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#anyway. sorry yeah this is a joe thing that frustrates me to no end I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN. wishing you luck :(
theminecraftbee · 5 months
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Hey Second! As the resident vault hunters fanatic, I was wondering if you or any of your followers had links to Joe’s vh streams on youtube. It seems like most of them have been unlisted and I missed a lot of them live so I only have about half saved. The older streams are reaching the 60 day mark where twitch deletes the vods. Im hoping that they’re not just lost to the void
i'm so sorry, i don't have the links--i mostly watch joe on twitch, so i don't have the old youtube links saved :(. if anyone else has them, i'd love to see them, but if he's been unlisting them i'm not really sure what to do because he normally does that intending people won't watch them (his final hermitcraft 9 stream was immediately unlisted and deleted on twitch and i KNOW he does that when he's planning on making something mostly episode content and doesn't want to take away from that but GOD THAT HURTS I WISH I'D KNOWN HE WAS GOING TO DO THAT SO I COULD DOWNLOAD IT, it hurts my HEART when stuff like this gets lost, i swear, like, that one has genuinely upset me for real).
anyway i suspect the vault hunters streams are being unlisted because they've largely been turning into episode content, and he wants people to watch the episodes instead, so you can at least get a large portion of the streams from those, but like... man.
if anyone has the old links in their youtube history and they HAVE just been unlisted and not deleted, please let me know so anonymous--person can archive them! that'd be really nice!
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Tacenda - Chapter 18 Snippet
As they walk onto platform 9¾ Eleanor looks around desperately for Harry. She sent him a letter saying she needed to talk to him but she needs him to pretend he snogged her at Christmas. It was vague and probably the most confusing thing he’d ever received in his life but she’s desperate.
She knows he’ll do it for her but she also knows he needs an explanation. The only problem is she can’t think of one.
She quickly says goodbye to her parents and Liv before heading straight to the train. They watch her a little startled as she suddenly runs off but she needs to get to Harry before Joe does.
She doesn’t have time for guilt.
She drops her stuff into an empty compartment before walking up and down the train keeping an eye out for him.
Why isn’t he there yet?
Just as she’s about to scream in frustration Harry approaches her looking concerned.
“Elle, what’s wrong?” He says striding towards her determinedly.
Eleanor almost runs to him as her body fills with an unjustified relief. She wants to pull him into a hug just for having the same description as Theo.
“Thank Merlin you’re here.” She breathes out.
Harry places his hand on her arm as he stares at her with worry.
“Elle what’s going on? Your letter just said something about a kiss and urgent. Did something happen?”
Eleanor nods nervously. Harry furrows his brow continuing to watch her.
“So I was home alone the other night and someone turned up.” She explains Harry’s face instantly drops. “It’s okay it was unexpected but welcome, kind of, anyway we ended up watching a movie, one thing led to another and we kissed. But my mum and dad came home half through and um, this person is someone I should not be kissing.”
Harry’s face becomes more and more confused as she talks.
“So I wouldn’t tell them who it was. But my parents wouldn’t accept that and gave a small description of this person to Joe and he instantly thought of you and I couldn’t think of anyone else to say so I didn’t say anything. He might come and ask you what happened but just tell him it was a drunk one off or something please. I don’t want to ask you but I really cannot admit to kissing the person I did.”
“Why? Who is it?” He asks.
Eleanor shakes her head. “I really can’t say. I wish I could but I can’t. Please, Harry, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to.”
Harry watches her for a moment before running a hand through his hair as he lets out a deflated sigh.
“Okay. There’s no strings attached to this right? Your dad isn’t going to kill me or anything.”
Eleanor shakes her head. “No, he knows what the other person looks like.”
Harry nods with a small sigh. “Okay. So what? You invited me over, we watched a movie and kissed in the moment?”
Eleanor nods. “Basically yeah. I was bored babysitting alone and you came over, you needed a breather from yours. We watched a movie got caught up and kissed. It was a one off.”
Harry nods. “Okay. That’s… yeah okay.”
Eleanor reaches forward pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you.”
Harry hugs her back. “It’s okay. I expect you to save me from your friends though.”
Eleanor giggles pulling back. “Don’t worry I’m sure they won’t find out.”
Eleanor pulls away continuing to smile at Harry like the angelic Godsend he is. Forget being the chosen one he’s a damn saint.
“Seriously Harry thank you, I can’t even begin to tell you how much you’re saving me.” She breathes out in relief.
“It’s fine. I’m sure you’d do the same for me.” Harry reassures her, his tone gentle making her love him even more – platonically, of course.
“Oi Potter, a word.” Eleanor groans as Joe strides down the train towards them.
Harry gives Eleanor a pointed look, she mouths sorry at him.
“So this is why you ran off.” Joe says to Eleanor before elbowing her out of the way to talk to Harry. “Listen we’re good friends right Harry, and if anyone is going to snog Elle I’m kind of glad it’s you but dad asked me to say the ball thing still stands.”
Harry looks horrified as he turns to stare at Elle with wide eyes. She grimaces at him apologetically.
“The ball thing?” He asks in a strained voice.
Joe shrugs. “I dunno but you’re not the type to use and abuse my sister so it’s good.” He claps Harry on the back with a cheesy grin.
Harry gives Eleanor a look that screams what have you got me into.
She clears her throat standing straighter as she addresses Joe.
“Joe, me and Harry aren’t together.” She says straightforwardly.
Best to just get it out of the way, tell it as it is, rip the band aid off, don’t make it worse.
Joe turns to her with a confused look. “What? Of course you are. You were doing things, that as your brother, I refuse to think about.”
“No Joe, we weren’t.” Eleanor says quietly. “We were just watching a movie, got caught up in the moment and kissed, that’s when mum and dad walked in. They overreacted, Dad especially, he saw red. But it wasn’t even a real kiss.”
“But they said you were basically dry humping.” Joe states.
Fucking hell.
Harry is staring at her with an open mouth. Yep, she owes him big time.
“We were not!” She exclaims. “Like I said a little peck that’s it, not even tongue.”
“Oh.” Joe says he looks round at Harry before looking back at Eleanor. “He didn’t lead you on or anything.”
“Merlin no. Honestly it just happened, we both decided it was more funny than anything, it’s just dad who decided I was a slut.”
Joe and Harry both wince at the word slut but it’s how her dad’s been acting. The thought makes her lips pull into a frown and her heartache. She doesn’t like the idea of either of her parents thinking of her like that. She doesn’t even like that term.
“Well, okay then.” Joe says looking a little sad. “But I have to be honest I prefer Harry to Zac.”
“Zac? Not Zacharias Smith.” Harry says in disgust.
Joe nods with a look that says I know.
Eleanor lets out a frustrated moan. “He’s not that bad.”
“He really is.” Harry states.
Does everyone have an opinion on the boys she might possibly date?
“Thank you. Honestly Elle you can do so much better than that arse hole.” Joe exclaims.
“Joe drop it.” She says flatly.
“Drop him.”
“If you can’t be nice I’m going.” She tells them turning to walk away.
“That’s perfect.” Joe calls after her. “Use that on Smith and he’ll soon be out of our lives.”
Eleanor shoots him a narrow-eyed look before continuing up the corridor. She’s so angry she doesn’t notice the toilet door open as a pair of arms appear pulling her inside.
She squeals as she squeezes into the tight space, her body pressed against someone else.
She looks up to see Theo grinning down at her.
“Hello.” He tells her brushing her hair out of her face as he bends down to connect their lips.
Eleanor doesn’t know how to respond, she doesn’t have time to respond.
Instead she melts into his touch, her body moulding around his own. Almost pathetically desperate like she need his touch. Her hands reach up to rest on his shoulders as he squeezes her waist gently.
He pulls away giving her a small smile.
“What’s this?” Eleanor asks staring into Theo’s eyes, a mischievous look glinting in them in the most devilishly attractive way.
He gives her a small shrug. “I guess I found it too hard to stay away from you. And I really like what we did over Christmas.”
Eleanor purses her lips trying to hide her growing smile.
“And what about what I think?” She asks playfully. “What if I don’t want to kiss you?”
Theo’s smile drops as he thinks about her words.
“Shit, Eleanor I’m sorry.” He breathes out. “I didn’t mean to assume, fuck I’m so sorry.”
Eleanor watches him with an amused look. He’s utterly adorable when he’s worried about her.
“Theo, I’m joking.” She says grabbing hold of his shirt collar and pulling his back down into another kiss.
He goes willingly, easily. Eleanor isn’t sure if he’s just shocked as he remains motionless for a few seconds before finally reciprocating the kiss.
She can feel his lips pulling up at the corners into a smile as he continues to kiss her. It makes her heart flutter uncontrollably.
She giggles into the kiss, euphoria over taking her entire body as she becomes giddy, her legs turning to jelly.
What were they doing? What was even happening right now?
Theo pulls his lips away from hers to press kisses along her jaw, Eleanor tips her head to the side to give him more access as he starts to trail open mouthed kisses along her neck.
She angles herself to give him more room, a deep moan escaping her mouth that makes her flush with colour, but Theo apparently likes it. His fingers digging into her skin at the sound.
Eleanor wants to continue but she can’t, she’s so confused with what’s happening right now.
But it feels so good.
But it’s Theo.
But it feels so good.
But it’s Theo.
Yes, it’s Theo. Her Theo.
Her eyes shoot open and she pulls back a little, there’s not much room and Theo doesn’t seem to notice. His mouth continues to caress her skin making her entire body weak and his for the taking.
No, she needs to know what the rules are. What he’s thinking.
“Theo.” She breathes out, and much to her horror her voice is strained and full of desire.
Theo growls in response his hands traveling down, caressing the flesh of her backside as he licks over her collarbone.
Oh fuck. Eleanor’s chest automatically arches towards him as though trying to press as much of their bodies together as possible.
She hasn’t got the strength or will power for this.
“Theo.” She says again more clearly this time.
“Nora.” He breathes.
She doesn’t know why but him calling her Nora has her legs shaking. She bites her bottom lip before gently lowering her hands to his chest and pushing him back.
He pulls away giving her a confused look.
“What’s wrong?” He asks his brow furrowed as he watches her.
Eleanor tries to pull herself together in order to have some sort of conversation with him, she can’t be demanding to know his intentions if she’s gasping like an idiot her body burning for his touch and her eyes blown wide as she stares at his stupidly handsome face.
She quietly clears her throat before replying.
“What’s happening right now?” She asks.
Theo tilts his head to the side as he stares at her.
“Um, kissing.”
Eleanor lets out a small breath of annoyance.
“I know that but I mean what’s this?” She gestures between them with her hand.
Theo watches the movement with confusion before staring back at her.
“Don’t you like it? I could try something else.” He suggests sincerely.
Eleanor lets out a small breath. Merlin she needs all the strength she can get right now, was he deliberately being obtuse or was he really not understanding her meaning?
“No Theo, I mean what are we? What is this between us? Are we dating? Is this just kissing? What are you thinking about?”
Theo pulls back a little giving her a sombre look.
That can’t be good, Eleanor thinks her stomach dropping as his eyes roam over her.
“Honestly?” He asks.
Eleanor nods, swallowing nervously as she waits for him to tell her he’s using her for a hopeful quickie.
“Right now I’m not being a gentleman.” He says honestly and Eleanor’s heart stops with dread. “Because right now I’m thinking of how your arse felt in my hands, the way your chest pressed against me and how those beautiful lips feel against mine. I’m also thinking of how they’d feel doing something else but I haven’t lost all my gentlemanliness yet, so I won’t fill in the missing details for you.”
His voice is deep and suggestive, his eyes roaming over her like she’s the most desirable thing in the world and it has her breath catching in her throat.
She doesn’t know what to do. She didn’t expect that answer, she expected him to either say he liked her or he didn’t, not whatever that was. She has to admit she likes it though. She likes hearing him talk about her like that.
“Oh.” Is all she manages to get out in her stunned state.
Theo gives her a small smile as he runs his hand up and down her side, a shiver traveling over her body at the sensation.
“What about you? What are you thinking about?” His voice a tempting whisper.
Eleanor blinks as she tries to think of something but he’s short circuited her, she has no thoughts or feelings just shocked numbness… and desire.
“I um- yes.” She states staring at him hoping something better forms in her brain sooner rather than later.
Theo lets out a small laugh before pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. He holds his face there, pressed close to hers and she can feel when he smirks.
“I’m hoping that’s a good reaction.” He tells her. “But I think you’re trying to ask me what I want to happen between us.”
Eleanor nods still trying to figure out how to pull oxygen into her lungs.
Theo hums appreciatively.
“Well.” He starts. “I would like many things to happen between us, I hope they can.”
He lets his hand travel to the small of her back pushing her towards him, so their bodies are almost completely flat against each other.
“But I’d like more than that.” He admits, his voice seductive and heart breaking. “I want you Eleanor, not just your body but you. I don’t want to like you but I do, I always have. It’s not really possible to have a relationship, not in public at least, not with my family history and friends but perhaps we could… meet up.”
Eleanor leans towards him before his words sink in. She pulls back giving him an annoyed look.
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honeypiehotchner · 3 years
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My Deep Blue Love (Tom Hiddleston x Fem!Reader) -- Soulmate AU one shot
This was 100% born out of boredom and loneliness and those damn Soulmate AU POV Tiktoks that I have seen practically 24/7 for the past WEEK on my fyp
(I’m not sure if I’ll do a part 2, rn I have no plans for it)
quick note on the technicality of this one: you lose all ability to see colors when you turn 12 and you don’t regain the ability until you meet your soulmate. but! you have to meet them in person and it has to be a mutual eye contact. pictures/videos of them don’t work, and if you just saw the back of their head or something in person, that doesn’t work either. it’s all about the shared eye contact babeyyy
small disclaimer: Brie Larson is mentioned in here and she has a wife, but that is very much only in this fic, and as far as i know Brie doesn’t have a wife irl lol (i also don’t know if she’s spoken about her sexuality at all so what i’m saying is take it with a grain of salt ok)
Summary: Everyone around you is meeting their soulmate, but you still see in black and white. You’re ready to give up, and basically have, when you lock eyes with your soulmate.
Warnings: None! Just a bit of angst, lots of fluff toward the end 
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You knock on your mom’s bedroom door at 4:58am. She’s already awake, sitting up in bed, ushering you over.
With tears in your eyes, you crawl onto her bed, snuggling close to her chest.
“I don’t want to lose my colors,” you whimper.
“I know, baby,” she whispers, kissing the top of your head. “It’s okay.”
You were born 12 years ago on this day at 5:08am, so in a few short minutes, when you officially turn 12 years old, all color will drain from your life.
Or the colors could stay, but that’s only if you’ve somehow already met your soulmate. And that’s rare, nearly impossible.
You squeeze your eyes shut at 5:07 and you don’t open them again until 5:10.
The colors are gone.
+++
twenty years later
You sigh heavily as you receive yet another wedding invite. You are invited to witness the official beginning of Olivia and Jeffrey’s lives together as husband and wife, soulmates for all of time.
The glitter sticks to your fingertips, tiny black dots against your skin. Your friend told you it’s gold. You barely remember what that looks like.
Lately it seems like everyone has been meeting their soulmate. Just yesterday, you were having coffee with a friend when she looked up at the girl sitting behind you, and boom.
“It’s like the world just exploded,” she had said. Colors were everywhere. She immediately left you to go talk to the girl.
You don’t blame her for that. If you had met your soulmate, you probably would’ve done the same thing. But you can’t say for sure because you don’t know.
You wouldn’t be so cynical of it all if your boyfriend of five years didn’t meet his soulmate while the two of you were out at dinner. You wish you could say that he was faking it. But it was clear from his face (and the girl’s) that he wasn’t kidding. It was real. He had met his soulmate, and it wasn’t you.
It’s never you.
You’ve had guys cut off dates before they even start, all because they didn’t see colors when they laid their eyes on you. They refuse to even be friends with you.
All anyone is doing anymore is searching for a soulmate and it’s exhausting when none of them are yours. When all of your friends see color now. When everyone assures you that it’ll happen soon. What does soon even mean?
You grab your ice cream from the freezer and fall onto the couch, flicking to whatever channel has late night shows that aren’t complete garbage.
As usual, you find yourself watching a talk show, and tonight Tom Hiddleston is one of the guests.
You’re sort of familiar with him from a few movies, but other than that, you hardly know anything about him.
“So, Tom, we’ve all been wondering what’s going on with you and Brie Larson?”
“Brie?” Tom asks, clearly shocked to hear this question. “We’re just good friends, that’s all.”
“Oh, she doesn’t make you see any colors?”
“Ah, no, actually, she does not,” Tom chuckles, but doesn’t sound sad at all, surprisingly. “Her wife does that for her, not me, I’m afraid.”
“Oh really?” The host brushes past the mention of Brie’s wife and keeps the focus on Tom, of course. “So is that true, you still don’t see color?”
Your ears perk up at the mention of someone else not seeing in color. It’s rare for anyone to talk about this on television. Most celebrities don’t talk about whether or not they’ve found their soulmate, but more often than not, those that have are quite loud about it.
“Yes, that’s true,” Tom answers. “I still see the world in a lovely black and white.”
You snort, harshly jabbing your spoon into your ice cream. Lovely. Yeah, right.
“Do you really think it’s nice? Do you not miss the colors?” The host asks.
“No, no, I do. I do,” Tom admits. “But I like to think I’ll see them when the time is right.”
You groan, going to Google to look up his age. And when you see he’s 40, you groan even louder. He’s older than you and he still hasn’t met his soulmate. That’s just depressing. How can he sound so optimistic?
“Alright, well, if there’s one thing you wish you could tell your soulmate, what would it be? Maybe they’re watching right now, you never know.”
Tom smiles wide. “Maybe, maybe, um… Oh, so many things,” Tom exhales deeply. “I guess I could be cliché and say I can’t wait to meet them and wait for me, but I think I want to say… I think I want to say I understand. It is frustrating, still seeing in black and white, but our paths will cross soon, I’m sure of it. Until then, my eyes are blue.”
Blue. Blue.
You roll your eyes. You don’t even remember what the color looks like.
+++
seven months later
“I am not going to a movie premiere. You’re insane!”
“Please!” Your friend, Catherine, cries. “You’ll love it, I swear.”
You glare at her over your coffee. “That just makes it sound like you have a trick up your sleeve.”
“I don’t,” she says. “I just want you to take advantage of this and come with us! When will you ever have the chance to go to a movie premiere again?”
She has a point. Dammit. “Touché. How did you get tickets, anyway? Please tell me you didn’t spend thousands for this.” You wouldn’t put it past her, even though you tell her not to every time before she does something like this.
“God, no, Joe surprised me with them earlier. He said he went to school with the lead.”
“Oh. Cool. Who?”
“Tom Hiddleston, I think. Have you heard of him? He’s British, but that’s about all I know. Joe just said they ran into each other the other day and reconnected.”
You stop halfway through a sip of coffee, careful to not choke on it. Slowly, you nod. “Yeah. I...I’ve seen him in a couple things.”
“Apparently, he hasn’t met his soulmate either…” Catherine trails away, raising her eyebrows at you.
You roll your eyes. “I heard,” you set your cup down. “He’s probably met them by now though since he blasted it on television like that.”
“Or he’s still searching and you’re still being too cynical.”
“You’re probably right,” you chuckle.
“Sooo, you’ll come?”
You sigh heavily. “As long as you help me pick something to wear.”
+++
“I’m regretting letting you talk me into this already,” you mutter when you nearly trip in your heels.
“Oh, hush,” Catherine swats your arm. “It’s an excuse to get dressed up and look hot for no reason. Take it.”
“Fine.”
Catherine’s soulmate, Joe, was whisked away almost as soon as the three of you stepped inside the venue by some director (you think), but he promised to return in a few minutes. Catherine told him not to worry. She’s used to him being dragged away for conversation. You can see from her face that she’s more proud of him than anything, and not at all annoyed.
Currently, you and Catherine are standing near the small bar, waiting for them to announce that it’s time to take your seats. You desperately want a drink, but part of you knows it would be a bad idea.
One glass of wine can’t hurt, though. Maybe it’ll take your mind off the pain in your feet.
You peel away from Catherine when you see Joe coming back, and you flag the bartender down quickly.
After ordering a glass of white wine, you wait patiently, wishing you had chosen a dress with sleeves. It’s fucking cold in here.
“Darling, you’re shivering, are you alright?”
Your head turns toward the smooth voice, face set and mind trying to decipher whether or not it was a sincere or creepy comment when the world quite literally explodes.
There, standing beside you, concern written all over his face, is Tom Hiddleston. Only now the concern has washed away into awe when your eyes lock with his.
“Oh my god,” he whispers, stumbling even though he’s standing in place.
“Blue,” you murmur. “Your eyes are blue.” Without even thinking or asking, your hand lifts to cup his cheek, and then you pull back, “Shit, sorry—”
But he grabs your wrist gently, placing your palm on his cheek. “It’s alright.” His thumb strokes the back of your hand. “I have been looking everywhere for you.”
“I thought you didn’t exist,” you whisper in reply. But here he is. His eyes are blue, his lips are pink, he has tiny brown freckles all over his rosy cheeks. You look back to his eyes, narrowing your own. “You liar. Your eyes have green in them, too.”
“Do they really?” Tom chuckles. “I never would’ve known.”
“That’s why you have me,” you tease, and you don’t know where any of this is coming from, yet it doesn’t feel like you’re pretending. It feels like you’re finally yourself.
His other hand tangles with yours as he nods. “That’s why I have you, indeed.”
At this time, the lights in the theatre begin lightly flashing, signaling that it’s time for everyone to begin making their way to their seats.
But neither you or Tom move one inch.
The only issue is people are beginning to stare.
You notice it first, so you slowly pull your hand from his cheek. This movement shocks him back to reality, too, and he blinks a few times, yet he doesn’t let go of your hand.
“I, um, I have to make a speech,” he says. “But then I can come back to you. Will you save me a seat?”
“Don’t you have to sit up front?”
He nods. “I do, but—”
“Then I’ll come with you.” You aren’t sure if it’s the fact that he hasn’t let go of your hand yet, or if it’s because you’ve been waiting so long that now you don’t want him to be further than an arms length away from you, but you mean what you say.
“Are you sure?” He asks, but you both need to make a decision quickly because you can see someone waving from the wings, most likely trying to get Tom’s attention.
“I’m sure.”
He doesn’t question it, in fact, he grins, and brings your hand up to his lips, kissing your knuckles. “Let’s go, then.”
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jaehyunfirstlove · 3 years
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It’s senior year and you have no time for distractions, so you make a pact with your best friend, Jaehyun, that you both won’t date and just help each other make it through the year. You weren’t prepared for your brother’s friend to show up and throw your world into chaos. Will you make it out unscathed, or will you gain a boyfriend and lose a friend in the process? (More importantly, will you graduate from college :)
Pairing: college!Jaehyun x f. reader, Lucas x f. reader (briefly)
Special appearances: Lucas, Mark
Genre: best friends to lovers, college au, fluff, angst, smut (18+ only)
Warnings: pining, love triangle, unprotected sex, Lucas is irresistible, Mark is annoying, Y/N is clueless, Jaehyun is jealous
Word count: 7.9k
Taglist: @jaehyunnie77, @nctsworld​ (send me a message if you want to be tagged in future fics)
A/N: This has been living in my head for a while, not sure it turned out the way I wanted it to but I wanted to get it out before Dear.M came out (edit: since Dear.M has been postponed I guess it doesn’t matter).  Also my contribution to @nctsworld writing challenge :)
You’ll never forget that day.
It was already a few weeks into the semester and someone was still moving in, boxes and other miscellaneous belongings stacked beside the elevator. You found it odd that someone would start school so late but you just shrugged your shoulders, thinking it had nothing to do with you and just waited patiently for the next elevator.
“Noona!” you turned at the sound of your brother’s voice, knowing he would be the only one who would call you that in public.
“I told you to stop calling me that when we’re at school,” you rolled your eyes at him but he just laughed, completely ignoring you.
“Look who it is!” he smacked your shoulder and pointed excitedly behind him. You craned your head to look around him, and met eyes with a familiar face. Only it was much handsomer and more grown up than you remembered.
“Hi noona,” he shyly waved with one hand, holding a box handily with the other.
“Lucas?” you recognized him but at the same time you were shocked at the change. You only remembered a grubby and chubby little kid who wreaked havoc with your younger brother, the two of them together a swirling tornado of flailing limbs and piercing shrieks, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The very memory of it made your eye twitch.
Yet here he was standing in front of you, much taller than you, that cute face from childhood transformed into the chiseled features that made people swoon. Indeed you felt your knees weak at the sight of him, noticing how the muscles in his arm bulged as he held the box.
He blushed as you stared, and you metaphorically picked your jaw up off the floor as your brother went on chattering.
“... came back from abroad and he was lucky to get in! And since I didn’t have a roommate they paired him with me! Everything works out in the end, isn’t that cool?” Mark was talking animatedly, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect of tearing it up again with his childhood friend.
“Yeah, that’s awesome,” you replied, swallowing thickly. This would not do. You had no time to be attracted to anyone, let alone your brother’s friend.
“Well, it was nice to see you again, noona,” Lucas smiled at you. The elevator doors had opened and they had both stepped in.
“Y-yeah, nice to see you too, Lucas,” you stuttered, and his smile grew until it reached his eyes, “and you can call me Y/N!” you called out, but the elevator doors were already closing.
“Shit.” You muttered under your breath, your brain already swirling with thoughts of this new complication.
“What’s up?”
“Hm?” you turned to see your best friend, Jaehyun, come up to stand beside you.
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” he chuckled, elbowing you playfully.
“Not a ghost,” you replied thoughtfully, “just Mark’s friend, but he’s grown up.”
Jaehyun laughed at you. “Well duh, that’s what people do? Grow?”
“No, I mean he’s grown. Like ‘holy shit he’s a man’ type of grown.” You shook your head at the thought of it, eyes glazed over, completely missing how Jaehyun frowned as he watched your reaction.
“Ah,” was all he said, before he suddenly smacked you in the arm, jolting you out of your reverie. “Hey, but remember our pact. No dating!” he stated firmly.
“Pfft,” you scoffed, “I’m not attracted to him at all,” you said, a bit too loudly. Jaehyun eyed you, completely unconvinced, especially since you could feel your cheeks heating up.
“Well, whatever,” he shrugged, turning away from you so you couldn’t see the disappointment in his face. “Let’s go to class.”
---
For the next few weeks you avoided Lucas as much as you could, which wasn’t too hard since he was a sophomore and had no classes anywhere near you. But that also meant you had to avoid your brother, since they were roommates.
[Noona, why can’t you just drop it off? I need it so bad!!]
[I can’t go all the way to your dorm today, just meet me outside the cafe and I’ll give it to you]
You put your phone down on the table, sighing at Mark’s less than enthusiastic text in response.
“What’s wrong?” Jaehyun asked, looking up from his books.
“Oh Mark needed this fan,” you pointed to the bag at your feet, “I just told him to come here and pick it up.”
“I was wondering why you were lugging that thing all over campus,” Jaehyun peeked underneath the table at the fan tucked messily into a battered Trader Joe's reusable shopping bag. “Why didn’t you just bring it to his dorm?”
You shook your head vehemently. “Oh no no no, I am not going there. Can’t do it. Won’t do it.”
Jaehyun watched you carefully as you nervously played with your hair. “Is it because of him?” he finally asked.
You nodded absentmindedly, “I can’t afford any distractions right now, right? No dating, like you said!” You slammed your fist onto the table forcefully, but Jaehyun didn’t flinch. He just stared at you.
“You like him that much.” It was meant to be a question but came out more like a statement, and in a tone you’d never heard from your best friend. It sounded almost accusatory.
“Hey! Can you blame me? Have you seen him?” you went into defense mode, completely misinterpreting his tone of voice. He just turned his face away from you, unable to hide the hurt he was feeling. You just thought he was upset that you might be threatening the pact you both had made so you tried to smooth things over. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to date him. But it’s better that I don’t see him too much, you know?”
