#which i think is a lot to ask of a puppy who is taller than the table and level with the food on the counter

[candlewitches]

time for my monthly “my dog is the best dog” post

He’ll be one on Monday!

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

Yandere!Monster X Barbarian!Reader

❤️ Barbarian Reader who seems to have put all their stat points into Strength/Dex, and completely forgot Intelligence

💀 thembo.exe

❤️ A huge sweetheart, and I mean huge

💀 Was always the tallest in their village, towering over both women and men alike

❤️ Due to their height (Reader) had a lot more placed on their shoulders from a very early age

💀 Some internal reflection could have led to a deeper understanding of their secret yearning to rely on another person, but that sounds like a lot of work... And thinking...

❤️ Happy to be sent as part of their tribe's representation when meeting with a tribe of monsters despite knowing nothing about politics

💀 While the presence of the monster people caused visible discomfort in their fellow warriors, (Reader) was too busy being star struck to think about how easily this new species could kill them

Xyleth emerges from his tent, unimpressed with the shivering smooth skins before him. His form was only vaguely human in the front, with a gun metal blue chest and face, sparkling in the sun like his skin was dusted in finely crushed gems. However, his backside and limbs were armored in an inky black shell, spiked for protection along his joints and down his long tail, with bone colored claws adorning his claw like appendages. His eyes seemed black in the shade, but held a universe of stars in the light. Xyleth was born to be a leader, only the strongest of his species developed this coloring, separating him from the rest of his tribe whose shells were a sandy brown to hide in the desert of their home.

❤️ (Reader) didn't notice the congregation were speaking, still taking in the sights about them, before they finally looked forward, witnessing the tallest of the monsters

💀 (gasps) "Damn, you're huge!"

❤️ The barbarians gasp in horror, and flinch away from (Reader)

💀 Was this some sort of joke?

❤️ A tight smile formed on Xyleth's chiseled face. "Yes?"

💀 "Yeah, I thought I was big, but damn, you could crush me without breaking a sweat, huh big guy?"

❤️ What's this? Was this human attempting to flatter him? A war lord of a different species?

💀 No, (Reader) was genuinely impressed.

❤️ "And the point of you bringing this up, small one?" He asked, his on edge grin softening into an amused smile. Although he would have no interest in something not his own species, it was adorable how this human flirted with him so confidently (that's not what's happening)

💀 "Ah, no point. I'd love to wrestle you though!" (Reader) knocked their fists together, pumped at the idea of testing their strength against the beast

❤️ Xyleth and his guards were taken aback, Xyleth's tail smacking the ground with surprise. No one had ever been so brave, so brazen. Unknown to the barbarians, the armored monsters had a very unique mating ritual, similar to scorpions dancing while pressing up against each other to test the male's strength

💀 Despite (Reader) being taller than their fellow barbarians, they were still several feet shorter than Xyleth's shortest villager

❤️ But your personality... None of the women or men had ever approached Xyleth like (Reader) had (again, not what's going on..)

💀 Perhaps Xyleth would actually listen to the barbarians, instead of slaughtering them for having the audacity to request a conference with him like he originally planned

❤️ The barbarians were invited to stay with the rival tribe for a week as they discussed various topics (Reader) had no interest in

💀 (Reader) quickly became loved by the local children, the children adoring (Reader) as a human loves their pet puppy, allowing (Reader) to rough house with them and feeding them snacks like a stray

❤️ (Reader) did not find this insulting, and was enjoying the affection and attention they were receiving

Xyleth was bored in his meetings with the soft skins, upset that (Reader) wasn't involved. He had learned that (Reader) was brought in as the muscle, which irked him. Did they not research how giant his species were before arriving? What did they think someone as small and sweet and adora- Xyleth thumped his tail loudly, frightening the barbarians. Why couldn't he get (Reader) out of his head? "Let's continue this after lunch."

💀 Xyleth roamed his streets in search for (Reader). Although they weren't there as part of the 'debate team' it was a little upsetting that (Reader) wasn't at least waiting for Xyleth near the meeting tent seeing how enamored they were with him

❤️ (Reader) was found in a circle of chuckling adults, struggling with all their might to lift two children at the same time

💀 The sight immediately filled Xyleth's heart with warmth, seeing the children as their own for a split second, and picturing an entire future with the barbarian

❤️ He knew (Reader) would have no objections to becoming his mate, however their people might argue

💀 It didn't matter if he had to kill the other barbarians staying in his town, he had initially planned on slaughtering them anyhow, but it would be better if they enthusiastically supported their love

❤️ And they did support his proposal, especially since it was either trade (Reader) for their protection (from Xyleth's own tribe) on their hunting paths, or die right there and have their entire tribe extinguished

💀 What a supportive family (Reader) has~!

(Reader) didn't notice when the rest of their people left the village, still having the time of their life with creatures that more matched their strength and height. One of the kids gasped and wiggled his way out of (Reader's) arms, running away as his parents also turned back towards their homes. A large shadow approached the confused human, who got up, patting the dirt off their legs.

"Play fighting with young boys? Are you trying to make me jealous, little one?" Xyleth joked with a smile.

(Reader) felt their heart soar being called "Little One", relishing in the friendliness they experienced from the citizens the barbarians called monsters.

"Bwahahaha!!! Jealous? If I was as imposing as you, the only one who could make me jealous would be a god!"

Xyleth couldn't control his tail, whacking the ground in embarrassment over his love's honesty flirtatiousness.

"If it wouldn't be too inconveniencing, I would be honored to take you up on that wrestling proposition now.." He could hardly speak with how excited he was, fearful the adorable little human could hear his two hearts rapid beating.

"Really? Right now? I'm a little worn out, but I'll never turn down a challenge! Just don't be too disappointed!"

Xyleth picked (Reader) up in his arms, fighting every urge to take them right then and there in the center of his village.

"I could never be disappointed in you~" his deep voice vibrated against (Reader's) body, as he carried them to his tent, the poor human completely unaware of what he was about to do to them.

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

Hi, I'm new here and I've been reading some of your fics lately and I think are really good.

I had an idea in my head, something about the reader and Regina, now that we are in October, you know, Halloween

I imagine a reader somewhat bigger and taller than Regina, muscular maybe?, dressing up with her girlfriend as Ares and Aphrodite, for a party, it's a bit silly, but I think Regina would fit the role of Aphrodite well.

(English is not my first language, sorry if there is any mistake)

Ares and Aphrodite

|| Regina George x fem!reader

|| Warnings; swearing, hook up hints, make out session mentions, jealous Regina, Ms George being... well, Ms George

|| Summary; reader insists that Regina and her go as Aphrodite and Ares; somehow she convinces her and takes her costume shopping. Among other activities.

Requests open!

