#he's good humoured and fun and pleasant and he cares about people | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pocket-luv101 · 1 year

Text

Cecilias // CynoNari

Fandom: Genshin Impact Ship: CynoNari

Summary: Tighnari helps Albedo design a card back for Cyno.

“Cyno has an unexpected fondness for plants like desert shrubs, lotuses and roses. You can use flowers for the border of his new card back. He wants Dvalin to be the centerpiece so you should choose a Mondstadt flower to match. Unfortunately, I’ve only read of the flowers here and I’m not very artistic so I can’t make further suggestions.”

Tighnari walked along the cliff with Albedo. The view was breathtaking and he wished that he could share it with Cyno and Collei. They were both busy with their own sightseeing though. A pleasant breeze passed him and filtered through the swaying Cecilias. He wanted to collect a few flower samples to bring back to Sumeru and study. Albedo joined him because the view would give him inspiration for Cyno’s commission. During the hike, their conversation naturally drifted to Cyno.

“Aether wrote to me of his adventures in Sumeru. Cyno was not how I imagined the General Mahamatra to be. Though, he did say that he’s the Adventurer Cyno on this trip.” Tighnari couldn’t read Albedo’s expression to know whether he truly enjoyed Cyno’s joke or not. “I’m curious how you and Collei came to know Cyno. He doesn’t seem like the type to mix work and personal relationships.”

“Actually, we met through his work. He suspected me of academic corruption and investigated my study group.” Tighnari had told the story of how he met Cyno countless times because many people would ask the same question as Albedo. Shock briefly passed his face and he quickly added: “It was a misunderstanding. You can imagine my surprise when the General Mahamatra approached me with flowers and apologized for wrongly suspecting me. I must’ve left a good impression because he asked me to care for Collei on his behalf.”

“Since I have a little sister, that decision is a significant sign of trust.” Albedo nodded. He was often busy with his alchemy and I couldn’t play with Klee whenever she wished. He took solace in the fact that Mondstadt was a carefree city and she could always find a knight to help her. “Cyno and I have a lot in common, it seems. I am captain of an investigation team and we enjoy dry humour.”

“It might be more accurate to call his puns forced rather than just dry humour.” Tighnari walked further up the mountain where the wind was stronger. He was certain that he could hear the silence that would often follow one of Cyno’s jokes. “I’m glad that you like his jokes. They’re not the best jokes but he puts a lot of effort into them. So far, only Nahida has laughed at his jokes. On the other hand, your comment about jokes not needing to make people laugh will encourage him to tell those puns the entire journey back to Sumeru.”

“His jokes are quite witty.” Albedo tilted his head in confusion. He thought that Tighnari would’ve appreciate Cyno’s puns because he was also a scholar. On the other hand, he also considered Aether and Sucrose to be intelligent yet they didn’t laugh either. Humans were truly confusing at times. “I will listen to his jokes so you don’t have to.”

“It’s not about that.” He realized how his previous words could sound like disdain for his humour and corrected Albedo. “The reason I’m glad Cyno’s jokes is because he’ll have one more person who understands him. Due to his reputation as the General Mahamatra, people are far too wary of him. They only need to give him a chance to see how kind, loyal and funny he is. Don’t tell him about that last one. It’ll further encourage his bad jokes.”

“You really care about Cyno, don’t you?”

“Of course, we have a close relationship.” He nodded in agreement but there were deeper feelings that he didn’t voice. Tighnari held the Cecilia flower against his lips and its pale colour contrasted with the blush on his cheeks. “I want him to be happy. I learned how to play Genius Invokation TCG just for him. The game is unexpectedly fun. Though, it’s impossible to force myself to laugh at his jokes. I respect Cyno too much to lie about his puns.”

Tighnari began to ramble about Cyno like he would with his love for plants. With each word, a fond smile grew over his face until his feelings were impossible to hide. He didn’t appear to realize it himself. Despite how he wanted Cyno to find more friends who understood him, a part of him couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. His mother warned him that fennec foxes could be territorial.

“When did you and Cyno start dating?” Albedo considered it an innocent question until he saw the way Tighnari’s ears flattened. His blush grew and the flower he held couldn’t hide it anymore. While they were camping, Tighnari spoke with a sharp tongue and Albedo didn’t expect to see him become flustered. It was clear that Tighnari had yet to confess to Cyno.

“I heard that Mondstadt was carefree but I didn’t expect you to be so direct with your words. Even scholars in the Akademiya would have the social grace to not talk about someone’s romantic life.” Tighnari tried to brush aside Albedo’s words. He quickly realized that was impossible because Albedo continued to probe him with questions.

“Did I read the situation wrong? Alice told me that I could be too recluse and that will affect my relationships. I tend to overthink human relationships too. I thought I was improving in recent years.” Albedo mused to himself. His voice was more curious than regretful. Then, he faced Tighnari and said: “You should tell Cyno how you feel. During Windblume, people will give flowers to their loved ones and express their feelings.”

“Can we discuss the card back for Cyno?” Tighnari tried to steer the conversation away from his unspoken feelings for his best friend.

“Do you want the card back to be the Windblume that you’ll give to Cyno? It’s unconventional but people are free to choose anything that symbolizes love and freedom.” Albedo took out his sketchbook from his bag. “I have a few designs in mind based on our earlier discussion. The Cecilia flower is said to represent a once wayward heart transformed by the power of love.”

“Wayward heart?” Tighnari repeated the words and laughed softly to himself. His gaze wandered to the flowers around them and they reminded him of Cyno’s long hair. Sometimes, he would run his fingers through his hair similar to how the wind passed through the flowers now. “Cyno values justice and I can’t remember a time his heart has ever wavered. His job is important to him and a relationship would make it complicated. I won’t let that happen.”

“I know of a time when Cyno’s heart was uncertain.” Albedo surprised Tighnari. He had known Cyno for years yet he wasn’t able to think of what he could be referring to. “Years ago, I overheard a conversation between Cyno and Lisa. I think it was when Collei first came to Mondstadt. Cyno insisted that Collei should stay here.”

Tighnari’s brows furrowed together in confusion. He recalled the day Cyno introduced him to Collei. That night, they discussed how they would raise her and everything she needed. There wasn’t a hint of doubt or hesitation in his voice.

Albedo continued: “Cyno was adamant that it was dangerous to take her back to the Akademiya. The sages might treat her like a test subject.”

“I understand now.” Tighnari said and bit his lip. Cyno had told him about his childhood in the Akademiya. While his adoptive father and Lisa were kind to Cyno, they couldn’t protect him from everything. “He never told me directly but I already assumed that was why he wanted to help Collei seal the god’s remains. What made him decide to bring her to Sumeru in the end?”

“You,” was Albedo’s simple answer. “He told Lisa that there’s a scholar who he trusts with his life. This scholar was a moral and kind man who could help Collei. He wouldn’t make such a decision lightly. Cyno doesn’t consider you or Collei a burden to his job. He’s likely waiting for you to confess first like you decided to do.”

“I—”

“Tighnari!” He heard Cyno call his name from the base of the base of the mountain. Tighnari ran to meet him halfway. As they drew closer, Tighnari could see the different plants in Cyno’s arms and the subtle smile on his lips. Cyno stopped in front of him and handed him a Windwheel Aster from his makeshift bouquet. “I managed to take a picture of Dvalin and I wanted to show it to you. I picked a few Mondstadt specialties on the way here. This knight showed me where they were.”

“Thank you, Cyno. These would be great for my research once we return to Sumeru.” Tighnari slipped the Cecilia flower and the Windwheel Aster into the bouquet before he took the flowers. “You came just in time because Albedo and I were working on your card back. I made a few suggestions to him. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I trust you.” Cyno said. He noticed a few petals caught in Tighnari’s hood and he dusted them away. “The wind is strong here. What did the ocean say to the Cecilia flowers growing at the top of the cliff? Well, the flower couldn’t hear him so he just waved.”

“You must be in a great mood to make a pun like.” Tighnari laughed. Cyno didn’t expect him to do so and he was pleasantly surprised by the sight. “Let’s show that photo to Albedo. I told him you would prefer to have the dragon in an action pose mid-flight.”

“You know me well and that’s why I trust you.”

#genshin impact #cynonari #cyno and tighnari #genshin impact cyno #genshin impact tighnari #fanfiction

15 notes · View notes

hassedah · 2 years

Note

Hi, can you write headcanons about Neil’s relationship with the rest of the characters… who do you think he likes the most? 👀

Headcanons Neil's relationships with boys in the manor :

Hello ! ^^

I hope you are well ^-^ ! Here are the headcanons about Neil's relationship with the other boys. I think it takes a long time for Neil to go from "I hate the parasites living in my mansion and I want to kill them" to "I can't stand his parasites" to "They're parasites, they live in my house, but I've come to terms with it and somehow they're kind of fun to watch." In any case, here are the headcanons you requested ^^ For the headcanons, I'm going to assume that they take place after Neil's good ending and that he came back to live at the mansion with the MC several years later. The first one is about before his departure and the second and third about his return to the manor. For the general headcanons, they are all after his return to the manor. I hope you enjoy them, take care ^^

With Vladimir :

At first, he cannot hide it, Vladimir is a nuisance. He had been useful to him for several years, it is true, but precisely. He manipulated him with disconcerting ease when he himself was unable to stand on his own feet. Because of this, he finds Vladimir weak, cowardly and whiny, and his illness makes him a liability to anyone who would live in a group with him.

When he returns to the manor with the MC his view of things and people has changed slightly. He enjoys the few discussions he can have with him. Vladimir speaks well and is not completely stupid, although he is not very smart either. And finally, he doesn't find Vladimir all that whiny. He has a good sense of organisation and even if he is completely useless in combat, he is rather useful to manage the problems of everyday life.

He will NEVER help in the garden. Vladimir can hire a gardener if he wants to, but he won't make any effort to do so. But he is willing to go and get her plants from his garden shops. After all, just because he doesn't want to work in the garden doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy seeing pretty flowers.

With Béliath :

At the beginning, Beliath really annoys him. He finds all possible faults in him, from his more than questionable style of dress to his simple way of speaking. Neil finds that he doesn't know how to behave, that he lacks taste, of discussion. His humour is bad, without interest and it's even worse when he's with Ethan. For him, he's a low-grade vampire, whereas however the Succubus-Vampire mixture can give very interesting hybrids, clearly Beliath doesn't do them any credit.

When he returns, things are a little different. Beliat's humour continues to annoy him. But he starts to find qualities in him, he's loyal to his friends, he's a pretty good fighter, even if compared to the others in the manor it's not really a feat, let's say that with Aaron he's the least bad. He sometimes enjoys some discussions, as long as he's not with Ethan in the same room.

He sometimes accompanies Beliath to the spa, but it can't be a cheap spa. It has to be a place worthy of him. Usually they go to the most expensive one in the area. Which would be a problem if Neil assumed they had to pay, since he has no qualms about enjoying the place without paying a penny, it makes for a very pleasant outing for free.

With Ivan :

From the start, he can least stand Ivan. The others are of course all unbearable but Ivan outshines them all. The mere fact that he's breathing in the same room as him makes Neil want to kill and torture him bloody. Has there ever been a more whiny, stupid, useless kid ? Really! This kid is so stupid that it would be just altruism to finish him off.

But, since he bas linving full-time with the others, he doesn't have much choice. He still has to make sure that Ivan doesn't die in a stupid way. And God knows that this idiot is capable of using his imagination to hurt himself. So he watches from afar that he doesn't die, from a very long way off, let's just say that if no one is willing to intervene he will... reluctantly. You can't expect him to love everyone, he has limits.

He's already played a few video games with the kid. Mario, Zelda and other such stuff that seems to amuse the new generation so much. The worst thing for him is that he rarely wins. He consoles himself by saying that at least the kid seems to have mastered something, well, he spends his whole nights on his silly games and sometimes even his days. It's not hard to be good at something when that's literally all you can do.

With Aaron :

His relationship with Aaron is not a good one and it is not good from the start. He might like him though. Despite the fact that he is a vulgar hybrid. But no, Aaron had to devote himself body and soul to the protection of his band of idiots, and more particularly that of Ivan. Why should he try to protect her? He could become more powerful if he didn't waste so much time on them. It would at least make one person worthy of respect among all those idiots.

When Neil came back to the manor, they started to like each other. Mainly because Neil had abandoned his hostility towards the other members of the manor, and finally they liked each other quite a lot. Of course Aaron lacks the minimum of class that any vampire worth his salt should have. But, he fights pretty well and has a mental toughness that is not negligible although it is not exceptional either.

They train quite regularly together and Neil makes it a point of honour to NEVER lose. That he loses at Ivan's video game, that's fine, but in a fight. It's not about to happen, it's out of the question ! He is not the oldest and most powerful man in the manor for to be beaten by a simple hybrid.

With Raphaël :

Raphael's sentimentality immediately irritated him. He's always there, whining, whining, whining. He doesn't do anything particularly useful, he's not particularly useful, far from it. He's not particularly intelligent either, you don't have to be to quote sentences straight out of a book. In short, he tolerates him in the same room as him, he can put up with him in a discussion as long as he doesn't start whining, but for the rest he prefers to have nothing to do with him.

He finally starts to like him when he returns to the manor. Of course, he still finds Raphael MUCH too whiny, but he's not that stupid after all. You can have intelligent discussions with him, he's very knowledgeable about art or his sensitivity seems to have a use. He's also a very good fencer, and Neil can't hide it, he always appreciates a minimum of people who know how to fight. Moreover, his manipulation skills are excellent. Which Neil also appreciates.

He regularly shares a few discussions with him over tea when the weather is too bad to go out. Neil has also found him some new Braille books and he tries as best he can not to offend Raphael's sensitivity. Even if he's always surprised at how easy it is to rush him.

With Ethan :

He can appreciate him as long as he is not in the same room as him, nor talking. He doesn't find him particularly intelligent, although he's not as stupid as the other members of the manor. He does, however, find him extremely unpleasant, especially his sense of humour and his rude little prick ways. There is a minimum of respect to be shown to one's elders !

When he returns, he tolerates him a little better. Ethan is not the best fighter, but unlike Ivan there is a good margin of manoeuvre and with a little training he could even become quite drinkable in combat. He even finds himself understanding him rather well, especially after knowing about his past. Finally, he is one of the people he gets along with best in the manor.

He plays chess with Ethan from time to time. Of course, it's always Neil who wins, but he's willing to admit that Ethan is a very good opponent who even manages to put him in difficulty sometimes.

In general :

Neil hasn't really noticed it, but the other members of the manor always avoid closing the doors where he is because of his claustrophobia.

Neil sometimes has a bit of trouble with second degree, or youthful humour (and as everybody is younger than him...) because of that he sometimes misses the joke or the joke and Ethan and Beliath have a great time. He can't stand it, really. It makes him want to throw them both out of the window or take one for beat the other, he hasn't decided yet. That's why he prefers to be with them separately, they say a lot less nonsense when they're not together.

Vladimir finally gave him access to a room. It was the old room where the MC used to sleep. The other members of the manor helped him to redecorate it to suit him better. What he likes most about this room is the window, the curtain is almost never drawn.

#moonlight lovers #Moonlight lovers Neil

20 notes · View notes

leucoratia · 2 years

Note

Hii can I please request Hannibal with s/o who is super funny and sarcastic like not in a mean way ex when they are with their family always cracking sarcastic jocks

Hi anon! Of course!

As stated in my > ask rules< , I don't write romantic heacanons for hannibal so this will be platonic. Please make sure to read my rules and characters list before sending prompts!

-Despite his impeccable manners and seemingly everlasting seriousness, Hannibal Lecter never said no to a tasteful joke

-He thinks of himself as quite the prankster although his sense of humour is...somewhat different from everybody else's

-To his great disappointment, people never quite seem to understand the absolute hilarious poetry of some of his little mise-en-scènes

-Oh well, no matter.

-He caught an interest in you at first, when you two first met

-Never a hint of seriousness, always throwing sarcastic remarks and jokes left and right

-What was your goal in this? Were you trying to compensate some kind of insecurity? Make yourself the center of attention?

-Whatever you seemed to be doing, it worked like a charm. People were talking about you. Whether that was in good or in bad, that is something that remained between each guest.

-He found you curious. What a kindness fate had done him, gifting him with such a fun, brand new toy to play with.

-He approached you like a predator would creep closer to its prey

-Untangling your mind was about to be so, so fun; thought the man.

-He appreciated having you around, whether it was in public or in private.

-When you two would meet with company, he revelled in observing other's reactions to your outgoing personality. You allowed him to obtain a great deal of subtle information about potential targets after all.

-Seeing all those dogs wracking their brain over wether they should be offended or not by what you just said provided him with endless satisfaction.

-And you always offered him some entertainment when parties became too stretched out. Listening to your mindless chatter and jokes allowed to turn his brain off for some time.

-You were pleasant in a way. Then again, the man's opinion of you entirely depended on the show you gave him that day.

-Be careful. He absolutely detests lack of spirit. Bungling jokes are to avoid at all costs, or you will be rewarded with a mirthless, humourless stare.

-What the killer liked even less was being the subject of your sarcasm. Especially if it was in bad taste.

