#i expect this to bump in notes every time we have a too many current events we didnt start the fire day

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

I figured yall might need a reaction image for whenever this emotion crops up

#cuz damn if today doesnt feel like a november 5th #woke up to sans vs reigen sexyman battle with side of toby fox fanfic and also updates on the nearing death of the queen #like okay sure #calligraphy #i expect this to bump in notes every time we have a too many current events we didnt start the fire day

[nochukoo97]

new beginnings

pairing: ceo!jungkook x figureskater!oc

warnings/summary: oc takes up a new job as a cashier, and she gets a CAT, jk is a little grumpy but he gets better, he’s also annoying by calling oc’s cat a cottonbud LOL, he calls her sweetheart, and oc has a little crushy crush on this hot neighbour, they bump into each other three times, basically they’re destined to meet each other even when they barely know each other

word count: 2.4k+ / TAGLIST OPEN

series masterlist!

“Goddamn, how many pieces of clothing do you own?” Yeji grunts as she helps to pull along two of your suitcases into her apartment’s lift.

“It’s all costumes for my competitions, my coach keeps insisting to keep them in case we need it in the future,” You internally sigh at the thought of your coach, she wasn’t bad by all means, but she constantly pushed you to your limits with countless competitions she enrolled you in. But after all, you didn’t come to Seoul and join the national team expecting a smooth and comfortable journey.

“Anyways, you’ve gotta tap the card right here,” She explains the whole crazy security system here, then passes you the access card to the apartment. One week ago you would’ve probably not expected to be in this situation, now moving in with your best friend, as well as her boyfriend who has begun to sleepover at her place more often than necessary. But right now if it meant that less money would fall out of your bank account, putting up with whatever third-wheeling you were about to go through would make it all worth it.

You pull your other two suitcases into the lift, noticing a man shuffling into the corner to make space for the two of you and your four huge suitcases. The lift door closes and there’s this deafening silence that fills the lift, with the way Yeji widens her eyes at you but says nothing, you assume it might be about the latter standing in the corner of the lift.

“What kind of signals were you trying to send me in there?” You whine when the lift door finally closes, as Yeji abandons the now-rolling-away suitcases to grab onto your hands.

“It’s rolling!” You exclaim, as she jumps slightly, your voice raising a little louder than usual in panic.

“Sorry-sorry, anyways, he’s the guy I told you about! Maybe I can set you up with him,” She wiggles her eyebrows at you, giving you the same taunting look she did when she had proposed moving into her apartment.

“No! I don’t even know that man, anyways with those looks he might already be taken,” You brush your best friend off, anyways, you didn’t want a relationship right? When Yeji had told you about the hot guy in her apartment, you had immediately brushed the idea of being set up off, since that’s exactly how you met your ex, and it definitely did not end on a good note.

“Oh, so you’re attracted to him?” She jogs in front of you to look you in the eye, seemingly much more excited at her sudden discovery than you.

“What? No I didn’t say that? I just- whatever! Open the door!”

She only smirks at your stuttering, but complies as she opens the front door to her unit, and you’re greeted with a familiar sight that you now need to get used to calling home.

-

People had always praised you for being dainty and sweet, always dressed up in elegant costumes during your competitions, your moves on ice had always charmed the audience with how smooth you twirled and jumped.

You would like to say that they might change their minds when they spot you in this current situation: no makeup on, eyebags peeking through, in a neon green vest as you stare at the rows of cigarettes behind the cashier.

The younger you would have never expected to end up working part time in this convenience store, but here you are.

But somehow it didn’t seem too bad, you were the only worker here, besides a sweet lady who comes and sweeps the floor every evening, and the best part: you got to control the music.

To be honest, you may have been enjoying yourself a little too much with the way you hum to the music as you drink the complimentary-one-a-day coffee your manager had given you.

“One pack of menthol,” Your sudden peace is abruptly disrupted as you whip your head around, jumping slightly as you hear the voice sound from behind you.

Oh. It’s the same man from the lift, this time he’s wearing another suit in a different colour, but this time he seems much more drained than before.

“I said-” He repeats himself again, noticing your spaced out look as you stare straight at him.

“Oh, yeah! Sorry sorry, it’s been a long day,” You quickly gather yourself, mentally cursing yourself for checking out the man in front of you so shamelessly, but he only scoffs at your little mistake.

He’s either a total dickhead or is just having a bad day. Hopefully its the latter since as much as you hate to admit it, maybe he perhaps has caught your attention.

But the same man quickly walks out of the store the moment you return his black credit card, as you’re now once alone in the store, gathering your things to finally end your shift.

-

It’s only a few days later where you meet your next crisis, or rather a blessing in disguise.

An innocent trip to the local fair turned into you signing adoption papers for this fluffy little furball that you absolutely could not leave. To be fair, you were mainly there to find some cute accessories to buy, but the newly put up adoption booth had caught your eye.

The moment your eyes had met the beady little eyes of the small white cat, you couldn’t say no. Even if it meant paying thrice your income from working at the convenience store, anything would be worth this cat.

But then again, your heart sank further once the lady at the counter had told you the animals put up were free to adopt, or else they would be euthanised the following day. It almost made you attempt to calculate just how much it would cost to take care of all the animals here, but in the end you had settled to just bring the cat home.

“Yeji, hypothetically how mad would you be on a scale of 1 to 10 if I brought a cat home?” You press your phone in between your shoulder and cheek as you wrap the little cat in its blanket, snuggling the animal close to your chest in hopes to provide it more warmth.

“You’re kidding me right now,” You hear her sigh at the other end, “What makes you think we can raise a cat? Let alone you working night shifts and being out at training in the day?”

She wasn’t wrong, but you’re pretty sure it’ll all be okay.

“Trust me, the lady managing the adoption booth told me cats are way more independent, we can get her an automatic feeder and I’ll need to get a litter box too, and maybe some toys and treats on the side too…”

She sighs again, “And that’ll cost a gajillion dollars, where are you going to get that from?”

“I’ll find a way, trust me,”

-

Truth to be told, the package deal you had got for litter and food was a little more pricey than you had anticipated, but you were confident that it would save you money in the future anyways.

Cloud, the newly named cat, of which you spent many hours deciding on a name for her, was easier to handle than expected, she often played with the little gadget toy Yeji had got her, and learnt how to use her litterbox in a day, which made you come to a conclusion that you had raised a genius.

But yet your oh-so-smart furkid may also be a little too intelligent, the absence of a certain cat in the apartment has now caused your anxiety and hysteria.

“How did she manage to escape with us not noticing again! The last time I saw her crawl through your legs but this time I swear she disappeared into thin air!” You’re on the verge of tears as you tell Yeji, who only rubs her palm up and down your back as a offering of comfort.

“But you’ve got her tagged up, your number and her name is attached to her collar, I’m sure anyone who finds her will definitely call you immediately,” She tells you, watching as you now begin to hiccup, tears forming and rolling down your cheeks.

“What if she got run down by a car? Or some psychopath who hates cats found her? Oh my poor baby, she must be missing me already,” There’s a million different scenarios that play through your head, all leading to Cloud ending up in nowhere else but cat heaven.

“She’ll be fine, calm down, my friend’s cat often runs out of the house but the cat always returns every few days, some of them prefer to go out and explore, perhaps Cloud is the same,”

You can only sigh and hope for the best.

-

unknown number: hey

unknown number: did you lose a cat?

You gasp to yourself when your eyes scan the new text that had appeared on your screen, someone had found her.

you: YES

you: DON’T DO ANYTHING TO HER PLEASE

you: i promise ill pay anything for you not to do anything

Your heart beats frantically in your chest watching the three dots appear and disappear over and over again. There was no way a psychopath had truly found Cloud and already decided to perform whatever possible traumatic procedure on her right?

unknown number: why would i do anything to it??

unknown number: in fact your cat is the one who had run into my apartment and marked her territory all over.

Oh. That was the last thing you had expected.

you: do you have a litter box in your house?

The three dots taunt you as they appear once and pause for a good minute, as if whoever is on the other side is pondering hard to answer your simple question.

unknown number: what kind of question is that??

unknown number: i dont own a cat, why tf would i own a litter box??

You frown at the reply, you were grateful he didn’t do anything to Cloud, but a simple no would be great.

you: just send me your address!!

you: i need to see if she’s alright, she probably is crying for me right now

unknown number: it’s sleeping peacefully under my bed right now, i dont think its upset at all.

unknown number: here’s the address: xxx

You sigh in relief when you realise it’s the unit above your apartment, which meant she couldn’t have gone too far.

you: first of all, you never know if she’s crying in her heart

you: second of all, stop calling Cloud an it!!! she has a name and she is a girl

you: third of all, im coming upstairs im in the same apartment complex

You roll your eyes when a reply comes in faster than it did before, mostly because it’s an insult to your cat:

unknown number: who names a cat cloud?? she looks more like a cotton bud, hurry and get her.

-

When you reach the floor above you, you’re met with a black door, no doorbell in sight. So you simply knock, sure that it had been the person that found Cloud since it was the only unit on the floor.

What you didn’t expect is to be met with the same man you saw whilst working at the convenience store. Instead he’s in a loose shirt and some shorts, hair not styled as a few pieces of bangs fall over his eyes. His presence daunts you a little, considering how darkly lit his place was, and how he towered over you.

“Oh? So we meet again,” He seems to recognise you as he steps aside, watching as you take off your bedroom slippers, which you now curse at yourself for wearing since it was pink and fluffy.

You think you hear a little laugh when he spots your slippers but you choose to believe he didn’t anyways.

“Where is my baby?” You step in now, taking in the view of his place. It’s a little larger than Yeji’s apartment, and the interior seems… lacking some colour. It’s mostly black and grey furniture, with hints of marble and some white chairs here and there, but it’s a total opposite of your apartment.

“Don’t think she cares enough to be your baby, but your baby pissed all over my balenciaga shoes and my dumbbells,” He deadpans, nodding his head to show you the dark pair of shoes that now hang at the window, you assume to dry them out.

“Your what shoes?!” You almost turn pale at the mention of the designer brand, there’s no way he might ask you to get him a new pair right?

“Forget about that, go and get Cottonbud out of my room,” He walks into the hallway, looking back once to check if you follow him.

“What did you just call her?!” You yell at him from behind as he enters a room, a bed coming into sight and a much too familiar tail that sticks out from under the bed.

“Cloud!” You’re far too busy attempting to reunite with your cat to bother hearing another reply from the man, but the moment you come closer to the swaying tail, Cloud dashes away from your grasp and hides at the very deep end from under the bed.

“Looks like someone isn’t too keen on seeing you,”

You whip around, a frown on your face as you are met with the man who smirks, almost taunting you.

“Shut up,”

“What’re you gonna do now then? The cat’s gone further under the bed, I can’t reach there either,” He has his hands on his hips, standing and waiting for your reply.

His gaze and posture makes you feel small, and not having a single clue what to do fuels this feeling in you. And perhaps add some butterflies in too and it’ll perfectly describe how you are feeling.

“I- I don’t know! I’ve never had to deal with this situation before!” You’re pacing up and down, glancing at the bed, hoping Cloud would magically pop out and leap into your arms so you can run home away from this man.

“Well I’ve got all day sweetheart, you can slowly find a way to get Cottonbud out of my house,”

“Her name is not Cottonbud!”

“Whatever,”

TAGLIST: @skzthinker @cherrysainttt @vminkookgf @lilaissa @jjeonjjk7 @armystay89 @canyon-lwt @junecat18

#jungkook fluff #jungkook #jungkook x reader #jungkook au #jungkook ff #jungkook smut #jungkook x oc #bts #boyfriend jungkook #jungkook scenario #jungkook imagine #jungkook imagines #jungkook fanfic #jungkook scenarios #bts jungkook #jungkook angst #jungkook drabble #jungkook x you

[vxnuslogy]

forever. — ft. aventurine

— warnings: slight spoilers to the current trailblaze mission.

— author's note: in celebration of (almost) aventurine day have this short drabble i made in school inspired by the song forever by noah kahan. also happy 100 followers <3

aventurine was afraid of many things, one of them was “finality.” there's too much uncertainty and boredom affiliated with it. ever since he joined the IPC his life has been everything but boring. everyday he travels from one world to another making high stake deals that could cost him more than he expects, but he still pursued those stakes because who was he if not the ever cocky and lucky peacock of the stonehearts.

but recently, he's come to understand that “finality” — forever per your terms — wasn’t so bad. because to you, forever meant the countless possibilities that the world could throw at you unexpectedly. the limitless joys that can be found in every corner of the galaxy just sitting there waiting to be found.

aventurine wonders if he's one of those many joys you've witnessed; because you were certainly one of his.

how could he ever forget that one fine evening in one of his travels when he just happen to be stuck in a storm and coincidentally bumped into you, looking so breathtakingly out of this world. the many tours you took him on the day after, the shopping trips in the local and fancy markets of the planet in the weeks to come, and not to forget when you laid yourself bare to him under the promises of the many stars that hung from the sky.

“i wouldn't mind staying here forever,” aventurine wonders what that would be like, to settle down in this humble little world with you by his side. “but there's still so much i haven't seen yet — so many things you haven't seen yet. so the next time we bump into each other, let's get drunk at the tavern again.”

forever was once a burden to aventurine, but under that night sky his initial idea of forever took a turn because it wasn't a sentence to death; it was a gift he received from you.

“you're going to meet someone special in the middle of july,” his younger peared at him curiously. “they're going to show you one of the many joys the galaxy has to offer. you'll tell them that they're broke but still have so much richness in their heart.” he chuckles fondly when your face flashed in his mind, the times of when you slung a drunken arm over his shoulder and gave him another drink. “even after seeing every broken bone in your body they'll just laugh it off and say that it'll heal with them around.”

kakavasha smiled at the fondness on his older self’s face. the same purple eyes with rings of cyan stared at him when he kneeled down and patted his head. “and on the night of the final day on july, in a drunken haze, you'll say “my grip on you might loosen - you're not meant to be caged in one place - but i won't ever let you go.”

“why won't you let go of them?” kakavasha asked with a tilt of his head. aventurine only smiled and ruffled the younger boy's hair, “because they made the confident claim that we wouldn't be alone for the rest of our live with them by our side.”

aventurine used to believe that forever meant being sentenced to death, but forever also meant for as long as possible. he wouldn't mind being sentenced to forever as long as it was with you.

© vxnuslogy 2024. please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my works.

#✒️ — works #aventurine x reader #aventurine x you #hsr aventurine #hsr x reader #hsr x you #honkai star rail x you #honkai star rail x reader #aventurine headcanons

[scented-morker]

prince!hyuck x fem.teacher!reader, pretty much just fluff, royal and fake dating au (!!!), 4.8k words… read the teaser first!

"Playboy Prince Settles Down" "A Royal Romance" "Prince Lee has a Lover" 

You smile politely at the guard outside the castle, trying not to show the discomfort you were currently feeling at your surroundings.

You weren't sure what you expected to happen after your encounter with the young prince, but it certainly wasn't waking up to a knock on your door and an invitation to the castle. Nor were you expecting the faces of every worker in the castle to confuse you more, with their sly smiles and eyes following you like they knew some secret you didn't.

"Their royal highnesses will see you now."

You attempt to thank the servant for delivering you to the correct place, only to find them having disappeared after announcing your presence to the inhabitants of the room.

"Ah y/n, welcome!"

You turn to the voice only to immediately drop into a deep bow, not expecting basically the entire royal family to be waiting for you as soon as you entered.

"Oh uh hello."

You hear a few small giggles and a hand helps you up from the respectful drop. It's Donghyuck, and you get a flashback to your first meeting when he did the exact same thing.

"Relax," his voice soothed you, and your body immediately reacted to his instructions, unnecessary tension leaving your body as you stood up straight.

His hand stayed on your arm while the rest of the room took you in, and you were glad for the contact as you tried not to wither under the royal gaze.

"So this is her?" A man spoke, and you looked at the prince next to you in confusion.

He just sent you a smile, directing your attention to his mother with a nod of his head.

"Hello y/n, it's wonderful to meet you! I've heard about the many good things you've done for the children of our kingdom."

You almost blush, shy at the acknowledgment from the queen, and everyone in the room smiles.

"Oh! Thank you! I was just doing my job."

The queen smiles at you and glances at her son before continuing to speak to you.

"You've been such an excellent citizen, I'm deeply sorry for the mess that you got involved in after your encounter with my son."

Donghyuck flashes you a bashful smile and you look away, scared to blush if you make eye contact or look at him for too long.

"It's okay. Honestly I think Prince Donghyuck got the worse deal in that situation."

"That certainly is true," the queen confirms before taking a few steps closer to where you were standing, "we were hoping you could help him out on that front."

Your eyes flickered from the woman in front of you to the prince on your right.

"Uh, how can I do that?" You question, and Hyuck finds himself smiling at the fact that you didn't even think about it before agreeing to help him.

"We propose that you and my son set the record straight about what is going on between you two. Inform the media and citizens that what they saw was not a sudden romantic action."

You tried to comprehend what was being said.

"So just... tell them the truth about what happened? That we just bumped into each other? Of course I'll do that."

"Not quite," this time it was the same man who spoke earlier, who you would later learn was Donhyucks sisters boyfriend, "we would like you to spin the story just a little bit, to make the Prince seem less like a so called ‘playboy’ and more of a mature man."

"You lost me now," you spoke, immediately turning to Hyuck in your confusion, and the royals took note of the way you always looked to him when in need of confirmation.

"Be my fake girlfriend." He spoke bluntly.

"I- what?" You squeaked, and he let out another laugh.

"The media hates me, they're going to keep pushing the 'player' title on me until they're forced to do otherwise. You can help me right?"

You should say no. Any rational person would have. Getting involved in a huge lie with the ruling family, a fake relationship with the crown prince, it was a terrible idea.

But something about the way the Prince was looking at you so fondly, his puppy dog eyes asking so nicely for you to help him, made every rational thought in your head go silent.

"Of course."

Hyuck pulled you in to a tight hug as soon as the words left your mouth.

He might not show it, but he really did care about his position and what the citizens thought about him. He really did want to be a good king.

"I could literally kiss you right now," he mumbled into your ear and you laughed the same laugh that hooked him in the first place.

"Save it for the media loverboy."

He smiled at the nickname, and it registered in his mind that it was going to be very hard to keep things fake with you.

"Wonderful, I've called a press conference in two and a half hours where we will reveal your relationship to the kingdom."

You pulled away from the young man in front of you, staring in shock at the queen.

"You what? I- how- in front of everyone?"

The queen only smiled, "yes, in front of everyone. You're going to go with Jieun to get ready, and she's going to brief you on the specifics."

Donghyuck reassured you after seeing the wide eyed look on your face "don't worry, Jieun will take care of you, and I'll see you as soon as I can okay?"

You weren't fully convinced, but you nodded your head anyway, letting him push you towards his sister before walking in the opposite direction as she leads you.

"Hey, y/n," you tear your eyes away from the back of the princes head and turn to his sister.

"Uh yeah?"

"I figured you weren't paying attention," she laughs and you smile apologetically.

"Sorry, I'm just kinda nervous."

"Thats okay, I'm just going to take you to change and stuff and give you your relationship background. You should be back with Hyuck within the hour."

You can't even hide the look of relief that flashes across your face.

Jieun smiles knowingly, beginning to brief you on the backstory they had created.

Two hours later you were sat on a stage in front of media personnel, and cameras recorded from all angles the way you stuck to the prince's side, shooting nervous smiles to the camera.

"I will now open up questions to the couple," you were so busy staring at the way your hand was completely engulfed in Hyuck's that you missed the entire briefing.

Donghyuck gave you a soft smile, pulling you up by your hand and taking you to the podium. It was hard to ignore the hundred, possibly thousand even, eyes watching you. There were news cameras, newspaper photographers, and journalists everywhere all with pens and prying eyes.

"How did the two of you meet?" One shouts, and you're glad the first one you had been briefed on.

Hyuck takes the lead, explaining how you were invited to the castle as a thank you for your contributions to the children and the two of you instantly clicked.

"You've been together for six months, why have you just now announced it?"

"Why was Prince Lee on vacations on islands with other women while yn was staying in his kingdom and working with his citizens?"

The questions were getting very personal, and also very passive aggressive, and you were getting more and more nervous.

They were going to see right through you. They're gonna know you're lying and they're going to charge you with treason and you're never going to see Chenle or Jisung again.

Your panic must have been obvious, because soon Donghyuck was cupping one side of your face, whispering reassurances into your ear.

"It's okay love, you're doing great."

"We will offer one more question, as to not overwhelm Miss Yn anymore."

They chose a blonde reporter who looked about your age for the final question, and you thanked the gods that she went easy on you.

"What drew you to the Prince, Miss? And how did you handle seeing all the headlines about someone you knew was being portrayed wrong?"

"That's actually two-" the royal advisor goes to say, but you wave him off.

"It's okay," you say with a smile. "These are easy questions and I'd be happy to answer both."

Hyuck watches you proudly, giving your hand a squeeze as you go up towards the podium.

"I guess the first thing that drew me to the Prince was how humble he was." There were a few snickers in the room and you respond with a chuckle. "I know, a lot of people wouldn't believe me, but he never lets me bow to him and he always insists on taking the blame on things so I don't worry. In regards to your second question, it was extremely hard. I knew the media was wrong about Prince Donghyuck as soon as I met him, and watching them continue to paint this awful picture of a playboy out of someone I knew to be a very devoted partner caused me a lot of disappointment. I hope that this news has cleared up some of the rumors swirling around him." 

You give one last gracious smile to the crowd before stepping back from the podium, Hyuck's arm immediately taking its place around your waist as the advisor announces the end of the press conference. 

You and Hyuck exit first, leaving the meeting room and heading back for the residential area of the castle. 

"We survived!" He laughs at the excitement in your voice, as if you had really thought the room of reporters was going to be your end. 

"Yes we did, and you did great! I mean that last question, someone get you an acting award." 

"Hey," your voice is soft, and you reach up to cup his face, the urge to reassure him stronger than the self consciousness at touching him so intimately, "I meant exactly what I said. I know they're wrong about you. You're going to be an amazing king, and they're blind for not seeing it." 

At this, Donghyuck-- the Prince and future King of Kyubok-- started blushing. His face was still resting in your palms, warm and a pretty pink color as he looks at you softly. 

Your eyes flicker to the mole above his lips, and you swear that his face is closer when you meet his eyes again. 

"That was fantastic!" The loud voice of Johnny shoots the two of you apart, and you don't dare look up from your feet as the rest of the royal family files into the room behind him, knowing smiles on their faces. 

There are aggressive whispers exchanged between the man in question and his girlfriend, and by the time they're finished your face is finally cool enough to show. Your eyes immediately go to Donghyuck like usual, and he appeared to be mouthing something at the two, but stopped when he saw you watching, opting instead to send you a blinding smile. 

"Miss Y/n, you'll be staying with us for the foreseeable future, in the room designated for the prince's betrothed. We'll have the next few days to relax and regroup, and then next week you and Hyuck will travel to a few of the bigger cities in the kingdom to make appearances at tree lightings and charity events before coming back to this castle for the Christmas Ball on December 23rd." 

You blink a few times, willing your brain to absorb all the information the queen had just told you, but you don't make it very far. 

"His betrothed?"

Jieun shares a fond smile with her mother before explaining, "the room was built when he was a child for his future queen to stay in before their eventual wedding, but it's empty until he gets engaged anyway, and it's the closest room to Hyuck's own so we thought you might want to stay there." 

"Oh," is all you can say, and Hyuck shoots daggers at his family for their not-so-subtlety. "I hope she won't mind," you say, although thinking of the prince being engaged in the future leaves a weird feeling in your stomach. 

"She won't," Johnny grins, before nudging the prince towards you, "Hyuck why don't you go show her the room?"

The prince makes a very unprincely finger gesture to his sister's boyfriend, but does as he says, giving a quick "we'll be going then," as he leads you out the room and through multiple halls and up staircases. 

"So this one is yours, I'm the one right there," he points across the hall to the pair of doors directly across from your own, "so if you need anything just knock, or come right in and I'll help." 

"Okay, thank you for the generosity your highness." 

He makes a face of disgust before speaking again, "okay, I'm glad we're past the bowing thing, but lets stop with that too," he says, referencing your formal language. 

"Sorry, it's just this is all a little weird. You're still a royal, even if you act like a dumb teenage boy." 

He laughs at your teasing remark, "see I like that much better." 

He lets you go into your room, telling you he'll meet you in the same place in a few hours to take you back down to the dining room for dinner since you didn't remember at all how you'd gotten there. 

You entered into a room that was bigger than your entire house. The bed seemed like it was fifty feet away from the door, and the suite included a lounging area by a huge lit fireplace, a connected bathroom, and what you discovered to be a walk in closet conveniently full of exquisitely made gowns in your size. 

When in the world did they have all the time to do all of this? 

You've already messed with everything in the room by the time Hyuck knocks on your door to take you to dinner, and you're relieved to see that he has also changed out of his press conference outfit and into sweats. You were worried you would have to dress formally for dinner with the royal family. 

"Did you see my surprise?" 

You look at the prince in confusion, "What surprise?"

He grins, taking that as a no and opening the door to your room, leading you past the bed and a random piano and towards a dresser that you'd skimmed over on your initial snooping. 

You open it at his prompting, laughing when you see it's full of comfy outfits and pajamas. "They wanted to fill the closet with royally acceptable outfits so figured I'd leave you something a little less suffocating."

 You grab a pair of the new pajamas when you get back to your room after the best dinner you've ever had, stomach full and happy, ready to take a shower and go to sleep in the huge bed. 

However, you don't pull the shower curtain back until after you've already stripped out of your clothes, a decision you quickly regret as you stare at the billion nobs and levers on the wall. You start randomly turning and pressing things, hoping you'll be able to figure it out yourself. 

But of course, the universe hates you so nothing happens. Which is how you end up peeking your head out the doors of your bedroom, making sure no one is in the hall before quickly making your way to Hyuck's door and leaving a few quiet knocks. 

He seems to have showered himself, chestnut hair damp and sticking in all directions as a loose shirt and shorts hang over his body. He takes in your appearance, flustered face and wide eyes as you stand in front of his room wrapped in one of the fluffy towels you'd found. 

"Uh, I couldn't figure out the shower." 

He would probably laugh if it weren't for the burning in his stomach. Frankly it was funny that you needed help figuring out how to turn the shower on, or at least it would have been funny if you were wearing clothes instead of being covered by just a towel. 

But you weren't, so Hyuck silently enters your room for the second time that day, avoiding eye contact as he explains the various temperature and stream settings before muttering a stuttered "goodnight" that you quickly reciprocate and rushing back to his own room. 

Your face doesn't go back to its original temperature until much later that night, after you've already fallen asleep. 

The next few days go by in a blur of exploring the castle and hanging out with the Prince, and soon you're cinched into a traveling dress and climbing into a carriage to head to the first of many stops of your royal tour. 

It's only the two of you, so Donghyuck has to debrief you himself, although his are much easier to understand compared to his mothers. You know exactly where you're going, what you're doing, where you're staying after, even what you're having for dinner. 

You had a fantastic time, playing with the children and helping wrap gifts before standing alongside Donghyuck as he gives a short speech. Then you're off to an inn for dinner and rest before you head to the next stop tomorrow. 

And it turns out Donghyuck did forget to mention one thing, because since the entire kingdom thought the two of you were madly in love-- you only got one room with one bed. 

"You're doing this for me, so you take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor." 

You look at him like he's grown three heads, "Are you kidding me? Hyuck you're the future King of our kingdom, no way you're sleeping on the floor." 

"Y/n, you're not sleeping on the floor." 

"Neither are you."

The two of you awkwardly stare at each other for a little longer than necessary before you just spit it out. "Look we've had a really long day and we're tired, let's just both sleep in the bed instead of fighting about it." 

"I mean, as long as you're comfortable with that." 

Which is how you ended up in bed with the Prince, both of you laying silently and trying to get comfortable without getting too close to the other. 

And it takes a while, but you do eventually fall asleep, scrunched into a ball on the left side of the bed. Although all of that goes out the window when you wake up in the middle of the night to Hyuck's head tucked into your neck. 

You tense up for a moment, but a quick look at his peaceful face reassures you the way he somehow always does, and you relax, stroking a hand through his damp hair before throwing an arm over his shoulders and falling promptly back to sleep. 

Neither one of you say anything when you wake the next morning tangled in each others limbs, just letting out small awkward giggles and separating yourselves before getting up. 

By the time the two of you make it to the last city it's gotten much less awkward, and you're comfortable teasing Hyuck during the holiday events and crawling into a hotel bed with him at the end of the night. 

In fact, the newspapers have fully ditched the playboy storyline and now print stories from attendees of the various events as they talk about just how in love the "future King and Queen" look. The mayor of the last city had even asked which he would be receiving first, a coronation or wedding invite. (To which you and Hyuck had awkwardly laughed at before you ran off to the dessert table and left the Prince to change the subject).

That night the two of you climb into bed, discussing how the event went and bouncing around ideas of how you can better help the city. The domesticity of it hits you, and as you lay your head down you wonder if this is how it would be everyday if you really were with the Prince. You wonder if the future bride that would be in the room you were staying in would be as good with the kingdoms children as you are, or if papers would write about how in love they looked. 

