#you’re all too good to me really are aggressive hugs and boops and extra to ones having a hard time 🫂🫂🫂🫂

[traceyc-uk]

i tried my hand at your boy again ❤️

ty for being such a sweet person 💕 i think i speak for everyone when i say we’re lucky to have you in this community!

why whyyyyyy 🥹😭😭🫂🫂🫂🫂💕Thank you!!! He’s so cute! I know he’s the happiest little face but you’ve made absolutely beam ☀️ The same can be said in reverse too and another reason for making it so easy to make my boy so happy 😆

[vicious-vixxxen]

Kirishima x Male!Reader: First ‘I Love You’

I’m back on my Kirishima shit, so just bare with me- he really is one of my fav bois, and he’s just so sweet, can you even blame me? Though I’m almost finished with season 4 finally, and Tamaki is quickly closing in as the bestest sweet boi ;)  But yes, enjoy this little blurb, as I continue working on actual prompt fills- I just keep getting distracted, don’t @ Me  Enjoy <3  Kirishima x Male!Reader

Saturday nights in the dorms usually went one of two ways. Most of, if not all of class 1A were walking corpses, after accepting an extra day of training, not often offered by Aizawa in the first place: which is why they all usually accepted. Though that usually meant back at the dorms by two, and once everyone was showered, given a chance to finally catch their breath, and come together to make dinner, it was pushing six, and by then everyone was taking a note out of Bakugou’s book and crashing early. Some not even making it back to their rooms- sprawling out across the common area, and groggily rising too early the next morning, stiff necked and a little grumpy. /But/, if classes let out normally on Friday, and everyone was in bed at a reasonable enough time, Saturday’s were the absolute SHIT. A group breakfast to start, always. Bakugou aggressively whipping together a horde of spicy cinnamon french toast, and bacon, everyone stuffing their faces, discussing the previous week’s accomplishments. Areas in need of improvement, etcetera. Though without the added pressure of being in the midst of classes, and homework. They could reflect calmly, gather and offer tips, all smiles and jokes and general good naturedness. After breakfast, everyone split off to get ready for the day. Keeping the dorm stocked was a responsibility up to you all, which meant splitting the allotted weekly allowance the class was given, and separating into groups to get all the shopping for the coming week done. Groceries, cleaning supplies, toiletries, /unmentionables/. You all worked as a group, and allowing for a few stray hours of wandering, and personal shopping, visiting with family, you’d all be back around five. With the groceries put away, all errands run, the dorm dissolved into pure chaos. Different types of music blaring from individual rooms- dance dance revolution set up in the common room, the loudest of them all- all the dorm room doors open, save for Tokoyami’s, of course- and passing by any would give you a curious glimpse into the comfortable life the occupants had taken up there. “Wanna help me...ya know?” Kiri whispered into your ear, standing behind the sofa, bent down to nuzzle your temple, and speak. Blushing lightly, and giving you a sharp, lopsided grin as you broke your gaze from Denki’s...bold choice in dance movements against Mina. Noting Kirishima’s gaze moving up and down, before he jerked his head back in the direction of his room. Oh. Guess it was time for a touch up, huh?

Grin to match, you nodded, taking Kiri’s hand when he offered it, and allowing him to tug you up and over the sofa, nearly tripping over each other in your haste to get back to his room. Thirty minutes later, with a look of concentration on your face, you gently applied hair dye to the other boy’s roots. Hips swaying left and right, as Kirishima tapped his feet, and played air drums dramatically- making it difficult, but not impossible for you to get at all his roots. This was routine at this point. Ever since the two of you had started dating the year before, Kirishima was quick to let you in on his hair care secrets. It was only a matter of time before you caught him with a little bit of black peeking through, so rip the bandaid off all at once, Kirishima thought. It really was adorable how concerned he’d been over it. Muttering like Midoriya, before standing tall and announcing you’d have to love him for his box dye, or not at all! And here you were. Touching up his roots for maybe the hundredth time? If he needed any more clarification. The moron. But he was your moron. Getting more aggressive in his drumming, no doubt trying to mimic Bakugou in his mind, the hopeless goof. You smiled, despite yourself, as the song switched over, and you tilted Kirishima’s head back to get at the front you’d sectioned off. Mouthing the remix down at your boyfriend, and closing your eyes briefly as the beat pumped, and your body felt relaxed enough to collapse. But in a totally cool way, not like, a narcoleptic way. You hoped. ‘I will always love you,” you breathed in time, voice barely audible over the array of noises in, and outside of the dorm, but Kirishima watched, enraptured, mouth slightly agape as he read your lips. ’-I���ll love you forever’ you continued. Opening your eyes again, and staring down at Kiri’s. Breath hitching as you took in his pure, unadulterated admiration. And…. “Mmph!” Kirishima hummed suddenly, against your lips, as you’d leaned down to kiss him- both of you giggling against each other’s lips afterwards, as you moved around him. Careful of your gloved hands, and the brush of dye in hand, as you straddled the boys lap, and scooted forward till you were comfortable. Kirishima’s hands instinctively coming to rest on your waist. Palms sliding up and around to rub your back, as you continued applying dye top his hair. The two of you were quiet after, taking in the sounds of the dorms, and feeling the music blaring through Kirishima’s radio. Until you’d finished applying the dye, finally, and set your tools aside. Peeling off your gloves, and wiggling your sweaty fingers in Kiri’s face. Laughing suddenly as he nipped at them with sharp teeth. “That felt like a threat,” You teased, wrinkling your nose cutely at your boyfriend- Kirishima, ever the fan of the expression, beaming up at you, and kissing at your collarbone, where your shirt had ridden down. “That’s me, the boyfriend eater. Hide your boyfriends or i’ll gobble em up, all manly like”, Kiri boasted, and you couldn’t help but snort- having to restrain yourself from running your hands through his hair. For now. “We both know you’re tasty enough,” Kirishima added, winking at you, and you rolled your eyes, smacking the boys chest gently, before wrapping your arms carefully around his neck, and shifting back and forth in his lap to the new rhythm from the radio. At some point though, as you stared down at Kirishima- matching grins on your faces, as Kiri raised a hand to boop at your nose, and your lips, something hot, and happy ran through you. A sudden realization, as you stared into those gorgeous red pools he called eyes. It seared through you, racing down your spine, and jolting you up in your boyfriend's lap so suddenly, he paused- always on red alert, brows raised in question. It had never been something either of you had worried about saying- had never even truly discussed it. You cared about each other deeply, your connection since beginning your journeys at UA unprecedented. You’d watched each other grow, been there for the ride. Helped each other. Loved each other. Because you did love Kirishima. And he knew that...but not until just then, the scent of dye clinging to the air, did you realize you were, in fact, in love with him. You were in love with Kirishima. Wow. Your face was unreadable for a few long moments, before you huffed- almost in disbelief- and kissed at Kiri’s questioning thumb, now brushing along your jaw, and lips. “What? Kirishima asked finally, unable to take the silence. “Just realizing how absolutely, unequivocally in love I am with you. Kinda jarring,” You admitted, candid as ever, noting the way Kirishima froze beneath you. Mouth agape, and eyes wide. “Was that lame?” You asked as an afterthought, lips slowly pulling into a grin as Kirishima opened and closed his mouth several times, before his hands found their way up and around your jaw. Hesitating again, just a moment, as through the process what he;d just heard once more- before smashing your lips together. Heat, and passion, and love, all pouring into that one intimate gesture, and fuck it. Your hands carded through the sticky red dye clinging to the boy's roots, as you kissed back. Kissing until you absolutely couldn’t breathe anymore, and breaking away to pant, though only centimeters away from each other’s mouths. Foreheads pressed together, red dye smearing between the two of them, completely forgotten. “I love you too,” Kirishima sighed, hugging you close, and peppering your face with kisses. “So, so much. Love you so much, holy- I love you? Haha! I love you! I love you!” He shouted, bringing a deep blush to your cheeks, almost as red as your forehead now was as you wondered idly if anyone could hear him. Until you realized, you didn’t give one shit if they did. “I love you too! Again!” You shouted back, bursting into a fit of laughter with Kirishima, as you kissed again. And again, and again, and again.

