#considering that marvel is so bright and colour I’m not sure why I have such an issue

[true-blue-sonic]

❓️ :)

❓ any WIP snippet you want!

This is an odd one: I have a draft for a short Soulmate AU story in my folder, haha. The idea there is that people have heterochromatic eyes, with one colour being of their own and one being that of their soulmate. Except Espio's got two golden eyes... and thus he Has No Soulmate, very drama, much suck, he pretends it doesn't affect him so much. So I hope you enjoy this ^-^

~~~~

With a glower Espio stares at his reflection in the mirror, washing his face and studying his eyes. His two eyes, with no difference in colour between them; both a golden yellow, both honeyed and marvelled at by many interested in him and neither matched by any of those people.

“It might not mean anything, really,” Vector had assured him with a bright smile, his one orange and one brown eye kind and fond. “Some people never find their soulmates, but they do find someone else, and they are happy together. And some people do find their soulmate, and they find they don’t like the loss of freedom and break up, and they are happy too. Some people have the same as you, no soulmate at all, and they either never find anyone or do find someone and are also happy. And some people-“

“Yes, I get it,” Espio had interrupted, bristling more than he would have liked himself to.

“I’m just saying you don’t seem to be very open for the idea of falling in love in the first place, Es.”

“Indeed I am not.”

“Well, maybe you should be. It’s wonderful, to be in love.” And that had been the final end of the discussion, and it still makes Espio hiss when he thinks about it. He does not even want a dumb soulmate; it can only be stifling and irking and taking away his attention from his job and tasks he considers so much more important...

That had been his stance on things ever since learning about the prospect of soulmates in the first place, at least, and though the thought the universe does not even have a soulmate out there for him stings, during lonely nights and quiet days he is content.

Or so he always said.

“Thanks for coming too, Espio,” Sonic beams at him, before his half-emerald, half-jade gaze drops down to his chilidog-sauce-covered fingers the chameleon is staring at as well and he quickly licks it away with a giggle as Espio grimaces. “Sorry, heh. But I hadn’t even had time to ask you how you are doing so far! Having fun at the party?”

With a nod Espio hums. The Blue Blur’s birthday party had been quite a struggle to plan out; not because of any unwillingness on everyone’s parts, but because the speedy hedgehog is simply that adept at finding out what they are doing on any other day, plus being plenty fast and capable of showing up in unexpected places within seconds on top. “I am glad the planning went well,” the chameleon thus says. “And that you are having fun, as well. It is your party, after all.”

“I’m having a blast! And I had no idea you guys had anything in store!” Sonic beams back at him. “Heh, and even Eggman showed up to wish me a happy birthday- a good day, really.”

“Hm hm.” Surely Eggman did not show up only for that alone, and Espio suppresses a frown at the memories of being frozen in time, short as it had lasted- well, to be fair, it had not lasted any time at all within the timeless void Eggman had banished everyone to. But Sonic saved the day as usual, and thus he can only be happy.

Eyes already firmly trained on another unattended chilidog on the table Sonic shoots him a little smile from the corner of his mouth. “You’re sitting quite alone here.”

“Don’t I always,” Espio retorts back; sure, he is isolating himself quite a bit once Vector’s and Charmy’s shenanigans stopped being fun and started being irking, but he reasons the Blue Blur knows that about him by now.

“Why don’t you try mingling with some of the others guests who are less likely to drive you nuts?”

“Like whom.”

“Ah- hmm-“ Narrowed bi-coloured green eyes trail over the grassy field they had planned the surprise in, Espio’s normal golden gaze following it. Everyone is chatting and mingling, clearly having fun... “Hm! Do you know Silver?” Sonic speaks up, and the chameleon shrugs at the unfamiliarity of the name.

“I do not believe we have met, no.”

“He’s a buddy of mine too! Met him a while ago, fought each other, went on some adventures, sparred in that white void just now, he’s great.”

“That sounds lovely,” Espio deadpans back.

“Yup!! Heh, I think he is isolating himself as well, actually. Says he doesn’t really know what to do with so many people around.”

“That sounds like me, then.”

With a little grin Sonic bounces away. “He’s over in the little forest over there, if you want to look for him. And if you do see him, tell him I said hi!”

“Yes, of course. Have a good day, Sonic.”

“Will do bye!!” And with that the speedster dashes away, unassuming chilidog getting snatched and people laughing and singing Happy Birthday in the distance as Espio shakes his head. Sonic truly can be too enthusiastic for his own good at times... and he does not even want to meet with some new person. Probably also someone with heterochromic eyes, with the promise of a soulmate in one, someone who will pity him for the fact he has no such thing, he notes bitterly to himself before he can help it... before he shakes his head with a grunt. He is above all that, after all, and no matter what this Silver thinks of him and his two completely normal golden eyes it is not his problem. And besides, maybe this Silver is a calm, even-tempered, laid-back and pleasantly quiet person-

Actually, Espio interrupts himself in that train of thought, that seems to be almost impossible if this Silver is also friends with Sonic.

Sighing deeply the chameleon gets up, stretching himself out and rubbing one eye. It is nice, to sit here in the sun; but stretching his legs and going on a walk sounds nice as well. Not to mention Sonic will pester him about talking to Silver... If he just goes to that little forest for a walk he can say he at least tried to meet that person and missed him, and if he does come across him he can keep it at useless small talk and other such nonsense before making his escape. Yes, Espio nods, setting a brisk pace towards the swaying trees in the distance. No matter which scenario, it’ll be exactly the way he likes it.

Finding himself in the small forest before long – more a glorified collection of trees than a real forest – Espio permits a small smile to form on his face. With the foliage blocking most of the noises from the birthday party in the distance he can focus on the sounds of nature around him: the birdsong and the rustling of leaves in the wind and-

Something akin to a crash, and a loud one at that.

Freezing up Espio lets his fingers trail over the kunai always hidden in his glove cuffs, listening intently to the noises around him. An animal, most likely, or a robot, unfortunately not that unlikely, or-

“Ow! Owwwww.”

...A child?

“Silver, you've got to be more careful,” a voice rings out inbetween the trees a bit distantly, the chameleon’s tail flicking as he inches closer with something stirring in his chest he can’t exactly place. “You can’t keep getting yourself stuck in bushes, that’s just dumb. And they’ll laugh at you if they find out."

Brow furrowing at the hint of sadness intermixing the disappointed tone Espio scuffles to the place he can hear the voice from, peeking past a handful of bushes at the source... which is a small grey hedgehog hopelessly entangled in a bush, the two long quills flowing from his back and getting tugged at uselessly by... hands adorned with cyan circles? “Okay, so this is a bit of a situation,” the child - or rather teenager, because he's not that small - speaks again, grunting as he twists his head around; with the awkward way he is sitting Espio can’t even see what his face looks like. “So maybe-“

“Excuse me,” the chameleon interrupts, aiming to step up to the anthro- and stiffening as a growl resounds and the child begins fussing and squirming instead with the same odd cyan colour rising up all around him. “Wait- sorry! I do not mean you harm, I wish to help you-"

“Who are you!” the anthro snaps at him... rather clumsily, considering Espio can barely see a hint of his face staring up at him.

“My name is Espio, and I presume you are Silver, and now stop twisting like that before you get any brambles stuck in your face next,” Espio retorts, unexpectedly forceful; but he has plenty of experience with Charmy and his shenanigans, and thus he knows very well how to be firm with someone. “I wish to help you, but you need to sit still.”

A huff resounding the other fusses some more, but it pipes down soon enough, the realisation he is hopelessly stuck presumably having struck him. “...Okay. But if you hurt me-!"

“I have no intention to, what with you being a friend of Sonic and all.” Carefully sitting next to him Espio lets his fingers trail over the thick branches wrapped around grey quills, a little smile forming on his face at the way two tiny ears perk up.

“Oh, you know Sonic too?”

“Indeed I do,” Espio hums back, touching his lips with a deep frown replacing the little grin; he hardly smiles, so why... Shaking that thought away he quickly hums, grabbing his kunai after all and carefully moving to cut through the tinier twigs and twines first. “Indeed, he is a companion of the Chaotix Detective Agency which I am a part of as well. We helped plan his birthday party- though I do not recall inviting you.”

A laugh which makes the odd feeling in his chest stir up only more resounds, light and amused. “I mean, I wasn’t invited, actually! I don’t know what happened. One moment I’m just hanging out by myself, and the next I’m in some sort of white void in a ruined city-“ the other’s voice hitches just barely at that, but before Espio can question what it means it recovers- “and then Sonic comes up to me and asks for my Emerald. That was all really suspicious, so I fought him!! And then I lost.”

“Oh,” Espio hums back, his tail giving a twitch with something he cannot place.

“Which is too bad, but it was epic. And then he fought that purple monster thing, and then we were all back here, and t h e n he asked me to stay for his birthday and celebrate as well. So I guess I’m here now.”

“I... see.” Face having long assumed a rather amused frown at the slightly-hectic recalling of events Espio hums and smiles, untangling the other’s quills slowly from the bramble bush and checking one final time if the other truly is free. “Well met, Silver, and my condolences for losing your spar. You’re free now.”

“Thanks- oh, thank you!!” Scrambling up the child flies into the air, shaking out his pelt with a delighted little whoop as Espio stares up at him with quickly-growing confusion. Just what is that cyan around him?! “You’re awesome, Espio!” Silver beams, turning around with a bright smile sent his way- but before the chameleon can respond to ask about the odd colour his eyes fall on the hedgehog’s face, and his words die on his tongue as his body goes a ghostly cold.

Because Silver has the exact same eyes as he does.

#silver the hedgehog #espio the chameleon #espilver #thanks for the ask! ^-^ I just need an intro and I guess this can be published then actually? #blue's writing

[dorotharry]

tiny dancer ; prologue

Pairing: 40s!bucky barnes x fem!reader

Next Chapter

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: kinda long for a prologue, fluff, not really much but please let me know if anything in this upsets you. 

Summary: After being drafted for the war in 1942, Bucky goes to the ballet a week before having to leave with his best friend Steve. There he becomes infatuated you with the prima ballerina of the show, and he just has to meet you before his last week in Brooklyn is up. He hopes one day you would meet again; little does it know it will be 72 years later.

A/N: This is my first Bucky fic, I thought of it last night and I was kind of excited to write it. Sorry if any of the information is wrong as well my knowledge of Ballet and Brooklyn/NY are limited. I’m not sure if there are any similar story types but feel is so please let me know and I’ll tag them for people to read in the next chapter. I hope you enjoy :) Feel free to let me know if you want to be tagged in the next chapter. 

Before everything - 1942

“Oh, come on Steve, come to the Ballet with me!” Bucky spoke enthusiastically, his arms pressed again the frame of Steve’s front door. “It’s my last week before I go.”

“And you couldn’t have just chose to go to a bar like any other normal man would a week before going to the war?” Steve responded looking sceptically at his best friend. Someone who he had never known to be interested in ballet.

“Because going to a bar filled with soldiers would be a bright choice for you,” sighed Bucky, “I’d rather not have to get into another fight…” Steve rolled his eyes and pursed his lips waiting for Bucky to continue. “Everyone in New York is talking about the Ballet! Don’t you want to feel cultured?” Bucky exclaimed moving away from the door frame. “Plus!, I got us pretty good seats if I do say so myself, what row was it again…?” He trailed off looking smugly at Steve. “…Oh, that’s right! Row three.”

“Too bad you couldn’t score front row,” responded Steve mimicking Bucky’s cocky attitude. Bucky huffed at his friend’s response. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” laughed Steve, “Fine if the ballet is where you want to go a week before you go, then the ballet is where we’re going, I guess.”

Bucky’s eyes lit up at his friends’ words. “Yes! This is going to be great, a night on the town, just two gentlemen going to see the ballet.” He grinned, Steve noting how happy he seemed to be going to the ballet; he wasn’t sure why. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 6pm”, Bucky spoke turning away from his still sceptical best friend.

“Okay then,” responded Steve watching him walk off.

Just as he’d said, Bucky had picked Steve up the next day, driving them to the theatre and making it there for 6:30. They wandered the foyer looking at all of the people dressed up to watch the performance like them. Many had already been a few times and were raving about what they were most excited for again. For Bucky and Steve though, this is new territory. Both of them glad though that they were doing something new. They made their way into the theatre finding their seats, as everyone began to pile in, ready for the show.

“I’ve heard that the lead female ballet dancer is meant to be very good”, whispered Bucky to Steve as the lights began to dim.

“You mean the Prima Ballerina?” Whispered back Steve correcting him.

Bucky looked at Steve with an amused look. “For someone who didn’t want to come you sure know a lot about ballet”, chuckled Bucky placing his focus back towards the stage.

Steve sighed and looked back at him, “I don’t know a lot of ballet, that’s just common knowled—” He was shushed by Bucky as he tapped him on the shoulder multiple times in order to tell him to be quiet. Steve looked towards the stage again as the orchestra began playing.

Bucky watched as the curtains opened, the stage filled with ballet dancers.

Not long into the performance you would enter, nervous side stage as your friends reminded you of how brilliant you would be. This wasn’t your first time performing but every time was just as nerve-wracking as the last. This was your passion of course, and you wanted nothing more than to be perfect.  You looked down at your tutu, a bright red tutu, a colour that stood out amongst the rest of the cast who were dressed in whites and greens. Even the male lead was only dressed in white. You particularly like your pointe shoes the best; they were a stunning bright red to match the rest of your costume.

Shaken from your thoughts you heard the beginning of your entrance within the music, jumping up and down briefly before getting into position to enter. Then you did, getting into character instantly.

Bucky gasped as his eyes followed you as you entered the stage so gracefully. He had heard you were a magnificent dancer, but he didn’t know you were so beautiful. Composing himself in his seat he watched as you were so engrossed in the music and the dance. It was obvious you loved what you did.

As the ballet continued his eyes never lost focus from you. He even thought there was one time when you had looked at him in the audience, but he knew that couldn’t be true, someone so perfect would never draw their focus from their work to look at him.

Even during the interval Bucky was in his own world as he thought about how captivating you had been. Barely listening but nodding as Steve spoke to him about his thoughts of the show.

When the show finally ended the crowd stood up applauding the performance. Eagerly so did Bucky, Steve following. As you bowed many people threw roses and he mentally cursed himself for not bringing any himself. The curtains closed and the theatre lights slowly came back on.

“Well I must say I did enjoy that,” spoke Steve as they exited the theatre, breaking the silence and pulling Bucky from his thoughts, he stopped walked and looked at Steve.

“Steve, call me crazy but I have to meet her, I have to know her name.”

Steve looked at Bucky and sighed knowing he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Alright pal, why don’t we wait near the door the cast exit from?”

Bucky practically jumped up and down as he followed his friend, who somehow knew where the cast door was, although it wasn’t a hard guess. Just down the alleyway next to the theatre.

-     

After the performance, adrenaline was running through you like crazy. You loved this feeling. Tonight’s audience was marvellous, and they held nothing back when applauding you all for your performance.

When you performed you couldn’t see much of the audience due to the stage lights, but you could see up to around the 4th row. While you had stopped at the end one of your solos in the first act your eyes had briefly stumbled upon a very handsome man with brunette hair. But you didn’t get a great look because as soon as one song ended the next one started.

You had removed your costume and let your hair out of its bun brushing it out and attempting to make it look as presentable as you could. You got into a nice dress which you had arrived in, keeping your makeup on along with your bright red lipstick. Grabbing your bag, you said goodbye to your fellow colleagues as you exited the backstage area and entered the alleyway.

As you got to where the alleyway ended, and the city sidewalk started you were met with the same brunette you had noticed during the show. “Miss, I’m terribly sorry to bother you after your show but I just had to introduce myself to such a beautiful and talented woman.” Rambled Bucky.

You blushed and looked down as your dress, “Why thank you…” you trailed off waiting for the handsome stranger to tell you, his name. He seemed a bit distractedd looking at your eyes that he didn’t catch on though, causing his smaller blonde friend next to him to nudge him.

“Oh, sorry my names Bucky,” he replied letting out a nervous chuckle, “and this is Steve,” gesturing to his best friend.

Steve raised his arm to shake your hand, “Sorry miss but what was your name again? Bucky here forgot to tell me.”

You raised your arm and shook his hand, letting out a giggle over the two men in front of you, “My names y/n”.

You looked back over at Bucky who seemed to be going over something in his brain. “I wanted to know if you wanted to get a drink or some food or something with me?” What Bucky thought would be a confident question turned more into a rambling mess. Gosh he thought you were pretty.

You blushed, “How am I to know you’re not a murderer?” Raising an eyebrow at the nervous man in front of you.

Steve interjected this time, “I can confirm y/n, he’s not a murderer. Honestly, he’s usually a lot better at flirting than this, I’ve never seen him look so nervous.”

Bucky sent a death glare at Steve before looking back at you. You laughed again, grinning ear to ear, “Well I am pretty hungry, so I won’t say no, especially when a ladies’ man is so nervous to talk to me.” You smirked.

Now it was Bucky’s turn to grin, “great!” He responded. “I just have to drop Steve home and then we’re all set… Did you have a car?” He asked.

“Nope,” you spoke back, “so… do you think you’d be able to drop me home afterwards?” you asked, “You know considering I’m being so nice to a stranger.”

“I was going to offer anyway,” he replied signalling you to follow. You chatted with the two men as you walked to the car, when you got there, you insisted Steve sit in the front considering he was being dropped home. Then once you arrived at his, you both said your goodbyes to Steve. “I hope to see you again soon,” you yelled from the car as you sat in the front waving.

Steve waved back, as Bucky drove off to one of his favourite bars/restaurants beeping his horn at Steve as he left.

The rest of the night went smoothly, you both ate and chatted for hours, feeling like time barely existed with one another. It may sound cheesy but both of you felt like you were meant to meet one another. The only downside was that Bucky had told you he would be leaving for the war at the end of week, so you both knew it could never be anything more until at least the war ended.

It wasn’t until you realised the time that you knew you needed to get home, being Prima Ballerina wasn’t an easy job and it required getting at least some sleep. Bucky understood and drove you home continuing to talk about everything together. He even confessed he wished he had of gotten you some roses, to which you responded that how would he have known to do that. Of course, Bucky being a gentleman he still was disappointed he didn’t, even if you didn’t mind.

When you got home you thanked him for the wonderful night. “I’m going to see you again before I go,” he said from in the car, as you stood by the passenger window.

“I hoped you’d say that” you replied, “Good night Bucky,” you blew him a kiss, and his cheeks turned a bright pink.

“Goodnight y/n” he replied, grinning like a fool. He watched you walk into your apartment to make sure you got in safe before driving off. Gosh you were perfect.

-   

It was finally the day he left.

Just like he promised you did see him again. After each show through the week, he would bring you a rose. Each time making you blush.

Most days he just drove you home and you chatted in the car, but a couple of times you got dinner again and made the most of the time you had with your new friend. You wished he didn’t have to go; you wished every time you saw him you could kiss him. But that felt like it would complicate things, you hadn’t known him long enough to put yourself through that kind of heart ache.

You and Steve were at the train station saying goodbye to Bucky. It was hard for Steve, he wanted nothing more than to go with his best friend and fight for his country, but he couldn’t. They didn’t want him.

For you though, you had only known Bucky a week, you had grown so comfortable with him, so it was hard seeing him leave, not knowing if he’d come back. He knew more about you than some of your closest friends that you had known for years, he was just that kind of guy, someone you could trust.

Bucky wanted nothing more than to just grab you and kiss you, but he didn’t know if that’s what you wanted. Steve had told him the day before to just go for it, but he was unsure. He didn’t want to put you through the heart ache. As he picked up his bags, Steve gave him a giant hug, you stepped forward and did the same hoping you wouldn’t have to let him go.

Releasing each other from your embrace, you both looked into each other’s eyes. Your eyes filled with water, and you could tell Bucky was holding back tears.

“Goodbye Steve, goodbye y/n” he spoke sadly as he began to walk towards the train.

Steve looked at you as if to say, ‘are you sure you don’t want to just go for it?’ and you sighed. He was right, what was there to lose? Bugger this you thought, “Bucky!” you yelled running towards him, “You forgot something!” He turned around confused only to be greeted by you grabbing his face and softly yet hungrily pressing your lips to his. He sighed into the kiss dropping his bags, he didn’t push you away instead he grabbed your waist and pulled you closer. 

This kiss was nothing like any of the kisses you had experienced before, if fact it made you feel the same way ballet did. It was the same for Bucky, none of the kisses he had ever shared with anyone felt like this.

You finally stopped and parted, resting your foreheads on one another’s.  

“Don’t worry doll, I’ll see you again.” He spoke softly to you.

You stepped back as a few tears fell down your face, nodding. He gave you a charming Bucky smile before picking his bags back up and turning away. You walked back to Steve giving him a hug, as he watched his best friend leave him for the first time in his life.

You wanted nothing more than to believe that you would see each other again.

Little did you know you would, only 72 years later.

Chapter One (next chapter)

#bucky barnes x reader #buck #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #female reader #bucky barns x reader #bucky barns x y/n #bucky barns fanfiction #bucky fanfic #bucky x y/n #bucky #bucky imagine #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fanfiction #sebastian stan #marvel #winter solider #bucky x female reader

[that-damn-girl]

(1) Daze of Pollen

(Work in Progress - 1 of 8; Slow updates)

Daze of Pollen Materlist

Pairing: (cis)fem!Reader x Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x Sam Wilson

Words: 1800+

Warnings: None except language?

Summary:  Bucky, Steve, Sam and you are in the safe house post mission when a retrieved Hydra device activates, releasing a kind of pollen you don’t know of, but the effects of which are soon discovered.

A/N: To all my horny bitches out there, I’m sorry the first chapter isn’t smutty. I didn’t plan on keeping the entire first chapter as the intro but it just...happened. Also, This is my submission for @buckyssoul​​ ‘s Rae Hit 1k Marvel Writing Challenge. I’m sorry for the delay. Hope you like it!

It is a strange concept, really. We don't always get what we want. But  if we do, it's when we least expect it, in the most strangest of ways as well.

Call it your good luck, fate, destiny, a simple mere coincidence, or whatever. You were grateful for that night in the safe house regardless. For the first and the last time, you could say that you were thankful for a little Hydra contraption.

It all started during a peaceful dinner. You and your group of friends were relaxing after a successful mission, treating yourselves with any and all comfort food available in the safe house. The mission was anticipated to be much harder than usual; the only reason why Bucky and Sam had asked you and Steve to accompany them. Quite unexpectedly, the mission went smoothly and it seemed there was no need for the extra help they had requested. But considering the mission consisted of scoping out an abandoned Hydra base, being overly cautious was preferred than being overconfident. One never knew the levels of villainy Hydra truly possessed.

Oh, you were about to discover the truth in that statement just fine.

Bucky sat across from you on the dining table, Sam to your right. The duo played catch with a balled sheet of paper, their half eaten meals abandoned on the table. You and Steve conversed with them while enjoying your respective sandwiches.

It was true that Steve had given up his Captain America mantle to Sam, a man just as deserving of the title, but hadn't completely retired. He didn't get out on the field anymore, but used his excellent strategic skills in planning the missions sometimes, especially if it included Hydra. 

All of you would have been enroute to the Compound had Rhodey and Scott not hogged the quinjet. None of you minded though. With the four of you together, it was very much like a quiet night in with close friends. Unbeknown to you, it wasn't going to be particularly quiet much longer.

"Does it smell funny to anybody else here?" Bucky asked, pausing midway while rocking his chair. Squinting his eyes, he glanced around himself to locate the source of the smell, a deep frown etched onto his features.

Steve took a tentative whiff, you and Sam doing the same. "No pal, I don't smell anything."

"It's…" Bucky closed his eyes, taking in deep inhales. "It's faint but it's there. I'm sure of it." 

You and Sam glanced at each other, a raised eyebrow followed by a shrug. Suddenly Bucky sat up with a start, his gaze fixating on a corner of the room. Following his line of sight, you found the hard black stacked containers with the Shield logo which held the Hydra files and devices you had retrieved from the base earlier in the mission. 

"It's coming from there, I think." Bucky stood up and reached the stacked containers in only a few long strides. Before any of you could stop him, he lifted the cover to inspect its contents. 

Immediately a puff of bright yellow powder-like substance was released from the inside, as if a smoke bomb had been triggered. Bucky coughed as the coloured dust hit his senses. It didn't take long for the particles to dissipate in the air. Soon the clean air around you was shrouded with the yellow dust, leaving all of you a coughing mess.

"What is it?" You wondered, one hand waving in front of your face to get rid of the dust while the other protectively covered your nose. It was no use though. It was everywhere, the particles so fine they slithered through the gaps between your fingers. You could do nothing but inhale it as you coughed helplessly. The particles stuck to the insides of your mouth. You couldn't feel them on your tongue or the roof of your mouth, but the dryness that followed was a sure shot indication. The tangy scent of it overwhelmed your senses, making you wonder how could you have missed it.

"Look inside the container, Bucky. See what released it." Sam instructed with broken words in between the coughs.

"Fucking Hydra," Steve muttered under his breath.

Following Sam's orders, Bucky peeked inside and pulled out a wooden cube. It was small enough to be grasped in his palm. One of its faces had the ugly red symbol of Hydra painted on it. The cube was heavily cracked along the sides. Had Bucky not held onto it firmly, it would have fallen apart right then. 

Sam, you and Steve drifted closer to Bucky as the yellow dust gradually dissipated into nothing - or rather as the most of it was already inhaled by you all. The cube appeared to hold some carvings in a language you supposed was Russian. 

"I...don't...understand…" Bucky's fingers drifted across the letters as he tried to make sense of it. "Fuck!" With widened eyes, Bucky retraced the words, confirming what he had read. Throwing the cube across the room, he started pacing the room, his head hidden behind his palms. 

"Come on, man, you're scaring me." Steve said, approaching his friend.

"You should be!" Bucky yelled, all his frustrations coming out on the wrong person. He loudly groaned, rubbing his forehead, "I'm sorry. It's just that…"

"What is it, Bucky?" You asked.

Bucky looked at you, his gaze sweeping over your form. He bit his lip, an almost remorseful look coming over in his eyes. In a much softer voice, he said, "I don't know how to explain it. I don't know where to start."

"Do you know what the yellow dust we all inhaled was?" Sam asked. 

Bucky replied after a long pause. "It was a sort of pollen which Hydra had engineered." 

"Hydra modified...pollen?" You asked. The idea sounded as bizarre to you as snow in the Sahara. "What?"

"No- Well, um, yes," Bucky took a deep breath before he started explaining. "Hydra could never replicate the super soldier serum they used on me. But they needed more super soldiers. It hardly ever happened that anybody else would succeed in recreating those serums so that Hydra could steal. They decided that if they couldn't transform using the serums, they would...breed super soldiers. That's when Project Growth started. These pollen were engineered to assist in it." 

"How did the pollen assist Project Growth?" You asked, confusion dripping from your voice.

