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#like damn it’s just now really hitting me that they’ve known each other like. at least 35-40 years?
designernishiki · 1 year
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it really means the world to me that little 12 year old daigo mentions that kiryu used to hang out with him a lot, meaning a teenage kiryu (and likely a teenage nishiki as well) basically babysat an even younger daigo on the reg for some amount of time. i wonder what shenanigans they got up to
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the-way-of-words · 6 months
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PolyVerse Cam Boy AU
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Nicholas Ruffilo x Holly(ofc) x Noah Sebastian Content warnings: sex work, consensual voyeurism, exhibitionism, oral sex (fem receiving), P in V sex, fwb to lovers Contains sexual situations with fictionalized versions of real people. This is fake, none of this happened, but if its not your thing, please hit the back button or scroll on. I don't even know what to say for myself here... you can thank/blame the lovely @throwingmetothelions who asked for a PolyVerse take on her Cam Boy HC and... well. This happened. This is an AU and unrelated to the main PolyVerse canon. <DISCLAIMER> THIS IS BLOG IS SEX WORK POSITIVE and if that's not your thing then please keep scrolling.
tag team: @ladyveronikawrites @nerdraging4point0 @cncohshit @jxstthisonce @kingdomof-omens @deathblacksmoke @signs-of-ill-portent
please let me know if you would like to be added to a tag list
Part of the PolyVerse AUs // Master list
~~~~~~~
Noah’s stunned when Nick comes to him with the idea. 
“Are you sure she’s okay with this?” He asks, staring his friend down. “I know you guys hook up sometimes, just like I know she knows we hook up sometimes, but…” Noah lets the rest of it go unsaid. 
It’s different when it's on the cam streams. 
They’ve both been doing this for a while now, jerking off online for money. It started off as a joke at first, an offhand comment by one of his exes about how he could make some quick cash, with Nick starting his own shit up not long after and while they don’t really need to do it anymore, it’s kind of fun. They jerk off anyway, so why not keep it up? Help keep some money in their pockets for the lean times. 
They’re no strangers to collaborating, they always make the most bank when they’re together, but something about bringing someone else in makes him pause. He understands where Nick’s coming from, though. There’s been a few requests—mainly from women—that they should show others how to get a girl off properly. Because they seem to know exactly how to talk to get a pussy wet, they might be pretty damn good with women too.
Nick rolls his eyes. “Yes. I’m sure she’s okay with it… Who do you think I was on the phone with earlier?” 
He watches the gears turn in his friend’s mind and Nick’s certain he’s going to say yes, Holly’s a fucking catch. She’s hot as hell, not to mention cool as shit, and he knows… he knows Noah’s curious, just like Holly’s curious about Noah. Neither of them would ever admit to it, but he knows they’ve thought about each other like that. He’s seen the look on Noah’s face when he’s face-timed with Nick and caught an accidental eyeful of Holly in the background. Not to mention, he knows Holly’s seen a stream or two. What, you really think I wouldn’t support my best friend and his other emotional support best friend/fuck buddy? 
“Look. She said yes, and before you ask, yes, she knows what she’s getting into… She’s watched a couple of our streams before. But she’s only going to do this if you’re on board with it too.”
Noah takes a deep breath, exhaling noisily as he narrows his eyes at Nick. “Fuck, okay, fine. I’m in.”
~~
It takes a few days to put it all together, and in that time, Noah’s been able to convince himself that everything is fine. It’s just Holly, and it’s just sex, he tells himself. They’ve all known each other for years, but thanks to him living in California most of the time, he’s never gotten as close to her as Nick has, but her wicked sense of humor tells him they’d get along great if they had a chance. And as for the sex thing…
As much as he’d never tell Nick or Holly, he’s not gonna try to lie to himself and say he’s never thought about her like that. She’s beautiful; all dark hair and soft curves, curves he’s gotten a glimpse of a time or two when he’s video called Nick right after they’ve been together. He can’t actually say what’s got him so twisted up about it, so he pushes it away because, it doesn’t really matter.
Yet it all comes rushing back the minute he opens the door and sees Holly standing there. It’s been a while since he’s seen her. Her dark wavy hair now just barely brushes her shoulders, the remains of a bright color on the ends, and he wonders if it’s as soft as it looks. His eyes track down her body, noting how the thin straps of her white cotton dress leave her shoulders bare, save for the smattering of freckles that he itches to map with his tongue. A weight drops in his stomach, cock stirring in his jeans when he notices the strappy leather harness and the way it frames her breasts. 
Noah doesn’t realize he’s been staring too long until she clears her throat. “So, uh, you wanna let me in?” 
Shit. He mentally curses himself, stepping aside. “Sorry—yeah, come on in.”  
“Thanks.” Her smile is almost shy as she moves past him and, fuck, if it doesn’t endear him to her more.
He’s just about to ask her how she’s been when Nick comes out of the bedroom to greet her.
“Hey--” Nick starts, trailing off when he fully sees her. “Wow. Look at you, huh?”
Holly laughs, “I’m sorry… You were the one who told me to, and I quote, wear something pretty you can get fucked in. Is there a problem?”
Noah can’t keep his laugh to himself when she drops her voice down an octave, trying to imitate Nick. “She’s got a point, dude.”
“I have absolutely no problem with it… I just might have a hard time keeping myself on the task at hand.” Nick says with a roll of his eyes, and his hands curl into fists at his sides briefly before he lets them go, reaching one out to pinch the white skirt, “You know how I feel about this dress.”
She smirks. “Why do you think I wore it?”.
~~
“Everyone’s different,” Nick settles himself behind Holly on the bed, his chest to her back so he can touch her and still be able to see what’s being said in the chat. “But sometimes Holly likes it with a little sting..” She makes an agreeable noise when Nick nips at her neck, head tipping back against his shoulder as he soothes it with his tongue. His hands rake up her thighs, tangling in the soft material of her dress, pulling it up the higher they go, and Noah almost chokes on his tongue when he realizes that save for the trimmed thatch of curls, she's bare under that dress.
Noah watches the tattooed hands pet down her inner thighs, fingers fluttering against the skin as they make their way to her pussy. They skirt around her folds, brushing everywhere but where she seems to want him the most. Nick chuckles lowly when she whimpers, his hands moving to her hips to hold her still when rocks them slightly, trying to entice him to touch her.
“Oh, come on, Holly. You know we’re just getting started.” 
She huffs. “You know it’s not nice to tease.” 
“Yeah,” Nick laughs, “but we have an audience this time… and foreplay is important." 
Noah follows Nick’s eyes to the computer monitor where the chat has been going wild while their attention has been elsewhere
<Sherry_Bomb29> He hasn’t even really touched her and it’s still so hot
<Alotta2love> foreplay? what’s foreplay?
<HannieBanannie> this has to be the best friendship in the world holy shit
“Oh, I hope you’re joking, Alotta2love. Foreplay is awesome.” Nick’s always been good at this. He can work this type of audience in ways Noah can’t. “Doesn’t matter what the main event is, you still should warm each other up… even if one of you is impatient.” 
Holly scoffs at the dig, biting back playfully. “You’re such a shit. Like you’ve never been impatien--” she cuts off, gasping when Nick’s hand delves back into her center, slotting his fingers into her folds, avoiding her clit while the other hand grips her thigh tight. He can see the way her flesh indents around the digits, and Noah wonders if Nick’s ever left bruises on her, if that’s what he means when he said she likes it with a little sting. 
Holly whimpers just as Nick dips a finger into her and he cusses, “Fuck. How are you already this wet?” 
“Gee… I—I wonder.” She huffs, breathless. “Nick… Please--”
Nick nods, snickering, “I got you, Holls. Come on.” He moves out from behind her, letting her settle on her back before stretching out on his stomach between her legs. “You know,” he says, voice muffled in the skin of her inner thigh, “you’re lucky there’s more that needs to happen here. Having you all needy like this makes me want to spend all night seeing exactly how desperate I can make you.” 
He noses along her folds, pulling another whimper from her before he lifts his head, raising his voice a bit as he addresses the stream. “Now when you find yourself ready to put your mouth to work, you never want to start full on… You need to build it up before you just suck on your partner's clit. Holly like’s little swipes of the tongue along her clit at first before I bring my fingers into it.” Nick lowers his head and does just that, swiping and rolling his tongue on her as Holly moans, hands curling into Nick’s sheets, and the sound goes straight to Noah’s cock. God, he’s so hard it hurts. He presses his palm down on the bulge in his jeans, desperate to soothe the ache that’s done nothing but grow the longer he watches the two of them together. 
Noah can hear the pings of the chat going off, the clinking noises of the money coming in, but he can’t bring himself to look away, especially not when Nick slides a finger into her. She gasps, her hips already canting up in search of more. 
“Do you want another?” Nick asks into her pussy, not even bothering to raise his head for her answer. Holly mumbles something unintelligible, and he wonders if it’s part of some sort of shorthand they’ve developed because Nick just nods and slides another finger in right along the first, spreading his free hand across the expanse of her lower belly.
“Some people don’t need or want penetration with oral, it all depends on your partner's preference.” Nick’s voice is low, strained, as if it's taking all he has to speak when he would just rather keep his mouth on her. “But Holly does… and see my other hand up here?” His fingers drum on her stomach. “She really enjoys it when I put a little pressure right here while I got my fingers inside her.” He pushes his hand down slightly, pulling a sharp cry from the woman beneath him.
Noah has to readjust, leaning forward so he can watch as Nick presses open-mouthed kisses against her folds before he sucks her clit into his mouth. One of Holly’s hands digs into his friend’s hair, holding him to her while she rolls her hips against his face, muttering fuck fuck fuck fuck before she cuts off with a strangled moan as her back bows and she cums on Nick’s fingers. Nick groans against her mound and he keeps going, fucking her through the aftershocks until she’s tugging his hair and gasping. He can smell her in the air when Nick pulls his fingers free with a curse, pushing himself up to fit his mouth to hers. 
It’s needy, the way they kiss. Holly’s legs hitch around Nick’s waist and they groan into each other's mouths when he drops his hips down to grind against her. Noah wonders if it’s always this intense between them and he can’t help but feel like an interloper here, watching as they clutch at each other. 
“I told you I was going to have a hard time keeping myself in check,” Nick mumbles when they pull apart, resting their foreheads together. “All I wanna do right now is sink myself inside you.”
“Yeah…” Holly breathes. One of her hands grips his backside, urging him to do it again, “I want it too… but… you—you can’t tell me you’re not looking forward to what’s happening next.” 
“I know… You're right.” He kisses her one more time and then he’s pushing himself away from her with a grunt. "You good to keep going?"
Holly's smile is blinding, and Nick feels that tug in his chest again, the one he usually gets whenever they're together, the one he's gotten pretty adept at ignoring lately. "I'd tell you if I wasn't." 
It takes everything in his power to leave her on the bed and trade places with Noah, but he does it nonetheless, planting himself in the chair Noah has vacated while the other man approaches the bed. He glances at the chat, curious, and what he sees makes his cheeks heat.
<Alotta2love> where do I sign up for a friendship like this?
<Amy357> are we sure they’re just friends $10 says they start dating soon if they’re not already.
<Sherry_Bomb29> I couldn’t care less, as long as they do this every once in a while.
<Sherry_Bomb29> I haven’t been this turned on in ages and they’re not even done.
Nick shakes his head. That’s enough of the chat for him, he decides, choosing to give his attention to Noah and Holly instead.
~~
Noah's no stranger to sex, to casual hookups with no strings attached. Yet his hands twitch against her thighs when he fits himself between them, like he doesn't know where to start… God, she's beautiful, smiling up at him all loose-limbed and relaxed from the orgasm Nick gave her. It's almost overwhelming how much he just wants her. Fuck, he wants it all. 
"Whatcha thinking about?" 
His face heats.. “I uh—I just don’t quite know where I want to start.” He runs his hands up her thighs, letting them continue their way up her body, and he enjoys the way her breath hitches when he rubs his thumbs over the hardened peaks of her nipples showing through the thin material of her dress. 
Her mouth opens, but Nick cuts in before she can say anything. "You're going to need to work her up again. What better way to start by kissing her?”
Holly rolls her eyes, raising herself on her elbows, and tilting her head to the side as she looks behind him. "I'm sorry," she replies, "are you the one driving here? Because I'm pretty sure it's just me and Noah on this bed."
He follows her gaze to see Nick put his hands up in mock surrender. “Sorry… I’ll stop… Just thought I’d help you out a little.” 
Judging by that smirk on his face, Nick’s not sorry at all, and Noah’s sure this isn’t the last time he’s going to be helpful. But he turns back to Holly, tipping her attention to him with a finger under her chin. “Is that where I should start, huh? Want me to kiss you?”
She bites her lip, nodding her head, and fuck, he can’t wait to nip at it. “Let me hear you say it, Holly.”
“Yes.”
He’s vaguely aware of Nick saying something to the stream about the importance of consent, but he’s too busy sliding his fingers through the dark waves of her hair, cupping the back of her head and pressing his lips to hers to fully pay attention. The first touch is soft, a little shy, but it quickly turns heated quickly when he feels her tongue sneak out to tease the seam of his lips. Noah groans, nipping at her bottom lip before opening his mouth to let it in to curl against his. He cups a breast, thumbing the nipple as he tightens his grip on her hair, lightly tugging her head back to grant his mouth access to the skin of her throat. 
She fists her hands in his shirt as he nips and sucks his way down to her chest, where he can push a triangle cup out of the way so he can suck her nipple into his mouth. He remembers what Nick said about her liking a little sting, so he scrapes his teeth across the hardened bud and Noah can’t help but smile against her when he’s rewarded with a soft cry as she tries to grind her hips against his.
“Did you use your teeth? She really likes it when you use your teeth.” Nick cuts in again, causing Noah to roll his eyes before he pulls off her tit to level his friend with a look.
His eyes cut to the chat, and he almost wants to laugh.
<HannieBanannie> omg is someone jealous?? 
“Nah.” Noah answers, “he just wants to show off when he should be narrating for all you fine folks. Now,” he glances at Nick, “are you gonna let me get her off or not?”
He doesn’t wait for Nick to answer, turning back to Holly without another word. With new confidence, he caresses her thighs teasingly. One of his hands follows an invisible path to her center, while the other settles at the base of her throat. Her pupils expand and she tips her head back, baring her neck for him once more. 
“You can choke me, if you want.” She murmurs, biting her lip again when he teases her folds with his thumb.
“Yeah?” he asks, enjoying her whimper when he pushes a finger into her. “Is that something you like?” 
“Y—yeah… I do.” Holly stutters when he adds a second digit. 
“Hm. Okay, then.” Noah nods, allowing his fingers to flex slowly around her neck as he lazily fucks her with his fingers. She’s so soft inside, so wet, and god, the sound she makes when he curls his fingers drives him insane. 
She whines when he relaxes his hold on her throat, “You can handle me a little harder than that… I’m not made of glass.”
“Oh, I can tell.” His mouth pulls into a smirk as he squeezes her neck again, lowering his face to hers. “And that’s good… Only a tough girl could handle what I wanna do to you,” he whispers with satisfaction curling in his gut when he feels her juices drip down his fingers, “and some day, we’re gonna see just how much you can take—open up.”
Noah taps her lips with wet fingers, groaning when she opens her mouth to let the digits glide along her tongue, eyes zeroing on the way her cheeks hollow as she licks and sucks every bit of herself from his skin until he can’t take it anymore. Fuck, he thinks, he could play with her for hours without getting bored.  
He squeezes tight around her throat one last time, pressing his mouth to hers briefly, letting his tongue drag across her parted lips before he pulls away; shuffling back until he finds himself face to face with her cunt. She’s so wet, her folds glisten with slick gathering around the edges of her hole and Noah wants nothing more than to drown in it. 
“Would you want to try something?” He asks, abruptly pushing himself up to look at her. 
Holly laughs, exasperated, “as long as it finally gets your mouth on me, I’m down for anything.” 
“Will you sit on my face?”
~~
“C’mere.” 
Noah’s voice is soft as he settles on his back, tapping his chest as if to show her where she needs to go. She bites at her bottom lip, and tries to focus on the man below her, not Nick, or the camera and the laptop where she’d be able to see herself and what everybody watching is saying. His hands are comforting where they rest on her thighs as she straddles his head, slowly lowering her pussy to his mouth. The first touch of his tongue earns him a soft moan as her mouth falls open and one of her hands weaves into his hair. Her hips rock on their own accord before she can think to stop and Noah groans, pulling her up minutely to utter, “That’s it, ride my fucking face.” 
Holly nods, gasping when his hands dig into her thighs to pull her to him once again, but she does as he asked; planting her knees beside his head, she tightens her grasp on his hair as she grinds on his tongue. Everything else fades as she loses herself in the feel of Noah’s mouth against her, her head falling back when she takes one of her nipples between her thumb and forefinger, pinching and rolling the sensitive flesh until she’s whimpering. 
“Holly, look at me.” 
There’s no room for embarrassment as arousal floods her gut when she immediately follows Nick's request. He looks wrecked and Holly swears she can feel his desire across the small distance separating them. It heats her blood, adding to the ecstasy flowing through her when Noah slides three fingers into her without warning and she can’t look away, doesn’t dare to, as her orgasm takes hold. She cums with a curse, muttering Noah’s name in a choked gasp as she rides the wave out on his fingers and tongue. 
~~
He feels scattered, frayed. Out of all the ways he and Holly have fooled around, they’ve never done that, but after watching how the pleasure played across her face as she rode Noah’s face, he’ll be remedying that the next chance he gets. 
The chat has been long abandoned; he stopped keeping track the second Holly started whimpering. His entire brain went offline, his head empty except for one thing and one thing only: want. Even now he has a hard time dragging his attention away from the two on the bed, as Noah finally releases his iron grip and she collapses beside him. Nick watches his friend turn to press a kiss to Holly’s thigh, saying something about how he could have kept going if she would have just let him. He clears his throat, attempting to pull himself together so he can address those watching.
<Amy357> fuck that was hot
<Amy357> who knew he had a control thing
<Hannie_Banannie> did you see the way she immediately looked at him?
<Hannie_Banannie> i’m gonna need new batteries after this
<Alotta2love> I don’t even care that he stopped talking 
<Alotta2love> i haven’t came that hard in ages
Nick coughs. He’s not in the mood for his usual spiel tonight, desperate as he is to get his hands on Noah and Holly. He keeps it quick and simple, and if anything he can make up for it next time, but for now…
“Sorry I lost track there, but, uhm, thanks for hanging with us tonight and, uh, make sure to check your emails for info about next time,” then without another glance at the stream, the chat, any of it, he’s pressing the little ‘x’ in the left-hand corner.
The stream is barely closed before he slams the laptop shut, and he turns around just in time to see Holly and Noah crash together in a heated kiss. She tugs at his jeans just as he pulls off his shirt and once it's gone, he's helping her shove the denim down just enough for him to fit his cock inside her. 
She cries out when he pushes his way inside, pulling away from Noah’s mouth to briefly meet Nick’s eyes over his shoulder before her lids flutter closed as Noah pulls his hips back, only to thrust into her sharply. They both groan as he finds his rhythm and the sound cuts Nick straight to the core. It spurs him into action, and his shirt finds the floor quickly, followed by his pants and underwear. 
“Couldn’t wait for me, huh?” He asks as he crosses to the bed, kneeling in the space beside her head.
“Y—you snooze, you lose,” Holly stutters. “But—oh fuck—you’re free to join… any… time.”
“Shit.” Noah makes a frustrated noise, and his hips pause mid-thrust before he pulls out of her completely. “I, uh, I need a second…” he pants, resting his forehead on her shoulder, “god, how do you feel so good?” 
“Probably… the same way… you do?” Holly replies with a breathless smile, tangling her fingers in his hair to scratch at his scalp. 
It's not jealousy that fills him as he witnesses the tender moment, it's something soft. Something that heats his insides in an entirely different way than the need coursing through him, and when Noah steps away to finish kicking off his pants, he takes his opportunity to join: asking Holly to sit up so he can slide himself between her and the headboard.
“I think you’re a little overdressed,” he says, reaching for the buckle of her harness. “How about we fix that?” Holly nods, turning her head to fit her mouth to his as he pulls the small strip of leather free from its buckle, sliding the straps down her arms before helping Noah with her dress. Her bare back is warm when she rests against his chest, the skin of her belly soft under his fingers where he touches her as Noah guides himself back inside her with a groan. 
Her lower back rubs against his cock with every thrust of Noah’s hips, and Nick can’t find himself to care about the smear of precum that’s spreading on her skin as she tries to match Noah’s rhythm. It’s almost enough to send him over the edge, but then she arches against him, back bowing upwards, one of her hands reaches behind her to grasp his head, the other clutching Noah close as she writhes between them, mouth open in a silent cry.
“Shit shit shit,” Noah curses, “god that’s good. Sooo fucking good. I’m gonna—can I??”
Holly nods, swallowing thickly before uttering a hoarse, please. Almost immediately, Noah’s thrusts stutter. Cupping a hand behind Holly’s head, he pulls her mouth to his, letting her swallow his whimpers as his hips finally still. 
They both groan when he pulls out, sharing one last kiss before he breaks away, leaning up into Nick’s space to press their lips together too. He tastes like Holly, but not so strongly that he doesn’t taste what’s uniquely Noah underneath. 
“Well, that’s even hotter in person.” Holly pipes up, and they pause. “Do you think I could get a longer show sometime?” 
He feels Noah’s mouth curve into a smile that matches his own as they part. “If that’s something you want, beautiful, anytime,” his eyes grow dark, a glint of mischievousness sparking to life as he tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, “but right now, I think there’s another show I really wanna see instead.”
~~
Nick’s hands grip her sides at Noah’s words, and if he thinks Holly forgot about him, he’s got another thing coming. She wasn’t lying when she said she picked her outfit for today based on Nick’s preferences; anytime Holly’s worn that dress since they’ve started hooking up, she quickly finds herself pressed against the nearest flat surface. 
“What do you say, Holls?” Nick asks quietly, and it doesn’t matter that both of them have already taken her apart. Doesn’t matter that she can feel the soreness taking root in her cunt. Because this is Nick, and Holly knows beyond a doubt that she will always want him… always. 
"Yeah… I'm good."
~~
He's learned to trust her when she says she can keep going, so he nods and taps her hip. "Okay, then… c'mon." 
It takes no time at all for her to get to her knees, maneuvering until she’s got one on either side of him, still facing Noah. Nick grips her waist with one hand while the other holds his cock steady so she can sink down onto him. He curses when he slips inside, wracking his brain for anything to distract him from the way her pussy feels around him as she takes him all in one go. She’s so wet, and it drives him crazy, knowing it's not just her, that some of it is Noah too; that he’s got both of them coating his dick, and he hopes this isn’t the last time because he doesn’t know if he’s ever felt this good. 
With an iron grip, he digs his fingers into her waist as she starts to move, thighs flexing as she rises and falls on his cock and he'll be surprised if she doesn't have bruises in the morning, but Nick knows she likes it sometimes. Enjoys having reminders of this left over on her skin, especially when it’ll be months before they see each other again. He runs his other hand up the length of her back, enjoying the way her breath hitches when he takes hold of the back of her neck. 
Nick wishes he would have asked her to turn around, so he can see her face when he rocks his hips, fucking into her with shallow thrusts, but the desperate noise Noah makes as he watches them is worth it. His balls start to tingle, the coil in his gut winding tight and he knows he’s going to lose it soon. 
“Do you—do you think you can cum again?” he bites out.
“Maybe—oh shit--” Holly cuts off with a gasp as he feels Noah’s long fingers swipe across the both of them, gathering whatever has leaked out of her and onto his cock. Nick can feel his hand work as he rubs circles around her clit, spreading their combined juices on the sensitive skin.
“What about now, Holly?” Noah asks. 
She nods. “Ye—yeah… Yeah.”
His eyes slip closed as he feels her inner walls quiver around him and he grunts, trying to hold on until she goes. 
“Yeah… yeah you can,” Noah replies, and he can hear the smile in his voice, can see the cocky smirk in his mind’s eye, “because he feels good, doesn’t he?”
Holly whimpers, the ends of her hair tickling his hand when she nods.
“Then show me… let go.”
Holly cums with a wail, strangling his cock and pulling him over the edge with her; white noise fills his ears as he lets go, spilling into the clutch of her wet heat. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulls her close as they continue to move together, grinding against each other until it becomes too much. 
“Well, fuck. That was hot.” Noah says, cutting through the post-coital silence, “Is it always like that with you two?”
Holly and Nick both laugh as she pulls off him. “I mean… Yeah?” Holly replies from where she comes to lie at his side.
“Yeah, it is.” He agrees, reaching out to slot his fingers through hers.
And later, as he watches Holly and Noah share soft smiles with each other over pizza and card games, Nick knows; it's all about the change for the three of them. 
~~
Three weeks later, Nick refunds Amy357 $10 from the last stream, along with a note: 'A bet is a bet.'
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irrlicht-writes · 1 month
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scribbles on your spine
Read this and its updates on Ao3! Updates will be semi-weekly~
The light of the moon shines right into the small of the alleyway and Vox whimpers. He stares at Alastor’s back, and the demon’s head twitches, turning back around. The bullet had hit him right straight through the eye, and blood is pouring out of the socket. There’s blood on his shining yellow teeth, and it’s dropping down his chin onto his shoulders and chest.
“Little fool,” Alastor croons in a deep, warbling voice, “do you want me to kill you?” | When promises were made, years and years apart, sometimes it's worth remembering what those promises were for. And when they dance again, in a hall full of light, they might just tear each other apart.
*
Vox is staring at the calendar as if it’s somehow going to solve the problem for him. February is fast approaching, and with it, Valentine’s Day. He’s not sure what to do. Are he and Alastor an item? They’ve kissed, sure, but they’ve done little else... well, what happened in the studio non-withstanding. Vox still blushes when he thinks about that. He’d like a repeat.
Regardless, he’s getting distracted. Valentine’s Day. What the fuck is he going to do – is he going to do anything? What if Alastor will do something? Fuck, if only one of them were a girl, then this wouldn’t be so complicated. But Alastor is a girl, right? He’s got all the girl skills. Vox isn’t actually sure what girl skills actually are, but Alastor for sure got them, right? Cooking, cleaning, sewing, that sort of shit. And! And he has gossip parties with Rosie, doesn’t he? So yeah. Alastor is the girl. While Vox is the man. With all the man skills. Like. Like, uh. He’s surely got some deeply buried, manly man skills. Yup. Absolutely. Vox the Man, at your service.
Fucking hell.
Back to the damn point!
Valentine’s Day.
What the fuck is he gonna do?
Does Alastor even want to be wined and dined? Not that Vox can even afford that shit. What about flowers? Chocolate? Does Alastor even like chocolate? Can deer eat chocolate? What if he doesn’t like it? Gods fucking damn it. He curls up in his bed and hugs his pillow tight.
Alastor likes singing, and he likes dancing. That at least Vox knows. So maybe a trip to the club? But that hardly feels appropriate for Valentine’s Day. And does Alastor even like going to clubs? He’s never mentioned going to any before. Vox groans into his bedding. This had been easier when he had been alive. He really had to pull the baddest bitch in town in Hell, didn’t he?
If at least the bad bitch were uncomplicated...!
“Gods, you’re my last hope, I beg of you!”
Yesterday, Vox had shyly asked Rodriguez for advice. He hadn’t specified who his paramour was but judging by the man’s more than tired look, he had known. He’d also said fuck you in nice, flowery words. And then the asshole had walked away. Rodriguez was the rudest, useless assholes Vox had the misfortunate to know. He had definitely not run after him in tears, begging him for help. Nope. He would never, he’s a man.
And right now, in front of him, are sitting Husk and Niffty. He’d been lucky to get them both at the house while Alastor had been away. Niffty is chugging her coffee like it’s a sport – she’s on cup five already – and Husk looks like he just got rumpled out of sleep, although the grumpy look is definitely a staple for him anyway.
“I find that hard to believe,” Husk says and looks at his coffee. He’s complained about not being able to get whiskey – they are at a café, for fuck’s sake, they don’t serve fucking alcohol also it’s bloody midday!
“You know him better than I. Husk, please, just tell me what I can get him for Valentine’s. We’re... together, or something. And – and he’s the girl, so I have to get him a gift, but I don’t even know if he likes chocolate!”
“No,” Husk answers instinctively. “Wait, Alastor’s the girl?”
“Alastor’s not a girl!” Niffty pipes up. “He’s the bestest bad boy I know! Hey! I need another coffee!”
“No, Niff, you don’t need more coffee. Anyway – no, Red doesn’t like chocolate. He’ll eat it, but he doesn’t like sweets. And, Vox, I – I don’t think he cares about Valentine’s. So, don’t stress about it? If you really wanna do something – shit, I dunno. Also, what the fuck you mean when you say Red’s the girl?”
Vox whimpers and lets his face fall onto the table. He doesn’t know what to do! Ugh, he’s a terrible boyfriend. Is he even a boyfriend? Gods, why is this so complicated? Getting married had been simpler than this shit. He’s lucky to not have hair, he surely would’ve turned grey already.
“What do I do,” he whimpers against the table, his one and only friend in this hellscape.
“Pay the fucking coffee bill,” Husk says and Vox slumps.
He needs friends that are useful.
Later that day, Vox sits on the low wall, staring off into space. Somewhere above him is a transmitter mast, and he can hear Alastor broadcasting. He’s not really listening to the words – it’s early afternoon, and that’s when Alastor is running most of his cooking advice or actual skits. Speaking of, maybe he could cook for Alastor...? Well, yeah, he could do that, if he never wants to see the demon ever again.
Most storefronts are decorated in pink hearts and whatever else is considered cute. So, the easy solution is out: no chocolate for the radio demon. What about flowers? Maybe some nice, red roses? But – that feels so basic. Alastor is special, and so Vox should do something special. But what? Okay, let’s think; what does Alastor like?
He likes radio. He likes blood. He likes murder. He likes carnage. He likes Vox – probably.
Vox pulls a face. That’s not exactly a list he can do much with. Sure, maybe he could try to buy him a radio, but – it’s likely Alastor would already have it, no? And sure, Vox could try and import stuff from the living world, but he doesn’t have enough money for that and the demon is severely allergic against things that are younger than he is.
Vox sighs and hugs his legs.
Even after all this time, it’s jarring how similar Hell is. They celebrate the same holidays as back topside, and money is still a ruler over everyone. If something can get exploited monetarily, then it will be. Vox doesn’t really mind, but it sure as fuck stresses him out. Maybe he should just buy the demon a card. Something like bee mine or something, but instead something with a deer pun. You’re deerest to me, or some corny shit like that. But that would hardly be special, wouldn’t it? Anyone could do that. Vox wants to be different. He wants to be special.
But – how?
“You’re kinda pathetic, you know?”
Vox blinks, and looks up to see Maggie standing there. Huh. He hadn’t really expected her.
“Leave me alone,” he murmurs and hugs his knees tighter. He wants to sulk.
“Roddie said you got Valentine’s problems. Why? Flowers ain’t good enough?”
“No!”
Maggie rolls her eyes and sits down next to him.
“Why not? Creepy fucker would like ‘em, no? I hear he’s tryna to be a gentleman, or somethin’. And why don’t you think he’s gonna get you something?”
Vox blushes. He’s really obvious, isn’t he? But well, how could he not? Alastor is everything, and he doesn’t quite understand why he’s alone in this – not that he minds, he really doesn’t want to share, and he’s afraid that in a straight-up battle he’d lose pathetically. So maybe nobody sharing his viewpoint is a good thing.
“I want it to be special. Only thing I could do that’s different is organise a murder fest, but how the fuck would I do that? Like, walk up to someone and be like Yo wanna get slaughtered by the radio demon as a Valentine’s present? Yeah, no.”
Maggie hums, and kicks her legs a little. It’s kind of nice, Vox supposes, that she stopped. She didn’t have to, but she did.
“If it were reversed,” she says then, “what would you hope for?”
Vox looks at her and thinks. If Alastor were to give him a gift for Valentine’s... honestly, he’d be happy with anything, as long as Alastor were the one giving it. But it’s different for him. Vox knows he’s more in love with the demon than the demon is in love with him; if Alastor is really in love with him at all. But he feels dumb saying that. And to Maggie, of all people, not that it matters much.
“I dunno,” he settles on, then, because he doesn’t want to leave her hanging. “Maybe something that shows he thought about it for more than a moment.”
Maggie nods, seemingly lost in thought a bit. “You know,” she continues, “if it were me, I think I’d want something that reminds me of him. You know? Like, I’d look at it years down the road, and I’d still remember who it’s from, even if we’re not together anymore. A nice memory, no matter what happens, you know? Something to prove that there had been someone, even if it’s no longer true.”
Befuddled, he looks at her. Huh, that’s actually kind of profound. Something that’ll always show you were there, once, even if you’re not any longer. Sure, Vox won’t ever leave Alastor’s side, but he likes the poetics behind the statement.
“Can’t you be this profound when we shoot our fucking movies?”
Maggie laughs, and punches him in the arm.
“I could be,” she chuckles, “if the scripts were good. See you later, Vox. Don’t think too hard, yeah? I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
She hops down the wall and saunters away. Vox looks after her for a bit, before he directs his gaze onto the pavement. What could he do, that is unique to him, that would remind Alastor of him for years to come?  He touches his face. He has an idea, but he doesn’t know if it’ll work. He could just try it. What’s the worst that could happen? But he needs help with it. He hopes Alastor is still out. He slides down the wall, and makes his way to his destination.
He’s lucky.
Alastor is still out.
“Yeah, I can do that,” Niffty says. “How big do you want it?”
“Not big,” Vox replies, “It just needs to fit something of this size into it, so it’ll need a zipper or something in the back.”
He shows Niffty with his fingers, and she gets paper to draw a line on it. “Is it okay if I need a week?”
He nods. “Yeah, sure, don’t worry about it. I need to make the thing first, anyhow. And thanks for helping me, Niffty. What can I give you in return?”
Niffty taps a finger against her chin, thinking hard. “Nothing! It’s for Alastor, so it’s okay. He always finds the best bugs for me, and lets me do my puppet shows. I like him a lot! And don’t worry, I won’t tell him. He usually doesn’t care what I do in my free time.”
Vox breathes a sigh of relief. That’s good to hear. He’ll still think of something to do for Niffty – he can’t really do his plan without her, after all. Maybe some energy drinks supply, or something. She seems to be finding bugs and bad boys on her own well enough – such an odd combination.
