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steve-faglan · 3 months
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Cat // Mouse
Reader x Steve Raglan (William Afton)
TW: NON CON!! DUB CON!! DRUGGING!! HE'S MEAN!!!!!!!!!
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SUMMARY: You get a job working for an old man you want to fuck. Are you misreading things? Where did that vibrator come from?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Is this considered a slow burn? It felt slow to write. It's supposed to be like will they? Won't they? But it's... Well yeah. Look at this gif??????? My PUSSSY????????
WORD COUNT: so many.
Daddy issues. At least, that's what they call it. That's what your ex screamed at you about before he left you in a state thousands of miles from the one you were raised in. He said it was because you made him feel immature; less than. But maybe he was. All he ever wanted to do was drink and play video games, you craved more.
After he left, you realized you'd have to get a better paying job to cover the portion of rent your ex was paying. You take a day to really let it settle in. You cry and drink an entire bottle of wine while watching Dirty Dancing, and then you schedule a meeting with a local career counselor.
You sigh as you hang up the phone. It's embarrassing to need a temp agency's help finding employment, but you're new to this area. You don't know anyone and you're barely sure where to start.
Your alarm blares throughout your room, startling you awake. You barely remember falling asleep at all, and somehow, it feels like you couldn't have possibly slept enough. You're sluggish and groggy, but you still find the energy to get ready for your interview. You're hoping a little extra effort will get you further in a small town like this, so you spend a little more time on your makeup before heading out of the house.
The drive across town to the agency is quick and easy. You pull into the parking lot and emerge from your car, shielding your eyes from the sun to read the rickety sign that's hanging on for dear life outside the building. You huff, unsure if this was the best place to go looking for higher-paying work. When you step inside the door, a petite old lady greets you with a smile. She points to an office down the hall and tells you to knock.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
You push the unlatched door open slightly and a warm voice invites you in.
"Come in, have a seat." The man instructs. You scan over his office. It's dated, and decorated with styles reminiscent of corporate America in the 80's. You read the name tag on his desk, Steve Raglan. You take a seat in one of the muted yellow chairs opposite Steve and await his introduction.
"Steve," he extends an arm over the desk and you shake his hand, telling him your name.
"Thanks for having me, Mr. Raglan. I'm new to town, well, new to the entire coast, really."
"Wow, a little far from home, aren't we?" Steve chuckles kindly, smiling with a tightly closed mouth, spreading his mustache across his lip.
"You have no idea," you laugh exhaustedly and Steve tilts his head as if he's pondering something, but he doesn't mention it. "Anyways, here's my resume. It's not much, but uh..." You hand him a folder with your work history document professionally stored inside. Steve happily takes the folder and begins to read through your papers.
Your resume is impressive. You're well educated with a strong work streak. Your work ethic stands out to him. He's reading through your accomplishments aloud, commending each one. You're unsure why, but his praise fills you with a very specific need. You crave more and something in you tells you that you'd do almost anything to get it.
"A course in robotic engineering?" Steve's voice sounds surprised. He looks up at you with raised eyebrows. A grin spreads across his bearded face. "Huh."
"Yeah, I actually took a few courses. I never did anything with it though."
"Do you remember a lot from those classes?" He sets the closed folder to the side and casually places other papers on top of it, distracting you enough to keep you from asking for it back.
"Oh, sure. Mostly coding, I guess." You shrug.
"Coding." He repeats to himself, nodding knowingly. He can think of a million places in this town that could use a smart, pretty little thing like you. A strained silence grows for just a moment before he speaks again. "Well, Y/N. I think I have an offer for you, but it's not much of a pay raise like you'd hoped."
"What is it?" You ask, hoping for at least a dollar difference.
"Did you see Mrs. Penneman out there?" Steve points in the direction of the kind old woman who greeted you.
"Mrs. Penneman?"
"She's at the front desk. She's retiring in exactly one week. That position will be open." He goes on to talk about the ways you could incorporate what you learned in your engineering classes as they switch from mostly paper to computers after Y2K.
"What's the pay like?" You ask, already knowing you plan to agree the second he stops talking.
"Not great, but!" He pauses for a moment. "Plenty of opportunities for overtime." Steve's not an idiot. He saw how looked when he was praising you. The way the red in your cheeks was flaming hot at the mere mention of you doing a good job. He knows what he's doing to you, and he loves it.
"Overtime?"
"Of course. Switching the entire employee records from paper to digital isn't an easy feat. It's going to take a lot of time you may not have during the work day. Does this suit you or should I keep looking?"
"Oh, uh," you hesitate. Steve stifles a grin as he watches your inner battle decide between being around him or possibly making more money. "Yes, that's perfect. Thank you, sir."
"Excellent. You start Monday." Steve ends the conversation abruptly. A jarring switch from friendly and conversational to busy and indifferent. It triggered something in you. A desperate need to get that warmth back.
"Right, okay. I'll... See you Monday." You leave the office, yearning. And Steve is well aware. He sits alone in his office, staring forward as he makes plans for you. He folds his hands together and rests his chin on them as he imagines the way he'll pick you apart like a toy. You're already so desperate for his approval, you've done the hard part for him.
Monday rolls around and you, of course, wake up a little early to get ready. Of course, you don't want to come off as desperate, so you're very tactful in the way you dress and present today, your first day. You've all but forgotten your ex was ever here, let alone the fact that you moved all the way to Hurricane, Utah for him.
Nervous, but good at hiding it, you walk into the building with a beaming false confidence. You're trying to remind yourself that while Steve is attractive and older and something mysterious about him draws you in, you're still here to work and you really can't let rent slip because homelessness is not an option when you're this far from your home state.
You brace yourself for what you assume will be an extremely long day, and you hope it is. Not only for the money but the view as well. When you walk up to the desk, Mrs. Penneman is nowhere to be found. All her belongings are missing from the desk, leaving a generic canvas of an office. You glance down the hall to Steve's open office door.
"Mr. Raglan?" You knock lightly on the door, stepping inside slowly so as not to intrude. He's not there. The entire building seems eerily empty. Just as you turn to leave his office, you run flat into a broad, solid figure. Steve. You stumble before finally falling backward. You sit on the floor for a moment, red-faced, but keeping your composure to the best of your ability.
"Someone's punctual." Steve extends a hand to you, helping you up to your feet.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Raglan. I couldn't find-"
"Mrs. Penneman decided an early retirement was in store. I'll be training you, if that's alright." Steve smirks, knowing he relieved his previous secretary of her duties early specifically to have this time working so closely with you. He dressed it up as a gift to her.
"Oh, okay. Of course. Where should I start?" You smile, awaiting instruction. You cling to every word he says, the guidance, the leadership. The way his dimples deepen when he smiles in the slightest. You become dependent on making him smile simply for this reason.
Steve sets you up for data entry and asks that you let him come check your work every so often to make sure things "meet his standards." You've never been more determined to do something perfectly in your life. With unbreakable focus, you start the first few tasks. You're mindful, double-checking, efficient, and fast.
"Mr, Raglan?" You appear like an angel in his doorway. He looks up from his papers and waits for you to continue. "I finished the first portion. Could you come check it for me?"
Steve smiles warmly as he stands to follow you to your desk. The warmth of his gaze melts you from your head to your pussy.
"This looks great, Y/N. Good job." He adds the last bit just to see the way your eyes shift and sparkle when he compliments you. He leaves you to do the rest of your work in peace, but he lingers a little longer in the hallway, watching you for a moment, carefully hidden from your view.
You pick up on the data entry rather quickly and finish the very last employee record by the end of your first week. When Steve comes to finalize the task, he grabs a chair and slides it next to yours so you can both look at the screen together. You're poised and collected by now, the initial lust seeming to die down after a week of seeing him every day. Though his words of approval still cause a knot to form in your stomach.
Steve picks up on your dwindling excitement and decides this is war. As the two of you sit next to each other, he carelessly allows his legs to take up more and more space. Normally a man's obliviousness in a situation like this would boil your blood, but when his thigh grazes yours so softly, you freeze. His touch lingers and he looks at you with half-lidded eyes. His face is dangerously close to yours. He leans in even closer, boldly placing his lips mere inches from your ear.
"You're a very impressive young woman. You know that?" His warm breath brushes against your ear, inviting a million little goosebumps across your skin. It takes everything in him not to chuckle at your visceral reaction. You're frozen, staring straight ahead, basking in the closeness to this man you desire so badly. A few moments pass and a light chuckle leaves his lips. Still ever so close, he speaks again. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"S-sorry! Thank you, Mr. Raglan. Sorry," you nervously laugh, wishing so badly you could go back in time and rip the sticker off your forehead that says "Fuck me, Mr. Raglan."
"Don't mention it." He suddenly withdraws from your personal space, leaving you clinging to the dwindling body heat he's left behind. His tall figure towers over you, especially so when you're sat. He's gone just as quickly as he arrived and you can't help but feel perplexed. Was he not just coming on to you? Did you project all of that onto a perfectly normal interaction? He warps your reality without even touching you.
"What the fuck?" You question aloud to yourself. Your heart is racing. Your mind is constantly replaying the moment. His voice, his words, all of it.
The next day, it starts as any other. You're replaying the day before over and over again, just as you did when you shamelessly touched yourself last night. The sound of his voice so close to your ear, the way his leg brushed against yours. Just thinking about it feels like butterflies in your stomach.
"Good morning, Y/N." Steve walks right past you. You try to return the greeting, but you're cut off by the sound of his office door closing. He's frustrated, but you're not sure why. Disappointed, but not really the probing type, you decide to just get to work. Today was supposed to be the day he trained you for a "side project" utilizing your coding skills, but you're hesitant to ask about it while he's so visibly upset.
The day continues as usual, though it does seem to drag on a little longer for you when you don't get to stare at Steve. You're straightening up the waiting area, bent at the waist to fan out the magazines. When you stand, there's suddenly a tall figure behind you. Steve is pressing the entire front of his body directly against you. You involuntarily release a small gasp when you feel what you're sure is his half-hard cock pressed against your ass. Steve takes only a second to inhale your scent and feel himself pressed against you before he whispers in your ear once again.
"You're my secretary, not my maid." He steps away and you frown, still facing away from him.
"I'm sorry, sir. I've run out of things to do." You shrug and you turn.
"Out of things to do? Already?" He raises his eyebrows.
"Yes, sir." Your formality is adorable to him. And something about you calling him "sir" makes him hard just hearing it.
"Well," Steve steps closer to you now that you're facing him. He's so tall, towering over you, craning his neck to keep his eyes locked on yours. "You're such a good girl," there it is. His words make you shudder. There's no way he's fucking with you right now, right? Wrong. He once again creates a gap between the two of you.
"Good kid with a good head on your shoulders. Try not to overthink it." He smirks at your beet-red face and swiftly disappears to his office. You're becoming frustrated. It's as if by the time he walks away, you're so enthralled that you can't remember whether or not your degenerate, horny brain over-dramatized the memory. Angry and even a little embarrassed, you make your way back to your desk.
Steve sits in his office carefully listening to the sounds of your frustration. He loves the way you'd fall to your knees for him right now if he asked, but he likes fucking with you more. He hears you sigh away the sexual tension and he grins. Having this much power over someone like you. You're so smart and beautiful, what are you doing melting in his hands like that? His strong hand finds the growing bulge in his slacks, hoping to relieve any of the pressure he's been building up for the both of you.
He closes his eyes and inhales deeply through his teeth still palming himself, picturing you bound and gagged in front of him. Maybe that's why he's so insistent on teasing you instead of fucking you on his desk like he knows you dream about. Maybe he wants the chase, the restraint. You're too easy, he wants you to be scared.
At the end of the day, you decide to say "fuck it" and see what he'll do if you match his energy. He's grabbing his things to leave when you slip into his office and close the door behind you. You're shaking-nervous, your heart is pumping at an inhuman rate. You have no idea what your plan is until it happens.
"Mr. Raglan, can I ask you a question?" You make your way across the room, passing the boundary of the front of his desk, standing with him behind it. Steve tilts his head in a bemused expression.
"Y/N, feeling a little comfortable, are we?" His sarcastic question leaves you a little more unsure of yourself, and you take a step back. "Ask away." Steve smiles innocently.
"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but..." You're shocked at how steady your voice is as you fall into this sultry character you've created for yourself. It's never failed you before. "I feel like there's something you're trying to tell me. It's not very subtle." You lean against the desk casually. "Am I wrong?"
"Oh, wow," Steve can't help but grin, but he quickly replaces it with a smug, sarcastic expression. "You must be the queen of subtly, right?" His snarky words catch you off guard. "No, dear. Sorry about any miscommunications on my part. See you tomorrow, Y/N."
Steve steps around you and walks out the door without another word. You're stunned silent and extremely embarrassed. You consider leaving a resignation letter on your desk and never coming back. Furious, you slam the door to your car and drive home. By the time you get to your driveway, you've calmed down and accepted that everything you thought he was doing was just your imagination.
You're still angry, unable to fully accept that you'd be that delusional, but who really knows? From then on, you put away your fantasies and focus on work and getting money set aside for rent. The next few days continue like normal, with no more "misunderstandings" or advances. Until... Steve reaches for a binder off a shelf behind your desk. As he slides in behind you where you stand, right behind your pushed-in computer chair, and reaches his long arm up to the shelf, his other arm searches for a surface to brace on. That surface is your pencil skirt-clad waist.
You gasp quietly, but you don't allow yourself to react any further. Steve has the binder in his hand, but he doesn't remove the other from your waist. He lingers, staring at the back of your head trying to read whatever emotion must be displayed on the other side. You're rigid, like you usually are when he pushes these boundaries, but he also senses your frustration and boredom. He can't help but chuckle as he steps away.
"Thank you, Y/N," he says, waving the binder as he walks away to his office. Did he even need the binder? No, probably not. You huff at your seat, officially deeming him untouchable. You decide he must just be a weird old man that doesn't understand personal space and you can accept that now that he's no longer the object of your desire.
This is what he wanted. Your indifference. It's all part of his plan. As the days continue and your attraction settles to dust, he waits for you to make a mistake, any mistake. To his surprise and perhaps even dismay, you're nearly perfect. Then finally, you accidentally double-book a client meeting that leaves someone jobless with no way to reschedule. You're horrified and apologizing left and right to the man who is more than understanding, making you feel worse.
The man finally leaves, with no job, and no meeting. You sit at your desk and mentally scold yourself for being so careless. The stress of the approaching deadline of your rent seems to be taking a larger toll on you than you realized. Steve's client meeting ends and he sends the temp on his way with high hopes. You wish him a good day and try to focus on your computer.
"Y/N, can I see you in my office?" Steve appears from nowhere in front of your desk. He moves so silently when he means to, it's unsettling. You shamefully look up from your work and nod, following him to his office. You both sit in the appropriate seats and he releases a sigh.
"I'm disappointed in you, Y/N." His opening statement crushes you. "That was a huge fuck up, was it not?" His voice is stern and the use of cursing lets you know this is not a formal scolding. You're in trouble.
"I-I know, but it's the first one I've ever made since I started, sir."
"So that means I should just forget about it, right?" He leans back in his chair, folding his hands in front of him. "A man can't feed his family because he doesn't know when he'll have a ride back here."
"I know, sir. I'm... I'm sorry." You sigh, eaten alive with guilt. "He was very kind."
"Did you deserve it?" He's angry.
"No." You look away from him.
"What was that?" He tilts his head, eyebrows still arched. You glance at him, confused for a moment.
"No... Sir." You add.
"I think you're getting too comfortable here, Y/N. 'It's not very subtle.'" he quotes you and your face ignites with blush.
"O-Of course, sir. I'm so embarrassed. I'm sorry."
"Well, don't be embarrassed. Do better." You nod and begin to stand to leave when he leans forward with a softer expression. "Coffee?"
"What?" You don't even mean to ask him to repeat himself, it was just such a jarring switch in tone.
"Coffee. I just made it." Steve stands and crosses the room to a little black coffee maker in his office that you'd never noticed before.
"Uh, sure." You accept, hoping the caffeine will give you some sort of drive to improve your current work performance. Steve pours you both a cup and passes one to you. They're the same cup, but his looks comically small in his large, nimble hands. You take a few sips of the hot, dark liquid and begin to feel light-headed.
Everything around you seems to melt away. You've completely disregarded where you are or why you might feel this way. You try to stand and you drop the still-full cup on the office floor. Steve watches it all leaning against the table across the room. He nonchalantly sips his coffee as he waits for you to collapse. Just as he planned, the minute you get to your feet, your knees buckle beneath you. You're out before you hit the floor.
"Look at this. Look how little you think of yourself the second you hear how disappointed I am." Steve chuckles as he lifts your unconscious body. You're bound and gagged in the back seat of his '79 Ford Fairmont as he makes his way to an undisclosed location. Yeah, that one.
You wake up with a deep, sharp gasp as if you'd been holding your breath the entire time. Your head is spinning and your vision is blurry as you try to scan your surroundings. It's a dank grey room littered with failed attempts at his "side project" he'd mentioned to you weeks ago. Crumpled endo-skeletons and half-built robot heads cover each corner while wires and bolts cover the rest. Your heart begins to race and you try to rise from the cold, metal table you reside on, only to find that your wrists and ankles are strapped in place with thick leather binds.
"What the fuck?" You mumble to yourself as you continue to try to wake up. "Hello?! Help! Help me, please!" You scream and thrash on the slab.
"They all say that, you know? They always scream for help as if anyone's coming." Steve slowly enters the door. His tie is loose along with a few buttons, and his sleeves are haphazardly shoved halfway up his arms. His normally carefully combed hair is disheveled and damp with sweat as if he'd been hard at work before entering this room.
"'They?'" You tremble, rattling the metal.
"Of course, you're the first for this type of venture, I guess. Normally I just skip to killing," he chuckles, removing his tie. You're in a state of shock, sheer disbelief. Hearing that last word sends you into hysterics.
"Please don't kill me, sir. I- I won't fuck up again, I promise. Please-"
"Shut. Up." Steve's stern voice cuts directly through your pleas. "I haven't decided yet."
Tears flow steadily down the sides of your face as he begins to grope you. His rough hands explore every inch of you. His calculated hands knowingly leave bruises on your tender skin.
"Please..." You whisper with your eyes tightly shut, afraid of every movement he makes.
"Sweetheart, if this part scares you, I'm not sure you're gonna survive what comes next." He's only inches from your ear as he whispers. Your body shudders with terrified sobs. The cries only get louder when you feel Steve cutting off your clothes. You're too afraid to fight him off, unsure of whether any injuries you may acquire would be accidental or not.
"Why are you doing this? I-I literally came on to you!" You try to find reason in his actions, mostly to distract yourself from the fact that you're completely exposed, the remnants of your clothes a tattered mess beneath you.
"Where's the fun..." he drags the tip of his knife softly from your ankle to your navel as he steps closer to your blushing face. "In that?" He continues, positioning the weapon to stab through your abdomen, should he press down with any effort at all. Goosebumps erupt over your skin. "Now, are you going to shut your fucking mouth or do I need to shut it for you?" He places a gentle hand on your cheek. You nod frantically, looking into his eyes. They look so calm.
You hate to admit it, but the way he touches you seems to attempt to dig up that insatiable attraction you felt for him not long ago. Your fantasies never ventured to this genre, but you used to dream of him making you orgasm. You're torn from that memory when you remember his admittance to murder and how you know that means you probably won't make it out of this room.
Steve places the knife to the side and slowly slips his middle finger inside you. You gasp, and he plunges away, growing rougher with each stride. He curls his knuckles and watches your face closely as your crying eyes roll back into your skull. You yank against your restraints, trying to squirm away from him, but he's ruthless.
"You're so... Peculiar, Y/N." He removes his fingers from you and cleans them of your undeniable arousal with a pocket handkerchief. "I almost caved when you confronted me in my office. So bold. It's been a riot just picking at you." Steve reaches a hand into a desk in this mysterious room and retrieves an unknown device. You gasp as he slips the small, cold object inside you.
"What are you-" your question is swiftly silenced by the small remote in Steve's hand activating a powerful vibration from the item in your pussy. His free hand rubs rhythmically up and down your clit, stimulating you further. Steve stares down at you as you melt away into pleasure, ashamed and silently begging for more. He's laughing at you, hovering his head over yours as you anxiously avoid eye contact.
"Look at me," he demands, but you can't. You shut your eyes. He releases a breathy chuckle and raises the intensity of the vibrating gadget. "Don't start enjoying yourself or I might have to really scare you." You don't want to know what that entails, so you force yourself to look into his soulless blue eyes. The eye contact deepens the red shade that washes over your cheeks and Steve shakes his head, laughing at you again.
"Why are you so embarrassed now? Would you still be this shy if I'd bent you over my desk like you wanted? You're so much tighter when you're scared." Steve abruptly removes the vibrating toy from between your legs. You whimper pathetically in the absence of stimulation. He leaves the room and returns with yet another machine. This one's larger, a box.
He places the box down between your legs, as close to your throbbing entrance as he can get it. The side of the box facing you is adorned with a hole housing a phallic shape made of soft, silicone material. Your heart is bound to give out at this pace. The box itself covers a mass of gears and wires, a motor to power the rod in and out of its destination. You.
"We'll start it out slowly for you, how's that?" Steve presses a button and the machine pushes into you, slipping in easily as your body clearly craves it. You whine and cry out in pain as the machine stretches you out, slowly boring in and out of you. "If this thing's too big for you, what makes you think you could've taken me?" He laughs as he leans against the desk and watches the mechanism fuck you out. Every so often, he increases the speed.
Finally, it's maxed out. You're squirming and wailing in overstimulated pleasure and pain.
"Please! Please, I can't take it- I can't-" your begs are ignored. Steve places a rough hand around your neck, carelessly cutting off your oxygen and blood flow while his other hand delicately flicks your clit. That's it, that sends you over the limit. You climax harder than you ever thought possible, drenching the machine that's still fucking into you as your body quivers. Steve allows you to breathe again and takes his sweet time powering down the penetration machine.
You're shaking. Your tear-stained face is frozen in a look of exhaustion. The last thing you're able to do is move or speak. Your breathing is a plethora of hitched coughs and gasps and you flinch at even the possibility of being touched again at all.
"I think you might be ready now." He unfastens your bindings and takes a step back to observe. You don't move at all, not a single muscle. The truth is, you can't, even if you wanted to. Steve smirks, pressing a foot-lever under the table that lowers you right down to his waist. Two powerful hands hook under your legs and pull you so your beaten hole is perfectly accessible to him. You cry out as he moves you.
"I-I can't, Steve. I-" Your nearly inaudible mumbles are knocked from your mouth as he lands a hard open palm slap across your face.
"You're going to." He makes quick work of his belt and quickly aligns himself with your entrance. At one point all you wanted from him was this, but now you'd rather be anywhere else. Your cheek is ablaze, covered with a spreading stinging sensation. You're too distracted by the pain to notice Steve rearing back. He slams into you at full force, throwing his head back in ecstasy.
"Nooo!" You whine, unsure of how much more your body can truly take.
"Fuck!" He's almost primal when he's inside you, digging his fingertips into your flesh like he intends to take it off your body. "After all of that, you're still so fucking tight."
He reaches to your breasts and roughly gropes at the delicate skin. Your weak hand tries to tug at his wrist, but he simply flicks you away like a pest, continuing the assault. He slams into you, hoping to do more harm than anything, smiling at your sobbing face. Your makeup is a smeared mess and your hair is in disarray from the way you fought back on the table. You look pathetic to him and he loves it.
"You want to be filled up, don't you sweetheart?" He huffs, slowly approaching his climax. Your eyes open wide and a new wave of fear and adrenaline shoots through you, but you're still too weak to manage. Steve easily pins your wrists by your shoulders and thrusts deeper and deeper, hooking his hips to temporarily reach the very limit of your cunt.
"Please don't! Mr. Raglan, please!" You beg between gasping sobs as you listen to his labored breaths become unsteady. His agonizing thrusts lose their rhythm and suddenly you can feel his thick erection twitching inside you, brushing your G spot and carrying you over the edge again as well. You didn't even think that would be possible at this point.
You and Steve ride out your highs. He continues to pump into you making a heinous sound as he fucks his cum deeper inside you. To his surprise, he remains hard, so he continues to rut into your destroyed pussy until his legs threaten to give out. Steve finishes inside you a second time, laughing as he watches your horrified face realize how full of him you are. He's taking his time pulling out of you, playing with your cum soaked clit until you finally pass out from exhaustion.
Steve releases a breathy laugh as he fastens his belt and collapses in a chair nearby. You're lying there, naked and dripping cum from your swollen, demolished pussy. He can't get enough of this view. His original plan was to just get rid of you when he was done here, why not? But this is too much fun for him. Maybe he needs a new pet.