“Good idea,” was all Jaehyun said, before he turned his attention back to his books.
“Noona!” you looked up to see Mark walking towards you, and you were about to rebuke him for calling you that when you saw who was with him.
“Hi noona,” Lucas smiled, coming to stand beside Mark. Your heart was beating out of your chest at the sight of him, your throat suddenly dry.
“H-hi guys,” you managed, before turning to Mark, “I told you to meet me outside?”
“Sorry we wanted a drink,” he turned to Jaehyun, “hey hyung, you remember my friend, Lucas?” he gestured towards Lucas excitedly.
“Of course,” Jaehyun said politely, “Nice to see you again, man,” he held out his hand and Lucas shook it enthusiastically.
“I heard you were at this school too, this is so cool!” Lucas exclaimed, “We’re all back together again!”
Despite Lucas and Mark’s bright demeanors you felt a tension in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife. You were puzzled as to where it could be coming from, looking from your brother to Lucas to Jaehyun. No one seemed to be giving anything away, until Jaehyun locked eyes with you and you saw something flash for a split second.
It was a look you’d never seen before, that you couldn’t quite place. Was he angry? Did he not like Lucas? You went back through your memories but you couldn’t remember them not getting along, Jaehyun had no siblings so Mark and Lucas were like little brothers to him. So what was this feeling?
“Anyway here’s the fan,” you shoved the bag into Mark’s hands, not caring that you had rudely interrupted whatever small talk was happening between the three of them. You just wanted them to leave, especially Lucas.
“Okay, okay, I get it, you two want to be alone,” Mark winked, giggling at his own joke, but you just rolled your eyes.
“Very funny, you know it’s not like that, now get lost,” you grumbled, turning your attention away from them and towards your books. Mark only shrugged, turning to walk away. Jaehyun dropped his gaze, hoping no one saw the hurt in his eyes.
“Bye, noona,” Lucas lightly touched your arm as he walked past you. You felt a shiver go up your spine at the contact, but you resolutely composed yourself.
“I told you to call me Y/N,” you responded firmly.
He only turned back to look at you, smiling widely. “I just like calling you ‘noona’,” he said, before walking away to join Mark.
You must have had the dumbest look on your face because Jaehyun just laughed, almost bitterly.
“Wow,” was all he said, shaking his head, no trace of his usual good spirits. He suddenly started packing up his books.
“Where are you going?” you asked, surprised at his sudden movements, “We’re not done with this chapter!”
“I suddenly lost my appetite,” he responded, not looking at you at all, “you got this, just call me if you have any problems.”
You watched his retreating back, wondering what had happened to put him in such a mood.
---
The rest of the semester was tough, your professors were a lot harder on you and all of your courses were kicking your ass. Worst of all, your best friend and trusty study partner had ghosted you.
[How about tonight? Can you come by]
[Can’t, sorry]
[Come on I’m dying! I need help with this so bad!]
[You got this]
You pulled your hair in frustration, wanting to scream at Jaehyun’s sudden reticence. You’d confronted him about it in the one class you shared but he just shrugged, making some lame excuse about how the coursework was so much harder than he thought it was so he needed to concentrate. You had scoffed, knowing full well that was not the case for the ace student that he was. For as long as you’d known him he had always been the one who’d gotten the highest grades in every class he was in. You had persisted, trying to get it out of him but the professor had started speaking, and as soon as class had finished he’d left to talk to some other friends.
Maybe you two were drifting apart, and you hadn’t noticed, too busy with school and trying to avoid your feelings for Lucas. You shook your head at the thought of Lucas, but as if your thoughts could conjure him he suddenly appeared in front of you.
“Hi noona,” he whispered, cognizant of the bent over backs of the other students studying at the library around you. You gaped at him as he pulled out the chair across from you at the table you were at. “Is it okay if I sit here?” he asked innocently.
You swallowed the lump in your throat, fully aware that you should say no, but your head betrayed you and nodded at him. He smiled widely and your heart thumped in your chest.
“Thanks,” he said, taking a seat and spreading out his books, “the other tables were full, you really saved my life.”
You just nodded, trying to look anywhere but at his face, but he just kept smiling so charmingly you couldn’t help it. You’d sneak a look up at him now and then, and every time he would catch you and smile. The two of you didn’t talk very much, mostly because you didn’t want to disturb the quiet but also because you didn’t want whatever was happening to go any further. Lucas, however, had different expectations.
“Hey, if you’re not busy after this, maybe we can go for a coffee? Catch up? I feel like I haven’t really spent any time with you.” The smile he leveled at you this time was so dazzling you were momentarily blinded.
“Um,” you started, your brain short-circuiting, “I… uh… don’t think-”
“Aww, come on, noona! I haven’t seen you in so long! Please, just one coffee?” he made a face that resembled that one emoji you used so often that Jaehyun had it saved in his phone instead of your name.
You opened your mouth to say no, you had really meant to, your lips even forming the word, but he kept looking at you with that face and you knew you were done for.
“Sure,” you said in defeat, “just one, though.”
“Great!” he clapped his hands in glee, forgetting where he was, and when the people around him shot him dirty looks he slapped his hand over his mouth in a comically over-dramatic display. You couldn’t help but laugh, looking up just in time to see Jaehyun walking past your table. He stared between the two of you, not saying a word. You stood up to call him over but he turned away from you abruptly and walked away.
“Let’s go, noona,” Lucas called you, and you looked between him and your best friend, torn as to who to follow. You had to admit Jaehyun’s coldness towards you was hurting you, but you had reached out to him and he had shut you down. You packed up your stuff and followed Lucas to the cafe.
Later that night you got a text from Jaehyun:
[Remember our pact]
You wanted to throw your phone and scream at him for being so frustrating. You decided to ignore him, since that’s what he had been doing to you. You didn’t bother answering his text, and for the first time in your decade-long friendship you didn’t text him ‘good night’.
---
“Hey, we have room, wanna ride home with us?”
It was winter break, and everyone who was going home was standing on the curb waiting for their pickup. You spotted Jaehyun, and even though the two of you still hadn’t spoken, you couldn’t help but offer. He started at the sound of your voice, almost smiled, before he shook his head.
“Thanks, but my dad is on his way,” he kicked at the ground with the toe of his shoe when you didn’t say anything in response, then finally looked away.
Truth be told, you were hurt. You’d been hurt since the day you two stopped talking, the day you went for coffee with Lucas. You had tried to keep your attention on Lucas, which wouldn’t have been too hard because he talked so animatedly, but your mind kept going over Jaehyun’s reaction when he saw the two of you. You couldn’t make sense of it, and you couldn’t make sense of his sudden disinterest. You had been friends for most of your lives, and he had never acted that way before. You finally settled on the fact that he probably didn’t want to be your friend anymore, college changes people after all, and his plans for after graduation were so grandiose and involved and probably definitely didn’t include you. A sadness had washed over you then, the two of you had been inseparable since middle school, you hadn’t gone a day without seeing him or speaking to him. The prospect of him not being in your life hurt you more than you would ever admit.
Turning away from him you loaded your bags into the trunk of your mom’s car, while Mark climbed into the passenger’s seat, excitedly relaying the details of his day-to-day to your ever-patient mom. You got into the backseat and closed your eyes, wanting to forget your college experience for a while.
---
Four days into your break you couldn’t escape it.
“Honey, set three more places for dinner, the Jeongs are coming over.”
Your hand froze midway to placing the silverware on the table at your mom’s statement.
“Are you serious?” you asked in shock.
“What are you so surprised for? We always have them over during your breaks. Besides, I haven’t seen Jaehyun in months, I want to know how he’s doing in senior year.”
Your mom had unofficially adopted Jaehyun, when you were kids his parents had been busy with work, so he had spent a lot of time at your house. Your mom loved doting on him because he was so polite and well-mannered, almost an antithesis to the hellraiser that was your younger brother.
Dinner had been a calm affair, the parents speaking amongst themselves, while you picked at your food and Mark occasionally would start talking at breaks in the conversation. Jaehyun sat across from you, looking much more relaxed than he did at school. He was always polite around your parents, but you noticed he seemed lighter, freer, smiled and joked more. He even spared you a glance here and there, the corners of his mouth almost turning up into a smile.
“Oh mom, guess who’s going to our school now?” Mark suddenly burst out.
“Lucas is back, right? I spoke to his mom. That’s wonderful that you’re back together.” Your mom smiled fondly at your brother. At the mention of Lucas’ name you looked over at Jaehyun, who dropped his gaze, suddenly intensely preoccupied with his broccoli.
“Yeah! And I think he likes noona!” Mark looked at you while he said this, waggling his eyebrows. You smacked him hard in the arm.
“Not at all, that is not happening,” you protested, shooting daggers with your eyes at your brother. He only shrugged, rubbing his arm where you had hit him.
“Whatever, I know you guys go on coffee dates and he texts you all the time! I see that stupid look on his face when he’s texting,” he screwed up his face and mimicked Lucas texting on his phone and everyone laughed. 
Everyone, except Jaehyun. He looked at you, with something like hurt in his eyes, before he looked away quickly.
“That is not true, we went on one coffee date, one!” you emphasized the word by putting up your index finger, “and it is not me he is texting all the time, trust me,” you added firmly.
Your mom just smiled. “I’m not opposed to Lucas, he’s a sweet boy,” she stated, “the only other boy I’d be happy about you dating is Jaehyun.” She smiled sweetly at him while his parents smiled at you, both nodding in approval.
Normally when she said things like this you would just roll your eyes at her, reminding her that you and Jaehyun were just friends, but this time you felt your palms get sweaty and your face felt warm. You looked over at Jaehyun and he still hadn’t looked up from his plate, but his ears were as red as the tomato sauce on the pasta.
“Am I the only one here who would be happy with no one dating?” your dad finally spoke up. “Not that I don’t approve of any of you, I just think senior year is hard enough as it is.” He shrugged, taking a sip of his wine while your mom patted him soothingly on the shoulder.
“Yes, yes, we’re not suggesting anything, merely stating our preferences.” She looked over at Jaehyun’s mom, the two of them sharing a conspiratorial smile.
---
After dinner you and Jaehyun were tasked with doing the dishes, while the parents relaxed in the living room and Mark cleaned off the table.
“You, uh, missed a spot,” you held up the plate to Jaehyun, indicating the still soapy area with a sweep of your finger. He nodded and took it from you, passing it under the running water and handing it back. You dried it carefully, watching him as you did, the silence between you so heavy it felt like a weight on your chest.
“It’s nice being home, isn’t it?” you attempted conversation hesitantly.
He nodded, thankfully not ignoring you, and actually smiled to himself. “Yeah, really nice.”
You brightened at those three words, and at the fairly pleasant conversation you were having, the first in such a long time.
“Right? It feels so nice.” You agreed, unable to stop the wide smile forming on your face. He finally looked over at you and couldn’t help smiling himself.
“It feels good to be away from the pressures of-” he cleared his throat, “-uh, school.”
“Mm,” you nodded, feeling there was something in his tone you couldn’t place. Determined to ignore it and mend the rift in your friendship, you elbowed him lightly in the arm, “Hey, bet you can’t beat me in Mario Kart!”
He laughed, turning off the water and wiping his hands. “We’ll see.”
---
You spent the rest of the break almost inseparable again, your friendship back to what it had been. The happiness you felt was indescribable, sometimes you even surprised yourself at the giddiness you would feel when you could spend time with him. You just figured it was the hurt you’d felt all those months finally being soothed away. Jaehyun was an important person in your life so naturally it would make sense that you would be happy that he was back in it.
On the last night of your break the two of you were sitting on the floor in your bedroom, laughing over old photos. After flipping through a few more, he came across a photo of you with one arm around Lucas and the other around Mark. The smile instantly left his face, and he quickly shoved the photo back in the box.
When you saw his reaction you suddenly felt defensive. “You know it really was just one coffee, it’s not like I was dating him so I didn’t break our pact.”
“Technically still a date.” He responded without looking at you, just shuffling photos around in the box haphazardly.
“Ugh! Fine! It was a stupid date, are you happy?” you threw the photos you were holding across the floor in exasperation. You felt your face heating up, an irrational anger overtaking you. In all the years you’d known him you didn’t remember being this upset at him and it surprised you.
He stayed silent, picking up the photos you had thrown and arranging them back in the box. In your anger you probably weren’t seeing things clearly, but when you looked at his face you thought he might have looked sad.
“It didn’t continue though, I can tell you that.” You don’t know why you felt the urge to be so defensive, why you felt the burning need to convince him there was nothing going on between you and Lucas. But when he finally nodded and looked at you, a small smile adorning his face, your heart suddenly felt lighter.
“Alright, you get off on a technicality,” he smiled, almost shyly, when he saw your face brighten.
“Good! Now are you gonna start helping me study again? I think I failed my midterms because of you,” you grumbled good-naturedly.
“I doubt that,” he chuckled, “you’re a lot better at studying than you think you are.”
---
The second semester started where the first had left off, with a grueling workload that left your brain a mushy mess by the end of each day. You felt you handled it a lot better with your best friend by your side again, but when you got the results of your midterms you were shocked to see you had done better than you thought.
“I don’t want to say I told you so, but-” Jaehyun was looking over your shoulder as you saw your results, “I told you so.”
“Huh,” was all you could say. So all those late nights buried in your books, those solitary back-breaking hours in the library, they all paid off. You looked over at Jaehyun, who was smiling smugly at you. You realized that he had helped you, even though he hadn’t been around. Sometimes when your brain had enough you would think of him, how he would always encourage you when you were frustrated, how he would tell you silly stories and make you laugh when you needed a break.
“Thanks,” you said sincerely, starting to realize just what an effect your best friend had on your life. He shrugged, glancing away momentarily before he looked you in the eye.
“I didn’t really do anything, and actually I’m sorry for ghosting you when I did,” he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground, “that was really dumb of me.”
You were about to ask him what that was all about when you saw Mark and Lucas walking towards you.
“Hi noona!” they said in unison, accidentally it seemed as they both looked at each other in shock before dissolving into a fit of giggles. They nodded at Jaehyun who nodded back, ever polite, except he’d crossed his arms and puffed out his chest a little, looking almost intimidating.
“Hey guys,” you responded, irked at being interrupted since you were about to interrogate Jaehyun, “don’t you have class right now?”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re on our way,” Mark rolled his eyes at you and tugged at Lucas’ arm, “let’s go dude.”
Lucas hadn’t taken his eyes off of you the entire time you were all standing there, and hesitated as Mark pulled at him.
“Hey, noona, can we meet up later?” he asked, and you had to admire him for his boldness and dedication, despite the fact that you had pretty much avoided him since your last coffee date.
“Uh, I’m kinda busy today,” you responded quickly, but he didn’t back down.
“Aw, how about tomorrow then? Please?”
You didn’t have to look at him to know that Jaehyun was burning a hole in your face with his eyes, and you could feel the sweat forming on your palms at the situation you were in. You wanted to curse Lucas out for doing this in front of an audience. As it was, Mark was watching the entire scene unfold with unbridled glee.
“Come on, noona, give him a chance!” Mark piped up, deciding to add to your agony. Lucas made that puppy-dog face that had swayed you the last time.
“Sorry, guys, but she’ll be busy for the rest of the semester,” Jaehyun suddenly spoke up, his tone broached no debate, “I’ll be making sure she’s studying.”
It was the last straw, you’d had enough with the three of them. “Ugh!” you exclaimed, balling your hands into fists, “I’ve had it!”
The three of them recoiled in shock at your outburst, a trio of wide eyes and open mouths that was almost comical if you weren’t so angry.
“You!” you pointed at Lucas, “I told you I’m busy so you need to accept my answer! And you!” you pointed in turn at your brother, “Mind your goddamn business!” He just shrugged and made a face, mimicking you yelling at him.
“And you!” you finally turned to Jaehyun, who was watching you with a mixture of admiration and fear, “I can speak for myself so stay out of it!”
You didn’t bother to stick around to see any of their reactions, just turning on your heel and walking away.
---
You’d gotten texts for the rest of the day from both Lucas and Jaehyun apologizing but you weren’t in the mood to discuss the situation with either of them. Radio silence from your brother though, as expected. You were looking forward to spending some time alone anyway, so you trudged back to your dorm after a long day of classes. Walking towards your room you saw Lucas standing outside your door.
“Noona, don’t get mad,” he raised his hands up in supplication as you approached, “I just wanted to apologize and you weren’t responding to my texts.”
You sighed, too exhausted to be mad anymore. “It’s okay, Lucas. Thanks for coming by.” You walked by him to unlock your door, wanting to just collapse on your bed, but he stopped you, putting his six foot tall frame between you and your door. “Lucas, please, I’m tired.”
He bent his head towards you, eyes searching your face, eyebrows furrowed. “Noona,” he started, his voice soft, “do you like me?”
You were taken aback by the sudden question, and by his face now so close to yours.
“I mean, I hope you don’t still think of me as a kid,” he continued, eyes roaming towards your lips, “because I’m a man now.”
The line should have made you laugh, at any other time you would have, but something was drawing you towards him, and before you could stop yourself your lips met his.
It was only a brief touch, because you realized in that moment that you felt nothing, so you broke away quickly. The sound of the stairwell door opening broke the silence between you, and you turned to see Jaehyun standing in the open doorway. You’ll never forget the look on his face.
Sadness. Hurt.
“Jaehyun!” you called out, but he had already turned, his back to you as he disappeared down the stairs. Without a thought you ran after him, your heart beating out of your chest.
“Jaehyun! Please stop!” you yelled frantically as you raced down the stairs, but he was too far ahead of you and out the door before you could stop him. When you finally got down you opened the door to a downpour, and realizing you had no umbrella you stopped short. You could see Jaehyun walking away through the sheeting rain, and once again you called out to him.
“Jaehyun!” you shouted, your voice strained, “Please come back inside!”
He stopped at the sound of your voice and turned around, but made no move to come back. You couldn’t see his face from this distance but the dejected set of his shoulders told you all you needed to know. You stepped forward into the rain, determined to bring him back inside.
“Y/N, stop! You’ll get wet!” he ran towards you, arms outstretched, but you wouldn’t be deterred. When you reached him your emotions finally overcame you and you shoved him hard in the chest. It barely moved him, but he still looked at you in shock.
“Tell me why!” you yelled, unable to hold yourself back, “Why does it bother you so much? If he likes me or I like him? Huh?” you shoved him again, your anger and frustration taking over your rational mind, “It’s not just because of our stupid pact, so tell me what’s going on!”
He hadn’t said a thing, hadn’t even looked at you, had barely reacted when you pushed him. He just kept his head down, the rain running in rivulets down his hair.
“Jaehyun,” you tried again, pleading this time, your anger dissipating at the sight of him looking so defeated, drenched in rain, “Please, talk to me.”
He finally looked up, but not at you. Staring at something far in the distance he finally spoke, in a voice so low you had to strain to hear him over the patter of the rain, and a tone so despondent it made your heart ache.
“I like you, Y/N,” he sighed, “actually, screw it, I’m in love with you. I’ll admit it.” He dropped his head again, unwilling to look at you or see your reaction.
You, however, were glad he wasn’t looking at you, because your jaw dropped open in shock. But your brain took a little longer to catch up with your heart, because while you were putting the pieces together in your head, you felt a lightness in your chest, like a heavy weight had been lifted.
“Jaehyun?” you whispered, the puzzle pieces finally coming together. His actions finally made sense, but what had been even more enlightening was that your own feelings were starting to make sense as well.
“Come on, let’s go inside, you’ll get sick,” he put his hands over your head in a feeble attempt to protect you from the rain, and ushered you back inside the dorm. You walked back up the stairs in silence, and when you opened the door to your floor you were relieved to see Lucas was gone.
“Come inside,” you grabbed his hand since he had turned to leave, “you should dry off.”
He nodded, still not meeting your eyes, and followed you into your room. You grabbed a towel and handed it to him, grabbing one for yourself and squeezing the rain out of your hair.
“Thanks,” he said, rubbing the towel one last time over his head before handing it back to you, “I should go.”
You were about to answer him, but you were suddenly overcome by a violent shiver, your entire body shuddering from the damp cold of your rain-soaked clothes.
“Y/N!” he stepped towards you, eyes wide with alarm, “I told you not to come out in the rain!” he reprimanded you, taking the towel from you and rubbing it vigorously over your arms.
“I-I’m f-fine,” you tried to talk but your teeth were chattering too much so you just closed your mouth.
“You need to take off your wet clothes,” he grabbed a fluffy blanket from your bed, wrapped it around your shoulders and turned his head away, “I won’t look, I promise.”
At any other time you would be embarrassed, or throw him out of the room, but you knew he was right, and somehow you felt good about him being there for you. You stripped out of your clothes down to your bra and panties, as he held the blanket over you, finally feeling warmer as you wrapped the blanket around yourself.
“Better?” he asked, still not looking your way.
“Yes, thank you,” you said quietly, tugging at his arm to indicate he could turn around again. When he did, you noticed he was shivering.
“Oh Jaehyun! You need to get out of your wet clothes too!” you immediately ran to your closet and pulled out another warm blanket and draped it over him. You turned away to give him some privacy but he was struggling so much you ended up helping him, peeling away his water-logged hoodie and jeans. When he was down to his boxers you finally turned away, your cheeks flushed and heart pounding from the image of his bare chest and abs. You’d known him your entire life and had no idea he was hiding that.
Not the time to be thinking about that, you scolded yourself internally.
“Better?” you asked, not turning around because you felt your face was still hot and you didn’t want him to see.
“Uh, y-yeah,” he tried to lie but the stuttering betrayed him, and when you turned around you saw that he was still shivering, tugging the blanket tightly around himself, smiling weakly at you in a lame attempt to convince you that he was fine.
“Oh my god,” you immediately went into first-aid mode, recalling what you needed to do, “come here.” You opened your blanket and walked towards him.
“W-what are you d-doing?” his eyes grew wide and he actually pulled the blanket tighter around himself, like you were some kind of pervert coming to take his innocence.
“Relax, you need body heat,” you pulled at his blanket and he finally relented, opening it up to you and you stepped into his embrace.
It wasn’t supposed to feel good, you were only supplying him with much needed body heat, if anything it should have been embarrassing because you were both in your underwear, but you relaxed in his arms and it felt good. Really good.
You stood there in silence for a while, just the sound of his heart beating against your ear as you rested against his chest. You noticed he wasn’t shivering as much, but his skin was still really cold.
“Jaehyun, I think we need to get under the covers, you’re not warming up fast enough,” you didn’t look at him when you said it, you knew it would be awkward but it had to be done. He didn’t say anything for so long that you thought he hadn’t heard you, but he finally nodded and moved towards the bed. He got under the covers and you followed, wrapping your arms and legs around him and piling all the blankets on top of the both of you. It was hot and stuffy but you endured it, too worried about your best friend to care about anything else. Finally his teeth stopped chattering, his skin feeling less cold and clammy against yours.
“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said softly, staring up at the ceiling.
“I know, next time don’t go out in the rain like I told you!” you said sternly.
“No, not about that,” he sighed, “well, yeah that too. I just- I should have said something when I knew how I felt about you, save us from all this trouble, and- you know, me acting like a jerk.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” you turned your face to look at him, but he still wouldn’t meet your eyes, continuing to stare at the ceiling.
“I was scared, I guess. Scared you didn’t feel the same way, that you’d hate me, and then our friendship would be ruined and I didn’t want to lose you that way,” he blew out a long breath, “But I guess I ruined it anyway.”
“Nothing’s ruined, Jaehyun,” you said in a quiet voice, so low maybe he didn’t hear you. Except he had. He finally turned his head to look at you, but this time it was you who couldn’t meet his eyes.
“I wondered why I was so upset and angry, and hurt, when you stopped talking to me, I mean, I’ve lost friends before and never felt like that. And then over winter break when we started talking again, I felt so happy? You know? And so whole. Like I’d gotten back a part of me that I’d lost.” 
You stopped talking, relieved to have worked through your feelings and gotten it out in the open, but you suddenly became aware of how cringey everything you had said sounded. “Ugh, sorry, that was a lot.”
“Y/N, look at me,” his voice was still soft, but why had you never noticed how low his voice was? When you didn’t move, he gently tipped your chin so you were facing him. He looked at you like you’d hung the stars in the sky.
“Does this mean you like m-” he stopped mid-sentence, because you were drawn towards him, your face getting closer and closer to his. He stared wide-eyed for a moment, before he closed the distance and kissed you.
The stars and fireworks and weakened knees, and that heart-racing feeling you had expected when you kissed Lucas (and didn’t happen) actually happened this time. And then some. When his lips met yours you felt an electricity that spread throughout your entire body, all the way down to your toes. You felt a tenderness in the way his lips moved, an almost reverent form of adulation that made you crave more. Suddenly you were very aware of your near nakedness, as his now warm hand snaked around your bare back and pulled you closer to him. Everywhere your bare skin touched his felt like it was on fire, and it wasn’t from all of the blankets still stacked on top of you. When he pulled away you were panting, chest heaving, heat burning in your core.
“Y/N, I didn’t mean for this to happen,” his eyes searched yours, seemingly ready to give in if you decided to kick him out right then and there.
“You mean this wasn’t your plan? To go out and get drenched in the rain so we’d have to strip down to our underwear and cuddle for warmth?” you asked cheekily.
“Hmm, that did work out perfectly, didn’t it?” he laughed, and the deep rumble of it reverberated in your chest all the way down to your core.
“Jaehyun,” your breathing quickened, your body reacting to him almost involuntarily, “come here,” you pulled him so that he was on top of you, and he braced his arms on either side of you so that he didn’t rest his entire weight on you. You spread your legs so that he could nestle in between them, and when you felt him, already half-hard, against you, you bit your lip. He watched you, eyes dark, but still didn’t make a move.
“Y/N, are you sure?” he brushed strands of hair away from your face, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at you.
“I like you, Jaehyun. More than a friend. And right now I just want you.” To prove your point you wrapped your legs around him and squeezed, and it was his turn to inhale sharply as he felt you rub up against him. He dropped his head to your shoulder, kissing along your collarbone to your neck, and when you threaded your fingers through his hair, he sucked harshly on your skin. You moaned and he bucked his hips, your hands roamed his body until you reached the waistband of his boxers, which you tugged at until they were off. You reached around, wanting to feel his cock in your hand, your fingers wrapping around the hot, velvety skin.
“Y/N,” he groaned, pulling away from your neck to rest his forehead on your shoulder. You pumped his cock in your hand a few times, rubbing the pad of your thumb over the tip, spreading the precum around the head. He was breathing heavily as you worked your hand on him, before he reached down and yanked your panties off in one go. You squeaked a little at the sudden movement, but before you knew what was happening he was taking your hand off his cock, positioning the tip of it at your entrance.
“Jaehyun,” your voice cut off into a strangled cry as he entered you, tears pricking your eyes at the stretch and the intense pleasure you were feeling from it.
“Y/N,” he groaned again, pausing when he was all the way inside you, attacking your neck and jawline with kisses. He pulled back to look at you, eyes full of a mixture of adoration and lust. You touched his cheek, heart full at the sight of the boy you’d loved your entire life, pulling him down for a passionate kiss.
He returned your fervor with his own, with every movement of his lips you could feel his want, his need for you, his devotion. When you moaned into his mouth he bucked his hips, and you broke from his lips to gasp loudly as he began to thrust inside you.
“Jaehyun,” you moaned his name, biting your lip, slightly self-conscious at the needy whines that were escaping your mouth. But they seemed to encourage him, and with every sound of pleasure you made his intensity ramped up, until you could feel your orgasm building.
“Mm, I’m gonna c-” you couldn’t even finish your sentence, could barely warn him because your orgasm overtook you, after a particularly deep thrust that had pressed you hard into the mattress. He groaned loudly as you clenched around him, still thrusting, until he suddenly pulled you flush against him, holding you tightly as he came inside you.
You were both sweating, breathing heavily, but you knew in that moment that everything was as it should be. You turned your face towards his, currently buried in your shoulder, and kissed his cheek and along his jawline until he was smiling, causing his dimples to emerge. You kissed those too.
