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#queue moon you saw me standing alone
imagesthatarecursed · 2 years
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maxknightley · 5 years
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Out: Getting a nosebleed when you overuse your psychic powers
In: Getting psychic powers every time your nose bleeds
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legends-of-apex · 3 years
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‘Finally’ - Kung Lao x Reader (smut)
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Rating: 18+ for smut
Word count: 5,000 words (I know it’s a lot, lmfao)
A/N: I’m so sorry this took so long!! Just really wanted to make it good :D there’s so little written for him that I just had to! In short, Kung Lao and the reader have been pining for one another for months and finally decide to do something about it. This fic contains both fluff and smut. Reader is AFAB. Hope you all enjoy, please feel free to let me know what you think and thank you for reading :D
You were trapped between him and the table. His arms on either side of you, braced against the table’s edge so he could lean down to your level where you sat. “It’s very rude you know. To tease your friends.” His eyes held a challenge, a sprinkle of mischief that never seemed to leave when he was with you.
“We were never just friends though were we?”
You weren’t sure why a sudden burst of boldness had overcome you. Perhaps it had something to do with the absolutely unbearable frustration that had been training with him mere moments ago. You were both so distracted by one another and intent on teasing with small jesters and jabs that you couldn’t take it for another minute, delighted when the sudden appearance of the moon relieved the necessity to train. You couldn’t be sure exactly what had sparked it that day but one thing you were sure of was that you wanted him. And you needed him to know that.
It was selfish. Of course it was, but something deep within your gut was begging you to just do something about the way you felt.
“Sounds like you’ve been having some improper thoughts.” He was joking but his voice held little semblance of his usual jest, the tone soft almost timid as he took one of your hands in his and brought your knuckles to his lips. He looked as though he was almost apologetic for having such an effect on you.
Romantic affection and other such distractions weren’t permitted by Raiden. But right now, being so close to Kung Lao, you couldn’t have cared less about what Raiden did or did not permit. His scent was all around you, coupled with the dirt from the fight pit where a kick had sent him tumbling. You swallowed hard, attempting to calm the strange feeling in your stomach in response to his affection.
“Most of my thoughts of you are improper.” That was it then, you’d finally done something that feeling. It was pointless pretending like you didn’t care for one another. You were done with this, done with the longing glances and the pining.
Moving your hand away from his lips so he could speak, he instead pressed your palm to the red dragon enshrined on his chest plate. You were so close together now that he seemed to have a hard time concentrating on your eyes, his gaze instead directed towards your lips. “Perhaps some meditation might remedy the issue.” His tone held absolutely no sense that he meant or likely even knew what he was saying. He was far too focused on drinking the image of you this close to him into his mind.
“It just…” you allowed yourself to lean in closer to him so your lips almost grazed his as you held his cheek in your free hand,”...doesn’t quite scratch the itch.”
“Oi, if you two are going to fuck in here at least let me get in on the action!” Kano’s grating drawl cut straight through whatever moment you had.
Lao moved to stand up straight and likely confront him, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed, but you took hold of his forearm, silently asking him to stay. The both of you turned your heads to glare at the man and for once he shifted uncomfortably on his feet, “Well, worth a try! I’ll leave you to it. Don’t fuck on the table, we gotta eat there tomorrow!” With that, he left.
As soon as Kano rounded the corner, Lao turned back to face you and before he could even register it, you pressed your lips to his. The exchange was soft, sudden. But you felt him smile into the kiss and cup your cheek with his hand. His lips were so gentle. You couldn’t help but sigh when he deepened the kiss just a little, clearly testing where the boundary lay. You had both been holding back so much for so long, and yet you held back still for now.
When you pulled back for a little air, you kept your cheek pressed against his, wanting him close. “Finally,” you whispered and he smiled once more. The tension between you felt like it had finally subsided, even just a little. You pulled away a little more to get a better look at him, admire him in his hazy state. “Finally,” he agreed.
That one singular word was enough to reassure you that he’d had the same issues you had for a while now. You had been pining for him from the moment you met him when you first entered the temple. His cheeky smile and bold words had you hooked. Not to mention literally everything else about him. And you had noticed, the way he looked at you sometimes like he was gazing at the stars. The quick glances at dinner or in training that sometimes weren’t all that quick or subtle. The softest of touches when your fingers grazed his when he would pass you a plate or fill your glass with water without you having to ask him to pass the jug. The way Lui Kang would shake his head at him whenever Lao was a little too excited to help you with something or even just to spend time with you. All of this and more should have told you that he’d felt the same, but you were far too engrossed in the potential scandal of it all to put two and two together. Lord Raiden would surely have your heads for falling prey to such distractions and for breaking Kung Lao’s vows.
“So what now?” You asked him, hoping, just silently praying that he’d take the hint of how much you needed him right now. Hell, you’d have dropped to your knees before him there and then if you could be sure Kano wouldn’t interrupt. He pulled back from you, extending to his full height once more, grabbing his hat and offering you his hand to take.
“What would you like to do?” He asked, his face held a look of almost pleading but his pride and the public setting wouldn’t let him do so. It was then as he held his hand out to you in invitation that you noticed just how tightly the thin leather cords were tied around his upper arms and how wonderfully under stress the cord seemed right now. One side of his mouth quirked up into a smile like he could hear exactly what your mind was screaming, he saw you admiring his thick arms. He had done many times. The slight hitch in your throat at his question too told him everything he needed to know about what you wanted right now but he wanted to hear you say it.
“I think….” You took his hand, trailing your finger over the centre of his large palm before entwining your fingers with his, “That we should take this somewhere a little more private. I mean unless you want Kano to join..”
He looked like he wanted to devour you. His chest heaved a little, tongue darting out to wet his lips as you rose from your place at the table. He couldn’t speak properly, couldn't believe you truly wanted this with him. So many days spent pining for one another yet he still couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that you wanted him, not Liu Kang or anyone else, him. You tugged on his hand lightly, yanking him out of his thoughts and towards your bedroom.
As you hastily unlocked your room with your keys, he couldn’t help but place only the faintest of kisses along your neck from where he stood behind you. His hands found your waist and circled round to meet at your middle, your back pulled flush against his chest. You were so beyond touch starved that even the faintest of touches had you in pieces. You couldn’t help the soft moans that slipped from your lips when he bit down on your skin ever so gently. And he couldn’t help what hearing that sweet sound did to him.
When you flung the door open and tugged him inside, all bets were off about being reserved. His hands were all over you, trying to make up for the lost time that he could have been touching you. Kicking the door shut behind you, you pulled him against you once more. Desperate to have him close. The metallic rattle of his hat hitting the floor rang throughout the room. His lips were far less gentle on yours now and you loved every second of it. A slight nip of his bottom lip between your teeth had him groaning. Such a gorgeous sound. He had you pinned against the door in his efforts to be near you. You were thankful as it gave you just enough leverage to hike your leg over his hip. He took that as his queue to lift your other leg up too, bracing you against the door with his strong arms supporting you.
At the new angel, he nuzzled his face into your neck, pressing kiss after kiss, light bite and after light bite to your soft flesh. You dragged your fingers through his dark hair, careful not to undo the red ribbon he had so carefully tied. A gasp escaped you when he kissed his way down to your chest, mouthing his way over any exposed skin he could find.
You wanted to tell him to just take you then and there. To shove your underwear aside and have you against your bedroom door. But his stature was far more caring than that right now. He was wound tightly, the hardness against your thigh told you that much. So much pent up tension between the two of you and yet he treated you as though you were glass. You’d soon fix that.
“Bed. Please.”
He carefully carried you towards your bed and set you down, mouth never leaving your skin as he did. When he released you to remove his robes you couldn’t help but stare at him. Of course, you’d seen him bare-chested in training many a time before, but it was a view of which you would never tire. His chest was strong and broad, the muscles were defined and well-worked but benefitted from a soft layer above them so his skin was soft to the touch. You couldn’t help it, dragging your fingers over his chest and stomach. You felt each shiver that wracked through him at your touch and revelled in the way his chest heaved from your fingertips alone.
His hand came to shadow your own, near dwarfing it beneath his as he held your palm over his heart as he had done mere minutes before, “Are you sure you want this?” His voice was low, heavy with want, but gentle. You could see the desperation in his eyes. You shared it too.
“More than anything.” You replied, and he smiled, taking your hand and carefully pressing your knuckles to his warm lips for a long moment as though he was almost praying to you. Butterflies spread throughout your stomach, you couldn’t believe the effect he had upon you.
“In that case, lay back,” you quirked a brow at that,”I want to taste you.” He clarified.
You hadn’t been expecting that. You did as you were told for once, shuffling back onto your bed but propping yourself up on your elbows so you could see what he was doing. He ever so gently undid your shoes and slipped those, followed by your socks, off your feet. Next came your trousers once you lifted your hips enough for him to take them off. He let out a huff at the sight of you, staring almost in disbelief at you sprawled out before him. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? It is truly distracting.”
“Is that why I keep whooping your ass in training?”
“Maybe.” He chuckled before turning his attention back to your dripping underwear, “So wet for me already and I haven’t even touched you.” His eyes held a hunger as he parted your legs at the knees a little more so he could get a better look at you. Taking your knee, he hooked it over his shoulder as he sank to the floor, pressing slow kisses along the inside of one thigh and then the next. The touch sent shivers through you, right to your already dripping core. You whined when he got so close to where you wanted him, only to turn his attention to your other thigh again.
“What’s the matter? I thought you liked teasing?” He asked when you whined. You dared not look at him, knowing he’d have his smuggest smile on display.
“Please.” You mumbled, desperation for any touch at all. With a nod of his head towards you in compliance, he rid you of your underwear, tentatively rolling the material down your legs to expose your heat to the nighttime air.
“I’d hold on to something if I were you.” His mouth returned to the tops of your thighs, only this time he let his lips ghost over your core rather than skip over it completely. Your folds were so slick and warm that it almost felt as though his lips melted into you. A long groan escaped you as he began to move his mouth and tongue, laughter vibrating through him at the sound you made. You didn’t know what to do with your hands, you wanted to tug on his hair but settled on grabbing the sheets beneath you. When his tongue flicked your clit, that was out the window and one hand shot to the back of his head in desperation.
He pulled back from your pussy for a moment, “Please pull as hard as you’d like.” He’d obviously caught on. You tangled both hands in his hair then, before he returned to your warmth and he moaned before bringing his lips back to your core. Oh, he liked it when you tugged on his hair, you’d have to remember that.
He sucked your clit between his lips then and let it go so he could lick a strip right up the middle of your folds. “Oh fuck,” you exclaimed, “P-please, do that again!”
“Since you asked so nicely.” He repeated the action, this time taking extra care to move as slowly as possible. Another lick and he was gathering your wetness on his tongue and once again groaning at your taste.
He moved one hand from your thigh and brought his fingers to rest by your lips, “Get them nice and wet for me.” He told you, and you didn’t need to be told twice, sucking his two digits into your mouth and lathering them up with your tongue. “Gods.” He breathed, no doubt imagining that was his cock in the place of his fingers. He withdrew them from your mouth and brought them to your core, circling them slowly in your juices before ever so slightly prodding your entrance with them, slipping the tip of one in and out, followed by the other, in and out, intermittently whilst he worked the rest of your pussy with his tongue.
The very sight of him between your legs would have been enough for you on any other day, but today you were spoiled for choice on what to focus on. He snuck a glance at you from beneath his brow every once and a while, watching your facial expressions in between closing his eyes in pure concentration. You were close now if the coil in your stomach was anything to go by. Honestly, you were surprised that you’d lasted so long given the circumstances.
“I’m close!” You told him.
“I know.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
He hooked both his fingers into you at once now, noting how you clenched around him when he did. Pleased with himself when he hit a spot within you that had your head flung back so your chin pointed towards the sky. He chuckled to himself and looked up at your face, not wanting to miss the reaction on your beautiful features.
“What are you- Oh!” The new motion of his fingers, pressing firmly exactly where you needed them to be, was an entirely too overwhelming sensation. Not only did you grab his hair now, you pulled on it, grinding your core against his face in a desperate plea for your release. In your haste to keep him close to you, you’d accidentally pulled the tie from his hair letting the strands fall upon either side of his face in a beautiful frame. He put his mouth into overdrive too, moulding his lips around your nub and giving it as much attention as he could, eyes never leaving your face now. You clenched around his fingers once more before the dam broke and he’d swore he’d never heard a more delightful sound.
His name fell from your lips as if it were the only thing you’d ever known as your orgasm washed over you. He held your hips down with his free hand as he helped you ride it out, never once stopping his movements until you’d finally collapsed back on the bed. You continued to pet his hair as he lay his cheek upon your thigh, brown eyes gazing up at you in a haze.
“They teach you that at the Shaolin academy?” You asked in jest as your breath began to even again. You tilted your chin to look down at him and the adoration in his eyes was enough to send your stomach fluttering once more. He smiled up at you then, his usual half-smile with a slight tilt of his head that you’d grown to love. “Seriously that was great, thank you. Would you allow me to return the favour?”
“If you wish, but please don’t let me finish too soon.”
“Too soon?”
“If you would allow me such a privilege, I would like to feel your body around me as well as your lips.” Gods, you wanted to feel him inside you too.
Once you were ready, still aching with want but satisfied for now, you slipped down off the bed and onto your knees. “Oh you poor thing. Need me to take care of that for you?” You asked when you saw the strain in his trousers. You pulled the waistband of his trousers down with ease, revealing his underwear. You could tell from the outline that he was big and painfully hard but you couldn’t help but tease him with a few soft strokes with the pad of your thumb through the fabric.
“Please-” he gasped when a particularly long stroke had his cock twitching. “Oh sweetheart, it looks like you’ve been hard all day.” You pulled his pants down and allowed his cock to spring free. His cock was thick, thicker than you’d ever imagined. It had ample length too but it was a particularly large vein that ran along its side that really caught your attention.
You pressed a kiss to his leaking tip, another to the vein. Such sweet noises left his mouth already and you’d barely touched him. Dragging your tongue along his underside whilst looking up at him seemed to really do it for him because his cock twitched in your hand. “Oh, gods. Do that again. Please.” You obliged him and earned the most breathy, muddled sound from him.
You gave the tip another kiss before wrapping your lips around just the first half an inch or so.
“Fuck-“ He pulled his cock from your mouth, “As beautiful as you look with your lips around my cock, I’d rather not finish so quickly.” He brought you up from your knees to kiss you again before lifting you slightly so you sat on the edge of your bed once more.
“Do you still want this?” He asked, hand lovingly caressing your cheek, eyes soft and locked with yours. You stood, gliding a hand from his stomach, up along his chest until you reached his strong jaw, eyes never leaving his as you did.
“More than anything. I just want to be close to you.” You confessed.
“We can just lay together if you’d like? We don’t have to do this, I’m more than happy to wait until you're ready.”
“I’m ready,” you told him, “I want you, so long as you want the same?”
“Oh I do. I've wanted this since the day we first met. You have no idea how much I want you.”
“Oh I have some idea.” You pushed on his chest lightly and he fell back onto your bed, taking you with him in his arms, shimmying until he was comfortable. You tugged your shirt over your head and rid yourself of any remaining underwear, flicking your eyes towards him only to see him dumbfounded at the sight of you bare before him. Heat rose to your cheeks for the first time that night. The man had just been eating you out like his life depended on it yet his gaze still made you giddy.
“You are so cute when you’re nervous, you know that?”
“Oh, shut up and fuck me.” You laughed, taking his head in your hands once more and kissing him, revelling in the feeling of his mouth on yours. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”
“I know.” You rolled your eyes playfully at his cockiness, sitting upon his hips, careful not to let your body sit fully on his stomach or any other sensitive part of him. His hands glided down your sides until they reached your hips, resisting the urge to tickle your sides as he would have in any other situation.
“You ready?” You asked him, sitting up on your knees, hands braced at the base of his thick chest. He nodded, swallowing hard in anticipation.
With one hand you took hold of his achingly hard cock and directed it towards your entrance, taking care to coat the tip in your wetness before aiming it at your aching pussy. A sharp inhale and you were sinking down onto his lap until his cock filled you completely. With each inch, Lao arched further off the mattress before collapsing back once fully inside you, a long moan escaping him as your pussy enveloped his cock within you. The fullness you felt was something else. His velvety cock filling you so pleasantly you thought you could just sit there like that forever if you wouldn’t have gotten needy.
“My gods,” you groaned at the overwhelmingness of it all, “you feel so good.” You told him and he smiled amid his haze, absolutely delighted he was able to make you feel good even from his place beneath you. He let you take it completely at your own pace, supporting your hips when you moved up of him and then slide back down onto his cock. He wouldn't last long, not with months worth of pent up frustration finally coming to a head. He never thought the day he’d be inside you would ever come, didn’t let himself wonder what your walls would feel like around his member. To be fair, usually, just the thought of kissing you was enough to get him off.
You rocked forwards again once you were sure your body had adjusted to his size. Falling forward to essentially lie directly atop him. You didn’t want to ride if you couldn’t touch and be close to him. Another grind of your hips and a moan fell from his lips right into your ear, his hands now gripping your lower back, helping you move on his cock whilst keeping your form flush against his. His hips moved up in tangent with yours.
“Shit!” You cursed when his cock hit a particularly sensitive spot.
With another roll of his hips, he made contact with that spot again, your hands desperately grabbing fistfuls of the sheets at either side of his head to attempt to transfer the tension in your body from such pleasure. “Again!” He obliged you, full concentration on helping you reach your release.
“Lao, please!” You almost begged, “harder please!”
To your surprise, he pulled out of you completely, gripping your hips and lifting you off of him. In one swift movement, you were on your back, Lao leaning over you and tugging your knees around his hip so he had easier access to your pussy.
“You ready for me?”
“If you don’t get back in there and fuck me I think I’m going to die!”
A laugh escaped him but in truth, he felt that desperation too. In fact, he would have come ages ago had he not been in essence edging himself so that he wouldn’t finish long before you.
You sat up so you cling to him, wrapping your arms around his neck and bringing him in for another kiss. You couldn’t get enough of his lips, or hips scent, his arms around, or really anything about him. His arms wrapped around your right after he entered you as you kissed, your moans swallowed by one another’s mouths. That wonderful fullness was back again and he waited until you gave him the go-ahead that you were comfortable again before moving. His thrusts were measured, slow but forceful in a way that had you mewling against his shoulder.
He took his time with you, basking in the feeling of being with you in such a way. His lips found your neck once more, then your shoulder, then your chest and over the tops of your breasts. A particularly loud moan on your part had his attention turned back fully to spearing you on his cock.
“There?” He asked, looking to you for your response. You nodded your head into shoulder and he kissed the top of your head tentatively, smiling at your pleasured state. He focused on hitting that spot again, and again, until your nails started to dig into his shoulders. He let one hand drift between your bodies and down to your core, using the knowledge he’d gained from exploring you with his mouth to heighten your bliss.
“Lao!” His name left your mouth, along with obscenities. You weren’t really sure what you were saying at this point apart from his name. His fingers dancing over your clit combined with his thrusts had you feeling so stimulated that you swore that was all you could feel right now. The coil in your stomach had been rigid and pulsing for a few minutes now.
He pressed another kiss to your temple, “I’m almost there!” He told you, voice shaking both with intensity and the constant movement of you both.
“These bed sheets are a pain to clean.” You informed him in a moment of clarity and he laughed, but his voice was strained as you met his thrusts with your hips.
“Where-“ he gasped, “Do you want it?”
“Inside.” You quickly replied, knowing that you had taken any precautions you needed to.
He laughed again, “I swear you’re trying to kill me.”
As he rubbed harder and more sloppily on your clit, you knew he was extremely close. His forehead was tucked into your shoulder now, skin glistening. When you tugged the hair on the back of his neck between your fingers, he was done. A cry escaped him, cock twitching as he filled you with his release.
That feeling, the feeling of his body shuddering against you, his warmth filling you, was what finally made you come for a second time. You fell back against the covers, taking him with you as you worked through your release. He kept going, lightly and sloppily moving in and out of you until he was sure you were spent. He collapsed a top you, chest heaving in tandem with yours as you slowly came down from your high. When he turned his head to look up at you, a smile spread across your face and his in turn.
“We really shouldn’t have waited so long.” You sighed, feeling the stickiness between your legs as he carefully pulled out of you, not moving his cheek from your chest.
“Agreed.” He huffed in another large breath before his breath evened. It was so good to be with you, in any capacity really but this, this was something almost heavenly.
“Sorry, I think these sheets are still going to need to be cleaned.” He leant up off of you and off the bed, careful not to crush you under his weight, his playful little side smile returning as he walked to your en suite to grab a towel.
You looked down between your legs to check, groaning at the mess. “It can wait for tomorrow!” You didn’t feel like doing any kind of cleaning right now. Your body was spent and your muscles had already begun to ache. He returned with a damp towel and ever so gently wiped away any mess from between your legs, his movements so tentative that it was hard to believe he’d been the one to make that mess in the first place.
“Why? You got something else planned for tonight?” He asked, chucking the towel in the general direction of your bathroom before scooping you up in his arms and setting you down against your pillows.
“Yeah I was just about to go train.” You said in a mock serious tone, actively shoving the covers down so you could both crawl beneath them.
“Ha! Sure.” He had already settled beside you, bringing his arms to wrap around your frame. You turned to face him, your hand sliding beneath his upper arm to gently caress his back as you buried your face in his chest. You felt his lips on your forehead again, his arms tightening to bring you as close to him as he could.
Yeah, you weren’t moving for the world.
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anyoneseenadam · 3 years
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Hey! I love your writing so much! Would you be open to write something about Azriel with a fae in Velaris who his shadows actively seek out and he has no idea why. I imagine that she works at a large library and that's where they meet because Azriel would go to figure out what was so special about her. Thanks!
pairing: azriel x reader (acotar)
warnings: implied smut, drinking, men being gross at bars (doesn’t go into detail), mainly just fluff and awkwardness though :)))
a/n: I rlly like this one so I hope you do to!! comments are always appreciated, hope you enjoy <3
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 Azriel was standing with Cassian in a small street in Velaris. The ground beneath him was cobbled and all the houses in this area were brightly coloured, the sun seeming to shine brighter over them. They were waiting for Mor as she demanded they help her buy Rhysand a birthday present, desperate to get someone, anyone a good present. She was in a small local shop after Cassian suggested that he would love something from any small business and Cassian let out a groan as he realised she had wandered deeper into the shop. They had already been waiting twenty minutes for her.
“I’m going to drag her out,” Cassian said pushing off the wall and Azriel huffed a breath through his nose.
“Please be quick, don’t let her scare you into staying.” Cassian threw a rude symbol over his shoulder and Azriel grinned reservedly.