"Hey why are you frowning?" 

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are! Look at that scowl on your face!" Hyuck brushes his thumb in between your eyebrows, smoothing out the scowl lines that were definitely there at the thought of his future relationship. 

The two of you are no longer laughing or fighting like you were before, just staring at each other while letting shallow breaths out. 

Donghyuck clears his throat and you turn around in bed to face your back to him to hide the red on your cheeks and stop yourself from doing something impulsive. However neither one of those things goes away when he wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you into his chest. His sleepy voice whispers into your ear. 

"Is this okay? I figure we're going to end up here once we fall asleep anyway." 

"Yeah," your words come out breathier than you were hoping, "it's fine. It's good." 

He hums quietly before the two of you settle into the comfort of silence and each other.

When you make it back to the castle, it feels as if the entire family knows what the two of you were doing while gone, and even though you didn't technically do anything wrong, it's hard to look the Queen in her eyes without getting shy.

"Tell me everything, right now!" Jieun had entered your room as soon as you started unpacking, and you don't even look up from your bag as you respond. "It was good, I usually just hung out with the kids and ate while Hyuck talked to all the important people." 

Jieun rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I know all that, the newspapers already have bets going about how many kids the two of you are going to have. I meant tell me everything about you and my brother!" 

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh come on!! It was just the two of you hanging out 24/7, eating every meal together, sharing a bathroom, sharing a BED! You have to have something to tell me!"

"Not really much, your brother's a great guy— he keeps the bathroom clean and helps me blow dry my hair if I can't reach the back. One time he even sang a Christmas carol with me, which I did not know he had such a great voice. That's pretty much it."

"So you were out acting like a little old married couple while I sat cooped up in this castle with mother constantly reading me articles, you don't even have anything interesting to share for all my suffering." 

You decide to throw her a bone, although you quickly regret it.

"He's also a pretty good cuddler." 

"WHAT?"

Which is how you end up in a conversation way too deep for what you were expecting and way too intense for being with Hyuck's sister. 

"Girl you like him, no you loooOOOooove him," she singsongs, and you can't help but laugh.

"Oh shut up, he's a prince."

The joking atmosphere of the room suddenly gets quiet, and Jiuen stares at you. 

"You don't really think that means anything, do you?"

You stare blankly before voicing what you've been thinking since the first day he drug you into the castle, "he has a kingdom to run, shouldn't he be with someone who knows how to do that?" 

"Yn, he knows how to run a kingdom on his own. He doesn't need someone to do his job, he needs someone to love him. And if I'm right about you, that is the greatest gift you can give him." 

"Uh yeah." 

She gives you a soft smile. "Hey I'll let you settle back in before dinner. Just think about what I said, okay?"

That night you can barely sleep, and you feel bad for whatever royal makeup artist is going to have to cover your eyebags for the Christmas Ball the next day. 

When morning comes you've barely slept a wink, but a knock on your door reveals an equally as tired looking Donghyuck, and he offers you a cup of something "to wake you up" that you quickly realize is just Redbull in a fancy glass. 

"Thanks, I barely slept last night." 

"Me too."

"What was keeping you up?"

He pauses for a moment longer then necessary before saying "nerves" although you aren't sure what he has to be nervous about. 

"Same."

After your short conversation you don't see the prince much for the rest of the day, too swept up in preparation. In fact the next time you see Hyuck is when you go out to meet him for the two of you to enter together. 

"Holy shit."

Your eyes go wide, and you stare at Donghyuck. You've never heard such un-princely words come out of his mouth. 

"Hyuck are you even allowed to say that?" You laugh so hard you worry for your mascara, but it seems to snap him out of his reverie.

"I'm the prince, I can say whatever I want. And frankly, even if I couldn't I probably would anyway."

"And what has made the oh so regal Prince Donghyuck use such foul language?" you question as you interlink your arms together. 

The two of you start walking over the balcony, and the royal announcer alerts the room of your presence. 

You don't even pick up the announcement of your names, too stuck on the warm whisper of Hyuck's voice in your ear. 

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." 

Your face lights up bright red, and you would have tripped down the stairs if it wasn't for the hold of Hyck's arm, now on your waist instead of your arm. 

Tonight, he refuses to leave your side, and takes you along whenever anyone asks to speak with him. 

Thankfully the night has more than just boring conversation with old people, and soon Donghyuck has you spinning on the dance floor. 

"This is so fun!" You giggle, even if you did almost step on the prince's toes. 

"I think it's just you. Normally these dances are real snooze fests." 

"I think you're giving  me too much credit." 

Donghyuck stops you mid-spin, leaving one hand wrapped around your own and leading you off the dance floor onto a balcony. 

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit," he says it with such a fond tone that you can't help but avoid eye contact. "Yn you have touched so many lives, and my entire kingdom is ready for you to become Queen. Frankly, I think they’d rather have you ruling than me.”

You let out a quiet laugh at his last statement, but you understand the seriousness of his words.

“Hey, I told you the first day this started that you’re going to be an amazing King, and that hasn’t changed.”

He runs a hand through his hair like he’s frustrated, “Yn, I don’t think you get it, I wouldn’t be a great king. I spent the last ten years of my life out partying every night, that’s not something a good king does.”

“But—” you try to interject, but he quickly cuts you off.

“I know now that I can be a good king, but it’s because of you.”

All of the words you were trying to form in your head— reassurances, compliments, confessions— all go silent.

“What?”

“You’ve made me realize what caring about people really looks like. After our first event you climbed in the carriage and asked if we could buy the orphanage kids gifts ourselves instead of the workers using their account. You care, and give, and love so fiercely that it makes me want to do the same.”

There are tears in your eyes when you lift them to meet his, and he gives you a soft smile.

“I do think I’ll be a good king, but I also think that I’m madly in love with you.”

A gasp leaves your mouth, and you’re so embarrassed but never in your life did you think those words would come from Donghyuck.

He’s looking at you with sparkling eyes, and you can’t help the huge smile that breaks out on your face.

“I think I’m madly in love with you too,” and then his smashing his lips into yours and you can barely kiss back because of the smile that won’t go away.

When he pulls away you think of Jieun’s words.

“Hey Hyuck?”

He gives you his undivided attention, like always, and you internally squeal at it.

“Merry Christmas.”

He gives you soft kiss, “Merry Christmas baby.”

#AHHHHH IT TOOK ME LIKE A YEAR BUT HERE SHE IS #haechan x reader #nct haechan scenarios #haechan oneshot #nct haechan #haechan scenarios #Nct haechan oneshot #hyuck x reader #hyuck fluff #haechan fluff #donghyuck oneshot #donghyuck x reader #donghyuck scenarios

[abihastastybeans]

@jilymicrofics - January 2023

Prompt no.17: Pity (ao3)

“James is going to be so jealous when we tell him about all this food,” Sirius Black said, helping himself to a big piece of Lemon Meringue Pie. He bit into it carefully, not wanting to ruin the expensive dress robes and sighed in satisfaction. “Fuck, this is better than the dinner.”

A couple of ministry officials looked at the pair of them disapprovingly as they passed by, making Lily nudge him, hiding her smile. With James stuck with a huge pile of schoolwork to finish, Lily had brought her boyfriend’s best mate as her date to the Slug Club Party. They were currently standing next to one of the heavily loaded dessert tables, taking their jolly time trying out all the delicacies.

“The food is one of the main reasons why I put up with this stupid club,” Lily whispered. “Well, apart from the ministry contacts I hoped to gain but it turns out they don’t really expect much from muggleborns.”

Sirius scoffed. “Forget about them,” he said. “You can prove them wrong pretty easily.”

Lily grinned. “Thanks, Sirius!”

“Oh, Miss Evans!” A voice boomed and Lily suddenly found herself surrounded by Professor Slughorn and a bunch of other men, who she figured were Slughorn’s wellwishers.

“Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Miss Evans,” Slughorn said, jovially. “One of my top students, exceptional in potion making! Lily, my dear, these are the gracious men from The Department of Experiments and Inventions that I often tell you about.”

Lily gave them a polite smile as Slughorn continued, not stopping his introductions. “Helped me out in one too many prickly situations, they have! I keep it as a habit to invite them to every party I throw. I owe them that, I do- Ah!” He stopped talking abruptly on seeing that the men were not listening to him but were instead focused on Sirius. Lily cast a glance sideways and saw Sirius staring them down, still quite busy with his meringue pie.

“I see, you have found young Mr. Black,” Slughorn noted. “You hardly show up to my club parties, my lad! It’s a pleasure to have you here.”

Sirius took his time swallowing his mouthful of pie before gracing him with a reply. “I came here with Lily,” he said, casually bumping into Lily, as if they weren’t standing in front of high ranking ministry officials.

“Wonderful!” Slughorn beamed and clapped his hands before addresseing the men again. “Sirius here is an excellent student himself! Incredibly talented in Transfiguration, I hear from Minerva. Top grades in all the subjects too, despite the things he gets himself into,” he laughed. “It’s a pity he isn’t in Slytherin just like his family.”

Sirius spoke with his mouth filled with pie. “Well, it’s a pity you are a bootlicker-”

“Professor, we will get back to you soon!” Lily said hurriedly with a big smile, dragging Sirius away. “I see professor Kettleburn calling us.”

Once out of sight, both of them dissolved into fits of laughter. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell James about all that,” Lily said, wiping a tear from her eye.

It's not very Jily-themed but i think this still counts

#jily microfic #jple #abi's fic

[lilymoonstars]

How do I love Thee?

Chapter 2 - New Gal about Town

Note: This story will be centred around female parker and male Cas. This will also contain spoilers so please proceed with caution!

Suitable for teen audiences and up

With a gratifying thud you dropped the last box on the floor in the living room which was currently doing an incredibly good impression of a junkyard. A sea of boxes and pieces of furniture now filled every space, it was a hoarder’s paradise. It didn’t seem possible for two people to have so many possessions, much less that it had fit in the old apartment.

“Mum?” you called walking back through the house, taking care not to bump anything. No answer. She wasn’t in the kitchen anymore either. Nothing had been unpacked but an open box of baby photos and a trail of Styrofoam peanuts scattered up the stairs were useful clues. Sure enough when you got to her room, she was sat on the floor encircled by photos.

“Really? I turn my back for one second and you’re trying to commune with the seventh circle of hell?”

Her sniffling grew louder as she handed over a photo. “I j-just can’t b-believe it. How can m-my b-baby be starting her s-senior year? Your bum u-used to fit in the p-palm of my hand a-as I r-rocked you to s-sleep. N-now your bum doesn’t fit in my palm anymore and you’re all grown up and soon you won’t need me anymore!” She broke off suddenly dissolving into wails.

The photo was of you at 6 months old, wrapped up warm against the Boston winter chill. Try as she might to get your attention, she failed miserably but had the biggest smile on her face as she pointed at the camera. Her eyes shining with pure love and happiness. Both of you together like always.

“Mum, this is exactly why I gave you kitchen duty,” you sighed.

She looked up from the floor with her best puppy dog eyes on full display. Damnit.

“Come on. We both need some fresh air and it’s about time we went exploring too. Plus, I seem to remember someone promising me a shopping spree!”

“I guess I did,” she laughed. “Phew, moment over! Let’s go get my baby some new threads!”

Your insides curdled in embarrassment. “For both of our sakes, please never say that again.”

***

Arms laden with bags filled to the brim with school supplies, you headed to the small boutique next to the library. Crimson Beech was much larger than it had appeared the other night, the past two hours had been spent exploring the main promenade of town. A small bell tinkled overhead as the door opened. The shop was small but had modern furnishings. Sunlight poured through the glass storefront illuminating the pure white décor inside. Clothes filled the shelves inside, offering a lot more choice than you expected. Squeezing past two girls in the centre aisle, you headed to a pair of faded blue ripped jeans.

“They would go great with these!” A girl said enthusiastically at your side. In one hand she held a deep red crop top that crossed over at the bottom. In the other was a quilted black leather jacket embossed with gold studs. “The red will compliment your hair beautifully,” she promised, “trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”

It was a little more daring than your usual choices. The over-sized white jumper and faded jeans you had on paling in comparison. However, the whole point of this move was for a change and maybe this was a good first step. It definitely screamed ass-kicking confidence.

“I’m Phoebe by the way,” she introduced herself.

“I’m Parker, I’m new around here,” you offered with a small, awkward wave.

“Trust me sweetie, we don’t get new blood round here often. Everyone in town knows who you are.”

Heat flooded your cheeks at her words. Any hopes of you had of blending in unnoticed disappeared.

“Parker! What do you think about this?” Your mum asked holding a purple dress and long, knitted cream cardigan. It looked very cosy, perfect for the autumnal weather outside. Taking it from her, you headed towards the changing rooms. A few minutes later you walked back over to your mum with a twirl.

“What do you think?”

“You look stunning Parker! Very pretty and smart. Go get changed and we’ll pick up some food.”

“Wait! I have one more outfit I want to show you!”

Locking the door, you were pulling on the outfit Phoebe had helped put together when there was a knock at the door.

“Just a second!”

“Parker, I’m sorry. I just had a call from my boss, he wants me to come in for a de-brief on one of my cases.” A credit card slid beneath the door. “Take my card, my treat. Love you!” She shouted, her footsteps receding down the corridor.

Pocketing her card, you went to the larger mirror at the end of the changing rooms, hoping Phoebe would be around for a second opinion. Pulling self consciously at the bottom of the top you worried if it was a little too much. Your red curls cascaded past your shoulders as you freed them from under the jacket collar. It was a little wild but taming it was a losing battle. Phoebe had been right though; it did go well together.

A low whistle sounded from further in the store as you made eye contact with the boy in the mirror. A wolfish grin covered his face as he stalked towards you. He was completely unashamed as his eyes roved over you from head to toe. “Much better, this one is my favourite.”

Your face burned. How long had he been there?

“Not too long,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

That had been out loud!? If there was ever a time for the ground to open and swallow someone whole, this was it. He looked at you like a predator with their prey as he took his lower lip into his mouth. He prowled ever closer, his black combat boots thudding against the wooden floor. He dressed in black head to toe save for the white shirt that stretched across his chest under a black leather jacket. The only colour on this was his silver-lilac hair, pairing well with the silver piercings in his left eyebrow and ear.

“If you stare any longer, I’ll have to charge you. My eyes are up here New Girl,” he drawled. His voice filled with smug satisfaction.

Over his shoulder, you spotted the two girls from earlier whispering and giggling behind their hands and anger sparked inside you. “So are mine but that didn’t stop you.”

His grin stretched even wider. “So, she does speak,” he murmured inching closer to your face, “I was worried that I’d stunned you so thoroughly with my beauty that you’d never recover.”

“No, you almost suffocated me with your overwhelming ego, but I think I’ll make a full recovery.”

A bark of laughter burst from him, ringing through the store. “Oh, New Girl, I like you. Something tells me we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.

“Cassius, turn your you-ness down a few notches,” Phoebe warned.

His face soured. “I’ve told you not to call me that.” He spit at Phoebe before focusing back on you. “Get the outfit New Girl,” he said, twirling one of your curls around his finger, “It suits you.”

A little dazed, you didn’t notice him leave.

“Don’t mind Cas, he just likes messing with people. In a few weeks he’ll move onto someone else.”

Blankly nodding at her, you bought your outfits and headed to the hospital. The whole way trying to convince yourself you’d be happy if he did.

***

Like everything else in this town Crimson Beech hospital seemed much bigger than a town this size needed, the outside showed that it spread over several floors. Glass doors opened with an exhale leading to a skylit covered atrium. The smell of bleach hung heavy in the air as porters bustled patients back and forth, trolley wheels squeaking across the linoleum. A large, stone staircase led to the open balconies above. To its left was a reception area with plush leather seating, making up a generous waiting area. The staff looked rushed of their feet. There was already someone in the waiting area and you sank into one of the leather seats opposite.

“Umm excuse me, can you help me? I’m a little lost.” A friendly smile lit up his face, so unlike Cas’s earlier.

“Sure, where abouts do you need to be?”

“I’m not sure to be honest! My mum’s the new medical examiner, I’m trying to find her office.”

“You must be Parker! I’m Gabe, nice to meet you!”

Blinking in surprise you weren’t sure if it would ever stop feeling unsettling that everyone knew who you were. After his initial excitement, he must have registered your look of surprise.

“.. That was a weird thing to say when we haven’t met wasn’t it? Let me start again, I’m Gabe. I volunteer for Dr Lewyn on the children’s ward. He’s your mum’s new boss. He said that you’d both be arriving soon.”

There was something endearing in his awkwardness. He exuded a warmth that immediately put you at ease.

“The medical examiners’ office is om the 3rd floor, I’ll take you there.” He said leading you to the elevators. “What do you think to Crimson Beech so far?”

“It’s taking some time to adjust; I’m not used to strangers knowing who I am. The town seems very charming though it’s like something out of a fairy-tale.

“Just wait until you hear some of the stories of the towns founding. Legend has it that Crimson Beech was discovered by vampire hunters. Honestly!” He insisted at the look of disbelief on your face.

The elevator doors slid open into another lobby as Gabe led you down another corridor. “How about you? Have you always lived here?”

“Born and bred. My ancestors go all the way back to when the town was founded.” He stopped outside a door half-way down the corridor. “This is your mum’s office.”

“Thanks Gabe.”

“Wait,” he called, causing you to turn back around. “You’ll need someone to show you around on your first day. If I get your number, maybe we can arrange to meet?”

Giving a mock gasp, you placed a hand to your chest, “Gabriel! Was this all a ploy to get my number?!”

His mouth open and closed comically for a second until he finished lamely, “I’m senior class president, it’s my job.”

Taking pity on him, you called yourself from his phone before handing it back over. “I’m expecting one hell of a tour,” you teased before disappearing inside.

“Speak of the devil, here she is! Lewyn this is my daughter Parker,” she introduced as you shook his hand. He looked to be about your mum’s age but there was something about his piercing blue eyes that seemed ancient. A coldness that eclipsed Gabe’s earlier warmth.

“I’ll leave you to it Terri, I’ve already taken up too much of your time already. Thank you again for coming on such short notice. These animal attacks are becoming concerningly frequent and with losing our last examiner so unexpectedly, we were really in need of some help. Nice to meet you, Parker.” With a slight nod he turned and left the office.

“So? What do you think?!” She squealed, spinning in her chair, “I can’t believe it’s all mine!”

“I’m really proud of you mum.” you told her honestly.

“And you heard what Lewyn said! There’s been a series of mysterious attacks that need investigating!”

“That’s funny, I heard animal attacks.” A warning tone colouring your voice as she waved your concerns away. “Mum, no. Don’t start this again. This is what happened last time and why we’re here now.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry!” She said as she enveloped you in a hug. “I’m just excited to be working cases again. I promise it won’t be like last time, ok? Now let’s go get some take out and watch a rubbish movie, yeah?”

As she gathered her things and ushered you to the door, you really wanted to believe her and if it hasn’t been for the case files that peeked over the top of her bag as she locked the door, you may have.

Note: Thank you all so much for your likes and comments on the stories so far! It's lovely to hear that you're enjoying the story so far!

As always, you can also follow the story on my Ao3 account: How do I Love Thee? - Chapter 1 - MemphisBelle - Choices: Immortal Desires (Visual Novel) [Archive of Our Own]

#choices: immortal desires #immortal desires #choices stories you play #Parker Reese #cas harlow #gabe adalhard #spoilers #non canon #HDILT?

[zackcrazyvalentine]

can I get some more octavinelle with pregnant!mc? how they would react around mc and when the baby is born if they would cry or anything

in case I'm violating any rules or the requests are closed feel free to delete this! I'm just a big jade simp and I love my octatrio a lot too!

Requests are currently closed.... but.... I'm a sucker for domestic stuff and an Octavinelle stan, so I'm gonna do this anyways asddf

This will be the one exception [note post writing everything: YEAH this will definitely be the ONLY exception.... this is looooong]

Tried to keep everything as gender neutral as possible: when referring to pregnant partner and the babies alike

--

🐙 Azul Ashengrotto 💜

When you're pregnant

Proud papa!! Azul definitely cried from happiness when news of your pregnancy reached him

Was also a nervous wreck, however. He's very insecure about his abilities to be a good father and role model his children would like to follow and look up to

You know him, he's studious and booksmart. Ashengrotto will take to reading many parenting books and blogs entries to prepare himself for the arrival of his baby

Definitely had you both enroll in classes in a local hospital so you know how to act and what to expect when time for labor arrives

Health and being healthy is important to him. For you he will put up with eating all sort of balanced meals, regardless of how much he dislikes them (so you're not alone while keeping up a diet)

Always accompanies you to your gynecology appointments. Cried every time your baby's heartbeat was heard through the echo/ultrasound machine

We know how he is, grown up Azul probably has a business of his own and it takes a good amount of his time to attend. Still, he will take time to call you through the day to make sure you're fine

Probably had either of the twins look after you in days he really couldn't take time off his job. Jade being the more helpful one with chores and emotional rants (you've both probably sniffled at natural documentaries), while Floyd is perfect for food prep and hysterical laughs over fail videos

Every night, before going to bed, he spends time talking to your baby bump, places some kisses on it too

He goes sooooo soft in those moments before sleep takes you away, his love lulls you to refreshing rest

Always makes sure to give you a kiss and a rub goodbye to your bump when heading off to work

Really enjoys watching you cook. the pregnancy glow looks beautiful on you when doing mundane tasks, he thinks

Maternity pictures? He's a little reluctant, but if you really want to... *end up carrying a small copy of his favorite pic in his wallet* *sends a copy of the whole pack to his mother and grandma* *frames his favorite and puts it on his office*

When you're in labor/the baby arrives

SCREEEAAAAMS!!!!

But after a nice yell of surprise, fear and nerves, he's ready to go and put your plan of action learned in those classes ready!

He's collected for the most part, but every time you scream from the contractions, he screams too because "he can feel it"... but it's really just his nerves getting out of hand

However, once you get to the hospital, this man will burst in and yell loud and clear "SOMEONE HELP ME, MY SPOUSE IS IN LABOR!!!" because the ride was so stressful he can't hold it together anymore

Be it through natural labor or C-section, Azul will want to hold your hand and be there for you through it all.... He might get light headed at times, but again, he'll push through anything to make sure you and the baby are fine

If he somehow manages to translate his grip strength to his human form now that he's older, he will be squeezing your hand just as hard as you're squeezing

Is a mess of tears once your child's first cry echoes through the room. It feels so relieving and miraculous.... You're now parents to your first little baby!!

Can't help to smile so tenderly at his chubby little angel. Runs a finger delicately against their cheek and sheds more tears at how warm and soft and alive they are

"My precious little pearl... What a blessing you are, little one, already making us so joyous. Welcome"

Azul holds his child so gently. If you had a glow while pregnant, Azul has a glow as a new father. You swear you can see a golden halo around him whenever he's pampering and carrying your child

Reads them a bedtime story every day. They may not understand him, but Azul wants to acquaint them to his voice quickly

Since he has paperwork to do at home, there have been times the octomer left you to sleep while he attended the baby's necessities. It relaxes him, and the rocking to get them back to sleep refreshes him. How can one not be powered up after seeing a plump little munchkin sound asleep with a smile on their face?

This private moments with the baby get him emotional, has probably cried during all of them. He just feels blessed with a mountain of happiness when he sees his baby sleep so comfortably, knowing they're surrounded by love and care.

Is curious to see if his baby will manifest a merfolk form later in life, or manifest any sort of magical powers.

BONUS: It was during a family vacation to the beach during their 2nd year in primary school where your child manifested their mer-form. They were ecstatic!!

🐬 Jade Leech 💜

When you're pregnant

His expression was as collected as always, but his heart jumped into outer space when he got the news of your pregnancy. Held you close and kissed you with so much passion and love, you saw a new Jade that day.

He thinks you don't notice, but the loving gaze he shoots your way when doing the most random things around the house is so soft, your heart stops every time (think of his lab coat groovy, that smile)

Like Azul, he's very keen on keeping you healthy. Along with a proper diet, he makes sure you take your daily supplements

But he turns a blind eye when you wish to indulge a liiiittle too much on that snack you adore

With his big appetite, it doesn't come as a surprise that he willingly subjects himself to your strange cravings

Jade is another one that accompanies you to each and every doctor's appointment. Is well read of what to expect in every month mark, so he asks the most questions to clear up any doubts you may have.

His eyes filled with tears when hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time. Held your hand tightly and kiss your forehead so many times while you were in the ultrasound room

While he's patient, sometimes your mood swings also get him in a sour mood. Thankfully, he has a way to destress with his job and terrariums. It's not long into the day when he calls to apologize for any dumb things he said, and to make sure you're doing fine

Floyd sometimes tags along to your home. It's always 50/50 on what it'll be: nice funny harmony, or utter disastrous chaos that leaves you sobbing in your husband's arms.

Perhaps the one thing Jade dislikes of your pregnancy is ho hard it is for you to find a position to sleep in because your constant tossing and turning interrupts his sleep every time

Jade speaks to your bump in whispers. Likes to lay his head on your lap and talk to the baby. He tells stories of his childhood, tells the little one how much they're loved, and sometimes indulges in singing

He also likes to play classical music for your bun

The one thing he adores? Feeling your baby kick, it always lights up his face with a bright pointy smile

If you want maternity photos, Jade is quick to convince! He acts like it embarrasses him, but he does secretly want some nice pictures to commemorate this period in your lives (plus, Mama Leech wants some to display in her home!)

When you're in labor/the baby arrives

His mind is running a mile a minute. Excuse him is he calls you "hospital" instead of your name, everything's flashing before his eyes quicker than he can register.

Would crash the car into the entrance from how fast everything's happening, but he doesn't. He does carry you to the front desk and hurriedly pants "Spouse, baby, NOW! HELP!!"

For x or y reason, Jade ends up waiting to hear the news of you and the baby. He's not in the room with you. The whole time he's left alone, he's bouncing his feet and pacing back and forth. In a short moment of clarity, he dials up Azul and notifies him of the situation, asking the octomer to pass the information to his twin and parents.

With how long births are, it shouldn't be surprising to see Mama and Papa Leech, Floyd and Azul arrive at the hospital. However, with how worried and stressed he is right now, it does catch Jade by surprise.

This moment of uncertainty, of not being by your side, is the one time where the eel lets his emotions and thoughts go unfiltered.... which may provoke his twin a little. But it's exactly these small quarrels that snap sense into him and remind him that he should focus his attention on doctors and nurses for any possible news about you. They also help refresh and keep him awake

His mother and Azul are the most helpful, calming him down and quelling his anxieties about your and the baby's safety

The moment he sees the familiar face of one of the doctors that entered the same room as you, he's up and speedwalking to them.

As soon as the merman gets permission to see you, he's already making his way to you

Finally, he can rest and let it all out. There's visible tears flowing out his eyes and sobs coming out of him while he holds your little bundle of joy. Not even a thousand kisses are enough to show his gratitude to all that you've done for him

He was already in love with your baby the moment he laid eyes on them, but once their tiny hand wrapped around his finger.... HE WAS DONE FOR, THIS BABY WOULD BE SPOILED BY PAPA FOR ALL ETERNITY. In fact, it was this moment the one that made him ugly cry

His instincts got the best of him. Jade literally snapped around to bite his father and Floyd when they got a too close to the sleeping baby. By a miracle he allowed his mother coddle them for a split second. Can you blame the poor man? He's sleep deprived and stressed, cut him some slack

Once he got some rest, Jade was embarrassed by his words and actions, but oh well... The past is in the past

He adores spending time with your baby. Every time he's in charge of bathing them, he does the cutest babytalk. He lives to see them giggle and relax in the water

Feeding time is also one of his favorites, and you also enjoy it too. Jade is just wonderful when taking care of the baby, your heart swells and a smile reaches your lips (partly because he turns so silly to make the little one eat)

He is helpful when attending the child at night, but whenever he had a stressful day at work he pleads you to go and calm them down

Talking about stressful days, feel free to send him some selfies and pictures of your baby through the day. They surely will cheer him up a little while he works.

When your child starts attempting to talk, Jade will go along with it. He nods and answers attentively to anything your baby says

BONUS: At around 5 years of age, your kid turned into their merfolk form in the middle of bath time. They cried from panic while Jade had a proud smile on his face

🦈 Floyd Leech 💜

When you're pregnant

He takes a minute to process the news. Frankly, he's nervous about this big leap, but he's sure he wants to have kids with you. His excitement may be subdued at first, but you will see him throw more smiles and tender gazes your way within the following weeks

If you notice him spacing out during the first weeks, urge him to speak out. It will take many tries to get him to open up, but one night he goes to spoon you, hand carefully caressing your tummy. "I'm unsure... isn't this... too fast?"

Understand that his doubts are more about feeling unprepared (specifically him, he has no clue how to even begin preparing), not about not wanting to have kids. "Accidents happen, Floyd, we can't control every variable in our lives. We have one another, I'm certain that together we can do this."