“My my, is that a bunny I spy?”
Vox doesn’t shriek, really, he doesn’t, when Alastor speaks up behind him. Fucking hell, he hadn’t heard the door open.
“H-hey, Allie,” he croaks like a frog and turns his head, looking at the demon over his shoulder. Behind him is Husk, holding grocery bags. It surprises Vox every time, seeing the demon be so domestic he goes and buys groceries like a regular motherfucker.
Husk drags himself in the direction of the kitchen, clearly thrilled with his current situation in life.
“I wasn’t aware you’d be visiting, dear. Will you be staying for dinner? I was told a new recipe I simply must try out.”
The demon swings his cane around and pats Niffty on the head absent-mindedly. He doesn’t even seem to notice and fuck, Vox is in love. He looks up at Alastor, smiling like the fool he is.
“Yeah, I’d like to. I’d really like to stay.”
I’d really like to stay forever.
Vox doesn’t really have much space in his home, but he makes do. In life, he’s liked to tinker a fair amount, so he’s feeling pretty confident. He’s got no idea if Alastor will actually like his gift, but – maybe in the end, the thought is what counts most. And boy, did Vox think about this. Even if this turns out to be a failure, he can always look back and say he’s tried his best. But it won’t. It won’t be a failure, it’ll be a huge success. Holding his trusty screwdriver in hand, Vox smiles.
He looks out the window. Dinner at Husk’ house had been an experience, and Vox is eager to repeat it.
“It tastes like garbage!”
“Now, you’re just saying that because I didn’t put the cheese in. You know how terrible you react to cheese, Husker! Vox, dear, what do you think?”
“Hey, that ain’t fair! Of course he’s gonna take your side! No, we need someone neutral and the only neutral party here is me, so I’m fucking right! Give me the cheese!”
“Bushwa! How in the hells are you neutral on this stance? I shall in fact eat all the cheese myself!”
“You won’t fucking dare!”
Yeah, it had been funny. And Vox hadn’t said it then, but yeah, cheese would’ve been better.
He laughs and presses his hands together in front of his chest. He loves the demon so. So, so much, he could explode. Gods, he wants to kiss him again. Again and again and again, until the end of time.
“Here you go. Is it okay?”
Vox takes it from Niffty’s hands and squeezes it. He smiles. “It’s perfect, Niffty, thank you. Allie didn’t see it?”
“Nuh-uh! I told you, he doesn’t care what I do in my free time! Are you giving it to him now?”
Vox shakes his head. He still has some time, and he’s unsure on where to give it to Alastor. Inviting him home feels weirdly intimate, and laden with expectations he’s unsure Alastor would be comfortable with. Not that Vox... wouldn’t want, but... he’s a considerate boyfriend, is all. Truly an angel, he is.
“Not yet. Don’t tell him, okay? I’ll do it on Valentine’s.”
Niffty smiles, posing adorably. “Okay,” she answers, “I hope everything goes well, TV man!”
She skips away and Vox holds the gift close. His heart is beating fast. He’s even picked the right song. Well, at least he hopes so. He’s gotta admit, he’s a little giddy. However, with the gift in hand, he’s rather not be caught by Alastor again – being in his house is excusable, but holding this thing? Yeah no, the demon might get curious and we can’t have that. So he starts hurrying home. Sure, he would like to see Alastor, but Valentine’s is soon.
Having arrived home, he gets to work. It’s not much left to do, but Vox takes great care in it. When he’s done, he tests it out – it would do no good if it would blow up into the demon’s face first thing he does. But it works. Sure, it’s not perfect, and it might not sound like the things you can buy, but – Vox made this himself (well, with Niffty’s help, but mostly himself!).
He hopes Alastor will like it. He really, really does.
The radio demon’s not cruel, is he?
It’s Valentine’s, and it’s early evening, almost still afternoon. Vox sits on the bench, nervous as hell – he’s wearing his good suit, one that he rarely ever puts on. Husk and Niffty had promised to get Alastor into the park at roughly this hour, and Vox needs to think of something to thank them with. He had considered wrapping his present, but he decided against it. He didn’t even put a bow on it, or anything. What if Alastor didn’t like cute, and would look at a bow with disdain? No, no, best to play it safe. Best option would probably be to toss that thing at Alastor’s head from a distance, yell something vaguely romantic and run for the fucking hills before the demon would even get what was going on at all.
“Oh! Are you the surprise Husker mumbled about?”
Vox’s breath hitches in his throat. Looking to the side, nervous as hell, he can see Alastor stroll over. He looks like he always does – of course he does, why would he look any different? Before the demon can reach the bench, Vox jumps to his feet, hiding his gift behind his back. He feels like a little boy.
“I – I, uh – yes, I am!”
Alastor stops two steps in front of him and tilts his head.
“Whatever are we meeting in the park for? You know where my house is. If you want to look at the roses, they’re best enjoyed around midday! They are also free to take, in case you wish to decorate.”
Vox takes a deep breath. Husk said that Alastor doesn’t care much about Valentine’s, so he’s probably unaware. That’s okay, Vox is hyper-aware for both of them.
“It’s Valentine’s Day!”
Alastor had turned his head towards the rosebushes, and now he looks back at Vox, blinking confused.
“It is? My, time sure does fly, does it not? I’m unsure as to what importance it is, though. Is it... your birthday?”
Bless his heart, he sounds truly confused. Vox can’t help but smile. He’d been so nervous these past few days, but standing here now, with Alastor, he can feel it all melt away, like it never even mattered. If Alastor won’t like his gifts – that would be okay. He’s here. He’s here. That’s all that matters.
“I have a gift for you,” he says, calm for the first time in days, “for Valentine’s.”
He holds his hands outward and Alastor blinks, taking it. In his claws, he holds a small plush TV that Niffty made. Curiously, the demon turns it. He looks at Vox then, clearly waiting for some more information.
“It’s, uh, it’s –“ Okay, now he’s nervous again. “Here, if you press it – try pressing it, gently.”
Blinking, confused but ever so cute, Alastor squeezes the little plush toy and then You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile starts playing. Surprised, Alastor holds the plush closer, and his ears twitch – gods Vox wants to lick them.
“You like that song, right? I – Niffty helped me with sewing that toy –“
“I see,” the demon interrupts Vox’s attempts at rambling, and he turns the toy over. “How does it work?”
Eager, Vox steps forward and opens the plush TV. He points to the device he’s put in there – whenever the pressure point is pressed enough, the song starts playing, and it runs on battery, so it’s easily exchangeable.
“Do you – do you like it?”
Alastor hums, squeezing the toy again. Then he looks at his cane.
“I do,” he admits, “but I can play the song myself. Can you change the song the device plays?”
Vox deflates a little – he should’ve thought about that. Alastor is a radio host, after all, of course he would have access to all his favourite songs on demand. But hey, the thought still counts, doesn’t it?
“I – yes, I can,” damn his voice for sounding so detached, “what song would you like?”
Alastor looks at him, and smiles. “Yours.”
Vox blinks, confused. Huh? “Huh?”
“I can play any song I want with my microphone. What I can’t do,” he says, voice sultry sweet, “is have you sing it for me.”
Vox can’t breathe. Did he really – did he – for real? He – he hadn’t even thought about that. Vox isn’t a singer, not really, but – Alastor – he – he really – gods. Oh fuck, he’s so in love.
“You – you really want me to sing it?”
“Yes,” affirms Alastor, still smiling. “Whichever song you please, as long as you sing it. Can you do that?”
Vox wants to fuck him, he wants to kiss him, he wants to marry him.
“Yes,” Vox breathes and he takes the toy when Alastor hands it back. He can’t look away from the demon.
“Thank you for the gift,” the radio demon croons, “I look forward to receiving it.”
He brushes his fingers along Vox’s face, and Vox whimpers. He’s behaving like a fucking teenager, but he can’t fucking stop.
“Come,” Alastor says, unbothered, “let me invite you to drinks. A new bar has opened up, and I had planned to visit it with dear Husker sometime, but your company is much more pleasant! Come, come!”
Without waiting, he stalks on ahead and Vox only has time to stuff the toy into his bag before he runs after him.
The bar they go to is actually kind of fancy, not the usual garbage clubs Vox tends to visit. There’s even a stage, and a singer is performing. Well, at least Vox isn’t underdressed, even if these people aren’t his, well, people.
“Allie, I don’t think I fit in here. They’re all fancy and stuff.”
Vox presses against Alastor’s arm, his only shield against all the looks he surely must be getting.
“Bushwa! If they have a problem with you, they might dare and come to me. No, no, dear sheik, worry not your pretty square head. Come, let us try out the drinks. If they are bad, I mustn’t bring Husker here at all, ha!”
They wander over to the bar and Vox only really felt safe if he was physically pressed against the demon. Luckily, Alastor seems not to mind.
“Hello, my good man! Give us your best quilt, now will you?”
The barkeep just grunts, and complies.
“Shall we make it a competition, dear? Whoever of us can drink more?”
Vox pouts. “What do I get if I win?”
“So focused! If you win, love, then I might be persuaded to sleep in your bed tonight.”
“Get us all the drinks!”
Alastor laughs and Vox desperately tries to drink straight from the bottle. He can drink that twig under the table!
He, in fact, could not drink that twig under the table. Alastor is a fucking bottomless barrel. Like, seriously, where is storing all that alcohol? Vox can barely walk straight, and the only effect on Alastor seems to be a slight blushing of his cheeks. It’s fucking adorable, but that’s not the point!
“You should’ve said you can drink like you bein’ paid for it.”
Alastor laughs, a clear sound in the night. “I don’t recall you asking, darling. Never take a bet if you don’t know all the relevant factors. I’m win-orientated!” 
An asshole, is what he is. An asshole Vox is sadly madly in love with.
“So, what did you win, exactly?”
The demon gives him a side-eye, smirking only.
“Why, I won my right to sleep wherever I want tonight! Also, of course, I won you, didn’t I?”
Before Vox can fully comprehend that sentence – he is drunk, after all – Alastor pushes him against the wall and presses himself along Vox’s body. Vox’s breath hitches and he’s blushing, not just because of the alcohol. It’s dark, and Alastor is so pretty. Vox wants him. He just fucking wants him so much. He bites his lip, and stares into the red eyes before him.
He wants to – he loves him. He wants to say it, but he doesn’t dare. Why not? It’s Valentine’s. Now’s the day he should be able to say it. But something stops him. Vox whimpers and puts his hands on Alastor’s waist – it’s so tiny, so thin and Vox presses against the body before him.
“Cash,” Vox doesn’t beg, because he’s a man and men don’t beg. Alastor curls his lip in a snarling smile and reaches forward, slow, always too slow. Vox opens his mouth in advance, waiting, eagerly waiting and he smell Alastor’s rancid breath already when voices sound from the corner.
“You the radio demon?”
Oh, Vox hates them and wants them to die.
Alastor turns his head towards the voices, but he hardly removes himself from the position he’s in. His upper lip is curled in the grimace of a smile and he blinks slowly.
“So sorry, gents, I’m not on air at the moment. If you have song requests, please keep them to yourselves.”
“Nah, you fucker, we’re here to beat you up.”
Alastor sighs and rolls his eyes. “Really,” he grumbles, only to Vox, “can’t they tell I’m busy?”
That’s him! That’s Vox! Vox is busy!
But he does push away from the nice position they’ve been in and he fully turns to the sinners that have started coming closer.
“Let’s do this quickly, then. Seven against one! It’s not like I stand a chance. My, what a bind I’m in! Whatever shall I do, woe be upon me.”
He’s undermining his own words by focusing on the dirt under his fingernails. He’s so fucking silly, Vox loves him. However, the sinners seem to take courage from it, as they begin to advance more quickly. Sobering up faster than Vox ever thought to be possible, he pushes himself from the wall, ready to stand with the demon.
“Hush, my love. Don’t get in the way. Stand there and look pretty, will you?”
The sinners are close now, and Alastor snaps his head around with a loud crack. It echoes in the alleyway they’re in and Vox – he expects to see something like he saw at the gala, but he doesn’t. Instead, Alastor rushes forward, faster than Vox even knew was possible and he lands exactly in the middle of the intruders. With black hands and claws, he swipes through the air, ripping two people in half. Blood splatters onto the ground and the other five shriek in terror, and they separate.
Alastor grins wide, more smile than anything else, and there’s blood on his cheek. Without missing a beat, he jumps after another two, smashing their heads against the nearby wall. They burst open like ripe watermelons. One of the remaining three finally fumbles out his gun, and he aims at Alastor with shaking hands. Vox gasps when he hears the shot – Alastor’s head jerks, and Vox wants to scream already, but the demon just laughs, deep and full on static. His head cracks back up and Vox can hear the sinner mutter a very heart-felt “fuck” before Alastor jumps him too, chomping his teeth on his head, ripping it clear off. The two that are still alive have scrambled back to the entry of the alleyway and Alastor turns his head, with the head of their, their leader, still in his mouth.
“Running already? But I’m not even done yet! Come! Come beat me up, I’m all open!”
As if to prove his point, he throws his arms to the side, laughing. The ripped off head falls to the ground with a wet sound and the sinners scream, and they run away.
The light of the moon shines right into the small of the alleyway and Vox whimpers. He stares at Alastor’s back, and the demon’s head twitches, turning back around. The bullet had hit him right straight through the eye, and blood is pouring out of the socket. There’s blood on his shining yellow teeth, and it’s dropping down his chin onto his shoulders and chest.
Alastor turns around fully and starts stalking towards Vox – it’s only a handful of steps and Vox sinks to his knees. Alastor stops before him and he grins wide. With the moonlight behind him, he looks like he belongs exactly where he is. Vox presses his legs together, trying to get some friction. Slowly, Alastor bends over, never ever needing a spine and he grabs Vox’s face with bloody hands. He pulls Vox back up with him and slowly, too fast, slams him against the wall. There’s something fleshy moving in his eye socket and then Alastor presses himself up against Vox, kissing him. Needy, Vox whimpers and pawns at Alastor’s back, trying to press in closer. He can taste the sinner’s blood on Alastor’s tongue and he wants – he wants – it’s embarrassing, but oh gods, how he wants.
“I wanna fuck you,” he pants with hot breath against Alastor’s lips.
The demon growls in response and pushes his claws softly into Vox’s flesh. Vox’s hips buck forwards and he can’t help the wanton moan that escapes his throat.
“Hold onto me,” the demon rumbles in a low tone and he doesn’t need to say that twice. Desperate for his mouth again, Vox presses back in, kissing him again, wrapping his arms around the man’s shoulders, fisting his hands into his hair.
It’s dark, then, and something feels cold and wrong, and when Vox opens his eyes, they’re in his shoebox. How did they – what - but Alastor pushes him back, onto the bed behind him. Vox catches himself on his elbows and he stares up. Half of Alastor’s face is smeared in blood, his eye is still a bloody, fleshy mess, and he tears his bowtie off.
“Undress to your liking.”
Vox must black out for a moment, but when he comes back to himself, he starts tearing his clothes off. He’s not gonna ask, and he’s gonna take it. This wasn’t how Vox had suspected today to go. And still, he’s a little insecure, so – he leaves his underwear on. Shyly, he glances up at the demon – he’s gotten rid of his bowtie, his suit jacket and his shoes, apparently. Well, Vox never thought he’d get to see Alastor’s shirt this clearly, although it is a bit of a shame.
The demon climbs on top of Vox, and presses him into the mattress. “Little sheik,” he croons with a voice as smooth as silver, “displease me, and I’ll rip you apart. But, you would like that, wouldn’t you?”
Teasingly, he strokes a sharp, bloody claw along Vox’s throat and he whimpers. Yes. Yes, he would like that, actually. Alastor bends forward, and licks his tongue along Vox’s neck and he shivers. Instinctively, he spreads his legs and Alastor slots himself right in, as if he belongs there and gods – the things it does to Vox’s head. Sharp teeth tease at his Adam’s apple and he – he wants. He wants Alastor to push his teeth in, rip it out and swallow it down. Fuck, fuck, what in the hells is wrong with him?!
The demon sits back up again, still smiling. With his thumb, he wipes away some blood on his cheek and holds it close to Vox’s face – so close, and yet too far to lick it clean. Vox wants. He wants to lick it clean. The demon shuffles back and blindly, Vox follows. Alastor lets himself fall back onto the mattress, and Vox follows, hovering over him. He’s out of breath already.
Smiling like a cat, Alastor reaches his hand up, pushing his thumb into the corner of Vox’s mouth. But before he can properly start sucking and licking it, Alastor pulls him down and shoves his tongue between Vox’s teeth. He moans and shivers and he leans down, lets his body fall onto Alastor’s and he responds to the kiss with wild abandon. The demon’s dainty legs sling themselves around Vox’s hips and Vox could die right now and wouldn’t regret a thing. Well, maybe he wants to get off first, but that’s a secondary objective here.
Pulling his thumb out of his mouth, Alastor wraps his arms around Vox’s neck and pulls him impossibly closer. Vox rakes his fingers on his bedding, shredding his blanket but he doesn’t care. Heart beating up to his ears, he starts to grind forwards, fully expecting to be shoved off, to be slammed against the wall and threatened within an inch of his life and that wouldn’t be so bad either. But – Alastor doesn’t stop him. He simply shifts his legs a little and if Vox weren’t dead already, he’d surely die now.
Pushing the ball of his hand against Vox’s throat, Alastor temporarily interrupts their kiss to growl, deep and dark: “Do your worst.”
Then he pulls Vox back in, biting hard onto his tongue, and Vox rams his own claws into Alastor’s shoulders, holding him as close as he can as he starts rutting against him. He can feel the demon’s blood over his fingers and fuck, he’s getting high. His own blood pools in his mouth and he bites the demon back as good as he gets. In his mouth, their blood mixes and Vox can’t tell the taste apart anymore. He loves it. Fuck, he needs more, he needs everything.
“Allie,” he pants, desperate, “Allie, fuck, I need you, gods, I can’t –“
He starts rutting faster, and he’s expecting Alastor to stop him at any moment. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t, he doesn’t, he doesn’t.
Vox is different. He’s special, and only he gets this. Only him, only him, only him.
“Only me,” he growls, as deep as he can go, and he pushes his claws into Alastor’s throat. The demon looks up at him, with half-lidded eyes – eye, rather – and the tip of his tongue pokes out of his mouth. It’s full of blood. Vox breathes hard, tearing his claws down, leaving bloody streaks in his wake. Alastor doesn’t seem to mind and Vox roars, rutting faster, tearing his claws through the demon’s chest. He can feel Alastor’s claws scratch at the back of his neck and gods, he wants to. He wants them to kill each other in the bloodiest way.
Vox grunts and his thrusts become erratic. He’s so close, and Alastor’s legs are locked so tight around him. Gods, fuck, he doesn’t want to stop, how could he ever stop?
“Little fool,” Alastor croons in a deep, warbling voice, “do you want me to kill you?”
“Yes! Yes yes yes yes!” Vox shouts and he comes, smashing his lips against Alastor once again. The demon’s legs tighten around his hips and Vox is riding his high. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck he wants more, he needs more, he needs it again.
Pulling away, because he needs to fucking breathe, he sinks down onto the man below him, and he breathes hard next to the demon’s face. He feels cold claws trail along his spine and he moans, closing his eyes. He swallows, his throat dry as fuck. He doesn’t know what the fuck just happened. But frankly; he kind of doesn’t care. This was – fuck, this was better than he could’ve ever fucking dreamed of.
“Wait,” he pants, “did you – ?”
“Shush, sheik. Don’t push your luck.”
Vox’s heart stops for probably a little too long, but it’s okay. Fuck. He’s never expected that Valentine’s could go like this, that – that it could feel like this.
“Your eye,” he starts.
“It will be fine. Give me two days, and why, you’ll never even know it was gone at all!”
Alastor pushes him away and sits up, looking only a little rumpled. He’s bloody all over. Vox whimpers. He wants him. He wants him more than is healthy, probably, but what is he to do? He’s so gone, he’s so far gone.
“Stay here tonight. Allie – please. Just sleep next to me. I won’t touch you, but – please.”
Alastor blinks at him. He seems to contemplate the idea.
“So needy,” he comments, but falls back all the same. “I suppose you can hold my hand.”
Vox smiles, and he does. Alastor’s hand are ice-cold, and there’s blood that’s just starting to dry on them, but it’s perfect. It’s perfect and Vox – Vox wants things to never change.
In the morning, the demon is gone.
There’s a note in his stead, though: Rest well, little fool.
Vox smiles, and keeps the note close.
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anonymousewrites · 7 months
Text
One Hell of a Love Special: OVA
Sebastian Michaelis x Demon! Reader
Special: One Hell of an OVA
The Making of Black Butler Season Two
            2008. People are in a spiral of excitement and enthusiasm. The legendary work, Black Butler. Elegant characters. Stylish film direction. Intense action. Captivating romance.
            Together with a beautiful and cruel story, it created passionate fans and birthed a world phenomenon.
            Then comes 2010. Breaking the silence, the legend is revived! Finally! Unveiled before our eyes. Now, let’s take a look behind the scenes.
Summer: 2009.
            Ciel, actor, sat before the camera. “I didn’t feel like doing a sequel. What’s the point in doing the same thing over again?”
            The camera interspersed with (Y/N) and Sebastian, actors, sitting beside each other before the camera.
            Sebastian smiled. “Well, Young Master was none too willing to do it.”
            “He said a sequel wouldn’t be creative,” said (Y/N). The pairs hands were intertwined on the armrest between them.
            “I went to the studio because it would have been rude to refuse without hearing them out,” said Ciel. “But…the staff had prepared a script. They said if I could refuse it after reading it once over, they’d give up. Their eyes were serious.” He shrugged. “It was something worthy of performing. That’s all there was to it.”
            “My thoughts?” said Sebastian. “I have no opinion. I just obey the Master’s will.” He glanced at (Y/N). “And my significant other’s.”
            They smirked. “Good answer.” They paused. “Me? Well, I enjoyed doing the first season. I had a central role and found it entertaining.” (Y/N) chuckled. “I thought that if the second was anything like the first, it would amuse me.”
            “How do we feel about playing love interests as a couple? Well, it means we don’t have to pretend with one another,” said Sebastian.
            (Y/N) smirked. “I rather enjoy it, pretending to fall in love all over again.”
Their participation was decided. But still more help was needed.
New Faces, New People
            Claude, actor portraying demon rival of Sebastian, turned away from the camera. “I believe in actions, not words. Yes, my character talks a lot. No, none of us dislike each other in real life. I’ve known (Y/N) and Sebastian for ages. They’ve got a great relationship.”
Mishaps
            Claude stood on the prop boards that would be CGI-ed to spider threads. “So beautiful…” he murmured, totally in character as he leaned. “I knew you’d look—” He slipped and fell, landing on his face. “Damn.”
            (Y/N) couldn’t hold it back and began laughing. “Very professional.”
            “If I recall, you hit yourself in the face with a knife,” said Sebastian in amusement.
            “Whose side are you on?”
Lizzie’s “I’m One Heck of a Fiancée”
            “Hi! I’m Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford! Call me Lizzie!” said Elizabeth into her camera. “Now I’ll take you behind the scenes of the filming!” She excitedly ran through the set. “My favorite character is (Y/N)! They’re such a great actor, so talented!”
            Elizabeth ran up to (Y/N). “(Y/N)! What are you up to today?”
            “Costuming,” said (Y/N).
            Sure enough, Nina Hopkins was measuring (Y/N) and humming to herself. “Yes, yes…I’m thinking a high slit for the Costume Ball.” She smirked at (Y/N). “Might as well give your boyfriend something to look at during the scene, right?”
            (Y/N) huffed, scoffing and looking away in denial. “Nina.”
            “Well, I’ve got to have a little fun! I get to change up the costumes during the Costume Ball! I’ve got this one chance to really show you off~” teased Nina.
            “Oh, my! Is (Y/N) going to be cute?” said Elizabeth excitedly.
            “I was thinking sexy vampire,” said Nina.
            “I think you just want sexy,” said (Y/N) in amusement.
Trailer Talk
            “I just want them to be cared for,” said Sebastian as he poured cat food into bowls.
            “Sebastian, they’ll be fine. We’re only filming for a few hours before a break,” said (Y/N), sighing. “You’re so protective.”
            “But they’re so precious, I must ensure they are comfortable.”
            “I think you like cats more than me.”
Taglist:
@technikerin23
@im-making-an-effort
@izzieg3987
@jinxxangel13
@alexpangender
@otomyoli
@neenieweenie
@nex-crowley
@anxious-chick
@bellacastiel
@v1l-ismissing
@agentdedf1sh
@idkhowtoplayhoyoversegames
@iamsexytrash
@oceansfloor
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cannedbabs · 1 year
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Maybe headcanons for a Jack Horner x reader, but the reader was the original Little Miss Muffet, and turns out she was bffs with Jack when they younger, and it’s good to know, she’s also very evil too!
I feel like her whole thing is that she has an army of spiders, and she had a huge spider that’s like really big that she can ride on, and it’s the spider from her story, but the spider was the same one as the itsy-bitsy spider- so she calls for Itsy to beat someone’s ass, and you expect a small spider, but then you see a big ass spider that could crush you.
DANG THAT IS SUCH A COOL CONCEPT!!! Idk how y’all are so creative I am absolutely nothing of the sorts 😭😭 if this is an oc btw ABSOLUTELY AMAZING but sorry if I don’t get her in character with some of these!! Jack x Miss Muffet alrighty lets go‼️I also read somewhere that her name is possibly Patience? Thats neat!
(ALSO: so sorry i haven’t been answering these like every day!! Been putting most of my energy into my homework and my fic as of now! Hope thats alright ❤️ but pls still feel free to send me hc requests!)
•Despite being evil, given her rhyme she is very much a scaredy cat? This has been known to Jack since back when, so when reuniting I imagine there’s a whole scooby-doo bit where she jumps into his arms bridal style when she gets scared. Also may or may not be an excuse to be held 😎
•They met/reunited via crime. She probably intersected a deal he was making and there was actually a brawl before either of them noticed who the other was. Jack has Itsy pinned down via something magic and finally is able to get a good look at Muffet and his shoulders stiffen before he starts laughing At the situation (but also still being equally pissed at what she did)
•Gives me very independent woman vibes. She always is the one to get shit done, but Jack just has to put on this fake suave tone and dance his fingers along down her back and she becomes putty in his grasp. He does this to get what he wants, of course (they both pluck each other’s strings and manipulates the other to do what they want)
•Jack is no stranger to arguing, and even though they’ve known each other for a long time Jack still gives her shit. This Absolutely triggers the fight in Itsy, which happens to knock Jack down or even comedically throw him across the room (which scares the shit out of him because no one has been able to do THAT). Lets say only due to that damn spider does she gets what she wants 90% of the time.
•Since they knew each other hes more inclined to be softer with her. If something is genuinely bothering her he is the type to scoff but hold his arm out so she can hug his side.
•They SO bicker about who’s nursery rhyme is better. Jack is so ashamed of his but shes on equal footing in a no magic sense, so he always has to one up her. Though, she always has one point that makes Jack fume. “I got Itsy from my rhyme! What did you get, pies?”
•Jack’s whole nursery rhyme means he has the whole pie theme, so I can imagine Muffet has the worst taste imaginable. Curds and whey? She can’t handle anything too tart, spicy, etc. The blander the better. Jack HATES IT! He offers a slice of pie and its never to her taste. “You said our signature plum pies were… ‘too tart’ for you? What about this one, apple?” “Too cloying!” “Well, what DO you like?!”
This one was a bit challenging doing a much more specific character, but I hope I hit it somewhat close!! And I hope you enjoy these!! ❤️❤️❤️🥺
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helenarlett-rex · 2 years
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Albedo: Platinum Catalyst vs. Hc Svnt Dracones
I love tabletop role playing games, and I love furry stuff. So it’s always been a dream of mine to have the two combined. Eventually I did manage to find some games that did just that, and even managed to convince my group of pretty much D&D only players to give them a try. Then Covid hit just as we were getting started and we had to stop meeting up for about 2 years... But now that we are meeting up for weekly games again and I finally got a chance to really try them out, I figured I would give a little comparison review of the two games. I just thought it might be fun to do considering that despite being so similar to each other, both of these games still somehow manage to be worlds apart from each other at the same time. That and I really don’t see many people talking about either of these games much... like, at all... and that is a god damned shame...
So what are these games we are talking about? Picture a galaxy populated entirely by anthropomorphic animals with access to advance technology, the ability to travel through space, and only a couple hundred years of known history to base their lives and society off of... The human race may have been responsible for their creation, but they are long gone now, leaving these gun toting space furries to find their way in the universe on their own in the dystopian society they’ve built for themselves. Which game am I talking about? Both of them actually... Both games run off of that exact same premise, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. So let’s compare them and see what we think.
Both Albedo and Hc Svnt Dracones are Furry themed, sci-fi, tabletop role playing games. Albedo: Platinum Catalyst, published in 2004, is the 25th Anniversary Edition of Albedo: The Role Playing Game, first published in 1984, which is based on the comic book, Albedo Anthropomorphics, or more specifically, the comic strip, Erma Felna: EDF, which appeared in said comic book. Why the game was named after the anthology comic book the strip appeared in instead of being named after the actual strip it was based on, I have no idea... But I should point out that Albedo: The Role Playing Game and Albedo: Platinum Catalyst should not be confused with Albedo Combat Patrol, which is a tabletop miniature war game (as apposed to a role playing game) also based on Erma Felna: EDF. (Although if you use miniatures in your role playing games, like I do, then the existence of such a game based on the same property is a life saver.)
While Hc Svnt Dracones, published in 2014, is an original property not based on anything, although it has since had at least two novels released based on the setting of the game.
I wasn’t collecting comic books yet (or even reading) in 1984 so I’ve never read the Erma Felna: EDF comics, although scans of them are fairly easy to find online so I really should at some point... And while I have both of the Hc Svnt Dracones novels sitting on my bookshelf, I haven’t gotten around to reading either of them yet either... So I’m going into both of these games with no prior knowledge of the settings other than what the game books tell me, and giving an unbiased opinion on each.
So where to start...? Let’s talk about setting.
Setting:
Both of the core rule books offer a load of information on the setting so even if you haven’t read any of the related media you won’t be lost on what the world you are playing in is like or what you might be doing in said world. And I mean a lot of information... Nearly the first half of both of these books reads like a history text book about the setting you will be playing in before you even get to any of the information on game play. Which is very useful if you are a DM, not so much if you are just a player who only cares about making your character and learning the basic rules so you can play through whatever game your DM throws at you. But I’ll talk more about that later...
Both settings are very similar in that they are both sci-fi settings, in the age of space travel, in a universe where everyone is an anthropomorphic animal and humans have long since vanished. In Albedo it’s not entirely clear if humans ever existed, but from the standpoint of a DM (called a Referee in this game) reading through the lore section of the book, it seems to be pretty heavily implied that they did at some point, and may even still exist... somewhere...
The premise is that a while back, (I don’t remember the exact number right off hand but I think it was a couple hundred years ago) all of these anthropomorphic animals just suddenly became aware... They already existed, they already had cities and societies built for them, and they were already living in them, going through the motions, but they weren’t self-aware until one day when some unseen force just sort of flipped the switch and then suddenly they all became self-aware all at once. They have no idea how, or why, or who did it, but suddenly you just had a whole race of animal people gain sentience with access to modern technology and no history. But they already have working computers with internet right there at their fingertips to tell them anything they need to know... as well as monitor every aspect of their lives and assign them with a Social Political Intelligence score based on every action they take, which determines their worth and rank in society... I don’t know how the comics read, but just by going on the lore information in the rule book, it instantly paints a very dystopian society full or people who don’t know enough to realize they are even in a dystopian society... A world where everyone has to act a certain way that has already been determined for them just to maintain their SPI score so the computer doesn’t demote their social worth to the point where they can’t make enough money to survive. Because your income is based on your SPI score... And while the book doesn’t actually try to present it as a dystopian society... It tries to present it as a militaristic society, maybe something reminiscent of Starship Troopers... the more small details you pick up on here and there the more you realize that this world is dystopian as fuck. I mean, I started picking up on little things said here and there like how physical contact with other people is considered uncomfortable and socially taboo, or how “sharing your music” with other people (or in other words, listening to music without head phones) is socially taboo, or expressing too much emotion, or walking too fast on the sidewalk, or... Basically I started getting Decision at Doona vibes, if anyone ever read that book...
Their society is also pretty racist too... The computer has just decided that some animals are worth more to society than others and so they are given a higher SPI (and in turn higher pay) just for being said animal. If you are a crow for example, it doesn’t matter what you do or how accomplished you become, you will never have and SPI as high as that horse working in the same job as you... Because he’s a horse and you’re a crow and that’s all there is to it.
But I believe the person who wrote this game may have had a military background, so that could be an explanation as to why he created such a dystopian setting while trying his hardest not to present it as a dystopian setting... I’ll take a dig at the military and say maybe the creator himself was just as unaware as the people living in the setting he created as to how dystopian it really is... Because, yeah... this game really does focus on military life. It’s a sci-fi military game. If you are looking for a game where you don’t have to play as an officer in the military, then this is not the game for you. That is literally your only option.
Hc Svnt Dracones on the other hand takes a very similar premise and uses it to create a cyberpunk game instead of a military game. In Hc Svnt Dracones the anthropomorphic animal people (called Vectors) know they were created by humans. They were first created (700 years ago) as products by the big corporations to be bought and sold, until the governments of Earth decided it wasn’t ethical and ordered a stop to it... And the corporations, not wanting to lose out on all the money they were making, moved to Mars and gave the Earth governments the middle finger... Which lead to war between the Earth governments and the corporations... which eventually led to the complete extinction of the human race and the planet Earth becoming a scorched nuclear wasteland... Leaving all of the Vectors up there on Mars to pick up the pieces and build their own society... completely under corporate control because that’s all they know... So unlike Albedo which gives us a dystopian military controlled society without even trying to, Hc Svnt Dracones gives us a dystopian corporate controlled society on purpose. Although once again, the people living in it have no idea they are living in a dystopia... Everyone believes they are living in an almost utopian post scarcity society, but that’s just a lie being propagated by the corporations to keep the masses under their control.
