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#I seem to have a current trope I guess
wopfedra · 3 months
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Me looking for a fandom to read Fanfics of right now for the next few hours to escape reality:
Me:
...
Should I do the Space Adventure Family Disaster, the other Space Adventure Disaster family, the non-human Disaster Family or the small and colourful non-human Family Disaster?
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Thinking about Berserk again. I havent read any of the new chapters because Miura's death kind of got to me really bad so thinking about or talking about berserk at all just made me really depressed and I think I probably havent even looked at it since he passed (after I used to reread huge chunks of it like every week) but now its been like two years and Im thinking I should just accept it and give the new stuff a shot.
One thing I am always thinking about though is how Miura's death effected discussion around Berserk and how much it will continue to effect discussion. Like, I always felt Berserk never got enough criticism. You can search Berserk on here and find all my old posts complaining about how everybody was jumping the gun on calling it One Of The Greatest Manga Ever when it wasnt even done and at the time most people were convinced it hadnt been good since like what, conviction arc? And that was back before Kentaro Miura died and his death has only made the discussion even more like "Berserk is a beautiful wonderful masterpiece and anyone with problems doesnt GET IT".
So like I stopped reading under the idea that no matter what happened it wasnt gonna be what REALLY shouldve happened, now I think thats kind of unfair and maybe I should give it a shot, but I think that idea is gonna be influencing how people talk about a manga that was already being given alot of undue praise and adoration from people who seemed to mostly never have actually read it and had nothing more interesting to say about it beyond it being the manga that popularized the idea of a guy with a big big sword. I dunno.
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gh0stsp1d3r · 11 months
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Ruthless
Harley Quinn typa reader x Hobie brown, violence mention, if you know Harley Quinn yk she’s very.. violent (and obsessed) so… enemies to lovers trope
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“Oh, c’mon.” You whined, currently tied up in webs.
“I’ve been chasin’ you for fuckin’ ages, can’t believe this is how I caught you.”
“I was going to hang out with my friend! This is unfair, I deserve a rematch.” You pouted.
“Yeah, no. After that lil stunt you pulled last week, no way. You’re ruthless.”
“They deserved it! Bunch of rich assholes.” You mumbled the last part.
“Well, I can agree with you on that last part, but murdering them ain’t exactly the way to go.” He said, picking you up as if you weighed nothing, and dragging you.
“It was funnn.. plus you know I’m gonna break out again, right?”
“Like you have the other 10 times?”
“Exactly.”
“Great. Can’t wait.” He said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.
And you’d gotten bored of being carried, so you quickly threw yourself onto the ground when you saw a knife in the alley.
He quickly looked back, and saw you cutting you webs, he shook his head and sighed, crouching down to your level as you continued to cut through the webs.
“You never learn, do ya?” He reached over you, grabbing the knife from you.
“No, not really, no.” You shook your head, now just laying on the ground looking at him.
“You’re insufferable.” He sighed and shook his head, sitting down in front of you now.
“Why’d you do it?”
“Cause… rich people suck, plus they’re like some sorta cult, they tried to kill my friend.”
“Still don’t make it right, you know? You’re wanted right now, not sure it’s very safe to be walking around like it’s nothing.”
“Please, if I can handle like a shit ton of rich guys, I can handle some cops."
“Yeah, well, I don’t like ‘em either but..”
“But..? Aren’t you like punk? Aren’t cops and shit like.. exactly what you don’t stand for?”
“Well, I’m better than the system for one. You’re better than the system, but you’re doin’ it wrong.” He shook his head.
“Didn’t know there was a way to go against the system wrong.”
“You- you murder people, you’re a killin’ machine, which I gotta admit is pretty cool. I help people-“
“I help people.. just not in the same way you do-“
“You help people by murdering people. Which in the same sense is… hurting people at the same time.”
“Huh. Guess I never thought about it like that.” You shrugged.
He sighed, and messed with the knife in his hand. He reluctantly cut the webs.
“Jus’… chill out on the murder, yeah? I do like what you did what that one guy though.”
“Which one?” You beamed and sat across from him.
“The predator guy.. what’s his name?”
“His name was like Josh or something.”
“Yeah, him. He deserved it.” He said, and smiled under his mask slightly.
“Just what do you look like under that mask?” You asked him.
“Like a normal person.”
You quirked an eyebrow and smiled slightly. You reached your hands out and pulled up his mask, before you could fully take it off, he stopped you. You saw only his nose, that’s as far as it went. His lips seemed so… kissable?
He let go of your hand and you looked at him for a while. And before you knew it, you both were leaning in, kissing each other.
“You’re very.. pretty.” He said.
You laughed quietly “Well, I would say you too but I still don’t know what you look like under there.” Your cheeks heated up at the compliment.
“Nice try.” He stood up again, and so did you. He pulled down his mask, giving you a small salute and used his webs to go up on a building, jumping through them.
You stared for a while, still in shock.
“Shit.”
—————
Tag list:
@enviinotes @rayis-psychotic @korizzybee @animechick555 @stupid-ninja @rreasonablydumbb @xxqueen-of-horrorxx @spidypunkk @criodzasn
@techta @1eonk @chipstermation6 @whosace16 @ @l-pandamatic-l
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@chaoticevilbakugo @hobiebrainrot @anonima-2
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kkaewrites · 1 year
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real or not real — nagi seishiro x reader !
warnings. indecent language, ooc nagi.
tropes. meet-ugly, enemies to lovers.
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you hate nagi seishiro.
he was stone cold, often referred to as socially awkward— but you feel like those were just excuses to make up for his rude and nasty behavior. personally, you think he’s overrated just because he’s considered a soccer genius. of course, no one ever believes you. they think your hatred clouds your judgement (it obviously does not).
you first met him when you were in grade school, deskmates for the first day of class. he was shorter than you at that time, but aside from his height, everything about him stayed the same. he still has the same gunmetal gray eyes that’s either reflected with boredom or reflected by the screen of his gray nintendo gameboy. he still has the same white hair, as clean as the first drop of snow, but as wild as a lion’s mane.
to you, there was absolutely nothing about him that’s fascinating— he was the same as any average boy. playing mobile games was his favorite past time, so much so that you believed that it was his lifeline at one point. or so you’d assume. he always kept to himself and was left to his own devices (quite literally), most things that kids enjoy don’t seem to pique his interest. you guess those were the reasons why he didn’t have many friends.
no, scratch that— he didn’t have any friends.
at first you wondered why. if there’s one thing you noticed about him even at a very young age, it’s that he’s handsome. he doesn’t have to be the “rich kid” with amazing gadgets and fancy toys, or the “cool kid” who knows what right words to say and way to say it, but he’s nagi. he was conventionally attractive without even trying. however, that fact doesn’t seem to make up for the fact that he looks lonely.
so, you’ve devised a plan to talk to him.
“hey. sei-chan, wanna be my friend?” you’re everyone’s friend. the sunshine child, the one who always lends her classmate crayons or pencils, the kid with pigtails who smile at strangers for no reason. you’re the kid that everyone loves, and if by some miracle, someone hates you (which has never happened and will never happen)— everyone would simply take your side. you’re loved by all.
if nagi was shocked by your sudden proposal, his features didn’t show any signs of it. what he does is pause his current game and faces you. it’s the first time you’ve ever stared at him eye-to-eye. your heart jumps.
uh oh. is this what they call a crush?
eyes filled with hope, you patiently waited for nagi’s response. you expected him to utter “sure” wearing his usual monotone voice, but it doesn’t come. and what he says instead ruins you. your heart does a somersault and tumbles, crashing onto the pavement and breaking into tiny, gliterring pieces. it did not feel good.
“no thanks. i despise people like you.”
you’re not sure what you’ve done wrong at that very moment. maybe you were too blunt, too cheery, too whatever — just something too much to be able to upset someone like nagi seishiro, who doesn’t feel strongly about anything or anyone. you didn’t have the courage to ask him what you’ve done wrong because your vision blurs. you always reckoned that it was due to anger, but your mother who saw you run home with tear-streaked cheeks says otherwise.
you still don’t know how you managed to piss off nagi, even until your very first year of college. after grade school, you never saw him again. you heard he studied at some prestigious high school but that was the end of it, you never really asked because you had no interest whatsoever. you somehow managed to assure yourself that there was no way you’d ever cross paths with him once again— so why is he here?
why, of all places, would he be your deskmate for your politics class?
at this point, you thought maybe the gods above despised you, too. did they hate you enough to not only be schoolmates, not only be classmates with this man, but to be deskmates? hate is the only logical explanation for this fucked-up coincidence. you’re not keen on fates or invisible strings so you’re sure this was just a punishment for you.
oh god. you hate it so much. you hate him so much.
without a word, you took the seat right next to him, taking the opportunity while he’s sound asleep. you’re not sure why he would take politics as his subject, because as far as you know about him, all he ever cares about is his mobile games. maybe soccer as well, but that’s not exactly related to politics, either.
when the professor enters the class, you found no reason to wake him up. he could get screamed at for all you care, but there was no way you’d ever converse with him at your own accord. because the only way you’d ever survive sitting next to him for the whole semester is by not acknowledging him at all. you can do that. you can avoid talking or looking at him. he’s not that talkative (and he’s not even awake) to begin with.
until your plan crashes and burns.
he turns out to be your partner for a school project— a big one, at that. you considered going solo, but the whole point of the project is to make sure two people are working together. it was a community development kind of plan, so unless he works with you and you work with him, you’d be getting an F for your politics class. that, you can’t have. even if it meant talking to him and enduring his presence.
he wakes up right after the class ended and you could barely contain your scoff. he sat through the whole 2 hour lecture just like that, does he have no care for his grades? doesn’t matter. it’s none of your business if he fails, that simply means that you won’t see him much anymore (which is a win for you).
you sighed. he should’ve been paired with someone else. why did it have to be you? why did it have to be your deskmate? and why did he have to be your deskmate? it was too much. how could you ever work with someone you hate? with someone who hates you?
you’re going to fail politics. you’re 100% sure of that. there was just no way that you’d ever accomplish this task— or you could beg your professor to let you switch partners. or you could ask your classmates to let you switch... but who would ever want someone as lazy as nagi to be their partner? fuck.
from the corner of your eye, you saw nagi yawn. it took all of you to swallow your pride whole and gulp it down to ever approach him, but it’s better than not trying. if you fail, at least you tried. even if it meant battling your inner demons.
so, clutching your bag straps tightly as if it would ever help, you turned to your sleepy deskmate. “nagi. it seems like we’re partners for the politics subject. i’m expecting you’d cooperate willingly so that—”
“sorry,” he interrupts with half lidded eyes. “do i know you?”
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“you’re going to rip your paper to shreds.” nagi commented from behind you, peering over your shoulder as you aggressively wrote on your notebook. you imagined the page to be nagi’s face as you cruelly stabbed it, not caring about your pen or your paper’s state. you cannot believe that for some reason, you’re still stuck with the snow white haired guy. you’ve tried everything there is to get rid of him but nothing seemed to work.
“right,” your teeth could break with how hard you clenched your jaw. “will you be free later?”
“oh. i have soccer training.”
of course he fucking has soccer training.
you gave him the strongest deadpan you could muster before exhaling a deep breath. once to calm yourself down, twice to clear your head and thrice in hopes of losing all of your lungs’ air so you could shrivel and die on the spot. nagi seems to be unaware of your thoughts— and even if he had understood your facial expression and body language, he simply did not care.
“i’ll be free after, though.” he adds, as if you’d ever know that information if he hasn’t uttered it. this at least gives you the sense that he might care about the group project, and that he won’t be a complete inconvenience.
“okay. let’s meet up at the coffee shop near school. will you be done at 8?”
“yeah. but,” he pauses. “i thought we’d just do the project at my place.”
“who died and made you king?” you blurt out before you could think of a proper response. you wondered if you’d ever feel so strongly about a person the same way you did for nagi. he was driving you mad.
“what?” his clueless face almost made you feel guilt— almost. but you ignored the sensation and frowned instead. the least you could do was give him a clearer sentence:
“there’s no way i’d ever step a foot at your house.”
“it’s fine. no one’s home anyway.”
“that’s even worse.”
“huh? oh. don’t worry. you’re not my type.”
the conversations you somehow hold with nagi infuriates you. he has this way of making you feel like shit for some reason, and he does it with so much nonchalance you’d wonder if he insults everyone. but you know better and you know he definitely doesn’t, because you’re the only one he treats like this. it’s the absolute worst.
what does he mean you’re not his type? were you not pretty enough? not tall enough? not skinny enough? not fair enough? not what? ever since grade school, you’ve always thought that he sees you as someone “too much” and yet as he stands here with you, in an empty classroom— you wondered how you could be “too much” and yet be “not enough” at the same time.
and since when did you care about how he views you? since you were kids, apparently. because the words he would utter up until this day shatters you all the same. and you hate him— so goddamn much. but beyond all that anger, there’s grief. it doesn’t subside even as you grabbed all your things and shoved 6”3 foot tall nagi aside.
for some reason, he shows up at the café you mentioned at exactly 8 o’clock in the evening. you were typing away on your laptop, while a cup of caramel macchiato and a bunch of scattered papers littered your desk. you didn’t expect him to come, and it would’ve been better if he didn’t. but somehow, he’s here and he looks a little apologetic.
“are you upset?” he asks. his sports bag slumped over his shoulder as he stands right next to you. there’s an unoccupied seat in front but he doesn’t take it— at least, not yet. his whole, undivided attention was poured onto you and you alone. it makes you squirm in your seat, so you decided not to look up from your screen to greet him.
“no. take a seat.”
“you look upset.”
“do you want me to be upset?”
“no.”
“then shut up.”
wordlessly, he takes the seat right in front of you and slouches. he looks battered and fatigued from practice, but he doesn’t say a word to complain (to your absolute shock). you guessed that he walked straight from the field to the café without even changing or taking a shower, because his clothes clung to him like a shirt a few sizes smaller.
“shouldn’t you go change?”
“yeah. but i left my clean clothes at my apartment.”
fifteen minutes pass and you suddenly closed your laptop shut, eyes fixated on nagi’s gunmetal gray ones. he looks surprised from your sudden move, a look that you didn’t expect to recognize due to how miniscule it was. you felt bad for him. the café was getting too cold for comfort and all he wore was his jersey (one that’s drenched with his sweat). if you stayed any longer, he’d probably catch a cold.
why you care, however, that was not a question you could currently answer.
“let’s just go to your place.”
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despite his constant need to laze around, his place wasn’t a complete mess— well, yes, there are (presumably dirty) clothes on the floor and used dishes on the sink, but you’ve seen worse. you expected his apartment to be so much worse. it seems like he’s not a complete monkey to not understand basic hygiene and cleanliness.
your only problem is that nagi seems to be bored. you caught him dozing off the coffee table as you ramble about your politics project, and you don’t even have to ask if he cares at all— because he’s trying to hide his obvious distate and boredom. so, even though you’d rather proceed to do your work rather than humoring this 6 foot tall giant, you pipe up:
“wanna play a game?”
“what game? i don’t like games that require effort.”
“it’s called real or not real. we take turns in guessing if the other person’s sentence is real or not real.”
“sounds like a pain.” he groans.
“you know what truly is a pain?” you turned to look at him. “this politics project. so take it or leave it. i’m kind enough to give you a break.”
“shouldn’t we play a different game? a mobile game, maybe.”
“what about a wager, then? the winner’s the boss.”
the game was a piece of cake— to you, at least. nagi’s an open book and it’s easy to read him. you explained that the mechanics goes like this: you take turns in giving very specific sentences about yourself, and the other party has to guess whether it’s real or not real. five wrong guesses means that the other person wins. so the only thing you have to do is to make sure that nagi loses first.
unfortunately, you were down to four mistakes while nagi only had one. the game wasn’t going like how you imagined it would be. how were you supposed to know that nagi keeps a cactus as a pet? how were you supposed to know that he only figured out how to play soccer when he was in high school? how were you supposed to know that he’s got a picture of his crush under his study table? (you still had no idea who that crush is, and it quite literally shocked you). how were you supposed to know that someone like nagi seishiro, was capable of liking someone romantically?
on the other hand, out of the six sentences you threw at him— he had only guessed wrong once. you don’t know how he’s so good at this game, too. it was either he knew awfully a lot about you, or was really good at second guessing things. you’re pretty sure it was the former. how could he know a lot about you, when he doesn’t even know your name?
“real or not real: i hate you.” you stated. his nonchalance was putting you off, but you’re not sure if you were uneasy because of it or if you felt guilty for saying that sentence out loud. you told yourself you could just take it back and act as if it’s not real but nagi himself looked so convinced when he said:
“real.”
he was right once again. but you didn’t have enough time to dwell on the whole thing when his sentence comes.