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phoebosacerales · 2 months
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Algol and Perseus
The rescuer and the demon
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Sebastiano Ricci Antonio Canova
Algol is the beta star of the constellation Perseus, currently sitting at 26° Taurus, known as “the demon star” or "blinking demon", its name comes from the arabic Al Ghul meaning "the demon". To hellenistic astrology it represents Medusa’s head, which Perseus holds on one hand, while on the other he has his sword. An important characteristic of Algol is that its glow has a regular variation, it loses half of its brightness for hours and then it gains back. It was believed by astrologers to be an eclipsing star, which means that another non-visible body would be orbiting it and therefore eclipsing its light from time to time. They were half right, because it was later discovered to be an eclipsing star system, and that Algol was actually 3 stars, just like the Gorgon sisters are three: the imortals Stheno and Euryale, and the mortal Medusa. This is such a hallmark of Algol that it gave its name to its class of eclipsing variable: Algol variable.
Eclipses are associated with death, basically because light in astrology is life-giving, and loss of light is death. But it’s interesting that it's frequently associated with the "demonic", capital punishment and decapitation. Algol is telling a story about the decapitation of a “demon”, just like the lunar nodes (Rahu and Ketu) do in the Jyotish tradition when they cause eclipses. Ptolemy only tells us that the constellation of Perseus is like Jupiter and Saturn. Although Robson agrees with Agrippa about Algol specifically being of the nature of Saturn-Jupiter, and “the most evil star in the heavens”, causing a lot of fear whenever we see it activated in a chart. But I’m not here to scare anybody, don’t worry. It’s difficult, but I’ll try to lighten this up, because the most overlooked fact about Algol is that it also protects and can make revolutions and revolutionary heros.
"Perseus is like Jupiter and Saturn: but the nebula, in the hilt of the sword, is like Mars and Mercury." (Ptolemy - Tetrabiblos) "It causes misfortune, violence, decapitation, hanging, electrocution and mob violence, and gives a dogged and violent nature that causes death to the native or others. It is the most evil star in the heavens" (Vivian E. Robson - The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology)
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Illustrations from Al-Sūfī's book of fixed stars
Eletrocution or electrical problems are an issue with eclipses and apparently also eclipsing star-systems like Algol. This is noted by Christopher Warnock about his Algol talismans:
"I have had multiple reports and have myself experienced Algol’s tendency to cause electrical and electronic interference when the talisman is first used.  I mysteriously lost my Internet connection for an hour and my electronic thermostat died.  One user had his entire block lose power.  Less frequently but still regularly clients have reported that while wearing their Algol talisman, “weird” or “freaky” people took one look at them and fled." (Christopher Warnock - Fixed star, Sign and Constellation Magic)
Other one of its proeminent themes is vengeance, or the dichotomy of justice vs vengeance, but the effect of reflecting back evil that's sent towards its direction, or of ending curses describes it better in my opinion. About the images of the fixed Behenian stars, Agrippa says that:
“Under Caput Algol, they made an image whose figure was the head of a man with a long beard, having a bloody neck. This brought the good outcome of petitions, gave the bearer boldness and nobility, preserved members of the body from injury, helped against sorceries, and reflected evil attempts and evil incantations from enemies”. (Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy - Eric Purdue's translation)
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Piero di Cosimo
This protection side of the star is illustrated by the story of the champion Perseus not just decapitating the demon but using its head to free Andromeda from her chains and saving her and her city from another monster, and then Athena herself starts using the head of Medusa as a symbol on her shield. As established, this is a star of the nature of Jupiter and Saturn. The nature of Saturn is evidenced even by the names given to the star: demon, cacodaemon, which is also the greek name for the 12th house. Imprisonment, monstruosity and madness are clearly the most important Saturn and 12th house themes. But Algol is a protective star, particularly in astrological magic, although I'll show how this kinda manifests in nativities as well. Algol is mainly of a jupiterian nature, that's why it does liberates. The head is an evil daemon but also a protection amulet. This is interesting regarding the eclipsing factor and the similarity of the significations with the Jyotish Rahu and Ketu. In western astrology the nodes are considered to have effects like Jupiter and Saturn, and the topic of imprisonment-liberation is explored in the dynamic of the two*.
With the new interpretations of the Medusa myth, some astrologers say that Algol can be about "female rage" or "dark feminine", or "feminine jealousy" etc. I think this is one of the stories that people mix the astrological meaning with the morality of the greek myth associated with the star the most. The greek myth is not really the star and the star is not the greek myth. In my opinion, you always must take into consideration that some things can be just the way the greeks or romans viewed a certain theme, and of course they would put a violated woman to represent a monster on a mindless vendetta, and it's not meant to be complimentary. I believe that's already way beyond Algol's effects, it could be just their misogyny projected onto the stars. I can think of examples where I can see that kind of story taking place, but that doesn’t mean that the star is about those things, but just that this is one possibility because we live in patriarchy and things around women's issues can get ugly in an Algol manner. The star can be about capital punishment, monstruosity, madness, captivity, violation, injustice, vengeance, evil daemonic influences etc, but it's not really about cishet women. So, even though I’m also using the greek myth here, I’m not giving the most importance to the detail that it is a story about a woman receiving unfair punishment and that there's a lack of comradery between women, because I'm interested in the star beyond what greeks and romans said, because the stars can’t be represented by just one hegemonic narrative. A lot of other cultures had their different stories about Algol, the Medusa one isn’t special to the point that we could assume every detail about it, even its moral issues (which are also in this case suffering a bit from anachronism), has meaning for the star associated.
Perseus is a spring time constellation very near the bull (taurus), and that may sound too nice for such a scary one. But in babylonian astrology, the stars of Perseus actually formed the constellation of the Old Man, who also held a decapitated head and a rod instead of a sword. Of it, Gavin White has an interesting perspective to share:
“At this time of natural abundance, the earth was thought to ‘open up’ in order to yield her bounty, but to the archaic mind this opening up was accompanied by a host of dangers, chief of which was the potential pollution from the dead who could gain easy access to the upper worlds at this pivotal time. In light of this belief, I would suggest that the Old Man, with his wand and prophylactic head, is banishing the ghosts of the old year and driving them back to the underworld.”
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Illutration from Gavin White's Babylonian Star-Lore
There's a lot of examples of charts for literal decapitation or capital punishment, injuries to the head or neck area as obvious manifestations of the star: The most famous is probably the catholic Saint George, who is said to have been executed by decapitation on April 23 back when that was the time of year when the Sun would conjunct Algol, and he later became associated with the constellation. Back then, Algol was at 2° Taurus. Gianni Versace, who had Algol on the descendant, famously made Medusa the logo of his brand and also died with a bullet to the head. Freud had Mercury with Algol, his 8th house ruler, and he died with throat cancer. Nick Yarris, who spent two decades on death row after he was wrongfully convicted of murder, has the Sun with Algol. Patrick Henry had Jupiter, and he was a murderer whose case influenced the abolition of the death penalty in France, which was done by the method of guillotine until its abolition. He was defended by Robert Badinter, who was an activist against the death penalty and could sucessfully propose its abolition in 1981. Badinter has Jupiter with the alpha of Andromeda in the first house. France has a thing with decapitation, some of the charts for its republics have either Algol or Mirfak activated, the alpha star of Perseus.
Algol and Madness
But I want to talk about Algol's special relationship with madness, in the demonized/criminalized sense, because after all, "the demon" is unwanted, it frequently represents the marginalized and their opression. In Brazil's history, especially during the military dictatorship organized and imposed by usamerican capitalist imperialism, asylums imprisoned and tortured mainly black people, women and queer people. Some asylums got so overwhelmed that they became concentration camps, like the famous case of Hospital Colônia in Barbacena, known as the Brazilian Holocaust case, where people died by the thousands from starvation, hypothermia, anemia, STI's, untreated diseases from the lack of hygiene etc. Some important psychiatrists, psychologists, psychoanalysts have Algol activated by some planet. Freud has Mercury, Fritz Perls has Jupiter, David Healy, who literally has a book titled "The Decapitation of Care", has Venus. But what's more interesting to me is the protection element of Algol in some cases and its role in mad liberation movements, after all, Perseus is a liberator. Algol shows up in very important people in the pysch field who question medical power and have antipsych views, and on important events of the psychiatric reform.
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Hospital Colônia de Barbacena - MG
Franco Basaglia, the main responsible for the dismantling of psychiatric hospitals and for the psychiatric reform all over Europe and in Brazil, had the Moon with Algol in the 10th house, representing his deeds, while ruling the 12th. In Italy, the Law 180 (Basaglia Law), the Psychiatric Reform law that determined the progressive extinction of asylums throughout the italian territory, was sanctioned with the Sun on Algol. In Brazil, on May 18, 1987, the exact day of the year that the Sun conjuncts Algol, a meeting of mental health workers at a conference was the major milestone for Brazilian health reform and the anti-asylum movement. And since that event, May 18th has become our national anti-asylum movement day, and it becomes more and more culturally relevant as a day to discuss psychiatric reform and the fight to guarantee the rights and autonomy of mental patients.
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Marches on May 18th
An important activist, Austregésilo Bueno, born with the Sun with Algol, survivor of compulsory hospitalization in asylums in the 70s, wrote a book "Canto dos Malditos" about his horrible experiences as a psychiatric patient treated with eletroshock therapy (another one of Algol's effects). He had his book adapted to film and his story played by the actor Rodrigo Santoro, who has Algol on the Ascendant. The name of the film is Brainstorm in English, but I find the original "Bicho de Sete Cabeças" much more compelling. It's a truly devastating story, and it's the story of thousands unfortunately.
One thing about Saturn and madness is the recurring idea of wearing masks. Masks and theatre have always been associated with Saturn. Saturnalia was a roman festival where all the roles switched, where kings pretended to be fools and fools pretended to be kings. In modern astrology Saturn ended up associated a lot with a raw and harsh reality, disregarding the most mystical and unreal characteristics of Saturn that have always been present. Although life, reality, identity and reason are always a performance, we're always wearing a mask and performing life. There's a point in the movie "Bicho de Sete Cabeças" when the protagonist is having a difficult time on his first days of being an inmate, he's fighting too much against the forced treatment and expressing too much unsatisfaction with his imprisonment, thus getting even more forcebly medicated and punished by the staff. At this point one of the older inmates shares an important advice with him:
"You have to pretend, who in this world doesn't pretend? You have to say that you're in a good mood, you have to say that you're not hungry, you have to say that you don't have a toothache, you have to say that you're not afraid, otherwise you can't do it, you can't do it. No doctor ever told me that hunger and poverty can lead to mental disorders, but those who don't eat become nervous, those who don't eat and see their family go without eating can go crazy, a discontentment can lead to madness, a death in the family, the abandonment of the great love. We even need to pretend to be insane being insane, pretend to be a poet being a poet."
It's a powerful speech about the farce of medicine's ownership over the subject of madness, the farce of reason and that it must subjugate or dominate madness. Pretending and acting out the platonic ideal behavior at all situations under all circumstances, as if it's normal, that's the only way anyone is seen as sane.
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Bicho de Sete Cabeças (2000)
Another important date in brazillian history is the 13th of May 1888, the day of the passing of the law that abolished slavery, which also had Algol activated by the Sun. This was obviously not the definite end of slavery and not the end of the struggle of black brazilians, just like the Basaglia Law didn't mean mad liberation, but I'm just demonstrating how powerful Algol is to protect from evil and put an end to injustice in an official and legislative manner. Like Saint George defeating the dragon, Perseus defeats a monster that is impossible to defeat, the "impossible victory" and liberation is recurrent in the stories linked to it. Systemic opression and injustices a lot of times seem like impossible problems, it becomes harder and harder to imagine a world where they don't exist, but Algol events revolutionize the impossible.
"The important thing is that we have proven that the impossible becomes possible. Ten, fifteen, twenty years ago it was unthinkable that a mental hospital could be destroyed. Maybe mental hospitals will return to being closed and more closed than before, I don't know, but in any case we have demonstrated that the mad can be cared for in another way, and testimony is fundamental. I don't think that the fact that an action manages to energize itself means that it has been won. The important point is another, it is that now we know what can be done." (Franco Basaglia - Conferenze brasiliane)
An important honorable mention should be made to Carlos Marighella, a guerrilheiro in the resistance of the brazilian military dictatorship who was executed before he could see our democratization. He had Mars with Algol.
"The urban guerrilheiro is an implacable enemy of the government and inflicts systematic harm on authorities and men who dominate and exercise power. The main work of the urban guerrilheiro is to distract, tire and demoralize the military, the military dictatorship and repressive forces, and also attack and destroy the wealth of north americans, foreign managers, and the Brazilian upper class. But the fundamental and decisive characteristic of the urban guerrilheiro is that he is a man who fights with weapons; given this condition, there is little chance that he will be able to pursue his normal profession for a long time or the reference of the class struggle, since it is inevitable and necessarily expected, the armed conflict of urban guerrilla against the essential objectives: A. The physical extermination of the leaders and assistants of the armed forces and the police. B. The expropriation of government resources and those who belong to the big capitalists, landowners, and imperialists, with small expropriations used to maintain the individual urban guerrilheiro and large expropriations for the support of the same revolution. (Carlos Marighella - Manual do Guerrilheiro Urbano)
Algol in Cannes
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Lunga in Bacurau (2019), the first queer Perseus I know
I’ve said here before how much I love Bacurau. The movie premiered in Cannes, on May 15, 2019, at 10 pm**. This is a chart full of fixed stars, with the Sun with Algol in the 6th house. You'll find in the film the Algol classic of extreme injustice being overcome. But one curious thing is that the Cannes Film Festival always happens around the same time of year when the Sun is at the last degrees of Taurus and beginning of Gemini, making a lot of the movies premiered at Cannes have Algol activated. And it shows. It’s a great opportunity to watch how varied the Algol themes can be. On that same year of 2019, they had: THE DEAD DON’T DIE by JIM JARMUSCH, a pretty obvious Algol zombie movie, whom you defeat by cutting off the head, of course; LES MISÉRABLES by LADJ LY, inspired by a real-life event of police violence that inspired the 2005 riots in Paris, it seems to have a very radicalized discourse about raging against violent injustices; ATLANTIQUE (ATLANTICS) by MATI DIOP has dead unpaid workers coming back as spirits possessing their city’s inhabitants to take vengeance on the tycoon who withheld their payment; LITTLE JOE by JESSICA HAUSNER is a film about a lab created flower that alters people's behavior in strange ways, and these last two kinda have the feeling of that "spring danger" Gavin White talks about. DOLOR Y GLORIA (PAIN AND GLORY) by PEDRO ALMODÓVAR has Antonio Banderas as the protagonist who develops dysphagia, caused by a caucified growth in his neck. Etc. And these are all just some of the 2019 films. I haven't watched most of them, but you can always look for the films which had their first screenings around 14-20 of May and they'll be rich in Algol content.
So, I'll leave you with that: a bunch of movie recommendations. Thank you for reading.
--
*Adam Elenbaas has my favorite content on the subject of the nodes or Rahu-Ketu.
** You can research the screening guide for an edition to find the time.
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heartandflowerball · 1 year
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"Call it what you want"-Rivusa social media au(fake dating trope) - Chapter 14-
I put a link for the petition for the show in the chapter 13, please go sign it.
if you didn't already read the other chapters, click here, that will land you to the introduction that has links for all the chapters before this one and the tw
hello, I hope everyone is doing good. I'm so excited to post this new chapter, I'm really proud of it. This chapter is really personal and meaningfull for me!<3.
(i'am sorry if I have done anny error, english is not my first language )
Real life pov:
Musa tries to take advantage of the last seconds of sleep before getting up for her practice with Riven. The light from the window attacks her eyes when she hears the door slam open. Her eyes instinctively open to see what's going on and the first thing she notices is that Terra isn't in the room. Musa turns her attention back to the person opening the door and it's Stella who stands infront of her. The fairy comes to sit on Musa's bed and pulls the blanket.
"Get up, I have great news."
Musa takes the blanket from her friend's hands and goes back to bed. "Musa up, we're going to town."
The fairy sticks her head out from under the sheets: "What are you talking about? It's Friday, we have class."
The blonde gets up and goes to open Musa's cupboard: "No, because today Silva is organizing an integration day for first-year specialists so we have the day off."
Musa sits up slightly in bed to listen to Stella.
"And so I thought we could do a double date again. You know like the last time, tattoo, walk, thrift store, all that."
The blonde is throwing clothes on her friend's bed for her to get dressed.
"Have you made an appointment with the tattoo artist yet?"
"Yes it will be good, come on!"
Musa gets up and takes the t-shirt and pants Stella took from her own closet, "So who's coming besides Bea, Riv, you and me?"
"When Bea told Riven about it, he asked Helia to come."
The mind fairy walks to the bathroom and closes the door. Stella, however, remains in front to continue the discussion.
"And suddenly we invited Flora, so Helia doesn't hold the candle between you and Riv or between me and Bea. And that will help Flo to get closer to her crush."
Musa opens the door again, with a smile on her face. "Stella, you're a genius, but Helia isn't a first year?"
The blonde chuckled slightly. "No, he's in his third year like Riven and Sky, he's just new. And you're going to get your lover because we're leaving in 15 minutes, we'll meet in the parking lot!"
Musa doesn't even have time to respond when Stella comes out of the room clicking her heels on the floor.
Musa is about to knock at Riven's room when Helia opens the door himself.
"Riven is in the shower, see you downstairs in 10 minutes?"
She nods and Helia smiles at her before exiting the bedroom and walking down the hall. The door remains open so the fairy enters and closes  the said door. She puts her bag in a corner and her gaze is directly drawn to a corner of Riven's room. On a shelf is the specialist's entire collection of ashtrays. It makes her smile, reminding him of the conversations she had with him over the summer and how he seemed so happy to talk about the things he loves. She looks at the collection but doesn't notice the one she gave him.
"I use it for smoking."
Musa jumps and turns to see a smiling Riven, his hair still wet.
"Wh..what?"
"Your ashtray, it's not on the shelf because I use it."
Musa feels her heart soften gently at the word of the boy in front of her.
Her gaze drops to his chest and she notices something: "Are you wearing a crop top? Are you wearing one of my crop tops?"
Riven's neck filled with a red stain upon hearing the fairy. He's blushing.
"I don't see what you're talking about." Riven said as she turned to open his closet and grab another t-shirt.
Musa advances behind him. "Yes, you're wearing my crop top. It suits you better than me."
Riven's neck flares up even more and he puts his hand on his neck to hide it. He turns and goes to the bathroom to change his t-shirt. When he comes out, Musa is waiting for him, sitting on his bed. "Did you steal it from me?"
"Yes when we last slept together."
"Why did you change?"
"Because it's my pajamas."
This time, it's Musa's cheeks that turns flush. Just the idea of ​​knowing that the specialist slept with one of her clothes, prevents her brain from functioning normally. Yet when she looks at Riven's arms, her gaze fills with concern. She gently grabs his hand. "Riv what are these burns?"
"Nothing, mind fairy."
"Riv!"
He lowers his head. "It's nothing, it must be because of the showers I take."
Musa looks at him with incomprehension.
"I take hot showers, it feels like getting a warm hug."
She points to the boy's arm.
"Hot showers are one thing, but this kind of marks is caused by burning showers, it's dangerous Riv."
He sits on the bed and Musa takes a seat next to him. "It's nothing."
“No, it's not nothing Riven. You hurt yourself. I don't want you to hurt yourself. It breaks my heart to know that. For the feeling of a warm hug."
"What should I do then?" the specialist replies.
"Just ask. Just ask for a hug. Don't burn your skin just for a feeling."
"It is not so easy."
Musa gently slides her hand through the boy's hair.
"I know, and I don't pretend to undertand all of you but I know that you can always come to me for a hug."
The boy looks at her in the eyes.
"You say that because of this fake relationship."
She smiles softly at him.
"I don't. I say that because I care. I care for you and what you are feeling and I don't want you to get hurt. If you want a warm hug, come to ask me. Any times. I would be there. "
Riven is afraid. He is frightened of Musa getting in his head and see that he is just a scared little boy. He is a scared little boy who was forced to grown up to soon. He is just a scared little boy who don't want to fight with monsters. He is a scared man, a broken one, a coward one. A touch starved man who would melt in a cuddle, and die just for a little brush on his hand.
"But you don't even like being touched."
The fairy laugh when she heard him saying that.
"I like touch, I love touch, I crave touch. I just can't have it with many people because touching someone make me feel their feeling even more, it's hard."
Musa lowers her hand to Riven cheek and caresses it with her thumb. Her softness overwhelmed the boy and he gently lean in her hand.
"You are touch starved. It's crazy how you and I are the same." Says the boy turning his head and gives a soft kiss to her hand.
When Riven and Musa arrive in the parking lot, the others are already there. Out of the corner of her eye, the fairy sees Flora and Helia talking. They're both leaning against a car and from the way he looks at her smiling and how she talks with her hand, Musa understands straight away that the two will get along fine.
She looks ahead again and sees Riven complaining to Stella: "I don't understand why we still have to take my car."
That's when Beatrix jumps on the specialist's back. "Because you have a great car and you're a really nice best friend."
Riven sighs as he pulls out his keys and pushes his friend into the car. "Go in this damn car, before I change my mind."
Before going to the tattoo artist, the small group goes to a bookstore.
Riven and Musa are sitting against a shelf, books in hand.
"My mom would have punished me just for thinking of getting a tattoo."
The brunette looks up from her book and looks at him. "What ?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows.
"She would have killed me if she knew I was planning on getting a tattoo and just for that I want to get a tattoo related to it."
A laugh escapes the fairy's lip.
"You think I'm crazy right ? Always wanting revenge and not forgiving."
"No, I don't actually. You don't own forgiveness to your abusers. Society makes people believe they have to forgive but that's stupid. Take revenge Riv."
"Thank you love."
He just called her love. Riven has a knack for giving everyone nicknames, but "love" is new. It's new and it's comforting. Musa brings her knees up to her and leans her head on them, smiling.
"What?" asks the boy.
"You just called me love, admit you're obsessed with me."
He bursts out laughing. "How do you know?" he replies humorously.
Musa's pov:
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Real life pov:
After going to the tattoo artist and eating,  Beatrix and Stella have decided to separate  for the group to go to a thrift store. Stella doesn't really like this kind of place but her girlfriend assured her that she was just going to some bad place.
Bea opens the door and holds it for Stella who thanks her.
"It's...pretty."
"Ho Stell, stop having assumptions sweetheart."
The blonde sighs and nods, following Beatrix through the aisles and holding her hand.
Meanwhile, in the park near the thrift store, Helia and Flora are sitting against a tree, the girl showing the boy how she grows flowers with her powers. She had never seen anyone looking at her with the admiration that Helia has in those eyes right now.
A little further on, Musa is lying on her stomach, the sun glinting off the purple markings on her back. Riven, sitting next to her, can't help but delicately outline them with his fingertips. She looks up at him: "I love your tattoo."
"And I love yours."
Musa smiled softly and when the specialist came to put his hand on her shoulder blades, she smiled softly, closing her eyes at the contact.
"My mother used to say this sentence all the time, the one on my tattoo."
Riven puts his hand away slightly when he hears the fairy talking about her mother. He doesn't expect to talk about this subject. Musa raises her back slightly, silently asking the specialist to continue his carresses.
"She seemed like a good person."
"She was, she was always smiling and be happy around. She loves everyone. I miss her you know. I miss her in every moments in my life."
"I'm sure she would be proud of you. You are a good person."
Musa feels like watching him for the first time.
"You know, she would have adored you."
Riven smiles softly and comes to lie down next to her on the grass. Musa looks at him, with his eyes closed and his skin glowing golden in the sun. She loses herself in the contemplation of...
Ho...
Oh no no no
Oh...
It is happening.
It's been happening for a long time.
She only realizes it now.
She is in love. Of Riven.
Musa's pov:
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~~~~~
Tanks you for reading this. <3Let me know if you want to be on the taglist.
taglist: @somnidasha @jamespottersgirlfriend @dukyungs @titleofkaidam @lilfuturescars @multiplefandommess @alexsshittyworld @princessasoldier @yeahithinkthefuckno @thecrimsonmoths <3
Don't forget to comment or reblog, I love reading your opinions <3
(I have done all the edit and written all this myself so please don't steal my work)
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hwavsg4ch4n · 6 months
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MY little story time about Global Citizen Festival!!
So guys!!! I went to the global citizen festival and wow. I felt so proud to be a stay. The crowd was extremely loud, including me and my friends ofc. I was waving wolf Chan around like a lunatic haha.
The boys looked BEAUTIFUL. We could hear them so clearly. It was cold and rainy and everyone was exhausted but all of that went away when 3racha went on stage.
We waited on the queue line for a while and almost panicked but I stayed optimistic. Ngl, I feel as if they dragged out some of the ments before and between performances. Don’t get me wrong I was very happy to hear about the causes, I ofc signed many petitions in order to go to the festival. But the weather made it really hard to focus properly. Everyone just wanted it hurry up bc we most people were pretty uncomfortable.
My friends and I didn’t stay for the entire festival (we left after 3racha). Mostly bc of how uncomfortable and tired we were. However leading up to the festival we were talking about staying and listening to every artist. The weather just so happened to not work in our favor and we reached our limits lol.
I also met some new stays, extremely kinda stays. I even got some freebies and secured and Hyunjin bracelet!!! I wish me and my friends got there a bit earlier but it’s okay. My extremely tall friend got some vids for us lol.
