#{ this idiot got influenced by my mood }

[kitxkatrp]

He's in a mood, sitting at a familiar grave all alone with his fist wrapped around a knife. it was cutting into his fingers and sending rivers of blood down to the dirt below.

But at least he hadn't turned it on his arm yet. He might if left alone for too long.

#{ Dazai Osamu: Death Longing Canon-ish Verse } #tw: self-harm #{ this idiot got influenced by my mood }

[munson-blurbs]

Hi <3 for your trope-or-treat, how about dum-dum and butterfinger with Eddie, aka my favorite dum-dum

Idiots in love/Shy!Reader/Eddie Munson

A little offended that I'm not your favorite dum-dum, but it's fine.

Warnings: fluff, a bit of suggestive language

WC: 728

Divider credit to @saradika

Eddie can’t stop staring. 

It’s not on purpose; really, it’s all Mrs. Byrd’s fault. She had insisted on handing out candy after a pop quiz, calling it a ‘treat after a trick.’ You could’ve picked one of the fun-size chocolate bars like Eddie had, but no. 

You’d chosen a lollipop. 

The same goddamn lollipop that you’re currently twirling around your mouth, occasionally pulling from between your lips with a soft pop. You’re talking with Lucas, nodding sympathetically while he laments about having to take his sister trick-or-treating tonight. 

“What about you?” Lucas asks, taking a bite of his turkey sandwich. “Any fun Halloween plans?”

You shrug. “Eddie and I are gonna watch some scary movies once he’s done at the party.” Tina’s annual Halloween party is the perfect place for him to sell, but he never sticks around to hang out with people. 

“Really setting the mood,” Jeff teases Eddie, earning him an elbow to the ribs. 

You’re used to their jokes—calling you and Eddie ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad,’ saying that you two bicker like an old married couple, humming Here Comes the Bride whenever you walk into Hellfire. But it wears on you, especially given your ridiculous crush on him. 

You can’t stop thinking about Jeff’s off-handed comment, even when Eddie breezes through your doorway. He’s got a VHS copy of The Amityville Horror in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other. 

“You ready to hang out with Jody?” He punctuates his statement with his signature devil horns gesture, tossing a bag of Gummi bears in your direction before popping the movie in the TV. As the opening credits begin, he flops onto the couch and, incidentally, your lap.

“Get up!” you grunt, laughing as you try to push him off of you. “You’re squishing me!”

Eddie pouts and remains in place. “But how else am I gonna protect you from the Satanic influences?” He drops his register an octave to match his Dungeon Master voice.

“You are the Satanic influence!”

“Fair enough.” But, still, he doesn’t move; instead, he looks up at you and wistfully remarks, “you still look beautiful when you’re upside down.”

You wrinkle your nose, feeling your body heat up at his unexpected compliment. “Did you drink at Tina’s party?”

“Not a drop.” 

Given the lack of alcohol on his breath, you’re obliged to believe him. “Then stop being an idiot.”

“I’m…I’m not.” Confusion creases his brows, and he finally sits up. He situates himself next to you, bringing your legs over his thighs and forcing himself to look into your eyes. “Okay, I’m gonna do this, and I’m sorry if it fucks everything up, but…I have, like, this big, stupid crush on you? And I don’t know what to do about it except tell you, because I feel like I get weird around you, a-and I don’t want you to think that I don’t like you. Because it’s the opposite, y’know, like I really like you–”

“Eddie.” You interrupt him gently, allowing yourself to play with a lock of his hair. “Eddie, I like you, too. I didn’t think you felt the same way.”

He exhales, visibly relieved that his confession didn’t end in humiliation. “I didn’t want to ruin our friendship or anything, but Jeff told me that if I didn’t tell you soon, he was gonna kick my ass.” He chuckles, shaking his head, curls dancing in front of his face. “Can I kiss you? I-Is that okay?”

You answer for him, gathering all of your courage to press your lips to his. He adjusts you so you’re straddling his waist, His hand is on the back of your head, bringing you impossibly close to deepen the kiss.“Shit,” he mutters, abruptly pulling away, “I promised myself I’d take you on a date before we, y’know, do stuff.” His cheeks go red, his cheek pinched between his teeth. 

You glance over at the movie playing on the TV, then back to him. “Does this count as a date?”

“It can if you want it to.” Eddie’s fingers brush against your arm, the slight touch sending shivers throughout your body. “Do you? Want it to count as a date, I mean?

“Yes, please.” 

His lips are back on yours as soon as you finish affirming what he already knew, grateful that he won’t have to hold back any longer.

--

#trope or treat #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #fanfic #stranger things fanfic #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut

[starlightkun]

❧ word count: 22.3k ❧ warnings: cursing, inaccurate descriptions of constellations bc this is a fantasy world ❧ genre: fluff, mild angst, slow burn, blind date, strangers to idiots friends to lovers, modern magical creatures au, college au, werewolf sungchan, human reader, ft. siren shotaro & various magical neos (and another extra special guest appearance!), same universe as strawberry sunday ❧ extra info: this work is set in the same universe as strawberry sunday but can be read as a standalone! there is no continuing plotline between fics in this universe, they simply take place in the same world/magic system and may have overlapping characters (neos may pop up in more than one work!) ❧ author’s note: so this is technically the spiritual threequel to my two werewolf jeno fics (pupsick + abh) but you still don’t have to read those to understand this one at all! this is absolutely meant to be read by itself! and this one is also very self-indulgent, from the a.c.e song title to werewolf sungchan, i had a very great time on this one, hence the word count. if you guys have even half the fun reading this as i did writing it, you’ll have a blast. enjoy! ❧ sequel

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ explore the strawberry sunday universe more here!

baby i’m your changer, changer, love is not a danger

Reclined on the plush, soft grass of the front lawn of your college with your hands behind your head, you basked in a particularly lovely patch of sunlight. It was January, the very beginning of the year and the semester, meaning that this would normally be a very chilly and unpleasant endeavor. Except you were sandwiched between two dryads. Dryads weren’t in and of themselves extra warm like dragons or werewolves, nor could one dryad on their own change the weather—and would most likely be influenced by it rather than the other way other—but if you got two together, and they were in a good enough mood, they could generate a little bubble of springtime around them. And for some reason, Jaemin and Donghyuck were in exceptionally high spirits today.

You knew the two dryads from Magical Botany Club, which you had joined your freshman year after you’d managed to kill the small cactus that your parents gave you as a housewarming present for your dorm. They were the only ones who didn’t immediately label you a lost cause, and instead saw you as a challenge. Now, your junior year, your apartment was a jungle to rival that of a dryad’s home, and you were even Vice President of the club this year.

After a long, refreshing inhale followed by an even longer exhale, you finally asked, “So what’s got you in such a good mood? It certainly can’t just be finalizing the calendar of club activities this semester.”

Jaemin was club President, and Donghyuck the Secretary/Treasurer, so this little sunbathing session before the start of the semester on Monday was really supposed to be an Executive Board meeting.

“Who, us?” Jaemin replied innocently.

“No, I was talking to the cardinal on Donghyuck’s leg,” you retorted sarcastically, gesturing to said bird that had also settled in to enjoy the cozy rays.

“We’re not planning anything,” Donghyuck said in the same tone as Jaemin.

You propped yourself up on one elbow to look down at your friend properly, narrowing your eyes at him suspiciously. “I just wanted you to share whatever good news you had, I didn’t think you two were planning anything, but now I definitely do. What’s going on?”

“Donghyuck, you idiot!” The other dryad hissed at him.

“What is it? Don’t tell me you and that fairy are going to try to convince your human friend that aliens are real again. Leave that poor guy alone, he’s got enough on his plate just dealing with all of you being real and jerks to him.” You scoffed disapprovingly, remembering when they recounted that story to you at club a couple years ago. You had been tempted to check on Renjun yourself when you spotted him at the library the next day, but you didn’t know him personally, and didn’t think he’d appreciate it in the moment. Especially not since he looked like he was really focused on his work at the time, so you just let him be.

“It’s nothing like that, I swear,” Jaemin promised. “It’s nothing bad at all.”

You sat up all the way to be able to look at both of them at once. “Okay, what is it then?”

Donghyuck sat up too, the cardinal hopping up to his shoulder. “Long story short, we have a friend that we want to set you up with.”

“No thanks, guys.” You shook your head.

“You won’t even let us tell you about him?”

“I’m not really looking for anything right now. Not after my ex—”

Jaemin pushed his phone screen in front of your face then, a picture of a guy on it. It was presumably the friend they wanted to set you up with. He was around your age, tall—if where his head was in comparison to the doorway of this building was to be believed, wearing a black leather jacket. It looked well-worn, though, as if it might not have been his originally, handed down or thrifted at least. And yeah, he was cute, you weren’t blind. But you also knew not to just eat with your eyes, or else you’d get a tummyache.

“Seriously, Jaemin?” You looked at your friend over the phone screen. “You think I’m that shallow? One picture and I’m going to throw everything away?”

“Dude, show her the—” Donghyuck flapped his hand at the other dryad insistently.

“Oh, right, right.” Jaemin nodded as he began swiping and tapping on his phone fervently.

Donghyuck kept talking to you, “Of course we don’t think you’re shallow. We always meant to tell you about him, too. His name’s Jung Sungchan, he goes here, too, he’s a werewolf, he’s really nice, uh… Jaemin? Some help?”

You let out a sound that was a mix between a snort and a scoff. “Yeah, he sounds great.”

“Okay, he’s really more Jaemin’s friend than mine, sorry,” Donghyuck admitted. “Jaemin? What’s taking so long dude?”

“I don’t know! I can’t find it for some reason, I think he deleted it!” Jaemin muttered, his voice panicked. “I’m checking Jeno’s Instagram right now.”

“So Jeno knows him?” You asked. You didn’t know Jaemin’s werewolf roommate as well as you knew the two dryads, but you did know that they were all friends. “Are they in the same pack?”

“No, they actually know each other through Jeno’s… Ha! Found it!” Jaemin yelled out in celebration, flipping his phone around for you to see.

It was another picture, this time of Jeno standing next to the person you now knew to be named Sungchan. They were at what looked like a u-pick strawberry patch, each proudly holding up a large bucket filled to the brim with strawberries. Sungchan was in a white tank top—a brave choice for a strawberry farm—and shorts. Despite the outfit showing off a lot more of him than the last picture, it was his bright, happy grin that caught your eye, and you had to consciously make sure your gaze didn’t linger too long on the picture.

Turning your attention back to your friends, you prompted Jaemin, “Well? Do you know any more about him than he goes to our college and is a nice werewolf that knows Jeno?”

“Right! Yes!” Jaemin sat up straight at attention as you saw Donghyuck do a little fist pump of victory out of the corner of your eye. “He’s tall—”

“I can see that, he’s like almost two heads taller than Jeno; I meant his personality. This isn’t me saying yes, by the way.” You pointed to yourself and Jaemin talking. “This is me gathering data. I wanted to take time for myself after what happened with my ex, remember? I think it might be enough time, but I need a bit more than ‘he’s nice’ to get me out there.”

“Of course, of course. I really appreciate you even considering this for us,” he squeezed your arm for a moment before letting it go. “He’s really smart, Dean’s List every semester, uh, it might take a minute for him to warm up at first, but once he does, he’s funny, and insightful. And he doesn’t have that constant go-go-go energy that werewolves usually do, he’s so much chiller, so if you were worried about that, don’t be.”

“And, sorry, I know he’s your friend, but I have to ask…” You winced. “He’s not one of those werewolf guys that only dates human girls as like… you know… an ego thing?”

Donghyuck snorted, “Oh he’s not, promise.”

Tension you didn’t know you’d been carrying in your shoulders relaxed at that. “Good.”

“We do have to tell you one thing though,” Jaemin grimaced.

“What?”

“This isn’t just a random set-up because we think you guys would be cute—”

“Oh God, what’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing! Nothing!” He rushed to reassure you. “Like, that part is true, we do think you’d be a good match.”

“Let me guess: the ‘but’ that follows that sentence is related to the ‘long story’ that Donghyuck mentioned earlier?”

Jaemin nodded reluctantly. “Yeah… long story long, Sungchan made a deal, and his end of it was letting us set him up with anybody of our choosing.”

“You’re using a date with me to punish him?” You stood up, brushing the grass off your back. “Yeah, hard fucking pass. Thanks, guys, you really know how to make a girl feel special.”

“No, not a punishment!” Jaemin scrambled to get to his feet as well. As you walked off, the air around you turned cold again, marking when you left their bubble of spring. He called after you, “Y/N! I’m sorry! Please!”

You didn’t want to go back to your empty apartment yet though, so you found yourself meandering into a familiar storefront. Jasmine & Pearls, a boba tea shop just around the corner from your college campus. There was only one customer ahead of you in line, and you stared blankly at the menu just to look at something. You weren’t feeling very adventurous today, so you’d probably get your regular go-to order. After the customer before you had been helped, you shuffled up to the counter, messing with your phone case to pull your punch card out of the back of it.

“Hey, Y/N!” Shotaro, the siren working behind the counter today, greeted you cheerily.

The iridescent pink scales under the tip of his button nose and apples of his cheeks shimmered in the fluorescent lights, making him look like he had a perpetual hint of rosy blush across his skin. That, and his cherubic smile could almost make you forget what those scales and his flashing silvery eyes really meant—he was a siren, could lure you to your death if he so wanted to. Obviously, he didn’t want to, had no reason to, and that would literally be a murder charge nowadays, but you nevertheless found it fascinating that such a being was just here serving you boba tea.

A few months ago, you realized that you came here probably too often once all the workers knew your name, but by then it was too late. It was just too convenient, delicious, and pleasant of an atmosphere for you to feel ashamed enough to stop coming.

“Hi, Shotaro.” You smiled back at him. “Just a regular honey milk tea with boba, please. No charms today.”

“On it!” He accepted both your punch card and credit card from you. After handing them back, he spun around to make your drink, and you went to go wait for it at the bartop at the other end.

Curious, and with nothing better to do in that moment, you pulled up Jeno’s Instagram on your phone. From the main grid on his account, all you could see was pictures either with or of his partner. Cute. Then you finally saw one of them at a strawberry patch, Jeno in the same outfit as the picture Jaemin had shown you before. You clicked on that one, and sure enough it was a whole set of photos. You swiped through to find the one of him and Sungchan holding the buckets of strawberries. And Sungchan was tagged.

You looked up at Shotaro. The customer ahead of you still hadn’t gotten their drink. You checked the notifications on your phone. Nothing new to reply to. Well, here it goes. You clicked on his account.

And he was private. Well, good for him. Internet privacy.

You went back to Jeno’s Instagram to check if Sungchan had maybe appeared in any more posts. You just wanted to see if you could glean anything more about him.

You finally found him again in what looked like a big group trip to Cape Solaria at the end of last summer. There were probably fifteen people here at least. He popped up in a few different shots, playing beach sports with Jeno and some other guys that you didn’t recognize; joining in on throwing some poor small guy—who you presumed to be a witch, judging by the ritual tattoos he was covered in from neck to ankle—into the ocean; and sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows with Jaemin and Renjun. And in every single one, Sungchan had such a genuine, pure, joyful smile. Like he was fully enjoying the moment and the people with him. Yeah, maybe you were projecting, but... surely it wouldn’t hurt to give it at least one chance?

“Y/N? Hello?” Shotaro was calling for you from the counter, shaking a drink that was presumably yours.

You snapped your head up, sheepishly turning your phone off and stuffing it away in your pocket. The other customer was nowhere to be seen; it was just you and the siren.

“Sorry, sorry.” You rushed up to accept the cup.

“It’s alright, you seemed like you were in the zone.”

You grabbed a straw, punching it out from the plastic wrapping. “In the zone of a little cyberstalking, as much as I hate to admit.”

“No shame here, we all do it. Who was it? Can I see?” He grinned mischievously.

“No,” you said flatly, stabbing your straw through the top of the drink. “My friends want to set me up.”

“Want to? Sounds like you haven’t said yes.”

“Perceptive.” You took your first sip.

“But you were cyberstalking them... So, you’re considering?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Why not? Human lives are short.”

“Right. Thanks for that reminder.”

The bell above the front door rang then, announcing the entrance of another customer.

“Always here to help,” Shotaro patted your forearm before walking back to the register to greet the newcomer.

Two weeks later and you were nervously double-checking the name of the restaurant and the time that Jeno had sent you. Yep, this was it, and you weren’t weirdly early. You couldn’t believe how strange this felt, going on a date again. Comparing your outfit to the casual café as you walked in, you felt only a little better that you weren’t overdressed or underdressed either.

Your eyes scanned the building for Sungchan. You’d done enough cyberstalking on your own time in addition to the photos that your friends kept showing you to hype you up that you were certain you’d recognize him easily. It looked like you’d gotten here first. It was seat-yourself, so you might as well grab a table for the two of you.

You’d just come to a stop in front of a little two-seater and took your purse off to hang off the back of your chair.

“Y/N?” A voice came from behind you, accompanied by a gentle tap on your shoulder.

You spun around, immediately face-to-chest with someone. Looking up, you did, in fact, recognize the face of Jung Sungchan. He was admittedly cuter in real life than in the multitude of pictures that Jaemin and Donghyuck had continued to show you in preparation for the date. You didn’t want to know what they’d been doing to prepare Sungchan.

“Hi, Sungchan?” You still phrased it like a question, watching as the man’s features relaxed into an easy smile of recognition.

“Yes, hello.” He raised his arms up slightly at the same time that you did, and you realized that the both of you were now presumably having the same internal debate about if you were supposed to hug your blind first date hello as a greeting.

Ultimately, the two of you did go in for an awkward short hug, and you let out a nervous chuckle, feeling the warmth radiating off of him in the brief contact. You immediately looked down at the table, “Uhm, should we sit?”

“Of course, yeah.”

And as the two of you sat down on opposite sides, you looked up from your fidgeting fingers to your date’s face, not expecting his brow to be furrowed as if he were troubled by something, his gaze affixed on you.

You shifted in your seat uncomfortably. “Is everything okay?”

“You’re not wearing any perfume...” He commented, and you let out a minuscule sigh of relief. That’s all it was, he was just a bit put off that you hadn’t put on a perfume like one might’ve normally done for a date. A detail that he would’ve of course picked up as a werewolf.

“Not that I expect any brownie points for this, but I uh, I didn’t want to overwhelm your nose, in case there were any smells you’re particularly sensitive to,” you explained, picking up the menu that was already sitting on the table.

“You did your research.”

“Oh, I’ve dated a couple werewolves before, actually.”

“Really? You got a type or something?” As soon as the word were out of Sungchan’s mouth, he went to take them back, seeming surprised even at himself, “Sorry, that was—”

“No, no, I get it,” you cut off his apology, your tone reassuring. You knew that there were people who had a disturbing preference for werewolves, so you could understand why you dating now three werewolves might initially look a little suspicious. “Uh, I went to a kind of small high school. Private school. There were a couple of packs in my area that sent like all of their kids there, so my graduating class ended up being like 75% werewolves. It was just kind of statistics, I guess.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry about that, again,” Sungchan apologized once more, relaxing in his seat a bit more as he actually started to peruse his own menu.

“Anyway, that’s not a great first date topic.” You forced out a light-hearted chuckle.

“What’s not?”

“Past relationships? I think that’s third or fourth at least, don’t you?”

“Mm, yeah, of course. Sorry.”

Desperate to redirect the conversation to a much lighter, neutral one, you asked, “So what’s your major, Sungchan?”

“Earth Sciences.”

“Geology or Climatology track?”

He perked up at this. “Meteorology and Climatology.”

“And what made you want to study that?”

“Well, at first I thought I wanted to study astrophysics, but it was too much math and too little actual space. But I really liked my Intro to Weather class I took my first semester to cover a random credit so I switched to that and it stuck.”

“Wait, was it a morning Monday-Wednesday-Friday with Professor- Professor...” Suddenly, the memory struck you. “Oh! Hwang? Fall semester three years ago?”

“Yes, I believe so...” He answered, head tilting with intrigue.

“I think I had it too!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I took it to get that Science credit as well.”

“I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember you at all.”

“It’s okay, I don’t remember you either,” you laughed, just amazed at the coincidence. “It was a big auditorium.”

Sungchan must have figured out what he wanted, as he set down his menu and leaned his elbows on the table to give you his full attention. “So what are you studying?”

“I’m an Interdisciplinary Major,” you told him happily, thrilled that the conversation was going much more smoothly now. “I was a bit indecisive, too. Except I couldn’t find one thing that stuck like you did. So I chose two: Sociology and Magical Creatures Studies.”

His eyes dropped from yours as he scoffed under his breath, sitting back in his seat.

And there went your pleasant conversation again.

“What was that?” You asked tersely.

“I didn’t say anything.” He shook his head like he was trying to clear the unpleasant tone from the conversation, but you weren’t going to let him go that easily.

“No, but clearly you have an opinion. So go ahead.”

“Not really, I was just wondering if you’ve even dated anyone that wasn’t a werewolf.”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “You think my major is just me cruising for a new boyfriend or something? Very expensive and essay-intensive compared to dating apps.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Y/N,” Sungchan held his hands up, looking back up at you again. His features turned apologetic. “I just… I don’t know, I’m sorry.”

“So were you going to actually ask me that if I didn’t confront you, or were you just going to make assumptions?”

“That really was rude of me,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “But, I mean… how do you ask someone something like that without coming off as a bit rude?”

“I suggest phrasing it like a genuine question instead of an accusation.”

“Right.” He took a second as if to compose himself, then asked, his tone much more conservational, “So, you said you dated a couple werewolves in high school. Uh, have you dated anyone else since coming to college, then? Before this?”

You did your best to return your own voice and manner to civility as well. “Dates here and there, but as for serious relationships, just one, I dated a human guy briefly.”

“And why did you break up? If you don’t mind telling me. I get it if it’s too personal.”

“It’s fine. He cheated on me.”

“So you’re of course looking for loyalty. Like, you know, a dog.” Sungchan fired back spitefully.

“Okay, I think we’re done here, Sungchan,” you declared, putting both your hands on the table to prepare yourself to stand.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry,” he rushed to try to apologize for the umpteenth time that night, but you’d heard plenty by now.

“No, it’s fine, really,” you assured him, still moving to get up out of your chair and grab your purse. “You’ve obviously had some bad experiences in the past, none of which I’m privy to. It’s not fair to you to constantly be suspicious that your date has ulterior motives for being with you. But it’s also not fair to me to have to constantly defend myself either.”

He was quiet at that.

You continued, “We both deserve to be able to relax and have fun, and that’s clearly just not going to be able to happen. It’s okay, sometimes things just don’t work out. So, I’m going to go, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.”

And with that, you turned around and left the café.

The ringing of the bell above the door of Jasmine & Pearls barely registered in the back of your mind as you lumbered right up to the cash register the next day.

“Good afternoon, Y/N!” Shotaro greeted you cheerily.

“Hi, Shotaro...” You couldn’t muster up anything close to his level of enthusiasm, letting out a sigh. “Same old, same old, please.”

“Uh oh. Sounds like the date didn’t go so well?” He surmised, ringing you up then starting on your order.

“No, it didn’t,” you leaned against the counter to keep talking to him. “Barely lasted ten minutes.”

“That’s rough. You end it or did he?”

“I did. It was for the best but still... I thought I was going to really like this guy.” Based off nothing but social media posts and word of mouth from friends, but you really were hopeful. You’d had a good feeling, and had trusted Jeno, Jaemin, and Donghyuck. And it blew up in your face.

Note to self, never fucking trust those three again.

“Don’t feel too bad, Y/N. Seems like it’s going around.”

“What do you mean?”

“My roommate’s date last night was a bust too.”

“We should make a club,” you chuckled cynically.

“Or I can set you up?” The siren offered hopefully.

“Thanks, but I’m good. I said I was going to take some time to focus on myself after my last relationship, and I meant that. Last night was me testing the waters, and I fucking drowned.”

“That special, huh? Or, I guess not, in the end.”

“Well, at least now I know, you know? No ‘what if’s to mess with.”

Shotaro enthusiastically slammed your drink down in front of you. “Hell yeah, Y/N. A clear head.”

“Exactly.” You pulled the cup over to you.

