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#player usually likes a bit of dark humor as well but in this situation it was not appropriate
random-lil-illing · 2 months
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okay so ive decided im not going to do a while 'fake tweets' post for every episode, maximum 3 tweets per episode unless its an episode that has a lot going on, or just one i really like/think twitter would have a lot to say about.
for anyone confused which tweet is for which episode, let me explain :)
image 1: fishy doubloon caper
images 2, 3, and 4: opera in the outback caper
images 5 and 6: chasing paper caper
images 7 and 8: lucky cat caper
images 9 and 10: french connection caper
which means season 1 is done!! cant wait for season 2 :)
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coeursetcolores · 10 months
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Cyrus, The Scholar: Chapter 2
WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Chapter 2 of Cyrus’ story in Octopath Traveler!
Man, things got dark!
I thought Prim had the dark story, but this was messed up! Human sacrifices, kidnapping, torture...It was not just a name, not just a name.
Someone give Cyrus a break! And this is only Chapter 2?!
I have the feeling Chapter 4 might constitute bumping the rating up, this game is so unexpectedly dark. And so detailed about it.
But, let’s press on.
Since this is the same town as Tressa’s Chapter 2, I actually did her’s first. I figured with Cyrus being a gentleman and all, he’d step out of the lady’s way. 
And wow, can things change between two chapters.
I will admit, the bursts of humor about Cyrus’ obliviousness about how attractive he is got old pretty quickly: not that funny when it cost him his job (still salty Therese). Kinda feels like a double standard, female characters don’t usually end up in his situation...I dunno, I just really don’t like Cyrus getting punished/made fun of because he doesn’t notice when people are interested in him: if they like him, they should be upfront with him.
Lay off Odette, he’s supposed to be your friend.
Oh well; Detective Cyrus is back everyone! Book man’s hittin’ the streets!
Quarrycrest is nice, little mining town. All the wooden parts make it look like it’s still being worked on. It really sells that the place is developing into something else, like it would be bigger and more advanced later on. The wood could get upgraded to stone and the stalls could become stores. It’s nice to think of after Tressa’s chapter.
I do wish the mystery parts had more to them; I know it’s not that kind of game, but they’re just so easy it’s hard to believe Cyrus is the only one who can solve them. Eh. Moving on.
Are all of Cyrus’ chapters going to end up underground? I get that his bad guys like to stay hidden, but there’s more options: attics, abandoned buildings, woods, creepy mansions...
Overall, the sewer starts out pretty basic (hope everyone did laundry after they finished up down there): dark, wet, rats...
And then we get to the boss’ room.
Dang...This guy’s messed up. How do you even crystallize blood? And was the circle on the ground made of blood too?
I was not expecting that corpse to fall. Usually the hero gets there before anyone dies, so I figured everyone would get rescued and that the ritual just took more time.
And the game showed me it wasn’t playing around.
You save three people.
Ten went missing.
We’re going into some dark territory going forward, it looks like.
I’m actually kind of glad Gideon didn’t show up much, this guy is pure evil. Worked pretty well to just show up for the fight. Would’ve liked to have had his motivations explored a bit, though. Honestly just seems like he was written to just creep the player out.
I really like how this chapter shows Cyrus’ moral side: we already learned about how much he craves knowledge, but here we see where he draws the line. He admits the topics about necromancy intrigue him, but he would never actually try them. He knows that some things shouldn’t be researched and has the self-control and morals to reject them instead of blindly pursuing more than he probably should. Usually intelligent characters will disregard the moral choice in favor of research, but Cyrus doesn’t. I like that.
And now Odette wants to be nice. Yay.
Aaaaaaand, we’re being followed.
Let’s hear what our companions have to say about this tonal shifting chapter!
Primrose: Ooh, debate! And a respectful one! Both sides have points, and Cyrus even admits he likes hearing about her perspective. Just a talk about two ways of seeing the world. But did they have to end with another oblivious Cyrus joke?
Tressa: Cyrus, you are going to get killed one day. Tressa’s supposed to be the newcomer to the traveling life, why is she lecturing you? Though, it is refreshing to see how older people can have less wisdom than younger ones at times. Neither of them are naive, they just have more smarts than the other in different areas.
Ophilia: Oooh! I know he’s just being frank, but I have shipping goggles on! Watch yourself, Cyrus!
Therion: Recruit a criminal, solve a crime. But aww! Cyrus praised him! You go inspire that disenfranchised youth, Professor! GO TO CLASS, THERION! Achieve your potential (but also stay a thief, because they’re cool)!
H’aanit: You’re far too modest, my dear! People would line up to take your courses! I never want to hunt, but I’d love to learn biology from you!
Alfyn: Aww, poor guy! You go dad on him, Cyrus! Team Dad #2! I really like how he presents knowledge as ultimately being subject to the user. And yes, Alfyn is pure. I’d love to listen to discussions between these two about their fields, mutual mentoring is an interesting topic to explore.
Olberic: WAIT, YOU GUYS ACTUALLY NOTICED YOU’RE BEING FOLLOWED?! I was not expecting that! No ambushes coming for them, then. I feel so much wiser when these two talk to each other: one about knowledge, the other about danger. 
By the way, I love that everyone addresses Cyrus as “Professor;” even if he’s not on the clock, they respect him.
All we wanted to do was find a book. Now we’re involved in a conspiracy with necromancy, torture, murder and kidnapping.
Who hires someone to do this? And how does the academy fit into it?
And who’s that hooded figure?
Guess we find out.
On to Stonegard!
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noamuth · 22 days
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Sometimes I like thinking about how a Dal camp companion would work.
Like, after going too long between Long Rests with Dal in the party, he will start to show signs of pain not unlike the way Gale does. But, unlike Gale, Dal does NOT confide in you at the moment. You have to take a Long Rest and speak to him at camp, choosing careful dialogue options to get him to admit that he has a fairly new but chronic back injury--it's been too long since getting the injury to heal by magic means (it's "healed" as much as it's going to, the same way that a scar can be a cause of pain but is the "healed" form of the injury), only rest helps to sort of.. "reset" it.
Initially, having him stay behind in camp leads to huffy, indignant comments like "Good luck. You will need it without me." Both because he feels as though he's being treated as weak or being seen as a liability.
BUT, with enough approval/friendship and knowing his situation, removing him from the party will cause him to actually thank you for the chance to rest because he knows you care about him, and when he joins the party again he will remark on how refreshed he feels.
Using healing magic on him will obviously work to replenish health, but will earn negative comments from him.
He makes negative comments about things like the sun and the heat, and awe-struck and positive comments about things like flowers and art (especially fashion and jewelry, but also scenic paintings about places he's never been before).
Dal will make negative remarks to and about any primarily-magic-wielding party member to show the player his displeasure about magic and, in part, his insecurity around magic users.
His banter towards everyone is somewhat antagonistic at first but slowly softens more into curiosity:
He goes from hating Gale to asking him questions about the world because he realizes Gale is too eager to teach to be judgemental about it. In return, he offers analogous information about the Underdark to satisfy Gale's curiosity.
He goes from being bigoted towards Lae'zel to appreciating her skills in combat as well as her knowledge on Illithids despite her young age, as well as feeling a bit of connection in the fact that neither of them are from Faerun.
He goes from being incredibly suspicious of Astarion and thinking him whiny about his past, to feeling a kinship with him because of their pasts filled with cruelty once Dalamus realizes that his past was, indeed, cruel. They're Double Trouble when together in battle, and share a similar sense of dark humor. They bicker like divorcees who still care a great deal about each other.
He goes from being distrustful and even fearful of Shadowheart (as a Trickery Domain Cleric), to appreciating her practicality and sarcastic wit. He also finds her bickering with Lae'zel and Astarion incredibly amusing and will egg them on sometimes.
He goes from being annoyed by Karlach's unquenchable cheer and zest for life, to admiring her ability to see the bright side of everything. Her hope is contagious and she helps him to see that he's not just an outcast, but a survivor, and now he's free. She also likes to show him new things for them to enjoy together.
He goes from being aggravated by Wyll's heroic attitude to admiring his determination to Do the Right Thing even though evil choices are incredibly tempting and even sometimes more profitable, especially when being enforced by a devil.
Halsin, Jaheira and Minsc I don't know much about yet, so I can't say his opinions
Like a few characters, Dal goes through a religious change, which one can influence--carefully. One leads to a Bad End for him, while the other leads to a Good End, whether romantically involved with the player character or not.
Bonding scenes with him may include (idk how many there usually are): eating dinner and talking about food, seeing him work on stones, sitting with him while he stargazes, talking about the Underdark and what he misses about it, talking about the surface world and his difficulty adjusting to it, talking about his fear of being abandoned by Lolth and feeling alone, giving him a gift (maybe a particular stone, or a journal from a drow who left Lolth and found a better life [saving this idea actually 👀])
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solanj · 3 years
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Gatewatch&Co playing DnD
Jace
Jace is the forever DM. His plotlines are extremely well thought-trough and his puzzles are exquisite. Prefers detective-style stories and is great at setting up the intrigue. Players never can guess too early. He knows ALL the rules. Is prepping meticulously. He is that type of GM that will hand out actual letters or trinkets to players, if they happen to find them. Every NPC, every plotline, every bit of PC's backstories are accounted for and weaved into the planned narrative. (Of course it all always end up completely derailed) Actively uses illusions for both descriptions and combat and everyone just LOVES that. Still insists on having actual minis, though. After some persuasion from the party agreed to use telepathy to tell players the "only your character knows that" info, which drove his intrigue even further.
Chandra
Chandra usually plays a hotheaded sorcerer. Gender and age may vary, but the sorcerer always falls for whomever Nissa is playing at the moment. Is the most enthusiastic of the group and the #1 reason Jace's thought-through plots get derailed. Because she always invents something crazy and drags the rest into it and even she never knows what her character is going to do until she opens her mouth to declare it. Due to it has the most dead characters among the party - Jace isn't a harsh GM, but he never fudges his rolls. Chandra doesn't sweat it, though, she just brings a new sorcerer next session. She generally ensures a goofy, light-hearted atmosphere and doesn't like it when stories go too dark or dramatic. Never waits for others to make a plan before heading into combat. Has the quickest combat turns.
Nissa
Nissa only agreed to play because Chandra was SO enthusiastic about it that Nissa just hadn't the heart to say "no". She ended up loving it. Doesn't speak much at the table (and her characters are always the quite ones), but has the most carefully crafted backstories. Only uses third-person style, but never speaks out of character during the play time. Actually knows the rules very well and never blunders, but also never engages in rules arguments when they happen. Once all the revelations from her backstory come through her character ends up being everyone's favourite, remembered for a long time.
Gideon
Gideon only plays because he thinks that a common bonding activity such as this is great for the Gatewatch's dynamics. Is usually the one to bring in snacks and to help Jace tidy everything up after the session. Plays martial tanky protective characters, usually goes with the options that PHB recommends. Likes to strategize in-game. Isn't good at roleplaying but is trying his best and everyone appreciates it. Was actually sad when Liliana left the party since her character made it easier for him to engage in conversations and decision-making due to her teasing and provocative nature. (No one knows if that was intentional on her part)
Teferi
Teferi prefers GM'ing but doesn't have the time to prep and run the whole campaign. So he usually runs rather short adventures. He leans towards more humorous style and is a great improviser. Likes to give his players maximum freedom and allows them to goof around all they want, but still manages to make the plot work. His NPCs are usually witty, he does different (and often exagerrated) voices for each of them and players tend to engage into social side of the game a lot because the dialogue scenes with him are just so enjoyable. Loves to mess with the players. Adds red herrings, makes NPS pretend to believe the player's bluff only to reveal the truth at the best possible moment later, hands out tricky magical items (most players learned to NEVER draw cards from unchecked decks, but there is always Chandra...). He is placing the most bizarre and memorable mimics and hilarious traps. But does all that in good faith and with good humor, to make the players thrilled but not annoyed. And it works!
Kaya
Kaya plays exclusively rogues and she probably tried every build possible. Is the min-maxer of the party. Is known for completely decimating the encounters that Jace planned to be extra challenging. Was often splitting the party at first, but agreed not to after some persuasion. Doesn't roleplay much, though she enjoys spectating others do it and never tries to force them to the next scene. LOVES Jace's puzzles and usually finds an unorthodox but interesting and convincing way to solve them. (That's probably why Jace can't really be annoyed with her despite her minmaxing) Has the best luck for crits in combat, but the worst for disabling traps.
Vraska
Vraska rather often misses the sessions due to guild and/or pirate business, but she tries her hardest to have free spots on her schedule during game nights. Is probably the most dedicated member of the group. Grows very attached to her characters and once the campaign ends she never returns to the same archetype, so that the impression wouldn't dilute. And because of it she doesn't have a "type", though her characters are always brave and have troubled pasts. Is the one to commission the paintings of her characters (and sometimes the rest of the party too). Is also quite the shipper (no matter if the character in question is her own, party member or NPC), but keeps it to herself, only sharing with Jace sometimes. She tells Jace everything about her character in the beginning so that he can play it when Vraska has to miss a session.
Ral
Ral played every class in the game that he could more or less convincingly make into a charming bastard. Is prone to hogging the spotlight, but does roleplay so well and is so charming that others let it slide. Often insists on using some homebrewed rules (which he keeps reinventing right during the conversation), giving Jace a headache. Jace gave in once, but during the next several sessions he made sure to stage the situations so that every possible side effect of said homebrew came to bite Ral in the ass (yes, it's where most of his prep time went). Now they usually settle on just some minor changes for Ral's character. Is #2 reason for derailing Jace's plotlines. Unlike Chandra he does this absolutely intentionally, and Jace knows it, but sees as a challenge. His character is the one, to whom all the "curiosity" magic items go. You have no idea what a dedicated Izzet mage can do with a simple unmoving rod. Jace actually throws extra stuff his way just to see what crazy application Ral will come up with.
Liliana
Liliana played a couple sessions once. She made a point of derailing the plotline in a discreet way while staying strictly in-character. Also she made Jace fluster whenever he had to play through a conversation with her via NPC. Decided that it was fun but ultimately not worth it in the long run. (To Jace's relief) Since she never actually plays Jace can discuss with her his plans and plots and sometimes he asks for her input on the villains. Sometimes he even invites Liliana to act out a villain in the dialogue-heavy session and she is VERY convincing. Her villains are always the ones players love to hate. From time to time she GMs oneshots and prefers intrigue- and drama-heavy stories, often horror, that may or may not be inspired by her long and varied life experiences. She isn't a stranger to fudging the rolls or overriding the rules if she feels that the situation calls for it. Is very good at reading the table and the undisputed master of putting her players in heart-wrenching situations faced with tough decisions. They usually love it, but Chandra refuses to play with her anymore because "don't we have enough of that shit IRL?!" She sometimes contemplates running a full WoD campaign, but always decides against it in the end.
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Feel free to add your ideas!
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starcrossedkaiju · 3 years
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Kingslayer AU: Chapter Five
If you remember that post I made about the Red Resistance you’re a real one.
Notes: this one is very short. It’s just to move the plot along and blah blah blah. Next chapter is a good one I think.
The next time Scott showed up to the Red Desert it was for a petty fight that Scar had instigated by trying to steal directly from the Renchanting base. The situation made Scott face palm, and he contemplated not even showing up. However, when Jimmy offered to go in place of him, he told him not to bother. That he would be back in less than a day and night cycle.
Scott walked into the meeting just as the Red Army crested a hill. Which they stayed on. Scar yawned exaggeratedly and trekked up to his opponent, who was wearing a bandage on his left arm.
Cleo was also there. She seemed to be focused on drawing shapes in the cracked sand with the tip of her sword. Most likely feeling bitter about her former ally, Tango, joining Dogwarts. Everyone was paying as little attention as possible while Scar fired off false promises and white lies. Grian busied himself with apologizing to the nearest members of the Red Army for Scar’s embarrassment.
Scott was nearly falling asleep on his feet when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
Tango.
“Hey Major, you got a minute?” he whispered.
“So many,” Scott responded, gesturing to the desolate state of their meeting.
The two of them quietly excused themselves from the group to speak in private. Scott didn’t know why he didn’t tell Tango to just leave him alone. Maybe it was because Tango had a certain air of reluctance about him, Scott was certain he pulled his punches. Maybe it was shear boredom.
“So, nice weather,” Tango observed the arid desert sky.
“Uh huh..” Scott provided, unimpressed.
Tango stared at him blankly. Awkwardly.
He cleared his throat, “so I heard about your battle with Skiz and Ren. Impressive,” Tango said.
“What is with you people and beating around the bush? We’re not friends,” Scott pushed Tango away by the middle of his chest, “Tango,” he reminded.
Tango looked hurt for a second, “ouch Major. Fine, I wanted to ask you to join me,” he said.
Scott burst out laughing, to which Tango scolded him and shook him by the shoulders. That shut him up, it also earned Tango a slap.
“Don’t touch me,” Scott ordered.
Tango put his hands up, “no touching here! But be quiet. I brought you over here alone for a reason,” he pointed out.
Scott glanced at his allies. Blissfully unaware of the possible treason he may have been about to commit.
“Nobody knows this yet,” Tango whispered, “but I’m spying on the Red Army,” he said.
“What?” Scott asked rhetorically.
“Yeah, I have a plan. It involves you,” Tango responded.
Scott paused to consider if he was really about to entertain whatever was about to come out of Tango’s mouth.
“How do I know you’re not just trying to get close to me and then kill me on behalf of him,” Scott pointed at Ren, who was rolling his eyes at Scar and animatedly conversing with him about something Scott forgot about a long time ago.
“You remember the cow farm right?” he said.
“Yes,” Scott nodded suspiciously.
“I let you take my cow, on the promise that you and Jimmy wouldn’t tell anyone,” Tango recited.
“And we didn’t,” Scott said.
“Exactly. I know I can trust you, and I can’t trust them, Etho tried to kill me remember?” Tango pointed at Etho and Ren.
“So I want you to join me. Not the Red Army, me. Impulse is doing the same thing,” he concluded.
“Didn’t Impulse actually kill you?” Scott pointed out.
Tango waved his hand, water under the bridge.
Scott drifted off into contemplation. Everything about joining a coup against the Red Army screamed danger. More than usual. Dogwarts was a force to be reckoned with. They had superior gear, defenses, players, and alliances. Maybe Scott could cheap shot Martyn and Skizzle, but he could not promise that same luck against Etho or anyone else for that matter. The thought of even trying made his stomach turn.
And then there was Jimmy. If their plan didn’t work, what would happen to Jimmy? The Crastle? Or the Red Desert for that matter? The target on their backs was large enough. Scott had to take a step back. Since when did he get himself involved in a war?
Since he started defending himself, his mind provided.
Since he started standing up for his own freedom. For their freedom.
“Okay,” Scott said.
“Really? You’re in?” Tango’s eyes lit up, his joy was a bit loud for Scott’s new predilection for secrecy.
“Shh!” Scott put a finger in front of his face, “that’s not what I said…” he averted his eyes.
“I want to, believe me, I do,” he said, “but I can’t.”
Tango’s smile faded instantly, his red eyes grew disappointed, “Why not?” he seemed hurt.
“I have too much to lose. I can’t risk this,” Scott held the charm of his necklace up, it’s gemstone still shimmered bright green.
“Scott, I admire your devotion, I really do; but this is a bit bigger than that,” Tango said.
Scott’s expression fell into shock and reproach.
That seemed like enough of an answer for Tango, who backtracked as he realized he’d struck a nerve.
“I mean!” he corrected, “I mean nothing will happen to Jimmy. Cross my heart, he will be under the Red Resistance’s finest protection,” Tango stood up straight and crossed his heart.
Scott decided that was satisfactory. He made a face that said the opposite though, just to make sure Tango’s pride wasn’t too uplifted.
“Fine. I’ll join you Tango, but if I get even the slightest inclination of funny business, I’m out,” Scott cautioned, but he agreed.
“Terms and Conditions, I get it. The Red Resistance will not indenture any of its members,” Tango responded with a gleeful grin.
“You guys and your red themed names,” Scott teased, but held his hand out. They ought to make it official before everyone stopped snoring.
Tango shook it enthusiastically. The two called it done and Scott returned to his side, and Tango returned to the Red Army.
*****
Scott traveled back home that day. No fighting had taken place, although Scar had decidedly talked himself into a hole and ended up giving Ren access to any sand Dogwarts and their affiliates needed for the next week. It was no skin off Scott’s back, he didn’t care. Not his sand.
Wearing so much armor and standing in place for two hours gets on ones nerves. Taking off his heavy diamond chestplate felt like enough liberation for the day. He expected to hear from Tango or Impulse at some point, preferably soon.
