#so i just decided to poke around the 23rd and Yeah <3

[geekfanficwriter]

Caught Somewhere in Time- Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader Part 3/?

Summary: You end up in the 80s, 20 years earlier than it should be luckily a certain metalhead is about to make your time in the 80s much easier. Words: 2.9k Warnings: Suggestive themes, drug use

Part 2   Part 4

Masterlist

Author’s Note: I really hope you guys are enjoying this fic. Please let me know if you wanted to be added to the tag list for this fic.

March 23rd, 1984

It had been a week since you had spoken to Eddie. You’d spent the past week sneaking glances at him, trying to not get caught by him or Steve. Steve would occasionally catch you and whenever he did he would tease you, and tell you to go talk to him. But you didn’t, you wanted to but you were scared that you would get all flustered and embarrass yourself. ‘If you don’t ask him out, I will.’ Steve said catching you staring at Eddie again. ‘Aw Steve, I didn’t know you liked men.’ You teased him. ‘That’s not what I meant and you know it. Besides I clearly like women.’ He said indicating to Nancy who he had his arm around. ‘I will speak with him today.’ That wasn’t a lie. You had used up your supply and needed some more so you planned on meeting him today which is why you were currently trying to get him to notice you.   ‘Liar. You’re just going to keep staring at him like you are right now.’ ‘I’m trying to get his attention.’ You mumbled. Maybe you should just go up and talk to him although it’s not like you could just say ‘hey got any weed?’, not exactly subtle. Just as you were thinking of slipping a note in his locker, he looked your way smiling and waving at you. You waved back before making a smoking signal at him. He nodded in acknowledgement of what you meant before looking back to his friends. ‘Hello.’ Steve said waving his hand in front of his face. You looked towards him and glared. ‘It makes no sense, you’ve got superpowers and are from the future yet here you are blushing like a normal teenage girl.’ ‘I am a normal teenage girl… mostly.’ ‘Yeah, cause all girls can set things on fire with their minds.’ You open your mouth to respond but you’re interrupted by Nancy. ‘Could you two please stop bickering? You’re like children.’ You both mumble an apology. It was true, you guys constantly poked fun at each other and wound each other up but it was just the way your relationship was, even if it was tedious for those on the outside. ‘Anyway, Y/N, you’re okay with making your own way home today right? Me and Nance have plans.’ ‘Yeah, that’s fine. I can figure it out.’

You skipped study hall again in order to meet Eddie, walking out to the woods and sitting down on the bench. You sat jiggling your leg nervously, what if you said something stupid? Or if Eddie didn’t understand what you meant and didn’t show? Or if he did understand but thought you were weird and didn’t show anyway? ‘You seem nervous. Am I that scary?’ Eddie said breaking you out of your thoughts with a start. ‘Sorry, seem to keep scaring you.’ ‘It’s alright. Just maybe next time, don’t come up behind me.’ You laugh. ‘Next time huh?’ He smiled at you placing his metal box on the table and opening it. ‘Same as last time then?’ ‘Yeah, that sounds good.’ You said pulling a twenty out of your pocket and handing it over to him. He handed you the baggy which you quickly shoved in your backpack and stood up. At least you could tell Steve you spoke to Eddie even if it was for like 2 minutes and was only to buy drugs. ‘Nice skirt. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you in one.’ ‘Oh umm yeah, I decided to switch it up.’ You said looking down at the denim miniskirt you definitely hadn’t put on today because you knew you’d be talking to Eddie. Just like how you hadn’t spent extra time on your hair and makeup this morning for Eddie. ‘Well, it suits you. You’ve got nice legs.’ You felt your face get hot at the compliment. You tried to respond but your mouth and brain weren’t cooperating so instead you stood there awkwardly staring at him, feeling like an idiot. You didn’t understand the effect this man had on you. You’d had crushes before but none of them turned you into an idiot and made you feel the same way Eddie had. ‘So I’ll see you next Friday then?’ Eddie asked breaking the awkward silence between the two of you. ‘Yeah probably.’ You said looking down at the ground. ‘Actually, you live at the trailer park, right?’ ‘Yeah, I do why?’ He asked with a puzzled look on his face. ‘Well I live there too and normally Steve takes me home but he’s busy tonight so I was wondering if you’d be able to take me home. Just cause I don’t have a car, well I also don’t have a licence and it’s really far to walk. I mean it’s totally okay if you don’t want to, I can walk or ask Jonathan or something. Actually, yeah it was stupid for me to ask, I’ll just-‘ ‘Whoa, I can take you home, it’s alright. We can leave now if you want.’ He said standing up. ‘Yeah, that’s great let’s go.’ You both walked over to his van approaching from the passenger side. He opened the passenger side door and gestured for you to get in. ‘Didn’t realise you were such a gentleman.’ You climbed into the van which smelt of cigarettes and weed. You didn’t mind the smell, mainly cause you were far too focused on the fact that you now had to make small talk with your crush as he drove you. This was a terrible idea, maybe you could just get out of the car and run and hide or maybe you could get set yourself on fire using your powers. Then you’d never have to deal with crushes or anything again. ‘You alright? Cause you seem to be staring really intensely at that tree.’ He said starting the car and driving away from the school. ‘Yeah, I’m fine. Just in my own world.’ You said glancing over at him. You couldn’t help but notice how amazing his side profile was. You just wanted to lean over and kiss his jaw. ‘You live at the small trailer a few down from mine right?’ ‘Umm yeah, that’s my home.’ It was quite small even compared to other trailers but that’s because it was just you and although you would like to live somewhere nicer it’s not like you had the money to. ‘I’ve never seen your parents around. Do they work weird hours or something?’ ‘No, I live alone, no parents. Just me.’ ‘Ah, yeah I get it. I just live with my uncle.’ He didn’t ask anymore questions which you appreciated. You had a story prepared for if anyone questioned you but you were scared he’d be able to tell you were lying. The rest of the car journey passed in comfortable silence and before you knew it you were pulling up at the trailer park. Eddie parked outside his trailer, opening his door and running round to open yours for you before you could open it yourself. ‘Thanks.’ You said jumping out of the van. ‘And thanks for taking me home.’ ‘It’s alright, anytime.’ You smiled at him, starting to walk back to your house before you heard him call your name. ‘Do you want to come in for a smoke? My uncle had to leave early for work today so the place is empty.’ He said pointing towards his trailer. ‘Yeah sure.’ You said walking back towards him and following him into his trailer. It was messy and dark but it felt more like an actual home than your trailer did. ‘We can go into my room. That way we don’t stink up the entire place.’ He said walking into his room, you trailed behind him. You couldn’t actually believe you were going into his room. It was messy, messier than you expected, and full of way too much stuff for a room but it felt perfectly him. You glanced around, standing in the doorway, while Eddie rummaged through some shelves. ‘Go sit on my bed. Make yourself at home.’ He said still looking for what you assumed was his personal stash. You walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, taking off your docs before swinging your legs up onto the bed. You continued to look around until your eyes landed on the guitar that was hanging up. ‘No way! Is that a Warlock NJ?’ You said looking at the guitar. ‘Yeah, it is. You play? Ah ha here is it.’ He said pulling out a small box and sitting down beside you on the bed, before opening it up and pulling out a pre-rolled joint. ‘Yeah I used to have my dad’s old Strat but I couldn’t take it with me and can’t afford a new one so haven’t played in a while.’ You said as he lit the joint and took a hit. ‘Well you can play mine anytime you want, I mean obviously under strict supervision from me as she is my love.’ He said passing the joint over to you. You took a hit and laughed. ‘She?’ You grinned at him. ‘Yeah, don’t make fun of her.’ ‘I’m not. I’m making fun of you.’ You felt a lot more comfortable, partly because of the weed, partly because Eddie was just easy to talk to. You didn’t understand why everyone thought he was evil or satanic. He was just a nerd, a very hot nerd who you had a crush on and turned you into a bumbling idiot but a nerd nonetheless. ‘So, you like metal right? What’s your favourite band?’ ‘You quizzing me to see if I’m a true metal fan.’ You joked. ‘Nah I’m not an asshole.’ He said genuinely offended that you would think he was that type of guy. ‘I mean it’s hard to choose but if I had to, I’d have to say Black Sabbath, they’re classic.’ It wasn’t necessarily a lie, you loved Black Sabbath but considering neither HIM nor Nine Inch Nails existed at this point you couldn’t exactly tell him those were your favourite bands. ‘Good choice. Especially from someone wearing a The Cure shirt.’ You looked down at your Boys Don’t Cry shirt and pouted. ‘Hey don’t diss The Cure. They’re great.’ ‘They’re whiny.’ ‘They are not whiny, their music is amazing. They’re probably my favourite band.’ You pulled the joint that the two of you had been passing back and forth from his hand and placed it in between your lips. ‘You just said Sabbath were your favourite band.’ He raised an eyebrow at you. ‘Favourite metal band. Not favourite band overall.’ You corrected. ‘Whatever.’ He said reaching for the joint in between your fingers but you pulled it away from him. ‘Nope, you can’t have it until you admit The Cure aren’t whiny.’ ‘Absolutely not.’ He said, leaning over you to try and grab it as you moved your hand further away. ‘I let you smoke my personal stash and you don’t even share.’ ‘Well yeah, I only share with people who appreciate good music.’ You laugh but stopped when you realised that Eddie was practically lying on top of you. You took a deep breath, realising he was so close that the ends of his hair were tickling your cheeks. ‘I think you’re the one who doesn’t know what good music is.’ He said grabbing your wrist pulling it towards his mouth and taking a puff out the joint while you held it. Your mind was practically blank and all you could think about was his hand wrapped around your wrist the cold metal of his rings pressing into your skin. ‘You’ve got really nice hands.’ He spoke as he removed his lips from the joint. You tried to come up with a response but before you could, his lips pressed to your hands, kissing your palm before moving down to your wrist. You groaned slightly at the feeling, you knew the weed was lowering your inhabitants, you wouldn’t normally let someone that you hardly knew get so close to you, but right now you didn’t care. You felt him remove his lips from your wrist and you moved your hand, taking a shaky drag of the joint. Eddie was still on top of you smiling down at you. ‘This is some good shit.’ You cringed at yourself. Was the really the best you could come out with right now? God, you were an embarrassment. ‘Yeah, that’s why I keep it for myself.’ He started to lean closer and you took a shaky breath. He glanced down and then stopped. ‘Is that a tattoo?’ Your skirt had ridden up slightly revealing the small flower that was on your upper thigh. It was one of the many attempts you had made to feel like a normal teenager. Like you didn’t get kidnapped by a shady government organisation and were now stuck in the past. ‘Umm, yeah it’s fairly new. Got it for my birthday.’ You went to pull your skirt back down but he stopped you. ‘A rose right?’ ‘Peony actually, it’s my favourite flower.’ ‘You have a favourite flower?’ He smirked at you. ‘I’m a girl. It’s like the law or something that I have to have a favourite flower.’ ‘The law?’ He raised an eyebrow at you. ‘Yeah, it’s the law. Just like how, as a girl, I’m meant to like pink frilly dresses.’ ‘I bet you’d look great in a pink frilly dress, it seems like something you’d wear.’ He laughed. ‘Oh shut up.’ You said shoving him away.

You awoke when you felt the bed underneath you move. You blinked slightly trying to figure out where the hell you were, looking around you remembered you had been at Eddie’s and must’ve fallen asleep. You guys had spent the rest of the evening talking and joking around, nothing else had happened between the two of you but you’d had a good time nonetheless. ‘Good morning.’ You heard someone say. You looked and saw that your head was resting on Eddie’s chest and his arms were wrapped around you. ‘Morning.’ You yawned, stretching slightly. ‘I was going to sleep on the couch but you kind of have a death grip.’ ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ You said sitting up. ‘I didn’t realise.’ ‘It’s alright. It was kind of nice.’ He sat up as well, stretching. ‘We should do this again.’ ‘We should. I enjoyed spending time with you.’ ‘I enjoyed spending time with you too. You’re pretty cool.’ ‘I should probably go home and shower. I’ve got plans today. Do you know what time it is?’ ‘Umm yeah, it’s 2:15. Huh, we slept in late.’ 2:15? Shit Joyce was meant to be picking you up at 2 as you had to go to the laundromat today. ‘Oh fuck. I’m late.’ You stood up off the bed and gather your stuff up off the floor. ‘I’ll see you later.’ ‘See you.’

You ran out of the trailer and saw Joyce’s car parked outside your trailer. You ran over and saw the car was empty but heard Joyce calling your name from around the back of your trailer. You jogged round and saw her standing there looking around for you. ‘Sorry. I slept over at a friend's last night.’ You said walking over to her. She wrapped her arms around you. ‘Don’t do that I was so scared.’ You felt guilty. You hadn’t meant to sleep in or even stay over and you certainly hadn’t meant to worry Joyce. Not after everything you’d been through. ‘Have you been smoking weed?’ ‘No.’ You quickly answered, your eyes widening. You probably reeked of weed. ‘Y/N Y/L/N, do you know how bad that is for you. Especially at your age.’ You winced. Joyce was the closest you had to a parent here which meant she also was responsible for giving you the lectures your parents normally would. ‘I’m sorry.’ You apologised. ‘Can I have a shower and then we can go?’ ‘You can. But were continuing this discussion afterward.’ You nodded, walking into your trailer.

