#and just then i remembered that fancy was dropping and i put in my earphones and tuned in as the sun was setting over the city...

[storiesofsvu]

Boredom Cure

Heather Dunbar x reader Warnings: language, smut, derogatory talk, dirty talk, mommy kink, face fucking, choking, spanking, the tiniest bit of cum play. it's heather... you guys know what to expect by now... Covers the "rough sex" square for @thatesqcrush 's kink bingo. Also covers the prompts requested by @ms-calhoun 😘

You were bored. And lonely. And horny.

Three things that didn’t go together very well for you when Heather was working in the home office.

You’d scrolled through your phone until what felt like the end of time, watched a couple of episodes of tv and even gotten so bored that you’d cleaned out the fridge. You thought about making dinner, strictly to kill the time, but it was far too early for that, besides you were pretty sure you remembered Heather saying something about dinner plans already. It was probably somewhere fancy, to make up for her having to work on a day off so you knew better than to ruin your appetite. Though, that did nothing about satisfying the other appetite that was gnawing through you right now.

When she found out she had to work that morning, Heather had told you to stay in bed and keep sleeping, and because of the lay day you hadn’t bothered to change out of pyjamas. It was more comfortable in cotton shorts and a tank anyways if all you were going to be doing was lounging around the house. You let out a soft sigh, padding your way through the house and up the stairs to Heather’s office, lingering in the doorway.

“You need something kitten?” She asked, her brow raising over the rim of her glasses.

“Just wanted to make sure you weren’t on a video call before I came in.”

“Just paperwork.” She replied, her gaze returning to it as you moved through the room.

“M’bored.” You mumbled, dropping down into her lap, legs on either side of her hips and she let out a little huff.

“And that’s my problem because?” The pen in her hand didn’t stop moving across the paper and you let out sigh.

“M’ also lonely. This place is so big it doesn’t even feel like you’re in the same house.”

“You’re more than welcome to bring a book or the iPad with earphones in here, why do you think I have a couch in the office?”

“There’s one more issue.”

“If you’re hungry just have the housekeeper throw something together for you.” She pressed a kiss to the side of your head, “our dinner reservation isn’t until eight.”

“I already had a snack.”

“Then what is it?” She let out a soft sigh, putting down the pen and turning her gaze to you. She was pretty sure she’d already figured it out, but on the off chance that there was actually something wrong, she didn’t want to seem dismissive.

“I’m horny…” you whined and she rolled her eyes with a groan, picking her pen back up.

“And I’m working kitten. You know that.”

“Take a break? Please?” You dramatically pouted, your fingers playing with the buttons of her blouse and her free hand swatted them away.

“You’ll get what you want after dinner. I promise.”

“Please mommy?” You whined once again, “I really want you now.” You leant down, pressing a kiss into her neck and her hand tangled into your hair, tugging you back up to meet her steely gaze.

“You call that begging? Sorry kitten, but you’re going to have to do a little better than that if you want me to fuck you.” She gently pushed you off her lap, sliding her chair further into her desk so you couldn’t attempt to climb back onto her lap and returned to her work.

“Can I just take care of myself then?”

“Absolutely not.” She didn’t even glance up from her work, “you know the rules.”

You let out a whiney ‘humph’, pouting in her direction before you admitted defeat and turned, leaving the room. She wanted you to try harder, you could definitely play that game.

*

Heather didn’t think much of it when you disappeared from her office, hearing you wander down the hallway to what she assumed was the bedroom. The door squeaked a little bit as you swung it almost closed and a quiet playlist began to echo from door the hall as to not disturb Heather while she was working. She knew that either you had found a way to occupy yourself, or you were about to put on a fucking show and she’d be punishing you after dinner instead of pleasuring you. She was thinking it was going to be the latter, considering you’d already been playing into your brat mood and was pleasantly surprised when there was no show of moans or whirring of vibrators.

She managed to actually get a decent chunk of work done, a brief video call with her assistant who was in the office that day and was drafting up an email to be sent off in the morning when you reappeared in the doorway to the office nearly an hour later. Though this time you were dolled up, hair curled loosely around your shoulders, face dressed with classy make up, a bold red lip even. You had a pale cream robe on, the tie not fully done up so Heather could get a peek of the baby blue lingerie set underneath, complete with stockings and Louboutin’s on your feet. Her hand darted out to her laptop, saving the email as a draft as her eyes dragged up your body, with a sly grin she closed the laptop, putting both it and the paperwork off to the side, neatly stacking her glasses on top while she leant back in her chair. Her head tilted as her tongue darted out to wet her lips, a brow raising in curiosity as she finally caught you eye.

“You got something there?” She asked, nodding toward the way your hands were hiding behind your back and you let out a mischievous giggle.

“They say toys help with boredom, right?” You swung the satin bag into her view, dangling from your forefinger and she let out a soft chuckle, “you said to do better,” you shrugged, glancing down at your outfit, I think I did?”

“Let me see kitten.” She prompted and you smiled, moving through the room to drop the bag onto her desk gently.

With a coy smile you fully undid the robe, letting it droop over your shoulders before you dropped it to the floor and Heather made an approving hum. You couldn’t help but giggle, slowly turning around so she could get the full view of your outfit.

“Well you certainly are dressed for it.” She cooed, “but I do believe I required you to beg for it.”

“May I touch you mommy?” You asked softly, stepping toward her chair and she nodded, a grin on her lips. In turn you straddled her, gently dropping into her lap your hands cupping her cheeks as you let out a little giggle.

“You’re so needy today kitten.” She purred and you felt the heat shoot through your body.

“I just miss you.” You leant forward pressing a kiss into the crook of her neck, “missed the way you touched me,” your lips started a trail up to her ear, “missed the way your cock felt buried in my needy pussy.” You nipped at her earlobe, “I need you to fuck me mommy.” You whined, face coming up to gaze at her, “please…I need to feel your fingers, your mouth, your cock, I’ll do anything. I’ll be your good little girl, get on my knees? Beg you to fuck my face? I promise mommy… if you wanna spank me I’ll gladly accept it.”

“You like to be spanked?” Heather’s brow raised, a grin on her cheeks, “okay, then I’ll give you a good spanking.”

You let out a shriek of a giggle as she lifted you off her lap, spinning you to face her desk, her hands groped at your ass as she stood behind you. They ghosted up your sides, roaming around to the front of your body, pawing at your chest through the blue lace and your breath caught in your throat. A moan escaped your lips as hers met the crook of your neck, first kissing their way up to your ear before nipping at your earlobe, teeth scraping against your tender skin as she made her way back down, this time she bit sharply into your pulse point and let out a dark chuckle when your body arched into her.

“Did you bring mommy any toys to spank you with?” She husked against your skin.

“No.” You whined, ass pressing back against her, “want you to leave a handprint.”

“You really are horny.” She chuckled and you nodded furiously, head dropping against her shoulder as she sucked and bit a mark into your neck.

While she had you distracted, eyes fluttering shut at the feeling of her lips on your skin one of her hands wound around you, making sure the desk was clear minus the small pile of her things on the side. Her hand moved back around, landing between your shoulder blades and she shoved you down over the desk, your chest meeting the cold wood. Her hand slid down your spine, pressing your lower back so you were tight against the desk, her foot kicking your legs apart while her other hand squeezed at your hip. Her fingers slipped into the band of your panties, trailing against the skin just underneath, admiring your ass in the lacy thong, they gave one final squeeze at you the curve of your ass before vanishing from your skin.

“No need to count today kitten, you’ve been good.” She cooed softly and you involuntarily let out a little shiver.

The first spank came down hard, though Heather was never really one to do things softly, even if it wasn’t a punishment, but you were more than well accustomed to it by now. A soft sigh was all that escaped your lips and she smiled at the way they curved up into a grin as your eyes fell shut once again. Your hands were softly braced beside you on the desk, anticipating the hits to get harder and closer together, knowing Heather would no doubt keep going until you were a dripping whining mess. The back of her hand swatted sharply at your other cheek and you knew she wasn’t about to take her sweet time tonight, you’d asked to be marked, and she would be following through on her promise. You felt the tingles starting to build through your body, letting out another shiver right before she spanked you again, this time twice quickly in succession and you moaned.

“Good girl.” Her hands came up to massage at your prickling skin, pressing the cheeks together before prying them apart, snapping your thong against your body. She laughed at the way your back arched, your body pressing back towards her touch, nearly stumbling as you instinctively stepped toward her. She took that chance to smack at the curve of your ass where it met your thigh, repeating the action on the other side and you whined.

“Mommy please…”

“Harder?”

“Yes please. As hard as you can.”

She surveyed you for a moment, watching your heavy breathing, the way your thighs would twitch and she knew your pussy was doing the same. Her open hand came down onto your ass next, fingers splayed and you let out a groan, your brow furrowing and she could feel the sting in her hand herself, not waiting a second to repeat the exact moment in the exact same spot another two times before swapping over to the other cheek.

“Fuck….” You groaned through gritted teeth.

Heather gave you a moment to recover, her fingers swiftly unbuttoning her blouse, dropping it to the chair behind her, she’d long abandoned her shoes since she was working from home, and slipped her pants off. You let out a soft moan as her hands clutched at your hips, the feeling of her bare skin hot against yours. She leant over your body, teeth biting into your skin, alternating between kissing, sucking and nipping at your skin while her hands pinched at your ass and thighs, nails digging into your burning body. By the time her lips met the small of your back she straightened herself up, taking a step back from you so she could get a big swing in before spanking you another six times, fast, hard, with barely any time in between.

“Oh god!” You cried out and your body trembled against the desk, fingers attempting to dig into the wood. The final spank came between your legs, a little softer this time to not hurt you, right on your puffy pussy, throbbing with desire.

“That feel good kitten?”

“Yes…” you whined out, breath coming out in pants.

“Hand me that bag, let mommy see what you’ve brought to use.”

You arm reached out, nearly shaking as you blindly searched out the bag and passed it to her. She let out a little chuckle as she opened it, pulling out the strap and dildo inside, “you sure you meant to grab this one? It’s the biggest one we have; it was only three weeks ago you were saying you couldn’t take it.”

“I can!” You nearly shot back, your eyes opening and looking back at her with a plead written across them, “promise.” She watched you for a moment, her hand stroking at the globe of your ass before stepping into the strap

“You know your word?”

“Mango.”

“Good girl.”

Heather left a softer spank on your ass before she tugged down your underwear, guiding you to kick it off before she settled behind your hips again. Her hand dipped between your thighs, fingers not waiting to delve straight into your dripping cunt, she could already see it glistening in the light of the office while she was spanking you. She also knew just how much you loved to be spanked, and that it was more than enough to get you going, get your pussy fluttering over nothing, slick with juices and begging to be fucked. Two fingers pumped into you, curling at just the right spot and you let out a loud moan, hips pushing back against her as she started to fuck you harder, as deep as her fingers would allow. They stretched, twisted and scissored and your moans turned into whines, body sparking with fire as you started the climb to reach your peak. She slid a third finger in and you let out a yelp,

“Fuck!” Your hips shot back to her and she chuckled at how eager you were already, “god your fingers feel so good mommy.”

“Yeah?” She asked with a tease, “you like it when I fuck you like this?” Her hand began to pound into you, the obscene sounds of your drenched cunt echoing through the room. You let out a loud moan, barely able to catch your breath as your body began to tremble against the desk, your thighs shaking around Heather’s hand as you cried out, juices dribbling down your legs as your orgasm shot through you.

“Oh god…” you gasped in an attempt to catch your breath.

Behind you Heather let out a low chuckle, her fingers slipping from your pussy and she stepped closer to you. You thought she was about to line the toy up with your pussy but instead her slicked fingers trailed over your lips and you opened your mouth wider to suck her fingers into you, moaning over the taste of you on the digits. She kept your mouth stuffed with her fingers while the other hand circled around the dildo, lining it up with your needy cunt before she slowly started to sink it in, inch by inch, shallowly thrusting.

You moaned heavily around her fingers, your eyes scrunching shut until she was fully seated within you, your hips pushing back against hers. One hand still buried in between your lips, coated with drool, the other one settled on your hip and she pulled out nearly all the way before thrusting back in, deeper than she’d ever been inside you. Her cock stretched you wider than ever before, the slight sting washing through you before complete pleasure took over and you were groaning and whining around her fingers. As she started a brutal pace her hand started to fuck your mouth with the same vigour, each thrust of her hips crashing yours into the desk in front of you and you knew you’d have bruises the next morning.

“God kitten, you take it so fucking well, mommy’s good little whore aren’t you?” Her fingers slipped from your mouth so she could get a proper hold on your hips and the moan you let out was the loudest yet.

“Fuck! Oh… fuck! Cock feels so good.” You cried out, your body absolutely burning. With each thrust Heather dragged past every inch of your pussy that you craved, the stretch one that was driving you insane and you knew you’d never be able to get enough of it. “Harder mommy!”

“Yeah?” Her speed lowered for a moment so she could fuck so deeply and hard into you the desk nearly rocked forward and you let out a wanton moan, “like that kitten?”

“Yes!” You shrieked, “oh fuck please! Don’t stop!”

“You gonna come for me dirty girl?” She husked, her cock continuing to pound into you, your pussy fluttering around it with each thrust. Your fingers clawed at her desk, eager for something to grasp on to, pleasure coursing through your body. Heather’s fingers tangled into your hair, tugging heavily and you let out another moan as she pulled your head up off the desk, using it for leverage as she fucked you deeper than you could ever have imagined.

“More! Please, more!” Your cry was strangled, voice raw from the begging, the fire coursing through you as Heather’s thick cock plunged into you, wet squelching bouncing off the walls.

Your begging prompted her free hand to spank at your ass, each time harder than the one before until there were tears brimming in your eyes. The hand in your hair shifted, shoving you face first back onto the desk before it snuck around your neck closing around the front of your throat and you felt your cunt clench around her, letting out the best whine you could as she squeezed tighter and tighter.

“That’s it kitten.” She panted, “I know you’re close, be a dear and come for mommy, won’t you? That pretty pussy of yours is soaked, stretched so wide over my cock, I know how good you must feel.”

You could feel your entire body tingling, tears leaking down your cheeks as her fingers squeezed at your throat harder than before, a series of sharp spanks on your ass, a few with the back of her hand, knuckles cracking against your skin. Your hips crashed into the front of the desk again before the spanking hand wound around you, furiously rubbing at your clit and you felt the coil burst within you. The loudest cry you could let out through your choking echoed through the room, cunt clenching down around her thickness so tightly she nearly had to still her thrusts, juices dripping down both your thighs as your orgasm wrecked through you.

There was barely time to recover before the hand around your throat sunk into your hair once again and she yanked you up by it, her cock slipping out of your pussy as she turned you to face her. The hand in your hair forced you to your knees while the other one yanked at your bra ripping the offending fabric off your body and she let out a soft groan.

“Such pretty fucking tits.” Her hand sunk lower to pinch at your nipples and you shuddered, aftershocks running through your body still, “open that pretty mouth, you know what to do.”

Your lips eagerly parted, tongue extending out of your mouth as you awaited her cock. She slapped it against your tongue a few times before sinking it into your mouth and you gagged as it hit the back of your throat. One of her hands came to cup against the back of your head, guiding you down the dildo, holding you at the base for a moment.

“You think you can handle it kitten?” She asked, letting you go and you gasped for breath, coughing lightly.

“I can try mommy.”

“That’s my good girl.” She praised, her thumb rubbing at your cheek before her hips rocked forward and she began to shallowly face fuck you.

She couldn’t help but smile down at you, the way her cock disappeared into your lips, the smudged make up under your eyes that was streaked down your cheeks, made worse with each time you gagged on her cock. Your lipstick smearing around it, mussed around your lips, hair half as nice as it had been when you’d shown up at her office door. Your hands clutched around her thighs, nails almost digging into one and she pulled out of your mouth, fisting at her cock for a few times before her hand settled at the base, squeezing at the toy and the lube spurted out, coating your tits with her cum. You let out a satisfied moan at the sensation, smearing it against your skin, your fingers, scooping some of it up into your mouth, groaning at the taste.

“Such a pretty little slut.” Heather cooed, her hands softly grasping at yours, tugging you to your feet and then into her lap back in her chair. You quickly nestled up in her lap, nuzzling into the crook of her neck as her hands ghosted up and down your back, her lips pressing soft kisses into your skin, “you did so good sweetheart.” She murmured, tilting your head up to leave a tender kiss on your lips that you smiled into, “always so good for me.” You let out a happy hum, nuzzling deeper into her body,

“Thank you mommy.”

Silence took over the room as you both caught your breath, coming down from your highs until Heather could tell your breathing was back to normal. She glanced at the clock before softly squeezing at your body, nudging your nose with hers,

“We’ve got enough time for a bath before we have to get ready for dinner, would you like that?”

“Yes please.” You smiled dreamily at her and she chuckled softly, helping you up off her lap before wrapping a secure arm around you and guiding you down the hallway to make sure you were taken care of in every sense of the matter. Because no matter what, she loved you, and wanted to always make sure you knew just how much.

___________________________________

@naturalxselection @yesterdaysgone @hbkpop @giftedchildturns40 @anya-casablanca @svulife-rl  @swimmingstudentchaos891 @alexusonfire @jamiethetrans @red1culous @oliviaswifey @mysticfalls01 @cmmndrwidw @bumblebear30 @svushots @yourtaletotell @cerberus-spectre @emskisworld @ex-uallyactive @addictedtodinosaurs @imaginaryoperagloves @multifandomlesbianic @annegilletteslostwh0r3 @bookpillows @drduckthief @whimsicallymad @mmmmokdok @ladysc @momlifebehard @mmemalwa @holycrapraewth @poisonedcrowns @wannabe-fic-reader @when-wolves-howl @dead-of-niight @fighterkimburgess @lannister-slings-and-arrows @borg-queerr @godard-muse  @itisdoctortoyousir @brooklynmhm @nobody-important1212 @emilyprentiss4life @httpjupiterbby

#heather dunbar #heather dunbar x reader #thatesqcrushkinkbingo #house of cards #heather dunbar smut

[sunuism]

omg fancy was released 2 year ago today!!!!!!!!

#means its 2 years since i was walking around kyoto all day in the heat half dead from heat stroke just started my period so i was having #the back pain of a life time and we still had one more attraction to go but i was so tired that i sat down at the entrance while my friends #went to go look around #and just then i remembered that fancy was dropping and i put in my earphones and tuned in as the sun was setting over the city... #beautiful moment i think despite the suffering #also that was such a good fucking trip i look back at it so fondly now :') #and still to this day when i listen to fancy i think about that time

[pareokey]

flowing maple leaves

pairing: aether x reader

˚꒰ ෆ◞˚ reader info: fem!reader

˚꒰ ෆ◞˚ set: college au

˚꒰ ෆ◞˚ summary: he always sees her around campus and in class, even though they haven't interacted. he knew he had feelings for her. that is until autumn came by.

˚꒰ ෆ◞˚ words: 1.2k

˚꒰ ෆ◞˚ warning(s): none, just fluff (о´∀`о)

˚꒰ ෆ◞˚ notes: this is my first time writing a fanfic, please be nice and wait for me to improve! i had this idea for a few days already but now i finally decided to take a big L and write a fanfic (´；ω；`)

★ masterlist ★

it was during the summer when everything changed.

aether was walking through the campus hall, doing nothing except listening to music on his earphones. class starts in 30 minutes, so he had a few minutes to spare. nearly every student was in the hallway but then...

one blob of (H/C) caught his eyes. stopping in his track, he put his focus on the blob. it was getting clearer by the seconds, that is when he realized that it was one of his homeroom classmates, (Y/N). she walk passed him, talking to her friends.

aether's eyes followed her, he had been fancied by her since the first day of the semester.

classes started 20 minutes ago. sitting at one of the back rows, he was already dreading for this class to end. suddenly the door was slam opened, in came a girl trying to catch her breath.

" s-sorry for being late! " she said, " i may or may not have woken up late and got distracted by a pet store on the way here, haha... "

" ah, ms. (L/N) is it? " the professor smiled, " do not worry, please find a seat and sit down. " nodding rapidly, she went and sat down three rows before him.

as the class resumed, aether can't help but kept his eyes on the girl, already making conversations with the person beside her.

it had already been months since that day and he still remember it clear as the sky. now there were falling orange leaves everywhere, it is truly a peaceful day. the (H/C) blob was already gone from his eyesight. sighing, aether decided to return to class.

the day ended, he thought that it would be nice to take a stroll at the park. entering the park, the scenery was calm and refreshing. nearing the big lake until he saw the same blob from this afternoon.

「 (Y/N).. 」 he thought, the said girl is standing a few steps away from him, one hand holding a drink another her phone.

her skirt was flowing with the wind, staring into the distance. with the perfect setting, aether can't help but steal a picture of her. just as he looked up, she was walking away, another quick glance and he saw a ribbon falling out from her bag.

he continued his track and picked up the ribbon. realizing that she could be far away already, he hurried to give it back.

there was a tap on her shoulder, she turned around and was shocked to see the warm blonde-haired boy with a braided ponytail that she had been crushing on ever since she saw him in the hallways.

" ah..haha, hey! " he said, " uhh...you dropped this. "

she took it and quickly said, " oh! thank you, aether.. "

he was surprised that she knew his name but smiled nonetheless.

there was an awkward tension surrounding them, as (Y/N) was trying to think of something to say, aether started " um.. y'know, I know this is the first time we literally ever talked but do you want to hang out someday? " as she was processing his words, (Y/N) stuttered out

" s-sure! yes, yes i would love to! " nodding rapidly, the same motion she did on the first day.

he giggles, " alright, here's my number. talk to you later! "

awed by the sound of his giggles, she only nodded and watched him walk away when he was out of ear-shot. she started squealing and did a little dance.

after their little interaction, both of them quickly became closer than ever. some even thought that they were a couple but they quickly denied it.

today was the day that they decided to hang out at a small and cozy café. walking in the café, arms linked together with smiles on their faces, looking like a perfect, cute couple. but are they really a couple? no, they're not.. not yet

after ordering their food, they went to sit at a table by the window. " so, how are your studies going? " aether started, " uuunghh.. can we not talk about school? let's talk about ourselves instead! " (Y/N) replied.

he laughed, " sure sure, what do you want to know? "

" well.... i noticed that you're always walking back home with your sister, lumine! and.. i was wondering- "

" haha, i thought we were going to talk about ourselves. not about my sister. " he cut her off. " she's related to you! it's the same thing! "

he deadpanned at her. " fine, fine! " she scoffs " if we're going to talk about ourselves then... "

aether titled his head a little bit in question.

founding the little action adorable, she can't help but let a bit of red appear across her cheeks. she coughs " uhh.. do you have anyone that you're crushing on?! " when he heard that question, it was as if his brain stopped working.