So for setting I’m going to have to give it to Hc Svnt Dracones. It actually embraces what it is without trying to hide it and all the dystopian stuff just works much better in a cyberpunk game than it does in a military game, in my opinion anyways... The whole mystery of where the animal people came from and why they were suddenly given sentience and no instruction with what to do from there that Albedo sets up is pretty intriguing... and could totally be used to create some pretty interesting campaign ideas... but the game isn’t really set up for you to fully explore those kind of campaigns... It’s set up for you to play Furry Starship Troopers but with no giant bugs to fight... Hc Svnt Dracones on the other hand gives you no end of mysteries in the setting to run similar types of campaigns and actually seems to be built to facilitate a mystery solving type of game, so again, I‘m giving it to that game for setting...
Character Creation:
Character creation is going to be different from what you are used to in both of these games if you are only familiar with games like D&D. You aren’t really going to be rolling up any stats. Instead they mostly rely on a point buy system with extra points being allocated determined on what species you decide to play. So it’s going to be a process of pick what animal you want to be, take the stats that animal gives you, then assign a certain number of other stat points wherever you want/can, blah, blah, blah... you’ll figure it out... probably... Actually it was a lot easier to figure out in Hc Svnt Dracones than it was in Albedo. Albedo’s rules weren’t quite as clear to me as they were in Hc Svnt Dracones and I kept flipping back and forth between pages being like, “What am I supposed to do now? Okay... How... Where is that? I fill in what? Where do I get that information?” While Hc Svnt Dracones just easily walked me through the process one page at a time, in order, until I had a finished character. Or at least the first edition of Hc Svnt Dracones did... I made the mistake of trying to start with second edition but that book was a worse mess than Albedo and after going back and playing first edition I don’t think I will ever touch second edition again...
Albedo gives you a fairly wide variety of animal species to choose from for character creation... more than Hc Svnt Dracones does actually... which is pretty nice. You rarely find yourself saying, “I want to play as this animal” and then not having stats for it... which can be a small problem in Hc Svnt Dracones leading for the need to homebrew... But Albedo doesn’t give the same kind of customization options that Hc Svnt Dracones does. In Albedo if you want to play a fox, that’s it... You’re playing an anthropomorphic fox... Just a basic bitch fox... Assign your fox stats and move on to the next step... But in Hc Svnt Dracones if you say you want to play a fox that’s only the very beginning of the process. Okay, you’re a fox... but what is your fox like? Do you have plantigrade legs or digitigrade legs? Do you have any kind of weird fur colors or pasterns? Are you just a two legged fox or are you a foxtaur? Or maybe you’re a feral (called a lateral in this game) so you know... you have the body of a normal animal that isn’t humanoid at all... Do you have any extra limbs? Implants? Surgical alterations? Are you a hybrid of two different species...? The customizing options in Hc Svnt Dracones just go on and on and pretty much covers every niche of what you would expect from the furry fandom. And being a cyberpunk game you can always pay to have more work done on yourself later on if you decide you want to change something. You can even get a sex change operation in game. And I should point out that none of it is just cosmetic. Every little feature adds something to the mechanics of your character.
It’s still a little annoying that there are so many species not covered in Hc Svnt Dracones (I think they actually fixed that in second edition but I’d have to be able to actually understand how the read that damned book to be sure...) so for example, if you were by chance a fan of my books, and you really had your heart set on playing a Dank Wildcats game, you’d be disappointed to find there were no stats for making beaver of platypus characters (both of which are actually in Albedo) but Hc Svnt Dracones does have a bit of a workaround. Because unlike Albedo, which only gives you one race option (Anthropomorphic Animal), Hc Svnt Dracones has multiple race options. You can be a Vector for standard (if limited) anthro animals, but you can also be a Cog if you wanted to pay a robot animal (or a protogen), a Cogsune if you wanted to be an organic construct (modular flesh robot), an Exonymph if you wanted to be a bug, or a Blip if you wanted to be a custom made, designer lifeform. So the Blip option would be your workaround for making something that isn’t available in the stock character creation options. You could technically use that to make a beaver or a platypus... You’d just have to go through a few extra steps...
So with all of that said, I’m going to give character creation to Hc Svnt Dracones as well. Again, I like the fact that Albedo had more species options... but the customization options of Hc Svnt Dracones are more than enough to make Albedo feel as dated as it is.
Classes:
When it comes to classes for your characters to play, there isn’t really much to say. Albedo has classes and Hc Svnt Dracones doesn’t. You would probably think that would make Albedo the winner here, but I’m not so sure... With Albedo being a military game, all of the classes are of course military themed. You pick from one of four military branches to serve in, and then you pick one of a hand full of different jobs within your chosen branch. Just like being in the military... You can even work a few jobs in administration if you want. When I was making a character for the game (who I never got to play because I was stuck as the DM) I made a platypus who worked in internal affairs. No idea what I even would have done with a character like that... but the class option was there... You can play that guy who just signs paperwork all day if you are just really itching for that hard core game of Military Life Simulator... Or you can play something more practical like an airborne ranger...
Hc Svnt Dracones on the other hand doesn’t have classes at all. What it does have is a list of different corporations you are trying to earn loyalty with and taking jobs from. So each corporation is kind of a class in itself. You have the privatized police corporation, the universal healthcare corporation, the robotics and engineering corporation, the space wizards... But the thing is, you don’t actually belong to any of those corps... You’re basically building a civilian... That’s your class, and then you are picking which of those corps to take jobs from and earning loyalty in the hopes of eventually getting hired on as an employee. You can stat out your character to be better suited to taking jobs from one corp over the other, but you are still basically just a civilian with earning a class being your end goal instead of starting out with one. But of course this gives you the option of being able to hop around from job to job and try different things out. Maybe you are doing police stuff one day and then science stuff the next. And of course there is no rule saying you have to earn all of your loyalty with a single corp. You could play multiple sides of the game and earn loyalty with multiple different corporations. You’ll just have to keep in mind which corporations are friendly with each other and which ones are enemies as you juggle your loyalties...
So for classes... uhh... It’s kind of a toss up actually. I can’t really pick one over the other. If you like having a traditional class so you know exactly who your character is and what they do, then Albedo is the winner here... The only downside is you are limited to military options only... Or if you like having the freedom to play the game just doing whatever you want and getting your hands into a little bit of everything, then Hc Svnt Dracones is the winner. I could swing either way, really. But I will say that if you haven’t experienced anything like juggling corporate loyalties before, it is a fun new experience.
Combat:
Okay... Here’s where things start to get messy... I’m afraid when it comes to combat, Albedo just loses right away and Hc Svnt Dracones is the better game. At least in my opinion anyway... And the main reason for this is that I could never fully understand how the fucking combat in Albedo worked. I played the damn game, and I still had no fucking clue what the hell I was doing when combat came along. And that’s not good when you are the DM! I started the game thinking, “Okay... Combat looks a little complicated... but that’s fine... We’ll figure it out as we play and once we’ve been through it a couple of times we’ll all get a handle on it...” We never did... Albedo tries to go for a super realistic, hard core combat system. Which sounds cool at first... I’m talking about a combat system where you get shot once and it’s time to get your ass out of the battle field before you fucking die... and then your character spends weeks to months out of commission while they recuperate in a hospital... And don’t forget to roll of this chart over here to see if you have PTSD now... And let’s hope you didn’t end up permanently crippled... That sounded kind of interesting. It makes the 8 hour long rest and you’re suddenly back to full health with no aftereffects from D&D look like a laughingstock. But there were just so many rules and charts and everything else involved that most of the time we were lucky if we could even understand how to shoot a gun. I ended up having to run a survival game on a damaged space ship with hardly any combat involved just because none of us were sure what to do in combat. And on the rare occasions when combat did occur, it was like giving guns to a bunch of drunk monkeys and then turning the lights out and telling them to take a math test. Now this may not be a prime example of the game’s combat system. It could be that my group and I just weren’t experienced enough to fully comprehend a hardcore, math heavy combat system from 1984... Maybe other people understand it just fine... But my group and I struggled with it to the point where the combat system was the soul reason we eventually switched over to Hc Svnt Dracones.
The combat in Hc Svnt Dracones is a lot easier. Roll a check for the attack. Did it pass? Congratulations, you hit the guy. Your weapon tells you how much damage it does right there in its stats. And getting hit is easy too. When you get hit, subtract the damage from your Armor’s HP. When your armor runs out of HP, start subtracting from your body’s HP. When that runs out you’re dead. Very simple. You want to take cover? Cool. Now they have to eat through the HP of your cover before they start hitting you. It’s a bit different for people who are only familiar with systems like D&D that use AC. There is no AC. There’s no, “Oh I rolled a 17, is that enough to beat his AC?” In this game if you roll an 8 or higher (8 is the universal success in this game) then you hit. That’s all there is to it. (And mind you this is not a d20 system. It’s a d8, d10, d12 system.) You either hit or you don’t, and then you subtract from the HP of whatever cover or armor is between you and your opponents soft flesh. The only extra fiddly bit to keep track of is the nerve pool. Each character has a nerve score and when combat starts you add up the nerve scores of each side to create two nerve pools. Any time you shoot at someone, they have to subtract 1 from their nerve pool. Any time you actually hit someone they have to subtract 3 from their nerve pool. If either side’s nerve pool drops to a certain percent, panic sets in and that side will retreat, or try to... So fighting to the death is less common in this game. It’s more like the old G.I. Joe cartoons where you fight until someone yells, “Cobra, retreat!” You’ll have to have some pretty heavy weaponry to flat out kill a guy before he has time to panic and run away. Or be forced to chase him down if you don’t want to let him get away...
But all that being said, Hc Svnt Dracones still has some of the hardcore aspects of the Albedo system, if not quite as extreme... Taking actual body damage is still pretty bad. Which is why you want to make use of armor and cover as much as you can... There is no 8 hour long rest in this game either. If you have someone who can do medic stuff they can stabilize you on the battlefield if you get shot, and give you some temporary hit points... But you can’t just sleep off a bullet wound. If you want to go back to full health you will have to seek professional medical attention, which usually means spending several days in a hospital and paying medical bills...
So as I said, when it comes to combat, Hc Svnt Dracones wins this round. It’s clean and easy to understand and not a system built in the 80s by someone who loved math more than playing an actual game.
Dice and Checks:
The actual dice systems for both of these games are a little different and interesting than what a lot of people are going to be used to, at least if you have primarily only played d20 systems. Neither of these games are d20 systems. For Albedo, the game uses a range of different dice for making checks (and attacks I guess...) depending on what your stats are in whatever it is you are trying to do. You assign points to each stat and how many points you have determines what dice you will roll. So for example, if you have one point in Swimming, then you would roll a d4 to make a Swimming check. If you have 2 points, you roll a d6, 3 points, a d8, so on and so on up to d12. (I believe d20s are only used for rolling damage.) All you have to do is beat whatever the difficulty score was that the DM set for the task at hand. Which could mean that you just can’t do it if say... you only had enough points to roll a d4 and the difficulty score was a 6... It was actually a pretty fun and interesting system that my group and I all enjoyed. I’d have to say the dice system was probably the best part of Albedo... as long as you weren’t in combat... And there were various other rules that went along with it, like spending points in a stat to add extra dice to your roll and things like that but I’m not going to go into the full set of rules. Just trust me when I say it was fun.
Hc Svnt Dracones, as I said earlier, uses a d8, d10, d12 system. Those are the only three dice you are ever going to use. But you’ll probably end up using multiples of each. The game is really simple when it comes to making checks. Roll 8 or higher. If you roll 8 you have passed the check. But you are going to have to assign a die to each of your 4 core stats during character creation and that’s how it stays for the rest of the game. Your 4 core stats are Mind, Body, Community, and Economy. So if you decided you wanted to be strong, have good social skills, and earning a good paycheck, you probably made Mind your dump stat and assigned the d8 to that one. Which means for the rest of the game you can only roll a d8 when making any kind of mental check. Now there are sub-stats inside each of those core stats that you will assign points to, so maybe you have three points in Mind:Strength... That means you will be rolling 3d8 for a Mind:Strength check. And on top of your stats you also have skills you will assign points to. So maybe you put 2 points in Street Smarts... So if I told you to roll a Mind:Strength + Street Smarts check, you would be rolling 3d8+2. Easy enough to understand?
The only real down side to the dice system in Hc Svnt Dracones that I can think of is that this leaves the game open to have so many possible types of checks the players can make that it can at times get a little overwhelming for the DM when trying to decide what sort of check they should be making. More than once I’ve found myself sitting there asking myself, is that going to be a Body:Dexterity + Athletics check... or is it more of a Body:Resilience + Survival check...? Or could it be a... Yeah, there is a lot of possible checks a player could make at any given time for any given task. But on the plus side, you could use it to your advantage by allowing the players to embrace their own creativity. Have them tell you want kind of check they want to try to make and explain how such a check will work for the given task. Maybe they will come up with something outside the box you never would have thought of. It’s all really going to depend on how the DM wants to run the game. If the DM doesn’t want to leave that much control in the hands of the players and wants to have a specific skill check set for each task, then the system is going to be a beast to handle. If the DM wants to let their players get creative and work out what kind of checks will work best for them with their skill sets, then the system is going to open up all kinds of possibilities.
So when it comes to dice and checks, this is going to have to be a toss up again. Both games have their own little thing going for them and both can be a lot of fun in their own way.
Enemies:
When it comes to Enemies it’s a bit of a one sided argument I’m afraid... Outside of random things like terrorists or rioters, Albedo only really had one enemy... Rabbits... Yeah... in Albedo the rabbits are the bad guys. Rabbits are fascists in this setting... Unless it happens to be a rabbit who was born outside of the rabbit home world on one of the good planets... Then they are a good rabbit but still treated like crap by everyone else because can you really trust a rabbit...? But yeah, that’s about it for Albedo... Unless you encounter terrorists or space pirates or something, you are just going to be fighting rabbits the whole time... Which is a bit of a shame. For a setting that keeps reminding me so much of Starship Troopers, it sure would be nice to have some giant bugs or some other kind of monsters to fight.
Hc Svnt Dracones on the other hand does have space monsters. There are still the normal “these are just other people” kind of enemies. You’ll fight street gangs and assassins and the cops and stuff like that... Sure... But if you really want to spice things up and give your players a serious threat to deal with you’ve got everything from alien mutants, to extra dimensional beings, to brain eating bugs, to things I can only describe as xenomorphs operating on zombie rules... Hell, at the moment I have my group facing down a flock of eldritch, reality warping, owls. I will say that Hc Svnt Dracones doesn’t have a huge catalog of monsters for you to pick from, but what it does have is sufficiently terrifying and all with enough lore behind it that you aren’t going to get tired of it after just one use. There are even actual kaiju in this game if you really want to give the party hell.
So for enemies I’m going to have to give this one to Hc Svnt Dracones.
Adventures:
I know I���ve said a lot so far so I’ll try to keep this as brief as I can. When it comes to adventures to run your group through, it’s been my observation that Albedo doesn’t have a lot going for it. There were two published adventure modules for the game, one of which I ran because it was a stranded on a dead ship adrift in space survival adventure... And that was kind of interesting... But outside of that, with the way the game is set up... There doesn’t seem to be much you could do outside of one military combat scenario after the next... I still think the lore is kind of fun. I could see myself wanting to run a game where the party gets a ship and sets off to find the creators and learn the truth of why they were made the way they were... Or maybe a game about a resistance group trying to take down the computer that is controlling their lives and telling them how to live... But the game just isn’t set up to facilitate that. It’s set up to make soldiers and to send them into combat... Which probably explains why it ended up getting adapted into a miniature war game. It’s pretty much already set up to be that as is... Despite being a role playing game, the system just doesn’t seem to be set up to facilitate role play all that well... Unless you are a former military serviceman and you just want to role play day to day life in the military so you can relive your glory days... but as an animal... I think my uncle would be all about a game like that, but it doesn’t do much for me... i mean, like I said... I made that internal affairs platypus character but then after I made her I looked at the rest of the game and realized she was a useless character I wouldn’t be able to do anything with. So I don’t know what to say... As far as adventures go, it’s my observation at least, that this game seems to be set up for a very specific kind of person... And I’m apparently not it...
Hc Svnt Dracones, to me, feels like it has a lot more potential for things to actually do. There are far more printed adventure modules, which is always nice. I think there’s like... 6 or 7 at the moment... Maybe more... My group and I have played through three of them already and that has included a rescue mission on a space station in a decaying orbit with a serial killer stalking the halls, gambling and corporate espionage at a kaiju fighting tournament, and a murder investigation in a secluded arctic science facility with Lovecraftian shit going on. And that’s just us playing printed adventures. There are so many locations to explore with so much stuff going on in them and so many different factions fighting over corporate control that I’ve already got their next 5 or 6 job offers planed out without even having to crack open another adventure module. I could literally make a job out of anything in this game and with the way characters are built, chances are the party as a whole would still be equipped to handle it to some degree.
So for adventures I’m giving it to Hc Svnt Dracones.
Books:
How about the books themselves? Construction, layout, practicality, all that... As a long time D&D player, I’m used to games like this having a lot of books to lug around and keep track of. Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master's Manual, Monster Manual, Supplement Books... Location Guides... so on and so on... So it was a weird experience for me to find that neither of these games had all of that. Although not exactly a bad one... With Albedo: Platinum Catalyst there were originally just 2 books, The Core Rule Book, and the Vehicle Book... until they re-released it as the Omnibus edition and combined both into a single book. So you have one book, maybe a little bit smaller than a comic book as far as length and width goes, but about as thick as a D&D player’s handbook. And that single book has everything. It’s your Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master's Manual, and your supplement book all rolled into one. That was kind of nice. All each person had to have was one book. One, small, easy the carry book... My complaints were that the layout wasn’t the best. Some things were hard to find and not located in places that would make sense for them to be located in. There were actually times where it would tell you to reference something else on a different page and it either wouldn’t tell you what page it was on, or it would but it would actually give you the wrong page number... I’m serious. It would say see this thing on page 173 and then I would go to page 173 and the thing it was telling me to look up wasn’t there. I’d find it later on page 162 or something like that... There’s also the issue of the lore section... which is great if you are the DM... but if you are a player literally the first half of your book is being wasted by stuff you are probably never going to read. And if you are the DM, you’re probably only going to skim it at best because it is the driest history book you’ve ever read.
With Hc Svnt Dracones you get 3 books, all of them just about the same size as a 5e D&D book... about half an inch longer in length and width... same thickness... but one of them is entirely optional and another one of them is semi-optional. You’ve got your core rule book, which just like Albedo, is everything all in one. It’s your Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master's Manual, and Monster Manual all in one book. (Albedo doesn’t even have a Monster Manual.) Then you’ve got your Expanded Rule Book, which you don’t have to have, but is useful because it gives you more options for character builds, implants, stuff like that... (Sharks are in that book. So if you want to play a shark, and you know you do, you’ll need the expanded book.) And then you have your Expanded Lore Book, which is completely optional for both players and DMs, but if the lengthy lore section in the front of the Core book just wasn’t enough for you, you can get a full book of nothing but the setting’s history and lore.
And I’m talking about Hc Svnt Dracones first edition, mind you... I tried second edition and found the book to be such a jumbled mess that I wanted nothing to do with it... But with first edition the layout was very nice. Everything comes at you in the order you need it in so you can just go through the book one page at a time from start to finish. Which is so refreshing... Why can’t all games be written like that? Just like Albedo, a very big chunk of the first part of the book is taken up by lore, but I didn’t find it to be anywhere near as dry as Albedo’s and actually found it interesting to read... I found it so interesting that I actually did by the Expanded Lore Book to get more... The rules are all laid out in ways that are easy to understand. Lots of nice full color art so you know exactly what you are reading about and get a feel for what the setting looks like... Those three books aren’t as easy to carry around as the one Albedo book, but all in all I feel like they are all worth having. Even the lore book, which is literally just that and has no game mechanics written in it anywhere, has already given me a deeper understanding of how to run the setting effectively and given me lots of ideas for further adventures and campaigns.
The only real complaint I have is that the Monster Manual section of the core book just isn’t big enough... There are some monsters in the game that are pretty important to the setting that aren’t even listed there. Like Owls... Owls are very important lore monsters... But I had to get their stats out of an adventure module because they weren’t listed in any of the books... The giant orcas of Europa don’t have stats listed in the books either, and I haven’t come across an adventure module with them in it yet... With just how small the Monster Manual section of the book is, I feel like they could have added a couple extra things in there... especially when they are relatively important to the setting...
So for books, I have to give it to Hc Svnt Dracones. I really love how compact Albedo is, but Hc Svnt Dracones is just far easier to understand and easier to find exactly what I need when I need it (other than monster stats...)
Conclusion:
So in conclusion, I’m going to declare Hc Svnt Dracones the winner and the better of the two games. Again, this is just my personal opinion... If someone out there likes Albedo better, more power to you. Both games still have their merits, but for me I just found Albedo to be a bit too dated, making it harder to understand for people who haven’t been playing since the 80s... And I found it a little too hyper specific. Hc Svnt Dracones just felt more versatile to me and would allow me to run a far larger variety of games. So that’s just where I stand.
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thegeminisage · 3 years
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one of many reasons castiel spent the first year of knowing dean trying not to strangle him: dean's weird little winchester-only dialect
i’m fucking obsessed with this right now, so buckle in for a meta. a cool fun (horrible) thing about dean's dialogue is that a good 90% of what comes out of his mouth is:
a pop culture reference ("you're just gonna take some divine bong hit, and shazam, you're roma downey?")
references to real life phenomenon ("i don't wanna wake up missing a kidney in a bathtub full of ice" "try new mexico, i hear he’s on a tortilla")
these also often take the form of nicknames, and dean has a tendency to give people nicknames in general or call them something besides their given name, whether it’s affectionate or rude ("easy there, van damme" "so i’m girl interrupted" furthermore castiel = cas, ezekiel = zeke, etc, see also frequent use of "chucklehead" "asshat" and on the nicer/endearments end "buddy" "pal" "sunshine" etc)
an idiom ("a snowball's chance" "if it smells like a duck...")
slang ("drinking the koolaid" "jonesing for some hooch" not to mention the literal endless amount of words dean uses to refer to killing - gank, waste, juice, ice, etc)
a metaphor ("power up your batteries" "fly me back to my page on the calendar")
a euphemism ("cloud seeding" "i'd have given you an hour alone with her first")
sarcasm (his habit of replying "peachy" or "super" when asked how he is)
wordplay (see: the entire "vampirate" and "werepire" debacles)
completely nonsensical (guessing what happened to a magical artifact: "it was dug up by tomb raiders? it was seized by the king of the dead by warlords?")
said at lightning speed - if you pay attention, dean actually talks a LOT, usually a mile a minute (this makes me feel a way when you recall him being nonverbal for a year at age 4 but that’s another post)
slang IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE (casual usage of “guano,” etc)
a lie, a deflection, a joke, etc
or worse, something dean’s NOT saying, deliberately, because he’s one of the most repressed people on earth
the end result of all this being:
dean winchester is utterly infuckingcomprehensible. 
think about this. there's an ENTIRE SECTION on EVERY SINGLE EPISODE PAGE of the spn wiki devoted to JUST explaining dean's pop culture references, because the average viewer won't have seen everything he's talking about either. they have a whole page for this called “hunter’s lingo,” but honestly, it’s not all hunters, just sam and dean’s fucking batshit communication style. even i don't understand dean half the time. SAM gets it, sam speaks it back to dean a lot in the early seasons, but that's because sam and dean are 1. practically two halves of the same person 2. FREAKS. every time we get an episode that involves outsider POV is devoted to them going "what the fuck is WRONG with them?"
enter castiel. technically speaking, the show implies that angels are omnilingual. castiel should understand every language known to man, but knowing the meaning of words doesn't help him understand the following:
pop culture references
references to real life phenomenon
nicknames
idioms
slang
metaphors
euphemisms
sarcasm
wordplay
you get the idea.
listen to me. look me in the eyes. castiel cannot understand a single fucking word that comes out of dean's mouth. my guy laid a hand on dean winchester in hell and immediately fell in love with him and has no fucking idea what he's talking about ever. because not only is dean winchester's way of speaking CLINICALLY insane, and sometimes incomprehensible even to other human beings who are not sam, castiel is an angel, and someone prone to taking things even more literally than other angels do
go back and watch and watch seasons 4-5 especially. the reason cas does so much squinting and head tilting is because every time dean opens his mouth castiel has to open up his mental "dean winchester dictionary" and translate entire paragraphs on the fly, because again, dean never shuts up!
what makes this extra hilarious to me is this gem:
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this line is from 5.13. at this point cas has known dean for AN ENTIRE YEAR AND A HALF. what you see here is my guy SNAPPING. cas made an EFFORT in this scene. he asked who glenn close was. he's telling dean that he can't understand him. he is doing his level best to have a normal conversation with this guy he has a crush on and for the life of him he cannot do it (equal but opposite energy to cas blowing up the gas station and motel room in 4.01, tbh)
yes, cas can understand dean's tone. he can use context clues, and he usually gets the general idea. and when cas DOES understand dean's jokes, he laughs at them. the first time we ever see him smile is during their 4.07 heart-to-heart when dean says "it was a witch, not the tet offensive." since cas has knowledge of human history, he knows what the tet offensive is; he got the joke, and he laughed.
but as far as actual dialogue goes, he consistently struggles to keep up. even after metatron gives castiel the pop culture knowledge in season 9, cas struggles to put it to put it to proper use (dean: "you wanna just walk right into the death star?" cas: "what does a fictional battle station have to do with this?"). whenever he asks dean to clarify it's always when he’s most annoyed, like most of the time he knows it would be futile but he's too annoyed to care. (dean: "i don't know who's on first, what's on second!" cas: "what IS second???") i’m pretty sure he spends seasons 4-6 wanting to shake dean by the shoulders and ask him why he is LIKE THIS. 
it takes cas - who, again, is omnilingual - YEARS to begin to acclimate to dean’s speech and start speaking that language back to him. it's season 8 before we start really hearing him use slang, season 9 before he begins to understand wordplay, season 10 before he starts using pop culture references (to other angels, who immediately fail to understand him, which disappoints him immensely), and season 11 before he really gets into metaphors. i don't remember what season he started using "yeah" instead of "yes" but i do know it took a really damn long time. 
and honestly, i don't think cas truly got the hang of it until at least season 11-12. that's something like 7 or 8 YEARS. it’s more than half the time they’ve known each other at the point of the series finale. 
so what's true romance, fellas? it's falling completely and totally in love with the most inexplicable person you will ever meet in your whole 4.5 billion year life, even though you have yet to understand a single thing he's ever said to you. thank you for coming to my ted talk
[spn masterpost]
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bubbleteaimagines · 3 years
Text
He cheats and gets someone else pregnant
Haikyuu Boys Drabbles
The one where you finally realize your worth and don’t forgive a cheater
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SUNA RINTARO
It was inevitable, he supposed. You weren’t a dumb person- you’d figure it out soon enough. You’d pick up on the signs- notice how much he’s been going out lately and staring at his phone. Laughing at things you hadn’t sent him, becoming distant, slowly but surely.
Suna knew you’d find out.
He just wasn’t expecting it to be soon.
He had come home one evening and took a shower like normal. While he washed up, he made the terrible mistake of leaving his phone in the kitchen, thinking that there was no way she’d text him. Their relationship was dwindling, after all. Suna was beginning to let the guilt get to him.
After 3 long months, he finally realized what he had wanted. He wanted you, forever and always. He wanted to marry you and spend the rest of his days traveling and experiencing new things with you.
Unfortunately though, he figured it out too late. A boys mistake, thinking that the grass was greener on the other side. And he’d soon pay the price for that wishful thinking.
While you were cooking dinner, you couldn’t help but notice how often his phone was going off. It kept dinging every few seconds, quickly causing you to become irritated.
Suna’s phone never went off that much, and so you thought surely it must be the boys. They probably added him into a group chat, you figured.
Oh how wrong you were.
The minute you walked over to the device and picked it up, you could truly feel your heart break. Searing pain burst through you like a rocket, a gasp leaving your lips as you scrolled through the messages.
8:53 PM
Unknown: Suna? Do you think we could talk?
Unknown: I know you said that you were going back to Y/N, but I...I’m pregnant. And it’s yours
Undeniably, you were shocked and confused. Pregnant? Who was this that was texting his phone? And why the hell did she think she was pregnant by your boyfriend?
A sickening feeling began to bubble in your stomach. Putting the phone down, you clenched your fists and took deep breaths.
In and out, Y/N. In and out.
Surely there was an explanation for this, right? You’d ask Suna as soon as he got done showering, and he’d laugh and tell you how this was all a misunderstanding. Some prank by Atsumu, wanting to get him back in his own cruel way.
But...
One look at his face, though, and you knew everything.
“Tell me you didn’t,” Your bottom lip trembled as you stared at Suna, his eyes widened as he looked at the phone in your trembling hands. Once again, it pinged, but you didn’t even have the energy to look. The only thing you were focused on was your heavy breathing, and the fact that you were becoming light-headed as Suna stepped forward.
“Y/N, baby, I can explain.”
As soon as those words left this lips, your entire world shattered. Letting out a sob, you dropped the phone and used your hands to cover your mouth in horror.
“So you did.”
Suna became panicked as soon as you started crying, holding onto the kitchen table to keep yourself from falling over. The pain that you felt was indescribable, not to mention the absolute betrayal. You had given everything up for Suna- and he repayed you like this?
“Y/N/N, please,” Suna was begging as he moved closer, trying to embrace your crying figure in his arms but you pushed him away, sudden anger taking over you.
“Don’t touch me!” Suna flinched as your damn near threw him off, backing up so far from him. The look in your eyes nearly killed him as you made eye contract, “I don’t want your filthy hands on me now that I know where they’ve been!”
“Y/N...-”
“Shut the fuck up Suna!”
You could no longer control yourself as rage began taking over your body, slowly but surely replacing the tears. The more you processed it - the more you looked at that bastards face and realized that he had went and knocked someone up while you were at home, cooking his dinner - the more infuriated you became.
“I cannot fucking believe you. Like are you serious right now?! I spend all day, all fucking day waiting for you Suna. I cook your food, I run you baths, I do everything I can to make your life less stressful and then you go and do this shit?”
“Baby just listen me, it’s not like that, okay?Whatever you saw- it’s in the past! Me and her- it meant nothing. I realize that now. It’s me and you baby- just us. That’s all I want,” Suna felt tears trailing down his cheeks as he desperately pleaded his case. Desperately grabbing at you, trying to hold you as if that would make everything okay. As if a simple “I’m sorry,” could fix what he broke.
Instead, you found yourself laughing bitterly and fought the urge to smack him in the face. No, you decided you’d have more dignity than that. You’d pack your stuff, peacefully, and leave this asshole here to rot.
“Whatever.”
That was quickly decided in your mind and within seconds, you were shaking your head, scoffing as you pushed passed him and practically ran to your shared bedroom.
“Wait-! Y/N, what are you doing? No, no, no, no!” Suna panicked even more when he followed you and saw that you were hurriedly packing your stuff in a suitcase. It was messy, and you barely had half of your shit but you decided that it’d do. At least until right now. At least until...well, you didn’t really know anymore.
You and Suna, you guys were supposed to be each other’s forever. You were supposed to be endgame, but as it turned out, Suna ruined that before you could even get a ring.
You scoffed again at the prospect of ever marrying him. Now, you began to think about why you even wanted him in the first place. How did you not notice the signs? The lack of effort for weeks until Suna suddenly warmed up again and began treating you like you were his world.
How did you not catch on? How did it completely slip your mind that you were dating a cheater, until the facts suddenly smacked you right in the face?
“What does it look like I’m doing, Rintaro,” You rolled your eyes, zipping the suitcase and then booking it to the bathroom. You quickly grabbed your body wash, all your hair products and then your toothbrush. You lazily threw them in a another bag and then stood up, glaring at Suna who tried to block you from exiting the door.
“Move,” You stared him down, venom lacing your words. “I don’t fucking have time for this.”
“Baby, please,” You flinched as he reached out to touch you, to stroke your cheek with the same hands that had touched her. They were slightly wet, presumably from wiping his tears away, but all you could think about was that you weren’t the only one he had been coming home to. You weren’t the only one he had been fucking and touching.
The thought made you absolutely sick. You were sure that if you didn’t get out now, then you’d puke all over your- his expensive furniture.
“You have to listen to me,” Suna silently cried, his body shaking as he stood there, begging for the one person he needed in his life to stay. “I told you- she means nothing. I don’t want anything to do with her, I only want you, Y/N.”
“And the baby?” Dammit. You couldn’t help yourself. Once again, your anger began to fade as tears gathered in your eyes.
Suna had a child. He had a fucking child with some stranger he’d known less than six months. She was carrying his blood, something that was supposed to be your moment. You were supposed to give him his first child. You were supposed to be the one he shared that part of life with, not her.
“I- what?”
From the looks of it, you’d almost think that Suna didn’t know. His eyes were wide, his whole body stopping as he stared at you incredulously.
And then it hit you.
He didn’t know.
He didn’t even know that she was carrying his baby. He was completely clueless. Both of you were blindsided.
At this, you couldn’t help it. You did laugh, a bitter sound that sounded almost like you were mocking him.
“Wow Rintaro. How fucking stupid could you get?” You let out a watery chuckle, shaking your head as a tear ran down your face. “If you’re gonna cheat and fuck someone else, then at least be smart enough to wear a condom.”
“But I...that’s impossible,” Suna whispered, mostly to himself. “I don’t...I mean she can’t possibly...how did you...?”
“She was blowing up your phone while you were in the shower. How did you think I found out?” You gave him a fake smile. “For someone that doesn’t like putting in a lot of effort, you sure did put a lot into making sure you fucked this relationship up. And then your own life too.”
You hated to say it, but you silently enjoyed the way Suna was going to suffer. At the very least, it was absolutely what he deserved for cheating in the first place. Now, his life was probably going to be ruined. His career, his dreams, everything he had planned...
It was gonna go down the drain.
And you for one were grateful he wasn’t dragging you down with him.
“I...” Suna was at an absolute loss for his words. His whole body slumped, seemingly going numb as he just stayed in the doorway, looking shocked. It gave you the perfect opportunity to push past him, a small smirk on your face despite the searing pain in your heart.
You knew it was serious when he didn’t even try to stop you when you opened the front door.
“I left your phone on kitchen floor. Maybe you should call her. I’m sure you’d like to know more, seeing as it is yours. For your sake, I hope it’s a bouncing baby boy. That’s what you always wanted, right?”
You spoke one last time, making sure to rub salt in the wound before taking a final glance at the man you loved.
He looked broken, a sheer sobbing mess as he still stood in your bedroom door. A part of you couldn’t help but feel bad. You couldn’t help but want to go over and embrace him, dropping everything and tell him that things were gonna work out.