Once you had had a shower and got dressed, you walked out to join Joyce in the car. The whole way to Main Street, she lectured you about the dangers of doing drugs. You should feel bad right now but you could almost smile. You missed your parents every day and it was moments like this that you felt like you almost had a parent. Joyce might not be your biological parent but she was the closest you could get. The two of you stopped at the laundromat and loaded your clothes into the machine before heading to the grocery shop while your clothes were being cleaned. ‘So who did you stay with last night? Because I can’t imagine Nancy to be the type to smoke.’ Joyce asked as you grabbed a box of cereal off the shelf. ‘No, it wasn’t Nancy. It’s a new friend. You wouldn’t know him- her.’ You corrected yourself, realising you had fucked up. ‘Him? It was a boy?’ She asked as you both continued to walk through the supermarket. ‘Yes, but he’s just a friend, nothing more.’ ‘Are you sure? Because you’re all red. I hope you're being safe if you're spending nights with a boy.’ ‘Oh my god, we didn’t do anything.’ Although that wasn’t technically the truth you didn’t have sex so that’s all Joyce needed to know. ‘You seem to forget that I was once a teenager. So I want you to be safe.’ She said, grabbing a box of condoms off the shelf. ‘Oh my god.’

—————

Taglist: @michaelfuckinglangdon @taygra5shaon @eddiemunson4ever @little-diva-gurl @oxbunnehxo @fentyreligion

#eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson fanfic #eddie x reader #Eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x reader #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader

[tenshindon]

welcome back to Toei Animations Definitely Had A Yamtien Agenda With The Anime Part #1902 today’s part includes the aftermath of tien and tao’s fight where instead of yamcha telling krillin to ease up on his excitement because tien just needed time to be alone yamcha was actually relatively in the same boat as krillin in being hyped about tien’s victory

#snap chats #hi <3 #i forget why i was looking through the manga in the first place #i do that every now and then- ill just reread stuff if im too lazy to watch the anime #so i just decided to poke around the 23rd and Yeah <3 #yamcha isnt Hype Hype about it- he's more so just like 'wow :)' #but it is a very big difference in my opinion LMAO #the manga generally does go faster when it comes to pacing- Things Happen right after each other #toriyama really didnt let there be time to dawdle which I Get #a manga is very different from an anime #but like. it just dfeinitely has such a different vibe #like in the manga they jsut jump straight to chichi and goku's fight (with quick commentary from roshi beforehand too) #but in the anime we just linger on it a bit and it defintely has more of an impactful and emotional moment #and it also shines a light on yamcha's emotional intelligence and his understanding of tien and his boundaries and his feelings #AKA a very good scene for my heart and soul and uh Everythign :))))))) #theres a lot of difference between the anime and manga regarding these two #like they really did add a whole fucking lot #tien and yamcha actually like. dont interact too much in the manga #like they do but its significantly less #i do love how they kept the bit about yamcha prepared to square up with tao with tien tho LMAO #added krillin to the mix <3 the homies helpin a brother out <3 #anyway i just rewatched the tien and tao fight and i might make a separate post for that cause it still makes me emo

[thewayshedreamed]

Side Bar

An Elriel fic

This fic is set in the “This Time” Nessian AU— Starting with Elain’s birthday party from Part 3. Here’s the back story of those texts that haunted Elain, how the conversation with Azriel went, and mention of the eventual date that Nesta interrupted in Part 6 😉

You can catch up on This Time here!

A/N: It only took an eternity for me to finish this chapter. It’s the first thing I’ve posted that’s Elriel-centric, so I found myself deleting/re-writing to try and get it right. Eventually, I had to cut myself off and just put myself out there, so I hope y’all like how I’ve written them! Shoutout to @keshavomit and @acourtofmarauders whose comments inspired me to share this!!

——————————————————————————

Once Nesta dropped her off at her apartment post birthday breakfast, Elain drew herself a hot bubble bath. She hoped the warm water would ease her achy muscles and her unsteady nerves; both from the night before. It wasn’t that she had completely blacked out. She remembered the majority of the night, with only the time after her body started to succumb to exhaustion being a little fuzzy.

She lay back onto the back of the tub, taking a deep breath of eucalyptus scented bubbles and easing her eyes closed. She couldn’t help but reflect over the night, heart swelling with love for her family and friends who had truly made her 23rd birthday one to remember. It was increasingly rare that every one of them were able to get together on the same night, and she was feeling extra loved that they made it out just for her.

She had a few laughs to herself as the memories ran through her mind. She thought of her and Feyre dancing for hours, being joined by the others on and off throughout the night. Cassian grabbing her hand when Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” came through the speakers, spinning her around and singing loudly with her. Her friends keeping her drinks full and making her laugh. Being so excited that Nesta finally joined them for a couple of songs. Spinning into Azriel accidentally and hearing his deep laugh as he steadied her.

And just like that, her thoughts hanged on Azriel; like they always seemed to. She was no moron. She knew they had a natural sort of chemistry, but she always struggled to tell if he truly saw her that way or if he would ever be open to her. She was struck with a memory of him from the night before, something that hadn’t come back to her until now.

——————————————————————————

Somehow, she had ended up near the edge of the dance floor, semi-cornered near a table by Grayson. She remembered being so annoyed that he’d been there and even more annoyed that he was insisting on polite conversation. She wanted to yell at him that she knew he didn’t give a shit how she was doing and that he had no right to know after he’d wrecked her heart a couple of years prior. She wanted to swat at his hands when he would laugh and playfully touch her or reach for her. The alcohol in her system was begging her to do all of it, and she was almost completely convinced. Just one more touch or one more attempt at familiarity, and it was game over. She steeled herself, waiting, until a pair of arms wrapped gently around her waist from behind.

“There you are, love.” Azriel’s smooth, deep voice ran over her, and she relaxed immediately.

He was closer than usual, more affectionate. She realized the show they were supposed to be putting on, and she leaned into him. She rested her head back on his chest, and turned her chin way up to look into his face. He was looking down at her, mere inches away, with amusement sparkling in his hazel eyes.

“Hey,” she breathed, lamely, if she was being honest with herself. She felt the impression of cool glass in her hand and looked down.

”Sorry it took me so long to grab your drink. The bar was really backed up.”

She looked down at the half-empty glass in her hand. Definitely his existing drink. She decided to give him a little hell. Why not? They were pretending, anyway.

“Babe. It’s half-empty,” she pointed out through a laugh.

He narrowed his eyes at her playfully, telling her he knew she was being difficult. “I may or may not have gotten thirsty on my way back to find you.”

“Az, you remember Grayson.” She gestured toward her ex as she spoke. When he looked up, she noticed the tension in his jaw.

“Of course. How are you, man?” He released her waist with one hand, extending it toward Grayson. Grayson only looked at it, ignored it completely, and addressed Elain.

”Really? This guy? You’re better than that.” She felt Azriel tense behind her. Grayson gripped her upper arm, pulling her toward him. “You can’t be fucking serious, Elain. Guys like him are good for one thing. Maybe you can have a few good rolls around in the sheets, but you can’t honestly expect to settle down with a guy like him.”

All too quickly, Azriel’s large hand gripped Grayson’s wrist where he was holding Elain’s arm. There was a layer of darkness to his tone that Elain had never heard.

“Get your fucking hand off of her. Now.” He gripped Grayson harder in warning, but Grayson’s eyes stayed on Elain’s.

“Elain, come on,” Grayson said.

She was fuming. His company had been unwelcome from the beginning. He’d been far too comfortable entering her personal space. He had openly insulted Azriel on multiple levels. He was manhandling her. The words left her before she could stop them, the alcohol delighting that it finally got its way.

“Even if you’re right, he’s the best fuck I’ve ever had and has ruined me for anyone else. So allow me to indulge myself for as long as I feel like it,” she seethed.

Grayson’s eyes widened and quickly narrowed in anger. Nevertheless, his grip on her arm softened, and Azriel shoved his arm back toward his body. He shook his head and walked away, totally speechless.

“You okay, Ellie?” Azriel was in front of her now, looking down into her face. He was running the back of his fingers up and down her arms, and she cursed the goosebumps that erupted over her skin.

“Yeah. I really am. Thank you for coming over. You didn’t have to do that,” she said. She glanced up at him and watched his features soften when he realized she was serious. Shortly thereafter, he started laughing.

“Elain, you can’t just go around saying things like that about me. Word will travel, and I may not live up to people’s expectations,” he joked.

She groaned, feeling guilty that she had completed objectified him without his consent. She leaned into him, resting her forehead on his chest for a couple of seconds before looking at him again.

“I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what got into me. I just felt like humbling him a little, and I didn’t like how he was talking about you.”

Azriel laughed as he pulled her into a hug, his forearm braced around her neck.

“No apologies, Ellie. Come on. I owe you a drink; you know, a fresh one.”

——————————————————————————

Elain’s eyes popped open, and despite the heat of the bath water, she felt herself flush further at the memory. He hadn’t seemed bothered, but holy shit. Who would take it upon themselves to call someone “the best fuck they’ve ever had” when they’d never so much as hugged long enough to be considered intimate? Gods above.

She was obsessively thinking about her deleted messages again. She grabbed her phone off the side of the tub, hoping that when she opened her messages app, all of her texts would magically reappear. They didn’t, just as they hadn’t the other 15 times she’d done it that day.

She removed the plug from the bathtub, letting the water out and begging it to take all her memories along with it. She toweled off, put her lazy Sunday clothes on, and padded out of the bathroom.

She was startled by her phone ringing and dragging her back to the present. To her absolute horror, Azriel’s name flashed on her screen.

She steadied herself before she answered. She was glad to hear that her voice sounded as if she were a perfectly stable person.

“Hello?”

”Hey, Ellie. How you feeling today?” he teased.

Hungover. Fucking mortified.

”About how you would imagine,” she laughed. “What’s up?”

”I wanted to check in on you. And I wanted to see when you would have some free time to meet up. I still have your gift,” he explained.

Of course he’d gotten her a gift. Because he was wonderful. And she’d treated him like a glorified escort. She answered him before she lost her nerve.

”Oh. You didn’t have to do that, Az,” she paused. “What about now? You could come by?”

It took him a couple of seconds to respond. “Um, sure. Yeah. You know, it doesn’t have to be today, though. I didn’t mean to impose or anything.”

Shit. Was she too eager? To hell with it if she was. Waiting would kill her.

”You’re not! Really. I’m just being a bum on my couch today. I’d like the company,” she replied.

——————————————————————————

After about thirty minutes, Elain was convinced she was being stood up. Maybe he didn’t have the heart to tell her he wasn’t wanting to see her today. She was about to draft a text to him before she heard his knock on her apartment door.

“Come in!” she called. She had unlocked her door during her fitful pacing minutes ago.

He poked his head in before opening the door and stepping inside. The sunshine flowed into the apartment behind him, and for a second, she was almost convinced that he was superhuman. His dark hair was damp and brushed haphazardly to the side, and she couldn’t help thinking about how unfairly attractive he was. He was wearing a black v-neck with black jogger sweats, and his scent of cedar and mist washed over her as he plopped on her couch.

“You look way too alive and well today. Seems a little unfair,” she pouted.

He breathed a laugh as he turned toward her. “Some of us drank water throughout the night, birthday girl,” he teased as he tapped her nose with his index finger.

“Hey!” she exclaimed in faux annoyance. “I drank water. Maybe it was today, but I did.”

He tapped her knee with his hand, and she swore she felt it throughout her entire body.

”I’ll be nice. I’m here bearing gifts, after all,” he replied.

She thought back to the night before. The memory of their bit with Grayson, her deleted texts. She thought of Nesta’s words of advice that morning to ask him about the only remaining text she had: his reply. It was now or never, she supposed.

”Before you give me my present...” She bit her lip. “...can I talk to you?”

She watched his eyes land on her lips and jump immediately to her meet her stare. His brows furrowed in concern.

“Of course, Ellie. About anything. You okay?” His words, so similar to those he asked her last night, flooded her nerves all over again.

“I woke up this morning to a really confusing text from you. Not that what you said is confusing necessarily, but apparently, I deleted all of my texts last night. I must have done it right before you responded, so I have zero context to our conversation.” She could feel the heat of her blush on her chest, her neck, her face. She wanted to be literally anywhere else. She showed him the text for frame of reference.

Azriel: 😂 Not cool. You had me worried there for a minute, Ellie. Goodnight. Hope you enjoyed your birthday.

She watched his eyes scan the text, his lips spreading into a small smile. He wasn’t speaking soon enough for her liking.

”Oh. That. We had been texting a little at the table right before you left, but at some point between you standing to leave and getting home, you sent me this.” He scrolled through his phone until he landed on her message. He turned it to her so that she could read it for herself.