"uh.. uhh.. i... i..." aether stuttered, " you..? "

" of course! i-i mean.. maybe? probably? i do like them but i'm not sure if they also reciprocate my feelings.. " he smiled sadly, " oh, oh! well, that person is very lucky to be liked by you! i hope they return your feelings! " she said, a little too quickly.

" i do hope so. what about you though? "

" me! ... right, me. umm, i don't think i like anyone for me but there's.. there's this boy.. " his heart dropped, " he's really cute! and nice, like! like, he's really nice to everyone and i like that about him. when he was walking through the halls with his earphones on too, i really can't get any confidence to talk to him though.. " aether was listening to his crush talking about another boy.

" that's.. he sounds like an amazing guy! " she nodded quickly as to agree with him, " well, i hope you talk to him because he is really a lucky guy to have you. " he smiled. " i will, i will talk to him. thanks, aether! "

" your welcome. "

as they left the café, they both had agreed to walk around the park.

there was a comfortable silence between them, each thinking about their own crush. stopping under a maple tree..

" (Y/N). " he began, " yes, aether? "

the sound of his name rolling out of her mouth made him melt inside.

staring directly in her eyes lovingly, " i really want you to know that, i.. i really like you. do you want to go on.. a date! with me? " the expression she made as she was comprehending his words shouldn't have a lot of effects on him. finally, she started

" you..! me? you like me?! oh my god, i.. yes, yes i do want to go on a date with you! " he smiled sweetly as he watched her blush redden.

wrapping one of his hands around her waist, another resting on her cheek. " can i..? ", she looked up and nodded.

as they kissed under a maple tree.

˚꒰ ෆ◞˚ notes: thanks for reading! i hope you enjoy it jskajdjakda, i reread it multiple times but i still think it sucks :( omg im embarrassed

- PAREOKEYⒸ2022

#aether x reader #aether x you #aether x y/n #aether imagines #aether #genshin impact #genshin impact fluff #genshin fanfic #genshin impact x reader #genshin fluff #genshin x y/n #aether fluff #genshin impact imagines #🍣— pareokey

[giorno-plays-piano]

Promises

Hi dear! As agreed, I’ve changed it to dad’s friend!Bucky <3 Hope you’re going to enjoy this!

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, age gap, daddy kink, allusion to non-con, death of minor characters.

Words: 3000.

_______________________

Looking at the lonely chocolate muffin laying on the table in front of you, you closed your eyes for a couple of seconds, making a wish: it was your birthday, and you were stuck in some filthy roadside diner with no one but Mr. Barnes by your side.

Bucky. You were ought to call him Bucky, you reminded yourself, opening your eyes and blowing softly on a single candle sitting on the top of your muffin.

It wasn’t his fault you two ended up here - there had been a huge accident on your way back home, a tanker truck exploded into flames in the middle of the highway. In fact, you were lucky you were far away since several drivers and passengers who had the misfortune to be close to the truck had already been declared dead. It was all over the news, most of the people inside diner glued to the old TV hanging on the wall.

Staring at the candle, you carefully pulled it off and dropped it on a cheap white napkin, taking the muffin and eagerly having a bite. Mr. Barn... Bucky watched you from the other side of the table, his coffee already long cold. There was no smile on his face as you quietly said thank you to him, but you barely remembered him smiling at all despite knowing him for several years at the very least. He was your dad’s friend, and he often visited your house to share a beer and watch hockey with your dad late in the evening. Who could imagine it would be Bucky of all people helping you stay afloat.

“What did you wish for?” He asked you, and chuckled grimly at him, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. Apparently, you had to keep it a secret to make your wish come true, but it didn’t matter now.

“To have a family.”

You gulped down a sob and stared at the red table as Bucky reached out to pat your shoulder gently. Both of you knew what you meant, but you had no strength to talk about it again. It was still painful as hell.

“It will get better.” He said quietly as you nodded, wiping away your tears and gulping down your coke. “You need time.”

Yeah, time, that was what everyone around you kept saying as if time could change the fact you were all alone now; as if it could make you forget all that happened and keep the pain away. What could time do? Make you insensitive, unsympathetic, and unable to feel anything at all. All this time could probably do to you, sure.

He bought a couple of ham sandwiches and bottles of coke for the evening and left with you following him closely. The motel room was just as dirty as the diner, but you didn’t expect anything else, preparing to cleaning it up - anyway, there wasn’t much you could do around here. Although there were lots of people stuck here along with you two, you had no wish to go talk to them about the tragedy. You had your own already, and it was enough for you.

“Your uncle looks scary on this photo.” Your phone buzzed in your pocket, and you picked it up, reading the message from April, your best friend - your only friend, to be completely honest. “Like he’s straight out of those serial killer documentaries.”

“April, come on."

"what, I'm serious lol"

"Maybe he’s not your sunshine guy, but he’s the only one who stayed with me after all that happened."

"And he is NOT my uncle!”

“sorry girl just wanted to cheer you up”

You smiled at the text, missing Bucky’s gaze as he came closer to you.

“Who’s that?” He asked, and you raised your eyes at him, immediately getting back to your grim state.

“April. She saw the photo I sent her.” Explaining quietly, you tried pretending you were happy, stretching your lips in a thin smile and thinking whether Bucky could feel it. “She’s checking on how we are here.”

“Good.”

With that he left to bathroom, leaving you on your knees scrubbing the floor. He was bad at cleaning - really bad, missing tons of dirty spots to the point it felt like he didn’t clean anything at all. That was why you preferred doing it yourself. Besides, it was him who paid for the room and food despite you trying to share the expenses, so you felt obliged to him.

Bucky certainly wasn’t the most talkative or friendly type, but he still cared about you, supporting you the way he could. Even if he was way older than you, and a part of you still didn’t feel very comfortable around him, Bucky was the only one by your side. He agreed living with you when most of your relatives had little interest in staying even for a few days longer, leaving you all alone. He helped you with all the legal stuff you knew nothing about, never having to deal with these issues before. He gave you a drive to your university campus every morning and called you every time when you were supposed to come home, probably afraid you’d do something to yourself. That was what you thought, at least.

He was a good man. Maybe a little gruff, seemingly unfriendly, intimidating even, but still better then all those who promised to look after you and then vanished.

“I’m going to go for a walk.” Bucky said after leaving bathroom and putting his sneakers on. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

You felt shame bubbling up inside you at his words. He still thought you might be suicidal.

“Of course. I’ll be waiting here.”

With that he nodded and left you alone with a bright pack of Lysol and dirty doormat on the floor. Sighing, you felt relieved, finally staying all by yourself in the grim silence of the room. It wasn’t that bad. You weren’t stuck together somewhere in the desert with no food and shelter. Tomorrow morning you’d be able to return home from that little improvised vacation Bucky organized purely for you, staying in a cabin close to the beautiful lake in the woods. It wasn’t his fault you were spending your birthday like this, scrubbing the floor clean and wiping the dust from shelves and nightstands instead of celebrating somewhere in the club with April, drinking fancy cocktails.

In half an hour you finished the clean up and had a shower, changing into your funny pink pajamas - you knew your looked pathetic in it, considering how old it was, but it was one of the things that made you feel safe. Anyway, Bucky didn’t care about the way you looked, so you simply wore whatever you found comfortable, often looking like a kid who was too big to fit into their old clothes.

“Whatcha doin??” A message popped up on the screen as you checked your phone again.

“Gonna go to sleep, I guess. I didn’t sleep well yesterday again.”

“i have a gooood recipe for a nice 8-hour sleep”

“Really? What’s that?”

Instead of answering you clearly, she sent you a link. To your horror, instead of checking the name first you simply clicked on it and found out April sent you some porno. Groaning, you quickly turned it off, afraid somebody gonna hear it - the walls here were out of paper, you could swear.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” You typed furiously. “Are you mad?”

“come on, what are we, holy virgins?? Ima telling you, this thing works! Just try it, you’ll be sleeping after this in no time!”

“April, even if I’m gonna believe this crap, Bucky just went for a walk. I have no clue when he’s going to come back. Do you really think I’m ready to do this when he’s around?”

“damn girl just don’t put earphones, cover yourself with a blanket and sit facing the door.” You could literally see her rolling her eyes at you. “you’re a grown up, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. When you hear the man coming, just turn it off!”

Rubbing your eyes tiredly, you muted your phone and carefully opened the link again, trying to understand what kind of porno she sent you exactly. Apparently, it was that daddy thing she kept telling you about - you read the name of the video, and your face grew unbearably hot in a second. Damn, this girl had no shame whatsoever.

But maybe she was right: you needed to release some tension that had been building up over the last months. It was quite an innocent way to do it, really, and you’d be careful enough to do it before Bucky came back, finding anything suspicious. You were a human being, after all! There was nothing nasty in what you were going to do, you tried assuring yourself.

“I’m gonna regret it.”

“NO GIRL YOU WON’T! Treat yourself!!”

Laughing, you quickly dropped your phone on your bed, taking a tablet out of your backpack along with a pair of pink socks - you couldn’t explain it, but your feet were always getting cold while you pleasured yourself. Getting comfortable on your bed and wrapping a comforter around yourself, you opened your tablet, setting the volume level low and finding that link April sent you. You threw a quick glance to the door, prepared to switch the tablet off any second if Bucky was going to show up. Shoot, were you doing it for real? Yes, yes you were.

Opening the video, you bit down on your lower lip, a little ashamed still. Trying to get these thoughts out of your head, you concentrated on what was happening in the video, watching a girl sitting on the lap of a beefy bearded man stroking her ass. He was speaking to her softly, but in a very low, husky voice, and you realized it was getting warm in between your thighs. You closed your eyes, listening to the voice that, along with a sound of him slapping the girl, was making you aroused way more than the picture itself.

"Have you been good, princess?" The man whispered, and you could see the smug grin on his face even with your eyes closed.

Yes, you have, you thought, your hand slowly trailling down your belly and touching the elastic of your cotton panties.

Fuck, you heard the sound of one more slap and bit your lip again, imagining it was you he spanked, caressing your raw, hot skin with his calloused palm, his fingers digging in your soft flesh when you tried moving away, quietly squirming from his touch. You were a good girl for him. You'd do what your daddy told you, baring your ass in front of him and getting back on his lap, moving on top of him, making him feel you through the fabric of his pants until you ruined them. Would daddy be happy if you rode him, moaning like some dirty slut until he shut you with his mouth? Would he like you cumming on his cock with your eyes rolling inside your skull out of immense pleasure?

With your fingers on your clit, you gently stroked that bundle of nerves, getting more and more wet until you soaked your panties, listening to the voice of that man and imagining being with your own daddy, somebody who would take care of you, somebody who would never leave you alone and comfort you when you needed it the most. Oh, were you crying, thinking of it? You could feel your eyes growing wet as you softly moaned. You imagined the man touching your hair and kissing your forehead, and tears were now streaming down your cheeks.

You were pathetic, you thought. You couldn't even pleasure yourself while watching porno anymore.

Softly sobbing, you kept listening to the video, touching your sleek folds and missing the shadow that descended upon you - you couldn't see the stranger behind the window, watching you sitting there on your bed with a tablet in front of you, seeing the video clearly. Maybe Bucky couldn't hear it from the outside, but he knew it - he saw it a couple of weeks ago when he felt a little lonely.

You almost cummed when you heard the steps right outside the door, inmediately hitting the screen to stop the video and hiding your tablet beneath the comforter. You didn't figure out anything better than pretending you were already asleep, aside from the fact it was barely seven.

Covering your head, you prayed Bucky didn't see anything suspicious, mentally cursing April for sending you the link. Shit, you knew this wasn't going to end well! Why on Earth did you even tried something as reckless and stupid as this when Bucky could show up any minute?

"I know you're not sleeping."

His voice sounded so much closer than you anticipated that you almost flinched, holding your breath for a couple of seconds. Fuck, did he know? Did he hear you? Could he see the tablet beneath your blanket?

You stilled, still pretending you were sleeping when Bucky landed close to you, the bed dipping under him. When he suddenly touched your leg, making you flinch involuntarily, you clamped a hand around your mouth. Shit! What was he doing? He had never ever touched you like that before. Was he mad? Did he-

"You can stop pretending, little one." As Bucky lifted your comforter, you stared at him, terrified to the core with your eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Immediately, you tried moving away, determined to get to the other side of the room, but he quickly held you down with his hands on your wrists, getting on top of you. Shit. Staring at his dark but calm expression, you saw a strange glint in his eyes that had never been there before. The thought made you shiver.

Something was wrong with the way he hold you, looked at you - it was not like before when he treated you like some sad kid, patting your head awkwardly when you cried and rarely giving you a hug. You were staring at the man who barely reminded you of Bucky who had been coming to your house to watch a hockey game late in the evening. This man seemed like a stranger.

"Please, Mr. Barnes-"

"Shhhh." He interrupted your pleading, leaning closer to you so his dark hair brushed against your face. "Don't be scared. It's alright."

No, no, it wasn't alright in any sense, and you kept struggling, doing your best to break free from his grasp until Bucky made you yelp from pain, grabbing your hands so hard you thought you'd have bruises. When you got silent, trembling beneath him with your eyes full of tears, he got closer, his forehead touching yours as he exhaled into your face.

“P-please, I don’t want to.”

“Don’t you? I’ve seen what you’ve been doing while I was gone.” His stormy grey eyes bore into you, and you thought Bucky was angry at you watching that filthy porno. “But I won’t punish you.”

“What do you want then?” You sobbed, then froze when he kissed your cheek, and then your nose and eyelids, his chapped lips brushing softly against your skin. His touch felt warm.

“To take care of you.”

You looked at him with your watery eyes, whimpering softly when Bucky kissed your forehead as you relaxed beneath him, shocked at his words. Take care of you? What did he mean by that? Wasn’t he taking care of you already? No, now you knew why Bucky was close, and he definitely wasn’t some good Samaritan you imagined him to be. Was it all for this? Did he pretend to be your friend just to let you lower your guard?

Crying, you closed your eyes, thinking how silly you were wanting someone to be by your side, having dreams about someone taking care of you, comforting you when even the one you thought was there for you just wanted to use a silly little girl and throw her away.

“Take what you want and go.” You managed to mumble, choking on a sob. “Just leave me alone.”

Bucky raised his brows, his gaze heavy as he stared at your face wet with tears. “Why would I? Didn’t you hear what I just said, little one?”

You gave him a sarcastic smile, avoiding looking him in the eyes. “You’re here because you want to take something from me. So, take it and go. Please!”

Bucky let out a loud breath, getting off you and rolling to the side, but holding you close and pressing your face into his chest. You could feel a subtle smell of sweat coming from him; strangely, it was almost comforting. Anyway, you had no strength left to fight him, so you just laid there, his hands on your back and in your hair. His black zipped hoodie was quickly getting wet with you still sobbing quietly.

“I’m not going anywhere, little girl.” He whispered, touching the top of your head with his lips. “You’re mine to take care off. Look at you, barely able to sleep on your own. How do you think you will manage without me?”

You didn’t answer, not knowing what to say. What Bucky told you was true - you barely existed outside of your house, facing the reality where you were always alone. April was trying her best to help you come to your senses, but she wasn’t family. You needed a family.

“Will you stay?” You whimpered, shaking lightly at the though Bucky would go, too, and you would end up all by yourself, talking to four walls until one day they would talk to you, too.

“Remember your birthday wish?” He asked instead of answering your question, and you felt like the air was sucked out of your lungs. But before you had time to said something, Bucky dropped a kiss to your forehead again, caressing your head tenderly. “I am your family, little one. You will never be alone.”

______________________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki   @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin​ @abyssaint @heeeyitskay @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherubwrites @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @soleil-dor @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @ninefuckingoneone @iheartsebastianstan @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters

#dark bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #dark bucky barnes #bucky x reader #dark bucky x reader #winter soldier #mcu #mcu fanfiction #marvel #catws #yandere #requests #bucky barnes x reader

[bedtimebrain]

EXO Baekhyun: Speedpost!

(while i've been having fun with all these drawings in my past few posts, i must admit i almost puked when i looked at this one as i was uploading today. for the sake of our eyes will nicely put a stop to this soon :,D)

Char: baek x u Genre: military baek, fluff!, needy (?) reader Description: you thought you could do just fine with baek in the military, but it seems like you actually need him a little more than you think Word Count: 1.3k Track for feels: Avril Lavigne, Wish you were here

You honestly thought you were the kind of strong and independent girlfriend. The kind that would do absolutely fine when your boyfriend enlists.

But truth be told, you barely scrape past this week, and it has only been a week since baek enlisted. Doubts, doubts. Could you even hold it together for another 2 more weeks? You remember just the day before baekhyun's enlistment, he deliberately teased you with fake sobbings,

'babe, will you cry if i'm not around? you might miss me so much it's too much for you to bear right? if you..'

you simply scoffed and cut him off

'ya, byun baekhyun, i'm afraid i would have to disappoint you. i am very much a busy and independent woman. i will do just fine with you enlisting. plus we will probably get to call once in a while, i can live with that'

you smugly folded your arms, sending an attack to his ego

In hindsight, the attack went out like a boomerang and came right back at you. You can already imagine baekhyun playfully gloating

'Strong independent woman, jagiya?'

Perhaps it might all be better if a wreck package hadn't self-invited itself to your life this week.

First of all, your boss decided it was a good idea to throw your proposal back in your face. Next, your very considerate across-the-globe client planned a conference call close to sleeping time in korea. As if it all couldn’t be worse, you overheard a juicy conversation your colleagues were having about you in the washroom.

All these just made you want to run right to baekhyun. To lie on his lap, throw punches at him and hear him flame your life perpetrators with the most nonsensical phrases.

During the day, all you looked forward to was your phonecalls with baek. But who knew even a phonecall date would be as hard to fulfil as climbing mount Everest.

Apart from the first day, every other day the past week was met full of hiccups. Either you were caught up with conference calls and work, or baek was cutting too close to lights out for a long call.

You call it baek crumbs, yes you were surviving on baek crumbs.

There was still sometime left before your phonecall date tonight. You yanked open your refrigerator in search of your alternative destress mechanism -- chocolates. You sighed at your depleting chocolate stash, physically indicating how badly you needed baek.

Back on the sofa, you swallowed down Freddo and you plugged in your earphones like an emo teen, randomly choosing a song radio to play.

As if Siri heard your inner thoughts, the radio chose to play Avril Lavinge's Wish You Were Here. Before you know it, you were a crying mess.

It's not even like you guys were breaking up, but the lyrics were literally stabbing into your heart But right now i wish you were here.... Damn, what i'd do to have you here ...

You were pathetically brawling away when baekhyun's call came in. Suppressing your heavy sobbing, you picked up the phone after a couple of rings at this untimely moment.

'Jagiya, i've 15minutes today! How have you been? You wouldn't believe what happen today! Jagi? Are you there?' His animated voice died down and he held a pause.

'Are you crying? y/n why are you crying? what happened?' you hear a hint of panic in his voice

Baekhyun was fast at catching on things, your quietness, shakey breathes and suppressed hitches were more than enough to indicate a red flag to him.

You had intended for tonight's call to be a fun and not your emotional health hotline help. Taking a deep breath, you tried to put up a front, and with your most stable voice, replied him

'ya, what crying? so what happened with you today?'

'ya, stop bullshitting me. you're crying, what's up with you?' turning all serious, he wasn't going to let you dodge this

you bit down hard on your lip, you couldn't get a syllable out of your throat, afraid the moment you did so you would break down completely.

'damn it, i would totally break the law just to bring a camera phone in so you cannot hide your face from me. tell me please?' he sounded urgent and frustrated, but gentle in asking you to tell him

'baekhyun ah, i can't do this anymore. i thought i could, but why is it so difficult' your voice cracked and you burst into hot tears

'i haa-d such a bad week and i just want..want.. to tell you about it every night. but our time together is always so short that by the time it got to my turn to tell you about my day.........the call ends. and.. and.. i don't know..... what to do about all these on my own..with--without you' you were wailing and possibly incomprehensible by now

'ya..y/n-ie, mi an hae. jeongmal mi an. i just realised i hadn't even heard about how your day went this entire week. i always got so carried away telling you about me, i wasn’t considerate enough.'

Almost running out of tears, you regain your composure quickly

‘Jagi, I’m not blaming you. Please don’t take it that way, it’s just.. I really wish you were around.’

The call suddenly went silent on the other sides, then you heard some low shouts in the background

‘Baekhyunie?’ You guess it was probably an early roll call again

A few moments later, baekhyun was back on the call.

‘Jagi, I’m sorry, I’ll probably have to go soon, the sergeant’s checking my barracks next.

Anyway, I actually had something I wanted to give you the night before I enlisted, but you insisted you were an independent and busy woman....’

His sentence was left broken with a sudden series of clattering like his phone had dropped. You heard louder shouts this time round, then a hurried whisper from Baekhyun

‘Jagi, check the right drawer under your table alright. I got to go now, mi an.’

‘Ah, okay.. saranghae’ and the call was dropped.

You know it was beyond Baekhyun’s control when he had to end the call. But it still didn’t stop you from feeling down at the abrupt goodbye.

Forcing a smile on your face for the sake of your own, you went to your table as baekhyun had told you.