Bucky glanced at you but quickly diverted his gaze, unable to keep the eye contact. "Project Growth was about using super soldiers like me and those four others to... impregnate willing women. Conception with super soldiers is harder than usual for some reason. So they came up with this pollen to aid the process. It's an aphrodisiac. They called it sex pollen, because well, it increases one's sexl drive... by a lot. So much so that it might be fatal if the person exposed to it doesn't, you know, climax."

"What? Are we gonna want to fuck like rabbits then? Become Hydra's breeding bitches?" Sam asked, crossing his arms in front of him.

"The experiments were never successful. They did it a couple of times and it never resulted in a pregnancy. This box," Bucky gestured to the broken cube lying on the floor, "I don't know how or when but it got activated somehow." He shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea if the pollen inside it was a sample of those failed experiments or if that of a new one. Either way, we don't have long before the effects would start showing."

There was a lull in the room, the implications of what Bucky said sitting heavy on everyone's minds.

"We can keep ourselves locked in our separate rooms until it wears off to...get ourselves off." Steve's cheeks were tinged a deep shade of red as he proposed the idea.

"It's not that easy. Trust me, I've been through it." Bucky looked at Steve. "It's something about needing another person's touch; a sense of intimacy. No matter what you do on your own, it won't ever be enough. It would send you in a daze of lust, where the only thing you could focus on would be to anyhow satiate yourselves. You would desperately want another person to touch you, no matter who or what gender. You'd need them to touch you." He glanced at each one of you. "I'm sorry, but it's going to be nasty."

"So what you're saying is, it's basically fuck or die?" Sam said.

"When you put it that way…" Bucky tried to think of a better phrase but finding none, he replied, "-Well, yes."

"I don't know what to say," You crossed your hands in front of your chest. To say that you were shocked was a massive understatement. You couldn't even begin to believe that any of it was true.

Unconsciously, your gaze drifted over each of the men in the room. They all stood with a hard look on their handsome faces, lost deep in thought. You weren't sure if it was you or the pollen due to which you felt yourself get wet, your panties gradually dampening and sticking to your form. 

Truth be told, you had always wondered what being with these men would feel like, what fucking them would be like. Would Sam choke you in a sensual manner with those bulging arms of his? Would Bucky keep you pinned to the bed with his thick thighs? What would gripping America's Ass feel like when Steve would be pumping his length into you?

You bit your lip, your mind conjuring up a train of lewd images. You wondered if it all would come true that night. Though you had considered them insanely attractive since the day you had met them, you never dared to act upon any of your desires with either of them. They were your close friends, and you'd be damned if you'd destroy it for a night of pleasure.

Now though, you had no other option but to fuck them if you valued your life. On any other day you would have laughed boisterously had anyone suggested such a thing, but it was your reality right then. 

You realized it didn't have to be a necessarily bad thing though

Huffing dramatically, you stood straighter, hands falling by your sides. With a newfound confidence, you asked, "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

"What?" Steve asked, dumbfounded. 

"At one point or the other, we would eventually go crawling to someone. I don't think we'd be in control of ourselves if it would make us that desperate. Avoiding the inevitable makes no sense. It's better to start it while we are still able to make conscious decisions and consent to being with each other. At least I'd prefer that."

The men looked at each other, a silent conversation happening amongst them. Bucky asked, "Are you sure, Y/N?" 

You smiled. "I am, Bucky. If it's gonna be this way, then I'm glad it's the three of you. Are you guys sure though?"

Bucky glanced at Sam and Steve before smirking, "You bet we are, babydoll."

You walked closer to Bucky, standing on the tip of your toes as your arms curved around his neck, excitement thrumming through your veins. "Let's get this show started then."

Chapter 2

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[sankyeom]

the c in ceo stands for cute | k.yh

pairings: kim younghoon x reader genre: ceo au, secretary!reader x ceo!younghoon, strangers to lovers summary: in which your handsome boss is often mistaken as cold due to his good looks and forward personality, but is actually the sweetest introvert you’ve ever met word count: 7.2k series: sankyeom’s 2k followers celebration

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“It’s been such a pleasure working for you, Mr Kim,” you told the CEO of the company you worked for, genuinely meaning every word.

Mr Kim beamed at you, eyes bright behind the large frames of his glasses. “The pleasure was all mine, Y/n,” he assured you. “You’re a marvellous help. My son is going to love you,” he was sure.

The heir of the Kim corporation, Kim Younghoon, was returning from getting his Masters degree from Harvard Business School just in time to take over after his father retired. He was a little young to be the CEO of such a large corporation, but Mr Kim had a lot of faith in his son, and spoke very highly of him.

“I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” you smiled, even though you were lying through your teeth.

There had been enough rumours about Kim Younghoon going around for you to know what to expect. His schoolmates said that he was often cold to them, giving blunt answers instead of mingling with his peers, and having an air of superiority around him. You asked some of your older coworkers if they knew much about him, since you had only been Mr Kim’s secretary for a little over two years, and they feared him too much to have ever really approached him.

Of course you knew that it was unfair to judge a person by the rumours surrounding them, especially if you never even had the chance to meet this person, but there seemed to be no positive stories about Kim Younghoon at all. Sure, his face was plastered across billboards for being an excellent businessman and for having great instincts when it came to the stock market, but he never smiled in any pictures; not even the ones on his social media (which had millions of followers).

Mr Kim seemed to know you well, giving you an intentional smile. “He’s not what people expect him to be. You’ll see when he arrives,” he promised. You decided to take Mr Kim’s word for it and give the new CEO a proper chance, despite the fact that Mr Kim was very biased in this situation.

“I think it’s time for me to get home,” Mr Kim admitted, handing you his almost-full champagne flute.

The Seoul division of the corporation’s office had held a farewell party for Mr Kim, celebrating his many years of building up the company and all the people whose lives he impacted while he was CEO. “So soon?” you asked, helping him up from his chair. “You’ve only had one slice of cake.”

Mr Kim laughed. “I’ll take a good night’s sleep over a second slice of cake,” he assured you, taking your arm and letting you walk him to the elevator. “You know that I like you a lot, don’t you Y/n?” he asked you.

You couldn’t help but smile back at the man who was almost like a second father figure, and your most influential mentor. “Yes I do, Mr Kim. It’s been a pleasure.”

“I consider myself quite lucky,” he replied, saying his farewells to you before letting his chauffeur walk him to his car.

You waved as the elevator doors closed and sighed to yourself when Mr Kim was gone, looking around to see what was left of the office party.

You knew you were good at your job. Throughout high school and college, you found it difficult to figure out what you wanted to do with your life. All you knew was that you had good organisational and people skills, and you wanted to do something creative and exciting. At first, the idea of being someone’s secretary sounded dreadfully boring and time-consuming. But as you started to learn more about the profession, you liked the idea of being able to be apart of different projects as well as organising someone’s time.

“Hey, Y/n,” your coworker Kevin called over to you. He was someone you worked with a lot because he was a part of the design department, and no design ever went out without Mr Kim’s direct approval. “Where did Mr Kim go?” he asked.

You smiled, making your way over to him and the group of people he stood with. “Home,” you informed him. “I think he appreciated the party, but when he said he wanted to retire, he really meant it.”

Kevin laughed, raising his champagne flute in the air as a toast. “Fair enough,” he allowed. “Did he give you any details about the new boss?” he wondered, quirking an eyebrow in inquisitiveness.

“Not really,” you admitted. “He said that he thinks we’ll get along, and that he’s not what people expect him to be. But aside from that, he didn’t give me much.”

“Damn,” Kevin sighed. “I just want to know if he’s as scary as people make him out to be. I mean, attending a prestigious business school overseas and not making any friends? That seems kind of weird.”

“A little,” you agreed, accepting the champagne he offered you and sipping it. “I don’t know. I guess if you already have a decent set of friends at home, and your priority is to finish school as quickly as possible, then I can see why he might come across as unfriendly.”

Kevin hummed. “I suppose,” he agreed, downing his champagne. “Now c’mon. We need to dance and actually have fun at the party that you spent weeks planning,” he insisted, letting you finish your drink before dragging you over to where you had pushed chairs and tables away to make room for dancing. “Tomorrow, the new boss arrives. And if he’s half as bad as people say he is, you’re going to wish you had partied.”

You arrived at the office the next day an hour earlier than you usually did. You weren’t sure what time the new boss would be arriving at, so you just decided to be early. Fidgeting with your clothes, you smoothed them down as best as you could as you waited in front of the CEO’s office for Younghoon to arrive. You had already printed out a plan of things Mr Kim had left him to finish up for the next three months, but you didn’t have any more specific plans after that.

After half an hour of waiting around, hushed whispers rang around the office area. Taking this as a sign that Younghoon was on his way, you stood up tall with all of your papers, planner, and clipboard, and took a deep breath in to calm down. Not long after, Younghoon’s familiar face – which you recognised both from billboards, magazines and articles, as well as Mr Kim’s framed pictures in his office – appeared in front of you with two men trailing after him.

He was handsome in a chic way, with deep set eyes and high brow bones. His cupid’s bow was slightly pointed, and his lips in general were turned down into a sort of passive frown, as if he had a mild case of resting bitch face. All in all, he was intimidating. Tall, handsome, and rich. You dealt with men like this every day, but none of them looked at you as indifferently as Kim Younghoon was.

You put on your best smile. “Good morning Mr Kim,” you greeted. “My name is Y/n. I’m here to assist you with whatever you need. I’d like to go over your schedule for the next few months based on what your father already had planned, if now is a good time,” you told him, wanting to get that over and done with.

“Now is perfect,” Younghoon replied, allowing you to open the door for him before he let himself into his new office. You breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when he was inside, recovering quickly to smile at the two men he came with.

“Nice to meet you both, I’m Y/n. I’ll be Mr Kim’s secretary,” you introduced yourself again.

Both men returned your cheery expressions. “Nice to meet you, Y/n,” the one with the dark brown hair greeted. “My name is Sangyeon. I’m the head of Younghoon’s security, but I’m mostly just an old friend,” he admitted. “This is Juyeon,” the man with the black undercut smiled, which made his otherwise angular face seem soft and cute. “He’s Younghoon’s chauffeur but he’s another old friend.”

“We’ll see each other a lot so I hope we get along,” Juyeon chimed in.

“I’m sure we will,” you promised, already feeling comfortable around them. The two men exuded positive energy and a carefree attitude, which helped to calm your nerves just a little bit. Following them into Younghoon’s office, you motioned for them to sit in the two seats in front of Younghoon’s desk, where he was already sat in his office chair.

“We can talk about redecorating the office after we discuss your schedule, if you’d like,” you suggested to Younghoon, noticing the way his eyes were darting around the office. It was left the same way that Mr Kim had wanted it, only most of the belongings that he cherished had been moved into his personal office at home.

“Don’t bother,” Younghoon replied in a quiet voice, leaving you to smile awkwardly at his friends. “You said something about my father having plans for me?” he added.

“Right,” you nodded, taking out Younghoon’s agenda and placing it down in front of him. “Your father had already agreed to a few things before he retired,” you explained. “As the new CEO, you’re expected to carry out these events. I’ve colour coordinated everything that you have set, as well as given you the time and location of every event,” you pointed to the different coloured sticky tabs. “Since we’re going into the last quarter of the financial year, it’s not as busy as the rest of the year but there are more charity-related events than at the start of the year.”

Younghoon held your gaze, taking in your worried eyes and your shaking hands. “How kind of you,” he decided, sending you a half-smile before thumbing through the rest of his journal.

You thanked him quietly, feeling even more deflated now than when you were waiting for him. “Just so you know, I’m going to be arriving the same time everyday as I did today. You don’t need to arrive before me, we can arrive at the same time. And please don’t call me Mr Kim. Mr Kim is my father, you may call me Younghoon,” he said in his calm drawl, done looking through his schedule and glancing up at you. “Can I keep this?” Younghoon motioned to the planner.

“It’s yours,” you assured him.

“Then that’ll be all for now,” Younghoon gave you another half-smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ll be familiarising myself with my father’s previous system of organisation and then I’ll meet the main teams this afternoon after lunch. Send the word out that I expect an update on what they’re working on right now, but I don’t want any presentations. Just an informal chat.”

“Of course,” you nodded, placing the stack of papers you were holding on his desk. “These are from legal, they need you to sign off on some patents by Thursday. I figured I’d give you some time to read through them and I can collect them from you Thursday morning,” you informed him. “My schedule for the day is always on this,” you tapped his desktop screen. “We have access to each others’ electronic calendars. It has everything that I put in your planner so far in it already. You can add whatever else onto it so I’m up-to-date. You can see my calendar so you know where I am if you ever need something and I’m not around. I’ll call the team managers right away and schedule your meetings with them.”

“Thank you, Y/n,” Younghoon said.

“Can I get you anything to drink or eat?” you offered, extending your words to Sangyeon and Juyeon as well.

“We’re good,” they assured you, Younghoon nodding in agreement.

“If you need lunch reservations, just let me know,” you smiled, exiting the room and almost collapsing onto your chair. After a moment to catch your breath, you picked up your phone and began to dial the number for Kevin’s cubicle.

“What’s he like?” Kevin exclaimed instead of answering.

You rolled your eyes. “Mr Kim wants a meeting with all the main teams. I’m having the design team go first so. How does 1 o’clock sound?”

“Fine,” he agreed, so you opened your laptop and updated Younghoon’s digital calendar. “Seriously, though. What’s he like? Apparently he didn’t smile when he came into the building at all.”

“Sound accurate,” you mumbled quietly. “I don’t know, Kev. I’ve only met him once. He seems like he’s focused and willing to do the job, so there’s not much I can say.”

“Yeah, okay. But is he a jerk? Unsociable?”

“Well, he’s no fairy princess,” you allowed. “That’s all I’ll say. Like I said, I’ve only met him once. And he’s the CEO of a huge corporation. We’ll have to see.”

“I guess so,” Kevin sighed. “Oh my god. He wants a meeting with all the main teams? I don’t have enough time to make a presentation, what am I supposed to do?”

“I think he wants to be caught up on the current projects and put some faces to the names, is all. Don’t worry too much. You’ll do great,” you motivated your friend. “Now I have to make some other calls, so don’t freak out, okay? Bye.”

As you hung up, Juyeon stepped out of Younghoon’s office. Automatically, you stood up to give him a smile. “Do you need anything?” you offered, earning a grateful smile from him.

“No, no, I’m just on my way to do some errands for Younghoon,” Juyeon waved off your concern. “Thank you, though.” You nodded, sitting back down and going back to organising the team meetings. “You seem like you’re good at your job,” Juyeon complimented. “Very organised. Colour-coded, even,” he added.

“That’s me,” you laughed. “Was it too much?” you wondered. “I mostly did it to kill time waiting for him to come into the office.”

“You’re all good,” Juyeon assured you.

“What errands are you running?” you inquired. “If Younghoon needs anything, I can do it for him. It is my job, after all.”

“Just picking up some stuff for his office,” Juyeon said vaguely, giving you a sheepish smile. Recalling the way that Younghoon disregarded your offer to help him redecorate his office, you felt the nervous feeling in your stomach rise up again.

“He doesn’t like me very much, does he?” you said gloomily.

“He doesn’t know you,” Juyeon retorts. “And you’re great, really. If you were my secretary I’d be jumping for joy,” he promises. “You just… need to get to know him. He takes time to get comfortable with people.”

“Okay,” you smiled sadly. “Well, let me know if I can help with your errands. You can call the lobby and ask for me, they’ll forward your call.” Juyeon waved goodbye and you watched him walk out, slightly upset that Younghoon wanted his chauffeur to do your job, even if they were old friends.

“He’s scary,” Kevin told you when you came to check on him after his meeting with Younghoon. “The new Mr Kim is nothing like the old Mr Kim,” he added.

“What happened?” you asked, wondering what wound Kevin up so much. You knew that Kevin often overthought social interactions, as most socially awkward people do, but you had never seen him so jittery at work before.

“All he did was stare at us and take notes,” Kevin revealed. “He didn’t make any comments or expressions or anything. He just sat there, listened, then dismissed us like we’re school children.”

You winced. “That must have been tough,” you sympathised. “But I mean, it’s only the first meeting,” you tried to find a way to defend Younghoon, giving him the benefit of doubt.

“Sure, but first impressions are kind of important,” Kevin argued. “It’s not like I need to be his best friend the second we meet, but a little communication would have been nice.”

“I’m sorry, Kev,” you sighed. Just as you were about to offer to grab him some coffee, knowing how much he adored the bitter concoction, your phone rang. “Mr Kim,” you answered, seeing that it was forwarded from from your office.

“Younghoon,” he corrected.

You grimace. “Yes, Younghoon. I’m sorry, sir, force of habit,” you said, making Kevin cringe when he realised who you were talking to.

“Where are you?” Younghoon asked, his tone even.

“I’m taking my break,” you explained. “It’s on my schedule.”

“Yes, I see,” Younghoon hummed. “I’m looking at it right now. It doesn’t say where you are, though. I thought it was supposed to say that.”

You cursed silently. “You’re absolutely right, sir. I’m sorry. I can come back immediately,” you offered.

“Please do,” Younghoon said before hanging up the phone without saying goodbye.

“It is Mr Sunshine?” Kevin said sarcastically. “What’s up with you calling him by his first name?”

“He asked me to,” you shrug, putting your phone back in your pocket. “I gotta run. I’ll see you later?” Kevin waved and off you went back to your desk. “Mr- Younghoon,” you corrected yourself, finding Younghoon leaning against your desk waiting for you. “I’m sorry. What did you need me for?”

“You didn’t have lunch,” Younghoon said, tapping your laptop, which was open with your schedule on it.

“Pardon?” you asked.

“You didn’t take your lunch break, which means you haven’t eaten lunch,” your boss elaborated. “Let’s go. I’ll take you to lunch.”

Startled by his offer, you started shaking your head. “That’s alright, sir, I’ll just make a reservation for you.”

“I insist,” Younghoon retorted, taking his phone out of the pocket of his slacks. “Do you feel like eating anything in particular?”

“I’m not picky,” you said quietly, realising that you wouldn’t be able to get out of this.

“I’ll order in,” Younghoon decided, handing you his phone. “Pick whatever you want, it’s on me.”

“That’s really not necessary,” you attempted to argue, but Younghoon insisted.

Half an hour later, you were sat in the plush chair in front of Younghoon’s desk in his office, eating your noodles slowly as you observed your new boss. You weren’t sure if you were just misunderstanding him, or if he really was as blunt and cold as people said he was. However, you respected his father too much to make assumptions based on the first day of meeting him.

“My father speaks very highly of you,” Younghoon broke the silence in between bites of food. “He says that you’re the best secretary he’s ever had. And that you’re one of his favourite people he’s ever worked with.”

“Wow, that’s very high praise,” you said, stunned that Mr Kim even shared his compliments to you with his son. “I’m sure you and I will get along once we get to know each other better, too,” you offered.

Younghoon nodded. “People often misunderstand me,” he began. “I know that people think I’m cold and antisocial. Some people even think I’m arrogant,” a smile graced his face, one that was full and genuine. It lit up his sharp features and softened his entire face, causing him to practically glow. “The truth if that I’m just not very good at what I do yet. A lot of people have expectations of me and I want to meet them. But I’ve always been more reserved and introverted, so expressing that is hard for me.”

Pleased that he was opening up to you, you gave him an encouraging smile. “I understand,” you assured him. “I found this job really scary and hard when I first started. Mr Kim helped me a lot, and he made the office a warm environment where I felt comfortable.”

“I want to do that too,” Younghoon said. “But I also want people to take me seriously. I know I’m taking over much earlier than everyone expected me to, myself included, and I want to make a good impression.”

“You will make a good impression,” you told him. “It will just take some time.”

Younghoon nodded. “I think I scared the design team this afternoon,” he mumbled.

“You did,” you confessed, having just heard Kevin’s experience. Younghoon’s eyes filled with worry, brows furrowing together slightly. “But I think they would’ve been scared no matter what you were like.”

“I have a lot of positive things to say about them,” Younghoon told you, taking out his tablet and handing it to you. You took it, scrolling through the notes he took during the meeting. It was filled with compliments and suggestions to better the project.

“Kevin would love this,” you exclaimed. “These notes are very conceptual and visual, that’s exactly what helps him.” Handing his tablet back, you had to ask. “Why didn’t you say anything? Apparently, that’s what made the meeting the most daunting.”

“I didn’t want them to think that I thought I knew how to do their jobs better than them,” Younghoon confessed. “Because I don’t. That’s why they’re here.” The realisation that Younghoon was truly misunderstood hit you hard, and somehow it made you feel quite relieved. “I must have scared you this morning, too, then.” You nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you,” you said easily. “Everything is still very new. Anytime you need help with this kind of thing, or if you’re unsure about anything, just talk to me. That’s what I’m here for, after all.”

Younghoon smiled again, and you observed how his handsome face could actually look quite cute. “Thank you, Y/n. Now eat your noodles before they get too cold.”

“Yes, boss,” you agreed, grinning before digging back into your lunch.

You first heard the news that the cost of company shares had plummeted from one of your friends in the finance department. Chanhee was good friends with you and Kevin, and he practically ran to your desk when he first saw the numbers going down.

“What happened?” you wondered, confused as to why the shares were going down in value all of a sudden. “Our most recent project was incredibly successful. Our shares should be going up in value more than anything.”

Chanhee bit his bottom lip, eyes flitting to the large oak door that led to Younghoon’s office. “He’s at a lunch meeting with a prominent fashion designer,” you explained, causing Chanhee to nod in relief.

“It’s Mr Kim,” Chanhee admitted, lowering his voice.

“Mr Kim?” you echoed. “Did he do something before Younghoon took over?”

Chanhee rolled his eyes. “No, I mean the new Mr Kim,” he corrected. “He only lets you call him by his first name,” he added, something that you hadn’t known. “When the news broke that he’s taking over, people started selling their shares at low prices. So, the value went down.”

“Oh,” you breathed out, confused. “But, he hasn’t even been here for a month yet? How can the public make such quick decisions on how he’ll impact the company?”

“Reputation is just as important as skills,” Chanhee reminded you. “You know that well. Mr Kim’s reputation is… Well, you work with him. I’ve been in meetings with him. He seems a little…”

“Cold?” you offered, sighing at the predicament at hand. Chanhee merely smiled, lifting one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. “Okay. We can fix this. I can talk to Younghoon when he returns from his meeting and-“

“Talk to me about what?” Younghoon called, stepping into the room with Sangyeon and Juyeon in toll.

Juyeon waved. “Hi, Y/n,” he greeted you, Sangyeon nodding in acknowledgement.

“Hi Juyeon, Sangyeon,” you replied, standing up from your chair as Chanhee trembled. “Younghoon, I was just talking to Chanhee about the company’s finances,” you said vaguely, giving Chanhee the chance to bow and duck out of the room.

“I’m assuming you mean the share and stock values,” Younghoon nodded, motioning for you to follow him into his office. “I saw it before heading into my lunch meeting. I don’t think it should be a big deal,” he decided, taking a seat at his desk as you closed the door behind you. “I can just have a meeting with the investors to explain my situation and get things straight. Once they know I’m reliable and competent, the matter will surely be resolved.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” you confessed, causing Younghoon to pause in his action of opening his planner. “It’s just that reputation is very important here. Especially in large companies such as yours,” you added. “I think it would be best if we focused on stimulating your image more. So far, people only have rumours about you from your business school peers, as well as magazine and newspaper interviews to go off of. You’re still a mystery to the public.”

“I like my privacy,” Younghoon explained, a small pout forming on his mouth.

You averted your eyes from his lips. “But image is still important. Your father had the image of a friendly family-oriented man who raised money to build homes for the underprivileged population,” you recalled. “We could have some events to stimulate your own image. Parties, charity events…”

“You really think this will help?” Younghoon asked, eyes resembling those of a scared puppy.

The fact that he had terrified you so much upon your first meeting felt like a hundred years ago to you. Now that you had been working together for almost a month, you had seen how nervous Younghoon was. And how cute he could act. Seeing him around Sangyeon and Juyeon also helped. The pair was hilarious and they always brought out a happier, more relaxed side of Younghoon that you were pleased to see.

You knew that Younghoon just wanted to do well and make his father proud. He was less confident in his abilities than you thought he should be.

You nodded. “What should we do?” Younghoon wondered.

“I think we should find something that you enjoy and promote it,” you began. “What do you like to do, other than work?”

“I don’t have time for much else,” Younghoon thought. Whenever he was deep in thought, his head tilted to the side and and his eyes looked up at the ceiling as he mumbled under his breath. It was a truly cute sight.

“He likes music! He’s actually a pretty decent singer,” Sangyeon supplied for his friend, giving him an encouraging smile when Younghoon stammered a denial,

“That’s great,” you exclaimed. “We could talk to our charity department and look into funding music programs at schools. Arts are always underfunded and could use our help,” you suggested. “And I think that meeting with the investors is a good idea. But instead of talking about your qualifications and experience, you could talk about the direction you want to take the company in. Focus on the fact that you took over from Mr Kim the second he needed you.”

“Does that makes me sound soft and emotional?” Younghoon asked. “I don’t want to look weak in front of the investors.”

You smiled. “The investors are here because they trusted your father’s vision for the company, and they trusted that he was a family man who wanted to do good with the assets his company had.” You recalled the many meetings you sat in on with Mr Kim, and how much everyone adored him. “You take after your father. The fact that you finished business school early to help him with the company, and that you want to do well will please the investors.”

Juyeon laughed. “Your secretary knows this company better than you do,” he teased his friend.

Younghoon managed a smile, meeting your eyes amongst his giggling friends. “That’s why I need her,” he reminded Juyeon, a comment which made you beam.

“Y/n!” Sunwoo from advertising called out to you as you walked down the hall. He came rushing in your direction, despite the fact that you stood still to wait for him, holding a stack of papers in his hand. “Could you get these to Mr Kim for me?” he asked you, passing the papers on. “They’re the final proposals for the advertising of his charity event,” Sunwoo explained.

Younghoon’s meeting with the investors had gone really well, and he had definitely won their favours and respect. He mentioned wanting to invest in art and music programs because of his own passion for music, and had many ideas for a charity event to promote their program. The investors, always happy to go to a party and excited for the direction Younghoon wanted to take the company in, were overjoyed with his suggestion.

“Um, sure,” you agreed with furrowed brows. “Why don’t you just bring them to him, though? Your office is on the same floor.”

“Oh,” Sunwoo stared at you with large, round eyes. “Can’t,” he stammered. “Meeting. Gotta go. Thanks, Y/n!” he called, waving at you as he darted away in the direction of the elevator.

Ignoring his odd behaviour, you flipped through the pages to make sure everything was there before making your way back to your desk. When you arrived, you sorted out the notes you had photocopied for Younghoon from Sunwoo’s proposals, just as you heard another person call you name.

