something about Eddie that just points to him being a lot different from the other puppets. Like that he's also the only one who's able to actually tell what time it is, as he's the only neighbor with a real watch.

And he really REALLY wants to fit so badly into the world of Welcome Home that he sticks to his job as a mailman as much as he can. But even looking at his interactions with the others, you can tell he's not quite playing the role he's been set as perfectly.

I don't think Home (the house) had anything to do with Eddie waking up, I actually think it was a combination of Eddie just not being able to mesh well with the part he has to play and the other characters breaking his routine without asking him. The moment that really shakes him is when he can hear the Narrator say "And Eddie Dear was happy." and i think that's because he really doesn't know if he is happy or not. Home is still strange because its obviously the one thing that Eddie fixates on when he first gains sentience, but I don't think its what shook him out of just being a puppet only.

Eddie is also so obviously playing along with the idea of Homewarming and doesn't actually know much about it. But he's not letting the others know this, as when he's alone is when he tells himself to just "focus on the festivities" instead of the other confusing parts of Homewarming. When he's with Poppy decorating the tree (with turkey...? and gravy...?) He just makes it seem like what they're doing is a no brainer, and something everyone does during the holidays.

But when he starts spiraling at the party, all of the things he helped decorate look strange and confusing to him. He can't focus on anything, staring into the wallpaper makes it seem worse, and the fabric of his own reality is literally being ripped at the seams (there's just an excessive amount of video tearing which I equate to Eddie's sense of sanity at the moment and just how present he really is)

It's here that Eddie finally realizes just what they're doing, and what everything really truly looks like. Eddie even tries to focus solely on Frank's face to sort of ground him, but the goddamned credits for the episode itself is playing over Frank's face and obscuring his vision. The scene itself wants to move on but Eddie is still able to see what the audience normally wouldn't be able too, and that split from his reality to ours is what makes him freak out in the end.

[hockeyluvrr]

Meeting the family

au masterlist all other works

pairing: umich luke hughes x plus size oc

summary: meeting the family? terrifying. but at least Luke’s there to keep her calm.

warnings: mild language, body image/insecurity, anxiety, jack being jack (lol), that’s it I think idk…

author’s note: I decided to split it into two bits, one where she meets Jack and Luke and one where she meets Ellen and Jim. I just couldn’t find a way to write the two as one so you get two different meetings (yay!!)

word count: 1,536

MEETING THE BROTHERS

She almost backed out on the drive up.

Not because she didn’t want to go, she wanted to. Luke had been talking about this summer trip for weeks, practically vibrating with excitement. “You’ll love it,” he’d said. “Jack and Quinn are so chill. They’ll love you.”

That’s what he said.

But her brain was much louder.

They’re NHL stars. They’re tight as hell with Luke. They’ve seen the kind of girls hockey players date, gorgeous, model-adjacent types. Not someone like her.

Not someone plus-size, not someone who still sometimes flinched when a mirror caught her wrong, not someone who looked like her.

But Luke had held her hand the entire drive up. Kissed her knuckles. Sang embarrassingly loud to early 2000s hits when he could tell her thoughts were spiralling.

And now they were here.

The lake house was bigger than she expected. White siding, big windows, the sound of water gently slapping the dock in the distance. It looked like something off a postcard.

Luke helped her out of the car like they were arriving at a gala, not just walking into a house with his brothers.

“You ready?” he asked.

“No,” she said honestly.

He grinned. “Too bad.”

———

Jack opened the door.

Shirtless. Hair wet. Grinning like a devil.

“There he is!” he yelled, pulling Luke into a hug that was more of a headlock. “And this must be the girl we’ve heard so much about.”

Luke groaned, dragging a hand down his face. “Don’t be weird, please.”

Jack stuck his hand out. “Jack. Middle child. Arguably the funniest and most charming.”

She laughed, instantly a little more at ease. “Nice to meet you.”

Quinn appeared behind him, slower, quieter, towel around his shoulders.

He gave her a polite smile. “Hey. You want something to drink? We’ve got water, soda, beers…”

“Water would be great,” she said, grateful for something to do with her hands.

Luke leaned in, whispered, “Told you they’d be normal.”

She elbowed him gently. “You told me Jack was normal?”

“Okay, technically I said Jack was manageable.”

———

The first hour was a blur.

Jack was loud and playful, constantly throwing jabs at Luke that only made Luke pull her in closer. Quinn was more reserved, but asked quiet questions. He asked her about her major, how she liked Ann Arbor, what books she was reading.

She noticed the way Quinn watched Luke when Luke wasn’t paying attention. The way his gaze would flick from her to his little brother and back again, like he was measuring something.

Not judging. Just…assessing.

She understood that. If she had a little brother and he brought home someone serious, she’d be doing the same.

At one point, Luke got up to grab something from the kitchen, and Jack immediately dropped into the seat next to her.

“So,” he said, “how’s he doing?”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

Jack smirked. “You’re his first real real.”

“First…?”

“First one he actually brings home. First one he won’t shut up about. First one where he looks like a kicked puppy if we so much as yawn when he’s talking about you.”

She felt her face heat up.

“Oh,” she said.

Jack bumped her shoulder. “I like you. Just don’t break him. He’s a pain in the ass when he’s heartbroken.”

She smiled. “I’ll do my best.”

———

Later, she and Quinn ended up alone on the back deck, sipping drinks while the sun started to dip over the lake.

He was quiet for a while, then said, “He’s been happier since he met you.”

She looked up.

Quinn wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were soft.

“I haven’t seen him this…settled. It’s a good look on him.”

She shrugged. “He makes it easy. Most of the time.”

Quinn’s gaze didn’t waver. “You don’t have to pretend you’re not nervous.”

She swallowed. “That obvious?”

He nodded. “But I get it. It’s a lot, coming into someone’s family. Especially ours.”

There was a pause.

Then he added, “But you’re doing fine. Better than fine. And Jack’s already planning some nickname for you, which means you’re in.”

She laughed, the tightness in her chest loosening a little.

“Thanks, Quinn.”

He nodded once, then leaned back, tipping his beer toward the sky.

———

That night, after dinner and a movie and too many smores by the fire pit, Luke pulled her aside, into the cool quiet of the upstairs guest room they were staying in.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind, nose tucked into her neck.

“You did amazing,” he whispered.

“I don’t think I said more than five words during the entire movie.”

“Yeah, but they were all very intelligent words.”

She turned in his arms, rolling her eyes. “Jack thinks I’m a goddess and a threat to your emotional stability.”

Luke grinned. “He’s not wrong.”

“And Quinn said I passed.”

He tilted his head. “He graded you?”

“More like… evaluated me silently with wise older brother judgment.”

Luke kissed her forehead. “You passed with flying colours.”

She hesitated, fingers curling in the fabric of his hoodie.

“Do you really talk about me that much?”

He blinked. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I just… I don’t know. I guess I didn’t realise how serious this was for you.”

Luke’s brow furrowed. “You’re serious to me. Always have been.”

Her heart twisted, soft and a little raw.

He leaned in, kissed her slow.

“You’re not temporary,” he said. “You’re not a footnote. You’re the headline.”

And for the first time that day, the nerves stopped whispering.

Because his brothers didn’t just like her.

So did Luke.

Completely.

MEETING THE PARENTS

She almost backs out twice.

Once in her apartment, standing in front of the mirror and reapplying lip balm with shaking hands. And once more as she walks toward the café and sees Luke already inside, seated by the window with his parents.