He let his gaze travel over more of the houses, his gaze catching on a white house with blue accents, and a blue balcony where a girl sat sipping an orange drink from a large glass and reading a book. He observed her for a while, she was sat curled in a straw chair with a colourful cushion and there was soft music coming from her house, her hair was down and natural and her face was clear of makeup as she soaked in the sun, wearing a males oversized shirt and some knee high socks.
Feeling his stare on her she looked up, grinning cheekily at him when he flushed red and lifting her glass to him in greeting. He was saved from further embarrassment though when Cassian came out, dragging a triumphant Mor who was holding up a purple, silk shirt and bottle of wine. Cassian made a gagging face behind her back as she linked arms with both of them, dragging them down the road and chatting their ears off about the kind old lady from the shop.
As they left Azriel dared a final glance over his shoulder to the girl from the balcony who was still watching him, cocking her head, and waving as he left. As they walked home, choosing to enjoy the sun, he heard nothing of what Mor said, completely focused on the girl from the balcony.
--
When they got home Mor winnowed away to hide her present and Cassian made a comment about Mor’s unique ability to always get horrendous presents. They walked through the door and Feyre instantly looked up from her spot of the sofa, gaze narrowing at Azriel.
“You look different.” She said and Rhys looked up too, frowning when he saw Feyre was right.
“What did you change?” he asked as Amren walked into the room, her head tilting.
“Nothing.” He said defensively as everyone stared at him, not enjoying the way everyone was looking at him now and wishing he could be alone to daydream about the pretty girl he had seen.
“Haircut?” suggested Nesta but he shook his head.
“I haven’t changed anything!” Mor was back now too and had joined in staring, gasping when she realised.
“Where are your shadows?!”
“Ohhhhhhh, that’s it,” Cassian said, sitting down next to his mate as Azriel felt for the shadows that followed him, feeling a rush of white-hot panic shoot through him when he couldn’t feel them.
“Wait what? Where are they then?” Rhys asked and he shook his head, searching for them and frowning when he felt them far away.
“They’re still in Velaris, they must have just stayed somewhere,” he tried to explain.
“Is there another shadow singer in Velaris?” Amren asked and Rhys shook his head.
“Not that we know of,” Azriel felt a flood of relief as his shadows flew back in, almost sheepishly and settled around him, whispering complaints and apologies, as he wondered what had kept them.
--
You had frowned when the handsome, winged male had left, rather enjoying the eye candy. Your friend walked back outside and took her seat opposite you, as you placed down your book and picked up your Apperol Spritz.
“You just missed the hottest male I’ve ever seen.” You said, laughing at her as her face fell completely.
“Why didn’t you shout for me!” she screeched, and you flung an olive pit at her head,
“He would have heard me idiot!”
“Well did you at least get a name?”
“No but I made prolonged eye contact and I think he got the message.”
“The message being?”
“That I would like to marry him and have his babies.”
“Ah makes sense,” you were laughing together as she carried on with the story she had been telling you about the cute Faerie at her work when you felt a cold feeling settle around you, strange given you were still sat in the sun. She stopped talking, giving you a weird look.
“How are you doing that?” she asked as you shrugged.
“I’m not,” the feeling moved, and you realised you were surrounded by shadows, alike the handsome man you had just seen. Your initial anxiety slipped away as they started playing with your hair and caressing your skin alike a lover would. “Hot boy had shadows like this,” you commented, and your friend gasped, eyes wide and a hand over her heart as she sighed.
“Maybe you’re mates!” you rolled your eyes, relaxing into the shadows touch.
“I don’t think my commitment issues can take that,” you joked, and it was her turn to roll her eyes.
“That cynicism is going to be the death of you,” she said in a singsong voice before downing her gin, “Now onto important matters, Rita’s or The Marine?”
--
Two hours later you were completely dolled up, lips red and eyeliner smudged, heeled boots elongating your legs and your all-black outfit making you look intimidating enough that you wouldn’t be bothered by gross men.
“We’re fae, why do you dress like a vampire,” your friend asked, the two of you already slightly buzzed from pre’s.
“Cause vampires are hot and I’m hot so it’s a match made in heaven.”
“Also she has a blood kink!” your roommate shouted from the bathroom and you threw a shoe at her.
“Bitch.” You said, laughing as she came out and the three of you stood to leave.
“Am I wrong?” she asked, and you shoved her, muttering a small no under your breath.
The three of you made your way to Rita’s and got in the queue. You leaned against the cold, brick wall when you saw him again, similarly dressed in all black and somehow looking even better under the light of the moon, his tanned skin glowing in the pale light. He caught your eyes, his face barely changing as he lifted his hand in a half wave, you nodded your head up with a smirk. Your friends followed your gaze, both gasping slightly as they caught sight of him at the end of the queue with his friends.
“Is that hot boy?!”
“Uh huh,” you smiled cheekily at her, “And I call dibs.”
“I get why you want to have his babies,”
“Wait you know him?” your roommate asked, and you shrugged with a smile. “How the fuck do you know the high lords shadow singer?”
“I get around,”
“He was outside earlier today,” your friend translated as the three of you moved into the club, instantly heading to the bar for more drinks.
“That too I guess, shots?” the three of you ordered six vodka shots and you laughed at your friends’ reactions to them.
“How do you enjoy this,” your roommate squealed as you tipped your head back, smiling at the familiar burn.
“Feels good,” you said, taking your second.
“Sadist.”
--
Azriel couldn’t believe his eyes. There you were again, your bare face swapped for dark makeup, and loose clothes swapped for a dress he desperately wanted to see on his floor. At first he wasn’t even sure it was the same girl, your style so different, but it was. And he had waved. No cool head tilt like the one you gave him, no sultry eyes, and pouting lips, just a stupid wave. And then you had laughed with your friends and he decided he needed the sound bottled, something to keep with him at all times.
You had walked inside without so much as a second glance and Azriel had to refrain himself from slamming his head against the wall.
“Who were you waving at?” Amren asked, the small women appearing next to him.
“Just someone I met earlier.” He didn’t want to get into the details, especially not around Cassian who would tease him relentlessly if he heard. Amren, thankfully, dropped it as they moved into Rita’s, his eyes instantly finding you at the bar, two empty shot glasses next to you as you laughed with your friends.
He moved with his family to a table that pretty remained reserved for them as Rita came to get them some drinks and see if they wanted food. He only half listened, ordering a Scotch as he watched you as you and your friends moved to dance together, completely enamoured by you despite not having said anything to you.
Eventually he pulled his eyes away and focused on his friends and his drink as they laughed into the small hours of the night. He kept stealing glances at you, his grip on his glass tightening when he saw you leaning against the bar waiting for drinks as a male leaned too close to you. He almost stood to intervene when saw you lean in close to the man, meeting Azriel’s eyes over his shoulder and whispering in his ear. Azriel wished he could hear what you said but you were too far away, and the music was too loud, but whatever it was, the male turned white and scampered away, almost tripping over his feet as you giggled.
When it happened this time he noticed, feeling the coolness of his shadows leave and he watched as they travelled over to you, wrapping around you, and making you look like an angel of death. You turned and caught his eyes, winking at him before grabbing the tray of drinks the bartender had laid out for you and sauntering over to your friends.
“Is she a shadow singer?” Feyre asked, following his gaze and he shook his head, feeling a smile come over his face as he watched you interact with your drunk friends.
“No I think they just like her,” his high lady smiled at him,
“You mean you like her,”
“I haven’t even spoken to her.” He said drily and Nesta leaned over,
“Love at first sight,” she said in a singsong voice making him roll his eyes.
“This isn’t a romance book,” he said, huffing as a crowd moved in front of you and he couldn’t see you anymore.
“You tell yourself that,” Feyre said, patting his knee.
An hour later, when most the club was empty, you were standing, swaying slightly with your friend leaning on you.
“No baby, no more you’ll throw up again,” he heard you coo as she reached for a drink that was left on someone table. She huffed but you passed her into the arms of your other friend, and he sat up straight when he realised you were coming over to him.
You bowed your head slightly at Rhys and Feyre as all his friends turned to stare at you, your gaze unfaltering and your back straight as you looked at him.
“I think these belong to you,” you said, gesturing to the shadows swirling around your arms.
He tried to fight his blush, pulling them back in, “Yeah, thanks..?” he trailed off and you finished for him.
“(y/n).”
“Azriel.”
“Well Azriel,” his name sounded divine on your tongue, and you shot him another half-smile, “see you around.”
--
The next day, he was up only three hours after he fell asleep, desperate to find you. He wandered into town, usual leathers swapped for a white shirt collar peeking out of a dark sweater, his hands tucked into his pockets as he found himself wandering down your cobblestoned street. He looked up to your balcony and considered throwing rocks at the glass doors like in one of Nesta’s romance novels but paused when he saw all the lights were turned off.
Instead he chose to wander into the shop Mor had been in the previous day. The room smelt old, and he could see the dust moving in the morning light as he walked in. An old lady was behind the counter and she smiled as she recognised him.
“Hello, how can I help you?” she asked as he came to stand in front of her.
“I actually had a question,” she motioned for him to continue, “Do you know where I could find (y/n)?” he asked, and she smiled a knowing smile.
“Interested in my granddaughter are you?” she asked, eyes sparkling and Azriel rubbed the back of his neck, smiling nervously, “She works at the library in the square, I’m sure you’ll find her there.”
He thanked her and she waved him away, knowing she would get to hear all the details next Wednesday when the two of you met for tea. But until then she was happy to watch the handsome man leave to find you.
He flew to the library that your grandmother had mentioned and walked in. This was always one of his favourite places to come in the city. The bookshelves were tall and overflowing, candles covered the room, and there were huge glass windows on the far wall that cast the room in planes of light. He walked around for a while, letting his shadows lead him until he found you with a pile of books in your arms that you were going to return.
You smiled when you saw him, dressed in a black dress with lots of daisies on it that went halfway down your calf, a black cardigan, and black boots. Your hair was held back in a low bun, but you had strands falling out making you look impossibly cute, and he almost said as much as he moved to take some books from your arms.
“So are you stalking me now?” you had asked cheekily, and he stammered when he realised just how weird he looked.
“No, no I…”
“Relax I’m teasing, I’m glad you’re here actually.”
“You are?” he asked, relaxing slightly as you stood on your tiptoes to put a book on a shelf.
“Yes, you’re very pretty,” he laughed, and you smiled at him, your eyes creasing.
“Well so are you,” he replied as you turned to face him, “But you do keep stealing my shadows and I’m wondering why that is?”
“I’m stealing them am I? I just presumed that you were very mean to them and they wanted someone else,”
“They’re spoiled,” he joked, watching as they trailed up your arms and you giggled,
“You speak about them like they’re pets.”
“You’d be surprised how accurate that actually is,” he muttered as you moved to the next aisle and your laughter bounced of the walls, wincing slightly due to your drinking induced headache.
He went to help you with more books when his fingers touched your hand and the word hit him, mate. You looked up at him shocked before giggling.
“I guess that’s what the shadows meant,” you let out an ‘oomph’ as suddenly the shadows shot forward, pushing you into his chest and Azriel looked at you.
“I have a mate.” He repeated to himself.
“And I have commitment issues so this might be rough,”
“It’s fine I have attachment issues,” he replied, unable to stop the smile forming on his face, “Match made in heaven.”
“More like hell,” you joked as he leaned down to you.
“Can I kiss you?” he practically whispered, lips almost touching yours as his wings circled the two of you. You nodded slightly and the two of you stumbled back from the force of the kiss, his hands gripping your waist tightly as yours wove into his hair, grinning against his mouth.
“Azriel,” you muttered between kisses, pulling back slightly only to just be pulled right back in. You repeated his name again, successfully pulling away this time as his lips attached to your neck.
“Az, we’re in a public library.”
“So?”
“So we can continue this when I’m off work,” you shoved him off with a laugh as he grumbled, before pulling you in for a final kiss.
“What time?” he asked.
“My shift ends at three,” you smiled as he looked at the clock.
“It’s only eight,”
“Maybe wait at your house,” you laughed at his expression, pressing a chaste kiss to his mouth before walking off, shooting him a smirk over you shoulder.
Only six hours, fifty-nine minutes left.
514 notes · View notes
soramei · 3 years
Text
Intentional - Part 6
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Pairing: Bang Chan x Reader (she/her)
Summary: Landing your first real job at JYPE was something short of a miracle. You were prepared to face the new struggles of this elusive career whilst moving to a new country, however, nothing could have prepared you for him. Will stolen glances, secret touches, and hushed nights spent in the recording room ever be enough for the both of you?
Genre: idol!bang chan au, forbidden relationship, coworkers to eventual lovers, slow burn
Warnings: cursing, eventual smut
Word Count: 3.5k
Masterlist
A/N: hehe my mistake, i forgot to queue up this update and by the time i realized it was too late so i'm posting this a day late ^^
Taglist (reply to be tagged!): @planetdemon​ @hvunvely​ @fluffybitch0325​ @fashi0nablee @juststop88 @straykisz @theultimaterad @margaritas-en-la-montania @meowtella @xsam1992x
The man froze in his tracks after entering the room and catching you laying on the couch with Bang Chan on top, practically devouring you. He looked scarred, to be frank, as he quickly snapped back to reality and bolted out the door in less than a second. As he made his grand escape, you forcefully pushed Bang Chan off of you. He swore under his breath before tripping out the door, trying to follow the man who had just caught you.
You sat up, head in your hands. This was exactly what you were scared of. What you worried so much about a few nights back. What Bang Chan reassured you of not happening.
You feel panic set in as you thought of the worst case scenario. Yup. You were going to get fired for sure. And the news will go to the public, resulting in Bang Chan also losing his job. You would then have to move back with your parents, and everybody will have the same look of shame and pity whenever they see you.
This wasn’t good. You stood up to make your own inconspicuous escape, but it seemed like Bang Chan beat you to the door.
“That was Jisung,” Bang Chan said. He entered, making sure to lean against the door just in case anybody else wanted to intrude.
The name and the face clicked in your mind. He was part of Stray Kids as well as Bang Chan’s coworker. You recognized him more commonly as Han, as his name has come up in a lot of the work you’ve been sent.
“What did he say?” you asked skeptically. Worry was setting in.
“Don’t worry, he said he wouldn’t tell anybody. I trust him.”
How were you supposed to believe that? You’ve never even spoken to this man in your life, and now you were supposed to put the future of your career in his hands?
“But I don’t, Chan. I’ve never even met this guy in real life before. How can I trust that he won’t tell one of your other group members?” You heard your voice get louder with every word.
“I had a talk with him just now, Y/n, you can trust him. Out of everybody in this company, he’s the least likely to tell just anybody — even one of our members.” He paused, “don’t you trust me, Y/n?”
You were speechless. Your trust in him was completely different from your trust in Jisung, and you were sure he knew that. Obviously you trusted Bang Chan, but you didn’t know the extent that his group members would go to for a secret. Especially one that could have an effect on their careers as well.
“You can’t just ask me that, and you know it,” you sneered. “You know what? It’s my fault. I was too careless. I’ll leave now.”
“Wait, Y/n-”
You didn’t even let him finish before stomping out the door, making sure to check your surroundings for anybody that could catch you before heading back up to your cubicle. You felt the heat of your cheeks the whole elevator ride.
You were on edge for the rest of the day. When Manager Chen asked to see you in her office, you were so startled that you quite literally jumped from your seat. You were sure somebody had informed her of what happened, but it turned out that she just wanted to rearrange the usual Friday meeting.
Because of the filming tomorrow, the project meeting had to be arranged for next week. Which you were fine with, of course, since you did not want to face all your managers in one place after what had just happened.
Throughout the rest of the day, you started to feel more and more guilty for how you reacted at lunch. As your mind cleared, you realized how rash you were with your decision making and how you only thought about yourself. You also thought about how rude it was to talk about Jisung like that, especially in front of Bang Chan — who cared a lot about the boy.
Logging off your email for the day, the thought of Bang Chan still lingered bitterly in your mind. You wished to apologize for your harsh behaviour, so you started to make your way over to his producing room.
However, you hadn’t even made it on the elevator before you were stopped.
“Hey, uhm — you might not recognize me, but I’m the guy from earlier. Han Jisung.”
He was standing politely behind you, hands folded together behind him.
“Hello, I still remember. You know, from earlier,” you awkwardly breathed out a laugh. You didn’t know what to say or why he was here.
“Hyung told me I could find you here and that I should apologize.” He took his hands out from behind him. “He also said that this might help.”
In his hand was a bottle of mango juice. Your heart warmed at the thought of Bang Chan still caring for you, despite you being such a jerk earlier.
“Anyways,” he continued, “I’m sorry for barging in like that and leaving so suddenly. I should’ve knocked or something before coming in, but Chan-hyung is somebody I’m very close to. I would never jeopardize him in any way.”
Hearing him apologize made you realize how little thinking you had done. Jisung regularly worked with Bang Chan, so of course he would just enter the room without knocking.
“Thanks for your apology, but I should be apologizing. I was the one being reckless. You did nothing wrong, Jisung. I trust that you wouldn’t tell anybody of this.”
“Thanks,” he said as the both of you entered the elevator.
The both of you stood in silence for a bit before he started again.
“So, Chan hyung huh.” He raised his eyebrows. “You know, he’s the best looking one out of all of us… after me of course.”
“Oh my god.” You blushed, head in your hands as he kept elbowing you.
“But, Y/n.” He got all serious again. His serious-playful demeanor was giving you whiplash. “You know what you’re doing is dangerous, right? Not only for him, but also for you. I love our fans, but there are some that have taken it too far before. I just want the two of you to be safe.”
“Thanks Jisung,” you started, “for that and for keeping this secret.”
“Of course, any ‘friend’ of Hyung's is a friend of mine.” He winked, causing you to heat up from embarrassment again.
The elevator reached Jisung’s floor, and he got out.
“Oh, also, I think you should call Chan hyung. He’s been pretty down this whole afternoon, and even my natural charisma couldn’t cheer him up.”
You thanked him for the last time before the elevator doors closed, promising him that you would contact Bang Chan.
And you did — as soon as you were alone in the elevator.
One ring. Two rings. A third.
“Hello?” He sounded out of breath.
“Chan?”
“Yes, Y/n?”
Crap, he sounded annoyed.
“Uhm, can we meet up somewhere? I-I wanted to talk to you.”
There was a slight pause.
“I’m at the gym right now. We could meet at the playground by the river in an hour.”
“Ok.” You hung up after that. It was a weird phone call. From his voice alone, you could obviously tell something was bugging him. You knew you were that something.
Grabbing a quick bite at a nearby convenience store, you started your journey to the playground. It wasn’t too far of a walk, but you decided to go earlier since it was already starting to get dark.
You hoped Bang Chan wasn’t in too much of a bad mood, especially after your conversation with Jisung. Honestly, you weren’t too excited to apologize. Not because you didn’t feel bad, but because of his cold and monotone voice through the phone. You didn’t want to admit it — especially because you had just met this man a few weeks ago — but you were scared of his possible rejection. It terrified you.
Breathing into your hands for warmth, you finally saw the playground up ahead. It was near the river, but covered by trees. You now understood why Bang Chan picked this place.
It was empty, as you assumed no child would want to play tag on a cold and dark evening. You sat on a swing, mindlessly swinging up and down whilst staring at the upcoming moon. The sound of crickets chirping combined with the cool autumn breeze almost brought you to serenity, but the thought of confronting Bang Chan grounded you back to earth.
You turned your head at the sound of panting. Bang Chan had jogged here. The ends of his hair were damp with sweat, stuck to his forehead. You wanted to call him crazy, as the only thing he wore was a sleeveless tank top and a pair of shorts on a cold autumn night.
He made his way to the swings.
“Hey,” he said, hopping on to the swing beside you. He was still out of breath from jogging.
“Hey,” you paused for a few seconds to think of what to say. “I wanted to apologize for earlier. I wasn’t thinking. I know you care about your job as well, and it was selfish of me to walk out on you. I’m also sorry for talking about Jisung like that. I met him this afternoon and he seemed like a good guy. And if there’s anything else I missed, I’m sorry for that too.”
You looked up at Bang Chan with puppy eyes, hoping that he would understand. He looked back at you.
“I accept your apology, Y/n. And look, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have been so reckless, especially at the office. I knew that anybody could have walked in, and I was careless. We were lucky this time, but next time we might not be.”
“Next time?” Your eyes brightened.
“Y/n,” he got up, “I’m scared. I’m scared that I feel this way about you after only a few weeks. I’m terrified of losing my job, my coworkers, and friends. But Y/n, I just want you. I’m laying all my cards out on the table. This is how I feel, what about you?”
That was a lot to take in. Your grip tightened on the swing.
“Chan, everything you just said, I feel the same way. Everything about this scares me, but I just want you. Only you.”
You got up and wrapped your arms around him. You felt the cold sweat of his arms against your skin, but you didn’t care. You just wanted to be near him.
He wrapped his arms around you in return, digging his nose into your neck. You felt his damp hair against your skin.
“Chan, you’re all sweaty,” you teased, pushing his head away.
“I don’t care.” His words came out muffled against your neck as he dug his nose further.
“I feel like a kid being in a playground.” You scanned the empty playground, reminiscing on your childhood.
“Would a kid do this?”
Bang Chan, with his fingers on your chin, turned his head to kiss you so deep you thought you were going faint. You returned the kiss, hands gripping hard on to the sides of his tank. It seemed like the two of you were in your own little world.
“You should go. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day,” Bang Chan said after eventually breaking the kiss.
“Mhmm,” you mumbled, trying to stall for time. You knew that the both of you should get going.
Eventually, after quite a while, you left for home. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. A very cute and dimple-y weight.
That evening, you packed all your necessities for the overnight shoot tomorrow, and fell asleep with high hopes for the next day. You were excited to see all your — along with the production team’s — efforts come to fruition.
The next morning, you woke up early and energized. You double checked that everything was ready before heading out to the JYPE building.
Manager Chen had informed you of which van you would be riding in to the set. Although she wasn’t in the vehicle with you, you had the opportunity to chat amongst some other very interesting members in the production crew.
After a few hours of driving, your van — along with the others — arrived. You helped the production crew set up as much as you could, as you were told the boys already started filming their drive to the set. Whilst waiting for the boys to come, you socialized around with both the production crew and Manager Chen.
Soon, after chatting for a bit, you saw the long awaited van pull up to the set. The boys got out, one by one, each holding their own little video cameras.
Bang Chan got out last. He looked amazing, really. With his hair and makeup done and his outfit styled, he was almost like a different person. You’ve never seen him without black on, but this was a surprisingly refreshing look.
It was chaos. With every boy at their peak energy, there was never a boring moment on set. It was clear that everybody — even the quieter ones — had established nice dynamics within the group. You watched them in awe, with Manager Chen telling you the behind happenings every now and then.
You found it so hard to hold in your laughter as the boys attempted to make mooncakes. It reminded you of your childhood; when you used to do the same with your mother.
As Bang Chan read off the script which you helped with, you felt a certain sense of pride in your heart. You smiled at him as he expressed himself to the camera.
