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jakesimfromstatefarm · 3 years

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how to fake date your best friend | jake sim

✰ summary: the rules were simple -

pretend to be the boyfriend of you, his best friend who wants the attention of their crush, for a week and a week only

no kissing (bc gross cooties amirite) allowed, unless needed in times of desperate measure

and no matter what, absolutely, most definitely, do not fall in love.

simple, right?

well apparently not. because news flash––jake's already broken one of the rules.

and to give you a hint, it's neither rule 1 or 2.

✰ pairing: jake sim x y/n [ft. members of enha!]

✰ genre: fluff, comedy | fakingdating!au, highschool!au, bestfriend!au, friends to lovers

✰ warnings: cursing, high-schoolers doing dumb highschool things, underage drinking (pls don’t actually do any of this irl), jake being a certified simp, it’s LONG (i’m so sorry), cheesy kithes bc im a sucker for kithes ( ˘ ³˘)♥

✰ wc: a whopping 9.5k

✰ a/n: it’s finally finished :’)))))) it ended up being much longer than i wanted but i had so much fun writing the characters that i got carried away lolol anywaysss i hope you guys enjoy it,,,i got a little unmotivated during the process bc i didn’t know if it was good or not but here it is heh (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡

Tuesday, December 8th

Jake Sim lives a simple life.

He likes to think he leads the normal, stereotypical life of a teenage boy. Has decent grades, plays soccer after school, skateboards around the neighborhood, has a best friend who he’s desperately in love with, and has a stable group of friends.

Okay, maybe not so simple, because this boy would physically launch himself to the moon and drill at its surface to collect moon dust for you if you asked him to––despite his deadly fear of combusting in outer space.

But that fear doesn’t even compare to his worst one yet: not having you in his life.

And so, he decided to just repress any and all feelings he’s had for you ever since he discovered them in middle school, when he realized he hated seeing you go to the eighth grade dance with a date––that wasn’t him.

He decided that he wasn’t going to risk losing a life-long friendship over some dumb, teenage boy feelings.

They were probably powered by his testosterone anyways. Yeah, that’s totally it.

He’s totally not in love with you.

So yes, he lives a pretty normal life. Every day is the same as the last, and tomorrow will be the same as today. But he likes it like that––he doesn’t want anything to change.

Especially not now, when he finds himself content with every aspect of his life (okay maybe except for his history grade, god, does he hate history).

So, it catches him off guard when you arrive at the group’s usual lunch table, located outside in your school’s courtyard, looking as excited as ever.

Jake’s the only one at the table so far. The remaining usually showed up late––Heeseung spends his first half of lunch tutoring freshmen for community service hours (but the poor boy has no idea what he’s doing), Sunghoon is probably stuck in line in the cafeteria again (he always forgets to pack his own lunch), and Jay is...well actually, no one ever knows where Jay comes from. He’s a special one.

It catches Jake even more off guard when you skip over any greeting a normal person would give, and start speaking at one hundred words per second.

And that catches us up to the present.

“Y-You want me to what?” Jake’s stuttering as you stare at him with your hopeful eyes from across the lunch table.

Despite the expression planted on your face, which screams your excitement for your “brilliant, amazing, genius, Einstein-could-never” idea (or whatever other words you used to describe it––Jake can’t exactly recall the specific terms you used, they all came out of your mouth too fast), you don’t respond to his question of bafflement. You continue to stare at him, awaiting his response. Jake could compare the look on your face right now to a puppy looking up at its owner, eagerly waiting for a treat. You know, tongue out and all.

He swallows the lump that’s lodged in this throat (is that the sandwich he’s having, or his nerves?) and continues to give you his look of confusion laced with a nervous smile because surely, you’re joking.

You grab what’s left of your sandwich from his hands and take your own bite. Somewhere in between you arriving at the table and now, Jake’s managed to steal the sandwich you brought today. You did make the best chicken sandwiches, in his defense.

“Well? It’s only for the week! And I promise you, after one week, if nothing happens––if he doesn’t make a move or anything––I’ll move on from him like you’ve been telling me to.” Your words are muffled from you savoring your sandwich, or what’s left of it anyways. (Mental note to self: don’t share your lunch with Jake ever again.)

When Jake still doesn’t respond (you’ve truly gotten this poor boy paralyzed), you find it as a sign to continue.

“I think it’s the perfect plan. Plus, if it doesn’t work out, it’ll be like the universe is telling me to finally move on, right?”

Wrong.

Jake has been encouraging you to move on from your crush because well, if we’re being honest here, he selfishly wants you to himself. Even if it wasn’t romantically.

Preferably, he would kill to get to be the one who holds your hand in the hall, call you cheesy pet names, post disgustingly cute couple pics for the ‘gram––but for the sake of potentially ruining his relationship with you, he’ll just have to settle with the role of being your best friend.

(And he’s totally fine with that! Totally. Yup.)

But he didn’t think that you moving on would only be a mere possible outcome (that may not even happen!) from whatever this stunt is you wanna pull.

Said stunt: Pretend to date one another and hope it catches the eye of a certain someone you have your eye on: Park Sunghoon.

Ah yes, Park Sunghoon. The previously mentioned one who’s probably still in line waiting to get his lunch as we speak.

Park Sunghoon, the tall, kind, intelligent, charming young boy that everyone knows. And if anyone didn’t know him, they most definitely knew of him. He wasn’t hard to miss in the halls; everything about him just radiates perfection.

If you plucked a random high-schooler from the halls of this school and interviewed them on the Park Sunghoon, they’d say you’d be lucky enough if the quiet boy so much as sparked a conversation with you, even if it was about what last night’s chemistry homework was.

Well if that were true, then you and the rest of the boys would be considered lottery winners.

How that happened, how the four of you dysfunctional beings earned his friendship, the world may never know. However, Jake is fully convinced that this was the universe’s way of playing a cruel joke on him.

For as long as Jake could remember, it’s always been just the two of you. You and Jake. Jake and you. (With the exception of Heeseung and Jay, of course, who came along in middle school)

In fact, your earliest memory of Jake was when he peed his pants in the kindergarten during nap time. You would know, you had the privilege of sharing a sleeping mat with him that one fateful day and in result...let’s just say the smell didn’t wear off from your clothes until a week later. Five-year-old you didn’t forgive five-year-old Jake for the longest time.

And since then, you’ve been attached by the hip. And Jake liked it like that. Jake didn’t need anyone else in his life (with the exception of Leila) if he had you. He had found his home within you, and he didn’t plan on sharing his space anytime soon.

Nevertheless, the universe had a completely different idea for the two of you.

Sunghoon came into the picture last year, towards the end of the school year. Despite being the new kid, he found his way into your cherished friend group and naturally, the five of you grew as close as friends could be.

That was the problem. Jake wanted to hate Sunghoon, to despise him for being the one that you had heart eyes for, but he couldn’t.

Not only was Sunghoon one of Jake’s closest friends, but he didn’t want to ruin the dynamic of the friend group. After you, the three chaotic boys were the next most important people in Jake’s life.

And so, we have the typical love triangle plot that every coming-of-age movie follows. Of course, this is all unbeknownst to you––you may be intelligent and a people-person, but oh boy can you not see the heart eyes your very own best friend has for you.

“It’ll be easier than you think, really! Look, we can even set boundaries or rules or whatever,” you propose, as if you’re trying to get him to sign a contract.

Rules to a fake relationship? We’re not living in a Netflix romcom, are we?

“Okay rule number 1: it’ll only be for a week and a week only, rule number 2: we don’t have to do anything too couple-ly like...” you pause to wonder for a second.

“Like PDA or anything! You know, unless we really need to convince him,” you casually add. When he responds with radio silence and stares at you with absolute concern painted all over his face, you cough. “Jake, I’m joking.”

Right. Of course. Obviously.

“And of course, just try not to fall in love with me, it’ll be hard, I know,” you send a playful wink his way.

Too late. Turns out it’s not that hard. Jake would know.

Jake continues to stare at you in hesitation. Yeah, you’ve had your fair share of crazy ideas (that Jake always find himself agreeing to––the poor boy just can’t seem to say no to you), but fake dating you?

Jake is sure he wouldn’t be able to pull it off without slowly destroying himself. He’d just have to say no, he’s sure you can find someone else to do it for you.

Yes, that’s it, just say no.

Jake has to keep some of his pride in tact.

Jake does not say no.

He doesn’t know what went wrong. His mind said one thing, but his words said another.

To be fair, Jake’s actions have always been influenced by his heart, not his brain, anyways. And when it comes to you, you bet it’ll be coming from his heart.

So here he was now, under the stare of three equally shocked and confused guys across from you and him at the lunch table, your fingers intertwined with his.

Just a few seconds ago, you had spotted the rest of the lunch bunch approaching the table, and you quickly grabbed Jake’s hand and scooted in closer to him.

Now here you were, explaining to your friends of your sudden relationship.

Jake is too zoned out to even physically pick up your explanation. Something along the lines of "we’ve been dating for a while but didn’t want to tell you guys yet." From the feeling of your hand clutched tightly into his and your body right up next to him, his mind was short-circuiting.

How is he supposed to last an entire week of this if he couldn't handle innocent hand holding? Hand holding? God, what are we, back in the fifth grade?

Two minutes into this scheme and Jake's mind has already downgraded itself to a fifth grader's.

Jake mentally scolds himself for giving in, this was not a good idea.

It takes Jake approximately 12 hours to conclude that this stunt of yours may, actually, be a good idea. He knows this because approximately 12 hours after the events surrounding lunch, he receives a text from you:

y/n [12:03AM]: thanks again for doing this for me jake

y/n [12:03AM]: ur actually the best

y/n [12:04AM]: ew ok that was cheesy but really i owe u a big one <333

Following your thread of texts is a really close up photo of you widely smiling into the camera. A smile so big, Jake’s convinced your face was probably in pain after taking that picture.

Anyone else might’ve thought the photo looked borderline insane but because Jake’s Jake, aka a simpᵗᵐ for you, he comes to the conclusion that it’s singlehandedly the cutest thing he’s ever seen in the entire world.

After quickly saving the selfie into his phone, Jake tells himself that maybe this won’t be a bad thing after all. I mean, anything that makes you smile like that meant it has to be a good idea, right?

Spoken like a true simp.

Plus, dating you––fake dating you––is pretty much the same as it was before. He already spends most of his days with you to begin with. Now, it’s just with added displays of affection. For show, obviously. Obviously.

And look, if Jake will never get to actually be with you, then he’ll take what he can get. And if that meant fake dating you, well, he reasons that it’s better than nothing at all.

Wednesday, December 9th

Jake’s playing with the rings on your right hand and you’re in the middle of dramatically telling the lunch table about the infuriating Karen you had to deal with at work the other day when Jay comes up with a grin you all know a little too well.

“Okay that grin means one of two things: you finally grew the balls to ask out that poor girl you’ve been teasing all year or you have something planned that we won’t like,” you interrupt your story when you catch Jay’s sly expression, evoking a chuckle from Jake, who’s now found a new distraction with the bracelets perches on your wrist.

“Excuse you, I’ll have you know that I did ask her out. It just so happens that she’s currently ‘in between boyfriends’ whatever that means. Ouch, by the way,” Jay feigns hurt from your comment by clutching the area above his heart through his shirt. Ever the drama queen. “But yes, I do have something planned. And no, it’s not a bad idea.”

Jay squeezes his way in between Sunghoon and Heeseung from across you and begins to pull out his own lunch. Everyone’s eyes follow him as he settles in because as bad as his unknown idea may be, you’re all still curious on what this boy has to say.

“Well are you going to elaborate or...” Heeseung speaks up for everyone after you all mentally debate one another through darting eyes on who’s going to have to bite Jay’s silent bait.

Jay then forcefully sets both hands on his table, which elicits a little jump from you as you go for a bite of your sandwich. Adorable, Jake tells himself.

“My parents are out of town this weekend. We all know what that means...”

Yes. We do know what that means. The four of you have seen this scenario play out many times, a little too many times for your own good.

This meant one of Jay’s infamous house parties that he always throws whenever his parents go out of town. And because his parents are hot-shot CEOs of an important company whose name you don’t remember (it’s nothing personal, your brain can only handle so much information and this physics exam you were studying for took up 90% of your brain capacity at the moment), they’re out of town often.

And along with Jay’s parties comes chaos. Lots of it. And that’s because...well, it’s safe to say that despite the many school-wide presentations the police officers of your school have held in the auditorium on why you shouldn’t drink underage, Jay’s parents’ liquor cabinet always seems to find itself missing many a few bottles after each party. But we don’t talk about that. Shush.

Almost simultaneously, everyone at the table lets out a groan, much to Jay’s disappointment.

“C’mon guys! It’s been a while since anything’s fun happened to this school, think of all the sad students in that building right now,” he extends a finger whole-ass arm and points at your school, “who are in dire need of fun and a little...” he punctuates his sentence with the hand motion of chugging down a drink, followed with a gulping sound elicited from his tongue clicking.

You roll your eyes along with everyone else. Don’t be like Jay, kids. Listen to those police officers.

“Jay, it’s midterm season! I have an exam on Monday and I definitely do not want to spend the nights before wasted,” you give him an apologetic look. As crazy as Jay is, you do feel bad nonetheless. The boy just wants to have fun.

Your response is followed up with similar comments from around the table.

“I’m helping y/n study”

“I have an important skating performance on Sunday”

“Uh...my hamster died?” (ok Heeseung panicked, don’t blame the guy)

Ignoring that last excuse of an excuse, Jay continues his debate nonetheless. “Just come for the sake of it! No one’s saying you have to get wasted. Pleaseeee for me?”

Jay throws these parties so often, you’re not sure why he’s so set on making sure you’re all going to be there. Well, I guess who wouldn’t want their closest friends to be at their own party?

That and, Jay needs to make sure his friends are there to stop him from doing anything stupid. We all know this boy has had enough embarrassing moments to last him a lifetime.

Everyone at the table gives each other the same hesitant look. Heeseung is the first to give in, “Oh fuck it. Sure, count me in.”

Jay’s fist pumping the air before turning to Sunghoon with the most hopeful eyes.

Sunghoon simply sighs in return. “Alright okay, I’ll bite. But if you vomit on my shoes again, I’m out the door.” Jay’s finger is automatically drawing a cross over his heart as a promise to not ruin Sunghoon’s Nikes again.

He then looks to you with puppy eyes.

You, who's already staring back at Jay with a stoic look in your eyes, are stubborn and (unlike the previous weaklings) are not as easy to convince. And somehow, this began an unannounced staring contest between the two of you, a contest to see who would budge first. This isn't an uncommon occurrence between you and Jay, but the rest of the boys are still on the edges of their seats watching this duel.

Jake casually wraps an arm around your shoulder and you’re brought in close, but still undeterred from your death-stare match with the boy across from you.

If it’s not obvious enough, Jake’s really gotten into his role of being your boyfriend, despite it only being 24 hours since he last froze at your touch. Character development, you’ll give him that.

You almost forget he’s faking it for a quick second. And for an even quicker second, you imagine he wasn’t faking it. And you swear you feel butterflies in your stomach at that thought.

Weird.

You mentally shake the thought out of your head. Priorities first, aka, beating Jay in this staring contest.

“Fuck,” you stutter when you finally blink, admitting defeat to a grinning Jay. “Okay, okay, I’ll THINK about it. I’ll let you know.”

Not exactly the answer Jay was looking for, but he’ll take it. Better than a no.

He turns to Jake next, knowing there’s no way Jake will turn down a party. Just like Jay, the boy loves himself a good party.

But–

But because Jake would take your physics exam this Monday for you if you asked, because Jake would bungee jump in the Grand Canyon without a safety net below him if you asked, because Jake would fake date you to make your crush jealous for you if you asked, he doesn’t hesitate in his answer this time around: “Same as y/n, I’ll let you know.”

Jay looks at Jake. Then back at you, who he’s still clinging onto like a koala to a tree. Then back at Jake. “You two are gross. Admittedly cute. But gross.”

You look up at the boy next to you to see him already grinning at you.

For the first time today, you find yourself agreeing with Jay.

Admittedly cute.

Thursday, December 10th

You are having a bad day.

You’re having the mother of bad days.

Not only is it midterm season, but you still have all your regular weekly assignments to finish before Friday hits. So as a natural-born procrastinator does, you stayed up all last night trying to get a good amount of work done because what’s better than cramming all your work the night before it’s due? Doing it two nights before it’s due.

Well apparently it wasn’t such a good idea. Because now, here you were, frantically throwing on whatever articles of clothing you find nearest to you because you slept through all your alarms.

You’re lucky enough to make it through your school’s doors right as the second bell rings, even if you did look like you just walked straight out of a zombie apocalypse.

You’re not so lucky when you find out your first class of the day, calculus, had a pop quiz. A pop quiz on the only unit you just happened to know absolutely nothing about.

To top things off, you forgot to pack your lunch during this morning’s frenzy, meaning you’re automatically stuck sharing with Jake.

And because his mother started making him pack his own food out of a lesson of responsibility (she said something along the lines of: “Jake, you’re about to be in college and you don’t know how to pack a decent meal”), he only has a plain PB&J sandwich and a pack of Scooby-Doo gummies in his bag today (because newsflash, he still doesn’t know how to pack a decent meal).

Not that you could care less at the moment, you were too preoccupied with catching up on your assignments to even eat. And if any of the boys noticed your zombie-like state during lunch, they did a good job of not mentioning it. They knew better than to bother an irritated y/n.

Somehow, you make it through the entire school day and your after-school meeting for environmental club (save the trees!) in one piece. As you finally walk out of the school building, you exhale, automatically feeling lighter. At least the hard part of your day was done.

Now you just had to wait for Jake to finish soccer practice, which usually ended around the same time as your club, and he can drive you home, where you can continue being irritated with your day in the privacy of your own space.

You wait on the steps of the school’s entrance, waiting for a smiley Jake to come around the corner as he usually does at 5:30pm every Thursdays.

Yes, a smiling Jake is exactly what you needed to make your day ten times better, you conclude.

As if on cue, you hear a ding from your phone.

Jake [5:30PM]: ugh coach is extending practice for “team bonding”

Jake [5:30PM]: idek what team bonding is

Jake [5:31PM]: you ok if i cant drive you today? ://

It’s as if the universe decided to use you as its punching bag today.

You physically let out a distorted groan, not caring if anyone who happened to hear you thought you were a creature from out of this world, as you send him a text back.

y/n [5:32PM]: it’s all good lol have fun with tEaM bOnDiNg

Things were not all good. But no matter how upset you may be, you weren’t going to project your negative vibes onto Jake’s naturally positive ones. So you get up from the stone steps and begin your dreaded walk back home.

It’s freezing out. You should’ve known better to just throw on a hoodie and call it a day when it’s the middle of December. But then again, you figured by now you’d be in the comfort and warmth of Jake’s car and presence...not walking home in these freezing temperatures.

You think about Jake and how he��s probably currently suffering from not only his team bonding exercises (but really though, what are team bonding exercises?), but doing them in this weather as well. The poor boy.

You’re quickly broken out of your thoughts by the sound of a car engine from behind you. When you don’t see it pass by you and instead hear it pull over and park next to the curb of the sidewalk you’re currently on, you automatically deduce that this is it, this is my time, I’m about to get kidnapped by whoever it is behind me but y/n, you should probably turn around and check first before you drive yourself insane in this inner dialogue.

You turn around and squint into the front window of the car. If it were a kidnapper, this is exactly what your mother told you not to do. Her exact words were: “Run, don’t look back, and scream bloody murder.”

Good thing it wasn’t. Just an innocent Sunghoon waving his hand at you, motioning you to get in.

“Sunghoon?” You approach his car and stop at the passenger side’s open window.

“y/n! It’s freezing out, I’ll drive you home c’mon,” he nods his head towards the passenger side door.

Well, how could you say no? Sunghoon owns a nice car. Like a nice car. Like car-seat-heaters-that-make-you-feel-like-you’re-physically-melting nice. Beats getting hypothermia outside, right?

“Why are you going home from school so late?” You ask as you settle into his car, instantly melting at the touch of the aforementioned heated seats.

“Debate club, actually. Decided I needed another personality trait other than ice skating,” he starts the engine and begins driving towards the direction of your neighborhood.

You laugh at his comment, you didn’t peg him as a debate kind of student. Quiet Sunghoon? Debate club? If 2 plus 2 is four...

“Hey, I don’t call you the Ice Prince for nothing! Also, don’t forget your other personality trait: forgetting your lunch every day.”

Sunghoon quickly glances over at you to send you a dirty look (because eyes on the road, kids!), which you return with a cheeky grin. “Need I remind you that was you today?”

“Touché,” you click your tongue.

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence, the faint sound of Sunghoon's music in the background filling in the quietness.

You’re humming along until Sunghoon breaks the silence, “Did Jake get stuck at practice again?”

You don’t know why, but you swear you feel your heart beat faster at the mention of Jake’s name. No, that was always there right? Because you were with Sunghoon...your crush..obviously. Obviously.

Ignoring the feeling, you turn your attention towards the boy driving you.

“Oh yeah, something about team bonding. How’d you know?”

“Eh, I just figured since he wasn’t driving you home like he always does.” He turns into your neighborhood.

You nod at his answer.

“You two make a good couple.”

You whip your head at him. Did you hear him correctly?

“It was about time, really. You two have been ogling at one another for so long, Heeseung, Jay, and I almost placed bets on who would be the first to make a move.”

He keeps his eyes on the road, casually going on about how you and Jake make the cutest couple he’s ever seen.

You're frozen, unsure of what to think, let alone say.

You think to two days ago, when you started this entire fake relationship because of the very boy driving you home right now. The same boy who's complimenting you on your fake relationship. The same boy who's supposed to be jealous over that said relationship. The same boy you’re supposed to be crushing over.

But now...only a mere 48 hours later, you were finding yourself okay with the fact that he was happy for you. And for the life of you, you couldn’t remember why you liked Sunghoon in the first place. Not saying he isn’t one to be crushed on, I mean, look at the guy.

Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that you didn't feel nervous or giddy or..anything at all when you got into the car with Sunghoon. At least, not until Jake's name was mentioned. That's when you felt the butterflies. At the mention of Jake.

Jake.

Weird.

But before you can come to a conclusion on why you're feeling the way you do, Sunghoon interrupts your thoughts.

"Well, we're here! Say hi to your parents for me," he pulls into your driveway as you're still collecting your thoughts.

You give him a quick thanks and one last wave as you enter the front doors of your house.

Seeing that your only solution towards confusing feelings meant distracting yourself, distract yourself you did.

Even if it meant distracting yourself with your piling assignments.

The next time you look up from your work, it's suddenly way past sundown and a heavy storm has taken over. You’re surprised it hasn’t started flooding yet with the amount of rainfall you were hearing.

You check the time on your phone, the bright 8:16PM on the screen illuminating your dimly lit room. Seeing that neither of your parents have yet to be home from work, it looks like you were going to have to settle with some instant ramen for dinner tonight.

As you trudge down the stairs of your home, the sound of light knocking against the front door catches your attention. It's been a long day y/n, you're probably hearing things, it's definitely just the rain.

Nope. There it is again, but much louder. Much more urgent.

You contemplate any and all potential disasters that could happen from answering the door. Only a crazy person would be willing to go out in this hurricane-like weather to be frantically knocking on your door.

And so, you assume it has to be some psychopath trying to get into your house. Yes, there’s definitely no other logical explanation.