-He has a very, very low tolerance for disrespect. Thread carefully, or you might end up as the next prime piece in his plate.

#hannibal headcanons #nbc hannibal #hannibal lecter #yn #self insert #headcanons #reader insert #send prompts!#ask box still open!#I mainly write for Jojo and Loki but i'm still opened to other fandoms !#leucoratia headcanons

15 notes · View notes

countlessrealities · 1 year

Text

@misstantabismuses sent: ☀ Does the mun have other muses beside you? What is your opinion on them? (I need Rick to answer this XD) Muses talking about the mun || Accepting !

Ice blue eyes linger on the question for a moment, before Rick scoffs, but under the annoyance that curls his features there’s a little smirk. It’s not every day that he gets given free rein to speak his mind. Oh, he always does it anyway, but right now? He won’t face any consequences for it.

“I-I’m going to assume that t-the first part of this fuckin’ question is rhetorical, b-because fuckin’ duh. F-Fuckin’ multi-muse, i-it’s written everywhere. I-I’d have shit to say about that too, but eh. I-I guess I’ll leave it for the next rant.”

He shrugs, leaning against the workbench in a way that’s only apparently casual.

“Let’s get fuckin’ started.”

“Summer an-and Morty. Sum-Sum is cool, w-we have a lot of good parties an-and shit together. S-She annoys the hell out of me at times, b-but she makes up for it because she’s useful an-and I can always have her running errands for me. A-As for Morty...we have a complicated relationship, b-but he’s my little buddy. M-My adventure partner. S-So, I guess he sort of is my favourite...b-but if you tell anyone, I-I’ll fucking deny it. H-He’s also a pain in my ass w-when he gets too cocky or too stubborn, but...W-We work well together. W-We’re a fuckin’ good team. An-And he always includes me in his threads, one way or the other, s-so I fuckin’ appreciate that.”

“T-Then there’s Stan and A-991. W-We’re pals, he’s really fuckin’ fun to hang around. An-And it’s great to play cards with someone w-who’s almost as good as me at cheating. A-AR is one of the few Ricks I can stand. I-I guess we’re friends, kind of? S-Scotty has their canon for us, b-but it doesn’t apply to all my verses, s-so it’s mostly something they keep in their head.”

“An-And then there’s Jinx an-and Blitzo. O-Our Jinx is okay, I guess? S-She mostly keeps away, s-so I don’t really engage her. B-But it’s fun to see her playing pranks on the other muses...n-not so much when she targets me. B-Blitzo is fun to have around. W-We butt heads a lot an-and he’s a fuckin’ idiot and g-goddammit, you should see his room in the mindscape...N-Never seen that much horse stuff in the same place, holy shit. B-But I like his sense of humour, s-so we can have a laugh.”

“M-Millie and Stan’s great grandkid? N-No opinions. I-I’ve never talked to them, an-and I don’t really care to. I-I think Mabel is friends with my Morty, b-but it’s hard to tell. I-I don’t pay any attention to her at all.”

“T-The other three Ricks and the other Morty...T-They are basically fuckin’ useless. I-I don’t fuckin’ get why Scotty keeps them on the blog. I-I mean, they take up space an-and nothing else. I-It’s not like they get to write them, s-so they could just throw them out. N-No one wants to write with them, so w-what’s the goddamn point?”

He finally pauses for a moment, his expression slowly shifting into a scowl. And now for the grand finale. He has let the three people he can’t stand as the last for a reason.

“N-Now that all this is out of the way...t-the fuckin’ evil trio. I-I don’t even fuckin’ know where to start from. J-Jesus, have you fucking seen them? T-The demonic nacho, President Psycho an-and his Rick feral pet? W-What...Ho-How could anyone like them? T-They are fuckin’ creepy, fuckin’ annoying an-and just as fuckin’ pleasant as a cactus shoved up your ass w-without lube.”

He throws his hands in the air before crossing them on his chest.

“I-I have never seen tha-that fuckin’ triangle being normal, n-not even for five seconds. H-He just hangs there, making shitty deals an-and constantly finding loopholes an-and just staring at you with that one eye of yours...An-and don’t get me started on how he drinks or eat. O-Or on that goddamn monster tongue an-and teeth he grows out of his eyelids. S-Shits, he makes killer martinis an-and he’s really good at the piano, b-but everything else? He’s fuckin’ terrible.”

“T-The little freak is just...f-fuckin’ unbearable. W-What fourteen years old is that creepy? I-I swear, he’s supposed to be a version of Morty, b-but he’s a race on his own. H-He has this polite exterior, all empty smiles an-and elaborate words. I-It gives me the chills every time b-because I know it’s fake, b-but it’s so good that I-I almost thing it’s not. I-It drive me insane. An-And, worst of all? He’s smart. H-Here I say it and here I deny it, but fuck. Tha-That makes it even more dangerous. N-No empathy, ruthlessness an-and intelligence? I-I don’t give a shit about it, b-but damn. Keep him away.”

“An-And Evil Rick...I-I can see whom the little creep take after. T-The guy doesn’t have a hint of sanity left. H-He speaks just a few words an-and when he does...He’s fuckin’ scary. An-And I don’t scare easily. H-He lingers in the mindscape with this cold gloomy aura all around him an-and ruins my vibes all the time. An-And when he isn’t? He’s cooped up i-in his lab of horrors d-doing shit that would make Freddy Krueger shit himself. I-I had a few...not so pleasant experiences with him an-and let’s say that I’ve learnt to leave him alone.”

“An-And you know what’s worse than President Psycho an-and Psycho Senior? T-The two of them together. I-I’m not fuckin’ touching that. Nope. B-But Scotty has this fucked up verse where they ‘make up’ or-or whatever an-and it’s one of the most messed relationships I-I’ve ever seen.”

He shakes his head, as to chase away whatever image has popped up in the front of his mind.

“B-But yeah, I’m done. T-To sum it up? T-This place is an overcrowded zoo w-with some pleasant moments.”

#[ ic :: c137 Rick ]#[ ic :: fourth wall break ]#misstantabismuses #[[ you really had to unleash him didn't you x'DDD ]]#[[ I had to kick him bc he would have made me write the Divine Comedy otherwise =.=" ]]#[[ and he already ranted endlessly so I'll let you imagine how long it would have been ]]

2 notes · View notes

mrmallard · 1 month

Note

Hello! I read your toxic beer pong post and am not looking to redeem your ex-bestie at all but i'm curious

Did you two share any pleasant times??

So I'm gonna quickly mention that the beer pong post was me being toxic in that situation. In relation to that post, my former best friend was fine - even with the "drinking too much to cope with the boredom" bit, those party nights were a lot of fun. I tagged it as toxicposting because I was gloating and being an asshole in that post, and when I'm being an asshole I tag my posts "toxicposting".

Also, I do want to highlight right off the bat that my former best friend is just a neutral-ass dude - no need to worry about "redeeming" him, because ultimately it was just life happening and two different people having two different reactions to that. He's not an irredeemable bastard, he's a neutral-ass dude who did a subjective thing based on differing personal values - I don't like him, but I can take a step back and acknowledge that he's just A Guy.

That being said, there is a lot of animosity there, so I thought I'd go into all that.

---

There were plenty of pleasant times, honestly. And despite my constant complaining in retrospect, there are also large swaths of that friendship where I was a bad friend and he was basically a minder for me at my lowest points, and there's really no way I could ever repay him for that.

Like before I say anything else, I did want to hash this out for the record: my former best friend changed my life for the better, and a lot of my anger is retrospective, extremely self-righteous and involves wallpapering over a lot of my own toxicity while ignoring a lot of good stuff that came from our friendship - the good times we had, for one, but also the undeniably positive effect he had on my life.

So to elaborate - what were some good times we had as friends?

We played a lot of video games together. He had a second Xbox One set up in his room so we could play multiplayer games - we played Paladins, Life is Strange, For the King, Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, the Telltale games, Borderlands, Diablo 3, Minecraft etc. There were times where we would start a new game, like Diablo 3 and For the King specifically, and then we would check the time what felt like 45 minutes later and we had been playing for six hours.

We could both do like the THX sound effect build and hold the same note, completely out of nowhere, and then perfectly cut off at the end at the exact same time. We were pretty in-sync and it was awesome when stuff like this would happen.

At my eighteenth birthday party, I was having a small gathering at my place with a firepit. My mum's partner came out and started like taking it over despite the fact that nobody there liked him, and I think I got way too drunk and internally freaked the fuck out about it because I have issues with that guy at the best of times. My former best friend took me down the street to his house at 1am and put some birthday candles on a cake, and he and some other people sang happy birthday to me. I was too drunk to remember, but I saw the video.

I escaped from home a lot by going to his place and watching TV and movies and stuff. There was a lot of being taken care of in that friendship that I really needed.

We didn't necessarily see eye to eye on everything, but we had a remarkably similar sense of humour. One thing that we could unfailingly do was make each other laugh.

And there are countless days and specific events that were great fun, which helped to make a lot of good memories.

That exists alongside the knowledge that the first time we spent time together outside of high school - where we went to the town pool - he and a friend made a game of stepping on my hands and arms to stop me from getting out, to the point of running around to the other side of the pool to step on me and subsequently stop me from leaving while I tried to swim across before they got there. Like taking it further than the point of a joke, making a game of keeping me in the pool.

And then eight years later, after the final straw came and broke the camel's back, realising - almost like the punchline of a sick joke - how much that event had built the foundation of our friendship and set a negative pattern of behavior into effect that existed the whole time - even with the good.

Like just as an example - there were a lot of times where he would make me the butt of the joke and like really hammer it in to make other people laugh. I could take a joke, but when the same joke got hammered in four or five times and I couldn't even get a word in without being laughed at, it'd start to really get to me. He'd then be like "sorry Mallard, it was just really funny, I'll stop now" - and then he'd say it again if he could get a big enough laugh out of it. He did that shit hundreds of times.

I could shrug that off in time, but there was one joke that he always took too far.

I had a really messed up relationship with a girl when I was 16 and she was 17. He would tell people who she is because she has a reputation, and then he would claim that her youngest daughter was actually my kid and I was a deadbeat who refused to admit I was the father.

I don't like talking about that time of my life, so it really got under my skin - and he'd use that to keep insisting it was true, so I would react more, which he would use to further paint this picture of me as this deadbeat who refused to take responsibility for getting someone pregnant. In front of brand new people who we were meeting for the first time. Past the point where they felt like he was joking, and to the point where they would genuinely begin to believe that I was a deadbeat dad.

He would at least clarify when he was making any other joke at my expense. He never clarified the deadbeat thing, because not knowing whether he was joking or not was the joke. And he did that knowing that it was the one joke he made at my expense that I outright HATED. After all, that heated reaction was crucial to the joke.

I value all of the good times I listed above. But they existed alongside all that other stuff I just talked about. It was a mix of good and bad, and I was only able to contextualise the bad in hindsight which soured a lot of the good - that, or I just came up with a reason to justify my decision to be angry at him. It's probably a little of both.

---

There's a lot of blaming myself and blaming him, and accentuating the bad in hindsight while choosing to bury the good. The fact that he was a bright spot in a very grim time of my life exists alongside the fact that he would single me out at times to have fun at my expense and talk down to me when we weren't on the same page, from the start of our friendship through to the end.

That's why it's still such a raw wound today - there was a lot of bad that really added up in retrospect, but it came with a lot of good that was invaluable to my personal development as a person.

In short, it's a very complicated and messy sort of situation.

I don't expect myself to look good while talking about any of this. I have a lot of regrets. But to answer your question - there were plenty of good times. There's just a dark shadow hanging over a lot of it that I've decided to reinforce rather than trying to shake, because that last straw I talked about was a real fucking doozy on my emotions and for better or for worse, I genuinely believe that things are better this way.

#messyposting #toxicposting #long post #sorry it took me so long to answer this ask #i started writing it when I woke up at 9.30 this morning. then I had work where I would edit and reword and elaborate during my breaks #and now it's nearly 9pm and I'm laying in bed and I finally have something that isn't too repetitious. it's still very raw #maybe more than it should be - my apologies #but yeah that's my answer

0 notes

mrs-nate-humphrey · 3 years

Note

What is so interesting about Nate? Seems like the typical popular kid in high school

What is so interesting about any of these characters? Objectively? honestly it’s more to do with how we connect with them, etc.

Also *gestures to his family & to the multiple instances of him being taken advantage of* not very typical, I don’t think.

I think to me that’s what makes Nate so interesting? That he’s gone through hell but still somehow has that sunny, pleasant, optimistic thing going for him. Ultimately, as a person, he still believes in the goodness of people (maybe more than he should.) Idk. Very obvious character flaws aside, I think he has a lot of heart. Maybe even a naive amount of it. But I like that - I like that we have a character who’s so popular and liked by people who don’t even know him. I like that he has the weight of a thousand expectations that he doesn’t even want. I like that despite how shitty and awful his family is, he cares for and loves his friends with his whole heart.

#anon #he's good humoured and fun and pleasant and he cares about people #like - that's what i like. despite everything: he cares #and yeah his arc was sloppy #and yeah parts of his character are kind of shitty #but it's gg - that's true of all of them

4 notes · View notes

hanjifuck · 3 years

Text

.˚｡⋆ ༊ .˚｡⋆ stray kids ideal types - series .˚｡⋆ ༊ .˚｡⋆

bang chan version ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ

based on their birth charts! s2

✧*:.｡. t/n: i'll be using SIDEREAL astrology on this one. it's also important to say that when we talk about romance in astrology we have to fully analyse the couple's birth charts individualy at first and only then apply compatibility analysis so we're able to check out the synastry overlays.

✧*:.｡. t/n: kinda proofread. <3

the basics:

someone who has sun in virgo or in the 5th house;

aquarius and gemini moons are the ideal but aries moon is also great, libra is good, leo and sagittarius moons are a maybe. capricorn and cancer moons are absolutely a no;

venus in virgo, scorpio, cancer or capricorn;

mercury in virgo (or capricorn/taurus).

obviously there's way more aspects to look into to see if a relationship would work but i'd rather not go too deep into it right now.

a person who's patient and honest. he takes his time into getting to know you before he commits. so, when he does commit, there’s no room for him to change his mind. he's worthy of a romance novel. he will make sure that the bond is strong and stable for both.

someone who's good at communicating, reading people's intentions and has a good sense of humour. he tends to use his voice to express himself and he's such a sweet talker when it comes to romance. communication and intellectual rapport are his thing, so it's important for him to have someone who he can talk to. so good at covering it up his intentions or even lying (but you guys didn't hear this from me), except that he tends to tell the truth in almost any and every situation. he loves to tell stories and to see the smile and hear the laugh of the loved one.

a partner who's not afraid of commitment and long term relationships. listen to me, this man is looking for a soulmate connection, someone to pay him due attention. he's a romantic at heart and has a strong need for love in his life, it being his ultimate driving force, a passionate lover and he knows how to maintain the flame of true love. without love he would be nothing.

someone who knows how to talk to people and be pleasant during social situations.

someone who's highly vulnerable and revealing with him, ONLY.

a person who's adventurous. he does not know how to stay still, he wants to expand and has a hedonistic type of approach to how fun should work in a relationship. he can't be more happy then when his able to impress you with his creative side. if you like an intellectual approach to life you will love it as well.

a positive person, someone who's optimistic and make things seem easy.

an intense, bold, strong-willed and powerful person. would love a partner who knows how to stand up for themselves. he wants besides him a person who can make the world kneel in front of them.

someone who will do anything to seduce him.

someone who challenges him (in a good way, ofc). he loves to be dared as he sees it as stimulating, a reason to try even harder, to put even more effort in. he's prop to play mind games (maybe manipulating, even if it's not his intention, since he makes everything sound so wonderful). often fueled by curiosity and a desire to control/possess others for himself *only with those who he actually loves since he sees romance/sex as super meaningful, on a soul level thing, and focus 100% on the person he loves.

emancipated, educated and high intelligent individuals. a pretty face will never be enough, sorry. virgo sun in the 5th house? pfffff this man is a genius.

someone who's younger or appear youthfu/has a youthful personality. he needs a eager-to-learn-and-to-enjoy-life-with-him person. channie's prone to take up the dominant/leading role in a relationship as well. it's like he has this strong pedagogical (?) side to him (and once again my theory that he would be a teacher if he wans't in the entertainment business is proven right ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

a person who's not avoidant or keeps to many secrets. if you keep stuff away from him he may misinterpret things quite easily.

a partner who's as clingy as he is. channie does not stand being alone for too long. he needs your warm touch and gentleness.

a freedom-lover type of person, someone who seeks inspiration and fun. he's extremely motivated and light-hearted, very flexible and adaptative.

a person who knows how to encourage him. basically someone who knows his intentions almost better than he does. he has a need for validation and appreciation cus sometimes he fixates on certain ideias but doesn't have what it takes to go further with it.

someone who would enjoy having kids, taking care of them, educating them together, and is family-oriented. he would love to have a partner who's as excited as he is to mentally stimulate his kids. very inclined to having lots of children. he wants someone who has the potential to go all the way to the finish line. man's want commitment.

a person who's charming, "feminine", sensuous and romantic. he's not interested in a person who is crude. he has strong yang energy on his birth chart so it's a good thing if your chart is yin energized. the whole thing about lighting up candles, putting on some romantic music is important to him. may be enticed by a person who has an overly sexual appearance (SPECIALLY if you have scorpio sun or rising), femme fatales (the energy, not necessarily a woman) are just right for him. maybe someone quite mysterious as well.

someone who's painfully monogamy. you can trust him on remaining faithful, as long as his partner do the same. trust is important for him and when it comes to love, it's absolutely essential. if you don't want to lose him forever you shouldn't break his confidence. he rarely has any interest in casual encounters, not being the type to take different people home every night. loyalty is such a turn-on for him, cute. he wants to be only yours, so he expects the same from you, not wanting you to even look at other people. the more committed to him, the deepest his love is.

someone who's not shy. he’s a non-conformist, private person and rather do his own things, away from the public eyes. remember when he said he usually likes "dark things"? man wasn't lying. he knows exactly who he is and what he likes even tho society might shun him for it. however, he does not care. <3

a person who's devoted and dependable, who's also ready to work by his side. someone who knows how to handle his possessiveness and maybe even suspections. just be honest with him and patient enough to put him at ease, assuring him that he's the only one who deserves your attention and love. his jealousy may be really tricky.

okay, this dude has mars and venus conjunct pluto in scorpio. do you guys know what this means? i would DIE to make this man love me!!!!!!!!! help. he will be SOOO OBSESSED WITH THE PERSON HE MARRIES, IT'S INSANE KDISADJADNAUS HELP ME.