Hopefully, I’ll get to see them on tour again with ASSIGNED seats. I went to the manic tour once before. I had floor seats but our view wasn’t the best (me and my bestie are a bit short lol). For the next tour when they come to my city I’m hoping for barricade or the second level right next to the stage!!! Manifest if for me YALL.
In the mean time I’m gonna massage my sore legs and do some cram work for my uni classes. Love y’all!!!!!
Artists I liked besides 3racha:
Anitta, she looked amazing on stage and was very entertaining to watch. You can tell she works hard.
Conan Gray, he was AMAZING!!! Me and my best friend cried together and sang to the top of our lungs while “Heather” was being performed.
Jk, I didn’t see his set with my eyes but I did hear what was going on while me and my group were navigating out of the park. We did want to see him but we couldn’t take it anymore. We sang along to euphoria on our way out lol
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author-ssi · 1 year
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Serendipity ~PJM
➜Pairing: Slytherin Park Jimin x Hufflepuff Oc ➜Genre: Harry Potter AU, Fluff, One-Shot ➜Word Count: 7.6k ➜Summary: What happens when a Hufflepuff girl catches the eye of a certain Slytherin boy?
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“I’ll meet you at the Great Hall after your class is over, okay?”, Cedric Diggory looks over at his best friend while the two of them are walking down the long hallways of Hogwarts about to part ways. The short brunette nods affirmatively, a part of her always feeling uneasy every time she has to wander around the school without her Hufflepuff counterpart by her side. All due to him being a year older than her and thus having different classes... However, her uneasiness is soon replaced with excitement at the thought of attending her last and favourite lesson of the day, Herbology. “Okay! See you there!”, she answers him with a cheerful smile giving him a brief but tight hug before hurrying off to the greenhouse. Clasping her Herbology book tightly to her chest, she enters the greenhouse finding herself more at ease upon noticing the severe absence of students inside. She smiles in contentment, since she always tends to purposely arrive earlier than her other classmates, and proceeds to wander around in order to idolise the plants in the vicinity like she’s used to. So immersed she is in her admiration over them, though, that she doesn’t become aware of another presence entering the greenhouse shortly after.
Determined to condemn his friends’ constant complaints and allegations of him always being late to classes, earlier in the day, Park Jimin had made a bet with his group; for him to be the first one to show up at the last class of the day. Having planned to arrive half an hour earlier than the standard time, he reaches his destination with a smug smirk. Hah! From now on, there’ll be no more teasing Jimin for always being late! He proudly puffs out his chest expecting to walk into an empty greenhouse, only for his whole figure to slouch in disappointment at the sight of another student already inside. There goes his chance... Letting out a dejected sigh, he walks further into the greenhouse after having mentally admitted defeat. His sharp eyes fall on the student responsible for him losing the bet and he shoots a frustrated, piercing glare at her back. Who even is she? And why is she here so early!? He peers into her petite figure curiously, noticing her small hand reaching out to brush her fingers against the petals of a white flower. It looks like an asphodel... His gaze softens as he unconsciously takes one step closer to the mild-looking girl as if he’s being drawn by an invisible force. Coming to stand almost diagonally from behind her, he is now able to get a better look at her features. From her gentle hazel eyes to her delicate nose, all the way over to her pink lips... Her long brown hair cascading over her back makes her seem even more darling. She looks so lovely! He opens his mouth to speak in order to make his presence known to her, only for his voice to get caught in his throat when she leans in to the flower with her eyes closed inhaling its scent as an angelic smile forms on her soft-looking lips.
Finding comfort in the sense of petals against the skin of her fingertips, the girl leans towards the beautiful asphodel, her nostrils filling with its aroma. That’s why Herbology is her favourite class. A faint smile appears on her face before she stands back up straight, turning to move on to the next pot of flowers. Instead, she comes face to face with an all too familiar boy staring at her in a daze. PARK JIMIN!? Has he been here the entire time without her noticing!? She widens her eyes as her hand springs up to slightly cover her face. “You startled me”, she murmurs in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. She can’t believe THE Park Jimin just saw her whiffing flowers! Now, he’ll think she’s weird or something! “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle nor interrupt you”, he apologises genuinely before flashing her one of his signature smiles that are known to make any girl in the school swoon. “It’s okay”, she answers him tightening her hold on her book nervously. She’s not that used to social interactions since Cedric is usually the one leading the conversation with other students, while she’s just chipping in to agree or add a thing or two to what he’s saying. Never has she found herself in a situation like this and on top of that, she’s not addressing any ordinary Hogwarts student... It’s Park Jimin of all people! The most popular guy at the school! And considering his sweet personality and immense attractiveness, he’s more than deserving of this title... But that’s beside the point! She shakes off her wandering thoughts as she fidgets awkwardly under the captivating gaze and smile of the justifiably most popular guy at school.
Jimin’s smile almost wavers since he has never found himself in a situation like this. Normally, he is able to strike up a conversation with any girl effortlessly, but right now all he can focus on is his rapid heartbeat and the fidgety state of the girl in front of him. So cute. Even though he, too, is feeling as nervous as she seems to be, he is determined not to let it show while he racks his brain to find something for them to talk about. He wants to make her feel comfortable around him, hoping that it will help ease his own nerves as well. “So, why are you here so early?”, he manages to find something to begin with, mentally congratulating himself on it. “Oh, I just like to come by early in order to... Admire the flowers”, she answered him with a shy smile in response to his own, making the rapidness of his heartbeat even more distracting to him. He does his best to ignore it, though, as he leans casually against a table with several potted plants placed on it. “I see. Well, I don’t blame you. There are some very beautiful flowers in here”, he comments scratching his head slightly before turning to shoot a pointed look at the white one beside her. The flower he previously caught her admiring so keenly. “Like that one... An Asphodel, isn’t it?”, he pretends to be unsure, obliquely urging her to talk about it herself. “Yes, it is. It’s also known as ‘Royal Staff’ and it’s used in the creation of various potions. You can easily find it within the Hogwarts grounds”, she informs him seeming visibly less tense as she falls into line with the discussion. “That’s good to know, thank you”, he tells her softly with his bright smile widening as he notices her slightly rosy cheeks. So cute.
Although she can feel her cheeks slightly redden at his so genuine response, she finds herself feeling more comfortable talking to him now. There’s something about him that has the ability to cure her diffidence. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s so soft-spoken and friendly... Or the fact that his eyes radiate so much comfort and warmth... Or the fact that his whole presence alone feels soothing. “I’m Jimin by the way. Nice to meet you”, he introduces himself with an eye smile and a small bow. So sweet. “I’m A-”, her own introduction is cut short by the entrance of the infamous Malfoy gang, consisting of Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and of course, Malfoy himself. The self-composure that was brought out by Jimin vanishes as she feels herself shrinking under the gazes of his Slytherin counterparts. Their cheeky smirks and teasing chuckles make her tighten her hold on her books once again, followed by her shoulders tensing.  “Oh Jimin! I see you’ve met Delaney!”, Malfoy exclaims as he and his gang approach the two. She’s not surprised by their mention of her surname since she’s aware that due to her friendship with Cedric she, too is well-known amongst the Hogwarts students. “Guess we won the bet”, Zabini states smugly folding his arms against his chest. Bet? What are they talking about? “You already knew there was going to be someone else here early! That’s not fair!”, Jimin protests making Delaney look over at him confused, not yet able to grasp what’s going on.
“Oh come on Jimin! Everyone knows Delaney is always the first one to show up at class in Herbology. Everyone but you, apparently, since you’re always the last one to show up”, Malfoy reveals the group’s prank in a teasing tone while Jimin groans in annoyance glaring playfully at them. “You guys are impossible!”, he laughs it off shaking his head in disbelief. Turning back to face the girl whose name he learned to be Delaney, he feels bad upon noticing her clueless and tense state so he offers her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about all the fuss. Though, I’m glad it led me to meet you, Delaney”, he tells her with a small wink as his smile turns to a cheeky one. His friends’ presence has made him even more determined to play it cool in front of the girl who seems to be the only one with the ability to render him speechless with just one look or smile. His gaze meets her soft hazel eyes and, for a moment, he finds it hard to look away. Not wanting to provoke any more teasing from his friends though, he ultimately forces himself to turn away from her and walk over to them.
So sweet. His words make her flustered until the moment she hears him utter ‘Delaney’ instead of her name. It’s not that she doesn’t like her surname, it’s the fact that she doesn’t like being addressed by her surname, and especially not from Jimin. However, she doesn’t get the chance to correct him when his smouldering dark brown eyes briefly turn to gaze into her soft hazel ones, making her mind go blank and her knees go weak. In that fleeting moment, she just wishes she could stare into his eyes for a little longer. But wishes don’t always come true... Simply breaking their eye contact, Jimin heads over to his friends without another word, leaving her to stare after him in a daze. Being reminded of her previous discontent though, she quickly forces herself to regain her composure and opens her mouth determined to get a word in. “It’s Anastasia, actually!”, she states with her voice loud and clear. She never thought herself capable of speaking with such confidence but here she was! All because she didn’t want Jimin to address her like the other Slytherins did. All because she wanted him to know her by her actual name.
Jimin’s head whips around at the girl’s clamorous statement, his eyes wide, clearly taken aback. For such a petite and delicate girl to speak so boldly... To say he is impressed would be an understatement. “My name is Anastasia!”, her second softly-voiced statement makes a cheeky smile appear on his face again. So cute. “I’ll be sure to remember it”, he offers her a solid guarantee. Unfortunately, that’s where their interaction halts as students start coming into the greenhouse. “A Hufflepuff, really Jimin?”, Malfoy’s judgemental tone makes the Korean boy turn t him with furrowed brows. “Don’t start Draco”, he scoffs rolling his eyes before setting them on the said Hufflepuff who appears to not only have caught his attention, but perhaps his heart too.
Opening her Herbology book, Anastasia starts flipping through it in an attempt to distract herself from Jimin’s gaze on her. All she manages to do though is blankly scan the pages unable to concentrate. Darn his magnetic gaze! Alright, I yield! Hesitantly looking up from her book, Anastasia’s eyes shyly meet his. Once he notices though, Jimin cutely shrugs at her with a goofy smile causing her to giggle. So sweet. Their small interaction is ending there, class soon commences as Professor Sprout begins to instruct the students to each choose one of the flower pots in the vicinity. Based on the one they select, they will be divided into pairs for today’s lesson. Paying no mind to the pairing process, Anastasia focuses only on the pot selection as she quickly rushes to where the one with the asphodel is placed, only to discover an empty spot instead. Someone else must have gotten to it first... Lucky them. She pouts disappointed and lets out a small sigh, settling on simply finding a random, available pot for her to use. Reluctantly turning to begin her search, her eyes widen in surprise as she’s facing the very pot she was looking for in the hands of a certain handsome Slytherin.
Holding the potted asphodel, Jimin faces the cute Hufflepuff wearing one of his contagious smiles, “Looking for this?”. Professor Sprout couldn’t have given him a better excuse to talk to Anastasia again and it was an opportunity he wouldn’t pass on! Guessing right about her instinctively going after the specific flower pot, Jimin had manoeuvred his way through the other students to get to it first just so he could be paired with her for the lesson. “Yes actually”, she mutters with her lips forming the sweetest smile he’s ever seen. “So, I guess that makes us partners”, he teases with a small wink secretly enjoying the blush he causes to creep up on her cheeks. She’s even cuter when she blushes, regardless of how cheesy it is to think that. Balancing the pot in one hand, Jimin gently places his other at the girl’s back, “Come on, Anastasia. The lesson’s about to start”. Guiding her to one of the stands Professor Sprout has set up, while the students were pairing up and selecting flowers, he places their own selected pot there. Removing his hand from her back, Jimin turns to Anastasia by his side, only to be met with the delightful sight of her face adorned with adorable reddened cheeks and a beautiful shy smile. Holding back an amused chuckle along with a growing desire to gaze at her for a bit longer, he forces himself to face Professor Sprout.
Never has Anastasia felt so jittery around a person before... She might be somewhat introverted but her current state is beyond reason! One of his smiles, some good-humoured words, simple eye contact and she finds herself in a daze with her face flushed and her heart thumping, unable to utter a single word. To think that he would get the asphodel so that the two of them could pair up... A shy smile unknowingly appears on her face and for a moment before her attention is drawn to Professor Sprout’s words about today’s lesson. “Now that everyone’s paired up and with their flowers, let me explain what we will be learning today. First of all, I’m certain that all of you know about Valentine’s Day coming up in a couple of weeks. Here at Hogwarts, in order to celebrate the holiday some of the classes provide students with subject-related lessons. For instance, in Herbology, I’ll be teaching you the Herbivicus Charm today. Is there anyone who knows what this particular charm is used for?”, the professor asks as she scans the crowd of students in the greenhouse. Taking a short break, Anastasia raises her arm and after being given permission to speak, she answers the question. “The Herbivicus Charm, also known as the Gardening Charm, is used to rapidly increase the growth rate of plants or cause flowers to bloom”. Earning a nod of confirmation from her Herbology teacher, Anastasia smiles in contentment. “Wow, you’re so clever, Anastasia!”, Jimin’s whispered exclamation makes her turn to him and this time, despite her flustered state, she manages to utter a word to him, “Thanks”. Literally, just a word. It’s still progress though!
“You seem really interested in Herbology”, Jimin observes with his eyes never leaving hers as she stares at her, impressed b her vast knowledge of the subject. “I am. It’s actually my favourite class”, she confirms with the same sweet smile he’s grown so fond of. Both of their attention is drawn back to professor Sprout as she begins to demonstrate the spell to a pot of roses. Jimin keeps glancing at Anastasia during the whole process not caring about missing it since the way the girl’s eyes light up in fascination makes up for it. After Professor Sprout’s completed the charm, Jimin notices that the roses are now in full bloom. “Wow...”, her soft hushed voice tickles his ears and he turns to look at her again with a bright smile. “Let’s try it too”, he proposes at the same time as the professor tells them to give it a go as she magically reduces all the students' flowers into closed-off buds. The small frown appearing on Anastasia’s face at the sight of the unbloomed asphodel makes Jimin take out his wand and determinedly point it at the white flower. “Herbivicus!”, he chants resolutely with a concentrated expression. Unfortunately, the result isn’t as pleasing as he’d expected it since he only causes small green sparks to emit from the tip o his wand. Disappointed by his failed attempt, Jimin lowers his wand with his head hung low and his shoulders slouching. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he can still see Anastasia taking out her own wand and mimicking his actions before she utters the chant as well, “Herbivicus”. Unlike his, the tip of her wand lights up in an emerald green colour which soon shoots out towards the flower in a thick jet of brilliant light. As a result, their asphodel begins to rapidly blossom and in his eyes, it looks even prettier than before. Perhaps, she can transcend the potential beauty she sees in a flower through the spell. “You did it! Anastasia, you’re amazing!”, Jimin exclaims looking at her with one of the biggest smiles he can muster as he impulsively takes her hands in his own squeezing them lightly out of excitement.
A fleeting shock is shown in Anastasia’s expression at Jimin’s sudden burst of excitement, but she soon smiles back at him equally enthusiastic over the result. To think that most girls tend to focus only on his looks when there’s so much more to him that that; such as pure kindness and natural affection. Probably having heard Jimin’s excited exclamation, professor Sprout approaches the two and after a quick inspection of the plant, she praises Anastasia for the excellent production of the spell. “As far as decorating Hogwarts for Valentine’s Day is concerned, you’re the first one to go to”, Madam Sprout states to her secretly favourite student, probably having known already that she would succeed in this lesson as well as she has done in the previous ones. Only the difference this time is that her competence wasn’t discreet like she prefers it to be, but rather showcased to the whole class, thanks to Jimin. However, she couldn’t care less for the attention of the other students. No, his attention alone was more than enough for her.
Seeing everyone showering her with attention, Jimin can’t help but admire Anastasia. She deserves to be praised more than anyone, she’s a bright one! Once the commotion is over and the lesson resumes, he turns to her with a kind smile, “Could you perhaps help me cast the spell as well?”. She returns his smile and nods politely offering her help. Therefore, by the end of class, Jimin is able to use the Herbivicus Charm with no problem. Thanks to her! Having been dismissed by professor Sprout, Jimin watches Anastasia pick up her book getting ready to leave. No, she can’t just leave! Furrowing his eyebrows in discontent, Jimin reaches out his hand to stop her. His fingers are mere centimetres away from wrapping around her wrist before two hands clasp his shoulders pulling him back. “That’s enough hanging out with the likes of her for the day! Let’s get going Jimin. Dinner will have been served in the Great Hall by now”, Malfoy’s disapproving voice rings in the Korean boy’s ears, nevertheless, his eyes remain on Anastasia. With no hesitation whatsoever, he dismisses his Slytherin peer’s comment and after brushing his hands off of him, he runs after the Hufflepuff girl.
Having heard Malfoy’s degrading comment, Anastasia glances briefly towards Jimin before turning around to leave. She should have known that his friends wouldn’t approve of her. From Slytherins’ point of view, Hufflepuff is considered the most ‘pathetic’ house. Even an occasion as simple as a Slytherin being friendly with a Hufflepuff, just like Jimin was to her, is already frowned upon. Sighing loudly, frustrated by such discriminating beliefs, Anastasia exits the greenhouse, quickening her pace to get to the Great Hall faster. She absolutely has to tell Cedric everything that happened to her today! “Anastasia wait up!”, the voice she was least expecting to hear calls after her, making her immediately halt her steps and turn around to face a panting Jimin who seems to have just caught up to her. “Let’s meet up after dinner’s over. What do you say?”, he offers with a sweet smile and her eyes widen lightly as she looks at him taken aback. She was almost sure his Slytherin group would have convinced him to never talk to her again but she should have known Jimin is better than that. He’s such a nice person, it’s almost hard to believe he was sorted into Slytherin. “Meet me at the field inside the Hogwarts grounds where the asphodels are grown”, she tells him raising her eyes to shyly meet his own. “Of course! Only I’m not sure I know where that is exactly”, he chuckles with an easy-going smile. “Then I guess, you’ll have to search for it”, she murmurs teasingly in a confident tone she’s still adapting to. With a cheeky smile of her own, she waves goodbye before continuing on her way to the Great Hall, leaving a pleasantly intrigued Jimin behind.
“Honestly Ariana, you hanging out with Park Jimin... Actually doesn’t sound so bad”, Cedric’s words leave Anastasia staring at him dumbfounded with wide, disbelieving eyes. After arriving at the Great Hall, Anastasia took her usual seat next to Cedric, who had been waiting for her as promised. His question about how her class went was what spurred her to tell him all about her first meeting with Jimin. She had expected Cedric to object to her spending time with Jimin since he was always protective of her as well as unenthusiastic about the Slytherin students; hence her reaction to his casual statement. “You really think so?”, she exclaims looking at her uncertain of whether his approval is genuine or not. Cedric simply chuckles at her as he starts filling her plate with a couple of roasted chicken wings and a portion of mashed potatoes. “From what you’ve told me, he seems to have liked you. Immensely! I know that most people see a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin as an odd match but Jimin appears far more different from your typical Slytherin. In fact, I think he’ll be the one to give you all the confidence and encouragement you need to break out of your shell. So don’t pass on this opportunity to get closer to him because of some silly discrimination, Ariana”, his comforting advice appeases her as he calls her by her second name, a habit he’s picked up on ever since he became her best friend. A cheerful smile appearing on her lips, Anastasia hugs her best friend tightly muttering an especially grateful ‘thank you’ to him. She is now more than certain about wanting to get closer to Jimin.
Finding out where in Hogwarts the asphodels grow is a bit more challenging than Jimin had thought. He was originally just going to ask professor Sprout about it but she was nowhere to be found when he went back to the greenhouse. Deciding that his next best option is to ask some of his Ravenclaw friends about it, he skipped his dinner to head over to the Ravenclaw table instead. “Jungkookie, I need your help with something important!”, Jimin exclaims approaching his most treasured Ravenclaw friend as he eats surrounded by his own group of friends. Jungkook and Jimin have known each other ever since they were little, back in South Korea. Both of their families were being chased by Dark Wizards at the time, so they both ended up fleeing to England. Growing up together, the two boys received their Hogwarts letters as soon as they turned 11. And even if they were sorted into different houses, they never stopped being friends... “I’m not helping you copy off of me during History of Magic again! Last time we almost got caught!”, Jungkook shakes his head firmly. Jimin scoffs rolling his eyes at him, “That’s not it. Have you any idea where exactly they grow asphodels in the Hogwarts grounds?”. “Probably at the small asphodel meadow that’s behind the Quidditch pitch”, Jungkook answers shooting him a confused look. Having no time to explain anything further to his Korean counterpart, Jimin quickly thanks him before rushing off. What a beautiful place to meet! He thinks once he gets there, admiring the visually appealing scenery before him consisting of almost fully blossomed asphodels. I should offer a little nudge. Taking out his wand, Jimin concentrates on the spell and casts it as Anastasia had previously shown him. “Herbivicus”, he chants in a soft tone and the flowers glow in an emerald light before going into full bloom. Jimin grins proudly, bending down and picking a small asphodel blossom.
“Wow”, Anastasia comments amazed, having witnessed Jimin’s successful spell as she stands a little behind him. Jimin gets up and turns around, a bright smile finding its way on his face upon laying eyes on her. “Hi there”, he greets her cheerfully as Anastasia approaches him with a shy smile. “Hi, I see you’ve managed to discover my favourite place in Hogwarts”, she finds herself admitting to him, looking up to meet his eyes once she reaches him. He’s even more handsome from up close, now that she’s observing him; she was too shy to peer into his face before. “I believe it’s not a coincidence that a place as aesthetically pleasing as this, is your favourite”, he says with a smooth yet subtle compliment hidden behind his words that Anastasia doesn’t miss. “You’re really as charming as described”, she comments causing him to let out a chuckle as he bows his head bashfully. “Here, for you”, he murmurs offering her, her favourite flower. “Thank you”, she giggles accepting it before walking past him and over to the single barren tree in the asphodel meadow. Sitting down with her back leaning against the tree’s trunk and her legs spread in front of her, she looks over at Jimin still standing where she left him, “Won’t you sit down?”. He nods eagerly and is soon taking a seat next to her, copying her posture. Anastasia turns her head to face him with a friendly smile as she playfully brings the blossom close to her nose to smell it. Turns out that is more than enough for them to start a conversation. With him it feels nice and easy, so she’ll just let it be... 
They never thought they could connect this way with each other. They felt so comfortable with each other; like a weight was lifted off of them so they could confide in one another about anything. And they did! Over the course of the next two weeks, they had been arranging to meet each other at the small asphodel meadow after dinner. During their time together, Jimin had trusted her with his biggest secret; the fact that he, too, was a Muggleborn like her, but he chose to hide it upon enrolling in Hogwarts so he would be able to fit in with the other Slytherins, who were either Pure-bloods or Half-bloods. Anastasia, of course, didn’t judge him at all, neither insisted on him revealing it. Instead, she said, quote, “You should do it when you’re ready”. Anastasia, on the other hand, had trusted Jimin with all her insecurities knowing that they would be treasured rather than humiliated by him. Aside from sharing secrets, though, the two had also shared their hopes and dreams for the future. Jimin, for one, wants to be an Auror when he graduates, so he can catch and imprison Dark Wizards in order to protect other families’ safety and make sure that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else. Whereas, Anastasia aspires to become an assistant at the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office so she can still be in touch with the part of her that belongs to the Muggle World she was raised. Having shared such deep confessions, it’s only natural that they’ve also gotten to know each other’s preferences and disfavours on people, school and almost any other topic. Spending so much of their spare time together has also familiarised them with one another’s tiny habits like Jimin’s tendency to absent-mindedly run a hand through his hair to brush it back or Anastasia cutely scrunching her nose when she dislikes something.
On the eve of Valentine’s Day, during their free period at noon, Jimin and Anastasia arranged to meet at their favourite place, only this time they were joined by more company. “Look who’s here to meet you! It’s Jimin”, Jimin introduces his Calico pet cat holding her up for the girl to see. “You’ve named your cat after yourself?”, Anastasia giggles petting her own British cat currently snuggled into her lap. “Isn’t she a girl though?”, she observes trying to hold back a burst of more giggles. “I was 8 when I first got her so don’t judge”, Jimin deadpans with a playful smile as he sets his female cat on the ground beside him and Anastasia. “Growing up, I’ve settled on calling her Chimmy”, he states as he gently scratches his little Chimmy behind his ears. “That’s such a cute name and it really suits her. Chimmy, meet Wizard”, Anastasia introduces her own male cat to both its female counterpart and Jimin, who’s looking at her with raised eyebrows clearly amused. “My parents gave him to me after I received my letter from Hogwarts, hence the name”, she explains shortly placing Wizard on the ground next to Chimmy. The two students watch their two cats get familiar with each other and soon start to play together. “They seem to be getting along quite well”, Jimin comments and Anastasia nods in agreement with a pleased smile as she keeps staring at their pets, without taking a notice of Jimin’s sudden change of behaviour. Nervously pursing his lips together, he looks at the girl trying to find the proper way to phrase his thoughts which are all of a sudden blurred by his emotions. “So, Anastasia, surely you must know about tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day party... Well, I plan on going and I was wondering-”, his flow of words is cut off by her cheerful voice. “If I’ll be attending it as well? Of course, I will! I’ll be escorting you, silly”, Anastasia assures him with a bright smile clueless to his actual suggestion. Jimin chuckles running his hand through his hair, “Thanks, I appreciate it. However, what I actually wanted to say is...”. Taking her small hands into his larger ones, he stands up lifting her to her feet as well. As she stares at her cute, anticipating expression, his next words fall easily out of his mouth, “Will you be my Valentine tomorrow?”. A smile, as pretty as a flower, blooms on her face making him unable to look away. She, on the other hand, is ecstatic that Jimin asked her that. Throwing her hands around his shoulders as she stands on her tip-toes, she hugs him full of enthusiasm, “Of course, I will”. Jimin happily returns the hug wrapping his own hands around the small girl’s waist, secretly hoping to receive the same answer to the question he’s intending to ask her at the party.