You scramble around your living room, looking for the next best weapon to defend you. Resorting to the flower vase your mother keeps on the table next to the front door, you hold it out in front of you, as if you're waiting for the door to burst open.

The knocking continues, gradually getting louder. You mentally curse at yourself for dropping out of the taekwondo class your dad signed you up for when you were younger.

Vase in hand, you swing open the door and brace for–

"Jake? What the fuck? Get in here, you're gonna get sick!"

You’re suddenly aware of how stupid you look, holding a light pink vase with a couple of orchids as your only form of self-defense...for it to only be your own best friend. You immediately put it back on the table as Jake quickly rushes past you and into your humble abode.

You close the door behind you and turn to face the soaked boy.

“I come bearing gifts, also known as take-out and hot chocolate from that one cafe you love. Also my company, if you’ll take it. I had a feeling you weren’t having the best day today,” he’s simply standing there, holding up a large brown paper bag in one hand, and a deliciously smelling cup of hot chocolate in the other, but you’re looking at him as if he bought you the Moon.

You stare in awe at the angel of a boy in front of you, silently thanking the stars for gifting you this amazing human being as your best friend. You don’t know what you did to deserve him.

You give him a soft smile. “Jake, you didn’t have to. It’s practically a shitstorm out there,” you cock your head towards the window, showcasing the downpour of cats and dogs outside. Jake stays by the entrance as you go down the hall and through your house’s linen closet to find a spare towel for the drenched boy.

“Nah it’s no big deal, really. Just fulfilling my duties as your loyal boyfriend,” he grins, even though you can’t see him. He likes calling himself that. Your boyfriend.

Jake continues to shake his messy hair to get the excess rain off, giving a mental apology to whoever is going to have to mop up the puddle forming on the floor due to his unannounced visit. Probably you.

Jake hears you laugh down the hall. “You’re really invested in your role, huh? Keep this up and you might actually trick me into believing you’re my actual boyfriend.”

Actual boyfriend? Jake likes the sound of that. Maybe he will keep this up then.

Jake doesn’t have much experience in acting, unless you count that time he played the role of Town Villager #3 in the third grade play, so he never found it as one of his interests. But playing the role of your boyfriend was one he was willing to fulfill for the rest of life, even if it was just for show.

Jake doesn’t respond to your comment, he’s instead self-aware of his blushing cheeks, thankful that you’re too busy rummaging through your linen closet to take notice.

“Plus, you didn’t have lunch today and I had feeling you were going to be too caught up in your work to feed yourself anything other than instant ramen,” he sets down his gifts to you on your living room’s coffee table as you come around the corner, fresh towel and new set of clothes in hand.

His eyes fall on the familiar looking pair of sweatpants and hoodie resting on the palms of your hands.

Hm. A little too familiar.

Then, it clicks in his head.

His eyes narrow at you as you giggle at his reaction, “Oh, so it takes me getting drenched in the rain for you to finally return my clothes that I’ve been missing!?”

“Hey! I’m not returning them, simply loaning them out to a friend who’s in dire need. You basically gifted them to me the second you left them here months ago.”

“You’re annoying.”

“Love you too,” you toss the clothes at him and take a seat on the floor around your coffee table, prepping the table with the boxes of Chinese food Jake supplied.

After Jake changes into the stolen dry clothes, he takes a seat next to an already-eating you at the coffee table.

“You. are. my lord and savior Sim Jaeyun,” you’re saying with your mouth full of fried rice. You sigh from satisfaction and rest your head against Jake’s shoulder as you continue chewing. He grins as he helps himself to his own serving of fried rice and orange chicken.

You look up at him from your spot, “How was team bonding today?”

Jake groans in response, clearly annoyed. “Stupid. I don’t get how doing trust falls and pyramid building is going to get us any closer. If anything, I almost FELL off that pyramid today!”

You don’t know why, but you find yourself admiring him and his soft features as he continues to rant about one of his teammates, specifically, the one who almost dropped him.

The way his messy hair, unkept from the rain ruining it, almost covers his eyes (but you tell yourself you like it this way, it looks more natural on him), the way the corners of his lips are always perked upwards (even when he’s ranting), the way his eyes sparkle whenever he’s truly passionate about whatever he’s talking about, the way his eyes look at you like–

“Stare much? Look, I get you can’t resist my good looks but at least be subtle about it,” he smirks at you as he takes another spoon of rice.

You break out of his trance and scoff at him.

“You’re cute when you rant,” you nonchalantly say as you move from your spot to mirror his actions and add more rice to your plate as well. Jake’s stills at your sudden comment, unsure of how to respond. Lucky for him, you’re distracted by the mountain of food on your plate to even notice the blushing mess of a boy next to you.

“You know, you’re lucky you’re cute. Or else I’d deck you right here and now for ditching me after school today.”

Anddd there goes the moment. Leave it to you to follow up a compliment with a threat of violence.

Jake finds it cute anyways. He always finds you cute.

Jake narrows his eyes and lightly shoves you before an apology is written all over his face. “Sorry about that by the way. I feel awful about making you walk home when it was freezing out.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Sunghoon gave me a ride, actually. Did you know he does debate? I guess you learn something new everyday,” you ramble, unaware of the boy next to you getting tense at the sudden mention of the other’s name.

Up until now, Jake’s completely forgotten about Sunghoon's involvement in this entire scheme. In fact, the past 48 hours with you have felt so normal, so comfortable, he almost forgot about the deal in the first place. “You think he has any clue?” Jake suddenly asks, referring to the plan.

You immediately know what he’s referring to, as Jake practically worded out your very own thoughts.

You shrug. “Not a single one. We’re practically William and Kate in his eyes. But honestly, that’s the least of my worries right now. I’m too distracted by my exams right now to care.”

Jake feels guilty for being satisfied with your answer. He’s 100% sure that if convincing Sunghoon took you two an entire lifetime of fake dating, he’d be all too willing to do it.

“Go to Jay’s party with me tomorrow,” he abruptly says, catching your attention as your mouth is stuffed. Cute.

He pokes your cheek. “It’ll get your mind off of work and plus, what’s more convincing than showing up to a party with your amazing boyfriend?” he wiggles his eyebrows at you. Jake doesn’t know where he gets his sudden surge of confidence. But he does know he loves calling himself your boyfriend...even if it’s for the time being.

Rolling your eyes and swatting his poking fingers away from your face, you ponder on his suggestion.

“You mean my annoying boyfriend,” you stick your tongue out at him. Jake takes a mental picture and hopes it never leaves his mind.

“But I guess you could be right. Maybe I can clear my head for the night before I study my ass off all weekend.”

Friday, December 11th

The party does not clear your mind.

If anything, it gives you enough headaches to last you at least until the end of high-school.

You come to this revelation as you and Jake approach Jay’s home, a luxurious mansion sitting at the end of a cul-de-sac, lined with similarly luxurious palaces, located in an equally luxurious neighborhood.

You come to this revelation when you can already feel the pounding bass of music as you walk up Jay’s driveway.

You come to this revelation when, not even two seconds after entering Jay’s front doors––

“You’re here!” A buzzed Jay shouts at the two of you, causing the both of you to contemplate your past choices that brought you here today. Jay definitely isn’t straight up drunk yet, but Jake still makes a mental note to keep an eye on him tonight. Just in case.

The blonde-haired boy is quick to hand over two red solo cups of god knows what, to which you and Jake immediately put down on the nearest table after Jay walks away to greet the next incoming guests (you know, to not hurt his feelings).

You and Jake are lucky enough to have been around Jay and his parties long enough to know that going all out at these parties will not be pretty the next morning.

You cringe at the memory of last year, when you had to suffer from possibly the worst hangover of all hangovers after one of Jay’s parties. Jake will never let you forget how miserable you looked the next morning. His camera roll’s album titled “y/n blackmail pics” can vouch for that.

“Remind me again to never listen to you,” you almost have to shout at Jake over the thumping music. Jake laughs at your comment and tugs at your hand as he begins entering the house.

The two of you do your rounds of greetings to the people you know...and random underclassmen who you swear you have never seen before but somehow made it to this party. You’ve always questioned how Jay’s invite list worked. Maybe there isn’t one. That would explain how it looked like someone announced Jay was giving out free Teslas and the entire school got hold of the news.

“Thank god you guys are here,” you hear a voice come from behind the two of you as you guys leave the main room to enter the house’s smaller, but just as luxurious looking, den. You turn to see Heeseung with Sunghoon following closely behind, trying his best not to get swept away in the crowd of people.

The den is where you usually stayed during these parties. It’s not like there are rules of where people are allowed to party, by any means, but it’s like how a high-school’s cafeteria worked. There’s a mutual silent agreement of where everyone goes, and the den is where the party host and his friends went.

“Okay, is it just me, or is tonight’s party just a little...too..much?” Sunghoon asks as the four of you take your seats on the main couch of the room. Jake’s quick to make space for you next to him as you go to sit, but to his surprise, you find your home right on his lap.

“You said be convincing right?” you say into his ear as you settle yourself. Right. That’s totally why. Because you had to go along with the ruse. Obviously.

You shift a bit so you’re more facing sideways, not blocking off Jake’s line of vision as the boy himself is..well, calling him a rag doll might be excessive.

But he’s sure he looks like one right now, having lost all senses in his limbs, leaving him frozen underneath you.

Jake Sim is the epitome of politeness. He was raised in a family that taught him how to respectfully greet others, how to always offer food to others before eating it himself, how to properly treat a significant other. As a result, Jake grew up to be one of the sweetest, kindest, purest people to ever walk this earth.

(Relatively speaking, the earth is large, but so is Jake’s heart.)

But human-beings aren’t perfect, they must have a balance. A balance of pros and cons.

Sure, he can’t pack his own lunch and sometimes forgets to water the little succulent you gifted him that’s currently seated on his window sill. Sure, sometimes he’s too sweet for his own good, you know, like willing-to-be-your-fake-boyfriend too sweet. But aside from the minor details, Jake Sim doesn’t have many cons, no.

But he sure can be awkward.

And so because Jake Sim is sweet, kind, pure, and awkward, he is unsure of what to do with himself when you’re seated right on top of him.

As if you could read his befuddled mind, you take his arm that’s resting behind you to wrap around your waist as your support as you throw one of your arms around his shoulder. And throughout this entire adjustment, his widened eyes are staring right at you.

Bless this pure, pure boy.

Also bless the position you’re in, blocking the two other boys from directly seeing Jake’s face. Because if they were to catch glimpse of Jake’s expression right now, your cover might be blown, just like that. You’re lucky Heeseung and Sunghoon are distracted by another classmate who came up to them.

“Relax,” you sweetly laugh, cupping his chin with your free hand and lightly squeezing his cheeks. “You’re so adorably awkward.”

Jake pouts at you. “I am not awkward!”

“Right, and I’m totally dating you for real,” you playfully whisper at him, eliciting a poke at your waist in response.

Twenty minutes of people-watching-aka-“who do you think is gonna pass out first?”-from-your-spot-on-the-couch later, the four of you draw your attention to the rowdy party host you all have the honor of calling your friend––aka Jay––dancing (that is, if you call wildly swinging your limbs in all four directions dancing) in the middle of the den.

"Oh god, look at him," Sunghoon voices from besides you.

Heeseung's already filming the moment on his phone. Ah yes, technology. The best thing to ever happen to drunk teens' friends.

"He's so wasted," you throw your head back as you let out a laugh. “We should help the kid out.”

Poor Jay. He's not gonna hear the end of it after tonight.

"I don't know why he thinks these parties are such a good idea when he knows how trashed he's gonna be when he wakes up," Jake says, his hand naturally squeezing your waist as you giggle at his comment. "And how trashed the house will be."

Jay slumbers over to where the four of you are seated, and abruptly stops right in front of the couch.

"My best friends!" Jay happily cheers. “Having fun?”

“Watching you? Always,” you say to the boy who’s squeezing into a seat between you and Sunghoon, as if the small couch wasn’t already suffocating enough (and that’s with you on Jake’s lap).

“But for real though, you should probably lay off the drinks for now,” Heeseung insists. “For all our sakes.”

Sunghoon nods along and grabs the cup Jay’s currently nursing and sets it down where it’s out of Jay’s reach, much to his dismay. But the disappointment quickly leaves the dazed boy’s head, as his attention is now directed towards you and Jake.

“Well if it isn’t mom and dad,” Jay turns to face you and Jake, certainly amused by your seating arrangement.

“You know–” Jay points a finger at the two of you. “For a couple that’s certainly close, I haven’t seen you two kiss.”

Jake is immediately coughing, certainly not expecting that to come out of his friend’s mouth.

“Okay and your point is?” Jake frowns at Jay. If Jay wasn’t tipsy, Jake would’ve smacked the back of his head by now.

“I’m just saying...” the blonde responds, both hands up in the air as if Jake is accusing him of something, when in was, in fact, the opposite. “But nevermind, Jakey boy here is probably too innocent for such nonsense anyways.”

Yes, it’s confirmed. Once Jay sobers up tomorrow, Jake is driving over to his house (even though it’s a good ten minute drive from his own) just to smack him.

“What do you mean I’m too–”

Jake doesn’t finish his sentence. In fact, Jake doesn’t even remember what he was going to say.

Jake doesn’t think nor feel anything else other than your lips planted on his.

You’re pulling him in close, your hands cupping his face as his own are twitching on your waist, his mind flustered. You move your hands from his face to his neck, to which Jake immediately relaxes at.

Sure, you two are in the middle of a dumb high-school party, one filled with pounding music and shouting teenagers, but right now, in this moment, Jake can only feel you. And he doesn’t want the feeling to ever stop.

When you part, Jake’s eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips, his own parted in shock. He thinks he might pass out right here and now. He thinks his heart might explode right here and now. He thinks he might lov-

“Happy?” you turn to a satisfied Jay, ignoring the looks of amusement from Heesung and Sunghoon besides him.

“Well,” you pat Jake’s leg as you get up from your spot. “I’m gonna get us some drinks. Punch only, of course.”

Jake’s eyes are on you as you walk away, his face tinted pink from the adrenaline of it all, his heart racing.

Jake thinks back to three days ago, when he told himself that this idea of yours was going to be all fine. After all, it was only going to be for one week. Afterwards, he can move on with his life as if nothing happened.

But fast forward 72 hours later, 72 hours after you and Jake started this act, 72 hours after Jake told himself it’ll be all fine, Jake knows he was poorly mistaken.

Because 72 hours later, in the middle of a party that reeked of the combined smell of alcohol and sweat, Jake knows one thing and one thing for sure.

He never wants to move on from the feeling of being with you. He never wants to move on from this.

From you.

He’s screwed.

Saturday, December 12th

When Jake wakes up, much later than he intended to, on Saturday morning, the first sensation he feels are his tingling lips, still in disbelief that they graced your own last night.

The second sensation being his pounding mind––it’s running through ten million thoughts at a time, telling him no last night wasn’t a dream.

Third: his heart beating so fast at the thought of you, he thinks he might beat out of his chest.

And fourth, a buzzing noise.

Jake blindly flounders his arm to the table beside him in hopes of finding the origin of the annoying sound, aka, his phone.

After knocking down multiple miscellaneous items on his nightstand (he makes a mental note to clean his room later), he successfully retrieves the item of search.

Jake squints at the bright screen, mind still cloudy from a mix of 1) being half-asleep, and 2) still processing what happened the night before.

y/n [11:10AM]: r u awake yet?

y/n [11:22AM]: imma take that as a no

y/n [11:35AM]: lemme know when ur up

jake [11:44AM]: just woke up sorry

jake [11:44AM]: are you okay? what’s up

y/n [11:45AM]: r u busy?

y/n [11:45AM]: kinda wanted to talk abt smth

jake [11:45AM]: uh well no im still in bed lmao

y/n [11:46AM]: cool im outside your door

Jake’s eyes widen as he processes your last few texts.

Talk? Outside his door?

Jake’s heart is nervously pounding as jumps out of bed and quickly puts on the first plaid flannel he finds. He scrambles to his mirror and gives his reflection a quick run-down.

He’s sporting your his favorite hoodie underneath the flannel that’s long overdue a wash and his tousled hair has seen better days, but he couldn't care less.

Before his mind can catch up to his actions, he’s rushing down the stairs, skipping two at a time and to this front door. Because he didn’t want to keep you waiting? Because he was too excited to see you? Maybe a mix of both. Definitely more of the latter, however.

He quickly runs a hand through his hair to try to fix it up as much as he can, to no avail, before opening the door to reveal you, sitting on the steps of his front porch.

“y/n,” he’s breathing heavily as you turn to greet him with your sweet smile he didn’t even realize he was missing. Is it possible to miss someone overnight? Jake concludes yes, it definitely is.

“Did you run down here or something?,” you question his out-of-breath state, a teasing tone laces the tip of your tongue.

“Or something,” Jake mutters as he closes the front door behind him to join you on the steps when you make no sign of moving. “Have you been out here all morning?”

“Not allll morning. I had a feeling you’d sleep in so I came around the time I first texted you. Would’ve knocked but didn’t wanna bother your family,” you hum, keeping your eyes trained on the peaceful scenery around you.

You’ve always loved Jake’s neighborhood, it brought you a sense of peace, a sense of home.

Or was that because it reminded you of Jake?

“You could never be a bother,” he quickly rebuttals as he takes his seat next to you on the steps.

You respond with a soft smile before turning your attention back to anything other than the boy next to you. Your mind seems to be lost in its own thoughts, Jake can tell by the distant look in your eyes.

The sound of birds chirping in the distance fills the silence that falls between the two of you.

Any other day, Jake would love this. He savors every second he’s with you, even if it’s just pure silence.

But this silence was different. It wasn’t the usual comforting, warm silence that the two of you share on a typical day. This one held tension, tension so thick that Jake doesn’t know where to begin thinking.

But here’s the thing. Jake doesn’t think.

Not when it comes to you.

He takes a deep breath. Rubs his hands together. Pats them on his lap. Turns towards you.

“Look, I-”

“I think I might like you.” The words come out of your mouth so fast, Jake’s positive he heard you wrong the first time around.

He whips his head to meet your eyes, your own already staring back at him, your bottom lip nervously tucked under your teeth.

“No, I––I do. I know I do. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you and I don’t think I’m doing a very good job right now,” the words are all of the sudden tumbling out of your mouth as if your brain flipped a switch and isn’t able to turn it off. “In hindsight, I should’ve known better to fake date my own best friend. But these past few days made me realize how much I love being with you. And not like how I’m always with you 24/7 before this entire thing started, but being with you. I even started getting that weird, bubbly feeling in my stomach every time I so much as heard your name. And then last night at the party, I realized afterwards that I wouldn’t have kissed you if some part of me didn’t see you in that way. Even if it meant Jay would’ve been on our asses all night if I didn’t. So yeah.”

You finish with a deep breath and look up at him to meet his widened eyes. Silence.

Jake thought he was braindead during last week’s history quiz. Jake thought he was braindead when he had to cram a semester’s worth of chemistry content the night before his exam. Heck, Jake thought he was braindead when you first told him about your idea of a fake dating him. But no, this is braindead.

He’s finally hearing what he’s been dreaming of for so long, and of all times, now his brain decides to shut off.

“Are you..uh..are you gonna say anything?” You’re nervously fumbling with your hands, desperate to distract yourself with anything else apart from his silent stare.

"Why are you sorry?" Jake says before his mind can think of anything else. He doesn't pay attention to his thumping heart that's one look-from-you away from exploding right then and there. "You didn't do anything wrong. If anything, you took the words right out of my mouth.”

Now you're staring at him with the wide eyes, the words processing in your mind.

Jake realizes he's waited too long to do this. A few years too long. He also realizes he shouldn't have put on that extra layer of a flannel. The nervous tension created by the two of you was suffocating enough, and being outside under the bright sun didn’t help.

"I like you too. God y/n, I like you too so much," Jake doesn't even care if his words are all sorts of messed up right now. He just needs you to get the idea. "I have for a while now.”

You let out a relieved sigh, ecstasy rushing through your blood. “Really? I think I have for a while too. I’m so stupid, it took me so long to realize it. It didn’t hit me until I realized how I felt around you, compared to the guy I’m supposed to actually have a crush on.”

Jake lets out a laugh, the tension immediately dissolving. “Hey, if it wasn’t for Sunghoon, I don’t think we’d be here right now.”

“You’re right, I’m too oblivious and you’re too awkward to actually make a move,” you wink at him. If his heart wasn’t fluttering at the sight of you, on his porch on a Saturday morning, confessing your feelings to him, Jake probably would’ve lightly shoved you away.

Instead, he’s turning to you with the most endeared look on his face, and you’re blushing underneath his gaze.

“What? Stare much?” You giggle, quoting the boy himself as you shyly duck your head to avoid his stare.

Jake gently grabs your chin to tilt your face towards his, and before you can process what’s happening, he suddenly meets your lips with his own, closing the gap between you two.

Jake thinks if the ground underneath him right now decided to open up and swallow him whole, he’d die happily.

Jake smiles against you, feeling comfort in ways he’ll never be able to achieve without you.

Your hands instinctively find their way into his hair, as one of his rests below your ear, thumb softly caressing your cheek, the other pulling you in by the waist. He’s naturally leaning into you, gravitating towards your warmth, unable to stop the giddy feeling bubbling in his stomach.

He doesn’t think the feeling will ever go away.

When you pull away to catch your breath, you rest your head against the nook of his neck, basking in his presence as his arms both find their way around your waist. You sigh in pleasure.

“Remember at the beginning of all of this, when you told me ‘Just try not to fall in love with me?’” Jake gently says. Jake feels the slight nod you give against his shoulder as you hum in response.

Jake whispers two more words into your ear, filling you with happiness and warmth you know you won’t be able to find through anyone––or anything––else.

“Too late.”

✰ if you made it ‘til the end, ily :’)))))

2K notes · View notes

watchmegetobsessed · 3 years

Text

Never Have I Ever - Harry Styles (part 6)

well enjoy another part with some nasty business and some shit that’s about to go down hehehe

pairing: Harry x actress!reader

word count: 3.9k

warning: NSFW content

SERIES MASTERPOST

masterlist

“Hey! Stop that! You have your own!” you scold Harry, but let him steal some of your food even though he is eating the same thing. That boyish smirk on his face just makes it worth, he could get away with anything.

“But I swear yours taste better!” he defends himself, returning to his own bowl, half filled with your favorite fast recipe, pasta with pesto, edamame beans and cherry tomatoes. It’s so easy to make, you used to eat it all the time when you first moved away from your parents and had to figure out what to eat every day.

Now you are currently at Harry’s for the second day straight, having gifted with the privilege of being free from work for more than a few hours at the same time. Making a use of it, you were quick to show up at his home, but the two of you were also fast to eat his fridge out and this was the only thing you could make from the things left in his kitchen. He clearly likes it just as much as you do. Lying comfortable on his side, propped up on one elbow, he is wearing only his boxers, his full chest on display for your greedy eyes, but you are showing just as much skin yourself too, sitting only in your bra and some extremely short shorts.

“They taste the same, H. Made it myself, came from the same pot,” you tell him teasingly, but he just smirks and puckers his lips, signaling that he wants a kiss that you happily give him leaning closer to him.

“And you made it very delicious.”

You’ve been enjoying your time with Harry recently a lot more to the fullest, knowing that he is set to leave for his tour very soon. Your upcoming months however don’t seem too crowded, since you still haven’t heard back from that mystery movie you auditioned for such a painfully long time, so you just took it as they didn’t choose you. Not a big deal, in fact, you’ll have more time on your hand and might even be able to visit Harry quite often, making your time apart more bearable. There are only a few weeks left until he won’t be just a car drive away from you, so you clearly want to make the best out of this time.