750 notes · View notes

helloalycia · 3 years

Text

The Wrong Lifetime – Seven // Wanda Maximoff

chapter six | story masterlist | main masterlist | wattpad | chapter eight

author’s note: hope y’all like this one 👀

The Maximoffs were just as a good at throwing a party as my own parents were.

Celebrating a new book that was published at Pietro's business, they threw a party in their back garden big enough to host half the town if they wanted to. Actually, now that I thought about, half the town was probably there.

We were invited to celebrate along with them because we were 'family' now, as Oleg and Iryna pointed out, so I found myself standing in their garden getting a drink under the night sky and trying to blend in with the snacks table so I wouldn't have to mingle. Parties still weren't my thing, clearly.

People-watching was more my forte. It was amazing the things people did when they thought nobody was looking. One guy coughed into his hand and wiped it on his pants – I reminded myself not to shake his hand – whilst some woman checked if her teeth were clean on the back of a serving tray.

My gaze raked the garden, indifferent to the men who attempted to get women's attention with a boyish grin and terrible pick-up lines, or the women who lifted their dresses a little higher than necessary to steal a man's attention. I spotted my parents talking to some guests whom I'd never see before, then there was Wanda's parents laughing alongside Pietro as he told a joke to some important looking people.

Eventually, my eyes fell to the remaining Maximoff, who was looking especially beautiful tonight. A deep lilac gown adorned her figure and she wore it like it was uniquely made just for her. She probably didn't even realise, but all eyes were definitely on her; a simple stride around the garden had people turning heads to see who the lilac beauty was. Y/B/N was the most envied man of the evening, with every guy here wishing they could have Wanda on their arm.

I'd wanted to tell her just how truly stunning she looked tonight, but I hadn't been able to pull her away from my brother's side for even a second. Everywhere he went, she went, too. I'd caught her eyes maybe three times tonight since she was so involved with whatever she spoke about with the people who worked for Pietro. I didn't take it personally of course, but it didn't make me feel any better.

Y/B/N had his hands all over her, probably suspecting just how many people were checking her out tonight, and I hated the way it made me feel. Envy and jealousy came over me and it wasn't pleasant. His hand was permanently fixed on her waist, at times moving suspiciously lower and making me roll my eyes. Occasionally, he'd lean over and whisper something in her ear making her flush – involuntarily or not, I didn't know. Wanda was a good actress, appearing as the perfect fiancé to him and couple to everybody else. Or, at least, I hoped it was acting.

"Pretty ladies shouldn't be standing by their lonesome," said someone with a Sokovian accent, but sadly not the one I wanted to hear.

"Pietro," I said with an amused smile, turning to face the man of the evening. "Congratulations on the new published book!"

He smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, Y/N. How are you finding the party?"

I glanced around, disguising my discomfort with a nod. "It's great."

He chuckled, as if suspecting that was a lie, before changing the subject. "So, the book. Have you read it?"

Glad that this was something I could actually talk about, my shoulders relaxed and I nodded. "Yes! I bought it yesterday as soon as it was published. I've only read the first six chapters, but what I've read is beautifully written."

Pietro snickered, raising his brows. "Only? That's further than anyone here has read."

I smiled bashfully, eyes veering elsewhere with embarrassment. "I guess I just have a lot of free time."

He hummed with amusement. "And you must really like reading... Wanda mentioned you write, too. It's nice to know it runs in the family."

Certain my cheeks were flushed, I nodded. "Yeah, our dad, he taught Y/B/N and I how to write when we were kids. That's where my love of literature began."

"And what do you like to write?" he asked, intrigued.

I shrugged, the grip on my glass of champagne loosening as I grew comfortable. "I don't know... short stories, drabbles, novels. I mainly deal with themes of love and romanticism. We're so intent on leading our lives with what other people want that we rarely take time to think about we want... I write about that."

Swallowing, I looked to Pietro, hoping I wasn't boring him. He was a publisher after all, besides my soon-to-be brother-in-law. His opinion was important to me.

"I must admit, Y/N, my interest is piqued," he admitted, watching me with an inquisitive gaze. "Do you have anything I could read?"

"It's probably better than it sounds," I said dismissively, knowing this was just small talk.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I doubt that. You shouldn't say such things. You never know, you could be my next signed author."

I tried not to laugh. "Nice try, Pietro."

He smiled widely. "What? I'm serious!"

Tilting my head towards him knowingly, I sighed. "We both know that can't happen."

He was grinning now, clearly entertained by my unamused expression. "Says who?"

I motioned around us with my drink. "Says everyone? The world we live in?"

He began to list authors on his fingers as he said, "Jane Austen. Emily Bronte. Mary Shelley. Louisa May Alcott. Dare I name more?"

"Okay, okay, I get it," I said, pushing his hand down and rolling my eyes at his smug expression. "But I can promise you that all of those women fought tooth and nail to get published. Their families probably weren't as accepting as they wanted them to be. There's still people now who talk about how unprofessional and lacklustre their works are. They didn't have it easy. Still don't. And don't even get me started on the reputation side of things for you... d'you know how much backlash you'd get for signing a woman?"

Pietro shrugged, sipping his drink, before saying casually, "I only care about talent, Y/N. And if you have even a quarter of the talent your brother does, then I'm happy to go from there."

I quirked a brow, trying to gauge if he was pulling my leg or not. But the kind eyes looking back at me suggested he may not have been. Either way, the idea of actually being published – something I'd been dreaming of since I was a kid – was enough to raise my suspicions and make me shake my head.

"Thanks for listening, Pietro," I said conclusively, hoping he got the hint.

He nodded, accepting my word, thankfully. "Anytime. Hopefully this isn't the end of this conversation, though."

I cracked a smile, knowing it was but giving him the benefit of the doubt. He pursed his lips, glancing around briefly before attempting to hide an amused smile.

"What are you smiling at?" I teased, nudging him in the arm slightly.

His eyes met mine, sparkling with mischief. "You've probably not noticed, but as we've been speaking, almost everyone in this garden has looked our way."

I cocked my head with confusion, smile still present. He nodded subtly, eyes flickering to the right, so I followed his gaze and inconspicuously looked around. He was right, as murmurs of gossip escaped people's lips, their eyes trying to get a good look at the two of us. Even our parents were looking our way, no doubt discussing our future wedding affair.

"Wow," I breathed out, trying not to laugh as I looked back to him. "You'd think they'd have something better to do."

He leaned in, muttering, "Wanna give them a show?"

My eyes flickered between his, seeing that roguish charm of his come to life. I couldn't resist his mischievous attempt to piss off our parents, so of course I nodded with a stifled laugh.

"Care to dance, Miss Y/L/N?" he asked, a little louder than he needed to, attracting more attention.

I grinned, grateful for the idiot that was Pietro. He was already making my evening ten times better than it was.

Resting my hand in his outstretched one, I nodded. "Thank you, Mr Maximoff."

I barely had chance to put my glass down before he led me to the area before the live band that was strumming a lovely upbeat ballad. We joined the other couples that were also having a dance, unbothered by their nosey stares.

Bowing dramatically, he smiled and I curtsied before resting a hand on his shoulder and the other in his. He rested a hand on my waist respectfully before a grin spread across his lips and he began to dance me around everybody else, way too fast for me to keep up.

"Pietro!" I exclaimed between fits of laughter, trying not to trip over my feet or his.

"You said we could dance," he answered simply, before spinning me around.

My eyes went dizzy as he dipped me, making me laugh joyfully. For the first time all night, I was having fun. When he pulled me up, his eyes motioned to the left of us.

"D'you think our parents have already picked the wedding venue?" he teased.

"Definitely," I said with a nod, before shoving him back slightly. "But you, mister, need to slow down. You're like a speedster with the dancing. We should call you Quicksilver."

He laughed, continued to dance me around but much more slower this time. "I like that. You're clever. I can see why Wanda has taken a liking to you."

I knew he didn't mean it like that, but my heart dropped to my stomach anyway. A hearty chuckle escaped his lips as he noticed my expression. Thankfully, he didn't question it and we continued to make a fool of ourselves for a few more songs before taking a break by the snacks table.

"You're an idiot," I told Pietro as we caught our breath, but a delighted smile was on my lips. "You know you've probably convinced our parents that we're a couple now, right?"

"Hey, you're the one who started to fluff my hair like you loved me!" he retorted with humoured eyes.

"Because you're just so darn cute!" I mocked him, before moving forward and going in to fluff his hair yet again.

He attempted to smack my hand away as he said, "Hands off the hair, Y/L/N! I styled it perfectly!"

Grabbing my wrists, he held me back and I tried not to cry with laughter at the expression on his face.

"Such a child," I decided, pulling my hands away. "Whatever happens from here on out is definitely your fault."

He scoffed, as if ready to refute that fact, but before he could say anything, my brother's voice was heard.

"It's nice to see you actually conversing with people for a change, but maybe not my publisher."

Pietro and I turned and saw Y/B/N and Wanda approaching us. My brother seemed entertained by Pietro and I, looking between us with pre-conceived ideas that we may have already fancied each other, just like everyone else had tonight. Wanda, meanwhile, was watching me with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"He's good company, what can I say?" I joked, returning my brother's smile.

"Oh?" He raised a brow, knowing look in his eyes.

I rolled my own, trying not to laugh at his insinuation. There was no point trying to convince him otherwise.

"I was just giving Y/N here the best evening ever since she was moping around in the corner," Pietro explained nonchalantly, making me smack his arm.

"I was not moping!" I defended myself.

He shrugged, ghost of a smile on his lips. "Whatever you say."

I gave him a playful glare before focusing my attention to the couple before us.

"As lovely as it is to see whatever this is," my brother continued to make things awkward as he motioned between us, "I came to get Pietro. Someone from the press is here and has questions about the book."

At the mention of this, Pietro straightened up and neatened his bow tie, flashing my brother his most confident smile. "Lead the way, Y/B/N."

After assuring Wanda he'd be back in a second, Y/B/N let go of her waist and guided Pietro to the members of the press. Glad that he'd finally left her side, I looked to Wanda with a soft smile.

"Hey," I said quietly, glancing around before saying what I'd wanted to say all night. "You look radiant tonight, Wanda."

Unexpectedly, she crossed her arms and pressed her lips together firmly. "How was your dance with Pietro?"

Her green eyes, literally green with envy, watched me with distaste. It didn't take long for me to recognise that familiar jealousy entwined in her expression because it was probably the same way I looked when she was with my brother. For some reason, this made me smile with amusement.

"He's a very good dancer," I said, half truthful and half trying to poke fun.

She wasn't amused. "Yeah, everybody saw. You've been all over him."

I covered my mouth, trying very hard not to laugh. "I mean, he's pretty funny to be around. I can totally see why everybody wants us to get married."

Her jaw clenched as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"C'mon, it's a joke," I said lightheartedly, nudging her in the arm. "You know that."

After internally debating whether or not to believe me, she relaxed her shoulders and unclenched her jaw. "I know."

"So, what's the problem?" I asked, raising a brow and smiling playfully.

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing."

My smile faded as I searched her eyes. "C'mon. What is it? You know you can tell me."

"Forget it, Y/N," she muttered, avoiding my eyes.

Realising she was still clearly bothered, I sighed dramatically, hoping to lighten the mood. Making sure my voice was low enough for only her to hear, I said, "I only danced with him to annoy our parents. Same with him. He's clearly not interested in me and neither I with him. That's why we get along so well." Teasing her once more, I added, "If circumstances were different, I'd like to think we'd be good friends. He's quite handsome, though I think the good looks are a Maximoff twin thing. Maybe if–"

"I'm in love with you!"

I paused, blinking, unsure if I'd heard correctly. Her cheeks were flushed as she looked to me with exasperation.

Glancing around to make sure nobody was attracted by her outburst, I swallowed hard. My heart was pounding in my ears as she said what I'd been struggling to accept for the past two months.

"What?" I breathed out, raising my brows with surprise.

She licked her lips, realisation replacing her look of admission. Opening her mouth to say something, she stepped forward, but my brother returned with an oblivious smile on his face and interrupted the moment.

"Wanda, the journalists want a picture of us for their article," he said enthusiastically, returning his arm around her waist and tugging her close, making my skin crawl.

Her gaze lingered on me for as long as she could before looking up to my brother with a halfhearted smile.

"Sure," she agreed reluctantly.

My brother nodded at me before leading Wanda away. She gave me one last look, her eyes trapped with unsaid words, before leaving with him. My mouth went dry as Wanda's words echoed in my mind. She was in love with me. And I knew I was in love with her, too. I had been for a while.

But wouldn't admitting that make this whole thing a lot more complicated?

—

"Will you stop shaking your hand? It's very distracting."

I stopped shaking my hand and gave my mum an apologetic glance before facing the door again. I was extremely eager and nervous to see Wanda again, as I hadn't been able to see her for the rest of the party last night.

Her words were permanently resounding in my mind all night, making it difficult to fall asleep. The reality of our situation had dawned on me and I knew that even though everything would become more difficult between us, I had to tell her that I felt the same way. The last thing I wanted was her panicking that I didn't. Because these last two months loving her in secret were better than anything I'd experienced in my life.

Iryna and my mum had made plans to hang out today, including Wanda and I in the plans without actually telling me until this morning. I didn't mind though as I was hoping it could be an opportunity for us both to finally speak.

The front door opened to reveal Iryna with a bright, inviting smile. She exchanged greetings with us both and ushered us inside instantly. There, waiting, was Wanda, looking as gorgeous as ever. A calm suddenly enveloped me as I looked to her, my heart fluttering in my chest more so than usual. She loved me and that thought alone made me feel giddy inside.

"You must come upstairs to the closet with me," Iryna insisted before I could utter a word to the brunette. "I've been very silly and impulse-ordered a bunch of new dresses. Of course, the only way to fix that is to try them on."

My mother laughed alongside her and the two of them looked to Wanda and I questioningly. I smiled their way, glancing at Wanda, before following them upstairs. Maybe later.

I spent the next hour trying on clothes against my own will, modelling them for Wanda and our mothers awkwardly. Ecstatic, our mothers threw their opinions out at me, but I was barely listening because all I could seem to focus on was a quiet Wanda. I couldn't read her mind for the life of me – she was getting better at hiding how she truly felt.

Wanda also tried some dresses on, still not as enthused as she usually was, but neither of our mothers seemed to take notice. I sat on the lounge sofa alongside them, eyes unable to look away from Wanda as she modelled the dresses. I had no words, my mind hazy and tongue tied as she stole my breath away for the millionth time. She was ethereal.

"...what do you think, Y/N?" Iryna asked, forcing me to look away from Wanda and to her. "She should keep this one, shouldn't she?"

I hummed in agreement, looking back to Wanda, who was avoiding my eyes. "She should. I don't think I've ever seen a dress so perfect for someone before."

Our mothers didn't seem to think much of my comment, but Wanda finally looked up, not ignoring me for the first time since I got here. I offered her a small smile, hoping she could see what I'd been wanting to say to her since last night. But she looked away, chewing on her lip and looking down.

"I'm gonna change," she mumbled, before turning to go back behind the curtain.

A sigh escaped my lips as I leaned back against the seat. I'd just have to find a spare moment.

Iryna and my mum proceeded to try on a bunch of dresses before we called it a day and were ready to eat lunch.

"I want you to have these, Y/N," Iryna told me as we all stood up, motioning to the pile of dresses on the arm of the sofa. "It's my gift to you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, Iryna, you don't need to give–"

"Don't be ridiculous," she cut me off with a wave of her hand. "You're family now. Anything for my daughter-in-law."

I smiled awkwardly, not missing the eye roll from Wanda, before nodding. "Thanks..."

She looked to her daughter. "Wanda, medovyy (honey), can you help her pack them away and meet Y/M/N and I outside on the patio for some lunch?"

