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partycatty · 4 months

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dark star johnny hatefucking his gf/bf over the balcony in his mansion, and acting like he’s gonna drop them off of the balcony if they misbehave in any way

this one has been SIMMERINGGGG in my inbox ive been too excited to write it LOLOL, also i changed this prompt just a smidge

dark star!johnny cage > fall for me

warnings: SMUT AS FUCK, UR LIFE IS BEING THREATENED BUT UR INTO IT LOL, again ds!jc is just literally insane !! also exhibitionism !! and also cnc !! jesus this man needs hella warnings!

notes: IM SORRY U GUYS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG YOU ALL HAVE BEEN SO PATIENT SO IM REWARDING YOU

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 6*

[ masterlist ]

• dark star!johnny has a short temper, one he enjoys putting out on you. oftentimes, you didn't actually do anything, he's just mad at the idea of you going against him and that's typically enough to rile him up alone.

• this time around, you were a whopping ten minutes behind getting ready for one of his A-List parties. something about your makeup just didn't feel right no matter how many times you applied your eyeshadow or concealer, so adjustment after adjustment left johnny tapping his foot outside of the bedroom door.

• "baby~," he'd sing-song shout from the crack of the door. "this party is a big networking deal for me, and you're already fucking it up~!"

• "i didn't fuck anything up," you reply from the vanity seat, trying to focus on your lip liner. "we'll be on time, you baby."

• "don't you talk back to me!" he slams his palm again the wood, making you jump and, yet again, smear your liner. your lower your head to the vanity, bumping your forehead against the surface with a sigh.

• he eventually unlocks the bedroom door using his master key and ushers you out of the door with the temper of a toddler. his hand grabs your upper arm as you're placed into his luxury car and he drives off with a huff.

• johnny refuses to speak to you the entire time you're at the party, mostly ignoring you to bump shoulders with directors and writers. he wouldn't ever publically admit it, but roles were running dry as his agent turned up with no jobs, so he brought it up to himself to make some damn money.

• will probably call you the "ball and chain" or "the missus" in a super objectifying way as he gestures at you, trying to make the older higher-ups laugh. you had enough of it.

• deciding no longer to be his personal punchline, you wander away from the bustling, hot celebrity room and find a balcony. you were always the one to prefer fresh, open air and city skylines while johnny would rather be the one in the midst of the aforementioned city. you took advantage of this independence and leaned over the glass, savoring in the way the wind cools your damp skin.

• you only get to enjoy a few minutes in the quiet bliss before you hear the door slide open. at first, you expect it to be another partygoer hoping to squeeze in a quick smoke break, but you're horribly disappointed to be ripped from your tranquility by none other that your boyfriend.

• johnny stands at the door, fists clenched and jacket swirling in the wind. his eyes look dark, his brows furrowed.

• "where'd you go?" he asks, crossing his arms.

• you look at him like he's stupid (because he is). "the balcony?" you reply. johnny shakes his head.

• "that's not what i meant."

• "well, i left your side because i was tired of being shit on for an hour straight."

• "nobody's shitting on anyone!" johnny throws his arms in the air at your admittance, like he had no idea how cruel he was being. "they're just jokes! you're being dramatic. i thought you loved attention."

• "johnny-" you pinch your nose. "i have literally never said that."

• "but you show it! through your actions!"

• "oh my god, you're delusional," you turn away from him with a groan, trying to ignore the whiny bastard behind you. that proves a hard task when you hear his boots step up behind you, his arms wrapped around your waist and head buried in your neck.

• "you know i want you here," he mumbles into your skin, rocking you gently. you turn your face away from him, not falling for his charm.

• "you don't show it," you mutter in response, trying to take a step away from him but his grasp only strengthens.

• "i could," he hums, pressing his front to your backside. "or i could punish you for making us late."

• you swivel your head, craning your neck to glare at him. "seriously? now?" he breathes into your neck, agreeing breathlessly. "no, johnny. not here. people will see."

• "isn't that the fun part?" he grunts, grinding his hips into your ass. "don't be boring. you've been boring all night."

• his hands hike up your skirt hungrily, exposing your nearly-naked ass to the cold air. you shiver and yelp out, which only makes you jump back against him even harder. he shudders at the contact.