“Would you be able to give these to Mr Kim?” Changmin from human resources asked, showing you a thick stack of papers, stapled together in the top left corner. “They’re the human resources policies for the next financial year. He wanted to see them before the end of the week so he could sign off on them.”

“I can,” you agreed. “But his office is right there. Why don’t you just go in and give them to him? I’m sure he’d be happy to see you since he’s cooped up in his office all day.”

Changmin gave you a nervous smile, dimples appearing in his cheeks. “I would, but I actually have someone on hold at my desk,” he admitted.

Your eyes widened. “Why did you bring me this while waiting for someone? Go, go! It could be important,” you shooed him away, earning a loud thank you from him before he rushed to get back to his desk.

Sighing, you stacked his papers on top of the ones you were organising and made your way into Younghoon’s office, knocking on the door to let him know you were coming. “Woah,” Younghoon stared at the large pile of papers in your arms as you entered, leaving the door open behind you. “That’s a lot of photocopied notes from your meeting with Mr Park,” he observed.

You laughed at his comment, spreading the papers out in three neat piles in front of him. “I also have Sunwoo from advertising’s final proposal for the charity event ads, and I have Changmin from human resource’s policies for the next financial year.”

At your revelation, Younghoon groaned and buried his face in his hands. “They hate me,” he whined, looking at you from in between his fingers. “They don’t even want to come into my office. I always wonder if people are meeting their deadlines, since nobody ever comes to see me. But they just like you better than me.”

“They don’t like me better than you,” you deny, causing Younghoon to laugh ironically, removing his hands from his face so his pout was visible. “They just know me better than you! You’re still their new, cool, super educated boss. They haven’t gotten to know you yet.”

“You’re probably right,” he mumbled, flipping through your notes. “How do I get them to know me better?”

“Well, it might help if you don’t just stay in your office all day,” you suggested unsurely. “You don’t seem very… accessible to them.”

“But I like being in my office,” Younghoon told you. “It means you’re just a single door away. I like when you’re close by. It makes my day better.”

Your eyes widened at his unexpected compliment, causing Younghoon’s expression to follow suit. He laughed awkwardly, pink dusting his cheeks in embarrassment. “Was that inappropriate? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he apologised quickly, clasping his hands together and leaning slightly away from you.

“No, it’s okay,” you reassured him. “I’m glad that you’re comfortable around me.”

“I’m more than comfortable with you,” Younghoon corrected, standing up from his chair to be at eye-level with you. His tall presence used to want to make you cower away, but now that you knew Younghoon personally, you felt secure enough to meet his eyes and lean into him. “I’m… safe. Happy, even.”

The admission made you grin, not minding the way you could feel his breath against your cheek or the fact that you could hear your heart pounding in your ears. “I make you happy?” you whispered teasingly, relishing in the way that Younghoon’s cheeks darkened even further, a nervous laugh leaving his lips.

“Blissful,” Younghoon corrected, his eyes shining with warmth.

“This is cute,” a voice called behind you. You startled, turning to see Juyeon and Sangyeon standing in the doorway of Younghoon’s office, smirking at the two of you. Sangyeon had spoken, looking like he was ready to burst into giggles at any moment. “Do you guys always make fond eyes at each other when we leave you alone?” he teased.

Ignoring his comment, you greeted the two with a smile and excused yourself from Younghoon’s office to go cool off; you could feel your face heating up with embarrassment and wanted a moment to catch your breath.

In the time that Younghoon had taken over as CEO, you had gotten to see many sides of him. On the first day, he was open with you after making a bad first impression on you and you had decided that you would give him a chance. You hadn’t realised how shy and cute Younghoon could be. Of course, he could be loud and carefree around old friends like Sangyeon and Juyeon as well, and he was slowly starting to make jokes with you as well. Now, he was saying that he felt downright blissful when you were around.

The change made you really happy.

On the night of Younghoon’s charity event, you had arrived early to make sure everything was in order. Dressed to the nines, you had to admit that you were pleased with how you looked that evening, putting in a lot of effort since you knew that the event meant a lot to Younghoon.

After discussing how the dishes should go out with the catering company, you allowed yourself to take in the large ballroom now that it was empty and before it would be overcrowded with rich investors, businessmen, and press. Just as you were going over the schedule for the evening with the event planner, you heard a sharp intake of air behind you.

“Wow,” you turned around, revealing Younghoon standing there breathlessly.

He wore an elegant black suit and tie, topped off by perfectly styled hair and his usual silver watch that his father had given him for getting into Harvard Business School. Younghoon always looked handsome, but in this moment, he was absolutely radiant. He looked like he belonged at this event, like he was the CEO of the Kim corporation.

You smiled. “I could say the same,” you complimented, motioning to Younghoon with your hands. “You clean up pretty nicely.”

“Ah, well, my secretary did get my suit perfectly tailored to fit me,” Younghoon said, smoothing down lapels of his suit jacket with a beam.

“Your secretary must be smart,” you replied, stepping towards Younghoon and adjusting his tie properly. “Because you look great. Dignified, sophisticated-”

“Handsome?” Younghoon asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“You know you’re handsome,” you retorted with an eye roll.

“Maybe,” Younghoon shrugged, placing a hand on top of yours on his chest. You froze at his action, glancing up at him through your lashes. “But I want to hear what you think.”

“You look very handsome,” you allowed, trying to speak as smoothly as possible without indicating how fast your heart was beating in your chest.

“If I look half as good as you, I’ll be happy,” Younghoon replied, gently releasing your hand and clearing his throat. “You did a really great job arranging this event. It’s exactly what I wanted.”

“Well the event planner organised it, I just told her what you wanted,” you said humbly, denying the large part you had in the event.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Younghoon told you. “If I know you at all, then you were constantly jotting down details that I mentioned vaguely and made sure that the event planner fixed everything to my preference,” he paused. “And I’d like to think that I know you quite well.”

“Believe me, you do,” you answered. “And thank you. For seeing the work I put in.”

“It’s you,” Younghoon shrugged. “I always see you.”

As the event began and more guests started coming, you were delighted to see Mr Kim enter with Younghoon’s mother on his arm, beaming at all the familiar faces he saw. “Mr Kim!” You called out to him, not having seen your old boss since his farewell party.

“Y/n,” Mr Kim replied, accepting a hug from you and releasing you so you could greet his wife. “It’s wonderful to see you again.”

“I’ve missed you, Mr Kim,” you admitted. Of course you loved working for Younghoon too, but you hadn’t seen Mr Kim in far too long.

“I’ve missed you too, Y/n,” Mr Kim promised. “Although, I’ve heard a lot about you from Younghoon any time we meet. It seems that you’re all he has to talk about, more so than his company,” Mr Kim narrowed his eyes at you playfully, a knowing glint in his eyes. “He seems quite taken with you.”

Taken with you. You could feel the butterflies start to wake up in your stomach as your heart beat a little faster at Mr Kim’s implication. “He’s wonderful to work with,” you told him, brushing off the way Mr and Mrs Kim were both giggling at you. “You’ve raised an amazing man.”

“Well, he certainly make us proud,” Mr Kim allowed. “You look nervous. You should be relaxing, Y/n. You planned a very successful charity event.”

“I’m more nervous about Younghoon behind nervous,” you admitted. “I just want him to know that he’s doing well. He always thinks he’s not doing good enough even though he’s gone above and beyond.”

“He might relax if he sees you have some fun,” Mr Kim said, stopping a passing waiter to get champagne for himself, Mrs Kim, and you. “A toast to Y/n and Younghoon’s partnership,” he proposed, causing the three of you to clink glasses and sip the bubbly beverage.

“Mum, Dad,” Younghoon appeared at your side, greeting his father and then his mother with hugs. “I didn’t know if you two would make it tonight.”

“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Mr Kim assured his son, causing Younghoon’s lips to spread into a wide smile. 

“You did great today, Younghoonie. You and Y/n have a lot to be proud of,” Mrs Kim added.

“Thank you, Dad, Mum,” Younghoon was ecstatic to hear praise from his father. “I couldn’t have done it without Y/n, though. I’m grateful that you hired her.”

“I bet you are,” Mr Kim hummed, winking at his son before facing Mrs Kim. “How about a dance?” he offered, excusing themselves and making their way to the dance area.

When you turned to face Younghoon, his face seemed to have reddened. “What did my dad tell you?” he wondered.

You raised an eyebrow. “Um, just that you talk about me to him a lot. And that you’re quite taken with me,” you recalled, realising how romantic Mr Kim’s descriptions were.

Younghoon whined embarrassedly, shutting his eyes as if it would make him disappear. “I told him not to talk to you about any of that, I wanted to tell you all that myself…” he muttered, opening his eyes to see your curious expression.

“All what?” you asked dumbly, hoping that you weren’t just getting your hopes up at Mr Kim’s implications.

“The way I feel about you,” Younghoon explained nervously. “I wanted to tell you… Tell you that I’ve loved working with you these past few months. That you make me nervous and excited and happy whenever I’m around you. How hearing your voice makes my day and how I can barely contain a blush any time we’re alone. That I’m falling in love with you more and more every single day…” he trailed off, gently taking your hands in his. His touch was familiar now. “I didn’t want my declaration to be in such a public place, though,” Younghoon’s eyes flitted around he crowded ballroom.

You laughed, tears blurring your vision just slightly. “It’s fine,” you promised him, lacing your fingers through his. “I don’t care where you tell me, as long as I know.”

Younghoon nodded, taking your comment as permission to pull you closer to him. “This is the part where you tell me that you feel the same,” he whispered, close enough in proximity for you to hear his murmur above the noise in the ballroom.

“You seem confident that I return your feelings,” you mentioned, trailing your hands from his up his arms, across his shoulders and eventually to rest on the back of his neck. “What happened to the sweet, introverted Younghoon that couldn’t even smile at me when we met?”

“Precisely that: I met you,” Younghoon told you. “Now, if you’re not going to tell me that you feel the same, you should at least kiss me,” he added as an afterthought. “It would only be fair.”

“Well, in the name of fairness…” you trailed off, lifting onto the balls of your feet to lean up and press your lips to Younghoon’s. 

The pounding in your heart only intensified, encouraged by the way Younghoon smile against your lips before returning your kiss. In that moment, it didn’t matter that you were in public at all. All you could focus on was the way Younghoon’s lips felt on yours and how he pulled you impossibly closer to him with each bruising kiss.

“Disgusting,” you heard a voice mutter, easily recognising it as Juyeon’s after months of seeing him almost every day. Reluctantly, you pulled away from Younghoon, glancing sideways to where Sangyeon and Juyeon were sipping on champagne to hide their excited smiles.

“You guys know that you’re in public, right?” Sangyeon added.

“It’s my event,” Younghoon shrugged. “If I want to kiss my secretary then I will.”

“I hope you don’t go around kissing all of your secretaries,” you retorted with a laugh.

“Just the one I’m in love with,” he replied, sending you a wink that made your heart flutter.

note: this was a long one but i hope you still enjoyed it!

#the boyz #the boyz imagines #younghoon imagines #younghoon x reader #the boyz x reader #the boyz scenarios #kim younghoon #the boyz fanfic #tbznetwork #2k celebration #the boyz drabbles #fic: the c in ceo stands for cute #deobiwritersnet

[infiniteiram]

My Cute Nose?

a vds one shot. you can find more on my ao3. 

( @ apolloswords )

feel free to comment/message me any suggestions for one shot ideas!

Lucas and Isa go for a spontaneous outing for a new piercing. But what Lucas doesn't expect is how nervous he now feels.

trigger warning: mentions of needles (mostly just poking at the skin, no mention of blood or anything gory)

this one shot was inspired by some fan art done by @alexaneskam ! 

check it out here!

And all of a sudden, Lucas felt nervous.

Sure, he should've felt nervous way before now. Like when he walked into the tattoo and piercings shop and saw the abundance of needles. Needles being sterilized, the buzzing of the tattoo needles poking and prodding skin and over all, needles all together. It wasn't that bad, he had thought. He'd already gotten some ear piercings done, two on his left lobe and one on his right. So he wasn't completely inexperienced. Which is why when Isa dragged him to the shop to go get another nose piercing right next to her first one, he agreed to go. It didn't sound like a big deal. In fact, he had been wanting one anyway. And now just felt like the perfect time to do it.

But maybe, a little too perfect.

Because right now, Lucas was sitting down on the bench of the small room and trying to keep his leg from shaking and bouncing. He was trying to keep his hands in his pockets to avoid chewing on his nails, but that instead resorted to him biting and chewing too hard on his lips. He envied how calm and collected Isa looked in the chair, even smiling a little as she waited. He only hoped he would act half the way she did. Even a quarter.

His nerves could only be blamed on one thing. On one person.

And that person was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen in his entire life.

Lucas didn't expect to come in on an average weekday afternoon and meet someone he was now claiming to be the love of his life. Isa didn't even warn him about this guy, and when he grabbed her aside before they followed him into his studio and gave her a startled look, she only furrowed her brows and tilted her head.

"What?" She had whispered, so the guy was out of ear shot.

"You never told me your usual piercer looked like this." He hissed and she snorted.

"What? Jens isn't my normal piercer. I don't even have a normal piercer." She defended, trying to stifle a laugh.

"How do you know his name then?" He whispered a little, hoping Jens a few feet away wasn't paying much attention to them.

"Because while you were looking at him all frozen up from being star struck, he actually introduced himself." Isa teased, flicking his forehead lightly. "I'm surprised you didn't even notice the rather adorable Belgium accent he had."

Before Lucas could open his mouth to reply, Jens had appeared in the door way and gave them a smile. "You guys ready?" He asked, adorable Belgium accent and all.

Which is how Lucas found himself practically shoving Isa to go sit down on the chair first so he could give his heart a second from racing so fast. Isa didn't miss his lack of subtlety, and even winked at him as Jens lead her to the chair. Lucas only playfully scowled as he tried not to let his eyes shift from her over to him.

That quickly proved to be inevitable.

Now he was studying Jens as he pulled on a pair of gloves over his sturdy and strong hands and Lucas had to physically restrain himself from gawking. He couldn't help but eye Jens up and down as he focused on getting everything ready for Isa. Lucas took note of his fluffy dark hair falling gently on the side on his head, his brows and eyes focusing on the small diamond stud Isa had chosen and the fitted black shirt that still managed to hang loosely off his body. But Lucas could still make out the broadness of his chest and shoulders as he moved about, hovering over Isa gently as he began sterilizing her nose gently before marking where he would pierce it. She seemed to giggle at his light and gentle touch and Lucas began to panic as he thought of how bright red his face was going to turn the second he was in her position.

Jens had his back faced towards him now, and Lucas could make out the lean muscles on them as he felt his nerves escalate with each second. Even though Isa had her eyes closed and couldn't see him trying to contain his internal panic, the teasing grin she had on her face was enough to poke fun at Lucas. He was just glad Jens was focusing on Isa right now, because there was no way Lucas was going to impress him with all his nerves.

"And you're done." Jens exclaimed and Lucas perked his head up. His mind had been spiralling so much that he didn't even notice how quickly Jens had finished up with Isa.

He rolled over on his chair to the small counter and brought Isa a small handheld mirror so she could look closely at it. For a split second, Lucas felt Jens catch his eyes and he felt his heart stop. Jens let his dark eyes sparkle at the sight of Lucas' crystal blue ones and gave him a soft smile. Lucas tried not to squirm as he gave him a small smile back. Jens subtly eyed him up and down before nodding slightly and turning back to Isa.

"Look good?" He asked, grinning widely at her.

"Yeah, wow!" She exclaimed, admiring the way the new stud sparkled beside the nose ring she already had in. "This looks so cute!" She looked over at Lucas and he gave her a quick thumbs up.

Huffing out a light laugh, Jens rolled around to the other side of the room and grabbed a small bottle of solution. Rolling back, he gently handed it to Isa.

"Here," He said. "Make sure to rinse it out at least twice a day for the next few weeks to avoid any infections. I don't suggest you change the jewelry until it's completely healed, though I'm sure you already know that. If there's anything you think is unusual, like your body rejecting it or something, or any other questions and concerns, just come back here. I'll take a look at it and see what I can do."

"Thanks Jens." She said, a wide grin and a glisten in her eyes. Isa hopped down from the chair and walked over to wear Lucas was sitting.

He awkwardly got up and switched spots with her. His legs felt like jello underneath him and he was hoping they wouldn't give out. Isa gave him a wiggle of her brows as he side eyed her. Jens was busy sanitizing the chair and getting new supplies so he wasn't paying much attention to their silent interactions. Isa reached out to pinch Lucas's leg and Lucas retaliated by gently hitting her leg with his foot.

"It's your turn." Jens finally said, turning around. Lucas felt himself freeze up but somehow his legs managed to head over to the chair and sat down. Isa was looking at him rather menacingly, and he couldn't figure out why.

Giving her a confused look, Lucas felt his eyes widen as Isa picked up her phone and pretended to take a call.

"Liv? Hi, what's up?" She said as Lucas realized what she was doing. She brought her phone away from her face for a second and pretend to smile apologetically at both of them. "Sorry, I have to take this. I'll be right back Luc."

Lucas was about to protest but before he could, she was already gone. He had to give her some credit for giving him some alone time with Jens. But Lucas felt his heart beat begin to race again as he turned to face Jens.

Jens had an eyebrow raised and a rather soft smirk on his lips. Lucas took in the little details of his face. Dark long lashes were made a bit vibrant with the touch of red eyeliner that was lined right above the rich dark brown colour of his eyes. A small mole laid below his right eye and his lips were a little more chapped but that didn't hinder the dark pink mauve shade that rested on them. Lucas also noticed he had a few piercings, multiple on his earlobes and even an industrial bar through his right ear. On his nose was a simple stud. It seemed to sparkle just as much as his eyes, which Lucas was beginning to get lost in.

If Lucas was starstruck before, he had no idea how to even describe what he felt now. Even though he thought his heart was beating far too fast to be considered normal, he still managed to feel a sense of ease as Jens gazed at him.

"So your name is Luc?" Jens asked, interrupting their silence.

He shook his head but then shrugged. "It's Lucas. But, a lot of people do call me Luc instead." He didn't know how he managed to say that without stuttering, but he mentally thanked himself for sounding a little bit normal.

Nodding with the same smirk on his face, Jens rolled over to some of the cabinets and began pulling out some supplies. "I like Luc, so I think that's what I will call you."

You can call me whatever you want, Lucas thought.

Coughing, Lucas shook away his thoughts. "That's fine. I like Luc anyway."

And he did. Especially when his closest friends called him that. But there was something a bit more endearing about the boy in front of him calling him that. It sent flutters of warmth through Lucas's body and he could feel small shocks and tingles solely based on the way Jens allowed the name to roll off his tongue.

"So Luc," Jens said, rolling back to him. "What are you getting today?"

"A septum." Lucas replied, steadying his voice.

"Oh that's fun." Jens got up from his chair and headed over to the small glass cabinet. He made a few clicking sounds with his mouth as Lucas watched him look for something. He turned his head and jutted his chin towards Lucas. "Do you know what size you want?"

"Just the standard. 16 gauge I think."

"Got it."

He came back over holding a small silver septum jewelry with two small bulbs at the end. It looked fairly tiny in his hand and he held it for Lucas to see.

"This good?" He asked and Lucas nodded.

"Good."

Laying it carefully on the tray, Jens walked over to a small sink, washed his hands and slipped on a new par of gloves. Lucas didn't want to watch every movement the other boy made, but focusing on the bright colour of the auburn walls in the room was still distracting. His eyes then marvelled at the photos that Jens had hung up, mostly of city skyscrapers and graffiti on buildings. They were rather artistic and Lucas was surprised. He didn't really read Jens as the artistic type.

"Did you take those photos?" He asked and Jens whipped his head up.

Wrinkling his nose as he smiled fondly at them, he shook his head. "No, I'm not that artistic." He said, disproving Lucas' assumption. "My friend back home took them. He and his boyfriend walked all around the city and I asked for some of them to be printed out before I moved here."

"So where is home?" Lucas asked as Jens took a seat back down in his chair. His hands were playing with the loose threads on the sleeves of his pink sweater, trying to still settle his nerves. The pink of his sweater matched the small brush of pink eyeshadow he put on the inner and outer corner of his eyes. And soon, they would match the colour of the blush on his cheeks.

"Belgium. More specifically, Antwerp. Though I go back and visit it a lot so it's not like I'm that far away from home."

"So much for moving to a whole new country." He teased.

Smiling widely, Jens let out a loose laugh. "That's what my friends said. They were really upset when they found out I was leaving Belgium, but after learning I was only going to be an hour away on the train, they told me I was being dramatic."

"They do have a slight point."

Huffing out a small laugh again, Jens leaned closer. Lucas felt Jens place his fingers gently under his chin to tilt his head up. He couldn't help but hold his breath as the shocks and tingles began to elevate with the slight touch.

"Nervous?" Jens asked as he gently poked at Lucas's nose as he marked and measured where he would poke the needle.

If only he knew.

"A little." Lucas admitted, his breath hitched. He flinched his body a bit, knowing his nerves weren't for the actual piercing but rather the piercer.

"Don't be." Jens softly said. "It really doesn't hurt that bad and I promise I will be gentle."

"Will you really?"

"Yes? I always am." He laughed. "Your friend didn't even flinch and just giggled her way through. I don't think I've ever had someone so happy about getting stabbed."

"Stabbed does not exactly help with trying to trust in you being gentle."

"Just relax." Jens assured, marking the inside of his nose which felt like a small tickle. He playfully brushed the tip of Lucas's nose gently and Lucas finally felt the blush on his face grow warmer and more vibrant. "I wouldn't ruin your cute nose."

Somehow his face managed to get even warmer and a brighter pink at the compliment and Lucas hated how he couldn't just act calm.

"My cute nose?" He choked out as he brought his head down and gave him a questioning look.

"Yeah," Jens said lightly. He tilted Lucas's chin back up and held a needle and clamp in his other hand. "Goes along with the cute pink blush on your cheeks. Kind of matches your eye shadow."

Now he fully wanted to gawk at him. His cover was definitely blown and he was internally panicking again. He would much rather deal with the nerves from the needle stabbing him than his crush noticing how unsubtle his feelings and reactions were.

"Okay Luc, I'm going to clamp this around your septum. And then when you're ready, you're going to match my breathing okay?"

"Okay."

Lucas felt the squeeze from the clamp on his septum and he winced at the foreign feeling. It didn't hurt, but it felt rather weird and uncomfortable. He remembered the second part of Jens' explanation and tried to slow down the internal workings of his body so he could feel Jens' breathing pattern. It took a few seconds but he was able to regulate his body and calm it down for the first time since seeing Jens.

"Okay, when I tell you to, I need you to take a deep breath for me. You might feel a slight pinch but it really shouldn't feel like anything more than that. It might be a bit more of a pinch than when you got your ears pierced so don't be surprised about that." Jens assured.

When Jens felt that Lucas' body was at a relative ease, he leaned in a bit closer.

"You can keep your eyes closed but on the count of three I need you to take a really deep breath and just hold it okay." Jens instructed.

Nodding slightly, Lucas waited as Jens counted down. On the count of three, he held his breath and winces his eyes slightly at the sudden pinch he felt. But it was there for barely a second and then it was gone.

“You did great." Jens assured. "I'm going to pull out the needle as you slowly breathe out. And then you'll have that septum on your cute nose.

Lucas nodded slightly again and breathed out, feeling the needle be removed as he sighed contently. He didn't open his eyes right away as he felt Jens gently screw the small ball on the end of the jewelry. His body was more relaxed than before, but he still felt the flutters in his chest.

"Alright and you are done." Jens exclaimed.

Opening his eyes, he was faced with Jens smiling widely as he held up the mirror. Lucas slowly reached out for it and couldn't help the small smile on his face when his fingers brushed against Jens' own. When he looked at the new detail on his face, his smile grew wider. Slowly, he poked at it and while the slight pressure was uncomfortable, he was beginning to really like how it looked.

"Cute huh?" Jens asked proudly as he took off his gloves and tossed them aside. He began putting away all his tools before he got up from the chair.

"Yeah, you kept your promise. I could hardly feel a thing." He replied, following his movements across the room.

"Here, same thing for you. Rinse it out with the solution at least twice a day for the next few weeks. And if there's anything else you think is a bit off with the healing process, you can just come in and see me." There was a pause, a hesitation in his sentence as Lucas listened to him.

Tilting his head and raising his brows to gesture Jens to continue, he noticed the sudden change in his behaviour. Jens was slightly averting his eyes away from Lucas' and chewing on the inside of his cheek. There was a slight clench in his jaw and his body was a bit more tense, showing off its broadness even more. Jens awkwardly scratched the side of his face and Lucas finally caught onto why his behaviour had changed.

Now, it was Jens' turn to be nervous.

"Uhm, listen, I know this may not be the most professional of me but, in the most non-professional way, you are really cute. And if you would be interested, I'd love to take you out sometime." He nervously mumbled. "It'd be nice if I saw you again for non-piercing festivities."

A grin came onto his face as he placed the mirror down on his lap. "You're cute when you're nervous."He noted with a teasing look, which just made Jens snort.

"I could say the same about you."

They both smiled at each other and Lucas knew his grin was now from ear to ear. He could see the slight pink flush appear on Jens' cheeks, bright against the darkness of his all black clothing and complimenting the tiny line of red above his eyes. He figured his cheeks were probably even more pink, so he couldn't even poke fun at Jens.

Instead, he dug into his phone pocket and unlocked it. Opening up a new message thread, he passed it over to Jens.

"Place your number in and I'll text you." He said with a wink.

As Jens began to type in his number, Lucas' eyes were drawn back to the doorway of the studio. After a second, Isa popped her head back in with her award winning smile.

"Sorry," She said, now gaining Jens' attention. "Liv called and I couldn't get her off the phone."

Lucas rolled his eyes, knowing that was far from the truth. If anything, Isa had probably just waited outside at the shop's lobby until she figured she had given Lucas enough time to awkwardly and shamelessly flirt with Jens. Though, he hadn't really done much of that.

However, he did get some of that from the boy still putting his number into his phone.

"Luc!" Isa exclaimed, and they both remembered she was there. "Your piercing looks so good! You look so cute."

And before Lucas could reply by thanking her, Jens whipped his head up again with another smirk on his face.

"I agree. He does look very cute." Turning his head away from Isa and back to Lucas, he eyed him up and down before winking at him. "But I'm sure he knows that already."

#vds #van der stoffels #vds fic #vds one shot #jens stoffels #lucas van der heijden #wtfock #skam nl #one shot #ao3 #ao3fic #piercing #luc is a little awkward but who wouldn't be #but it is rather adorable #or as jens would say #cute ;)

[connieslover]

the librarian and the princess

༄ؘ fem! princess reader, librarian armin

༄ؘ royal au, fluff

(play this song for the best ~ vibes ~) also if this does well ill consider doing an eren ver tehee

✧˖*°࿐ in which you are a princess and armin is head over heels for you. 