[sorryjustafangirl]

mascot mysteries

a/n: me posting something that isn’t at like midnight? wow. anyway i thought this was a super cute idea so i hope you all enjoy it :)  this is also a gender neutral reader! and this is a covid-free AU

Pairing: Nolan Patrick x reader

Word Count: 1.8k

warnings: a few couple words, a little bit of anxious movements, Gritty (if that needs to be a warning)

disclaimer: this is a work of fiction and real person fiction if you don’t like that, please don’t read! also the gif isn’t mine! all credit to the incredible gif-maker!

tagging: @barzypatty​

You walked into the Wells Fargo Center, admiring the arena. This was your dream job ever since college. Honestly you couldn’t believe you got it. You pull out your phone with the emailed instructions of where to go. You look for the “hallway next to the washroom” only to discover there are three different hallways that have signs directing to the washrooms. 

Well fuck. 

“Are you good there?” You look to your left to see two guys, likely players based on their attire. One was taller, with longer hair and a small smile. The other one was shorter but looked more rambunctious. It looked like there were in a little bit of a rush, but you were really lost. 

“I’m actually kind of lost. I’m looking for conference room B8? But the instructions I have are really vague, so I have, like, no idea where I’m going,” you admitted, folding into yourself a little bit.

“That’s on our way! Come with us, we’ll show you where it is,” the shorter one said, motioning you over to where the two of them had stopped. “So, you’ve never been here?”

“It’s actually my first day on the job, so, um no. I haven’t been here before either, I, uh, grew up in Canada,” You cursed yourself. This was your first impression with the organization and you couldn’t even make a conversation without the stammering.

“Cool! Me and Patty are from Canada too! Shit, sorry, I’m TK and that’s Patty,” He said, motioning to the taller guy beside him. “And don’t worry about getting lost, Pats here got lost on his first day too,”

“Good to know I’m not the only one whose bad with directions,” you directed your comment to Patty, making brief eye contact with him. A rosy blush brushed his cheeks and you caught a mumbled “yeah”

“What do you do….?” Patty prompted, his voice quiet, but somehow you still heard it. He couldn’t deny you were pretty. 

“Oh, sorry, I’m Y/N. And I’m in media? I don’t know my exact title, but working for one of the best marketed media teams was too good for me to, uh, turn down so…” You said, slightly talking in front of TK so you could answer Patty’s question.

“Oh cool! Maybe you’ll get to meet Gritty, he’s the fun residence troublemaker,” Travis popped in.

“I thought that was your job Teeks,” which earned a jab from TK into Patty, who just snickered. 

“Travis, bud!” The three of you stopped to see someone else motioning for TK, who jogged over to the other man. 

“C’mon, the conference room isn’t too much further, I’ll walk you there,” Patty said, already making some steps forward. After a small comfortable silence, he stopped in front of two double doors. “So, uh, this is it. Good luck on your first day,” 

“Oh! Thanks. And, um, thanks for showing me where it was,” You tugged down on your jacket. “I guess I’ll just….” you motioned behind you to the doors.

“Oh right, yeah, I’ll, uh, let you go,” You gave a small wave and turned towards the conference doors and he turned back to go where he came from, only to turn around after a few steps. “Hey Y/N?”

“Yeah?” You took a few steps back towards him.

“You’re in media, yeah? So you might be at games or maybe even practices?” He scratched the back of his neck, slightly mumbling towards the end.

“Uh, yeah maybe. I’m not too sure where they’ll put me just yet but I like being in the action. I know that might seem weird ‘cause I’m sorta shy and quiet but..” You wrung your hands together. 

“No, no, I get it. It’s like being a different person, when you’re behind the camera or something. You get to be someone else and it’s nice. I get like that on the ice sometimes. I can make the big hits and stuff and no one treats it like it’s different from being quiet outside the game,”

“Yeah, like a different person. That’s exactly it,” You met his eyes again. Holy shit, why is he so gorgeous?

“Y/N Y/L/N?” A head popped out from behind the conference room doors. “We’re ready for you,” 

“Great, thank you,” You turned back to Patty. “That’s, uh, that’s me, but I’ll hopefully see you around, Patty?” 

“I’d like that a lot. And uh, you can call me Nolan,” The blush came back to his cheeks but you could barely notice over the heat in your own cheeks. 

“Bye Nolan.” You gave him one last smile before entering the conference room and closing the door, slowing entering the room. Once you came into sight, the people around the table jumped up. 

“Ah! There they are! Our new Gritty!”

***

After that first encounter, you seemed to bump into Nolan more. Before work, sometimes after work. You would make casual conversation, both mumbling, but you just got each other. And it didn’t take too long for him to muster up the courage to ask you on a date. While you were slightly hesitant, he was quick to assure you that “I may have asked G to ask management if it’d be okay with our jobs and, uh, everything’s fine, so…?” which earned him a kiss on the cheek and a yes. 