• "come on," he whispers, hands snaking up to squeeze your chest. "don't make me be mean. you know i don't like being mean to you." his fingers find your hardened nipples, massaging them with pinched fingers.

• attempting to crane your neck to ensure the balcony's doors are locked, johnny notices your diverted attention and holds your jaw, angling it out toward the city.

• "you see that?" he breathes, now fully grinding against you. "that's my city, baby. i'm the king of hollywood, isn't that right?"

• "i guess," you reply, gasping at his erection sliding against you.

• SMACK! johnny didn't like that answer. you lurch forward from the hard slap to your ass.

• "say it," he growls, biting your neck. "or i'm gonna make you."

• "you're the king of hollywood," your voice is comically flat, exhausted from always having to gas him up for the dumbest things. johnny picks up on your unenthusiastic tone and spins you around by your hips, sitting you on the balcony ledge. his lips latch onto your throat, sucking and biting hungrily.

• his fingers danced on your panties, sliding them aside. as much as you wanted to be annoyed with him, he is so unimaginably fine. and you're the type of person that likes to be manhandled. both traits he ate up.

• before you could say anything more, johnny's fingers dove into your mouth, collecting a good amount of your saliva before using it on your pussy, shoving two fingers inside making you cry out in surprise.

• "not here, right?" he breathes, savoring the way your breathing gets heavier and your skin warms from his touch. "then we'd better be quick. and quiet." his fingers scissor inside of you, making you moan with a hand shut over your lips.

• johnny was impatient, not finding any joy in fingering you, so he glanced behind him to ensure the coast was clear before whipping his dick out, holding his shirt up by his teeth. he lined himself up, eyes focused on your bodies merging rather than your expressions.

• didn't matter how many times you get it on, you will never be fully ready for how long his dick is. while not the thickest, it just feels seemingly endless as it's embracing your walls.

• he spins you around again, throwing your front over the balcony ledge and holding you by your hips. surely, if he were to let go, you'd fall. and it wasn't a short drop.

• "fuck," he hissed as his tip met your entrance. "i control you, isn't that right?"

• a distant "mhm" slips from your lips as johnny shoves himself inside again with a slapping thrust. his gasp slides into whimper territory as he bottoms out.

• "fuck yeah i do," he growls, now going at an unholy pace. he hated the progression of sex - it was either all or nothing. "could drop you right now."

• you're pulled from your lust when you look down, noticing the rocky way down to a small river. damn these celebrities and their hillside mansions. you swallow thickly, hoping he was joking.

• "please don't," you beg in a whisper, interrupted by gasps with each thrust. "please don't let go."

• johnny could only laugh loudly at your plea, bruising your hips with his grip as he ruthlessly pounded. he was sticking true to his word about being quick, because his breakneck pace was making your cunt flutter.

• "nobody would even notice," he moans, his shirt dropping from his teeth and falling back down his front. "i'm the star."

• "you're the star," you parrot in a sick mix of lust and fear. "you're my everything."

• "i could fucking throw you off for making us late. could drop you — haah — you like it when i play god, don't you? you wanna fall for me, baby?"

• his brows knit and eyes screw shut as he finds his release inside of you. you try hard to not laugh at the fact that his own dirty talking is making him close. his grip loosens as he concentrates, and you fearfully try to hold yourself against the balcony so you don't topple forward.

• "joh— john—" you worriedly look down again, your stomach flipping as it nears an orgasm - and potential death. "johnny, please—"

• "hmm?" johnny tilts his head, a cocky smirk on his lips and exposing his beautiful pearly white teeth.

• your brain feels torn in half. you want to beg him to hold on, but you also want to cum so badly. unable to decide on an outcome, your voice sputters out pathetic begs, not entirely coherent as your mind grows foggy with an overwhelming amount of emotion.

• thankfully, your body decides for you. your knees buckle inward and his hold on you tightens. you cry out, cumming around his dick as your voice echoes through the hills. you swear a flock of birds takes off from how loudly you orgasm.

• "haah — don't fucking fall—" johnny's hands pull you impossibly closer. "not when i'm clo— ngh —"

• you find no peace after finishing, just johnny's hips slamming into your ass as his pants grow uneven. it's not long before he spills inside of you, holding you there as you're filled up.

• johnny's the first one to pull away, pulling out and making you whimper from the emptiness. you turn around to face him, your ass still bare, red, and spilling with semen. his phone's in his hand when he snaps a couple photos of this puppy eyed look.