Started; october 12th

Finished; october 13th

~~~

"Regina!!" You ran over to your girlfriend, who had been sitting with her friends in the cafeteria. A massive grin on your face that she knew could only spell trouble.

"What is it, baby?" She asked, almost reluctantly as she shifted her gaze from Gretchen to you. Letting you settle yourself in her lap as her hand came to your hip.

"I figured out what we could do for Halloween this year!" You were absolutely excited, practically bouncing in her lap which she didn't mind. Though she did mind the thought of doing some embarrassing Halloween couples costume.

"Better be good." She warned you, you were too giddy to care if she was annoyed with you.

"Ares and Aphrodite!" You exclaimed, Gretchen gasped and nodded.

"Oh my God that's like tots perfect for you two!" She agreed, you looked at her and smiled.

"I know!"

"Oh absolutely not," Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes, knowing you would pick a cheesy option. She should have just decided on one instead of caving in and letting you pick; but you looked so excited and for once she couldn't say no. Until she heard your idea.

"Please?" You gave her your classic puppy dog eyes and pout," you could be Aphrodite~"

That seemed to get her attention and she sighed," fine." She was cursing her soft spot for you. Because only you could get her to agree to something so stupid.

That night, you and her went costume shopping. Going to your local Spirit Halloween and looking to see if they had what you wanted. Sure enough, they did. You grinned at Regina as you held up the two costume bags for the Greek Gods.

"Regina~" You smirked and she rolled her eyes, already done with you and this couples costume.

"I hate this." She grumbled and you pouted, wrapping an arm around her.

"Hey, come on! It'll be great and it's the last idea I have because you said no to literally everything else I suggested." That made her roll her eyes and give you a soft glare. You held out the Aphrodite bag to her," go try it on."

Reluctantly, Regina took the bag and you went to go try on the Ares costume while she the Aphrodite one. Honestly you were fine being Ares, he gets a lot of bad rep in media but in mythology he's a pretty good guy (and Dad) for the most part. Plus, you were muscular. So you had that front covered.

The two of you finished getting your costumes on around the same time, though Regina was done just a little before you. She looked you up and down, thinking that you did look pretty good in the Ares fit. The way it showed the muscles in your upper arms... she didn't bother looking away as she let out a low whistle.

You rolled your eyes and blushed at the way she was behaving; though you couldn't say anything because you couldn't take your own eyes off her.

"See, I knew you'd look hot." You smirked at her and she flips you off, but comes over and kisses you. Her hands cupping at your jawline as she pulls you even closer. Getting a small moan out of you as you kissed her back.

"Fuck, Gina. We're in public." You murmured against her lips, looking at her with lidded bedrooms eyes. She mirrored your gaze.

"So? Don't be a loser, come here." Her nails practically dug into your wrist as she gripped your arm and dragged you. Taking you into the closest changing room.

You could say she... helped you get out of your costume. Isn't that nice of her?

The next couple weeks seemed to go by just like that; you were beyond excited for Halloween. This was your absolute favourite time of year and your family always went all out with crazy decorations. This year though, you were going to a house party with Regina. Which you didn't mind at all, you'd gone to a few with her and the plastics anyways.

You were about to leave Regina's house when her mom called the two of you over; gasping as she saw your costumes.

"You two look adorable!! Let me get some pictures," Regina's mom smiled, taking out her phone. Though her ask for pictures seemed more like a demand...

Regina seemed reluctant and pulled you closer, knowing that you were the only thing that could make this bearable." Just make it quick, mom. You're gonna make us late."

It wasn't quick. You were late. She wanted like a million pictures of the two of you, even taking one where you're holding the blonde in your arms. And ones where you and Regina were kissing, then one holding hands... this dragged on. After what- forty photos? Something stupid like that. She ALSO started taking some pictures of you and her.

"Y/N, can you pick me up? I think it would look great," She grinned at you. You cringed a little and glanced at Regina, who seemed furious at that point. Her temper was already wearing thin with the extensive photoshoot but now her mom wanted you to pick her up?

"Oh hell no." Regina said flatly, grabbing your wrist and yanking you flush against her. She knew the kind of innocent games her mom liked to play with anyone she considered hot." Y/N, we're leaving." Her decision was final, not even listening to her mom's protests as she dragged you to her jeep. Where she had a fierce make out session with you before going to the party. The make outs definitely didn't stop at the jeep though. You knew this tended to happen when Regina got jealous and you definitely weren't about to complain. The two of you had a pretty amazing night.

[zweiginator]

hear me out. you and patrick are best friends, but you both secretly want more. you decide to go out on a date with someone to try to get over him, but it gets the best of patrick and he bribes the dude not to show up or something and confessions and smut ENSUE hehehehe

like he grew up so rich that he’s a little detached from money and wealth and all that.. so when he knows you’re going out with the captain of the stanford lacrosse team (which he thinks is an incredibly stupid sport)—he meets up with the guy. feigns interest in his game and tells him its in his best interest not to show up to the date he has planned with you tonight.

he looks flabbergasted at how much cash patrick hands him. $2k like it’s a twenty dollar bill.

“why should i take this from you?” of course he’s planning to. he honestly just wants to get his dick wet, and $2k is a lot of beer and weed.

“you don’t have to.” patrick gets in his face, close enough to make the boy visibly uncomfortable. patrick is taller than him by a few inches. he grabs his collar. “i’m just saying it’s in your best, interest that’s all.”

he grabs the cash and quickly walks away, muttering about how much of a freak patrick is.

patrick laughs.

you call patrick an hour after the date was supposed to start. you had waited at the sushi restaurant for the full sixty minutes. texted him a couple times. he never responded; in fact he blocked you.

“pat,” you’re sniffling. not because you really like this guy, but because he left you abandoned like a dumb little puppy. played with your time and your feelings.

this is the part patrick feels shitty about.

“what’s wrong hon?”

“he stood me up—i don’t get why this keeps happening. am i that awful to be around? i did my makeup and everything-“

“shh. you’re not awful to be around these guys are fucking pricks. i’ll beat up every last one of them.”

in reality, he had told your past few love interests he would beat them to a pulp if they showed up on the date. confused, they each took their cash and agreed.

but you are obviously really upset by this. maybe one is forgivable, but four is excessive. four had tainted your self-confidence.

patrick comes to your house with flowers.

“you didn’t have to—oh pat.” you sniffle and hug him, standing on your tippy toes. you’re in the prettiest little sundress. god, patrick wouldn’t take any amount of money to leave you behind.

“sit down. i need to confess something to you. don’t be mad please.”

“did you get caught driving high again?”

patrick laughs. “no, no. i’m better than that now. i—how do i say this.”

“you’re making me nervous.” you cut the ends off the flowers, putting them in a vase. you notice it’s a dozen red roses, interesting choice.

“i—i’ve been telling your past few dates to, like, not show up.”

“what the fuck do you mean?” you slam the scissors down. “how?”

“i have been bribing them. and—threatening them. like, an insinuation there is a threat.”

“patrick what the fuck why?”

you’re livid. he had pretended for months to be confused, had come to your house late at night to comfort you—all because of something he orchestrated?

but you see that look he’s giving you. his green eyes huge with worry and sorrow. he rarely has that look.

patrick swallows. “i don’t want you to go on dates with them. i want you to be with someone who really appreciates you.”

“how am i supposed to know if they appreciate me or not when my dates are all fucking sabotaged?”

“well maybe i wanted to come over and comfort you and watch movies and eat ice cream. maybe those have been our dates for the last few months.”

you know patrick is bad at sharing his feelings but jesus christ.

you lift his chin up; his back is against the counter as you stand in front of him.

“maybe.” you whisper, lips close to his. “you can just ask me out in the normal way.”

patrick slips one of your straps down your shoulders, heart beating. he never thought this far ahead. “we’ve been on a few dates already. i feel like it only makes sense that we fuck.”

patrick fucks you against the counter, your legs spread as he stands between them, pushing his cock into your weeping cunt. god, you wish he would’ve just confessed this earlier. he rubs his cock against you and revels in how you moan for him, clenching around nothing. as he pounds into you, his hands roaming up your body to squeeze and play with your tits, he kisses your neck, whispers in your ear.

“doesn’t fucking matter if those guys showed up i would’ve beat their asses—“ he thrusts deeper. “would’ve slashed their fucking tires—“ he pulls out, listens to you whine for him. and then he fucks back into you. “would’ve sabotaged it anyway. paid them each $2k not to fucking touch you. would’ve drained my bank account for this fucking pussy.”

[wileys-russo]

looks can be deceiving II a.russo x reader

you all asked, here's the answer. secretly soft biker gf (au) lessi looks can be decieving II a.russo x reader

"so where's your guard dog today then?" you playfully shoved your best friend with a roll of your eyes at the question as the two of you walked across campus toward the parking lot.

"at work i think, she was gone by the time i woke up." you shrugged, not having spoken very much to your girlfriend given she was far from the worlds best texter and you'd been in exams all day.

"and you're fine with just assuming that? you don't feel the need to like check in?" your best friend asked in disbelief. "well yeah? she told me she was working today, i believe her. it's called trust, maybe you've heard of it!" you teased, smacking her arm.

"i guess she doesn't really have any friends she could be hanging round with anyway." you pinched her for the comment as the girl whined and pushed you away. "don't be rude!" you warned seriously, not accepting anyone speaking badly of your girlfriend, even your best friend.

"i still can't believe you're with her." the girl beside you shook her head as you sent her a look. "and what's that supposed to mean?" you challenged, stopping in front of her with your arms crossed. "she's so...rough?" your best friend analysed with a grimace, unable to really find the words to describe the girl you were so head over heels for.

"you're judging her without knowing her, again." you sighed, the two of you resuming your walking, having just finished your final exam for the day. "because you won't let me meet her properly! you've been seeing her for like four months and i think i've heard her say about ten words?" your best friend chastised.

"she's just independent. and every time i invite you to hang out with us you get all weird about it and make her uncomfortable!" you warned, having admittedly been trying to get the two women to spend some time together with you but so far you'd had no success at all.

"i make her uncomfortable?? she makes me uncomfortable she looks at me like she wants to stab me!" your best friend huffed. "no she doesn't, she's really sweet. plus she treats me well and makes me very happy, isn't that enough for you as my best and most loyal friend?" you gave the girl beside you puppy dog eyes who groaned and pushed your head away.

"didn't she eat the head off a bat once for a dare?" the brunette beside you asked with a grimace, you scoffed at the question. though before you could answer a new voice rang out behind you.

"yeah, was a bit crunchy though. you want me to get you one to try?" you spun around at the familiar accent, your whole face lighting up at the sight of your girlfriend. "lessi!" you beamed, jumping on her as the taller girl easily caught you in her arms.

"alessia." your best friend deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest as the soft smile which made its way to your girlfriends lips at the sight of you quickly melted away and she placed you back down on your feet.

"layla." the girl replied in the same curt tone, wrapping her arms around you possessively from behind. "well this has been rivoting. get home safe with your personal grease monkey babe, call me later." your best friend smiled at you as alessia sent her a glare over the top of your head.

"i thought you had work baby?" you turned around in her hold, wrapping your arms around her neck and leaning up on your tippy toes to peck her lips. "mm i left early, perks of being the bosses daughter." alessia grinned, pecking your lips back a few times before attacking your face with kisses making you laugh.

"why? i thought you were doing that vintage chief you can't seem to stop talking about." you asked curiously, your girlfriend beaming with pride that you remembered.

"gio was getting on my last fucking nerve with it today. i had to start over twice because he kept sticking his fingers in thinking he knows better than i do, and then something falls off or apart and i'm back to square one." your girlfriend puffed air out of her nose with an annoyed grunt.

"m'sorry baby. but your dad knows you're the best though, why do you think he trusts you with all of the older engines that are more fragile? nobody can love them, care for them and bring them back to life like you can lessi baby." you reminded her softly, smiling as she pressed her face into your shoulder, likely to hide the blush you knew would be creeping down her neck at the praise.

"i hope you didn't bring your bike though. i am not getting on that death trap i already told you." you warned making the older girl roll her eyes and mock you under her breath.

"you're getting on it one day even if i have to tie you to the damn seat. but no, i have the car." alessia sighed dramatically, pulling away to take your hand as the two of you continued across the parking lot.

"god you look good in your uniform." you commented with a grin, eyes shamelessly roaming the grease stained coveralls clinging to her body, the girl working most days in her dads auto body garage working on what was her second love next to you, her beloved vintage motorcyles.

"little perv." alessia rolled her eyes and shoved your head playfully but your grin widened seeing the slight blush which coated her cheeks, as they did anytime you gave her even the slightest hint of a compliment. "after you." she was quick to open the passenger door for you, stealing a kiss as you slid in.

"such a gentlewoman." "only the very best for you baby girl."

~

"those are for you." your girlfriend nodded to a bunch of flowers sitting on her desk as she let the two of you into her apartment, closing the door and sitting down to take off her boots. "oh lessi." you melted, lips curling into an adoring smile.

"they're beautiful." you sent her a grateful look over your shoulder, moving to find something to put them in given you planned to spend the weekend here, and probably most of next week.

you had your own place, a sharehouse with two roommates, but if you were honest you stayed nights here much more than there, and that was just as alessia wanted it anyway.

her apartment was quintessentially just so her. the dark toned wood furniture, the worn in brown leather sofa draped in throw cushions and blankets that you knew she only bought once the two of you started dating to make it seem a little more 'homey'.

the olive green accents in her minimal decor choices which popped against the numerous amounts of house plants scattered around, the girl shockingly had a fantastic green thumb. then there was the countless amounts of books lining her walls, almost all classics like emily dickinson, bronte and sylvia plath.

then of course there was her baby.

the restored 1941 harley davidson which sat right in the middle of the apartment in place of a dining table, an odd sight to most but it was just so incredibly alessia for her to have it there you'd never minded.

her apartment was her safe space and her haven, littered with trinkets and engine parts and tools, but then there was the typewriter on her desk which sat right by the enormous floor to wall window which let in the most glorious sunlight in the early mornings and late evenings, the vintage cameras and the polaroids of you stuck to her fridge.

it was hers, and you felt privileged that she let you in to become a part of it.

"you're beautiful." suddenly you were turned around as you rummaged through her cupboards trying to find something to use as a makeshift vase, your body pinned to the counter as the taller girl loomed over you with a soft smile.

your hands reached up to tug her hair out which was half up in a bun, a dirty mix of black, brunette and blonde waves falling to frame her face as you tangled your fingers in the soft locks.

"you've done so well with your exams gorgeous. i'm really really proud of you, my smart intelligent wonderful girl." alessia praised with a soft smile, tenderly pulling you into a kiss as her mouth slotted perfectly with yours, her hands gently caressing your sides.

your head swam at the feeling of her kissing you. sometimes she could be rough and posessive and needy with the way she attacked your lips, but most times, like right now, she was soft and slow and tender, taking her time with you to show you how much each kiss really meant to her.

this was the alessia you fell head over heels for. the soft spoken, severely misunderstood sweetheart who wrote you poems and bought you flowers just because, who laid with her legs tangled with yours in the sunshine pouring in from her windows and read to you for hours with a voice like honey.

the girl who touched you so carefully and so lovingly as if you were made of glass and might break if she wasn't gentle enough. who taught you how to make homemade pasta and loved nothing more than to lay down with her head in your lap while you played with her hair, allowing her to let down the walls that she had built up and fortified around anyone else that wasn't you.

not the big tough tattooed biker girl with a smart mouth and a bad attitude who dropped out of school to fix engines, ride her harley and flit from party to party, never caught without a cigarette behind her ear, cocky smirk and a leather jacket on her shoulders.

granted though she was the biggest teddy bear most of the time, she did have her moments where she might live up a little more to her reputation.

if she'd had a bad day at work, maybe argued with one of her brothers over a part that was supposed to be ordered which never came which pushed back the whole job and she'd gotten the blame, then she had no issues treating you a little rougher, using you as a stress reliever in the most sinful ways for hours on end.

but then right after the walls would come crashing down again and she was back to kissing you like you could crumble at a moments notice, crawling into your arms seeking comfort and constant praise about how good she did, how much you loved her, how much you needed her and appreciated her.

"i'm gonna go take a shower." the girl hummed against your lips, pulling away and softly kissing your forehead, pushing her body off of yours. "yeah good, you smell." you teased, kicking her bum as she turned around, pulling yourself up onto the counter.

"you're lucky you're cute." alessia warned, smile tugging at her lips. "get your study in for awhile baby, i'm gonna wash my hair. and when i get back i get your full attention." the taller girl frowned with a slight pout which made you melt.

"someone's needy." you pouted back mockingly as she returned between your legs. "yeah and so what? i've missed you, been on my mind all day pretty girl." alessia confessed pressing her forehead against yours, pout deepening. "you're adorable." you grinned and booped her nose which scrunched up at the simple touch.

"tell anyone and i'll have to kill you." alessia warned, forming a gun with her fingers and pressing it to the side of your head, making a shooting noise with her mouth as she pulled the trigger, her forehead still pressed to yours.

the playful side she let out around you made you swoon, she wasn't like this even around her family and it brought you a sense of pride that you created a space where she was comfortable to be whoever she wanted.

"go study, book worm." with that she pulled away, blowing out and holstering her finger gun with a wink and retreating away.

"i'll say it again, god you look good in those dirty coveralls." you wolf whistled after her, throwing your head back with a laugh as she shook her bum at you with another wink before kicking her bathroom door closed with her foot.

~

"baaaby!" you heard your girlfriend yell out from her bedroom, glancing up from your textbook at the sudden noise. "yeah love?" you called back, scribbling down your notes as your glasses slid down your nose a little.