She knew they were visiting. Luke had mentioned it earlier in the week—casual, offhand, like it wasn’t a big deal. “They’re here for a couple nights. Probably gonna grab dinner, maybe walk campus a bit. You should come.”

And somehow, she’d said yes.

Now she’s panicking.

Because it’s Ellen and Jim Hughes. Hockey royalty. Actual, real-life parents of NHL players. And she’s just…her. A physics major with anxiety and a thrifted denim jacket who still doesn’t totally understand icing.

She hesitates outside the door, heart pounding.

Then Luke looks up. Spots her.

And smiles.

Warm and wide and just for her.

He pushes up from the booth, excuses himself to his parents, and walks straight outside like he knew she might need him.

“Hey,” he says, voice soft. “You came.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I’m not. I’m just really glad.”

She exhales, lets him take her hand.

“They’re gonna love you,” he says, like it’s a fact.

She stares at him. “You don’t know that.”

“I do,” Luke replies, and kisses her cheek before guiding her inside and over to the booth.

Ellen stands first. Pulls her into a hug that’s firm but not overwhelming. “We’ve heard so much about you,” she says, smiling like she means it.

Jim’s handshake is warm. “You keeping him out of trouble?”

She laughs, surprised by how easily it comes out. “Trying my best.”

They sit. The café is cozy, quiet enough for real conversation but not so quiet that her voice will shake and echo.

Luke sits beside her. Not across from her, beside her. His hand rests against her leg under the table, thumb tracing small circles. Always anchoring her.

Ellen and Jim ask questions, easy ones. What’s your major? How long have you been in Ann Arbor? What’s your favourite part of campus?

She answers as best she can. Tries not to fidget. Luke helps fill in the gaps.

“She tutors me in physics,” he says proudly. “Basically the reason I passed midterms.”

“She’s also the reason you eat three meals a day,” Ellen teases.

Luke grins. “And the reason I get up for my 8 a.m.”

Jim hums. “Sounds like someone important.”

She blushes. Luke squeezes her knee.

———

They all walk together for a bit, just down the street, a lazy campus loop.

Eventually, Ellen hangs back with Jim, letting Luke and her walk a few steps ahead. She can feel the buzz of approval in the air, even without words.

Luke bumps her shoulder gently. “You okay?”

She nods. “I think so.”

“They loved you.”

“You think?”

“I know. You’re smart, sweet, and you didn’t stumble over your words once. That’s a win.”

She laughs, finally feeling her nerves start to drain. “You sure they didn’t think I was weird?”

“I’m in love with you,” Luke says, like it’s nothing.

Like he’s just talking about the weather.

She stops walking. Blinks up at him.

“I’m just saying,” he adds quickly, a little breathless now, “that you didn’t need to be nervous. Because I love you. And they saw that. It’s enough.”

She kisses him softly before she can stop herself. “I love you too,” she mutters against his lips.

When she pulls back, he’s smiling.

“So,” she says. “I passed the parental exam?”

“Flying colours,” he murmurs, leaning in again. “A+.”

[ohnoohnoohnoo]

Everything about the kiss scene is FASCINATING to me.

All of their choices in this scene serve to reflect the ballet. Their romance IS the ballet, and while having the audience sit enraptured while they choreograph start to finish and then give a standing ovation to a kiss seems literally silly, it's metaphorically brilliant. I don't know anything about ballet. Even watching the final piece kind of knowing what it should be about, I was confused. But that's what this show is, it's taking this art form and fleshing out stories behind it from bureaucracy to chaos to relationships. And every element of this kiss scene reflects that so well.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like typically you frame a TV kiss differently from how they did. You shoot from the side and direct the actors so the camera can get a clear shot of their lips meeting. But most of this scene, we are seeing the back of Tobias' or Gabin's head. Because what is significant in this scene isn't their lips, it's the movement. Their hands are in almost constant movement across the other's back or neck, their torsos twist around each other, and their heads bob with the motion of a deep kiss. The scene is shot in an atypical way to capture as much movement as possible because this is the ballet. This kiss is a metaphor for the ballet. The shows that are put on this stage are works of love and passion and story, and that is what the audience is seeing--an intimate admission through art. The show just takes everything a step further by showing us directly. They are telling us the stories that are already being told and allowing a wider audience to understand a new art form.

As for the audience in the theater and outside, it's SUCH a perfect metaphor for the general audience watching the show at home. I mean literally the people outside are watching on a screen. They even go out of their way to show a girl in her home turning to watch on that screen. We the audience watch, from start to finish, the development of the ballet as it reflects the development of the characters we now know and love all the way to the culmination of both of them: the full performance and the kiss.

The one time Gabin and Tobias kind of freeze in their motion is to notice the audience watching. I feel like this reflects the whole spiral from the first ballet Tobias directed. He couldn't create in France because he knew he was being watched. New York was his home and he was comfortable there. He went so far as to fly back to see and work on his old piece with Cheyenne even though he said he stops thinking about a dance when it's done. He was sent to France to be paraded around a little bit. The media was the point of the whole swap. He literally complains about the rat that's watching him and points out that the French rat is specifically different from New York rats. He's being watched, he's uncomfortable, he creates something inauthentic. Not once, but twice.

But you know who gets rid of that rat? You know who says it doesn't matter who else is there, just that Tobias can watch the show? Gabin. He is the key to the comfort and change that Tobias finds. Gabin puts on a show of wanting to be seen, he boasts and brags every chance he can, but as soon as it comes to Tobias, he doesn't care. He doesn't need the attention of fame, he needs to be truly seen by someone who cares about him.

So they're on stage, frozen for a moment, realizing they are still being watched. And Tobias asks if Gabin thinks anyone saw, and Gabin responds "No, not at all."

It's funny on a literal level, but it's also a reflection of the fact that they've both let go of their opposite but equally intense grasps on perception. Who in that audience really knows what that kiss means to either of them? Who in that audience knows everything about that dance? They got to see more than normal, and it's fascinating, but they didn't see the move and the spiral and the rat and the fight and all of it. We at home are watching this show with the overarching purpose of representing ballet, so we see more character and thought and feeling behind it, but we are so so far from seeing all of what has gone into this show. An audience will never know all that goes into someone else's art, the only people who can truly know are the artists themselves. We just watch, we can't see.

But the authenticity of that art in the scope that we get still rings true. That's why we watch. Art can't be art without authenticity. Hence the bad reviews and booing crowd when Tobias was still resisting France and Gabin still just wanted a spotlight. So Gabin and Tobias let go of the pressures of perception and create something authentic and kiss again. Then, and only then, does the audience cheer. They have next to no context for this, but they applaud. It doesn't matter that they have almost no context for this because they're watching something truly vulnerable and human. It doesn't matter if we know nothing about ballet or the show, it's a satisfying conclusion because we're seeing some damn good art

[alisonsfics]

off limits - part five

pairing: brother’sbestfriend! henry cavill x reader

summary: henry was best friends with your brother, theo, which meant despite the clear chemistry between you two, you both had chosen to not date.

word count: 2.3k

warnings: swearing

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 6 / part 7

After getting the ominous text from Theo, your mind had been racing a million miles a minute. You had no idea why he suddenly wanted to hang out with you and Henry, specifically. Theo wasn’t even really supposed to know that you and Henry had been spending time together.

You tried to distract yourself with a whole lists of hobbies, but your mind kept running back to wondering what Theo wanted to talk about. Theo wasn’t normally very secretive. He was normally an extrovert who didn’t keep anything in. You started preparing yourself for the chance that Theo knew about you and Henry.