• "you look so pathetic," he laughs, the flash of his camera making you shield your eyes. "i bet hollywood heard those moans. all thanks to me."

• you pull up your own panties and johnny visibly twitches seeing a droplet of his cum seep through. shockingly, he places a quick, chaste kiss to your lips.

• "and you're welcome for not dropping you," he winks with a toothy grin, thinking it was some kind of joke. a deep, dark part of you knew he probably genuinely considered dropping you. you were just lucky you were only ten minutes late, who knows what he'd do if you were an hour late.

• as you're pondering your life and near-death experience, johnny returns to the party, waiting for you at the door. it would be best if you stuck by him for the rest of the party.

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #mk1 #johnny cage #johnny cage x reader #johnny cage smut #mortal kombat smut #marley writes ☆

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hallows-evening · 2 months

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I LIVE! :D

HAII SKATERBEETLE FIC PART TWO!!!!! (first part here!) ^^ I'm so sorry for my multiple hiatuses (hiatusi??) but... I return finally with a fic :3 (and hopefully soon finish the art requests I've been getting, don't think ive been ignoring you guys!! I see em and they're gonna get done next hehe >:3 feeling... ✨ motivated ✨)

Bit of a long one, but mostly because I had fun with it (I love their dynamic..) ^w^ enjoy!!

Pest is being anxious and avoidant today, so Infected decides to help cheer him up (and to finally get his revenge)!

⚠️ This is a tickle fic, if that makes you uncomfortable then move on!! <3⚠️

NSFW / PROSHIP / FETISH DNI

🍂 Ler!Infected, Lee!Pest

"Hello :D!" Infected quickly ran into the elevator, almost frantically as he avoids the infected parts and right after he enters, the elevator doors close. He was almost too late! He let out a quick breath of relief, wiping his nose clean. His allergies were acting up today, and it was getting annoying.

He looked around the elevator, his eyes instantly finding themself on his boyfriend across the elevator: Pest. His eyes lit up and he waved his hands, but was greeted with silence. It was like Pest didn't even awknowledge he was there.

Infected cleared his throat loudly, letting out a wet cough because of it and quickly rubbing his throat as if it hurt. He took in Pest's posture and noticed how they were leaning very heavily against the elevator sidebars, and Infected had a bit of worry creep onto him.

He slowly approached and tapped Pest's shoulder, and Pest instantly snapped his head up in surprise, whipping around to look at Infected, who was smiling up at them.

"Are u doin' okay, Pesty?" Infected tilted his head up at him, taking note of how tired and disheveled Pest's appearance looked. It seemed to him like he hadn't slept in days. Which was probably an exaggeration on his part, but still.

Pest responded with a soft grumble, turning away and leaning against the elevator wall again. Infected frowned, the worry, along with frustration, growing the more Pest seemed to avoid him. He hated when they got like this, since it usually meant something was wrong.

Infected huffed. "Well, be a lil grumpbug then." He crossed his arms and pouted, moving back across the elevator and leaning up against the wall, keeping his eyes on Pest.

They stayed quiet the entire ride, and after around 20 minutes the elevator dinged once again, but this time Pest quickly got off, leaving with such haste that Infected barely even registered they left.

He ran after Pest, letting out a surprised "H3Y!". Pest stopped and turned around, growling at Infected, making him stop in his tracks.

"Leave me alone, will you? I have things I need to do." they chittered, his red eyes glaring at Infected. He took note of the small wince he made, and felt a tiny bit of guilt, but it was instantly brushed off.

Infected backed away, intertwining his fingers together nervously. "O-okay. Meet bacc up at ur place l8r, then?" He sneezed weakly, a bit of glitchy snot coming out of his nose, which he quickly went to wipe up before it got too messy.

Pest watched him wipe the snot away, his eyes narrowing. They turned away and waved their hand dismissively, letting out a quiet "I do not care." before walking off.

Infected stood there for a minute, before turning back. The elevator was gone. He was quiet for a second before stomping his foot and yelling "G0D ######!"

A few hours later...

Pest entered through his home's door, hissing as his horns got snagged on the door frame because of his haste. Infected heard the noise and peeked up over the back of Pest's couch, letting out a quick sneeze as the dust kicked back up from the door.