armin was your average librarian (with way above average looks). he was a male with short blonde hair and bangs that reached his eyebrows. his large ocean blue eyes and small pointed nose made up his young boyish features.

ever since he was a child, he had a fascination with the ocean and the world. this curiosity lead to him becoming interested in books. before he knew it, he was in love with the world of reading. it was his getaway from reality. 

the woody earthy smell enveloped armin as he entered the library with a small smile on his face. he made his way over to the counter and looked through the list of books that were borrowed. 

after greeting a few regular visitors, helping some children to look for a book and dusting the shelves, he remembered the large pile of returned books. he sighed before deciding to go organise them back into their spots.

as he slid a book into a shelf, the bell of the library rang, indicating that someone has entered. 

“welcome!” he greeted, eyes moving from the book in his hands and towards the figure at the entrance of the library.

the figure wore a dainty plain coloured dress that fitted her nicely. a few locks of her hair peeked out of the green cloak she was wearing. her fingers pulled down her hood, revealing her face. her reddish lips were slightly open as her dazzling eyes gazed upon the library with such astonishment until it paused at him.

with fluster, the books in armin’s free hand slid out, causing them to fall onto the floor with many thumps. his cheeks reddened in embarrassment and he quickly bent down to pick them up. as he clumsily picked up the books, his and the figure’s hands grazed upon each other. he looked up and felt like his breath was taken away for the second time.

his eyes was met with her e/c orbs.

“oh! here,” she quickly grabbed the book and handed it over to armin who simply nodded as a thanks. she stood up from the ground and patted her hands on her dress.

armin was still speechless.

“this library... it’s very astonishing...wait no! it’s enchanting,” she marvelled, looking around.

“t-thank you,” armin sheepishly thanked. 

the book that armin held caught her sight. 

“i love that book!” she beamed, “the little mermaid was my favourite story when i was a child. well it was one of my favourites but anyways isn’t it romantic how ariel traded her legs for the prince? it was kind of stupid of her to do so but it was still romantic,” she rambled, her eyes gleaming as she did so. armin could only give a small giggle.

“i’m y/n by the way. what about you?” she introduced herself, reaching a hand out to the male. armin’s eyes darted towards her and her hand.

‘y/n? that name sounds...familiar,’

“armin arlert. i take care of the library,” he introduced himself, shaking her smaller hands.

you gave him a smile, “nice to meet you, armin. perhaps you could show me around the library?”

armin nodded almost too enthusiastically. you giggled at the way he almost dropped the books in his hands in excitement.  

as armin continued to give a tour of the library he loved dearly, you asked him a few questions regarding the library and the books. armin admired your interest and how your eyes sparkled whenever you spoke about the books. it was the first time he felt so excited to talk to someone who had the same interest as he did.

“where i live, my library books are all just about history, politics and more lame stuff. whereas here...there’s so much more genres that i can explore! it’s so fascinating,” you gleamed, your hands outstretching as you speak. 

“w-well you can borrow as many books as you want,” spoke armin, fiddling with his fingers.

your eyes grew wider, “really? thank you so much armin!”

after picking up a few interesting looking books, you gazed at the clock on the wall and gasped. 

“oh my, i have to go back soon. but i’ll make sure to come back here tomorrow!” you wore your hood again and gave a thankful smile to armin who returned it.

“i’ll see you tomorrow then,”

the male couldn’t sleep that night. he was spent all night thinking about the beautiful stranger he befriended.

✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧

and so, a week passed by. a week of you visiting the library, exchanging conversations with armin about your day or the most random things or about the books you’ve read. 

and a week of armin slowly falling in love with you.

armin constantly looked at the clock, feet tapping against the wooden floor. once he heard the bell ring, a delighted smile made its way on his lips. 

“hi armin! i finished the book you recommended to me yesterday. i didn’t expect the plot twist at all. jane’s character development was something else. this might be one of my favourite books now. oh! not to mention the part where mark-” your cheeks turned pink, feeling embarrassed that you were rambling for too long.

“i-uh sorry for rambling. but i really loved the book!” 

“it’s fine. i like listening to your rambling,” armin chuckled. and he wasn’t lying. he really did like listening to your rambling. something about the way your eyes would light up, the way your hands would move animatedly as you spoke and the little sound effects you’d make to add depth into your story was all utterly adorable to him. 

you placed your elbow onto the counter and leaned against your palm, letting out a sigh,

“i wish i could stay here the whole day. this library...is the only place i can escape reality. it’s so calm and comforting,”

armin nodded to your words, agreeing. before he could speak you stood up straight again.

“well, i’ll be searching for more books now,” you did a twirl and excitedly skipped towards the many rows of books, humming delightfully.

armin looked at you with such fondness with his eyes that he didn’t even hear the bell ring.

“could that be the lady you are so in love with?” startled, armin let out a squeal, dropping the pen he had in his hand. his cheeks flushed red as he picked it up.

“e-eren, mikasa, when did you guys come?” he squeaked, hiding his reddened face behind a book.

“just now. but you were too busy staring at the girl,” the pale black haired female responded.

“soooo aren’t you going to introduce us to her?” eren raised a brow, staring at the female who was looking through the books on the shelves.

“fine,” 

as you were reading the blurb of a book, you felt a tap on your shoulder. you turned your head around, greeted with armin and two figures behind him. at the sight of your face, eren gasped loudly,

“p-princess y/n?” 

armin’s eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets.

that explained why you had such a short curfew. why you always wore the green cape. why you were very cautious and why you had this some sort of royal elegance radiating from you.

eren and mikasa had their heads bowed, startled, armin followed suit before jumping to his feet.

“oh my goodness forgive me! i didn’t know that you were a princess y-your majesty,” armin fretted, bowing once again. 

the tips of your ears grew pink in embarrassment and you ushered armin to stand straight.

“i’m sorry for not telling you...this is the only place where i really feel like myself you know? and you...you’re my first friend outside of the castle. i didn’t want you to treat me like i’m...a royal,” you apologised, fiddling with your fingers.

“it’s alright. i should’ve known you were royalty when you introduced yourself, your highness,”

you gave out a laugh, “you don’t have to call me your highness. that counts for the two of you too. y/n is fine. anyways, you were introducing me to your friends?”

"this is eren,” armin introduced a brunette male who was the opposite of armin. he had a more mature face, accompanied with a muscular build. his brunette hair reached past his ears and down onto his neck. he was quite attractive.

“and she is mikasa,” the pale skinned woman with enchanting grey eyes and short black hair simply nodded at you.

“nice to meet you, y/n.” eren stepped forward and took your hand, kissing it lightly. he straightened his back, “armin has told us a lot about you,”

a rosy pink covered his cheeks and nose.

you simple giggled, raising a brow to armin, “oh really?”

"you shouldn’t tease him eren,” scolded the female.

your eyes glanced at the clock, realising it was your curfew. 

“it was nice meeting you, eren and mikasa. i hope we can meet again! i have to go soon,” you placed your hood back on and before you stepped out the library, you turned your heel, waving the book in your hand, “i’ll be borrowing this book! thanks armin,”

“so, whats your plan on charming the princess?”

✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧

you didn’t come the next day.

or the next.

and the next.

hundreds of questions ran through armin’s mind. he was worried that your parents had discovered that you were sneaking out of the caslte when you weren’t supposed to. asides from feeling worried, he felt gloomy. gloomy that your bright and cheerful presence wasn’t here to make his day better.

“what am i thinking? she probably won’t visit the library ever again...i should’ve told her i liked her...no...she probably doesn’t even like me that way. besides, a princess like her...deserves someone whose worth more than a librarian.” muttered the boy to himself as he dusted the shelves.

the bell rang.

“welcome,” he greeted, already knowing that the person he was looking forward to wasn’t the one standing by the door.

well, that was what he thought. 

the blonde male turned around and to his surprise you were there. you had a smile on your face, your upper body leaning towards him. the close proximity startled the poor boy, making him fall onto the floor.

his mumbled an ow as you chuckled, a hand reaching out to help him out from the ground. 

“w-where did you go? did your parents find out? are you okay?” blurted armin, his doe eyes blinking rapidly.

“i’m fine armin. sorry for not visiting the library for the past few days. something important came up,” you explained. 

armin gave a sigh of relief, knowing that you weren’t in any sort of trouble.

“speaking of the something important...princess historia, my sister, is hosting a ball tomorrow as it’s her birthday. i was wondering if you’d like to come? oh and eren and mikasa too!” 

armin’s mouth flew open.

“y-you don’t have to force yourself to come. i just thought that it would be nice if-”

“i’d be delighted to come,” he sputtered.

your eyes twinkled and you could barely hold your excitement. you placed your hands onto armin’s shoulders,“oh my goodness thank you! i was worried for a second that you didn’t want to come. i could show you around the royal library! and introduce you to my cat. oh! i could introduce you to jean, connie, sasha and ymir too! that would be so much fun and-”

armin’s head tilted at your pause.

embarrassed that you were rambling once again you let go of his shoulders, “s-sorry. i got carried away again,”

“it’s alright, y/n. i’d love to finally see the castle,” 

“i’m sorry but i have to go back early. historia wants opinions for her dress tomorrow...make sure to be there by 8! and tell the guards that princess y/n personally invited you,” you wore your hood and waved goodbye to armin before skipping away. armin stared at your figure until it disappeared.

his heart was beating rapidly.

“d-did i just get invited to a royal ball?”

✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻∞༺♥༻✧

“woah look at the ball room! it’s so...huge. and there, isn’t that captain levi? and erwin smith? holy crap!” eren loudly whispered to erenn and mikasa, pointing at a tall blonde male who was stand next to a shorter yet intimidating looking male.

but eren was right. the ball room was huge. royal and exquisite.

the walls were white, with sparkling chandeliers hanging down from it. there were carvings on the walls which resembled beautiful flowers and greek gods and goddesses. 

armin could only feel anxious.

“where’s y/n? shouldn’t she be here?” wondered mikasa, adjusting the red scarf around her neck. armin looked around the ball room, eyes searching for you.

“there you guys are! i was looking everywhere for the three of you,” the three heads turned towards you.

armin felt like the air was knocked out of his lungs. this was the first time that he saw you truly dress like a princess.

you were wearing a dazzling simple ball gown that ended right at your ankles. the colour complimented your skin beautifully. your shoulder and collarbones were on full display. not to mention your hair, was let loose with slight waves at the end. your makeup was fairly simple, making your gorgeous features more prominent. the silver tiara that laid on your head pulled together the look. 

“h-hello?” you waved your hands in front of the trio.

“y/n, thank you for inviting us,” mikasa thanked, giving you a gracious bow.

“thank you, princess,” eren followed mikasa and bowed, winking at you. your cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink.

before eren could say more, mikasa had dragged him away, leaving you and armin alone. 

“you-” the both of you spoke at the same time. 

“you go first,”

you chuckled before speaking, “you look nice,”

and of course, you weren’t lying. instead of the messy blonde bangs armin usually had, it was slicked back (except for a few strands that stuck out). his undercut was even more prominent than before. he wore a dark blue attire which complimented his bright blue eyes nicely.

“you too, y/n,” a blush seared through his milky cheeks. 

“come on, i’ll give you a tour of the castle!” you grabbed armin’s wrist, thrilled to show him around the castle. especially the library.

once you were done showcasing armin the castle and the library, and introducing to him your close friends, the two of you ended up in the balcony of the ballroom. the music from the orchestra played while the two of you leaned against the railing of the balcony, looking into the dark and starry night.

“this has been the most fun i’ve had in a while,” you breathed.

armin turned his head to observe you. admiring your profile as you looked into the sky. he then turned his attention to the ball room where people were already dancing.

“would you like to dance, y/n?” he asked offering his palm to you. 

“yes, prince armin. it would be an honour,” you teased. you placed your hands on his shoulders while his hands were gently holding your waist. 

with the light from the moon, it made armin more handsome than usual. his eyebrows had a slight furrow as he was concentrated in following your rhythm as you both swayed. his concentration broke off when he accidentally stepped onto your foot.

“i’m so sorry!” he apologised, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

you simply laughed at him.

“thank you, armin,”

“for what?” he asked, slightly puzzled.

“for recommending books from the library and for you know...being my friend. when i’m with you, i feel like i can be myself. not a princess nor a royal but me,” you smiled, making armin’s heart skip a beat.

“i should be the one thanking you,”

“m-me?” you tilted your head.

“for making my days better. for being the reason i get excited to wake up in the morning and for teaching me what falling in love is like,” your cheeks were suddenly kissed pink, like a rose. you turned your head to the side to avert armin’s gaze, flustered and shy.

you felt him gently pull you closer by the waist. your chests against one another. you turned to face armin again. the blooming pink colour of his blush was adorable against his milky skin.

you moved a blonde strand of hair away from his forehead, placing a hand on his cheek. with affection reflecting into each others eyes, the two of you slowly closed your eyelids, sharing your first sweet kiss under the moon. 

#armin arlert #armin #snk #aot #attack on titan #aot x reader #princess #librarian armin #armin x reader #armin arlert x reader #armin x you #fluff #this was longer than i thought it would be #lol #anime #armin imagine #aot imagine

[dreamescapeswriting]

Friendly Neighbourhood Boy ~ MYG [Request]

WORD COUNT: 2k

GENRE: Superhero AU, fictional universe, marvel characters mentioned, mentions of blood and angst

PAIRING: Yoongi x Reader

A/N: I made this take part in Hell’s Kitchen so I hope this is okay for you my love! Also Yes I know I’ve probably done a huge no no by mixing multiple marvel universes together lmao (Also yes NeighboUrhood cause I’m British 😅😂)

The walk from your apartment to the local corner shop seemed to be taking a lot longer than it normally would all of the roadblocks that were around the city were the ones to blame. 

"Excuse me," You mumbled as you made your way past Josie's bar, ignoring the catcalls from the drunk men that were finally picking themselves up from the bar and heading home for the day. Hell's Kitchen wasn't so bad as long as you knew how to look after yourself and stay out of the way of the wrong people. Keeping your head down you finally made it into the corner store, smiling as the small bell above the door sounded to let Yoongi know that you were there.

"Good morning Yoongi," You called out as you walk around, glancing over at him when you saw him sitting there with his eyes glued onto the screen anxiously. He was a 5''9 boy with dark black hair, always doing the same thing every day you went in there. Sitting on his laptop writing away or watching the news since it was the only channel the TV seemed to get. You didn't blame him for watching this morning though. There had been some bank robbery happening further into the city, the robbery was in the line of so many more that had been happening that week. The whole investigation had everyone on the edge of their seats, no one knew who was the one behind the bank robberies. Just that, whoever it was left everyone alive but not being able to remember anything. 

"Crazy isn't it?" You questioned after grabbing your usual cat food and bringing it to the counter, watching as Yoongi scanned it without taking his eyes off the screen. It was as if he didn't even know you were there, you giggled softly as you waited for him to realise someone was talking to him.

"Yoongles," As soon as your nickname for him caught his attention he turned to look at you and began stuttering, 

"I-I what?- I-I wasn't-" You giggled which made him blush deeply, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to come up with some excuse as to why he had ignored you. 

"I said, it's crazy isn't it?" You nodded at the TV and he began nodding his head, turning it down so that he could talk to you about it. Over the years of living in Hell's Kitchen, you'd gotten to know Yoongi a lot and considered him to be one of your best friends. Whenever you worked a nightshift down the road he would always come back to walk you home, not wanting you to walk around Hell's kitchen at night by yourself. Everyone knew what on around here, it was no secret that people had "abilities" in and around Hell's kitchen. Even around the whole world. Half of the things you'd seen people would call you crazy for, a woman shorter than you beating someone up, ten times her size and putting him through a wall? You'd learnt to keep your mouth shut about the things you'd seen around you, easier than trying to explain anything to a policeman who didn't care. 

"Wanna know what I think?" You asked, jumping onto the counter and staring at the screen with Yoongi as you watched a reporter talking to the camera about the information the police had...Which was nothing. 

"What do you think?" Yoongi chuckled, sitting down on the counter beside you and handing you one of your favourite chocolate bars. You looked at him out of the corner of your eye and smiled, 

"Someone with special abilities has to be doing it, think about it...They always forget what happened, whoever it is that does this is in and out quickly...It's the only explanation." You waited to see if he would react to it, you'd known about Yoongi's powers for a while but you never said anything to him. If he really wanted you to know then he would have told you but there was one other thing you knew about him that no one else did. There was a local "hero" that went around at night saving people. Moved so quickly it was like a blur to everyone around him, you'd never have seen him if he hadn't stopped you from getting hit by a car on a walk home once. 

"Luke, I'm fine," You laughed as you drunkenly stumbled out of Josie's bar, ignoring the owner who was trying to convince you to let him take you home. If he did that you would have to make everyone else in the bar leave and you weren't going to ruin the fun. 

"Look-" You stood up straight and walked in a straight line, holding eye contact with Luke as you smiled proving to him that you were fine to walk home on your own and that you were at least...A little sober. 

"Fine. Text me when you're home," He grumbled in a thick deep voice and you nodded your head. 

"Yes, Father!" You rolled your eyes as you began to walk home. Deciding to take the main roads instead of all the alleyways where the cameras couldn't see you. At least this way if you were mugged or taken the cameras would be able to see what happened to you. 

"Hey, do you have a light?" A woman asked as she jumped from an alley, holding up an unlit cigarette staring at you as she repeated the question to you again but you shook your head. Feeling soberer now that she's practically scared the life out of you, 

"N-No I don't smoke-"

"LYING WHORE!" She lashed out, jumping at you and making you jump back into the road, everything happened so fast you could barely think about anything. There was a loud horn blaring out with bright lights shining in your eyes, you threw your hands up in front of your face bracing yourself for the impact that never came. 

"Y/n?" You heard a voice call out before you opened your eyes to see Yoongi standing beside you and smiling at you, 

"What-What?" You stuttered out as you turned around, the lady that had scared you was on the other side of the road to you and you and Yoongi were standing together. His arm around your waist as he looked at you, eyebrows raised as he smiled. 

"What's wrong?" He questioned innocently, pretending as though he hadn't just raced over to stop you from getting hit by an oncoming taxi and zooming you onto the other side of the road.

"I thought I was just-" You turned to look over the road again but Yoongi pulled you in the direction of your apartment, reminding you of how drunk you were and that he'd been walking with you the whole time. 

You knew the next day as soon as you saw Luke and he told you that you'd been alone when he saw you. Slowly things with Yoongi began to make sense, like how he would abruptly leave the store unattended sometimes whenever there was something on the news. Only for a boy, his height, his build with his hair to appear on the screens having saved the day from whatever it was this time. As Yoongi heard your theory you watched the colour drain from his face and he began shaking his head at you,

"N-No, not everyone with abilities is bad...It might just be some scum bag," You smirked to yourself as you paid for the can of cat food getting ready to leave when sirens went screaming past the shop. Yoongi's eyes lit up as he turned the volume up on the TV, 

"Police are in a high-speed chase with the suspect, everyone is warned to stay inside as he is believed to be armed and dangerous," Yoongi began bouncing his leg up and down as he tried to come up with some kind of fake excuse to give to you as to why he had to leave the shop. 

"I have to go make sure mum is safe at home-"

"I'll watch the shop, go." You cut him off, he smiled at you before walking out of the shop as calmly as possible but you knew as soon as he was out of sight he would be using his super-speed to get out of the streets and after the car.

"Make sure his mum is safe, who does he think I am?" You mumbled to yourself, sliding down off the counter and looking around for something that needed doing but settling for a magazine instead.

It was pitch black outside, you'd shut the shutters when Yoongi would normally close up and then locked the door, pulling the final shutter down and waiting inside for Yoongi to come back. The lights were all off except for a lamp in the office you were using to do a crossword in one of the newspapers. 

"Six letter word for Liar," You bit down on the pen as you began writing out Yoongi's name in the space and smirking to yourself, 

"Pretty good," You giggled to yourself stopping as soon as you heard a huge crash coming from the basement, you stood up and grabbed the bat that was inside of the office. Clutching onto it for dear life as you waiting for something else to happen, the door to the office swung open and Yoongi stood there. Drenched in sweat and blood as he moaned out, throwing himself down onto the chair not noticing you in the room. 

"Fuck sake Yoongi," You whined out, dropping the bat and grabbing the first aid kit right away. Yoongi's eyes widened as he stared at you, wide eyes as you began sitting down in front of him and cleaning him up without a word. 

"A-Aren't you going to ask how?" He stuttered out an hour later as he watched you burning the bloody bandages and tissues and then turning to look at him.

"I already know-how, you went after the bank robber didn't you, quicksilver?" You smirked as you said his name that the tabloids had given to him recently, giggling when you saw a huge blush appear on his face and he began to stumble over his words. 

"I wasn't as drunk as you thought that night you stopped me getting hit by a cab...Thank you by the way," You smiled at him as he began to get ready to leave the shop with you, shutting and locking the back entrance door as you both headed out into the alleyway. 

"If you knew why didn't you tell me?" You shook your head at him and shrugged your shoulders, 

"I figured if you wanted me to know, you would have told me Yoongi." You both began walking out of the alleyway and in the direction of your apartment building,

"Why did you think I was always so welcoming to look after the shop? You had big hero things to do," You giggled to him as you began to quiz him on everything he could tell you about his life. 

When you reached your apartment door you turned to look at him,

"I don't know how I'm going to make it up to you for keeping my secret and helping with the shop," You smiled at his comment and shook your head at him, 

"Well, there's one thing..." You started slowly as he turned his head to look at you, nodding along. 

"Make it up to me...Over dinner? This weekend?" You smirked as soon as you saw Yoongi blushing and he began nodding his head vigorously, 

"Y-Yeah yeah! That sounds-" He bumped into a table in the hallway knocking over a glass vase but he caught it, 

"That sounds great! I'll pick you up! I'll see you Saturday," You giggled as you watched him trying to walk away from the hall but kept bumping into stuff. 

"Hey, Yoongi?" He turned around as he reached the elevators and you giggled once again, 

"I'll see you in the morning when I come in for my cat food." He blushed once again and you giggled watching as he got into the elevator, never taking his eyes off you.

Tagline: @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @rjsmochii @fan-ati--c @kneel-begyourpardon @taestannie​ @bisexualmess007​ @sweeneyblue1​ @sw33tnight​ @jin-from-the-block​

#bts #bts x reader #bts x you #bts x y/n #bts imagine #bts imagines #yoongi #yoongi x reader #yoongi imagine #yoongi imagines #suga #suga x reader #suga imagine #suga imagines #min yoongi #min yoongi x reader #min yoongi imgaine #min yoongi imagines #kim seokjin #jin #seokjin #jhope #jung hoseok #hoseok #namjoon #kim namjoon #park jimin #jimin #kim taehyung #taehyung

[writings-of-bored-gal]

New Jersey Dog Sanctuary

Summary: Meet cute! Bucky is told he needs to get a dog and so goes with Sam to the shelter where he meets someone he wasn’t expecting. (It’s not overly romantic, mostly just wholesome Bucky but if I write a part 2 things will heat up a little!)

Words: 1704

Author’s Note: Hi guys! I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA for so long, but hopefully this will be the beginning of me posting more regularly again! I’ve actually really missed writing fanfic but I’ve been taking the time to work on some original bits too so maybe they’ll make their appearance on here some time in the future. For now, enjoy some soft Bucky fluff and make sure to keep sending me any requests (particularly Marvel stuff because I am riding a WandaVision marvel high at the moment!) Sending all the love- Abby x 

Masterlist 

_________

“C’mon Sam you know that this is more hassle than we need right now.” Bucky sighed. The sign above them read ‘New Jersey Dog Sanctuary’ in large green letters, punctuated with a paw print on either side. The glass door opened up to a lobby lined with sofas covered in dog hair. On one sat a kid, clutching a small scruffy terrier to his chest like his life depended on it. Bucky shook his head. 

“Look, Buck the therapist said you needed a dog, so we’re getting you a dog,” Sam gave him a sharp look, staring at him. Bucky met his gaze. A staring contest. He knew the stakes without having to say a word. If he won, he wouldn’t have to  go in, but if he blinked he’d be stuck with some dog he’d be forced to take with him on missions, getting in the way and making him trip up. Sam’s eyes did not move, but his hands clapped, making Bucky flinch, and worse, blink. 

“Cheater.”

“That’s just another word for winner, Barnes,” Sam winked, gesturing to the door. “After you.”

The sound of barking and the smell of fur hit the moment they walked into the place. There was a girl sitting behind the counter, her hair pulled back but strands still falling on her face as she frantically answered the phone and tried to pull something up on her laptop. She smiled at Sam and Bucky and held up a finger, pleading with her eyes. 

“What do you think of that one?” Sam said, pulling Bucky’s attention and pointing to a spaniel in the corner on a pink leash. Bucky shook his head and pulled a face. “Okay, something bigger?” Bucky sighed again, and nodded. “What about that one?” Sam pointed to a dalmatian who was jumping up at one of the workers. One he looked past the dog, Bucky realised that the girl was kinda pretty, smiling at the dog and letting it lick her face affectionately, half-laughing at something one of her co-workers had said to her. 

When Bucky once again shook his head, Sam gave up. The receptionist gave a cough behind them. 

“Did y’all make an appointment?” She asked, her fingers poised and ready to type. 

“It’ll be under Barnes,” Sam answered for Bucky. “We’re looking for a big dog and I looked on the website and-”

“Alright,” the receptionist interrupted, “if you take a seat on the couch over that way I’ll have someone be over with you soon.”

“You looked on the website?” Bucky asked as they turned away and made their way over to the couch. “Is this dog for you or for me?” 

Sam punched his good arm and Bucky rolled his eyes, scanning the couch to find a surface not covered with hair to sit on, unsuccessfully. The whole thing was covered with different coloured fur, creating a strange montage of white, black and brown shades on the bright green of the couch. Sam slumped down in the chair and Bucky took his chance to take a glance back at where the girl with the Dalmatian had been a minute earlier, but she was gone. 

“Hi there!” Bucky turned to see her standing there. The Dalmatian was gone from her side, but she was still brushing her front to try and rid herself of the lingering fur. She smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling as she looked between Bucky and Sam. “Take a seat. My name is Y/N and I’ll be helping you out with finding a dog here today.” She took a seat and pulled a notepad onto her lap. Bucky sat down, feeling Sam’s smug eyes on him but desperately trying to ignore him. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Sam and we’re here to look for a dog for grandpa Buck over here.” Sam smirked as Bucky shot him a death glare. She turned her attention to Bucky, kindness in her eyes as she looked him up and down. 

“I’m guessing a big dog, right?” She asked. 

“I guess, yeah,” Bucky said, folding his arms over his chest. “And not too young, we don’t really have time to train it properly.”