Theo had sent you an address for some gala being hosted by the company he worked for. The only other information he gave you was that you’d talk once you got there.

You tried to assure yourself that if he was going to yell at you for dating-but-not-dating his best friend, he probably wouldn’t have picked a public event.

You got dressed up, as the invitation mentioned, and arrived at the gala way earlier than you were supposed to. You hadn’t seen or spoken to Henry since you got the text from Theo. You both were mentally spiraling and needed some time to think.

When it was finally an acceptable time, you headed into the lobby, where you saw Henry waiting. He was sitting on a bench, anxiously tapping his leg.

He gave you a soft smile once he saw you. He was so anxious that he couldn’t even force himself to stand and give you a hug.

“Theo here yet?” You asked him, trying to keep your hands from shaking. He shook his head. “Haven’t seen him yet,” he told you.

You grabbed your phone out of your purse, hoping you could distract yourself. It didn’t work. You anxiously switched between your Instagram feed and your email for ten minutes, until Theo showed up.

When Theo finally walked through the door, you and Henry practically jumped. “Hey, Theo. How are you?” You asked, giving your brother a quick hug. You were partially convinced that if you acted like everything was okay, maybe it would be. “Hey, guys. It’s good to see you both.” Theo said, also giving Henry a hug.

“So, you guys are probably wondering about my text. I’m sorry that I was so vague, but I was worried that neither of you would agree if I told you beforehand.” Theo started to explain.

Your fears that this was about you and Henry started to fade, but they were replaced by fears that this was worse.

“So, you both know that you’re the maid of honor and best man at the wedding, which me and Sarah are so happy about. But, we knew neither of you had a date yet to the wedding, so me and Sarah wanted to set you both up.” Theo finished explaining.

You and Henry were stunned. You glanced over at Henry, trying to read his expression. You both had been so worried about Theo finding out, and now, it sounded like he wanted the two of you to be together. You weren’t sure what you were hearing. Neither one of you knew how to respond.

“So, Sarah’s on her way in with two of our friends. We think you’ll love them. For you, we have my coworker Todd. He loves all your favorite movies, and he’s really into cooking. And Henry, Sarah has this friend named Mia, who owns this little bakery downtown. And if all goes well, maybe they could be your dates to the wedding.” Theo said, causing a pit to form in both yours and Henry’s stomachs.

Theo wasn’t setting you up with Henry. He was setting you both up with different people. You couldn’t even tell Theo that you weren’t interested because both your dates already in the parking lot.

“Alright. One of you say something, please. You’re scaring me.” Theo said, noticing your stunned reactions.

You were pissed. Theo had ambushed you.

“What’s to say? They’re already here, aren’t they?” You said, with a slight bitterness. Henry and Theo both picked up on it, but neither of them mentioned it.

Then, the front door to the lobby opened, and Sarah walked in with two people behind her. Sarah smiled at you both, unaware of the awkward tension in the room.

“Hey, guys. This is Todd and Mia.” Sarah said, introducing you all. You politely smiled at Todd, who was giving you an expectant look. “Shall we?” He asked you, holding out his arm for you. You reluctantly held onto his arm, and he led you into the banquet hall.

Henry didn’t realize how protective he was over you until he saw you with Todd. It made Henry sick to his stomach.

Todd brought you over to your assigned table. You glanced at the name tags and realized that all six of you were at one table. Todd pulled out your chair for you, but you still didn’t even want to look at him.

“So, you work with Theo?” You asked with a desperate attempt at conversation. Todd nodded his head and starting rambling about his job. You watched Henry, Mia, Theo, and Sarah start heading towards your table and prepared for the disaster that you knew would occur.

You zoned out as Todd rambled on and on. Henry gave you a sympathetic look as he sat down. You’re weren’t mad at Henry in anyway, but for some reason, you hoped that he would stand up to Theo and fight for you. You knew it was a crazy hope and that Henry wouldn’t do it. Henry had promised you that he’d keep whatever your relationship was a secret from Theo. He wouldn’t break that promise without your permission.

As if you weren’t feeling upset enough, watching Mia practically drool over Henry wasn’t helping.

“I’m going to go get a drink. If anyone wants to come with.” Sarah excused herself, starting to pick up on the tension. “We’ll come with you,” Mia volunteered, grabbing onto Henry’s hand.

You watched Henry’s eyes widen as he was dragged away from the table. “While they’re gone, I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick. I’ll be back in a minute.” Todd excused himself as well.

“So how do you like him?” Theo asked from across the table as soon as Todd was out of earshot.

You refused to look at Theo. You fixed your attention on the other side of the room and didn’t budge. “Hello? What’s wrong?” Theo asked you.

“I’m fucking pissed at you. That’s what’s wrong.” You snapped at him. Theo looked genuinely shocked by your response. “You’re mad because I…got you a date?” He asked, confused.

You rolled your eyes, running a hand through your hair. “No, I’m mad because you ambushed me. You didn’t ask if I was interested, and I couldn’t have said no because he was already here.” You ranted. Theo was trying to reason with you, but all the stress from hiding your feelings for Henry was bubbling up.

“I was just trying to be helpful. I just want you to be happy.” Theo told you. You believed him, and you knew he had good intentions, but sometimes his execution was shit. “Maybe I already am happy. Maybe I don’t want to be in a relationship right now. Just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean I have to. I mean, I get enough of this shit from mom. I don’t need it from you too.” You said, standing up from the table and walking away.

You started walking towards the lobby again. You walked past the bar, and Sarah and Henry saw that you were fuming. “I’m gonna go check on her. Can you get me a drink?” Henry asked Mia, to which she quickly nodded.

Henry followed you into the lobby. “Hey, wait up. It’s me.” He called after you. You stopped when you recognized his voice. You turned around to face him and a few tears rolled down your cheeks.

“Talk to me,” Henry said, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into a hug. You hated how safe you felt with him. You wrapped your arms around him, holding onto him like it would make your problems go away. “I am so fucking pissed at Theo for this, and this has all been so much recently. I’ve just fucking had it.” You rambled.

Henry rubbed your back as you ranted to him. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to complain so much. I mean, you’re going through this too, and I haven’t heard you complain once.” You apologized.

Henry took your hand and pulled you over to one of the benches against the wall. He sat down next to you. “You’re allowed to complain all you want. This fucking sucks. And trust me, I am just as upset as you are.” He comforted you, moving a strand of your hair behind your ear. You never felt alone when you were with Henry.

“You’re such a good listener. You should be my therapist. God knows I’m gonna need one after tonight,” you joked, laughing as you wiped another tear off your cheek.

“I hate seeing you cry.” Henry said, grabbing one of your hands in his. He ran his thumb over the back of your hand.

You saw a flash of doubt in Henry’s eyes for a split second, and then he cupped your face with his free hand. Then, he slowly leaned in to kiss you. It wasn’t like any of the other times you’d kissed Henry. Normally, it was heat of the moment and rushed. This was different. It was slow and sweet.

You leaned into the kiss. Butterflies swirled around inside you. You interlaced your fingers with Henry’s. It was magical.

Henry could feel you smile against the kiss. For a second, his feelings for you were simple. In that moment, he didn’t care about anything else, especially Theo. He just wanted you.

“Hey, Theo said you ran off. I wanted to come check on you.” Todd said, bursting into the room before realizing what was going on.