Right drawer under the table?

Pulling open the drawer to find a floral patterned metallic box.

Was baek referring to this?

Popping open the metal box you gasp at the contents scattered within. With a hand over your mouth, you could feel your eyes welling up with tears again.

Chocolates. Lots of chocolates. Fanciful chocolates. Notes... byun baekhyun actually wrote notes for you?

He never once made you cards no matter how hard you ‘jaebal’ for him to. He would just say

‘Too difficult’

‘Too bothersome’

‘Suck at handicraft’

You pulled out the longest note in the entire box and couldn’t help but chuckle when you saw his scrawls

Annyeong Jagi! I bet you would choose this to read first cause it’s the longest. Did I guess it right?ㅋㅋ i wrote a letter to my beloved EXO-Ls, and I thought, how could I not leave you with one? Y/N, you see the chocolates in this box? I went to the candy store that day and picked them individually for you. Because I’m not around, I thought you might need them more. If you have a hard time when I’m away, take a chocolate and a note, enjoy them and think about me. Thank you for waiting, nae sarang, very soon I’ll be with you again. ^^

On the table, your phone vibrated and your screen lit up.

A msg from baekhyun:

Found my speedpost? Saranghae, wool ji ma(dont cry). Let’s call again tmr, goodnight!

You were smiling and crying like a fool by now. With a vision blurred by your tears, you typed a reply

Ya byun Baekhyun. Gumawo.... saranghae

Surely, you must have saved a nation your past life for you to meet byun baekhyun.

��——

I was watching EXO arcade and this super random thought came to mind, do yall think their new album concept actually came from EXO arcade?

Like maybe they had been planning a season 2 all along and a new album. But they couldn’t think of a concept, so tada! Arcade, games! For their album concept~ Is there any talk like this circulating, hahah, hope I’m not late to the party then.

#baekhyun #exowritersnet #exo #bbh #exo comeback #exo scenarios #exo baekhyun #exo fanfic #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun fan fiction #byun baekhyun #super m

[saysomethingspiderman]

Something Wonderful (PT.7)

Synopsis: During your time as a professional photographer, you had come across incredibly good looking men, but there was just something about Tom that stood out. Who would have thought shooting the self-titled “walking meme” would change your life forever?

Chapter word count: 4.7k

Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Part Four // Part Five // Part Six // Part Seven // Part Eight

It didn’t occur to you that you’d both fallen asleep until the light from the morning sun woke you up. With a small groan, you reached down and pulled the duvet up over your head to shield yourself from the unpleasant awakening. As you lay there, Tom’s arm hanging lazily over your waist, you couldn’t ignore the slight aching pain between your legs. Boy, had last night been good but the ache reminded you just how long it had been. The toys in your bedside table had never been used more in the last year, let’s just say that. When there was a slight shuffle and a yawn from behind, you turned over and pushed the duvet down a little; being almost blinded by the sun was worth it to see Tom’s sleepy morning face.

“Remind me to close the curtains next time,” Tom said with a small chuckle, his voice thick and raspy from sleep. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at you with a smile, taking in your messy hair and small marks his lips had left on your neck the night before. “You, my darling, are beautiful.” With a cheeky grin, he reached over and pulled you closer. His lips met yours, instantly waking you up. He pressed himself against you, rubbing his morning erection against your thigh.

“I don’t think I can go another round just yet,” you murmured against his lips, though wanted to do nothing more than pin him down and fuck him into the mattress. “I’m a bit sore.”

After another gentle kiss, he pulled away and slapped your bum lightly. “Alright, how about some breakfast?” he asked as he moved to get out of bed. He shoved on a pair of boxers and tossed you one of his t-shirts. “I’ve no idea what we’ve got left in,” he said, leading you out the bedroom after you put some of his boxers on too. “Harrison usually does the food shop… I should probably check when he’s back from his holiday actually,” he murmured, mostly to himself.

Since you’d been spending more time at Tom’s place, the two of you often ordered food instead of cooking. It was a lot easier and, truth be told, you both got lazy after a long day of work. There were basics you’d pick up from the local shop but as you both looked through the cupboards and fridge, you came to the realisation that there hadn’t been much in for a long time.

“Okay, so we’ve got a few sausages, cereal and… Ah ha, one slice of bacon!” Tom said, pulling it from the fridge with a proud look on his face. Seeing your frown, he burst out laughing and shook his head. “Okay, we’ll just use this up and then go for something proper to eat. And we’ll go shopping,” he added, reading your mind.

While Tom got started on the bacon and sausages, you flicked the kettle on and made a cup of tea for each of you. As you sipped the hot drink, you leaned back against the island and watched Tom move around the kitchen, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. The muscles on his back were glorious but the angry red scratches across his shoulders and spine made your cheeks flame. Either they weren’t sore or they didn’t bother him because Tom didn’t seem to think about the large marks as he quietly hummed an old cartoon theme tune to himself.

“There better be enough for me.”

The voice came from behind and you quickly turned to see a tall, sandy haired young man around the same age as Tom stood leaning back against the table with a cocky smirk plastered across his face. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow, looking between the two of you with a glint in his eye, clearly trying his hardest to hold in his laugh. You pulled at the end of the t-shirt you were wearing, trying to cover yourself a little bit more, and did your best to ignore how hot your face suddenly felt. This wasn’t exactly how you’d imagined meeting Tom’s best friend for the first time.

“Fuck sake, Harrison, I thought you weren’t back until the end of the week,” Tom said with an awkard chuckle and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up at the back.

“Nope. Got back last night,” Harrison replied, letting out the laugh he’d been holding. “Didn’t you see my suitcase at the door when you got back?”

There was a pause from Tom and then he mumbled, “Must have missed it. I was… Distracted.”

“Oh, I’m well aware,” he snorted and moved over to the fridge. He took out the carton of milk and drank a large gulp. “Next time, try to remember my bedroom’s right next to yours.”

Tom dropped a sausage on the floor with a quiet thud. Tessa scurried over and headed straight for it, not caring that it was steaming with heat. Your face fell and your eyes widened in absolute horror at Harrison’s words.

The moans. The screams. The bloody headboard.

Christ.

He’d heard everything.

“Yeah, um, we’ll keep that in mind,” you managed to mutter because Tom seemed to have lost his voice, only able to clear his throat. After a pause, you gave Harrison a brief nod and then hurriedly left the room go grab some proper trousers from upstairs.

You took the time to brush the knots from your hair, spray some deodorant on and actually wash the makeup from your face. It was rare you slept with makeup on and the small spots already appearing under your skin along your jawline and chin reminded you exactly why you usually scrubbed your face clean of it. When you felt a little bit better about your appearance, you headed back down to join the boys in the kitchen. Tom’s cheeks were still tinted with pink when he gave you a smile. Seeing Harrison digging into some cereal at the table, you decided to join him with your plate, though noticeably there was one sausage short thanks to Tom’s clumsiness and Tessa’s quick reflexes.

“Don’t worry, I ended up putting my earphones in,” Harrison said through a mouthful of Cheerios, as though that would help with the situation.

With a shake of your head, you gave a soft laugh and shrugged a shoulder. “Well next time you have a girl over, you have permission to get us back,” you chuckled and covered your food sausages and bacon with ketchup.

“Oi, he’s way ahead of me in that game!” Tom argued playfully, taking the seat next to you.

“It’s a game now, is it?” Harrison asked with a raised brow. “I can guarantee I haven’t woken you up by repeatedly bashing my headboard against the wall.”

“Don’t hate the player,” Tom smirked and leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. 

“Alright, boys, I can practically taste the testosterone in here,” you said and rolled your eyes. “If you want, I can leave you both alone and you can sort through your issues between yourselves.”

Tom gave a light chuckle and placed his arm over the back of your chair, but you soon got up to properly get ready for the day. After shoving your plate in the dishwasher, you went back upstairs and had a long shower to get rid of the post-sex sweat that had dried on your skin. When you felt much fresher and smelled of Tom’s fancy soaps, you changed into some sweats and spotted your phone on the bedside table. The screen flashing with multiple messages caused a small frown between your brows. Who was messaging you so much? You didn’t have that many friends.

Olivia Mayfield                                   10m ago

AVOID TWITTER

Olivia Mayfield                                   13m ago

Hello???

Casey Piper                                        14m ago

Since when you were seeing TOM HOLLAND?

Amy Leung                                         17m ago

You look hot🔥

Amy Leung                                         17m ago

YOU’RE IN THE NEWS!

Olivia Mayfield                                   17m ago

Have you seen the Daily Mail?👀

Reading the texts made your stomach twist. The colour drained from your face. You’d been careful, hadn’t you? Well, you hadn’t gone out of your way to hide from people but there hadn’t been anyone with cameras to hide from. Oh don’t be ridiculous, you thought, everyone has a camera in their pocket these days. Going against Olivia’s advice, you went straight to Twitter and, ignoring the ridiculously large number of follow requests, you saw that Tom’s name was trending. You took a seat on the edge of the messy bed and clicked on the name to see hundreds of tweets. Some mentioned you, though a lot of them simply retweeted the same article from the Daily Mail or The Sun. Seeing a blurred photo of the two of you leaving the restaurant hand in hand made you click on one of them despite knowing it was best to steer clear of these types of things.

Tom Holland Heads out With Mystery Woman at London Hot Spot

Hollywood heart-throb Tom Holland was seen holding hands with a mystery woman on Thursday night while leaving Marylebone’s Chiltern Firehouse. The two were spotted walking outside the restaurant looking loved up after a romantic date in one of London’s celebrity hot spots. The Spider-Man star, 23, looked delighted as he spent time with his companion, and could be seen wrapping an arm around her shoulders while they chatted and moved onto one of the many cocktail bars in the area. The woman wore a silk, mid-length green dress, leaving little to the imagination, while Tom kept things cool with a short-sleeved button up shirt and checkered trousers.

A source for the Daily Mail told us the couple could barely keep their hands off each other and headed back to Tom’s home in Kingston upon Thames once the night came to an end.

His outing comes after sources exclusively tell us he is still hung up on ex-girlfriend Zendaya:

‘They dated for a couple of years and it’s hard to get over someone like that,’ our source says, ‘He’s still pining [for Zendaya] and will do anything he can to get over her. It’s hard for him to see she’s moved on so quickly.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Tom’s representatives for comment.

Throughout the article, there were multiple photos of you and Tom outside the restaurant, just laughing with each other as you walked to your next destination. The photos were blurry, either taken from far away or snapped quickly on someone’s phone, but they were clear enough to make out your face. How had people found out your name? Even the writer of the trashy article hadn’t found that out. Closing the page, you planned on leaving it at that but you couldn’t help scroll through the tweets; words such as ‘ugly’, ‘fat’, ‘fake’ and ‘pig’ were just some of the many that stuck out. Of course, there were nice messages but those weren’t the ones you cared about. How could you listen to those people when there were others telling you things you sometimes thought about yourself? Surely you were supposed to listen to those ones who were speaking the harsh truth?

With an almost inaudible sigh, you took the plunge and chanced a look at Instagram. As expected, you had hundreds of new followers on your public work page as well as countless requests on your private one. You assumed people had found you by searching through the people Tom followed. You ignored the requests and looked at the comments on your most recent public posts. It was all pretty much the same. The nice comments were drowned out by the ones aiming to destroy not only your relationship with Tom but also what confidence you had left in yourself. Did these people really think it was okay to send such disgusting messages?

You weren’t sure how long you sat there scrolling through Instagram and Twitter but you guessed it was quite a while when a hand appeared in front of your face, waving wildly. With a jump, you locked your phone and looked up to see Tom’s confused face.

“You okay, darling?” he asked. “I’ve just said your name about a hundred times.”

“Oh, you did? Oh. Right. Uh, yeah, yeah, fine, just in my own little world,” you replied, voice at a slightly higher pitch than usual. You cleared your throat. “Just replying to some texts, is all.”

“Nothing to do with certain pictures that were taken last night?” he asked after a small hesitation, then gave a smile when the sudden drop of your shoulders gave him the answer he already knew. With a heavy sigh, Tom took a seat next to you on the bed and placed a hand on your thigh, squeezing gently. “I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t expect anyone to be there taking pictures.”

“S’not your fault,” you muttered, only half listening to what he was saying. The names people on Twitter called you were too busy making their way to the front of your mind, overpowering Tom’s apology. There was a huge temptation to show him what was being said and let him say something to his fans but how much help would that be?

“Well I still should have known better, [Y/N]. Hey, look at me,” he said softly and took your face in his hands, tilting it towards him. He pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead. “I’m really sorry about the pictures. I’ve learnt from experience it’s best to just not say anything. They’ll be old news by tomorrow.” He offered you a smile which you returned. “At least no one knows who you are.”

Ah, so he had yet to see people’s comments. He must have just skimmed over the article or been told about it by Harrison or maybe his agent. There was no way you were going to tell him about the things people were saying to you, both on your Instagram comments and private messages. He didn’t need to worry about that. Like he said, it was best to ignore the whole situation.

Easier said than done.

“Yeah, I just wasn’t expecting our relationship to be found out so soon,” you said and leaned your head against his shoulder. His arm wrapped around your waist and he pulled you closer to his chest. “Next time we go out we’ll be more careful.”

“But that’s not what I want, darling,” Tom sighed and gave your forehead another kiss. “I don’t want to have to keep a lookout whenever we go out. Look, if you want I can say something or we can sort something out to stop people taking your photo.”

You shook your head quickly, seeing how torn he felt about the situation, worried about how you’d react. “No, no, it’s not that bad. I think it’s just because I’m not used to being in front of the camera, it’s usually me taking the photos and I’m one of the good guys who gets the model’s permission,” you said, forcing a light chuckle. “Seriously, Tom, it’s fine. I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting it, is all.”

Tom looked at you for a moment, wanting to see if there was anything you weren’t telling him, and when he decided you really were okay, he gave your lips a kiss and your hip a squeeze and went on his way back downstairs. The second you heard his feet touch the wooden floor at the bottom of the stairs, your shoulders dropped and you glanced over at your phone. How bad would it be to have another look at what people were saying? Before you could even give yourself the chance to answer that question, you shoved your phone into your bag without answering any of your friends’ text messages and followed Tom.

*

Just as Tom had assured you, the news quickly became old and was soon overtaken by a huge story of a cheating scandal within the cast of The Only Way Is Essex - something of which you had no interest in and couldn’t see why others were eager to read about it. Despite the news dying down and the comments on your social media eventually settling, you were still nervous about going out in public with Tom. For the first few days, the two of you stayed local on walks with Tessa, but as Tom’s promotion for Far From Home came to an end the following weekend and the celebration meal drew closer, you started getting more nervous. It was something you pushed yourself to attend; what use was hiding away and ruining the relationship? Attracting attention was all part of the package that came with being with Tom.

Due to his schedule for the last day, it was agreed that you’d meet Tom after his final interview and you’d go to the restaurant from there. Although the nerves had fully kicked in, you were incredibly excited to meet his cast mates. From what Tom had told you about them all, they were a great bunch. You’d watched some interviews and recently listened to him and Jake live on Radio 1, which had you completely belly laughing, so meeting them all in person made you just that little bit extra anxious.

“Do you think I’m thinking too much about the whole press situation?”

The question came out as a whisper but it was enough for Olivia to hear. She looked up from the couch to see you stood in the doorway to your bedroom, dressed and ready to go. With a small groan, Olivia pushed herself up from the couch to look at you properly and looked you up and down. “If I wasn’t taken, I’d definitely be trying to get you to bed,” she smirked, making you roll your eyes. “But to answer your question, I dunno. I mean, you haven’t exactly been the most vocal about the whole situation.”

You supposed she was right. Whenever it was brought up, you tended to bring out the inner teenager out in you and just give a grunt in response.

“I just don’t want to get enough attention from the press or his fans - especially his fans - for it to affect our relationship,” you replied and brushed a piece of straightened hair behind your ear.

“The only way it’ll do that is if you let it,” Olivia said and you instantly knew she was right. Of course she was right. “I’m no relationship expert but if you want to make it work, then you put the effort in to ignore all the crap people are saying.”

Olivia was the only one who you’d shown the private messages people had sent; you’d been too scared of Tom’s reaction to let him see. Even though you knew you were overthinking things, a part of you worried that if Tom read the messages, he’d realise the relationship wasn’t worth the hassle and leave you be. Ridiculous, right?

“Just go out and let your hair down,” she continued with a big grin. “Tom’s lucky to have someone so hot.”

“Oh please, it’s not all about looks, you know,” you told her, trying to sound stern but couldn’t hide the smile pulling at the corners of your lips.

“What can I say? I’m vain,” she laughed and grabbed your keys from under a magazine on the coffee table, tossing them to you as you hurried out to the Uber waiting outside.

As the car drove off, you thought about Olivia’s words. She was right. One hundred percent right. Although it was difficult, you knew you had to just move on and get over your relationship being known. Thinking about it, you knew it was stupid to get so hung up about a few photos and (more than) a handful of death threats sent from Tom’s so called fans. You knew this kind of reaction was common when it came to people in the public eye, you just never expected to be in the receiving end of it.

When you pulled up outside the studio, Tom was already standing there waiting. His face lit up when you got out of the car and he wasted no time giving you a kiss. “You, my perfect girlfriend, are looking gorgeous,” he grinned, still in a high state from his interview. He grabbed your hips and pulled you close. “I’ve missed you.”

“You saw me last night, “ you snorted and moved your hands from his chest to wrap around his neck.

“And?”

“And you can survive a day without me, I’m sure.”

“You know what? I don’t think I can.”

With another kiss, Tom slapped your bum lightly and then took your hand to start leading you down the street.

“Hey, hey, slow down!” she laughed, struggling to keep up with his quick pace. “Some of us are wearing heels, you know.”

“And whose fault is that?” came his laugh of a reply, looking back over his shoulder at you hurrying in your boots. “We’re only going around the corner and then you can have a drink. Anyway, why do women wear those things if they hurt?”

“Because they make us look good,” you shrugged and continued to wince with each step until you got to the restaurant the Far From Home team had booked out for the rest of the night, meaning everyone had the privacy to fully relax and enjoy the night.

The first person you spotted was Zendaya. All it took was one look at the tall young woman to instantly make you feel like a troll. She was absolutely beautiful. No wonder Tom used to have a crush on her. Who could blame him? Zendaya noticed the two of you and put down her drink to rush over, immediately pulling you into a friendly hug.

“I’m a hugger,” she laughed and gave a squeeze, then pulled back to give Tom a light punch on the arm. “It’s about time Tom showed you off! You’re all he talks about.”

“Not all I talk about,” Tom muttered, cheeks turning a faint pink.

“Alright, the only time he shuts up is when he’s being asked questions with a camera pointed at him,” she clarified with another laugh and he rolled his eyes. “Other than that, you’re definitely a hot topic.”

Before Zendaya could embarrass him anymore, Tom dragged you off to meet the rest of the cast. There were a few teasing comments here and there about how much he talked about you, but after a drink Tom seemed to just embrace them and give up denying it. The food was served and quickly demolished, then everyone seemed to focus on getting drunk. You made the rounds again, the few cocktails you’d had giving you the confidence to talk to pretty much everyone. Tom stayed by your side with his hand either in yours or around your waist or on your bum. He laughed at your jokes and you at his; your happiness radiated off one another. Jake was exactly as you’d imagined, if not more wonderfully weird. The friendship that had grown between him and Tom was brilliant to see and a part of you even grew slightly jealous of their closeness. 

Someone had managed to get a karaoke set up in the corner of the room and you definitely weren’t one to back down from fighting for the title of Queen of Karaoke. Jacob and Zendaya had their go at OutKast’s “Hey Ya!”, which pretty much had you on the floor laughing. When it came to your turn, you took off your boots to show how serious you were taking this, and dragged Tom up too. There were cheers and whistles. Jake picked your song and within seconds you recognised it as “Dancing Queen”. Your head fell back in laughter. Tom handed you a microphone and the two of you belted out the lyrics, not a single one of them in key. You moved across the makeshift stage to show off your moves. Tom even attempted to do the robot at one point, clearly showing off his wide range of dance skills. When the song came to an end, you both joined in with the cheering and Tom pulled you in for a kiss.

“If I was sober,” he said with a little snigger, “I’d kill you for that.”

The end of the night arrived far sooner than you would have liked. Tom tried his best to get one more round of drinks, giggling away to the waitress as he was repeatedly denied any more.

“But it’s for Spider-Man,” he hiccuped and struggled to stop swaying on the spot. He frowned a little as he tried to focus on the waitress, his vision slightly blurred from the amount of alcohol he’d had. “And for Myst… Misty…” He looked back over to Jake and waved a hand in his general direction. “That one.”

“I think someone’s had a little bit too much to drink,” you giggled and took a hold of Tom’s hand to pull him back towards the table where near enough everyone seemed to be saying their goodbyes.

Tom looked down at you, eyes sparkling. “Hello, you,” he said with a grin as though it was the first time he’d seen you all night and hadn’t in fact left your side just minutes earlier. “I miss you.”

“I’m right here,” you laughed and reached up to give the tip of his nose a light poke.

“Not close enough,” he grumbled before pulling you right into him, smushing your face against his chest. He left a wet kiss on the top of your head.

“Any closer and I’d suffocate, babe,” you managed to say, voice muffled from his shirt. You gently pushed against him and moved away. The pout on his lips made you smile. “I think it’s time we head home, yeah?”

Farewell hugs and kisses were made on your way out of the restaurant and you quickly hailed a taxi to take you back to your place as it was closer. Tom leaned into your side as the car drove, the streetlights adding a yellow glow to his face. He gave a big yawn and snuggled into you, and by the time the car came to a halt outside your flat, he was fast asleep and snoring into your shoulder.

“Come on, Tom, just walk about five metres and you’ll be inside and can get into a nice cosy-ish bed,” you said and shook the sleeping lump. All you got was a grunt in response. “Alright, you asked for it.” You took a chunk of his curly hair between your fingers and pulled. Tom jumped with a yelp and rubbed the back of his head. Before he had time to ask for an explanation, you forced him out of the car and, after saying a rushed thank you to the driver, dragged the drunken man into the flat. 