“real or not real: i want to kiss you right now.”
the silence was so loud it pierces your ears— or maybe you have gone deaf with that sentence. you’re not sure of anything at the moment because it feels like your senses were slowly slipping from your own fingers. if nagi was joking, his face didn’t show any signs of him laughing soon. but maybe you should know better, maybe he could joke like that with a straight face.
so you waited for a few minutes, for him to tell you that it was a joke— that it’s not part of the goddamn game because how could it be part of it? but nothing comes. his eyes were simply on you as he patiently awaits your answer. your make it or break it answer, at that. and it only dawns on you that this is real, this is his sentence and he’s expecting you to play. he’s expecting you to answer real or not real. because you were the one who proposed the game in the first place.
you wanted to scream and to run away, but you were rooted on the spot. time stood still and it froze you under nagi’s unblinking gunmetal gray eyes, as if the situation’s not bad at all. but this is a trick question, your rational mind says. he told you when you were younger that he despises people like you, asked you if he knows you upon meeting at your politics class, and told you that you’re not exactly his type— so there’s no way he’d want to kiss you. right?
you meet his gaze. right, nagi?
against your better judgement to think it through, you suddenly blurted: “real.”
his face doesn’t shift and nor did the mood of the room. your heart was beating erratically as if you’re not facing the guy you clearly hated with a passion, but the silence ensues. you were screaming at yourself, why the fuck did you say real? were you out of your goddamned mind? were you crazy? the answer’s clearly not real!
nagi, however, only looks away. “huh.”
“what?”
“i almost won. what a pity.”
“the answer’s real?”
“yeah.” he tilts his head and answers as if you were stupid. as if you were the one who’s weird and doesn’t get what’s happening— but maybe that really is the case. because you’re mind hasn’t caught up yet. what does he mean the answer’s real? does that mean he wants to kiss you, right now? how is that possible after all the things he had said to you?
you laugh. not the quiet giggle or the chuckle you were accustomed to doing, but a belly laugh— one that could rival a hyena’s. because this was funny. too funny. he’s definitely joking and you’ve only figured out that now.
“okay, fine. you got me.”
“what do you mean?”
“the joke. you’re so serious that i almost missed it.”
confusion marrs his face. “what joke?”
“about the kiss.”
“i wasn’t joking.”
“well, i’d rather have you joking than for that sentence to be real.”
“you hate me that much?”
he almost sounds hurt, but you knew better. how could he be hurt, out of all people? if there’s anyone who’s hurt, it would be you. how can he say all those hurtful things with so much nonchalance and tell you things like he wants to kiss you? how cruel must he be to toy with you like this? it was not funny. none of this was funny.
and it reminds you of your childhood— of your little crush on nagi that never seemed to go away. somehow, the little you screams that you should not fall for something like this. that it is easier to hate nagi than to love him. that it is easier to stand up from your seat, smile, and tell him: “yeah. i do.”
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it has been a week. maybe two. or three? you’ve lost count. you’ve never visisted nagi again after the whole real or not real game, and you never saw him often because he’s been excused. something about soccer championship that you didn’t bother listening to. besides, you liked the comfortable silence now that he’s not around.
your phone dings. and it’s from an unknown number. but somehow, you guessed it has something to do with nagi.
unknown
real or not real: i’m sorry
oh. that’s right. the game technically hasn’t finished yet because no one has won. you told yourself numerous time that you won’t reply to his message, but against your better judgement, you somehow still did.
you
real
when your class ended, nagi seishiro was right outside. he was panting and sweaty— as if he ran just to get where you were. but this is nagi we’re talking about. there’s no way he’d actually do something like that, despite his lingering look on you. what’s that supposed to mean, anyway?
breathless, he speaks up to catch your attention. you were busy stuffing your books inside your locker, back against him as you completely ignored his presence. you did not say hi. you did not meet his gaze. but even without direct contact, your heart was drumming against your rib just by knowing that he’s near. what the heck.
“we won the game.”
there’s a lot of responses that entered your mind at that very moment. entry #1, who asked? entry #2, who cares? entry #3, why are you telling me this? and the list goes on. you’re pretty sure none of them were positive— but this was all so confusing. why was nagi chasing after you like a lost puppy who lost its mom? what’s he going for here?
“that’s good for you.” you slammed your locker shut and walked away. nagi eventually follows after you, as if there’s something in his throat that he wants to let out, but you didn’t give him the chance to. you’re sure nothing that would come out of his mouth is good. you’re sure he’s running after you because of the politics project, or because he wants to annoy you.
and you hate it. you hate him. your gut twists at the thought of him running after you like this is some shoujo manga and that’s the annoying part. how is your heart flipping with your every waking step if you hate him so much? you’re supposed to hate nagi, god fucking damn it.
you finally stop in your tracks, whipping around to face the 6 foot tall soccer player. to get it all over with.
“is there something you need to tell me?”
“we haven’t finished the game.”
“i don’t care about the game. leave me alone.”
“it’s your turn. your real or not real.”
this was stupid no matter what angle you look at it. it was just some game you made up and decided to try with nagi. it didn’t mean anything to you because all you wanted by then was to get his attention, so why did it matter so much to him? you don’t get it. you’re not sure how nagi circuits because everything he does confuses you. and before you know it, your irrational side takes over. reason left your body when you blurted the words:
“stop it. fucking stop this.”
why are you so persistent?
“was it fun to toy with me? was it fun when you told me you despised me when we were kids? was it fun when you told me i was not your type? i don’t fucking get it.”
you were angry. mad. seething. your blood boiled underneath your skin and you feared that it would leave your whole being in nothing but dust. through it all, you’re also confused. perplexed. lost. your mind can’t understand the fine line between hate and love anymore. your feelings overlap with each other and merges— you’re not sure what you’re feeling now. you’ve wondered how long you’ve buried this string of emotions you’ve had for nagi. that would explain why you’re nothing but a ticking time bomb now.
“if my playing with my feelings give you so much fun— then do it elsewhere. i have no time for things like this, nagi.”
“but i’m not playing, though. i’ve liked you for quite awhile now.”
excuse me?
“oops. i accidentally gave the answer to my next sentence. what a pain,” he scratches the nape of his nexk and looks away.
how the fuck am i supposed to respond to that?
“do you expect me to believe you?”
“i’ve got no reason to lie,” he shrugs. “plus, lying’s a pain. i don’t like it.”
“but— what you said back then...”
“i, well. i go blank when i talk to you. i guess. my stomach flips when you’re around and my throat goes dry.” nagi doesn’t look at you once while he utters this. tinge of red coats the tip of his ears and this is where you think ‘this is it’. he’s not lying. this is real, and you know that much— nagi never looked nervous until now. you think maybe that explains why he would avoid your gaze and why he would say the most confusing things. you think maybe this is nagi. the socially awkward nagi. the one who can’t talk to people properly nagi.
“i’ve always thought you were pretty. i despise pretty things because it makes me feel things. it’s a pain.” he mumbles. “of course i know you. of course i know your name. but it’s the first thing i thought to say because your face was too close. you’re prettier up close.”
he should stop talking. he should drop it all together and just kiss you, but you could never say these words because you haven’t wrapped your head around the whole thing yet. nagi likes you. nagi thinks you’re pretty. nagi short circuits when you’re around. nagi thinks you’re pretty. nagi’s actually confessing. nagi likes you. he thinks you’re pretty. he likes you.
“i don’t like pretty things. that’s not my type at all. but reo said i might be in love with you.” he finally turns to look at you and tilts his head. your face burns— and you swore it was because of the remnants of your anger, but everyone else could tell that it was not. your heart does a somersault, but this time it does not drop. it stays in the air, lingering like nagi’s perfume scent, until he carefully waits for it to land on his palms when he said: “i think he’s right. i’m in love with you.”
for the duration of your game with nagi and with all the truths shared between the both of you— this is probably the most real out of them. this is the only time he doesn’t ask the question ‘real or not real’ because his face says it all. his face says that it’s the real and raw truth. his face says that you must believe this because he’s not making it up. it was the first time you could read his expression. it was the first time that you’re not confused by nagi.
“fucking dumbass,” you comment. “that’s not how it works.”
you reach over to grab his collar, on your highest tip-toes because of his height. you’re pretty sure you’re the only ones present in the secluded corridor but the clamors of your heart makes an illusion of people cheering for you. somewhere in the parallel worlds of your universe, you think maybe those cheers exist. it only silences when you pulled nagi down with you, whispering:
“i hope you still want to kiss me, then.”
when he closes in the gap between the both of you, his answer was loud and clear.
i do. always.
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notes. YES YES YES i finally finished this long ass fic! i’ve been writing it since forever & im just SO glad i finally get to finish it 🥹 as u can see, there is nothing on my mind rn but nagi seishiro. he’s literally living in my head rent-free and i’m not complaining. i love him too much. i hope u enjoyed this ‼️ as always, likes & reblogs are appreciated <3 thank you so so much for ur patience & love for this blog ❤️
ִ ࣪𖤐 masterlist !
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wanderlust-in-my-soul · 2 months
Text
Currently Watching - April
aka The Masterlist
Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊
Regularly updated during the month, latest update 30.04.2024
A little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙
I am happy about gif-requests 🌼
Here you can find all of my gifs.
Tracking: #josistag
At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in April with a MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).
This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!
1. 25 Ju, Akasaka de 🇯🇵 (2/10)
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They were fellow students and now they have to play in a BL together. One of them is two years older and popular. For the other one, this is his first big role and he needs it, so he is determined to to anything he needs to do, to be a good actor. Even when this means to find a partner and fall in love to be able to play the role perfectly. Why not try to be lovers with your co-star. All for the sake of the series of course.
2. Blue Boys 🇰🇷 (2/4)
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This short series is quite good. I saw the first episode by chance and I was hooked, but lost it again, because I couldn't track it on MDL. Now it is up there. I hope these two can resolve their missunderstanding, with talking! But they are too hungry for each other...
3. Boys Be Brave! 🇰🇷 (2/8)
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Enemies to lovers, but different. Jinwoo likes Kisub and Kisub knows this. But while Kisub gives his heart away to every person who hits on him and can't really say No to anyone, Jinwoo loves to build up his wall and hide behind a strong No. Their worlds collide, when Kisub moves in with Jinwoo, if he likes it or not. Great first episodes!
4. Cityboy_Log 🇰🇷 (12/?)
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They are back and unhinged like before! Jihan and Jaejun met after a while because they were busy and it seems they had some catching up to do the night before. We get some daily vlogging, some cuteness and some jealousy, which wasn't that cute. But they are finally back and I am happy. The acting is still very good. There is no deeper story behind, just some idols, models and actors falling in love with each other and theit daily lifes.
5. Deep Night 🇹🇭 (3/8)
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his is everything I was expecting, so it didn't disappoint, I guess. To be honest, I watch this for First. I guess he would have chemistry with a stick, soooo this is nice. And I hope the story, at least stays like this and won't get worse... Update: This show is a mess 😂 there is so much going on all at once and at the same time nothing really happens? It is so confusing, yet very entertaining. But Wela, my dear, it is totally okay to be pissed if one fucks with you, while you are so drunk you can't remember shit the next day... Just a thought.
6. Kare no Iru Seikatsu 🇯🇵 (3/8)
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Kazuhito has no girlfriend and the ones he had, broke up with him, because they felt he likes someone else... Who might that be?... The story is simple, I guess? (But perhaps not that simple... The preview for ep 3 looks interesting.) Childhood friends are forced to move in together after spending time apart. One is a little bit naive and is trying to find out why girls breaking up with the most charming and handsome guy he knows and the latter is in love with the naive one and in the end they have their happy ending. I like it. I want to see their growth.
7. Love Is Like A Cat 🇰🇷 (10/12)
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Who thought this was a good idea? Who wrote this? Who said cut at the end of scenes? Who thought this is be the way Mew should act? I cringe so hard and not in a funny way. This series is just bad. I keep watching because of this little bean. But I had to skip so many scenes in today's episodes, because it was just so bad! And I can't figure out if Mew just didn't want to be there and act or if that is the way the director wanted him to act... But the acting is bad. Bad choices everywhere. And the dialogues? Cringe... Why would a bean like Dae Byeol fall for Uno? Nope...
8. My Stand-In 🇹🇭 (1/12)
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Okay, hear me out. I watch this for Poom and for Poom only. But the story lookes interesting, it was quite intriguing. I don't know why, but I cringed a bit too much at some scenes. But Poom is beautiful and that is all I care about. Yes, I can be this shallow!
9. Only Boo 🇹🇭 (4/12)
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The cringe was so strong with this one this week! I had to pause multiple times, but at the same time I enjoyed it so much! Moo is so unhinged and I love him! But please! Don't let Moo's cousin become a possible love interest for Kang. I know we got this dream sequence this week, but there is something in the air between Shone and him... and I don't like it. The second couple... I felt really sad for them this week. Beeing in love with your best friend is never easy...
10. Unknown 🇹🇼 (12/12)
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The story about found family, childhood trauma and struggling topped with a lovestory between "brothers". They aren't really brothers so I really don't care and just enjoy this forbidden and hurtful lovestory to the fullest. This is exactly what I hoped for! The longing, tension and hurting is so good! It is the aftermath of the shooting and Qian is still dealing with his emotions and his feelings for Yuan. The love between them is real and strong, but Qian is afraid and can't just let his heart decide over the head, yet. He loves Yuan, but is afraid what that means for them and especially for Yuan's future. And yet he held him back. He was the one reaching out in the end! I have said enough about them and this first part of ep 11 in my post. I love them. My heart belongs to them. I wish we had more developement between these two as a couple, but I still love them and I forgive this show the rush in the end, because I love it so much.
11. Word of Honor 🇨🇳 (20/36)
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Those two flirt a lot and are a married couple. Everyone knows that. And I love and enjoy that! Overall this is such a fun watch and the different sects and intrigues are sometimes a little bit confusing, but interesting. I love this world of martial arts and I love how protective Wen Kexing is over Zhou Zishu.
Finished in April
Series
My Strawberry Film 🇯🇵
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This is what I call a love triangle. And the fact that the screenwriters worked for Eien No Kinou or Jack o'Frost promised some heartbreak and teenage angst. And they delivered. I really like this series. And I felt so many emotions, especially for Ryo. And I really loved the ending. No fake relationship and no unrealistic confessions, just some teenagers in love and being friends. And I think Hiraku was such a sweet friend in this last episode. He apologized and he finally recognized Ryo's feelings for him. And I believe they stay friends in the future. It might be difficult, but a good friendship is worth fighting for. It has so much to do with respect and love for each other. It is a solid 8 out of 10 for me.
Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto 🇯🇵
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The story about highschool sweethearts, who didn't have the chance to enjoy their young love, because of horrible family backgrounds. Their story is devastating and I am happy they found their way back to each other. The story was good, the acting was good, I am in love with Furuya Robin, which is nice, and the side characters were special (shoutout to Yuto!). I wish there was more "passion" from Miyata, but I guess it is due to his character. Overall it was a good watch and I enjoyed it! A good 8 out of 10 for me.
Jazz For Two 🇰🇷
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I love bls about music and about traumatic pasts. The second couple has my heart. I just love them coming together. Usually I hate this bully-trope, but with them, I kinda enjoyed it. Perhaps because Jooha always looked like a hurting puppy. Overall the homophobia in this one is strong and I think it is interesting to see them deal with their own feelings. Internal and external homophobia is such a big thing in all their stories and I wish they had more time to show the developement from hating themselves to loving the other person and themselves. But in my opinion they made a good story and a good show. I like it very much. And what was that kiss in the end? Wow! A good 9 out of 10 for.
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To Be Continued 🇹🇭
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I really like this one! I read some comments that the reason they never got together was just stupid, but from their perspective I can understand why they reacted how they reacted. They were young and unsure what to do and what all of this meant for them and their friendship. What I liked about the show was the present and past scenes. We learned so much about their past and the scenes fitted perfectly. It was a really good series and I am glad I waited to binge it. Guess I come back to this one from time to time. Rewatch value is there. And those two have really good chemistry! A good 9 out of 10 for me.
Movie
Short Film
Dropped in April
We are 🇹🇭
I dropped this after the first half of the first episode. There are a few reasons for that. First, I need some shows to binge on lonely sundays. And second, I just don't feel like watching this one. It was so quirky for me. Not my kinf od humor right now.