The problem was your job. You loved being a mascot. Seriously, you did. You were hooked after that first varsity game you went to in college. The energy of the crowd, interacting with the players and fans, the anonymity. The anonymity was the issue. Behind the costume, no one knew it was shy ol’ you. You could do anything and no one would tell you that you were being too rowdy or obnoxious. No one expected anything out of you except fun. It was perfect. And being Philadelphia’s beloved mascot/political figure was the dream. Telling Nolan risked the anonymity of the job. But to not tell Nolan was becoming an issue. He understood you had to work during game days, but it was becoming increasingly difficult not to see you with the other better halves in the stands, especially since you worked here. There was no reason for you not to be there. Every other teammate of his got to see someone they loved in their jersey but he didn’t. 

When he brings this up, all timid, you are so quick to make a compromise. Before every home game, you’d meet in the tunnel for a good luck handshake. It might seem ridiculous but he got to physically see you before each game and it was a fun, quirky ritual. 

“It’s like a different person right? You get in your zone and I’ll get in mine,” You told him. He responded with a kiss. 

But you were running out of excuses why you were late either before your handshake or after his game, where you would also meet him in the tunnel. You had used the “I caught up with work” at least four times, “I saw a coworker who wanted to talk” a few times, and even resorted to “I got lost” once. You could see it was throwing him off a little. He was still playing perfectly fine, but it didn’t have that same “umph” he sometimes brought to the ice. 

It was the home game against the Penguins when he finally snapped. That’s how you knew it was bad. Gritty was asked to do the fun pre-show, and you hadn’t had time to change to see Nolan before the game. He threw more hits, had more aggression, and more than the normal Pennsylvania rivalry. You couldn’t help but think that part of it was because you didn’t show up before the game. He’d even gotten in a fight with Tanev early in the second period. 

So, during the intermission between the second and third, you asked your team to lead you down to the tunnel and grab Nolan out of the dressing room. The Flyers were up 3-0 so you didn’t think it’s be a huge issue with Coach. 

He quietly exited the room, confused on why he got pulled out. A member of your team just gestured to you in your costume, which did little to clear up his confusion. You held your hand up in a fist for a fist bump, the first move in your handshake. When he still gave that bewildered look, you softly grabbed his gloved hand and pushed it against yours. When you lifted your hand up for a high five, he still needed some prompting. But when the down low high five came, you started to see the gears in his head turning. He gave a small chuckle and slowly worked through your handshake, ending with a pinky promise and a kiss to your respective thumbs. When you’ve finished, he just gives you that small side smile and shakes his head, with a chuckle. 

You can hear the boys getting hyped up in the dressing room, and then the buzzer goes, so you break away from Nolan, but stay in the tunnel. As the boys single-file pass you, you give them each a boop on the head, with some extra love given to Nolan. 

That third period, Nolan seems to have his “umph” back. An assist and a goal, and he celebrated both by glancing up to you, celebrating as per usual with the fans, especially after his goal. 

After the game, you go and have your own shower, all sweaty after the 5-0 Pennsylvania battle. You took your time, knowing you’d have to have a semi-serious conversation with Nolan. But when you join him in the tunnel, he’s all smiles. He wraps you in a hug, spinning you around, before setting you on the ground and nuzzling into your neck. You run your fingers through his own freshly washed hair. The two of you stand there for a bit before he mumbles into your neck, barely audible. 

“Like another person, eh?” You smiled and tucked your head into his chest. 

“Oh shut up, I don’t even know if you’re allowed to know.” A hearty laugh escaped him.

“Secret’s safe with me, babe,” He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and kissed the top of your head as you started to make your way out of the arena. “Fuckin’ Gritty, I can’t believe it. I thought you were ignoring me,”

“I’m sorry, Nols. It’s just a lot to take in. Didn’t want to scare you off,”

“Well, I’m sticking around if that’s alright with you.” You looked up at him, and his cheeks started to redden, and not just from the game.

“Yeah. That’s alright with me,” You leaned into the crook of his shoulder, glad you didn’t have to hide any part of yourself from Nolan anymore. 

Bonus: “Did you ever actually punch a kid?”

“Oh my gosh, I’m not answering that,”

“It’s a valid question babe! I’m not going to stop you, I just wanna know,”

feel free to let me know what you think! thanks for reading

[katrinawritesthings]

Jinki/Tae; Week Two (Part 1/3); PG

aka the moving day epilogue that somehow turned into three parts

aaka window shopping and gender problems and self-esteem issues ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

so tw for gender problems and also some mentions of past abuse

Key curls themself possessively around Taeyeon the second they walk into the hair salon and almost everyone starts clamoring to meet the babe they’ve heard so much about. After ten minutes Jinki is sent into the Hot Topic bathroom to check on them only to find Jonghyun pressing Taeyeon up against the wall and marking a new hickey into her neck. They all find Choi gently rubbing her shoulders through a panic attack in the caramel aisle of the chocolate store. Jinki finds his elbow being latched onto with small hands when her two datefriends start their usual bickering over which tacky knick-knacks to add to their collection this time.

Moving Day: 1-2-3-4

Week Two: 1-2-3

Extra Baggage: 1

“Mmmmm. Jinki.”

“Yes?”

“Are they here yet?”

“No.”

“Mmmmgh. What about now?”

“No.”

“Now?”

“Nope.”

“How about--”

“Jonghyun.”

“What?” Jonghyun hisses, slapping his hands down aggressively on the picnic table. Jinki cocks a brow at him from the other side.

“Chill,” he says, and Jonghyun huffs. It turns into a sigh, and then a groan, and then a tiny whine as Jonghyun deflates and rests his head on his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “I’m just. Nervous.”

“I know, pup,” Jinki says, reaching over to pet Jonghyun’s head genty. “They’ll be here soon.” The only reason the others aren’t here yet is because Jonghyun made Jinki leave early this morning. They got to The Midpoint twenty minutes before they usually do, which is ten minutes before Choi and Key usually do. Jinki told him this would happen, and yet here they are anyway, Jonghyun twitchy and anxious for the first sign of the other three. Or, more specifically, for the first sign of Taeyeon. The other two he’s used to seeing more than once every who knows how long.