Jimmy asked him how the meeting went when he returned, holding out a cup of coffee.
Unsure of whether or not to tell the truth, Scott lied, he said nothing happened and made fun of Scar for running his mouth so much. He said he was tired.
*****
“Scott? That you?” Tango’s voice came through a small door in his abandoned cow farm. It wasn’t needed anymore.
Scott pointed his torch towards the voice, illuminating a door, which Tango had crafted into the side of the underground farm.
“Yes it’s me. Why’s it so dark in here?” he asked.
“I don’t want people to know I’m still using this place, that’s why,” Tango motioned for Scott to come to him.
Tango silently listened for any sign that Scott had been followed, then pushed a stone slab in front of the hidden door with a silent thud.
On the other side of the door was a short hallway, then a very small room with some pillows on the floor and a table. A map of the server that included all the structures and members was pinned up on the wall. There was also a well loved notebook on the table.
“Where’s Impulse?” Scott asked, sitting down on one of the pillows.
“Ren needed him for something, he’ll probably be here next time,” Tango explained. He sat down and lit a candle to make more light.
“I thought we would start by going over the basics today,” Tango picked up the notebook and flipped through some of the pages absently.
Scott looked away and then back, “okay, shoot,” he said.
The “plan” centered around infiltrating the Red Army, convincing them (mainly Ren) that Scott had decided to switch sides. Then, him, Tango, and Impulse would eventually build their trust. Somewhere in there they would convince the Red Army to stop messing with people and come to an agreement with the rest of the server. Something about working together instead of against each other.
“We still have to work some stuff out,” Tango concluded with confidence.
“That’s the plan? You really think this’ll work?” Scott crossed his arms.
“If you can insult Scar convincingly enough, yes,” Tango said.
“Oh this’ll be easy!” Scott laughed, mostly to cover up his nerves.
Tango chuckled with him, then became serious once more, “I’m glad you have a sense of humor going into this. Even after what they did to you,” Tango said.
“I’m sorry about that, by the way,” he apologized.
Scott’s hands stung a bit in response, but he nodded a silent “thanks”.
They were quiet. Scott nervously fiddled with the hem of his coat, lost in thought, mostly regret.
Impulse did show up the next time. He arrived just after Scott did. Everyone sat awkwardly in the little room for a while and Scott was wrapped in nostalgia for a similar time. A time where the only threat was an obscene number of phantoms.
Over the course of their meetings, Scott observed his teammates and their actions. A far cry from who they used to be, including him. Scott’s hair had grown past his ears and turned purple at the tips, and he’d become rather paranoid about always wearing armor.
Tango spent much of their interactions lost in thought. The ghost of whatever was eating at him weighed visibly on his shoulders in the way his head was always bowed in a perpetual staring contest with the ground. He was irritable.
Impulse was a wild card to Scott, they’d never really met before; but it was clear he’d been changed as well. Illustrated by his long “mining” trips, which he only returned from to attend their weekly meetups with no resources to show for it, and a general aura of depression.
His mind was drawn back to the picture Cleo had taken of almost all his server-mates, together in front of the Vibe Machine. He’d studied everyone’s faces countless times. Mostly wondering where everything had gone wrong.
Had they ever truly been friends in the first place? Or was camaraderie a comfort when everyone else was just as weak as one another.
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Nobody asked for this but I'm gonna do it anyways...
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Fluff Alphabet: Takeru/Aguni Edition
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
A = Attractive what do they find attractive about the other?
Takeru: only reason he let Aguni wear regular clothes and not swimwear is because he saw ARM in that tank top and was like "oh damn okay 😳." So, y'know, that. (And he'll never admit it but he kinda likes how Aguni is a little bit taller than he is....) Also likes that Aguni has a really dry, deadpan sense of humor—he ways finds a way to make Takeru laugh, even when he's not really trying.
Aguni: I think the physical aspect of things wasn't really a make-or-break for him at first—like, yeah, Takeru's a good-looking guy, but that's secondary. He liked how Takeru is such a live-wire, very loud and colorful and seemingly fearless, no matter what kind of trouble they got into. (But also...he likes the hair. That's a thing for him.)
B = Baby do they want a family? why/why not?
Takeru: If they end up with one somehow, then, sure. But, like. He's not going out of his was to make it a thing. (But also, he has his cat, Ziggy, who he calls his baby, so...)
Aguni: Would secretly love to be a dad but is too worried he might mess the kid up or something. Is more than happy to be 'unofficial parent' to the neighborhood kids, though. Handing out ice pops to the kids that show up at the shop, keeping an eye out and telling them to get home before dark, maybe even showing one or two of them how to throw a better curveball...you know. Real Hallmark channel shit. (And yes, for those who were wondering: Ziggy the cat loves him and often curls up on his lap while he watches TV)
C = Cuddle how do they cuddle?
They don't really "cuddle" outside of bed. Just kinda sit next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, no big deal. But in bed, Aguni lies on his back with his arm sorta outstretched while Takeru...well, my man is worm on a string but OFF the string, he just flops all sorts of ways and a lot of them don't look comfortable but he falls asleep in minutes so whatever.
D = Dates what are dates with them like?
I don't think they do "dates"—they've got a long-term thing going on, so they often end up on the couch eating takeout and watching movies. I think they'd go to the movie theater sometimes (and talk shit for the entire film lol) and every once in a while grab dinner somewhere nice...but, usually because they have some cool limited-time-only dessert item that Takeru insists they try. (And Aguni pretends to be upset about having to get dressed up and go out, but is actually rather pleased to have a little romance...and get something to satisfy his sweet tooth.)
E = Everything you are my ____ (e.g my life, my world…)
Aguni: Emergency Medical Contact
Takeru: Co-Signer On The Apartment Lease
F = Feelings when did they know they were falling in love?
Takeru: About a week after Aguni (drunkenly) confessed his crush. Literally spent a whole week like, "Wow, it's a shame I don't love him back. He's so kind and handsome and smart and funny...too bad, I guess..." until one night he sat up straight in bed and said "Hold up." He then immediately called Aguni and began demanding why Aguni didn't tell him he was in love with him this whole time.
Aguni: They had been friends since they were kids, so it's hard to say when his feelings went from "you're my best friend" to something different. But, once he figured it out, he swore never to mention it because that could complicate their friendship.
G = Gentle are they gentle? If so, how?
Takeru: Yes and no. He's got a bad case of "grabby hands" and often yanks Aguni to and fro to look at something or whatever. Just zero respect for the man's personal space. But otherwise...I imagine he's not particularly rough or gentle, just kind of normal. EXCEPT when it comes to the emotional stuff—like, the real heavy things. I think he's very gentle with that, not asking too many questions and just sort of taking care of him where he can.
Aguni: Generally gentle—physically, emotionally, whatever. But I do think that he's confrontational, like when there's an issue, he comes straight out and asks Takeru what's going on. Even corners him, sometimes. He seems like a "no bullshit" guy, and since Takeru is "Mr. 99% Bullshit" he's gotta deal with it as best he can.
H = Hand/Hold how do they like to hold hands?
The only time they "hold hands" is when Takeru is grabbing Aguni's wrist to drag him somewhere (or run away lol) and when Aguni is pulling Takeru's hand back to stop him from touching something...
I = Impression first impression/s
I headcanon that they met very young, like grade school age. After school, in the park, where Takeru was chilling in a tree and Aguni walked by and he was like "Hey, there's a spider up here, wanna see?" and Aguni is like "Not really, I don't like bugs..." Now, Takeru, being "weird bug kid extraordinaire" can't believe his strange little ears and hops down from the tree and starts explaining why bugs are so cool and that Aguni is wrong...and Aguni listens as this funky, tiny firecracker just talks his damn ear off. Aguni liked how excited Takeru got about things, and Takeru liked how Aguni actually listened to him. And they were fast friends after that!
J = Joker are they into pulling pranks?
Takeru fucks around all the time...and doesn't often find out, because Aguni tolerates all his antics. (To a certain point, but still.) Every once in a while, Aguni will tell some harmless little lie just to watch Takeru freak out—he told him once that Lady Gaga was leaving the music scene forever, and Takeru screamed so loud the neighbors filed a noise complaint.
K = Kisses how do they kiss?
I think they most often do quick pecks—at the breakfast table, when they get home from work. You know. Domestic stuff. But when it's not like that...I think 9/10 times it's Takeru initiating, and Aguni reciprocates by wrapping his arms around him in a big hug (because he likes it but also to keep that skinny little weirdo from wiggling so damn much, he's always moving, he can't just be still—)
L = Love who says I love you first?
Neither! I don't think they really say it at all! Why say something that doesn't need to be said? (At least, that's how they see it...)
M = Memory their favorite moment together
Aguni: It's not really a memory, but...just how they have breakfast together some mornings. Sipping coffee, discussing whatever's going on in the world, the general "togetherness" that comes with it is one of his favorite feelings.
Takeru: The time they spent a full 24 hours in a karaoke booth singing 80's hits and knocking back tequila shots and ordering way too much food.
N = Nickel do they spoil? do they buy the person they love everything?
Takeru: Absolutely buys stuff for Aguni all the time. Mostly random snacks, or little knick-knacks that catch his eye. And also clothes, but...Aguni doesn't always approve.
Aguni: Doesn't buy Takeru stuff BUT leaves vases of flowers he grew on the table for Takeru to find.
O = Orange what color reminds them of their other half
Anything bright and obnoxious reminds Aguni of Takeru—red in particular, which also happens to be Takeru's favorite. And Takeru thinks Aguni has calm and soothing blue-green vibes. Like the ocean, beautiful and serene, but also dark and capable of incredible destruction.
P = Petnames what pet names do they use?
Takeru: All of them. Darling, babe, sweetheart (but he calls everyone those lol). Aguni-specific ones are always over-the-top and ridiculous like "brightest star in all of the heavens..." and he always gets an eye-roll for his efforts.
Aguni: Absolutely does not use pet names. Just says "hey you" or something. Once called Takeru "babe" and Takeru had to stop washing dishes and sit down because he was laughing so hard.
Q = Quaint what is their favorite non-modern thing?
Takeru: I feel like he would collect a ton of vintage stuff—clothes, records, just random little bits and bobs he comes across. But his favorite is definitely his record player—it belonged to his dad, and he keeps it in a place of honor in the hat shop.
Aguni: A set of very old and well-cared-for gardening tools. Takeru got them for him for his birthday, and he legit treasures them.
R = Rainy Day what do they like to do on a rainy day?
Lay on the couch and do literally nothing. Takeru gets the left end, Aguni takes the right, and they binge trash TV shows all day. (And also they make box-mix brownies and eat them straight out of the pan. It's "their thing.")
S = Sad how do they cheer themselves/each other up
Takeru: Aside from all his self-destrictive behaviors (binge-drinking, dangerous situations, etc.) he just really needs a good laugh. And Aguni somehow always manages to make him laugh with an unexpected, deadpan comment. Also, he makes Takeru actually talk through his problems instead of ignoring them...
Aguni: if he's in a bad mood, you just need to let him work through it on his own. He hates being "talked down to" and feels that most attempts at cheering up are cheap, so most people don't attempt. Buf...Takeru is not "most people" and breaks out his most ridiculous jokes to try to get Aguni to crack a smile.
T = Talking what do they love to talk about?
Other people! You know Takeru is the "XOXO Gossip Girl" of the neighborhood, but Aguni...he's like a little old church lady and ADORES hearing all the latest drama.
U = Unencumbered What helps them relax?
Both of them have the same method of relaxation and it's...bubble baths! Aguni does a basic, skin soothing soak and just hangs out in the warm water with a book or maybe just his thoughts to keep him company. But Takeru? He's got some fancy bath soaps, and he takes in a glass of wine and lights a few candles and does a face mask and it's a whole EVENT.
V - Very thoughts about each other
Takeru: Thinks Aguni needs to loosen up and take more risks...but also just loves the guy to pieces.
Aguni: Kinda wishes Takeru would calm tf down sometimes...but also knows that it's just how the guy is and wouldn't dare change him.
W = Wedding when, how, where do they propose?
They're not really the marrying type! They just have a mutual understanding of commitment and that's that.
(But if they did have a wedding... I think it would be a relatively small affair with all their closest friends and family. Like a dinner party, but somewhere extra nice and with lots of good food and alcohol. Intimate and meaningful, with just enough "extra" to satisfy Takeru.)
X = Xylophone What’s their song?
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" because they hid out in a karaoke booth (different from the 24-hour event that Takeru cherishes so much) to es ape the Yakuza and Takeru sang it over and over to pass the time.
Y = You the ___ to my ___ (e.g the cookies to my milk, the macaroni to my cheese)
"Breaking" to my "Entering." The "Assault" to my "Battery." (They both hate this sort of thing and try to come up with the worst answers possible lol)
Z = Zebra if they wanted a pet, what pet would they get?
They already have the cat, Ziggy, who is their perfect little angel.
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sooyoungl0vr · 3 years
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behind the keys
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genre! badboy-jjk!au
warnings! light swearing
pairing! badboy-jjk! x fem!reader
summary! when the infamous bad boy jeon jungkook accidentally lets his one secret slip, it feels almost too easy to keep said secret-invader’s mouth shut.
author’s note! all the boys are around the same age in this fic as it’s set in a high school setting!
word count! 1.1k
song! decalcomania ˗ˏˋ♪ jeon jungkook
                 ⊱ ━━━━.⋅ ♫ ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
 It wasn’t like she’s never heard it before, the peaceful melodies ringing from the small, secluded room down the hall. The notes were played perfectly, singing their sad tune as time slowly passed. She thought back to that day, the first time she had to stay back at school for detention. It was a first for her, not knowing how on earth she landed herself in detention.
“Ms. Y/l/n! That’s detention!”
The unforgiving voice of their history professor rang in her head, stirring up the familiar anxious feeling that was beginning to pool in her stomach once more. It didn’t last long though, as the sound of the soft notes from the piano calmed her ever so slightly. It had unconsciously become her habit to pass by every day after school, even if it meant staying behind a little later than normal.
An unfamiliar tune began to play, along with a mellow hum. She wondered if it was an original by whoever occupied the room. Purposefully avoiding figuring out the anonymity behind the beautiful notes gave her a sense of ease. If they were playing this late every day in the one place no one in this damned school would go, surely, they would want the privacy. So, she gave it to them.
when I see you smile in the screen,
you’re good at everything.
Her eyes widen at the voice that escapes the room, feeling her heart race. The voice comes out soft and hoarse, but despite not watching the player directly, she could feel the emotion laying behind their words. It felt as if time stopped. The voice hypnotizing her as she felt rooted in her position.
“The fuck?”
The piano stops abruptly, the harsh contact that brings her belongings to the ground startles her and drags her back down to reality. Her eyes meet those of Min Yoongi, one of the boys in the infamous clique in their school.
“I’m sorry…” She murmurs, turning to take her belongings, but the boy stood furiously in front of her causes her to freeze.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Jeon Jeongguk stood in front of you, his school uniform unbuttoned, revealing the dark blue shirt he had underneath. His eyes seemed frazzled for a second before hardening into a harsh glare.
“Nothing! I-I just heard a tune and it sounded quite pleasant—”
Her lips seal shut as she watches his gaze become even more heated. She hadn’t meant to stutter, but the mere sight of Jeongguk has her cowering ever so slightly. “You will not speak of this to anyone, you got that?”
He sneers as he steps closer to her, restraining himself as best as he could. Yoongi watches in silence as his gaze locks on the quite miniscule presence that she had going on right now. “Yes! Of course…”
Her murmur comes out soft, scrambling to pick the scattered items on the floor. Her cheeks burned at the embarrassment her situation had forced her into, nonetheless, she bows at the two boys before scurrying away.
The sound of Jeongguk’s soft voice lingers in her mind as she quickly pushes it back, wanting to completely forget about the events that had just occurred.
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 “You just got found out.” Yoongi chuckles as he walks next to the scowling boy. Both males have their hands in their pockets as they approach the rest of the clique. Jeongguk hated the fact someone other than his best friends now knew of his secret. His reputation, other than the six boys sitting not that far away from them, was something he protected with his whole being. He worked hard to keep this little façade of his up and he was not about to let some girl ruin that for him.
“Woah. What’s got him looking so vexed?” Jimin giggles as the two near their usual hangout spot. Scowling once more, Jeongguk simply stays quiet.
“A girl heard him play!” Yoongi chuckles, letting his gummy smile appear. Shock stains each boys’ face as he continues to sulk. Annoyed he let it slip so easily. Taehyung laughs, rounding the table to massage Jeongguk’s neck softly. “Cheer up, gguk! You probably scared her off anyway, did you not?”
Taehyung’s gaze wanders to the older boy, knowing full well their youngest wouldn’t answer him. With a curt nod, Taehyung ruffles Jeongguk’s hair, emitting an annoyed huff from him.
“See! You’ll be alright, gguk. And if she even tries to spread it around, you have your hyungs right here to back you up.” Jin, the oldest of the group, smiles softly. Hoping to bring his mood back up. To their luck, Jeongguk sighs and nods hesitantly. “And he’s back! Let’s go get some ice cream now.”
                 ⊱ ━━━━.⋅ ♫ ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
Jeongguk had fully expected murmurs and whispers to be swirling around about his secret. He had spent most of his night preparing himself mentally for one of his nightmares to inevitably come true the moment he step foot onto his campus grounds.
But… What he didn’t expect, was the complete normality he met that morning. Nothing seemed to be out of place, causing his brows to furrow. His sharp gaze scanning the crowd for a certain someone. After a bit of struggle, he was able to spot her. Standing sleepily in front of her locker, keeping to herself. He was pleasantly surprised she had actually kept her mouth shut. Before he knew it, he found himself taking lengthy strides towards the girl, startling her out of her drowsy daze.
“T-thanks.” Jeongguk seemed to finally spit out the words after a solid few moment of silence. The one word that had escaped his lips seemed to surprise her. He watched as her eyes widened slightly, her grip tightening on the heavy books she was carrying.
Perplexed, she didn’t seem to know what to say in reply. “Er… You’re welcome?”
A light shade of pink tainted her cheeks as the confusion in her eyes painted her in an oddly adorable manner for Jeongguk. He quickly shook off his thoughts as he cleared his throat, “For not telling anybody about yesterday.”
Her lips part in realization as she watches him avoid her gaze. Laughing softly, Jeongguk turns to find her grinning at him humorously.
“I never had the intention to tell anybody, Jeongguk. But you’re welcome nonetheless.” Smiling softly at the boy, she bows slightly before rushing off in the direction of her first class. Leaving him stood there, an unfamiliar heat burning on his cheeks.
                ⊱ ━━━━.⋅ ♫ ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
aaa this is my first fic on here! feel free to leave feedback, shares and reblogs are appreciated! <3
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hajimewhore · 3 years
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Body Swap 👫 (Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader) ➸Rated T, fem!Reader, 2.1k words    ➷Humor, fluff, awkwardness, mild miild nsfw but not explicit, I will say I can only assume this kinda thing happens when you swap bodies lol    ➷ Masterlist, Part 1, Part 2, ✈Part 3, Part 4
You initially dreaded the conversation with Hajime’s parents, wincing on the way through the door with a slight panic washing over you. But after a short and pleasant talk with them, you came to find the conversation flowed more naturally than you’d anticipated.
They’re not as doting to Hajime as they are to you, you note, but they’re friendly and pleasant and you feel as if you’re talking to your own family. Much like your own parents wanted a son, Hajime’s always wanted a daughter, so they often acted as your second set of parents. You feel a bit silly in retrospect, they’re as charming as ever with Hajime as they are with you.
They mostly inquire about Hajime’s day, and after a bit you excuse yourself to ‘study’, escaping to Hajime’s room. You’re beginning to feel positive about the next school day after the interaction, confidence boosted.
Who knew you would turn out to be such a good actress, better than you thought! Award winning, honestly. This whole body swap will be a cake walk. You can totally pull off being Hajime!
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It seems you can definitely pull off the acting portion, but the sweat sticking to your clothes from your exhausting (emotionally and physically) practice is starting to make you consider the hygiene aspect of the swap. Which, has you feeling wildly uncomfortable.
This cosmic joke, shitty trope of a situation has you experiencing humiliation and embarrassment at levels you didn’t even realize were possible to achieve.
Normally after a grueling practice, you wouldn’t hesitate to hop straight into the shower and blast the hot water over your skin, feeling your muscles and aches soothed. But this isn’t your skin, or your muscles. You’re consistently reminded every hour, minute, and second, that it’s all Hajime. You should feel comforted that he’s definitely experiencing the same emotional crisis as you, but it only serves to heighten your distress.