Looking forward to in April
Love is like a cat - Trailer (Apr 1st)
We are - Trailer (Apr 3rd)
Memory in a letter - Trailer (Apr 6th)
Grey Shelter (Apr 11th)
Kare no Iru Seikatsu - Trailer (Apr 12th)
The Spirealm (Apr 15th)
Boys be brave! (Apr 25th)
25 Ji, Akasaka de (Apr 19th)
Kimi to Yukite Saku: Shinsengumi Seishunroku (Apr 25th)
My Stand-In - Trailer (Apr 26th)
Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko 2024
Knock Knock, Boys - Trailer
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rorywritesjunk · 6 months
Text
No longer locked upon the land but free on the rolling waves
You and Buggy come face to face with himself from the past, and while you're fully accepting that this is your husband as a child, Buggy doesn't want to accept it.
Rating: PG-13ish, but just due to some swearing.
Warning: Upset kid, upset husband. Reader is way too nice, doesn't necessarily take husband's feelings into account as well.
A/N: A combined request. I did a few versions of this story before feeling like it hit the marks I was wanting to hit. Also, I'm just trying to vibe off what I've seen of Kid Buggy. I'm no expert. I'd protect that kid with my life. He's so adorable. I also like the trope of "Meeting your self from another time" and "gets turned back into kid-self". This is the former, and I know shit about time travel but I just kind of made something up. Also, kelpies. Are they in One Piece? I honestly don't know but I love kelpies and needed an excuse to mention them.
Title comes from "Sailing Song" by S.J. Tucker.
Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6/Epilogue
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Chapter One
You would have thought you drank the pub dry the night before and were still drunk with what you were seeing in front of you. Except you very much didn’t drink. You stayed back on the ship, wanting a quiet night while the rest of the crew and captain went to drink the pub dry. You were perfectly sober, no hangover in sight, but you really weren’t sure what you were staring at.
Blue hair, red nose, and a scowl you knew all too well was in front of you, clutching something in his little hands while looking you up and down. “What?!”
“I… don’t know.” Which was true, you didn’t know. The kid in front of you looked every bit like the captain who was currently sleeping back on the ship, having managed to find his way home without falling off the docks and into the water to drown(this time). He never mentioned having a kid, ever, and considering how long you knew the captain and your relationship with him, and guessing the kid’s age, you would have been having a very serious talk about infidelity and why keeping your love child a secret? Seriously? wasn’t good for relationships. 
“Why are you staring at me?!” The kid snapped. “Don’t stare at me!”
“Sorry!” You smiled and knelt down in front of him. “You just look so much like someone I know, I was confused. I promise I wasn’t staring.”
The kid was on guard, tense, and looked ready to bolt, but you were curious. He just looked so much like Buggy that he had to be an offspring or some kind of relative, but the scary thing to you was how much he really looked like Buggy; he had kept some photos of his childhood onboard the Oro Jackson, and you knew what he looked like as a kid. He would show them to you on nights when he was drunk and reminiscing about the good ol’ days, singing shanties and drinking heavily. Last night was one of those nights before he passed out asleep in bed. 
“What’s your name?” You finally asked. The kid didn’t seem sure about telling you, but he must have felt brave because he straightened up and smirked at you.
“I’m Buggy!” He told you, puffing his chest out proudly. “I’m an apprentice under Captain Roger, y’know, and I’m one of the best already!”
Oh.
Oh shit.
Yea, no, something weird was going on. Why was there a kid who looked like Buggy, had the same name, and was talking about Captain Roger like he was still alive? Was this an elaborate make believe game the kid was playing, or were you staring into the eyes of your husband’s childhood self?
Weirdly enough, the latter made more sense to you. You heard of this happening, stories from sailors and pirates alike, but the stories were overheard at the bar after too much alcohol was consumed. Stories of children appearing for several days on a ship, like ghosts from a distant past, only to disappear again without a trace, but sometimes it happened the other way around, with the storytellers insisting that they met themselves as a child in the past, got to relive some memories, good and bad, before coming home again. 
“Yea?” You grinned. “That’s impressive, so where’s your crew? Your ship?”
The smirk vanished and he deflated a bit, looking around with the smallest bit of worry. “I don’t know. I was in front of them and there was some kind of flash of light, and… I don’t know where I am.”
“Oh, well, want me to help you look for them?” You asked, knowing all too well that his crew was nowhere around, he was not where he thought he was, but you didn’t want him getting into any trouble (which you knew was difficult because as an adult he managed to get himself into enough trouble). “If we don’t find them, you can stay with me. I’ll keep you safe.”
“I-I don’t need to be kept safe!” He snapped. “I’m tough, okay? I can take care of myself!” 
You made sure not to laugh, but it was hard not too. He was so cute as a kid that saying those things with such passion and intensity just made him even more adorable. Instead, you nodded, agreeing with him as you held your hand out to him to take.
“Well, how about something to eat? I’m just finishing up a supply run for my ship.” You said. “I’m happy to make you something before we find your crew.”
He looked at your hand, looked at you, then back at your hand before hesitantly taking it. Whatever he held in his hand he put in his pocket, making you wonder what he stole before coming here. You decided not to test the waters yet, he was feisty, proud, and if you treated him like a kid then he wouldn’t be very happy. You needed to treat him like the apprentice that he is, proud, determined, and passionate. Once his hand was in yours, you gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled at him as you started walking back to the docks.
“I have fresh apples and peanut butter, if you’d like that as a snack.” You said, eyeing him with a grin as his face lit up. That was the same snack you’d promise the captain whenever you wanted something from him. It wasn’t fancy by any means, just a simple snack, but you kept the peanut butter hidden from him so he never knew where to find it. The way the kid’s face lit up told you all you needed to know that this really was Buggy as a kid.
Oh, it was about to get fun on the ship.
~
“-and then I stole it!” Buggy exclaimed with a laugh, holding up the pendant for you to see. He had just finished telling you of his latest act of piracy, stealing some necklace from a vendor on the streets. You had fed him, given him something to drink, and you couldn’t help but walk over to him once he finished talking to wipe some of the food off his face with a dish towel. He was caught off guard and made a face at you when you did that.
“Pirates with food on their face scare no one.” You chuckled as you slung the towel over your shoulder before clearing the dishes in front of him. “And then what happened, Buggy?”
He fell silent, brow furrowed as he thought of your question. What did happen? He took off running, met up with the crew, and then a flash of light and he bumped into you-
“Buggy?” You tapped on the table in front of him, bringing him out of his thoughts. “You okay, sweetie?”
“Yea, yea.” He mumbled as he looked down at the pendant in his hand. “Next thing that happened was I ran into you.”
He quite literally did. You had just stepped out of a shop when he walked right into you, and you had been in shock of seeing him that you weren't bothered that a kid was yelling at you about being in the way.
“Oh!” You nodded and went to refill his glass. “Well, you can stay with me until we find your crew, okay?”
“Are you a pirate?” He asked. “I'm on a pirate ship, but you don't seem like a pirate.”
You laughed softly at that, shaking your head. “I'm not, no. I don't do piracy, just help with the upkeep of the ship. My husband, however, is a pirate.”
“What?!” 
“Yea, he-”
“It's too loud in here.” Someone grumbled from the doorway. You both turned to look; the kid’s eyes widened and you grinned. And there he was, groggy, a little hungover, and obviously needing food and coffee if he was going to start the day. You went over to him and led him to the table, helping him sit down before you started on the coffee. “Time?”
“Lunch time.” You chuckled. “That's what time it is, honey.”
He glared at you, oblivious to the guest that was staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. Buggy was a little hungover, having had his fair share of alcohol the night before. Normally you had the coffee ready for him before he woke up, so he was confused and unhappy that it wasn't readily available for him at that moment.
“It's too early.” He grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “What's for lunch?”
“Wake up first.” You brought him a cup and kissed the top of his head. “But I need you to look across the table before you drink that coffee, honey.”
Buggy looked up at you, eyes squinting in confusion. You took hold of his head and turned it in the direction you wanted him to look, and a few seconds later he pushed back from the table while you still held his head. Swearing, you popped it back onto his neck.
“W-What is going on?” He shrieked upon seeing the kid. Thankfully Kid Buggy remained seated, but you could see the confused look on his face. The two were staring at each other, mirror images except for the age difference. Before you could explain, your husband got up, marched over to the kid, and picked him up by the back of the shirt, carrying him out of the kitchen.
“Buggy-” You went after him, not sure what was happening.
“Hey! Put me down!” The kid shrieked, fists swinging and legs kicking. 
Buggy didn't respond and before you could stop him, he tossed the kid over the side of the ship and into the water. You couldn't believe he did that. You rushed to the side to look over, relieved you saw the kid treading water. So this was definitely a young Buggy, pre-Devil Fruit, otherwise you would have thrown your husband overboard after the kid. You threw a rope down to him while your husband went back to the kitchen, rambling on about curses and bad omens. 
You wanted to know what the hell that was about.
~
“I’m fine!” The kid insisted as you wrapped his hair up in a towel. His clothes were soaked and you did not have anything that would fit him, so he was currently wearing an old shirt of Buggy’s until his clothes dried. They were draped over a chair in the bedroom, the pendant he stole earlier sitting on your shared dressing table. 
“I don’t need you getting sick, sweetie.” You sighed as you used another towel to make sure his face was clean. You were mindful of the nose, touching the towel to his face except there. “I’m sorry he did that.”
“Why did he do that?” He grumbled as he crossed his arms, glaring up at you.
“Because pirates are superstitious fools.” You told him. “And… seeing you scared him I guess. I don’t know, I’m going to talk to him.” Carefully, you unwrapped his hair, making note that he needed to have it brushed to keep from tangling too much. You got up and set the towels aside before grabbing your hairbrush. “Buggy, I’m going to tell you something and I don’t want you to get scared, okay?”
“I don’t get scared!” He insisted. “Not like that guy! I’m braver than him!”
“Okay, here’s the thing about my husband-”
“Don’t tell him anything!” Your husband suddenly appeared in the doorway, glaring at the two of you. “Where did you find him? Who is he?!”
You weren’t bothered by his mood, but you wanted to make sure the kid felt safe. Without a word you moved between the two, keeping Kid Buggy behind you as you crossed your arms.
“We ran into each other, Buggy.” You told him firmly. “He got separated from his crew.”
“Crew?!” Buggy shook his head. “No, get him off this ship. He could be… a kelpie or something. Get him out of here!”
“He’s not a kelpie.” You sighed. 
“You don’t know that!”
Rolling your eyes you looked down at the kid. He had grabbed hold of your pant leg, gripping it tightly as he stared at the man in the doorway. This was a lot for both of them but you needed the captain to calm down. You knelt down and touched the kid’s bare toes. He took a step back and gave you a weird look.
“Human toes, no hooves.” You pointed out. “He also mentioned the Oro Jackson and being an apprentice…” You looked back at your husband. He paled and shook his head. This was too much. This was not him, this had to be some form of trickery, or a shapeshifter. “Besides, I’ve spent enough time with my husband to know when I’m with him as a child.”
Kid Buggy’s eyes widened, looking between you and Adult Buggy. Child? Was… this supposed to be him in the future? As an adult? His jaw dropped, he couldn’t believe it. You smiled at the expression on his face, pleased the kid was in awe of this.
“I turn out to be a drunk loser?!” The kid shrieked. “Why?!”
Okay, that was not what you expected. You slapped your hand to your face while your husband looked ready to throw the kid overboard once again. Kid Buggy just shook his head, not believing this. Was this an alternate reality of some kind? He wouldn’t be like this. Was this guy even a pirate? He didn’t seem like it from the little bit the kid had seen already. He was not impressed in the slightest.
“I want him gone.” Buggy snapped. “No kelpie or bad omen crap is allowed on this ship!”
He stormed off after that. 
192 notes · View notes
nnight-dances · 2 years
Text
SOME GUY!
pairings: mark lee x f!reader genre: fluff, angst, heated moments tropes: close friends to lovers?, mark avoids u because he's stupid, taeyong as your perfect ex who's still in love w u, u kiss mark's face to shut him up. warnings: mint ice-cream slander, mark is some guy, skinship, college frat party, not proofread.
author's note: haha guess who's in their mark phase hhhhh... sorry he's just such an interesting guy i could write him all day long. either way!!! more mark appreciation, less depression <3
at the end of the day, mark really was just some guy.
that’s what he thought to himself everytime he sat down to really consider the reality of all things. he doesn’t mean to get all self-deprecating and emo like that, but it was just a neutral truth thing that kinda hurts the first time you realize it but then it’s just the obvious thing in your daily life. but of course, if he ever did tell someone that he always felt like some guy among a bunch of cool guys, regardless of their gender, he would have to sit through one of those ultimately useless and pitiful speeches about how talented he really was.
— “you know what? you’re right!”
mark’s thoughts zap off their route when he hears you agree with his remark a few seconds ago. honestly, he hadn’t been completely sure if you’d heard him because of the lack of reaction you’d given him. but when you suddenly chuckle and agree with him, mark chokes over the stream of dr pepper in his throat.
he coughs desperately, “wait, what?”
your smile widens, “you’re just some guy. that’s like the perfect description of you.”
under normal circumstances, mark thinnks he would’ve been offended by how certain you sound. but the way you say it? it’s not like you’re trying to be mean or condescending… more like you’re just saying the truth. the neutral truth thing…
“i can’t believe you,” mark mutters, face splitting in a laugh, “i can’t believe you’re agreeing with me!” you look slightly confused but continue, “don’t tell me you’re hurt? you were the one who brought it up!”
mark shakes his head, controlling his laughter, still slightly losing his mind. “you’re really something, bro. i just didn’t expect you to actually be honest.” he laughs again, taking a sip of his drink again, becoming aware that he was being too loud for a bookstore. thankfully though, on a brief glance around, nobody seemed to care.
you fiddle with the zipper of your pencil pouch in thought. then, a shrug as you look back at mark, “hmm, isn’t that funny. i’m some thing, you’re some guy.”
mark falls into another fit of laughter before he knows it, disbelieving more than anything over your badly disguised shamelessness. you hold in a laugh as you land the last punch to his gut, “the perfect pair, isn’t it?” — the punch that sends him right into an oblivion of a world where nothing except you makes sense.
(ok perhaps, mark was being a tad dramatic. you know what he means though: he’s smitten.)
if someone were to kidnap you for the purposes of interrogating your honesty behind your claims that you thought mark was some guy, you’d probably get shot in the head instead, because there was no way you were letting anyone in on the information that you did not actually consider mark some guy.
maybe, a little, yes, but at this point, the phrase ‘some guy’ needs some more definiton. some guy as in boring and bland and dry and overdone? absolutely not. if that was what mark was, you wouldn’t have been committing every last one of your wednesday evenings, aka the only free evenings you ever get, to sitting in a crowded bookstore to pretend to do homework with him. you never did homework with mark around.
mark was the kind of some guy that was just being himself. yeah, that’s all you got. mark was mark. good explanation.
“bro? y/n, you good?”
you blink, finding mark swaying in front of you. you were currently sat on a bench near the building where your next class was.
“uhh, sorry,” you take off your headphones to look up at mark, “what are you doing on this part of campus?”
mark shrugs with a playful smile, “why can’t i be here?”
“because you literally don’t take any classes in the econ department?”
he shrugs again, “what if i’ve changed my ways? we’re still young and free, y/n, think a little outside the box, won’t you?”
“you’re taking econ? how- how did you-?”
“oh, look at that,” mark cuts you off, holding up his phone in front of your face. the time reads 11:05 am. “it’s time for our class. let’s go.” you’re busy processing his words (our class???) when he pulls you by the arm and toward the hall behind you.
and that’s the story of how you go from knowing absolutely nobody in your econ class, to sitting next mark in the extremely damp and cramped chairs of your econ class which means your arm is constantly touching his which you, for some reason, don’t hate. probably because the chilly fall wind coming through the window next to mark always makes you glad for the warmth.
mark, on the other hand, smiles a small smile whenever you shuffle closer because even though, the guy (doyoung is his name?) in front of him is always asking him to close the window, he would rather not.
“you’re kidding? ice-cream? in this fucking weather?” you question mark, coughing a fake cough to make your point.
“what are you, a coward?”
when you give mark an unimpressed look, he breaks a laugh, grabbing hold of you by your elbow. cheekily, he says, “please. for me?”
you frown, feeling your resolve crumble under his stupid gaze, “i hate you,” you say but let mark pull you after him into the tiny corner shop.
the two of you huddle over the menu of the ice-cream shop, and you exclaim quietly, “oh! i’ve been wanting to try their raspberry choco flavor for a while!” mark looks between you and menu, “ah, really? that sounds kinda good.”
then, he shifts to look at the girl behind the counter, “uhh, we’ll have one mint chocolate and one raspberry choco, please.” you gasp at mark’s choice, “m-mint chocolate?! mark. i think i might break up with you.”
mark is too busy reddening at your joke that hits too close to home to notice the worker chuckling at you. she processes your orders and mark has time to recover.
when he looks back at you, you’re still grimacing. “i didn’t think you could get any worse.”
“are you sure you should be saying that to someone who’s treating you to icecream?”