“It would help if you would, like, actually face the parking lot,” Jinki says, gesturing behind Jonghyun at the little group of cars on the other side of the big fountain. That’s where they all usually park before they eat and then walk around the outdoor mall every weekend. Jonghyun shakes his head and whines again.

“I’d be up every five seconds thinking I’d seen them,” he says. Jinki snorts. That is true. He continues petting Jonghyun’s hair, ruffling by his ears, running his fingers lightly over the floof that’s grown out from his undercut since the last time he got a trim. He would suggest getting another, but he knows that Jonghyun loves playing with it when it’s at this length the most. Next week he’ll offer to fix it up for him. For now he just watches the parking lot for Jonghyun, answering his less frequent but still often inquiries as to whether or not the other three are here yet.

It’s during one of those questions that a little leaf flutters down from a tree and falls into Jonghyun’s hair. Jinki looks down to pluck it out gently, humming a tired “no” to Jonghyun’s pouty voice. He flicks the leaf away and looks up again just in time to see Choi’s blue little prius pulling into a parking space.

Huh.

Key gets out from the back first, then Choi, and then Taeyeon, bright and bouncy in her dark clothes and looking around the place with wonder. Jinki smiles. She’s looking so much better from last week. He catches Choi and Key playing rock-paper-scissors for the job of carrying the sodas like usual; Key wins, like usual. They link their arm with Taeyeon and leave Choi there with a smug little smirk. Jinki lifts his arm to wave, laughing softly at the enthusiasm of Taeyeon’s return wave, and that’s when Jonghyun asks again.

“Are they here yet?” he says, voice small and muffled into his elbow. Jinki chooses not to reply as the other two get closer. He just lifts his free finger to his lips to let Key and Taeyeon know to be quiet when they approach. At his silence, Jonghyun wiggles. “Jinki?” he asks, and then raises his head with a little frown. “Are they--?” he frowns more and turns, just in time for Taeyeon to come to a stop right behind him. He pauses, looks up, and then shrieks.

“You’re here!” he exclaims, banging his knee three whole times trying to get off of the bench seat. He doesn’t even acknowledge it as he finally stands and throws his arms around Taeyeon’s neck. “You’re here, you’re here, you’re here, my lovely and wonderful little cantaloupe, mmmm.” He bounces in her arms and nuzzles her neck. She smiles, giddy and amused and so wide it threatens to break open her face, arms falling loosely around Jonghyun’s waist.

“I’m here,” she says, nuzzling the side of Jonghyun’s head.

“You’re here,” Jonghyun repeats in a whisper. He presses even closer with the happiest little noise. Taeyeon presses a kiss to his hair, turns her smile to Jinki and nods a greeting.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hey,” Jinki grins back. He says it again to Key, who waves back lazily. There’s a little sniffle from Taeyeon’s neck; Jinki rolls his eyes. Of course the little dingle is all emotional about it. Taeyeon laughs and leans back a fraction.

“Jonghyun,” she says incredulously, putting a finger under his chin. Jonghyun just leans up and kisses her in reply.

“I missed you so much,” he whispers. Jinki shakes his head fondly. Five more weeks like this, at least, if he’s following the same path he did with Choi. When Jonghyun pulls back from Taeyeon, he wipes his eyes and looks blearily around. “Gwi,” he mumbles, and shuffles over to hug them too. “I missed you too,” he squeaks, nuzzling them all over. Key pushes some of Jonghyun’s hair out of their face.

“Okay. Alright. You’re so strong for someone so small, holy shit,” they say, ruffling Jonghyun’s hair but also putting a hand on his wrist. “I missed you too, you fucking walnut.” Jonghyun squeezes them even tighter for a second before letting go.

“Sor--ooooohhhh,” he breathes. His apology is cut off midway by Choi strolling up, six pack of sodas in one hand and phone in the other. Jonghyun drifts to them, getting to his tiptoes to wrap around their neck instead. “Minho, my space, my love,” he sighs. “You’re so tall and good.” He trails off with more little compliments mumbled into Choi’s neck. Choi blinks at the sudden affection, but wraps an arm around Jonghyun’s waist anyway. They lean down to press a soft kiss to his cheek, then whisper something that Jinki can’t catch into his ear. Whatever it is, it has Jonghyun humming long again and burying his pink face in their chest.

“Oh my god,” he whispers. Choi smirks and pushes him gently to sit back down. They sit on his right, Taeyeon sinking down on his left. Jonghyun immediately wraps his arms around her waist and nuzzles her shoulder, smile as big as his face. “You’re here,” he whispers again. Jinki snorts as he reaches for one of the orange sodas that Choi brought over. Key does as well, and takes a seat next to Jinki like usual.

“I never thought he could get even more mushy,” they say, nudging his side. Jinki snorts again in agreement. It’s cute, though.

“Is he like this every week?” Taeyeon asks, swirling her fingers through the floof at the back of Jonghyun’s head. She looks exasperated already, like she can’t believe her boyfriend is so emotional about this. Jinki can absolutely believe it.

“You get used to it,” Key shrugs. Jinki nods. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Imagine living with him full time,” he says, and grins when Jonghyun looks up to shoot him a little glare.

“Living with me is a delight,” he grumbles. Jinki reaches over to boop his nose.

“It is,” he agrees. An emotional, weepy delight. “Real talk, though,” he says, “he’s not really always. He’s just happy to see you.”

“Soooo happy,” Jonghyun sighs. Taeyeon sighs back in a fond way and lets her arm fall around his waist. One of Jonghyun’s hands reaches behind him to pap around for Choi’s hand, which he finds and holds tightly as well. “You too, Minjunggie,” he hums. Between two of his babes, he looks like the happiest clam in the world. It makes Jinki smile to see.

“Food?” Taeyeon asks then, one little hand creeping towards the picnic basket Jinki and Jonghyun brought. Jinki nods. He tugs it over and opens it up.

“Peanut butter cracker sandwiches and oranges and parfaits,” he says, taking each little bundle out. He and Jonghyun spent a lot of time on those parfaits and they need to be appreciated. Taeyeon swipes an orange greedily before anyone else can reach for anything and wiggles her thumbnail into the peel to get it off. Jinki watches her with interest as he pulls a few cracker sandwiches closer himself.

“So how was your first week of freedom?” he asks, wiggling his fingers for emphasis. “You doing okay?” She’s been texting him on and off all week, filling his phone with sparkly emojis and memes at two in the morning, but he wants details straight from her mouth. Jonghyun nuzzles her as well, nodding in agreement with Jinki’s question. The smile that she gives both of them is positively radiant.