“Okay no problem,” she nodded, jotting some notes down, “any other preferences?”

“It’s a therapy dog,” Sam said, “so-”

“Sam!”

“No it’s okay,” the girl said, stopping the argument before it could begin, “we actually don’t have any licensed dogs here on site but if it’s just for companionship and comfort then there shouldn’t be any issues.” 

Bucky nodded solemnly. It had been a kick in the teeth when the therapist Sam had forced him to go to had told him that he would need an animal. He’d survived for so long on his own, it felt almost strange to even be with Sam so often. Having to rely on an animal felt like he was losing independence. When he’d told his therapist that she had tried to convince him that having a dog would actually help with his independence, but he wasn’t buying it. 

“Okay,” the girl said, interrupting Bucky’s train of thought, “I’m gonna go and take this list and see if there’s anyone who I think would be a good match for you.” She hesitated for a second, clearly wanting to say something more before deciding against it and turning to go back to her office. 

There was a beat of silence after she left before Sam pounced. 

“She’s...nice.”

“I guess.”

“You like her.” Sam said, unable to stop himself. “She’s cute Barnes, give her your number.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so,” he shook his head. She was too normal, too sweet. He was screwed in the head and she wouldn’t be able to handle it. It was pointless. It was dumb. She probably wasn’t interested. 

“She thought you were cute too, y’know.” Sam sighed, picking up a brochure and beginning to browse, one eye remaining on Bucky as he raised his eyebrow, considering before shaking his head. 

The girl rounded the corner once again, a file in hand and a nervous smile playing on her lips. Bucky tried to match her smile, feign some excitement for her sake at least, but it came out more like a grimace and he decided it best just not to make eye contact and let Sam do the talking. 

“Alright, I have a dog that might be good for you,” she started gently, “he’s a two year old Husky named Loki and he’s honestly such a sweetheart.”

“Loki?” Bucky asked, his brows furrowing. 

“I know, I know, but you can rename him in time and he’s not at all mischievous.” She handed over the file to Bucky. The photo of Loki, all grey and white fur, stared up at him with icy blue eyes. It was a nice looking dog. His previous owners had moved to Europe and couldn’t take him with them so they’d bought him into the shelter just a couple of weeks before. 

He could feel her watching him, leaning forward and trying to hide the way she was nervously picking at her fingers as he examined the sheet. Sam’s eyes were on him too, but he didn’t care much what he thought. 

“Okay,” he huffed, noting the glint in her eyes as she leaned in towards him, “let’s meet him and see what the deal is.” 

She suppressed a squeal and told Bucky and Sam to head down the path towards the meeting area, a closed off space behind the park-like yard that had toys and treats already waiting for them. They stood and waited, the crisp fall sunshine keeping them from getting too cold. 

She knocked before leading Loki into meet them. The dog locked eyes with Bucky, almost pulling her over as he tried to go and meet him. 

“He likes people!” She chuckled, closing the door and letting him off the leash so he could bound over. 

Immediately, the dog nuzzled his head into Bucky’s lap, nudging his head under his metal arm to be pet. Bucky obliged, feeling the dog’s soft fur run through his fingers, privately annoyed at how he knew straight away that his therapist had been right. He looked over to Sam who nodded approvingly, before meeting her eyes. They shone with unshed tears as she smiled at the pair of them. 

“I’ll go out and let you guys get acquainted-”

“No!” Bucky interrupted her, “I mean, he’s obviously comfortable with you here so you really don’t need to. And, y’know,” he cleared his throat, “I, uh… I’m more comfortable with you sticking around for a little bit.” 

A slow grin spread over her face as she joined Bucky and Loki on the floor. Sam stood back, sneakily taking a photo on his phone which he threatened to send to Fury. A long forgotten feeling washed over him. It wasn’t quite happiness, but there was a kind of joy in it, in knowing that there was going to be someone there who needed him that wasn’t an annoying bird-man. Contentment. He was content in this moment, this small world. A pretty girl smiling at him, a dog on his lap. The life he could have had if he hadn’t been drafted. 

“So… what do you think?” She asked him. Loki was lying at his feet, a ball between his paws. She sat beside him, close enough that he could smell the faint traces of her perfume. 

“You said he’d be okay to come on a mission, right?” Bucky asked.

“I’d avoid anything with too many loud noises… but if he was kept somewhere safe he’d be okay to travel.” She shrugged. She leaned forward to put Loki’s leash back on, but her hand brushed his and Bucky felt a shower of goosebumps cover his skin. He turned away, feeling his face flush, only to see Sam’s smug face. 

ASK HER OUT he mouthed. Bucky shook his head. IF YOU DON’T I WILL. Bucky glared at him before turning back to her. 

“If you wanna talk, by the way,” she pulled out Loki’s file and scribbled something down, “here’s my number.” She didn’t meet his gaze, but smiled a little, her fingers messing with Loki’s fur. “Y’know, about dog stuff.”

“I’ll call you,” Bucky replied a little too quickly, “about… dog stuff.” 

“I’ll make sure of it,” Sam nudged him. She blushed a little and nodded, handing Loki’s leash over to Bucky, letting his hand linger before leading them back. 

Bucky looked up at the sky over the dog park, feeling hope fill his chest for the first time in a long time.

#Bucky Barnes #bucky x reader #james bucky barnes #bucky imagines #bucky #marvel #marvel imagines #Winter Soldier #tfatws #imagines #Avengers #avengers imagines #avengers x reader #fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic

[a-blue-secret]

EPILOGUE: FIVE YEARS LATER

BACK TO MASTERLIST

Chapter XXXIV | Epilogue

GENRES: royal au; fantasy au; magic au; friends-to-enemies-to-lovers; king!beomgyu, vizier!taehyun

PAIRING: taegyu

WARNINGS: none!

WORD COUNT: 4.2k+

AN: Considering how monstrously long this fic is, there was no way I was going to end it without an epilogue! Thank you all of you for reading Court of Lies! It means a lot to me :)

SUMMARY: Best friends turned enemies, Kang Taehyun has managed to trick Choi Beomgyu into his service, and to rule for a year and a day, until his youngest brother would be old enough to take the throne. Choi Beomgyu has no intention of being obedient however, and tries to thwart Taehyun’s orders at every turn. With a growing amount of distrust and lies within the court, will Taehyun manage to keep the kingdom of Gojongja from falling apart?

“It’s a shame we couldn’t hold it in Gojongja,” Beomgyu commented from where he had draped himself over the chaise longue, flicking idly through a book.

Taehyun smiled at him through the mirror as he let the maids clasp yet more gold bracelets onto his wrists.

“No matter,” Taehyun said. “We’re too good for Gojongja anyways.”

Beomgyu laughed. “True. Besides, Barumin is nicer.”

“But it’s a real shame that Nabi and Seohyun couldn’t be here,” Taehyun said as his hair was touched and crimped into place.

“Well, it was to be expected,” Beomgyu replied, flicking through his book. “Being rulers of Gojongja is hard work.” He glanced at Taehyun, smiling. “We should know.”

Taehyun grinned. “Oh, definitely.” His hair was patted into place again, and his arms were spread out so his coat could be tweaked to perfection. “And it’s not like we’ll never see them again, anyway. They can always come down to Barumin to see us, even after today.”

Finally, once the maids had deemed him to be perfect, a lace veil was produced, placed over his hair and fixed to the silver circlet nestled in his hair.

“That’s true.” Beomgyu gave a small laugh. “Oh, but I’m so glad that Jiwon was able to come here. You really wanted him to hand you off, didn’t you?”

“If he didn’t come, I was thinking about bringing in the elm tree,” Taehyun admitted, chuckling. “You know, from the garden? That tree was the closest thing to a father figure to me.”

Beomgyu laughed. “That would have been so weird,” he said.

Once his veil had been fixed, and the last finishing touches applied to his makeup, the maids stepped away, and Taehyun walked over to peer curiously over Beomgyu’s shoulder.

“By the way,” he said, “I’m pretty sure that it is custom for the groom not to see the bride’s attire until the wedding itself.”

Beomgyu smiled up at him, snapping his book shut. “Well, this is no customary wedding, is it?” he grinned. “It’s our wedding, after all. Now come on. I wanted to see you before I get dressed, so I don’t ruin my makeup by crying my eyes out during the wedding itself.”

Taehyun stepped back and spread his arms proudly, showing off his suit. Beomgyu’s eyes lit up as they travelled the length of him, taking in the ivory satin with its silver and blue embellishments. Intricate, thick lines of embroidered silver twisted and curled themselves around the fabric of his arms, embedded with tiny, bright sapphires which glittered and shone in the light. His silver buttons, polished to perfection, glittered brightly, but nothing could rival the shine in Taehyun’s eyes. He smiled widely, spinning on the spot.

Beomgyu walked forward, placing his hands on Taehyun’s waist. Taehyun’s hands automatically came up to rest around his neck. Beomgyu nudged his nose against Taehyun’s.

“You look absolutely beautiful, love.”

Taehyun smiled, brushing the hair out of Beomgyu’s face. “I know I do. And when I put on that bridal cloak, I’ll look stunning.” He nodded towards the ivory cape, still hanging on a mannequin.

In contrast to his suit, Taehyun’s cloak was free from any sort of complicated silver stitching. It was a long length of shimmering ivory, and embroidered at the bottom of the train was an intricate detail of blue roses, embedded with small blue stones. Beomgyu gaped at it.

“How long is that cloak? It looks like it’ll carry on forever.”

“The train alone is twice my height,” Taehyun smiled. “That’s why I just have a short blusher veil covering my face. It would be too heavy to have a long veil as well as a long cloak.”

Beomgyu turned back to look at him, eyes shining. “Is this really happening? Am I dreaming right now?”

Taehyun laughed. “You’ve asked me this every single day since I proposed to you. Yes, love. This is really happening. We’re getting married.”

Beomgyu’s eyes sparkled. When Taehyun smiled teasingly, catching a glimpse of the tears, he shook his head rapidly. “No no no, I’m not crying. I’m not crying.”

“I never said you were,” Taehyun laughed, brushing away the liquid building in Beomgyu’s eyes. Beomgyu blinked rapidly, before smiling blissfully. He took a step back, holding Taehyun at arm’s length so he could marvel at his wedding attire.

“You look absolutely gorgeous in the Gyeongju Choi colours. I knew you would.”

Taehyun smiled. “Is that why you insisted that I’d be the bride, even though I was the one who proposed?”

“Why else?” Beomgyu grinned. “Also, Yeonjun and Hueningkai look amazing in dresses. I couldn’t pass up on the chance.”

Taehyun’s eyes widened. “You actually made them wear dresses?”

“Well, they’re the maids of honour. Of course they have to. Plus, they wanted to! Hey, don’t start accusing me,” Beomgyu laughed.

“Alright, alright,” Taehyun said, smiling. He checked the clock in the corner of the room. “Oh, the wedding’s going to start in two hours. You’d better go get dressed.”

As if on cue, Hyunjin knocked on the door and peered inside. “Beomgyu, there you are! I think your maids are going to go bonkers if you don’t get there now.”

He hurried into the room before dragging Beomgyu by his hands. “Come on, come on!”

Beomgyu let himself be dragged out, smiling at Taehyun. “See you soon, love.”

Taehyun waved. “See you soon.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“So Beomgyu, how are we feeling?” Hyunjin asked as Beomgyu had his hair flattened then straightened then curled then straightened again.

“Annoyed at the hairdressers for whatever they’re doing to my hair,” Beomgyu responded, glaring playfully at the hairdresser. “But anyway, nervous. And a little bit scared.”

“Why? Are you scared that Taehyun will turn you down?” Hyunjin asked.

“No, no! No way. He proposed to me, remember? There’s no way he’d turn me down at the aisle. At least, I hope,” Beomgyu said, chuckling. “I’m scared of what Gojongja will think.”

Hyunjin made a noise of reassurance, reaching forward to pat Beomgyu’s shoulder before the stylist yanked at the sleeve of his jacket. “You don’t need to worry about them,” Hyunjin said as the last finishing touches were put onto his suit. “Even if they don’t like it, there’s nothing they can do. These weddings are perfectly legal, no matter what Kingdom they take place in. Seohyun and Nabi made sure of that.”

Beomgyu smiled at Hyunjin through the vanity mirror. “True. Thanks, Hyunjin.” He suddenly gave a laugh. “Oh, I just realised that you’ll have to dance with both Yeonjun and Hueningkai, since you’re the best man.”

Hyunjin’s eyes widened. “I have to what?” Beomgyu laughed, and Hyunjin’s face melted into a smile. “Well, at least I don’t have to dance with Yeji. She’d step on my feet purposefully all the time.”

Beomgyu grinned. “About that… I think she’s one of Taehyun’s bridesmaids so… she might insist on a dance.”

Hyunjin groaned. “Oh, god no! My feet are doomed!”

Beomgyu laughed, and when the hairdresser finally stopped torturing his hair he stood up, walking over to look at Hyunjin’s suit.

“Oh, looking smart,” Beomgyu said, smiling.

“I should hope so,” Hyunjin grinned. “You picked this for me.” He nodded his head at Beomgyu admiringly. “You look good.”

Indeed, Beomgyu did look good.

His suit was simple, but also complicated at the same time. It was traditional black with a white dress shirt, but there were lots of intricate details which made his suit unique. At the shoulders of his black coat, there was a cluster of silver sequins sewn into large, leaf-like shapes, and small blue peonies encircled the cuffs of the jacket, the tiny blue stones sparkling against the glittering silver sewn around them.

On closer inspection, even the traditional black of Beomgyu’s suit wasn’t simple. It was made of a shimmering black fabric, looking like the darkness of a midnight sky sparkling with tiny stars.

Beomgyu stretched out his arms, admiring the design of his suit. “You should see Taehyun’s,” he said, eyes shining. “He looks beautiful.”

Hyunjin laughed at Beomgyu’s bright face. “No matter how nervous you feel, you’re probably more excited than anything, aren’t you?”

Beomgyu beamed. “Yes. Is it obvious?”

“More than anything,” said Hyunjin, smiling. “But it’s good! It’s good. You should always be excited on your wedding day.”

Beomgyu smiled. “I should, shouldn’t I?” He gave a blissful sigh. “I’m getting married.”

“You are,” Hyunjin grinned, stepping down from the pedestal once his stylist deemed his suit finally perfect. He checked his pocket watch. “Oh, and we have to go now if you want to get married. The guests should be seated by now, and Taehyun’s due to appear ten minutes from now.”

“Right.” Beomgyu straightened his suit sleeves, and turned to Hyunjin, a nervous smile on his face. “Let’s go marry me off, best man.”

They walked out of the room, accompanied by several maids.

“I’m not the one marrying you off, though.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-

“Five minutes! Oh god, Taehyun you’re getting married!”

“I’m pretty sure I know that,” Taehyun chuckled as Yeonjun waved his hands excitedly.

“You look so beautiful,” he gushed. “I swear, if you start crying I will cry with you.”

“We better prepare tissues then,” Hueningkai said, smiling. “Something tells me that everyone will cry.”

“You guys fuss too much,” Taehyun sighed affectionately, as Hueningkai assisted the maids with adjusting Taehyun’s cloak. “God, this cape is heavy.”

“Pure satin with five hundred tiny sapphires embedded into the end of it, held together by a huge silver clasp at your throat,” Hueningkai quipped, smoothing down the fabric. “Of course it’s heavy.”

“I can take it off after the procession, right?” Taehyun asked.

“Sure. After you’re married, you can do anything with it. Nobody will mind. You could even rip it up and throw it away.”

“Hmm, I don’t think I’ll do that, but I’m sure I won’t wear this again.”

“Fine by me. You could donate it to Gojongja, and have it put into their artifact collection,” Hueningkai said. “This is the first same-sex marriage which has been displayed as openly as a normal marriage. It would make a good artifact.”

Taehyun nodded, adjusting his veil. “That’s a good idea. I might do that.”

“Two minutes!” Yeonjun cried, running back into the dressing room. “Oh, the ballroom looks amazing! We truly have to thank Yeji for convincing Barumin to let us hold the wedding in their palace, everything is so beautiful. And Taehyun, Hueningkai’s sisters managed to make it too!”

Taehyun blinked. “Wait– when did you leave?”

“Stop running around in your dress,” Hueningkai tsked, fixing the ruffles of lace on Yeonjun's dress. Then he registered what Yeonjun said and looked up, eyes wide. “Hiyyih and Lea? They made it to the wedding?”

Yeonjun nodded. “Yep! They’re there right now! Come on, come on, we have no time to waste! Let’s get you married!”

He paused in his tracks and held a hand over his mouth, staring at Taehyun. “Oh my, you look wonderful. Beomgyu will definitely cry.”

Taehyun smiled. “If he cries, I’m going to cry, so let’s hope he doesn’t,” he said. “Anyway, two minutes, did you say? We better get going. Where are the bridesmaids?”

“Waiting by the door,” Hueningkai said. “Waiting for you to walk down the aisle.”

Taehyun took a deep breath, fingers tightening around the bouquet of flowers in his grasp. He gave a smile, turning to look at his maids of honour. “I have to say, you two look amazing in dresses.”

Yeonjun beamed, both of them giving curtsies. “You look amazing yourself! Now come on, come on! We don’t want to keep the groom waiting, do we?”

Yeonjun and Hueningkai chattered to Taehyun as they made their way from the dressing room to outside the venue, standing outside the closed doors.

Inside, they heard someone announcing for the guests to stand.

“Alright, this is it,” Hueningkai whispered. “Don’t be nervous, okay? There’s no need to be scared.”

Taehyun looked at them, face bright. “I won’t be nervous,” he promised. “I have all of you with me, anyway.”

Hueningkai and Yeonjun smiled as Taehyun took another deep breath. The doors opened, and Taehyun faced the front, a smile on his face.

.・゜-: ✧ :-

A bright, tinkling melody played as Taehyun walked down the aisle, smile radiant. Shoulders widened confidently, steps light and hopeful, his cloak trailed gently behind him, unfolding to reveal the glittering cluster of blue flowers.

Behind him, Yeonjun and Hueningkai led the way for all the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids, and in front of him the flower girls and ring bearer walked forwards.

When he looked back on his wedding day, Taehyun would be able to remember one thing very clearly: the happiness, which was almost tangible in the atmosphere.

Perhaps it was cliche to think so, but he felt as if he were walking on air. All he could see in that moment was Beomgyu: Beomgyu in his midnight black wedding suit, eyes twinkling. Beomgyu with a smile of pure joy on his face, matching the similarly joyful expression Taehyun’s face was alight with. Beomgyu, whose eyes were brimming with delighted tears, and whose hands were trembling with happiness.

His feet didn’t even seem to touch the velvet carpet laid out for him, instead skimming over them as if dancing on clouds, slowly approaching Beomgyu.

Beomgyu, watching him approach, couldn’t help the tears which prickled at his eyes. Taehyun’s face was so obviously bright with happiness as he walked towards Beomgyu, and in that moment Beomgyu swore that Taehyun had never looked more beautiful.

Taehyun came to a stop beside Beomgyu, beaming. Beomgyu could see the glitter of tears in Taehyun’s eyes, too, and gave a smile.

“Look who’s crying now,” he whispered softly.

Taehyun gave a small chuckle. “You’re crying too,” he pointed out. “And the ceremony hasn’t even begun.”

Beomgyu smiled softly, eyes sparkling. “So I am,” he said. “So I am.”

The ceremony passed by in a blur. Beomgyu and Taehyun were beaming, beaming brightly throughout the whole service, eyes still full to the brim with happy tears.

There was much to be said by the officiant, his speeches sentimental and solemn at the same time. But there were little words needed to understand that the two people who were getting married loved each other dearly, with their eyes fixed on each other, fingers intertwined.

Following the officiant’s speech came the ribbon tying, and Taehyun’s tears almost spilled over as the emerald green ribbon tied to his arm was wrapped with the navy blue one knotted to Beomgyu’s, signifying the union of their two clans. It was happening. They were getting married.

Beomgyu, also looking down at their two intertwined ribbons, looked up at Taehyun and smiled. It was obvious how much it meant to Taehyun to be properly part of a family: a family which he had chosen to be part of. A family with Beomgyu.

And then the officiant asked if there was anyone who objected to their marriage, and Taehyun almost expected a crowd of people to come storming into the ballroom, protesting against their same-sex relationship, but instead the guests gave a loud whoop, cheering them on.

And then it was time to exchange vows. Beomgyu turned to Taehyun and took hold of both of his hands. He smiled, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

“Taehyun. My beautiful, determined, intelligent Taehyun. God, I know literally everything about you and yet I feel like I could happily spend the rest of my life learning even more. We’ve had our ups and downs, we definitely have, but my love for you has never wavered. In fact, I think that the circumstances we’ve been in have only strengthened my love for you.” Beomgyu smiled, tears threatening to spill over as Taehyun gazed at him, eyes sparkling.

“Remember how you’d sometimes steal my toys and I’d always let you? I would be annoyed for five minutes, but then I’d completely forget my annoyance because your delighted smile made me feel happy too. Remember how I’d sometimes sneak into your room and you’d tell me off, telling me that the guards would find me? You’d be mad at me, but I knew that you were grateful that I cared enough to visit you when you’d been holed up in your room with your prince duties. And remember those years where we drifted apart? It was a time of hurt, sure, but it made me realise just how much I loved you.”

Taehyun’s tears had spilled over now, crystalline droplets falling down his cheeks. Beomgyu’s eyes had released his tears long ago, the liquid openly streaming down his face.

“You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met, Taehyun. Honestly, I can never imagine life without you by my side. I can’t imagine life without your sarcastic quips or your thoughtful words, or your bright smile or happy eyes. You complete me. You provide the calmness and peace that I need; you give me the happiness and love at times when I need it the most. You’re the moon to my sun, the calm to my excitement, the yin to my yang. You’re the gentle silver light to provide me with comfort when I feel overwhelmed by the darkness of the night.”

Everyone was crying at that point: the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, and all of the guests had shed at least one tear.

Beomgyu had to pause, tears overwhelming his words. But he gave a watery chuckle, smiling. “Most people will talk of how they will die for their partner, but for me it's different. I lived for you, Taehyun. For you, I vow to live happily if you promise to be by my side. I, Choi Beomgyu, will give myself to you through this marriage. I promise to live well, and happily, and be with you through good times and bad, through sickness and good health. I belong with you, and I hope that we’ll never ever have to part.”

With shaking hands, he took the diamond-studded wedding ring from the officiant and slid it onto Taehyun's finger, grasping his hand tight. "I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. All that I am I give to you. All that I have I share with you. I promise to care for you above all others, to give you my love, friendship and support, and to respect and cherish you throughout our life together."

Taehyun took a deep breath, before giving a laugh, blinking his tears away. “Oh, I can’t even wipe my eyes because I'll rub off my makeup!"

Beomgyu smiled, blinking away his own tears.”It looks like we both ended up crying, didn’t we?” he said, and Taehyun gave a small laugh, breathing shakily.

"Oh, God, I swear that you will be the death of me one day, Beomgyu. You say I have thoughtful words? Beomgyu, for so long it has been only your words which have been able to move me to tears. Whether it's you confessing your love to me or just stating your thoughts, your brilliant and wonderful mind along with your silvery tongue have always been things which have been able to bring tears to my eyes.

“To say that we’ve been through a lot would definitely be an understatement,” Taehyun said, giving a soft chuckle. “We’ve been through so much over the past years, even going through a period of time where we were rather opposed to each other. But do you know what made me realise I loved you? It was the fact you cared. Around this day, five years ago, I realised how in love I was with you. I loved you because you were always with me whenever I needed you to be; I loved you because you cared about how I felt; I loved you because you made me feel happy. You make me feel safe, and warm, and loved. When you smile and your eyes crinkle at the corners, I feel like I must stare at you, gazing hopelessly at you like how the sunflower turns its face towards the sun. I realised, after countless years of knowing you, that you were the one. And the reason I didn’t know it before was because I’d never even thought about a future where you weren’t with me. It was like I was made to love you, but I just never knew it.”

Beomgyu blinked rapidly to try and quell his tears, but they just fell faster as he gazed at Taehyun adoringly.

“You, Beomgyu, with your fluffy hair and sparkly eyes and pretty lips and adorable smile… you are my guiding light, my star in the sky, my beautiful sun. You shine brighter than anyone else, and when I look at you I get overwhelmed by the fact that I get to love you. I get to love you despite you being such a bright sun and me being a small moon. I am forever grateful for that fact. And I thank you, for always being with me even though I didn’t know it. I thank you for being a place of comfort, of warmth, of happiness. When I came into this world you were already here, so I get to say thank you for always being there for every moment of my life. No one compares to you, Beomgyu. You make me feel loved in the way I never knew anyone could feel. Truly.”

Through tear-filled eyes, Taehyun gazed at Beomgyu, holding his hands tight.

“Thank you so much for being my golden, shining sun, Beomgyu. And I hope that you’ll continue to be with me, no matter what. I, Kang Taehyun, will give myself to you through this marriage. I promise to live well, and happily, and be with you through good times and bad, through sickness and good health. I belong with you, and I hope that we’ll never ever have to part.”

And then this time, it was Taehyun's turn for his hands to shake as he slid the ring onto Beomgyu's shaking hand, both of them laughing and crying at how they were trembling.

"I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. All that I am I give to you. All that I have I share with you. I promise to care for you above all others, to give you my love, friendship and support, and to respect and cherish you throughout our life together."

There wasn't a dry eye in the crowd. Hueningkai was sniffling openly, and Yeji had a hold of a box of tissues which Yeonjun was constantly taking tissues out of.

But even through the tears, Beomgyu and Taehyun gazed at each other, eyes sparkling. It was clear for all to see just how much they loved each other.

The officiant clasped his hands together, looking at the soon-to-be-weds. “Do you, Choi Beomgyu, take Kang Taehyun to be your lawfully wedded partner? Do you promise to love, adore, and encourage him? Share the good times and the achievements as well as the hard times and the disappointments? Keep him in sickness, in sorrow, and in happiness and in good health? Do you promise to be loyal to him forevermore?”

Beomgyu stared at Taehyun, beaming. “I do.”

They'd gone through so much together, suffered so much hardship, but they'd come out stronger and better because of it. And they’d reached the light at the end of the tunnel which would lead them to so many other new possibilities in their future, where they were by each other’s side. They were standing on the threshold, almost ready to leap forward into the light.

“Do you, Kang Taehyun, take Choi Beomgyu to be your lawfully wedded partner? Do you promise to love, adore, and encourage him? Share the good times and the achievements as well as the hard times and the disappointments? Keep him in sickness, in sorrow, and in happiness and in good health? Do you promise to be loyal to him forevermore?”

Taehyun had a similarly wide smile on his face, words trembling with happiness. “I do.”

And after so many ups and downs, near death experiences and tearful days, they'd made it. They'd made it: to the place where they could finally be happy. They'd reached the point where they could turn away from the past and reach forward into the future together, as one.