"can you come dry my hair for me, please?" you heard the hopeful tone in her voice and chuckled, flipping closed your textbook and standing up from her desk, padding over to her bedroom.

"thank you, i like it better when you do it." alessia admitted, stood in front of you with damp hair hanging down her back, her taller form clad only in a huge harley davidson shirt which hung down to her knees, heavily tattooed limbs on full display.

you perched yourself on the end of her bed as alessia settled down on the floor between your legs, arms resting on your knees as she handed you a brush, her hair dryer already plugged in and waiting beside her.

"have you got anymore booked in?" you asked, gently tracing the small butterfly behind her ear, the most recent in her ever growing collection of body art. "mm not yet, might finish off my moth first." she tapped to the half completed insect on her left knee.

"i wish you'd never bought that stupid gun." you mumbled disapprovingly as you brushed out the knots and tangles in her damp hair. "hey i'm getting really good now! you even said so the other day." her head craned back to look up at you, puckering her lips expectantly as you bent down to kiss her.

"that was before i looked up how common blood infections are with home done tattoos." you tutted as she faced forward again and you resumed your brushing. "i told you to stop googling anything that pops up in your mind babe, you're already a hypochondriac." the older girl chuckled, whining softly as you yanked on her hair for the comment.

"so no chance you'll let me give you one? so much clean skin to work with." alessia sighed longingly, tattooed hands squeezing your bare legs making you roll your eyes. "you've a better chance of getting me on that death trap of a bike." you teased, tapping her shoulders and holding out your hand as she passed you the dryer.

"no! its my time." alessia huffed as you tried to return to her desk once the two of you exited her bedroom, her now dry hair hanging down her back in waves. "baby i just have one more chapter to-" she cut you off with a kiss, closing your textbook and grabbing your hips, and before you knew it you were over her shoulder.

"alessia!" you laughed, reaching down to smack her bum as her shirt rode up. "oo this is new!" you whistled, pulling her shirt up further to reveal the black thong she had on underneath.

"hey you keep those hands to yourself!" the girl retaliating by smacking your own bum with her free hand before she dropped you down on the lounge. "oh wait here." she perked up, rushing off to her bedroom.

"put this on please." she held out a different shirt toward you. "why? i already changed baby." you frowned gesturing to the clothes you'd put on while she was showering. "that's mine, this is yours." your girlfriend replied, shaking the shirt impatiently in your face.

"so?" you pushed, knowing why she wanted you to change but wanting her to say it. "you know why, put it on and don't be a brat about it." alessia huffed with a roll of her eyes. "no, say it. you big ole softy!" you teased, kicking her as alessia dropped the shirt on your head.

"because its my favourite to sleep in and it doesn't smell like you anymore. happy?" the older girl mumbled as you tugged the material off your head with a satisfied grin. "very much so." you quickly changed, your girlfriend tossing the other shirt over her shoulder without a care making you roll your eyes.

"assume the position!" she shooed at you impatiently as you grabbed the tv remote, shuffling down to the end of the sofa with a smile, your girlfriend laying down with her head in your lap, her heavily tattooed legs occupying the rest of the sofa as her feet hung off the edge, which of course were clad in a pair of fuzzy black socks.

"what do you want to watch baby?" you asked pressing a kiss to her warm forehead, clicking into her netflix as your girlfriend shrugged. "anything you want gorgeous."

you browsed for a moment, alessia sighing loudly a few times to show she was becoming annoyed at the lack of attention you were showing her. pecking her lips a few times to hold her off you clicked into the proposal and placed the remote back down on the coffee table.

your girlfriend impatiently grabbed your hands and threaded them through her freshly washed hair making you chuckle. "are you going to sleep?" you laughed as you started to scratch at her scalp, watching her bright blue eyes close almost immediately. "no i'm just resting my eyes." the girl mumbled making you shake your head and press another tender kiss to her forehead.

within five minutes her breathing evened out and you glanced down with a soft smile, her ring covered fingers intertwined and resting on her stomach which slowly rose up and down as she slept.

your big scary guard dog girlfriend, the absolute sap she really was.

[bun-z-bakery]

(Repost from my abandoned account) these are just my personal head canons for dogday. this is a survivor au

(All characters are over 18 btw)

-dogday sometimes has dog like tendencies, like growling, barking etc.

-he doesn't remember a lot about his life as a worker but will share stories he remembers of his human life once you two become close.

-man is like a love sick puppy. First you save him? Give him legs? AND a home?! And his friends are here too?! You really are his angel.

-he's very protective of his angel. He can't have anyone take them away or even hurt them. Plus all those years locked away, he can't loose you, you're his hope.

-this man will most certainly plan his confession, script and all. Maybe you're away at work and this is something he's been working on for a while. He's always bringing you little gifts on his hunting trips (depending on if you like to collect rocks and such) but this dude went out of his way to find the best of the best. Even somehow found flowers beautiful enough to almost rival your beauty, keyword: almost.

-he enjoys spending time with you, poppy and kissy, he enjoys playing outside with you three, even if you guys have been out of the factory for years already. They still enjoy the outside world.

-I know bro is huge, like dude is taller than an American door way (according to some measurements fans have made, hes 9'5) if you're a shorty (like me 5 feet even😭) he will most definitely pick you up and carry you like a dogtoy. He likes the feeling of carrying his angel, it gives him a sense of pride doing so. Even if you accidentally hit the ceiling or he needs to really get down so you don't hit the top of the doorframe, he will always apologize or joke about it.

-he's a cuddler, he LOVES cuddling! He has his own giant dog bed in your shared room, but he prefers to sleep on your shared bed. If you're away from work and he's eepy, he'll pass out on your bed because it smells like you. Your scent keeps him at bay until you come home. Poor guy will shoot up and push anyone out of his way to be the first to get to you! He sits there on the floor waiting for his mandatory headpats and kisses as soon as he hears your keys.

-it takes his brain a few minutes to properly turn on. After all those years he finally gets proper sleep, I can imagine you waking up first and getting ready for the day to prepare breakfast for the group and you poke him, trying to wake him. He'll mumble some random stuff about not letting rats do taxes then fall back asleep only to be woken again by your pokes still talking nonsense. I can also see him sometimes waking up confused, you know like when you wake up your parents and they're mad for no reason asking what's wrong while gasping for air? (Just me?) I can see him being THAT dead asleep bhahsha

-my take on the survivor au is more of a modern take (as in yes the factory closed years also but reader is possibly in early to late 20s sometime in 20xx / non specified year) so they weren't an employee but probably knew someone like a family member who worked there or was dared to enter the factory (we'll see if I ever post my fanfic haha as these hcs kinda tie into that story) so dogday being alive in the 80s or 90s he probably has like the old school idea of love and attempts to swoon you as such. The flowers, cheesy pick up lines.

-I can imagine because he's not up to date with the newer terms and he might be confused while trying to seem cool haha. "Angel what does rizzler mean?" (Poor peepaw)

- Personally I love the theory that DogDay is an ex worker aka Rich. Which is probably why he was the leader of the smiling critters. Because he was mature enough to make sure everyone was in line/well behaved, I also think some other workers were turned into the mascots too (obviously) but maybe they trusted Rich more so they just threw him into the dance circle and hope that he'd be a good leader.

- this one ties into the first one btw! I like the think that maybe he was one of the mascots when he worked there. Like a guy in the costume who worked with the kids (hence the zipper, how else would the workers get into the bigger body suits?)

- I like to think DogDay likes when Angel calls him by his old human name. Maybe once he opens up more about his human life (or at least bringing up some of the memories he still has) he just randomly brings up his name when talking about a memory and hearing Angel repeat his name back, he'd probably like hearing it. It might make him feel like less of a monster in a sense. Granted I think he wouldn't care about what Angel calls him but he would most definitely prefer for them to alternate. Like you know when someone makes you mad and you use their real name instead of their nickname? He'd hate for his Angel to get mad, especially at him. But when living with 3 other people it can get a bit hectic.

"DogDay! Did you bring mud into the house?!"

"N-No!... "

*silence*

"RICH, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

*footsteps are heard and DogDay bolts out the door*

- Now this head canon I have can go either one of two ways, right? Hear me out. Listen up, listen carefully, and listen closely. (Lmk if you got that reference) ok so back to the zipper! I think the zipper just opens to his organs tbh like the zipper was just left functional in case he needed to be "repaired internally". BUT another thought, I also can see there being some sort of barrier! You know those stuff animals who have their stuffing blocked by a barrier so it doesn't fall out but the zipper opens to a compartment where you can store items? I kinda think that's whats there tbh, I mean it makes sense. What if one of the kids opened the zipper by mistake? Surely there would be a barrier just in case.

- as I mentioned in the last hc post, I can see him trying to swoon Angel in the old romantic type of way. I can see him pinning after Angel hard, at first they wouldn't get the hint, they'd probably think he's thinks he's indebted to them for rescuing them and giving the 3 of them a better and new life. But quickly they realize bro is in love. Of course poppy teases him about it too at some point lol. He doesn't really try to hide it either. I can see poppy and kissy thinking it's sweet and first then they get annoyed once you're the only thing he talk about lol.

- You're married. That's all! No but I can see in his mind you two are basically married. He'd probably want to have new custom star collars made for both of you or maybe even a ring for you and a matching collar or something for him to wear and propose. Of course it will bother him a bit because he can't go out with you, take you on dates or show you off but he trusts you (even though he gets jealous when you smell like someone else) he basically tries his best with what you guys have (If only there was a holiday that came once a year where you guys could go out dressed in customs without looking like freaks).

- He looks like the type of guy who would love pasta. I'm not sure why or how this even came into mind but I just feel like that's what he often wants for dinner. Poppy would probably eat fruit for dinner, kissy isn't really picky, but Dogday would probably be asking for either pasta or meat. Also I think Angel would be hesitant to feed certain foods to Dogday because you know, he's a dog (not really but hear me out) but because he acts like one at times I could see Angel being like haha nope you can't eat this!

*Angel eating chocolate cookies*

"May I have some?" *cutely pouts*

"I don't want you dying, love."

"You know I'm not actually a dog...right?"

ok ok you got me there" (they just really didn't wanna share lol)

- tbh this is more of a general head canon for the toys but I seeing as they had to resort to c*nnibalism. They clearly need food and water to survive. I think catcap was probably keep Dogday alive as a "lol now look at you now, look at me" (yes that's a BP reference) moment but only feeds him when he felt like it, since food is basically scarce in that place. I think that their human organs were transferred over but little things like veins, teeth, tongue, blood vessels basically anything that's not a major organ was made artificially and connected in a sense to those major organs making them function as such.

Yeah that's kinda it lol, there might be some more parts to this if I can think of anything else! But yeahhh that's kinda my hc and rambles lol (I tend to ramble a lot especially when I have to give context, I apologize!)

[babydollmarauders]

MEDIA MANAGEMENT — JACK HUGHES (23-24 SZN PART 5)

au masterlist

notes: do i like this? idk. but it’s out.

y/ndevils00

liked by jackhughes, dawson1417, and 221,691 others

y/ndevils00 ALL HAIL SATAN! i mean— THE DEVILS!!

YOUR NEW JERSEY DEVILS ARE NOW 6-0 IN THE PRESEASON! STILL THE FINAL UNDEFEATED TEAM IN THE PRESEASON!

tonight we played a home game against the dirty dish rags, and WON 5-2!!

the normal roster played tonight, which means prudential center was finally not just a whore house, but a whore HOME 🫶

we kicked off with a power play goal from my sweet blonde swede, Jesper Bratt! with an assist from my personal devil, Jacky!

literally THIRTY-TWO SECONDS later, MY SMUSH GOT HIS FIRST GOAL OF THE PRESEASON! I COULDN’T BE PROUDER OF YOU, MY MUNCHKIN! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!

in second period, we got a power play goal from best friend number 1!!! you are a star in every way! shine your light, puppy!!

we also got a power play goal from the light of my life, the love of my heart, my uber hot and a lot less smart, boyfriend; JACK ‘BABYGIRL’ ROWDEN HUGHES!!! SO PROUD OF YOU, YOU SEXY DEVIL, YOU!

and to finish us off, in third period, we got a goal from the one, the only, CAPTAIN SWISS SLUT!! look at you go! sticking your tongue out, one game at a time!

p.s. can you guess who was able to talk her way into being allowed to bring her professional camera and take pics through the camera holes in the glass?

i’ll give you a hint! she’s super hot, super smart, loves nicknames, and has a degree in ‘annoying her boyfriend’!

tagged jesperbratt, lhughes_06, dawson1417, jackhughes, nicohischier

Load more comments

john.marino97 i’m not featured?

y/ndevils00 do better

john.marino97 but i played good?

y/ndevils00 do. better.

john.marino97 @/dawson1417 translate?

dawson1417 she has my child hostage. i cannot translate.

john.marino97 @/dawson1417 your child?

dawson1417 …i’ve said too much

user74 omg PROFESSIONAL GRADE PHOTOS

jackhughes you are an odd duck, my love

y/ndevils00 why are you talking about trevor on MY post?

jackhughes why would you think i’m calling Z “my love”?

y/ndevils00 idk what y’all are into 🤷‍♀️

lhughes_06 thank you squish! but “munchkin”? you know i’m taller than you, right?

y/ndevils00 only physically

lhughes_06 i think that’s the only way that counts…

y/ndevils00 mentally? i could squash you. but i would never, because you’re my smush and ily

lhughes_06 mhm, i appreciate that

user62 where can i get a captain swiss slut? asking for a friend…

y/ndevils00 mine came from Bern! check there!

dawson1417 i’m a star 😊⭐️

y/ndevils00 YOU’RE A STAR!! AND YOU SHINE THE BRIGHTEST!!

dawson1417 and no do better?

y/ndevils00 no do better!! you did great!

john.marino97 i hate you both

y/ndevils00 @/john.marino97 you love us so much you could die

john.marino97 shut up 😒

jesperbratt i look good! 😄

y/ndevils00 you look like the sweet angel that you are!

nicohischier why do you always get me with my tongue out?

y/ndevils00 i have a sixth sense

nicohischier i thought your sixth sense was finding Jack when he’s on the ipad?

y/ndevils00 i have a seventh sense

nicohischier yeah, okay

user29 THE GOALIE TAPS

dougieham y/n, how do you feel that Jack wore a mouthguard tonight? 🎤

y/ndevils00 I FEEL GREAT! THE SUN IS SHINING, THE BIRDS ARE SINGING, THE FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING 🗣️

jackhughes you said you’d love me even without teeth 🤨

y/ndevils00 i don’t wanna test that theory

trevorzegras hot damn! my man is on fire! GO HUGHESY!

y/ndevils00 i’m gonna fly to anaheim and soak your pillow in vinegar

trevorzegras YOUR man is on fire!

y/ndevils00 that’s what i thought

[puuta-heinaa]

Joker Out, Paris (Café de la danse) 22.3.2024

I arrived at the venue around 14ish, and was third to last in the EE queue. However queueing is part of the party! I exchanged sooo many bracelets and met amazing people, some of which I just met that day, some I knew from Discord or tumblr or earlier gigs, couldn't have been happier. Got selfies with Bojan and Jan?? Hug from Bojan??? HELLO. That would never happen in Finland. I described his hug as jämäkkä and turvallinen, which roughly translates to sturdy and safe.

Some of the bracelets I made for the concert!

Met someone in the queue who had hawk's eyes and who encouraged me to go and ask for a selfie with Jan, and later on she spotted Bojan on the street 100 m before everyone else did. I had a chance to give Bojan 3 2 ananaslonkero -bracelet that I'd made, with a tiny drink charm. If the main joke in fandoms is that a hug from your blorbo would cure you? well it's true. Getting a hug from Bojan removed some stiffness between my shoulder blades that I didn't even know was there. It was literally easier to breathe after the encounter. I also kept vigorously shaking for 3-5 minutes afterwards, so much that some people asked if I'm ok. Just released years worth of trauma ig. Also LOTS of happy hand stims throughout the day, my autism was showing lol.

Jan was outdoors SMOKING!!! And Bojan had charmingly dirty hair! He was taller than I had thought.

ANYways the gig !! I ended up on Jance side, which was nice as I was on Kris' side in Helsinki. Whole stage was about as wide as K-18 section at Kultsa, and I think they suit better on smaller stages.

We got Vem da Gres and Gola in soundcheck! I was wearing Vem da gres -bracelet that I got in Helsinki a few weeks ago and thought about that person for a few seconds!

Gola was ok. Bojan got disney mickey ears, and he was wearing my 3 2 ananaslonkero bracelet. Bojan also got a maca plushie that he was NOT scared of, he even made it fly.

Kris left the stage as soon as the last notes of Gola were over, other boys stayed jamming in accelerating speed for couple of more minutes. I showed them my UM sign that only read "I want to sing UMAZAN" at that point. :')

20h02 was ok, didn't connect with their music at all though. JC Stewart seemed a bit sick, but sounded good nevertheless. Finished my sign.

They started with Katrina and Bele Sanje, and people were singing even guitar riffs along. Dopamin hit like dopamine followed by Ne bi smel, Nace was staring at me several times during those songs.

Liinu's superb edit of staring sc Nace and struggling Kris and Arcti's edit about Jan's forgotten library books made my day

People were already singing along to Sta bih ja, and Bojan was sooo happy (and sweaty. We were all very sweaty, the concert hall was ridiculously warm.). Kris disappeared for a moment in the beginning of Sta bih ja, and Bojan looked like a lost puppy (wait, where is kris?? about 5-10 seconds into sta bih ja). Bojan said Kris didn't like how Jan played the riff and that's why he left the stage :P. Jan flipped a bird to him.

Decibels raised by about 20 when they played Ona and Demoni. Turns out they might be the easiest to sing along for absolutely everyone, not just for people who speak Finnish. Bojan looked me directly into eyes during second verse of Demoni for several seconds, and I felt so seen (in a good way). EE was definitely worth its price.

In Helsinki I felt like the setlist was over before it even started, but in Paris it felt more like we were really dancing and playing until the stars fade. I think it had something to do with how much they interacted with each other and with the public during each song. In Helsinki they seemed like they had forgotten how to be on stage, and there was just TOO MUCH SPACE, whereas Paris had Nordic Tour energy.

They all moved a LOT on stage!! Kris was on jance side several times! Nace had a mating dance thingy going on with Kris at least twice, Jan once. Jan interacted with the public on Kris's side a few times. Bojan almost run into Kris at one point - no wonder he caressed Kris's arm to let him know he's there before grapping his hips?? and dancing behind him??? during Behind those eyes. It's cafe de la danse after all.

Def thinking "THIS is how we'll trend on tumblr tonight" right after the famous dance

Everybody's waiting and soooooo many people raised hands when Bojan asked in his spiel before the song if anyone here suffers from panic or anxiety attacks, and I think it made everyone feel less alone. He sang I'm the problem it's me -line to make things a bit lighter before proceeding to the song.

We got Omamljeno Telo and I felt SOOOO HAPPY (but also sad for Moonu) but also SOOOO HAPPY it was on the setlist, I think I screamed VITTU JES on top of my lungs (manifesting it for Ruisrock huh). Famous water spray on Jan during OT, and it shows I've grown old, because instead of "yeeeess I want Bojan's spit on me" I went "rat disease, why am I not wearing a mask".