Cheeks immediately heating at that, you recall the conversation with Hajime from earlier at the park.
“Just... let’s not think about it. And let’s definitely not talk about it. It’s a natural part of life.”
You know full well of the agreement you came to with red stained cheeks, but is there any way you could go without it? And drench yourself with Axe body spray? Or whatever it is guys like to use. You bet it would make a good repellent, no one would want to talk to you if you smelled like that.
You scrunch your nose, dashing the thought immediately, definitely not. Not only would it make you feel gross, Hajime would whack you first thing in the morning, and probably shove you in the shower himself.
‘No big deal, no big deal, it’s no big deal, you can do this!’
You find yourself chanting silent encouragements as you peel your shirt off, pitching it into a laundry basket. When you catch your reflection, a dark pink creeps across your features.
Yep, that’s still Hajime’s face, 
‘Gaaah, don’t look at me like that!’
You press your hands to your face, but you end up peaking through your fingers anyways. The low sweats definitely don’t help, and neither do Hajime’s well defined abs.
You’d been true to your word when you told Hajime you hadn’t seen anything, but now you’re a little desperate to know what the deal is downstairs.
You won’t look. You shouldn’t.  You don’t look. You definitely do not look.
You look,
pulling the sweats down, and shoving the briefs just past your thighs, you bite your lip at the revelation.
Okay.
Alright.
This is fine.
This is totally fine.
Hajime is just secretly packing.
WHAT THE FUCK?
You suppose it wasn’t necessarily a secret, it was always assumed of Hajime. You’ve also been privy to the third years’ cock talk at lunch, and he always did exude big dick energy, but damn Hajime.
Wait. Are you—
NOPE.
NOPE NOPE NOPE YOU ARE NOT DEALING WITH THIS RIGHT NOW.
You cover your face again, a recurring action today it seems, cheeks burning rampant and hotter than ever before. You feel a prickly hot and itchy feeling light a fire up your back to your neck, the heat of pure, unbridled, embarrassment coursing every vein.
Were you... getting a boner?
NOOOOOOO.
From being turned on by Hajime? While you are Hajime?
This is some paradoxical bullshit you are simply not having right now, not tonight, not tomorrow, and hopefully never again.
Despite the shame and humiliation beating down on your psyche, you risk a glance to see how much bigger he looks than before.
“Cold shower, yep. Cold shower helps, right?”
You immediately shove the briefs the rest of the way down, before hopping in the shower, starting it up at the coldest setting. Hopefully the freezing water will wash away not only your transgressions but also your mortification.
You squeak at the cold, bite your lip and shiver, tough it out, and will away the uncomfortable situation.
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You sigh, hoping the morning will go smoother than the swell night you had, hopping down the steps of Hajime’s house.
You cross the street to meet up with him and Tooru, already seeing their figures across the road.
“Ha-Hey.”
You almost slip up with his name, but you make a clean save. Mentally patting yourself on the back, you glance to see Hajime’s bitter expression and—
Your jaw drops when you catch sight of... yourself. Your silent wish for a trouble-free morning is cast aside as you examine his appearance.
Hair unkempt, face completely bare, not even moisturizer or at least sunscreen to be seen, did he even try?
“Ha hey to you too, Iwa-chan.”
Tooru raises a brow at the odd introduction, clearly noting the slip up (and also the fact that Hajime usually settles for a short grunt and never a ‘Ha-hey’), but you can’t be bothered to entertain him right now with the current Hajime dilemma.
“Right, whatever,” you direct your attention to Hajime, “can I grab that thing I lent you yesterday?”
“What are you talking about? You’re being weird, Hajime.”
He warns you with a stern look, but you aren’t having it,
“I’m not, I know you have it, we can grab it right now. Tooru, you go ahead. I’ll see you later.”
You push Hajime back in the direction of your house, and Tooru frowns at his abrupt seclusion with zero explanation.
“Are you guys seriously ditching me?”
Tooru raises a brow, arms akimbo with a disgraced look.
“Yeah, we are, Shittykawa. Let’s go.”
You hate to diss Tooru without a solid reason, but it’s pretty on brand for Hajime, so you bite out the nickname with minor discomfort on your lips. You impatiently grab Hajime, before pulling him towards the steps of your house, Tooru’s complaints going unheard behind you.
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“Hajime! You’re not wearing any make up! And my hair is a mess!”
You whine out, sitting him down at your vanity.
Hajime merely scowls,
“Seriously? That’s what this is about? Don’t scare me like that, I thought there was something wrong.”
He moves to stand, but you shove him back into the seat with a little more aggression than intended, you lowkey forgot how strong Hajime was.
And Hajime looks up at you with a incredulous expression, feeling a little scandalized, as a woman, that you would handle him like that.
“There IS something wrong though. I look awful! At least wear some foundation and mascara, that stuff is easy to apply!”
You pull out your make up box, flicking on the mirror light.
“I think you look fine this way,” he huffs, “you don’t need all that shit.”
A frown tugs at his lips, and you feel your heartbeat quicken at his earnest display. You bite back a wistful sigh, this is exactly the reason you’ve always been so drawn to Hajime. Rough around the edges, but there there’s no bullshit when it comes to him. He doesn’t disguise his intentions, doesn’t waste time saving face. He’s just genuine, unadulterated, Iwaizumi Hajime, what you see is exactly what you get, and you honestly wouldn’t have him any other way.
Setting aside your thoughts for another time to privately dwell on, you ignore the feeling. 
“Really? That’s nice of you to say. Keep going.”
You smile, pink dusting your cheeks. You hope your expression doesn’t look too soft as you continue to apply the makeup to his face.
“Fishing for compliments now? No way, Shitty-L/N.”
“Nooo! Don’t call me that!”
You pause mid powder to cry out in your indignation, to which he masterfully ignores fixating his gaze on something more interesting than your whining, like the window sill.
After a bit of complaining, back and forth bickering about how uncomfortable the make up feels, you continue with a light highlight and mascara. You stop once you’re satisfied with your work, not bothering to deal with any extras like eyeliner or eyeshadow.
“All this for what? It tickles, and you can’t even touch it.”
Hajime’s hand hovers over his cheek, careful not to smudge anything. You must’ve smacked his hand away too many times, it seems.
“You get used to it. Plus it can be fun to try different brands and colors, and the little confidence boost isn’t bad.”
“Not that you need it.”
Hajime sighs out, standing from the seat to stretch. You’re sure it’s meant to be an insult to the crude ego you (and Tooru) tend to display, but you sense an underlying meaning that winds up boosting your ego even more.
“Anyways, we’re all done! And with time to spare.”
You chrip, gleaming with pride at your work. Add that too the list of things you should be, actress, and make up artist (next to pro volleyball player of course).
Hajime glances to the mirror, “’looks nice, I guess,” he hums in very faint approval.
That’s as good as a compliment to you, so you’ll take it!
He shifts to make way for the door, hooking his school bag over his shoulder.
“And it was definitely easier to do it on you than myself. Hey, maybe when you learn how to put it on yourself, you can do it for me when we switch back?”
You hover around him eagerly, and he rolls his eyes, resisting the urge to not smack his own body.
“No way in hell. The most I’ll do while we’re switched is that eyelash shit and the foundation or whatever,” he pauses, averting his eyes, “and only because it makes you so happy for some damn reason.”
You grin, ecstatic with his unexpected compliance, pulling him into a hug,
“And that’s perfect, eyelash shit and foundation or whatever is good enough for me!”
“H-Hey! Knock it off!”
It feels weird, being so much taller and hugging your body, but it still feels right considering it’s Hajime despite it all.
He tentatively returns the embrace, albeit awkwardly with one arm.
“We’re gonna be late if we keep bullshitting. Let’s go!”
He gently pushes you off and hightails it out of your room, and you laugh trailing after his awkward stomps.
 “Also, wear your skirt higher!”
You call out behind him.
“What? No way in hell! This is the school standard, you always wear it too high!”
He spins around, uncomfortably smoothing out the skirt pleats as if the action could make it lengthier.
“I have nice legs, and I want to show it off!”
You growl, chasing Hajime down the stairs, grabbing onto the waistline of the skirt.
“That’s stupid and you know it. Just who are you trying to impress?! They shouldn’t like you for your legs!”
He holds a tight grip on the skirt and you scowl, prying Hajime’s hands away to yank up the garment.
“No one, it’s called fashion!”
You successfully tug the skirt higher, but a bit too much considering your panties are on full display.
You snort at the sight, “Hajime, you dog, are you wearing my strawberry panties?”
Hajime feels a sense of shame at the sudden breeze, mockery, and unfathomable humiliation.
“Knock it off, it’s just a school uniform idiot! And what the fuck else was I supposed to wear?!”
He tugs the skirt back down and you click your tongue, grabbing a fist full of the fabric to hike it back up. 
“What are you two doing, we’re gonna be late!”
Tooru swings the front door open with a huff, eyes locking onto the both of you. You freeze position, instantly dreading the conversation that’s sure to take place shortly, whereas the tall setter halts at the display before him.
His precious, dear, sweet, childhood best friend’s hands are grasping at his brutish, caveman, heathen of a best friend’s biceps.
Said precious bestie’s hands are trying to shove aforementioned despicable heathen’s grip from her skirt, cheeks bright red
“Uh, this... isn’t what it looks like?”
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A/N: I had extra extra fun with this part hahahaa,, sorry for the cliffhanger but I had to do it to ya, next part soon!
taglist: @cybergovl​
Masterlist, Part 4
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mimicutie · 4 years
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Pit is Autistic - A “Brief” Analysis
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Kid Icarus: Uprising is my favorite game of all time, and one thing I love about it is the characterization of Pit. Specifically, I see him as autistic. Of course, this is just a headcanon of mine, but I wanted to write out a little discussion explaining why I see him as such as well as show some of the autistic traits he demonstrates in Uprising (and the occasional reference to the Guidance conversations from Smash).
(fair warning, this is not very brief)
Difficulty Understanding Words and Jokes
It’s made abundantly clear that Pit isn’t the best at picking up sarcasm or jokes. At times, he struggles with understanding words, phrases, and context. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 11.
Pit: Good! There are survivors! Palutena: They’re a stubborn bunch hanging on like that. [...] Pit: Uh… stubborn? Palutena: Oh, I didn’t mean it like that.
Here, Pit doesn’t understand what Palutena means by “stubborn.” It’s pretty common for autistic people to struggle understanding parts of speech, such as words being used in different contexts than what they’re used to.
Medusa: Hmm… Now this is a little… bizarre. Pit: I know right? The mouth on that guy! I’d never talk like that! Medusa: That’s not what I meant. Palutena: Sorry. He can be a little… thick.
Once again, Pit is misinterpreting the situation. He doesn’t understand what Medusa is alluding to, thinking that she is talking about Dark Pit’s brash behavior. Palutena’s last comment hints that it’s very common for Pit to misunderstand people like this.
Pit: I’m Pit, servant of the goddess Palutena. I’m here to defeat Dark Lord Gaol. Magnus: So you’re here for a slice of the pie too? Pit: Huh? Pie? Where?
Chapter 2 has several examples of Pit not picking up on obvious jokes or idioms, and here’s one. Pit takes the idiom literally, not understanding what Magnus really means at first.
Viridi: Pit certainly is devoted to you, Palutena. Hades: Only because she squeezes his head wreath when he doesn’t follow orders. Palutena: You mean like… THIS?! Pit: No no no no no! You’ll squeeze my brains out! … (sigh) Why do I always fall for that?
In this example from Chapter 15, Palutena is clearly messing with Pit, but as he stated, he always falls for her jokes. Even though it’s clear she is just teasing, Pit can’t pick up on the fact that she isn’t being serious. He consistently struggles with understanding tone.
Pit: This is so annoying. Lady Palutena, help me out here! Palutena: Deploying the Palutena Super Sensor… Pit: I didn’t know you had a super sensor! Palutena: Hee hee. I don’t. You know I like to make stuff up. Pit: I can’t believe you’re messing with me at a time like this!
This dialogue from Chapter 13 is just another example of Palutena clearly joking while Pit does not pick up on it. Even though Palutena has done this time and time again, Pit still struggles to tell when someone, even a person he is incredibly close to like Palutena, is just messing with him. These are just a few examples. Pit commonly struggles with understanding language and tone throughout the game.
Using Words Differently
We can see that Pit has his own unique vocabulary with his own creative phrases like, “Calamaried!” “Re-defeated!” “Pulverazed!” and so on. Pit also makes LOTS of noises throughout the game, all of his “woohoo”s and “woah”s and whatnot. It’s just how he communicates, even if it's a bit particular or different.
Expressiveness
Pit is excitable. Like, really excitable. Sure, he’s a fun video game protagonist, but he’s always very happy-go-lucky and upbeat in a way that reads to me as autistic. Just look at how he jumps in excitement!
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And when he gets the Three Sacred Treasure?! Gifs can’t really do the excitement in this scene justice. (link in case tumblr embed isn’t working)
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Additionally, while Uprising doesn’t have a lot of cutscenes with Pit just standing around talking, in the ones where he does he is usually very expressive, using his hands to talk and whatnot. Added with his excitability, I feel that this shows us that Pit is so expressive and emotional because he’s autistic!
Extra Help
Pit needs more help with understanding things in comparison to others. Palutena often goes out of her way to guide Pit, whether it be giving him directions or explaining how to defeat an enemy. While Palutena’s advice does work as a guide for the player, it’s clear that Pit needs the help more than someone else his situation might. The clearest proof we have of this comes from Chapter 22.
Palutena: Watch out for that heart-shaped crystal barrier! You see, it’s— Dark Pit: Reflecting my shots back at me, right? Palutena: Well… yes. Dark Pit: I got it, so stop telling me what to do! 
Palutena is expecting Dark Pit to be like Pit, where she needs to explain to him what’s going on and offer her guidance. However, Dark Pit was able to figure out a strategy to defeat Pandora all on his own. Palutena is very aware that Pit needs a bit more help and prepares accordingly for him.
Accidental Rudeness
Many times throughout Uprising, Pit is shown speaking “rudely” towards gods or characters who have authority over him.
Pit: Oh, great! You’re the guy I’m looking for. Listen, I have a favor to ask you. Would you mind if I borrow your chariot for just a little while? Chariot Master: Your foolishness is matched only by your rudeness. How dare you charge in here, flinging unreasonable requests at me? [...] Viridi: You can’t really blame him for being upset. That was kind of rude.
Here, Pit is talking to the Chariot Master very casually, treating him like a friend despite the fact he is breaking into the Chariot Master’s tower and asking him for a precious artifact. Pit doesn’t see it as rude but Viridi and the Chariot Master clearly do. He is breaking an unwritten social norm by talking so casually to someone of high authority. Autistic people often misinterpret social situations or don’t act appropriately, sometimes resulting in “rude” behavior. There are several examples of this throughout the game, such as in Chapter 24…
Pit: You know, the Three Sacred Treasures weren’t exactly durable. Can you please make sure that this new weapon won’t just fall apart? Dyntos: Palutena, you’d be wise to put a muzzle on your chicken.  Palutena: I apologize for him. Again. Pit: I… I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to be rude.
To Pit, he is just stating a fact. However, it comes off to Dyntos as Pit being rude or even insulting his work. This is something that autistic people often do; they are blunt or honest about something, which is again mistaken as being rude.
Pit is also seen being more blunt when under emotional stress, such as in Chapter 20.
Pit: I trusted you because I knew you were on the side of justice, and… and light! But something is blocking that light now. This isn’t the real you. Viridi: Someone cue the strings… Pit: Would you mind holding the commentary for two seconds, Viridi? Phosphora: There are goddesses you’re talking to here, Pit. Watch your tone. Pit: Butt out, Phosphora! The goddess of light has turned dark. Skyworld is destroyed! Everything is wrong, and it’s up to me to make things right! Palutena: Oh, Pit. You’re just as naive as ever. Pit: I’m not naive!
Phew. This scene is pretty noteworthy to me because throughout the game, Pit is never really that angry or upset. He does show hostility, but he never really snaps at anyone, much less gods, like this. But when his home is destroyed and Lady Palutena is not herself, his emotions get the better of him. He doesn’t even seem to care that he is being “rude” to Viridi. I definitely see this moment as Pit having an outburst because of the stressful situation he is under. 
Scripts / Scripting
The most obvious example of Pit using a script is with his “rally cries” that he prepares before fighting enemies. Look at the idol description for this AR Card.
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He practices his rally cries a lot in order to be prepared for battles with bosses. Pit even mentions practicing his rally cries in a later chapter.
Pit: Cells of Hades, hear my words! And, um… see my actions! Uh… something, something… I’m going to rain death on you! I can’t remember all the words, but that’s the general gist. Hades: My innards have so longed to hear your battle cry. How could you forget the words? Pit: I didn’t have time to rehearse. I’ve been busy fighting evil, okay?!
While some may see the rally cries as meaningless fun, I think it could be seen as Pit having a script that he likes to fall back to when facing enemies. 
His many references and quotes to video games could be seen as scripting, too. There are lots of instances in Uprising, and especially in Palutena’s Guidance, where Pit quotes famous video game phrases or imitates sounds. Which leads me to…
Special Interest
Pit’s special interest is video games. While Pit’s very vast knowledge of video games could just be because of Uprising’s fourth-wall breaking style of humor, I think it could also be seen as Pit having an intense interest in games. He references various video games such as Metroid, Nintendogs, and Super Smash Bros. in-game. He seems to enjoy bringing up video games or referencing video game mechanics whenever he can, which is very similar to how autistic people enjoy bringing up their special interests in conversations whenever possible. Additionally, while the Palutena’s Guidance conversations aren’t 100% accurate to canon, Pit constantly references and alludes to various video games in them, such as quoting Reyn in Shulk’s conversation or Peppy and General Pepper in Fox’s (which ties back to him scripting). It’s clear that he loves video games and talking about video games!
Pit: Those Aurum troops are doing their best Game and Watch impression! Viridi: Check out the gaming IQ on this guy! You’re a regular video game historian!
See, even Viridi is impressed with his video game knowledge! :D
Sensory Issues
Throughout the game, Pit seems to have an obsession with hot springs. It is never outright explained why he loves them so much, but I’m led to believe it is because of sensory reasons. Many autistic people use extreme temperatures to help soothe or calm themselves, such as cold showers or hot baths. It can often help with sensory overload. Hot springs, similarly to hot baths, may be a way to help soothe Pit and keep his sensory issues to a minimum. 
Pit’s habits with his tunic seem to hint towards sensory issues, too. He doesn’t like to be without his robes, stating that he keeps them on even when he’s in the hot spring. When his clothes seemingly get messed up in Chapter 21, he gets upset, exclaiming that it’s his only tunic. Wearing the same clothes or same types of clothes/fabric is pretty typical for autistic people, and Pit wearing the same tunic everyday is similar to that.
Additionally, Pit’s habits with food could be because of sensory differences. He very well could be hyposensitive to food and tastes, which is why he eats a lot and doesn’t seem to care about what he eats (as long as it isn’t vegetables, according to the Revolting Dinner short ;D ) . 
Small Social Circle
Pit doesn’t have a whole lot of people he can rely on. Before Uprising, the only person he seems to have any affinity for is Palutena. Other than that, he doesn’t seem to talk to anyone else. We don’t have a clear picture on what his relationship with the Centurions is like, but based off of the Revolting Dinner short and Chapter 17, he only really talks to them when he’s working as the Captain of the Army and not as a friend.
While yes, Pit is the only angel left in Skyworld, I still think it’s important to bring up that Pit only really has Palutena to rely on. By the end of Uprising, he has Viridi and Dark Pit as well, but his only clear and completely positive relationship is his mother-son bond with Palutena. I see this as Pit struggling to really befriend others. He’s had over two decades between the original game and Uprising to befriend the Centurions, but again, he only really has Palutena. It’s pretty typical for autistic people to have very small social circles, consisting of just one or two friends. Palutena seems to fit the role of mother and best friend for Pit, and she even remarks that he should make more friends in Chapter 4. 
Working Alone
This is a small one, but still something that I think is worth pointing out. Pit seems very adamant on accomplishing his missions on his own, telling Dark Pit on two separate occasions (Chapter 9 and Chapter 21) that he can handle the situation by himself. Similarly, it’s common for autistic people to prefer working by themselves rather than with others. Paired with the previous point about having a small social circle, this just reads to me as Pit not feeling too comfortable in situations with others.