He put the packaged straw down on top emphatically. “Fuck that guy.”

“Bit extreme, Shotaro, but I appreciate the sentiment,” you grinned, hitting the straw against the counter to pop it out from the plastic wrapping.

“You’re coming to our Valentine’s Day event next month though, right?” Your friend asked, pointing to the poster taped to the wall advertising the event. The evening of February 13th at the boba shop, with a special themed drinks menu and activities to do.

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Great!” He beamed at you.

“Anyway, I’ve got to go, and you’ve got more customers. See you.” You took your drink with you towards the exit that a whole gaggle of high schoolers had just come through, waving to the siren over your shoulder.

“Bye, Y/N!”

Pulling open the door of Jasmine & Pearls some weeks later, you were immediately greeted by an array of red, pink, and white. The entire store had been redecorated for the event. A short stage was set up against the far wall of the dining area, a small photobooth in another corner, and a station where you could learn to make an origami heart, if the pictures on the instructions taped to the wall above it were anything to guess off. The shop was already bustling and buzzing with energy, filled with couples and groups of friends. All in all, it looked like it was shaping up to be a successful night for them.

You got into possibly the longest line you could remember having waited in at Jasmine & Pearls in a while—you’d learned the rush times and had become a pro at avoiding them in order to get your boba fix as quick as possible—and continued looking around with a smile on your face.

Unfortunately, you were flying this one solo. Your friends were all either working or studying tonight, and you weren’t going to flake after already promising Shotaro just because you couldn’t find someone to come with you. But you could have plenty of fun by yourself. And, you didn’t make any promise to stay the whole night. You’d stay just to finish your drink and maybe make an origami heart or two, depending on how good you were at them.

Finally, it was your turn to order, and you walked up to the register already with a big smile on your face.

Shotaro was manning the register while another employee fulfilled the orders. Your friend’s face lit up immediately. “Y/N! You made it!”

“I told you I would. Did you doubt me?” You questioned in mock offense.

“Not for a second,” he declared. Pointing to the little standee menu that was on the counter, he asked, “So what’ll you have? I recommend one of our specials for the occasion, obviously.”

You looked over the three new drink options that were advertised as for tonight’s event only. One in particular caught your eye, strawberry milk tea with heart-shaped brown sugar tapioca pearls, and an added feel-good charm. “That Lovebug sounds good.”

“Perfect! I knew you’d get that one! Coming right up!” He rang you up, but only took your credit card from your hand. “Sorry, no regular punch cards tonight. Instead, every purchase of a drink comes with a special event-only punch card.”

“Oh?” You raised your eyebrows as he handed you a small pink card with four circles on it, one already punched out with a heart-shaped hole punch.

“Yep! If you complete all the activities we have tonight, you can redeem it for a free drink! You’ve already gotten a punch for purchasing a drink, then we’ve got the photobooth—” he pointed to the large box. “Just bring your photo strips up here, and I’ll punch the card for you. And the origami, same thing. They don’t have to be professional, as long as you tried, just show them to me, and I’ll give you another punch. And then my boss, Baekhyun, is going to be hosting Valentine’s Bingo in like ten, fifteen minutes. He’ll punch everyone’s cards who participates.” He gestured to the stage, where you now saw a man starting to mess with a microphone and small table. “Don’t worry, you can play single.”

“Huh. Sounds good to me.” You tucked the card into your pocket. “Thanks, Shotaro.”

“Your drink will be out in a second!”

When you finally heard your name being called out by the other employee, you walked up and took the cup from him gratefully. It was another siren, who you weren’t nearly as familiar with as Shotaro, but you still offered Yuta a smile as you accepted the drink.

You looked at the heart-shaped boba at the bottom of the cup fondly. “Cute. Thanks, Yuta.”

“Of course! Now enjoy the ambiance.” Yuta shooed you away with a smirk.

You saluted him casually. “Heard.”

Meandering around the store, you took in the kitschy decorations in various heart, Cupid, rose, and arrow shapes all around. Despite your own striking out in the romance department as of late, you couldn’t find yourself wanting to muster up any morosity for the atmosphere. It was too endearing, and you were someone who just loved love. And maybe the feel-good charm in the boba pearls was doing its job pretty well.

Legally, Jasmine & Pearls couldn’t sell any charms that had effects as strong as alcohol, drugs, or hexes, or they’d need special licenses for that, but the little charms and enchantments available in some of their boba options could influence one’s mood for a short amount of time. Feel-good, tranquility, energy, focus, that kind of stuff.

A lot of the tables had been pushed to one side to make room for the stage, so you took your drink to the bar seating that was against a window, keeping your eye on the figure on stage. As he was readjusting the microphone, you caught a flash of scales under his skin, realizing that he too was a siren, and suddenly the employment choices felt a bit more intentional than coincidental.

Red and pink heart-shaped confetti had been sprinkled along the bartop, and you brushed some of it aside to be able to set your cup down. You were humming along to the love song playing over the speakers as you scrolled on your phone when you swore you heard your name. Straightening up a little, you listened carefully for it again.

“Y/N?” Someone gently tapped on your shoulder this time.

You turned around atop the stool you’d been sitting on, not prepared for who was behind you. Jung Sungchan was standing there, hands stuffed in the pockets of his worn black leather jacket. Honestly, you hadn’t thought much about him since your date five or six weeks ago. Your focus had been on school— with this being your junior year, you had a lot to get together in order to be ready to apply for grad schools, Botany Club, still going to work, and keeping up with friends around all this somehow. One failed date that wasn’t even in your top five worst dates hadn’t really been keeping you up at night. And yet somehow here he was.

You were sure that the surprise was evident on your face, and you probably left just too long of pause hanging in the air before you finally said something. “Oh, Sungchan, hi.”

“I thought that was you. Hey.” He offered a friendly smile.

“How are you?”

“I’m—” He was cut off by a distant shout of his name that only got closer.

“Hey! Sungchan!” It was Shotaro, the siren approaching with a prepared drink and straw, shoving them in the werewolf’s hand. “Dude, you can’t just walk away from the counter like that while we’re making your drink, then I have to come chase you down when you don’t hear your name.”

Sungchan accepted it from the employee guiltily. “Sorry, Shotaro.”

“Anyway! I’m glad you two have met.” Shotaro beamed at the pair of you, throwing an arm around Sungchan’s neck. “Y/N, this is my roommate I was talking about, Jung Sungchan. Sungchan, this is Y/L/N Y/N, she’s a regular here and goes to our college.”

Your eyes widened minutely in alarm as you suddenly connected way too many dots. Oh god, Shotaro’s roommate had an awful date, Sungchan is Shotaro’s roommate, you and Sungchan had gone on a date that night, the very same date you had also complained to Shotaro about. And who knows what terrible things Sungchan might have told the siren about the date, about you. After all, you had been the one to walk out on him.

You felt like you were going to puke as Shotaro gave Sungchan a sharp slap on the shoulder, winked at you behind his roommate’s back, and walked back to his station behind the counter.

After a heavy, long, awkward pause, Sungchan finally spoke up. “So… what did you get?”

“Oh, uhm… the Lovebug. What about you?”

“Me too, same. Lovebug.”

Another pause as you watched Sungchan open his straw and poke it through the plastic seal covering the top of the drink.

“So are we going to address the elephant in the room?” You decided to just get it over with.

“Which one? I feel like we have a whole herd at this point.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Okay, fair. I meant Shotaro. I’ll be the first to admit that I confided in him after our—I’m sorry to say but—disaster of a date.”

“That’s a generous assessment, actually.” Sungchan agreed. “And I told him about it too. I mean, we live together, it was hard for him not to notice when I came back home less than an hour after I left.”

“Ah, yeah…”

“I didn’t say anything bad about you, by the way. I told him it went horribly, because I ruined it, of course, but you were perfectly lovely. Truly way more level-headed than I deserved.”

“Oh, no, Sungchan,” you tried to reassure him. “Really, like I said before— Sometimes things just don’t work out.”

“I know. But still, I treated you awfully, and I am really, really sorry about that.”

“Thank you.”

A crackling came from the speakers up front, snapping your attention back to the man on stage. Baekhyun had gotten the microphone connected, and you saw Shotaro darting from the stage to his spot at the register as his boss called for everyone’s attention. “Hello? Hello? Great, this is working.”

He flashed a dazzling smile to the small crowd. “Hi, if you don’t know me, I’m Byun Baekhyun, I own Jasmine & Pearls here. If you’re in line, don’t panic, we’re not starting quite yet. I just wanted to thank everybody for coming out here tonight, this is honestly a much better turnout than we had expected. I, of course, also want to thank my two incredible employees, Shotaro and Yuta, for working tonight too.”

The two sirens behind the counter both waved as they got a round of applause, then everyone’s eyes were back on Baekhyun.

“We’re going to be starting Valentine’s Bingo in about five minutes or so. I just want everyone to know that you will need a partner for this. So if you came out here by yourself, find another single person out there and you know… get talking.” He grinned, and you swore his gaze lingered on you and Sungchan for a millisecond too long to be coincidental. “Okay, awesome, I’ll be back up here in five to get it started.”

Your eyes flashed over to your friend that was working, remembering exactly when he told you that you could play the game by yourself, and now suddenly you needed a partner. Shotaro was contentedly ringing up a customer’s order, though, seemingly not even paying you nor Sungchan any mind.

“So, uh, want to partner up? For the bingo?” Sungchan asked, then rushed to tack on, “Unless you’re waiting for somebody?”

“I’m not waiting for anybody,” you smiled, gesturing to the stool beside you for him to sit down.

“How have things been with you?”

“Good, they’ve been pretty good. Just a lot of school and Bot Club.”

“Bot Club?”

“Magical Botany Club. I’m the Vice President this year.”

“Oh, cool. So that’s how you know Jaemin, then.”

“Yeah, yeah. Him and Lee Donghyuck, we’re all on the board together.”

“How’d you get into it?”

“Because I sucked at gardening,” you admitted with a laugh. “My freshman year, my parents gave me this cactus to have in my dorm, and I killed the thing somehow. They can survive in deserts and the most extreme climates in the world, and it perished in my dorm room. I joined Bot Club hoping for some tips, and everyone just immediately thought I was beyond help. Jaemin and Hyuck were the only ones who actually took the time to help me. And it took a lot of time.”

Sungchan was smiling too, genuinely. “You must have grown to really like it, to stick around after getting your cactus caretaking tips.”

“Yeah, I do.” You nodded. “What about you? How’s school been for you?”

He grimaced a little. “Could be better, honestly.”

“Oh no? Why? What’s wrong?” You frowned.

Before Sungchan could answer, another person had approached the two of you. It was Baekhyun, a stack of square bingo cards in one hand and box of markers in the other. His silver eyes seemed to glitter in the lights as he smiled at you, his opalescent scales refracting a whole rainbow of colors where they sat just under his skin along his cheekbones, bridge of his nose, and forehead.

“Hi!” He greeted the two of you cheerfully. “Are you two together?”

“Oh, uh, yes,” Sungchan nodded, reaching out to grab your bingo sheet and marker before the store owner flitted off to the next pair of customers.

He set them down on the counter in between the two of you, but your focus was still on your conversation.

“So what’s wrong, Sungchan?” You asked, taking another sip of your drink.

“I mean, it’s just been a bit stressful is all,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “One of my professors asked me to do research with him, and then I took an SI position with another professor too, on top of all my classes. Just kind of got a lot on my plate.”

“Oh, okay. But that sounds like a great opportunity, at least. Your professor asking you to do research with him.”

“It is, it’s some seriously cool stuff.”

“What’s—”

Baekhyun clearing his throat into the microphone from the front cut you off, and you gave the werewolf an apologetic look.

“Sorry. But I do want to hear about it later, Sungchan,” you squeezed his arm before turning around to face the stage.

“Alright, we’re going to be getting started then.”

As Baekhyun kicked off the first round of bingo, you found yourself tapping the marker against the bingo card as you sat there. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Sungchan awkwardly leaning over as he tried to look at the sheet too, and you realized you’d been hogging it.

“Oh, sorry, here,” you moved the sheet more into the middle, at the same time that you scooted your stool over towards him to lessen the gap between you. “Is that better?”

Sungchan’s shoulder was just behind yours as he looked over you at both the card and the stage. “Yeah, yeah, thanks.”

“Did you want to mark them off? Sorry, I just grabbed it without thinking.” You offered the permanent marker out to him.

“No, it’s all yours.” He shook his head, then tapped his finger to the middle spot. “But you did forget the Free Space.”

“Oh, shit, thanks.” You crossed it off with an X.

Baekhyun called out number after number, and you and Sungchan worked together to search the small card for them.

You clicked your tongue as you couldn’t find the one the shop owner had just called out, and were about to pick your cup back up to take another sip of your drink, when Sungchan spoke up happily.

“Found it!”

“Oh, where?” You hovered the marker over the card, scanning the little letters and numbers.

“Right there.” He’d pointed, but his hand was gone too fast, and you lost it again.

“Wait, where?”

“Right…” he reached over to wrap his own hand around yours that was holding the marker, and dragged it over to the correct square. You giggled as he guided your hand to draw a messy X like you were a toddler learning to write your letters for the first time. “…There.” He finished, letting go of your hand.

“Ahh, okay,” you nodded slowly. “I see… I’m illiterate.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say it.”

“Hey!”

Sungchan laughed as you gave a half-hearted smack against his chest, and you couldn’t help but smile too. After all, it was your self-deprecating joke first.

He patted your back, apologizing through his chuckles, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Apology taken under consideration.”

“Oof, I don’t like the sound of that. Anything I can do to better my chances here?”

“Hmm,” you hummed, pretending to think as you tapped the capped end of the marker against your bottom lip.

Sungchan watched you, his elbow resting on the bartop and his cheek in his hand. The only thing separating you two was the bingo sheet, the game which you weren’t even focused on anymore. Your back was entirely turned to the stage now, gaze set only on the werewolf next to you.

Just as you’d parted your lips to make your proposal, you happened to hear Baekhyun announce the next number.

“O13!” The siren’s voice carried well through the speakers. “O13!”

You let your eyes flick down, immediately catching on that open square on your card. And it completed the row. You marked it off, a giddy grin spreading across your face as you went to elbow Sungchan. “Look!”

“Oh damn! Nice!” He raised his hand, as did you, as he called out. “Bingo! We got bingo!”

Baekhyun’s features lit up as he stopped his progress of reaching for the next bingo ball. He practically purred into the microphone, “Well, well, seems like we’ve got our first bingo. If one of you could read it out so I can double-check it, then we’ll see about getting you two your prizes.”

Sungchan called out your five spaces, and Baekhyun nodded with each one, the room erupting into applause when he declared that you two had won that round.

“Alright, come up here so I can give you your prizes and punch your tickets.” The siren waved you up.

You looked to Sungchan expectantly, and he gestured for you to go up ahead of him. Instead, feeling a bit uneasy with the entire café’s eyes on you, you latched onto his forearm and dragged him up right alongside you.

“So you each are getting a gift card to the shop—” He handed you two small cards, then turned around, where Yuta had appeared with a couple more items. Baekhyun then handed each of you a denim baseball cap that had the logo of the shop on the front in lilac purple thread. “And Jasmine & Pearls embroidered hats. Thank you so much for coming here and playing.”

You accepted both prizes from him, feeling over the embroidery on the cap with your finger.

“And if you’d give me your event punch cards, I’ll go ahead and give you your punches now, since you unfortunately, won’t be allowed to play to win again. Fairness and all that.”

You and Sungchan handed over your punch cards, and the siren gave each of you another heart-shaped punch before giving them back.

“Now, we will be playing two more rounds, so don’t worry if you didn’t win this time,” he announced to the rest of the crowd as you and Sungchan headed back to your seats. “I’ll hand out brand new cards to everybody, and we’ll restart. Y/N and Sungchan, you’re free to play again for fun, if you’d like. You just can’t play for profit.”

Sungchan looked over at you in a silent question, and you shook your head. You were happy to play and win just the one time. After all, with everybody else still occupied, this would be the perfect time to do the other activities with little to no lines or crowding.

“No thank you, we’re bingo-ed out for tonight,” Sungchan called out, and the host nodded graciously.

“Very well. Everybody else hold tight while I come around to distribute new cards.”

As the two of you finally sat back down at your seats and looked over your prizes, you realized that you had never introduced yourself to Baekhyun. Not when he had passed out the cards, nor when he was giving you your prizes. But he knew your names. You snapped your head up towards the counter suspiciously again, but Shotaro was once again minding his business, cleaning out one of the machines.

Sungchan was readjusting the sizing of his hat, then finally pulled it on, offering you a lopsided grin. “What do you think?”

“Looks good on you.” You tapped the brim of it, feeling a familiar airiness in your chest, one that you hadn’t felt in some time. “You wear baseball caps a lot?”

“For sure, so I’ll get good use out of this.”

“Wear them for fashion or do you play a lot of sports?”

“Oh, uh, both, I guess? I like how they look, and I usually wear them when I’m out playing whatever to keep the Sun off my face, yeah.”

The pictures from Jeno’s Instagram of Sungchan on their trip to Cape Solaria suddenly came to mind, and you diverted your eyes down to the gift card in your hand as your skin started getting warmer and warmer. At this rate, he was going to be able to hear your heartbeat picking up the pace and the idea of that in and of itself was embarrassing enough to make it gain even more speed.

“So…” Sungchan inhaled, and you looked up with both your eyebrows raised.

Admittedly, you’d completely forgotten where the two of you were in your previous conversation. “Hm?”

“Do you want to finish the other two punches together?” He asked. “I know they’re not partner things, but we’re both here, and everyone else is busy doing bingo, so it’s probably the best time to do them and—”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” You grinned at him, standing up off your stool. “I’d love to, Sungchan. Besides, you’re still supposed to tell me about your research, remember?”

His features lit up as he followed you over to the origami station. “Right, right! Are you sure you want to hear about it, though? It’s on climate change and how it affects human disease, it’s a little doomsday-ish.”

“Ah, perfect for the holiday.” You pointed to the giant paper cut-out of a cartoon Cupid hanging above your heads, then reached for your first square of red paper. “I’m sure, go for it.”

“Okay, cool,” he beamed at you, grabbing a piece of patterned pink paper.

As Sungchan walked you through all the intricacies and machinations of the topic that his research with his professor was on, you were genuinely happy at how much you understood. He didn’t mind slowing down to answer your questions, or explain concepts that you didn’t know already. And you two could have an actual conversation tangential to the topic, because you had taken a Magical Conservation class just last semester that dealt directly with how climate change was affecting a lot of magical creatures, such as sirens who typically lived in and around glaciers that were now losing much of their native habitats due to the lack of year-round sea ice at the poles. And all the while, you both tried your damndest to make an origami heart.

“Okay, what the fuck?!” Sungchan huffed, cutting himself off in the middle of a thought about disease vectors. He smacked his crumpled piece of paper that looked nothing like a heart onto the table. “I’ve taken engineering classes, how am I getting bested by a primary school arts and crafts project?”

“It’s not a—”

“It literally says ages 8 and up on the instructions.”

You pressed your lips together in a line. “Ah. So it does.”

Yours didn’t look much better. It seemed as though you were both getting bested by a project meant for children.

“Well, Shotaro did say we just had to show him we tried and we’d get the punch,” you reminded him.

“No, no, I can get this,” he shook his head, grabbing a fresh sheet. “I just need to focus, and not talk while I do it. You’re too much of a distraction.”

“My apologies, I’ll be quiet this time,” you chuckled, covering your mouth with your hand as you leaned against the table to watch him try again.

He made every fold with precision, but you found that you weren’t really watching him fold so much as you were watching him. His brow was set in concentration, a small crease emerging in the knit of his brows, his eyes narrowed slightly, and the very tip of his tongue poking out from between his lips. It was cute, adorable, endearing, everything in the thesaurus, and you could’ve sat there and watched him fold origami hearts all night if he wanted to, punch card and free drink be damned.

Sungchan stood up straight, his features relaxing into a proud grin as he held his completed piece up for you to see. It was definitely a heart this time, a simple baby pink color, and you were amazed at how straight the lines were.

“Nice, Sungchan!” You praised him. “That’s what those engineering classes were for, huh?”

“I wasn’t going to let some project for ages 8 and up that Shotaro picked out get the best of me!” He declared, and you could practically see his chest puffing out with pride. “I’m not going to give him the satisfaction.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “So that’s what this was? Fragile STEM major ego?”

He narrowed his eyes at you. “Isn’t sociology a science?”

“I think you’re the first hard science major to ever say that.”

“It ends in -ology.”

“So do phrenology and astrology.”

“Fair. But seriously, is it not?”

“It is. But usually, you engineering and whatnot majors don’t like to consider us ‘soft sciences’ like sociology and anthropology and psychology to be ‘real sciences,’ whatever the hell that means.”

“Ohh, yeah… I’ve got better shit to do than tell a scientist that they’re not a scientist.”

“Like make children’s crafts.”

“Exactly.” He gave you another smile brighter than the Sun.

You nodded firmly. “A much better use of your time. Now, are you ready to take these to Shotaro?”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

As the two of you walked up to the counter, you continued your earlier conversation, “And I will remind you that I’m actually an Interdisciplinary major, and also study MCS. Both of which are considered humanities, a label that I wear with pride, even more so than the ‘soft science’ one.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Sungchan’s mouth as he looked down at you. “Noted.”

Shotaro was standing at the register, hands folded over each other and a smug smile on his face as he watched the two of you approach together. “Well, hey, guys! Congrats on your win!”

“Thanks, Shotaro.” You smiled back, holding your paper heart out to him. “We did the origami too.”

Sungchan held his up too, and you could see the proud look on his face as he did so.

“His is a lot better than mine,” you admitted as the siren took just a second to appraise them. Seeing the two side-by-side, yours was a bit misshapen, folds across parts that were supposed to be flat from you having to undo and redo parts over and over again.

“That’s okay! You guys just had to try,” Shotaro reminded you, picking up the hole punch. “Punch cards please?”

With just one punch left, you and Sungchan headed over to the photobooth in the corner. It was set up so that you didn’t have to pay for any of the films. Sungchan climbed in first, and you watched nervously where his head almost hit the top of the entrance.

“Goddamn this thing is tiny,” he observed as soon as he had poked his head in past the curtain.

“Is it small or are you a giant?” You asked pointedly.

Sungchan had fully entered the photobooth then, and retorted back, “Get in here and find out.”

As you parted the curtain and put just your first foot in, you immediately realized how cramped the two of you were going to be. “Okay, maybe a bit of both.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sungchan was already sat on the bench, and pressed himself as far back into the corner as he could to give you enough space to sit next to him. Your leg was squished in next to his, and his arm ended up around your shoulders. He was warm, as expected for a werewolf, whose body temperatures all ran naturally higher than humans.

As he shifted his shoulders and arm to settle around you, he double-checked, “Sorry, is this alright? It’s tight in here—”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” you turned your head to give him a smile, but were instead caught off-guard by just how close his face was to yours. If either one of you shifted forward right now, you would hit noses. Your breath hitched in your throat as you made eye contact with him. Oh, he could definitely hear your heartbeat in the tiny space afforded by the photobooth, surely as clear as you could hear it thudding in your own ears. God, you’d always thought he was cute, but something about being so close, and the lights in here hitting the angles of his face just right, he was striking, handsome. You curled your hands into fists in the material of your pants, not trusting yourself not to grab him and do something too wildly out of pocket.

The screen played a short melody at you, knocking you from your trance, and you turned your focus back to your task.

Pressing a couple buttons on the touchscreen, you looked between the height of the camera and Sungchan, squinting. “Is your head even going to show in frame?”

Sungchan swallowed, then cleared his throat before he spoke, as if his mouth had gone dry. “Guess we’ll find out after.”

“Alright, it’s a four-cut.” You announced after skimming the easy illustrated instructions. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” He gave you a thumbs up.

“Okay. 1, 2, 3.” You pressed the start button before sitting back in your seat against him again.

You smiled and held up a peace sign for the first one, and in the split second of the flash going off, you heard the werewolf next to you curse under his breath, “Fuck! That’s bright—” accompanied by the feeling of him flinching back, and immediately followed by a distinct thud.