Wanda, having no other choice but to say yes, nodded and forced a smile in her mum's direction. "Sure, mum."

Our mothers fell into conversation as they left the room, finally leaving Wanda and I alone. I released a breath, grateful for the privacy, and looked to the Sokovian in question.

"You okay?" I asked slowly, wanting to find a start before erupting straight into my feelings.

She nodded, nibbling on her lip. She looked like she wanted to say something more, so I watched her patiently.

After a pause, when I thought she may just stay quiet forever, she spoke. "If what I said last night was out of line, I'm sorry."

I shook my head, a smile curling on my lips. "It wasn't. I'm in love with you, too."

Surprised, she finally met my gaze, eyes swirling with confusion. "You are?"

"Of course I am," I said quietly, stepping forward and taking her hands in mine. "I didn't mean to make you jealous last night. Pietro and I were genuinely just hanging out as friends."

She shook her head, eyes flickering between mine. "It doesn't matter about that. Forget it."

I still felt guilty, adding, "I know, but it does matter. I don't want to–"

She pressed her lips to mine quickly, cutting me off. Her fingers tangled in my hair as she tugged me closer with her other hand, making me gasp when my body touched hers. I kissed back, closing my eyes and moving my lips against hers in perfect sync.

I probably could have kissed her all afternoon, but the sound of the door opening made us both jump apart, startled. It was just a servant who was coming in to clean up the room. When she saw us, she gave us a small smile before moving around the room carefully. My eyes fell to Wanda's excited ones, and I smiled at her before nodding to the dresses.

"We should sort this out before they wonder what's taking so long," I told her, moving to pack them.

She nodded, grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently before helping me. We packed the dresses in no time before joining our mums out on the patio where they were sat with our lunch. I tried to keep my eyes off Wanda as our mothers spoke to us about God knew what, but it was hard when all I wanted to do was kiss her over and over, telling her just how much I loved her.

"...nice to see you both getting along lately," Iryna was talking, and I only zoned back in when I realised she was looking at me.

I blinked. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Wanda stifled a smile as my mum gave me a disapproving look from across the table.

Iryna didn't seem to mind as she chuckled. "You and Pietro," she continued. "You both seemed very comfortable at the party last night."

I settled on a polite smile. "He's a gentleman. Very nice to be around, I guess."

Iryna smiled knowingly, exchanging glances with my mum before patting Wanda on the forearm, getting her attention. "How does that sound, dear? Your brother and Y/N together?"

I shook my head instantly, realising how she'd taken my words. "That's not what I meant."

Humming in response, Iryna continued to look to her daughter. "You may have to start sharing your new best friend with Pietro."

Remembering Wanda's jealousy last night, I spared her a glance of concern, hoping she wouldn't let this get to her. She was smiling, but her eyes were dimmed with dismay.

"Uh-huh," she played along with her mother's words, before using her fork to pick at her food.

As our mums began to talk about it, I found Wanda's hand under the table and laced my fingers in hers, hoping she'd know I only cared about one person and it was her. Though she didn't look up, her hand tightened around mine and she didn't let go.

The rest of the lunch went by as expected, though the more Iryna and my mother mentioned the wedding, the more Wanda and I grew uncomfortable. It was so much harder to hear about it when I knew my feelings were growing stronger for the brunette every day. By the end of the meal, my mother was happy to go back home and said I could stay to hang out with Wanda, which of course I did.

After bidding her a goodbye, I let Wanda drag me upstairs and to her bedroom, though the door closed when she spun around and pushed me against it, immediately kissing me. Before I could even question what was happening, she pulled away and looked at me through a half-lidded gaze.

"I don't want to share you with my brother, ever," she rasped out lowly, before licking her lips. "I don't want to share you with anyone."

She breathed out, her breath mingling with mine. Her hands rested on my waist before she reattached our lips, moving hers slower and more thoughtfully against mine.

I closed my eyes, grabbing her face and holding her gently, letting her slip her tongue between my lips and play with mine. Then she sucked on my lower lip, teeth nibbling gently at the sensitive skin, and made my insides go warm and fuzzy.

When she let go, she trailed kisses down my jaw and to my neck, having me at her mercy.

"Wanda," I moaned, hand moving to the back of her neck as I tried to regain some control of the situation, but the longer she sucked at the exposed skin, the more my knees wanted to buckle.

Already lowering my dress to my shoulders, her hand untied the back of it and I flushed at the contact of her fingers against me, not used to the feeling but also not opposed.

"Wanda, are you sure?" I asked between bated breaths, attempting to get her attention by tugging at her dress.

She pulled back, hand rising to my jaw and caressing it with her thumb as she looked between my eyes. Hers were dark, clouded with an arousal I hadn't seen before.

"I am," she said with certainty, before asking, "Are you?"

I swallowed hard, the warmth in my core growing hotter as she stared at me with lustful eyes and swollen lips. "Yes."

She gave me a slight smile before pressing her lips to mine again, allowing me to wrap my arms around her neck. I heard her lock the door behind me as I undid the top of her dress, struggling to do so without breaking contact from her. We moved to the bed clumsily, trying not to stumble over our discarded dresses, before I laid her down and straddled her.

Leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses down her neck, I felt her fingers grip my waist, keeping ahold of my body on hers. I shivered as her nails scratched gently against the skin and grew warm when she lifted herself up gently to get more comfortable, her clothed centre rubbing against mine.

Taking a breath, I pulled away and hovered over her, revelling in the beauty that was Wanda Maximoff. Her cheeks were dusted pink as she opened her eyes, green eyes sparkling desperately as they flickered between mine.

"I love you," I told her softly, leaning on my elbow and caressing her forehead.

She smiled, nails trailing up my back and sending shivers down my spine. "Ya tozhe tebya lyublyu."

I tried not to laugh as I tilted my head with confusion. She smiled a little wider, hand reaching for the back of my bra.

"I love you, too," she translated in English, hint of amusement in her eyes, before she managed to undo the bra strap.

I rolled my eyes at her attempt of mockery before chasing down her lips once more. Everything about the woman before me was absolute perfection and I was glad I could finally share how I felt about her without having to hide it anymore.

The potential consequences of our actions was not my concern right now... all I cared about was treating her with the respect and care she deserved.

#wanda maximoff au #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #scarlet witch imagine #marvel #mcu #marvel imagine #elizabeth olsen #elizabeth olsen imagine

316 notes · View notes

yoonsshadow · 3 years

Text

Strike! - OT7

❥ prompt ; ‘could you please do an ot7 where they all go bowling or to the arcade together? (I also love your eternals series so much!!)’ sent in by @deathbybigsisrory

❥ pairing ; ot7 x fem!reader

❥ genres ; non-idol!au, rom-com, friends-to-[future]-lovers, [they’re not together yet but everyone is very much in love]

❥ themes ; fluff!!

❥ warnings ; none

❥ word count ; 1.7k

❥ note ; Thank you so much for the submission!!! (And also thank you for your sweet words darling xx) I may have strayed a little from the prompt, but I hope you still like it. I haven’t been bowling since I was like 11, so I’m sorry if some details are incorrect. I have never been to an arcade, so I thought this was the safer option. [this isn’t edited]

Somewhere, in the back of your subconscious, is a loud knocking.

It’s a rapid noise, insistent and forceful, but the dream you’re submerged in is far too pleasant to pay it any heed. It will go away eventually.

Except it doesn’t.

As you’re lying in the paradise of a warm coastal beach, mermaids off the coast and dragons in the distant sky, muffled yells are lost in the ambience of crashing waves and mer-song. You are so incredibly comfortable on this beach chair. You think, perhaps, that you’d happily stay here for an eternity.

Eternity does not last very long.

Your idyllic fantasy dissolves the instant hands shake your hunched shoulders, voices now louder in your ear as you are rocked from your sleep. It aches to move, to be moved, but soon you are sitting upright rather than folded over your desk, cheek pressed into papers.

“Hey there, sleepyhead.” Namjoon’s deep timbre vibrates through you; shocks you into clarity faster than your mind is ready.

“Hmrrfh?” Is your unintelligible response. He seems to understand.

Seokjin is crouched beside you, one hand on the back of your office chair, the other on your knee. “I thought you said that you were finished with your work.” You rub your eyes and yawn as he speaks, quickly taking notice of the other figures in the room. “You were supposed to have a break, remember?”

You hum. “I don’t get paid to take breaks, I get paid to have my work done by the deadline. Which is soon, might I add, so I’ll have to rain-check today. Sorry.”

“Nope.” It’s Yoongi who speaks this time. In the next moment, your office chair is rolled away from the desk and into the group of men who have somehow entered your home. Which reminds you-

“How did you even get in?”

“We found the spare key,” Taehyung says, as if the fact should be obvious.

“Yeah,” Jimin adds, “when you didn’t respond to our knocks and calls we thought you might be dead or something. Ggukie damn near kicked the door down when Namjoon-hyung lifted up the doormat.”

“Terrible hiding spot, Y/N,” Namjoon says. You can tell that he’s trying to sound disappointed, but he looks just a little too endeared.

Moving in front of you, Hoseok flashes you a warm smile. His eyes become crescents, his lips a heart, and your fingers twitch with the want to reach forward and caress his cheek. You don’t.

“There’s no way you’re getting out of today,” he says without a hint of malice. “You need a day to relax, and we haven’t seen our girl in far too long. So, will you be coming willingly, or by force?”

“But-” Your protests are cut off.

“By force it is. Gguk.”

Your vision is suddenly filled by a broad chest as thick arms sweep you from your seat. Gravity has no effect on the young man who now holds you bridal style, nor on the Bambi smile that naturally grows on his face.

“We’re going to have so much fun today,” Jeongguk says, muscles flexing around you as they all begin walking towards your bedroom. You have no doubt that Hoseok and Taehyung already have an outfit planned for you, and you even hear the bath beginning to run.

Your boys never fail to look after you. God, you care for them so much.

[You won’t admit to yourself that you may feel something deeper. Not yet. But one day, perhaps soon, you’ll realise that you don’t have to be afraid of that feeling.]

Retro music swirls around you as your group makes their way towards your assigned lane. Bowling shoes in hand and a competitive spirit growing, a weight seems to melt off of your shoulders.

All thoughts of work, of responsibilities, have simply disappeared.

“How are we going to decide teams?” Namjoon looks around the group, as if calculating a mathematic equation. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

Yoongi scoffs. “We’ll be here forever if we do that. Let’s just do Hyungs versus Youngs.”

While Jeongguk, Taehyung and Jimin are cheering at the quick resolution, you lift a brow at the unbothered man. “But what do I call your team then, Yoongi oppa?”

For a moment, he says nothing, merely ducking his head to hide the rosy tint that dusts across his cheeks. Hoseok is the one who steps in to answer, clapping a harsh hand on Yoongi’s back as if to wake him from a trance.

“We can come up with team names!”

Jimin jumps up and down, wide beam blinding you all. “We are team Young and Beautiful!”

“No, we should be Bold and Beautiful! Like that American hand-wash show,” Taehyung suggests, equally as enthusiastic.

Namjoon sighs. “It’s soap opera, Tae.”

“What about Y/N’s Angels?” Jeongguk seems to be thinking hard, ever competitive even in the sport of picking a team name. “Because we are angelic, and Y/N bosses us around.”

That lands him a swift chop to the neck, much to his giggling delight.

“We are the Young, Bold, and Beautiful Angels,” you decide, rolling your eyes. “And what about your team?”

Seokjin does not hesitate to announce: “We are team Kim Seok Jin!”

Yoongi sighs, but doesn’t object, and Hoseok leans his forehead on Namjoon’s shoulder as if he needs the support to keep standing.

“Thank you for consulting the rest of the team about this decision, Jin-hyung,” Namjoon says, deadpan but not upset.

“You should be thankful that I’m allowing you to use my name at all,” Seokjin replies, hands on hips. “It is, after all, a national symbol of good luck.”

“National...?” You mumble.

Jimin groans out a sigh, easily bored and antsy to win. “Can we just play already? We don’t need to have a board meeting every time we make a decision.”

“Let’s go hold some heavy balls!” Jeongguk then grabs your elbow and drags you to the bowling ball racks, uncaring that you’ve only laced one of your shoes on.

“Do you need me to teach you how to bowl?” Jeongguk’s voice in your ear startles you as you stand in front of your lane, ready to go. The pink ball is heavy in your hand when you turn around to glare at him.

“I know how to bowl, Gguk. Now shoo, I need to concentrate.”

“Yes, but do you know how to bowl properly? Like a pro?”

“I am this close to dropping this ball on your toes, don’t test me.”

“Pleeease? C’mon, just this once?”

Damn him and his doe eyes. “Fine. Just once. But you’re going to buy me a plate of nacho fries.”

“Deal.”

You shouldn’t be surprised when he stands behind you and circles his arms around yours, but you do jolt a bit when his hands touch your waist.

“Some people think that it’s the wrist movement that’s most important, but really, it’s the hips. Even if you mess up the bowl, if your hips are at the right angle, you can’t really go wrong.”

“I’m pretty sure wrist movement is actually pretty important.”

The man has the nerve to shush you. “Angle your hips like this,” fingertips press into the soft flesh over your hipbones, “and then take three steps before you let go of the ball. The trick is to start with your non-dominant foot, so that when you bowl, your dominant leg isn’t in the way.”

Sighing, you humour the youngest and stride away from him, following his steps and then releasing the ball from your grip.

It lands a perfect strike.

Jeongguk walks back to the group with a smug smile and a pep in his step, while you simply chuckle at his pride. Meanwhile, the other boys are glaring at him.

“So,” Hoseok says as you wait for your ball to return so that you can have your second go, “are we all going to be allowed to teach you? Or is this favouritism?”

Heaving a deep sigh, you look up to the ceiling as if it, or any higher being, may give you an answer as to why you’ve chosen these seven as your favourite people.

Deep down you know why, but it’s times like these that make you question yourself.

It’s also times like these that make you feel impossibly endeared.

Night has crept up on you by the time the boys drop you back at your apartment, ribs aching from laughter and cheeks sore from smiles. No tension resides in your muscles, in your bones, or even in your mind; you feel as though you are floating, ears brushing against the clouds, with how light you are right now.

“You have to promise that you won’t do any work until tomorrow,” Namjoon says, watching you dig through your bag for your keys.

“After a full night of sleep,” Yoongi adds.

Seokjin then says, “And a nice, big breakfast.”

“And plenty of water!”

“And a comforting shower- Or a bubble bath!”

“And you have to take plenty of breaks.”

“Maybe we can drop by at lunch to make sure you eat-”

“Would it be better if we stayed over tonight?”

“Why don’t you just stay with us? We can help you-”

“Guys.” Your voice is sturdy as it cuts through the overlapping voices of seven worried men, all eyes turned to you as you stand in your open doorway. “I appreciate the concern, truly, but I’m a big girl. What happened yesterday - well, this morning - was a one-off. I assure you that I can take care of myself.”

You’re met with silence that sounds an awful lot like doubt.

“But,” you sigh, “maybe you can come over for lunch?”

Gleeful voices whoop into the night air, and you have to bite back your laughter as you hurriedly hush them, wary of your neighbours.

One by one, you give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek as you exchange farewells, peeling the younger ones off of you as you tell them that yes, I really do have to go inside now.

It’s only when you’ve closed the front door behind you, leaning on the wall beside you, that you come to the full, unafraid realisation.

You are in love with them. And you think they might love you back.

End

651 notes · View notes

garrothromeave · 3 years

Text

let’s talk about minecraft diaries rebirth.

and why it’s literally amazing. (warning: this will contain spoilers. lots of them. also, long post ahead.)

i think a lot of people hate mcdr because they were expecting a remake; but the point of rebirth is for jess to rewrite it. it wasn't supposed to be exactly the same.

honestly i went into mcdr with a closed mind. as an og mcd fan, i thought that this was going to suck ass and that i'd rant about how bad it was to my friends later. but actually watching it, i just... couldn't help but immediately fall in love with it.

ik im probably the only motherfucker that likes mcdr, but honestly how could i not? for one, garroth and zenix actually have personalities at the beginning. AND; the villagers? actually amazing. donna made me smile, visher made me laugh and cry, brendan was just bein as good as ever. like... i even didn't despise emmalyn with every ounce of my soul like i usually do?? the characterizations of them were GOOD, man.

and honestly, aphmau like--the way she spoke, her whole thing. it was reallyyy well done in my opinion. she was oblivious to things, but it wasn't overdone and wasn't done in a way to make her annoying. she's a very appealing character in mcdr, a main protagonist i do not mind following along with. her dynamics to the characters are really cool and all very unique. gonna cut it here so i don’t clog y’all’s feed cuz i got a lot to say :)

the early use of aphmau’s powers was actually pretty cool as well, it also really showed how clueless aphmau really was to everything going on around her. AND UH, THE FACT THAT SHE THOUGHT THAT GARROTH FELT FAMILIAR? GOLDEN. absolutely golden.