“You okay?” he asked, voice soft, pushing strands of damp hair away from your face.
“Very much okay,” you nodded, your heart and mind at peace.
---
Epilogue
“Mm, Jae, we should get outside and join everyone...”
“Not yet, you smell too good, taste too good too.”
You stifled a moan as he sucked lightly on your neck, “No marks!” you smacked him on the chest, “I don’t want hickies in my grad photos!”
He laughed, nuzzling his nose in your neck instead, his hands on your hips under your gown. You’d been on your way to the graduation ceremony when you passed an empty classroom and he’d pulled you in for a quick makeout session. Except it hadn’t been quick, and now you were running late.
“Alright,” he sighed dramatically, “let’s go, wouldn’t want you to miss this important ceremony.” If it had been up to Jaehyun you would’ve both skipped the ceremony and gone to the beach instead, or just stayed in bed watching netflix. He didn’t care for ceremonies, he’d done his work and graduated, but he knew how important it was for you. You’d worked hard and wanted to celebrate it, with all of your friends and family by your side, especially Jaehyun. 
He adjusted the cap on your head, smiling fondly at you as you fiddled with your gown nervously. “You look great,” he reassured you, “perfect, I’d say.”
“Thanks,” you smiled at him, forgetting about your lip gloss and reaching up on your tiptoes for a kiss. “Oops!” you tried to wipe as much of it off with the pad of your thumb but he just laughed.
“Can’t be helped, let’s go,” he grabbed you by the hand and led you into the quad where the ceremony would be held. As you made your way to your seats you saw your brother and Lucas approaching.
“Hey guys, congrats, this is so cool!” as usual Mark was excited, looking around at everything with awe. Lucas stood beside him, smiling widely at the two of you.
“Hi noo- Y/N,” he corrected himself, then nodded at Jaehyun, “hyung,”
“Hi Lucas,” you smiled back at him.
“Congratulations on graduating,” he continued, looking between you and Jaehyun, “you guys worked hard.”
“Thanks Lucas,” you were genuinely thankful to him, he’d been really chill when you ended up telling him about you and Jaehyun, even winking at you and saying he’d had a suspicion about you and Jaehyun liking each other all along. You had just rolled your eyes at your own stupidity, how did everyone else see it except you?
“Yeah, thanks man,” Jaehyun seemed grateful too, shaking his hand and pulling him in for a bro hug. When they pulled away from each other you gave Lucas a hug as well, before you all took your seats for the ceremony.
---
Later, long after the ceremony ended, you and Jaehyun sat in the empty bleachers as the sun began to set. He kept his arms around you as the early evening breeze began to pick up.
“So this is it,” you mused, looking around at the campus you’d spent four years of your life at. “The end.”
“Hm,” Jaehyun hummed, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.
“I guess we broke our pact,” you couldn’t help but smile at the irony.
“I guess so,” he laughed, “who’s stupid idea was that pact anyway?”
“Hey!” you smacked him on the knee, “it was a good idea at the time!”
He just laughed again, pulling you closer to him so that your back was flush against his chest. You settled like that for a moment, just content in his arms as he played with strands of your hair. “It all worked out in the end, though, didn’t it?”
You smiled, turning in his arms to face him. “It sure did.”
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extorchic · 3 years
Text
TOP 5 SK8 Episodes
So I got tagged by @akira-cr to make this list, it took some time but I think I've sorted out my mind, thank you for considering me 😊. Now here comes the list, sorry if it's supposd to be objective, but I'm gonna let my heart out over here (It's gonna be a long post and I'm not gonna cut it ):
NUMBER 5 - Episode 6 - Steamy Mystery Skating?! (A.K.A. The beach episode 🏊‍♂️)
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Well this is supposed to be "breather" episode, and it's basically the one that sold the series to me. I like how fun and chill this episode is, although it does (further) foreshadow Reki's insecurity issues. The music is of course SUBLIME! "Seize the Moment" is probably my favorite insert song of all time! (it's been present in Reki's beefs as well, but here it really reflects the fun nature of his character and the show overall). And of coruse, FANSERVICE, not so much in how the boys were in swimsuits (though I gotta admit Reki does look good in them), but on the RENGA interactions!
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That hug gave me life! How Langa was worried 24/7 about Reki being injured, at the end when they skated together to escape from the Bantu! I gotta admit that I have some mixed feelings about the implications of Reki being attracted to the faceless girl (I mean, Bi rep is very important too), but I guess my shipping side was just as jelaous as Langa was supposed to be (according to the fans LOL).
NUMBER 4 - Episode 11 - King vs. Nobody (A.K.A. Reki rising! ✨🌺🌞⚙️)
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Reki is, without a doubt, my favorite character. He doesn't need to win, he doesn't need to be super flashy while skating, he just needs to be himself. He's been through a lot, many people (including me) have felt tremendously related to him, and seeing him in this episode is just satisfying. With his issues behind, with a promise to skate with Langa after he wins and no longer fearful, Reki rematches against Adam; and the way he does is fantastic! Taking advantage of his creativity, observative skills and mechanical knowledge on skateboarding, he faces up against the main boss and manages to not only endure his violent ways (which were gruelling to see, TBH), but also SOUNDLY HUMILIATE HIM in front of the whole S Community!
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Yes, Adam, the "God of S", in the ground covered in mud by a boy almost everyone dissmissed! It was really sunshine through rainfall! I must also add how much I liked to see his renewed relationship with Langa, how much they treasure their company after patching up. I want to elaborate on this in its own post but I personally see that their interactions from this point on are more, I don't know, tender, caring, still playful but not in an entirely comedic way. The way they see each other is also deeper, anyway, it's just what I see.
NUMBER 3 - A DRAW: Episode 8 - The Fated Tournament! and Episode 9 - We Were Special Back Then (A.K.A. The month in which I was in an emotional crisis because of anime sk8t3r b0is 🍎🐍😭🛹❄🍵🌸 )
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This is the point in which I got into the show, and the fandom (Yeah, haven't been around for too long). At this point the show wasn't the same, and I realized it when I caught up. Though there were some cool skating scenes in these episodes, the events that caught my attention were outside the road (Yeah, this was no longer just a skateboard anime, it's a whole lot more). Though I had been mainly focusing on Reki and Langa, I really liked having more backstory related to Joe, Cherry, Adam and Tadashi. Seeing how Adam went through a terrible childhood, convoluted teeange years to culminate in an adult with too much power for his own good and a twisted sense of "love", along with some extremely serious psychological issues was very interesting.
I acknowldge him as a complex villain, but that DOES NOT justify what he did to Cherry. This only proves that just because we know his backstory, we don't have to sympathize with him (Adam's just such a terrible person). On the RENGA side, we see Reki avoiding Langa after their rift, and how this affected both. We have Langa's sadness increase scene after scene, as well as his passion for skating dwindling as progressively. Reki on the other hand, just falls deeper and deeper in his depression, but also being unable to stop thinking about Langa, and he ends up going to S to see the latter's match against Joe. It's hard to see whether there's envy, jelaousness, frustration, admiration, pining or fear of being left behind in his mind. It must have been hard for a 17 y/o.
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Reki also defends Langa from people speaking behind his back and shouting his name during the race boosts Langa's performance tremendously. This culminates on Reki realizing that the thing he actually wanted was to skate alongside Langa, not on the side, not as support, but together, he just couldn't. There's also the scene which may or may not confirm that Langa's feelings for Reki are more than just friendship! (Felt represented, for reals).
NUMBER 2 - Episode 7 - We Don't Balance Out (A.K.A. This was supposed to be a fun show!😭⛈️💔️)
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I wrote a lot about the episodes in the previous spot, but this is the one that flipped the tables, the game-changer, and the one that hit closer home. It is a sad episode, no races there, it's just here for us to see how the circumstances affect the characters. It was hard to see how Reki, who at this point had been nothing but supportive and proud of Langa, starts to see him flying farther from him. Is it jealousness? Dissatisfaction? Is it fear of loneliness? Adbandoment issues? Is it feeling inferior? Frustration? Not being able to improve? Admiration? Care?
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And on top of that a broken promise. I just can't imagine how hard is it for a 17 y/o to deal with all of those conflicting issues in his head, as well as the toxic competitive environment on the "S Community". This just came to show that he wasn't just the excitable, goofy sidekick character, he goes deeper than that, and makes him relatable. We also see a deconstruction of the cool, aloof prodigious character in Langa, as he just can't comprehend what's going on with Reki, and he's hurt by it, but still needs to figure out his own ambitions and desries. This leads to the emotional conclusion of the episode (which in turn left me in the aforementioned 4-week-long emotional crisis, thank you)
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Episode 12 - Our Infinity! - The race was cool, the Renga hug gave me life and everyone had a happy ending
Episode 5 - Passionate Dancing Night! - Despite the beef between Langa and Adam being cool, we start to see Reki worrying about Langa and opening up to him, further deepening their bond.
Episode 2 - Awesome for the First Time! - There's just something special about sharing something you're passionate about with someone else. Watching Reki teaching Langa the basics of skateboarding was heartwarming
NUMBER 1 - Episode 10 - DAP Not Needing Words
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After 4 weeks waiting, the anticipation for this episode was gargantuan. Reki's depression was hitting its lowest point, bordering in self-harm, and hurting others as well. Langa continues to look for Reki after seeing him briefly at the hospital while visiting Shadow and we get to see this loving scene where he watches videos of Reki learining how to skate. After confronting Tadashi and realizing that he loves skating because it's fun, he returns home to find out that Langa had been waiting for him but left shortly before he arrived.
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This leads to a heartful reunion, where words can't express their feelings, so they resort to do their thing, to skate, and that's where the feelings flow. This is when Langa tells Reki how he admires him tremendously and Reki understands that Langa'll be there by his side, and leaves his fears behind. With a mutual desire to skate together infinetely and a new dap, they rekindle their bond. People watched this show for different reasons, and though I like the skateboarding aspect because it looks cool, my interest leans more on the relationship aspect, and Reki and Langa's is so deep and intimate, and I liked seeing it grow from zero through different hardships (in other words, in all of the years I've been in a fandom, I had never shipped any other pair like these two, I needed to say that).
So I guess it's time to tag some people:
@pico-sour, @sleebycryptid, @elizabethslee, @itsamole, @kaorucherry, @blueflame97, @trieizieme, @tardiskitten, @lady-pendragon-9
So, if you've read until this point, thank you very much (I know it's not supposed to, but this post is yet again a very long "I love Renga" one, but it's what my heart wanted me to write 😅). I'd love to see people other than the ones I tagged showing their lists 😃
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desertno3 · 3 years
Text
everything comes back to you (sean wallace x fem!reader)
Sean Wallace is the love of your life and had been ever since you were both sixteen. This is why, in the aftermath of his father’s murder, you do everything you can to make sure no one lays a hand him.
5.4k words.
A/N: To think this all came from me watching this scene of Joe from Volume (2012) and thought… I need to write about bb Sean. There’s also this post which is mostly what was in my head when I wrote this. Also, I was going to say Sean being soft around the people he loves is my own personal headcanon but like… it is actual canon, lmao. It’s so easy to forget because the man is cold most of the time. Anyway, I clearly have too many thoughts about this character. Enjoy. (also formatting on tumblr is shit so if you want to read this with the formatting I intended, head over here to AO3)
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prologue.
“What the hell are you up to?” Sean demands as he watches you bustle around your shared bedroom, effectively turning it upside down as you stuff your belongings into a travel bag.
“Business,” You say, hardly pausing to look at him.
“Business?” He scoffs like he doesn’t believe you. You don’t blame him. Finn died mere days ago and every day since then you’d been acting strange. Between consoling Sean and helping the Wallace family with the funeral arrangements, you’d been answering calls at random hours of the day and going off to meetings even though nearly all business operations under the Wallace Corporation had been halted. Sean had been too caught up in everything to question it but now that you’d just told him that you were flying off to god knows where for alleged business, he was suspicious.
“You know something, don’t you?”
You don’t reply.
“Tell me.”
When you remain silent, you see his jaw clench in anger but that’s not what makes your heart squeeze painfully in your chest. What gets to you is the hurt you can see in his eyes, hurt that his fiancé of all people is keeping things from him. You know it’s unfair to be doing this to him right now but you had no choice.
You walk up to him, taking his face in your hands.
“You just have to trust me on this, Sean,” You say softly. “Please.”
“I can’t trust anyone right now, y/n.” He says it like a plea. He needs you to be the one person he can trust one hundred percent, wants to be able to put you apart from the rest of the world who seemingly had it out for his family right now. He can’t do that when you’re acting like this.
The statement doesn’t hurt you in the slightest. You understand where he’s coming from, understand why he can’t even trust you, but still, you wish he did.
“You can always trust me,” You tell him but you know it won’t be enough. That’s confirmed when his gaze goes steely and he pries your hands from his cheeks.
“If you step out that door, don’t bother coming home.”
You step back like you’d been burned by the ultimatum. “Sean, don’t-”
He shakes his head.
“Whatever you’re doing, I hope it’s worth it.”
_________________________________________________
one.
“It’s just so annoying, you know?” You huff, falling back onto Sean’s bed and pressing the heels of your palms into your eyelids. You’re sixteen and in the throes of teen angst, irritated by the confines of your parents’ demands regarding what you currently could and couldn’t do at that age.
“Yeah, I know,” Sean replies in solidarity from where he stands near the window.
You let out a sigh, the anger that was bubbling in your chest starting to dissipate now that you’d finished venting about it.
You’re so lost in your own thoughts that you don’t realise Sean has moved from his spot across the room to the bed beside you. The mattress dips a little as he sits and slowly lies back so he’s parallel to you.
You move your hands away from your eyes and your heart jolts when you crane your neck to look at him and realise how close he is.
“Thanks for listening to my ranting,” You murmur, starting to feel guilty that you’d come over to hang out only for it to end up being just him listening to your tirade.
He lets out a small chuckle. “Anytime.”
You smile gratefully, your heart rate accelerating as you continue to stare into his eyes. God, you like him so much. You have for a while now. As he inches closer, and you don’t know whether it’s deliberate on his part or not, you wonder what it would be like if you just kissed him right there.
“Y/n…” He says hesitantly, his gaze flicking down to your lips for a fraction of a second. “Can I-”
“Ooooh, Sean and y/n,” Billy sing-songs obnoxiously from the doorway - the doorway that both you and Sean had forgotten was wide open.
Sean leaps up from the bed and growls at his brother, who continues to tease him unfazed.
“Fuck off, Billy!”
He slams the door shut and everything descends into silence once more. You sit up and watch as Sean remains at the door, his shoulders tense. You get up and make your way over to him, feeling bolder than you ever have in your life.
“Sean,” You say softly, grabbing his attention.
He turns to you, the look in his eyes hesitant, and you use that opportunity to press your lips to his. You pull away just as quickly, gauging his reaction, but then he pulls you towards him again and this time the kiss is deeper, needier. Your hands steady yourself against his chest as his own move up to cup your jaw.
You’re both breathless when you pull away, sporting matching shy smiles as you look at each other.
“I really like you, y/n,” Sean confesses and your heart feels like it could burst.
“I really like you, too, Sean.”
~
When you and Sean get accepted into different universities, it worries you more than you let on. It would be the furthest away you’d ever lived from him and you were worried about what that meant for you both. You’d spent your last years of high school falling deeper and deeper in love with him and you weren’t ready to let him go. Not now, not ever.
“Hey,” He murmurs, noticing you’d spaced out again. “What’s wrong?”
You shrug it off but he’s not buying it. He shifts on the couch so that he’s sitting facing you and takes your hands in his.
"Talk to me.”
You end up telling him everything. How you don’t like that you’re not going to be able to see him as often as you do now, how you’re worried that the distance might put a strain on the relationship, how you really, really don’t like the idea of breaking up with him.
You half expect him to brush it off or to tell you that you’ve got nothing to worry about but he doesn’t.
“I don’t like it either,” He admits. “It’s going to be awful being so far away from you but it’s only a couple of years, yeah? We can do that. And then I’ll start working for my dad and you’ll start working for some cool startup and we can move into a flat in London. You and me.”
While your boyfriend’s vision of your future together warms your heart, you’re still hung up on the ‘couple of years’ you were going to be a good distance from each other.
“Babe,” He says, bringing your attention back to him. “We’re going to be okay.”
You nod, finally relenting and agreeing with him. There was no point in letting yourself get eaten alive with worry, not when he clearly loved you just as much as you loved him. It was going to be okay.
“I love you,” You tell him and he smiles, pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.
“I love you too.”
~
Sean’s vision of the future wasn’t too far off. You manage to secure a flat just before you both graduate and by the end of the summer, you’d moved in. Sean starts working immediately alongside Alex at the Wallace Corporation and you spend about eight months working for a new tech startup on the other side of London before Finn Wallace offers you a job. It goes over with Sean just as well as you expected it would - which was not well at all.
“Are you really going to throw away everything you’ve worked hard for? To be my dad’s fucking assistant?”
You sigh in exasperation. “I’m not throwing away anything, Sean! Do you think I’m that stupid? I’m going to use more of what I learned at uni as Finn’s assistant than I am now at that fucking sad excuse for startup and you know it!”
Sean knows you’re miserable where you currently work so you don’t know why he’s so against this.
“You don’t want me working with you, is that it?”
He sighs, palms pressing against his eyelids in frustration.
“No,” He says eventually. “No, it’s not that. It’s just… I don’t want my dad having a hold on the both of us. You’re supposed to be free from all the Wallace Corporation shit, out doing your own thing.”
Oh.
You step towards him and he instinctively wraps his arms around your waist. You press a light kiss to his lips, your fingers ghosting over the facial hair he had recently started sporting.
“Sorry to tell you this, Sean, but your dad’s had a hold on the both of us the moment we started dating. Maybe even before that. I’m sure if he didn’t approve of me, I would’ve been out of your life a long time ago.”
Sean grumbles at the realisation but he knows it's true.
You lovingly run your thumb over his cheek. "Nothing in London is out of Finn Wallace's reach."
You’re not a fool. You know Finn offered you this job for a very specific reason. If you were going to continue being with Sean, and at this point, everyone knew that was absolutely going to be the case, you were going to have to know how the company worked. And you weren’t against it. If Sean was to be the CEO one day, you refused to be the kind of wife who was oblivious to their husband’s dealings.
~
Gone is the youthful innocence of the lanky boy you fell in love with when you were sixteen. Sean is filled out and a lot more serious, trying to be more than what he is for his father’s sake. You suppose you're the same, too. It's not easy, being primed to eventually take over a multi-million dollar organisation (connected to an insidious underground one to boot) and Finn put just as much pressure on you as he did his son.
“It’s not my blood,” You mumble when Sean walks into the bathroom to find you soaking in the tub, the water around you a deep red. “Mostly.”
Wordlessly, he comes over and drains it before filling it back up with fresh water. You don’t move as he does so, still shaken and borderline catatonic from having just killed somebody for the first time. Sean doesn’t have to ask, he can just tell that’s what you’ve come back from. As he silently washes the blood from your skin, you look over to see his lips set in a tight line. You know he’s mad. Not at you. At his father, maybe. But there’s nothing he can do now. There’s no going back from this.
~
Everyone thinks you’re the power couple of the Wallace Corporation, steely and unfeeling, and you suppose in many ways you are but you also know that in other ways, you’re still the teenagers you were before, still completely and utterly smitten with one another.
“Hey,” Sean greets you, kissing your cheek before pulling out a chair and sitting beside you in the empty boardroom.
You look at him in surprise as he starts digging into some pre-packaged salad. “Hi. What are you doing?”
“Thought I’d have lunch with you.”
“It’s three in the afternoon.”
“The meeting ran overtime.”
You give him a sympathetic look and he rolls his eyes. “It’s fine. C’mere.”
You shuffle closer to him and let him tuck you under one arm while he forked salad into his mouth with the other.
“What have you been up to, hm?”
You let out an exhale, resting your head against his shoulder. “Meetings, same as you.”
You’re interrupted when Alex pops his head in with an apologetic look on his face, knowing he was disrupting a rare moment between you and Sean. Usually, the both of you would be so busy you’d only see each other in passing at work.
“Finn’s looking for you, y/n,” He tells you before disappearing again.
You sigh, getting up but not before kissing Sean on the cheek.
“I’ll see you at home.”
“Mm, see you.” He mumbles, swallowing his mouthful of salad before his hand shoots out to grab your wrist. “Wait, give me a proper kiss.”
You smile and comply, laughing when Sean pulls you back in for another and another.
“I have to go, Sean!”
“Alright, alright,” He says, letting you go. “I’ll see you later.”
~
"What's all this?" Sean asks when he comes home one night to find you in the kitchen looking like you’re in the middle of making a more elaborate dinner than usual.
"Just something to celebrate you finishing up that contract," You say, smiling when his arms circle your waist and his lips press a kiss to your cheek. "I was also thinking now that the contract's done, you've got all the time in the world to fuck me."
You all but squeal when he picks you up and carries you to the bedroom without a second thought.
"The food, Sean!"
"The food can wait," He murmurs, dropping you onto the bed. You giggle when he moves to hover above you, his lips brushing against yours. "I've got to take care of my fiancé first."
~
It’s those memories of your relationship with Sean that flood your mind as you lean against the brick wall of a Soho back alley, the hand pressing against the wound on your side not doing much to stop the blood seeping from your body faster than you would like.
Dread had filled you the moment you heard about Finn’s death and it had less to do with what happened to him and everything to do with the man you were engaged to, the one who was set to take over the company in his father’s wake. Despite Sean being the clear successor to the business, you knew Finn’s death would still leave a power vacuum in both London’s corporate and criminal worlds. You knew people would be out for Sean, trying to off him so that they could step up and take Finn’s place. And so, since the day Finn had died, you’d done everything you could to ensure Sean wouldn’t be harmed. Even after Sean’s heartbreaking ultimatum, you’d left and had been all over the country and London trying to stop the people that needed to be stopped. This last job you’d just carried out would have been it. It would have sealed the deal and would have kept Sean safe for good. Too bad you were probably going to die because of it.
You wince as your back slides further down the wall, your legs giving out and leaving you to drop unceremoniously onto the concrete. Each inhale felt like a billion knives entering your side and you knew you weren’t going to last much longer.
It was worth it, you think to yourself. It’s the last thought you have before your eyelids get too heavy to keep open, Sean’s last words to you echoing back in your mind. It may have cost you your life but was worth it if it meant you’d just ensured Sean would keep his for a long while.
_________________________________________________
two.
Despite the number of people crammed into your hospital room, the only sound to be heard is the steady beeping of the machines that had been attached to you. It had been a hell of a night for all of them and one that wasn’t over yet. Jacqueline’s frantic call to Sean about seeing you get wheeled into emergency surgery had cut short the tense discussion the Wallaces and Dumanis were having around the dining table. Sean had all but sped to the hospital, everyone else trailing behind him. Despite everything that had just been revealed to him that night, it all became secondary in comparison to the fact that Jacqueline had told him you were practically dying.
Everyone but Sean looks up when Ed steps back into the room, shoving his phone into his pocket.
“That was Jevan,” Ed announces to all of them. “Things have changed.”
“What things?” Marian asks, the tone in her voice still bitter. It’s a wonder neither she nor Sean have kicked the Dumanis out of the room but it was because there was still so much to be discussed - especially now that you were back in the picture and what happened to you remained unclear.
“The investors now want to keep Sean alive.”
A silence settles over the room at Ed’s revelation. It was mere hours ago that Alex had revealed it was the investors who wanted Sean dead.
“She knew,” Sean mutters, finally speaking up. His eyes raking over your nearly-lifeless face as you lay unconscious on the hospital bed and his mind thinks back to the last conversation he had with you. Business, you had told him then. Now, he had no doubt you had something to do with the investors’ most recent decision. “She knew they wanted me dead.”
“How?” It’s Alex who asks, vocalising the same thought Sean had been turning over and over in his mind. “How did she know where to find them? Who to talk to?”
No one has an answer. The machines beep steadily, filling in the silence until Ed sighs, a realisation dawning on him.
“Finn,” He states like that alone makes the answer clear. “She would’ve known through Finn. Think about it. When she was his assistant, he made her go with him to nearly every meeting he had.”
Everyone in the room was aware of the latter, of course. It was part of your job. It had even been a point of contention between Sean and his father at one point, why you were let in on meetings that he should’ve been in on too if he was going to take over the company one day. "She’s just there to make the coffee, son," Finn had laughed but that wasn’t true in the slightest. You were the one who took down the minutes, noted down anything of importance, kept tabs on any and all of Finn’s dealings with everybody. That was your job and through it, you ended up knowing more about the business than anyone else and you didn’t even realise it. You didn’t realise just how much you knew, how much knowledge you could use as leverage, as blackmail, until Sean’s life was on the line.
After Finn died, you did wonder whether he knew what he was setting you up for when he hired you, wondered if he always knew Sean would eventually need protecting and knew that you would do it without hesitation if you had the capability to do so.
It’s Ed, here in the hospital room, who comes to the realisation that he absolutely did.
“She knows more about Finn’s dealings with the investors than all of us in this room combined,” He continues. “Because he never actually needed her to be his assistant. He needed her to be someone who would know how to talk to them. To protect the company and its successor from them if need be.”
“Successor?” Marian asks. “You mean Sean?”
Ed nods and everyone jumps as Sean suddenly throws his fist against the bedside table in anger before whirling on the older man.
“You knew about this,” He seethes. “You knew he was doing this and you just let it happen.”
“I didn’t know this was his reasoning behind it, Sean, I promise you. But it makes sense. As his son, protecting you was a priority. Through her, Finn made sure you’d be kept safe.”
"Fuck that.” Sean spits in anger. “Fuck that. She's a priority too. You hear me? She needs to be kept safe too because if she's not alive I may as well be fucking dead."
_________________________________________________
three.
“I should’ve fucking realised that’s what she was up to. I should’ve fucking known,” Sean mutters as he looks at you, still lying there unconscious. “She risked everything for me.”
“Are you surprised?” Marian asks him. It’s just the two of them in the room now.
She, for one, isn’t surprised in the slightest. Having known you most of your life, she knew you had it in you. Maybe Finn saw that too, since it was what he ended up priming you for.
Sean sighs. He’s not surprised either. What he mostly feels is anger - at his late father for putting you in that position to begin with - and shame. He’s ashamed that while you were bending over backwards to try and keep him alive, he was doing fuck all for you. He'd even broken your fucking heart in the process. He’d regretted it the second you’d left the flat but he couldn’t get into contact with you afterwards. Either you’d changed your number or you weren’t answering his calls. He’d even hired a fucking private investigator to find out where you’d gone and what you were up to but they hadn’t come back with anything solid enough that could lead him to you. It was like you’d disappeared off the face of the earth.
"She paid you off,” Sean says bluntly the moment the PI enters the hospital room. It’s not a question. After everything that had surfaced in the last twenty-four hours, it clicked into Sean’s mind the reason the private investigator couldn’t find anything on you.
"She did,” They confirm.
Sean swears under his breath. He curses that fact that you were too good at this and curses the fact that it was probably Finn that taught you how, the same way Finn taught him. He should’ve fought harder to stop you from accepting his dad’s job offer. All those years ago.
“She paid me off,” The PI says. "But that doesn’t mean I didn't do my job."
Sean is handed a folder full of notes on your movements and a flash drive full of photos they’d snapped from a distance.
"You are a very lucky man, Sean Wallace. To have someone like her in your life."
_________________________________________________
four.
To say you’re surprised when you open your eyes to a sterile hospital room is an understatement. You were so sure you had no chance of getting out of that alley alive. Still groggy, you briefly wonder if it was the investors who managed to get you here in time - the strange puppet masters that they were - but your train of thought is halted when you realise Sean’s sister is in the room with you, sitting beside your hospital bed.
“About time you woke up,” Jacqueline says softly, a kind smile on her face. “How’re you feeling?”
Her question brings your attention to the relentless ache you feel all over your body.
“Like shit.”
She hums. “Well, you’re lucky you aren’t dead. You gave us all a scare getting wheeled in here the way you did.”