Turning around as much as the space could allow for, you saw Sungchan curled in on himself, his eyes squinted shut presumably both in pain from the flash and from where he had just smacked the back of his head against the wall of the photobooth, judging by the hand he was cradling it with.

“Ooh! Sungchan, are you alright?” You asked through giggles, unable to get over the comical thunk! sound that his head had made.

Another flash went off, startling him into hitting his head again with another bonk! and this time you couldn’t help but burst out into full-bodied laughter, turning back toward the camera to not laugh directly in the poor guy’s face. You could barely see the third and fourth flashes because your eyes were squeezed shut as you laughed, running out of air and having to prop yourself up with a hand on Sungchan’s knee to not keel over.

Finally, you started sobering up enough to squint your eyes back open, and through your tears, you saw Sungchan smiling down at you as well.

“Alright, I don’t know if it was that funny…” he sighed, still holding his head.

“I’m-I’m sorry,” you tried to apologize through your wheezes. “It was the sound, and the two in a row, it was just too much for me. I’m not laughing at your pain, I promise. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. Thanks.” He reassured you, dropping his hand from his head and resting it on the one that you still had on his knee. “I… I really like your laugh.”

Your hand suddenly tingled. “Oh. Thank you…”

After a beat, he shifted his gaze from yours. “So where do the films print out at?”

“Uh, on the outside of the booth. Should be two, one for each of us.” You said quickly, getting up to exit the booth and put some space between the two of you again.

Sungchan followed you out, and you easily found the dispenser, where there were in fact two film strips. He grabbed them for you, looking over them first. A smile spread across his face as he continued holding them, and you started getting antsy the longer that you hadn’t seen them.

“What, are they that bad?” You asked with a light chuckle.

“What?” He snapped his focus up to you.

“You’ve been smiling at them for an awful long time. Did I blink or something?” You joked, knowing very well that you were laughing for half of them.

He sucked in air through his teeth, shaking his head regretfully. “Yeah, I think for your own sake, I should keep both of these. I mean, I look great but—”

“Sungchan, let me see!” You reached for them, but he yanked his hand back from you at the last second.

You lunged for them again, but he once again kept them just out of your reach, a sly grin on his lips. The next time you tried to grab them, he held them above his head, and he most unfortunately had a significant height advantage over you.

You were already in his personal space from grabbing for them before, practically chest-to-chest (well, really chest-to-face), and now had to crane your neck straight up to look at them. With a huff, out of breath, heart racing for more than one reason now, you weakly pulled on his shoulders as you pouted, “Sungchan, please!”

“Here, I warned you.” He said melodramatically, handing you one copy of the film strips.

You eagerly held it in both hands, scanning over the four pictures on it. The first one was normal, it looked like Sungchan had taken your lead and both of you were smiling and throwing up peace signs. The second one was where everything went to chaos. Sungchan was wincing in pain in the corner, holding his head, as you had the back of your head to the camera, one hand reaching uncertainly towards him. In the third, you were turned back towards the camera, a little blurry as you laughed, and Sungchan was squinting one eye open to look at you. And in the last one, you were still laughing, leaning on Sungchan for support as there was nothing but simple joy on your face; and Sungchan’s features had relaxed out of pain as he gazed down at you with a fond smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Not as wide as yours was, but no less dim.

“These are so cute! You liar!” You elbowed Sungchan in the side.

“You didn’t let me finish. I look great, but you look radiant.”

“Good save.” You joked, but couldn’t suppress the smitten grin that wormed its way across your face. “And I’m keeping mine.”

Sungchan reached into the pocket of his jacket then, pulling out his pristine, baby pink origami heart from earlier. He held it out to you. “I-I wanted you to have this, too.”

“Aw, Sungchan…” You accepted the paper heart from him.

“Feel free to throw it out when you get home, I get it.”

“Hey, stop that.” You pinched his forearm where the sleeve of his jacket had fallen down. “Don’t do something sweet and then immediately take all the sincerity away by covering it with a layer of self-deprecation. If you’re going to be a sweetheart, own up to it or don’t do it at all.”

He rubbed at the back of his neck, and you could see a flush creeping up from his collar to his cheeks. “You’re right. I wanted to give you that, sans trash can.”

You were beaming, tucking it into the inner pocket of your jacket and patting it. “Thank you, Sungchan. I’d offer you mine, but I think it really should go in the trash.”

“Look who’s not taking her own advice, hm?”

“Alright, if you want it,” you sighed, taking your own lumpy attempt at the origami heart out of your pocket and handing it over to him.

Sungchan plucked it from your fingers smugly. “Thank you.”

“I expect you to be buried with that now, by the way.”

“I’ll be sure to write it in my will.”

The two of you were still chuckling as you walked up to the counter again, your film strips and punch cards in hand to show them to Shotaro. Your siren friend reviewed the pictures with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You guys are so cute,” he commented so very subtly. “But uh, what happened here, Sungchan? Did you hit your head on something? How did you manage that one?”

As you covered your mouth to hide your giggles at the memory of the double bonk! resurfacing, Sungchan took his film strip back from his roommate. “Alright, are you going to give us the punches or not?”

Shotaro punched the final heart-shaped holes into both your cards. “And with that you’ve completed all the punches! Unfortunately, you can’t redeem the free drink tonight, but by all means, you are more than welcome to stay and hang out some more. We’ve got extended hours tonight, so you can keep doing the activities if you like, or just, you know… stay and chat or something.”

“Right, thanks, Shotaro.” Sungchan led you away with a hand on your back.

You ended up back at your original seat that you had sat at for the bingo game. The game finished while you were in the photobooth, the other patrons now milling around the shop again. Some were sitting, sipping on their drinks and enjoying each other’s company, others at the origami stations, others lining up at the photobooth, and still others back at the register ordering again. You looked down at the film strip in your hands before tucking it away safely with Sungchan’s origami heart. Looking around, you saw that Baekhyun was making rounds now that he was done hosting bingo, greeting customers and having conversations with everyone he stopped to talk to.

You didn’t want to leave yet, to have this night be over, to have your time with Sungchan be done. At least not without knowing if you’d see him again. This had been fun, really fun, and you wanted to see him again. Every bad first impression of him you’d gotten from your date had been wiped away.

“Hey, Y/N?”

You snapped your focus back over to him at the sound of his voice, trepid and unsure. You offered him a reassuring smile as you replied, “Yeah, Sungchan?”

He had taken his hat off, and was messing with the seam along the bottom band nervously. “I know I already said this, but I really am sorry for everything I said to you before. I was so incredibly wrong about you.”

“And I’ve already said thank you, so I suppose I’ll say I forgive you this time.” You squeezed his forearm. “So would you stop apologizing now?”

“I know we can’t start over completely, but…”

“Yes?” Your voice pitched up hopefully, your heart soaring along with it.

“Friends?”

Splat. Your heart plummeted back down with tremendous velocity.

It took all your willpower to keep your face from showing the disappointment you’d felt, and even then, you were sure it still fell minutely. You slapped on a rehearsed, customer service smile for him, too shocked that you’d apparently misread everything so badly to do much more than go through a script of what you should say. “Yeah, sure. Friends.”

Sungchan beamed at you, another heart-stopping, adorable, lopsided grin that now made your chest squeeze painfully. “Okay, great! Thank you, seriously!”

You threw open the door to Jasmine & Pearls the next morning so violently that it swung back the other way and rang the bell twice.

“Shotaro.”

The siren perked up to greet you. “Oh, Y/N! Back to redeem that free drink already, huh?”

“Sungchan here?” Your eyes flicked around the shop warily. You couldn’t see him, but now that you knew that the two of them were roommates, you had to be more careful.

“Oh, I see.” Your friend grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. “No, you just missed him, actually, he had class, popped in on his way to campus.”

“Thank god,” you groaned, collapsing into a stool near the pick-up counter, face in your arms.

“Uh, I’m going to make you a drink. Your usual?”

“Sure…” You mumbled, the sound even more muffled by your arms.

As Shotaro prepared the drink, he picked your conversation back up. “Now, what happened? You two looked like you were having a lot of fun last night. Not to pat myself on the back too hard.”

You lifted your head up just enough to rest your cheek on your arms so your friend could hear you when you spoke. “Did he tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Remember that awful date I went on last month?”

“Vaguely.”

“And Sungchan went on a bad date the same night.”

“Yeah. Did he do some kind of ‘all cards on the table’ confessional with you to try to scare you off?” Shotaro sighed, tossing his hand towel over his shoulder and putting his hands on his hips. “Listen, don’t worry, I know he says he ruined his date that night, but really he’s a big puppy—don’t tell him I said that, he’ll tear my throat out.” He paused, as if realizing what he had just said. “And don’t worry about that ‘tear my throat out’ thing either, I swear he’s super sweet. Honestly, something must have been wrong with that girl, he’s not—”

“It was me.” You cut him off bluntly.

“Huh?”

“Sungchan and I were each other’s terrible date that night.”

The siren slapped a hand over his face with a groan. “Oh my god, what did he do?”

“Now you think he did something? Two seconds ago, you swore there was ‘something wrong with that girl.’” You raised your eyebrows.

“Yeah, but I know you, Y/N. Him saying he fucked up and made you walk out? I can believe that.”

“We don’t have time to unpack all of that, but thanks, I guess.” You settled your cheek in your hand instead. “Anyway, it was all a mismatch at the time. He had his reasons, and I had mine, and I left. I didn’t harbor any ill will towards him, nor had I even thought about him until last night.”

Shotaro snorted, placing your finished drink in front of you. “Oh, well, can’t say the same for him.”

“What?”

“Whatever he did, he felt terrible about it. He kept talking about how he wanted to apologize to you, but he didn’t think you’d want to see him.”

You blinked at him. “Seriously?”

“I just thought it was like when you accidentally say ‘you too’ when the waiter tells you to enjoy your food and then you can’t stop thinking about that interaction for the next six months.”

Remembering the gist of your very short conversation from your one and only date with Sungchan, you shook your head. “No, not quite.”

“But it seems like you two made up last night, right?” Shotaro asked, head tilted.

“Yes, last night was so much fun. It’s what our first date should have been. We got to talk, and get to know each other, and joke, and laugh, and maybe flirt a little bit; and he’s funny, and smart, and a lot of fun...” You explained, trailing off pitifully at the end.

“So what’s the catch?”

“Well, I don’t know why I thought that at the end of the night, when he said,” you dropped your voice to mimic Sungchan, “‘I know we can’t start over completely, but—’ I don’t know why I thought that was going to be followed up by him asking me out, but it wasn’t.”

The siren’s jaw dropped. “It wasn’t?”

“Nope. Friends...” You said with weak enthusiasm, giving him two thumbs-up and a feigned smile as if you were being held at gunpoint.

“Ooh, Y/N...” Shotaro grimaced.

You dropped your head into your hands in defeat. “And somehow I feel even stupider than I did leaving that date.”

“I’m going to ask him what the hell he’s thinking.”

“No the fuck you’re not!”

“Y/N—”

“I told you this in confidence, Osaki Shotaro, not so you could you blab how pathetic I am right back to him!”

“But I just did that with him to you.” He pointed out innocently. “Seems a bit unfair.”

“Thanks for just agreeing with me on the pathetic part.”

“Well—”

“You’re not helping!”

“I’m trying!” He threw his hands up in exasperation. With a sigh, he came up to lean against the counter, voice turning sympathetic once more. “Look, Sungchan probably just thinks that you would want nothing to do with him romantically after he ruined it so stupendously last time. So he doesn’t even want to put you in the awkward position of rejecting him again— or, he at least thinks you would reject him again.”

“You really think so?” You asked quietly, watching a bead of water run down the side of your cup.

“Best I can come up with.”

And all the hope in your chest puttered out like a limp, half-filled balloon. “So that was a guess.”

“I’m a siren, not a mindreader, sorry.”

“Ugh, I’ve got to go. Thanks, Shotaro. For the boba. You were useless otherwise.”

“Bye!” Your friend waved to you cheerily.

Being friends with Sungchan was pretty easy, actually. You already had a lot of the same friends (it was sort of weird that you hadn’t met before that date, you realized), and as long as somebody else was there, it was easy to ignore the ever-present, ever-growing crushing pain in your chest whenever you were with him. You didn’t like that it was like this, you hated being that person pining over one of their friends who had explicitly said that they just wanted to be friends. You’d tried to get yourself to feel like this about other guys—the cute phoenix in your Criminology class, or the funny gryphon that you were partnered up with for a project in your Introduction to Interdisciplinary class. But it was useless, your thoughts always came back Sungchan. And you weren’t friends with him in hopes that one day it would be different, either; you really didn’t want to be that friend. You were just enjoying Jung Sungchan, in whatever capacity you got him in.

And right now, that was a rather tenacious study buddy. When you’d off-handedly mentioned an upcoming test that you hadn’t studied for yet, he immediately made you compare schedules so that the two of you could do a study session before it. So now you were reviewing flash cards of some key concepts as Sungchan was hunched over a notebook of his own. Working on his research with his professor, you were pretty certain. He switched between his computer and handwritten notes so frequently that you weren’t sure how he kept it all straight, and all the numbers and Greek letters and letter letters made your head swim trying to decipher it. As long as it all made sense to him.

It all mostly made sense to you when he would explain it to you, if you were actually listening to the words he was saying and not just thinking about how nice his voice sounded, or how pretty he looked that day. Your brain was truly rotting from the inside out.

And you two were alone. You didn’t know if he had invited any of your other friends and they couldn’t make it or if this was a “just us” thing. That was something that he did that always made it so hard for you to keep your rule of never hoping for more. Sometimes you two would hang out and invite Shotaro and Jaemin and Jeno and Jeno’s girlfriend and maybe even some more of their friends that you weren’t as familiar with; and sometimes when you’d ask if you should invite anybody, Sungchan would reply with a shoulder shrug and a casual non-explanation that this should be a “just us” thing. You could never delineate what made an activity worthy of a group invite or a “just us” thing.

You stared at your screen with immense focus. Not on what was on the screen, your thoughts had long drifted from dryad folk tales and were now in an endless rumination on what the hell a “just us” thing was. You’d been to group study sessions and study sessions with just Sungchan. Group movie nights and movie nights alone with Sungchan—those were an especially bittersweet kind of awful, as he liked to share blankets. Group dinners and dinners with just the two of you. So what made something a “just us” activity? What was the—

Something in your periphery caught your attention, and snapped you out of your pensive thoughts that you’d been stewing in. It was a small, white, origami heart being pushed up from the bottom corner of your computer screen. You took it, smiling at Sungchan across the table from you, who sat up straight now that he no longer had to reach so far to deliver it to you.

Upon second glance, it looked like the heart was made out of notebook paper from his spiral notebook with notes on it in blue ink. You squinted to make out some of It in his messy scrawl, but gave up after reading just a portion of a complicated, technical word.

“Thanks, Sungchan.” You ran your fingertip along the crisp edge of the paper heart.

This had been one habit he’d picked up since the Valentine’s Day event at Jasmine & Pearls, he now made origami hearts whenever his fingers grew restless and he had access to a suitable piece of paper that could be torn to size if needed. You were usually the target of receiving them and now had a steadily growing collection in a small jar on your coffee table. You didn’t have it in you to throw them away.

“Something wrong, Y/N?” Sungchan asked. He had presumably noted the intense way you’d been staring at your screen the moments prior. “Or is the material just that bad for your test?”

“Ehh…” You sighed, rolling your neck out. “Just tired. Ready for the semester to be over, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Is this made of your notes, by the way?” You held up the origami heart.

“Stuff I had to rip out and redo, I messed it up.”

You then stood up to crack your back, groaning at the cathartic cracking sounds that came with it. “God, I think my spine needs to be folded up like that origami, holy shit.”

“Fix your posture,” Sungchan snorted. “You sit like a little shrimp using a computer.”

Your jaw dropped as you put a hand to your chest, unsure of whether to laugh or be offended. Ultimately, you keeled over with laughter, having to plop back down in your desk chair—hunched over—to catch your breath again. Sungchan was watching you with a fond smile, reclined back in his chair with some not very great posture himself.

“A shrimp?”

“A little shrimp,” he corrected you. “A cute little shrimp using her little computer and fucking up her back in the process.”

“Alright, it’s not my fault you’re literally a tree. Anybody is a little shrimp compared to the man who almost broke a photobooth because he was too tall for it,” you teased him back through the fresh squeezing of your chest at him calling you ‘cute,’ even if it was followed by the words ‘little shrimp.’

“You’re never letting me live that one down, huh?”

“Never. I’ll be telling that story at your funeral, where you’ll be buried with my mangled origami heart, remember?”

“You’re banking on the fact that you’re going to outlive me in this scenario.”

“Right, my bad. Werewolves are the hardier species, so obviously you’ll outlive me.”

“Well, statistically—”

“Statistics say nothing about the power of spite, Sungchan. I will outlive you out of spite, so that I can tell that story at your funeral. And if not, I will have a backup recording of me telling that story, and in my will, have orders that it be played at your funeral.”

“You’re going to put it in your will to make sure you have the last word in case I outlive you? Which, statistically, I will.”

“Yes.”

The two of you held your defiant eye contact for another moment before you burst out in coordinated laughter, all tension fizzling out.

“I do expect that fucked-up origami heart to go down with you, though,” you pointed at him through your laughs, still only half-serious.

“Only if one of the hundreds I’ve given you by now makes it down with you,” he nodded, holding his pinky finger out.

You linked yours with it. “Deal.”

“Deal.”

As you walked out of the library together after you’d finally determined that your studying was over, Sungchan checked his watch.

“You doing anything else tonight?” He asked.

“Nothing in particular.” You shrugged. “Eating dinner. Sleeping. Why?”

“Want to come over?”

“Is Shotaro going to be home?”

“He’s closing at the shop today I think.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. Apparently sensing your hesitation, Sungchan nudged your side as he teased, “What? Am I not fun enough for you? You need Shotaro there to convince you to come over, too?”

“Yeah, you’re such a snoozefest, Sungchan,” you wrinkled your nose, elbowing him back. “Taro’s the only thing that keeps me from falling asleep every time I’m over at your place.”

“You hurt me, Y/N.”

With a melodramatic sigh, you relented, “I suppose I’ll make an exception. But I will nap where I see fit if you bore me too much.”

“I’ll take my victories where I can get them.”

At Shotaro and Sungchan’s place, you followed Sungchan into his bedroom. Normally, if Shotaro were home, the three of you would all hang out in their living room. But it was just you and Sungchan.

He toed his shoes off and flopped onto his bed face-first, spread-eagle.

“Oh, and who were we worried about taking a nap?” You scoffed, taking his desk chair. He had a gridded whiteboard above his desk that was mostly taken up by a to-do list of upcoming deadlines. But a small area labeled “Notes” by the company who made it was dedicated to pictures instead: the film strip of you two from Valentine’s Day at Jasmine & Pearls hung there by a magnet in the shape of a hurricane, a picture from the group trip to Cape Solaria from last summer under a tornado, and another of a younger Sungchan and Shotaro (early high school if you had to guess) at an arcade pinned by a tsunami.

Your friend rolled over onto his back. “I’m not napping, just basking.”

“Basking? In what?”

“Being done with today.”

“Have a bad day?”

“Just long. Had a long week, long semester, long three years.”

“Mm, felt that,” you agreed, knocking your own shoes off and folding your legs up in the desk chair.

The two of you were quiet for a while, and you would’ve thought that Sungchan had actually fallen asleep, if you couldn’t see that his eyes were open as he apparently just stared at the ceiling, his chest rising and falling with even breaths. You let the silence remain, content to just rest your arms on the back of the chair with your chin atop them, and look at him.

“Y/N?” He finally spoke, his voice soft.

“Yeah?”

Sungchan’s head lolled so he could look over at you, his warm brown eyes focused on your face. He had an unreadable expression on his features; not one of sadness, or pain, or really much of anything. It was like he didn’t even know what he was feeling. “Have you gone on a date? Since... you know, the one we went on?”

You blinked. You weren’t sure what exactly you were expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that. After a moment, you shook your head. “No, I haven’t. Have you?”

The corner of his lip twitched, but from your positions, you couldn’t tell if it was pulling towards a smile or a frown. “No.”

Another beat of silence. You continued staring at each other.

“Do you want to?” He asked, his voice so unnaturally devoid of intonation that you once again couldn’t glean the purpose of this discussion.

“What?” The word tumbled out of your mouth fast, defensively.

“I-I mean, are you going to? Like, is there anybody...?”

You looked at him, taking a good few seconds before you answered. He at least seemed nervous now, stuttering, his eyes flitting between you and the ceiling fan.

“No.” You answered plainly. No qualifying statements: any attempts at expounding would just land you in trouble. “You?”

“No...” He echoed. “You would tell me, right? If you were?”

This felt like a trap. Not from Sungchan, you knew he wasn’t like that, but from the Universe, somehow. And no matter what you did, you were going to fall into the spike pit.

“Yeah, Sungchan, of course.” You mustered up your well-practiced casual smile. “Always need approval from the counsel of friends for that kind of stuff.”

He did smile at that—not a full one with teeth, and it didn’t reach his eyes—but he smiled and nodded. “Good. Got to make sure they’re not a weirdo. You know there’s all kinds of magical creatures who will just date human women for the ego trip in bed, right?”

“I did know that,” you chuckled. “But thanks for looking out for me.”

“Always am, Y/N. And I always will be.”

Rocking back and forth from your heels to your toes nervously, you kept your eyes trained on the apartment door in front of you. Sungchan knocked on it. Your actions were stopped by your friend grabbing your arm and pulling you back down to flat feet.

“Y/N, I told you it’s going to be fine, seriously. They’re your friends, too,” he reminded you for probably the twelfth time that day.

When he’d randomly texted you earlier that morning asking if you wanted to go to Jeno’s birthday party with him tonight, you were very hesitant to accept. Mostly because you hadn’t received an invite from the birthday wolf himself. But after some more pestering from Sungchan, you gave in. Maybe if you didn’t have such a weak heart, you would’ve been firmer on your no. But instead, here you were, having signed your name under Sungchan’s on the birthday card the two of you bought on your way over, a gift card tucked inside with enough money pre-loaded on it to cover a nice meal for Jeno and his girlfriend.

“Then why didn’t he—” Your whispered question was cut off by the door swinging open, the bright smile of Lee Jeno greeting you.

“Hey guys, come on in!” The werewolf opened the door even wider, not seeming surprised at all to see you there next to Sungchan. He gave the both of you hugs after closing the door behind you.

You patted his back in the hug, offering a sheepish smile, “Hey, Jeno, Happy Birthday. Sorry to just show up. Sungchan insisted it was fine…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! Everyone knows if we’re inviting Sungchan that we’re inviting you, too. It’s cool.” He said brightly. “You want something to drink?”

Trying not to get stuck on that little information bomb he’d dropped so casually, you looked around the fairly packed apartment, recognizing most everyone who was there, including a couple people by the drinks table. “You know, I see Jaemin and Donghyuck over by the drinks, I’ll go get it myself. Thank you, though, and Happy Birthday again.”

Jeno perked up in a different direction as if he’d heard his name being called—which he very well could’ve with his superior hearing—and he took off, disappearing into the kitchen. You’d been to Jeno and Jaemin’s place a few times before, mostly to hang out with Jaemin over the time that you’d known the dryad from Bot Club, and more recently, a couple times for group hangouts since Jaemin, Jeno, Jeno’s girlfriend, and Sungchan were all friends.

“I’m going to get some food,” Sungchan nodded towards the same direction Jeno had gone in. “Want anything?”

You stood on your tiptoes, unable to discern any of the options they had available, other than the fact there would be a lot of it to feed the werewolf guests. “Just get extra of whatever you think I’ll like, I’m not very hungry right now.”

“On it.”

While he went to do that, you made your way across the living room to the two dryads you had spotted earlier, both standing by the drinks table.

“Hey…” You said, still feeling awkward despite Jeno’s easy acceptance of you.

“Y/N! Hey!” Donghyuck greeted you cheerily.

“You made it!” Jaemin gave you a one-armed hug.

“Sounds like you were expecting me then?”

“Well, yeah.” Donghyuck said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world (which was bewildering to you, considering you didn’t even know you were coming until this afternoon).

The two dryads exchanged a look.