You and Henry froze. You half expected Henry to jump away from you. He didn’t. He let his hand rest on your waist. “I’m sorry. We really had no idea Theo was going to set us up. Theo doesn’t know about this. Please, don’t tell him.” You apologized.

Todd nodded and left you both alone.

Henry quickly stood up. “I need to go talk to Mia.” He said.

“That’s your first reaction after kissing me?” You asked him, half teasing.

“I need to tell her that there is somebody else who makes me very happy. I don’t want to lead her on when I am one thousand percent crazy about you.” He said, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“What do we do about Theo?” You asked him.

“I think we should talk to him and see how he reacts. There’s so much stuff going on with the wedding in three weeks, but I think we should talk to him after the wedding. I know that’s still a while from now, but I don’t want him to be stressed about the wedding when we talk to him.” He suggested.

You pulled him in for a hug. “I’m going to go hang out with Sarah. I’m not really in the mood to talk to Theo yet. But we’ll talk soon, okay?” You told him. He nodded and smiled before you left.

Then, Henry went to find Mia. “Hey, can we talk?” He asked her. She quickly nodded.

“I had no idea that Theo and Sarah were setting us up today. I don’t want to lead you on, and there’s this girl. I mean, it’s complicated, but it wouldn’t be fair to lie to you. Theo doesn’t know anything about it though.” He explained.

“Thank you for telling me. I really appreciate your honesty. And I totally understand why you’d be nervous to tell Theo.” She told Henry. Henry furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait, I’m sorry. What do you mean?” He asked her, curiously.

“Because she’s his sister,” Mia told Henry, as though it was clear as day.

Henry chuckled to himself. “I didn’t realize it was so obvious.” He admitted. Mia shyly nodded her head. “It’s just the way you look at her,” she told him.

They wrapped up their conversation, and Henry went back into the lobby to think. He wanted to seem confident and hopeful in front of you when talking about telling Theo, but Henry was terrified. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin his relationship with his best friend or ruin yours and Theo’s relationship.

The stress had really gotten to Henry over the past few weeks. He felt his eyes start to water from the pure stress and anxiety. He had no one to talk about these things with except you, and he wanted to be strong for you.

Theo walked into the lobby, startling Henry. “You mad at me too? My sister's pissed, and judging by the way Mia and Todd are making out, I’m assuming neither of you were interested in your dates.” Theo said.

Henry shook his head. “I’m not mad at you. Slightly irritated, but not mad. But, I couldn’t date Mia, Theo.” He told him.

Theo noticed the emotion in Henry’s face. “Hey, man, are you alright?” Theo asked, concerned. Henry just shook his head. “There’s this girl. And god, I want to be with her. I think about her all the time, and it fucking sucks because I know how amazing we could be together, but it can’t happen. All I really want to do is take her on a date.” Henry explained, wiping his eyes quickly and faking a smile.

Theo put his hand on Henry’s back. “No one can really stop you though. You should go be with this girl if she makes you happy. Don’t let anything stand in your way.” Theo assured Henry. Henry chuckled to himself at the irony. He knew Theo would have a very different sentiment if he knew the girl was his sister.

“It’s just way too complicated. You have no idea.” Henry told him.

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[ladykailitha]

Paper Hearts Part 8

Here we go! The end! This is not the last foray into this little 'verse however! There will be a sequel called Sweet Surrender. It will chronicle their first date, their first time (so it will be mature), and senior prom. Look for that starting next week.

Still not sure about WIP Wednesday tomorrow, but I'll keep you posted.

Steve gets to see one of the recipients of his pinks hearts, Eddie spirals a bit, and true love prevails. As it should.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

****

Steve was finally able to witness one of his anonymous hearts being received on Tuesday. Last week all the hearts had been shoved into people’s lockers, accidentally following the lead of Steve’s admirers. He strongly suspected Chrissy was the reason for that.

But in the three days leading up to Valentine’s day, the hearts were being passed out in classes. Something teachers strongly objected to but students loved.

He was in his geometry class, trying not scratch out his own eyeballs from the sheer monotony of all the numbers starting to blur together, when Chrissy and another junior cheerleader came into the class, but as it was merely quiet student time and that he wasn’t actively teaching, there was nothing the teacher could do but silently stew.

They started listing off the names of the students who had gotten pink hearts alphabetically. Steve wasn’t surprised when he got a small stack again. Most of them were from Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam. The first name was weird, but others seemed fairly normal. And of course, one from Kas.

He looked around and saw that some kids were snickering because they were getting to the later half of the alphabet and Joni Quincy. She was little fatter then her classmates but in no way overweight. But that didn’t stop people from mocking her. The fact that she braces didn’t help either.

“Joni Quincy!” Chrissy said, clearly.

The class got so quiet you could hear her sharp gasp.

“Are you sure it’s for me?” she asked shyly, like she was expecting to be pranked or tricked.

Chrissy shook her bright ponytail. She came over to the girl’s desk and handed her the heart. It was only the one, but Steve could tell it made all the difference. She smiled brightly and laughed.

“That’s sweet!” Nicole said over her shoulder. “Anonymous. But it’s still cool someone thought of you.”

The rest of the class went well until afterwards when one of the members of the football team grabbed out of her hand.

“You shouldn’t send notes yourself,” he sneered, holding it above her head so she couldn’t get back.

“I didn’t!” she cried.

Steve stood up and swiped it out of the dude’s hand. “Leave her alone. The point of the friendship hearts are for stuff like this. Knock it off.” He turned and glared at the teacher.

The teacher stared back at Steve for a moment and then sighed.

“Mr. Olsen, please refrain harassing your fellow students.”

The kid just shrugged and stormed out of the class. Steve handed it back to her.

“It is a sweet message,” he said with a smile.

-Joni

Braces may suck right now,

But the smile you’ll get in end

Will be worth it, so don’t hide your smile

A Former Braces Wearer

She returned his smile widely, showing off the braces. “It is. It was nice to get a heart.”

Steve just nodded and then gathered up his stuff to go. He could feel the warm glow in his chest expand as he watched her talk with one of the other girls in the class about the heart.

It felt good.

****

All week long, Eddie watched Steve get the pink hearts and brighten every time. They had a couple of classes together and he always lit up when the hearts arrived.

Sometimes, he would catch him looking disappointed, but by the end of the day that kilowatt smile would be back on.

He couldn’t figure out the cause. There never seemed to be a rhyme or reason for the change in mood.

So he asked one of the Hellfire Club members that had classes with Steve to see if she noticed a difference.

“Maybe it’s your special hearts,” she said with a grin.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “No, it’s not. Come on, at least take this seriously. Oh! Maybe he’s getting them from Nancy!”

“Why would he even want pink hearts from her?”Janice said cocking her head the side in confusion. “Like he was madly in love with the girl and it’s pretty damn clear that whatever went on that week in November, it really crushed the guy. I’d think he’d be disappointed getting one from her rather than not getting one from her until it appears later in the day.”

He frowned. But that had to be it. There was no way that Steve was interested in his hearts. Maybe he just liked the color change and that’s what it was. Because there was no way he was interested in the heart giver unless he thought that it was a girl’s name. Kas could be short for Kassie after all.

Janice grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “You are spiraling and it’s a little freaky, stop.”

Eddie head snapped, he had forgotten she was even there. He turned on his most charming smile. “You’re talking to the head freak, baby. Can’t get freakier than me.”

She rolled her eyes, not charmed in the slightest. “I know what you are, Edward Munson. Don’t you forget it.”

He kissed her cheek. “Never.”