It was dinner time for the boys, so that meant dinner for you and the crew as well. You followed the production team to a noodle restaurant. It was a small and cute, grandma-grandpa owned place. The menu, however, was huge.
“Y/n, this is Manager Jung,” Manager Chen said. She directed your gaze to a guy who looked in his late twenties. You instantly recognized him as the manager that drove you home on your first day of work.
“We’ve met before,” he said.
“You have?” Manager Chen was surprised.
“We have, but it’s nice to meet you under better circumstances,” you blushed. You hoped that you didn’t leave too bad of a first impression with him.
“It’s nice to meet you too, I’ve only heard good things about you from Manager Chen,” he said. “Actually, we were just discussing the sleeping arrangements for tonight.”
“Yes, we’ve managed to book a place that has enough rooms for everybody to sleep alone. They’re not the best of rooms, but this was the best we could do with our budget,” Manager Chen said.
“Sounds good to me,” you nodded. You were fully expecting to share a room with five other women.
You had a happy evening, eating and chatting before getting back to work. You watched as the boys carried out every production order to a tee, all the while keeping up their high energy even late into the night.
You helped the production crew with setting up fireworks for their next segment. Even the act of setting up got you excited as you haven’t seen fireworks in so long. Especially in a new country.
The rest of the filming went smooth, with the end slate following the last firework of the evening. You watched as the boys all lined up in a straight line to thank the production and camera crew. Bang Chan’s eyes landed right on yours. You smiled. He smiled back.
The boys were then ushered by Manager Jung into their own hostel, and you followed the crew to your room. The room was lit by a small incandescent light bulb. It was a small room with nothing but a mat for the floor, a small blanket, and a pillow. Though, to be fair, you weren’t expecting much.
You laid out the mat and blanket, washed up, and was about to call it in when you received a text from Bang Chan.
Bang Chan: You looked cute today.
You blushed, not aware that Bang Chan had even seen you during the day. He looked so busy with filming the whole time that you hadn’t even made eye contact. You smiled and returned the text.
Y/n: You too ^^
And with that, you peacefully fell asleep.
You had a tranquil dream; with only clouds, and sunshine, and… Manager Jung?
“Y/n!” he called.
Your dream clone hopped over to him to say hello.
“Y/n!” He called again. He looked worried. “Y/n!”
You suddenly jolted awake.
“Y/n! Hurry, get out!” He was coughing, holding the hem of his shirt up to his face.
You looked at him. His silhouette was clouded by smoke. You looked up.
The light bulb hanging from was burning and emitting a smoke of some kind. You gasped in shock, instantly regretting it as you breathed in a large amount of the smoke.
Manager Jung was already running outside at this point, and you quickly ran after him. Along the way you tried to hold your breath, but with every inhale you took in, a cloud of smoke followed. You coughed and kept running.
It seemed as if you were the last person out, as everybody staying at the hostel had already evacuated. Manager Chen was standing outside, a look of worry on her face.
“Y/n, are you okay?” She ran over to you.
“Yes,” you coughed. You still felt the smoke in your throat. “What happened?”
“The light bulb in your room caught on fire,” Manager Jung intervened. “Manager Chen was still awake when she smelled the smoke, and she evacuated everybody inside. Everybody woke up except you, Y/n.”
“Is everybody else okay?” you asked. You could hear how hoarse your voice sounded.
“Everybody else is alright. For some reason, the fuse shortage was only isolated to your room,” Manager Chen replied.
It was unfortunate that, out of all the rooms, the broken light bulb was in yours. However, you were glad that everybody else was safe. You were also thankful that Manager Jung woke you up in time, leaving you with only a sore throat.
“Hyung!”
You whipped your head to the direction of the voice. Bang Chan was sprinting across the dirt path in your direction. His hair was disheveled and his t-shirt wrinkled. Behind him was Jisung, dashing over so fast that he somehow managed to match Bang Chan’s pace. Jisung threw his hand, catching the back of Bang Chan’s shirt, pulling him back. Jisung then said some incoherent words to Bang Chan, which seemed to have slowed him down. Bang Chan took a couple deep breaths before waiting for his other members and walking over to you and the crew.
“What happened? Is everybody okay?” Bang Chan asked, concerned. He glanced at you before facing Manager Jung again.
“Everybody is fine,” Manager Jung reassured him. “There was a problem with the light bulb in a crew member’s room, but everybody has evacuated now. You and the boys don’t need to worry. Just go back to your rooms as you have a long day tomorrow.”
“Whose room was it?” Bang Chan asked, ignoring everything Manager Jung had just told him.
Manager Jung hesitated before pointing at you. Upon realization, Bang Chan jerked forward, only to be stopped by Jisung again. He gave Bang Chan a look.
“I’m okay,” you coughed out. It was hard to not sound so hoarse when you had just been breathing in smoke for god knows how long.
Bang Chan gave a deadpan look to Manager Jung.
“We have extra rooms where we’re staying, maybe Y/n can stay with us?” he asked.
“That is unnecessary, I will let Y/n use my room and I will stay with you. I’m sure Y/n would be on board,” Manager Jung said. He looked over to you, and you nodded in agreement.
“I guess that would work,” Bang Chan hesitantly said, “but what if this happens again with another room?”
“I’m sure that won’t-”
“Manager Jung!” Manager Chen interrupted, waving her hands whilst running over. “A member of our production crew took a look at the fuse box connected to Y/n’s room, and it seems like somebody tampered with the wires on purpose.”
172 notes · View notes
meliorist-midoriya · 3 years
Text
to you, to the world, to my love (you’re all three)
synopsis: midoriya has always had too much love to give in a world that loved to take. you’re just hoping that he has enough left for you in the end.
pairing: midoriya izuku x reader
genre: fluff with a touch of angst
warnings: some insecurity
word count: 2.5k
notes: happy valentine’s day, everyone! this is my contribution for the pocuties server collab, based off the greek types of love, of which i had the honor of receiving izuku and decided upon agape  please help yourself to the box of chocolates they’re offering for valentine’s, there’s a wide selection of chocolates handmade by talented creators, so i’m sure you’ll find something to your taste! tbh i only managed to finish this fic because i was watching chan’s valentine’s vlive and i was in a super soft mood ;3;
extra: agápe - the ancient greek concept of selfless, universal love.
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“Making his debut in the pro hero scene, Pro Hero Deku is blazing a trail straight out of UA—”
“—Pro Hero Deku solved an astounding 30 cases in the past month—”
“Deku’s popularity is skyrocketing, rivaling that of—”
“Hero Deku—”
“Deku—”
“Pro Hero Deku has swept the hero rankings to come out on top as Number 1!”
With a resolute ‘click’ of the remote, the reporters’ overlapping voices cut off as the TV screen faded away, your lonely reflection staring back at you from the blank screen. You, curled up on your empty couch, in your empty apartment with the clock striking what should have been dinner. The TV was only there in an attempt to drown out the crushing silence, the white noise—hellbent on filling the space his presence had left—was deafening.
That attempt failed.
Horribly.
If anything, it just made the sense of wrongness permeating the air even worse. 
(That TV recap of his best moments didn’t help as much as you hoped it would.)
Being alone in this apartment felt… off. As if someone had gouged out what should’ve been there, the ghost of a presence settling a chill into your bones that ran far deeper than just plain loneliness. The foreboding grief of what could be, the fear that you’d resigned yourself to the moment you agreed to follow him on this path, the selfishness gnawing at your conscience every time you saw him run out the door to save the next person, to solve the next case. 
Things like an All Might coffee mug sitting primly next to yours on the drying rack, garishly yellow “tufts” staring back at you with a cracked vengeance. (You’d apologized profusely to him that day, promising to buy him another one. He’d just smiled over his cracked cup of coffee, telling you not to worry about it for the hundredth time.)
Things like his haphazard mess of notes and scrawl spread out on the kitchen counter, the pen sitting next to the half finished page. (You’ve long since learned to leave his notes be, they’ll be tidied up once he’s done… if he’s ever truly done.)
The filled queue of movies and pile of DVDs you’d picked out together, giddy over plans to watch the next time he had a free night. (You remember pretending not to notice him trying to slip another hero documentary near the bottom of the pile, distracting you with talks of popcorn and the night that was supposed to be tonight.)
Deku. The man the world adored, clinging to his promise like a lifeline in times of need. 
Midoriya Izuku. The man you loved, who promised you the world.
“It’ll be okay, I’m here.”
His soft promise echoed both in the battlefield and in your darkest hours, a close mirror to a hero of a generation past, yet it was different. It was his own. Comforting, personal, and wholly him. The public, weak and grasping for new support, latched on to the small sliver of hope his hand offered and he just kept giving, giving, giving. It never seemed to stop, and you were scared. 
He was a man with a bleeding heart with all the love to give and more. To the civilians, to the villains, to anyone in need.
Now, you needed his promise more than ever. A reassurance whispered into reunions and the thousandth hospital visit, over fresh scars and searing kisses. A promise that he would come home. You didn’t want to think of all the times he came so, so close to breaking that promise, even before you two had made it, before you two had even promised yourselves to each other in your UA days.
You pulled the blanket a little tighter around you, staring down at your phone with no real intent in mind as you scrolled. The video playing one of his interview clips (bashfully reciting his “catchphrase,” how cute) cut his voice short as you scrolled past to move on to the next, wincing at the next tweet on your timeline. Him, battered and bloody, as he pulled a child from the aftermath of the battle he’d just won. 
You still need to wrap that new mug you got him as a gift. You still had to listen to him bounce his ideas off of you. You still had to move that hero documentary to the top of the pile. You still—
“Hero Deku saves 30 people, no casualties,” A soft murmuring of the headline shattered the silence, and you smiled to yourself, giggling at all the replies joking of how he threw himself into the fray a little more responsibly and singing their praises.
It’ll be okay.
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“Ugh, those reporters are at it again.” 
At your best friend’s exasperated groan, you followed their gaze over to see— ah. 
A small swarm of reporters had worked their way into the fans crowding your boyfriend, their press badges reading every tabloid magazine on this side of the city and prying questions falling off their tongue like poison. From what you could hear over their overlapping clamoring, they were trying to dig into his private life.
Again. 
Deku, the darling of the masses, all sweet smiles and sincere words amidst his strength. Deku, the number one hero with the tightest lock on his private life, which came as a surprise to both everyone and no one.
It was a given, considering his position at the peak of hero society.
It was also a complete shock, considering his tendency to ramble into tangents that had his PR team withering.
Which seemed to help in times like these, now that you thought about it, laughing to yourself as you watched the reporters’ expressions darken in defeat the longer he continued to talk around their questions. Quite a long stretch from stiffly standing on the practice stage at UA all those years ago, frozen from nerves. You idly mused to this to yourself, taking a sip of your drink as you dragged your gaze back over to your best friend.
“Did you choose this cafe because it’s right along Izuku’s patrol route?” They stiffened, and you couldn’t help but laugh at their obvious intentions.
“Maybe, or it could’ve been just a coincidence.” The next teasing jab was halfway off your tongue when they cut you off before you could give into the urge, the words dying in your throat. “When was the last time you saw him anyway? I know you two live together but Todoroki told me he practically lives at the agency with how swamped they are. Are you okay?”
You purse your lips, staring down at the ice swirling around in your cup as you idly stirred it round. As if the sloshing liquid could whisper the answer you wish you knew.
“...Yeah.” They cocked a brow, and you took another sip to try and delay your time. “It’s not like either of us can help it. Izuku’s number one, so this was bound to happen.”
(The clamoring from the reporters grew ever louder. Persistent, that bunch.)
Their expectant (doubting) gaze was met with your own steady one, and you smiled. Whether it was out of consolation or resignation was anyone’s guess.
“We’re okay, I promise.”
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You should really be getting to sleep. 
Really, you should.
At least, that’s what you’ve been telling yourself for the past several hours, tossing and turning in your bed with nothing but winter-cold sheets and a gnawing loneliness to keep you company. You know you should be sleeping when the clock on the bedside table reads an ungodly hour and there was work to be done in the morning. You know you should be sleeping when the moon disappears from the night sky and leaves you with nothing but the city lights to dimly illuminate the dark room.
You really know you should be sleeping when you hear the front door click open, Izuku shuffling around the apartment to get ready for whatever minimal amount of sleep he’d get before he had to be up and running soon after.
Despite this, sleep still refuses to come, and you don’t bother pretending to be asleep when he slides into bed next to you. Instead, you turn over and curl into his chest, stifling the guilt that bubbles up when he jumps in surprise.
“Something keeping you up?” Oh, he sounds so tired, and part of you wishes you could just make it all go away. The weight of the world rests heavy on his shoulders, and deep down, you wonder if you’re part of that burden. You curl a little closer, as if trying to smother the thoughts that crashed upon you, spilling over the crack in the dam that only widened the more you spoke.
“Jus’ a little lonely, is all.” Your voice is too quiet, brittle, and you pray to every deity that would listen that he would drop it. That he wouldn’t take on yet another burden when he was already carrying Altas’s share of the world.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Of course, the gods are hardly ever so merciful—to them you are just another wishful mortal in the realm of the holy and damned—and Izuku’s hand rests on your cheek with a tenderness that makes you want to cry.
“...Why?” 
The confusion that falls over his expression (gaunt, tired, and God, should you even be doing this right now?) is immediate, and he tilts your face up to meet his gaze with yours, like he could find the answer in city lights dancing over your face. His thumb strokes soft patterns over your cheek—as if brushing off the layers you’d built to protect your soul—and you lean into his soft touch with a sigh.
“Why what?”
The words spill from your lips unbidden, your hesitations softened by the comfort of his touch, the sudden drowsiness, and the emotion that near overwhelms you.
“Why do you still try to do everything yourself? When there’s so many people out there, ready to support you?” His breath hitches in shock, but it’s too late to go back now. You reach up to hold the hand cradling your cheek, distantly remembering a time when he was too insecure of his scarred and crooked hands to even hold your hand.
He’s come a long way, indeed.
“I love you, Izuku. I just don’t know if that can hold up against your love for the world.” 
Something in his gaze softens, to your surprise. His smile is even softer.
“What would you do if you’re both?”
“Wh— Izuku—”
He continues, and you listen, raptured by his words spoken into the glow of the blue hour.
“Yes, I know that at the end of the day, peace and safety has to come first, but—” His smile widens into something bashful, a smile that never failed to send butterflies scattering through your heart. “—who says you can’t be right along with them?” 
He bumped his forehead with yours, smiling emerald eyes gazing into your own with such love—dizzying and overpowering and so, so warm. With the steady thrum of your heartbeat matching his, you found yourself falling even deeper once again.
“You know me, I can never compromise when it comes to what’s important to me.”
You laugh, something watery, as he presses a kiss to your forehead, temple, cheek, with a last, smiling kiss on your lips.
“How greedy.” He laughs into your lips, pulling away to hold you closer.
“Just for you.”
There’s so many things you could’ve said, as you watched the rest of the night sky fade into the deep blues of dawn. But, you decide, the comforting silence was best left as is, only broken by one resounding comfort.
It’ll be okay.
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“You know, it would’ve been nice to know that you had taken the day off before I had that whole guilt spiral last night.”
“It turned out okay though, didn’t it?” He turned back to flash you that cheeky grin of his, half-hidden by his winter coat and backed by the glow of the setting sun. You just rolled your eyes with a laugh before jogging to catch up to him, slipping you hand out of your pocket to interlace your fingers with his.
“Yeah, it did.” 
The walk was silent as you two strolled down the familiar path, winding down after a whole day spent with each other. It was romantic of him, now that you thought about it, to take the whole Valentine’s Day off just for you. You hummed as you leaned onto him, giddy and content at the thought. 
In love, if you were to be so bold.
(Granted, he had to wear a mask and a cap the entire time to hide from the prying eyes of the public, but you made do.)
The sight of aged, familiar scenery pulled you from your musings, and you tugged at his hand to grab his attention, pointing at the quaint bench surrounded by bare gingko trees.
“Hey, wasn’t this the park where you confessed?” At your words, he froze and glanced over at the familiar scenery, eventually burying his face into his free hand with a groan once the old memories clicked in his head.
“Oh, don’t remind me. It’s still embarrassing to look back on.”
“What? I thought you were cute!” You laughed, nudging him to follow as you led him over to the small park, brushing off the dust to sit on the bench before patting the space next to you. Izuku obliged, and you almost automatically curled into his side, as if by habit.
“Did we really walk all the way here from the station?” His disbelieving tone made you look up at him, his expression one of nostalgic awe, before casting your attention back to the aged scenery, humming in agreement as you idly picked out what’s changed and what’s stayed in the years that have passed.
“I guess we never really forget, huh?”
“I forgot the sunset looked the best from here.”
“I hope you didn’t forget all the memories we made here.” He tore his attention from the sunset to gape down at you, scandalized.
“Of course not!” 
“Really?” He arched a brow at the teasing lilt to your voice and the mischievous grin playing at your lips, “So you didn’t forget accidentally firing an Air Force shot at me when we first met because you were training?”
He buried his face in his hands again with another embarrassed groan.
“I hoped you would forget that, at least!” You just laughed, hugging him closer as if to console him from your teasing. Before long, the atmosphere settled back into a quiet reminiscence, indulging in the nostalgia of memories past in this little park. The silence that was once deafening alone, now softened by the comfort of his presence at your side.
“We’ve made so many memories in this park, huh?” At your soft hum of agreement, he continued. Was his voice shaking? “It wouldn’t hurt to make more, would it?”
“What do you me—”
Your question cut itself short as you saw what he held out to you. 
A little velvet box, sitting open in his hand. You dragged your suddenly watery gaze back up to Izuku, his once bashful smile now wobbly with nerves. 
So familiar in this little park, yet so new.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”
It was just a small walk down memory lane, the street lights blinking on one by one in the wake of the fiery sunset as you two walked the familiar path together. Yet there was something buzzing anew in the air, humming through your soul as you held out your hand to the sun, admiring the way the gem on your ring finger sparkled in the fading sunset. In the other, you interlaced your fingers with his.
Yeah… 
You caught Izuku’s soft gaze, smiling and in love.
We’ll be okay.
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286 notes · View notes
cuttoothed · 3 years
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For day 1 of @aspecarchivesweek for the prompt “wish”. Someday I will write something that isn’t jmart, but that day is not today.
Ace Martin character exploration; Jon/Martin; some Martin/OMC
Warnings: internalized homophobia (brief); internalized aphobia (ongoing); reference to having sex while intoxicated; reference to having sex reluctantly (though not coerced); outing of ace character in their absence
*
Martin spends a long time wishing he was normal.
It starts when he’s fourteen. Well, no, it starts much earlier than that, but it’s when he’s fourteen that the nebulous muddle of feelings coalesces into something impossible to ignore. That’s when all the boys and girls in his class start making eyes at each other while pretending they aren’t; start talking about who they’d like to snog behind the bushes at the bottom of the sports field, and Martin feels something twist in his stomach when he realizes that the person he’d like to be behind the bushes with is Stephen Dowling, who has dark hair and blue eyes and snaps gum between his teeth all day long.
Martin never says anything about it, of course, tries not to even think about it, but he knows it’s not normal. As if he needed one more weird thing about him along with all his sick mum and his jacket that pulls tight across his shoulders, the seams fraying because he needs to get another year out of it before they spend money on a replacement. He keeps his head down and secretly believes that this part of his life will never be over.
*
Eventually, this part of his life is over.
He is nineteen and living in London in a cheap flatshare with three other people, he has a job at a real academic institution, and he has a boyfriend.
Ramesh is sweet and funny and has soft brown eyes with the longest eyelashes Martin’s ever seen. His heart flutters in his chest every time they’re together, his breath catching in his throat and spilling out as laughter. Martin feels normal, because this is London and nobody cares if he walks down the street with Ramesh’s hand in his, if he kisses his boyfriend in the queue for the chippie. It’s like a weight Martin never knew was there lifted off his chest and he can breathe properly for the first time in his life.
He and Ramesh go out for almost a month before they’re in Martin’s flat alone one night, all the others gone out, and Ramesh presses him down on the sofa and kisses him and crawls a hand inside Martin’s jeans. Martin feels hot and cold all at once, his stomach coiling sick and every muscle in his body tensing up for fight or flight. He pushes Ramesh away—too hard, too clumsy—and guilt courses through him at the hurt look in Ramesh’s soft eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Ramesh asks, and Martin can’t say, his heart pounding and his hand clenched painfully tight against the arm of the sofa.
“Sorry,” he’s able to say eventually. “I just, umm…”
“It’s all right,” says Ramesh, though he still looks hurt and confused and Martin has the feeling it’s not actually all right. “I probably surprised you. We can wait for next time, yeah?”
“Yeah,” says Martin, grateful at the reprieve. They sit on the sofa and watch a film instead, and Martin scarcely follows the plot as he tries to calm the adrenaline rushing through his veins, making him want to flinch every time Ramesh’s shoulder touches his.
Next time is the same. Martin apologizes again, and Ramesh says it’s all right again and then two days later breaks up with him.
“I just don’t think it’s working out,” he says, and Martin knows it really wasn’t all right after all.
*
Martin’s sick of wishing he was normal, and what is it they say: fake it ‘til you make it?
He gets drunk and takes home a man he doesn’t know and has sex. He scarcely remembers it the next day and he’s too hungover and miserable to try, but he’s proven to himself that he can have sex and that’s the important thing.
Having sex is normal. It’s what people in relationships do. Martin doesn’t know why he has the hang-ups he does, but he just needs to get over them and learn to relax a bit. Having a couple of drinks helps, he finds.
He has a few boyfriends here and there, and having sex really isn’t a problem. There are better things he could think of doing with his time, but it’s fine. There are even some nice things about it, like feeling close to someone. Intimate.
Eventually, he thinks, maybe he’ll stop feeling like he’s faking it.
*
It isn’t that he gives up on relationships. It’s just that there are so many expectations that Martin feels he always fails to live up to, so many rules that it seems like everyone but him instinctively knows. Trying feels like more hassle than it’s worth.
And then he gets transferred to the Archives and there is Jonathan Sims with his imperious glare and devastating voice and Martin is fourteen all over again watching Stephen Dowling snap his gum in Geography class.
“You really need to stop mooning,” Tim tells him. They’re at the Institute holiday party and they’re all a bit sloshed, and Martin can admit to himself that yes all right he was mooning a bit over Jon, who’s stood at the bar with his back to them, talking animatedly with Elias.
“I am not mooning,” he says, because there’s no reason he has to admit it to Tim as well. “I was just...contemplating.”
“Contemplating Jon’s arse,” Tim snorts, and then Sasha plonks down three shot glasses on the table in front of them and sits down in a rush.
“Who’s contemplating Jon’s arse?”
“Martin, of course.”
“I am not—” Martin begins to protest, but Sasha shushes him, pushing a shot into his hand. It smells of cinnamon and the liquid inside is bright red.