“I mean, Sungchan was coming, so…” Jaemin shrugged.

Donghyuck peered around the party. “Speaking of, where’d your wolfboy go?”

“He went to get some food. And he’s not. my. wolfboy, you little shit.” You glared at him. “And don’t call him a wolfboy either, you know he doesn’t like to be called stuff like that. Call Jeno ‘puppy’ or whatever all you want but leave Sungchan out of it.”

“I thought he didn’t like dog terms, but wolf terms he was fine with, since he is a werewolf.” Jaemin said.

“Yeah.” Donghyuck nodded.

You put your hands on your hips with a frank sigh, “As if wolfboy isn’t also diminutive and meant to—”

“Woah, abort, abort, Y/N’s going into Renjun-mode.”

Jaemin looked over at the other dryad regretfully. “Worse than Renjun-mode, this isn’t just educational.”

“You two are so obnoxious, I’m going to stage a coup in Bot Club one of these days,” you declared with a scoff.

“Hey...” Another voice entered the conversation from over your shoulder, and you looked up to see Sungchan stepping in between you and Donghyuck, a plate loaded up with food in his hand.

“Speak of the wolf and he shall appear.” Donghyuck had a wicked grin on his face. You were amazed sometimes that he wasn’t a fairy.

“What were you guys talking about? Y/N didn’t look happy.”

“It was nothing, Sungchan, don’t worry about it.” You tried to reassure him, sending pointed stares at each of the dryads with you.

Donghyuck was apparently not going to let up, though. “Hey, Sungchan, you down to do a little thought experiment with me?”

“Thought experiment?” The werewolf echoed.

“Yeah, just real quick. I ask you a hypothetical question, you give me a hypothetical answer. Just for fun.”

“A thought experiment with Donghyuck. Sounds thrilling, sure.” Sungchan agreed humorously, popping a piece of food in his mouth.

“So, if someone were to call you dog-like terms—which we know you’re not cool with and would never do—who would you most be okay with doing that?”

The werewolf narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why would anybody do that?”

“It’s a thought experiment, Sungchan, come on. Play in this space with me!” Donghyuck whined, shaking the other man’s shoulder.

“Let’s rephrase then,” Jaemin joined in, a mischievous glint in his eye. You looked around to make sure Chenle wasn’t secretly listening in or something, because this surely had to be the work of your fairy prince acquaintance. You spotted the fairy very engaged in his conversation with his dragon roommate Jisung and a few other people. It seemed like the two dryads really were just deciding to be the absolute worst all on their own.

“Narrower scope. Would you be okay with, for example, Y/N calling you stuff like that?”

“Why would she do that?” Sungchan asked, confused.

“Yeah, why would I do that?” You asked, angry. They were clearly trying to get at something specific, make him admit something.

Jaemin offered an example, “Well, you know, Jeno’s girlfriend calls him ‘pup’ as a term of endearment.”

“And why would I do that?!” You repeated, feeling your stomach drop to the floor at how exactly he stressed those words.

“We’re getting off-topic here, it’s all hypothetical, remember?” It was amazingly Donghyuck who sort of saved you. “We know Y/N would never do it. But like… if she did, for some reason unbeknownst to us, what would you do? Would you be okay with it?”

Sungchan’s brow was furrowed as he seemed to genuinely contemplate this while he ate another bite of food. You, meanwhile, were plotting how best to kill two dryads. You knew enough from Bot Club, maybe a super-strong version of the magical weed spray you used would work... Were dryads more plant or more person?

“Well…” The werewolf finally began his answer, seeming to choose each word carefully. “Since I know Y/N, I know that if she were, in this batshit, hypothetical scenario, to do that, that she wouldn’t mean it in a derogatory way. So I guess I’d be more okay with her doing it than other people. Definitely more than you two weirdos who are posing this thought experiment that isn’t fun at all.”

“Thank you, Sungchan.” Donghyuck grinned at him, then turned to Jaemin. “I thought that was very fun and enlightening. What about you, Jaemin?”

Jaemin nodded thoughtfully. “I had a great time. Y/N?”

“You guys are so fucking annoying.” You groaned, grabbing a piece of food from Sungchan’s plate. “Leave me out of your thought experiments next time, please.”

The spring semester ended not long after Jeno’s birthday party, and you very thankfully didn’t have to take any summer classes, freeing up a lot of spare time for you. Sungchan, on the other hand, had to take a couple courses in order to make sure he would graduate on time. While you jokingly whined and complained when he told you about it, you were secretly relieved to have extra reasons to avoid him. As terrible as that sounded.

This afternoon, while he was in class, you had gone down to the river with Shotaro and Yuta, who miraculously both had a day off work at the same time. You didn’t even realize Jasmine & Pearls had enough employees to let the both of them take the same day off.

You were sat in your pop-up chair on the small beachy area, pulling your phone from your bag to check it while the two sirens continued lazing about in the waist-deep water. There was a text from Sungchan from a few minutes ago, and as you opened it up to read it, you realized that he was just sending you a funny picture he’d found somewhere online.

[you: aren’t you supposed to be focusing on class right now?]

“Sungchan?” Shotaro called out to you knowingly.

“What?” You yelled back, holding a hand up to shadow your face from the sun. Looking around your chair, you grabbed your baseball cap that you’d won in Valentine’s Bingo, pulling that on now that you were out of the water.

“You’ve got this little smile on your face that you only get when Sungchan texts you.”

“No I do not.”

Yuta stood up from where he had been floating on his back, shaking the water out of his hair as he asked you with a smirk, “So you don’t have a text from Sungchan on your phone screen right now?”

Your phone buzzed then, a welcome excuse to not have to answer that.

[sungchan: allegedly]

[you: i don’t want you whining to me when you fail that class]

You clicked your phone off, showing them the blank screen. “Nope, nothing on my screen.”

“You’re such a liar,” Yuta sighed, saying it as if it were as simple of a fact as the sky being blue or the grass being green. He trudged through the water up the shore until he could join you, plopping down in his chair next to yours. They had both kept their legs this afternoon instead of bringing out their tails, and he kicked his apart as he got comfortable.

Shotaro jogged up from the water too, grabbing the cooler and rooting around in it for a second. After securing the other half of his sandwich from the lunch that you all had eaten earlier, he sat down next to Yuta, taking a big bite from it.

You took Yuta’s lead and settled back in your chair, closing your eyes and just enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon Sun.

“He talks about you all the time, by the way.” Shotaro cut into your peace and quiet. If you had something within arm’s reach other than your metal reusable water bottle, you would’ve thrown it at him.

“Shotaro...” You groaned, rolling your eyes. You didn’t even need to ask who he was talking about.

“Seriously! ‘Y/N and I did this today.’ ‘Don’t wait up for me, I’m going to the movies with Y/N.’ ‘Y/N told me this funny story today.’ ‘Did you know such and such about this or that? Y/N’s so smart.’” He admittedly did a pretty good Sungchan impression. You would’ve laughed at it in any other context, but instead you were just annoyed.

“Yeah, well, we’re friends. We hang out, and do things together. He’s going to be talking about me,” you snapped. “He talks about you a bunch too. Because you guys, you know, live together. He also talks about his professors, and Jeno, and—”

“But it’s not the same.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He insisted.

Shotaro clearly wasn’t going to let up, so you momentarily engaged this line of thinking, hoping you could squash it. “What’s so different, then?”

“He’ll find just any reason to bring you up, for one. We’re grocery shopping? ‘Oh, Y/N likes this flavor.’ ‘We should pick this up for when Y/N comes over.’ ‘Shotaro don’t get that, Y/N doesn’t like it.’” His impression turned more high-pitched and whining. “We’re watching TV? ‘This reminds me of when Y/N and I did this...’ ‘I bet Y/N would love this show, we should watch it the next time she comes over.’ ‘Y/N has a shirt just like that character.’ We’re hanging out with other people? ‘Hey Sungchan, what uh, what are you giggling at on your phone over there?’” He first kept his normal tone of voice, then switched into his over-the-top fake-Sungchan. “‘Oh, Y/N just texted me something funny. But it’s an inside joke, so you guys wouldn’t get it, sorry.’ ‘Man, I wish Y/N could’ve come, sucks she had to work.’”

“Are you done?” You asked tersely, unamused.

“I could go on ad nauseum—”

“One could argue you already have.”

Yuta snickered.

“—but let’s call it there.”

“Thank God.”

Shotaro wasn’t done with his spiel yet, though. “I have had multiple friends, when he’ll first bring you around somewhere, quietly ask me if you’re Sungchan’s girlfriend and they like, missed when you two started dating.”

“I get it, I get it.” You said firmly, bringing a hand up to rub your face.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Y/N, you’re an MCS major, I’m sure you’ve heard about what can happen to werewolves if there’s something discordant in their lives that isn’t alleviated?”

“You think he’s going to get pupsick because he’s allegedly got a crush on me?” You sputtered out in disbelief, your voice caught between a chuckle and a scoff at how absurd that sounded to you.

“It happened to Jeno.”

“Yeah, but he’s Jeno. With all due respect and no intention to kinkshame, he probably lets his girlfriend put a collar on him.”

Yuta shot up as he cackled, slapping his knee and coughing. He scrambled to grab his water bottle, taking a couple sips as he struggled to catch his breath.

Shotaro pushed on like you hadn’t said anything, “Now, I don’t want to have to put up with a pupsick Jung Sungchan, do you? That sounds awful. For me, obviously, since I live with him.”

“Shotaro, you are half-right about one thing.”

“And what’s that?” He asked smugly.

“I am kind of an MCS major. So I also know that Sungchan isn’t overly touchy with me, he hasn’t given me anything of his that smells like him, he doesn’t feed me, or do any other pre-mating behaviors that are ingrained in werewolves.” You ticked them each off on your fingers. “Look, I hate stereotyping you guys by your species. But if he’s apparently so down bad that he can’t help but talk about me every waking second of the day, wouldn’t at least one of these things that are literally instinctual to him have happened?”

Shotaro raised an eyebrow. “You do know that he’s half-werewolf, right?”

“What?” You blinked at him.

“Yeah, his mom’s a werewolf, and his dad’s a human.”

You’d had an MCS class on the Effects of Modern Integration, which had a unit specifically on the subject of cross-species offspring. Some species could have offspring together while others couldn’t, it depended both on genetic similarity and compatibility of their magic. With humans having no magic, that left only genetic similarity as a factor, making them a lot more compatible for producing such cross-species offspring. Werewolves and humans were one of the more common pairings to have such offspring, as they had one of the most extensive histories of living together.

Sungchan’s behavior on your first and only date immediately sprung to mind. His hesitance around humans dating werewolves just because they’re werewolves. “Are they...?”

“Happily married. They helped us move into our apartment last year.” Shotaro apparently knew exactly where your question was going. “But yeah, Sungchan’s half-human. As best I can tell, he’s kind of like a super-zen werewolf. Able to control everything a lot better than full werewolves because all of the wolf instincts and stuff aren’t as powerful.”

“He still shifts?” Despite the estimated number of half-werewolves being greater than the confirmed population of sphinxes, unicorns, and phoenixes combined, there was little actually known about them academically. It was all word of mouth, as no large-scale study had been able to be done on them. They were apparently reluctant to come forward and make themselves known to researchers. And their friends.

“Yeah, every full moon. Which I think is why he really just considers himself a werewolf.”

“I didn’t know,” you admitted, biting the inside of your cheek as you were still absorbing this information.

“Anyway, he can probably control whatever pre-mating instincts he does have a lot better than full werewolves!”

“And he’s probably doing that because he knows that you know what pre-mating behaviors look like and thinks you would get weirded out.” Yuta suggested, finally entering the conversation instead of just letting you two go back and forth over him. “Since you’re kind of an MCS major.”

“Exactly!”

You pursed your lips, an uneasiness creeping up on you about the whole situation. “I don’t know guys…”

“You said he doesn’t feed you?” Yuta questioned thoughtfully.

“No, he doesn’t. And you two are around us plenty, have either of you ever seen him try to?” You asked pointedly.

“No, but what Shotaro was saying about grocery shopping. He always buys your favorite foods, flavors he knows you likes, even makes Shotaro put stuff back that he knows you think are unappetizing.”

“I’ve never asked him to do anything like that.”

“And yet he does. Now, overly touchy is subjective. Does he—”

“No, we’re not doing this.” You cut him off, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Doing what?”

“Dissecting mine and Sungchan’s friendship and putting it up on a conspiracy board. I’m not playing. And if that’s all you guys are going to do, then I’m leaving.”

Shotaro jumped in, “Y/N, why can’t you even consider that—”

“Because he already asked to be friends and I said yes,” you said angrily, feeling your blood finally reach its boiling point. “I knew what I was getting myself into, and having you guys trying to convince me that it’s something that he already said it’s not, isn’t fucking helping.”

They were both quiet for a beat, and you clenched your jaw. You couldn’t keep sitting right now, you had to go somewhere, do something. If you stayed here, somebody’s feelings were going to get hurt. You stood up, stuffing all of your things haphazardly back into your bag. “Actually, fuck it, I’m leaving anyway.”

“Y/N, we didn’t mean to—”

“I know, you think you’re trying to help or whatever the fuck. But just drop it, okay?” You shoved your feet back in your shoes and slung your bag over your shoulder. “I need to go or I’m going to end up saying something nasty that I don’t really mean and regret it. I’ll see you guys later.”

And with that, you took off, leaving the chair you had borrowed from Yuta on the shore. You took your baseball cap back off to mess with your damp hair as you speedwalked down the city sidewalks. All the angry energy from wanting to just go off on your friends was still coursing through you, and despite Yuta having to pick you up and drive you the couple miles or so to the river, you figured that you might as well walk the whole way back home to blow off steam.

A little more than halfway home, your phone buzzed in your hand with a call, and you glanced at it intending to just send it to voicemail. But it was Sungchan. You stared down at it as you waited to cross a street, an unsure thumb hovering over your screen.

Glancing between your phone and the crosswalk signal, it changed to walk, and you rushed to cross. The call went to voicemail.

Just a few seconds later, your phone lit up with the missed call, a voicemail, then a text from him. You sighed, clicking on the voicemail first.

“Hey, Y/N,” Sungchan’s voice came through clearly. It sounded like he was outside, probably on campus and fresh out of class, if you had to guess by the time. “It’s Sungchan. Obviously. Uh, anyway, I just got out of class, wanted to see if you maybe wanted to come over? I know you’re supposed to be with Shotaro and Yuta, but Shotaro just texted me and said—well, it’s kind of a long story. Just let me know if you can come over, and I’ll tell you when you get here, okay? I’m headed back to my place right now. Okay, bye.”

Shotaro.

Still fucking meddling after you asked him to drop it. If you were less than halfway back from the river, you’d turn around and throttle him.

You checked the text from Sungchan.

[sungchan: hey! i’m out of class. are you busy?]

[you: i can be over in twenty. is that okay?]

You shifted uncomfortably as you stood in front of the front door to Shotaro and Sungchan’s apartment. Your hair wasn’t as damp thanks to your long walk in the hot Sun, and your skin was dry, but you still held yourself as you stared down the center of the white door. You hadn’t knocked yet. You didn’t want to know what Shotaro had told Sungchan, having already convinced yourself that it was everything. That you were about to walk into Friendzoning 2: Electric Boogaloo, this time with Letting Y/N Down Easy. It made your stomach churn, your chest squeeze like a vice around your heart, and your head feel like it had been cast in lead.

You shifted your weight between your feet on the welcome mat, trying to muster up the strength to just knock on the fucking door, when it swung open.

Sungchan was in a pair of dark sweatpants and a dark red t-shirt from your school’s astronomy club—dated for fall two years ago. He offered you a familiar smile, stepping back from the doorway to make room for you. “Hey, I thought I heard you. Come in.”

“Hey. And thanks.” You nodded, slipping by him into his apartment.

Wordlessly, he started leading the way further back towards his room. You longingly looked at the wide-open space of the living room as you disappeared down the hallway. In his bedroom, you saw his desk taken up by his laptop and a spread of notebooks and papers. His bookbag was in his desk chair.

“Sorry, I know that’s your usual spot, but I was doing some homework.” Sungchan had noticed where your gaze was focused. He patted the foot of his bed as he went to sit down against the headboard. “Come on, you can sit with me for once.”

You swallowed and nodded, stepping back out of your shoes and setting your bag down. Climbing onto the end of his bed, you sat with your legs criss-crossed, fidgeting with your fingers in your lap.

“So why did Shotaro text you?” You decided to just go straight into it. No small talk or pleasantries about his class or what homework he was working on. “What’d he say?”

“He told me that he told you that I’m half-werewolf,” Sungchan said bluntly. “I figured I owed you a bit more of an explanation.”

Oh. Well that wasn’t what you were expecting at all.

“You really don’t owe me anything, Sungchan,” you shook your head, your eyes trained on his comforter. “You don’t have to explain who you are to me if you don’t want to.”

“I want to.”

It was a touching sentiment, but it felt like a hot knife right in your gut. He wanted to because he cared about you as a friend. Not in the same way that you cared about him.

You could only manage a soft, “Okay…”

“It’s not some big secret, really. I’m not ashamed of my dad or anything. I love him, he’s a cool guy.” Sungchan started, and you felt like that first part was more to reassure you that it was okay for you to know. He was pointing to a picture that you’d seen a countless number of times before, hanging next to the mirror above his dresser. It was of him at his high school graduation, flanked on either side by his parents, proud, beaming smiles on all of their faces. You’d always assumed they were both werewolves when you’d looked at that picture, and only ever noticed that Sungchan got his smile from his mom, and his nose from his dad. The height difference between his mom and dad never really registered to you, as Sungchan towered over both of them, but now you did see that his mom was almost a head taller than his dad. Not a trait intrinsic to either species, just more of a trend.

But then, his tone turned a little more pensive, “I just... don’t tell people at first because I get a whole slew of questions, from the mundane stuff like ‘How was it growing up with one werewolf parent and one human parent?’ Which like... I don’t know, it was like growing up with two parents? To the people who think that I’m some oddity and therefore they can just ask me completely unprompted about what my dick looks like. And then at the end of it, it doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m just some dumb mutt to them, no matter how you look at it.”

“Sungchan—” His name came out of your mouth instinctually, pained, as you could only imagine what he had experienced to ever be able to call himself that, even cynically as he was doing now.

“It’s okay. I don’t really care about those kinds of people.” He reassured you, offering a small smile. “That’s why I don’t waste my time on them anymore. I just say I’m a werewolf, and eventually they’ll find out more if they need to.”

“I’m sorry, that Shotaro just—”

“Y/N, it’s fine, seriously. I’m okay with you knowing. I know you’re not going to be weird about it. And Shotaro knew that too; I’m sure however it came up in conversation, it made sense for him to tell you.”

You thought about the context of when Shotaro revealed Sungchan’s lineage, wincing minutely. “Okay. Thanks.”

“You can ask me questions, I don’t mind since it’s you.” He then added teasingly, “Come on, Miss Magical Creatures Studies, I know you want to…”

“Not because I think you’re some oddity to be studied, but because I care and I want to understand more about you…” You prefaced your question. “Shotaro said that you still shift every full moon. Are your shifts any different than full werewolves?”

“From what I can tell watching other wolves shift, it’s not as painful, for one. So, bonus!” He said the last word with mock excitement. “The shift itself doesn’t last as long. And some wolves, especially younger ones who are going through their first shifts, tend to get kind of moodier in the days leading up to the full moon. I never got that. Just, everything is kind of… less for me.”

“Everything?” You asked, brows furrowed with confusion.

“My senses are more heightened than a human’s but less than the average werewolf, when I’m not shifted.”

“Ah.”

“And I probably wouldn’t fare great in a werewolf arm wrestling championship,” he tacked on lightheartedly.

“Damn, I had you signed up in one for this weekend,” you joked, clicking your tongue in the back of your throat in fake disappointment. “Put money down and everything.”

He played along, “Well, I guess I can still try for you.”

You smiled to yourself, then looked up at him as you took a deep breath. Whether or not you two were here because you cared about each other in different ways, you at least still cared about each other. And you’d be an idiot to throw out that kind of connection. You’d have to suck it up, hunker down, and connect with him on his terms.

“Thanks for being so open about this with me, Sungchan. I know it wasn’t your choice to tell me, and I know you already said it wasn’t a secret either. But still, I feel... very grateful that you would want to share any part of yourself like this with me.” You tried to pick your words carefully, to convey as much genuine emotion as you could without veering too far into romantic territory. You could still easily picture yourself saying something like this to Jaemin, or Shotaro. Maybe not Donghyuck, though.

“Ah, what’s that?” Sungchan squeezed his eyes shut, a bashful smile coming to his face.

“What’s what?” You asked with a breathy chuckle, feigning offense. “Am I not allowed a moment of sincerity?”

“No, you’re not.” He said it in an overly joking tone, so you knew that he wasn’t actually upset with you.

“And why not?” You mimicked his tone.

He sighed, teasing falling from his voice as he fully leaned back against his headboard, seeming to take you in for a few seconds before answering. “Not if you’re going to be looking at me like that when you’re being all sincere.”

“Like what?”

“Never mind.”

“No, no sir. You do not get to start an avenue of conversation like that and not finish it,” you pointed at him accusingly. “What am I looking at you like?”

The werewolf held your gaze steadily as he said, “Like you want something more.”

You felt your stomach drop as you rushed to get up from his bed, putting even more distance between the two of you. “I’m sorry, Sungchan. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

He knew, he knew, he knew.

“Y/N, don’t get me wrong, please.” Sungchan stood up after you, grasping your hand before you could run out on instinct. His grip was loose so that you could leave if you wanted, but the presence was enough to let you know that he still wanted you there, to listen to him. His hand was warm as it held yours, but it burned like you’d grabbed red-hot metal. “I-I think you’re one of the most incredible, smart, fantastic people I’ve ever met. And I’m so grateful that you gave me a second chance.”

“But you don’t like me like that. Yeah, I can see where this is going.” You shook him off, searching the floor for your bag and shoes. This was going to be embarrassing, putting sneakers back on after getting rejected like that.

“No, I do.”

Sungchan’s words stopped you in your tracks, and you slowly turned back around to face him again. Your heart was a drum banging in your ears, you couldn’t trust that they weren’t all—your heart and your ears—playing tricks on you.

“You… what?” You were dumbfounded, staring up at him with a mixture of disbelief and thinly-veiled suspicion. You’d spent far too long convincing yourself that he just liked you as a friend to throw it all out over three words.

“I was going to ask you on another date, that night at the boba shop, I really was,” he explained. “But I realized just how lovely and wonderful you were. And I thought that you didn’t deserve... all the hatred that would come with it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I love my parents, but growing up I got to see firsthand just the worst sorts of people… The things that my parents would be called, that I would get called, by other humans and other werewolves. It’s gotten a lot better, but I mean, Jeno’s girlfriend got called a knotslut at the park out of nowhere. And you don’t deserve to have that be your life.”

You narrowed your eyes up at him. “You think you’re not worth it?”

It was his turn to be thrown off-guard. “What?”

“You think that you, and being with you, aren’t worth it?” You reiterated.

“I wasn’t really thinking of it like that,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

“Do you think that? That you’re not worth it?”

“Well now that you say it like that, no, I don’t think that.” He frowned thoughtfully, his brow set with determination.

“And, I know you didn’t mean it like this, Sungchan, but you took the choice away from me. For a very sweet reason, I acknowledge that. But you didn’t give me a say in the matter. Imagine how that makes me feel.” You sighed, watching guilt flicker across his face. “I’m not going to pretend like I know at all what it was like for you growing up. Or what it’s like now. But I can tell you that I want this, that I want you. I want to be there for you, just like I know you’d be there for me if something ever did happen.”

“Of course I would be,” he declared.

Taking a step closer to him, you tentatively let a familiar airiness return to your chest, chasing out the painful squeeze that had been suffocating you since February. “See? We’ll have each other, Sungchan. Someone calling me something won’t matter as long as you’ll be there with me afterwards. You don’t have to prevent everything bad ever from happening, just hold my hand afterwards until it’s all better, okay?”

“Okay,” he nodded resolutely. “I can do that.”

“And I’ll do the same for you. Deal?” You held your pinky finger out to him.

He hooked his with yours. “Deal.”