As he walked off, a locker slammed and Janice jumped. She turned around to see Steve Harrington standing up from his locker.

He hadn’t been there when Eddie came up to her, she knew for a fact. Eddie wasn’t stupid enough to talk about someone when they were literally feet away. So he must have come later. Which meant the question was ‘how much did he hear?’

She really hoped the answer was none of it.

****

Steve had to go out and get a different book for all the all the hearts he had received. He still kept the ones from ‘Kas’ in his wallet. Those were his favorite.

He never was good at hiding his emotions, despite what his father had tried to drill into him over and over again. So when he would get pink hearts every period, he would be disappointed when the Kas hearts weren’t there.

Which was rude. He enjoyed all the hearts he got. He loved every little silly message, even from the ones Dustin said were clearly from a metal band.

He had fun taking the hearts with names he knew weren’t in the year book to Dustin, because he would explain the reference to him.

By Wednesday night, Steve had added three more Kas hearts to his wallet. All sweeter than the last.

He knew he was developing a crush on whoever this was.

Then Dustin finally figured it out the day before Valentine’s day.

“It’s probably a dude,” Dustin said with a grimace.

Steve tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Dustin got out a large hard back book and flipped through it. He stopped on a page about half way through and handed it to him.

Steve sat on the kid’s bed with a thump. He must have read a dozen times before he looked up at him.

“But they’re friendship hearts,” he said. “Why would it matter if it’s a guy or not?”

Dustin sat on the bed next time him and gently took the book back. “Because you’re acting like you do when you have a crush.”

Steve blinked at him a moment. He frowned in thought. “You think so?”

He nodded.

“Oh.”

He thought about all the times he wished it was Eddie who was Kas and then it hit him. He wanted it to be Eddie, not because he had a crush on Kas, but because he had a crush on Eddie.

“And if I said I didn’t mind it?” he asked softly. “That it might be a boy?”

“Are you gay?” Dustin asked, rearing his head back in confusion.

Steve shook his head. “Both. I like both.”

Dustin frowned appreciatively. “Okay then.”

“Okay?” Steve wasn’t sure he was hearing this. He had always imagined that there would be more screaming involved.

“Okay,” he repeated. “You have a big heart, it makes sense that you’d like both.”

Steve gave him the biggest hug. “Thanks, Dusty.”

“Oh!” he said, pulling away after a moment. “I found out about that Dorks and Dweebs club you were talking about!”

Dustin glared at him. “It stands for Dungeons and Dragons. Something I’ve told you over and over again.”

Steve ruffled Dustin’s hair. “The club is called The Hellfire Club and they do accept freshmen.”

“They named themselves after that club in The X-men?” Dustin squealed. “That’s so cool.”

Steve blinked for a moment. Yeah, that made more sense then a bunch of high schoolers naming their club after a Satanic and gay club from the 1800s. Hey, he read. He had found a book on history of clubs in England at the local library, and thought they meant soccer. They had not.

Dustin bombarded him with questions about the club and Steve answered him the best he could. After all the kid figured out his Kas so it was the least he could for him.

****

Valentine’s came and Steve was the recipient of three red hearts. But as he searched through the pink hearts there was no Kas. The end of school came and he still hadn’t looked at the red hearts yet.

Eddie came up to his locker as he was shoving his books into it. “Hey, Stevie, why the long face?”

Steve sighed and closed the locker, turning around to sit on the floor. “I’ve been getting these pink hearts from a specific person all week and all last week and I didn’t get one today. So I guess I’m a little bummed by it.”

Eddie dropped his bag and sat down next to Steve. He drew his knees up and draped his arms over them, linking his thumbs together.

“Maybe they sent a red heart instead?” he said, bumping their shoulders together.

Steve shrugged. “They’ve been all pink hearts up until now, so...”

“What makes this one so special then?”

“I have a friend that is really big into D&D,” Steve murmured.

Eddie gasped and held his hands to his chest. “You, Steven Harrington, has friend who like’s D&D?”

“He’s more like a little brother to me,” he explained with a shrug, “he’ll start high school next year. But anyways, he’s been telling me all the references from pink hearts from the ones that wanted to be anonymous.”

“And there’s a D&D reference in there?” Eddie asked, looking over at him. He knew there was, but maybe Steve had been getting hearts from someone else in Hellfire or another secret D&D nerd he knew nothing about.

Steve nodded and pulled out his wallet. “It’s the same person that left the hearts on my door over the weekend.” He pulled out all ten hearts to Eddie’s awe.

“You kept all of them?” he whispered as he gently took them from him. Eddie fanned them out like a deck of cards and then tilted his head. “They’re out of order.”

Steve frowned as he watched Eddie successfully put them in order and a pattern emerged. The colors had shifted darker and darker with each day. Until the one he got yesterday was a really dark pink.

He looked down at the red hearts that he had set on the floor to pull out his wallet. He picked them up only to be snatched from by Eddie.

“Nicole Hawkins?” he said dismissively and tossed it over his shoulder. “She’s too boring.”

Steve huffed out a laugh.

“Lindsey Addams?” he said with a snort, tossing it after Nicole’s red heart. “Has a boyfriend and is only looking for someone she can use to make him jealous.”

Steve smiled. That one he knew. He was down on all the gossip, he just didn’t know Eddie was too.

He handed the final red heart to Steve and smiled. “There you go.”

Steve took the heart and his smile matched Eddie’s when it showed it was from Kas.

“You know,” he said softly. “I wanted them to be from you. He told me about Kas the Betrayer and how whoever was sending them was probably a guy. But I wanted them to be from you since I told you my secret.”

Eddie gulped. He hadn’t been expecting that. He had been shoring himself up that Steve would think it was a girl and he would walk away with a broken heart when he found out it wasn’t. But staring at this gentle boy with a big heart who just wanted to do something nice for the girls that wouldn’t get even so much as a single pink heart, he knew. He knew that there would be no walking away for either of them.

“They’re from me,” he admitted. “I fell so hard for you, Stevie. And I hoped that by gradually changing the colors of the hearts you see that I was gearing up to tell you I loved you.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head. “Sorry I missed that.”

Eddie bumped their shoulders together again. “It’s all right, I got to see the cutest pout when you thought I hadn’t given you a heart today.”

“You’ll let me make it up to you?” Steve asked, raising his head.

“Take me out on a date and shower me with that patented Harrington charm,” Eddie said with a grin. “And we’ll call it even.”

Steve laughed. “Looks like I have plans for Valentine’s day after all.”

Eddie stood up and held his hand out to him. Steve took it and Eddie helped him to his feet.

“Sure do, big boy,” he said with a grin.

Steve laughed and let Eddie lead him out to the parking lot. It was nearly empty but that was perfect.

Eddie walked Steve to his car.

“I’ll pick you up at five, okay?” Steve whispered.

Eddie pursed his lips and nodded. He walked away, but as Steve got his in car, Eddie suddenly leapt into the air and whooped!

Steve shook his head and smiled fondly. He had started the month feeling sorry for himself and now he had a date with a sweet boy on Valentine’s day.

Life was already looking up.

****

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2- @slv-333 @zerokrox-blog @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson

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9- @dotdot-wierdlife @ravenfrog @dauntlessdiva @thelittleclare @steddieyourself

10- @dam28lh

[amberdiaries]

Title: Midnight Munchies (part II)

Synopsis: At a college dorm party, Liv meets Billie, and what starts as a casual invitation for fast food quickly spirals into an unforgettable night. From a midnight swim to a stolen kiss, their connection deepens in ways neither of them expected. As the night unfolds, they both find themselves caught between desire, vulnerability, and something more than just a fleeting moment.

