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#no i didn’t dunk his head in water
cloudybarnes · 6 months
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bella donna
Pairing: theodore nott x reader
Summary: a sick night in bed calls for your cute boyfriend to come in and take care of you
Word Count: 800+
Masterlist
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✰  ✰  ✰
Nothing was helping.
The soup burned your tongue, the medication didn’t cure your stuffy nose, and your throat felt like it was on fire.
You felt like total shit right about now. 
“I’m sorry mi amore.” Theodore said as he wrung out a wet rag to place on your forehead. You were laid up in your bed, covers drawn to your chin as a chill wracked through you. 
Theo sat on a small stool next to your bed. He was being the sweetest boyfriend ever. He waited on you hand and foot for everything you needed. 
He was the one to make the soup and fetch the medicine and rags for your head. 
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, Theo,” you mumbled. “You’ve done literally everything right for me.”
He smiled softly, then just as quickly, his smile fell. “I just can’t believe how suddenly this came about. Something must be going around; I heard Draco coughing in class yesterday, he must be the one who got you sick.”
You chuckled but were soon thrown into a fit of coughs. The coughing was so bad, you had to sit yourself up in order to catch your breath. 
“Mio dio,” he softly said. “My poor baby.” Theo rubbed your back as you caught your breath. You smiled at him, grateful for his being here. 
“What would I do without you, Theo?” 
He smiled and left a tender kiss on your forehead. The action was so soft and sweet, your eyes involuntarily closed, a soft smile adorning your lips. Theo really was something special. While most may find him to be a brute and hard to get on with, you’d only ever seen the kind, caring boy standing in front of you. 
“The real question,” he replied, “is how could I ever live without you?”
You giggled as Theo led you from your seated position to lay down. 
“You need your rest, sweetheart. Don’t waste all of your energy sitting up.”
You nodded and let Theo guide you down. You sniffled, but all that did was send more mucus to your throat, causing it to hurt worse. A whimper came from your lips without meaning to. 
“What hurts now, dolcezza?” He felt your forehead with the back of his hand, and gently picked up the discarded rag to dunk it in the bucket of ice water on the floor. 
“Just everything: my head, my throat, my nose, it all just sucks,” you said. “At least I have you to take care of me.”
Theo smiled, his eyes alive with love for you. “I’ll always be here to take care of you, even when you’re snotty and coughing on me.” He teased as he wrung out the ice rag and placed it back on your forehead. 
“Hey!” You whined with a teasing smile. “I didn’t cough on you, just in your general direction.”
“Oh, so that’s how we’re describing it, now, huh bella donna?” 
You gave a health-hearted smile and shifted a little in bed. “I don't feel very pretty right now. I’m all snotted up and it feels like I’ve been hit by a truck.”
“I think you look beautiful, (Y/N). Fully and truly, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
Your heart swelled. You had the sweetest boyfriend in the world. Theo never failed to make you smile and make you feel beautiful, even when you felt far from it. 
Slowly, as to not hurt the ache in your head, you pushed yourself up into a seated position. 
Theo started to fix the pillows so they would accommodate your upright position. “This okay, amore?”
You smiled down at him. Never had you felt more in love with this boy than you did just then. “It’s perfect, my love. Everything you do is just perfect, Theo. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
A pink hue tinted your boyfriend's cheeks as a smile crept onto his face. “You’re everything to me, (Y/N). I would do anything for you. Something as simple as taking care of you while you’re not feeling good is my job as your lover.” 
You didn’t think your heart could take anymore sweetest from him. “Come ‘ere,” you mumbled as you patted the empty side of the bed. “‘wanna lay with you for a little while.”
Theo walked around the bed and climbed into the empty space. He fit perfectly in the bed, like it was made to accompany him. 
You pushed him to lay down so you could rest your tired head on his chest. He lightly chuckled at your movement, and pulled you close to him. His arms wrapped around you as your fist held onto the fabric of his shirt. 
“I love you, (Y/N),” he mumbled. 
You smiled, closing your eyes. Right before sleep pulled you in, you responded, “I love you most, Theo.”
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ginger4sugar · 6 months
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☆彡 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟏 : 𝐒𝐈𝐙𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐖/𝐎𝐍𝐘 ミ★
Characters Included — Onyankopon x Black reader
Ginger's Notes — Yesss i’m doing kinktober with my stinka butt @skyskyxd ( she’s forcing me too ), we’re alternating days so look at her page for Day 2!! This isn’t proofread tho and yall know i’m saving the good smut for my favorite days but 😛😛 enjoy
Content Warning — Half Smut, Size kink ( duh ), reader is depicted as smaller than Ony, pet names, Think that’s it, lmk if i missed anything
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He shouldn’t have you feeling this strongly with ease. It was effortless. He towered over you so easily, you almost felt embarrassed.
He was massive, Ony knew this all of his life. Having people look up at him was an everyday thing that he had gotten use to. He went about his life knowing that he was a tempting height.
But it wasn’t just his Height to you, he was just big all around. His frame was broad with muscles that flexed underneath the tight black top that squeezed at every ridge of his stomach and his pecs— his biceps almost popping out of his sleeves with every move. The way his hands would ball into a fist when he had to crack his knuckles before they were on the small of you back taking up a good amount of space.
Don’t let you get started at his Thighs that were adorned by hoochie daddy shorts, no thanks to the heatwave that was outside.
Onyankopon was Huge.
You didn’t have a preference to your men, your past relationships show that— you liked ony for his personality and how he carried himself.
But right now all you could think about was how he carried you.
Throwing you over his shoulder without a grunt of struggle, and a swift tap on your ass leaving a slight sting as he carried you to the pool at the party, not being phased by all of your thrashing and your meek fist hitting against his back as you argued him to put you down. Only for your petty threats to fall on deaf ears as all your friends and party goers watch your boyfriend chuck you into the pool with a chuckle from himself and a scream leaving your lips.
And while you’re coming back up to the surface your braids floating around, you’re graced to catch ony pulling that black shirt you were staring at off himself, revealing sheer dark skin and a physique that could only be described as made by gods themselves. The sun bouncing off his skin paired with Me & U by Cassie playing in the back didn’t help.
You didn’t care he had dunked you into the pool anymore, and you definitely didn’t care when his Fine ass jumped in too, swimming underwater and lifting you to sit on his shoulders.
You wanted to go home. Cause you weren’t just wet from the pool anymore. Suddenly you were hyper aware of your swimsuit and everything around you. Mostly the sound of Ony’s laugh as he brought a wet hand to tap at your thigh to grab your attention so you could look at the camera Connie had pointed at you two.
Eventhough you still couldn’t stop focusing on your boyfriend, the way your heavy thighs on his shoulders meant nothing to him, as he splashed through the water still carrying you until he was gently sitting you on the edge of the pool so only your feet would be in the water.
“I wanna go home.” You crossed your arms over your chest, not failing to realize how your boyfriend, who hqd swam his way inbetween your legs, eyes seemed to be glued on to the swimsuit you had chosen. “Why?”
Well, you couldn’t exactly tell him why— out of embarrassment. But when he tilted his head at you and gave you a shy of a smirk showing a sneak of his grillz paired with the beads of water that laid on his skin you didn’t think you had it in you to hold back.
“I like when you pick me up.” You said oh so softly that only he could hear it, the sound of the distant music not bothering you two, Ony Raised a brow before you cleared your throat and rolled your eyes, “ I like when you pick me up— like a doll.”
Ony didn’t need to be a genius to know what you were referring to, and he definitely didn’t waste any time getting out of the pool and grabbing your hand pulling you to a stand. “Yeah i’m ready to go home too baby.”
Ony was far from oblivious, he knew his stature compared to yours. Looking down at you constantly, the way his form draped over yours everytime he went for a hug from behind. Even small things like getting things too high up for his girlfriend— he liked it, almost too much.
Especially in the bedroom.
It showed When you two barely got through the thrusthold of your front door before his calloused hands were all over your frame, feeling whatever part of you he could before he got to impatient and picked you up and carried you to your shared bedroom. Basically ripping both of your clothes off with fervor and manhandling you onto the bed.
Ony was big in the places that matter, “oh fuck—” Moans leaving your lips while your legs pressed close to your ears, rough hands keeping your limbs in place while your eyes struggled from not closing as he inched his length into your cunt almost achingly slow. He was Big, you remember your first time seeing it— the genuine thought that he would split you in half.
“aht— stop allat running, we gon make it fit princess.”
A whimper leaving your lips when he pulled you closer to the edge of the bed as if you weighed nothing. Your glossed eyes looking up at the smirking male that had you reeling into the sheets. This is what you wanted.
“Now is yo ass gon take this shit, like the big girl you are huh?” He taunted when he felt you relax when he started his rough thrust, your moans egging him to continue— “or you gon act like the small ass princess you is?”
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halfvalid · 6 months
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Hey! Since your requests are open, may I request opla!Zoro x reader (established relationship) where the reader has a lot of self doubt (not only in their looks, but their abilities and their place in the crew) since it’s, unfortunately, been shoved done their throat by pretty much eveyone they knew, even their parents, that they would never be good enough? Maybe Zoro figures out that they have sort of been spiralling lately and they have a talk about the readers past and the problems they’re facing and he comforts them? Maybe it ends sort of spicy or turns out full on spicy, if you’re comfortable with that!
daybreak
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ABOUT
alternate title: some fluffy established relationship hurt/comfort to save my soul
rating: teen & up
characters: live action!roronoa zoro | fem!reader
pairing: live action!roronoa zoro x fem!reader
word count: 2.9k (short; sorry!)
description: zoro notices you've been seeming off recently, and you confide in him your insecure feelings of self-worth. he comforts you.
tags: strawhat!reader, established relationship, fluff, emotional hurt/comfort, kissing, no use of ‘y/n’, soft zoro, ridiculously stupidly absolutely horrifyingly fluffy. 
author’s note: thank you so much for the very lovely request! i hope i did your prompt justice; i ended up not writing any spice at the end (just slightly suggestive) since i didn't think it fit the story but i hope you like it anyway ^^
it feels slightly ooc, but i also wrote it in the span of two hours at 1:00 am so can you really blame me. 
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It was morning on the Going Merry, and you were cleaning up the wreckage that had been scattered along the deck in your last battle. The crew had gone up against some other pirates; it’d been late at night, and the attack had come suddenly, what you’d thought would be a peaceful docking turning combative quickly. 
You barely remembered the fight. One moment, the warning bell had sounded, and the next Zoro was rolling out of bed beside you, grabbing his swords and darting out of your bedroom before you could even register what was happening. The fight had gone in the Straw Hats’ favor, thankfully; Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji had fended off most of the threat, and you were back on the open sea, safe from enemies for at least a little while now. 
You let out a sigh as you swept shattered glass into a dustpan, shaking out the collected trash into a nearby empty barrel. None of the men usually bothered to start cleaning up—typical—so you’d pulled yourself out of bed as early as possible to get the ship looking a little more like normal. 
Zoro had left some corpses on the deck for you to deal with, and you’d had to toss them overboard, a grimace tugging at your lips as blood stained the white of your blouse. No matter. You’d finished sweeping, at least; all you had left to do was mop, right as everyone else was waking up. 
You filled a bucket with warm water and soap, and were just grabbing the mop from the closet when you heard footsteps. You glanced up, surprised to see Zoro heading towards you, one hand grasped loosely around his sword handle as always. “You’re up early,” he said, casual as ever. “Woke up and you were gone.” 
“Figured I should get a head start on cleaning,” you answered quickly, not meeting Zoro’s eyes as you dunked the mop into the bucket. His brows creased as he watched you start mopping, pushing the handle along the deck to wipe it clear of bloodstains. 
“How long have you been doing this?” Zoro asked, after a few seconds of delayed silence. You shrugged, dunking your mop again before going for another few swipes. “We can help clean too, you know.” 
“It’s the least I can do,” you protested. You moved past him, trying very hard not to meet his eyes—but Zoro didn’t let you pass, one hand going out to grab the mop rod and stopping you in your tracks. “What?” 
“What do you mean, least you could do?” Zoro asked blankly. 
“I mean—” you shrugged, muscles limp like your entire body was sagging you down. “You and the others were the ones to deal with the pirates, so I figured I could at least—”
Zoro still looked confused, brows pulled together, forehead taut with a frown. “I distinctly recall you throwing a pirate twice your size overboard. Unless I was imagining things.” 
You sighed. “Not what I meant.” You tried to push past Zoro again, but he didn’t let you, hand still tightly grasped around your mop handle. 
“Okay, what did you mean, then?” 
“Nothing. Will you just let me finish cleaning so there aren't blood stains all over Luffy’s ship?” You sighed again, even as you attempted to keep the sound inside—but you couldn’t help it. It was like there was an anchor stuck inside of you, pulling everything from your feelings to your body down, the weight of gravity tugging at your features. 
“Luffy’s ship?” 
You shrugged. “The Straw Hats’ ship. Whatever.” 
“Our ship,” Zoro said. There was a certain twinge of something in his words; still blankness, but laced with a dawning realization that you weren’t sure you liked. “You’re upset.” 
“Nope.” This time you really did manage to get free of Zoro’s grasp, yanking your mop out of his grip and starting back on cleaning the deck. The acrid smell of iron hit your nose as you scrubbed the dried blood off—you’d have to go back in later with a sponge to get all the cracks and crevices, but for now this would be okay. 
Zoro followed you, unceasing with his interrogation. “Yes, you are. I know when you’re upset, and you’re upset. What happened.” It was more of a statement than a question—Zoro didn’t often doubt himself, really, which was one of the many things that’d helped make you stumble into falling for him. “Was it about last night? You know the cook's just making fun when he keeps a counter, right? It doesn’t matter if he brought two or five more men down than you.” 
“It’s not about that,” you insisted. 
“So you admit you are upset.” 
You groaned, finally turning to look Zoro in the eye. He’d stopped walking, the dawning sun glinting hazey gold onto his skin in the early hour. There was still an overcast of blue from the night in the sky, and it made the heavens look ethereal, watery and glittering. 
“Come on,” he urged. “Just tell me what’s wrong.” 
“It’s really nothing you need to be concerned about,” you attempted, but your voice was weak now. Zoro stepped closer to you, gently pulling the mop out of your hands. Your fingers let go easily. “It’s silly.” 
Zoro gave you a look. “Out with it.” 
“I don’t know, I just—” your fingers clenched, like your hand was trying to find something to do now that Zoro had rid you of your mop. “Comparatively I just don’t do much. So I want to help out as much as possible.” 
“Who said you don’t do much?” 
“What?” 
“I don’t think I need to repeat myself,” Zoro said. He let the mop fall to the ground, arms crossing over his chest as he watched you. “Who said you don’t do much?”
“I mean, nobody. It’s just true.” You shrugged, distinctly uncomfortable with the way Zoro was looking at you—all attentive, like he was trying to strip you raw with his eyes, uncover whatever secrets might be hiding in the pores of your skin and the gaps of your teeth. “Luffy’s the captain, we wouldn’t be able to do anything without Nami, you and Sanji are the fighters, and Usopp’s everyone’s favorite. I’m just kind of… filler?” 
The more you spoke, the worse your words got, your tone turning more desperate as the sentences fumbled out of your mouth. Zoro’s eyebrows raised higher as you went on, and you flushed, red prickling all over your skin. 
“First of all,” he started, “Usopp is not my favorite. That’d be you. And—where are you getting this from?” 
You shook your head, trying to backtrack. “Nothing. Nowhere. It’s not that import—”
“Yes, it is, and we’re talking about it.” Zoro pulled a nearby barrel by the side of the ship, plopping himself down atop it and gesturing for you to sit. You didn’t, but you did move over to the railing, hands curling around the painted wood. “Speak.” 
“I have nothing to say,” you tried. Zoro just shot you an unimpressed look, and you squirmed. “Fine. I don’t know. I joined last, so I just figured… you were all kind of already set without me, right?” 
Zoro shook his head. “We’re a crew,” he said, voice strong but somehow still gentle. “You’re part of us for a reason. What, this entire time did you think you were—expendable?” 
You fidgeted uncomfortably, weight shifting from one leg to the other. “No.” 
“Don’t lie.” 
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Last night—I only got, like what, two guys? And you reacted way faster to the situation than I did,” you started, words flailing around on your tongue as they rushed out. It was indelicate, for certain, and you yourself couldn’t make sense of most of the words—but once you started, you couldn’t stop, even as they slurred together. “I was still getting out of bed and grabbing my weapon when you’d already dealt with half the enemy crew.” 
“Don’t compare yourself to me,” Zoro said with a shake of his head. “That’s not fair. I’ve been training since I was eight. It’s different.” 
You huffed out an exasperated breath, trying not to let your frustration get the best of you. “I can't help it sometimes. It’s a bad habit.” You loosened your grip on the ship railing, staring out at the golden clouds hovering over the sky.  “Sorry.” 
“Don’t apologize,” Zoro answered. He didn’t say anything after that—giving you a space to talk, you supposed, in case you wanted to. But his hand did reach up to press against yours, pinky brushing against your finger as he held onto the railing beside you. 
“I guess I just always had these standards back at the village,” you managed out eventually. Your island had always been one of the more traditional places in the East Blue, and there were plenty rules and guidelines abound. One of the many reasons you’d left the place in favor for Luffy and the Going Merry, really. “So I just… always want to do more. It’s not that bad.” 
“Right.” Zoro’s pinky looped around your finger, now, holding it close in a soft kiss of the hands. You sighed. 
“My parents were kind of rough on me, I guess,” you tried, sneaking a glance over at Zoro’s face to see if it satiated his curiosity at all. His expression remained as steel as ever, so you just continued. “They wanted me to be the best I could. But their standards were too high, even when I was little.” You found yourself rubbing circles into the back of Zoro’s hand with your finger, more so to comfort yourself than for any other reason. “Just normal stuff, like being upset about my school grades or my combat training levels being too low. Nothing that terrible.” 
“But…?” Zoro asked, tilting his head up to look at you. You smiled, but the action didn’t reach your eyes—it was all mouth and jaw, cheeks lifting but eyes glinting with the same glazed stare. 
“It just affected me a lot, I suppose,” you answered. “Always trying to get better. Never satisfied. And I guess now—I don’t know. I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough.” 
“For?” Zoro asked. His voice was low, soft, all hollow and empty inside. There was a tinge of roughness lacing it, like he’d forgotten to clear his throat, and the scratch of his vocal chords had surfaced up along with the words. 
“Myself. My parents. Luffy. You.” Your lips tightened into a line. Vaguely, you could feel the warm pinpricks of tears starting at your waterline, and you tried to will them back, letting out a little laugh. “Everyone, I guess.” 
Zoro’s hand had come to hold yours fully, fingers woven in between yours, thumb pressed firmly against the joint of your thumb. Somehow, that one motion managed to force the last of the words out of you—all wet and soft, eyes glued fiercely to the horizon in fear of seeing what was etched on Zoro’s face. 
“We do arranged marriages back at home,” you started, trying very hard to keep your voice from trembling. it worked only marginally—there was a tiny quaver in your tone, but it was soft, not noticeable unless you were really listening hard. “And my mom used to tell me I’d die alone. Because I wasn’t pretty enough, or smart enough, or anything enough for any of the boys there.” 
“Oh,” Zoro said. It was quiet; barely a whisper. You tried for a wry smile. 
“I like helping, though. I don’t mind cleaning up or whatever. It makes me feel more useful.” You tried to tug your hand out of Zoro’s grip, but his fingers tightened, keeping you in place. A nervous laugh escaped your throat. “And I know I’m part of the crew and all of this is just silly. So it’s really fine—”
Zoro tugged your intertwined hands to his chest, causing you to stumble and glance down at him in surprise. His expression was nearly unreadable. It’d darkened, and there was a contemplative gaze in his eyes, lips parted with invisible words perched on his tongue. “Don’t do that,” he whispered, and your stomach dropped, the nervousness that had gathered inside during the conversation tightening up into a hall. “Don’t say it’s okay or that it’s not important. If it’s making you upset, then it matters.” 
“I guess,” you tried, and Zoro’s gaze lifted to fix you with a glare. “Sorry.” 
“It’s okay, I just…” Zoro shook his head. “Look, whatever your parents used to tell you, whatever you have ingrained in your head—it’s not true. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to do more, but… you don’t have to do it. You’re enough already.” 
Your gaze softened, lips falling open to say something, but Zoro wasn’t finished yet. “You shouldn’t come out here and force yourself to clean up just to make up for your—waste of space, or something. You’re not a servant. And you’re not wasting up any space. I think everyone would agree that you’re a very important and vital part of the crew.” 
“Thanks,” you whispered. Zoro’s hand was warm around yours, and you felt the threatening droplets of tears start to rise up at your waterline, ready to fall at any moment now. Zoro just nodded. 
“You’re a great fighter, and way smarter than what you give yourself credit for,” he said firmly. He raised your hand to his mouth, then, leaning over to press a feather-light kiss to your knuckles. “And the boys on your island have to be blind, because you’re pretty enough. You’re more than pretty enough.”
He whispered the last words, all soft and sacred on his tongue. “You’re beautiful.” 
That was enough to drive your tears over the edge. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to stop the flow as the warm sensation of liquid streaking down your cheeks began. Droplets caught in the crevice of your lips, and at the hinge of your jaw—Zoro brought a hand up to wipe them away. “Are you okay?” he whispered. 
“Yeah, I just, um.” You shook your head, sniffing. “Thank you. That… helped. I think.” 
Zoro bummed out his response. “Of course,” he said easily. “You’re my girl. It’s my job to cheer you up.” He kissed your knuckles again. “And you can talk to any of us. I’m not really the best at this, but everyone else…” he shrugged. 
“You’re doing just fine,” you assured him. Zoro nodded, tugging you down until you finally took a seat on a crate beside him. “I think it’s just been worse lately.” 
“If it makes you feel any better, I think you’re better than the waiter,” Zoro said. You just laughed. 
“I think you’re biased, but thank you,” you said. “Here, I, um, I promise I’ll let you know if I’m feeling down, I guess. If you don’t mind.” 
“Definitely don’t mind,” Zoro answered. This time he placed a gentle kiss on your neck, somewhere at the bottom near the back. “Leave the mopping for someone else. You’ve already done a lot.” 
“Okay,” you whispered, eyes fluttering closed as Zoro kissed the rest of the way up the back of your neck. He placed a final one right below your earlobe. With that, Zoro stood up, sweeping one arm under your legs and hoisting you up. You cracked open an eye to regard him with a blank look. “What are you doing?” 
“Bringing you back to my room,” Zoro answered. “You didn’t get much sleep tonight. And I doubt anyone wants to watch me kissing you on the main deck anyway.” 
That was fair enough reasoning, so you didn’t complain, letting him carry you all the way to his cabin and gently lay you down onto his bed. He leaned over to press a gentle kiss to your lips—you could still taste the saltwater from your tears from before. “Want me to stay?” Zoro asked. 
“You don’t have to,” you said automatically, and Zoro raised both his eyebrows. You let out a sigh. “Okay, I get it. Yes. Please stay.” 
“All you had to say,” Zoro said, shedding himself of his shoes and swords before leaning over the bed to watch you. He didn’t slip under the covers or anything, just propped an arm up on the mattress, kneeling beside the bed. There was tender silence for a few moments before Zoro spoke again. 
“I love you,” he said abruptly, voice rough but somehow still soft. Your heart beat too fast in your chest, ribcage squeezing in on the organ and making it skip. His hand slid along the mattress to find yours, and you took the offer, fingers clasping around his palm. 
“I love you too,” you whispered back. Zoe leaned over, then, the hand not intertwined with yours tilting your jaw over just so to allow him better access to your mouth. He kissed you full-on, tender but firm, mouth working against yours in a way that unraveled you entirely. Your grip on his hand tightened as he deepened the kiss, a soft sound emitting from low in your throat. Finally you broke apart, heaving for breath, exhales mixing together midair. An exchange of souls, you’d heard once, somewhere. 
“Come on,” you murmured, tugging Zoro closer to the bed so he got the hint. He slipped beside you onto it, turning your head again to meet you in another kiss. His hand drifted down to your waist, holding you securely in place.  