Everyone sang along during CD, not in French though even if there was a fanproject French translation published a whole 28 hours before(....). Plastika hit like a hammer once again, but I think I was already waiting and stressing for UM, so I didn't mosh for example. Which, good idea, because my neck was soooo sore after Helsinki.

Bojan announced the karaoke song, and asked which versions we have today. He saw my sign, asked "Slovenian version?", to which I "said" (from 4th row on Jan+Nace side) Finnish version, and he heard it and corrected himself and said perfect. I was not afraid at all even if I knew I'm probs going to sing in front of about 500 people in 5ish minutes???? How??? I'm usually a ball of anxiety but here I was just proud and excited to sing my version of it.

I loved the Bretogne/French version (I've still no idea what were the words, but it rhymed super well and she sang well, but that was def NOT paris region French), cringed at some of the "translations" because they did not fit the lines and did not rhyme, sang along to Slovenian versions in Finnish, felt bad for one of them as the karaoke singer started at the wrong moment and Bojan spent most of their special moment trying to orchestrate the band.

When Bojan approached with "I think we still have a Slovenian version, OH NO, A FINNISH VERSION" I chortled, and felt the last bits of nervousness disappear. (Cue "some boat, titanic, oh no".) I had my ACTUALLY finger pointing moment, which, on point with my personality, telling him it's a hybrid version. I don't know what he meant with SUOMI SAA, but it was NOT full-on Suomi SAATANA, that much is certain. I quite like the idea/interpretation he was making a pun with SAA(tan)Are you ready? But who knows. Sad about missed chance to answer "ArE YoU???" now that I think about it, but at least I wasn't the only one who failed the moment :') . Speaking of cursewords though, a histronic youngster next to me did shout vittu though! I loved my spot but she was super annoying throughout the evening.

The Finnish version is in the beginning of this one, and the Arabic version right after Finnish version is AMAZING. The French version is on the first part, as well as Bojan going "uuu Finnish version? perfect".

Started in Slovene, which made him have a Ok?? face, but when I switched to my own Finnish version that rhymes with the Slovene version, he raised his brows and seemed so impressed that I just nodded to him, sending telepath(et)ic messages that yes, our languages match and rhyme, about time you collaborate with Jere. I think he remembered I asked for a hug in the afternoon, because he did not hug everyone during karaoke. Afternoon hug was better btw.

I love his little surprised smile right when I finish the first Finnish line on this one

I usually think quite a lot about how other people perceive me, but now I didn't give a single fuck, just enjoyed being the main character for 20 seconds, having this interaction with my blorbo. Forever grateful for the 4 different angles I received from friends I made in the queue, and 1 from a random guy who asked me after the concert if I'd like to receive a video he took of me singing. Even Vita was filming the whole thing with her big light + camera + phone ensemble. I often sing in my car, and even IMAGINING i'm singing karaoke makes my voice suddenly tiny and weak and compressed, so I'm overflowingly glad it went this well, you have no idea even if I've just bragged about it for 4 paragraphs.

I later realised I was the only one who didn't hold the mic themself, this is a clear example how I objectify the boys, seeing Bojan just as a mic stand.🫣😵‍💫

I got fluent Kiitos from Bojan, that guy needs to move to Finland he speaks Finnish so well. Also LMAO I forgot to sniff him in the afternoon, now I'm praying the snifff I took after karaoke wasn't too evident and doesn't show on Vita's video……….. Jere is wrong, Bojan does not smell like shit, but there were no parfume smell either? He just smells like nothing in a pleasant, pheromone rich way lol.

my translation: Sanje so tvojega okusa Aamuihin taas tuoksusi Neula ei haarukassa Sieluni on hukassa Etsimässä tietään luoksesi

I haven't figured how to translate the first line. I've been playing with "Makus' on tarrannut uniini", but it does not rhyme with the og well enough. Otherwise super proud of my version. Neula and haarukka are parts of compass, basically saying the compass is layed on the map the wrong way. 🧭

This is how small the place was??? I was in 3/4th row, and the hat guy in the right corner was right behind me during the concert so the club truly was tiny.

Apparently bubbles were not allowed on stage in Cafe de la danse? But some people had brought their own so we had bubbles anyway.

Jure exchanged his drumstick to a breadstick. I laughed because a) it was a clever pun and b) such a stereotypically French thing to bring a BAGUETTE wrapped in a napkin to a concert. Also no wonder boys are always sick, I don't even want to know how many people touched that bread before it was on stage.

Life is pain (in mouths)

We waited for the boys after the concert outside the venue in the rain, and they walked past quite quickly. Bojan stayed for 30 seconds to take a group selfie. <3

Honestly so happy I traveled there and met amazing people and surpassed myself on so many levels.

I feel like 2004 again, because that's when I last made a post this long on livejournal and also when I last was this hyped about a group.

I loved band's AMAZING OUTFITS in Café de la danse, everyone had some idrija lace on them, and I'm afraid my next special interest will be bobbin lace.

[jongbross]

hey, she's mine! (park chanyeol x reader) [requested]

pairing: park chanyeol x reader (x kim jongin, kind of) word count: 3039 genre: fluffy with a tiny bit of angst i guess? warnings: swearing, mentions of sex. baekhyung being a goofy, jongin being a gentleman, chanyeol being way too jealous, jongdae being, well, me (i'm the one who always mentions the booze). a/n: thank you anon for requesting! it turned way longer than i thought it would lol hope you like it 🥺

you felt life being drained from you as you saw him in front of you. it's been so long - actually it's only been two years, but how many lifetimes can be fitted in two years? -, and he has changed so much.

his hair was shorter now, his arms slightly bigger; maybe he was working out like he always said he would do, who knows. there was something more mature about his eyes now too, something you couldn't quite explain.

"i brought my friend with me, i hope you don't mind", baekhyun said, pointing back at said friend. "this is..."

"hey, y/n", he said, interrupting baekhyun.

"hi!", you tried your best to smile. "oh my god, it's been so long, jongin."

at the mention of his name, chanyeol looked up from the couch with narrowed eyes and a confused expression. what do you mean jongin was there?

as your roommate, and now probably your best friend, chanyeol knew all about jongin. he knew everything about how close the two of you were back in college, how everyone thought jongin was such a cocky guy but, deep down, he was just a shy boy with a pretty face. chanyeol knew how the friendship between you two evolved to something more, to the point where you took jongin's virginity, being his first; he also knew how you two became friends with benefits after that, and how badly it all ended when, at the end of college, jongin told you he was in love with you. chanyeol knew all about how you broke the poor dude's heart, and how bad you felt all of these years because of that.

and also, chanyeol knew very well how you always claimed jongin was the best sex you ever had, which kind of messed with chanyeol's ego because, you know... he was your friend with benefits now.

"oh, you two know each other?", baekhyun asked as jongin walked into your place.

"we... we attended college together", you explained. "jongin is a friend of mine."

"wow", jongdae said, getting his coat off. "i didn't know that!"

"yeah, we haven't talked in a long time, i think", jongin replied.

the awkward conversation was replaced by baekhyun screaming chanyeol's name before entering the living room and throwing himself on top of his friend.

jongdae followed his steps, and you only mentioned for jongin to do the same. as you got to the living room, you saw chanyeol pushing baekhyun off him and onto the ground.

"get off me, you brat", the taller one said with angry eyes even though his lips were slightly curled into a smile.

"ouch! what did i do?", baekhyun got up from the ground. "you know what? no cuddles for you tonight!"

"it's okay, he has y/n for that", jongdae mumbled, throwing himself at a chair and pulling his phone out of his pocket. "what do you guys want to drink?"

your cheeks burned with that comment, and you made a mental note to kick jongdae's ass after - especially when you heard jongin chuckling behind you.

with a little puppy's attention span, baekhyun turned to jongdae to help him pick some beverages. as he did that, chanyeol got up from the couch and walked to jongin, a passive expression on his face.

"hey, how are you doing?", he offered his hand to jongin. "i'm chanyeol."

"hey, man", jongin smiled politely, shaking chanyeol's hand. "i'm jongin, it's really nice to meet you. baekhyun talks a lot about you!"

"he's an idiot", the older one said, rolling his eyes.

jongin laughed. "he sure is. sorry i tagged along without a warning, baekhyun said it would be okay and that his friends wouldn't mind..."

chanyeol only shrugged, eyes fixed on you. you kept staring at him, watching his body language as he interacted with jongin.

"it's okay, don't worry", chanyeol looked at the younger one then, finally smiling at him. "you're welcome here."

as the three of you also took a seat, the night finally began.

it was weird to see your ex best friend and your closest friends interacting. baekhyun seemed - and actually was - the only bond between all of you now, but thankfully everything went just fine. he would crack some jokes and cry of laughter with jongdae, then telling a story about some of his co-workers, to which jongin would comment eventually.

apparently, jongin had been working with baekhyun for a few months now. you found out that baekhyun had told you about him, but he never used the name jongin, only kai - which you also found out was now jongin's nickname, something he earned after leaving college.

jongin (or kai, whatever) was still as sweet as you could remember. funny too, as he made everyone laugh a few times throughout your gathering. at some point you caught yourself staring at him, smiling at how he'd tell a story or laugh at something.

but then, your attention got caught by chanyeol, who were also staring at jongin, but not with kind eyes like you. his jaw was clenched, and even though he'd reply to jongdae and baekhyun whenever they talked to him, it was so clear that something was bothering him. he didn't say a word to jongin, nor mistreated him, but still... something wasn't right.

"hey, the drinks are almost here", jongdae said, looking at his phone.

"what did you order?", you asked.

"soju and beer, because that's what i can afford."

"it's okay", you laughed. "i'll get some snacks for us too."

you got up from your spot, shooting a smile at chanyeol - to which he smiled back - before walking out of the room.

you quickly began to work at the kitchen, grabbing some chips and leftovers from the fridge, deciding what to do with all of that. as your hands worked, your mind traveled back to two important moments of your life.

firstly, you relived the moment you told jongin you didn't love him back. you saw his sad eyes in front of you again, pouting at the way he tried his best not to look at you and how he kept repeating it was okay, even though it wasn't.

secondly, you relived the moment you met chanyeol. both of you were starting a new job at the same company, and as you were the same age you instantly clicked. chanyeol was a tall, goofy guy with big round eyes and deep dimples; something about him just felt so comfortable, so cozy. you felt like he was meant to be your friend, and it was only a matter of time before the two of you got really close and, eventually, decided to live together.

you didn't regret taking a step further, though. back at the pandemic, when both of you were in quarantine in your place, things got hard... quite literally. neither of you was dating, but both of you had needs; neither of you could interact with people outside your doors, but both of you could interact.

"it's just this once", chanyeol had said, before fucking you on the couch. but it started to happen again, and again, and again...

when you realized, you didn't need to be in a relationship anymore, because everything you needed physically you could find in chanyeol.

"do you need some help?", you heard someone saying from behind you, and you jumped in surprise. "shit, i'm sorry! i forgot how much of a scaredy cat you are."

when you turned around, you met jongin laughing. "it's not funny."

"it kind of is", he said, walking up to you. "what are you doing?"

"um... there's some meat from yesterday's dinner, i'm gonna heat it up. we also have some chips..."

"can i make some sauce to dip these chips in?", jongin asked, eyes fixed on you.

"sure", you shrugged. "feel at home."

with a chuckle, jongin started to work too. you watched as he walked from side to side in the kitchen, grabbing what he needed, sometimes asking you where he could find something. he was humming a song the whole time, a song you couldn't quite recognize but that it sounded good on his honey-like voice.

"how's it going, uh?", he suddenly asked. "it's been years since i last saw you."

you licked your lips, getting back to work too as if you haven't just stopped everything to watch him.

"i-i'm fine", you said. "i got into a company after i left college, i'm still there. got a promotion last month, actually."

"oh, congrats! i'm sure you deserved it", jongin smiled sincerely at you, pulling up his sleeves to mix a few ingredients; at this point, you didn't know what was inside that bowl. "are you happy there?"

"yeah, definitely. i feel like there's a lot to learn yet, but i can see myself growing even more. maybe i'll become the boss someday, who knows?"

"that's the spirit!"

you and jongin started to run your mouths. he told you about his life after college - he went back to his hometown when the pandemic hit, so he could be with mom and sisters. he was working at a small company at the time, but it was shut down due to bankruptcy. he told you that, when things started to get better, he came back to seoul to start a new job, which it also didn't work. jongin felt like nothing good was gonna come his way, but then he met a guy named junmyeon who got him into where he was working right now - and that's how he met baekhyun.

"oh, you know junmyeon!", you smiled. "i met him a few months ago at baekhyun's birthday party. he's your boss too?"

"yeah, boss and friend. i owe junmyeon hyung a lot, to be honest."

"he's a great guy, he offered chanyeol a job too when he decided to leave our company."

"oh, you and chanyeol worked together?"

"yeah, that's how we met. it didn't work that well for him, so he left two months ago", you explained. "he's happier now, that's what matters."

"oh, that's great", jongin said with such kindness. "you two look cute together, by the way. i ship it."

"what? oh, no!", your eyes were about to pop off your skull. "we're not together, no!"

he laughed, looking back at you. something in jongin's expression clearly told you he didn't believe you.

"y/n, come on... it's okay if you're dating, don't lie to me. we were best friends."

"i'm not lying to you! we're not together, i swear."

jongin stared at you, and you felt like he was reading your soul. he narrowed his eyes at you, lips pressed into a thin line.

"have you two fucked?", he whispered at you.

"jonginnie!", you almost screamed.

"what?!", the bastard started to laugh at you. "i'm just asking, because you know..."

jongin went back to his task, like nothing had happened. but no, you didn't know.

"know what?"

"ah, you know... the way he looks at you... the way he looked at me when i got here...", he mentioned, dragging his words. when you didn't reply, jongin looked back at you. "come on! it's so clear that he likes you."

you frowned at that. gosh, not again...

"chanyeol doesn't like me."

"he does. he looks at you exactly how... how i did when i was in love with you."

you groaned at his words, resting against the counter and bringing your hands to your face, pressing the palms on your eyes. you could only hear jongin chuckling.

"which, by the way, it's okay!", you felt jongin grabbing your wrists and pulling your hands off your face. "don't worry about it."

"i owe you a lifetime of apologies."

"no, you don't", he shook his head. "you didn't love me back and it was okay, i couldn't force you to do it. i was really heartbroken, but i never blamed it on you. you never, ever gave me any signals that you felt the same, i just... i don't know, i took a leap of faith to see what would happen."

"still...", you groaned again. "i fucked up our friendship."

jongin sighed at your words, caressing the inside of your wrist.

"that's on us both, then. i didn't look for you after everything happened, i felt like if i did, all of my feelings would come back. i should have told you that, i'm sorry."

"i thought you hated me..."

"well, i did, but not because you didn't want me, but because you didn't look for me either", he laughed. "my mom asked me about you every single day, did you know that?"

you laughed too, picturing his sweet mom, who cooked so well and welcomed you into the family with an open heart, worrying about you and missing you.

"i miss her."

"she does too. you should come visit her with me anytime, she's gonna love it", he smiled. "i'll go next weekend with kyungsoo, you're welcome to tag along."

"next weekend i hav- wait, kyungsoo?"

jongin dropped your wrists, smiling brightly at you. he took his phone from his pocket, showing you his lockscreen - which had a photo of him and a bald guy. jongin was laughing, pressing his cheek to the kyungsoo guy's face, who had an annoyed expression on.

"this is kyungsoo, my boyfriend", jongin announced proudly. "he's childhood friends with junmyeon hyung, we met some time ago and, you know... i tend to fall in love easily."

you just knew you had heart eyes at that moment. looking at jongin, you saw how happy he was, how much love was overflowing from his own eyes just at the mention of this kyungsoo dude.

jongin had always been open about his bisexuality to you, but it was something you never felt like he got to explore back at college; so it was really great to see him so happy just for being himself.

"oh my gosh, jongin! i'm so happy for you!", you said, throwing yourself in his arms and hugging him.

honestly, you've missed your best friend.

jongin was laughing with you inside his arms when he suddenly stopped, at the same time you heard someone clearing their throat behind you. you turned around to meet chanyeol, arms crossed on his chest and brows knitted together.

"sorry to interrupt", he said bitterly. "the drinks are here, i'll go get them with baekhyun."

"i'll go, don't worry", jongin shrugged, letting go of you. "just help y/n with the food, please."

as he walked past chanyeol, he patted the taller one's shoulder. chanyeol rolled his eyes, walking towards you and staring at the sink.

"what do i have to do?"

by the tone of his voice, you could tell he was pissed. so you held back a chuckle, standing beside him and caressing his arm.

"nothing, don't worry. i'm on it."

"oh, so you need his help but don't need mine?"

"yeollie...", you looked at him. "come on, don't be like that."

"he's the intruder here, not me."

"you said he was welcome here!"

"and he is", chanyeol stamped his foot like a little kid. "just not... beside you, i guess..."

you laughed, pushing chanyeol. "get out of here."

"no, i'm serious", he said, pouting. "why did he come to the kitchen with you? why were you two hugging? did you two... made up?"

scoffing, you turned to chanyeol again. he had his arms crossed on his chest one more time, and his usually soft, pretty face was now one big frown.

"are you jealous, park chanyeol?"

"well, kind of! this dude has been gone for what, two, three years now? and suddenly baekhyun hyung brings him here out of nowhere, and then he's all over you, helping you cook and then hugging you? what's up with that? next thing i know i'm gonna catch you two banging on your room..."

"hey!" you raised a finger at him, making him press his lips into a line. "stop that."

"i'm sorry", he mumbled, like a spoiled little boy.

"jongin just helped me here because that's what he does, he's just like that."

chanyeol shrugged, pouting. "i can help you too."

you tilted your head to the side, taking a good look at chanyeol. you could almost literally see the little green monster called jealousy on his shoulder, pulling his big ear and telling him lies.

"yeah. yes, you can", you nodded, taking a step closer to him. "you could help me out by coming to my room tonight, what do you think?"

"wouldn’t you rather have jongin on your bed tonight?"

"um... i don't think his boyfriend will like that", you said, and laughed at how chanyeol looked at you when he heard the word 'boyfriend'. "besides, you know me way better than him now. i'm sure you're the only one who can help me with what i need."

chanyeol hummed, relaxing his features. he reached for you, holding your waist and pulling you close.

"keep talking..."

"and maybe, if you do it right, i can take you out on a date tomorrow... test jongin's theory..."

"what theory?"

you sighed, resting your hands on his chest. "he thinks you like me, and that you're jealous of him. he said that you look at me like he used to do, when he was in love with me."