Checking herself in the mirror, Anastasia’s pink lips from a satisfied smile at the sight of her reflection. A pink laced dress hugging her thin body, a double necklace adorning her neck, a pair of beige heels on her feet and her long brown hair tucked in a loose ponytail. She was ready. Taking a deep breath in hopes of easing the jitters in her stomach, she exits her dormitory heading to the Great Hall, where the Valentine’s Day party is taking place. Reaching the entrance, her eyes immediately scan the crowd searching for Jimin. She doesn’t have much difficulty finding him though since Jimin is known to be one to stand out. Her gaze soon locates him and a gasp escapes her lips. He looks so breathtaking. Wearing a white button-up shirt with the ends of its collar extended to cascade over his front, along with a simple pair of black trousers and shoes, Jimin still managed to look more handsome than ever. She bites her lip to keep herself from grinning at the thought of how lucky she is to have him be her Valentine. After getting her emotions and thoughts under control, she walks up to Jimin in order to make her presence known. “Jimin”, his name falls off her lips naturally as if it’s meant for her to say it. For her to be the only one meant to say it...
Hearing her soft, delicate voice utter his name, Jimin almost feels like he was in heaven. Turning around to face her, his feeling is confirmed. She looks like an angel after all. His face lights up and his eyes peer into her beauty as if he got caught in a trance. “Anastasia”, he almost sighs her name heartily cherishing it. “You look so lovely”, he murmurs looking her up and down in admiration. “Thank you. You look lovely too”, she tells him sweetly and Jimin offers her his arm, secretly enjoying the blush that’s crept up on her cheeks. After wrapping her hand around his arm, Jimin escorts her to the buffet, “I heard that they’ll be serving cookies... Oh, they have trifles too!”, he observes thrilled and takes one of the chocolate trifles from her buffet popping it in his mouth. “Oh! Heart-shaped waffles!”, Anastasia exclaims enthusiastically gripping Jimin’s arm. He looks at her as she picks up a waffle from the buffet dipping it into the big bowl of melted chocolate before taking a small bite. “Mmm they’re delicious!”, she mutters turning to face Jimin with one of her delightful smiles. “Can I take a bite?”, he teases smirking slightly as he leans in towards her and after being given permission, he bites onto the waffle. Then, he leans back with a cheeky wink before taking another chocolate trifle, “Here, you try this”.
Jimin brings the sweet up to Anastasia’s mouth and she shyly parts her lips to accept his treat. Trying to focus on the sweet taste filling her mouth instead of Jimin’s flirting gesture, Anastasia looks over at the buffet. Red velvet cookies, caramel candy... And parfaits! Grinning in amazement, she reaches out taking two glasses and turns to offer one to Jimin. “There are amazing! Try one”, she tells him already taking a sip from her own parfait. Jimin smiles at her briefly before drinking some of the parfait she offered him. “So, what do you think?”, Anastasia asks expectantly waiting for his answer. Jimin looks a bit sceptical clearly seeming to process the taste. “Well, its texture is kind of- No I’m joking! It’s good, it’s really good”, he chuckles eagerly drinking some more. She glares playfully at him letting out a giggle as she joins him in drinking more parfait as well. After spending enough time trying out new sweets and occasionally feeding each other, they have immersed themselves in their casual chatter. During their talk, however, Anastasia doesn’t fail to notice Jimin’s unprecedented flirting advances and seductive gazes towards her. She is definitely taken aback but she won’t say she minds it either. In fact, she secretly enjoys it.
So immersed they are in their chatter that neither of them realises how fast time goes by, until Jimin takes notice of the gradual evacuation of students from the Great Hall. “Aish! The party’s nearly over and I haven’t asked you to dance yet!”, Jimin curses letting out a frustrated groan. “You can still ask me though”, Anastasia’s soothing tone immediately calms him down and he looks over at her with a cheerful smile. Clearing his throat, “Well then...”, Jimin takes her hand in one of his own as he makes a small bow, “Would you like to dance with me, Anastasia?”. Glancing up at her for an answer, his smile turns into a grin at her following words, “With pleasure”. Leaving a sweet kiss on her hand, Jimin stands up straight and escorts his beautiful Valentine to the dancefloor. Placing his other hand on her waist, Jimin starts to lead her according to the rhythm of a classical melody currently echoing in the Great Hall. Locking his gaze with her soft one, he is once again lost in her gentle eyes, unable to look away. After a while, however, he forces himself to do so since there’s so much more than her eyes for him to admire. His hand holding her own, unconsciously goes up to her face, tenderly cupping her cheek. “Jimin?”, her innocent tone makes him suddenly halt their dancing as he begins to feel overwhelmed; so overwhelmed by his feelings for her that he can’t suppress them any longer. “Anastasia”, he whispers almost desperately as his gaze falls on her rosebud lips before leaning in to connect them with his own. As he kisses her softly, Jimin’s entangled emotions reduce to a single thought. I don’t want to let go...
It feels like Anastasia’s brain and heart malfunction for a second when Jimin’s plump lips make contact with hers. At first, she remains transfixed with wide eyes by the mere thought that Jimin is actually kissing her right now. When he starts moving his lips delicately against her own, though, her next actions come naturally. Flattering her eyes closed, she reciprocates the affectionate kiss as she presses her body close to his, placing both of her hands now on his shoulders. By the time he draws away, she’s left with a blissful, tingly feeling as she stares up at him in a daze. “Anastasia... The day I first met you, it felt like the world -- my world shifted; like it was suddenly different than yesterday. Maybe it was your gentle-looking appearance when I first saw you running your fingers over the asphodel petals or perhaps your adorable fidgety state when I first spoke to you... But ever since then, I simply can’t ignore the way my heart flutters every time I witness your beautiful smile or look into your mesmerising eyes. Whenever I’m spending time with you, it is so easy and right that it feels almost like our happiness was planned, or dare I say fated. When you see me, when you touch me, all I want is to take you in my arms, to hold you and kiss you like this”, his genuine words of affection leave her speechless. Aww, he really feels all of these things... For me? A content smile forming on her lips, Anastasia looks up at him in awe. “Anastasia Ariana Delaney, let me love you... Starting by letting me be your boyfriend”. Her smile grows wider as she wraps her arms around Jimin’s neck and this time she’s the one connecting her lips with his.
Feeling her kiss on her lips again steals his breath away as he allows himself to get lost in it once more. He sees stars floating and feels as if they’re flying; like he’s in a dream. Wrapping both of his arms around her petite frame, he hugs her close to him as the two of them share their second kiss on the dancefloor. After a while, Jimin pulls back opening his eyes to gaze at her lovingly. No, it’s definitely not a dream. Seeing her smile shyly at him, he finds herself thinking that no charm is needed for flowers to bloom. Her sweet smile is enough. It is that single thought that also reminds him of the gift he was planning on giving her tonight. “Oh, I almost forgot! There’s something I want you to have”, Jimin announces taking out his wand. “Close your eyes please”, he whispers kindly to her and she obliges with a cute giggle. He grins drawing a circle with his wand around the top of her head. A faint pink light emits from his wand conjuring a flower crown as pretty as her to adorn her hair. Jimin mentally congratulates himself for being able to perform successfully the spell he’s been working on over the last couple of weeks. For her sake.
“Can I open my eyes now?”, Anastasia questions slightly concerned over the unfamiliar weight she’s suddenly feeling on her head. I swear if he put a bird nest on my head, I don’t care how perfect he is, I’m going to kill him! “No, not yet”, she hears Jimin’s stern voice before she is startled by the feeling of herself being lifted off of the ground. Being taken by surprise, she lets out a small shriek as she closes her eyes even more tightly. However, she knows the one holding her bridal style right now is none other than Jimin, who seems to start heading off somewhere. “Where are you taking me Jimin?”, she whines as she wraps her arms around his shoulders securely. Not that she’s afraid of dropping her, she’s just taking advantage of the chance to hold onto him closely. “You’ll see”, she shakes her head at the playfulness that’s clearly evident in his tone before she’s met with his next ambush, which this time is a sudden yet sweet peck on her lips. Being content with this, for now, she leans her head on her chest letting him take her to the place she intends to. A few minutes later, Jimin halts, “Here we are! You can open your eyes now”. Having been given permission, Anastasia opens her eyes, her gaze falling on Jimin’s grinning face, at first, before she takes in her surroundings. The Room of Requirement?
“I wanted you to be able to see your gift in a mirror”, Jimin tells her before carefully placing her back on the ground. It felt good to have her in his arms like this. “Take a look! Tell me if you like it”, he urges grabbing a small black-framed mirror and holding it in front of her so she can glimpse at her reflection. The way her eyes light up and her smile brightens, causes his heart to flatter for yet another time. “Oh Jimin, it’s beautiful! Thank you!”, she beams at him admiring her flower crown consisting of tiny pink bubs. Setting the mirror aside, he places a hand on her waist bringing her closer to him as his other hand tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I also wanted us to be together, just the two of us, for a little longer”, he admits caressing her cheek before bringing his lips to her own for another kiss. “We have plenty of time to be together, Jimin, so there’s no need to worry over that”, she murmurs gently against his mount combing her small fingers through his blond hair. “By the way, I didn’t give you an official answer to your previous question”, she draws slightly back from him with a cute, cheeky smile of her own. “I’m listening”, he urges wrapping both of his arms around her. “From the very beginning, I won’t deny that I too wasn’t immune to your dashing good looks like every other girl in the school. However, I realised right from our first interaction that there is so much more to you than your exterior. Jimin, you’re so caring and sensitive... The more time I spend with you, the more I doubted the fact that you’d actually been sorted into Slytherin of all houses! And to tell you the truth, I was hesitant about forming any sort of relationship with you because of that. After all, a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff aren’t exactly thought to be a good match... It was after you opened up to me and revealed your unpleasantness from the past and your vigour for the future that I finally understood what got you into Slytherin; not some darkness buried inside you but your fierce ambition to do good. That’s why I was not scared to get close to you anymore and so... I allowed myself to fall for you. And trust me, it was as easy as breathing from then on”. To say he is taken aback by her honest confession would be an understatement. The only response he can give her though, is yet another kiss; different from the previous ones. For this time, it is a passionate kiss through which he hopes to convey all his thoughts and emotions. He truly believes her words. He genuinely thinks that now that both of them have gotten over their fears and doubts, they will manage to become a couple against all odds. They’ll become an ‘us’. Because to him, she is...
“Naui cheonsa, naui sesang”. “My angel, my world”.
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mwooterssvad-gd · 2 months
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Inquiry 1
During the last two weeks of Process and Systems, I completed my first design sprint. The project began with a trip to the hardware store and a $5 budget. I was unsure about what to get at the hardware store, but I landed on the idea of a springy door stop. As a kid, I loved to play with the door stop and hear the weird sound that they made, so I figured it would be a good basis for a toy. I then used some scrap wire to make arms, paint chips to create a base, and a paint marker to draw on a face. Thus, the Springy Slugger was born. 
I decided to make a series of three posters inspired by vintage toy advertisements. This choice went on to inspire the color palette of this project as well as the typography. I then struggled with what style of illustration the toy should be in, but I landed on a Cuphead/Mickey Mouse look. This prompted me to give my character big shoes, gloved hands, and bold linework. I used a textured background to try to give the poster a vintage feel, and then I layered comic “explosion” shapes with spiraling lines to emphasize the purpose of the Springy Slugger, which is to spring and throw punches. I aimed to make my posters look almost like frames of an animation, with the character’s movement progressing throughout. 
The sections of the design matrix which I was focusing on were toy, posters, and memory. I wanted to give kids and adults alike the nostalgic feeling of playing with the door stop as a young child. I also pushed the feeling of nostalgia by choosing vintage typefaces and a more traditional illustration style. 
I am happy with what I created, as it is quite different from other things I have designed, but I feel that I could definitely have pushed myself further. After seeing my peers’ presentations, I realized what level of work is being created in this class, and it inspired me to want to push myself further for the next project. Also after reading the rubric that we used to provide feedback in class, it became clearer to me what the expectations are. I want my work to come off as professional and portfolio-ready, like many of the presentations that I saw. I especially noted how many people brought in physical mockups of their products, which I think is a really nice touch. For the next presentation, I will be sure to include personas of my target audience as well as where my inquiry falls on the design matrix. 
Media 1
I thought the podcast episode of 99 Percent Invisible was really interesting. I have a love for all kinds of music, but I am relatively uneducated about the history of the music industry. I think this podcast emphasized the importance of packaging and design in all industries, even in the realm of politics. I was completely unfamiliar with the concept of CD longboxes before listening to this podcast and subsequently looking up images. While longboxes did solve the temporary problem of shelving CDs in record stores, I do agree with the members of R.E.M. about the wastefulness of the packaging. 
I was vaguely familiar with the phrase “Rock the Vote”, though I did not entirely know the message and group behind it. I also had no idea about the Motor Voter Bill, and I’m somewhat surprised that people were even against it! I suppose if your voter base is primarily older generations, you may not want to make voting more accessible to everyone, especially younger people. I think that the idea to put petitions for the Motor Voter Bill on the back of the longboxes was a really smart solution. It kept record stores happy, but also pushed forward a good cause that R.E.M. could get behind. It was especially smart since people would normally just get rid of the longboxes anyways, so it really cost the audience nothing to just sign and submit the petition! I also think wheeling in so many longboxes was a great way to tangibly show how many people supported the cause, rather than simply reporting the numbers. This was a great example of how smart design choices can really have an impact in the world. Great episode!
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ledenews · 9 months
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EdChoice Expansion a Boost for Schools like St. John Central Academy
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The telephones at 3625 Guernsey Street in Bellaire just got a lot busier. With a recent stroke of the pen by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a private school education just got a lot more affordable to a lot more families all across the Buckeye State. And that means a lot more students can and will be considering a private education at St. John Central Academy. DeWine signed the state’s biennium $86M budget two weeks ago. Signed into law as part of that budget was an increase in the state’s EdChoice Expansion scholarship program. The program provides scholarship money for students in K-12 to attend private schools. There are two options: the traditional, which targets students living in failing public school districts. The other, the expansion program, is entirely income based. Previously, students living in families whose income level reached 250 percent or less of the Federal Poverty Level were eligible. For a family of four that was right around $70,000. Now? That amount has increased to $135,000, meaning many more students are eligible. In addition, families falling above the 450 percent income limit will still be eligible, but on a sliding scale that provides less scholarship money as income increases. But for those who meet the 450 percent or less requirements? They will be eligible for the full scholarship amount of $6,165 for grades K-8 and $8,407 for 9-12. “There’s been a lot of talk on the board about this,” admitted Johnetta Yaegal, Board Chairman with SJCA. “We’re probably going to have a lot of people who were turned down for an expansion scholarship in the past that are now eligible. “They can now come here for free. Kids can go to a public school or a private school, and now, it gives everybody that opportunity.” SJCA is carrying on its tradition of a solid educational experience aimed at preparing its students for a successful career, and life, beyond their teenage years. Yaegal pointed to the amount of scholarship money made available and earned by the graduating class just two years ago which totaled $2M. Now consider that graduating class consisted of just eight students. “That means we are pushing academics over everything else,” Yaegal said. “The (graduating) class was only eight kids and they have that many scholarship offers among them.” St. John Central Academy is located on Guernsey Street in Bellaire. Big Things Happening Onward and upward is the goal down at SJCA as big plans are in the works, even prior to the expansion of the EdChoice Program. The Academy hired a new principal in 1991 St. John Central graduate, Dr. John Rose. He’s served as a professor at West Liberty, West Virginia University, and even Yale. He’s lived and taught abroad. He’s putting his spin on the schools’ goal of providing “excellence in education”. “We just signed him to a five-year contract,” Yaegal said. “He brings a lot of culture and things that he wants to implement long term.” One of those evolutions is soon, SJCA will be taking on boarding students from both out of the area and overseas. St. John is in the process of receiving its I-17 form approval. It’s a “petition for approval of school for attendance by a nonimmigrant student” from the Department of Homeland Security. While that’s in process, academy leaders are beginning the hunt to find appropriate housing for those students. “We’ve looked at several properties and had several opportunities to purchase,” Yaegal admitted. “And we need to get our I-17 solidified before we can sponsor (boarding students).” Yaegal noted the eventual boarding house for those students will be overseen by what she classified as dorm parents, adults who will live in-house and provide assistance and guidance and ensure the students' out-of-class needs are met. She also assured boarding students will not affect St. John Central Academy’s OVAC, nor its OHSAA status. With all that in play, coupled with the expansion, Yaegal also sought to dispel any rumors of the impending downfall of SJCA. The Fighting Irish are not going anywhere. “We’ve heard from two (local) bus garage superintendents who asked one of our employees when we were closing,” Yaegal said. “They heard we were closing. But we’re signing contracts with people for five years. We just finished installing a $127,000 chemistry lab. We’re putting in a $92,000 boiler. “I think it’s important for parents to know because we’re moving forward on so many different aspects of school and growth.” St. John offers a quality education and experience, one unique and evolving here in the Ohio Valley. It’s also one now that’s a LOT more affordable to families, both there, and beyond. Read the full article
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englanddamm09 · 2 years
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Nearly Liberal Online telecasting Get And The 6 Capabilities Of A Effective Wholly liberal Online television Polish burden Internet site.
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queerquintessence · 3 years
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the tAGS IQHKAUQKQYAAKA. yeahh the theme is pretty chad. hajqtatajgqw.
listen umm, lets say, someone i like, their bday is soon.. what should i do?? asking for a friend.
it’s very ~aesthetic~ ahabshendvekrhje
hMmm
*hey there delilah starts playing*
i d k i’m not good at crushes uMM idk ahdjehkrhe
get them v good present ✨ ✨ maybe like something they enjoy? or an inside joke between you two if you have any ahskdhsksj
idunno if they’re having a birthday party then show up looking ✨ snazzy ✨ and steal their heart with your charming good looks and charisma 😌💅✨
and chad energy. bring the chad energy. always
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v-hope · 3 years
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omg so maybe the way y/n would react when someone else flirts with jk and how he’d handle the situation? 🌺
pairing: jeon jeongguk x reader
genre: fluff, slice of life, established relationship, college au
word count: 1.9k
a/n: i don’t think i had ever written y/n being jealous before, it was always the boys somehow so this was fun! thank you so much for requesting! btw, this takes place on their last year of college.
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Jeongguk had eyes for you only.
That was no surprise. You knew that. His friends knew that. Your friends new that. And pretty much everyone with eyes could see that was the case in a heartbeat. It had been that way ever since high school, and now that you had been together for a year and he had you all to himself, it was far from ever changing.
There were certain people, however, who did not know that was the case — strangers mostly, or classmates of his who did just not give a fuck about him having a girlfriend he was madly in love with.
The latter being the case that day.
The two of you had agreed on meeting at the library to get started on a project you had signed up as partners for, as it was pretty much a given by now. And although the library was not your favourite place to go to when it came to get done with college stuff, it was the only place the two of you would truly focus in, which would be much needed this time since you had to turn it in later the next day, yet were just now getting started on, as you had both been too busy with other exams and assignments to even think about this one.
So, he had headed over there as soon as his last class ended, going up to an empty table and taking a seat, wasting no time on leaving his backpack on the chair next to his for no one else to take it as he waited for you. Not like said act of his had been of any help, though, for a girl he recognized from one of his classes —one of the few you were not in with him— had reached his side in a matter of seconds, asking if he could help her out with something from that day’s lecture she had not quite understood, and removing his backpack from the seat he was saving for you; hanging it on the back of the chair as she took a seat next to him before he could even protest.
Biting his tongue as he did not want to sound rude, he decided to just help her out in the meantime you got there. It wouldn’t take that long anyway, would it?
Only it did, for you were taking longer than you should have, and she showed no signs of planning on leaving anytime soon as she didn’t even try to hide her ulterior motives with him — from time to time trying to turn the conversation into a non-academic one, yet having to stick to it as Jeongguk made it clear he was only carrying on with the conversation as long as it was about the class.
“You’re really good at explaining” she smiled brightly, looking up from her textbook and moving her seat closer to him, which only caused him to move his slightly back as he nodded — his awkwardness making an appearance as he did not know what to answer to that. “You think maybe we could go grab some coffee later so we can talk some more about the class?”
“I have a girlfriend” he was quick to go straight to the point, informing her what he knew for a fact she was well aware of, for it was not unusual for you to go wait outside that particular class for him to come out of, since it was right next to yours and you always seemed to be done before him — meeting him with a sweet peck on the lips every single time as everyone else came out of the classroom, her included. “And she’ll be here anytime now, so…”
His classmate had seemed to take a hint as he eyed the chair she was sitting down on, silently asking her to leave. Nevertheless, she did not stand up. “I could really use the help in this class, though…” she pushed it. “Maybe you could give me your number then?”
“Oh, I’m sure you won’t be needing my boyfriend’s number” your voice had both of their heads snapping up in your direction, right as you set two coffee cups on the other side of the table and eyed both the girl next to him and the taken seat you knew was supposed to be yours. “Especially when it comes to something you can so easily ask your teacher about”.
Your cynical smile as you said those words and sat down in front of them, was all it took for the girl to send a glare your way before standing up, sweetly saying goodbye to a quite stunned Jeongguk and then taking off without even looking your way again.
Scoffing at her audacity, you shook your head, not even bothering to look at your boyfriend before you started taking your laptop out of your bag and placed it on the table.
“What took you so long?” he quietly wondered, feeling like he was tiptoeing when it came to finding the right words to say, given your displeased expression.
“Coffee run” you replied simply, staring at your laptop’s screen like your life depended on it as you turned it on.
He bit down on his bottom lip, not being able to ignore the tension in the air, yet having no idea what to do about it either.
It was funny, how before dating you he never had other people approaching him like this, yet now that he was in an established relationship, girls had apparently started to notice him out of a sudden. He was not used to it. He was not used to you being jealous. And although he knew it was not entirely his fault —since he had kept his distance from said girl— and a part of him couldn’t help but feel good about the fact that you were being jealous over him, another part of him did not feel quite as good, for he knew what you were feeling. He had been in your place multiple times when other guys flirted with you, after all, and although you turned down every single one of them, it was still upsetting all the same.
So, not knowing whether he should bring the topic up or not, he had his eyes going to the cups from your go-to coffee shop placed by your side. It was your guys’ usual, he could tell — an iced americano for you and hot chocolate for him.
“Is that one for me?” he pointed at the carton cup that was used for hot beverages.
That had seemed to catch your attention, eyes fixing on the cup he was pointing at and staring at it as you thought about it for a second. And although both of you knew the answer was positive, you shook your head no.
“Couldn’t decide, so I got both for me”.
Jeongguk couldn’t help but let an amused smile curve up the corners of his lips, knowing well enough that was your way of punishing him for letting another girl hit on him. “Oh, so you simultaneously went for a hot and an ice cold drink?”
“Mhm…” you nodded.
“Yah,” he called you out when you still wouldn’t look at him, reaching for your hands and holding them over the table. “Come sit next to me”.
“I’m good”.
“Come onnnn,” he whined with a small pout, pulling on your hands and leaving you no choice but to stand up and go over to him. “I was saving this seat for my favourite girl”.
You couldn’t help but smile at the way he had cooed those words as you sat down next to him, biting on your bottom lip not to let him see, yet being too late as a smile of his own was already taking over his mouth at the sight of yours. Loosely wrapping one of his arms over your shoulders, he pulled you closer to him, laughing under his breath when you could no longer hide your smile after his lips had pressed a lingering kiss to your cheek.
“I thought I was your only girl” you pushed it nevertheless, earning another chuckle from him.
“You are my only girl” he said the obvious. “Plus, my favourite person in the world. There’s nothing to be jealous about”.
You rolled your eyes, focusing them somewhere else as you snorted. “Wasn’t jealous” your bitter words told him otherwise. “She’s pretty, though…”
Jeongguk sighed, cupping your face in his hands and resting his forehead on yours. “I’ve had eyes for no one else but you ever since I first saw you in high school, petal. You know that” his thumbs drew tender circles on your cheeks. “I didn’t even look at her”.