You shift a little, trying to get yourself in a position that would ease the pain somewhat. “How’s Sean?”
Jacqueline has to stop herself from rolling her eyes because of course that’s what’s on your mind right now. You coming back from the verge of death asking about Sean ran in a similar vein to the way Sean had been adamant about not leaving the hospital since you’d been admitted. Like two peas in a pod, she thinks. Always have been.
“He’s just out in the hall, actually,” She informs you. “On the phone to mum. He’s not going to be pleased he wasn’t here when you woke up.”
“But he’s okay?” You ask her.
“He’s okay.”
You let out the breath you didn’t realise you were holding, your head sinking further into the pillow.
“Good,” You say, shutting your eyes in relief. “That’s good.”
Only a few seconds pass before you hear the door open and shut and a heart-achingly familiar voice break the silence.
“How is she?”
Again, Jacqueline has to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Her brother would always ask that same question every time he returned to the room, no matter if he was gone for an hour or for just a couple of minutes. At least this time, she was glad to give him an answer other than ‘she’s the same as she was when you left’.
“She’s awake.”
Your eyelids flutter open and your heart jumps when your gaze lands on Sean.
“I’ll leave you both to it,” Jacqueline smiles when she looks between her brother and yourself. She comes over and rests her hand on yours. “I’m really glad you’re alive, y/n.”
You give her a grateful smile and watch her leave before your eyes flicker back to the man standing at the door. He looks healthy, you note to yourself. Exhausted, but healthy.
“Sean,” You whisper, breaking the silence.
“Hey,” He says softly, approaching your bedside. You slowly sit up and tears start to pool in your eyes at the sight of him here, so close to you. Safe and alive. He notices and reaches out to wipe away the stray tears that had rolled down your cheeks.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” He murmurs and you have to hold back a sob.
"I did it for you, Sean," You can barely get the sentence out, your voice catching as you start to get choked up by emotion. "Everything I did-"
"I know," He says, cupping your face tenderly. His eyes are glassy too. "I know."
“I couldn’t let them hurt you. I couldn’t-”
You stop as your tears start to flow uncontrollably. You’d kept so much of your emotions at bay as you dealt with everything and now that it was all done, they were spilling over in waves. He gently pulls you into his embrace as you cry, mindful of your injuries. One hand strokes your hair comfortingly as you cling to him, soaking the front of his shirt with your tears. You keep muttering apologies into his chest and he has to tell you to stop because you have nothing to be sorry for. He should be the one apologising, he thinks. No matter what he does for you for the rest of his life nothing would come close enough in magnitude to what you’d just done for him.
You sniffle as your sobs finally start to subside but you don’t let go of him just yet.
“I want to come home, Sean,” You say quietly, your cheek still pressed against his chest.
“You are home,” He assures you, his arms affectionately squeezing you ever so slightly. "You're here with me. You're already home."
_________________________________________________
epilogue.
Sean barely leaves your side while you recover - not for business, not for anything.
“The company needs you, Sean.”
He shakes his head. “Alex has it covered. You need me.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Believe me, I know. But still. In sickness and in health, right?”
You snort. “We’re not married yet.”
His arms wrap around your waist.
“But we will be,” He murmurs. “I would’ve married you a long time ago if I had it my way.”
“My mother would’ve murdered you.”
Sean chuckles, all too aware of it.
It was about a year and a half into your university lives that Sean decided he genuinely wanted to marry you and, of course, he had run it by your mother.
“I’ll give you my blessing, Sean,” She had told him. “But only if you promise me you’ll give it a few years until you propose.”
“Just trust me on this, okay?” She said after Sean had frowned and asked her why. “I know you love her and I know she loves you but there’s no need to rush.”
Sean had agreed reluctantly but now, years later, he understands where she was coming from. At the time, he had naively been sure there was nothing the two of you couldn’t handle. You’d both handled being at different universities so well, after all. Now, he cringes at the fact that that was his metric but he figures he couldn’t blame himself. At that age, he definitely never anticipated having to deal with all the shit life had thrown at you both in the last few months alone. He’s somewhat grateful your mum told him to wait because now, after everything, he’s more sure than he ever was about the fact that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you.
~
You’re finally back home, in your own bed, lying on your back because it’s the only comfortable way you can lay down with all your stitches and injuries yet to fully heal. You turn your head to look at Sean and you smile. He’s on his back as well, the both of you craning your necks awkwardly to look at each other.
“What?” He asks.
“This is very familiar.”
He snorts, knowing exactly what you’re referring to. He props himself up on his elbow and looks down at you.
“At least this time I’m not scared to do this.”
Your eyelids flutter close as he leans down to press his lips to yours. You reciprocate, leaning up to deepen the kiss before pain shoots up your side, making you hiss.
“Sorry,” He murmurs, pulling away.
“It’s fine, just the stitches.”
His thumb grazes over your cheek. “Rest.”
He smiles at the way you huff. You never did like staying still.
~
You let out a content sigh, sinking back in your office chair. It had felt like a lifetime since you’d been in here and finally being back felt like you were putting in the final piece in the puzzle. It was the last thing you needed to feel like everything was starting to go back to normal.
A knock on the door grabs your attention, Sean popping in to check on you. “You ready?”
You nod, gingerly getting up and following him to the boardroom for the family meeting.
~
“So you know Alex and I have been talking,” Sean says to you once everyone had filed in and taken their seats. “About what will be best for the business going forward.”
You nod.
“Things have settled down and we’ve managed to broker temporary agreements with everyone to keep them in line. However, we need to guarantee they won’t act out in the future. So we need someone heading the company who they will listen to, someone who they trust. Alex wants to continue doing the finances and I’m better off sticking to making the buildings so… we were wondering if you would be the CEO.”
Your expression goes slack in shock. “What?”
“We’ve run it by Ed and mum and they agree, too. You’re our best bet.”
You look between everyone in the room, bewildered. “Why?”
“Because you know more about dealing with the investors and shareholders than any of us,” Alex says. “You saw first-hand how Finn did his business with them, something me and Sean rarely did. And they not only know you personally but they trust you, too.”
“Y/n,” Ed pipes up. “Whether he did it deliberately or not, Finn taught you everything he knew about the most important part of running this corporation. Alex knows finance and sales, Sean knows property and asset management but you? He specifically taught you how to bargain. And bargaining and making deals is part of what keeps the Wallace Corporation on top.”
“All our shareholders, the investors, they’ll be okay with this?” You ask.
Ed gives you a look, “You tell us.”
The weight of the responsibility hits you in full force but you’re surprised when you don’t feel scared. You feel sure. They were all right, you’d been doing this already.
You nod. “They will be.”
And it’s not a threat so much as it’s just pure confidence on your part. You knew their strengths, their weaknesses, you knew you would be able to keep them in line with your words, either finding mutual ground or using certain things as leverage to get what the company needed. You could bargain with them the same way you’d bargained for Sean’s life. You could do this.
You meet Sean’s eyes across the boardroom table and he smiles at you, pride blooming in his chest at the thought of his girl, the one he had fallen head-over-heels for at sixteen, being the CEO of his dad’s company. You smile in return. God, you loved him. Your entire world, your whole heart, belonged to him. And his to you. It always had been, and it always would be.
_________________________________________________
End notes: The first kiss setting in one. I took straight from Volume, lol, and then two. is set after that meeting scene at the end of Episode 7 of Gangs but I’ve taken some liberties with that meeting and diverged from canon right before Ed tells them Finn never wanted Sean near the business because Sean’s reaction to that hurts my heart. So that’s not a thing in my fic world. Anyway! Too many thoughts about this show. Let me know if you enjoyed this fic!
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peppermint2d · 3 years
Text
F#$%ing uh, Calm after the Storm cuz the Storm Thing
It's 2D's birthday today, so enjoy another chapter!
Ch.1 in case you missed it
Chapter 2:
When you come to again, you see that the movie was indeed paused from what you last remember. Since he is in the basement, it was still dark inside 2D's room. You could see his sleeping form on his bed, lightly snoring with each inhale. It was still cold, but you promised to give the jacket back, so you gently lay it on top of him. You leave his room, hearing Noodle giggle far away.
There were no windows in the hallway, so you again relied on the walls for help and tried to follow the noises of Noodle in the kitchen. Climbing two flights of stairs in the dark is easier than it sounds, especially since as you reached the upper floor, the windows helped a little. It was still storming outside, but at least outside was brighter, even if by only a small amount.
As you walk into the kitchen, you hear the hiss of the stove releasing gas and see Noodle with a pack of matches. As she strikes one, you tackle her, and the air above you catches fire, burning your arm that you put up the shield both of you. "Ah fuck!" Tears well up in your eyes.
Noodle quickly squirms out from your grasp and puts a pan on the now lit stove. All that for breakfast? You check your arm and see a blister forming. There is no ice in the fridge since it all melted, so you wet a towel and hold it on the burn. Noodle shoos you away from the sink and fridge, removing butter, potatoes, and pancake mix from the cabinets. "Batā daijōbu? Bīgandesu ka?" She asked, holding up the butter.
"Sure, anything is fine."
She nods and quickly whips up breakfast for both of you and enough extras for the rest of the band. She sits on the island counter next to you. "Thank you for breakfast." You push the food around as you attempt to eat with one hand.
She hums questioningly and points to her left arm, your injured one.
You show her the burn. "It will heal, thanks for asking."
"What will heal?" Russel enters and starts getting his plate of food.
"My arm. Burnt it just now."
He sets a water kettle on the still-lit stove. "How bad?"
"Second degree, I think." You remove the towel to show him.
He grimaces. "Great way to wake up in the morning. Joe?"
"Who's Joe?"
Russel broke out into a sly grin. "Joe Mama. But a cup of joe, coffee?"
"BOO! Russel, boo. I can't believe I fell for that." You accept his consolation prize and he makes coffee for both of you. Noodle reaches for one, but Russel lightly smacks her hand away. "None 'til you're older."
Noodle lets out a quick string of angry Japanese.
"Say all you want but ain't getting none of this 'til you're at least 15."
"I can't believe she is so young. She's the one who made breakfast. Plus, she already is so talented with the guitar!"
"And vocals." As soon as Russel says that, he blushes. "Pretend I never said that."
"She does vocals on the new album? Come on, Russel! You can't just let that slip and not answer my questions!!"
"Can and will. Ey Noodle, Where's your napkin?"
Noodle paused in the middle of wiping her maple syrup on her sleeve. Russel sighed and got her a napkin. "You were saying about her maturity?"
You both share a laugh. "When do you think this storm will end?" You ask Russel.
"Dunno. It's always storming over Kong, at least."
"Do you like it here?"
"Don't hate it. I do enjoy makin music, but the whole kidnapped thing wasn't ideal." You both chuckled again.
"Yeah, I bet. I'm going to be having nightmares of Murdoc kidnapping me now."
"Murdoc doing anything is highly unlikely" Russel's deep laughter boomed throughout the room.
"Oi! I do stuff! I do lots of stuff." Murdoc wiggled his eyebrows. He takes the rest of the food.
"Hey! Leave some for 2D!" You protest.
"If the faceache wanted some, he should have woken up earlier." He sneered back, drenching his plate of pancakes in syrup and fried potatoes with ketchup. He poured the rest of the coffee for himself. There was too much for one cup, so he got out two mugs, filled both, and drank from both. What an asshole.
You looked at your own plate. You were too busy tending to your arm and talking to Russel to really eat anything, aside from a piece of potato. You were starving from not having any dinner. But you were the reason 2D stayed up and therefore didn't get up on time. You sighed and took your plate downstairs. "Thanks again for breakfast, Noodle!" You call behind you.
You set the food on the floor so you could knock on the door. Like a poor replay of last night, you had to knock again louder. Frustrated, you shout "2D!" You hear movement on the other side of the door and pick up the food.
"Ah!" A loud thump proceeds the opening of his door and you see him rubbing his chin as he opens it for you.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I jus tripped. Can't really see well at night. Although I guess it mornin now innit?" He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stepped out of the way for you to join him, relighting the candle from last night. "Oh! Yew brought me breakfast? I'm starvin. Wouldda fought that Murdoc ate it all before I got any."
"He kinda did" You admit sheepishly.
"But then how'd yew get dis?" He sat on his bright yellow chair and started to eat vigorously.
"A magician never reveals their secrets."
"YEW DO MAGIC?"
"No D, it's an idiom." He looked confused. "Like raining cats and dogs?"
He swallowed his bite before speaking: "That doesn seem safe."
As you're about to laugh, your stomach starts to growl, causing you to turn bright red.
2D frowns. "This was yours?" You nod. "Well, now yew gotta take some. Yew didn efen 'ave dinna!"
"Nah, 2D it's yours, come on you said you were starving!"
"Eh, don tell 'er I said so, but Noodle's cookin can be off. I don like fese potatoes anyway, would yew-"
"Yes." You sit on the ground by him and he hands you what's left of them. You both sit in companionable silence. Normally, you observe everything as information for your articles, but here, there is nothing to record. Eating is a very intimate act. It's private. It leaves you vulnerable. One does not eat comfortably with strangers. There is an inherent agreement made when eating, a promise of safety and companionship. You don't think 2D values this moment as much as you do, you were waxing poetic while he sticks his tongue out as he struggles to cut a part of his pancake. Even though his struggles may suggest otherwise, he is meticulous while eating, taking extra caution to not allow any syrup to drip while he eats.
"Yew still 'ungry?" He nodded towards your empty plate. "Cuz yew'fe been lookin at me eat, and there's plenty pancake left."
"No, uh, I'll live." You flush, you keep forgetting about his eyes.
"Good! Wouldn't want yew dyin." He grins, showing off his missing teeth. You look around his room while he finishes. It wasn't exactly a mess, but it was not orderly. Clothes littered the floor, but the room felt lived in and as homey as a basement could get.
"Do you like living in the basement?" You ask him as he collects the plates into a stack.
"Didn't 'ave much of a choice. Murdoc put me 'ere before Russ n Noodle showed up. Gets a bit drafty fough."
This would be nice for your article. "Was this even a room initially? Or did Murdoc just put up a wall?"
"I dunno. I fink 'e jus put somefin up since I can see ofer dis wall 'ere if I get up 'igh enough." He opens his door and takes the plates with him. "Can yew blow out the candle? I don wanna bring it upstairs since Murdoc would probably take it for 'imself. Yew can grab onto the back of me shirt if you need 'elp navigatin. Not that I can see where I'm goin eifer."
You do ask he asks and grab onto his yellow tee. "I would offa yew me 'and, but..."
"They're full. Don't worry, this is helping loads."
He just hums in response as he leads you up the stairs, through the carpark, and up more stairs to the kitchen. When you finally reach the kitchen, your hand still holding the warm material of 2D's shirt. Russel hears you two enter and looks above the book he was reading --Wuthering Heights-- to raise an eyebrow at your position which must have looked a lot more suggestive than it actually was. You were in the basement alone with 2D for an hour at least and as an investigative journalist, you could understand better than anyone why it looked suspicious. You deeply flush, feeling the heat reach the tips of your ears. 2D apparently did not catch Russel's expression, leading you to the sink, where he washed the plates while you still held onto him. You didn't need to, you could see just fine now.
Russel sniggered, "I guess your arm's feeling better now, huh?" His sly smile hinting that he thinks he knows, incorrectly as it may be, why you are suddenly so close to 2D.
"Your arm's 'urtin?! Why didn yew say anyfin last night?" 2D turns towards you frantically, grabbing the arm that was holding his shirt, turning it around, trying to find the injury.
"Last night? Damn." Russel is chuckling on the couch, shaking his head. "2D, you have been ploughing through too many girls recently."
This piqued your interest. A new development for your article.
"I'm- I'm- I'm strugglin Russ, yew know dis. Besides, we didn efen do anyfin! We jus watched Dawn of the Dead!" He shakes his head vigorously, waving his arms.
"It starts with Dawn of the Dead..."
"ANYWAY! 'ow did yew 'urt your arm?" 2D harshly changes the subject, Russel fully laughing at this point.
You barely manage to mumble: "Burnt it." Russel's teasing really embarrassed you.
"On the candle?" He still looked so concerned, as if he was the one to hurt you.
"This morning. Not your fault, D." He visibly relaxed at that.
"Plus, it's this arm." You held up your left arm, the angry, sickly yellow blister facing him.
"'ow could I 'ave missed this! Oi, love, why 'aven't yew bandaged this? Does it 'urt still? Did yew put ointment on it?"
"Yo, 2D, chill, let her breathe!" Russel shouted from across the room.
2D flinched in surprise. "Sorry."
You smile and giggle, their concern for you was so cute. "I'm fine. It hurts to move and if anything touches it, it's agony, but really no need to fret."
"We keep a first aid kit in the studio because of, uh, Murdoc. I can patch yew up." He takes your uninjured hand and leads you down to the ground floor and into a cluttered studio. You grimaced at the pelt on the floor.
2D noticed your refusal to step on it. "Yeah, 'm not a big fan of it meself." He digs through a discarded box. "'ere's the kit! Come 'ere, I'll make yew feel be'er."
He rifles through the extensive kit, packed with anything an EMT team may need, including a mini lamp, which he turns on. "Oh! 'ere it is! Alooe Veera soofin cream!" He terribly mispronounces the name. "'ere are some bandages too, I'll wrap yew up afta."
You sat by his side on the floor as he tenderly took your injured arm and inspected it. "I fink dis may scar."
"If it does, then I'll always have something to remember this by. Plus, Noodle would feel so guilty, I'd probably get tickets to all of your concerts." You joke, but 2D's concern didn't seem to waver.
He laid it on his lap while he put some cream on his fingers. "Dis may 'urt a wee bit." He started on the outside of your burn, gently rubbing in the cream, the soothing lotion and soft touches caused you to sigh and relax into 2D's shoulder. Again, he smelled of cigarettes and cedar and his vanilla-scented candle still lingered in his shirt. He was bony so that you could feel his shoulder blade and clavicle, but it was not uncomfortable in the slightest. You could feel his muscles move as he tended to you and if this continued any longer, you would have fallen asleep.
He brushes against the blister unexpectedly and you yelp, yanking back your arm. "I need you to stay still, love." You grumble and tuck your head back into his shoulder, relaxing into him again. He continues with the cream, taking extra care with the blister, pausing when you sharply inhale. "I'll bandage yew up right proper, I will." He whispers, mainly to himself.
As soon as the rough gauze touches your blister, you whimper. "Jus stay good for a few more minutes, yeah?"
"This is hurting more than the actual burn."
"Sorry, love. Uh, lemme know if dis is too tight or loose." He begins to wrap the bandage around your forearm.
"Tighter, please." He pauses and tries again.
"Tighter." He tugs on them even harder.
"Tighter."
"Tighter."
"Yew sure? I fink your fingers are turnin red." He was right, they were showing signs of lack of blood flow.
"Please, D? I don't want it to come undone and have to do this again."
He follows your wishes and finishes tieing it up with a bow. "There, all done! If it still 'urts bad, I could give yew some of me painkillers?"
"I could do with some ibuprofen maybe. What do you have?"
"Perscriptions. Nefer wifout em!" His smile didn't quite reach his eyes and you could tell that it was just a cover. You give him a sympathetic smile, you couldn't blame him for being addicted. His smile falls. "Yew won't put that in your article, will yew?"
"Of course not, D! Nothing without your permission gets published, I'll even send you my rough draft for you to OK." You stand up and reach out your good arm to help him up too.
He is lighter than you expected as you yank him up beside you. "Yew don 'ave to do that. I doubt I could efen understand what yew write."
"Oh please, you're very intelligent!"
"Not since I fell on me 'ead, I 'aven't been." He deeply sighs. Then, he shakes his head. "Well, dis is where the magic 'appens! I could give yew a tour?"
You follow his lead and decide to stop talking about his past, but that doesn't mean you have to stop wondering what made this ray of sunshine so sad. He takes you around the space, explaining what each machine does and how it was used on the EP, sometimes complaining how one of them didn't work properly or how it didn't make it into the final versions of the songs. When you reach the keyboards, he practically glows when talking about them, their names (yes, he named his keyboards), which sounds are unique to each, and which ones are the stubborn ones. "Dis one 'as a very stiff F4, could nefer play that note." He pulls down his favourite from the shelf and plays "The Entertainer" beautifully. It would have rude to not applaud.
"And that's the recording boof. I don quite like 'ow claustrophobic it makes me. The sound spikes are scary, too. No good memories in there." He takes the lamp with him as he walks to the door. He holds out his hand for you to take, even though you can see where you are going now. But who are you to say no?
You reach out to take his hand, his being quite a bit bigger than yours. He leads you out the door and through the winding hallways of Kong. Even with his lamp, the place still reminds you a bit of a maze. You hear Russel's deep timbre coming down the kitchen's stairs and you remembered your interaction with him earlier and wondered how it would have been if he'd seen how you still held 2D's hand. 2D led you back down the stairs, through the car park, and down the stairs again. with each step the two of you took down, the darker the space around you got. That was the cons of a basement, you supposed. Once you were both back in his room, he placed the lamp over on a desk.
"Okay, ibuprofen right? I fink I got somethin like tha."
He let go of your hand to open the drawer at his desk, revealing many, many, bottles of pills. You tried to pretend you weren't looking over his shoulder at them all, but you were pretty sure he knew you were. He didn't address it, instead pulling out a specific bottle and pushing the door shut. He held it up close in front of his face, and you watched as he squinted just slightly to read the label.
"'ere we go! Dis should work."
He popped the top of the bottle and dumped quite a large amount on his hand before holding it out to you. You stared for a moment at the pile of pills in his hand before reaching out and grabbing just 2. He blinked, and slowly put the rest of the pills back in the bottle, then dropped it back in the drawer.
"Thanks, 2D. This'll help loads." You smiled up at him. He just smiled back.
You took both pills, faced with the fact you had no water to swallow them down with. It wasn't the biggest deal, but you never were good at swallowing pills, so the bitter medicine dissolved slightly on your tongue before it was gone.
"Blegh." you stuck your tongue out and scrunched your face up, that bitter taste causing you to cringe. You heard 2D laugh at your reaction. "Hey! Rude." You said, but you were smiling too.
"Sorry," he laughed a little again, "Les go get you somfin to drink, yeah?"
"Um, yeah. please."
He starts to lead you back to the kitchen. Your whole time at Kong has been dealing with these blasted stairs. "What yew want to drink?" 2D asks as you reach the car park.
"Got any more soda from last night?"
"No, fresh out, Noodle finished it while yew were asleep."
"Juice?"
"Yeah! We may 'ave some Orange Juice left."
"If it was in the fridge it would have gone bad by now because of the power."
2D sighed. "Then all we gots is water and Murdoc's alcohol supply." You were about to go up the stairs to the kitchen and pause.
"You know any good cocktails, D?" You smiled slyly. Sure, it may only be after lunchtime, but with the clocks out, who really knows what time it is.
"I normally jus drink straight from the bottle." His smile returns your energy, so you turn around and start heading to the Winnebago.
The air starts to turn sour, and you could feel it sticking to your face. When you inhale, it burns your nose and stays in the back of your throat. The stench of death and rot. Of alcohol, sweat, weed, and sex. Of an overuse of Axe bodyspray. You didn't think you would see a grown man cry today, but as you two approached the Winnebago, 2D's eyes watered in a way that could only be described as a constant stream of tears.
"What happened here? Do you think Murdoc's okay?" As you open your mouth to speak, you could feel the stench seep in and can almost taste the putridness.
2D coughed "'e's probably more than okay." He knocked on the flimsy door.
The opening of the door unleashed a plume of stank upon you and 2D. You were expecting Murdoc to greet you, but your eyes lowered until they saw what you could only describe as a zombie in a maid outfit. That was definitely making the article. It gurgled and turned away. A second later, Murdoc appeared, topless. "Hey, Love! Finally come to your sense, eh?" He saw 2D and grumbled, "Ah, why'd you bring dents for eyes? I promised myself I wouldn't make that dream a reality. Besides, my bed's only got room for two." Murdoc leered at you, outlining your body with his eyes. 2D coughed and stood in front of you, causing Murdoc to lean back and cross his arms. "You're blocking her view of all this." He gestured to himself.
"Not to dis one, Murdoc. Not again. We're only 'ere for your booze." His hands balled into fists. You didn't need 2D to speak to Murdoc for you, but you sense something deeper going on here.
Murdoc turned for a sec and grabbed a bottle behind him. "Here you go, Face Ache. It's weak enough for you to stomach, lightweight. And if she," He points at you, "comes to me begging for a shag, later on, then we will both know that you're the issue."
2D takes the bottle and mumbles bastard under his breath. Murdoc leans against the doorframe and grins, cockily, watching you leave. The farther you get away from the Winnebago, the clearer the air looks. "Ah, I can feel my nose again! That stank, right D?"
"Yeah, wha'ever." He didn't look at you, his head tilted down so you guessed he was looking at the floor. He was hunched over and held the alcohol with white knuckles.
"You okay, 2D?" You put your hand on his shoulder.
He shrugged you off. "I jus wanna down dis bottle and forget everyfin 'til tomorrow at least."
You follow him silently back to his room, straying behind so that you were barely within the light from 2D's lamp. He disappeared through the door, leaving you in the dark as you fumbled down the last steps. You find him flopped face down onto the bed, his arms and legs splayed across the whole mattress. You gingerly pick up one of his legs and move it so you can sit on the bed beside him.
"You know I would never sleep with Murdoc, right?"
2D grumbled and opened the bottle, taking a huge swing, not fazed at all. He passed it over to you and you read the label. It was named Satan's Piss and had a cartoon devil on the front. Its main feature was its ABV of 50%, 10% more than vodka. You take a considerably smaller sip and cough, cringing at the strength, causing 2D to snort. At least one of you is getting something out of this.
"Wouldn't be the first time someone's left me for 'im." 2D pulled his limbs in a rolled over so that his stomach was touching your back, his legs close to your side. He leaned on one elbow, purposefully not looking at you. You turned slightly so you could watch him. "I don fink I could efer forgive Murdoc for what 'e did. I 'ad a bird and she and I were togefer efen before I lost me eyes, which I also 'ate Murdoc for, but that's a different story. Dis bird 'elped me frough me recovery and efen joined the band after I became the singer. The guitarist before Noodle." He paused and reached out for the bottle, which you handed to him. He took another huge drink and use wiping his mouth as an excuse to rub his eyes as well. "Well, anyway, Russ found 'er one day in the toilets wif Murdoc, givin 'im a blow job. 'e broke Murdoc's nose, that's why it looks so screwed up." He chuckled a little at that and took another drink. "After that, I tried to use other girls as a way of lessenin the pain. It's what Russel was talkin about in the kitchen. I actually 'ad plans wif a bird for this weekend, but well." He sheepishly looked up at you. "I 'ad dated Rachel Stevens for a bit, but Murdoc scared 'er off. Not the first time it's 'appened eifer. 'e's ruined everyfin for me recently." He ended his speech by finishing half of the bottle and handing it back to you.
"Oh, D. I'm so sorry. Paula, she didn't deserve you." You put your uninjured hand on his shoulder and he looked up at you. From the light of the lantern, you could see that his face was wet.
"She said it was me fault she got wif Murdoc. That she was tired of dealin wif me in me comatose state and that I was too fick efen after I came too. And I know I should blame 'er, but I just can't bring meself to 'ating 'er. I loved 'er, you know? Loved 'er proper." As he was speaking, staring at his hands, you drank some of the alcohol, it really starting to affect you.
Your hand started to move up from his shoulder to his hair, slowly running your fingers through the blue. It looked so pointy, you expected it to be brittle with hair gel or something, but his hair was so smooth and soft, albeit a bit messy. When you touched it, he flinched, but as you continued to brush your hand through, he relaxed and moved into the touch. You didn't stop combing through his hair, loving the way the blue fluff would part on your behalf. As you pet his hair, you could feel him begin to cry, his face in his hands, his shoulders heaving, his breathing unsteady. You heard sniffles and choked whimpers, so you made an effort to prevent any stray hairs from falling onto his face, lest it gets wet. You tasted alcohol as you drank some more to distract you from crying too: 2D didn't need that right now. All you saw was a defeated, broken boy who needed so much more love than anyone could give him.