AND GENE OH BOY, the early introduction of gene? ik a lot of people are upset about it, but god DAMN i love it so much. his role in the story is very important in original, and i cannot express how much joy this brought me learning that he was actually getting the proper attention for it. and the fact that gene and aphmau were working together?? i mean ik gene was just trying to use her to get back to the "shadow abyss" (pretty pog replacement for the nether, gg) but god DAMN i loved every moment of it. i found their dynamic to be pretty fuckin funny to be honest, would absolutely love to see more of it.

i might be biased considering gene is one of my absolute favorite characters, but i honestly think that introducing gene this early on in the story was a good move. again, he's literally the right-hand man to the shadow lord. it makes you really wonder why he didn't have as much of an important role in season 1 or even 2 of the original mcd plotline. also, we get some of that good-ol-fashioned exposition with seeing early on how vylad and gene interact. vylad’s at a very strange point in the story right now; his motives are unclear, even to the side he’s ‘supposed’ to be taking (aka, a shadow knight.) another early introduction to a character is zane! this, my friends, is good. really good. i’d say that zane is the main antagonist of season 1 in the original series--and he wasn’t even introduced until like, episode 50. it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but him being introduced this early on really gives the audience a better understanding of what threats are out there and what our protagonist will have to encounter in the future. in the original series, there’s not much explanation as to why lords are disappearing/dying left and right--and while yes, that was supposed to be the mystery of it, having some of that early information is a better move in terms of writing.

AND IVAN?? BEING A PART OF THE JURY OF NINE?? I COULD NOT HAVE ASKED FOR ANYTHING MORE LIKE GOD DAMN that was a very pleasant surprise i'll just say that, thank you jess :)

and no i did not loop the 4 minutes of screentime laurance got in that one episode haha who would do that i would never do that anyways

SPEAKING of laurance, im so glad jess actually wrote him in this early :) she totally could have just waited for the first time aphmau visits meteli and meets him there, but no! she put him in an early episode. i dont even care if she did it just to shut up the fans about laurance but man that made me so happy seeing him, even if it was only for a bit.

okay i kinda wanna go over the guards real fast firstly; garroth. ignoring how weird the helmet showing emotions is, i really like how garroth is portrayed. he's under a lot of pressure because the village is putting a lot of the blame on him for malik's death, and he's trying his hardest to keep things running. the fact that garroth utterly refused the to take up the position of lord and even got a little snappy about it was actually really cool to see as well. and while he doesn’t have that same “reserved, quiet, observant” feel as the original mcd version of him had, this version of garroth is absolutely awesome. he’s more direct and blunt, is significantly more sarcastic, and isn’t as stiff or as much as a pushover as he is in the original. he even has a sense of humour. also, no homo, but he’s kinda adorable. plus, the desperation that he goes through during the whole thing is just--it’s really cool to see how hard he’s trying to prove himself and help the village. my rating for mcdr garroth? 9/10. the helmet... the helmet is the main thing throwin me off, i can’t lie. next, zenix. oh BOY do i have a lot to say about this man. first of all, his and garroth’s dynamic is incredible. when i saw how the interacted with each other, my first thought was: father and son. zenix has this immaturity to him that is so fucking fun and interesting to watch, and seeing how garroth scolds him is so fuckin good man. and! seeing how he interacts with the rest of the village... honestly, if jess ever picks this story up again, i would probably cry when zenix (literally) backstabs garroth. HELL, i hope that’s something that still happens, it’d be heartbreaking to witness this character that we’ve come to love hurting his mentor, the man who took him in. he’s just a really good character all in all, and much more appealing than the original mcd zenix. ...except season 3 zenix. no zenix can be better than that one. either way, zenix is amazing written to be the comic relief and he’s just an all-out lovable character in this series. finally, dale and brian. yes i’m going to group them up because there’s not much to say regarding them, but i do want to address them. for starters, we have brian; who’s already 16 when the story starts. good on jess for doing that, because in the original aphmau watched brian be born and age INCREDIBLY quick, haha. THOUGH i do feel like there’s a slight connection lost there--one of the hardest things about brian’s betrayal in the original series in the fact that we watched him grow up in phoenix drop. we were there from the moment he was born, to the second he betrayed phoenix drop. BUT OF COURSE, this version is a lot more realistic, so it’s understandable. i just think that if it’s brian who’ll be betraying phoenix drop again (if it even goes down that same route), it won’t hit as hard unless jess really takes the time to grow the connection between brian and aphmau. as for dale; gotta admit, love it. and like, i think one of the main things about how good of a call it was to make him a drunkard from the beginning is considering how much the village is struggling. the fact that the second-in-command is literally drunk all of the time really conveys the message of, “yeah. this village needs help.” plus, he’s another good comic relief character. i loved seeing molly and dale’s relationship too, it was very funny. PLUS. we were blessed with a well scene, in which aphmau had to help villagers out of the well. i don’t know about you guys, but that was one of my favorite nods to the original series. i cannot thank jess enough for that, there was a smile on my face the entire time. another amazing thing--visher’s character. instead of just being introduced to this quirky lil merchant who only had one or two interactions with aphmau like in the first one, we got to sit there and really get a feel for someone worth remembering and worth mourning over. we had a reason to be sad over his death, it wasn’t just some npc getting blown up suddenly. this was different, and this hurt. one of the major things that i hope is to come out of this is for jess to fix the major mistakes she had when writing the first series. she’d expressed how unhappy she was with some of the decisions she made, and i’m glad that she’s getting that second chance to undo the things she didn’t like. this series also gives her a second chance to really, really dig into characters and their motives. like, gimme laurance backstory in better detail. or like, garroth and zane’s relationship from back when they were kids? or how vylad died and who killed him? etc etc. she’s already done an excellent job so far, and i can’t wait to see where this goes. that is, if she ever continues it. god, i wish there were more episodes so that i could seriously let you guys know how beautiful of a series this is. there’s so much i want to say about rebirth, but i think i’ll stop here. i might say some more shit about it later, but if there’s anything i’d want you to take away from this, it’s: give minecraft diaries rebirth a chance. there’s a lot of potential, and this is a chance for jess to really change things for the better! ... but again, that is if this ever is continued.

#aphmau #minecraft diaries #minecraft diaries rebirth #garroth #laurance #gene #zenix #vylad #rant

152 notes · View notes

ibijau · 3 years

Text

Future Past pt17 / on AO3

After being dragged on a Night Hunt by Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen ponders the choices in front of him

“And that’s when Sect Leader Yao fell face first into the bog,” Nie Mingjue finished with a grin.

Lan Xichen, who had been fighting not to react for most of the story, burst out laughing so hard he had to stop walking, before quickly pressing one hand to his mouth in a vain effort to silence himself.

“There, I knew I hadn’t lost my touch,” Nie Mingjue said with an even wider grin, and Lan Xichen was nearly overcome with how much he’d missed him.

Of course he only had himself to blame for that. During the past year, Nie Mingjue had reached out to him several times, inviting Lan Xichen to spend a week or two in the Unclean Realm to flee his uncle’s students, or else suggesting they go on a Night Hunt together. But every time, Lan Xichen had found plenty of excuses to refuse. They were all good excuses, and he’d been busy with his regular duties, and the copying of the library, and…

And good or not, excuses were just excuses. The honest trust was that Lan Xichen had, in fact, been avoiding his best friend. The lingering shame from that horrible future had been too much to bear. How could he have faced Nie Mingjue, knowing he would have failed him someday, knowing he’d sided with his murderer, knowing he’d allowed his precious brother to turn into a monster? Horrified by the terrible friend he would have become, Lan Xichen had tried to distance himself from Nie Mingjue.

It hadn’t worked. Nie Mingjue had been patient with him, until one day he wasn’t, and just dropped by the Cloud Recesses unannounced, warned Lan Qiren that he was borrowing his nephew, and took Lan Xichen on a Night Hunt before anyone could protest. That had been the previous afternoon, and since then Nie Mingjue had been on a quest to make Lan Xichen laugh.

They’d just arrived at the location where a demon bear was causing trouble, and finally Nie Mingjue’s effort had been rewarded.

Now that he was laughing, Lan Xichen felt a little stupid for trying so hard to stay serious. Even if in his memories of the future Nie Mingjue had become an angry man too short tempered to have fun with, in the present he was the funniest person Lan Xichen knew.

The most forgiving, too, because he wasn’t even angry that Lan Xichen had pushed him away for an entire year.

“You’ve gotten too stern,” Nie Mingjue just said while Lan Xichen laughed. “I need to scold your uncle for making you work too much. I also need to steal you more often.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Lan Xichen replied, meaning it. He had been too serious since gaining those unwanted memories. Except for music lessons with Nie Huaisang, letters from Jiang Cheng, and a few chats with his brother, everything had felt dreary and stressful these last few months. “I’d wanted to act more maturely, but I suppose it’s important to have fun too.”

This prompted Nie Mingjue to make an annoyed noise.

“Huaisang told me the same thing last week,” he said in an aggravated tone. “That little brat…”

“I thought you wanted him to act more seriously?”

“I do, but not like that,” Nie Mingjue grumbled as he resumed walking. “He’s weird since he came back. First he ran off on his own, flying on his sabre…”

Lan Xichen winced. That hadn’t happened in his memory of another life. But at the same time, in that other life Nie Huaisang hadn’t gotten in nearly as much trouble, not during that first year in the Cloud Recesses at least. Lan Xichen couldn’t help feeling guilty about that, since it had to have been his fault for changing the normal course of events.

“Then when he comes back, he brings that orphan he found somewhere and demands that I let him join the sect!”

That was new as well.

“Did you agree?” Lan Xichen asked.

Nie Mingjue shrugged, and Lan Xichen had to bite his cheeks not to smile. So that was a yes. As expected, Nie Mingjue just didn’t know how to refuse his brother’s whims. It was comforting to know that this, at least, hadn’t changed.

“He’s obsessed with that kid,” Nie Mingjue explained. “Don’t know why. The boy is a damn pest, gets in fights all the time with everyone… but I guess he is clever, and he’s got potential. It’s just so weird to see Huaisang always asking about his progress. He’s never cared about any younger disciples before!”

“Maybe he brought you your future brother-in-law,” Lan Xichen teased.

“I don’t think so. The kid’s only about ten, I’d need to have a serious discussion with Huaisang if he was going after someone that young. Besides, doesn’t he already have a fling with that Lan disciple, what's his name… Su She, right?”

Hearing this, Lan Xichen’s good humour crumbled. Since Nie Huaisang had told him in Yunping City that there was nothing of the sort between himself and Su She, Lan Xichen had stopped thinking about it. But Nie Mingjue sounded quite sure of himself, so either Nie Huaisang had lied that time, or things had changed since then.

If so, Lan Xichen could only be happy for them, he supposed. After all he knew too well how loyal Su She could be toward those he cared about, and Nie Huaisang had passionately taken the defence of his friend on multiple occasions. They wouldn’t be the worst of matches, and if Lan Xichen felt any discomfort over that idea, it was only because of lingering memories of that future that would not be.

"Did I get it wrong?" Nie Mingjue asked when Lan Xichen remained silent too long. "I've just never heard that brat talk like that about anyone. Since he came back, it's all 'Su-xiong said this' about everything, except when it's 'Xichen-gege said that', so I figured you might know something”

He paused for a moment, looking concerned. Lan Xichen glanced around, in case Nie Mingjue had heard a noise, or noticed anything about that demon bear they were after, but everything seemed quiet.

“That Su She, what sort of a person is he?” Nie Mingjue suddenly asked with a grim expression. “Huaisang really is enthusiastic about that boy, but he’s mentioned that his ‘Su-xiong’ has a temper, and… he failed the exams even though both you and your uncle wrote that he’s been studying a lot. It's almost like he did it on purpose. And he’s so nervous since he came back, but he won’t say why.”

“Su She is not a bad person,” Lan Xichen replied, and it still startled him that he meant it. Something of the man he would have become lingered in Lan Xichen that was still suspicious of what Su She would have done, but in the end it was unfair to judge him on something that hadn’t happened yet. “He’s not the most popular junior in the sect, but he’s hardworking and very dedicated to his friendship with Huaisang. If they do have that sort of relationship…”

He hesitated for a second. The idea remained startlingly unpleasant, but he refused to linger on that.

“If it’s like that, then I think Huaisang could do a lot worse.”

Tension immediately drained from Nie Mingjue’s body, who smiled at his friend.

“That’s a relief. I've been really… did you hear that?"

Lan Xichen gave one short nod, his hand resting on his sword. The cracking noise they'd both heard was followed by more, then a series of low grunts.

The demon bear had been found.

The Night Hunt went well, not that Lan Xichen ever doubted it. He vaguely recalled that even in the other future they’d hunted that demon bear, and though he hadn’t remembered the details, he knew it had gone very well over there too.

With their job done, Nie Mingjue and him warned the local magistrate that the threat had been handled before heading to a local inn to eat and relax for a moment. They both had a lot of work waiting for them at home, but Night Hunting together was always a chance to escape that for a time, and to pretend they were just two ordinary young men as careless as others their age. They usually went to the site of the Night Hunt quickly, aware that lives might be at stake, and then took several days to come home, travelling together as far as they could before separating. It felt like a bit of innocent mischief, and Lan Xichen loved it.

The inn they ended up in was pleasant enough, though Lan Xichen’s standards were not very high at that moment. As long as he was safe from the bitter winter cold, with some warm tea, and decent enough food, he was satisfied. Still, it was a pleasant bonus to discover that there was a musician at the inn that day, playing on his flute whatever songs people requested as long as they dropped a few coins. The man was decently skilled, and some of the songs were nice enough that Lan Xichen wouldn’t have minded learning them.

To Lan Xichen’s surprise, Nie Mingjue too was paying attention to the performer. It struck him as quite odd, since his friend had little taste for songs unless they were weapons to use in battle.

“If that melody is one you like, I can ask for its name and try to learn it,” Lan Xichen offered after a moment, a little excited for a chance to please his friend. “It would not be a problem.”

The suggestion startled Nie Mingjue who tore his eyes from the performer, and seemed a little embarrassed to have been caught staring.

“That’s very generous of you, but I was just… thinking about Huaisang,” he admitted. “He’s really obsessed with music lately. Even raided our library in search of pieces to learn. I’m trying to understand what’s so great about that. At least with painting I can see if it’s good or not, and his birds force him to be responsible, but music… I’m really out of my depth with that, and I hate that I don’t know how to support him.”

Nie Mingjue sighed, as if it truly wounded him that his brother would have a passion so foreign to his own interests. Perhaps it did. Lan Xichen, whose tastes were so similar to his brother’s in most things, couldn’t imagine what it would be like to love so much someone so different from one’s self.

"Is he actually any good?” Nie Mingjue then asked. “he sounds great to me, but that's not saying much. Every musician sounds good to me. But some of the elders have said they're impressed by his skill, and said they’d like him to play sometimes when we have guests to entertain. They might just be polite."

"Did he borrow a guqin from someone to continue practicing?" Lan Xichen asked, still surprised by the enthusiasm Nie Huaisang showed for music.

"Worse, he bought his own," Nie Mingjue explained, rolling his eyes. "That brat! He used up half his allowance for the year on that. I’ve warned him not to beg for money in six months when he has nothing to use for his trips to Gusu, he needs to learn not to overspend like that."

Lan Xichen froze, and for a second nearly fell into breathless panic. It was a stupid thing to worry about, compared to everything else he had changed, but…

But in that other life too he'd gone on that Night Hunt with Nie Mingjue, who had then complained that his brother had spent a fortune on a series of exquisite fans, and even had made the same threat about not giving him more funds (which he still had done when Nie Huaisang had written to beg for money down the line). It had been the starting point of Nie Huaisang's collection, a collection that he'd continued working on for the rest of his life, no matter what else changed.

Even that very last time Lan Xichen had met Nie Huaisang in that other life, after every lie had been revealed, even as he spilled all of his hatred for a man he'd grown to despise, Nie Huaisang had been flaunting a brand new fan, painted by a famous artist.

Fans had appeared to be Nie Huaisang’s last joy left after he'd lost everything else, and if Lan Xichen had taken that from him…

"You know," Nie Mingjue said, "whether he's good or not, I'm grateful you decided to teach him. He's so damn nervous all the time these days, but playing seems to calm him. So I was wondering if you might continue with the lessons?”

“Really?”

Nie Mingjue shrugged with affected indifference.

“If that brat is finally interested in something I can pretend is related to cultivation… " he grumbled." I’m not asking you to teach him any Lan songs," he quickly added," but I wouldn’t mind if some of our elders thought that. If you have time, of course. It’s gonna be a rough year for you, with the students you have coming this time."

Lan Xichen wrinkled his nose at the thought. The year promised to be intense indeed. He hadn’t yet decided what to do about that Wei Wuxian person who would play such a role in his brother's life, sometimes for the better, often for the worse. In his memories of the future, the man he’d become had eventually accepted that Wei Wuxian was Lan Wangji’s true love, sharing with him a bond so strong that not even death had severed it.

But Lan Xichen as he currently was couldn’t help thinking about all the pain and hardship that love had cost his brother, and he wasn’t sure if that was quite worth it. For all that he’d supported the acquaintance when it had started in that other life, Lan Xichen now wanted to prevent his brother from falling in love with that person. Surely it would be better if Lan Wangji didn't suffer like that.

“I don’t mind continuing the lessons,” Lan Xichen said, who had already been planning for that anyway. “He’s quite good, and he actually could learn some of our songs, if he set his mind to it. Besides, he’s good company, we’ve had some good fun.”