“Hopeless case,” sighs Tim, and drinks his shot. Sasha does the same and then gives Martin a sympathetic smile, her eyes a little bit unfocused.
“If it’s any consolation, Jon doesn’t shag anyone.”
“Sasha!” Tim scolds, and she suddenly seems to realize what she’s said, her eyes going wide.
“Shit,” she says. “Sorry, god, I shouldn’t have said anything. Martin, please pretend you never heard me say that.”
“Okay,” Martin promises but his brain is snagged on ‘Jon doesn’t shag anyone’, how she said it so easily, matter of fact, as if it wasn’t a big deal at all. He looks up at the bar where Jon is still standing with Elias, his slim hands gesturing as he talks.
“Drink your shot,” Tim tells him. “It’ll help you forget about Sasha’s big mouth.”
Martin drinks his shot, which is absolutely sickening, but he doesn’t forget.
*
There is one bed in Daisy’s safe house.
It’s evening when they arrive and Martin is exhausted, a bone deep weariness that might be from the travel or the fear or the fog that’s seeped under his skin. Jon looks tired too, dark circles under his eyes and now that Martin’s really looking at him for the first time in months, he’s amazed Jon hasn’t just shivered apart at the seams by now. He is filled with the desire to take Jon in his arms, as if he might hold the fragile pieces of him together, and he thinks that he could.
He saw Jon, in the Lonely, even if they haven’t talked about it since. Saw how Jon felt about him, so yes, Martin thinks he could put his arms around Jon and it would be welcome. He isn’t sure why he doesn’t, except that there’s a part of him that still feels like it’s trapped behind glass, abstracted and numb, and it keeps his arms by his sides while his heart yearns against his rib cage.
In the meantime, there is only one bed, and they both stand looking at it for a few moments, considering the implications and the fact that they have only just found each other again after months of absence.
“There’s enough room,” Jon says eventually, his voice soft and tired. Martin nods; there is enough room.
It’s cold, and they both climb under the covers in socks and tracksuit bottoms and long sleeved t-shirts, pile the thick feather duvet and two blankets over them. It feels like being cocooned, their combined body heat gradually warming the mattress, the slow even sound of Jon’s breathing warming something in Martin’s chest.
He’s here, he’s here with you. You’re here with him.
In the gentle dark they gravitate together, drawn close by the longing that’s suffused all their months apart. When Jon’s lips press gently against his, Martin thinks his heart might burst. He kisses back, and at last that trapped part of him breaks free and he lifts his arms to wrap around Jon, pulls him against his chest. Jon makes a soft, surprised sound and he breaks the kiss.
“Martin,” he says, careful the way he has been since he brought Martin back, as if a wrong word might shatter him. “I need to tell you, before this goes any further—”
“It’s okay,” Martin tells him. “I don’t want to have sex with you either.” It feels so good to be able to say it that Martin could cry or laugh or both.
“Oh,” says Jon, and then huffs a soft laugh. “Well that’s—that’s good, then.”
He kisses Martin again, and leans in against him, close and warm and filling every part of Martin’s awareness. Martin knows he left all hope of normal behind years ago, before worms and fog and evil circuses. But the fact that he gets to have this—just this, with the man he loves; no expectations and nothing to fake; and for the moment at least, no fear. This is far, far better than normal.
And Martin couldn’t wish for anything else.
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donaidk · 3 years
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Looking at me - Arthur Leclerc
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Thank you so much for requesting! I already had an idea in my head for something like this and you just gave that last push! It was my first time writing in third person, and I really-really need the practice. Still I hope you will enjoy this 😀🧡 Have a great weekend everyone!
Inspiration song
Masterlist | Taglist/Queue | Request
Getting a chance to walk a well known fashion show at the age of 19 was a huge step in her career. She had jobs and photoshoots all the time, but everyone knew that you’re becoming a name in the industry when well known brands ask you to model for them. She already had a photoshoot with one of them a year ago, but having that break since then and now made her think she probably wouldn’t make it into the real fashion world. However, after Alpha Tauri gave her a chance thanks to Pierre, she was contacted by a well known brand just days after the release of the pictures and they asked her to attend their show at the end of the year. Having the promise of such a big show got her through every harder moment throughout the year and she felt like December couldn’t turn up quick enough.
Luckily as it was well after the end of the season for Pierre he could attend with their parents and siblings. She couldn’t even imagine going through something like this without them. Y/N used her last two guest seats to invite both Charles and Arthur. They were friends of their family and she knew Charles was into fashion and would always take the opportunity to attend shows. He probably could have bought tickets to it himself, but it wasn’t the same as being invited by someone who worked for the company that time. It was also probably the only way to make it seem less strange that Y/N would have liked Arthur to attend. No one asked questions why he was there if he came with his brother. There’s no easier way to do it.
The two of them were quite good friends, as they spent most of their childhood together and later could connect over being younger siblings to well known athletes. It was probably easier for her as she at least went her own way while Arthur was following in Charles’ footsteps, exactly. He was a talented driver, but people and the media always loved to compare the brothers, always bringing down at least one of them even though they were never really in the same championship or position at the same time. They usually talked at least weekly, but after harder races or attacks from the media either Y/N reached out to him or the other way around. It was just easy to support each other as they understood each other’s challenges and hardships. They couldn’t complain though, as both had family and other friends who supported them in their careers and personal lives also.
“ They’re outside. ” Pierre’s voice got her to jump in her chair a little before Y/N took in what he said. “ I’ll get them to the seats and we will meet after the show, yeah? ” He asked, taking the passes from the table next to her. She knew they wouldn’t have time for her to greet their friends and get back here in time.
“ Yeah, thank you. Enjoy. ” Y/N nodded with a grin before getting a kiss on her cheek from him. “ I’m gonna try not to trip. ” She added with a chuckle before he left, watching as he closed the door after himself while she could still hear him laugh. She leaned back in her seat as everything was already done for the show, and it was now just minutes until the start of the show.
She finally chose a photo from the morning when we arrived at the avenue, to share it on her story. Making sure it uploaded fine she could see Arthur’s profile picture in the bottom left, telling her that he already saw it, making her smile immediately. Y/N sent him a quick selfie with her eyes closed and holding up a peace sign as the grin still didn’t leave her face. She was just about to put her phone down when he sent one back, mimicking her pose and making her laugh out loud. He did look silly and seeing Pierre so confused in the background of it just made it even better. She wanted to respond but then had to leave when they were calling her name from the hallway. With one last deep breath she fixed her hair in the mirror before leaving the dressing room and following all the girls to the backstage.
She felt like an anxious mess right until it was her turn and had to step out onto the stage as they counted down for her from the sideline. She made sure her dress wasn’t in the way of her steps, although knew they practiced for any possible outcome and knew she would manage even in a dodgy situation. Her heart was beating so loud Y/N wouldn’t have been surprised if the people watching the show could hear it over all the music and talking. She still tried to look cool on the outside, her grin not faltering for one bit as she walked down the length of the stage stopping at the end and turning for the cameras. Her way back was a bit more relaxed already, knowing she did her job and just had to get back from where they started. She had one more dress at the end of the show but that seemed a lot easier after such a smooth sailing first appearance. The second one felt like a treat for a job well done and she was ecstatic as she changed into her outfit for the after party. Her body felt sore from all the excitement and then adrenaline that already left. However, her mind was still running and looking forward to the night as she went to the lobby where she knew the others would be waiting for her.
“ You looked stunning out there, Y/N! ” Charles greeted her with a tight hug, making her chuckle quietly. Stepping back from his embrace the next ones were Pierre and her family before Y/N could finally turn to Arthur, not forgetting about him in any way.
“ Thank you for coming. ” Y/N said before hugging him, although it was something that was for his brother too, not just him. “ Hope you’re not too tired yet. We have a long night ahead of us. ” She let out another laugh after letting go of him but she didn’t even get to step away too much before he held up a bouquet of blooming flowers.
“ Just a little congratulatory present. Wanted to give it to you prior to the show, but that didn’t really work out. ” He said with a little blush creeping up onto his cheeks, as she took the flowers from his hands, immediately smelling them.
“ Thank you, they’re beautiful. ” Her eyes were still fixed on the bunch of them, taking in how sweet it was of Arthur. It was made from all of her favourite types of flowers, not missing any from the short list she could make up in her head. “ I’ll make sure they get home safe. Wouldn’t want to kill them at the club. ” Y/N let out a little laugh, turning to her mum while they exited the building together.
Luckily her family offered to take her things back home while they went straight to the venue of the after party. Her other siblings went home too after some last minute hugs, leaving the four of them to be the only ones to attend. There were cars that took the guests to the rooftop bar that was decorated perfectly for the occasion. The moon was shining onto the balcony, but there were also lights running over them, making sure everything was visible and people wouldn’t trip over each other or the few steps around the bar and dancefloor. It was the perfect setting for a party that was relaxed but at the same time a true after party, where everyone could let out their pent up energy and adrenaline from the show.
Minutes after they left the elevator, that took them to the floor of the balcony, they were already standing next to a table with their drinks on it. They were watching the crowd dancing just inches away from them while discussing the day. Pierre and Charles were deep into  one of their usual disagreements about their past season, making Y/N shake her head. It wouldn’t have been them if they got through a day spent together without a silly argument. That would have been too easy. She has been watching the crowd blocking out the bickering coming from next to her, gathering courage to join the dancing even though she never backed off being the center of attention it wasn’t the same with strangers. She knew just a few people from here, almost half of it being the ones she invited herself.
“ A dance? ” She turned to Arthur in the end when she could see that his glass was empty. He froze for a second, looking around them. “ You don’t have to, but I would rather turn deaf from the loud music than them roasting each other. ” She chuckled, cocking her head towards her brother and Charles standing across them. She took the last sip of her drink and was about to get into the crowd when Arthur nodded and putting down the glass from his hand was ready to follow her.
“ I’m not a big dancer, I’m warning you. ” Arthur sighed, but wouldn’t have denied himself the chance to spend some time with her in a more private setting. They never mentioned anything about stepping up their friendship, but that didn’t mean they never thought about separately, in their own heads. 
Y/N took his hand with a grin, pulling him towards the dance floor, weaving through the people standing close, leaving them a sliver of space to navigate their way. They had to stop a few times people stumbling in their way or bumping into them while they were getting closer to their destination. Y/N saw two of the girls she knew a bit better, and decided it will be better to be with friends than alone. Arthur greeted them, quickly introducing himself and even though they were already safe, standing in a less crowded space, in the moment Y/N didn’t let go of his hand while they enjoyed the music and the company. Arthur did take part in the dancing, although several of his moves ended up making them laugh and him blush a little although it never made him stop. He was happy to be the source of their joy for the night.
A few songs later Arthur excused himself from the group to get a drink for himself, while the girls stayed in the same position. Y/N spotted a few guys just seconds after he left, watching them, and approaching their group as soon as Arthur was out of the view. They were quite rude, not caring about how the girls tried to ignore them and get them to leave finally. Y/N was about to just leave and not even look back when she felt a hand come around her waist. Without looking up at the owner of the hand she got to know who was standing behind her by just the voice.
“ I think you should search for another company. The ladies aren’t interested. ” Arthur informed the intruders and by knowing him for years, Y/N could tell he was really focusing on the pronunciation. He seemed serious, like never before and it did the trick, getting the guys to turn around and leave mumbling some swears in his way.
“ Thank you! For both. ” Y/N smiled up at their saviour, taking the half full glass from his hand as he held it out for her. Arthur just shrugged his shoulders, relaxing his shoulders and taking a sip from his drink.
What they didn’t see was Pierre and Charles paying close attention to their group from afar. Her brother still had his fists clenched but he was slowly letting up as the situation got resolved and the younger ones could continue enjoying the party and drinks. Looking at each other they agreed with a sigh at being glad Arthur was there with them and helped them get out of a sticky situation. From the outside they did see how the younger Leclerc and Y/N were around each other, although neither of them wanted to push them towards a goal. It seemed simple, inevitable, but they wanted them to find their own way. It wasn’t rare that the only possible way wasn’t the best way in the end. Meaning, even if they looked compatible for an outsider, it was possible that a relationship between them wouldn’t be long-lived.
They stayed until their legs felt sore from dancing and standing around, and their minds were in a comfortable fuzzy state from the few drinks they got. The night wasn’t young anymore when they got into a taxi, heading for Pierre’s apartment that had enough space for all four of them. They all took turns in the shower and decided on who will sleep and where. There was only one guest bedroom and in the end Charles gladly gave it up to Y/N saying she was the one who worked today, taking the couch with a duvet and a pillow. She was about to just go and finally get a chance to fall asleep, when Arthur stepped out of the bathroom now in his pajamas. For a second she debated if she should just let him sleep on the other couch or maybe act on her idea.
“ We can share the bed if you would like. It's big enough for two people. ” She offered in the end, with a shy smile, pointing towards the bedroom down the hallway. “ I promise I won’t snore. Unlike Charl. ” Y/N let out a quiet laugh, making sure the mentioned brother didn’t hear it and wouldn’t try to get back at her for it.
Arthur had to agree with a sigh that sleeping in the same room as her brother, would have been on the same level as some late torture methods. He couldn’t really deny the offer, taking his things as they wished goodnight to the others and walked down to the bedroom. Within seconds they were both under the duvet, managing to share it and not pull it off the other one. They did start out quite far away from each other, but Y/N couldn’t be fed up when she woke up in the middle of the night to an arm draping over her waist. It grounded her while she had to get used to her surroundings and helped her get back to her dream right until the delicious smell of lunch got them back to reality around midday. They shared a moment, gazes locking, before getting out of bed with grins on their faces, both deciding to push the conversation to another time. At least until lunch, as Y/N’s stomach grumbled as soon as she was standing next to the bed.
363 notes · View notes
starrystarrytrouble · 3 years
Text
Gossip (Ethan x MC)
Everyone at Edenbrook is talking about Ethan and MC
Pairing and words: 2.9k words, Ethan x MC, plus a little Zaid x Ines
Author’s note: I’ve included as many Edenbrook characters as possible. I had this idea for Ethan overhearing gossip when they went public but wow did that happen sooner than we expected. Hope you enjoy – there’s something special at the end.
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“She’s dating Ramsey.”
The three words cut straight through him and sent a chill down his spine. Ethan hated gossip, and two days after the gala, he’d so far avoided hearing any.
Until now.
It was far too early for this, he’d been in the hospital for an hour and already he was subjected to this.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, took a step back from the nurse’s station and watched the three nurses giggle within earshot.
“Really? Valentine? Good for her, she’s so pretty,” a young red-headed nurse replied.
“I know, right. Get it girl,” the blonde nurse replied.
“I heard he kissed her hard like in those old black and white films.” Lucy, one of the older nurses said.
“I can see that, he gives me old school vibes.”
“That’s romantic. I wish someone’d do that to me.”
He was aware he’d made a scene, the whoops and cheers while he’d kissed Eve at the gala were enough to confirm that. And the sparkle in her green eyes, the sheer joy with which she’d told him she was glad he’d kissed her, glad he’d told the world, was enough to make it worthwhile.
But it was one thing to know people were talking about you. Another entirely, to hear it first-hand.
Esme Ortega came over to the station and Ethan looked down at his notes, willing himself to disappear.
“Wait, you’re Valentine’s intern, right? Oh my god did you know?” Lucy and the others rounded on her.
“About what?” Ortega looked tired and didn’t look up from her chart.
“Her and Ramsey.”
“Oh that.” Esme gave a small smile. “Why would I know? But I’m happy for them. It’s good to have people talking about something other than me. “
Ethan cleared his throat loudly startling the nurses. Giggling, they dispersed fast. Esme looked more tired than ever, resigned surprise on her face. He was going to chew her out for talking about him and she knew it.
“Sorry Dr Ramsey, I didn’t mean to…”
“Dr Ortega, get back to work.” he said softly.
#
“Ethan and Eve?”
The sound of his name laced with hers piqued his interest and Ethan poked his head around the corner of the gym on his way down the corridor.
Lahela and Aveiro were on the treadmills, running slowly.
It made sense they’d be talking about him, they were Eve’s friends and he saw them regularly when they worked out. He hated to admit it, but he liked the company.
But did he have to hear this? He stood at the door, loathing himself and picturing Naveen chuckling at him if he ever found out.
Ethan Ramsey reduced to eavesdropping.
“Did you see them making out? Get it Valentine.” Lahela flashed a brilliant smile, so genuine that it startled Ethan for a moment.
“She deserves it, you know, after everything that’s happened.” Aveiro replied, catching his reflection in the gym mirrors with a sad smile.
“Always. Eve’s incredible. Never had a friend like her before.”
“Ramsey looked pretty happy too. Did you see him? He was with her all night.” Raf said.
“Can you blame him? He’s got Eve Valentine. What a power couple.” Bryce tapped a finger to his chest in respect causing Ethan to quietly roll his eyes and Raf to break out laughing.
“Power couple?” Rafael threw a towel at Bryce still chuckling, “Speed that thing up, you’re getting soft.”
“I am not, I can outrun you any day Aviero. Let’s go.” Bryce charged up his treadmill to a full sprint while Rafael kept laughing.
Ethan turned away with a long sigh and walked back towards the staircase, the ghost of a smile on his face.
#
“They’re a couple?”
Another three words to bring dread to his soul.
It was noon and golden sunlight shimmied in through the large cafeteria windows. Ethan was in the queue and a familiar face was a few steps ahead.
How was this happening again. Didn’t these people have anything else to talk about, he wondered.
“Just tell us what you heard. If the hospital’s shutting we need something to be happy about.”
He buried his face in the chart in his hand, trying to look immersed but fully distracted by the admin team ahead of him and Kyra standing in the centre.
“I don’t know anything, quit bugging me,” she said in a sing-song voice, her typical cheeriness lifting his spirits just a tad.
“You’re one of her best friends,” one of the women with her said.
“Exactly, so I’m hardly going to spill to a couple of delinquents like you! And anyways I don’t know anything.” Kyra replied with finality.
“Oh c’mon Kyra, you were there all night. Is it true they snuck off?” the other woman said.
“I heard they were gone for two hours. And Sarah saw them up on the 3rd floor making out in the elevator,” said another in the group.
Ethan racked his brain. Were they kissing in the elevator? They were kissing in a lot of places, the whole night such a complete hazy blur of wicked mischief that he could barely distinguish one moment from another.
It was that damn dress.
Scarlet. His favorite colour on her, so utterly sinful. She looked beautiful. It was unreasonable to expect him to be able to hold back when she looked like that. Eve must’ve known that. It would only delight her further to know he was thinking about it again now, he realised.
Kyra’s voice brought him back to the room.
“Alright alright. I’ll tell you one thing.”
He listened in with anticipation, no longer hiding behind his chart, as the other women moved in closer.
“Ethan and Eve…well…
“…imagine their kids. They’d be the cutest ever.”
With a flourish, Kyra turned and winked right at him.
His cover was broken. He schooled his features and nodded at her causing her to break out in a fit of giggles.
And almost entirely out of nowhere a memory of Eve came back to him.
Dammit.
They had made out in the elevator.
#
“Did you know?”
Ethan knew exactly what the three words were about.
“Not a clue.”
“But you must've known Baz, you work with them”
Dr Delarosa’s voice rang out from the doctor’s lounge and sensing what was coming, Ethan stopped by the door with a pained sigh.
He couldn’t believe people were still talking about him and Eve. The hospital was closing, the cost of healthcare rocketing and the country was going to ruin yet all anyone wanted to discuss in this damned place was his love life.
But a part of him, tiny and significant, was curious to hear what Baz was going to say next.
“I’m telling you, I didn't. You know Ethan, he's a tough one to crack,” Baz said with a chuckle, biting into an apple.
“I knew.” a low voice said from the corner.
“You, you did? Really Zaid?” Ines raised her eyebrows.
Zaid put down his journal and rolled his eyes.
“Of course. He does the grumpy asshole act.”
Zaid stood up tall and rigid and puffed up his chest, and Ethan’s eyes widened as he realised, good lord, was he doing an impression of him?
“You know the ‘hello-I’m Dr-Ramsey-I’m-so-serious-I-hate-interns-are-you-an-intern-then-leave-me-alone’,” he huffed before slumping his shoulders, “But I’ve seen him with Valentine, his eyes are never hard. He's a puppy around her.”
He looked at Ines softly, the hint of a tender smile in his eyes.
“Takes one to know one I guess,” she said, warmth dazzling her kind face.
“Hmmm. Woof.” Zaid replied gruffly.
He squeezed her shoulder and strode out.
“Dr Ramsey.” Zaid said with a firm nod as he left.
At the sound of his name, both Baz and Ines reddened, caught out.
“Baz, I er…need you in room 42.” Ethan said with an awkward smile at Ines who was now knitting her fingers together anxiously.
He sighed as he and Baz stepped into the corridor.
“I'm not a puppy around her, Baz,” he said curtly.
Baz chuckled, almost in relief, clapping a small hand on Ethan’s back.
“Ethan please ignore my socially awkward twin. Or anything anyone says. To be honest, they're only looking for something to talk about that isn't the hospital closing. We all need a little joy in our lives right now.
“Just be happy. Like we are for you.” Baz finished with a wide smile.
As they walked into the elevator, Ethan couldn’t help but feel his throat tighten the tiniest bit.
He was happy.
#
“Hey Dr Ramsey!”
It was getting late and he was peacefully watching the pink sun crest into the horizon.
The cheery voice that shouted his name was an unwelcome interruption. Ethan wasn’t ready to hear anything else untoward right now.
He turned around with a sigh and walked towards Eve’s roommates gathered by the vending machine.
“So Dr Ramsey, when are you coming round for tequila again?” Elijah asked him.
“Tequila?” Ethan was taken back.
“We had fun last time.” Elijah replied with a bright smile that told Ethan that he wasn’t kidding.
“If the hospital’s shutting, we’re gonna have plenty of time to drink,” Varma sighed.
“And you’re always welcome around ours,” Sienna beamed at him.
“Of course he’ll be round ours, he’s seeing Eve.” Jackie shot back.
The three faces stared at him, all sincere and hopeful. He felt a strange pang rush through him, a whisper of another world he’d entered into warming his chest, sending small sparks of comfort through him.
“I’m sure…that can be arranged. Excuse me,” he heard himself say, with a polite smile.
The second he turned away, he heard Sienna’s angry groan.
“Eve told you not to embarrass him!”
“How was that embarrassing? He’s dating her.” Jackie said casually.
“You didn’t have to bring it up, Jackie.”
He was beaming now, despite himself, a full crooked smile crowning his face as he walked back to his office.
He was in Eve’s world now.
#
“Hiding here, Ethan?”
The three words in Naveen’s warm voice chimed through the tiny old office Ethan used to occupy.
It was dark now, the windows tinted by the inky night and a plump moon grazed the darkened skyline.