When the food is gone and you are both full, Harry takes the bowls and just tosses them to the nightstand, adding to the mess you two have managed to create since you arrived. Cleaning up after yourselves wasn’t really your number one priority when you were gifted with so much alone time. Saying you’ll take care of it afterwards made you end up with dirty clothes splattered across the floor, countless mugs and glasses hiding at different spots in his bedroom and the kitchen sink filled with dishes to be washed. You know you can’t put the cleaning back any longer, but it feels so nice to just get lost in his big, comfy bed and forget about the outside. It’s something neither of you are lucky enough to have too often.

“How about we have a shower?” he suggests with a devious smirk and you already know he wasn’t thinking just about showering.

“Mm, is this your way of telling me I smell?” you tease him, making him laugh as he reaches out and curling an arm around you he pulls you down, right on top of him, his arms locking you in his embrace. Leaning closer he sniffs first your neck and before you could realize what the hell he is doing, he is already poking his nose into your armpit.

“Harry! No!” you laugh trying to push him away, but he just keeps going, sniffing around you wherever he can, that grin never grin away from his face.

“I think you smell splendid, Angel,” he then concludes and still laughing, you roll off of him, lying on your back as he pushes himself up on one arm again, smirking down on you.

“I can’t believe you sometimes. You are so weird,” you huff, but obviously don’t mean it in a bad way.

“Oh, says the one who spent fifteen minutes yesterday with comparing her navel to mine,” he snorts, making you gasp.

“Hey! That was an interesting observation! Yours is deeper!”

“And it’s important because…?” he implies, but you just roll your eyes at him.

“Shut up. Are we gonna shower or not then?” you ask, trying to divert the attention from your stunt yesterday. His eyes immediately light up, pushing himself up from the bed and holding a hand out for you to help you up as well.

Walking into his bedroom the two of you start undressing without any shyness, already feeling so familiar around each other as if you’ve been married for a decade. Harry makes it unbelievably easy to let loose and be yourself around him, you just know you could do anything, the weirdest shit even and he wouldn’t bat an eye, in fact he would probably do it with you if he is not the one to start it in the first place. He is exceptionally confident in his skin, being naked doesn’t scare him in the slightest and though you are more or less in peace with your body, the way he worships you and is clearly obsessed with everything about you makes you feel free and confident as well.

Harry starts the water while you put your hair up into a high bun, not in the mood to deal with your wet hair today, while Harry grabs one of his little hairclips and pins his hair from the front back.

“You look adorable with your hairclip,” you smirk at him, biting into your bottom lip.

“Adorable? S’ that really what you’d call a naked man standing in front of you?” he asks with raised eyebrows, a small smile playing on his perfectly pink lips.

“Okay, then up from here,” you start pointing at his neck, “you look adorable. The rest is… breathtaking. You satisfied?” you correct yourself.

“I think I will be soon,” he smirks slyly, his hands grabbing your wrists as he pulls you into the shower.

It starts off normally, he really wanted to shower, so passing around the shower gel you both wash yourselves first. It takes an expected turn when you are standing under the water, washing the foam away from your body, Harry’s wandering hands finding your waist. Soon his chest is pressed up against your back, lips nibbling on the skin on your shoulder and when you push your hips back, you feel just how excited he is to be showering with you.

You hum to yourself as he turns you around, pressing his soft lips to yours before they travel down your body, giving each of your breasts the same amount of attention before moving down further. When he is on his knees, his fingers press into your thighs, lips peppering kisses on your lower stomach and just as he is slowly moving even further, his eyes snap up, meeting with your gaze. Breathing feels like a hard task when you stare down at him on his knees in front of you, especially when his hand urges your right leg to lift and he easily puts it to his shoulder.

“Grab onto something, Angel. Don’t slip,” he warns, right as his mouth starts on your bud. A moan slips through your lips, one hand holding onto his hair while you smack the other against the wall of the shower. He curls his arm around your thigh on his shoulder, keeping you in place as his tongue and lips work on your clit. In total ecstasy, you try to buckle your hip so he has more excess and he surely uses it all to your benefit. The way he swirls his tongue, teasing the sensitive skin, kissing and sucking on you, he takes your breath away.

“Fuck, Harry!” you whimper, eyes shutting close when you feel his fingers, the ones that are not pressed into your flesh of your thigh, play with your wetness between your slick lips.

Harry is all about pleasing, that you’ve learned quickly. Watching his partner fall apart under his hands, tongue or other body parts brings him a kind of satisfaction not many can enjoy. He takes his time with you, makes sure you are enjoying yourself on the fullest and he surely doesn’t stop until you are completely satisfied.

His lips feel like they were meant to kiss you on your mouth and everywhere else. He teasingly slides one finger inside you, testing the waters out how well you are reacting before adding another one and picking up a comfortable pace, sliding them in and out of you relentlessly.

You keep panting his name as you feel your orgasm building up inside you, every bit of your body screaming to reach your high. Harry picks up his pace, lips sucking on your clit in the most heavenly way and you want to ask where he learned to do the things he does, but you are way too caught up in enjoying his knowledge to even form a word that’s not his name or something obscene slipping out in the heat of the moment.

Your leg that’s still on the floor starts to feel numb, your knee buckling from the sensation that’s just so close to the edge, but you catch yourself in time, smacking your back against the fall for more support.

“You alright?” he asks mumbling against your center.

“Yes! Yes, just please don’t stop!” you beg and he doesn’t need another word, he is back at making wonders to your body.

It builds and builds until you can barely breathe and then, as if the bubble just pops, satisfaction washes over your body, you cry out his name as you ride the feeling, legs going weak but you manage to hold yourself up just right. Your chest is still heaving when Harry puts your other leg back down to the floor and placing a few soft kisses on his way up to your stomach, he finally stands back.

“Feeling alright?” he asks, so damn full of himself, the satisfaction with himself is all over his face, but you’ll give this one to him. He deserves it all after what he just did.

“Alright? I’m fucking fantastic,” you chuckle kissing his lips softly, the lingering taste of your own orgasm can be still felt on them. Glancing down you see that he is still rock hard. “Think I can handle some more, though. What do you say?”

“You sure?” he asks, but instead of answering you press your lips on his and soon enough it’s you who is pressed up against the wall, legs wrapped around his waist as he rocks himself into you.

When you finally leave the steamed up bathroom, you put on a shirt of his with a clean pair of panties, Harry only opting for a loose pair of basketball shorts. Agreeing that it’s time for some cleaning up you offer to collect the dirty dishes from his bedroom while he starts to wash the pile in the sink. Gathering the empty glasses you have your hands full as you are about to head out to the kitchen when your phone starts ringing on Harry’s nightstand. Glancing at the screen you see that it’s Mona so you put down the glasses and answer the call.

“Hey, what’s up?” you ask, hoping she has something new to tell you about any upcoming castings.

“Hi! Y/N, I have excellent news!” she beams immediately and you straighten up, already excited for what she has to say.

“Tell me then!”

“Okay, I know that those endless castings were a pain in the ass, but I just got a call from them. They want you as the lead actress!”

“Wait, really? I was already thinking they didn’t choose me because of the long wait.”

“They had a lot of people in consideration and then something came up with the production that forced the casting process to come to a halt, but they just offered you the role, I’ll email you all the deets. Guess who’s gonna be the director!” “I have absolutely no idea, since they were never there at the castings,” you huff. Out of the million times they asked for you to go in, the director showed up at none of them, only got the tapes, which you found odd, but you are no one to question someone’s method, especially when they chose you at the end.

“It’s Taika Waititi! Y/N, this is major. This movie is already promised to be Oscar worthy!”

“Oh fuck, now I know why they were so mysterious about it,” you chuckle in disbelief.

“We’ll have some paperwork to do very soon, filming is set to begin in a month,” Mona says and it puts you on alert.

“Wait, what? A month?”

“Yeah. If you sign the papers, you are gonna move to the set for almost three months in four short weeks!”

“That’s very soon, Mona. I wasn’t expecting to film so suddenly,” you reply, feeling the panic crawl up on your spine. You were set to have some smaller projects, which you assume will be pushed way back and then there is Harry… You were really looking forward to visit him on tour often, but if you’ll be trapped on set for three months, there’s no way you’ll be able to visit even just once. It messes up all your plans.

“You’ve done it on way shorter notice before, Y/N. You’ll be fine. I’ll send you everything today and we’ll talk about when you’ll be able to sign the papers. I gotta run now, but congrats, girl! It’s a huge step!” she cheers before ending the call, leaving you dumbfounded.

You were not expecting today to go this way, this phone call singlehandedly threw all your plans right into the trash. It’s not that you’re not thankful for having such an amazing opportunity in your career… but thinking about all the time with Harry you’ll have to pass on. It certainly does not make you happy.

Sitting on the edge of the bed you take a minute to yourself, thinking about what to do and the thought that’s starting to form inside you will definitely not impress Harry, but you don’t feel like you have a choice.

Gathering the glasses once again you finally join Harry in the kitchen who is finishing up at the sink right when you walk out.

“Were you on the phone?” he asks after mumbling a soft thank you for bringing the glasses out.

“Yeah, it was my agent,” you nod timidly, suddenly feeling out of place in Harry’s home.

“Was it… bad news?” he asks, judging from the look you currently have on.

“I uhh… You remember all those castings they kept asking me to come to a little while ago?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I got the part. Leading role,” you simply state and Harry looks at you, stunned, pride all over his face, but it soon deflates when he sees that you’re still not too happy about it.

“Why the long face then, Angel? A leading role is a big deal!”

“Filming starts in a month, I’ll be away for three months,” you tell him and watch as it clicks in his head as well. His face falls from excitement to slight disappointment but then he masks it with concern.

“I hope you’re not thinking about turning it down.”

“It’s not really an option. The movie is promised to be a big hit, I would be stupid not to take the role, though I admit it’s a shitty timing.”

Harry nods in agreement as he shuts the water off and dries his hands in a kitchen towel, seemingly deep in his thoughts.

“I guess we’ll have to work with what we have,” he then says, but you can tell he is frustrated this is what you have to face. As if you haven’t had enough trouble with time management, now fate seems to be making it impossible for you to see each other.

The words are already on your mind, but you’re not sure how to say it without upsetting him too much. Nothing ensures he won’t take it the wrong way, so you just have to simply go for it and hope for the best.

“Let’s sit down for a minute,” you suggest and taking his hand you lead him to the couch.

When both of you are settled, you take a deep breath and decide to just be honest, it’s something Harry appreciates a lot.

“I want you to listen to me before you say anything, okay? I really want you to understand my reasoning,” you plead and he nods shortly, eyebrows pulled together as he listens to you carefully. “I know what I’m like when I’m filming. I can get really stressed and lost in my own head, I always lose touch with the outside. My friends know it, my family knows it, they just expect me to be like that at this point. I’ve been really enjoying spending time with you Harry, but I just don’t want to disappoint you, because what you got from me these past weeks won’t be the same as I’ll be like when I’m away working. And I know we haven’t talked about what we are and I really wish this could happen differently, but I think it would be best if we didn’t make any promises until it’s a better time for the both of us. I would hate to think that I’m holding you back while you’re away on tour and I don’t want you to be disappointed in me either. I know this sounds illogical and like I’m trying to run away, but it’s not that. I just know how hard it can get and I don’t want either of us to get hurt.”

Harry takes his time thinking about what you just said, really chewing the words before he reacts anything and the more time passes, the more anxious you are feeling yourself becoming.

“Is that really what would make you feel… secure?” he then asks, calm and a little prim.

“Talking from experience, yes,” you nod, still expecting him to lash out on you, but it’s just not happening.

“Can we still… talk?”

“Of course!” she breathes out. “It can all stay like this, it’s just…” You’re really trying your best to tell him what it’s all about for you, but it’s hard to find the right words. “It’s the strings, Harry. If we don’t have that, I won’t feel like I disappointed you when I eventually let you down.”

“How are you so sure you’ll let me down?” he asks, a little frown pulling on his face.

“I’m not, but it’s in the cards. It wouldn’t… it wouldn’t be the first time for me to mess it up,” you add quietly, eyes snapping down at your hands. “I would rather not get your hopes up, is all.”

Harry wants to protest. He wants to tell you all about how he thinks you’re wrong and that you could never let him down, but he keeps it all to himself. Instead, he decides to respect your decision and wait for the time to be right. It’s gonna be hard for him, quite like Hell, but if it means he can keep you close, he’d gladly do it for you.

“Alright. So then no strings attached,” he nods at last, surprising you with his calm manner and seemingly easy reaction.

“You’re not mad?” you ask stunned and a little puzzled.

“I mean I’m not a fan of the idea, but I can clearly see this is what would make you feel comfortable so I’m willing to work with whatever we have,” he explains, your heart sinking a little at his words. Disappointment, it’s already showing, you think to yourself.

“I-I’m sorry, it’s just that I really—“ you start stuttering, but he cuts you right off.

“Y/N, stop. It’s all gonna be fine, okay? I appreciate your honesty, really, not many would have had the guts to talk about it so openly, but you did. You told me exactly how you feel and that’s a great start. The timing of everything is very off, but we’re gonna make it work, alright? I have time, we’ve got time.”

For the first time since you told him the news, you finally see him smile. It’s weak and not as bright as you’d want it, but it’s there and it brings you the relief you wanted.

Scooting closer you cup his face and kiss him, trying to put every emotion you are feeling into it, hoping he would get the message that you are so very thankful for the way he is handling it, not making it even harder than how it already is.

“Do I still get to kiss you though?” he mumbles against your lips, hands already gripping your hips as he pulls you to his lap that you straddle more than happily.

“Oh, you get to do so much more,” you breathe out, kissing him over and over again.

It’s gonna be hard. And definitely painful. You didn’t want things to go this way and though everything in you is protesting against what you just agreed on with Harry, you know you’ll have more peace this way until you can finally focus on figuring out where you’re really standing with Harry. A relationship is a lot of time and effort, which neither of you have enough of right now, so this decision needed to be made. You both know it.

***

The cast of Sinful Heaven is finally full!

The highly respected director, Taika Waititi is back in action with a very promising new movie that is promised to take our breath away. Casting for the production has been in action for months, names such as Timothée Chalamet, Maya Hawke and Colin Firth have been announced to take part in the upcoming coming of age drama that follows the struggles of an young woman who grew up as an orphan, now facing many challenges in life after leaving the system with nothing in her hands. The leading role was eventually offered to the promising young actress, Y/N Y/L/N a week ago and the cast is now finally full with one last addition!

Levi Hudson was announced to join the movie in a supporting role, who already shared the exciting news on his Twitter. Following his statement about the movie, people were quick to question whether he was the best choice, but it wasn’t his acting skills that made them doubtful but his past romantic relationship to the woman in the leading role, Y/N Y/L/N.

The pair previously dated for over a year in 2018 and rumored to have some bad blood since their split in early 2019, however neither of them have confirmed the gossips. Will they be able to be professional and put their spiteful past behind for the sake of the movie? And does Harry Styles, Y/N’s rumored new beau have anything to say about the news of the exes working together? We will all have to wait to find it out!

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#harry styles #harry styles smut #harry #styles #harry styles series #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles one shot #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles x famous!reader #harry styles x actress!reader #harry styles never have i ever #never have i ever series #never have i ever #harry styles never have i ever series

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generous1ty · 3 years

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hihi! may i request hcs of a male s/o singing makoto, nagito, and kazuichi (separately) to sleep? ty!! :]

hihi! ✨

super excited to get to write this! i dont see a lot of male!S/O representation, so i’m really happy to get to write for it. :)

lots of love. <3

✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑

Makoto, Nagito and Kazuichi with a Male!S/O who Sings Them to Sleep

genre: fluff warnings: Male!reader, mild spoilers for DR:THH, chapter 1 and SDR2, chapter 4.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

Makoto Naegi

Makoto isn’t one to fall asleep easily. everything about the whole killing game has him very shaken, so his sleep schedule is, to put it nicely, all over the place.

it'll be a while before you're able to relax with him in his room, or let him go into yours. after all, he's still not too keen on having anyone in his room after Sayaka. you both hang out in other places, like the sauna or the game room.

he trusts you a lot, despite him being hesitant to have you in his room(which you don't mind, it'd understandable). your main hang-out place is the game room, as there are couches there to lay/sit on.

Makoto is very enthusiastic about your voice. whatever your talent is, he'll boast about your singing voice to others even if your Ultimate doesn't revolve around it(if you're comfortable with it, of course!).

hearing you sing for him, or even hum little songs is very endearing. he finds it cute and loves to hear it. it calms him down and helps him think straight, even when he's in a short/mild panic.

you invite him to lay on your leg/lap, as he's simply more comfortable that way. he likes to be babied, and caressing his head, petting/playing with his hair, or gently scratching his head while you lull him to sleep always succeeds in having him take a small nap. (or a well-deserved rest!)

the amount of times you both have fallen asleep in there... :D

when you're finally able to enter his room, he's a lot more relaxed and comfortable around you-- not that he wasn't before, but it's a frenzy of who to trust and who to not.

he likes to cuddle with you on his bed while you sing him a song. you're one of the reasons why his sleeping schedule has changed so much(for the better).

back to your voice again-- he literally adores it. he loves it so much!! whether it's on the deeper or higher side, you never fail to serenade him. always appreciates your voice and the effort you put into your singing for him.

if your voice cracks, he laughs about it. he's not making fun of you, but he finds it adorable and loves it a lot! if you hit high notes and get excited about it, he celebrates with you!

cares for you a lot, and you singing him to sleep has made him feel so much more safe in the school.

Nagito Komaeda

let's be honest, his sleeping schedule is fucked up but on purpose.

Nagito may be awake scheming something suspicious, or just laying on his bed. maybe he even reads a few books or has hobbies he does before sleeping!

whatever it is, he doesn't sleep well.

despite a whole killing game going on, he invites you to his cottage daily.

the first time you offer singing him to sleep, he definitely goes on his self-degrading rants about himself. how he doesn't deserve such kindness, that his sleeping habits are only a result of his own negligence and that you shouldn't have to care for trash like him.

you do it anyway because we don't like that kind of talk on this blog!!

probably cries when you first sing to him. it's just so calming and he feels so safe for the first time in a long, long time.

the fact that you're here with him, caring for him enough to help him sleep-- to use something you probably haven't shown anyone else but him--he feels right at home.

after your first visit, he probably goes to the restaurant in the hotel and says something like,

"oh, [Y/n]! i've been waiting for you to show up. you know, you're always welcome in my cottage like last night. so if you want to do what we did in there again... i wouldn't mind."

everyone would probably get the wrong idea because of the way he put it, but you're really just singing him to sleep. </3

he just leaves the restaurant after eating his breakfast.

everyone flocks to you, asking what happened last night between you and Nagito.

whether or not you share that you sang him to sleep is up to you! if you decide to share your hidden talent, let's just say Nagito would be just a little jealous..

it was his fault for bringing it up in the first place... but he knows better, because every night you sing him to sleep, not them.

he thinks of himself so lucky to even have the privilege.

he likes going into your cottage more, you singing while he breathes in your smell is calming x100. when you allow him in, he lays on your bed and asks you to sing for him(with cuddles, of course).

he likes it when your voice does a vibrato or hits high notes. it's pleasing to him and he just generally enjoys it.

i feel like Nagito would prefer higher voices more than lower voices. but despite his preference, no matter your vocal range, he just appreciates you singing to him.

to have the privilege of an Ultimate singing to him... he really is a lucky guy, isn't he?

Kazuichi Souda

sleeping schedule? what's that?

i doubt this man has a sleeping schedule either-- i mean, look at him when he made Minimaru.. he stayed up all night to make the tiny robot.

because of his Ultimate(and random brain surges of ideas in the middle of the night), when he sleeps is everywhere.

literally ranges from 10pm to all nighters. sometimes he's even up for days.

you're often invited into his cottage to help him make/fix his creations. you usually fall asleep when he's half-done with what he said he'd finish, then go to sleep(like, "i'll go to bed after i finish this part" kind of stuff).

you have to constantly remind him to sleep before you do-- and it's not until you've had enough that you drag him on to his bed and sing him a little lullaby.

it literally works, like, super fast.

almost scarily fast--

you're only 20-30 seconds in to the lullaby and he's already dozing off and falling asleep.

you only sang one lullaby, but he's out like a light. pinch him, open his eyes, blow into his ear-- no reactions. at all.

he probably forgets what happened the next morning. you're not there with him, and he's asleep on his bed with no memory of getting there.

what did his best man do to him..?

he asks you later once you both have free time, and you just straight up tell him,

"your sleeping habits are terrible, so i just-- thought singing you to sleep would work. it obviously did if you're looking better than you did last night."

yeah, btw he feels so refreshed, there's like no reason for it.

definitely asks you to sing him to sleep again. he's never felt so relaxed and clear-minded before! he feels like he can do anything!

as always, you both are at his cottage. you and Kaz have never shared a bed before, but once you start serenading him to sleep, you and him definitely snuggle together.

Kaz would also probably have a preference for higher voices. but like i said, no matter your vocal range, he's in love with your voice.

he just finds the fact that you want to sing for him at all so lovely. he appreciates it a lot that you'd go this far for him, and it's literally love-at-second-ish-serenade.

doesn't share that you have an amazing voice!! he wants to keep that to himself, because he's a little selfish.

he feels like this is the only connection you two really have, so exposing it to everyone would make him feel really sad. :(

but it's way more than just that, obviously!!

you're the only reason why Kaz would have a sleep schedule in the first place. relies on you to put him to bed or give him a small nap.

and you help him out so much-- not just with sleeping, but with his projects too.

is literally in love with you so, so, so hard

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flameohotwife · 3 years

Text

Happiness and Love

Here is my contribution to @kataang-week day 2: Blending Cultures! Aang and Katara are expecting their first child, and discuss how they want to pass down each of their cultures. Basically just shameless cloud family fluff. Enjoy!

ao3 | ffn

Katara sat on a balcony of the Southern Air Temple, resting her hand on her finally-swelling belly while she watched Aang going through his bending forms below. She missed being able to spar with him every morning; keeping her skills and reflexes sharp, but Aang wouldn’t risk hurting the baby accidentally. They would still do their waterbending katas together later, under the moon, at least. That was something to look forward to.

As she took a sip of the tea Aang had left for her, she thought about the child growing in her womb, and how they would raise them. She had known going into this relationship--long before she was old enough to think about having this family--what it would mean to marry outside the Water Tribes. That she may have to sacrifice some aspects of her culture to also let parts of her partner’s shine through their children; through their family.

Even their wedding had been a mix of Water Tribe and Air Nomad traditions, from their vows to their clothes and even the food. Aang had briefly tried to insist on a traditional Water Tribe ceremony, since weddings hadn’t even been all that common amongst the Air Nomads (though they did happen, despite what some propagandist Fire Nation texts may have said about the Air Nomads being…sexually promiscuous and allergic to commitment), but Katara had put her foot down. Their wedding was not about her, or Aang, individually. It was this new thing they had created with their relationship. A beautiful mix of water and air, just as their child would be.

She was brought out of her reverie by a warm hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, sweetie,” she said, looking up from her tea to catch Aang’s bright grey eyes. She wondered if their baby would have his eyes. All of her thoughts seemed to flick to the baby these days.

“Hi,” he returned brightly, pressing a kiss to her forehead before sitting beside her on the bench, pouring a cup of tea for himself. “Thinking about anything in particular?”