The place was empty; Olivia tended to stay over at her girlfriend’s on the weekends. You could tell Tom was in no state to have even just a sip of water so you guided him towards the bedroom and he fell heavily on the bed.

“Throw up in here and you’ll be on the couch,” you warned, though weren’t sure how much attention he actually paid to your threat. 

Tom attempted to kick off his shoes but gave up with a huff and curled up on top of the covers. Could he have looked more cute? You took a quick picture on your phone and then moved to take the shoes off for him, pulling at the laces to loosen them up. A mumble of incoherent words made you look up but Tom still had his eyes closed and his head buried in the pillow. You shook your head a little and chose to ignore it, brushing the words off as drunken nonsense. Then he spoke again. The words were quiet, only just audible, but you definitely heard them. Goosebumps spread across your arms and a faint smile appeared on your lips.

“Say that again,” you whispered and tossed his shoes to the corner of the room.

Tom rolled over onto his back and stretched out across the bed, taking up all the room. “I love you,” he mumbled and gave a soft snore.

You’d definitely never let him forget this.

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[dreamsafterhours]

college boyfriend!markhyuk au series: III (mark’s pathway)

a universe in which roommates!markhyuk meet each other's s/o in class

markhyuk are roommates, my/n and dy/n are roommates, mark and dy/n take classes together and so do donghyuk and my/n — how will their fates intertwine?

genre: fluff pairings: mark+my/n (fem), donghyuk+dy/n (fem), platonic!mark+dy/n, platonic!donghyuk+my/n format: dotpoint AU universe: non idol, college bf warning: some swearing

masterlist

or click here to meet your soulmate, paediatrics!donghyuk!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

III: 별빛이 내린다 샤라랄라랄라라 (2+2=4)

the meeting of two souls: mark & my/n

hi hello good day how are you? i hope you're well today/tonight this is like 3 weeks late isn't it :D pls don't come after me i lost some motivation to write for a while but here i am now so let's get to it!!

aight so you met donghyuk's roommate for the first time yesterday and,,

you honestly had NO IDEA someone could be that cute

highkey regretting not asking for his name but you were so caught up in lingering on the fact that he implied you were pretty , like wHO DOES THAT ASDFKJL

you highkey shouted the verbal equivalent of a keyboard smash with ur roommate and she was all !! oh so this guy cute cute

you were contemplating whether or not to sneakily ask donghyuk for his name but you were worried bc hyuk has,, crazy sense when it comes to reading people and seeing through their words

and honestly you didn’t want to have to deal with hyuk potentially teasing the shit out of u for having a maybe crush on his roommate whom u’d just met

so you just beat your pillow sleep on it after your roommate reminds you it’s getting late and no life decisions should be made after 12am!! live by it

you wake up craving jjajangmyeon but alas if you were to get any satisfaction of that kind of hunger, it was going to have to wait because

~~ we love ~~ packed schedules ~~ in this house ~~

i hopes the sarcasm was noted in that previous sentence bc now u wish for life to cease

4 weeks into the semester and you were drowning in the midst of reports and lab pracs and content and revision

you were ready to ascend to the next life with only regret and an ability to vaguely explain the properties of a prokaryotic cell and endosymbiosis

but honestly donghyuk’s been a big help throughout the past month

your only friend in classes

official study buddy

2am revision session consultant

personal older brother bc he claimed you as his adoptive sister

another reason your roommate told you to go to bed was bc you literally have

a tutorial class + 2 consecutive 1.5 hour lectures + a 3 hour lab class to finish your day off

with no break for lunch in between :’((

looks like you’ll be starving through your library study session with dy/n

but oop

you find that dy/n had stayed up long after you’d fallen asleep writing her essay 

leaving your dorm feeling a twinge of guilt that u might have distracted her from focusing on her work to listen to your rambles and kept her up later than she should have been

but a text from her in the afternoon reassures u that honestly she wasn’t even planning to write that essay and The Feels™ had just hit her last night and that she made it to class

you: oh PHEW that’s good

you: sorry i didn’t wake you up on my way out, u looked so peaceful i couldn’t bear to disturb

dy/n 🦁: dw dw it’s all g i made it n e way

dy/n 🦁: also is it cool if my friend and his friend comes to the study sesh as well we have to go through some lecture content

you: ah yes don’t see why not :)) i’ll probs have my earphones in the entire time anyways lmao won’t affect me

but will it

“who u texting in the middle of diffusion” cue hyuk peering over at the phone you’re hiding in your lap

you click your tongue at him and lock your phone, “someone twice the man you’ll ever be”

he gasps in mock horror like he’d just witnessed a murder as quietly as he can ,,

“you’re texting a guy? in the middle of diffusion?”

“no. my roommate lmao”

“and what? is it me or your roomma—”

“—my roommate” you glance back up at the prof without looking at him

“ouch”

“you dare?”

“if i don’t dare, who will”

and due to this exchange, you miss the osmosis slide

“ah shit what was osmosis again”

“lmfao what makes u think i know that”

(pause)

“isn't it just.. net movement of free water molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration”

sorry my bio neural pathways are being excited again after being revisited for the first time in two years

/stares at him/ “why was that infuriating to hear from u”

after class you prepare to head to your dreaded 3-hour lab class you have with donghyuk but he stands up and stares into the void blankly

“where am i going”

“where do u think”

“oh, hell, most likely”

you scoff at the accuracy and drag him out of the lecture hall

you look at donghyuk and he’s visibly resisting the urge to poke your cheek when he first puts on his gloves

“what’s with you today”

he stares at his hands forlornly, “idk ask that to my timetable”

“week 4 got u dead huh”

he glances at you with a frown, “don’t act like u’re not dying too”

“damn. touché”

to your dismay, the lab class runs later than scheduled and you get out of it 20 minutes after it was meant to finish but luckily it’s your last class

with a quick goodbye to donghyuk and a text letting dy/n know you were going to be a lil late, u stop by ur dorm to pick up ur textbook before rushing to the library

you were highkey exhausted and just. famished by that point

but a promise is a promise and you weren’t going to back out of one now

especially when you felt like you owed your roommate one and it was you who originally suggested a library session

so you get to the library, bag strap slung over your shoulder, checking the photo of the seats dy/n had saved for you in the library

highkey getting lost once or twice but you manage

you get to the general area and spot dy/n sitting at a four-seater (wow how’d they get that) but you

freeze when you see who’s sitting next to her

it’s ??

????????

????????????????

/error 404/

????????????????

????????

ur heart goes into panic mode bc

it’s not even kidding it’s donghyuk’s roommate

and despite ur brain short-circuiting

you manage to remember that dy/n had said that mentioned her friend’s.. roommate.. also coming along..

and if her friend was donghyuk’s.. roommate..

you: :                             )

you: oh my god they were roommates

and speak of the devil

“oh hey fancy seeing u here”

you turn around and it’s donghyuk legit chills right there

you barely reply a “hi”

“i thought u were going to ur dorm for dinner”

“ah yeah—no i’m.. gonna go over some.. diffusion”

“oii! over here dude” his roommate whisper-yells out at donghyuk

dy/n waves at you “heYY my/n”

donghyuk waves and turns back to you “welp i’m gonna join a study group.. you could join if you came alone? i’m sure they won’t mind”

“about that”

“u waiting for someone?”

“i’m going over there too”

“what?”

he glances over at the table and then back to you

“that’s my roommate. right there next to your roommate”

you point her out and then donghyuk’s jaw drops

“what the fUC—” and you both. burst iinto laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation

like ?? how???

“wOW r u KIDDING”

“HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN”

“talk about a coincidence.. oh my god my cheekbones hurt” he says as he clutches his side

so you get to the table and dy/n tries to introduce u to donghyuk’s roommate

“mark, this is my/n, my/n this is mark”

ah yes so mark is his name, you think

cute name for a cute boi

“nice to meet you again, mark”

dy/n: “?? again?”

mark gives u a rlly wide smile “yeah we’ve met. hi my/n”

you swear you’ve never had your heart flutter like this

fdksoafjadgioarigilf

then mark introduces dy/n to donghyuk and they start talking about how they’re your legal guardian and telling the other to “get in line”

leaving you in middle like “ok mum and dad” but also thinking back to when donghyuk was highkey flirting with you,, and now how he’s flirting with dy/n ,, oh dude he’s flirting

and highkey ,,, you don’t have any hard feelings about it ,, you know she’s also got this kind of humour code and she’s far more comfortable with meeting new people

until dy/n jokes about custody rules and donghyuk replies with “who says we’re split”

ok mum and dad

n e ways you came to study and study you will

so you settle down and go through your notes for the day

albeit being a lil distracted by mark who sits right across from you somehow, somewhy,,

somewhy should be a word you can’t tell me how to english

you keep wanting to steal glances at him but you have to physically restrain yourself from doing so

and also donghyuk who keeps poking u under the table and texting u even though he’s right next to you

💩hyuk: bro

💩hyuk: bro

💩hyuk: bro

💩hyuk: bro

💩hyuk: bro

you: wHAT

💩hyuk: nvm lol

you: im boutta slap u. give me my pen back i saw that

💩hyuk: damn

💩hyuk: also r u hungry

you: terribly

you: why

💩hyuk: does ur roommate have any allergies

you: not that i know of

you: again

you: why

you: u buyin?

💩hyuk: 🤡<- you

💩hyuk: 🤡, how do you feel about dinner

you: invalid question. no variable answer

💩hyuk: alright, 🤡. im not buying for u

you glower at him but he isn’t looking at u,, he leans back and laments about how he’s craving chinese food

did he read your damn mind how did he know

and apparently he’s read dy/n’s mind too at how she jumps up at the mention of chinese and agrees profusely

so you find yourself abandoning your studies for the rest of the night and in a restaurant lmfao

“chill,, guys,,, jjajang is fine”

rock paper scissors for the cheque ends in mark’s tears

“no it’s ok. i’m ok it’s our first meeting as a fateful group and it makes sense! for me to pay”

after you satisfy your cravings the boys walk dy/n and you back to your dorm

mark tells dy/n to give him her bag for him to carry and while she practically gives it up to him, he has to insist that he’ll carry yours too

to which you’re like omg no it’s fine i can carry it it’s not that heavy i swear—

until donghyuk takes ur bag off ur shoulder and passes it to mark

because of the narrow path, you’re forced to walk in pairs and you end up walking next to donghyuk who makes happy sounds about how good that food was and how priceless mark’s face was when he lost rock paper scissors

then dy/n takes the initiative to make a group chat for you four,, asking for donghyuk’s number to add

you give her a look like damn gurl but you have no idea if she saw or if she just ignored you on purpose lmfao

also donghyuk looked way too happy afterwards

either way you slapped her when you got back to the dorm like “SINCE WHEN WERE YOU SO ?? BRAVE?”

dy/n: um

dy/n: honey

dy/n: have you met me

and thus the chaos of a group chat was born and just like a real child, you spent hours on it

dy/n 🦁: ok we inside

you: thanks for dinner again mark!

💩hyuk: he says you’re welcome

💩hyuk: i say we “accidentally” lose our purses next time we go out

you: nah you’re paying next

💩hyuk: y

💩hyuk: y, 🤡

dy/n 🦁: yes y, 🤡

dy/n 🦁: HAHAH WHY IS SHE 🤡

💩hyuk: i thought you of all people would know

dy/n 🦁: why is she just as dumb in class as she is in the dorm?

💩hyuk: i knew it

dy/n 🦁: she poured too much hot water into her tea the other day it overflowed and spilt onto her foot

mark: oh no were u okay

💩hyuk: looks like you’re gonna have to study osomsis

💩hyuk: osmoiss

💩hyuk: fuck

you: yes i’m okay it wasn’t that hot i had socks on too

💩hyuk: osmosis

dy/n 🦁: avoided tragedy luckily

💩hyuk: finally

you: there is a reason you’re saved as 💩hyuk on my phone

dy/n 🦁: HAAHAHAHAHHAHAH

seriously you just don’t know just how much this group was going to mean to you yet

click here to meet your soulmate, paediatrics!donghyuk!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

shoot me an ask if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

#dreamwritersnet #kwritersworldnet #neowriters #nct au #nct 127 au #nct dream au #markhyuck #markhyuck au #markhyuck x reader #mark x reader #haechan x reader #donghyuck x reader #mark au #haechan au #donghyuck au #nct college #nct college au #eng lit mark #paediatrics haechan

[lia-jones]

Growing Pains - Chapter Seventeen - Warming Up

Back in Loveland, I found I didn’t have the time to breathe yet again. The week went by in a flash, as I busied myself again with work and my thesis. It was mid-December already, and I could feel the clock ticking loudly in my head, reminding me I had not much more than a month to finish the written essay before I could send it to my teachers. Victor was still abroad and extremely busy, texting once a day to check up on me, and taking an extremely long time to reply to any of my texts. He had called one evening, a heavy fatigue in his voice, and a tint of loneliness I couldn’t help but notice. He seemed to be in a better mood after we spoke, but even so I wondered how lonely he really was, and if, besides me, he had anyone to talk to at all.

And I missed him. I had missed him before, but now that I allowed myself to really feel it, it was unbearable.

I decided to uplift my spirits with good food and music. I came home loaded with vegetables and fruit, hoping a good soup and French toast would fill the hole in my heart. Pleased with my soup already cooking on the stove, I started my French toast. In no time my eating kitchen was filled with wonderful aromas, as well as the sound of the bread sizzling on my frying pan and Queen blaring out of my phone.

The music was replaced by my ringtone. It was Victor.

“Hey there. Just give me a minute.” I answered, before I connected my earphones to the phone. “Sorry, done.”

“If you’re busy I can call back later.”

“No, no. Just plugging my earphones. I’m cooking dinner, need both my hands. What’s up?” I said, putting my phone in my pocket to attend to the stove.

“Nothing much, just work. What are you cooking?” Victor seemed to be in a good mood.

“Comfort food. Green bean soup and French toast. I’d invite you over for dinner, but you’re probably too far away.”

“It depends on how good of a cook you are.” He teased.

“Well, I wasn’t trained by a professional chef like some people.” I teased back. “But I manage.”

 “We’ll see about that when I actually try your cooking. I will take a raincheck on that offer. Don’t think I won’t cash it.”

“I’ll be prepared.” I smiled. “Do you know when you’re coming back?”

“That’s why I'm calling you. Are you still available tomorrow?”

“I am.” My heart jumped with joy. “Are you in Loveland?”

“Still in London. I leave today.”

“Won’t you be too tired to meet, after such a long flight?” I worried. “We can reschedule for Sunday, if you want to.”

“If that were the case, I wouldn’t be scheduling a date with you for tomorrow.” His voice sounded cold all of a sudden.

“You’re right, you know better.” I shrunk. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll get some sleep, don’t worry.” Victor’s voice softened. “It’s fine, I’m used to this already.”

I remained silent, punching myself internally. I knew how guarded Victor could be, I shouldn’t just jump in and act like a nosy girlfriend. This was a very recent thing. I was getting ahead of myself.

“I’ll come pick you tomorrow at seven pm.” Victor spoke again. “We’ll have dinner and spend some quiet time together. What do you think?”

“Sounds wonderful. I’ll see you then. I hope you have a safe flight.”

“Thank you. I…” Victor paused. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.”

 Punctual as only he could be, Victor rang my doorbell at 7 o’clock sharp. I asked him to come up, since I couldn’t find my keys. I noticed his clothes were much more relaxed than usual. He was wearing a blue knit sweater with beige trousers and a brown jacket. He was holding a large paper bag.

“A keyholder would solve all your problems.” He joked.

“Well, I can’t argue with that.” I said as I looked around my living room. “Here, got them!” I said, picking them up and twirling them in my hand. “We can go now.”

“Wait. I might as well just give you this. Just a small thing, nothing much.” He said, handing me the bag.

I opened the bag and felt my eyes widen in delight. Inside I could find butterscotch cookies, several packs of tea, a tin of Harrods coffee and a magnet of a British phonebooth.

“Wow, this is too much, Victor.” I said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with so many gifts.

“It’s nothing, really. Just treats to motivate while you work on your thesis and the magnet because I noticed you collect them.” He pointed at my fridge, full of small magnets stuck to its door. “And I didn’t see one of those typical English phonebooths.”

“I love everything. Thanks for thinking of me.” I said, standing on my tiptoes and pecking him on the cheek. He pushed me closer, holding my back with his large hand, and kissing me softly on the lips. I felt myself blush.

“Where are we going? Is what I’m wearing appropriate?” I asked, suddenly feeling very shy about my jeans and white boat neck sweater.

“You look perfect.” Victor said, his eyes shimmering a little. “Grab a coat. It’s getting colder.”

He drove us to a fancy neighborhood, full of luxurious houses. He then turned to a fabulous private condominium, with large black iron gates, and trees with purples leaves lining the road. I was astonished with such beauty.

“Do you like it?” Victor asked.

“Is this where you live?” I asked, still dazed with the scenery.

“Yes, I own an apartment here.” He nodded. “Make sure you remember the way, in case you have to drive here.”

His hallway was probably larger than my eating kitchen and living room combined. I could only imagine how big his house was.

“Come on, I’ll give you the tour.” Victor held my hand, leading me inside.

His house was huge, of course. It was entirely decorated in shades of white, grey or black, showing a hint of gold, silver or red here and there. I counted six bedrooms, all of them with private bathrooms, three with walk-in closets, and his living room was divided by frosted glass panels in three smaller (but still huge) rooms, one with sofas and a tv, another one with a pool table and a bar, and the last one with walls lined with shelves filled with books, an antique piano and a small sofa. The dining room had a large table and a small bar as well, and was connected to the kitchen and the living room. The kitchen and his bedroom seemed to be the places he used more, with small personal objects lying here and there, even though it looked like they were placed meticulously. I watched everything closely, trying to understand him better through his environment. It was perfect, pristine, so much I felt afraid to touch anything.

Once again, I was startled by Victor.

“You are very different from your chatty self today. Is everything alright?” He said, as he watched me from the door of his (one of his) living room.

I went closer to him, touching his chest, my head bent backward so I could look at his face, due to the height difference.

“Just admiring your crib. So, what do you have planned for us today?” I said, trying to change the subject. But his expression suddenly became a slightly worried one. He leaned, watching me closely.

“You look pensive.” He said, tucking one of my curls behind my ear.

“It’s a new thing, that’s all. But I appreciate you sharing it with me. This piece of you.”

He grabbed me closer and kissed me. It wasn’t a desperate kiss as before, but it was just as intense. I melted in his arms, giving in to the feeling, a heatwave taking me over, and the only reason I didn’t fall on my knees was because Victor was holding me pretty tight.

“I find it amazing, how you just give in to me like that.” Victor said, his eyes dark, locked on mine.

“You’re the one to blame for that.” I smiled slyly, reaching for another kiss.

We were still too shy to jump to a more intimate stance, but the way we pressed our bodies clearly showed we wanted more, but were holding back. What started as a kiss gave way to more of a make-out session, both of us too entranced to just pull away like that. Slowly we lost all shame and I sneaked my hand under his sweater, wanting more of him, craving the touch of his skin. He let out a small grunt and became more alive, his hands pressing hard on my body, his kiss warm and strong and enticing, making me more and more aroused. I moaned as I felt the bulk in his pants press on my abdomen, showing me he wanted it as much as I did.

I made him sit, straddling him. I took a good look at him, the whole of him, biting my lip. Victor chuckled, even though he was taking all of me too, a small preview of what would be revealed once we took our clothes off. His hungry eyes made my insides clench a little, the lust bringing an itch I was pretty sure only Victor could scratch.

I kissed him deeply, grabbing the bottom of his sweater and pulling it up. Victor broke the kiss and helped me remove it in a swift motion. But instead of his bare chest, I found he was wearing a black t-shirt underneath. I groaned in frustration.

Victor chuckled and lifted his back from the sofa, grabbing the hem of his t-shirt and pulling it upwards, removing it instantly.

“Is it better now?” He asked, smiling, while I eyed him with lustful eyes. He was drop-dead gorgeous, his chest hairless and well defined. I slightly ran my hand through it. It was incredibly soft.

“Much better.” I answered, planting small kisses on his neck, my lips trailing my way down to his chest. Victor leaned his head back, his breath slightly ragged, his beautiful grey eyes fluttering in pleasure. I could feel his penis throbbing under my butt, we both becoming hornier by the second.

Suddenly he grabbed me by the hips and sat on the edge of the seat, his hands strong and restless, his eyes dark and focused.

“My turn.” Holding the hem of my sweater between his fingers, he slid it up, removing it. He held me tight, his warm skin against mine making me tingle, his body scent leaving me in a daze.

He licked my ear lobe and came down to my shoulders, trailing his way with moist kisses, making my skin crawl in pleasure. He laid me on the sofa, supporting my back with his big hands, my legs wrapped around his waist. His eyes descended from my breasts to my stomach, appreciating the view, until they stopped on my lower abdomen, his expression changing quickly.

I felt an icy wave hit me, making me shiver. He was looking at my hysterectomy scar.

I quickly got up, and almost fell down from the sofa, if it wasn’t for Victor. My hand flew to the side and I grabbed my sweater, trying to cover myself as quickly as possible.

“I'm sorry.” He quickly said, keeping the short distance I had established, allowing me some space.

“It’s ok.” I said, my voice low as I tried to keep myself together. I took a few deep breaths.

“Talk to me.” He gently urged.

“I said I’m fine.” My voice sounding sour, not at all what I intended.

“Listen.” He said, touching my shoulder. “We don’t need to rush into things. We can take it slow.”

“It’s not that.” I quickly corrected him. “I want you. I want this. I just… I had completely forgotten it was there. You make me forget all about it, that’s one of the things I love about you. But when you looked at it… It all rushed back.” And I realized I’m broken. And I realized you deserve better. My lips quivered with emotion that I was trying hard to hold back. “It’s messy, I’m messy. I’m sorry about this.”