That was the part of you that still loved him.
But the other part...
The other part of you told you that it’s what he deserved. He cheated, and now he has to live with the consequences. Loosing you, and becoming a father at the age of 20.
That was the part of you that gave you the extra push. That was the part of you that gave you the strength to close the door, forever walking away from the man that broke you and the empty house that held all of your dead dreams.
——————————— ☁️ ——————————
BOKUTO KOUTARO
You didn’t believe it. Or more like, you didn’t want to believe it. You didn’t wanna shatter your fantasy world, one that you had been living in for four years.
You didn’t want it to break, because if it did...
You didn’t know what you were going to do.
For the last four years Bokuto had been your world. Your absolute rock, your sunshine on a cloudy day. He made you laugh, he made you feel welcome and special like nobody else had before.
Surely...your Bokuto wasn’t capable of this. Surely didn’t...he couldn’t have...
You didn’t even wanna think about it. Bile rose up in your throat every time you thought about it...his lips on hers. Caressing her and holding her the way he was supposed to only hold you.
You didn’t wanna think about it, but yet-
You had no choice as you stared at the pregnant woman before you.
“I’m sorry,” She had tears in her eyes as she sat on your couch, sobbing while simultaneously holding her belly. While holding his baby.
She had come to you only a few hours before, taking you by complete surprise. Never in your life did you ever think you’d come face to face with your boyfriend’s baby momma.
But that’s exactly what had happened.
Apparently, she and Bokuto had both had a one stand a few months ago. It was when he had traveled to Tokyo for a game and you stayed behind because you had school.
It was the one weekend you weren’t there to support him. One weekend...and you had lost him forever.
“It’s not...it’s not your fault,” You told her somewhat awkwardly, although you didn’t really mean it. She had slept with your boyfriend, after all. And now she was pregnant, claiming the baby was 100% his.
That wasn’t even the worst part though.
The worst part was that you couldn’t even be mad at her, because she didn’t know. It was a one night thing. She had told you Bokuto had left in tears the next morning, rambling on about how she meant nothing and that he had you to come home to.
She claimed that he regretted it the minute he realized what happened. Crying out about how he was going to propose and then rushing out without so much as a goodbye.
Oh how stupid he was to name drop you.
You almost wished he hadn’t, because that was how she had found you. After finding out that she was pregnant, she tried to reach out to Bokuto only to realize that he was telling the truth. He’d been with you for four years.
But did that really even mean anything anymore?
“It’s just- I just-” The girl shook her head. “I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt you. If I had known...if I had any other choice...”
“Actually, I’m sort of glad you reached out to me. Thank you for that. That was good on your part, seeing as I doubt he would have told me,” You smiled numbly, not capable of feeling anything at the moment.
It was like...your entire body was on shut down mode. It had become numb, desperately trying to block out the pain you were sure that was coming. And you, for one, were absolutely grateful. You didn’t wanna think... you didn’t even wanna fathom how broken you were gonna be.
So you didn’t. Instead you kept your thoughts quiet and relished in the numbness.
“You know...” You laughed bitterly, sadly shaking your head as you sighed, “Bokuto’s always wanted a kid. He kept begging me a few weeks ago to have one, but I said no. We’re both so young, you know? We had our whole lives together.”
You hadn’t meant to make her cry even more, but that’s exactly what your words did. They cut a knife through this random girl’s heart, causing her pain that she had stolen that from you. Bokuto, he had taken that from you as well.
“I’m sorry,” Once again, she apologized, but you weren’t much focused on that. Instead, your attention snapped towards the front door as you heard keys jingling outside. With a sharp push, your stomach dropped.
Bokuto was home.
“Hey hey hey! Babe whose car is that-”
Bokuto’s smile suddenly dropped as he walked into the scene, your dull eyes and the girl’s tearful ones ones trained on him. Immediately, his whole demeanor began to crumble down and he nervously looked between the two of you, his shoulders dropping.
“...outside. What’s this?”
“Bokuto, I believe you know her,” You were eerily calm as you pointed towards her, showing no emotion as Bokuto’s eyes flickered to her stomach. “This is Kayla. From Tokyo, right? I think you guys have much to discuss.”
Bokuto was at a loss for words as you rose from the couch, gesturing for him to take your seat. But instead of listening, he decided to make things difficult and run after you like a lost puppy as you made your way to the bedroom.
“Babe, babe wait! Y/N, please baby I can explain. I can explain, I can explain, I swear! Just let me, just please let me-”
“Bokuto,” You stopped him, holding up your hand and shaking your head. “I’m not in the mood, really. Just go talk with her alright? She came all this way to find me, so it’s rude not to.”
“But baby-”
“Go,” You suddenly became firm, gritting your teeth as you stared him. For a second, you took a small pause, and then Bokuto heard the words he never wished to hear his in life. “And don’t you ever call me that ever again, Koutaro.”
“K-Koutaro...?” Bokuto stuttered slightly, reeling back at the use of his first name. “But baby...y-you never call me that. Ever.”
“Oh yeah?” You couldn’t help but laugh on how clueless he was. I mean honestly, you never thought that Bokuto was stupid but now...“Well what the hell else am I supposed to call you? Read the fucking room Bokuto. Your pregnant fucking mistress is sitting on my couch, crying her eyes out and you’re worried about me calling you by your first fucking name? Get a god damn grip.”
For the first time that day, emotion began peaking out from your eyes. Pure anger bubbled up inside of your body, finally manifesting after holding it in for so long.
It felt good, in your opinion, to finally feel something. A delayed reaction, sure, but late was better than never.
“B-But-”
“Shut up,” You rolled your eyes at his trembling form. “I don’t wanna hear anything else from you. So go talk to her. Figure your shit out while I pack mine.”
“No!” Panic was evident in his voice as he suddenly grabbed your arms, preventing you from entering your bedroom. Shocked, you siteuggled in his embrace but Bokuto was extremely strong.
“What the hell? Let me go!”
“Y-Y/N! Baby y-you can’t leave me! You can’t! What about our plans? What about forever and always, you and me?”
“Did you think about that before you got drunk and fucked her?” You snapped harshly, causing him to whimper. “Exactly. So don’t come pulling that bullshit out on me, Bokuto. You’re the one that ruined that.”
“But-” At this point, he was searching for something, anything to make you stay as you shoved him off and then stormed in your shared room. “But baby I- we had this whole plan...I was gonna propose! Please, I...I even got the ring! Here I’ll prove it to you!”
While you were busy running around the room throwing all your stuff together, Bokuto suddenly dashed to the kitchen and retrieved a box he had been storing for a special occasion. He completely ignored the girl that was sitting on his couch, not even sparing her a second glance as he rushed back to you and dropped to his knees.
“See?” He hurriedly opened the box and desperately grabbed your hand, slipping the shiny diamond on before you could even protest. “I had it made for you, Y/N! Pure diamond, princess cut. It’s even engraved with your name baby! Please...”
You had to admit, you wanted to break down as Bokuto began to cry, looking awfully small as he kneeled by your feet. To make matters worse, he kept kissing your hand and mumbling tearful apologizes that yanked at your heartstrings.
By now, your initial exterior had began to crumble. Pain began to surround your heart, squeezing it so bad it almost felt like you were burning. A swell of tears gathered in your eyes, and you almost, almost gave in.
You almost sank to your knees and cried with him, almost pulled him into your arms because you didn’t wanna let go. You loved Bokuto, you truly did, and you wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of your life with him.
He was a good man, that probably made an honest mistake. He was everything you had ever wanted. And you were so tempted...so tempted to give in. Until you realized that you deserved better.
“I’m sorry,” Sniffling slightly, you yanked your hand out of his grasp and shook your head. “But I need to go. I can’t stay here anymore Bokuto...you ruined this. You ruined us, and now you have a woman in there carrying your child. You have the family you’ve always wanted. Don’t ruin that too.”
Hastily, you leaned down to press a bitter kiss on his forehead and then stood back up. Bokuto sobbed as he watched your figure retreat, standing high despite the heartbreak.
It was then that he realized that even though you were letting him go, you’d be just fine. You’d pull yourself together eventually, you were strong like that. You didn’t need him, but god, what about him?
He wasn’t sure if he could survive without you. He could barely even breathe and you hadn’t even walked out yet.
Was this what it was going to feel like from now on? Empty, hollow...meaningless?
“Please.”
One last time, he cried out of you. He begged you to stay.
But you knew you deserved better than that.
“I’m sorry.”
And with that, you left him behind. Forever.
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watchmegetobsessed · 3 years
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TO LOVE AND BE LOVED - Part One (Harry Styles)
a/n: oh my god i am sooo thankful for the love the masterlist got with just so little info about the story! it means so much to me and i really hope i won’t disappoint you with this story! i was planning to post the first part on tuesday but i got excited bc of all the feedback and reactions and decided to start earlier, so here it is, part one of TLABL, a story im kind of proud of and very happy to share! please drop by my ask box or leave your thoughts on the story, i would love to hear everything from you guys!
pairing: CEO!Dad!Harry X Reader
warning: mentions of death, cheating and divorce
word count: 11.2k
SERIES MASTERPOST masterlist
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“I hope you realize this holds nothing against you, we all love and appreciate you and your work, but we had to face some unexpected problems this past year.”
You sit in front of Claire, your boss completely dumbfounded, not even comprehending what she is saying completely. You came to work this morning absolutely oblivious that today is going to be your last day of work at the daycare you’ve been working at for over two years now.
“I’m sorry, but last time you let us in on the budget you didn’t bring up any complication that might have indicated someone could lose their job, so what possible problem could have come up so abruptly?” you ask with a shocked and nervous chuckle. Part of you kind of hopes this is just some stupid joke she is playing on you, but Claire is not one to make games out of such serious things. Letting out a tired sigh she pushes her reading glasses up to the top of her head into her carefully curled hair.
“Look, I’m really trying not to make a big deal out of it, but we had to make some cuts on the budget. The kitchen and gymnasium renovation was completely unplanned and it kicked us in the butt. We are making some changes about the groups this year and it was made that it can be solved with one less person on the team. I’m sorry it had to be you, but the decision had to be made.”
“But why me?” you press. “There are two people who have been working for a shorter period of time here, didn’t I earn your trust during my time here?”
“It’s not about that, Y/N,” Claire shakes her head.
“Then what is this about?”
“If you are so keen on knowing, we’ve… received a few… complaints.” Your eyebrows shoot up to your hairline, this is the first time you’re hearing about it.
“Complaints?”
“Yes. Some parents are not quite the fan of the kind of mentality you are using while teaching the kids.”
“What are you talking about?” you ask, feeling all the blood rushing out of your face. This is starting to get way too nasty. Claire pinches the bridge of her nose before leaning onto her desk, clasping her hands together.
“I know that you are quite the free spirit and want to teach the kids about openness and acceptance, but not everyone is as rainbow as you are. Some kids brought the word home about what kind of books you’ve been reading and we’ve gotten a few concerns about you basically promoting the LGBTQ community for the kids.”
“I’m not promoting, I’m trying to teach them to accept everyone just the way they are, how can that upset anyone?!”
“Well, it does. The committee had to make a decision on who we should let go and many agreed that it might be the safest decision to make it be… you.”
You’re about to faint. You are sure you are about to fall off this chair and just black out. How can someone get mad about you reading stories about acceptance and treating everyone equally? What kind of monster can see it as a bad thing? And now you are losing your job over such a stupid thing that you don’t even feel responsible for.
Though you’d love to stay and try to convince Claire to not let you go, you know the decision has been made and if you’re being honest, you don’t feel comfortable anymore working at a place where parents tell you off for teaching important values for their kids. Sadly, but you sign all paperwork about your immediate parting and you leave Claire’s office to pack your stuff.
“Miss Y/N! Miss Y/N!” Izzy, one of the sweetest girls in your group basically launches herself at you, smashing against your legs as she hugs you happily. “Do you want to see what I just painted?” She blinks up at you with her gorgeous green eyes and your heart breaks that you won’t get to see her again.
“Oh, Sweetie. I have to—you know what? Sure. Show me your painting,” you smile at her warmly. You can’t say no to her, not when this is the last time you get to see her.
As you’re cleaning out your locker in the break room, Heather walks in and stops in her tracks, seeing you with your gloomy face as you pack everything into a cardboard box.
“What the hell are you doing?” she questions right away. The two of you have known each other for years now, you did the same master’s programme and somehow ended up working here together, carrying on the friendship you’ve formed through your school years.
“I was… fired,” you sigh, wincing at the words.
“What?! Why?”
“Apparently, we are having some budget problems with all the renovations that was made recently and unbeknownst to me, some parents have been complaining about my openness with kids so I was the lucky one to part ways with.”
“That’s fucking bullshit! The kids adore you, how can someone complain about something like that?”
“Don’t know, ask them if you ever find out who they are,” you mumble under your breath as you shut the now empty locker closed. “I’m sorry we can’t carpool anymore,” you pout at her.
“No fucks given about that, what are you gonna do now?” she asks, seemingly very bummed at the news that you won’t be working at the same place now.
“I don’t know,” you shrug. “I guess I’ll have to find something new if I don’t want to end up on the streets,” you mumble.
“Oh girl, I’m so sorry,” Heather sighs pulling you into a hug. “Why don’t we go out for drinks on Friday? Everything is on me!”
“Don’t act like I’m already broke, makes me feel like a loser.”
“Sorry,” she scowls. “Just want to brighten you up a little. Meet me at seven at that Mexican place, how does that sound?”
“Stuffing my face with nachos and tequila? Sounds like the best plan I could wish for.”
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You waste no time arriving home after your worst day at work. You jump right into the job ads, looking for basically anything that might help you out of this impossible situation. Sending your resume to as many places as possible, you get a few callbacks the next few days, but you only make it to one interview on Friday and that doesn’t go well either. The man who calls in for an open position at a private kindergarten turns out to be a total snob and he doesn’t find your free spirit too fitting with the profile of his institution so you get rejected at the end of the interview.
You head out to meet Heather feeling like shit. You’ve been unemployed for four days, but it’s already breaking your spirits.
“You know what? Clair is a bitch for giving in to the complaints,” Heather slams her fourth shot glass on the table with a grimace. “She should have defended you!”
“I’m sure she just didn’t want to get into any disagreement. Some of the parents donate great amounts to the school and Claire would never risk losing that money,” you sigh rolling your eyes.
“Okay, but she is being very… not inclusive,” she narrows her eyes. “Firing someone for teaching the kids openness? Bullshit.”
“I’m just sad I don’t get to see the kids anymore. They really grew close to my heart.”
“The little fuckers can be so damn cute, almost make me want to have one.” Heather sighs, downing another shot before pulling the nachos closer to her. You laugh at her vulgar reaction, she has always had quite a dirty mouth but somehow she controls herself well around the kids. “How has the job hunting been?”
“Horrible,” you growl in frustration. There are not many that offer a good paycheck and the few that does are these posh places that expect you to treat the kids like they are made out of gold which is ridiculous. That’s not how you raise a kid!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sure something will come up soon. Why don’t you look into nanny jobs, have you thought about that?”
“What do you mean?” you furrow your eyebrows, popping some chips into your mouth.
“A lot of people prefer having nannies for their little children, some even want them to move in. My brother’s ex-girlfriend was a live-in nanny for about two years and she earned a shit ton of money, because she didn’t have to pay rent and a good chunk of the food, because the parents just treated her like part of the family and bought groceries for five people instead of four.”
“I’m not sure I’m cut out for that kind of stuff.”
“What, earning money?” Heather scoffs.
“No, living with a stranger.”
“Most of the time the nanny gets like a separated place so it wouldn’t be that bad, but you know what’s good for you. It was just an idea,” she shrugs.
Soon enough you drop any work talk not wanting to ruin the mood. You enjoy some time away from the stress of job hunting and you’re just trying to have fun with your best friend. You start talking about nostalgic memories from college and end up looking up people you graduated with on social media, checking out what they’ve been up to in the past years.
“Alright, I’m gonna go to the restroom quickly, watch out for my drink,” you announce pushing your drink closer to Heather as you head towards the restrooms.
There’s a bit of a line so you stand behind two girls chatting about some cute guy they just met and leaning against the wall you close your eyes for a moment, feeling the drinks hitting you in the head. You’re not used to drinking, haven’t really had the time to get drunk too much lately and it’s saddening to think that now that you’re unemployed, you could black out every day, you wouldn’t have anywhere to show up in the morning.
Getting deep in your thoughts you almost don’t even notice that your phone is buzzing in your pocket. When you finally realize you pull it out of your back pocket and look down at the unknown number with a scowl. You quickly leave your spot in the line and rush out to hear something as you answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Hi, I hope I’m not calling at an inconvenient time, I’m Harry Styles and I’m looking to talk to Y/N Y/L/N?” you hear a thick British accent on the other end of the line.
“This is her.”
“Great. Sorry for the late call, I’m Isabelle’s father.”
“Isabelle?” you ask in confusion, the names not really clicking in your head thanks to the shots you’ve been taking.
“Isabelle Styles? Izzy?”
“Oh! Yes! Sorry, yeah. Mr. Styles, what can I help you with?” you ask, not sure why Izzy’s dad would be calling you.
“Well I just recently learned from my daughter that you’re not working at the daycare any longer?” “Uh, yeah. Unfortunately I was fired this Monday…” you awkwardly answer.
“I’m sorry about that. Izzy has been really sad about it, I wanted to ask if you’ve found a new job already?”
“Not yet, I’ve been looking but I haven’t had much luck yet,” you confess.
“In that case I have an offer to make,” he firmly continues and you perk up at his words. “I’ve been thinking about pulling Izzy out of daycare, but I didn’t want to do it until I found someone to take good care of her. You’ve been her absolute favorite and she’s been devastated since you’ve been gone. If you’re up for a job of this kind, I would like to offer you a spot as Izzy’s nanny.”
“Oh!” is all you react, completely not expecting this call.
“I know there are a lot to discuss, but if you’re interested, I would be more than happy to have a chat with you sometime this weekend? To go over the details and see if we can make it work.”
“I, uh… Um, yeah. We can meet, that sounds good. When would it be good for you?”
“How about tomorrow afternoon?”
“That can work.”
“Amazing!” he beams. “I’ll send you the address through text if that’s alright for you.”
“Yeah, of course. When should I be there?”
“Would three o’clock suit you?”
“Absolutely,” you nod, stunned at the turn of events.
“Great, thank you so much, and once again, sorry to bother you on your Friday evening. Looking forward to see you tomorrow!”
“Thank you, Mr. Styles, see you soon!”
You get back in line at the bathroom and then make your way back to the table where Heather gives you a puzzled look.
“Did you take a massive shit or something?” she jokes as you take your seat and stare back at her, still in shock.
“No, I had a very interesting call, actually.”
“With who?”
“Um, Izzy Styles’ dad just called and offered me a job as her nanny.”
Heather almost chokes on her drink, coughing at the news. You hand her a napkin as she dries her chin off from her cocktail.
“Harry Styles wants you to be the nanny of his daughter?” she gasps.
“You know Izzy’s dad?”
“Y/N, everyone knows him! He is the sexiest man to walk this planet and not to mention that he is like stupidly rich! Have you not seen him yet?”
“Not really,” you shrug. “Izzy was picked up by an old woman most of the times, I guess I never worked when her dad came for her.”
“That explains why you’re not squirming already,” she scoffs. “That man is like… crazy hot, I’m telling you. I bumped into him one morning when I guess he was dropping Izzy off, the way he said ‘Pardon me, Darling’ made my knees shake,” she tells you, faking an accent that’s nowhere near what Mr. Styles sounded like on the phone.
“Well, I guess I’ll see him for myself. I’m meeting him tomorrow to discuss details,” you shrug and Heather slams her hand on the table.
“Oh my God! You’re gonna work for Harry Fucking Styles! Get ready because your panties will be soaking wet all the time,” she laughs like a hyena.
“Heather, stop!” you shake your head laughing too.
Following Mr. Styles’ call you decide to cut the night shorter than you intended, not wanting to look absolutely wasted when you meet him. Arriving home to your small, one bedroom apartment you take a quick shower before climbing to bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to collect your thoughts. You told Heather you’re not willing to do the whole live-in nanny thing and Mr. Styles might not even want you to live with them, but now that the option is there, you realize it might not be the worst case scenario. Especially since you’re not really swimming in other job offers and you are in desperate need of anything at this point.
Despite having consumed quite some alcohol the previous night, you wake up at a reasonable hour in the morning, finding a text from Mr. Styles about the address you’d have to be going in the afternoon. You make a quick trip to the grocery store and do some chores before you start getting ready for the meeting. You opt for a simple black dress that reaches your knees and pair it with a little funkier, flower printed blazer to bring some color into the outfit.
Punching the address into the GPS you see that it’s taking you to the outer skirt of the city to the neighborhood that’s known to have some quite luxurious estates and you immediately think back to what Heather said about him being ridiculously rich. Driving down the streets in your old Volkswagen you couldn’t stand out more at a place where at least three cars park on the driveways and one of them is a Ferrari or a Porsche.
There’s a massive security gate under the address that’s your destination and it’s left open so you can pull up to the driveway easily. You park next to a fucking Tesla, finding it extremely funny to see your car next to it, but it is what it is. Walking up to the front door you ring the bell as you take a look at the house that can easily considered to be a mansion. Guessing from the outside there are at least about five bedrooms in it and you can only imagine what other luxurious units are squeezed into it.
Soon enough the front door opens and you find yourself staring back at a breathtakingly gorgeous man, wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black suit pants, his chocolate curls falling to his forehead as his emerald eyes fall on you, a warm smile tugging on his lips.
Shit. Heather was fucking right, you think to yourself swallowing hard.
“Miss Y/L/N, it’s so nice to see you. I’m Harry, Izzy’s dad, come on in!” he invites you inside before a short handshake.
“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Styles.”
“Please, just call me Harry. I don’t like formalities at home,” he asks you as the two of you walk further inside until you arrive to what looks like a living room, but it’s actually the size of your apartment.
“Only if you call me Y/N,” you smile at him and he nods right away.
“Miss Y/N!” you hear a small voice call out and turning around you see Izzy running down the hallway until she throws herself against your legs.
“Oh, hello Sunshine!” you hum, squatting down so you can hug her.
“I missed you!” she pouts, rubbing her eyes.
“I missed you too,” you smile at her, caressing her soft cheeks before standing up. An older lady walks in, the one you’ve seen picking up Izzy. She approaches you with a friendly smile as she extends a hand towards you.
“Hi, I’m Ruth, it’s nice to meet you.” “Y/N, nice to meet you too.”
“Ruth, would you take Izzy outside while I talk to Miss—erm, Y/N here?” Harry requests. Ruth nods and taking Izzy’s hand she lures her outside to look for ladybugs in the backyard and that immediately catches her attention. The two of them leave through the sliding door, giving you and Harry privacy.
“Please, have a seat,” he gestures towards the sectional couch. “Would you like something to drink?”
“I’m good, thank you,” you smile at him as he sits in an armchair across you.
The interior of the house is quite cozy, kind of modern with a hint of vintage touches that make it less rigid, a pop of color showing at most corners so it’s not too monochrome. You quite like it.
“Y/N, I once again apologize for calling you at such an inappropriate hour, but I often work late and I wanted to get in touch with you as soon as possible upon hearing the news.”
“Don’t worry about it, I understand.”
“Isabelle mentioned it to me on Thursday that the other workers told her you no longer work at the daycare so I asked around a little yesterday and was informed that they let you go earlier in the week.”
“It was quite sudden for me as well,” you chuckle lightly, feeling a little anxious to talk about it.
“I know it’s not too appropriate, but I asked why they chose you to part ways with and I have to say it’s outraging that some parents are so ignorant and wayward. I’m really sorry this had to be the reason out of everything.”
“Thank you.” It actually feels nice that he thinks the same, this whole firing was ridiculous and you were losing hope in humanity, but Harry is now very much restoring it.
“Let me walk you through what the situation is here and what I was thinking about.” You nod and listen carefully. “I’m president of a record label and it consumes most of my time, I sometimes work sixty hours a week which I know is not ideal and healthy and I’m trying to change it, but it’s not an easy situation. I thought that putting Izzy into daycare was a good idea, but it’s been getting harder to work around her schedule as a single parent with so much work on my hands. Ruth is a family friend who has been helping tremendously with Izzy, but she is not getting any younger and she would like to retire fully and spend more time with her own grandkids. So I’ve been thinking about hiring a nanny for Izzy and try to make her days work around mine while I’m able to do that. She is going to start preschool in little over a year and I want to spend as much time with her as possible, but it’s not easy when the schedule depends on an institution. When she told me about your firing I had the thought that you might be interested in taking the spot as her nanny. She is obsessed with you, wouldn’t stop talking about what you do every day, and I might have also looked into your professional background. I like what I’ve seen and I’m very much into the way you’ve been dealing with the kids at the daycare. Openness is really important and I want Izzy to grow up in an environment that teaches her about being equal and supportive towards each other. I would be more than happy if you’d be the one taking care of Izzy while I’m not available.”
To say the east you’re stunned at how forward and open he was about the offer and his compliment about your professional background is quite flattering. You can tell he is doing an amazing job at raising Izzy as an open and accepting human, she was always one of the nicest and sweetest kids who always made sure to include all her peers in the games you played. And it’s obvious Harry is not just being a hypocrite, his tattooed arm, painted nails and ring clad fingers are not quite what you’d traditionally imagine a man like him wear, but he does it well and clearly doesn’t give a fuck what others might think about it.
Harry continues with how much he thought you’d be earning for the job and you almost choke on your own saliva. It’s almost three times as much as you’ve been earning at the daycare and you’d be able to save a good chunk every month which is quite amazing.
“I have to ask, were you thinking about a situation where I live with you or I’d have to be coming here every day?”
“Well, essentially it would be the easiest for everyone if you moved in. I have plenty of rooms you could choose from and you’d have access to everything else as well, of course, including the home gym, the pool, the sauna and the entertainment room. But I understand if you are not willing to make that commitment. If you choose to live here you wouldn’t be charged anything, naturally.”
This actually sounds like a dream, moving into this luxury mansion from your cramped little apartment and being able to save the money you’ve been paying on rent.
“And what would be the time management? If I moved in it would easily make me fall into a habit of always working, which is not quite ideal,” you point it out.
“Of course,” he nods. “I like to take care of her morning routine so you’d have to start around nine when I leave to the office. If we can make this deal working I’d like her to start taking some extra classes during the day, moving her activities earlier in the day so her afternoons would be free. She takes piano lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays, a swimming instructor comes here on Thursdays and she is taking French lessons every Tuesday and Friday. Everything takes place here, I would reschedule her activities to take place between nine and twelve. You wouldn’t have to worry about her during those times. You’d cover lunch time and then the afternoons. I try to get home between four and six and just work from home if it’s possible so I can be around her. You’d have to only help out whenever I can’t make it home in time I have urgent works that have to be done from home. We could have dinner time together and then her night time routine is my duty again. Ruth is willing to help me out on Saturdays and I spend Sundays with her strictly without any work distraction so you’d have the weekends off unless something comes up. In those cases I would check in with you beforehand and arrange it however it works best for you.”
You’re speechless for a moment. What he just shared doesn’t seem too bad, you might have to work a lot more, but being one on one with just one kid is much easier than dealing with fifteen of them at once. Not to mention that the money is still amazing compared to what you’d have to be doing.
“I’m gonna be honest with you, it’s an amazing offer. Izzy is such a sweet girl, I would be more than happy to take care of her.”
Harry smiles at you warmly, clearly proud of his daughter, as he should be.
“Can I ask for some time to think about it? It would be a huge commitment.” “Of course. Take your time and let me know whatever your decision is.”
“Thank you.”
Harry offers a quick tour in the house regardless, the kitchen is massive, they have a nice dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the green slopes of the backyard that seems to be Izzy’s kingdom. She has a playhouse that could almost function as a real one, the pool is filled with floaties for her and she has her own playground further in the back with slides, monkey bars and a swing set. Your assumptions were almost right about the number of bedrooms. Beside Harry’s master and Izzy’s own room there’s one that’s been used by Ruth, one that’s for Harry’s mother and sister for whenever they are staying over and there are three additional rooms now serving as guest bedrooms, one of those would be turned into your room if you chose to move in. The gym seems better than the one you’ve been going whenever you felt like being a little active, the entertainment room has everything you could ever think about for a room this sort of and the sauna is already calling your name. Living and working here might actually feel like a vacation.
“Miss Y/N! Look what I found!” Izzy runs up to you when you and Harry step out to the backyard, holding her pointing finger up. A ladybug is wandering around her tiny finger, not even bothering with the amazed girl that’s inspecting it.
“Wow! How many dots do you see on it?” you ask and she knits her eyebrows together, counting the black dots.
“Five!”
“Yes, good job!” you ruffle her curls as she smiles up at you proudly. She really is an angel, you’ve grown to like her a lot and you would be lying if you said you didn’t get emotional over thinking about never seeing her again. Being able to take care of her and give her the best possible childhood would be such a dream and the chance to do that is right in front of you.
“I’ll be waiting for your call, Y/N,” Harry smiles at you walking you towards the front door.
“Harry, I don’t think you need to do that,” you speak up and see his face fall, he obviously took it the wrong way, thinking that you want to say no to his offer.
“Oh…”
“It’s not that,” you chuckle softly. “I would love to take the job. And if you’re still okay with that, I’d like to move in, it would make everything just so much easier.”
You watch as his expression changes from disappointed to hopeful as he cracks a smile nodding.
“Yeah, the offer is still there. When do you think you can start?”
“How soon do you want to pull Izzy out of daycare?”
“As soon as possible. If I have to I can go in on Monday and do all the paperwork. You could move in sometime during the week maybe?”
“I have to talk to my landlord about my lease, but I’m fine with moving in during the week,” you nod smiling and you can’t help but feel excited.
“That would be wonderful. Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
You discuss a few more details and then you head out, thinking about how the next time you’ll be coming here, you’ll be moving in.
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“If this one doesn’t go to the donate box, I’m leaving right now.”
Heather holds up a pair of denim shorts, painted in the colors of the flag of the States. She holds it pinched between her index finger and thumb as if it was something nasty and disgusting
“You know I only bought that for that stupid frat party. I never wore that anywhere else, so you can put it into the donate box.”
“Thank God!” she groans and throws the shorts into said box.
It’s Sunday evening and your place looks like a warzone, boxes taking up the place everywhere as you’re packing your life up to officially move into the Styles mansion. You agreed with Harry to bring over a good chunk of your stuff on Monday and then settle in for real on Tuesday. He is pulling Izzy out of daycare first thing on Monday and you’d stay at home with her for the first time on Wednesday. It’s been a fast paced change, but you couldn’t care less. With the amount Harry is gonna pay you, you’ll be able to save up a good chunk every month, like you always wanted to.
As you finish putting your books away you reach the shelves that contain all your photo albums. Photography has been your passion for a long time. It started as a simple hobby sometime through your freshman year in high school, but in senior year, your photos filled the yearbook and you even did the design of it too. You’ve had a few gigs since then, some weddings and pregnancy shoots and you like to sell your photos individually as well. You wouldn’t have imagined how much a simple nature photo costs.
Flipping through the one on the top, you can’t help the bitter smile on your face as you see the photos from your brother’s 14th birthday three years ago. There are tons of family pictures with you, your brother Trevor and your parents, seemingly being all happy and joyful. Things were different back then and you didn’t see anything coming.
It’s past midnight by the time you more or less finish packing, you’ve filled three big boxes with things to donate so you have significantly less stuff to move to the Styles mansion in the morning. Heather spends the night, but leaves early in the morning since she needs to go to work. The moving van you rented out arrives a little after eleven and the two guys from the moving company helps you load it with about two thirds of your stuff. Harry is at work when you arrive and Izzy is still at the daycare, Ruth is the only one at home, she helps you out even though you tell her not to break a sweat over it.
“Let me help, makes me feel needed,” she chuckles sweetly when you try to get her to stop, but she insists on bringing in some smaller bags and boxes.
You’re still unpacking when Ruth arrives back with Izzy a little after four. You hear her little feet tapping against the floor as she runs down the hallway, bursting into your future room.
“Miss Y/N! You’re here!” she cheers, throwing herself into your arms as you sit on the floor, being the perfect level for the little girl.
“I am! How was your day, little Sunshine?”
“We finger painted and I made a painting for daddy, do you want to see it?”
“Of course!”
Izzy disappears to get her backpack from Ruth who is making her some snacks in the kitchen. She soon returns with her painting, presenting it to you proudly.
“Look! This is me and this is daddy!” she points at the two human-like figures, the only thing giving away who is who is that one of them is bigger than the other one. “And then this is mommy!” she then adds, pointing at a star in the upper corner of the painting and you freeze.
In the midst of everything, you didn’t even have the time to question why Harry is a single parent. To be honest your first guess would have been divorce, but Izzy’s painting is telling you something a lot more tragic.
“It’s beautiful,” you smile at her, trying to hide your surprise at the new information. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”
Ruth makes sure Izzy is busy while you finish up unpacking and when you’re about to be done, Harry arrives home. Approaching your room even though the door is open he knocks on the doorframe, catching your attention.
“Hello, just wanted to see how things are going. Do you need help with anything? I’m sorry I couldn’t be here to help with the boxes and all…”
“Hi! Oh don’t worry about that, I had plenty of help,” you shrug smiling. “Everything is going fine, thank you.”
“Great. I did all the paperwork today, tomorrow is going to be Izzy’s last day at daycare. You’re still up to start on Wednesday, right?”
“Yeah, of course. I only have a few things left at home so I’ll be all set by tomorrow.”
“Thank you so much,” he smiles warmly. “And thank you for being so quick about everything. It means a lot to me that I can spend more time with Izzy thanks to you. I really appreciate it.”
“I should be thanking you the opportunity. I wasn’t really drowning in the job offers,” you chuckle making him smile as well. “Please let me know if you want me to change anything, I have a plan I would like to go around with Izzy’s days, but of course, your word is the most important.”
“I trust you to take good care of her during the day. The only thing I want is to have her home when I get home. Ruth couldn’t always pick her up before and I really hated to do the extra trip and pick her up from daycare instead of coming straight home to be with her.”
“Understandable. I’ll make sure to plan accordingly,” you nod smiling.
“Y/N, I want you to feel home as much as possible. This is your place just as much as it is ours now. Izzy and I go grocery shopping every Sunday, it’s kind of a father-daughter thing we do every week. We keep a list on the fridge, feel free to add whatever you need and we’ll get it.”