She caught a glimpse of the smile he tried to hide behind his teacup and knew he’d caught her daydreaming about the baby again. She couldn’t keep her own lips from curving upward or her heart from fluttering. She was so happy for the opportunity to bear his child; to create a family with him, and bring more of him into the world. Though she had truthfully considered him family since she was fourteen years old, this way of being a family was different, and new, and so, so exciting. Katara couldn’t wait to see what this family they created together would look and be like. She knew Aang felt the same way by the fact that he’d practically been floating around the temple, making extra time to pray for her and the baby, and waiting on her hand-and-foot for the last three months since she’d told him.

“Just the baby,” she sighed, setting down her now-empty cup. She fixed him with an apprehensive stare, and he set down his cup too to give her his full attention. “Do you think we’ll be able to do a good job… you know, passing down both our cultures? It’s soimportant to pass down their Air Nomad heritage, regardless of what type of bender they are, or aren’t, but… they’ll be half Water Tribe, too. I want to be able to celebrate our holidays, andyour holidays. Eat both types of food with meals just like we do now sometimes. Obviously we’ll be respectful about the meat just like I try to be now, but, I just… I worry a little bit that one culture or the other will get focused on, especially if they’re a bender, but they will still be part of both of us.”

Aang gave her a reassuring smile--he had always been so good at calming her when she was rambling and getting lost in her own worry--and took her hands in his. He couldn’t put into words why or how much he loved her for considering things like that, even if it bordered on overthinking sometimes. That she took his heart and his culture, which had been gone for over a century at this point, into account when planning how to raise their children.

He remembered how his heart had squeezed and felt lighter than the air he bent at the thought that she would even want to have babies with him, back when they were still discussing it as a theoretical. She had insisted that she wanted to give him his lost culture back, and he had argued that she was all he ever wanted, but that creating new life with her would be a privilege he would cherish forever. And now here she sat, with only a few months left to go before they could meet the child they had made together. His excitement was beyond measure, but his love--he never thought he would feel love this intense and all-encompassing, and he had loved Katara truly and deeply since they were still kids. He almost couldn’t believe how much more he loved her every single day. Almost.

“Oh, Katara,” he started, trying to find the right way to say it. He didn’t want her to think he was dismissing her concerns. “Sweetie, I love you so, so much. How did I get so lucky that you found me, and love me, and want a family with me? Just the fact that you’re even worrying about this… I’m sure it won’t be easy, but I know the two of us can find a good middle ground for our family. Like you said, we do a pretty good job of that already.”

He leaned over to kiss her gently, sweetly on the lips, feeling as if he may burst from the love he felt for her. He pulled back to see that she still didn’t look convinced, though the worry in her eyes had definitely lessened.

“You know what I think?” He asked, determined to return her to the confident, happy Katara he knew and loved.

“What do you think, oh wise Avatar?” She knew that, though he hated being called by his title in most instances, he didn’t mind the occasional teasing from her, since she had never seen or treated him like that was his only identity. He threw her an amused look before continuing.

“I think that we will consult your elders on naming our baby, using the name of someone close to us who has passed, in Water Tribe tradition. I think we will have a Pangsai--a birth ceremony, and a pancake feast after our baby is born to welcome them into our extended, blended, found family, in the Air Nomad tradition. I think you will wear our baby under your amauti for easy feeding and bonding. And I won’t be able to resist kissing their little head when I see it poking out. I think they will get to pick a bison from the new herd. I think they will go ice dodging. I think we will travel to your family’s home for the Winter Solstice every year. I think we will celebrate the Autumnal Equinox at an Air Temple. I think we will eat sea prunes--well, the two of you can, anyway--and seaweed noodles, and dumplings, and moon peaches, and sweet buns, and buttered tea, and bison milk, and all of our favorite foods from home.

“It will be a little bit of both our cultures, but it will also be something new. Just like when we bent the clouds over Makapu, combining air and water to create new shapes, our own little cloudbaby will be a little bit of each of us, but also their own person, with their own likes and dislikes. And I don’t know about you, but I am so excited to meet them and learn about them and nurture their wild and crazy dreams, just like we’ve done for each other all these years.”

As he talked, describing what he thought their life as a family would look like, tears gathered in both of their eyes. They had both come so far, and lost so much, to get to this point. Where a few years ago they were still in mourning for the loved ones and childhoods they had lost to war, here they were celebrating the creation of new life. Where they were both the last benders of their respective races, here they had the chance to birth a new one. Even if their child wasn’t a bender, they would still be carrying the heritage of both their people; people nearly or completely lost due to the war, and they both felt so lucky to be in this position. Together.

“Aang…” her voice was watery, and she couldn’t even begin to articulate what she was feeling. But she knew he knew. He always knew.

He pulled her into a crushing hug, careful to avoid squeezing her belly. “I love you so much, Katara. You have no idea what this means to me, to make this new life, with you.” There were tears streaming down both their faces, now, and he was reminded of a similar hug in the Serpent’s Pass a long, long time ago, when he had first told her how much he loved her, in his own way. “I can’t wait to see our own family, so full of happiness and love…”

She pulled back to look him in the eyes, knowing exactly what he was referring to, and it dawned on her that he may have known even then that they would be here one day. She wiped his tears tenderly and pressed a loving kiss to his lips before startling with a yelp.

“What is it? Is everything okay?” Aang asked, concern clear in his eyes.

“It’s… the baby! They kicked! Here, feel,” she took his hand and pressed it to the top of her bump, and within a few seconds he could feel something pushing back at him. “It still feels so weird to me.”

“Katara, it’s… that’s our baby!” It wasn’t the first time he’d been able to feel this, but it was still new. He looked shocked and elated every time, as if it was only a dream to him until he could feel the baby moving with his own hand.

“Mhmm, it is,” she beamed. Her cheeks were beginning to hurt from smiling so wide but she didn’t care. He was so childlike in his wonder, and she was incredibly excited to bring more of his spirit into the world. They would sit there for hours with his hand on her belly, and the joy would not abate.

They knew it wouldn’t be easy; nothing in their life had been. But they also knew it would be worth it. They wouldn’t be perfect parents, but they would do their best not only to raise this little one well, but also to teach them about both parts of their heritage. If they could have a little more of each other to love, a perfect blend of water and air, a new, beautiful human to add to this world, they would thank the Spirits every day for this life. And it would be enough, always.

#kataang week 2021 #blending cultures #mixed race cloud family #aang #katara #kataang #kataangtag

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kaeyasaki · 3 years

Text

❝ BITES YOU! ❞

✿ cute lil messages for my besties before i get too busy with exams and forget, because who knows how long everyone’s tumblr phase will last,, dramatic gasp �� apologies for typos i’ve been anti beta reading these days as you can tell

✧･ﾟ:* myra *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @luvcre

my pretty kitten, myra chan, i love you even though you like,, l*orio !! we’ve been friends for almost 6 months now, wow so cool !! no but actually i’m very grateful for meeting you. i know we already knew each other beforehand, but i think it’s rad the way we were always destined to meet !! quite literally the tumblr!romeo and juliet experience i say, but im super glad we got the chance to befriend one another and then grow so close !! i love you a unexplainable amount and you’re really special to me !! i’m extremely grateful for everything you’ve done for me, you’re a very genuine and loyal friend and i’m really proud i get to call you someone so close to me. thank you for always being you and taking such good care of me and mina whenever we’ve needed it, i think you’re the coolest and not only are you admittedly funny, but you’re someone who i’ve found so easy to be myself around even when regarding irl situations, thank you for being you and thank you for loving me being me, i love you

✧･ﾟ:* mina *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @jhxyne

i’d love you more if you’d let me date your brother but i suppose i can’t have it all </3 no seriously though, i love you stupidly too and i’m insanely happy and grateful we met almost 6 months ago. you’re on the same wavelength constantly and you’re someone i’ve found so easy to confide in and open up to so quickly. i’ll forever be grateful to you for showing me what a real friendships supposed to be like and helping me feel comfortable no matter what. you’re really cool mina and you’re also really hot >:) you’re undeniably you and don’t let anyone put you in your place which i love. i’m super proud of you for everything you do too, you’re a big deal to me and i care about you a lot. while i’ll always drop whatever i’m doing to rip a bitches throat out for you, i know you’d do the same. you’re extremely important and someone i hold very close to me, i love you

✧･ﾟ:* chloe *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @sunasbabie

man you’re really one of my longest friends on here and i appreciate you endlessly. you’ve been with me since before i was ‘mila’ and we clicked so quickly! you became a really good friend of mine in such a short amount of time too which is rare for me because i tend to hold myself back when it comes to really clicking with people but honestly i can and would talk to you about absolutely anything! you were honestly separated from me at birth i’m certain, we’re very alike and different in the same sense and you’re definitely someone i’d cling to irl <3 you’re funny and you’re genuine and i love you a ridiculous amount! thank you for putting up with me for as long as you did and i’m manifesting we one day meet, we’ll definitely end up in some sort of trouble but that’d be expected of us >:), i love you

✧･ﾟ:* val *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @atsuangel

smirks, valicità my beloved, you’re quite literally the epitome of cool. you’re easily someone i look up to and admire whether that’s from up close and after, you’re very real and you’re very easy to talk to. i adore you in every sense and you’re perfect in every sense other than your taste of men (i can fix you :,( pete davidson,, he’s not right for you!). we’ve been friends for a long time now too and i’m very grateful we met, you’re someone very special to me and someone who i’d also sell a kidney to meet >:) not only is your online presence just overall hot, you quite literally are the sexiest too wow oh look! i’m on my knees :) you’re just %+>$# hhh you’re just really cool and i’m really glad i get to call you my favourite worstie! i love you

✧･ﾟ:* venus *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @amourdite

i’m not sure when you’ll see this but venus my gf, i’d lick you right now if i could :) you’re another person i’d lose a limb for if it meant we could meet, you’re so funny and i think you were the first person to see all sides to me. you’ve put up with me annoying you for a very long time now and you’re easily one of my longest and closest friends on here. you’re super easily to talk to and even though you’re sometimes a bit weird >:) you’re overall very well grounded and level headed and i know i can always come to you for anything without feeling like i’m going to be judged. i love you immensely and i’m very thankful for you because we met during my anti social phase when i didn’t really want to make friends or anything so the fact you were able to make me unknowingly change my mind about that is a pretty big accomplishment >:) i’m always here if you need me and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* lexy *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @babymattsun

miss hot girl lexy i love you very very much !! you’ve always been really cool and you’re never afraid to speak your truth and i admire that completely. you don’t hesitate to put a bitch back in their place and you do all that while being hot and funny which is a hard accomplishment. you’re very honest and someone i’d feel so comfortable going to if i ever needed an opinion, like a straight up no bullshit type of opinion because i know you’d be able to give me what you really think without giving me an answer from the perception of someone wearing rose tinted glasses. you’re so real and you’re so you, i love you and everything about you so much and i’m always happy to see you on my dash heather you’re posting content or just shitposting, seeing your url makes me very happy :,) i love you

✧･ﾟ:* hanna *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @s9turn

screams, bye we were destined to be friends i don’t care. you are literally meant to be close to me and i’m so excited knowing that you’ll be coming to the city for uni because all my unis are either in the city or super close by train so i won’t be far from you. you’re insanely intelligent and everything you do is just,, wow. you’re extremely funny too, i love talking to you so much and even when it’s us discussing an actual topic/issue, you’ll still be making me laugh when we talk. we hate the same people and have very common interests, you’re so cool hanna and i’m super glad we met >:) not only are you my literal twin in the sense of us both getting the privilege to attend white tory schools while being poc girls :,) but you also get where the humour etc comes from making it so easy to talk to you about anything. your writing too is so well thought out and whether you’re writing long fics or crack content, you execute everything you do so perfectly i’m quite literally on my knees for you, i love you

✧･ﾟ:* chuu *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @nakizumie

ahh chuu !! i don’t even know where to start with you, you’re literally my comfort person and i love you endlessly !! i still think it’s funny we were both fans of each other and too shy to approach but i’m so grateful you did approach me because you so quickly became one of you favourite people. you’re literally an angel and deserve the entire world given to you, you’re so kind to everyone and just seeing you on my dash makes me happy !! your messages make my entire day and you work so hard too !! you’re literally perfect and i envy those who get to see yo pretty face everyday irl, they’re so lucky to have someone like you because you’re the type of person whose hard to come by often. you’re talented and easily one of the friendliest people on tumblr, we’re all very lucky to have you and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* vale *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @iwasumi

vale my love, you’ve kept me so sane on so many occasions and for that i’m eternally grateful. you’ve taken it upon yourself so many times to go out of your way to make sure i’m good and make me smile, you’re someone i treasure and i’m so lucky we met. you’re another mutual who i find comfort in and seeing your posts make me so happy because you too are undeniably true to yourself and you’re always more than happy to speak your truth. i have so much respect for you as a writer and a person, you’re a literal star and we’re all to lucky we have you here. seeing you talk about your selfships makes me intensely happy too, i love the way you talk about them, you’re always so cute about it and mention specific details which i find super special because i can tell you really do care and love for these characters and i envy they have someone like you loving them as much as you do. i appreciate you endlessly and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* sophia *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @sophiashortcake

your taste in men is always something i have to bring up because not once but twice have you shocked me with the men you end up falling for. it doesn’t matter though, your pretty face makes up for it !! i’m super glad we met even if it was on that stupid discourse night. you know, i was still in awe when i found your initial post about it because not only did you serve such logic, but you also made your post somehow look pretty in the process. again you met me while i was in my anti social phase and had no intentions on making actual friends on tumblr. obviously i had my old mutuals like clara and yelie, but it was nice to have someone a lot closer to my age and we clicked very quickly which is something that doesn’t happen with me a lot. you’re very special to me and i hope you know that. you’re very very kind and while i know tumblr is sometimes heavy and stressful, you do such a good job at keeping on top of things and handing yourself, i envy that a lot. you’re very mature and i think everyone should be more like you including myself >:) i love you

✧･ﾟ:* jae *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @ats4mu

jae, i know you’ve been busy with exams lately and i’m super proud of you for everything you’ve done. i also know you plan to come back to tumblr soon to come catch up so i’ll leave this here for you to find when you come back hottie. miss jae, i love you very very much and i’m very glad we got to meet. you’re very funny and you’re super considerate of everyone around you. you always take the time out of your day to answer everyone and interact with full intention, we’re so lucky to have someone like you on here. i also appreciate you immensely, there’s been countless occasions where you’ve taken time out of your day to make me happy and while it’s undeserving, you always made sure i was good anyway and for that i’m extremely grateful. you’re beautiful through and through and not only are you such a big personality on here, you’re also very talented in the way you word things. i have so much respect for you and am constantly looking up to you, i’m very proud of you and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* jake *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @deardaichi

HISSING I LOVE YOU SM </3 no honestly, i’m so happy we met, you have made me so much happier and the fact you knew me even before i became ‘mila’ means you’ve watched me grow as a person and watched my life and dilemmas play out and yet you still stuck around and willingly interact with me. you’re so cool and funny and i’m so mad we didn’t meet before. you’re someone i trust so so much and i’d give anything up to meet you, i’m honestly obsessed with you and everything about you. you’re so kind and welcoming to everyone yet you’re also assertive and don’t take anyone’s shit. you’re literally my twin flame and i’m ridiculously happy we got to meet, i love you

✧･ﾟ:* tina *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @ilyrinjo

ahh miss tina hi !! i love you very much and i’m so glad you’re back !! you were missed for that period of time you left so these past few weeks of you returning have been so nice !! i still can’t get over you were one of my anons before but when you did come off anon i remember us getting along perfectly upon first interaction !! you’re super fun to talk to and your opinions are always very interesting but extremely valid too. you’re someone i could happily go to if i wanted an honest opinion or mature conversation with. you make talking to you so easy and not only that but you’re insanely pretty !! the boy you’re talking to is very lucky and i hope he knows it, he won’t get better than you and i highly doubt any of us will. you’ve got such perfect looks and personality i envy your balance in that have so much respect for you in everything you do. i hope you know how special you are to me and i hope everyone else knows how much you should be treasured because you really are a rarity to this world. i love you

✧･ﾟ:* em *:･ﾟ✧ — @osamuscupid

em !! pretty girl, i’m so glad you reached out to me a while ago !! i love you so so much and your messages make me so happy !! i love hearing all about your day and i love that you feel comfortable with ranting and just talking, i feel as though i’m sometimes a bit too much, but you still reached out to me and talk to me on a daily basis, you’re very special to me and i love hearing about how you’re doing. i care about you a lot and you already know how proud of you i am, you’re always working hard to achieve the things you want and you’re always putting in so much effort too. i look up to you for that as even in things you struggle with you persist with and that’s a mindset that’s hard to find someone with. you’re very special and i hope those around you know how lucky they are to have you, i care about you a ridiculous amount and i’m so glad we met !! i love you

✧･ﾟ:* sage *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @miyumiya

omg gf i love u !! you’re so much fun to talk to and your blog is always one of the prettiest !! you’re on pretty much the same wavelength as me and i love you so much !! once day we’ll save megan from pardi and force her to open her eyes, he’s not right for her and she should’ve been our gf from the start >:( okay but asides from that, you’re very easy to talk to and i love interacting with you !! i have so much love and time for you and you’re very easy to get along with !! you’re very talented in the way you write too, so i hold a lot of respect for you as a writer and friend, i can’t wait to keep getting to know you and i’m very thankful we met angel, i love you

✧･ﾟ:* max *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @maadorii

max hi hey hello i’m in love with you but you already knew that. you’re so easy to talk to and you’re so much fun too !! i love seeing you both on my dash and in my notifs, seeing your posts make me so happy and i love seeing whatever it is you have to say. i’d say your writing is poetic and i find that very beautiful, i love reading your stuff and i think you’re great in everything you do !! you’re easily someone i’d call a friend and you became one so quickly too considering i’m not the easiest to approach. everything about you i’m obsessed with and i’m super glad we met, it’s people like you that make me happy i stuck around on tumblr, i love you

✧･ﾟ:* sushi *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @velvetfireworks

ahhhh i adore you !! everything about you is just !!! you’re so wonderful and you definitely are someone i’d approach irl if i ever needed directions or something, you’re one of the friendliest people i’ve met and i’m so glad we did !! you’re super special not just to me, but to so many around you and you’re such a rare type of person to find, i’m truly lucky i got the chance to meet you because i’m enthralled with you completely. i look up to you as a writer and a person and i’m in awe of everything you do, you’re an all round great and well grounded person and you’re someone i know i could rely on if i ever needed it. you’re super likeable and i’m so happy we became friends, i love seeing you on my dash etc and wow don’t even get me started on your content. your way with words is perfect and even though i only tend to read for tetsu, reading your other works is a guilty pleasure because while i am loyal to him, your works always have me feeling some type of way, you leave me speechless everytime. you’re wonderful and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* vi *:･ﾟ✧ — @milfvi

i still cannot get over that one, you forgot we were mutuals, and two you didn’t know you were on my carrd,, VI WTF IVE LOVED YOU SINCE MY KUROOSKULT DAYS !! you’re so so funny and i have your post notifs on for that. everything you say is funny and you’re so easy to talk to because you’re so open and i love that !! you’re very special to me and someone i care about a lot, i love you and i’m proud of you for everything you do. your blog is so much fun to look at and seeing you on my dash makes me so happy !! you’re so fun to be around and you’re for sure someone i’d click with well irl which is rare for me to admit when talking about online friends. i’m so glad we met and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* xi *:･ﾟ✧

i don’t want to tag you for obv reasons >:) but i do want to tell you that i love you and while we only became friends in february, i’m glad we did because you’ve quickly become someone i can go to when i need to vent or rant because i know you won’t judge me. i’m really happy you feel like you can open up to me too because that’s something a lot of people struggle with when it comes to me. you’re so easy to talk to and i can say anything judgement free to you and vice versa. i’m literally in love with you and don’t even get me started on your selfship. i’d honestly pay a fat sum of money for it to be officially canon because the way you talk about him leaves me giddy for the two of you, i’m very much in awe of you and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* ellie *:･ﾟ✧ — @tetsulatte

pretty gf ellie, i adore you in so many ways. you’re so kind and caring to those around you and i adore your positive outlook. you have such a talent for making such pretty blogs too !! i’m glad we met even if it was just recently, but i appreciate you and everything you do and not even just for me. i know you bring comfort to a handful of people and i see you as the big sister type of figure for sure. i think you’re so cool and i’m super glad you reached out to me because me being the lowkey pussy i am when approaching new people, i would’ve been too shy and would’ve had to settle for admiring you from afar. you’re very much appreciated and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* nayru *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @luvoratomi

nayru !! you make my day pretty much everyday and i’m so thankful someone like you came across me !! you’re so kind and fun to talk to and i think everyone’s super lucky to be able to befriend someone like you !! you’re someone i look forward to interacting with and i promise after my exams are over i’ll be practically living in your inbox, you’re someone i hold close to me and i appreciate you a stuuupid amount. i’m love hearing from you and love hearing about your day and what you’ve been up to, it makes me happy to see you happy so thank you for always making that happen !! i love you

✧･ﾟ:* misa *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @rintaromilktea

misa my pretty girl i hope you’re doing well !! i too, appreciate you an insane amount and i’m glad we became friends !! i’ve loved watching you grow more sure in yourself and confident on your blog, it makes me so happy to see you have good people around you too !! you’re someone i treasure a lot and i’m so glad we became friends !! you’re so kind and you’re always thinking of others. that’s a genuine rare trait to find in someone so i hold you very close to my heart and i’m so thankful we had the opportunity to meet, i hope you’re taking care of yourself angel, i love you

✧･ﾟ:* fyfa *:･ﾟ✧ — ✿ @sweetbakugou

hey fyfa i think you’re so rad >:) you’re literally the coolest and you’re always on the same shit as me, i literally adore you and everything about you. you always get me and i know you’re someone i could always rely on. you’re also really very funny and definitely one of my funniest mutuals, your shitposts have got me in trouble a few times in class from when i’ve read them and genuinely laughed, you’re so much fun and you’re so open and friendly, i’m so lucky we met and i’m so glad we befriended one another. i’m so happy i got to come across you on shitty tumblr and if i ever did leave, i’d definitely be running to you as one of the first people i’d be begging for other social handles to keep in contact with because where else am i going to find humour from </3 you’re so important to me and i love you

✧･ﾟ:* rose *:･ﾟ✧— ✿ @makeusfreefromthisfandom

rose !! i’m so happy you reached out to me because i love talking to you you’re so much fun !! i love that you get to be apart of me finally watching hxh (chrollo is all yours i really can’t with him </3) but not only that, you’ve been someone i’ve always looked up to as a person. you’re so real and you’re so kind and i know everyone around you would say the same. you’re like an older sibling type of figure on here and i love you for that. you’re so open and welcoming and i know you have others best interest at heart, you’re one of the best people i’ve met and i love you

hhh i think that’s everyone, but there’s a lot of people i hold close to me and appreciate even if i haven’t mentioned them on here,, you’re all so important to me and whether you’ve interacted with me once or twice on or off anon, you’ve all been super important to me growing as a person because while i was thinking about it yesterday, who i was when i first started tumblr and who i am now are two completely different people and i’m finally happy with myself :) thank you all so much i love you !!

#💬stfu #it’s okay you can cry i know my poorly strung words can be tear jerking >:)#okay but fr i love u all sm #okay now that that’s done.. studying econ.. ICK

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catxsnow · 4 years

Text

CO-CAPTAINS D.W.