Conclusion
There’s a few other points that I feel I could bring up but overall I think these are my main points summed up (and yes, I said summed up. this used to be over 2500 words) ! Thanks so much for reading! If you have any other traits that you think Pit has that I didn’t mention, feel free to share them, I’d be more than happy to hear! ^_^
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koushisatori · 3 years
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Surprise
kuroo x f!reader
genre: birthday fluff
warnings: none
word count: 2.3k
note: I made it !! Happy Birthday to you, Kuroo ! <3 - Also I’ll beta it later when i’m home from university, bc it’s 3 am here, oops x.x
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Kuroo wasn’t jealous, really because logically there was no reason to be
You were his girlfriend and you did not mind sudden Hollywood blockbuster worthy kisses when he got a spurt of…possessiveness towards you
He is in no way overbearing or anything, both of you share the opinion that even though you’re a couple you don’t have to be together all the time, spend afternoons with your friends
Then again, you two spend quite a lot of time together, with you being the  Volleyball Clubs manager, always staying behind with your team when they practiced way past the official clubs' training's hours
But sometimes he woke up and felt the need to have you all to himself
On those days a slightly lingering gaze by other would irk him enough to    permanently glue himself to your side or back
Because of the rareness of that situation, you generally give into that specific mood and take him either with you if you had plans or adapt to whatever your handsome boyfriend seemed fit
(usually, it consists of getting snacks from the store to make watching movies more fun after you both finished your homework. And also cuddles. Lots and lots and lots of cuddling and kisses.)
Anyway, normally he’s a super laid back, relaxed, and ‘’the best boyfriend in the world, right, baby?’’
Kuroo was happy with being ‘’a bit (big times) nerdy’’ as kenma liked to remark, liked that things had their reasons and were logically intelligible
Well…he quickly realized that, while emotions were chemically explainable this also was as far as logic was helpful with them
Sooo…there was no reasonable excuse for him to feel that ugly burning in his chest watching you ruffle through Lev’s hair and giggle so cutely
But it was his birthday, and you should be all over HIM because HE was YOUR boyfriend and in general, maybe he had one of those not so great days bc not only did he get stuck in his bedsheets and face planted to the ground first thing in the morning but his breakfast toast also landed with its face on the kitchen floor just after he put away all the things he used
You were…not avoiding him but kind of distant with your thoughts
At lunch, he was telling you something you’d usually find at least funny if not hilarious because your humor was so fantastically similar to his, but all you did was smile lightly
You even whispered with Yaku instead of talking to him !! how dare you
Rest in peace, Kuroo (you will survive one day with a bit less attention of your s/o)
He wasn’t jealous of Lev or thought that you suddenly developed feelings for the younger boy
He was jealous because that tall child hoarded all of your attention, while you had looked at him maybe twice, three times tops, in the last hour
‘’Kuroo.’’ To the untrained ear the small setters voice as passive as usual. Kuroo though is able to easily distinguish the various different layers of Kozume Kenma’s very real, emotional bandwidth. The captain did hear Kenma and his questioning as well as slightly worried tone, he simply chooses to not react in favor of shooting (barely) decently hidden death glares at the to-tall-for-his-own-good-boy. 
‘’Kuroo.’’ The slight change in his childhood friend's voice was enough for the black-haired player to grudgingly turn away from you and Lev to look at Kenma.
‘’Yes.’’ Tetsurou huffs out, giving his best to not sound like a petulant child. ‘’You’re so dumb.’’ Kenma said dryly, definitely analyzing him. The questioning sound leaving Kuroo was close to embarrassing, a quick cough and back straightening later, he adds ‘’You wound me. Right here.’’ While pressing his hand flat against his chest. ‘’Where’s my understanding childhood friend to put balm on my hurting heart by sharing emotionally charged, empathic words with me?’’
Instead of offering the desired words, the smaller boy rolls his eyes before he averts them to his hand-held gaming console. ’’Can you put that thing away, we’re at practice Kenma.’’ Kuroo all but unintentionally whined. 
Everything was stressing him out today. Usually, his childhood friend at least stuck to the general rule of not using it outside the breaks. But obviously, there was a plot against him going on with the goal to annoy him more than usual because, of course, why not doing it on his damn birthday. Nice friends and their nice presents.
Just like Kuroo did mere minutes before, Kenma decided to simply…ignore his request half voiced as some kind of instruction. Well…things didn’t work like they were supposed to, he didn’t feel like arguing with his friend so he let him be for now. Rather than that, he turned back to you and Lev, who – for once – seemed eager to train his digging and passing game because you threw the volleyball for him to dive after.
‘’Where in freaking hell is Yaku…’’ Kuroo muttered grumpily, before repeating louder ‘’Yaku! Why am I the only third…Noboyuki!’’These definitely aren’t my friends, he thought while finally giving in to his deepest desire of ripping you away from the grey-haired future wannabe ace. 
‘’You truly are dense when it comes to (Y/N),’’ Kenma says, moving away towards the benches, before swerving around them to leave for the clubroom. ‘’The definition of tunnel vision.’’
The thing is, Kuroo heard Kenma say it, but his brain refused to acknowledge them, too focused on finally being in the spotlight of your focus.
 Meanwhile, you were watching your dark-haired boyfriend closer than he realized. You carried the whole plan. Or rather your ability to make him lose focus on anything that isn’t you, with just the right amount of addressing the slight possessive side of his and deprivation of your attention.
Even though all of this was just so the others could fulfill their part of the plan, you hate how it led him to mope around the whole day. It was so hard to not laugh about his stupid science joke at lunch and overall, not tell him all day how glad you were that he was born. This is his special day, why wouldn’t you tell him how much you loved his presence and his annoyingly attractive smirk? If not for the others and them begging and bribing you, you would smooch his kissable cheeks, nose, forehead, and lips all day long to honor this special date.
You are an amazing and emphatic girlfriend, so…of course, you realize that his mood in general is rather on the bad side today. He wants you close and to himself, and you did the complete opposite! Tetsurou would absolutely give you an ear full later when he finally understood the whole plan.
Nonetheless, it is kind of cute how he tried to hide that he was sulking. Your big baby of a boyfriend was currently trying to kill poor Lev with his gaze alone, staring holes into the back of his head all the while directing puppy dog eyes at you to relent and come over.
Usually, your Tetsurou was the perfect team captain. Attentive, clever, strategical, and just the right amount of authoritarian and approachable. But with his mind stuck on questioning why you were being weird to him on his birthday, he had yet to realize that through the whole time of today’s practice all of his teammates inexplicably went missing for about 15 minutes before they either sneaked back in (the first years and some of the second years) or openly announced a little too detailed information on how, for example, the bathroom visit has been absolutely necessary and could not be postponed.
The only problem: Lev wasn’t allowed to know of the plan until a second beforehand to not accidentally spoil the surprise out of pure excitement to surprise his Kuroo-senpai.
When you see your better half starting to approach the two of you, yelling for his vice-captain and the libero simultaneously, you whisper ‘’Lev, when I say now, you have to start running okay and call for Yaku. Ask him to practice your receives as loud as you can, and take off over to the clubroom as fast as possible, alright? Also, please don’t fall, we don’t need a bloody and broken nose, Tetsu is pissed enough already. Please do it for me, okay?’’ It was a bit unfair of you to look at him hopefully like that, but as the team manager, you posessed a certain power none of the other third years had over the younger players.
Just a moment before Kuroo got the chance to grab the clueless middle blockers shirt collar, you voice out a hushed ‘’Now!’’. You immediately look up innocently to your boyfriend and finally put the warm smile on your lips that wanted to sit there since your eyes fell on him the first time this morning. ‘’Tetsu...is everything okay?’’ - ‘’Yaku-senpai, please help me with my receives!’’
‘’Lev never asks for receiving practice...’’ is…not the thing you wanted your boyfriend to say. Panicking that he might find out now, still a bit too early, you do the only thing that you know WILL take his mind off of it. You cup his cheek with your hands and pull him down to press your lips against his. 
His reaction was immediate, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you so close to him that not even a feather would fit between the two of you. Getting into the spontaneous moment, you happily loop your arms around his neck, smiling softly into the kiss. 
Yeah...you definitely had missed that.
When you break apart, he pecks your lips a few additional times for good measure before he bends down even more to bury his face in your neck, enjoying how your fingers softly stroke through and play with his hair, in all the right ways, helping him to relax for the first time in hours. ‘’Baby,…’’ he murmurs against your skin ‘’…no one is training the way they should, let’s just ditch practice. We get a cake from the bakery down the street and eat it in bed, okay?’’
For the second time today, you feel bad. Your boyfriend's voice sounds tired and that was not how a birthday boy was supposed to sound. With his face in your neck, you were able though to watch the entrance. They should come in any second now. You feel tempted to give into Tetsurou’s wishes.
Can they hurry up?! 
The thought desperately shoots through your head, because even though he was currently not paying attention to anything but recharging and breathing you in, Kuroo is way too perceptive to not get behind the ruckus going on in the gym the whole afternoon.
‘’We can cuddle later, Tetsu, I promise my whole afternoon is all for you. If you want I can even sleep over.’’ Your soothing words made his invisible cat ears prick up and listen interested. You knew that, from the moment you both enter the comfort of his home, he would drape himself over you for permanent, never-ending cuddles. The only reason for him to let go of you - unwillingly so - will be you whining about having to use the bathroom. For everything else, you would have to carry a (nearly) dead weight of the size and weight of your boyfriend everywhere.
‘’I haven’t heard Tora for a while now….’’ The raven-haired middle blocker mumbles, and your heart picks up some speed again.
Looking for words you stammer some intangible syllables, which lead Kuroo to look up, suspicion swirling in his hazel eyes. ‘’Baby…what’s wrong?’’ he asks, cocking his head to the side, watching you like a cat its prey. Quickly waving your hands in front of you, you hastily answer a ‘’Nothing.’’ And try to smile away the panic.
Before he got the chance to repeat his question and pry it out of you, the gym darkens, and you breathe out a sigh of relief. Just on time. With the door opening a little source of light illuminates his teammate's faces with his closest friends at the front. Yaku holding a cake stabbed with 18 sparklers, and Nobuyuki holding an unholy amount of the ugliest birthday ballons you had ever seen. All of them together slaughtering the happy birthday song in such a passionate manner, that you could see yourself being able to forgive them the torture they put you through in the near future. 
‘’Come one, birthday boy.’’ You say with a loving smile, and grab his hand to pull him to the rest of the group.
The moment the lights flicker back on and everyone is cheering out loud one last time. You realize belated that Kuroo (intended) and you (unintended) were besieged with confetti and glitter. (You, until this day, suspect Yamamoto who looked a bit too innocent for your taste.)
‘’All of that…for me?’’ Kuroo questions, his gorgeous eyes shining tell telling in the remaining light of the sparkles. Following his words, Kenma takes a small step forward quickly handing over a small book – filled with birthday wishes, pictures that were taken with each and all of them, inside jokes and doodles - just to move out of the spotlight again as quickly as he jumped into it. ‘’Surprise, Tetsu.’’ You say with a sweet smile, that makes him move closer to you to gift himself a taste of your lips.
Before things get to turn mushy and emotional, a chant of Cake! Cake! Cake! – started by Lev and Tora, joined by everyone, disrupts the moment the two of you had.
‘’Okay, okay! I hear the will of the people, I’ll submit to it!’’ Kuroo gives in laughing. ‘’But…’’ a theatrical moment of silence ‘’I want to cut the cake with (Y/N) together!’’ Your boyfriend proudly announces, and, to his delight, you blush furiously. Yakus laughing remark of ‘’Oi, Kuroo, this is not your wedding, you know!’’ was followed by various joking wolf whistles and some hollering. You didn’t know how you ended up being in the center of attention together with him, but when Tetsuro easily replies ’’Well, I need to perfect this skill it for the real ceremony after party one day.’’ You knew that you wouldn’t want to be somewhere else.
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kncrowder88 · 3 years
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Voyager and Romance
So, the thing about Voyager and romance that sticks with me is they seem to do one couple really, or more accurately two characters, any real justice overall. And that is B’Elanna and Tom. While moments for that relationship may not be perfect that is rather realistic for relationships, as no relationship is perfect all the time so that is tolerable. This post though isn’t going to be about looking at that particular relationship though but primarily at other relationships. Largely because a discord server I am in was talking about Counterpoint and I realized why I both love the episode but also have weird feelings with it. Which, I’ll touch more on that specifically after I discuss the relationship stuff (as that plays a part).
So, I will preface this with it has been a bit since I’ve done a binge of Voyager and really a full binge of Star Trek in general. As such, I may forget a few relationships on the show and overall, throughout Trek in general. From what I can really toss together … I honestly am beginning to believe that when it comes to Voyager and the other shows (the older ones not the new ones – I am not including any NEW Trek in this) that for some reason the relationship writing with Voyager was rather different. Like, they gave 3 characters active relationships prior to being stranded. That being Harry Kim, Kathryn Janeway, and Tuvok. Out of these three we get Janeway and Tuvok holding onto those relationships in their own way while … it seemed mildly convenient for Harry to mention it when it suited him, I guess (like that time Tom wanted to set them up for a double date or you know when he ended up in that alternate timeline but still wanted back with Voyager even more like). Like, the reason I don’t list Tuvok-T’Pel above is because we don’t actually get to SEE that in full, we just get to see Tuvok’s side of it and his dedication – we don’t see the relationship, we don’t see the couple.
Harry and Tom, prior to his relationship with B’Elanna, seem to frequently do this sort of two bros dating around thing which is fine but like … same time the show used them for that. And once they settled Tom with B’Elanna they used Harry in those plot lines when it worked. Thus the alien STD episode and the “how dare you not get the standard permission from your CO and CMO” line (like they really put that into a Trek ep and I’m still unable to not picture Riker, Kirk, Picard, and everyone other Trek character constantly getting permission for their latest romance – just remember Jadzia and Worf likely had to get permission from Sisko and Bashir if the Trill and Klingon weren’t already approved of in the system just saying, that’s a thing that happened). Anyways … my point is they went out of their way on this. Like, when Kes was with Neelix they wrote Neelix to be that jealous judgmental boyfriend who literally got upset she knew where other people’s quarters where, she was nice to Tom, she was … just yeah. They wrote Tom to come off as a player pulling Harry into it, when Tom settled down Harry seems to pick that up (I mean you got his “omg Seven” phase and the alien STD stuff and lord knows what else I’m forgetting with him).
And to top this off I haven’t even touched on the “Janeway can’t have a romance” stuff yet. Which is where my real problem is. Like, its bad enough they brought in Jeri for the sex appeal (which lets be honest stems from the fact they couldn’t use Janeway for that – which I get, Kate was right in the whole concept of the audience target having to keep respect for a female lead and sex appeal couldn’t be a focal point but they could have balanced it right and regrettably because they couldn’t that meant Jeri got all of the other side of the coin). Many of Seven’s eps center on romance or social stuff and honestly that is a whole other WTF post in its own right because it all leads up to the sudden get with the one person on the ship who didn’t want you here in the first place and who also would have served better as the male adult guidance figure/father figure than as a ROMANTIC partner but hey BS happened behind scenes to cause that chaotic romantic on screen set up. But yeah … this is just another example of the poor Voyager romantic plot lines.
Chakotay’s romantic plot lines are usually – and by that, I mean pretty much always – with these strong independent women. But usually, at least from what I recall, they are also typically the “needs help” (damsel in distress/can’t do it alone/etc.) plot. Like, Riley was strong independent but also set up to need help in regard to getting her little collective put back together on the planet. You got Kellin, again another strong lady who yet again also needed help. At least in the ep she’s in and if I recall much of the info on how they fell in love during that time as well – primarily with getting away from danger at the start and then during the initial romance finding her target. Valerie is the only one who doesn’t fall into the needs help plot and that’s largely because she was being manipulated by Chakotay for information – which honestly just goes to show how well Chakotay was at the whole undercover stuff (which tells us a lot about what he could have been doing as a Maquis). Seska was the plot point of “you once dated her, now she is going to badger you to get with her again and when that fails, she’s going to assault you” …. like all of Chakotay’s romances are literally him either 1) being manipulated (as that’s what Seska and Riley did) or 2) being the kind guy or 3) not an actual relationship (either because its undercover work or because the writers were too cowardly to make him and Janeway canon).
Then you got Janeway. Then you got KATHRYN JANEWAY. You know, the one where Kate Mulgrew said no romance, no sexualizing, no doing that sort of stuff because the audience had to maintain respect for the character. I’m sure someone has the exact various quotes out there. Like … this is why we don’t have JC as canon. But what we do got instead is …. Janeway in Prime Factors being flirted with by the administrator as if that’s going to get him what he wants because “female leader means flirt with her”. We got Janeway and a period drama holodeck adventure in the early years which was clearly meant to be her romantic tête-à-tête early on that never got followed up with. We got “delete the wife” with the Fair Haven plot point (because its totally respectable to see the FEMALE LEAD, the STARFLEET CAPTAIN, just straight up DELETE THE WIFE of another individual - yeah, I get its meant to be humor factor because hologram but come on). You have her whole thing with Mark which we get tidbits off but again similar to Tuvok we literally only get to see her side of it – the only couple moment of theirs we get is the comm call in Caretaker.
But Jaffen? You are correct. We got that lovely and touching and wonderful romance with Jaffen …. Oh wait … they had to remove her from the ship, strip her of her memory, and her autonomy in order for her to have a relationship with another individual. And yes, by losing her memories, by losing what made her who she was as a person, she did lose a sense of autonomy. She entered into a relationship without a full sense of independent choice. The point in which she made a choice in that episode, the point in which she – Kathryn Janeway – made a choice with all of the person, the individual she is, was at the end when she had her memories back and could decide based on the values and beliefs and all that she is. What I’m getting at is the people on that planet deliberately took away who she was, they took her memories and her ability to make the decisions they knew she would make --- they did that deliberately (that’s even established in the episode) --- and as such her decisions while in that state are not truly her full independent decisions but the ones impacted by the state she was forced into.
And while I love Resolutions, while I love all the JC goodies, we get in that ep … Yet again the only time we get to see Janeway in any sort of romantic situation is when they remove her from the ship. When they remove her from command. When they strip her of that setting. This time, though – well the first time – she keeps awareness and has to go through lose of it all in order to even start to let it all happen. I love the episode, I do, but I just find it rather amusing they went “’Hey we gotta strand them what should their tasks be on the planet?” and they immediately went “Well Janeway is scientist how about that” “Okay and he can build, Chakotay can start building. Man builds house, right?” and then like went “oh and then she can start a garden” …. Like really? Really? That’s what you got for me. Oh, and then there is the monkey. That’s the romance this ep. Boat, science, monkey.
Then we got Kashyk. We have dealt with Kathryn throughout this series dealing with various leaders of various styles. As mentioned, Prime Factors guy attempted flirting. Other leaders pulled similar or worse or even dismissed her …. Like the list goes on. Counterpoint is a great episode because it deals with prejudice and is rather dark. The thing is, had Janeway been able to have a healthy romantic relationship on screen to counter this episode this episode probably would have come off better. Episodes like Prime Factor could have been done different (that leader didn’t need to be as flirty for example). One or two eps through the series having creepy dudes she had to deal with, fine, whatever … that be a nice impact for the audience. But when you have to many prior to Counterpoint – even if its minor, small stuff – it makes this episode so much harder for fans. Especially the female fans who deal with this constantly.
See, here’s the thing with this ep…. Some of the fans who watch … we know Kashyk well. We know that character. He is that male leader, that male power figure, who uses the power he has to manipulate those in his control to get what he wants. And Kathryn … Kathryn was in his control. Kashyk is listed as a relationship on memory-alpha. But much like how I view Seska with Chakotay … I do not view Kashyk as a proper relationship. In Devore space, Kathryn did not have proper power. She had people in her command, on her ship, that she had to protect. That she knew she had to protect. Her own best friend … lives in her hand … and Kashyk right there willing to kill them. Willing to snatch them up and destroy them. And he used that power to manipulate her and play her. Yes, she played him right back but … did she truly have a choice? Did she have any other choice but to play his game? What would have happened if she said no? And that … that is why this episode is so unsettling for some people. And why this relationship being considered on is so off putting … that the writers, that memory-alpha, that the fact I’m putting it on this list as one of the ones on here for Voyager says so much … they wrote this as one of her relationships while out there … she had to do what so many women had to do to stay safe, to keep people she loves safe, and that’s not a relationship.
Voyager could have done romance/relationships such better justice.
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numbaoneflaya · 3 years
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You can count on me to pull up with a thousand of questions sbdhdh. A3, A22, C5, D3, F3 for Jilly ; A18, A23, B9, C1, H2 for Nirn ; A5,B9, C8, D1, I5, for Thurwen ; A9, A13, C1, E8, and G6 for Valkya? 😏
A3, A22, C5, D3, F3 for Jilly ;
A3.Do they have any emotional or psychological conditions? Are they aware of it? Do they try to treat it?