CW: This story contains mature themes including intimate and romantic interactions between two characters. There are moments of suggestive language and physical intimacy that may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is advised.

WC: 1.5k

~

The air in the fast food joint was thick with the clatter of trays and the low hum of conversations. Billie leaned back in her seat, her gaze never leaving Liv. She was casual in a way that felt effortless, the loose, faded band tee hanging just right off her frame, dark jeans worn at the knees, and a pair of scuffed boots that somehow made everything about her look unintentional, but still meticulously curated. There was a certain intensity to her that didn’t scream for attention, but drew you in regardless, like a flame you couldn’t look away from, even if you wanted to.

Liv wasn’t sure when the silence had settled between them, but now it felt almost tangible. Not awkward—just heavy in a way she didn’t fully understand. Billie’s eyes lingered on her, steady, like she was trying to figure out every little thing beneath Liv’s surface. Liv shifted in her seat, trying not to feel the heat rising in her chest.

Billie broke the silence first, her voice low, deliberate. “So,” she started, her eyes flashing with a hint of curiosity, “tell me something real about you, Liv.”

Liv blinked, the question catching her off guard. She hadn’t expected this. It was easy to talk around things—small talk, the kind that didn’t go anywhere—but Billie had a way of getting straight to the point, like she could see through the distractions and wanted something deeper. It unsettled Liv, and at the same time, it made her feel exposed, vulnerable. But there was something compelling in the way Billie looked at her. Not judgmental, not probing, just… interested.

“I don’t know,” Liv said, unsure where to start. “I guess I’m just… average. I go to class, study, hang out with my roommate.” She realized how dull her life sounded, how she always kept herself at arm’s length from anything or anyone that might push her out of her routine.

Billie’s lips curled into a half-smile, her gaze shifting between Liv’s eyes and her lips, as if she were savoring the way Liv’s words hung in the air. “I don’t believe that,” Billie said, her voice so smooth it almost felt like a challenge. “You’re more than that. Everyone is. But I’m not interested in the small stuff.”

Liv’s heart thudded in her chest. “What do you mean?”

Billie leaned in just slightly, her eyes narrowing with that intensity that made Liv’s breath catch. “I mean, I can tell you’re holding something back. There’s a part of you that’s buried under all the ��normal’ stuff. You know that, right?” Her words hung between them, charged with an energy Liv wasn’t sure how to handle.

The air felt thick now, almost oppressive. It wasn’t just the fact that Billie was looking at her like she was some sort of puzzle to be solved—it was the way she made Liv feel, as if everything she thought she knew about herself could be rewritten just by the weight of Billie’s gaze.

Liv fumbled for something to say, but her words came out too quickly, too unsure. “I’m not—” She stopped herself. Not what? Normal? Different? She didn’t even know anymore. All she knew was that being around Billie made her feel like she was simultaneously under a microscope and completely free, both exposed and somehow invisible.

Billie didn’t seem to mind the silence. She simply raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into that damnable, magnetic smile. “Don’t worry, Liv. I’m not asking for all your secrets at once. But I’ll get them out of you eventually. I’m persistent like that.”

The bluntness of her words, the confidence with which she said them, stirred something in Liv. A mixture of anxiety and curiosity churned in her stomach. She wasn’t used to people seeing her so clearly—especially not someone like Billie, who had an almost dangerous charm, an ability to weave through social situations like she belonged in any room without ever needing to try. It made Liv feel like she was standing on a thin line between wanting to pull back and wanting to lean forward.

She tried to laugh it off, but it came out softer than she’d intended. “I don’t know what you think you’ve figured out.”

Billie smiled, leaning back in her seat, but it wasn’t a retreat. It was more like a shift, as if she was deciding how to take Liv’s words, how much of Liv’s uncertainty she could wear down with her presence alone. “I think,” Billie said slowly, with purpose, “you’re used to being in control of everything. But there’s a part of you that’s just… waiting for someone to mess with that. You know?”

Liv stared at her, trying to decipher what Billie meant. Control? Was that what she was doing? Keeping everything tidy, within her own lines, so nothing could get too messy, too out of hand? But then again, Billie was right in a way. Liv wasn’t used to this kind of unpredictability. She wasn’t used to someone forcing her to feel like she was standing on the edge of something dangerous—and exciting.

“You’re talking like you know me,” Liv said, unable to stop herself from leaning in just a little, her voice quieter now. “But you don’t.”

Billie’s eyes never left hers. “I don’t need to know you, Liv. I just need to see you.”

The way she said it made Liv’s heart stop for a moment. She wasn’t sure what Billie meant by it, but the words resonated with something deep inside her. Liv had spent so long hiding behind her books, her routines, her predictable life. And Billie? Billie was chaos with a purpose. A force that didn’t apologize for the way she drew people in.

Liv swallowed, suddenly feeling very aware of how much closer they were now. The warmth of the fast food joint seemed to fade as Billie’s presence filled the space between them. She had a way of making everything else feel like background noise, as though Liv was the only thing worth paying attention to in the room.

“I’m not… I’m not used to this,” Liv admitted, her voice just above a whisper. “People don’t usually look at me like you do.”

Billie’s gaze softened slightly, but her smile didn’t fade. “I can’t help it,” she said, her voice almost teasing now, “You’ve got that ‘I’m hiding something’ thing going on. It’s impossible not to notice.”

The shift in Billie’s tone caught Liv off guard, making her realize how close they were. Billie’s presence, her energy—it was like she had a gravitational pull, and Liv was helpless against it. She felt it deep in her chest, a tingling at the edges of her skin, the undeniable urge to lean in, to get lost in whatever this was.

Billie watched her closely, waiting for a reaction. Liv could feel her heart pounding, could feel the words she wanted to say but didn’t know how to form. She wanted to tell Billie that she wasn’t ready for whatever this was—that she had never been the type to let people in so easily, especially not someone like Billie. But all she could manage was a small, unsure smile.

“You don’t make it easy, do you?” Liv said, her voice barely audible now, an edge of vulnerability creeping in.

Billie’s grin widened, and she shook her head slowly, leaning even closer until their shoulders brushed. “No, I don’t. But you’re welcome for the challenge.”

The words hung in the air, thick and unspoken, as Billie’s eyes lingered on Liv’s lips for just a beat too long. The world outside seemed to disappear, leaving just the two of them in this small corner of the night, the weight of their proximity filling the space between them.

Liv’s breath caught. She could feel the electricity between them, the magnetic pull that Billie exuded. It was real, undeniable, and it was pulling her in deeper than she was prepared for.

Billie watched her closely, waiting, her expression softer now but still holding that quiet intensity. “You know, you don’t have to pretend with me, Liv. Not tonight.”

Liv didn’t know what to say. Maybe she didn’t need to say anything at all. All she knew was that Billie’s presence was a storm, and she was standing right at the edge of it. And for the first time in her life, Liv wasn’t sure whether she wanted to step back or dive straight into the chaos.

The moment stretched on, taut and fragile. Neither of them spoke, but everything between them seemed to hang in the balance, a question neither of them were ready to answer, but both of them were already living.

Finally, Billie broke the tension, her voice low and playful again. “Food’s getting cold.”

Liv’s gaze flickered down to the half-eaten fries, but all she could think about was how much more complicated this night had gotten—and how much more complicated she was starting to feel around Billie.