Ellie: I’m v mad at you Az

Another one, several minutes later.

Ellie: Nvm talked to Nessie. We’re good. Night 😘

Cauldron, Elain. Kiss emoji, really?

The only other message was his response that she’d already shown him.

She shook her head. “I have no idea what that’s about. What was I saying before that?”

Now it was Azriel’s turn to blush, the tips of his ear turning a faint pink. “Oof. I don’t know if sober me feels as bold as the drunk me in those. I think I’ll just keep those tucked away.”

She blinked at him and his nerve to insinuate he was going to keep them from her.

“Azriel Spion. You better show me those texts.”

”Mm. Don’t think I will, Elain Archeron.” His blush spread to his cheeks.

She lunged for his phone, but he dodged her at the last second. He lifted it into the air out of her reach, her body sprawled across his lap. Elain with less adrenaline would have been mortified to find herself there, but this was critical information. She pushed herself back onto her knees, reaching for the phone in his outstretched hand. He evaded her yet again.

”Why are you so giant? For the love of the Mother, just let me see!” she exclaimed.

”No! It’s not my fault you deleted yours,” he retorted.

She knew she would never be able to overpower him, and he was too stubborn for her to talk him into giving in. She landed on torture, hoping it would work in her favor.

She stopped reaching for his phone and instead turned her hands to his torso. His position left his underarms wide open, and she took her chance, hoping he was ticklish. Otherwise, this would only be even more awkward than it already was.

To her absolute delight, Azriel yelped in surprise. He immediately snapped his arms to his sides as he tried, and failed, to hold back his loud laugh. He tried to move away or grip her hands, but doing so would mean he would have to shift his arms. His body wouldn’t allow it.

“Elain!” he bellowed. “Stop it. I said STOP.” He let out another loud belly laugh, and Elain fell a little bit harder at the sound. It was one of the most precious things she had ever seen. Azriel, who was always so reserved, so dry, letting out such a loud, deep laugh felt like an honor to witness.

”Not until you show me those texts! They’re just as much mine as there are yours!” She had to raise her voice over his laughter, the words coming out through laughter of her own.

“You didn’t keep yours,” he said through clenched teeth between laughs. “Not. My. Problem.”

She pushed her fingers in a little harder, and he yelped again, dissolving into laughter once more.

“Fine! Alright!” he yelled. “You win!”

He tossed his phone on the cushion behind her. She stopped immediately to retrieve it, leaving Azriel spent and gasping for breath next to her.

“You tiny, brutal woman,” he breathed, eyes locked on her.

She waved him off, scrolling up through his messages to the beginning of last night’s conversation. The first messages were mild enough. She thanked him for her birthday drink, for saving her from that conversation with Grayson, for humoring her with a slow dance despite the fact that he wasn’t one to dance much. His responses were polite and friendly, barely on the flirtatious side. She was about to toss his phone into his lap and call him dramatic before her eyes landed on a message that sent her pulse through the roof.

Ellie: That feels nice. Thank you 😊

A: Anything for the birthday girl.

Ellie: I mean, I can’t believe everyone hasn’t offered to play with my hair. Seems a little rude.

A: Very. I guess you’ll have to get new friends.

Ellie: Except you. You have to stay 💕

A: Like I said, anything for you.

She shot her gaze up to look at Azriel. He was watching her with the focus of a surgeon, scanning her face for any reaction. She was doing the same to him. She had a vague, fuzzy memory of sitting next to him in their booth for a portion of the night and assumed that’s when these had occurred. They had likely resorted to texting considering their friends’ nosiness. There were more messages, the time stamp about thirty minutes later.

Ellie: Stop being so nice to me. I’m going to fall in love with you.

A: Promise?

Ellie: 😅 Very funny. You’ve been warned.

The rest were the ones she’d already read about how she was mad at him, whatever that meant. She could hear her own heartbeat; feel her blood pressure in her gums. She knew her blush was at an embarrassing level, and she had to take a couple of deep breaths before she looked at him again. He was still looking at her, an almost pained expression on his face.

She cleared her throat. “So. Did you?”

”Did I what?”

”Stop being nice to me,” she murmured.

”No.”

She locked his phone and handed it back to him as she settled into the cushions. She wanted so badly to close the distance between them, but she knew she’d already pushed him beyond his comfort zone. His answer spoke volumes if she was interpreting him correctly, but she was terrified to find out. She decided to stay the course, keeping the focus on her deleted messages.

“I guess I should check in with Nes. Just to see what I was mad about,” she said quietly.

”I talked to her this morning,” he murmured.

Her eyes locked on his yet again.

”And are you going to tell me?”

”Do I have a choice? You’ll torture it out of me otherwise,” he joked. She was grateful for the laughter as a break in the tension. He cleared his throat.

“You told Nesta you were mad at her, too. When she asked why, you told her it was because she and I are such close friends,” he said. He glanced at her, giving her a chance to react.

“Why would I care about that now? I only know you because of your friendship.” She was so tired of being lost, of being the only one who didn’t know what was happening.

His voice remained quiet and even, as if speaking any louder may scare her away. “You told her it was because I would never look at you. Because you’re her little sister and I was considerate and wouldn’t want to make her mad.”

She swallowed thickly, hoping she looked more put together than she actually was. “And what did she say that made me so quick to drop it?”

That evoked a small laugh and the sound of it made her want to curl into him. “That I’m not scared of her in the slightest,” he began. “And that I was basically the only person she would find worth of you.” His blush deepened as he finished.

She nodded, processing his words. Her mouth was dry, and she was totally speechless. The distance between them was almost painful now, but she was so terrified to make him uncomfortable and potentially ruin their comfortable friendship.

He shifted on her couch, scooting a little closer to her. She was still facing him, her legs curled under her and her elbow settled on the back of the couch. She propped her head on her fist and fixed her gaze on his thigh, an inch away from her knees.

“When I told Nesta that I’d deleted my texts, she told me to talk to you. That you would be understanding.” She glanced up at him. “I basically bit her head off. But it’s because she knew without a doubt that you would understand, isn’t it?”

”She’s known for a long time how I feel, Ellie. Without me having to say a word.”

All she could do was nod. He shifted forward, turning his attention back to the reason he’d come over.

”Az, you really didn’t have to—“ he interrupted her my lifting a scarred finger.

”None of that. I wanted to, and I did.” He placed an envelope in her lap as he ran his hand through his damp hair.

She opened it, scanning small documents inside to figure out what he had gifted her. Two tickets to see the Velaris Philharmonic Orchestra. One of the first true conversations they’d had, she shared with him that she wanted to go one day. With the hustle and bustle of life and the expenses that came with it, she’d never gotten around to it.

True to her sensitive spirit, tears brimmed her lower eyelids. She was so touched that he remembered but simultaneously felt guilty that he’d spent so much on a gift for her.

“You can invite who you want to. I know Nesta has wanted to go, but you can bring a friend, too. I just wanted to make sure you had company. It didn’t feel right to give you a gift where you’d have to go alone.” Her heart melted at his rambling. Azriel never showed his nerves, and he had let that wall down for her several times today.

“Azriel.” She glanced at him, willing him to look at her again. His elbows were resting on his knees and he’d been staring straight ahead as he spoke. He finally turned his head toward her, his onyx hair brushing across his brow. She leaned forward, resting her chin on his shoulder as she took in his elegant bone structure.

“Thank you. I love it more than you know,” she whispered.

His eyes lit up at her words, and her chest squeezed at how much joy it brought him to make her happy. His eyes fell to her lips, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched him wet his own. He brought a scarred hand up to cup her cheek and pulled her face even closer to his, using his thumb to pull her lip from her teeth. She gasped softly, and he pressed his full lips softly to hers. She leaned into him, letting out a small whimper when his grip tightened slightly on her cheek.

Something shifted in him at hearing her whimper into his mouth, and he sat up to orient his body toward hers. He deepened the kiss, then hooked his hand behind her knee to pull her over his lap. She settled into him, moving her hips against his, and he let out a low groan as she moved.

She pulled back from his kiss to look at him, still a little in disbelief that this is where their day had taken them. She ran her fingers through his hair and watched as his eyes fluttered shut. He let out the most indecent moan, and it took everything she had not to slant her mouth over his again.

“What are you doing Thursday?” she asked.

His eyes popped open, still a little glazed over from the heat between them. His hands were under her sweater, thumbs tracing small circles over her ribs.

“No plans, why?”

”A very dear friend of mine gifted me two tickets to see the orchestra, and I’d really like to take you on a date, if that’s okay.”

He smiled at her, his eyes turning up at the corners as he looked at her. “I would say I feel bad for the guy, but there’s no way I’m missing that,” he replied, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. “I’ll be sure to pull out my best suit.”

Her returning smile was so broad, it almost hurt. “Perfect. I can’t wait,” she whispered as she started to rock her hips once more. His lips crashed into hers then, their conversation over for the time being.

Before she lost herself in him completely, she had one fleeting thought as she reflected over their earlier words. “So, did you?”— “Did I what?”— “Stop being nice to me.”— “No.”

It looked like he was hell bent on keeping it that way, and she knew she was beyond screwed.

She was already in love with Azriel Spion, and even still, he was never going to stop being nice to her.

——————————————————————————

Well, there it is! A brief timeline note: Nesta’s phone call falls on that Thursday, during their post-date sleepover. I hope y’all enjoyed it!

Tags (This Time taglist + masterlist):

@polireader // @lord-douglas-the-third // @justgiu12 // @notyournymphetish // @sjm-things // @strangeenemy // @iammissstark // @keshavomit // @sjmships // @cookiemonsterwholovesbooks // @dusty-lightbulb // @texas-shaped-waffle-maker // @julemmaes // @charincharge // @superspiritfestival // @awesomelena555 // @sleeping-and-books // @hizqueen4life // @maastrash // @bookstantrash // @rhyswhitethorn // @grace-k-sterling // @sayosdreams // @sis-it-dont-add-up // @b00kworm // @courtofjurdan // @sannelovesreading // @acourtofmarauders // @candice-dick-fit-in-your-mouth // @gisellefigue08 // @girl-who-reads-the-books

#elriel #elriel au #elain archeron #Azriel #acotar #acomaf #acowar #twsd writes #twsd fics #this time au

[matt-skc-rp]

I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me and You)|| Swiftimer AprilAU

Matt and Suzy couldn’t really find time on their schedules to go out anymore, between their schedules and their own personal things popping up, so they found the perfect thing to get them together doing something they both enjoy, video-making and giving to those who can’t. The Gamma house had a few charity streams set up for the holiday season and Suzy said she can get him in one of them that she was doing with the Grumps, where she’d be off camera as well as on camera. They mostly needed someone to toggle the viewer’s screen.

Matt came over and Suzy met him at the door, they excitedly embraced and walked over to where the stream was going to be held. “You eat lunch yet?” Suzy asked, while she grabs the food she was eating, “We got some Chinese food over there you can heat up.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll get to it in a second. You have a uhh...like a wrap sheet of what kind of cuts I’m going to be making and how to transition into the different screens and minimizations. I know StreamLabs is gonna kind be on top of all of the donations and stuff,” he said.

“Wow, you’re really straight to the point about the work..but you’re volunteering,” Suzy pointed out with a giggle.

“Well once I know what I’m doing, then I can relax and have a little fun...But uhhm..I see you’re not looking like the Queen of Darkness much today,” Matt said with a nervous giggle. 

“It’s not like that’s all I do, or all I’m about it. I actually do a lot of my activities wearing a bunch of Game Grumps merch,” Suzy explained while Matt poked through the Game Grumps Twitch channel and its setup in OBS. 

“Well I figured as much, I do follow your social media, I just thought that you’d be a tad more done up for the stream,” he clarified, “I think your loungewear is what you look cutest in, you definitely are sexy when you’re modelling clothes or you’re dressed up.”

Suzy giggled shyly at his compliment and tucked her hair behind her ear, “Well thank you for recognizing I’m still a lazy girl gamer like everyone else in Gamma.”

“Aaaannd done! So, when’s the stream starting?” Matt asked, looking at the girl leaning on the table and gave her a warm smile.

“Uhhmm..tomorrow?..At 3 in the afternoon?” she replied, shrugging slowly.

“I’m actually not mad you did this..It means I’m much more prepared for this and can catch if something goes wrong..Thanks Suze,” he said, chuckling and standing up, “Was this your idea?”

“Yeah, the other guys are so busy with getting the rest of their finals and videos done that they forgot they needed to get a volunteer live editor for the stream since they’re gonna be completely hands-free on camera. Even their editor is gonna be in front of the camera or working props and other staging,” Suzy explained, grabbing her drink and sipping it, “Well, since you’re here, what do you wanna do?”

“I’ll be generous and ask what do you want us to do, because I blocked out literally all day today and tomorrow for this. I can stay here, we can go to my place and watch movies,” Matt suggested.

“Awwhh, but it’s still so cold!..Why don’t we stay here and play some arcade games?” 

“What games do you guys have?” he asked, turning to her.