You can’t help the smile that stretches across your lips, because this is such a sweet thing to do, when Harry could easily afford someone to do the work for him. Yet he still uses this time to be with his daughter.
“Yeah, sure, thank you!”
“I’ll get out of your hair now. Would you like to stay for dinner?”
“Oh, no, but thank you. I still have some things to take care of before tomorrow.”
“Alright,” he nods before walking out. He leaves you thinking hard about him. You wonder what really happened to Izzy’s mom and if he is dating someone right now. A man like him is basically a dream to any woman, you doubt he is having a hard time finding a partner, but you haven’t seen any sign of another woman around the house. Guess you’ll have to wait and figure it out yourself.
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The apartment is awfully empty on your last night here. When you moved in about a year ago you didn’t think you’d be moving into a mansion from here. You spend the evening cleaning out a bit so you leave the place in good condition. Your landlord was terribly nice about your early leave, you could easily agree that you’d pay for the two more weeks that’s left from the month and that would be all, no extra costs for moving out before your lease was up.
You’re cleaning off the kitchen counter when your phone starts ringing, it’s a video call from your brother.
“Hey there! What’s up?” you ask, propping up the phone on top of the microwave while you move around, doing your thing. Trevor seems to be lying in bed, a black hoodie covering his upper body.
“Hello, just wanted to see how the moving has gone today.”
Despite the ten year age gap between you and Trevor, your relationship couldn’t be better. Probably because you were old enough to see what a blessing a sibling really is when he was born.
“Everything went smoothly. I only have a few stuff to bring over, that can fit into my car tomorrow, so it’s fine.”
“Cool. How is the dude? What was his name again?”
“Harry. Harry Styles.” You see him pull his laptop to his lap and probably searches up Harry’s name before his eyes widen at the screen.
“This dude is big! He is the president of HES Records, they run some of the most popular singers these days.”
“Yeah? I was sure he is a big name judging from his mansion,” you chuckle.
“Have you looked him up yet?”
“Not really.” “Want me to read what’s here about him?”
“Sure,” you hum, continuing to clean while you listen to Trevor.
“Alright. Apparently he is thirty-one, took over the record company when he was just twenty-five because his father wanted to retire early. The number of talents working under the label has doubled since he has taken over and many of his clients have won Grammy Awards. Impressive,” he hums, scrolling down on whatever site he has just found. “He is known to be a private person, the last time he made an appearance… Oh shit…” Trevor breathes out and you turn to your phone with furrowed eyebrows.
“What?”
“Wow, this shit is heavy. It says the last time he made a public appearance was in 2017, not long before his wife was killed in a car accident.”
You freeze, feeling your stomach drop to the floor, immediately thinking back at Izzy’s painting of her family. It very much makes sense why she said the star was her mother, it must be the way Harry explained to her what happened to her mother.
“It happened in 2018, she wasn’t in the fault, a drunk driver ignored the red light and ran into her car at a crossroad. This is terrible, oh God.”
“Poor Izzy, she probably doesn’t even know what really happened.”
“Must have been hard on him, there’s not much about him since then.”
“Can’t blame him for not wanting to be in the spotlight after losing his wife.”
“Yeah.”
Trevor shows you a few pictures of him from years ago, he has always been handsome, but your favorites are the few from the times when he had long hair. He looked so different, like a whole other person, but still, he rocked it perfectly.
Then you show Trevor around in the empty apartment before loving to the couch, turning all your attention to him.
“How have things been?” you ask with a sigh. Trevor purses his lips and shrugs.
“Other than the constant screaming matches on the phone and endless fights every time dad comes over for more of his stuff? Everything is rainbows and butterflies.”
“Is it really that bad?” you scowl.
“It’s like they never run out of stuff to throw at each other, but I feel like this much couldn’t happen even in their twenty-eight years together,” he scoffs making you chuckle.
“I’m sorry you’re stuck in the middle of all that.”
“It’s like payback,” he hums and you give him a puzzled look. “You had it bad growing up for being the surprise baby, making them teen parents. Then I came at a reasonable time, they already knew the drill, but now that you’re out of the house I’m getting all the shit, having to deal with their divorce.”
“I’m really sorry, Trev,” you sigh, feeling guilty that he is all alone at home.
“It’s fine, I don’t blame you,” he shrugs. “But you could make it better if you asked your millionaire boss if I could hang out at his house sometimes.” He grins at you slyly and you roll your eyes. Of course he is already thinking about using you for his own good!
“I don’t want to push the boundaries just yet, but I’ll see what I can do.”
You talk a little more about school and what he’s been up to with his friends before ending the call. You take a shower and go to bed right away, feeling extremely worn out from all the packing you’ve done through the day.
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The next day you pack the remainder of your stuff into your car and then your landlord comes over to do a checkup, though he fully trusts you took good care of the place.
“Again, thank you for your understanding, I didn’t plan to leave so early, but it just kinda came up,” you tell him, handing him over your keys.
“Don’t worry about it. I hope your new place will treat you right,” he smiles kindly at you.
You chat a little longer before you leave and head over to your new home. Once again, Ruth is the only one home and being the angel that she is, she helps you to carry your stuff up from the car before leaving to get Izzy from daycare. Since there’s not much left to unpack you finish quite fast, leaving you some extra time alone in the house. Walking around you try to learn your way around, still finding it a bit of a maze. You find Harry’s home office’s door open and after a bit of hesitation you step inside, just taking a look around. Yeah, it’s kind of a nosy thing to do, but you couldn’t help yourself.
His space is quite clear, he keeps his stuff neatly organized. Certificates and plaques are hung up on the wall, showing off his many successes in the business. There’s a huge bookcase near his desk and there you see some family photos… ones that include his late wife as well.
She was beautiful. There’s a picture of the three of them in the hospital from the day Izzy was born, Harry has an arm around his wife’s shoulders who is holding baby Izzy, both of them radiating happiness as they just become parents. Your heart breaks when you see the photo next to it, it’s just Harry and her in Paris, the Eiffel tower standing tall behind them as they are grinning widely at each other, foreheads touching. Harry has his arms wrapped around her slim figure while she is hugging his neck. They look so happy and in love, like they were always meant to be with each other. Knowing what tragedy hit them is just hard to process even for you, who never even met the woman.
You hear the front door open and Izzy is laughing at something, so you rush out before anyone could catch you snooping around.
“Hi Miss Y/N!” she chirps upon seeing you when you meet them in the living room.
“Izzy, you don’t have to call me Miss Y/N, Y/N is perfectly fine,” you smile at her, caressing her rosy cheeks.
“Okay. Ruth, can I please have some ice-cream?”
“I’m afraid we ran out of ice-cream, but I’ll put it on your grocery list,” Ruth tells her, a pout tugging on Izzy’s lips.
“How about this: I’m gonna make a delicious smoothie, that’s almost like melted ice-cream, would you like some?” you offer and her eyes brighten up immediately, nodding right away.
While Ruth puts away Izzy’s things they brought home from daycare, while the two of you move to the kitchen to make the smoothie together. You find some frozen berries in the freezer and pair them with bananas, putting them all into the blender with oatmilk, blending it all together.
“How is it?” you ask Izzy, who is sitting on top of the counter, tasting the pink smoothie that leaves a cute little mustache above her cherry lips.
“I like it!” she smiles, scrunching her nose.
“We can make it some other time then,” you smile, drinking up your portion.
Izzy is dancing around the kitchen, babbling about her last day at daycare while you clean the glasses and the blender when Harry arrives. He is wearing a baby blue suit with a crispy dress shirt underneath, looking fashionable but still business appropriate at the same time.
“Daddy!” Izzy launches towards her daddy, who catches her, throwing her into the air before holding her in his arms, joining you in the kitchen.
“Hey baby. How was your day?”
“Good, all my friends hugged me but I told them we would meet in the park.”
“That’s right, and I have the number of all your friends’ parents, we can have playdates with them whenever you want to,” he smiles before his eyes meet yours. “Hi Y/N, everything went well with the rest of your moving?”
“Yeah, I’m all set,” you smile back at him.
“That’s great. I have a few calls to make, but I’ll be done in thirty probably. Would you mind looking out for Izzy in the meanwhile?”
“Of course. She promised me to take me around her room, so we could do that, what do you say?” you ask the little girl who nods in excitement.
Harry disappears in his office and Izzy pulls you to her room, showing you just about every toy she owns. Her room is a typical girl’s room, the walls are painted a light pink color, her bedframe resembles a castle and she has a dollhouse as big as your previous bathroom. Harry clearly spoils her rotten, but what you noticed is that she is not one of those annoying bratty only children who can’t take no. She was clearly taught how to behave and always listen to the adults.
While Izzy is putting her stuffed animals away after introducing you to all of them, you spot a photo frame near her bed, decorated with macaroni. You remember when you all did that together at daycare and now you get to see the photo that ended up behind the glass.
It’s a photo of Izzy and her mother, she was just a baby and doing quick math in your head you realize it must have been not long before her accident, might even be the last picture taken of the two of them. Her mom is smiling at the camera while Izzy is sleeping in her arms peacefully. Izzy looked a lot like her when she was a baby, the bridge of her nose and her lips resembled her mother’s, though now she appears to take more after her dad with her chocolate curls and piercing green eyes.
“That’s my mommy,” she tells you when she sees you looking at the photo.
“It’s a nice picture,” you smile at her, trying your best to hide how heartbroken you feel even just looking at the photo.
“Daddy said she had to go up to the sky, but she is watching me from there,” she explains, clearly not entirely sure what it means, but you can tell she misses her. “Daddy said she is living between the stars now and that she loves me very much.” You need to fight your tears back at her words.
“I’m sure of that too,” you breathe out smiling at her.
“Izzy, do you want to help me make dinner?” Harry walks in smiling, though it disappears for a moment when he sees the two of you looking at the photo of his wife, but he is quick to control himself.
“Yes! What are we making?” she runs over to him, jumping up and down.
“Uh, chicken and veggies.”
You step away from the photo, pretending like nothing just happened. You’re dying to discuss it with Harry, hear him talk about it, but you won’t push him. If he wants to share it, he’ll come to you.
“Alright, come on then,” he smiles down at her. “Thank you for watching her, I’ll take over from here. Food will be ready in about an hour, Ruth is staying with us as well,” he informs you.
“Great, I’ll… I’ll be in my room,” you nod.
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The first two weeks on the job brush past smoothly. It takes you some time to get used to your new home, but taking care of Izzy doesn’t feel like work, so you’re feeling amazing in your new job. You easily fall into a schedule with her.
The mornings are always Harry’s duty. He wakes her up around seven-thirty, makes her breakfast and dresses her for the day before he leaves around nine. Thanks to this habit of his, you’re able to sleep in until eight, leaving you plenty of time to get ready for your day with Izzy before Harry has to leave. Depending on the weather, the two of you then either take over the back yard or move to her room for some play time before her class of the day starts in the noon. Piano with Rosaline on Mondays and Wednesdays, French lesson with Lyon on Tuesdays and Fridays and then Izzy’s favorite on Thursdays, swimming class with Kitty.
Izzy loves to help in the kitchen so you usually make lunch together. Once her tummy is full she takes a nap before you sit down to learn something new every day. You’ve been teaching her the numbers and the alphabet, or some days you just talk about anything that interests her and learn at least two things she hasn’t know yet, all through games so she doesn’t even realize what you’re doing. You’re usually done by around three, leaving you time to take a visit to the park, if Harry is not planning to take her himself later that day.
You’re strictly home by four, unless it’s Tuesday when she has her dance class until five. Those days you drive her to her class, run some quick errands and pick her up. Harry usually uses his extra time in the office on these days, but he is always home by six to have dinner together with his daughter.
Once Harry is home you’re off duty, though you like to stay close, not just in case something comes up for Harry, but because you genuinely like spending time with Izzy and Harry, seeing them interacting.
Harry sometimes has to work on Saturdays as well, but just as he promised Ruth is always here to take over duty on those days, leaving you free for the whole weekend. It’s been working perfectly for you and those very few concerns you had about moving in dissolve quite fast as soon as you start working.
Though it’s been pretty clear to you before, you now one hundred percent sure that Harry is living for his daughter. She is always a priority, he doesn’t hesitate to decline any work calls he gets in the evenings if Izzy needs him, if she is a little fussy and wants her daddy’s attention or when they are in the middle of a game. He is clearly trying to keep a balance between his work and role as a father and from what you’ve seen, it seems like he is doing an amazing job in that. However you haven’t learned much else about him. He is all friendly towards you, but makes sure to keep it business casual, not quite keen on getting to know each other better as just friends, maybe.
A Friday afternoon you’re having a little tea party in the backyard with Izzy when Harry arrives home, but this time, he is not alone. Through the sliding door you spot him with a blonde guy who is talking very articulately as Harry is typing on his phone. The man looks about Harry’s age, but you can’t tell if he is a friend or a business partner, but if Harry brought him home, he is more likely to be a friend of his.
“Uncle Niall!” Izzy gasps when he spots the man through the glass and abandoning the tea party, she starts running towards the door. The man spots her and slides the door open grinning widely before she jumps into his arms.
“Little bugger! How are ya?” the man laughs, holding Izzy in a tight hug before leaning back to take a good look at her. You notice his thick Irish accent and it suits his appearance quite well. You head inside as well, in case Harry needs Izzy busy for a little longer, though he doesn’t mind having her around, kissing the top of her head before finishing up whatever he was doing on his phone, watching Niall and Izzy smiling.
“I’m having a tea party with Y/N, wanna join?” Izzy invites the man, who then looks at you for the first time, smiling widely.
“Hi, I’m Y/N, Izzy’s new nanny,” you introduce yourself, holding out a hand that he shakes, keeping Izzy in his other arm without a problem.
“Nice to meet ya, I’m Niall.”
“Y/N, Niall is an old friend of mine. He is joining us for dinner, hope you don’t mind,” Harry informs you and you find it funny how he is kind of asking for your approval when it’s his house.
“Not at all.”
“Harry has told me he hired a pair of new hands to help, but he didn’t mention it’s a stunning young woman!” Niall beams, making you blush right away.
“Ni, I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to pick up my daughter’s new nanny,” Harry warns him lightly, though there’s some firmness in his tone, not that it scares Niall in any way, he even winks at you.
“Oh come on, you can’t expect me not to flirt when you surround yourself with so many pretty women! First Ruth and now Y/N!”
You smile at him, something is telling you he wasn’t joking and he tried to flirt with Ruth as well. Harry just rolls his eyes at his friend, taking Izzy from him.
“Keep it in your pants, Niall,” Harry tells him and though it’s nothing vulgar, it catches Izzy’s attention.
“What should he keep in his pants?” she questions, making your and Harry’s eyes grow big right away. Luckily, Niall keeps his cool and takes care of the situation.
“My attitude, Sweetie. Your daddy is just jealous because I’m more handsome than he is,” he smirks at the little girl, successfully avoiding an awkward conversation about what it is that Niall should keep in his pants.
You smile at his reply, even though you are not that sure about the comparison he just made between himself and Harry.
“Izzy, do you want to continue the tea party?” you ask her and even though just a minute ago she was inviting Niall to join her, now she shakes her head no. “Alright, I’ll pack it up then.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. We’ll do it, right Izzy? She brought it all out, she is going to be the one packing it up,” Harry reminds her and she nods.
The two of them move outside to put her little tea set back into the basket she keeps it in, leaving you and Niall alone.
“So Y/N, how did you end up here?”
“I was working at Izzy’s daycare, but they sent me away not long ago. Then Harry contacted me and offered the job which was a lifesaver, truly.”
“That’s great! Well, not that you got fired, but that you ended up here. I know it means a lot for Harry that he can spend more time with Izzy, you’re making everything a lot easier for him.” Niall walks over into the kitchen and grabs a water for himself as he leans against the counter. “I can see that he is a lot more relaxed now already.”
“Really?” you ask, surprised.
“Yeah. I know he always used to stress about picking Izzy up, or forgetting something the daycare asked for. Now he can make it all work just how he wants to, that fits him a lot more. It hasn’t been easy on him since Maggie’s death.”
This is the first time you hear anyone talk about Harry’s wife and now you just learned her name. Maggie.
“Being a single parents is never easy,” you add with a soft smile, not wanting to interrogate Niall about Maggie. It’s Harry’s place to tell you about her, if he wants to, of course.
Soon enough Izzy and Harry take over the kitchen, Niall helping them this time and you leave them alone, taking some time for yourself in your room. Later you go out to check if there’s anything you could help with, Harry asks you to set the table as he finishes up the cooking.
“So, Y/N. Tell me a little bit about yourself!” Niall asks you over dinner.
“Um, what do you want to know?” you ask, feeling a little flustered to be in the spotlight.
“I don’t know, family, friends, hobbies?”
“Well, I have a younger brother, Trevor. He is seventeen and already taller than me.”
“Oh, that seems like a big age gap.”
“Ten years, to be exact,” you nod. “He was planned, I wasn’t,” you add with a soft chuckle. “But we have a great relationship, so it’s all good. We talk almost every day.”
“I’m sure you’ll get well along with Gemma then!” Niall beams, glancing at Harry.
“Gemma is my sister,” Harry explains. “Though she is not that much older than me.”
“But you can bond over being stuck with a younger brother who outgrew you,” Niall jokes making all three of you laugh.
All through dinner you realize how different Niall is from Harry, but in a good way. While Harry is more quiet and calm, Niall is kind of all over the place, buzzing and chatting every chance he got, but the two of them make a great pair, bringing what the other doesn’t have to the table.
After dinner you attempt to leave them again, but Niall makes you stay as they open a glass of wine. Harry puts on a movie for Izzy to keep her busy, giving the three of you a chance to sit out at the terrace from where you still can keep an eye on the little girl inside.
“Alright, Y/N. When are we going on our first date then?” Niall asks out of the blue, a cocky smile tugging on his lips.
“Niall, for fuck’s sake,” Harry breathes out as you let out an awkward chuckle.
“What? I think there’s some electricity going on between us.”
“I, uhh—I don’t…”
“Please don’t turn me down!” he sighs dramatically, making you smile.
“You’ve been great company, but I’m not sure we should go out,” you tell him. He huffs in disappointment, but it’s clear he didn’t take it to his heart.
“Is it because you’re taken? I didn’t even ask, are you dating anyone? You can’t be engaged, because I don’t see any rings,” he points out, nodding towards your naked fingers, however his words make you suck on your breath.
“I’m not engaged. Not anymore,” you admit and you watch their eyes go wide at the information.
“Wait, you’ve been engaged before?” Harry asks, clearly surprised, if not shocked.
“Yeah. For about four months,” you nod, running your tongue over your lips as you reach for your wine, taking a few large gulps.
“And what did the fucker do?” Niall bluntly questions, earning a look from Harry. “What? I’m just curious what twat it takes to lose a woman like her!”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk about that,” Harry presses, but you shrug.
“It’s not a secret. We dated for about two years before he proposed. I said yes, started planning the wedding and everything, then found out that he had been cheating on me with his assistant for about a year. We broke up, simple as that. It’s in the past, happened a year ago.”
“That’s some next level asshole bullshit,” Niall shakes his head while Harry is just staring at you with an unreadable look before he turns his attention at his glass, still clearly deep in his thoughts and you wonder what he thinks of you now. Here is the loser who not only got cheated on, but lost her job, all of that just in one year.
Harry doesn’t react, and a moment later Izzy comes out because she is thirsty, so daddy duties call him away. Niall stays a little, but heads home soon as well.
“It was nice meeting you, Y/N. The date still stands though,” he smirks when he pulls back from the short hug he enveloped you in.
“Alright,” you chuckle, slowly getting used to his flirty act.
You was the wine glasses and head back to your room while Harry walks Niall out and then takes Izzy upstairs to give her a bath. You don’t cross paths until later when you leave your room, already in your pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt to grab some water for yourself and he walks out of Izzy’s room just then, probably done with putting her to sleep.
“I’m sorry if Niall made you uncomfortable, he didn’t mean to be rude or anything,” he apologizes as the two of you walk together.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” you chuckle softly. “It was kind of a boost to my ego, if I’m being honest.”
Harry huffs with a smile and stops at the kitchen island, his fingers tapping on his lips as you grab yourself a bottled water.
“I’m… I’m sorry about… about what you told us earlier.”
Closing the fridge you look at him, seeing that he is kind of hesitant, like he is not sure he should have spoken up, but you appreciate the thought.
“It’s alright. Just water under the bridge,” you shrug.
“I just feel bad you had to go through that.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” you chuckle softly. “It sucked, yeah. I really thought I would live happily ever after with Keith, but instead I got a lesson.”
“A lesson?”
“When we broke up I was obviously on the floor, both literal and theoretical way. I thought it was my fault, that I did something wrong and that’s why he did what he did. I even thought that I’m not worthy of being loved and being in love again. Took me time to realize that no matter what happened, I still deserve to be happy and to find someone to love and who can love me back.”
It appears that your words touch him deep, staring back at you, he just nods shortly, not replying to anything you just said. You’re not sure he is so silent because he doesn’t really understand what you just talked about or if it hit too close to home. Whatever it is, he keeps it to himself.
“Good night, Harry,” you smile at him before walking out of the kitchen and up into your room.
You’re lying in bed already when you hear him open his room’s door and then close it and suddenly he is all you can think about. The way his eyes sometimes pierce down on you, the way he taps his fingers against his lips when he is thinking hard or the proud smile that always plasters across his face whenever he is watching Izzy do basically anything. But you do see some pain in those beautiful green eyes of his and your desire to take just the smallest fracture of it away grows, even though he is not showing any sign that he is willing to share it with you.
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The next morning, despite having the day off, you wake up quite early. You toss and turn, try to fall back asleep a little longer, but you just can’t. It’s a nice, warm morning and you decide to take advantage of the little balcony attached to your room. Wrapping yourself in your fluffy robe you grab the book you started reading a few days ago and sit out, enjoying the morning Sun that’s shining right at you on the balcony.
You don’t even realize for a while that you’re not the only early riser. When your eyes wander down to the big oak tree that’s near Izzy’s playground, you spot Harry doing what appears to be yoga on a green mattress, wearing nothing else, just a pair of black shorts. No shirt.
For a moment you think about going inside, feeling like you’re invading his privacy in a way, but you have the right to enjoy the morning Sun on your balcony, it’s not your fault he decided to have yoga at the exact same time. And it’s just hard not to look at his shirtless body stretching in all directions, twisting and turning as he goes through the motions, his tattooed body on full display.
It’s been clear since the moment you laid eyes on him for the first time that Harry is probably the most beautiful man you’ve ever met and that includes all your exes. Paired with his kind of mysterious charisma and the way he takes care of his daughter, he is the whole package, but you have been busy with Izzy to dwell too long on how attractive he really is. But right now, you are not working and he is very much shirtless in the backyard, teasing you with thoughts you definitely shouldn’t be thinking about when it comes to your boss.
A shaky breath leaves your mouth as you let yourself watch him just for a few more minutes before heading back inside, not wanting to get busted for being a stalker and also not wanting to see him in more positions and have even more unholy thoughts about him.
But what you don’t know is that just as you step inside, Harry catches your figure disappearing in your room, knowing well you saw him too.
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jessikahathaway · 3 years
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Baby Talk - Part I
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Hellooooo!
I've had this in my WIPs for a while and I wanted to get some of it out so that you all could enjoy it! Let me know what you think and if you want more??? Tag lists are open for all of my ongoing fics so if you want to be added just let me know!
Please enjoy!
Pairing: Jikook X Reader (Jimin X Reader X Jungkook)
Genre: Surrogacy!AU, Polyamorous!AU, Romance. (Future Smut)
Warnings: Medical Procedures, Assault (not descriptive), Profanity. If I forgot anything please let me know!
Words: 11.3k (Phew chill Jess~)
This wasn’t a big deal, you thought to yourself as you signed the paperwork in the clinic.
Just, you know, getting artificially inseminated for money. Nothing weird about that right?
Becoming a surrogate wasn’t something you’d planned on in your life, mainly sticking to your job and working towards a better tomorrow or whatever they say.
You were young, healthy and full of life.
The only thing you lacked, was a full bank account.
The realization hit a little harder than you thought it would. Being a receptionist wasn’t exactly what you’d had planned for your life but, it was simple work and it made you happy.
Going to college wasn’t really ever an option for you anyways. Your parents had died in an accident when you were little, forcing you to go live with your Great Aunt until you turned eighteen. She hadn’t forced you out, but you did leave. Wanting the adventures that life had to offer.
However, you quickly realized that it wasn’t easy pickings out in the world. That’s when the notice came to the door of your apartment that you either paid your late rent in full by the date or you could get your ass out.
Fear trickled down your spine at the thought of being homeless. You briefly thought of going back to your Aunts but, she lived out in the country and the city is where you’d made your home. As much as you cared about her, it just wasn’t going to happen.
That’s when your friend Namjoon and his husband Jim invited you over for dinner.
You were beyond excited, because these two had just had their baby girl Annie.
They had used the local fertility clinic to get a surrogate and had their baby just a month prior. You had been dying to meet the little bundle ever since you heard the news they were having a baby.
God, that kid was going to be spoiled rotten.
Quickly, you had gone over and enjoyed a nice meal with the three of them. Annie still partaking in formula.
You had tried to make conversation, but your eyes kept wandering to Annie and her little hands and feet. You felt a slight clench in your chest at the sight of her round face and sweet eyes.
“Earth to Y/N? You doing alright?” Namjoon’s voice echoed through their lovely, luxe apartment.
“Y-Yeah! Fine, I’m fine,” you smiled.
“You sure?” Jin asked, getting up to take his and Namjoon’s plates to the kitchen.
“Mhmm,” you said, eyes glancing back over at the baby.
“You’re so whipped, Annie has claimed yet another victim,” Namjoon snickered, looking at the blissful gaze your eyes had taken.
“You ever want kids, Y/N?” Jin asked, coming back in with dessert for each of you.
“I guess so, I mean. Just gotta find someone to make the baby with,” you joked half heartedly.
It was no secret among your friends that you were the black sheep. Not dating, not even entertaining the notion of having a significant other. The idea was, honestly, draining.
“Don’t feel like you have to be married to have a kid, Y/N. Single parenthood is just as valid as a couple,” Jin reminded.
“I’m nowhere near financially stable enough to pop out a kid right now,” you sighed.
“No? I thought the job at the hotel was treating you well,” Namjoon said.
“Yes and no, they treat me well. But pay me next to shit... I-I gotta make some quick cash, or I’m gonna be homeless,” you whispered.
“What?!?” The two men shouted, looking at you with heartbreak in their eyes.
“Y/N, why didn’t you tell us you were struggling! We could’ve done something!” Jin says, rubbing his face with frustration.
“No-No! It’s fine, I’ll figure it out! I always do,” you encouraged, trying to keep the fear out of your eyes.
“How far behind on rent are you?” Namjoon asked.
“A little under six grand,” you sighed.
“Y/N!” Your two friends looked distraught.
“I don’t understand how a society can function like this, I hate it,” Namjoon said, looking down at his dessert he no longer wanted.
Annie started fussing, kicking her feet and wanting attention.
Jin sighed and got up, taking his beautiful daughter with him. You and Namjoon sat in cold silence for a while. Neither of you willing to talk to the other.
You were too proud for your own good. Even if it meant crashing and burning, you’d do that before you took anyone’s pity.
“How can we help?” Namjoon asked, looking at you with so much worry.
“I really don’t know Joon, there’s no where that’ll give me that kinda money with my credit and... even if they did I couldn’t pay it back anyways,” you sighed.
“Have you thought about going to school for something? Maybe you can get a degree and, I don’t know I’m pulling at straws here,” he said.
“I can’t go to school Joon, with what money? And even worse, I wouldn’t know what to go into,” you said, swallowing down some more wine.
“I wish we could’ve had you surrogate for us. We paid that woman a small fortune. Had I known you were struggling I would, maybe you could’ve done it instead,” he said quietly.
“How much did you pay her?” You asked.
“Around $80,000,” he said, shrugging.
You choked.
“Damn you filthy rich kids,” you grumbled, crossing your arms over your chest.
“That’s it!” Namjoon said.
“Huh?” You asked, looking at him in confusion and despair.
“You can’t be our surrogate, but you could be someone else’s!”
Your body ran cold at the thought.
“I-I don’t know if I could do that Joon,” you said.
“Doesn’t your family have a high chance of twins?” He said, looking at you with a smile.
“I mean, yes but-”
“Say no more. I know a couple that’s been dreaming of a baby. They actually were supposed to meet the woman who wound up being our surrogate. But she decided to go with us. Jimin and Jungkook, they’re really good people Y/N,” Namjoon said, smiling.
“Namjoon, I don’t know if I can have a stranger’s baby!”
“I mean I won’t force you to sign up or anything. But Jungkook and Jimin are really good guys who have been waiting forever to have a baby. They said they wanted twins but, most importantly they wanted a healthy child. How sweet is that!”
You worried your lower lip with your teeth. This was just ridiculous. There’s no way you’d be able to do it. No way.
“Let me show you a picture of them!” Namjoon said, pulling out his phone.
“Joon really-”
Although, before you could argue anymore, you saw their faces.
A smaller, blond man. Whose smile was brighter than any star. And a taller, lean brunette who looked at the camera with a goofy grin.
“Jimin is the blond, Jungkook is the brunette,” Namjoon explained.
“Okay?” You said, trying to calm your racing heart.
They were both handsome. Deathly so, it made your stomach clench in a weird way to look at them. You wondered what kind of babies they would make. If they had that smile Jimin was packing, no one would be safe. That child would get whatever it wanted.
“I’m just saying, it doesn't have to be them but they’ve wanted a baby for so long and... you could help them with that and get a lump sum of cash on the side. Bad a bing bad a boom! No worries!”
It wasn’t such a hard decision in the end.
You needed the money.
So walking into the clinic had this weird sense of finality to it.
The receptionist looked at you with a smile.
“Hello dear, how can I help you?” She said.
“I-uh, wanted to sign up to be a potential surrogate?” You said, wringing your hands together.
“Of course! Did you bring your medical records and things of the like?”
You nodded quickly, handing over the required paperwork. She clicked away on her keyboard and got you all signed up and ready to go. Soon, you were getting your preliminary check up to see if you were able to have children.
Although your period had some irregularities in the past, the doctor’s said it was probably due to stress and the balancing out of hormones. But it would all work out, you were healthy and fertile!
You managed to tell Namjoon that you signed up without him having a full blown heart attack.
“How long until you need to be out of the apartment?” He asked, sipping his coffee.
“I need to be out in three weeks,” you said softly.
“Well shit you’re kinda on a time crunch there sweets, but don’t worry, you can do it! I’ll let Jimin and Jungkook know that you signed up, they’ll want to meet you. I know it,” he said.
“Namjoon, it’s okay. I don’t care who I surrogate for, as long as it’s soon,” you said, trying to keep your heart rate under control.
“Okay, but Y/N, I’m telling you. They’d be the perfect fit for you!” He said.
You said your goodbyes before hanging up the phone. The days to come would be challenging no doubt.
You were rather popular at the fertility clinic it seemed, because you’d had three meetings already.
One was a couple that had been trying for years and it just wasn’t happening so they were resorting to a different method. Although for this one they wanted to do an egg implantation. You weren’t sure you wanted to do that.
Another was an older couple who looked like they were just planning on having kids but their own clocks ran out.
But finally, you got one more call from the clinic.
“Miss Y/N, you’ve got another request for a meeting,” the receptionist on the other line said.
“Oh? With whom?” You asked.
“A Mr. Park Jimin and a Mr. Jeon Jungkook, they asked for you personally,” she said, tone light.
You almost spit out your drink.
Th-They had asked for you?
The fertility clinic was big, a huge database of surrogates and people willing to conceive for the right price.
But they had asked to meet you.
Personally.
“Miss Y/N? Still there?” The receptionist asked, sounding far away from you.
“Yes! Yes I’m here,” you said, coughing.
“Wonderful, they said if you were willing they’d like to treat you to a meal, of course I can’t give out your contact information without consent from you but if you’re willing to meet with them we can arrange this.”
You heard yourself agree before even thinking about it.
Soon, you were on your way to the higher end of town. Heading towards a good Korean Barbeque place that was notorious for having the best meat in town.
Walking in you looked around, noticing how luxurious the place was. It made you feel a little out of place to be honest. But, not letting that get to you the host came up and asked for your name.
“Miss Y/N, ah yes. You’re with the Jeon party, lovely. Come right this way,” he said, taking you back into the bowels of the beast it seemed.
Winding through tables and chairs you found yourself in front of a private room. You didn’t want to think about how much this cost, so you simply just let your mind wander to other fun topics.
Such as the fact that you were potentially meeting your surrogate partners.
“Mr. Jeon? Mr. Park? A Miss Y/N is here for you,” the host said, through the door.
“Let her in,” a higher pitched male voice said.
You bit your lip and waited as the door opened. You looked inside and saw a beautiful wooden table, laid out with the finest meats and other various types of noodles and food. Then, there was the other feast, one for your eyes.
Park Jimin was a smaller man, but so incredibly handsome it made your head swirl. His soft blond hair tucked under a beanie as he looked up at you with what could only be called wonder. He looked at you gently, a small smile making its way to his lips.
Jeon Jungkook was a different story. Lean but cut, tiny waist accentuated by his pants. His arms were strong looking and one was covered in tattoos. His hair was pulled away from his face in a precious man bun that made your heart stutter. His eyes were big and glassy, looking at you. As if breathing you in.
“Hi,” you said quietly. “I’m Y/N.”
“We know,” Jimin said with a gentle smile.
“Come, sit down,” Jungkook said, moving a chair out for you to sit.
“Okay,” you agreed, moving to sit down.
“Get whatever you want,” Jimin encouraged, handing you the menu politely.
“Thank you,” you blushed, trying to not faint with his eyes on you like that.
Ordering a few things for yourself the three of you sat there with awkward silence filling the space. Jungkook wouldn’t really look at you and Jimin seemed like he was too nervous to start.
“So,” you said, clearing your throat. “How long have you two been together?” You asked, trying to sound cheerful.
“Five years,” Jungkook said, placing his hand over his glass.
“Oh wow, congratulations,” you said, rubbing your hands on your thighs.
“Thank you,” Jimin breathed.
“Our friend Namjoon said you were kind of in a tight spot and needed some help financially, is this true?” Jungkook asked, finally glancing your way.