"theory comproved, no need to test", chanyeol said, making you laugh.

"really? just by fucking?", you scrunched your nose. "i mean, you wouldn't be the first..."

"i live with you, y/n, so i know you, through and through. only someone crazy wouldn't fall in love with you", he said, looking into your eyes. "and not everyone can be as heartless as you are when it comes to sex..."

"hey!"

chanyeol laughed, leaning down to kiss your lips. you allowed him, missing the say jongin passed by the door, smiling at the two of you.

"and besides...", chanyeol whispered against your lips. "your sex is amazing, there's no way on earth i wouldn't fall in love with you when you fuck me like that..."

"chanyeol!, you screamed, as a warning, but it only made him laugh.

well, at least you had a date to go to.

[makeitmingi]

Cause Baby You're My Muse [Chapter 44]

Genre: Romance, Idol!AU, Music, Slight angst

Pairing: Mingi x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Producer!Reader, IdolLyricist!Mingi, IdolProducer!Hongjoong, Idol!Seonghwa, Idol!Yunho, Idol!Wooyoung, Idol!San, Idol!Yeosang, Idol!Jongho, cameo(s) by other celebrities

Summary: You always preferred producing underground, having an unknown face and governed by your own rules. But when you start freelancing for idol groups, you say goodbye to your lone wolf lifestyle as you learn to work with idol producers and lyricists.

Word count: 3.2K

Warning(s): Indigo gets accosted and harrassed, toxic behaviour by side character, Indigo has a panic attack, someone gets punched.

Today was the last day of the music video shoot. The boys were amazing, giving it their all despite being exhausted from working tirelessly the past 4 days. You supported them all the way, not just Mingi. You would go to the shoot every day.

"How's it been?" Eden asked.

"Great. I'm learning a lot. And the boys work so hard. They really are dedicated to their craft." You replied, looking at the 8 boys film.

"They are." He patted your shoulder with a chuckle. You were told by Hongjoong to be careful when interacting with the members today because they are also filming their behind the scenes.

"Hello Atiny~! Today is the last day of filming for the music video." Yunho waved at the camera.

"Woohoo!" Wooyoung jumped up and down excitedly behind the taller boy.

"Are you excited to see Atiny? I hope you like the video. We've been working really hard on it. Look." Yunho pointed to San, who was currently filming his solo part.

"What's going on?" Seonghwa entered the frame, slinging his arm around Yunho. You watched in adoration, they reminded you of puppies but they each had their own personality which was rather adorable. You went to the camping chair where your bag was and picked up your coffee cup.

"It's time for us to go. Watch us, Atiny~" Seonghwa winked at the camera before going with the rest to the filming area.

"Wanna hear the project I just submitted?" You asked Eden, who was beside you. There wasn't much to watch now since they were filming repeated scenes.

"Sure." He sat up.

Eden was a good mentor, he gave good feedback and advice on how you could always improve. You were grateful that he was always open to guiding you and helping you whenever you asked.

"I'm going to stretch my legs and walk around for a bit." You told Eden. He nodded, turning back to his phone.

"Sohee. How's it going?" You asked.

"Hey, Indigo! It's going great now that it's the last day of filming. I feel like I finally have time to breathe and talk. What about you? How's your first music video shooting experience?" She giggled, waving for you to sit with her.

"Learning a lot. Everyone's been very kind." You said. She held your hand excitedly.

"Seyoon, please take over the behind the scenes filming while they film." You all heard the director say.

"I heard through the grapevine that you have a new fanboy. He was apparently asking about you." She nodded over to Seyoon. Your mask hid your sour expression.

"Is he a regular in the film team?" You asked.

"Not sure. I think he's new? The film team is usually amongst themselves, they don't go for the dinners with the rest of us." She shrugged. This meant Seyoon lied to you.

"Why do you ask? Do you think he's cute?" She asked, a little more excitement in her tone.

"He's... not my type." You replied with a slight shake of your head. You weren't going to reveal too much about your uncomfortable encounter and interactions with Seyoon, still uncertain of how she felt about him. For all you knew, she could grow to be friends with him or like him.

"You probably like the cool type of guys, right? From what I've heard, he seems too eager, too energetic." She scrunched her nose a little. You just nodded in agreement.

Mingi was energetic but it was different than Seyoon. Mingi was kind, patient and never made you feel uncomfortable.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Sohee asked.

"We just started not too long ago." You rubbed the back of your neck shyly, making her squeal happily. Jihyun, who was passing by, heard Sohee's scream and walked over, sitting with you.

"What are you so excited about?" She nodded over to Sohee, who had a big grin on her face.

"Indigo was just going to tell me about her boyfriend." Sohee giggled.

Meanwhile, Mingi's eyes were searching the area for you. They were having a break now and usually, you would come to them to chat but you were no where to be found. When he looked at where Eden was seated, your chair was empty.

"Wow, Indigo is really chatting up the stylists and make up artists. They're having a gossip session out there." Jongho chuckled, walking over with a can of soda.

"Ooh, gossip. Now, I'm interested to hear that." Wooyoung's head immediately turned.

"Just let her make friends with other girls to chat. Besides, we told her we're filming behind the scenes today so she's giving us space."

"Yes, I don't want her being caught on camera. Try to protect her identity as much as possible. We'll ask the editors to cut her out too if she does accidentally make it into the frame." Hongjoong said.

"As expected of protective older brother Hongjoong." San teased, clapping his hands.

"We should keep her away from that guy..." Yunho said lowly.

"Especially since he's one of the ones filming our behind the scenes now. I'm not sure if he'll try something weird or mess with her." Seonghwa added. Internally, Mingi let out a sigh of relief. He was glad that the others were just as protective of you or that they felt something about this guy was off.

"Meal's here." The managers announced. The Ateez boys lined up, each one picking up the styrofoam box that had their name and picture on it.

"Atiny~ We're eating delicious food. I hope you're eating well too." Yeosang smiled to the camera.

"We'll be back after finishing our meals. Bye~" Hongjoong covered his mouth as he chewed, giving a friendly wave to the camera.

"Everyone have your lunch breaks too." They heard all the other crews calling for lunch. You entered the room, greeting the boys with a brief wave before sitting behind Hongjoong.

"Are you gonna eat, Indi?" He asked casually as you leaned your back against his.

"Later." You replied.

"We heard you were making some friends out there, Indigo. Looked like a juicy gossip session was happening." Wooyoung teased. You pushed yourself off Hongjoong's back, making him grunt in annoyance as he almost fell forward.

"Are you guys spying on me?" You crossed your arms, raising a judgement eyebrow at them.

"We're just looking out for you." San cooed.

"I don't know if we're friends but we talk. It's weird, I've never really connected with a girl or girls before. The conversations are definitely different." You noted.

"True, between us and the other underground artists you're close with, Haneul's the only girl you're ever around." Jongho said.

"Yeah. Gender isn't what I look at when I make friends but I guess it is a coincidence that all my close friends are guys." You scratched your head. Seonghwa patted a space on the couch next to him.

"Want a drink at least?" He offered his bottle of juice out. He leaned over to grab a straw and stuck it in.

"Thanks, Hwa." You tucked the straw under your mask to sip. Mingi casually came to sit beside you, perching himself on the arm rest. His hand rested on the back of the couch to steady himself and not fall on you. But he made no conversation or interaction with you, he just wanted to be near you.

"When you guys are done, we're doing some tight shots of the units. So whoever is ready first can come out." The manager said after speaking to the director outside.

"Means Mingi's gonna be last because of how slow Joong eats." You snickered. Hongjoong glared at you.

"Here you go." Eden handed you a box of food.

"Thanks." You bowed your head, setting the box on the table. From the way he pursed his lips, you knew that he wanted you to eat now instead of delay.

"You should eat before it gets late." He said. Wooyoung, Yunho and Yeosang went out first for their unit shoot.

"Eat in here and close the door, then you can remove your mask. Or you can eat behind the changing curtain since we're coming in and out." San patted your shoulder.

"Thanks, guys. Really, don't worry about me. I'll eat. I'm just not too hungry now." You chuckled. In the end, you ate behind the changing curtain. Just in case someone didn't know you were here and came in, you stole Jongho's cap to cover your face.

"We'll let the managers and stylists know you're here so they don't come in." Hongjoong smiled. You nodded, waving him off to go shoot and not worry about you.

"But..." Mingi frowned slightly, trying to worry too much about you removing your mask with strangers around.

"We'll take turns coming in after filming and make sure she's safe, hyung. She's fine." Jongho assured, walking out with the taller.

While the boys continued filming and doing whatever you needed to do, you called Haneul on video call to speak to her. You missed her, having seen her for what felt like months already.

"Are you filming a movie?"

"It's not a movie, baby. Remember when Wooyoung showed you that video with seeing and dancing? It's that." You chuckled.

"You're gonna sing and dance? But unnie, you can't dance... You're not good when you dance."

"I don't think I'm that bad! But don't worry about my bad dancing, baby. I'm not filming, the oppas are. I'm just here to follow them and watch them film." You laughed. Haneul was probably the only person that could get away with insulting you or jabbing you without getting hit. She was always painfully honest.

"When are you coming home? I miss you."

"I miss you too, baby. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've seen you. But soon, I'll come see you and we'll do whatever you want. I promise." You sighed.

"Don't say sorry... Wooyoung oppa said you're always working so you can buy me ice cream, toys and take me to the zoo."

"That's true." You smiled softly. You made a mental note to thank Wooyoung later. For as long as you remember, Haneul was always kind of resentful towards your job for taking you away.

"I have to go, baby. I'll speak to you soon?" You didn't want to hang up but you heard voices outside.

"Mhmm. Bye, unnie. I love you."

"I love you too, baby. You're my entire world." You watched her wave before she hung up. You couldn't bring yourself to be the one to hang up. With another sigh, you gathered your empty food box and wore your mask. You quietly pulled the curtain back.

"Yah, stop making fun of me!" Wooyoung whined as Yunho and San made fun of his hand gestures. You felt Seyoon's eyes on you as he filmed them but took the opportunity to slip out of the room.

"Can I throw the food trash here?" You asked.

"Sure. Thank you!" She bowed her head. You walked to the area where the toilets were to wash your hands.

"Hey, Indigo." You stepped out of the female bathroom to see Seyoon there. You must have shot him an apprehended look because he took his hands out of his pockets.

"I just wanted to apologise. I realised my behaviour the other night was not very gentleman-ly of me." He spoke. You didn't react to that.

"So, I'm sorry." He repeated.

"Okay." You gave a brief nod before intending to walk away. You just wanted to leave the conversation. Odds are, you won't see each other anymore after today so you didn't want to bother too much with him. As you moved to walk past him, he suddenly grasped your forearm. You recoiled with a hiss, as if his touch burned.

"That's all you can say when someone apologises to you? 'Okay', that's rude." He frowned.

"What? Want me to jump for joy or fall to my knees in gratefulness? This just made it clear, you're not apologising because you genuinely feel bad. You're apologising for yourself." You couldn't hold back.

"Listen, here-"

"Indigo? Are you here?" You let out a mental sigh of relief when you heard Yeosang's voice. Seyoon shot you a look, challenging you.

"I'm here, Yeosang!" You yelled out, all the while maintaining eye contact with Seyoon. There were other things to be scared of but he wasn't one of those things.

"There you are." Yeosang walked over with San in tow. The two shot Seyoon a cautionary look, they definitely felt the tension in the air. San wrapped an arm around you, pulling you to stand behind him, almost protectively shielding you.

"Everything alright here?" San asked, a displeased frown on his face. You shrugged, subconsciously rubbing your arm where Seyoon grabbed you.

"Yeah, we were just talking." Seyoon replied.

"Well, the captain is freaking out because he thought you got lost. Let's go." Yeosang paid no attention to Seyoon and smiled at you. San turned you around and led you away.

"Are you okay?" San frowned worriedly once you were a good distance away from the bathrooms.

"Mhmm, he wasn't going to do anything but still, you guys came in time." You sighed.

Mingi sighed in relief when he saw you emerge with San and Yeosang. What he didn't like was seeing Seyoon stroll out a few seconds after.

"Did something happen?" Mingi asked. Yeosang shook his head, which made the rest of the boys there let out sighs of relief. Hongjoong and Seonghwa frowned, they would definitely be bringing this up to the lead director later as well as the KQ staff when they get back to Korea.

They weren't doing it just because it was you or because of favourtism. Well, yes there was but they also didn't want such a person to be working under KQ's name and harrassing others.

"Keep Indigo safe but remember where we are and who we are. We are always being watched." Hongjoong reminded the rest. Now you felt bad.

"I'm sorry. You guys shouldn't have to worry about me. Focus on the shoot, I'll be okay." You assured them.

"I didn't say that for you to be guilty." Hongjoong raised an eyebrow.

"I know, Joong. I wouldn't want you guys compromising your image just to protect me as well. Seriously, there are people around, he won't try to do anything." You said.

"Just stick with Eden or your friends if we're filming okay?" Wooyoung placed a hand on your thigh. You nodded with a hum.

This reminded you of the harrassment situation back in Korea. The reason why you didn't want to tell anyone else. You couldn't have them sacrificing their image, their career, their reputation as idols for you. It wasn't worth it.

"Go film! It's the last day, give it your all. Even if I know you guys always do." You chuckled, waving them off, trying to show that you're unbothered so they wouldn't worry anymore.

"Watch us." Yunho grinned, patting your head with a soft smile. You gave a thumbs up as they went to continue filming.

"Wow, you're really close with them, aren't you?" Jihyun raised an eyebrow as you sat with her.

"Do idols usually separate themselves from the crew?" You asked.

"Sometimes, just because they're closer and have their own stuff to do. Doesn't mean they're rude of unfriendly, they're still playful with everyone." Sohee shrugged.

"But they seem to really care about you. Like the way Yunho sshi patted your head just now." Jihyun pointed out.

"I've been working closely with them every day for the past few months since I've joined the company so I guess we're closer than work colleagues. Especially Hongjoong and Mingi since he's always in the studio with me producing." You reasoned. The two girls nodded, it made perfect sense.

"They're good boys. Playful and chaotic but honest and hardworking." Jihyun said. You agreed, seeing them in the studio and filming, they are very hard workers.

"Hey, Indigo. You got a little something on your mask." Sohee pointed. You hadn't even noticed.

"Do you need a spare? But I only have pink ones." Jihyun offered. She must have noticed you only wore white or black masks.

"No need, I have some spares. Thanks for telling me, I didn't even notice when I went to the bathroom earlier. That's embarrassing." You said shyly.

"It's not! It happens." The two assured you.

"I'll be right back." You stood up and went into the artists resting room. You knew that Mingi always had some spare masks in his bag, he had them in case you ever needed one.

Going behind the curtain, you removed your current mask and checked to see that there were some finger stains. Your hands must have been dirty when you put it back on after eating. This is why you mostly prefer wearing black masks over white ones.

"So that's what you look like." The curtain drew back, making you jump back in shock. Seyoon stood there, a smirk on his face. What made you stunned was the recording camera in his hands.

"Stop!" You yelled, scrambling to find the dirtied mask to wear. You reached for the camera but he held it away.

"I think now, you owe me an apology. Don't think you're all high and mighty just because you're some one hit wonder producer." He grabbed your collar.

"Let go of me!" You squirmed.

"YAH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" A loud shout made Seyoon turn around. Even so, his grip on you was relentless.

The Ateez boys, managers, Eden and some staff members stood there in anger and shock, witnessing the scene before them. Seyoon's eyes widened, he didn't think anyone heard you shout.

BAM!

"Mingi!" Hongjoong and Yunho went forward, holding the tall rapper back and pulling him away from the fallen male. Seyoon was on the ground, holding his jaw in pain. Mingi's force made Seyoon released you immediately but you dropped to the ground. Your heart pounded in your ears and you had no control of your body.

"Get a hold of yourself!" You've never seen or heard Yunho yell before but now that you have, it scared you. Everything was so loud, you wanted to curl into a ball and just be away from everyone.

"Indigo." Seonghwa moved first, rushing to your side on the ground. Your head hung low while your eyes shifted from left to right, your entire being shaking.

"Breathe, sweetheart. Breathe." Wooyoung was on the right, rubbing your back to get you to catch your breath.

"Let's clear the room. Get Mingi out of here. Now." The managers stepped in immediately.

"We're pressing charges." Hongjoong said to no one in particular as he and Yunho removed Mingi from the room. Two bodyguard came and grabbed Seyoon and escorted him out.

"H-He... H..." You tried to form words but nothing was coming out coherent.

"Ca-Came...ra..." Was all you could say. But Wooyoung seemed to know what you meant. He left you with Seonghwa and left the room.

"He got her on video! Where's the damn camera he was using?!" You heard him yelling outside. Seonghwa pulled your head to his chest but you couldn't stop shaking. Your mind was racing and tears blurred your vision.

"I..." You choked as dark spots appeared and you blacked out.

~

Series Masterlist

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

If I ask you to gush about size difference Style *cough* big boy Stan and short Kyle *cough* would you?

FUCK YEAH I WILL!!! Lmao how many times have I gushed about size difference style way too many and BY GOD I’ll never stop

My NUMBER ONE reason to be an enthusiast is the Style Carry™️ ugh I love that shit so much especially because angry spicy little Kyle “reluctantly” being picked up by his gentle giant knight in shining armor Stan is just so iconic. Particularly because I will never not find pissed off Kyle hilarious. Stubborn little asshole.

Big boy Stan particularly is dear to me because that boy is a sentimental loser with a canonical hoarding problem and just. Him holding onto old clothes. Staniel that AC/DC shirt from 9th grade is begging for mercy no it does not still fit you. And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again intimidating at first glance characters being absolute softies is PRECIOUS. The definition of looks like he could kill you is a cinnamon roll. That’s my sensitive son Stanathan.

Conversely Kyle being looks like a cinnamon roll could kill you. Just too good. Even PCE Kyles who tend to lean more towards the less outwardly aggressive side, more the logician, they’re still fiercely stubborn and determined and can out argue anyone but his mother and God. Bro packs a hardcore punch and will not hesitate to if it comes to that, and it’s hysterical when he’s fighting someone much bigger than him. People expect Stan to jump in with a “pick on someone your own size” but Stan knows his super best boyfriend.

Also size difference style cuddles. Kyle using Stan as a pillow, casually sitting in his lap, resting his head on those beefy arms, and Stan coming up behind Kyle to drape over him like a dog that thinks they’re still a puppy, kissing the top of his curls, just AAAA. And honestly there’s nothing more iconic than small Kyle scolding big Stan for something and Stan just folding bc a big guy looking so pathetic and sorry is funny as shit bonus because Kyle can’t stay mad at those sad animal eyes.

Worth noting that the handful of times I’ve written Kyle as the taller of the two Stan’s still a big boy. Elf Kyle may be tall and lithe but Knight Stan is still big and built, just slightly shorter. Yes this is primarily because I want the Style Carry™️ to be relatively natural and easy. I’m a Whumpshot wizard of simple pleasures.