Sungchan lowered your connected hands, and you watched curiously as he unlinked his pinky, only to turn your hand over with both of his and trace gentle circles into the palm of your hand with his pointer finger.

“Y/N?” He murmured.

You snapped your focus back up to his face at the sound of his voice, trepid and unsure. He was still gazing down at your hands as you replied, “Yes?”

“I know we really can’t start over completely now, but…”

“If you say ‘friends’ right now, even as a joke, I’m going to kill you with my bare hands, half-werewolf strength be damned.” You whispered through gritted teeth.

He sputtered out a chuckle, shaking his head fondly and the circles on your palm never slowing. “No, no, I wouldn’t do that to you. That would be a terrible joke.”

“Good.”

“I was going to ask...” He inhaled shakily, finally drawing his eyes up to yours. “If we could try that date again?”

A smile pulled at the corners of your mouth, and you nodded quickly. “Yeah, Sungchan. I’d love that.”

Sungchan beamed at you, a heart-stopping, adorable, lopsided grin that now made your chest flutter with hope. “Okay! Thank you, thank you!”

You couldn’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm. “You’re welcome.”

Leaping to your feet at the knock that just came from your front door, you ran to answer it. You threw the door open, abuzz with excitement.

It was just about a week later, and you and Sungchan were finally trying that date again. You’d actually seen him once in the intermittent days, at a previously scheduled group movie night at Jeno and Jaemin’s place. The two of you were all knowing smiles and questionably accidental bumps and brushes of skin under the blanket that you shared that night.

But tonight Sungchan was in your hallway, smiling nervously down at you. “Hi.”

“Hi, Sungchan.” You fidgeted with your shirt. He had specifically told you to dress casually and comfortable, but you still felt weirdly underdressed, even seeing that he was in a t-shirt and jeans himself.

“These are for you,” he said quietly, bringing out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.

As you accepted them from him, you immediately realized that they were made of paper, intricately folded tulips, lilies, and roses of all colors. You couldn’t help but let out a small gasp, thinking about how much time it must have taken him. “An origami bouquet. Oh, Sungchan…”

“I figured you had plenty of hearts by now…” He said as he flushed from his neck upwards.

“They’re beautiful.” You got on your tiptoes, putting a hand on his shoulder to steady yourself as you pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”

His cheeks were bright pink as you turned around to set them down inside, then looked back to him expectantly. The werewolf led the way out to the parking lot, except you didn’t see his car anywhere around. There was a familiar old blue pickup truck, however, which he was walking towards.

“Your car in the shop or something?” You asked curiously. “Why are you driving Yuta’s truck?”

“Utility.” He answered cryptically, opening the passenger door for you.

“What does that mean?” You questioned with a chuckle, scooting into the middle of the bench seat.

You’d gotten your seatbelt situated by the time Sungchan had walked around and opened the driver’s side. He didn’t seem to have been expecting you to be in the middle, pausing for a second, and looking around flustered as he climbed into the truck too.

“It’s a surprise, like I said,” he muttered, fastening his own seatbelt and starting the truck.

Sungchan drove with one hand on the wheel, the other on his leg next to yours. You drummed your fingers on your own knee contemplatively.

“Sungchan?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I hold your hand?”

“Wh— Yeah, of course.” He laughed shakily as you laced your fingers with his. “You don’t need to ask me about stuff like that.”

“Well you’re so tense right now that I was afraid that if I just grabbed your hand, you might freak and crash the car.”

He cringed. “So you can tell?”

“Yeah, I can tell.” You patted his arm with your other hand. “What’s got you so wound up? It’s just me.”

“Well, yeah, it’s you,” he repeated. “I’ve already messed up so many times with you. I don’t want to fuck up again.”

You contemplated this for a second, watching the passing streetlights. “Think about it like this: Could you possibly fuck up again worse than our first date?”

“I hope not.”

“Then you’re already off to a great start.”

“Y/N, I think you need higher standards,” he said without an ounce of humor or joking in his tone.

You couldn’t help but burst into laughter at that. “Sungchan, you made me an entire origami bouquet and organized a whole night out to surprise me. I think my standards are pretty okay.”

“Alright, but you’ve got to promise that this is my last chance. Like, three strikes and I’m out. Seriously, if I was some other guy, I would’ve told you to throw me to the curb a long time ago.”

You looked over at him incredulously. “Are you seriously advocating against yourself right now? Is this some kind of reverse psychology flirting technique that I’ve never heard of?”

“No, I’m just not going to stop being a good friend because you’re on a date with me. I told you I would always look out for you, and I meant it, even if it’s not in my best interest.”

Nodding with a raised eyebrow, you decided to take his advice at face value. “Okay, your input is noted as part of the council of friends’ round table on my new guy.”

You saw a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. “Good.”

“So, did you tell Shotaro what we were doing?” You asked, curious now that the topic of friends had been brought up.

“I told him we were hanging out.”

“Did you tell him it was a date?”

“No. Did you?”

“If I did, do you think you would have gotten out of your apartment unscathed?” You snorted.

“Fair point.”

The car ride passed with mostly idle chitchat, until he made a turn away from the city center, off onto a back road that you were unfamiliar with. The buildings gave way to trees, the streetlights being replaced only with moonlight and the headlights of the truck or any lone car that you would pass occasionally. A while later, the asphalt became a dirt road, the trees around you getting thicker and thicker. You looked around in interest as he slowed the truck to a stop in a clearing.

“We’re here?” You asked, looking over at him. Your eyes had long adjusted to the nighttime, and you could clearly make out his features.

“We’re here,” he confirmed with a nod, turning the vehicle off.

Sungchan climbed out, helping you down with a hand, and you immediately knew why he’d had both of you dress casually. You were in the middle of the woods, being led to the back of the truck by the hand by your date. He opened the tailgate, and let go of your hand to hop up into the empty bed.

“Wait there,” he requested, now well and good towering over you.

You nodded.

He retrieved a large duffel bag from the truck bed, and you looked curiously at everything he brought out of it. Pillow after pillow, blanket after blanket. The truck bed soon looked like a bed bed, and Sungchan came back over to plop down on the tailgate, toeing his shoes off and setting them aside at the end. He gestured to the bedding with little fanfare.

“All done!”

You hopped up next to him, pulling your shoes off as well and putting them away next to his. Looking at him with a knowing smirk, you nodded to the fact that the two of you were still sitting up. “Now what, Sung?”

“Ah, you’re going to make me spell it out?” He rubbed the back of his neck, ducking his head awkwardly.

“No,” you laughed. “I’m not.”

He took that as his cue to lay down first, leaving an open space right beside him. You settled into his side with no hesitation, resting your head on his chest as he pulled a final fluffy blanket over the two of you. Being a half-werewolf, Sungchan was pretty warm, but you were grateful for the extra comfort anyway.

Up above you two was a gorgeous expanse of a night sky. A waxing gibbous glowed down at you, stars twinkling and winking in and out at irregular intervals.

“It’s so peaceful…” He murmured quietly, shifting under you, still settling in.

“I don’t know, it’s kind of scary out here…”

Sungchan moved to sit up slightly, looking down at you with concern. “Really? You think so?”

“Yeah, what if there’s wolves?”

“Oh my god you’re so annoying,” he groaned, even as he readjusted his arms to hold you closer.

You, meanwhile, were giggling maniacally at your incredible joke, hiding your face in his shirt as you tried to recover. “You mean I’m the funniest person you know.”

“In your dreams.”

Looking back up at the sky, you pointed to a random speck of light. “Do you know what star that is?”

“Which one?” Sungchan asked, craning his head to try to get in your line of sight.

“I don’t know, any of them.” You dropped your hand back down to his front. “You’re in astronomy club, tell me about them, you big Earth Science nerd. Which I say with great affection and fondness.”

“Okay, so you see the Moon?”

“That’s not a star. I do know that.”

He chuckled, which you felt underneath your cheek. “I figured as much. So, starting at the Moon, if you go due North—” he pointed, and you tried your best to follow the path of his index finger. “The first and brightest star you can see. See it?”

“Yep!” You nodded, seeing the exact star he was talking about.

“Then go the right, just a little, there’s a pair of twin stars, see them?”

“Mm… mhm! Yes!”

“Okay, down, and over to the right some more, we’re tracing out the top of a head, then we’re going back up, there’s another pair of twin stars, you see?”

You squinted, losing the top of the head he was talking about, but finally found the second set of twin stars he’d mentioned. “Yeah, found them!”

“Cool. Straight down from that pair, we’re going to find one, two, then over to the left to get the chin, over and up to get the other cheek, and up to round out the head.”

You nodded, vaguely able to picture what he was talking about. “Okay… so whose head was that?”

“Oh, I get to teach Miss MCS Major something!” Sungchan teased.

“Interdisciplinary major…” You reminded him under your breath.

“So that was Lykos, the great wolf in the sky. As in, lycanthropy.”

“Back when scientists thought werewolves were humans with an affliction that could be passed on to other humans. The quote ‘condition’ they were diagnosed with was lycanthropy.” You easily pulled a basic definition of it from class. “Of course we know now that’s not true. Like witches, werewolves are an entirely different species, not just a variety of human. And there’s never been any credible account of a werewolf turning a human into a werewolf.”

“Why is it that humans just think everything is also a human, even when it very clearly is not?”

“Well, if I were to give us humans benefit of the doubt? Uh, to relate to it? Empathy? Recognition of yourself in the other? I mean, it’s better than labeling everything a monster and hunting it down. Which, we also did a bit of.”

“Us monsters did plenty hunting of you guys, too.”

“You say as if you’re not also half-human.”

“Hey,” he frowned down at you suspiciously. “Are you recognizing yourself in the other with me right now? I think we should really save that for the second date—”

“Oh, shut up!” You gave his front a smack as you let out an indignant scoff.

Sungchan was kicking his legs under the blanket as he laughed from his stomach, and when you looked up at him, you saw his eyes squeezed shut tight as he cackled. You watched him with a smitten smile, unable to even pretend to be annoyed for any longer as his guffaws petered out to chuckles then to giggles until he eventually sobered up, and settled his gaze with a heart-stopping grin on you.

The two of you were quiet for a moment, just looking at each other, then he broke the eye contact, turning his eyes back up to the stars. “Uhm— I didn’t finish telling you about Lykos.”

You settled back into your spot, and with your ear to his chest, you could hear that his heartbeat was faster than it’d been before. You wondered if he was thinking the same thing about yours in that moment.

“So, Lykos,” Sungchan picked up where he’d left off before. “You can easily find him by starting at the moon to find his left ear. According to werewolf stories, Lykos was the very first werewolf that we’re all descended from. Because he was so great and powerful, once he passed, his soul ascended to be in the stars to watch over all of his descendants.”

“Wow…” You looked at the stars harder, willing Lykos’ shape to be a little more visible to you than before.

“In astronomy, though, the two twin stars that make up his left ear are called LK 1C04 and LK 2C04. They’re both red giants.”

“Are they going to explode any time soon?”

“Stars are kind of always exploding,” he explained enthusiastically. “They’re perpetually combusting and performing nuclear fusion. Well, most stars, if they haven’t run out of fuel yet.”

“What about when they run out of fuel then?”

“Depends on how big they are. LK 1C04 and 2C04 are both red giants, so when they run out of fuel, they’ll turn into white dwarves. So instead of being a burning ball of gas, they’ll just be emitting a very faint light from the remaining energy leftover from their previous nuclear fusion reactions that they can no longer perform.”

“So they don’t get to go out with a bang.”

“No, not really.” Sungchan pointed up at the sky again. “Okay, you remember Lykos’ chin?”

“Yes…”

“So that’s actually the end of the tail of a squirrel, according to some dryad traditions, or a gecko in some human ones.”

Sungchan sketched out the next constellation for you, then relayed the accompanying folk tale. Some scientific factoids would be interspersed too, and you loved hearing the enthusiasm in his voice as he told you about something he was very clearly interested in. And at some point, with his legs tangled up in yours, your hand curled around his waist, your cheek pressed against his chest, his hand casually rubbing up and down your back underneath your top as he still spoke so eagerly, you found your attention slipping away from black holes and how legends of ancient wyvern society said this or that about some other constellation. You were suddenly grabbing him by the collar with two hands and yanking him over to look at you.

“Y/N?” He asked, absolute bewilderment in his features.

“Jung Sungchan, I’m going to say this once, and please don’t take this the wrong way,” you murmured, holding eye contact with him very seriously. “You’re very attractive when you talk about things that you’re passionate about, and if you don’t kiss me right now I think I’m going to explode.”

Sungchan didn’t need to be told twice, reaching up to cup your cheek. Despite your rather blunt and unromantic request, he still tenderly guided your lips to his. Your eyes fluttered shut as you melted into the kiss, the grip you had on his collar relaxing. His mouth was soft as he moved it ever so slightly against yours. His thumb stroked over your cheekbone, the hand on your back pulling you even closer to him. One of your hands grabbed his waist to anchor yourself down to something on Earth.

It ended all too soon for your liking, though. You were pretty sure you could kiss Jung Sungchan forever. He pressed one more quick kiss to the corner of your mouth before leaning back to drink you in.

“You’re so beautiful…” he murmured, stroking your cheek again.

“Sung?” You whispered.

“Hm?”

“Do you want to kiss me again?”

He nodded, and you leaned forward to bump your nose against his. A giddy smile spread across your face.

“Good. Me too.”

sequel :･ﾟ✧｡･:･*

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#sungchan #jung sungchan #riize #sungchan x reader #riize x reader #riize imagines #sungchan imagines #jung sungchan imagines #nct #nct x reader #nct imagines #sungchan imagine #riize imagine #i: sungchan #f: changer #au: strawberry sunday #text #writing #mine #*100 #*200

[indecenthoney]

"Under the Influence"

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

Girls like her were a dime a dozen. In a constant foul mood, due to their boyfriends. Believe me. I love to help. I've said my fair share of advice, but somehow the problem never really subsides. And so the cycle continues. Watching them guzzle down can after can; bottle after bottle. Confiding in someone rather than discussing it with the real person who needs to hear it the most.

"Hahaha... Uhm... I think you should like... slow down a bit... I mean you do know how you get when you're drunk... I don't really wanna take care of yo-... Aaaand you're opening another one... Great... One of those nights, huh? Alright, I warned you..."

Trying to communicate with an incoherent idiot who constantly complains about their dissatisfaction. And somehow. SOMEHOW getting caught in the crossfire because a small percentage of men somehow represent the whole population. Well, aren't I appreciated? I gave it the benefit of the doubt that it was the booze talking. But you couldn't blame me for opening a bottle myself. In her distress, she takes her place on my lap trying to find some warmth of solace in my proximity. My eyes slowly wander; peaking into her shirt that was so slightly lifted, exposing her panties. Only to be brought back by her sudden wails. Letting out a big sigh, I placed my chilled bottle between the gap of her thighs. My mind elsewhere even as she flinched. Not to bother myself with the details, my fingers slowly crept down her hair repeating the same mantra I've always done.

"If he wanted to... He would... Any guy would be lucky to have you... You're just... a bit dumb sometimes and you don't know what's good for you or not... I understand that you want to be happy... and he makes you happy so you don't want to give up just yet... but there's just a limit to these things... Listen... You would change for him... but ask yourself... Would he change for you? Exactly... Shhhh... Shhhhh it's okay... I'm here... Honestly... You're just a silly girl... Don't blame yourself... My brainless... hopeless... bestie... What a needy thing you are... It's funny you know... What would your pathetic little boyfriend think? All cuddled up in some random guy's arms..."

I guess after all the trouble she put me through tonight; a little payback was in order. Shades of red paint her face as my whispers filled her head. A slight unease displayed through her fidgets and shallow breaths. The chilled bottle pressed along the fabric of her panties. Pulling her in by the hips as a means to cut off any and all escape. Causing her to further ride up against the bottle. A temptuous ache begins to fester. Her head resting on the nook of my neck. Breathing heavily whilst the bottle grinds into her. The slightest of movements made it all the worse. There I was, ignorant of my own actions. Perhaps in my drunk stupor, the only thing I thought I was doing, was teasing her. So in the sudden silence, my curiosity got the best of me. What was I to do, but press forward?

"Why so quiet, hun? Did I hit a nerve? What? You don't like it when I talk about your boyfriend like that? Right... But here you are... Finding peace in another man... Oh? Someone's upset... Keep looking at me like that and I just might do something about it... That's it... Soften that look, princess... If you know what's good for you... Well, aren't you the sweetest little thing? I could just eat you up... What's wrong? You can't be fucking serious... Getting off at a time like this? On my bottle? Of all things..."

An intense look in her eyes followed every subtle action. My hand placed along the neck of the bottle for a better hold before further toying with her. The bottom edge of my drink brushing against her clit in repeated strokes. Flick and grind. There unholy noises emanated from soaked panties and hushed moans. Seeing what little control she had over the situation fade away brought a smile to my face. A sort of pleasure brought on by tension. And tension brought on by pleasure. There she was, my best friend, or well what remains. A devoted, drooling mutt at my disposal.

"Any further and this would be cheating, no? You're a good girl... Just a little dumb... I'll tell you what... We can forget this ever happened... clean up... and go about our day... Or..."

Eyes gaze longingly at possibilities unknown. Wanting more. No. Needing more. Waiting patiently for my next move. And to her surprise, my cock on full display despite my offer. Positioning my member in a questionable manner; wedged between her panties and bare pussy. Twitching idly awaiting a decision. Each twitch and throb pulling her deeper and deeper into temptation. Certainly, a fall from grace as she ruts eagerly into me. Mindless of any repercussions. Once again looking deeply into my eyes for approval.

"Hm? Hahaha... You do know that... I won't understand a damn thing if all you do is whimper... Say something... C'mon... You're a big girl, use your words... Oh? You want me to put it in? Well then beg for it... Mhm... I want to hear you say it... Admit to me how much of a desperate slut you are... What a filthy... dirty... cum rag you'll be for me... Please? Oh, hun... That's not good enough... You're gonna have to do better than that... As a matter of fact, I want you to work for it... You heard me... Fuck yourself... Your boyfriend may treat you all nice and sweet... but if you're going to be pillow princess about it... Then I might as well put you to work first... Let's see those fragile little legs of yours give out, yeah?"

Leading her to the couch, she timidly places herself atop me. Legs spread and panties pushed to the side. The tip of my cock tracing along the slit of her throbbing cunt. Her actions are only described by one word. Hesitation. And one word describing mine. Impatience. Bucking my hips, my member finds itself deep inside of her in a matter of moments. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head; completely brain-dead from the sensation of my cock filling her to the brim. I believed she needed some sort of motivation to keep things moving. And to my surprise, an opportunity vibrated on the far side of the couch. Her boyfriend. He must've worried sick. Four missed calls. I should do her a favor and pick it up for her.

"You're boyfriend's calling... Shhhh... Hey hey hey... Be normal... You wouldn't want him to find out now, would you? Exactly... Now if you don't start moving those hips... I'll do it myself... But? But nothing... You'll do exactly as I tell you or I'll have your boyfriend hear how much a needy slut you are... Understand? Good girl... That's it, hun... Fuck yourself stupid on my cock... Mhm... Does it feel good? Yeah? He's calling for you, you know? Speak up... But don't you dare forget to move those hips... Hop on it, slut... What an obedient fuck bunny you are..."

It was honestly sweet, hearing her boyfriend apologize so earnestly about his flaws. It could bring a tear to your eye. If only she wasn't making such a slutty face right now. Grinding those hips against my cock with a little bounce in her step. My thumb running circles around her needy clit. Tongue sticking out as she pumps herself full of me. I wasn't even sure if she was saying "I love you" to me or him at this point.

"Mm... F-fuck... That's it... That's a good girl... You know what you're good for... Such a disgusting... filthy... mmph... whore... Hahhaha... Your cunt was made to please men... and you know it... You're not even listening to a damn thing your boyfriend is saying, are you? You sadistic fuck... You don't even care... Poor thing... It's okay Mr. Boyfriend... I'll punish this cheating slut for you..."

Nearing my climax, I threw her off my lap before pinning both her hands causing her to drop her phone. Mounting her into a partial mating press as I lifted one of her legs to her chest. Fucking into her even after my climax had reached its peak. Continually rutting in the most animalistic way possible. No pretty words. No temptation. Just the need to fuck. Who cared if we got caught? Who cared if she got pregnant? If her little boyfriend has a problem, I'll kill him. And I'll fuck her again and again and again-

"Mmm... You look absolutely spent... Hahahah... and won't you look at that? You made the right call on hanging up... I would've fucked you regardless if he was hearing us or not... That's my princess... Such a good job... Let's keep this a secret, yeah? I look forward to our next session..."

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

Drink responsibly,

Honey

#cnc k!nk #corruption kink #degrading k1nk #cnc free use #cnc brat #bd/sm blog #bd/sm community #humiliation kink #intox cnc #intox kink #edging and denial #breeding k1nk #RisquéHoney

[hamiltonfilms]

I dress for revenge 💋 star in nyc

INSTAGRAM AU/STORY

pairing : Arthur Leclerc x Verstappen!reader

summary : because of arthur your heart is broken you think he doesn't care about you

warning: kinda smut, adult language, protective older brother max, alcohol, Arthur is a dick, crying, mention of cheating, some dialogue from euphoria because it fit here, Horner

a/n: so I decided to write a continuation so keep reading and I hope you like it, if you want to be tagged let me know, remember that these events and characters were invented and did not exist like Dennis' cheating girlfriend <3 Also remember that English is not my first language so I apologize in advance for any mistakes and sorry for mistakes but dutch is partly from the translator and partly by me hahah

part 1 / part 2

Sunday 19:01

"fuck" were the only words I said when I saw what time it was. Dennis was already waiting at the door, knocking.

"Just a minute because I'm not ready" I let him in while giving him a hug. "It's okay and one more thing you look gorgeous"

All I did was smile and went on to get ready, even though I p3, it still needs to be celebrate. I knew my brother and his bunch of idiot friends would be there too, which wasn't a very happy thing for me. My mood sucked I didn't really want to go to that club but even less did I want to feel my heart breaking In fact I don't want to feel anything so I stick to it to get drunk and feel like any girl my age. Now I only have one little case or more missions in my little black dress that's too tight, today I don't care about Arthur, only me that counts.

"Everything's fine suddenly you somehow thought?" it was even sweet. My friendship with Dennis was strange and misunderstood to some people at first everyone thought we were a couple but it never was, even though I admit that at the beginning of karting I had a crush on him.

"Yeah it's ok, will you help me with the necklace" He just smiled and got out of bed and helped me. He hugged me and I felt better again "you look really good like a bitch who will show the boy where he belongs" I turned to him and smiled too "Denny sometimes I wonder if I deserve you and until earlier today my look is revenge"

I sat on the passenger side of Dennis' car and we headed towards the club where everyone was supposed to be, I looked at the clock in the car and it was 7:40 pm I thought we wouldn't be late much, it's almost nothing. The road didn't take long so we quickly went inside and I saw our group but we had to go first past my brother's friends I felt heightened even someone whistled at me but I saw Max's overprotective gaze which didn't bode well. Suddenly I heard a whistle at me but already in our group of friends it was Jüri so I just smiled "what a chick. I'm sorry Dennis who is your companion?"

"It's sweet Jüri, you won't know your biggest nightmare in life and on the track" I started laughing with the whole group and I already had time to say hello to everyone "God what did you do with our sweet shy y/n?" Jüri was joking but I didn't mind it even funny because everyone expected me dressed in trousers and some kind of T-shirt and instead I had makeup stylized hair black little tight dress and heels which is the opposite of me but in the end I looked similar to girls of other drivers. I felt the jealous eyes not only of Arthur but also of some of Max's friends looking at me from top to bottom but I didn't care today this evening was mine and I was supposed to be the center of attention. But I could exaggerate, for example, I mixed alcohols instead of drinking only one here a little vodka, champagne, whiskey, beer or even some strange colored drinks.