“Uhhm...we can just go check,” Suzy said, dancing around the chair slowly moving toward the hall where they held their systems and coffins. Matt followed, smirking at her and walked normally. She opened the door to a colourful and loud room, full of classic cases of games and some new ones they obviously brought in for fun, and tables of pool, foosball, and air hockey all aligned in a slightly dim room. Suzy gets the rush of air that is only distinctive of walking into an arcade and thinking about what is your first move after getting your cup of tokens. “Yeah whatever’s in here is what we can use..Did you wanna get beat in something?” she teased, nudging his side.

Matt was still surprised that this is what Gamma does for its students, and he’s been stuck playing off his consoles in his room. “It surprises me that any of you study with this just down here,” he scoffed.

“It gets locked during class times during the semester and at like 1am too, but since we’re in the middle of winter break, it’s open 24/7!” Suzy explained, propping herself onto one of the unused pool tables. She watched Matt take a tour, and she noticed that he was...different. He wasn’t hanging on her or trying to be as intimate as possible, not even in his questions and answers! It’s almost as if he’d welcomed whatever looming loneliness and let the ideas of being close to anyone repulse him. It was comforting, in a way, but it tugged at her mind that it’s not like they hadn’t started their chemistry, so why the distance with her?

“That’s good to know, but then you guys just go into your rooms..Whatever, we have something similar in Theta with the editing and shooting booths. We perfectionists tend to lose track of the time, so they lock the isolated editing and shooting rooms when we need to study, but it’s not like..we can’t just ask the president and vice, because the actual school security monitors that. And they only do that because our president has a horrible habit of putting work and results above all else,” Matt explained as he hovered at the air hockey table, “Let’s start here.”

Matt sets up the game and they wait for the puck, a gust of air blowing in Suzy’s face from the rink. It lands on Matt’s side and he starts the volley, “How have your classes been, Suze?”

Suzy defends herself well, and they get a hot volley going, “I really liked the anthology classes and courses in the dead and dying...what say you?”

“Taking a bunch of production and set detail courses, I’ve also started taking management and busniess courses just in case i don’t work out as an artist of some sort. Gonna start my business- Ah!” Matt exclaimed and as he saved his goal, darting it into Suzy’s. She nodded, retrieving the puck and serving hard and fast until the volley ended with a point from her.

They both looked at each other, then he dropped the puck and served her nicely. Again?! What’s his deal?

“Uhhm...well I mean ” she asked almost forgetting they were playing a game, “The whole taxidermy and bugs thing is gonna be like, my marketable skill, I also like to model sometimes. You know, I do all of that when I’m not working on my own gaming channel. I wanna start getting into jewelry-making..”

“Oh that’s dope! I love that you don’t settle for less!” he said, grunting as he was competing, then Suzy sliding a point past him, “You definitely are not afraid to get your hands dirty...I think that’s so great!”

Ping ping Ding Ding Suzy let the puck hit the wall and then slide in. She really wasn’t used to being praised like this. It was so refreshing in some way knowing that he was still willing to just talk to her. Even if she doesn’t really say what she really feels or thinks. “Haha..I was letting you catch up!” she blurted out as she bent down to pick up the puck and looked at Matt who looked at her as they stared intensely at each other before dropping the little plastic puck in front of her and checking it off the side towards him. 

“Tell me more about your Christmas stream you’re having here instead of in the saftey and comfort of your family,” Matt had said after scoring another point and allowing her to start the volley again.

“I’m gonna hang out, and probably oversee some of the challenges we do on screen, then I’m probably going to just read comments and donations and just interact with my audience,” Suzy explained, “But if you were wondering why I haven’t joined the exodus from this facility like everyone else then that’s because I’m flying out on the 22nd or 23rd so I’m not missing out on all the cute cuddly family fun.”

“Oh...that’s nice,” Matt responds, focusing on the puck. He was interested, but he really only wanted to know about the stream, since Christmas for him was a touchy subject. He would be watching her work and he guesses he could get her food and water and such, but she could’ve asked anyone. Why him? “I already flew out and saw my family. I decided to come back to just have more time to think...At least that’s what my sister wanted for me,” he explained as he dodged her attempts to score, his hands were getting sweaty but he couldn’t let up. Then he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket.

[From: Gabbie Babbie] Hey, are you still with Suzy? [From: Gabbie Babbie] I don’t mean to bother you, just was thinking about you I think... [From: Gabbie Babbie] Idk have fun. Maybe we can try to grab dinner together tonight again.  [From: Gabbie Babbie] I just wanna touch your beard lol

Matt scored another point, but then Suzy retaliated with the last 2 points of the game and they both sighed as the game went back to its normal state.

They played another round and then moved on to other games in the arcade. One being a two player game with only one joystick and set of buttons. He had allowed her to mess with him while he was giving a grand effort of a turn to get a higher score. So he had no problem returning the gesture as safely as he could. When the girl was gaining a lead and even past his score, he warned her that the game is going to get really hard. He started to tickle her sides. Fun little finger pokes at first while she beat his score. They set up another game. Suzy lightly feathered Matt’s arms and actually caused him to finish with a score better than either of them. Suzy received air being blown in her ears and her freaking out causing her to jump back into Matt’s arms. She looked up with a giggle, and he looked down, checking her eyes and saw a softer look. Where was her fear of falling? Where was her blind rage that he cheated?

She felt her heart start to jump a little, not from their frolicking, either. His arms were a lot more welcome than she last knew. His touch was gentle on her body, and she felt cradled instead of caught. Is this how his sisters feel? Who would have thought this creep and weirdo would have such a light touch. He’s told her once before that he’s played with his sisters (moreso Hollie) and he would make sure not to hurt them so they knew how to have fun, but that they wouldn’t get hurt because of them. His glasses shining against the lights of the cabinet and the dim light gave it a galactical shine. She was lost in his eyes and gripped him for her fear of falling, but she still felt drawn to him.

This whole ordeal was throwing Matt off balance and it felt like they only stayed like that for a moment. He watched them almost from above himself as they crash back into the game cabinet they were playing, Matt towering over her, his hands propped up on either side of her. He dodged hitting her in the face or falling with his whole weight by simply shifting, and landing on his hip at angles to the other girl still gripping his shirt on his sides. He immediately moved back from the cabinet to let the girl stabilize herself, her hands now going to the ends of the game cabinet, to stabilize herself, while he took her hands off of his shirt. “I...I am so sorry, Suzy. I didn’t mean to make you jump like that, are you okay?...” he said, a clear 5 feet away from her and edging towards the door. 

Suzy wasn’t sure what had happened there. She had frozen, but she had also had something come over her. She hadn’t realized that she had been pulling them down until they were falling, their awkward recovery being salvaged by Matt, and he wasn’t being weird about it. She just noticed him scooting to the exit of the game room, and opened her mouth to answer the question, “NO! N-no...I think you should leave..” She hadn’t expected it to come off that way, or those words rather, but there he was, nodding in understanding and escorting himself out of the room to gather his things.

He wasn’t fighting to say it wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t trying to say that she was crazy. He wasn’t trying to touch her again to see if he could make things right. He wasn’t even offering to buy her something special to eat or to drink after the stream when they’d ultimately meet again. He’s just...leaving. Suzy sat and thought about it and knows she made the right choice. He shouldn’t have blown into her ear like that, fucking perv. He’s disgusting. No. NO. She followed him just to make sure he had everything and to maintain some level of their acquaintance with one another...at this point.

Matt walked away, knowing he didn’t do anything wrong and his intentions were good, but the whole thing became a jumble and he’s done trying to make sense of those. His sister said If you want a girl to make up her mind, be nice! And go with the first thing that comes out of their mouth. It’s usually their most clear answer. Then never talk about it again. Don’t make her feel bad for not being able to make a choice, just encourage the girl to have a better one in mind next time. And even though it’s advice from a 17-almost-18-year-old girl, it sounded right. It was easier, too. Better than his approach. His approach branded him as a creep. This one gives him some nobility. He could hear Suzy following behind him and he kept checking his phone and replying back to Gabbie.

[To: Gabbie Babbie] Lmaooo you can touch my beard anytime uwu [To: Gabbie Babbie] Dinner sounds cool, how about tonight if you aren’t busy? Nothing fancy? Just some Thai, I feel like spice tonight [To: Gabbie Babbie] I’m about to leave Gamma now. Just had a super weird interactive moment with Suzy and she told me to get out so I could use a distraction. [To: Gabbie Babbie] Call you when I’m back in Theta.

Suzy stood there, not understanding why she felt so...off. He was smiling into his phone, probably texting a girl, making separate plans for the evening because theirs had just come to an abrupt end. He’s not accepting his loneliness. He’s not even lonely. He’s just indifferent. Suzy knows for him to brush it off and walk away is what he usually does now, but now it also seems like he’s not even that interested in her. All because she snapped at him to leave. She was more so thinking the room and not leave her, but he’s okay with either gesture. She almost feels embarrassed he reacted so politely and jealous that he had another person he’d rather spend his time with- BUT SHE ASKED HIM TO BE HERE. “Uhm!” Suzy blurted out with a small voice, keeping her hand to her mouth, causing Matt to look at her and realize he hadn’t moved.

“Oh..I’m sorry, I wanted to make sure you hadn’t died in there from the beating I’d given you...We should do this again sometime after the charity stream, and under...uhh..better circumstances- which, again, sorry..about that...in there...” he trailed off as he began to hurry through the Gamma common area. 

“You didn’t want a t-shirt?” Suzy asked, her face donned a broken smile, her whole body was conflicted on what her curse was to be around Matt like this. Maybe she just like dreamy guys treating her like a cool kid sister. Maybe it’s the beard he’s growing. Or the haircut. Or the glasses. It’s gotta be the glasses. He’ usually doesn’t wear them and he just thinks he can walk in here with them on like it was okay. “Yeah...uhh all participants of the charity stream get t-shirts and merch and stuff to wear, so do you want your t-shirt? Cus I can’t promise you any tomorrow, you know, with Mark and all-”

“Yeah, yeah, I do know,” Matt’s appearance of a deer in headlights quickly subsided when she mentions a t-shirt and an inside joke about Mark, “Uhh..I mean I can still hang here, if you’d like..and get that leftover chinese..and the t-shirt of course.” He agreed and knew exactly how this was going to pan out. It had to get better. Matt had to be able to hold some type of human interaction. He walked over to the kitchen with Suzy and she pulled out the food and let the other take his pick. “So uhh Suzy....is..it okay if I get personal?” he asked carefully filling a dish with food and then putting it into the microwave, pressing in the settings and starting it, leaning back against the counter. 

Suzy was surprised he wanted to speak to her and dig into a topic. Here she was thinking that he was almost forced to come here. Whatever, maybe he’s just trying to keep his mind off of what happened earlier. “Yeah, yeah sure. What’s up?”

“Soo..I don’t usually let gossip affect my friendships and relationships, but, and I don’t know how to put this, but uhh..are you Pewds’ concubine or something? I’ve heard a lot about it, but I wanted to check with you on the validity of it,” Matt said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“WHat?!” Suzy spat, she looked around and walked closer, “Is it that obvious?”

“It’s that true?” he asked back, matching her hushed speech.

“We don’t...I-I mean we haven’t..I just...*sighs* Yes. I’m in cahoots with Pewds,” she admitted after getting frustrated about not being able to sugar coat it. He was the Gamma President after all, “Shane is fine with it and Harlan doesn’t see it much. They just figure it’s a..rough dry spell until they can cuddle up and vacation in the summers and such. It’s really the only time they get to have off. Shane’s always busy with schoolwork and Alpha work and taking care of Harlan, but he knows Felix is busier and needs to relax, and he can’t be there, I guess this is how they figured it out.”

“Oh ok,I understand that. I was seeing a girl who was a double major double minor 5.0, and so she would like only talk to me when she couldn't focus on studying and so I’d like hang with her, we didn’t like have sex very much, but it was fun while it lasted. The only reason I’m not with her right now is because she got picked up by UC Berkley and transferred to go straight into grad school,” Matt explained.

Suzy’s hand was trembling. He was okay with it? It’s not like his opinion mattered that much, but coming from a guy and being told that what she was doing didn’t damn her, felt odd. She listened to him talk about the girl he saw and she couldn’t help but think that he must have creeped her out and she stopped talking to him. However, Suzy had a strange pull that he wasn’t lying. She got the school bulletins, too, and there was a double major double minor 5.0 student at this school that had gotten picked up on scholarship to UC Berkley. Maybe he’s just that good of a liar. She was brought out of her thoughts by the beeping of the microwave and followed the man to the island nook. He sat and started eating, nodding as he slid Suzy his phone, showing pictures of him with the girl, who clearly looked tired and nothing like the polished one in the picture, standing together in a mirror together, another of them getting coffee at the cafe, and another with the two in bed in their underwear kissing. She nodded back, raising her brows in surprise, “You like prodigies,” she commented, “Well, you like them smart, at least. Interesting..eh..You’d have to prove it. And I’d thought that you’d have more of..an opinion about me..doing what I’m doing.”