~

heyy guys, let me know how you feel so far about this story and if you guys would like more parts!!

- c

[writer-shipper-ffreader]

Maybe not so useless after all?

(Kate Lethbridge-Stewart x f!Reader)

Chapter 4

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

A/N: This chapter is a bit slower than the rest, but I couldn't get it out of head after seeing the gif below.

Warnings/Tags: Slow burn, soulmate AU, yearning, I just want to bang their heads together

Words: 2,463

Summary: After a mysterious mishap with a device found in a field, can you find out what the device is and what it means for you and Kate?

Kate was used to getting little sleep, especially recently, but after being awake for 45 hours the previous day, her 3 hours of sleep had not been nearly enough. By 11 am she was already on her fifth or sixth coffee, where she would only normally have had two.

You had noticed her consuming a larger amount of the stimulant than usual and spent a little more time observing her throughout the day. You only lasted two more coffees, before your concern got the better of you and you confronted her when she snuck away to her office.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“Hmm?” Kate looked up at you as you closed the door. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just lots of paperwork.”

“Kate, you’re on at least your seventh coffee and we’re still a few hours off leaving for the day,” you point out. “What’s going on? Are you not sleeping?”

“I am sleeping fine. It is probably just the leftover stress from that spacecraft and then all this boring paperwork,” she said, gesturing at the papers surrounding her.

“Now I know something is wrong, you rarely call paperwork boring and admit you’re stressed,” you muttered, shaking your head. “What time did you go to sleep last night?”

“Probably just after 2 am. I promise I’m fine, just really busy. I’ll tell you if I’m not, okay?” Kate lied through her teeth.

You nodded, turning to leave. You were aware she was lying to you but knew what Kate was like. She always tried to protect and reassure everyone, even if it was at a detriment to her own wellbeing. Knowing when to pick your battles, you closed the door behind you, vowing to keep a closer eye on her and try to persuade her to get more sleep.

Just about to swipe the pass to enter your lab, Kate’s words struck you. She went to sleep roughly around the same time as what was printed on your wrist. Did she regularly go to sleep that late? You sat at your desk and pulled out your phone; you had started to keep a log of all the time stamps in hopes you could find something. That’s when you remembered that the time tattoo had stayed the same the previous night. In your medicated haze, you’d assumed that the person had coincidentally fallen asleep at exactly the same time, but it was a lot more likely they never slept at all.

That conclusion screamed Kate in your head. Although she said she’d sleep, you knew her well enough that you wouldn’t be surprised if she’d pulled an all-nighter. It wouldn’t take a lot of detective work to figure out whether she had; Osgood or Carter would probably know.

You were trying to temper the hope of your soulmate being Kate, by counteracting your thoughts with logic. Yes, the times could match up with Kate’s sleeping habits, but that doesn’t mean it is her – it could be a coincidence. Even if it was her, she’d never be interested in you anyway, right? You were her subordinate, there must be a UNIT regulation against that. She flirted with you sure, but you’d seen her flirt with lots of people, including the Doctor. Hadn’t you heard the Doctor had an affair with her dad? Or does it not count because it was a different regeneration?

Osgood entered your lab, disrupting your spiralling thoughts. She was holding the metal from the ship in a container. The piece they had kept after it had been dislodged from your insides and wasn’t that a weird thought.

“You’re looking better today. Ready to get started analysing this metal?” Osgood smiled at you, placing the container on the work bench.

“I feel a lot better – very little pain. Highly recommend whatever future medical device they used on me.” You grinned, getting up from behind your desk and moving towards the older scientist. “How do you want to start? Kate mentioned you’d already tested the magnetism, and the X-Ray Fluorescence analysis was inconclusive.”

“Yes, it’s a non-ferrous metal that isn’t known to us, but I don’t think you’d be surprised by that,” Osgood said, pushing her glasses up.

“Not overly. This X-Ray Diffraction analysis looks interesting,” you commented, reading about the metal’s structure on your tablet. “Were any remains found to try and identify the species?”

“We couldn’t easily find any, but a team are still on site,” Osgood replied, taking the metal out of the container.

You worked with Osgood to test the metal’s physical properties. By knowing the physical properties, you could make a better guess of what Earth metal it would be most similar to. By the time you had conducted all of the relevant tests, you’d both concluded that the metal was likely to be an alloy. It had reacted more similarly to steel, but a lighter version, rather than any elemental metal.

It was nearing 6 pm when you and Osgood had finished with investigating the metal. You offered to write up the findings, hoping to stay a bit later in the office to keep an eye on Kate. Osgood reluctantly took you up on your offer, not wanting you to stay but hoping to make it to her chess club for once. Working at UNIT didn’t exactly give much time for hobbies; it especially didn’t give the consistency to attend clubs or classes, not at your ranks anyway.

“Just don’t do a Kate and stay too long. You’re still recovering,” Osgood said, brows furrowing in concern that you were pushing yourself too hard.

“I won’t. Has she been working really late again?” you asked, seeing the opportunity to find out more.

“Yep. She was already working late – Carter said she’s been leaving after 1 am every day this last week, but I’m not sure she went home after the craft incident. I tried talking to her, but– “

“You got brick wall Kate? Same here.” You sighed, your worry increasing for your boss. She had a tendency to fall back into bad habits when she was stressed or something was bothering her, the most obvious bad habit being working too much. “I’ll keep an eye on her and hopefully think of a way to get through to her.”

“Good luck! We can brainstorm tomorrow,” Osgood said, gathering her belongings to leave.

You waved Osgood off, wishing her a good night. Returning to your desk, you began writing up the report from your experiment notes. It probably would have been easier to record the notes on your tablet, so you could just copy and paste, but you always liked writing your lab notes with an actual pen and paper.

Writing up the reports wasn’t one of your favourite things to be doing. You could see the benefits of having the reports; enabling everyone the ability to know everything about something if they need to. However, that was the problem, there were two reports – one for the science team and one for everyone else that needed to be technically accessible. The repetition was frustrating, but not as much as having to filter yourself to ensure you weren’t including overly technical terms or notes that would only be useful to a scientist.

It was one of those things that Osgood also struggled with accepting. The report needed to be concise, therefore rather than explaining what the technical terms meant, they were just replaced with vague layman’s terms. The older scientist had raised it a number of times, insisting it was unnecessary and wasted time we could be spending on analysing other items. It put Kate in a tricky position, Dr Stewart vehemently agreeing with you, but Commander Stewart needing to side with Geneva.

At around 10 pm, you’d finally finished the reports. It wouldn’t have usually taken you so long, but you had gotten distracted several times, either thinking about Kate, the time tattoos or other artefacts. You decided to take a break and get a drink; it was also a convenient excuse to check if Kate was still here as you’d have to pass her office.

As expected, a light was shining out from her slightly ajar door as you walked past. You could hear her pen scratching away, likely signing off the mound of paperwork she had grumbled about earlier. Not wanting to interrupt her for no reason, you continued on your way to the break room, deciding to bring her tea on your way back as an excuse to talk to her.

It was pleasantly quiet as you waited for the kettle to finish boiling. You hated to admit it, but you could see the appeal of wanting to work in these quiet hours rather than the hustle and bustle headquarters usually was during the day.

When the kettle clicked, you prepared the green tea you knew Kate preferred later in the day. You would normally only add boiling water, but this time you added a dash of cold water to her tea, so it was comfortable to drink straight away. During the day she often got interrupted, her tea cooling quicker than she was able to drink it, but you didn’t anticipate that to happen this time.