Suddenly I got dizzy so I went out onto the patio, sat on the ground and tried to light a cigarette, which probably wasn't sensible under the influence of alcohol. Suddenly, I felt someone approaching me, I didn't really look who because I honestly didn't care. "Hi you look very cute" at first I thought it was some old creep but I saw in the corner of my eye it was Pierre so I tried to ignore him but he wouldn't let go. "fuck off Pierre I'm not interested" but that only made him smile which didn't mean anything good. "You pretend to be untouchable I like it as much as you in that dress" he placed his hand on my thigh which gave me goosebumps and made me uncomfortable but just in time my brother showed up "hey get your hands off her asshole" he crouched down to me and he had already gone "look at me, are you okay? did he manage to do anything to you besides what I saw how it would kill the son of a bitch" I heard a note of aggression in his voice but it was loved as much because he always defended me as needed "not everything ok but it was scary, go have fun don't worry about me i'll be going back to the hotel anyway" all i saw was a smile on his face "sure princess but if you are in danger or need to be taken away call me." it was cute he always called me princess when i was younger and took care of me. But I went back to the party with Dennis, who seemed curious as to why I wasn't around so much. "My excuse for why I wasn't that much was because I probably could have been dragged to fuck but luckily Max saved me and I'm partially sober so I need a drink" Dennis immediately spit out what he was drinking shocked as he realized "What are you okay? do you want to go back to the hotel?” I looked at him with a slight smile "give me a minute because I want to stay longer" he nodded and went back to talking to someone. "Ugh. Tequila makes me want to dance." it flowed out of my mouth "so dance with me" I heard Denny tell me so I jumped up as did he. He put his hands on my waist and I on his shoulders and we started to dance I noticed that everyone started to be jealous but Arthur probably the most because he turned red and went somewhere and all I heard was a chit in my ear "we made it" which made a slight giggle from my lips. I thanked for the dance and went to the restroom before I was alone, someone accosted me and I heard "Who the hell do you think you are?" I turned around and saw it was Arthur. "I'm sorry but I don't know what you're talking about" and I tried to walk away but he wouldn't let go and I heard something that hurt me. " You think I'm here because I'm interested in you? What do you have to say? Or what do you think about different things like you're so damn interesting? Hey. I'm going to be honest with you because no one else will. Any guy who says, that he's interested in more than just fucking you, he's full of shit. So good luck with your boyfriend." I started to cry because it was true it couldn't be "Wow that bitch can cry" it was too much I couldn't take it anymore

"You know what I honestly wouldn't give a shit what you said but I don't you act like a fucking punk then all of a sudden she's your girlfriend, she's Dennis's ex-girlfriend who cheated on him not that she didn't do it now cuz look in the restroom next door cuz she's fucking some dude right now and she was only into your brother that's why she was with you from what she said you know what it doesn't matter today I don't care about such a dick like you so fuck off" I felt good when I finally said it and left "y/n sorry stop I didn't mean to" all I did was stick my middle finger out at him and went looking for Dennis.

"I'm going to the hotel, let's see it's 4.06 am and I have a flight to Monaco at 4 pm so see you at the next race and have a nice winter break" I said goodbye to everyone and went with Denny to the car and briefly told him the whole situation and I only heard how I finished "What did he say?! what a dick he is, hey remember that's not true we all like you for your personality jokes or professionalism at the track" a smile appeared on my face. He walked me to the door and he went to his room. I had changed my clothes, washed off my makeup and tied my hair comfortably. Even before going to bed, I managed to quickly post on insta from today.

y/nverstappen

liked by pierregasly, maxverstappen1, oscarpiastri, dennis_hauger and others

tagged: dennis_hauger oscarpiastri juri_vips liamlawson30

yn/verstappen After Hour

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dennis_hauger cool kids never sleep, they just party

yn/verstappen of course, what did you think?

yourbestfriend what did you do with my y/n where is it?

yn/verstappen here and where do you think?

y/nlovver yass we need more y/n in this context

arthurandy/nfanss y/n in her heartbreak era!! our queen slaying icon

13.03 pm

I heard quite a loud knock on the door which was quite an unusual thing especially in a hotel so I got out of bed but unfortunately my hangover kicked in so the knocking became quite intrusive. "What exactly can I help you with, god Max you couldn't call or something" I gestured him inside and quickly closed the door.

"yet as if you were replying or answering! What a hangover appeared" you could hear a note of sarcasm in his voice. "Get on it because at 7pm I arranged for you to meet Horner because he wanted to so you can thank me because your career may have advanced" he made that proud father smile I've almost never seen in my life. He sat down and waited for me to get up because we were going to have something like lunch this morning anyway, but let's just say my hangover kept me in bed. Looking at the watch on the phone, it was 2 pm, so it's not that bad so we'll have time to eat something before the meeting. the flight passed peacefully I even managed to get some sleep and do my makeup to make myslef look better than now but my flight to monaco was changed to the UK due to a meeting which made me a little stressed I won't say no but I managed to post a few stories.

y/nverstappen added to story

Red Bull Racing headquarters at 7pm

it was 6:58 p.m. and I was standing in front of the office waiting for them to let me in. I felt my legs turn to cotton when it was my turn. I shook my hand to say hello and took a seat. "So y/n I won't beat around the bush you are one of the brightest people on our junior team so we thought we would offer you this project" what came out of Horner's shocked me a bit.

"Wow thank you so much and I think I'll take the offer no matter what it is." I was excited enough that I didn't care what it was and I was going to take it anyway. He explained to me what it would be like, in short, I would drive the car around New York, they would record it and present the Red Bull Racing junior team to the world. However, I didn't have much time because I had to fly out tomorrow, of course I can take Max with me because I found that he is experienced in all this and is my older brother.

"I can't believe my sweet little sister y/n in my car still in New York! You don't even know how proud I am of you" I was shocked because I thought Max would get mad that they would put me in his car with his number on and they say he's proud still.

It was 11 pm and I just entered the apartment monaco was a place I missed but I will spend here until March 18 and we have November 21 of course I will be leaving, like now to nyc. I have a flight tomorrow at 12 am but my brother will pick me up. I finally had time for myself, unpacked the suitcase, put on the laundry and then the dryer and packed up and went to sleep. The alarm clock rang me at 6 am because I need to take care of myself, I got dressed I went for a run after I came back I ate breakfast I took a shower and got dressed it was 8 o'clock so max will arrive in two and a half hours so I decided to watch some series. This time will pass quickly and I don't even know when I found myself on the plane, if this is how my life will look like now, but at least I know what max was up to now. Browsing through instagram, I came across a post and I laughed, I showed my brother because he looked at me with an incomprehensible look, all I heard was "They haven't even been a couple for a week, y/n tell me you didn't do it" I laughed "No of course not" he looked at me seriously " I swear I didn't contribute to this" I went back to instagram.

motosportgossip

liked by arthurandy/nonly pierregasly arthurfan and others

tagged arthur_leclerc randomgirl

motosportgossip our new paddock couple has officially announced the end of their relationship is there a reason why?

see all comments

arthurandy/nforever I respect Arthur but maybe it's time for y/n and him now?

arthurfanss liked by pierregasly?

pearpierre maybe Pierre will give us details, eh?

nlvogue

liked by y/nverstappen, arthur_leclerc, maxverstappen1, oscarpiastri, dennis_hauger and others

tagged : y/nverstappen

nlvogue Y/n Verstappen en haar verschijning in het laatste nummer van Vogue, beschrijft de jonge Formule 2-coureur hoe moeilijk het was om een ​​vrouw te zijn in een sport als f2, terwijl ze toegeeft hoe graag ze vrouw is. Racen is altijd een ontsnapping geweest, en hij geeft toe dat het een stuk makkelijker was met zijn broer aan zijn zijde. Opgegroeid in de racewereld, zus van Max Verstappen, maar vooral bekend om haar geweldige capriolen op de baan, ook wel "black Widow" genoemd of gewoon onze Y/n Verstappen.

Begin december gaat het officieel in de verkoop

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y/nverstappen Ik ben trots op wat uit deze samenwerking naar voren is gekomen 😉

dennis_hauger I don't understand a thing but I'm still proud of you bestie ❤

user33 y/n and vogue and Dutch makes me look forward to more

arthurandy/nfan Arthur liked?!

y/nleclercshouldbe something must be up

...

arthur_leclerc added to story

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y/nverstappen added to story

tagged maxverstappen1, danielricciardo

...

redbullracing

liked by maxverstappen1, y/nverstappen danielricciardo arthur_leclers and others

tagged y/nverstappen

redbullracing we are officially announcing that on March 3rd there will be a new video of the junior project of the red bull team with y/n verstappen who will test our new cars on the streets of new york especially this car number 33 😉💪

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y/nverstappen I'm grateful and I hope it's not the last time haha

y/nloverr y/n driving for red bull still in Max's car and she in the new edition of vogue too much for today

maxverstappen1 I hope my car is in one piece y/n

y/nverstappen do you think i am you?

dennis_hauger I'm proud of you kid

y/nverstappen not that we are the same age but thanks for keeping me in your heart bestie 😘

y/nverstappen

liked by pierregasly, maxverstappen1, oscarpiastri, dennis_hauger and others

tagged: yourbestfriend maxverstappen1 redbullracing

yn/verstappen Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend

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redbullracing 💪

yourbestfriend karma is your boyfriend

yn/verstappen of course karma is my boyfriend what did you think

arthur_leclerc Nice jacket I guess

yn/verstappen thanks i guess

y/nleclercshouldbe artur likes and comments again?

user567 maybe they are together but i don't think so

...

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taglist : @vinylbycas @pospolites-blog @kazikiscool @honethatty12

a/n: wow it came out a bit long but wait for the next parts hah again sorry for mistakes and if you want to be tagged under the next part then text me.

#arthur leclerc imagine #arthur leclerc #arthur leclerc x reader #f1 instagram au #social media au #instagram au #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen #formula 2 x reader #formula 2 imagine #fake instagram #dennis hauger x reader #dennis hauger #instagram edit #hamiltonfilms

[green-lotus]

Leo on your relationship with Raph headcanons 💙

• Leo was the one most reserved and downright hostile at times.

• Can you blame him, really? He knows what his mission is: to protect his brothers, and you, an outside influence like they've never experienced before, is still potentially a danger. What if you'll tell someone about their existence. What if, worse, you'll hurt them, Raph in particular

• And any possible scenario of a heartbroken Raphael is something Leo is 100% not willing to deal with

• And on top of that, Leo still can't believe it's Raph who, out of four of them, is the one who first found himself a significant other. Literally, how? The hothead, impulsive, ever playing the badass brother who took all the measures to hide his more emotional, caring, soft side for as long as Leo can remember, him

• But then, Leo noticed, watching the two of you, how you see right through Raph's tough guy act and how you effortlessly touch his inner vulnerability and bring out all the best qualities in him, and how he drops his facade around you like with no one ever before. How soft Raph's gaze is as he watches you, how calm he suddenly becomes once you're there with him. Leo couldn't believe his eyes, he never thought he'd see the day

• But then, once the bewilderment passed, he started being so glad for you & his brother

• He realised he enjoyed watching you from behind and seeing how happy you & Raph made each other, all the ways in which you communicated and vibed on, it was a blissful theatrics for him

• And with that, all his doubts disapeared

• Now? He cannot imagine life without your presence in it. When you're down on their lair, he can relax since his brothers' attention is turned to you, and all the squabbles, arguments and everything else going on daily goes through you, not him. Mikey doesn't come bothering Leo first place to ask about something or babble about some idiotic ideas of his, but to you, Raph has you about so he isn't mindlessly bored and doesn't complain. Leo doesn't know at this point what he would do without you to take the responsibility of taking care of the brothers' collective business off his shoulders once in a while

• Truly, if Splinter asked Leo to announce a second - in - command, he'd pick you any time despite your lack of any combat skills

• Firstly as a joke, but then for serious he started calling you whenever he & Raph got into argument. "[Y/n], do something with him"

• Now he sometimes allows himself to not give a fuck and just brushes off any business angry Raph might have with "not my problem anymore girl, he's your business now"

• He is the one to notice first when you're upset or not in the mood even before Raph does, and he always points him to your direction for comfort & support

• He is... annoyed when you move on to your sexy times, because he is most of the times aware when you're doing it & where

• But at the same time, he always chases Mikey away from you and prevents him from interrupting you

• He feels just as protective of you as his own brothers, and gives Raph a good scolding each time you do anything risky or he accidentally endangers you in any way, which leads to some tensions, unfortunately

• In moments of doubt, he isn't sure altogether whether Raph is the best choice of partner for you. It's not like he doesn't wish you all the best, but he is simply unsure whether his red bro will be able to handle all relationship stuff & won't burden you with his issues too much

• But you always find a way to prove him all is well as life goes on, and you wouldn't trade Raphael for anyone in the world

• And it really makes his older blue brother happy 💙

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016 #tmnt bayverse #bayverse #bayverse tmnt #bayverse turtles #tmnt movie #tmnt raph #tmnt raphael #tmnt oc #tmnt headcanons #tmnt raph relationship #tmnt raph x oc #tmnt raph x reader #tmnt leonardo #tmnt leo #teenage mutant ninja turtles

[ivanzplaid]

could u maybe write a Vance fic before he got kidnapped from grabber that you both were on a walk together and he recently told you that he loved you and honestly were shocked about it but accepted his feelings and when he did get kidnapped you looked everywhere for him and was in between both houses and called the police and saved him

this is my first vance hopper fic, but ive read some before and they were all adorable ommggg, just for the sake of this its gonna be x make reader, but i love a good teen / puppy love story for this, gonna be romantic in a wholesome way🙏🙏

im so excited but again, first time writing for vance so cut me some slack🫶

Vance Hopper x Male Reader!!

Warnings: Kidnapped Vance, The Grabber mentioned, Reader saved a life

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The air softly drifted against the two of you, walking side by side, hand discreetly in hand. It was mid spring, the trees were becoming lively again, it was refreshing to see the earth in bloom. Vance guided you along a path he'd found, it was in a forest he frequented, but the scenery and delicate path gave the walk a comforting feel. You and Vance had been friends for years, you'd grown accustom to his angry lifestyle, adapted to his outbursts, and even fought for him in multiple instances. While you were growing closer to him, he too grew closer to you, finding himself at ease when submerged in your presence, finding an unfamiliar feeling sprouting the more time he got to be with you. Placing a finger on what the feeling was became a touchy subject, he didn't know if he wanted to indulge in this part of him or not, his environment heavily influenced his ideals, but when you came back into his life, its like his previous morals unraveled, you were like biting into a dessert he was craving, and you left the one thing he knew in his mind;

The Vance Hopper, loved you.

Unbeknownst to you, you thought he just really liked your company, only liking your company. But it was on this walk that he decided he needed you to know, your blissful ignorance of what he was feeling made him even more anxious. He didn't want to lose you, he couldn't lose you. You were his waking thoughts in the morning, and the sweet dreams at night, keeping it in any longer would make his repressed anger even more violent, and he couldn't afford another trip to the county jail this month, the bail would be set unreasonably high.

The trail you two were on split, one way to continue walking, and the other lead to a small circle, a bench perched in the middle. His hand tugged gently to the bench, resting his thumb on the back of your hand. The two of you sat down, his arm reached over your shoulder and tugged you in playfully before settling, getting into a comfortable spread position. You could tell Vance's breathing was awkward, it looked as if it were being restricted by something, but he breather out a sigh before looking at you.

"Listen, I know I've been acting weird, I feel weird. I need to tell you something."

His voice was uneasy, and that made you nervous. There were a select few moments in the time you've known eachother where Vance has ever been distressed, it was never a hopeful sign. You held his eye contact, you wanted him to feel comfortable, to confine in you.

"Stop starin at me idiot, its not anything bad,"

You giggled, his ability to lighten the mood between you two is something you always adored. But looking at him now, you realized there was alot you adored about him, everything about him was admirable in your eyes. His hand found your knee, grasping it for reassurance before he spoke.

"I like you. For fucks sake, I love you."

The gruff voice breathed out, making silence come over. You saw his foot tapping up and down, it was more than he'd ever expressed before, he had always had this extra stone wall barrier up when you confronted him about any girls he may've like, and it hit you like a pile of rocks, he doesn't like girls, he liked you.

Your hand found its way to his cheek, feeling how hot his face was. He was practically sweating bullets awaiting your response. It didn't hit you until now that the feeling of comfort you found in him, or how you always were physically connected in one way it another was more than platonic, you loved him as well. Your thumb stroked his face, finally opening your mouth to speak. Your words chosen carefully, knowing this was a moment for the both of you.

"I thought you would never say, got me worried I was gonna have to say something first,"

A smile took over your face while you spoke, and you saw him look up from his blond locks. His eyes crinkled in joy as he shook his head, confirming that you weren't kidding with him. He hastily pulled you into a hug, drowning in your presence. You could see the joy radiating off of him, it was like pounds had been lifted off his shoulders. For the rest of your time, you two just spent your natural time together, familiarizing yourselves with the labels of 'boyfriends', so that in public you would know how to be casual once again, discreetly being in a teenage lovestory.

The days leading up only became more sentimental because of this. Vance was gone. Taken as swiftly as the wind, and the police as always were no fuckin help. They said it was 'The Grabber'. Vances face soon became the only thing you saw from day to day life. It didn't quite hit you when the news got to you, everyone expected you to be affected, you were Vance's closest friend as they knew. After only two weeks, the news started to die down, and was replaced with harsh gossip of Vance, rumors of what could have happened, or that he deserved it, or whatever else flooded your ears. Everyone thought he was dead. No leads, no new evidence, it was bare in the department. Though through your tears and anger, you knew you wouldn't sleep till you knew he was okay, you knew he wasn't gone, he was too much of a fighter for that, he was your Vance, you knew him better than the back of your hand.

So as your feet guided you down the bare street, you glanced at each house, praying that someone somewhere will give you a sign. This was your fourth neighborhood, you'd trespassed nine times to see in any windows, or backyards, or anything to give you more hope, just as he'd taught you. Trenching through the rain, you continues your private search.

This street in particular was, to say the least, intimidating. It was filed with dull houses, none giving you any type of feeling or signal. It wasn't until you were halfway down that you felt a twinge in your chest, like a sharp pain to your lungs. Your feet planted themselves in the street, peering at the house numbers, you didn't realize how far in the neighborhood you went, how late it was getting, but it wasn't like a Saturday night was going to hold much excitement for you anyhow. The rain silenced all other sounds as you paced your way to the side of the house, the darkness becoming your blanket. There was only a singular van parked in the driveway, so if things went awry, you knew you'd only be dealing with one person. Sticking yourself to the sidewall, ducking under all light that might expose you, you skimmed the house for any windows, any hints to where Vance could be, why you felt so uneasy here, anything at all.

Your rounds of the house were separated, one in the first floor windows, one for any remaining ones. The first round gave you nothing, peaking in only let you see darkness, or empty ordinary household rooms. As you made your way around again, you crawled, scuffing your pants with mud. A sigh emitted from you, rolling your eyes. But as your eyeroll finished, you caught sign of what had to had been a basement window, tight and secure, but still a window. Your eyes narrowed peaking in, and you saw something staring back, eyes in a panicked manner.

Vance?

You soon realized that yes, it was him. Excitement quickly shot up out of you, you might've even let out a tear or two in the moment. You knew you had to get him out, now or never was your motto after all, but as you kicked and barged at the window, it led to no avail. Vance was trying to communicate something through the window, his pinky and thumb jutted out, resting against his ear, and it felt like a game if Pictionary, something you were never successful at, and sadly, he knew this. It must've been minutes after until he pulled over a black phone, cord being stretched out to the max, that you finally understood the movements. You scattered to your feet, slipping slightly under the mud as you dashed out of the yard to a neighbor, or anybody who had a phone to use. You hated having to leave Vance after finding him, it was a moment that you wished you could stuff your nose in his neck, wrapping your arms around him and not letting go, but you knew if you wanted to have a moment like that again, it was for the best.

A neighbor did end up letting you use their phone, a nice elderly couple. You dialed the police force number and dropped an urgent tip, maybe adding a slight threat and a few lies to make them come quicker, but in the end they did show. In fact, multiple cars showed up, barging into the house with minor hesitation. The police sirens became louder as you went outside, leaning on the fence, awaiting a familiar face to be escorted out by police, and this time not in handcuffs. The owner of the house, presumably who you called 'The Grabber', was taken out, an absence of emotion was apparent on his face, until his eyes found you, quickly filling with hatred & anger, he knew it was you. Your nerves were set to the max, they still hadn't brought out Vance and you became worried. You maneuvered yourself so your back rested on the fence, practicing breathing techniques to calm yourself.

Heavy arms set around your shoulders, pulling you into the person behind you. Immediately tensing, you jolted around, but the face who looked back at you made you melt into the arms. Vance had finally been brought out, he was slightly injured, his lip was busted, a few welts here and there, but you couldn't help but grip onto his jacket, pushing yourself into him as hard as you could, he was genuinely here, infront of you, safe again. Neither of you had the words to describe how grateful you were to see eachother, but he pulled you aside, leading you to behind the ambulance, and kissed you. It wasn't demanding or harsh, but a soft, emotional peck. He pulled you close and you saw his eyes look over you, the slight gloss in them made you grin stupidly, and he couldn't help but laugh, his smile displayed everything good about him. Not soon after, you pulled him into the ambulance, the crew giving you blankets and water, but you couldn't keep your eyes off eachother. Your hands once again joined under the blankets, you rubbed your thumb over his knuckles, making his face heat up to a nice shade of red, casually trying to play it off by distracting you.

"I never stopped thinking about you when I was locked up."

"And neither did I."

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im so exhausted, im sorry if near the ending got a little sloppier, but it turned out kinda long LMAOO, but i loved writing this, vances character is adorable and i wnated to put out more little cutr gay characters, and hes oerfect smh

thank you so mucb for 96 followers!!!! ahhh

requests are oppeeennn, more coming out tmrw, i have them organized for what i wanna do!! thank you rveryboddyyy <3

#vance hopper #the grabber #the black phone #vance hopper x reader #cute romance #caring reader #fluff #wholesome #teenage love

[rachelsfav-queer]

AAAAAA SHIT!!!!

Okayyyyyyyy! I'm feeling angsty for some reason (probably cause I'm an idiot and keep listening to sad music) so I'm taking a break from my actual writing to get this out. I knew I couldn't not write it either cause it's just too good, but ITS SO HEARTBREAKING!!!!

I'm really sorry about this

(Note: I started this oneshot before I got the news last night, so obviously I'm in a much better mood lol)

It hadn't been long after Enid had passed that it started. Yoko was also gone, which left Wednesday alone, truly alone, for the first time in decades. The three of them had all grown into old age, even Yoko, who had found a spell to allow her to age with her wives, two people she could not stand to outlive.

And now, it's only Wednesday left, her genes allowing her a naturally longer lifespan. Well, at least, as long as the ones who held her heart lived. But now, she can feel her age catching up to her in the most brutal ways. Her mind, body, and soul are all withering quickly and without mercy.

Enid’s funeral was only two weeks after her passing, but by then, Wednesday was already in a wheelchair, barely capable of holding herself up even in the chair. It broke Bianca’s heart, the sight of her best friend suffering so deeply that it reflected completely on her physical body. And the pain wasn’t only present in her physical condition, but also emotionally. Nobody had seen Wednesday so utterly desolate in years. It was as if every last bit of her will to live had been torn from her.

And really, it was.

Everyone knew that when an Addams falls in love, they love with everything they have, all of their soul is dedicated to their chosen. It's how they're built, and it has its ups and downs. One of the worst cons is showing itself clear in Wednesday now.

She is degrading, every part of her. An Addams is truly nothing without the ones they love. It gets so bad that only a month after Enid's death, Wednesday is entirely reliant on others to stay alive and care for herself. Bianca does her best, but is ultimately helpless on her own, needing help from other friends and nurses. Especially because Wednesday simply doesn't speak anymore. The only sounds she makes are the tiniest grunts, and that's only ever in response to little Raven, who still speaks to her every day.

Little Raven, oh poor little Raven. She made a promise long ago to always be there for her best friend, and she is staying true to that promise. By now, she's long since figured out all the abilities she has as a spirit possessing a physical object. One of those abilities is to affect living beings around her, at least a bit. She uses this to ensure no one tries to separate her from Wednesday, nobody even gets the idea to do so with her influence. And so, the haunted plushie that has always remained by Wednesday's side throughout the entire time they've known each other stays posted right at Wednesday's side, sitting atop the bedside table.