“I don’t think anyone should need us for a few more hours, right?” Zoro asked, and you laughed. He swallowed up the sounds with his mouth, tongue licking languidly into you as he rubbed delicate circles into the skin of your waist. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, and then he was kissing you again. 
You let him siphon the soul out of your lungs, knowing you were getting his right back. 
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© halfvalid 2023
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ofjunemoment · 7 months
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getting even | lee haechan (P1)
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synopsis —  Haechan is notorious for his pranks. Who can forget about the one time the campus fountain was bleeding red? You were weary of never getting on his wrong side, but when you get to know him better, it seems like behind all that front he's a sweet and caring guy. That is until you get a bucket of water dunked on you straight after he promised he wouldn't pull something on you. You're not only pissed that he had fooled you like this, but that he chose such a simple prank.
pairing - haechan x fem!reader
genre - university!au, (one-sided) enemies, strangers to friends to lovers, slow burn, very slice of life, eventual smut (MDNI)
Wc - 11.6k
content - clubbing scene, reader is drunk at one point, random idols mentioned, university settings
warnings: mentions of throwing up (nothing too detailed)
a/n - hi lovelies <3 heres the first part to getting even!!! while i was writing the story i noticed it was getting very long (and i still have like... five more scenes to write lol) so i thought of getting this out first ^^ not a lot happens here but stay tuned for the next part because.. a lot.. happens there hehe. i hope you enjoy readingggg!!
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Walking into your lecture, your eyes scan around to find an empty spot to occupy, but you were pleasantly surprised to see your friend Naeun sitting in one corner, leaning back as she scrolls through her phone. She beams when she sees you, patting the seat next to hers.
“Fancy seeing you here,” You plop down your bag next to your chair, teasing her from the get-go. She whines shyly at your callout.
“I was struck with academic motivation never felt before. It felt like I was destined to come in today and be as studious as possible,” She points towards the lecture, which is barely filled with students. It’s a nine a.m. lecture, but you decided to come in early today to snag a good seat that lets your focus on the lecture with your upcoming assignment that's due; Naeun on the other hand barely comes in after the first two weeks of the semester, regardless of what time the lecture is. If it’s not mandatory, why go?
Her motto is what makes you raise your eyebrow at her now, scanning her figure as if to fish out the real reason why she’s here.
“Don’t look at me like that! I actually came in to study today,” you raise your hands in self-defence, looking away from her with a giggle, opting to stop teasing her.
But not even a minute later, she cracks; “Okay, fine. If you keep insisting me to tell you I guess I have no choice,”
“But I didn’t even—”
“I heard from Haneul who heard from Heejin’s girlfriend who was at that book club meeting with Renjun, which for some reason thought Norwegian Wood the book didn’t match the song, which is such a hot take that only he would take. Anyways,” She crosses her leg over her knee, leaning in as if to tell you a secret, manicured hands cupping the side of her face.
“Haechan might pull something today, at this lecture.” You barely caught her words, but after a few seconds of taking in what she said, you lean back and look at her with wide eyes.
“Haechan? I thought he was finished?” Naeun nods her head at lightning speed, her expression matching yours too.
“See, that’s what I thought too, but apparently he only had some sort of weird writer's block but for his pranks. I think he missed all the attention he used to get, not that he’s any less popular now, but you know what I mean,” You, in fact, have no idea what she means. But with the new information that you’re now fed, you’re hyperaware of your surroundings, looking around for any abnormalities within your vicinity.
Ever since the orientation of the first year of your course, when you met Naeun and had to fight against falling asleep with all the alcohol the seniors were feeding you as a sort of welcoming ritual, Haechan had already made a solid impression on everyone. With the seniors pushing all the first-year students to drink, Haechan had gotten into a bit of trouble for refusing to drink something they’ve poured out for him, as the older guys go around with mindless gossiping, stating how much of a prune he is and that he’s just ruining the fun, all while they stick around girls who are out of their league.
Later that day, Haechan had made a few drinks for the few who he had angered as a form of apology. With his head bowed in tow, he honestly looked like he was asking for their forgiveness.
“It was careless of me to disrespect my seniors so blatantly like this, could you accept these as an apology? I’ll even pour out the soju for you.” With the bottle in his hand, his other hand cradled his elbow, showing respect as he barely met their eyes. The seniors were ready to make him work for it more, but with the way he was bowed in front of everyone in the hall, it looked like they were picking on the poor boy.
“Ah, Haechan, you don’t have to do that.” One of them chuckles. “We were just joking aroun—”
“Please! Just accept this, I don’t know how I can last the rest of my uni years knowing that I had disrespected you on my very first day.” He shouts in his high-pitched voice, making the already quiet hall of murmuring people all go silent. The seniors were now all flustered, before being ushered to take the cups Haechan had provided, waiting for him to pour them drinks.
From the corner of the table, you were slumped against, you remember two things very vividly that night; one, Naeun was an only child, which we can definitely work with. And two, when Haechan looked up at the second and third years of his major accepting his drinks, his grateful smile was laced with some sort of sinister glint.
As the seniors grumble in embarrassment while Haechan finishes pouring each one of them a drink, they swish their cups around as if it’s wine, delaying drinking from them while Haechan insists on signifying their bond with a toast.
“To my seniors, I hope to perform up to your expectations,” And with the tip of their cups in an imaginary circle, everyone cheered ‘one-shot’ as the seniors down their drinks. Haechan merely sipped his, and you had noticed his lips tilting to one corner, and even in your drunk state, you knew something was off.
Your suspicions were confirmed when the seniors all started coughing wildly, some clutching the corner of a table or one anothers’ shoulders, seeming like they were coughing their lungs out.
Turns out that Haechan had slipped hot sauce into the drinks, creating a fusion of different burning sensations to travel down their throats as they drink the alcohol in one shot. Instead of being chastised, he was cheered on by the other first years who were either tipsy or barely hanging on. Ever since then, he was known to pull pranks every now and then, most harmless, some embarrassing, but nothing serious and nothing to spite anyone. Like tampering with clocks in the lecture halls, making them chime a tune every ten minutes, or when he had swapped his blonde friend Jeno’s shampoo with a firetruck red dye, leaving his neck and the better part of his forehead red from the dye for days on end. The only prank done with motivation was the first one as if it was some sort of initiation in itself.
“Wait, at this lecture? But there’s barely anyone here. Doesn’t Haechan carry out his pranks with a full-blown audience at tow?” Naeun shushes at your words, trying to get you to quiet down with your words, but it was too late. The deed was done as the guy from behind you perks up at your conversation, leaning into your conversation bubble.
You recognise him as Sunwoo, as he quickly shifts his gaze between the two of you. “Haechan’s doing something today? Like, at this lecture?”
“Oh.. well, I wouldn’t say so,”
“Naeun,” He turns to your friend, and you look at her with doom written on both of your faces. Naeun can’t lie to save her life, most people know that by now, but never really have the balls to test the theory. Until now, of course.
“Naeun, is Haechan gonna pull a prank today?”
“Naeun, remember what we talked about restraint.” You tried to keep her attention on you, knowing that if her gaze wandered to the boy, she would break.
“Come on Naeun,” Sunwoo whines now, stomping his feet, making you look at him with disgust written on your face at his sudden burst of cuteness. “Just say yes or no. Ywes or nwo.”
“Dude, gross,” You shove at his shoulder in an attempt to finally relent. Naeun squeezes her eyes shut.
“Pwetty pwease?”
“Fine! Fuck, oh my god. Yes, he is, Haechan is maybe doing something today.” She leans back into her chair, chest heaving as if she’d run a marathon. “I hated that, please don’t ever do that again.” Sunwoo winks at you two as he suddenly stands straight in his seat.
With hands cupped around his mouth, he shouts out. “Hey everyone! Haechan is pulling a prank today! Tell all your friends to be careful, and to keep their cameras rolling! Remember to post it on the campus’ blog!” And with that, phones chime as people text and call the imminent news. You and Naeun look at each other, defeated.
“At least they don’t know that we spread it?” You try, shoulders now hunched in as Naeun rubs at her temples.
“Oh! Also, it was these two who told me, so you should thank them!” Sunwoo yells one last time as he points at the two of you, with some hoots and cheers now being sent your way. You two shrink into yourselves even more.
“Haneul is never gonna invite me out for bubble tea ever again,”
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As the lecture hall fills up to its max capacity, everyone is on the edge of their seat, waiting for something to happen. The star of the show himself is nowhere to be seen, but his friends are huddled in their usual corner, trying their best to smile kindly and repeat on about how they ‘don’t know what Haechan is up to. Can I send him a text to see where he is? Why are you telling me what to do—’. Thankfully Jeno was able to stop Renjun from pouncing anyone, even though they both knew nothing would’ve happened.
The lecturer seems over the moon to have the hall filled as much as it is, excitedly explaining statistics and their significance in the current world. She doesn’t seem to notice that the majority are here for some sort of public performance and not the different ways you can find the probability of whatever it is she’s droning on about. You try your best to nod when she looks towards your general direction.
As the lecture ends, people grow restless with the lack of action in the last two hours. But no one had dared to step out of the hall, much less out of their seats in fear of something happening. But when the lecturer thanks everyone for joining her this week and talks about gratitude, people slump into their chairs, grumbling and huffing about their time being wasted. Everyone starts packing straight away, slowly maneuvering to the exit as they cook up theories about why Haechan had gone so long without a prank, and how the word got spread in the first place. You and Naeun sit static in your chairs, not wanting to attract any attention, alongside Haechan’s friends, who merely go on their phones and twirl their pens.
“Do you think this will come back to bite us in our ass?” You’re careful to whisper this time, shoving your laptop into your bag and Naeun clicks her pens closed. She merely shrugs, “I don’t think they even know our names, so I think we should be fine.” You look at the lecturer, who seems to be skipping her way to the exit now, undoubtedly feeling ecstatic at doing her job. As she opens the door and steps to the hall, you last see her beaming smile before a screech echoes out, making everyone stop in their tracks.
The people who were the closest to her are now looking at the ground where she lies, bags and items now askew across the floor outside of the hall. A few step up and help her get up by grasping her wrists, pulling when she seems to have found their bearings. But their effort ends fruitless, as not only does she stay on the floor, but the two people who had helped her also collapse again on the floor.
“What the fuck…” As people go to help their friends and the lecturer from the floor, the three figures on the floor attempt to skid back into the lecture room instead of out. A guy you recognise as Beomgyu looks out onto the hallway outside the lecture hall, before pressing the tip of his shoe against the floor as if to test something. When he pressed his sole against the floor, he tries shifting left and right before pressing his other foot on the floor, rebalancing himself when he’s tilted a bit to the left. You see him squat down and take a big whiff, face confused as he stands back up, but not for long.
Smiling like a radiating child, his laugh echoes throughout the hall as he pulls on his friend Jeongin’s hand to join him. “The floor is covered with butter!”
At that, the once quiet hall grows loud, as people slowly step onto the floor, while some treat it like a skating rink, gliding and spinning right outside the lecture hall.
“The whole floor with butter? When did he have the time to do that?” You question as you now stand with your bag slung over your shoulder. Jeno, who was walking past you with Renjun, turns back to you. “He did it while the lecture was going on. If you can’t handle skidding on the floor, you might wanna use the other door,” And with a blinding smile, he turns back around and heads out the alternative door.
Naeun clutched at your bicep. “Did he talk to us right now? Like, look at us in the eye and speak words?”
You nod your head. “I think you can put your delusional days to an end. He totally likes you,” She smacks your hand as you tease her, but huddles closer nevertheless.
“I am, for once, thankful that you just speak words without thinking,”
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You’re tugging at the waist of your skirt as Naeun pulls you by your locked elbows, shoes clicking towards the direction of the club. The Beehive club is known to harbour students of all majors from your university, as it is the closest club to the dorms situated just a five-minute walk away from campus, making socialising as easy as it can get. Naeun had urged for you two to go this week, even when you’d rather rest after giving in the assignment that you were slaving over for the past few days. She insisted that it would be worth this time.
“Haechan finally put a cease in his hiatus. That means he will be at the party, which means Jeno will be at the party, which means I need to make my presence known and somehow rizz him by sending him brainwaves.” She had explained while getting ready, as she blows on her false lashes before putting them on. You sulk from your position in bed, slowly trying to hype yourself up to get ready.
“You’re not even gonna talk to him? What’s the point then?” Naeun groans at that.
“You know that if I open my mouth around him I’ll pee myself. Come on, and you deserve to have some fun after all that hard work,” And so half a bottle of soju and an hour later, you find yourself covering one of your ears as you descend the stairs to the Beehive club. You feel the bass of the song travel up your legs as you enter the club, and are offered free drink coupons. It’s when you’re squeezing a lemon slice into your mouth at the bar that you feel a hand tap against your shoulder. You turn to see Haneul, a grin gleaming even in the dark of the club as she squeals and pulls both you and Naeun into a hug.
“My favourite girls, how have you been?” She shouts against the booming music against your ears, to which you give her a thumbs up while Naeun further squeezes herself against Haneul's figure in excitement, the alcohol already making her feel giddier. She pulls you towards the dance floor, muttering about how she has a VIP booth that someone had offered her, and leads the way. Plopping down, Haneul gestures for staff before saying something into his ear, before giving a wink and pointing at the VIP booth you’re settled at.
As you three start conversing, the staff comes back with more drinks, and Haneul encourages you to drink, assuring you that it’s attached to the tab of the booth. “Some guy called Jay has this booth under his name, and he said to put any drinks I wanted on the tab,” You toast your free drinks against one another, the clink of the glasses barely audible as you each take a sip. Haneul shares the anecdotes and stories that have while she was away on vacation, while you and Naeun nod and react accordingly, slipping in your commentaries at the climax of her stories.
“What about you two? Any news recently?” She takes a sip from her straw as she says this, glancing between the two of you excitedly. You and Naeun share a sheepish glance, knowing neither of you has anything as exciting to share.
“Oh come on, what have you been doing these days?”
“Just work,” Naeun frowns as she says this.
“And school,” You follow up.
“You’re right, and school. And then work again,”
“And scho—”
“You guys are miserable,” Haneul scoffs jokingly. She reaches for the bottle of champagne that's sitting in the ice bucket, grabbing two clean glasses. “Here, have more drinks so you can have something exciting to tell me later on,” Although mixing your drinks is never good, the loud music and the flashing lights encourage you to drink more, and your body craves to let loose.
Two glasses and a twenty-minute dance break later, you’re at a corner of the club huddling near each other. Naeun had caught a glimpse of Jeno at the bar, and the alcohol in her system removed all brain-to-mouth filters she had.
“He’s so—” She cups her face as she hiccups. “So fine. So so fine. You know, when we were at our lecture… the other day with Haechan’s …comeback or, fuck, butter floor, he spoke to us,” Her warm eyes fluttered as she thought back to that moment. “Jeno said real words, in real life and my ear heard them. I think he looked at me too, what the fuck?” She grabs her forehead as if taking the information in for the first time before she presses her head against your shoulder.
“She’s not being delusional, he did speak to us,” You nod your head at Haneul as she shoots you a questioning look, with Naeun clinging onto you harder. “He even helped us go out through the back door so we don’t end up all oily with the butter rink.” Naeun snorts, which catches all of you off guard and even herself, her eyes opening and locking onto something in the middle of the dance floor. Her gaze suddenly shifts, and before you know it she’s shoving her way through the crowd and heading towards her target.
“What is she—? Oh no, fuck,” You gasp while Haneul’s mouth hangs open when you both see Naeun heading toward Jeno, who’s dancing with someone at the moment, at full speed.
Haneul looks at you with contemplation. “I mean… it could turn out for the better?” She tries.
“Or she would wake up embarrassed as fuck for the next week or so,” You contemplate with her. Naeun is never the type to be aggressive, even when she's drunk. The most she’s done once was point a finger at you while she was angry and then look away to calm herself down.
But before you could relax back into your corner, you see her reach up for her earrings.
“Okay, fuck. Take this, I’ll be back,” Shoving your drink in Haneul’s hand, you make your way through the crowd and towards Naeun, rushing before she reaches her imminent doom. Jeno and his dancing partner are oblivious to the devil baby that Naeun takes the form of at the moment, which gives you hope that embarrassment can be evaded.
But then she full-body slams into Haechan.
“Woah,” He places his free hand on her shoulder, stopping her from tipping all the way to the right and losing her balance. The cup in his other hand now seems to be empty as its contents drip from both of their bodies, but Naeun is too drunk to notice and Haechan seems to have barely processed anything, seemingly working on autopilot at this point. You catch Naeun by the waist, your other hand going to her arm and slinging it around your shoulder to ground her, inspecting the mess she made. Your expression is apologetic when you make eye contact with Haechan, but he merely purses his lips and gestures putting Naeun’s other arm around himself for more support.
You mouth a ‘thank you’ and heave her body outside of the dance floor and towards the booth Haneul had brought you to earlier. Placing her on the couch, she slumps down and immediately whines when her hand makes contact with her torso on the descent.
“I’m all sticky now…” Her eyes are barely open as she says this, as the bass of the music dwindles in the semi-confines of the booth.
“That makes the two of us,” As Haechan says this, your eyes glance over his figure to see his once white button-up is now tinted blue and sticking to his body, outlining the faintest of lines in the dark of the club. You advert your eyes, not wanting to be caught gawking at him like a man in the Victorian era.
“I’m so sorry, thank you for helping,” You bite your lip momentarily, feeling mortified for ruining his shirt. He merely waves you off, “Don’t worry. I’m not too fussed about it,” His hand is placed at his hip as he says this, but his free hand gestures at your intoxicated friend. “But she seems to be the most bothered out of all of us,”
As if on cue, Naeun whines from her slumped position on the couches, shifting left and right in an attempt to gain some leverage into standing up, only to slip back down. She calls for your name and then squints at Haechan as if trying to remember his.
“Naeun, let’s call it a night, yeah?” You try telling her and you look around to find her bag that she’s left. She protests like a child in a grocery store, huffing as she droops further onto the couch, her cheek now pressed against the cushions.
“No, not until I bag the class clown's hot friend.” Your eyes widen as you feel your cheeks grow hot, trying your best to not glance over at Haechan and somewhat blow Naeun’s cover. You reach over and pat her cheeks lightly in a warning.
“Naeun, you’re blabbering nonsense now. Come on, let’s get going.”
“I’m not! I’m talking about Jeno, not nonsense. Haechan’s super hot friend Jeno,” Your whole body does a reset as she says this, shoulders going stiff while Naeun is oblivious to everything. She opens her eyes and locks them on something behind you, now pointing her finger and smiling giddily.
“Oh! Look, Haechan is here! Hey, do you think if I ask reallyyy nicely he’ll—” Her next words are muffled by your hand and a forced laugh. You cast a look at Haechan to see him trying and failing to contain a smile, as his hand pushes at the corner of his mouth. Upon making eye contact with you he quickly looks away and tries to retain himself from laughing. You sigh as you think about the number of things you’d have to run down to sober Naeun tomorrow about drunk Naeun’s antics right now. Gathering both of your things and shrugging your jacket on your friend, you quickly grab a tissue paper from the table and the eyeliner pen from Naeun’s bag, scribbling down your phone number.
Once Haechan has regained his composure, he’s met with your hand extended towards him holding a napkin. He picks it up from your hand as you wave it a bit impatiently before you quickly go to shoulder your friend up.
“This is my number, send me your details and I’ll cover for your shirt and the drink,” You grunt as you adjust Naeun’s deadweight before she gets the memo and tries standing on her two feet. “Thank you again for helping, uh, please ignore everything she just said. I know it’ll be a good payback prank but—”
“Hey, don’t worry,” Haechan’s chuckle resounds deep even in the loud bass of the club. “I wouldn’t pull anything on her for this.” He comes to Naeun’s opposite side, grabbing her arm and throwing it over his shoulder, heading towards the exit of the club without casting a glance back at you. You fumble with your belongings before quickly catching up, heels clicking as you ascend the stairs, your hands hovering around Naeun’s general direction, in fear that she’ll decide to fling herself off Haechan’s grip in an attempt of brushing her drunkenness off.
Outside of the club, cars whizz by the busy streets as people go for second and third rounds of drinks at this time of the night. Haechan lets Naeun sink into the ground as the latter pulls her weight, and you scramble towards her on the floor.
“Are you gonna hurl?” You ask. She hiccups.
“No,” And that’s all you needed to hear. Standing up, you fish out your phone and decide to call a cab back to your dorms, not wanting to carry your friend in the ten-minute walk back.
“Hey,” Haechan calls and you had momentarily forgotten that he was still here. You look up to see him scratching at his neck, mulling over his next words. “Uh, if you’d like, I didn’t drink anything and— I mean I was going to but then your friend just… What I’m saying is that I can drop you off?” The alcohol swimming in your brain may be playing with you, but you think you see a dust of pink settle into the boy’s cheek and neck.
“I mean, you’re Haneul’s friends, right? I remember you were her roommate at the dorms last year, so if you still live there I can drop you off,” He straightened his shoulder as he said this, now looking more confident about his offer.
You shift your weight, as you now actually get to take a good look at him. Under the club's dark and strobing lights, you could barely see his features far past his white button-up shirt and the light reflecting in his eyes. The street light illuminates the figure in front of you fully, allowing you to see the blue stain in his shirt, but also the tight fit of his jeans and the veins adorning his arms as he pushes up his sleeves at his elbows.
“Oh, thanks. But we should be okay. I’m sorry for the trouble.” You’re a bit flustered as you say this, your eyes flickering from his forearms to his face, not wanting to come off rude but also not being able to contain your monkey-sex brain from forming thoughts. You’re salivating over forearms.
“Okay…wait. Here,” He fishes out his phone from his pocket, typing in the phone number that you handed to him earlier in the night, calling you briefly. “Give me a text when you arrive home or if you need any help with warding off any weirdos.” You feel your stomach warm at his gesture, punching your name into his phone when he gives it to you. When you give it back to him, he mouths your name, before smiling at you.
“Will you be alright going alone?” He says as he helps you bring Naeun to a stand, the latter squeezing her eyes open and trying to regain balance and focus.
“Yup,” You pop, fixing your friend's bag on her shoulder. “She said she wasn’t gonna throw up, which means I have around twenty minutes until she changes her mind. She’s always the most self-aware pre-vom, so the walk back should be okay,” You don’t know why you’re reassuring him from getting kidnapped on your way back, but it feels nice to have someone care for your safety like this. Naeun starts marching away once you face her in the direction of your unit, and with a last wave goodbye, you turn your back to Haechan and the club.
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[FRIDAY; 1:26 AM]
you: hii im home now
haechan: thats good
haechan: did she thrw up yet??
you: nah not yet
you: but we’re getting there you: t-minus three secs
haechan: remember to drink water b4 u sleep
you: okayy thank u for today :)
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Telling Naeun how she almost embarrassed herself wasn’t as dreadful when she was fighting a hangover. She seemed to be more concerned about her water intake than almost causing a scene with Jeno at the club, complaining about the dryness of her skin.
“I can’t believe you let me go to sleep without telling me to wash my make-up off,” She says this as she adds her expensive serum to her face, grabbing a guasha tool and pressing the cool instrument against her temples, completely disregarding its original use. You continue brushing your teeth next to her against the sink, unable to reply with the foam in your mouth.
“You passed out on the toilet after throwing up, I almost threw up myself trying to bring you to your bed,” You say as you spit out your toothpaste.
“Wait, then how did I not cause a scene?”
“Haechan stopped you,” You reply seamlessly, drying your hands on the hand towel, oblivious to the bewildered stare Naeun throws your way.
“Haechan? Like, Jeno’s friend Haechan? The guy who put red food dye in the campus’ water which made everyone's mouth red?” You remember the initial shock of walking by the water fountain the day he did this, the blood red of the water being a stark contrast to the gloomy winter weather last year.
“Yeah, you even spilled his drink on him and everything.” You giggle at the groan that she lets out, covering her face with her hands.