"Look who is fiiiiinally bacc!" Infected let out a quiet giggle as he watched Pest walk towards him, not caring about the pissed off look he was receiving. He heard a small grumble escape Pest, before their eyes softened, their face now looking exhausted, all traces of anger gone.

Infected's smile disappeared at that sudden change and he got up, arms extended as if he were about to hug Pest, but not going any further in fear he would upset them more. "How's meh buggy doin'?"

A growl in response. Pest went past Infected and went to his bedroom, leaving Infected with his arms wide. Infected huffed and lowered them, thoughts running through his head about what to do to make Pest feel better.

Baking? They looked too tired for that, might set the kitchen on fire. Snuggling? Infected would like that, Pest might not if they're this upset. Then a memory popped up in his head, which gave him an idea. He'd probably get a few bites and claws for this little plan, but honestly, he'd been meaning to get his revenge anyways, regardless of the price.

Infected quietly followed in Pest's footsteps to the bedroom, peeking in. Pest was laying on the bed, eyes staring up at the ceiling. He had nothing but shorts and a t-shirt on, his hoodie and pants thrown in random spots as if he didn't care where they would end up after taking them off.

Infected knocked on the door, Pest didn't respond, so he used that opportunity to walk in, closing the door behind him. He scooted over to the bed and got on it next to Pest, looking down at him. "...Bad day?"

Pest looked up at him, letting out a small grunt in response. Infected smiled and got closer, wrapping Pest into a tight embrace. Pest sighed and leaned into Infected. Which that simple gesture told him it was safe to do his plan.

Infected quietly trailed his fingers across Pest's arms, almost basically massaging them as he used his nails to get into the small grooves. Pest sighed softly, relaxing against him, stretching their arms out so Infected could get to them easier.

Then he struck. Infected's fingers the moment Pest stretched his arms out went to scribble in the small space right between both sets of his arms, knowing that was a weak point. And it instantly got Pest going.

They squirmed frantically, grabbing at Infected's hands as they scrunched their face up, mandibles clicking together rapidly. They were struggling not to laugh, which made Infected want to try more.

"I'm gonna getchu!" Infected teased playfully, moving down to scratch his fingers across Pest's belly, even moving his shirt out of the way to get to his skin easier. Pest let out a high-pitched snort and kicked his legs in response, bringing them up in a vain attempt to protect himself.

Infected instantly took notice of this and adjusted himself to sit on Pest's legs. "Oooh no u don't!" He smirked at Pest's semi-shocked face as he went back to Pest's sides, earning a few small giggles as they slipped out of Pest against his will.

Pest was squirming around frantically underneath Infected, the bedsheets scrunching up in his struggles. "Infected!" He hissed out, more giggles escaping his mouth as he glared up at him, a goofy smile stuck on his face.

Infected tilted his head, cooing and moving his hands away from Pest's sides to cup his face, smiling at him as Pest's cheeks turned a deep crimson. "I'm just gettin' a little revenge!" He grinned. "U hav been a pain in da [Content Deleted] aaall day, I'm just helping out a bit!"

He giggled as Pest let out a growl at that, and he pushed Pest up into a sitting position. Infected started placing quick little kisses across Pest's neck, letting out a couple laughs along with Pest as they jerked away, laughing like crazy. "DOHOHON'T!!"

Infected shook his head, chuckling as he used his weight to pin Pest down as he brought his hands up to gently claw at the sides of their neck, being rewarded with a loud snort, a yell, and quite a lot of hysteric laughter.

Pest shook his head, pushing his shoulders up like it would do anything to deter Infected (which it didn't.) Instead, Infected blew a raspberry against their neck, flinching slightly when a shriek erupted from Pest and they pushed forward, nearly knocking Infected off.

Pest's entire body felt like it was being shocked with every touch Infected gave his neck, and he could feel his energy leaving rapidly as he let out all his laughter. He didn't want to admit it, but he was having fun, even enjoying it as he could feel Infected's affection through his tickling. It was definitely taking away all his stress, that's for sure.

After a few more minutes, Pest's laughter started getting wheezier and weaker, to which Infected instantly noticed and stopped his tickling, placing one last little kiss against Pest's neck before pulling away and flopping down on the bed next to him.