“Y-Yeah, I wish he wouldn’t just tell other people that but, no sense in denying the truth. I’m almost six grand behind on rent,” you sighed, rubbing your face.
Both of their faces fell, looking at each other in worry.
“It-It’s okay though! I’ll be okay, I always am,” you said, trying to keep your tone light.
“It’s okay to be scared, Y/N, I would be scared shitless if I were you,” Jungkook said, taking slow drinks from his glass.
“Yeah,” you sighed, trying to avoid the stinging in your eyes.
“What do you do for work?” Jimin asked, trying to keep the conversation from turning to dark.
“I’m a receptionist at the local hotel. It’s not much, but I really like it,” you said, a grin taking place on your face.
“Hey, if you like it then that means something,” Jimin encouraged.
“So, you two want to have a baby?” You said, trying to get down to the topic at hand.
“Yes, more than anything,” Jimin said, a wistful look crossing his face.
“That’s amazing, to love each other that much and want to build a family is... Super important,” you said, meaning every word.
“What does your family do, Y/N? Do they live here in the city?”
You awkwardly rubbed your hands together.
“Um, my Great Aunt lives out in the country. But, my parents and most of my other relatives have passed on,” you said, trying to hide the emotion that came up.
“Oh, so sorry for your loss,” Jungkook said, face pinching.
“It’s okay, it was a long time ago,” you whispered.
“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt,” Jimin argued.
“You’re right, but, it’s okay,” you said.
“So, you have a high chance for twins,” Jungkook said, looking at some papers you didn’t notice were on the table.
“Yes, my mother was a twin. It runs way back in my family,” you said.
“Jimin has a good chance of having twins as well,” Jungkook said, gesturing to his loving partner.
“I do I do,” he said with a grin.
“Do you two want a set of twins?” You asked.
“It’s preferred but not necessary. As long as we get a baby, that’s all that matters,” Jungkook said.
Soon, the food was delivered and Jungkook and Jimin insisted on cooking the food for you. Something about not stressing you out too much.
After a full meal, you leaned back and let your head fall comfortably. Jimin and Jungkook exchanged a glance at each other.
‘She’s the one,’ Jimin mouthed.
Jungkook smiled and nodded back.
“Thank you for the meal, I really do appreciate it. I haven’t eaten like that in months,” you said.
“Well, if you want to have our baby, we would gladly provide you with all the food you could want,” Jimin said.
“T-That’s alright, it wouldn’t be necessary-”
“Yes it would, Y/N. If you carry our child that means we’re responsible for you, everything you need or want will be yours. We swear,” Jungkook said.
“Right,” you swallowed thickly.
“Does that make you uncomfortable?” Jimin asked.
“I-I’ve never really been one for dependence on other people. You know? I like to do things myself if I can,” you said.
“Well, we wouldn’t force you to do anything of course but, if you did want or need anything, we would be more than happy to provide you with it,” Jungkook said.
“Thank you, that’s very sweet,” you said.
“You’d be carrying our child,” Jimin said as if it were obvious.
“Of course,” you said softly.
“Hey, if you don’t want to do this then don’t feel pressured. Don’t let money be an object in what you want to do with your life. It’s not healthy,” Jimin said.
“Thank you,” you said again.
“Well, I think it’s time to get going. I know you’ve met with other couples that have no doubt tried to convince you they’re the best option but... I really hope you chose us Y/N. You’d be the perfect surrogate for us,” Jungkook said, looking at you with a softened gaze.
And you knew it too.
You knew they were the couple you wanted to surrogate for, even if it cost you everything. You knew they deserved it. Not that any of the other families you had spoken to didn’t, but, they were the ones for you.
Your fertile window and ovulation were coming up so you had to make a choice and soon.
You’d met with the doctors at the clinic and they said that they were just waiting on you. Whomever you picked would have a meeting with you before the insemination on the rules and what you would have to do in regards to taking care of yourself. And then the money would be yours in full.
Calling the clinic you told them your answer.
“I would like to surrogate for Mr. Jeon and Mr. Park,” you said.
“Alrighty, I will give them a call and set up the appointment for them to get their end of the deal all set up and then we can get you all ready to go!” The receptionist said.
“Okay, thank you so much,” you said before hanging up.
Namjoon and Jin invited you over wanting to hear the news of everything going on with you.
And you couldn’t wait to see Annie again.
“Aw, you’re getting so big!” You said as you were greeted by Annie’s face in Jin’s arms.
“Yes she is!” Jin agreed. The cooing baby leaned forward, moving to capture your hair in her little fist.
You laughed and took her from Jin easily, he didn’t fight you and let you have your time with her. Rocking and bouncing her on your hip while the pair of them talked in the dining room.
Soon, a knocking came to the door.
Confusion swept over you, but regardless, you went to answer the door anyways.
Annie still on your hip, you opened the door to reveal Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook, your new surrogate partners.
Frozen in shock the two of them looked at you as if they were equally confused.
You wondered if the clinic had told them you picked them yet. You had just gotten off the phone with them today, so you weren’t. Jungkook’s face went to you to Annie and then back to you.
“H-Hi?” You whispered.
“Y/N? What are you doing here?” Jimin asked, cocking his head to the side.
“Came to have dinner with Jinnie and Joon, and Annie of course,” you smiled, raising the little one up on your hip more.
“Oh, did you know we were coming?” Jungkook asked.
“No, I had no idea,” you said.
“Ah! Are those the boys?” Jin’s voice echoed throughout the hall.
“Yes!” You yelled back.
“Let them in Y/N! We invited them over too!” Namjoon said.
“Please come in,” you said, moving out of their way as the couple greeted Jin and Namjoon fondly.
It appeared as though there were no hard feelings in regards to them getting a surrogate they wanted. But, you could see Jungkook’s longing on his face when he looked at Annie in your arms.
“She’s beautiful,” Jimin said, looking down at Annie as you rocked her to sleep.
“Mhmm, gorgeous. She’ll be stealing hearts just like her dads,” you said.
“Hey, Y/N,” Jimin said, keeping his eyes trained on the little one in your arms.
“Did you make your decision yet? It said on your profile that your ovulation window was coming up and I was just curious,” he said quietly.
“I did,” you said.
Jimin’s face fell.
“I see,” he swallowed.
“Jimin-”
“Alright you two, paws off the baby, my turn!” Namjoon said, walking in.
You handed the sleeping baby over without a fuss before you and Jimin both walked out into the living room. Jimin whispered something to Jungkook and his face dropped. But you couldn’t find the words in your mouth. You wanted to tell them you picked them. You moved to talk to them when you felt Jin’s presence behind you.
“Y/N? You alright?” Jin asked, placing his hand on your shoulder.
“Yeah.”
It was getting later, and you were feeling sleepy from all the food you’d eaten during the night.
Jimin and Jungkook looked at your sleepy form and their hearts broke all over again.
“I can’t believe she didn’t pick us,” Jungkook said, face betraying how he felt.
“Babe, you can’t force her. I-I thought we had a good chance but,” Jimin sighed.
“I don’t want to keep looking for a surrogate if this is going to happen every time,” Jungkook said, pain coming through in his voice.
“Jungkook you know how badly I want this too right? It’s not just you hurting here,” Jimin said.
“We’ve been trying for two years to find a surrogate and when we find one we want, they always pick someone else. Why? Are we that undesirable? I don’t understand,” Jungkook sighed.
“It’s not that,” Jimin whispered. “Maybe it’s just not our turn yet.”
“When is it gonna be our turn, huh?” Jungkook said. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
“We can’t give up,” Jimin said softly. “I don’t want to give up yet.”
“I know baby,” Jungkook said, kissing Jimin’s cheek softly.
You felt your heart pounding in your chest. These poor men were really hurting for a baby. A family to call their own.
Sitting up Jimin and Jungkook looked at you in fear.
“Y/N? Y-You were awake-oh God I’m so sorry you had to hear that-” Jimin said frantically.
“I picked you two,” you said.
Their eyes shot up to meet yours.
Jungkook’s were glossy from unshed tears and Jimin’s were widening by the second.
“You what?”
“I said I picked you two. I want to surrogate for you two,” you explained.
“But-in the nursery you said-” Jimin started.
“I said I had picked someone, I didn’t say who silly,” you smiled.
“Oh thank you Y/N!” Jungkook said, coming over to hold your hand in his.
“You don’t know what this means to us,” Jimin said.
“I know you two want this baby more than anything, I want to give it to you. Honestly, you two have waited long enough,” you said, heart stammering at the look of hope in their eyes.
“You’re perfect Y/N! Seriously!” Jimin cried, holding onto Jungkook for dear life.
“Thank you, you’re very sweet. I’m supposed to go in for the, you know, business end of it on Monday. They said they’d call you tomorrow. I just gave my answer today,” you told them.
“Okay, alright sounds good,” Jungkook said, wiping his eyes furiously.
“You gonna be okay?” You asked, looking at the two of them.
“Of course, more than okay.”
Monday creeped up on you quickly, faster than you thought.
You went to the clinic and sat down, getting signed in and everything before you saw Jungkook and Jimin waltz in looking like a million bucks.
Dressed head to toe in designer clothing, you realized you didn’t know what they did for a living. You hadn’t really looked at their profiles all that much. But you knew their baby would have everything they could ever want and more.
Smiling at them and waving, the two of them made their way over to you.
“Hey! What’s going on?” Jimin asked, sitting down in the chair next to you.
“Just waiting,” you said, looking at the pair of them together.
They looked like the traditional power couple. Strong, dependable and handsome to boot. It was kind of overwhelming.
Jungkook was wringing his hands together, biting his lip as he looked around the room.
“You alright Jungkook?”
“Yeah just-”
“Mr. Jeon, Mr. Park and Miss Y/N? The legal assistant will see you now,” a voice from the corner called.
“Let’s go,” you said, standing up and heading towards the back room.
You sat down and the rules of the road were laid out.
If you signed the contract Jimin and Jungkook were the parents of the child. You had no rights unless they said otherwise. You would be given a lump sum of money, transferred into your bank account the day they know you’re pregnant and expecting. If anything happens to the baby such as a miscarriage or something of the like that you had no control over, you would be able to keep the money. But, they would like to try again to see if the next one stuck better.
“So, if you conceive twins, which your likelihood is good, Mr. Jeon and Mr. Park have agreed to pay you double,” you almost choked on your drink.
Double?
“What?” You squeaked out.
“It’s written right here,” the legal assistant said, pointing to the document in her hands.
“Okay,” you said softly, not wanting to make either of them uncomfortable.
“The total of your payment will come to $153,000 dollars,” the legal assistant said. “If you conceive twins.”
Your head swirled.
What would you do with all that money? Jimin and Jungkook looked at you with worry.
“I-Is it not enough? We can give you more if you want-”
“No! No no, that is totally acceptable. More than,” you said.
“Okay, just making sure,” Jimin answered.
“If you would please initial here, Miss Y/N. And then a signature here at the bottom and then you two will also need to sign as well,” she said.
After all the paperwork was done your date for insemination was set.
Jimin and Jungkook looked at you as you walked out of the clinic.
“Hey! Y/N! Hold on,” Jungkook said, walking forward.
“Huh? What is it?” You asked turning around.
Jungkook’s bright eyes blinded you as he gazed into your own. But you kept your breathing steady as you could.
“Do you want a ride home? Jimin and I cleared our schedules so we could be here today, and... Well we don’t want you to get hurt or anything,” he said, pointing to the black suburban.
“Oh, it’s alright I was gonna go to the bookstore and get a few things and then head home but I’ll be fine, no worries,” you smiled.
“We insist, Y/N,” Jimin said, walking forward to take his partner’s hand.
“Um, well... It’s really not that far, I’m sure it’ll be okay,” you said.
“Well, if you’re really sure,” Jungkook said.
“Yeah, but I’ll see you two on Thursday right? That’s when I’m supposed to... Well, you know,” your said, looking down at your feet.
“Of course! If you want us to be there that is,” Jimin said.
“Yes, it’s your baby,” you said.
“Okay, we’ll see you Thursday then,” Jungkook agreed, waving at you before he and Jimin got into the suburban and left.
But you couldn’t help the feeling you had as you watched them drive away.
Sadness.
You walked into the clinic Thursday morning, sweat pooling in your palms. You were reaching the end of your wire at your apartment. And you weren’t going to get the money in time. You were worried and didn’t want to bother Namjoon and Jin... So you just kept it to yourself.
You felt the fear and worry eating you up inside as you sat in the waiting room.
The doctor called your name and you headed back towards the room, when someone shouted your name.
Jimin and Jungkook were there, smiling brightly at you.
Your heart eased at seeing the two men, so happy and radiant. Everything you weren’t currently. But, knowing you were giving them something so important really made you feel better. Even if it was just for the time being.
“Oh my gosh, we’re finally getting a baby!” Jimin squeaked.
“Easy, it’s probably not going to happen first try,” you reminded him of what the doctor said.
“Bet I could get you pregnant in one shot,” Jungkook smirked.
“Oh shush Kook. But if you got her pregnant you wouldn’t get those twins you want so badly now would you, butthead,” Jimin said, shoving the younger man around slightly.
You tried to keep yourself from blushing but the redness that twinged your cheeks was there regardless. You were here to get pregnant, that was the end goal of today.
“Alright, Miss Y/N, we’re going to take you back and get you all set and then Mr. Park and Mr. Jeon have said they wanted to take you home after. Is that alright with you?” The doctor asked.
“Yes, that’s fine,” you said.
“Okay, let’s head back then,” Jungkook gave you a gentle smile before Jimin came forward and gave your knuckles a quick kiss.
“Good luck, Y/N,” he said.
“Thanks,” you answered before heading back.
The whole process took around a hour and a half, most of it waiting.
The sensation wasn’t too bad, but you were a little uncomfortable. Everything was super sterile and not how you expected you’d get pregnant, but... It wasn’t your baby at the end of the day. You tried not to wiggle as you laid there, letting Jimin’s seed try to impregnate you.
Finally, the timer went off and you were allowed to leave to go home.
Jimin and Jungkook were sat in the waiting room, chatting with each other excitedly. You knew that this was it, that they were more than perfect for this baby. You were beyond happy you could give it to them.
“Y/N!” Jimin said, walking up to greet you.
“Hey,” you said easily, noticing Jungkook come up behind him.
“We’re here to take you home!” Jimin smiled.
“Thanks guys,” you said softly.
“We brought the car around already so you don’t have to walk too much. Don’t wanna spoil all our hard work,” Jimin said, looking at your tummy with affection.
“Like I said Jimin, it probably won’t happen this time. But you never know, you might have some strong swimmers,” you joked.
“You have no idea, Y/N,” he said, gazing into your eyes for a moment.
Your breath caught in your throat. He looked like an angel wrapped in sin, as if he were so good yet so bad for you. It made your head spin.
Jungkook held the car door open for you and you got in carefully. Jimin sat in the back with you while Jungkook sat up front.
Of course these two had a driver...
Jimin was looking out the window and noticed that they were getting into the sketchier part of town. His worry was eating him alive. He didn’t want the mother of his child staying here! That simply wouldn’t do.
You got out of the car, heading towards your apartment when the landlord approached you. Jungkook and Jimin were still getting out of the car when he exploded at you.
“There’s the little bitch now!” He growled, grabbing your wrist and twisting it painfully.
You yelped, trying not to move so much. It only made it hurt more.
“Let me go!” You said.
“You filthy cunt, you owe me almost six thousand dollars! And you dare to come back here without anything? Huh? Nothing? Where have you been huh? Selling your body to make some cash I bet, that’s what little whore’s like you do right? Fucking pathetic,” he spits at you.
“I-I just need a little more time-” a resounding smack is heard through the parking lot.
Jimin and Jungkook look up to see your head turned sharply to the side and a man gripping your wrist.
Both of the men flew off the handle.
“Let go of her you fucker!” Jungkook yelled, walking forward with purpose.
“Don’t you dare touch her!” Jimin growled, pulling you away from the man.
“Did you fucking hit her?” Jungkook said, looking at your reddened cheek.
“Bitch owes me money, she knows that-”
“Fucker!” Jungkook snarled, grabbing the man by his shirt and lifting him.
“Y/N? Sweetie can you hear me?” Jimin whispered. Your head was swimming with pain and discomfort. Your cheek was screaming at you. But what hurt worse was the embarrassment. They saw it all, that you couldn’t take care of yourself. How on earth were you going to take care of a baby if you got pregnant for nine months? Huh?
“I’m sorry,” you whispered.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, he hurt you. Jungkook put him down and call the cops,” Jimin said.
“I owe him money, I just-”
“You can’t arrest me! You fuckheads, do you know who I am?” He asked.
“Do you know who we are? Hi I’m Jeon Jungkook, heir to the Jeon Law Firm here in the city. You might have heard of us, and she is the mother of my future child and you won’t be putting your hands on her ever again,” Jungkook said.
“I just wanna leave, I don’t... I don’t wanna be here,” you whimpered.
“But Y/N,” Jimin said.
“Can we leave? Please?” You begged, looking up at him with a swollen cheek and glossy eyes. Jimin’s heart broke five times over, seeing you so upset.
“Jungkook, come on. Let’s go,” Jimin said.
“And leave her with this fucking piece of shit? I think not, no we’re going to-Y/N? Are you alright?” Jungkook asked, coming forward and looking at your face with a tenderness you didn’t know was there.
“We’ll take her home with us,” Jimin said easily.
“Okay, yeah. But we’re calling the cops on that dickbag when we get back. I want him arrested for hurting her,” Jungkook said with finality.
“Of course baby,” Jimin said, soothing the younger male.
“Can we just go?” You asked, looking up at them for a moment.
“Yes, of course we can, let’s get you in the car and go back to our place,” Jungkook said, coming forward and getting into the back seat this time. Jimin encouraged you to get inside, so you did, him following shortly thereafter.
“Take us home please,” Jungkook said, shutting the little window between the front of the car and the back.
You sat between the two men, each of them looking out the window and appearing to be deep in thought. You were as well. You hoped this didn’t affect your chances of getting pregnant. You don’t know what you’d do if you couldn’t get this baby. The prospect of so much money on the line, you very future.
Also, you worried for Jungkook and Jimin. You really wanted this to work for their sake too.
They’d been waiting so long.
You were swallowed into the dreamscape of your thoughts. Nothing really getting in or out of your mind. You were just reeling at everything that had happened in less than four hours. You had your first attempt at insemination, went home and got assaulted and now you were heading to the upper end of the city with the two men who wanted you to have a baby for them.
This was all so much to handle.
Finally, the car stopped moving and Jimin quickly ushered you out of the vehicle. You stood there and looked up at the stunning building with a weird sense of fear. It loomed over you, almost intimidatingly so.
Jimin told the driver to go park the car and take the rest of the day off while Jungkook gathered their things from the back. You looked around and noticed that people were staring at you.
No doubt you looked like a sore pink thumb right now. Tear stained and swollen cheeks making you look even more outlandish in the area. But, Jungkook quickly moved everyone inside.
The door man asked who you were and Jimin and Jungkook simply told the truth.
“She’s our surrogate, we’re having her stay with us for a while. If she needs anything, make sure she gets it!” Jimin said.
“Absolutely Mr. Park,” the doorman said.
“Come on Y/N,” Jungkook said, heading towards the elevator.
You followed behind them quickly, getting in the mirrored elevator. Looking at yourself you felt all the anxiety and fear come back. You didn’t belong here, you were wearing a pair of fucked up jeans, a flannel and t-shirt. They were dressed in beautiful clothing, dipped in the finest silks and satins.
You looked like a charity case no doubt.
It made your stomach churn in discomfort. But you kept your mouth shut. You were providing them with a service. And in turn they were paying you. It was a give and take situation. But you couldn’t help but feel as though you were taking more than you were giving.
Jungkook held the door while you and Jimin entered the house. You looked around and the apartment was massive. Bigger than your Aunt’s tiny house in the country. You wondered just how much money these two had.
Soon, Jimin was sitting you down on the couch and tending to your cheek. His heart crumpled when you flinched at his touch. He tried not to take it personally, you were literally just assaulted. But he hoped you weren’t scared of him, or Jungkook.
“Should I call the doctor?” Jungkook asked, coming in and sitting next to Jimin.
“No, she’s just a little swollen, she’ll be alright,” Jimin said, handing you the painkillers and some ice.
“Can she have that?” Jungkook asked, referring to the pain medicine.
“It’s acetaminophen she can have it,” Jimin confirmed.
“Okay,” he said, standing up and heading towards the kitchen.
“Are you hungry?” Jimin asked, looking at you for any signs of discomfort.
“Not particularly, but I should eat. Especially today,” you said, a weak smile on your face. Jimin nodded, but headed towards the kitchen regardless.
Soon after, a wonderful aroma filled the apartment. But you hadn’t moved from the couch, keeping your eyes trained on the TV Jimin turned on for you. You didn’t particularly want to watch the news, but you weren’t sure on how to work this TV. It made your brain hurt. But, whatever, you kept your eyes on the screen, not looking anywhere in particular.
Jimin soon came out, wearing a smile that must be a signature for him or something. He told you dinner was ready and to follow him. Turning off the TV with a swipe of his finger on the screen you marveled at the technology.
He patted your cheek and brought you into the dining room.
Jungkook was finishing putting the food out when you sat down. He and Jimin were deep in conversation. You picked at your food, eating a few pieces if Jimin put them on your plate. But other than that, you sat unmoving in the corner.
You supposed you were still in shock of what had happened today.
Soon, you felt the distinct cramping in your lower stomach, something you were told is to be expected. Especially if the pregnancy took. Letting out a puff of air, you held your stomach. It wasn’t terrible, but the discomfort had you adjusting in your seat.
Jungkook’s head snapped in your direction, carefully observing you.
“Everything alright? Y/N?” He asked, cocking his head to the side in a cute way.
Forcing a smile you nodded.
“Yeah, just cramping a little bit,” you said, keeping your hands together underneath the table.
“Is it bad?” Jungkook asked, leaning towards you.
“No-ah!” You said, clutching your stomach. It didn’t hurt as much as it caught you off guard. But the two men were beside you in seconds.
“Y/N? Do you want us to call the doctor?”
“Is there something we can get for you? Do you want more pain medicine?”
“N-No, honestly, I’m okay,” you said, giving them each a squeeze to their wrist.
Jimin nodded, standing up and moved to start cleaning up the meal. Jungkook placed a couple more pieces of meat on your plate, asking you to eat them. He thought it could help your cramping, but he mainly just wanted to see you eat something.
Soon, the pair of them had cleaned up the meal and had gathered some clothes for you to wear to bed.
“We’ll pick up some stuff for you to wear tomorrow,” Jungkook said smiling.
“N-No that’s alright I can go back and get my stuff,” you said.
“You’re not going anywhere near that building,” Jimin warned, voice low.
“What? I have to get my stuff-”
“We’ll have someone go collect your things and bring them back here,” Jimin said, careful.
“I can go it’s not a big deal-”
“Y/N, please, just let us take care of this,” Jungkook said, quietly coming over to your side.
You were far too tired to argue. But you already felt like a cat in a cage. So you waved off the disagreement and decided to just head to bed.
The cramping was still there, but not nearly as bad as it had been when you were at the table. Laying down helped, but you felt something in your underwear.
Quickly, you went to the bathroom and noticed some blood in your underwear. Biting your lip, you tried to keep yourself from panicking. Putting them back on you went to living room and found Jimin sitting on the couch, looking tired.
“J-Jimin,” you said quietly.
His head snapped up and he gave you a little smile.
“Yes, Y/N?” He asked, coming towards you. You sighed and ran your hands through your hair.
“I-I was bleeding,” you said, voice straining slightly.
“You were? Where?” He asked, brows furrowing.
“M-My, uh, I found it in my underwear,” you said, breathing in deeply.
“Was it a lot?” He asked, keeping a cool exterior.
“N-No, not a lot but it worried me,” you said, trying to keep yourself from freaking out on him.
“It’s normal to spot a little after the IUI, don’t worry. But tell me if anymore happens. They did just shove a tube up your business,” he said, laughing lightly.
Immediately you were put at ease. Sensing your relief, Jimin patted your shoulder.
“It’s okay to be nervous, we are,” Jimin said, nodding towards the closed door you assumed was to their bedroom.
“Yeah, I’m-I just really want this to work,” you confessed, feeling yourself relax a bit.
“We do too, more than anything,” Jimin answered, giving you a genuine grin.
“I’m glad that the baby will have you two as parents, makes me feel good knowing that they’ll be taken care of,” you smiled back.
Jimin’s face seemed to morph into a look of joy and agony at the same time.
“You’re too sweet, Y/N, honestly. Jungkook and I are beyond excited,” he explained.
“Have you always wanted to be a father?” You asked him, out of the blue. Jimin blushed and looked down at his feet.
“Y-Yeah, ever since I was little I always wanted a family to call my own. And when I met Jungkook I knew it was just meant to be you know? Like, everything just made sense,” he said, a sheepish look taking over his features.
“That’s so sweet,” you gushed.
“It’s the truth,” he shrugged.
“I want someone to look at me the way you look at Jungkook, like I’m their whole world and more. I’ve never been one for dating though,” you said, looking down at the floor, embarrassed.
“No? How many boyfriends or girlfriends have you had?” Jimin asked, not thinking. When the shocked look took over your face he back peddled. “I-I shouldn’t have asked, that doesn’t deem your worth or anything like that-”
“None,” you said, blushing bright red.
Jimin’s face changed.
“Tell me if I’m out of line here, but have you ever, uh... You know, um,” he said, rubbing his hands together.
“Oh? Sex? Yeah, I’ve done it before, but it wasn’t really anything special. I don’t even think I-um... Nevermind,” you said, biting your lip hard.
“You don’t think you what? You didn’t cum?” Jimin said, as if he were shocked.
“No! Now keep your voice down!” You yelped.
Jimin frowned.
“That’s horrible, you deserve better,” Jimin said matter of factly.
“It happens, but, this conversation has gotten away from us,” you said, trying to steer it away from your pathetic sex life and more towards the fact that you both need to go to bed. “I’m tired, had a long day.” You said, rubbing your arms.
“Of course, absolutely! If you need anything or something happens, our room is right here just come get us,” Jimin said.
“Okay, thanks,” you said, turning, but not before you wished him a good night.
Jimin gave you a small smile. “Good night, Y/N, sleep well.”
Soon your stuff was all moved into the boys apartment. You questioned when you would be leaving, but the boys said that you didn’t have to worry about departing for the foreseeable future.
They had originally wanted you to live with them if and when they found out you were pregnant, that way they could be there through it all. But, these stages after the insemination could be hard on you and they decided to keep you with them.
You felt like a little kid half the time, but you had to call in to work often because of these appointments. And quickly, they tired of it.
“Y/N, we love you and we want you to pick here to work, but honestly your attendance is a severe issue right now,” your supervisor said over the phone. You called in that day because you just were feeling super exhausted.
You hadn’t told them you’d signed up for a surrogacy. You weren’t sure how that would go over, but, maybe you had to if you wanted to save your job.
“I-I’m calling in all the time because I’m trying to get pregnant,” you said softly.
Laughter came from the other side of the phone.
You were being laughed at.
“Oh my God, Y/N, that’s hilarious! But seriously, I have to put you on a two week suspension without pay because-”
“Dawn, I'm serious. I signed up with the fertility clinic and I’m currently trying to become a surrogate for a lovely couple,” you said, honestly.
“Y/N, why did you sign up for that? As far as any of us knew, you weren’t that into kids,” Dawn said over the phone.
“I-I like kids, but the baby won’t be mine to keep. The couple gets to keep them once they are born. I lose all rights as a parent,” you explained.
“That’s kinda cruel... Let you carry the baby for nine months then force you to leave them. I don’t know if I could do that,” she said.
“I-It’s the way it is,” you said. “But I need to have the day off, I have an appointment at the clinic.”
“Y/N, would it be easier if we just let you quit?” Dawn said.
“What?!” You shrieked into the phone.
“Well, it’s a delicate time and we'd have you working on your feet for long hours. I don’t want anything to happen to you or your baby,” she said, sounding sad.
“But I don’t wanna leave you guys,” you whimpered.
“Well, once the little tike is born come back. We’ll hire you back, I promise. If you want to come back,” she offered.
“Y-You’ll really let me come back?” You said, biting your lip.
It would be nice to just focus on the pregnancy and helping Jungkook and Jimin. If you had the option, maybe it would be better to take her advice and go back when you were ready. Hopefully they don’t screw you over.
“Of course we will! We love you! But, right now isn’t the best time for you to be working. Focus on you and your little bundle okay? We’ll be waiting,” she said.
“Oh thank you Dawn! I love you guys too!”
After a little tears ‘see you later’, you hung up.
Soon, a soft knock came to your door. Looking up you saw Jungkook there, dressed to the nines looking at you. Raising a brow you assessed the situation.
“What’s up?” You said, setting your phone down to give him your undivided attention.
“I was wondering if you needed a ride to work, you’re already an hour late,” he said, pointing to the clock on your wall.
“Oh, about that,” you said, rubbing your hands together.
“Did something happen? Did they fire you for being our surrogate? Oh just let me make one phone call, that’s illegal! I’m a lawyer, let me talk some sense into them!” Jungkook said, turning to walk out.
“No, Jungkook! It’s fine, they told me to take the time off. To spend time focusing on myself and to take care of the baby,” you explained. “My job will be there when I’m ready to return.”
Jungkook stopped and looked at you. His features softened before nodding.
“Okay, but if they try to tell you you can’t go back when you’re ready, you just tell me. I won’t let anyone disrespect or lie to you,” he said, a stern look on his face.
“Thanks Jungkook, that means a lot,” you said, giving a smile.
“There’s food in the fridge, all you have to do is heat it up. You have the house to yourself so, do whatever you want,” Jungkook said, waving before walking out of your room.
You sat there for a minute, really mulling over what you wanted to do. Honestly, you were so sore and tired you just wanted to fall back asleep. But you decided that it was better to get up and do some activity. Hopefully that would be okay.
It had been about ten days since your IUI appointment and you were mainly just tired. Although fatigue was a symptom of an attachment. But that was the only symptom you were having, you were meant to test in a couple days to see if you were pregnant, but something had you worried.
If you weren’t pregnant, you’d have to wait a whole other month. They did tell you that sometimes it took multiple tries to successfully impregnate someone. But you really wanted this to work, you just wanted to get this going.
That way Jimin and Jungkook could have their baby already.
You knew they’d be amazing fathers, already with their dutiful actions towards you. So willing to do whatever you asked, but you tried your best not to pester them too much. You tried to make it as though you weren’t even there. But they insisted you join them for dinner so they could make sure you were eating well.
For your day you mainly just puttered around the house, picking up and doing little things that wouldn’t aggravate you. So, you settled down with a book in your hands and soft music playing in the background.
That’s how Jimin and Jungkook found you when they came home. Curled up on the couch with a novel between your fingers. Jimin smiled softly, looking at the picturesque scene.
“Do you think she’s pregnant?” Jungkook asked, looking at his boyfriend with apprehension.
“I hope so,” Jimin answered.
“She’s really tired lately, sleeping late and going to bed early. That’s a sign, right?” Jungkook said.
“It is, but that’s also a sign of a woman’s period coming up,” Jimin warned.
“Damn...” Jungkook said, rubbing his face.
“But I don’t know, she’s due to test soon so, we might have our baby,” Jimin soothed.
You looked up from your book, noticing the pair in the entryway. Giving them a shy smile, you waved, nose getting buried back in the book. Jimin laughed lightly, heading towards the kitchen.
The two cooked dinner, making something easy to digest. Your stomach was on the fritz yesterday so they want to make sure they don’t upset your sensitive tummy. But, as Jimin looked out at you reading on the couch, a blanket draped along your lap. He couldn’t help but love the domesticity of it all. You looked at peace, in your element and comfortable.
Jimin hoped it would stay that way. With you, comfy and cared for.
Jungkook rushed past with the boiling soup in his hands, moving quick like a little kid to set the table for you all. Jimin just laughed, smacking his butt when he came back.
“Hey! Paws off,” Jungkook pouted.
“Hmm? That’s not what you were saying the other night,” Jimin laughed at the scandalized look on Jungkook’s face. “I’m kidding, come on go get Y/N so we can eat.”
Jungkook went to gather you from the living room and was met with an unusual sight. You passed out, wrapped in the blanket with your book on the floor.
He smiled, moving towards you slowly. He placed a soft hand on your head, patting your hair gently. Your eyes opened slowly, looking up at him with sleepy eyes. Jungkook helped you up, leading you to the dining room.
The meal was quiet, Jungkook and Jimin making small talk with you, but mostly you were just eating peacefully.
You ate well and leaned back, as you tended to do when you were full and let out a huff. Jimin repressed the smile on his face with the back of his hand. Jungkook smiled openly, looking at your sleepy form.
Sitting back up you took a few more swallows of water before you stood up and thanked them for the meal and headed towards your room.
Jungkook and Jimin watched you go, each having a weird tightening in their chest at the sight of your swaying hips.
You had finally reached the two week mark.
Time to test.
Jimin and Jungkook went with you, driving you to the clinic for your appointment at the ass crack of dawn it felt like.
Jimin was chatting excitedly in the front seat with Jungkook. You could see the looks of love on their faces as they talked about their future with their child. It made butterflies rise in your stomach.
Quickly smacking your cheeks, you tried to forget the sensation of hope building in your belly.
Soon you were all at the clinic, Jimin helping you out of the car. The two men walked on either side of you, making sure everyone knew who you were here with. It made you feel protected, watched over.
Important.
After all the paperwork was done for the visit, Jungkook and Jimin sat down next to you. They interlocked their hands, smiling brightly at each other. You locked your hands together and looked down at them.
“Miss Y/N? Mr. Park and Mr. Jeon? Are you all ready?” A nurse called and you all headed back to a secluded room, a few chairs and the like ready. You saw the needles and everything set up and you swallowed hard.
You hated needles, with a passion.
But you’d done it before, so you’d do it again.
“Y/N? You okay?” Jungkook asked, looking at your paling face.
“Y-yeah, nervous around needles,” you confessed.
“Oh, do you want some water or something?”
“No I’m okay,” you encouraged.
“If you’re sure,” Jungkook said, looking like he wanted to do more...
“Alright! We’re gonna take some blood and a urine sample, so if you two would just wait outside for a moment while we get her changed, then you can come back in if you want,” the nurse explained.
You got changed and hopped up on the table.
They asked a bunch of questions, all fairly standard. Then they brought out the needles. Jimin saw you flinch when the packaging came off and you saw the syringe come closer.