“Oh my god, he’s gonna now plant a hidden alarm in my room like he did to this other guy in the dorm, or put plastic cockroaches in everything I own. I can’t believe I did that, was his shirt white?”
“Not after you spilt his neon blue drink,” You egg on even more. “But don’t worry, he said he won’t pull anything on you.” At that, her shoulders slump down in relief, as she leans against the doorframe of the bathroom.
“I’m safe,” She cheers, heading to the kitchen like nothing had happened. But being the drama queen that she is, she quickly turns to look back at you with a sharp gasp. “But you aren’t!”
You roll your eyes at her dramatics. “What do you mean? Why would I not be safe?” You disregard her sceptics as you pass by her and into the kitchen, opening the fridge to look for something to eat.
“He said that he wouldn’t do anything to me, but he didn’t say anything about you.” For someone whos nursing a hangover, it’s alarming to see her raise her voice and move as swiftly as she does around you, trying to get you as panicked as she is about her made-up scenario. “He can glitter bomb your bag, or hack your laptop so that whenever you have an assignment it doesn’t go through until a few seconds after it's due, or—” You cut your friend off by stuffing cereal in her mouth, stopping her mid-rant.
“Why would he do that to me? You have to know he only did those to relevant or well-known people, like Somi or Sunghoon. He wouldn’t do some grand prank on someone like me.” You turn to pour your chosen cereal into a bowl. “And if you say anything else, just know I’m ignoring you.”
“But—”
“I’m ignoring you,”
“You can’t do this to m—”
“Ignoring youuuu,”
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You don’t hear of or see Haechan until Wednesday, when you’re walking to your second class of the day from the library.
Adjusting your items in your bag, you wouldn’t have noticed his presence at all until he had cleared his throat and brushed his shoulder lightly against yours.
“Oh,” Your eyes widen by reflex, taken aback by his sudden approach before they soften again at the smile adorning his face. “Hi,”
“Hey, you heading to class?” He small talks, and maybe you should spend less time with your roommate, because what should be a simple interaction between you and one of your peers is putting you on edge. Even when you had ignored Naeun’s dramatics about you being dunked on by the boy before you, you can’t deny the jittery feeling coursing through your body, as if your body is gearing in to go into fight-or-flight mode.
Not wanting to come off rude, you hum an agreement and attempt to cast a friendly glance at him, which doesn’t last long as you see him looking back at you.
“Did you, uh, have fun?” You attempt at making small talk, but Haechan looks at you quizically at your lack of context. “At the club, that night. Sorry for interrupting your night and ruining your shirt.” You can’t help but circle back, feeling apologetic when you recall the massive blue stain you had left him in.
“Hey, don’t sweat it. I hated that shirt anyway,” You gape at him as he says this, but quickly close your mouth shut and roll your eyes when you see the teasing glint flashing in his eyes. “And don’t worry about the prank thing too, I wouldn’t think about pranking a pretty girl like you,” You flush momentarily, but remember that you’re talking to ‘the biggest flirt on campus’. Haenul’s words, not yours.
“Good to know,” You egg him on, feeling your shoulders slump down as you grow more relaxed in his company. His jovial manner eases your thoughts of him coming after you, as his presence in front of you proves that he’s merely another student on your campus, trying to have fun and get by with crippling student debt.
Small talking a bit more as you head towards your tutorial, you revel in the drama he tells you that has occurred after you had left the club, remembering to list down the details to recall back to Naeun when you see her later. It’s when you’re at the door of your classroom when Haechan’s phone buzzes in his pocket.
“I have a call to take, but I’ll see you around?” He looks at you with a friendly smile, and it takes everything in you not to melt right there. You can see why some of the girls in your year are fond of him.
Waving him goodbye, you wait until he turns a corner before you go towards your class. You’re just a few minutes late, which explains why you’re met with the nearly closed door of the classroom. Readily, you grip the handle and creak open the door, eyes ready to scan around the room for a vacant spot for you to sit at. But before you could comprehend much, you’re suddenly soaked cold.
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Turns out, there was a bucket of water placed on the top of the door, which explains why there was a slight gap instead of the door being closed like it usually is when your tutorial begins. No one in the class had a clue of why the bucket was there or thought to dismantle the bucket, not wanting to mess with the inevitable of something occurring. The door you had entered from wasn’t a main door to the room either, but instead, a back door that barely anyone used, so they were all equally shocked when you had chosen to walk through the obscure entry. Oblivious to the minute signs, you walked right into the classroom and were immediately met with water and a few cubes of ice.
You convey all of this to Naeun when she sees you damper than normal at the campus cafe, where you two usually meet during your free periods; you’re usually dryer than this, so it wasn’t hard for her to realise. She laughs, because is she truly Naeun if she doesn’t laugh at your demise, but then she falls silent, brows now furrowed.
You look at her in question. “Why do you look like you’re a shiver away? I’m the one who’s soaked.”
“Oh my god, Haechan did this to you,” She completely ignores your words, making her point with theatre-level dramatics.
You wave your hand at her, disregarding her theory. “He couldn’t have. He was walking with me when I was headed to class.”
“Exactly!” She exclaims, the hot coffee sloshing around in her cup as she almost jumps out of her seat. You flinch at the handling of the hot drink. “He walked with you to distract you from the fact that he’s gonna pull something. He must’ve set it up before and came around to slow you down. I mean come on,” She slams her cup down on the saucer. “A phone call right when you reach your class? Isn’t that too obvious?” And you hate to admit it, but Naeun does have a point. The main topic of your conversation was about him not pulling anything on you, only for you to walk into his trap just a few minutes later.
“Oh my god,” You slouch against the booth seat of the cafe, the information slowly settling in. “But—”
“Why you?”
“Why that prank?”
Now it’s Naeun’s turn to look at you quizically. “What?”
You feel incredulous now, heat building up inside you. “A fucking bucket of water? That’s it? Is that all he could think of; he’s the same person who filled a whole lecture room with ping-pong balls and tied his roommate's bed to the door with rope. Why was my prank so low-effort?” Naeun now realises the anger budding within you, as she looks around the cafe when your voice raises slightly. She splays her hands out in front of you in a lieu to calm you down, but you’re too warped in your fury to acknowledge her attempts.
“Water? Water? With like, four cubes of ice, and that’s it. Is that all I’m worth? He couldn’t put a glitter bomb in every second purse of mine, or change my ex’s contact name to yours, or anything.” You down your drink quickly, feeling too worked up to be cooped in the booth of the cafe. Naeun follows after, quickly gathering her things and putting her laptop and pens in her bag. You would feel bad for cutting your study session short, but she was barely studying, so the guilt dwindles just a bit. The anger overpowers it by a margin.
“Hey, what are you— don’t go and do something stupid.” Naeun tries as she loops her arm with yours.
You sigh when she squeezes your bicep, feeling the heat inside you cool down just a bit. “I’m not gonna do anything. If anything, if I act like it affected me and lash out at him, it would be exactly what he wants.”
“So you’re gonna act like nothing happened?” You nod your head with hesitation.
“Well, something along the lines,”
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It is no surprise that Haechan thrives on attention. That’s the sole reason why he continues with these pranks, and it doesn’t take a psychology major to figure this one out. You did think about pulling something back on him, maybe like pantsing him in the middle of campus or putting some hair removal cream in his shampoo so he thinks he’s slowly balding, but even with how embarrassing and risky they are —you don’t want to leave a huge impact on him, just ruffling his feathers a bit, you know he’ll revel in the attention regardless. So you go for the next best thing.
Ignoring him.
It was a good idea when you and Naeun were walking and passed by his group of friends, who exchanged some pleasantries with you, your friend barely holding it together at Jeno’s eye smile. You held eye contact and waved at Renjun and Jeno, but barely spared a glance towards Haechan’s direction, and when you finally did, you just gave him a blank stare.
You think it worked when you saw the corner of his lip slip down from the smile he was sporting, and you almost felt bad for acting so cold to someone who didn’t do anything. Then you remind yourself that he did, in fact, do something. You thought it would be enough to do this just a few more times when you see him in the next few months of the semester, and you barely see him so it shouldn’t be too hard. But it’s like fate has a personal vendetta against you, because ever since that fateful night, you see him everywhere.
You barely remember him coming into the campus library, let alone the quiet corner that you huddle yourself in to get your grind on. So it’s safe to say that you were shocked when you feel a tap on your shoulder only to look up and see Haechan looming over you, a shy smile sporting his face at the prospect of reaching out to you.
“Hey,” He greets, his hand tugging at his earlobe as if shy. He looks at the seat opposite yours, as if wanting to sit there. You feel shame burn inside you when you don’t go to offer the seat, but you attempt to dwindle it when you remind yourself that you had to sit soaked throughout the entire class because participation is mandatory for your grades.
“How was your class the other day,” Your grip on your pen tightens as he says this, and you’re sure that the tilt in the corner of his mouth is to keep himself from laughing at you straight to your face. But you don’t give in, and instead nod your head with your eyebrows slightly raised, as if exasperated.
“It was okay,” You can only keep your replies short instead of ignoring him by keeping silent. His lingering form by your table and your avoidant gaze is already fueling the awkward air surrounding you, but you’re not giving in until he does.
And it seems like he’s not backing out anytime soon. “ Oh, I heard from Haneul that you’re planning on picking up cross-cultural management next session? I took that course last year so if you wanted some notes I can send them to you,” Fuck. How is he so good at this? His words make you think about your initial assumptions, and looking at his face, he does seem genuine about his offer, the tips of his ears now growing pink.
You soften a bit, ready to apologise to him for being overstrung, but then his gaze goes to something behind you, and now he covers his mouth with his palm as if stopping himself from bursting with laughter.
Confused, you turn around to see what was so hilarious for him to shift his demeanour so suddenly, only to be met with his friends, Jeno and Renjun, who go cartoonishly still at your attention. Of course, all of this is a running joke for him; sweetening up to you after the incident just so he can prove that no one can resist him.
Scoffing, you shut your laptop and gather your things, ignoring Haechan’s noise of surprise with your sudden movement, shoving everything in your bag and shouldering it. “I have to head out now, forgot that Naeun wanted to meet me before her class.” You make up an excuse as you look at your phone for the time. Naeun is taking a diligent afternoon nap at this very moment back in your dorm, completely oblivious to the trials you’re facing; but he doesn’t need to know your every move.
You almost slip out a ‘sorry’ as a reflex, but one glance back at the shocked faces of both Haechan and his subordinates brings you back, as you merely give him a tight smile before brushing past him.
“Oka— I’ll see you around!” Your shoulder bunches up at his volume as you hastily make your way out of his presence and the building.
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Stepping into the radio broadcasting club room, you greet everyone present, apologising for being late.
“I got caught up on the way,” You take a seat at the table, putting your bag on the ground. Naeun, whos seated next to you, taps repeatedly at your bicep as a greeting, squealing away from you when you attempt to deliver a pinch to her skin.
“Did you get another bucket of water dunked on you?” Your senior Yubin comments, making everyone in the room laugh. You deliver a strained chuckle as Naeun casts a worried glance at you, but you wave her concern away
“Yubin’s just kidding, you’re not late either, we just sent Minseok to pick up the pizza boxes. Then after we’re done eating we can start brainstorming for the university mini carnival event.” Sohee softly informs, looking up from her clipboard to give you a kind smile.
“If anything, Jihoon’s the person we have to chastise. He texted saying he’ll be here in five minutes fifteen minutes ago.” Juyeon huffs at his phone screen.
As if on cue, the door opens and in comes Jihoon, but he isn’t alone.
“Sorry for coming in late, but look what I found along the way. Isn’t he so cute?” He coos at Haechan who stands beside him, looking at his friend incredulously, mockingly raising his hand. Ignoring Haechan’s disdain for his words, he pinches at his cheeks as he looks towards Yubin and Sohee. “Can we keep him? I always wanted a pet bear,”  
Naeun leans in towards you. “He’s more of a cocaine bear than a pet.” You smack at her as she whispers this to you, reminding her of restraint. “You’re not the best at whispering, babe” You tease. “Keep your tone down if you also don’t wanna get dunked on.”
You feel your heart melt when you see look towards Haechan’s direction and see his cheeks turning pink. It seems like you’re not the only one when you hear a chorus of dreamy mutterings echo throughout the room. He swats at Jihoon’s hand before tilting his head lightly at the two leaders of the club. “I wanted to make sure this devil spawn doesn’t make a mess every step he takes. I’ll head out now,” He starts to wave at everyone in the room but sounds of disapproval travel around, and before he knows it Haechan is being dragged by Jihoon and Juyeon to take a seat at the table. In the midst of all the commotion, he looks up and catches your gaze, making you still in your seat, before he’s handled once more to sit down.
“You’re more than welcome to join us,” Yubin beams, and not for long Minseok comes in with a mountain of pizza boxes in his grip.
You see the tip of his ears turn red (something you now notice that you see a lot) as he thanks your seniors. “I’ll be out after I steal your food,” He grins, and it takes much more than your initial willpower to look away.
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So far, you were willing to categorise seeing Haechan manifesting everywhere as chance; maybe some sick and twisted form of coincidence. Because before all of this, if you were to get a dollar for every time you had encountered him throughout your whole degree, you would have six, maybe seven dollars if you count that one Zoom call. You had your doubts in the beginning when you saw him at the library and then at your club meeting, that he was doing all of this on purpose; but every other time you would see him in the hallways and lecture halls, you can’t chalk it up to anything but pure coincidence. Haechan is a uni student doing uni-student activities.
It takes you some time to get that idea jammed into your head, and you’ve nearly convinced yourself until today. A relaxing wind-down with one glass of wine turned into you finishing a whole bottle, which amplified your cravings for something sweet. Meeting in the breakfast aisle in your local grocer shouldn’t be something shocking, but you can’t wrap your head around the fact that he, too, decided to purchase cereal at 4 a.m. on a Tuesday.
“Nope,” You immediately put the two boxes of cereal you were choosing back on the shelf clumsily, looking around for the nearest exit in the opposite direction.
“Hey, wait—”
“No, nope. Not at all,” You’re now putting back all the drunk midnight cravings you’ve picked up, shoving them back in their designated areas on the shelf haphazardly as you make your way back out of the place. Your drunk and sleep-deprived brain can’t handle the fact that you’re supposed to interact with Haechan here, out of all the socially acceptable exchanges. You hear a shuffle behind you, but you can’t bring yourself to look back around, focusing entirely on exiting the store without tripping over anything.
Outside, the cold of the night engulfs you as you try to find your bearings, but you’re stopped from lumbering your way back to your dorm by a hand grabbing your arm.
“Y/n, slow down—”
“Stop manifesting yourself into my life,” You groan as you weakly prod away his hand, but his soberness gives him an upper hand, as he merely grabs your hand and holds you by your wrists instead.
“Manifesting? I’m not— actually, that’s not even important. Is there anyone with you tonight?” You groan lightly, still trying to free yourself from his grip. “Naeun?” He prods.
You sigh when you realise he’s not giving up anytime soon. “Naeun is at home, waiting for the Oreo cereals I was gonna impulse buy. Or maybe she’s dreaming about them? I don’t know,” You mumble, hands now lax in his grip, head tilted down. When you don’t hear a reply, you look up and are met with Haechan fishing his phone out of his pocket before pressing the dial button.
“Hi Jen, I’ll meet you at the dorms, it’s…” He glances at your slumped figure, and you’re not sure if the heat in your cheeks is due to the drinks or his attention on you. “A long story. I won’t be long.” Pocketing his phone after ending the call, he lets go of your wrists in favour of clasping his hand into yours, fingers interlocking as he starts heading in the direction of your dorms.
“What are you…” The dark of the night doesn’t help you navigate your way back, so you’re slightly grateful that Haechan is guiding you the way he is.
“Our dorm buildings aren’t far from one another. I can’t let you go home alone in this state,” He answers your question before you could even voice it, looking at you with a soft gaze. He chuckles when you go to look away from him every time he looks at you, squeezing the grip he has on your hand.
The walk is silent for the most part, but Haechan’s brows are furrowed as he thinks about something. Just as you start seeing the entrance of your dorm building, Haechan starts. “Why are you ignoring me?”
The heat in your cheeks disperses momentarily as a cold wave washes over you. The heat comes back when your wide eyes meet his questioning gaze, and you can’t help but squirm in place from being put on the spot.
“That’s cheating,” You slur with a frown. “Ask me when I’m sober. Or when you’re also a bottle of wine in.”
“A whole bottle? Jesus,” He laughs lightly as you groan, tightening his hold on your hand when you try to run away. The pull of his grip catches you off guard, as you stumble forward and closer to his figure. “I hope you can keep a promise, pretty girl.” He teases. Before you can retaliate, he plops you at the entry of your dorm building, swiping the access card to the building poking out of your front pocket and on the reader, before removing his hand from yours and dropping the card back in your possession. You already miss the warmth of his touch, but by the time you look back up, you’re only met with his retreating back.
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“Hey, you’re just in time. Did you know that if I did a handstand for almost two minutes straight I can get myself to feel— Why are you empty-handed?” Naeun’s slurs have toned down since you last saw her, but it’s still there. You sigh as you plop yourself face down onto the couch.
“Naeun?” Your voice comes out muffled from the couch cushions, but Naeun hears you regardless, grunting a reply as she shuffles from her position on the floor, probably to find a not-empty bottle of alcohol.
“You know that saying about seducing the things that scare you?” You move your head out from the cushion halfway through your question, wanting to breathe more than to wallow for once.
“Ohhh, I know what you’re talking about,” She hiccups only once. “The fearing what you attract.”
“Attracting your fears.”
“Tomato-tomato. What are you trying to say?”
“I don’t think they were lying about it,” You had only possessed the fear of saying Haechan in the past few weeks, and now you only see him. If only you were that much fearful of money.
“Are you serious?” Naeun straightens her posture quickly. “I’m so scared of puppy play. Like, truly terrified. If someone handsome were to come up to me with a collar around their neck and a leash in their hand I would scream in fear,”
“Okay, I got it the first time.”
“I don’t think you understand, if they were all whiny about how they wanna be my pet and have me stroke the—”
“I get it!”
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Although you had came to the epiphany that you’re attracting what you fear (you don’t know if the exaggerated gasp you let out when you walk by a bank or ATM helps, but it’s worth a try) you still can’t get yourself to not think of Haechan when you walk around campus.
But you don’t see him for the entire week after your last drunk interaction with him, and you’re not sure if you should be relieved or scared. So you choose to be both simultaneously, When you step into your corner of the library, your heart beats like you’ve run a marathon, only to be met with the usual vacantness it always was. You then go through your usual tasks until you have to a secondary location, and before you know it you’re nervous for simply wanting to walk to the bathroom.
“Am I going to constantly piss my pants every step I take on campus?” You complained over dinner with Naeun, as she constantly flips the meat on the grill to avoid burning it.
“If you keep thinking about him, then I think the answer is obvious.” She puts one slice on your plate before continuing. “But also maybe take this as a sign? He’s not popping up randomly anymore, which means that your life is like it was before.” Your reflex is to fight back for no other reason than to counteract your friend, but you cut yourself short when you realise she has a point. Ever since that fateful night, your life is now like it was before you had briefly acquainted with the man.
And so you’re not scared anymore. You even forget to double-check your surroundings to see if he’s anywhere in sight. Your life is as peaceful as a student's life can be. Of course, until it isn’t.
The university’s yearly fundraising festival had come around again, and the broadcasting club had decided to run a barbeque booth to raise their supply funds. You were assigned to take orders, while Juyeon and Yubin tended to the skewers. The heat of the booth mingles with the cool wind of the summer night, as you fan yourself with your hand, handling the money given to you as someone makes a new order.
“One order of chicken skewer please,” You raise your voice enough for Juyeon and Yubin to hear over the sizzling noise of the grill, as you find the exact change to give back to the girl ordering. As the next customer shuffles up, you’re too busy writing down the order on a slip of paper to spare them a glance (which, if this was a running business, would not be counted as good customer service).
“Welcome! Would you like to order our rice cake skewer? We have a special combo of two for the price of one,”
“How much is it for a few minutes of your company?” You feel your blood run cold upon hearing his voice. Looking up, you’re met with Haechan’s gaze your eyes locking in an unexpected encounter. Adorning a smile on his face, he looks past you and greets your club members before you can think of what to say.
“Hi Channie, how are you?” Yubin asks as she put a chicken skewer in a cup. Juyeon comes up next to you as he reaches out to pinch Haechan’s cheeks. “Hey there cutie, do you wanna do us a favour and buy everything from our booth?” He flutters his eyelashes just for good measure.
Haechan chuckles as he smacks his friend's hand away. “I’m the wrong person, only Chenle has enough money to do that. But can you do me a favour and let me steal your beloved club member?” You don’t realise that he’s talking about you, until you see his hand gesturing towards your figure as he looks at you. You’re about to protest, your brain already conjuring something up about how you have the heavy duty of being the booth’s designated accountant for the night, but Yubin is always a step ahead.
“Go ahead! Her turn was gonna end soon anyway, Sohee is gonna arrive in a few minutes with more of our supply,” She beams at you as she waves you two off. Before you can say anymore, Juyeon is shoving you out of the way, and you have no other choice but to trudge after him.
You walk side by side in silence, as the noise of the multiple booths being run by different clubs and societies encapsulate you two. You try your best to look at everything but him, even when you feel him stealing glances at your figure.
The silence doesn’t last long, though, as Haechan speaks up after looking around at the booths set up. “It’s quite stuffy with all these booths and people,” Not knowing what to say, you merely glance at him as you nod along. He purses his lips, before trying again.
“You must be feeling pretty warm, running the grill and managing everything at the booth. Jihoon used to complain all the time about how hot it got when he was in charge of these things." It's true you've been avoiding the grill area, so you’re not necessarily overheating, but does he deserve to know?
You hear him lightly huff when you just give a shrug and an ambiguous sound, but he doesn’t back down. “Do you want me to get you something to help you cool? Maybe ice cream or a can of coke.”  You're on the verge of giving your umpteenth non-verbal response of the evening, but when you look at the boy walking next to you, you’re met with a glare and a quick snarl of his lips. Faced with his insistence, you decide to speak up.
“I’m okay,” You thought this would appease him, but it seems like anything you could’ve done would eventually send him over the edge.  You feel his hand clasp onto your wrist before you’re being dragged away from the congested corridor of booths and into a secluded corner of the campus grounds. Even in the shade of the tree, the little light that slips through the lampost nearby highlights the frustration on Haechan’s face, both arrogance and apprehension flood your senses as you realize that his frustration might be a result of something you've done.
His voice is calm when he speaks, “Okay, did I do something to offend you?” He briefly closes his eyes and mentally counts a few numbers before opening them and looking back at you again, this time with a calmer yet stern expression. But rather than soothing your irritation, this seems to send you over the edge.
“I don’t know, did you?” You know you’re being childish, but that’s the point. You’re not planning on giving in until he apologises. By the look of confusion he’s sporting on his face, it doesn’t seem like it's gonna happen anytime soon.
Admittedly, he does look cute when confused, as his front teeth poke ever so slightly from his slightly gaped mouth, as if he’s about to say something but blanked at the last second. “I did do something?” At your scoff, he gathers himself. “Look, if I did do anything, I didn’t have any bad intentions. I wasn’t trying to hurt you or anything.” But this explanation only sends you over the edge.
Your hands drop from where you had crossed them in front of your chest, as you give Haechan an incredulous look. “No bad intentions? You didn’t want to hurt me? Are you serious? The fact that you even did it is terrible, but such a useless, no-brainer prank?” You’re too angry to notice Haechan’s shift of expression, as his scared grimace falls into another confused furrow of his brows.
“Like, a fucking bucket of water? Even a toddler can pull that. Couldn’t you have done something harder, more creative? Something with more effort, like, I don’t know, expired slime or a skateboard at the door. And I feel even more stupid because I believed you when you said you wouldn’t prank me, I even defended you when Naeun was going off about how I’d be your next target, and I turned out to be a fool, fuck. And for what? A lame bucket of water? Am I only worth that much?” You pause to catch a breather, hand splayed at your waist as you point the other accusingly at Haechan. He widens his eyes slightly, but then a smile falls on his face, and you’re sent spiralling.