"Feel any better?" Infected moved himself underneath one of Pest's arms and snuggled up to them, moving their (now messy) hair out of the way. Pest breathed heavily, not responding in any way for a solid minute before gulping and nodding their head, snuggling Infected back.

Infected smiled at that and lifted his head up, placing a gentle kiss on Pest's cheek, closing his eyes as he laid his head against Pest's shoulder. Pest exhaled softly and closed his eyes as well, exhaustion finally overtaking him, feeling warm and safe as Infected held him in an embrace.

After a good while, Infected heard soft snores coming from Pest, and he smiled, letting himself try to get some rest with him, in which he finally did.

#HOLDS THEM IN HANDS #sfw #sfw tickling #tickling #tickle content #sfw tickle fic #tickle fic

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bonnvivre · 5 months

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A Funny Thing- Ch 22 word dump

shortening the title cus it’s a pain to write over and over, full title in the tags, link to chapter below cut (as if ppl other than the author themselves will look at this but hey)

very much a word dump i have no idea what’s going on below this cut it’s 4am im tired

————————————————

i read every single chapter out loud to myself- i like to pretend i’m an english teacher reading the assigned story of the quarter to their students and then i give an oscar worthy performance with the dialogue

ALSO GOSUKU TAG HAS BEEN ADDED FOLKS WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

yeah dr sato as you should lmao honestly i’d dedicate my entire work hours to these two mfs

“After all, she has a feeling their story is still far from over. Who knows what else may be lurking beneath the surface.” girl this is 16 yrs of LORE of course it’s not over 😭 they got BAGGAGE

4 yrs old, born 2007, we’re at 2011 now, gojo is around 22 yrs old (note for me)

OH RIGHT YUUJI WAS MANIFESTED THRU MAGIC LMAO OFC HE DOESNT HAVE DOCUMENTS

“Yuuji doesn’t have a last name.” A

oh my gkd giggling sukuna having beef w the cheater, got into indoor cycling just to best her love that for him

also love chismosa ‘kuna, telling gojo abt the tea, kettle and all, even giving him a real time show

“In a feat of superhuman strength-“ LMAO

god im cryimg are those full coherent sentences ??? OJ GODKM GONSN FCRUY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YUUJIIIIIIIIIII a hundred billions hours oh ur so silly

teehee their son, our son, such subtle changes in the writing but it says so much 🥹

AWHSGAFAHAGDIS I KNEW HE WAS GONNA GET THE ITADORI SURNAME IM SO HAPPY FOR WASUKE HE DESERVES HIS SURNAME TAKEN BY HIS GRANDSON OH THE JOY

god im sorry i just bursted out laughing while i was reading i couldnt help but think of the memes WHAHSDJ dad i frew up

damn he didn’t return the handshake that’s actually so crazy

YUUJI THROWS UP ON HIS DESK OH SHITTF AAAAAAAA DESERVED SCREW YOU PRINCIPAL IVE BEEN GIVING A SINISTER BRITISH ACCENT TO

i initially thought it was mainly about sukuna’s “tattoos” that the first two schools were wary about, but i forget that, to others, they’re a queer family and definitely back then, it still wasn’t socially accepted. not sure why it didn’t cross my mind, especially with a conservative country like japan, but i’m glad there’s some light to it as a part of the challenges they go through while navigating their relationship and their lives.

HELLO WE’RE NOT JUSY GONNA BRUSH OVER THE FACT THAT THERE WAS A SECOND TIME THEY KISSED WITHIN THOSE 4 YEARS WTF DID I FORGET THIS ???? (after chapter note: OK COOL I WASNT FORGETTING THINGS LMAO oh please i gotta see what this infamous incident may be pleaseeeeeeee)

oooooooh the romance is really slow cooking goodness my favorite om nom nomnomnom

ohhhhhh my heart….what are you doing to me, weiserr……wholesome cute family moment…….my cause of death indeed

AWWWW AN ADMINISTRATIVE BODY THAT ACTUALLY CARES FOR THEIR STUDENTS’S WELL BEINGS LETS GOOOOOOO

after chapter thoughts:

MY MOM HAS A PELOTON BIKE TOO AHAHAHAHA LOVE MORE OF ‘KUNA IN HIS MOM ERA

imagine if they came across toji dropping off megumi at school or smth (yknow if mamaguro is still alive and their lives are good), i cant even imagine the animosity gojo and sukuna would have towards him