You carried the teas back down the hall in one hand and tapped lightly on her door with the other, not wanting to startle her. You heard her stop writing as she called you in. Pushing the door open wider, you strolled over to her desk and placed the teas down, pushing one towards her.

There was a small flicker of confusion in her eyes, before she smiled up at you. She placed her pen down and motioned you to sit across from her. Taking off her glasses, she ran a hand through her hair and let her shoulders slump slightly in relief of the interruption.

“What are you still doing here? It’s late,” Kate asked, taking hold of her mug.

“I could ask you the same thing,” you replied, then took a sip of your tea.

“It’s my responsibility to work late as Commander, but you should have gone home hours ago,” Kate admonished.

“I’m sure they’re not paying you to work overtime when there isn’t an emergency,” you pointed out. Kate raised an eyebrow at you, giving you the same look she gives a soldier when she wants them to back down. You pivoted the conversation, knowing she would no longer be receptive. “I was just finishing the report on the spacecraft metal. Os and I conducted all the mandatory tests this afternoon.”

“Anything I need to know now?” You shook your head knowing there was nothing conclusive and Kate would read over the report later anyway. “Good. I’m ordering you home as soon as you finish your tea.”

You rolled your eyes at the blonde, but a smile twitched at your lips. “I’d expect nothing less. Are you staying much longer?”

Kate bit her lip as she looked at the stack of paperwork to her right. She knew you were right about her needing to go home. It wasn’t even about the paperwork –she could take it home with her if need be– she just dreaded returning to the cold empty house. She’d grown used to the sounds of the office; the creaks of the building, the routine walk-by of security and the London traffic down below. The house she lived in was too silent. She still didn’t really call it hers; she had no emotional ties to it. The house she felt was home had been blown up years ago.

You could see the indecision on her face, her gaze becoming distant even though she was looking at the paperwork. There was something not quite right with the look she had – you were missing something but weren’t sure what.

Breaking the silence, you gave in but warned her not to stay too long. She looked grateful you didn’t push any further, but you needed to make sure she knew you were worried. A cereal bar wrapper caught your eye as you were thinking how to gently push her. Holding in a sigh, you told her that you were ordering takeaway tomorrow, to ensure she ate something substantial if she stayed late.  

“Deal, but only because I know arguing is futile.” Kate chuckled at your tenacity. “Anyway, how are you feeling?” She asked, partially trying to draw the attention away from her, but still wanting to know you were okay.

“I’m fine. The occasional paracetamol has been needed. Would never have guessed I’d been almost blown up and impaled two days ago though,” you replied jokingly.

“You were really lucky it was only a small straight piece of metal. I hope you know I’m proud of you. You did a great job spotting the spark and you saved a lot of the team,” Kate said, smiling at you.

You muttered a thank you before dropping your head, staring into your tea and trying to hide the blush on your cheeks. It wasn’t rare for Kate to praise you, but it was rarely in such an intimate setting; in her office, just the two of you with the only light being the soft warm glow coming from the lamp on her desk.

The pair of you lapsed into a comfortable silence. You could feel Kate still watching you, but couldn’t bring yourself to meet her gaze, lest she see something you didn’t want her to. Sipping your tea, you were becoming more convinced Kate had to be your soulmate. You’d never felt like this about anyone else.

Unknown to you, Kate was having rather similar thoughts. She had noticed the reddening of your cheeks and had to stop herself from blurting out how beautiful she thinks you are. Letting her eyes linger over you, she thought how easy it felt to be around you. She had a sudden urge to ignore UNIT regulations and ask you out, but you were still hung up on the soulmate tattoo. A slight panic set in at the realisation that she would ignore the regulations to get closer to you.

You missed the panicked look cross her face as you sipped the last of your tea. Her voice surprised you a few minutes later, encouraging you to head home. You didn’t miss the waver in her voice, but thought it was just from concern. You nodded, standing to head out, but stopped at the door reminding her once more to leave soon too .

As you headed back to collect your things, you couldn’t help but analyse everything that had happened this evening - including that last look she gave you. It was almost as though she didn’t want you to leave, but you figured you were reading too much into it.

Tags: @freshmoneyalmondathlete @suckerforcate

[dadsbongos]

Hi!!! Hope you’re doing well - I just want to take a moment to gush before I ask something, because I’ve really enjoyed your blog since finding it:

1: your writing is SO good I’ve reread your dunmesh fics several times now & just eat them up every reread. I’m stoked you also have funger content & can’t wait to eat those up

2: your blog’s aesthetic is just 🤌🤌 chefs kiss

3: your chilchuck’s wife fic - I’m convinced you are the chilchuck expert you characterized him so well (& the bit in the 3some fic when he choked the reader ? gulp)

OKAY on the with the actual question: I was wondering if you have any chil thoughts for the chilfuckers? Maybe some sfw / nsfw?

thank youuu :] i'm so glad to provide for the dungeon community with both meshi and funger <3 and also extra glad to make the chilchuck people proud, he's my fav lil man

i have so many chilthoughts bc i am a verified chilfucker i need that middle aged man

nsfw chilthoughts 

MEAN mean man

Likes to make his partners huff and whine, especially if they start haughty or mouthy

Facefucking, especially, for the mouthy ones. Wants to shut you up and make you drool

Lately the thought of Chilchuck fist-fucking a bigger race has been making me sweat… like yeah lil man, get up in that thang… I need to write it. Maybe some dwarven wench who keeps mocking Chil, or an ogre that feels its appropriate to pick n lift him up while working

Schrodinger’s breeder kink - sometimes its all he’s thinking about and sometimes the thought is entirely uninteresting

Touched on it a BIT in my body swap fic but i think Chil has a really sensitive neck and likes being held there (maybe not choked, but grabbed and stroked for sure)

Has a secret goon for younger partners but doesn’t like admitting to it, the taboo of it makes him all hot especially since he knows most other races can’t tell. Like a VERY poorly kept secret that could ruin his distinguished reputation

i also have chilchuck fic ideas that i haven’t fleshed out, but thought it’d be a shame if they sat in my ‘puter unseen:

Idea 1: Reader is a young elf, only about 72, and against all odds began dating Chilchuck. On his 30th birthday, it's brought to attention that you’ll be in your 90s when he dies. Leading to a spiral wherein you’re just trying to live in blissful ignorance to your races’ lifespan difference, and Chilchuck assumes you’re mature enough to handle his death, move on, and remember him fondly… lol… anyway. When Chilchuck dies you study how to maintain your own mana without a dungeon and practice minor healing spells until you can do a full revival, which fails on Chil, so you have to turn to dark magic. Basically rewinding his life until he’s the same age as when you two met and he’s upset you brought him back because YOU could get in major trouble and that’s when you confess you didn’t tell anyone when he died bc you knew you’d bring him back -- and you’re a nutcase that keeps doing this every time he dies despite knowing he wants to die peacefully. Omg loving someone so much you need them at all costs even ruining their perception of you… 

Idea 2: Chilchuck helping a 20-ish(+?) y/o half-foot negotiate a contract for themself and he thinks they’re soooooo cute so they get together, and he’s kinda nervous to bring them around cuz you’re crazy young compared to him. Not even a child to speak of GASP. The party doesn’t notice at ALL cuz they have no idea about anything about half-foot aging and customs -- but his daughters look at him sideways lmao

and this is literally not even a full fic idea but i have a note from my chilchuck master doc for you lol

im so normal about him