“Are you smiling right now?” And at that, he starts laughing. Oh my god, you think, he’s a sociopath.
But Haechan starts laughing even harder, his body falling forward as he leans towards you, clutching your extended finger with his thumb and forefinger, shaking it around before folding over with laughter once more. You’re so, so confused, and now a bit scared that Haechan’s gonna keel over and fall from how hard he’s laughing.
But you don’t need to do such a thing, as he sobers up pretty quickly, straightening himself up and walking closer to you, while his hand now lightly holds your palm in his. You feel heat course through you, from the comfort of his hands holding yours and the sweet laughter that now rings in your head. You feel embarrassed that you bursted like that when you were so determined to make him fall to his knees and ask for your forgiveness. Instead, you’re left blushing like a schoolgirl who confessed with a heartfelt letter.
“Okay, okay. Wait, don’t go sullen now.” You look away, your cheeks growing hotter at being so easily read. Haechan grips onto your hand that was lightly resting on his palm, grabbing your attention.
“I swear on Renjun that I didn’t pull that prank on you. I didn’t even know that happened to you.” Your first instinct is to not believe him, but he’s looking earnestly into your eyes, and the gentle squeeze of his hand in yours makes you melt.
“I don’t know how I can prove it you that it wasn’t me, But I told you I wouldn’t do it and I always stick by my promises. I can maybe help you find who did it?” He offers this while smoothly clasping your hands together, fingers now lacing in yours. The intimate gesture sends a wave of flustered warmth through you, and his chuckle in response only confirms that your emotions are evident.
“Wah,” He sighs bumping his shoulder into yours, “What a relief, I thought you were rejecting me before I could even muster the courage to ask you out.”
“Wait, you—” You’re interrupted as Haechan starts striding forward and back into the busy atmosphere of the campus. “Haechan, slow down.” Your voice gets lost in the throng of the crowd, the bustle of people and echoes of activities happening making it hard for your plea to reach his ears. That, or he's simply ignoring you.
In a blink, you're situated back at your booth, the savoury scent of skewed chicken and rice cake wafting through your nose. Haechan releases your hand, and you both face Sohee, who's manning the cashier with a somewhat indifferent expression. “Hi, I just wanna return her,” Haechan says casually, his gaze shifting between you and Sohee.
Sohee regards the two of you with a blank stare, her expression unreadable. Haechan pats your shoulders twice before he waves the two of you goodbye. Sohee goes back to organising the money gained from tonight’s business, not sparing you another glance. “We have a no return and refund policy, especially with damaged goods.”
“Hey!”
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You’re not surprised when you see Naeun in the lecture hall, but you are slightly taken aback when you see her situated just a few seats behind Renjun and Jeno. When you rock up next to her, you let your eyes do the talking as you glance back and forth between her and Jeno’s back, with the latter all the more oblivious to what’s happening.
She smacks at your leg before grabbing you and pulling to sit you down. “Shut up,”
“I didn’t even say anything?”
“Your empty brain echoes really badly when you conjure even a single thought,” You’re too shocked to retort back (how did she think of that so quickly?), so you simply go to unpack your bag. When you sit back from organising your items, your eyes fall on the door of the lecture room, and you’re surprised to see Haechan stride in. Even in the middle of summer, he has a leather jacket swinging from his fingers at his shoulder, sporting a white graphic t-shirt tucked into his black jeans. You’re about to say something to Naeun, maybe have her indulge in your admiration for a bit, only to be met with the same look you’re sporting but just aimed at the back of Jeno’s head.
When Jeno turns his head to greet his friend, Naeun quickly whips her head away, clearing her throat. You poked at her sides teasingly, as she squirms and smacks your hand away.
“I thought you were gonna ‘act chill’ around him?” Naeun huffs at your words.
“I am acting chill, I’m basically freezing.” You raise your brows at her. “There’s nothing chill about staring at the back of hi—”
Naeun smacks at your mouth when Renjun turns his face sideways, but the loud smack of skin garners more attention, as all three of them look back at you. As the other two merely glance briefly before going back, Haechan’s eyes stray longer while the corner of his mouth quirks up. You offer a simple wave and he flashes a smile before turning back around.
Naeun sighs as she releases her hand from your face, but quickly corners you with a glare. “What was that? Why was he smiling at you like that?” You’re grateful that she’s been practising her inner voice, as you know that Naeun from two weeks ago would have had the whole lecture hall aware of her words with how loud she whispers.
“Long story short, he didn’t do it, and I think …” You’re not sure if you should tell Naeun about the possible confession that occurred. Not because you don’t trust your friend but because you’re not even sure if that could be counted as a confession.
“How are you so sure? Maybe he said it to get on your good side,” Naeun stares daggers at the back of Haechan’s head, but her gaze quickly softens when Jeno plays with his hair.
“I don’t know,” You confess, “He said he didn’t do it, and I trust him.” Naeun surveys your expression for a bit with a glare, before nodding her head in acceptance.
“Alright, I trust your trust in him. But if he ever pulls anything…” You pinch your friend's cheek in gratitude. “I know, you’ll have my back.”
“Speaking of back, did you see Jeno’s when he stretched? It’s okay if you haven’t he’ll do it again when we're a third through the lecture.” You slowly pat her shoulders, speechless once more as you sigh and try to tune her out for the rest of the lecture.
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read part two here !!
2K notes · View notes
onlyswan · 1 year
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summary: in which a shameless ex-lover makes your bad day worse and jungkook can’t help but to go wherever you are.
> fluff, dashes of angst / wc: 4k
> warnings: mention of blood bc oc gets scratched :( + is ready to throw hands at jk’s ex and then cries lol, taehyung cameo and mentions of yeontan :P + a line of jk reminds me of the orpheus drabble <3
note: last one for a while as i take a rest from writing and process jimin’s album <3 reblogs and feedback are always appreciated! it goes a long way :]
“jungkook, you’ve been in there for an hour! answer your phone!”
you click your tongue in annoyance, bouncing your thighs up and down as you fiddle with the controller and collect your kills with reckless tenacity. the ringing of the third phone call he’s receiving in the past ten minutes is overpowering the volume of the game, which you turned all the way down just enough so that you can faintly yet clearly hear it. well, right now, you can’t anymore. again.
“baby, you’re home?!” jungkook yells in surprise, and you spare him a glance.
half of his naked torso is peeking out of the bathroom door, and he looks like a maltese puppy who heedlessly jumped into a swimming pool, hair still dripping wet and pure excitement painted all over his face.
“who’s calling anyway? you can answer it for me!“
“can’t. i’m playing call of duty.”
“you’re what?!” he exclaims, but his voice enters your ear then escapes from the other as you remain deeply absorbed in the game. he disappears for a minute before emerging from the bathroom, half-naked with a striped white and khaki towel wrapped around his waist down to his knees.
you’re situated on the floor with your back leaning on the couch. he stands beside you with his hands on his waist, watching the television screen in sheer curiosity, which then morphs into astonishment. “wow, you’re actually playing it… i haven’t seen you touch your controller in months. but why are you sudden- yah! what is this? how are you doing so good?!”
the phone lying on the center table lights up once more. the incessant noise is seriously getting into your nerves and you’ve had enough of it, gritting your teeth as you snap. “i’m begging you. answer it. or i might break something.”
the irritation embedded in your voice makes him jut out his bottom lip sadly. more than that, your facial expression and body language evidently scream that you’re feeling on edge. you didn’t even bother to let him know that you’ve come home, and he’s uncertain if you nearly muted the volume because you don’t want to listen to the ear-shattering sounds of ammunition being fired or you don’t want him to hear them.
he picks up the phone per your request, eyebrows knitting in confusion when he fails to recognize the number flashing on the screen.
“it’s an unregistered number. i don’t know who- oopsie-” he scrunches his nose, chuckling because he accidentally ended the call when he muted the device. it vibrates with a new message from the same person not too long after.
“it’s my ex?” he blinks with a blank expression on his face. he intently reads the content of the text, tugging at the silver ring piercing the corner of his lower lip. “uhhh- she’s… asking me to put in a good word for her… because she applied to be an in-house choreographer at- at the company.”
on the other hand, you feel like a bucket of ice water was dunked over your head at the mention of your boyfriend’s ex-lover. your vigorous focus on the game wavers, but luckily, you’re already so close to finishing, and you still maintain half a mind to end the game in your own terms. the word ‘victory’ flashes on the giant screen, and you almost break down into tears because god knows you needed a fucking win today.
jungkook gasps in amazement, whipping out the camera app to capture a photo of your achievement. “did you just fucking win solo versus squads?”
the thing is… you’re not the biggest fan of these games. sure, you play occasionally (only using his accounts because you like how he already has most items unlocked and you can freely play around… you like to pretend that you’ve never been scolded for making him rank down before), but you prefer the relaxing types with adorable and colorful graphics. and just like he said, you haven’t touched your controller in months, which must be the reason why he’s pleasantly surprised. you won’t be shocked if you get bombarded by his gamer friends to play with them tomorrow, by the looks of your boyfriend proudly typing away at his keyboard while smiling from ear-to-ear.
“don’t move on too fast.” you breathe out a deep sigh before standing on your feet. “which ex? that bitch you broke up with because she kept on picking stupid fights with your friends? and now she wants to work with them?”
the combination of your harsh intonation and the recollection of dreadful memories make him wince. that relationship didn’t end on good terms, so this is confusing to him as well. it was a person he wholeheartedly liked, but they barely lasted six months because the way she treated those who are near and dear to him, unkind and discorteous, eventually turned him off and made him nothing but angry. she tried to convince him that she could change, but it was his decision that could no longer be changed.
does it even matter? he didn’t dwell on it too long, anyway. because then, he met you.
“yes,” he shortly answers, flipping his phone so the screen is facing you.
your brain chooses to not register any of the other characters used in the text except for those at the end: the flirty ‘Thanks babe! I miss u so much. See u around soon. Let’s catch up’ and winking emoji blowing a red heart next to it. you release yet another sigh, this time shaky and frustrated, and you gently move his hand aside to get the phone out of your sight. a headache is beginning to blossom at your temples, and you truly do not have the energy to deal with this bullshit right now.
“you must know how i feel about this, right?”
“i’m not sure-”
“like if she calls you ‘babe’ infront of my face i won’t hold back and i will claw her eyes ou-“
“okay, okay, baby, i got it!” he chuckles, taking a hold of your arms to pull you closer to him. he plants a sweet kiss to your lips, hoping that would aid in putting your mind at ease. “i won’t let her call me that again, hmm? or do anything that will make either of us uncomfortable for that matter.”
“good. i trust you. do whatever you want.” you speak softly, giving his rosy cheek light pats. he always looks a dash more attractive when fresh from the shower, so entrancingly hypnotic when bare-faced that it makes you want to fall on your knees and worship the stardust making up his existence.
unfortunately, your mind is too clouded and restless and you can’t stay to admire him some more. you withdraw from his hold, the cold drops of water from his hair sliding down to your forearm and you wipe them away on his towel.
“i’m going out for a bit. i need to buy something at the convenience store.”
you don’t wait for him to answer. you head straight to the bedroom to collect your essentials.
“wait for me. i’ll go with you!”
you return wearing a long purple jacket over your blue t-shirt and white sweatpants, also carrying your phone, wallet and pepper spray.
“i’ll be fine alone. i got this.” you wave the small bottle infront of him before stuffing it in the pocket of your sweatpants.
the front door rings as it opens and shuts, and jungkook despises the weight sitting on top of his chest— heavier and heavier with your absence. he still wanted to insist on tagging along, worried because it’s already late at night, but he gave up when he sensed that you really need to be left alone.
“shit, let me take care of this first.” he tilts his head to the side, and then the other, cracking his neck before he scrolls through his contact list to make an important call.
the soles of your sneakers scratch the rough asphalt as you lazily drag yourself to the convenience store. you’re having one of those kind of bad days- you woke up this morning mad at the world for a reason you couldn’t decipher, and it only got worse after you left the house for work. you brushed against someone while chasing the bus and the zipper of their bag scratched your arm that it bled uncontrollably. the nearest restaurant to your workplace was closed and you had to walk an extra kilometer. you didn’t have the time to text jungkook and complain about the shitty day you’ve been having. and you had to suffer the bus ride home beside an old teacher from high school who never ran out of uninteresting stories to tell.
oh! and how can you not mention that you were subjected to remembering that your boyfriend fell in love with other people before he knew you? the mere mental image of jungkook being emotionally and physically intimate with somebody else is a strong punch in the gut that makes you want to run in a corner and hurl.
and to rub salt on the wound, his ex-girlfriend, who is more than comfortable to reach out to him with an old term of endearment, wants to work at close proximity with him after saying ‘i miss you so much’… was the ‘so much’ necessary? was saying ‘i miss you’ necessary at all? you don’t know her intentions or if she even has any, and you don’t care if they’re good or bad. you simply cannot bear the idea of having to be constantly plagued by these vexatious musings.
maybe a good cry would help, but the tears won’t come out of your stinging eyes blinded by bright and flickering neon shop signs lined up beside the street. they’re saltwater in your lungs, making it difficult for you to breathe and to make sense of why you don’t feel like yourself today. it’s hormones. it’s always the hormones, you try telling yourself.
you’re sitting infront of the glass wall separating the sidewalk and the convenience store, watching the humans and the cars speeding past without much thought in your head… except for the hellish torture you’re inflicting on yourself. you sniffle loudly as you chew the spicy noodles in your mouth. your tongue is tingling and almost numb, but you lift up the flimsy wooden chopsticks to eat more of it because somehow, this is exactly what you needed. perhaps, it wasn’t accidental when you ended up pouring most of the buldak sauce.
however, your own little bubble gets popped by a tattooed hand you recognize all too well. it sets down a bottle of cold water infront of your cup of noodles.
“hi there.”
jungkook kisses the top of your head before occupying the stool on your left, which is the second seat farthest from the door that chimes every time a new customer walks in. he is very much not naked anymore, wearing a plain white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. his hair is still damp, bangs forming a perfect comma on his forehead, and the thin silver chain dangling from his delicate neck sparkles when the light grazes it.
“aigoo, why are you so messy?“
the doe eyes behind his glasses smile at you warmly as he wipes your swollen lips, the paper napkin you’ve been neglecting now stained with the dark red sauce.
“you’re here?” you ask dumbly, wanting to slap yourself right after the words escape your mouth because yes, what the fuck, he’s here. he’s touching you, and he’s real.
“of course, i’m here,” his tongue pokes the inside of his cheek before he answers, sounding upset. he removes his glasses and places it on top of the long white table. “i just wore the first things i saw then speedwalked here. i was sorting out the laundry and your handkerchief had blood all over it! care to explain?”
you guiltily avoid eye-contact, reverting your attention to the food as you poke and mix the noodles that have gone dry due to the cold air. “you didn’t have to. i already cleaned the wound twice- my left arm just got scratched.” you shrug your shoulders meekly. “i had a bad day, that’s all.”
“who do i have to fight, huh? who hurt you and ruined your day?” he takes your chin between his thumb and index finger, lifting it up to make you look at him. his sincere concern is written all over his widened round eyes and creased forehead. “tell me, baby. i’ll make them pay.”
“well,” you anxiously sink your teeth on your bottom lip, a hesitant effort to control yourself because the particular word tastes too sour on your tongue. “your ex was just my last straw, you know? i don’t even want to call you ‘babe’ anymore.” your voice gradually quiets down in exasperation.
“why not?!”
you roll your eyes with a huff, pushing his hand away. “you’ll just remember her every time i say it.”
you grab the bottle of water, twisting off the cap and hissing when its ridges scratch the heel of your palm. you take big gulps of the beverage, feeling refreshed after the burning onslaught that assaulted your mouth.
“oh, come here. you- i need you closer.”
you squeak when you feel the heavy metal chair moving closer towards jungkook’s direction, one hand flying to your mouth and the other gripping his shoulder in fear of falling. he jokingly copies you when you send him a sharp glare. he puts an arm around you to affectionately hold the curve of your waist, anchoring his elbow on the table to rest his face on the palm of his hand.
“i took care of that, alright? i asked the company and they told me they put her on the waitlist. pretty sure she knows, too- that she’s not getting the job.“ he raises his perfectly shaped eyebrows in jest, playfully sticking out his tongue. “i told her i can’t help her, and not to contact me again in the future because i’m in a committed relationship. with you.” he squeezes your hip to reiterate his words. “then i blocked her number. i thought i did it before, but i guess i forgot to? ah, i don’t know!”
a small smile tugs at the corner of your lips and he happily grins when he notices, deep dimples making an appearance. unable to resist the urge, he briefly draws closer to kiss your cheek.
“besides, i forgot she even existed. why would i think of her when my favorite person is right infront of me? that’s absurd.”
he was truthfully flabbergasted at the foggy memories that resurfaced when he read her name, had one of those ‘oh, that’s right, this happened,’ and ‘why the fuck did i like this person again?’ moments.
“you’re the only one i think of when i hear the word ‘babe’. and when i hear love songs, or breakup songs, because they make me imagine us breaking up and i get so fucking sad.” his expression crumples into a look of sheepishness after spitting out the unplanned confession.
it’s terrifying at times, how an imaginary breakup with you feels more painful than his past heartbreaks combined. he almost lost you once, and he won’t let that happen again. he removes his hand on your waist to tenderly caress your hair when you bury your face in your hands.
shaking your head, you giggle at the genuine distress lacing his voice when he said the last sentence. “what are you saying?”
and then it finally happens.
restrained sobs replace the carefree giggles racking your body. your hot tears soak the palm of your hands until they drip down to your wrists. your frail voice comes out trembling, shattered, and disgustingly vulnerable for a space scattered with prying eyes and ears.
“…i just- fuck, i don’t want to say this but- i don’t think you understand- that i’m selfish. and i want you all for myself. i can’t stand that everybody wants to have you. i hate it, jungkook.”
your name rolls off from his tongue with a soft sigh as he pulls you in for a tight embrace. the comfort of his love and warmth further breaks you down, and you almost make yourself bleed to keep your cries quiet. his silken lips brush against your temple before he puckers them for a kiss that lasts four, five, six… seconds. you begin wondering if he might just stay like this forever, not that you mind, until he detaches himself to speak and you hear the smooching sound that signals the end of it.
“shhh, trust me, baby. i do.” he rubs your shoulder to soothe your tensed up body. “but i don’t care about that. they can die trying because i only want to be yours.”
you swallow the lump in your throat as his reassuring words tug at your heartstrings. you wiggle out of his secure arms, wiping your tears with the paws of your jacket as you force a smile. “it’s embarrassing. i don’t want to cry here.”
“how about in there, then?” he teasingly undoes the third button of his shirt, exposing more of his honey skin to the cool air. it reveals the rest of his silver chain, and his defined pecs are also peeking out. you whine in protest of his scandalousness, pounding his chest lightly with your closed fist.
he chuckles, corners of her crinkling with mischief as he buttons himself up again. “i’m kidding, i’m kidding-” he cradles your face in his hands, gingerly wiping away the tears still rolling down your cheeks.
between the two of you, he admits that he’s the one who cries more easily. it takes a colossal build-up of emotions for your tears to be released, and today’s influx caused your sink to overflow at long last. seeing you weep, it feels like a direct stab to the heart— especially unbearable, twisting deeper, when he’s part reason why. even so, it’s a big relief when the weight you’re carrying is being unloaded. but he understands that you don’t want to do that here… not here.
“as if you’ll let someone steal me away from you, huh? i know you, you cunning minx.”
you feign innocence, batting your eyelashes. “i don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“that’s exactly what i’m talking about.” he smirks before planting a chaste kiss on tip of your nose. “don’t cry anymore. i love you.”
“i love you, too. but-” you sniffle, frowning at him as you motion at the cup of noodles infront of you. “why did you have to go and make me feel better? i don’t feel like finishing this anymore. it’s too spicy.”
“yeah, i can tell. look at your face. oh-” he squeezes your puffy face in one hand. “you were already crying eating that, poor baby… i’ll just finish the rest, how about that?”
“please,” you smile sweetly, delighted with his preposition. “i’ll buy ice cream. do you want anything? beer?”
“beer-” his face lights up like a christmas tree when it dawns on him that you said the word simultaneously.
you beam proudly, recounting the time you’ve been well-acquainted with every nook and cranny of jungkook’s essence of being. “did i pass the test? i’m taking my master’s degree in kookology.”
after jungkook finished your spicy noodles, he claimed his appetite only treated it as an appetizer and it demanded to be served ramyeon for the main course. that brings you to this moment, your boyfriend applying bandaids on your arm while he waits for his food to be cooked. concurrently, you devour your cone of vanilla ice cream.
“babe, i think two is enough.“ you attempt to stop him from opening another one of the teddy bear patterned bandaids. he found them displayed by the counter when he paid for the ramyeon, and only then did he realize that he forgot why he ran to you in the first place.
“they’re not- it goes all the way down your elbow.”
and you can’t argue with him because he looks undoubtedly pissed off, his expression instantly darkening when he saw the damage that damn zipper did to your skin. if this happened to him, he would be in a terrible mood for the rest of the day, too.
he plants a healing kiss on top of each one and your heart flutters at the loving gestures, but you feel a little ridiculous walking around with three bandaids running across your arm. you decide to wear your jacket again in order to hide them, since you’re freezing beside the airconditioner anyway.
jungkook starts eating his second round of noodles, but not before boasting that he perfectly separated the wooden chopsticks unlike you. you roll your eyes at his cocky grin and tiny dance of celebration, taking another bite of the cone you’ve consumed halfway.
the two of you comically freeze at the same time when a familiar ringtone tickles your ears.
“who would be calling at this hour? it’s 1am!” jungkook puts down his chopsticks to fish out his phone from the depths of his pocket, his thick satoori accent slipping out as he chides the person on the other line. he shakes his head with a laugh when he sees the name written on the screen. “ey, of course, it’s him again. i knew it.”
you watch him with an amused smile, his reaction giving you an inkling of who it is.
he answers the video call and props up the phone on his tall can of beer, grabbing his chopsticks to resume eating. “hyung, did you just wake up again?”
judging by the background, taehyung is in his gaming room. the given keywords being messy hair and eyes as puffy as yours, you’re pretty sure the answer to your boyfriend’s question is yes.
his deep and rough voice rumbles through the speaker. “jungkook-ah, i just caught up to our gc. where’s ___?”
“with me. why?” jungkook answers, words muffled as he chews and bounces his legs with the pleasure of having his food craving beyond satisfied.
taehyung ignores his question for the second time, instead calling out your name to catch your attention.
“whyyy?” you mimic his sulky tone, slightly shifting the phone to the side to show him your face.
you snicker when he flashes you his famous boxy smile, almost choking on your ice cream when his following remarks cause jungkook to throw a fit.
“play with me. no one else is awake and i’m getting bored of jungkook. he doesn’t want to play new games.”
“yah! you know i can still hear you, right?!” he takes a break from chugging his beer to throw his retort.
“i know, i wanted you to.” taehyung blows a raspberry at his best friend.
you grimace, stealing the opportunity to butt in before their banter lengthens. “listen, i’ll play with you if you let me play with tannie again.”
he opens his mouth to answer, but he quickly closes it again to stare at you nonchalantly. you impatiently quirk an eyebrow at his silence. “soooo?”
“wait there. i’ll think about it.”
and then he ends the call.
jungkook throws his head back, bursting into vibrant laughter after witnessing the interaction, and your head drops on the table with a pitiful whimper.
with bam staying at the training center for the meantime, you awfully miss the rush of happy chemicals flooding your brain in the company of man’s best friend. it was two weeks ago when you and jungkook hung out at taehyung’s house. you spent some time with yeontan at the park after you complained about getting bored watching them play ‘i’m on observation duty’. and he wasn’t… very happy when his dog started flat-out ignoring him in favor of your presence ever since you came back from the walk. tannie was adamant on sitting on your lap during dinnertime, even almost following you past the front door when it was time for you to leave.