“heyyyy guys sorry i tried to kill you and your son back then crazy times huh”

his new friend is junpei bet (watch me be wrong)

#a funny thing happened on the way to therapy #lai’s word dump n thoughts #i swear i sometimes have more thorough discussions than this #its late leave mealone #for weiserr #going to sleep gn #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #gosuku #sukugo

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sicjimin · 1 year

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can you do one where jin gets sick during a concert that he needs to be put on iv drips before the show (some emeto pls)? and throughout the concert jin is suuuuuper clingy to jungkook, hugging him from behind bcs it melts my heart everytime i remember how the members say jin is rlly clingy when he's tired. kookjin was so cute during the busan concert, they got me teary-eyed. pls do this if you can ryu ur my fav writer on tumblr 🥺

— Busan Chaos (Seokjin ver.) —

a.n : this is not a part 2 of my previous fic .. i just ran out of title 🤣 and since i use the same concert in mind, so hence the related title. anon, thank you for requesting !! im so sorry for the long wait, i hope you're still around TT and i hope this is fluff enough .. for you? or at least what you had in mind .. aha i hope you like it , happy reading !

"Aahh ..", Seokjin moans in pain. His voices echoes through the small bathroom as it got amplifies by the toilet bowl he's currently dived his head into.

"Sshh .. it will be over soon, hyung", Jungkook murmurs beside him, his hand been steadily rubbing the older back up and down since 5 minutes ago.

Seokjin whines again, moving his hand from his head to his stomach, rubbing it aggresively to get the shit done. "I just want to pu—mmmm", he squeezed his eyes shut as his body shuddered with a harsh wave of nausea. He then scooted forward to lean further over the toilet. "Kook .. i feel sick", he breathes out, letting his lips part slightly and trembled with a shallow gag.

"I know hyungie .. it's okay", Jungkook sits up straight, brushing the older hair back and massaging his tense nape—feeling it tenses with preparation. "You will feel better soon"

Seokjin huffs, gripping the toilet tightly as he retched with increasing intensity, and after less than a minute a lumpy flow of brownish vomit coursed out of his mouth and splashed noisily into the water. "Fuck ..", he chokes out, visibly shuddering, as his fingers curls even tighter than before.

"Ah .. that's great hyung", Jungkook says softly, "Let it out"

Seokjin sucks a deep breathe—his response was a gurgling heave, and another flood of mush poured out of his mouth. There gone ramyeon he ate this morning. He coughs when the spice caught up on his throat and nose. He sniffles, letting tears flowed down his cheeks as he closed his eyes—a burp rumbles through his body as a mouthful of vomit coming up. His stomach is working up—churning its content up wave after wave until it's filling half of the bowl.

"Hyung .. breathe .. you're throwing up a lot", Jungkook mumbles beside him, flushing the toilet when the gag has stopped. The older still has his head ducked down. "Are you done?"

Seokjin swallows hard, shaking his head weakly, resting his forearms on the toilet seat and angling his mouth into the bowl. "Still feel horrible", he belched and drooled.

He's sure that the makeup artists gonna scold him once he's done. His makeup is all smudged right now with snot and tears. "What time is it?", he croakes out. They have to get ready in two hours.

"We still have time, don't worry hyung", Jungkook reassures him gently, wiping the corners of Seokjin's mouth. "The others will come find us when they finished getting ready".

Seokjin hums. He feels awful. His head is pounding, his heart pounds and his stomach clenches violently as more saliva escapes from his lips. It's like his body is trying its best to expel everything inside of him at once. He ends up giving out 2 more rounds of his stomach content again—before his body deeming that it's enough.

Jungkook trails beside him. His hand never leaves Seokjin waist as he helps the older walk back to their room. At time like this, he's grateful for the younger—he's strong, and he can be intimidating if he wants ; as he glares at the makeup artists when they almost fussed over him. "Let Seokjin hyung rest first, we still have time"

Seokjin barely have energy to say anything—immediately curled on the couch and hides under the blanket. He feels cold. Everything is cold.

Jungkook leans over him, holding up the cup of water with one hand while rubbing his back in slow circular motions. His other hand brushes through Seokjin’s sweaty hair, keeping it out of his eyes. “Drink first hyung, you need to be hydrated", he tells Seokjin firmly, and gives him some water in a straw.