Now, I’ve seen chubby Kyle headcanons and read fics where he’s gotten fat. I like that too. Personally, I prefer Kyle on the thin side, because a lot of people who struggle with self worth and acceptance tend to deal with anxiety and trouble eating, and we do see that in Kyle. That feels very Kyle to me idk. I just see him on the short and skinny side in general, which makes his actual personality that much more iconic. Unassuming in appearance, but a powerhouse.

[starguardianniom]

Billy, Big Daddy and Caesar headcanons

I totally headcanon these 3 as family, with Billy and Big Daddy being Caesar's dads after her parents died. Here are more headcanons of mine with them as family:

Big Daddy was the one who raised her the most between himself and Billy but Billy is the one who taught her how to fight and ride a bike, and also gave her his spare arm when she lost hers, and then taught her how to repair, modify and clean it.

Caesar as a kid saw them as her dads and also thought they were married because she once heard another member of the gang saying that Big Daddy and Billy were like an old married couple, which made her think they were married. Cue her asking them where their wedding pictures were. Billy laughed so hard that he short-circuited and Bid Daddy had to repair him stat. They then had a 3 hours long about how they were not married and just best friends instead while also being boss and employee. Caesar still secretly ships them even to this day, even if she knows it will probably not happen, but she sure likes to tease them a lot for it. Her main argument is "You guys always fall asleep together when you listen to classical music!" and they answer that it's the fastest way for them to go to sleep. Note that they do not sleep next to one another most of the time, but they are still close enough that they fall asleep quickly.

Billy is the strict one between the 2 of them. He is more worried because Caesar is not made of metal like he is so he is less permissive with her than Big Daddy is, because Big Daddy feels that sheltering Caesar and not letting her make mistakes will not help her so he is more hands off and had to order Billy more than once to let her do stuff. That's because ever since Billy gave Caesar his spare arm she developed quite the hero worship of him and wanted to be just like him so she tried to mimic him a lot and followed him around like a lost puppy and doing everything he did. Unfortunatly Billy can do stuff that no humans can do so he had to hide himself a lot sometimes just so she wouldn't dare to try some of his stunts that would kill anyone else who was flesh and bones, like walking up to poisonous snakes or inhaling toxic gaz or taking a dip in boiling oil.

Billy refuses to sees himself as her dad and thinks it's just Big Daddy who's Caesar's dad, and he prefers being refered to as her older brother, but when she was little Caesar swore that she would only call Billy big brother if she outgrew him, she did not so she just calls him little brother out of spite for him being taller than her (the little part is out of spite, not the brother part).

Caesar beats up anyone who dares to refer Billy as "it" or just a machine with no feelings or thoughts to himself. That's because she saw Big Daddy beating up someone who had dared insulted Billy on account of his artificial nature and just imitated him and got into a lot of fights for it with a lot of people, she didn't dare tell Billy about it, but she told Big Daddy, while also telling him that she specifically used Billy's arm to do most of the beatings so it would be like he got justice served by himself, while also saying it was a good practice for her to get used to her arm, Big Daddy just lets her because he has no room to talk as he would do the same in her shoes, so they have a silent agreement about not telling Billy about it.

Unlike Caesar and Lighter, Billy is stronger than Big Daddy which is why he's the Champion. He also never has been defeated by Caesar, no matter how much stronger she got under him, he's the one she can never beat. She did manage to beat Big Daddy in a fight, which is when he decided to retire and let her be the leader.

Big Daddy is the one who got Billy into New Eridu when Billy left, and also gave him The Girls for extra protection.

Caesar still thinks Billy leaving the Outer Ring was a messy breakup between him and Big Daddy that ended up on good terms, but still messy enough that Billy refuses to go back to the Sons of Calydon, it wasn't a messy breakup at all between them it was a very nice send off because Billy asked to retire after the breakup of the Calydonian biker gang into the Sons of Calydon and just kept pushing his leave later until Big Daddy found him a successor in Lighter because it was Big Daddy's condition.

Caesar calls Billy "lil bro" in public but in the privacy of her mind she calls him dad, but dares not call him that as the one time she did he basically shut down from the mental pain of being called that instead of her actual father who was his boss and that he lost and he never forgave himself for it and doesn't see himself worthy of being called that at all. It took Billy a full week to recover from the shock.

Big Daddy and Billy are the dads of the Sons of Calydon even if Billy doesn't see himself as such, but no one dares call him dad to his face and instead call him brother, but they all think he's their adopted dad number 2, with Lighter, Lucy and Piper especially prefering him while Burnice prefers Big Daddy. BIg Daddy made it clear that if he's not around but Billy is it will be Billy that will be in charge, not Caesar or Lucy and nobody dares to protest that.

Billy and Big Daddy view each other as besties and sworn brothers for life, and about the only thing that can make them get out of their retirement of the Sons of Calydon is hearing about the other having been hurt. Then all bets are off. Same goes for Caesar, they personally are hunting down Lucius for his plot almost getting her killed, Billy is scouting New Eridu while Big Daddy scouts the Outer Ring. Billy also is doing it for free and not as a member of the Cunning Hares, but as Caesar's brother. Also has payback given Caesar was giving Perlman back without anything in exchange, so it's equal exchange in his eyes, and it's the only thing he'll fight Nicole on and will refuse to compromise for.

Big Daddy was Billy's mechanic in the Outer Ring, given Billy was his bodyguard it only made sense to him that for his services he would be personally attended to by him, he didn't trust anyone else but himself when it came to Billy's repairs. He only let Lucy, Burnice and Piper on when he was away or incapacitated, and gave them entire courses on how to take care of Billy.

[reedfulton]

hii!! I was wondering if we can get some of your charlie/fulton hcs, or just about them in general. I saw on your fulton rarepairs post that they were one of your pairs and i’d love to hear more on what you have to say about them (bc you didn’t get to in the post) bc I really love them and their paring.

omg absolutely!! sorry, i've totally abandoned tumblr because of school commitments and stuff so i hope this ask isn't too old lmao. but anyway, here are some of my hcs for them!! they're one of my favorite pairs ever and i'm honestly very surprised that more people don't ship them.

i've always said that i think they're childhood friends. i think i posted something about it a long time ago and then proceeded to not elaborate on it, but i always thought that fulton's home life wasn't great and so he was kind of allowed (or forced) to wander minneapolis/stillwater just to get out of the house. i did the math at one point and realized that the diner that casey works at is kind of in-between the heart of minneapolis and stillwater, so it wouldn't be insane to think that fulton might have ended up at the diner a lot as a kid. i think he and casey became 'friends' first (casey practically adopted him) and then when casey brought charlie to the diner because she didn't have anyone to watch him, they became fast friends

their friendship started off so well because fulton was extremely shy and charlie could talk to a brick wall and make good conversation, so charlie didn't really expect anything from fulton and fulton has no problem sitting and listening and retaining information from stories and stuff. that's kind of how their relationship works too lmao. charlie's always talking about random things and his wikipedia deep dives and hockey stats and fulton will definitely talk back if he has something to say, but sometimes charlie just needs a sounding board and fulton is more than happy to be that for him (and charlie is very impressed with all the random stuff fulton remembers just because charlie's the one that told him)

fulton's had a crush on charlie since they were in peewees. i don't think they were still super close when fulton joined the ducks, but they definitely still spoke to each other in class and stuff, and fulton joining sparked their friendship (and fulton's feelings for charlie) again. it's a super cute puppy-love kind of crush, and fulton has absolutely no clue how to deal with it lol. it's also definitely why fulton was watching the D5 games before he ever joined the team, and why he was so ready to fight the hawks the second he had the opportunity.

they definitely have one of those relationships where most people can't even tell if they're best friends or dating. they don't really do PDA (other than charlie laying on him like a cat, which he also does with a lot of people), and 'dude' is their main term of endearment in public lol.

casey LOVES fulton so much it's insane. charlie jokes that when they come home for breaks, she's more excited to see fulton than she is to see him and hes right

fulton's the little spoon but he'd kill anyone that ever found out

charlie is exactly 3 inches taller than fulton and it pisses fulton off to NO END. charlie knows this and definitely teases him about it.

i think once charlie bulks up a bit (probably like junior/senior year) they get to a point where they can wear each other's clothes and then just. never stop. at this point they don't even know who's clothes originally belonged to who anymore.

their first kiss happens after a game where charlie got injured and fulton felt so bad that he couldn't do anything about it that he's fussing over charlie in the locker room afterwards and bumbling his way through apologizes and charlie just. kisses him to shut him up as a funny haha joke but then realizes how fulton reacted to it and is like "oh shit this is actually A Thing"

fulton fell first charlie fell harder

they don't do PDA but they're all over each other the second they're alone. both of them have definitely made the other one irish goodbye at multiple events just so they can go home and make out and cuddle

sorry if these make ZERO sense i definitely was Not writing these at work :D. but i love talking about them so thank you so much for this ask! if you have any other prompts or ideas for them or anything do not hesitate to reach out, now that my semester is over and i'm just working full-time i totally have extra time and want to be more active on here :]

[andipxndy-writes]

crushes

fandom: abbott elementary warnings: none requested by: @nyx101sthings word count: 6.7k

cross-posted to ao3

summary: Let's be honest: Gregory's crush on Janine was obvious to everyone. Or, rather, almost everyone. But that didn't mean they were all going to talk to him about it. No, instead they were just going to sit back and watch, maybe get some popcorn, act as though they didn't know a thing when almost all of them were also aware of Janine reciprocating the crush and neither of them realising. The one person who didn't know? Well, he's obviously determined to get them together. In other words: how the teachers at Abbott realised that Gregory and Janine liked each other.

crushes

1: Melissa

Melissa first noticed Gregory’s looks a month into his first year there. Sure, he was only a sub, covering for someone who wasn’t there, but the way he was looking at Janine made her think that he was going to be there a lot longer than just the year.

Of course, she wasn’t the type to voice her suspicions, considering that sort of gossip was the sort of thing that could absolutely embarrass a teacher and make the rest of their career absolute hell—

Oh who was she kidding.

“So what’s up with the lovesick puppy?” she asked as she sat down next to Barbara. The two were on their lunch break in the staff kitchen and, for some reason, there were no other teachers in there. Not that they were complaining. They were likely all on lunch duties or going out for lunch or something like that.

Barbara looked up from her sandwich at Melissa’s question, raising an eyebrow at her. “Lovesick puppy?”

“Yeah, you know.” The redhead unwrapped her sandwich as she spoke, not once taking her eyes off her co-worker and best friend. “That boy can’t keep his eyes off Janine whenever she’s around. Like he’s never seen anyone that small, but he actually likes it.”

“Well, considering the young man’s height, it may very well be the case that he’s used to being around tall people anyway,” Barbara pointed out, and Melissa scoffed.

“We’re all used to being around taller people in general,” she pointed out. At Barbara’s raised eyebrow, she corrected herself: “Taller adults. But that doesn’t mean we stare at Janine all day wondering how she could be so small.”

“We’ve had two years to get used to it.”

“There is something up with that kid,” Melissa insisted. “He just… he stares at her. Like he can’t stop staring at her. It’s so—”

“Weird?” Barbara offered, and Melissa knew that the woman was probably hoping to stop her from saying anything else.

She wasn’t going to give her that luxury.

“—freaky.” She ignored the way Barbara rolled her eyes at her. “I’m serious! He just always stares at her, like there’s nothing else he’d rather be looking at! It’s concerning! He might walk into a door or something.” Which would be more entertaining than concerning for Melissa, if she was being honest, but she still had to show that she cared at least a little bit for the other teachers. Or she would look like a real bitch.

And she was only a bit of a bitch.

Barbara’s lack of response simply told Melissa that her work bestie was thinking the exact same thing, but she believed she had the decency to not say it out loud. Or, at least, that she liked Gregory enough to not go around saying those kinds of things.

Such a godly woman.

“Come on, you can’t seriously be telling me that you don’t find this whole staring thing as creepy as I do.”

“Well.” Melissa raised her eyebrows at Barbara. The other woman was clearly considering her words carefully. Which only made Melissa want to laugh, really, because there wasn’t any way that you could consider your words carefully in this situation without sounding like you were calling Gregory a creep. Not in her opinion (and she knew that her opinion was right).

“Well, what?”

“Is it really that bad to have a man admiring you? Not that I can really see what Gregory admires so much in Janine,” Barbara added on quickly, only for Melissa to hold her hand up to stop her.

The redhead knew that was an outright lie coming out of the kindergarten teacher’s mouth. “Come on, you know the kid’s at least attempting to be good at her job despite her shortcomings.”

“If that was meant to be a pun,” Barbara let the empty threat hang, making Melissa laugh. “Regardless, if it isn’t harming anyone for him to do a bit of admiring—”

“Sure, sure, as long as it isn’t interfering with his job.” Melissa waved off the argument. She supposed Barbara had a good point. If it wasn’t getting in the way of him doing his job, and if it didn’t get in the way of Janine doing her job either, then there wasn’t any point bringing it up as an issue.

——

Melissa noticing that Janine had a crush on Gregory took longer than it should have for her, admittedly, but she wasn’t surprised by it in the slightest. Considering how long she’d been with that tool, Tariq, Melissa got the feeling that any piece of decent meat would be good enough for her.

Gregory, though? The guy was nice, but Janine had to have better standards.

The only thing that Melissa would commend her on was not being obvious about it as the guy who was so obviously crushing on her — Melissa didn’t know whether the young woman knew it yet, considering how dense Janine could be, but if she did know then she was setting good boundaries and standards. And if she didn’t know, well. Then Gregory had to open his big mouth and say something.

“That little knock thing they do is kind of cute,” she commented to Barbara over a little girlfriend coffee date. Her coffee mug steamed in her hands as she glanced out of the window, as though she could see Janine and Gregory walking past right then. Except she couldn’t because neither of them would come to this side of Philly on a weekend unless they’d planned to meet up with someone, and as far as she knew their dating lives were either uneventful or not the type to come down this way.

(Not that she was complaining about that — those bubbly upstarts could leave this side of Philly for the rest of them.)

Barbara raised a single eyebrow as she sipping on her cup of tea, watching Melissa. “Knocking thing?”

“Yeah, knocking thing.” Melissa rapped on the table as if to demonstrate. “Becomes a bit of a pain in the ass when you realise they’re using it to ask each other for conversations during class hours.”

That was what made Barbara roll her eyes. “During class hours?”

“Yeah.” Melissa watched her friend carefully, recognising that steely look in her eye. The look of a mother who wanted to tell off her child. “Barb, don’t. Don’t interfere with that little cutesy thing they’ve got going on. It’ll either blossom or fade.”

“They’re asking each other for conversations during class hours.”

“Blossom, or fade.”

The repeated phrase was enough to get Barbara to deflate a little, and she sighed into her tea. “Fine.” She took a sip of her hot beverage. “Let’s hope they pick one soon.”

For the safe of their classroom wall, Melissa hoped for the same thing.

***

2: Barbara

Contrary to what she’d told Melissa, Barbara had noticed Gregory’s affection for Janine within two weeks of him being at the school.

It wasn’t like he was hiding the whole thing. He probably thought he was doing a whole lot better at it than he actually was, but Barbara absolutely knew that the man looked and acted like a lovesick puppy.

That sort of thing was hard to hide from onlookers. (Particularly when some of those onlookers were camera crew specifically paid to watch every hour of their working days — she hadn’t seen the footage yet, and doubted that she would see it anytime soon, but she got the feeling that the majority of those longing looks that Gregory was sending Janine’s way were being caught on camera.) It was sweet, though, if Barbara was being honest. It reminded her of her younger days, when men had tried to date her (or rather, court her) and she’d turned them down but had still received those longing looks. Longing looks that remained even after she’d got married.

That sort of thing had been unavoidable when she was younger. When people had found her undeniably attractive, a brand-new teacher ready to take on the education system and make the world a better place through the nation’s children.

Looking at Janine, she idly wondered whether it was the optimism for improving the educational system that had made her attractive all those years ago.

Instead of trying to gossip about it, though (like she knew certain teachers would), she decided it would be better to let the whole thing run its course. After all, as with most of the men that had crushed on her in the past, it would most likely fade over time.

She could definitely pinpoint the first moment she’d noticed it, though. Heading to Janine’s class to ask her for something (she’d borrowed a pen from her that morning, and Barbara wanted it back), she’d almost bumped into Gregory standing in the corridor. He was standing there to make sure his kids were walking into the classroom properly, of course, but his eyes weren’t focused on the kids. Barbara could easily see that his eyes weren’t focused on the kids.

No, they were focused on the young teacher with her back to him, who was guiding her own kids into her classroom.

Barbara decided to wait for a few moments to see if he would notice that there was someone else there, before clearing her throat. The way he jumped and turned quickly to her was entertaining to a couple of the kids until Barbara glared at them.

“I would advise that you keep an eye on your children instead of watching how other teachers do it, Mr. Eddie,” she chided lightly, hoping that she sounded more like she was offering advice than telling him off. “Some of these kids know how to make you… work for your money.”

He stared at her for a few moments, before nodding. Not even an appreciative smile on his face. “Of course. Thank you for the suggestion, Mrs. Howard.”

She continued to watch him for a few moments, to see if he would follow her advice straight away, but he was still staring at her, so she nodded. Like she was finishing the conversation. “Fantastic. Now, if you’d just let me past? I need to speak with Miss Teagues.”

“Oh!” Gregory quickly moved to the side, forcing the last of his kids to walk in a wider circle around him to get into the classroom so that Barbara could pass. “Of course. I apologise, Mrs. Howard.”

“It’s no problem at all.” She gave him one last smile before passing him, giving one of his kids a high-five as they passed her before heading over to Janine. Even as she walked over, she was very sure that she could feel Gregory’s lingering gaze on herself and the younger teacher before he followed his kids into his classroom and started the lesson.