“Well, it’s not that I like prodigies or that I even like them smart- I mean, well, I do..but that’s not the point. What’s more important is that you expected me to judge you, the only cis-female in an all cis-male house, that it’s wrong you’re having sex with men...in college. Jeez, you’ve gotta relax. Don’t take yourself so seriously, or don’t act like you have to around me. I think it’s hot as hell to have something like that to look forward to...I mean, is he anything like me? Do you guys like talk about things and be there for one another? Cus I understand it’s not a whole big thing, but I’d hope you two are friends. I’d hate to have to be standoffish to Pewds because he’s just being a fuck boy to someone as great as you,” Matt said between bites, carrying the conversation, getting up to the refrigerator and grabbing a drink, then sitting down to continue. He felt that Suzy probably expected to be judged, or she gets off on defying it, either way he knew he just wanted to make sure his friends were happy. At the moment, he looked at her as she had tensed up, “Look at me, talking about me and being overprotective of your well being. You can talk if you’re up to it,” he mentioned, sipping his juice. 

“Pew-Felix and I are friends,” Suzy began, fighting the blush on her cheeks, “He comes to me about his marriage and his house problems. Him and Cry going at each other over it and things. Planning events and things. He also just asks me for creative input. Sometimes I’m the babysitter. Oh yeah, I’m definitely more than just some cheeks for the man,” she blurted out in defence. It had been going on long enough that she could say normal things they’ve done, and that doesn’t count for the numerous instances of raunchy flirting. “Yup, your regular brand of rebel!” she joked, sitting back, proud of herself.

Matt giggled at her and cleaned up where he was completely, before going back to her and his drink at the counter. Suzy had came over the counter and was sitting, watching the man move around to cover his presence in her house. He looked at her, cross-legged on the countertop, and leaned back on his elbows next to her, “You’re not a rebel here until you get thrown out of a party, and you barely go to those!” he joked back, nudging her, “However, it raises your quality. You’re usually busy at work anyway. And babysitting would explain some of the times, especially between finals. That’s super duper kind of you. You’re definitely a real well-rounded friend!” he explained, listening to her and watching her face flush with pink. He looked at her and scoffed, “A real horny well-rounded friend. Pull yourself together, Suze!..All jokes aside that was cool how you were able to get in where you could find and got accepted for it. You get to have fun how most girls think they’d be having fun in college. You think you really like him?” he asked, looking at her.

Suzy grunted nervously, "Matt, you're putting a lot of thought into it, when...it's really really not that deep...I'm just friends with Felix sometimes and it's none of your business to be honest. So, like, can you please respect that?" The room rang with silence, causing Matt to withdraw. He stood on the other side of the kitchen now, looking through his phone and finishing his drink.

"I'm sorry," he began, "I haven't been the most respectful of people. It's mostly because I'm not around anyone anymore, so I tend to...obsess. And I really don't mean to be that way. That's why I wanted us to hang out more so that it doesn't happen anymore. I'm just..tired of being isolated."

Suzy looked at him and sighed hard, he very well could be lying. She can't doubt him, and given all the other times he's been very sweet, respectful and accomodating, maybe she was being a little too judgemental of him in that moment. She couldn't blame him for not being around anyone because she wasn't the most socalized person on campus either. She bit her lip and twirled her hair, feeling her chest tighten as she heard the familiar voice in her head. She was briefly conflicted and really thought she had gotten her voice up to tell Matt that she was sorry too, but had just been sitting there pulling at her hair. "Are you okay?" he asked from across the kitchen, scrunching his eyebrows. Suzy looked up and their eyes met, Matt looking at her blankly still waiting for a response. She had softened her stance, looking at the other person. He was so simple and strange and rugged. It all seemed so frustrating in her head, why couldn't he just be one way all of the time?!

Suzy still sat there and Matt grew concerned, but he was really about to leave because he had been totally blowing it. She quietly took in his frame, his energy. He was so soft and non-threatening, it felt nearly easy to be around him, and almost ignore him. Is that what he felt around everyone else? He didn't let the rumors become him, but it had isolated him because people like her would jump to so many conclusions. He'd believe anything you said, and wouldn't fight. Even though he's out for his gain of something so huge for him, she feels like it's not reaching her like that. "W-what about Gabbie?" she said, looking around, jumping off the counter, "Word around town is that you guys are becoming an item." She felt proud to have something to say about him.

"Gabbie and I are hitting it off. However, it's not what I'm used to," Matt began, "She's..as she described..going through a lot of things and she isn't always up for interacting, but if she cares about it in the back of her mind, then it'll show, but it takes some time."

"So...you think..maybe if you spent-"

"She specifically told me to leave her alone unless she asks for me- I usually don't know what it means until I get to see her, and from what I've been into so far, we're taking this...very..very slow," Matt replied, "SO..with that being said, I'll wait for her. Doesn't mean I'm tied to being around just her and when I can't I keep myself isolated; I spoke to my counselor and she said I shouldn't do that."

"Oh.." Suzy was so surprised, and felt rather lousy because of the explanation, and her lack of a rebuttal. He was put together and accepting of the different types of relationships. Maybe it really is lack of socializing. Matt looked at her and then looked at his phone again, then back to her. She felt like she wanted him to look at her, but maybe not look at her. She was so conflicted.

"Are you okay?"Matt asked, leaning over a little.

"N-No.." she said, pulling at a strand of her hair.

"Do..you...want me to leave you alone? Like leave?"

"N-No!" Suzy blurted out, trying to catch her breath.

"How about...we sit in the common area? Is anyone home? They gonna mind the noise down here?"

"Mmm-mmm...everyone's home on break or they're hard-wired into their streams and editing. I'm one of the only like...3 people here."

"Alright. Let's watch a movie or binge a series or something...this silence and everything are cutting into my psyche." ----------------------------------------------------------------- The two made some pizza rolls and settled in to watch an anime. Suzy sat close with him with his arm around her as they watched the show. She would elbow him when something made her jump or she reacted to a twist in the show. Matt would occasionally squeeze her arm and glance over at her as they casually spent hours together. Suzy hadn't realized, but she was so settled into Matt and his hand had moved from the top of her shoulders to the lower middle of her back, which felt amazing. His hand resting on her side ever so nicely, Matt felt so at home and relaxed. He really missed being able to hang out without that apprehension or air of doubt in the way. It was all clouded by the anxiety from him worrying about his hand going too far up or down, whether or not Suzy was comfortable, or even if she'd let him know what to do next.

Suzy had started it: "So..weird question, but..and you don't have to answer, but what's the best sex you've had...by category?" "By category..uhh..you mean like by position or like..by person? Bc either way that list is small and a bit arbitrary," Matt replied, jutting his lower body forward to lean back. "No...I mean like...well, obviously you start by orifice and work your way around to where and who...but like..for example..like...best head or something, then best penetrative sex then the subcategories of front and back-" "But I don't...I don't want it back there..." Matt joked, making them both laugh. "It's..it's fine, but in all reality it's not that bad. You just gotta really want it and stuff." "Ok, I think I get it...So...like the best head I've given was to the girl I was talking about earlier..you know the grad..I don't know why, but everything felt so right and I was in the zone. It may or may not have been because we'd taken adderall, may have not been. She was really into me, though. It was a good study break...Uhh best head I've received was hands down my first ex when I was 19 and she blew me in my mom's truck bed on a date." "Oh wow...Uhhm..well everything I did was mostly with Arin, and like maybe the person I dated a little after...but uhm..yeah I'd known him and been with him since we were teens," Suzy explained, "So it was really good and he didn't mind doing it upon request.." "You guys ever get caught?" he asked, looking at her, "Also I bet you all of your subscription payments that I give better head." "Hmm...well, I wouldn't say better, I don't like the idea of competition..How about if I cum more than once in like 30 minutes? Since sex on average is supposed to be a healthy half hour or so before a break," Suzy suggested, looking up at Matt. She wasn't too serious, at least not consiously, but sitting under him maybe had an influence because she couldn't think. He smelled so good and it just felt so comfortable to be wrapped up in him. Comfortable, though, isn't attraction; so what is she to do?

[cosmonnuri]

spikes

paring: namjoon/seokjin genre: slice of life, christmas fluff, picking out a christmas tree, marriage word count: 3.3k rating: T for swearing (PG13)

synopsis: seokjin throws a fit and namjoon just tries to be a good husband

[!] this is a work written for bangtan bookclub xmas exchange ‘18, my recipient is the lovely @kyleira ! i really hope you like it <3

cross posted on ao3 

Namjoon loves the Christmas season. Everything about it is just so lovely.

He loves the weather; the inconsistent oscillation between muddy grey and muddy grey but sugar powdered, the barely-noticeable-at-first-but-suddenly-it’s-there atmosphere of jolly stress. Loves having to leave two hours earlier because of the constant daily traffic jams around the city, loves having to push through the crowd of rushing people that looks twice as big thanks to warm clothing and unnecessary amount of shopping bags, to get to a damn coffee shop. (It’s a basic human right, Namjoon thinks. He shouldn’t stand in the line for twenty minutes just because some asshole can’t collect his bags at the register.)

It is truly the most wonderful time of the year.

“Good morning,” he greets Jin in the kitchen at 7:00 AM on 18th of December. Namjoon does have to admit, the little lights Jin hung around their house look nice, especially on a very sleepy-looking Jin. He mumbles something similar back at Namjoon and looks back at his phone, taking a sip from his cup. (He’s drinking peppermint tea. It’s always peppermint tea.)

Namjoon heads for the fridge after brushing his cheek softly. “You seem tired,” he tells him. Jin looks up again, face slightly sleep-swollen.

“Yeah,” he sighs and raises his phone pointedly. “Last minute Christmas shopping.”

Namjoon hums, pressing the buttons on the coffee machine.

“There’s like a week left, not really last-minute,” he says. That’s because Namjoon practically buys most his presents, except Jin’s and his mum’s, in January. Not in advance or anything, just the next year.

Jin shakes his head, smiling a little.

“I don’t know what to get my mum,” he whines a little. “She mentioned wanting a new mixer, but I’m sure dad’s getting her one, like he's so creative.”

Namjoon laughs a little. The coffee machine stops whirring. “Get her a potted plant. A poinsettia.”

“I hate poinsettias.”

“Get her a bonsai tree.”

“I got her a bonsai tree on her birthday, remember? That was your idea as well. You’re just like my father,” Jin says the last bit with fake disgust. Namjoon’s take a sip of his coffee.

“I’m sorry, I have no other ideas. Get her what you got me.”

Jin chokes on his tea. Namjoon stares at him, an incredulous smile on his lips.

“No way,” Jin says, rubbing at his eye before looking at Namjoon. “It’s not what you think it is—”

“I don’t even know what to think,” Namjoon says. It comes out snappier than intended. Jin looks hopeless.

“Want some toast?” he asks a moment later, getting to his feet.

Namjoon wants toast. They make some toast.

Ten minutes later it’s sort of too quiet. Namjoon bites into his second toast, scrolling through his emails. Jin looks at him from across the table.

“That’s right,” he says, and his tone is not one that Namjoon likes. “We need a Christmas tree.”

Namjoon pretends to not hear him for a moment. The statement just sort of hangs in the air, heavy above the very thin line of patience for Christmas Namjoon has. He finishes his toast first, his coffee second, all in quiet. Feels Jin glancing at him from his phone that is now at his eye level. Namjoon clears his throat uncomfortably.

“Aren’t we going to your parents’?”

“On the 25th”

“Really? I thought you said the 23rd?”

“The point is,” Jin says, a little irritated, any hint of cute sleepiness gone. “I want a Christmas tree.”

Namjoon sighs, leaning back in his chair. Watches Jin sip at his tea, eyes trained on Namjoon’s. If they both weren’t tired and stressed, it would probably be hot. But Namjoon just breathes out heavily and says,

“Okay.”

Jin’s look softens a little.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Namjoon looks up at Yoongi, third cup of morning coffee in his hand as he catches himself bobbing and moving to All I Want for Christmas Is You. Except the song is not playing; the office is quiet aside from the intense clicking of keyboard and mouses and shuffling of paper and occasional giggle from Jimin’s cubicle.

“Nothing,” he says.

Yoongi looks at him, somewhat offended, a stash of papers in his hand.

“Jin wants a Christmas tree.”

Yoongi scoffs through a pout. “Obviously. Give the man a damn tree, he deserves a merry fucking Christmas—”

“No, no, like,” Namjoon cuts him off. “I’m not the bad guy, okay? We’re going to his parents before Christmas, why would he want a Christmas tree at home?”

“You’re spending Christmas with his parents?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s disgustingly domestic.”

Namjoon stares at him for a moment. “We’re married.”

“That’s so gross, I’m gonna tell Jimin—”

“Don’t,” Namjoon leans forward, “tell Jimin.”

“Get Jin a tree,” Yoongi says. “It’s for the sake of your own peace.”

Namjoon sighs. Nods twice. Mumbles, “You’re right.” Then looks at the stash of papers in Yoongi’s hands. “What’s that?”

He tosses them carelessly onto Namjoon’s unorganized pile of documents and folders. Namjoon glares down at them wearily. “What’s this?”