One day, she's not sure why, but little Raven decides to finally tell Wednesday her story. It all starts with a soft chuckle, "You know, I used to know someone who was just like you, Wednesday. She was... everything." And little Raven tells the seer everything. From the moment she met her little sister, to the moment she finally met her. It was long and complicated, but somehow, little Raven knew the entire time that the seer was listening.

Eventually, little Raven finished. It was then that something beautiful happened. Wednesday, for the first time in so long, spoke. "Raffi," the seer's voice was weak as she spoke the name the spirit hadn't heard in a century, the name she had forgotten, but she heard it so clearly, and it shocked her thoroughly. "You're curious. I saw this, in a vision, when I first held you. A Boot-strap paradox, quite exhausting. You have... served me well, old friend. You protected me, you cared for me, and you have shown me all the love you had to give. Furthermore, you have given me comfort in the darkest of times, and it is my turn to return that comfort. You've done well, Raffi. But... my time here on this mortal plane is come to a close, and so is yours. You have no need to hold yourself here anymore, so please, forgive yourself. It's time to let go. As Enid and Yoko are waiting for me, so is Lovette waiting for you. It's time we meet them again. I love you, little Raven."

"We- Wednesday... Thank you. It has been such an honor, being your friend. I love you too, Wednesday. Good night."

And so, in that lonely old mansion, two spirits, two best friends, leave together onto their final adventure. When Bianca enters the room again and sees her friend has passed, she oddly feels at peace. As if some huge weight has been lifted from the very walls of the house itself. And Bianca sees the raven plushie, and she can't quite describe it for a while, the stuffed animal almost seems to be missing something. But eventually, she realizes, and she smiles, “So long, little Raven. It was nice to meet you. Goodbye Wednesday, you finally got that splash of color you needed.” With that, the siren sets the plushie atop Wednesday’s chest and leaves a final kiss on the seer’s forehead, leaving her to finally rest.

End <3

(Little Raven + her sister’s name reveal???)

(This is what I had on repeat while finishing this lol)

#my writing #vampravenwolf #wednesday addams #bianca barclay #little raven #very sad #tw death #bittersweet #happy ending #ish #massive tearjerker #Spotify #vampravenwolf essentials

[sleepy-lil-kit-kat]

if you won’t do this that’s totally okay!!! but a lil fic or cg hcs for malifcent from sleeping beauty? or hades from hercules? i’m a big disney villains fan :D have a great day/night! <3

heroes not like hercules

~700 words, not on ao3

disney's hercules, but also a little Greek mythology and some percy jackson influences (unfortunately I can't really tease them Entirely seperate when I write about Hades, but I've done my best to make it mainly disney)

cg!hades, regressor!reader, hero-ascended-to-godhood!reader

i hope you like it!!! it's a lot what I personally like in cgs–someone whos scary but has a soft spot for you, someone who'll badmouth the good guys for how they treated you, but I also wrote a lil of his more jokey aspects :P

requests are open! see my pinned <3

- k!nk/nsfw please dni! this is a sfw age regression post! -

Hades is not always nice. He is a god, tasked with running the underworld, shunned and maligned by the other Olympians–for him to be nice all the time is, relatively unlikely.

But sometimes, he's nice to you. A little godling, barely more powerful than a nymph, would not usually attract the attention of such a man, even as an underworld deity, but you have. Maybe–most likely–it's the fact that you'd ascended to divinity. Most who ascend do not ascend to a role among the dead; that you have done so is unusual, and perhaps a little telling.

His company is nice, when your head fuzzes up at reminders of your mortal life, and your form sort of stutters in the way only spirits' forms can. You don't necessarily talk to him much, when this happens–he's got a full time gig, as he often has to remind the other gods. No, you just curl up at the foot of his throne, a cushion left there just for you, and feel his presence.

His aura is... warm. Warm, and dark, and shadowy, but in the best of ways. Dark in the way of corners to hide in, shadowy in the way of the monsters that hunt the mean people. That feeling alone is enough, more often than not, to soothe you, and when you stay it's usually only because you just don't want to leave.

Once he's done with whatever he'd been doing, sometimes, sometimes, he lifts you up, just like he's doing now, setting you on the arm of his throne, with a "c'mere, kid." You just blink at him, gaze caught by the flames on his head. They dance and crackle and they're so, so, mesmerising, especially when you're as tired and fuzzy-headed as you are.

"What'm I gonna do with you, huh?"

You don't answer. The first few times he'd asked, you'd apologised, which seemed to disappoint him, so you don't do that. But if what he seeks isn't an apology, what does he want?

Hades sighs, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. "Damn hypocrites, the lot of 'em. Houndin' me for trying Zeus's brat, but it's just peachy when they do it to the mortals?"

You just sort of stare at him, tilting your head, uncomprehending, as fuzzy as you feel. It's... right now it's hard to tell what he's getting at, in all honesty. Yes, he's protective of the deities that reside below the earth with him, but this feels... different.

"Big words for a bitty kid, huh?" he asks, mouth twitching into a smile. "Don't worry 'bout it. Just remember the ones up there're..." he pauses, searching for a word, seemingly rejecting several he comes up with. "Idiots."

Easily, you nod. It's Hades, so he has to be right. It is, at least right now, simple as that.

-

Hades is in a good mood today.

"Heya, kid, what say we go on a... itty bitty eeny weeny walk?"

You look up at him, wide-eyed. Wasn't he busy?

"Managed to con my idiot nephew into helping me out a tad, so I've got the time and, the miracle of a kid that's never annoyed me once."

Tilting you head, you point at yourself, a clear question in your eyes. Surely he can't mean you...?

"Yeah, kid, you. Even my stupid little minions get on my nerves, there's this one time they boight merchandise–well, with Hermes on paperwork, I don't have to worry! Hah! Anyway, point is, you're the one person 'round here who doesn't get a spot on the annoying leaderboards."

It's a good day, you think. Hearing him joke like that is nice, almost as funny as the rare times he goes off on people while you're by his throne, but best of all... he's letting you in on some of his rare free time.

A walk around the Underworld especially sounds nice–you only get to go the places where you're needed, usually, and when your head is fuzzy it's near impossible to muster up the will to go off wandering alone. A smile comes to your face as you think more about it.

"Ahh, there's a grin, there we have it!" He grins back, flames burning brighter. "No mopin', no time on the schedule for that, kid!" Hades holds a hand down, for you to take. "We might have a break, but we don't have all eternity, c'mon."

#sfw agere #lil kit kat content #disney agere #agere fic

[floral-poisons]

Can I get HCs of riddle, deuce, idia, floyd, sebek and malleus getting a love confession letter from a fem!MC?

hi anon!! i've decided to change the prompt to be a gender neutral reader. i don't think the boys would react any differently if the love letter came from an mc that wasn't fem. men, mascs, enbies, two spirits, and everyone else in between can also write love confession letters too!!

MALLEUS DRACONIA

love letters. they were all the same for the ancient being. all of them professed their love to him, all of them praising his looks. it was to be expected as a prince, as someone who was very beautiful, and as someone who was powerful and held influence in the world.

of the many he received, none of them have stood out as much as yours. mostly because your handwriting was terrible and a lot of the letter was illegible.

but nevertheless, the letter was quite heartfelt. and it made him smile.

i always look forward to gazing upon your face. you are as regal as the gods.

perhaps this would be one letter he would reply to. or maybe he’d take a visit to ramshackle.

“do you have a moment, child of man?”

SEBEK ZIGVOLT

sebek was more used to dealing with love letters for malleus, constantly getting them from students. they shoved them into his hands and he would deal with them accordingly.

this one was different however. it had his name on it.

now why could that be? when he opened it, he was surprised to see that it was a love letter. to him!

sebek, you’re loyal and caring. and you’re amazing. and i hope you see my perspective on yourself.

sebek was getting all hot and bothered afterwards. but he knew who it was from.

“lilia-san, do you know how to write a reply to a love letter?”

RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS

a love confession letter? such a fickle thing. who had the time to practice their calligraphy and everything? but also riddle’s self esteem had been chipped away by his mother for years to the point he felt he was unlovable.

and yet seeing the strange envelope sent a sudden chill down his spine. not in a bad way but in a good way.

he was quick to take it back to his room and open it. a love confession letter. he recognized the handwriting because he’s seen it so many times. but he was focused on one thing and one thing alone.

your hair is red, like my favorite flower: the lycoris. red is simply your color.

riddle felt his whole face turn red as he held the piece of paper close, like a little boy who just received his first valentine’s card during class.

“(y/n), i like you very much too...”

DEUCE SPADE

deuce was sure he had no chance with you. he’s liked you for a while now.

scratch that. he’s liked you since the dwarf mines when you guys needed to find a magestone replacement for the chandelier in the cafeteria. you were brave, confident, and very smart. there wasn’t anything else to it.

he wasn’t aware that you felt the same way. the two of you were mutual pining after each other, too afraid to confess like idiots.

that is until you decided to take the first step with a love letter to deuce.

you had cater deliver it to deuce. and when the first year opened it, he immediately recognized the handwriting. your handwriting was unique. it could only be you. and as he read the letter, he felt his heart beat faster and his body become lighter. this letter was proof that you did, in fact, feel the same way.

“cater! where’s (y/n)? i need to confess!”

FLOYD LEECH

there’s a pretty grounded argument that jade is the favorable twin between the leech brothers. to be fair though, no one wanted to mess with the octotrio. especially floyd. floyd was unpredictable with constant mood swings and a love for fights and squeezing.

many people did not understand how you could like someone as flippant as floyd. but it happened.

floyd had a lot of good qualities. it just...showed up in different ways.

when floyd got a love confession letter, he read it. and he just sat in his seat for a bit before crumbling it up and tossing it in the garbage. azul’s reaction was quite hilarious when he found out the letter was a confession letter.

you weren’t expecting floyd to approach you the next day. the energy around him today just seemed so threatening. was he pissed off about your letter?

“shrimpy, letters are boring. literally just tell me to my face that you like me. it’s less boring and more entertaining.”

IDIA SHROUD

love letters were old fashioned. sure they had a personal touch but the same thing could’ve been achieved with a simple email. besides, a letter would mean having to deliver it and go outside.

weirdly enough, it was ortho who retrieved the letter and gave it to idia with an excited look on his face.

“who writes letters these days?” he mutters as he opens it and leans back in his seat.

idia felt his face go completely red and his hair turned orange the more he read it. it was a love letter. those things only existed in novels, right? he would never think he would be the receiver of one.

it was also clear that you put a lot of effort into the letter which he acknowledged.

“when was the last time i used my pencil?”

#twst #twisted wonderland #disney twst #disney twisted wonderland #heartslabyul #diasomnia #octavinelle #ignihyde #idia shroud #riddle rosehearts #deuce spade #sebek zigvolt #malleus draconia #floyd leech

[sanctified-sanctuary]

I won’t have time to add them to my carrd for a while so quick reference for the old new goon squad 🤪

Liam “Jekyll” Hyde- hellhound shifter demon, he’s in his late-mid 20s, He/Him, big idiot who rushes into situations head first but is also the first to laugh at the consequences. Long dark red hair that’s pulled half up usually but still in his face, light tan with dark freckles all over his body and long claw scars from his chest over his shoulder down his back and a supernaturally large bite scar on his shoulder. His eyes are green into gold toward the iris, the gold takes over the more he shifts eventually also darkening his sclera. He grew up on the infernal plane with other hellhounds until he was summoned by Hunter, at which point he agreed to be their familiar and spent his time split between earth and infernal planes from his early teens. He’s the largest personality and the leader of the pack if you will, but he’s also the bleeding heart always taking in strays it’s in his nature

Hunter (WIP last name)- infernal witch 3/4 human 1/4 incubus on their mother’s side, they’re half a year older than Jekyll, They/Them, a bit heavy on the sarcasm but very approachable/caring. Shorter light hair, they tend to dye it vibrant hues but it is naturally a whitish color, somewhat pale with no noticeable blemishes save for hidden enchanted tattoos. Their eyes are a light blue with a violet shift, more prominent when they’re practicing magic or using their demonic influence. They grew up with their dad as a single parent, summoned Jekyll when they realized they had bloodline magic and wanted to have a friend around that would understand since other kids saw them as weird with their mom’s mysterious background. Definitely an enabler and sarcastic best friend type, a bit more parental of the group but will encourage dumbass behavior too

Adora “D” Nova- succubus, she’s the youngest though only by a few months and still in her late-mid 20’s, She/Her, a ray of sunshine guaranteed to lighten the mood when she steps into the room she’s also the most emotionally intelligent/developed. Split color hair falls past her shoulders in a shag cut, one side a deep copper and the other a medium warm blonde dyed or natural she’ll never tell, her light skin has a few beauty marks and a dark gothic winged heart tattoo on her lower stomach. (She’ll tell you it’s a “succubus birth mark” but she got it tattooed on a dare on Earth when she was 19) Her eyes tend to shift color depending on the environment and if she’s exerting any influence, they’re normally a deep burnt maroon red that lighten to a brighter raspberry pink when using her talents. She also grew up on the infernal plane and made friends with Jekyll when they were late teens, eventually sparked up a romantic relationship in their young adult into early 20s that’s more or less on again off again because the lines between friends and lovers has already been blurred. She hangs out with the pack as often as possible, though she does pop back and forth between the planes more than anyone else she makes plenty of time to drag the crew along to seedy dive bars for post punk shows on the regular and they all blend right in

Zeke (WIP last name)- ((more of a secondary muse if you have good rp ideas it helps to bring his muse out!)) demon? (He refuses to disclose), he says he’s the oldest by a year but he’s cagey about the exact numbers late 20s, He/Him, unsettling and occasionally uncanny yet he’s the comic relief of any tense situation. He also frequently dyes his hair, typically shades of muted blues and greens, it’s trimmed tight on the sides and loose on top purposefully messy, he sports a tan that comes and goes with the seasons when he isn’t pasty white. His eyes are a light brown with metallic flakes that catch in the light, it doesn’t seem they glow or change at all with talent use but there is a sharpness to them that’s otherworldly even among hellhounds and other-planar beasts. He met the group on earth when they were all 19-21 ish at a house show and they clicked instantly, he mostly hangs out with the group and prefers to not be on his own unless he’s set on a mission (usually it’s a snack run- this man can eat). He’s dodgy about personal information and can be generally unsettling to be around if you’re unfamiliar with him, but he does his best to quell those feelings in other people when he speaks to them.

#⋆♱⋅⟡⋅♱⋆ queue #⋆♱⋅⟡⋅♱⋆ voice of god -- OOC posting #//THEY ARE FREE FROM MY BRAIN AGAIN #// pls pls pls if you want any of them lmk I love em lots and I’ve got more time with holiday this week to actually write yippie #// also they have so many different verses this is just going to be their new “main” for all intents and purposes!

[englishstrawbie]

Serendipity (28/?)

Fandom: Station 19, Grey’s Anatomy

Characters: Maya Bishop & Carina DeLuca

Summary: A chance meeting at a bar leads to these two idiots falling in love. Follows canon and fills in the gaps of their relationship that we didn’t get to see on screen.

Also @ AO3.

* * * * * 

In Memoriam

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. - Winnie The Pooh

Maya leaves the station just after six-thirty, starting the three block walk to the hospital by herself. Her stomach flips with nervous excitement, which she knows is ridiculous because she is only going to get to see Carina for a few seconds and they can’t be close to one another, but she knows that seeing her girlfriend even from a distance will bring her the joy she needs today.

They haven’t seen each other since the evening she had spent sat on the ground outside Carina’s townhouse – not physically, at least. There have been video chats, in between the phone calls and text messages. Carina is calmer now, although her job is still difficult, not to mention traumatic at times. Maya hates that she can’t simply wrap her up in a hug, that protocols and risk assessments have taken away all moments of intimacy between them.

She needs her today more than any other day of the pandemic so far, craving her calming influence and words of love. They say goodbye to Pruitt Herrera this afternoon. Even though he has been gone for over a month, the loss still feels raw. She wonders often what he would make of the pandemic and if he would think she was doing a good job of leading the team during these strange times. She feels the weight of it on her shoulders and sometimes it feels like an impossible task; but then they will do a drive by and people will come out of their houses to cheer and wave at them, and it reminds her that there is still joy in the world.

She bumps into Jack and Dean as she turns the corner. They both look cheerful, despite the earlier than usual start to their day.

“Bishop.”

“Captain.”

“Hey guys,” she greets them, falling into step beside them.

“You haven’t been working already, have you?” Jack asks, knowing that she has been overwhelmed at times by the amount of extra work generated by the pandemic.

Maya shakes her head. “No, I just stopped by the station to drop off my car.”

They make small talk as they make their way to the hospital, the mood kept light by Dean’s infectious happiness as he shows them photos of baby Pru crawling for the first time, the pitter patter of her tiny hands on the hard floor of the houseboat making them all smile.

“I miss that little squish,” Jack says fondly.

“She misses you all too,” Dean says. He looks over at Maya. “Will Carina be there this morning?”

“She’d better be,” Maya says.

Although their visit is to be a surprise for Bailey, Maya had told Carina about their plan last night. Of course she would have been there no matter what, but it was knowing that she was going to get to see her girlfriend that got her jumping out of bed this morning. Carina had promised to get to work early, to be there when they start their clapout, and Maya prays that there are no last minute emergencies to take her away.

They turn the corner where the others have already congregated and Maya feels her heart start to beat a little faster in anticipation.

“Hey,” Ben greets them. “Thank you, guys, for getting up an hour early. I... it means a lot to me.”

If only he knew she has selfish reasons for being there.

Miranda appears and Ben’s kids call out to her, happy to see their mom.

“My boys!” Miranda cries gleefully at seeing her family. “What… oh, Benjamin Warren, you are a sight for sore eyes. And back, and feet.”

Maya keeps her eyes on the door as they chat – waiting. She doesn’t have to wait long before Carina appears, clearly searching her out. The moment her eyes find Maya, she lets out a happy sigh, her shoulders dropping with relief. From behind her mask, Maya feels herself beaming at her.

She takes her in. She looks tired, of course, but even though her face is hidden by the mask and goggles she wears, Maya can see her cheeks have more colour and her eyes shine, a far cry from the broken woman she saw through the front door last week.

They don’t need words to be able to convey how good it is to see each other, or how much they love and miss each other. It is all in their eyes, and Maya sees the same emotions she feels reflected back to her in Carina’s face.

“You guys, you guys, it's time,” someone says, as a stream of doctors, nurses and orderlies from Grey Sloan appear outside the hospital: some going in to work, some heading home, some making their way to the triage point outside.

The team from nineteen start to clap and cheer, a chorus of “thank you!” and “we love you!” filling the air.

Maya keeps her eyes on Carina, who bows her head as a thank you. She knows she can’t stay long, but it is over too quickly and Carina presses her gloved hand to her mask to send a kiss through the air to her, before turning on her heel and heading back inside.

Maya’s heart deflates a little once Carina is no longer in her sight, reminded almost immediately of how much she misses her. She misses having her in her arms and in her bed. It has only been a couple of weeks, and it’s not like they lived in each other’s pockets before the pandemic started, but the fact that they aren’t allowed to see each other, to touch each other, makes the longing worse.

After a few minutes, the crowd reduces, the clapping and cheering dies down, and the team turn towards each other.

“I need to drop off some groceries to my parents before shift starts,” Travis announces. “That okay, Cap?”

Maya nods. “Of course.”

“Oh, I’ll come with you!” Vic says.

“Yeah, and I need to drop some stuff off with Marsha,” Jack says.

Maya looks amused, but doesn’t stop them, knowing that these little things bring them some comfort. “Just be back by eight.”

She is the first one to turn and head back towards the station, listening to the team chat animatedly. The clapout seems to have brought some cheer to themselves, as well as the hospital staff, and Maya knows they needed it today. The only voice that is quiet is Andy’s, and Maya walks a few paces ahead, fearful that she will accost her once again to ask her about the last words Pruitt had spoken to her before he had gone up on to the roof that day.

She feels guilty, of course, for avoiding her best friend when she knows she is struggling to write the eulogy, but she has replayed that day so many times already and Andy’s persistent questions send her back to that moment, watching him climb the ladder, watching him pound the roof with his axe over and over again, until it gives way and he falls into the flames.

She shivers, shaking it off.

“You okay?”

Maya turns her head to see Jack quicken his pace to walk beside her.

“Yeah, just lost in my own head,” Maya says.

“Carina?” His voice is hesitant, like he knows he shouldn’t be asking about her girlfriend after their recent tryst, but trying to be a good friend at the same time.

Maya lets him off the hook, shaking her head. “Herrera.”

Jack stuffs his hands in his pockets as he walks. “Yeah. Me too.” She hears him sigh. “I miss him.”

“I miss him, too,” Maya says.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she pulls it out, Carina’s face flashing on the screen. She answers quickly.

“Hey you.”

“I miss seeing you already,” Carina says, her voice purring in only the way she does.

Maya smiles to herself. “I miss you too.”

She feels Jack step away from her. “Hey Miller, wait up!” he calls out, heading towards where Dean walks with Ben.

His voice is loud enough for Maya to know that he could be heard down the phone and she is pretty sure she can hear Carina’s eyebrow arch upwards.

“We’re just walking back to the station,” Maya says before Carina can grumble. “With everyone else.”

She hears a hiss, as Carina purses her lips and inhales. “You know, I think it’s time we set some ground rules.”

“Ground rules?”

“Si, like you and Jack aren’t allowed to be alone together. Ever. Punto.”

Maya frowns. She doesn’t want to point out that it’s not exactly the easiest rule to follow, since they work together. “I…” she starts, but catches herself. “Okay. Anything else?”

“You don’t talk to him about me, or us,” Carina says. “I know you’re friends, but I don’t like the idea of him knowing things about our relationship.”

“That’s fair,” Maya says. “I can do that for you. For us.”

On the other end of the phone, Carina nods her head resolutely, softening at Maya’s willingness to concede to her demands. “I really did like seeing you this morning.”

“Me too. I wish we could’ve been closer than six feet apart,” Maya says wistfully.

Carina catches the sadness in her voice. “What’s wrong, bella?”

“Nothing. It’s just…” Maya pauses. “It’s Pruitt’s memorial today and he deserves more than an online service, and Andy keeps asking me about what he said to me that day, and I hate remembering it, and I’m trying to keep things together for the team because I know they’re all struggling, and I just… I wish that you and me could just…”

“Wrap ourselves up in a blanket and shut the door on the world for a while?” Carina finishes her sentence for her, remembering the words Maya had spoken last week when she had needed to hear them.

“Yeah.” She takes a deep breath. “Do you think you’ll be able to watch the memorial later? I know it’s probably not easy when you’ve got so many patients.”

“And miss the chance to see you in your uniform?” Carina teases.

It is an obvious attempt to lighten her mood, and it works as Maya laughs. “You always know how to make me feel better.” She hears Carina’s pager start to beep. “You have to go?”

“I do,” Carina says ruefully. “But I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Maya says. “I hope today isn’t a horrible one.”

“For you too,” Carina says. “I’ll be thinking of you all later.”

Maya hits the red button and slides her phone into her back pocket, just as she arrives back at the station. The team disperse, those who are not heading out to deliver supplies to their family heading towards the beanery and break room to relax before another shift. Maya goes straight to her office, closing the door behind her and flopping down into her chair.

Craving the physical affection she knows she can’t get, she closes her eyes, thinking of the way Carina will press her body against hers as they fall asleep, their hands holding each other all night; her head resting on her shoulder, her breath warm on Maya’s neck. It works, and she feels the tension ease a little, her lips curling into a small smile.

The morning passes quickly. A call out to Black Ball Hill keeps them busy, the wind blowing embers from a car fire into the trees and causing them problems. It is the kind of call that Maya thrives on, using her strategic brain to get the fire under control. It is also the kind of call out that makes her proud of her team, watching them work together with ease. They are smart and quick thinking, they anticipate each other’s next step, and their years of working together shows in moments like these.

It prompts something in her mind that she had forgotten and she brings it up with Andy in the fire truck on the way back to the station.