Shawty got that stockholm syndrome in a way. She is…. Sometimes aware of it, though she wouldn't call it that any more. Maybe at first in the basement she was more aware, but now that she can come and go she thinks its a thing of the past. tries not to dwell on it. Kind of in a “well its literally not that bad its kind of fun its kind of romantic were just quirky <3” way, will get mad if someone insists she has stockholm or that the relationship is fucked. Will get enraged and upset on Vincent's behalf, probably cry and yell at you.
A22. Is your OC intended to be found generally attractive? Unattractive? Average? Is there a reason why?
I intended her to be fairly average, maybe kind of cute. It's generally the way she dresses/acts in public that draws attention, not her looks. I tend to make most of my ocs on the average scale besides a select few.
C5. Do your OC’s morals and rules of common decency go out the window when it comes to those they don’t like, or when it’s inconvenient? Aka, are their morals situational?
Good question…. Jillys morals are pretty simple- always be kind and nice, murder and hurting other people is bad, and you shouldnt lie. She sticks to those pretty strictly herself despite the situations she gets put in, often to her own detriment. But she doesn't always put a stop to those behaviors from the people she surrounds herself with, so she's sort of accomplice to bad acts of violence just by not snitching. So somewhat situational? She tries not to think about it.
D3. How comfortable are they with the idea of death?
Not comfortable! She hadn't seen a lot of it before her early twenties and was always sort of sheltered. dead fish are flushed down the toilet bcs they go to the ocean to live again, right? Thought cows and such all died of old age peacefully before they were made into burgers until she was like… twelve. 💀Won't kill mice and other critters despite her prey drive bcs she would feel too bad. And this is just for animal death, she's much more uncomfortable with human death. Also a thing she tries to ignore.
F3. Could they ever live in a “tiny home”?
God no. She hates small spaces unless she's hiding in them and tiny homes have no room for all the shit she stashes! No room for zoomies, or climbing on the furniture, or wrestling around on the floor. It would be filled with junk within a week.
A18, A23, B9, C1, H2 for Nirn ;
A18. Do they get jealous easily? Do they feel bad if they do?
He's never had much to be jealous of, as he's never really been over involved in romantic relationships. They were usually mutually beneficial and somewhat clinical in nature. Hes also pretty sure of himself and his value as an asset and lover. If he finds someone who peaks his interest and they become an item though, he might get jealous if he catches them flirting with other people. Hell be peeved at first but know flirtation in business has its value, so to make himself feel better might flirt with someone else while they are nearby. Make a game of it, see who wins.
A23. Does your OC place much importance on their appearance? Do they feel confident in it?
Appearances are crucial to him and spends a lot of time and money making sure he looks his best. He needs to appear above the rabble and impenetrable, dressing well and having immaculate posture and an air of both grace and otherworldliness.
B9. What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM…
Definitely not one to find fart jokes funny. Very rarely laughs genuinely or full heartedly, he keeps all his expressions of emotion close to his chest. Sharp sardonic wit is appealing to him in the right circumstances, even a jab directed at himself can make him chuckle if it's well formed enough. Irony almost always gets him, even if its dark irony or gallows humor. Bit of a hard nut to crack. Would laugh enough that hed have to cover his mouth with his hand if he were to see Felix fall face first into mud, though. More often than not you can tell he finds something amusing by a gleam in his eyes and a slight squint.
C1. Does your OC have a moral code? If not, how do they base their actions? If so, where does it come from, and how seriously do they take it?
Well he used to have a real moral code :/. Now I mean…. The ends justify the means. By any means necessary. He considers his family's needs first, then the good of the world, then any individual in the world. Has ordered executions of entire families, had babies stolen and sent away, sent armies to certain death knowing full well they would all die, commanded individuals be tortured for information, sacrificed many in what he considers to be a game of chess where he is the player and others are the pawns. He finds senseless violence and savagery to be unforgivable, but if violence has a sense and purpose to employ it, then he will do so.
H2. Is your OC a thoughtful partner, in whatever aspect of that you want to cover?
Nirn tends to be a very thoughtful and attentive person in general, just for the wrong reasons lmaoooo. But with a lover? He's going to be utilizing that to show them how much he cares and using his powers for good. Mention you like a certain fabric while shopping one time and then complain your favorite tunic has a wine stain in it several months later, he's going to be taking your measurements for a new one in your preferred material without a moment's notice. Very keen on picking up moods, expressions and tone. Also has a very good memory. He doesn't really think about it but gifts are how he shows his love. Also a great attentive listener.
A5,B9, C8, D1, I5, for Thurwen ;
A5. Are they good at handling change in their life?
I would say so, yeah. Shes been used to things constantly changing since she was little and has had little to no control on outside influences. Shes also not one to over think about the past and lament, shes more of a one foot in front of the other, the only time is the present kind of gal. Of course large changes like becoming a warden were a bit more severe, but shes mostly able to think in the present as long as she has immediate problems to deal with.
B9.What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM…
Slapstick is always gonna make her laugh as long as nobody gets seriously hurt, even if its her own ass tripping into a tree. Not a fan of scare pranks, 0/10 recommend trying to scare Thurwen. You will end up with a broken nose at best and an angry elf. Likes puns, but she's the one to groan at them and try and hide the grin spreading across her face. Gallows humor but only if its her in the gallows, otherwise doesn't find it funny at all. If a little kid calls someone a fartcicle she will be tears in the eyes giggling, which is hard when your warden commander and everyone looks toward you to be serious and mature gyshsdhdfsghsd.
C8. Is your OC more practical or ideal morally? I.e., do they hold people to high expectations of behavior even if it’s not realistic for the situation, or do they have a more realistic approach and adapt their morality to be more practical?
She definitely holds herself to moral ideals and is very hard on herself, but has realistic moral expectations for others. She can understand self serving and people only wanting to survive and she will only give people a little bit of shit for it, no one's perfect. But then she expects herself to be perfect and berates herself constantly for not living up to the hero of ferelden warden commander ideals.
D1. How religious is your OC? What do they practice, if anything? If they don’t associate with any religion, what do they think of religion in general?
Atheist ever since her mom died when she was a kid, but now Shes in a weird mixed state ever since the urn of sacred ashes where shes like. fuck the maker, but Andraste is cool I guess. So respects/believes in the power of Andraste while thinking the maker is a piece of shit and the chantry sucks ass. Even she doesnt know what she really believes, but she did see the ghosts of Andrastes disciples and Shartan, used her ashes as healing salve, killed an old god, etc. So shes been in a weird place recently, crisis of faith/non faith pretty continual.
I5. Are they a good cook?
I mean…. She can cook basics. Shes been feeding herself and the alienage kids since she was old enough to walk so she knows how to get protein and make things edible. Does it taste good? Probably not. She didnt see her first spice till she was 17 years old, but she can skin a rabbit in seven seconds.
LA9, A13, C1, E8, and G6 for Valkya? 😏
A9. Does your OC make a lot of excuses? For themselves? Others?
She tries to excuse bad behavior of herself or others a lot, yeah fgdgdsfhdhs. Mostly she doesnt have to make excuses for herself because she can wholeheartedly be like “yeah i fucked up but whatever im sexy and large and awesome and everyone loves me 🙄whatever baby” and when other people fuck up shes pretty sympathetic even though they are not as large nor as sexy. Shes very used to forgiving and excusing herself its totally alien to her when she really fucks up and is suddenly like wait… valkya…. Did bad?? What is this feeling. Shame?? Guilt?? IMPOSSIBLE.
A13. Does your OC have any phobias? If so, where did they come from?
She hates those giant bugs in morrowind and valenwood a whole fucking lot but I wouldnt exactly place it as a phobia. Those huge mosquitoes and haorvers got no respect but she really hates the morrowind bugs ever since they knocked her over and jumped her while she was pants down peeing drunk as hell in the sand :/ never forgave. Never forgot.
C1. Does your OC have a moral code? If not, how do they base their actions? If so, where does it come from, and how seriously do they take it?
She was raised in a healthy household that tought the basics, prety much “harming others needlessly, stealing, torture, rape, dessecrating the dead, being selfish and not doing right by others, etc etc all basic bad things” are her morals. Her morality is basically treat others how you want to be treated. And if they treat you badly, then have fun beating the shit out of them to show everyone else not to fuck with you. Its a pretty nordic morality in that way. Her morality is also since she was ‘blessed’ with being so large and strong, that she has to also look out for the little guy who cant protect themselves. So If someone treats them how valkya wouldn't want to be treated, then beat the shit out of the person harming them to show them the little guys got backup. Her parents raised her to be a hero and thats p much how she sees herself, which has its benefits and its fuckin problems.
E8. What’s one of your OC’s biggest regrets?
Fucking up Dem and Dariens relationship for sure dude :/ valkya always gonna be sulking over that one. She doesnt regret becoming a vestige, even though it would have made her so much happier not to be because it ended up saving so many people and the world. She regrets not spending more time with Naryu, regrets always having other life saving business she had to run off to, regrets not cherishing the time they had together. Regrets not telling Lyris how she feels, either. Regrets not being able to save as many people as she should have, regrets she wasnt stronger in coldharbor and didnt break out herself. But she tries not to think about it <3
G6. Do they have any favorite childhood memories?
When she was seven she once spent two months training to hold her breath underwater, because her cousin always held it longer and won the gold bet. She trained for hours almost drowning in the river until she could comfortably hold it for up to three minutes. During the next holiday when they all got together again the competitions were on and they both went under- her cousin won, holding their breath for four more minutes before they decided to come up. This was the first lesson she learned that shocked her world view- you always need to know your opponents capabilities. (after she lost 26 gold in the bets, her mother later had to inform her that her cousin was an argonian.)
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rosyredlipstick · 4 years
Text
guess who watched high school musical 2 and got caught up in the ryan/chad of it all: a conchell AU
this is pure 100% cheese. thats ur warning. also unbeta-ed.
Spending the entire summer at their mother’s golf resort had sounded like a dream for exactly 3 seconds, until Mitchell remembered the…. Everything about his siblings. 
When he wasn’t pulling Sebastian away from flirting with all their guests and the entire staff, he was lecturing Scarlett and Drew about taking advantage of the concierge service, making sure Stefan and Valentina weren’t spending too much time in the sun and were definitely drinking virgin cocktails, reigning in Lacey and Sophia’s pranks, and making sure Sabrina was happy in her first summer enrolled in the youth program. Oh, and he was choreographing a major number for the end of summer talent show. So. Full plate. 
Still, it was nice he had convinced Will to come along for the summer. While he was one of Mitchell’s official guests, he had quickly befriended the entire young staff in the kitchens and by the poolside. More than often, when they were on their walks around the resort, Will would no doubt be called out to or greeted by grinning teens in red and white polos. 
Mitchell, used to his friend’s sunflower attraction toward attention, smiled knowingly and let it happen without a complaint. At least Will was enjoying himself--he’d been way too stressed about his pre-med program the last few months and, with Mitchell spending most of his time at the resort trying to rein in his power-drunk sibling, he was glad his friend wasn’t spending the summer alone at the poolside. 
Of course, with all his new acquaintances, that also meant that Will’s tendency to interfere with Mitchell’s personal relationships appeared. 
“I’m telling you, you need to hang out with friends more, you’ve been busy all summer!” Will was smiling brightly. “This is the perfect opportunity!” 
“Yes, the perfect opportunity to intrude on a social gathering!” Mitchell protested, “It’ll be weird if I go. You should just go and have fun, don’t worry about me.” Mitchell sighed, “I don’t want them to be uncomfortable! This is their down time, I don’t want to ruin it by being the boss’s kid.” 
Will rolled his eyes, “It’s a baseball game, Mitchell.” 
Mitchell shook his head, final. “Sorry. But I don’t think so. Text me afterward, okay? We can grab ice cream.” Will said nothing. He peeked a look back to the other boy, “Unless there’s something else?” 
Will sighed and looked off to the side as his cheeks colored. “Okay, listen, of course I really want you there because you’re my best friend and everything but also -” 
“There’s a guy.” Mitchell guessed, bored. Will found the love of his life at least once a week. “Who is he?”
Will didn’t even put up a fight. “I’m not sure if you know him. He works in the coffee shop? Pale, dark hair, sharpest cheekbones I’ve ever seen?”
Mitchell thought for a second, “Nico?” He guessed. Nico, for the past few months, has consistently served him the best caramel macchiato he’d ever had every morning. Mitchell dreamt about that drink, on especially good nights.  
Will melted into a dreamy mess. “Yeah. Nico.” 
Mitchell blew a puff of hair up into the hair around his face, “I mean…” He grimaced, “If you need a wingman or something -”
“Yes!” Will was already celebrating, “Thank the gods, thank you! I mean, I think you’ll enjoy yourself at the game and everyone’s really cool, but yes! Okay, if you could just like, set up a really good opportunity for me and Nico to be together like, alone, I’d so appreciate it -” 
Will continued to ramble about the perfect situation Mitchell could set up, including the ideal mood lighting, when Mitchell interrupted him.
"Is Percy okay?" Percy had just rushed by, looking upset, and hopped in his mother’s car without a word to either of them--odd, as he usually offered at least a hey guys! If not a full on conversation that left Mitchell feeling like a better person for having it. It was kind of his thing. 
"Oh, he's in turmoil because he feels like he has to choose between swimming or singing with Annabeth at the talent show and he doesn’t know which to choose." 
“Oh.” 
Will wrinkled his nose, “Yeah, he’s kinda got his own thing going on right now. I saw him dancing by himself in the golf course earlier, but I thought I’d just give him some space.”
“Smart,” Mitchell commented, growing a bit uneasy as they approached the field. There was a crowd already assembled there with a smaller circle throwing a baseball back and forth. As they approached, a few people called out to Will in excitement but it wasn’t until they were faced with a smaller inner group of people that Mitchell was addressed. 
A tall, smirking guy with wild curls was the first to greet him, lightly tossing a baseball into his own mit as he spoke. “Brought a friend, Will?” 
Will smiled brightly. “Yeah! This is Mitchell.”
“Trust me, I know who Mitchell is.” His humor-filled gaze flickered to Mitchell himself. “Nice to finally meet you.” 
Mitchell’s cheeks heated. “You know me?” 
Travis let out a small disbelieving laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Travis elbowed the guy at his side, who shared similar curls and features. “And this is my brother, Connor.” 
“Hello, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” Mitchell held out his hand with a smile. “I’m Mitchell. You’re on the staff, here?” 
Despite the incredibly stupid question Mitchell just asked considering Connor’s bright red LIFEGUARD tank top he still wore, Connor was kind enough to nod along with Mitchell’s obvious question, his eyes wide. Mitchell’s hand, still extended out to him, wobbled in the air. 
He was a second away from dropping his arm and shaking it off completely when Connor seemed to realize that he was waiting for a handshake in the first place and nearly dived for it. In his haste, he almost completely tripped over himself and onto Mitchell. 
“Oh, well,” Mitchell caught him before he could take them both down on the dirt field. “Are you okay? Is it too hot or something?” Connor’s face was strangely pale compared to his brother’s, despite the mid-afternoon summer sun. Mitchell resisted the urge to reach out and touch his skin for sun stroke. 
“So hot,” Connor whispered, in his arms. Mitchell stared down at him in concern.
A girl--Katie, maybe--came up beside him and physically took Connor out of his arms, a tight smile on her lips. “This is nothing, he’s just dehydrated.”
“More like thirsty.” A girl across from them muttered.
Katie continued on like no one said anything. “Let’s get some water in you, dude.” 
Will was smiling on like this interaction was completely normal. “So anyway I was wondering if Mitchell could join our game?” 
“Hmm, well this is an employee-only game.” Despite his words, the light tease in Travis’s voice kept Mitchell from getting nervous about the whole situation. “But it does raise the stakes.” 
That Mitchell could work with. His lips stretched out into a wide grin. “Yeah? What were you thinking?” 
Travis clicked his tongue, “How do you feel about being Captain? I take one team, you take the other.”
He thought it over then nodded. “That sounds fair. What’s the prize?” 
Travis shrugged, messing with the baseball in his mit as he spoke. “Any ideas?” 
Mitchell pretended to think, already knowing what he wanted. With a group this size, his choreo could really expand into something great. “If you lose, you guys have to join my dance group for the talent show.” 
“Hmm,” Travis looked to the girl at his side--Phoebe, he thought, another lifeguard. She once helped him with Sabrina’s floaties. “We’ll consider that. Guys?” The circle of employees gathered a bit closer to talk it over. Will shot him an excited look. 
Suddenly, in the midst of their talking it over, Connor burst from the huddle and pushed his way over to Mitchell. “I’ll give you fifty dollars if you let me on your dance team.” 
“Wait, no -” Travis grabbed his shoulders from behind to push him back, “Connor, we’re trying to negotiate with him!” 
“Oh,” Connor nodded seriously and turned back to where Mitchell was waiting, amused. “I’ll pay two hundred -” 
Katie slapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him back to the crowd, him protesting all the way. Travis looked back to Mitchell, tired. “Just ignore him, please.”
Mitchell watched him sink back into the crowd, something small curled at his lips. “I don’t think I can.”
“Anyway,” Katie was the one to speak now. “We talked it over, that sounds fine. If we lose, we’ll be in your show.” 
Mitchell had to resist punching the air in excitement. “Great.” 
Travis leaned back with his arms crossed, looking him over. “And what do we get if we win?” 
“Well, what do you want?” 
“Dinner and a movie,” Connor choked out, almost like he didn’t mean to.
Mitchell raised an eyebrow, “An catered employee afternoon in the movie theatre?” He thought it over, then shrugged. “I could probably arrange that.” 
Travis rubbed at his forehead, “I - sure. Yeah, that sounds fun.” 
“Alright,” Mitchell smiled with a small shrug of his shoulders. “I guess it’s game on, then.” 
...
Of course, against a batch of peers who had been playing baseball all summer, Mitchell was bound to lose. However, they didn’t lose as hard as he expected. 
After the match, when Mitchell was left aching from the game and loss but proud despite it, Will sunk down next to him at the picnic table. “Good game. I didn’t think you’d get so into it.” 
At the last moment, Mitchell had ended up diving for a ball, completely dirting up his outfit. He had caught it, and it had counted, but two players had already made it home in the meantime. Still, it was a close loss. 
Mitchell smiled slightly. “Me neither. But it was worth a shot at a full dance group.”
Will laughed softly, “Still. Great catch.” 
“It really was.” They both looked up at the new voice--Katie, from before. She’d been on Travis’s team with Connor, Jason, Leo, Annabeth and a few others. The rest of the group was mostly dispersed by now, most of them arranging rides home or plans to grab food. “We haven’t had a game that fun in a while.” 
At her arrival, Will stood and offered her his seat. Which was kind, but also definitely just a ploy to escape and run off wherever Nico was lurking. Mitchell waved him off with a roll of his eyes before returning back to the conversation. Katie took his place without a word. 
“Well, I’m happy to help. It was a good time, you guys work well together.” Mitchell shot her a knowing grin. “I’ll start working out the theatre rental. Any movie requests?” 
She shrugged, “We can take a vote on it. But we’ve also been talking.” Katie had an amused twinkle in her eye. “We’re in. We’ll still do your show, it sounds fun.” 
Mitchell sat up completely, a bolt of excitement hitting him. “Wait, really?” At her nod, he absolutely lit up. “Oh my god, it’s gonna be such a fun show, I promise!” He got to his feet in excitement and threw his arms around her shoulders in a hug, pulling away promptly. “Oh my god, wait, I’m covered in dirt I’m so sorry -” 
She waved it off but stood herself. She, too, was covered in dirt from the game so didn’t seem to care much at any additional. 
He couldn’t help but babble on. “It’s going to be so much fun. You won’t regret it.”
She smiled at him, looking like she was indulging him. “I know. Anyway, just a moment,” She disappeared for a few moments only to return, dragging Connor by the wrist. She pushed him toward Mitchell, almost bumping them into each other. “Connor will be your contact point for organizing this. Trade numbers, will you? For planning.”
“Oh, sure!” Mitchell fumbled to get his phone out and hand it over. Connor’s phone appeared under his hand faster than he thought possible. 
Katie left them alone as he punched in his own phone and name, drifting back to where Travis and a few others were waiting. He handed back Connor’s phone, suddenly closer to the other boy than he had realized. He paused. 
“You have grass in your hair.” Connor breathed out. 