Seokjin grunts, and sips slowly at the water. He groaned once, but didn't really make much noise. The water tasted bitter, but it helped him calm down a bit. He felt a little better.

"Do you need anything?"

Seokjin shakes his head, "No .. let me rest for five minutes", he whispers hoarsely.

Jungkook nodded understandingly and continued to rub Seokjin’s back, “Okay hyung, take your time, I'll wake you up later”

***

Seokjin woke up feeling more exhausted than ever. His fever been progressively worse, and also his headache and his nausea. It feels like his organ pulling him in every other directions. He groans, stirring awake—not sure who he needs to call for help.

"Hyung .. you're awake?"

Someone hovered over him, and that must be Yoongi—his grumpy yet soft voices give it away.

"Yoongi ..", Seokjin tried to sit up, but his limbs are weak. He fell back on the couch after struggling for a moment. His whole face paled, as he tried not to throw up again.

"Don't move too much", Yoongi's voice is laced with concern, taking Seokjin's arm to steady him so he doesn't slam his head against the couch.

"What time is it?", he asks, hands nursing his temples as the world is spinning around him. He doesn't dare to open his eyes, or he will throw up.

"4.30", Yoongi answers quietly. Fuck, they have to get ready in an hour. "What are you feeling?"

"Awful", Seokjin breathes out. He doesn't have time. "Can you asks for IV, Yoon?"

Yoongi's breathe hitched. It looks like he gonna say something, but decides against it. "Okay", he opted instead. "Wait here hyung"

Seokjin nods, inhaling a cautious breathe as he tries to calm down his erratic heart. It didn't take long, before there's staff and a worried Jungkook and Yoongi fussing around him.

"Not feeling better hyung?", Jungkook asked concerned. It's make sense—He is rarely sick. Especially ; this bad. So seeing him like this must be scaring the youngest.

Seokjin smiled weakly, "After this, Kook. Hyung will be fine"

"You can always sit down the concert hyung. We will be fine", Yoongi mumbles. And Seokjin bites his lips as needles prick into his skin—a second later, liquid flowing through it. He takes a deep breathe.

Please work.

"No .. i don't want to", Seokjin mutters. He grimaces at the stinging sensation. It's starting to get uncomfortable. "I think i'm going to puke again", he mumbled, turning his gaze to the younger.

Jungkook's eyes widen, and Yoongi already gone—coming back few seconds later with plastic bag in hands. They both sitting closer to the older ; Yoongi cupping the bag under Seokjin's mouth, and Jungkook holding him steady as he starts to retch—the contents of his stomach spilling onto the bag. Seokjin vomited for a while—until his stomach empty itself.

"Fuck .. this is awful", he groans once all of the water he took already moving to the bag. Yoongi disposed it quickly ; afraid that the sight might set him off again. But the elder did relax afterwards, and lays down.

Jungkook wipes the sweat off Seokjin forehead with the back of his palm

"How are you feeling now?", Jungkook asks softly.

"I'm a little dizzy, but better", Seokjin murmurs.

Namjoon barges in before Jungkook can fuss over him again. His eyes full of concern. He must have a lot in his mind—so before Namjoon can frets ; "Hyung will be fine, i will perform, Joon"

"Hyung .. no", the leader breathes out. "I don't want to risk it"

Seokjin sighs, "Joon-ah, i'm fine! i already took IV, see?", he sways his hand that still pricked with needle, "I will feel better soon! I already am!", he looks around, wanting a little approval from .. anyone.

Hoseok bites his lips. "Hyung .. you know how it is to perform while you're sick. It's horrible"

"I know .. but i can't disappoint ARMY", he whispers, fiddling with the blanket on his laps, "This gonna be my last stage. I want to say a proper goodbye to them"

And that seems like strikes a nerve—as everyone suddenly remembered the purpose of this concert ; another side why they push through this much.

"Let him", Yoongi says after few beats of silence. "Hyung will take it easy. If it's get bad we will pull him out. At least let him meet the fans properly, us too. They deserves to see as a seven, even just for few songs"

Seokjin smiles tiredly, "Thank you", he whispers and closes his eyes, "I'm sorry I made you guys worry"

"Don't be silly", Namjoon laughs and sits beside him, "it's our job"

***

The IV drips did wonder, and maybe also a push from his inside to meet ARMY—surprisingly he managed to last until encore. He did feel dizzy and feverish few times ; taking one more IV drips and 3 cans of oxygen as he collapse badly after the first set—but he did it.