"Plus, we can always consult your parents." Cue a groan from him, but soon after there was a smile

Slow but steady, Leech begins researching and reading up about parenting and pregnancy. Lemme tell ya, he's not looking forward to the mood swings. Sure enough, when they arrive, he handles them very poorly. At the end of every day, however, he hugs you close while in bed and asks for forgiveness through kisses to your back

He sometimes gets bored by all the technical talk your gynecologist speaks, but follows their orders to a T. They're the professional, he barely knows the surface of what your body's going through.

After being told that was the baby's heartbeat, Floyd's wide mismatched eyes remained glued to the monitor showing the silhouette of his little bun. Chills coursed through him and his eyes watered, heart leaping with joy.... It felt so strange, but he didn't wish this magical emotion to stop

He probably buys you one of those pill organizers with pretty colors so you know and he knows if you've taken your supplements

Whenever he has a very shitty day at work, being greeted by you waddling up to him due to your feet hurting from carrying the baby once he arrives home is the best. It makes him chuckle, but he soon drops down to place a kiss to your tummy to dispel any irritation you may feel his way after his small laugh

About work... Azul kinda lets him do as he pleases, he's aware there's no changing his decision. If he wants to skip half the shift to keep an eye on you, he allows it. But Floyd must heed important calls whenever he's summoned urgently.

Will ask to bath together. Intimate, soothing, and relaxing. Bathing with you while hugging you from behind to feel the bump reassures him you're both doing a good job so far, that there's nothing to fear

It's mainly in the few seconds before bedtime that he drops onto your lap to chat with the little one. Likes to hum melodies to the bump

He has a little game where he'll poke at your belly and wait to see if the baby kicks the spot he prodded

Sometimes, Azul pops up for a visit. Very calming to have the grey haired to talk to about emotional messes. Jade sometimes calls to make sure you're both fine and have everything you need. If he visits, they're short and to the point.

Maternity photoshoot?? Nah, he'll pass.... but if you are stubborn and very insistent, he relents. You better not send them to his parents behind his back (but you totally do, of course).

When you're in labor/the baby arrives

You want chaos? Because you definitely got chaos! Don't get me wrong, Floyd is actually doing a tremendously amazing job carrying your bag and yourself to the car. He's actually driving superb while reminding you to take repeat the breathing exercises you were taught. It's just...... the other people's slow pace and stupidity the ones making him yell profanities

Absolutely throws his signature crazed look at the first nurse he finds when asking, no, demanding help

That crazed look was reason enough to keep him out of the room you'd be in, his consequent aggressiveness after given the news is an even grater reason. If you can muster it, tell him you will be okay and to trust the doctors.

Sits on the closest waiting space to your room. Probably goes up to a bending machine and punches it a couple times to release some of the tension (he got a free snack, too)

Now it's when the nervousness settles in. He's so afraid at having you and his child away from him, he's worried about everything. May shed a couple tears of frustration, fear, and stress. His instincts tell him to protect you even if he knows there's nothing to protect you from, you're in a hospital for goodness sake!

That's when he calls Jade for comfort, and soon after dials his mother. It's her voice the one that helps him break through the confusing fog in his mind to go back and sit as close to your room as he can

Probably ends up stress eating everything in that vending machine he punched as he waits for any news about you and the baby He's munching on the last bit of a candy bar when a new one crosses his field of vision. It's Jade, with a bag full of treats, and some much needed water. Azul's beside his twin

It feels strange, but Floyd feels very vulnerable and needs the familiarity both of them bring. He lets his head fall on Jade's shoulder, which the twin takes as cue to hug him by placing an arm around his shoulders. Azul kneels in front of him and asks "How are you feeling, Floyd?"

"Scared.... and alert. Like I need to protect them, but... I know they're safe." He probably ends up crying a little more right then. After being calmed down by Azul, he probably sleeps for 10 minutes

Wakes up to find his mother replacing Jade by his side, and his dad is also with them now. Definitely feels much better after some shut eye and after seeing he's now surrounded by familiar faces

When he hears his name be called out by the doctor, he's immediately shooting up and throwing questions at the doc. Thankfully, the professional firmly states everything went swimmingly and he can now see you.

Will you look at that? TWO little babies are waiting to meet him!

You're holding one, and the second cutie is placed in his arms and.... There come the waterworks again It was such a natural reaction, he had no time to try and suppress it. Not like he would've wanted to, but the way you "aww"ed at him made him feel a little embarrassed

The twin in his arms reached out and tugged his black strip of hair after it tickled their face, Floyd couldn't help giggle

He can't lie, his arms were shaking the whole time he held the little one. He was scared of hurting them...or dropping them

He wonders how everyone missed the elusive second baby, but he's so happy!! He has two cute kids!! Oh, you're such a wonderful and strong parent! You carried their weight combined and powered through the pregnancy just like that!

He really wants to climb into your bed and hold you so close, but he knows you need rest. Settles for peppered kisses all over your face while uttering "I love you, thank you" in between

While his instincts do tell him to chase away the "dangerous" males away from his newborn kids, Floyd does let his father get close and look at the babies along with his mom. Jade and Azul are a different story, however, he growled at them.

Like Jade, Floyd loves spending time with his twins! His top fav is bathing the twins because he's always eager to see if they will turn into merfolk (spoilers: they do!! And quite early! A few months after their 1st birthday!)

Another thing he loves doing is laying a blanket on the floor and watching his cuties play with their toys and giggle at each other

He tried their baby food once and decided to make homemade baby food from then on. He says he wants his little ones to taste only good things since those prepackaged stuff taste terrible. Just keep an eye on his spice use.

Night necessities are your task though, he does not take kindly to being interrupted in his sleep

He likes reenacting baby photos of him and Jade with his babies

Once his kids get the hang of their mer-form, most of your vacations will be under the sea~

#zask #zack writes #soul cuddle #domestic #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #floyd leech #leech twins #octavinelle #octavinelle x reader #tw // pregnancy #cw // pregnancy #gn reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #floyd leech x reader #jade leech x reader

[anashins]

The Right Kind of Wrong

Title: The Right Kind of Wrong

Pairing: Jaehyun x You

Genre: hate to love, cheating, college!au, friendship, romance, smut

Warnings: smut, cheating, cursing, toxicity

Word Count: 8.454

Summary: There are many reasons for you to hate Jung Jaehyun. Aside from being cocky and selfish, the fact that he is dating your best friend is another one of them. But his mesmerizing smile - to hell with it - just isn't.

____

There were at least a hundred things you hated about Jung Jaehyun.

The fact that he was dating your best friend was just one of them.

Not a single day had passed by in the last year in which she hadn’t complained about her boyfriend having flirted with another woman, having ditched her again, going to a party and ignoring her all night, or simply dragging her mood down by one of his unpredictable and hurtful actions.

Aside from being cocky, selfish, arrogant and reckless, Jung Jaehyun was absolutely incapable of being a decent human being for more than ten seconds, and you were wondering why he was so damn popular despite all his faults.

When you went out with your friend group, he mocked the boys trying to hit on you, telling you they were so desperate for that move. When you were attending the same class, he purposely sat down next to you to distract you from the lesson. When he was at your dorm, he kept moving your things onto high shelves, knowing you couldn’t reach them.

And his smirk everytime he did so… his smirk every time he mocked you was so annoying. But also so hot.

Fuck, you thought whenever his mischievious eyes met yours again, and you had to turn away, at a loss for words and afraid he’d caught you flushing. You were so ashamed, because you actually wanted to hate him.

There were many reasons for you to hate Jung Jaehyun, but his mesmerizing smile wasn't one of them.

You hadn’t hated him from the first moment that you two had officially met as you had gotten introduced to each other through your best friend who was also your dorm mate, though. She had found him on a dating app, and you had found him sitting in your class two days later, talking back to the professor.

Back then, you had started admiring his intelligence and courage. But those were the only two positive things you had spotted so far as you only tried to stay as far away from him as possible, emphasizing his negative character traits over and over again.

But the truth was that staying away from him was a very hard thing to do, and you fought every day for your sanity, trying to be a good friend and suppressing your controversial feelings for a man who was absolutely forbidden to you.

“He went drinking last night and I saw an instagram story of him grinding against another girl on the dancefloor!” your best friend complained in your arms, tears on the verge of flowing. “Who’s doing that even?!”

A few pairs of eyes turned into your direction, but when you threw fierce glances at the people staring at you, they passed by very quickly.

When you had been invited to your friend Johnny’s house party, you hadn’t expected to be spending the evening comforting your best friend, even though that had been your daily routine for the past three weeks.

It had grown toxicly usual for Jaehyun and her to fight in a two to three day rhythm over the smallest things, and although their wonky relationship or whatever it was hadn’t been very steady before with them breaking up nearly monthly, lately it had grown almost obnoxious.

“Why don’t you just break up with him?” you suggested again and immediately felt your heart sink.

It wasn’t like you wanted them to break up because you wanted Jaehyun for yourself. You’d never do that to her.

Your best friend was just constantly hurting, and it hurt you just as much when you saw her suffering so greatly. Jung Jaehyun wasn’t a good guy, and you both knew. Yet, she couldn’t let go of him. You knew exactly how that felt.

Even if they were to break up, he wouldn’t belong to you. Because a friend’s ex was a taboo. So having Jaehyun gone entirely from your lives would kill two birds with one stone.

“Not that again!” your friend whined and retreated from you, sinking into the couch with her arms crossed and no signs of tears anymore. “I can’t! I mean… look at him! He’s so hot, and don’t get me even started about his skills in bed. That’s where we usually make up, you know, so-”

“I’m going to get you something to drink!” you interrupted her and jumped up. “You totally need a cocktail now! To come to your senses!”

You loved your best friend dearly, but you didn’t want to hear about Jaehyun’s skills by all means. At some times, your friend didn’t have a filter, and then, it only spiraled downhill from there. You heard them often enough in the dorm, that was already pushing you to your limits.

When you entered the kitchen, you reached up to get a glass from the shelf, but like most of the times, you were too short for the remaining ones at the very top.

“Here, let me help you.”

A soft voice echoed from behind you, but before you could turn around to follow the tone, the guy had already heaved up his arm and reached over you to the very top of the shelf to get you a glass.

Shifting around, you faced the mischievous expression of the young man you had wanted to avoid and who your best friend was currently crying over.

Without a “thank you”, you reached out your hand to grab the glass from Jaehyun, but he immediately shot his arm up to bring the glass high over his head and far out of your reach.

“You think a simple ‘thank you’ is too much for you?”

“Fuck off, Jaehyun.” You crunched with your teeth and narrowed your eyes. “I’d rather die of thirst!”

“What did I do again?” He rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner as though his high spirits got ruined. “What did she tell you?”

“She told me everything she saw from last night!” you defended your friend. “That’s enough for me to get the picture!”

“Okay, and did the picture somehow include me pushing the girl away after she had grinded on me?”

You gulped.

“Just as I thought.”

He placed the glass on the counter, but somehow, this hadn’t got your both’s attention anymore.

“There are two sides of the same coin, yet all you've ever done was looking only at one.”

He approached you, and the rising hotness in your cheeks made you withdraw until your hips bumped into the kitchen counter.

Jaehyun leaned in and propped his arm against the same spot right next to your hip as he asked, “I know you’re her best friend, but being a friend doesn’t mean supporting your friends delusional, one sided thoughts into oblivion. Being a friend sure means to support, I’m not denying that. But being a true friend means to tell someone when they’re wrong. And I am not the one at fault here, y/n.”

“You were doing many stupid things to hurt her in the past!” you started blabbering just to bridge over the silence you’d get when you would stare at his mesmerizing eyes for a little longer. “How am I supposed to believe you?”

“You aren’t supposed to believe me.” He retreated, with the glass in his hand. “All I’m asking for is a chance to explain myself.”

Again, you were flabbergasted by the way he expressed his thoughts that stood in contrast to his questionable behavior. One of the main things that fascinated you. But you quickly turned this feeling into hate by recalling his wrongdoings from the night before.

Looking at the glass, Jaehyun continued, “Yes, there were many things I did wrong in the past. And I’m not going to pinpoint my finger at my girlfriend to tell that she was doing just as many questionable things as me. But people have reasons for doing the things they do. That’s probably why we’re such a good match.”

You didn’t understand a word. In your eyes, and you only knew about their relationship by what your friend told you and what you observed when you were hanging out, the two weren’t a good match at all.

He was the one constantly hurting her feelings, and she was the one to always get hurt.

Or... wasn’t it?

Jaehyun then thrusted the glass into your hand. “You’re lucky, y/n, you know that? It must be so great, living that freely, without any burdens… So oblivious to everything.”

With these words, he disappeared from the kitchen, leaving you behind all alone with the glass in your hand.

You looked at the item, your face getting reflected in the crystals to unrecognizability while Jaehyun’s words still kept you occupied. They had such an impact on you that you suddenly started to question whether your hate against him was actually valid.

When you stepped out of the kitchen yourself with a full glass of your best friend’s favorite cocktail in your hand, you found her in Jaehyun’s arms again, wildly kissing, his kind words suddenly vanished from your mind upon spotting them.

Instead, there was a little monster called jealousy sitting right inside your chest.

___

“8am in the morning! Who even places classes that early?!”

With a groan, Jaehyun flopped down in the seat next to you.

“Shut up, class is about to start.”

“Man, you must be really fun at parties,” he replied. “The professor is not even here yet.”

“You’re annoying, Jung Jaehyun, and if you weren’t dating my friend, I wouldn’t actually talk to you at all.”

“What are the odds we’re still connected to each other, huh! Tell me, y/n, what did I ever do to you? How did I ever hurt you? We’ve never even really spoken with each other ever since we’ve gotten introduced.”

“And I am grateful for this every single day.”

“What is it that you hate about me so much?” he questioned further, his eyes challenging.

But with your eyes straight ahead and no words on your lips, you ignored him as the professor entered the room only a short moment after, announcing the class’ start.

Your pen flew over the sheet, noting down the professor’s words when suddenly, goose bumps spread all over your arm.

When your eyes followed the trail to its source, your right elbow touched Jaehyun’s left one as a result of your hectic writing motions as you had moved too far to the side. The spot on your skin was so warm and so…

You withdrew your arm right away, placing it back to where it usually belonged, but Jaehyun’s own limb had moved so far to the left that you had no place to rest it next to your notes anymore without having his skin barely one inch apart from you. You weren’t touching anymore, but he was so close that you still felt him somehow.

Of course you could drop your arm and place it on your lap as the professor had stopped presenting the most important points of this lesson. Of course you could just move further away with your entire belongings, but the fact was that you didn’t. That you couldn’t.

Instead, you were fixating your eyes on the board right in front of you, listening to your professor’s words but not actually understanding a single syllable that he uttered as your heart beat fast against your chest.

You hoped that Jaehyun didn’t notice how desperate you were for him not to shift away right now. That you actually enjoyed it, but felt so much hatred at the same time. Not against him, but against you - for feeling this way.

“Can you answer my question, Miss y/n?”

Your eyes widened in shock as you got addressed by the professor by your surname. You were actually a good student who was always paying attention in class. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have happened. But now you got caught red handed not listening to him, and he was a very strict lecturer.

“I… um…” you stuttered.

“The answer to my question, Miss.”

“Yes… the answer…” You gulped as you didn’t even know the question. “The answer is…”

From the corner of your eyes, you perceived how a sheet was slowly moving into your direction from Jaehyun’s place. His finger was pointed at a paragraph that you had also noted down only shortly before.

Suddenly, you knew what the question was about and answered formally to the professor’s task.

With your heart having calmed down after the shock, you let yourself sink down on your seat again. You had gotten distracted only once by something that shouldn’t bother you at all.

This wouldn’t happen again, you swore to yourself.

____

“No ‘thank you’ again from you?”

You turned around to Jaehyun who had rosen a brow at you. “Is this becoming your thing now? Asking for ‘thank yous’?”

“Is this becoming your thing now?” he returned. “Not saying ‘thank you’? I saved your ass in class.”

“Well, I haven’t asked for that, so go beg somewhere else for attention.”

You made your way through the crowded club, feelling the bass under your feet and the techno music in your ears. Jaehyun was following suit.

“Do you want some kind of reward from me? Because you’re not going to get it.”

“I don’t want a reward. Hey.”

He reached out and grabbed you by your arm, right there on the dancefloor. The feeling from this morning returned, but in a higher intensity as it spread all over your body.

“All I’m asking for is respect.”

You snorted. “Respect? Do you respect my friend when you destroy her weekend plans to go drinking with your friends instead? Do you respect my friend when you dance ass on ass with another girl? Do you respect my friend when you hurt her feelings with your rude words? I don’t like you, Jung Jaehyun, because you’re a bad person, and respect is the last thing you’ll ever get from me!”

You yanked yourself out from his grip and disappeared in the mass. What was up with him? Why was he bothering so much lately and evoking all these controversial feelings inside you by acting like this? He should just stay away.

With your eyes closed, you started to move with the music, all by yourself there on the dancefloor. You wanted to collect your thoughts, but as the music flooded through your body, you realized that thinking about nothing was probably the best way to cope with your inner struggles right now.

You opened your eyes widely when you suddenly felt a hand on your bum.

Turning around with much anger reflected in your mien, you stared at a boy around your age who grinned at you seductively. Your fierce gaze was probably mistaken for an invitation when he approached you further, grabbed you by your hips from the front and pressed you against him.

With his lips on your ear, he whispered, “I like what I see.”

And you wanted to scream. You probably did, but it got drowned out by the loud music, and his grip was way too hard for you to free yourself that easily as you shuffled in his arms.

“Let me go!”

Yet, his hands roamed around your private areas like they owned it.

“HEY!”

Before you could scream once more, the guy got dragged away from you by the last person you had expected it from.

“She said let go of her, you asshole!”

Jaehyun grabbed him by his collar, and his height and angry expression alone were probably enough for the other guy to nearly piss his pants as he hastily mouthed,

“I’m so sorry!”

When Jaehyun let go of him, he slipped off silently and wasn’t seen again.

You stood there awkwardly with your arms hugging your chest, still digesting the happenings.

“Did he hurt you?” Jaehyun asked when he leaned in for you to understand better.

You shook your head.

“Do you want to go outside?”

You nodded.

Jaehyun took you by your hand to lead you through the dancing crowd, and you didn’t protest.

This gesture was the total opposite to the disgusting one from the guy who had harassed you shortly before. This touch was raw and chaste. Nothing to be ashamed of and fight against, but something you wanted to accept wholeheartedly.

When you stood outside of the club, Jaehyun let go of your hand, and you finally whispered the words that he had been longing to hear for quite a time,

“Thank you.”

Against your expectations, he didn’t mock you or return witty words. With his eyes locked with yours, he sincerely told you,

“You’re welcome.”

That was the moment it dawned on you that Jung Jaehyun had more positive sides to him that you had always wanted to blend out. But perhaps, you had reached a point in which this wasn’t possible anymore.

You couldn’t continue keeping your eyes closed to all the kind sides of him. Because the more he showed you, the more you’d open your heart for him.

To you, Jung Jaehyun had to remain a bad person, otherwise you’d fall for him, and falling for your best friend’s boyfriend was a taboo.

“Hey, what are you two doing outside?!” Speaking of the devil, your best friend jumped out of the club’s door and into your direction. “Isn’t the music fun?”

Jaehyun looked at you, waiting for your reaction. You knew that if you wanted to go home, he’d follow. If you wanted to stay, he’d stay too, not letting you out of his sight. Because - and you couldn’t repeat this often enough - Jaehyun was actually a good person.

“I want to go home,” you decided. “You can stay, though! Please just let me be the party pooper all alone, I don’t want to spoil your night.”

“Oh, what a pity!” your friend said with a pout. “You always leave when the party is about to start!”

You shrugged with a weak smile, tired of fighting. “Yeah, I guess so. But I still have a lot of pages to revise.”

“Shall we take you back to the dorm?” Jaehyun offered in a caring voice that you apparently encountered for the first time, and your friend immediately shot a reproachful glare at him.

“Are you being serious right now?” she complained. “She’s a grown ass woman who can go home alone!”

His eyes hadn’t left yours. “I’m talking to her, not you.”

Had it always been like this? Her caring about herself more than about you? If it were the other way around, you wouldn’t let her go home alone in the middle of the night, no matter if you knew something had happened before or not.

Suddenly, you saw your best friend from a whole other perspective. Suddenly, she was the one having Jaehyun on a leash, and he was the one fighting back for his rights, not against her.

Two sides of the same coin… If you were to flip it, would your entire world view change?

For a moment, you hesitated. But not wanting to disturb your friend’s evening, you gave in with a, “It’s okay, I can go alone. Have a nice night!”

But Jaehyun held you back when he insisted on calling you an uber for which he even paid while your best friend continued pouting on the side.

____

“FUCK YOU, JAEHYUN!” you heard your best friend scream later that night from her room, every syllable of hers clearly to hear in your own room while you laid in bed later that night.

The hours before had passed by in a trance as you had only fallen onto your mattress face forward after having quickly changed into your pj’s, that was how much of a toll the day had taken on you.

You just wanted to forget what had happened in the club, but also the thoughts that had constantly been in your mind all the way home that only revolved around Jaehyun. So sleep was the best solution, and you would have gladly continued doing so if there weren’t your best friend and Jaehyun arguing loudly next to you for an hour already.

Then, Jaehyun seemed to return something to which she screamed again, “I DON’T FUCKING CARE!”

Stomping followed the brief silence, a door getting opened, then shut again, and footsteps moved into the direction of the entry door before it fell close behind Jaehyun.

This was a nearly weekly experience for you lately, and usually, you’d just miss hearing their arguments, but this time you couldn’t help but to wonder what they had been yelling about. You just hoped it wasn’t because of you and what had happened to you earlier, because in your eyes, Jaehyun had done nothing wrong.

He had been so incredibly nice and thoughtful that you started to doubt their relationship.

You turned in your bed, wanting to fight those thoughts so badly. Jaehyun was your best friend’s boyfriend, and hence, forbidden fruit for you. But you just couldn’t stop your imagination from running now.

What it would be like in your best friend’s place and get treated like this every day, and the worst part was that you didn’t even feel bad about betraying her in your mind.

Fuck, you only thought and sat straight up in bed, now surely not being able to grasp a light thought to accompaby you back to lseep anymore.

Feeling safe to leave your room ten minutes later as your roommate must have fallen asleep by now, you didn’t think about sleep anymore but wanted to get a glass of water from the kitchen to calm yourself down.

Perhaps, tomorrow, you’d have another look at the entire situation, you tried to convince yourself. After a few more hours of sleep, all these confusing thoughts and feelings might have already been forgotten.

“Cannot sleep yet?”

You turned around and found a half naked Jaehyun only dressed in boxers right in front of you. The empty glass of water in your hands got placed back on the counter with shaky fingers.

“What are you doing here?” you contered.

“Well… she suddenly left.” He shrugged. “We’ve been arguing. You sure haven’t missed that one.”

“I didn’t.”

Still, you were wondering what that was all about, but didn’t want to ask. He lifted the weight off your shoulders himself though.

“It was about you.”

“Oh…?” You gulped.

“When you were gone, I went back to that guy and didn’t let him go that easily. They threw me out of the club and your friend thought I'd ruined the night for her.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

You wanted to make your way around him, but he blocked your way as he didn’t move to make space for you to pass by the door.

“What’s making me a bad person, y/n?” Jaehyun suddenly asked. “ The way I saved you in class? In the club? Tell me.”

“You cannot be serious right now. It’s 5am, draw a number for another day.”

You wanted to slip under his stretched out arm, but he moved his body to block you again. “Number one. Now tell me.”

“Because those have been the only times you were nice to me, Jung Jaehyun!” You clenched your fists, breathing in deeply. “When we go out with our friend group, you mock the boys trying to hit on me, telling them they’re so desperate for that move!”

“Because I heard them speaking about you before,” he declared. “They were not looking for something serious but only fun, one had even placed a bet. I tried to spare you from this embarrassment and eventual lovesickness. Go on.”

“When we’re in the same class, you purposely sit down next to me to distract me from the lesson!”

This one let him smirk. “Because I always saw you sitting there alone. You have no friends in that class, and I thought you might need some company. Besides… I knew you couldn’t afford that book we needed, and I purposely always shoved it into your direction when the professor read from it. Have you never noticed?”

Now you have. And you were flabbergasted.

“Wh… when,” you stuttered, “you’re over here, you always move my stuff onto high shelves, knowing I cannot reach them!”

“Because I love to see the defeated look on your face and your cute pout when you have to ask me to get the things for you.”

You didn’t know what to say further as you stood there, frozen on the spot. You hadn’t seen this answer coming.

“Anything else?”

Yes, there were many things you hated him for, and you wanted to throw them all into his face, but as he was standing there in front of you, not even one more came into your mind.

“I just hate you to the core!” you hissed.

But with calmness in his voice, he only turned, “No, you don’t.”

And then, it was all only a blur.

You wanted to push him away, but instead, you found yourself nudging against his body. You wanted to free yourself from his grip, but instead, you wrapped your arms around him. You wanted to escape from his kiss, but instead, you kissed him back in the same passionate manner he kissed you.

Jaehyun’s hands roamed all over your lightly covered body while his lips moved against yours, touching every spot he had missed out on during the entire time he knew you, because you had always pushed him away.

But now that you had opened up to him, you were scared the time window was about to close very soon, so you had to work fast.

You jumped on him, hooking your thighs around his waist while his hands instantly clung around your buttocks to give you the support he needed to carry you to your bedroom. Your hands remained interlaced on the back of his neck when he placed you onto your bed and laid himself between your legs.

Thrown overboard were all your morals, priorities, and the friendship to the person that meant the world to you. You didn’t want to think about all that, but were longing for him so desperately that you wondered for how long you had been suppressing that desire already.

Jung Jaehyun was hot. But he was a bad person.

Or… wasn’t he?

You desperately ground upwards against him, feeling him growing between your legs, and you brought your hands down to massage his length. Jaehyun interrupted your kiss as he hadn’t expected this move to come, and groaned into your ear.

You smirked triumphantly, your hands kneading muscles until he was pressed hard against your palms. Tucking your fingers into the waistband of his boxers, you slid the garment from his hips, revealing his bum. Your hands glided along his curvy, soft mounds, grabbing into them like you were testing ripe peaches.

Jaehyun was pecking your lips as you slid your hands under his body again and closed around his entire girth. He stopped for a moment, but the second he continued on, you started moving your hands, top on top, along his length.

Not being able to concentrate on the feeling down there and kissing you simultaneously anymore, you perceived how Jaehyun got weak with supporting his body on his own arms that he had rested to the left and right of your head. So you decided to take the lead from here on.

Sitting up yourself, you put your palms on Jaehyun’s chest and pushed him backwards onto the mattress. He watched you with surprised eyes, but didn’t protest as you sat on his thighs, eyeing his member with much anticipation.

You slid further down his legs, nearly close to his ankles, and bowed down. With your fingers wrapped around the base of his dick, you led him to your mouth. First letting the tip pass by your lips, then his entire length up until the very middle.

You only heard him swearing, “fucking shit,” before Jaehyun covered his face with his arm placed over his eyes and his other clasping the sheet by his side. Your hair grazed over the area around his navel while you moved your head up and down, cautiously slow at first to give yourself time to adapt to his length.

Then, you started bobbing your head, increasing the speed with every time you came up and nearly let him slip out, your fingers that had closed around him sliding in the same rhythm, adding to the pleasure. The slurping noises that came along with this act filled the room until they got drowned out by Jaehyun’s moans.

He directed his hand towards your head and grabbed it by the back, ruffling your hair between his fingers while he started to thrust upwards, meeting you halfway in the fast motions. Like this, he was able to reach deep within you, but still not far enough so that he could hurt you.

When you witnessed him twitching his legs, you stopped, held him still by the base and decided to tease him further a bit before you allowed him to release himself. With the tip of your tongue, you touched his glans, trailed along the slip and then circled around the entire top part.

Jaehyun’s swearing words came in a never ending trail like a waterfall that you couldn’t really understand all syllables from, but you were sure you did a good job and rewarded him for being patient with the motions from before again, but this time with added pressure and passion.

Suddenly, he grabbed you by your arm, urging you to stop.

“Or else I’m gonna cum,” he said and sat himself up, flipping you around so that you laid under him again.

Hastily, you got rid of your top while Jaehyun worked on your sleeping shorts until shortly after, you were both lying naked on top of each other. You wanted him desperately inside you, because you just didn’t know when you’ve had had sex the last time, but instead of wanting to get through this fast, Jaehyun took his time.

That was when you realized that this entire joining was probably more to him than just sex to get it off. You had thought that because he hadn’t been able to get it tonight from your best friend, he’d take it from you. But the way he touched you insisted otherwise.

If it wasn’t more than just sex, he wouldn’t trail his fingers over your ribcage in feathery-light motions, admiring every inch of your body. If it wasn’t more than a body-focused act, he wouldn’t place soft kisses not only on your mouth, but also onto your forehead, your cheek, your neck… If it wasn’t more, Jaehyun wouldn’t be so damn thoughtful and tender.

He remained his tenderness and his gaze didn’t leave your eyes as well when he finally nudged between your thighs, pushing forward until he filled you up to the brim.