Without a word, he pulled me closer, grabbing my waist with both hands. He gently caressed my nose with his, leaning his forehead against mine.

“Show me.” He asked softly. I agreed with a soft nod.

His eyes on mine, he grabbed the hem of my sweater. Slowly and steadily the sweater rolled up, until my scar was revealed, its bottom tip concealed by the button of my jeans.

He leaned me back on the sofa, slowly, still watching me closely. Holding the hem of my sweater with one hand, he traced my skin with his fingers, until it stopped right on the edge of that line of healed skin. He looked down and touched it softly, looking at me again, assessing my reaction. It actually felt good. Neither his eyes nor his touch held any kind of judgment. Just tenderness. And acceptance.

“You will never need to hide from me.” Victor affirmed. “Messy or not, you’re the one that I want.”

My heart grew so much with his words I feared it wouldn’t fit in my chest. I felt like the most loved person in the world. He took me into his life without any kind of restrictions, scar or no scar, abuse or no abuse. He loved me for who I was, and that was the only thing I ever wanted.

And if my love was big before, I could barely contain it in my chest now. I could feel the strength in his stance, protecting me. And in his arms, comforting me. And in his kiss, loving me. He was intense, a fortitude, a lighthouse in the stormy night. Hell, if I was a tree, Victor was a goddamn forest.

I pulled him into another kiss, trying to convey what I was feeling and my throat was to tight to say. Trying to say I love you with my lips, but not with my voice. Victor welcomed me in his arms and in his warmth, and if I could read correctly, he was saying I love you too.

#Growing Pains - Series #growingpains #mlqc victor #victor x oc #mlqc fanfic #mlqc li zeyan #mister love queens choice #love and producer

[milosprite]

some tips on getting organised after a rough patch

slowly but surely i'm getting my life back on track after going through some Shit™ in high school and i just thought i'd share some of the stuff i've learned while sorting out my crap. turned out to be a really long post so everything's under the cut if you're interested.

getting out of the not-so-great situation that was preventing me from moving forward with my life. for me, that was leaving school. i'd fallen in with kinda a crappy crowd of people, i wasn't achieving anything, i'd been bullied there in previous years and my 'friend' group at the time was getting me into trouble. aside from that, i'd mentally associated my school with a trauma that happened in my first year, so it was just all round not a good place for me. as i was in my last year i chose to drop out and use an alternate pathway into uni instead of transferring to a new school. for some people it might be near impossible to get out of the situation, but if you see a chance, i encourage you to take it.

start wearing matching socks. things like cleaning your room or sorting through your clothes can be really daunting projects and even starting to put effort into your outfits can be a bit scary at first. wearing matching socks can make you feel like you're a little more in control of things and it doesn't require a lot of effort. if you have the money, i'd recommend buying all new socks especially ones with colours or patterns as it'll be easier to match them up. you'll get a sense of accomplishment out of it and hopefully feel a little less overwhelmed by everything.

learn a language on duolingo. duolingo, if you haven't heard of it already, is a free language learning app which is pretty dang ok. it has a streak feature, so if you complete your daily lesson minimum every day you get a streak of however many days that is. the lessons take about 5 mins which you can do on the bus/train, at lunch break or first thing when you get up in the morning which is what i usually do. it's satisfying to see a however many days streak of accomplishment and it motivates me to continue working on things. i'm currently learning french mainly because i think it's an interesting enough language and it's close to my native english so it's not particularly difficult. unfortunately there are not many options if your first language isn't english, but if you feel confident learning another language from english or spanish i think is the other one with lots of options, i encourage you to use duolingo.

start making your bed. making your bed makes your room feel more clean and organised than it actually might be. i have a double bed in quite a small room so i used to use my bed for storage a lot, would just throw my bag onto it after school or work, clean washing lived in a pile on my bed, etc. all in all very cluttered and not comfy to sleep in. so, if you clear off and make your bed not only will you get a better sleep, but you'll also have a tidier/more organised feeling room. for bonus points wash your sheets and blankets i know you need to.

pack lunches. even if you're not going anywhere, i'd recommend packing a lunch the night before anyway. this way you're less inclined to eat take out all the time so you'll feel a bit healthier, you get practice cooking and it will give you a more solidified night routine. lunches can be super simple to make, cut up an apple or an orange, make up some rice, tinned beans, leftover dinner, a sandwich with leftovers in it (if you tend to eat buns instead of sandwich bread you can buy a premade salad and grab a handful and chuck it in your bun. bam healthy salad sandwich), pretty much anything edible in a lunch box. doesn't have to be fancy.

pack your bag for the next day every night. this is a tip probably everyone has heard before, but it really works. unpacking your bag when you get home and packing it with everything you need tomorrow before you go to bed streamlines the getting up in the morning process and again solidifies a night routine (routines are GREAT for organising yourself i promise you)

go for walks. staying in your house all day can be pretty depressing, especially if you're already depressed. if you're not busy and you're feeling like rubbish at home, charge up your phone, put your earphones in and just walk somewhere. local shop, park, beach if you live near it, walk up to the local school and back, just go somewhere. it's nice to be outside and getting in some exercise will make you feel a bit better a lot of the time. if you can't walk far/at all, i'd recommend sitting outside in your backyard (or front yard or balcony whichever you have that works) stick your earphones in and listen to some music or podcasts or read a book if you prefer. getting out doesn't have to mean doing something or spending money or being with other people. alternatively, doing yoga or something similar outside every now and then might also work.

get yourself something nice. if you're in a position to save money, save up a bit (maybe like $50 or more if you can) and just go ham. capitalism sucks but buying stuff makes us feel good and now is not the time to be analysing that. buy yourself a new shirt or shoes, make up if you wear it, cute stationery, video game, get yourself a haircut or wash and blow dry, buy a cd, new earphones, if you have pets you might like to buy something for them. anything you want that you can afford within your budget. note: don’t do this all the time you will become very poor very quickly :(

keep in mind, none of this is going to happen overnight. i started off with wearing matching socks almost 2 years ago and i'm still in the process of sorting my life out, but i've come so far since then and so can you. if nothing else here is useful, please just remember to be patient with yourself and celebrate the little victories that no one else notices or even cares about. be proud of yourself because you've achieved so much.

#q #tips #eddie.txt #studyblr #organisation #long post for ts #these are what helped me so hopefully they might be able to help someone else going through something similar #i'm still only halfway there so take this as advice not me saying you must you must #there is no universe in which i know everything

[sebongie-loves]

dog cafe!junhui

enjoy! <3

junhui is literally the cutest thing but at the same he seems like the most oblivious person 

jeonghan still remembers his interview and it was not a fancy or an intellectual interview

it was just junhui being himself and all giggly and smiley 

so jeonghan is like ‘okay you’re handsome, cute, and friendly so you’re in. come tommorow i’ll tell you what to do.’

with his charms and him being all bubbly, he mostly takes the orders as a waiter 

the most relaxed when recommending orders 

“the chef recommends this but i like this the best!”

good thing the customer just laughs and orders what he recommend, who can resist his cute ass? no one

when he first came in and worked, no one actually knew he is chinese and after they knew their jaw dropped

“WHAT”

since junhui does not talk much about himself despite him being all mischievious and talkactive unlike minghao that forces everyone to call him minghao instead of his korean name

only minghao knows this fact but minghao doesn’t really talk much about this either

minghao knows this because he always helps junhui with his visa and other foreigner things ever since junhui found out minghao is also chinese

everyone thought junhui is simple but he’s actually more complicated than what’s everyone been thinking

once, seungkwan jokingly asked junhui about his reason why he chooses to work here during their breaks along with hansol, wonwoo and seokmin. without hesitation, junhui just replied that he saw jeonghan when he was putting the flyers and it seems fun so he said to jeonghan that he wants to work here

“....good thing he didn’t go near a club that day.”

junhui’s favourite thing in the cafe beside the friends he made and the cozy place itself is the dog 

almost everytime when he’s not taking orders or when the cafe doesn’t need that many staffs, he’d be around wonwoo with the dogs 

the dogs are the one that is making junhui excited and all bouncy everytime he’s going to work 

until you meet him

you draw, no one knows you draw however you’re really good with your drawing but silly you only making it as a ‘hobby’

the thought of people judging your drawing is scary and you’re just very shy that’s why you never show everyone your drawings

you do light sketches like people or scenery

sometimes you draw in your room, or on a park or in cafes

so this time you decided to check out this cafe that people have been raving about

the place is really comfy for your preference so you just sat down and pull out your earphone from your bag along with your sketch book and pencils

before you sketch something, a waiter walks toward you 

with a friendly smile, junhui opens up his little note that waiters usually use after handing you the menu book. “good evening, i’m jun! what can i get for you?”

since it’s your first time here, of course it’ll take more time because you don’t really know the menu. it’s not like you can pick something randomly and waste your money for a piece of cake. so all you do is flipping the menu book at the dessert section with a small ‘uum’ or ‘wait’ coming out from your mouth

“if you want a cake, the chocolate cheesecake is really good! like, there are little truffles on top of it. i don’t really know what it is but our patissier is wonderful.”

jun explained the excitedly, noticeably telling you about his favourite so you choose to trust him. ordering his recommendation along with a trusty warm rose tea before he left bringing your orders

you can’t help but find how cute jun is and how he’s leaving you such a good impression. it got you thinking, do all the waiter here act like jun? or is it just him because if it’s just him, it makes him even cuter

but you just brush your thoughts and sketch as you wait for the food to come with an earphone blocking every sounds

as time passes by, without you realizing junhui is bringing your orders. junhui figures out that you don’t want to be distrubed so he just put your orders on your table which makes you notice it

you look up and your eyes match his. you simply reply his action with ‘thank you’ and a smile, like how you handle most of the servers you encounter but junhui’s heart jumps around when he sees you smile and for him your smile is not ‘just’ a smile

“oh you draw? it’s so good!” he says, eventually crouching down and looking at your face which making your cheeks all hot and red

“thank you. but are you allowed to talk to me like this?” you ask, out of worries. you want to talk to him as much as he wants to but to think about it, he is working

junhui stands up and chuckles. “ah yeah, jeonghan would kill me if he sees this but can i know your name?”

but guess who’s standing behind junhui

it’s undoubtly yoon jeonghan himself, oh junhui and his terrible luck 

“is this a mating season or something, why everyone are flirting while working these days?” uttered jeonghan sarcastically with a so-done-with-you smile

‘i’m sorry for the unconvinient. i hope his rude-ass behaviour does not change your good opinion about the cafe itself. i’ll give him a lecture about it, sorry!”

“but can i still know your name tho?”

“wen junhui!”

“okay okay i’m sorry!”

what a peculiar experience but it makes you smile. well, jun makes you smile

so before you left, you take a piece of paper and write down: ‘tell the waiter jun, my name is y/n. see you soon :)’

before this, junhui rarely wanted to go home and just played with the dogs but now? he’s jumping around and running to his home. brushes his teeth and just jump to bed, hoping that you’ll come again tommorow with your big fat smile and that cute sketch book you bring around because you’re the best thing that happened that day

good for him because you think the exactly the same thing as him so you decided you’ll come again tommorow

so you do

and at this point, junhui probably wants to fly to you because how happy he is to see you. “hello! can i get your numbers? wait i mean your order!”

you two laugh and you just shrug it off thinking how can a cute guy asks your number 

“do you have any recommendation?”

“bread pudding! our bread pudding is beyooooond words.”

you know what? this boy is the cutest and you just won’t let the opportunities slip away right infront of your face 

“can i order a bread pudding with a vanilla latte and can i give your tips in advance?”

junhui looks at you confused. you asked him for his hands. even with that much of confusion, he still gives you what you ask because he finds you really cute. “what are you doing?”

he asked, when you’re writing on the palm of his hand. when he realized it’s your phone number he almost screamed but he keeps everything cool because he knew jeonghan is watching

“okay a bread pudding, vanilla latte and a text are coming up. wait!”

hence you and him started texting each other

he always greets you good morning, wishes you a goodnight and just trying to get to know you and your personality because he’s attracted with you, not just your physical appearances

everytimes you visit the place, junhui seems like the happiest person on earth 

what’s odd with you two relationship is that he didn’t ask you ‘will you be my girlfriend?” and you didn’t ask him ‘will you be my boyfriend?”

all you did is giving him your sketches, outside works of course. it’s a sketches of the puppies you get close with eversince you visited the cafe, a scenery that you always wanted to remember and him

“y/n i like you so much and you like me, so we’re a couple now okay?” 

and that’s how it happens. junhui takes your hand and lands a peck on it. “i like you so much that i wanted to take you on dates, raise a puppy together and just be together for the rest of my life.”

you’re as red as a tomato at this point and you just replied him with ‘i like you, too’

starting from that point, junhui is the cutest boyfriend you’ve ever had and junhui would take a star if he could for you. he loves you so much sometimes he forgot about his jobs and got scolded by jeonghan because he often got distracted with you that is playing with the dogs or sketching 

...... worth it 

THANK YOU FOR READING AND JUNHUI IS CUTE < 3 

#seventeen #svt #svt performance unit #svt imagine #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenarios #seventeen scenario #seventeen imagines #svt scenario #junhui #moon junhui #wen junhui #jun #seventeen jun #jun imagine #jun scenario #jun fluff #fluff #seventeen fluff

[guidedbygunpla]

Gundam Sports Story Chapter 2. Back Home in Tonosho

The scramjet landed as it always did, its giant parachutes opened up and the last few G’s were decelerated out of the giant titanium bird. Catalyst and Ryu were escorted to their car, and started on the long drive out from the airport.

               “you know, I think it’d be better for Ohm if we moved to the city, he’d have more kids his own age, out here in Kagawa its all senior citizens and college kids, no one lives here anymore.” Ryu said as he motioned around them taking his hands off the wheel briefly.  “out here, im worried aside from video chats with his online friends, he wont really….you know, have any friends”

               “I didn’t really have any friends when I was growing up, I turned out fine” Cat said, her head resting on the cool glass of the window. Watching the sun as it set on the bay

               “oh I’m sure that isn’t true Cat, I’m sure you had friends when you were a little girl”

               “no I’m sure I’ve told you before, there were hardly any kids on Moore, it was a business side, so it was mostly young men and women just getting their careers growing, so I was always 5 years older or 5 years younger than almost everyone, there were only like 10 or so kids in most of my classes all through school…never really liked any of them. That’s why I moved to  Hatte after grade school, I wanted to go to college with people my own age, I didn’t have many friends until that point.”

               “well that’s exactly my point, don’t you think Ohm deserves that? You know, to grow up with kids his own age.”

               she looked behind her, as ohm layed across the back seat, covering up with his coat like a big blanket.

               “yea, I suppose…..but I don’t want to move away from your parents, they love getting to come see ohm when we’re on break, or after big matches….I think it does them good” she said looking back out the window as the bay disappeared behind a sea of trees and old homes.

               “Cat, is this a depression thing…you know I don’t want to pry” Ryu said setting a hand on Catalysts leg.

               “maybe, I think its just I don’t want to live someplace that exposed…I like being able to just live here, I don’t feel like a celebrity you know. I mean everyone here knows me, but they aren’t stopping to ask for my autograph or anything, just asking how you and Ohm are, I hate being watched now….it makes me feel like I’m back out in the Sides….I always felt like someone was watching me out there.”

her eyes seemed to stare off, past everything around them

               “I know Cat, you’ve told me before, the giant windows made it seem like someone even miles away could see you, that’s one of the reasons you liked working as a book keeper, you didn’t really have to be around anyone”

               “it kept the noise down” Cat said, her voice a bit toneless

               “I know, you always say the newtype thing can get overwhelming, you always thought it was just anxiety when you were a kid” Ryu said, their car cruising into their drive way, their garage door slowly rolling up “Cat we can talk more about this once the season starts to wind down, but I really think we should talk about getting Ohm at least into a school district where he would be able to make some friends”

               cat just nodded, she got out of the car and grabbed her duffle bag from the trunk and walked inside their home. Ryu woke up Ohm and walked him up to bed. Their home wasn’t fancy, it wasn’t spacious. Sure they could afford a nicer house. But They liked living a smaller life, living on the run during and after the war made them learn a lot about what they wanted in life, and it wasn’t stuff, it wasn’t things, it was eachother. And it was Ohm.

               Ryu got Ohm into his pajamas and into bed. After a while he walked into the room, as Cat slowly worked herself in and out of sleep, her muscles ached, and her head was a storm. The last few matches were just qualifying bouts, a formality to see who in the Japanese League would represent Japan in  the Grand Prix, but the fighters were hungry, and many more then usual were Newtype expressive this year, maybe not full Newtype, but they were expressing some base characteristics, heightened awareness, auras, intrusive thoughts. It was exhausting. Catalyst grew up thinking a lot of her intrusive thoughts and fears were just anxiety or depression, but what it turned out to be was she was able to hear more passionate thoughts from those around her, and feel the auras press out from people experiencing strong emotions. A common expression of Newtype abilities, it wasn’t until she was put under the life or death event that was the Moore colony incident that her real powers, the foreknowledge, seeing things happen before they do and being able to react in kind, and the physical 6th sense where she could feel the movements of others who have habited a space before and follow them. She hated the thought that this year she might have to face newtypes with similar abilities, up until now, aside from a few of them with foreknowledge or the one kid from the Oceanian Union who could telepathically yell at her and project images into her thoughts, she had a pretty easy time of it….she hoped this year would go as smoothly.

               “everything okay Cat?…you look stressed” Ryu spoke, softly as he climbed into bed alongside her. She smiled up at him

               “no, I’m alright, just thinking about work”

               “works over, home time.” He said kissing her on the top of her head

She sat in the flight simulator that sat in the corner of her garage, watching computer generated images move around her as Tenneth spoke through her headset.

Ryu was old fashioned in a lot of ways, Cat liked that, it reminded her of her grandparents, who were the first generation to be shipped out to the sides. Ryu grew up on earth, and as such didn’t seem to possess any Newtype abilities, and didn’t seem to put off any aura or even intrusive thoughts. That was one of the things Cat loved about him, when she met him he was one of the first people in her life who didn’t express even a tiny bit of psychic energy. She couldn’t read his emotions through anything but her eyes.  And neither could he, but he could read her like a book some nights. Cat snuggled up to Ryu and drifted off to sleep.

_______________________________________

               “come on Cat, let that anger out, you’re getting too clouded. Remember, don’t think, act. If you want to avoid having a Newtype spring some mind game trap on you, we need you to ignore all those intrusive thoughts and all the noise up there, and just hit them.” Catalyst used the small thumb stick on the right flightstick to cycle through her combat maneuvers, and select the appropriate ones as the situation called for them, with the most common ones mapped to her primary triggers on the left and right and the two thumb buttons on either side of the thumb stick. A simple block here, a windmill block there, cycle through the menu, Judo Transition, Kata Ha Jime hold, followed by punching the opponents camera out. Battle reset, the simulated mental noise being piped into her earphones increased in volume as it did so. Another round of simple block, windmill block, menu cycle, scarf lock, opponent reverses, Kata Gatame to reverse said reversal, elbow drop to back of head. Combat resets, volume increases, opponent moving faster. Windmill block, opponent has a heat hawk, windmill block again, axe swinging in, opponent moving very fast, Deashi  Harai throw, opponent is briefly stunned, Uki gatame hold, try to wrestle away the heat hawk, heat hawk secured. Opponent punches the cockpit of the GM, the first one catches her of guard, the second causes the combat alarm to sound, ending the match.

                 “you alright Cat…didn’t want to over stimulate you, but figured throwing a few faster ones in there wouldn’t offset you that much” Tenneth spoke as he walked into the garage, turning the lights on as he did so.

  she wasn’t paying attention to his hand once the heat hawk was freed.

simulation ended, the noise finally stops

               Cat took the earphones out and sat back in her seat.

               “no…Ten I think I messed up…I’ve been worrying since last night about whats going to happen if another Newtype on my level actually makes it into the Grand Prix this year, theres a lot of lower rank fighters I’ve gotten paired up with during these qualifying matches who have some abilities, what if someone on my level shows up, who can really throw me off my game” Tenneth sat down in the chair facing the simulated pilot seat itself and handed her, her water bottle.

               “well Cat, that’s a good question….I mean intrusive thoughts and that one Aussie who could telegraph stuff at you were bad enough, that’s why we added them to the training routine”

               “telepath” she said

               “im sorry?”

               “the Oceanian Union fighter who used the Gray Efreet with the twin heat hawks, he was a Telepath”

               “ah right, sends words an pictures into your head, that’s what I said.” Tenneth stuttered “I mean is there a lot worse than that?...when you say someone on your level, you gotta remember I’m not entirely sure what that entails”

               “well I know some of them can cause low level visual hallucinations, like, in Terra Stormriders book, War and Humanities place in it, she talks about weaponizing  Newtypes, I guess one of the ones she fought during the war was able to make it seem like she was running through a field with them, as little girls, she said she felt like she was there for hours with her. Imagine if I got in a match and some jag puts me in a submission hold and then transports me to some psychic day dream while I accidently tap out or what have you…..how would I even combat that.”

               “well…I mean I could see about finding some Newtype pilot, I know a few from the service, I  could call one of them,set up a few test matches with him, we could do the fight in the fukushima exclusion zone, wouldn’t have to worry about helicopters or anything, you and them could work through some counter Newtype techniques, try and figure out some solutions to deal with whatever happens.”

               Cat took the straw to her waterbottle out of her mouth and thought for a moment “well…I mean the worst that could happen is theres another Newtype out there who might end up in the Grand Prix who would know said counter Newtype techniques….guess it’s better then going into a Newtype V Newtype fight blind. Got anyone in mind?”

               “I’ve got just the guy, he was the Feddie Airforces Ace of Aces, took down over 100 dopps, and even took out a gow carrier single handedly. All with a saberfish, if memory serves, he’s started fighting on the Brazillian circuit” Tenneth said pulling up his MSMMAA stat chart on his tablet. Handing it to Catalyst after he had done so.