“huh?” your eyes widen and then you smile, “ahhh, i see. i wasn’t aware you were bribing me into have a favorable opinion of you.” before mark can retort though, you continue with a smirk, “i’m not complaining though.”
your smirk both flusters and scares mark because it’s evidence you’re upto no good in your head but before he can air his suspicion, you’re reaching out for the two cones of icecream that the girl is handing out.
“you guys are really cute together,” the worker remarks shyly, giving you a thumbs up of approval.
mark chokes on the first bite of his mint choco icecream. you look at mark and he expects you to shut down the worker swiftly, but then you reach for his hand, pulling him closer with a bashful smile and say, “thanks, that’s really sweet of you.”
“uh-?” you cut mark’s question off by pulling him out of the store after you.
when you’re outside, you burst into laughter at the perplexed look on mark’s look, looking absolutely adorable next to his already melting green blob of an abomination.
the next morning, mark is still suffering through it, unable to come to terms with your actions yesterday. they were honestly not out of character for you. you were always one to do shit just because you knew it would get a reaction out of someone else. like, that time you didn’t tell mark he had spinach in his teeth the whole time he was speaking in econ and only told him at the end. yeah, sure, but surely that was different from you pretending that you and mark were together. right?
mark’s pulled out of his thoughts when his phone buzzes next to his pillow. he stirs to his side, opening his phone only to find a text from you.
y/n: fuck u
mark’s heart skips a beat, no matter the fact that you’re swearing at him the first thing in the morning.
mark: what did i do now…
y/n: it’s ur fault
mark: ???
y/n: i’m fuckin sick
“oh, fuck,” mark swears, sitting up with a frown, fingers quickly shooting a flurry of concerned texts back.
mark: oh shit really?
mark: im so sorry
mark: how bad is it?
y/n: it’s just a cold, dw not that bad
mark: what does that mean?
you, however, don’t bother to elaborate any more on your condition, going silent.
he groans, guilt settling in the slouch of his shoulder as he stares at his screen for a solid 10 minutes before giving up on your response. as he gets ready for the day, at the top of mark’s to do list is to visit your dorm room with medicine and snacks.
but by the time 3 pm rolls around, mark finds himself constantly distracted by classes and homeowork. he looks at the time and sighs. you hadn’t managed to get back to him. but considering how he hadn’t seen you in econ or lunch, your cold was more than ‘not bad’.
sitting outside the library to collect his thoughts, he spots chaewon, your roommate. the two of you had run into mark on a grocery shopping errand and mark had had a decent enough conversation to make him run up to chaewon.
“oh!” chaewon is surprised at first when mark blocks her way with a quick hey. “oh hey, mark!”
“um,” mark looks at the take-out box in her hands, “um, is that for y/n?”
“oh, yeah. did you hear? she woke up this morning with a fever.”
“a fever?”
“yeah, it was pretty high too. i had to force her to stay in bed or i think she would’ve just gone to class like the dumbass she is.”
mark frowns, “oh, no. has she eaten all day?”
chaewon hums in thought, “she told me she was fine for breakfast. i’m not sure if she had lunch though so i was just going to take some pizza and salad in case she’s been starving.”
mark’s frown deepens as she adds, “oh i better hurry though! i have to get back here in time for my dance practice.”
“ah…” he scratches his head, “uhh, if you’re busy, i wouldn’t mind dropping it off to y/n.”
chaewon raises an eyebrow, “wait, really? you’d do that?”
“um, yeah. it’s my fault she got sick anyway. i made her eat icecream last night.”
she laughs, “a little icecream wouldn’t have done that. but sure! it’d be a great help, if you did that. thanks, mark.”
mark hadn’t thought this through, he realizes when he reaches the door that reads y/n on the door, right next to chaewon. he takes a deep breath, clearing his throat, before knocking on the door. “y/n?” his voice breaks mid-sentence and he wants to hide in a hole somewhere, but you’re quick to throw your door open.
your hair is up in a bun which bobs in rhythm with your head, when you find mark outside your room, “mark? what the fuck are you doing here?”
“you weren’t responding to my texts,” he mumbles, and then holds up chaewon’s takeout box in one hand and in the other, the bag of medicine and snacks he’d packed. “i come bearing gifts though.”
you cough hoarsely into your elbow, pulling at the hem of your green hoodie as you consider mark in front of you. “you could’ve told me you were coming,” you sound… shy? mark thinks as he follows into your room after you gesture him to enter.
he looks at your bed and chuckles at the mess that is your bed. then, he smiles as he looks at the eccentric yet coherent collage of pictures and letters on your wall. “this is so you,” he comments and places the food and medicine on your table.
you pout, “a room that looks like all hell broke lose… is me? wow, thanks, mark.”
mark wants to refute your comment, he does, but then he gets distracted by how the way you say his name in your hoarse inside voice and he coughs a little. “i got you medicine though?” he sounds squeaky to his own ears.
you smile though at that, looking inside the bag he’s kept. “ahhh, ramen! i knew i could count on you, mark lee.”
mark almost wants to beg you to stop saying his name so much. but instead he shoots you a thumbs up, “how are you holding up?”
you nod in thought, still unpacking everything mark bought, “hmm, i’m alive. you should’ve seen me in the morning though i felt like something was trying to crawl out my skin.”
you laugh at the imagery, pausing when you catch the guilty look on mark. you already know he’s about to apologize when he opens his mouth. you hold up a finger threateningly, “i know i said that in the morning, but it’s not actually your fault. i always get sick like this every time fall rolls around.”
“no, for real though, i did force you to come eat icecream with me, didn’t i? i’m sorry.”
“ugh, mark, trust me, i wouldn’t have eaten the icecream if i really didn’t want to,” you say, too kindly for your usual snarkiness as if you can sense how genuine mark’s apology was, “for real, my body’s just weird like that.”
when mark remains silent for another minute, you groan, “i know! you can repay me. stay and we can watch a movie or something. all the sleeping’s making me feel gross. plus, i couldn’t eat all this food myself.”
and that’s how mark finds himself settled next to you on your bed, blanket covering half his body, watching gilmore girls (your fall preference of entertainment, it seems). the first half hour went by fine, with one of you commenting ocassionally at something the characters did, but then you shifted closer to mark with a cough.
he was shocked at first but then he wonders if the medicine you’d taken before were starting to take effect. (he’d questioned how wise it was for you to be taking them before watching something, but he also didn’t want to make your condition worse.)
“you good, y/n?” he mumbles under his breath when he feels your head come to rest against his shoulder. he sounds surprisingly calm for the turmoil that is bursting within his veins at the contact.
you hum in acknowledgement, sniffing a little, “yeah, just a little sleepy.”
“oh, you should probably rest then,” mark reaches for the spacebar to pause the episode but your cold hand pulls his finger away. except you don’t let go of his finger, instead seeming to crave warmth, you’re suddenly holding his hand, icy fingertips coming to rest against the back of his palm.
mark’s hearbeat is in his ears by now but he lets you hold his hand as you protest, “mm, don’t wanna sleep. just keep watching.”
you don’t sound promising but he doesn’t argue, letting you having the final say in this situation.
five minutes later though, you stir against mark’s side, arm now in his lap and… yeah, you’re falling asleep.
mark freezes at the realization when he sees your eyelashes fluttering shut. oh god. oh no… this wasn’t good for his well-being. or his obsession with you. or anything.
he clears his throat, hating himself, “um, y/n?”
you don’t respond except for a short grunt that indicates you don’t intend to wake up. he doesn’t have the heart to move you but also, this wasn’t right, was it?
there wasn’t anything wrong with it per se, except of course the fact that it did not help mark’s big fat ugly crush on you or the fact that he spent the whole day thinking about how you were sick and it was his fault.
you move slightly in your sleep, suddenly seeming to come to. your eyes open a little, “mark?” your voice is dangerously low.
“yeah?” mark can hear the nerves in his voice.
you’re pulling him now, without a warning, onto your bed. “you’re warm. stay.”
mark’s eyes widen when you turn to hug him around the waist.
fuck. fuck. fuck. FUCK. this was… THIS IS…. UTREJKLSGIURKEJU?????YGSAELRIAY
mark brain malfunctions for a good minute before he remembers how to think. first, he thinks he has to leave or you’ll hate him forever. but when he tries to budge, you groan an annoyed groan making him scared to leave..
??? what is one supposed to do in these circumstances?
he stills, deciding it was better if he let you doze off comfortably. he slowly places an arm around your shoulder, patting a reassuring back rub into your skin. you nuzzle closer into him, clueless of the way mark is short-circuiting.
before he knows it though, mark finds himself dozing off, chin pressed up against the bone of your shoulder. the sleep isn’t chaotic like his thoughts usually are, but it’s a peaceful sleep, the kind that you only get when you share a bed with someone.
ever since that eventful… nap, mark has found himself growing closer to you, in all senses of the phrase. you’d seemed to start trusting mark more, your bookstore evenings turning into whole days spent in each other’s company. sometimes you’d be at each other’s room, more often yours, but otherwise, you’d end up in some new corner of campus, giggling over half-completed essays and collectively complaining about econ.
you’d also grown closer… physically. something about spending a sick evening in someone’s arms, you’d like to say. whatever the reason was, one way or another, you’d find a way to be next to each other.
you’d made a habit of holding mark’s hand, especially on colder days when your fingers lost all feeling till you pressed them into the knuckles of mark’s warm ones. other times, mark’s hand would be on your shoulder or back, casually doodling into your skin, a lazy smile on his face while you dramatically narrate some event from your life.
mark could tell something was different, though he dared not investigate what it was, too afraid to mess up what he had right now.
but then, he does the stupid thing of asking you the question.
it’s on a late night hangout in your room when chaewon’s out for the weekend to visit home, and y’all are sprawled on your bed, exhausted from a movie marathon.
something about the dim lights and the way you lean against his shoulder, makes him speak. “do you like someone right now?”
for a good while, mark thinks he mustn’t have asked the question out loud because of how quiet you are. but then, “what about you?”
“not fair! i asked you first,” mark complains with a chuckle. you shrug, “not telling if you don’t.”
he rolls his eyes, “two can play this game, y’know. i’m not giving.”
“ugh, fine. i’ll tell you about my ex for now.”
mark’s ear perks up at the mention and he waits for you to continue.
“ah, this is so embarassing to talk about. but.. last semester i was with taeyong.”
“wait. lee taeyong?”
“mhm-hm. you know him? he was a good guy, but i don’t know, something felt off. we broke up right before new year’s eve so that was fun.”
mark falls silent as he recalls everything he can about lee taeyong. so far he has: perfect face and killer charm. oh yeah, wasn’t he a student athlete?
“you dated an athelete?” mark can’t help but ask.
“see! i know you’d make fun,” you whine, hiding your face in your hands.
“no- no, i’m not making fun. that’s insane. taeyong is, like, famous.”
you groan, “and you’re listing all the reasons i broke up with him.”
mark isn’t sure what he can do with this information so he releases a strained chuckle, suddenly ready to head back to his room. he can’t be too obvious though, so he waits a bit.
“what about you?” you ask him, poking his arm. “any embarassing boyfriends?”
mark laughs despite it all, “i wish. i was in a silly little relationship but it was so long ago that i hardly remember.” with that, he sits up, a little abruptly.
you frown as he clears his throat, “um, anyway, i should get back soon. i’ve got to sleep.”
“the fuck?” you question, “it’s like 11 pm?”
“well, yeah, i have an early morning tomorrow.”
“on a sunday?”
“yeah, uhm, i forgot to tell you about this new job i have. anyways, i should really sleep soon. i’ll see you later, yeah?”
and just like that, mark leaves your room, with you gaping at how fast he’d made his exit, not even bothering to make real excuses. new job? halfway through the semester? yeah, sure. you feel your mood dampening at mark’s sudden cold shoulder, wondering if you’d upset him. but no matter how many times you thought about it, you weren’t sure what had made him act like that.
mark, on the other hand, can’t get the conversation out of his head, even as he walks to the library at 8 am on a sunday, ready to finish all traces of homework in existence. it doesn’t matter though because sitting in the silence of the study room, his mind repeats your words.
he was a good guy, but i don’t know, something felt off.
boy, did mark feel stupid as shit. for everything? for thinking you were into him. somewhere along the way, your hands on his had him confused. for a minute there, he had stopped thinking about how he was actually just some guy. some guy who you chose to hang out with now and then, some guy who was your friend. mark was nowhere close to being taeyong, and even taeyong didn’t cut it for you. really, though, he couldn’t blame you. you really did deserve the best anyone could imagine.
a text from you interrupts his self-loathing spiralling.
y/n: heyoo!! u alive?
y/n: u left kinda abruptly last night. is everything ok?
mark clenches his fist as if to obliterate the hopeful smile that threatens his face. he thinks of how he might respond: sorry cant talk i’ve to make sure i’m not in love with u before i see u again or maybe: sorry i’m just trying not to cry in broad daylight bc i love u too much hjbykyvkvyf
“fuck! sorry!” a voice pulls mark back from his head. he looks up to see who’s broken into his study room… only to see lee taeyong standing there in confusion. of course this happens to mark.
“uhh, can i help you?” mark barely controls the snap that tries to escape him at the sight of taeyong.
“um, sorry,” taeyong looks down at his phone then back at mark, “i could’ve sworn i booked this room for the next hour…”
mark frowns, certain he’d booked this room for the next two hours. usually, he would’ve just told taeyong he’s booked it wrong, but instead he just says, “oh? i guess you can take this room then. i’ll go somewhere else.”
mark starts packing up but the other boy protests quickly, “no, no! it’s okay. i- um, i’d feel bad if you did that. what if… what if we shared? it’ll be nice to have someone else in the room, no?” taeyong smiles brightly at mark and the latter wants his eyes to stop working already.
call it the law of inertia, but something in mark doesn’t let him just leave the room, almost intrigued by how this might turn out. “alright, then.”
taeyong, as much as mark hates to admit it, is really nice. he hadn’t ever heard anything to refute that, but sitting silently in a room with someone really tells you all you need to know about someone. either way, the study sessions somehow seems to provide mark some sense of peace.
or so he thinks.
what he doesn’t expect is that two hours later, as the two of them are packing up to empty the room for the next occupant, for the next occupant to be… you. yes, of course, that’s gonna happen in this story.
for a moment, mark doesn’t find it particularly shocking to see you but when he notices the stiff look you share with taeyong, he realizes what’s happening.
you’d just entered the room with a knock when you’d noticed who was inside. your eyes travel between mark and taeyong, your mind unable to make sense of this.
your first thought is… is this why mark was weird last night? because he was close to taeyong and got offended by your remarks?
that would be the easy alternate, wouldn’t it? but even you can tell there’s a dryness in the way mark looks at the two of you, a look that unsettles you. of course, the sight of taeyong also unsettles you.
he speaks up before you, “y/n?”
you awkwardly wave at the two of them, “hi mark. hey taeyong. didn’t expect to see the two of you together.”
you look at mark pointedly but he’s not giving you much to work with. he just laughs as taeyong rushes to explain, “ah, i made a mistake in booking this room at the same time as mark, and he was kind enough to let me stay.”
marks want to leave right now. because of the way taeyong’s eyes are sparkling at the sight of you, hands nervously fidgeting. but he decides against it, when he sees you uneasy you seem, tight grip around the strap of your tote bag.
“what are you doing here?” mark asks and a part of you is relieved that he’s talking to you.
“um, homework. i didn’t really know what else to do ever since my friend started ghosting me.”
mark flinches at your attack, but persists in looking as indifferent as he can. “sorry about that, i got caught up finishing this essay.”
taeyong awkwardly coughs, “um, i should probably leave now. i have practice to get to.”
mark is quick to follow after taeyong, scared to death of being alone in a room with you. he doesn’t know what to do with himself around you anymore. “uhh, yeah, i’ll leave you to do homework, then! see ya!”
and just like that, it’s a repeat of last night. mark’s back receding except this time you watch him wave at you with a half-hearted smile as he leaves. you barely manage to close the door behind you before you feel yourself tear up.
this is stupid, you realize through tears, to be crying over something like this. but something like this? it meant a lot to you. you sit where mark sat minutes ago, the same disappointment in your eyes and a similar weight in your heart.
mark is not having the time of his life either though, as he walks out the library with taeyong, who starts asking questions about you as soon as he can.
“so you’re friends with y/n?” mark simply nods at that, having seen this coming.
“that’s cool. she’s really cool, isn’t she?”
“yeah, i suppose. she’s fun.”