Restraining himself from starting to move right away, Jaehyun took his time to ask you whether you were okay at first when you let out a quiet “oh” that alarmed him. But you were eager to calm him down when you explained that it was only because you hadn’t been with a man in so long, and somehow, after speaking it out, it made you feel embarrassed.

As the boyfriend of your best friend, he’d surely know when you had been in contact with a man the last time, and you hated yourself for being so pressured by society to feel ashamed of who you were and how you lived your life.

But instead of judging you, Jaehyun only nodded and tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, and suddenly, you were flooded with such a warm feeling towards him that you nearly cried. Rarely had you encountered a man so considerate and caring.

“Tell me when I can go on.”

You bit your lip and felt the uncomfortable pressure in your nether regions getting replaced by a feeling that you hadn’t encountered in so long. A feeling that made you want more, want him.

Holding onto his shoulders with both of your hands, you nodded back at him with a smile which he then returned. When Jaehyun started thrusting in and out of you, your eye contact didn’t break, and you were sure that right now, you were looking at the real Jaehyun at this very moment.

Not the guy you hated. Not the guy your best friend was dating. But instead the person who wanted to protect you from guys that only wanted to use you. A person who offered you company in class and shared his equipment with you. And a person whose cheekiness and affection he showed through childish acts because he didn’t know how to express his feelings otherwise.

This was not the person you were sure of knowing all along. Probably because you hadn’t even gotten to know him in the first place.

One arm now clung around his neck while with the other, you grabbed the pillow beside you. You threw your head back in excitement, his pushes coming in short intervals one after another, and he was hitting all the right spots with them.

Jaehyun propped his arms up to the left and right of him, lifting his upper body to gather all his strength in his groin area and stopped for a brief moment before he thrusted inside you with such force that it nearly knocked all air out of your lungs, and you couldn’t respond with anything else than moaning.

It felt so good, so… right. But how could something so wrong still feel so right?

Right now, you didn’t hate Jaehyun or your best friend the most, but yourself and the fact that you continued on and on. That you brought your hips up to meet his thrusts with hazy thoughts and his lips all over yours when he slowed down with his movements to dedicate himself to caressing your breasts.

You felt Jaehyun’s hot tongue swirling over your buds, and you shook under him. Not because it felt cold, but because his tender caresses just felt so good. You didn’t have the feeling that he could do anything wrong with whatever he carried out, that was your impression about how well your bodies meshed together.

No, you didn’t hate Jaehyun. You had always only hated how he had presented himself to you. But there was so much more to him.

Sweat droplets showed on his forehead when he continued with the hard thrusts again, the sound of you both breathing heavily mixing together with the sloppy noises of your bodies moving against each other filling the room, but no matter how messy sex was, it was the most romantic thing you had experienced in a long time.

Your eye contact also didn’t break when Jaehyun arose above you, his sweaty chest glistening in the dim light that shone through your windows, and increased his pace even more. When he dropped his head and bit his lip in the process, you wrapped your arms around him and added pressure to your nether regions as you felt him approaching his heights.

It felt very good to you too, but you were by any means not as far as him yet, so you didn’t blame him when he came only a short moment after with a groan that sounded sexy as hell to you.

You held him tightly when he fell limply onto your chest, still breathing heavily from the orgasm that slowly faded. Staring at the ceiling, you smiled with him in your arms, just enjoying the moment when Jaehyun moved away from you.

“We’re not done here yet,” you saw him grin as he laid himself next to you, rolled onto the side and placed his head in his palms as he propped his elbow against the mattress.

You wondered what was to come when you felt his finger tips dragging from your thighs to your navel, then lower again and stopped right at your most sensitive spot.

“Oh!” you let out as he placed two fingers on your folds and started moving them up and down with your remaining juices as lube that made the intense feeling kick in almost immediately.

You screamed when he added pressure and now directed circling motions around the sensitive bundle of nerves. From your half-closed eyes, you witnessed him looking at you with such admiration but also cheekiness as you writhed and wreathed under him, yet spread your legs even wider as release was so close.

Jaehyun leaned in to you, his fingers not letting go of the continuity as he half covered your body with his and just kissed you passionately. Like this, he encountered first hand how the orgasm took over you, and you moaned into his mouth, riding it out against his hand.

It felt like the most natural thing in the world when he wrapped his arms around you right after and pulled you onto his chest, and you drifted off into a slumber shortly after.

Even though the first tendencies of your bad consciousness set in before you closed your eyes, you decided that this would be the problem of tomorrow.

No, you didn’t hate Jung Jaehyun.

If anything, you should probably hate yourself.

___

“YES… YES… YESYESYES, OHMYGOD!”

You heard your friend from the other side of the wall, having rudely awakened you in the early morning hours. At least you thought so. But a glimpse at your phone through sleepy eyes told you that it was past 11am already.

Within a second, you were wide awake.

You were still naked, but the clothes on your floor only belonged to you, and the spot next to you in the bed was empty.

“OH!MY!GOD!.... YES! OH… OH.... AAAAH… OHOHOH… YES!!”

Jaehyun was gone. At least from your room.

Your best friend’s headboard constantly bumped against the wall, and you grabbed your pillow to cover your ears with it. You didn’t want to hear the sounds. Not because they stole your sleep, but because somehow, for the first time, you didn’t feel disturbed by the noise, but actually hurt.

In your mind, you imagined Jaehyun’s mesmerizing smile, the witty expression he was constantly wearing and his deep voice that had showed you for the first time last night that there was a certain softness within it.

You felt hurt, because you knew all the things from last night had been real between you two, yet he was still fucking your best friend mere hours later. What you had shared and felt had been special, yet he was still with her.

And suddenly, you felt hate again. But towards yourself. For betraying your best friend with him. But first and foremost, for betraying yourself.

You had never hated Jung Jaehyun.

You had always felt some certain kind of attraction towards him, but kept telling yourself you hated him to push him as far away from you as possible. If this wouldn’t be so wrong under these circumstances, this attraction would feel right and could blossom. But like this, you could never come to enjoy this feeling entirely.

Your relationship had been doomed from the very start, because given the wicked circumstances, you would never be able to form a healthy relationship. It was like a stain that would never vanish on a white sheet.

So you just decided to continue as usual. To keep this a secret between the both of you and just to carry on with your life.

And to hate Jung Jaehyun just a little more.

You just didn’t know how to feel and act towards your best friend without feeling so much… regret.

“Good morning.”

But the young man stepping out of your best friend’s room wasn’t Jaehyun. But Johnny.

You sat there in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, your mouth agape. And then it started to rattle in your head.

Lately, there were times when your best friend had screamed the name “Jaehyun!” loudly during the act. Those were the times you had actually seen him the next morning. But the nights she hadn’t screamed a certain name, no one had ever come out. And those times, you had counted more than the ones with Jaehyun in the past weeks, just when their loud arguments started on a nearly daily basis.

“Where’s Jaehyun?” you asked without greeting her good morning as you walked into her room.

“Oh, we had a fight last night,” she explained to you while getting herself dressed casually. “And then we broke up. I went away to be with Johnny after throwing him out, and we’ve only gotten back this morning. I hope he left last night already and didn’t stay here.”

“What?” you wondered.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I’ll get over it.”

“You actually already got over it as I’ve seen!”

“Oh, Johnny?”

“You’ve been fucking him for weeks already?” you provoked.

She shrugged again. “Perhaps a month… So what?”

You stood there, totally lost for words. “You’ve been crying about Jaehyun to me ever since you got together! That he flirted with other women, ditched you, went to parties and ignored you! And now you’re telling me you’ve been cheating on him for quite a while?! And this instagram story drama from last week?”

She sighed and flopped down onto the bed. “Okay, admittedly, I’m not an angel in this story, but he is by far neither! He was not. There were many things he has done wrong in the past. But then he actually started… doing nothing wrong. Being the picture perfect boyfriend without all these flaws and drama. And perhaps, this is not something that I want, so I started to look around elsewhere.”

“So…” You paused, still processing the shock. “Was it all an act? All the times you’ve cried to me over him lately while cheating behind his back?”

“Not an act, precisely,” she said reluctantly. “Yes, he explained every situation to me. And I was being dramatic over it for nothing, perhaps. I don’t know… I still enjoyed being with him though, but it just didn’t feel right anymore. I want to have men just… telling me I’m right, always coming back to me… what’s a relationship without fire? But Jaehyun didn’t want to do this anymore.”

In your head, you recalled everything that Jaehyun had told you. About there being two sides of the same coin, about you being so oblivious. All this time, he knew that she had cheated on him. He knew what you thought of him, yet he had never made a move to ever explain it to you.

But why?

“As he should,” you then stated. “How you treated him was awful!”

“Only because I cheated on him a few times?” she chuckled. “Come on!”

“I’m your best friend, and yet you lied to me! You twisted and turned stories so that you’d always be the one at right! But the truth is, you’re the bad person here. Not him.”

“Now what? He’s gone from our lives. Don’t care about him.”

But the truth was, you did. Now more than about her.

That was why, an hour later, you found yourself in front of his dorm. When he opened shortly after you had knocked, you stared at him, still gasping for air as you had run the entire way here, with all the memories from last night coming back with each step.

“She’s been cheating on you,” were the only words you brought out.

“I know.”

“For how long?” you asked.

“I assume for just as long.”

You breathed in heavily, not understanding a word. “But why did you stay with her?”

Jaehyun smiled meekly. “Because I don’t think I deserve a good person like you are.”

It ran hot and cold down your back. “I… I don’t understand.”

He leaned against the door frame with crossed arms, and even though he seemed uncomfortable talking about his feelings, he still did.

“I haven’t been the best boyfriend for her most times in this relationship, I admit this openly. We weren’t really good for each other and it destroyed me to the point that I wanted to change. But when I started being the boyfriend she had wished for, it wasn’t right either and she started cheating. So I just settled with it. Because I thought I screwed up to that point where I won’t be able to make anyone happy anymore and also don’t deserve the same in return. Even though I only wanted you...”

“You douche!” You stomped with your feet on the ground.

“What?” he returned perplexed with furrowed brows.

“Everyone deserves love and to love! And you’re not different from anyone else!”

His confusion got replaced with a mild smile. “You’re so kind, y/n. That’s one of the things I like the most about you. But you’re also oblivious.”

Jaehyun pulled out his phone, scrolled through his messenger and started playing a voice message from a very familiar person.

“Why do you even care about this bitch, Jaehyun?!” In the background, you heard music and other people talking. “She’s a stupid nerd, and I’ve only befriended her because she helps me studying and listens to my complains since we’re dorm mates, so don’t even waste a single thought about this party pooper!”

You stood there as though you had been rendered motionless. Your heart had dropped to your feet.

“This is from last night when I quickly went outside again to check whether you rode away safely with your uber and she couldn’t find me directly. That’s why we argued and broke up. No, it’s not the first time she’s talked about you like this.” He put his phone away. “I thought letting you hate me would make it easier for a kind person like you to keep their distance from someone like me. Because, in the end, I will only hurt you too. But the more I started to genuinely like you, the more I felt protective towards you. I couldn’t see her speaking about you like this anymore.”

Your breathing came in hitches as your whole world suddenly crashed over you. Your best friend wasn’t your best friend. She had probably never been.

You stumbled backwards, and Jaehyun stepped forward to grab you by your arm, but you pulled it away.

“I…. I just…” you stuttered. “I have to… talk to her.”

“Sure.”

The whole way home, you only cried.

Not over Jaehyun, but over the betrayal of someone you had considered your best friend, yet had hurt you in the most painful way like no man ever could. And the fact that you had been an asshole to her to the same extent after having slept with her boyfriend the same night they had broken up was probably the final straw.

You were no saint here. You had added to your both’s downfall just as much. And it hurt much more than any heartbreak you had experienced so far.

You had to sort your life out and right now, and amongst this chaos there was no place for Jaehyun in your life.

____

You put the last vase with dried flowers on your shelf, stepped backwards to your room’s door and inspected the final set up.

“Finished!” you praised yourself.

It had taken you three months to move to a new dorm, but this was your last step to a new chapter in your life.

You hadn’t had contact with your former best friend ever since your final conversation in which you had handed the keys over to her. The many conversations before had only consisted of screams, accusations and tears.

She had admitted to saying all those things about you, but also to genuinely have come like you. You weren’t so sure whether that was real or one of her lies again. You had admitted to sleeping with Jaehyun, and she would have forgiven you for that as she hadn’t been really in love with him anymore at this point, but you were sure you didn’t want either in your life anymore.

Your best friend because she had hurt you deeply, and Jaehyun because of your burdensome history. All of you had done so many wrong things, and you were only a bundle of toxic people together, so chaotic that you were better off apart from each other.

But you didn’t want to be this toxic kind of person anymore. So you moved out and left your old life behind.

You didn’t go to that class with Jaehyun anymore, and although you missed him, the touches of your joint night still present on your skin sometimes, you wanted to move on from even the mere imaginations of him as well. You were sure that you’d find a guy just like him, but you missed him wherever you went and couldn’t help but ask yourself “what if?”

The fact that he hadn’t reached out to you either made it easier, and as summer break came and passed, and the new semester started, you had kissed two news guys already, made a new friend group and were just overall happy.

But you still missed Jaehyun dearly and all the possibilities of what could have happened if only your timing had been right in life. Even if he wasn’t the right one for you.

“Is this seat taken?”

And then, one day, there he was again. Taking the seat next to you as though no time had ever passed between the two of you, smiling that mesmerizing smile you didn’t hate.

You only stared at him, and his kind expression didn’t break. When you moved your head to the front again where the professor introduced himself, you couldn’t help but to smile too. Because this wasn’t the expression of a bad person.

People changed, and just like good traits could turn into bad traits, a bad person could turn into a good one also. And they all deserved a second chance.

You had only known the Jaehyun from your best friend’s perspective, and then also his body. But even though you had gotten a glimpse of the real Jaehyun here and there, you didn’t quite know him entirely yet.

But you wanted to. The good, the bad, the real. Jaehyun wasn’t the right one for you, but such a thing didn’t exist. What mattered were only your feelings.

Because in fact, you didn’t hate Jung Jaehyun. At all.

#jaehyun #jung jaehyun #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun smut #jaehyun x you #jaehyun x reader #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct smut #nct x reader #nct x you #kpop scnearios #kpop x you #kpop imagines #my writing #one shot

[tobesoalive]

r u mine? (Jake Kiszka x reader)

hey guys...so this was fun to write, thank you to the kind anon who requested it! I currently have some fun (and steamy) Josh stuff in the works right now, but still feel free to send in requests! I might slow down a little with posting since my classes started, but I promise to get to every request! Enjoy my first Jake piece!

Warnings: SMUT(oral f-recieving, fingering, penetrative sex)

Adrenaline pumped through your veins as you headed down the hallway backstage, about to go out and face the crowd of thousands of fans. No you weren't a huge famous musician or anything, just their photographer. Basically the same thing right?

For the past three weeks you had been enjoying life on the road, it had always been your dream to be a concert photographer, and your work had caught the attention of a little band called Greta Van Fleet. Well, not exactly little. Their fan base grew everyday and now they were doing yet another headlining tour that they asked you to document. Over the past few months you had been in contact with the guys and their management, and you guys hit it off instantly, they brought you under their wing as if you were part of the family.

You basically were all one big family, you had gotten extremely close to the boys. Josh, Sam and Danny were like your brothers, and Jake...he was a little different.

Brother would be an odd way to describe him, seeing as you had a bit of a crush on him. Nothing super serious, you just thought he was a cool guy who also happened to be really fucking hot. You thought he might have a little something for you too, he was always asking you how you liked the show, and when he’d catch you editing the photos you took he’d sit himself right next to you and ask if you’d show him what you were working on. He was constantly complimenting your work, but that would mostly be in private, when he’d seek you out if he couldn’t sleep. You surely weren’t complaining, you enjoyed his company. You just wish he would say something, or even better, make a move. You could be taking his actions the wrong way, he does have tons of women who want him all around the country, maybe he does just think of you as a sister. Whatever thoughts you had about Jake you’d just push to the back of your mind, you had a job to do, and your work was more important than getting laid.

You went in front of the barricade and took some photos of the crowd and talked to fans. They liked to ask you questions about the guys and what it was like touring with them. You always tried to make them feel special by saying how thankful the guys were, which wasn’t a lie, to have such amazing fans.

All of a sudden you heard some of the fans start screaming wildly. They were chanting Jake’s name, and you turned your head only to briefly meet his eyes from the side of the stage where he was standing. Within a second he was gone, most likely rushing backstage to avoid any further commotion from the audience.

What was that all about? You thought to yourself. Did he sneak over there to just look at me? Maybe he wanted to talk or something. That can happen later, it was only a few minutes until the show started, so you wanted to snap a few more shots of the crowd before running all over during the show to catch the right angles.

During the show you had a great time, as per usual. You loved being right up front, taking photos of the guys doing what they loved. You went backstage to get some photos from the wings. Jake was about to do his signature move, playing his guitar behind his head, and you were ready to capture the moment. Right as you snapped the photo, Jake turned and winked at you, arms thrown behind his head, somehow managing to play the notes of “Highway Tune” whilst flirting with you.

Butterflies erupted in your stomach, and you felt an intense need for him. Quickly you ran back out to the front of the stage to capture a few more moments before the show was over.

“God fucking dammit, I’m in deep” you muttered to yourself, before heading to the green room to congratulate the guys on the awesome show. You slipped through the crew heading on stage to clean up the equipment, turning a corner and bumping directly into Jake.

“Oh sorry! Great job out there tonight!” you say, trying your best not to blush. What was wrong with you, it was like you were a school girl or something.

“Thanks y/n! Did you get some good shots?”

“No, I made sure to get really shitty photos, especially of you”

“Are you being sarcastic?! Now that is something new!” he teased you.

“I just know how much you enjoy my sense of humor! I like to give back to the fans y’know” you quip back, causing him to break out into a smile.

“Hey the guys and quite a bit of the crew is gonna head out and probably find a bar or something once we’re done cleaning up. You wanna join?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I might just keep it lowkey tonight, I’d prefer to edit the photos tonight so I can explore whatever city we’re going to tomorrow.”

“Totally understandable, well I’ll catch you later!”

“Yeah for sure!” you say as you go off to find the rest of the guys.

After about a half hour of chatting and checking in with the rest of your tour mates, you decided it was time to change into your pajamas and spend the rest of the night staring at your computer screen, trying to edit as many photos as you can before inevitably passing out.

Getting onto the bus you shared with some other crew members, you kicked your Vans off before checking to see if anyone else was around. Seems like they all were opting to go out after the show, which meant you got the whole place to yourself. You traded out your concert outfit for a pair of shorts and a hoodie, getting prepared for your lengthy editing session.

You made yourself at home on the couch towards the front of the bus, turning on your speaker and playing music as loud as you wanted, getting straight to work.

It had felt like only a minute when you heard a knock on the door, but after checking your clock you realized an hour had already gone by. You peeked out the window only to see Jake’s figure standing there.

“Jacob! What’s up? I thought you were going to the bar?” you said as you opened the door to let him in.

“That show wore me out”

“Yeah you did amazing, I mean like you usually do” you say, stumbling over your words and internally punching yourself. God you were not smooth at all.

“Seems like we are some of the very few who decided to stay back, I was getting lonely in that tour bus.”

“Well you’re always welcome here, I was just doing some editing.”

“Wow you’re a pretty big nerd aren’t you? You know you should take a break every once and a while, I feel like you’re constantly working.”

“Well it’s not that hard when you love your job” you tell him.

“I guess that's true, can I see what you’re working on?”

“Yeah of course” you say while making your way back to the couch, Jake plopping down next to you.

“Damn that’s fucking awesome” he remarks, looking at the image on your screen. It’s the one of him playing the guitar behind his head, and winking right at you.

“I know! Thanks for being such a good model” you tell him with a small laugh.

“The guys and management are really impressed with your work. We’ve already been talking about having you come on the European leg of the tour with us.”

“Are you for real?!” you ask in awe, giddy with excitement. You absolutely loved this job and the people, and the thought that you could travel the world to do it was a dream come true.

“Yeah, don’t tell anyone though, I don’t want to get my ass beat for it.”

“Oh my god Jake I could literally kiss you!” you exclaimed, before you had even realized what you said.

You tried your best to play it off before your thoughts were interrupted by Jake’s voice.

“I wish you would”

“Huh” you stop for a second before turning to face him.

“Listen y/n, I think you’re really cool, and you also happen to be really hot. Sorry, maybe I was interpreting things wrong. I just thought if you felt the same it might be fun. It doesn’t have to be anything serious, I just get lonely on the road and -”

Before he could say another word, you took it upon yourself to answer his question, leaning in to capture his lips in a soft kiss. You pull back and look him in the eyes, closing your laptop and setting it on the counter.

“God I’m glad you finally said something, I think everyone was starting to sense the sexual tension” you grin at him.

“Well all I could think about on stage was fucking your brains out, so sorry if I’m not too great at hiding it” he says before grabbing the back of your neck and pulling you in for another kiss, to which you open your mouth to let his tongue slip in.

You move yourself so that you’re straddling his lap, your lips moving perfectly in rhythm as Arctic Monkeys played softly in the background.

“Wow it seems like you were almost expecting this to happen” he teases you.

“Shut up and fuck me Kiszka” you say before he flips you so you’re now beneath him.  

His fingers find their way under your shirt, reaching up to cup your breast. He pinched your nipple before quickly tugging at the hem of your sweatshirt.

“Can this come off?” he breathed into your mouth.

“Yes please” you said before he pulled it off you, exposing your bare chest to him. You felt very self conscious, it had been a little while since you had gotten naked with anyone.

“Hey don’t be shy, you’re gorgeous” he said before connecting your lips once more before he stood up to remove his shirt and shorts, leaving him in a pair of boxer briefs. You tried your best to not look at his growing bulge, but it was hard to resist.

Suddenly he was kneeling on the ground, body in between your spread legs.

“Jake you really don’t have to” “Oh trust me, I want to, '' he says before running his fingers up and down over your clothed core, moving his fingers to the waistband of your shorts, pulling your panties down with them.

“God you’re so fucking sexy” he mutters before expertly pressing the pad of his thumb onto your clit, his other hand pushing on your thigh to keep your legs spread.

“Fuck, Jake, I need more” you groan, your arousal now dripping between your folds.

“Don’t worry baby girl, I’ve got you”

Those words alone probably could have made you cum, but then Jake entered a finger into you, causing your hands to tangle in his long hair, slightly pulling.

“Goddamn babe you’re tight” he said, looking at you in awe before adding another finger and leaning down to toy your clit with the tip of his tongue. His fingers were pumping in and out of you at a steady rhythm, and every so often he’d curl them to perfectly hit your g-spot.

“Jake you need to stop or else I’m gonna cum” you say as you pull his head back, looking him in the eyes.

“That’s okay” he reassures you.

“No, when I cum I want it to be around you” you say.

“Fucking hell y/n” he groans out in a raspy voice.

You get up and kiss him before pushing him down on the couch, his erection straining against the fabric of his boxers. You tug at the waistband, and he lifts his hips up to assist you. You took a moment to admire his length before wrapping your hand around it. He was a couple inches above average, with a nice girth to him. His head tipped back in bliss as you continued to give him a few more strokes before positioning yourself above him, running his tip back and forth across your slit. Slowly, you sank yourself down onto him, taking as much of him in as you could.

“Fuck fuck fuck Jake, you’re really fucking big” you breath out, only able to fit about half of him in you at this angle.

“Just do what you can baby” he says before softly pressing a kiss on your forehead, telling you that it was okay.

You started moving yourself up and down on him as best you could, starting to adjust more to his size. The stretch burned but slowly started turning more pleasurable.

After a few minutes your legs were starting to hurt and his length slipped out of you.

“Will you fuck me from behind?” you blurt out, sweat running between the valley of your breasts.

“I’d be honored” Jake responds, offering a smile before getting up.

He moves you so that your hands are on the back of the couch, holding you steady and your knees rest on the edge of the sofa, sticking your ass out towards Jake. You can hear him move behind you, hands finding their way to your ass, before you feel him run his tip up and down your slit once again.

“Ready?” he asks.

You nod in response and instantly feel him push his way into you, letting you adjust for a second before pushing the rest of his length in you.

“Oh my fucking god Jake” you say as you bury your head in the couch cushions, his dick hitting a spot in you that you didn’t even know was there.

“Oh god you’re doing so good baby girl, taking all of my cock.” he says as he begins to pump in and out of you, starting off slow but gradually picking up the pace.

It feels amazing, better than you had imagined. You wanted him to stay in you forever, make you see stars all the time. Within a minute you were contracting around him, nearing your edge.

“Jake I’m almost there, please faster”

“Me too baby, me too” he says as he starts thrusting even faster than before, wrapping his arm around you to toy with your clit.

All it takes is a few more pumps and you can feel him explode inside you, groaning your name loudly and leaning over your back, but still circling your clit with his fingers. It’s enough to bring you to your peak, walls contracting around him, burying your head in your arms. Once you’ve both come down you stay in that position for a minute, before he pulls out of you and collapses on the couch, pulling you into his chest.

“That was way better than I imagined” he breathes out, hand stroking your hair.

“Oh so you’ve thought about this before? That's embarrassing” you say in a sarcastic tone.

“Hey I’m sure you aren’t so innocent yourself” he says smiling down at you.

“We should probably get dressed, I’m sure your brothers and the other goons will be stumbling in anytime now.” you tell him as you get up and search for your clothes.

“You’re probably right. Hey, let's do this again sometime” he says, cheeks going red.

“Hmm...I’ll see if I can fit you into my schedule” you respond, giving him a quick wink.

These next few months surely were going to be an adventure, and you didn’t want to miss a second.

#jake kiszka #jake kiszka imagine #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka smut #josh kiszka #josh kiszka imagine #josh kiszka smut #josh kiszka fan fic #sam kiszka #sam kiszka smut #sam kiszka imagine #sam kiszka fanfic #Greta Van Fleet #gvf #greta van fleet imagine #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fic

[ddarker-dreams]

Yan Childe, Diluc, Kaeya, Zhongli, Beidou & Ningguang / Courting Darling.

Warnings: Stalking, implied blackmail, kidnapping, and gaslighting. Note: this is a bit of an amalgamation from different asks i’ve gotten, put into one thing bc i thirst for these six characters so hard .

Childe:

“What’s life without a little adventure? You can stand to miss work for a day or two, it’ll still be there waiting for you when we get back. People have even gone so far as to say I’m an absolute joy to be around. You want to know who said that? Sorry, that source is staying a secret.” 

Childe is an erratic whirlwind of highs and lows. You never know what to expect from him, and he likes it that way, always keeping you on your toes. He doesn’t bother with having his friendliness appear genuine. If you want to doubt his goodwill, then so be it, he won’t stop you. It just makes it all the more interesting to keep you around should you be wary of his presence. 

He doesn’t care for the traditional conventions surrounding romance. It isn’t his thing, and he’s used to being considered the odd one out of every crowd, so why stop now? Childe doesn’t tone down any aspects of his bloodthirsty personality in your presence. It’s difficult to tell how serious he’s being since most of it takes the form of jokes or other lighthearted jests. In his mind, the fact he’s even spending so much time with you should make it obvious he’s interested. Whether that’s good or not. 

You’re going to be dragged all over the place. Childe’s stamina is seemingly an infinite well, as he takes you from activity to activity. By the end of the day, you’ll be exhausted. Unfortunately, he doesn’t take no for an answer, weaseling his way into your schedule despite your protests. Childe is particularly fond of getting into situations where a fight is inevitable, purposefully taking you to areas with monsters to show off his combat prowess. 

“Did you get a look at that, [First]? Aha, I haven’t had this much fun in ages! You already want to head back? Hm, I don’t know, the night is still young. Stop dragging your feet or I might just have to carry you. Not that I’m complaining, should that be the outcome. It’s up to you. Oh! Now that’s the spirit! I’ll try not to be hurt by how fast you’re moving now.” 

Diluc: 

“Ah, [First], I take it you’re doing well. I couldn’t help but notice you eyeing this book at the market earlier. I’ve had a copy of it for ages, but with how busy things are, rarely do I have time to read. I’d be appreciative should you accept this and give it a better home.” 

Diluc is self-assured in many areas of his life, romance is not one of them. He knows how to carry himself in the company of businessmen, staying polite and vigilant, but this rigid method doesn’t work in his favor when it comes to wooing you. To soften the blow on his side, Diluc tells himself that it was never about a relationship anyway. That his main priority was and will always be to ensure your safety. He tells himself this, but... isn’t sure if he really believes it. 

He���s a perfect example of pining from afar. Subconsciously, he’ll drift towards areas you tend to linger around, hoping to spot you amidst the bustling crowds. Each time he tells himself that this’ll finally be the time he approaches you. The opportunity is set before him, waiting to be taken advantage of, but he rarely follows through with his desire. 

It frustrates Diluc to no end how easily others flock to you. He’ll stand there, still as a statue, eyes boring into whatever pest currently holds your attention. This would be the push to finally send him your way. It’s a surprise to you both when Mondstadt’s wine tycoon materializes by your side, politely asking to speak in private. Truth be told, he just can’t stand the thought of another person holding your attention that isn’t him. 