“Choi Beomgu and Kang Taehyun, you have expressed your commitment and love for each other through the promises you have just made. You may have kissed a thousand times, maybe more. But today it shall be different. No longer will you simply be friends, for this time you have now been joined together in matrimony. You may now share your first kiss as one body.”

This was no end. Far from it. This was a new beginning. The beginning of a life where they were not separate bodies, but were one. They began that life with their hearts full of love and smiles full of happiness.

Their journey of togetherness had begun. They smiled at each other, safe in one another’s embraces, tears of joy streaming down their cheeks.

Orchestral music swelled into a thrilling, hopeful crescendo as Beomgyu’s hands found Taehyun’s waist, and Taehyun wrapped his arms loosely around Beomgyu’s neck.

They both leaned forward, and their lips met in a soft, gentle kiss.

taglist: @my-moarmy-heart @arohabangtan @a-fragmented-world

#court of lies #taegyu #txt taegyu #txt beomgyu #beomgyu #txt taehyun #taehyun #txt fluff #txt angst #txt fanfic #txt fic #txt imagine #txt imagines #txt drabble #beomgyu imagines #taehyun imagines #beomgyu fluff #taehyun fluff #beomgyu angst #taehyun angst #txt au #txt scenarios #tomorrow x together imagines #tomorrow x together imagine #tomorrow by together #tomorrow x together

[missturtleduck]

The Girls of Ba Sing Se - (Sokka x f!Reader) Pt. 8

Part Seven│Part Nine

“You, girl of secrets, may stay.”

The library was surprisingly easy to find, considering it was buried under centuries of sand. Watching Toph siphon it up as smoothly as Katara could shape water, Y/N stood pointedly ignoring Sokka and Professor Zei rambling to each other. Sure, she was as much of a nerd as they were, what with learning languages and arithmetic from a young age, but it wasn’t like she was about to drop Sokka’s attitude and divulge in ancient secrets with them. 

They did sound like pretty cool ancient secrets though.

Trying not to pout, Y/N sighed and began to scale the tower freehand. Was it to spite Sokka, who had just thrown a grapple to the top window? Perhaps. Only beaten by Aang, who had the power of airbending on his side, Y/N sat on the ledge of the window, staring down at Toph, Appa, and Qin.

“You sure you’ll be alright, Toph?” She called down to her friend, who had a firm hand on Qin’s back.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Toph brushed her off. “Like I said, books don’t do it for me.”

With a nod, Y/N readied to descend. “Send Qin in after us if you get in trouble.”

Satisfied that Toph would be okay, she leapt from the window, Aang catching her in a swirl of air. It was fun, almost like jumping onto a bed laden with pillows, although she never remembered jumping on her auntie’s bed to ever be that dangerous. The inside of the tower was beautiful, even Y/N had to admit in her bad mood, decorated with mosaic depictions of owl, glittering dark onyx and blues as the sun filtered through the cracks in the old brick. Three guesses on what form the spirit of the library took, Y/N chuckled to herself.

Rustling interrupted her admiration as she pulled the nearest person behind a great pillar. Peering around it, she held the person close to her chest, listening for any signs of movement, praying to Agni that it was just one of those cute fox spirits.

“I know you’re back there,” A voice said, menacing and low, leaving goosebumps up her arms; it was pure adrenaline, a fight or flight reaction.

Eyes wide, she went to hiss at Professor Zei, who had stepped out from behind the pillar. A hand clamped over her mouth – Sokka. Nose wrinkled in disdain, Y/N fought the urge to lick his hand then and there, grossing him out enough to reveal him too. Maybe the owl spirit would keep him as a pet.

“Hello!” Zei said, the word Y/N had been stuck on finally coming to her head: naïve. “I am Professor Zei, Head of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University!”

The avian monster leered down over the professor, who seemed unfazed in his thirst for knowledge. “You would leave the way you came, unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology.”

As much as she disliked the man, she wouldn’t let him die. Pushing off of Sokka’s chest, not thinking about how he felt under her palms and pressed that close in the moment, Y/N rushed forwards, bowing lowly. “Oh, great spirit!  Are you the magnificent one who brought all of this knowledge into the physical world?”

“Indeed,” The spirit said, a tad less malicious than before. “I am Wan Shi Tong, ‘He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things’.”

“Oh, how marvellous!” Y/N exclaimed, coming out of her bow to look at Wan Shi Tong with as much respect and as little fear possible. “To grant the physical world, the world of humans with such a resource! You are far too benevolent.”

The spirit peered its head up as Sokka, Katara, and Aang came out of their hiding place. “Yes, and you are obviously humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my library.”

“What do you have against humans?” Aang blurted out, not unkindly, but with a lack of respect that made Y/N cringe; surprisingly, she had no intention of being eaten by a giant owl spirit!

“Hmph!” Wan Shi Tong sneered, standing tall to look down on them all. 

“Humans only seek knowledge to get an edge on other humans, like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago seeking to destroy his enemy. So, who are you seeking to destroy?”

“What?” Sokka said, stretching the vowel too long to be anything but suspicious. “No-no-no-no destroying of anyone! We’re not into that.”

Wan Shi Tong blinked with his great, owlish eyes. “Then why have you come here?”

“Um... knowledge for knowledge’s sake?”

His shadow loomed over the boy. “If you’re going to lie to an all-knowing spirit, you should at least at some effort into it.”

This was it then. Y/N steeled herself, ready to see Sokka eaten in front of her. He’d be sorely missed of course, the git, but what happens had to happen, right? Although, what would happen to the rest of them if he was eaten? Would they be resigned to the same fate? She knew Katara would never forgive herself, that Professor Zei would manage to turn Sokka into some sort of parable – a caricature of the person he truly was. Eyes widening at her sudden epiphanies, Y/N darted in front of the men making fools of themselves, offering her bō staff out in a low bow.

“Please forgive the indiscretion of my idiot companion,” She grovelled, ecstatic at the jibe she managed to fit in. “I offer one more bit of knowledge to your vast collection, if you’ll have it.”

Reaching with one fluid motion, the spirit practically absorbed the staff. “You, girl of secrets, may stay.”

Wan Shi Tong looked amongst the group, expectant. One by one, each of them gave away something precious; a scroll, a tome, and a poster were added to his collection. But what of Sokka? A special knot was offered with a grin.

“You’re not very bright, are you?” The spirit blanched, enough sarcasm to match the boy himself. “Enjoy the library.”

Flourishing out of sight, Y/N pushed down a snort, “He’s dramatic for a spirit.”

Falling back to walk with Katara, she allowed herself to breath in the atmosphere of such a grand place. Every tome had collected dust over what must have been centuries; it felt wrong, sinful, to touch them, let alone peruse through its words. This seemed to be a shared opinion of Katara, who avoided picking up every tome that seemed mildly interesting.

Aang and Sokka, however, were picking up works because they fancied the colour.

“Hey, look at these weird lion turtle things!” Aang said, shoving a scroll in their faces.

“Eh,” Sokka waved his hand, “I’ve seen weirder.”

Deeper into the library they ventured, the hallways growing darker and the tomes growing dustier –  rarer – as they went along. Though, maybe it wasn’t dust. All colour flushed from Y/N’s skin as she saw the room marred with burn marks and ashes. A firebender had done this. They had committed an atrocity she didn’t think possible. This was the human that the spirit had so spitefully told them about.

“They destroyed everything to do with the Fire Nation,” Katara gasped.

That’s what they do, Y//N thought bitterly.

Taking a seat in the remains of such precious knowledge, Y/N watched with some amusement as her friends chased after a Knowledge Seeker. The little fox led them away swiftly, and what they may find could be vital, but she couldn’t bring herself to follow. Something about the room they had discovered made her stomach turn, waves of guilt rolling continuously, growing greater and more violent until she wanted to be sick.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered, looking up to see the owl spirit stood over her. “I’m sorry on behalf of the evil person who did this.”

The spirit considered for a moment. “Would you indulge me with a secret? I find secrets to be the greatest knowledge of all.”

“Will it compensate you for the damage?”

“Not entirely,” Wa Shi Tong admitted, not nearly as menacing as he had been, “But enough for forgiveness,”

And so she spoke. She indulged the spirit in every secret she had in her soul, feeling lighter and lighter as every one left her lips. Y/N told him of the family she had lost, her lineage, her first crush, her greatest rebellion against her uncle. How much value could be put on her secrets, she wondered.

She didn’t wonder for long as a Knowledge Seeker came running up to them on four legs, propping itself to two as it communicated silently with its master. She wondered if the value of her secrets could pay the spirit for the insult that was just delivered to him. With a final look at Y/N, the spirit swept away with all the rage of a warrior.

It was when the ground began to shake that Y/N realised something was truly wrong.

Exchanging looks with the spirit servant, something that she would’ve never expected to happen, she sprinted out of the room. Following the creature, it led her through the maze of bookshelves until she recognised where they were. Back at the beginning, the fox gave a frantic little bow before scurrying away. With the open window filtering light, Y/N heard the desperate cries of Appa, Qin, and Toph. 

Panicked and determined, Y/N clambered onto the bannister that prevented patrons tumbling into the abyss of tomes. It was instant death, she noted, but she needed to get to the rope hanging from the tower. Inhaling a sharp breath, she leapt across, hands burning as she struggled for a grip. Darting her eyes back to the library, she spotted the spirit tormenting her friends and the professor.

“Oh, great spirit!” She called to him, shimmying her way up the rope. “Let me be proof that not all humans carry evil, even if you cannot see it yet.”

The rage he carried was chilling.

“I’m coming Toph!”

The wails had subsided since, Appa now silenced above her. Making quick work of the rope – darting ever downwards to ensure her friends were safe – Y/N clambered through the window, narrowly avoiding Toph. Qin caught her with her tail, groaning lowly, wincing. A gash was open on her back, creating a storm of blind rage within her. Appa, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Despite what she may have said afterwards, Toph was crying. With all of her strength, she was preventing the spirit from killing them all. Once Katara, Sokka, and Aang leapt out onto the sand, Y/N made quick work of pulling Toph into a tight hug, whispering apologies over and over again until the words merged into numbness. Any spite she may have felt only hours ago had dissipated as quickly as it came. Y/N had hit her limit.

TAGLIST: @lunariasilver​ @maragreene​

#atla #sokka x reader #sokka #aang #katara #toph #the library #wan shi tong #the girls of ba sing se #missturtleduck

[aimee-maroux]

Plato-nic Love (Part I)

I sadly didn’t finish the whole story in time but this is part one of Seren and Plato’s epic love story for the ages XD

Illustrations were done by the wonderful @sigeel​ 😍😍😍

So this submission is by the two of us!

Plato-nic Love

Seren poured a libation of wine and started working on the grapevine that had been growing in the family garden for a while. At first, her mother had tried to get rid of it but it had proven the essence of indestructable life and so they had accepted its presence much like Seren had come to accept the presence of its patron god. She was about to cut off a branch to use for making a crown later on when she heard a familiar voice. "How is my favourite bacchae?" She sighed. It had been about a year since she had agreed to become his faithful follower and needless to say she was still the only one. "Do you know what day it is?" Seren started frantically going through all the calendars she had studied, from the reconstructed Attic calendar to the Roman calendar before and after the Julian reform -what moon phase were they in again? "You always think we don't care about these things but I have a sursprise for you." Dionysos flashed her a bright smile. "What?" she said flatly. A surprise from a god couldn't possibly mean anything good.

"I SAID: I have a SURPRISE for you!" Confetti and flower petals started raining down on them and from above sounded a rustic melody played on pan pipes. Seren looked up to see Hermes sitting on a treebranch, grinning as he played the instrument his son invented. "Ha ha, very funny, Hermes." Dionysos took Seren by the shoulders. "He was supposed to play the Time Warp. Because it's exactly ONE YEAR TODAY that you became my bacchae and do I have a surprise for you!" "Yeah, you said so. But maybe it would be better if-" "Nonsense! As your patron god I am exceedingly generous. You see, I have noticed your infatuation with Plato." "You don't say." "Yes. Anyway, Hermes was so nice to pay grandfather Kronos a visit and relieve him of a little artef- well, details, it doesn't matter! What is important is that you will get to meet Plato!" "Really?!" There was a nagging voice in Seren's head that told her to be careful but Dionysos had just told her she'd get to meet Plato! "Really. All you have to do is take my hand. But I have another gift for you. Hermes, come down here!" The messenger god swung himself lazily from the tree and floated down until his winged sandals touched the ground. "My brother pointed out that you might have difficulties speaking ancient Greek fluently so he will grant you the ability to speak it like a native for as long as you give up your native English." Seren gaped. "That... is surprisingly thoughtful of you." "Hermes, do it! And no nonsense like giving her a lisp or a foreign accent!" "Of course not. Why would I do that?" Hermes grinned at Seren. "I'd not even be there to see it." "What? Now? Wait!" Seren cried out as divine magic rearranged the synapses in her speech centre. "I did not agree-" "She'll speak fluently once you arrive in Greece," Hermes said, "Once you return, the magic wears off." Dionysos gave his brother a suspicious look. Then he beamed. "Perfect!" Dionysos clapped enthusiastically. "Hold on tight!" He pulled her into his embrace and Seren instinctively hugged him. The world around them began to blur and the heavens seemed to turn back as they sped through time and space. There was a sudden jolt and the world was clear once again. Only, it looked strange. But not strange enough for Seren not to recognise her patron god had spoken the truth. This was ancient Athens! She felt a nasty queasiness but she was much too excited to care about that just now. She had known about polychromy but the sheer explosion of colours in the city made her heart sing. The reconstructions were mere shadows of the vibrant paint on the statues, buildings, and clothes. And the Akropolis! It looked majestic even now but the ruins were nothing compared to the magnificence of colour and architecture. Seren stood in awe, even though they were miles away down in a sidestreet. Potters had laid out their painted vases and other works as they created new ones. Seren couldn't decide what to see first, jumping this way and that until the unsavoury sound of regurgitation briefly diverted her attention. Dionysos leaned against the mudbrick wall of a house and puked his guts out. "How can you be so chipper?" Dionysos groaned, wiping his mouth. "You're mortal!" We travelled both time AND space. You should be barfing like a youth at his first symposion." But Seren just ignored him in her euphoria. "It's Athens!" she cried. "ANCIENT Athens!" "That fleet-foorted son of a-" "What? What is it?!" "Nothing, nothing. Everything is fine. I just..." Dionysos leaned against the mudbrick house. "Hermes could have said something about the inconvenience of travelling." Seren shrugged. Who cared, they were already there. "I want to see EVERYTHING!!! The sculptures! The pottery! The architecture! The clothes..." "Speaking of which..." Dionysos grinned. "We should get you something less 2020. If you want to meet Plato, we need a certain disguise. And you want to look your best for him, right?" Seren screwed up her face. "Plato isn't about looks. He's about the beauty of the soul." "Well, if you want to go dressed in that tasteless pink sweater and leggings combination. But let me tell you, nothing looks better on a woman than a finely woven chiton." "Yeah, you're not at all biased." "It's one of the few things even Apollo and I agree on, so it must be true." Seren would have been happy just roaming the streets of ancient Athens for a couple of days. Or for however long this time thingy would allow. The prospect of meeting Plato both exhilarated and terrified her.

Dionysos bought her an elegant chiton in the extremely crowded agora. Seren hardly suppressed a squeal when he paid with real ancient drachmae. Only they didn't look ancient at all. "Why is nobody staring?" she asked, as another group of people walked past them without paying them any mind. "Did you put glamour over my modern clothes?" Dionysos laughed. "No need, honeybee. This is Athens. At a time like this they get tourists from all over the world. One strange, foreign costume is not going to turn any heads." He pulled her away from the merchants and splendour of the agora into the entrance of a seemingly abandoned house. "Put it on," he said, handing her the chiton. "Don't peek!" she reminded him before she changed into her new garment. It felt cool and pleasant on her skin and the quality of the linen was indeed fantastic. Despite the loose fit the fabric was so delicate it hugged her figure in an almost revealing way, making her feel exposed. "Is this really acceptable dress?" she asked. "Only with this worn over it." Dionysos came up behind her, closing another layer of cloth over her shoulders with simple dress pins. "You look great, honeybee," he said sincerely. "Plato can consider himself lucky. You got the brains, you got the looks, and even that austere, joyless personality to match." "I get the impression you don't like Plato much." Dionysos slung the belt around her waist and fastened it. "What gave it away? My graffiti, my groaning everytime you bring him up, or the charming way I speak about him?" "The graffiti was a pretty obvious hint." "I hope you appreciate my gift all the more, honeybee." "I do." She smiled. "But I don't think I could appreciate it any more than I already do. This is a dream come true. The most exciting day of my life. More exciting even than Delphi." "Be careful not to tell Apollo," Dionysos warned but he looked pleased. "Sure. If I ever run into him I'll remember it." As they stepped outside, the streets were empty. "Where is everybody?" "Oh, it must be time to crown the victors." "Victors? Of what? It's too cold to be July, isn't it?" "Not the Panathenaic Games." Dionysos smiled broadly. "It's not an athletic contest. Today..." He made a dramatic pause. "Is the last day of the Great Dionysia!" "Oh." Seren was disappointed. "So we can't go and watch any of the plays?" "I'm afraid it is too late for that. But I can show you my theatre and the temple with my cult image if you want."

Seren politely admired the simple wooden log that was supposed to be a representation of Dionysos and genuinely marvelled at the masks that had been dedicated below it. She patiently listened to Dionysos as he recounted the story of the very first Dionysia in Athens and how he used to mingle among the crowd every year to watch what the people of Athens had put on the stage in his honour. Once they arrived at the theatre it was already empty but it was a stunning sight all the same. Seeing everything intact and in its full glory filled Seren with unknown joy. The decorations, both permanent and temporary, were as colourful and flamboyant as the god they honoured. When they made it back to the streets of Athens, there were already groups of shouty drunk people roaming about. "Victory parties," Dionysos explained when he saw Seren's face. "In fact, we are about to attend one too. But first..." A purple mist shrouded the god's body and when it dispelled, his simple chiton had given way to a slutty ankle-length skirt that hung low enough to expose part of his bum cheeks, his arms, wrists, and ankles adorned with golden jewellery. "I know you practiced with the aulos. You're gonna be a flute girl." Seren startled. "What? No! I'm not nearly good enough!" Dionysos shrugged, making his golden bracelets clink. "I don't think I need to tell you that other kinds of women are not allowed at symposia. Unless you want to play the role of a hetaira..." "F-Flute girl is fine."

They arrived at a house that obviously belonged to someone well-to-do. "A group of revellers is about to show up here any minute. We'll join them to enter the symposion. Trust me, they're too drunk to realise we don't belong." Seren nodded nervously. "Now would be the time to ditch that respectable dress." Reluctantly, Seren freed herself of the protective extra layer of clothing and received the aulos flutes Dionysos handed her. The revellers did indeed show up. Loud and obnoxious, it was impossible not to notice them. A man in his late 20s or early 30s led the group. Half-naked and well into his cups, crowned with a wreath of ivy and violets, he was all but carried by two sturdy lads who looked like they were half-naked professionally. "Come!" Dionysos tugged on her arm and they danced along, she awkwardly, he with a grace and confidence she envied. The leader of the group pounded against the door and yelled for "Agathon". Seren's heart skipped a beat. "Is that... Alkibiades?!" she whispered to Dionysos. "The very same." "We are at THAT Symposium?!!" "We most certainly are." Seren gaped at the man who would eventually be the ruin of Athens by defecting to Sparta and then to Persia. He rattled the door, shouting "Agathon!" and dropped his single piece of clothing in the process, quickly picked up by his lads. Seren shrieked when the man suddenly leaned heavily on her, his arms reeling for support. Dionysos was quick to jump to his other side, taking most of the load off his bacchae. "AGATHON!" Alkibiades yelled once more, in the manner drunks yelled on their way home from the pub after closing hours. He kept demanding to see Agathon with a heavy tongue until a servant boy finally opened up and led them to the andron. Alkibiades managed to stand on his own, stumbling towards the host of the party while announcing how completely and utterly wasted he was. "Let's bring the bacchic spirit to this lame party!" Dionysos cheered. Seren gazed around with stars in her eyes. The room was bright with torches and the klinai were populated by men both young and old but all shirtless and all with crowns of ivy on their heads. She looked more closely at the guests while Alkibiades spoke to Agathon, probably congratulating him for his victory. But none of the symposiasts looked like any of the artworks she had seen of Plato. They were most likely created after his death anyway. "Soooo..." She leaned on Dionysos' shoulder. "Where is Plato?" Dionysos gestured at the kline at the very end of the room, occupied by two young men. "The dark-haired one."

"THAT is Plato?! I thought he'd be at least in his 30s!" Dionysos grinned a smug grin. "He wrote the Symposion in his late 30s. But this, honeybee, is the year the titular symposion actually took place. The first year of the 91st Olympiad. Or, as you would say, 416 BCE." Seren gaped at the young man seated on a couch with a blond youth. He had long, curly hair crowned with a wreath of ivy like all the symposiasts, young and old. A strong, Greek nose gave his face a distinct personality. Who would have thought the man Seren knew only from his words and artwork showing him as an old man could be so... hot. The blonde guy leaned over, whispering something to him. Maybe they were flirting. It wasn't anything unusual back in the day, Seren knew that. But they seemed to be about the same age. Shouldn't- "Play, flute girl," Dionysos nudged her with his elbow, "I'll clear the kline for you."

Seren watched him shimmy over to the pair and tried to remember how to play the aulos. She had practiced so much but right now it felt as if she knew nothing at all. Her idol, Plato, might be listening! Her cheeks burned as she blew into the wooden instrument, the tune an embarrassing version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Despite playing the role of a dancer, Dionysos sat down with the two no doubt aristocratic young men in his usual impudent manner. The blond youth's face turned sour. "What is the meaning of this?" "I came for the entertainment." "We are very well entertained by each other's company, thank you." Dionysos gave the blonde guy a cheeky grin. "Does your company agree?" He crawled on the kline until he basically sat on Plato's lap, prompting the young philosopher to blush. How cute! "Some people can be such a dull affair, talking about nothing but themselves all the time." The angry blond yanked Dionysos off Plato. "This was a philosophical symposion before you arrived!" "Yes. And to shame! You are celebrating a victory at the Dionysia. Where is the revelry?" "There are countless symposia all over Athens. Why did you have to come and ruin this one?" "You know exactly that I didn't ruin anything. But please, if you have any grievances take it up with my master. Alkibiades." "You know what? I will!" The blond aristocrat got up from the kline and grabbed Dionysos by the wrist, effectively pulling him off the kline. He dragged the god behind him as he made for the door, leaving Plato all alone on his bed of colourful cushions. Dionysos winked at her as they passed and it was at that moment that Seren noticed that his "friend" was the only one wearing laurel instead of ivy. Did they just... cock-block Apollon? But not all is lost, she reasoned, if Plato likes Apollon, he likes blondes, right? Right?

Shyly, Seren sat down next to the man whose teachings she still hadn't figured out. And maybe neither did he. He was so young and handsome. She was close enough to smell his heavy perfume and either oil or sweat or both made his chest gleam in the firelight. It really was quite hot in here. He didn't fit the stereotype of the philosopher at all, being so young and handsome and quite brawny. But no matter how hot he was, his physical appearance was dwarfed by the beauty of his brain and thoughts. His intelligence was that much hotter. That being said, Seren liked to think she would be less flustered if the man were old enough to be her father. But he was not. He must be about her own age. "We got rid of the other flute girl." "Wa-What?" "You must know there were already celebrations with heavy drinking last night. Surely you played at Alkibiades' place or some other house?" Seren nodded timidly. "So Pausanias suggested we refrain from drinking tonight and we ended up sending away the flute girl as well. A shame, because before you came in, it was all boring speeches of the old men assembled here. I enjoy the delightful harmony of music much, much more." "You don't like philosophy?" "Of course I do, but not at a drinking party celebrating the Dionysia. You're not from here, are you?" "Ahm, no?" "I don't think I've met a Spartan flute girl. Most of them come from Peiraieús." Seren laughed nervously. What the fuck, Hermes?! "I hope it's not a problem?" she mumbled. "No, no. I'm just surprised. Do you have a name, dear?" "I... I am Seren." "Seiren? What a fitting nickname! My name is-" "I know who you are!" Seren gushed, "I-I-I admire you greatly, Plato!" "Oh?" To Seren's great relief he smiled. "So you have seen me compete?" "Uh, yes, of course!" Seren would be thrilled to see him at any competition, really. "It's just a silly name my wrestling coach gave me. To intimidate my rivals, he says." "I like it!" "You like my broad shoulders, Seiren?" Seren blushed. "No, that's not what I, uh..." "It's all right. Lots of women admire them." "Ahahaha." Was he flirting with her? Or just bragging? "You may be an outstanding athlete," she said, "But I admire your words even more." "My poetry?" Now it was his time to blush. "Did you play it?" "Not yet." Seren decided to be bold, "People want to hear the same songs, Sappho, Pindar and the like. But... But maybe you can teach me how to play yours?" "No I... I burned them all." "Why would you do that?" "I wanted to focus better on my studies. Maybe I made the wrong call. Mousaios, the guy who just left? He said music is like medicine and can create harmony between opposites, that a musical education is helpful in the study of philosophy. Ah, I don't know. I don't want to bore you, flute girl." "You're not boring me, Plato. Please, tell me your thoughts!" And then, all of a sudden, a large drunken group walked into the room and joined the party, Dionysos among them. There was noise everywhere, and Plato leaned in very close and asked: "What do you say, Seiren. Shall we make our excuses and leave?"

to be continued...

#Quarantined Bacchae #The Last Bacchae #fanfiction #The Last Bacchae fanfiction #Linda Sejic #fanart #The Last Bacchae fanart #Seren Calvert #Dionysos #Hermes #Platon #Plato #Apollon #Apollo #Seren x Plato epic love story for the ages? #Plato x Apollo missed romance #I hope you have a good laugh #written with love

[peaceoutofthepieces]

Sink Or Swim

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~^~

Thursday, 18:02

Song: Daði Freyr - Think About Things

Lucas finds himself pleased at how easy it is to pick Sander out from a crowd. If the white hair doesn’t give it away, the jacket does; if the jacket isn’t enough, the laughter is; and if that fails, the boyfriend is always a good confirmation.

Robbe is the one who spots Lucas first, wrapped up in his usual brown coat and then Sander, who whispers something in Robbe’s ear that makes him roll his eyes. Lucas’s heart clenches. Fondness and jealousy war inside him and tangle into a tight knot. A thin thread of fear completes it. He always marvels at them, at the openness of their affection, and yet he still finds himself casting his gaze around for the onlookers who don’t hold the same respect. Seeing them so free of any guards only makes Lucas’s heighten.

Especially when Sander turns to look at him, smile wide and eyes bright, but with faint shadows lingering underneath. He holds his hand out when Lucas is a few feet away and Lucas clasps it in greeting, allowing Sander to tug him forward into a half hug. “Hey.”