That boy really had to practice getting better at hiding his feelings.

——

What took her longer to notice was the fact that the feelings weren’t exactly a one-way thing. No, they were reciprocated.

“Are you still with that boy?” she asked, and she knew that the expression on her face was some sort of mix between disgust and surprise. She also knew that Janine’s reaction to her comment was a very poorly veiled offense that she quickly tried to cover up with laughter.

“Who, Tariq?” the younger teacher laughed, scratching her arm (a nervous habit, Barbara had noticed) as she glanced away. “No, no. I, uh… we split up.” She gave half a shrug. “We thought it would be, you know, better if we went our separate ways. He had his path in life, I have mine.”

Barbara wasn’t exactly convinced that Janine was so sure about that herself, but she nodded anyway, offering the young woman what she hoped was a comforting smile. “Of course. Everyone has their own path in life, and that means that someone you may have known for a specific period in your life needs to leave. Not everyone needs to be in your life all the time.”

“Of course, I know that.” Janine was still laughing a bit, and it sounded more forced now, like she was trying to convince herself more than Barbara. “But I’ll be fine! Really. I just need a bit of time to adjust to paying the rent, and I’ll be perfectly okay.”

Barbara wasn’t sure what to think about the language that Janine was using, but if it was the sort of language that convinced her that things were going to be okay — if this sort of positivity was what was helping her through this breakup, then she wasn’t going to tell her to stop using it. God knew that she didn’t need the girl being all negative on her anytime soon.

Before she could say anything, though, she spotted Gregory coming out of his classroom from where she and Janine were standing outside the second grade classrooms. The man was very clearly getting ready to leave, briefcase in hand and coat on as though he was completely done for the day and ready to go. But the interesting part wasn’t even Gregory coming out of his classroom and getting ready to go.

It was the way Janine watched him as he left the classroom, her eyes focused on him. It was the way her hand moved from scratching her arm to gently playing with her necklace, the way she ever so slightly bit her lip as she stared at him. It was the way her lips curved up the slightest bit, as though she wanted to smile, but didn’t know what exactly she was smiling at, so decided against it. It was the way she watched him keenly, as though she was waiting for him to turn around and talk to her.

It was the same way Barbara had watched Melissa stare at Gary when he’d first started coming in and sorting out the vending machine for them. It was the same way that she’d seen her daughter stare at Gregory the first couple of times that she’d seen him.

It was the same way her sister had described her looking at her husband when they’d first met.

She barely hid the smirk that threatened to grow on her face when Gregory turned towards them, and Janine’s face lit up.

“Hey, Janine, you good?”

“Yeah!”

“Your car still in the shop?”

Barbara’s eyebrows rose as she looked at Janine. “Your car’s in the shop?”

“Yeah, it’s in the shop.” Barbara didn’t know whether Janine had intended to ignore her or not, but she had.

“You want a ride home?”

Barbara could practically see the blush on Janine’s face. “Sure! Let me just grab my stuff.” That was the point at which Janine seemed to realise that Barbara was still there, and the smile she gave her this time was ten times more realistic than the forced laugh from earlier. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Howard!”

Barbara simply watched Janine rush in and grab her stuff, and then glanced at Gregory. Gregory, who smiled awkwardly at Barbara, as though he felt as if he knew that she knew he was crushing on the woman getting her stuff ready. She simply chuckled as she popped her head into Janine’s classroom.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Janine,” she said, before turning to walk back to her classroom. “You too, Gregory.”

Even as she walked back to her classroom, though, she shook her head.

If those two were as oblivious as they were behaving, then this whole crushing thing they had for each other was going to be their entertainment for the rest of the academic year.

***

3: Ava

Gregory’s crush on Janine was obvious. Too obvious. Ava was pretty sure she’d spotted it super early on, but she also knew that she couldn’t let on that she knew about it. Because as fine as that man was, he also had a sense of pride and she wasn’t going to hurt that.

No, no, a man with a wounded pride simply made him less attractive. She had to keep the one good looking man on her staff as attractive as possible.

Still, the looks were pretty obvious. Aside from the fact that almost everything was on camera (and she got access to that footage, mostly to make sure they caught shots of her good side), that man spent way too many working hours staring at the shortest teacher in the school. And that was a long way down to look, in Ava’s opinion. (She was much closer to his height and probably better looking, too.)

All jokes (and shade) aside, Ava didn’t realise all his staring was because he actually liked Janine until she spotted the way he hung out around her after school. Like some sort of cute little lost puppy looking for someone to give him a good cuddle. In fact, from the look on his face, Ava was very much tempted to head straight over to him and offer him those cuddles (knowing full well that the offer would make him uncomfortable but would also stop him from feeling so lost), but then she realised that he wasn’t just staring into space. He was staring at someone.

She slowly turned, following the direction of his gaze, and almost choked.

Like yeah, sure, he was standing near the door to Janine’s classroom and watching her help a kid out in getting their coat on before they ran out to find their parent or whatever, but what about that warranted staring for hours when you could be doing literally anything else?

Still, she had to admit, whilst him standing there was a little creepy… it was a little funny. Cute. Interesting, even. She didn’t get why a guy like him would stoop down to Janine’s level—

“What’s up, hot stuff?”

The way he jumped and turned to face her was entertaining. The look of shock on his face was pure gold. The way he wasn’t immediately fawning over her was a little disappointing but they could work on that. She had other people who did that already anyway.

“Ava.” She ignored how he still didn’t refer to her as Principal Coleman when he wasn’t around any of the other students — so whenever he didn’t have to. Which was valid. It meant that she could relax around him, right?

“Mr. Eddie,” she greeted with a grin on her face. She shifted to lean on the wall beside the doorway to Janine’s classroom, so that Gregory had no choice but to look at her if he also wanted to look at Janine. Just so that she could feel as though he was paying some sort of attention to her. “Your class all gone? What are you still doing here? You could be going out, taking a lucky lady out on a date.” She flipped her hair. “I could even be that date. You wanna take me out on a date?”

Gregory cleared his throat, folding his hands together behind his back. “I don’t really think that’s appropriate, actually.”

She just grinned at him. “Oh that’s fine. I’ll just ask you again when we get out the main doors. It’ll be appropriate then, right?”

“Hey, Gregory.”

Of course, at that moment, Janine thought it would be a very smart idea to interrupt the conversation — her kid had left through the other door, and she’d grabbed her things to get ready to head home (or to the staff room to grab her stuff before heading home, Ava didn’t really know what her leaving routine was but that was likely because she had a tendency to ignore it). When the tiny woman noticed that Ava was also there, she gave her an equally bright smile — one that made Ava want to roll her eyes at least a little bit.

“Hi, Ava!” Her brows furrowed a little in concern. “Did you need to speak to me about something? Should I go and put my stuff down? Are you calling an impromptu meeting or something—”

“No.” Ava scoffed. “Hell no. I have plans. Sales to make, people to see. Important stuff. Nothing to do with you.” She waved her hand around casually, gesturing vaguely to Janine (no matter how vague she tried to make it, it was obvious that it was aimed at Janine anyway). “I just want to make sure you actually leave the building. Don’t need any squatters.” The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she saw the look of irritation flash across Janine’s face, but before the smaller woman could say anything (and before Ava could think about trying to apologise), the principal turned towards Gregory and shot him a sweet smile. “Good night Gregory. Make sure you get home safe. I want to see that gorgeous ass in the morning.”

She knew for a fact that he was staring with some sort of horrified look into one of the many cameras scattered around the school, but she didn’t care. Because she also knew that those two would probably stand there chatting for hours if they had it their way, and she’d warned them about leaving the school. Glancing over her shoulder, she almost smirked at the way Gregory had physically relaxed around Janine, hands in his pockets as they chatted.

Hmm. She’d have to ask Gregory how long they hung around for tomorrow. Couldn’t have teachers loitering around the school after everyone else has left. That was her job.

——

Realising that Janine liked Gregory back was easy. Stupidly so, in Ava’s mind. That woman was about as bad at hiding her feelings for the incredibly sexy tall man as she was at reaching things on high shelves.

Like, sure, maybe it wasn’t the totally obvious staring that Gregory did when he thought the cameras weren’t watching him, but that tiny woman gravitated like the moon to a planet. With emphasis on moon to planet because moons were small and planets were large… right? (See, Ava did learn something at school.)

If Ava was being honest though, at first she thought that Janine was doing that incredibly annoying thing of picking a person and sticking to them like glue until they either befriended her or got annoyed with her. She’d watched her attempt to do it with Barbara, Melissa, and that whole slew of new teachers she started teaching at Abbott with. (Jacob was the only one who seemed to go along with her stupid method of making friends, which made a lot of sense to Ava. Weirdos attracting weirdos and all that.)

It was when she realised that the two of them talked just as much alone as they did around the other teachers that she realised something was up. Yeah, yeah, she’d always seen the chemistry between them that was there before and all that, but talking? Alone? Janine cornered people, but that look on her face when she was talking alone with Gregory was a different sort of look.

It was the same look that Iggy gave her when he thought she wasn’t really paying attention to his expressions during a conversation. Which at first she’d thought was creepy, but then she realised it was cute because he was paying attention to her and she definitely appreciated having someone paying attention to her at all times.

But it was the look of someone who believed that the person they were talking to way important, and Janine very clearly thought that Gregory was important. Important enough to have conversations with alone instead of with the group, and long conversations at that.

Of course, when she mentioned this in passing to Iggy, he told her that she was probably reading too much into it. Like her snooping wasn’t the sort of thing to get the right results. Except Ava knew she was brilliant at snooping and retrieving the right information and she knew for a fact that something was up with Janine.

Her suspicions, of course, were only confirmed when she overheard Melissa and Barbara talking about it in the staff room one lunch time, when Gregory and Janine were out on lunch duty. She paused in making her coffee to overhear the conversation.

“Are they still doing the knocking thing?”

“Yeah, I can see them doing it from across the corridor.”

“…Don’t you think it’s getting disruptive now?”

“If it was disruptive, it would’ve been disruptive from the moment they started doing it.”

“So are you saying it’s not disruptive?”

“I’m just saying that it’s… well, it’s them being them about it.”

“Flirty?”

“Those two don’t know how to flirt.”

“So you two have noticed the little looks and talks between those two as well?” Ava suddenly asked, turning around to face them with her coffee in one hand and the sugar in another. “It’s about time! I thought I was the only one!” She put the sugar down as she made herself welcome at their table, ignoring the way the two women stared at her. “That man’s been staring at her like he was thirsty from the moment he arrived in this building, and her? That girl wants to glue herself to him like her life depends on it.” She grinned at the two women. “I knew I couldn’t be the only person who noticed.”

Barbara and Melissa glanced between each other, almost as though they were having a silent conversation, before Melissa slowly leaned closer to Ava.

“What else have you seen?”

Ava could not deny that her eyes practically lit up when she heard those words. Now was her chance to spill.

***

4: Mr. Johnson

Mr. Johnson prided himself on being the person who knew anything and everything around the school. Sure, he knew that all those teachers gossiped and spread news and couldn’t keep secrets between them, but he saw everything happen first-hand. He had eyes and ears everywhere. He knew what was going on.

He also knew that the other teachers knew this, so he suspected that was why they tried so hard to gossip amongst each other first so that they didn’t feel like he was spying on them. He was fine with that. He let them believe that he didn’t know everything first. He was willing to let them fall into that false sense of security.

He knew that there was something about Gregory liking Janine before they ended up sitting by the computer screen trying to catch the deskers. Sure, it had been a lot more interesting seeing Gregory’s reaction to Janine up close, watching that young man’s eyes glue to her on the screen like a man seeing an angel. But the way he looked at her from afar? The way that man watched her? That was too obvious.

Pinpointing the exact moment he realised that man was fawning over Miss Teagues was difficult, though, because it was more like you didn’t know and then you knew. At least, that was the way it was in Mr. Johnson’s mind. One day, he had no idea — he just walked around, pretending he was minding his own business whilst snooping on all the teachers and kids, and the next day he just knew that Gregory liked Janine. He knew there was something about her that he was obsessed with. He knew there was something about her that meant Gregory couldn’t take his eyes off her when she was in the room.

Of course, it then became Mr. Johnson’s mission to figure out exactly what it was that made Gregory tick. What made him like Janine? What made him pick Janine over any of the other female teachers? What were that young man’s turn ons and turn offs? It was like his own personal research project, and the results? They were just for him. Like his own personal private research project.

Snooping on the other teachers didn’t exactly help him to figure it out.

What it did help him to figure out, though, was how bad Gregory was at hiding his little crush on Miss Teagues. Staring at a woman for hours on end because you liked her was not the way to go, but clearly Mr. Eddie hadn’t worked that out yet.

The day he realised exactly what it was that made Janine stand out from the rest, he was mopping the end of the corridor. A couple of the kids had stayed behind after school because their parents couldn’t come and pick them up, but he couldn’t wait for everyone to leave before starting on his cleaning, or he’d be there until the morning. That was why he started at the very end of the corridor, beginning his mopping with his Beats headphones covering his ears. But not even LL Cool J could distract him from what was going on at the other end of the first floor corridor.

Gregory was, as usual, standing outside of his classroom and doing his usual staring. Borderline creepy, but he had a soft smile on his face so it seemed a little less so. There was a camera on him, of course.

But his eyes were drawn to the young woman standing across the corridor from Gregory, knelt in front of a child as she helped them to sort out their coat zipper. The way she was talking to them and smiling at them, even though Mr. Johnson couldn’t hear what they were saying he had an idea of what was going on. Something about that zipper being difficult to sort out, so it’s not their fault that they couldn’t do it up, or something like that. Or maybe she was showing them how to do their zipper so that they could do it next time.

Either way, whatever she was doing or saying was enough to have that young man’s eyes glued to her. Which was more than a little interesting.

And then, suddenly, she was done. The zipper on the coat was up, and the kid was grinning at her with that huge gap in their teeth, probably from a tooth they’d lost or something. Maybe one of the other kids had even punched it out. But the little gap-toothed angel bid his teacher farewell before running off down the corridor, massive backpack on their back bouncing along with them as they headed in the direction Mr. Johnson assumed their parent would be.

The moment he focused on the teachers again, he watched as Gregory quickly looked away when Janine turned towards him, as though he hadn’t been staring the whole time, and smirked to himself, continuing to mop.

That boy was head over heels for her.

——

You would think that, after figuring out that Mr. Eddie had a crush on Miss Teagues, observing the opposite would be the same. And in the case of Mr. Johnson, you would be right.

Maybe she wasn’t as obvious about it as Mr. Eddie was, but he could still see it. He could still see the way she tended to linger around him and talk to him more than with other teacher. She smiled more when she talked to him. She always found a way to sit next to him in meetings, and he didn’t get annoyed like the other teachers.

She even forfeited sitting next to Jacob for some of those meetings.

The moment he first noticed it, though? He was in one of the school’s many rooms, looking out of the window across the school parking lot. He watched as Janine arrived in her car, the tiny teacher’s vehicle recognisable in the parking lot as the only one that regularly needed work done on it. Like she couldn’t afford to go to a garage or something. The body looked good today, but the exhaust? Sounded bad.

But then she didn’t get out of her car. Mr. Johnson stood at the window, watching her, waiting for her to just… get out of her vehicle and come inside. Like the usually did. All peppy and excited about her teaching day, irritating the rest of them with her positivity at that time of the morning without coffee. But she was sitting in her car, not moving. Maybe even waiting for something.

That was when he realised that she was waiting for someone.

And the only reason he realised that was because a couple of cars down, a certain Mr. Eddie parked his car. Obviously it was a smoother ride than hers, and his exhaust definitely didn’t sound like shit, but as soon as his engine turned off and his car door opened, Janine’s car door also opened. And she was climbing out at the same time as him. And she was smiling brightly at him.

Mr. Johnson didn’t need to have the windows open to know the conversation they were having. He just watched the two of them with a smirk as Janine closed and locked her car, before heading over to him, still chatting and smiling brightly. He shook his head a little as the two of them spoke for a bit, before heading towards the school building together.

There was no way in hell that those two could be less subtle about their crushes on each other. But waiting in that car for him to arrive before walking into the building with him? That was dedication. And a dedicated woman was a strong candidate for a good partner, if Mr. Johnson did say so himself.

He watched them as they walked towards the main entrance, nudging each other playfully and laughing. Like they were more than colleagues.

More than friends.

“Those two couldn’t be more oblivious if they tried,” he muttered, shaking his head with a smile.

“Mr. Johnson?” Ava’s voice came from the door to the room, but he didn’t bother looking over at her. “What are you doing? The ground floor toilets need cleaning before the tiny menaces come in and wreck them.”

He wanted to sigh, but Ava had a point. Those kids sure knew how to wreck a toilet.

“Just keeping an eye on the lovebirds,” he commented casually as he moved to head out of the room, pulling his mop along beside him. “Someone’s gotta make sure those two are keeping that little game they play interesting.”

He didn’t say much else as he headed out of the room, but he knew that Ava headed over to the window to see what he was talking about.

He also knew that Ava already knew about Gregory (that much was obvious), and probably also knew about Janine as well. And he knew that he didn’t need to wait around for any comments that she was going to make about them to the open air.

He’d probably overhead everything again later, during lunch time in the staff room. Those women could spread some juicy gossip when Janine and Gregory weren’t there.

***

5: Jacob