“I apologize for my abruptness back there. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about for some time, and well... would you consider having dinner with me tonight? I’d appreciate your company.” 

Kaeya:

“It’s a funny thing, really. How we keep bumping into one another like this. Ah... that suspicious expression, it wounds me deep, sweetheart. When did you start looking at me like that, I wonder?” 

There’s no doubting Kaeya’s interest in you, from the first time he sauntered over to you and started a conversation. The problem you have is deciding how genuine his advances are. While Kaeya might not be the textbook definition of a heart-wrenching playboy, you’re familiar enough with the many rumors surrounding him to be wary. It doesn’t help that he’ll point this out to you when guessing the source of your apprehension. 

His methods are, oddly enough, effective. Kaeya balances the various aspects of seduction with ease. He reveals just enough about himself to draw out your attention, before focusing the conversation back onto you. You’ll never get to stop and realize how little you know about the man sitting in front of you, he makes certain of that.

Kaeya might hide certain aspects of himself, but his dubious morality is never concealed. He has you entirely wrapped around his finger, words validating his actions falling from his lips with the utmost ease; he’s a force to be reckoned with. You’ll start a conversation heated about something you’ve learned, only for it to end wondering why you were ever upset in the first place.

“Now, now, there’s no need to get all riled up over something like this. Don’t you trust me by now? When have I ever given you reason to doubt me? You need to take a look at the bigger picture. Hey, take a seat. I’ll sit here all night explaining to you if it’s necessary.” 

→[More underneath the cut].

Zhongli: 

“There must be something that I can assist you with. It may not look it, but I’m familiar with many fields of work, even obscure ones. Please allow me to lend a hand.” 

Zhongli, despite having been around for many centuries, is somewhat clueless in romantic pursuits. He’s aware of his fondness for you, but doesn’t know what to do with it. This leads him to becoming your shadow for some time. He focuses on what he knows best: observation and processing new information. Your every little movement will be analyzed and tuck into the back of his mind for later usage. 

Zhongli’s soft over the idea of you coming to rely on him for everything. He prides himself on his wealth of knowledge and work ethic, believing it a strong appeal, one that he puts on full display when you’re around. It’s not rare for you to overhear neighbors and friends speak highly about Zhongli. They’ll mention in passing how they were having difficulty with something, only for Zhongli to come around and help without asking for anything in return. 

This is exactly what he’s been hoping and waiting for. Zhongli has patience and sets himself up to be a desirable partner in your eyes, the efforts from his labor coming into fruition. Before you even speak to him for the first time, you’re likely to think highly of him, having heard all the ways he’s helped people close to you. Now that the stage is properly set, he’s ready to make his interest in you more evident. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you, [First]. Oh? You can say the same for me? Well, I hope I can live up to your expectations. I had just been on my way to Yanshang Teahouse, would you care to join me? My treat, of course.” 

Beidou: 

“You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced a voyage with my crew and I. I’ll set up a nice cabin just for you, how does that sound? Hm? Special treatment? Don’t worry your pretty little head about that, lass.”  

Beidou’s attention is overwhelming and oftentimes dangerous. Traditional social conventions are nothing but a waste of time for her, meaning that common courtesy is disregarded in favor of always speaking her mind. Which might not be so bad if she wasn’t so amorous. Even the most oblivious person couldn’t miss Beidou’s overt favor towards you.

This reverent display of affection is only exacerbated when she’s drunk, face flushed and an arm swung tightly around your shoulder. She doesn’t care who sees, who’s judging, or what gossip will be born from her actions. Beidou makes a point of showing everyone in the vicinity that even if you aren’t officially partners yet, a claim has been staked on you. 

Whether it be coercion or some other unsightly method, Beidou is intent on bringing you on her ship at least once. Or that’s how she initially phrased it to you. Imagine your surprise, that when you finally caved so she’d drop the subject, her crew was untying the ropes keeping the boat at port. 

“The fun’s just getting started, you haven’t seen anything yet. Don’t get all teary-eyed yet, sweetheart, I know you’ll come around. This’ll be a story sung by sailors for generations to come.”

Ningguang:

“If I’m being honest, not many are given the opportunity to speak to me outside of business-related ventures. I never thought I’d find it this... pleasant. I hope you’ll continue to entertain me as you do now.” 

Ningguang starts off her wooing in a subtle, almost coquettish manner. She is confident in her charm and brilliance. Not many have been gifted in the art of conversation to the same extent Ningguang has, her silver tongue paired with quick intellect making it difficult for you to escape. She’ll corner you verbally without you even noticing it. 

Ningguang finds amusement in how you stumble over your words, pure of heart and not chained down by special interests. Your forthright but considerate demeanor intoxicates her. She’s used to people cowering in her presence or trying too hard to pursue their goals. You might even earn a rare compliment or two, disguised as politeness, that doesn’t register for hours. 

She is a lady of fine taste. The sky’s the limit when it comes to her wealth, which is unrivaled throughout Tevyat, and you’ll be quick to notice this. Ningguang is most partial to sending you traditional Liyue adornments, believing the rich culture behind each piece suits your beauty. She’s also fond of the fact that when you wear her gifts, everyone in the vicinity will know it’s from her, due to its extraordinarily high cost. 

“Do you like my latest gift, little dove? It was made custom with you in mind, an unrivaled display of craftmanship, if I may add. Wear this and carry me with you... always.” 

#childe x reader #childe #yandere childe x reader #tartaglia #yandere tartaglia x reader #tartaglia x reader #diluc #diluc x reader #yandere diluc x reader #diluc ragnvindr #kaeya #yandere kaeya #yandere kaeya x reader #kaeya x reader #zhongli #zhongli x reader #yandere zhongli #zhongli genshin impact #yandere zhongli x reader #beidou #beidou x reader #beidou genshin impact #ningguang #ningguang x reader #yandere ningguang #yandere #yandere x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #yandere genshin impact

[tommysparker]

Never Forget You [Chapter 1]

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Jedi!Reader

A/N: here’s the first official chapter! thank you so much for the support this series as already gotten. chapters will be posted every Saturday! enjoy :)

Warnings: angst. fluffy flashbacks. this isn’t even the worst of it mwhaha. paragraphed italics = flashback

                                            [10 YEARS LATER] 

The sky was as blue as his eyes. Not as dark and cloudy, but gave the same feeling of hope, peacefulness, and comfort. You could picture them vividly in your mind, even the small crinkle at the edges and the kindness they held, a warmness that matched your current aurora.  

The two of you sat in the gardens for what felt like hours, deep in meditation. Your force signatures quickly became entangled with one another, your bond radiating around you, creating almost a shield bubble between the rest of the world and the two who sat inside. 

Obi-Wan was the first to open his eyes, having never been one to sit still for long periods of time. He’s improved since he was a youngling, but still had a long way to go. 

You, on the other hand, looked completely invested in your meditation. Your face was relaxed, although every now and then your eyebrows would furrow as you tried to maintain concentration. It was hard when a certain other was very distracting, even if he wasn’t aware of it. 

“I can feel you staring,” you said, eyes still closed. Obi-Wan was thankful for that fact because it means you wouldn’t see him blush in embarrassment from getting caught. 

“I can feel you blushing, too.” This time, you opened your eyes and smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t last long.” Anytime the two of you tried to meditate together, it would always end with Obi-Wan getting bored and asking to duel instead. 

He quickly hid his face, pulling the hood of his robe over his head. “I’m not blushing, that’s childish.” 

You giggled, leaning forward to lift the front of his hood. “Obi-Wan, you are the most childish person I know.” 

The young man was about to protest before you hushed, eyes already closed once more as you returned to your deep state of awareness. 

You opened your eyes and sighed, long and deep. 

Standing up from the cold floor of your room, you looked out the window and gazed at the cloudy sky of Gyfill. The air felt chilly from the lack of life-forms in the area. After your first week on the planet, you decided it was a safer idea to seek shelter away from town. Considering your mission was to spy on the local Separatist groups, keeping a low profile was essential. 

Today was different, however. The same cold and dull atmosphere were present, but the future is what held the divergent. For today, was the day you were finally to return home. 

Home. The word itself felt familiar but distant. As a Jedi, you trained to hold little sentimental value. Attachments were forbidden, a path to the dark side. They provoked fear. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. 

Once your bag of belongings was packed, you made your way to the marked location someone from the Jedi council sent earlier that morning. Mentally, you were not prepared to see everyone again. After being isolated for years and having limited contact with any life form outside of business, the many faces from your time at the Temple became slightly blurry. Except for his. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi was on his way to the Archives when he bumped into Ahsoka Tano. 

“Oh, Master Kenobi! Perfect, I was about to go look for you.” 

“Ahsoka,” he smiled. “What can I do for you?” 

“Who’s Y/n Y/l/n?” 

Obi-Wan froze. The sound of that name echoed in his mind, paired with memories that he had locked away in the back of his mind. “Well...that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time,” was all he could manage to say, still trying to process all the past recollections that suddenly surfaced. 

“So, you know them?” 

“Uh, yes I suppose so. We were...close as younglings and trained together as Padawans. They were...the most skilled Jedi I ever had the pleasure of knowing, almost as good as Master Yoda.” 

“If they’re so great, how come I never heard of them before?” Ahsoka tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, resting a hand on her hip in classic ‘Ashoka manner’, 

“They were sent away on an important mission years ago as far as I know. Er, why do you ask? And how did you come to know of that name?” 

“Oh right. Anakin said the Chancellor told him that Master Y/l/n was returning today. He told me to ask you about it.” 

Once again, Obi-Wan’s world paused. 

He stood across from you, trying to maintain a neutral expression as he watched you load your bags onto the ship. However, you knew him better than that. 

You walked up to the young boy and he took in your appearance. Gone was the braid that draped over your shoulder. Gone were the long robes you liked to hide in, in their place was a heavy jacket that looked like it was built to keep out the cold. Perhaps you were going to Hoth? 

“Obi, you know I can’t tell you where I’m going. Master Windu was strict about his instructions,” You sighed, sensing your friend trying to deduce as much as he could. Your Master was very clear when he told you how classified the mission was. No one can know, especially Obi-Wan. 

“Can you at least say how long you’ll be gone?” He practically begged, wanting something, anything he could get to keep his hope alive. Hope that you'll return soon. Hope that you weren’t truly leaving him. 

You looked away, staring at the towers and passing hover-vehicles that littered the planet you’ve grown up on. “I don’t know.” 

Everything had happened so suddenly. You were called into the council room that day to hear the news every Padawan dreams of. When Master Windu said you were ready for the trials, the first thing you went to do was tell Obi-Wan. The two of you celebrated that night in the gardens, a moment you would treasure for the rest of your life. Soon after you gained the title of Jedi Knight, you were once again called into the Jedi Council room to be debriefed on your first mission as a proper Jedi. You didn’t want to mess this up. You couldn’t. 

Obi-Wan resists the urge to pull you into a hug and never let you go, instead opting to hold your shoulders and give you his signature charming smile. “Be safe, darling.” 

You smiled, but it didn’t reach your eyes. You held his wrist, bringing his knuckles to your lips and pressed a hesitant kiss to them before pushing them to his side. “May the force be with you.” 

There was no pet name at the end, no ‘my friend’ or even his own name. It was a sentence that was meant to bring comfort, but the way you phrased it, the edge in your voice, made Obi-Wan feel everything but comforted. 

He didn’t get the luxury of responding, for all he did was blink and suddenly you were on the ship, taking off into the clear blue sky. 

You gazed at the clouds passing by as the ship flew into Coruscant’s atmosphere. The bright light and sunny day was a harsh change from the grey sky that fell over Gyfill. The energy emitting off of all the life-forms gave you a headache. You felt the Force all around you, swirling in the air and penetrating your soul. It was like a breath of fresh air after drowning for over a decade. 

You flinched at the light as the door opened, suddenly feeling like a hermit crawling out of its shell. Slowly walking out of the ship, you pulled the cloak hood over your head, inhaling the strange but familiar scent of the Jedi Temple. You were still wearing your Gyfill civilian attire, the wool fabric made the Coruscant heat much more intense causing a few beads of sweat to form on your forehead. Or was it just the nerves of seeing all the people you left behind? 

Master Windu stood at the end of the drop door, a smile on his face at the sight of his former Padawan. It was an occasion that called for a little joy, a moment to celebrate outside the war that raged through the galaxy. 

You descended down the ramp, taking in a sharp breath at the feeling of another force sensitive. “Master Windu”. You bowed your head and he did the same to you. 

“Master Y/l/n, it’s great to see you in person rather than as a hologram.” 

You both chuckled lightly. “The feeling is mutual, Master. It’s...it’s good to be back.” Your eyes wandered over the people that roamed about. Jedi Masters walked with their Padawans at their side. Distant memories resonated within you. Some time ago that was once you and your Master, the man who stands before you know who has grown significantly older. Then again, so have I, you thought to yourself. 

Unbeknownst to you, you weren’t the only one registering your growth. Obi-Wan stood behind a pillar, glancing over the hanger in search of a familiar face. He was aware it would not be the same face he knew as a young boy, but he certainly was not prepared for what he saw. 

You look older, which was the obvious and expected observation. He noted how you wrapped yourself in your cloak, similar to how you would in your youth. You stood tall in front of Master Windu, another trait you had kept since your days as a Padawan. He remembered how you would always act mature in the presence of Masters, something he never really understood until becoming a Jedi Knight. The need for approval by the superiors was a constant.

It wasn’t just your appearance that had changed either. He could feel it in the Force. There was a shift in it when you had landed that made an excited yet nervous chill run down his spine. You were stronger and held more control in your signature. 

Before, he remembers being able to feel it from across the Temple. Now, it was barely there. He remembers feeling your bond drift farther as he watched you leave, and how it had dimmed over the years you were gone. He remembers the pain that tortured him every night as he laid awake in bed, trying to reach out across the stars but only being met with the vast emptiness of space. There was something in him that broke the first time he slept without having a tendril of your force signature connected with his. He felt cold, resorting to sleeping in his Master’s quarters in an attempt to ease the loneliness. 

Overall, it would appear that nothing about you had changed, and yet it seemed everything was different. Almost everything. 

His eyes were just as blue as the last time you saw them. They looked tired, haunted by the ongoing war but still filled with determination. Classic Obi-Wan. 

You quickly broke eye contact the moment it was made, but that one second was more than enough for Obi-Wan to get lost in the familiar colour. His favourite colour in fact, not that he would ever admit you had any part in the decision. 

“Master Obi-Wan?” 

He jumped at the sound of a voice and suddenly became aware of the presence right next to him, that presence belonging to none other than Master Yoda. 

“Master Yoda! I er I was just...uh...looking...for Anakin! Yes, uh have you seen him around by any chance?” Obi-Wan quickly tried to cover his stutter, feeling embarrassed about getting caught gazing from afar. Not that Master Yoda would know he was looking at you...right?

“I see,” the little green creature smirked in amusement. “Whatever it is, wait it can. Council meeting about to begin there is.” 

Obi-Wan furrowed his eyes. Typically he was able to keep a good track of the meetings, but this was news to him. “What’s it about?” 

“Master Y/l/n.”  

“Hmm?” You hummed absentmindedly.  

“Are you listening?” Master Windu raised an eyebrow.

“Oh uh, my apologies Master. I’m just...readjusting.” You tried to focus your attention on what Master Windu was saying, but the recognition of his presence made it difficult. For years, you tried to forget about him. You ignored the empty feeling in your stomach at night, the thoughts and memories that plagued your dreams. After some time, they eventually began to fade but never forgotten. It was for the best. 

Master Windu crossed his arms. “There will be plenty of time for that after your debrief of the mission. Master Yoda and the rest of the council await.”

Oh, Force, not the council. 

You would never dare to admit or even show it, but the council and being in the council room had always intimidated you. How could it not? You had to stand in the center of all the best Jedi of that era while they stare at you, judging you, sitting high and mighty in those stupid chairs.  

“This way, my old Padawan.” 

You followed Master Windu through the large halls of the Jedi Temple. You masked the nervousness that was no doubt radiating from your force signature. A multitude of thoughts ran through your mind, good and bad. Worst case scenario, you had done something so wrong that you were about to be kicked out of the Jedi Order. Nothing came to mind when you tried to think of any offence you had committed in the recent weeks since you earned the title of Jedi Knight. 

You were pulled out of your thoughts by the sound of the large council room doors opening, the creaking of the hinges made you cringe slightly.  

The room was ominously lit, the only light source being the setting sun shining through the glass windowed walls. Master Yoda sat in his seat. All the other chairs were empty. 

Master Windu took his seat as you stood before the two of them. He could see the questions rise from your confused facial expression. “Everything we discuss in this room stays between us, young Jedi.” 

You nodded, inhaling and exhaling slowly in an attempt to calm yourself. “Master Windu, Master Yoda. What is this about? Have I done something wrong?” 

The two men looked at each other and shared an unreadable expression before turning back to you. Master Yoda was the first to speak. “Sending you on a mission we are. To Gyfill you will go.” 

Whatever anxieties that you held before were washed away with this information. You contain your excitement, but the sudden mood shift was still noticeable. “Who am I going with? When do we leave? What’s the mission for?” It was rare that a Jedi would be sent on a mission alone, typically you were partnered up for safety measures. Obi-Wan’s face flashed in your mind, and although it was unlikely, a small part of you hoped he would be going with you. 

“This mission only requires one Jedi. There’s a Separaist organization on the planet and we’re sending you to gain intel and report back to us. No one outside of this room can be aware of this information. You leave within the week. Understood?” 

You frowned, “Forgive me Master, but why can’t anyone know?” The idea of having to leave your home seemingly without a trace made you iffy. Obi-Wan once again appeared in your mind. 

Master Windu and Yoda exchanged a look before Windu responded almost hesitantly. “We have reason to believe someone in the Order is a traitor, and the number of people who are trustworthy is very limited.” 

“You mean someone has betrayed us?” You asked in shock. How could anyone do such a thing? And a Jedi nonetheless. 

“Time to answer your questions, there will be, young one. Prepare for your first mission now, you must.” Master Yoda said. “Prepare to say goodbye you should.” 

It was as IF he could read your mind, which he probably could. You dreaded the idea of saying goodbye, especially when it was clear that there was no guarantee of your return date. How would you explain to your friends that you won’t be around anymore? What will Obi-Wan think? 

“That is another subject that needs to be discussed.” 

————————————————————————————

what else needs to be discussed? who’s the traitor? how will obi-wan and y/n get on after all this time? lemme know what you think!!

taglist: @queenariesofnarnia @dwarfplanet69 @katsukink @blondekel77 @generousrunawaydonut @fandomtrashwhore @fortheloveofaqueenfan @mrskenobi19 @mellowstatesmanhandsempath @hotleaf-juice

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[angeli-marco-writes]

Tom Hiddleston - Enticing and Intriguing

A/N & WC - I got this idea one day in the summer, and wrote it down in my notes to come back and write it properly later. It evolved a lot and was super fun to write, albeit possibly the most self indulgent thing I’ve ever written. It’s essentially just Tom and the reader talking, how I imagine he’d be in casual, lengthy conversation. I do not know Tom, nor do I claim to. I also do not know his family or his personal life and therefore all mentions of them and information given in this fic is fictional. 6k.

Warnings - swearing, talk of smoking, alcohol & drinking (reader doesn't drink), mentions of bullying and fame and oppressive fans, talk of private education, bullying and divorce.

Summary - After bumping into Tom Hiddleston on the street, you’re surprised when he takes you for a drink, and he’s surprised by everything about you.

My limbs ache as I pull them behind me, trudging my way around the unfamiliar streets of London. I knew I should’ve kept more on top of training off-season: 5 days a week wasn’t enough, and now I’m back every day for prelims and fittings, I’m suffering. Well, my quads are.

Dwelling over this with hunched shoulders and a scowl is the only way I make it through the unwelcoming parade of bodies that greet me in Knightsbridge as I pass through back to my hotel since my rental isn’t open until my return in a fortnight. However, my aches are the exact reason I brood so much that I miss where I’m going, and don’t see the uneven paving.

Thank heavens for good balance. I’ve learnt how to save myself after falling on my arse one too many times, and with the ever brittle welcome of London, the last thing I expect this time is to be saved. Of course I managed it myself, my lack of foot catching my weight before calamity could occur, but there’s a hand on my arm, big and warm and welcoming, and a deep part of me within never wants for it to leave. Is this what security feels like?

I glance up first, realising I’m under the canopy lip of an independent shop that seems to be making a banging buck. I hadn’t realised I’d tracked so far to the right of the pavement. It appears, though, that the person whose hand is currently wrapped snugly around my covered forearm was exiting the shop, and I fell right into their path, possibly even tripped them up. Shit.

I glance up at this person, and not a second too soon or else it would’ve become awkward, but now it seems worse than before. Jesus Christ, have I died and ascended to some realm where Greek Gods walk around with thousand-watt smiles? Is this an everyday thing? My heart stutters, and my mind even begins to lag. It’s more than possible that I’ve never been this startled, but it can’t be much longer than a moment for me to compute who the man standing before me in all his glory is.

He smiles sympathetically, his head tilted ever so softly to the side, a dimple in his right cheek as he asks, his voice low and endearing, “Are you okay?”

I blink: once, twice. God, I must seem a right numpty.

“Tom Hiddleston,” I—very quietly, I might add—choke out through a dry mouth, “you're Tom Hiddleston.”

The world around me stops turning, and right now, in my mind at least, it’s just the two of us on the pavement with no disgruntled shoppers anywhere around us, no traffic, just this moment. His eyes, god his eyes, they’re literally sparkling, and my belly does flips as I begin to melt into a puddle on the floor as soon as he opens his mouth to laugh. The signature sound that can only be associated with him and his bottom lip. I knew he was attractive, but in person? Christ.

Then I remember where we are, what we’re doing, and the fact that his hand is still on my arm. I tug away gently, and school my features into a smile of nonchalance. Poor man must hate being gawked at like a goldfish.

“I won’t tell anyone, I won’t make a sound. I understand you don’t want people to know.”

And there he goes again. How does anyone keep their composure around such a sound? He clasps his hands in front of him, and bows his head, wispy auburn curls becoming more apparent as he does so.

“Would you like a photograph? An autograph?” he offers, now gesticulating with his long fingers and open, pale, soft palms.

“A drink,” I say, a hint of jest in my words, “non-alcoholic, of course.”

And then he does the very last thing I expect him to do in this situation, and cocks his head to the left, his expressive eyebrows dancing over the lines in his forehead.

“You don’t drink?” inquires he, his tone full of inquisition.

I understand why, I get it a lot. Everyone expects people my age to be out on the piss but, well, I have restrictions others don’t. But instead of answering him, I flip his words back on him with a statement of defiance, arching one brow as I angle my one hip having righted my footing on the pavement once again.

“You do.”

This time when he laughs, it’s a full belly sound as he clasps one ring-less hand over his chest and lets his head fall back, revealing the pale column of his throat, bare.

“Only a little. Why don’t you drink?”

I know he should be special, he should be different, but I know from experience that they’re not, and they just want to be treated normally. I would, I do. So I give him the same answer as I give everyone else.

“Why do you drink?”

He does it again, this time rolling his cerulean eyes a little.

“God, you’re a right feisty one aren’t you? Fair enough, full credit.” I feel a swell of pride in my chest that dissipates the second he turns on his heel. Oh well, I can get back to my hotel and out of this city. “Where would you like to go?”

This, once again, I wasn’t expecting. Why is he waiting for me, glancing over his broad shoulder with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes? “I was… joking. You’re too busy and famous to go out for a drink with me. And besides, aren’t you married?”

He puts his head in his hands, and I know there’s another point on the tally to me. I really should stop being so straight talking, that I should implement a filter to stop from saying every single thing that comes to my mind. “Not those rumours. They’ve been going on for two years!”

I shrug with one shoulder, and tug my bag up onto the other, “I know.”

“And no, I’m definitely not too busy or too famous. And besides you’ve piqued my interest with your indelible answers to everything. Where would you like to go?”

Well, if he’s willing to take me out for a drink, who am I to complain or argue? This time when I shrug and shuffle my feet on the concrete, it’s for a whole nother reason. “I’m not local. You tell me. Somewhere with good mocktails.”

He inclines his head towards me, smiling almost hopefully, “You’ve got it.”

Before I can take a step, his left hand is jutted out, fingers slightly spread. His Cartier watch glitters on his strong wrist. I don’t quite know what he expects me to do. Well, I do: it’s not rocket science. But…

I only clasp my palm around his, mine clammy—a fact that stresses me, once he nods and gestures with his other hand for me to take it. It’s safe to say I’m more than a little sceptical, but that… melts away once his fingertips, slightly rough, dig into the back of my hand.

I’m lucky I’m so agile, too, since the second we’re joined, he’s carting me off and walking with relative haste through the streets of London—the borough of Belgravia I think—with his long legs leading the way. He winks with somewhat admiration when he realises I’m keeping up with his gait, and only stops once we reach a relatively inconspicuous side street, secluded by towering old white buildings, protected by a tall wrought iron gate. He glances protectively around before disappearing inside with me right behind him.

“Kidnapping me, are we?” I ask jovially, a smirk toying on my own lips as I look him up and down. He should wear these trousers more, they cling to his ass and thighs perfectly.

“Absolutely not, but I like this bar. I promise it’s open.”

He gestures for me to enter, which I do, deciding to trust him, and I’m very glad I do. The bar is… stunning inside, all sleek black countertops, high white leather stools, plants everywhere on small shelves, winding aesthetically down the walls with assorted colours of flowers on the leaves to brighten the place up. Over in one corner is a stake, again black, with a music stand on it. Surrounding it is what appears to be a dance floor, apparently an evening thing. This whole bar seems more angled towards evenings since the tables are all empty, but the bartender seems more than happy to see us both.

“Good afternoon!” they crow upon seeing the two of us sidle up into adjacent stools at the bar. “What can I get you?”

“Two of your finest mocktails, please, good Sir,” Tom says, but upon reading the bartender’s name tag (Cam. they/them.) he clears his throat, “I apologise. Is Mx. better?”

They chuckle, “I really don’t mind, but thank you. Two mocktails coming up.”

With a nod, they disappear.

“So…” he hums, tapping his credit card on the table, “you seem to know a lot about me.”

“Oh yeah,” I say, “I know all about the Hiddlestoners and their Hiddle-boners.”

I’ve seen it. I can now die happy and officially say I’ve seen Tom Hiddleston glow as crimson as a damn radioactive tomato. How does he look hot even when he’s blushing? This isn’t fair. The apples of his cheeks cloud with colour and heat, a nervous smile breaking out over his mouth. Even the tips of his unblemished ears have changed colour, and yet he’s still maintaining his composure.

“Please don’t tell me you’re one of them.”

I sputter, choking on my own breath momentarily, “God no. Obviously I’m a fan, I admire your work, but no. I’m not into telling you you’re the reason I became a stripper.” My eyes widen, and realising the possible connotations, I hasten to add, “Which I’m not, by the way.”

His head is resting against his jumper-clad arms on the bar top now. Not that I blame him. I actually sympathise a lot. “Thank God. I mean so many of them are benign, but...”

“There’s always a few. Trust me, I know,” I say quietly.

The beat of silence while we listen to the bartender shaking some ice isn’t tense or awkward, but gives Tom time to fan his cheeks down to their normal temperature. “What do you do?”

“Oh, I just... do,” I tell him, and avert my gaze to one of the azalea plants. Not now. “I teach.” Not even a lie.

“Oh wow! You know what, I think I’d love to teach.”

“Not as rewarding as you think it is, believe me,” I quip, and smile in return for his grin.

“Why are you in London?”

“A work, um, thing.”

His smile falters, flickers and dims to a half smile, acknowledging my obvious evasiveness. “That’s nice.”

Fortunately, our drinks arrive at this precise moment as Tom hands over his card and asks the bartender (very politely) to create a tab for him.

“Two strawberry orange ginger fizzes for you,” they tell us with a half wink, dropping a straw into both mason glasses, “enjoy.”

“Thank you,” both Tom and I call at the same time.

Our eyes meet, and an unspoken thing passes between us as we take our straws in our mouths at the same time, and drink.

“Oh my God that’s incredible,” he says, “I don’t even miss the whiskey!”

I chuckle, “It’s gorgeous, I must say. Thank you.”

“Well,” he clears his throat, his eyes darkening a fraction, “can I ask you something?”

“That depends on what it is.”

His deep breath lifts his chest up, and in the neck of his shirt I spy groomed auburn hair littering his chest.

“Why don’t you drink?” he asks. “Seriously, this time. Obviously you don’t have to answer, b—”

“Because I never want to lose control of myself,” I tell him, my gaze downcast, with no room for argument. “I’ve been there before—not through the influence of alcohol—and it was horrible enough for me to never want to go there again. Not drinking just helps me keep my bearings, y’know?” He nods solemnly, hands folded in his lap almost reverently. It’s also for work, as well, but that’s a whole other matter. “Why do you drink?”