His tone is cheerful, light, and still Lucas does a discreet examination, noticing the tousled hair and drooped shoulders and worrying, until he catches sight of the faint bruise not quite tucked away under his collar. He moves his gaze to Robbe, who hasn’t unwound his arm from the other’s waist and holds a blush high in his cheeks, but seems pleased and unbothered, and he understands. He extends the same greeting to Robbe as he internally berates himself, remembering how his mother would react under the same scrutiny. Sander is the only one capable of knowing what he feels and what he’s up for, and it isn’t Lucas’s place to play doctor. Clearly, even the blonde’s boyfriend has learned that.

“So, why exactly have I been invited to third wheel for the day?” Lucas asks.

Robbe huffs a laugh. “I think that’ll actually be me today. I’m not exactly part of this plan.”

“You’re always part of my plan,” Sander dismisses easily, ignorant to the blush he earns in response as he grins excitedly at Lucas. “How do you feel about an actual lesson in art, protégé?”

“Wait, seriously?” Lucas raises a brow. He’d assumed, when Sander had reached out to him, that it was art-themed. But even now, he isn’t sure what exactly to expect.

“That is assuming you don’t already know what you’re doing,” Robbe amends. “How much practice have you had with graffiti?”

Lucas’s eyes almost bulge out of his head. “Really?”

Sander purses his lips, amused, as Robbe raises his brows. “Is that a lot, or…?”

“None. I haven’t done any. Yet.”

“Ahh,” Sander rubs his hands together, beaming. “Then today’s your lucky day. Come.”

Lucas doesn’t need to be told twice. He follows them closely down the sidewalk, the two in constant contact but never excluding, always trying to invite Lucas in. Lucas laughs at their teasing and nods at their explanations and listens raptly to their tales and only feels his excitement grow. Art is something he’s been neglecting, recently, aside from a few flurries of rushed sketches, but the passion has seemed to revive full force by just being in Sander’s presence. His love for the subject is obvious in every exaggerated word and extravagant gesture of hands, and Lucas is effectively entranced. Graffiti was never a medium he’d considered seriously, but he’s always admired. He’s more than aware of Sander’s talent for it, and admits that a lesson from such a person is not a bad way to start off.

It also makes him feel that bit more insufficient. He can’t possibly match up to either of these boys, be it in bravery or talent or both. It dims his excitement, just slightly.

But his spirits are quickly revived as they finally make it to their destination. Sander hands him a mask made from black cloth from his pocket and waits as he and Robbe tuck them over their ears. Only then does he don his own with a wink before rapping his knuckles rhythmically on the garage door.

The inside space is much bigger than Lucas expects, opening up to reveal rows of large containers, all decorated with at least one piece of art. Sander guides Lucas and Robbe through them, indicating artists he ‘knows’, complete pieces he’s captured while they were still in progress, and a few small things of his own tucked away behind new layers.

“Take a good look around,” Sander says, turning to wink at Robbe. Lucas only has a few seconds to be confused before he adds, “You might find the love of your life here.”

Lucas raises his brows. “This is where the two of you met?”

“Met is a strong word,” Robbe says, rolling his eyes at Sander. “I didn’t even see him.”

“No, he was too focused on his girlfriend at the time,” Sander agrees lightly.

“But he claims he saw me and it was love at first sight.” Robbe reaches up to pinch his boyfriend’s cheek, and Lucas allows a small laugh. “Even though he could barely see my face.”

“Didn’t need to,” Sander shrugs. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

Robbe comes to a halt and tugs at Sander’s hand, drawing him around to face him. He pulls down Sander’s mask after tugging away his own, leaning in for a short kiss. It takes Lucas longer than it should to avert his gaze. He just doesn’t think he can ever get used to it.

While actually watching them, he doesn’t think he could ever do that. He doesn’t think he could ever be that.

But he wants to.

When he looks away, his gaze catches on a bright patch hidden amongst a cloud of grayscale. His feet carry him towards it on their own accord, and it takes a few moments for him to realise what it is. It’s a patchwork rainbow of colours, blended together but with dark, specific lines cutting through and outlining it to form a heart, in its scientific detail. Lucas would scoff, if there wasn’t something about it that had ridden him speechless in awe, hand reaching out to brush over the dried paint.

He doesn’t notice Sander until he’s right at his shoulder, then he jumps when he speaks.

“Huh?” Lucas twists to look at him.

“Nice piece,” Sander repeats. “I don’t actually remember seeing it before.”

“You don’t know who did it, then?”

“No. Even the style isn’t familiar.”

Lucas nods and lets his hand fall away, following when Sander sets off in a new direction. He’s led to a blank spot on one of the containers, with a crate of spray paint already waiting at the top of the short steps. Excitement bubbles back up in him as he jogs up after Sander, only to turn back in confusion when he realises Robbe hasn’t followed. He catches sight of him fist-bumping another guy in greeting, over a head taller than him and built like a wall. Sander follows his gaze and snorts at the picture, giving a little wave when Robbe turns his gaze on him suspiciously.

Then Sander turns back to the space and rubs his hands together. “Okay. Have you ever done any spray-painting before?”

“I haven’t even held a can.”

Sander immediately picks a can out and smacks it into his hand. “Then today is really your lucky day. We’re gonna start with a neutral layer then, just to get you used to how it feels. You can try with some vague shapes just to practice lines?”

Lucas nods, trying not to appear too lost already. Sander smiles slightly, anyway, and picks up a can of his own, giving it a vigorous shake as he finally tugs his mask back up over his face. Lucas copies him, getting used to the hold of it, adjusting his grip a few times until he feels more comfortable. When Sander uncaps his Lucas does the same. Then he watches as Sander sprays a quick, messy wave downwards in example.

When Lucas moves to copy him, Sander quickly catches his hand. “Woah, woah. First lesson—always make sure the nozzle is pointing the right way, yeah? We don’t want you losing an eye. Jens will never like me.”

Lucas flushes, turns the can around the right way, and hesitantly presses down when Sander nods. White covers gray in a sudden, heavy stream, and he carefully moves his hand in a small circle. He’s shading this in under Sander’s mildly impressed—but still watchful—gaze before the end of his words sink in.

“What has Jens got to do with spray-painting?”

Sander glances at him, then shrugs, raising his own can again and looping a circle through Lucas’s. “Not the painting, just you. You’re his new favourite, aren’t you? And he already didn’t seem impressed that we knew each other. Last thing I ever want to do is prove Jens right.”

“You don’t get along?” Lucas asks carefully.

“Oh no, we do. We just also like the healthy sort of competition we have going on. He acts like he’s annoyed and I annoy him a little more. It’s nice. Works well.”

Lucas smiles in mild confusion. “Why, though? You’re both really cool, you probably have a few obscure things in common. Wouldn’t you rather be closer?”

Another shrug. “It’s not completely up to me. I don’t know that Jens is acting, all the time.”

“What, you think you annoy him?”

Sander examines the little symbol they’ve created as he searches for a response. “I think I’m always worthy of concern, in his eyes. He’s very protective of Robbe, and I respect that,” he settles on.

It doesn’t entirely satisfy Lucas. “He doesn’t need to protect Robbe from you.”

Sander turns towards him and offers, from the new curve of his cheeks, what Lucas assumes is a smile. “No?”

Lucas shakes his head. “No one loves Robbe more than you. It’s not possible.”

That seems to brighten the other boy, slightly, and Lucas wonders if Jens is even aware of this doubt in their relationship. It seems unlikely. If he knew the way it weighed on the blonde, Lucas is sure he’d quickly set him right. It saddens Lucas, to see the tightly-drawn curl of Sander’s shoulders as he ducks down to collect a new can and doesn’t quite meet his eye as he rises again. He’s sure Jens wouldn’t like it, either.

“Robbe told you, right? About my…”

The reason for the tension suddenly becomes more clear. Lucas hates that the other boy can’t even say it. “Yeah. I’m sorry if you didn’t want me to know, I wasn’t meaning to pry—“

“No,” Sander cuts him off, raising his free hand and giving a small shake of his head. “I told Robbe it was okay. I’m sorry that I couldn’t explain it myself. It’s usually...not an issue so quickly after I meet someone.”

“It isn’t an issue,” Lucas says softly, simply.

Sander shakes the new can and watches his own movements closely. “I would have just liked you to get to know me first. I understand if you—if it changes how you see me.”

Lucas tilts his head and sets a gentle hand on Sander’s arm, waiting until the other boy looks at him. There is, Lucas realises, a vulnerability in him that he hadn’t noticed in any of their previous meetings. A dull, contained sadness behind the eccentric persona. It strikes a chord more familiar in Lucas’s chest than the initial one, the one that had seen an outsider and an extravagant and an artist. Now he sees more clearly—a struggler and a fighter and a savior.

The only thing that has changed, in Lucas’s opinion of Sander, is that he’s ten times more interesting than he’d originally thought. Lucas views him as more of a kindred spirit now than before.

“How I see you,” Lucas muses. “You mean as the scarily talented, intimidatingly cool, older guy who is literally teaching me one of the most awesome art-forms ever right now? Yeah, Sander, it’s real disappointing.”

He shakes his head, disbelieving, and is gratified at the small laugh Sander lets out in response.

“Wait,” Sander teases, “do I have my first fanboy?”

Lucas scoffs, then nods his head behind them. “I doubt I’m the first.”

The mask works at hiding his cheeks, but Lucas still sees his neck reddening as he looks over his shoulder at Robbe. His eyes seem to brighten and soften at once when he finally catches sight of him. Lucas realises then how deep their affection actually goes. It throws him, how clear it is suddenly, how little Sander does to hide it, how easily Robbe feels his eyes and turns to reciprocate even though there shouldn’t be any way for him to know. They are that in tune, that in sync, that it baffles Lucas to watch them. He can’t imagine anyone ever looking at him like that.

Aren’t you lonely?

Lucas shakes the memory way and finds himself admitting, “My mom is bipolar, too.”

Sander looks back at him instantly.

“No one else here knows that, so. You’re the first,” he continues, awkwardly, pointlessly, stupidly. Where is he going with this?

It doesn’t matter. He just needed to say it.

“Oh,” Sander says. Then his tone softens. “Is that why you moved here?”

Lucas averts his gaze and gives a small, jerky nod. “My dad...he made us. He couldn’t—no, he wouldn’t stay. I miss her. Everyday. It doesn’t make me love her any less. I just miss my mother.”

Sander’s shoulders slump, but before he can say anything else Robbe is climbing the steps and joining them. “How’s it going?”

Sander shifts his gaze to his boyfriend and Lucas feels the tension holding his spine seep away. Robbe and Sander pull their masks down again in tandem, sharing nothing more than a quick peck. It’s just enough of a distraction for Lucas to make himself look busy, as he sprays the hasty shape of a designer-heart on the container, next to their circles. Then he does a careful ‘R + S’ inside.

Robbe makes a small noise that may be a cheer as Sander snorts. “We have a natural here. I think he might even have something to teach me.”

Lucas turns to him with a retort ready on his tongue and stops when he sees Sander’s serious, but warm gaze. He realises that it isn’t about the painting.

He reaches out and knocks Sander’s shoulder fondly, smiling to himself when Sander squeezes his in response.

#van der stoffels #vds #wtfock #skam nl #sink or swim #vds season fic #sos clip

[goldenretriever-nicknelson]

Blurbmas ~ Day 4 (TH)

gif not mine

A/n: What do you know the powers of writing have blessed me and I was able to write it! Happy day 4 of blurbmas! I got this idea from a random prompt list and ran with it so I hope you like it. 

WC: 1.4k 

Warnings: (my attempt at) enemies to lovers trope, swearing maybe (?) and fluffy fluff fluff 

12 days of blurbmas!

“Remind me why I’m here again?” 

Your best friend sighed and dragged you by the hand. “Because you are not sitting in bed all day and watching Christmas movies, again.” 

“Z that’s the best part of Christmas!” You complained, dragging your feet as she pulled you towards the house. It was beautifully decorated from top to bottom with lights and Christmas decorations. 

“You wouldn’t want to miss your secret admirer would you?” Zendaya smirked and turned to you, stopping in her tracks. She noticed the blush on your cheeks that had little to do with the chill of the weather and her smirk grew wider. 

It had been an inside secret on set and it had started a few weeks ago when someone left a letter taped to your dressing room door. It was a simple letter stating that whoever had written it liked you and thought you were beautiful. 

At first you had thought it was some practical joke and even though their words had made you feel warm inside, you didn’t let it get to you and chose to ignore it. A few days later a delivery guy showed up with a bouquet of flowers, pink roses; your favourite. 

And after that the gifts and letters just kept coming, each one making you blush more and more. You had your suspicions of who it could be, you’d even considered Z at one point but she’d assured you it wasn’t. You knew she knew who it was and you’d been trying to get her to tell you but she wouldn’t budge and only gave you vague clues that bugged you further. 

“It’s someone you won’t expect.” 

“You’ll never guess them.” 

Even Tom, your co-star and king of getting on your nerves, knew something with the little smirks he’d give you after filming or when he’d see you find a gift or a letter. The fact he might know only irritated you further. 

It could’ve been Harrison but he was too busy with his own career taking off to come by as frequently. Maybe it was Harry but you’d always seen him as a little brother and the things in those letters did not read sibling friendly. 

A few days ago you had received what was supposedly the last letter. It asked you to meet them at the party which Tom and Haz were throwing and where you were headed right now. Only there was one condition, you had to wear your ugliest christmas sweater and they would wear theirs so you could finally find each other.

You had resided to not going, not wanting to be the butt of a big practical joke or worse finding out it was someone you didn’t want it to be. Receiving all the gifts of affection had made you feel like you were living in some romance novel or a fairytale and you didn’t want to ruin the happy feeling you got in your chest whenever you looked back at them. 

“Come on Y/n!” 

Without realising Zendaya had walked ahead to the party leaving you no choice but to follow. You sighed and wrapped your coat tighter around yourself as you walked, not wanting anyone to see the ugliness of your sweater. 

As you finally stepped inside a happy sigh left your lips at the feel of the warmth, you could hear chatting and laughter coming from different rooms and christmas music playing in the background. Fortunately it wasn’t as loud or as crazy as you had thought. 

Harrison was the first to greet you both, giving you hugs and offering to take your coats. You shook your head and held it tighter around your body. Haz gave you a confused look as he took Zendaya’s coat and laughed.

“Okay whatever suits you i guess.” He chuckled and hung Z’s coat up before going back to the main party room where it seemed to be the loudest. You blushed as you followed him, Zendaya going to get drinks. 

You were already starting to feel hot in your coat with the body heat and the fireplace roaring as well. People were dancing and celebrating around you. You recognised most people from on set and waved to them as you passed, unsure of where you were actually going. That was until you spotted a familiar smug looking face in the crowd. 

Yours and Tom's eyes met and it looked like he was about to yell something to you but you didn’t give him the chance and quickly walked in the opposite direction. There was no way he was going to see you in this hideous sweater because you knew the mockery would never end. 

Just as you hightailed it into the kitchen, you bumped directly into Z who ended up spilling the drinks all over your coat. You sighed and looked down at the stain of wine that was seeping into the fabric of your coat. 

“Shit Y/n I’m so sorry.” You shook your head, letting her know it was fine as you smiled smally at her. “You should probably take it off.” 

Somehow you would have thought Zendaya had planned it as she helped you take off your coat, assuring you she would take care of it. You crossed your arms tightly over your chest, trying your best to hide your sweater as you walked back into the main room. 

You felt like everyone’s eyes were on you, like that scene in the movie where everyone’s waiting for you to do something but you knew it was probably just your nerves. Your secret admirer was meant to be in this crowd of people or maybe they hadn’t arrived yet but either way you felt very on alert. 

It felt stupid to have feelings for someone you didn’t even know the identity of but their letters had made you think with every word sinking into your heart. Whoever this person was, knew you and their gifts proved as much. Your favorite flowers, chocolate and candy and more. The past few weeks they had made you feel special, like you were the only one in the world they wanted. 

You found a comfy chair by the fire and reread their last letter, tracing your fingers over the words. You had your wishes of who it would be even if your thoughts were stupid, you knew it couldn’t be since you were sure they hated you but your heart still hoped. 

Someone cleared their throat in front of you, drawing your attention away from the letter. You quickly tucked it away and blushed as you heard a familiar voice. 

“Nice sweater.” 

The blush on your cheeks was so immense you thought you might have been catching a fever as you looked up. The first thing you saw was a bright red sweater that had a Santa with sunglasses on, bold text reading “have a rockin’ christmas.” You let out a giggle and your heart started to lift with hope, this must be him; your secret admirer. 

“You too.” You giggled and took a deep breath before finally looking up at your mystery admirer. And there he was with his messy brunette curls, matching honey brown eyes that melted your heart and that smug smile. The closer you looked you could see a hint of shyness behind that famous smile. 

“Thanks darling. You got my letter then?” 

Your mouth was slightly agape as you nodded, making Tom chuckle and unless you were mistaken a blush spread across his cheeks, matching the colour of his sweater. 

“It was you?” 

You stood up and looked him in the eyes, meeting his shy but loving gaze. He looked down and bit his lip before nodding. 

“You’re disappointed aren’t you?” 

As if on instinct you took his hand in yours and squeezed, shaking your head. Tom looked up hopefully and smiled, giving your hand a squeeze back. 

“I’m not disappointed. I was hoping it would be you but I thought you- um that you hated me.” You blushed and giggled, now knowing it was far from the truth. 

“I could never hate you. It’s the opposite actually.” 

You smiled wide and pulled Tom closer, making him chuckle as his hand slid around your waist. Both of you leaned in until your lips met in a perfect collision. The kiss was short and sweet but you knew from the feeling in your heart that it was right. 

“It’s the opposite for me too.” 

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[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 09

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, slight angst

; Word Count: 4.2k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: A Christmas present for you all! This has been my favourite chapter of Flower so far so I hope you all enjoy it too! Please reblog if you enjoyed and let me know what you think in a comment or ask!

; Flower Masterpost

-

The knock on your front door causes you to pause, clothes in your hand as you put them into your washing machine. You’d been frantically cleaning for the last hour, tidying up your already clean apartment to make sure that it all looked good. When you’d run out of stuff to clean, you’d resorted to washing your clothes early. 

Just for something to do while you waited.

But now he’s here. Hoseok is here. At your apartment, for the first time. You’d been to his a few times now but he’d never been to yours. That had been your fault because you simply just hadn’t invited him. It hadn’t entered your head to do that. Not until Chungha got exasperated and pointed out that perhaps he’d like to see where you lived too.

She must have been right because Hoseok had eagerly accepted and so here you were. You’d finished work an hour and a half ago, the time spent since waiting for him to finish and head home to grab his stuff before coming to yours had given you plenty of time to fulminate.

Not only was Hoseok coming over to yours for the first time...but he was going to spend the night. He’d come up with a plan to drive you both to an amusement park a few hours away tomorrow, but it required getting up pretty early. As a result, you’d just blurted out that he could stay with you.

You could tell that he’d been a little shocked at your proposition, not because you were suggesting he stay but because it was you who was suggesting it. He probably hadn’t expected you to propose that for a while yet.

Especially not when you had plans to let him sleep in bed with you too. You’d discussed it with Chungha and Soyeon in depth, wondering whether you should make him sleep out on the couch for the night. They’d been adamant that you couldn’t do that given you were dating, and you’d been together for two months so why not just let him sleep next to you?

If he remained as polite as he’d been, he wouldn’t be putting any moves on you. 

The easy way you’d said yes to it and suggested it to him told you, and everyone else who knew you, that you really wanted him to stay over. To sleep next to you. Honestly, it had one of your fantasies. Alongside the sexual ones, sometimes you just thought about him holding you in bed, cuddling with him.

Tonight you were going to get to experience that.

Quickly putting the rest of your clothes into the machine, you pause for a moment as you wonder if it’s stupid of you to be washing your clothes. But you push the thought of the way as you add powder and detergent before turning it on. A final glance around your small apartment lets you see that everything is as clean as it’s going to get and you take in a deep breath, smoothing down your shirt.

Opening the door slowly, you smile at Hoseok as he stands there waiting, a backpack over his shoulder and a bright smile on his own face. “Hi...err...sorry, I was putting my washing on. For some reason. Err...come in.”

He laughs softly as he enters, toeing off his shoes and carefully placing them on the rack you have set up next to the door without even being asked to. Moving forward through the tiny hall, you gesture to the living room and attached kitchen with a nervous movement.

“Errm so...this is the living room, obviously. And the kitchen. The door you just passed is the bathroom and the other door is my bedroom. It’s not very big,” You feel yourself heat up in embarrassment as your hands twist together. “I mean...I can still barely afford it but it’s home at least.”

Hoseok looks around slowly, eyes darting everywhere as he takes in the decor of the place. You weren’t allowed to put things on the wall so the only decorations were on the bookcase in the corner, your television stand, your couch, the coffee table and the drawers next to the bookcase. Looking around, you take it in the same way he does.

A fluffy throw in slate grey is draped over the couch, covering both the back and the seat cushions while an array of interesting cushions and plushies cover it. Your Pusheen plush sits in pride of place but there’s also a bao bun with a smiley face, an overly cartoony calico cat stretched out along the back and a Jack Skellington face on the couch as well. 

Other plushies dot the room as well, from the set of Pokémon on the bookcase which included all the Eeveelutions you’d carefully collected over the years and various Pokéball’s to random cute ones and even a Pac-Man. Amongst all of that, was other stuff you’d collected; a range of animal shaped hand creams, a bunch of tiny Harry Potter chibi snow globes, some Funko POP figures featuring Disney characters along with a Totoro clock.

Random lights were currently turned on around the room including the PlayStation logo light, the Mario Mushroom light and a Yoshi egg. Part of you cringed as you took in how...colourful and pretty everything was compared to Hoseok. It looked so...delicate next to him.

He was stood there in black ripped jeans with a Guns n Roses shirt on, his tattoos the only thing that matched the room really. And yet he didn’t look disgusted by it, instead he just looked fascinated. Moving forward, he looked over the various books, Blu-Ray’s and video games you’d collected over the years along with the tiny Totoro figures that almost made up a little set.

“Oh my god...this is literally you in a room.” He marvelled, eyes wide as he took in the light shade that covered the light bulb hanging in the room. It was simple, just a curved circle but it was navy blue with tiny circles cut into little rockets and planets. When you turned it on, which was rarely, it made the room light up with a space theme.

“Err...yeah...I’m sorry, I know it’s a lot.” You apologise, rubbing at your forearm as you feel the swirl of negative feelings within you start to bubble. Already you’re regretting letting him into your home, into your safe space. This was where you felt most comfortable, where you felt happy. You only let people in that you trusted, and after two months you were pretty sure you could.

But it was still overwhelming, letting someone into the very private part of you and letting them see what made you happy.

“Don’t apologise, this is great. You’ve seen my place, it’s barren compared to this. I like it. It’s nice. Feels...cosy.” Hoseok said with a bright grin, white teeth flashing as you glanced at you before looking into your kitchen with eager curiosity.

The cuteness extends into there too, sweet woodland themed animal print oven gloves draped over the oven handle while a whole array of cute magnets cover the fridge along with pictures and important notices. A Totoro egg timer sits next to a little polka dot flower pot on the window sill while a cat themed calendar is propped up on the microwave.

A soft meow combined with pressure on his lower legs causes Hoseok to jump slightly, looking down before he grins even bigger. “Oh hello there! You must be Kasumi! Your mommy has told me so much about you.” He croons in a high pitched voice, the kind people only use on babies or animals.

But you can see the delight in his eyes as she sits in front of him, her cream fluffy coat combining with her dark paws and ears alongside astonishingly azure eyes to make her look like the prettiest cat ever. You were pretty sure that she was a ragdoll cat, which meant it was even more shocking that you’d found her in a shelter as a kitten. 

She observes Hoseok for a moment longer before meowing sweetly at him, pushing up to butt his hand with her head and he coos as he crouches down, stroking and talking absolute nonsense to her. You get the sense that he’s just fallen in love at first sight with your cat, the smile on his face bigger than anything you’d seen as she flops to the floor, belly presented and batting at his hand playfully.

“I’m gonna steal your cat.” He teases, looking up at you with playful eyes and you snort, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Over my dead body. She loves me anyway, right Kasumi?” At her name, her ears twitch and she looks at you upside down, letting out a soft mewl as her loud purrs reach you. You grin and crouch down, arms open as you make kissing noises to her and she immediately jumps up, rushing over to you. Standing back up with her in your arms, you smile smugly at Hoseok and wonder why on earth you’re suddenly competing with him over the affection of your own cat.

It looks like the thought runs through his head as well as he shakes it before walking over to you, dropping his backpack past you onto the couch before he places his hands on your waist. Leaning close, you feel your shoulders rising at his attention and he chuckles quietly.

“I guess I’ve got some competition then, huh?” He murmurs before kissing you, the gesture ever so gentle. It’s nothing intense, yet it fires you up in ways you’d never really considered before. Here, in your home, with your cat in your arms and your boyfriend kissing you, you feel happier than you can remember in recent memory. It feels...almost normal.

Hoseok pulls away quickly, smiling as he looks you up and down with a raised brow. “Can I go change if you’re in your pyjamas already?”

His tone is ever so slightly teasing and you look away, pressing your face into Kasumi’s soft fur to avoid the embarrassment.

“Yeah...sorry. I don’t...I don’t see the point in wasting clothes when I’m at home. Pyjamas or die you know?” He snorts in response, kissing your cheek before grabbing his backpack again.

“I get it, I’ll be back in a minute.”

-

It turns out that Hoseok’s pyjamas are just...his normal lounge clothes apparently. A pair of plain black sweatpants is combined with an overly large Star Wars shirt, a few holes in both items that cause you to raise a brow in amusement. A far cry from the matching set of pyjamas you’re wearing; a set of Marauder's Map leggings combined with a black shirt and a gold Hogwarts crest.

“You can tell our personalities just from what we’re wearing.” He looks up from his phone, brows raised before looking between you both with a lopsided smile. Without a word, he walks over to you and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you to him tightly.

Body stiffening automatically without you even meaning, you force yourself to relax in his embrace. You still weren’t used to the open affection Hoseok lavished on you, the casual touches of his not normal enough for you to accept openly like you did with your friends and family. But you were getting there.

You just wished that you could extend the open affection to him in the same way. It was hard though, you weren’t naturally open to physical gestures like that. Normally you just accepted them, but you wanted to discover to be open with him.

Because as you melted into his arms, you realised that you really liked this.

“What are you trying to say, huh? That I’m ratty and old while you’re young and put together?” He teases, squeezing tightly while rocking you from side to side, putting just enough pressure that you have to stagger back as you giggle against his chest.

“No! I mean...you are older than me…” 

“Excuse you! I’m only two years older than you! Hardly Hugh Hefner here.” Hoseok protests, his voice loud but you can hear the playfulness in it. It makes you happy to hear that, knowing that he’s going along with you.