“You didn’t turn her down when she asked for your number, though”.
“Did I even get the chance to?” he pointed out softly with a breathy laugh, bringing heat to your face as you were reminded of the fact you had answered for him the second the question had left that girl’s mouth. “I told her I got a girlfriend before you arrived, okay?” his mouth pressed a brief kiss to your nose. “Don’t be silly now, you know I love you”.
You smiled softly, nodding your head to let him know it was alright, and then giggling when the loving peck he had just pressed to your mouth was followed by another kiss — a much longer, slower one, as he tilted your head slightly back and sucked on your bottom lip.
“We’re in the library” you reminded him in a whisper, voice coming out muffled as you spoke against his lips.
“And you’re the only one I want” he cheesily answered, smiling at your amused reaction and pressing another kiss to your mouth before pulling away. “Now that we’ve established the facts, shall we get started on the project?”
Shaking your head in amusement, you reached for your laptop on the other side of the table and brought it up to you — then reaching for the carton cup as well and sliding it in front of him. “You’ve earned your lame hot chocolate, you sweet bastard”.
A light laugh escaped his mouth at what you had just called him, leaning in closer to you once again. “And a little smooch?” he puckered up his lips.
Getting a laugh out of you at the way he was picking up on the things you usually said, you couldn’t deny him of his petition, placing your hand behind his neck and pulling him towards you so you could press two chaste kisses to his smiling mouth.
“And an ‘I love you, bun’?” he pushed it.
“Yah,” you were the one to call him out this time with a small laugh. “All the attention has really boosted your confidence, hasn’t it?”
He giggled, saying nothing as he instead grabbed his cup and took a sip of the drink you had gotten him. You were right though, for the attention, love and praise you had given him for the past year had indeed helped one hell of a lot when it came to boosting his previous nonexistent confidence.
“Will you say it, though?”
Shaking your head no, you laughed under your breath and leaned closer to the table as you started typing down on your laptop instead. “I love you, bun”.
Although you had not even looked at him as you gave in —embarrasingly fast— and mumbled the words he had been waiting for, he smiled the brightest, knowing he had managed to lift your mood and gotten some love from you altogether.
Funny how you had came to the library so you could focus on the project, yet all he wanted and could think about right then was kissing you over and over — until the last bit of jealousy you had felt that day abandoned your body.
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deleteddewewted · 3 years
Note
Hey comadre! I saw you asked for a fluff request, and I came to deliver 💜 I think you might be intrigued by the idea!
Shinsou who has been bullied his whole life, with the bullying growing harsher his middle school years. When he begins his high school life in UA, he remains distant, not allowing himself for others to get close to him, and for them to hurt him, because he has developed that trauma. He then successfully transfers over to the Hero Course, and his seat partner is the chubby/curvy girl of the class. She is friendly and welcoming towards him, but he remains to give her the cold shoulder, although he saw her intentions genuine, but he still keeps his guard up. She then goes and sits with him during lunch, her explaining that she understands why he gives off the cold shoulder to his peers. She explains she has underwent being bullied herself, by her weight and such. She tells him that as time passed, she learned to love and accept herself for who she is, and offers to help Shinsou in a similar manner. To help him learn to trust people and she asks if he puked accept her as a friend. He accepts and their friendship grows, with him starting to develop feelings for her, and wants to spend more time with the person who saved him from his own troubles 💗
My heart and soul needed this, thank you comadre!💜
(I may or may not have used some of my personal experience being body shamed in here so....yeah, thats your heads up.)
Misery and Company
Emo/Himbo Shinsou x F! Reader (Reverse Comfort)
TW: Mentions of bullying, Mentions of Body Shaming, Leading on
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He remembered the constant laughter that was present in his life. Everyone would assumed it was a great childhood but to him, to someone like him, it was never the paradise that it was thought to be. The laughter was at him not with him. Kids pointed their fingers towards him and blamed him for all of the problems that would happen throughout the school day.
“I didn’t do it!” As a child, he didn’t know any better. He assumed that he could scream and yell like every other kid and be listened to. He found out quickly that he didn’t get that right. The teacher quickly told him off and called his parents. They came to pick him up from school and started to ask all kinds of questions. Did your quirk go off? Why did you do it? Is it that hard to listen? He didn’t bother to try to make connections after that. Friends were a waste of time. A liability. An opportunity to suffer unnecessarily.
When Shinsou reached middle school he suffered from the increase of villain comments. His quirk became the center of attention, it didn’t matter if he had good grades or was nice to people. His quirk was the focus, always was.
“You can get away with everything you want!” He’s heard that one about a million times already. It always managed to irritate him how much people cared about what he did with it. He hated the eyes. The voices. It only made his internal monologue become aggressive with himself. The constant reminder that he was less than the others for being born with a quirk that used people. It made him want to scream his head off.
“Yeah, I’m aware. Um, can we stop talking about it now?” He wasn’t a pushover but he knew that he could just say what he wanted. He purposefully asked a question to get the other student to stop talking without using his quirk. The last tithing he wanted was for someone to accuse him of using his quirk on them.
That night, Shinsou worked on his homework at his desk. His parents were away on a work trip so he had the entire house to himself. He looked at the time and groaned when he realized it was already one in the morning. He walked into his bathrooms and looked for his toothbrush. When he looked up at the mirror, ready to brush his teeth, he couldn’t help and stare at himself. His eyes held bags under them, dark and heavy as if he hadn’t slept in days. The faint smudging of the eyeliner he put on only making his eyes look even worse. He was tired and alone. His parents weren’t there to comfort him and with his quirk making it difficult to connect with others, he had no one to speak with other than himself. He dropped his hand down and just stared at his reflection. The image became hazy as he continued to stare back at it.
His face felt warm. He couldn’t stop the river that flowed down his face. He didn’t ask for his quirk, he also didn’t ask to be born. Shinsou couldn’t stop the rattling within his chest nor the stuttered gasps as he tried to breathe. He looked up at his reflection again, this time noticing the red and swollen eyes that belong to him. That night, Shinsou laid down to sleep on top of the covers and stared blindly at the uncovered window. He vowed to never become attached again. Not to classmates, not to family, and definitely not any possible friends.
Going to UA was a dream come true for him, the ability to be closer to your heroic dreams was closer than ever, but not for him. Shinsou had to watch as the heor course students acted like entitled brats, everyone in the school bowing to them like they were some great thing. He hated watching them boast, hated everything about them, to be honest. He wanted nothing to do with them, so why did they want something to do with him?
“Uh, sorry but I was wondering if you’d like to sign this petition?” Shinsou looked up from the book he was reading and stared straight towards the holder of the voice. It was a short chubby girl with a clipboard in her hands. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer to her question.
“No thanks.”
“It’s for a local shelter, it’ll help abused and abandoned pets find a good home-” Shinsou wanted to be left alone. He sighed out loud and closed his book while rubbing his eyes, the eyeliner smudging.
“I said no. Now leave me alone.” Shinsou watched as the girl flinched at his annoyed voice.
“S-sorry, I’ll just leave you alone.” She quickly walked away from him, nearly entering a jog as she left him behind. Shinsou couldn’t help but become disappointed with himself. The girl was being nice to him and he snapped at her. She wasn’t even benign annoying, he just felt tired. He could hear how some people around him mumbled about the exchange he packed his things up and left towards his class.
He did see the girl again from time to time. He found out she was in the hero course and that she was in the A class as well. He would spot her on occasion but he did interact with her during his hero course admissions test. She wore her hero costume with pride and honestly, he had to look away for a moment, she looked like power itself. He couldn’t help feel intimidated in her presence. She didn’t come up to him yet so he had to come up to her. He intended on apologizing for his behavior a few months back, he didn’t mean to snap at her and he never found the opportunity to do so.
You watched as the indigo-haired boy awkwardly made his way towards your group. He wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes but instead focused on the floor below him.
“Hi, I’m Shinsou Hitoshi.” He extended his hand out to you but you just stared at him like he grew a second head. He felt awkward again, he was expecting you to at least call him a dick but the silence made his stomach become tight.
“Nice to meet you Shinsou, I’m L/n Y/n.” You felt bad for being quiet for too long, you couldn’t help it. He was really pretty to look at especially since he wore eyeliner that sharpened the appearance of his eyes.
“Oh, uh yeah. I um, wanted to apologize for my attitude a while back. It was rude of me and uhh, I know that saying I was in a mood isn’t a good excuse but-”
“It’s fine, I get it. I can be annoying so it’s ok.” You gave him a bright smile and a clap on the back of his shoulder.
He tensed when he felt the heat of your hand on him, he couldn’t help but lean slightly into it. His ears reddened and not wanting to embarrass himself more than he did already, he quickly pulled his mask up to cover his ears and face.
“No- yeah- I mean no, you- you weren’t annoying, I was just in a mood and it accidentally let it out on you. Sorry about that.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at you briefly. You just smiled at him again and got closer to his person.
“Hey, do you mind if i-” You grabbed the bottom part of his mask and pulled it down slightly, your face closer than ever before to his own. He stopped breathing as you got closer, he couldn’t help but feel self-conscious about his breath. He smelled like coffee and for some reason, it made him feel embarrassed if you were to found out about his dependency of it.
You reached out with your pinky and brushed some of the black flakes of his eyeliner away from his upper cheek. You blended the smudged eyeliner on the bottom of his eye out and pulled his mask up again to cover his face.
“There! Just wanted to clean up your makeup. It’s really well done, by the way, wish I could do my own eyeliner as clean as your own. Do you wear eyeshadow on the bottom lid or is it just eyeliner with you?” You weren’t mocking him for his dressing and styling choices, many of his old classmates did.
He told you about what products he uses and yes, he did use eyeshadow for his bottom lid. You just smiled at him and occasionally added what you used. He enjoyed talking to you, you were nice to him and allowed him to speak his mind. He couldn’t help but want to know more about you. Unfortunately, your conversation had to come to an end since his group was the first one up, but you both agreed to talk after all matches were over.
His second year at UA was better but he still felt awkward around everyone. Everyone, discluding Bakugou, was nice to him. You especially made it your duty to be around him all the time. He enjoyed your company but he found himself still pushing away from him at times. The constant lingering feeling of possible betrayal being prominent in all of your interactions. It didn’t matter how many times you helped him do his makeup or how many times he did your own, didn’t matter if he showed you his favorite video games to play, nor if he introduced you to his parents and had you in his room playing those same games with him for hours. He was still nervous, paranoid that you’ll stab him in the back. Scared that you’ll turn around and show your true colors. That you’ll take everything you know about him and tell everyone so you could all mock him again.
Shinsou, due to his fears, started to pull away from you. No more hanging out with him, no more doing each other’s makeup, no more eating lunch together. Shinsou ignored you every time you tried to speak with him, always turning himself away from you or being rude in some manner. It did discourage you at times, made you feel like you were back in middle school with the cute guys in your grade only speaking with you to make fun of your interests afterward. You thought that maybe he was going to be different but you guessed not. You kept away from him as you processed the situation but that also gave you the chance to watch him. You noticed that instead of sitting with your guy’s other classmates he would op to sit on his own within the cafeteria at a faraway table or somewhere else. You noticed that he not only avoided you but the rest of your classmates. He was back to how he was in his first year.
You couldn’t keep watching him be alone again, you didn’t want to leave him alone. You made up your mind and made your way towards Shinsou. He was sitting outside of the cafeteria eating his lunch while reading a book that was placed on his lap. He looked tense as he continued to read and nervous at any sound that made itself known. You felt bad for him, from what he told you about his own school experience, more of the lack of, you assumed that he was bullied for his quirk. He never used it on you and he never spoke much about it. He never gave you any details and never told you how his quirk activities, he just avoided the conversation entirely but he was always excited to listen to your own though.
“Shinsou.” You watched as the male jumped in his spot on the floor and direct himself towards you.
“Shinsou, can we talk for a bit?” He averted his eyes and began to pick his things from the floor, shaking his head as he did.
“N-no, sorry. I have to go-” You got in his way and crouched down to meet him at eye level.
“I know you have nowhere to be at. Please, talk to me for a bit.” You placed your hand on his own and stared at him. Shinsou didn’t want to meet your eyes. He didn’t want to see the disgust in them or the hatred you felt for him.
What he didn’t expect was for you to place your hand on his cheek and gently guide his gaze to your own. His eyes were wide and watery, he didn’t understand why you were being so gentle, so kind with him. Didn’t you want to be angry with him? Your own eyes were soft, a small smile present on your face.
“Shinsou, what’s wrong?” Your voice was gentle and your touch never leaving him. He took in a breath and spilled everything and all of his troubles to you. Once he finished, he was welcomed by a hug.
You pulled him into your own body and shared your warmth with him. You gently brushed his wild hair as you allowed him to cry to his heart’s content. He needed someone to listen to him, someone who would just let him talk. You were that person for him. Once he felt better, he pulled away from your person and rubbed his eyes. His eyeliner was running and smudging severely on his face. He pouted slightly at his destroyed makeup but then looked at your uniform. You had black smears all over your jacket and shirt.
“I-i’m sorry L/n. I didn’t mean to ruin your uniform.” You just chuckled and shook your head at him.
“It’s fine Shinsou, you needed to let it all out.” He began to take deeper breaths and eventually sat next to you. His head gently laying on top of your own.
“It… it was frustrating you know? I thought that I was the problem and I still feel like I am at times.”
“I get what you mean, I also had to deal with bullies.” Shinsou lifted his head and looked at you confused. You had to deal with bullies? Why? You were nice to everyone, why would anyone want to hurt you?
“I think it’s obvious as to why Shinsou.” Shit, did he say that out loud?
“Yes, you did.” You gave him another smile and took his hand. You compared him to your own. Your hand was smaller than his own but it was rounder, chubbier, just like the rest of you. You found it adorable how different the both of you were.
“I’m overweight, man. People tend to hold a preconceived idea of what overweight people are like.” Shinsou still couldn’t understand.
“So?  Why would anyone bully you for something you don’t have all that much control over?”
“Because they’re mean. It’s a power trip for them.” You began to play with his fingers, taking note of the muscles that you weren’t aware existed within them.
“I used to have a crush on this guy and for the longest time, my classmates made fun of me because of it. They always said that I was too fat for him or that id hurt him if I leaned onto him. Typical mean comments about my appearance and how I was unloved.” Shinsou began to frown and got closer to you. His body heat becoming a welcoming presence to you as you recounted your own struggles.
“Then one day he asked me to hang out with him. We ate lunch together and we spent time together. I thought he was interested in me just like I was interested in him. He once got close to my face and made it look like he was about to kiss me before reaching for something behind me. We laughed it off as an accident but I noticed the small blush on his face. I was excited.” You pressed on each of his fingernails and wiggled his fingers in between your pointer and thumb.
“I thought that this was it, he liked me back. Our school dance came and everyone was asking out their dates for it. I thought he was going to ask me to go with him but that didn’t happen. He pulled me towards him in the middle of class with everyone watching us, a lot of the other girls were jealous of me because of it.” You noticed the chipped nails polished on his nails and began to scratch it off.
“He cupped my face and pulled me closer to him. We were going to kiss.” You stopped playing with Shinsous hand. Your hand falling onto the ground limply.
“He gripped my face and pushed me away saying “Did you really think id like you? You’re such a joke L/n.” ” You pulled away from Shinsou, your hand rested on your lap instead of anywhere near his.
“I felt so alone, so gross, so….fat. It hurt but it was made worse because it was in front of everyone. Everyone saw how he treated me and made fun of me. No one did anything, not even as I ran away crying. Instead, I got comments about my weight. I got called some really mean names that day and the following. I didn’t go to my school’s dance, I didn’t want to be made fun of again.” You didn’t hear a thing from Shinsou. He just sat there looking at you like you were crazy.
“Their assholes.”
“I know.” You looked at him and smiled. He came closer to you, grabbing your hand from your lap and interlacing them in one another.
“But I don’t feel like that anymore. I don’t care is a better way to phrase it. People can have their opinions, either nice or mean. I can’t dictate that.” Shinsou scooted closer to you as you continued talking.
“But I can dictate the way I think about myself and the people I want to be around me.” Shinsou couldn’t help himself anymore.
He leaned in towards you and placed his hand on your cheek. His lips gently pressing onto your own and unmoving. You felt your heart fluttered but it quickly turned to amusement. He just pressed his lips to yours and wasn’t moving, He wasn’t moving. He had his eyes closed and pressed into you, it was beginning to bruise your lips. You pulled back slightly and looked at his face. He had his lips still puckered and his eyes closed. You giggled and quickly kissed him again before he pulled away. You on the other hand did move and deepened the kiss.
Shinsous heart soured as you kissed him back, his lips no longer hurting but feeling gently caressed by your own. He couldn’t help the small gasps that escape him nor the way he pulled you closer to him. When the two of you parted, Shinsou looked at you with sleepy eyes. He wanted this and he wanted more.
“I like you L/n.”
“I like you too Shinsou.”
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alluringjae · 3 years
Text
until dawn - ljn
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part I | part II
⤑ summary: basic number one rule of the museum is not to touch the art. but no one told jeno that falling for one of them isn’t allowed either.
⤑ pairing: jeno x female reader
⤑ word count: 14k
⤑ genre: fluff, humor, angst | broke architecture major!jeno, historical figure!reader, college!au
⤑ warnings: jaemin mentions onlyfans as a joke, references to actual historical figures (some try to flirt with jeno lol) and literature, explicit language
⤑ author’s note: wow, i’ve had this idea for almost two years! this one was inspired by one of my favorite childhood movies, night at the museum. it definitely required a lot of research and brainstorming, and finally i brought it to life! it was so fun to play around with the characters, and even if majority of them are real people, this is all still fiction.
i also wanna mention one of my moots, marge for enlightening me about her life as an architecture major.
⤑ taglist: @renjunniehome​ (dm me if you want to be added) 
⤑ leave me some feedback, constructive criticism or hellos!
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Dormitory rent was another thing to worry about aside from the inflated university tuition per semester. Although he’s lucky to have his parents backing him up already on it, paying the monthly rent for his dorm was the remaining objective on Jeno’s list.
Plus, money for food. The man was a heavy eater, following the whole “gym is life” mantra.
Splitting it already with two of his dorm mates turned best friends, Renjun and Jaemin, his plate felt lighter. But the question still lies: where on earth was he going to get the money?
He’s practically checked out every available part-timing job in university and anywhere near campus. Barista at the same café Jaemin works at, teaching assistant for an art school for kids, convenience store cashier, library assistant, all taken in a heartbeat. The burden of his friends paying his debt these past months took a toll on him, almost to the point he almost considered making an Onlyfans.
“Yah, just find something else! Part-timers are in demand right now!” Renjun intensely closed his laptop before his older friend gets any suggestive thoughts.
“I mean, you didn’t work out your body to look the way it is for nothing.” Jaemin pitched otherwise, lifting the front back up. “When do you want to start filming? Loads of chicks would dig a piece of you!”
The contradicting opinions of his friends were like the devil and angel debating on his shoulders. Useless, he gave this worry a rest and returned to drawing new plates. A common thing when you’re an architecture major. Those deadlines were nearing. Looks like he’ll pull another all-nighter again.
Good thing most of his classes were late in the morning until 6 pm.
As if someone from above heard his petition, Jeno saw a help wanted sign posted on the bulletin board outside of the university museum. He initially went there to document some artwork and architecture models from Greek and Roman times, further analyzing how they’re still apparent in modern buildings.
The sign explained the need for one part-timer from any college to cover the night shift of the museum due to the current night guard’s full semester absence. He only had to come in 3x a week, choosing his days since he was still a student. Even the pay was above average, considering that most part-timers never go beyond midnight. Jeno would, on the other hand, always staying for his projects or gaming with the boys. Drinking sometimes during late-night Fridays with his entire college crew.
The pay would leave him a load of extra cash for himself, thus he sent an application to the museum office right before he left. A week later, while he was out with the boys, he got a text from the office that they wanted to meet him again for a final interview first thing on Monday.
Perhaps it was having architecture as his course and a healthy physique that landed him the part-timer position. Mainly, the latter because guards required strong endurance and fighting skills when worse comes to worst. It would start at 9 pm until 6 am the following day, and there was a designated uniform of it too. Blue blazer with matching trousers, white dress top, and loafers.
Aside from the typical museum etiquette the head director instructed him about, there was an unofficial list of tips written on paper given from the night guard on leave when the director handed you over his box of office-related things.
Only read at the night guard office once you’re the remaining staff left.
He did as he was told like an obedient son, flipping the succeeding page.
 To my temporary replacement,
This part-timing job is nothing regular than the other jobs. You’ll witness things as you’ve never imagined them to be, almost like witchcraft. You’ll be lost and maybe frightened, or that’s how I felt the first time because no one led me through it all those years ago. Lucky for you, I made this small guide on how to properly take care of the place that the other staff doesn’t know about.
Before you proceed, I request you take a 5-minute stroll around the lobby first to understand what I’m talking about. After such, go back to the office or somewhere quiet then browse through the guide as quickly as you could.
Art is timeless here, so they need to be taken care of.
Good luck!
 Park Sanghoon
Night Guard on Leave
 Nothing could’ve prepared Jeno for what’s to come once he unlocked the office door. They say that art brings so much color to our life, allowing us to feel all sorts of emotions in a glimpse. But no one ever interpreted art to be literally alive and walking in the halls.
Behold, random wax figures and marble sculptures that he’s seen in the past roamed the hallways, as well as the paintings were interacting with each other side by side. Even the standee of a puppy from the entrance played fetch with one of those sculptures. He swore he looked like Hermes the messenger god from his arrow headpiece and sandals.
It made more sense why the guard on leave explained his feelings during the first day because it resembled Jeno’s. But unlike that guard, Jeno sucked it up. No one ever does well on the first day, even if others say otherwise. The first day was a learning experience, so he collected his thoughts even though the goosebumps triggered his body during that one rotation.
There was an indoor garden, already locked by the day guard earlier. The only room without any art piece, where students lounge to study the plants or relax in nature.
The sculptures section ahead, showcasing various fictional figures specifically from Greek mythology, chattered away about family drama and beliefs. The sculptures of Hades and Zeus, according to their title plate, argued relentlessly about power while Athena always intervened by shouting or even throwing arrows or daggers to any of the lightbulbs there.
That was one rule in the guide, but Jeno didn’t know yet until he came inside the room and swerved the attention of the arguing duo.
“Well, what do we have here?” Zeus, in the center, straightened his posture on his throne to present himself in a more regal way. “Are you perhaps the temporary replacement of Sir Sanghoon?”
“Sir Sanghoon’s stand-in is rather good looking, don’t you think?” Hera mused, stepping down from her throne beside Zeus to take a closer look at the taller male. Her cold fingers trailed his jaw until his chest, where his heart was beating intensely. She even pinched his toned bicep, mouthing wow.
“Truly handsome you are, my dear. So full of life, please introduce yourself to us.”
While Jeno introduced himself to everyone in that room, he answered any sorts of questions they had for him too. From his age, educational background, hobbies, Aphrodite just had to ask him if he had a girlfriend because he was that handsome.
“Nope, I’m single. With my degree in architecture, the requirements are so heavy I can’t even try dating.”
Mentioning his degree excited the gods, telling him how their people created and designed all these temples to house them and perform rituals. They loved it so much. This was a copy-paste of what Jeno learned from his history classes, and for a first, he’s hearing the perspective of the Greek gods.
Mind-boggling that he hasn’t fully freaked out yet. That’s what Athena anticipated when Sanghoon told her about his short leave, putting her in charge of everyone for the meantime while the replacement settled down.
The college museum was built during the late 70s as a gift from one of the alumni. It was for the purpose to preserve history and educate college students outside the classroom. The Greek mythology exhibit was the oldest one, making Athena have more seniority. Over her stay, she’s seen every new guard lose their senses during the first night. Some not even returning for a second night. She got used to every outcome, and so far, only 8 people lasted after the first night. A couple of students in the 70s and 80s, Sanghoon in the 90s, and now Jeno was one of them.
“Jeno, aren’t you terrified by us? You just got a job in a museum that comes to life every night, and it’s not a normal thing.”
“Well, I’m still shaken up about it. But it’s my first night, and it’s when I learn everything about the place from head to toe. Plus, I really need the money.”
“Money for what? But you’re young, a student even!”
“Yes, I am. However, I do pay for the rent in my dorm. So, this job is like my first big responsibility, and I want to perform well.”
Athena commended his sense of authority, capable of leading himself. She noticed how well-spoken and poised he is, respecting and listening to everything the gods and goddesses said even if they were nonsense. She never liked to compromise with her power, taking a while to like Sanghoon back in the day. Though Jeno looked like a natural leader on his first night. If he could take care of himself well, he’s skilled to take care of the rest in the museum as well.
Plus she had full control on the nights he won’t be there, especially the weekend.
With his potential, Athena mentored him the entire night about the gist of the entire museum. Every upcoming leader needs an intelligent mentor, right? She was naturally gifted with worthy leadership skills, managing Jeno like her own child.