“To forget how famous I am. Which usually makes me more famous because someone will record me drunk and post it everywhere, scrutinising me further. Drunk, I’ve made some of the worst mistakes of my life, as you’ll know with the whole, um, yeah… But I still drink sometimes, just to take the edge off.”

I take this as my cue to pull out a packet of cigarettes from my jacket pocket, laying them on the bar between the two of us. “Tou-fucking-ché.”

And he just looks at them, his eyes flickering between me and the cigarettes. I can’t make out whatever is etched upon his handsome features, whether he’s disgusted or sympathetic, until he says, almost with a hint of relief in a brief crack in his deep voice, “It took me years to quit, I swear to god.”

I shrug with full understanding. Perhaps we have more in common than one would originally assume. “Everybody’s got something that’ll kill them. For some it’s drugs, for some it’s drink, for me it’s this.”

An amiable silence pitters between us as we drink a little more, our bar stools shuffling closer, almost subconsciously. We both pretend not to notice.

“You don’t look old enough to buy cigarettes,” he says.

“Yeah?” I challenge, smirking. “Then why did you take me for a drink?”

“Because you’re mature enough to be over eighteen. You just look young, and for that you should be grateful.”

I shrug with an air of ease, ignoring the glee swelling in my bosom. “It’s part of the job description. I can assure you I’m a complete adult. I have a degree and I pay taxes and everything.”

He tilts his head, smiling, “Very mature of you.”

“So… why did you ask me out?”

“If memory serves, you asked me out.” His voice is so low, so deep that vibrations ripple through my entire being and right to my core at his words, the mischief dancing in his crystal blue eyes, his mussed auburn locks, his giant hands splayed on the bar to fill the small space between us. Why am I even asking? I’m so grateful for the opportunity that it doesn’t even matter. But his answer prickles my skin with goose-bumps, anticipation fluttering through my veins. What else can he say in that deliciously low voice?

I won’t let his gorgeous masculinity win me over, though, so resume my façade of calm, and roll my eyes, drawing my lower lip between my teeth in what I hope is a seductive manner, sighing slightly.

“You know what I mean.”

He chuckles lowly to himself, spinning his half-empty glass around, watching beads of condensation drop onto the bar. “I told you, you intrigue me. Most other, and please forgive me for using this term, ‘fans’ would scream and be disrespectful, asking for pictures or autographs, or making unwanted advances and telling me graphic secrets I needn’t know.”

Sympathetically, I smile, proffering my hand, which he doesn’t flinch at when it’s laid atop his, feeling the warmth and energy crackle between us. “I’ve heard… and seen the videos. I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

“Unfortunately it’s par for the course. You were kind, respectful, not demanding whatsoever. I knew you were joking and would have been more than happy to walk away and pretend you didn’t even see me coming out of that shop, and that’s exactly what drew me to you. Even other, and once again I beg your pardon, celebrities can get a little obsessive about it, trying to hang out and be friendly. You’re… chill. I like your vibe.”

I desperately don’t want to ruin this moment, the butterflies in my stomach and the pattering in my heart, the twitch of his fingers as he tries to subtly reach for me, the honesty in his eyes… but my mouth wins over my mind once again.

“I apologise, but how old are your nieces and nephews?” I ask hurriedly, my words too fast for full recognition.

He pulls that cute face of confusion, the lines in his forehead creasing, “The oldest is eight, why?”

“It’s not them, then,” I respond, and sip from my straw. “You’ve just been spending too long online to be using words like ‘vibe’ and ‘chill.’”

“Hey!” He protests, laughing, almost guffawing. “I’m cool! I’m down with the kids!” I desperately try to suppress my laughter with pursed lips, but I don’t manage it, and a moment later dissolve into my own fit of giggles, my head in my hands as my chest heaves. I’m in absolute stitches when he winces. “Nope, I hear it. Let’s pretend that didn’t happen.”

As I’m coming down, I wink at him, and whisper, “Whatever you say, Mr H.”

He stops dead. Silence falls, and he’s so deathly still that I doubt he’s even breathing. The muscles in his hand are tight, fingers clenched around his glass, his eyes squeezed shut with an air of forced serenity. When he speaks, his voice is a deadly low whisper. “Say that again.”

Holy. Shit. What have I done? His eyes flutter open, pupils dilated, navy flecks around the edge of his baby blues. His words are so gruff I feel my knees tremble, my belly flipping. My intentions were innocent, but this? This side of him is one I’m all too glad to have revealed.

But I won’t let him win too easily, so I draw some drink up my straw, cock my head, and flutter my lashes. “Say what, Mr H?”

“I swear to God…”

His eyes close again, a muscle in his ridiculously defined jaw twitching, his spare fist clenching on his thigh. I ignore him, slurping more of my drink until there's only ice left in the bottom of my glass, and changing the subject.

“So, back to what you were saying before. I’m really sorry you have to go through that shit, honestly. That’s why I didn’t want to be like them. You deserve peace and privacy. Thank you for buying me a drink, it’s been really nice chatting to you, truly.”

With this final kind bid, I smile sweetly, and stand in departure before I royally fuck this up. He looks past me, not at me, and has to shake cobwebs from his brain almost once he realises I’m reaching for the door.

I hear him jump up, feel his lithe fingers wrap around my wrist.

“You think we’re done here?” he demands, his accent astounding.

This is… genuinely confusing. My brows furrow, my shoes scuffing on the parquet floor, “Well… yes. You can get back to your shit superstardom life, I can get back to my hotel.”

His face falls, and sullenly he asks, “You’re really leaving? I’d love to buy you another drink, go for a walk, maybe…”

“Are you doing this out of pity, guilt or pure kindness?” Shit. I didn’t mean to say that… it just sort of came out… He takes it on the chin, I’m glad to see, releasing a long held breath.

“I’d like to say the latter, since I have no reason to pity you, nor any reason to feel guilty. I just like spending time with you.”

“Okay,” I say, barely even having to think about it before my mind is made up. I smile, and he beckons the bartender over, ordering two more drinks. “Go for it.”

———

I’ve lost track of how long we’ve been here, and we seem to have had a few more drinks since my almost departure. Tom’s switched to alcoholic mixes, but I don’t mind. He seems to be easing up around me, his jumper sleeves pushed up to his elbows, his lean forearms on show and tying my tummy in knots.

Two bourbons in, Tom’s tongue is loosening up.

“Why do you call me Mr H?” he asks, his voice low, emphasis and growl on the ‘mister.’

“Well,” I start, tapping my nails against my glass, “because you haven’t given me explicit permission to call you Tom, nor do I feel like saying bloody ‘Hiddleston’ ten times in a conversation. It’s respect as well as convenience, especially because you’re older than me, and everyone older than me has always been sir, ma’am, uncle or aunty. And since you’re not a friend of my parents, the latter doesn’t seem appropriate.” I gulp some of my drink down, tilt my head to the side, and recommence. “Besides, I’m an adult, but as you’re older than me and an authority figure, it’s only respectful. Manners never fail.”

He breathes deeply through his nose, his eyes flitting over my features. “That’s a… detailed analysis. You know how old I am, then?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, you don’t look a day over forty.”

I reach over to lay a hand on his arm, his hair bristling beneath my fingertips. He elbows me lightly when I wink teasingly.

“Cheeky sod, you.”

“My apologies Mr H.”

He snaps his glass down with a brief thud, his face contorting briefly into surprise. “You can call me Tom, honestly. And I feel like a complete prat because I haven’t asked your name.”

I hadn’t realised, but he hasn’t. I don’t mind. “Y/n y/l/n.”

“Well then, Ms y/l/n, ask me owt.”

I giggle, my brows shooting up my forehead as I push my glass away across the sleek bar top. More people are here now, so I quieten myself consciously. “God you’re drunk if you’re talking like a northerner.”

“Aye like me Scotsman pa, Bonny lass,” he accentuates.

The both of us dissolve into a laughter that ends up with our hands loosely linked atop the bar. I attempt to hide my flusteredness by fanning my free hand over my burning cheeks. Tom doesn’t seem to notice, running a hand through his tousled auburn curls. I contemplate what to ask before the perfect question pops to my head: two birds with one stone. Personal yet not prying, and with enough of a personal gain for me that it’s a win-win.

“What was Eton like? I’m thinking of sending my Oaklee there.”

First his eyes bulge, then his cheeks, and he sputters on his drink, coughing. I have to pat him on the back to clear his throat, his strong, defined, muscular back… “You have a son of the age to go to secondary school?!”

Shit. “Oh my God, NO!” I correct myself quickly, squeezing my fingers around his, rising goose-bumps on his exposed flesh. “My nephew, Oaklee. I pay his school fees because my brother can’t afford them but wants him through private ed, perhaps boarding, since the schools in his area are so bad.”

He nods as though in understanding, though I know that’s borderline impossible, but he also visibly relaxes, the rigid line of his shoulders sinking, his spine curving from being ram-rod straight.

“That’s nice, and generous. School fees are no joke.”

“They’re certainly not.”

“But don’t send him to Eton. Or Harrow, or Cheltenham, or any all-boys boarding school. It’s hell. I hated almost every minute.” The sheer venom that laces his words as he spits them out like they’re poison has the hair on the back of my neck rising. I rub my thumb over the pack of his hand in hopes of offering him some consolation: he smiles. “My friends made it slightly better, but I think my parents divorce worsened things, and if, um, divorce is the case with your brother… Well, I—I’m not sure if the boys are the same now, but they still wouldn’t take kindly. E—even my youngest nephew is at Dragon now and one of the kids was torn to shreds for having separated parents: it’s what Tories are like.” I have to suppress a laugh at this, at the sheer deprecative truth of it. “It still wasn’t hugely acknowledged in my family circles even in 1995, and most of the students, um, had together parents who were having affairs, but they were together, y’know?” I smile sadly at his passion, at his anger. “And if it’s not daddy paying for private education, they’re automatically an outcast. And I was away from my sisters—one was sent to Cheltenham, but the other was by me in Wycombe Abbey—so if you have nieces as well it’ll be hard on them…” I think of Odette, but say nothing as he picks back up, his deep voice breaking. “I was bullied relentlessly for ten years. The nicknames, the beatings, fuck. I wasn’t always like, y’know… this. I was just some dweeby kid who nearly failed maths.”

I’m silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. I never meant for all of this, perhaps an anecdote and him telling me not to feed into capitalism by paying for private education. Then I clear my throat, and sneak an arm around his body, half hugging him.

“You’re gonna fucking hate me now, but I meant more about the school in itself. And of course I’m really sorry to hear that, about everything, but it’s good to know. Oaklee nor Odette will be going to boarding schools,” I say, adding a half smile for good measure.

Thankfully, it’s contagious, and he starts to laugh despite the tear falling from his eye, catching on his long, dark lashes.

“I’m sorry, I tend to ramble.”

“Don’t apologise,” I tell him, “it’s endearing. And I do care about what you have to say.”

“Thank you. What about your school, though? You’re, what, no more than ten years out of sixth form?”

“Yeah… school was still shit in the two-thousands as it was in the nineties, believe you me.”

He pushes his glass across the bar, and slides his seat closer to mine. “I don’t doubt you for a minute.”

“But my school experience… wasn’t exactly normal,” I confess. “I was heavily involved in an outside-school activity that consumed all my time and energy. I’m not sorry for it, it’s why I’m so successful in my field today, but my school life was weird, just not in the same way as yours.”

“My one sister's school life was weird. She was so involved in singing, choirs and diplomas and concerts up and down the country. I imagine yours was a little like that?”

“Yep,” I say evasively, and try not to meet his gaze until I’ve fished a menu out from behind the bar. “Care for a bite?”

———

The evening has passed us by without us realising, nibbling on just about every side on the menu to keep our peckishness at bay. The tables have been filled with customers in their cocktail get-up, implying that this bar is a little posher than my casual getup from errands earlier on, but nobody seems to be paying any mind to me, nor to Tom, in fact. A small Latin band is perched on the stage in the corner, plucking and strumming and playing their tunes. The rhythms work their way into my bones, and I find myself tapping my feet before I can help it.

“What are you doing?” Tom asks.

“What?” I reply, a smile still etched upon my face from the laughter he caused just minutes ago.

“That tappy feet thing!”

He points, and I find myself laughing a little, a gruff undertone to my laughter that he’s closed his eyes when hearing for the past four hours.

“I love your voice,” he tells me earnestly, squeezing his fingers around mine. “That… gruffness. From the smoking. Which obviously you know.” I find my chest rising and falling as I laugh silently at his gesticulations. “It suits you, gives you some edge. God, I could listen all day.”

My brows raise of their own volition, “Thank you?”

He drains the last of his drink from his glass, and I follow suit when not a moment later he’s preparing to stand up, a slight tug on my arm. He runs one skilled hand through his auburn curls.

“Do you dance?” he asks me.

That’s not where I saw tonight going whatsoever. Why does it always go this way? Why is it never ‘do you sing?’ to which I can honestly answer ‘no’. I settle for what I can, “Not if I can help it.”

“Come onnnn,” he begs, his grip tightening and his voice whining. He’s standing up now, all six-foot-three of him, and damn it if he doesn’t look endearing and convincing. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Well… I suppose it can’t hurt to give it a shot. I let him walk me to the dance floor, having treaded carefully around the tables and peoples feet, where only one couple is dancing to the beat, or rather swaying. Tom attempts to spin me—poorly, I might add—out and back in, keeping a loose grip on my fingers. I take control, turning with elegance, drawing my feet together, only to step back out and fall back to him with ease. His right arm settles on the side of my ribs, his left awaiting mine. I indulge him with a wink, but cast a glance over my shoulder, catching the eye of the band leader. I gesture for them to increase the speed, batting my lashes to get my way, and thankfully, they oblige, picking up the salsa rhythm to around one-fifteen.

“Do you know how to salsa?” I purr in Tom’s ear, my nails scratching lightly over his shoulder.

“I know enough,” he answers, smirking, “why?”

I shake my head and avert my eyes in what I hope is an enticing manner. “Follow my lead.”

He’s certainly not complaining. I feel the shiver ripple down his spine, sense his heartbeat increasing. I think before he can quite process it, we’re gliding around the floor, or rather I’m leading him around the dance floor with swaying hips and twists and kicks.

He holds me tight as I walk him through some of the more basic salsa steps: the enchufla, the croqueta complicada, more names, even adding in a 70 en la salsa, which he miraculously seems to know. I’ve seen him dance online, I’ve seen the way those hips can move, and I’m certainly not disappointed when it comes to the real life thing as we dance the basic Cuban salsa step and the dile que no all around the small dance floor, my own hips swaying and rotating in tandem with his, our bodies so flush against one another that I can feel everything.

“You’re good at this.”

“I know.”

I grind my hips into him, and he reacts, his heaving chest pressed to my back as his body rolls as though it’s the most natural thing for him: I repeat the action before linking our hands together, plucking his bruising grip from my waist to tangle our arms in a twist that slips away as I drop into the splits. Every finely tuned and perfected (on my part) move is improvised, intuitive, our bodies playing off one another and moving as the music and mood take us. We make big arms when dancing simple three-step moves to give it more of a flourish, and he just watches as I focus my movements on my hips, twisting them enticingly the way I’ve been trained to as Latin-style national champion dancer.

I’m well practised in all elements of Latin dance, but Tom seems to have some idea what he’s doing, judging by the controlled flicks he makes with his toes, the little jumps, the skilled thrusts of his hips. He likes turning me, spinning me, and doing the complex twisted arm moves, which is good, since I like them too, and I’m pleased with his instigation of such things despite the mild dizziness it causes. And that’s even before the corkscrew turns.

“You ready?” he asks breathlessly, his blue eyes alight with unadulterated glee and pure excitement.

I wink at him, taking his hand as I hook my left leg over my right in preparation. “I was born ready.”

That’s when I drop, and his hand is the only thing to keep me grounded as I spin and spin and spin crouched on the ground, hiking me up for the seventh and eighth turns, only to catch my bent and raised leg in his warm, calloused palm, keeping his grip solid as he tips me back. He searches my face for permission, granted in the subtlest nod of my head.

His hold shifts around my thigh, holding me close while loose enough that I can throw one leg around his neck, and spin around upside down, landing upright. With a hand on either hip, Tom pulls me flush against him, chest to chest, and lifts me in the air. A giggle bursts from me before I can help it, and I hold my head high while he turns in a circle with me held high above him. His biceps bulge in his jumper, his pale cheeks flushed, the veins in his forearms prominent enough to have my heart fluttering and my mouth watering. He puts me down all too soon: I liked the view.

At the big finish, he turns me once in his arms, and drops me—cautiously, stylishly—over his arm, my head tossed back and his mouth open in a wide smile.

I’m barely breaking a sweat once I’m done, but Tom’s huffing and puffing, hunched over as he flicks sweat away from his furrowed brow.

“You can dance,” he states, plain as day, “you can dance.”

“That I can.”

He’s awestruck, blushing against the applause we receive from the guests, something I take on in my stride. However, as soon as we sit down, a coughing fit slams into my lungs.

“So… this is why you shouldn’t smoke?”

“Yeah,” I hack out, “I don’t smoke much when it’s show season, but y’know.”

“Is that what you’re down here for?”

“A preliminary meeting and fitting.”

“And show season? Are you a professional?”

I smile lopsidedly at him, “Strictly Come Dancing professional for the past three years.”

His eyes shutter, his hand coming into contact with the bar before pointing vehemently at me, his face bright and wide. “I knew I recognised you! I knew it! There’s just something about you…”

“You watch?” I inquire innocently, gathering my composure.

“My mother would disown me if I didn’t,” he trails off, a hint of happiness in his eyes. “But you look nothing like anyone on there.”

I knew this was coming, so I pull out my photo and open up my cast photo, taking a hold of my cheeks on either side, pulling and pouting. His blue eyes flit between the two versions of me, almost in disbelief.

“Face tape, wig, lip fillers, contact lenses, contour, fake name. None of it's real except my talent.”

His sympathy is almost painful. He gets it now, my understanding in the street, my avoidance of certain topics, my ability to save myself from toppling over, the fact I don’t drink. I can see him piecing together the jigsaw in his head. My anxiety begins to bubble, gnawing at my nerves, but I attempt to push it down, relaxing a little.

He smiles to himself and tips the bartender who’s been serving us all. “I’ve seen and heard enough.”

I watch on, dumbstruck, as he heads for the door, but my expression soon morphs to bemusement when he turns back to me, one hand held out expectantly. “Well? Are you coming? I’d like to see what else those hips can do.”

I can’t suppress the grin breaking out over my face, nor do I care to as I fling myself into his awaiting arms, wrapping my legs around his strong waist, my hips beginning to undulate a little to the music still playing in the bar.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

#tom hiddleston #twh #thomas william hiddleston #tom hiddleston x you #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston one shot #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston fluff #tom hiddleston x fem reader #tom hiddleston x female reader #tom hiddleston x fem!reader #tom hiddleston x dancer reader #tom hiddleston fic #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleeston fan fic #twh imagine #tom hiddelston imagine

[sequinsmile-x]

Gentle

Well, it’s been a HELL of a 24 hours in the Hotchniss fandom, and I thought we could all do with some fluff. So, here it is in the form of a domestic Hotchniss mini-fic.

This is set in my Full House universe, which also has a follow up called Empty Nest 

Words: 2,242

TW: Pregnancy/Sickness/Labour 

It was her turn to put Ivy to bed, the little girl insisting for once that Emily did it. She didn’t complain, her daughter's requests were so rare for her that she jumped at the chance to do it. To watch her fight sleep as she read her a story, her grip on Emily’s clothing loosening as sleep finally won out. 

Emily gently closes the bedroom door behind her and goes in search of her husband. She has to stop when she gets to the bottom of the stairs, breathlessness caused by the baby in her belly still taking her by surprise even at this stage of her second pregnancy. She feels her little girl shift around and smiles. She spots the dining room light is on and walks towards it, seeing her husband sitting at the table, intently watching his screen, headphones on. 

He spots her almost immediately, and closes the laptop so quickly it makes her raise a brow at him. He takes his headphones off, and attempts to look nonchalant.  She rounds the dining room table and stands next to him, hip resting against him as he sits. 

“You know I don’t mind if you watch porn, honey. I’d just rather you didn’t watch it where our children eat breakfast.” 

Aaron flushes immediately, an outraged look flooding his face as he looks at her. “I am not watching porn, Emily.” 

She holds her hands up and can’t help the smile that blooms on her face at his irritation. “Well what are you watching then?” 

He sighs and opens the laptop, the screen displaying a YouTube video of a woman braiding a little girl's hair. 

“Ok, not what I was expecting.” She lowers herself into the chair next to him, hand pressed into her baby bump as she does so, a grateful smile aimed at him as he helps her settle. 

Aaron places his hand on her belly, smiling when he feels their daughter move around under Emily’s skin. “Ivy keeps insisting that I do her hair.” 

“Because you’re her favourite.” Emily grumbles, the irritation in her tone fake as given away by her still present smile. It irked her sometimes, that their daughter was obsessed with Aaron when she was the one who had brought her into this world, but then she’d see them together and her heart would melt. 

Ivy was always seeking Aaron out, wanting to curl up in his lap at any opportunity, or be carried by him everywhere. The way they looked at each other made Emily’s entire body sing with happiness, and it made every single thing that they had been through, together and apart, seem worth it.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t currently holding out hope that the baby she was currently pregnant with would be a mommy’s girl. It seemed only fair. 

“Ivy keeps insisting that I do her hair.” He repeats, ignoring her comment about favouritism. “And I want to make sure I do a good job.” 

He gestures towards the notebook next to the laptop, and that's when she realises he had been taking notes. 

Emily has to bite her lip to stop the pure happiness that bursts in her chest from pouring out. Not for the first time she was wondering how on earth she had gotten so lucky to marry Aaron, to have his children. She still berated herself sometimes for not noticing him sooner, for the time they had lost in the years where they both just ignored what was clearly there. 

“I love you so much.” She says, the words flowing from her so easily. “You’re such a good dad.” 

Aaron smiles at her, and dutifully ignores the fact that she absolutely has tears in her eyes, a complete slave to her hormones at this late stage of her pregnancy. “I love you too, and you’re an amazing mom.” 

She smiles at that, and a tear falls onto her face which she quickly wipes away, her frustration at her constantly wavering emotions clear. “You are so getting lucky tonight, Agent Hotchner.”

“Oh really?” 

“Yes. As soon as you help get me out of this chair.” 

______

Emily yawns as she reaches the bottom of the stairs the next morning, excited to drink the one caffeinated drink she was allowed a day, and is stopped in her tracks at the adorable sight in front of her. 

Ivy is sitting on the kitchen counter, something that would usually make her nervous, with Aaron standing behind her putting the finishing touches on her hair, two dutch braids holding their 2 year olds unruly hair into place. Emily wonders how on earth their tiny daughter managed to convince Aaron to braid her hair before 7am on a Sunday, but it didn’t overly surprise her. The little girl was quickly learning there wasn’t much she couldn’t get her father to do. 

“Daddy done?” Ivy’s sweet little voice asks, shifting on the counter like she’d been sitting there patiently for hours, when Emily knew it was likely only minutes. 

Aaron chuckles and Emily watches as he secures the final hair tie. “Almost, sweetheart. You certainly got Mommy’s patience as well as her hair, huh?” 

The look he throws over his shoulder lets her know that comment was purely for her, his first acknowledgement that she was in the room. She rolls her eyes at him and walks over, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she joins them at the counter. “Is Jack up?” 

“He’s awake but still in bed.” He explains as he finishes his task, immediately picking Ivy up and hoisting her onto his hip. “All done.” 

Emily smiles as her daughter grins. “You look so pretty, baby.” She leans forward and presses a kiss to Ivy’s cheek. “Maybe Daddy should do my hair.” 

Ivy frowns at that, her grasp on Aaron’s pyjama shirt tightening. “No, my Daddy.” 

Emily narrows her eyes at her husband when he laughs. “Well, how about Daddy makes us all breakfast?” She tickles the little girl's belly, smiling when a laugh escapes her. “And you and me go watch some cartoons?” 

Ivy seems to consider it for a second before nodding, reaching for her mother with tiny hands. Emily gladly accepts her, shooting down any protests from Aaron on whether she should be carrying her when she’s 8 months pregnant with a single raised eyebrow, and holds her daughter close. 

Emily presses a kiss to the little girl's head. “What do we think for breakfast? Pancakes?” Ivy nods enthusiastically and Emily smiles at her husband over their daughters head. “Pancakes it is.” 

Aaron rolls his eyes but is already getting the pans out by the time Emily leaves the kitchen. She walks to the living room and places Ivy down on the couch before sitting next to her, the little girl immediately cuddling into her mother’s side, her hand pressed on her belly. 

“Baby.” 

Emily looks down at her daughter and pulls her slightly closer, lamenting briefly that her bump made it close to impossible. “That’s right, sweetie. Baby.” 

Ivy frowns slightly at that, a look that makes her look exactly like Aaron, no matter what he said. She then cuddles into Emily, tiny hands grabbing at her shirt. “My Mama.” 

Emily smothers a laugh by biting her lip, and mentally makes a note that they will have to talk to their daughter about sharing, again, before the baby arrives.

_________

He looks so worried when he enters her hospital room it makes her heart ache. Aaron gently slips into the room and closes the door behind him, their hours old baby in his arms. 

“Hey, honey.” Emily rasps out, cringing at how exhausted she sounded even to herself. “You ok?” 

Aaron fixes a look at her and walks over, sitting on the edge of her hospital bed. Expertly holding their tiny daughter with one hand so he can grasp one of Emily’s in his own. “No, I am not ok. You almost died.” 

She tilts her head at him and smiles, her chapped lips sticking together. “I’m fine, Aaron.”

“You lost half your blood volume, Emily.” 

“Hey.” She reaches up with her other hand and cups his cheek, the terror in his voice briefly overriding her need to hold her baby. “I’m ok. It was scary as hell, and I can’t imagine what it must have been like to watch, but I’m ok.” She smiles as he presses a kiss to her palm. “She’s ok too, right?”

He smiles then, the first real one since he walked into the room, and looks down at the sleeping bundle in his arms. “She’s perfect.” 

“Can I hold her?” She had only held her for a fleeting second before everything went wrong, the baby snatched from her chest as quickly as she had been placed there when things started to get really hazy, really fast. 

Aaron doesn’t hesitate. “Of course.” He passes their newborn daughter into her arms, careful not to knock any of the many IVs Emily has attached to her following the emergency that had come shortly after their youngest’s birth. 

Emily smiles broadly at her newborn. “Hi sweet girl. Hi Audrey. You’re so beautiful.” She raises her up, her arms feeling weak, and presses a kiss to the baby’s head. “You look just like your sister did when she was a little baby.” 

“You mean she looks just like you.” Aaron says, reaching forward to straighten the cannula Emily had her nose that was delivering oxygen to her. “I called Jessica, she’s going to bring the kids by in the morning. I’ve held the team off too, I thought you’d appreciate some time after what happened.” 

She tears her eyes off of her baby and looks at her husband. “Thank you, I don’t really feel up to any visitors right now.” She looks back down at Audrey. “Plus I must look a state.” 

“You look beautiful.” 

Emily looks up at him with a raised brow. “You’re a liar, but you’re sweet.” She looks at Audrey. “Daddy is lying, Mommy looks terrible but you’re worth it.” 

She flicks her head back, the hair that had been in the loose bun she had put it in at the start of labour escaping into her face. She makes a frustrated noise when it immediately falls back. 

Aaron looks at her and gets off the bed in search for her hospital bag, digging through it until he finds her hairbrush. He moves back towards the bed. “Shift forward a bit.” 

Emily looks up at him questioningly and shakes her head when she realises what he’s offering to do. “Oh, Aaron no. My hair is disgusting.” 

“Em, sweetheart, we’re married. I’ve seen worse. You do remember your bachelorette party right? Or the aftermath at least.” 

She knows if she was well enough she would have blushed, memories of him sitting with her on the bathroom floor when she was throwing up, cursing the day Penelope Garcia was born. Crying as he wiped tears, and vomit, from her face whilst she asked if he was still sure he wanted to marry her. 

“Fair point.” She says, wincing as she moves forward enough for him to slip in behind her. Audrey cries out, and Emily’s attention is immediately back on her baby, soothing her with gently rocking and noises as Aaron does her hair.

“I’ll be gentle.”

“You always are unless I ask you not to be.” She quips, smiling when he grips her shoulder and mumbles something about her being ridiculous under his breath. 

She sits there and feels as he brushes it through, trying not to cringe when stringy parts of it fall in her face as she thinks about how much she really needs a shower. It feels nice when he braids it, being as gentle with her as he is with Ivy, and she thinks it might be one of the most intimate things he’s ever done for her. 

When he’s done he flicks the braid over her shoulder and pulls her back to rest against him, placing the brush on the bedside cabinet. 

“Thank you.” She says softly, leaning her temple against his. “Ivy would be jealous.” 

He laughs, wrapping his arms around her. “She can never know.” 

Emily lifts Audrey to kiss her again, marvelling in the smell of her baby’s skin. “I better be your favourite, little one. Considering I almost just died bringing you into this world.”

“Emily.”

“Too soon?”