“Sales reports of December.”

“So what, like, we’re not working anymore?”

Yoongi shrugs. “Pretty much.”

“Corporate said we have four days off from 23rd to 26th and then two days on New Year’s.”

“Three,” Yoongi says.

“What?”

“Three days if you include Saturday.”

“Right,” Namjoon says. “So why are you giving me these?”

“Because it’s the end of the month.”

“Hyung—”

“Look, Joon,” Yoongi says, propping himself on Namjoon’s desk. “Today is the last day of work. Taehyung declared it holidays last Friday, the IT guy unblocked PornHub and Miniclip, too. Jimin’s been on the phone for eight hours for the past two days, and I swear to God you do not,” he pauses for emphasis, “wanna hear what he talks about, but it’s certainly not his sales clients.” He thinks before saying, “By the way, we’re having a party tomorrow at 4:00 PM.”

“I probably won’t make it,” Namjoon says. “Wait—did you— did you say PornHub is working?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing,” Namjoon shakes his head quickly. “Did he tell you that or did you—?”

“Joon,” Yoongi narrows his little eyes on him, turning to leave. “Sort those out. Merry Christmas.”

“You’re slacking off!” Namjoon yells to his back. “There’s five days left!”

He says that but pulls up a new tab to play pool online once Yoongi's gone.

“I don’t like it,” Jin tells Namjoon for the eighth time in the span of five minutes, and Namjoon is honestly about to cry.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Look at this side,” Jin beckons for Namjoon to come next to him. “See?” he points to a branch with a few dried needles. Okay, maybe more than a few. But that last tree wasn’t too bad.

“What about the last one,” Namjoon asks, walking back a few steps, “this one looks okay.”

“Okay,” Jin says categorically. “I’m not having an ‘okay’ tree in my house, Joonie. It will drop needles in a week.”

Namjoon stares at him.

“So you want a live tree, but you hate them dropping needles? We’ve been over this last year.”

“There are fresher trees that drop less needles. And I want a bigger one.”

“Bigger trees drop more needles. Fresher trees are also more expensive. This one’s a good deal,” Namjoon says, checking out a price tag of the nearest tree.

Jin ignores him promptly, focused on his phone; probably googling best places to shop for Christmas trees in the city. Namjoon starts to inspect another tree.

They’ve been together for seven years now, and each year is a dilemma. Every Christmas season it's a dilemma, typically. It’s always a test on their relationship.

“Let’s go to a different place,” Jin says finally.

And it's fine, really. Namjoon had decided years ago that he will not let a stupid season break the unbreakable bond he’s formed with Jin. He reminds himself that while getting into the car, after nodding the tree guy an apologetic goodbye. (They wasted twenty minutes of his life.)

Jin drives them out of city.

Namjoon turns on the heater. Jin turns it down a few moments later. Namjoon lowers the volume of Jin’s special Christmas playlist; Jin turns it back up little by little. By the time they’ve reached the suburbs, he turns to Jin.

“Can we listen to something else than Mariah Carrey?”

Jin’s hand tightens on the wheel. He side-eyes Namjoon and says, “Fine.” Skips to Santa Tell Me and—

“What the fuck?”

…It’s a remix of Khia’s My Neck My Back and Santa Tell Me, and Namjoon wants to die. Jin, on the other hand, is laughing his ass off.

“—It’s a good song!” he tries to say in between the laughs. Namjoon feels himself get hot and smiley and Jin’s honestly so cute, but if he doesn’t focus on the road—

“—Just drive,” he sputters like he should be annoyed.

“Do you—” Jin stops to calm his laughter, “Do you want me to turn it off?”

“No,” Namjoon says. Too quickly. Earns a teasing glance from Jin. “Just—just whatever, leave it. If that’s the kind of music you like—”

“Namjoon you literally ate my a—whoa, fuck!” he steers his wheel to the right; some car in the contraflow barely made it back to the lane after overtaking a car. Namjoon holds tight onto his seat. Khia’s scratchy voice thunders in the car over Christmassy music.

“Fucking asshole,” Jin mutters, and Namjoon hums in agreement. A few moments of silence pass before Jin starts rapping along, and Namjoon has to smack him out of it. (At which Jin laughs and coos and has a hard time focusing on the road.)

“This one’s dry as fuck.”

“Language, babe,” Namjoon mutters, leaning in close to Jin, when they’re outside picking trees again.

“Get off me,” Jin says, not unkindly. Namjoon props his chin on Jin’s shoulder. “Namjoon, please.” Namjoon backs away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he says, clearly upset. Namjoon pokes his side and Jin smacks his hand away. “How about this one?”

“Looks good to me,” Namjoon immediately says. Jin narrows his eyes on the tree like it offended his mother.

“Are you saying that so we can get this over with?”

“No, it really looks like a decent tree.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Jin pouts slightly.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because it’s dry. Needles. Needles everywhere, even now,” he points at the ground; beneath the soles of his shoes lay scattered spruce tree needles.

“That’s because they had to carry all these trees here, not because it’s shedding,” says Namjoon. “Look, can’t we just get a tree and go decorate it already? I’m sure everything will look good covered in Christmas lights and decorations.”

“Decorations don’t fix everything; you need a proper base—”

“—It certainly fixed our kitchen, though.” Jin stares off into nothing. Namjoon sighs, tugging at Jin’s hand inside of his coat pocket, “Let’s just go home, Jinnie—”

Jin’s head snaps at him. “We’re not leaving without a goddamn Christmas tree.”

Five minutes later Jin’s face looks drained of blood, eyes tired. Namjoon is scared. Angry Jin is not the Jin he can easily tell something nice to and coax into calmness; angry Jin means conflict, and conflict means angry Namjoon, which means two days of suffering and death glares and no coochie and at least one full can of Heinz baked tomato beans. (For stress-eating.)

Namjoon’s learned to play it safe, however. Sometimes it works out.

“Babe,” he tries, voice very soft and very careful. “It’s okay. We don’t need to buy one today, there’s a whole week left, we’ll just—I’ll just buy one tomorrow, yeah? After work? I’ll go—”

“—Hey,” the guy who sells the trees speaks up, drawing both of their attention to him, “if you two aren't buying a tree from me, you can get out.”

Sometimes things he can’t control make it fail.

They stare at the guy for a second; Namjoon shakes his head right before Jin breaks through, little flames in his eyes.

“What did you just say to me?”

“Jinnie, no—”

“No, if he wants us to get out, we can get out, these trees are ugly anyway, congrats, we wasted your ti—”

“Jinnie,” Namjoon puts a hand on his shoulder. Jin breathes out slowly. Shakes Namjoon’s hand away for the third time that day, and it kind of hurts. He’s angry, Namjoon knows that, but still hates taking full damage.

“Your trees are dry,” Jin states, passive-aggressively, “and I hope they become even dryer, just like your face, personality, sense of compassion—”

“Seokjin,” Namjoon’s voice is more steady this time. Jin relents.

They get into the car, doors slamming shut, seatbelts dragging harshly. One seatbelt, in fact. Just one. Jin’s sitting behind the wheel, looking straight before himself. Namjoon looks at him worriedly.

“I’m sorry he was like that,” he says after some time.

Jin scoffs quietly, turning away to the window. “Not your fault he was an asshole.”

“That guy was very rude,” Namjoon agrees.

“I just want a fucking Christmas tree,” Jin mutters, voice shaking slightly. Namjoon sits up in his seat, letting go of his seatbelt. Grasps Jin’s hand, and Jin lets him hold it for a while, before he’s dropping it away, hands tight on the steering wheel, look empty and cold as he starts up the car. Music plays automatically and Jin jabs the turn off button before Namjoon can react.

The whole ride is quiet; tension thick in the air around them.

Once they're home, Jin hasn't calmed down one bit. He slams the door behind himself and Namjoon has to open it to enter again. He follows Jin into the bedroom, trying to calm himself down, it’s a thing, this is a thing, it will pass, just gotta talk him through it…

“You know what,” Jin seethes, taking off his gloves one by one, his muffler, his coat, tossing it on their bed with unnecessary force, “I’m so fucking tired of this shit. Each year we have the same problem. I want a fucking Christmas tree. Can’t we get a damn Christmas tree? I don’t—”

“—We’re going to you parents, there is no point in stressing over such meaningless—”

“Oh, so now it’s meaningless?”

Namjoon sighs. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Yeah? Because hearing you say that I can’t think of anything else.” Jin plops onto the bed, buries his head into his palms. Namjoon just stands there, feeling his body heat up with the coat still on. “You could’ve said something,” Jin says quietly, muffled into his hands. “That guy was rude and you pretended like it was my fault, like I don’t have the right to choose a damn tree—”

“That guy was an asshole, but it doesn’t mean you have to stoop down to his level, Jinnie,” Namjoon tries, a little softer. He’s tired. They both are, and he just wants to make up. It’s Christmas, for fucks sake, and even if that wouldn’t mean anything if Namjoon lived alone, it does right now because Jin loves Christmas. Jin makes him love Christmas too.

“I’m sorry, I just—” Namjoon walks closer to him, sits down on the mattress, feels Jin shiver a few inches away from him. “Having to see you stress so much over finding the perfect Christmas tree... I didn’t want you to go through it like that. It's… not worth it.”

Jin leans into him slightly, and Namjoon puts a hand on his thigh, soothing, not quite taking him in his arms yet. He wonders if Jin is crying, but he’s probably not; Jin is strong. He’s very strong and usually has his shit together, but the past few weeks have sort of drained him. It’s Namjoon’s time to be stronger this time. He feels important at once, a surge of determination flooding him.

“I should’ve been more considerate. We can still get that tree, right? We’re leaving on 23rd, so there’s still a few days…”

“—25th,” Jin says quietly, but his voice doesn’t shake. He moves his hands away from his face and looks at Namjoon, eyes red from rubbing at them. “We’re leaving on the 25th because I wanted to spend Christmas with you first.” He’s quiet for a moment, and Namjoon reckons he should say something, before Jin speaks up again, through a somewhat shy pout. Says, “Also because of your present.”

It might be the light. It might be that Jin’s actually blushing, and it makes Namjoon curl up into his side.

“I’m sorry Jin, I didn’t know that.”

“How could you have? I’m the one who didn’t tell you that and jumped to Christmas tree shopping.”

“I think you mentioned something.”

“Still,” says Jin. “Sorry Joonie.”

Namjoon nuzzles his nose into Jin’s neck, uncomfortably hot in his coat but too comfortable in Jin’s arms to move. “I’m sorry too.”

They sit like that for a little before getting up to make dinner. Later when they’re both in bed, Jin says, “Who cares about a stupid Christmas tree anyway. I can just give you the present.”

Despite that being said, Namjoon brings home a little spruce tree in a plastic pot the next day. By the time Jin’s home, he hasn’t touched it more than put it in the corner of their bedroom; Namjoon knows Jin likes to decorate it with him.

That they do; the tree looks small and cute and feels like home; they sit in bed and watch the lights play around the room, sparkling and blinking, casting a cozy glow on the walls and ceiling and their faces.

“I love this,” Jin says, in the evening of December 24th, after dinner. He looks at Namjoon softly, fingers dug into the new heated blanket that Namjoon got him. “I’ve wanted this for so long.”

“I knew you’d like it. I thought of it when the heating was off for the whole weekend like a few weeks ago,” Namjoon says, smiling sheepishly, staring fondly at Jin, who’s in the process of wrapping himself up in his new blanket. He looks cuddly and soft and Namjoon is so fond. “You seem to be cold in your sleep a lot.”

“I’m cold all the time,” Jin says, muffled into the blanket. It’s turned on, working, heating Jin. Namjoon hears him let out a sound similar to a kitten’s purr. “You’re the human furnace, and I absorb the cold.” Jin opens up his arms and the blanket, inviting Namjoon in, and he happily falls forward.

“Good thing it was on sale then.”

“You really outdid yourself this time,” says Jin, smiling, and kisses his forehead. Namjoon smiles up at him, letting Jin press a kiss to his lips.

They stay like that until Namjoon’s inner warmth burns through and he starts sweating; he sleeps with no blankets on, so getting this for Jin is a potential sacrifice, a singular promise to let him stay warm while Namjoon burns.

He’s okay with it, though. As long as Jin is happy and they’re okay, Namjoon is happy. He can burn, he can freeze, he can melt and evaporate into thin air.

“I would die for you,” Jin says, half-jokingly like he does, but yep, Namjoon knew he’d do the same.

It’s just how things are.

They are: great.

They are: okay.

They are—

“Wait, I forgot your present.”

Namjoon looks up, a strange heat in his stomach, something he hasn’t felt in a while.

“O-oh,” he says. “Okay.”

Jin gets up and takes a rectangular box from under their bed. Namjoon stares at it intently all the way until it’s in his hands, and Jin says something like, “I thought it was about time I got you one of these, since that one night when we talked about… and you know, I just saw it and decided to get you— us one…”

Namjoon barely listens, undoing the little bow, ripping off the wrapping paper, opening up the box even though the packaging is so painfully obvious, he…

“Oh my god,” says Namjoon. Next to him, Jin breathes out. “Oh my god,” Namjoon looks up at Jin, and he’s sure it’s all written on his face, because Jin’s lips twist into a smug grin, and he says,

“Knew you’d like it.”