Athena explained how the museum came to life, which was through a royal golden plate from the Oriental room. It was a gift from a popular sorceress in China to an affluent family from the Han dynasty, who wished them a long life after she was saved from invaders due to them. The plate preserved over time, becoming an artifact. Its power remained immortal, mutating to bring life wherever it goes. In this case, the museum since its arrival in the late 70s as well.
“That’s why the Oriental room must be locked always so no one could touch or break the plate.”
After she ordered Jeno to lock the mentioned room, alongside the Foreign Art Exhibit Room which he checked out for his class, she led him to the best view of the entire museum. Center of the second floor, where stairs were on both sides. Jeno marveled at the vivacious atmosphere, witnessing actual art living, breathing, and enjoying themselves.
“Unreal, right?” She leaned in the railing, scanning through the chatty paintings.
Jeno also leaned down, deep in thought and wonder. “Absolutely, Athena. How come no one knows about this? Art coming to life? It’ll invite more students to the museum.”
“That goes against a golden rule as a night guard in this museum.” She replied bluntly. “The life that goes on inside this museum at night must remain a secret to the public.”
Jeno predicted this kind of response, having watched too many films where anything supernatural mustn’t be revealed. Although he liked the advantage of knowing something this powerful, he’d never abuse it.
Athena’s intellect was beyond the world, seamlessly reading Jeno’s expression and what he was thinking. He had good intentions even if he’s a bit mischievous. She needed to keep a keen eye on him, but for now, he needed to explore on his own.
“Anyways, Sanghoon still left out some other details. So if you have any questions, I’ll be at my exhibit trying to shut my father and my uncle up again.”
“Can you not use any weapons to do so?”
“Can’t make any promises, Jeno.” She slyly cracked her knuckles and neck as if she was fighting another battle.
Jeno was silently left with himself, finally browsing through Sanghoon’s guide while seated in one of the museum benches.
It consisted of 25 rules, wherein the first two rules consisted of locking up. One, for the doors and gates of the museum, so no art piece could escape. If they do, they will turn into dust when the sun is out according to Athena. Two, locking the Oriental and Foreign Art Rooms, which was already done.
Rule #5: Let Mochi the puppy from the lobby tag along with you; feed him treats if you have any.
On cue, the little guy barked from the corridor and raced to his side. Jeno carried him, babying him for a little and letting him lick his face a few times before putting him back down. He’s surely going to the pet store first thing in the morning with the museum allowance the director gave him.
Since he was on the second floor, he read and followed the rules that fit in before returning downstairs. On the other side of the floor were the wax figures exhibitions: one for prominent men in history while the other for prominent women. Well, more people to get acquainted with.
It’s the exchange of gasps and profanities he received when he chose the latter room. Seeing their faces, these were women he’s learned in school and online. Now in the (fake) flesh. Except for one girl he’s never heard of, unbothered in her corner sketching her life away in a sketchpad. But before he could check who she was, a suggestive touch on his arm distracted him.
“My, oh my, Hera wasn’t lying when she said that the new night guard was a fine specimen.” By her dark blue eyeshadow and eyeliner with the snake-like crown, Cleopatra studied him like he was one of the most renowned art pieces. Even patting his chest, abdomen, and arms with both her hand, Jeno caught a suggestive glint in her eyes and a smirk across her red lips.
Rule #13: Reject Cleopatra’s seductive advances at all costs.
“Goodness, Cleopatra. It’s only his first night, and you’re scaring him.” With her accent, round eyes, and a chic formal outfit, she carried a posh aura while unhesitatingly scolding the Queen of the Nile.
“Come on now, Diana. He’s stunning, who wouldn’t go after him?” If no one knew her, you’re not reading up on your world history. She’s said to have been a lovely and intelligent woman, gone so soon. Jeno definitely understood why after she detached Cleopatra’s raging hands off him.
Rule #14: Treat Princess Diana and Hera like your own parent.
“Your highness.” Jeno nodded at her out of respect, only making her chuckle uncontrollably.
“No need to address me like that, love. Now, come here.” She widened her arms for Jeno, hugging him amiably. He sensed her motherly warmth, accepting such a gesture. “You remind me so much of my youngest son, Harry. Welcome to the night shift of the museum, love.”
Similar to the Greek mythology exhibit, he introduced himself and responded to any questions that the women wax figures may have. Good for him, they weren’t crossing any borders and kept him at ease.
“A student like you working at night to pay rent?” Katherine Johnson, an African-American NASA mathematician whose calculations led to the success of a lot of famous spaceflights, cannot believe her ears. Students must only focus on school, nothing else. “What about your studies, boy?”
Rule #15: Engage in academic discussions with Katherine Johnson whenever you can.
“Most of my classes are in the afternoon, Miss Katherine. So I’ll sleep in the entire morning later and study during my breaks.”
“Mr. Jeno, what do you like to do outside of work?” Anne Frank, a German-Dutch teenager whose revolutionary diary that documented her life in hiding from the Nazis gained popularity worldwide after publication dreamily asked from her section of the exhibit. Her life was robbed of greatness merely because of her religion and war.
Rule #16: Bring delicious food or gifts to Anne Frank.
“Well, I like to bike with my friends, exercise, and draw whatever comes into mind!”
Everyone he’s met so far acquired pleasure in knowing about who he was and his passion for architecture, ridding the “freaking out” phase Athena assumed he had. Yet not everyone in this exhibit bothered to give him a shot.
Jeno’s attention from Anne talking about her crush towards Peter van Daan, a teenage boy who lived with her, switched to the section beside her, where an unacquainted figure was zealously sketching as if something was due to the following day. It reflected how he’d look when he’s cramming one of his plates due to first thing in the morning. While he properly excused himself, he quietly gazed at the way this woman scrunched her eyebrows when she erased something then drew it again. She was someone he’s never seen or heard before, reading the information plate in front of him about her.
 (Y/N) (Y/L/N), Explorer and Author. (1854-1900)
 Wealthy women in the Victorian Era only served one purpose in society: marry a man from a prestigious family, have his children and join whatever interests they have. However, for (Y/N), she wasn’t going to conform to those standards.
Born into the affluent house of (Y/L/N), she was the youngest of 8 children. She was said to be the kindest and sweetest sibling out of everyone, not capable of hurting anyone or anything. She said it herself that she can’t throw away a dying flower because it’s too painful. While 5 of her older brothers were sent to school, she stayed at home with her 2 older sisters Cecilia and Amelia where she learned how to play the piano and take voice lessons from impressive teachers. Due to the huge age gaps between them (12 and 8 respectively), she never felt close with them. She was only closest to the 6th and 7th siblings, her twin brothers Benjamin and Liam whom she only had a 2-year gap. She was also best friends with one of the scullery maids her age, Lily, because she found her amusing that than the boring rich girls her mother forced to interact with.
The moment it bothered her that she wanted to live a more meaningful life was when Amelia got married. She was 12 years old at the time, and it left her as the last unwed daughter in the family. Badly did she want to revolt, which she gradually did. Instead of practicing piano, she’d sneak in to read every book in her father’s office. She secretly studied the notes of her older brothers from school and even dressed as a boy numerously thanks to Benjamin and Liam to join their classes or field trips.
This was her routine up until the age of 18 when she stomped her foot down and expressed to her parents that she wasn’t going to let Victorian society dictate her. The night before her parents were bound to send her to her great aunt’s home down South to sort her out, she successfully snuck out her house thanks to Lily, Benjamin, and Liam. It’s another good thing that she saved a lot of money for that moment.
Off she went across Europe first, then sailed to America and even parts of Asia. Initially under the name Lilibe, coined from picking the first two letters of her brothers and best friend, she documented her days and nights through her journals and sketches. Over time, she sent them to her brothers for publication. It started the franchise, “The Adventures of the Young and Free Lilibe”. There are 10 books under it.
She learned French, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean by herself as she made friends from those places. It was rare of someone like her to be fluent in Oriental languages, surprising locals every time she spoke to them. She was the only explorer to vividly describe life in different Asian lands in English, talking about their history and culture. With her accurate drawings of diverse citizens and their daily lives, it educated a lot of those living back home in Europe about them rather than speaking lowly of them.
In Seoul did she stayed the longest until her death from pneumonia at the young age of 46.
In her posthumous work, Finding Me, did she reveal her real identity, dedicating it to her parents whom she apologized and expressed her love for them despite everything that occurred between them. She talked about the last years of her life in Seoul, how locals were so nice and inviting to her, and how she adopted kids instead of having her own through the years.
“It’s not because I never found love in men. It’s more like I found love in doing things I’m passionate about. Traveling, learning new cultures, it outweighed the human need of romance.”
Due to her thrill in taking risks and embarking on wondrous adventures, it brought inspiration to a lot of young girls pressured to marry at that time to pursue what they really want.
 A remarkable background you had, Jeno contemplated. How come no one discussed her in his classes?
You kept brushing the bangs of your hair back as it fell repeatedly. But you got irritated instantly because it sabotaged your drive, you brought out a hairpin from her desk and attached it on both sides. But when you shifted your angle of focus, the corner of your eye locked with Jeno’s attentive gaze.
He didn’t flinch, even he should’ve. He wasn’t one to linger his look on anyone’s physical appearances, but your story and the passion on your face as you sketched mesmerized him. He was charmed, to say the least.
“Uhm, hello there?” You broke the silence due to your uneasiness about it. What’s his deal?
Jeno bowed, reintroducing himself to you. As soon as his presence settled in the room when Cleopatra attempted to hit on him, you could’ve cared less. Though this man was a first for you, a first in a long time as all guards would feel intimidated by you during the first night. Even your sharp tongue didn’t faze him. “Staring is rude, sir. Didn’t your mother teach you manners?”
“She did,” He wandered through the exterior of your section, by the fence that separated you and him. Not breaking eye contact, his eyes turned into moon crescents as he smirked with trouble. “Though she also told me to appreciate the art too.”
Snorts noisily exhaled from Cleopatra, who took the center section of the exhibit, succeeded by Princess Diana’s whispered gasps and Katherine’s side-eyeing Anne beside her while she taught her math. That was an odd way a guard conversed with you, but Jeno was merely doing what the rules stated. Partly, he was impressed with his cheesy pick-up line, partly embarrassed because he’s never spoken like this to anyone.
Rule #17: Act playfully around (Y/N) (Y/L/N) to break the tension; she’s a harsh one.
There was irony between the information he read about your life versus the wax model. Even when you faced sexism and ran away according to your history, never were you impolite to anyone in your life. You couldn’t even kill a lurking fly when it roams around your food! It showed Jeno a possibility that as much as you’re just a wax version of someone famous in the past, maybe the external environment around you had a heavy influence too.
“You fool!” His confidence exasperated you, urging you to persistently throw balls of paper with your failed sketches at him. No one dared to talk to you like that, most especially a night guard. “Take that for your comment!”
If you thought he’d scram away and act repentant, you were proven wrong. His reflexes were parallel to a spider, capturing every single paper ball without fail. Up and down his body went, one arm held on to them and no more were left on your part. Never a single defeat during the first meeting in years, but that seemed to alter now.
“Give up already, Ms. (Y/L/N)?” Jeno remarked vibrantly as he discarded your mess in the trash bin behind him. If he managed to get everyone to like him tonight, he wanted to make sure to have you onboard too.
Whatever agenda he had, you weren’t up for it. You’d treat him the same way you usually treated Sanghoon for the past 20 something years: cold and ignorant. From your stool, you left your comfortable position to come face to face with this man. He better be grateful for that barrier in between you, or else you would’ve caused mayhem.
“Never in your wildest dreams, Mr. Lee.” Your mouth gave a half-smile, clenching on the bars to liberate your annoyance. Before you could fend back, that’s when Princess Diana intervened between your heated dialogue.
“Oh heavens, children!” She stood by the barrier, mostly to protect the newbie Jeno with her body. “(Y/N), he just wanted to know you. Must you be so cross?”
This Princess Diana embodied all the traits the real one had: soft-spoken, intelligent, and protective. She’s gotten so used to your gradual temper, staying on standby whenever anyone tried to mess with you. Even if it was harmless, you could get so mean!
“Diana, he was mocking me! Saying such a sleazy phrase as if to amuse me, ha! Not a chance, I hate people like that.”
“Not us women though; you just despise men in general.”
“And you’re absolutely right!” With a smug smile, you greedily rejoiced. “Anyways, escort this disgrace out. I’m not in the mood to get angry when I have a lot of inspiration on mind right now.”
While you resumed your sketching to let go of that extra steam, Jeno was left with Diana who apologized on your behalf. Your pride was too high to do that, and as the motherly figure among them, she always took care of things in your exhibit.
“I’m so sorry for that, Jeno. She’s not really like this, but I know how much you tried your best. It was quite a fresh spectacle honestly.”
Whatever was responsible for your abrasiveness, Jeno yearned to know. He couldn’t understand who you were yet even knowing your life story. All he wanted was to get along with everyone. It was the key to successfully maintain his job for the next 6 months.
“How can I make her come around then?”
A demanding question that no one had a solid answer to. Diana recalled how much Sanghoon didn’t let your dislike for him get to him, maintaining a respectful boundary in between each other after his past attempts. Though with Jeno, observing how he riled you up and your focus entirely on him, she hasn’t seen anything like it since the 80s.
There was something in Jeno that may just get you to warm up and return to your kind nature.
“Aside from acting playful, as Sanghoon recommended, I can think of two ways, love.” By the doors of her exhibit, where Jeno was already waltzing the corridor to visit other rooms, she suggested smartly. “One, argue back to her opinions. She hates whenever anyone tries to get her way, but boy, you’re just as wise as her. No one was brave enough to peeve on her until you came.”
“How about the second way?”
“Do your research, love. Aside from libraries, you have those small technology devices that allow you to search up anything.” She tousled Jeno’s brown locks as if it were her actual son’s. Some habits just don’t die when you do.
“Brush up on your history, Jeno. Not only will it help you with (Y/N), but it’ll serve purposefully with the other art pieces here.”
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Boy, he was ready to crash in his bed for a few hours after all those interactions. His introverted nature required to be revitalized.
Towards the last hours of his shift, the art pieces who’ve strolled in the first floor lessened his plate by not leaving any major clutter behind. As if she listened to him, Athena didn’t break any lightbulbs too.
His main highlight would be meeting the men of the historical male section, who flaunted a more humorous ambiance. Freddie Mercury from Queen insisted he drink a glass of his wine and to bring more wine next time, which he denied since it would against Sanghoon’s rules. King Sejong the Great and Martin Luther King Jr. argued back and forth over the most random things (pineapple on pizza specifically), while Steve Jobs mediated whenever one crossed the line. Meanwhile, William Shakespeare was too preoccupied in his writing and speaking to himself about his books, wondering how to improve them.
During one of his breaks today, he multitasked drawing a new plate with his research on every art piece to know them better. He started with the exhibit of sculptures of the Greek gods and goddesses, which were Zeus, Hera, Hades, Athena, Hermes, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Artemis, Dionysus, and Circe. They weren’t the complete roster because the rest were in other museums across the globe, as said by Athena before sunrise. The majority of them he knew what they were in charge of, but the rest were foggy to his knowledge. Typing away and jotting notes down, he started downloading his favorite jazz songs too.
Rule # 4: Play jazz music to the paintings on the first floor so they can relax and dance within their frames.
Circe is a minor goddess, the daughter of the sun god Helios. She’s recognized for her versatility in incantations and herbs, capable of transforming people into animals. From Jeno’s perspective, she’s mostly within her space with her journals and magic wand, trying new spells or combinations of herbs. For the latter, he had to keep a closer eye on.
Rule #9: Don’t let Circe, god of potions, into the Oriental Room to get plants and herbs.
He discovered that Dionysus is the god of wine, happiness, and theatre. That’s why every god in the exhibit had full wine glasses during their gathering. It also added up why Freddie Mercury always comes to him when his bottles run empty, though he mustn’t go overboard.
Rule #18: Make sure Freddie Mercury doesn’t get too drunk from the wine of Dionysus; he might make numerous scenes if he does.
After his lone studying session, he took a short trip to the pet and convenience stores to buy food. He got a dumbfounded look from Jaemin back in the dorm room, who was studying for one of his quizzes in Biology in a couple of hours.
“Woah what’s with this stash? Is it for yourself or something?”
“The museum surprisingly has a lot of tasks needed to be done at night. And no, not from my wallet but the allowance they gave me before you get a heart attack.” Jeno plopped on his solo bed, covering his face with a pillow.
“Thank God.” A relaxed sigh escaped Jaemin’s lips, taking back his balled-up fists meant for his roommate. “I think I would’ve stormed that boring museum if they made your broke ass spend a cent.”
“Boring?” Jeno removed the cushion hastily, eyeing his busy and coffee-high roommate. The scent of black coffee from his mug spread in the room, assuming that this upcoming test was testing his roommate’s patience again.
Not even trying to look at Jeno while reviewing his handwritten notes, Jaemin continued giving his opinion. “Museum culture is dead, Jeno. Not everyone has the time to roam around one, plus people can always look up the artifacts online these days.”
People were entitled to their own opinions on numerous things, though Jeno begged to differ with his roommate’s. Especially after witnessing the magic of the night shift, you shouldn’t merely judge a book by its cover. In this case, you shouldn’t judge an artwork or art piece merely on its history and legacy.
Maybe because his roommate was in the science department, he thought this way. A lot of art students regularly visit the museum both for fun and for their classes, and Jeno was one of them. Though he was too sleepy to explain his side, he let it slide for now and snoozed throughout the late afternoon.
An hour before the start of his shift, Jeno promenaded the emptying museum to inspect anything else he might’ve missed out on from last night. There were two areas according to his rotation, both in the first floor.
One was the Diorama Room. Divided into 4 sections, highlighting some of the well-known ancient civilizations in world history. Ancient Egypt and Ancient China to your left, Ancient Rome and Ancient Maya to your right. They acted as if they were the actual people during those times, giving Jeno a laugh when they cracked jokes in between. Such tiny figures, yet the rule for them said otherwise.
Rule # 7: The small figurines in the Diorama Room are feisty, so make sure they don’t fight with one another again.
The remaining room left was the Theater Room. He’s never been here, though his art friends have for film festivals held by the university.
The interior of it was set to look like an actual cinema place you’d see in a mall. There was a mini lobby with a few posters of iconic films over the years. Singin’ in the Rain, Back to the Future, Titanic, those were some framed and hung on the wall. There were two other doors there: one leading to the chairs and the other where the movie projector was. The latter room was pretty riveting, wherein you can choose to watch old short films through an 88mm film projector or switch to a cd player for the newer releases.
Back to those posters, they weren’t an exception to the magic and a simple rule was left for Jeno to do.
Rule # 10: Chatter with the movie posters in the lobby of the Theater Room; they love meeting new faces.
Since there wasn’t anyone checking out the Art Rooms on the second floor, he closed them. Though as he was about to lock the Oriental Room, the ravishing plants around the royal plant appealed his interest. Said to hold magical properties from his research, Jeno was reminded of another rule to keep in mind for later.
Rule # 3: The fake flowers in the Oriental Room come to life too at night, so when no one is lurking, water it diligently.
Instead of lounging at Sanghoon’s office first, he brought his important items to the front desk of the lobby and continued sketching his plate. He wanted to watch the art come back alive with his two eyes. Usually, he’d have coffee when he does his work, but due to another crucial rule in the guide, he’d rather not take the risk.
Rule # 6: The lobby room can get rowdy, so keep any drinks away from important items.
On the dot, the cries and yawns from the art pieces around him reverberated. Closing his sketchpad, his night guard mode was on. Connecting his laptop on the aux cord of the museum speakers, he tapped play on his playlist of jazz music that’ll last for the entire shift duration. As the first notes flooded the entire vicinity, sounds of joy left the lips of each painting. Some were humming, dancing, and even singing along.
“You can never go wrong with Frank Sinatra!”
“This Jeno lad really did the heavens’ work quick!”
Having the sense of accomplishment on his sleeve, the small barks of his fluffy pal reached closer to him. As he kneeled to find him, he was only taken by surprise as Mochi excitedly jumped on him. Tumbling over, Jeno chuckled innocently as Mochi licked his face numerously. This puppy was friendly, easily liking everyone at first sight. He wasn’t as choosy like Daegal, the puppy of his friend Chenle studying Business Management.
Once he composed himself and cradling the dog like his own, he fed him a dog treat from the desk.
“Good boy, Mochi!” He rubbed his fur while the puppy happily munched on it, ready to fulfill more of his duties.
He skipped the Greek mythology exhibit since Athena was doing a good job not letting anyone go overboard with their powers, though he’ll check in again in a few hours. He met the posters of the theater room, who were celebrities he grew up watching on tv. Sanghoon was right; they were the kinder group in the entire museum because they were more laidback.
On to the second floor, all the female wax figures lounged by the male section due to another lecture from Shakespeare. Although the guide informed him that most of the time it could get boring, this lecture was more stimulating. On his platform, he elaborated with conviction the lines of one of his famous books, Romeo and Juliet. A must-read book back in his high school days, there’s no way Jeno could’ve missed that out.
From the looks of it, Jeno perceived that Shakespeare was performing spoken word poetry due to him reading only Romeo’s lines while Cleopatra read Juliet’s beside him. This kind of show was one of the sources of entertainment to these figures, so Jeno leaned by the side of the door to listen. After all, the famous author of it was a few feet away. Cleopatra channeled such a naïve character to her ability, absentmindedly saying as she clutched her chest.
“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.”
“Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?”
“'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose-”
The flow of an engaged Cleopatra was abrupted by the loud yell from Shakespeare in front, specifically to an amused Jeno. “Jeno, my boy! Welcome back!”
Such an announcement diverted everyone’s attention to the back, some running to Jeno to give their respective greetings. It’s rare for everyone to feel at ease with a new guard, taking them weeks to approach them due to the intimidation. Though Jeno’s bright presence felt welcoming, so they accepted it. Perhaps it’s because of his youth, it reminded them of theirs too.
Shakespeare highly requested (or forced) Jeno to take his part as Romeo, intrigued to watch someone younger read his lines. Since most of the male wax figures were aged, it never satisfied Shakespeare so he jumped on this opportunity as quickly as he could. With the roaring cheers from the other figures, Jeno might as well give it a try. It wasn’t like his friends were here to clown him like they usually would if he did something humiliating.
Jeno shockingly liked this activity as he wasn’t much of a performer on stage, but someone who does the behind-the-scenes of it. He realized as he read the lines from the book Shakespeare asked him to follow along with why people held university-wide spoken word shows a few times per semester. He was no actor, but it’s delightful to have tried it at least once in his life.
“O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?” As if the edge of the platform was the balcony of Juliet (or Cleopatra rather), he knelt as he ardently spoke his lines. He’s emphasizing this rush of uncontrollable desire for her, rambling whatever he would do to get the girl.
“What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?” Cleopatra questioned from her chair, inching closer to the young boy. Even outside character will she attempt to charm Jeno, but Jeno was quick to catch it and kept his distance.
“The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine.”
“I gave thee mine before thou didst request it, and yet I would it were to give again.”
“Wouldst thou withdraw it? For what purpose, love?”
“But to be frank, and give it thee again. And yet I wish but for the thing I have. My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.”
Everyone was condensed by their top-notch acting, as if this was the actual play unfolding before them. Jeno wasn’t so sure how he got himself in character without preparation, yet he felt what his character felt. He comprehended the material a lot better now than when he was still in high school.
However, there was always that one killjoy to ruin the heartfelt mood.
“How dumb is it to say that you’re in love after the first glance?” You opposed, putting the spotlight on you. This book was said to be a classic in literature, but as you matured physically and mentally, you could no longer agree with it. “Isn’t love the same thing that killed Romeo and Juliet in the end?”
Remembering what Princess Diana told him, he wasn’t going to let this pass. He wanted to give a piece of his mind too, caring less if the show must be paused. “Love is an emotion we don’t ask to feel. It’ll come to us when we least expect it, even when the timing of it can be crucial.”
“Of all the people Juliet could’ve gone for, it just had to be the enemy.” In all the years you’ve been brought to life, no one dared to test your opinions because they were aware of your intelligence, from the streets to the books. When someone bark, you’d bite back. Hard. “With all due respect, I love your works, Shakespeare. Yet the fate you’ve given these two at a young age was grave, could’ve you given them a better outcome or another character to love instead?”
“Giving them extra characters to love won’t address the horrific life fact that love can be dangerous. Regardless of what status you’re in, you can’t stop the attraction towards someone. The heart wants what it wants.” Jeno pressed his hand to his chest, pumping it a bit. Unknown to you and him, the audience found more entertainment in your argument. Anne, who was munching on the popcorn Jeno gave her earlier, passed the snack to Katherine who just couldn’t stop watching.
If this man wanted a challenge, you’re all ears. Who was he to compete with you? Was he not intelligent to know who you are?
“So are you insinuating that we just go with the flow? Be a slave to our emotions too and let them dictate our next motives?”
“Slave is such a strong word to use, (Y/N). But it’s not like we can’t choose who want to love because we actually can. In this case, Romeo chose Juliet and vice versa.”