“how close are you to her?”
mark laughs dismissively, “haha, i feel like i’ve done something wrong. calm down, bro.”
taeyong flushes at that, rubbing his neck, “oh, sorry. i didn’t mean to interrogate you like that. it’s just… you probably know about us, right?”
that words leaves taeyong’s mouth and buries itself deep into mark’s heart. us.
taeyong continues, “it’s just that i really miss her, man. i don’t think i’ve had as much fun with anyone else since her. or maybe, it’s just because i’m always comparing everyone to her.”
mark really doesn’t know what to say, feeling himself stuck in a similar situation. “hmm, it’ll get better.”
“i hope you’re right,” taeyong says, cheerfully patting mark’s back, “well, i have to go that way. see you around, bro. take care of her.”
take care of her? marks smiles remorsefully as he watches taeyong leave. and he wonders what was going on in your mind when you broke up with someone that perfect? what went on in your head when you befriended mark, just some guy?
on saturday, it’s been a whole week since you’ve talked to mark. you’d actually stayed up all night yesterday hoping he’d have a change of heart on friday night, and he’d text you with a can we talk? or come knocking on your door with an apologetic smile with some silly excuse. and you would’ve accepted it all because you were not familar with a mark-less existence. the past week was.. not good for you.
but on saturday night, you decide it’s enough. or rather, chaewon decides it’s enough when she sees you ready to spend the night in bed.
“y/n, i’m sorry but i can’t respect your stupid decisions anymore,” she bursts into the room with a concerned look.
you frown, “ouch? you just called me stupid.”
“because that’s what you’re being. i don’t care if you’re going through it, i’m not letting you woe over some guy on the weekend.”
you grimace at the phrase some guy, remembering your conversation with mark. “hey! i’m talking to you, miss,” chaewon’s hands pull off your bed. “let’s go out tonight. i don’t care.”
“chaewon…” you complain, voice low.
“y/n, my dear friend, stop giving up on life because mark lee is ghosting you. if i know anything about the two of you, y’all will be back to cuddling each other next week.”
you want to say you’re afraid that’s not gonna happen but chaewon is moving too fast for you. she throws a dress at you and then, a coat. “wear those and come to yunjin’s room. we’re pre-gaming.”
an hour later, you’re not feeling so bad after all. you’d forgotten how fun getting wasted really was. you giggle hopelessly when yunjin cracks another “slayyy~” at chaewon’s empty glass. as sakura pours her another shot, you nudge her with your own empty cup.
your roommate frowns a little, “you sure you’re not going too fast?”
you roll your eyes, “chaewon! you’re the one who wanted to slut me out tonight. how am i gonna do that sober?” that makes everyone double up in laughter and you down the vodka with a triumphant sigh.
another hour later, you’re really feeling yourself. the pre-game finally ended with all of you walking to the frat that was throwing tonight. the first step you take into the crowded room has you regretting your decision, but your worries go to waste once you’re hearing the music blast through your veins.
you stay within chaewon’s group for most of the night. the girls are fun, yunjin being one of the best people you’ve partied with. it’s halfway through a doja cat song when you feel your bladder getting full from all the beer. you groan at all the effort it’s gonna take to go upstairs to where the bathroom was, but you could use a break.
you quickly tell chaewon you’ll be back, pointing in the direction of the bathroom and reassure her you’re fine when she asks to come with. the world is definitely spinning as you go up the stairs but you do make it to the top without falling over.
but as soon as you reach for the door of the bathroom, you lose balance as the person inside emerges. “fuck,” you groan, falling over into the person ahead, “’m sorry,” you mumble, supporting yourself against the sink.
you’re ready to push whoever it is out of the bathroom when you heard a familar voice. “y/n?”
you look up and actually gasp when you see mark in front of you. “mark?!” you sound incredulous but honestly, you’re just ecstatic. “i miss you,” you say your thoughts shamelessly.
mark reddens or so your vision tells you. “y/n, are you drunk?”
you frown and shake your head, about to explain yourself when a loud voice outside tells you to hurry up with your business, the door still open. mark shouts a, “find somewhere else, buddy!” and shuts the door, locking it behind him.
your drunk brain isn’t doing well with the concept of you in a locked room with mark. “are you drunk, mark?”
mark laughs at your question, “a little, yeah.”
“okay, good, then can you just-” you lose your balance again and mark steadies you instantly, warm hand on your elbow. you lose your train of thoughts at the feel of him, looking into his eyes wordlessly.
you think you stay there for a minute like that, the two of you just catching up on all the looks you’ve missed out on in the last week.
“why are you mad at me?” you ask the question that’s been bugging you for ages. wanting mark to understand how hurt you’ve been, you pull at the sleeve of shirt, “i’ve been so sad. why are you avoiding me?”
mark takes your hand in his, “no! it’s not like that. i’m… not mad at you.”
“really?” you question him through a pout, “really?”
he doesn’t know what to do when pinned with that gaze of yours in that moment. and then his eyes land up on your lips, your little pout.
he knew the alcohol was a bad idea because now he can’t think straight, knowing he has to explain everything to you or he might lose it all. but somehow, instead of words, he feels another ugre crawl up his skin.
just as you open your mouth to speak, you feel mark’s lips on yours, stealing the breath from your lungs. you gasp into his mouth, and he pulls away just as soon as he leaned in. he drops your hand, falling to his knees.
it takes you a moment to re-orient yourself after the taste of mark in your mouth, but you hear mark sniffle and instantly join him on the ground, hands on his face.
“are you crying?”
mark tries to stop himself but he can’t. “i’m sorry, y/n. i’m so sorry.”
“hey,” you find yourself sobering up. how could you not when mark lee is in front of you, tears staining his ever-smiling face? “hey, mark, look at me.” he wipes at his face shakily, looking up at you through a fresh flood of tears.
“i’m sorry,” his voice breaks, “i’ve been acting so selfish with you. i shouldn’t have avoided you. i shouldn’t have kissed you. i’m.. it’s all because…” he trails off conveniently at the part of his sentence you most need to hear.
your fingers trail down to his chin, bringing his face back up, “it’s all because of what, mark? talk to me, baby.”
something in mark uncoils when you coo at him lovingly like that, his name as breathy as the nickname you suddenly throw at him. his lip quivers but his words are clear as day, “fuck, i’m into you, y/n. i know i’m just some guy really but i think i like you. i- like romantically, i’m dying to be with you.” he sighs when you don’t say anything, stunned into silence.
your hand stays put on his face though which mark thinks of as a good sign. gingerly, he takes your hand, gaze pointed at your interlocked fingers. “i know it’s awkward because you’re not into me like that. it’s all good, i understand.”
“mark, you’re drunk,” you finally mumble out, hand twitching in disbelief. “you’re just saying things.”
mark stiffens, “w-what? no! i’m serious, y/n. i’m not even that drunk anymore. how could i be, when you’re right here?” but then, he stirs, hands leaving yours, “oh, but if you’d rather forget that this happened—”
it’s a replay of five minutes ago, except this time your lips come crashing into mark’s, with so much force that you topple him over. he takes you with him, hand finding purchase at your waist as he pulls you on top of him, his back hitting the door of the bathroom.
your kiss is fierce, almost angry because you did not deserve to be kept in the dark about mark’s feelings. you push closer to him, making him groan into your lips at the intensity. you pull away then, hand at mark’s chest, “i hate you for avoiding me like that, mark. i can’t believe you.”
mark tries to explain himself but you’re kissing him again, swallowing his words whole, unforgiving in the way your hands grip his arms. again, you pull away, “what did you think? that i’d stop talking to you because you like me? you’re so stupid sometimes, mark.”
“i don’t—”
“no, you don’t understand. do you see me right now?” mark nods, eyes trailing at your disheveled state. mark couldn’t forget this sight if he wanted to: your hair wet with sweat, panting in between mark’s legs, lips a breath away.
“do i look like i hate you?”
“i mean, you do look annoyed,” mark remarks and you slap his arm with a snarl.
“that’s because you’re being unfair. what about my feelings for you, huh?” you challenge with a glare. “what about how much i suffered just because you decided to not show up to the bookstore? all because you came to some stupid conclusion by yourself?”
“wait,” mark starts, but you’re not letting him talk.
“no, listen, if i could, i’d seriously slap you. because i’m that down bad for you, mark! i’ve been thinking about doing this with you ever since you fell asleep in my bed that day. so fuck you, for hurting me like that.”
you’re breathless, eyes still trained on mark with that look of betrayal mixed with desire. you can’t help yourself though, mark looks absolutely breath-taking in front of you, mouth ajar in shock, lips red from your relentless kisses.
mark takes too long to process your words just then, long enough that you’re coming down from your high, embarassment flooding your veins. you go cold, standing up with a grunt. “i’m just gonna go back,” you mutter in disappointment, leaving before you can see mark’s response.
he’s coming back to his senses now, realizing that maybe you were right about how stupid he’d been. “fuck,” he breathes out, regaining his footing as he chases after you.
this chase proves to be difficult, given that the party only seems to have gotten more crowded since mark left. he struggles through the throngs of people, shouldering through, when he spots a silhouette of you in his peripheral vision. you were outside, apparently talking to another taller figure.
mark follows your shadow to the door, quickly making his way out. his breath hitches when he finds taeyong next to you. his arm is around your shoulder and you’re speaking to him in a low voice.
“y/n,” mark calls out, not hesitating to break taeyong’s hold on you, replacing it with his own embrace. he pulls you close. your eyes are teary and you sniff when you see mark, “what-”
“i’m sorry, can we talk?” he mumbles into your side, still aware of taeyong’s presence.
“oh, hey, mark. i was just,” taeyong moves to stand in front of the two of you, “taking care of y/n. she looked sick.”
“i’m fine, taeyong,” you reassure him, pressing yourself into mark’s side. “i’ll let mark walk me home. good night.” mark is impressed at how easily you dismiss taeyong, pulling mark after you.
“what do you want?”
mark stops you from walking, pulling you into a hug instead. “you’re right, i’m really stupid. let me ask you this instead: would you let me be your boyfriend?”
you release a soft laugh against his neck at his question, arms still for a moment for dramatic effect. then, you wrap yourself around him, kissing your answer into his ear, “of course, you idiot.”
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04sqnri · 5 months
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only you. ⎯ ricky shen
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pairing: ricky x gn!reader
genre: high school au, i hate everyone but you trope, fluff (sorta ?), friends but both have a crush on each other LOL
word count: 1.2k
note: this is like my first one shot or whatever on here so it isn't the best i'm sorry 😭
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Ricky and (Y/N) were currently seniors in high school, with only months left to graduate. But the two have always been friends since childhood.
Sometime around middle school, (Y/N) had developed feelings for Ricky, but they swore to their self that they would never confess to him. But little did they know that Ricky also developed feelings, but just a little later.
Since he had developed feelings, he became a lot more protective over (Y/N). They never really thought much of it since they thought that's just the way he became as he got older. They were inseparable, so (Y/N) thought it was just normal.
"(Y/N), are you gonna come eat lunch with us?" A female classmate asked, she had light brown hair that was put in a ponytail with bangs, she wore round glasses and had dark brown eyes. She sat in front of (Y/N).
"Uh..." (Y/N) quickly looked at Ricky, who sat at the other side of the classroom. His head resting on his hand as he stared at them and their classmate with what seemed like a serious yet dark look on his face, like as if he was glaring at them.
(Y/N) turned back at their classmate, and slowly shook their head, awkwardly smiling, "...Sorry, I'm skipping lunch today," (Y/N) lied. "I need to study since my grades aren't that good."
That was a completely obvious lie. (Y/N) was one of the students with the highest grades in the entire school. "Ah, okay," Her classmate nodded. "Maybe we could hang out after school sometime?"
"Sure," (Y/N) responded, not thinking much of it. "I'll see you later." They got up from their desk and walked over to where Ricky was sitting. That same dark look was still on his face.
"What was that?" Ricky asked with a deep voice. "Nothing," (Y/N) shrugged as they leaned on the desk that was next to Ricky's. "Nothing?" Ricky scoffed. "She isn't even friends with you, why would she ask you to have lunch with her?"
"Maybe so she wouldn't have to eat lunch alone?" (Y/N) responded, giving a somewhat reasonable answer to his question. They looked at him with a puzzled look on their face, "Why do you care about who I hang out with?"
Ricky didn't answer, he just stood up from his desk and grabbed (Y/N)'s wrist with a grip that wasn't so tight. "C'mon, let's get out of here."
They both walked out of the classroom and were walking in the hallway, with some students eating lunch with their friends and others messing around. Ricky didn't let go of (Y/N)'s wrist and only held it tighter as they walked.
One male student who was walking by noticed (Y/N), he immediately grinned as he saw them, "Oh, hi (Y/N)!" They stopped in their tracks, making Ricky stop as well. "Hi Gyuvin!" (Y/N) grinned back, looking up at him. He was the same height as Ricky, or maybe just a bit taller. "How have you been?"
"I've been okay, I guess," Gyuvin responded, his hands now in the pockets of his pants. "You?" (Y/N) responded back with a simple "I've been okay too."
"Oh, hey Ricky," Gyuvin noticed the tall blond figure, his grin slightly faded. "...Hi," Ricky responded in a monotone, his eyes now staring at him.
Gyuvin pursed his lips for a moment when he noticed that Ricky was holding (Y/N)'s wrist. Ricky had a cold and dark look on his face, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed and his stare was so strong that it could probably burn a hole right through Gyuvin.
"Do you have something going on?" Gyuvin asked, now with a somewhat serious tone. "Why-" (Y/N) asked confusingly until they remembered that Ricky still hasn't let go of their wrist. "Oh."
"Why do you ask?" Ricky sneered. Gyuvin scoffed, looking back at him, "What? Am I not allowed to ask something?" (Y/N) looked at Ricky and then at Gyuvin, noticing the now growing tension between the two.
"It's none of your business," Ricky spat. "Get lost." Gyuvin chuckled at his reaction, "Wow, I just asked a question and you got so fucking defensive." Before Ricky was about to say something back, (Y/N) yanked their wrist from Ricky's grip and quickly walked away, leaving Gyuvin and making Ricky follow behind them.
(Y/N) was a bit annoyed with Ricky, he was always so mean and cold to everyone but them. Not that they didn't like it, though. If anything, it felt so nice that there was someone who prioritized them.
The only bad thing about it is how he was with their friends, especially with Gyuvin, (Y/N) was convinced that he saw him as a threat or something.
As Ricky finally caught up with (Y/N), they both exited out of the school building and were now walking to the opposite side of it, Ricky's hand went in his left pocket and pulled out an ignition key for his motorcycle. He always parked it behind the building, since nobody (including the staff) goes there.
As they finally arrived to the other side of the building, Ricky's motorcycle was parked underneath a tree, with two helmets on the seat. There were two since Ricky always takes (Y/N) to school.
"Where are we going?" (Y/N) asked as Ricky inserted the key in the ignition of the motorcycle and turned it, the engine turned on and immediately made a roaring sound.
Ricky grabbed his helmet and sat on the motorcycle, as he put on his helmet, he noticed that (Y/N) was just staring at him. He smirked, "What? Are you checking me out or something?"
(Y/N) felt their face get warm as he said that, they quickly shook their head as they grabbed their helmet and sat behind him. "Ugh, never," (Y/N) responded with a disgusted tone as they put on their helmet.
Despite of what they said, they felt butterflies in their stomach as they wrapped their arms around Ricky's waist.
Ricky drove off immediately, now exiting the campus. Even though the school day wasn't over yet, he had no intentions of him and (Y/N) coming back.
Now on the road, (Y/N) held him a bit more tighter as they asked him again, "Where are we going?" Ricky responded as he made a right turn on the road, "We're getting lunch."
(Y/N) sighed, resting their head on Ricky's back.
(Y/N) and Ricky arrived to a fast food restaurant that wasn't so far away from where Ricky lived. After Ricky parked his motorcycle, (Y/N) grabbed their backpack and pulled out their phone to check the time as they both got off.
They immediately gasped as they saw the time, they looked at Ricky with a worried expression on their face, "There's only ten minutes left until class starts! We need to go back!" Ricky smiled at their reaction, finding it adorable, "Who said that we're gonna go back? Let's just spend some time together."
"But- Why?" (Y/N) frowned. "We don't need to ditch!" Ricky sighed as he wrapped an arm around (Y/N)'s shoulder. "It's only for a day though, you'll be fine."
"I just wanted to spend some time with you only," Ricky spoke, making (Y/N) have butterflies in their stomach again. "You're the only person I enjoy being around with."
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blindbeta · 17 days
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Hello.
I am writing a superhero series and I have a blind superhero character. I am currently trying to research how to portray this character in a respectful and accurate way.
For context, this hero is part of the supporting cast, and is a character the MC meets later on in the story. Every character in this world has some sort of superpower. His is the ability to control sound waves. While he can use them in an echolocation sort of way to detect enemy attacks, he can't use them in his everyday life as using your power is just the same as doing any physical activity, it's tiring.