“I heard you put on quite a show the other night,” Naveen continued, his entire face glowing with mirth.
“Please don't,” Ethan rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair with a sigh.
“Not that I was surprised, of course.” Naveen continued, walking over to Ethan.
“If you've come here to say I told you so, Naveen…”
The Chief chuckled and Ethan reluctantly acknowledged that it was the first time he’d seen Naveen so joyful in a long time.
“I've come here to say I'm happy for you. She's good for you. It's nice to see you in love.”
His heart thundered in his chest at the word.
He could feel his face redden, a blush creeping up his neck so involuntarily that he was unable to school himself in time.
“Naveen I'm not in...”
He faltered.
It wasn’t so easy to deny anymore. He tried to finish the sentence but a denial so reckless, so casual felt wrong.
The word wouldn’t come.
He sighed and a tortured look crept over his face as Naveen’s smile widened to his eyes and he placed an encouraging hand on Ethan’s shoulder.
“I thought so. Doesn't take a Diagnostician to figure it out” Naveen said tenderly, before heading to the door.
“Oh and Ethan?”
“Hmmm?” Ethan looked up, pain lighting up the creases of his eyes.
“Ignore the hospital gossip. I started most of it.”
With a wink, Naveen was gone. Ethan sat in silence for a long moment, quiet hunger pounding in his chest.
#
It was almost midnight when Ethan turned the key in his apartment door. He was greeted by total darkness. There was no trace of the figure he’d left tangled in his sheets that morning. No sign that she’d been here at all.
He was about to switch on a lamp when he noticed a silhouette on his sofa, lying curled up asleep, the moonlight illuminating her rosy lips and tumbling dark hair.
He walked over, his footfall quiet lest he wake her and not get to see her resting up close, the vision in front of him something he wanted to imprint into his mind.
“I’m not asleep.”
Those three words were the finest thing he’d heard all day.
“You looked pretty asleep,” he said.
“I was resting my eyes and thinking about Edenbrook. And you.” she lifted her head as he knelt beside her.
“About me?”
She placed her lips on his in reply, the warmth so magical after a day without her by his side that he couldn’t help but kiss her back hard, cupping the back of her head to bring her closer.
They broke apart but he couldn’t shake the thought of kissing her again and again, on every inch of her body until he was sure she was really here.
“Mmhmm,” she said opening her eyes softly and staring up at him, “How was your day?”
He walked over to the counter and poured them both a drink.
“Fine. The usual. I spent most of the day at the clinic. The mission remains the same, we do as much good as we can. Shall we?”
He pointed towards the balcony and with a charming smile that made his heart skip, she slid up next to him and looked out at the skyline.
It was a clear night and Boston sparkled up ahead, a mish mash of traffic and neon lights, the bustle so raw and ready that they both stared ahead in admiration.
He really did have the most perfect view in the city, he thought, glancing at her glossy green eyes.
“Did you miss me?” Eve whispered softly.
The corners of his eyes crinkled into a genuine smile. He didn’t have the words to explain how confusing it was to spend a day at Edenbrook without her there, without her popping in unannounced to tell him her next idea or share a detail of a case that baffled her.
She checked in on him when no-one else did and her company, her kind, graceful presence was often the difference between a good day and a bad.
They were friends first, he realised. That would never go away. As breathtaking as she was, it was her mind and heart that captivated him.
“A lot?” she asked shyly.
“A lot.”
“You should’ve let me come into work. Not that I haven’t enjoyed hanging out here.”
Her eyes glistened and he felt his hand slip around her waist and pull her closer, the thought of her in his apartment, uninhibited, warming his chest.
“It was your last day off.”
“I’ll have a lot of days off when Edenbrook closes,” she said with a rueful smile.
Ethan sighed.
“We’ll figure it out.”
The soft lilt of a solo pianist surrounded them and they stood in silence gazing out on the bay, golden moonlight pooling in the water below.
“Your neighbour’s a good pianist,” Eve said.
“It’s one of the pluses of living here.”
He watched the cars slide past each other, their taillights like small shooting stars. When did he wish for her he wondered. When he was a little boy, or older, on what day at what hour in his life did he make the wish that gave him the completeness that he now felt?
Her brow furrowed as she looked up at him. She ran her hand across his face and he kissed the edge of her palm as it slid over his lips.
“There’s something on your mind. You’re worried about Edenbrook?”
“Well yes, but I’m not thinking about that now,”
“Is it to do with me?” she asked cautiously.
He exhaled deeply.
“Everyone is talking about us at the hospital.”
She paused for a second, visible relief on her face before she broke out into the most perfect laugh.
“Does that surprise you?”
“You knew?” he looked down at her delicate face in confusion.
“Ethan, you kissed me in front of everyone. Of course they’re going to talk.”
“Do you…mind?” the caution was back in her voice.
“I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks. I was worried about you.” He was firm, so final that she blushed faintly.
“I’ve never cared, Ethan. You know that. Anyone say I’m sleeping my way to the top yet?” she said with a smirk.
“Of course not, I wouldn’t let them…”
“Good. So then it’s settled? Everyone knows everything.”
“Not…everything.”
He felt his heart race, with every beat it quickened, carrying him toward the inevitable. He exhaled, looked out across the city one final time and gazed down at the luscious green eyes that stared up at him so tenderly.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to say, that I should’ve said sooner.”
He ran a hand up her arm.
“I’m glad that you’re here Eve, that we don’t have to hide anymore.
“Because I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”
A breeze ruffled the balcony and the piano soothed him.
She gazed at him with utter admiration, and he saw his own face, tentative and vulnerable, staring back at him in her pupils.
He drank her in, lost in her eyes.
He fumbled for breath.
His pulse quickened and pushed him on.
And he heard his voice, bold and brave, echo into the night.
“I love you.”
Her eyes widened in shock, and for a second they stood perfectly still.
And then he felt it, her pressing her lips on his hard, the warmth rushing back to his chest, his blood pounding as she wrapped herself around and clamoured for his mouth with rich urgency.
Her voice was delicate when they broke apart.
“I love you too, Ethan.”
Before he could respond, she moved to his ear and uttered the sweetest whisper:
“I have for a long time.”
“You have?” he was bewildered, adoration soaring through him for the radiant face he was holding tenderly in one hand.
She nodded, peering at him up through dark lashes.
His chest heaved up and down and he recognised the awe he felt.
That she could love him too.
That this was real, and everyone knew, and months of holding back and exhausted dreams of holding her, they had all led here.
To having her in his arms.
He gave her a crooked smile, his happiness so loud, he was sure the entire city could hear it.
She placed her head on his shoulder and he interlaced his hands around her waist, the cool wind enticing him to keep her even closer.
Gently, they rocked to the soft lilt of the piano, lit up by starlight.
He would worship her forever he promised wordlessly, as he pressed his eyes closed.
Notes
And if you read this far, then I love you.
I wrote this fic super fast so apologies for the hot mess. I was stuck on the ILY for ages, I’m sure the real deal will be far better.
When are we getting that btw? Also are we saving Edenbrook? Are they official? Is the next chapter the final? I need answers, friends.
Also contains Choices October Challenge prompt 18: Lost
Tagging separately
534 notes · View notes
abbyilr1967 · 3 years
Text
Small World After All - Keigo Takami x Reader
Summary: You’re the Rescue Hero Aceso, you’d been called onto the scene of a villain attack on a local News station, tasked with rescuing a hero and civilian who had been trapped inside, and this chance encounter with the number two hero wouldn’t prove itself to be the last either. 
A/n: This was requested by the lovely @levis-odm-gear . As per usual, if you’re new to my work here is a link to my Masterlist. Also just in case, you don’t know, Y/l/n stands for Your last name.
Warnings: Little bit of swearing (like the tiniest bit).
Word Count: 3.6k
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Your motorcycle came to a screeching stop as the hoards of people blocked off by police and heroes blocked you from getting to the accident. Your agency had called you through your earpiece to tell you that there had been an accident at the local news station, and that a group of villains had trapped the employees on the third floor, and set the building on fire before escaping. Something about the media spreading false information about the heroes, honestly it had the League of Villains written all over it, but you had bigger things to worry about right now.
You quickly park your bike and rip your helmet off before sprinting through the crowd of concerned citizens. 
“Aceso!” an officer waves you over. “We need you to head up to the third floor, a pro is down, and he needs your help if we are gonna get all the civilians out alive.”
“I’m on it.” You run past the officer towards the entrance to the building while fastening the ventilator your hero suit is equipped with over your mouth and nose. You might not fall high on the Hero Billboard Charts, but you were very useful in situations like this, and the material of your suit covers your full body head to toe, fire retardant, and comes equipped with a full face ventilator. 
Your skin starts to feel the blistering heat as you enter the building, making sure to dodge any falling debris. You find the stairway and make the quick ascent to the next floor. You hear the ceiling of the second-floor creak, and you rush to make it to the stairwell before you’re crushed underneath the burning rubble. Your foot catches on some debris and you nose dive to the floor. 
“Shit.” You roll over and see the ceiling being to crumble above you. You cross your arms over your eyes in an attempt to save the ventilator from being destroyed and your head crushed, as you feel something pinch in the back of your neck. Suddenly you are being dragged across the floor, out of the way as the plaster on the ceiling falls to the floor. With no time to look for the source of your mysterious rescue, you lunge towards the third-floor stairwell and make your way up. 
 You enter the third floor and quickly begin to look for any civilians and the hero you are here to heal. So far the fair had yet to make it fully to the third floor, but there was enough fire and smoke to incapacitate a person. You look around until your eyes land on a ball of red and yellow hunched over on the floor. As you get closer you realize that the bundle of red was actually wings, and you knew exactly who it was. 
“Hawks!”  you shout. “I’m here to help you.” You roll him over and find that he has severe burns on his face and neck, as well as a couple of spots where the embers had burned through his suit and touched the skin. His wings had also taken some severe damage as he kept the last civilian safe underneath him. He nods his head, ‘Still responsive’ you note. 
You start to make quick work of your gloves, placing your hands on both sides of his face, your palms start to warm as you release your energy. You see the burns on his face start to heal as he starts to regain a little of his strength. In an attempt to save your energy and stamina you remove your hands from his face. 
“We need to get them out of here,” Hawks grunts as he pulls himself and the civilian to their feet. 
“Right.” You respond as you wrap the civilian’s arm over your shoulder and help Hawks maneuver them towards the stairs. 
“We need to get this person in an ambulance quick!” You shout as you and Hawks exit the building. Several first responders run to you and take the civilian to the nearest ambulance. You and Hawks stand there for a moment, as the fire department continues to put out the fire, the adrenalin high you both were running on finally coming down. Hawks tries his best to hold in a cough beside you, but you can tell he’s been breathing in too much smoke. 
“Here,” you say, ushering him away from the building. “I’ll fix you up.” You guide him over to a bench on the other side of the street, sitting him down with a groan. 
You start by examining his wings, you notice that they aren’t as full as they once were. A lot of his feathers have singed, and are covered in ash. Your face is notably concerned, as you look down at the exhausted hero before you. 
“They’ll grow back.” He reassures, and you nod. You leave his wings alone and redirect your attention to the half-healed burns on his face and neck. His eyes are watching as you work, which is unusual considering you tend to work on people who are too in shock to pay any attention to you, or nearly unconscious. 
“I’m going to place my hand on both sides of your face, ok?” He gives you a nod and you gently place both hands on his cheeks. Your hands begin to warm as your energy is released into Hawks. His stiff facial features start to relax as your energy heals his wounds. He closes his eyes and allows the warm feeling of your energy to flow through him. You take this time to examine the features of his face because, although you knew what he looked like, you’d never gotten to see the man up close. His lips are thin, and a little chapped, ‘Probably due to the amount of time he spends in the air’ you think to yourself. He has a strong jawline, with some stubble on his chin to accent his hard features. And his eyes, his eyes have these beautiful markings that seem almost bird-like, which is fitting for a hero like him. 
As your hands continue to work their magic on Hawks wounds you feel him start to really lean into your touch, as if he’s never experienced this. You reach your limit on the amount of energy you can spare to heal the man, so you move your hands, but Hawks is quick to grab your wrist and stop you. 
“Can you just hold them there for a little longer,” you can hear a slight crack in his voice. “Please.” 
“Yea,” you whisper, pressing your hands back to his face. He leans in again, you allow yourself to get lost in the feeling of holding the face of the number two hero so lovingly and gentle. 
“Thank you.” He sighs. 
You finally pull your hands back, and Hawks comes to his feet. 
“Sorry if that was weird, I just…” 
“You don’t need to explain yourself,” you interject. The expression on his face tells you that that’s not the reaction he was expecting from you. 
“Sometimes we just need a little pick me up, you know?” you lightly punch him in the shoulder, which elicits a chuckle from him. 
“I do, Thank you again, for helping me in there. I couldn’t have done it without you.” 
“It’s what heroes do.” 
He gives you a quick nod before leaping into the air and taking to the skies. Taking that as your queue to go, you make your way back over to your bike. You throw your leg over and instead of taking off immediately, you sit there for a minute. Thinking out how your hands hadn’t stopped tingling since you let go of the blonde’s face. This was a strange feeling you’d never felt after healing someone. Your heart skipped a beat at the thought of holding him like that, something you hadn’t done with someone in so long, even if it was such a trivial act. 
But it had meant something to him, and it made your heartache for him. 
Your apartment was just around the corner, so you kept the visor of your bike helmet up, allowing the cool breeze to touch the skin that became so quickly heated at the thought of what had occurred between you and the number two hero. You watch the city fly by you as the parking garage to your apartment complex comes into view. 
You push the keys to your apartment into the door and fling open the door. Electing to drop all your things at the door, and worry about the paperwork you needed to fill out about the incident tomorrow. You slowly start to strip yourself of your suit as you walk towards the bathroom of your small apartment. The tiled floor feels cool against your aching feet as you turn the shower on, giving it time to heat up before you get it. 
Once the water is warm enough you step under the spray, allowing the warmth to ease your aching muscles.  You sigh heavily, leaning your head further under the showerhead so the water trickles down your face. You close your eyes, and the minute you do you are face-to-face with the relaxed face of the pro hero you just saw moments earlier. The vision in your head shifts from that of a relaxed Hawks, to the exhausted Hawks who had asked you to keep holding him after you’d finished your healing. Your hands come up to rub your face, trying to get rid of the image, but it was no use. There was something about him that you found yourself engrossed with, beyond his appearance. 
You finish up in the shower, brush your teeth and hair, and pop a couple melatonin gummies to help you sleep. You’d found that sleeping was the fastest and most effective way of regaining your energy after using most of it. You step out of the steam-filled bathroom into the slightly chilly hallway and head towards your room. You dig around in your dresser for a pair of sleep shorts and an oversized hoodie to fall asleep in. The warm fabric of your hoodie provides sweet relief from the chill of your apartment, and you quickly slide under your overs so your legs can escape the cold too. 
As you lay in bed, you stare out the window at the moon and watch how the light casts itself against the things in your room, Thinking about how he’s out there, thinking about what he’s doing, and wondering if he’s thinking about you the same way you were thinking about him. 
And he was…
The wind was frigid compared to the still warm and tingly feeling left by your hands. He spent the whole flight back to his agency thinking about your hands on his face and feeling slightly embarrassed that he’d asked you to hold him even after you were done healing him. He lands on the roof of his agency and begins his descent down to his office, along the way being bombarded by receptionist after receptionist with all the paperwork he needs to fill out. 
“Here’s your incident report Hawks!” 
“Here’s your casualties report Hawks!” 
“Here’s your injuries report Hawks!”  They were crowding around him like a hoard of fangirls, which they most likely were, he wasn’t in charge of the hiring process for receptionists so he didn’t screen any of them beforehand. They continue to flock behind him as he walks towards his office, opting to pick up the pace to escape them faster. 
The door to his office is growing closer and closer. 
“Thank you for the papers ladies, but if you’ll excuse me I have a lot of work to get through if I want to make it home.” He brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck, watching as the women all sigh and disperse back to their work stations. He sighs with relief as he turns the doorknob and finally enters his office. ‘Maybe I look extra tired tonight.’ he thought to himself. ‘Usually, they pester me more.’ He drops the papers on his desk and cracks open his laptop. His paperwork can wait, he couldn’t get you out of his head so he thought he’d conduct a little research on you, see what information is known to the public about you. 
“Aceso, I like that.” Your hero name rolled off his tongue like honey. He’d gotten distracted while researching you when he’d found some old interviews you’d done in your early years as a pro. You were top of your class at U.A. and all of Japan was excited to see what’d you do as a hero. So why hadn’t he heard about you, he thinks. He watched the interviews until his eyes hurt, and he was forced to realize that his late-night endeavours had gone on longer than anticipated. 
“Damn Aceso, can’t get you outta my head.” He stretches in his chair before getting up and making his way home. Where he definitely didn’t get a wink of sleep that night, not with the images of you running rampant in his head all night. 
~
Several months had passed and you’d gone about your life as normal, everything was normal, and you hadn’t seen Hawks again. Sure you saw him regularly all over the news, but you hadn’t seen him in person since the accident. You thought about him every day, so much so that you’d hoped that one day you’d run into him, even if it was just for a moment. 
You’d been at home getting ready to make dinner, when you realized that you needed to head to the store to get some last-minute ingredients. This is exactly how you found yourself wandering the isles of the closest grocery store to your house. You lean your arms on the handle of your cart, as you lazily check the shelves for the ingredients you were missing. 
You feel your cart bump into someone, and immediately you’re brought out of your dazed state. 
“I’m so sorry, I-” you turn to see the person you’d hit and are met with the brilliant golden eyes of the number two hero. You chuckle under your breath, as your silent prayer had been answered by the universe. His gaze meets yours and the corners of his lips turn up into a slight grin. “Oh, hi.” You say, trying to best not to sound flustered. 
“Hey.” You both stare at each other for a second unsure of how this interaction should continue before the realization dawns on your that you’d walked into him with your shopping cart like the most graceful person. 
“Oh my god, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to shove my cart into you, I wasn’t looking where-” 
You were cut off by the sound of Hawks chuckling at your obvious awkwardness towards the situation. 
“It’s alright kid, I’ve been through worse.” You slap your palm on your forehead. 
“Of course,” you laugh. The awkward tension lifted as you and Hawks laugh. 
When the laughing seems to die down, you clear your throat and gain his attention. 
“I have a proposal,” you start. 
“Well, now I’m intrigued.” He placed his thumb and forefinger on his chin and looks down at you in anticipation. 
“Let me cook you dinner,” you fold your hands over your chest and look at him with the biggest doe eyes you can make. “As a way to apologize for nearly running you over with my cart and no offence but...” You tip the edge of the basket he was holding, noting that there were several packs of ramen amongst the other processed and pre-made foods he’d selected. “I think you could use a home-cooked meal.” He looks down at his basket, and then back up to you, glaring at you in a sarcastic way. 
You rock back and forth on your heels, eagerly awaiting his response to your proposition. 
“You really don’t need to-” 
“I want to.” You say, grabbing onto his arm shaking it slightly.  
“Alright,” he finally agrees. 
“Great, I just need to get a few more things and we can head back to my place, ok?” 
He stretches his arm out and gestures down the aisle, “After you.” He steps out of the way of your cart, and you push past him with your head held confidently. 
“hey, uh, I never actually got your name,” he says, still trailing behind you. 
“It’s Y/l/n, Y/n,” you throw over your shoulder as your looking for olive oil. 
“That’s very lovely,” he’s right beside your ear now, starting you enough to almost drop the bottle of oil you were holding. 
“Th-thank you,” you say, hoping that your blushing wasn’t evident enough to be noticeable on your face. He chuckles at your awkwardness, as he continues down the aisle with you.
“So, do I get to know the name of the number two hero, I did give you mine, so I think it’s only fair Hawks.” You emphasize his hero name, trying to push his buttons a little bit. 
“Touché,” he nods. “You can call me Keigo, Takami Keigo.”
“Keigo” you whisper under your breath. 
The walk back to your apartment was short, and spent cracking jokes and making small talk with the winged hero. 
Finally back at your apartment, Keigo helped you bring up the groceries and unpack what you needed to finish the dinner you started before you had left. 
“Is there anything I can help with?” 
“No, you’re my guest, so go sit down,” you shoo him away from the stove and to the other side of the counter, were he plopped himself down on one of the bar stools you had. 
“I was gonna have this wine with dinner, would you like some?” you offer, pointing the tip of the bottle in his direction. 
“No thanks, could I just have some water I don’t drink really, you know with work and all.” 
“Yes, right, sorry. I guess your always on call, being so high up in the hero ranks I mean.” 
“You don’t need to apologie, each day I work gets me closer to creating a world were heroes have more free time then they know what to do with,” he smiles and you set a glass of water down in front of him, along with his plate of food. You set your plate down beside his, and taken you seat. 
“This looks great,” he remarks. “Better than anything I could make.” the corners of his lips kick up into a smirk as you both chuckles at his lack of skill in the kitchen.
The laughter dies down into a comfortable silence as you both enjoy the meal you’ve made, continuing to make small talk in between bites. 
“Can I ask you something?” He asks, seemingly out of the blue. 
“Go for it,” you shoot back. You turn to face him, and his golden eyes lock on yours. 
“Why did you help me? After the attack on the new station.” 
“You were burned, it would have been-” 
“Not that kind of helping. Why did you continue to hold me even after I’d been healed?” 
You cast your gaze down to the empty plate in from of you, taking a moment to word together your answer. 
“Because I saw how exhausted you were.” You say, brining your gaze back to his. “And I don’t mean just physically exhausted, I could see the mental exhaustion as well.” 
His eyes soften, and his features being to look somber. “You help so many people that, in that moment I could tell you had been neglecting your own needs, and had finally reached your limit.” 
He looks at you stunned, in awe of the observational skills so had because everything you said, made sense to him. You had been the only person to indulge him in what he needed, instead of the reverse. 
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean of over step if I did-” 
“There you go again, apologizing for something so trivial, even after I asked you about that night. You have yet to cease to amaze me with how determined, kind, caring and observant you are.” The blush rises to your cheeks. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that night, and I never thought I’d see you again.” 
“Takami I-” 
“Keigo,” he interjects. “You can call me Keigo.” 
“Keigo, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that night either.” 
In your lust filled state you hadn’t realized that his face was just inches from yours. His breath fans over you as your noses brush together. 
“No one has ever made me feel the way you did, in such a short amount of time,” he whispers. You pull you bottom lip between your teeth in anticipation of what is to come next. 
“Can I kiss you?” Your lips ghost each other. “Yes.”
 His lips mash to your with both passion and tenderness. His hands come up to cradle your jaw, as your hands card through the thick strands of his hair that fall around the base of his neck. Your tongues dance across each other as he deepens the kiss. The burning sensation in your lungs causes you to pull away reluctantly, not wanting to give up the feeling of his slightly chapped lips on yours. 