You put the bottle on the floor and lifted 2D by his shoulders with your good arm, pulling him up into a sitting position with you. He didn't complain, only removed his hands from his black eyes, revealing them to be overflowing with tears and had a vague look of confusion. Then you hugged him, pulling his body close, feeling the heat of him through his clothes, hurting when his ribs would expand only to push out the air as a muffled cry. As if you two had done this a thousand times before, he tucked his head into your neck and it fits perfectly. His hair tickled your face and you continued to run your fingers through it. "It's alright. I'm here. I won't let you go." You whispered repeatedly while your friend conveyed every once of his devastation in tears.
After he calmed a little, he lifted his face from your neck. You could feel how wet it was from his tears and snot, but you didn't really mind. You stopped touching his hair, instead you cupped his cheek with your hand, brushing away stray tears with your thumb.
"S-sorry," He hiccuped, "for crying on yew." He looked up at you, his empty eyes rimmed red and you lost some part of yourself to him then.
You continued to stroke his cheek. "Sh, don't apologize, you're perfect."
His arm that used to lay limply over your shoulder while you were comforting him moved slowly, until it rested at the nape of your neck, tangling itself into your hair. He searched your face for any signs of opposition, but upon receiving none, he pulled your lips to his.
You have never had a worse headache or case of cottonmouth. Luckily it was still night, the noises of nocturnal life just outside, so you didn't have to bother with bright lights. You started to stir, but couldn't move half of your body. Looking over, you saw that 2D had wrapped his arms around your unburnt arm and that one of his long legs hooked around you, essentially trapping you. Had you fallen asleep like this? "Please be wearing clothes, please," You whisper. You saw that you were both fully clothed and let out a sigh of relief. You couldn't remember for the life of you what may have caused this. The last thing you could recall was Paula, the bitch.
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backtothestart02 · 3 years
Text
Lust and Love at Seventeen - 1/? | westallen fanfiction
A/N: New fic time! I think you guys will like this one. I really, really do. ;)
...
Synopsis: HS!AU - Iris is about to date the most popular boy in school. There’s only one problem. She has no experience. What she does have is her best friend, Barry Allen, who she can practice on so she doesn’t embarrass herself. Problem solved. Right?
...
Chapter 1 -
Stacy’s car slowed as the opening to the driveway appeared. Music could be heard not far away, so loud that Barry swore the ground almost shook. With dread in his eyes and his heart, he risked the inevitable and looked out the window to his doom.
The big house at the top of the hill had been a source of loathing for Barry for the past three years. Self-loathing mainly, at how he allowed himself to be dragged there twice a month, sometimes more than that in the summer. But also, he loathed Bradley Baker, the most popular kid in the senior class, who lived in that house and had Iris West, his live-in best friend and love of his life, permanently starstruck.
He’d bumped into her accidentally at the beginning of freshman year and apologized verbally then, and also by presenting her with a paper flower at the end of the day. A gesture that had stayed ingrained in Iris’ memory ever since that day. He hardly spoke to her after the incident, but Iris maintained that he smiled at her in the hallway, and to him she was always ‘the girl I gave the paper flower to’, no matter how many times Iris informed him of her actual name.
Not that she minded, of course. She had a special name from him. A little long-winded, if you asked Barry, but he’d stopped reminding her of that fact. She didn’t care. She was blind with infatuation. Everything was Bradley, Bradley, Bradley, and if anything could get her in his sights for a second longer than a glimpse in the hallway, she was sure to do it and bring Barry with her so she didn’t look idiotic by herself if her plan were to backfire. Which it often did.
Two is better than one, they say.
Tonight’s diabolical plan was to go to the big party at Bradley’s house, which wasn’t all that diabolical since he’d invited the entire school – and could afford to, given how huge the house was, and that was dad was practically a millionaire. Barry and Iris got their ride from Stacy, since she’d just gotten her driver’s license and was eager to get out on the road.
The second Iris had informed him of this, he’d started to connect the dots and come to the unfortunate conclusion that he’d be spending the night with the Baker’s dog in the foyer while everyone else partied in the house and backyard.
Stacy was Iris’ other best friend. They were in cheerleading together. Thankfully there was no rivalry over Bradley. Stacy wanted to be with Justin Clarke, Bradley’s best friend and fellow football player. The girls had been fantasizing about the double dates they would have ever since the paper flower incident. Barry had ceased repressing his eyes rolling whenever it was brought up and he was in the vicinity.
“Barry!” An annoyed Iris called to him, snapping her fingers in his face.
Reluctantly, he blinked and focused in on what she was saying with furrowed brows.
“You coming or what?”
He sighed. Did he have a choice?
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” he said and climbed out of the car, careful not to bump his head sitting on top of his tall, lanky body.
He didn’t know what the point was in him being here when Iris had Stacy too, who was obviously more invested and supportive of the whole Bradley thing, but he’d given up arguing about it with Iris. He didn’t like to fight with her anyways, and they rarely did, so he’d decided to put this issue to bed. He vented with Joe on occasion – Iris’ dad – but he had to be careful what he said so he didn’t accidentally spill how many times they’d snuck back into the house after curfew for a party Iris just had to be at and drag him to.
So most of the time he kept his troubles to himself and actually ended up starting a journal to release his frustrations. That and conduct science experiments that periodically did damage to the roof of the garage in which he had them set up.
He could still hear Joe’s angry voice calling his name from the last explosion-level event that had gotten him grounded. To be fair, Barry had walked in on Iris kissing her mirror pretending it was Bradley and hadn’t been able to get the image out of his head. It both irritated and aroused him, and that was problematic all on its own.
“Barry!”
Barry looked up at the cooing voice he knew all too well. He plastered on a genuine smile. The only person that understood him through and through in this house had just walked back into his line of view.
“Hi, Mrs. Baker.”
“I haven’t seen you in a while. Care for some cookies?”
She pulled out a tray of cookies fresh from the oven, chocolate chip, his favorite. The scent was heavenly.
“Aren’t they for the party?” he asked, trying not to drool.
“They just came out of the oven. I thought I’d offer one to who was at the door next before putting them with the other snacks.”
Barry looked around briefly to see if he could catch Iris’ eye, but all he saw was the flip of her ponytail as she headed into the backyard with Stacy. He sighed.
Mrs. Baker frowned.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Hmm?” Barry looked back at her. “Oh, yeah. Just dandy.” He grabbed a cookie and stuffed it into his mouth. “Mmm.”
Her eyes sparkled in amusement.
“Here, come sit with me in the kitchen before you join the others. I know someone who’s been missing you.”
Barry finished his cookie and grinned. His eyes lit up as he followed her into the other room. A little brown and black dog came running to greet him and nearly jumped into his arms.
“Pepper!”
He pet the dog eagerly licking at his face and smiled wider.
“Oh, wow, someone has missed me!”
Mrs. Baker laughed warmly.
“Told you.”
Barry lifted the dog up into his arms and held her close, swaying back and forth a little. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before she quickly turned and got a swipe of his cheek with her tongue.
“You can stay with us if you want to.”
Barry lifted his head and set the dog back down.
“Huh?”
“I mean, if you didn’t want to join your friends.”
He flushed a bright red.
“Uhh…”
“I just noticed how you tend to end up back inside before the night is out.”
“Oh.”
“Only if you want to, of course. You can go wherever you like while you’re here.”
Barry forced a smile this time.
“Thanks. I think I should at least try to give the party a go. I’ll be back if it sucks.” He stopped, paling instantly. “I mean-”
She laughed good-naturedly.
“It’s quite alright, Barry. We’ll be here if you need us.”
He nodded and headed into the backyard just in time to see Bradley Baker slow dancing with his girl.
Abruptly, he turned back around and headed into the kitchen.
“You’re back!” Mrs. Baker said, then sobered immediately. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I just uh…I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”
She offered a small smile.
“I have a scrabble board. Interested?”
He sighed in relief, putting the image of Iris in Bradley’s arms out of his mind.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
It was after midnight by the time Iris West ended up back home. Stacy, having seen the exciting position her best friend had gotten herself into, left the party early with Barry in tow and dropped him off half a block from the West house, so he could sneak back in with Mr. West none the wiser.
Iris hadn’t wanted to leave, but as the party dwindled and she found herself without a ride home, Bradley volunteered to take her.
Her heart beating rapidly in her chest, she didn’t hesitate to say yes.
Now, the car having slowed right in front of her house, she turned to look at the boy who had stolen her heart.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said, then looked down at her hand that he was holding between them. “And everything else.”
“Of course,” he said, intertwining their fingers.
Iris licked her lips.
“I can’t wait until your next party,” she said with stars in her eyes.
“How about tomorrow night?”
Her heart nearly stopped.
“Huh?”
“Iris West, will you go out with me?”
Frozen to the spot, Iris briefly lost the ability to speak.
“Iris?” A smirk tugged at his lips as he ran his thumb over her hand.
“Yes!” she said, almost leaping into his arms but keeping herself in check. “Yes, yes, yes.” She laughed, happy tears in her eyes.
He laughed.
“Can I have your number?”
She swallowed and pulled out her phone, so she could put his contact in too.
“Uh-huh.”
Quickly they exchanged numbers, and then he started to lean in.
She held in her breath, hardly daring to believe what was happening. She was not ready for a kiss. She could barely handle hand-holding and a ride home and slow-dancing. Oh, my God, what a magical night it had been… It had been…perfect.
Luckily for her sanity, Bradley pressed a kiss to the side of her face before pulling back with a knowing smile.
“I’ll save the real thing for tomorrow night.” He winked. “Goodnight, Iris.”
She swallowed, forcing herself to move.
“G-Goodnight, Bradley.”
As gracefully as she could, she got out of the car and shut it behind her. He waved and took off. Slowly she made her way to the side of the house, quietly climbing into her bedroom window and shutting it once inside.
She slipped out of her shoes and party clothes, transitioning easily into her pajamas for the night. Then she laid down in her bed, put her pillow over her mouth tightly and screamed into it as she moved her legs excitedly under the covers.
Bradley Baker just asked her out on a date!
Two rooms away down the hall, Barry’s eyes had opened when he heard Iris climbing up the side of the house. Now all was still, but he heard the muffled scream as clearly as if she had been right next to him, and knew a feeling of dread.
Stacy’s all-knowing look as she dropped him off paired with her sympathetic apology rung in his head.
“I’m sorry, Barry.” I know how much you like her went unsaid.
He closed his eyes again now and turned over, trying in vain to get back to sleep.
The image of Iris in Bradley’s arms haunted him even in his sleep. It would be a long night.
...
*will post on AO3 and FFnet when beta’d.
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yeojaa · 4 years
Text
ANGELS & AIRWAVES (w. jjk)
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He's never met you but you know how he sounds when he wakes up from a nap and his greatest fears.  You know the way he sings after a shower and that he could be mistaken for a dying seal when he's laughing too hard.  The best part?  You don't judge him for any of it - including the fact he's a filthy Widow main.  He might just love you.
alt summary.  Jeon Jungkook has a big fat crush on a girl he's never met.
pairing.  jeon jungkook
genre + rating.  fluffy crack.  general, for now.
warning / tags.  long-distance relationship, crushes, canon compliant (ish),  eventual happy ending, gaming, gamer!jungkook, strangers to lovers, friends to lovers, overwatch.  tags are hard.  :( 
reading.   n/a.  a three part one-shot.
word count.  ~2750
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part ii.
JUNGKOOK’S ROOM Sunday, 15 March, 2020.  2:01 AM.   
He falls for you in between the tireless teasing, the laughter that sinks into his ears and replays like a highlight reel.  It happens when he leasts expects it, when he's got his face pressed into the velvet of Yeontan's fur and you're cooing over voice chat, whispering sweet nothings to the manic panic pup.  It comes in the moments he's not expecting it to, when he's frustrated and unbearable and you're as sunny as always, spilling yellow paint across the doors he tries to keep shut.  
Bit by bit, day by day, he finds himself thinking of you more. 
First, it's wondering what you're doing while he's half-asleep and on his way to the studio.  Do you look as tired as you sound?  What colour is your hair and how does it stick up when you've just rolled out of bed?  When you yawn, do you stretch like a cat?  He thinks you do, if the sounds you make are any indication.
Then it's asking himself whether you might like the same things he does, from horror movies to carnival rides.  Would you hold his hand as you made the drop, stomachs leaping into your throats?  Would you scream?  Would it sound anything like that terrified pterodactyl noise you make when you're spawn camped by a Roadhog?  He doesn't consider the fact that he doesn't even know if you're in the same city and you'll likely never meet - bound to the servers of Overwatch only.  
He thinks about all the things he'd like to do with you.  Video game nights filled with butter-tipped fingers and spilled popcorn.  Walks with your family dog - Natto - you'd told him about, all fluffy white fur and dark teddy bear eyes.  Sunrises on the rooftop of his building, because you had the worst insomnia he'd ever seen and what better way to spend your endless waking hours than with him.  
Jeon Jungkook knows he'll probably never get any of these things, but he lets himself daydream anyway. 
Like now, for instance, as the two of you sit in another queue at 2 AM.  You just woke up and you've got that tell-tale rattle in your lungs, words sluggish and lacking any real intent.  He imagines you look the way you sound - tired and a little out of it, with barely opened eyes and sleep-loosened limbs.  
"How'd you sleep?"  He asks softly, crossing his legs beneath him and raising his arms high above his head in the same instance.  The bones of his body realign, ridges of his spine clicking into place when he knots his fingers together and pulls taut.  
"You know - the usual,"  you muse, apathetic.  It's always the same.  
He doesn't question it any further.  He had once or twice, when you'd first started talking and he'd noticed the way you were always up at inhuman times.  One grumbling response had told him enough - your schedule was what it was and no amount of remedying could fix it.  
There's a beat of silence before he hears rustling and then the loud, inescapable sound of an electric toothbrush.  You don't bother to mute your microphone, not that he minds.  He simply sits quietly, scrolling through his phone as you go about your "morning" routine.  
"How was your day?"  You're settled back at your computer, he thinks.  The acoustics sound far less like that of a bathroom.  
"I had the day off, actually."  He'd used it to edit some footage and record a cover.  He hasn't posted it to Twitter yet - there were certain times he was supposed to, to maximize visibility - but he's excited for when he does.  It's a song that's been stuck in his head for weeks, all thanks to you.
"Woah - you didn't work today?"  There's genuine surprise in your question, rounded syllables that pop off your tongue in an explosion of shock.
“Right?”  He laughs a little, short and sweet.
Despite his carefully crafted facade, there were certain plot points that just stuck, intrinsically weaved into his day-to-day whether he liked it or not.
His jam packed schedule, for instance. 
To you, it’s the result of stretching himself too thin between teaching at his friend’s dance studio (where he also apparently moonlights as a personal trainer) and working as a videographer for his media-involved friends.  Not that you know any of them.  No, no.  All the work he does is for the little guys - none of those big companies like BigHit or JYP.  Jungkook’s just your average Joe behind the camera.
“What did you do all day then?”  You’re still in awe, little flecks of wonder threaded throughout like glittering gold yarn.  
“Hung out.  Did some editing.  I’m kind of behind.”  That was an understatement.  He’s working on footage from six months ago, trying to get it out before they head on tour and he won’t have the kind of time he has now.  
“Probably spending too much time gaming.”  
“Yeah, probably.”  Not that he minds, or that he’d change it.  He savours the time you spend together, even if it has kind of messed up his sleep schedule.  
“Sorry not sorry,”  you quip, seemingly reading his mind.  
“You should be,”  he retorts with laughter that builds in his stomach and echoes out of his chest.  “I don’t think I’ve had a good night's sleep in weeks.”
If you hadn’t had this conversation a handful of times before, he thinks you might be offended.  Instead, he can practically hear you roll your eyes - imagines your optic nerve nearly severs with the intensity of it - and grins.
“Don’t kid yourself - you know I’m the best thing about your nights!”
You’re not wrong.  “You’ve been lied to.”
“I’m suing!”
“I’ll have my lawyer contact your lawyer.”
“Wait, what?” 
The two of you have done what you always do - talked yourself into a tizzy that has you both laughing, sound crackling across the airwaves.  It’s nonsensical and silly but it feels good.  Your bond shines with it, glitters prettily between you.
Thank god for Overwatch.
You return the conversation to a semblance of normalcy first.  “Did you listen to that song I sent?”
“Yeah.”  The briefest pause.  “It was terrible.  Hated it.”
“Oh, shut up!” 
“I’m kidding.  It was really good.”  Jungkook doesn’t tell you that he’s had it on repeat for the past few days, saved to the private playlist that’s filled with the rest of your song recommendations.  
“I know!”  You’re preening as if he’d just complimented you, clearly pleased by the praise.  He supposes it’s a pretty good endorsement regardless. 
“Got any more for me?” 
“I should just make you a playlist.”
He ignores the way his heart skips a very real beat, mimics the erratic rhythm of his fingers on his keyboard.  Because he’d absolutely love that.
“You should.”
“Really?”  You sound uncertain but maybe - just maybe - a little hopeful.  He might also just be imagining things, as he so often does with you. 
“Yeah.  Why not?”  It comes nonchalantly despite the rushing in his ears, the wave that threatens to drown him.  He can feel emotion in his chest - winged and distracting.  A kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttering away. 
You’re quiet for another second.  It feels like an eon.  “Okay, yeah.  I’ll start one and we can just add to it together.”
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BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT’S GYM Thursday, 26 March, 2020.  6:30 PM.   
“You sound like a meathead,”  you say, off-hand and disinterested.  
He loathes the grunt that squeaks past his teeth as he gently returns the dumbbells to the floor. Cue a generous chug of water and a near death experience when the liquid goes down the wrong pipe. 
Loud coughing crackles through his airpods before he’s addressing you.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re grunting like a caveman.”
If your first comment hadn’t offended him, this one does.  Jungkook scoffs, tonguing the interior of his cheek as his brow furrows.  Weights are returned to his hands, rotated above each shoulder as he resumes another set of presses. 
“Do you even workout anything other than your fingers?”  He’s making a conscious effort not to make a sound, breath exhaled sharply through his nose.  It’s harder than he cares to admit but he’s also not about to give you an excuse to tease him further.  You already had way too much material.
“Don’t shame me!”  You really don’t sound that indignant.
“So, I’m right?  You’re a big couch potato who’s just jealous of my hot body?”
Now you’re incredulous.  It’s one of his favourite sounds because it comes draped in laughter, dancing around his head in the form of cartoon hearts. 
“Did you just say ‘hot body’, Jay?”
“Maybe I did.  What of it?”  He sniffs - he’s picked it up from you over the months - and your amusement doubles, giggles crashing into each other in their haste.  
“You are so, so weird.”  There’s a tenderness in your voice that he’d like to live in.  It wraps him up like a hug, tugging at his feeble little heartstrings. 
“Weird and hot.”
“You can’t just say that!”
“Why not?”  If anything, you’re the one person he can say it to.  With you, it’s the funniest joke he’s ever made.  It’s playful and silly, with no rhyme or reason.  He doesn’t have to worry about it being misconstrued or held against him. 
“You just can’t!  Only other people can say it.”  You sigh dramatically, from your chest.  “Do I have to teach you everything?”
“Everything but being healthy, probably.” 
“Har har har.”  
He can tell by how the words roll off your tongue, muffled and lacking clarity, that you’re eating.  He wonders if you’ve made pancakes - you’d been complaining about craving them just two days ago.  There are no tell-tale crunching or slurping, so he knows it isn’t your usual double whammy combo of ramyeon and Choco Boys.  
“I’ll have you know I used to run.”  Something about the way you say it makes him believe you, even though he wants to mock you a little more.  
“In gym class doesn’t count.”
“I used to run with Natto, you ass!”  Okay - so that actually sounded legitimate.
“Why don’t you still then?”
“There was an incident once.”  You’re sipping on something - likely coffee with oat milk and two pumps of hazelnut syrup.  It doesn’t matter that it’s dinner time and most people would be winding down for the evening.  “Because of my insomnia, I’d run at odd hours.  One day, some weirdo stopped me while I was running along the river.  He didn’t hurt me or anything—”  A part of him thinks you’re downplaying it but he says nothing, only waiting for you to continue.  “—but he followed me home.  I made the mistake of telling my parents and they freaked out so…” 
“So no more running by yourself.” 
“Yeah, exactly.”
“I’d run with you.”  It doesn’t mean much, but it’s the thought that counts.  
“Thanks, Jay.”  
Not for the first time, he wishes he could hear his name - his real name.  Just once.
“JUNGKOOOOOOOOOOK.”  It eats up every ounce of space of the gym, filling the room with the resounding boom of it.  How it manages to be so loud, he’s not sure.  He wishes it weren’t.  There’s no way you haven’t heard it.  
Especially not when it comes again, deafening even to his occupied ears. 
“JUNGKOOOOK-AH!”  Namjoon now, right as the double doors fly open.
Jimin’s barreling toward the alarmed maknae as he shouts.  “WE’RE DOING A VLIVE!”
Jungkook feels like his insides are melting  - his internal temperature spiking with embarrassment and worry and something that chants oh no! over and over in his head.  The tops of his ears are burning, as is the column of his throat.  A quick glance in the mirror confirms his suspicion that he is, indeed, bright tomato red.
“Jay?”  You repeat once, twice, when he doesn’t immediately answer.  “Everything okay?”
He moves with a speed he doesn’t expect, weights unceremoniously dropped on either side of him before he’s tearing his AirPods out.  “I’ve got to go. Sorry!”
He doesn’t end the Discord call a moment too soon, Jimin upon him in the next instant.  The smaller dancer is draping himself across Jungkook’s shoulders, the widest shit-eating grin on his pretty face.
“Want to join us for a VLive?”  
“No.  I’m busy.”  
“Busy with your girlfriend?”  Jimin’s wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.  He only stops when Jungkook shifts aggressively, tearing himself out from underneath the other.  
“Not my girlfriend!”  
“But you wish she was!”  
He can’t deny that, so he doesn’t bother, instead seizing his discarded weights with an embarrassed scowl permanently etched into the planes of his face.  He’s reracking them - because god, he’s not an animal - when he notices Jimin making his departure, that teasing smile replaced with something soft and edging on concern.
“What’re you going to do when we’re on tour?”
Jungkook blanches then.  You’d become such an undeniable part of his everyday life that he hadn’t even considered what it’d mean when he was busier than now, unable to spend late nights gaming with you. 
But Jimn’s already gone, leaving him and his thoughts alone.
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JUNGKOOK’S ROOM Friday, 27 March, 2020.  12:05 AM. 
It’s close to midnight by the team he logs on.  Realistically, he should go to sleep.  He’s clean and worn out and his bed is calling to him like a siren at sea.  But you’re sitting alone in the channel, streaming Overwatch for no one to see, and he can’t just leave it at that.
He needs to say goodnight, like he always does. 
“Coming for my title as Headshot God?”   The quip’s off his tongue before you have a chance to acknowledge him, your laughter the first thing he hears once he’s connected.
“I’ve been waiting in this queue for seven minutes.  Seven!”  
It’s really not that bad.  The rare times you’d both queue for DPS were nearly double that.  
“Patience is key,”  he teases, slumping into his chair as he watches you click through your Hero Gallery.  You’re cruising seemingly aimlessly, roving through the different skins for your mains (Mercy, Ana, Genji, Ashe).  The silence between you is comfortable, interspersed only by the occasional munching he can only assume comes from the carrots you seem to inhale.
For all the junk you ate, you were somehow also weirdly into vegetables.  
“Patience sucks,”  you retort, matter-of-fact. 
“You know what else sucks?”  
It’s a rhetorical question and he knows you know, but because you’re you, you start listing things off just to get under his skin.  “Spiders?  Undercooked samgyupsal?  Not having coffee?  Your jokes?”
If he weren’t laughing so hard, he might’ve given you shit for making fun of his comedic genius.  He really doesn’t understand how you think he’s the unfunny one when all you do is crack puns.  
“I was actually going to say me,”  he finally manages in between those high pitched cackles of his.  
“Wait, why?”  You’re used to him having witty comebacks.
Edge of enamel worries his bottom lip and Jungkook can taste cherry Chapstick and what would be bashfulness, if it had a flavour.  “For earlier.”
You scoff, your own tinkling laughter tearing him out from inside his own head.
“It’s okay, goofball.”
He appreciates how laidback you are, never holding anything against him.  Not even when he hangs up on you or accidentally spams you with memes when you’re trying (and failing) to sleep.  “No.  I’m sorry.”  He says it earnestly, with all the meaning he can muster.  
MATCH FOUND flickers across his and your screen and you’re loading into hero selection.  He knows you’ll be too distracted once the game starts, so he’s grateful when you laugh again, sweet as summer.  
“Nothing to be sorry about.  Just tell me everything’s okay and we’re even.”  
Inhale, exhale.  Try not to tell her you have the biggest, stupidest crush on her,  he tells himself. 
“Everything’s okay.”  And he means it when he says it, though they aren’t the words he wishes he could say.  
“Good.”  
You’ve chosen Genji,  He smiles to himself when you join voice chat and the rest follow, greetings filtering in from your team members.  
“Good luck.”  You don’t need it.  He still likes to say it.
“You have an early day tomorrow, right?”  Leave it to you to remember his schedule even when he doesn’t.  
“Yeah, pretty early.”  
“Then go to bed!  I’ll still be awake when you’re up.”  
He lingers on that fact - holds it tightly in his hands so it can’t slip away.  You’d be there in the morning, just like you always were.  Knowing that stirs those same butterflies in his chest, words stolen by the overzealous beating of their wings.
You read his silence like they’re your own thoughts,  “I’m always here for you, Jay.”  
“Goodnight.”
"Sleep sweet."
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notes.  this chapter is set four-ish months following the first, in case that’s not clear.  :) 
tag list.  @teawithbucky​ 
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btsslowburnfic · 3 years
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Series Summary: For Namjoon, the moment he set his sights on being the #1 rapper, he pushed the symbol to the side and hated it. Love should be chosen, not forced on you. He didn’t believe in fate and this mark on his wrist was a big “fuck you” to all that.
AN: a loooong update where we get YN to Korea Previous Chapter here
The three of you made it safe and sound to your new brownstone across the river in New Jersey. Joe has a job lined up, but at the moment you and Xavier are unemployed. On this particular day, you are in your room job hunting when you hear a knock on your bedroom door and then see Xavier gently push it open. “Fly your ass to Korea. Now. Here,” Xavier throws a book at you. “I bought you a Korean dictionary.”
You roll your eyes. “Namjoon speaks English. And I can’t read the characters or whatever so how will a dictionary help. And, I’m not going to Korea.”
Xavier crosses his arms in front of his body. “Girl. You are still in your twenties. You have no job. There is a hot man who is also your soulmate across the ocean. GO TO KOREA.” You pick your phone back up, ignoring him. You hear him let out a frustrated sigh and leave the room. You didn’t know what you wanted. You didn’t tell them that Namjoon had passed along his schedule to you and that he would be in Korea for 6 weeks starting in two weeks and that he had offered to buy you a plane ticket. You kept going back and forth. Fine. Fuck it.
YN: Hey! I’ve been thinking and I would like to come visit. As long as it’s not too much trouble and won’t interfere with your schedule
You let out a breath and put the phone down. One thing you have learned is that he keeps very strange hours and there is no way of knowing when he will be awake, when he will be performing, or even what country he is in. You are shocked when you receive a reply instantly.
NJ: It’s no problem. I will be working a lot of the time, but there is also some free time blocked out so make sure you’re ready to do some sightseeing as well on your own. I’ll rent a noona for you.
YN: I have no idea what that means but ok. Sounds exciting.
NJ: You can rent tour guides. An “older sister” to translate and show you around on some of the days.
YN: That would be amazing! Ok. Sounds great!!
NJ: I’ll book the flight and email you the information.
YN: Awesome ^_^ Thank you so much.
You try to keep your cool. You really do. But it doesn’t last long as you sit the phone down and walk out into the hallway. “Xavier!”