               “he’s doing pretty well in qualifying, so who knows if he’ll make it to the Prix or not, but he looks like he might make it in. whats he piloting for his qualifying matches? He have a corporate sponsor?” Cat said finishing the last of her water

               “right now he’s got a Feddier surplus Zaku, was being used as a test suit in Oceania, near the Sydney ruins, but guessing he bought it off em, or stole it, or won it who knows. been using that, guess he modded the mocap computer, added some basic krav maga and what not into it, nothing too fancy with the zakus limited range of movement of course.  guess hes doing pretty well for himself out there in Brazil…no listed corporate sponsors though. I could call Canon up, ask to barrow the Madea and have him and his team flown over. Set up some fake photo shoot somewhere, get all the mobile suit paparazzi away from the fukushima zone, so no one will be any the wiser.”

cat handed the tablet back to Tenneth

               “and we’re sure hes full Newtype, not just expressive?” she asked

               “that’s what interviews with him will have you believe, no specifics on how his manifests, but from what he says about it, it sounds like hes pretty powerful. Foreknowledge, projection the works. Must be how hes moving up the ranks so quick.”

               “wonder why he left the federation? Said on there he had been promoted to captain” Cat asked as she leaned forward and started to log out of the simulatior

               “donno, maybe there really is just that much more money to be made in the fighting pit than in a fighter jet.

#gundam #fanfic #chapter 2

[fangirl-who-writes-shit]

The Girl Who Cried Wolf: Peter Parker short fic:PART 1:

Girl Who Cried Wold

Peter Parker x Stark!Fem!reader. (Described as curvy but obviously can be any body type and gender, just change the words in ur head x)

Masterlist

This is just going to be an info filler chapter, readers back story and some personality traits. The story will begin properly in the next part. Also not written well as I’ve rushed it a bit.

Also I’m British so sorry for anything wrong with areas or using British slang/humour 😂.

Warnings for all parts: Mental health, swearing, probs some violence at some point, emotional/physical/sexual abuse/assault, sexual nature (consent), emmm emotional rollercoaster throughout. I think that’s it?? Please tell me if not.

If part has any triggering subjects for sensitive reads I will say.

In this one has mentions of abuse.

Also part 2 is already up, please tell me if you want more.

Readers p.o.v

“Dad, I’m going now!” I yelled gathering up my weekend bag from the floor next to the kitchen where my dad was.

“Okay Princess, call if you need anything. Happy is waiting downstairs” Dad said walking over to me. I smiled looking up at my father, I only see him every other weekend as he’s always busy. But of course he would be, he’s Tony Stark aka Iron Man.

“I will, em call me when you can have me next” I mumbled pushing some hair behind my ear.

“Course I will, probably will be in about two to three weeks. That okay?” He asked and ran a hand through my y/h/c hair.

“Perfect” I lied. I stood on my tip toes to kiss his cheek.

“Bye!” I shouted again as I walked out of the door and to the elevator. Once I reached the ground floor I saw Happy waiting for me.

“Hey Happy” I said with a smile, he sent one back putting his phone away.

“Hello Kiddo, come on cars outside ready” I nodded and followed him as he lead the way, as we were walking I pulled my hood up and put my earphone in to block out the world. Happy opens the door to the back of pitch black car with tinted windows.

I slid into the car and buckled up my seat belt then turned my music up, the song playing was ‘The Girl Who Cried Wolf’ by 5 seconds of summer. I let out a small sigh dreading going back home to mum and her new boyfriend Bobbie.

'Every time you say to me it’s over You just wanna start again, it’s just lies The girl who cries wolf every day Ignored by gravity, but in the end, don’t ask why.’

I’ve been trying to hint to dad that I want to live with him but he just isn’t getting it. My mums an alcoholic and so is her new boyfriend. Mum and Dad were youngish  when they had me, Dad was nineteen and mum was twenty one.

(A\N I know Tony Stark is older than 34 but for some reason I’ve just always imagined him in his 30’s sorry)

My father didn’t know anything about me until I was around five, my mum found out she was pregnant and broke up with him but after I was born she turned to the drink and ran into dad again at a night club and she told him about me as she slurred on her words. Not the best way to find out you have a daughter I must say.

'You say you wanna, but do you wanna run away? Your great escape, oh yeah. Where you going? Always running Find a way to call it quits again.’

I ripped out my earphones with a sigh and turned off the music not in the mood to listen to depressing music I relate to. I stared out of the window watching the world whizz by as Happy drove me home, to Forest Hills.

Dad pays for our apartment, he offered to pay for a big fancy house somewhere closer to him but mum said no, she doesn’t like it when dad buys us things. I don’t know why, it’s not like she’s earns enough money to pay for our apartment.

I felt numb as the thought of going back to mother and Bobbie over took my head. Bobbie isn’t afraid to shout at me or hit me sometimes. Mum doesn’t stop him she just opens another bottle of JD or whatever she’s drinking that week. They’ve only been together for two months but he acts like he’s lived with us for two years.

Soon the buildings turned more familiar as we drove into Forest Hills, I’ve lived here since I was six. Before we moved here we lived in Brownsville, Brooklyn with one of mums ex boyfriends Jackson. I don’t really remember it much but I do remember men coming in and out of our apartment twenty four seven.

Once dad find out how mum was raising me (around drugs, sex and alcohol) he tried to make us move closer to where he was living at the time, Stark Tower. But the best he could was Forest Hills which was actually further way from Stark Towers but it is a nicer place. Dad now lives further upstate with the rest of the Avengers, well what’s left of them.

“We’re here Kiddo” Happy said cutting me out of my thoughts, wow really? That went by quick.

“Come on Happy, I’m fifteen. I’m not a kid anymore” I giggled and grabbed my bag from beside me.

“Still young Y/N” He said turning back to see me, I sent him a small smile not wanting to get out of the car and for him just to drive me back to dad’s.

“Bye Happy” I said with a sigh and went to open the door.

“Call if you need anything, I’ll always drop everything for you mini Stark” I let out a laugh with a nod and stepped out of the car. I waited till Happy had turned and out of site.

I turned round to my apartment building, it wasn’t fancy but it was one of the best around. Not that you could tell if you walked into my actual apartment that my mother can keep clean and with me being so busy with school I can’t do it all the time.

I walked up the stairs to the third floor and got out my keys from my coat pocket knowing mum won’t be up yet as it’s 4pm and she’s normally passed out still.

As soon as I opened the door and was hit with the smell of booze, I let out a groan when I saw empty cans and bottles everywhere. But to my surprise there was a note on my bedroom door that I had reached after nearly tripping over the mess.

'Gone out, be back at 6 or something’

I snatched the note down from the door and tore it up then threw it on my ground. I fiddled with my key ring and tried to find the right key for my door. I installed a lock myself after I came home from detention on a Sunday about a year ago to find a random guy in my bed snorting coke.

I unlocked my door and walked into my medium size room before shutting it again and locking it again from the inside. I pressed my back against the door to look at my room, the walls were grey and I had a bed in the middle of a single and a double.

I set my bag down on my bed and collapsed next to it. I can’t be arsed to go to school tomorrow, don’t get me wrong I love school it’s my escape and I’m good at it but sometimes I just want to stay in bed all day and sleep. I don’t know how long I sat there just looking at the ceiling, thinking about life and how other people have it a lot worse than me, but when I finally looked away from the same spot of damp or something above me it was dark.

I sat up pushing my hair out of my face then reached over to my bedside table and switched on my lap. I let out another sigh looking over to my desk at the other side of the room, it wasn’t very big but I could still do homework on it. Next to my desk was my book case which took up over half of the wall, I smiled to myself as I saw all the books in colour coded order and it brought me slight satisfaction.

I walked over to my desk and put my homework in my school rucksack that I had finished two days before. I sat down on my office chair and got my sketch book and started to add details to my latest drawing, recently I’ve been seeing his face all over the news and I’ve been kinda drawn to him. I added a bit of shade to the mask of the famous Spider-Man.

I’ve been building the guts to ask dad about him, but I’m scared he’ll get all protective and shit. But I want to know more about him. I looked down at my watch to see it’s 7pm, I turned back around to stare at my door. Mum should of been home by now, I got up and unlocked my door once again to see if I’d just not hear her come in.

“Mum?!” I called out as I stepped out into the living area of our apartment, the TV was off as well as the lights. I walked over to mums door before knocking on it.

“Mum?!” I yelled again but still no answer. I opened the door and all I saw was empty cans and a untidy bed. I rolled my eyes and slammed the door shut before stomping back into my room and locked my door once again.

I let out a scream to myself and kicked my door over and over again until a crack was developed and I stopped. I harshly wiped my tears away and started to strip out of my clothes to get into my nightwear, which was one of Steve’s old jumpers and some joggers, I miss Steve I thought to myself. I let out a small sigh as I calmed myself down by putting on some music, it was the same song I was listening to in the car.

'So look at me in the eye, is anyone there at all? Is anyone there at all? Cause I’m not dreaming. So look at me in the eye, is anyone there at all? Is anyone there at all? Cause I’m not leaving’

I slowly felt my eyes start to shut as more tears escaped, just think Y/N. People have it worse, people always have it worse than you was the last thought that ran through my mind as I fell into a dreamless sleep.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

I shot up from my bed with a groan as I rubbed my eyes that were a little sticky from the dry tears. I rolled my eyes slightly as the annoying noise of my alarm clock still echoed around my room. I leaned over and pressed the 'stop’ button to making it stop ringing.

I got up and started to get ready for school, I went into my closet to pick out a comfy outfit. It’s starting to get a little chilly in temperature again so I picked out a dark emerald green and black checked jumper with some blue, slightly, ripped jeans with a pair of fishnet tights underneath. I finished my outfit off with black combat boots.

I decided not to wear a lot of makeup today as I couldn’t be fucking bothered, all I wore was some nude lipgloss, a light warm toned brown eyeshadow and clear mascara along with some concealer for my under eye bags and a faded bruise near the corner of my lip. I brushed my hair but then left it as I  picked up my bag to go to school.

I locked my door behind me and walked toward the kitchen to get an apple. As I went to take a bite I remembered about my mum. Shit is she back?

“Mum!” I shouted walking out of the kitchen to look at the sofa to see if she was passed out but she wasn’t, I walked over to mums room without knocking and she still wasn’t there.

I got my iPhone 7, what dad got me, out of my pocket to see if she had text or rung me but she hasn’t. I let out a groan and tried not to let any tears fall. This has happened before but normally she’s back by the time I wake up. I tried to ring her myself but it went straight to voicemail.

I took a deep breath and told myself she’ll be back by the time I get home. I headed down the stairs of my apartment block to get the train to school. It was sunny out but there was still a breeze in the air making me glad I wore my jumper. I started to jog slightly around people as I checked the time once again, 7:45am.

I let out a sigh of relief when I arrived five minutes early, I got my phone back out to put my earphones it and put my music on shuffle. I felt my cheeks start to heat up as I thought who was going to be on this train. It soon pulled up and I took a deep breath before walking on into the cramped train. I soon saw the face I recognised out of all the unfamiliar ones.

Peter Parker.

——

Thank you for reading, part 2 is up!

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #spiderman #spiderman homecoming #tom holland #tom holland imagine #imagine #imagines #my writing #peter #parker #tom holland x reader #peter parker x oc #peter parker x you #peter parker x michelle jones #fanfic #marvel #2017

[yenneferw]

Anon requested: “Peter, injured, refuses to let Tony help him bc he’s not out as trans yet. Tony is sad and irrationally angry with himself for not being someone Peter can trust. Later, Tony is dying and Peter comes out to him, apologizing and begging him not to die. He dies.”

I asked for something sad to write one day and this anon definitely delivered

Also I know it says Peter’s injured the first time but I’m gonna go for upset instead because I think it fits my thing better

Anyway if you couldn’t tell by the request, this one is sad so if you don’t wanna read something sad I’d suggest not going for this one

And this didn’t ask for tonyrhodey but I really wanted Rhodey to be there. Also I know the circumstances of the second part seem lame and meh but sjdlfkjsdfld I didn’t want it to be Infinity War or something bc I don’t know enough about that, so I just thought something up

Peter didn’t know if Flash was ever going to stop with the transphobic comments. If it wasn’t him, it was someone else who spread it around with just as much vigor, inspired by the “Penis Parker” taunts that he had been popularized at the school. He was tired and irritable when he left school that day, eager to get into the Spider-Man suit. He slipped out and into an alley like usual, stripping from his school clothes and jumping into the spidey suit.

He hid his backpack back behind a trashcan and webbed it up just in case, and then he pulled himself up into the air with a web, feeling the ground disappear from underneath him and the air open up to a much more tolerable space. Up here, everyone called him Spider-Man. But today, where normally this might have alleviated at least a little of his mood, he still felt grounded to everything that they said to him at school. He wasn’t able to forget being Peter for this moment.

He felt a shiver go down the back of his spine as he swung near an abandoned building. Frowning, he dangled across the street and looked over at the rundown building that felt off. He lowered himself to the ground and crossed the street, standing at the doorway and listening closely.

“Karen, advanced reconnaissance mode,” he whispered. He put his ear close to the door of the building, and inside he heard some sort of shouting—which wasn’t necessarily spidey business, because people fought all the time, but then he definitely heard a scream from somewhere inside.

Maybe bursting into an abandoned building alone wasn’t a good idea, but he wrenched the door open as quietly as he could—although, with pulling a door open, exactly how quiet could you be?—and slipped inside. Thankfully there was no one in the opening lobby area of the empty apartment building. He could hear some of the shouting from upstairs clearer now without his suit, so he whispered for Karen to stop enhancing the sound for him. And none too soon, because there was another scream from upstairs that he was sure would have sounded like accidentally turning his music on in his earphones for it to be at full, deafening volume.

As he started toward the stairway, he heard at least three sets of angry voices upstairs. He paused at the base, considering what he should do, before deciding to go up. The only other voice was the distressed person who was screaming, so if there were just three of them, he was sure he could handle it—he had almost handled everyone at the ATM robbery well, and that was with fancy weapons.

Once he was at the top of the stairs, he peaked into the room that the talking was coming from, and saw not three but five people standing in there, all of them with guns at their hips or in their hands and one of them with a big knife in their grasp.

While he was ducked down, trying to assess the situation and what he should do, if he could handle all five of them while still protecting the screaming person, one of them seemed to catch a glimpse of him. They started toward the hallway and he tried to swing over the railing to hang down where the person wouldn’t see him, but a red suit, even in the dark of the abandoned building, was noticeable.

“What the fuck?” the person said, storming out a lot quicker as a couple of the others followed. “I think that spider fuck is here.”

“Spider fuck? Really?” Peter said as he jumped back up into plain view, shooting a web out first to the gun on their hip so they couldn’t grab it quickly, and then rapidly sending enough webbing their way to pin them back against the wall. “Not cool. It’s not even that hard. Spider-Man.” He let out an exasperated huff.

Two of the remaining four came out, their guns now in hand. Peter felt the shiver run down his spine again before he heard the sound of a gunshot, and jumped up to the ceiling to avoid the bullet whizzing toward him. “Karen, call Mr. Stark!” he said, hopping out of the way of another bullet as the other shot toward him on the ceiling. He shot out at them, but without looking, it just barely webbed up the legs of the one on the right—a cumbersome disadvantage but not a fight-ending one.

The phone rang for too long, and in that time Peter mostly danced on the ceiling to avoid the bullets flying at him, while several curses were slung at him by the criminals as rapid-fire as he was attempting to swing webs at them. There was nothing around in the empty hallway to use to his advantage.

“What—” Mr. Stark’s voice was cut off by the sound of another gunshot, and the next time he spoke, he sounded distinctly more panicked. “What the fuck was that!”

“You need to—” He leaped down to the bannister to try to crawl where they couldn’t shoot at him or where they would have a harder time. “—track me and—” He dropped down underneath the staircase, knowing that they would follow him down but buying himself a moment of time. “—help!”

“I’m coming,” Tony said before Peter even had time to finish the last word, hanging up.

All Peter had to do was stall until Tony got there. And then he had to endure the lecture that was coming up.

Maybe he could even take another one or two of them out before Tony got there, but he wasn’t going to be risky. He was in a bad mood, but not so much that he was going to make stupid decisions.

He heard the footsteps clearly coming down the stairs as he felt his breathing quicken, slower than they would be because of the webbing at one of their legs. Fear made the sound of their running, especially with his enhanced senses, sound like a stampede of elephants. It was suffocating and nearly impossible to think of his next move, what he was going to do when they reached him.

He steadied his breath and shut his eyes for a moment, let the sound of their footfalls return to normal, and when he opened his eyes again, he didn’t have time to think. He slung webs out to grab at the guns they were holding pointed at him. The others were coming now, and all of them were shouting at him, shouting at each other, but none of the words were processing.

Tony, please hurry. Please hurry. Please hurry.

He sent a web grenade out by them, hoping to quickly incapacitate the two of them so he could deal with the other two. It only webbed up one of them, as the other moved before it went off, hands trapped together but gun not totally out of play.

“Wow, I am not on my game tonight,” he muttered. “Why did all of you have to do crime today of all days? It’s really inconvenient.”

He didn’t really care what they said back; he just needed to speak.

But something cut through all the noise: “You fight like a girl. Why don’t you man up and hit anyone, Spider-Fuck?”

That cut through him, sliced at him better than a knife. Why couldn’t he escape it anywhere, even if the criminal didn’t know he was trans? Why did it all just have to pile up at once?

He couldn’t even fight to prove himself if he wanted to—there was no way he was going to hit a regular human, not with all the strength the spider bite had given him. He didn’t trust his punches not to kill.

The two came downstairs, one of them holding a purple fancy weapon like the kind that Liz’s dad had been selling.

“Aw, come on,” Peter said, but there was no enthusiasm in his words. “Why does everyone have those?”

The one with the fancy gun fired out at Peter, who dodged out of the way as a purple beam came in and cut a gash in the wall. He looked at it for a moment, perhaps too long, remembering everything he went through with the man who started making weapons like those.

He was pushed quickly out of his daze by another gunshot of the normal variety. He ducked out of the way quickly, but someone else shot at him and he couldn’t keep up. He cried out as a bullet grazed his arm, the searing pain pulling him even further from the situation than he was already drifting.

Everything felt a little distant and muted. The noises around him weren’t really there, but rather they seemed to be coming from another room. He didn’t like it. He felt like there was something wrapped around his head, and he wanted more than anything to tug his mask off, as if that was the reason for this.

When next he looked up, there was a gun pointed at him, and then there wasn’t. A flash of bright light announced Tony’s arrival as he shot the person about to fire at him away. Peter collapsed backwards, a hand over where the bullet had hit his arm, and watched like it was a slow motion scene in a movie as Tony dealt with the remaining three of them, all caught off guard by his sudden arrival.

When all of them were on the ground, Peter pointed upstairs with his good arm, hearing his voice from a thousand miles away as he said, “Someone upstairs.”

Tony disappeared and Peter looked at the people unconscious on the ground. He didn’t like the suit being on him. He didn’t like how close it was to his skin. He wanted to be wearing a big sweatshirts, or one of Ned’s t-shirts that he had all but stolen from him at this point. His shoulder felt less important than how confined in his skin he felt.

He was in pain, he was upset, he had been misgendered, and he had just in general had a bad day. He was shaking now, too.

Tony came down carrying a man who had gone unconscious himself. “Are you okay?” he asked him, setting the person down and quickly coming over to Peter. The mask of the Iron Man suit lifted so Peter could see his face. “Did they shoot you? Are you hurt?” There was so much urgency in his voice that it almost annoyed Peter; he wanted everything to stay in slow motion until he could think straight.

“I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head. “Something— grazed me, that’s all.”

Tony looked at his arm as Peter gestured to it and seemed satisfied that it wasn’t serious. “Are you okay?”

Peter, drifting somewhere between the line of halfway out of this world and completely in it still, knew that he had panicked because of the fancy gun, the bullet that hit him, the comment about him fighting like a girl. He was okay, but he just wanted to get home and get the suit off. He wanted to clean his arm before May saw it and got worried. He wanted to call Ned and MJ and listen to them talk so he didn’t have to think.

“I’m fine,” he told him again.

Tony frowned at him and sat back. “I can see that you’re not, kid.”

“Well, I am.” Peter stood up, looking up at Tony as he stood as well. “I’m fine. I just want to go home.”

Tony paused for a moment, his eyes on Peter’s arm and then hesitating at his face. He didn’t want to see all the concern on there. He didn’t like worrying people. “Do you want me to fly you home?”

“No,” he told him shortly.

“Are you sure? Your arm—”

“I can get home, Mr. Stark.”

He was so annoyed. He was annoyed with how much his arm still hurt, and how much fear was still caught in his chest, and how he froze. Maybe he could have actually dealt with these people on his own, but he choked. He didn’t do what he needed to do. He nearly got himself seriously hurt, because he wasn’t reacting quickly enough, thinking sharply enough. He was letting what people said to him throughout the day as Peter cloud his judgment as Spider-Man, and he knew he couldn’t do that.

And he kept thinking about what May and Tony and Ned and MJ would think if he got hurt, and he was so annoyed that he almost hurt them like that.

He just didn’t want to talk to them. He didn’t want to open up. He didn’t want to let the words flow out of his mouth. He didn’t want to risk breaking down. He just wanted to go home.

Tony looked hurt, more hurt than Peter had intended—seeing as he hadn’t truly intended any hurt—and he felt even more annoyed with himself. He didn’t want to be there anymore.

“Let me know how the person is.” He walked toward the door, and as he walked out, he heard Tony’s footsteps as he went to collect the hostage they had saved.

There was a moment as he started swinging away that he considered turning back around and telling Tony why he was so upset. But then he remembered that he didn’t even know if Tony was cool with trans people. He was almost certain he was, but that last little bit between that almost, that bit that prevented it from being really, truly certain, scared him. What if he told him and he was never able to look at Peter the same? What if he told him and he started treating him differently? He couldn’t deal with that, and he couldn’t talk to him about what was getting to him.