Not to mention Nie Huaisang might be able to help with whatever Lan Xichen decided to do regarding Wei Wuxian, since they would become good friends. He might give a hand in preventing Lan Wangji from meeting that boy, or give a hint in the right direction if Lan Xichen decide to help that little romance.

“So that’s why you’ve been ignoring me then,” Nie Mingjue replied dryly. “A prettier friend who makes you laugh and calls you cute nicknames… I'm ditched so easily. Truly tragic.”

It was a joke.

Having been friends with him for this many years, Lan Xichen knew how Nie Mingjue joked, as deadpan as his brother was dramatic, but this time the teasing hit a little too close to home. Lan Xichen hurriedly grabbed his friend’s hands and squeezed them tight. For a moment he found himself fighting to breathe, for which Nie Mingjue threw him a concerned look.

“I would never betray you,” Lan Xichen managed to wheeze out. “I swear! You… You are my friend, the person I trust the most, the person who knows me best. I would never choose someone else over you!”

Not again, anyway.

Not while knowing what the cost of it might be.

Of course even in that other future he’d thought he’d been acting for Nie Mingjue’s good. He’d thought he was helping. He had trusted Jin Guangyao's sweet words, trusted the power of Cleansing, trusted…

Nie Mingjue freed one of his hands, and leaned closer to rub circles on Lan Xichen's back, encouraging him to breathe. It was Lan Xichen's worst attack since the night he awoke with memories not quite his own. Panic and guilt mixed together, closing his throat tighter so no air could get to his lungs. It lasted long enough that Lan Xichen wondered if it might be possible for him to die like this.

Just as soon as that idea hit him, his body's desperate need for air became stronger than the power of his memories, and he was able to take one shaky breath. He gasped and coughed, all too aware of the eyes of other patrons on him, while Nie Mingjue continued rubbing his back.

"Wipe your face," Nie Mingjue gently ordered when his friend had calmed down, handing him a napkin. "Do you need to go out for some fresh air, or do you prefer to sit?"

"Sit," Lan Xichen replied in a raspy voice as he dried his tears. "Sorry. It happens sometimes. It looks worse than it is."

Nie Mingjue said nothing. A fresh pot of tea was ordered, which soothed Lan Xichen's poor throat and warmed him up again. He still felt a little fragile, but put on a smile to hide it. This, in turn, only made Nie Mingjue frown.

"Your uncle told me he was worried about your health when I saw him some weeks ago, but I didn't realise it was this bad."

"My health is fine," Lan Xichen protested. After one sharp look from his friend, he continued: "It really isn't that bad. I've been a little anxious, that's all. It's hard not to be in the current climate." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Haven't the Wen just absorbed another sect?"

Nie Mingjue grimly nodded. The leader of a sect had just died, and Wen Ruohan had promptly married his youngest son to the man's daughter and claimed the whole sect. It was not something they could openly discuss, but the issue was serious and should have distracted Nie Mingjue from the panic attack he'd witnessed.

It did not quite work.

"Your uncle too mentioned something about that when I saw him. He used to be pretty sure nothing would happen, but lately he's been keeping me updated on that sort of news."

Lan Xichen hesitated. His plan regarding the war, so far, had been to stay out of things. The Sunshot campaign appeared to him like a terrible thing that could not, should not be avoided, like a great fire that would allow for a healthier regrowth. Perhaps he might have hoped to lessen the damage, but ultimately nothing less than a war could rid them of Wen Ruohan.

That plan to allow for the war to unfold naturally was countered by two things.

The first was that Lan Xichen had already changed the way it would happen. If everything went as he hoped, Meng Yao would never become a spy amidst the Wens, something which had been crucial to their victory (or something that had appeared to be so to the man Lan Xichen had become; he was ever so fond of that Meng Yao, perhaps the memories of that dark future were tainted by that). It was after all unlikely that the Jiangs would ever give Meng Yao any help to join Lanling Jin, his first step toward spying on Wen Ruohan… and that was supposing Meng Yao even survived long enough to take part in the war, when most of Yunmeng Jiang was fated to be slaughtered.

And this was the second issue with Lan Xichen’s initial plan. He had, from the start, been uncomfortable with allowing the slaughter of the Lotus Pier to happen, even when it would someday become agreed that nothing less than this attack on a Great Sect could have convinced the cultivation world to finally rebel against the Wens. But just because people in the future found ways to justify that disaster didn’t make it right to do nothing to avoid it. Lan Xichen was taking measures to protect his sect, wasn’t it his responsibility to also help others?

Having been cursed with that knowledge, wasn’t it his duty to…

“Breathe,” Nie Mingjue said, his hand on Lan Xichen’s shoulder once more. “Slowly, breathe in, breathe out. There you go.”

Lan Xichen obeyed, and managed to avoid another attack, though only narrowly, and only because the fear of the Sunshot Campaign was his alone. The man he would have become had made his peace with the horror witnessed during that time, but Lan Xichen himself was overcome by terror every time he thought about what was to come.

It was a burden too heavy for his shoulders alone, and he alone couldn’t have done much to prevent that dark future from coming to pass, at least where that war was concerned.

So perhaps he needed to not do it alone. What good had secrets done to Jin Guangyao, to Nie Huaisang, in that future that would not be? It had turned them into monsters, bitter and too willing to hurt others, and for what? Jin Guangyao had lost everything, Nie Huaisang had become isolated from everyone who had ever cared about him, and all just because they wanted to be in control, because they thought nobody around them was worthy of being told the truth.

Lan Xichen refused to become like them

“Mingjue-xiong, do you trust me?” he asked when he had calmed down again, and breathing wasn’t such a struggle.

“You wouldn’t be my friend if I didn’t trust you,” came the answer, honest and earnest and so painful that Lan Xichen thought panic would seize him again over that underserved trust.

But this time he managed to keep his calm, either because he was too exhausted to panic again, or because his mind saw this as a chance to right some of the wrong he would have caused in the future.

“I have something to tell you,” Lan Xichen said as he stood up. “But we’ll need to be somewhere more private. It’s going to sound completely crazy to you, but… you need to know.”

Nie Mingjue looked worried but quietly stood up as well. They left the inn together and took flight, making their sword rise high in the sky, where no one might spy on them without their notice.

“So, here is what happened,” Lan Xichen explained when he felt he could do it safely. “Around this time last year, I had a vision…”

He wouldn’t, couldn’t say everything, because it would have been too cruel to plague Nie Mingjue with the knowledge of his own early death, to tell him how loss and rage would turn his beloved brother into a man he might have despised. But the rest, the Wen’s exactions, the war that loomed over them… this Lan Xichen shared with more details than he’d ever given to Lan Qiren. Nie Mingjue listened, first with astonishment, then with concern, eventually with anger.

"Are you sure?" Nie Mingjue asked when Lan Xichen had finished a quick tale of what was to come.

"I know it's odd, and I won't blame you if you find it impossible to believe."

Nie Mingjue did not reply right away, a deep frown creasing his forehead.

"You've already had proof, and you're sure of it. That's good enough for me. Now let's find a quiet place to talk about this. I'll need you to tell me everything you remember about the Wen's forces, so I can start preparing."

Lan Xichen felt breathless again, but this time it was gratitude overwhelming him. He'd forgotten how good Nie Mingjue was. Those last few months had spoiled so much, souring old memories, but there had been such great times before that. There would be even more, in this new life, this new chance they'd been given.

This time, he swore to himself, he would be worthy of that affection.

#xisang #nie mingjue #lan xichen #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #double time travel #jau writes

28 notes · View notes

writingindulgence · 3 years

Text

Painting Nails with Gojo Satoru (x reader)

Pairings: Gojo Satoru x (unspecified-gender) reader

Genre: Good friends with some mutual pining, a bit of fluff and a bit of uncertainty, reader has their mind in the gutter for a split second

Lmao, how long can someone write about painting nails T.T 2800+ words

When you recently mentioned that you had no free time to refresh your nails due to the influx of odd jobs here and there, you didn’t think that it would lead to your long time friend, Gojo Satoru, sneaking into your room at the Tech with a bag full of nail polish.

He was in the middle of laying them out haphazardly onto the coffee table. Colours ranging from neon bright to the darkest of shades stood before your very own eyes on full display. Their shapes were as varied as the palette. Standard round, rectangle shapes, funky stars and fragile butterflies just to name a few.

The shock of what was transpiring had yet to register in your mind, a dumbfounded look creeping onto your face.

It wasn’t even the first time that this has occurred. Once in a while you would come back from a mission in another city, ready to fall down onto your bed in the one place that you could call home, only to have this excuse for a friend barge in on your time of relaxation. Sometimes, you didn’t inform anyone when you would be back in the hopes of being left alone but he always seemed to find out the best time to annoy you. When you were tired.

“What the actual fuck are you doing in my room Gojo-san?”, you drop your tattered bag onto the ground before closing the door.

The feeling of his incoming whines and guaranteed pout had become something of a sixth sense to you now. You thought that maybe he would grow out of it after his teenage years but the gods weren’t as merciful as you once believed them to be.

“(Y/n)-channnn, why are you so mean to me? I haven’t done anything for you to call me that”, he dramatically groaned out before flopping onto your bed.

Glancing at the table, you notice that his sudden movement knocked over some of the bottles.

You also know what he meant by that. You only ever call him ‘Gojo-san’ when he screws up or when you are both in the presence of his students.

As much as he likes to tease you in front of important people, you aren’t that unprofessional as to disrespect him as an educator in front of the students that he teaches. The kids already make fun of him and if you were to join in at the same time then you would begin pitying the man.

You walk over to the sprawled lamp post of a human and indicate with your hand to scoot over before proceeding to throw yourself down beside him.

“What is this about, Toru-kun?”, your eyes lazily scan over the nail polish. Of course you know what is going on but Gojo Satoru is a man that enjoys being humoured.

Poor Ijichi-kun ends up as the victim of a lot of his whims when you’re away. Scratch that, even when you are around the unfortunate fellow gets bullied like a kindergartner at a playground.

“So~ I’ve noticed that your nails-,”

“I mentioned it.”

“.. have been looking rather-,”

“I mentioned it.”

“..duller than usual so-”,

“I-”,

His body flew up from the lying position and a hand suddenly came into your view. Before you could do anything, Gojo clamped it over your mouth, an unseen eye-roll definitely going off under his blindfold.

He wasn’t really irritated but you took it as a win for all the times he irked you in the past month.

“I NOTICED YOUR NAILS LOOKING DULLER THAN USUAL SO I WENT OUT OF MY HUMBLE WAY TO BUY THESE,” he finally lets you go after finishing what he wanted to say.

The sheets under you have become disheveled, your thrashing around to get away and shut his loud mouth in case Principal Yaga hears brought about no results. There was no rule against being in the same room, you weren’t some silly teenagers and even if you were, the Tech wasn’t that strict anyway, but the thought of his disappointing gaze burning into your soul…

Your thoughts are disrupted when Gojo throws two pillows onto the floor. Knowing that there is no escaping this, you dust down your clothes and gracefully sit down.

Who knows? This may actually turn out to be relaxing. Even if you’re wrong then spending time with friends is precious, no matter the activity. Especially in this line of work. There is no telling when one might hear the news of their comrades’ death.

Gojo sits on the other free pillow and smiles. “Any colour pulling you in? If not then I would love to recommend, you know, I’m sort of an expert at this.”

You laugh slightly at his confidence before agreeing to his proposal. As long as it’s not too ugly then you really don’t mind what he ends up picking.

In fact, you trust his judgement when it comes to fashion. His casual outfits always end up taking your breath away. You’re forever glad when he forces you to go along with him to the shopping district. You know your style and what you’re comfortable with but Gojo presents you with something unique every time.

“Hmmmm...then, what about this one?”, the hand that was under his chin as he was contemplating leaves its position and he quickly picks up a (f/c) nail polish.

The container is cute too, a glass cat face. Though how did he figure out what colour this was with that blindfold? Only Gojo knows.

You reach out for the item but he leans back and pulls it to his chest. Your eyebrows scrunch in confusion.

“(Y/n), (Y/n), (Y/n)...,” he creates an X with his arms before continuing, “Bzzzt! Did you really think I would be so rude as to leave you alone with that tedious job? Who do you take me for?”.

He grasps the fabric where his heart is located and fakely sniffles. Oh, so he wants to paint them for you. Figuring out that you may as well indulge in a little care, you extend your hand for him to hold.

Gojo twists the nail brush open and dips it into the bottle a few times. His tongue is poking out as he tests how much of the liquid is on the brush. You don’t even question how he will paint your nails without seeing properly. Understanding his infinite capabilities has become second nature to you.

Instead, you focus on the feeling of his hand when it grasps yours.

It’s bigger and somewhat rougher, though not uncomfortable. Really, it feels secure to have around your own.

Jerking back at your line of thinking, you can feel the heat growing on your face by the second. Calm down there, no need to get ahead of yourself. You’ve held hands many times in the city before so that you don’t get ‘lost’, how is this any different?

“Hey now!,” Gojo grips your hand more firmly than before.

“Sorry, sorry. I had an itch,” you come up with an excuse and double down when you scratch your shoulder with a free hand.

He doesn’t say anything in return, there are none of his usual comebacks. That’s suspicious, he always needs to have the last word in no matter what.

Instead he applies the first stroke of nail polish on one of your nails.

His movements are steady, no shaking, and he doesn’t miss any spots. The process is...pleasant, being attended to by another.

He moves on to your second finger, repeating the action from the previous one, applying just as much attention.

Now that you are sitting still, barely breathing as you look on, his hold has become almost airy. Unless you focused purely on the skin to skin contact, it was as if your hand was levitating.

Ah, technically he could be using ‘Infinity’ and keeping your hand away but...it made you feel weirdly unhappy. Your mouth tugged down in dissatisfaction unconsciously.

At the same moment, Gojo grasped the next finger on the list, the sudden feeling coming as a surprise. You barely held in the shocked gasp, tingles travelling up your arm.

He didn’t say anything and continued the procedure.

You peeked at his face to see if you could read him but there was nothing at all to go off on. No smile, smirk, pout or frown.

Sheer concentration.

It wasn’t unwelcome, in fact it was peaceful without the usual banter. And it wasn’t unbearably serious either. If you had to put a word on it then it felt...intimate.‘Wow, what the hell? Chill, he’s only a friend and this is simple nail painting’.

The clock in your room ticked continuously until eventually your fingernails were all finished. It took extra long because Gojo insisted that the proper way to do it was to paint two layers. So in the end you had to sit through another few minutes that honestly felt like an eternity.

You hoped that you hadn't sweated with how warm it had gotten on your end.

“Alright! It’s your turn (Y/n)-chan,” he made finger guns and pointed them at your bewildered expression.

“It isn’t fair if only you get this spa worthy treatment, no?”.

“Satoru, I think you overestimate my ability to paint nails. Of course, I do a fantastic job on myself but I am hopeless when it comes to others,” you explain.

You may have over exaggerated a bit but if this goes on then your thoughts will enter dangerous territory, not that they haven’t already.

Distractions aren’t helpful when you are a jujutsu sorcerer, particularly in the romantic scene.

Have you daydreamed about such scenarios? Yes.

Would you like to experience them? Definitely.

However, what you want and what you can have are at odds with each other.

“Don’t be a bore, come on, come on,” he sticks out his own hand before thinking up something and reaching towards his blindfold. “Let’s make it a challenge. I had such a difficult time so you have to suffer too”.

He frees his eyesight and stands up. You’re about to follow but he shakes his head and kneels behind you.

The smooth fabric covers your eyes and the pressure as he tightens the blindfold rubs against the back of your head. This feels like the beginning of a dirty situation-

A resounding smack travels in the enclosed room as you slap your cheeks simultaneously. This isn’t the time nor place.

“I’m accepting my resolve,” you throw out before Gojo can ask you why you hit yourself in the face.

You hear him shuffle back to the pillow as well as glass tapping against glass. A nail polish bottle is shoved into your unprepared self. “I’m in your hands now,” he laughs stupidly to himself at his own pun. You can’t help cracking a small smile too.

Blindly, you fiddle around in front of you, wanting to start this. Clicking your tongue, you’re about to give out but Gojo finally decides to stop being a prick and gives you his hand. His shakes from laughter make themselves known but you ignore him.

Unscrewing the bottle cap, you get to work.

Only, you have to feel around for his fingernail. It’s impossible to hit the target without searching around first.

You become overwhelmingly aware of the close proximity yet again and your heart skips a beat. The fact that you can’t see anything makes it far worse as your sense of touch becomes more sensitive. Your shaking hand dabs the point where you think the nail polish goes and you begin painting.

Gojo’s amusement must have stopped too since you don’t hear him chuckling anymore. Is he looking at you? Or is he looking at his poor skin whenever you miss the fingernail? He doesn’t have his blindfold on so his eyes have to be focused on something.

But what?

The silence becomes unmanageable and the constant skin against skin friction twists your insides. Is it just you? Or does he also think the same way?

“You know, you have pretty eyes. If you start an Instagram page with photos of them then you’ll get a following in no time,” you offhandedly mention to start a conversation. Knowing Gojo he’ll take the compliment, tease you a bit and move on. You shift around in the pillow before progressing onto the other hand, having speedrun the first, before he starts talking.