“You are so much more different then any other person I’ve ever met Y/n.” He says in between slightly laboured breaths. “I would like to keep seeing you, if that’s alright.” He leans his forehead against yours, as you both come down from your lust filled highs. 
“I’d like that.” The corners of his lips kick up into a grin, and he places a quick kiss to your forehead. 
“I’d like that very much, Keigo.”
144 notes · View notes
bbugyu · 4 years
Note
hi! could i request a jeonghan enemies (or friends that bicker a lot) to lovers? ty and i love ur writing !!
i am so glad you requested this because i have had this in the works for so long that i had to throw it into a case converter because it had capitalization and i was Not gonna finish it if i had to type it proper (i'm a fucking gremlin ok)
thank u for reading my work and thank u for giving me the perfect excuse to be hopelessly in love with jeonghan!!!!
falling + yoon jeonghan
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finally, he thought. someone on his level. what’s the catch?
part one | part two
wc.10009 (fuckin oops) | fluff, humor, uni/coffeeshop/enemies to lovers au, gender neutral reader, slow burn, drinking, like lk too much drinking, swearing, throwing it back to sistar, copious argumentive flirting, everyone is MEAN but like in a funny way, bff!mingyu, it's your resident mingyuzi shipper, the only person more of a little shit than jeonghan is y/n
i used to be a barista and i would get exceptionally hateful towards customers for really stupid reasons and the only thing that could stop it is if they were really hot. this seems to hold great jeonghan energy. also i made y/n, like, mean as hell. like not actually mean but like. Mean. sorry. also all bars mentioned are real bars on capital hill in seattle that i love so if you recognize them that’s why. enjoy this enemies to lovers courtship.
*
you were pretentious, jeonghan thought. you acted like you were better than everyone else, and he hated that he had yet to find a reason to call you wrong.
he saw you almost every day during the week, between the class you shared on tuesdays and thursdays, and the cafe he worked in that you frequented to study. your demeanor was always polite, but what most people would describe as cold. you had caught his attention the first day of the semester, something about you seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it until he made your coffee the next day. you usually sat in the row in front of him, a few seats over, and he would chew on his cheek and wonder how you could sit back in your chair, arms crossed and eyes hardly opened, but still get the highest essay scores in the class. at the end of lecture, after he was done spending all his brain power stewing about your ability to succeed in visual culture without really trying, he would text his friend that took the class last quarter and ask, panic stricken, if he still had his notes, the irony of the situation completely lost on him.
at the cafe, you would come in, order an americano, and sit yourself in a well lit corner to work on your classes for a few hours, the coffee mostly undisturbed on the table beside your favorite armchair, then leave. there was never a smile on your face, and you were always alone. jeonghan watched the ice in your americano melt, watering down the coffee he made. maybe he had let the shots of espresso sit too long before saving them. maybe he let them burn on purpose just to see the face you made. but alas, you hadn't even put the metal straw to your lips. he wondered why you even ordered a coffee if you weren’t going to reap the benefit.
joshua spotted him leaning against the counter as he came out of the kitchen and laughed, setting down the freshly washed milk pitchers. “ask them out.”
he stood up straight. “why?”
“why not? you clearly like them.”
“i really don’t,” jeonghan laughed. “you’re crazy for thinking i do.”
joshua rolled his eyes. “no one spends as much time as you do staring at another person if they don’t find them at least a little attractive. have you ever even talked to them? outside of taking their order?”
he hesitated. “no?”
“so what if they’re actually really wonderful and you have a lot in common?”
“as if.”
“wow,” joshua said, leaning against the counter. “i can’t believe yoon jeonghan is afraid to talk to his crush.”
jeonghan shoved his friend's shoulder, giving him a look. “absolutely not. i'm 99% sure they're a pretentious asshole.”
he crossed his arms. “what does that make you?”
“shut up.”
“whatever, han. i’m just saying it’s kind of pretentious to hate someone solely because they don’t smile wide enough for you when they’re saying thanks.”
“it’s not that hard!” jeonghan said, maybe a little too loud. “i don’t wanna smile either, shua! but i do it! so can they!!”
joshua laughed. “lower your voice and go say hi, you freak.”
much to his chagrin, jeonghan got shoved towards your spot in the cafe with the front of the tables needing to get wiped down. he looked at joshua and seokmin with a furrowed brow as he wrung the towel, both of them giving him thumbs ups with wide grins. begrudgingly, he slowly made his way over to you.
“hey,” jeonghan said, doing his best to project something other than the absolute turmoil going on inside his head. you looked up from your textbook, pulling the earbud out of your ear. “why don’t you drink the coffee?”
you furrowed your brow and looked at your untouched americano. “i- uh, what?”
“you never drink the coffee,” he repeated, nodding at the glass. “why do you get it anyways?”
you blinked up at him. “are you offended that i’m not drinking your coffee?”
he almost laughed at the look of disbelief you were giving him. “no, i just don’t get why you waste the money here if you don’t even need the caffeine.”
“it’s cheaper to buy an americano than it is to rent a stall at a study cafe,” you said, habitually hitting save on your notes document. “why are you so worried about me, yoon jeonghan?”
he faltered, surprised. “you know me?”
“nametag,” you didn't miss a beat, pointing at his chest and giggling. “do you know me?”
jeonghan’s lip twitched, feeling almost embarrassed by not thinking of his own nametag, and definitely not an involuntary reaction to seeing you smile for the first time. “uh, yeah. we have a class together,” he said as casually as possible as he folded the washcloth in his hands. “visual culture.”
you nodded, looking into space for a moment. “hmm. weren’t you also in child psych with professor moon last winter?”
he blinked back at you. “yeah? you were in that class?”
you nodded, holding in a laugh. “yeah, yoon jeonghan. i was. head in the clouds?”
for some reason, the way you said his full name made his ears heat up. “maybe you were easy to forget,” he said dismissively, even though you both knew that wasn't the case. “isn’t it better to study in a library? that one’s free.”
“there’s never any open tables at the library,” you said, unfurling your legs and sitting straight, textbook in your lap. “and the chairs are uncomfortable, unlike this armchair. and people usually don’t bother me here.”
jeonghan sighed. “well, if you’re insistent on going to a cafe, there’s one down the street with a better espresso bean and it’s less busy. less people to bother you and a better tasting americano that you won’t drink.”
you cocked your head, closing your laptop. “is that an invitation?”
and for the first time, you saw jeonghan stutter. “n-no? just a suggestion. i think it’s cheaper, too-”
“don’t you work here?” you asked, eyes shining. “shouldn’t you be happy i’m wasting my money here?”
he eyed you, beginning to turn his body to leave the conversation. “do whatever you want. i’m not your dad.”
you grinned, leaning forward in your chair. “are you busy after class tomorrow?”
“why?”
“i need you to show me where this cafe is.”
jeonghan sighed. “can’t you just look it up? cafe nomu.” he wrote the characters with his finger in the air. “no-mu. use naver.”
“i get lost easily,” you said, standing up. jeonghan wondered if you were telling the truth. “we can go together?”
jeonghan watched you pack up your things, confused. “why?”
you paused, looking at him. “why not?”
he was getting real sick of people asking him why not.
“did i drive you away?” he asked instead, nodding at your now packed bag.
“no, i was headed out soon anyways.” you swung the bag over your shoulder and picked up the untouched americano. “do you want this?”
jeonghan couldn’t help but scoff as you handed him the glass that had been the subject of his staring all afternoon. “you can't be serious.”
you grinned and patted his shoulder. “i’m y/n, by the way. i’ll see you in class?”
he squinted at you as you walked away, suddenly confused by the quick succession of questions you had thrown back and forth. you were cute, sure, and his distaste for you was misplaced, perhaps, but he couldn't help the annoyance that bubbled up in him as you sauntered out of the cafe like you had won a debate. he walked back to the counter and set down the americano, an excited seokmin waiting for him.
“so?” he grabbed the glass and dumped it in the sink behind the counter. “how’d it go?”
jeonghan looked at the door you had left out of. “i think i just got asked out.”
“what?” seokmin’s hands made fists in front of him while he grinned. “y/n did? are you serious? you said yes, right?”
“not really,” he replied, looking back at the younger and exhaling deeply. “but i don’t think i can avoid it.”
you had known of yoon jeonghan for a while. a class here and there, a few mutual friends, and of course at the cafe. but the night you learned his name really stuck out to you, when he had been singing at a karaoke bar right after finals last quarter.
it was common to celebrate the end of finals week with partying and drinking, and your friends had invited you out to barhop until the sun came up. you started at a dance club, had way too much rum at a hula themed place, took tequila shots at a gay bar, then landed at a karaoke bar with a can of beer in your fist and a grin on your face. your friends liked to sing, so you had fun encouraging them to get on the slightly raised stage and show their chops. 
“no, no, no,” mingyu said, grabbing your hands as you tried to push him towards the dj. “no way, i recognize the names on the list. there’s real singers here.”
you looked at the screen that displayed the queue. “what do you mean? who?”
“that guy,” mingyu said, pointing at the screen easily, despite you having to crane your neck to even view it. “no way. he’s in jihoon’s band, i’m not following that guy.”
“hangguk’s angel yoon jeonghan,” you read, squinting. “sounds like a pretentious asshole.”
mingyu laughed. “wait til you hear his voice, you’ll see how he got the name.”
"y/n's right," jun interjected, leaning heavily against the standing table your quad squad had claimed, pouring more soju for himself and whoever would claim the other glass. "he is a pretentious asshole."
you pointed at him, brows raised at mingyu. "jun is never wrong."
mingyu rolled his eyes. "pretentious assholes can still sound like angels."
“where the fuck have you been,” you asked, startled by your third and final friend suddenly appearing beside you.
“around,” vernon said, sipping at the nondescript brown liquid in his glass through a bright pink straw. he laughed when you quirked an eyebrow at him. “soonyoung’s here with his posse, he caught me while i was getting another drink.”
“see!” mingyu shook your shoulder, nearly choking after downing jun’s companion shot. “i told you! jihoon’s band.”
you whacked his bicep. “who cares? just go queue a rap song or something, you pussy.”
the singers cycled through and you cheered on many of your fellow drunk university students as they sang with no remorse. jun dragged you onto the tiny dancefloor and forced you to help him hype up soonyoung - his dance team captain - as he screamed along to hurricane. then one of vernon's friends performed a near flawless rendition of shake it by sistar after yelling something about bringing the summer to this cold winter night, earning him a cheering and dancing crowd, and you had known far more of the choreo than you had thought. mingyu was whooping and hollering at you playfully every time you threw your ass out to the song, and he only got louder when jun and vernon did their best to follow along with you, and you had almost forgotten about the name that everyone insisted was to be feared.
“that guy?” you asked, the self-proclaimed angel stepping onto the stage. you recognized him immediately. “that’s my barista.”
mingyu made a noise that almost resembled whistling, if he had been capable of doing so. “i should start studying with you next quarter.”
and when he sang, it clicked. despite the tonal difference, you couldn't help but become enthralled by his voice. gyu was right. pretentious assholes could still sound like angels, and perhaps that was by design.
his voice drifted through your head again when you noticed him in your visual culture class, seated and giggling at his phone on the first day of the quarter. 
"you have another class with him?" mingyu groaned a week later, walking beside you. "why you? why aren’t there hot guys in my major?"
"because pre-med kids are too busy to be hot."
he gave you a look. "damn, okay. like, you're not wrong, but damn."
you rolled your eyes. "don't act like you don't love being the pre-med heartthrob. you would be pissed if you had competition."
"anyways, are you gonna ask him out?"
you pause at the stop light to wait for your turn to cross, turning towards him. "why would i do that?"
“because he’s hangguk’s angel yoon jeong-honey voice,” mingyu said, moving his head as he dramatically pronounced each syllable in your face. “if you’re not already in love with him, you will be soon, and it sounds like fate's trying to bring you together. didn’t you say he’s your barista?”
you rolled your eyes. “yeah, and his americanos suck now. i don’t even drink it when he makes them anymore.”
he looked at you with a cocked eyebrow. “what the hell? why do you still go there, then?”
you pouted. “it’s quiet and there’s a comfy armchair.”
weeks passed, and you continued to spot jeonghan in your class when you arrived, hearing the faint sound of his singing voice in your head. when he took your order at the cafe, he had a vague snottiness to his voice, and while you absolutely believed that this was the same person as the one you saw sing a soft love ballad with a sobering intensity at two in the morning, you still struggled to connect it to the one you watched run off the stage, immediately curling into himself and laughing with his friends in embarrassment.
you became more and more fascinated by yoon jeonghan as time passed, but his americanos continued to suck. so when he suggested a cafe with better espresso, you lit up. and when he got flustered, letting down his guard unintentionally, you lit up even more. that was the drunk, embarrassed boy you had seen, pink faced and giggling as he hid behind his friends.
jeonghan sat in his usual seat in class, anxiously glancing up at the door every time a group of people entered the lecture hall. when you arrived, your usual minute before the turn of the hour, he rubbed his palms against his sweats. the sweats that he had worn with the specific intention of making sure you didn't think he was trying too hard to look nice around you. despite that fact, part of him still felt annoyed that you were also dressed down, swimming in a hoodie several sizes too big for you. he tried to make sense of the sudden nerves he had, but not once did he consider they were because he thought you were disgustingly adorable.
instead of taking your usual spot, you marched right up to jeonghan’s table and grinned. “is this seat taken?”
he blinked at you. “yes.”
you laughed and slid into the seat beside him anyways, ignoring the dagger stare from a girl across the room that usually sat beside jeonghan silently. “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“how do you expect me to react? you’ve never even smiled at me before yesterday.”
shrugging, you put your bag on the table and leaned back in your seat, assuming your usual position for this particular class. “you didn’t deserve it before yesterday.”
jeonghan wanted to argue with you, but the professor cleared his throat and introduced the subject of the lecture.
after only ten minutes, jeonghan could have sworn he heard you snoring. he poked your shoulder with his pen.
you looked over at him, eyebrow quirked. you mouthed a “what” at him.
he exhaled suddenly, mouth forming a vague smile more in disbelief than from being entertained. he seemed annoyed with you, despite the fact that he was the one interrupting your allocated meditation time. he leaned forward, turning his body towards you and spoke in a hushed tone. “how can you do that every day and still be top of the class?”
you mirrored his body language, leaning forward over the desk and resting your cheek on a fist, speaking in the same hushed tone. “visual culture is subjective. as long as you understand the concept; i-e, how we as humans visually design the world around us and how that becomes an important aspect of our place in nature, in the universe, in existence, etcetera; then you can write about literally anything. my last essay was about skate parks. the more opinionated the essay, the better score you get.” you pointed a finger at the man speaking at the front of the class. “i watched the prof’s ted talk before the quarter started - every lecture is just a regurgitation of the same concepts. it’s an easy a, as long as you have strong opinions.”
jeonghan stared at you for what felt like an eternity. “you do seem like you have strong opinions.”
“and you don’t, yoon jeonghan?”
he supposed he couldn’t argue with that, but it still frustrated him to no end that you had found some kind of loophole that he had missed. you gamed the system better than he could, and he had been stuck pouring over his friend’s notes from the previous quarter and bullshitting some essays about architecture that he didn't give a shit about. and so, instead of spending his whole class stewing like he normally did, he decided to waste no time adopting your approach, pulling his sweatshirt hood over his head and catching up on some missed sleep. when he woke up again, it was to your prodding finger.
“what time is it,” he said immediately, squinting at his surroundings. he suddenly remembered he was in class as he saw fellow students packing up their things and filing out. he looked at you, blinking at your grinning face.
“time for coffee,” you said, tugging on the drawstrings of the light blue hoodie he wore. “did you have any sweet dreams?”
jeonghan shoved his blank notebook into the tote bag he used for classes and stood. “of course not.”
“i did,” you said, throwing your bag over your shoulder and following him down the hall steps. “i dreamt you paid at the cafe.”
he turned, eyeing your shiteating grin from behind his hood. “yeah, keep dreaming.”
“worth a shot,” you said, trotting down beside him. “so, what’s your major, yoon jeonghan?”
he rolled his eyes, almost forgetting about your habit of calling him by his full name. “do you really care?”
“what else are we gonna talk about, my drinking problem?”
despite himself, jeonghan laughed, looking over at you as you left the lecture hall. “maybe! how bad is it?”
you grinned, feeling successful from making him break his serious persona. “wouldn’t you like to know.”
he clicked his tongue, pushing open the doors of the social studies building. “no fun.”
“you’ll have to invite me to a bar next time,” you said, following after him out the door into the sunshine that cascaded over the quad. it was a beautiful spring day, but a bit chilly, and you shoved your hands into your sweatshirt pocket.
“hmm,” jeonghan said, letting his blue hood fall off his head as he stretched in the sun. “i only really go to one bar.”
you watched him bask for a moment, wondering how many sides of him you had yet to see. his hair was dark, but the lighter chocolate tones reflected in the sun. “bet i can guess which one.”
jeonghan paused on the sidewalk, making you walk ahead of him a couple steps before you turned towards him questioningly. “okay, yeah. guess. you won’t get it.”
you size him up a moment, taking his words as a challenge. “if i guess right, you buy coffee?”
he exhaled, an amused smile on his face. “why are you so obsessed with me buying you coffee?”
“it tastes better free.”
“okay, fine. but if you’re wrong, you buy.”
you groaned. “do you know how many bars are in this city? that doesn’t seem fair.”
jeonghan resumed walking, gesturing for you to guess. “i’ll give you three tries.”
you chewed your cheek, trying to conceal your sly grin. “okay, three tries. deal?”
he nodded. you made it way too easy for him to win. “deal.”
“let me think.” jeonghan watched your feet fall easily into step beside him. “what bar has a stupid gimmick you would be into... pie bar?”
he shook his head, almost laughing at your teasing. “i’ve been there before, but it's not really my thing.”
you exhaled sharply. “shouldn’t that count for a stick of gum or something?” jeonghan laughed, insisting that this was an all or nothing situation. “then i give up.”
“you can’t give up!” jeonghan said. “you said deal. no going back.”
“fine," you pouted. "why can't i remember any bar names? uhh, r place?”
he stopped. “the gay club?”
you stopped, looking at him expectantly. “well?”
jeonghan laughed as he walked again. “no, not r place. jesus. you have one last chance. i’m really excited to order something expensive today.”
you chewed your cheek. “where would someone like yoon jeonghan go to drink… hanguk’s angel yoon jeonghan…”
he stopped in his tracks. “what did you just say?”
you tapped on your chin with a finger, arms crossed. “yoon jeong-honey voice… where would someone like him go? maybe… a karaoke bar?”
“hey, hey-” jeonghan pointed at you accusingly. “are you serious? you’ve seen me?”
“hmm,” you continued, laughing as you avoided his gaze. “oh, i know! the rockbox!”
“yah!” jeonghan was laughing, pointing at you in disbelief. “what the hell! this isn’t fair!”
“you said deal, no going back.” you grinned in victory. “wow, maybe i’ll order something expensive. i can’t believe i won.”
jeonghan’s tongue ran over his teeth as he watched you giggle and happily trot ahead of him. “fine, fine. you win. when did you see me there?”
“after winter finals,” you said, cheesing. “i was there with friends and you sang.”
he tutted. “damn. did i just miss you or did you not sing?”
“i don’t sing,” you said, smiling as he continued walking with you. “my friends do, though. and i was forced to be in soonyoung’s hype squad for hurricane.”
jeonghan clapped suddenly, remembering in his perhaps too drunk stupor that seungcheol had pointed you out, calling you “the cutie that keeps looking at him.” he had, admittedly, checked you out, despite the fact that he had been too embarrassed by his too-serious song to go and talk to you, and he had thought you looked familiar. “oh my god! yes! i did see you! how do you know soonyoung?”
“mutual friends,” you said. “chwe hansol?
he nodded. “we’ve met once, i think. were you there with junhui?”
“yeah, actually,” you said, remembering the opinion of jeonghan your friend had volunteered up for you. “how do you know him?”
“i haven’t talked to him a lot directly, but i know both his roommates pretty well,” jeonghan said. "we do music together.”
“ah, yes,” you nodded in recollection, but refusing to acknowledge how insanely pretentious it was of him to say something like we do music together. “jihoon’s unnamed but immensely prolific band.”
he rolled his eyes. “why is it jihoon’s band? why can’t it be jeonghan’s band?”
“don’t ask me,” you said, putting up hands in innocence. “i didn’t even know it existed until that night. mingyu wouldn’t shut up about it.”
the name sounded familiar to jeonghan, but he moved on as the two of you reached a stop light. “do you go there a lot? or was that a one time thing?”
you eyed him. “this is starting to sound like an invitation, hannie.”
he didn’t comment on the nickname, despite the weird way his arms tingled at it. “you should learn what an invitation actually sounds like. you tend to assume a lot.”
you laughed heartily, and jeonghan ignored the way his stomach flitted while you started to cross the street. “call it wishful thinking, but i think i get you, yoon jeonghan.”
“the hell is that supposed to mean?”
you never answered his question, but grinned instead, which gave jeonghan a sense of unease and a touch of curiosity. as he led you to cafe nomu, he caught himself smiling. laughing. enjoying your company and conversation.
maybe shua hadn’t been completely off base.
by the time jeonghan had realized that his feelings towards you might have evolved from vague malice into something more akin to genuine interest, he was pushing open the door to the cafe for you and mentally double checking that he had put on deodorant that morning, cursing his inability to control his own nerves. ah, he thought. that explained the weird feeling he got waiting for you in class, too. and why he got flustered the day before at his work. he only snapped out of his crowded mind when he heard you ordering an iced americano.
“and for you?”
jeonghan blinked at you, then at the barista that was addressing him. “make that two.”
“thank you for the coffee,” you said, pressing your hands together as he inserted his card.
he waved you off, chuckling, but kept his eyes as far from yours as he could. “a deal is a deal.”
you looked around the quiet cafe, quickly scoping out the seat options as jeonghan accepted the buzzer for your order. he thought it was a little silly, considering the two of you were half of the customers in the cafe currently, but said nothing as he turned it over in his fingers, standing next to you.
“there?” you asked, pointing at a table by a window.
jeonghan bit his cheek, thinking about how joshua would likely be walking down this street to go to his shift, if he had one. “yeah, wherever.”
you were already on your way to the seat when he responded, and he followed, dropping his bag off his shoulder to hang on the hook under the table.
“i thought you were going to get something expensive,” he teased, sitting across from you.
laughing lightly, you pulled your phone out of your hoodie pocket and set it on the table. “you said the espresso was good, i wanted to try it.”
“don’t you not like coffee?” jeonghan asked, squinting at you.
“i love coffee,” you said, quirking an eyebrow.
“then why don’t you drink the americanos i make?”
he was leaning forward, staring at you, fingers folding over each other on the table. you pouted, avoiding his eyes suddenly. “no reason.”
leaning back again, he kept a wary eye on you. “that’s convincing.”