(Namjoon does. Namjoon likes it very, very much. Thanks, Jin.)

#bbcexchange18 #namjin #christmas #fluff #bts #bts fic #namjoon #seokjin #fan fiction

[soda-kpop]

Trumpet Player!Mark - NCT Dream Band AU

NCT Dream Band AU: ML - HRJ - LJN - LDH - NJM - ZCL - PJS

Word Count: 5763

Warning: I’m a hopeless romantic at heart so forgive the cliches

Rest of Dreamies + Coordinating Sports AU Coming Soon!

Trumpet boy for life

Like he can even imitate it with his mouth it was meant to be

Would not stop playing the john cena theme when that meme was a thing

Like seriously mark

We are trying to play the fight song right now

It’s not time for john cena

It’s either that or justin bieber love yourself

Anyways

He’d be the first chair trumpet despite not looking like he gives a shit at all???

Like to be honest a lot of people think he’s just in band to goof off with his friends

But he actually is very talented and loves playing his trumpet

The duality of it all shocks everyone

When he’s not playing, he looks chill and just there to have a good time

When he brings that instrument to his mouth though

Wow

It’s like a whole different person

His posture straightens

His focus is only on the music and the ensemble

Nothing can disrupt him

Perfect tone like 100% of the time

He is so talented with music he can hear the pitches and if they are out of tune or not easier than the others

Everyone usually tunes to him tbh

Has a crazy ass range compared to the others

Model trumpet tbh

Except when he never sees the cut off

When he is playing his trumpet, he gets into his own little world away from everyone else and like the band is simultaneously annoyed and amazed like mark come on but also mark keep going lol

He may seem very intimidating to other trumpets

But as the section leader

He is very nonjudgmental

If they are having troubles he will ask “did you practice at home” but whether the answer is yes or no he will help

“Alright let me help you.” wow fuck me up fam

He’ll even try to learn the second and third trumpet parts to help them out

Be also tries to balance sports and band

He is on the basketball team!

As much as he loves playing the pep tunes

He loves playing basketball as well

So when basketball season comes around the band has to say goodbye to their first trumpet

But the band still supports him anyway

When he gets called for the starting lineup

The band just goes nuts

“I KNOW HIM!!!!” - jeno

Cue blushing mark cause wow cause you guys are embarrassing

Donghyuck laughing and calling him a loser when he misses a shot during warm ups

(during the game though he is as loving as every)

His teammates call him trumpet boy

They tease him but love him

That could basically describe Mark’s relationship with anyone tbh

He is always that one in class where it’s the day of the concert and he goes

“Wait there’s a concert today????????”

But no one blames him cause he busy af

Even the director (since the end of his freshman year) is like

“The concert is on March 23rd” *glares at mark*

“The concert’s in a week” *glares at mark*

“Mark when’s the concert?”

“Uhhhhhhh I don’t know, Tuesday?”

Cue haechan face palming

“God mark he literally said it’s in a week two seconds ago”

But poor mark was too busy trying to study for his calculus test that he didn’t hear him

He gets especially busy during pep/marching season cause he’s first chair trumpet and gets all the belty parts for the pep tunes

So football season can be a handful

But absolutely nothing compared to basketball season

His schedule multiples with gym practices for basketball, extra weight sessions, hours practicing his trumpet, and trying to keep up with his school work

If he can get to sleep before midnight any day of the week, he is so thankful as most days he needs to get up early for his 6 o’clock weights sessions

God bless his soul but he somehow gets by and survives each day

To add to his plate even more

Mark decides to do solo and ensemble!!!

After weeks of trying to find the perfect song, all that he could find was a duet

It was called “The Prayer” and Mark thought it was absolutely beautiful

So when it was sectionals time in class

He gathered all of the trumpets into the office and searched for the audio file to show everyone and see if anyone would want to maybe play it with him

Everyone was kind of bored with it tbh

The rest of the section enjoyed “fun” pieces full of energy

(Mark swears if they suggest they play Mouthpiece Mania one more time he is going to shoot himself.)

That and no one really wanted to play during solo & ensemble

They all had their own things they needed to tend to

So when everyone is walking out, Mark starts to feel a little discouraged

That is until he realizes that someone stayed back

You!

You actually thought the song was quite beautiful and would love to play it

Although you are nervous about having to play this yourself

You see Mark’s excitement and can’t help but feel that excitement to

“So you’ll do the duet with me?!?!?!”

And his eyes are so big and his smile is so wide that you cannot say no to this boy

And when you say yes, he begins jumping up and down and immediately asks for your snap so you guys can schedule practices.

“I’m a little busy with basketball coming up, so I can mostly practice on home game days and weekends! I have a week until that starts, so we can practice for a week until then if that’s okay.”

You just smile and say that those days work for you

Not only do you get to sharpen your trumpet skills and play a beautiful piece

You also get to become closer to Mark!

He has always caught your eye with how calm and sweet he was when working with your section even if you or other members hadn’t practice any of the tunes yet

You two just haven’t had much time to talk other than that

Any other classes you may have shared, you were both in different period/hours. 

It was a shame but now you didn’t have to worry about that

After you guys exchange your snapcodes, he quickly runs out of the office in a mad search for your director to sign you guys up as a duet

Donghyuck just looks at him like he’s insane

You just laugh and mutter to yourself

“What did I just sign myself up for?”

So after school both you and Mark come to the practice rooms in order to start your first rehearsal

You go through some scales in order to warm your instruments up

And Mark stops you and “show me your embouchure”

You slowly pull your horn away from your mouth and show him

He giggles looking at your face because it actually looks ridiculous without a mouthpiece attached

You begin to return to normal as he continues to giggle

He quickly stiffens back up and protests “no I’m serious let me see it”

So you do and

“See, your embouchure is all wrong. Your lips are turned upward not down like it’s supposed to be” and he pokes the edges of your lips

“Having this smile still allows you to play, but it weakens your tone. You want to have them down kind of like a frown!”

He pulls the edge of your lips down and giggles

“Try that now”

And your tone steadies and your eyes widen

“Haha see! Let’s go again!”

After you finish Mark’s like

“You are gonna take over my section leader spot!”

And you are just kind of like

“Yeah right 1. The director loves you and 2. I’m gonna fuck it up”

He just signs and says “well they’re gonna need some more first trumpets for pep season… you better volunteer ;)”

“Sure.. let’s keep working”

And y’all mostly just sight read the piece for the rest of the practice time

And the rest of the practices before basketball starts are spent in a similar fashion

If Mark hears something wrong, he’ll point it out (whether it was him or you)

If it is him, he’ll apologize to no end

But if it’s you and you try to do the same, he will continually reassure you that it’s fine

As basketball starts, you don’t get to practice

Mark is just swarmed with practices before the first home game

You didn’t want to let him down with not practicing so you spent everyday practicing along to the recordings in the hope of impressing him when the next practice arrives

So it’s the day of the first home game and all of the basketball team is wearing their matching sweatpants and warm up jerseys

And you cannot lie that Mark looks really nice

You can’t ignore the tiny little crush that you may have developed working with Mark

He was just so responsible and hard working and talented

So it was hard not to start falling a little bit

When you saw him in band

He came up to you with a big smile on his face

“Are we still up for today after school?”

You nod your head and confirm “Yes, 3:30!”

And yall sit in your sections and wait for class to start

After school, you have to meet with a teacher to review a concept before meeting with Mark

By the time you got out, it was only 3:15

You decided that waiting the other 15 minutes in the practice room wouldn’t hurt maybe you’d even be able to practice some before you have to show Mark

When you got there however

There was someone asleep in the practice room

It was Mark

You opened the door softly just to confirm and the tuffs of brown hair paired with his white sweatpants were all you needed

He looked too calm and peaceful to disturb

But you were also concerned

Clearly Mark hadn’t been getting enough sleep

And as a starter

This boy is going to need his energy for the game tonight

You pull out your wallet and see some cash

You make a quick run to the store and pick up a few drinks

An energy drink, a sports drink, and a large water

Everything that he could need at the game

Plus a juice for yourself

You make it back with three minutes to spare

Holding the plastic bag, you knock firmly on the door before opening it

Mark begins to stir and once he realized that he fell asleep, he quickly jolted up

“Oh my god what time is it?!”

You laugh at his shocked face and muster out a “3:27”

“Oh thank god…” he falls back into his char and notices the bag, “What’s that?”

You sit on the floor and take each drink out of the back

“I thought I’d treat you for your first home game!”

And his cheeks began to heat up

No one had ever tried to gift him anything besides Donghyuck

And even then

All he gave him was complete junk food like a bag of Skittles or a soda

He was touched to say the least

But he didn’t really express it well

All he did was look at you and the drinks with such shock on his face for about a minute

To avoid any other awkward tension, you quickly suggest to start

He snaps out of it “Oh! Yes, let’s do it!” and you sit down in the chair next to him

After your warm ups, you begin to run through the piece

And something seems off?

And Mark can sense it too

You stop playing and Mark follows

“Mark, can you play again for me? I want to hear something”

And he hesitates cause he knows it is him

Him playing confirmed him

“Your notes…”

“They are football shaped, I know.” He hangs his head embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I’ll work on it.”

“Hey, it’s okay! You usually don’t sound like this; is everything okay?”

And he takes a deep breath before completely spilling out

“I’m just about to collapse. I used to be able to balance everything so well, but this final year is just so much worse. I feel like I don’t have any energy left.”

You drop your trumpet and close the distance between the two of you, putting a hand on his back for comfort

He didn’t say anything too specific but you are still able to offer support “I feel like you may be too hard on yourself. You have so much on your plate, you shouldn’t expect to do everything perfectly. It’s okay to have bad days sometimes - it helps you grow and learn.”

“But everyone expects so much from me. Living up to that pressure is hard, and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”

His breathing quickens and it sounds as if he is about to cry

“The only person you need to impress is yourself. As long as you are happy with what you’re doing and where you are at, everything is going to be okay. I know you can do it!”

And his shoulders relax and his breath steadies and looks down shyly

You can’t help but swing your other hand around him and give him a hug

“Give yourself a break sometimes, it’ll be worth it.”

He puts his hand over yours and squeezes it

“Thank you.”

After you let go, he starts to try and play again but your hand pulls his bell down

“We don’t have to continue, Mark. It’s okay. You have a big game tonight.”

And he looks at you with concern

“I don’t have to be there until 5:30, it’s only 4… and we haven’t practiced in almost two weeks! I’m obviously behind…”

You laugh to the side and propose a deal “How about we go for another 20 minutes, then you can get a nap in here before call time? Does that sound good?”

And you best believe this boy looks at you like you are an angel sent from heaven.

“Deal.”

When those 20 minutes are up, you just sit inside the band office with your director while Mark is taking his nap

When people start filing in early, you situate yourself close to the practice room Mark is in so you can make sure his slumber is not disturbed

When 5:15 comes around and almost all of the band members are destroying the room, you decide to finally wake him up

When you walk in, you almost decide to not wake him up

He looked so peaceful and content

But he was either gonna be woken up by you or by the percussion section running through their cadences

So you figured this would probably hurt less

You hunch over his body and slightly shake his shoulders

“Mark… it’s time to wake up…”

He flips over and before you could try again, he attempts to rub the sleep out of his eyes

“It’s call time!”

You say trying to get him up

But he just smiles and quietly goes “I’m up, I’m up.”

So you stand up and offer him a hand that he quickly takes but before you can get away, Mark pulls you into a hug.

“Thank you, honestly. For the drinks and everything.”

And you are stressing out, wondering if Mark can feel either your heartbeat increase or your face redden

“N-n-not a problem!” You stutter quickly releasing yourself from his grasp.

He quickly grabs the bag full of his drinks and runs out to store his bag in the locker room

But not without screaming “THANK YOU!!”

And you just come out of the practice room with a blush on yourself and mutter “you’re welcome”

ANd Donghyuck comes up next to you and just nudges ya

“So… Mark huh?”

“Shut up Donghyuck”

When you guys set up, you spot Mark hanging out with his teammates

Y’all make eye contact and just give him a big thumbs up

He instantly smiles

When you are playing during the girl’s varsity game

You guys constantly make eye contact and he makes faces at you

(MOstly it’s just him saying a smile is bad and you need to frown which is counterproductive because all it does is make you laugh)

It’s when warm ups start that you guys really start interacting

It becomes his turn to shoot at the 3 point line

And he misses the first one

“Nice shot!”

You immediately elbow Donghyuck

“OW! What the hell was that for?”

You look at him and with a serious tone just “Just lighten up, okay?”

And he just rolls his eyes and walks away… “Lovebirds…”

You turn your attention back towards the court and make eye contact with him

He had seen the whole interaction and was shocked

You just mouth to him good luck

And he smiles and guess what?