“That’s not a bad idea. You can do the eyeshadow and we can make some money,” he hums in agreement. The sound of extra cash nearly makes you drool but then a realisation hits you, like a truck an isekai protagonist. If you were to do the eyeshadow then you will no doubt have to be very close to his face. No way.

“On second thought, I don’t think we have the time,” you laugh it off.

His disagreement comes soon after.

“Haaaaaaah?! Then why did you mention it?”. His muscles tense, about to pull back to cross his arms but he remembers that you’re in the middle of painting his nails.

After that, you both fall silent again.

In the end, you get through the last finger and close the nail polish bottle. You tried your best, having taken your time despite it making you feel a certain way whenever you had to touch him longer than is necessary.

You get up and reach out to unhook the blindfold but larger hands stop you in your tracks from behind. They pull yours away and drop them at your sides.

“Allow the amazing gentleman, Gojo Satoru,” he gently takes it off as you stand unmoving.

When light from the window hits your face, you scrunch your eyelids shut, waiting to adjust to the bright atmosphere. A hand patting down your hair makes them shoot open and you turn around to complain.

Whatever you were going to say gets caught in your throat as you look up into his light blue eyes. His expression is serene, free of any worries but his eyes seem to be trying to speak a thousand words.

They too look composed but you get the feeling that he’s trying to communicate something to you.

Swallowing, you clench your hand (conscious of the recently dry nail polish), and place it over your chest. “Satoru..um,” you pause, not fully comprehending what you want to say, or rather, how you want to say it.

Your eyes widen when you notice his hand traveling towards yours.

Clumsily spinning around, you head for the pillows and shake off the dust that accumulated on them.

“Thanks for today. I’ll have a nap, since I’m still tired from the flight.”

You show your gratitude but hide the words your heart wanted to really express.

You don’t turn around to see his expression. The sound of his blindfold going over his eyes is what you hear first. Then,

“Don’t worry your sleepy head over it! Sweet dreams, (Y/n)”.

The door opens and closes gently behind you.

Once you’re sure that he is far down the hallway, you throw yourself onto your bed, put the pillow over your face and scream. Feeling a little foolish, you stop and look over your nails.

He really did a great job.

-Next Day-

The sun is shining brightly therefore there is no better time to take a walk. Which is why you aren’t surprised when you stumble upon Sukuna’s vessel, Itadori Yuuji.

The teenager has a tub of ice cream with him. Maybe you should get some too? Gojo is bound to have some in his mini freezer.

“Ah! Hello, (L/n)-san,” the boy waves his hand in greeting and jogs over.

“Itadori-kun, is it alright for you to be outside like this?,” you ask with concern.

There are only a few people that know about his current state of being alive. When you heard that he died, you came as fast as possible to comfort Gojo.

“It’s fine! Everyone is gone and Ijichi-san is on the lookout at the front gate. He’s meant to give me a ring you see”. He looks down.

“Oh! You’ve got some nice nails there,” he points out as he takes a bite out of the dessert. “You match with Gojo-sensei,” he adds after a second.

You pause your appreciative smile at his compliment. Excuse me?

“Excuse me? Match?,” you prod him to elaborate.

The teenager scratches his cheek.

“Ehh, but he said the plan was to match all along. Though they don't exactly look the same”.

Your eyes tear up in embarrassment at the turn of events. You’re matching nails? You thought for definite that he would wash them off when he gets back to his room. Not only that but putting the blindfold over your eyes must have been his sly way of making sure that you don't notice they're the same colour.

Itadori shakes his hands in front of him before bowing. “I-I’m sorry (L/n)-san! I did not mean to insult the way you painted Gojo-sensei’s nails. They are a bit tactless compared to yours but that’s okay,” he apologises profusely, mistaking the root of your shame.

‘That dumbass Gojo Satoru’

#gojou satoru x reader #gojo x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #fanfiction #oneshot #I like hands duh but if i went into more detail i would get high blood pressure

94 notes · View notes

doomstypewriter · 3 years

Text

The submersion | Intrulogical Mermaid AU

Future intrulogical.

Follow up on this animatic. | AO3

Words: 1728.

Summary: Remus has fun in his submarine. A giant barracuda disagrees.

CW: Dark humour, skeletal remains of a rat, drowning, deep ocean (if there's anything else do tell), death, sexual innuendo.

The submersion

It was cloudy.

And cold.

But that was to be expected when one’s in the middle of the Atlantic.

“Remus Prince, you dunce, how are you dressed like that?”

Remus turned around to see Ella Da Villa, the captain of the ship he was on, and an old friend. Her short afro was stuffed inside of a beanie, she held onto her sides through her huge puffer coat.

“I know you’d just rather I take it all off, but, honey, I need to at least wear something”.

She laughed.

“What you need is to make sure you don’t get drenched or--”

“First of all, I look amazing all wet. But if that’s what you’re so worried about, hey, I took care of that” he answered pointing at his green rain boots.

The crew looked at them in amusement as they moved the equipment, preparing everything for the submersion.

Ella took off one of her gloves and smacked Remus’ head with it.

“Ow! I thought you were against violence!”

“I never said that. But I am against animal abuse, that’s why I didn’t hit you hard. Now go and put on a coat, you dumbass”.

“Sure thing mommy, you know how to be commanding” he winked.

“It’s captain for you, now go!”

His boots squeaked against the flooring of the deck as he ran to get into the guts of the ship. He managed to hear Ella swearing under her breath.

“How did he even graduate? Going out in short sleeves…”

Ella was a funny one, Remus thought. It was easy to get under her skin, she also liked to play along which made it even better.

One of the people going up the metal stairs almost tripped against him, there wasn’t that much room, after all. Remus jumped over the railing and fell onto the lower level without a scratch.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?!” said someone.

A younger guy with spectacular hair held onto his forearm to check on him. Oh, this was the newbie.

“Don’t worry, I don’t have any lungs”.

“Wha…” he looked half perplexed and half horrified.

“You know, we all get it done since we’re going to end up sleeping with the fish anyway”.

He stood up quickly and mutely apologised. Remus enjoyed the view of his ass going upstairs as fast as possible. New meat was always hilarious.

When he entered the room his cupboard was already open. He liked to leave the sliding doors that way so he could see what was inside, otherwise, he’d forget about it. In a ship, that meant ending up with all of one’s clothes on the floor, but as long as Remus could see where they were he wouldn’t misplace anything. Object permanence was a bitch.

Messy floors did have an advantage, the coat on top of the pile was good enough to satisfy Ella and easy enough to grab quickly.

The backswing of the glove against his shoulder caught him off-guard.

“Ow! What did I do now?! This coat is fine!”

“The coat is fine, yes, but the new guy is shaking like a leaf. What did you tell him? He keeps saying stuff about drowning”.

“Hey, I’d never mention drowning when I’m about to get into a submarine”.

“Yes, that’d be very poor taste, sadly, you have it worse so you must have said something terrible. I expect you to fix this, or we’ll have to arrange you drowning”.

“You know I love choking on wet things”.

“Then your last moments will be pleasant. Consider me the best friend one could have”.

The new guy was holding onto the railing of the ship, staring at the water in concentration. Probably about to throw up or something.

“Hey!”

“Ah!” he screamed.

“Do you have a name?”

“Uh… yes… um…”

“Great! I have one too, it’s Remus” he introduced himself with half a bow.

“I’m Nathan… sorry… I’m just anxious… it’s the first time I go on one of those” he gestured at the submersible held by the crane of the ship.

“First times are always awkward, don’t worry”.

Finally, Nathan let out a laugh, it was a nervous one but it would suffice.

“You know what I said earlier was a joke, right?”

“Oh, yeah, it just caught me by surprise. You’re the head biologist here, right?”

“Yup. Guess you could say I’m the dom of this study”.

“Darn it, here I was expecting to be more active”.

Remus smiled in surprise. It was always nice when people had similar humour to his.

“Oh, you’ll have to be. I expect it”.

“You wouldn’t expect we could go for some coffee after we get into…” the date proposition vanished into a look of fear at the submersible.

Remus put a hand over his shoulders. The drowning jokes would have to wait until they were emerging.

“Don’t worry, my thicc ass has been there tons of times! It’s just a lot of water”.

“While it’s true he’s been there more than you, he’s overplaying his own ass. It’s kind of droopy” a heavily accented voice said

“Who are you calling droopy?”

They turned to see a tall blond woman smiling smugly. Erika Engström, oceanographer and the operator of the submersible.

“You, obviously, do you have water in your ears?”

“Not yet, but we’ll see if…”

Nathan held his breath.

“Nah, I don’t”.

“He either thinks you’re cute or he’s afraid the captain will throw him off-board if he keeps bullying you”, Erika told Nathan.

“I wasn’t bullying anyone”.

“Sorry to break it to you, but you’re always bullying people, you don’t know how else to flirt”.

“Then I would be flirting with everyone”.

“Aren’t you?”

“Okay, yeah”.

“Come on, I have to set up things. Give me a hand, rat skull”.

“At least give me a knife or something”.

“You can chew it through”.

One last look at Nathan before following her.

“Well, I’ll leave you to stress out, if I don’t help her we’ll dro…” oh right, no drowning jokes. “We’ll…”

“Flirt with me when we’re back at the surface”.

Remus smiled.

“Will do!”

-----

The light was beginning to fade out. The flickering of the few rays coming through a swirl of silvery fish would be their last glimpses at natural lighting for a while.

It was wonderful.

How the underwater landscape changed, morphing into something out of a nightmare. Never ceases to amaze him. People would say it was all just blue getting darker and darker, and it was! But it was also a thick fog from which anything could come out. He always looked forward to seeing the weirdest fish appear.

There wasn’t much room behind the giant acrylic viewport. Despite being stuck so closely together, Remus could feel a chill as the air within got cooled by the deep water. His coat lay forgotten at the back of his chair still.

Once the lights of the submersible switched on, a delicate dance of white dust shined just like it would on a sunny day. This was no room dust. But there was just as much beauty in seeing the marine snow surrounding them. Teensy tiny pieces of dead fish falling all around, making the nicest shapes.

“It’s so quiet” Nathan observed.

“Wait until you hear a whale. The first time I did I thought my skull would pop”.

“Which one?” Erika kept her eyes on the water, but he could see the reflection of a smile curving onto the surface of the acrylic.

“Well, the small one. I know you’d hate to have to scrape my brains off your console”.

“If you had any I would”.

“There would still be plenty of blood”.

The ship carried on with the descend, soon, they’d be at twenty thousand feet. Nathan leaned in.

“Hey, what did she mean by which one?” he said in a hushed voice.

“Oh! Right”

He pulled on the string of his necklace to get it from under his shirt. Remus held it in front of Nathan’s face.

It turned, revealing the empty sockets and the front of what used to be a snout.

“I have this rat skull as a necklace! Erika teases me because that’s how she copes with the fact that she hates it!”

“Anyone would hate it. You wear that thing everywhere. It’s creepy” Erika pointed out.

“Where did you get it?” Nathan asked.

In the dim light, Remus’s smile cast shadows, giving him a grim vibe.

“I used to have a pet rat. When it died it sucked, my brother and I buried it in the backyard. It was there until three years later when we got a heavy storm. The bones peeked through the mud. So I just yanked a bit on the spine and got it. The skull was already defleshed anyway, so, aside from cleaning it a bit, I didn’t have to do any of the work. I really like this necklace. I got into marine biology because I began looking at fish skulls and I wanted to see more”.

“That’s…” Nathan began to say.

Suddenly, the submersible turned violently.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know, I couldn’t take a good look”, said Erika.

Her frown told Remus something was seriously wrong.

“Guys, we’re picking up really weird signals from here. Are you all okay?” the sound of Ella’s voice through the radio distracted him from his train of thought.

“It’s all under control, but I am going to begin ascending” Erika replied.

“We haven’t taken all the samples”, Nathan said.

“We’ll have another chance. Right now I’m worried that---”

Erika did not have time to finish talking.

Its needle-like teeth loomed over the viewport. This creature was unlike anything he’d ever seen. Part of him felt excited at how terrifying it all was. Sadly, he had the feeling they were all about to die. This fish looked like a giant barracuda and an angry one.

The creature snapped its jaw closed, cracking the viewport.

Seemingly, it didn’t find it tasty enough and it swam away even moodier than before. The very least it could have done was eat them.

If you’re going to kill them might as well finish the job.

Remus’ body floated into the dark abyss as he struggled to breathe. Covering his ears tightly, he screamed in pain. The pressure was unlike anything.

Well, it had been fun.

<< Previous | Next >>

The continuation will feature Logan and another animatic!

Taglist: @lemonyscented , @emsiemaefander , @sunflower-avo-tea , @nadiestar , @amber-da-toon , @gabseliblack , @everythingisstardust

@trash-bastard , @under-the-blue-moonlight , @willowaudreykeyes

@queerly-a-hisssstory-momster

@theyluna-womoon , @subterfugespecialist

#intrulogical #remus sanders #ts remus #sanders sides #remus centric #mermaid au #sanders sides fanfiction #doomstypewriter #doomywrites

42 notes · View notes

babyflossy · 4 years

Text

i promise | m.l

gif credits to owner

pairing: mark x reader

requested: yes! my requests are open!

summary: you and mark had been inseparable since birth, you had done everything together. that is, until he starts ignoring you in your senior year.

genre: highschool au, angst, fluff, best friends to enemies(?) to friends to lovers au i guess

warnings: underage drinking

word count: 3.1k (i got carried away)

mark lee had been a constant in your life since your first memory. in fact, your very first was of him; you were in preschool and you had laughed as he was told off by the teacher for breaking a toy plane. it was hard for you to remember anything big in your life that hadn't included mark. your first day of elementary, middle, and high school started by the two of you catching the bus together, talking excitedly about how this was going to be the best school year yet.

he was always there. until he wasn't.

at first it didn't bother you; it was well known that friends naturally drifted apart as they grew up. but when he started avoiding you in the hallways, gaze shooting away when you met eyes, you couldn't deny it hurt you. it hurt that the one person you thought would be with you through everything, the person that had been with you through everything, seemed to be growing tired of you.

it was the first time mark lee didn't sit with you on the bus on the first day of school. instead, he slumped in the seat next to donghyuck, a tanned boy with a fiery personality who had adopted the name haechan throughout highschool. he was rowdy and disruptive and everything you weren't. it may have been the first time mark sat with someone else, but it wasn't the first time you found your thoughts clouded with him the whole day.

as the year progressed, your relationship with mark deteriorated into nothing. the only word to describe him now was a stranger. whenever he wasn't avoiding you, he was laughing loudly with his new friends, a group of six others from varying year groups. you wondered what about them was special enough for him to basically exile you. you decided you didn't want to know.

the only link you now had to your ex-best friend was a boy named jaemin who you partnered with in chemistry, and who flirted incessantly without fail. you were used to it now, avoiding burning cheeks and shy smiles unlike the start of the year. it wasn't that jaemin was a bad person, you just couldn't help but notice how completely and utterly different he was to mark. then again, you guessed time changed people in ways you wouldn't understand.

the school buzzed, as per usual, with the news of hwang hyunjin's upcoming party. the only difference about this particular one however, was you being invited due to your friendship with his friend minho. you had never been one for parties, finding the obnoxious mix of loud teenagers and bass-heavy music unenjoyable at the best of times.

but that was then, and this is now. this is now and as you pulled up your black jeans and looked at yourself in the mirror, you couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. the dark brown you had smoked around your eyes made you look far more confident than you felt, eyeing the skin-tight outfit with slight apprehension. it wasn't over the top, but it showed your figure in the most flattering way and you made a mental note to thank yeri later for helping you pick it out.

the first thing you remember thinking when you first entered the house was that your eardrums were gonna burst. the second thing you remember thinking was that mark lee looked really good leaning against the wall opposite, even if his eyes were focused on his drink. your eyes followed his gaze to a blonde stood next to him, and you looked away immediately once you realised she was trying to get his attention. her giggling fell on deaf ears as he watched you head straight to the drinks table, stopping to talk with hyunjin on the way. a dark leather jacket clung to his arms as he slung one around your shoulders, smiling down at you and handing you an empty red solo cup. you surveyed the options on the table, equal parts impressed and concerned at the wide array of spirits and beers. deciding now was as good a time as ever to find out what your favourite alcohol was, you picked up an unnatural blue bottle, filling your cup to halfway. it was sweet and slipped down your throat with surprising warmth, enticing you to finish the cup.

you should have known there was no coming back after the first drink.

time had lost meaning to you hours ago, your head swimming as you swayed with yeri on the dancefloor. you had lost count of how many drinks you had consumed quickly after you entered, finding it much more enjoyable to just try everything. from across the room, a blue-haired boy slinked his way through the crowds of people, a devilish smirk on his face. jaemin slid behind you, resting his hands on your waist to stop you moving so he could lean down the whisper in your ear.