Request: could i please request a damian wayne x reader imagine where she's a complete badass who keeps damian on his toes and they both do debate (because let's be honest damians favourite sport would be to show how much better he is at arguing) and maybe they have to work together to prepare for one debate and have an enemies to lovers situation and the debate comes and the batfamily comes to watch but instead of the usual sour damian he's got the 💖lovebug💖 and simping over his partner.

Warning: fluff, Older!damian, x fem!reader

A/N: I’m so sorry I literally know nothing about debate?? I was a basketball kid in high school so I did that instead. If you’re not satisfied let me know PLEASE!! I’m happy to write something else as well but I hope that you enjoy!!

Word count: 4k

Gotham's private school were one of the few good things to come out of the city. The public school were terrifying and you were lucky enough to get scholarships into the best school in the city. At least, it had to be the best if Damian Wayne was going there, right?

Son of Bruce Wayne, richest kid probably in the entire world. He also happened to be the cockiest asshole you had ever met in your life. You were well acquainted with him being on the same basketball team and everything. There weren't enough girls to make a team that year which meant you had to play with the boys - not that it was a problem for you.

A lot of people underestimated you skill since you were one of two girls on the boys senior team. It came in handy with a lot of games where you came out scoring the most amount of points each quarter. You skill had brought you to captain of the team. Or at least co-captain with none other than Damian.

The two of you were constantly trying to outdo each other and see who was the better captain and who was the better player. It was a constant battle between the two of you. Damian drove you crazy with his cocky attitude and his ever lasting need to prove that he was right. He was constantly trying to call the plays and you knew god damn well that it wasn't going to work.

Half the time, you were right.

Damian found you infuriating. A girl shouldn't be playing on the boys team - everyone knew that. Yet, here you were. You were proving to be better than half the guys on the team and Damian couldn't stand you for it. He hated when you were right and when you scored more points than he did.

Mostly, he hated that you always had to fight against him, rather than agree with him. You guys could never see eye to eye. And as much as you wanted to blame all the fights on him, most of them were started by you. You couldn't stand to see his stupid smirk when he came up with an idea to win the game.

Everyone on the team knew that you didn't like one another. Sometimes it fueled them up to win the game they were playing. Mostly, it got in the way to the extent that you had lost a game. The worst case was when Damian refused to pass to you and during the last few seconds of the final quarter, missed the shot and lost the game.

Yours and Damian's feud started long before you joined the boys team. Two years ago, there were enough girls to form a separate team. Some practices you would scrimmage against them - that was when your hatred started.

It was his first year playing and he was infuriated that you were beating him at every chance you got. Offense, defense, even court side you seemed to out wit him. He was tired of you and he didn't even know your name - just your number. His number.

"Wayne!" You shouted. Damian once again had his nose in his phone. You guessed that being the son of Bruce meant that he had diligent responsibilities to attend to as well - that didn't mean he got to be excused from practice though. Damian's eyes darted to you and a scowl spread on his lips. “Just because your co-captain doesn’t mean you can skip practice.”

You had to admit that it was one of your favourite past times to piss him off in anyway you could. Whether it was because it made you feel like the better captain or because he looked a little too hot when he was angry. Still, he threw his phone back in his bag and ran onto the court to join you and the others.

It was the end of practice and he looked like he was itching to leave. However, Coach had one last drill to run before hitting the change rooms. It pushed you just hard enough that sweat dripped down your face and soaked the back of your neck. Damian didn't even appear to even break a sweat.

With all the years that you had known him, he never seemed to be overworked. Coach would throw everything at him and he would always accomplish it with ease. You hated him for it. Whatever aestheticism he had was natural, you had to work you ass off for it. Nothing seemed to tire him out.

You nearly dropped to the floor the second the change room door closed. The cold tiles would have felt nice against your hot skin but you didn't know if you'd be able to get back up after you got down. So, you reluctantly threw on some sweats and a hoodie and headed out to catch your bus home.

Of course by the time that you got out there, all the other players were long gone and the only person left was Damian Wayne. Unlike you, he wasn't waiting for the bus, he was waiting for his butler. You wished you had that kind of luxury in your life - Gotham City busses weren't always the most reliable.

"(L/N)," Damian acknowledged you. The bus you were going to catch wasn't going to be there for another twenty minutes. As much as you didn't want to stay with Damian, you also felt a hell of a lot safer standing next to him rather than yourself. "Your free throws were off today."

"Thanks," You rolled your eyes. Of course he noticed your weakness of the day. He always seemed to be pointing out things you did wrong during practice and especially during games. You held up your hand to show him your taped fingers which seemed to be a good enough answer for as to why you were off. "Crushed my pinky last night."

"TT," he nodded. Part of you hated when he did that. That other part thought his little tick was adorable. The worst thing about hating Damian was that he also did the smallest gestures that made you swoon to him. You liked to blame it on his rich-boy-son-of-Bruce-Wayne facade, but you knew that wasn't it.

"You were leaning to your right instead of left today," this time you pointed out his flaw. Damian lifted up his pant leg to show of his ankle brace. How you hadn't noticed it in practice, you weren't sure.

"Two days ago," Damian briefly told you. "Don't worry, I could have crutches and I'd still be a better player than you." You scowled at him. The second that you thought that the two of you could get along, of course he had to go and ruin that with some plain-faced compliment.

"I'm pretty sure that someone who's never stepped onto a court could do better than you," you scoffed. The short time that you had left you little imagination to come up with insult. "My bus is going to be here soon, better go catch your babysitter."

"He's my butler," Damian corrected. You always referred to Alfred as Damian's babysitter - with his childish attitude god knows he needed one.

"Whatever," you were already walking away from him. As you continued to the bus stop, you spun around and flipped him off. Your middle fingers were raised high in the air and you could nearly feel his glare at you. "Have fun being privileged."

What you didn't know, was that Damian knew Alfred was there the whole time. He didn't want to leave you waiting in the dangerous streets of Gotham by yourself - not when he knew the horrors that were truly within them.

Damian knew you were one tough motherfucker.

He knew that on the court you were ruthless, unforgiving, and determined. Playing against a bunch of men that towered over you and sometimes having way more body mass against you meant you had to be tough. It was something that he always respected you for. Time and time again you surprised him with being able to take care of yourself.

Tonight was a home game and you were more than excited to be out on the court and kick some sorry ass. Just as always, the other team was shocked to see a girl playing and instantly started making fun of you. They were rough on you, refs were obviously not caring enough to call the fouls, and you were pissed.

By the third quarter, you were furious that so many calls were being missed. Your shooting started to get more forced and your defense more aggressive. It wasn't until the player you were guarding jabbed his elbow into your face did you finally have enough.

Blood dripped down your busted lip and your fists clenched up at your sides. If it wasn't for the bright red flowing out of you, you were sure that it would have been another foul that was shrugged off. With the sound of a the whistle being blown, both teams headed back to their benches.

"Fuck these refs!" You seethed. The back of your hand was smeared with blood from wiping it away. Your coach glared at you for the swear but since you were feeling ballsy, you only glared back at him.

You were already in a bad mood. Before the game had started, you and Damian had another one of your spats. This had been a big one too, you had never yelled at him so much in your life before. And to be honest, you couldn't even remember why it had started. He had said something to tick you off and it had just escalated from there.

The two of you were the first to arrive to the game - as it seemed to happen every time. While waiting for everyone else, you found yourself arguing once more. He always seemed to find the kind of things to just make you angry enough not to be able to forgive him. It drove you crazy.

When some of the other players filed in, the two of you stomped off in your own directions and never spoke again unless necessary. Damian was the one person that you could never get along with no matter how much you tried. And you wished you could get along with him too.

He was your co-captain, you should have easily been able to get along with him. Damian was someone that you truly could see yourself getting along with if he wasn't so damn stubborn.

"She's right," Damian suddenly defended you. He couldn't help but be in awe of you as you nonchalantly shrugged off the wound. You were fuming at the team, the refs, and now your couch. Damian had never seen you so riled up before and he had to admit that he loved this side of you.

"Doesn't matter," your coach cut the both of you off. "(Y/N), you're out for the rest of the game."

"No!" You argued. There was no way that you were going to be benched for some busted lip. Your coach wasn't going to let you argue it. So, for the rest of the game you grumbled on the bench and glared at any player from the other team that ran by you. This was unfair, yet no one seemed to disagree with the coach.

As the last seconds of the final quarter ticked away, victory was upon your team. The last buzzer went off and your team crowded around each other for the win. You on the other hand, already stalked off the the change room. Your bag was hastily thrown to the ground and you planted your hands on the edge of the sink.

To no surprise, your lip was swollen and bloody. A split ran vertically on the bottom and dried blood was caked around it. You splashed cold water on your face, hoping that it would cool you down - both from your heat and your anger. It didn't do either.

Your team was most likely already waiting for you for a post-game talk. That was the last thing you wanted to partake in. Unfortunately, you were already in enough trouble as it was and you couldn't miss this. You shoved a hoodie on and joined the rest of your teammates outside.

Twenty minutes later you had nearly droned out everything your coach was telling you and your team. Everyone decided to join up at the pizza place a couple streets down from the school before heading home. You on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to be in your own bed away from everyone else.

A hand on your shoulder stopped you from walking away. Damian.

"What?" You snapped.

"Calm down, (L/N)," Damian rolled his eyes. He had the time to cool off from your fight several hours ago - you on the other hand most definitely had not. "Come get pizza with the rest of us. I know you're in a... bad mood, but it'll be good to spend time with everyone without coach there."

"No."

"I'll buy," Damian offered. You rolled your eyes at him. A slice of pizza really must have just dug into his budget a lot - being so rich and all. "Just... I'm sorry, for earlier. I shouldn't have said those things."

"Wow, is Damian apologizing?" You were genuinely shocked. He never apologized after any of your fights so he must have felt bad about this one. "I guess I'm going to have to come now."

The final game of the season always made you nervous. This year, was even worse. Senior year of high school meant that scouts would be watching for new players in university. Tonight, the gym was packed with them. You needed this scholarship if you wanted to get into the university of your dreams.

To make matters worse - Damian's family had shown up as well. Bruce Wayne and several of his brothers and sisters sat in the stands. It was the first time that you had seen them together outside of his ridiculously expensive galas. Bruce had shown up to support his son - his siblings wanted to see this girl that he had ranted on and on about.

There were many times after practice - or even just regular school days - where Damian would come home and complain about how much he hated you. He was constantly infuriated by your presence and he couldn't stand the thought about how impossible you were to try and have a proper conversation with.

Dick was the one who heard about it the most. He told Jason about it, who started showing up to the manor just to his little brother get so worked up about a girl. Steph became the most invested - she wanted to know everything there was about you and most importantly how, how she could get the two of you together.

Tim didn't believe that it would ever happen. When Damian hated someone, there was no changing his mind about it. You seemed to be at the top of his list at the moment and there was no way that Steph's wishes would ever come true. Damian hated you, simple as that.

You stood on the court side bouncing up and down on your toes. All the nervous energy was pent up inside of you and you had no idea how to get it out. This game meant everything to you - you needed to show off how good of a player you were and that you deserved to have a full-ride scholarship.

"You okay?" Damian stood beside you. He had grown a lot since you first met him. Before, you stood at the same height as him, now, he towered over you. His arms were crossed over his chest as he looked down at you. You couldn't help but briefly gaze at his muscles that popped out of his jersey before meeting his eyes.

"Nervous," you answered.

"Why? We've beat this team before. Is it because it's the finals?" Damian raised an eyebrow. You were never one to show off your nerves - especially right before a game.

"No," you shook your head. "Scouts. I need a scholarship to get into university. I'm just worried I'm gonna fuck up tonight and lose my chance."

"You're going to do fine," Damian assured. You weren't used to this side of him. He never was one to boost your confidence, always the one to tear it down. "If it makes you feel better, I'm nervous too."

"You? Nervous?" you cheekily grinned up at him. Damian rolled his eyes and nudged your side.

"My father is here," he jutted his chin in the general direction of his family. One of the older men seemed to notice and waved at you both. "And my nuisance brothers and sisters. They've never seen one of our games before."

You didn't have a chance to say anything else. A whistle echoed through the gym and the two of you were ushered onto the court. The second that you stood within the lines, your nerves seemed to wash away.

Damian stood in the center for the tip off. He did a short glance back at you and have a reassuring nod. For some bizarre reason, it filled you with joy. You felt a surge of confidence as well as determination. Whatever happened after tonight was out of your control. All you knew was that you had to bust your ass out there and everything would work out one way or another.

That game, you had worked like you never had before. You were making nearly every shot and putting up such a great defense. For the first time in your lives, you and Damian were working in sync. It seemed like he knew what you wanted to do before you even had the chance to think it. The two of you were incredible.

His family noticed how well you worked together. After everything that they heard about you - they assumed his hatred would show on the court as well. Most of the time, that was true. Tonight, you had never seen anything like this before. It was your best game of your life - skill wise.

At half time, your team huddled around to devise a strategy for the second half. You were ahead of the other team, but only by a few points. This was the final game of the season, you had to win. You stood beside Damian in the huddle.

Sweat dripped down his skin which seemed to accentuate his beautifully tanned skin. He left from your side and part of you felt disappointed at his departure. However, he returned only moments later with his water bottle, as well as yours. You thanked him as you grabbed it from his hand.

"You guys are on fire out there," One of your teammates stood behind you and Damian. He had a hand on each of your shoulders and a grin on his face. "It's crazy! I've never seen you work together like this before. Guess you guys are uh, warming up to each other, huh?"

Coach called him over before you could reply to him. He squeezed your shoulder before jogging off in the other direction. Damian didn't look too pleased by the short encounter either.

"Scouts have been watching you all night," Damian looked over to where one of them was sitting in the stands. He had made sure that he made all the right assists for you so that you would go noticed. It was working - you were doing incredible.

"Still half a game left to go," You muttered. As soon as you stepped off the court, you nerves had started to come back. "Thank you, for everything out there."

"(Y/N)? Thanking me?" He teased. He never had a playful attitude like this - but you had to admit that you really liked that side of him. The smile that caused his eyes to crinkle and his cheeks to squish. You couldn't help but gleam up at him the second that you saw it. "Come on, coach wants us."

The rest of the game went just about as good as the first half. You were drowning in sweat from all the work you were doing but if the scouts kept their eyes on you, then it was well worth it. You and Damian continued on just as you had before - playing as if you were one person, not two.

The final quarter came and went with your team pulling way into the lead. By the time the final buzzer went off, your team had already celebrated it's final win of the season. It was you and Damian that had been the reason for such a dramatic win - and the scouts knew it.

You had been pulled off to the side by one scout in particular before you could even make it to the change room. He happened to be from the university that you were so wanting to go to. Before he could even finish his offer for a full ride, you already had a massive grin on your face and nodded your head yes.

This had been exactly what you wanted in your life, you needed this win. The scout left you to go get changed and speak with your team. However, you had ran into Damian first. Your heart was beating so fast that you were sure it was going to pop out of your chest with excitement.

Whether it was the adrenaline, the excitement, or the pure happiness you felt, you weren't sure - but that didn't stop you from running to Damian and up into his arms. Damian nearly tumbled at your sudden weight. You legs wrapped around his torso and your palms were on his cheeks. Before he could ask what the hell you were doing, you kissed him.

Damian was standing there in shock. He held your legs for support and you could feel them stiff against your bare skin. Then, he melted into your touch. Damian kissed you back with the same cheerful energy that you had. His grip on you became more natural and he felt as if he never wanted to let you go.

The clapping and cheering from your team had pulled you guys apart. Damian carefully set you back down on the ground and stepped away from you. Heat of embarrassment crawled up his skin. "I'm sorry," You squeaked out. "I just, I wanted to thank you. Scouts are interested me and it's all because of you."

You had never really thought about Damian in this way. Sure, he frustrated the hell out of you and sometimes you wanted to punch him in his perfect little face, but you never found yourself hating him. Yet, you never thought that you’d want to kiss him either.

The instinct feeling that you had? That spoke more than anything else. After all this excitement, you should have thought to tell your parents, your best friend first. Instead, it was Damian. Maybe it was because you ran into him first, but you couldn’t blame your thoughts on that as well.

"They're interested in you because of how great of a player you are, not because of me," Damian argued. His cheeks were tinged the slightest pink as he stared into your eyes. "And there's no need to apologize... I enjoyed that. I'm sorry for being terrible to you for all these years."

"I deserved a lot of it. I'm sorry as well," You told him. Damian placed his hand on your waist, closing the gap that was between you. He tilted down, placing his lips on yours once again. He never realized how much he had argued with you just to hide his own feelings until now. All these years of fighting had been pointless.

This time, it was a camera flash that broke you apart. A blonde girl with a huge grin on her face held up her phone. Damian scowled at her. "Steph!"

"Tim!" Steph ran back to Tim as well as the rest of Damian's family. She was holding the phone high up in the air, obviously excited to show her brother about what she had just seen.

"Sorry," Damian apologized once more. He glared over in the direction of Steph running away to meet the rest of her siblings. "My family can be a lot sometimes."

"Well if they're anything like you, that doesn't surprise me," you joked. You glanced between him, the team, and his family - all of which seemed to be looking towards you. "Wanna ditch the team and our families and get out of here?"

"Never thought you'd ask."

#damian wayne #damian wayne imagine #damian wayne oneshot #older!damian #dc #dc imagine #dc one shot #batfam #batfam x reader #batfam imagine #fluff #damian wayne x fem!reader

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astrovian · 4 years

Audio

Richard Armitage interview on BBC Radio London for Uncle Vanya (25/10/20)

Full transcript under cut

Just a couple of days ago I was lucky enough to chat to Richard Armitage. He’s best known of course for roles in The Hobbit, Ocean’s 8, Hannibal, and of course, I was obsessed, absolutely obsessed on Netflix with The Stranger. Well, he’s about to star in the multi- Olivier-nominated play - in fact that’s tonight! We’ll find out if they win. Uncle Vanya – it’s filmed at the Harold Pinter Theatre during the pandemic, and uh, it’s incredible, it’s an incredible piece of theatre, and we’re all going to be able to watch it, which is a joy. And this is what we chatted about.

—

What a pleasure to speak to you for a number of reasons, because we can actually talk about how to bring theatre back to people’s lives, ‘cause I’m missing it desperately, but also talk about The Stranger. Let’s talk about Uncle Vanya first-

Yes.

-if we may.

Yes, of course.

Wow. What an incredible thing to do. Thank you for doing this, actually.

Yeah, I mean it was uh, kind of heart-breaking when we had to y’know, end our run six weeks early, and uh, the play was taking on so many kind of resonances of what we were living through, unexpectedly really. I, we thought the play was about, y’know, a man losing his livelihood, and then y’know, as, as the virus started to come into our lives and uh, the play started to change course really. So, and then, to sort of live through lockdown as well did and then come back to the play realising that’s exactly what these people have been doing, they’ve been stuck in a house together from summer through to the winter and going out of their heads. It again, it took on a whole other sort of energy, so a real privilege to be able to do that.

I mean, it is extraordinary when these old stories feel so relevant, and something a lot of people know, for people who don’t know something about it, we should explain a little bit about the story, but it feels like you’re talking about a story from today.

Well, it does. I mean, the fact is that Uncle Vanya, he’s the caretaker of this old estate and uh, he’s worked his entire life, um, supporting a property that’s not his, and then y’know, the owner who’s raised his daughter, Vanya’s raised his daughter for him, comes and says “right, I’m selling the estate for my retirement, um, and you’re all, you’re all out”. And it’s this devastating realisation that everything that he’s worked for is being snatched away from him. At the same time, y’know, my character is a doctor who is living through, trying to save patients during an epidemic, and uh, not handling it very well and turning to drink. And he’s also trying to save his little corner of the world that, y’know, is being deforested, so he’s planting trees and realising that the environment has such an impact on our health, um, *laugh* so it literally could’ve been written yesterday, um, and this was over a hundred and twenty years ago, so y’know, they knew. There was a huge movement in Russia at that time about, um y’know, how to, how to survive, and how to deal with the environment, and we seem not to have heeded any, any advice, really.

We, we never do though, do we? We seem never to.

Not really.

Well, many people don’t seem to. As you said, it just feels so relevant today. So when you, it must have been heart-breaking being in the show, the buzz was extraordinary, it was impossible to get tickets for. This way, I have to say, all the people who couldn’t get tickets, now we can all see it. I’m one of those people who couldn’t get tickets, as you can gather from what I’ve just said. Um, friends of mine went and said, “You’ve GOT to go!” but this is an incredible way to bring theatre to people who, like me are missing it desperately, and many other people who might not have gone to the theatre, who don’t live in London, who couldn’t have seen a show like this, so there is a plus side. I’m always looking for the plus side, I think. *Laugh*

Me too. I mean, I’ve always said that when a play is coming to the end of its run, putting together a film of it, and even a, a sort of audio recording of the play, I think is like an exit package. It’s worth doing for-

Yes.

-like you say, people that can’t go to the theatre, or maybe wouldn’t go the theatre because it’s like, y’know, it might be too expensive for them, and a cinema ticket’s a bit cheaper, they might be able to watch it on telly at some point. But y’know, hopefully they might watch it and think, ‘Oh God, that, that looked really good in the room, maybe I’ll go the theatre when it’s back’. But uh, either way, it’s still just great story-telling, and y’know right now I think everybody sort of wants to disappear into a, into a tale, and uh, hopefully, hopefully they’ll feel brave enough to go and see it in the cinema.

What does it feel like? I mean you’ve, obviously you’ve been in so many award-winning shows, what does it feel like when you’re, you’re waiting to hear? I mean they’ve all, there’s a number of Olivier awards that it’s up for, everyone was talking about this. Once again you were in something that everyone was talking about. Do you, do you feel slightly one step removed? I mean, The Hobbit, and obviously The Stranger, as you can tell I’ve got to go there because I LOVED it, I devoured it.

*Laugh*

Um, what does it feel like being on the outside of everybody talking about something that’s so - that’s such a part of you?

Um, to be honest, with – at the time that it’s happening, I, I sort of close my ears to all of that-

Oh, I love that. *Laugh*

-and try to live in it, rather than outside of it. That, that’s none of my business. But I do, I do pay attention after it’s over, and I love – y’know, I prefer hearing other people’s opinion of it, rather than reading about it myself, so, so I do enjoy the feedback. But when you’re in it, you’re in it. And to be honest with, with Uncle Vanya, we could tell that we were doing okay because the audience would let us know, and y’know that, the very, very first preview was such a kind of electric performance, and the audience were, were kind of laughing all the way through, which we hadn’t had in a rehearsal room. So that feeling is, is very, very precious, and uh, it continued like that through the run. But uh yeah, I tend not to sort of uh, pay too much attention while it’s happening, if you know what I mean.

Yeah, don’t read – everybody was saying-

No, I don’t read the reviews. *Laugh*

Do you REALLY not?! I bet you do sneakily sometimes.

I really don’t. I, I did it once, and it was – I y’know, I read one tiny miniscule negative thing about myself, and it was the only thing I remembered. And so I thought, ‘that’s a good lesson’. Don’t read the good stuff, don’t read the bad stuff. Read it at a later date, but at the time it does not help me.

Okay, alright. Well, I’ll tell you, they were all fabulous. Congratulations. All the reviews, absolutely incredible.

*Laugh* Thanks.