_________

All of their daughters, including the twins when they come along, end up insisting Aaron does their hair, and over the years the styles he can do get more elaborate. 

It’s something she never shares with anyone, not even JJ and Penelope, because she knows he would be embarrassed by it, even though it was one of her favourite things about him. How much he loved their children, how absurd his huge hands looked braiding the hair of tiny little girls, so gentle in his touch that they never complained. 

Years down the line when Ivy gets married she nervously asks Aaron if he’d do her hair for the day, one final reminder of her childhood, something he hadn’t done in a long, long time. 

He’s thrilled. But insists on practising on Emily since he swears he is rusty at it now, the times when the girls would line up in the living room to get him to do their hair long gone. A fleeting memory of when they were small, and their house was full. 

Emily lets him, and playfully argues with him as he insists on trying just one more time. She tells him, having had one drink too many at her eldest daughter's wedding, that she’s always liked him doing her hair too. 

#Hotchniss #hotchniss fic #hotchniss fan fic #hotchniss fanfiction #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #fluff #its just fluff guys #might rot your teeth fluff #because frankly we all deserve it

[mrsalwayswrite]

A Ship’s Arrival (Ivar x reader)

Here is my (second) contribution to @ofmanderley 300 followers celebration challege! Thanks again for doing this challenge! 

My prompt was a gif set you can find here. Check it out! 

Fun Fact: Hnefatafl (‘King’s Table’ in English) is the board game most commonly associated with the Viking Age, I’m guessing this is what Ivar and Aslaug were playing in Season 4 when he was a child.  

Warnings: fluff, Ivar being a prickly boy who is really a softie. 

Words: 2600

Tag List: @youbloodymadgenius

(Note- this gif is not mine. It is apart of the gif set I chose, so all the credit goes to @ofmanderley​)

  Earnest blue eyes stared out over the water with all the intensity of one seeking answers from the gods themselves. Those who worked the docks bustled around him, making sure to stay out of his way and his reach. The youngest Ragnarsson ignored them, too focused on watching the water between the fjords and leading to Kattegat. His piercing gaze eagerly sought for the ship's promised arrival. He knew it made more sense for him to watch and wait on the overlooking hills; from there he could see farther and be out of the way. But he did not care. He wanted to be here when the ship docked. If he was above Kattegat, it would take too long to crawl down and be at the docks in time. 

 He looked up at the bright sky. Sol drove her chariot upwards; the sunrise having faded hours ago. Now the azure sky matched the glistening water below. Tonight was a full moon. The thought released a torrent of emotions through him, threatening to overwhelm his otherwise shrewd mind. The feeling he chose to focus on, that he hoped would drown out the fear and insecurity within him, was a giddy excitement. 

 Tonight, you were supposed to return. 

 *****

 The festivities raged around him, filling the Great Hall to the brim with useless noise of laughter, conversation and drunken singing. Ivar sat at one of the long tables near the thrones, only one filled with his beautiful mother. Alone, he watched the revelry around him in his usual aloof manner, shooting glares of disdain frequently. Sipping on his horn of ale, he wondered how soon he could leave, or how much trouble he would get in if he stabbed one of the drunken men that kept knocking into his table and bumping his crippled legs. 

 He considered crawling over to sit on the empty throne next to his mother, but seeing her glassy gaze as she stared into her horn, he knew he would be just as alone beside her as he currently was. 

 Used to being ignored, surprise filled him when someone slid across the table from him. Expecting one of his brothers, a sharp barb laid on the tip of his tongue, only for it to dissipate when he realized who it was. 

 You relaxed on the bench across from him, elbows on the table and leaning slightly forward. What startled him the most was the way you were obviously studying him with your head slanted to the side, eyes intent upon his face. Without a word, he matched your scrutiny, unwilling to lose this silent battle to some maiden. He had seen you before around the Great Hall, although you two had never spoken, let alone made eye contact. This was the first time either of you acknowledged the other's presence. 

 Your father was an accomplished tradesman, recently expanding his route to include Kattegat. The first time he came to inquire about trading here, he spoke with the Queen. With her approval, he left with promises to return soon. This time he arrived with goods from foreign lands that caused many to marvel. What most caught Ivar's attention- this time your father brought you along. 

 After several minutes of the silent staring, each moment further making Ivar grit his teeth and his fingers itch for an axe to bash into your head. What upset him the most, you looked so serene staring at him; like his furious gaze, that sent many before you cowering in fear, had no hold over you. He refused to break the silence, to break the stalemate you two were obviously locked in. He could read the stubbornness in the curve of your lips, the slow blinking of your eyes that remained solely focused on him. Clearly you forgot he was Ivar the Boneless, being obstinate was a specialty of his. 

 Finally, you broke the silence. "I heard you are one of the best players of Hnefatafl."

 "It is a game of skill, cunning, and strategy. Things I excel in, unlike most." He scoffed, trying to determine what you hoped to get out of your statement. There were none that could beat him in the game, only Floki ever came close. He wondered not for the first time if his father was around, if he would actually provide adequate competition for his youngest son. 

 "I bet I can beat you."

 His jaw threatened to drop at your blasé statement, said so easily, so casually, like it was a fact. His blood boiled. How dare you think yourself better than him? Leaning forward, he snarled at you. "No."

 A smirk caused your lips to turn upward, infuriating him even more. 

 His fury spilled forth with vitriol coating each word as he sneered at you. "You are just some tradesman's daughter. Just like any other useless, pathetic girl. I am the son of Ragnar Lothbrok. You have no chance of ever beating me."

 You leaned forward, your posture reflecting his. Though your demeanor was serene, like a still lake; while his body trembled like a wildfire, threatening to burn everything within reach. 

 "Prove it."

 His mind froze for a brief moment, unable to believe what you just said. "Are you…. challenging me?"

 "It's only a challenge if there is any hope of you actually beating me."

 His rage resurfaced, clearing his mind of the surprise. A dangerous excitement coursed through his blood. This would give him an opportunity to teach you your place, to remind you of those who will always be above you; and he planned to destroy you in both the game and in tormenting afterwards. Oh, this could be the most fun he had in a while. "Tomorrow."

 Your smirk widened. "Tomorrow." You confirmed with a single nod. Without another word, you rose gracefully to your feet and walked out of the Great Hall.  

 *****

 The dagger spun easily in his hand, twisting, turning, an extension of his hand. The sun had risen to its zenith, the light making the water sparkle and shine. Still, Ivar refused to move from his spot on the dock. 

 His mind drifted to the new axe he was working on at the blacksmith's. It was supposed to be done by now but his impatience had gotten the better of him one day. After that, he was forced to start over completely. He wondered if you would want to come watch him work. Would that interest you? 

 Suddenly, his attention was diverted to a ship heading towards the docks. He straightened up, eagerly watching its arrival. As it drew closer, his excitement dissipated like smoke, replaced by annoyance. The ship was one he recognized as a larger fishing ship. Not a tradesman's ship. Not your ship. 

 Frustrated, he ran his hands through his hair. He should return to the Great Hall, either to spar with his brothers in the training yard or help his mother. Do anything but sit here pointlessly. Waiting around for some girl sounded like something he would cruelly tease his brothers for doing. Yet here he sat, unmoving. His gaze focused once more on the horizon, as if his will alone could summon you to appear faster. 

 *****

 Over the next fortnight, countless games of Hnefatafl were played between Ivar and you. To his immense pleasure and frustration, you were good. Not just good enough to barely entertain him but good enough that Ivar had to actually work for each win. The only other person who came close was Floki. But here you were winning, just as many times as he won. He internally debated if he loved or hated that.

 Soon your competition expanded to other activities, making even mundane activities into fierce battles. He was slightly better than you when it came to archery, which brought him immense pleasure. You were better at fishing, which all the brothers found humorous. Even at meals, you two would compete who could chug your ale the fastest. Something Queen Aslaug disliked immensely but kept silent about for her joy of her youngest son finding a friend overshadowed her displeasure at some of your antics. 

 During this time, the two of you were hardly apart. Though on numerous occasions, Ivar still considered splitting your head with his axe. He found that each day the violent feeling lessened and his excitement to see you increased. His brothers tried to tease him but his mother quickly silenced them with a sharp look. It did not matter what those fools thought, none of them ever held his interest, his attention, his respect like you did. 

 When the fortnight drew to an end and your father began preparations to leave, Ivar found himself trying to create excuses to delay the impending departure, no matter how ridiculous they sounded. 

 That last night found you and him sitting alone on the dock, looking up at the starry sky above. All the dock workers were either at the meal in the Great Hall or in their own homes. 

 "Father says we'll be back on the next full moon. Trade here has been good." You said, tracing a knot in the wood below you. 

 "Why do I care?" He scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "You are an annoying person to have around. I plan on feasting and celebrating once your ship leaves tomorrow."

 "Good, you waste your time, so when I return, I will beat you in archery since I plan on practicing every day."

 "You could practice until Ragnarök and still never beat me."

 You shrugged, his mockery amusing you more than anything. You had learned over the past two weeks that taunts and ridicule flowed from his mouth easier than any kind word. "We shall see."

 A comfortable silence settled around you two once again. The gentle crashing of waves and the call of seagulls filled the air, lulling you both into contentment. You shifted to lay down on the dock, raising a hand to trace the constellations in the sky above you. After a couple of minutes, Ivar laid down next to you, your shoulders touching, as he watched your hand. 

 "Next full moon?" He confirmed quietly, his raspy voice just above a whisper. 

 "Try not to miss me too much." You quipped. 

 He chuckled, turning his head to look at you beside him. "I won't."

 "Good. I won't miss you either." 

 Smiling, you mirrored his action. Time froze as you two stared at one another, realizing how close you actually were. As if on its own accord, Ivar's gaze drifted down to your lips, so close to his own. Suddenly, your tongue darted out to wet them causing Ivar to jerk his eyes back up to meet yours. Insecurity and doubt prevented him from moving, from kissing your lips like he had dreamt about so many times. At first, he had rejected the dream, convincing himself it was pure foolishness, that he could never be interested in someone like you. Yet over the passing days, the dream never abated. When alone with his thoughts, sometimes he would retrieve the dream from his mind and turn it over like a treasured item to admire before putting it back on its shelf. 

 With widening eyes, he laid there stunned as your gaze dropped to his lips and that hand that had been tracing the stars now gently caressed his bottom lip. His mouth opened in a gasp, beyond astounded by your action, but more surprised by the feelings it invoked in him. 

 A shout from the end of the dock shattered the intimate moment. You rapidly sat up, your attention fully on the person who yelled your name. Moving slowly, Ivar pushed himself up and looked down to the end of the dock to see your father standing there. You waved in acknowledgement, a nervous giggle slipping from your mouth.  

 "I have to go."

 Even as disappointment tainted his world, he refused to let it show, making sure to keep his tone harsh and mocking. "Finally, I was starting to doubt I could get rid of you."

 You laughed, starting to rise to your feet but froze for a moment. In the next moment, you scooted closer, grabbed his face and kissed him. It was only a gentle press of your mouths, full of innocence and familiarity, yet it felt like a promise. Before he could respond, you pulled back and practically sprinted down the dock. He watched you disappear amongst the buildings of Kattegat at your father's side. Once gone from view, he turned back to look at the stars. Though his focus remained solely on the tingling sensation on his lips and the memory of your first shared kiss. In the moment, Ivar wondered if the gods were finally smiling down on him. 

 *****

 Footfalls approached him from behind. The steady steps slapping against the wooden boards of the dock let Ivar know who it was without him even having to look. The ruffling of his hair confirmed the person's identity. Only one person was allowed to do that to him. 

 "Still waiting I see." Ubbe asked, looking out over the sparkling water. "Mother is getting worried. You've been here most of the day."

 "Let her worry. As you can see, I am fine."

 "Mmmm…. you sure it is just friendship between you and y/n? I have never seen you wait for anyone else so relentlessly to return from a trip."

 "Say another word and I'll gut you." Ivar narrowed his eyes at his brother, a growl clawing at his throat to erupt at the teasing. 

 Ubbe just chuckled at the threat. He reached over to ruffle Ivar's hair once again but Ivar smacked his hand away with annoyance. 

 "I'll come back for you for the evening meal." Ubbe started to turn when something caught his eye. "Ivar…. a ship."

 Ivar tried to straighten up further in a futile attempt to see farther. It was a few more minutes before he was able to see what caught his brother's eye. There slipping through the water was a ship, one he recognized. A smile lit up his face without him even realizing, diminishing his usual severe expression into a boyish glee. Though he made no comment, Ubbe certainly took notice.

 The ship slowly approached, the men at the oars bringing the ship closer to Kattegat's docks. Ivar found himself tapping his hand on the boards beneath him as if that could somehow speed up the ship's arrival. 

 As the ship prepared to dock, your face popped up over the side, eyes scanning the dock furiously. When your gaze landed on him, a smile split your face that rivaled the warmth of the sun. Soon as the ship was tied off, you scrambled awkwardly over the side and ran straight at him. Ivar barely had time to brace himself before you dropped to your knees beside him and cupped his face, bringing your lips to his. This time, he was ready. He grabbed your head, keeping your mouth on his. What was meant as a sweet kiss quickly turned greedy with the way you both demanded attention using teeth and tongues. 

 When the two of you separated, lungs screaming for air, you stared at each other, your lips swollen and eyes alight.

 "Did you miss me?" You asked breathlessly. 

 "Not at all." He quipped, though you both knew it was a lie. Especially when he pulled you back in for another searing kiss that left no doubts of his true feelings towards you. 

#ofmanderley300 #vikings #vikings fandom #vikings fanfic #vikings fanfiction #ivars heathen army #ivar the boneless #ivar lothbrok #ivar x reader #ivar ragnarsson #ubbe #ubbe ragnarsson #mzwrites

[strawberrylemonz]

Innit an Adventure

An addition to the AU, lol. Instead of chat being in his head, like Techno’s, Tommy’s chat are ghosts that follow him around :)

This one is dedicated to @ivorylin for being very supportive of my first post regarding this au. This is also dedicated to @petrichormeraki for being poggers and enjoying the first part of this series, as well as inspiring it.

Part 1

Part 2 [CURRENT]

Part 3

--------

“Brother!!! Pog!!!”

“Big brother returns!”

“HE CALLED HIM STARCHILD, I’M GONNA SOB”

“I just woke up, what’s happening?”

“GOODBYE SBI, HELLO HERMIT GRIAN”

”HERMIT HOMIES HOURS”

“HOLY SHIT, HE’S OUR BROTHER”

“I was getting a snack, what’s up?”

“DJLFKNGON I’M GOANNA   CRYSLK”

“BEST BROTHER EVER”

“I’m on the toilet, pog”

“I have tacos :)”

“BRGB SOBBING”

“GRIAN POGGGG”

“This makes me happy you didn’t do a double flip”

“ADIOS TECHNOBRO AND WILBRO, I ONLY KNOW BIG BRO G!!!”

“Anyone else have dust in their eyes?”

“CHAOS DUO RELATED POG”

Tommy let out a shaky breath as he rubbed his eyes. Chat was going crazy at the new news and, to be honest, he couldn’t blame them. If he was in their position, he’d be freaking out alongside them. Wanting to end both the silence that filled the cavern and the nonsense Chat was saying, Tommy let out a hoarse laugh before speaking.

“Chat really likes you, G.”

A smile formed on the teen’s face as his head bounced with the hefty laugh that came from Grian, whose chest began to rumble alongside the laughter. Finally lifting his head off his brother’s chest, Tommy allowed the remaining tears in his eyes to fall as he looked to Grian’s face. Grian smiled fondly back at Tommy, wiping away the tears from his little brother’s eyes. 

“I suppose I should say hello to all of them. Is Chat similar to Techno’s voices?”

Concern flashed across Grian’s face as Tommy flinched at the mention of Technoblade. It was small, and could have been easily overlooked if Grian wasn’t watching his brother like a hawk. He made a mental note to ask about that later that night, when they were around the campfire.

“Nah, he’s just insane. Psychotic or some shit like that. I’m just really fucking cool and can see spirits and shit.”

Eyebrows from the crowd (shit, they were still there, weren’t they?) and Grian were raised as someone Stress half heartedly scolded Tommy for his language. Tommy just rolled his eyes, knowing that they only scolded him as a joke. They had all grown accustomed to his wording, and were worried when he didn’t slip in a few curses into his sentences.

“Spirits?”

“Yeah, spirits. I call em Chat most of the time, but they have different nicknames, and they all have individual names. Clara explained that it was one of the many side effects to her marking me as a ‘Starchild’ in her name. They are the spirits of the lands, from servers all around, or some shit like that. I can see them all, but they make the choice to stick with me or not.”

This was...news. Grian, who was still processing that he his baby brother was alive, sitting right in front of him, as well as the fact that Clara was real, could only stare. He wasn’t so sure how to feel about his brother being indifferent to all the spirits, but he suppose that it couldn’t be helped. Spending pretty much your entire life seeing spirits would make him indifferent to the spirits as well. 

“So, Chat is...everywhere?”

“Basically, yeah”

Grian hummed as he proceeded to greet Chat, being polite to the beings he couldn’t see. Much to the annoyance of Tommy, Chat seemed to be loving Grian even more. Maybe a bit too much.

“HE’S SO POLITE”

“How thoughtful of him”

“HELOO HI GRI A  N HWAHT’S UP BRO”

“Grian bro supremacy”

“GRIAN BRO SUPREMACY”

“HERMIT HOMIE WOOOOOO”

“BEST BRO POG”

“holY SHIT I’M IN LOV E ADKNVOD”

“THE RACCOON HAS A POG BROTHER WOOO”

“HI GRIAN HI”

“Rodent brothers??? pog?????”

“HELLOHELLOHELLOHENSLO”

“TELL HIM WE SAID HI, CHILD”

“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, calm down, calm down, calm down, calm down. Chat says hi, Grian. And, hey, I’m not a child, what the fuck!? I’m a big man!”

Impulse snickered as Mumbo walked over to the two brothers. Smiling down at them, he helped the two back to their feet. Grian smiled as he set a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, squeezing it slightly. Tommy, in turn, beamed with pride at his brother and his friends. 

“Alright, we spent enough time being emotional and shit. Let’s get going, I have more cool shit to show you guys.”

Laughter filled the cavern as Tommy fixed his hair, his booming man child I’m not a child voice being drowned out as he led them back outside. Slightly huffing. He let out a yelp as he was nearly tackled to the ground from behind. Letting out undignified noises of protest, he turned to see the smug smile of Grian, who was ruffling his hair. 

“Alright, big man, show us your land of paradise!”

Barking out a hearty laugh, Tommy ducked out from his brother’s hand before grabbing it, spinning a few times, and pulling him forward. 

“Aw, look at them!”

“Wait, so Grian has two sections now?”

------

The traditional booth games in Tavern Town were fun. From balloon darts to milk bottles, to ladder climb and hoop toss, Tommy thought of it all. Unique designs decorated each booth, all holding an individual and unique look. Everything about the area was impressive.

“Where did buy get these for the games? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in the main server.”

Tommy peered over to Doc, who was inspecting the prizes neatly strung up on all the booths. There were plushies of different types of mods, some familiar, others not. They came in all types of colors and sizes, and were overall impressive. Walking up beside Doc, Tommy just shrugged his shoulders, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

“I didn’t buy them, I made them.”

Scar perked up, before jumping right into the conversation.

“You what? Toms, that’s impressive! I didn’t know you could sew.”

‘Fucking hell,’ Tommy thought to himself. He didn’t expect to get praise for his simple hobbies.

“Yeah, I sew. I’m actually pretty crafty, being resourceful and shit. I also knit and crochet. It’s not much, but it’s really fucking therapeutic and all that jazz.”

Before anyone else could comment, a dinging noise sounded at one of the booths. Turning to look at the cause of the commotion, they saw that Stress and Impulse had won a game together. Giving each other fist bumps, they watched as a screen popped up, giving them prize options to choose from. After receiving their prizes, they hurried over to Tommy with smiles painted on their faces.

“You bet we’re gonna win one of each plush here.”

A high pitched laughter erupted from Tommy, who was starting to enjoy his decision to hand make all the prizes in his park. Wiping away a tear of joy, the teen I’m eighteen, I’m a fucking man! You’re a child, Tommy beamed at his friends, who smiled warmly in return. Tommy’s joy seemed to increase as more booth alarms were set off, many more prizes coming off the shelves. By the time everyone was ready for the next land, they all had at least two plush toys each.

———

“This is delicious! You baked these?!”

The group was currently sitting in the seating area in the Dream SMP section of the park, more specifically, L’manburg. They had gotten pastries from the duplicate bakery that belonged to Niki. According to Tommy, it was an exact replica to the real thing. The pastries sold there were the same ones Niki sold back at L’manburg. Tommy had used the recipes and techniques that Niki had demistrated to both him and Tubbo to create the dishes.

“If you think these are good, you should taste Niki’s. I swear, her pastries were sent down from Heaven by Jesus himself. They taste fucking amazing, godly.”

Grian smiled as he nudged Tommy’s shoulder with his own. Popping another sweet cake in his mouth, Tommy quirked an eyebrow as he faced the older boy.

“You should teach me some of your hobbies, Starchild. We can do a hobby exchange.”

Tommy visibly brightened up as he wiped some frosting from around his mouth. Smiling, he nodded his head happily.

“Hell yeah! That sounds fuckin’ amazing!”

The group ate with content as they looked around their area. They had already seen the rest of the Dream server lands. 

“It’s amazing that you’ve made all of this by yourself. You haven’t even showed us the rest of the park yet! Good job, for a child.”

“Hey! I’m not a fucking child! I’m turning 19 soon!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you were an Aries.”

“What’s wrong with being an Aries?”

“Nothing is wrong with being an Aries, Tango.”

“Oh shut it, you Librarian.”

“Librarian?”

“Yeah, the worst sign.”

“First of all, kid, I’m a Gemini.”

------

The rides and games in the DSMP were very diverse and unique. Tommy had really put a lot of effort and time into every attraction, no matter how small. From things as small as a scavenger hunt through the Badlands, water themed adventures in El Rapids, to fast paced coasters in L’manburg.

“Scoot over, bandit child, I’m sharing this ride vehicle with you.”

“What the fuck, man?”

“Oh, don’t act surprised. I know you made it to where two people share a seat just so you can spend quality time with your brother.”

“Oh, fuck off, I didn’t even know you were my brother until an hour and a half ago.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

The first ride the group decided to board was dubbed A Home. Entering a little shack, everyone boarded their ride vehicles and waited for the ride to begin. While they waited for the vehicles to move, Tommy explained how he managed to use the latest mods that were added to the server to his advantage. He managed to fit different tracks to different rides in the same builds, as well as add animatronics. Just as he was about to receive yet another wave of praise, the ride began.

“It’s like looking at a younger version of you!”

“That’s kinda the point, genius.”

Grian’s statement, as obvious as it was, was true. As the vehicles left the shack and entered the caravan, and animatronic Tommy, merely 16 years of age, welcomed the riders as they witnessed the beginning of a new home, L’manburg. They kept comments to themselves when they saw, yet again, the replica of Tommy’s old base. The ride track took them through different areas of the DSMP, following the young Tommy as he searched for a home.

“-the citizenship of Wilbur Soot and Tommyinnit!!!”

“What?!”

“What does he mean revoked?!”

Before Tommy could reply, the vehicles lurched backwards, keeping the vehicles facing the stage at all times as the animatronics turned to take aim at the riders. It wasn’t until the red stone to the dirt entrance revealed the entry way to Pogtopia that the vehicles did a 180, moving forward into the entry way before going down the spiral steps into the ravine. Laughter filled the air as the group saw animatronics of Tommy, Wilbur and Techno conversing together, joking around and teasing each other. Suddenly, the ride vehicles fell down to the next part of the track, the prime path. As they raced through the tunnel, they witnessed an animatronic Tommy and Tubbo embracing and conversing, their cheerful voices free from worry. The group could only sit in awe as the scenes continued to change.

“-goodbye, Tommy.”

“What does he mean goodbye?!”

“Oh my fucking god, shut up!”

The vehicles suddenly raced through the Nether, coming out to an island far from DSMP. The sign at the entrance of the area welcomed the group to Logstedshire. There, they could see an unhappy Tommy staring out towards the ocean, listening to Chirp as he mumbled nonsense to Clara. And just as quickly as they came, they raced out of the sunny area and into the snow. They raced around the inside of Techno’s cottage before racing outside, towards an empty area. There, an animatronic Tommy yelled out in shock as an animatronic Technoblade pressed a button, turning around as a secret lair was revealed.

“Welcome home, Theseus!”

For the final time, the scene changed. They entered, backwards, into a portal, coming out to face a replica of the spawn to Hermitcraft. There, in wonderous glory, stood an animatronic Xisuma, welcoming the group to Hermitcraft. Then, the track dropped, leaving the riders back at the entrance to the ride.

“Holy shit.”

“Haha! Holy shit is right!”

———

The group quickly learned that Tommy spared no expense in all his attractions. As they explored the different lands, they really saw the individuality of every land. L’manburg had fun rides, including Nation’s Legacy, Blood’s Ballad, Wither’s Wrath, and Creator’s Cabin. Nation’s Legacy is an underground ride that worked like a turntable to tell the history of L’manburg, ending on a grim and looming hint to the possible destruction of the nation. When asked about the fate of L’manburg, Tommy admitted that he appeared in Hermitcraft before he could witness the possible doomsday, so he wasn’t entirely sure what had occured afterwards.

Blood’s Ballad is an interactive ride that used a special red stone technique. The ride vehicles could seat up eight passengers at a time, each using special gloves that allow them to interact with the special ride elements. The goal is to get the most points out of everyone in the ride vehicle. The ride took the group on a journey with Technoblade, the Blood God. The group racked up points training alongside him, as well as fighting all sorts of mobs. By the end of the ride, Tommy was sulking as Stress managed to gather the most points. Stress was enjoying the victory, smiling happily as “SUBSCRIBE TO TECHNOBLADE” boomed through the speakers. 

Wither’s Wrath was more of a small scale ride to enjoy. There were only three ride vehicles, each shaped like a wither and able to hold three riders. Each rider sat in a wither skull. Grian smiled as he pulled Mumbo and Tommy into a a wither vehicle with him. As they strapped in, they were transported to a virtual world where the rules of the game were shared. The goal was to cause the most destruction in the virtual world than the other vehicles. Each player controlled their own skull, making it easier to gather points. At least, that was the case for-

“Fuck yeah! Team Kickass all the way! Check it Grian, Mumbo, we’re badass!”

Creator’s Cabin was simple enough. It was just a large cabin that held enchanted portraits of everyone who resided in the DSMP. The portraits could move within their frames. They could also interact with each other. When the group walked in, the portraits were chatting away with each other. Sam’s portrait seemed to be listening in on the conversation that the portraits of Tubbo, Tommy and Purpled were having, occasionally joining in when he saw fit. Fundy was chatting away with Eret and Niki, a bright smile on his face. Ranboo was timidly peeking over at the group with Tommy and Tubbo, obviously wanting to join in. The portraits of Quackity, Sapnap and Karl were deep in conversation, while the portrait of George was asleep sitting up.

“Hey, Tommy?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are there two portraits of Wilbur?”

“Oh, right. Grian, about Wilbur-”

“AHOY THERE! WHY DON’CHA BOARD ME SHIP AND CONQUER THE WATERS WITH ME?”

The group, aside from Tommy, jumped at the booming voice. Without hesitation, they all ran out to the water, searching for the source of the voice. There, out on the water, stood a lone animatronic. It was the animatronic of a petite woman, one with red curls dancing around as she swayed and spoke. Once more, her confident, melodic voice filled the air. 

“JOIN ME ON MY QUEST TO RIDE THE WONDROUS WAVES OF THE SEAS”

With that, she raised her right arm, hoisting a sword into the air. On cue, she began to rise as a ship emerged from the sea below her. Once it was no longer submerged, the ship rocked a few times before settling. A banner unraveled and blew in the breeze, the name of the area now visible for all to see. 

Sally de Mon’s Sea Voyage

“You like it? Creating the entrance for this ride was a fucking bastard. Kept me up all night and crap. Almost gave up completely on it.”

“It’s amazing! I was not expecting to see something like that!

“Hey, Tommy? Who’s Sally. I don’t think it was ever explained how you know her?”

“Really? I gotta fix that, then. Sally is my sister-in-law who-”

“I HAVE A SISTER-IN-LAW?!”

“Oh, shit...surprise?”

------

The Badlands was a fun, interactive section of the DSMP area. The various puzzles and mazes made it fun for all the participants. The muffin stand was also a fan favorite to the hermits. 

El Rapids was a water-filled adventure. Because he wanted to play around with the word rapids, Tommy made several water-based rides and activities, his favorite being the log ride. They just seemed to be the perfect addition to the area, adding a way to cool down to balance all the water-free rides. It seemed as if Tommy had thought of every type of ride for every type of biome and scenario.

SMP Earth was another large section of the park. It also held the only other largest ride in the entire park, one that led the riders throughout the Antarctic Empire, as well as its surrounding cities and towns. The area for the empire was beautiful decorated in colors of all kind. Flowers and banners decorated the buildings and streets, brightening up the area. Classic activities, such as the sparing rings and archery, as well as the axe throws and parkour courses were set up. It all felt familiar to Grian, who couldn’t help but smile at his brother. Grabbing one of the fliers, he inspected it before shooting his brother a look of uncertainty.