“Oh,” Mitchell dipped his head in embarrassment and rubbed at his head. “Oops.” 
“I -” Connor gestured to his own temple. “Other side?” 
He tried but Connor only stepped forward slightly into his space, reaching out slowly. “Let me -” Mitchell felt a slight pull on his hair, not painful. Connor pulled away with a blade of grass in between two fingers. 
“Got it,” Connor said weakly, staring down at him. 
“My hero,” Mitchell teased. Connor nodded gravely at that, like he was accepting a mission.
Connor licked his lips before he spoke. “That was a really good catch. You’re a good player.” 
“Baseball’s just a dance of its own.” Mitchell shrugged, joking. “What can I say? I’m just that much of a star athlete.” Connor nodded, looking like he completely agreed. 
Before either of them could say anything further, Will called out to him and ran their way, grinning, with another guy at his side. “I heard the news! They’re still doing the show, that’s great!” Will was glowing, “See, coming to this was a great idea!” 
Mitchell stuck out his tongue, “You just wanted to brag that you were right.” 
“No!” Will looked behind where he had ran from and lit up, “Actually, I wanted to introduce you to Nico!” 
Nico, who trailed after him a few steps, walked up beside Will with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. Mitchell liked him already. “Next time you’re going to run off mid-conversation, can you at least give me a warning first? I’ll die before I jog after you in jeans.” 
“You’re the one who wore jeans to a baseball game!” 
“And why not? You think I’m gonna participate in this?” 
“Well, you’re an employee at an employee baseball game. Perhaps I thought you were going to play.” 
“Where would you get that idea? Have you not seen the everything about me?” 
“Hi, I’m Mitchell.” He stuck out his hand with a grin. He could sit here all day, truly, but he did have things to do. “You’re Nico?” 
“That’s me.” He raised an eyebrow. “You look familiar.
“Mitchell is one of Aphrodite’s kids. He’s a good one, don’t worry.” Will explained, shooting Mitchell a wince like he didn’t know exactly how his siblings were. 
Mitchell snorted, “On behalf of Drew and Scarlett, I can’t apologize enough.” 
“That… helps.” Nico winced. “I messed up Drew’s chai latte my first day on the job.” 
Mitchell groaned, “Again, I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to get them to act like, you know, normal people -” 
Nico cut him off. “We work at a golf club. I get more cranky boomers in an hour than an AARP meeting.” Nico shook his head, “They’re a lot, but definitely not the worst customers to have. At least they tip well.” 
He could have wilted in relief. Across from him, Will’s eyes were nearly hearts. God, he was already lovesick. 
Which reminded him --
“Actually, Connor and I were just leaving. We’ll leave you two be.” Mitchell lightly grabbed Connor’s elbow to start steering him away. “Will, can you get a ride home? I’m probably going to be staying late.” 
Next to him, Nico perked up. “Oh, I can give you a ride? If you want? I’ll have to pick up my older sister but, um, it’s not that out of the way -” 
“I would love to.” Will looked perfectly composed, despite the screaming excitement that must be running through his head. He even managed to grab onto Nico’s hand as he led them away toward the parking lot. 
“Young love,” Mitchell commented, shaking his head fondly as the other couple walked off. “Must be nice.” He stepped back and dropped his hand from Connor’s elbow. “Oh, sorry!” He laughed lightly. “Sorry, I was recruited as Will’s wingman and I wanted to give them some time alone. Cute, right?”
Connor’s throat bobbled. “So cute. Um,” Connor made a jerky movement, like he was gonna run his hand through his hair but decided not to. “So you’re, uh, staying late?” 
“Yeah,” He blew some air up into the hair hanging over his face. “If you guys are gonna join the number, I want to have the choreo adjusted for a group before we start rehearsals.” 
“Cool, cool.” Connor nodded slowly, “Cool.” 
Now that he was closer, Mitchell could almost recognize Connor from his many shifts poolside. His lifeguard chair was almost right across from where Valentina would occasionally drag him to tan in the afternoon sun. Didn’t he once help Mitchell apply sunscreen, when Valentina ran to get slushies right when he was reapplying? 
His hands were cold, Mitchell remembered, or maybe his own skin was just that hot. He shivered when Connor applied the first handful of cream on his back. Mitchell had to advise Connor to take some of the sunscreen himself, after his own skin started to stain red. 
He was kind, was the point. Or at least, that’s what Mitchell remembered. 
Mitchell gestured at his parked golf cart as they approached it. “You want a ride anywhere? I’m heading toward the main pavilion.” 
Something wobbled in Connor’s expression before he spoke. “I could, um, go with you?” He said it as a question, looking slightly nervous as he spoke. 
“Yeah, sure! The employee entrance? Did you forget something?” 
“No, no, like -” Connor made another awkward gesture toward nothing. “Like, if you need help with the number? I could come? I mean, it’s never too early to get started on learning the dance, right?” 
Mitchell smiled, “Oh, sure! Do you have experience with dance routines?” 
Connor nodded confidently. “Yes.” 
“Really?” Mitchell turned to him in excitement. “Have you been in any dance groups before?” 
“Um. No.” 
“Oh, so like private lessons or something? A club?”
“Uh. No again.” His confidence was fully wavering now. 
Mitchell raised his eyebrows, “So what experience do you have?” 
“I sometimes dance in my room?” Connor scratched at the back of his head. “I, um. I didn’t think you’d ask many questions, actually.” 
Despite his awkwardness, Mitchell was… charmed by Connor’s fumbling. 
“Um,” Mitchell bit his smiling lip, looking away then back. “Actually, I was supposed to get ice cream with Will after the game.”
Connor deflated before he could finish. “Oh. Okay, yeah.” 
“No!” Mitchell was quick to correct. “I meant like, with Will going off with Nico, I still want to get it. With you. If that’s okay?” 
Connor’s expression bloomed into something so joyful, Mitchell was almost taken back. “I would… adore that.” 
“Adore?” Mitchell couldn’t help but tease. “Why’s that?” 
“I just,” He turned to Mitchell, his eyes wide. “I just really, really like ice cream.”
Mitchell bit his lip, “Me too. I mean, I really like ice cream. Ice cream is… sweet.”
Connor huffed out a small laugh, “Yeah. I, uh, agree.” He made an awkward little motion with his arm at the golf cart. “Um, shall we go?” 
Mitchell stepped forward and looped his arm with Connor’s. “Actually, I thought we could walk?” 
“I will do literally anything you want.” 
Mitchell laughed, “I’ll hold you to that.” 
To Mitchell’s amusement, Connor’s face turned a dark, dark red. He looked away, his lips pressed together in a small excited smile. Perhaps the baseball game hasn’t been such a bad idea.
56 notes · View notes
goose-books · 4 years
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whoa, it sure is about time around here for a post, huh!
today i offer you 1.7k words about cressida and rory simply being soft. that’s all. this is the happiest thing i’ve ever written in the darkling canon and making this moodboard reminded me that it’s because these two are the only kind and friendly people in the entire book.
more details about cressida and rory’s home WIP, darkling, can be found here! (short version: it’s a speculative fiction king lear; there’s magic but it’s weird about being magic; half the characters are gay trans and neurodivergent because i said so.) this takes place about a year before the story starts; the two of them have just turned sixteen and seventeen, respectively!
also, i wrote all of this while listening to “kentucky” by hippo campus on repeat. the lyrics aren’t quite as relevant as the vibe. if you catch me yearning on main mind your own business /j
Lorelai Rory Flowers is afraid of thunder.
This is a bit of an embarrassing thing to admit, as they’re seventeen (“at least seventeen,” they like to tell people, “maybe two hundred, who’s to say?”) and generally wise beyond their years, or whatever it is that adults say about kids with too much psychological baggage. Being afraid of thunder is not a very wise-beyond-one’s-years trait. And yet the state of affairs remains: loud noises make Rory want to melt into the earth. Back when they still went to school, even the fire alarm sent them scuttling under their desk to hide.
Right now, in the elevator, all they can do is shrink into their sweater.
They haven’t let go of Cressida’s hand yet.
Beside them, Cressida is soaked, long golden hair and long white dress dripping. Rory rocks up onto their toes and back down, anxiety worming along the back of their neck like an itchy coat. This was not the plan. The plan was not “get caught in the rain and run through a storm for two blocks.” The plan was for the two of them to go walk by the river and - who knows, talk about Joan of Arc or the Kennedy assassination or something. Swap special interests. Maybe swap spit. Probably not, though. It’s not a date. It’s not not a date - but, like, Rory still does work for Cressida’s dad, so who knows how awkward things could get. Plus Cressida’s hard to read. She doesn’t really make facial expressions, and that’s usually fine, because Rory can’t really read facial expressions so it’s about the same to them, but in this particular situation -
“I trust you,” Cressida says, squeezing their hand, “but where are we going?”
The rain’s left Rory’s glasses fogged up enough to render them effectively blind. They take their glasses off and squint at the elevator buttons. They are still effectively blind.
“Is that a five or a six?” they say, pointing.
Cressida peers over their shoulder. “Which one do you want?”
“Five.”
Cressida presses the five button with her free hand. The elevator, which is about the size of a broom closet, jerks into unsteady, fitful motion.
The thing is that the apartment building is kind of - well, not a dump. It’s not horrible. There aren’t cockroaches. But Cressida lives in a manor, literally. Stayer Manor. Capital S, capital M. And there was never any sort of plan for today, even in the wildest of circumstances, that involved Rory bringing the city’s golden girl to a building the size of a shoebox. But then it was raining, and Cressida kept saying she didn’t mind the rain despite clearly minding because if she ruins her dress her dad will go rabid-dog on her, and Rory’s cognitive wheels were spinning like they were powered by a well-greased hamster, and none of the restaurants close enough to duck into were appropriate places for them to safely freak out about the thunder, and their apartment was only two blocks away.
So.
Here they are.
“Sorry,” Cressida says. “Where are we going?”
Rory attempts to dry their glasses on their soaked-through sweater, to little avail. “We are going,” they announce, “to a world of pure imagination.”
Outside, thunder cracks the sky. They know Cressida sees them flinch, because she squeezes their hand again.
The apartment is 505. Cressida waits as Rory digs around in their jacket pocket, shuffling past loose coins and two pairs of headphones and four melted Starbursts and way too many scraps of paper until they finally unearth their key. Their lock sticks - their lock always sticks - so once they’ve turned it, they have to drop Cressida’s hand and plant one wet Doc Marten on the wall and yank. The door swings open.
“Voila,” Rory says, performing jazz hands. “Willy Wonka wants what I have.”
Their apartment is purple. Not startlingly purple. Gently purple. Purple like it creeps up on you. Purple like you don’t realize exactly how purple it is until you realize everything - walls, gauzy flower-patterned curtains, plushy armchair, compass-rose-shaped clock, old-fashioned record player on the table - is the same shade of soft lavender.
There is at least one nail sticking up out of the hard-wood floor. Rory snags a sock on it every time they dance around with their headphones in.
Two people have been inside since Rory started renting the place a year ago. And that’s them and the landlord. This is their place, their safe haven, their nook, and it’s the size of Cressida’s bathroom, and rich pretty Cressida Stayer is standing, dripping, in the threshold.
“Don’t touch anything,” Rory says. Cressida draws her hands in like the walls might electrocute her. “That was a joke. You can touch things.”
“This is your apartment,” Cressida says.
“Indeed.”
“You live here.”
“That succeeds the first!” They give her an encouraging smile. “Subsequent statements! How cogently lucid of you!”
Cressida looks down. The hem of her dress is dripping onto the floor. “I don’t suppose you have a vent I could sit on…?”
“In fact I do!” Rory directs her, aircraft-marshall-style, to the heating vent on the floor. They’re jittering. They’re using way too much arm movement. They can’t get their heart to stop skidding around, because normally! They do not! Let people in here!
They stand and drip. Cressida sits and drips. She gazes around, and Rory gazes with her, trying to see it through her eyes.
“Where’s your bed?” she says.
Rory skips over to the closet and pulls the door open, with the grand gestures of a magician presenting a trick. The inside of the tiny closet is lined with a thick downy comforter; there are sheets and pillows scattered around atop it, and there are glow-in-the-dark stars stuck up all over the walls and ceiling.
Cressida gazes at it. “On purpose, right? Not because -”
“On purpose. Yes. I could have bought a bed. I just think it’s cozy.” Oh, Rory is going to lose it right here. Their foot is tapping the floor at about a million miles an hour. Granted, being in their apartment helps the overstimulation a little - just being where it’s safe and everything’s always the same and they control their space. That always helps. But it’s not like they can just curl up in their closet with their headphones in and the door shut, because Cressida is here -
Cressida, for her part, looks a little impressed.
“It’s nice,” she says, wrapping her arms around her knees. “You just live here? By yourself?”
Rory shrugs. “I’m emancipated,” they say, which isn’t strictly true, but they work for the most powerful man in the city, who has their back if anyone actually looks into their files, so it’s as true as it really needs to be - and then thunder roars outside again and Rory skitters sideways and falls over their armchair.
“Oh! Oh my God -” Cressida jumps to her feet.
Rory scrambles up from where they’ve tumbled to the floor. “Sorry sorry sorry!” they say, except really they yell it because they have their shaking hands over their ears. “Sorrysorrysorry, I - I really don’t like loud - I d-don’t -”
“Can I -” All of a sudden Cressida’s in front of them. Rory doesn’t move away, just stands there, chest heaving, and Cressida slides her still-damp hands very gently up both of their arms, and she very gently pulls their hands off their ears.
The thunder, again. Like a cannon blast. This time Rory yelps a little. Cressida pulls them in close to her and sits both of them down on the vent, which, at the very least, is warm and also on the floor, so Rory can’t really trip over anything when they flinch.
“You don’t like loud,” Cressida repeats. She’s a good deal taller than they are - Rory’s exactly five-foot in their Docs - and so it makes logical sense for her to settle down with her chin on their head, probably.
“I don’t. I don’t. I really don’t.” They’ve started fluttering their hands a little; their voice is getting that shaky tilt it gets when they’re in sensory overload. “Fun story, back in high school we went on a field trip to this play where they used gunfire blanks for sound effects and I had a full-on crying-and-screaming public meltdown. I like to tell fun stories from high school like it wasn’t actual purgatory, because I cope through humor!”
“I know,” Cressida says simply, and she wraps her arms around them so they can lean back into her chest. The next thunder crash comes, and she tightens her grip. “Is this helping?”
“Yeah. Uh-huh. A lot. Like a weighted blanket.” Rory tilts their head back to give her a shaky upside-down grin.
They don’t like making eye contact, so they don’t, but they are aware that Cressida’s gaze is resting pretty solidly on their face, which is - fine, and normal behavior for friends, and the fact that they’re cuddling on a vent and they can feel her heart beating against their spine is, like, normal also, probably -
“Rory,” Cressida says tentatively, “can I…”
Rory tilts their head. “Can you what?”
Cressida hesitates; then she leans in. It is a very very gentle kiss, almost hesitant; she pulls away after a second or so, to find Rory staring at her dumbfounded.
“Whoa,” they say, face assembling itself into what they’re fully aware is a stupid doofy grin. “Whoa. Hi. Hey. I - yeah! You can do that!”
They both cling to each other’s hands for a second; they both let out a breath that is, Rory thinks, equal parts relief and euphoria.
Then Rory leans in and kisses Cressida again, and this time neither of them pull away, and when the thunder crashes overhead Rory thinks they’ve never felt safer than they do right now.
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izzielizzie · 3 years
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Chapter Three
Nate’s chapter is finally here! Sorry it took so long, but I hope the wait was worth it. And, as always, a big thank you to the very lovely @natewynoou​ for checking in with me, allowing me to steal some ideas, and being an overall great friend. Okay, here you go:
“How are you Nate?” My counselor asks me as I sit in front of his desk after school. I was called to his office to “talk about my week” which is a shit excuse since it’s only Tuesday.  I thought he wanted to lecture me on my attendance or my grades or some other crap he knows I don’t care about, but the look of actual concern on his face is telling me this isn’t that type of meeting.
“I’m okay,” I say cautiously. You can never tell what these people really want.
“Good, good. Yesterday must have been traumatic for you, huh?”
And there’s the ulterior motive. Simon. “Yeah, I guess so,” I say, crossing my arms. 
“You were one of the last people to see him alive.” A statement, not a question.
“Yeah, I was.” I can feel myself shutting down and putting up walls. This is starting to feel less like a conversation and more like an interrogation. 
“Interesting, considering your history.”
“My history?”
“You know, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Damn. That was my excuse the first time the police found me at a drug transaction. I didn’t know Mr. I-already-forgot-his-name knew about that. I’m thrown off guard, but I don’t show it. I laugh a humorless laugh and cross my arms, settling in my chair.
“I guess so.”
My counselor searches my face for a beat before nodding. “You seem okay. I think this concludes our meeting, Mr. Macauley.”
I stand, thankful to end this strange meeting. “Thanks,” I say, walking past his desk to push open the door and make my way into the hallway. It’s nearly four in the afternoon, and I don’t know what to do with myself. I might as well just go home. I’m about to leave the building when I hear someone sniffling. I should keep walking. Some crying girl isn’t my problem, but I recognize the person sitting at the base of the stairwell. “Bronwyn?” I ask, walking towards the girl. Maybe she’s upset about yesterday? I mean, she did watch someone die. She seemed okay when I drove her home last night, but maybe she’s not. The girl stops sniffling and twists her torso to look at me. Huh. Okay, it’s not Bronwyn. It’s someone much worse.
“Nathaniel?” I cringe at my full name. But Maeve Rojas moved away before I insisted people call me Nate. 
“It’s Nate,” I say. Maeve snorts and pushes her gym bag off the stairs next to her. I suppose that means I’m supposed to sit next to her. I don’t though. I lean against the banister and look down into her freckled face. It’s tearstained, and her amber eyes are dull. I haven’t seen Maeve since she was nine, and she looks a lot healthier now. I wonder briefly if she still has cancer. But I can’t figure out how to ask that without sounding like a fucking idiot, so I don’t. 
“What do you want?” she asks me.
“You were crying,” I say.
“And?”
“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
She stares at me, and for some reason, she cracks up. Like, full out laughing so hard she’s crying again. She doubles over and wraps her arms around her small body. Nate Macauley. Comedic genius. “Jesus, Nate, since when do you care?”
I don’t know how to answer her, so I don’t. I look at her for a moment before turning on my heel and stalking away. I push through the doors of the school and make a beeline for the parking lot, where my bike is parked. I have the urge to kick it, but it’s old and the only thing I own that isn’t broken, so I refrain. I’m about to climb onto my bike and stress drive around greater San Diego when someone calls my name. I turn, and it’s Bronwyn. Jesus. Just what I need: another Rojas.
“Yes?” I ask when Bronwyn approaches me. She’s wearing jeans for once, and it’s a little off-putting. She always wears dresses. 
Bronwyn stares at me for a moment, unsure. “I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out.”
“What?” Now I’m the one who’s unsure. In the past five minutes, every single thing I’d known about the Rojas sisters to be true is apparently not true. Bronwyn Rojas doesn’t want to hang out with a person like me. Her family made that clear five years ago when they slammed their front door in my face.
“Hang out? I could use a distraction.” I’m pretty sure my definition of a distraction is a lot more destructive than Bronwyn’s, but she looks desperate.
“Um, okay?”
“Great.” She stands there, staring at me, the sun illuminating coppery streaks in her dark hair. I stare back at her, and suddenly we’re cracking up. “This is so awkward,” she says, wrapping her arms around her body the same way Maeve did. It’s crazy how similar they are.
“It is,” I agree. I’m leaning back against my motorcycle. I straighten and offer her my helmet. “How do you feel about pizza?”
I’m laughing so hard the waitress is eyeing me weirdly. Halfway through an olive and pepper pizza, Bronwyn and I have fallen into a giddy, half drunk state that I haven't been in since I was a kid. There’s something about Bronwyn’s sense of humor that makes her endearing. Back when we went to the same elementary school, we were best friends, and I passed most of my time listening to her laugh. We’ve overlooked the awkwardness of our situation and relationship (or lack thereof) for just today, and I’ve got to say, it’s a little surprising that I can still feel so comfortable with her. 
“Nate, do you remember that day in gym class? When we played baseball?” Bronwyn’s glasses are tilted on her nose, and there’s a bit of crust in her hand that she seems to have forgotten about. She’s at ease in her chair, her legs crossed. She’s tied her hair up in a bun, and she looks beautiful. She always does, obviously, but now she’s just on another level. Maybe because I haven’t been this close to her in… forever. 