“What? Brat.” You hear him call from the living room.
“I’m going to Korea!” You say with a big smile on your face.
“Holy shit. You’re doing it!?! Really? When?” He sits up straight on the couch.
“I’m not sure. He’s booking the flight.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God. IT’S HAPPENING. Come. Sit here. Let’s watch some Kdramas. We need to prepare you.”
You roll your eyes but join him on the couch anyway.
--3 weeks later--
The flight isn’t too bad. When Namjoon booked your ticket you did secretly wonder if he would spring for an upgraded seat since you know...you guessed he was rich. You did not expect that he was going to pay for a first class seat though. The comfort of the seats and the fact that food was actually delicious helped to balance out the longest flight you had ever taken in your life. You managed to get some rest on the plane, but not very much since you were so excited and nervous. You had not seen each other for a while. And the last time you saw him you were both naked.
When you arrive you don’t have any bags to collect; you just brought your carry-on. You know you are going to do a lot of shopping while you are there and had decided you would just buy a suitcase there. You walk down to departures and scan the crowd looking for your name. This was so exciting. You had been the person in the crowd holding a name placard before, but you had never had it done for you. It helped that it was one of the few names written in English. You smile and walk over to a man in a suit.  After confirming each other’s identity, you follow him out to a black SUV with tinted windows. He takes your bag and you slide into the backseat. 
YN: Hey! I’m on my way to the hotel. When will I get to see you?
NJ: Yeah….about that. There is no way I would be able to just be going in and out of a hotel without anyone here noticing. This isn’t LA. We can’t really go out in public much here. The driver will be taking you to my apartment complex. Once you get here, you will let security know who you are. They will provide you with a key and directions.
You weren’t expecting this at all, but it made sense.
YN: Umm ok. Sounds like a plan. 
You hoped to God someone at the security office spoke English. Oh well. You typed some things into your translation app just in case and tried to enjoy the scenery. It was a city, but it seemed a lot cleaner than LA. Less sunny, and more modern. At least the parts you were driving through.
After a fifteen minute taxi ride that has brought you into a very fancy part of Seoul you try to keep your cool as your driver assures you that this is the location you are supposed to be at. It is fancy looking as fuck and has a giant ass gate around it. The driver pulls up and shows his credentials and then pulls up and rolls your window down.
The security officer stands there, looking at you. You pull out your passport and state your name. He looks over a sheet of paper and nods. Handing you an envelope that feels like it has a keyboard and some papers in it. You thank him in shitty Korean and the driver closes the window. You open the envelope.
“Hey. If you’re getting this, I wasn’t able to get off work in time to meet you. The driver knows which building to go to. Use this key to go to unit 4106. Text me when you get there. Sorry!
Namjoon”
The chauffeur drives between several of the buildings. The streets are lined with trees and there appeared to be several small gardens between the buildings. The car comes to a stop outside building 4. The driver gets out to open your door and hands you the bag. You thank him and head into the building.
The apartment building was a lot like a luxury hotel, you find yourself thinking. It was decorated similarly with gilded light fixtures and a marble floor. You scan your key card at the elevators and head up to the 10th floor. 
It becomes very obvious from the minute you walk in that this is Namjoon’s actual apartment. His giant shoes are all over the foyer.  You purse your lips and take out your phone.
YN: YOU DIDNT SAY IT WAS YOUR APARTMENT
NJ: Relax sweetheart, the guest bedroom is for you. I’m hardly ever there. Make yourself at home and I’ll see you later ;p
YN: THATS NOT THE POINT
NJ: You’re welcome. Stop being a brat and enjoy.
You pout a little bit. Fine. Fine. You’ve already slept with him so why does it matter if this is his apartment. Because it feels so much more intimate, you think. You enter into the space while texting Xavier.
YN: New chapter in the Kdrama series. 
You knew Xavier would normally be sleeping, but he was so excited and wanted to make sure you made it safely he was wide awake.
X: Oh no, what?
YN: he didn’t arrange for me to stay in a hotel IM AT HIS APARTMENT.
X: AHAHAHAHAHA HOLY SHIT. Is it nice? Is there like a waterfall? Does it smell like rich people? Send pictures!
YN: I don’t think I should send pics since he’s famous, but there are no waterfalls that I can see. It smells normal. Actually no, it smells new, like people don’t really live here. Stay tuned for updates.
X: Has he dicked you yet?
YN: -_- he’s stuck at work. And I’ll be in the guest bedroom thankyouverymuch.
X: Yeah….ok…..suuuuuuure.
You put your phone back in your pocket and continue to wander around the apartment. It is the size of a house. There is a small terrace running  along the side of the unit and three open rooms that flow together. I guess rich people need more than one living room? You wonder. They are all furnished with couches and art. The floors are a beautiful Marble. Or Granite. Some expensive imported thing. You notice several plants on the wall as well as out on the terrace. Huh. I did not think he would be into plants, you find yourself thinking.
YN: Nice plants
NJ: My pride and joy
You smile and walk into the kitchen. It looks like a showroom. You doubt much cooking goes on here. If you could afford to eat out all the time you would too. You open the fridge and as predicted, it is mostly empty. There are a few bottles of water and some random condiments. Panic strikes you as you begin to wonder if there’s a coffee maker in this apartment. This could be a deal breaker; you might have to flee to the Marriott. There isn’t one sitting out. You frantically open cabinets. You make eye contact with a very fancy looking Espresso maker. Ok. You will learn how to use this beast. You sit it out on the counter and plug it in. Crisis averted for now. You continue through the rest of the house. You quickly find the master bedroom. Big bed. That’s all you take note of before closing the door. You don’t want to be nosy. You wander to the other end of the apartment and find an extra bedroom and an office. You don’t go to the office, but do take your stuff into the guest bedroom. You are feeling tired and starting to feel hungry.
YN: When will you be back? Is there a convenience store nearby? I need coffee and/or food.
NJ: Sorry. It will still be a while. Actually there are several stores on property. The closest one is in building 2. Here, download the app. I’ll send you the login info.
YN: Thanks.
You change out of your traveling clothes into real clothing and head to the market. The apartment complex’s layout is fairly easy to understand once you look at the app. You walk over to tower 2 and ride the elevator to the market level. It looks like the atrium of a cruise ship. There is a giant crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the lobby area as well as beautiful indoor trees, glass art bulbs, probably a peacock or two wandering around, and some light music playing in the background. Oh God. I should just starve. This is too fancy. I need to leave.  
You turned to leave when you heard a voice speaking politely in Korean. You ignore it, and then hear the same voice ask in English,  “Excuse me, Miss. Can I help you?” A short man in his 50’s walked over. “I’m on the concierge staff here. You must be new.” 
“Ah yes. Thank you. Umm...Coffee please?”
“Of course. Take-away or beans?”
“Both please?” You ask, trying to keep it simple and very thankful for the English.
“Yes of course. If you just get me the unit number I can actually just have it sent there. Also there is an ordering and delivery app you can use next time if you would like to save yourself the walk.” The man explained while he typed some information into a tablet. 
“That’s very helpful. Thank you. For today, now please.” 
“Very well miss, please insert your chip or resident card here and sign,” he turned the tablet towards you. You inserted your debit card.  
“Thank you. Please wait.”
You take a seat in the fancy lobby area and get out your phone. You had some messages from Namjoon.
[NJ]: Oh, there is also an app you can download and order groceries to the apartment. 
[NJ]: I usually eat at work so I forget about it.
[NJ]: Sorry, you probably already hiked there.
A smirk crossed your face as you started to type a response.
[Y/N]: Sorry, I just saw these. And no worries. It’s a beautiful part of the complex. I was a little overwhelmed to be honest but the concierge was very helpful!  10/10 recommend.  
You take a picture of the lobby area and send it to him.
[NJ]: wow, yeah that’s beautiful. I haven’t actually been there myself.
The concierge returns, handing you a coffee and a bag of coffee beans.  You thank him profusely one more time.
“My pleasure. Take care.”
You sit the beans down and pose with your coffee cup, snapping a selfie to send to Namjoon.
[Y/N]: There, now all is right with the world ^_^
[NJ]: :) See you soon!
You travel back to the apartment and unpack your suitcase. You try your hardest to stay awake, but at this point you have been up for over 24 hours and you can feel the pull of sleep. You’ll just lay down for a nap. 
---------
It is dark outside by the time Namjoon gets off work. He feels bad he couldn’t meet you in the car at the airport, and even worse that he’s kept you waiting for hours. You haven’t answered any of his texts these past few hours either. He opens the door to his apartment. The lights are off. Did you leave? He wonders. He flips on the light and sees your shoes by the door which put a smile on his face. You must be sleeping. He hasn’t actually been in his apartment for about 2 months. It was mostly the same as he left it, except most of the time when he returned the apartment had a stale smell from having been left empty. This time it smelled like coffee and girl.
He enters the main living area and finds you laying in a small blanket nest on the couch with a laptop on the table; a coffee cup resting on a coaster next to it. He smiles and goes through to his bedroom to deposit his travel bag. He washes his face and changes clothes and then proceeds to nervously pace. Should he wake you up? You were probably tired, but at the same time, to prevent jet lag you shouldn’t sleep too much, and he wanted to hang out with you. He wrestles with this issue for a while and then decides he will try to wake you up.
He gently shakes your foot, “Hey sleepy. Wake up.” 
“Mmmmmmmmmmm…” you respond. What’s happening? You kick the thing bothering your foot. So annoying. You hear a deep voice laugh. Oh shit, where were you again? The shaking of your foot resumes and you crack open one of your eyes and see Namjoon sitting on the couch. “Heyyyy.”
“Hey there sweetheart. Nice seeing you in Korea.”
You feel your heart do a little flip flop at the way he’s talking to you but you want to play it cool. “Yeah. It’s good to be here.” You stretch out and move to sit up.
“How are your legs doing?” He asks.
“Good. They get stiff pretty easily and I still have to do my exercises everyday but they don’t hurt most of the time or anything. I get pretty bad headaches from time to time, but you already knew that. Sorry about that by the way.”
“It’s fine, I just carry aspirin around with me now.” He shrugs. “Did you get any food? Should I order something?”
“Yeah. Order some super Korean food.” You are fully awake now.
“Yeah? You serious? It’s not going to be like Koreatown food.” He teases
“Might as well jump in. If I don’t like it, there’s always rice, right?” You smile.
“That’s true,” he takes out his phone to order dinner.
“What did you do today?”
“Today was planning for the Festa. Even though it’s months away we have to make sure we have enough content planned just in case there are any unforeseen delays.”
“Cool.” You say. You had done your basic level ARMY research so you were somewhat familiar with their different activities.
“How was your flight? You should probably get up and stretch those legs around. Get up.” He pushes your shoulder playfully.
“Ughhh….fine. By the way. Nice apartment. Is rent like 20 grand a month?” You stand up groaning slightly like an old woman. Damn stiff legs.
“Uhh...I paid 6 million dollars for it up front so I don’t pay rent. Do you want anything to drink?”
It’s a good thing you weren’t drinking anything when he dropped that little factoid on you or you would have spit it out comic-book style. Jesus. That explained the security and Gucci grocery store. “Uh water please.” You walked over following him to the kitchen. “It’s good to see you by the way. Thanks for inviting me.” You slowly remember how to speak like a human again.
“Sure. I wish I had more free time to spend with you, but I’m glad you were able to make it.” He fills a glass with water for you. “Wait a minute! Before I forget,” he jogs out of the room and returns with a small box. “Here, this is for you. We were in Australia last month and I wanted to get something for you.”
You are surprised. It didn’t occur to you that he would think about you or buy you something. Until a few months ago you had considered yourself a nuisance. “Wow, thank you so much. You didn’t have to do that.” you say, taking the box, “I hope it’s a tiny KNOIFE or tiny koala or tiny kangaroo,” you open the box. It is an adorable mug with a Koala on it superimposed on the Australian Continent. It says in English, “Lucky Australian Koala.” You burst out laughing, cupping the mug with both your hands in front of your face. “This is perfection. Thank you so much for my authentic LUCKY AUSTRALIAN KOALA, I cannot wait to drink out of him tomorrow. Seriously. “ You sit the mug on the kitchen table. Fuck it. “Come here,” you gesture, and pull him in for a hug. His body feels solid against your and he gently wraps his arms around you. You give a firm squeeze. “Thank you for the mug and for flying me out here.”  You pull away and smile at him. 
He looks away almost shy, “It was nothing. I figure I still owe you a few for the pen incident.”
You take a drink of the water. “Yeah. You have had some dickish moments.” 
“Speaking of dickish behavior...do you want to talk about what happened with Ben or…?”
You shrug. “There’s not a lot to say. Ben apparently met his soulmate about 4 months before the car accident. He tried to stay away since we had already agreed that we didn't care about stuff like that. But he couldn't. I don't know when he started seeing Jessie behind my back. They were apparently banging all summer in the apartment and while I was in the hospital.” You take another gulp of water. Namjoon is surprised that he isn’t feeling much anger or sadness coming off of you. “After I got all my shit out of the apartment and had a chance to calm down, I couldn't be too mad about it you know? You and I had already slept together and most people aren't as stubborn as us. So really, how could they resist? I mean I was angry and sad at the time but at this point it seems like a lifetime ago. "
Namjoon had never asked about what had happened with Ben before, assuming that if you wanted to talk about it you would have brought it up. " Wow. "
"Yeah. I mean that's waaaay oversimplified but that's the gist of it. Anyways. Everything was a mess for me for a while. You know I stayed with Xavier and Joe and then  Xavier's husband got a really good job offer here so we all picked up and left LA."
“And now you’re in New York.” He finishes your thought
“Yeah. Well Jersey technically because rent is $1000 less a month. But I’m applying for jobs as assistant director at tv stations and theaters. I’m hopeful something will come up. I can’t really teach fitness classes anymore.”
Namjoon listens thoughtfully, feeling like a jackass for never asking about this stuff before. What kind of soulmate was he? 
“Well, let me know if you need a job reference.”
“Ahahahaha,” You laugh awkwardly. “No way. I don’t want people thinking I only got a job because I know someone famous.”
“Sweetheart, that’s how everyone gets jobs in the industry.” He leans against the counter.
“I don’t know, I’ll think about it.” You fidget
“You know I’ll just text Xavier and he’ll tell me the companies you applied for.” Namjoon flashes his dimples at you.
You scowl. “I didn’t realize you two were so chummy.”
“Hey, we bonded a lot in the hospital.” His phone let out a chirp. “The food is at the security office. I’ll be back in a few. Make yourself at home.” He heads over to the foyer to slip his shoes on. 
You decide to unpack and then wash your face and brush your teeth before returning to the main area where he has just returned. “That was fast”, you comment, meeting him near the door and taking a bag from his hands.
“I rode my bike over.” He replies, following you to the kitchen. 
“They let your clumsy ass ride a bike?” You tease, pulling food out.
He lets out a laugh, “Yeah. Just remember, only one of us has got hit by a car.”
“Touche. Touche. Alright. I don’t know what any of this is, so I’m going to go wait at the table like a lazy bitch.”
“Haha, fair enough. I’ll bring it over. “
You head over and have a seat at the dining table, placing your water down. This feels so weird. So intimate. He joins a few minutes later placing a bunch of food on the table along with a spoon and chopsticks.
“I’m sure there’s a fork around here somewhere if you need one.” He says as he opens the lids on the containers.
“I lived in LA where we ate sushi almost every day, I think I’ll be ok.” You sass back, ,looking over all of the delicious food. You start to dig in. He sits waiting to see what your reaction will be. You flash him a thumbs up as you chew. It’s definitely good. He smiles and begins to eat as well.
Dinner is relatively quiet. You had no idea how hungry you were until you started to eat. Some of the foods had a texture you didn’t quite care for, but overall you liked it all.
“Wow. That was delicious. Thank you so much.” You smile
“It was. You’re welcome.” He gets up and starts to clear the table and you join him. 
You continue to yawn involuntarily as the two of you straighten up the kitchen,
“Do you want some coffee or a nap?” he asks.
“I’m going to try and stay awake a little bit longer. What does the rest of the night look like?”
“Relaxing. I am exhausted from work. And you don’t look so fresh yourself. LEt’s watch a movie or something.” He says it so casually. Like this is a normal thing the two of you do. Like it hasn’t been months since the last time you saw each other and you left him naked and alone in a bed. You feel your heartbeat speed up.
“Hold on, I’m changing into some comfy clothes before I make this commitment.” you get up and head towards your room.
You come back in leggings and a shirt. Namjoon has re-positioned himself on the end of the couch. You sit next to him. “Ok, all set,” you grab your blanket. 
“You take your comfort quite seriously,” Namjoon laughs as he hits the play button. 
“Definitely,” you respond, yawning. After about half an hour, It’s dark outside, the night spilling into the living room. You are trying to keep your eyes open. You feel Namjoon put his large arm around you. You don’t resist, you nestle into it. You feel the warmth of his body radiating against you. It feels so nice.You try to stay awake but your eyelids grow heavy.  The next thing you know, you wake up slowly, not quite oriented to where you are. Your face is sweaty. You take stock of your surroundings. You are still in the living room. You must have fallen asleep while watching the movie. You move a bit and realize you are not alone. Namjoon is asleep as well. Underneath you. Oh god. You probably trapped him. Is that your drool on his shirt? You wonder. But you know that yes, it definitely is. Jesus [Y/N].Not making a great impression here.  Must sneak out so the drool will dry before he wakes up. You move as stealthy as possible off of him, which is very difficult since you found yourself laying between his legs. How did you even get like that? You had gone in for a light snuggle to see how it would be received and then apparently passed out dead. No more starting movies when you were tired. You knew it was your weakness. 
The poor man probably had to pee and was stuck, forced to lay underneath you until he fell asleep.    Is he snoring? Huh. Well ok. You drool and he snores. Very attractive individuals. You grab a blanket from your nest on the other side of the couch and put it on top of him. You sneak down the hallway to your bathroom, pee and sneak into your bedroom. You lay down and try to fall asleep, but your heart is beating fast as all you can think about it falling asleep on Namjoon. You feel your face grow warm. You are  a mix of turned on and embarrassed. You turn off your light and wonder if he will still want to go sightseeing with your drooly-ass tomorrow.  @calling-dips-on-j-hope​​  @ghostkat23​​ @cuteipat​​ @marianeamine​​@thisisval​​ @almonte12​​  @themisunderstoodblackswan​ @bobbyboops​  @betysotelo18​ @katerbees​
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Aaaaaa I’m posting this on mobile how do things work here? But i also have no impulse control so I’m posting anyway until waiting for a computer again.
chapter 4 of scattered au fic go! Au by @hermitcraftheadcanons and I @helleborusangel because they are frembd and I show my care this way!
“Oh sweet sweet dirt. I’ll never get mad at you again. You don’t just fill chests, you’re soft and safe.”
“Uh Ren, you good there?”
“Give me a moment my dude.” The wolf shifter replied, lying on the ground to hug it. “I’ve been stuck there since I spawned. Not sure what happened, but it looks like you found me.”
“Have you been looking at chat?” Etho asked, and Ren looked towards the ravine again. Looking back in it, Etho could see the comm sitting at the bottom. “Well, you’re not the only one in a situation like that. In fact, you’re in a better situation than most people seem to be in.”
“What do you mean?” Ren asked, and then he was passed Etho’s comm. Death messages filled the screen, appearing as he looked. Scrolling up, there were plenty more. “Why hasn’t anyone said something in chat?”
“Because he can’t. Nothing we try to type will send. The only thing coming through are deaths and achievements. I spawned with Beef and Joe at the real spawn, but we were the only ones there. I’m not sure how, but I managed to die, and now I’m here.”
Ren nodded. “Well, now that I’m on the surface, I’m gonna go get some wood enough for a pickaxe. Then I’m jumping back in that ravine to get my comm.” Etho raised an eyebrow. “Hey! There’s water for me to land in. I just couldn’t get to it from my cliff.”
“Well, I’ll join you. I don’t have any gear since I died, so we’ve got the same situation.”
Ren nodded and looked to the closest tree, part of a dark oak forest. “Hey Etho, I saw Mumbo was dealing with illagers. You think that could be the forest he’s in?”
“Maybe. But let’s start with getting ourselves geared up. It would probably be worse for him if we showed up and died before he could get out.”
“I guess you’re right.” Ren agreed as he went over to one of the trees and started breaking the logs. “Still might be good to see if the place is even there. I mean, I’m just suggesting he could be here.”
Etho shrugged. “Well, maybe we’ll be lucky. I was close to Joe and Beef, so maybe others are close to each other too.”
Ren nodded and finished gathering wood, now heading back to the ravine. Etho followed, not having crafted anything for himself, so Ren was the only one mining stone, the ninja just taking half of what Ren mined up for himself. Then both of them made sets of stone tools, going deeper into the ravine to gather coal and iron.
The two of them built around themselves as night finally fell, torches placed throughout the ravine to try and keep monsters from spawning. “You know, regen isn’t working right. So not only are we spread out, but we all have ten hearts until we die, no matter how much we eat. It might be different if we used gapples and potions, but figured you should know.”
“Thanks for the heads up man.” Ren thanked. “My guess is it’s just natural regen that’s been disabled, so apples and potions should do fine.” Then he pulled out his comm. “I hope Impulse will come out of this okay. He’s really dying a lot.”
Etho nodded. “Yeah, hopefully we can figure out what temple he spawned in.” And then he pulled out his own comm. We’ve still got coordinates, so memorizing that will be key. We’re at zero zero, so that’s easy enough to remember.”
Ren messed with his own comm. “Yeah, we’re still kind of far though. I say in the morning, we deal with checking the forest first since it’s right here.”
“Sounds good to me.”
.
.
Mumbo was backed into a corner. He hadn’t stopped trying to escape since he had gotten so close so many times. “Please, if you want me to leave, I can do that! I don’t have anything, and I’m not going to tell anyone where you are. I just want to get out of here!” He had started pleading a bit a few deaths ago, and was still doing it because it had made the vindicators hesitate for a moment.
He expected that was going to be all that would happen this time as well, but instead, the axes never fell. Mumbo had his eyes closed, but then hesitantly opened them to see what was going on. The vindicators were standing to the side, the evoker now right in front of him. He grumbled in a language Mumbo didn’t really understand, leaving him confused. “I’m sorry… I’m not sure I understand you.”
The evoker sighed and waved his arms with a spell. Mumbo held his arms up to brace himself, but nothing happened. Or at least, nothing to hurt him happened. “If you don’t want to be here. Why are you here?”
Mumbo looked up. The evoker still had what he could best describe as a villager accent, but he could understand them now. “I… I don’t know. Some friends and I were just trying to move to a new world, and instead of wherever I was supposed to show up, I didn’t. So instead I just keep appearing in that bedroom of yours.”
“And I should believe this why? Why leave a world behind? Alone I might understand, but with friends?”
“I… we… We like to explore different worlds and… help advance them.” Mumbo answered, being careful with his words which the evoker noticed. “At a certain point, we move on to try with a new world. It’s just this time, something went wrong.”
“I see.” The evoker said with narrowed eyes. “Well, empty your pocket. Prove you have nothing.” And Mumbo did just that. “Very well. You may leave.” And then the evoker cast one more quick spell and the redstoner vaguely recognized it was bad omen. Mumbo nodded and left, hearing a quick ‘good riddance’ before he finally was able to make it out of the mansion.
The moment he was out, Mumbo was glad to see it was now day at this point. He took a deep breath of fresh air before running over to a tree. Unfortunately, even though it was day, the forest provided enough cover for monsters to spawn. Before Mumbo could really react, he was killed by a skeleton and back in the mansion, yelling in frustration.
Vindicators quickly ran to the room ready to attack, but instead they were met by Mumbo, who was half yelling, half crying, and pulling at his hair. “I can’t leave. I’m never getting out of here. I’m cursed or something. Who knows if anyone’s coming to get me. I could be stuck here forever. No, I’m going to be stuck here forever. No might about it.”
There was a noise from one of the vindicators and Mumbo looked over before lying down on the wool next to himself. “I don’t care. Just kill me. I’ll just respawn here anyway. And it’s not like running will do anything.”
He closed his eyes and just waited there, but he wasn’t killed. Instead, he heard footsteps walking away, leaving him alone. Mumbo just stayed there, trying to think what he could possibly do next. His first thought was to get killed again as there was a new set of footsteps coming his way, but again, nothing happened.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Mumbo recognized that that was probably the evoker. He didn’t respond though, not really having the willpower to do so. “Even if you did, something seems to be keeping you here.”
“Can you just lock me up or something? Then I’ll be out of the way.” Mumbo replied, voice muffled by wool.
“Oh believe me, I would like nothing more than to do that. This place is outfitted with a cell. The thing is, I doubt your patron would approve of that and I would rather not get on the bad side of that.”
Mumbo paused, confused. He took a few seconds to process what the evoker had said, then he pushed himself up enough to look over at the illager. “I’m sorry, my what?”
“Oh dear void you don’t even know. Why would they even- No, questioning might make things worse. Oh void he probably got put here on purpose.” They said, talking more to themself than Mumbo as they pinched the bridge of their nose. “Look, don’t cause trouble and you can stay here. Do whatever you please if it’s going to get you to leave.”
Mumbo was still confused, but after a few moments of stunned silence, he nodded and the evoker left. Did he have any clue what was going on? Absolutely not, but at least he likely wasn’t going to die again anytime soon.
.
.
“Come on Ren, we’ve looked at every inch of the forest and the sun is going down again. Between you and me, if he was here, we would have found him. We would have found anyone if they were here.”
“I feel like I can’t do nothing.” Ren complained, tapping his foot in frustration.
“We can still get more gear and get back to spawn. That’s not nothing. The more people we can get to spawn, the better. It means more numbers so that eventually we can go help anyone who’s stuck. I mean, there’s people in the nether and end. Do you really think you and I could solve that on our own like this?”
Ren looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t say anything. He just followed Etho when he started to walk in the direction of spawn. Ren kept them supplied with food and even got them beds from killing every sheep he saw. Etho on the other hand made sure to keep wood, stone and coal stocked, gathering enough iron for them to both finish up their sets of armor and tools.
When night finally fell again, they set up another small base for the night. Etho went staircasing for more ores while Ren stayed at the base. Their original plan was when Etho came back up, Ren would switch off and take up mining instead, and they would do that until morning. But before Etho could even return once, Ren watched as the sky suddenly started to move rapidly, and before long the sun was on the horizon.
“Etho! Ethooo!” Ren shouted, running down the stairs. Further down, Etho heard the shifter yelling and immediately thought the worst of the situation. He dropped what he was doing and started going up, sword in hand ready to defend against whatever problem was happening. But instead, when he finally met up with Ren in the middle of the stairs, he was smiling and his tail wagging out of control. “The sun’s up!”
“What? I wasn’t gone that long, was I?”
Ren just took out his comm. “No, look. Grian managed to do a day shift!”
Etho read the messages on the comm.
Grian has made the advancement [Sweet Dreams]
Grian went to sleep. Sweet dreams!
Grumbot has made the advancement [Sweet Dreams]
Jrumbot has made the advancement [Sweet Dreams]
“Huh, we weren’t able to do that.” Etho said, rubbing his chin. Since they had gotten enough wool for beds, the two of them had both tried sleeping before actually mining, but nothing had happened.
“Yeah, but if at least someone can do it, that’s going to be good for everyone! I bet Bdubs is mad about it though.”
“Don’t say that. Who knows where he is.”
“Well, he hasn’t gotten a single death, so I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
“He also hasn’t gotten any achievements, so he might just be stuck somewhere.”
“I guess you’re right.” Ren strugged. “Well, since it’s day, do you want to keep traveling, or are we mining some more?”
“Travel’s better. I’ll grab what’s useful and join you in a few minutes. You pack up the camp.” Ren nodded and ran back upstairs. By the time Etho finally returned with his loot, the place was mostly packed up, though the cobble walls and beds still sat there, along with a sign pointing towards spawn. “Still working on packing?”