*Laugh* I cannot wait to see this. Now let’s talk about, if we may, The Stranger. I might have mentioned it a few times already in the past few minutes-

*Laugh*

-but it was one of those things I actually, I couldn’t stop. I loved it, I devoured it. And I sort of became slightly obsessed with it, it was BRILLIANT. Did you feel that when you were making it?

Yeah, and you know, again I, I was sort of in the middle of it, so I’m sort of focusing on the character’s journey, but Harlan Coben’s writing is very much in that vein – if you’ve ever read one of his books-

Yes, I have.

-you, you literally can’t put it down, and you can’t wait for, for bedtime so that you can pick it up again, and sometimes you, you get to the last chapter and you sort of, you think, ‘I’ve gotta space this out, ‘cause I’m just gonna devour the whole thing’-

Yes!

-so his writing matches that kind of uh, television format brilliantly. But I love it, and I, I loved what uh, Danny Brocklehurst did with that script. Y’know, he, he sort of elevated the book, and made it a kind of, much more kind of woven drama. So yeah, I love working on that kind of thing. And that is the type of TV that I will, I will watch on a personal taste level.

You’re happy to watch yourself?

No, I- *laugh*, I never watch myself, but I-

I like that, no please say that-

No, I- *laugh*, I never watch myself-

-I know that’s not what you meant, but that, it just sounded lovely that you’re happy to watch yourself in that one.

It, ugh, I haven’t yet, but I-

*laugh*

-I will eventually, *laugh*, um but it’s the kind of TV that I do, I do love watching. But no, again I’m, I’m not a good judge of myself, and ageing on screen is a REALLY hard thing to do.

You can watch that one, I promise you. Um-

Can I?

-may we go back to a part of your past that is, I’m fascinated by, that you – it was about music and musical theatre.

Mmm, yes.

And then you suddenly thought that that wasn’t enough for you, was that right?

Yeah, I mean I – it was at a time when there were, y’know, all of the big musicals were happening in the West End, and I, I saw kind of peers that would kind of move between Les Misérables, and then they’d go into Miss Saigon, and then they’d go into Phantom of the Opera, and I felt like I didn’t really want to, to follow that path. And I just felt that I wasn’t good enough, a good enough practitioner of either dance or song to, to feel that it was gonna be a sort of, that it was gonna have longevity for me, so I was already studying at the actor’s centre, and then I thought, y’know, I’ve gotta just y’know, go back to drama school and start again and do a classical training. ‘Cause that was the thing that was really exciting me. Um, and I’m glad I did it, but y’know, I still feel like in the future I might y’know, pick up that old hat again.

YES!

Yup.

That’s what I was going to ask! ‘Cause I’m a – I love theatre, hugely, as the way you can probably gather from the way I was talking at the beginning, um, but musical theatre is, I think, a very magical thing. And I think it’s possibly something that we all need as well, right now.

I agree.

So if you could – imagine – I’ve got a magic wand, okay?

Yeah? *Laugh*

And I am a magical music theatre fairy.

Yeah.

I could actually sing this bit, ‘cause I love musicals – *singing* “now you can do a theatre show”-

*Laugh*

No, I won’t sing it. Um, so you can do any theatre show on the planet-

Yup.

-any musical theatre. Which one is it, Richard?

Okay, so when we were doing our little warm-up before Uncle Vanya, Aimee Lou Wood and I used to sort of joke and fantasize about maybe doing Cabaret.

*gasp* Oh, yes!

Shall we, shall we send that out to the gods of the universe of theatre, to Aimee Lou Wood as Sally Bowles-

Oh, you can practice, practice, do a little bit-

-she’s got a GREAT voice.

Go on, just do us a little bit.

*Laugh* I can’t.

Oh, he’s not gonna do it, are you?

*Laugh*

I’ve made you – I can tell you’re blushing, which is great because I’m at one end of the computer and you’re at the other end of a computer-

You could do it, you sound great!

No, no, no, no.

Do you sing?

No, I’ve done it. Yeah, no, no. But musical theatre is a magical, magical thing, and I just – I, I love the fact that you’re open to all of that.

Definitely.

Now, let’s go to New Zealand on our next bit of travels. Um, what an incredible place to be for such an extraordinary film. I mean, The Hobbit, and everything that entailed, changing – I mean, for other people I’ve spoken to who were in any of The Hobbits, they all say that they felt it was such a MASSIVE part of their life, and they learnt so much doing it.

Yeah, I mean I never dreamed in a million years that I, I would get an opportunity to work on a project like that. And to work, y’know – I was a huge Tolkien fan for a start, and then when I saw Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, I was just, I was obsessed with it. And it’s not one of the reasons I pursued it, it kind of came to me, and I felt like ‘Gosh, why does he want me to play a dwarf?’ but um, getting the chance to go that country for so long, and work with that cast and him, and be completely kind of, sort of disappear into a, into a sort of a world and a character. And to be taken in a helicopter to the top of a mountain and, and y’know, shoot in places where human feet haven’t trodden – you know, it was, it was life-changing, it really was. And apart from the success of the films, which was a whole other thing, the actual experience of doing it was, it was unbelievable.

Aw, well, listen Richard, thank you. It’s such a pleasure to talk to you, I could talk to you for ages. And I can’t wait to come and see you in Cabaret. And congratulations-

*Laugh*

-on Uncle Vanya. Pleasure to speak to you.

Thank you very much.

#RICHARD IN CABARET #fuck can you imagine #i can't wait for a future musical theatre production ft. RA #richard armitage

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astoldbygingersnaps · 3 years

Text

Harper’s 2020 Fic Wrap-Up

my very good friend and incredibly talented felow writer @sagemoderocklee came up with the idea of doing an end of the year fic wrapup in an attempt to polish the turd known as 2020, and since i actually managed to get some writing done this year i figured, why not jump on the bandwagon?

a lot of super duper fucking shitty things happened in 2020, but i will always be proud that in this incredibly chaotic, stressful, and challenging year i managed to produce almost 180k of content (and that’s not even counting the writing i started in 2020 but haven’t published yet). so, to celebrate what’s been a pretty big achievement for me, i wanted to go through the various projects i’ve spent the last twelve months working on and give a preview of my plans for 2021.

let’s jump in!

projects i worked on/completed in 2020:

first off, let’s start with the beast to end all beasts, my personal baby, and honestly probably the reason most people follow me -- star trek au:

something bigger than the sky (shiita; 44,163 words; completed):

i’ve said this before, but the whole idea for star trek au was literally just a joke between me and my-then girlfriend, now-fiancee, and eternal shiita enabler alexa aka @durintrash (by the way, if you follow me for my fics and you DON’T follow alexa for her corresponding art WHAT, exactly, are you doing with your life????) where i sat in a space-themed diner and said ‘haha imagine itachi as a vulcan.’ but then i blinked and suddenly somehow i’d written the prologue and the first chapter of SBTTS in the span of a week. it’s like i was possessed by a fanfic demon.

it sounds super cheesy but i honestly can’t say enough how important this fic has been to me and how much it’s pushed me to be a more productive and more dedicated writer. previously i spent a lot of time Thinking about writing and occasionally i’d put a few words on the page and then i’d go... do... something... else. but star trek au was the first idea i loved enough that it actually pushed me to write and keep writing and not give up even when i was confronted with things like writer’s block and worry over the quality of my writing. so thank you, star trek au, for being the light in a very dark year for me.

by the end of SBTTS, i felt like i accomplished everything i wanted to do with the story’s beginning installment: i introduced all the characters and set the groundwork for their development; i showed what life on the corvus was like and how starfleet, the federation, and the universe functioned; and, more than anything, i was able to sketch out both the main protagonists -- itachi and shisui -- with all their strengths and flaws, show their relationship to one another, and hint at how that relationship would progress.

all the stars are closer (shiita; 75,195 words; completed)

considering how slow i used to be at writing, i thought it would be, like, twelve years before i managed to get to the second part in the series. BUT then covid happened and i half-lost, half-quit my job, and like a lot of people this year i ended up with a lot of free time on my hands. and so, like a fucking demon, i finished this part in two and a half months.

when i originally planned this part out, i really thought it would be a lot shorter and a lot lighter atmosphere-wise than it turned out. instead, this second section of the story ended up being pretty meaty in terms of length and in subject.

that said, overall, i’m really happy with how ATSAC turned out. i loved the way the characters progressed, how the relationships deepened, and how we were able to see this universe grow bigger and more complicated. and i’m very satisifed with how it set the stage for part three, which takes us to...

lovers alone wear sunlight (shiita; 41,518 words; in progress)

there’s... a lot about this part that i just can’t talk about yet, a) because it isn’t finished and b) because it contains some of the biggest plot points in the entire series thus far. if you’ve been keeping up with the stardates thus far (which i encourage you to do!) you know what part three is leading up to: itachi leaving the corvus and the dissolution of shisui and itachi’s growing relationship.

with that in mind, i’m... more than a little terrified about writing part three, which is why the third chapter has been languishing in my google drive for months now. (and also why i started not one, but TWO new fics to cope with my writer’s block. whoops.) chapter three is where all the parts come together and shit hits the fan, and i can only hope that everyone will be as excited to read it as i am to publish it.

next up, the two other projects i began this year:

salvation comes only in our dreams (shiita; canon divergence; 16,835 words; in progress)

for a long time, i’ve wanted to write something that’s actually set in the naruto universe and works to correct a lot of the flaws that i see in the series. there are a lot of things that bother me about naruto, but i think one of the things that frustrates me the most is the really messy and in some ways offensive resolution to the uchiha coup plot thread, and i wanted to write a story that dealt with the complicated themes of the series--imperialism, oppression, genocide, child soldiers--but, like, didn’t suck and completely drop the ball. thus, the massacre au was born.

my main goal was to tell a story that showed a lot of these characters in ways we’ve never seen them before, specifically itachi. i didn’t want to write itachi as just an idealist who suffers and Suffers AND SUFFERS for konoha yet still remains loyal to the village for some unfathomable reason like he is in the series. i wanted to write an itachi that was sharper, more jaded, and more suspicious of the world around him, but overall was still a good person with a kind heart. and for shisui, well... obviously there’s a lot going on there, too.

this is easily the darkest story i’ve ever written, and as the plot thickens it will certainly get darker with relationship dynamics that are complicated and unhealthy At Best. i hope that as the story goes on it’s a ride people continue to enjoy, as i was super pleasantly surprised at how popular this fic became (compared to my usual stats, at least)

oceans between us (shiita; alternate universe; 15,039 words; in progress)

it’s good to know that i continue to be the most ridiculously niche version of myself as yes, i wrote a fucking shiita atonement au.

with each fic i write i try to have a very specific voice that suits the particular piece and distinguishes it from other stories that include the same characters. for example, star trek au chapters tend to be more fun and light-hearted (especially shisui POV chapters) and lean more into the action movie and sci-fi adventure feel of the star trek universe, while the massacre au is written in a way that’s much heavier and guided by itachi’s emotions and experiences. my main goal with this story was to give it the same romantic, operatic, almost hazy quality that the movie has, which reflects the period setting and also the nature of this grand tragic love story.

i knew from the beginning that there were going to be a lot of things that i cut from the film in my retelling, like the lola subplot and obviously the setting of pre-wwii england. i also knew i wanted to explore some of the aspects of the film that were implied more than outright stated, like the themes of classism and upper-class privileges. and more than anything i wanted to structure this piece around this idea of tension building and building until it finally snaps and there’s just a world of mess and hurt and loss that affects these two characters in two very different ways.

also, the sex scene. i haven’t written a sex scene for anything in, like, a decade, so that was a lot of pressure. but i’m happy with how it came out and i think it ended up being an aspect of the story that felt like both a natural progression and necessary to show the affection these two people have for one another.

originally i was just going to end the story with shisui going to jail, but when i told alexa this i genuinely thought she was going to kill me. so, that didn’t happen lmao. but the more i tried to imagine what a second chapter would look like, the more i realized she was right, and it would have been a terrible idea to end the fic there. as for whether or not the final chapter will keep That Ending... who can say?

goals i have for 2021:

finishing lovers alone wear sunlight and, if i’m very lucky, beginning the fourth and second to last part of star trek au (yes, as it currently stands this 160k+ word series is only halfway finished. sorry not sorry)

publishing the next chapter of salvation comes only in our dreams (i don’t know when it will drop. i don’t know anything about this fic. please do not @ me)

completing oceans between us (the second and final chapter is currently sitting at about 4k words and will probably end up at about 15k in total)

completing and publishing a new fic i’ve started at the very end of 2020, which is the shiita jurassic world au nobody but me and alexa knew they wanted. it’s essentially a 90s romcom with dinosaurs and i cannot Wait to share it. (it’s at about 9k right now and will probably end up being around 20k to 23k in total... maybe...)

FINALLY starting my dream project: the shiita olympics au i’ve been planning for years, where itachi is a figure skater and shisui is a hockey player (i’d like to keep this under 150k but at this point trying to keep my stories at a managable word count is a losing battle)

anyway, that’s it! if you managed to get this far in this very self-indulgent and shameless bit of self promotion, congrats! also, a very big thank you to everyone who’s read my fics, left me kudos and comments, and spent their time on my work, because it really does mean the world to me.

here’s hoping 2021 is a much healthier and happier year for us all!

#my fic #shiita #this was so much fun to write so kudos to eeri for coming up with this idea

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intergalactic-padawan · 3 years

Text

For emergencies - Ezra Bridger

Requested: no, but i've had this idea for a while and decided to give it a go.

Warnings: none

A/N: I created this O/C, Astra, and she's probably going to be in more ezra fics in the future, who knows. I have no idea who she is yet, but i'll wait for her to come to life as i go!

Pronouns of O/C: she/her

*ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE! I make mistakes just like everybody else 😉*

AU where Ezra never went away and they have a cerimony in Lothal like at the end of a new hope. Astra is a rebel who has never met Ezra before, but has heard of him.

At the cerimony, Ezra couldn't focus on anything else other than his crew, the other spectres.

They had been by his side through thick and thin, and even when loosing one of the most important members of their family, they stood together to help liberate his home world Lothal and bring an end to the Empire's control over its citizens.

Now, they proudly looked at him while he walked down the Lothal Senate building's main corridor, ready to recieve a medal of honor and bravery for being, as the governor said, "an outstanding citizen and a beacon of hope for better days". Other rebels and sympathizers also got their medals while he stood on the side, misty-eyed as Hera tried her best not to burst out tears of joy; a dynamic that lasted for the rest of the afternoon.

At the party that came after, on the other hand, he quickly got separated form the group. Many higher ranking officers offering congratulations, a few friends from Chopper Base comparing the size of their medals and the invites for dancing to the sound of the cultural music of his homewolrd were exciting, but beginning to get very draining.

That's when he notices her. A familiar tug of the force indicating the way guided him to the drinks table on the corner of the big atrium where he was dancing just moments ago; and that's where she stood, drink in hand, watching the celebrations while he approached curiously. He was still coming up with the courage to say something when she notices him:

-"oh, hello there" - she smiles kindly, not turning from her privileged position but nodding at him in acklowledgement.

-"hey" - he squeaks out of surprise, clrearing his throat and trying again - "I mean, huhh- Hey. Hey. I-I'm Ezra" - he smiled, a little embarassed.

-"Nice to meet you Ezra. That's one shiny medal you've got there"

-"uh, thanks, it's...' he took it in his hand to examine the details - "it's kinda heavy, actually"

-"still, a nice medal" - she chuckled

Ezra took that moment to look at her a little closer. She appeared to be fully human, hopefully about his age. Her hair was tied up in a braid that crossed her head like a tiara, a look that fit her very well, he thought. Under her worn leather jacket, marked with the insignia of the rebellion, she wore a simple and elegant black jumpsuit: an uncommon look on Lothal, that made her stand out as someone whod never been there before.

She looked beautiful. So beautiful, in fact that Ezra got distracted and didn't get to brace for the impact of Zeb slapping his big hand on his back to congratulate him once more:

-"hey kid, there you are! Hera's been looking for you all over!"

Ezra smiled awkwardly; obviously Zeb didn't see the situation playing out, or worse: he did, and wanted to embarass Ezra in front of her.

-"yeah, hmm" he coughed and indicated the girl with a tilk of his head "I was... kind of in the middle of something here, Zeb"

She looked down, not able to hold back a smile as Zeb raised his eyebrow.

-"Well, If I know General Syndulla, it's best not to keep her waiting" - the girl offered him a smile and a warm cup of the same beverage she was been drinking earlier.

-"I believe this is what you came over here for, Lieutenant Bridger" - she raised an eyebrow, giving him a playful smirk when Zeb turned the other way to talk to Kallus for a moment.

-"Yes, this too" - he accepted the drink "thank you, miss...-"

-"captain, actually" - she moved her jacket to the side to reveal a shiny rank badge with two blue spots - "recently promoted, right before you entered the room to get your heavy medal".

-"oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see" - he panicked. Was he supposed to salute her now? Was it too late for that?

He took a quick sip of the drink to buy some time while he figured out what to do.

-"hey kid, we really need to go now, hera's waiting"

-"On my way zeb" - he midlessly acknowledged the Lasaat and looked at her once again, searching for words to correct himself, settling for sincere congratulations instead:

-"Well, the rebellion is lucky to have you" - he offerd a hand for her to shake, whick she hapilly took. Ezra would never tell, but the way they fit together gave him a comfortable warmth he hadn't felt in a long time.

-"I don't know about that, Lieutenant." - she laughed - "But my team certainly is, though. You can call me Astra, by the way"

"Well, then you can call me Ezra" he winked as he finally felt himself take control of the situation, bringing her hand to his lips while mantaining eye contact. That gesture visibly caught her by surprise, but she played it off with another light chuckle.

"It has been a pleasure, Ezra. But you really shouldn't leave your general waiting" Astra squeezed his hand lightly, with a twinkle in her eyes that was going to be a constant memory in Ezra's mind. He could swear everyone in there was hearing his drumming heartbeat match the drums that played, but that was the least of his worries now: he needed to be sure he could see her again after this.

She seemed to think the same thing (hopefully), as he watched her do something to her comlink for a moment. When Ezra heard a blip from his own device, she explained:

-"there, my comlink number. It's always good to share these kinds of information with fellow rebels, make sure we can contact each other in case of an emergency, wouldn't you agree, lieutenant?" - Ezra quickly understood her idea, playing into her game with a boysh grin.

-"Of course, captain. In case of an emergency"

She hummed, placing her hand in a pocket of the jumpsuit. It may have looked like an ordinary and quick interaction to literally anyone else, but Ezra could feel it also meant something a little more exctiting to her. Maybe it was their relaxed minds after a significant victory, maybe it was the euphoria of a hard battle, or maybe the fun of interacting with an interesting person after years of tension; whatever the reason was, you didn't have to be a force sensitive being to see a connection had started to form between them.

But, lucky for him, Ezra was a jedi. He was the padawan of Kanan Jarrus, one of the bravest and most powerful Jedi Knights to ever exist. That thought alone brought him the confidence boost he needed to overcome the nervousness of something like talking to a beautiful girl at a party, and even more than that, flirting with said girl.

-"well, i guess i should be leaving then" - he snapped back to reality, feeling Zeb's towering and annoyed presence along with Chopper, who had been called as reinforcement at some point to hopefully drag him away from the spell he was currently in.

-"I hope we'll be seeing each other again?"

-"I don't plan on leaving so soon, Ezra. This drink is delicious" - he was now being pushed back by the droid, but refused to tear his gaze away from Astra.

-"And if i'm not here when you come back" - she added, pointing to his wrist - "You know how to reach me"

-"in case of an emergency" he stated, pretending seriousness

-"of course" - she saluted him lightheartedly - "in case of an emergency".

#ezra bridger #ezra bridger fic #ezra bridger x oc #ezra bridger x Astra #rebels #sw rebels

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lov3nerdstuff · 5 years

Text

I Found

*Loki x reader*

Part: 1/8

Words: 3.3k

Warnings: mention of blood, violence, slavery, sexual stuff

Summary: Loki finds himself stranded in Underworld, a kingdom hidden deep inside a desolate planet. In order to survive, he puts himself in the service of the tyrant king, who promises to give Loki his freedom back if he fulfills one simple task. Loki is to set out and bring the mad king his newest toy: You.

~A dangerous, forbidden love. Abduction. Slavery. Tortured conscience. A mad tyrant... Escape?~

Request: A song fic based on 'I found' by Amber Run, requested by @strawberrysandcream 💗 Hope no one minds that I'm making another mini series!

All Parts can be found on my Masterlist!

__________________________________

It had been weeks since Loki had last seen the sky. Weeks since he had felt the wind in his hair, chilling him in the most pleasant manner and tousling his raven locks even more than they had previously been. Weeks since he had felt the sun's warm rays on his skin, a calming comfort bearing the promise of a day yet to come. Weeks since he had crashed on this horrible planet, been stranded in this place that consisted only of ragged rock and stone. Weeks since he had been brought into the caves, the tunnels and catacombs winding through the entire planet like an anthill, the city underneath the surface of all that cold stone. Weeks since he had managed to gain the favor of the king, pledging his unyielding loyalty to yet another ruler. This was starting to become an infestation in his life, really… changing allegiance like others changed their garments.

Yet, Loki was a smart man, to say the least. He knew what it took to survive in a seemingly inescapable purgatory like this, hell, even profit off it if he went about it correctly. And as long as he sensed a personal advantage, he was all for it. At least until he would see a chance to escape this place without drawing any severe harm to himself.

Thus it was no surprise that after a few weeks of flattery, of strategically placed opportunities to prove himself valuable and of some minor felonies, Loki became a highly valued yet not fully trusted member of the royal court of Underworld. That's what they called their kingdom… Underworld. Not very creative, in Loki's eyes. But the king was a nuisance anyway, a brutal and cruel tyrant one shouldn't underestimate; Loki had learned that quite soon. When the king asked for something, or rather demanded for something to be done, one couldn't refuse. Not if they wanted to live to see another day.

And so it came the day – or night? – when Loki was summoned to the grand throne hall. Honestly, he had lost track of whether it was day or nighttime, for life down here went by different rules anyhow. As he strode through the many narrow, torch-lit tunnels leading from his assigned quarters (a rather small cave that at least was equipped with everything he deemed necessary) towards his place of summoning, he wondered what the king might want this time around. Someone to scratch his back maybe? Or to tell another story to keep him entertained while he dined? Loki snorted at his own thoughts.

Yes, life down here was rather easy for him. He had a bed and a fireplace against the insufferable cold of the eternally ongoing stone, food and fresh water in the plenty. But he knew that not everyone was as lucky. He had been outside of the area one could consider a palace a couple times, and he had returned deeply shaken. The people of Underworld suffered, very greatly so. Certainly, there were always some people in every kingdom who suffered, for that could hardly be prevented for a longer period of time. But here, it wasn't merely some people who suffered. It was THE people. Singular form.

Loki may be mostly concerned about himself and his own affairs and well-being, but he wasn't cruel. He still had a conscience, and a heart… even though he wished he didn't, for it made his life down here so much harder to bear. Yet, he knew that there was very little he could do about that and thus the knowledge that he was highly privileged weighed heavy on his conscience at all times. He just couldn't shake it off, couldn't become the cold and heartless man he pretended to be on the outside.

As he entered the large throne hall, he cringed internally. It was stuffed with prestige objects, valuables from other realms that might have excited him in a previous life, but that now only served to him the purpose of proving the king's vanity. Had Loki himself really wanted to be like that at some point…? That version of himself seemed more distant now than ever before.