“Fifth grade right?” I ask this like it’s a passing time I hardly remember and not one of my favorite memories, the one I pull out of the box in my mind that holds the things that give me comfort. 
Bronwyn grins at me like she’s a teacher and I’m a student who finally understands the purpose of multiplication. “Yeah!” Her smile drops. “I think that was the last time we were all… you know.”
I know. It was the last time we were friends. And by we, I don’t mean just me, and Bronwyn, and Maeve, but Cooper Clay, Addy Prentiss, and Luis Santos too. The memory hits me, all of a sudden, of that day:
We were in gym class, the five of us. Maeve hadn’t been in school for years at this point, but she knew about all the goings on in that private school. Cathlic school was not my favorite, but my friends made it better. We were playing baseball, and much to Cooper’s chagrin, Jake Riordan was pitching. He only went to our school for a year, but Jake was the bane of Cooper’s existence. I have no idea why they’re best friends now. I was playing first base, which still baffles me. I hate baseball, and I suck at it. Luis was catching, which was definitely not a surprise. Bronwyn was up to bat, and one of the obnoxious boys on my team told Jake to strike her out. Normally, something like this would have made Bronwyn burst into tears, but for some reason, Bronwyn just smiled a slow smile that I’d come to learn meant danger. I could feel a swell of pride in my chest before Bronwyn had even done anything. I caught Cooper’s eye on third base, and we grinned at each other. We watched as Bronwyn swung, and made contact with the ball. Bron never had good aim, but the ball sped towards the boy (I think his name was Sean), and hit him straight in the face. Bronwyn might not have been a good baseball player, but she sure was a good actress. Her apologetic shock was so convincing that Sean had been sent to the nurse by the gym teacher and Bronwyn had been warned to keep her hits soft.
We had spent the rest of the day in suppressed joy, grinning at each other from across classrooms and laughing loudly, but not loud enough to draw attention, when we regrouped at lunch to tell the story to Addy, who had art class when we had gym. 
“We need to tell Maeve,” Addy had said as she wiped tears from her eyes.
“For sure,” Cooper had agreed.
Three hours later, we piled into Maeve’s hospital room, claiming our usual seats: Addy in the armchair, Bronwyn at the foot of the bed, Cooper on the spindly chair, and me on the window seat. Luis got the coveted privilege of crawling onto the bed next to Maeve, a spot we rotated between the five of us. We grinned at each other as Maeve laughed herself sick. Laughter was the best medicine, Mrs. Rojas had told us once when Maeve was really sick, and we’d taken that to heart, making Maeve laugh so hard and so frequently that she would start coughing until a nurse came running in. 
I’m brought back to myself, and see Bronwyn grinning at me again. “I miss that,” she says quietly, like she isn’t sure she’s allowed to say that.
“I do too.” I pause. “Thanks for offering to hang out.”
“You’re welcome Nate.”
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sombreboy · 4 years
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Love Maze »18
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Previous  » Next Series Masterlist ▎ 18+ ▎ pairing: Taehyung x Jungkook ▎ genre: School AU, crack humor, smut, angst, ETL, slow burn, fluff. ▎ word count: 7.7k ▎ ch.warnings: profanity, angst, jealousy, violence, blood, mentions of hospitals, yandere side character is back and he's CRAZY
Co-writer: @velvetwicebang​​​​ ♡♡♡
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The following day was huge, today was the big game that they've prepared for forever! Jungkook headed out early, leaving Jisoo's home to head over to his own to grab his backpack before heading to school for the last morning practice. This afternoon was it; he had to be in his best form to perform well. Kook made his way to the locker room to change, a bit earlier than everybody else. He wanted to warm up properly, and give his all in the last practice. He loved the thought of competition, excited to show off the endless stamina he's spent countless hours building up for.
Taehyung stalled, lingering close to Jungkook like a pest just waiting to pounce on the opportunity to talk to him.. He waited and waited; until the opportunity never came. “Fucking pussy..” Tae self-loathed, watching as everyone else was quickly ushered out of the locker room by Namjoon.
“Tae, come on! You too.” The Captain was stressed, anyone could see that. Deciding it was for the best to not make a fuss, Taehyung obliged and kept to himself. The elder glanced over at Kook a couple times during practice, wondering how he was doing. Maybe he’d be able to get a hold on the younger before the big game tonight. Tae held on to that possibility.
Jungkook wasn't blind, he could tell that Taehyung's eyes were on him more than usual today. It was weird-- he'd been completely ignored for what felt like forever. Maybe he was just imagining things, however... That must be it-- nerves. He shrugged it off, overthinking was the last thing he needed to do today.
Practice went great, Namjoon praised the guys with a lopsided smile-- the stress and worry was evident, but he was confident in his players. He dismissed the members, Jungkook grabbing his water bottle by the bench to chug it down as he wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand as he resumed to head down to the locker room, the other guys not quite there yet as they stayed around to calm Namjoon's pre-game nerves.
Well, except Taehyung.
Taehyung’s quick, determined strides gradually lost their momentum the moment he pushed on the locker room door, nervous to see Jungkook’s face after what took place between them.. Suddenly, his confidence was equivalent to sand in an hourglass as it dropped by the ticking second. There stood the younger, completely unaware of the motive behind Tae’s hesitant, inclosing steps. He tried not to think about what he was unknowingly exposed to yesterday evening, but Taehyung couldn’t just.. ignore the imprinted image of Jungkook‘s lips molded against someone else’s. A girl. Hell, he couldn’t compete with that.. The elder inhaled a deep breath. “Uhm.. can we— can we talk?” His Adam’s apple nervously danced underneath his neck. “Please?”
Four words. It was the first four words Koo had heard from Tae in weeks.
'Can we talk, please?'
Kook swallowed tightly. Now he wanted to talk? Was ignoring him not enough--now he suddenly wants to talk. "No." He says. There was nothing he imagined that he wanted to hear. He couldn't afford to lose focus, and Tae would definitely not help with whatever he had to say. Kook turned his back towards the elder as he began to change, hoping that would be enough to be left alone. Fuck, this wasn't good. Taehyung had slowly already creeped his way into Jungkooks brain.
Taehyung’s self-confidence deflated on the spot, his disappointment instead peering through the cracks. He’s a fucking idiot. W hat else was he expecting Kook to say? Yes? No matter the initial letdown, Tae wasn’t one to give up easily. “Look, Jungkook— I hate not being able to talk to you.” His piercing gaze roamed over the younger’s bare skin, wishing the two dimples on the latter’s lower back were a pair of eyes. Taehyung wanted Jungkook to listen to him, to see his strained efforts to try and fix the deep shit they were in.
He caused it; he had to end it.
“I-I miss us.. you.” The elder glanced down towards the ground, suddenly wishing Jungkook wouldn’t turn around. If he’d just thought about it for a second longer, Tae wouldn’t have broken up with him. It was an impulsive decision— and fuck.. did he regret it.
Jungkook froze as soon as he pulled the hoodie over his torso. He couldn't believe what he just heard.. was it a dream, where his mind was playing tricks on him? The younger took a deep, slow breath to keep himself together, but it was easier said than done. He really wished Tae wouldve said those words earlier... much earlier... Before he went to Jisoo-- fuck... Kook felt his guarded exterior slowly being chipped away with every piercing word coming off the elders lips, and the mere thought of this was terrifying. He felt guilty, for a part of him wanted Tae back too. A big part. "I... I can't. Okay?" He didnt sound so sure. All he knew was that if he didn't keep his guard up; he'd crumble. And today the game was his priority. Jungkook turns on the spot, regretfully as he saw Taehyung's gloom stance. He seemed sincere... and that only made this entire thing so painful. Fuck, he wishes he could just... hug him. "Tae..." the name was unfamiliar on his lips once more, stepping closer to the elder. He looked a bit different than before-- but before he could say anything else, the rest of the boys came rushing down-- however they came to a halt as they saw their two golden boys in a rather tense situation. Taehyung with his head hanging low, and Jungkook looking absolutely distressed through his doe eyes. The very moment Kook heard the guys, he withdrew the hand he had extended, instead using it to grab his backpack and wordlessly walk away, pushing through the doors with his shoulder before heading towards the dining hall without waiting for anybody.
Jungkook missed him too.. and it was fucking terrifying. Why does Taehyung have this strong grasp on him? He shrugged as he went to sit down in his usual spot in the dining room, rubbing his eyes in annoyance, and an attempt to clear his vision. Game. Game. Game.
It didn't go that well.
~
Taehyung blankly watched the younger scurry out of the crowded room, ignoring his friends’ careful attempts at squeezing an answer out of him.
“You guys okay or..?”
He turned to look at Yoongi, not bothered to include a verbal clarification. The mint-haired male’s flat expression fell. He was visibly struggling to come up with anything remotely comforting as his palm glided over the sweat on his nape.
“Tae, please.. we need you here for the game, alright? Joon’s already stressed out enough, it’s the least we can do.” Yoongi’s never been in love, but it didn’t take a genius to know Taehyung was hurting because of it. He wasn’t aware of what happened between his friends, but he hoped they’d be able to put it off— whatever it was— until later; after they'd secured their anticipated win.
~
The rest of the day during school was dreadful, Jungkook couldn't stop replaying the simple words that Taehyung had told him this morning. It was confusing, to say the least. Why'd the elder have to put this on him now? Focusing in class was an impossible task, the one thing his mind tunnel visioned on was to win the game. Nothing else. He'd sacrificed way too much of himself to let this be a flop. As classes ended, he had some time to kill before he had to go prepare himself, so he opted to go for his trusted vending machine to get himself his favourite sweet, explosion of chemicals in the form of banana milk. With a straw pressed between his lips, he headed to sit where he usually would outside the building by the stairs, fishing his phone out to open his text conversations. He'd still kept the one from Tae, hovering over it with his thumb before opening the thread. The latest message was the one that ended their relationship, just after the previous text that was a promise of them meeting after class to fulfill their needs.
Kook sighed, shaking his head as he internally scolded himself for even going through this memory again. He wondered why Taehyung suddenly changed his mind.. and part of him knew he had to find out eventually.
~~~
The day’s blinding light converted into darkness, the sun’s blazing rays nowhere to be seen as seconds turned into minutes, and minutes progressed into hours. The overfamiliar gymnasium gradually filled up with animated students and proud parents, each one there to support and cheer for their respective team.
Taehyung was hidden away in the locker room along with everyone else, partaking in some last minute stretches before it was time for them to confidently walk out into the lion’s den. Tae was sure tonight was the most packed it’s ever been, the muffled commotion reached his alert ears from where he stood, the faint buzzing swelling to a roar.
Well, it wasn’t that dramatic.. Big crowds tended to spike up the elder’s mild anxiety, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.
Taehyung’s hooded eyes were glued on Jungkook, replaying earlier events until it didn’t sit right with him. He wanted to make things right between them— for the game’s sake, and for theirs in the long run.
“Hey, Jung—“
“Jungkook? Hi!” Jisoo greeted with a beaming smile, seeming relieved. “I was dreading coming in here.. didn’t want Yuna to see any naked guys..” The woman awkwardly chuckled, gently withdrawing her hand from the little one’s big, curious eyes.
“Is that a baby?!”
“No, Hoseok, it’s a dog.” Yoongi sassed with a roll of his eyes, following behind their friends to greet the newcomer. Jimin and Hoseok seemed extra infatuated with the chubby little human while Yoongi kept to himself, trying to act unfazed by Yuna’s incoherent babbles. Namjoon and Taehyung however.. Both were wide-eyed.
“Jungkook, who’s this?” Jimin’s plump lips twitched up into a smile, curious about Kook’s friend. Jisoo’s fingers sneakily grazed over the younger’s strong, naked biceps. She tried to be slick, but failed. Jungkook looked extra good in a pair of jersey and shorts..
Meanwhile, Joon and Tae lingered in the corner, watching the situation unfold with narrowed eyes. While Namjoon glared at Jungkook, Taehyung glared at Jisoo.
Jungkook's eyes widened at the surprise, expecting her to be out in the audience rather than... well, in their locker room. It didn't fail to make his lips tug into a toothy grin though, giving Yuna's small nose a little boop of his finger before turning to Jisoo. ''Hey,'' he smiled, noting how Yuna relished in the attention of his hyungs. As they asked him, who the hell this girl was, he took a long second to think. They weren't something, but they also weren't nothing. ''She's my friend,'' he settles with this explanation, ''Lives next door.'' He didn't like to go too much into details, that's all they needed to know.
Jisoo merely agreed in the form of a nod, discreetly confused about where they stood. Now that the question was innocently brought up, it got her thinking.. They’ve kissed, fucked (sometimes more than once on the same day), spent almost every waking day together.. it nearly checked off all of the requirements for a relationship. It was a tricky situation, and alike Jungkook, she barely went into clear details— only useless rambling. “Anyways, I didn’t bring you the fancy sign, I know.” She joked with Kook, turning the locker room into her personal stage as she acted disappointed in herself. “But..” Jisoo looked around, making sure no one was in their point of hearing. “When you guys win, I’ll reward you with whatever you want. You know, to make up for it.” The woman stepped back, her usual smile decorated with the exhilaration of tonight’s possible affair.
Taehyung was fuming... He couldn’t bear to see the two of them together after what he came across the other day.
“They seem close, huh..” Namjoon noted with barely any emotion in his voice, arms securely crossed over his chest. Tae, who stood next to him, simply scoffed. “Yeah, they’re close alright.”
What did Jungkook see in Jisoo, anyway? Sure, she was nice.. caring, compassionate, pretty— all nice qualities. Taehyung only angered himself further. The woman was the perfect person for him. It got Tae wondering why the fuck they haven’t gotten married and birthed ten more perfect kids yet. They were so.. loud with their affection, it was annoying.
“Uhm, I mean, how close?” It was obvious Namjoon was jealous, no matter how hard he tried to play off his feelings.
“I caught them kissing. That’s how close.”
“W-what?” The elder’s hands unknowingly clenched into fists, not believing what he’d just heard.
Is that why Jungkook got so angry that one time..? It had to be.
Jungkook smiled coyly at Jisoo as she stepped back, stretching his back for the final remaining minutes. ''I'll look forward to it. Go get a seat before they're all taken!'' he jokes. But truly, there were a whole lot of people. Before Jisoo left with Yuna, she looked at Jungkook over her shoulder, meeting his eyes with a small smile. He waved vaguely as she disappeared out of view before turning back to his hyungs, not aware of the stares he's getting from Namjoon and Taehyung.
''Alright, let's do this!'' Hoseok chimes, working together with Jimin and Jin to bring the group together into a hug, smushing Tae and Kook together involuntarily, Joon as well in the mess. As if it came naturally, Taehyung’s arm wrapped around Jungkook’s smaller waist as their friends huddled together. While everyone else’s was on each other’s upper backs, Tae’s instincts just had to kick in at the wrong time. By the time he’d noticed, Joon’s body had practically locked him in position. It would’ve been awkward if Tae attempted to squeeze his arm out in the middle of Jin’s hushed ‘poetically powerful’ pregame speech, so he let it be. The taller nervously glanced at Kook from time to time, swallowing down his remaining panic. Taehyung’s bigger hand gently squeezed at Jungkook’s hip, his fingers digging lightly into the fabric of the younger’s Jersey. He missed having him this close... All of this unfolded in the midst of Seokjin’s uplifting words, so it was no surprise when Tae had no idea what his hyung had said by the end of it.
Just like Tae, Jungkook was unable to focus on anything that Jin blabbered about, the one thing he was hyper focused on was the close proximity of the elder. The way his strong hand wrapped around him-- the hand that applied pressure on his hip... It brought back an emotion that he thought he'd finally gotten rid of. Oh how foolish he was. He craned his neck forward, his long curls hiding the expression in his eyes, while his lips barely parted in a quiet sigh. He missed having him this close too...
As the group finally withdrew, giving the boys the much needed space and cheers coming from their hyungs, Jungkook felt like he stayed in Taehyung's arm for a second longer than he planned to, quickly pulling away to roll his tongue inside of his cheek. ''Alright, guys.'' Namjoon announced as he gave every member a pat on the back as they headed out towards the court-- well, until it was Jungkook walking past him. A glare shot his way, but the younger didn't take notice of this, instead fighting his internal battle of trying to suppress his thoughts to focus on the game.
Taehyung quickly followed behind Kook, itching to close the distance between them once again. Now that he’d gotten a taste of what he used to have, it was incredibly hard to pretend to hide his true feelings.. The urge grew more intense when they jogged into the packed court, peers’ blaring shouts of encouragement making Tae want to curl up against his ex-boyfriend’s chest and wake up in a more serene location. The younger’s bed, perhaps.. The thrill that used to overtake him at the thought of tonight’s game was no longer alive. He found the atmosphere suffocating, and the roars annoyingly unbearable. The elder didn’t know why he was extra sensitive to the loud noises, but he figured the constant buzzing in his ear was to blame. The piercing sound had yet to subdue, and it didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.
Before the major game began, each team was given a few minutes to practice their free throws. Taehyung jumped in line behind the younger, building his confidence to lean towards Jungkook’s ear. “I miss you, and I’m sorry.” He whispered. It was killing him not knowing what to expect.. Did Kook want him back, or not? The elder lingered in that position for a second longer, only moving when the string of players did. E ven then, Tae remained close to Jungkook. He didn’t worry about the audience’s stares from the stands, or the questions that might pop into their heads. The rare moment Taehyung wasn’t so caught up in strangers' wandering eyes, was when he desperately needed to be. If he’d been as attentive as before, he would’ve easily pinpointed a certain devilish glare from the crowd.
Jungkook kept his eyes focused forward, however he was listening to every single word that went into his ear. Tae was way too close, in front of all these people... "Why are you telling me this now?" Kook glanced over his shoulder for a mere second to glare at Taehyung, but just as quickly returned to focus on the line as it moved. If there were ever a worst possible time to discuss their breakup, this was it. But Taehyung seemed desperate. And Jungkook slowly grew too unfocused for his own liking. He'd worked too hard for this game to let it go to waste-- and he didn't want to talk about this. Not now. Before Taehyung could say anything else, Jungkook leaped forward with the basketball in his hand, relieved he was able to remove himself from Taehyung for the moment.
Taehyung momentarily paused his ‘trying to win him back’ speech, piercing eyes glued onto Jungkook until he was caught off guard by the basketball thrown at him. Getting in position, Tae aimed for the net. The elder was surprised he made it, his focus was on anything but the game. He carelessly threw the ball to the person behind him, jogging back to a single line formation. “I’m telling you this now because I should’ve done it a long time ago.” Taehyung resumed, standing a little too close to the younger. “Jungkook, I’m sorry. I-I freaked out over nothing, I didn’t think any of this shit through.” He hesitated after a few seconds, “I still love you, so much.. I don’t want to just.. throw that away..”
Jungkook crossed his arms over his chest, grasping at his own biceps to practically hold himself in place so he wouldn't turn around to look at Taehyung. He felt his emotional walls crack, the emotions seeping through was not what he wanted as he was in front of this many people. He took a deep breath through his nose, shoulders visibly tense as he took a moment before he replied. ''But you did. More than once.'' Kook's focus on breathing slowly brought him back down to earth, building those small walls back up to remain as stoic as possible in front of the audience, taking a short step away from the elder as the line moved once more. He just wanted the game over with at this point.
The elder’s shoulders sank along with his confidence. The last thing Taehyung expected was for Jungkook to give in easily, but he also wasn’t anticipating the latter to be so vigilant. Then again, Tae naively played with his feelings countless times. He knew the younger was only trying to look out for himself— and his bruised heart. Shit.. it hadn’t fully sunk in until now. Taehyung fucked up. Bad. He was starting to doubt there was a solution to their problem. “No, you’re right.” Tae kept his distance, not wanting to make Jungkook uncomfortable. “I did, and fuck do I regret it. I just... I really miss you and—“ The timer in the scoreboard echoed throughout the large gymnasium, cutting Taehyung off mid sentence.
He had a feeling this was going to be a long night..
Jungkook turned to give Taehyung a glance before he headed towards their side of the court with the team, an unnamed emotion in his eyes before it slowly morphed into his focused persona when it came to basketball. As previously mentioned, the younger didn't come here to play around. He was here to win. He's prepared for this match with his entire being.
The teams gathered in each side, Jungkook and the others in a large circle as Namjoons eyes roamed the players. "Okay, this is it. Put your everything into this game.." he paused when his eyes flickered to Jungkook, a hidden glare thrown his way before they go back to the rest, "Let's get it!"
"Let's get it!" The rest of them cheered before getting into respective positions.