Though, some blogs I've seen seem to discourage giving blind characters superpowers. I don't think this character's powers necessarily "cancel out his disability" I just want to make sure I'm writing this character respectfully.
I guess what I'm asking is, do you have any tips for writing blind superhero characters?
Blind Characters, Echolocation, and General Tips for Writing Super-powered Blind Characters
I answered a similar question that might be helpful. It explored some problems with the echolocation trope. You can read it here.
Limiting the Use of Echolocation
I like the fact that he can’t use it for very long and that it is draining, much like eye strain or using echolocation in real life. Echolocation is also challenging to learn and is not a replacement for a cane or other mobility aid. It would be unhelpful with most day-to-day activities. I’m glad you are considering the possibility of a superpower erasing his blindness and avoiding it in daily life.
Although, I still wonder about his superhero life.
Can he be an active superhero without echolocation? If it is something he relies on to be a superhero, maybe that would be something to consider. If he is an active superhero without it, you’re on a good course.
Furthermore, does he only use his powers for echolocation? I would assume not, although I could not tell from your question, as your main concern is the echolocation aspect.
Addressing Common Concerns With the Powers Often Given to Blind Characters
1. Negating blindness
Controlling sound waves doesn’t necessarily negate blindness outside of echolocation possibilities, as far as I can imagine. Aside from the overly common trope of giving a blind character a sensory-based power, that is. My concern is less about superpowers in general and more about powers that negate blindness, such as those that provide sight. An example would be a character who uses visions of the future to be able to see the way a sighted person would.
Does he still navigate in a way that might be familiar to blind readers? Does he use orientation and mobility techniques? Does he use Braille or large print or brave regular text with headaches so frequent his pockets are full of medication? Does his blindness impact his life?
Blindness need not only limit a character. Is he better able to orient himself? Can he pick up on sounds and landmarks and changes in light with more ease than his teammates? Is he used to getting hurt while playing blind football and thus able to withstand typical scrapes and bruises without being slowed by them? These are only a few ideas and they will change depending on his level of vision, exposure to the blind community, and how long he has been blind.
2. The Power to See is Boring
Additionally, these powers usually focus on addressing blindness, rather than being powers in their own right. This is the difference between a superhero with the power to see and a superhero who can manipulate emotions with a brush of their hand.
Could you consider other uses for this power that aren’t echolocation? For example, could he use his powers to facilitate or conceal communication? To amplify sound? Think of applications for the power that don’t involve echolocation or creating a way to see. Create other uses for echolocation. From your question, it seems you are already considering this.
The way you described use of the power doesn’t seem to negate blindness to me. I also think that considering other uses of this power outside of echolocation (which is often written to negate or reduce the impact of blindness) would be helpful.
Also, as I was reading your question again, I wondered if there are any other blind characters in the story. Since everyone has powers, that could be interesting to explore even if they don’t decide to be superheroes.
I hope this gives you some ideas to explore. Feel free to send a follow-up ask if needed.
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rinixo · 2 years
Text
cherry waves
Din Djarin/Reader | 3.1k | Rated E | afab reader, no y/n, sex pollen trope, description of illness, vaginal fingering, first time
In hindsight, that caf did taste a little off.
--
Non-linear oneshots featuring you, a university scholar from Naboo who is helping The Mandalorian seek out the Jedi.
read on ao3
The quiet murmur of the crowds were faint in the back of your mind as you sat underneath the shade near a small food stand. In front of you on the table were various datapads, and as you sipped on your caf your eyes darted from one to another, analyzing the information.
Off in the distance, The Mandalorian entertained the child by walking him past the various shops and stands. The baby had been distracting you from your current task, so the metal man had graciously pulled him away to ply his attention with shiny baubles and roasted skewers.
The market you were on wasn’t particularly large or well known, but it suited your needs well enough. The three of you needed to stretch your legs and breathe non-recycled air after a couple of weeks being cooped up in the Crest. Being able to stock up on some basic necessities was a plus, especially in a place where you were unlikely to be noticed or tracked by the various bounty hunters and imperial remnants out to find you.
However, supplies and fresh air were only second on your list of priorities. What you really needed, and what eventually led to you sitting there surrounded by datapads was a reliable Holonet connection.
A few days ago, you had approached Mando about your current progress on tracking down information on the Jedi Order. You had stockpiled terabytes of records and information prior to fleeing Naboo, which had been helpful, but could only get you so far.
“I need to cross-reference the variables against the network in order to extrapolate the most relevant data points and establish the locations with the highest likelihood of success,” you had explained. Mando had turned slightly in his seat, and you guessed that under that helmet he was frowning.
Smiling apologetically, you tapped your nails against the side of your datapad. You had the tendency to get too technical when it came to your passion. “I need a stable connection to the Holonet so I can plug in the info we know about the Jedi against recent mentions or sightings so I can narrow down where we should be looking.”
That seemed to make sense, so a few days later there you were, hooked up to the Holonet on some planet you had already forgotten the name of. For the past hour, you had been running the data, searching for info points on your keywords – ‘Jedi’, ‘laser sword’, ‘space magic’, etc – hoping to find something that would get you closer to your goal.
A while later, your search had yielded a half dozen promising leads. Pleased, you shut off your data pads and began to pack up your items up as Mando waltzed back over.
“Any luck?” He asked, and you nodded as you stood.
“Actually, yes. I found some relatively recent data that I think is worth investigating.” The two of you (and the baby, tucked away in his pouch at Mando’s side) began your short journey back to where the Razor Crest was docked while you continued to speak. “The New Republic has removed most of the Imperial censors on the ‘net, but a lot of the data on the Jedi has just been purged completely. It’s not so much that the information is censored at this point – rather, the information just doesn’t exist anymore. At least not in a format I can access.”
“But you found something?” Mando asked, and you detected a tinge of hope in the timbre of his voice.
Reaching into your pack, you pulled out one of your data pads and pulled up some coordinates. “Yes, several locations that have mention of information or remnants of Jedi history, and in some cases alleged sightings of actual Jedi.” Mando took the pad from you as you approached the Crest, climbing the ramp into the belly of the ship. “One of those places is just one jump away, actually.”
Mando handed the pad back to you, and began to head towards the cockpit. “Good job. We’ll start there.”
You set your things down among the recently re-stocked supply crates, hoping that turning your face away from the man was enough to hide the heat in your cheeks and the shine in your eye from the compliment. Your halfhearted attempt at dampening your crush on the armored man had failed, and your heart continued to race every time he praised you or brushed up against you.
You had acknowledged that Mando’s first priority would always be the child, which you respected and agreed with. You often wondered if the subtle hints you sent his way, in your body language and voice, made it through the beskar armor. He was still as stoic and unflappable as he was when you first met, but his replies had started to come easier and it felt like he would now go out of his way to spend time with you, instead of the wide berth he had given you half a year ago. Part of you knew that it was due in no small part to the trust the two of you had built, but the romantic in you also liked to wonder if it was something a little more.
A sharp pain in the back of your neck pulled you out of your wistful thinking, and you winced. Chalking it up to too much caf too quickly, you decided you finish putting your things away and take a nap. You didn’t want it to turn into a headache or migraine, and a nap was usually enough to stave such off.
 --
Several hours later, you remained awake in your cot, head aching and body burning. You had slept in fitful bursts until the burning under your skin forced your eyes back open to the low light of the hold where you lay. Sweat trickled across your skin, and you let out a low moan tinged with pain. You felt like your very blood was made molten, chugging sluggishly through your veins and pooling uncomfortably between your thighs. Every slight movement of your legs and your body sent shocks of sensation to your most sensitive nerve endings.
Hoisting yourself up with some difficulty, you shuffled slowly towards the refresher, thin tank sticking to your clammy skin. Pushing open the door, you gazed at your reflection in the mirror, someone you had a hard time recognizing staring back. Your skin was slick with sweat, your pupils blown dark and wide. With a shaking hand, you turned on the water and tried to relieve some of your pain by splashing it across your face. It did nothing to help, and merely splashed your already sweat-soaked top with ice cold water.
Shutting the water off, you turned to return to your cot, only to bump straight into a broad metal chest. The impact wasn’t very hard, but in your fragile state you fell to the ground, legs shaking underneath you. Your head pounded, and you groaned and covered your eyes.
“Are you alright? You don’t look so good,” Mando inquired. You rasped out a ‘no’, throat dry. You weren’t sure what was going on, but you knew that you definitely did not feel well. Your pussy throbbed at the sound of his voice, which would normally not feel so bad. In your current state, it was almost painful.
Mando turned, looking for something, and returned shortly with a cup of water. He knelt to be closer to your level, and held up the cup to your lips. He helped you sip, and you downed the water gratefully, feeling the dryness in your throat ease some.
“What happened?” Mando asked, and you sighed.
“I don’t know,” you said weakly. “Maybe I’m sick? I felt fine until we got back to the Crest. I had a bit of a headache so I tried to sleep it off, but it just kept getting worse and worse.” A low ‘hmm’ emanated from the beskar helmet, and Mando pulled off a glove to place the back of his hand gently against your cheek. You closed your eyes and leaned into it, thankful for the coolness of his skin against your blazing cheek.
“You’re burning up,” Mando said, concern evident in his voice. “It’s odd that you’d get this sick this quickly.” You let out a whine as he removed his hand, letting you head lull to the side. A sudden thought rushed through your head and you looked up at him in panic.
“You – and the baby – I don’t want you two to get sick,” you breathed out. “You should get away from me, and keep him away.” Mando stood, and pulled a datapad towards him. Frustrated that he seemed to ignore your concern, you tried to pull yourself up and found it more of a struggle than you could attempt. Choosing instead to crawl towards him, you pleaded for him to return to the cockpit.”
“Hush,” Mando commanded, and it was like every cell in your body stood at attention to obey him. You shut your mouth and rested your head against his armored thigh, closing your eyes to ride another wave of the burning in your blood that seemed to both come from and end up between your legs.
“Did you have anything to eat when we were in the market earlier?” Mando asked. You shook your head weakly.
“N-no…just a couple cups of caf…”
His helmet tilted sharply to look down at you. “Caf? Are you sure?”
Confused, you shrugged. “I…I think so?” Now that you thought about it, it had tasted a little unusual, but you had assumed it was just some kind of local variety. “It was a little…spicy…?”
A muffled expletive was all you heard as Mando set the datapad down and crouched to get at your eye level again. He grasped your chin gently in one hand to steady your head, and you felt your blood sing. You could faintly make out your reflection in his helmet, your pupils so dark it felt like your vision should be black.
“Wha-?” you said in a hushed voice, confused. Mando sighed, and let go of your chin. He remained in a crouched position, arms on his knees and hands opening and closing into fists as he struggled to explain.
 “I think you’ve been poisoned,” he started slowly. Your head shot up, panic evident on your face. “Not on purpose,” he clarified, “at least I don’t think so. I don’t think what you were given was caf. That planet is known for an herb that – in some people – elicits this kind of reaction,” he gestured at you. “I’m guessing that it was in what you drank.”
Your mind raced. Poisoned? Herb? None of it made sense in your addled state. All you knew was that with every passing moment your body throbbed with need and you were edging closer and closer to shoving your hand into your pants right here in front of the Mandalorian.
“Is there an antidote?” You moaned. “How long does this last?”
Mando shook his head. “Not that I know of. From what I’ve encountered, it can last a couple of days, but I’ve never seen someone have such a strong reaction,” he explained sympathetically. “I don’t know how much you had, so I don’t know how long this will last.”
“Is there anything to relieve this feeling?” You practically begged. “Mando, I’m desperate, this is unbearable…”
The man cleared his throat. It was clear he was struggling with something.
“There is,” he said lowly. “But it’s…it’s not something that…” he trailed off. You stifled a sob and crawled closer to him. One of his hands came to steady you at your shoulder.
“This reaction – the herb – it affects your libido,” he continued calmly. You grit out a short, strained laugh.
“No shit.” Something about him acknowledging he understood what you were experiencing was almost liberating. You felt like the more he talked to you, the more he touched you, the closer you were to him the clearer your head felt. The burn under your skin was still there, and the desire pounding through your veins, but your mind and attention were more focused.
“Yeah. So you can work it through your system faster by, uh…” he stumbled over his words. “R-releasing…”
You wanted to sink through the floor and float off into space, never to be seen again. The idea of getting off here with Mando knowing was mortifying. Sure, you were attracted to him, but this was not the way you had fantasized about approaching the topic with him.
“Damn it,” you murmured. “Damn it.” You looked up at Mando, debating your options. It seemed you could either ride this out, not knowing how long it would last, or get off until it wore off. Mando made it sound like it would be at least a few days before it was out of your system naturally You already felt at the end of your rope after just a few hours, so you crossed that off your list. That left you with one option.
Letting out a defeated sigh, you sat back on your haunches. “Can you help me up?” You asked, voice trembling. “Get back to my cot so I can, uh…”
Understanding, Mando moved towards you. Instead of sampling helping you stand, you let out a small squeak as he hoisted you up into his arms. The feeling of your skin against his cold armor was both a relief and a trigger, sending more need through your body.
He walked you over to your cot, and gently laid you down. You let out another (mostly) involuntary moan as his strong embrace lessened, and you desperately wished he would continue to hold you.
“Thanks,” you gasped out. “I’m so sorr-“
“Do you want help?”
You closed your mouth, not knowing to believe what you thought you just heard or not. He had said it so suddenly. His helmeted gaze was fixed on you, and you propped yourself up on one elbow.
“H-help?” You gulped. “H-help how?” His gaze remained steady, and there was a tension radiating off his body like you hadn’t seen before.
“I could…touch you,” he clarified. “Help you…release. Only if you want to,” he added. “Never without – I’d never presume –“
“Yes,” you said breathlessly. Your body hummed with desperation and need. “Please, yes, Mando.” His concern for you was intoxicating, his hurried explanation endearing.
Mando slowly moved to sit on your cot. While your sleeping space wasn’t exactly tiny, his bulk took up most of the space as he leaned against the wall, spreading his legs slightly. “Lay against me,” he said gently. Your body immediately obeyed his command, and shot up to crawl between his legs, settling between them, back against the cool structure of his chest. You felt dwarfed by his body and his presence, and that in and of itself was sending notes of gratification through you.
He shifted you slightly, so that your legs could spread wider. The feeling of his gloved hands against the soft skin of your thighs made you gasp sweetly, and you closed your eyes and leaned your head back.
A short rustle, and then his hands were back, this time bare. “Can I touch you?” He asked again, one hand on your thigh, the other hovering over the waistband of your bottoms. You nodded, and let out a hushed ‘yes’. Despite your enhanced state, you felt fully in control of your senses and cognizant of your decision.
Mando slipped his hand under your shorts, and cupped your dripping cunt. You spread your legs further, bumping them up against his. His hand on your thigh rubbed soft, soothing circles as his other prodded your folds and clit carefully.
You were so pent up and sensitive your first orgasm came embarrassingly fast. Mando slowly caressed your swollen pussy as you bit your lip and whimpered.
“So soon?” Mando joked breathlessly. Your hands came up to grip his pants, fisting the material as your lower half writhed.
“M-more Mando, please…”
He obliged you, putting pressure on your throbbing clit. You chewed on your lower lip, trying to move your hips in motion with his ministrations. His hand ventured lower, two fingers slipping inside you as the heel of his palm rubbed your clit. You opened your mouth in a silent ‘ah’ as he began to stroke in and out of you – not too deep, just enough to make your legs begin to shake.
His unoccupied hand came up to rest on your lower stomach. You marveled at how hands so calloused could feel so soft against you. You looked down at where he continued to pump in and out of you, cheeks burning. You were wetter than you had ever been before, and the sound of Mando touching you was nearly obscene.
You could feel another orgasm approaching. Your hands gripped his pants harder, and you arched your back, trying to get Mando to fill you more. His hand on your stomach stayed firm, holding you in place as he methodically fingered your dripping cunt.
“That’s it,” he murmured, voice husky and low even through the vocoder. “Let me help you-”
“M-maker…” you gasped. He ground his palm against your mound, and you were on the precipice. Your thighs shook with the effort of trying not to writhe so much that he lose his grip. You wondered where he learned to do this. Maybe it was the effect of the herb making you more sensitive, but it was like he was playing your body like an artist perfecting a masterpiece.
Your orgasm built like chain lightning, and rolled over you like thunder. Your thighs snapped closed, trapping his hand between your legs. Your head fell forward as you wailed, Mando coaching you through your second release.
“Yes, good girl, you’re doing so well-“
It felt like your release lasted two lifetimes before your thighs began to part. You felt extremely sensitive as Mando slipped his fingers out of you, trailing them up over your clit. Your body jerked from the sensation, and you panted, eyes closed.