“But what happens if the person you choose doesn’t choose you in return?”
“At least you tried your best, right? It’ll hurt like hell though, but it won’t last forever.” From his kneeling position, Jeno strutted his way with confidence. Trying not to let it mess with you, your extreme stare at him as if they’ll shoot lasers. Inches away from you, Jeno declared. “Love always has risks, that’s a given. Romeo and Juliet still tried and followed their hearts despite the downfall. But it was a needed downfall to get the message across.”
“No one would be that foolish to risk their lives for love though, right? Life is so precious, why would they do such a thing?”
“Even if they knew what their lives were without each other, they still preferred living a life where they were both in the picture. Therefore, they tried all they could that time because the regret of not doing anything at all carries a heavier burden.”
Whenever anyone argued with you, their debating points they spat back would further piss you off because most of the time, it never made sense. Back when this rude man told you to go home and be a wife in your earlier years of exploring, you civilly told him to fuck off, kicking his balls because he cornered you in an alley. For the first time, a man who tried to challenge you actually made sense. Was it because he lived in a modern time, where minds were more open? Because of the amount of sexism you faced in the past, you’ve turned a blind eye to the current period.
But your high pride maintained, not submitting into anything he said. “I still think it’s stupid to risk your life for love. There’s no such thing as having only one true love anyways, and you have to be alive to see it.”
“Fair point, but again, the feeling of regret and carrying it your entire life doesn’t fade easily. It’ll make you reflect on the what-ifs, and it’s heart-wrenching.” Jeno digressed, walking around you in circles. He’s intentionally trying to drive you mad, but he could care less. He wanted someone to put you in your place and open your mindset. “The question stands: would you rather try and go for it even knowing its risks or regret not even trying for the rest of your existence? Quite ironic for me to ask you that, don’t you think?”
Past the information board, Jeno researched more of your life history online. Your whole life was grounded on risks, from breaking the standards of your society, leaving your family and home country, to fending yourself from disrespectful men. Rather than living the original life expected from you, you chose not to because it didn’t make you happy. Such a risktaker he knew you are, but with the topic of love, he wondered why you were on a fence with it. Though some records stated you’ve had rendezvouses with a few men in your journeys, love was never in the equation. The single life was what you chose and you were more than satisfied, plus your adopted kids filled that supposed void anyways.
This man may have studied your history, but so much he still doesn’t know. Information that never made the books because you chose not to write or tell anyone about it. Aside from the discomfort growing in your chest, everyone else felt the awkward tension when you were lost for words.
Never been defeated in an argument, until tonight. Your mind lost its drive and willpower.
“Touché, Lee Jeno.” Indeed, his name you’re acquainted with. Numerously passed around in your exhibit, mostly from the lips of Cleopatra, who’d fantasize all the graphic things she would do to him. Too much information, least of your interest. “Please excuse me. I’d like to work on my sketches to ease my mind.”
As you quietly exited the room, an all too familiar sculpture leaned against the railings overseeing one side of the museum. Just like you, she hated accepting defeat or compromises. She always rooted for you to win. With a faint chuckle, “Facing a loss for the first time, I see.”
“Don’t even lecture me about it, Athena. I’m still fired up, and I need to relax.”
“Jeno is a different breed, isn’t he?” She stuck to your side, strolling wherever your feet led you.
“Different as in he’s a man? Yes. What else is there to it?”
“Men these days aren’t as trashy as those back in the day though. Shouldn’t you give him a chance?”
“Last time I did, it destroyed my heart. I’m not allowing myself to let men in even as a friend, Athena.”
She knew exactly what you were referring to, not touching on it further. No way will you let heartbreak or disappointment from men bother you. Even Sanghoon’s sweet company took a while to tolerate. You really needed to sketch this out on your pad right now, excusing yourself from Athena’s presence. Isolation wasn’t new to you; it’s what’s protecting your entire being. Immortal as you are, you had to recover from the past pain so the next decades won’t feel as brash.
You hoped to return to your old self when you were a fresh new figure in the 70s. So naïve, only proud of your accomplishments, and purely happy.
While Jeno continued to finish his scene in respect to Shakespeare, he received a standing ovation for his mini-show. Cleopatra didn’t expect such talent from him, growing fonder of the younger male. Whether she seduces him or not, he was never afraid to try new things and she liked that about him.
“Bravo, love!” Princess Diana praised, clapping at him.
Although Jeno appreciated all this positive attention, his thoughts bounced back to your and your stance on love. The debate earlier was just out of being playful, interested to hear your opinions. Though, he’s worried that he might’ve offended you. It may have been time to finally witness something like that, but then again, he was sure he touched something personal to you. No matter how you tried to fight it off, your eyes can’t lie. Staring down at him, there was pain beneath it. Your eyebrows scrunched to the center, thinking deeply yet remained utterly speechless.
A win he didn’t feel good about.
“It’s time she encountered something new in the years she’s been here. Give her some space tonight, then try again to reach out to her. Kindly this time; I’m not in the mood for another brawl that could end up like the Greek gods’ past fights downstairs.”
These clever words shared by Katherine loitered his mind for the rest of the night, eventually going back to finishing his current plate since everyone was behaving well. As great it is to get the approval of the majority, he tried brainstorming ways to make you like him too.
He understood the whole “men are trash” concept in today’s modern society, but if he could prove it wrong to at least one person, it would be you. Whatever is holding you back, he only hoped that you’d let it go. Questionably unsure as to why he was so persevering, he concluded that it was so he could perform his job better as the night guard. Set higher standards than Sanghoon even.
Nothing more, nothing less.
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Weeks passed, and his attempts continued to be unsuccessful.
The capability for you to ignore his efforts remained strong, whether he was pestering you over small things or debating with you again about anything. Life, books, morals, the two of you always head butt each other. Anything good he did, you searched for a flaw in it. Whatever acts he’s tried and continued trying, not one flinch from you ever.
Even if that’s his state with you, his job no longer felt stressful nor strenuous. He’d try to sleep more on days he was off-duty. Although the fatigue of staying beyond his usual sleeping time was inevitable, he compromised to take a nap lasting an hour or two when the art pieces weren’t acting frisky.
Plus, there have been multiple times they adapted to any alterations so his physical well-being wouldn’t fall sick. Per order of Princess Diana and Hera, who by instinct became his motherly figures here, only wanting what’s best for the kids.
He became accustomed to everything that went on at night, discovering things on his own without Sanghoon’s guide. Anne talked about how much she missed biking in her neighborhood, so one night, Jeno snuck his bike inside and let her use it around the first floor. With proper monitoring so none of the paintings would be unbothered or pieces wouldn’t tumble.
Hermes the messenger god was fluent in every language possible, so every so often, Jeno would freely speak to him in Korean because sometimes he felt he could explode by the amount of English he used every night. Bilingual things, you know. He knew you were multilingual too, but for obvious reasons, he couldn’t converse with you.
Because Jeno was heavily favored, that should’ve been enough to push through his night shifts before the end of the semester. In addition to that, the hourly rate was above the average of whatever Jaemin or Renjun was earning. For the past 2 months, Jeno paid upfront first, even paying back all his debts. It almost made Renjun want to switch jobs with him.
“Trust me, Renjun. You don’t want it, being the lowkey scaredy cat you are.”
Work no longer felt like work, and that’s what everyone aspired to feel. Nevertheless, he tended to worry over you mid-shift, glancing at you from his side view. Sketching, reading, and writing were your default actions. No matter how many times he said to himself not to let your dislike for him affect him, it’d always backfire.
Why were you so cold?
What made you lose your fire from all the research he did about your lively personality?
When morning arrived and he gathered his stuff, you’d be the last thing he’ll check on. Frozen in your standing pose, smiling as you held a book and a pencil, he detected how fake it was. Bystanders would only assume your happiness was from your achievements, though Jeno’s gut firmly pried that something grand overpowered that happiness. And definitely, not in a good way.
Out of all the art pieces, he investigated on you the most. Skimming through every material in the library, endless searching on the net, even asking professors from the History department thanks to Renjun, he did whatever he could. People may already think he was obsessed with who you are, but only little did they know.
Another plate was done and submitted, and he promised himself to look you up one last time before surrendering. For someone who’s rarely given up on a challenge, this one was really out of his control. Maybe he should follow Sanghoon’s footsteps now.
You lived centuries before him, and there’s limited material of you left. Rather than learning of your adventures again, he dug through what things you liked over your life. Maybe by giving one of them, it’ll lessen the tension from a 100 to 99. Maybe you preferred gifts over words, he’ll never know until he tried.
Boom.
According to one of your journal entries, there’s a fond liking you’ve acquired for lavender roses from Benjamin and Liam when they visited you in Paris in secret because of how much you missed them. It went both ways, praying your family ties could be recovered.
It’s a good thing he needed to refill his stock of items for the art pieces so he could pass by the flower store a few blocks away from his dorm. That night, without further words, he graciously offered you a fresh lavender rose in between your new sketching session.
“I may not know exactly why you’re spiritless around me, but with this rose, I hope we could work something out.”
Your frigid face of disdain, keeping your chin high and squinting your eyes with judgment, began to crumble down.  Of all things as a peace offering, he gave you that? Then again, it’s not like he knew that an item you liked so much became something you’ve grown to hate and why so. No history books could teach him that.
Vulnerability was a normal thing, yet feared by many. Once one uncovered your weak spot, they could harm you. You still couldn’t trust Jeno fully, not willing to show your helplessness nor were you ever going to tell him. Hidden from his knowledge, everyone else including Sanghoon were familiarized as to why this kind of flower tormented you.
You sprinted like thunder out the exhibit room to wherever it’s private to control your senses. You may not have a physical heart, but your emotions were just as actual as a human’s. You needed to regulate your panting breath. In the past decades, you’ve not shed a singular tear but the cycle broke when they streamed out your miserable eyes like a flowing river. Quiet sobs, an empty corner near the fire exit was where your wobbly legs faltered, the painful memories of the past replayed in your head. Once beautiful, but now an agonizing reminder of what could’ve been.
Katherine, Cleopatra, and Anne were swift on their feet to hunt you down, anxious of what you may do next. Seeing or the mention of these flowers still affected you despairingly. Sanghoon must’ve forgotten to write them down, or perhaps he didn’t know either about this fact during all the years he’s worked there.
It’s one of the biggest secrets of his museum. By the clueless face Jeno had with his eyebrows raised, mouth, and small eyes slightly open, he repeatedly asked what he did wrong and adding that he never meant to harm you. Indeed, they knew that yet what occurred involved a secret in the list of museum secrets. Confidential only between art pieces according to Athena, none of the male wax figures spoke a word, only pitying the boy.
“I wasn’t here yet that time, but they said that it was once beautiful, but now it’s a rough period.” With hesitation, Princess Diana chose to reveal it to rid Jeno’s misery. She didn’t mind having to argue about it with Athena later on, as this may further affect the two of you later on.
“A long time ago in the early ‘80s, there was a night guard around your age named Junmyeon. Also, a college student, trying to make ends meet. He did it for 3 years until he graduated. Though within his stay, not only was he such a delight to everyone, he broke a golden rule in the guide. I believe you do know the guide much more now, Jeno?”
“Yes, I do, Princess Diana. Memorized it even, but which one specifically?” Jeno’s desperate eyes pleaded, only hoping for the best and to fix what he messed up.
“You can form friendships with the art pieces, but nothing more.” Princess Diana replied bitterly. “Junmyeon was an aspiring painter, a different path from his business-oriented family. He was seen as the black sheep. She resonated with him, sharing the burden and lifting it by doing whatever fun they could in the museum. In time, they both fell in love with each other; they were each other’s first loves.”
“Why must something beautiful like love be broken? It’s not like you can control it. That golden rule makes no sense.”
“It does, unfortunately. Wax figures like me cannot age, while humans like you can. None of them could accept the reality, always pushing it away. Until Junmyeon’s last week in university, he broke it off with her unexpectedly. From there, (Y/N) was heartbroken for decades. With heartbreak, giving the cold shoulder and bitterness followed. Then with the lavender rose you gave that she used to love became a flower that she associated with Junmyeon too because he gave her one almost every night for those past 3 years.”
Things finally added up, and the guilt in Jeno’s gut expanded. His major lightbulb moment was a major failure.
“Has Junmyeon ever returned to try and win her back?”
“Well, there was one time he did come back for an art exhibition for his paintings in the 2000s. I was already here, then he had a woman around his shoulder with an adolescent boy holding his hand. He roamed around our exhibit and kept gawking at (Y/N). We may be asleep, but we remember the conversations exchanged in the room. So, his son then asked him if he knew who she was.”
“What did he respond?” Jeno attentively listened, on the edge of such a hurtful tale.
“He knew her name, praising her for historical achievements. However, nothing as a former friend or lover. From what I predict, he ingested one of Circe’s potions.”
“But I thought Circe isn’t allowed to make potions for actual consumption. She’s not even allowed to enter the Oriental Art Room.” Jeno pointed out, overwhelmed at the puzzling past. Princess Diana was mindful that she had to stop spreading too much information, so she had to end her discussion with the lost boy.
“There are a lot of secrets about this museum, Jeno. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal to you to protect our peace.”
With due respect, Jeno quit his follow-up questions and concerns. The only thing he wished to do was mend his relationship with you. As vague as to where you even stood in the first place, he unintentionally crossed a line due to his selfish intention to befriend you.
“What can I do now, Princess Diana? You know I’d never push her buttons like that, even if I’m a whimsical person.”
“Oh, my boy.” Princess Diana soothed, holding both her hand on his sweaty palm and cupping his cheek. “For the meantime, give her space. No taunting for a while, and just observe her from a distance. Though do not fret the slightest; I’m sure she’ll be okay again.”
During that interval, you were hunched on the wall, bawling and weeping like the wound was brand new again. While Katherine and Anne stood by your side, on the lookout for anyone who’d be spying on you, Cleopatra knelt in front of you as your infinite tears gushed down.
“My dear,” She tried to wipe some of them while holding your hand. “It’s been years, and Jeno didn’t know a single thing. He didn’t mean to do it.”
“I don’t care, Cleopatra! He should’ve stopped trying to socialize with me because I won’t ever live down my experience with Junmyeon.”
“As if crying like this will bring Junmyeon back to your life,” Cleopatra exclaimed, holding in her temper. Acquainted with heartbreak, it’s awful that it changed you entirely, but you should’ve found a way to heal. Throughout your attitude change, it’s mostly you in pain, not those you inflict it to. “My dear, I love you a lot. But this Jeno boy is different, and you know it.”
“He’s still a nightguard, for Christ’s sake, Cleopatra.”
“You shouldn’t generalize that all night guards are bad just because of one encounter that occurred at the wrong time.” Brushing some strands stuck by your wet visage, she professed to you bluntly. “You’re never going to know how good Jeno is unless you slowly open up again, (Y/N). Not forcing you the slightest, but healing started once you’ve acknowledged the past and move on from it.”
“But I’m scared, Cleopatra.” You restlessly admitted, hunching even more against the wall. Your poor, metaphorical heart could only take so much. You barely expressed sorrow towards others as you always held a strong exterior, only letting it out alone. Not holding back anymore, Cleopatra brought you in for a hug. The last time she did that was the first night after Junmyeon left, calming your intensified emotions so you wouldn’t do anything dumb that night. No violence, just pure sorrow.
“My dear, it’s alright.” She whispered while stroking your back upwards. “But you’re a risktaker; that’s how people remember you. Now, you must challenge yourself to move on from things that didn’t work out. Because once you do, it’ll put your heart and mind at ease.”
“Do you think I’ll be okay again?”
“Yes, you will be, my dear. You are not alone, and never will be.”
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Acting like the dutiful son he always was, Jeno distanced from you.
He still cracked jokes, chatted with the art pieces, and followed the rules, yet never did he utter anything to you. You’ve proudly anticipated it since day one, not wanting him up in your business or teasing you ever. But this time, it felt odd.
On nights he didn’t report, you’ve unconsciously wondered what he may have been up to. A job like this at his age was just as Sanghoon once said: nothing in the regular.
Was he with his friends?
Was he resting well?
From the moment you chose to let go of your limitations and old thoughts, it included your grudge against past guards. Asking for forgiveness to Sanghoon when he returns was on the top of your list, however, that’ll take a while to happen. In the start, you’re baffled as to why he no longer picked on you like every night he’s been present. Somehow, it became a habit you’ve gotten used to, having so many comebacks planned to fend yourself. But you didn’t want to concede to it, maintaining what was left of your pride since that breakdown.
While on the subject, you suspected if anyone told him anything that night because that also indicated the last time he reached out to you. By anything, it would be your unwritten past with Junmyeon. A part of yourself in the museum that you didn’t want to disperse like rapid-fire again. It would be the last thing you wanted Jeno to know.
To your misfortune, Princess Diana came clean due to your growing concern over it. Although your attitude changed and people got used to it, you could only blame yourself that you were responsible for Jeno’s change.
“All he wanted was to understand and enlighten us with his likable presence. Then with you, you were his challenge because of your high walls. Out of everyone, he tried to learn everything about you. From my observation, whenever he has a goal, he’s determined to achieve it.”
“But I’m trying to be better now, Diana. Why did he stop?”
“He may have determination, but he knows where the boundaries lie.” Princess Diana patted the side of your arm, giving you a half-grin. “It hurt him when he hurt you, even if it was accidental. So he opted to give you space; that way, you could catch a breather and he wouldn’t harm you anymore. It was what you wanted from the start anyways, right?”
A hard pill to swallow, though it was a fact. It’s just that now, you’re slowly willing to release yourself from the dark. It’s been decades, and more to come. Nothing can move on unless you do.
“Where is he, Princess Diana?”
Just as she predicted right on the edge, Diana completed the grin on her face and led you to the entrance of your exhibit. She may be younger than you, but you’re reverted in your twenties while she remained in her mid-thirties. Gaping the wide museum from the railing, starting from the painting exhibit in the lobby to across the other side of the museum, Diana spotted the black hair of the boy in the Foreign Art Room.
“Over there.”
Observing where her eyes focused, you caught a glimpse of a recognizable side profile. The owner’s eyes were completely taken by whatever he was drawing on the fold-up desk he brought out from the storage room. By the tedious action of his right hand going up and down, you’ve gotten so used to his part-time identity as the night guard to entirely dismiss his current status as a university student.
Architecture specifically as he first introduced himself to you. The same path your oldest brother, Christopher, worked in. The look of tenacity Jeno presented as his eyebrows continuously scrunched, his crescent orbs hastily spied his work for any unnecessary details and his veiny hands brushed his already messy hair, you were profoundly reminded of Christopher when he was designing his possible future house. You were 8 years old, and he was 22, who just got married. He explained how many floors it’ll have, what rooms to put and what extra furniture he’ll place to make it feel more at home.
Seeing how exceptional his art skills were, you started to sketch like him. With flowers first, it turned into bedrooms and sceneries of your neighborhood. You felt your shoulders rise in accomplishment when you were able to accurately draw people. As much as you credited Benjamin and Liam the most in your works, it’ll only be within yourself to know that you also held a soft spot for Christopher.
Excusing yourself to Princess Diana, you bravely yet quietly ventured into the Foreign Art Room. Hiding first from one of the cement columns, you resumed watching him sketch. Instead of a pencil, he used a black pen with a tip as thin as a pencil. Your assumptions would be it was for a class, basing it on him informing everybody earlier that he’ll be inactive for the remaining hours of his shift to focus on his midterm requirements. That must be difficult to balance, yet he still does everything expected from him. Maybe the second cup of iced coffee beside him stimulated his bones and mind, letting his imagination free.
Through the limited space, you tiptoed whilst holding the side of the column to make up his work. There were 2 and a half rectangular shapes stacked on top of each other, the third one he was still tracing. A sign encrypted with tiny written words you couldn’t decipher, the beauty and modernity of Jeno’s plate cannot go unappreciated.
“That’s absolutely beautiful.”
Sweet words you didn’t think would bounce back in the room, Jeno’s pace ceased whilst you hid again. Art pieces capable of walking weren’t allowed here, he locked the door even beforehand! Or he thought as he was rushing to get his work done because one of his terror professors moved up the deadline to tomorrow morning. Not even 25% finished, he petitioned for everyone’s cooperation just for tonight.
He used up his 2 days of not having the night shift for other projects, and not wanting to ruin his perfect attendance, he proceeded to show up.
The voices from the foreign paintings around him hushed for him out of respect. So possibly someone snuck in, his head looking around for intruders. But only did he quit it when he saw your blurry reflection leaning against the column. The glass windows slightly mirror back what it sees, without you knowing that.
Not to mention, the small bit of your lilac dress was left out. Of all people, it was you?
“Do my eyes deceive me or is Miss (Y/N) (Y/L/N) inside when she’s not allowed so?”
To break the killing tension, he tested the waves with an innocent taunt. Never did you reach out to him, so least to say he was entertained whilst keeping his distance.
Fixing your proud stance, you responded in a low baritone voice you used to persuade numerous men in her adventures. “Uhm no, I don’t know who she is.”
As intelligent as you were, Jeno was a few steps farther than you this time. Educated about the risky ways you’d get around and one of them was changing the pitch of your voice, he heartily laughed at your unsuccessful attempt.
“Okay don’t lie, (Y/N). I can see a trail of your dress and your cloak. Oh, your reflection too.”
Damn, you peeked a little to realize that he was correct. Hauling your dress back in to readjust your outfit, you pushed your hair back before appearing to him. Though when you did such, you didn’t suppose that he was practically beside you the entire time. Bumping into his towering stance of 5’10 while the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up, your proud posture loosened up. He even discarded his blazer. A few more inches, he could’ve cornered you on the column if you didn’t take another step back.
Has he always been this tall or were you so used to your boots having high heels under? Oh wait, maybe because you wore flats this time because it’s making your toes sore. Your head bowed from struggling to maintain eye contact with him, your palms caressing your cheeks that suddenly heated up. Clearing your throat, you straightened your back again like nothing happened.
Jeno thought otherwise, shrugging his shoulders as he chuckled. He’s never seen you get shy, not that it was a bad thing either. The temptation to play around it more was there, but he was running out of time for his assignment.
“Come in. I’ll let you off the hook this time.” His arms opened up, allowing you access to such a wonderful exhibit. Paintings from different European periods, miniature versions of famous infrastructures inside glass containers, and replicas of Greek columns in the front entrance, no wonder it’s important to protect them all.
“Are you sure?” Watching him return to his spot, which was a bench in the center of the exhibit with a table in front, it didn’t process that you were gawking at his toned back. His broad shoulders and the evident muscles in his arms while he stretched, your eyes were speedy to look away when he tried to take a glance at you.
“I don’t think the paintings here and I mind.” Sitting down again, he tapped the vacant space beside him. “Feel free to watch me draw if you want to.”
Settling by his side, he recommenced where he left off. Now with a closer view of his piece, it did look like a building as you thought. He was sketching the remaining outline of the 3rd floor of this hypothetical place, continuously checking his ruler to monitor if the lines were consistent. Able to pick up on the words of the sign beside the building, you wowed with one hand on your lips.
“You’re redrawing Seoul National University Museum of Art?”
“One of my plate assignments was to visualize a renovation of a certain place, so I chose the museum.”
“Why so?”
“Well,” Jeno shook his pen so the ink could come out. “This entire place comes to life with the royal plate, so I think we should expand the space and bring in more art pieces to life if we add another extra floor. A rooftop area for visitors and events would be fun. And definitely, we should modernize the exterior and interior a bit because it looks outdated personally. That’s also what my friends think too.”
Noticing the minor details of his plate whilst removing any unnecessary pens so it wouldn’t smudge, “Huh, I quite agree with you.”
For the first time since his night shift, you, (Y/N) (Y/L/N), came into an agreement with him. He became so accustomed to clashing opinions that now, you had no contrasting points to make at all. A good change perhaps was what he’s witnessing.
“Woah, who are you agreeing with me and where’s (Y/N)?” He creased his brows whilst locking eye contact with you. This time, you didn’t wince away and just nudged him on his shoulder to get back to work.
“Hush, Jeno. Isn’t that due later? Get to work, I’ll roam around here for the meantime.”
After decades in this museum, you’re enlightened with the foreign paintings in which some you’ve heard of in your younger years and some that were created beyond your time. The Birth of Venus, Liberty Leading the People, Girl with a Pearl Earring, there’s an advantage of learning about their stories that humans couldn’t interpret. Logical that this section must be off-limits because these pieces were extra special, yet there’s so much more than what meets the eye.
There’s peace in silence while you wandered around, though it doesn’t hinder only at the art. Jeno hasn’t uttered a word since he got back to drawing, and once you asked him what’s doing now, still no answer back. Odd, he’s constantly awa-
Oh, my. You must’ve jinxed it.
Your eyes laid on Jeno leaning forward on his desk with his arms serving as his pillow, resting his head sideways. Soft snores and minimal movement in his upper body to shake the growing cold temperature of the room, he was sleeping like a log.