"we're doing shots in the kitchen, wanna join?" under any other circumstance, you would deny straight away, but something about his hands on your waist and the loud music made you forget your worries, grinning at him and letting him lead you away.

the kitchen was the only room in the house with sufficient lighting to see people properly. it was white and blinking and it hurt your eyes momentarily, your vision swimming. it was only when he let you go that you realised jaemin's hands had remained around your waist the whole journey to the kitchen. after your eyesight had recovered, your gaze swept across the other people jaemin had deemed worthy to do shots with. donghyuck stood whispering something to a boy you knew as lee jeno, the school's star quarterback. on his left was huang renjun, the person who had tutored through your chinese class in freshman year. at the end of the countertop was the only pair of juniors deemed worthy enough to be invited to senior parties. park jisung and zhong chenle.

the last person in the small gathering stopped talking to renjun when he saw you and jaemin enter. mark lee stared at you wide-eyed, a shot glass halfway to his mouth. he shot jaemin an exasperated look over your head, rolling his eyes in a way that made you feel somewhat undeserving to be stood with his group. donghyuck's smile when he saw you was teetering on diabolical and you watched him cautiously as you reached over the cool marble to grasp the clear shot glass he offered.

"this is y/n, she's my chem partner," jaemin's voice was accompanied by the loud clink of glass bottles bumping together. jeno nodded in recognition, smiling at you as he pulled two clear bottles from the centre of the table, reading both labels before choosing the bigger one. as if instructed, everyone placed their shot glasses into the middle of the counter and you followed suit. some of the liquid spilled over the edge of the glasses as jeno filled them all.

right before you lifted it to your lips, haechan spoke up, "well, y/n, i hope you're not a lightweight." you shot him a fearless grin before downing the liquor, allowing yourself to revel in the way it burned the back of your throat.

despite the fact you were halfway to wasted, you found yourself regretting judging mark's new friends so early on. they were all so welcoming to you and you fit into their dynamic easily realising over many shots and glasses of cheap alcopops they were all actually really cool people. haechan matched your humour and made you laugh so hard you thought you were going to throw up; renjun relived all the memories you had shared from tutoring lessons, telling you through near tears how bad your pronunciation had been; jeno had indulged you with embarrassing stories of the whole group, jaemin hitting him on the back of the head when he spilled jaemin's crush on your spanish teacher. even jisung and chenle had joked around with you, mainly make fun of you for being so much shorter than them.

it felt like you had known them all for years, except the only one you actually had known for years. mark had expertly avoided every attempt from the others to prompt the two of you to so much as acknowledge each other. you couldn't help but think there was something they all knew that you didn't, but the dizzying mix of laughter and the alcohol in your system distracted you swiftly.

the first time he outwardly mentioned you was to stop jeno from filling your shot glass again. you pouted in response and mark nearly froze, the unpleasant skipping of his heart making him feel ill. "guys stop, she's already wasted." it wasn't untrue, but the blatant concern in his voice swirled up a bewildering mix of emotions. joy that he obviously still cared about you deep down but anger that he thinks he can ignore you for the better half of a year, pretending you don't deserve the time of day, and suddenly control your actions. you would have fought back if your vision would stop betraying you and leaving you with an inability to focus on much.

when donghyuck had joked about you being a lightweight, he hadn't taken into account the fact that you were much smaller than all of them. it was stupid of them to think you would be able to drink as much as jeno, the football star for christ's sake. when you tried to walk to the sink for a glass of water, you had swayed so much on your feet jaemin's hands returned to their earlier position on your waist, steadying you with a chuckle.

you listened to them chat back and forth as you focused on the pleasant coldness of the water. it soothed the growing ache in your head but did little to clear the haze over your eyes. "you wanna dip? we could go get mcdonald's?" you think it was jisung who spoke. but maybe it was chenle. their voices blended to one as you refilled your glass.

unaware of their silent debate, you looked up in surprise to see them all staring at you. it was donghyuck who voiced their question. "do you wanna come with, y/n? we're gonna get food and then probably go back to mark's house." the first sensible thought in a while enters your head. do you really want to leave all of your friends here and leave with a group of boys you barely know while intoxicated? maybe it wouldn't be a very good idea–

"guys, i don't think it's a good idea, she should stay here." there mark goes again with his concern, his attempt to exile you again. it was pathetic really, but this was the first time in so long you had been able to see him, and you didn't want it to end.

"yeah i wanna come." as you followed jisung out the party to the front door, you missed the icy glare mark shot haechan, and the amused quirk of the younger boy's eyebrow in response.

mcdonald's is deserted at nearly three am on a saturday. the walk from hyunjin’s house had involved haechan pushing you on his skateboard to stop you falling over every fifth step. he laughed loudly at your screams when he pushes you too fast, his strong grip on you not letting you fall. jeno and jisung skated in front of you, their balance much more impressive than yours. inside, you all crowd around one of the touchscreen machines and add more and more food to the order, playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who has to pay and cheering in triumph when hyuck is the loser. he grumbles about how he shouldn't have lost when it was his idea to play as he pushes his card into the reader.

it takes fifteen minutes of you all giggling like toddlers for your food to be ready, trying to all fit into one booth. you end up balanced on jaemin's left thigh and mark's right and you can almost feel the differences in their personalities from the way they sit. jaemin's free hand is rested on top of your black jeans, his chin coming down periodically onto your shoulder so you can feed him fries. mark is stiff, sitting in any position that means he doesn't have to touch you. you're unaware of his heart hammering in his chest.

the food helps sober you up enough for you to be able to walk unattended, still sipping on your strawberry milkshake – you had nearly coughed it over the table when renjun playfully choked chenle over a joke he made. the remaining alcohol in your system helped a warm feeling of belonging settle in your chest, your words still slurring together slightly.

the group decided to take you to one of their favourite "hang out places" as jeno had so ominously put it. you were curious to see where you ended up, but seeing as you had had more fun in the past six hours than in the past six months, you didn't really care. a skate park happened to be the mysterious location they were taking you to and you shouldn't have been so surprised considering it seemed to be their main mode of transport.

jisung shot in front, still on his board, flying down one of the ramps and hooting in glee at the feeling of the warm night breeze through his hair. jeno and haechan followed close behind, leaving the rest of you to sit on the edge of one of the ramps, dangling your legs over the edge. chenle and renjun sat on your left talking light-heartedly in rushed chinese. they snickered at your confused face, chenle telling renjun he must have been a terrible tutor, receiving a swift slap to the back of his head in return. you simply laughed at their playful arguing and turned to face jaemin and mark.

jaemin sat separating you two, his eyes watching the others skate around at insane speed, heckling them every now and then. at some point, a speaker had been turned on and a lazy beat echoed through the deserted the park. you let yourself fall back, spine resting against the grass. it was a clear night, not a single cloud obstructing your view as you stared in awe at the sky. your eyes sparkled and the stars twinkled back at you, spreading a calmness through your veins.

eventually, jaemin had stood up and run quickly down the slope to avoiding falling, meeting the others and laughing as he nearly toppled into jisung. with chenle and renjun engrossed in their own conversation, it left you and mark unaccompanied. you hadn't expected him to say anything, to even notice you. shock filled you when you saw him shimmy next to you, lying back so you were sharing the same view.

"i'm sorry, y/n, i really am," his voice was quiet and heavy, choked up. when you said nothing in return, he leaned up on his elbow, looking down at you so he could read the expression on his face. it made him hard to ignore and as you met eyes, you couldn't help but think he looked breathtakingly beautiful from this angle.

"why'd you do it? what did i do wrong?" the vulnerability in your voice made him drop his eyes, scared to look at you. you returned your gaze to the stars and he returned to his position lying next to you.

"i was scared," a sniffle follows his words and your eyebrows furrow slightly. scared? scared of what, exactly? you thought, scoffing in your head. "i was scared that i would ruin our friendship by thinking of you as more than that." oh, is all you think. "i know it's been a long time, but seeing you tonight made me realise i would rather have you as a friend even if i can't have you as more, even if i still love you."

it was overwhelming. maybe because of how pretty the stars looked tonight, grounding you and making everything seem slightly more in perspective, or maybe because of the alcohol still pumping around your system, or maybe just because mark lee is finally sat next to you again and he's describing the feelings you've had since sixth grade but before you know it you're facing him again.

"promise you won't do it again?" there's a childlike innocence in your voice, and he's taken back to the time you made him promise not to steal your candy anymore. as if to punctuate, you bring your pinkie finger up between you, grinning when he wraps his around it and shakes.

"i promise."

you wait until he's facing away from you to speak again, "you know i've loved you since we were, like, ten, right?" he whips his head back to face you so fast you think he'll get whiplash, the stunned expression on his face causing a soft smile to spread on your lips. his eyes are lit up like this and you have a fleeting thought that they're way prettier than the stars above you.

the others melt away into the background, their shouts and laughter going unheard by the both of you and it strikes you suddenly how close your faces are, and you're unable to stop your eyes dropping to his lips where a sad smile rests. it feels as if you're the only people in the skate park, the only people in the city, in the world as your eyes meet once again, an unspoken agreement passing between them. you think your heart is gonna stop as he leans in slowly at first, then more desperately when you don't move away. his lips are warm and safe and more than you had ever imagined. you're so close together now that his cologne invades your senses in an intoxicating mix of familiarity and yearning. the hand that comes to rest on your waist instils a dizzying effect much different and stronger than the shots had earlier and you lean further into his touch.

when you separate, the air is different. your friends are still shouting and joking, you and mark going unnoticed by them. mark looks at you like you hold the answers to the universe. "maybe we could start over as more than friends then?"

"i'd like that."

637 notes · View notes

prose-for-hire · 3 years

Text

‘Tis the season of re-gifting

[This is another super late 12 Days of Christmas fic]

Pairing: Faith x reader

Request: Can you please write a Faith x reader story where they’re both scooby’s but they’re not very close and haven’t really gotten to know each other but since neither of them have a family to celebrate Christmas with they decide to spend the day with each other and bond?

Requested by: Anon

Warning: Alcohol consumption. Reader isn’t close with their family and isn’t a massive fan of Christmas (or Santa).

You had never really been the biggest fan of Christmas. You didn’t hate it, but you weren’t as in love with it as everyone else seemed to be either. You didn’t really have anyone to celebrate with, which was the first issue. Your loneliness could be felt much more deeply at this time of year, you usually spent Christmas Day alone.

You and Faith weren’t close. You hadn’t even spoken that many times, you knew each other by association. She was a slayer and you were a Scooby, so she was around a lot. But there just hadn’t been enough in common for you both to initiate conversation.

You didn’t dislike her, you were kind of indifferent. Willow had been a little jealous what with her thinking Faith was poaching her best friend. But you weren’t so bothered by that.

You had been in the library, reading a book. You had slid the dust jacket of a research-related book over the book you were actually reading. You could never just come into the school library and read for fun without Giles’ judgement. It wasn’t a relaxing environment when he cleared his throat every so often in disapproval. He always insisted that there were so many more important things you could be reading other than the fiction that you indulged in.

The library had been decorated for Christmas, rather tastefully by Giles. It had a cosy feeling that you appreciated. It didn’t make you any less lonely, but it allowed you to be lonely in a pleasant ambiance at least.

Faith had walked in and found that you were the only one in the library. She was bored so she decided to speak with you. She spoke as she walked towards you but you didn’t reply.

She pulled the book down so it lay flat on the table. You hadn’t realised she had been speaking to you. You were escaping to some other place, you had forgotten you were in the school library.

“Busted” She teased when she saw what you were hiding, which made you roll your eyes and smile.

“Don’t tell Giles – he’ll have me alphabetising things again seeing as I have free time”

“You could just say no”

“And face Giles’ wrath? That’s worse than any big bad around here” You said solemnly which actually made her laugh through her nose and nod. She grabbed a chair, facing it towards her and sitting on it backwards.

You had never even on her radar really. She saw you as quiet. Which, you weren’t really. You just didn’t speak unless you had something to contribute. And Faith was sort of the action type leaving you with little space to speak.

You were about to go back to your book when she found herself not wanting to finish the interaction. She found herself wanting your attention. She saw something, a similarity maybe. You both felt like you were on the periphery. She hadn’t been watching you but she was perceptive. She knew the way you withdrew and read or sat away from people more often than involving yourself in the centre of the group.

“You all plannin’ some big Scooby party?” She asked before you could start reading again. You looked at her confused, “For the big day? Christmas?” She added when you still looked a bit confused. Oh. The big day.

“We don’t really do that. Uh, Giles leaves to England. Will’s Jewish and Xander and Buffy have the big family fun-day. So, we don’t really see each other until after”

“What about you?” she noticed you hadn’t spoken about your own plans.

“Me?” You were surprised she asked, “I don’t really… have anything to do”

“Huh. Me either” Faith admitted, looking at the floor for a moment before she looked back up and smiled, “We should do something. Bond, right? Me and you” She said with a bit of a humour in her voice.

So, you planned it. I mean, in so far as you said yes let’s not be alone you can come to my place. And she nodded and suggested a time. Faith had actually expected a rejection from you, which is why she phrased it the way she did. To play it off as a joke later.

But you had nothing to lose and nothing against her. She was actually secretly pleased she wasn’t going to have to hear the festive argument from the motel next door that would have been her only entertainment.

Christmas Day came and Faith came by in the afternoon. You had slept in, so you were fine with this. She knocked on the door and you greeted her, finding yourself a little nervous now she was coming into your living space.

You had agreed not to get each other anything, but she had arrived at your door with a massive parcel in her hands. Her Slayer-strength made it appear light but as she handed it to you, you sunk to the ground with it making her laugh and roll her eyes as she stepped into your home.

“We agreed no gifts. I don’t have gifts” You said slightly alarmed.

“Yeah, well, ‘Tis the season… for re-gifting. Buffy’s Mom gave me that and I have nowhere to put it” She shrugged. You looked at her suspiciously before opening the box.

It was a toaster. It was actually a good gift until you remembered that Faith didn’t live somewhere that could facilitate a toaster. It was actually thoughtful of her to bring it for you to have. She could have just dumped it.

“This is great, thank you!” You smiled.

“Yeah, well, like I said…” She didn’t see the need for you to thank her. It really had been no effort on her part at all. But your surprise made her light up a little. You were quite accepting and she hadn’t expected you to be.

You looked around, trying to find something for her, “Uh, I have a new sweater you can have but I guess that might not really be your style…” You offered gesturing at the ugly pile of wool in the corner that someone had sent you. You had thought it must have been a joke-gift at first but the note had read as completely serious. It was the thought that counted you supposed.

Faith had brought alcohol. A liquid lunch. You had never offered a Christmas Dinner so this would do. She wasn’t fussed as she handed you the bottle of hard liquor to drink from. You didn’t bother with cups. You would only have had to wash up after.

You passed the bottle between you for a while, sat on the floor of your living room with the tv buzzing in the background. You hadn’t decorated for Christmas, other than putting some fairy lights up. You had been given them by Willow and you thought you might as well make use of them.

“Why don’t you celebrate?” Faith asked, after a large drink from the bottle. She didn’t even wince as she passed it back to you.

“I don’t see anything to celebrate y’know. It’s all about family and I haven’t really spoken to mine since I moved here” You shrugged. It wasn’t their fault, you just didn’t know what to say to anyone back home anymore. Faith nodded along, understanding.

“You?”

“It’s always been a crappy holiday, ever since Santa left me a pack of smokes in an empty pillow case” she shrugged, “Kinda took the shine away”

“I was always scared of Santa” You admitted with a smile as the alcohol loosened your tongue.

“Yeah, always thought some creepy ol’ guy sneakin’ in at night was whack” she said shaking her head and catching your eye. You both smiled at that as you thought about it.

You didn’t realise how well you would get on with her. You thought it was such a shame you hadn’t spoken sooner. You just seemed to click. She reached for her jacket and rummaged in her pocket. She took out a cigarette and a lighter, “You mind?” She asked and you shrugged allowing her to light up her cigarette in your house.

It was late evening now, Faith had wrapped herself in your ugly sweater as there was a chill in the room. You had spent the entire day together by this time. Talking and drinking. It was actually nice. You had never really seen this side of her before. You would almost call it soft. She was the kind of woman you could see yourself falling for.

Oh no.

What had you just thought?

This would complicate things. What if she laughed or worse, broke your heart?

Nonetheless, you felt it. Identified that first note of the love song that would be playing in your hearts whenever you were near each other.

You were sifting through your feelings as you couldn’t help gazing at that beautiful face. You watched the way she turned to you, in the glow of the fairy lights you had decorated your house with. There was a smile on her face, one you had never seen before. One that now belonged only to you. You had made her comfortable. Made her feel like you really cared. She wasn’t used to this. Wasn’t used to kindness without some ulterior motive. And she couldn’t do anything except smile about it.

This was the best Christmas either of you had in a really long time. You were beside yourselves, both of you minds starting to grow attached. Grow to realise you were each other’s only weakness.

You didn’t realise it, but the biggest gift that year was the revelation that came with getting to know the other. One that would one day lead to a bond so deep you would redefine the word love for evermore.

#Faith Lehane #Faith #Faith x reader #Faith lehane x reader #12 days of christmas #12 Days of Xmas #btvs #btvs x reader #btvs imagine #btvs x you #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffy the vampire slayer imagines #Faith lehane imagine #Faith imagine #gender neutral #gender neutral reader #Faith lehane fic #Faith fic #Christmas fic

54 notes · View notes