“Every passing second only brings me closer to the dark void of my parents discovering me and I’ve had nightmares every night this week and if I’m left alone with my thoughts for more than five minutes I start having a panic attack and I am never no less than one vaguely familiar face in a crowd away from a breakdown at any given time,” she says. “But besides all of that, I’m fucking fantastic.” Her eyes sparkle with light and wonder even as Jonghyun makes a worried noise and rubs at her chest.

“I wanted an afternoon snack the other day and I just… got up and got one and no one judged me,” she says. “Two days ago I told Choi I didn’t want to be around people and they left me alone?” She runs her fingers through her hair in disbelief. “I dropped a piece of popcorn on the floor one time and Gwiboonie didn’t even? Say anything?”

“Not true,” Key says. A tiny smile is tugging up their lips. “I called you cute and touched your butt when you bent over to pick it up.”

“Yeah, but,” Taeyeon says, a soft laugh falling from her lips. “You didn’t, like, scoff at me, or mutter under your breath about how incompetent I am, or sigh really passive-aggressively for the next hour, or… anything normal.”

“That’s not….” Jinki says slowly. That’s not normal behavior at all. But, he knows that Taeyeon knows that. It’s just what was normal for her. He covers himself with a smile before he’s silent for so long that it’s noticed. “That’s not a bad first week,” he grins. Taeyeon nods brightly, cheeks all round and eyes little crescents. Adorable.

“And today,” she says, “Choi says they’re gonna get me a new laptop so I don’t have to keep sharing Gwiboonie’s.” She looks positively giddy as she eats her first slice of orange. Jinki gasps softly. Nice. She needs that privacy to be her own. And this means that Jinki will have an excuse to watch all of the cool little marble slide machines in the electronics store while they’re looking. Extra nice.

The rest of their picnic brunch is nice as well, full of talks and giggles and catching up. Even with Taeyeon’s new presence it feels just as familiar as usual. She fits right in next to Jonghyun, across from Key, an easy lean’s distance from Choi, and an arm’s reach away from giving Jinki a high five for every shitty pun they come up with together. Her laughter is breathy and her additions thoughtful and Jinki has no problem seeing her become a regular fixture in their group.

When they finish their meal, Jinki takes the picnic stuff to his car and then strolls back to their table. The other four are all fixing themselves up to start their usual walk up and down the street, slipping in and out of shops, grabbing snacks, spending time with each other. Jonghyun is pressed firmly against Taeyeon’s side with Choi’s arm around his waist; Jinki shares an amused look with Key. Neither of them are getting their cute datefriends today. He finds it hard to be disappointed at the loss of one day out of a whole week and just stuffs his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his toes.

“Where to first?” he asks. He waits for Jonghyun and Choi to start disagreeing and prepares himself to be the conflict solver like usual since Key can’t make a choice to save their ass; what happens instead is Taeyeon lifts her free hand to rub her ear.

“I wanna get my ears pierced,” she says thoughtfully. Key gasps dramatically; Jonghyun’s eyes grow wide and excited. Taeyeon glances between both of them with a sheepish little smile. “Like, I think,” she says quietly. “One, two… maybe three.” She pokes her lobe, then a little further up, and then in the upper conch of her ear. At that one, Jonghyun hisses.

“I don’t know,” he mumbles. “That’s more complicated than a helix and I took my helix out after a while because it was too much trouble.” He rubs the top of his ear worriedly. Jinki nods. He remembers that, the whining, the soreness, the even less sleep. It wasn’t worth the cute spheres of color in the tops of his ears. Key scoffs, though, and shakes their head.

“A helix isn’t a conch,” they say. “Mine really wasn’t that bad, Tae. It was really fun while I had it.” While they had it. That was years ago, if Jinki is remembering correctly. Before they even knew Taeyeon. The little pink unicorns in their ears were cute, yeah, but Jinki can’t even see the little hole scars anymore.

“Yeah, why don’t you still have it then?” Jonghyun snoots, like he was having the same thoughts as Jinki. Key huffs again.

“Because my style changed and I got the forward helix instead,” they say defensively. Jinki snorts at their tone. That’s totally shady.

“Okay, well,” Jinki says before Jonghyun can snoot back. “She can get the lobe piercings first and then think more about the conch until next week.” Funny how even with a clear destination he’s still the conflict guy. He likes it. It’s familiar. “Right, Taeyeon?” he asks, nudging her side for help. She glances at him, glances between the other two, and grins, amused.

“Yeah,” she agrees. “I wanted to see how I felt about the two lobes before I got another one anyway.” She lets her arm fall back around Jonghyun’s shoulders and ruffles the very top of his head to soothe his grumpy comment before it even comes out of his mouth. Jinki can visibly see him relax and raises a brow at Choi, who’s smiling a smug little grin themself. Of course they taught her that trick immediately.

“Good idea,” Key agrees with a shrug. After a moment of an unsure hum, Jonghyun shrugs as well.

“Yeah,” he concedes. “So, either way. To Amber’s!” He points down the sidewalk as dramatically as his voice and starts a march, tugging Taeyeon with him and trying to tug Choi; Choi stays rooted and grabs his sleeve collar. Jonghyun stops and turns with a little frown. “What?” he asks. Choi just points behind them with their thumb, towards the opposite end of the mall.

“Wrong way,” Jinki hums, Key smothering a snort into the back of their hand. Jonghyun kind of just stands there for a moment, squinting down the road, glancing behind him, catching all of their amused eyes and quickly looking away. Then he takes a brave breath and immediately starts marching the right way.

“To Amber’s!” he says again, with even more bravado this time. Taeyeon’s loud laughter leads their group down the sidewalk.

At Amber’s, Jonghyun pulls the door open and flounces into the parlor, swinging Taeyeon’s hand up high.

“Hello, we are here,” he sings, twirling himself into Taeyeon’s chest and wrapping her arms around him with fluttery eyelashes. Jinki shakes his head fondly as he holds the door open for the other two. He’s so dramatic. Taeyeon giggles into his hair, though, and squeezes him closer. At one of the chairs, Luna looks up from inking a design into someone’s forearm; she smiles bright and waves a greeting at them before turning back to her work. Behind the counter, Amber lets out a short bark of laughter.

“Another one?” they ask, propping their chin in their hand and looking Taeyeon up and down. Taeyeon looks away shyly but Jonghyun nods eagerly, tugging her up to the desk and nuzzling her shoulder.