Along with Namjoon, Jimin, and Jungkook— Tae was one of the first players sent out into the bustling court. It was during moments like these that he wished he was a benchwarmer. Taehyung lacked his usual spirited determination. The elder’s pregame jitters were fully hidden behind his worrisome exterior, and catching sight of Jisoo silently cheering for Jungkook to do his best in the form of an encouraging fist only provoked Tae’s sullen expression to harden. Turns out he wasn’t the only one who saw, Namjoon was one step ahead of him.
“Jungkook!” Joon shouted, seeing how the younger stalled to get in position, likely because he was drawn to Jisoo’s cute antics. “Hurry up, you can talk to your girlfriend later.” He spat, gaze lowering in response,
Jungkook knew how he felt about the older woman, how could he do that to him? Kook's eyes widen before they squint in confusion, completely caught off guard by Namjoon's sudden words-- that were definitely laced with something. He knew their captain had a crush on her, but he also kind of fucked it up himself. "What? No, she's..." he was interrupted by the buzzer going off, shifting his gaze from his captain to the one thing that he wants to focus on; the damn ball.
Jungkook was doing well as expected, his attacking role perfectly suitable for him. However, whenever his captain got the ball, and he was in a free position to get a perfect throw, he was surprised to see Joon ignore him, glare at him or simply just pass somebody else. What's his problem...
Further into the game it was getting close to half time, and Jungkook was growing frustrated with the way he was being treated like this. He was barely able to play properly when his captain's childish antics kept happening.
"Joon!" The younger hissed as the first break finally rolled in, "Why do you not give me the damn ball? I had several perfect throws!"
“Several perfect throws my ass..” Namjoon spat under his ragged breath, disregarding his empty water bottle before briskly turning around on his feet. He came face to face with Jungkook, the anger in his eyes having yet to subdue. “You were practically out of it throughout most of the game, Kook!” Namjoon’s voice swelled, garnering the attention of a few of their teammates. “You were staring at Jisoo! If I passed you the ball—“ The captain cut himself short, biting down on his tongue to prevent anything he might regret from coming out. “If your girlfriend’s gonna be too much of a distraction, don’t bring her here. We can’t afford to lose this game because of you.”
Jungkooks temper slowly started to build, eyebrows drawn together as he stepped closer to Namjoon, "What's your problem? She's not my girlfriend!" He hissed, huffing through his mouth to move the sweaty bangs out of his eyes. "Are you serious? Lose the game because of me? You're the one who's not letting me get remotely close to the fucking ball!" His eyes were squinted, the obvious flare of his temper burning up too quickly-- the audience murmuring in confusion.
"Hey, calm down" Jimin tries to ease the situation, but they all know the younger's anger was like a rollercoaster.
"No, it's not fair!" Jungkook closed the distance further between him and his captain, making sure only he hears his next words, "Stop acting so childish."
Joon had to scoff. “Yeah, okay. Get away from me, will you?” He harshly shoved Jungkook by the chest, drawing the attention of Taehyung who moved quickly on his feet.
“Namjoon, what the hell— back off.” He stood in between them, momentarily breaking the heavy tension that linked them together.
“Why are you still standing up for him, Tae? You caught them kissing. Jungkook moved the fuck on!”
Taehyung’s facial expression flickered to one of hurt, his clenched fists slowly coming undone as Joon’s eye-opening words began to slowly sink in.
Was it.. was it possible? Jungkook moved.. on?
Namjoon’s chest heaved from a mixture of irritation and exhaustion; not knowing how to come down from it. He’s never been this angry at someone, much less a close friend.
Jungkook clenched his fists hard, the veins in his lower arms prominent. His body slowly moved, as if gradually his anger was fueling him up to pounce Namjoon. But as he took a step, he was held back by Yoongi's hand on his shoulder, out of all people. "You should take a break."
The coach approaches in the same moment, agreeing, "Jeon, you will be dismissed for now. Go take a break."
Jungkook's eyes widened, "No way. I need to play!" He turned to Namjoon, annoyed by the fact that he didnt protest, but simply agreed as well.
"Go."
A disappointed Huff pushed through the younger's lips, shoving away Yoongi's hand from his shoulder before scuffing past Taehyung to head out, towards the exit to go sit outside on the stairs. He needed some fucking air. U nlike everyone else who brushed off the players’ hostile behavior towards one another, Jisoo stayed behind to watch Jungkook storm out of the gymnasium. Alike everyone else, she saw the small feud unravel between him and Namjoon. It worried her— made her feel like she was to blame. And by the look on Joon’s eyes whilst he stared up at her, the woman knew she had a reason to be alarmed. Jisoo sighed to herself, disappointedly shaking her head before she broke eye contact. Adjusting a fussing Yuna on the baby carrier, she carefully made her way down the bleachers, on the lookout for Jungkook.
“Namjoon, where are you going? Come back here!” The coach called out for him, noting how Joon‘s feet were already moving on their own. Namjoon clenched his jaw, but he listened nonetheless. He wanted to go after Jisoo, but the woman was already out of sight.
~
“Jungkook..?” After a couple minutes of walking around the unfamiliar hallways, Jisoo finally came across the younger man. He was sat by the stairs out front, relishing in the night’s breeze. She bit down on her lip, wondering if it was for the best if she left him and his thoughts alone.. But she couldn’t, she cared too much. Jisoo didn’t know where they stood in terms of a romantic relationship, but the younger was undoubtedly a friend. The woman cared for him like a mother. “Hey.” She sat down next to him, the faintest of smiles grazing her lips. “Nice job out there— so far. I knew you’d do great.”
Jungkook turned his chin to look at her, his clenched jaw softening at her praise. ''Thank you.. But..'' He sighs as his shoulders sink with his next words, ''I don't think they'll let me play anymore. Namjoon is being an ass... With all rights, I guess.'' His eyes meet Jisoo's, a lopsided smile tugging at his lips, ''He obviously still likes you, so I suppose it's not surprising. But I wonder how he suddenly just... assumed you were my girlfriend or something.'' He ran his long fingers through his damp hair, leaning back on his elbows whilst looking up at the sky. It felt weird, really. He couldn't get the thought of Taehyung out of his mind. ''And Taehyung was acting weird too.''
The sound of Jisoo’s muffled giggle disrupted the small pause of silence, “Kim Namjoon is being an ass? Are you sure we’re talking about the same Joon?” An unknowing smile tugged at the corner of her rosy lips. Temporarily dismissing the hurtful comment he spewed in the past, the dimpled boy couldn’t hurt a fly.. The fond image of Namjoon was soon replaced with Taehyung. Jisoo turned her head towards the younger, curious as to what he meant. “Weird? How.” There was a question that lingered at the tip of her tongue, and if she wasn’t so desperate to receive answers, the woman would’ve done a better job of suppressing her curiosity. “Jungkook... do you love Taehyung?”
Jungkook felt his chest tighten at the question, keeping his eyes fixed on the nothingness of the sky. ''I know I did.'' He let his elbows give in, now laying down on his back fully. ''Then I thought I didn't.'' A nother long pause passed by as he seemed to sink into his own thoughts- ''Fuck, I don't know... He's a constant push and pull.. He kept coming at me at the worst possible moments during the warmup to tell me he misses me-..'' He stopped himself to groan in annoyance, just talking about it made him feel the frustration of his feelings, covering his face with his hands.
Jisoo simply nodded, allowing her fingers to comb through Jungkook’s sweaty hair. “Jungkook-ah, love is not something that can just.. go away.” Looking down at him, she made sure the ground was relatively clean before meeting Kook at his level. The hand that laid closest to him engulfed his significantly bigger one, communicating her empathy in the form of a gentle squeeze. “What made you fall in love with him?” A hint of bitterness lingered behind her otherwise sweet words. However, Jisoo was curious, she guessed some closure would be nice.. Turning her head towards him, the woman broke out into a small grin. She snuggled close to Jungkook’s chest, Yuna’s soft exhales of breaths the only muse throughout the quiet night. “Tell mee~ don’t be annoying.”
~
Taehyung spent minutes searching around the darkened school— searching for Jungkook. He was fucking worried, it was unlike the younger to storm out of, well, anything. When he was about to walk past the entrance, Tae pressed the brake. It was Jungkook and Jisoo... Laying together, they seemed happy. The elder hid behind the wall, chest tightening into a knot at their close proximity. Why didn’t Jungkook push her away? Why did he move on so quickly.. Taehyung couldn’t stand it, he was practically putting himself through hell by lingering around, waiting for his suspicions to get proven true. With his jaw clenched, Tae walked away. He needed some time alone, time to think. He advanced into the only space that was vacant, the locker room. Sitting down on the bench, Taehyung hid his face in the palm of his hands. “I’m a fucking idiot..”
A long silence followed after Taehyung spoke out loud to himself... Until a soft chuckle echoed in the locker room, a tall stature with wide arms crossed over their chest. ''Yes, you are...'' Their voice was nothing short of hostile, stepping closer to Taehyung before coming to a halt, a piercing stare burning holes into the male. ''Why do you have to keep bothering Jungkookie? He doesn't want you.''
It was Ash.
He'd kept a close eye on Jungkook for a while, watching his relationship with Kim Taehyung go back and forth. Apparently, they were broken up for a bit now, and it was perfect. He'd planned to approach Jungkook after the game, proudly cheering for him in the audience. But the hurdle being the male below him kept trying to come back, bothering his little Kookie, who looked annoyed and upset down on the court. Nothing irked him more.
The intrusive, unforeseen voice pulled Taehyung out of his daze. He quickly looked up, no longer seeing pitch blackness— instead he saw red. What the hell was Ash doing here? He’d been deaf to the inclosing steps, even more surprising the sound of the door opening. How did the other know where to find him? “I didn’t fucking ask for your opinion.” He hissed from anger, the sight of the other male being enough to spike up his alertness. Taehyung stood up from the bench, meeting Ash halfway. “Why are you so goddamn obsessed with Jungkook’s every move? You don’t need to speak for him. If he doesn’t want me, he’ll tell me.”
Ash's shit eating smirk grew, but his eyes were filled with anger fueled further by Taehyung's attitude. He took a slow step closer, arms falling to his sides as he clenched and unclenched his fists. ''I have to look out for him. His entire body language screamed uncomfortable when you were all over him during the game.'' he hissed back every word laced with mocking anger, ''I hate how stubborn you are, just leave him alone if you know what's best for you.''
A scornful, amused chuckle slipped past Taehyung, who further challenged Ash by stepping up to him. “You have to look out for him?” Tae’s broad shoulders vibrated, a lopsided smile beginning to pull at the corner of his lips.
Who did he think he was..
“What, did he order a bodyguard or some shit?”
He forcefully pushed Ash by his shoulders, prompting the latter to widen the space between them. Being close to him made him sick. Every time he looked into his devilish, hollowed face, Taehyung was reminded of that night. The night he gasped for air whilst he ran through the dim streets, praying for nothing but Jungkook’s safety. What kind of desperate psycho would force someone to sleep with him? Just thinking about it angered Tae. “Yeah, whatever. You’re fucking crazy, you know that?” With one last glare his way, Taehyung purposely bumped shoulders as he walked past him. “Jungkook will never love you.” That was the last thing he reminded before aiming towards the door, suddenly missing the crowd’s spirited roars. Anything to not be here with him.
Ash crooked an eyebrow, saying nothing as he turned to watch Taehyung attempt to leave.
No. No fucking way.
The crazed rage burning within Ash's being was taking over. He had to make sure nobody was in his way to reach Jungkook. And Taehyung made a huge mistake by facing away from a guy like this. A man with nothing to lose-- and only one thing in mind.
Get rid of the obstacle.
Ash didn't hesitate as he practically sprinted the few steps forward, triggered by the other males last words. He grabbed Taehyung by his hair, tightly tangled between his fingers as he forcefully dragged him down, not caring about where, so he opted for the nearby sink. Taehyung's head collided with the hard surface, almost knocking him out in one go. "He doesn't have to love me yet." He growled, "all that matters is that he doesn't love you."
Ash tugged at Tae once more, lifting his head up only to bring it back down against the sink again. And again. And again... until there was blood staining the sink to the floor... Ash eventually stopped when he felt Taehyung's body weaken its struggle in his hold, throwing the man on the tiled floor with a thud. Staring down at him, he scoffed as he wiped his hand on his shirt, thankful he decided to wear black today. "Crazy for Jungkookie, maybe..." he mumbled before removing himself from the situation, glancing over at the bloody male before stepping out of the locker room. He hoped to never see this guy again.
~
Jungkook had poured out his emotions to Jisoo, time flew by quicker than he thought as he realized he should go back. "Jisoo, I gotta go... uh..." he rubbed his nape as he sat back up, "thank you for... listening to me. And cheering for me." He glanced over at Yuna with a fond smile, "and little one too."
“Yeah, no problem.” Jisoo stood up with him, “I should probably head home, she’s out.” The woman reached down to pick up Yuna’s carrier, trying not to make any bothersome movements that’ll wake the sleeping girl. She was in a deep slumber. Her chubby hands were balled up into small fists, and her pouty lips were parted whilst soft huffs snuck past them. Yuna looked absolutely adorable. As both of them took their time strolling through the empty hallways, Jisoo’s eyes widened when they fell upon Namjoon. The man looked.. distressed? It seemed as if he’d been running around the place, unstable gaze flickering between the two.
“Joon? What’s wrong?” The woman furrowed her brows, her caring tone easing Namjoon’s nerves from whatever the hell it was that took a burden on him. Ungluing his sharp glare from Jungkook, it didn’t take much for Joon to give in, gaze softening at the sight of Yuna.
“Uh.. do you know where Taehyung is? Coach told me to look for him, game starts soon.” Naturally, Jisoo turned to look at Kook, confusion swirling within her eyes. “No.. we haven’t seen him. Have you looked long?”
Namjoon answered with a quick nod of his head, naturally thinking of the worst. Did Taehyung leave the school? They needed him there, especially now that it was a close tie.
“We’ll help you look for him, don’t worry.” She supposed it wouldn’t take awfully long, Taehyung had to be around here somewhere.. “Let’s split?” Jisoo’s gaze flickered between both boys, waiting to see what they thought of her last-minute idea.
“Please.” Joon sourly muttered under his breath, wanting nothing more than to divide Jungkook and his noona. They’ve spent more than enough time together, a few minutes on their own shouldn’t be a challenge.
Jungkook felt his chest tighten with worry, and partially in annoyance. Why would Tae out of all people risk the game like this? He wouldn't. "Yeah, I'll check the locker rooms." Kook agreed, waiting for the confirmations of the two before no longer staying around to waste time.
As he headed down to the locker room area, he checked other rooms and bathrooms on the way. Kook clenched his jaw in annoyance; why'd Tae disappear like this? It's a dick move as always, Taehyung is a fucking-- "Taehyung?" He didn't recognize his own voice at first, but it was. Jungkook had pushed through the doors to the locker room, and was met with a bloody mess on the floor. And in the middle of it, an unconscious person. "Taehyung!"
Was that really his voice? It sounded so desperate and hoarse.
He rushed to drop to his knees next to Tae, not bothered in the slightest about the puddle of blood he's sitting in, nor does he care that his hands are stained with the way he grasped the elders body, gently picking him up to hold him close in his arms, cradling his face to get a good look. Leaning in, he placed his ear close to his mouth, relieved when he felt the small huff of air. He's alive. But it was weak. Kook kept holding his ex boyfriend close, using one hand to pick up his phone and text Namjoon.
Instead he texted the group chat.
To: gang gang 🏀 Help! Lockers
As soon as the text was sent he returned to look at Taehyung, every single drop of anger towards the man practically evaporated, and were replaced with everything else. Worry, anxiety, sadness. Love. Jungkook felt as if he would fucking die if Taehyung did. "Tae, please... Hold on." Kook sobbed out, holding the elder close.
~
Namjoon stayed relatively close to Jisoo, peeking his head inside every door, hallway, janitor’s closet— anywhere that could serve as a hiding spot for Tae. They were desperate, even opting for searching in the girls’ restroom.
Where the hell could he be?
When Joon thought about calling the younger’s cell for the millionth time, his phone’s buzzing chimed in his pockets. “Noona, it’s Kook.”
Quickly, the woman advanced to his side, the brightness of the screen casting a harsh light over their troubled expressions. “Locker room..?” Not stalling any longer, Joon took Jisoo by the hand and led her towards the familiar room with quick strides— “Jungkook, we’re here— holy shit!”
Namjoon’s squeamish heart picked up at the bloody mess in front of him, standing still like a statue until Jisoo’s shaky voice snapped him out of it. “Joon! Call an ambulance. O-oh my god..”
It looked bad. The pile of blood only grew in size, bright in comparison to the color of Taehyung’s skin; ghostly pale. The boy appeared to barely be hanging on. The gushing, scarlet liquid luckily seemed to lose its momentum now that he was turned upwards, but the stream on the dirty floor was a big loss.
“Kook? Why did you text-“ Hoseok’s cheery voice was cut short by a sharp gasp, tightly clasping a hand over his mouth. Jimin and Yoongi shared a look of pure worry, the sound of Namjoon’s nervous stuttering over the phone whilst he gave the person on the other line the information they needed sounded weak compared to their loud breathing. Seokjin rushed to Jungkook’s side, attempting to pull the latter away. “J-Jungkook-ah, it’s best if you let him be, it— it can cause more harm than good.”
Jungkook's vision was blurred by the constant flow of tears, blinking harshly to attempt to regain some grounding. Jin's hand helped to bring Kook back down, however the sight of all the blood only had the younger's anxiety growing, his body reacting without his own say so. He couldn't let go of Taehyung, there was no way.
"Jungkook, you need to let him go." Seokjin repeated, carefully trying to pry the younger's arms open. It wasn't an easy task, but as soon as the ambulance arrived they finally managed to; but only because Jungkook helped to put Tae on the transporter. They put Taehyung in the vehicle, several nurses already working on examining and treating him as another seemed to be making notes about his condition. Jungkook pleaded that he wanted to come with, but was denied. They said he could visit the hospital-- what kind of bullshit was that? The very second the ambulance left, Jungkook hadn't realized his own condition. He was a crying, bloody mess. His legs and outfit was stained with the elders blood, eyes bloodshot and glassy from the constant tears.
Slowly, the group of hyungs approached their youngest, worry and sadness in their eyes. Both for Taehyung and his safety, and for Jungkook. "Hey," Yoongi suddenly said as he wrapped his arms around Kook, not caring about the mess. One by one, every single one of his team had joined in the group hug, holding each other tightly. Jungkook's breathy sobs grew louder, but he had his hyungs keeping him together this time. A large crowd of students, parents, teachers— everyone that was originally there to enjoy an innocent game, gathered around the commotion. The sound of the ambulance’s loud, ear-piercing wail struck them as serious. And it was; people’s heightened gasps emerged at the quick glimpse of a team of nurses run through the halls at the speed of light, transporting a gory Taehyung from one end to the other until he was securely placed in the vehicle.
“What happened?”
“Who was that?”
“It looked serious..”
Muffled talk spread like wildfire, and some aimed their shitty phone camera at the centre of the action.
Yoongi had to hold himself back from freaking the fuck out, instead hugging Jungkook closer, shielding the boy’s frail emotions from unwanted eyes. Had humanity stooped that low? Why in the hell would they point a camera at them..
“Jungkook, your Tae’s strong.. he’ll be okay.” Jimin softly assured, even though he himself wasn’t too sure. Tears welled up in his own glassy eyes, but they didn’t need him breaking down as well. Jungkook was an emotional mess, he needed them the most.
“Come on, w-we’re going to the hospital.” Namjoon said, pulling away from the group hug to dig for his car keys, not caring about the unfinished game.
Jungkooks body felt heavy, unaware of the commotion around them as all he could think about was Taehyung. The moment he saw him on the floor kept replaying in his mind, the uncontrollable quivering of his body only held together thanks to Yoongi and Jimin as the others pulled back, still remaining close around them to serve as a human shield for the cameras. Kook did look like shit after all. But he couldn't bring himself to care.
He just wanted to see Taehyung.
The very second Namjoon said they'd go to the hospital, Jungkooks glassy, reddened eyes looked up at him, his hyungs leading him behind the eldest towards the truck. At a time like this, Namjoons dad truck surely was a blessing.
Jisoo heavily insisted on going, wanting to keep a weak Jungkook company but was reassured that she’d be in the loop on Tae’s condition.
"Noona, we’ll keep you informed.” Namjoon started the car, convincing her to drop it.
The mother had Yuna to take care of, it was late into the night.. it was best if she didn’t throw herself into this stressful situation. It was taking an emotional toll on everyone, especially Jungkook.
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© sombreboy 2020. Do not repost, edit or translate.
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