He tried not to think as he went home, but it was hard not to see how hurt Tony was, and it was even harder not to imagine May’s face if he didn’t hide the wound on his arm well enough.

…

A week later, it seemed that all hell had broken loose: Peter stumbled across a larger group of people, all of whom were carrying weapons not quite like the ones that Liz’s dad had made, but all of them extremely high tech. He knew right away that it was more than he could handle, and whenever he made that decision, his first instinct was to call Tony.

They were further out than he normally went, out in an area empty of buildings and scattered with trees. There were two groups of them, arguing and threatening each other, and Peter knew it wasn’t too long before fighting broke out among them—fighting that would undoubtedly lead to casualty. He hid a little bit away, listening and watching with advanced reconnaissance mode, as Karen called Tony.

The phone picked up eventually, Tony’s face appearing in the corner of his vision. “Hey, kid, what’s up?” he asked. The two of them hadn’t talked at all in that week since Peter snapped at him, except when Tony texted to ask how things were going. Peter felt bad, but he didn’t know how to apologize, and he didn’t know how to explain things without coming out. Maybe he could have found a way if he had asked someone, but he knew the way that he had treated Tony was shitty and he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Lots of people,” he whispered, sure that they wouldn’t hear him from this distance but still worried. “They have really high tech weapons—why can’t anybody just live with normal guns anymore? I need you to hurry.” He was talking quickly, knowing that the situation escalated with every word out of the criminals’ mouths.

Sometimes he wanted something big to happen to him again, and sometimes he thought about how satisfied he would be with just a couple simple store robberies, maybe a casual break-in. Things like a group of scary people with scary guns standing out in a scary location was just a little too over his head on certain nights.

“I’ll be there,” Tony said.

Peter knew that there were times when he took the tracker in his suit for granted, when he only thought of the infringement of any trust to be had between the two of them, but in times like these, he remembered that the tracker was actually the only thing keeping him from being trapped in a bad situation with less time to get Tony there to help him than what he needed. As he stood watching the scene unfold, Tony having hung up, he knew that it would be a few minutes before Tony arrived, but he was sure that they had that amount of time.

He heard lots of uncouth phrases, such as “You sons of bitches,” “Watch as your lackeys scrape your guts off the ground,” and—Peter’s favorite—“You nasty little thieving jack-shit-asses.”

He felt like he was in a movie, a real superhero movie, which was, you know, really cool. But also really concerning, because he didn’t know if he was ready to flip out and actually be in a superhero movie when Tony arrived.

But he would be. He would be ready, because even these people were obviously bad people, they didn’t need to kill or maim each other. And he certainly didn’t want any of them out in the streets, where they could hurt others.

Tony crept in behind him soon, startling him when he put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. He jumped up and clung to the tree about three feet in the air, looking at Iron Man staring at him. They weren’t very far from the group, so the slightest noise could alert them to their presence, and it would be hard to hide Iron Man.

“I think you should stay back,” Tony whispered to him. “I should have asked you how many people were here. I’m sending for Rhodey.”

“I can help,” Peter insisted, knowing that if Tony was worried, he shouldn’t be going in alone. But they couldn’t wait back here for all of them to see. He knew that they needed to deal with this as quickly as possible, and use surprise to their advantage for as long as they could. “I’ll stay back, I’ll be careful—”

“No,” Tony told him. He paused for a moment, likely trying to buy as much time as was safe for them so Rhodey had time to come.

He turned away and flew into the air, speeding over to the people who all looked up to find Iron Man shooting out at them. Peter watched as Tony stretched his hand out to stun as many of them as possible before their reaction times could tell them to put their weapons up in his direction. He moved like he had never known anything in the world but fighting bad guys, offensively and ready to swiftly switch to the defensive as he waited for Rhodey to break through to them and help him fight the people off.

It seemed like they were joining together against Tony now, two rings of criminals banding back together against the Avenger. Peter watched, frozen, afraid of going in and angering Tony enough that he took his suit away again, but also afraid of Tony’s ground slipping out from underneath him. Rhodey would be there in a minute. Tony already told Rhodey he needed to come. Rhodey would be there in a minute.

But they started firing back, blasts of light against blasts of light, and Peter watched from afar and remembered the feeling that he had in his chest the night with the hostage, when he turned away from Tony. He didn’t want to see him get hurt any more than he had wanted to get hurt that night.

He moved closer, ready to just web people up from a distance, to pull their weapons out of their hands so more of them would be without the ability to shoot back at the man flying in the sky, trying to incapacitate them singlehandedly.

He knew that Tony was going to yell at him, and he knew that he was going to be grounded by May and superhero-grounded by Tony, but that didn’t matter if he was able to help.

Once he was close enough, he sent out a web grenade at them, and then immediately sent out a regular web to try to pull a weapon away.

Come on, Rhodey. Come on, Rhodey.

Attention turned to him—he had trapped a guy in his webbing, and tugged a gun away from another, and Tony was still managing to hold his own for the moment. It seemed like they could do this, especially once Rhodey arrived. Peter helped to web more up, avoiding anything sent his way from the distance he kept himself, and Tony continued to stun the others.

And then he sagged out of the sky with a shot aimed at his chest.

He collapsed on the ground, having not been very far up, but Peter could see from there the damage that the weapon had done to his armor. He could see how vulnerable and helpless Tony was.

Peter was struggling, webbing and looking at all of the people who were now turned to him with Tony injured, or who were looking to finish him off as he desperately tried to keep stunning them. He felt his heart thumping away from his chest and his head was screaming so loudly he couldn’t hear anything else. The noise finally drowned out everything else he could pick up with his advanced senses, until all he heard was a screech, and everything felt twisted on its side a little bit.

He couldn’t do this. He was shaking and he wasn’t thinking and Karen was telling him something—something—“Peter, you’re panicking”—“Peter, you need to focus”—“Get out of the way, kid!” Rhodey shouted over the din of Karen’s voice and horrible ringing that seemed to overwhelm him.

He moved as Rhodey brought another down in front of him. Peter realized he had gotten much closer when Tony fell, that he had gravitated toward his mentor, who was still on the ground. He didn’t know how Rhodey was able to do this. His voice seemed worried, but not like the world was ending like it felt like to him.

Peter snapped back into it, his hands still shaking and his requests to Karen stuttering and scared, but he was able to help Rhodey, slinging his webs out at those still fighting with them, until there were only a few left—who couldn’t fight against two superheroes. Peter ran over to Tony as Rhodey finished the last of them off.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Peter whispered, a run-on of no’s until the word felt foreign in his mouth. Someone else had shot at him while Rhodey and Peter were trying to fix the situation. “No, no, no, Tony, you don’t look okay.”

He was bleeding. He was bleeding. His stomach and part of his chest was exposed from the damage done to the suit, and there was blood in the area of his stomach that he could see through the machinery. The mask of his suit was open and his face was pale, sickly, not at all like what Peter knew he looked like. He thought about Uncle Ben and how his face had looked after he was shot, and immediately he felt sick to his stomach. He couldn’t sit here next to another father figure in his life and watch as the blood drained out of them. Tony would be able to do something this time. Tony would fix this.

“You did good, kid,” Tony said, his voice weak. He knew what that meant. He had watched enough damn movies in his life to know what a phrase like that, in that kind of voice—what all of that meant. And he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Maybe Tony couldn’t do anything about this, but Peter would. “You called me, just like you should. And I needed help—you helped me. You helped Rhodey. You’re such a good kid, Peter.”

“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head as he felt something catch in his throat and tears well in his eyes. He was going to collapse, break down. He was going to fall apart. “No, no, no, Tony, we can fix this, we can get you somewhere, we can—”

“I’m sorry— I wasn’t better— I’m sorry—”

“No, Tony, no, I didn’t— the other day wasn’t—” He was about to spill anything out of his mouth that came to his head, and he didn’t care, he didn’t care, it all needed to come out, it all needed to happen because then Tony couldn’t die. “I— I was upset because people were being transphobic to me, because I’m trans, and I just didn’t want to tell you yet, but you’re not— you’ve always been the best, Tony, you’ve always been the perfect mentor, and I’ve always looked up to you and— Rhodey!” He turned around and called out to the other man, needing him to see the urgency of the situation at hand.

“I understand—” Tony’s breaths were so short. He didn’t even seem to be fazed by what Peter had said, or maybe he just hadn’t absorbed it. “I wanted to be better— I want you to stay good—”

Rhodey was already hurrying over to them. He knelt down next to Tony. “Oh, fuck,” he breathed out, his mask opening. His breaths weren’t steady; he wasn’t calm now. Peter felt tears run down his cheeks. He couldn’t hold it in, not if Rhodey couldn’t. The suit opened up, or as much as it could with all of the issues it had, and Rhodey carefully pulled Tony out of the broken armor. He gathered him in his arms, standing up like he planned to fly him off somewhere where he could be helped. But Peter saw the blood, saw the way his torso looked, saw how pale and weak Tony was.

“No, please, Tony,” he started saying, unable to stop the litany.

“I’m proud of you,” Tony said. He looked back up at Rhodey’s face as they lifted into the air. Peter looked up, watching as Rhodey shot them into the air. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment, begging Tony to live. When he opened his eyes, he saw Rhodey slowly coming back down to the ground, though, and watched in confusion as he landed.

No.

Peter ran over to them, shaking harder than he thought was possible. “What’s going on?” he asked, but there was no part of him that didn’t know what had happened.

Rhodey looked up at him with the most broken look he had ever seen.

Tony was gone.

“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head and looking at the figure in Rhodey’s arms, seeing how close he was held to Rhodey’s chest. What was he feeling, if Peter’s heart felt like it was being torn to shreds? They were only starting to get close, but the love that Tony and Rhodey shared was something that had likely long ago become a part of them. Peter knew what a mess he was, shaking and crying and unable to move from his spot, but all he could think about was the kind of mess that Rhodey must have been, too.

Maybe it was easier to forget about the shaking and the crying and the world collapsing around him if he tried to put himself in another world, in Rhodey’s world, somewhere where he could only be an observer. Because experiencing his own, where he was yards from Tony Stark’s body, was too hard.

“You were good today, Peter,” Rhodey said, his voice unsteady. “He really admired you.”

He shook his head and stepped away. He didn’t want to see this anymore. He didn’t want to feel how chilly the night was, or the ache in his chest.

He turned around and fled, an he didn’t stop running until he was back home. It was so late, later than May ever let him out to patrol unless he snuck out, and at first she started to chastise him, but the moment he pulled his mask off and she saw the tears and the red face and heard how he couldn’t quite breathe through the sobs, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

He didn’t remember himself running home, nor did he remember much of the fight or any of telling May what happened through his tears, but he couldn’t stop reliving the moment where he first knelt next to Tony.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh.” May ran her fingers through his hair, and he could tell she was crying too. She always did that when he got so sad that he cried this hard. It made his shoulders shake harder. “Shhh, it’s okay.”

…

Peter sat at Uncle Ben’s grave often as Peter Parker, finding himself in front of the tombstone, reading the words there a thousand times. He talked about his day, described the clouds in the sky, and told him about the funniest things MJ and Ned had done recently.

But he sat at Tony’s as Spider-Man, too, frequently for a long time after his death, and he told him about the old man he helped cross the street, and the bank robbery he’d halted, and the visits he had with Rhodey sometimes now.

There was an ache in his chest for both that gradually lessened. Just as eventually he came to see Uncle Ben from their best memories, as his smiling uncle, instead of the man lying on the street, he eventually came to see Tony in his best memories too.

#i'm so not happy with this but. here it is lol #trans peter parker #my writing #peter parker #tony stark #death // #iron dad #mine

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Tune in or tune out with today’s best AM radios

AM radio nerds unite! As a talk radio and sports fanatic, I stay informed and entertained daily with my Sangean WR-16BK. I'm a massive fan of this radio for its clear sound and fresh looks, plus USB charging capability. This isn't the only AM radio I swear by, though. Here's the full list. Best Overall: Sangean WR-16BK The reigning champion of AM radios is this tabletop radio from Sangean. You're not locked into AM-only stations, of course. With this model, you have access to AM/FM, plus you can plug into the auxiliary port and use the Sangean's capable speakers to blast sound from a portable device. There's also a 3.5mm headphone jack for private listening, and Bluetooth is built-in so that you can stream cord-free. This unit comes with a USB charging port. Dial accuracy is excellent. There is no drifting of the dial or tuning slips once you've locked in a station. An LED indicator on the front panel of the radio shows you when you're getting the best reception from the antenna. The combination of the indicator and precise tuning gives you a stable signal that holds well in all weather. There is some room for improvement. First, the headphone jack is in the back of this radio. It's a pain, especially on a tabletop unit, to slide the radio out and plug in headphones to listen to a game and then do the same to disconnect. Second, this model is bass-heavy. This isn't something people usually complain about, but it distorts sound a little when listening to sports play-by-play. If you can live with those hiccups, this is a beautiful walnut radio that looks as good as it works. Pros: Stellar sound Bluetooth + NFC USB charging port Elegant walnut design Precise tuning Cons: Bass-heavy AUX plugin back Best Overall Sangean WR-16BK $75 from Amazon A walnut tabletop with stellar accuracy Precise tuning, USB charging ports, and Bluetooth combine to give this basic-looking radio standout features. Best Value: Vondior Digital Pocket Radio This nostalgic pocket radio from Vondior is prized for its long battery life, clear sound, and unparalleled reception. When you want a small radio to slip in your back or jacket pocket to tune in a game or get weather updates during a power outage, this one will exceed your expectations without putting a damper on your finances. The Vondior sheds the analog slide rule tuning in favor of digital technology. You can tune in a station with the push of a button and then lock the station so that an accidental tap doesn't mess with your listening pleasure. Two AAA batteries power this model, and they last for weeks, even if you're habitually tuning in to talk radio every morning while you shower. It's impressive! An attached belt clip on the Vondior is handy if you want to keep the radio outside your pocket. My one complaint is with the sound. It's excellent with earbuds, but the actual speaker is tinny-sounding and will remind you why FM radio overtook AM back in the day. It's suitable for baseball games and talk radio, but music over AM suffers. Still, if what you want is a portable radio that has no trouble with reception, the Vondior is up to the task. Pros: Fantastic reception Attached belt clip Alarm clock function Sleep timer Small and thin Cons: A little tinny sounding Best Value Vondior Digital Pocket Radio $20 from Amazon An updated classic pocket radio Hello, nostalgia! This is a classic-looking pocket radio with impressive upgrades. Best Emergency: Kaito KA500 When you need a radio, you can count on no matter the weather or circumstances; the Kaito KA500 is a lifesaver! The Kaito can be powered by an included hand crank generator, solar panel, AA batteries (not included), USB, 5V AC/DC wall adapter (not included), and a built-in rechargeable battery pack. Wow! The Kaito will also charge your portable devices via USB. This shockproof radio has AM/FM coverage as well as a two-band shortwave, seven pre-programmed NOAA weather channels, and Public Emergency Alert System (PEAS). The built-in telescopic antenna extends to just over 14 inches, and it manages to pull in signals that would be out of reach for other radios. This Kaito also has an LED reading lamp, LED flashlight, and a red LED S.O.S. beacon light. Tuning is accomplished with a side dial. Reception and sound are both solid, and I love the impact and water-resistant materials. It's an excellent radio for indoor or outdoor use. I wish the wall power charging cable was included, but with five other ways to keep this radio in business, it's hard to complain. For everyday indoor or outdoor listening, camping, or occasional use during an emergency, the Kaito is a reliable AM radio you'll be glad to have by your side. Pros: 6-way power AM/FM/shortwave/NOAA/PEAS Works as an emergency battery charger Shockproof and water-resistant S.O.S. emergency light + flashlight Cons: AC adapter not included Best Emergency Kaito KA500 $50 from Amazon A radio you can count on A handy radio with weather channels, a strong AM signal, emergency light, and the ability to be powered in six ways. Best Rugged: Sangean Toughbox The Sangean Toughbox can withstand all the drops, bumps, and shuffling around that comes with working outdoors, camping, or bad weather. Made of industrial-grade ABS materials and housed in a roll-cage, this radio is rain dust, and shock-resistant. There are ten memory presets on this Toughbox. Using these, it's effortless to tune in your favorite morning talk show or evening game. Speaker sound is excellent inside and out. My only beef is with the antenna. It's a flexible and pivots, and it's pretty much indestructible, but it's only six inches long. With a slightly longer antenna, this model could pull in far more stations without you needing to reposition it in front of a door or window. This isn't an issue if you only use the Sangean Toughbox outside, so indoor listeners take note. For those who love to listen to the radio when outside or working, the Toughbox is one of the most heavy-duty units I've ever used. I've carried it up and down ladders, set it atop a kayak, and even left it outside in a rainstorm. It not only survived but continues to work as well as it did the day it arrived on my doorstep. Pros: Indestructible AUX-in Good sound Lightweight Ten presets Cons: Short antenna Best Rugged Sangean Toughbox $82 from Amazon The one that can go anywhere This is the radio that will keep up with your rough and tumble life or outdoor job. Best Old School: Panasonic RF-2400D This is the radio I remember my grandparents using on trips to the cabin or when working out in the garden. It's old school, but it still works and sounds as good today as it did back then. With an analog tuner, you dial in your stations with a knob at the side of the radio. Signal strength is admirable, and the sound is suitable for such a small unit. The carry handle on top folds down when not in use and is a comfortable way to tote this one around. You only get the basics here. It is just what it looks like, an AM/FM radio. There is an earphone jack, but that's about as fancy as it gets. For the cabin, fishing trips, or yard work, this is a reliable radio that will do exactly what you want it to do. Pros: Good reception Small enough to be portable Clear sound Headphone jack Powered by AC or batteries Cons: Basic radio Best Old School Panasonic RF-2400D $28 from Amazon A basic, reliable radio It gets AM and FM stations and has a headphone jack. That's about as fancy as this simple unit gets. Best Waterproof: Sangean H201 Most AM radios are water resistant but not waterproof. The Sangean H201 is a portable radio that won't blink out when it's in the rain or the shower. A built-in swivel handle on top of the unit works as a carrying handle or a shower hook. This radio can also be permanently wall-mounted. There's a backlit clock, and digital display on the front of the radio, plus 25 presets and a scan function button. A flashlight is also inbuilt, making it a perfect radio for weather emergencies, beach use, and showers. And the sound and reception are phenomenal, even inside a closed space such as a shower! The only thing that may be an issue for some users is the size. This is a much larger shower radio than the competition. Saying that, it also has better sound and reception thanks to its more prominent speakers. If the size isn't an issue, this is the best waterproof shower radio I have ever used. Pros: Waterproof 25 presets AM/FM/weather radio Battery power indicator Swivel handle Cons: A little bulky Best Waterproof Sangean H201 $61 from Amazon Go ahead, sing in the shower A clear sounding waterproof AM/FM radio that's perfect for the shower, camping, or use outside. Bottom line If you want a tabletop radio that you can set on a countertop or end table, it's hard to go wrong with the Sangean WR-16B. This model looks a little like the radio you may have seen in your grandparent's living room, but it has a few modern touches that add to its usefulness. A backside USB charging port and Bluetooth are two such features that futureproof this model and make it easier to justify the expense. This Sangean model is bass-heavy. That's not a bad thing if you're listening to music on an FM station or streaming tunes from your phone. When tuning in a baseball game on an AM station, it's another story. Everyday noises like background applause tend to overtake the announcer's voice. Also, the headphone jack is on the back of the radio. If you like to pop in earbuds or slide on headphones for some privacy, you'll need to pull the radio out to do so. Neither are stopping points, but they are worth mentioning. Reception and tuning on the Sangean are world-class! The LED indicator shows you when you've locked into a station, and it holds the signal exceptionally well. And I can't say enough about the beautiful real walnut cabinet. In the looks department, this model is in a class all its own. The Sangean is the best choice for most looking for an AM radio. It blends in well with any decor and has no trouble locking in on stations near or far. Credits — The team that worked on this guide Jodi Owan is obsessed with finding and testing the best technology. Find her on Instagram and her website.

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/tune-in-or-tune-out-with-today-s-best-am-radios

[cake-faceshawty]

If you remember my first travel post (Bienvenido a Cuba!), I shared my promise to myself to visit at least one new country each year. And being the birthday diva I am, what better way to kick off twenty-nine twenty-fine than with a girls trip to somewhere new. And thus,

#DESTINATIONTWENTYFINE

was born.

Upon my return from Havana last July, I instinctively started searching for my next vacation spot, and was drawn to the beautiful beaches, exciting adventures and delicious food DR had to offer. I therefore had no doubt that #DESTINATIONTWENTYFINE would be in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

I know what you’re thinking – what is this chick’s obsession with Spanish-speaking countries? Honestly, I’m not sure either 😂 (aside from my love of Hispanic food), but keep in mind that my birthday is in the dead of winter, so travel options are limited due to the weather.

Being the lunatic that I am, by the end of July I had presented my closest girlfriends with a full on PDF document that had everythangggggg (I do my homework, okay!). I had decided on travel dates, given airline options from each person’s point of origin, accommodation options, a full on itinerary and a budget for the entire trip.

However, similar to my Cuba planning, I found limited information online. Even harder, was finding out anything beyond the confinements of all-inclusive resorts. Perhaps it’s because I’m from a popular tourist destination (so I know how it goes), but the thought of staying in a hotel and ONLY experiencing what they present to you at the resort does not excite me. I want to explore the cuisine that hasn’t been watered down to satisfy the palates of tourists; I want to interact with locals and explore beyond the resort walls. And while Punta Cana is known for being a resort town, I knew there was more to be seen than the hotel disco and food buffet.

Within three months, three girlfriends and I had booked flights (catch flights, not feelings okurrrrr), secured a beautiful bungalow via Airbnb and committed to a fully packed birthday getaway to D.R.!

We spent 6 days exploring Punta Cana, eating way too much rice, consuming wayyy too much alcohol and collecting memories to last a lifetime.