“You didn’t”

“On the contrary, brother dearest, I did!”

“Did what? What did he do?”

Grian laughed as he showed the group what the flier said. It was decorated in beautiful, hand-drawn flowers. Golden lettering perfectly spelt out the message.

Floral Festival of Spring

Join us in the weeklong celebration of Spring! Enjoy the festivities with friends and family as you explore the traditions held within our grounds. Finally, enjoy the wondrous Floral Gala held on the final night of festivities. Dawn your greatest fabrics as you dance the night away, before enjoy a magnificent firework display.

Signed by his royal highness,

Prince Thomas Theseus Minecraft

“He used his full name and everything!”

“Your middle name is Theseus?”

“Your actual last name is Minecraft?”

“Did you actually write this? It’s worded and written so…formally.”

Huffing a bit, Tommy crossed his arms. Fixing his posture, he stood up, tall and proud, as he puffed out his chest. It took everyone every fiber in their bodies to not laugh at the sight of him.

“I can be very formal, thank you very much. I’m not a fucking idiot, I remember the formality lessons the teachers put me through. And I take the offense to that writing comment! Do you know how many attempts it took for me to be able to recreate the stupid fancy font used back at the empire? And another thing-”

Grian playfully hopped on Tommy’s shoulder, startling the younger brother to his usual stance. Ruffling his hair, he assured his brother with a laugh.

“Calm down, Toms. You know that we’re messing with you. You did amazingly. How many more flyers do you have? We’ll set them up in the Hub to be distributed across the main server. It’s been a while since I’ve attended a royal ball, so let’s make it grand!”

Laughing, Tommy had no choice but to agree with Grian. His smile faltered, however, once realization sunk in. The next activity for the group was the campfire. The secrets of his time at the Dream SMP that he kept for over 2 years would finally be revealed.

‘Better late than never to prepare the waterworks’, thought a very nervous Tommy.

#memories in the stars #memories in the stars au #tommyinnit #hermit!tommy au

[mintymiknow]

Trust Fall - ch. 1 | Lee Minho

summary | character profiles | masterlist

Pairing: Lee Minho/Lee Know x Reader

Summary: When you walk away from something that essentially ruined you, you don’t expect to have anything to do with it anymore. But it would seem like the universe had other plans for you, and you find yourself with no choice but to face the nightmare again. 

Genre: Secret agent/spy au, romance, angst, action

Word count: Approx. 5.6k

Warnings for this chapter: Mentions of blood, implied human experimentation in labs, descriptions of said experimentations, descriptions of medical operations, implied trauma 

A/N: My new series is here! I don’t think it’s going to be as good or as hit has Scintilla, but I’m writing this ‘cause I want to, and I am excited! Please note that I’m not fully knowledgeable in the area of secret agent stuff and medical/science fields, but I hope you still enjoy reading this series. I can’t wait for everything to take place! Hehe as usual, I’d appreciate feedback, and if you have any comments, questions, etc., feel free to send in an ask!

“Yeah, so don’t forget to eat your meals and take your medicine when the nurses tell you to,” you laugh, looking at a patient with a playfully stern expression, “especially if you want to get better sooner.”

The elder patient laughs, leaning back on the hospital bed, “Yes, Doc, you got it. I promise to.”

“Good.” you grin, nodding your head approvingly, “I believe Dr. Kang will be checking up on you in the next few hours. Rest well, Mr. Lim.”

The elder nods with an airy chuckle before turning his attention back to the drama currently playing on TV. You bow politely before grabbing your clipboard and quietly exiting the patient’s room. While walking down the hospital hallway of this particular wing, you hear a familiar voice call out to you.

“Hey, y/n!”

You turn around with an amused grin, shaking your head, “Dr. Kang, aren’t we prohibited from shouting in the hospital?”

The male doctor makes an “oops” face before chuckling softly, hands in his medical coat’s pocket, “Right, sorry about that, Dr. Song.”

“So, how can I help you? I have another appointment in a bit.” you smile.

Dr. Kang - or Hyunbin as you call him - grins likewise, waving his hand in a carefree manner, “Nothing, just wanted to say hi since I bumped into you after like...weeks of both of us being busy. Go along now...wouldn’t want your patient getting angry over your late arrival.”

“You’re clingy.” you joke before laughing, “I’ll get going then. See you around, Hyunbin.”

The male playfully scoffs before waving his hand dismissively just as a nurse calls for his attention over some medical records. “See ya, y/n.” he hums, turning on his heel to walk away.

You smile before going about your way as well, hearing your heels click on the glossy floors as you walk to another department of the hospital to meet with a consulting patient.

And after that, you are called in for an emergency operation, so you end up running in said heels, pretty much aware that you’d probably end up with sore feet afterwards.

Hours pass by until you complete a very stressful yet successful operation. Your crisp, white shirt was replaced by the hospital’s mint green scrubs, stained with blood and bodily fluids. Your heels left somewhere in the locker room as your white clogs are essentially red now. Your neck feels like it’s about to break from leaning and craning it to focus on the operation, eyes strained like they would seal shut any second now.

But you knew that.

You knew that it was part of the job. Was it bothersome? Maybe, but that was just one slight inconvenience in the process of saving lives. That was why you became a professional in the medical and science field in the first place - to save lives. No, you definitely could not save every single person you came across. But you would definitely do your utmost best.

Especially when there were certain...blood stains you needed to wash off from your hands.

The more people you saved in Gongjak Medical Hospital, the more the blood on your hands washed off, little by little. Hopefully.

Unconsciously, you stare down at your gloved hands, eyes taking in the way the blood either dries or swirls into a distorted pattern. You see blood everyday - you’re a doctor, of course you would. And it was nothing new or something to be disgusted about because you were used to it. But right now, you felt like throwing up, the metallic scent and gruesome color clinging to your own hands too much to bear. This has never happened before, so you aren’t sure why it was happening today. You feel like the empty operation room spins around, ready to make you collapse until a nurse’s voice catches your attention.

“Dr. Song, the patient has been moved to a room and Dr. Choi is overseeing right now. We’ll have this room cleaned, so you may take it easy. Thank you for today’s operation.”

“I see, thank you too.” you nod, faking a calm smile despite the shaking of your hands, “I’ll get going then.”

And so you spend the next few hours rotating around consultation appointments and check-ups on patients. By the time it’s past 12 midnight, you prepare to head back to your home.

You drive in silence, eyes exhausted as they keep focused on the driveway that leads to a house that is not too large but not that small either. That’s one thing you were thankful for; your parents chose to live in a house surrounded by trees in a more private area of the city with only so much residents and houses. Some say it was for the rich - and maybe it was true - but it was definitely more peaceful and safe. Peace and quiet was what you needed after tedious days.

And safe was what you needed when you felt like something or someone haunts you every single day.

You drag yourself across the living room, dumping your bag on the couch as you make your way to the kitchen. An eerie and somewhat unsettling aura mixes in the air, but you choose to ignore it in favor of drinking a glass of cold water. You place the glass down on the counter before leaning on the table’s surface, head craning down as you get lost in your dark thoughts once again. It was always lonely at home without your parents, and you weren’t going to lie; admittedly, there were times you felt afraid to even step foot into any inch in this lonesome household.

But again, a different air filled the place right now, and it somehow sent shivers down your spine. Maybe you needed a bath, so you slowly make your way to your bedroom. However, as you reach the second floor, you notice that the door to your study room was left slightly open - you always made it a point to leave it shut.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you tiptoe and stop in front of the door, grabbing the knob and slowly pulling it closed. However, just before it can click, a deep voice breaks the silence.

“Dr. Song y/n.”

You freeze, your blood running cold as a voice is heard in the dark study room.

“Dr. Song, we aren’t here to harm you. Come inside.”

We?

Your body moves on its own, pushing the door back to reveal your study, illuminated by nothing but the moonlight seeping in through the curtains. Once the door is fully opened, you vaguely register three figures standing by your desk. Most people would scream or scramble to call the cops. You? Nope. You didn’t know why either. Maybe these strangers were the cause of you feeling like someone was always watching you.

With crossed arms, you nod your head towards the stranger’s direction, “What is it? How do you know me? Who are you?”

One of the figures switches your lamp on, revealing his face - sharp eyes and a sharp jaw but an overall youthful and young disposition. He then speaks up, “We need you to come with us.”

“Clearly, strangers telling me to go with them is the most normal thing to happen.” you say, eyebrows furrowed.

Another figure notes your displeasure as he tilts his head to the side. Long, beautiful hair and plump lips - a beautiful man who could be mistaken as a model. “We know, but we’ve been ordered to come and talk to you about it.” he says calmly, his confident smile quite difficult to decipher.

You stand, arms still crossed and face still stern as the three figures observe you. The third figure takes one step forward. He’s more buff and definitely looks scarier, dark eyes cast in shadows with the cap he wears. “I’ll cut to the chase, Dr. Song. We’re agents from SKZ, and I don’t think I need to explain what SKZ is. Am I right?”

As soon as those words leave the male’s lips, you visibly tense, jaw clenched and eyes sharpened. You glare at the three agents, gritting your teeth, “Tell Jung Hyunseo to leave me out of whatever affairs SKZ has.”

The sharp-eyed male shakes his head, “I’m afraid Jung Hyunseo himself wants you to come with us, Dr. Song. He particularly said it was to be you no matter what.”

“What does SKZ want now?” you hiss, “I left for a reason, and I’m not going back. I think I made that quite clear to your authorities.”

The buff agent sighs, “I don’t know what bad blood you have with SKZ, and I can’t tell you exactly why we need you back right now, but everything will be explained if you just come with us.”

“Cut the crap.” you scoff with a belittling smile, “I’m not going anywhere. Case closed.”

“It’s a matter of life and death, Dr. Song.” the buff male says firmly, “It’s for a cause that could save many.”

“Hmm.” you snarkily laugh, “Now, I’ve heard that one before. Sorry, agents. I’m not going. Give Jung Hyunseo my regards.”

The agent who switched on the lights tries to step forward, opening his mouth to speak, but the buff one holds him back. With one look, the sharp-eyed agent nods his head in understanding, stepping back. The buff agent turns to the long haired one with the same look in his eyes.

The long haired male then walks towards you, leaning down to whisper in your ear, “Best you come with us now, Dr. Song. Mr. Jung won’t take no for an answer on this matter, and I’m afraid he’ll send that agent for you.”

You gently push him back with your hand on his chest, “He can try. Now, leave.”

The buff agent sighs and gestures for the two to follow him. As they walk past you, the buff agent whispers into your ear, “Try not to be too feisty when the next agent comes. He doesn’t play that nicely.”

“Neither do I,” you start, levelling his sharp gaze, “especially if he pushes it.”

The male smirks in the most subtle way so it’s barely noticeable, “I see.”

With that, the agents leave. You don’t even know how they got in, so you don’t know how they’d leave. Either way, you couldn’t bring yourself to care, not when the adrenaline fades away and your hands are now shaking.

Seconds later, you briskly walk to your bathroom, locking the door as you ready your bathtub in a frenzied hurry. You lower yourself into the water, allowing the warm liquid to envelope your body in an attempt to relax. Dead silence fills the room with the faint sloshing of water with your minimal movements.

SKZ.

You squeeze your eyes shut as if the name of that organization would be erased from your mind forever. But it does the opposite, taking you back to a time you never wanted to remember.

The sounds of agonizing screams and groans filled your ears as if you were witnessing a horror movie come to life. The smell of rotten corpses and smoke filled your nose, clouding your senses like pollution dirtying the world. You can only stare as a person slammed his hand onto the glass wall, desperately wailing and screaming for you to help him.

The pure horror that filled your veins caused you to freeze in place, bile building up within. The person’s skin started to melt and rot away, revealing things you’d see in your medical classes back then - except this was in a much more gruesome and violent context.

As the person let out one last cry, his eyes rolled back with foam frothing in his mouth. You hated how you’re only able to look away just as it finished. Every inch of your skin was covered in goosebumps, hands shaking and heart pounding. The sounds of other scientists and doctors discussing things were mere whispers despite being next to you.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Write that observation down so we can do something about it.”

“This effect is quite interesting and may prove to be useful.”

You cleared your throat and faced the group of scientists with angry eyes. “You need to stop these experiments now!” you yelled, “You are taking too many lives!”

One scientist rolled his eyes, “Dr. Song, have you forgotten your place? Why you’re here?”

You slammed your hand on the table, “I’m here because I’ve been forced to! I didn’t want this!”

With that, you turn on your heel, keen on talking to the authorities about what you’ve witnessed for the past week. However, as soon as your hand is hovering above the lab’s door access, one scientist grabbed your wrist and twisted harshly, throwing you to the marbled floor. You grimaced at the pain in your ankle and leg, glaring at the scientist as a result.

The scientist threatened to hit you before smirking and laughing, “If you so much as say a word about this to anyone outside this lab, you and your family are joining the test subjects. Got it?”

“And don’t bother being sneaky.” another scientist laughed, “We’ll find out one way or another. Now get up and run some tests on the vials over there. No results within the day, we test on another subject. Quickly now.”

You swallowed the anger bubbling inside you, forcing yourself to get up to grab the said vials. As the group of scientists continue to murmur amongst themselves, you went to the other side of the lab to run whatever tests on the greenish-blue liquid inside the vials. You realized that your hands were still a bit shaky, tears threatening to spill out of your eyes.

You became a doctor to save lives, not take them.

So when it all became too much - when all you could hear at night was the screams and cries of suffering, you knew you had to do something. It was all still a bit of a blur - or perhaps you just did not want to recall the details - but you somehow remember the day you decided to speak up.

The day gunshots were fired in the lab, explosions here and there. Fighting and more unnecessary death. Some scientists captured and some escaped. You sitting on the lab floor with an empty expression, blood dripping down your face and black smoky soot smudging your skin. An agent you didn’t know or have never seen holding you in his arms, whispering that it was going to be ok as Jung Hyunseo angrily ordered the others to search for the escaped “traitors”.

Days later, you resigned. Jung Hyunseo felt sorry and allowed you to do so, helping you go back to a more “normal life” outside SKZ. He spoke to Gongjak Medical Hospital’s director, using his authority and status as a government agency’s head to give his recommendation for you to work there. Seoul’s top hospital instantly welcomed you as a doctor there, and you prayed it stayed that way.

No matter what, you were never going to so much as glance at SKZ headquarters or even speak about the secret organization.

Your phone, sitting on a small stool next to the bathtub, rang with a text notification, successfully snapping you out of your trip down memory lane. You glance at it, vaguely reading the text from Hyunbin saying “I forgot to text you earlier but...Mr. Lim ate all his food for dinner. Did you scold him again? Hahaha”.

You ignore the text, hugging your legs to your chest as you rest your head on your knees. The water in the tub is no longer warm, and you aren’t sure if it’s water from your hair or tears that are trickling down, but you let your sobs echo across the bathroom either way. Maybe you’d forget everything if you did.

You knew the answer to that.

Meanwhile, back in SKZ’s headquarters, the three agents return and head to one of the lounge areas, plopping onto the couch with heavy sighs. A dimpled agent looks up from his book and smiles sympathetically, “How bad was it?”

“Chan,” the buff agent starts, “it wasn’t bad...she’s just...difficult. I would have used force if it were up to me, but Mr. Jung didn’t want that.”

“What Changbin said. And she’s a bit hostile. Like Minho on his bad days?” the long haired agent whines.

“Hwang Hyunjin.” Minho glares, shaking his head before returning to the book in his hands.

The sharp-eyed agent shrugs, “Either way, she was really adamant on not coming with us. It’s either she’s scared, suspicious or hates SKZ so much...and I wouldn’t know why. Maybe it’s all of the above.”

A freckled agent - Felix - laughs and speaks, “Jeongin, why didn’t you use your charms?”

“Charms? I’m not the seducer, Hyunjin is.” Jeongin states.

“I don’t think Dr. Song is the type to get seduced…” Hyunjin thinks to himself, trailing off.

Another agent with dark brown hair - Seungmin - hums as he leans back on another couch, “Does Mr. Jung know?”

“Yeah, we told him.” Changbin explains, “He...he’s going to send Minho next.”

Minho grimaces, the irritation on his face evident, “Shouldn’t Chan go first or something? Maybe someone nice and sweet and calm would work.”

Chan slings an arm around the other male, laughing, “Or maybe some force needs to be used.”

Minho looks at him with an eyebrow raised, and Chan sighs with a smile, “Ok, not violent force but...someone strong and stubborn.”

“Bang Chan, are you calling me stubborn?” Minho fake gasps.

“You kinda are.” Seungmin points out with a laugh.

The agent with a sharp nose and sparkly eyes groans and leans his head back on the couch, “I am not a babysitter, I’m a field agent. I don’t have the time to deal with a whiney woman who doesn’t want to be here in the first place.”

An agent with round cheeks shrugs, “Mr. Jung seems to know Dr. Song very well and has her in high regard. We must really need her here.”

Jeongin agrees, nodding his head, “Jisung has a point. And we need her soon.”

“Maybe she’ll come if she finally sees Minho’s face. He is handsome and sexy. Who would say no to him?”

“Damn it, Hyunjin - ”

“Anyway,” Changbin interrupts, “I warned Dr. Song to just...comply; not to push Minho’s buttons because we know what he’s capable of and all.”

“I’m not going to kill her.” Minho sighs, rubbing his temples.

Changbin laughs, “No, no. I mean...your whole ‘cut the crap’ attitude. We know you’re most probably going to get irritated with her and might end up fighting or something.”

Minho hums as if he was agreeing, pouting his bottom lip in thought. Chan chuckles, shaking his head, “Maybe you should try being a gentleman with her.”

Minho shakes his head as well. “That isn’t going to work with her, if Changbin, Hyunjin and Jeongin’s encounter is anything to go by.” the agent states, “Might just irritate her more. Look at Seungmin. He’s cranky a lot. Maybe doctors are like that.”

“Minho…” Seungmin sighs, but Jisung and Felix only laugh.

“Well, Minho doesn’t take mission or task failures too well, so I’m sure Dr. Song will be here in no time!” Chan pipes in, earning a chorus of agreements from the other agents.

Minho makes a small nod before sighing. He prays you actually listen and come with him without much trouble.

The next day, you drive yourself to the hospital for another day of work. Things go on normally, and you put on a smile when meeting with your patients. You even laugh and crack jokes with other patients while you visit them in their rooms. You give the little children hugs whenever their parents ask them to thank you for your time; a nice contrast to what happened last night.

But once it’s your lunch break, you sit at one of the hospital’s cafeteria tables, blankly staring into space as you eat your lunch. You don’t even notice the person sitting in front of you until he laughs and says, “You don’t look so good, y/n.”

You snap your eyes up and nearly choke on your food. Swallowing and clearing your throat, you softly chuckle and say, “What makes you say that?”

Hyunbin smiles, leaning forward with a playfully serious expression, “Your face just looks way more exhausted today. And I don’t know...I just feel like something’s bothering you. Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“As expected from one of Gongjak’s best doctors.” you tease, looking at your food with a melancholic expression, “But we’re always going to be exhausted. Part of being a doctor, right?”

The male doctor nods, “I know, but...you are ok, aren’t you?”

You nod, offering a slightly wider smile, “Perfectly.”

The male grins in satisfaction with your answer, leaning back on his chair to talk about his “cute little patients” running around and laughing when they get lollipops after their check-ups. You listen to him share stories, but somewhere along the line, your mind drifts off. To where, you aren’t sure, but it’s definitely not as cute and happy as Hyunbin’s stories.

When the day ends, you’re more than relieved to come home without mysterious agents appearing anywhere in your house. Maybe they’d leave you alone now.

And the next day also goes by smoothly as you work in the hospital. Sure, you had two operations to handle - and one of them nearly went south, but thankfully it didn’t - but nonetheless, it was a smooth and average day for you, and it was as if you forgot all about what happened with the agents the other night.

You wave to Hyunbin before leaving the hospital, laughing as he jokes with a “don’t fall asleep while driving!”. And thankfully, you don’t do that, making it back home quickly and safely.

The stillness that welcomes you once you enter the house is a bit eerie, but it doesn’t seem to bother you that much; after all, it was a bit chilly-weathered recently. You take a nice, quick warm bath before deciding you wanted a midnight snack since you didn’t get to eat dinner courtesy of the two back-to-back emergency operations you had to perform. After slipping into your nightgown and a fluffy robe to keep you warm, you go down to the kitchen.

While preparing a cup of coffee and preparing a quick sandwich, you hear faint rustling somewhere in the house. You don’t own any pets, and your neighbors hardly visited, so the first thought that enters your mind is that the agents are back. It isn’t dread or fear that fills your veins - it’s anger and frustration. You scoff angrily, glancing at the coffee maker and sandwich on the plate before making quick steps towards your study room. Harshly pushing the door open and switching on the lights, you scan the room.

But no one is there.

You look behind your desk and shelves, but still no sign of people. Maybe Hyunbin was right and you were just more tired than usual; maybe your mind was playing tricks. Sighing, you shut the door and resume your business in the kitchen, needing that cup of coffee much more now.

Once the coffee is done brewing, you take the mug and plate in your hands, making your way to your bedroom. Coming home at midnight or past midnight was always accompanied by a cold silence that resulted from all your other neighbors being asleep. But that was probably better than a bustling city filled with horns and drunk people shouting after a night in the club.

You sit on your bed, letting yourself release a deep breath as soon as your body comes into contact with the soft sheets. You munch into your sandwich, absentmindedly letting your gaze drift to the window. The sky is a beautiful shade of blue-violet mixed with inky black, silvery-white stars twinkling here and there. You find yourself smiling at the view; when was the last time you actually stopped to admire something? To actually feel safe and calm? To feel like you were finally free?

You take a sip of coffee and muse on about everything that has happened since you left SKZ; it’s been two years, and you were more than satisfied with working on Gongjak Medical Hospital. Surely, the things that happened in SKZ made you less trusting, but you had one or two friends - including Hyunbin - that you deeply trusted.

But despite that, the trauma still lingered. And you knew more than anyone that you truly would never be free.

You put your coffee cup down on the bedside table, getting up to bring the sandwich plate to the kitchen. However, as soon as your eyes are set on the door, you see a figure leaning against it, arms crossed as he stares - or glares - at you. You sigh, tugging on your robe tighter, “Did Jung Hyunseo send you?”

The figure doesn’t make any sign of expression unlike the previous agents; instead, he remains stone-faced as he pushes himself off the door. “Agent Seo said you’d be difficult. Can we not do that tonight? Things like these aren’t exactly in my job description.” he sighs.

“Then maybe Agent Seo made it clear that I don’t want to comply.” you say sharply.

The male’s eyes narrow in the slightest, and you don’t miss the darkness in them. He has a different aura compared to the other three. With the dim light of your lamp, you can see that he had sharp features - handsome, if you would, but definitely had a sharper and more daunting presence. Cold and steely.

“Yes, he did.” the male starts, putting on a bored act as he adjusts the buttons on his dress shirt’s sleeves, “But I’m here to make sure you don’t say ‘no’ again.”

“SKZ can’t force me against my will, even if they are some organization or agency.” you point out, irritation rising once more, “I have my rights.”

The agent huffs, crossing his arms again, “Listen, Dr. Song. I don’t want to be here, yet here I am. Mr. Jung personally requested your presence. You seem like a smart person, judging by how he holds you with such high regard, so can you at least hear him out?”

You roll your eyes, picking the plate from your bedside table. You slip your slippers on and ignore the agent, opting to head for the door yourself. You reach past him to hold onto the door knob, twisting it and pulling the door open as best as you can. Unlike Changbin, this agent refused to budge or leave. In fact, he grabs your wrist quite strongly and slams the door shut; the loud bang startles you in the slightest, causing your eyes to widen despite your urge not to. No, you refuse to show any sign of uneasiness.

The agent grabs the plate from you while still holding onto your wrist tightly. “Please do not test me, Dr. Song. My colleagues wanted to make sure I don’t hurt you, and I personally don’t do such things, so please, don’t push it.”

“Would you hurt me?” you challenge, levelling the male’s glare with sharp eyes, “Because I’m not as weak as you think.”

A lie. A complete and utter lie. Yes, you were strong-willed, but emotionally, mentally and physically strong? No. You were smart, but you were anything but strong. You believed you were weak. You refuse to face the past and move on from it. That’s what makes you weak, you thought.

“Wow.” the agent smirks, “Dr. Song, I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t need to. You aren’t a target; you’re the mission.”

With the last sentence, he grips your wrist just a bit tighter. Infuriated, you grit your teeth and harshly yank your arm away from him, quickly turning on your heel to run and grab your phone from the bed. Who were you going to call? Hyunbin? The hospital director? The police? You didn’t know, but you surely wanted this agent out of your sight.

You grabbed your phone to dial whoever’s number, but just as your finger is about to press the contacts app, the agent is in front of you, taking the phone in his hand and tossing it to the carpeted floor with a dull thud. You stare at him in mixed anger and disbelief, opening your mouth to shout some insult. However, a yelp is what comes out of your mouth instead because the agent tangles one of his legs with yours, tugging at your ankle to trip you.

With the momentum, you fall to your bed behind, back landing on the mattress with the agent above you, one hand still gripping your wrist. You have no fighting experience, and clearly engaging in a fight with someone who was trained seemed like the worst possible choice of action. Yet you did.

Without hesitation, you swing your free arm in a sorry attempt to slap the agent, but he easily catches your wrist with his other hand, now pinning your own hands above your head. You look up at the agent with a gaze burning with anger. “What fucked up crap has SKZ gotten themselves into this time?” you hiss, on the verge of raising your voice, “Why do they need me?”

Despite your outburst, the agent remains emotionless, disposition composed and collected much to your dismay. “You’ll find out if you come with me, Dr. Song.” he responds calmly, raising an eyebrow, “I don’t want to knock you out to do that.”

You try to wriggle your hands out of his grip and kick with your legs, but the agent holds your wrists tighter and pins your hips down with his own. His facial expression is still quite blank, but the furrow in his eyebrows tells you he is mildly - or maybe very - exasperated already. “Knock me out? Enlighten me how.” you spit out.

“You’re the doctor, Dr. Song. I’m sure you’re knowledgeable on gases that could do that. Or…” the agent remains expressionless, but there’s a haughty color in his eyes as he brings a hand to your cheek, gently caressing with his knuckles, “...I could hit you, which is what I do to our targets, but as I’ve said, I personally don’t want to do that.”

You can only stare at the male, eyebrows knit together in an upset manner as all the fight and anger in your body dissolves, tensed muscles weakening as the unfavorable position you’re in finally registers in your mind. When the agent blinks, you vaguely take note of his long eyelashes, a delicate contrast to his sharp and strong features.

“What will it be, Dr. Song?” he whispers, breath mingling with yours.

You shut your eyes, deflating as you sigh, “Fine. But if I hear what Jung Hyunseo has to say and I don’t like it, I have the right to refuse to assist SKZ.”

“Hmm, I’m afraid not.” the agent finally lets go of your wrists and clambers off of you, fixing and tucking in his dress shirt into his slacks, “If you refuse or run away, Mr. Jung will persistently send agent after agent for you until you fully return or help SKZ.”

“And once I help? Once I’m finished? Will SKZ finally and genuinely let me go and live?”

“Yes, Dr. Song.”

“Shit, fine. This is the last, I swear.”

You could have kept saying “no” in all honesty, but the prospect of an agent coming into your house - or worse, directly kidnapping or abducting you by force - was not something you wanted to think about; that would just make your life more miserable.

The agent lets you get dressed in your bathroom for privacy, but he waits in your room to make sure you don’t sneak out or run from him. Afterwards, he tells you to quickly follow him, which you do because you don’t really have a choice. Once in the black car with tinted windows, you sink into the passenger’s seat, a very big frown on your face as you look outside at the city lights. The agent himself is quiet as well, focused on driving rather quickly.

The buzzing silence in the car is then interrupted when his phone rings; he accepts the call with the speakers on so you could technically hear the voice of the person speaking: Jung Hyunseo, no doubt.

“Agent Lee, what’s the update?”

The male agent doesn’t take his eyes off the road as he answers, “She’s with me, sir.”

“I knew I could count on you.” Hyunseo chuckles lightly, “Thank you, Minho. See you back in HQ.”

When the call ends, and Minho stops the car as the traffic light turns red, he cranes his neck to face you, expression still annoyingly vague and basically emotionless. “Please do behave once we’re in HQ.” he says, “You may hate SKZ, but we all expect you to adhere to the rules, alright, doctor?”

You don’t even have the desire to respond, rolling your eyes as Minho breaks eye contact to focus on the road as the traffic light turns green.

Two years away from SKZ, and here you were, being dragged back into the place you desperately wanted to get away from.

Lee Minho.

You’d remember that agent’s name. Whether you went willingly or not, you had a feeling Lee Minho, on Jung Hyunseo’s command, would find one way or another to bring you back, and that was what affected you the most.

It was going to be his fault you were back.

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