“good, it’s the truth.”
jeonghan decided to put a pin in that interrogation in favor of asking you your major.
you laughed again, making a small smile appear on his face. "communications," you answered, despite thinking of how he denied the same question from you earlier.
he let out a low "wah" and cocked his head. "what's up with that? same major."
"really?" you leaned over the table. "what year are you?"
"third."
you put a peace sign next to your eye like you were posing for a photo. "second."
you couldn't help but giggle at the "pfft" that spilled out of jeonghan's lips as he laughed at you, muttering a "really" under his breath at your pose. he was running a hand through his extremely soft and fluffy looking hair when the buzzer went off, and you blinked yourself awake from your trance to nod after he said he would go get the drinks. 
admitting to it was the last thing you wanted, but you couldn’t help but hear mingyu’s voice rattling around your head, telling you that you would fall for jeonghan eventually. you had once thought he was completely up his own ass, but you kept getting glimpses of this really cute, really sweet version of him, and it made you want to get to know him better. additionally, it was getting harder to find people that would happily play along with your teasing, and he had no qualms teasing you right back.
when he returned with the americanos, you pressed your hands together in another thank you before taking a sip. he slid back into his seat and looked at you expectantly. "well? what do you think?"
you paused a moment, appraising the flavor. "delicious. thank you."
after he sipped at his own, he nodded. "the beans here are really good. balanced. i wish i could convince my boss to source better stuff."
you watched him sip again, letting out a praise under his breath. you sighed. "i have a confession."
his eyebrows quirked at you, and he did his best to not show the way his stomach flipped. "what kind?"
"i don't drink your americanos because they're shit."
there was silence as he processed your words, and you wondered if you had royally fucked up by saying something. suddenly, he was laughing, and you stared at him in shock as he calmed down. "oh my god, yeah, they are."
"wait, you know?"
"i-" jeonghan paused, rubbing his face, still laughing. "god, this is so stupid. i burn your shots."
your jaw dropped open, but a smile creeped across your face as you understood. "wait, on purpose?"
"you never smile!" he attempted to explain himself with a bit too much enthusiasm, finding his own pettiness ridiculous in hindsight. "not even when i smiled at you. i had a grudge. i'm sorry."
you were sipping your non-burnt americano with a sly look on your face. you wanted to be mad at the wasted money on countless gross americanos, but somehow, you couldn't be. "do you hold grudges against everyone or am i just lucky?"
"uh, depends," jeonghan said, crossing his arms and thinking. "when the prof that failed my roommate comes in, i burn his shots, too. i think he might like it that way, though, because he's always really nice to me."
you almost snorted. "well, you owe me a lot of coffee."
he nodded and sighed, resigning to his fate. "when you come in, your coffee's on me. and i won't burn it this time."
you pouted a second, and jeonghan barely caught it, but he thought the expression was far too cute. "i was hoping you would invite me out again."
"again?" he asked, letting a few 'ha's fall from his lips in quick succession. "you mean for the first time?"
you gestured to the cafe you sat in. "was this not your idea?"
he rolled his eyes. "you invited yourself out and held me hostage."
"does that mean you have stockholms?"
he laughed at the diagnosis, remembering the class you claimed you had both taken the year before. "you're a very charming captor."
you smiled at the compliment, despite the sinister implication.
the next time you saw jeonghan, it was saturday. you had rolled out of bed far earlier than you had intended to when you had fallen asleep at 4 am after a very drunk and extremely conflict heavy game of uno with the guys. you winced at the sunlight streaming through your shitty dorm blinds, fumbling your way to the water dispenser on your desk to rehydrate.
you stared at your roommate's empty bed, remembering they had said they worked early shifts this weekend as you brushed your teeth, and you wondered how they had dealt with you stumbling into the dorm in the wee hours of the day.
you almost gagged on your toothbrush. an empty room on a saturday morning with too little sleep and a nasty hangover, you thought. bad decisions could never be made under these circumstances.
"does jeonghan's cafe do breakfast sandwiches?" you thought aloud with a mouth full of toothpaste, leaning over the sink to spit. you kind of remembered seeing them on the menu, though you never thought to get anything beyond the occasional muffin. maybe today was the day.
after washing your face and cleaning up your hair a bit, you had to dig in your clothes to find your favorite pair of black sweats and a shirt to tuck in. you last minute decided to bring your good headphones, just in case hanguk's angel wasn't there to bug, and ran out the door with your wallet and phone, a pair of sunglasses shoved onto your face.
the walk to his cafe is short from the dorms you lived in, which was another reason you liked it there. it was warmer than it had been during the week, and you watched a big muscular dog running alongside its owner. before long, you were tugging open the door, seeing no line. you grinned at how lucky you were as you pulled your headphones down to your neck.
"yoon jeonghan! you are working!"
he seemed startled by your voice, his shoulders raising slightly as he turned towards the door. "oh, what the hell? what are you doing here at 9:30 on a saturday?"
you pouted, walking up to the counter and tugging off your sunglasses. "are you not happy to see me?"
his laugh was genuine and completely out of his control. "sure i am. nice eyebags."
that, you noted, was the first time jeonghan had ever greeted you with a smile, and it seemed appropriate that it was paired with an insult. "thanks, i'm violently hungover right now." you said, noticing your best friend's roommate standing further back behind the counter, pretty obviously pretending to not be listening to you.
"do you wanna redeem a free americano?" he asked, poking at the touchscreen register.
you hummed, crossing your arms and staring at the menu board. "not today, i wanna try a latte. something tasty, and something for breakfast. what do you think?"
jeonghan stared at you, and you stared back, a small smile on your face. he blinked. "have you ever tried lavender?"
"lavender?" you shook your head, genuinely surprised. "is that a good flavor?"
he nodded, looking down at the screen and adding items to your order. "we have this seasonal syrup that we make in house," he said. "it's my favorite one of the year. honey, lavender, and vanilla bean. big one?"
you blinked at the cup sizes, trying to remember how many bottles of soju you had bought the night before, and subsequently how much money was left in your account. "uh, yeah."
"will you be offended if i give you a vegetarian sandwich? it's the best one."
you cocked your head. "i mean, if it's the best one…"
jeonghan smiled slightly, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. "it's the best one. and it's my secret hangover cure."
you noticed his card too late. "hey, what are you doing?"
he quirked an eyebrow at you. "buying your coffee. like i said i would."
"that was way more than an americano."
"and i've burned way more than an americano," jeonghan reminded you. "and if you don't accept that, i'm buying you breakfast as a peace offering."
your eyebrows raised. "a peace offering?" 
he avoided your gaze. "i've decided you're not a pretentious asshole."
you laughed at his word choice, and how it mirrored your own. "i mean, i can be kind of pretentious sometimes. and a major asshole a lot of the time."
jeonghan grinned. "me too."
he washed his hands and passed along the sandwich order to his coworker as he moved to the espresso machine, briefly explaining to you that he was completely useless with food as soon as a heat source becomes involved, but assured you that seokmin was a master with a turbochef, and that your sandwich was in the best hands.
you giggled, watching his hands as he found a squeeze bottle and shot the contents into a glass. "i trust you."
his eyes flicked to you briefly, and you leaned against the drink pickup counter, squinting at the syrup. he held the glass that would soon be your drink up for you. "see the specs? real vanilla."
you hummed. "it smells good."
"it tastes like sunshine, i swear to god."
your eyes followed his hands as he expertly filled and packed the portafilter with fresh grounds. he felt you watching him, and did his best to suppress the itch to fumble. you watched him not burn your shots, stirring them with the syrup and pouring milk from a jug. he added ice, put a metal straw in the tall glass, then placed it on the counter in front of you.
you made sure to smile when you told him thank you, and jeonghan was pretty sure he would have collapsed from how cute he found you if he had slightly less resolve. 
"veggie sando for… y/n?" seokmin announced to the cafe, eyes creasing into a laugh as he appeared with a plate.
you gave seokmin a nervous smile. "sorry for staying over so late. i didn't know you worked this morning."
jeonghan looked between you suspiciously as seokmin assured you it was fine, claiming he was knocked out by midnight and didn't even know when you left. who did seokmin live with again? jeonghan chewed on his cheek as he put your drink and sandwich on a tray.
your eyes flicked over to the front counter as a few customers entered the cafe, seokmin already heading over to greet them and begin the order. you tried not to let your disappointment show when you told jeonghan you should probably let him get back to work. he tried to not let his show, either, when he nodded in agreement. neither of you did a great job.
"someone's clocking on in half an hour, i can take a break then. don't leave?"
his almost pleading tone made your lip twitch upward. "don't act so clingy, hannie."
he grinned, then stopped you before you picked up the tray. "first- hang on," he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and unlocking it, quickly going to the keypad as he looked over his shoulder at the customers. "give me your number."
your eyes met his briefly as you took the phone, quickly punching in your digits and tapping to add yourself to his contacts. he smiled at the profile name - "americano" - as you picked up your tray and headed to your favorite armchair. even as he was making other drinks and serving other customers, he couldn't take his eyes off you, sitting in your armchair with your headphones on. it had only been two days since he saw you last, but he hadn't thought of anything but you the entire time. he had almost considered asking shua to swap shifts with him so he could have a chance of seeing you the day before, but he knew his coworker would refuse to take the saturday opening shift. he spent his whole afternoon off sitting on the couch in his apartment, staring at the back of his roommate's chair, trying to figure out why he didn't ask for your number.
"hey," jihoon said, and jeonghan had only then noticed that his roommate had spun his tall cushioned chair around to look back at him. "i said, do you know when seungcheol invited people around tomorrow?"
jeonghan stared at him for a second, then sighed dramatically, rubbing his eye. 
"woah," the younger laughed and leaned back in his seat. "who'd you sleep with last night? i need to warn them you're crazy."
"no one," jeonghan pouted. "what the hell? i'm not crazy."
"hyung, i say this with the most respect i can," he said, leaning forward. "you're batshit, especially when you catch feelings for a one night stand."
"ugh, whatever," jeonghan pushed the pillow off his lap and ran a hand through his hair. "we didn't even do anything."
jihoon squinted at him a moment. "okay, hang on, i feel like our definitions of not doing anything are different."
he rolled his eyes. "we didn't do anything," he repeated, standing from the couch and walking over to the kitchen to get water. "like, nothing. we didn't even touch each other. not once."
jihoon looked around, trying to understand what he meant. "i'm confused. you didn't touch your one night stand?"
"it wasn't a one night stand!" jeonghan threw a dagger glare at the other before he drank his water, muttering a "really" beneath his breath.
jihoon's face didn't change. "so… you went on a date?"
jeonghan swallowed the water hard, putting the glass down on the counter and leaning against it. "kinda."
"you are really not making this easy for me at all."
"we got coffee," he said finally. "we have a class together, and we made a stupid bet over who would pay, and they fucking tricked me, so i had to pay for it and we talked for, like, a stupid long time, and i think i actually really…" he exhaled, both hands rubbing his face. "i think i really like them."
jihoon whistled. "i just wanna say before the moment passes that it is incredibly on brand for you to fall for someone because they conned you into buying them coffee."
jeonghan glared at the younger, but he couldn't argue. "we got coffee and talked and then they just…" his palms faced the sky as he gestured, shoulders raised. "they just left. i didn't even get their number."
"okay, and?" jihoon swivelled back and forth in his chair. "you have a class together. you'll literally see them next week."
he groaned, pressing his forehead against the fridge. "but i wanna see them now."
and now, he was seeing you. much sooner than he had expected, yet not soon enough. the saturday morning rush began to pick up, and even when an additional barista arrived, jeonghan wondered if he would actually be able to slip away for a break.
"go ahead," seokmin said, grabbing the steamed milk pitcher from his hand. "me and hyejoo can handle it for a minute."
jeonghan looked at the shrinking line and nodded, quickly pulling off his apron as he walked around the counter. he knew he didn't have a lot of time, and pulling up a chair seemed silly, so he instead just squatted and folded his arms over the arm of your favorite seat.
you looked up from your phone at the motion, pulling your headphones off and grinning. "hey! the drink is delicious and extremely not burnt."
he smiled, noticing it was almost gone. "i'm glad! it's still busy, so i can't really take a proper break, but i wanted to ask you something."
you squinted at him. "what kind of something?"
"do you have plans tonight?"
"depends," you said, turning your body to face him better as you sucked on your cheek. "what's going on?"
jeonghan exhaled, amused. "my roommate is having people over for a few drinks or something, it'd be cool if you came by?"
you looked at a light, gauging the state of your hangover. your voice almost cracked when you asked "tonight?"
"you don't have to drink," he said, remembering what you had told him earlier. "and you can, like, bring a friend if you want. i know it's weird that i'm inviting you to my place."
you thought a moment. "don't you live with lee jihoon?"
jeonghan blinked. "uh, yeah?"
"i'll bring a friend," you said, tapping your fingers on the back of your phone. you looked back to him and smiled. "text me details?"
jeonghan stood. "yeah, i'll text you," he said, glancing up at the door where more customers were walking in. "fuck, i should go."
you followed his gaze. "i think i'll stick to weekdays. this place gets crazy on the weekends."
"tell me about it." he started to walk back to the counter. "i'll talk to you later?"
you smiled and nodded at him, and you waved enthusiastically at him as you were headed out about ten minutes later.
"i'm still waiting for a text," you teased, peeking over the counter as he made a drink.
he laughed. "i'll get to it when i get to it."
"thanks for the sandwich, seokmin! it was delicious!"
seokmin waved at you with a big grin and you looked back at jeonghan.
"i'll see you tonight?"
he nodded, a smug smile teasing his lips. "yeah, i'll see you tonight."
you didn't show the way your stomach flipped when he made eye contact with you, but you slid your sunglasses back on and put your headphones back on your head, and walked to the rhythm of love songs in the sun on your way to your friend's apartment, a stupid childish giggle threatening to surface the entire time.
"hey, is mingoo around?"
minghao blinked at you, standing at his front door with a smile on your face. "dude, you left like four hours ago. what are you even doing here."
"uh, no, myungho, i left like seven hours ago, get it right." he let you walk past him into the apartment. "is he still asleep?"
"is that actually a question?"
you trotted into mingyu's room, humming along to the song playing through the headphones around your neck as you pulled open his blinds.
"god, what the fuck," his rough voice went behind you. "the hell is wrong with you. go home."
"that's not a very nice way to treat the person that's gonna set you up with your future ex-husband."
mingyu's hair stuck in several different directions and his eyes were still squeezed shut, but he had pushed himself off his pillow enough for you to know you caught his attention. "which one?"
you grinned. "the one with the pretty voice."
"wait," mingyu fumbled with his comforter as he tried to sit up. "wait, hang on. jihoon?" you laughed and nodded as he sniffed noisily. "he is not my future ex-husband, y/n. he's it. he's the one that's gonna make an honest woman out of me."
"well, lady, get ready to be honest, because i got an invite to a kickback at his apartment tonight and i snagged a plus one."
he squinted at you. "what's the catch?"
you rolled your eyes. "there isn't always a catch. maybe i'm just trying to be nice."
"yeah, uh huh." mingyu flopped back onto his bed, rubbing his eyes. "why didn't you just text me or something? it's so early."
"it's like, barely morning."
"it's ten."
you exhaled. "it's 11:17, asshole. are you going with me or not?"
mingyu groaned and flopped around, his head aching from the drinks that had stopped too recently. "when?"
"uhh," you stalled as you checked your phone. no new messages. "not sure yet. i'm waiting on a text."
he squinted at you. "who's texting you? soonyoung?"
you shrugged. "sure."
"oh my god, it's jeonghan, isn't it?"
"whaaaaaat?" you deadpanned, walking over to mingyu's bed to sit on the edge, staring at your phone. "why would i be waiting on a text from that loser?"
"i knew you were acting stupid yesterday for a reason," he accused. "and you asked jun what his deal was. you like him, don't you? what did he do? did he corner you?"
"absolutely not," you said, sighing and throwing your phone down on his bed, slightly offended by him saying you were acting stupid but truly not being able to remember if he was wrong. "i cornered him, at his workplace, no less. then i made him buy me coffee. then i showed up to his workplace, again, incredibly hungover, and he still asked for my number."
mingyu's lips formed a pout as he hummed, rubbing his eye again. "never would have pegged jeonghan as the simping type, but sure."
"shut up," you laughed, and mingyu whined about whether or not you had washed your hands when you plopped your palm against his face. he pushed your wrists away. "do you still have that bottle of white wine?"
"you mean the one hao refuses to drink even though i spent good money on it for his fucking birthday? yeah, why?"
you grabbed your phone again, despite it not vibrating. "it'd probably make a good first impression if you bring a nice bottle to the kickback you were last minute invited to. i bet jihoon will be so impressed by your manners."
mingyu blinked heavily. "you're devious. what about you?"
"i don't need a good first impression," you said. "i already made an awful one and he still likes me."
he sighed. "you always have been a charming dickhead."
you grinned at your best friend. "thanks, babe."
mingyu groaned against his palms. "god, fuck, i was supposed to study for my exam today."
you clicked your tongue. "that sucks dick."
"you suck dick."
you pouted out your lips when you got a text from an unknown number. "i'm trying."
you hadn't fully decided yet how you were going to make sure jeonghan really liked you, especially after jun regaled his "disgusting sexcapades," as he described them. you took his words with a grain of salt, considering the guy had an extremely low opinion of him from the get go, but either way, could you really blame jeonghan for putting his incredibly good looks and charm to use?
you, however, found flings incredibly uninteresting. most of the men that went after you were dull at best, and definitely would have fallen for any stupid prank you had played on them. with jeonghan, though, there was a challenge. there was always the chance he would out-trick you. it was new and exciting. playing with people, you decided, was only fun when there were some stakes involved.
inviting you to have drinks at his place seemed like such a transparent ploy to get laid, but you couldn't help but expect more from him. something told you he knew that you wouldn't be that easy, and you wondered what his game was.
i think i'm here >
which apartment was it? >
you definitely could have scrolled up in your conversation with jeonghan to check, especially since mingyu was complaining next to you on the street outside the apartment building, but you preferred the power move of asking again. you hadn't considered, though, that jeonghan was absolutely the type to know exactly what you were trying as soon as he saw the notification and make you wait. you squinted at the window that clearly had a party going on inside of it, willing the boy to respond.
"bro, it's apartment 2-b. soonyoung says he's 'the b in 2-b' like, every chance he gets. let's just go up."
"hang on, i'm plotting," you said, putting up a finger and scrolling through your contacts.
mingyu groaned as you put the phone to your ear, pressing the cold wine bottle against his eye. "you are the most annoying person i've ever met."
"yet you ask me to hang out constantly."
mingyu glared at you with his uncovered eye. "i also watch a lot of shit television, so don't take my taste as gospel."
inside, soonyoung patted down his pockets when he heard his ringtone, then looked at the kitchen counter where he had left it when he was making drinks. he grinned wide when he saw the contact info and practically yelled when he answered the phone. "y/n! please tell me you're finally coming over?"
jeonghan heard your name, his head whipping towards the sound. he stared at soonyoung, phone to his ear as he laughed into it, and he exhaled when he realized what you had done. he looked down at the ignored notification on his phone, his thought process being that you would call as it became more urgent.
and you had, just not him. he cursed under his breath. you were always one step ahead.
"yeah, second floor! come on up, i'll meet you at the stairs!"
jeonghan watched soonyoung shove his feet into a pair of slides and exit the apartment, then quickly downed the rest of his drink. he was gonna need an excuse to ask if you wanted one.
you followed soonyoung down the hall as he excitedly chattered about how he didn't know you were coming.
mingyu laughed. "yeah, we didn't either. y/n got an invite from jeonghan this morning."
"jeonghan?" soonyoung looked at you. "i didn't know you knew each other."
"i enjoy being a mystery," you said, checking quickly to see if your message had been seen yet.
soonyoung couldn't help but laugh at the idea of you and his roommate, especially with a few drinks in him. "you definitely suit each other."
jeonghan hadn't lied when he said people were coming over for drinks, but he had definitely made it seem much smaller than it was. the living area had enough people that you didn't want to bother counting, but probably somewhere in the twenties. there was music playing, but the conversational chatter was still audible over the beat, and people were laughing with each other on just about every surface you could see. you noticed jihoon by the kitchen counter as you were taking off your shoes, and grabbed mingyu's arm to face him towards you.
"jesus, fuck," he stumbled over his own shoes. "why do i hang out with you?"
"he's in the kitchen and he's alone," you said, your fingers digging into his bicep. "now's your chance. ask him where you should put the wine."
mingyu peeked over his shoulder, then looked back at you with wide eyes. "are you serious? right now?"
"right now," you reassured. "you got this, big guy. you're hot, smart, and tall. say you like his music and blow his mind."
he exhaled, his lips forming an o, and shook his hand nervously. "okay. okay. thank you. i love you. i'm sorry i ever called you annoying."
you laughed, smacking his arm. "love you too, goo."
he shut his eyes and spun, walking towards the boy of his affections. you watched him for a moment, though slyly, as you wandered into the party. you wondered where soonyoung had gone so quickly, then clenched your fist in victory when you saw jihoon get wine glasses out of a cupboard and laughed at something mingyu said.
"oh, y/n!" you spun to the familiar voice, spotting jeonghan leaning against a wall casually, half engaged in a conversation. he pushed off it as you closed the short space between you. "you made it! why didn't you tell me you were here?"
"i did," you said, cocking your head at him. "but you probably knew that."
a sideways smile creeped onto his face. "hey, are you drinking tonight? i don't wanna tempt your self proclaimed alcoholism, but i've been sitting on an empty drink for a while, i could make you one too."
you eyed the red cup in his hand. "what's on the menu?"
"paloma," he said, lifting the cup. "but i can make you something else."
you thought for a second, then looked at him. you hadn't had tequila since the night you saw him sing. "i trust your taste."
he tilted his head as he moved, gesturing for you to follow him to the kitchen. you nudged mingyu with your hip as you settled against the counter next to him to watch jeonghan make a drink for you. he looked down at you, then put an arm on your shoulder as he sipped the wine he had brought, and you noticed jihoon had a matching glass. you smiled proudly.
"mingyu?" jeonghan asked, gesturing.
you nodded, then looked up at your best friend. "this is jeonghan," you said, pointing.
mingyu smiled at him. "good luck with this one. jihoon, this is my worst friend, y/n."
"i'm also the reason he's here," you said, leaning forward to direct the speech at boy you were being introduced to. "you're welcome."
jihoon looked at you, mouth parted into an almost smile. his eyes went to jeonghan, remembering their conversation the day before, then to mingyu again, who was covering his eyes with a palm in embarrassment. "this is why they're my worst friend."
jeonghan laughed, pulling your attention back as he popped open a soda with a bottle opener. "so you're like this with everyone?"