“You’re right...you don’t have as much money as him. I’m missing out.” At that, he leans back enough for you to see his face, his jaw dropped while he tries to stop a smile from spreading. It causes you to grin in response, squeezing him tightly in response before you press your face back to his chest. “It’s okay though, you’re pretty.”

“Wow...okay. Does that make me the Playboy Bunny in this situation?” You snort, hands lowering without even meaning to and making him jerk in surprise as you squeeze his ass without even thinking. The very ass that your friends had teased you about weeks ago.

“How do you look with bunny ears and a tail?” 

He moves away at that, eyeing you suspiciously as he bites his lower lip, the flesh disappearing between his teeth. “Let’s never find out, shall we?”

“Awww. There’s people who find that kinky. They get dressed up as animals and stuff. Sometimes it’s just...they just wanna dress up but sometimes they dress up and it’s like...they wanna have sex in those suits.” Hoseok just stares at you in disgust, looking away before nodding slowly.

“Sounds great. I’m never doing that. Just want you to know,” he pauses, looking up at the ceiling before cringing and shrugging. You’re suddenly reminded of that woman trying alcohol meme as he makes a considering face. “Okay maybe I’d try it once if you were into it but I don’t think it’s for me.”

You steadfastly avoid his face at that, body heating rapidly at the thought of him thinking about having sex with you knew he probably had. If you were thinking that way about him, then there was no one way someone like him wasn’t thinking that way too. And it was a very strange sensation to know that he wanted you like that.

So you just gestured to the couch, watching as he sits down and scoops Kasumi into his lap. A quick phone call gets you food ordered from your favourite Chinese place, Hoseok stating his preferences to you as he flicks through Netflix and strokes the fluff ball he’s holding.

The next few hours pass by in a food coma bliss of delicious food combined with both of you starting a show on Amazon instead called The Boys. It had surprised you both with how violent and gory it was yet you enjoyed it thoroughly, much to Hoseok’s amusement. Maybe he thought your love of cute things meant that you didn’t like that kind of stuff but you enjoyed it just as much.

You both made it through three episodes before you found yourself getting tired, it was nearing 11pm and as lame as it made you sound...you were someone who went to sleep a bit earlier than that. It amused Hoseok when your head started to loll onto his shoulder, the pleasant warmth and comfort of his body as you cuddled up together lulling you into drowsiness.

Which was why when the episode finally ended, he stood up and gently pulled you up as well. “Come on sleepy, I think it’s time for bed. Sometime’s tired.” He was using that voice that he’d used on Kasumi earlier, and part of you wanted to protest it but you were too drowsy to bother. So instead, you went around the room after shaking his hands off to turn off all the lights.

Hoseok went to the bathroom while you did that, telling you that he was just going to go to the toilet and brush his teeth. By the time you had finished cleaning everything up and throwing the empty Chinese cartons away, he was standing a little awkwardly outside your bedroom.

Smiling, you opened the door and let him in. “You can go in.”

He gave a little smile before heading in and pausing as he looked around once more. Your room was barely big enough for the double bed in it, one side pressed up against the wall while a bedside table rested next to it. A wardrobe was next to that and a chest of drawers along with a mirror. 

“Err...sorry...it’s a little cramped.” You say quietly, rubbing your arms nervously once more and he just shakes his head at you with a small sigh that sounds more amused than you’d expected.

“You need to stop apologising for everything. It’s fine, honestly. Don’t stress yourself over it.” He heads over to the bed and looked down at it, teeth clanking against his lip ring as it looked down. “I’m gonna guess that you sleep on this side?” 

Pointing at the side closest to the bedside table, you go to nod before realise he’s being rhetorical. It was blatantly obvious which side you slept on, given the other side was covered in a large array of plushies. From more Pokémon to a Star Wars teddy, Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon, a cute cat face, a fluffy llama and so much more. 

The side Hoseok would be sleeping on was covered in them and you cover your face in dual embarrassment and horror, realising that you’d blatantly forgotten to clean it off for him. “Err...yeah. You can just...put them on the floor or something. Sorry, I mean…” 

You cut yourself off from apologising again at his look but he just smiles and shrugs. “It’s okay, I’ll sort it out.”

Quickly, you leave the room to prevent any further embarrassment for you. Sometimes you really wondered why Hoseok stayed with you given how different you both obviously were. The thought made your chest hurt and you pressed as it, frowning as you did your own nightly routine. It took a little longer than Hoseok’s as you had a whole skincare routine to go through and so ten minutes later you walked back in with a face mask on.

He was lying on his back, pillows propped up behind him as he looked through his phone and you noted with amusement the little ice cream plush that was still situated next to him. In fact...he made the most bizarre image laid there.

Your bedding was white, with tiny rainbows ending in clouds interspersed with yellow stars and little cartoons unicorns and pegasus that jumped and frolicked. You liked your bedding to look as cute as everything else, only it looked childish with him in it now.

His tattoos look at complete odds with it all, dark hair pushed back and making him look even hotter than ever with it all messed up. He looked dark and brooding in your bed, anathema to your bedding and it was both adorable and bizarrely attractive. 

A sudden thought rushes through your head that one day, if everything goes right, you’ll be having sex with him in that bed. Cheeks heating, you quickly rush forward and sit on the bed carefully, plugging your phone into the charger before looking back over at him.

“Do you need your phone charging too? I have another cable and plug.” You offer and he lets out a noise, head turning towards you before his eyes finally pull away. When he finally notices your face, he jerks away in shock before his face contorts and he squints at you.

“The fuck is on your face? Are you cosplaying Michael Myers or something?” Hoseok mutters, leaning forward a bit and looking you over. You try not to laugh, not wanting the face mask to move and you push at his face lightly.

“Don’t make me laugh, you’ll ruin it. It’s just a face mask, my night routine.” Laying back on the bed, he pulls a face at you.

“You do that every night? Isn’t it tiring?” You shake your head, checking in your Twitter feed as you wait for the time to pass until you can take it off again. “Is that why your skin always looks so pretty? Or is that makeup?”

“Hoseok! I haven’t worn makeup the last three times we’ve met up. You haven’t noticed between that and makeup?” He just stares at you for a moment before shrugging, his hand suddenly running along your back in slow and steady movements. It feels like electricity moves through your body as he does so, but you can’t tell any sexual intention behind it.

“I feel like no matter what I say here...I’m going to get myself in trouble. So...I will be smart and say that you look beautiful with and without makeup.” His smile is boylike then, making his entire face look far younger than he actually is and you sighed softly in defeat, shaking your head before checking the clock on your bedside table. “Why does your clock look like that?”

You pull off the face mask and throw it into the small trash can underneath the table, gently patting at your face to get the excess moisture to absorb. Glancing at the clock, you note it’s unusual shape and size while the orange numbers glow.

“It’s one of those clocks that simulate sunrise to help make it easier to wake up in the morning. I struggle with feeling tired and in winter I never want to get up. Err...I tend to get a little...or a lot...depressed with it. So I got this because daylight is meant to make you happier so ten minutes before my alarm goes off, it starts to light up and simulate a sunrise. It works pretty well in fairness.” You finish, rubbing your cheeks before grabbing the next step of your routine.

“Really? Huh. Cool.” He hands you his phone once you’ve finished, turning onto his side watching you intently. The attention makes you feel warm inside and finally you’re ready to go to bed, lifting the covers and cautiously sliding in next to him. It feels warm and comfortable as usual, your pillow and bedding maximised for comfort.

Reaching over, you turn off the lamp, leaving you both in darkness. The room feels oppressively silent at that moment before you realise that you can hear his breathing next to you. Suddenly, you feel hyper aware of his every movement and sound, your own body stiff beneath the covers.

A few minutes pass by like that, you unsure what to do now and too tense to sleep even after feeling so drowsy earlier. And then suddenly Hoseok reaches out, his hand resting on your stomach tentatively before stroking gently when you don’t react.

“You’re so tense.” He laughs softly and you feel the need to apologise again. But you hold it back, knowing that you have no reason to apologise. Hoseok knows by now what you’re like, he’s aware of your shy and awkward nature and he must know how out of your comfort zone you’re feeling right now.

Which is why you appreciate how slow he moves, his hand spreading heat through your stomach as his slow movements lead you to relaxing ever so slightly. He keeps doing it, his breathing just as hypnotising and you find your eyelids fluttering shut as the earlier drowsiness comes back.

“Can you turn over? On your side?” Hoseok asks softly, hand pausing and it takes a few seconds for you to acknowledge what he’d said. But you do so, shifting lazily until your back is facing him and your head is pressed comfortably into the pillow with your hand slotted beneath both pillows.

And then carefully shuffles up behind you, a warm and heavy weight sliding around your waist as he wraps an arm around you. Pulling slightly, he tugs you into a more comfortable position and you’re suddenly wide awake again. Even though you’ve been cuddled up with him before on a couch, it’s somehow completely different now that you’re lying together in bed.

Every bit of his front presses to your back and you’ve never been so aware of someone else. He feels like a furnace behind you, though you’re not sure if that’s because he actually is warm or if it’s because your body is burning hot. But you like it, as nervous as it makes you feel.

Your limbs feel like you could go outside and run a marathon yet the idea of leaving the bed is so far beyond you. His warm breath gently puffs against your neck as he settles a little more and you swallow hard, forcing your body to relax as you get used to the feeling. It’s been a long time since you’ve slept next to someone, and you’d never felt comfortable with them.

But you do with him. You do with Hoseok.

And without even realising it, your wandering mind begins to drift off as you lay there comfortably, feeling safe and content about everything. 

#armiesnet #networkbangtan #btssunshineclub #btscreatorsnet #hoseok fluff #hoseok angst #hobi fluff #hobi angst #j hope fluff #j hope angst #bts fluff #bts angst #hoseok fic #hoseok fanfic #hoseok fanfiction #j hope fic #j hope fanfic #j hope fanfiction #hobi fic #hobi fanfic #hobi fanfiction #bts fic #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #hoseok x reader #hoseok x you #flower!hoseok

[sabineelectricheart]

Remedial Dance Class

Summary: It is the day before Homecoming and Derek does not know how to dance. Lucky for him, his friend does.

Rating: K - Intended for general audience 5 years and older. Content should be free of any coarse language, violence, and adult themes.

Words: 1600

Notes: Derek’s a damn jock. He’d be so cocky as a teen and I’m here for it.

"I thought the man was supposed to lead those things!" Derek complained stubbornly.

Jamie rolled her eyes at the comment. This would be a long afternoon if her friend kept antagonizing her. That’s what you get when you praise your child too much, she snickered to herself.

"Well, technically, yes, that's true. For this lesson, though, you'll be following my instruction, so I'm going to lead, capische?" She responded with a smug smile.

Derek pouted slightly. He was beginning to wonder why he had even asked Jamie for her help. Of course, she was the smartest person he knew, a veritable cornucopia of knowledge, so it stood to reason that she would have some sort of answer to his problem.

Besides, he did not know anyone else who might know how to dance, so he had hoped his one shot would land. It did, so he should not complain that much, but he was a stubborn and prideful teen.

It was the day before the Homecoming Dance at his school, and it had only recently occurred to Derek that he had absolutely no clue what to do when it came to dancing.

At first, the thought did not seem to bother him very much, but, as the date approached, it soon became apparent that Derek's problem was bigger than he wanted it to be.

Although he had enough on his plate as it was, with college applications and scouts in every game, the idea of showing up to the Homecoming Dance and being the only one who did not know how to dance was not appealing, especially since he was elected King and all eyes would be on him and the poor soul whose feet would be smashed by him. So, Derek had asked the only person whom he felt would have a reasonable answer: Jamie. He did not expect a full-blown lesson, though.

"How exactly did you learn to dance?" He had asked Jamie when she had offered to teach him.

She hid her face on her long hair, as if it would protect her from his scrutiny.

"When I was younger, before the Holdens moved in, Elizabeth played golf at the country club and there was no-one who could stay with me at home, so Mom signed us up to a Mommy and Me dance class to pass the time. We just… Kept going until I was thirteen.”

Derek had to admit, it was rather difficult for him to picture Jamie dancing. It all seemed so unlike her. Not that she was ungraceful or manly, but country club dance class seemed way too futile considering her other interests. However, considering that she was all he had, Derek felt that he would take her help even if she really did not know what she was doing.

"So, first off, you need to put your hand on my waist, and I'll put my hand on your shoulder. Come on, Derek." Jamie insisted.

He placed his hand on Jamie's side, but could not hide his faint blush as she pulled it lower to her waist. Much to his gratitude, Jamie did not comment on the colour of Derek's face.

"And now we hold our other hands like this." She continued, clasping his left hand.

Derek gulped. Other than the rare hug over special occasions, Derek had never been this close to Jamie. Oddly enough, it did not feel as awkward as he had expected.

"Okay." Jamie said, bringing Derek's attention back to the matter at hand. "For the first step, you take is forward with your left foot, while I go backward on my right. Does it make sense?"

Derek nodded. Sounds easy enough, right?

"Right then, so after that, you go sort of forward and right on your right foot, and then shift your weight to that foot."

Jamie carefully led Derek across the floor, making sure that he understood each step.

"Now you drag your left foot to meet the right foot, and then step back with the right. Now this time, step back and to the left with your left foot. Good!"

Jamie instructed Derek throughout the rest of the dance. Slowly the steps became more intrinsic and fluid. They went through the dance over and over again, hoping to perfect it as much as possible. As the girl spoke and moved gracefully with him through her cleared out living room, the football player silently watched his friend in admiration.

The slight embarrassment that he had felt at the beginning had melted away, and he was beginning to feel more and more at ease holding her in his arms. He idly let his mind wander, and began thinking about things that he knew he should not. One thought that simply would not leave his mind left him wondering what it would feel like to hold Jamie in his arms more often.

As Derek tried to shake the thought, he accidentally stepped to the right when he should have stepped to the left.

"Ouch!" Jamie squeaked.

She broke apart from Derek, causing him to look down at her in surprise.

"What happened?" He asked, slightly surprised.

She looked at him with a dismissive smile.

"Oh, it's okay, you just stepped on my foot. Shame, too. You were doing so well!" Jamie mused.

The light pouring in from the large windows overlooking the sea created a halo effect around her long, soft hair, and her eyes were bright. Suddenly, Derek felt that he was seeing his best friend in an entirely new light.

Perhaps it was the absence of a pile of books and schoolwork she was always trying to tackle, or of Cove’s zealous oversight, or perhaps he had just been too daft to see it before, but something had changed in Jamie. She had always been pretty on an unincumbered kind of way, but it was here, now, that Derek was really noticing her. The sweet curve of her face, the joy in her smile, the gracefulness in her posture.

It was then that Derek really felt the need to hold Jamie in his arms again. Without hesitation, he moved closer to her, clutching her hand.

"Let me try to lead this time." Derek said softly, not knowing where his sureness was coming from.

Jamie wrinkled her eyebrows. "Are you sure? We haven't practiced for very long and…"

Derek lightly grabbed her waist and pulled her flush against him, effectively silencing her in the process.

"I'm sure." He responded boldly, what he did best, in fact.

Jamie raised her eyebrows, but did not protest.

With a deep breath, Derek began the rhythmic movements. At first, he could not help but count the steps in his head as he slowly led his best friend across the makeshift dance floor. After a few moments, Derek stopped counting. He actually understood the movements, and they were coming easily.

His eyes had not left Jamie's, however. She stared directly at him, as well, her colourful irises mixing with his green ones.

Neither of them knew what the other was doing. They both seemed to be playing it by ear. Derek noticed the corners of Jamie's mouth slowly and carelessly turning upwards. He could not fight the smile, either.

Ever so carefully, the two began to fall out of sync with the count of the dance, and began creating their own steps. Eventually, Derek and Jamie were simply spinning together, faster and faster. With his hand on her waist and her arm wrapped around his neck, they couldn't help but laugh. Dust kicked up with every step, creating a foggy, misty swirl.

Finally, they began to slow their pace.

Derek put both hands on Jamie's waist. She smiled and let go of his neck, leaned back into his hands, and stuck her arms out on either side of her torso. With her eyes closed as they spun, she felt the incredible feeling of flying without the fear of falling down. Derek marvelled at the look on her face. It was unadulterated joy. It was pure happiness. It was freedom. He smiled broadly.

As they came to a stop, Jamie lowered her arms and stood up straight. Derek let go of her waist with one hand, and brought it to her face. Her smile did not falter, but her eyes clouded slightly. As Derek brushed her cheek with his thumb, he heard her breathing become shallower. Her eyes flashed to his mouth. He did not wait a second longer before crashing his lips down onto hers.

Almost immediately, Jamie wrapped her arms around Derek's neck, and pulled him even closer. They did not stop kissing until breathing became an issue. As they pulled apart, Derek and Jamie locked eyes, both of them hoping that the other did not regret what had just happened. After a few seconds, they both smiled, assured of their feelings.

"I think that this was good lesson." Derek offered.

Jamie smiled and firmly pressed her mouth to his.

"It was a great start." She responded happily. "Lucky for you, I know many more dances."

Derek grinned. “Why don’t you come down to the Homecoming with me, then? We’ll test them all on the dance floor.”

“Interesting proposition.” Jamie smirks.

The green-eyed athlete winks confidently at her. “You know, I’m a pretty big deal on campus. I’m sure you’ll be the envy of every girl there.”

Jamie chuckled. “Aren’t you a little too confident?”

“Why not? You can’t help it when you look this good.” His expression turned serious and demure. “Will you? Please?”

She kissed him softly. “I’d love to.”

*_*_*_*_*

Our Life Masterlist

#our life: beginnings & always #derek suarez

[lord-tathamet]

Dinner Plans

A short story almost two years of age, that I once wrote for a university class. Found it again, dusted it off, polished it slightly, but let it retain that little bit of amateurish writing simply to marvel at how far I’ve come with my writing ever since. 

Enjoy. 

For the fifth time in the last two hours did the man with the moustache and sunglasses look up from his research and look at the face of the clock of the broken church. He scowled beneath the moustache, but forced himself to look at it regardless.

4:18 pm.

They were late, as per usual. He shook his head and focused back on his literature. He made the mental note to have a number of alarm clocks be send to each of them for next time. Flatteringly Photoshopped pictures of the Mexican coast reflected in his sunglasses while his eyes skimmed through the brochure's whimsical descriptions of the rich culture of its indigenous people and beautiful beaches.  He skipped through a couple of pages until he found what he was looking for. A decidedly too sharply fined and too pale fingernail stabbed into the page displaying the photograph of an ancient, grey pyramid.

The man sitting behind the shining aluminium table was tall, narrow and sharply dressed: a suit jacket with bloodstone cufflinks, black suit-pants, a clean white shirt only slightly wrinkled and  two buttons open. His legs ended in a pair of shiny, pointy shoes. His face was stern and angular, with pronounced cheekbones and a pointed chin. Bushy eyebrows sat above the pair of sunglasses that protected his eyes against the sun, and a long white moustache grew beneath the hooked nose which gave his appearance a certain roguish charm. A wavy mane of grey-white hair surrounded his face and hid the pointed tips of his ears, giving him certain qualities akin to an old lion. It was difficult to clearly guess his age, but anyone briefly passing by and glancing at him would take him for a very spry looking gentleman in his mid-fifties.

Leaning in on his read, the man with the white moustache made a few notes on a small block of paper. The pen he used was black, ornamented with silver filigree and absurdly expensive, as was the ink held within. Next to the note pad stood an untouched and by now cold cup of coffee, its content as pitch-black as a dark winter night and reflecting the bright afternoon sun above.  Disgusting in taste and disgustingly cheap in comparison, but he needed the table, and none of the waiters would bother him as long as he had at least one beverage in front of him, as maligned and untouched it was.

Cars rolled by exhuming grey fumes, the nearby fountain shot water into the air and people passed his table. Most of them in casual summer clothes, sundresses and cargo pants and shirts and some of them even with hats to gain some shade. For a moment, the man looked up from his notes and allowed himself a brief indulgence – the eyes behind the sunglasses darted from one healthy neck to another. A small, wolfish smile parted the pale lips and if there had been anyone to pay close attention, they would have gained a brief glance at his very pointed, very sharp and unusually long canines.

“Good afternoon, count.”

The man in the white moustache begrudgingly pulled his eyes away from his current mark – a lovely Turkish woman with streaming black hair that was climbing the stairs around the fountain just a shy dozen feet from his table, close enough for him to smell the sweet mixture of blood and perfume she exhumed – and he turned to the youth that had seated herself opposite of him, soundless and sudden as if she had appeared out of the thin air.

“And to you, countess. You are looking lively as always.”

She seemed young enough to be his granddaughter, though no one within their right mind would have thought to imagine a superficial familiarity between the two. A girl of fourteen years, with a healthy, rosy complexion and flowing, lush dark hair that curled at her shoulders, the sunshine twisting golden shimmers into its waves. Large doe-like eyes that projected innocence and hid a vicious intellect, a petite body that suggested fragility and cloaked the strength to bend iron bars as if they were straws. She was in white, of course she was, a pretty, knee-length dress and a white handbag in her lap and with her hands folded atop of it. The lid of her bag, the man with the moustache noted with a mild amusement, was riddled with numerous, colourful stickers and badges, and around her wrists hung several loops and bands of tiny gemstones like rainbow wreaths.

They were the only change about her since their last meeting.

“Thank you. My sincere apologies, there was an unfortunate delay with the train between Kassel and Hannover.” She shook her head. “More than five centuries since the invention of rail transport and still a simple thing like an open door may stall a train's journey for almost an entire fifteen minutes.”

She nodded at the travel brochure still open in front of him. “Are you already planning your next journey? I thought you would stay in Berlin a little while longer.”

“I am a traveller at heart, milady. Although my beloved home will always be in the heart of Europe, the other continents do possess their own charming allure,” he replied, setting the brochure and note block aside. “And besides, it has been a while since I have last visited the Americas. There must be much exciting game to be hunted there.”

“Always about excitement, is that the reason you wanted us all to meet here of all places?” The countess nudged her chin toward the broken church spire in the background, a disgusted sneer cracking her face. “And mirroring glass everywhere around us. One of these days, your thrill-seeking hunts might cost you your life.”

“How would the youth of your seeming generation say? No risk, no fun.” The count let his eyes wander around the square for a moment. “Where is Laura? The two of you were practically bound at the hip when we last met.”

The young-seeming woman stiffened in her seat. The snarl dissolved into a very neutral, very calm expression that seemed like it was carved from marble. “Laura is... no longer with us.”

A single eyebrow rose, but otherwise the count's face remained unmoved. “Hunters?

“No.” There was a subtle tremble of her lip, the count noted, before she continued: “She could no longer bear it, she told me, moments before she drove the knife through her own neck. She betrayed me, just like the others before her.”

“My condolences.”

She nodded, her face remaining neutral. “It has been over three decades since. I have moved on as best as I could.

“In fact,” she allowed herself a smile,” I happen to have a date just after we met up with our friends.”

“You still insist on fraternizing with your prey?” The count sneered. “Now that is a carelessness that will get you killed one day.”

“Because unlike you, I seek actual companionship?” Her eyes glinted like sharp icicles in the sun. “Because unlike you, I do not wish to to prolong myself in solitude and run afoul like some pack-less dog? Because I want to spend this blasted eternity with someone like myself?”

Blue flashed and briefly turned red. For a moment, the two stared at each other with an intensity not unlike of two big cats, every individual muscle tense and ready to pounce. Then as quickly as the moment came, it passed.

“I did not mean to insult you, milady. Forgive me. I only worry about others of our kind. We are already so very few remaining,” the count sighed.

“Do not kid yourself, count. You care for nobody but yourself,” the countess replied, but she too relaxed in her seat.

The next five minutes they spent in silence. The count returned to his brochure, only briefly looking up to take notes and to send another quick glance up at the clock tower. The young woman had produced a smartphone from her handbag and immersed herself in the screen, brief smiles lighting up her face in between her typing and the brief ping of sent messages.

“Empusa will be here in half an hour,” she said after little while and looked up from the screen. “She is picking up Lamia from the airport and helping her through customs right now.”

“What about Schreck?”

“The sun is still up, remember? He will meet us after dusk.”

“His mutation is as highly fascinating as it is impractical,” the count murmured. “Why didn't they update me about it?”

“We do possess a text chain, you know. I'm surprised you are not part of it, since you are always the one organizing our meetings.”

“I refuse to touch one of those damnable Apps ever since Lestat sent around pictures of his own rectum to everyone.”

“Suit yourself. Why the Americas?”

The count tapped his finger on the table. “The Mexica people of pre-Columbian America possessed fascinating religious rites related to blood sacrifice to honour their gods...I wonder if there might be others of our kind still in their old territory.”

The countess fiddled with her smartphone. “Sometimes, I admit, I envy your ability to travel without restraint. I tried everything, yet I still must return to my family's tomb ever so often.”

“Have you considered moving your tomb in its entirety, stone by stone? There are still many old woods and mountain valleys unmolested by human hand. I am sure the hags you usually travel with would be most grateful for the exercise.”

“I have tried, once, when Laura was still with me.” A twinge of sorrow crept across her face. “I wanted to go far, far away from home and take her with me. But then, my body began to wither, my senses to decay the longer I prolonged returning to my tomb for a night. Laura, too, could not go long without a place to return to. Horse-carriages can only get you so far. And when we tried to move a single stone, what little strength I had left in that moment was about to leave me.”

The count hummed. Then his own phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, swiped across the screen, read the message in silence. A wolfish grin split his face.  

“Then you'll be happy to know that I plan on putting an end to these laws that seem to bind us.”

“What to you mean?” The countess leaned forward, an eyebrow arched.

“I planned on surprising all of you when Schreck, Lamia and the others would be gathered with us, but I might just as well reveal it all now,” the count smiled and leaned back, hands tapered together. There was a red gleam to his eyes, behind the sunglasses. “In my studies of the Americas, I came across a new initiate to our little circle – one that shares many of my own tastes and wishes to help others of his kin. Among such, is breaking the accursed bindings placed upon us.”

He extended a pointing finger. “He is currently sitting on the other end of the Breitscheidplatz. The tall man, olive skinned, with the gold rings in his ears.”

The countess followed his direction, narrowed her blue eyes to a glint. “What is his name?”

“The old Mayan people called him Camazotz. And he might very well be one of the first of our kind to walk this earth.”

On the other end of the square, the tall, olive-skinned man with golden rings in both his ears turned his head and nodded at them. His eyes gleamed in a blood-red, and for just a moment, both of the undead nobles could catch a glimpse of his shadow flickering across the wall behind him.

For just a split-second, they saw the shadow of a bat the size of a small house, stretching its wings and enveloping the street within its grasp.

#dracula #vampire #vampires #supernatural #carmilla #nosferatu #fanfiction #? #definitely fanfiction #horror #modern day #my writing #fiction