“Feeling better?” Mando murmured, hand rubbing soft circles on your tummy. You nodded, voice not found. You were feeling lightyears better in fact – the burn was still there, but so much more subdued and your head no longer pounded.
“Mmm,” he said. “I guess your exceptional reaction results in exceptional completion.”
You let out a laugh. “Is that your hypothesis?” Mando’s hands returned to your thighs, and you bit your lip as he teased the soft skin there.
“Perhaps,” he mused. “I think it could benefit from more investigation.”
“Agreed,” you breathed, letting the pleasure wash over you as he resumed his attention dutifully.
 --
pt 2 but with din getting sex pollen’d.....? ∠( ᐛ 」∠)
1K notes · View notes
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ultimate ship confession lets go (well not really but here's what i think):
cleril: isn't in a great place right now, but it has potential to be good. i like them a little more platonically. people need to stop ignoring peril's character development omg.
glorybringer: i'm too tired to care at this point. this has been debated to death. 
blacier: it's kind of cute (well, the fandom version is; canon is more toxic and that's less of my thing. good for you if you like that though). no strong opinions.
jamapple: POSSIBLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHIPS 💖💖💖💖 they got their spotlight in OND BOOK and that's all they needed to win me over. the flashback to them snuggling in the hammock????? MY HEARTTTTT 💕💕💕💕💞
mastermind x chameleon: i have seen this shipped maybe twice. and i can't get it out of my head. it's just so interesting to me.
winter x kinkajou: wait...... maybe? a part of me thinks they could be cute, but most of me says pass.
ripnami: somewhat has potential; is currently very boring and questionable. i'm not against tsunami having a love interest, but i'm loosing faith in riptide. riptide i KNOW you can become interesting please do literally anything before you bore me to death.
lunatail: they're adorable together!!! obsessed with them omg. people need to talk about them more (for my sake).
clearsight x sunstreak: no opinions; seems fine. i feel like most of the people who hate this ship hate it because they wanted clearsight and darkstalker to get together. which. 🤨
moonbli: it's just okay. a little cute, slightly bland. could get better as they develop their relationship.
quinter: i normally love these types of dynamics, but i'm not interested in quinter? no idea why. i guess like them more platonically.
sunnyflight: uhhh no. don't like this one. i think sunny kindly shutting starflight down and him being okay with that is very refreshing.
whiteout x thoughtful: i feel like people forget about them a lot..... and i can see why. i really think it's cute how they're both artists, but they just don't have much momentum.
glacier x boa: i find this one is more compelling than blacier. glacier crying when she heard boa's backstory... girl me too.
smolder x thorn: i started to appreciate this one so much more when i read smolder's section in the guidebook. that man was a sopping wet disaster. hope they're happy together. i really like them.
sunnyspeaker: seems very cute! no strong opinions. i'd feel a little bad for starflight lmao.
mangrove x orchid: 💖💖💖💖💖💖 I LOVE THEM AND I NEED TO KNOW HOW THEY'RE DOING.
anemone x tamarin: anemone SERIOUSLY needs a good influence, so i think tamarin would be good for her. i'm very curious and i want to see their relationship develop.
winterwatcher: ehhhhhh. i can see the vision, but the vision isn't for me.
scarlet x burn: no. love LOOSES 🔥🔥🔥 the only love for burn is BLOODSHED.
starspeaker: it's cute. that's it. idk. i used to not like them together, but now i think they're fine.
sunlow: 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 THEMMMM!!!! the flashback to their first meeting had me giggling and kicking my feet.
darksight: no. their relationship was very interesting and complex and well written, but from a shipping standpoint??? no way in HELL.
kinkajou x moon: it's cute! no strong opinions. stuck between whether i would like them more as friends or lovers.
clearsight x listener: fun to entertain, but i like them better as friends. if clearsight stayed on pyrrhia, listener would've turned her into a wine mom and they would gossip.
lynxfall: no strong opinions. they're both gay as hell and seem right for each other, but i'm just not really interested. again, no idea why.
anemone x pike: i DO like the bodyguard trope... but anemone x tamarin has more potential in my eyes.
blicket: kind of a guilty pleasure for me....... YES it was rushed but they're really cute this each other. luna imagining that wedding tapestry of them...... melting my heart.
umber x qibli: sounds cute. i like the idea of umber crushing on qibli and then finding someone else though.
turtlejou: meh. has a little potential, but is mostly boring to me. i appreciate how kinkajou was honest with turtle about her feelings at the end.
blister x morrowseer: idk. if they were married i think they would try to poison kill each other 24/7.
carnelian x moon: ehhhh, not for me. i don't like it that much. maybe because carnelian is kind of an eh character to me (SORRYYY i know a lot of you guys are carnelian girlies).
fathom x indigo: glad they got a happy ending. wish we got to see them interact a liiiiiiiiitle more, but i like them.
pertle: no. they're besties and you can't change my mind.
snowfall x sky: thought about this one for a while...... but..... ehhhhhhhhhhhhh...... no.
coral x blister: no.
jambringer: again, very fun to entertain; i can see the vision. but i can't abandon the jamapple ship 😤
arcticslayer: probably one of the most realistic relationships in the book. very conflicted about them. i think they were more attracted to the ideas of each other. maybe.
ok i KNOW there's more ships but i'm cutting it off here because this is getting long. also i haven't read the winglets so idk what's going on over there.
if you're hurt by my opinions and want to rage over them, you're a baby. ship whatever you want (so long as it's not really really weird); i do NOT care.
.
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solshifts · 2 months
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Introduction! ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧
Hello everyone!! My name is Solaris or Sol for short and I am new to Shifting Tumblr. I am currently 21 and majoring in graphic design at my university! I discovered shifting due to shiftok in 2020 and have stuck with it since !! I've had two accidental shifts to an alt CR but, not to my DR unfortunately but I know I'll get there soon!! I'll list some of my DRs below and you guys can see if we have anything in common<3. ♡ 1. Streamer DR : This is my main DR. I adore it with my life. I used to always want to be a streamer back in my 2020 Minecraft SMP eras (Which I'm not in anymore </3). I am a variety streamer in this one and mostly stream minecraft, cooking/baking streams, and also just chatting and roblox raids of course!! My best friend is Quackity andd my love trope is childhood best friends to lovers(hehe, My favorite trope). ♡ 2. Descendants DR : I'm still in the process of finishing my script for this one!! So far I am the daughter of Cinderella and sister to Chad Charming( I'm the smart one of course ;) ). My name is Caitlin Charming and my best friends are Mal, my irl bestie Mae, Evie, Carlos, Jay and many many many more!! I do have a crush interest in this DR so I'll let ya'll guess who it is! ♡ 3. H2O DR : This one is pretty self explanatory LOL. Like be a mermaid and be friends with mermaids and swim and explore the ocean while trying to balance a regular life, like c'mon that sounds so fun!!
♡ 4 .WolfBlood DR : This one I feel like is a rare DR amongst shifters so if you have this as one of your DRs please hmu LOL. WolfBlood has always been my comfort show on Disney when it first launched in 2012 and I've always wanted to be a werewolf who lives among humans and I just think this one would be so fun (except for Shannon trying to find out what the 'beast on the moors' is, seems nagging. I've redone my script 20 times for this one so bare with me as I sort out the details </3. ♡ 5. Better CR DR : This one is also self explanatory, I just feel like a better CR is definitely what I want AND need. Better friend group, going out and having fun, going on adventures, having money, having good grades alll the time, having talents like singing and/or drawing etc; and marrying who your dream person is. Glad shifting came into my life because I loveee having a better CR DR. ♡ 5. Avatar DR : Self explanatory!! I'm the oldest sully and live in the forest with my family <3 That's just a few of the MANY DRs I have, so if you want to find out if we have a same DR feel free to ask :) I don't bite !!! If you're new to shifting and want to ask some questions, please ask them and I'll answer them to the best of my ability!! NO QUESTION IS DUMB<3. Shoutout to my bestie Mae for introducing me to this because I didn't know Shifting tumblr existed and I'm looking forward to meeting you all! @maebyshifting ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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thecouchsofa · 2 months
Note
round 2. i did not know you didnt do x reader, nor non-canon characters.
54+67 mashup please
draco x harry
can't wait to see it!
thank you
This one I can definitely do!
Fanfiction trope mashup - Secret relationship x Character in peril
“Where the fuck is he?”
The shitty plastic hospital chair creaked warningly as Ron leapt to his feet, pointing his wand at the door. It burst open to reveal a rather harried looking Malfoy with a nurse on his heels. Though Ron’s eyes were red and swollen at that point, stinging something awful, he could clearly see the panic writ across Malfoy’s face. His eyes were wild, like a startled animal, and uncontrolled magic was coming off him in waves. Ron had never seen anything like it, not since–
Malfoy’s voice was low, a rumble that had goosebumps rising on Ron’s arms, as he said “Point your fucking wand at me again and see what happens.”
It would be ridiculously easy for Ron to disarm Malfoy, even in his current state, completely wrecked and running off an hour’s sleep. He was combat trained; Malfoy wasn’t. He’d have the backing of every Healer in the hospital; Malfoy wouldn’t. He had a reason to be there; why Malfoy was there, shouting and carrying on and looking like he might keel over, was anyone’s guess.
“Mr Weasley,” the nurse called out, brushing past Malfoy and placing herself between him and Harry. “I’m so sorry, security is on their way now.”
Malfoy made a choked noise as he stared at Harry, lying silent in the hospital bed. “What’s wrong? Why isn’t … why isn’t he healing?”
Something in his voice made Ron pause. It wasn’t the mocking, aggressive lilt that he’d gotten to know well in his teen years. Malfoy sounded scared, panicked. His whole body was shaking; the tremors in his hands were so strong he looked like he might drop his wand.
“It’s alright,” Ron said quietly. “Let him stay.”
Malfoy didn’t seem to hear him, his attention fixed firmly on Harry. He let out a sob when the nurse left, closing the door with a huff. There was something there, something that Ron wasn’t getting.
“Hey,” Ron whispered. He stepped towards Malfoy, gently grabbing his hand. He took Malfoy’s wand from his shaking fingers, slipping it into his front pocket. “You know I have questions, yeah?”
Malfoy’s throat worked as he swallowed. “Yes.” He didn’t look at Ron; Ron might as well have not been there. “I … it wasn’t my place to say anything.”
A dry laugh pulled itself from Ron’s chest. He nodded at Harry, lying unconscious in the bed. “He’s a bit of an idiot, isn’t he?”
The shakes increased as Malfoy started to gasp. Whether he was crying or not, Ron had no idea. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Go to him.” Ron knew it now, clear as day. “Help him. He needs you.”
Malfoy nodded, the movement jerky. He fell into the chair that Ron had vacated, reaching for Harry and linking their fingers together.
“He’s drained his magical core,” Ron said. His gaze settled on the haze of magic around Harry’s bed, the monitoring spells in blue and red and green. “At first they said that he’d be alright, but…”
“He’s gotten worse?” Malfoy took a deep breath. The chair squeaked when he shifted closer to the bed. “He won’t now. He’ll be fine.”
“You can’t ask your father to fix this one,” Ron joked. He winced as soon as the words left his mouth, but Malfoy didn’t seem to take offence. The corners of his mouth quirked upwards as he pressed Harry’s knuckles to his lips.
“I won’t need to. I’ll do it myself.”
It took hours, but Malfoy made good on his promise. Ron watched as the monitoring spells glistened and lightened, as Malfoy’s magic swirled in the air, rushing into Harry and then emerging again, cyclical.
It was dark when Harry’s eyes opened, only the sheen of magic there to light the room. The first word from his lips – the only word, repeated over and over – was Draco.
Send me two tropes and I'll mash them together
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wth-if · 10 months
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Humans have made their peace with the supernatural a long time ago.. all of them, except the demons.
Ten years ago Archangel Michael swooped down from the Heavens to give humans a new salvation, a solution to their pest problem, a little thing they called H.E.L.L. - Heaven's Eradication of Lethal Lowborns.
Ever since then the demons have been under control. Until recently -unexpected, right?- after a series of kidnappings conducted by a cult calling themselves The Morningstar's Children. Ever since, H.E.L.L. has been cracking down hard on the lowborns.
And well, Lucifer Morningstar (The President of Hell Themself and Michael's sibling) is having none of that.
In retaliation, she sends you, a demon, to infiltrate H.E.L.L., and take it down.. from the inside!
OR, a celestial sibling rivalry goes a bit too far.
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FEATURES (May Change!):
Play as a lowborn/demon! Male, female or nonbinary (including cis/trans options); gay, straight or aro/ace; be the vessel for Lucifer’s revenge against her sibling by.. hunting your own kind? What?
In-depth character customization! Hair color & style, skin color, body type, markings, piercings, etc!
Choose how you got chosen for the job! Are you a demonic assassin or are you just an average joe who happened to be walking by?
Romance one out of four unique romance options! Your demonic co-worker, a demon hunter and TWO archangels (that’s right!)
Cause chaos and shenanigans! Get Michael’s coffee wrong, mess up an investigation and let demons escape H.E.L.L.’s grasp! It’s what you’re here for!
Discover the mystery behind the disappearances, and who's really behind The Morningstar's Children!
Help Lucifer Morningstar win her election against her son Satan, or sabotage it!
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Levithan (He/Him): Demonic Overlord, Son of Lucifer, Sin of Envy. You'd expect a guy with that description to be pretty full of himself, but instead he seems pretty tired and over-worked. He's been tasked by Lucifer to infiltrate H.E.L.L. alongside you- why? It's anyone's guess at this point. (Possible Tropes: bickering couple, tired x energetic, tol x smol)
Yavhi Gupta (They/Them): Stubborn, rude and cold-hearted. They've been working for H.E.L.L. since they were able to join, and they're one of the toughest, roughest demon hunters around. They don't joke or play around, they go straight for the kill each time. Unlucky for you then, that you've been assigned to train underneath them for the foreseeable future. (Possible Tropes: enemies to lovers, opposites attract, black cat x golden retriever)
Raquel (She/Her): Fierce, witty and loyal to the end. When her best friend left Heaven, she followed right after. Now, she works as a detective alongside him and they've been hired by an outside source to investigate The Morningstar's Children, as H.E.L.L. can't seem to do anything right, and she'll do anything to find out the truth; even if it means teaming up with a lowborn like you. (Possible Tropes: fwbs to lovers, smart x dumbass)
Gabriel (He/Him): Quiet, yet lethal and dangerous. He left Heaven for a reason, but now works alongside his friend as a detective. He's the brawn of the operation, but just as willing to do anything to get the truth... even if you get the feeling he knows more than it seems. (Male MCs only. Possible Tropes: Mutual pining, star-crossed lovers, quiet x loud)
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Lucifer Morningstar (She/They): As the Sin of Greed, she's the father (mother?) of all the other deadly sins, and the current President of Hell- though with reelections soon, and her subjects looking in their son's, Satan's, favor, that might change soon. Which is why they sent you on the quest to take down H.E.L.L., so her rep would get a serious boost. She's conniving, scheming and pantsuit wearing, and will stop at nothing to keep her spot on top. (And I love her.)
Michael (They/Them): The most powerful Archangel of them all, it was obvious that one day, they'd become the humans savior, their saving grace.. uh, not really, but they love the praise. Recently however they've been under fire from the human media after a slip-up resulted in the deaths of six people, but they managed to save grace by capturing and promptly executing a few lowborns connected to The Morningstar's Children. (Which, In Raquel's professional opinion, puts them right at the top of her list of suspects.)
Shae (She/Her): A vampire and the one who hired Raquel and Gabriel after the kidnapping of her son Damien at the hands of The Morningstar's Children.
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LINKS :
DEMO POST (TBA) R/O INTROS (TBA)
Asks about the R/Os, the characters or the story in general are always welcomed!
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wri0thesley · 2 years
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hello. i am back. with more thoughts. i am very sorry hfhfhr but 😩😩😩 genshin men happening upon you masturbating?? esp to thoughts of them?? Diluc's so flustered and caught off guard but he's more than happy to assist. Childe would pounce you on the spot without wasting a second, Kaeya would endlessly tease and lovingly mock you before assisting, and Ayato… Well guess he has to show you how to everrrything doesn't he? And then very sweet Thoma will immediately assist you, doesn't matter if it's not really in the job description, he loves to serve and assist you... Ok you can throw me out now i'm sorry
ahem. always a favourite trope for me to think about. i never get sick of writing these ones fdgnkjbngfkj. if anyone would like to ask about any of the boys who did not make it into this little post, please feel free . . . i just didnt wanna make it too long fgbkjngknfj.
cw; afab reader, no pronouns. not sfw, minors dni. being caught masturbating. characters included: diluc, childe, kaeya, ayato, thoma.