Jacob was oblivious. To everything. That was what he realised when he found out that Gregory liked Janine.

He was oblivious to his own friend liking his work bestie.

He wanted to claim that it wasn’t obvious. After all, it wasn’t as though Gregory had told him that he liked Janine in that way, and everyone had a habit of staring at Janine. Granted, most people only stared when she was saying or doing something that was kind of stupid, but Gregory’s staring wasn’t out of place. He was looking at Janine for good reason most of the time that Jacob noticed. Like, a good, valid reason that was relevant to the situation that they were in.

And Gregory never seemed to stare when Janine wasn’t talking about something important or valid.

Besides, he was a good teacher. Whenever Jacob hung around them both, he didn’t feel ignored by either of them. Gregory let him be his friend, and they talked. He was a good guy.

In other words, there was no way that Jacob would’ve been able to tell that Gregory had a crush on Janine until he’d been told outright.

And apparently every other teacher knew about this whole crush situation, meaning that he was the last person to know. He’d been left in the dark.

Clearly.

When Gregory told him, though, things started to make sense. They all shared the same staff room and parked in the same car park, but somehow Janine and Gregory walked into the building together every day. They all sat at the same table, but Janine always offered Gregory food first, and Gregory always gravitated towards talking to Janine over anyone else.

Of course, that led to his next discovery.

Janine liked Gregory too.

“Why doesn’t anyone tell me any of these things?” Jacob demanded, looking between all of the other teachers in the room. And by all of the other teachers, he meant Barbara, Melissa, and Ava. “You all knew that he has a crush on her, and that she has a crush on him! And no one thought to tell me?”

“We thought you knew!” Melissa argued back. “It was pretty damn obvious! Those two ogle all over each other and have their own little… knocking thing they do to talk to each other during classes.”

“They talk to each other during classes?” Jacob looked like he was about to cry because of a major case of FOMO. “Neither of them talk to me!”

“You’re on a different floor,” Barbara pointed out. “What are they going to do, climb the stairs to have a conversation?”

Jacob’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he really thought through what he had said. Huh. She had a point there. Even as he watched Ava literally pour have a tub of sugar into her coffee, he realised that there was no way he could ask for his friends downstairs to come up and talk to him when they had whole classes to keep an eye on.

But Gregory and Janine liking each other?

“We need to get them to start dating.”

“Absolutely not,” Barbara cut in, stopping Jacob in his tracks, at the same time that Melissa said, “Those two would be absolutely unbearable together.”

“If those two are going to get together, it needs to happen naturally and without us interfering, or it could go terribly wrong,” Barbara pointed out patiently. “We need to let them figure it out themselves. Besides, this has been a big growing year for Janine, and we don’t want to interfere with that by taking over her love life.”

“Plus, I can’t just have two teachers start dating because y’all start shipping them or whatever,” Ava commented casually, sipping on her coffee. “If they date, it’s not going to start on my premises. Can you imagine the kinds of things the parents will say about me if I let two teachers start dating? I’d rather they think they’re doing it behind my back when I actually know what’s going on.”

Jacob looked between the three of them incredulously, his brows furrowed. “You’re just going to… let this go? You’re not going to help them out?” he asked slowly.

“Absolutely not.” Melissa pointed her finger in his face. “And we forbid you from helping them out too.”

“Let it grow organically,” Barbara encouraged. “It’ll be much healthier for them both. Trust us.”

Jacob looked between the three women. Two of them were significantly easier to trust than the third, admittedly, but he supposed Barbara had a point. It would be better for them if things grew organically, if they just let things happen instead of forcing them between the two.

But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Fine,” he muttered, sitting back in his seat with a sigh. “We’ll let it grow organically.” The idea of those two not getting together because they didn’t do anything to help their relationship along kind of worried him, but he pushed it aside. Just to prove to himself that he could listen to them and let the relationship grow organically.

The moment he saw Mr. Johnson walk past that staff room door, though — the moment he saw the man give him a smirk and a little wink — he knew he couldn’t just sit around and wait for them. He had to help them out.

And if that meant talking Gregory into asking Janine out, then so be it.

Now to just find a time to talk to him about it in private…

[photozoi]

Hi there, I have always loved scrolling your blog, but I just noticed that Mr Mung is growing VERY large!! He’s got such a broad chest, and he’s just SO so handsome, but he looks like a tank for a silken, compared to your other ones and even the photos of him with his mother, especially at his age! You don’t have to answer, of course, but I’m wondering if he was maybe part of an outcrossing project, back to borzoi? Or is he just an outlier/a really big silken? I ask mostly because I prefer bigger silkens 😄 The little ones are cute and sweet, and size isn’t a dealbreaker for me, but my girl just turned 6 and so I’m starting my (likely very lengthy) search for Next Puppy. My girl is 33lbs and I think was the biggest girl in her litter, and ideally I’d get another her size or even a bit larger. Her breeder is amazing but really favors silkens on the smaller end of the scale.

I always wanted a borzoi (which is how I found your awesome blog), I’m just not equipped for a dog quite that large, so silkens have become my breed. I’m so enamored with your bean boy (and his sisters are also super gorgeous)!! If you’d be willing to share any info about his pedigree or his breeder I would be super grateful, but I know that this sort of ask from a total stranger on the internet can be a bit fraught, so I won’t be offended or anything if you decline to answer. I appreciate all the adorable photos you’ve shared of all your crew over the years! Thanks for your time 😊

First of all, Thank You! You are very kind.

Also, some of the Bean Boy's broad chest is floof... he has a LOT of it! (He does have a very nice front though). He is bigger but not necessarily an outlier... Larger Silkens are becoming more and more common, which is not necessarily a good thing but which should make your quest easier. If you like Borzoi then you probably know that a mature male stands at least 28 inches at the shoulder and weighs 75 to 105 pounds (and that females will be smaller.)

At least 28 inches. Most are 31 or 32. But think about that. The accepted measurements for Silken Windhounds (according to ISWS) are 18.5 -23.5 inches (47-60 cm) at the withers. If you follow the written standards for the breeds that means that (using males as an example) there are only 4.5 inches separating a small Borzoi from a large Silken. The larger a Silken gets, the closer it gets to infringing on Borzoi height. And there are a LOT of Silkens out there that are taller than the standard. (We are only discussing size here, not other conformation considerations.) Americans seem to like things large, so we end up with Borzoi like our Jeep (36 inches at the shoulder) and Silkens that do not fit the written standard. My Silken, the Imp, is within the standard for males and yet I hear a lot about how small he is. (Small only in others eyes, NOT in his own.) The Brother is on the large side of the standard, but no one ever said anything about the possibility of his being too big! I have never made a secret of my dogs sizes or breeding (the Brother is a whopping 50 lbs, the Imp is 30, and the Bean Boy is 43 as of this writing) so here you go:

The Bean Boy and his sisters are from a breeding done by Bijou Silkens (dam) and Satsuma Kennels (sire). Bijou is in Oregon and Satsuma is in Washington State. USA. The Bean Boy is on the large side (like his dad!), his sisters are smaller and weigh about 15 pounds less. They all have nice confirmation and great personalities. The breeders are wonderful and easy to talk to, you can contact them on line. Bijou is a smaller breeder as in does not produce many litters, so depending on your time frame you might try Satsuma first. Remember that if a breeder does not have what you are looking for they probably know someone who does. (And don't get me started on good breeders vs producers!) :D

Did that help at all, or did I totally miss the mark? :D

This ask edited by His IMPerial Majesty, Ruler of ALL the Things and Opinionated Silken.

[chihoshisai]

A Yule Ball Teasing

Pairing : you and Tom Riddle

Word count : 2285

Request : Tom making you jealous on purpose like going to the yule ball with a different date and ignoring you through the night (you're dating btw)

A/N : Thank you to the person who requested this! I genuinely had so much fun writting this !!

-------------------------------------------------------

The yule ball. McGonagall had just announced the news to everyone. Voices started buzzing all over the great hall gradually. Sitting over the slytherin table, you were excited. Ballroom dancing with Tom? You couldn’t be more thrilled. You shot a look filled with expectations towards him. He took notice of your glittering eyes, giving you a courteous smile full of love. That was it. The two of you were going together and you were certain of it. However, although you both had been dating for a while, you weren’t one to lower your standards. You were expecting Riddle to ask you to be his date for the night. Because you were dating, it was without a doubt that you both would attend together, yet you believed in gallantry - and Tom had been doing a great job at it so far - making you wait in anticipation for the way in which he would ask you out. 

As the morning's announcements were now over, students emptied the great hall with fiery conversations. You rushed over to Tom’s side, taking a hold of his arm. “Can you believe it? A ball! I’m so excited!” You lovingly raised your head, as he was considerably taller than you. “Yes, that sounds quite interesting.” Always so aloof. You loved that about him. He wasn’t easy to crack, which made you probe into him relentlessly. Constantly bugging him, trying to know what was on that brilliant - yet sometimes dark - mind of his. Riddle didn’t mind you fussing over him like that, as he took it as a form of affection akin to that of a cute little pet, a puppy. But never uttered those thoughts to you, afraid to cross a line he shouldn’t. He simply loved teasing you. 

“Let’s.” You almost asked him to go together. He gave you an inquisitive look. “Yes?” You avoided eye contact, “let’s practice lots and lots so we can be good dancers. You know, McGonagall said we’d all have to take dance classes.” A convincing recovery. You internally praised yourself for this. To you, it seemed like Riddle didn’t notice that you were actually about to say something else, but the fact was that he understood and feigned ignorance. He knew you so well - thanks to his easy understanding of people - and was already scheming a new way to tease you. “Right, not a skill I ever thought of acquiring, but since the opportunity is there, might as well.” You chuckled at his remark. “You always think so seriously and logically Tom.” 

“Of course. Plus I’m not the one who’ll be stepping on their partner’s feet the whole night.” Partner. Was it coming? The invitation you were awaiting even though he sneakily made fun of you yet again. “Hey, what makes you think you’ll be better at this than me?!” The two of you were now climbing stairs, arms still linked. “Well for starters, I’m not clumsy by nature.” He gave you a certain smirk that caused you to lightly hit him on the shoulder. 

The two of you reached the top of the stairs, Tom broke himself free from the intertwined arms to take a hold of your hands. “Alright then, this is where we part. Have a nice class.” He gave you a peck on the forehead. You sheepishly smiled. “But seriously though, did you really have to take divination?” Why did he always ruin the moment? If you didn't know better you’d say it was on purpose - which was the case - but you fooled yourself into thinking that’s just how he was. Slightly irked, you squeezed his hands with intent. “How many times are you gonna ask me this? And how many times do I have to say that I chose this class because it seemed easy!” He sneered, as he returned the squeeze on your hands tenfold. “Yes, that's right. I wonder why I keep forgetting it.” You almost whimpered at the slight pain coming from your fingers, giving him a mock of a polite smile. 

“Oh, stop it already Tom!” He gently released your hands, before placing his own behind his back. He courtly bended his back, gently deposing a kiss upon your lips. “Later then.” Your ears went slightly red.  “Later,” you timidly replied. He raised himself, smiling at the sight of your ears. You both parted ways and it dawned upon you. He didn’t ask you to be his date to the yule ball! 

Dance classes supervised by Professor McGonagall turned out to be quite tedious. She was rigorous with each student’s training, and as Tom predicted, you stepped on your practice partner’s feet so often that he asked for another one. You plummeted in embarrassment, before finding comfort in Riddle’s gaze. His eyes hid malice and encouragement nonetheless. “Being each other’s practice partner would only ruin the fun,” was what he said. You had then steeled yourself, accepting to be partnered up with whoever wished to have their toes destroyed. 

Still, the one you loved failed to ask you to the ball as days of practice and regular school activities went by. You witnessed other student’s invitations, becoming increasingly jealous of them and anxious at the passing of time. The subject of the yule ball started to irritate you the more you heard about it, which unfortunately was all anyone could talk about daily. 

Your relationship with Tom remained the same, and you dared not bring up the matter, bitterly accepting the fact that you’d be each other’s partner regardless. You went as far as getting a pale blue and white gown, after how Tom said those colors complimented you. You hadn’t informed him of it yet, wanting to surprise him, even if he wasn’t fond of surprises. 

The night of the yule ball arrived. You and Tom had agreed on a time and place to meet. “Let’s meet somewhere other than the Slytherin common room, so we can have a little moment together before the festivities,” was Tom’s idea. Feeling somewhat nervous, you came earlier than expected. However, as time went by you started to get worried about your date. Endless pairs of students passed before you, yet yours was nowhere to be seen. The time of the ball was drawing near and you decided to wing it and go look for him in the common room. It was deserted. You ran back to the meeting place, in the hope that he might be there. Eeven so he wasn’t. You started to think that maybe you had the meeting place wrong. You went about the lifeless Hogwarts running and panting. You got the opportunity to look at the time in your search. You were already thirty minutes late. 

You rushed over to the ball, still concerned about Tom’s whereabouts, hope lingering in the back of your mind that he might already be there. As you entered, your thoughts were right. He was there! However, he was with someone else. You stood there, alone, sweating and breathless, your hairstyle hanging on for dear life, your ankles aching while everyone seemed to have the fun of a lifetime laughing and dancing. A pressure started to obstruct your chest as breathing became more and more difficult. 

You hadn’t had the time to take in the breathtaking look of the decorations as your eyes met his briefly, but Tom quickly returned his attention to his date. Why? Why was he doing this when the two of you were dating? You felt a tingle in your eyes. This won’t do. There was no indication in his behavior let alone the relationship for things to be as they are now. Just even yesterday the two of you were making out in the Room of Requirement! 

You needed an explanation, as you took back the feeling coming from your eyes. You tried to rush over to his side. “Tom!” He took his date and went somewhere else, pretending not to hear your cries over the loud music. Great. Now he was ignoring you. Try hard as you may, you weren’t able to get a hold of him. He swiftly guided his date all over the ballroom, avoiding you like the plague and playing deaf. People were even starting to get suspicious of you, muttering while looking in your direction. Even the teachers looked at you with inquiring eyes. The endless hours you spent tripping over and stepping over others toes suddenly felt meaningless. You practiced so hard for him and yet he couldn’t even acknowledge you, why? 

It was enough for you to leave the room, whilst you failed to notice the smirk that sat on Tom’s face whenever he was sure you weren’t looking. He was relinquishing himself in your behavior along with your facial expressions while also fighting the urge to rush to your side to comfort you. He decided to end his little game once he saw you leaving. 

Sadness turned to anger, as you made your way outside the castle. Surely the frozen night would be enough to numb even the pain in your chest. You were so furious at him, that you started cursing out loud in the dead of the night. Your boyfriend had just broken up with you without so much as an explanation  leaving you wondering where things went wrong. Feeling somewhat calm after, you crouched, playing with the pristine glittering snow, trying to keep your mind off the situation.

“You’ll catch a cold like that.” You dared not turn around having recognized the smooth voice coming from behind. “Leave me alone!” Your voice cracked, betraying you of the feelings you were trying so hard to hide. “I think I left you alone long enough.” You clutched the snow in your hands until it melted.

You heard the crunch of his footstep over the snow before his shoes appeared in your field of vision. You didn’t raise your head, making him lean down to your level. He cupped your face gently, with his warm hands, forcing you to look into his eyes. 

Glee was written in his eyes for a moment, before returning to their everlasting expressionless stare. “It was all on purpose. Me and my date were in on it, you know how I love to tease you. I must admit, it was a delight to see you running after me like that. But I don’t want you too saddened either, so forgive and forget?” 

“No.” There was a limit to how much you could take. “What will it take for me to win you over again?” He had started to squeeze your cheeks making your lips look like that of a duck. Even though no fondness could be found on his face, he looked at you with the look you associated with love, causing your chest to tighten. 

“I didn’t dance with her.” He released his grip from your face. “You didn’t?” This somehow lifted a weight off your shoulder. You practiced so hard for him after all. “I know how much you wanted to dance with me, so how could I go and get my first dance of the night with another?” He raised himself, extending his left hand towards you. “Shall we dance?” You raised your head, taking his hand in anticipation. 

He raised you up with speed, catching you firmly in his arms. He directed his right arm towards your waist, as he continued to use his left to cling to your right hand. You instinctively placed your left hand upon his shoulder as he led you over a waltz. 

“You’ve gotten quite good at this.” You cursed yourself for being this gullible, as you swallowed his sweet talk. “Thank you, I’ve been doing some extra practice.” 

“Forgive and forget?” He asked you once again. You smiled, as love found its way back to your heart. “Fine. But if you ever pull something like this again!” He gave you a smile. “I won’t.” You both knew deep down that it wouldn’t be the case. Yet wasn’t this why you loved him? His teasing had no bounds, some worse than others yet you still remained by his side, faithful. 

Dancing with Tom felt dreamlike. The two of you seemed to compliment each other’s steps quite well despite the thickness of the snow below - or maybe he was just that good at leading - causing you to question the skills of your previous partners. 

Without warning, he took you by the waist to raise you up in the air, twirling you around. “Woah, what are you doing?!” You hadn’t learned this move in class, and were clutching to his shoulders for dear life. “Having fun.” He replied, looking at you from below. He kept you up in the air, in spite of no longer twirling, taking in your feature in the moon that glimmered over. “Blue and white really does suit you well. This dress looks nice on you. You are beautiful.” 

Your face turned bloodred at his remark. “Don’t say things like that, it’s embarrassing!” Secretly, you enjoyed it. He put you down, scoffing lightly. You contemplated him, engraving his smiling features in your mind for the thousandth time. He brought you close to him, as if to try and keep you warm, wrapping his arms around your back and waist, while you rested yours upon his chest. You looked up at him fondly, while he returned the fondness not through his face but by leaning for a kiss that you returned almost immediately. 

As you both parted from the embrace, a shiver ran down you. “I think it’s about time we return inside.” He put his suit’s vest over your shoulders, guiding the both of you back over the Yule Ball.