“My sweet and lovely and marvelous little sugar plum,” he beams. “Taeyeonnie. The cutest girlfriend in the world.” He bounces on his toes and presses a little kiss to the pink of Taeyeon’s cheek while Taeyeon hisses an embarrassed “oh my fucking god” into her hand. Amber snorts, reaching over to muss up Jonghyun’s hair.

“Obviously that’s a lie,” they say. “When the cutest girlfriend in the world is actually over there.” They point with their thumb at Luna, who takes a second between switching ink colors to throw Amber a thankful wink. Jonghyun huffs, turning up his nose in mock offense. Key slips behind Taeyeon and rests their chin on her shoulder with a smug little smile.

“She’s mine too,” they hum, wrapping their arm around her waist. Taeyeon looks warmed by their quiet affection, her hand coming to cover theirs on her stomach. Amber shakes their head fondly.

“Well, is she just here to meet me or did you actually want something?” they ask, cocking a brow when they speak directly to Taeyeon. Taeyeon starts, blinks, smooths away a flustered grin with the back of her hand.

“I, uh,” she says. “I wanna get my ears pierced.” She taps the two spots on her right lobe to demonstrate. “Here and here.”

“And only there, for now,” Jinki adds before any bickering starts up again. He comes up to rest his chin on Jonghyun’s head with a lazy smile that Amber grins back at. He knows that they know how these two can get about their tiny disagreements.

“Okay, well,” they say. “Take her to pick out which starter rings she wants, and I’ll get a chair ready. Regular price but I’ll knock off five bucks because she’s cute.” They give Taeyeon a quick wink that has her suddenly smiling with much more confidence even as Key huffs and tugs her closer possessively. Jinki turns to find the wall of simple ear jewelry, joining Choi in their search for cute colors.

Fifteen minutes and some of the usual gossip later, they all step out of the parlor and back into the sidewalk. Taeyeon actually has six new piercings: three in each lobe, all letters, all black with silver outlines. Two Js, two Ks, and two Cs. Every time Jinki sees the letter he shares with Jonghyun he has to fight to keep his smile from getting too big for his face.

They go to the scarf shop next. They go to the sock store, the baking store, the sweet factory, the tacky tourist knick-knack shop; they pull Taeyeon into every building and show her every little thing that they’ve picked up on over the years they’ve spent together here. They take her everywhere and she soaks it all up, eager to learn everything she’s been missing out on for so long.

Choi beckons her to the back of the third shelf of the baking store to show her the rows of flower cookie cutters, the leaf-themed measuring set, the entire section of cute plant things. Jinki shows her his favorite little hidey spot in the back of the half-price bookstore where they can smush themselves into piles of beanbag chairs and read in comfort. Key stays firmly rooted on the ground but guides her up the sprawling treehouses in the middle plaza just to take far too many pics on their phone. Jonghyun tugs her all around the grunge clothes shop and picks out a whole outfit from everything that he’s been dying to see her in for years.

Key curls themself possessively around Taeyeon the second they walk into the hair salon and almost everyone starts clamoring to meet the babe they’ve heard so much about. After ten minutes Jinki is sent into the Hot Topic bathroom to check on them only to find Jonghyun pressing Taeyeon up against the wall and marking a new hickey into her neck. They all find Choi gently rubbing her shoulders through a panic attack in the caramel aisle of the chocolate store. Jinki finds his elbow being latched onto with small hands when her two datefriends start their usual bickering over which tacky knick-knacks to add to their collection this time.

It’s all of these little things, little moments, quick interactions, that pull Taeyeon closer to them. The plan for today, besides hanging out and window shopping like usual, was to make Taeyeon feel as included into their group as humanly possible. Jinki thinks they’ve done that and more. Right now, as they’re walking over the cobbled street, Taeyeon closes her eyes and leans her head on Key’s shoulder, smiling softly at the sun as she lets them lead her. Right now Jinki thinks she feels more welcome and more cared for and more loved than she ever has before. He’s proud.

“Tired?” Key asks softly, the fondest smile on their lips as they brush a strand of Taeyeon’s hair out of her face. Taeyeon hums, nuzzling Key’s shoulder. They walk under the shadow of a small tree and she blinks her eyes open to smile at it.

“Hungry,” she murmurs.

“Adorable,” Jonghyun pouts, taking her hand and bringing it back to kiss her fingers. She laughs softly and runs her fingers through his hair, then leans back even further to look at Jinki and Choi.

“Hi,” she smiles, poking Jinki gently and wiggling her finger at Choi. Jinki grins, poking her finger back.

“Hey,” he says. Choi reaches over and boops her nose. She giggles, turning back to nuzzle Key.

“Hungry, Gwiboonie,” she says again. Key pets her hair and points a few stores up the sidewalk in the direction they’re already walking on.

“Lunch is just up there,” they say. The other three nod. It’s been a few hours and it’s getting close to their usual lunchtime anyway. Jinki’s stomach is getting kind of rumbly. “Oh, but,” Key says, more loud than the gentle murmur voice they’ve been using. They slow but don’t stop, easing themself out of Taeyeon’s hold and looking shifty. “Lunch is, um,” they say. “We split up for lunch.” They look between the other three for help explaining; Jinki nods, remembering the little detail suddenly.

“You’re gonna have lunch with just me and Choi, Taeyeon,” he says putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. Choi puts their hand on her other shoulder invitingly as well. Taeyeon looks conflicted; pleased at the thought of lunch with the two of them but confused as to why she can’t eat with her babes too.

“Why, um,” she says slowly. “Why?”

“It’s just a thing Gwi and I need,” Jonghyun says, curling his arm around Jinki’s elbow. “Just, the two of us, us time. To talk about shit alone. You know?” Jinki nods, glancing at Choi as he does so. It’s their alone time as well, though for them it’s usually spent chilling in silence in the music store. It’s still just as important as what Jonghyun and Key do together.

“I… oh,” Taeyeon says. “I mean. Okay.” She chews on her bottom lip for a second, then shakes her head and then nods firmly. “Yeah, I’m good,” she says. She waves off any concerns before they get voiced. “Makes sense.” She nods again, as if to reassure everyone that she’s good. Jonghyun smiles and takes her hand again to kiss. “Oh, but, um,” she says suddenly. This time it’s her that wiggles her hand away and looks shifty. “It’s… there, right?” she asks, pointing at the little coffee shop just ahead of them now.

“Mmhmm,” Jonghyun hums.