"Loki, my friend!" The king's croaky tenor voice greeted him a moment later and Loki flashed his most charming, and most fake smile.

"You called for me, your majesty?" He replied politely, bowing ever so slightly while his stomach turned at the action.

"I did indeed. I need you to so something for me, god of trickery." The king started in his condescending, almost mocking manner that Loki had grown increasingly numb to. "It seems I have broken one of my toys. You are to fetch me a new one."

The words made Loki's blood freeze over and the bile rise in his throat. By the norns, why did it have to be him this time around? He had been able to close his eyes to this before, had been able to block it out of his mind… but now he couldn't any longer.

The truth came crashing down on him like a cave's contraction, crushing him between miles deep of stone. Loki felt sick to the stomach. The king's 'toys' were nothing he wanted to become affiliated with. Poor, innocent girls reaped from their families at any age the king saw fit. And now Loki would become the reaper, if he wished not to be tortured to death.

"You see…" The king continued to speak and drew Loki back out of his mind. "...this is a matter of trust. I trust you, Loki, to bring me the girl of my choice unharmed and untouched. If you accomplish your task you will be rewarded with certain… liberties, in this kingdom. Like the freedom to venture wherever you please. But if you fail to fulfill your task, I'm afraid you will breathe your last."

Loki flashed on of his brightest smiles once more, bowing yet again. "As you wish, your majesty." Then he turned around, trying to convince himself that he was NOT fleeing as he walked back towards the exit.

"And Loki?" The king called out to him again, upon which he turned around with as neutral an expression as he could manage. "My head of guards will see you to the destined girl's residence and detail some men for your protection."

Loki nodded once, then turned back around and his eyes fell upon the swarm of men waiting for him at the entrance. Surely they weren't detailed for his protection, but for his supervision indeed. Obviously he wasn't the first person assigned this task who considered choosing escape over obedience. Oh and Loki wanted to escape, now more than any time before. He needed to come up with a plan of how to get himself out of this mess, and off this planet. Underworld was no place for him to stay.

The first step always was to gather some more information. Thus he took the opportunity of the small army of guards leading him out of the palace and towards the city for some questions.

"May I ask, why does this… reaping require my presence?" He started off, hoping that some easier questions would loosen the tongues of the guards and make them warm up to him.

"He needs someone to take the blame." A guard in simple leather armor answered. "If the people have another face to hate, they won't know that we take the girls for the king. And he likes to play games."

"Charming." Loki sighed, frowning to himself. Of course, if someone to take the blame was needed it would always be him, no matter the realm he was in. How truly wonderful that at least some things never change. He rolled his eyes once he knew that no one was observing him too closely. "How often does he break his… toys?"

"Every couple weeks." Another guard shrugged. "Sometimes he does it on purpose though, when he grows bored of them. Or when they… fall ill."

A very much unwanted shiver ran down Loki's spine, but he kept his cool, knowing that he had to. But he wanted to know more, even if he wished he didn't have to. "What happens to them afterwards?"

"You don't want to know." The guard mumbled in return. "No one wants to know."

"And what happens once we… what are we doing again, officially? Once we reach the girl's home?"

"We escort her back to the palace."

"And then?" Loki inquired further, trying to squeeze as many questions into this unpleasant experience as possible.

"Then she won't be your concern anymore, and you'll be better off forgetting about her altogether. The king is very strict about that."

"Strict about what exactly?"

"Anyone who touches what is his, who lusts for what is his will not live to see any trial."

"A bit possessive, isn't it?" Loki commented sarcastically and one of the guards snorted, only to be nudged in the side by one of his fellows.

Loki sighed to himself. These men knew nothing of relevance and even less of importance.

Thus, all he could do was to let the guards lead him through the maze of tunnels and the differently sized caves, until they halted all of a sudden in a rather narrow tunnel. Loki's brows furrowing in an instant, every fiber in his body on high alert. The dim torchlight danced across the stone walls and created deep shadows in the corners of the tunnel, casting illusions on the rough surfaces.

"You will wait here." The guard in the front spoke to Loki, who only lifted his brows in question. "We get the girl, then we're going back."

Before Loki could complain as for why he had to come all the way here just to wait in the shadows now, half of the guards hurried on into the next part of the tunnel while the rest remained watching him. Now… he could easily overpower them, sure, but he also knew that he wouldn't find his way out of the maze of tunnels alone. He only knew his way around the palace, vaguely, not all the way to the surface of the planet. And being lost down here in the tunnels was probably the only thing worse than being a royal prisoner.

Suddenly a loud scream echoed through the damp and chilled air, reflecting off the stone walls like the light of the torches and creating an eerie sound that made the remaining guards jump. It would've made Loki jump too, had he not spent centuries training his body to react visibly only at his will. Yet, he found the deep silence that followed upon the loud noise to be more sinister than the bone-chilling scream had been in the first place. Nothing good ever came out of a silence as looming as the one surrounding him and his guards at the very moment.

Then, finally the silence was broken by approaching footsteps, and Loki was almost glad that the guards were coming back at last. The first thing he saw was the glow of their torches at the curve of the tunnel, then they became visible as they approached quickly. One guard was carrying a limp body in his arms and Loki's eyes fixed on it immediately. The closer they got, the better he could see the outlines of your small form pressed awkwardly against the guard's feeble body. The poor guy looked like his legs might give out under your additional weight any second and Loki rose an eyebrow at them once they joined his guards in the tunnel. What he did not expect however was that the young man carrying you came straight towards him with a relieved expression.

"You will carry her back." He pressed out, looking like he might just drop you any second now.

"Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen." Loki replied with one of his signature breathy laughs reserved for internal moments of utter irritation, as he took a step backwards.

"Oh, you must. It's not up for discussion." Another guard said almost lightly.

"Why couldn't you just let her walk on her own legs?" Loki asked in what sounded more like snapping than he had intended. Luckily, the guards didn't seem to care much for his ways of conversing.

"They tend to make too much noise, and struggle more than necessary. It makes things easier to just knock them out for the way." The guard replied calmly. Loki had to realize that this must be a regular thing for them, a routine almost. The thought made his stomach drop and his head hurt.

"I'm going to drop her if you don't take her." The skimpy guard groaned and his legs started shaking dangerous, as did his arms.

"Fine, drop her then. Whatever. Not my problem." Loki commented coldly, looking at the guard in false indifference. He couldn't allow himself to care about anything but his goal of escaping as soon as possible. Everything, and everyone, else was a mere distraction to his own cause.

A few seconds later the guard's arms gave out indeed he dropped your body in an attempt to keep from breaking down himself. Loki watched you falling as if time had been slowed down just to torture him. Even in the dim light he could see your beautiful face, the dark bruise starting to form on your right cheekbone, the slightly parted lips… you looked so peaceful. So innocent. And for the first time in a decade his body didn't obey his reason as he caught you in his arms, only a broken second before you would have hit the ground. Time went back to moving at a normal speed, and he closed his eyes for a second as he stood upright once more, jaw clenching. Damn his conscience, and damn your stupid angelic face! This only made matters more complicated, and he hated it.

"Look who's not as tough as he always carries himself…" A guard to Loki's left laughed, only to find himself pressed against the wall of the tunnel a second later with a blade of pure ice pressed against his throat.

"Be careful who you speak to, and mindful of the ways in which they can kill you." Loki spoke in his most threatening voice as he tried to keep your body balanced on only one arm while holding the blade pressed against the man with the other. Yet, upon the beyond frightened face of the guard, he let the blade disappear again and hoisted you up higher against his chest with both arms. He wasn't particularly strong for a god, but in comparison to the people of Underworld he was Hercules himself, and thus he found no trouble at all in carrying you. What did trouble him a great deal on the other hand was not to stare down at you while they made their way back towards the palace. And not to let himself care.

"What's her name?" He finally couldn't resist asking, already blaming himself for the first signs of attachment forming in his mind. Gosh, he couldn't let himself get sucked into this.

"Y/n." One of the guards answered him. "She has been on the king's list for a very long time."

"And why has he waited until now to reap her? He does not seem like a man inclined to take pleasure in delayed gratification." Loki was beyond careful in wording this statement, for he knew that an insult to the king equalled a self-imposed death sentence.

"She's been hard to find and even harder to capture. Usually the girls he goes for aren't much of a challenge when it comes to their reaping. But this girl, Y/n… she's killed more guards than the beasts living in the caves below our feet!" The guard mumbled in disdain at the loss of his friends. Loki couldn't feel sympathy at all for the men who willingly stole innocent people away from their lives only for them to pleasure the mad tyrant on the throne. In his opinion, every single one of them deserved death more than most people he had killed himself in the past. But he couldn't be the one bringing them their end this time, for he needed to remain in the favor of the king a little while longer.

When he finally allowed himself to look at you, it left him wondering how a person could look so innocent while obviously being so lethal. Somehow, he felt a sense of pride in that, and a sense of very faint relief at the knowledge that you were a fighter. Maybe you could survive becoming the king's new plaything. He felt sick yet again at the thought, and even more so now that he was the one carrying you towards your doom. But he needed the reward he would get for accomplishing this task, he needed the freedom to roam the tunnels of Underworld to find a way to the surface. Maybe he could offer to take you along with him on his escape, if you lived to see that day. The prospect didn't make him feel any better. What he was doing here was wrong, very wrong indeed, and he was well aware of that.

"How did you knock her out?" He heard himself asking as his eyes remained fixed on the gentle curve of your jaw, the bruises and cuts, the dried blood just below your bottom lip.

"Poison." One man answered easily enough and Loki found himself shivering yet again. "So she doesn't run even when she wakes up. The only possible antidote is safely stored in the palace."

"Didn't you mean to say so that I don't run, with her?" Loki snapped before he could keep his mouth shut. How could these people do such cruel things with a smile on their face? Prior to his stay in Underworld Loki had believed himself to be a cruel man… oh how wrong he had been.

Since running with you wasn't an option, because of the poison, and neither was running without you, because of the tunnels, Loki found himself walking all the way back to the palace with you in his arms. He hoped dearly that he could just drop you off somewhere and forget about you for good, but if he was honest with himself, he knew that he wouldn't be able to forget. Not after spending forty minutes carrying you to the point of his arms going numb, after using his own precious magic and energy to keep you from shivering all too badly, after shielding you from the hungry gazes of the guards. Honestly, Loki didn't know why he was doing any of this… developing a weird sense of protectiveness over you only to hand you over like prey the next moment.

Finally, once they reached the gates of the palace, he realized that to him, you were a warning sign. Reminding him that this place was despicable, that he needed to flee as soon as possible, that the king was not to be messed with. Reminding him that if fate had played him any differently, it could very well be him on the throne. A mad tyrant caught up in an illusion and unaware of what he was doing to the people around him. And for once Loki found himself glad that he still had a conscience, still head a heart. Otherwise he would not be any better than the people bringing your doom upon you. Yet, if his conscience kept talking sense to him, he knew that he would lose his mind. Over you.

______________________________

If you would like to be tagged in this series or on the general tag list, tell me in the comments 💗✨ Hope everyone enjoyed this first part!!! Special thanks to @kthemarsian @beenthroughalot @strawberrysandcream

General Tags:

@its-remy-not-ratatouille @wegingerangelica @thidls12333 @tomstoobeautiful @dreary-skies-stuff @averyhill4445 @wiczer @lotus-eyedindiangoddess @theweirdlunatic @caretheunicorn @kthemarsian @lady-of-lies @sadly-falling-through-wonderland @strawberrysandcream @noplacelikehome77 @theoneanna @mishaandthebrits @mygodisloki @i-am-a-mes @nonsensicalobsessions @exygon @hiddles-lobotomy @rjohnson1280 @annwhojumps @spookycatqueen @salempoe @headoverhiddleston @fanfiction-and-stress @createdfromblue @halszka-potter @thecreatiivecorner @themusingsofmany @inthemarvelvoid @from-hel-i-with-love @kinghiddlestonanddixon @scorpionchild81 @foodthatsgoodforyoursoul @crystal-28 @adefectivedetective

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maximelebled · 3 years

Text

2019 & 2020

Hello everyone! So yeah, this yearly blog post is about three... four months late... it covers two years now.

I did have a lot of things written last year, last time, but the more things have changed, the more I’ve realized that a lot of things I talked about on here... were because I lacked enough of a social life to want to open up on here.

In a less awkwardly-phrased way, what I’m saying is, I was coping.

Not an easy thing to admit to in public by any means, but I reckon it’s the truth. Over the past two years, I’ve made more of an effort to build better & healthier friendships, dial back my social media usage a bit (number 1 coping strategy), not tie all my friendships to games I play, especially Dota (number 2 coping strategy), so that I could be more emotionally healthy overall.

Pictured: me looking a whole lot like @dril on the outside, although not so much on the inside. (Photo by my lovely partner.)

To some degree, I believe it’s important to be able to talk about yourself a bit more openly in a way that is generally not encouraged nor made easy on other social networks (looking at you, Twitter). I know that 2010-me would be scared to approach 2020-me; and it’s my hope that what I am writing here would not help him with that, but also help him become less of an insecure dweeb faster. 😉

Not that recent accomplishments have stopped me from being any less professionally anxious. Sometimes the impostor syndrome just morphs into... something else.

Anyway, what I’m getting at is, the first reason it took me until this year to finish last year’s post is because, with my shift in perspective, and these realizations about myself, I do want to keep a lot more things private... or rather, it’s that I don’t feel the need to share them anymore? And that made figuring out what to write a fair bit harder.

The other reason I didn’t write sooner is because, in 2018, I wrote my "year in review” post right before I became able to talk about my then-latest cool thing (my work on Valve’s 2018 True Sight documentary). So I then knew I’d have to bring it up in the 2019 post. But then, I was asked to work on the 2019 True Sight documentary, and I know it was going to air in late January 2020, so I was like, “okay, well, whatever, it, I’ll just write this yearly recap after that, so I don’t miss the coach this time”. So I just ended up delaying it again until I was like... “okay, whatever, I’ll just do both 2019 and 2020 in a single post.”

I think I can say I’ve had the privilege of a pretty good 2019, all things considered. And also of a decent 2020, given the circumstances. Overall, 2019 was a year of professional fulfillment; here’s a photo taken of me while I was managing the augmented reality system at The International 2019! (The $35 million dollar Dota 2 tournament that was held, this that year, in Shanghai.)

If I’d shown this to myself 10 years ago it would’ve blown my mind, so I guess things aren’t all that bad...!

I’ve brought up two health topics in these posts before: weight & sleep.

As for the first, the situation is still stable. If it is improving, it is doing so at a snail’s pace. But quite frankly, I haven’t put in enough effort into it overall. Even though I know my diet is way better than it was five or six years ago, I’ve only just really caught up with the “how it should have been the entire time” stage. It is a milestone... but not necessarily an impressive one. Learning to cook better things for myself has been very rewarding and fulfilling, though. It’s definitely what I’d recommend if you need to find a place to start.

As for sleep, throughout 2019, I continued living 25-hour days for the most part. There were a few weeks during which I slowed down the process, but it continued on going. Then, in late December of 2019, motivated by the knowledge that sleep is such a foundational pillar of your health, I figured I really needed to take things seriously, and I managed to go on a three month streak of mostly-stable sleep! (See the data above.)

Part of what helped was willingly stopping to use my desktop computer once it got too late in the day, avoiding Dota at the end of the day as much as possible, and anything exciting for that matter... and, as much as that sounds like the worst possible stereotype, trying to “listen to my body” and recognizing when I was letting stress and anxiety build up inside me, and taking a break or trying to relax.

Also, a pill of melatonin before going to bed; but even though it’s allegedly not a problem to take melatonin, I figured I should try to rely on it as little as possible.

Unfortunately, that “good sleep” streak was abruptly stopped by a flu-like illness... it might have been Covid-19. The symptoms somewhat matched up, but I was lucky: they were very mild. I fully recovered in just over a week. I coughed a bit, but not that much. If it really was that disease, then I got very lucky.

(Pictured: another photo by my lovely SO, somewhere in Auvergne.)

My sleep continued to drift back to its 25-hour rhythm, and I only started resuming these efforts towards the fall... mostly because living during the night felt like a better option with the summer heat (no AC here). I thought about doing that the other way (getting up at 3am instead of going to bed at 7am), and while it’d make more sense temperature-wise, that would have kept me awake when there were practically no people online, and I was trying to have a better social life then, even if had to be purely online due to the coronavirus, so... yeah.

I’ve been working from home since 2012! I also lived alone for a number of years since then. For the most part, it hasn’t been a great thing for my mental health. Having had a taste of what being in an office was like thanks to a couple weeks in the Valve offices, I had the goal of beginning to apply at a few places here and there in March/April. Then the pandemic hit, so those plans are dead in the water. I wanted 2020 to be the year in which I’d finally stop being fully remote, but those plans are now dead in the water.

Now, at the end of the year, I don’t really know if I want to apply at any places. There’s a small handful of studios whose work really resonates with me, creatively speaking, and whose working conditions seem to be alright, at least from what I hear... but, and I swear I’m saying this in the least braggy way possible... there’s very little that beats having been able to work on what I want, when I want, and how much I want.

This kind of freelance status can be pretty terrifying sometimes, but I’ve managed (with some luck, of course) to reach a safe balance, a point at which I’ve effectively got this luxury of being able to only really work on what I want, and never truly overwork myself (at least by the standards of most of the gaming industry). It’s a big privilege and I feel like it’d take a lot to give it up.

Besides the things I mentioned before, one thing I did that drastically improved my mental health was being introduced to a new lovely group of friends by my partner! I started playing Dungeons & Dragons with them, every weekend or so! And in the spirit of a rising tide lifting all boats, I managed to also give back to our lovely DM, by being a sort of “AM” (audio manager)... It’s been great having something to look forward to every week.

Something to look forward to... I’ve heard about the concept of “temporal anchors”. I had heard about how the reason our adult years suddenly pass by in a blur is because we now have more “time” that’s already in our brains, but now I’m more convinced that it’s because we’re going from a very school routine such as the one schools impose upon us, to, well... practically nothing.

I thought most of my years since 2011 have been a blur, but none have whooshed by like 2020 has, and I reckon part of that is because I’ve (obviously) gone out far far less, and most importantly there wasn’t The Big Summer Event That The International Is, the biggest yearly “temporal anchor” at my disposal. The anticipation and release of those energies made summer feel a fair bit longer... and this year, summer was very much a blur for me. In and out like the wind.

I guess besides that, I haven’t really had that much trouble with being locked down. I had years of training for that, after all. Doesn’t feel like I can complain. 😛

(Pictured: trip to Chicago in January of 2019... right when the polar vortex hit!)

Work was good in 2019, and sparser in 2020. Working with Valve again after the 2018 True Sight was a very exciting opportunity. At the time, in February of 2019, I was out with my partner on little holiday trips around my region, and, after night fell, on the way back, we decided to stop in a wide open field, on a tiny countryside path, away from the cities, to try and do some star-gazing, without light pollution getting in the way.

And it’s there and then that I received their message, while looking at the stars with my SO! The timing and location turned that into a very vivid memory...

I then got to spend a couple weeks in their offices in late April / early May. I was able to bring my partner along with me to Washington State, and we did some sightseeing on the weekends.

(Pictured: part of a weekend trip in Washington. This was a dried up lakebed.)

After that, I worked on the Void Spirit trailer in the lead to The International. In August, those couple weeks in Shanghai were intense. Having peeked behind the curtain and seen everything that goes into production really does give me a much deeper appreciation for all the work that goes unseen.

Then after that, in late 2019, there was my work on the yearly True Sight documentary, for the second time. In 2018, I’d been tasked with making just two animated sequences, and I was very nervous since that was my first time working directly with Valve; my work then was fairly “sober”, for lack of a better term.

(Pictured: view from my hotel room in Shanghai.)

For the 2019 edition, I had double the amount of sequences on my plate, and they were very trusting of me, which was very reassuring. I got to be more technically ambitious, I let my style shine through (you know... if it’s got all these gratuitous light beams, etc.), and it was real fun to work on.

At the premiere in Berlin, I was sitting in the middle of the room (in fact, you could spot me in the pre-show broadcast behind SirActionSlacks; unfortunately I had forgotten to bring textures for my shirt). Being in that spot when my shots started playing, and hearing people laughing and cheering at them... that’s an unforgettable memory. The last time I had experienced something like that was having my first Dota short film played at KeyArena in 2015, the laughter of the crowd echoing all around me... I was shaking in my seat. Just remembering it gets my heart pumping, man. It’s a really unique feeling.

So I’m pretty happy with how that work came out. I came out of it having learned quite a few new tricks too, born out of necessity from my technical ambitions. Stuff I intend to put to use again. I’m really glad that the team I worked with at Valve was so kind and great to work with. After the premiere, I received a few more compliments from them... and I did reply, “careful! You might give me enough confidence to apply!”, to which one of them replied, “you totally should, man.” But I still haven’t because I’m a massive idiot, haha. Well, I still haven’t because I don’t think I’m well-rounded enough yet. And also because, like I alluded to before, I think I’m in a pretty good situation as it is.

It’s not the first encouragements I had received from them, too; there had been a couple people from the Dota team who, at the end of my two week stay in the offices, while I was on my way out, told me I should try applying. But again, I didn’t apply because I’m a massive idiot.

(Pictured: view from the Valve offices.)

To be 200% frank, even though there’s been quite a few people who’ve followed my work throughout the years, comments on Reddit and YouTube, etc. who’ve all said things along the lines of “why aren’t you working for them ?”, well... it’s not something I ever really pursued. I know it’s a lot of people’s dream job, but I never saw it that way. I feel like, if it ever happened to me... sure, that could be cool! But I don’t know if it’s something I really want, or even that I should want?

And if you add “being unsure” to what I consider to be a lack of experience in certain things, well... I really don’t think I’d be a good candidate (yet?), and having seen how busy these people are on the inside, the last thing I want to do is waste their time with a bad application. That would be the most basic form of courtesy I can show to them.

Besides, Covid-19 makes applying to just about any job very hard, if not outright impossible right now. And for a while longer, I suspect.

(Pictured: the Tuilière & Sanadoire rocks.)

I’m still unhappy about the amount of “actual animation” I get to do overall since I like to work on just about every step of the process in my videos, but well. It’s getting better. One thing I am happy with though, is “solving problems”. And new challenges. Seeking the answers to them, and making myself be able to see those problems, alongside entire projects, from a more “holistic” way, that is to say, not missing the forest for the trees.

It’s hard to explain, and even just the use of the term “holistic” sounds like some kind of pompous cop-out... but looking back on how I handled projects 5 years ago vs. now, I see the differences in how I think about problems a lot. And to some extent I do have my time on Valve contracts to thank a LOT in helping me progress there.

Anyway, I’m currently working on a project that I’m very interested & creativefuly fulfilled by. But it has nothing to do with animation nor Dota, for a change! There are definitely at least two other Dota short films I want to make, though. We’ll see how that goes.

Happy new year & take care y’all.

#year in review

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islanublar · 3 years

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CEO'S BLOG

Simon Masrani: Masrani Chief Executive Officer, Simon Masrani, in the JW001 Helicopter overlooking Isla Nublar.

It's been a long time coming but finally I can update my blog. So many of the endeavors we are preparing behind the scenes here at Masrani have now entered new stages of development. This has freed up my schedule to finally fly down to visit Jurassic World and oversee our latest attraction: the Indominus rex.