“Hang on,” Jimin said, standing up.
The nurse stopped and looked up in confusion, that’s when Jimin took your hand in his and squeezed.
“You can hold my hand while they take your blood okay? Just squeeze if you need to,” he said, looking at your face for any signs of resistance.
You bit your lip and nodded.
The nurse took your blood quickly, getting a few vials full. Jungkook watched as his boyfriend held your hand the whole time, keeping you calm and at ease.
He hoped with everything he was that this had worked.
God, he wanted it to work so bad.
Soon, the two men were being ushered out of the room so you could do your urine sample.
After everything was done and over with, you got dressed and went to the waiting room. Jimin and Jungkook stood up when they saw you, waving you over to sit with them.
All three of you waited with baited breath as they ran the tests. They kept asking if you wanted anything, water, juice or something to eat. But you politely declined. Knowing if you put anything in your body right now you’d puke it up immediately with how nervous you were for the results.
They said it shouldn’t take too long.
It had been about an hour when a nurse popped her head out, signaling for all three of you to come back.
“Dr. Heinz will see you now,” she said, giving you all a small smile before leading you down the hallway towards the offices.
Shortly, you were sat on a comfortable sofa with Jungkook and Jimin in front of you. Jungkook and Jimin were holding onto each other so tight you feared for their circulation. But, Dr. Heinz was quick to get to the point.
“Well, I want to say, congratulations, Mr. Jeon and Mr. Park... Y/N is pregnant,” he said, talking like you weren’t in the room.
“Oh my God!” Jungkook shouted, standing up and hugging Jimin to him tightly. They kissed several times, tears falling freely down the new father’s faces. Dr. Heinz let them have their moment, smiling at the happy couple. You looked down at your stomach and bit your lip.
So this was really happening...
“Jungkook, I love you,” Jimin said, holding onto his boyfriend tightly.
“I love you too babe, I love you too,” Jungkook affirmed.
“Okay we do have to discuss her health however,” Dr. Heinz said, having the men sit down quickly.
“Is she alright?” Jimin said, looking at you with worry written all over his features.
“She’s at a very fragile point in the pregnancy. IUI can be tricky so we need to be very careful with what happens next. I don’t want her doing anything strenuous. Especially with the lower body until we can get her in for an ultrasound. Her uterus looked good on her preliminary but getting pregnant can really affect a woman’s body, so we need to take all the precautions,” Dr. Heinz explained.
“But is she going to be okay?” Jungkook asked, placing a gentle hand on yours.
You looked at his big hand covering yours, blinking slowly.
“I’m worried about her low white blood cell count. That makes her more susceptible to colds and infections, so you need to be very careful. Her red blood cell count was also low, showing early signs of anemia. So lots of red meat and protein to help keep her levels up. Although the anemia will be aggravated by the pregnancy, so make sure she doesn’t stand up too fast or tax herself too much,” he said.
“I am right here,” you said, glaring at the doctor.
“Sorry Miss Y/N, they’re the parents in this situation. I want them to be informed of your situation,” Dr. Heinz said bluntly.
“There are four of us in this room, I’ll remind you of that. Don’t talk like I’m not here please,” you said, folding your hands and crossing your legs.
Jimin almost burst out laughing.
Damn you were feisty!
He really liked that...
“I-I apologize, Miss Y/N,” he said, swallowing quickly before continuing on. “Also, you’re going to start having more symptoms than the fatigue you mentioned. Morning sickness is extremely common and expected, although every woman is different. Headaches, dizziness and blurred vision are also to be noted. Even some spotting can happen, but please do tell us if you’re spotting or bleeding. Now, do any of you have questions?” The doctor asked, looking at the boys and you.
“Is there any way to know if we are expecting, more than one?” Jimin asked, looking down at your stomach with pure adoration on his face.
“We won’t really know until she’s further along. Quite a bit further actually. But for now, enjoy this. Enjoy the early stages, it’ll be tough but you can pull through. I wish you all the best of luck,” Dr. Heinz said, handing some paperwork over to Jungkook before the three of you stood up and headed out.
Jimin and Jungkook were so excited, chatting with each other about if they were having twins. If the baby was a boy or girl. You were in the car, hands folded in your lap while you looked out the window.
Honestly, you were scared out of your mind.
The doctor had mentioned this was a really fragile part of the pregnancy. That you’d have to be careful, not to mention it was important for your own health as well. If something happened to the baby, something could happen to you and vice versa.
Jungkook insisted on taking everyone out for dinner.
This was a big occasion after all.
Sitting down in the very resturant you all had your first meal in, felt kinda surreal.
Now, you were pregnant with their baby. It felt kinda full circle.
Jimin and Jungkook insisted on getting whatever you wanted. But you weren’t terribly hungry yet, maybe it was the nerves of the whole day catching up. But you ordered a few things, making sure to eat. You knew it made them happy when you did, because it showed you cared about your body and the life growing inside of you.
Jungkook was drinking, a lot if you were being honest. Jimin just watched him as his cheeks flushed red as he continued to talk animatedly at the two of you. Smiling, you filled up Jungkook’s water before urging him to drink some.
“Thanks youuu,” he said, beaming at you.
“You’re welcome, but drink up okay?” You said, gesturing towards the glass.
He did as you asked, drinking all the water. You sighed in relief, knowing at least he’d be hydrated when he went to bed.
“Well, guess you aren’t driving you big lug,” Jimin laughed as he hauled Jungkook out of the restaurant a while later.
“Mmm, we’re having a baby baby!” Jungkook cooed at Jimin, holding his cheeks in between his hands.
“Mhmm, yes we are. Now get in the back with Y/N, okay?” Jimin said, opening the back and helping his very tipsy boyfriend inside. You were about to climb in when Jimin placed his hands on your hips, causing you to jolt so hard you smacked your head on the roof of the car.
“Ow, fuck,” you said, holding your head tightly.
“Y/N!” Jimin yelped. Jungkook’s head popped up.
“What happened?” He asked, looking at you with bleary eyes.
“I just smacked my head, I’m alright,” you said, rubbing your head gingerly.
“Can I take a look?” Jimin asked, biting his plump lips harshly.
“Y-yeah,” you said, leaning towards him.
Jimin’s gentle hands on your scalp proved to be dangerous. Because now, you wanted him to touch you here all the time. Combing his fingers through your hair. Massaging the tender flesh there.
“Well, you aren’t bleeding, but you’ll have a massive bump for a few days no doubt,” he reasoned.
“She’s gonna have a massive bump here soon too!” Jungkook cheered happily, pointing at your stomach.
“Jungkook, enough,” Jimin warned.
Grumbling to himself, Jungkook backed off.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jimin asked. You nodded, already feeling the throbbing in the base of your skull starting.
“I’ll take a few pain killers when we get back,” you said.
“Okay,” Jimin said, running his hand from your head down to cradle your cheek in his palm. You’re cheeks heated up at the feeling of his skin on yours, but shortly he was retreating to the front of the car.
Soon, you were underway.
Jimin turned on the radio quietly, driving carefully around town.
Jungkook had managed to fall asleep against the window. When suddenly, the car was jerking to the side. Jimin laid on the horn, yelling a couple explicit words out the window. But, Jungkook’s body had already fallen into your lap.
His head rested comfortably against your thighs, arms draping across your legs. Jungkook continued to sleep peacefully while you inspected him. He had a beautiful nose, button like and slotting perfectly along with his already perfect features. His plush lips pouting as he slept. Your eyes widened at him, heart hammering in your chest as you gazed down at him.
He was incredibly handsome.
But, you knew his personality too. He was kind, but strong and sure of himself. He had an air of confidence that was almost infectious. But he also had a childish nature about him. Not immature, but there was something about the wonder in his eyes when he tried something new. Or the nostalgia that ran through him when he ate his favorite food or, just the sparkle in his eyes when Jimin came home.
You, as if possessed, took your hand and ran your fingers through his soft black hair. He groaned in his sleep, gripping your legs tighter. You continued to run your fingers through his hair, watching his face for any signs of discomfort.
Jimin looked in the rearview mirror and saw you stroking Jungkook’s head with a gentle hand. His heart thudded dangerously in his chest. You were so caring and tender, everything you did had purpose behind it.
Jimin felt relief flood him at the idea of you being the mother of he and Jungkook’s child. Technically just Jimin’s but Jungkook was also the father but he didn’t get any genetics in this one.
This one...
Did Jimin want to have more children?
You just got the announcement today and he was already giddy at the prospect of you growing large with his child. But confusion swept through him. Was this just because he was grateful to you? Or was it something more?
Looking at you and Jungkook in the back, he thinks he might already know the answer.
709 notes · View notes
yesimwriting · 3 years
Note
Would you write a Kaz Brekker request where the reader is a bookworm and a crow and basically Kaz asks the reader to read to him as his way of apologizing after a argument that was his fault?
 it ​​a/n i did something kinda similar in a 'promise of rain' blurb,, but this concept is so cute to me:)) love it sm i moved it up my request cue lol
also IM IN COLLEGE NOW!! WHAT?? AND IVE BEEN TO A PARTY! AND IM JOINING A SORORITY AND I DID DRAMA AUDITIONS AND AHH !! SO DIFFERENT! I MISS MY MOM AND SISTER AND DOG AND EVEN MY DAD BUT IM HAPPY HERE!! 
also im a little worried this might not portray kaz superrrrr accurately bc it's been awhile so just let me know,, feedback leads to improvement:)) also kinda set this up for a part 2 bc...well youll see 
--
They've always said a lot of things about him, and I've always heard them. But I've never quite believed them. Sure, I get why the dark things that have flourished in the poisoned soil that is Ketterdam consider Kaz Brekker the darkest thing of all. I understand the nickname 'Dirtyhands' for the gloved criminal who has fooled each crime boss at least once. I understand each terrible thing they've said about him.
But I've never agreed with them. I've never even considered agreeing with them. Until today.
The thought that maybe everything people say about him is correct in a simple context struck me worse than the silence after our argument. It made me feel like both a fool and hypocrite. Kaz and I have had our fair share of spats over the relatively short time we've known each other, but never like this. Never so badly he stormed out of the room before I could. I squeeze the book in my lap even harder, desperate to focus on the words on the pages.
You didn't hurt him. He walked away because he decided you weren't worth the cost of his expensive time. I repeat those thoughts in my mind over and over again, letting them bitter me further. It's a lot easier to be mad than hurt. A lot easier to fuel your pain than try to understand your mistakes. Besides, tiredness is already dredging around in my chest and if I don't calm down a little I won't be able to fall asleep.
I had escalated the fight more than I should have. Knowing Kaz is like performing in a tightrope act. One must always be aware of where they're going. Watching what's in front of them without ever thinking too much about what's beneath or behind them. Today though, when I needed my balance most I chose to fall. I chose to dive, and apparently there was no net.
"Oh, you're doing that thing."
I roll my eyes at Jesper's voice as I fight down a yawn. I wipe my face with the back of my palm before turning. The burning behind my eyes never resulted in full tears, but I feel better after doing so. "What thing?"
"That terribly noble thing where you find it in yourself to take full blame for every single conflict you and boss man fall into." The slight humor in his voice is enough for me to roll my eyes again. "Between you and me, I'm sure the reason he's so angry now is because you didn't do that for once."
I press my lips together as my chin angles itself upwards slightly. "I never do that." He raises an eyebrow. The slight sympathy that colors the look is more offensive than his accusation. "If I pick and choose my battles, it's for good reason."
"Clearly."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He shrugs once before further entering my room. I say nothing when he sits at the foot of my bed. "Oh, you know," Jesper stretches back casually, resting his back against the wall and extending his legs, "You and Kaz--Kaz and you."
Has he been drinking? Perhaps he's not here because of my unusual absence from downstairs after my fight with Kaz but because he's already too tipsy to think right. "What?"
At my confused look he grins, flashing all of his teeth with an arrogance that outshines the whiteness of them. He taps the still open book in my lap. "Let me put it in terms you'll understand." Jesper sits up a little further, amusement clear in his features. "You two make a shameful Elizabeth and Darcy--"
"Oh, shut up," I groan, glaring at him, "This isn't Pride and Prejudice. And Kaz and I," Jesper's smugness returns when I can't quite think of what I want to say, "We're barely friends--we're barely anything, let alone what you're implying."
Jesper pulls his legs up and shoves me gently. "Dearest, y/n," he ignores my glare, "You should know better than anyone that 'barely friends, barely anything' with Kaz is more than it is with anyone else?"
"That doesn't mea--"
"You two say goodnight to each other." Once. Kaz and I said good night to each other in front of Jesper once. How dare he assume it happens regularly? He's right, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with it. "You play cards with him. Not for money, not for skill--"
"It's for practice." The look Jesper gives me is enough to tell me that my defense didn't land.
Damn him for ever finding Kaz and I on one of those strange nights. One of those nights in which he lurks at the stairwell...the one that divides my room and his attic. One of those nights in which it feels like he's a phantom and I'm the only one that can really see him. A night in which we both silently find each other.
I couldn't quite believe it the first time it happened. I'm not exactly a Crow--I don't feel enough a connection to the Dregs to join them without some kind of guarantee--but I was needed for some obscure job. but I was needed for some obscure job. The Crows needed an insider who could blend into high society, and I needed a place to stay away from my father.
It worked. I worked. And with each passing day I found myself enjoying the Crows more and more. That's why I stayed. That's why I started checking the stairwell practically every night, a set of playing cards in my hand.
The first time had been awkward. I couldn't sleep and my room felt too quiet, but the rambunctious club felt too loud and a little unsafe considering the hour. So I settled for the only space in between. When Kaz found me sitting on the steps and playing a solitary card game I had been so stunned by embarrassment I just offered to deal him in. I had been more shocked when he silently accepted my offer.
"Practice?" Jesper repeats. "You were laughing, I heard you."
"That was one time--how do you know we didn't just happen to play cards together the one time you saw it?"
"Because you laughed about a play you considered 'predictable'."
Sighing, I sit up a little straighter. "I'm not having this conversation. Occasionally saying 'goodnight' to someone who lives in the same space I live in and sometimes playing cards with said person because we both happen to be up at a certain time doesn't mean anything."
"And the way he looked at the contact that was flirting with you?"
Oh...this conversation again. "For the last time, the contact wasn't flirting with me. We had to dance to blend in and when he leaned towards me to whisper in my ear...it was to tell me the intel Kaz just had to have."
"And when he tucked that strand of hair behind your ear?"
"He just wanted to sell our cove--"
"Y/n, he kissed your cheek and I'm fairly certain he would have kissed you if Kaz and I hadn't made it to the corridor at that second."
Why is everyone so obsessed with what would have never happened? The contact had been attractive, tall with fair eyes and hair. But it's not like I feel anything for him, nor would I have been so foolish during a job. A fact that Kaz refuses to believe. I'm tired of this argument...I'm just tired. This job required me to start getting ready early in the morning and lasted long into the night.
"I wouldn't have kissed him and even if I had, the fact that Kaz is so mad about feels...sexist." A stupid argument, considering that Kaz couldn't care less if the person he's working with is female, male, or anything in between because the only thing he cares about is profit. "It's a stupid thing to be mad about, but you hit on anything with a pulse at any time and--"
"I resent that--"
"For the first two weeks I was here I thought you might've been a prostitute."
I can feel him holding in a laugh. "Did you at least think I was a good prostitute?" When I glare again, he finally actually laughs. "Not the point--got it."
"Then what is the point? You're bored and obsessed with gossip so now you're shaking me for information you don't need."
"The point is you're oblivious." Rude...I move my leg in a weak attempt to push him off my bed. Jesper catches my ankle easily, ignoring my attempt at a fight. "You thought the contact was only doing his job and you don't know the real reason that Kaz blew up at you for the first time the way he blows up at everyone."
"Okay, well since you know everything, tell me why he's mad."
He lets out a sigh like he can't believe I even needed to ask that. "It's not the best look that the first time you let him pick a fight with you happens to be about some guy."
...Maybe he is drunk? "Don't be so cryptic. I don't like you enough to put up with that."
Jesper half-sighs again before pushing himself off my bed. "I'm going to pretend I think you're smart enough to piece things together from that."
"Asshole," I mumble instinctually as he walks towards my door. "Are you not telling me because I tried to push you off the bed?"
He turns when he reaches my door in order to lean against my door frame. "It's not not because of that." I should throw my book at his head. "In all seriousness, think about it. If you don't you'll either kill each other or kill me."
Ugh...he's so confusing. This time, I let him go. He leaves he door open, which is beyond annoying. I stand up to close it, promising myself I will focus on my book the second it's in my hands again. As I walk back towards my bed, my eyes land on the deck of cards on my nightstand.
Does it send a signal I don't want to send if I don't go the stairwell tonight? Do I want to send a signal? I don't know...actually, the only thing I know is that I don't want to think about this a second longer. I don't ease as I read, but my eyelids become heavier with each word they cross. I feel the weight of them as my focus slips, farther and farther away until I can no longer focus. When my eyes fall shut I can't bring myself to think or force them open.
--
I notice my surprised before I register that I've just woken up. Falling asleep feels so far and yet the crick in my neck confirms the obvious. Rubbing the eyes with the back of my hand, I push my book from my lap and sit up. The only indication of how much time has passed is how much my bedside candle has melted.
How long have I been asleep? How did I manage to fall asleep? I thought I was too mad at Kaz to manage anything but pouting in my room. I hadn't even decided if I wanted to talk to him.
I stand even though I haven't decided anything. I should at least change if I want to go to bed. But is leaving this alone for even longer a bad idea? I think Jesper thought so...though my conversation with him is far from clear. It's not the best look that the first time you let him pick a fight with you happens to be about some guy. I'm going to pretend I think you're smart enough to piece things together from that. What does he want me to do with that?
Maybe he was partially intoxicated and felt the need to play the role of a good friend. Or maybe this is his idea of a joke.
Whatever--regardless of Jesper, I have a choice to make. A tiny part of me hopes it's insignificant, but I know Kaz enough to know that nothing is insignificant to him. He holds onto things the way he holds onto his kruge. Perhaps I'll seek out Inej, she seems to be the best at rationalizing. Though she might be asleep by now, or on a job or...I don't even know.
How late is it? Is it late enough to be one of the few hours Kaz claims to reserve for sleep? Maybe my bad luck is still around and he's already in bed for once. Does that mean his anger will extend to tomorrow?
I shouldn't care. It's not like I'm in the wrong. Did I escalate things? Maybe a little...but I won't apologize for defending myself. Even though that makes everything a little easier. I feel stuck, like in some kind of place of half sleep. A single knock at my door is enough to make me want to jump. I rub my eyes a little more firmly in hopes of waking up more before someone sees me.
I approach the door without worry. Maybe it's not as late as I assumed. Or maybe it's really early? I open the door while still fighting against my slight disorientation. I'm so focused on acting normal, I almost don’t register the person standing at my door. 
I don’t know who I expected, or what--maybe Jesper, much more tipsy than he was before, slumped against the doorframe, only knocking because he’s too tired to push the door open. Maybe even Inej, on her way here to deliver some kind of job or notice of dismissal. But it’s nothing I could expect. It’s...Kaz. 
The Dirtyhands stands at my door, expression as hard as ever yet something behind his eyes that burns the sleep away from me. “Uh--hi.” I bite my tongue to avoid cringing at that very awkward beginning. “Are you here to kick me out yourself?” The only response I get is the slightest shift of his gaze off of my face. “No? Well then I think I’m going to bed. It’s late.” 
My tone and words are clear. Get out of my doorway, I’m in no mood to go back to arguing.  When he still doesn’t say anything, I’m emboldened by my nerves. I push the door between us without breaking eye contact. 
Before the wood can meet the doorframe, he moves his cane, wedging it between us. “Y/n.” I don’t understand the way he says my name, but I’m certain he’s never said it like that. “I...” When he’s not prompted by the uncomfortableness of silence, I raise an eyebrow, my grip on the door tightening. “What I said shouldn’t have been said.” Wait--is he admitting fault? I’m so thrown I almost melt entirely. “Not to you.” 
The addition leaves him so lowly a part of me wonders if I’ve imagined it. I’m so thrown by it I don’t even think to reply until a long second has passed. “You seemed to believe the opposite a few hours ago.” 
His lips press together for a moment. “You didn’t ask me to play cards tonight.” He took that as intentional? At least that got me some kind of apology? I keep my mouth shut, greed making me want more information. I guess he must sense my silent tugging because he head inclines slightly. “Don’t push.” 
I fight down a grin. “Push what?” His only response to stiffen further. “I’m going to tell you something as a peace offering.” That seems to intrigue him in some way. I can’t tell if it’s a good kind of interested, but I note the slight raise of his eyebrows and his intentional silence. “I didn’t chose not to ask you to play cards.” He gives me no indication of anything, which is fair...considering my vagueness. “I was mad, obviously, and in the middle of deciding on a course of action...and then I fell asleep.” 
A long pause of silence. “You fell asleep?” 
I’m not sure if his incredulous tone should offend me or not. If I wanted to lie, I’d like to think he knows me well enough to know that I’d have thought of a better excuse than that. Or at least a less embarrassing one. “Yes, it’s not that difficult to believe. Today had been long and all I wanted to do was read, but then Jesper came in to say the oddest things and then leave me to...” 
Oh--oh. I guess there’s a reason people say to ‘sleep on’ something. Because now, actively remembering Jesper’s words for the first time since I fell asleep...I understand what Jesper was implying in the oddest way possible. He meant that Kaz and I...that perhaps there is a Kaz and I in a context that’s more than just grammatical. Wow. I really had to realize this with Kaz right in front of me. 
My face feels warmer than it did before, an irrational bout of anxiety forcing me to consider that me might be able to read impossible, embarrassing thoughts from my expression alone. 
“What did Jesper say?” I’m too lost in my own spiral of confusion and panic and some feeling I can’t recognize to register how Kaz asks his question. There’s an edge to it, an odd one, but that could easily just be Kaz. 
This is most definitely the last conversation we need to be having. I’m still mad at him for his earlier dramatics. So I just shake my head, feigning an exhaustion I could lose myself in. “Nothing and everything all at once.” I resist the urge to rub my eyes again. “I’m pretty sure he was drinking, and I wasn’t really listening. I was just trying to read.” 
Kaz’s expression hardens briefly as he takes in my words, and then he exhales, nodding once with the breath. “What were you reading?” 
My lips part instinctually, ready to spew off details about the latest novel that’s captured my attention. But before I can let myself take off, the reality of the situation strikes me directly in the chest. This is not Nina, or Inej, or even Jesper after what he considers a ‘good night’. This is Kaz Brekker, the man believed to not have a soul. I’ve spoken to him before about casual things, though most of the nights in which we end up playing cards or just sitting near each other are spent in silence. But he’s never prompted me before. Not in the one topic he knows is guaranteed to turn me into an overenthusiastic, gushing fountain of poor summaries and character analysis. 
I guess this is his peace offering. This shouldn’t warm the way it does. He was still unbelievably dramatic and treated me like I’m some kind of unreliable fool. “It’s late, and you know how I can be. I’d hate to keep you for nothing more than a poor summary and honestly, an embarrassing rant about plot or characters, because there’s just nothing as frustrating as when two people so clearly care about each other and both are too stubborn and oblivious to acknowledge it.” 
Kaz’s eyebrows draw together just enough for me to be able to make out a shift of expression in the poor light. Perhaps his lingering irritation is preparing to rear its ugly head. The corner of his mouth seems to threaten to tilt upwards as Kaz angles his head to the side slightly. “I can’t imagine that position.” 
No kidding. I bite my tongue to keep the sarcastic comment and awkward laugh that would sure follow it away. “Who can? That’s like half the point of reading.” 
How can interaction feel so over and just at its beginning all at once? I press my lips together to avoid filling the silence with things I’d no doubt instantly regret. It’s easy to be mad at Kaz in the moment. Too easy. But to stay mad at him when his temper has passed and he returns with some kind of begrudging and admittedly awkward and uncertain truce is another task entirely. 
“I’ve never understood your attachment to written words.” 
“It’s not about understanding, it’s about everything else.” 
“And you say I’m cryptic.” Is he...kinda almost joking? I straighten my spine, too tired to fight and too wounded to forgive. “There’s understanding in everything, nothing can survive on sentiment alone.” 
“If you read the way I did, you’d understand.” 
His lips press together as his expression remains unwavering in its hardness. “Read to me.” 
...Interacting with Kaz in any way often leaves me feeling like I’m wandering through unknown territory. But this, this is undeniably different. So different I can’t even think of a way to react. I watch his expression as cautiously as possible. He’s purely reserved, no distinction from the look he wears during business propositions. Except there’s a tightness I can’t quite understand.
Maybe it’s because I don’t want to fight anymore. Maybe it’s because exhaustion is leaving me partially delirious. Or maybe it’s the weird feeling in my chest that I can’t quite place. That I don’t want to place. “Okay.” I shift carefully. “If for no other reason then to prove you wrong.” 
Never did I think I’d end up in the position of sitting in my bed, book in hand, with Kaz Brekker sitting next to me. But here we are. I’m so tired, I almost let out a nervous laugh when he first walked in. So brooding and tall, gripping the head of his head cane as he sits at the foot of my bed, on my pastel quilt. 
I’m glad for the excuse to keep my gaze away from him and on the words in front of me. I read out loud, feeling more and more comfortable with each page I finish. But as my inhibitions slip away, so dos my hold on consciousness. My eyelids seem to grow heavier with each word that I read. 
“You’re falling asleep.” 
I straighten my spine on instinct. “Am not.” I’m not sure why I feel the need to deny something so simple. 
“You’re impossible.” 
From him, that statement is laugh worthy. “I’m impossible? Do you not remember earlier today?” 
From the way his jaw locks, I realize that he’s in no mood to be light about this topic. I don’t understand why. It’s not like I’m the one that wronged him. “I remember your lack of focus.” 
Keeping my hands at my side to avoid rubbing my eyes, I frown. “If you want to have this argument again, fine. Jesper is more ‘distracted’ than me half the time and you’re much more lenient on him. It’s not like I was flirting with someone or gambling or doing anything but having a two second conversation. One that I needed to have to get information that you wanted.” 
The last time we fought, I had more energy to restrain myself. This could be atomic. I hold my breath, waiting for Kaz’s retaliation. He exhales, eyes not meeting mine. “Arguing with you when you’re present is exhausting enough. It’s not worth it when you’re half asleep.” 
This angers me further. I hate that he’s right. “I’m not half asleep.” He leaves it at that. I glare even harder at him, slumping further into my bed. “But for the sake of argument, I’ll drop it. Something you’re incapable of doing.” 
At that, his eyes meet mine. I try to hold his gaze, but the harder I think about not seeming tired the more exhaustion slips in. A yawn escapes me before he looks away. Great. “I know when to lie in the grass in wait.” 
Rolling my eyes, I shift back slightly. He’s incapable of being less dramatic than this. Still, I can’t imagine the effort it’s taking on his part to not start an argument. Maybe this is why Jesper spent so long implying that there may be a Kaz and I in any capacity beyond a vague kind of friendship. “I’ll admit you’re tactful.”
“Resourceful people recognize that trait in other people.” 
Blinking twice, I lower my book slightly. Am I truly exhausted, or did he just compliment me in a way? “Careful, I may start to think you find me tolerable.” 
“Let’s not exaggerate.” Okay, now I know I’m exhausted because I think he might have just attempted a joke. Rolling my eyes, I decide not to acknowledge this lightness in fear that I’ll scare it away. “Y/n?” 
I press my lips together, worried about the destruction of our peace. “Yes?” 
“What did Jesper say to you? Earlier?” I pause, slightly unsure why we’re moving backwards. 
We’re in a decent place now, and I’d hate to ruin it. I’m too half asleep to lie eloquently. And it’s not like he’s an easily convinced man. “Oh, he said it so cryptically it took me longer than it should have to understand. And it didn’t help that it was something so...well, you might find it funny. As funny as you find anything, anyways.” Wow...I’ve spent such a long time talking. Rubbing the back of my eyes, I avoid his gaze. Exhaustion and awkwardness mix in my stomach oddly. “It seemed like he was trying to imply that you and I...me and you...” Why is this a difficult thing to say? It’s not like I was implying it and Jesper’s known for his oddness. “I think Jesper was implying that there was a you and I, or at least that there could be.” I’m too lost in a haze of almost sleep to watch his reaction. I let my head rest against my headboard even further. “Isn’t that odd?” 
He’s quiet for a long second, and then he finally speaks again. “Odd, even for Jesper.” The response doesn’t satiate me...what’s that about? I exhale, deciding that feeling is tomorrow’s problem. When I blink, I decide to let my eyes stay closed. Just for a moment. The sound of something shifting is what makes my eyes squint open. Kaz is standing, his expression unreadable as he straightens. “Goodnight, y/n.” 
At that, I sit up slightly, ignoring the exhaustion behind my eyes. “I haven’t finished the chapter.” 
“You’ve convinced me of enough.” A concession? How exhausted do I seem? My lips press together as I think of my next argument. Before I can get it out, Kaz leans forward. He grabs the quilt at the end of my bed and tosses it onto my legs casually. “Goodnight, y/n.” The meaning of his repetition is clear. His word is final. 
I find enough energy to manage a glare, but I pull the quilt over my legs anyways. “Goodnight, Kaz.”
390 notes · View notes
mopillow · 2 years
Note
starting 19 days from the very beginning- and damn is zheng xi so violent now! is it safe to assume he got that way cause he’s still mad at jian yi from leaving and is having a hard time forgiving him/accepting him back in his life/trusting him? he must’ve known he was kidnapped and he seemed to be steering from violence based on the latest chapters. wonder how that’s gonna play into their future relationship
Hello there, thank you for asking me this I have been trying to say something about this couple for a while and you gave me the perfect excuse
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Yes the first chapters show us a really violent ZZX, I honestly don’t think that is because JY went away without telling him, if anything he is relieved that JY is alive we’re talking about he same man that forgave Mo who almost ended his existence when they barely knew each other, so my opinion is a little bit different than most people here, if you notice ZZX never hits or push JY until the latter one tries to do something in the lines of extra touchiness and that’s because… they’re not a couple
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I know most people think of them as one but they are not, ZZX is taking JY’s feelings into consideration but they’re not boyfriends, JY himself ask to keep being friends and ZZX agreed
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sure JY is still trying to make him fall for him and ZZX is not putting much resistance but they’re still just friends, JY is too afraid to give that next step and ZZX is not going to just forget that they’ve been friends for almost all their lives and jump into a relationship when he is not completely sure if that is what he wants, remember he may lose one of the most important people in his life by doing so, in other words they look like a couple but actually that’s jus the way they have always been only difference is that now one knows how the other one feels, that’s just their normal
Going back to your question the reason why ZZX is being forceful with JY in my humble opinion is because JY is being also forceful with ZZX, coming back and trying to kiss your best friend who you have a huge crush on and he knows but actually never told you that he loves you back or that he doesn’t mind if you want to kiss him is NOT ok, looks like all this time apart helped JY to take that extra step because for him is now or never only problem is that you can’t take the relationship to the next step when there was no relationship to begin with
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They’re gonna get there and they’re going to be happy but they need to talk about their feelings first and not just assume that the other one loves you only because they didn’t push you away in the past, the love is there we all know but give some time to ZZX to get use to it, at the very least let him understand that you are alive and then like grab his hand look at him like if he was the the sunrise or something like that and then try to get near him slowly but not just apply the He approach, that stuff only works with Mo and Q and not really but the He brothers don’t give a fuck and they’re stronger than anyone so good luck trying to punch them, even if you do they’re into that so jokes on you
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juviaafullbuster · 3 years
Text
IN EVERY UNIVERSE
"JUVIAAAA"
He should have known. He should have seen it coming the moment he heard that blue cat call out her name. Of course nothing good would come from this. That stupid cat, exceed, whatever he is, was raised by Natsu after all.  But he didn't think much of it when he saw him flying towards Juvia, who was currently sitting with the other girls and landing in the middle of their table.
"Yes Happy?"
"Remember what I told you when we came back from Edolas?"
Happy was wiggling his tail excitedly, while trying to hold back from spilling the information immediately. After all, he lives for the drama. Juvia on the other hand was just looking at him, confusion written all over her face.
"Juvia isn't following.."
"You know, about the Juvia in Edolas and how the Gray there is obsessed with her.."
"Oh yes! Of course Juvia remembers that! The other Juvia is very lucky.."
"Yeah, and guess what? She got even luckier. Turns out they've got-"
"HAPPY!"
Gray had to stop him before he spilled too much. Why were they on the other side of the hall anyways? Juvia was always stuck to him whenever he came back from a mission. Why did she have to abandon him now of all times?
"What is it Gray? I'm busy delivering information."
"If you don't shut it that's the last information you'll ever deliver."
At that Happy visibly gulped. Gray was sure he was considering whether it was worth taking the risk. He probably still remembered the incident where Gray had declared him his enemy. Gray himself didn't remember much of what happened, just that it wasn't his proudest moment when he woke up half naked on an island surrounded by strangers. Now however, he was glad it had happened. At least that cat knew what he was dealing with and wouldn't dare to finish that sentence.
"Hey popsicle, are you threatening Happy?"
This just keeps getting better. Of course Natsu had to get involved as well. All he wanted was to enjoy being back home and spending some time with Juvia. And he wasn't doing either. Really, the last thing he needed was Natsu and his damn cat to ruin things for him.
"I don't threaten anyone unless necessary. So if you want to save him from trouble, tell your cat to back off."
"I'M AN EXCEED!"
"Like I care. Point is, shut up."
"HEY, DON'T TALK TO HAPPY LIKE THAT!"
"Stay out of it, flamebrain!"
"IF HAPPY IS INVOLVED, I'M INVOLVED."
"Whatever.."
He just needed to get to Juvia. There was no need to participate in the conversation with Natsu. Not that you could actually hold one. It would always end in a fight and if that idiot doesn't shut up soon, Gray was sure that this will be the case today as well. So he decided to be the bigger person and ignore Natsu, no matter how much he was provoked. However Natsu didn't get the message.
"What's up with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're being weird lately. Happy noticed too, right Happy?"
"Aye!"
"I'm not being weird, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I think it's because he's jealous of you!"
"WHY WOULD I BE JEALOUS OF NATSU?"
"He did tell me what happened.. is it because he has more woman than you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know, that snow woman. He had quite a lot on his side, you however just had-"
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
Like it wasn't bad enough that he was going to tell Juvia about their Edolas counterparts, she really didn't need to know about that whole woman in the depth of his heart thing.