“aww, my baby.” jungkook strokes your back with faux sympathy. “he hasn’t moved on from it yet. give him some time… maybe, like, five more minutes?”
taglist in the reblogs! send an ask / dm if you want to be added (or removed) :D
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wynnyfryd · 4 months
Text
Trailer park Steve AU part 25
part 1 | part 24 | ao3
cw: throwing up, recreational alcohol & drug use
“Well, thank fuck I didn’t wear the Reeboks,” Eddie laughs.
Steve groans 'Jesus,' because he doesn't know what else there is to say to that. Eddie came out of nowhere. Materialized like some kind of freaky wizard. And that would— that would be on brand, wouldn’t it?
Eddie the magician. Eddie the shapeshifter.
Maybe Eddie is Misty? Would explain why she left him all those dead rats when he first—
“Oh, fuck.” His stomach rolls at the thought, a hot-cold-nasty-sick shiver down his spine, and he bends forward to retch again. Hits the grass this time at least, right between Eddie’s boots; groans and spits drool into the dirt. Eddie smooths a hand between his shoulder blades, which is nice, even if everything else about this totally blows.
“Godddd,” he moans when the dry heaving stops. He lifts his head to apologize and nearly tips himself into the mess he just made.
“Whoa, whoa whoa, hey; easy,” Eddie shushes, steadying him with both hands. Warm palms against his biceps; firm grip.
“S’nice.”
“Yeah?” Eddie grins, private and soft. "Alright, arms up."
"Mmh?"
"Up! Come on, sweetheart, up you get." He loops Steve’s arms around his neck, wearing him like a cape. Steve giggles into his fluffy curls, nuzzles his nose into them because they're warm and Eddie smells nice, and time does that weird drunk thing where Steve slow blinks and suddenly they're a hundred yards away.
Edge of the creek, downstream from the falls where the water’s just a thin squiggle cut through smooth, mossy stone. Eddie's got Steve facedown across his lap, gathering up his hair and making a headband with his hands, and he's apologizing in advance for Steve-doesn't-know-what.
"Big breath," Eddie warns him, and then he dips Steve's face in the icy stream like he's battering fried chicken in a goddamn egg wash. Two quick dunks, the cold ripping through Steve's nerves; it's all finger-licking fucked.
"What the hell?!" Steve splutters when Eddie lifts him up, rolls him onto his back and smiles down at him.
"Mornin', sunshine!"
"Jesus Christ!"
Eddie's laughing at him hard. "Sorry, big boy. Had to wake you up somehow."
He brushes Steve's bangs off his face, and Steve pants up at him, wide awake now. Trembling. In the dark, Eddie's eyes look nearly black. Two inkpots full of moonlight.
“'M awake," Steve mumbles to distract himself from the sudden kick-throb behind his ribs. "Sorry I barfed on your shoes."
“Ah, comes with the territory.” Eddie kicks his legs out, rinsing the toes of his boots off in the stream. “Drug dealer, remember? Seen a lot worse than this at parties, sweetheart, I can promise you that."
Steve blinks at him. Still feels syrupy and slow like he's wading through mud. Sweetheart. The word's a fog machine in his mind. Hazy warmth; candy clouds. "If... If you're a drug dealer, then... should've woken me up with drugs."
"Oh?"
"Mhmm. Jus' rude not to, really."
Eddie's lips quirk. His eyes are soft, his fingers combing through Steve's hair, and Steve's head is still in his lap, even though it probably shouldn't be. "If you want coke..." he murmurs, his voice a low, fond rumble, "you can just ask for it."
"Yeah?"
"Sure, Stevie."
Steve watches with rapt attention as Eddie reaches into his jacket, pulls out a little baggie and holds it up in question. Steve gulps; nods.
Fuck yeah. He hasn't had coke in forever.
Eddie pours the smallest amount onto the back of one hand, licks the thumb of his other and presses it into the pile, coating it in white powder. He brings it up to Steve's mouth and rests it right against his lip — barest hint of pressure; not hovering, not pushing in. "Well, go on," he smirks.
Steve makes a questioning sound that comes out like a whine, a high, nasal thing in the back of his throat. His cock stirs in his jeans.
"Ask me," Eddie whispers.
"Can I have it?" Steve asks. He can feel Eddie's thumb against his lips as he speaks; has to stop himself from flicking out his tongue to get a taste. "Please?"
"Fuck," Eddie hisses between his teeth. "Yeah, baby." He presses into the meat of Steve's bottom lip; drags it down, exposes skin that's wet and warm. Dances over it with the pad of his thumb — the inside of Steve's lip, his gums, his tongue.
There's no mistaking the sound Steve makes for anything but a moan, throaty and deep as he sucks Eddie's thumb deeper into his mouth; hollows his cheeks, makes Eddie gasp. Makes him twitch his hips up under Steve, and it's good, and Steve feels like there are live wires where his veins used to be, the rush of the coke and Eddie's hands and Eddie's noises in his good ear, and—
"Hey!" someone shouts across the field. Eddie moves like he's been shot at, flinching away from Steve entirely, a hand pressed over his lap as he turns to see who's coming.
Steve lifts his head to look. His mouth is buzzing, lips full and flushed like he's been kissing someone. Kissing Eddie. God, he wants to. Wants to hike him up the falls, shove him hard against a tree.
But he can't. Because Jason Carver's here now.
Great.
part 26
gonna do the tag lists in separate reblogs from now on (with the tag "#trailer park steve au taglist" if you'd like to filter that content), comment and let me know if you want me to add you tomorrow (21+ only, please confirm your age if you're asking to be tagged)
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maddddstuff · 3 months
Text
Relaxation
This is purely self indulgent fluff!! You think Law works too hard so you convince him to take a bath with you to relax. Very cute, very fluffy. I'm not sure what I would rate this because like... they're bathing together. But also there's no actual smut. This is my first time writing for Law but I really like how it turned out!
Pairing: Trafalgar Law x GN!reader
CW: none i think!
Words: 1.7k
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(he looks so broody in this photo it kills me)
“Law, come on,” You whine, dragging him away from his desk.
“I’ll be done in less than an hour,” he replies, resisting your tugs.
“That’s what you said the last time. And the time before that. And the time­-”
“Alright, alright,” he sighs, glaring half-heartedly. “I get the point.”
“You work too hard.” You tell him, making him roll his eyes.
“That’s subjective.”
You pull hard on his arm, forcing him up from his desk. “Shut up. I miss you.”
His eyes soften. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I didn’t mean to neglect you all day.”
“You can make up for it now.” You place a gentle kiss on his tattooed hand before dragging him towards the bathroom.
“You deserve to relax. And-” You cut him off before he can protest, “I do too. But I can’t relax if I know you’re working hard. That wouldn’t be fair.”
You watch as his resolve crumbles, biting back a victorious smile. Law was not very good at treating himself kindly, but he could never resist you.
“Fine,” He grumbles, studying the bath you’d set up. “This will make you feel better?”
You nod eagerly.
With one last heavy sigh, Law strips his shirt off and moves closer to the tub. You can’t help the appreciative sigh that leaves your lips at the sight of his toned, tattooed body. He tosses you a smirk at the sound, making you blush.
He removes the rest of his clothes and lowers himself into the water, eyes closing as he tilts his head back to rest on the rim of the tub. You smile at the blissed-out look on his face. You drop a kiss on his cheek, unable to help yourself when he looks so relaxed. He pops an eye open, amused.
You turn back to the counter, grabbing some soaps from their spot on the ledge. You also grab the stool that you’d brought in earlier, positioning it behind him. He watches you move, but doesn’t say anything.
When you finally have everything that you need, you settle yourself down onto the stool behind him.
“Are you not joining me?” Law frowns.
“I want to take care of you.”
“This was supposed to be about helping you relax.”
“This will relax me!” He shoots you a disbelieving look, and you laugh. “I promise!”
He grumbles something under his breath that you don’t care to make out.
You tap his shoulders. “Dunk your head.”
He does what he’s told. He’s dripping as he resurfaces. You brush his dark hair back away from his face, trying to keep too much water from getting in his eyes. You grab the bottle of shampoo from where you’d placed it on the floor next to you, and squirt some into your hands. You lather it up before combing your fingers through his hair.
You gently start to massage the shampoo into his scalp, smiling as you hear his pleased sigh. While he would never admit it, you knew he loved to be pampered by you. You work the soap thoroughly through his hair, taking your time and savouring the opportunity to spoil him. After longer than was probably necessary, you plant a kiss on his shoulder before tapping them, signalling for him to dunk his head.
You place a hand under the back of his head to stop him from fully submerging. With his hair under water but his face in the air, you are able to clean the shampoo out of his hair for him. You don’t miss his sleepy smile as you do. You were glad you’d bullied him into stopping his work so that you could care for him. While his work ethic was something that you admired a great deal about him, you wished he would let himself take breaks more often. It wasn’t healthy for him to push himself as hard as he did.
You tap his shoulder again, and he rises back to a seated position. You grab the conditioner next and run it through his hair. While you let it sit, you lather the body wash in your hands and start to massage it into the back of his neck. You work your way down his shoulders, and he leans forward to give you better access to the rest of his back.
Carefully, you work out the knots of tension that have formed. He moans lightly every time you work your fingers through a tense spot. Once you're done with his back, you move beside him to work your way down his strong, muscled arms. You savour the feel of him beneath your fingers as you work the soap over his skin.
You take extra care when you reach his hands, gently massaging them. You trace a finger over the lines of his tattoos. You look up to see him watching you, eyes soft as he studies your face. A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips, and he leans forward to kiss you. You part your lips at the taste of him, his lips as familiar as your own. He tangles his tongue with yours, savouring the feel of your lips against his. You moan as he gently bites your lip, before pulling away with a smile. His eyes shut again as he leans back against the tub.
You move behind him once more, signalling for him to lower into the water. You work your fingers through his hair to get all of the conditioner out. You comb out any knots that have formed as you relish the softness of his freshly washed hair.
When finally you’re done, you pull him back up and kiss his cheek again, smiling proudly.
“Don’t you feel better?” You ask, pleased with yourself.
“I do.” He admits. “Will you join me now?”
You nod, moving off the stool when you spy one last bottle on the ground.
“Oh no, I forgot the facewash!” You exclaim, hurrying back down.
Law grabs your hand and halts your movements. “You can bring the facewash into the tub, love. Don’t leave me alone any longer.”
You pout a bit but nod. You strip off your clothes and lower yourself into the tub. Law grabs your hand again and guides you to sit down on his lap, facing away from him. You shift sideways so that you can see his face and make him grab the facewash from the ground.
“Get your face all wet.” You tell him. He scowls but without any real aggression. “I can do it myself.”
“I know! But I want to do it for you.”
He pauses, cheeks flushing. “Oh,” is all he says as he passes the bottle to you.
You gesture for him to splash his face, and he does. You giggle as you rub it into his skin, the bubbles sticking in his beard. You feel his smile beneath your hands, which only makes you giggle more.
“Okay, I’m done.” You declare. “You can wash it off now.”
He does, and you can’t help but lean forward and kiss him when he’s finished.
“Your turn.” He says, turning your shoulders away from him.
“What? That’s not how this works!” Your protests fall on deaf ears as he urges your shoulders down under the water. “Law this isn’t necessary I promise! I’m all relaxed now because I helped you, okay? You don’t need to do this for me.”
Your protests die as his strong fingers work the shampoo into your scalp. He massages circles into your scalp, methodically working his way through your hair.
He leans around you to place a kiss on your temple before lowering his lips to be right next to your ear. “This is relaxing me. I’m washing your hair for purely selfish reasons. I like doing it.”
You shiver at the press of his lips to the shell of your ear. When he gestures for you to drop your head into the water, you do it without protest.
You let Law comb the conditioner through your hair, giggling at his frustrated mumbles every time his fingers got caught in a knot. It never hurt though because he was so careful to gently pull the knots apart, not wanting to cause you pain.
His strong hands work wonders on the tension in your back as he massages the body wash into your skin. Moans are falling unbidden from your lips now as his large thumbs rub deep circles into your muscles. You loved having Law massage you. He was so good at it every time, and never rushed through it. He always took the time to savour the press of his hands into your flesh as he relieved the stress from your body.
“Dunk,” He whispered, tapping your shoulders. You obliged, and sighed at the feel of his hands through your hair as he combed the conditioner out, careful to make sure that none remained.
You rose back up to a seated position, turning to face him with a dopey smile on your face. He leaned in and kissed you again. You could feel his own smile in the press of his lips.
“Facewash,” He reminds you, eyes sparkling as he playfully mocks your earlier mistake. You roll your eyes, but wet your face obediently. You can’t keep the smile off of your face as he rubs the facewash into your skin. He lets you wash it off before pulling you in for another kiss.
Law pulls your body flush against his and lays your head against his chest, resting his chin atop your head. The two of you remained that way until the water grew cold, neither needing to speak.
When the water finally grows so cold you start to shiver, Law lifts you out of the tub and sets you down gently on your feet. He grabs one of the fluffy towels you’d laid out, and dries you carefully. The look he gives you as he kneels before you and works the towel up is almost reverent. When he makes his way up to the top of your body, he places another kiss on your lips.
“Thank you,” He says quietly, eyes closed.
You reach up to cup his face with a loving smile. “Anytime.”
part 2: here
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cauliflowercounty · 21 days
Text
Special Request (Feyd Rautha x Reader)
My larger Feyd fic is almost done and will be out soon I promise, but I had an idea for a drabble that I really wanted to write because I can’t get this thought out of my head. It’s sorta stupid but I thought it was cute.
Summary: you’re the only person on Giedi Prime with hair, so Feyd gets you shampoo :)
Reader’s gender not specified
Feyd is sweet if I want him to be
no warnings
“My love?” Feyd says as you walk back to your shared quarters after a long day of diplomatic meetings. “May I ask why you’ve been covering your head as of late when we are outside of our chambers?”
“Oh…” you trail off, trying to come up with an excuse. “I’ve… been liking the headscarfs more as of late. Plus, they keep me warm. You know I find the halls cold.”
Feyd shakes his head. “I know when you aren’t being truthful with me.”
You sigh. Of course he saw right through you, him being your husband, after all. “It’s going to sound ridiculous, Feyd.”
“I promise I will not think any less of you. I could never,” he assures you by enclosing your hand in his and giving it a firm squeeze.
“I… don’t like the way my hair looks,” you admit, which makes him frown. He’s always disliked when you talk down about yourself.
“I love your hair,” he immediately says. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
“I know you do, Feyd, and I’m really very flattered, but it’s looked awful recently,” you say. “I haven’t been able to wash my hair properly since I got here. The body soap that you have here is lovely, but it’s really not meant for my hair.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he questions. You’ve been married for years.
“I didn’t want to be a bother, especially since I’m the only one that would ever need it on this planet,” you counter as he immediately drops your hand and turns on his heel to head back the way you came.
“Feyd!” You call out to him, worried he’s angry at you, but all he does is call back to you telling you not to worry and that he’ll meet you in your quarters later, leaving you in the hallway in a state of bewilderment.
A few days later, Feyd pulls you aside as you gaze out at the industrial skyline of Geidi Prime and starts walking you through the halls.
“I have something to show you,” he says as he takes you to the door of your shared quarters. He unlocks the door and immediately takes you into the bathroom.
“Feyd, what is this?” You gasp when you enter, seeing the room lit by candles and the bathtub full of hot, soapy water. On a tray next to the tub, you see more different kinds of of haircare items than you’ve ever seen in your life.
“What do you think?” he asks. “I had it all brought in specially for you.”
“I love it,” you reply. “I can’t believe you did this just for me.”
“You know I would do anything for you,” he smiles, giving you a soft kiss on the lips. You squeal as you grab a bottle and shed your headscarf and clothes before climbing into the tub and dunking your hair in the water. Feyd smiles at your giddiness, taking the bottle from you and positioning himself on his knees behind the tub. He opens the bottle and puts some of the shampoo on his palm and spreads it onto your hair. Gently massaging your scalp, he works the suds through your hair with his fingers as you close your eyes and sink into the tub, relaxing at his touch.
“You’re marvelous, you know that, my love?” He asks as you hum in response.
“Thank you for this, Feyd,” you grin, feeling all of the stress from the day melt away at his touch.
“Anything for you,” he replies, his heart swelling seeing you so happy.
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ackercoded · 10 months
Text
just you and levi being pervy at the beach, tsk tsk
cw: being touchy-touchy in public lol
nestled on the beach towel, you watched your friends in the distance. they splashed around in the water, huge smiles plastered on their faces. hange was trying to dunk erwin under the current, going down with him in the process as a huge wave hit. you giggled at that.
you weren’t a big fan of the sea. the mostly unexplored ocean scared you shitless, so you opted to stay back on the shore instead. clearly bothered by your decision, levi had thrown some colourful terms at you before leaving with the rest of them.
and so now you remained eyes closed and basking under the sun in your little refuge.
but not long after, you sensed a presence near you. cracking one eye open, you found levi looking down at you, eyes furrowed and mouth set in a deep pout. you also couldn't help but let your eyes run over him—his white shirt unbuttoned, exposing his wet skin, and his damp shorts clinging deliciously against his buldge. your eyes lingered on his abs for a while, droplets of water cascading down the slopes, before quickly returning to meet his gaze.
“hey you,” you gave him a lazy smile, shifting on your side and propping yourself up on your elbow.
his eyes gave away nothing as they swept over your figure. you tilted your head, letting him see his fill. you’d picked your favourite bikini set today, knowing even if you didn't exactly go for a swim, you could at least look sexy sitting here.
you definitely did not pick this one secretly hoping levi would appreciate it. definitely not.
he cleared his throat, sitting down beside you.
“why are you still here?” he shook his hair, spraying water all around him. you yelped, sending him a glare.
“just chilling, looking pretty. you done having your bit of fun for the day? social battery run out yet?” you asked as you sat up.
he shrugged, looking at the others in the distance. “just was wondering what you were still doing here alone.”
you reached out and pinched his cheek. “aww, were you worried about me? that’s new.” you threw him a smirk that you knew would get his blood boiling.
he only rolled his eyes, shoving you off. “you’re fucking annoying, you know that?”
“you didn’t think i was fucking annoying when you were checking me out just now.” you pouted.
he scoffed, even as pink tinted his cheeks. “i was only about to say you should put a shirt on and stop giving everyone a weird porno fantasy at the beach for free.”
you looked around, noticing there was almost little to no one around. “well, since it’s just us here, i’m giving you a free porno fantasy.”
he scoffed again, looking away.
you sent him a teasing smile, assuring him you were only joking. well, half-joking.
it had been a long while since this tension bloomed between you and levi, and he had done shit-all about it, not even letting you know where you both stood. so naturally, you took matters in your own hands.
you’d begun teasing him unabashedly, whether it be brushing up against him, playing with his hair, touching up his thigh, or even wearing a pretty bikini for him.
but all your efforts had gone down the drain, since he never seemed to be taking the hint.
you chewed on your lip as you thought about your next move.
“you know what, i wanna get in the water.” you mumbled to yourself as you grabbed your bottle of sunscreen. levi looked at you in surprise, but you paid him no heed. squirting a generous amount on your palm, you worked it between your hands started rubbing it onto your arms and chest.
you made sure you were slightly facing him as you sat on your knees, spreading the cream on your skin slowly. your hands glided between your breasts and over your stomach, going lower and lower.
levi was watching you very carefully.
keenly aware of his gaze following your every move, you adjusted the string securing the fabric between your thighs, pulling it up so the cloth strained against the plumpness of your pussy.
levi’s arm shot out and grabbed you, stopping your motions.
“i know what you’re doing.” he muttered, giving you a hard look. his eyes were glazed, and you felt a surge of satisfaction knowing you were the reason.
you bit your lip, peering up at him through your lashes. “so, it’s working?”
he snatched the bottle from your hand, surprising you.
“wha—?”
“lie back down on your stomach.” he ordered.
he levelled you with a look, waiting. you bit your lip again and smirked before doing as he asked.
as you got comfortable on the towel, you could still feel levi’s piercing gaze on your back. wiggling your ass a little as you settled, you turned your head towards him only to find his eyes fixated on your behind with an intensity that made heat loom low in your belly.
a little flushed, you moved your hair to one side and nestled your head on your folded arms.
you watched him squirt the cream in his hands before lathering it between them.
a sigh escaped your lips when his palms came into contact with your skin, the lather’s coolness soothing against the heat of his palms. he slowly dragged his fingers down your spine, undoing the strings of your bikini top.
“levi, our friends are right there!” you hissed, lifting your head anxiously even as excitement thrummed in your veins.
he began massaging your back despite your protest. “i’m just helping you out, nothing to see here.”
your heart thundered in your chest as you watched your friends still in the water, paying zero attention to your little performance a few feet away.
levi’s touch was gentle but firm as he stroked across your shoulder blades, his fingers gliding smoothly across your soft skin.
“relax,” he whispered, his voice dropping an octave. the sound shot straight between your legs, making you clench them in anticipation.
he moved lower down your back, his touch skilled as his fingers moved deftly in even strokes. an involuntary moan escaped your lips as he worked a particularly tight spot. you slapped a hand on your mouth, cheeks flaming in embarrassment, but his hands never stopped even as he chuckled and wrung out another strained moan from you.
“levi..” you weakly protested, not really wanting him to stop.
but then, levi leaned down and whispered, “does this need some attention, too?” he gently squeezed your ass. you gasped, meeting his stare.
noticing how heated his gaze was, you took his hand, feeling bold. you lowered it between your legs over your clothed, throbbing cunt.
“this requires more attention, i think.”
he shut his eyes and groaned, feeling your wetness seep through the cloth as he pressed a finger there.
“you nasty fucking minx.” his gravelly voice made you clench again, but this time around his fingers. he rubbed tight circles on your wetness, eliciting a shameless whimper from you.
you raised your head a little, brushing your lips against his. “i wanna hear you calling me that when you’re fucking m—”
something hit your head, and you jumped back, slapping levi’s hand away. you heard levi curse under his breath.
“not here, please! spare us!” hange yelled. erwin beside her had his hand over his eyes, visibly cringing.
levi snorted and slapped your butt playfully before removing himself from you. he sent you a promising smirk. “later, then.”
you sent one right back. “i’ll be waiting.”
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s1ater · 1 year
Text
the only thing that matters.
pairings. finnick odair x fem!reader
about. finnick is the only one to have ever gotten past your quiet and stoic shell, but neither of you think it’s for the good.
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warnings. eh idk
ricky rocks. the hunger games series is honest to god one of the best to ever touch screens.
johanna hated watching you and finnick. it killed her.
since day one, johanna, like all of the others were closely fixated on you and every move you made. you were alluring solely due to the fact that you were silent and completely detached from the destruction of your reality. there was a large admiration for you and whether it was due to your great skill in combat or ability to keep an unwavering face when under the worse of pressure, no one could choose. you were a mystery.
johanna couldn’t figure you out; not for the life of her, and it was absolutely frustrating. especially when her greatest competition did.
of course. of fucking course it was finnick. she wasn’t surprised the more she thought about it—finnick could get anybody to talk. so of course it had to be him who would unravel you like a ball of yarn.
he was prying, and had no problem with being a pest if that meant he got what he wanted—and he always got what he wanted.
it was astounding to say the least.
“they’re sickening aren’t they?” katniss almost jumped at johanna’s jarring words that interrupted the silence.
it took her a moment to realize that the girl was talking about you and finnick and johanna had caught her staring.
“i don’t know… i think it’s interesting,” katniss bit the inside of her cheek as she watched finnick smile genuinely while watching you speak. the two of you were the only thing keeping the group from not seeming depressive. “they seem like polar opposites and yet this is the first time i have ever seen her smile… and it’s because of him.”
once you had gotten out of the blood rain with johanna, crossing paths with katniss and finnick and the rest of their group—you had begun to clean yourself off in the water before finnick had dunked you with reunition. there was no reason, and katniss had thought you would kill him once you came back up, but there you had been; gut laughing, trying to catch your breath while also attempting to return the favor.
johanna chuckles, “he’s a fucking dickhead for that,” she tsks, shaking her head, still watching the two of you, “but i guess it’s sweet in some fucked up way. both found each other amidst of all… this.”
she hated watching the two of you, because it reminded her of something she couldn’t have, something she lost, and something the two of you could so fastly lose as well with any wrong step.