The last year has been very busy for me so I regrettably haven't been able to oversee the development behind this new dinosaur. However the scientists at Jurassic World are a truly awe-inspiring group of people and have brought us unforgettable experiences since 2005. I'm sure the Indominus will be another worthy addition to our ever-growing prehistoric population on Nublar. I'm also certain that I'll be able to understand how our public will react to the Indominus as I will personally see it for the first time so close to its release. I admit it's been a while since I have had the privilege to experience something like this with fresh eyes. Not long now!

Our investors will want to keep a close eye on our progress over the next six months as we hope the Indominus will prove to be our biggest showstopper to date. As many of you are aware our goals are never finite. Here at Masrani we're always looking to develop the latest concepts to break through potential misconceptions in this ever changing world we live in. So now the time had come to prove just that.

Simon

P.S. I should hopefully have time to personally meet some of you at Jurassic World upon my visit. I'll try my best to experience the park with those we're aiming to educate and entertain. See you very soon!

BLOG ARCHIVE

March:

So the celebrations have settled down here in Shanghai and what a fantastic way to begin the year: Masrani has boosted the funding behind InGen, we’ve got something incredibly exciting happening with Masrani Oil (more news on that soon), and we announced Jurassic World's exciting new attraction -- the Indominus rex.

2015 is already off with a bang!

I will be heading to London this month to attend IventiCon 2015, which promises to show off some big game changers, mainly from the virtual reality crowd. VR has the ability to reinvent our daily lives, when we have the ability to enter 3D worlds, like computer games, the mind opens itself to all sorts of possible futures. For Masrani we’re looking to create the first VR "web structure", a virtual playground that anyone connected to the internet can explore. Imagine your social networking webpage becoming an entire custom built structure someone could walk into, and hang out in. Our minds over at Tatsuo Technology believe we have the ability to make this possible within the next five years.

I envision that Masrani Global will be at the forefront entering this brave new world. We’re already laying out plans to have a VR tour of Jurassic World, for those unable to travel to Isla Nublar. Obviously it will have its limitations, but it would share the wonder of our amazing theme park with those who have yet to experience it.

For those who will be attending IventiCon, Masrani will be situated in the central showroom with some special surprises on hand like our highly anticipated Tanius 7 smart phone from Mascom! We hope to see many faces there.

January:

Welcome to 2015! I hope everyone celebrated the new year with open arms. Here in Shanghai, we are a little over a month away from reigning in the Chinese new year, but it was exciting to finally see the arrival of what will become such a pivotal period in our company's history.

Today at Masrani, we have a fantastic announcement to make. Over the last three years, the brilliant minds at InGen, lead by the great visionary Dr. Henry Wu, have brought us a new attraction for Jurassic World–the likes of which have never been seen before. While I cannot reveal any important information behind its creation at this time, I can reveal the title of our finest endeavor: the Indominus Rex.

The name means fierce and untamable, it is one of fascinating design and a product of our important foray into the future of science. The new attraction is set for a release in mid-June and is the result of three decades of crucial and integral research into genetic technology.

We are all proud of this and cannot express our excitement enough to show you the Indominus in all of its glory.

December:

It's December and we're already at the end of the year. I am extremely proud of everyone at Masrani — 2014 has seen our company rise to new heights. Thank you again to everyone who has made this year possible.

I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about 2015, as next year promises to be our most innovative yet. Our team at Mascom will launch "Ervic", a weather satellite built with a lifespan of 35 years (the longest in history). Thanks to the brilliant minds over at Tatsuo Technology, "Ervic" will redefine the future of the satellite as we know it. Our focus for this project is to limit the amount of objects in orbit around the globe, and work on having self-updating systems that will adapt to shifting technologies back on Earth. Fingers are crossed for "Ervic." #GoodbyeGlinda #HelloErvic

Our scientists at InGen are finalizing their work on a new attraction coming to Jurassic World this June. I would love to share more on this bold step forward in genetics, but here at Masrani we like surprises. For now, I'll just say this: no one has ever seen anything like it, and our investors will see the park advance to even higher levels of profitability over the coming decade.

I'll be spending the Christmas period in Shanghai to oversee the renovation of our corporate offices there — and I may even stay until February 19th to ring in the New Year! A personal curiosity as I've never spent new years in China before. I've heard it’s quite the event.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

November:

November is here and it's been another amazing month for Masrani. We left our mark at this years IventiCon with our prototype XL5 wind turbines, which gathered huge media attention pushing the project forward into phase two. Our great minds over at Aerospace Dynamix worked for months on end bringing the project to life. 2016 will be a year for the books!

Working closely with the young minds at Aerospace Dynamix reminded me of how lucky we are finding graduates who surprise us with their visions. Every day I meet young inspiring people who offer up unique ideas they believe will benefit our everyday lives. Those who change my view of our world, and those I see potential in, I note down. Masrani is a company that is changing every day and for myself I look to change my opinions from the moment I wake up, to the moment I sleep. I remember those who leave their mark because I believe that every life-changing idea deserves to have its time in the spot light, and I’d like Masrani to provide that light for them.

...and it doesn’t just end there. Our already established teams break new ground every month bringing fresh concepts to the table. I can’t say too much but one idea has been brewing for a number of years now and recently it’s become a reality. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait for that one.

#source: masrani global

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rosaetae · 5 years

Text

the chrysanthemum effect | 3

[this chapter is apart of the chrysanthemum effect]

☇ “Keeping your flowers, keeping your pain— it’s already everything you need to move on. How do you move on from things if you’re not willing to accept them?“

➣ pairing: taehyung x reader

➣ genre: hanahaki!au, model!taehyung, weddingplanner(ish)!au

➣ word count: 3.9k

➣ summary: the hanahaki disease has become a stigma in this world where if you had it, you are looked down upon. her flowers were white chrysanthemums and they have been for the past two years. she was in love with someone who obviously didn’t feel the same way, and this was her way of moving on— along with the people in her life who had to conform around the hanahaki disease.

You open the door to Kang Eunmi's building, greeting Yuna at the front desk. She gives her usual friendly wave at you as you smile at her, walking towards the elevator to reach the tenth floor.

Out of the elevator, you walk past Eunmi's partners in their assigned cubicles into Eunmi's office. Eunmi, as one of the best wedding planners known, is an always busy person, and you were lucky to even be able to work alongside her as her assistant. You had your own little desk area in the same office as her because she used to hate making a call just to get you to come into the office.

"You're early," Eunmi remarks as she removes her reading glasses to give you an eyebrow raise. You give her a small smile as you glance at how she had her hands interlocked underneath her chin.

"Class cancelled," you explain. "Is it alright if I just do some homework here before my shift starts?"

She nods. "Without a doubt. As long as you finished the assignment I gave you."

Kang Eunmi may be a frightening figure in the building, but you know she's only doing it for respect. She lives with the mindset of "better to be feared than loved" although you are sure that she is capable of both, if she could only just feign a smile or two.

"I did," you say as you scurry to grab the anniversary book and paperwork you put in your bag, walking over to hand her the assignments. "The paperwork is filed in alphabetical order by last name and the anniversaries are organized by expenses. Mr. Rettner wanted to prioritize the anniversaries by price."

Eunmi gives you a smug curl of her lip. "You always make my job easier."

"I try."

Eunmi begins to look at the anniversary book as you walk back to your desk, the nerve wracking feeling of having to ask Eunmi a favor building up. It's not that you were scared of Eunmi (partially), but it was because it seemed something out of place of your work area.

"Hey, Eunmi," you began after the taunting voice became too much. You hear her hum in response. Hoseok, you owe me a lot. "I know how busy you are."

"As so."

"But, I have a friend," you began, fidgeting with your fingers. "He's Jung Hoseok. The son of the Jungs'. He invited you to his charity event tomorrow night and he was wondering if you're going."

Eunmi looks up with piercing gaze and it struck you cold. "Ah, yes. Jung Hoseok? I saw the invitation in the mail. I wasn't planning to go, but seeing that he's so curious as to my presence, this is quite interesting. Why is he wondering?"

"Well, you never really RSVP'd to his event, and he knows I work for you, so he was wondering—"

"No, I don't go to those events anymore," you hear her say, having your blood run cold at the sharpness of her tone. "No personal opposition to the purpose of them, but every time I go to one, another thirsty rich couple with cocky close minds come after me and ask me to plan their weddings. As if I should be grateful to plan their wedding."

As you hear her scoff, you slowly nod your head, only for her to continue. "And they always happen to be the couples that get engaged for two months and break it off. You know me, I plan people's weddings when I know the relationship is going to last."

Nodding, you hum in agreement, biting your lower lip from saying anything else to her. She then looks up from her laptop and blinks at you. "Why? Does Jung Hoseok need me there for some reason?"

"Yes...." Your voice trails off as you began to fidget with your fingers.

"What for?"

"He may have mentioned your presence at the event in the process of trying to convince someone else to be there," you state vaguely.

Her sharp eyes were filled with confusion, and you were silently wishing she would just say no so you didn't have to go through her questioning. "Ah, so he needs me there for someone else."

"Pretty much."

"And who is this someone else?"

"Jeon Jungkook and Annie Yu."

"Ah," Eunmi says, already catching on. It was quite frightening as to how she can make sense of a situation in just a click. "So Jung Hoseok wants me to plan their weddings?"

"Yes?" You shrug . "Maybe?"

Eunmi raises an eyebrow, before she looks down at her own paperwork. "How long have they been engaged?"

"Two months, I'd say."

She snorts. "I'm sure they can find someone else."

"But, you are one of the best."

"And I'm also strict on which weddings I plan for. If it's for the sole purpose for the sake of publicity, I don't want anything to do with it."

You nod, not wanting to push any further. The sharp tone in her voice already made you feel small. "It's alright, I told Hoseok that you'd wouldn't go."

"That's not what I said," Eunmi says after a momentary pause. "Will you be attending this event?"

"No, I have— uhm...."

"Nothing," Eunmi finishes for you, with a smirk. "Clear up your schedule for that night. We're going to the event together."

Your eyes widen. "What? You'll actually go?"

"I'll only attend if you are my plus one. Doesn't mean I'm going to plan their weddings, though."

Staring at her in awe, you purse your lips.

"Not that I'm disagreeing, but why me?"

"Because you don't have any fun anymore," Eunmi rolls her eyes as if it were obvious. "You're either studying or working with me or both. Usually I don't take note of these type of things, but it's quite sad, ___." The way she looked at you with sympathy makes you furrow your eyebrows at her assumption that how you keep your priorities straight was considered 'sad'. "Not that I'm against your work ethic, but darling, I think you should have more fun. You can't possibly say that working and studying is considered 'fun'."

Lips pressed together, you marvel at her, as if she was looking straight through you.

"Am I wrong?" Eunmi asks, to which you could shake your head at. "Great, we're on the same page. You're going to the event with me."

"Do I have to?"

"You're my assistant. I need you to make sure that this couple isn't as whack as the ones for publicity."

"I don't—"

"It's alright if you don't want to go. I have better things to do on a Saturday night anyways."

You sigh, staring at her in awe as she sent you a wink that made you want to groan loudly. Instead, you give in. "Fine."

"Brilliant," she chuckles triumphantly.

And so, here you are. Eunmi was already fitting in with the luxuries. You marvel from right next to her to see her being recognized by others, some she claims to have met at weddings or have already planned their wedding, but even then, you felt misplaced in the sea of riches and the privileged.

"You really need to socialize," Eunmi mutters to you the minute the person she was engaging in a conversation with has met with another person.

You were clutching your bag, wearing something a bit more formal than you're used to, and all these faces were unfamiliar and that little part of you just hoped that there were celebrities on their way knowing how close Hoseok is to most of them just to have some excitement to the event.

"I would, but talks about the economy and government isn't really my style," you retort back with a sarcastic smile to which Eunmi gives you a look.

"___?"

Turning around to hear your name, your eyes light up when you see that it was Hoseok who called for you. Seeing that his expression was in confusion, you immediately remember that you forgot to tell him that you were attending as Eunmi's plus one.

"Hi, Hoseok," you smile and his face goes from a sort of confused look to a sudden realization that almost seemed like he wished you didn't come, but you shrug it off, thinking you were looking too deep into it.

"What are you doing here?" He sounds worried and confused.

"I forgot to mention that I'm here as Eunmi's plus one."

Perking his ears to the sudden name of Eunmi, you point your finger at the elegant and chin high figure that is your boss, already amidst in a conversation about organization or business to a man in a grey suit.

"No way," Hoseok gapes, his mood completely making a turn. "You actually convinced her?"

"To come— only the exception that I come with her," you confirm. "So, I'm still on the hour."

"You really pulled through," he smirks as you nudge at him. Chuckling, he pats your arm thankfully. "Let me buy you a drink, yeah?"

"I'm on the hour, Hoseok. I shouldn't even be talking to you," you smugly say, but he lets out a half-hearted laugh.

"Right, but at least let me buy you a drink for being the best sugartits out there for helping me out on this?"

You question at his sudden urgency, moving his hand gently from your arm. "Hoseok, are you alright?"

"___–"

He was cut off by the sound of your name being called. As so, you peer over at Eunmi who had waved you over. Apologetically, you look up at Hoseok who was awaiting your answer that he hoped was a yes. "Maybe later. Duty calls."

You smile at him as you leave to find Kang Eunmi talking to someone as you stand beside her.

"Perfect timing. Here is my business card. If you ever need a wedding designer, give me a call and I can link you up with him," Eunmi says with a smile that you can already tell was fake, and following suit, you reach into your bag with a nicely decorated business card you helped designed for Eunmi.

The man in the grey suit nodded. "Thank you, my fiancé has been dying to find a wedding designer, but too many things on our plates right now. Thank you again."

And soon enough, the man in the grey has departed and so has Eunmi's smile as she looks at you. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

"You and me both," you respond.

"You should be having fun," Eunmi nudges. You give her an odd look, at the way she was giving you a some sort of 'encouraging' look. "You're not just here on the job, you know. If I just showed up here to just pass around my business card, I could've easily done that myself."

"Then why am I here giving out your business card?"

"Just that one, and now you don't have to anymore," Eunmi laughs as you furrow your eyebrows at her. "You're my plus one. Go. Have a drink or something, I won't get mad. I'll call you when I need you."

You blink at her— this new side of persona that was figurative to an older sister was something wholly foreign. She tilts her head to the side, her arms crossed. In that moment as you were trying to comprehend this unfamiliarity, you suddenly felt your stomach tighten.

Not a good time to throw up flowers, right now.

"What are you waiting for?" She enunciates. "Here, how about this. Go and grab both of us a drink. Sparkling chardonnay, white wine, whatever. Just none of that hard liquor stuff that—"

"Kang Eunmi!"

The sudden sound of your boss's name startles both of you from Eunmi's litany of preferred alcohol. What you suspected was someone who Eunmi probably knew considering the way the stranger had said her name, but when Eunmi turns her head, you see her eyes light up in familiarization.

You follow her line of sight, only to wish you hadn't.

"Kim Taehyung," she declares. "What a pleasant surprise."

Though for you, this was a surprise anything but pleasant. Your eyes immediately widen at the sight of him and you found yourself looking away hastily before he could take a good look at you.

"I didn't think I would see you here," he says as you silently curse yourself for not recognizing his voice in the beginning. It's almost been two years and his voice hasn't changed the slightest.

"I'd say the same for you," Eunmi replies followed by a chuckle.

And then in the midst of their interaction, you hear Hoseok yell out Taehyung's name, a sudden relief waving over your body when you notice that Taehyung turns around to find the origin of who called his name. Seeing that Taehyung's attention was somewhere else, you took that time to nudge at Eunmi.

"I'm gonna have that drink," you offer before you're forcing yourself to get lost within the crowd, not forgetting the face she made before you did.

Your mind was all over the place as you ungracefully dance around the rich and the known, eliciting sloppy excuse me's and sorry's to get your way to the blurry part of the room which you thankfully found was the bar.

Finally, you found yourself sat on one of the tall black chairs with a bartender behind the marble counter tending to other people as you begrudgingly plop your elbows on it, needing some water to clear your throat. You bring your hands to your temple, feeling the need to shield yourself before he somehow gets near you again.

You silently curse at how idiotic you are to not consider the option that of course, he would be at the event! He's Hoseok's friend! He's now a model! He's considered a well-known figure! Why couldn't you have known that he would be at the event?

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

Just then, in the corner of your eye, you see someone sitting beside you.

Shutting off your degrading thoughts, you quickly guard your face and turn your body the opposite direction.

"Just a water and a glass of champagne," the person says, automatically recognizing that voice to be Hoseok.

You remove your hands from guarding your face as you turn over to see just who thought it was beside you, a sheepish look on his face as you narrow your eyes at him.

"I didn't warn you," Hoseok immediately starts, knowing exactly what you were going to say. He must have saw the sheer fear on your face as you saw Taehyung right in front of you again.

"Yeah, no shit."

Hoseok puts his hands up in defense at your passive aggression. "I didn't think you were coming! A little heads up would've been nice."

Suppose if you gave a little heads up, it would've been better. But seeing as to that wasn't helping your current situation, you turn away from Hoseok, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath.

"It's fine," you tell yourself as you see the bartender put the drinks in front of you. You grab at the glass of water and gulp it down. "I was just taken aback, that's all."

"I'm sorry, ___. If anything, I can call my chauffeur to give you a ride home," Hoseok offers as he flinches at the sound of you slamming the glass onto the marble counter, almost as if he was sure you were to break it.

The idea of leaving sounded marvelous.

"What about Eunmi?" You were considering it. Hell, you were going to take his offer if it meant you weren't going to be at the event any longer.

"I can tell her that you needed to go home. A roommate emergency, maybe?"

You shook your head. "It's fine, I'll let her know. Thanks, Hoseok."

"Mmhmm," he hums as he immediately pulls out his phone, making a phone call to which you turn to the bartender, asking for a refill.

As the bartender in the suit pours you another glass of water, you turn back at Hoseok who gave you a thumbs up and hung up his phone. "Mr. Lee should be outside in a few. I'll walk you out."

"No, it's alright," you shake your head, not wanting to have any attention towards you when you're being escorted by the host of the event himself. "I'll be fine. Black Porsche?"

He scoffs, as if offended. "Bentley. You sure you'll be okay?"

You wave him off as you get off of the stool. "I'm sure."

Finding your own way out, you were relieved to feel the crisp breeze of the autumn air land on your face, an escape from the stuffy room that became too hard to breathe in. You step down the marble stairs onto the sidewalk, sending a quick text to Eunmi about a vague roommate emergency you had to tend to.

Walking towards the loading zone, you shove the phone back into your back pocket while waiting outside for the car that was black and a Bentley. You hug the blazer you were wearing tighter to your body, your mind rewinding to the moment in which you saw him for split moment up close.

You notice that your feelings for him didn't seem to change a bit as he still had a way of making your heart beat faster.

Closing your eyes to the sound of the cars driving by, you let out a sigh, wondering how on earth the days will be like knowing that he's there. You were bound to run into him any day, you just weren't sure which day you were ready for that to happen—

"I thought I saw you."

Startled, you open your eyes to the voice of the stranger, your eyes trying to focus under the night sky only to realize that the stranger was anyone but a stranger, but the star that shine so bright under your night sky.

Kim Taehyung was approaching slowly, hand in pocket and a calm expression and you swore the reason that you couldn't breathe weren't the chrysanthemums.

His lips had curled very slightly at the sight of you as he stood beside you, your whole body immediately freezing over.

"It's been awhile," you hear him say. Your eyes meet his again as he looks over to you, the silent one who ran out of words when before there were thousands of things you could've said to him. There was a sort of nuance— that odd aura in the atmosphere that was wistful in terms of familiarity, but lacking in comfortability.

What do you say to him? A simple 'hello'? A friendly 'how are you'?

What do you say as a proper greeting that's not yelling at his face for closure or even asking the usual why? Why was he talking to you? Why was 'it's been awhile' the only thing that comes to his mind? Why was it so hard to breathe— so hard to think? And why, oh why was it that every time you try to get angry with him, you can't?

Two years, and you still can't even answer why you couldn't be angry at him. And why you couldn't yell at him. Two years, and you still can't properly move on from him.

What do you say to someone you couldn't get over in two years and counting?

"Shouldn't you be inside?"

His eyes wander over to the building that held the big charity event, letting it linger before they make it settles back onto your form, a little smirk playing on his lips that you can even tell under the city night.

"Not when I saw a familiar face leave. I thought it was you talking to Eunmi."

Pursing your lips, you nod, hugging your blazer tighter. "Did you just come outside to see if it was me or not?"

He nods.

"Well, it is. And it has been awhile," you say rather quietly, not knowing what to say to the first time you have seen him in almost two years. "I heard you got signed under an agency."

"I did, yeah."

"I'm really happy for you," you state, eyes searching for the Bentley. "I remember you used to talk about working your way into the fashion industry."

You saw him shift his position to face you entirely in the corner of your eye. "You remember that?"

Arching an eyebrow at him, you turn to look at him with a skeptical look. "Of course. It was your dream, wasn't it?" And just before he opened his mouth to answer in subtle surprise, you finally saw the familiar black Bentley drive up front. You give him a small smile before walking over to the car where Hoseok's chauffeur spun around to open the door for you. "That's me. It was nice to see you, Taehyung."

You didn't miss the look on his face— the same look that he gives when you cut him off too early, as if he had more to say to you. You sit inside the Bentley, catching the way Taehyung waves at you, you release a breath you didn't realize you were holding, sinking down on the leather chair as you close your eyes and clench your stomach.

"Mr. Lee, do you, by chance, have a paper bag?"

"So... you saw him?"

You nod. "More like he saw me," you sigh, repeating the usual— removing your jacket to let Doctor Wren hear your heartbeat. It was the next morning, and you had to e-mail your professor that you weren't going to his two hour lecture because you had an emergency. "Though, it was partially my fault. I went to event when I should've known he would've been there."

"Don't blame yourself for not knowing things you should've known."

"Still," you sigh as you exhale. "It could've been avoided. And I wouldn't have to be throwing up in my friend's Bentley."

"And what type of friends do you know that owns a Bentley?"

"Ones that know Kim Taehyung, apparently," you make a face to which Doctor Wren chuckles quietly. "And I should've known better that if he was back in town then he would've shown up to his friend's event."

"There's nothing you can do from where you stand in this situation, ___. It was just an unfortunate event that you got wrapped up in," he says as he removes the stethoscope from his ears. "I remember when I saw her while I was out with Sungjae. It was slightly awkward and I blamed myself for putting me and my husband in that situation."

He writes down something and looks at you through his glasses. "But the thing is, ___, I couldn't blame myself for that unfortunate situation that, of course, would happen to me."

"But you didn't know she would be there," you point out but he snorts.

"Neither did you," he retorts, referring towards Taehyung. "That's the difference between what you already know and what you should've known. You didn't know he was going to be there until you saw him."

Pouting at him, you narrow your eyes at his genius brains. It's these situations that you knew he was right, and he also knew he was right.

"You know, you could use this way as a mechanism to fully move on," he suggests, your eyes lighting up to the idea of that. "Find some closure and properly move on in your life, I guess you may say."

"Doctor Wren, that's not... bad," you ponder at the thought.

"Ya, I know," he chuckles. "And it looks like your vitals are fine. I'll run some tests, though, just in case— since you haven't thrown up for awhile, but for now you're all good."

"Thanks, Doctor Wren," you say begrudgingly as you hop off the tall bed.

"Mhm," he hums, writing something down on the clipboard. "Words of advice. Don't keep blaming yourself for all the could have's, especially when series of events unfold to where you do have to see him again. Happens for a reason, right?"

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