“Okay, well, then, before that,” Taeyeon says, and comes to a slow stop right at the edge of the building. “Um.” She looks around at all of them, swallows, shakes her head, and moves passed Key to lean up against the wall. “Um,” she says again. Jonghyun leans up next to her, Choi on her other side, both radiating calm. Jinki steps closer as well so he’s next to Key and not blocking people on the sidewalk.

“Take your time,” Choi signs. Taeyeon squints at their hands; they sign it again, slower this time, and she nods, understanding.

“Yeah, um. Um.” She runs her fingers through her hair and takes several deep breaths. Key takes her hand to hold and Jonghyun starts petting her hair instead. After another moment, she takes a deeper, more steady breath. “I don’t… think… she is working for me,” she mumbles. She looks up with nervous eyes. “Like… the pronouns, or, being called a girl.”

“Ooohhh, babe,” Key says gently. They cup Taeyeon’s face with their free hand and rub their thumb over Taeyeon’s cheekbone soothingly. “That’s okay, it’s nothing to feel guilty about.” They fix Taeyeon’s bangs and tuck a longer piece of hair away. “Do you want us to use ‘they,’ at least until we figure this out?” they ask. “Is ‘Taeyeon’ still okay for now?” Taeyeon swallows thickly.

“I think… yeah, okay,” they say. Jinki leans up against the wall beside Jonghyun.

“Is it because you’re not used to them?” Jonghyun asks. “Or because they just feel wrong?” He holds their hand in both of his, squeezing gently. “Because, when I first started using ‘he’ and everything, it took me a while to get used to it. And I thought I was faking, or, like, not trans enough, because I kept misgendering myself and accidentally deadnaming myself, and… yeah.” Jinki puts a comforting hand on his waist. He remembers that. It was a tougher time for Jonghyun more than anyone else. Taeyeon hums uncertainly, staring at the ground between everyone’s shoes.

“They feel wrong,” they say firmly. Then they look up with hesitant eyes. “But,” they say. “Yesterday, they felt so right.” They rub their cheeks with their free hand and a heavy sigh. Ahh. That kind of makes sense to Jinki.

“Didn't you say,” he starts, “you felt like you were genderfluid?” He’s not the fluid kind of nonbinary himself, but he feels like that’s one of the ways it can work.

“I mean,” Taeyeon says. “I’m not sure?” They sigh heavily and lean their head against Key’s shoulder. When they start mumbling to the ground Jinki shuffles forward more to hear better. “I don’t know, like, before it would always either be just. Varying degrees between ‘yeah, I guess I’m kind of a dude right now’ and ‘holy shit I am not a fucking dude at all.’ And I always just assumed that ‘not a boy’ meant ‘a girl’ because, I don’t know, twenty-three years of crushing cisnormativity and extremely limited face-to face gender experimentation? Or whatever. And I always wanted to feel, like, pretty and cute and she pronouns always sounded so nice in theory, so I figured I just floated between, like, demiboy and girl, but now, I don’t… know.

“Like… I still wanna be cute and pretty,” Taeyeon says. “And I definitely felt like a girl earlier. But now I don’t. I don’t wanna--I’m not a girl. Right now. And, like, yeah, I guess that makes sense that I’m fluid and I just… fluided away from that gender feel, but… Now I don’t know what I am.” That last part comes out as a distressed whine. Jonghyun coos a quiet noise into their hair, mumbles little sweet nothings meant to soothe rather than actually advise. Taeyeon groans quietly and leans back to rest their head against the wall. “I’m not a girl,” they mumble. “And I know she pronouns aren’t girl pronouns and all of that but. They still feel like it and they feel wrong. I can’t, like, make the disconnect in my brain. And I’ve been thinking, since the clothes shop, and, like. He pronouns don’t feel right either. Neither do they, really, and neither do, like, any that I can think of off of the top of my head.” They raise their hands to their head to grip and tug their hair lightly.

“All of it feels… just... wrong,” they whine. “She feels like I’m calling myself a girl. They, ve, it, xir, spivak, ne, no pronouns… all of these feel like. Like I’m saying that my gender right now is neutral, or agender, or, just, that it is something that I can define. Like, that’s what they’re linked to in my brain.” They rub their forehead with a sigh. “Every time I think of them I think of just. Screenshots of trans resource websites given to me on off-record chats to study in secret with lists of gender-neutral pronouns. But I’m not that. I’m not neutral. And I know that any pronouns can be used for any gender, but I can’t just stop feeling how they make me feel. I can’t unlearn that shit in a week. And it doesn’t even matter if none of them match what I feel if I don’t even know what I feel like in the first place.”

“I’m not making any sense,” they sigh after all of that. Their close their eyes, breathing slowly towards the sky. Choi squeezes their shoulder comfortingly.

“Yeah,” Jinki mumbles in agreement. He gets some of it, but not all, and there are technicalities and details and questions that he’s sure they don’t have the slightest idea how to explain. “But, uh,” he says quickly, when Key shoots him an incredulous little glare and he realizes he’s taken too long to follow up. “Look,” he says, dropping his chin onto Jonghyun’s shoulder. “You can’t even figure this shit out for yourself. You don’t need to explain it all to us.”

“Ye,” Jonghyun says, voice small. “We don’t need to understand to help.”

“It took me six years to figure my gender stuff out completely,” Choi signs after tapping Taeyeon’s shoulder for attention. Jinki nods. Good point. That was a whole long process and Jinki had only been there for a little more than half of it.

“Do you wanna sit here and brainstorm for a little bit?” Key asks gently. Taeyeon looks at all of them, gratitude in their eyes but defeat in their frown.

“I want… to not deal with this,” they mumble. “It’s too stressful, can I just.” They shake their head and rub their hands over their face. “Can I just say my gender is leaf for now?” they ask. “I wanna be a leaf. I wanna be cute and fluttery and smell nice and… not have to have an existential gender crisis on my first weekend out with my new family.” They move their hands to settle on their cheeks. “I can do that, right?” they ask hesitantly.

“Absolutely you can do that,” Key says firmly. They cover Taeyeon’s hands with theirs. “Your gender is whatever the fuck makes you feel comfortable.”

“Being a leaf makes me feel comfortable,” Taeyeon mumbles. “Leaf… leaf gender, no… no pronouns. Or--fuck, leaf pronouns. Or… petal? Hrm.” They wiggle Key’s hands off and play with their fingers, twisting and squeezing. “Petals are cute. Petal...self. Pet--petself? No, that’s. Mmm. Petal… something feels off.”