“this is where we finally die, isn’t it?” your eyes watch the calm waves as they slowly wash up further onto the shore, just enough to kiss your feet.
your words make finnick narrow his brows, almost frowning real hard as he looks over to you. you feel distant, out of body and too far for him to reach and yet you were more than close. he feels uneasy at the tone of your voice, like you were almost ready to give up.
“far from it…” he slightly tips his head to look at your face, but he sees nothing, receives nothing despite his hope that you’d be in touch and full of emotion like all other times the two of you have been together. “hey, why?”
his hand holds your shoulder, almost reaching for your face, but you meet his eyes before he could further do so. the concern melted into his face made you inhale sharply, feeling slightly bad for causing the borderline stress in his eyes, “finn, i didn’t mean it… like that.”
“you ready to give up on me?” his eyebrows raise, trying to curve his lips in a accustomed smirk, but you can still see the worry.
“not yet,” you shook your head, almost scoffing as you look back out to the sun sinking into the trees, “just thinking.”
“think more logically, y/n,” he settles more comfortably and over the panic, using his index finger to lightly you tap on the side of your cheekbone. “if i die, who’s going to be your friend? keep you alive?”
you rolled your eyes, mumbling, “we both know i’m more than capable keeping myself alive.”
“we do,” it wasn’t the answer he was looking for. “but outside of the games, what’re you going to do with yourself?”
you shook your head at his silly scenarios, now looking to him with something he didn’t like, “we just try to die together then.”
“she’s the only thing he cares about,” johanna stares harder than katniss was, watching the way his hand clasps the back of your neck while pulling you closer to him. “truly.”
“this is unlike you. since when is death a concern to you?”
“since i met you,” you purse your lips, almost in shame that an obvious dent was made in your principles when you met finnick. “you make me feel so helpless.”
he chuckles, shaking his head at the words coming from your mouth that some could find offense in, “oh, i know you love me.” but it was finnick, and he knew your meaning behind them and he knew exactly how you felt.
before, you were both considered some of the capitols top killers with nothing to lose. but now, everything seemed to not be in your favor the moment you met each other. you had everything to lose now and you both knew it.
“we’ll be the death of each other, y/n.”
navigation.
@transias @cc13723things @thehuntress09 @afidiofobia @savedbythegraceofsoutherncharm @demigirl-with-problems @nyx3028 @missaryasstuff @hizziestial @ritz-hell-hotel @kayalect @mystic-writings @stitch-flo @ancientimes @s0urw00lf @straightzoinked @i44nishi @falcvns @alexxavicry @grxcisxhy-wp @lupinsluvbot
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ilguna · 4 months
Note
Hey! Can I get the number 89 (in honour of 1989 tv) with finnick ?
☼ lovestruck, lovesick, lovelorn pt1 (Finnick Odair) ☼
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warnings; swearing, death mention, death, gore for sure, blood, weapon usage, mention of prostitution.
wc; 8.6k
prompt; 86. "Do you trust her?" // "No, but I trust her anger."
notes; i already did 89 for Peeta (castaway) and i'm trying not to do any repeats, so we're going with 86 :)
--
The golden Cornucopia sits abandoned in the middle of this black sand island, whereas normally it’s occupied by the Careers to ensure that no intruders steal from them. There must not be anything worth protecting in here, then, besides the weapons that are displayed.
This allows the group to spread out, picking places to rest in the shade. Peeta lowers Beetee to the ground, propping him up against a box. He backs off, going to stand next to Katniss.
Beetee calls out to Wiress, making her go over to him. She crouches down, hands on her knees, waiting. In her limited state of mind, you’re fairly surprised that she’s still comprehending people, much less requests. He holds up his coil of wire, she takes it. “Clean it, will you?” 
Wiress nods, wordlessly getting to her feet and going to sit on the edge of the island to clean the spool of blood. She dunks it in the water, occasionally using her fingers to rub a particularly hard spot. While she does this, she begins to sing, no longer repeating the words ‘tick tock’.
It must be some sort of nursery rhyme from District Three, because you don’t recognize it. It’s about a mouse running up and down a clock, which is fairly appropriate, given the recent discovery, thanks to her.
“Oh, not the song again.” Johanna says, rolling her brown eyes. “That went on for hours before she started tick-tocking.”
Wiress stops suddenly, getting to her feet, posture rigid as she points to the jungle and says, “Two.”
The rest of you watch as a white wave of fog begins to seep onto the beach. From here, it doesn't seem so threatening. You probably wouldn’t think twice about it, if you hadn’t run for your life from it early this morning. While it melted your jumpsuit and poisoned your skin, causing you to strip to your under clothes and for your body to be covered in scabs from where it touched you.
You’d rather fight the orange monkey muttations a hundred times than risk doing that again.
“Yes, look, Wiress is right. It’s two o’clock and the fog has started.” Katniss says.
“LIke clockwork.” Peeta agrees. “You were very smart to figure that out, Wiress.”
Wiress smiles, and then kneels in the sand to continue singing and dunking the coil in water. “Oh, she’s more than smart.” Beetee says from beside you. Your eyes slide over to him. “She’s intuitive. She can sense things before anyone else. Like a canary in one of your coal mines.”
“What’s that?” Finnick asks Katniss.
“It’s a bird that we take down into the mines to warn us if there’s bad air.” She says.
“What’s it do, die?” Johanna scoffs.
“It stops singing first. That’s when you should get out. But if the air’s too bad, it dies, yes. And so do you.” Katniss ends that line of conversation, turning to go inside of the Cornucopia.
Johanna goes in after her to poke around in the weapons, since she’s been empty handed the entire time. Funny how Beetee was able to make it to the Cornucopia before she did, even if it ended up getting him hurt because of it.
You briefly glance at Finnick from where you were watching Johanna, and you have to do a double-take when you realize that he’s staring at you. He looks you over, up and down, which would be flattering, if you didn’t know that he was assessing your demeanor, deciding if you were a threat.
You squint at him, face twisting. “What?”
“Nothing.” He tells you.
“It’s not nothing if you’re looking at me like that.” You snap. “Leave me alone.”
He shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything back. You’re getting tired of him thinking that you’re going to betray the alliance. You’re in this as much as he is, you volunteered to be here. If anything, he should be a little grateful that he got a district partner that’s invested and capable.
He doesn’t see it that way, though. He thinks that you’re just as bad as Enobaria and Brutus—that you’re itching to get back into an arena to kill for some spotlight. And you know this, because he told you himself on the train. Once you were out of sight of the cameras, he tried to lay you out in front of Mags and the escort, and you shut him down.
You know he disagrees with the way you choose to handle situations, but to think that you would get in the way of a rebellion was a slap to the face. You made sure he knew that later on, when you were out of earshot of the Peacekeepers. If he wanted to think of you so lowly, fine. The line is drawn when he begins to implant those ideas in other people’s heads, too. Especially since you’ve done nothing to deserve it.
It didn’t matter to him. In fact, he tried to block you from being invited into the alliance by telling Haymitch that you could fuck the whole plan if your mood changes. He said all it would take is one disagreement, one thing not going the way you wanted, one wrong look, and you’d make sure that everyone else would be brought down by it.
Thankfully, Haymitch knows better than to just take Finnick’s word for it. He might be a drunk, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention for the past ten years. He knows that you and Finnick have a history of not getting along. If anything, you’ll sabotage Finnick more than you will the alliance as a whole.
Which is why he told you that you have a place in it, if you want. And while everyone else places stepping stones to make sure that the plan to get rescued is in place. You were told that you have two jobs; the first one being protecting Katniss and Peeta, a task that you were already prepared to risk your life for. As for the second one—if anything were to go wrong, if someone unexpected were to get killed, you’ll replace their shoes, and get Katniss and Peeta to the end of the day at all costs.
This is why you’ve been on edge. If Finnick would see past his hatred for you, and thought about it, he’d realize that you’re trying to make sure that Katniss and Peeta are in good positions. You are not the threat here.
Johanna lets out a grunt, you turn your head in time to watch as she throws an axe through the air, straight at the Cornucopia. It hits the sun-softened gold with a gentle thud, and it sticks. She crosses the area, pulling it out by the handle, making a face at the blade.
Katniss is digging through the weapons, probably looking for more arrows to add to her collection, because two sheaths aren’t enough. When she finds one, she swings it over her back and comes out to stand over Peeta, who’s drawing a map of the arena onto a large leaf that he brought from the jungle. He slices the circle, creating twelve equal wedges.
“Look how the Cornucopia is positioned.” He says, looking up at her.
Her eyebrows draw in, and she turns around to take a look at the building she just came out of. “The tail points to twelve o’clock.”
“Right, so this is the top of our clock.” He says, numbering the wedges one through twelve. “Twelve to one is the lightning zone.” He proceeds to write lightning in the wedge, and then goes clockwise, adding blood, fog, and monkeys in the next sections.
“And ten to eleven is the wave.” She says, he writes it down. 
Finnick comes over with Johanna, the two of them have upped the weapon count on their bodies. And he thinks you’re the dangerous one, as if you don’t have a sword and a couple knives on you. Does he really need two tridents and half a dozen knives? It makes him look…
Hot, a voice whispers from the depth of your mind, It makes him look hot.
He’s standing in a patch of sun, where the Cornucopia doesn’t quite reach. The sunbeams baking his already tanned skin. His eyes are a brighter shade of sea green, with the light being in his eyes. He looks like he belongs at the bottom of the ocean, commanding the creatures that dwell in it.
He must feel your eyes on him, because he flickers over to yours. You stare for a second longer, before blinking and looking away, back at the map that’s being drawn. 
It’s a shame that Finnick decided years back that he would rather keep you at a distance instead of making a friend out of you. The two of you are so similar that it hurts at times, but all he can see are the differences, which hurts more.
The both of you won at young ages, with him setting the record, while you won at fifteen. He had an advantage in his Games, though, because the sponsors were drawn in by his good looks for being someone so young. This meant that he had everything he could have ever asked for gifted to him in the arena.
On the other hand, you didn’t make much of an impression during your reaping or the Tribute Parade, forcing you to change the strategy that you’d been given by Finnick and Mags. They wanted you to keep your head down, but if you wanted even a sliver of a chance, you needed to make your name big.
So, that’s exactly what you did. And that’s where the resentment he has for you, started. You showed off absolutely all your skills in the Training Center, making sure the Gamemakers knew you had potential, getting you a score of nine. During your interviews, you told Caesar that there wasn’t a single hurdle you wouldn’t jump to get home.
That statement was put to the test in the arena, when you killed several tributes, including your own district partner, because you knew it put you one step closer to getting out. You didn’t care what bridges you had to burn, how many sponsors you had to lose, or if you lost the support of your mentors. Nothing could stop you, and it didn’t.
Finnick hates that you had no remorse when you got out of the arena. Or now, because you told him that this is the hill you’ve chosen to die on, because between life and death, you choose life. He can’t wrap his head around the fact you’re so cold. How could the two of you be from the same district?
The similarities came back into play when you turned sixteen, when the Capitol realized that they do care about you. Which changed your title from victor to Capitol darling. You were told to join Finnick and be a prostitute, or President Snow would kill your family. 
This is where you screwed up, believing him to be bluffing. You didn’t think he would actually do it, but he’s a man of his word. When you were done listening to the screams and pleas of your parents to spare your siblings, Snow told you that if you didn’t agree, Finnick’s family would be next.
You had no choice, you had to agree. And when Finnick found out that you landed right where he was, there wasn’t a single shred of empathy he had toward you. Not even after you returned to District Four, and he learned that your family had been murdered in your home. The one you’d be forced to stay in for an additional two weeks while they got your victor house ready.
If you weren’t indifferent to his existence before, you sure as hell were then.
“Did you notice anything unusual in the others?” Katniss asks Johanna and Beetee, referring to the wedges. 
“Only blood.” Johanna says, Beetee nods.
“I guess they could hold anything.” Katniss looks down at Peeta.
“I’m going to mark the ones where we know the Gamemakers’ weapon follows us out past the jungle, so we’ll stay clear of those.” Peeta says, drawing diagonal lines on the fog and wave beaches. He then sits back. “Well, it’s a lot more than we knew this morning, anyway.”
You look up, going to check on Wiress, since she’s gone quiet. Your eyes find Gloss, water dripping from his bare skin, knife sliding across the skin on her throat. It’s too late to save her, you know this when the blood begins to come down her neck like a waterfall.
The knife on your belt is in your hand and flying through the air in the matter of seconds. It’s headed right for Gloss, and when the blade lodges in the center of his forehead, it throws him back. This kills him instantly.
A movement out of the corner of your eye makes you turn your head, hand reaching for the knife that’s lined up next, but Johanna’s on it. She buries her axe in the center of Cashmere’s chest, eliminating her.
Three cannons blast, back to back.
Finnick swings his trident upward, deflecting a spear that had been aiming for Peeta, thrown by Brutus. Finnick goes to twist his body to take the knife that Enobaria throws at Beetee, but he misses by an inch. It’s too late for you to save Beetee, as the knife shatters the lens on the right side, and the blade buries itself in his eye socket.
Fuck.
Another cannon blasts.
You shove Finnick out of the way to chase after Enobaria and Brutus, who are making their escape around the backside of the Cornucopia. They’ve successfully killed two of your most important allies, and they don’t even realize it.
The two Careers are running down one of the sand strips to the beach. You manage to throw one more knife at Brutus before he’s out of range. It slams into his right calf, taking him down. He lands on his hands and knees, which is exactly what you were hoping for.
Right as you’re about to step onto the strip, the ground beneath you jerks, throwing you down. The center island of the Cornucopia begins to spin, fast. You press your sword between your body and the ground, digging your fingers into the grooves to hold on. 
It’s only thirty seconds later when it slams to a stop without warning. 
You squeeze your eyes shut, taking measured breaths to calm the growing annoyance in your chest. The Gamemakers knew you would kill Brutus, and later Enobaria, if you caught up with her. That’s why they had to intervene, otherwise the fun of the Games would be gone.
You slam your fist against the rock, pushing yourself to your knees. You lean back on your heels slightly, face to the sun while you collect yourself. With Wiress and Beetee being gone, this is a very large hiccup that you’re going to have to smooth out. You jinxed yourself, didn’t you?
A sigh leaves you as you get to your feet, swinging the sword into your hand. As you round the corner, you can see that everyone else is upright. Finnick looks over at you, eyebrows raised, waiting for good news, because you were the closest to the Two tributes.
“Brutus is injured. I would’ve had him if the fuckin’ Gamemakers had minded their own business.” You stab the tip of the sword into a patch of sand.
“Where’s Volts?” Johanna asks, looking around the group.
“He’s dead.” You tell her.
She meets your eyes, “What happened?”
“I—” Finnick starts.
“I didn’t block the knife in time.” You talk over him. “Enobaria’s got a strong arm, it went right through his glasses.”
You can see Finnick staring at you from the corner of your eye. You lick your lips, tasting the salt of the water, before pressing them together. When you look at him, the two of you stare for a long second.
You, Johanna and Finnick know what this means. If just one of the Three tributes had been killed, you could’ve used the other. With both of them being gone, it means that someone needs to pick up their job, and you were the one that was elected to do just that.
“What now?” Finnick asks you.
You tilt your head, eyes going out to the water, finding two of the four bodies. It’s got to be Wiress and Gloss, because they’d been right next to each other when they died. You lean your sword up against the Cornucopia before wandering forward, to the edge of the island.
Wiress is floating on her back, on her stomach sits the spool of wire, golden and shining in the sunlight. You begin to head down the sand strip closest to her body. “I want the wire.”
“What for?” Johanna asks, “That was his weapon, not yours.”
You look over your shoulder. “It has to be now, doesn’t it?”
Johanna makes a face, but it’s not one of doubt. She knows that you’re right, that’s why she won’t bother to argue. Not that she would, anyway. You and Johanna get along, basically two peas in the same pod. She just likes Finnick more, because he puts up with her bullshit.
You jog as close as you can get to Wiress’s body, before diving in the warm water. It’s a nice break from the sun, even if it is for a minute. It doesn’t take long to get to her body, prying the coil from her fingers. You’re about to swim away, when you hesitate, closing her eyes.
Finnick is waiting for you on the strip when you get back to it. You place the wire on the rock, and he reaches down to help you up. Your face twists, but you take his hand, letting him help. The moment you’re on both feet, he pulls you close, a rough hand on your shoulder as he pulls you close to speak in your ear.
“If you can’t do this, you need to tell me. I’ll figure something else out.” Finnick harshly whispers.
You jerk back, squinting at him. “Worry about yourself.” 
As you stoop to grab the wire, Finnick shakes his head. “I mean it, (Y/n).”
“And so do I.” You tell him, lowering your voice. “There’s a reason why Haymitch trusted me with this, and not you.”
He raises his eyebrows, “We’re back to this, huh?”
You scoff loudly. “You’re the one that’s upset by it, Finnick. So, here’s a fucking suggestion: deal with it.” You shake your head. “You’re so worried that I’m going to betray the alliance, that’s you’re forgetting that this is what I do.” You motion to the jungle with your free hand. “Enobaria and Brutus can run all they want, but we both know they’re going to have to come out eventually if they plan on finishing us off. And when they do, they’re going to get it.
“Not from you, not from Johanna, from me.” You seethe, moving around Finnick to head back up to the Cornucopia. You throw your hands up, one of them still holding the wire. “Face it, Finnick, I’ve got this handled.”
You turn around, finding that your three other allies have their eyes on you. You ignore them, watching where you place your feet. On the island, you retrieve your sword, dropping the wire onto a box. Finnick is a few feet behind you, wearing a hard expression.
You hate it when you have to talk to him like that, but you can’t do it any other way if you want him to listen to you. It’s like he doesn’t care unless you’re being hostile, except that tone of voice has him on edge, afraid that you’re going to flip a switch.
There is no happy medium. It’s like he’s dead-set on thinking that you’re an unlikable person. You wouldn’t have minded having an actual conversation between you, Finnick and Johanna to figure out a plan together. It’s his fault that he decided to take the situation into his own hands by assuming that you wouldn’t have the ability to fill Beetee’s shoes.
It makes you mad, so now you’re going to take care of it by yourself. As much as he wants you to ask for help, you’ll do everything in your power to make sure you don’t need him. Or the others, for that matter.
“Let’s get off this stinking island.” Johanna says once Finnick has joined the group.
You dig through the weapons in the Cornucopia, looking for a pair of knives that aren’t too short. The only ones that are available are displayed on the wall in the very back. They’re slightly curved, not too heavy. They’ll work just fine.
You watch as Peeta, Finnick and Johanna start in three different directions.
You stand next to Katniss, watching this. When they realize that no one is following them, they stop.
“Twelve o’clock, right?” Peeta asks. “The tail points at twelve.”
“Before they spun us.” Finnick says. “I was judging by the sun.”
“The sun only tells you it’s going on four, Finnick.” Katniss tells him. “Any one of these paths could lead to twelve o’clock.”
You tuck the knives in your belt, as you circle the Cornucopia with them to try and find the path that’ll lead to the twelve beach. Only, the jungle is perfectly replicated in every section, down to the last tree. Johanna suggests following Enobaria and Brutus’s path, but it’s been washed away.
Katniss stops. “I should have never mentioned the clock. Now they’ve taken that advantage away as well.”
“For now.” You murmur. “We still have the wave at ten to tell us, we’ll be back on track after that.”
“Yes, they can’t redesign the whole arena.” Peeta says.
“It doesn’t matter.” Johanna’s growing impatient, wanting to move. “You had to tell us or we never would have moved our camp in the first place, brainless. Come on, I need water. Anyone have a good gut feeling?”
You let them decide which strip to take to the beach. Katniss and Peeta begin to lead the way. You grab the wire, motioning for Johanna and Finnick to go next, but they don’t budge. You roll your eyes and duck your head, putting a good distance between you and Peeta before you walk.
“What’s the plan?” Johanna’s voice sounds far, and she’s trying to be quiet, but there’s not enough going on for it to conceal her.
“She says she’ll handle it.” Finnick murmurs, you can’t tell if he’s mad or not.
“That’s it?” She asks, “It looked like she was yelling at you.”
“She did.” He says. “She told me to worry about myself, and she’ll handle Enobaria and Brutus.”
Johanna doesn’t speak right away. “Do you trust her?”
“No, but I trust her anger.” He tells her. “She’s right, this is what she does best.”
“So, you want to follow behind her?”
“Do you have any other ideas?” Finnick shoots back.
“No.” Johanna sighs.
When you get to the jungle, they look inside of it, trying to figure out if there’s anything waiting inside or not. When you can’t see any immediate threats, they relax.
“Well, it must be monkey hour. And I don’t see any of them in there.” Peeta says. “I’m going to try to tap a tree.”
“No, it’s my turn.” Finnick objects. “I’ll at least watch your back.”
“Katniss can do that.” Johanna says. “We need you to make another map. The other washed away.” She reaches up, yanking off a large leaf to hand to him. “(Y/n) can stay with us, while she figures out what to do with the wire.”
You drop it in the sand, along with your sword, as you sit down. Peeta crouches beside you, beginning to make his map, again. As you watch him draw the slices, your mind begins to wander. 
Katniss and Peeta are the Careers’ focus. They want to target the ones with the highest scores first, and then work their way down. If they take out a few of you in the process, then that’s great, but they’re afraid of what the Twelve tributes could’ve possibly done in order to get a perfect score.
It was a little odd for Gloss to go for Wiress, if this is the case. And Cashmere wasn’t able to kill anybody before she died. You guess she might have been going for Katniss, but Johanna was in between them, she wasn’t going to make it that far. That’s why Brutus tried to get Peeta with the spear, and maybe the knife was originally aimed for Peeta, not Beetee?
You just can’t wrap your head around their strategy of getting rid of the Three tributes. Were Enobaria and Brutus that worried about you guys coming up with a plan to use the explosives on the tribute platforms? It wouldn’t be the first time it happened in the Games, it’s just a stupid idea to do it in the water, when you have nothing to steady yourself on.
Either way, you need to figure out a way to draw them in. If there’s anything you know for sure, it’s that they’ll wait until dark to attack again, because they’ll have cover. It’s only the two of them now, which means they won’t attack the five of you all together, they’ll get overpowered in seconds. They’ll wait until you split up.
You play with the wire, twisting it between your fingers while you think.
If they send another twenty-four rolls from District Three tonight, you’ll have no choice but to go into the jungle for the lightning section, because that’s where they’ll be rescuing you out of the arena. You would just say that you should go up to the lightning tree and wait, except you won’t know what time it is until ten, like you said.
When the wave does it, you’ll have two hours to get to the tree. After that, Katniss and Peeta will have to get split up long enough to get the tracker out of their arms. That’ll be the perfect time to kill Enobaria and Brutus, too.
You just need a reason for them to split up. Johanna’s already agreed to getting it out of Katniss’s arm, which left Peeta for Finnick. You need some sort of placebo plan in the meantime, something for them to focus on to keep their minds off of the fact that the situation is going to be very, very suspicious.
“That’s it.” Peeta says, sitting back. “I don’t—”
A scream cuts through the still air, silencing him. You whip around to look back at the jungle, unsure of whether or not it belongs to Katniss. As you get to your feet, sword in your hand, you can hear another voice, shouting back. That one sounds like Katniss.
“What’s happening?” Peeta asks.
You get to your feet before he does, pulling the sword into your hand as you break through the jungle, swinging at any leaves in your way. “I think we chose the wrong section.”
“It’s supposed to be the monkey mutts right now, how can it be anything else?” Peeta asks.
Your face twists as you look over your shoulder, finding that Johanna’s eyes have rolled back as far as she can get them. “Because it’s the next hour?” She snarks.