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Diluc doesn't know what to do at first. He's been taught to be a polite young gentleman, always; and the proper thing to do would be to turn on his heel and immediately leave the room, perhaps even before you've noticed he's slipped in. But you're . . . just so lovely. He promises himself it will just be a moment; for him to observe the sheen of sweat on your forehead and the flash of your bare thigh - but then, your fingers move just so and your teeth bite into your bottom lip and you sigh out, in a soft voice that has him achingly hard in his trousers; "M-Master Diluc--", and how is he supposed to resist that?
Your door closes and you start, all big frightened eyes at being caught, already trying to stutter out apologies for being so forward - and honestly, seeing you also flustered soothes him a little. Reminds him that for as pretty as you look and for how much he wants you, you are just a mortal too. He smiles at you, his face flushed, hides a cough behind a gloved hand.
"I heard you calling my name," he says, his wine-dark eyes travelling over your bared skin in a way that's nervous but appreciative. "I . . . ahem. Do you, by any chance, require some assistance? I've been told I'm . . . rather good with my hands."
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Childe, indeed, doesn't waste a second more than it takes for him to parse exactly what's going on. He hears his name fall from your lips at the same time as your hips stroke upwards in rhythm with the way you're toying with your clit, and he's on you like a jaguar in search of prey. He's been flirting with you since the moment he met you, and he's certainly made a note of all the sexual tension - tried to push it further and make you break. He does wonder how many times you've done this - how could you be so silly, when he's been happy to give you a helping hand all of this time? Childe is dangerous, and you barely even notice he's moved before a hand is fastening around your wrist and pinning it beside your head.
"You don't seem to be getting very far with that!" He says, grinning down at you, wild, hungry light making his blue eyes seem to glow even brighter in the low light of the bedroom. The hand not holding your wrist down travels down your collarbone; strokes over your bared breast, the feel of his gloves on your sweat-slicked skin making you shiver as he tauntingly stops at the apex of your thighs. "Need some help? All you have to do is ask, you know!"
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Kaeya stumbles across it quite by accident, but despite the Cavalry Captain's current lack of equine companionship, he's still never been the kind to look a gift horse in the mouth. You're trying so hard to hide it the minute you see him, your pretty face all screwed up in horror, the title 'Sir Kaeya--' dying on your lips . . . Kaeya simply closes the door and walks towards you, a smirk on his unfairly handsome face.
"You said my name," he says, in a dangerously excited tone. "Did you need me for something?" Your hands are still trapped between your thighs, and you squeak as he takes an overly casual seat on the bed next to you and stretches out his arms as if nothing is wrong. "You know that I'm always willing to lend an ear when you need to talk, sweetheart! You don't need to whisper it or be ashamed . . ."
He's made it very clear, in his way, that he's more than willing to take an active part in what you're doing - delights in the little shiver that runs through you when he rolls the pet name around on his tongue. But Kaeya wants to tease you. Kaeya loves having the control.
Kaeya isn't going to actually help until you admit to him that you want him.
And then, after that . . . well. Suffice to say that next time you whimper out Kaeya's name, it will quickly be muffled by his hungry lips upon your own.
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Ayato knows everything that happens in the Kamisato estate - and, unfortunately for you, that does include the times you've muffled your cries of his name into your pillow with two fingers inside of you and frustration that it's not the Commissioner himself pounding you into the mattress. But Ayato also enjoys biding his time - making you desperate for him. Standing a little closer to you, smiling a little darker with half-lidded eyes, dropping his voice just a shade lower until you're practically having to stop your thighs quaking in want.
It's after one of those times that he follows you to your little bedroom; at a distance, naturally. Shoos away anybody who wants to follow him or know where he's going; he's simply seeing a . . . private interest of his through to the end, that's all. He's right outside your door when he hears your breath hitch, the whimper of his title . . . and that's the time he chooses to sweep into the room.
He doesn't give you time to try and hide yourself. He doesn't give you time to do anything before he's got you caged beneath him, smiling that inscrutably polite but terribly hungry smile.
"I think this is the fourth time this week you've touched yourself to thoughts of me," he's practically purring in your ear, staring down at you, watching you squirm as you try and desperately think of an apology that will get you off the hook for your wholly inappropriate behaviour. You're utterly mystified when, instead of immediately dismissing you, he simply continues to smile. "Go on, then," he says, amused. "Why don't you tell me what you were thinking of me doing to you? Hmm. If I like it enough, perhaps we can even see about translating your little fantasies to real life."
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Thoma is service-oriented above all things. And it's not like he hasn't fantasised about you! Quietly. On his own. Hoping nobody finds out. So finding you touching yourself with his name on his lips feels like a dream dropped directly into his lap - what you have done, to the Fixer of Inazuma, is dropped a problem right into his lap.
You want to be touched. You want to come. You want him.
And what is Thoma, if he can't fix three such little problems?
He asks, of course! Says your name, all bright and excited so you don't get the wrong idea, and immediately follows it up with; "I can do that for you. Don't tire yourself out!"
Thoma is straightforward about that; dropping onto his knees, looking up at you with eager puppy dog eyes as he kisses your thighs and shuffles forward and waits for permission to be able to touch his mouth to your most intimate part, his heart beating loud in his chest because he can't believe he gets to help you this way, finally. Thoma only has one request.
Kiss. Suck. Lick. Quietly, his breath hot against your own slick core, Thoma murmurs;
". . . Will you say my name again?"
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robbersofmyheart · 1 year
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A coffee shop meeting…
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Summary: Fate steps in when a teacher in her not-even-quarter-life crisis meets Matty Healy.
A/N: There's a very strong possibility that I'll never post any other writing on here again, but I hope this brings a smile to someone else's face. This was a daydream born of my love both for the 1975 (Matty in particular tbh) and for the found family trope. Hope you enjoy it!
“You don’t happen to have a light, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Maybe it’s a sign you shouldn’t smoke it.”
“I’ve done a lot worse, believe me.”
“Oh, I know. Doesn’t make that nicotine any better for you though.”
Eleanor looked across at her companion, eyebrows raised in challenge, waiting to see if he had a comeback. The café, which had been heaving when she arrived a couple of hours ago, now had only two customers remaining. In their typical British fashion, they hadn’t spoken until now, despite being alone at their adjacent tables, so Eleanor was surprised to hear him finally breaking the ice over the rattling of coffee cups being tidied away. She watched as he put the cigarette back into the packet, a smirk overtaking his features.
“So you do recognise me then.”
Crap. Of course that’s what he took from that. Matty Healy - 1, Eleanor - 0.
“Yes, I recognised you, Matty,” Eleanor replied with a sigh. She couldn’t believe she’d lost that easily.
“Why didn’t you say anything? You were the only one in here that could see my face.”
“I was working,” she paused. “Or at least trying to. I don’t usually focus well in busy places, too many more interesting things to study.”
“Why are you here then?”
“My cousin lives in Manchester and I’d come to visit him. We managed to have half a day before he got called in for a last-minute shift at work. I missed my train home by literally seconds, then I saw that the next one was cancelled, so I thought I’d get some planning done while I wait for the one after to arrive.”
Matty was listening to her intently now, his chin resting on his hand. Eleanor wondered what he was doing here. Since he arrived, he’d alternated between drinking cups of coffee, scribbling frantically in his Moleskine, and watching the comings and goings of customers out of the corner of his eye. Before she could ask him, however, he dived in with yet another question for her
“And what sort of planning would that be?”
“Factorising quadratics with Year 9, area of a trapezium with Year 7, and recurring decimals revision with Year 11.”
Matty exhaled loudly, leaning back in his chair, the glint in his eye telling her that he was impressed. “You’re a maths teacher then.”
“Bingo.”
“That must be a tough gig.”
“Just a bit.”
“You seem quite young to be a teacher.” It was a statement, but the furrow in his brows betrayed his confusion.
“I’m 22, so I guess I am.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
Eleanor hesitated, considering what her reply would be, and Matty waited patiently, almost watching the cogs turning in her brain. “I do, for the most part. I work with an amazing team of people, and I love seeing the difference I make to those kids’ lives. Not everyone has that purpose, so I’m lucky really.”
Matty narrowed his eyes at her, knowing that she wasn’t telling the full story. And that was how Eleanor found herself pouring her heart out to the curly haired singer, the troubles that she had bottled up inside her for months finally breaking free, whether she liked it or not.
She told him about how she lived in a permanent state of exhaustion, tired from the never-ending to do lists and the unbearable repetitiveness of her daily life. She told him about the part of her that regretted throwing herself into such a big career at such a young age, and how she felt that she missed her chance to be young and wild and carefree because she’d always been so focused on her work. She told him about how she’d thought about leaving her current life behind and starting again so many times, but had ultimately been too scared of failing and letting people down when they’d given up so much to help her get to where she was now.
To his surprise, Matty didn’t feel like interrupting her once during her monologue. He simply wanted to let her talk, to let her share her thoughts with him. It was like he could actually see some of the weight lifting off the girl’s shoulders as she unburdened herself of her worries, and it almost made him smile to think that she felt comfortable enough to tell him when he somehow knew that she had never told anyone else. So he just listened, letting her ramble on until she ran out of things to say.
When that time finally came, Eleanor let out a big exhale and looked Matty in the eye as he responded with one word: “Wow.”
Eleanor felt her face start to burn and she buried it into her hands. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. This is probably the last way you wanted to spend your afternoon, being on the receiving end of my word vomit.”
“You know what, it actually made a refreshing change. Didn’t expect to get recruited as a therapist today.” Matty watched her shoulders start to shake under her blanket of blonde waves, and was shocked at the worry he felt that she might be crying. But when she looked up she was giggling, despite the faint sheen of tears in her eyes.
“Oh, so you’re my therapist now?”
“You mean you didn’t purposefully choose me? I’m wounded.” That made her laugh properly this time, and Matty found himself unable to hold a soft smile back any longer before his expression turned more serious. “Look, I’m not going to pretend like I know how to solve your problems, and I’m not even sure if you want me to, but can I say one thing?” She nodded. “I think that if the people that you’re worried about letting down really love you, they’ll be more upset if you carry on doing something that’s making you miserable for their sakes than if you give it up.”
Eleanor mulled over the singer’s words and whilst she knew deep down that they were true, it didn’t change the fact that she was absolutely terrified at the idea of giving up teaching. Below the supportive façades, she knew her parents would always berate her for leaving such a stable, well-paid career, and her pride would never let her return to work at her current school with people that she adores if this mysterious plan B failed. She relayed all of this to Matty.
“Well who gives a flying fuck what anyone else thinks anyway! What’s the point in life if you don’t do something you love?”
“But teaching is the only thing I’ve ever even contemplated doing, I’ve got absolutely no idea what else I’d do.”
“Listen, you’re young, intelligent, beautiful, and you’ve literally got the whole world out there with so many possibilities - it doesn’t matter if you don’t get it right first time.”
“Careful, Healy, I might start thinking you like me,”
Now, if you asked Matty Healy of The 1975 why his immediate response was to do a stereotypically girlish impression of that comment before flipping off the young woman sat in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. Nor could he explain why, after only an hour of talking to her, he felt such an incredible fondness for her, an almost brotherly affection, which prompted him to tell her how amazing she seemed to be. But he could describe how his heart soared as she laughed at him, and then sunk as she realised the time and started hurriedly packing her stuff into her bag.
“Shit, shit, shit. Do you think I can make the train in 5 minutes? I can’t miss this one as well. This is all your fault you know!”
“Hang on, how is it my fault? You’re the one who started emptying your brains onto the table.”
“And you were the one who made the mistake of listening.” Eleanor swung her bag onto her shoulder, and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”
Then she was running out of the coffee shop, a blur of blonde hair and floral perfume.
It was only then that Matty realised he didn’t even know her name.
***
1 year later…
“Lovely to meet you, take care.”
As soon as the interviewee had left the room, the smiles on four of the five faces dropped and they let out a sigh.
“Guys, if you want to actually do this, we do need to hire someone.”
Matty tugged at his hair in frustration. “It’s not that we’re not on board with it, Jamie, it’s just got to be with the right person. I mean, it’s letting someone totally unknown to us into an entire chapter of our lives, not just our careers.”
It was just over a month ago that The 1975 had told Jamie Oborne that they were ready to start working on their next album. In the same meeting, Jamie had proposed an idea that he had been mulling over for a while. The response to ‘A Theatrical Performance of an Intimate Moment’ had been better than anyone had anticipated, and the fans always loved seeing behind the scenes footage. So, Jamie had suggested filming the entire journey of their next album, from concept to creation to tour, and releasing it as a mini-series. Of course, the band could get the footage themselves, but whether they would actually remember to do it was a different story.
That was how they found themselves in a boiling hot room in the London office of Dirty Hit, having collectively decided against all 15 people they had interviewed for the role of documentarian.
“I mean, they all just seem so serious,” Matty continued.
“Boring, you mean,” George muttered.
“This thing does have to look good, though, for it to work, and these were the most qualified of all the candidates,” Jamie countered.
“We don’t fucking care about qualified!”
“I think what Matty’s trying to say, mate,” Ross calmly cut in, “Is that we were thinking of something more low key. More of a collection of home movies than something carefully filmed and edited.”
“Yeah, we don’t know how long this thing is going to go on for, way over a year at least, and we don’t want to feel like we’re putting on a show the whole time. It’s got to be authentic. It’s gonna be fucking weird at the start but after a while we just want it to be like a mate is casually filming what we’re doing.”
Jamie had to admit that George closed their argument well, and he was sold on it. He just wished that they had told him sooner.
“Okay, okay, I get it and I’m happy for us to go ahead with that. There’s one more person for us to speak to today, who was kind of my wildcard, so if she’s more what you’re looking for then we can revisit some of the other applications tomorrow.” With that, Jamie left the room to get the last candidate.
“A wildcard? What is this, mid-2000s X Factor?” Matty huffed, to the amusement of the others.
But any annoyance that Matty felt was washed away in an instant when he saw who his manager was holding the door open for.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Matty’s words might have sounded rude, but it was the smile spreading across his face that shocked everyone the most.
“I’m here in an attempt to annoy you for longer this time,” Eleanor smirked.
“Well, you’re failing miserably at this point. How are you?”
“I’m good. Really good, actually.” A genuine smile crossed her face this time. “Didn’t think you’d remember me to be honest.”
“I often wondered what you decided to do with your life in the end,” Matty shrugged. “It frustrated me knowing everything and then nothing at all. So I guess you have already succeeded in your goal to annoy me.”
Before you had chance to reply, another voice broke through to join the conversation. “Sorry to interrupt this lovely chat, but would someone kindly explain what the hell is going on here?” It was George, and he, like everyone else in the room, was stumped by Matty’s sudden personality transplant.
Now very aware of all of the eyes on her, she looked to Matty for help, who simply sat back in his chair before saying “Well, I think you’re sat in the better seat for a storytime, don’t you? Anyway, I don’t even know your name.”
So Eleanor told the room about how she had met their frontman, briefly mentioning the life crisis that she’d been having at the time, whilst Matty impatiently waited to hear what happened after she left the coffee shop. She told them how she’d stayed in teaching until the end of that school year, before handing in her notice. Her boss had been sad to see her go, but told her that if she ever decided that she wanted to come back then he’d always find a job for her. Eleanor’s family, however, reacted quite differently; she ended up having a massive row with her parents about it and her relationship with them still hadn’t quite mended fully. Ever since her move to London, she had been taking whatever bar jobs she could find and spent her days applying to any jobs that took her fancy.
Matty couldn’t help the pride that was coursing through him for the young woman sat across from him. She had taken all of those ‘What ifs’ that she’d told him about, thrown them in the fire and walked away, when he knew that all of her instincts would have been telling her to do the opposite. He looked around at the others, and was both amused and pleased to find that they all seemed to be as entranced by Eleanor as he had been at their first meeting. In Matty’s eyes, she was the perfect fit, and he could tell that she was quickly winning the others over as well.
Surprisingly, it was Adam who spoke up first. “So, you’re saying that you’re totally unqualified for this job?”
“Never done anything like it before in my life. But it sounded interesting and I’m always up for learning new stuff.”
“Never been behind a camera? Never had anything to do with the music industry?” Ross asked, slightly taken aback by her honesty.
“Not the music industry, but I used to study music at school and I still play the piano from time to time.”
“And I take it you’re on board for annoying Matty as much as humanly possible?” It was George this time.
“Oh 100%.”
Matty rolled his eyes, but the smile remained on his face. She’d done it. Now, there was only one person left to convince. Matty quickly joined the others in looking at Jamie the way they used to look at their parents when the ice cream van pulled up on their road.
Eleanor watched on nervously as some sort of telepathic conversation seemed to transpire between the band and their manager.
Eventually, the silence broke and a new chapter began.
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