Of course I couldn’t limit you guys to just glam shots on Instagram! So, here are all my tips for planning a vacation to Punta Cana.

My follow-up post will have more on where to go, what to eat, what I wore (you know I love a slaycation) and things to do. I hope these posts will answer all your questions!

About Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a part of the second biggest Caribbean island, Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti. From a tourist’s perspective, the island would seem to be simply beaches and palm trees; however, they also have mountains, deserts and a rich history.

The official language of DR is Spanish, and while some might assume based on the popularity that Punta Cana is the capital of DR, it is actually Santo Domingo.

Their currency is the Dominican Peso, however, USD, CAD, Euros and GBP are accepted in most places in Punta Cana.

Punta Cana

Punta Cana is one of the most popular destinations in the Caribbean and therefore has tons of resorts and villa options. It encompasses Cap Cana, Macao, Bavaro, El Cortecito, Cabeza de Toro, Uvero Alto and Arena Gorda. From the picturesque beaches to the epic nightlife, Punta Cana has become a prime vacation spot if you’re looking for a luxury vacation, some kind of turn up or just want to slay relax on the beach all day – and of course learn a little about the country’s culture!

The beaches and surrounding area reminded me of Jamaica’s north coast – beautiful white sand, lush grass, palm and coconut trees, and warm locals willing to accommodate you despite the language barrier.

What you should know before traveling to Punta Cana

While US passport holders do not need a visa to enter DR, there are visa restrictions for some countries. Jamaicans can enter DR without any visa requirements, however, if you are travelling through the US, you will of course need a US visa. Multiple blog posts had warned of a $10 visitor fee that must be paid before going through immigration, however, we were not required to pay any additional fees. Perhaps that fee is now outdated or included in the ticket fee, but no cash payment was required at the airport from any of us – and we traveled from different locations on different airlines.

Arrange your transportation beforehand: whether you plan to rent a car or need a driver to take you to your accommodation, make these plans before you travel to avoid unnecessary airport stress and get the best prices possible.

About 90% of the resorts are all-inclusive: if you want that resort life and prefer to pre-pay for accommodation, food, alcohol and entertainment, one of these resorts may be your best bet.

Most places in Punta Cana accept USD, Euros, GBP and CAD, so there’s no reason to change your money to pesos. Major credit cards were accepted most places, however, I recommend you bring cash (mostly small bills) for some excursions, tips, and other small purchases.

You can book a lot your excursions in advance online, so you don’t have to worry about them getting sold out. We tried to book as much as we could beforehand in order to efficiently plan our itinerary.

The weather app isn’t always right. The day before we traveled, I was getting a bit nervous because all I saw were rain clouds and possible thunder storms on the Weather App. However, since this is a tropical place, occasional rain clouds appear for short periods. It drizzled maybe twice during our stay and none of our plans were affected by these rain drops.

As a mostly Catholic country, nudity is illegal! So save your topless tanning for elsewhere. If you really want to avoid tan lines, spend some extra dinero on a room with a private pool.

SIM cards with unlimited data for a week are available for $10 USD through Claro, so save on roaming charges and just purchase one at BlueMall (literally less than 10 minutes from the airport) to stay in the loop. Most public places also have Wi-Fi, so you’ll be able to instagram all your amazing pictures in real-time.

What to pack…

As previously stated in my Cuba post, I am not a light packer – I embrace the slaycation lifestyle completely and commit to the slayage – which you cannot do from simply a carry-on. I simply must check a bag when I travel! I’ll try to stick to the basics because  I will have a follow-up post on how to pack for a slaycation, so stay tuned!

Passport. Duh, for any international flight this is necessary – but it always has to top the packing list. I can’t imagine driving all the way to the airport only to realise I left my passport on the bed.

Money. Get your coins ready – and whatever cards you’ll be carrying.

Bags. 1 carry-on, 1 checked bag, a backpack/tote, appropriate bags for outfits.

Toiletries. I’m a naturalista, so of course I have to pack shampoo, conditioner, styling products and a spray bottle. But, you’ll also need toothbrush, toothpaste, mouth wash, first aid kit, any necessary medication, deodorant, sunblock, tanning oil, lotion, tampons/pads, makeup, razor, bug spray and makeup. The good thing about this destination is that Supermercado Nacional in Punta Cana has most things you could possibly want: from Advil to Andrews to Herbal Essences. So if you forget any toiletries there’s no need to fret – you can get most of your necessities at the supermarket.

Electronics. Cell phone, iPad/tablet, camera, portable charger, charger cables for all devices, earphones, blue tooth speaker. I opted to leave my laptop at home to resist any temptation to work while on vacation.

Clothing. Underwear (my standard is 2/day plus extras), shorts, cool clothing (it is a tropical destination), swimsuits, a sweater/jacket, sneakers, sandals, flip-flops, heels/dress shoes, “fancy” clothes, sleep clothes and a hat. Once again, Punta Cana is a modernized island so if you need anything, you can probably pick it up at a mall. BlueMall has a huge Zara, Nike, Aldo, Levi’s, Under Armour, just to name a few. So if you forget anything or want to change an outfit, you can always go shopping 💁🏾.

Travel

We booked our tickets online through our preferred airlines. I use an app called Hopper where you can put in your destination and dates to see flight price predictions on various airlines. You can also watch the flight to know when the right time to book is in order to get the most affordable ticket. If you prefer to stay at an all-inclusive resort, you can find flight + hotel options on aa.com, Expedia, Travelocity, etc.

Traveling from Kingston, Jamaica, Justine-Renee and I booked on American Airlines (my preferred airline). The flight was from KIN (Norman Manley International Airport) to MIA (Miami International Airport), then to PUJ (Punta Cana International Airport). The flight from MIA to PUJ was about 2 hours and the entire travel time was about 7 hours. We left Kingston at 7:49 AM and landed in Punta Cana at 3:15 (DR is 1 hour ahead). The cost for my ticket was $715 USD, which is kinda pricey considering I booked it from October, but I digress…

Please note that the flight prices were probably higher than usual since it is a tropical destination and February is right in the middle of peak season.

My friend Tamara traveled on Jet Blue for less, but her travel time was longer as it went from KIN to FLL to SJU (Puerto Rico) to PUJ. Her return flight, however, only had a layover in FLL.

Christine traveled from North Carolina on Southwest Airlines; her travel time was a bit longer than ours and went from RDU to ATL to PUJ. Her return flight stopped at FLL instead of ATL.

Estimate the ticket price to be anywhere between $500 to $800 depending on your city of origin and when you book the ticket.

Accommodation

As previously stated, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of staying at an all-inclusive resort, plus based on the size of my group, it was more economical to stay at a villa/bungalow. However, there are a wide range of resorts to choose from, especially in Bávaro.

Cap Cana, which is less than 20 minutes from the airport, is a gated resort area containing luxury condos, resorts, beaches and entertainment options.

We rented a villa that was absolutely amazing! It was safe (you need a pass to get through the Cap Cana entrance and to enter Green Village where we stayed), spacious, beautifully decorated, and just perfect for our girls’ trip. It had an outdoor shower and bath tub, and our own private pool and barbecue patio with an expansive backyard (not to mention a beautiful view!). We were also close to the shopping mall, supermarket, restaurants and Scape Park so the location was perfect. Our host, Carlos, was very welcoming and checked on us often; he gave us wonderful recommendations for activities, beaches and restaurants, and replied quickly if we had any questions.

For 5 nights, our villa was about $1400 USD total, which wasn’t too bad when split 4 ways.

Check out our home in paradise (thank you Carlos) here:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/plus/23742780?guests=1&adults=1

How to get around

One thing that had us anxious when planning this vacation was transportation. While Punta Cana does have public transportation (taxis) and tour buses, we felt it would be easier on our schedule (and pockets) to rent a car. I can honestly say we found the least helpful information as it related to car rental.

First of all, you must know this: the people of Punta Cana drive like taxi men in Montego Bay, so if you can handle that, you can handle Punta Cana. As for people used to “safer” driving conditions, I can understand your reservation – you may want to stick to taxis or private tour operators. I’m pretty sure we only passed two stoplights around downtown Punta Cana; otherwise, it was just a bunch of roundabouts (they really love roundabouts) and wildness a bit of a free-for-all.

I highly recommend you reserve your car prior to your arrival. We reserved our Alamo rental a week before (no deposit required) through Expedia. While I did pay for the collision insurance through Expedia ($11/day that you pay upfront), I think you can pass on that. The insurance company offers a good insurance package and we opted to get all the recommended insurance since we were driving in unfamiliar territory.

Originally, in trying to keep within the budget, I had reserved a midsize sedan. However, we reached an agreement that the four of us AND our luggage would not be comfortable in a Tiida (A TIIDAAAA!?!) so we decided to upgrade to an SUV upon arrival. Fortunately, they were out of the immediate upgrade option, and for the same price as a Suzuki Vitara, we were able to rent a full-size SUV. For 6 days and the full insurance package, we paid $418 with no hidden fees or surprises. The only request was that we  bring the car back with a full tank of gas.

The full tank the car came with was sufficient for 6 days of driving all over the place! We didn’t have to get gas until we filled it right before the return time. The cost to fill the tank was about $75USD.

One thing to note is that in order to rent a car, the person renting must have a valid driver’s license and credit card with the same name. You don’t pay for the car when you first rent it: instead, the company will put a hold on the credit card for $500USD and upon return of the car (provided no damages or accidents), they will subtract the cost of the rental from the $500 hold and return the balance to your credit card. This was a relief for us as we were under the impression that they would be charging the rental fee AND putting the hold for $500 all at once.

Overall the rental experience was hassle-free with no hidden charges, and driving in Punta Cana wasn’t a bad experience. Plus, whether you are roaming or purchase a SIM card, you can use WAZE or Google Maps to get around easily.

  The cost

It’s safe to say that Punta Cana is a pricey vacation spot. I mean let’s face it: it is an area developed for tourism. However, plane ticket and accommodation aside, it wasn’t too bad on the pocket. Grocery shopping is so affordable, we were actually in shock! During our first supermarket run, we bought food items, more alcohol, toiletries, and just so much stuff for the four of us, and somehow the bill was only $120!!! If you live in Jamaica, you can understand how cheap that is for a full cart of things for four people.

There are many affordable options for dining out. Depending on your budget, you can spend anywhere between $10-60 on a meal (sometimes including cocktails). Just do your research beforehand and explore your dining options. We were also happy to have a place to cook in so we could budget our meals efficiently.

I had initially placed our total budget (airfare, accommodation, car rental, food, excursions, “braffing”) at $1700-$2000 USD per person. And while we did upgrade the car rental, we stayed within that budget range.

  My tips + thoughts

Get a Spanish dictionary app. Know the basics! I’m not going to lie, I felt like I experienced more of a language barrier in DR than I did in Cuba. Some do know English, but we did experience several service persons who did not speak a lick of English. Just because it’s a tourist destination, do not expect everyone to know Enlglish!!! You are in a Spanish-speaking country!!!!

Purchase the SIM card. I don’t care how much of a shella you are, once your phone is unlocked, purchase the $10 SIM card from Claro. $10 is so affordable and it’s unlimited data for a week. Like… where [else] dey do dat at????

Buy your alcohol in Duty Free when you land. If you plan on getting lit like we did, get your alcohol (especially champagne, Hennessy, tequila) in the duty-free store because it’s so much cheaper! They had some great deals (like 2 bottles of Moet for $120USD) and they had these delicious fruit-infused spirits. You can sample them literally as you step out of immigration. We bought the Papaya-infused Tequila and the Mango-infused Rum. The only downside is we did have to mix some Appleton in the cocktails because those spirits are only 20% alcohol and in Jamaica we’re used to 40% Appleton and 63% White Rum so you know how that goes…. 😁.

Drink bottled water. While the water is relatively clean, depending on where you’re from, you can still get traveler’s diarrhoea or some kind of stomach reaction. I prefer to keep it safe – especially after getting sick in Cuba 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Do not wait until the last-minute to buy souvenirs! We waited until the morning we were leaving and headed to Bavaro to find some souvenir shops. A lot of those places don’t open until midday, so we couldn’t wait and ended up with the limited (and overpriced – $9 for a shot glass 😒) airport finds. Try to actually visit some local stores outside of the airport.

Be open to new experiences – especially food! While you will find American chains such as Wendy’s and Pizza Hut, do not travel to a new country to only eat French fries and pizza! Try some local cuisine – explore the food options!

While it is disappointing, there is a chance you could experience some racism or prejudice while in DR. I don’t want to bash the entire island for 2 instances we experienced, but I do think it is 2 too many. However, if you’re familiar with how some Dominicans think about black people and people of Hispanic descent who don’t speak Spanish, you’ll understand why we weren’t exactly surprised; we were more taken aback that this could happen in a tourist area like Punta Cana, when so many tourists from all over the world come to visit year-round. Anyway, please don’t let those two incidents discourage from seeing all that Punta Cana has to offer. We had a wonderful time otherwise and were met with warmth and hospitality from the other locals.

  Tips for planning a group trip

Plan your trip at least six months in advance. This gives people enough time to bail on plans to commit to everything.

Be cautious of who you invite on a group trip: personalities clash and nothing is worse than spending a ton of money to go see a new country only for a spoil-sport to rain on everyone’s parade. Take into consideration personality traits and rooming arrangements (don’t invite a neat freak and a messy Betty and have them room together – that’s an argument waiting to happen).

Plan your budget from the jump and set a reasonable timeline for that budget. A good thing to do is to mark up all costs, so there’s some wiggle room in case things come up or prices go up (or if you live in Jamaica, you can work with the fluctuation of the dollar). It’s better to come back with some extra funds than to have an insufficient amount while overseas.

Pay for things as you go along to avoid having to fork out a lump sum. Since the budget for this trip was kinda steep, I made sure we paid for things over the six month period, so that by the time the trip came around, any money spent would be on going out and other trip expenses. We started by paying for the Airbnb from September (you can pay 50% upfront and the balance 2 weeks before your trip), booked the flights in October, shopped for outfits between November and December, paid for excursions in January and by the end of January we paid the balance on the villa. By the middle of February our only costs were things paid for in DR. This was so much easier than forking out $2000USD one time! After all, my friends and I don’t have sugar daddies are not big ballers (YET!).

Try to make an itinerary beforehand: this way, you can have an idea of what each day will be like (what will the wake up call be? will the lunch spot be close to the activity we’ll do in the morning?), and you can efficiently plan your outfit options based on what you’ll be doing. I’m a foodie, so I also like to check restaurant reviews and menus before I go so I don’t waste money on bad tasting food. Not to mention, this will help you stay within your budget so you don’t end up going to restaurants with four dollar signs and have no money left in the budget for activities. But keep your options open: certain places may not pan out, so it’s important to have back-ups. I’ll be sharing my psychopathic  PDF with you guys at the end of this post.

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Have you ever been to Punta Cana? Are you planning a trip there? Comment below and let me know. Feel free to ask any questions also ❤️

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¡DESTINACIÓN PUNTA CANA! If you remember my first travel post (Bienvenido a Cuba!), I shared my promise to myself to visit at least one new country each year. 3,648 more words

#black girls who travel #blog life #caribbean #Dominican Republic #DR #Lifestyle #lifestyle blog #Punta Cana #travel #travel blog #travel blogger #travel tips #vacation #vacation style

[mozart-and-mocha]

Rafaela

List of personified keys I’ve met: D minor, F major, F minor (I actually met her when I was a kid but that’s a long story), and A major. Until now, I hadn’t really noticed anything about those keys and why I met them specifically.

Lately, things had been quiet, in relation to the keys. For a few weeks, I went to school as normal, hung out with Dave, and rushed to meet deadlines. Today, during math, while the teacher was explaining the mean value theorem, my mind wandered. Probably because of the ADHD.

I was staring at the teacher’s face, her hair, and her clothes. I had no idea why, but her mannerisms reminded me of someone I had met a few weeks ago. I tried and tried but I couldn’t remember who it was. Out of frustration, I turned my attention back to math. Holy smokes, the teacher was pretty. Not that I hadn’t noticed it before, but today I couldn’t seem to stop staring at her. Finally, math ended, and it was literature, the last class of the day.

Literature went on as per normal, with the class moving their seats to form a circle to facilitate the class discussion. Some of my classmates had laptops, which they used to type what was said. Others preferred to highlight and annotate the text. After yet another uneventful lesson, the school day was over. We put back our chairs behind the tables, as we always did after every literature lesson.

I plugged in my earphones, slung my bag over my shoulders and hugged my laptop as I walked out of my classroom. Some kids had already left, while others chose to stay behind to do some homework or finish assignments. I made my way down the steps and onto the pavement, avoiding people and trying not to look at the afternoon sun. 

As I walked past the café in the mall where I used to hang out in my earlier years at this school, I saw my math teacher sitting at a booth by the window. She glanced outside and saw me. I waved to her and continued walking. I stopped at the traffic light, since they weren’t in my favour. The sun was blazing, and sweat was trickling down my face in rivulets. I wiped the sweat off with the back of my hand, envying people with umbrellas. At least I was wearing sunscreen, like I did every day. 

Seconds before the lights were in my favour, someone tapped my shoulder. It was my math teacher. Seriously, did she have to be so pretty? In the afternoon sunlight, she was gorgeous. “Hey Rafaela,” she greeted me. “You seemed a little distracted during my class today. Is anything bothering you?”

As we crossed the road, I fumbled for an answer. “Not really. It’s just that…uh, you reminded me of something that happened to me a few weeks ago, and I can’t put my finger on it. Sorry,” I tried to sound apologetic. In an attempt to change the subject, I inquired, "Are you taking the train home as well?” I know, small talk often seems dumb, but if you were me, you’d understand. And it wasn’t as if we weren’t walking towards the train station. 

My teacher smiled. “No, I drive to work. Even though I could take the train, I don’t fancy having to squeeze on the train every day. But if I took the train, I’d take the red line.” Right. I had forgotten that most teachers who drive to school park at the carpark near the train station, rather than the one at school, because of the high parking charges.

“That’s my line too! I live 7 stations away. I live in Bradlington.”

“Actually, would you like a ride home? I’m going to Bradlington to run some errands.”

If only I had known what was going to happen, I might have chosen to take the train home, as I usually did.

My teacher drove a silver Mazda 3. I was about to climb onto the backseat, when she invited me to sit in front. Okay. She was my teacher, not a taxi driver.

“So, Rafaela, how are things at home? Are you coping well with ADHD?” she probed. Most teachers knew about my diagnosis, so that they wouldn’t get angry at me when I forgot assignments or spaced out in class.

“Uh…I’m managing rather well, I’d say. The side effects of the medication aren’t great, but they’re worth it if I can keep up in school.” By this time, we were out of the carpark and were waiting for the lights to turn green. The car in front of us was a white Honda Sonata. This reminded me of a music joke, and I started smiling. A Honda Sonata with one flat tire was a Honda Sonata in F major. I fought down the smile.

My mind wandered again. F major. The relative was D minor, the parallel was F minor. I had met D minor, F major, F minor, and A major. So the first 3 keys were related, but not A major. A major was the dominant of D minor…

And it was with this, I realised the tonics of the keys I had met so far formed the tonic chord of D minor. The key who had started the course of events that changed my life in the past few months.

“This might seem awkward, Rafaela, but I need to ask you something. Did anything strange happen to you? Or is someone picking on you, at school, at home, or in another setting?”

I shook my head. “It’s really just today. Your mannerisms suddenly reminded me of someone I met a few weeks ago.” But I doubt you know her. You would think I was crazy if I told you who she was. The words that were unspoken died in my throat.

My teacher had that knowing look in her eyes. “You’re synaesthetic, huh?” Okay, so my math teacher guessed it. What did that have to do with anything? Was she going to ask me what colours the digits 0 to 9 were?

“Yeah. I have various forms, but the strongest one is the one where I perceive music keys as having personalities. As if they were people. Of course, they have colour, too. You know, musician stuff. I’m a music student.”

She nodded, as the car made a turn and went up the expressway. “Rafaela, I’m surprised you still don’t know me.”

I tried not to snort in indignation. Of course I knew her, she was my math teacher.

“You were probably thinking of my parallel minor, weren’t you?” she continued.

How did this make sense? Was my math teacher actually a personification of a music key? Like how my swimming instructor turned out to be F minor? Why would a math teacher know much more than basic note names when it came to musical knowledge? And which key was she talking about? And why were we having this conversation on an expressway? Just so you know, there are better places to be having this conversation.

I felt my cheeks colour. “I, um, I…I met the personification of one of my favourite keys a couple of months ago. It didn’t go as well as planned.”

“Huh?”

“Umm...let’s just say my impulsivity got me into trouble.” 

My teacher nodded wordlessly.

“If we’re both thinking of the same person, you know who I am,” she said. So…D major? I mean, I admitted to making the key of D minor even sadder than she already was, and prior to that, my math teacher said that I was probably thinking of her parallel minor. This was creepy. Did personifications have the ability to read my mind?

“You’re…D major? Seriously, this has got to be among the weirdest conversations in the whole of human history.” I could hear the disbelief in my voice. “How do you live among humans? You know, legal names and stuff. I doubt you can walk around announcing that you’re one of the 24 keys, personified. Non-musicians wouldn’t understand, and neither would non-synesthetic musicians, if we’re being honest.“

“I’ll explain another day. And do you want me drop you off at your place, or is the train station fine?” I couldn’t believe it. The key of D major was giving me a ride home. Not only that, she was also my math teacher. What in the world, right?

“Yeah, the train station will do. Thanks. Uh…do I address you as I did before, or…?” I hesitated. D major laughed, a sound that evoked images of the sun on a bright summer day. “Use your brain, Rafaela. Do you really want your classmates to think we’re both insane?”

“No,” I admitted. By now, we had gotten off the expressway, and we were approaching the familiar streets that surrounded the train station. D major stopped right at the drop-off point, and as I shut the door, I waved to her. I could see her smile at me as she drove off. D major. Please protect her. After all, you’re her parallel major.

#personification #d major #rafaela