Peeta doesn’t respond. For a moment, you’re genuinely concerned that the forcefield on the first day might have fried his brain a lot more than you thought. When you begin to think of all the decisions he’s made over these past couple of days, you relax. It’s not really out of his nature to say something stupid once in a while.
You’re about twenty yards into the jungle when you stop suddenly, sword at your side, eyes scanning the trees above. When Johanna and Peeta finally pause, you realize just how quiet it is out here.
Johanna takes a step or two forward, coming to stand next to you, looking up at the tree branches. She covers her eyes with one hand, squinting. “There’s no birds.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” You tell her, your normal voice feels too loud. “There’s not even insects.”
“What are you thinking?” She asks, looking at you.
“I feel like it’s too early to be the beast, because the sun was down further yesterday.” 
She nods. “A new hour.”
“That doesn’t explain why it’s so quiet.” Peeta says.
“Could be something in the trees.” You tell him, turning your body to face him. “That’s why I don’t want to go further in.”
“But Katniss and Finnick are in there.” Peeta shakes his head. “We have to.”
“Don’t you think they would’ve called for help by now?” You ask, “We heard Katniss say something, but then she stopped.”
“And they can’t be dead because there’s no cannon.” Johanna says after. “What if they’re hurt?”
You look further into the jungle. “It’s a bad idea.”
“We have to try.” Peeta says, starting toward the two of you.
You move in time to let him pass without running into your shoulder. He makes it an additional five yards before he walks smack into a wall, head bouncing off. A little smile fights its way onto your face, and then it vanishes when you realize that this is exactly what happened when he hit the forcefield.
He reaches out, going to touch it. You stride forward, grabbing the back of the neck of his undershirt, yanking him back. “Are you stupid?”
“Wait.” He swats your hand free. “Watch.”
You grab his wrist when he holds his hand out again, causing him to look at you with wide eyes. “I’m not taking any chances with you.”
“Then do it yourself.” Peeta motions, you let go. “It would’ve blown me back if it was a forcefield. Besides, it’s too far down.”
You look at space in front of you, seemingly fine. The wall that he’d run into isn’t even visible. You take in a breath, holding it, before sticking your hand out in the direction of it.
The palm of your hand vibrates against it, you apply pressure, wondering if it’ll budge if you lean into it, but it doesn’t move. You look down at your sword, pressing your lips together. If this is a forcefield, this will most definitely kill you. Still, you swing the sword into the invisible wall, and you’re pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t explode into sparks upon contact.
“Well…” You trail off, beginning to walk around the wall, keeping one hand on it. No matter where you touch, or how far along you walk, the wall doesn’t stop. You make it into the next section of the jungle, and around the corner, and still feel it there. When you make it back to Johanna and Peeta, you shake your head. “Sealed.”
“They’re inside?” Peeta asks. “Do you think they can hear us?”
“I’m going to say no.” Johanna grunts, swinging her axe into the wall repeatedly. “If we can’t hear the birds,” Her voice is strained, “Then we can’t hear them.” She stops, tossing the axe aside, it lands next to a bush. She sighs, “I guess we’re going to wait out here.”
Peeta doesn’t like this idea, you can tell by the way his face screws up, but he knows you don’t have any other choice. 
“I’m going to grab the wire, then.” You tell her.
“Speaking of it, come up with anything yet?” She asks, eyebrows raised.
“Almost.” You say, walking away from her.
When you get to the beach and find the wire, you don’t go back into the jungle right away. You stand beneath a patch of shade, staring at the Cornucopia, and the trees beyond it, squinting.
From what you can tell, Enobaria and Brutus aren’t on the beach or in the treeline, which means that they’re in those trees, somewhere. They must be fairly far in, where they’re resting. They likely won’t come out again until they’ve been sponsored and their wounds are healing. And even then, they’ll make sure you’re not on the beach, first.
Or maybe they are able to see you, and you just can’t see them.
If you were in their shoes, you’d be watching your every move right now to figure out what you’re doing. And if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter what you do with this wire, they’ll already know the plan. Really, it would just be an excuse to split Katniss and Peeta.
So, that’s what it’ll be.
The wire could be used for a number of things, you could probably make a trap out of it. There’s enough of it for you to bring it to the tree and back down to the beach, twice. The question is what Beetee would have used it for.
You close your eyes, listening to the waves on the beach, trying to remember how Beetee won his Games. You were talking to Mags about it the other day, she was telling you that it’s been thirty years since he won. Back then, he wasn’t the strongest tribute either, he had to make something to electrocute the last remaining tributes.
He wouldn’t really be able to do that now. He had the sources—the lightning at midnight and the water at the center. In the condition he was in before he got killed, he wouldn’t have been able to make the trip up to the tree, back down to the water, and up again to be out of the way of the electricity. And the chances of the wire being cut by the Careers isn’t that low, even in your situation now.
You’d need someone at the base of the tree, and someone unspooling the wire down to the water…
Your eyes pop open, it takes them a second to adjust to the sudden light. You stare at the water. This is what Beetee was going to do, wasn’t it? The wire acts as a conductor. If you hook it up to the tree at the right time when it strikes, it’ll fry everything in the water.
But what you want is to kill the Careers, in a way. The sand would have to be wet too, or at least damp. Which… Which will be the exact case when the wave hits at ten, and it’ll be cooler out, so the water won’t evaporate as quickly. If you bury the spool in the sand, it should have the entire beach covered and the water.
“Bingo.” You say, grabbing the coil.
You join the others back inside of the jungle, finding Peeta on the floor, forehead pressed to the invisible wall. Johanna’s pacing back and forth, arms crossed over her chest. When you get closer, you’re able to see that Katniss and Finnick are on the other side, both of them with their hands over their ears.
When a twig snaps beneath your weight, Johanna looks over. She lets out a sigh, shoulders slumping. “What took you so long?”
“Came up with a plan.” You tell her, dropping the wire and your sword next to one of her axes. 
“What plan?” Peeta asks, unmoving.
“On how to kill the remaining Careers.” You wink at Johanna, but it’s not flirtatious.
You know she understands when the crease appears between her eyebrows, giving you a slight nod. “Care to enlighten us?”
“When they’re out, I will. I don’t want to have to repeat myself.” You nod at the other two. “What’s going on in there?”
“I think it’s jabberjays.” Johanna says, pointing up at the trees behind the wall. “They’re fifty of them in the trees. Katniss tried killing them, of course it didn’t work.”
Your eyes land on Finnick, finding his muscles rigid. You crouch to get a better look at his face, there’s a streak of red from his nose, down his lips, and off his chin. “What happened to Finnick?”
“He ran face-first into the wall.” Peeta says. “It was a bloody nose.”
You hum, lowering yourself to the ground. “Hopefully it won’t be much longer.”
The wall suddenly breaks, Peeta falling forward. He catches himself on his hands, getting to his feet. He doesn’t even say anything, just scoops Katniss into his arms, and walks straight out of the jungle with her, leaving the arrows behind.
You sit up, looking over at Johanna to see that she’s staring at you. She tilts her head, “Do you want to try?”
You take in a breath, “I’ll let you know if it works.”
She nods, following after Katniss and Peeta, because someone needs to be watching over them. You get up, walking a few feet over to Finnick, before crouching down beside him. 
You lift a hand, hovering it over his back for a minute, and then change your mind, placing your elbows on your thighs to lean on them. He’s got his eyes closed, head down. He probably can’t even hear you. You don’t even know how he’ll react to being touched, much less by you.
You press your lips together, heart hurting at the sight of him. It’d be better if Johanna were here, she can talk to him. All you’ll do is upset him more. You grind your teeth, once again wishing that this wasn’t your relationship. As you go to stand up, the hands over his ears loosen, head beginning to lift.
He looks around in the jungle first, making sure the threat is gone. That’s when he notices you beside him, waiting. His eyes are watery, he swallows.
“Hey,” You murmur, “Are you okay?”
He stares at you, eyebrows drawing in.
You nod, “I’ll go get Johanna.”
Once again, you try to get to your feet, when he speaks, “Why?”
“Why… what?” You ask, pausing.
“Why would you get Johanna?” He asks.
You turn your head in the direction of the beach. Is he really going to make you say it? Does he want to see the pain it’ll cause you? Or does he think it’ll come out venomous?
When you look at him, you sigh, “Because I’m not really a comforting person to you, am I?”
He doesn’t answer your question, “Where are they?”
“They’re on the beach.” You tell him. “I figured out a plan that’ll work. I’ll tell you guys when you’re ready.”
“Do Johanna and Peeta know?” He asks.
You shake your head, “No.”
Neither of you move, staring at each other. And while you could stay here forever, you don’t allow yourself. You push on your knees, standing up. You offer your hand to him, but he moves it away, just like you figured he would.
He doesn’t say anything, walking past you to leave. You stare at the scene of dead birds in front of you, before you turn around, collecting yours and Johanna’s belongings, and going to join them on the beach. 
Katniss seems better, she’s talking to Peeta. Johanna is standing over them, she glances at Finnick when he passes by. She has to twist her body to see you standing in the treeline. You hand her the axe.
“It was a trick, Katniss. A horrible one. But we’re the only ones who can be hurt by it. We’re the ones in the Games. Not them.” Peeta says.
“You really believe that?” Katniss asks.
“I really do.” 
“Do you believe it, Finnick?” 
“It could be true. I don’t know.” He says, looking up at Johanna, ignoring you entirely. “Could they do that? Take someone’s regular voice and make it…”
Johanna makes a face, looking at you for help. You play with the piece of wire you’d unraveled, “I’m sure Beetee would know.”
“Peeta’s right.” Johanna then says. “The whole country adores Katniss’s little sister. If they really killed her like this, they’d probably have an uprising on her hands.” She deadpans. “Don’t want that, do they?” She scoffs, throwing her head back to shout, “Whole country in rebellion? Wouldn’t want anything like that!”
She shakes her head, wandering around the beach to pick up shells. When she finds a good few, she stops next to Finnick, holding her hand out. “I’m getting water.” Finnick drops the spile into her hand, and she begins toward the jungle.
Katniss grabs her hand. “Don’t go in there. The birds—”
“They can’t hurt me. I’m not like the rest of you. There’s no one left I love.” She says, shaking her hand free. You don’t miss the look she gives Finnick, and then you, as she disappears into the jungle. 
She comes back a couple minutes later with a shell of water, handing it over to Katniss first. She makes trips back and forth, letting each of you have some. She comes out one trip with a pile of arrows that she gives back to Katniss.
Finnick shakes his head, walking to the water. He stops a few feet in, and sits. You let the wire drop to the sand, tired of bringing it wherever you go. You don’t move from where you are, eyes fixated on his back.
“Who did they use against Finnick?” Peeta asks, curious.
Katniss is quiet. You’re expecting her to say Annie, because it makes the most sense, but when you look over, she’s eyeing you, and so is Peeta. 
“What?” You ask. “Was it Annie?”
“No, it wasn’t.” Katniss murmurs. “We thought we heard you.”
A loud laugh comes from you, unwarranted. The thought of Finnick caring about you enough for the Gamemakers to use you against him is funny. Really funny, actually. It must’ve been a walk in the park for him, listening to your pleas. A little gratifying, because he could pretend that you were getting what was coming for you.
But Katniss isn’t laughing, she’s serious. 
The humor leaves your smile, “It must’ve been his mother, that he was mistaken for me.”
“No, because we heard his mom, too. That first scream was yours.” She insists, “And he dropped everything to find you.”
“Finnick would never do that.” You tell her, voice cold. 
She doesn’t press it further, but the look in her eye is enough. She’s not lying to you, she’s telling the truth. She doesn’t gain anything from making something like that up.
You won’t believe it though. This is the same Finnick that told Johanna that he didn’t trust you, an hour and a half ago. There’s nothing that could’ve made him change his feelings in that time span.
Unless it didn’t.
Your eyes narrow at the back of Finnick’s head, hand tightening around your sword. 
A cannon blast keeps you from thinking about the subject any further, but the bubbling in your stomach is only getting hotter. Finnick gets up, coming to join you three, as well as Johanna, materializing out of the jungle. You stand together, watching a hovercraft appear over the next section, claw dipping in several times to retrieve all the pieces of one body. 
The beast.
This sparks Peeta to create another map, this time he’s able to fill in more than half of it. It starts with lightning, rain, and fog. It moves on to monkeys and jabberjays. He has to skip a section, and then writes beast. And the next one you have after six to seven is the wave at ten. This means you’re missing five of the other hours. 
The others begin to come back to life. Finnick begins to weave a water basket and a net to fish for dinner. While Katniss takes a swim and applies more ointment. By the time she’s done, Finnick has worked up a pile, so she sits on the edge of the water, cleaning them for him. 
It doesn’t take long for Katniss’s words to creep back into your mind, refusing to leave it be. Finnick cares about you, a thought that should have you excited, but it makes you uncomfortable. He has spent the last eight years making sure that you know that he hates you and couldn’t care less about what happens to you.
Yet here he is, supposedly dropping everything to save you. Possibly even leaving Katniss behind to do it. The Gamemakers must know something that you don’t, if they knew to use your voice. You want to assume that they thought Finnick was worried solely because you’re his district partner. Except, that doesn’t make sense either, because the two of you are notorious in the Capitol for being a pair of mentors that get into fights about how to handle things.
He has a lot of nerve.
The sun falls below the horizon, the moon rising to replace it in the sky. When they finish cleaning the fish, they bring it over, setting it in the middle of the circle for you to enjoy. The four of them begin to settle in the sand, you don’t move from where you stand.
The anthem begins to play, stopping them from digging in. The Capitol seal lights up the sky, and then it’s replaced by the faces. Cashmere, Gloss, Wiress, Beetee. The woman from Five, the morphling from Six, Blight, and the man from Ten. 
Eight tributes dead.
Strangely, this makes you think of your own Hunger Games. Where you managed to kill four people in the span of two hours, one of those being Rio, who was your district partner. By the end of the Games, you had eight kills under your belt. A third of the competition was taken out by you, a little fifteen year-old.
Once again, a factor that used to make Finnick sick. And now it doesn’t.
“They’re really burning through us.” Johanna says.
“Who’s left? Besides us five and District Two?” Finnick asks.
“Chaff.” Peeta says without missing a beat.
The sound of clinking fills the air, you look up to find a parachute coming down, teetering from side to side. It lands perfectly in the middle of the group, unfolding itself to reveal the steaming rolls.
“Do these look like District Three to you?” Finnick looks at Johanna.
“Yeah, look at the imprint.” She says, running her finger over the top of one. “How many are there?”
Finnick counts them, being sure to be thorough. “Twenty-four. How should we divide them?”
“Let’s each have three, and whoever is still alive at breakfast can take a vote on the rest.” Johanna says, causing Katniss to laugh.
You pull your sword out of the sand, swinging it up to rest the flat part of the blade on your shoulder. Finnick looks up at you, eyeing your stance. You step away from them, shaking your head.
“Sit down, (Y/n).” Finnick tells you.
“Why, so you can keep an eye on me?” You snap, crossing the treeline. “Come and get me, Finnick.”
You make it a few feet in, before you hear the snapping of branches behind you. You sigh, turning with raised eyebrows to see that Finnick took it as a challenge. You didn’t mean it that way. You didn’t want him to chase you.
“Get out here.” He tells you.
You walk backward, tilting your head at him. “I’m just making sure Enobaria and Brutus aren’t out here.”
“I don’t care.” He’s still walking toward you. “We’ll worry about that when we make camp.”
You stop, letting your sword down from your shoulder. When you look past him, you can see that there’s enough distance between him and the beach. There’s privacy to talk and sort out what you heard.
Your eyes land on him, “Katniss told me something,” You start, watching his eyebrows twitch, “About how you thought I was the one screaming for help.”
Finnick shakes his head, “I thought it was my mom.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said too.” You tell him, “But you said my name, and you dropped everything to go and get me.”
He sets his jaw, “So?”
“So,” The word is bitter, “What changed?”
He laughs, “Nothing, (Y/n). I went—”
“They used loved ones and family.” You cut him off. “You care about me, admit it.”
“I don’t.” He tells you. “I never have, and I never will.”
“You chased after the jabberjays thinking it was me, and you followed me in here because you’re worried that I’ll get caught by the Careers, admit it.”
“I don’t know what you think is happening, but whatever it is, it’s not true.” His voice wavers.
This is all the confirmation you need. “You want to know what I’m thinking right now?” You press your pointer finger to the middle of his chest. “That you’re not bothered by me anymore, and you haven’t been for a while. You’ve done a damn good job of hiding it up until now, but the jabberjays got you good.”
Finnick grabs your wrist, “That’s not true.”
“What changed, Finnick?” You insist.
“Nothing, because I don’t have feelings for you.” He snaps. “The reason why I came in here is because we want to move camp to the ten sector once the wave happens, I just didn’t want you to get lost out here and think we abandoned you, making you think it’s a free-for-all.”
He lets go of your wrist, face screwed tightly, as he leaves you here. You watch him go back to the beach, while you take several breaths, feeling the pit in your stomach grow.
What have you done?
---
this is part of my 3k celebration!!
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korasonata · 8 months
Text
JUST finished Cleo’s first stream for Pirates SMP, and the amount of times I just fully burst out laughing like—
Sausage: *kisses Scott on sight*
Owen: *throwing himself in front of Sausage * Hi. 😏
Scott: I like a forward man 😉
Sausage: Where do you get these? This silk?
Scott: Thank you, thank you…
Sausage: Can I touch it?
Scott: Yeah of course. You can touch whatever you want 😏
Oli: I’ll give you 5 gold to tell me what’s beneath that patch.
Cleo: Look my eye got stolen by a monkey, ok?!
Oli: Oh! Was it a my cock?
Sausage: WHAT?!
Oli: A ma’ cock!
Sausage: THAT’S NOT HOW YOU PRONOUNCE IT!
*Owenge_Juice becomes a Heron*
Scott/Cleo/El: (chanting) ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Owen: …are you allowed to change your mind afterwards?
Scott: NO! :D
El: So you’re like a lone wolf?
Owen: Uh…kind of. More like a lone sea dog.
El: Come on, give us a bark.
Scott: Yeah!
Owen: Uh…I only bark in certain situations…
Scott: Oh. What situations?
Owen: …uh, oKAY! WHICH WAY—
El: This is my bed over here. There is one right next to it, you can take that.
Owen: Perfect! Thanks!
El: I do make really loud noises in my sleep.
Scott + Owen: Oh???
El: Yeah.
Cleo: Yeah, but not the noises you would expect either.
Cleo (about Olive): They said they’d got invitations from Herons and Nightingales I think?
Scott: Yeah it was Heron, Nightingales, and Kestrals, they didn’t get Kites.
Cleo: Who DOES get Kites unless you’re a psychopath.
Scott: Owen got all 4.
Owen: Yeah…umm…
Cleo: Oh…
*Cleo gets everyone drunk*
Cleo: Ah, you’re all lightweights!
El: *flirting with Water* Oh, you look so lovely in this light right now!
Water: Oh El!
El: Lovely!
Scott: I feel I can take more damage. I’m gonna go jump off the cliff guys!!
Cleo: Maybe one day you can buy a real hat!
El: Well I will, but you know, I just think— I don’t see anybody else having made one when they’ve not got one. Gonna get a wet head.
Cleo: *absolutely lost it*
Cleo: Gotta get the alcohol. Otherwise I’m gonna kill someone. It’s fine.
Oil (Distant): ARE WE SURE THIS IS THE WAY?!
Cleo: Scott’s sure it’s the way!
Oli (distant distress): I— DON’T LIKE IT!
Aimsey: Honestly I’m hoping for the best! I hope he does!
Oli: Ya Damn Herons!
Cleo: You don’t have to follow us, ok?!
Oli: Well unfortunately my Kestrals already ran off
Aimsey: This is what I mean! I— I’m hoping you get this! I’ve dunked this too many times!
Cleo: It’s very Kestral of you to just wait until the end and have other people to do it for you!
Aimsey: I’m a Kite! I’m a Kite! Thank you!
Cleo: Well, yeah you know what? It’s very typical for Kites to do it too.
Aimsey: Oh well is it now? Is it then?!
Cleo: Oh yeah yeah! It is it is!
Aimsey: Do you wanna duel?! You wanna duel when we get back, Cleo?! You wanna duel?!
Cleo: Do I want to punch you in the face a bunch? I do. But I’m drunk. I don’t know what you want from me.
Oli: There we go, I’ve got a side angle. I’m overtaking you, Heron! SLOOOOWWW
Cleo: *cuts him off*
Oli: No stop crashing! You’re crashing my port side!
Cleo: Well you know—
Oli: GET OFF ME PORT SIDE!
Cleo: NO ONE WANTS TO BE ON YOUR PORT SIDE, OK?!
Oli: Everyone wants to be on my port side!
Cleo: This is very far away. Like I haven’t heard Scott this whole time. I feel like Scott’s monologuing.
Aimsey: I can hear you though, Cleo!
Cleo: I hear YOU. And I—
Aimsey: You love that, right? You love hearing me. 😏
Cleo: *singing* What shall we do with a drunken sailor! What shall we do with a drunken sailor! What shall we— *talking* apparently put her in a boat and let her follow Scott, that’s what you need to do with a drunken sailor.
Oli: AIMSEY! AIMSEY! AIMSEY! STOP SINGING!
Aimsey: *distant singing*
Cleo: Oh I can’t hear Aimsey, that’s good.
Oli: CAUSE I HATE HERONS!
Cleo (a Heron): AIMSEY’S NOT A HERON!
SILENCE
Oli: …then what are they?
Cleo: They’re a Kite.
Oli: OH STUPID KITES! Herons, you’re alright. KITES. Imbeciles.
Owen (talking to chat): No, there’s no canon lives, chat. Except in specific cases. *whispering* check with Twitter.
Cleo: YOU’RE BREAKING MY EMERSION OWEN!
Owen: Sorry!
Olive: Hey! Where does a pirate go to school? HARRRvard!
Cleo: …You’re out of the faction.
Olive: Oh no! Not on my second day! H—how does a pirate protect themself? ARRRmour.
Cleo: …I’m gonna run a vote…
Olive: No it’s fine, I’ll go join the Kite’s or something, it’s fine.
Cleo: Oh dear.
Olive: What do you call it when two pirates are in a draw? A staleMATEY.
Cleo: OUT! OUT OF THE FACTION!
*Cleo walks up to a female NPC*
Cleo: Hello sweet lady 😏
Other things I also enjoyed
•Scar managing to get a Jellie and literally everyone swarming around to pet her
•Scott, Aimsey, Cleo, and Oli sailing together and all of them singing a completely different pirate song simultaneously.
•The entire dynamic between Cleo and Aimsey
•Cleo being HELLA sus of Cruppy the entire time right up until Scott hands it a beer and it drinks and suddenly Cleo’s just like actually you know what? You’re alright. We cool.
•Cleo being given babysitting duty and then literally within 5 minutes pawning off the child with a rival faction
•Cleo using being drunk as an excuse for everything. Lag? Everyone is drunk because she keeps giving out alcohol. Server crash? Don’t mind her she’s just vomiting in the corner of a pub somewhere. No tools? She needs the iron to make kegs for MORE alcohol. Oh you wanna fight? I would but I’m drunk. Shit babysitter? I’m a drunk what do you want from me? She signs off for the day and her excuse for her absence is literally just “imma go get blackout drunk for a solid 14 hours”. The fact that the excuse works lore wise for almost every situation.