"i’m sure i don't know what you mean," you quipped, sliding out from mingyu's arm to grab the bottle and inspect the label. "jah…ritos?"
"jarritos," jeonghan corrected, pronouncing the h sound. "mexican grapefruit soda. it's the best for palomas."
"see, this is why people think you're a prick," you said, putting the bottle back on the counter. "you get fancy soda specifically for your fancy cocktails."
he just laughed at you as he poured tequila from a bottle into two cups of ice. "if i cared what people thought, i would have changed my ways years ago."
you let that marinate for a moment, then decided the two of you were much more similar than you had originally thought. he grabbed the bowl of cut lime wedges that seungcheol had prepared and squeezed two into each cup, and you watched as he topped the drinks with the soda.
"can you handle heat?"
you looked at him. "that's a loaded question."
he laughed again, and you wondered how many palomas he had before you arrived. "i like chili on the lime, but i wanted to be nice and ask before i did it for you, too."
"i'll try anything once."
then you tried it again.
and again.
jeonghan really was charming, you thought. and pretty. and he had a lovely voice.
at some point, soonyoung found you again, just to waggle his eyebrows at jeonghan when he thought you weren't looking, and you got introduced to seungcheol, who you both recognized and were recognized by. jeonghan rolled his eyes and shoved him away when he gave him a look, remembering how he described you at the bar ages ago.
you barely even noticed the time passing, but your drinks kept draining and you kept accepting more, and you wondered if you were really stupid enough to say yes if he asked you to join him in his bedroom tonight. but the more jeonghan talked, the more you were kind of okay with the idea.
"do you wanna get out of here?"
you blinked, chin in your palm and elbow on the counter, face inches from jeonghan's as he put down his cup. "and go where?"
he pouted as he thought. "i could really go for tteokbokki right now."
at that moment, you decided jeonghan really liked you. you grinned. "that sounds so good."
he smiled back at you, and you didn't comment on the way his eyes lingered on your lips, even if you really wanted to. "better tell your chaperone."
you rolled your eyes at the title mingyu had given himself earlier when he was trying to convince you to not take a fourth drink. "don't let his stupid height trick you, he's more of a lightweight than me."
"at least you don't have to worry about him, jihoon would never try anything. the poor guy is so shy, he was probably flustered just when mingyu said hi."
you quirked an eyebrow at him. "does he have to worry about me?"
jeonghan laughed. "if i wanted to get you drunk, i would have poured heavier."
"speaking of," you said, tipping your cup. "this one suspiciously tasted like not tequila."
he stood suddenly, palms on the counter, trying to force down the blush on his ears. "if you're gonna complain about every drink i make you, maybe you should stop asking for them."
you giggled, standing and imitating his stance. "just admit you care about me, yoon jeonghan."
he looked at you, a smile teasing his lips. "only after you admit you're in love with me."
you squinted. "a draw."
he grinned. "tteokbokki?"
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imagesthatarecursed · 3 years
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maxknightley · 5 years
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2019 patch notes
the oblong american football is now the standard “ball” shape. spherical balls have been renamed “bounce orbs”
new natural disasters: “lunar storm,” “airquake,” and “nothing but flowers”
economy fixes:
removed an exploit that allowed defunct user accounts to pass on all their Savings to existing users, causing severe PVP stagnation
added a new auction house (Mecklington’s on Fifth)
nerfed Networking
added support for Esperanto
mammoths have been revamped and will be returning to the “Siberia” and “Yukon” regions
five new dungeons!
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blixeon · 3 years
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Ghost Hunting Headcanons/Phasmophobia AU with Douxie and fem!Reader
- A/N: I'm gonna be honest, I don't know anything about this kind of stuff and I'm writing based off of the sheer willpower of memes, what I've learned from playing Phasmophobia for a month and the power of inspiration to write odd hcs (and AUs apparently) at 1:30 am
Warnings: ghosties
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You're both balls-y as hell and like to out dare and out do the other
"I'll give you free hot beverages from the café for a week if you stand in the basement alone, in complete darkness for 10 minutes"
"Don't tempt me Hisirdoux-"
You smirked before adding, "You know I'd do it anyways without the bribe~"
Douxie would raise an eyebrow at you in amusement, letting out a chuckle
You took up his offer and make your way to the basement
Low-key got bored and nodded off for a bit, lasting well over your 10 minutes of agreed upon time
Douxie starts getting worried when you don't come back up and makes his way down to look for you
"Y/N? Where'd you go, love?"
Since you'd only been nodding off and weren't completely out, you hear his voice and footsteps making his way down the stairs towards you and decide to take it upon yourself to give him a little spook
He lets out an alarmed yelp as you jump at him from the shadows
"Bleeding balroths! Y/n, don't do that to me-! I thought something happened to you.."
You let out a light chuckle but apologize for making him worry
It's dark in the abandoned house you're ghost hunting at, and you've got nothing but your flashlights to guide you along in your nightly quest (you'd both agreed it be more fun if magic was off limits)
You liked to hold onto Douxie's sleeve while exploring, not out of fear but just because it was nice knowing he was there
Douxie prefers that you hold onto his sleeve anyways, he'd much rather be prepared to break your no magic rule to protect you on the off chance that whatever you're out looking for wants to cause harm
Plus, it's comforting to him to know that you're close by and that he doesn't need to keep checking that you're still there since he can feel you tugging at his sleeve
He checks anyways
"I bet you won't take home that string doll we saw hanging from the doorway on the way in"
"Oh, do you now?"
Despite not being able to see eachother's facial expressions in the dark, you can both feel the grin radiating off the other's face
"Arch might make me burn it if I do"
"Everyone knows you can't burn haunted things and be rid of its evil"
"Fair enough. You'll have to remind me to pick it up on our way out then"
You and Douxie ended up going for impromptu ghost hunts so frequently it became sort of a nightly tradition
Douxie enjoys it more than he cares to admit, but it's mostly because he enjoys spending time with you on these not so traditional dates
You can tell he enjoys it and decide to put some money into a few pieces of proper equipment, even if it's just for fun
Most nights, the two of you never actually find anything, it's just fun to be out together past midnight, looking for ghosts in abandoned places
When you do see something, it's usually just goblins or shadow mephits
However, sometimes you get lucky and something supernatural sets off your gear
"Took the spirits bloody long enough!"
Heavy footsteps echo from the floor above, followed by some low but faint off-tune humming
Queue creepy whispering and heavy breathing down your neck that is most definitely not Douxie
"Please don't eat my ass demons"
Douxie's flashlight starts flickering, so does yours, signalling that the spirit is hunting
"Oh.... fuzz buckets-"
He quickly guides you to one of the rooms you passed earlier, one that still had a door attached to its hinges
You close the door behind the two of you and wait out the hunt in silence
You wait for what feels like forever before you confirm that you're in the clear
Douxie moves to open the door and peers out into the hall with his dim flashlight, pulling you along with him once he deems it safe
You guys are surprisingly deep into the house at this point and decide to head back for safe measures
The front door of the run down house is in sight at the end of the seemingly endless hallway, it looks impossibly far away. Maybe it's the light?
As you head towards the door, the floorboards creak just ahead of you and Douxie
A slim dark figure flashes in and out of view, making its way towards you two, long slender arms outstretched towards you
Douxie moves to put a protective arm around you and you can faintly see the tattoos on his arms light up under his hoodie
"Shall we make a break for it, darling?"
You can practically hear the smirk in his voice as the two of you dash for the exit
On your way out you remember to grab the string doll hanging in the doorway, as a trophy of sorts for surviving the night
The two of you keep moving until you're a safe distance from the house before you stop
As your pace slows, you notice the faint glow of Douxie's tattoos fade away
"Now THAT is how you spend a Tuesday night"
He laughs at your enthusiasm, finding it rather charming how you react in the face of possible danger
Now out of the darkness of the house and outside in the light of the moon, it's much easier to make out the expressions on his face
Douxie stares back at you with adoration in his eyes as you do a twirl in the cool night air, your laughter forming a small cloud as it echos into the night
He makes his way over to you as you slow from your spinning, wobbling a little as dizziness clouds your head
"Whoa there, take it easy. Just because we escaped a possibly blood hungry demon does not mean that you're invincible" he says, steadying you on your feet
You let out a chuckle, "I suppose not"
Your spinning had lead you to the dead center of a moonlit clearing
Douxie pulls you in for a kiss, sealing the end of your ghost hunting adventures
For now that is.
Who knows what tomorrow night will bring~?
A/N: Sorry that turned into a half assed one shot lmao, it's a lot longer than I intended it to be too ^^; I hope it's alright though! I haven't written anything in ages, let alone an x reader lol
New weird headcanon that came completely out of pocket while writing this is that Douxie's tattoos light up when he's preforming certain spells O-O
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lyallblacklupin · 3 years
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Don’t miss the Yule Ball.
Sirius and Remus relives their favorite memory together, and reconcile their relationship.
Tags: Post-Incident with Severus Snape, Angst with Happy Ending, Getting Back Together, Trust Issues.
Chapter 5
There he was, standing by the doorway with his hand still clutching the doorknob, his amber eyes glistening, blotchy and scarlet face at a brink of erupting everything that had been lying agonizingly beneath his chest. Sirius could feel it. He could feel it radiating off him, seeping into the crimson walls of their dorm, making them dull and blue. Sirius could easily recall that particular day when Remus had entered the common room with a face that had been the facsimiled version of the one that he was currently staring at. It was one of his favorite nights with Remus. 
They were staring at each other, both waiting, hoping, and begging.
And then Sirius tentatively held out his arms just like he had, always. He didn’t get to wait because Remus had already shoved himself into his body so forcefully that Sirius had to keep his feet hard on the ground from stumbling backwards. The moment his body was harshly hit with his, he knew. He knew the scent, the touch, and the curves of the body that was plastered with him. It was hard to believe. Considering their current relationship, he was hard to even dream. But now, it was happening so vividly that he had to pinch himself to detect the line between dream and reality. And he did, and the distinction was clear. Tears pooled into his eyes when all of his senses were soundly aware. His heart was singing the name like his very own mantra.
Remus Lupin. Remus. Remus. Moony. My Moony. My Remus. Mine. Mine. Mine.
Remus was wrapped around him like trailing plant. His limbs were all over Sirius’ body. He was shaking, and so was Sirius’ body. He was sobbing, and so was Sirius’ heart. Hard. His howls were raggedy and too painful to hear. Sirius thought he was hit by a stunning charm that his feet stood by the ground, but his knees were turning rickety. Remus didn’t stop. His face was buried in Sirius’ neck. Sirius could feel that the dampness was not just his dripping hair but the endless tears of Remus as they trickled down his neck, and soaked the cotton maroon shit he was wearing.
James and Peter emerged from the bathroom, wearing their robes for the Ball that was starting in few hours, with their mouths hanging open. They had never seen Remus like that. The Remus they knew was the one who squirmed away from group hugs, the one who never cried from any pain—either physical or emotional—the one who was expressionless when angry, and the one who coped with everything without fussing or weeping. However, the Remus Sirius knew was the opposite version of his public display, and secretly Sirius was proud of this intimately celestial relationship between them.
“Moons—“ James had almost called Remus out before Sirius slightly shook his head to him in a gesture that said ‘I will handle this, not any of you.’ James had never been the one to take or assume any offence so he took this as his and Peter’s queue to leave the dorm for a while. “We’ll come later, okay?” Peter gave a small smile to Sirius before exiting.
He did everything. He didn’t stop rubbing his back, he didn’t stop squeezing his arms, and he didn’t stop pressing his head against his. But Remus didn’t budge. The sobs had turned into whimpering. Sirius untangled himself from him and held his burning face that was stained with tears and snots. He wiped his face with his hands. Remus scrunched his nose in a grimace. Little did he knew, Sirius loved this facial expression of him. It made him look very innocent. Sirius dared to lean in and kissed his nose. He witnessed the relaxation spreading on Remus’ face. He leaned again to shower all of the kisses he had wanted to, and Remus let him. On the wet eyelids, forehead, cheeks, temples and anywhere where his lips could reach.
“Had a bad day, Moony?” Sirius asked him gently.
“I’m sorry…” It broke his heart because Remus was not supposed to apologize. He didn’t do anything wrong. If there was someone who deserved to apologize for the rest of his life, it was Sirius. He breached his trust, and he didn’t know if he could ever reconcile his mistakes, his bad traits and hid darkness that came along with his surname.
Sirius couldn’t bring himself to utter a word of disagreement, so he kept shaking his head.
“I’m so sorry, Sirius.” He said it again. And it hurt again, “I should have never pushed you away…I mean what was I thinking? That I will be able to free myself from this desire that looms around me like a shadow. This longing to have you by my side, all the time. I thought I would win this tug of war. But I didn’t...Having you…here, around me and yet so far…No, Sirius. I can’t do that for much longer because sooner or later I’ll be falling into your arms again. You are this piece of my puzzle. My missing piece of life. And this void needs to be filled! It is just too agonizing. I miss you. I miss you so much.”
Every syllable was coherent and intense. They were causing a havoc inside Sirius. It all seemed like another dream. And then he looked around. It was all real. He looked into Remus’ watery eyes. It was all real. But he was trying to look for something that could liberate him from this beautiful deception. He didn’t want to stay in oblivion.
“I know it's selfish-” 
“it’s not selfish... Sirius replied anyway, “I don’t believe all of this…” He whispered. Remus was smiling at him so peaceful at him. It was certainly going to be a dream. He saw him leaning closer. He closed his eyes when his forehead was pressed with his.
“I cry to you, I laugh openly to you. You know the things that matters to me the most. And you should know that you are the first and foremost on that list of mine.” Remus’ voice was so soft. The small puffs of breath against Sirius’ cheek was causing a tingling sensation all over his body.
“Do you trust me?” He couldn’t recognize his own voice, and Remus was taken aback. His lips were parted, puffy eyes, and disheveled hair.
“I trust you.” He leaned more closer, nodding his head.
“How?” It came out like a whine. He felt Remus’ arms encircled his waist.
“Because you are loyal. You never meant me harm, I know it. I believe you, Padfoot...Tell me if you still don’t believe it’s all true.” He heard him say again. And then he felt the warmth of mouth capturing his lips. When Remus’ mouth moved against his, Sirius wanted to cry. His mouth was stiffening. His eyes were stinging, even when they were closed. The stubborn tears did fell because Remus was wiping them with the pad of his thumbs. In between the tiny pauses for breath, Remus was shushing him. He felt like he was shivering internally. Suddenly, he was feeling vulnerable. He could feel Remus’ slender hands travelling to his neck. His fingers sliding up from his nape into his hair. It didn’t fail to make him shiver for real, this time. He did, and a smirk crossed Remus’ mouth.
“It’s real.” Sirius whispered against Remus’ lips, and then captured them again. The kiss was making him lightheaded as he deepened it. His hands were still clutching Remus’ face as if they were the most ethereal treasure to hold. It was, it really was, for Sirius. They both parted to gaze into each other’s eyes. Amber met Silver. “Remus, I love you.” And Remus kissed him again, despite of all the mess they had become with the wetness of tears rubbing each other’s skins.
“I love you, too, Sirius.” The words made him smile. He didn’t know if he was crying or laughing, but it was something in between that. The tears were not stopping but he was happy a little too much.
“Ah! I thought I was going to be the one to comfort you here.” He let out a watery chuckle, wiping his face, “Look at that, I’m a mess here.”
“We both are.”  Remus batted away his hands to wipe Sirius’ face with his own hands. The both of them were standing there in the middle of the dorm, cozying up in each other’s balminess. Sirius’ hands were playing with the hem of Remus’ sweater, while Remus’ hands were untangling the loose knots of Sirius’ slightly damp hair.
“You forgot to cast a drying spell on your hair after shower because of me.”
“This is how much I love you.”
They laughed again. Everything was beautifully back to its rightful places. 
“Moony?”
“Padfoot?”
“Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?”
Remus narrowed his eyes, squinted to come at eye-level with Sirius, a smirk trying hard to break his glare.
“You love dancing.”
“I love dancing with you.”
 _____________________________________________________________
They were in their robes, thrilled to go to the Yule Ball, as they descended the stairs of dormitory. They both came to a halt at the same time when they stepped into the common room. James and Lily were sitting on the couch, and Peter was lying on the carpeted floor before the fire-escape.
“What are you guys doing here? You left an hour ago.” Sirius said.
“Oh thank Merlin!” James jumped up and rushed to embrace him and Remus, “You guys made up! You guys are reunited! We’ve been waiting for you lot! I’m so happy! I love you! I love you both!”
Remus squirmed away hesitantly, letting James and Sirius alone to suffocate themselves in hugging and jumping. He met Lily beaming at him.
“Look at you, handsome.” She kissed him on the cheek, “I’m happy for you, Remus.”
“Oi! Evans!” Sirius and James said in unison, causing all of them to laugh into hysterics.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
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dual1pa · 4 years
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late night swim
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(gif isn’t mine)
A/N: Hi! This is my first time writing an Outer Banks imagine! Hope you like it :) requests are open for JJ requests!
Warnings: fluff, light smut
Word Count: 1.3k
Secretly dating a Pogue was tough. It was hard keeping a secret from your rich, privileged family. Yes, you were a Kook. You were more comfortable with your Pogue friends rather than your Kook friends: they all were so preppy wearing their Vineyard Vines button up shirts and kakis. You weren’t into it. You definitely preferred the Pogue lifestyle. And no, your parents didn’t know a thing and you planned on keeping it that way… at least for the time being. To meet up with your boyfriend, JJ, you would wait anxiously by your window and watch for him as he entered your backyard. Thankfully, your room was on the first floor so it was easy for you to get in and out quietly and safely. Sure, you could hang out with JJ and the rest of his friends daily, which you do. But it’s always fun to sneak out every night. The chance of getting caught macking on a cute blonde boy excited you. You had plans to tell your parents about JJ one day, you just didn’t know when that day would come. You desperately wanted your parents to be proud of you. You wanted them to accept the person you want to be with, and that person is JJ. A typical night with JJ would consists of heated make out sessions behind trees, walks around the neighborhood, or just ended up hanging out in your room. When you went out, you mostly stayed in the area of your house just in case something happened and you needed to get back in your room ASAP. You’ve been successful for weeks, you just hoped it stayed like that. - Once 12:00 A.M. hit, you were up and dressed waiting for JJ to come pick you up for another date night. You heard your phone ding, walking over you pressed on the notification. It was a text from JJ. “Wear a bathing suit under your clothes babe. Have an idea.” read the text. You bit your lip, trying to contain your smile. What did he have in mind tonight? You quickly changed into a black bikini and put on a pair of jean shorts and gray spaghetti strap tank top. Right on queue, JJ quietly knocked on your window. You turned off your lights and put some pillows underneath your sheets to make it look like you were asleep. You quietly opened the window and left it open just a crack so you could get back in. “Hi.” your arms wrapped around his neck, bringing him in for a wet kiss. “Hello, beautiful. Did you get my text?” “‘course I did! Have on your favorite bikini on.” you lean forward, biting down on his lip. He moaned at your gesture. “What do you have planned, JJ?” He winked and grabbed your hand, walking through the green grass not telling you a thing. You walked hand in hand down the dark road. The only light sources were the dim street lights and the moon. You broke the silence, “So you’re really not gonna tell me where we’re going?” JJ shook his head, “Nope. It’s a surprise.” Once we got to the surprise location, he double checked his surroundings before leading you to a giant backyard with a pool. “JJ… what are we—“ He cut you off, “Shh…,” he put a finger to your lips, “Mr. Jannsen lives here alone and he’s definitely passed out by now. Figured we borrow his pool for a couple hours?” Mr. Jannsen is a retired realtor and he isn’t the nicest of people. His wife died a few years ago. Once that happened, he turned into a grump who only leaves the house for essentials. People rarely see him… ever. “JJ, we literally can’t be here!” you whispered, pulling him back. “We can be here… as long as we don’t get caught.” he winked. He kept glancing at the house to make sure no lights or movements were seen. “What if he’s awake! You don’t know!” You couldn’t lie, you were a bit nervous. Luckily, if you were to get caught, the houses were pretty far apart that it would be hard to hear someone yelling “GET OUT OF MY POOL!” “Oh will you relax? Actually, get into the pool and I’ll get you relaxed.” he pressed a quick kiss on your lips and walked over to the side of the pool. He dipped a toe into the pool. 
JJ scrapped his shirt and shorts and got into the pool first. The pool light, thankfully, automatically goes off and on every night. Thank God it wasn’t motion censored. Once he was comfortable with the cool temperature of the pool he stretched out his hand for you to hold onto as you stepped into the water. He watched as you stripped into your bathing suit. You twist your hair into a bun. Don’t want your hair getting wet, not tonight. 
Goosebumps rose on your skin. When you make it all the way into the water, you latch onto your boyfriend. His hands roam your back and eventually land on your ass. Your legs end up wrapped around his torso. He dunked his head underwater, his hair slicked back due to the weight of the water. 
You got off of him, now standing.“This is fun. The thought of us getting caught is kinda hot.” 
“We won’t get caught!” JJ said for probably the hundredth time. 
He carefully pushed you backwards till your back hit the wall. His hands explored your body. His lips attached to yours, his tongue licking into your mouth. You moan into his mouth, moving your face so his lips hit your cheek. His hands roam up to the back of your bikini. He began to untie the string. Your bathing suit becoming looser. His hands went up to massage your breasts. You were so into what he was doing until bright lights lit up the backyard. Both of you stop your actions immediately. 
“Shit!” JJ whispered. The two of you got out of the pool as fast as you could. 
You grabbed your clothes and ran to hide behind the thick bushes. The both of you breathing heavily as you watched the old man come onto his porch and look out into his backyard. 
“Whoever you were better be out of here before I come down there with my gun!” Mr. Jannsen warned. 
Luckily, he didn’t see specifically who it was. He turned off the lights once he thought the coast was clear. 
“Fuck! That was close.” you giggle. 
JJ helped you tie your bathing suit so you could put your clothes back on, JJ the same. The two of you walked hand in hand laughing at the new memory you would talk about forever.
 “Are you gonna come with us on the water tomorrow? Gonna be a beautiful day.” JJ asked, opening your window enough for you to sneak back in. 
“Sounds amazing. I’ll meet you at John B’s house around 11?” you asked, giving JJ one last hug before sliding back into your room. 
“Sure. I think most of us will still be asleep at that time, but I’ll make sure I’m awake. You know where I sleep.” he leans against your window sill.
 “Okay.” your lips close to his. He closes the space between you and pressed a sweet, wet and long kiss to your lips. 
This was the hardest part of the evening, saying goodbye. If it was possible, he would just sleep with you and leave early in the morning but the people who work in the garden and on the lawn come really early in the morning and it would be impossible to sneak him out.
 “Bye, baby. I love you.” he said. 
“Love you, too.” you blow him a kiss. You couldn’t wait until you saw JJ and the rest of the new tomorrow.  
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