“No actually. I’m leaving some stuff here. If anyone stumbles across it, they’ll have some supplies, a place to set their spawn, and know where to go for spawn. Plus, we’ve got our spawns set, so if we do die, we’ll be closer to true spawn when we restart.”
“Hmm, good idea.” Etho nodded, then looked to Ren. “You’ve got enough wool for us to make more beds as we go?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve got plenty. Some of it is in different colors, but if we kill a few skeletons, we can redye them to be white.”
“Assuming that still works here.”
“Yeah, if now, we throw them out and I carry around white dye to use on sheep before I kill them.”
Etho pulled out some iron. “You know we can just make shears.”
“Yeah, but we also get meat out of it. Unless you want to sit around and grow wheat. Or hope we get some apples while chopping trees.”
“Alright, fine. Mutton it is. Can you hand me over some of the wool just in case. If you happen to die, I’d like a way to keep a new spawn while I wait for you.”
“Fork over some of that iron and you got yourself a deal.” Ren said, pulling out his woll. Etho complied and the two traded resources before starting to travel once more. Everything was going well for a while, but then they passed a surface cave, and a noise from inside caught Ren’s attention. “Hey! There’s a skeleton in there!”
Before Etho could say anything, Ren was racing off to attack the monster and steal its bones. Etho followed behind to make sure the wolf shifter didn’t die, only to nearly be shot when he entered the cave. In front of him, Ren was attacking the skeleton, which was trying to stay away from him and attack at the same time. Etho pulled out his sword and helped to attack the skeleton, and soon the monster was dead.
Ren immediately jumped to grab the bones, turning them into bone meal and then into dye. Etho looked around the cave to make sure there weren’t any monsters left, and for a moment, he thought there weren’t. But then, from a tunnel off of the cave, Etho saw the familiar green face of a creeper making its way towards Ren.
“Hey, look out!” Etho shouted. Ren looked up towards Etho who was coming at him with sword drawn. The wolf shifter then turned to look the other way, and saw the creeper starting to glow. Time seemed to slow as Etho hit the creeper away with the sword, though the slash managed to catch Ren as well in the process. Though the creeper had been knocked away slightly, it wasn’t enough to stop it from exploding, so a moment later, it did that.
As the dust settled, Etho was glad to see that he was alive, and looking over to Ren, he was as well. They were both low on health, but as long as they were careful from here on out, they would be fine. But then Etho heard growling. It wasn’t the growling of a zombie, no. It was something that normally was never meant for a player.
Etho turned and saw Ren’s sunglasses cracked from the explosion. His shirt was ripped a bit where Etho’s sword had sliced into it, blood dripping from the wound it caused. The shifter’s teeth were bared, and his normally brown eyes were red. Etho tried to back up, but before he could go far, Ren attacked him.
Etho was slain by Renthedog
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Vaunna my beloved ❤
After your amazing Wels and Hels armorstand scene on my server could I get Wels and Hels story? Please? 👉👈
Oca my beloved ❤️
This is genuinely one of my favourite oneshots I’ve written. I just love the Wels/Hels dynamic so much. 
Also this is technically a sequel to the last one I wrote so go read it here if you like! This one does make sense without it tho
...
  It’s been a few weeks since the server has seen an evil hermit incident, and even though most of the hermits have let down their guard, Welsknight hasn’t. He hasn’t stopped being vigilant since his last encounter with Helsknight. He knows that his evil counterpart is out there somewhere, waiting for another chance to kill him. 
  Wels knows he can’t give him that chance. 
  One morning, while out in the desert, grinding for sand, Wels keeps spotting movement out the corner of his eye but every time he looks, he sees nothing. At first, he thinks it’s just the desert playing tricks on his mind. But his knight training tells him not to be so quick to jump to conclusions. 
  Eventually, he decides to put most of his stuff in a chest and go have a look, just in case. He leaves his valuables in the chest and explores the immediate area, looking carefully for any threats.
  He hears the sound behind him and twists to the side, a split second before a figure appears out of nowhere and attempts to shove him to the ground. 
  Wels jumps back a few steps and raises his diamond pickaxe, realising too late he accidentally brought it instead of his sword. “Helsknight.”
  His evil counterpart grins. “Hey, Welsy. Your face is looking great.”
  Wels’s hand automatically rises to his cheek, where the burn scar from their last encounter still sits. “Thanks. What are you doing here?”
  “I’m here for you, of course. It’s time we have another little battle, don’t you think?”
  Normally, Wels wouldn’t hesitate to stay and fight. But he doesn’t have a real weapon and his inventory is practically empty. 
  So he bolts back towards his chest, intending to grab his sword for a proper battle. But then he realises he may be running directly into a trap, so he changes direction.
  However, at that moment, the ground under his feet gives way, sending him tumbling down into the hole below.
  His fall seems to last only a few seconds but it must be far; when he hits the ground, pain explodes through his whole body. He’s fallen very far. 
  A second after he lands, he hears a splash from nearby and glances up. With the sunlight streaming through the hole, he can see a figure emerging from a single source block of water to his left. His heart skips a beat. 
  “You idiot!” Hels snaps, tossing the bucket at the wall. “You triggered the trap too soon! I wasn’t out of the way yet!”
  “Oh, I’m sorry!” Wels’s voice is strained from pain but his anger is unmistakable. “You’re right; I should have been able to avoid the secret trap you set up for me. Dang it. But hey, at least I’m not now stuck in a hole in terrible pain with next to no resources! That sure wouldn’t be ideal!”
  Hels glares at him. “Quit it with the sarcasm. This is all your fault.”
  Wels feels indignance boil inside him but he forces himself not to rise to the bait. His rational mind knows there’s no point arguing with Hels. “Whatever. I’m gonna see if my friends will come save me.”
  He taps out a message to the server asking for help, and within a minute, he gets replies from both Etho and Joe.
  “They’re on their way,” he says. “You may as well relax, cuz we’re not going anywhere ‘til then.”
  Hels huffs and sits down a few blocks away from Wels, crossing his arms irritably. 
  They sit in silence for a long time. The sun crosses the sky above them, marking the end of the morning and the start of the afternoon. 
  After a while, Wels decides to try and be practical. He checks his inventory; all he has on him is his diamond pickaxe, sixteen obsidian, a flint and steel, a single piece of bread, and some seeds. Nothing particularly useful. There aren’t enough blocks to pillar out, and Wels can hardly move while sitting, let alone standing, anyway. He could make a nether portal, but what would be the point? There’s no way he can survive better in the nether than in this pit right now. 
  He glances up. “Hels, do you have-.”
  “I don’t have anything on me, useful or otherwise,” says Hels immediately.
  Wels knows this means he doesn’t have food on him either. He can tell from the pouty expression on Hels’s face that his counterpart is hungry. Even though Wels’s hunger was reduced somewhat by the fall, he decides to be the bigger person. 
 He breaks his loaf of bread in half and offers the bigger part to Hels, who eyes him suspiciously. “What are you doing?”
  Frowning confusedly, Wels replies, “Giving you some bread.”
  “Why?”
  “...because we both need food?”
  “Yeah, so why don’t you just eat it all? You’ll be fuller.”
  “But you won’t have any.” Wels shakes his hand. “Just take it.” 
  Hels continues to scowl at him. “Is it poisoned?”
  Sighing and rolling his eyes, Wels flicks the piece of bread into Hels’s lap and starts slowly eating his own. Out the corner of his eye, he watches Hels carefully inspect the bread before taking a hesitant bite. Finally satisfied that he isn’t being tricked, Hels starts to gobble the bread.
  Wels watches him curiously. “Why would I try to poison you, Hels?”
  Hels shrugs. “We’re enemies, isn’t that what we do? Try to kill each other?”
  “No,” Wels says. “That’s the way YOU see our relationship. I never wanted to be enemies with you, you know.”
  “Really? Wasn’t it you who started all this?”
  “No, you literally turned up out of the blue and dropped me in a hole one day. Then I destroyed you in a rap battle. Remember that?”
  “I remember the hole,” says Hels. “Don’t remember losing any rap battle.”
  “Uh huh.”
  The two fall into silence as they eat. Wels continues to watch Hels, who has already finished his half of the bread. 
  “Can I make an observation?” he asks after a few minutes.
  Hels huffs. “No but you’re gonna do it anyway.”
  “You’re not used to the concept of sharing, are you?”
  “Sharing?” Hels sits up straighter, a possessive look appearing in his eyes. “I don’t share anything! Nothing!”
  “That’s not what I meant,” says Wels. “I meant the concept of people voluntarily sharing things with you.” 
  Hels glares at him for a moment longer, before relaxing visibly. “No. Back in my dimension, it’s every person for themselves. You protect what you’ve got cuz if you don’t, you’re gonna lose it forever, so people hoard their stuff like it’s made of gold. I never got attached to anything cuz I knew it’d probably get snatched away from me sooner or later. I-.” He breaks off as he registers Wels’s expression. “Oh, don’t you dare pity me,” he growls. 
  “I’m not.”
  “Yes you are, you’re looking at me like I’m an abandoned baby dog or something.”
  Wels raises an eyebrow. “Baby dog? You mean a puppy?”
  “Shut up!” Hels growls again and huffily turns away from his counterpart. “I’m not a stupid puppy for you to adopt and train! If I get the opportunity, I WILL kill you. I would gladly leave you here to rot if it meant I could get outta this stupid hole. In fact, the only reason I’m not beating you to death right now is because you’re my best chance of getting out of here alive.”
  A pause follows his words. 
  Eventually, Wels sighs. “Sometimes, it’s so easy to see that you’re all the worst parts of me combined.”
  To his surprise, Hels doesn’t respond. His arms are folded but Wels can’t see his expression, can’t see that his counterpart’s eyes are misted over. 
  Hels is frustrated with himself; Wels has insulted him many times since their first meeting so why did that one little remark hurt him so much? Why has it brought him to tears like this? 
  Maybe it’s because Wels’s remark forced him to remember that he’s not his own person. He wasn’t born organically; he was brought into existence by a combination of Wels and a weird cloning machine. The nature of his “birth” means he isn’t a real person. He’s just a copy of Wels, made up of all the parts of himself that he hates.  
  Maybe that’s all he’ll ever be.
  A soft groan brings Hels out of his thoughts. He glances to the right and sees that Wels’s condition has deteriorated; his skin has rapidly paled and he’s clearly struggling to breathe. 
  As Hels watches, Wels reaches a shaking hand into his inventory and weakly throws an item to Hels, who catches it and turns it over. It’s a flint and steel. 
  Hels glances up in time to see Wels drop some obsidian down beside him as well. “Go, Hels,” he rasps. “Make a portal and go back to the nether.”
  Hels blinks, his mind racing as he tries to figure out the catch. “What are you doing? Why did you give me this?”
  “So you can escape. My friends are coming for me but I’ll probably die before they get here. If you’re still here when they arrive, there’s no telling what they’ll do to you. Just go while you still can.”
  After a moment, Hels narrows his eyes. “Are you tricking me? What’s the catch?”
  “Nothing,” Wels insists weakly. “Just please, go, quickly.”
  “No, seriously. Why are you so insistent I leave?”
  “B-Because…” Wels hesitates, taking in a shaky breath. “Because it’s getting dark and the mobs will be coming soon and I don’t want you to die. If I die, I respawn. You don’t.”
  Hels stares at his counterpart in confusion. “You… don’t want me to die?”
  “Of course not. How many times do we have to-.”
  He breaks off as he tries to stifle a pained cry. The fall damage he took is starting to catch up with him now. 
  The groan of a zombie sounds from nearby. Hels’s eyes widen with fear.
  “Go, Hels!” Wels’s voice cracks. “Please!” 
  Looking deep into his counterpart’s eyes and finding nothing but fear and desperation in them, Hels turns and creates a portal on the very edge of the pit, lighting it up with the flint and steel. 
  He glances back at Wels one final time, before disappearing through the portal.
  Wels closes his eyes, breathing a shallow sigh. His counterpart should be safe; if he’s anything like Wels himself, he knows how to survive on his own. 
  As the mob sounds start to surround him, he feels a calm sense of relief. He knows he’ll respawn back in his bed, and at this moment, he doesn’t care that he’ll lose the items he has on him right now. He just wants the pain to end. 
  Hidden safely in the nether, Hels clutches the flint and steel his counterpart gave him. He can’t stop staring at it; it represents the sacrifice Wels made for him. The first time anyone has been willing to lay down their own life for him. He can hardly believe it even happened at all; the concept of loving someone enough to want to protect them even at the cost of their own life is completely foreign. 
  As he’s puzzling this out, a message appears on the communicator he stole from Wels during their last confrontation. A message he knew deep down was coming, but one that still catches him off guard. 
Welsknight was slain by zombie
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thiswasinevitableid · 3 years
Note
For the prompts: Sternay, Centaur, NSFW. Thank you!
Here you go!
Note: I use “races” here in the D&D sense.
Most nights, Barclay works undistracted until the end of dinner. Tonight, looks out the kitchen window so often Moira teases him that she’ll close it to save him from cutting off his own hand by mistake. 
He can’t help it. Every time a new party returns from an adventure or demands a table so they can sit and plan their next epic quest, he pokes his head into the dining room of Amnesty Lodge to see if a certain orc is among them. 
Technically, Joseph is half-orc, as his father was an elf, but his orcish traits dominate in all but his build and his ears. He’s so handsome, the first time he addressed Barclay by name he blushed for an hour afterwards. 
That was the second time they’d met, Joseph having returned from his job as the hired rogue of a party of treasure hunters. He’d been a spy during the last great skirmish, and now put his observation and information gathering skills to good use for a fair price. He, like other adventurers for hire, used Amnesty Lodge as his base, as it welcomed creatures of all kinds and had the best food in all of Kepler. 
When Joseph became a regular, it didn’t take long for him to post up in the place where it was easiest for him to talk to Barclay, and more than once he stayed to help the centaur put up chairs and wipe down tables. Four months ago, before he left to help some mages in search of rare artifacts, he knocked on Barclay’s door in the pre-dawn rain and kissed him goodbye, telling him to consider the kiss an offer he could refuse or accept on Josephs’ return. 
Barclay kissed him back immediately in reply.
Ever since that morning, Barclay’s orientation towards time changed. He no longer saw his life in weeks and months; instead it was divided into times when Joseph was in town and times when he was gone. It helps that Joseph prefers quests that are about knowledge and have a low chance of death, as he has little taste for violence (in fact, the only orc he knows with less taste for it is Duck, who seems annoyed at the fact the universe thinks it’s his destiny to fight).
When the last diner stumbles upstairs to their room, Moira pats his side, “I can get Jake to help me clean up. You go on home.”
A short walk brings him to his cottage on the edge of Amnestys’ grounds. He gathers his mail, starts a kettle for tea, and contemplates if he should take a bath now or wait for Joseph in the hopes he might join him. 
Knockknock
He hurries to the door, throws it open and finds a disheveled but pleased looking Joseph holding a bouquet of branches. 
“Hey” his brain offers no further thoughts, too busy drinking in the sight of the boyfriend he’s been missing these last ten days. 
“I’m sorry I’m late, we ran into some kind of conflict between two water golems and had to take a longer route. I, um, brought some apple blossoms as an apology.” 
“No need to apologize, blue eyes” Barclay takes the flowers, “I’m just glad you’re back in one piece. Uh, do you, uh, wanna come in? I’m making tea and, uh, I was gonna take a bath if you wanna join me.” In spite of the fact Joseph is already through the door and taking off his shoes, Barclay worries he’s moving too fast. 
“A bath sounds great, big guy” Joseph cups his face, takes his time kissing every inch of his lips before releasing him, “I’ll go get it started.” 
Barclay shuts the door and trots towards the kitchen. He munches two stems of blossoms and then sets the rest in some water on the table. 
He joins Joseph just as the orc closes off the sluice that directs the water from the hot springs outside into the massive, rocky tub. It’s designed with multiple wide, stone benches so Barclay can sit comfortably with his legs tucked beneath him. He sets the mugs of tea by the edge of the pool and wades in, settling on his preferred bench as Joseph floats over to him. A grey scar runs up one side of his green chest which, combined with the stylish piercings in his ears and the one stud in his nose, make him look a mixture of tough and debonair that never fails to make Barclay paw the ground with frustrated desire. 
The orc is so handsome, has kissed Barclay breathless and given him the honor of tasting his cock several times, but there are things Barclay wants from him that he will never ask for. And so, as the orc drapes his arms around his shoulders, he puts those lurid thoughts from his mind. 
“Do you want me to get your back?” Well-trimmed claws scritch the sensitive line where fur meets skin. 
“Fuck yeah.”
Joseph splashes to his side, retrieving one of the milky-white bottles lined along the rocky edge. The scent of oatmeal and chamomile fills twines into the steam as the orc guides a generous line of the shampoo down his spine. Barclay would never admit it in public, but he uses this blend in part because it brings a shine to his dark bay fur, the color of which he is immensely proud. 
“You have such a handsome coat” Joseph murmurs, fingers creating a path of suds as he rubs them in circles, “then again, the rest of you is handsome too, so it’s only remarkable in that it puts every other centaur I’ve seen to shame.”
Barclay squeezes the loofah he’s using on his shoulders, groans when Joseph digs his fingers into the spot on his back legs that is always sore after a day in the kitchen.
“Look at all that strength buried right here” Joseph pets up his leg and along his flank, “gods, Barclay, maybe I should count myself lucky that you work somewhere you aren’t seen so that I’m not constantly fighting off every centaur who passes through town and sees what a catch you are.”
“Babe please” he dumps water over his head, which does fuck-all to clear it, “please, when you talk like that it’s, I’m-”
The hands switch to soothing circles, “I’m sorry, if it’s making you uncomfortable I can stop.”
“No, no it’s more like, uh, fuck” he takes a deep breath, “talking to me like that while you touch me, while you’re right there all naked and perfect I, it turns me on and I don’t want to make you deal with that.”
Soft splashing as Joseph moves in front of him, “I think now is the time to tell you I’m, um, more than happy to deal with it. In fact, I was kind of hoping we could do that tonight. We can take our time, since neither of us has work tomorrow and I, um, well let’s just say I thought about you a lot while I was gone and wanted the chance to act on some of those thoughts.”
Barclay snorts, softly, “Trust me, babe, even if you think it’s a good idea now, you won’t when it happens. Lots of people love the idea of fucking a centaur right up until the moment and then they bail. And I mean, like, that’s cool, I don’t wanna fuck someone who’s freaked out and they can call it quits whenever but...yeah. I appreciate the thought, blue eyes.” He smiles, trying to show that he means it, because he does, he loves that Joseph thinks of him that way.
Joseph massages some of the shampoo into his hair, the two of them still face to face, “Do you remember that black trunk I left here last time?”
“Uhhuh” He closes his eyes, neck relaxing, “said it was stuff you needed to keep at my place.”
“It is, and now I know you didn’t peek at it. I did a bunch of research into the best way to prepare to get fucked by a centaur, and everything we need is in that box.”
“Aw babe, you did a research project for me.” Barclay hides his face in Joseph’s shoulder.
“It’s my love language.” Joseph kisses his cheek, “Barclay, if you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to. I just wanted you to know that this isn’t some idle fantasy for me, with you filling the role of hot centaur. This is something I want to do with you, my boyfriend who I adore and want to get fucked by.”
“Promise you’ll say something if I’m hurting you?” Barclay mumbles against soap-tinged skin.
A kiss on his head this time, “I promise.” 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Joseph is conscious of his reputation. He always has been, whether that was how his superiors saw him or how his potential clients see him now. This is why he’s well-aware of the joke that goes as follows:
Did you hear about the undiscovered creature?
No. What is it?
A race Joseph hasn’t fucked. 
That’s the translation from orcish, anyway. 
It’s not as if he has a checklist of beings he wants to bed. It’s that he’s never seen a creatures race as a deterrent. Not the very charming bugbear who bought him a drink his first time up in Vogel Pass. Not the shy dragonborn who asked him to dance at the Festival of the Two Moons. And certainly not the sweet, gentle centaur who owned his heart from the first time he smiled at him. 
Joseph considers himself practical, but Barclay forces him to confront the romantic streak running through his heart. He’d debated how best to show it, considering traditional gestures of orc courtship or a long, long letter, before an exasperated Duck pulled him aside and told him to just tell him, please Joe for fucks sake this is painful to watch. 
Over the last few months, he’s learned which flowers to bring his lover, what places to pet and scratch to melt that strong body beneath his hands. He’s also observed that Barclay is sexually pent up yet never asks for release, no matter how many times he swallows or strokes Josephs’ cock. So, while his research and subsequent offering of his ass are far from selfless, he hopes it will show his boyfriend that he will put in the work to bring him pleasure. 
He’s busy laying out the four glass cocks of increasing sizes next to the largest bottle of lube they had at fantasy Costco while Barclay arranges a set of cushions, bars, and ropes near the bed. When put together, the items form a rig that allow centaurs to fuck smaller partners. Barclay bought it the last time someone expressed a desire to fuck him; it’s never been used. 
Joseph sits on the bed, all his supplies in reach, and pats the large mattress to indicate Barclay can join him. 
“Should I help?” The centaur tucks his legs under him, tail twitching once. 
“Yes, by holding me while I warm up. You won’t be able to when you’re fucking me, so I need to get my fill.” He rests his back against Barclay’s bare chest, tips his head up so his boyfriend can kiss him, “if you’re good, maybe I’ll let you open me up some of the way.”
Barclay whines, nuzzling his hair as he preps the smallest toy. It slides in easily, Joseph working it back and forth with soft moans. It’s not long before he trades it for the next size, the one he uses most often. The centaur’s arms twine around his waist and his chin rests on his shoulder, jostling in time with Joseph’s thrusts. 
The third toy has a flared base and he grunts, spreading his legs wider as he pushes it in. He stops mid-way, needing a moment to relax. Barclay rubs his thighs, asking if there’s anything he needs. 
“A little distraction might help.”
“I can manage that.”
“GAHahnnnnm, shit, that works.” Joseph moves the toy incrementally deeper as Barclay nibbles his ears. The playful pain always makes him shiver and submit to whatever’s happening, and soon the toy bottoms out. He fucks himself with it until the idea of taking more feels not only possible, but wonderful. 
The fourth toy is, according to his research, to inches shorter and an inch and a half thinner than the average centaur cock. It’s an intense stretch and he groans, falling back in Barclays arms. The centaurs breath is coming in hot puffs on his neck and chest, and the bed is moving more than it was a minute ago.
“Enjoying the show, big guy?”
“Uhhuhnnn, I, fuck babe this is making me so fucking hard but I, I didn’t wanna say anything in case you needed to back out.”
“My sweet, considerate Barclay. Here, I have an idea.” He tips forward, splaying out on his stomach with the toy sticking part way out of his ass, “I want you to finish getting me ready.”
“Okay” He can feel Barclay’s hand shaking through the length of the toy, “fuck, your ass looks good like this.”
“It’ll look even better with yours in itAH gods, that’s a good speed for it, gods that feels so good.”
Barclay growls, pushes the toy all the way in as Joseph arches off the bed with a wall-shaking moan.
“That’s it, ohmylord, see big guy, I can take whatever you give me. You won’t break me, won’t hurt me, just fill me up and make me cum so hard I white out-”
“Who says you’re gonna get to cum, blue eyes? Maybe I’ll just fill that tight orc ass up and leave you there until I’m ready to breed again.”
There’s a smack just as the toy stops moving. Joseph turns to see Barclay with his hands clamped over his mouth. 
“‘M ‘orry.”
With some effort and another moan as the toy shifts, he rolls onto his side and holds up two fingers, “First off, I’ve heard way more explicit ‘breeding talk’ including from my own kind. Second of all, if it bothered me, I wouldn’t keep talking about how strong and capable you are when I want to wind you up. I was a spy, Barclay; I’m very good at telling what people want and what they’re hiding.”
“Joe….” it’s a whine. Rarer still is the use of his nickname, something Barclay only does when he’s far gone with desire. Joseph allows himself some internal smugness before smiling at his boyfriend. 
“I’m ready for the main event if you are.”
Lube drips down his thighs as Barclay helps him into place. There’s a large, square cushion with very little give shoved up against the wall. It’s waist-height for Joseph, so he bends over it and lets his boyfriend strap his wrists and ankles down against the faux-velvet. 
“Is that okay? You don’t need the extra pad under your feet?”
“Assuming we’re at a comfortable angle for you, I’m all set.”
“Right. Cool.” Barclay sounds almost impatient; what an evening of firsts this is turning out to be. “I’m gonna put the last piece on.”
A cool circle of stainless steel sits snugly against Joseph's ass. In his reading, he learned that a common issue was the cock slipping out during the precarious first pushes, leading to frustration for everyone. Since Barclay can’t guide it with his hand from the angle he’ll be at, the ring offers a tactile clue and keep him on course once he pushes in. 
The centaur moves so he’s behind him, then steps forward so his front legs are on either side of the block Joseph is strapped to. From here, the heat of his body surrounds the orc and he feels safe instead of smothered. After three mis-judged nudges, his cock threads though the ring, the flat, wide head of it parting Joseph’s ass as they both groan. 
“Shit” Joseph hisses. Barclay freezes above him, so he adds, “that was good cursing.”
It remains so as the thick head stretches him open, and he gasps with relief when it’s done breaching his body. The shaft is narrower, so that’s the hard part over with. Better still, his preparation pays off; the cock slides most of the way in with little resistance. 
“Can I start moving?” He can’t really see Barclay’s face from this angle, but the centaurs' shy, lustful hope is clear in his voice.
“Yes, big guyFUCK! Ohfuck, yes, holy hells that’s good.” The first thrusts make the purpose of the straps clear; if Joseph weren’t tied down, he’d be bounced this way and that, increasing his chances of injury. Trapped as he is, there’s less chance for accidental harm and no distraction from the massive cock relentlessly thudding into him. 
“Fuck, Joseph, you feel so good baby, fuck I never think of you as small but it’s like I can reach the back of your fucking throat like this.”
The comment draws his attention to what he assumes is a lump in the flat surface of the cushion that’s causing his stomach to rock at an angle. 
“Holy shit that’s, that’s your cock. Barclay, it’s, it’s literally bulging my stomach out.” He wishes the set up allowed him to see it, he wants to sear the image of Barclay’s cock molded against his flesh into the deepest corners of his memory. 
“I can feel it babe, believe me. Fuck, such a tight fit, you’re like a fucking toy, stretching to take me.” More force behind the thrusts, suggesting Barclay is using the bar enchanted into the wall for this exact purpose, “shouldn’t waste a breeding load on a toy, but fuck me if I care.”
“Gods almighty” that fact hadn’t appeared in his research, but makes perfect sense; if a centaur hasn’t fucked in awhile, their biology might generate a greater amount of cum the next time around in hopes of continuing their kind. 
“Yeah, you like that, like the idea of taking my cum so deep you’ll be able to taste it. Gonna fill you up babe, fuck, gonna leave you dripping for weeks.”
“That’s right, big guy, you can cum as much as you want.” His comment dies out into a prolonged whimper as his cock ruts against the cushion, pushing him towards orgasm. 
Barclay stops, huffing, and rumbles, “It’s cute how you think you get to make that call, instead of taking me for as long as I fucking say like the needy little piece of ass you are.”
“Sweet fucking hell” Is all Joseph gets out before his words give way to desperate, ecstatic sounds. Barclay fucks him so hard and fast it shakes dust from the ceiling and a picture from the wall. The entire lower half of his body is stretched and pounded so mercilessly and with absolutely no pauses, meaning his orgasm only registers when splatters across the floor. His sensitive cock gets no reprieve, bouncing in time with Barclays increasingly sharp thrusts and making Joseph gasp whenever it rubs against the cushion. 
His assumption that Barclay is going his fastest goes out the window when the centaur quickens his pace, Josephs wrists and ankles twisting in their bonds as his mind falls silent. All he hears is Barclay grunting as his cock tries to go deeper into his ass. 