“He said something else, your Dad,” she says as they drive through the neighbourhood. “I guess I didn't think to mention it before because I was so worried about remembering the other thing. He said he handpicked us all; all of us at nineteen. And he said that…” she pauses to laugh, “…even though we weren't all the best recruits, that he saw something in all of us that he knew would work as a family.”

She turns her head to look at Andy, whose eyes are filling with tears.

“Does that help at all?”

Andy nods. “Yeah, actually it does,” she says, her voice choked by her grief.

“You’ll know what to say,” Maya says. “He’s your dad and you love him. When it comes to it, just talk from your heart.”

Andy nods, wiping away a stray tear with the back of her hand. “Thank you.”

The rest of the journey is silent and when they pull into the station, there is a sombre mood amongst the team. It is unusual for them to be so quiet after a successful call, but the memorial service is on everyone’s minds. Maya doesn’t need to give them orders to do their chores, they get started immediately, the only sound the melodic humming from Dean as he works. His deep voice is calming to them all.

“Thirty minutes, then showers,” Maya says, a soft tone to her voice.

She makes use of the empty shower room to get ready for the service, then heads back to her office to write up her incident report. She works quickly, only a sweet message from Carina, telling her that she loves her and is thinking of them all, distracting her for a moment.

Once done, she heads into the captain’s bunk to grab her jacket, slipping her arms into it and pulling it over her shoulders. She hears a soft knock at the door and emerges from the captain’s bunk just as Sullivan steps into her office.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Thanks for the assist today,” she says, her voice lacking emotion.

They haven’t really spoken since he made his confession to Dixon and the Civil Service Commission. With his surgery and recovery time, and the pandemic, their paths haven’t crossed – and she hasn’t sought him out either.

“I know I'm not part of nineteen anymore, but I wanted to be here for Andy,” Sullivan says. “If that's okay with you?”

She is a little surprised that he appears to be asking permission, but she isn’t going to turn him away, knowing how much Andy needs her husband today. But seeing him stirs something inside of her, something that she has been holding in for the last few weeks and something that she knows needs to be said so that it doesn’t fester inside of her.

“I hate what you did and I hate that you did it on my watch. I hate that you put our nineteen family at risk and the PRT in jeopardy,” she says. “And I especially hate that you may never be a firefighter again, because you are a good firefighter and the department needs you. I respected you as a mentor, and you let me down.”

It feels good to have said it. She was never able to articulate her feelings about her father when she was younger, another mentor who abused his position. The circumstances may have been completely different, but she feels just as disappointed and isn’t afraid to tell him.  

Robert pulls his mask off, wanting Maya to see the sincerity in his face as he offers her the apology she deserves to hear. “I let myself down. And I'm sorry. For all of it.”

Maya accepts his apology, after all he has been punished enough by the department for his mistakes, he doesn’t need his work family doing the same. “Then we're good.”

Sullivan slopes off and Maya straightens her jacket and tie, before heading out into the barn where the team are waiting. The engines have been moved onto the forecourt to make space for them, a semi-circle of socially-distanced chairs surrounding a podium. A photo of Captain Herrera stands at the front. Travis has hooked up his cell phone to stream the service, so that those who wanted to be there can watch. There are almost 300 people waiting online to say goodbye to him.

“I’ll go and get Andy,” Ben offers.

Maya nods. “Nineteen,” she calls softly.

“Nineteen,” they say in chorus.

They all settle on their seats, waiting for Andy, who enters the barn flanked by Ben a few moments later. She carries Pruitt’s uniform hat together with his baseball cap, and not for the first time today Maya is transported back to the moment he removed it and placed it on the wheel of the ladder truck, before making his way up to the roof to meet his demise.

Tears immediately pool in her eyes and she blinks them back, shooting Andy an encouraging smile. Ben takes the hat and cap, and places on the podium, before sitting down next to Maya. Andy, meanwhile, turns on the live stream, then makes her way to the podium. She pauses by her father’s picture, taking her place in front of them and inhaling a deep breath before starting her eulogy.

“If you're watching this, my Dad was probably your hero. He was mine. He was a great firefighter but an even better Captain,” she says. She looks down every now and again to read from her script. “He brought the best out of everyone by demanding nothing less. He was a natural leader, as anyone who's ever worked with him knows. He built great firefighters, future Captains.”

She looks across the barn towards Maya.

“Maybe even future Chiefs.”

Maya smiles through her tears. He always believed in her, he always saw her potential for who she was, not who he wanted her to be – not like her own father. She looks down for a moment, giving herself time to compose herself, before looking up again.

“But beyond that, he was the best father he could be, and that wasn't easy to do, especially on his own. My dad was faced with some pretty terrible choices when I was a kid. But he did what he thought was best for me at the time. Every time. He chose to protect me above all else. And while he may have made mistakes, I have no doubt he'd make them all again if he thought it was best for me.”

Her voice starts to break.

“It wasn't easy growing up without my Mom and without siblings, but what I've come to realise is my Dad did his best to give me family. He created a home at Station 19. And everyone under his roof was his kid.”

She laughs and the rest of the team share her smile for a moment, despite the tears that fall down their cheeks, as they remember the man who brought them together as a family and as a unit.  

“So he may have spent years protecting me from pain and burying his own, but he did his best to give me the gift of a group of people who I feel closer to than any blood brother or sister. He did his best. He did his best by me. He loved me. He stayed. He stayed with me every minute he could until he had to leave me to save me one last time.”

Maya feels herself breaking and tries to hold it together, for Andy’s sake; except she realises that she doesn’t need to hide her pain, because this is her family and they all share the same loss.

“I love you, Dad. We all do. And if there's one thing I wish I could tell you, it's that I am grateful for you. Because you did your job so well.”

After the eulogy, they play one of Pruitt’s favourite pieces of music – an old Bob Dylan song from the 1970s. Dean does a reading, a poem by Helen Steiner Rice that Andy has picked out. When he is done, Maya stands and takes her position by the bell, honoured to have been asked to do this important job. She looks at Andy to make sure she is ready to hear them. Her lip wobbles as she nods at Maya, who slowly rings the bell twenty times.

The bells have always reminded Andy of the night of her mom’s funeral – or what she thought was her mom’s funeral, alone in her bedroom as her dad rang them downstairs. Maya can see the grief and confusion that is written all over her face, and wishes that someone could hold her hand as she listens.

When the service is over, Andy retreats to a bunk room with Sullivan in tow and they pack up the chairs, clearing the barn and bringing the trucks back in. The Chief has organised it so that nineteen will only be needed as a last resort for the next few hours, which will hopefully give them a reprieve from work for a while. Maya wishes more than ever that they could all descend on the beanery and enjoy a family dinner, but Ben is adamant that it is not a good idea and Maya doesn’t have the strength to fight him on it.

The only person whose company she really craves can’t be there anyway. Once the barn is back to normal, she retreats into her office. Within minutes, Carina is calling her.

“How did you know I needed to hear your voice?” she says when she answers.

“I’m very clever,” Carina says lightly. “It was a beautiful service.”

“You saw?”

“Si, Doctor Bailey and I watched it,” Carina says. “I thought Andy’s eulogy was beautiful.”

“Yeah, she did great,” Maya says. She leans back in her chair. “Tell me something about your day. Something happy.”

She knows she is asking for a lot in the middle of a pandemic but Carina delivers babies for a living, so she pins her hopes on someone getting a happy ending today.

“Well, I had a mama-to-be, thirty-eight weeks’ pregnant, come into the hospital in labour. She didn’t get any further than the ER and the only doctor who was free was Andrea.”

Maya hears her chuckle.

“You and your brother working together?”

“It caused a lot of confusion, two Doctor Delucas in the room,” Carina says. “When one of the nurses called out for Doctor Deluca to check how far dilated the mama was, because the baby was coming so quick, Andrea thought she was talking to him. I’ve never seen a patient try to snap her legs shut so quickly when she’s in advanced labour!”

Maya laughs and it feels like a welcome relief from the heaviness of the day.

“Thank you. I really needed to hear something silly,” she says.

Carina smiles. “You shouldn’t hide in your office,” she says, knowing that Maya would be alone right now. “You should be with your team.”

“I can’t… Covid protocols…”

“Oh, pooey,” Carina says, which makes Maya laugh again. “You’re a bubble, and you should be with Andy and your team right now.”                                                                            

Maya knows she is talking sense and is easily persuaded. “Okay.”

“I love you,” Carina says.

Maya smiles to herself. “I love you too. Now go and be awesome.”

“I’m always awesome,” Carina jokes.

Hanging up, Maya pushes her chair backwards and stands up, heads into the captain’s bunk to change back into her casual uniform. She walks out in the barn, calling out to her team.

“NINETEEN!”

She shouts loudly to get their attention and, within minutes, they emerge from their resting spots.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Vic says, startled by her call.

“Dinner in the beanery – together,” Maya says. “Now.”

“Uh, Bishop,” Ben starts to object, but Maya holds up her hand to silence him.

“We’re a bubble,” she says. “We’re a family. And on a day like today, we should eat together.”

Everyone side-eyes Ben, who has been vocal about the need to keep six feet apart at work and berates them every time they don’t adhere to his instructions.

Andy is the first to speak. “As your lieutenant, I agree,” she says.

Travis claps Jack on the back, prompting him to speak up.

“Uh, yeah, me too,” Jack says quickly.

Ben can see he won’t win this one and his body slumps in defeat. “Fine.”

Maya nods towards the door. Vic is the first to turn, pulling Travis along with her. The rest follow, until it is just Maya and Andy.

“Did Sullivan leave?”

“Yeah, he didn’t want to overstay his welcome,” Andy says. “And he’s still working through his steps and his ninety days.”

Maya takes a step towards her and rests a hand on her arm. “Are you doing okay?”

Andy shrugs. “I guess now the memorial’s over, I… get on with the rest of my life?”

“I don’t think there’s a timeline for your grief,” Maya says. “If you need more time off work…”

“No,” Andy interjects. “Being here and working, it helps.”

“Okay, but if you need anything at any time, just ask,” Maya says.

“I will,” Andy says, with a small smile. “And thank you. For this, for a team dinner. I think it’s exactly what my dad would have wanted us to do right now.”

She places a hand over Maya’s and tugs her closer, linking their arms and pulling her towards the door.

“Come on, someone needs to stop Ben from telling everyone to keep six feet apart, otherwise I think Travis might slap him.”

#station 19 #grey's anatomy #maya bishop #carina deluca #station 19 fanfiction #and we're into season 4 finally! #ngl i can't wait to have these two reunited in the next chapter #there's only so many phone conversations I can write between them #serendipity #my fanfiction

[dreamdripdistance]

LET'S GET HARD FOR SHINEE (shinee's new comeback album review!!!!)

i love shinee so much lets fucking goe

hard: oh LETS FUCKING GO!!!!! sooooo retro, i love the interesting textures and everything, all the experimental samples make it soooo shinee to me, its like 'dont call me' but Expanded, i love it !!! the "WE GO, WE GO- WE GO HARD!" is SOOOO 'kick it' nct 127 lmao, but its soooo groovy and it sets up the mood of the album soooo well. getting hard with shinee in 2023 babey ‼️

juice: 10/10 SORRY THIS IS THE BEST SONG OF THE YEAR, i know this is gonna be such a polarising opinion but i love this so much. its SO FUN and SO SILLY i love the lil flip phone beep thing in the back of the post chorus "you got the, you got the juice", and the vocal samples all through the song r so fun, and the breakdown bit?? augh so groovy this song absolutely rules, you can absolutely tell how its produced by the same guy who did "dont call me" in their last cb lmao (im gonna have the "i think you liiiike me i think you liiiiike me-" stuck in my head)

10x: ohhhhh groovy... i dont know why but this didnt stick with me the first time i listened to it but i looooove the choppy piano, and the "ten times-" chorus is HEAVENLYYY . unfortunately it is vaguely similar enough to a song that plays all the time at my work, so i cant listen to it for very long without my body subconsciously revolting, but its SOOO GOOD

satellite: i thought the intro was gonna lead to something completely different? for some reason? i like this though!!! it almost feels like it couldve been a very basic slow K-Drama type song but then its shinee so its actually interesting lmao!!!

identity: ouuuUUU i really really like that low buzzing bass synth that goes through the song, its sooo chic and very sneaky sound system i like it!!!! the "my-y identity (i dont wanna hide it)" chorus is a bit meh but the "dont hide it, dont hide it" ost chorus is saur good, and the groovy intermission bit is so good, i love the disco influences too!!!

that feeling: not a fan of this, sounds like smth that would play on the top 50 from 2016 which was never my fave and sounds kinda basic, the vocals r sooo nice even if i haaate the horn thing thats in the instrumentals

like it: OUHH so sparkly, i really like this, it sounds like it should be in a movie credits? so so groovy, so summery, not to sound like a pretentious idiot but its soooo rich im gonna take a sip of this song.... the guitar solo near the end vaguely reminded me of an old homestuck fansong lmao?

sweet misery: VERY similar complaints as 'that feeling', its that genre of Emotional music that i personally dont like (the "sweeet misery" line in the chorus is very taylor swift to me, which. yknow. no comment.), but the production on this track is insane

insomnia: oh this is INTERESTING!!!! i looove the deep synthy intro going into the groovy bass in the verse and then opening up into the smooth jazzy chorus, this is such a good slower song and you can hearrrr how good the vocals are... its got really interesting aspects in it that kind of differentiate it from similar songs, esp the really nice piano-y bits

gravity: this makes sense for a final song on an album but tbh this is what i feared satellite was gonna be? i like the chorus though, but the 'snapping' verse was never my thing

all in all this album is SO GOOD, it has a consistent thesis and theme as is expected of shinee but its still so so so fun and so extra and im so so so excited to see them active again <333 its almost like a return to form in a Cool way, which i love ‼️‼️‼️

#words #kpop #shinee

[hologramcowboy]

Hello! Happy Sunday!

I’ve been looking at the Jared and Jensen photo ops from Nashville this weekend. Jared looks really good this weekend (he’s been looking tired to me lately), and content. Jensen, on the other hand does not look happy to me in most of the pics. He’s attractive, of course. But, his eyes seem sad/pained.

In Vancouver, I had ops with him, more than I planned because Jared couldn’t attend, so I traded in tickets. Jensen felt very closed off on Saturday, even curt. To me, at least and some other people who had ops with him. Maybe he was mad that Jared wasn’t coming and he’d have to carry more of the con.

But on Sunday, he felt much warmer. I think he does his job well on con weekends, generally, but either he can’t hide his moods or doesn’t care to. He seems kind of temperamental to me. Like he runs hot and cold with people.

Anyway. My point was really just, in the last bouts of pics I’ve seen of him, he seems sad. Even (or especially) in pics where “fans” are claiming he loved their antics and he “lit up” when he saw their cringy shirts or heard their embarrassing comments about needing to feel Dean alive again or whatever. (Jai, I think). Some fans treat him so weird and creepy, maybe it’s just a reaction to being done with their crap, but his pics make me hope he is okay. Or working towards being okay.

Anyway, this got longer than I intended. But, I also just wanted to say thank you for being a place to talk about him where I don’t have to pretend everything about him is perfect or, alternately, have to sit like he’s the devil incarnate for his mistakes. It’s hard to find a rational place to enjoy discussing Jensen these days, but like I’ve seen you mention, I too can’t help but hope/believe there is still something real in him. Buried under the bravado.

This message moved me. Thank you for that and thank you for choosing to really look at Jensen, to get a sense of how he is emotionally. Most people just think of their desires and ignore the his emotions and over step boundaries. I am deeply happy he was around someone like you, fully capable of being empathic and open. It does seem like Jensen is unhappy about something, I really hope things work out for him and I hope he was people around him truly interested in his wellbeing and who truly love him. For starters, he is around people like you and trust that actors do feel the energy of the people they are around, it can influence them and just as those harassing, idiotic fans can invade his privacy, his emotions and cause suffering so can you cause harmony and healing by being centered in your appreciation and empathy. For actors especially it is important to connect with other on healthy levels and exchange energy so I am glad you got to experience him and that he surely felt your appreciation and balanced perceptions.

I'm sure we'll see all the layers he has manifest again, for now it seems he's lost in something, suffering for it. 💔 We can send him good energy and wish for the best of outcomes.

As for what some fans do, it definitely takes its toll because some ignore common decency, privacy, emotional and physical boundaries and so I don't blame him one bit if he does get closed off or defensive, I'm just sorry that innocent people also get to witness that. These so called "fans" that invade his boundaries on every level need to get a grip, if they truly do love him then they need to consider him as a human being not as an object of desire.

Thank you for sharing your experience and I hope you get to have many more beautiful experiences in the future. ♥️ Happy Sunday!

#jensen speculation #love my anons

[eolewyn1010]

Dragging Frankenstein - Chapter 16

The big, dramatic break-up of the Creature and his little social delusion. Yay! And his plummeting into raging creep territory. Not so yay.

“I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings” – aiight, sometimes, you just gotta let it all out.

Wondering how the De Lacey idiots didn’t find him around the house immediately after the clusterfuck. Isn’t he, like, right there in their barn until he goes out for the night?

The whinefest is eerily similar to Victor’s, down to the moody landscape descriptions and almost fainting from a little bit of physical exertion.

“everlasting war against the species” – from negative experiences with maybe a dozen people, the last four of which were self-inflicted harm. IT’S ALL ABOUT ME: 15

That’s for him considering his personal suffering cause enough to pull some genocide.

Do I ever so enjoy it when someone uses the word “females” instead of “women”. Fuck you, dude.

Pfft, Felix is a piece of shit. “Weh-weh-weh, this place is terrible, we’ll never recover, my father is in grave danger – here, take our haunted house and live merrily, hope you don’t get eaten by a monster!”

Also, where did he take that “companion” from and can I already chalk that up to DAS GAY seeing as he seems to have lost Safie on the way there?

“My protectors had departed” ??? When did they ever protect him? I can’t with him.

A little bit of cathartic arson, why not. Except this asshole ruined the garden. What did the vegetables ever do to you? Also, ruining resources – he wants to eat, too, no? I’ll sic Bill on him, that’ll teach him.

“Among the lessons […] geography had not been omitted.” *splutters* …exCUSE ME?? What now? Since when? Can Mary Shelley even tell Austria from Switzerland? I’m beyond baffled.

How did he not fucking starve during the winter?

Funny, too, how severely the weather influences his personality. Winter and night make you a hateful, blood-lusting person; sunshine and Spring make you virtuous and kind. Even a seasonal depression doesn’t work like this. Whatever…

Uh. Dude. I agree that it was hasty to go all “hands offa her!” when you just saved the girl’s life, but maybe don’t pursue someone who’s running in fear. Not shocked you got a gun wound from that.

Is it possible that the Creature’s emotions are malfunctioning? Like, they are intense, and he swings intensely from one mood to another. From world-loving kindness to murdery rage, and back. The immense depressions and fits of anger. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if a brain reactivated against nature has some chemical imbalances to deal with.

“After some weeks my wound healed” – forget about that lead poisoning, I guess.

William is, again, praised as “a beautiful child”. Can everyone stop being a creep about kids here?

“I could seize him, and educate him as my companion and friend” o.O “Boy, you will never see your father again” O.o You. Fucking. Creep. You weird-ass, child-grooming creep. How on earth would he EVER expect a positive reaction on an attempted abduction??? Fuck that guy.

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: 11

And this one’s for thinking it’s rude William didn’t let him get away with it. I hate that kid, but I hate the Creature’s attitude about this way worse.

“I, too, can create desolation!” -.- Yay. Behold that moral superiority.

“a portrait of a most lovely woman”, “it softened and attracted me” – have I mentioned that the Creature’s obsession with physical beauty is getting on my nerves?

Also, fuck him once again for doing that to Justine of all people.

“I was for ever deprived of the delights that such beautiful creatures could bestow” …

…

. . .

Yeah, no, I got nothing. *casually strolls to the next corner to throw up*

“not indeed so beautiful as her whose portrait I held” – I guess Justine being of inferior beauty makes it ok to frame her for murder. I haaaaate this guy.

He’s also being an absolute creep about sleeping Justine. Where’s my rapist vibe counter when I need one? Icky, gross, disgusting. Hatehatehate.

And there we have it, he wants a fuckable sidepiece to be miserable with him. Awesome. At this point, I have reached the same level of disgust for the Creature as for Victor.

#Frankenstein #personal opinions #disclaimer: this is just for shits and giggles

[noire-pandora]

For DADWC: “I’m going to ask you how you are and I would like you to answer me honestly.” for Elluin & Solas!

Hello! Thank you for the prompt, I had fun writing it. Here's some idiots pinning for each other and being cute as heck. For @dadrunkwriting

"I am going to ask you how you are and I would like you to answer me honestly."

Solas' words yanked Elluin's mind back from the imaginary lands it wandered, lost in the pleasant numbness where no thoughts could shake her mind. Leaning her back against the rough bark of a tree, she stared up at the floating clouds. Their white, fluffy outlines, strolling across the blue sky, blotted out the myriad of ideas that cried out to be heard. Until Solas interrupted the moment of relaxation with words demanding her attention.

She snorted. "Somebody's needy today. Why are you so worked up?"

Elluin tapped the grass beside her to get Solas to sit with her and relax, but when the man refused to move, hands clasped behind his back and frowning at her attempts to ease the air, she sighed in defeat. With a grunt, and with the cracking of her joints protesting the interrupted relaxation, Elluin got back to her feet, while white dots of exhaustion danced under her eyelids.

"What have I done now?" She pouted and slouched her back slightly - a gesture meant to touch his heart and relax his stiff posture. When his frown dropped, a grin tugged at her lips. Solas was so easy to trick, from time to time. One well-placed pout and all his seriousness would melt away like snow in spring. A traitorous thought suggested there might be another reason why Solas was so quick to respond to her gesture but Elluin pushed it aside, not yet ready to analyse it.

"You have done nothing wrong, Herald. I-we worry for your health, and you have been hiding from us."

"I haven't. I just needed to be alone for a while."

The frown returned and the flare of annoyance glinted in the stormy grey of his eyes -a lightning warning at his growing impatience. Why Solas' patience with her dissimulations decreased with each passing day, she could not understand, but the last thing she needed at that moment was another bickering match with Solas. Not with a headache pounding against her temples.

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes and turning her back on him. "I haven't been sleeping that well lately, and I just-I can't deal with people when I have not slept well in weeks."

"Nightmares?"

Elluin nodded, wondering once again why he knew the answer before she had a chance to respond. Lately, he'd been able to read her moods and thoughts as if she were an open book to be deciphered and understood.

"Redcliffe?" he continued, and Elluin nodded again as the secret of her bad mood was finally understood.

"My dreams are haunted by images of you-," she stopped and squeezed her eyes as the images came back, conjured by the words she spoke, "of everyone dying again and again, devoured by Corypheus' beasts. I can't- I don't want to-I-."

Elluin flinched when Solas' fingertips brushed against her wrist, and for a second, a desperate second, she hoped he would wrap his arms around her body to banish the nightmares with the warmth of his chest. The wish crumbled into the wind when he clasped his hands behind his back again and took a step back, putting distance between them.

"If you wish, perhaps I can dispel the nightmares. Do you trust me?" When Elluin nodded quickly, he continued. "If you allow me, I can guard your dreams and dissipate the nightmare when it comes. But-"

"You'll have to wait until the nightmare begins," she interrupted him, wide-eyed. "Until then, you will see all the dreams I have."

"Yes. I am not able to guess when a dream ends and a nightmare begins. I will have to keep watch all night. I understand if you wish to protect the privacy of your dreams, but I think this will help you. The Inquisition cannot function without you. You must be rested, otherwise you might make a wrong decision and influence the fate of this world.

Ah. The fate of this word," she thought with a wave of disappointment washing over her. What did I expect?"

"All for the world, huh?" The disappointment must have been obvious, for Solas tilted his head to the right, confusion written all over his face. Before he could open his mouth to ask if something was wrong, Elluin waved her hand in the air and forced a grin on her lips. "I'm just joking. I'll trust you and I'll accept your help. I need to sleep before I start climbing the walls."

"I thank you for your trust," he said, bowing his head. "Shall we get started tonight?"

"It's a date!"

He chuckled and Elluin's heart fluttered with excitement at the sounds of his amusement.

#noire writes #dragon age #fanfic #dadwc #solas #elluin #lavellan #solavellan