"You're jealous of me?"
"Who's jealous of who?
"Gray is jealous of Natsu."
"Seriously?"
"NO!"
That's it. He's going to kill that cat. But first he'll have to deal with Natsu because he was costing him his nerves as well. So next thing he knew, they were throwing fists at each other until Erza forcefully stopped them.
"What is this about? Explain yourself before I pull out my sword."
"Grays being mean to Happy."
"That's because Happy is stupid! Probably got it from you.."
"SILENCE! Happy!"
"Yes?"
"Explain!"
"Well, Gray is being mean to me just because I wanted to tell Juvia about what we saw in Edolas. I don't see why he's so worked up over it, I mean I was just going to say that they're married."
"Who's married?"
"Gray and Juvia!"
Silence. The whole guild went silent. Well, except for Happys snickering. Gray could swear he felt his soul leave his body. He was certain he would never hear the end of it. After all, he could already feel the eyes on him.
"Gray and Juvia are married in Edolas?" It was Juvia who decided to break the awful silence. Happy nodded eagerly in response to her question.
More silence. Or as Gray would say, the calm before the storm.
"Is that true?" Juvia was looking at him with wide eyes. He knows her well enough by now to know exactly what was currently going on in her head. He could tell her imagination was going wild with wedding pictures. But she was clearly holding back from squealing, instead she kept staring at him, desperately waiting for an answer. Gray sighed.
"Yes.."
And then all hell broke loss. Mira was cornering him trying to find out as much as possible, while Cana kept adding her inappropriate comments. Elfman starting shouting something about marriage being manly, whatever that meant. By the time Gray had managed to escape from them Juvia was no longer in sight.
"Juvia?"
"She went outside, said she needed to cool down."  Lucy smirked proudly, making Gray fear her next sentence. "Good thing you're an ice wizard. Who else could cool her down?"
"Hilarious. I'm going outside."
"Of course you are."
Gray didn't bother reacting anymore. Instead he went to search for Juvia. The cold air outside hit him in the face. It wasn't until now that he realized how stuffy it was in there.
He distanced himself from the guild hall while keeping an eye out for his bluenette. He really had missed her during his mission and now that he was back, he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. After all, he had finally acknowledged his feelings for her and after seeing their counterparts in Edolas and that vision he had been trapped in, it just made him long for her more.
Those feelings still freaked him out somehow. He wasn't aware that he was capable of feeling this much for someone. But Juvia had really broken down every single one of his walls. And he was really grateful for that. She was the one who kept pulling him back whenever he was close to the edge. She's his power to live, even though having admitted that so bluntly in front of her still got him all embarrassed. And her teasing didn't help one bit.
"Juvia!" He spotted her on a bench near the lake. She seemed lost in thought. When she heard his voice however, she immediately spun around.
"Graysama! Juvia is sorry for leaving so abruptly.."
"Don't worry about that. Are you okay?"
He sat down next to her. Usually he would leave a space between them, not wanting to give her any ideas. But things changed. And now here he was, sitting as close to her as possible, longing for her touch. Juvia smiled at him.
"Juvia is very happy that you're back."
"I'm happy to be back too. I.." He cleared his throat and looked away shyly. "I missed you."
"Juvia missed you too. Juvia was wondering whether you were doing alright, if you manged to stay dressed and whether the others bothered to pick up the clothes you discarded.." she kept talking but Gray was too focused on her beauty, wondering how he'd gotten so lucky having someone like her in his life.
"I want what they have as well." Gray had blurted out the thought before he could realize it.
"What who has?" Juvia questioned him. He could go back on his word, pretend he never said it. But what's the point? He was just making himself suffer by prolonging it. And he had promised her to be clear with his intentions once he got back, not that he got to finish that promise before he was swept back to Elentir. Point is, it was time for him to be honest.
"I want what Edolas Gray and Juvia have.."
"You want.. you want to marry Juvia!?"
"What? No!"
"No?"
This wasn't going the way he wanted it all. Gray sighed.
"One day."
"One day?"
"Yes, one day I'm going to marry you. But I think it's still a little early for that. To be fair, our counterparts in Edolas are older.."
Juvia just kept looking at him in disbelief. He couldn't blame her. It wasn't exactly his style to be so open and honest. They didn't start dating yet and he was already talking about marriage. Juvia had really impacted him..
"Listen. I want to be with you. Like Edo Gray is with Edo Juvia, like Fairy Nail Glen is with Fairy Nail Juvina.. I want Earthland Gray to be with Earthland Juvia as well."
"What's Fairy Nail? And who is Juvina?"
"That's a long story.. point is I want to be with you. I'm sorry I'm not as clear with my intentions as the other me. But that doesn't mean I want you less than he wants his Juvia.."
By this point Gray was a blushing mess. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, too afraid to see her reaction. He had literally just run her over with emotions.
"Graysama doesn't have to be sorry."
"Huh?"
"For not being as clear with his feelings. I feel in love with this version of Gray, the Earthland version. Juvia wouldn't change a thing about you."
Gray smiled at her. She was truly too perfect. How did she always know what to say? She seemed so calm and collected while he was literally trying his best not to freak out.
"And Juvia would like that very much as well. Earthland Gray and Earthland Juvia being together.." she was looking at Gray sweetly and he couldn't help the smile that took over his face.
"I promise to be the best version of myself for you."
"You already are."
They smiled at each other and Gray tucked behind the hair that had fallen into her face. He found himself leaning closer and he saw Juvia doing the same. He had just closed his eyes, just a little away from finally kissing her after thinking about it for so long, when a voice interrupted them, making them jump apart.
"Gray loves Juvia!"
"Quiet Happy!
"They are so cute together."
"About time he made a move."
How had he not seen them hiding behind that bush. He'll admit Lucy, Wendy and Charles were hidden pretty well, but Natsus pink hair and Happys blue fur were visible to everyone. And Erza hadn't even bothered hiding. He must have been too focused on the girl in front of him to notice. Said girl was now blushing furiously.
"I'm going to kick their asses.."
"Juvia thinks it's sweet that they're so supportive of you. You have a great team."
"How are they a great team? They literally interrupted a very important moment."
"Juvia knows.. but Juvia is very happy already."
"So you don't want me to kiss you?"
"Juvia didn't say that!"
He was truly enjoying teasing her. So much, he was able to ignore his friends presence. So instead of letting them ruin their moment, he leaned in and finally, after so long, kissed her. It took her a moment to react, but once she did, Gray felt like the luckiest person in the universe. He was never going to let her go.
"Juvia loves you very much."
"And I love Juvia very much."
He kissed her again, already addicted. His friends were cheering, probably happy that he finally made a move. He couldn't blame them, it took him long enough.
"All that because I told her about Edolas Gray and Juvias marriage. Imagine what she'll do when she hears about Greige.."
"Who's Greige?"
"HAPPY!"
♡♡♡
Here you have it, my contribution to Gruvia day! I hope you like it, let me know what you think :)
Also, I'm still fangirling over the drawing we got today. Maybe I'll write something about that too one day..
Anyways, happy Gruvia day! ♡
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Text
new beginnings
pairing: Kaoru Sakurayashiki x f!reader
wc: 2k
warnings: angst (not really idk); fluff; exes to lovers; not proofread
notes: first post!! I saw that there weren’t really a lot of writings for Kaoru and decided to take it upon myself to write some!! I hope you enjoy, and please do tell me if there’s a mistake anywhere or if I there’s a warning I should add
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“Are you ever going to skate again?”
Kojiro grins at you, handing you your food. You were on your break from work and decided to visit your old friend from high school.
“Kojiro you know why I can’t”
“It’s been a year I’m sure everyone wants to see you skating again!” You can’t blame him for his enthusiasm, it had almost been a year after you decided to quit skating due to breaking up with Kaoru. Before you quit you were known in ‘S’ as one of the top contenders, good enough to go against Adam, you had never gone on a beef against him since you had no interest to compete against someone like him.
“C’mon (Y/N)! You know everyone wants to see the infamous RIN again! After your sudden disappearance last year your fans have been missing you, there's even a new guy you can compete against!” You leaned in to cover his mouth, you didn’t want anyone knowing the name you were under while skating in S.
“Fine! I’ll visit but I’m not competing, I just want to see the poor soul that caught Adam’s eye.”
Kojiro smiled, knowing you, you’d probably compete either way, he knew that you’d been missing skating in S after he found you practicing. Your break up with Kaoru had changed their dynamic as you wanted nothing to do with him while he regretted letting you go.
The break up was because Kaoru kept insisting to go against Adam, you knew it was a bad idea, you had tried convincing him many times that the Adam he once knew was gone. Kaoru didn't like it as Adam was very dear to him, he had snapped at you and told you that you didn’t know him and that he’d rather break up with you than listening to your nonsense. You pitied the man, you’d heard what Adam had done to him a few days prior and wanted nothing more than to slap the man for hurting Kaoru.
“You won’t regret it! I’ll see you then RIN”
You hit him again, wanting to keep your professional life and personal life separate, “Say that name again out loud and I’m not going”.
Kojiro watched as you left the restaurant, sakura keychain still in dangling out of your bag like it had been so many years ago.
“You guys really are similar in that aspect”
Once you get home you sigh, your job has been taking a toll on you and you really needed a break. You look into your closet and see your skateboard, the only reason why you quit skating is because it reminded you of him, he was the one to teach you how to skate after all. The same man who decided to leave you to chase after the memory of the friend he once knew.
Making up your mind you change into your outfit and head down the same familiar path leading to the mine.
“Yo (Y/N)! Long time no see”
“You asshole! you call me by my name here and call me by my S name in public! Do you have a death wish?” You get closer to Kojiro to give him a piece of your mind, until you see four guys next to him: two boys who look like they’re in high school, an intimidating guy with clown-looking make-up, and a little boy who you think you’ve seen on TV.
“IS THAT RIN?!?” the redhead boy yelled, it caused everyone to turn to you, you were now the center of attention, mutters about the sudden appearance of one of the most known skaters in S.
“Who’s she?”
Compared to the redhead, the blue haired guy seemed like he was new, you assumed he was the rookie that Kojiro had mentioned earlier in the day.
“She’s a really well-known skater in S! she’s beaten a lot of people here, it’s said that she’s on par with Adam, but they’ve never gone against each other!”
“damn right and never will, I like not having broken bones thank you” you muttered, as everyone calmed down, they introduced themselves and seemed intrigued to see an old face.
“I came to see the new rookie everyone’s been talking about, I’m only here to watch though” everyone’s faces dropped, they seemed disappointed to not be able to see you skate.
“Then why’d you bring your skateboard hm?” Kojiro smirks at you, knowing that you’d come here to skate a little, even if it was just for fun.
“Fine, how about this? SNOW” you pointed at Langa and motioned him to follow you, “you’re coming with me, I wanna see why everyone is talking about you” you take Langa along and decide to skate against him in the course.
“Sorry I’m late, I forgot to charge Carla earlier today so she finished charging a little later than usual” Kaoru stood next to Kojiro to see why everyone seemed more excited. “Right on time Cherry! Look who’s skating today”.
Kaoru looked at the screen, it was you, he hadn’t seen you in a year and you never bothered to answer the messages he had sent you, not that he blamed you for that. You looked just as beautiful as he remembered, if not more, the way your hair flowed freely made you look ethereal, and your face seemed to glow while you were skating, an expression he had missed seeing from you.
He wanted to apologize, after the incident with Adam that landed him in the hospital he realized that his friend was gone, no semblance of him left. While in his hospital bed he remembered the words you had told him before he broke up with you. He knew he had no right to apologize now, but seeing you at S made him realize he missed you and wanted you back, if you’d have him of course.
Langa was surprised, your style of skating was different from anything he’d seen before, it looked complicated but you didn’t seem to be struggling at all. Due to him being distracted he hadn’t realized that you’d already crossed the finish line before him.
“That was good! You knew how to snowboard before learning how to skate right?” You asked excitedly, it had been a while since you’ve had this much freedom while skating. “Yes, how’d you know?”
“I’ve always wanted to learn how to snowboard! Your stance seemed similar to those in videos I’ve seen online!”
As you walk back to the rest of the group you see him. Kaoru’s hair got a bit longer but apart from that nothing seemed too different, he still had that unapproachable aura around him. He seemed to be staring at you but you refused to look at him in the eye, you still missed him after all.
“Long time no see (Y/N)” He tried reaching out to you but you didn’t move at all, “Don’t call me that here.”
“Right, sorry Rin”
It seemed that everyone around you was aware of the tense atmosphere, although nobody really knew of what relationship you and Cherry held.
As everyone headed home, you decided to stay back and skate a little, you didn’t know when the next time you were going to be able to skate again after all. That’s when you notice it, just a little behind you were Joe and Cherry trying to catch up to you. “Rin! I thought you weren’t skating anymore?” You didn’t need to turn to see that there was a smile on his face.
“Don’t you have any fangirls to be with?” You retort, speeding a bit to gain distance from them.
“They all went home, why? You jealous?”
“As if.”
“Cherry over here wants to talk to you.”
In all honesty, you’d forgot he was even there at all, if it weren’t for Carla telling him the angles once in a while, you wouldn’t even have noticed him. You were pondering whether you should listen to what he had to say, “He’s been all gloomy ever since he saw you”. You heard someone fall, assuming it was Kojiro you kept going, he deserved it anyway.
You and Kaoru skated in silence for a bit, the only sounds heard were the wheels of both of your skateboards. As you were the first to pass the finish line you stop, getting off of your skateboard and getting ready to go back home.
“So what’d you want to talk about?”
Kojiro looks surprised, he thought you hadn’t noticed him staring at you. Frankly, he wanted to apologize and ask for a second chance, he knew he was undeserving of it though, you only wanted the best for him, but he pushed you away.
“I wanted to apologize for before, I know you meant well, but I only pushed you away when you tried helping me. I should’ve listened to what you said.”
Although it was a bit short and awkward, you knew he meant it. To be honest, you don’t blame him, he only wanted to know what had happened to his friend after he disappeared and came back with a whole different personality. You would’ve done the same if a friend whom you considered family did the same. You knew that even though he had finally come to terms with the fact that the Adam he knew in high school was gone, he was still hurting. You understood all of this, yet it was still hard to forget how angry he’d gotten at you, how he went on and on about how you didn’t know Adam at all (even though you’d been there when all four of you skated together in high school), and how he couldn’t be with someone who talked ill about his best friend. You remember how he broke up with you through a phone call after being late for a date, how you had to show up in your friend’s front door with all of your stuff, in fear of going to Kojiro’s restaurant because he was probably there.
“You didn’t need to wait a year to apologize to me” He flinched, knowing full-well what you were speaking of. He knew he had messed up the moment he ended the call, but his pride didn’t let him go back to your shared apartment to apologize to you, and he assumed that you were probably packing your bags as he headed to Kojiro’s place to drink.
“I didn’t know what to do after I went back to the apartment with your stuff gone”
“Well, I can’t just stay in my ex-boyfriend’s apartment after he just broke up with me can I?”
There was a silent pause, you were basically ready to head back home, but decided to wait to see if he had more to say. “Alright, if you’re done I’ll be heading home now.”
He quickly grabbed your wrist, stopping you from leaving, “it’s late, let me take you home”.
You declined, Kojiro had already promised you to take you back home. At the mention of his name he looked confused.
“Kojiro left a long time ago though?”
You were surprised, looking around for the tall muscle-headed idiot, but Kaoru was right, he left you behind. You were really going to kill him this time, it was probably part of his plan so you could talk things out with Kaoru.
“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d be grateful if you did then” you offered him a small smile, you had to be nice to the person driving you back to your apartment.
The ride home was silent, all he could hear were Carla’s directions to your apartment. As you got home and thanked him for the ride he stopped you again.
“Can I have another chance?” You stayed silent, he took your silence as a rejection and started his engine to leave, but this time, you were the one to stop him.
“You still owe me a meal at Kojiro’s” He blinked, confused as to what you were saying. Then he remembered, he had made you a promise that every time you beat him in S he’d buy you your favorite dish at Kojiro’s restaurant.
He smiled, frown no longer on his face after the promise of a new beginning, “Of course, tell me when you’re free to get it”.
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godlygreta · 3 years
Text
i never stopped loving you | j. kiszka
title | i never stopped loving you
summary | jake and y/n have known each other since grade school, they’ve been neighbors forever. a bit of romance ensues, but ends fairly quickly when complications arise while the boys are touring. a trip home from college ends in a slightly drunk confession.
warnings | some mature themes (bit of sex, but not explicitly), swearing, slight angst
word count | 2.5k+
author’s note | hi! this is the first thing i’ve written for any of the boys, so i hope you enjoy. i’ve written for other bands before, so writing isn’t new to me, but writing for greta is.
“I never stopped loving you.”
It slipped out. It didn’t mean to come out. Jake didn’t necessarily want it to come out. They say drunk words are sober thoughts, right? At the same time, who trusts the words of a drunk person? Usually it’s just brushed off as babbling, but Y/N couldn’t ignore what Jake said. Especially because she couldn’t blame it on not hearing him. There was no music playing outside the bar. The music was faint enough that anything Jake had said was heard.
High school was rough for Y/N with hormones mixed in with academics, horny teenage boys at every turn. Y/N wasn’t even interested in dating, not due to the fact that nobody was necessarily interested in her, but because she was too focused on her studies to even give a damn. School dances were a nice break from academics. There was a shift, though, when one boy in particular would start to really pay attention to her.
Jake Kiszka was charismatic in every sense of the word. Him and his twin brother, Josh, were always the two sweetest, yet most famous troublemakers in all of Frankenmuth High School. It got even worse when their younger brother, Sam, ended up in high school with them as a freshman. Jake had girls wrapped around his finger from the moment he had gotten a haircut. His hair was a lot shorter than before and barely even touched his forehead. Y/N didn’t really give a damn. To her, he was still Jake Kiszka, neighbor.
Their parents were friends and always hungout on the weekends. Y/N’s family had a cabin on the lake which they always vacationed at and occasionally would bring Jake’s family with. One particular summer, they stayed there for a week between the summer of sophomore and junior year. The summer’s were always hot, but this week in particular was hotter than the other summer’s before. “It feels like the Devil’s asshole out here.”
“I know, Mary, but that’s the exact reason we chose to come here this week. The kids can swim in the lake, it’s a lot cooler in the water than on the grass.” Y/N’s dad spoke, returning the conversation from her mother. He gave her a quick kiss on the side of the head and returned to unpacking the car. Y/N and the boys had already gone into the house and picked their rooms. The boys shared one, and Y/N got one of the spare bedrooms. 
Dinner was made as soon as everyone was settled in. Everyone sat around the dining table, laughing and eating as they did almost every weekend. “You excited for Junior year, Y/N?”
“Yeah, I’m sort of nervous about taking the SAT and ACT. I’ve been studying when I’m not working at the shop.” She picked at some asparagus on her plate as she answered Mrs. Kiszka’s  question. Jake and Josh weren’t entirely ecstatic about it, it didn’t really matter to either of them. Music was their passion and that was never going to change.
Smores after dinner was a tradition that started when they were all really little, barely old enough to eat them. The fire was lit by Mr. Kiszka and Mr. Y/L/N. Jake, Sam and Josh had always played music while the rest of them made their smores. Y/N always made extras for the boys for when they were done playing music. Whenever they had no idea what to play, Y/N always knew the answer. Running out of songs to play, though, was a rarity in itself. The Kiszka’s knew so much about their sound, nothing was in their way of playing songs that fit it. However, every once in a blue moon they would ask their friend what she would like to hear. “C’mon now. You should know I’m a sucker for The Beatles.”
Y/N could recognize the sound of Blackbird the second it started playing. She had only listened to it eight million times that summer. She hummed lightly along as they played. Everyone clapped as soon as their song was over, the boys immediately delving into their smores. Y/N had finally taken a seat next to Josh when she was finished making their smores for them. Once their parents had gone inside, though, Y/N and the twins dipped into their parents' cooler of beer.
Neither of the sets of parents cared, they knew their kids would be safe and unharmed if they drank at the cabin. Jokes were told and stories of the past school year were discussed, as well as the future. A topic so vast for high schoolers. “I still can’t decide between a lawyer and an art teacher.”
“You’ve always been great at arguing,” Josh joked, “Practically got fuckin’ Lindsey McNeil out of that suspension.”
“It wasn’t fair. All she did was stand up for herself and what she believed in, plus that teacher is fucking creepy and everyone knows it.” Everybody laughed, the beer in everyone’s hands was getting a little warmer with every minute that passed by. Everyone filtered out one by one. Sam went in first, followed by Ronnie (she was slightly upset about coming, having made other plans with friends for the hot weather), and then Josh followed, leaving behind Jake and Y/N.
“Did you want to go inside yet or stay out here for a bit longer?” The silence beforehand hadn’t been awkward for the pair. “Cause I was thinking of going swimming for a bit.”
“I’ll join you, we haven’t swam yet today.”
The sand leading into the lake was met with a bit of rocks. It was picturesque under the moonlight. The pair discarded their clothing, leaving their underwear and got into the water. The coolness of the water sent goosebumps along her skin, leaving no piece without some. Jake followed in behind her, coming up next to her before completely dipping under the water. He popped back up and shook his head.
“You know,” Y/N started, “I think you’d look really good with longer hair.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. You should grow it out.” She swiped his hair out of the way and giggled a bit. “You’ll still never be prettier than I am.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, darling.”
The rest of the summer followed with light flirting and spending lots of time together. Junior year came around and nothing changed a bit. Prom was spent with the Kiszka family, Josh driving the three of you, as well as Josh’s date. The dance was lame, the songs were overplayed pop music, which Y/N secretly had a bit of a soft spot for. She would never tell that to Jake, though.
The pair ended up back at Y/N’s house, giggling all the way up to her room. He went into the bathroom to take his suit off, using one of Y/N’s hangers to make sure it wouldn’t wrinkle. However, Y/N was still having issues. She couldn’t manage to undo the zipper by herself, waiting for Jake to come back into the room to do it for her. He came back in, saw her still in her dress. “Need my help?”
“My zipper -- I can’t reach it.”
“I can do it,” he whispered, knowing Y/N’s parents were asleep. His hands were warm against her back, undoing her zipper slowly. The moonlight coming in from the window felt like that hot summer night at the cabin. He slid the straps down her shoulders, his mouth slightly agape. How could someone look so beautiful and delicate at the same time?
She turned around, her body facing Jake’s. He stuttered, telling her he could leave and he was honestly about to. Until he felt her hand grab his wrist. “Don’t go.”
He nodded his head, helping her get the rest of the way out of her dress. She stepped closer to him and put her hands on his chest. She could feel how fast his heart was beating. She had a hard time meeting his gaze, nervous of him not feeling the same way she had been. “You looked really good tonight.”
“Me? Everybody was staring at you the whole time, Y/N,” he spoke, one hand finding their way to her waist, the other pulling on her chin to force eye contact. “You looked absolutely breathtaking.”
There was a split second where both of them second guessed themselves. But it was over when Y/N pressed her lips lightly against Jake’s. It was such a feathery light touch, it almost felt like she wasn’t even kissing him. She pulled away slowly, her eyes closed, not really knowing what to do next. She didn’t have to figure it out though, Jake’s lips returned to hers with more pressure.
His hands had found their rightful place on her back, bringing her closer to him. Hers found their way into his hair. It felt so natural - the need for each other grew stronger with each passing minute. His mouth never wanted to leave hers, it felt as though her lips were coated in fucking drugs the way they were so addicting. He couldn’t get enough. “Do you want to..?”
“Yes, please.” It came out so needy - desperate. Y/N didn’t even care about how that presented itself to Jake. She just wanted to be even closer to him than she already was. And she got to be right where she wanted to be.
Her bed was more comfy than Jake had previously remembered. Or maybe that was because they were here under different circumstances, not just studying algebra because Jake wasn’t quite getting it. All he knew was that he wasn’t ever going to forget it. He wanted this moment to replay forever and ever. Not because he was just some horny teenager, but because holy fuck, this had just been some random thought - a daydream, almost. But this was real. This was happening.
A tangled mess they were when climaxing. “I love you,” came out as barely above a whisper. It took Y/N a half of a second to register what he was really saying before it finally hit her. She didn’t feel as if she had to say it back, if anything, he should realize that she loved him too.
“I could honestly stay here forever and stare at you until the end of time.”
“So do it. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
They didn’t though. And it wasn’t that simple. Complications arose after that night. Everything got messy and trying to tie in a relationship while the band was traveling and on the road became increasingly difficult, especially when Y/N went to college.
She came home to Frankenmuth while she was off for the summer. Her mother and father missed her a great deal and the first weekend home was spent in the Kiszka’s backyard, the boys excluded. It was weird to be at their house and not see them littered around anywhere. Ronnie was full of stories though, telling Y/N about previous times the boys have come home from touring and the memories they brought back with him.
It was painful to hear, but she was so incredibly proud of everything they had accomplished and done. Every once in a while, Y/N had checked up on their band's Instagram account. When she was really nervous — having a hard time not worrying about them — she texted Josh or Danny. Neither of them were ever going to say anything to Jake or mention it to Sam.
The two families decided to get together and have dinner at a local bar. The boys were still away, they weren’t scheduled to come back to Michigan for at least another month and a half. Ronnie and Y/N spent most of their time talking about future plans for the upcoming weeks while their parents discuss their weekend plans — what to have for dinner and who’s house to have dinner at. Time had passed quickly and before they knew it, it was 10pm.
The parents had left, leaving Ronnie and Y/N at the bar by themselves. At least, that was until the boys walked in.
Ronnie smiled widely, hugging her brothers but then proceeding to punch them for surprising her and not just telling her. Josh and Danny hugged Y/N first, Sam leading after. Jake didn’t hug Y/N. It stung a bit. It made sense though. The last time they talked — it ended in an argument which was the resulting cause of their breakup.
A few drinks were downed, a couple shots thrown in there as well. Y/N figured it was time to throw the towel in. She couldn’t handle the awkward glances and forced conversation on their part. She grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and put it on as she said goodbye to everyone. “Boys, lovely to see you again. I’m sure I’ll see you this weekend.”
She wasn’t going to. She was gonna avoid them at all costs. Come up with a lie — say she had the flu or something. Her mother would believe her either way, as well as understand where she was coming from with her avoidance. Her mother was there for her while she cried her eyes out.
She didn’t notice when Jake had followed her out. She didn’t notice him calling her name. The only thing she could notice was the tears falling down her cheeks, wiping them as soon as she felt them.
“I never stopped loving you.”
It slipped out. It didn’t mean to come out. Jake didn’t necessarily want it to come out. They say drunk words are sober thoughts, right? At the same time, who trusts the words of a drunk person? Usually it’s just brushed off as babbling, but Y/N couldn’t ignore what Jake said. Especially because she couldn’t blame it on not hearing him. There was no music playing outside the bar. The music was faint enough that anything Jake had said was heard.
“When we broke up,” he started. “I was a wreck. I was immature. It could’ve worked out - it would’ve worked out if I wasn’t such a child about everything.”
“Jake —“
“No, Y/N, I need to say this now. I’m a little drunk so I actually have the balls to say everything I want to. It was stupid to break up over something as menial as distance. The things I feel for you are so intense it scares the fuck out of me. I was so afraid of being gone all the time. You deserved someone who could be there to help you study for midterms. I was always in another state and sometimes another country. I wasn’t… there to be able to help you through anything. Everything’s different now, though.”
She sighed, not entirely sure on what to do with the information that was thrown at her. She was sober enough to remember the conversation tomorrow, but not nearly drunk enough to be able to deal with it tonight. “Do you wanna just come home with me? Talk about this tomorrow morning when we’re both sober.”
“Yeah, I’d like that a lot.”
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deancas highschool au, 1.8k.
dean's pretty sure it all comes down to being sam's fault.
kid had walked into their last scooby doo marathon without warning at eleven friggin' pm, startling both cas and him (because they watch scooby doo like it's meant to be watched — with all their concentration, goddammit) and consequently causing dean to knock over the bowl of popcorn and get its contents all over (and some inside) the couch.
fast forward from there to the next time dean asked mary if cas could sleep over, and her immediate condition being that they conduct the grand bingewatch (a necessary element of the dean-cas sleepovers) in dean's room instead of the living room, as she could not possibly handle finding more popcorn under the cushions of the damn sofa than she'd already been fishing for, the last two weeks.
so there.
it is absolutely and indisputably sam's fault that dean is right now half-propped up in bed next to his best friend, with a laptop on his lap and fellowship of the ring playing on it, unable to think about anything except the way their arms press against each other, knees brush, and cas's head ends up looming too close to dean's shoulder to not be resting on it.
oh, and how good cas looks in the almost-dark, lit by whatever's happening — dean knows exactly what's happening — on the screen.
just because.
it's past two — which translates to way too late for a gay awakening o'clock — but dean's pretty sure if his heart keeps beating at this rate till morning, he's going to wake up in an ambulance.
this has never happened before. being this conscious of wherever they're touching, this excited about it, or this intent on stealing glances when he's sure he won't be caught. (okay, maybe that one's happened before but it's beside the point.) put together, it is alien and disconcerting.
and dean's not an idiot. he knows — he thinks he knows what's happening. and he knows it's not supposed to feel like a switch flipping because these things — and that's about all of the clarity he can afford — happen over time. and yet it's like he's walked headfirst into a wall on this weird, weird night.
the only thing he knows for sure is that he's never felt this way before. not towards cas, not towards anyone.
well, there's also never been an anyone (else).
but screw semantics — dean's terrified.
and it's entirely sam's fault, obviously, which is why the next time dean sees the little bastard, he's going to —
"dean."
it's cas, interrupting his very subtle, manageable breakdown in his endearingly familiar why-aren't-you-already-paying-attention-to-me voice.
dean hits pause, pressing the spacebar and turning to face his cas-shaped dilemma in the eye. "what, you sleepy already?"
"of course not." cas's tone is haughty, like one of somebody who hasn't been the first one asleep in a single sleepover in the past. dean takes the blow with grace, because he friggin' deserves that. he's been ashamed of himself every, single, morning-after. "i was just wondering if the movie," cas tilts his head towards the screen. "isn't disturbing your parents or your brother. i don't think we've ever watched anything past midnight in your room before."
trust me, dean's brain supplies, i know.
but cas does have a point. there's plenty of loud noises in lotr, and the walls aren't particularly thick. and the last thing he wants right now is for dad to come see why they're not asleep yet, and find them friggin' huddled together on a single.
not that dean minds it.
"well," dean frowns. "what do you suggest? it is sorta late to switch to sleepover games, by the way, if you were planning on saying 'never have i ever'."
"we could use your earphones." cas says, like it's the most obvious thing. "and neither of us ever win in 'never have i ever', dean. or lose, actually. we know each each other too well. why would i suggest that?"
but dean's already stuck on a previous part of cas's sentence. "m-my earphones?"
cas blinks at him. "yes?"
dean swallows.
"unless you want to play 'never have i ever'?"
dean swats at cas for that, which the latter tries to dodge by pushing dean with both hands, until dean's wriggling and swearing at him to stop trying to put him through the wall because either they really are cosied up in that little space, or being in the middle of a really important realization makes you go soft on your opponent.
when cas finally lets dean go with a self-satisfied grin, dean only falters for a moment before planting the laptop on cas indelicately and knee-waddling to the end of the bed to get to his desk.
he finds his extremely well-used black earphones soon enough and returns to his spot, where cas shifts hardly an inch to give him his due space, resulting in dean well and truly sandwiched between the wall and cas, because his best friend is a jackass like that. and of course, the only reasons dean leans further towards cas with practised annoyance etched on his face is because it's the kind of annoying he's supposed to be, and it's october and the wall is cold.
cas, on the other hand, is really not.
"what are you waiting for?" cas grumbles, eyes squinty at dean in the dark, and dean makes a face at him, plugging it in (without needing to look, not that he'd've been able to see a thing in the dark anyways), and offering cas the left earplug.
which cas promptly puts in his left ear — the one that's farther away — because he's cas, and things like which earplug is meant for which ear, matter to him.
dean friggin' loves him.
and it's some time after dean's put the right one in his left ear — because he's not cas is why, and their heads are close enough already — and they've hit play and settled into the comfortable silence of watching a movie they've both seen at least five times in the past and dean's actually begun to pay attention, that he absolutely freezes in his metaphorical tracks, the entire world stuttering to a halt as he tries to register that last thought.
he loves cas.
he said it to himself. he said he loved him.
and that's just goddamn it.
he loves cas.
dean's eyes flit to cas, who's watching the movie without having any life-altering revelations, stuffing his mouth full of popcorn every five minutes (a habit dean can proudly claim to have been responsible for fostering in the first place), not smiling but with a corner of his lip pulled up like he ends up unconsciously doing whenever he's really paying attention, his profile only half-lit with colors, and his closeness suddenly so incredibly flustering.
yeah, well. you've known it for a while, the voice in dean's head that's not exactly his, returns. haven't you?
and maybe he has.
or maybe he hasn't, and it really does feel like a switch flipping for some people. people like him who're zoning out watching lord of the rings one moment, and smitten with their best friends the second.
it doesn't really matter either way, does it?
it's 2:37 am when dean turns his head to the movie again.
inarguably far too late for anything to matter to dean other the fact that he knows. the fact that he knows that he's in love with cas. and the fact that he is.
(maybe he can think of ways to ask him out tomorrow.
or next week.
or maybe he'll chicken out a thousand times until he finally ends up stuttering his way through a severely practised-in-the-mirror confession eight months later, and cas will smile that smile he reserves for dean, and say he can't make it friday because of astronomy club, and dean'll blush even harder because he knew that, he knows that dammit, and then cas will suggest thursday instead, and thursday will be too soon and way too terrifying and just perfect. and then they'll live happily ever after.)
but dean's got all the time in the world to sort out — read: lose his shit over — the maybe's.
right now? being in love with cas is enough.
and being here, watching the last sixteen minutes of one of their mutually favorite movies in bed with his best friend and love of his life, is perfect.
*
dean does end up falling asleep first, yet again, cause turns out achieving self-awareness and spontaneous living-in-the-moment prowess don't do shit to help with being less of an embarrassment.
but this time, he gets to wake up with an arm slotted around his waist, and a warm castiel curled up close behind him, still fast asleep and breathing in light puffs down dean's tshirt, so maybe, just maybe, he doesn't have to chalk this one up as a loss after all.
doesn't mean cas still won't be a smugfaced little shit about it though.
but then, that's probably one of the things dean winchester loves about him anyway.
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