Putting into perspective, he hasn’t acquired enough rest specifically this past 2 weeks. The endless number of plates due making him work extra during his shift rather than sleeping in the slightest, exhaustion must be an understatement. Coffee no longer pushed him to his maximum for this week even.
But this was the path he chose, and it’ll have its challenges. Still, if you could relieve the stress in any way, you would. This would be one of the ways to repay for all the rudeness you’ve passed on him. Scurrying to his side, placing the plate on the side with his other things. You returned the caps of his open pens so they don’t spill. They must be expensive, recalling how Jeno shared the cons of being an architecture major to Princess Diana. One was the pens needed for sketching, and any tiny damages to them meant buying them again.
With his watch on clear display, he only had 2 hours left until his shift was done. Then, 4 hours until his plate assignment was done, and his current plate was far from done.
The blunt impulse to wake him up slithered your mind, though his calm state deflected your duty. As if you were on board a ship again for your explorations, you paid attention to the view with a relaxed mindset.
Lee Jeno specifically was the view.
His coffee-stained lips were parted and his sharp nose breathing in and out at a relaxing pace, he must be dreaming a happy moment the way half his lips curved into a smile. If he’s resting well, then you too would be calm.
Because of your past disinterest in him, only at this moment did you observe how sharp his jawline was and the cuts on his arms he sought refuge in. No matter how many times you tried to deny Hera’s compliments of him on the side, you couldn’t.
Lee Jeno embodied attractive features; both physical and emotional.
Back to his plate, it’ll put him at a disadvantage if he submitted the way it looked before he passed out. But you remembered all those extra details he mentioned and wanted to add to this project. Being an explorer, you documented all your ventures through words or drawings. You’re fast to adjust to anything new too.
For all the good he’s done for everyone, he only deserved some help in return.
Your version of help was sketching the remaining details of this plate, using other pens for more emphasis. It’s a risk also, but no way could you turn a blind eye on Jeno this time.
Around 5:30 am, Jeno’s eyes blinked open due to a brightening light from the outside. Stretching his limbs, he finds a velvet cloak wrapped around him like a blanket. But before he could question it, he pulled his arm in to see the time on his watch.
“Fuck!” He cursed, realizing that his so-called 10-minute snooze break aborted.
“Oh my, you’re awake!” From his frazzled state, there you were. So put together yet active, some strands of your hair falling down your face even with your hair up in a ponytail. “How was your sleep?”
This whole time he could’ve been woken up, yet you chose not to. You’re aware of his deadline, yet you let him rest entirely. He could’ve burst out in stress, yet he didn’t. You and he may have started on the wrong foot, yet it’s impossible of you to do such an evil thing. He’ll just have to tolerate the outcome later today.
“Refreshing. I really needed it.” Packing his things in his bag and closing the table, you trailed along as he exited with you. Locking up, he has 30 minutes left to accomplish the cleaning. A long good morning indeed.
But his worry of that vanished when you admitted that you had it all covered.
“Everyone helped out in cleaning, plus there are no damages made either.” From your hand, you returned one of his keys that was on his guard blazer. “I double-checked the Oriental Room and locked the doors again.”
“Why are you suddenly so nice to me, (Y/N)?” He questioned with confusion, wearing his blazer again and patting away any creases. He placed your cloak over you again like a true gentleman.
Without a word, you simply invited him to walk you back to your exhibit as parts of the sun began to rise. As you returned to your section, your fellow figures readying themselves to pose again,
“It’s my way to apologize for my very rude first impression and the succeeding moments after. I was too cooped up in my past that I was too afraid to let humans in again, night guards in particular.” You admitted, removing your cloak and placing behind your chair like always. “I’m so sorry, Jeno. Everyone was right about you and your kind heart.”
“About time.” Cleopatra’s sultry voice cut in, laying on her day bed.
Before you had the chance to flip off, Jeno mediated swiftly. With a gentle smile, “No worries about it. I’m just happy you’re okay, after all you’ve been through.”
“Can we start over then?”
“Absolutely.” With his free hand, he brought it out. No matter what kind of introductions, shaking one’s hand was the best way to start a friendship. “Good evening. I’m Lee Jeno, the new museum night guard.”
“(Y/N) (Y/L/N), explorer and author.” Sighing at his humor, you still replied by shaking his hand. “And I believe you’re mistaken, Lee Jeno. It’s a good morning.”
Seconds after, you imitated your typical pose and smile. Only now, the latter was more genuine. Finally, a fresh start to end your agony.
Once the sun fully revealed itself, every figure including yourself froze back to sleep. Something Jeno wished to catch up on if it weren’t for his damn plate. He was so screwed, already contemplating his next steps if he does fail this class. The possibility of getting delayed in all aspects, he dreaded it already.
Heading back to his dorm, where both his roommates completely passed out from soju on the couch, he sat by his work desk and turned on his night lamp for more light since the sun wasn’t strong enough yet.
With another cup of coffee, he cracked the joints of his knuckles and laid out his pens. He had 2 hours left to submit this plate, and at most he should accomplish 50% of his initial plan. However, he didn’t anticipate such a gorgeous outcome when he brought out his plate.
Picture perfect of every detail he desired, even adding a rooftop area with that he’d love to have if ever the museum does go under renovation one day. Rather than setting the plate during the day, it was at night as the skies were dark and bright specks of yellow inside the building symbolized light.
So much for wasting coffee, he’ll just give it to Jaemin when he wakes up later. Below the final product, a note written in cursive was stuck on it.
 I knew you wanted to get this specific plate done, but you mustn’t compromise your sleep for it. It’s your inhumane professor’s fault!
To make up for my faults, I wanted to help you out. I paid extra attention to the details you spoke highly about, so I only hoped that I interpreted it correctly. It’s risky, but as someone who researched so much about me, would you be surprised that I did such a thing?
PS: Get back to sleep. I’m quite sure your desk is laid out the same way in the Foreign Art Room.
Respectfully,
(Y/N)
 Turning off his lamp, Jeno jumped the covers of his bed to continue his lost sleep. Without an ounce of care that he hasn’t changed into cleaner clothes, he’s relieved that he won’t flunk his class.
Most of all, he’s relieved that you’ve melted the ice in you and allowed kindness to come in. Jeno may never understand how hard that must’ve been for you, yet he raved you for it.
“Oh, (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Surprise is an understatement when it comes to you.”
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vaspider · 2 years
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My brain hurts about this "payroll is wage theft" conversation. Someone called you bourgeois for having a small business. Calling payroll a loan??? There's so many genuine examples of wage theft that we don't have to make up shit.
All I can think of is someone mixed up "payroll" and "salary" and rather than correct the mistake had to scramble to find ways to justify it and everyone just kept parroting it back because it sounded smart without actually realizing that it's not how any of this works.
Like I can understand salary because I've seen it abused way, way too often with friends and family not getting paid for overtime because it's just expected but payroll????
Well, if you're going by Marxist analysis, the minute I became able to afford to purchase someone else's labor rather than entirely expending my own, so, like, the first time I paid my first contractor or commissioned art from someone, I became petite bourgeoisie. That is true. But that's not bourgeoisie; I'm not a member of the capitalist class, and it doesn't determine my class loyalty. The concept of 'small capitalists' is poorly developed in Marx's writing and kind of breaks down in later writings in terms of applicability to my situation, because Brecht and Reich and Kirkegaard focused on petite bourgeoisie as mainstays of enforcing patriarchal and normative familial forms and not being religiously-involved or creative in any way, which, uh.
Yeah.
Some people just like to throw around words they don't really understand or aren't using to make meaningful analysis because they think it'll make people flinch. The answer is that yes, in Marxist analysis I fall under petite bourgeoisie, and no, I am not eligible to be a member of IWW any longer, but that doesn't make me a fucking capitalist, and attempting to put me in the same category as the DeJoys or Bezos because they're trying to -- what? -- hurt my feelings? try to argue that my explanations of what's a loan and what's an escrow are wrong? is sort of revealing of how little of an argument lies with those words.
No, you can't hurt my feelings by correctly analyzing my change in class. That's correct, I do pay for people's labor now in addition to expending my own alongside them. That's a correct analysis of my class, if that is in fact the analysis made and not some fart-cushion comparison between me and haute bourgeoisie. Good job.
Anyway, I understand the argument that's being made, but it doesn't actually mesh with some very basic definitions of how money works in the US. I worked in banking/lending both before and after the consumer protections vis-a-vis lending were put in place, which meant very strict definitions on what is a loan and what is not, how interest can be charged, what paperwork has to be signed and exchanged, etc. Moving those boundaries around lending and escrow would be a fucking disaster, and this situation doesn't meet the definition of loan in any case. Like, it just doesn't.
And now I'm going to stop talking about this entirely because I need to get some actual writing work done and this has sucked up way too much of my time today. Further asks from anyone will be posted without reply, and I'm done continuing that thread. I gotta actually do my prole work, where I'm a freelancer and don't pay anybody.
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hopeless-ro-simptic · 3 years
Text
Familiar Cerulean Eyes
Might change title later. 
Omegaverse: Alpha Dabi X Omega Reader, also a little bit of Alpha Shoto x Omega Reader. 
Summary (Kinda?): Reader was sold to the Todoroki family to be Touya Todoroki’s mate when they reached of age due to the readers nullification skin quirk (I don’t know what to call it). Endevor was 100% sure that Touya would present as an Alpha and the reader has been showing signs of being an Omega since early childhood. However, after Touya died *Ahem*, Endevor kept reader around with the plans of giving her to one of his other kids if they showed promise. Shoto being the one that was chosen for her after he presented. However things go sideways when she is kidnapped by Dabi. 
Notes: Reader has a nullification quirk that only works on her own body. Basically her skin acts as a barrier and anything that is made from a quirk cannot effect her. Example being that she isn’t burnt by any of the Todoroki’s fire, by the airborn effects such as the smoke that she inhales still cause damage. Physical quirks like Kirishima wouldn’t be affected by her quirk. Also piercing quirks that deal with getting past her skin like Toga’s or Stains would still affect her. Feel free to ask questions! 
Also this is a slow burn. There is no smut in this part but I expect there will be at some point. 
Click here for a full list of parts! Part 2  
Word count: 3.5 K 
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Fire. It was everywhere. You had never seen a fire this large, you were completely engulfed in the flames, yet you weren’t burning. You’re quirk was the reasoning, preventing any damage to you from outside quirks. That was the entire reason that the alpha Enji Todoroki bought you, because he knew you couldn’t be harmed by the current inferno that was his eldest son Touya Todoroki.
“Y/N!” Came the gruff Alpha voice of the current number two hero, glaring down at you. “Make him stop before he burns this whole place down.”
You shivered, even at such a young age, you showed all the tale tell signs of being an Omega. You wanted to tuck tail and run away from the angry Alpha glaring down at you, but you didn’t dare. Glancing back at the raging inferno, you hesitated, while it wouldn’t burn you to touch the fire, it didn’t make it any less terrifying.
“GO!” The smack across your petite face made you chirp loudly with pain, covering your swelling cheek with your hand, tears springing to your eyes.
The fire in front of you both suddenly switched to a different hue, and you could tell that it was burning even hotter than before. The fire was the last time you looked at something with that shade of blue and enjoyed it.
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Piercing blue eyes glared at you from across the room as you gathered up the plates from the table. They followed your every move and you could feel your omega begging to release out a distress scent or to chirp or anything under the terrifying glare of the imposing Alpha. Why was he still here?
“Y/N, I will accompany you to the market today.  I have a couple things I need to get anyways.” Shoto was releasing his usual calming scent but he wasn’t even looking at you. He was watching the news on his phone, completely ignoring whatever conversation his father was trying to have with him.  
“Okay, great.” You tried to keep your voice even as you finished up the dishes quickly. You wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Your omega even more so, but you should of paid attention to how you worded your response.
“He is an Alpha and you will regard him as such!” The larger Alpha’s voice rang throughout the house and you could feel your body freeze against it’s own will. You let out the softest of all chirps, hearing the chair scratch against the floor as he stood up, the temperature in the room raising.
“I am not her Alpha yet. She can address me as she pleases!” Shoto’s own alpha voice rang out against his father’s, steam building in the room as the hot and cold met. You closed your eyes and slapped an imaginary hand across your omegas mouth to keep her quiet. If you didn’t react, he would leave you alone.
“Let’s go Y/N. I’ll have the car pulled around.” You immediately turned and dashed from the room following Shoto’s quick stride, only stopping to quickly bow to Enji, your eyes downcast.
Once in the car, Shoto let out a soft sigh, his eyes watching outside the window. It was a Saturday, and he didn’t have classes for the day which is the only reason you were allowed outside of the house, away from the protective scent of the pack.
“I’m sorry, Shoto… I should have chosen my words more carefully.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t even glance at you, causing a slight frown to cross your face. He had grown so detached from you recently since he had told you he wanted to wait until he graduated from UA to bond with you. You had been totally fine with the request, and in all honesty you were relieved. You had grown up together, and you knew that one day it would have to happen, but you were very much so uncomfortable with the thought of being intimate with Shoto. You knew he probably felt just as uncomfortable. But that didn’t stop your Omega from worrying about the fact that Shoto may never want to be with you like that.
“A-are we okay?” You could feel your omega start to stress, a sour smell filling up the car as you crossed your arms around yourself feeling the overwhelming anxiety creeping in of a mate that would never want you. You knew from the day that your family sold you to the Todoroki’s because of your quirk that life wouldn’t be a fairy tale, but you had always latched onto the fact that the Todoroki pups were so sweet to you from the moment you met. After your to be mate, Touya had died, Shoto was always there to tell you it wasn’t your fault. You had hoped that you could at least be happy with him.
Shoto finally looked at you, his nose scrunching up at the smell emiting from your omega, him releasing his own calming scent, much stronger than at the house. Waving you over to him you shuffled across the seat and up against his warm left side, desperately trying to keep your emotions in check. He pulled your hair back and nuzzling up against your scent glands trying to calm you down the way he often saw other alphas do, making sure to scent you lightly so that you would be safe at the market from other alphas.
“Y/N, relax, we are fine. It will all be fine. Once I graduate and become a pro hero, we can bond and we won’t have to stay in that awful house anymore. Then you can nest all you want and no one will take it apart. I promise. I’m sorry for making you feel like this.”
You relaxed once you were engulfed in his scent, peppermint filling up your nose. While he was a couple years younger than you, you knew he would make a great alpha. He did genuinely care about you, and you knew he would always protect you and keep you safe. He wouldn’t get mad at you when you “made a mess” of your room nesting. Maybe one day you two would be able to be proper mates and there will be a different kind of love there. Maybe some pups of your own. 
The car had pulled to a stop and you let Shoto finish up scenting you to cover up your own omega smell before you both exited the car. Shoto offered you his hand to help you out which you happily took, and was a little shocked when he didn’t immediately let go of it. His grip was light and awkward but at least he was trying to show you it was okay. It was short lived though when about ten feet into the market it was too crowded to even hold hands. Instead you lightly gripped onto the back of his shirt following him closely as he weaved through the crowd.
You followed him like that for about ten minutes, only briefly pausing at stalls to pick up the short grocery list that you had brought with you for the week. Only after the list was complete did he finally stop at a stall with freshly made Soba. Rolling your eyes as he weighed his choices as to have it hot or cold you looked around the market.
Something smelled… familiar… but also new at the same time. It was hard to pick it out over all of the mingling scents from the many different people around you. You also weirdly felt like you were being watched. Glancing around you didn’t see anyone staring at you that you noticed, and what was weird about it was that your Omega didn’t feel threatened. Shrugging it off as Shoto turned to ask you what your order was, the world around you exploded into chaos.
“Fire!” Screams surrounded you at every turn and the air turned foul as all of the panicked scents filled the air. Soot covered people’s faces and you could feel the heat of the fire but couldn’t see where it was coming from. Shoto was gone from your sight and immediately your Omega screamed out for him to come back. Desperately wanting to smell his familiar and comforting scent again. You were shoved to the ground by a passing beta group and you felt a sharp pain in your wrist as you braced yourself against the ground.
“Shoto!” Tears were streaming down your face and you weren’t even sure when you started crying. Everything was getting hazy and the smoke in the area was making it hard to see or breathe. The fire must be close if it was affecting you like this. Briefly you wondered if you were in the fire yourself. You could hear others calling out and screaming to run around you but you were frozen to your spot in fear. You hated fire. Everything about it was awful. Memories started swimming in your head of cerulean blue eyes and a fire that matched them as well as the red fires that emanated from the Alpha back at home that hated you.
You felt yourself curl up in a tight ball on the floor behind the food stall, your omega chirping wildly, desperately just wanting Shoto to come back and take you away from all of this. Where did he even go? Probably to go be a hero and put the fire out, but why would he leave you alone?
You sat frozen like that, in full panicked omega mode, for what felt like hours but in reality was only a few minutes before you passed out from the smoke fumes. Only waking up when lean arms reached under you, picking you up and cradling you in their arms protectively before carrying you off to safety of home. You barely registered the pretty blue of the eyes staring down at you before you were out again, consumed in darkness.
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Blue flames fading to red licked against your skin, you not feeling anything but an uncomfortable heat from them as you pushed through the smoldering rubble searching, screaming.
“Touya! Where are you?” You choked on the smoke filling your lungs, but you didn’t dare stop searching. This was your fault. You should have gone in and calmed him down when you were told. It would be your fault if he overheated. Your fault if he got hurt, if he…
No. There was no way. You pushed past the burning in your lungs from the smoke. While the quirk created fire couldn’t hurt you, the smoke that resulted from it definitely could. But still, you kept searching, and you would keep searching until the fireman came and pulled you away, tears streaming down your face as you realized that you’re to be mate was no where to be found.
You would never forgive yourself for the death of Touya Todoroki.
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You sat up with a start, your head pounding as you gasped for air, your lungs still thinking they were full of smoke. You were surrounded by a scent you didn’t recognize. No, that’s not entirely true. You had smelled it before, but you couldn’t place where. It was a strange smell, like a cinnamon whiskey covered in smoke and tobacco. Rubbing your head you looked around at your surroundings, letting out a chirp and pulling your knees into your chest when you realized you were being watched.
The bedroom you were in didn’t look familiar, but the cerulean eyes staring back at you from a chair in the corner distracted you from looking in detail. The lights were out and the dark grey walls made you feel like you were in a teenagers goth bedroom, the only light coming from between the blinds on the window. Other than the bed, a dresser and the chair, there wasn’t very much in the room, if you excluded the overwhelmingly tall and lean black haired alpha that was splayed out comfortably across that chair, his eyes never leaving yours as you did a quick scan of the room, a smirk on his lips.
Even in the barely lit room, you didn’t miss the glint of silver staples and the marred purple-toned skin. You also couldn’t ignore the section of the ceiling that was scorched black above your head. Your eyes widened at the realization that the delicious and somewhat familiar scent was emitting from the alpha in front of you. The smell of cinnamon whiskey and tobacco engulfed in smoke was oddly a warm and welcome smell, but that didn’t change the fact that it was coming from one of the most notorious villains in Japan.
His eyes never left yours as you did a quick mental scan of yourself. You don’t think you were injured other than the throbbing in your right wrist. You also were still in the same clothes as you had been wearing at the market, and even though the alphas scent was strong, you could barely make out the peppermint smell of Shoto, comforting you a little at knowing the alpha hadn’t forcefully scented you. Yet.
The Alpha in question was growing tired of the silent game but he was just as stubborn to let you speak first, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his lips, lighting the end of it with his pinky at the same time. The small candle sized blue flame was enough to have your omega releasing a distress scent that you were surprised you were able to hold back until now.
The Alpha merely glanced back up at your form, his eyes raking your body slowly, enjoying the view that was in front of him.  The way his eyes hugged the curves of your body, slowing down in parts that particularly enticed him, had you shivering like a wet pup. Once his eyes reached yours again, you watched as his tounge slipped out, sporting a glinting metal ball, licking his lips slowly keeping eye contact with you.
The omega in the back of your head, the one that apparently had a death wish, made a quip about how hot that was but you immediately shut her up and reminded her who exactly you were dealing with.  And as if you needed to be reminded, the Alpha finally, taking his time, stood up, towering over you and taking up a majority of the small room. You watched as he flicked his smoked cigarette to the floor, stepping on it to put it out.  You couldn’t help but pull yourself into the corner of the bed, inching away from him and pulling into yourself, chirping wildly as you closed your eyes waiting to die. You weren’t sure how he was going to kill you, but you didn’t think it was going to be quick when he found out he couldn’t burn you.
Instead of the all too familiar heat from fire, you felt the bed dip as his rough hand slip underneath your jaw, forcing it up to look at him. Opening your eyes you were nose to nose with the bright blue eyes that took your breath away. From this close you could see all the little flecks in them that made up their piercing color. They looked rather familiar.. handsome even, but you refused the dwell on that and forced yourself to stop chirping  and releasing your distress scent as it clearly wasn’t helping the situation. You recognized that the villain probably had the room scent proofed and sound proof, or you were far enough away from civilization that no one would come to your rescue just based off of a distressed omega.
Covering your omega’s distress was difficult, but you had plenty of practice in the last several years, and you were all too familiar with the fact that some alpha’s got off on terrified omegas.
He still didn’t speak as he looked down at you, in fact he didn’t seemed rushed at all as his eyes searched yours for something you weren’t sure, flicking to different parts of your face like he was trying to memorize it. His grasp on your chin didn’t loosen either though, and his free hand snaked its way onto one of your ankles, gripping it lightly, to keep you in place.
You couldn’t handle the silence anymore.
“Are you going to kill me?”
The smirk on his face faltered and a look of almost confusion and something else briefly passed across his face, before it was covered back up with the signature smirk.
“Why would I do that little mouse?”
“Because you’re a villain..” You’re voice was scratchy. You were thirsty, but you weren’t about to tell the murderer in front of you that.
“Ah, so you do know who I am.”
You nodded, unconsciously licking your lips to relieve the ache that was settling there from the dryness. This only caused the villain in front of you to shift his gaze down to your lips, his own parting slightly, breathing in your scent.
“What’s my name?” His voice had dropped an octave and sounded raspier now, which you didn’t think was possible. The sound of it stirred something deep inside you that you begged to hush. The omega inside you was at war with itself. You reminded it once again that you were face to face, nose to nose, with a damned murderer. So to further remind yourself, you forced out his name between clenched teeth.
“Dabi.”
It almost seemed like the villain pouted for a second, like he was wanting another answer, but instead of providing you insight to his reaction, he pulled away from you,  turning back to his chair and sitting down. A wrinkle on his nose in disgust.
“Why do you smell like that half and half hero brat?” That caught you off guard. How did he know Shoto’s smell? How long was he watching you before he captured you?
“H-he’s my alpha..”
“You’re not bonded.” He pointed out lazily.
“We were waiting.”
“What would he possibly be waiting for? That’s just an invitation for someone else to come along and snatch you up5. By the smell of things, he doesn’t even take the time to scent you thoroughly. You sure he even wants you? Has he even noticed you’re gone?”
Your omega let out a soft chirp, hurt by Dabi’s words. You didn’t need to be reminded of anything that he was saying. In the back of your mind you knew it was all true. As much as Shoto tried for your benefit to make things work between you two, you wondered if he even cared that you were gone. Losing you meant he finally had the free will to court whoever he wanted. That Momo girl he was always talking about from school came immediately to your mind.
You tried to push these thoughts to the back of your mind and remind yourself that Shoto still cared about you and still would protect you no matter what. You tried to tell yourself that he was probably on his way right now to come save you and that once he did he would pull you into his arms and dispel any of the villains scent and replace it with his own until you couldn’t smell anything but peppermint.
You also ignored the lone thought pressing into your skull from all sides that maybe you didn’t want Shoto to come rescue you. Maybe you could get out of this without his help and maybe you could start a new life, one where you got to choose your own Alpha.
“Let me go.” Your voice barely a whisper, you couldn’t meet the eyes of the Alpha in front of you.
“No.” He snorted and rolled his eyes like what you said was the stupidest thing he ever heard, and maybe it was given that you just asked a psychopathic killer to just let you go on a whim. “Here’s the deal. You are staying here with me, because you are mine.”
You met his eyes when he said that. Confusion and a bit of fear creeping back into your face. Your heart rate picking up as you hugged your body to shield it from him.
“Don’t worry. I won’t bond you without permission, I’m not into rape.” His face showed that he meant that at least, the disgust at even the thought of a forced bond evident for a moment before he shook his head, his eyes caressing your body once again just like he had done several minutes earlier. “But mark my words, Omega, I’ll get permission.”
He licked his lips slowly, once again showing off the piercing in his tongue. His eyes focusing on your lips before finally meeting your own eyes again. You could smell the pheromones pumping off him, making the air around you smell absolutely enticing against better judgment.  
“You were out for almost 8 hours, we need to get you taken care of.” You swallowed, unsure of exactly what he meant by that. 8 hours? And Shoto wasn’t here yet? “Are you hungry?” His voice once again dropped down to that raspy level, and you couldn’t help but let out a small squeak like a mouse caught in a trap.
For some reason, unbeknownst to you, your omega shuddered and not in fear.
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