•THE ANIMATICS
•The LORE. JUST ALL THE LORE
Solid start. 10/10
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ang3lofsmalldeath · 1 year
Text
blurb of steve harrington x reader having a daddy kink (minors DNI; not proofread)
maybe it was the warmth of steve’s heated pool or the sips of rosé you had rushing to your brain, but you couldn’t stop the fluttering in your tummy as you watched steve play basketball with the younger teens in his pool. you certainly couldnt stop the feeling when robin swam up to sit with you on the pool steps and pointed out steve’s behavior, “ugh look at dingus… god he’s gonna be such a good dad one day- it’s kinda annoying.” of course, you couldn’t help but agree with her, a dreamy sigh slipping out of your month while steve dunked dustin under the water, and you had begun imagining him with a lil fluffy-haired babe of his own. robin clocked the way you were looking at steve, “don’t you agree?” she questioned as you quickly nodded your head, “oh i see- you wanna be the one to make him a daddddyyy!” teasing you in that sing-song voice, making you simply giggle in return, trying to ignore the warmth that flushed to your cunt thinking about steve as a daddy.
one of the best things about your relationship with steve is that he almost always can tell how you are feeling, he can read you like a book. so you weren’t shocked that he immediately could tell what you needed when you wrapped your arms around him, basically hugging him from behind as he cleaned the grill, clad in just his yellow crewneck over your damp bikini to fight the nip of the wind. at this point, everyone had left so he felt no shame as he put his arm around your shoulder, pulled you into his side, and stared at your glassy puppy-dog eyes. breathlessly chuckling, he pressed a chaste kiss on your forehead, “i know, honey, i know.”
once you got inside, steve all but carried you to his bedroom, both of you loving the way he manhandled you, as you pressed small pecks on his jaw and cheeks. “are you feeling needy, baby, huh?” he teased, turning the knob on his door, noticing the way your hips were trying to hump his. you could whimper and squirm in response as steve sat down on his bed with you in his lap. you were both so turned on, and still a lil tipsy, so it wasn’t a surprise when you ended sinking down on his throbbing cock, his hands on your waist, within a few minutes. “o’shit baby, yeah there you go, my good girl. jus’ the tip, ok, don’t hurt yourself baby- god you’re so fuckin wet,” steve couldn’t help his whines and moans as you trembled like a leaf around him, cockdrunk trying to take him deeper. “hnghhh-oh! i-i ca- cant-s’good daddy”. you didn’t catch the petname slipping past your lips, but steve did. stopping you from sinking any further, he stilled your hips and grabbed your face by squishing your checks “what did u call me, honey?” of course you were beyond embarrassed, but with his steady grip in your face you had nowhere to run. “i’m s’sorry! i didnt mean to i-it jus’ slipped out-” you felt stupid and small and you couldn’t control the tears dripping from your eyes. “aw, sweetheart, it’s okay, dont be embarrassed. i jus’ wanted to know why you want to call me that. y’know ill give you whatever you ask for, angel”. you stopped your sniffling, and shifted your eyes to nervously connect with steve’s, basically whining out “ ‘s just-robin asked me if i was ever gonna make you a dad, ‘n’ i cant help imagining it- you take such good care of all of the group now, and well… me so i jus’ couldnt stop thinkin’ about it”
steve could say he was surprised but, he wasn’t. at heart, he was a caregiver through and through, and that carried into your relationship to an extreme. there was a hint of casual dominance in everything he did for you. tying your shoes, carrying you around, bathing you in the shower or bath, keeping your hands warm in his pocket, making you meals, feeding you when you were to weak, kissing you to sleep everynight, etc,. and to be honest, he blushed to the thought of you wanting his babies as bad as he wanted to give them to you.
“aw, peach,” he cooed grabbing your face and slowly thrusting into you, watching you contort your pout into a gasp, “you’re s’sweet, love, one day, you’re gonna let me put a baby in you, hm? yeah but until, i’ll just be your daddy, you can have me all to yourself, how ‘bout that, honey?” you rapidly nodded your head with your eyes pinched, whimpering and whining about how good it felt and how deep he was, as you began to match his thrusts, slowing building a steady pace as he went further and further inside you. “my shy, dumb lil baby, huh? put daddy’s cock in you and you can’t respond t’me? that’s okay, my girl, my good girl, just let your head go empty and daddy will do all the work, gonna make this soaked, pretty pussy cum all over me.”
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autisticlancemcclain · 5 months
Text
“You’re not going.”
Keith picks his head up from the table. “Huh?”
“To the Blades,” Lance clarifies, chopping up something that looks like a bright pink potato and throwing it in a rapidly boiling pot in what Keith would call an aggressive manner. “You’re not going.”
“…I didn’t say I was.”
He didn’t. He didn’t mention anything about the Blades to any living soul. Like, yeah, he had made the decision and was going to, but.
There’s no reason Lance should know that.
“Good, then, because I took your uniform — which looks like a slutty catsuit, by the way, just so you’re aware — to the incinerator last night. It’s ash now.”
Keith stares at his best friend, jaw dropped, hands resting limply on the edge of the dining table, because — huh? pardon? what happened?
“Whatever identity crisis you’re having can happen here,” Lance adds, shaking some spices into the boiling pot and stirring it a couple times. He dips in a spoon, brings it up to his lips, then makes a face. “Here, try this.”
He marches over to where Keith has been moping as he makes dinner and shoves a spoon into his gaping mouth. Keith chokes, hot stew making its merry way down his trachea, eyes watering and chest heaving.
“A little too salty,” he rasps.
Lance scowls. “Fuck. I knew it. Gotta add more barbie potatoes.” He turns down the heat, grabbing more potatoes from the sack and busying himself with peeling them. Slowly, as he recovers from the fear of his actual lungs collapsing in on themselves, Keith stands, hesitantly approaching Lance and reaching for a knife to chop what he peels.
“So,” he starts.
Lance ignores him.
But Keith is used to this dynamic. It’s either this or flipped. Friends or not, if there’s one thing they can’t do it’s use their big boy words. So he carries on.
“I take it you…don’t want me to go, then.”
Lance grunts. “Oh, look, the caveman has room in his skull for a brain after all.”
“Uncalled for,” Keith says, scowling. “I am not the one who’s refusing to communicate right now.”
The corner of Lance’s mouth twitches upwards.
Score. Point to Keith.
“Obviously I don’t want you to leave, you stupid dumbass,” Lance admits finally. He wrestles the chopped roots out of Keith’s hands and practically dunks them in the pot, turning the heat back up. Keith smears his starch covered hands on his shirt in revenge (and then wisely takes three quick and giant steps back, well out of backhanding range).
“But there are too many paladins,” Keith points out. “You said it yourself.”
Lance grabs a dishtowel, twisting it menacingly in his hands. Keith tries not to think about the scar he knows Hunk has from when Lance snapped a towel at him when they were kids, wrestling in the McClains’ kitchen. He fails.
“Do you actually have any braincells left in your head at all?”
“Yes, jackass. That’s why I did the math. I leave and the numbers add back up. Problem solved.”
“You leave and Voltron falls apart,” Lance snaps. “So maybe crunch those numbers again.”
Keith stills. Lance steps towards him, still glaring, still menacing, but he doesn’t move — he holds Lance’s gaze, searching his dark eyes, looking for the words he isn’t saying. Because Keith…Keith isn’t the one holding Voltron together. There was a reason his heart caught in his throat when Lance came to him downtrodden and talked about being a seventh wheel. There’s a reason his duffel is packed, a reason he’s talked to Kolivan. He knows who needs to step aside.
“You just don’t get it,” Lance says, frustrated. He takes another step.
“You talk to us about teamwork all the time.”
Another step.
“You’re favourite thing to whine about is the bonding moment.”
Another step, this time as he pitches his voice high and mocking, flapping his hands.
“You never shut up about training as a group.”
One final step and he’s toe to toe, shoes to boots, nose to nose. Keith realises, startlingly, that they’re the exact same height, now.
“We are a crew, imbécil. Team, group, boyband. Whatever you wanna call it. All for one and one for all. The whole nine yards, all that cheesy bullshit.” He pokes Keith hard in the chest. “You don’t get to ditch.”
“But it makes more sense,” Keith argues, weakly and half-desperately. “We only have so many resources. If I can be useful at the Blades —”
“Fuck the fucking Blades.”
Keith deflates. His hand comes up to stop Lance’s jabbing finger, curling around his knuckles. Lance softens, slightly.
“I just want to be as useful as I can be.”
“And if you’re enough as you are?” Lance asks quietly.
Keith opens his mouth, but stops, automatic I’m not dying in his throat. For the first time in his life, it doesn’t seem like the truth, with the determined set to Lance’s jaw and the sliding of their fingers together, gripping tightly.
“Then I guess I’m staying,” Keith breathes.
Lance nods. “Good.”
Keith notices his hands are kind of clammy. His forehead, too, is a little sweaty. The air between them feels hot. Keith swallows.
“Your stew is on fire,” he croaks, voice rough.
Lance drops his hand, cursing.
“Oh — por amor de dios, hablas en fucking serio —”
———
At dinner, Keith eats his burnt stew without a word of complaint. When Lance drags him to the sink to help clean up, after, even though it’s not his turn, he goes, and he lingers too close and too long, and he’s grateful that the duffel he packed to leave home for good is laid emptied on his bed when he turns in for the night.
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ghouljams · 8 months
Note
PLEASE DON'T HOLD BACK I WANT THE COWBOY AU INSIDE OF THE COWBOY AU!!!!!!! PLEASE IM ON MY HANDS AND KNEES!!!
(also can I be 🐇anon if it's not taken???)
You hear the shots before you can stop the duel. You’re just in time to see the dust settle on two bodies as you grip the handle of your kit. Two dead, what a waste. The mortician is already measuring one for a coffin. You sigh and push your hair back, start making your way to help before movement catches your eye. You whip to face the apparently alive deputy, and watch him push himself up to sit, gripping his bloody arm. That you can fix.
You hurry over to him, dropping to your knees to start pulling the needed supplies from your bag. “Almost had me worried, Price,” You tell him, cutting his shirtsleeve at the shoulder seam to yank it down. He hisses, grips his elbow to keep from flinching as you work.
“Can’t even spare me a ‘Deputy’?” He asks, watching you prod at the wound.
“Deputy is for winners,” You dip back into your bag and whistle at the saloon patrons for a stiff one. 
“Only you would consider this a loss,” He sighs, reaching for the glass the barkeep brings out. You grab it before he can and dunk your instruments in it. He grimaces, no longer interested in the drink. You hand him a strap of leather to bite as you shake the whiskey off your tweezers.
“You got shot didn’t you?” You tilt your head for a better look at the bullet lodged in his shoulder. Bullets lead to infections. You click your tweezers a few times to warn him before pushing them into the wound. You always hope the pain will be enough to deter any more duels in the future, but Price hardly does more than grunt. He’s got an iron will you suppose. 
You pull the bullet free and drop it in his waiting hand, a souvenir. Your fingers feel around the entry point, checking for any bone chips or loose lead. Price lets out a long breath through his nose, exhaling the pain. Seems shallow enough, and you don’t feel anything but the oozing of blood around your fingers. You grab the whiskey glass and tip it over the wound.
“Mmmmmmfuck.” He groans, and you can’t say you blame him, but you need to get some of the blood off. The alcohol works just as well as clean water at washing blood away. Even if the sting of it makes Price’s muscles tense, his breath shaky. You do your best to ignore it while you grab bandages from your bag. “Fuckin’ sawbones.” He grumbles.
“If you don’t want me to hurt you stop getting shot,” You give him a quick raise of your brows. You’re quick with the bandages, it’s better to be quick before the wound bleeds too much.
“Then how’d I see you?” He smiles, and you try not to smile too much in return.
“You could come to the clinic for once,” You tell him, tying off the bandage. His hand moves to rest on your knee, a comfortable weight you know well. He better watch that hand, you still need to get a sling on him.
“God I’d be good to ya’,” Price sighs.
“Yeah?” You tuck your supplies back into your bag and stand, offering a hand to help him up. He grasps your forearm with his uninjured arm and grunts as you haul him to his feet. “How’d you be good to me, when you can barely be good to yourself?” You twist to duck under his arm and wrap it around your shoulder. You think the way he leans against you may be slightly exaggerated as you help him towards your family’s clinic.
“I’d be good to ya’!” Price laughs, “Build ya’ a nice house and all the furniture in it, keep ya’ well stocked with patients.”
“You’d let me keep workin’?” You aren’t going to comment on how happy that makes you. Most men would be more insistent on their partner staying home, popping out kids, you like your work too much to give it up. Probably why you’re still single.
“Can’t deprive the town of their best doctor,” Price huffs out a heavy breath as you sit him down in the front room of the clinic.
“I thought you said I was a sawbones,” You set your bag down and go to dig through the clean clothes for a sling.
“And I’ll let you hold that against me the rest of my life, God I’d be good to ya’,” The way he says it, the explosive admission of it, makes you shake your head fondly. You focus on bending his arm into the sling, trying to keep the pain to a minimum. He grabs you and pulls you down onto his lap when you finish, both of you careful not to bump his arm.
“I think the heat’s gettin’ to ya’ deputy,” You tell him, making yourself comfortable on his lap.
“When’re you gonna say ‘yes’ to me?” He asks, and you wonder if most engagements happen like this. You don’t think so, Price is one of a kind.
“When you win a duel without a new hole to show for it,” You reach to brush some of the dust from outside off his beard, he kisses your fingers as they move over his lips.
“Might take a while then,” he relents, though you know he’s lying. You know better than anyone he’s never this careless when you aren’t on duty. It really is his best excuse to see you. You’re the only one he lets patch him up, and that’s just fine with you.
“Gives you plenty of time to build me a house.” God, you’d be good to him, you already are.
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ngayawneluoer · 1 year
Text
eye on you
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ neteyam x reader
requested! - you’re being picked on by ao’nung and his friends, and neteyam comes to the rescue
word count: 2095
a/n: just as a side note, the two other boys ao’nung and rotxo were with are unnamed as far as i’m aware, so i gave them names - Yel'tam and Teyxll.
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It was rare to find a peaceful moment since your arrival in Awa'atlu. Your daily life was painstakingly packed with learning the ways of the Metkayina, but you supposed you couldn't complain.
When the Sully family declared they would leave the Omatikayan people, you begged and pleaded with them to let you come along. You and Neteyam were inseparable; Jake saw a lot of himself and his mate in you and Neteyam, and he didn't have the heart to separate you. So with the approval of your carers, you packed your things and joined the Sullys. You were more than lucky that Jake and Neytiri had allowed you to come, and you weren't about to waste their kindness. They practically signed up to have another unruly kid they needed to care for and you were more than grateful. You would do everything you could to adapt to the ways of the sea.
But at this particular time, you found that everything had already been done for the day, and you could relax on the beach for the first time in what felt like forever. You lay back on the wet sand where the beach met the sea, letting the gentle waves roll over your legs. Kiri was a few meters away from you, her head under the water. She had blabbered something about seeing a crab before dunking her head in the water, but truth be told, you really couldn't care less. You were taking these few tranquil minutes for yourself and yourself only.
Of course, your relaxation couldn't last more than 5 minutes. Not on this island and not with Ao'nung and his friends around. You looked up and saw Ao'nung, Roxto and two other boys you knew as Yel'tam and Teyxll approach, grins on their faces that indicated they were looking to stir up trouble.
"What are you up to?" you said defensively, eyes squinted in a glare.
"Don't you worry your little tail," Ao'nung snickered. They continued their journey towards Kiri, who was still entranced with the underwater creature she had seen. You sat up, guardedly eyeing them with a dubious look on your face.
"What is she doing?" "She's just looking at sand." You heard the group belittle.
You scowled, raising your voice angrily, "Leave her alone, skxawngs," You turned towards them and splashed water at them to get their attention.
Despite your effort, the cruel boys disregarded you and continued chortling amongst themselves.
Now aware of the commotion, Kiri rose from the water, confused, "Huh? What d'you say?"
"Are you some sort of... freak?" Ao'nung taunted.
"He asked if you are a freak," Roxto ridiculed with a condescending smirk, leaning forward towards Kiri as if talking to a child.
Kiri's expression twisted into one of confusion and hurt, and she let out a deflated, "No…."
Having had enough, you angrily got up from the water and stalked over to the four troublemakers. You pulled Kiri behind you protectively before shooting the boys a hateful glare, "Leave her alone."
This only caused them to burst into ridiculing laughter, and Ao'nung grinned tauntingly, "Little forest girl coming to the rescue?" You bared your teeth in irritation, but he continued, "Why bother defending her? I mean, she's not even Na'vi. Look at those hands."
Ao'nung stepped forward and grabbed Kiri's hand before you could stop him, but she instantaneously snatched it back, offended. Heart beating fast, you hissed at him, your hands trembling with rage.
With a threatening glint in his eye, Ao'nung stepped closer to you. All went quiet as he stood above you, his tall frame sizing you up as if trying to intimidate you. Unafraid, you stared back into his eyes with a cold, challenging gaze, a deep-set snarl on your face.
Before either of you could do anything, the sound of Lo'ak's voice as he made his way down the beach stopped you.  
"Hey! Back off, fish lips!" Lo'ak shouted, face contorted with rage.
Upon seeing Lo'ak, Ao'nung sniggered like a cat who was given another mouse to toy with, "Aw look, another four-fingered freak!"
"Stop it!" You hissed, which only caused Rotxo to pull your tail, making you yelp and jump away from him, "Look at her little baby tail!"
Lo'ak growled furiously, turning around and slapping Rotxo's hands away from you, "Don't touch her."
"Baby tail!"
"Leave us alone!" Kiri abruptly exclaimed, her eyes widened in anxiety.
The Metkayinan boys remained unbothered. Instead, they shifted to pulling at Lo'ak's tail, and he slapped their hands away to the best of his ability. As stubborn as stone, the boys continued tugging his tail, hollering and cackling about his "baby tail".
With a sneer on your face, you approached Yel'tam, who was pulling Lo'aks tail, "Leave!" You commanded, fiercely shoving Yel'tam away. He budged slightly, vainly chuckling at your attempt before pushing you back twice as hard, causing you to stumble to the sand.
You didn't even register Neteyam arriving, but he was with you in an instant, standing protectively in front of you. He pushed Ao'nang to the side and hissed at his lackeys, making them all step back. "You heard what she said. Leave them alone."
"Oh, big brother coming to the-" Yel'tam started mocking but stopped when Ao'nang raised his hand to signal him to shut up.
You stood up with a huff and brushed yourself off, standing behind Neteyam. He held a menacing finger up to Ao'nang, his voice tense and threatening like you'd never heard it before, "Back off. Now."
Ao'nung, with that stupid look on his face, looked at you, Kiri, then Lo'ak, and finally, his stare fell on Neteyam again. Ultimately, his hands went up in defence as if to admit defeat, even if his face said otherwise.
Tense muscles relaxing, Neteyam seemed satisfied and moved back, "Smart move."
He gently pushed Lo'ak to walk away before turning to make eye contact with you, a silent conversation between the two of you. When you nodded to indicate that you were okay, he took your hand, and the two of you treaded away to join Kiri and Lo'ak.
"Bye-bye!" "They're all freaks. Their whole family."
Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Lo'ak stop, and you instantly knew you would not leave this beach unscathed. You looked back towards your headstrong friend with a glare, and Neteyam followed your gaze, "Lo'ak." He warned.
"I got this, bro," Lo'ak said, walking back up to the boys, "I know this hand is funny. Look, I'm a freak, alien." They all cracked up, but you rolled your eyes, knowing Lo'ak was stirring the pot. He wouldn't be entertaining their stupid narrative if he wasn't about to do something stupid himself.
"Watch. First, you ball it up real tight like this. Okay?" Ao'nung watched curiously, "And then-"
Lo'ak punched Ao'nung. There it is. You thought.
Ao'nung, stunned, stumbled backwards into the sand, and Lo'ak was left standing with a scornful grin, "It's called a punch bitch. Don't ever touch my sister again."
Lips curled with fury, Ao'nung immediately got up and tackled him to the ground, but Lo'ak got the upper hand by rolling him over and punching him again. Rotxo and Yel'tam pulled Lo'ak away by his tail, and Teyxll twirled to whip his tail in his face.
Neteyam met your eyes for a second, a grimace on his face. In his mind he was weighing his options, wondering if this was worth the lecture he would get later. He scratched his head awkwardly before letting go of your hand with a quick "fuck it" and running over to join the fight. You watched as he punched Teyxll before driving a knee into Rotxo's stomach.
"Stop it," Kiri said with minimal effort, knowing she was unlikely to succeed in stopping the brawl.
You sighed, rubbing your temple as you watched the scuffle, "Honestly..."
Yel'tam tackled Neteyam to the ground, throwing punches as Neteyam grappled with him. Not that you didn't love Lo'ak, but he deserved to get scuffed up once in a while. Neteyam, on the other hand did not, and you would not stand back and watch your boyfriend get his ass beat just because of his blockheaded brother. You groaned and gave in, rushing over to help your idiots. Within moments you jumped onto the Metkayinan boy's back to pull him off Neteyam.
"This is stupid!" You faintly heard Kiri yell.
You threw a powerful punch at Yel'tam's face but quickly got ripped off him by Teyxll. Neteyam took your place on top of Yel'tam, gaining the upper hand. You struggled as Teyxll pulled you by your hair, making you shriek with pain.
Upon hearing your shriek Lo'ak pulled Teyxll by his ear, but it didn't help much as the boy in question refused to release his tight grip on your hair. Amongst the commotion, Ao'nang and Rotxo started pulling at Lo'ak's tail, dragging all three of you through the sand.
"Ow! My tail!"
"My ear!"
"Let go of my hair!"
-
You quietly followed Jake behind Neteyam and Lo'ak, mentally preparing yourself for a scolding. Your hair was a complete bird's nest, and you had blood on your lip and sand in places sand should not be. You really hoped Jake would keep this lecture short so you could fix yourself up as quickly as possible.
"What is the one thing I asked you not to do?" Jake scolded as you arrived inside the Marui pod, the three of you looking down in shame.
"Cause trouble," Lo'ak and Neteyam all replied in unison.
Jake looked at you expectedly, and you grimaced, answering to not provoke his wrath, "cause trouble…."
"And what did you do?"
Lo'ak spoke up, "But dad, he was picking on Kiri. He called her a freak."
Jake sighed, looking conflicted for a second, but ultimately shook his head, "Ao'nung is the chief's son. Go apologise."
Lo'ak looked at him in disbelief, "But dad-"
"I don't care how you do it. Just go make peace."
Lo'ak walked out of the Marui, and Jake's attention turned to you, "And you should know better than to join these two knuckleheads."
You nodded, ushering a genuine "Sorry, sir."
Jake sighed, looking between the two of you as if examining your bruises.
"So what'd the other guys look like?" He asked.
Neteyam smiled softly, meeting his father's eyes, "Worse. A lot worse."
Jake beamed tenderly. He was strict, but you could tell he was proud of his sons for protecting their sister, "Good. Dismissed."
You and Neteyam walked out of the Marui hand in hand.
"I really need to fix my hair," you groaned, shaking a hand through your hair, a sandstorm falling from amongst your locks.
"Or we could go for a swim," Neteyam suggested, a grin on his face as he walked in front of you to face you.
"I really don't feel like swimming Nete," You groaned, "I just got my ass kicked; I really don't feel high energy right now."
Neteyam pouted playfully, grabbing both of your hands, "Please. Just a quick dip to get ourselves clean of this sand."
You couldn't help but give in when he gave you those eyes. He had a little blood on his bottom lip, so you reached up to cup his face, thumb rubbing the blood off his lip. You met his gaze with gentle eyes, "Fine. But I swear if anything else happens today, it will end me."
Neteyam chuckled softly, "I wouldn't say things like that with Lo'ak around."
You giggled, "You're not wrong," You paused for a second, thinking over the earlier events, "That was nice of you. To help that idiot when he threw himself into that fight. You are a good brother, Nete."
He smiled fondly, then leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss on your forehead, his hand cradling your cheek, "Thank you, my love. And thank you for helping earlier," he finished, amused, "My little warrior."
"Little? I'm almost as tall as you," You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you started walking towards the dock where the ilu gear was kept.
"Almost!" Neteyam emphasised as he followed you, cheekily pulling your tail, earning him a slap on the hand and a glare.
"I will pluck your eyes out, Neteyam."
He came up behind you, momentarily embracing you and giving you a quick peck, "You love me."
You rolled your eyes comically, "Unfortunately."
Unfettered, he called his ilu and jumped in the water. You smiled softly and followed suit, looking forward to whatever Neteyam had planned.
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