“C’mon babe, c’mon, take it, take me deep, take the whole godsdamn fucking thingohfuck, Joe.” There’s a deep, broken cry as cum pumps into him, his body aching at the further intrusion. Barclay whimpers and moans above him, hips still jerking as he keeps cumming. By the time he gives a final thrust, cum is escaping back down his shaft, Joseph’s body unable to contain it. 
“Do, do you want me to pull out all at once?”
“Yes, best to get the mess over with instead of dragging oOWut.” His body gives up any pretense of supporting itself when the centaur slides out of him. Thank goodness for the cushions. Barclay isn’t faring any better, knees wobbling as he undoes Josephs’ restraints and helps him to the bed. The orc just manages to remember to toss a towel out for him to lay on so he doesn’t stain the bed sheets with the spend still running down his legs. 
Barclay nestles protectively around him, guiding his head to rest on the still-shiny fur of his back, “I can’t believe you did that for me.”
“For us. I don’t know if you noticed, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.”
“Kinda got that sense, yeah.”  Barclay rests their heads together, “Even so just...thanks. Thanks for taking the time and effort it takes to fuck me.”
Joseph toys with Barclay’s hair, tucks it behind his ears, “Barclay, I love you. Part of that means figuring things like this out together. Even if being with you, in any sense of the word, was a hundred times more complicated, that wouldn’t be enough to stop me from trying.”
Barclay doesn’t ask if he means it. Instead, he draws him into a kiss, works his magic with his lips and tongue until Joseph is practically draped over him, content and exhausted. Before the centaur scoops him up for another bath, he kisses his cheek and rumbles, “Thanks, babe. And I love you too.”
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chocolatetakoyakis · 4 years
Text
🚬 MAFIA DELUXE EDITION / 2 GAMES HEADCANON 🚬
⚫️ Seeing Their Cute Waitress/ Waiter Crush being in trouble ⚫️
Tommy :
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please ladies and gentlemen let me introduce you Mr the Knight with a shining armor who’s immediately entering the fight when he saw a drunk idiot messing with you. He came a Few time at the bar and noticed your kindness and beautiful hair. you’re not always serving him but he always notices you.
He didn’t think about anything and rushed toward you without a plan under the eyes of Paulie and Sam who were lost like “ Where ta fuck is this man going ?” ( they were eating together and Tom was the only one who’s head was in your direction )
He expected you to be scared and defenseless against your ennemy however he stopped his race when he saw you brutally grabbing the tie / suspenders of the man to put him at your level. You looked PISSED and you were ! you said something to the guy’s ear which made him look toward Tommy and ran away
Our beloved Taximan walked to you curiously while your face expression relaxed a bit. collecting ALL HIS COURAGE he approached you shyly. “ It’s a very strong grip you got here Miss / Man, but I don’t think that’s what scared him right ?” You couldn’t help but smile at the man in front of you. Putting your hair behind you ear ( which literally killed Tom inside ) you answered : “ Thank you Sir, I just told him to not touch me unless he wants to be bitten up by the handsome gentleman who just get up of his seat to save me” You said that with humour which made Tom chuckle a little before asking you if you were ok. You thanked him by offering coffees to his table and you guys started to sympathize.
Paulie :
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Have you ever seen Chaos ? Like pure Chaos ? Well Let le introduce you Paulie. This man made you his dream girl / boy the moment he first saw you at the bar. He is always so awkward and clumsy when you take his order which made you notice him because he is so cute under his Mafias’capo appearance. So Fucking with you next to him is a BIG BIG BAD IDEA !
Will not even let you take care of it. Without a warning, he just gave a HUGE headbutt to the man and made him fall unconscious. Feeling anger toward him, Paulie wanted to slap him until he wake up and APOLOGIZE to you but it didn’t work
When he noticed you were watching him, Paulie freaked out and started to stutter incomprehensible things. You only took his hands and thanked him for helping you. THE ACTION MADE HIS DAY and baby boy was already seeing you marrying him
«  Thank you so much sir... but what are we gonna do now ? » Paulie didn’t understand «  For what ? » you laughed and answered : «  Well I can’t welcome customers with an unconscious man on the floor right ? Can you help me moving him to the back alley ? » «  Oh..Y..Yeah sure » you took his hands while Paulie took his legs and you dragged the man behind the bar under Sam and Tommy’s eyes who were thinking you two were hopeless but funny together ( btw you two accidentally bumped the man into all the doors of the bar lol )
Sam :
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Sam noticed you the first time he came with Paulie and Tommy. Now he likes coming in the bar only to see you and only ordering a coffee or something to eat while eyeing you from his seat. However he never talked to you. One night you were doing your service and he noticed a customer who was very very very insistent about spending the night with the you
Your kind answers surprised him because any woman he knows ( mostly strippers and Sarah but anyway ) would have already slap this man in the face. He kinda liked your calm and distinguished way of saying you were not interested ( it reassured him in a way, just in case one day he ask you for a date or something )
The man finally stopped talking to you and let you do your work. But he still had a smirk on his face which immediately alarmed Sam. Later in the evening you were gone in the street to take out the trash and the customers smirked even more and followed you to harm you. of course you defended yourself by kicking him between his legs. You ran toward the bar to feel safe but he got the time to took your arm and was bringing you to an abandoned street.
That’s when Sam appeared and took the man’s arm and said : “ When a woman /man says No it’s fucking No you Fucker !” You’re not sure but by hearing the customers screams, Sam may have broke his hands in the moment. He made him apologize to you on his kneels for making you uncomfortable and let him leave. “ Thank you Sir... That’s really Nice...” “ If you see this idiot near the bar again, just tell me ok ?” He said that while taking your cheek in his hands while escorting you back to the bar. You finally introduced yourself and he did the same. One week later he asked you for a date. ( if that happened when he was with Paulie and Tommy, he would have found the Man again to Beat him to death for messing with you and weak persons in general...I mean that’s what he did even if he was alone aha...Kinda Yandere type lol )
Vito :
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Vito is nice, Vito is cool, Vito is handsome. So he noticed you of course the first time he went to the bar BUT honestly YOU were the first one who “fell” for him. It amused him, that you were always the one serving him no matter how many waitress / waiters were in the bar. He understood you were attracted to him pretty fast and he was proud. So expect Smirks and winks from him each time you’re welcoming him.
To be honest you were the cutest girl / boy of the bar and every customers would agree. Some of them quickly became jealous of Scaletta for always having you for his coffee and the amazing smiles you gave him. one day a fight started ( yup girl / man because of you )
a drunk man forced you to sit on his laps and it angered Vito who took your arm and moved you to his torso while OF COURSE putting a gun toward the Man. ( Vito is also a Savage )
“ I was not in the mood, Don’t mess with my favorite Waitress / waiter ok Dickhead ?” The customers didn’t expect Vito to have a Damn weapon on him and leaved the bar. “ Hum...Thank you Mr. Scaletta...But please put your Gun down you could harm yourself...” realizing you were still in his arms, he chuckled a bit and kissed you forehead before coming back to his seat “ Cute girl / boy”. Trust me he came even more often after this
Joe :
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Humm Well. Joe thinks everything is HIS and unfortunately you are a part of this. Same as the others, your beauty almost killed him the first day he came to the bar. After some time he got frustrated you didn’t noticed him and always ended up being drunk at the counter with an exasperated Vito next to him. He basically get drunk for you to notice him....Right... However he never EVER talked to you, too ashamed of his loser attitude.
One night he was here with Vito again drinking when he heard someone yelling at you because of the price of the beer in the bar. The man was making a Big deal about nothing ( and damn you can’t chance the price lol ) which really angered Joe. Our boy jumped on the customers and told him to shut the fuck up while punching him in the face.
“ don’t you fucking yell at this beautiful waitress / Cute waiter you heard me Son of Bitch” you blushed hard and also looked at Vito like “ man, control your friend, he is gonna kill him” anyway the man and his friends leave the bar and you ended up nursing Joe who received some punches as well
He will probably fall asleep on you and Vito will take him home with a little sorry as apologize for the mess. You still Thanked them and wish Vito good Luck with Joe. Days later, they came back and you teased Joe about that night and eventually became friend with them. Joe did it ! Being drunk and saving you made you notice him and now he was happy !
Henry :
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Let’s start with basics : Henry is the owner of the place. You didn’t know because you got the job by being interviewed by one of his man. That’s why he was surprised when he came to get a coffee and saw a cute new waitress / waiter he never saw before. He found you hella Cuuuute even if you’re probably younger than him. He never told you he was your boss and let you serving him each time he was here.
One day, in the morning a man came in drunk as fuck ( probably from a party ) and started messing with you while talking nonsense. Henry was here, staring at the scene and the man noticed him too. As the drunk ass was coming to annoy Henry, you quickly stepped between them asking the man not to mess with customers. He hardly pushed you in the floor and was about to slap you. “ don’t you dare tell me what to do you Bitch”
Henry’s eyes were red of anger. He stopped the guy by giving him his best kick. Still on the floor, he offered you his hand to help you. “ thank you so much Sir, I am so sorry that happened !” Seeing pure kindness in your eyes, he smiled and patted your head. With a simple mouvement of eyes, he asked his men you guessed to take care of the drunk man on the floor. They put him in a car and were waiting for Henry.
You sighed “ My boss will probably kill me for the mess” he looked surprised and answered “ don’t worry your pretty little head about this, Francisco will not tell you anything cutie, I’ll explain it to him” you were surprised he knew the name of your “ boss” however you only let him go without a word. “ see you next week cute girl / Boy” was the only thing he said before getting in his car and leave. When your “ Boss” came back he explained to you that Henry was the Big Boss and you immediately felt ashamed about everything happened. Now when he comes, Henry always teases you for not knowing who’s your real Boss.
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angelic-holland · 4 years
Text
All Too Well ☼ 1
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Missed Alarms & Maple Lattes
Pairing: Harrison Osterfield x fem!reader
Warnings: anxious first meeting & flirtations
Word Count: 2.8k
Y/N accepted a job on the props team for a small rom-com never expecting her life to change completely because of a boy with blue eyes and a bright smile. But as autumn turned to winter, she found herself embracing her vulnerabilities and hoping her love didn’t end when the movie wrapped.
masterlist ☼ taglist
A/N: thanks for the kind words over the prologue! I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far and would love to know what you think of this chapter as well!
☼ ☼ ☼ 
Six Months Earlier...
“Rex, you’re hardly my boss. I’m saying that in the nicest way possible,” you grunted when hot glue burnt your finger.
“Well, if one of us doesn’t haul ass over to Harrison’s trailer to wake him up, we’re both fired. You know how shit I am at driving.” He gestured to the hot glue gun you had clutched in one hand, the other shaking to relieve the sting of the burn.
“Fine. Only because I don’t want you to crash my car.”
“Too cheap to pay assistants so they treat the interns like ones,” he grumbled, taking the glue gun from you.
“All I want is a real job after this one,” you huffed, digging your key chain out of your pocket.
“Don’t we all,” Rex echoed. 
You began to head out of the set, a log cabin snuggled inside a few acres of forest. 
“Hey! Hey!” 
You turned, raising an eyebrow at the curly haired blonde girl perched on a directors chair.
Kat Newton. She’s drop dead gorgeous. Her curly hair swept up into a high ponytail. The “no makeup” makeup look for the first scene of the movie being filmed made her look like she just woke up in the most elegant way possible. To say you had a crush on her was an understatement. 
“Hi, Kat, what’s up?” You came to a halt in front of her chair.
“Harrison’s coffee. He’ll need it if he woke up late.” She held out a cup of lukewarm coffee, and you took it with a smile, nervously looking away when your fingers brushed.
“Thanks. I’ll pass it along to him.” You raised the cup before turning and jogging out the door.
The coffee smelled amazing as it jostled in your hand.
It reminded you of a little breakfast bar you visited with Rex before the all day script reading. Chocolate chip pancakes absolutely drenched in maple syrup. 
Unlocking your car, you slid into the beat up Subaru, passed down from your uncle to you, it’s definitely seen better days.
The cloth seats had so many stains from your adventures on different film sets with Rex.
Coffee when an entire box of Joe broke in your passenger seat. Some type of sauce from a local Vietnamese restaurant. A burn from when Rex almost set your car on fire with a joint and blowtorch. 
You smiled at all the memories from the past few years as you started the car, pulling out of the parking area by the cabin.
It was cold, like you were well warned about before taking the position.
Ludlow, Vermont was a small town where the director owned a beautiful log cabin, apparently where he wanted to film most of the romantic comedy. 
But it was freezing. You wanted to get the heat fixed before making the drive so when you had to make the twenty minute drive to and from to your trailer every day you wouldn’t turn into an icicle, but chances of that were low. Especially with your pay. 
Instead, you opted for mittens and hand warmers at the end of August. Driving out of the parking area you began your venture down the barely there driveway that led to the poorly paved highway cutting through town. 
You drove for about five minutes before you spotted him, dark blond hair sweaty and matted to his forehead, running like he was in a marathon down the side of the road.
“Harrison?” You shouted, rolling down the drivers side window. The dark blond haired boy glanced over at you as you slowed your car to meet him on the side of the road.
“Harrison Osterfield?” You shouted once more, almost certain it was him.
He came to a halt, taking heaving breath with both hands on his knees. 
“I’m sorry, Uh, if you’re a fan, I can’t really stop to take pictures. You see I-,”
You barked out a laugh, the entire sentiment quite hysterical to you.
You haven’t really worked directly with celebrities before, but you didn’t quite expect that reaction.
He looked at you slightly bewildered as you put your car in park next to him.
“What?”
“I just-,” you paused and slapped your hand over your mouth in a sad attempt to suppress your giggles.
“What’s so funny?” He asked, jogging over to your window. He had to practically bend in half to make eye contact with you, eyes searching for any recognition of who you might be.
“Y/N Y/L/N. Props assistant for Love Me Not. I was sent to pick your sleepy ass up.”
“Really?” He nearly screeched eyes lighting up when you nodded.
“You know, I’ve been late to a lot of things in my life. But never the first scene of my own damn movie,” you huffed, unlocking the doors. “Get in.”
He jogged to the other side of your car, wiping the sweat from his forehead before clambering inside. His legs nearly didn’t fit in the space between the dashboard and his seat, cramped and shoved up to his chest.
He awkwardly rubbed his palms on the fabric of his sweatpants while he stared at him expectantly.
“Buckle your seatbelt?” 
“Oh shit! Yeah, yeah,” he swore, quickly buckling his seatbelt before anxiously tapping his knees.
“Oh yeah, uh this was for you.” You tilted your head toward the coffee cup in the cup holder of your center console.
“Was?” He asked hesitantly while you began to make a u-turn in the middle of the road.
“I may have drank some.” 
“May?” 
You both looked at the red lipstick stain on the cup and then you followed his gaze to your lips.
You ignored the heat you felt and quickly centered your stare back on the road.
“Just my compensation for driving to pick your sleepy ass up.”
“I feel like my sleepy ass should have coffee.”
“Maybe if you were on time you’d have it. Here, there’s probably about half left anyway.” Handing him the coffee, you shivered when his fingers touched yours. 
“Cold?” He asked, he watched the goosebumps raise on your arms before retreating his hand.
You gulped, nodding while your hands gripped the steering wheel.
“Here.” He leaned forward, about to turn on the heat.
“Wait!” You screeched, smacking his hand. Too late. 
Tammy, your car, shuddered to a stop in the middle of the road when Harrison pushed the button for heat.
“What just happened?” Harrison asked while you took your keys out of the ignition.
“Tammy here does not like when heat or AC is used. So we need to give her a moment.”
He looked at you skeptically, which was totally understandable. He probably has never been in a car that crapped out when you try to use the center console buttons.
“Sorry, I love Tammy.” You patted the dashboard lovingly. “But she’s basically a grandma. Can’t quite multitask anymore.”
“So we’re stuck? Shit.” 
“Well,” you tsked, rolling your eyes at the movie star next to you.
“I know, I know. If I woke up to my damn alarm I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Enjoying a lukewarm cup of coffee in a stalled car in the middle of the road with a glorified assistant?” You asked in a teasing tone.
You couldn’t blame his frustration as he scowled at you. But he looked as harmless as a bumblebee.
“You’re adorable,” you said without thinking, quickly focusing back on Tammy when you felt his stare on you.
“I was going to say I wouldn’t be getting to know a pretty girl and her shit car.”
“Hey!” You scolded him, playfully smacking his arm. “Don’t say things like that. Tammy might hear and retaliate.”
“Is Tammy jealous?”
You rolled your eyes at his question before attempting to start the car.
“Call Tammy pretty. It might do the trick.”
Harrison laid a hand on the dash and you caught a glimpse of chipped blue and yellow nails.
“Oh Tammy, I know I was complimentin’ the driver here earlier. But you are also a very pretty girl. Beautiful even. You know that coat of paint on ya is almost the same shade as my eyes.”
As if Tammy was blushing, the moment Harrison finished complimenting her and you turned the keys once more, she roared to life.
“Hey! Nice!” Harrison laughed, leaning his head against the cool glass of the window. 
“She just needed a little love is all. Hey, you look like the one who’s cold, trying to run all the way to the cabin. Here.” You stepped on the brake before turning to rummage through the backseat.
Grabbing your red scarf, you tossed it at the boy next to you.
“What’s this for?” 
“To warm you up. I don’t want them to accuse me of giving the star frostbite.”
“I’ll make sure after they cut my frozen toes and fingers off you tried everything you could.”
You huffed out a laugh as he wrapped your scarf around his neck, burying his hands and face in the material.
“What?” He whined, his voice raising in pitch. “It’s cold.”
“I know, silly. That’s what the scarf is for. Anyway, I’m pretty sure Ryan is going to be pissed when we get back so prepare for that.”
“Oh, I’m used to scornful directors. Don’t worry too much about me.”
“If you say so.” You shrugged, pulling back into the parking area.
“Thank you, by the way,” Harrison said when you parked the car. He began to take off your scarf when your hand came up to rest on his.
The warmth from his hand sent a shiver down your spine, the contrast between your cold palm was dizzying. 
“Keep it. Stay warm while you’re getting lectured about waking up on time or whatever.”
“Okay, yeah, uhm, bye then.” 
He took off out of your car before you could respond, running wildly toward the cabin with your red scarf wrapped snugly around his neck and billowing behind him with his strides. 
***
“Harrison! Over here!” 
You watched with Rex as Kat and an older man who could’ve been about a dozen people on set waved at Harrison from across the food tent.
“What is the blue eyed arrogant asshole doing coming our way?” Rex asked, echoing the joke you made earlier.
“No idea.” You shrugged. “Maybe to make me pay him back for the half a coffee I drank.”
Before you could distract yourself by pushing food around on your plate or making a snide remark to Rex about his peanut butter and tomato sandwich, Harrison sat down across from you.
“Uh, hi?” You phrased it as a question, head turning between Kat, Harrison, and Rex.
“Mind if I sit here or are you two-, oh.” Harrison’s voice dropped off when he saw how close you and Rex were sitting.
Rex snorted, his sandwich landing all over the table as he choked.
“Oh fuck you, Mr. ‘I’d date you if we were high school theatre nerds’. Pretentious motherfucker.”
Harrison looked between the two of you, both laughing to the point of doubling over.
“Okay Miss ‘I only make out with you when I’m drunk’.”
“Hey!” You smacked Rex’s arm again, inching your body away from his. You didn’t have a good response, or at least one that wouldn’t make this airy conversation turn a little too psychological after a full day of filming.
The truth was, casual was never something you could do. Meaningless hook-ups were simply not in your vocabulary.
So of course when you’re craving that physical affection but don’t have the emotional intimacy you need, you turned to your best friend.
“Sit, please. If only to make it so I’m not alone with this jerk.” You playfully shoved Rex’s shoulder before taking another sip of your coffee.
“How was the rest of the shoot this afternoon?” You queried once Harrison settled down.
He shrugged, picking over his food the same as you.
“It was okay. Willow wants me to do some work on my character without ‘taking it home with me’.” He said the last bit in frustrated quotations, angrily stabbing a piece of pasta with his plastic fork.
“You can do that, you know. Method acting usually doesn’t work too well from what I’ve experienced.”
“Y/N you acted twice. Once for fifteen minutes in a shitty one act that I wrote. And-,”
You cut Rex off. “And once as Wendla because the actress who was playing her dropped the second to last week before tech. I was her understudy.”
“Yeah, and I was Melchior,” Rex finished, a smug smile on his face.
“So as you can see. Not method acting is how I got through that show with this one.” You pointed the back end of your fork at Rex who doubled back in fake shock. 
“Maybe the two of you can help me, then?” Harrison asked hopefully, his blue eyes twinkling with the desire to learn. 
Rex barked out a laugh before you smacked him. “Sorry. I don’t get paid enough for that. Plus I could never do as good a job as Y/N could.”
“Only for the ego boost of being a makeshift acting coach for a famous actor.”
Rex couldn’t make another joke before one of the hair and makeup people interrupted you. 
“Harrison? You’re needed in hair and makeup for reset now.”
He grumbled for a moment, looking at his hardly eaten plate of food. “Can I bring this?” 
“Let’s eat and walk,” she said, ushering him up from his seat.
Harrison was swept off with a shy and awkward wave back at you. 
“You’re crushing on that blond haired, blue-eyed beauty, aren’t you?”
“Stop talking like you’re in a Disney show and eat your food.” Your tone, although you didn’t mean for it to be harsh, came off slightly cranky.
Rex ceased the conversation, pushing around the food on his plate while you angrily stabbed at the salad on your plate with your plastic fork. 
“Y/N!” 
The man standing with Kat earlier grabbed your attention as you and Rex had quickly made up and finished your food.
“Uh, hi?” You asked hesitantly, moving Rex along with your eyes and a quick nod.
“Dean Willow. Acting coach. You’re Harrison’s assistant, correct?” 
Rex snickered when you shook your head.
“what are you then?” He asked as you shifted from foot to foot awkwardly.
“Uh, part of the props team. Like assistant to the assistant to the assistant to the props designer. I just have my list of props for each scene and make them look nice.”
“And you went to school for this?” He asked, not so much condescending as curious.
“I did theatre tech and acting as a minor. Just wasn’t my thing.”
“I couldn’t help but overhear what you and- who was it? The guy with the weird name?” 
“Rex.”
“Right. Rex. Talking with Harrison about Meisner. I know he was saying he didn’t think it helped but you sort of talked through how it made sense to you and how it worked for your production of- what show was it?”
“Spring Awakening. Lots of eye contact, lots of chemistry work with people you might not normally have intimacy with.”
The Meisner technique wasn’t the best for every actor nor did it help with every production or scene. But it was useful when it needed to be and you much preferred it over other acting techniques.
“I want you to work with him.”
“Isn’t that your job?” 
He laughed, “normally yes. Kat would do the technique with him and they’d work together to form that bond. But as you know she has to work with two leads so splitting her time between the two of them is difficult. We were discussing having someone he already has chemistry with helping ease him into the technique while she works with Jacob.”
You flushed at his comment before straightening up.
“Chemistry?”
“His body language said it all. From when he walked onto set this morning relaxed by your side. He’s calm around you. Not jumpy. I think he’s a terrific actor but an anxious boy. He’s not anxious around you.”
“I’ve known him for like a few hours.”
“And?” Dean asked, as if that meant nothing to him.
“Would I really be the best person to help?”
Dean nodded in understanding, running a hand through his grey and thinning hair. “I’ll make a deal with you. Next movie I’m doing is huge. Bigger than this rom-com. It’s in Hollywood, we need an assistant to the props master. You help me, the job’s yours.”
“I already offered to help him. You don’t need to bribe me.”
“Ah, but I know this extra motivation will make sure you put in your best work.”
You looked back toward the door and Rex, who was leaning against the wall and watching you with a ridiculous smirk.
“Okay. Fine. But I’m leaving. I’ve got a billion and a half years of sleep to catch up on.”
Willow chuckled, nodding understandably. “Let me know if you have any questions. Kat is also a great resource to bounce ideas off of.”
***
Just as you were about to roll over and bug Rex about getting drunk instead of sleeping, your phone buzzed.
Meet me in my trailer? - the blue eyed asshole
***
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cheryls-blossomed · 3 years
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Just to let you know this won't be the last irisco scenes this season carlos is coming back for the 150th episode and the finale. So that's probably when you'll get your proper goodbye from iris and cisco and I can't wait to see his reaction when he sees nora again and also meeting bart .... those are the type of things I'm looking forward to. I actually enjoyed this episode just as a fan and not someone to pick apart everything but just watch it as a viewer and see how happy carlos was filming this made me enjoy it even more. Could it have been way better absolutely but I already went into this episode with the intent of it being a otf type of episode and who wrote the episode so my mind already knew what this would mostly turn out to be. Now this episode is out the way I'm really ready for the ball to start rolling with these stories and storylines. Was it perfect absolutely not was it my favorite nope but I can say I enjoyed it. To those fans that I see that think Iris is being pushed out the show to me I call BS also from what carlos has mentioned in his interviews he sees that eric is very accommodating to his actors and makes sure they are good not just about their character but them as a person he tries to help them and work with them the best he can and to me that's a good showrunner. Eric has a long way to go when it comes to fixing stuff in the writers room but I will say he's made that set a better place to feel comfortable and work at. Also CP was talking about her experiences with that network which I think eric has tried to do what he can and what he's allowed to do for his actors wellbeing. As for Westallen as we seen in 7x11 when GG and CP are given great material they can really work with it and even when they don't they do their best. Now the Joe and Iris scene I couldn't tell you why it was cut ... timing .... or did they feel it wasn't needed if iris was literally having that same type of convo with kamilia so they choose that one we may never really know so I tend to not worry about those things but I get why some fans would be mad about that especially how it seems to always happen to iris getting her scenes cut but it is what it is I'm not going to keep harping over spoiled milk. I enjoy your blog so much cause it gives us fans a safe space no matter if we agree or not so thank you for that. Here's to hoping the season turns out better for you and the fans that aren't enjoying it right now. I'm more of positive optimistic type of person so I tend to see the positive side of things especially for my mental health. Anyways I don't want to take up to much of your time sorry for this long ass post I'll try to keep it short next time!
No need to apologize, nonnie! I appreciate you sharing all your thoughts. I'm glad that you enjoy this blog, and I'm also glad that we can healthily disagree at times, because I think that's important. And optimism is honestly a very good thing in this life.
I definitely don't think Iris/Candice is being pushed out of the show. There's nothing to suggest that from this season, and I’m not sure why anyone would think this. 
Oh yeah, I mean, I don't really have much hope for meaningful Iris/Cisco scenes, but a small goodbye in the finale would be nice. And I'm glad that Cisco will get to meet Bart and Nora.
Re the Iris/Joe scene: I think it's pretty clear with the benefit of hindsight that that moment was one showcasing Iris's POV about why she was struggling to hire a new photojournalist and that Joe was helping her work through her feelings about Kamilla leaving. It was hopefully a moment of vulnerability, and it wasn't going to be the same moment as the Iris/Kamilla scene, because it was supposed to be Iris working through what she was originally struggling with in the KamIris scene. I would have felt better if Iris and Kamilla got another scene for the sake of closure, where we got to see them have this really supportive, sweet moment, but they did not get that. Part of it is that the show really didn't care about Kamilla at all in the episode and didn't give her any proper sendoff. Additionally, there's the continued fact that Iris scenes are used for promo, but her scenes seem to be the first to end up on the cutting room floor, especially important character-building moments for her, often times shared with her family (her father, her husband, and her daughter). They very well could have cut something else to include the Iris/Joe scene, but they deliberately chose to cut this scene. 
Anyways, with regards to Eric, I don't really agree with his stylistic choices as showrunner, and I am somewhat frustrated as a fan by his... apparent lying about story-lines, therefore indicating that he knows what the people want, but he chooses not to focus on what the people want, but it's clear he's a good boss when it comes to the cast and that he's made the set safer and is the first showrunner who has really listened to Candice and addressed her concerns. I think to a degree we have to separate who Eric is as a boss and our own concerns and grievances with regards to story-telling as fans (which are certainly very valid and reflect upon him as showrunner, but are separate from what he’s done to make the work place environment better).
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