“Two syllables?” Jinki suggests. He knows Taeyeon was talking to themself there, but that’s what feels off to him. He’s used to one syllable pronouns and two syllables feel weird in his mouth without a little time to get used to them first. Taeyeon gasps, snaps dramatically, and points at him.

“That’s it,” they say. Then they pout. “Dang,” they say. Jinki exhales softly in amusement.

“So….” Choi signs, hand drifting into Taeyeon’s line of view. “None or leaf for you?” they ask.

“Did that mean leaf?” Taeyeon asks, watching Choi’s hands drop. “The sign for that is so cute, oh my god,” they whisper, eyes round. Choi pauses, then grins, even smugger than usual. “I wanna use leaf pronouns, yeah,” Taeyeon says, an actual smile finally starting to pull up leafs lips as leaf turns to the rest of them. Jonghyun hums, a happy noise, and presses a little kiss to leafs cheek.

“My beautiful and adorable little foliage basket,” he chirps. Taeyeon makes a soft noise and covers leafs face with a hand.

“Fuckie,” leaf whispers, clenching leafs hand tightly in front of leafself. “What was it you called me before?” leaf asks, lowering leafs hand to take Jonghyun’s and squeeze it. “Plum blossom? Peach blossom?”

“Sugar plum,” Jonghyun corrects.

“Oh,” Taeyeon says. Leaf puffs up leafs lips for a second. “Can you call me Peach Blossom anyway?” leaf asks. “Or, Peach. Like, as a name.” Leafs hand squeezes and lets go of Jonghyun’s several times, leafs other hand clenching on air at leafs side. “Taeyeon and Taemin and even just Tae feel too… like....” Leaf trails off with a puff of breath, a frustrated frown at the ground.

“Gendered?” Key offers.

“Yeah,” Taeyeon says, perking up. “I know they’re not, technically, but, like. They are.” Leaf mumbles that part awkwardly but everyone still nods. Knowing something and feeling it are two vastly different things that they all understand. “Peach blossoms, though,” Taeyeon says. “They’re really cute flowers. And not associated with gender in any way in my brain. And peaches taste so good.” Leaf kind of stares off into space as leaf says that, teeth digging into leafs bottom lip. Jinki shrugs.

“I don’t know,” he says. He could never bring himself to like them. “They have a weird texture on the inside.”

“Listen, if you bit into me I’m sure I would have a weird texture on the inside too,” Taeyeon says, reaching over to poke him with a cocked brow. Jinki snorts, letting it turn into surprised laughter against Jonghyun’s shirt. Holy shit.

“I mean, good point,” he says. That is a very true statement. “Peach Blossom it is.”

“Peach Blossom,” Jonghyun repeats, nuzzling the name into Peach’s neck.

“Peach Blossom,” Choi signs fondly. They all turn to look at Key; Key rolls their eyes but can’t hide a smile.

“I’m not saying it a fourth time in a row,” they say. “But, hey.” They fix Peach’s hair, straighten leafs collar, and smooth out leafs jacket. “You’re cute.”

“Oh.” Peach grins, smiles, beams, hides it behind leaf’s fist. “Thanks.” Leaf straightens up, looks around at everyone, and takes a deep, steadying breath. “I’m still hungry,” they announce.

There’s a short pause; then Jinki snorts very unattractively and giggles into Jonghyun’s shoulder. Choi chuckles as well, a blessing of a sound, and Key shakes their head fondly. Jonghyun clings to Peach’s arm and nuzzles a little smile into leafs neck.

“Okay then,” he says. “Lunchtime.” He slips a hand up to the back of Peach’s head to tug leaf into a slow kiss, and then another, and then two more before Jinki rolls his eyes and pulls him away before they just start making out in the middle of the sidewalk. He saw Peach’s hand creeping down to touch the butt. Jonghyun blushes but licks his lips and keeps his hand linked with Peach’s. “Um,” he says, feeling around with his other hand for Key’s wrist. “See you in a bit?” His voice rises like he’s not sure how to do this thing that he’s never done before. Jinki pats his shoulder and moves so he can stand with Choi on Peach’s other side.

“Have a nice lunch,” he says. Choi nods and puts their hands on Peach’s shoulders pleasantly. Peach glances back at both of them, then at leafs two datefriends, and nods.

“Yeah, um,” leaf says. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Key says, taking Jonghyun’s hand and wiggling his other away from Peach’s. “Bye babe, and other babes.” They wave at all three of them; Jinki waves back pleasantly.

“Goodbye, my three loves,” Jonghyun says, a pout on his lips as Key tugs him firmly into the coffee shop. Jinki watches them walk up to the counter through the glass, amused at how Jonghyun immediately clings to Key’s arm for comfort. He should have known the lunchtime split would have been emotional today.

“They’re so good,” Peach whispers. Jinki looks at leaf; Choi does as well, and they share a grin over leafs head.

“You’re good,” he says, and Choi boops leafs nose. Leaf smiles sheepishly and rubs leafs nose, turning to fully face the both of them. It hits Jinki suddenly that his last solo interaction with Peach was an awkward hug and some bumbling on his part. He’s more comfortable now than he was then, but he’s still thankful that Choi is going to be with them.

“So,” Peach says slowly, biting leafs lip. “If they have lunch in there, then where do we go?” Leaf gestures at the coffee shop with one hand and then around the rest of the mall with another. Jinki grins and takes leafs shoulders to gently face leaf across the street.

“We go there,” he says, pointing directly across. “And then there.” He points at the shop right next to the first. “Ice cream and then muffins.” He wiggles his eyebrows as Peach slowly inflates with a soft gasp, hands rising to squish leafs cheeks.

“Nice,” leaf whispers. Jinki grins and takes leafs arm to lead leaf towards the little crossing point. Choi scoots ahead of them, faces them, glances behind themself, and then continues to walk backwards with a wide smile.

“We’ll get your laptop after,” they sign. “And then we meet up with them at the arcade.”

“At the….” Peach says slowly, focusing on Choi’s hand as they finger spell the word out instead. “Arc… there’s an arcade?” Leaf hisses, whipping to Jinki for confirmation. Jinki nods and points back across the street and just a block down where the arcade is, doors open and colorful lights twinkling.

“Oh my god,” Peach breathes. “This is the best day of my life.” Leaf practically drags Jinki to the ice cream shop in leafs excitement but Jinki can’t find it in himself to mind. He’s just glad that he’s a part of this day.