Makes his next shot

Nothing but net :)

And he sees you smiling out of the corner of his eye and you bet your butt that he’s replaying that image in his head throughout the night

When the game starts, Mark seems to be real nervous. Starts the game shooting 1 of 4 and you can tell he is frustrated

His team doesn’t pass as much to him and he gets taken out of the game before the first half is finished

When the half finished, your school is losing by 10 points

When he gets pulled out, he runs his hand through his hand in frustration and looks up towards the band section

Right now he’d rather be up there with everyone than on the court right now

He sees you in the corner with a look of concern on your face and once again you make eye contact except this time, you notion to your head and mouth “Believe in yourself. I believe in you.”

And maybe just maybe

You see his frown turn upside down

When they come out from halftime and start their warm ups again

You see Mark make almost every single shot

You know this is a different person out there

When you see him in the starting lineup again, you get on the edge of your seat

Soon he is almost unstoppable making the next 7 of 9

And you swear but you cannot confirm

That everytime he makes a shot, he looks in your direction to see your reaction

Which is nothing short of a smile and a fist pump

There’s 10 seconds left in the game and the other team has possession

The score is 73-75, your school down by 2

The person who Mark is blocking has the ball, but he kept the ball far from his body

Mark saw an opening and stole the ball with two seconds left

And before he could get in a proper position

He just chucks the ball just before the buzzer sounds

And in goes the ball

3 points for Mark

A winning game for your school

You instantly start screaming for as long as you can

But you have to start playing the Fight Song

It wasn’t the cleanest as the hype flowed through the brass section creating a blatty and harsh sound

But no one cared because Mark just shot a buzzer beater and won the entire game for you guys

You wanted to go up to him after the game, but you had to put all your equipment away and when you looked at him, he had so many people surrounding him

After helping the percussion with their equipment, you finally have time to pack up your trumpet

When you place your mouthpiece in it’s hole, you get tapped on your shoulder

You turn around and see Mark, all hot and sweaty

“You got a lotta attention out there, huh?” You laugh

“I think you should be the one getting the attention; I don’t think I would have been able to do that without you.” Your face reddens “So same time next home game?”

“Of course” you laugh

And he walks off to go find his parents and go home

And you shut your case with a smile and with some pep in your step

And for the next month and a half before every home game

You bring Mark those three drinks during every practice

And he becomes more and more supportive of your playing

Anytime you may doubt yourself, he quickly reminds you to believe in yourself

And you do the same

He starts becoming more confident not only in class and on the trumpet, but also on the court. He doesn’t need to look at you in the stands as often when he plays, but you can still tell he takes some glances

And Donghyuck notices it all and develops a plan

The day before the final home game, Donghyuck approaches Mark in the locker room before practice

“Mark you gotta do something,” he whines

The look of confusion takes over Mark

“What are you talking about? Do something about what?”

“Don’t act dumb, your special trumpet friend!” the blush on Mark’s face just confirming his best friend’s suspicions

“I can’t! Especially before the biggest game of the year so far! What if they reject me and I lose my spark?” He says tying up his shoes

“Wow you might actually be dumb. Have you seen the way they look at you? You have absolutely nothing to worry about. You are Mark Lee. Everyone wants to be with you, whether romantically or mutually, and I can bet your ass that they feel the same way… romantically of course.”

And Mark melts at the thought of you being an item.

“Well what can I do?”

“It’s Senior Night. This could be the last time you could ever wear this uniform again, wouldn’t you want someone special to wear it with you?” Donghyuck smirks, winks, and walks off leaving Mark to stare inside his bag to see his jersey for away games

Boy is he going to have to wash that a lot tonight

For the final home game, you decided to get him a bag full of extra gifts

He had done so much for you in these last two months that you needed to celebrate it somehow

You had gone to the store and picked up the usual drinks along with multiple cups of watermelon, a gift card to his favorite pizza location, and for an extra special gift, you had ordered him a custom mouthpiece with the word “Believe” engraved on it

You really hoped that he would like it and not be put off by it

When you walk into the band room, you can hear him practicing through the walls

Your performance would be in two weeks and you guys knew the piece by heart

And despite hearing him play the same song over and over again

You were always mesmerized every time he played

You wait for him to finish before barging in

“Oh hey! I was just working on secti… oh that’s bigger than usual” he says pointing out the large bag

“Well it’s a special day, and I wanted to celebrate that. If we practice till call time, you may be able to get everything before your game.”

And you swore you had never seen Mark so eager in his life

So you play and play (but not without water breaks and running it by your director for final feedback)

And finally it’s 5 o’clock and the rest of the band is supposed to be there in 15 minutes

“Good rehearsal!” Mark says placing his horn in his case

“You too, I’m excited for Solo & Ensemble!” You start getting giddy just thinking about it

“Me too, it’s going to be a lot of fun, and I’m really happy with how it’s sounding.”

“You’ve helped me so much with playing so in order to say thank you…” you slam the bag into Mark’s lap, “Thank you!”

If you thought that you have seen his biggest smile, that’s a giant lie

He has never smiled that big in his life

He takes out the water, energy drink, and sports drink with care

When he sees what else is in there, he absolutely flips

“I love watermelon!!” He immediately opens the cup and pops a cube into his mouth, melting into the sweet and soft fruit “And I’m totally going to use the gift card this weekend.”

The mouthpiece, however, was in your pocket

“Mark, I have one final gift…” His head turns in confusion, “Here, just close your eyes.”

He is hesitant but ultimately shuts his eyes

You reach into his case and pull the body of his trumpet out and place the mouthpiece on it

You hold it out to him “okay open!”

“My trumpet?”

You couldn’t help but laugh

“Just inspect it okay!”

He takes the brass away from you and starts examining the bells and the valves. It wasn’t until he finally checked the mouthpiece that his confusion left

“‘Believe?’ Why?”

“Because, you can do anything if you just believe in yourself. You taught me that, and now if you need any reassurance, it’ll be right there for you!” When you are explaining, his head drops down as he smiles at the ground

You couldn’t help but become shy after giving it to him, still not sure how he felt about you

“I have a gift for you, too…” He trails off before reaching into his bag behind him. Your head picks up at the mention of a gift.

Before you realize it, Mark is handing you a piece of black cloth

“It’s my away jersey, and I’d love it if you wore it tonight.”

Your cheeks begin to burn as you take the jersey in your hands

“I would love to”

And mark just whispers a gentle “great” before staring at you

Once he notices Donghyuck in the window, however, he quickly starts packing up his things

Seeing him so frantic makes you do the same

You were about to leave when Mark calls your name

“Wha…”

As you turn around, Mark’s lips touch your cheeks before he mutters out a quick thank you and he runs out of the room

You stay in the practice room for another minute or so in order to compose yourself and to change into the jersey

The second that you walk out, Donghyuck starts a melody of harassing whistles causing you to walk out of the band room, but not before screaming “I swear to god, Donghyuck!”

Walking into the gym, heads turn everywhere seeing Mark’s jersey rest upon your shoulders

He couldn’t stop smiling to himself seeing you play the first trumpet parts he loves so much with his name on your back

And just like the first game, he wishes he could be up in the stands

Not because he is struggling

But because you looked like you were having so much fun and he’d love to be up there to experience it with you

Also to get Donghyuck off your ass

And after the buzzer sounds, your school won by a landslide and as you play the fight song, Mark looks and points up at you with the biggest smile on his face

It almost causes you to stop playing, but you had to

People swarm him like always but his attention is somewhere else

You let people get their share of Mark while you put all of your supplies away and change back into your old shirt

You hurry as fast as you can and run back into the gym to see all of players with their families, including Mark saying goodbye to his

When he turns back to pick up his bag, he sees you in the corner of his eye

“Good job out there, Mark.” You walk toward him handing him his jersey

“Thank you! It’s all because of you.” He smiles “Also keep it, you look nice in it.”

You immediately started laughing

Mark’s eyes grew, “What?”

“Mark, you do know you have an away game next week right?”

His eyes widen even more and he slowly grabs the jersey from your hand

“Oh… right.”

And he stashes the jersey in his athletic bag

And your laughs just continue

“Anyways, you did really well out there, Mark.” and this time you find the courage in yourself to do what he did to you earlier and place your lips on his cheek, “Goodnight”

And you walk out with a fire on your cheeks and a pulsing in your heart

Mark was no different

From then on, band with Mark had been….different

He can barely look you in the face, he can’t focus, and his tone starts to suffer

He hasn’t even played your duet since that home game and you still had until their final game to start practicing again

After that game, you only had seven days to rehearse and finalize any changes you needed to make in order to get that superior rating

While in the zone, it was as if nothing had happened between you guys

When you guys are playing, there is absolutely no tension between you. The only way you guys connect is through the music

But again

Something is missing

You ask your director to listen in and really analyze the song - not just say if it sounds good or not

And he says

“The notes are all there, you have all the dynamics and rhythm set, but there is not emotion. You feel like you are just two people playing together, not two people playing as one. It may look the same, but the sound is so different.”

You both just look at each other and frown

“Playing the same music is not enough to connect each other, our emotions are just as valuable. Maybe try hanging out together, let loose, something like that.”

And he leaves you and Mark in the practice room

“So….” Mark starts

“So….”

“What are we?” he quickly asks

Almost to the point you couldn’t hear him, but you most definitely did

“I hope at least friends…” you say with some hesitation, “but I would love to be something more”

“I-I…”

“I understand if you don’t think of me in that light. I can come together to play this song with you, but I don’t know how much more I could stay around you.”

You held your head low unable to look him in the eyes, softly playing with your hands in your lap

Suddenly, your hand is being warmed in the presence of Mark’s

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’d love to be with you.” And when you look up, you can see Mark’s calm, sweet eyes meet yours. He wraps his arms around you, trying his best not to be too awkward in this chair hug (which is absolutely awkward you cannot escape it)

“So….” Mark starts, “Should we start playing again?”

And you just nod

You don’t make it three measures in until Mark stops you

“Hey, what did I tell you about smiling?” He teases.

“Sorry,” you laugh, “I’m just really happy right now.”

And you just smile at each other

Solo & Ensemble couldn’t come faster

You had one practice with Accompanist!Johnny then all of a sudden, you and Mark were on a bus with other contestants from your school headed to the performance venue

You were one of the first groups to perform that day and to say you were nervous was an understatement

And as if Mark could sense it, he takes your hand in his and starts rubbing it

“You are going to do great today, just believe.”

And you can’t help but smile to yourself

You walk into the performance room and hand your score to the clinician

While Johnny gets his sheet music in order, you and Mark set your stands facing each other so not only will Mark be able to comfort you if your nerves get the best of you, but you will also be able to create an intimate atmosphere 

As soon as you get the go ahead, you introduce yourselves and begin playing

[LINK TO DUET]

Afterwards, you feel absolutely breathless

Between playing the songs and watching Mark play full of passion, your heart was beating at a mile a minute

Your clinician has a lot to say, but most of it is good things!

His main critique was for stylistic reasons - he’d prefer more accents in some places and a ritardando in others

But his main compliment was

“You guys feel connected. You respond to each other almost perfectly. If he does one thing, you are right there with him as support. For some people, it’s about being the best, but you only try to compliment each other. They try to feed on these emotions while you guys try to feel them. Outstanding job.”

And both of you immediately blush while your director is almost crying because he was so proud of how you took his advice and it was actually paying off

When you walk out of the room, your smiles never stop.

Not even when the scores are posted

You promised each other that no matter how you placed, you would be happy with your performance

There was no need to be worried

Not only did you receive a superior rating, but you were the first place Trumpet Ensemble

When you read it, you wanted to cry

And Mark’s eyes just grow really wide and he looks at you with all the shock in the world present on his face

All he can do is hug you

And it lasts for a solid two to three minutes

Celebratory pictures are taken of course, but you guys are quick to watch your friends’ performances

During which, Mark holds your hand

Earlier it was calming, but now it was doing everything but

While the clinicians went on their breaks, Mark pulls out his wallet

“Celebratory dinner’s on me”

You turn your head and see the gift card you got him that final basketball game

“I thought you were spending it that weekend!”

“Well, I felt pretty confident about this performance. I was going to ask you no matter what happened between us, so pizzas on me!”

And before you can respond, the only thing you hear is

“GUYS, MARK’S BUYING DINNER”

“Shut up, Donghyuck”

I haven’t written an AU in a long time! I missed this so much. I will be doing a Band AU for the rest of the Dream Team along with a corresponding Sports AU! That means that there will be a full Basketball AU for Mark. This took almost all day to write, so I can’t guarantee when they will be out!

I hope you enjoyed this! Thank you guys <3

#nct #nct u #nct dream #nct 127 #nct 2018 #mark lee #lee minhyung #nct reactions #nct au #nct dream au #nct dream reactions #nct dream scenarios #nct scenarios #nct fluff #nct imagines #mark lee imagines #mark lee fluff #mark lee scenarios #nct mark lee #hwang renjun #lee jeno #lee donghyuck #haechan #na jaemin #zhong chenle #park jisung #renjun #jeno #donghyuck #jaemin