They are now saying their ment, then it's encore, and the concert will be done. He scoots closer to Jungkook—feeling his body starts to droop low ; like it knows the concert gonna end soon.

"Hyung, you're heavy", Jungkook chuckles, "Are you okay, hyung?", he whispers, pushing away his mic when he feels a warm body clinging to his hoodie. "Tired", Seokjin mumbles, eyes still watching Hoseok giving his ments.

"Hang on a little, we're done after this"

He hums—still feeling exhausted though. He bites back a yawn, and blinked tiredly at the members in front of him. He tightens his grip on Jungkook's shoulders.

Few more minutes.

"ARMYYY", he cheers out. It's time for his ment—despite his currently foggy brain, he breathes out a relief sigh when he still managed to say what he wants to say. Jungkook squeezed his shoulder in encouragement, and he smiles. Letting his head lolled to the younger.

He's so tired.

It feels like hours, until they finally bow down and say goodbye to the fans. The concert is done. He did it.

"Hyung! You're doing a great job!", Jungkook and Jimin beams right beside him, sandwiching him as they walk backstage. Seokjin smiles, blinking furiously as he could feel his energy lowering. Adrenaline visibly leaving his blood.

He feels so weak.

Jimin still chatters beside him, and so is Jungkook. So is the members that walk behind and in front of him. But Seokjin didn't catch any of that—"Kook ..", he mumbles weakly, his arms hanging loosely from his shoulders. "Jungkookie".

"Yeah hyung?"

Seokjin frowns, "I think i'm going to faint"—and then it's black for him.

#bts sickfic #bts emeto #tw emeto #tw vomit #sick!seokjin #caretaker!yoongi #caretaker!jungkook

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fceriestcrdst · 2 years

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[reads ur tags]

I'm glad that it helped!!!! & No need to apologize reblog as many times as you like, I love seeing you in my notifs 🥺

*sleepily blows kisses to you bc ive been awake since 4pm yesterday*

putting a readmore bc i infodumped on accident

watch me rb it like---way too often truly. you're gonna see me like "ah, he lives---" i have the third gif as my discord header rn bc i love him. like that whole scene just!! & the museum scenes from the beginning of episode one!!!! also really love the heart eyes scene in episode 4

from the moment he steps into the museum to getting told he has a date, the sequence with donna about the ennead & the lil sequence of him exiting

the museum as well!!! (obviously minus the donna being a raging cunt bits!). also in episode 4 just the entire bit with layla before they properly enter the tomb bc the share heart eyes makes me weep for literal hours-

also the bathroom scene with marc in episode one & the gun scene in episode 3 (bc idk,,i try to find gifs of him pulling it away daily. why? because its very sexy of him!). ALSO ALSO the "i'm sorry what? i'm dead--we're dead?" scene because he looks fucking gorgeous in it & the "this is the building principle-" scene before the opened to door to realize he's on a boat!!!!

also this hands on his hips scene:

alsoalsoalso the entire boat scene with layla is stunning 7 layla is also stunning so hang on:

hearteyes layla my beloved but also episode 3 layla looking up at steven my beloved & scarlet scarab layla my beloved!!! also love the Mr. knight/moon knight looks without the masks on (idk why??? I've learned i really dislike being unable to see their faces!)

LETS ALSO NOT FORGET THE BIT IN EPISODE 1 OF STEVEN WITH CRAWLEY SAYING "BIT OF A RED FLAG, INNIT?" BECAUSE I SEE THAT SCENE & STRAIGHT STARE AT THE TV-

im dead tired but still somehow squeezed an entire infodump of my favorite scene from mk that you can use against me eventually. i probably have more but these are the ones i really really like---that live rent-free. i assume we can tell episode 1 is maybe my true favorite but really all of them are my favorite-

anyways, im gonna rb that gifset truly until i die & if i haven't mentioned bc brain is soup rn---i love the entire layla in steven's flat scene in episode 2 up until he is in the ca being taken to harrow. like the blues are so pretty & the way he looks when he opens his front door make some fucking sob hly fucking christ. i wish i could pinpoint why i have attached so heavily to steven (but honestly, outside of tumblr i am very active with each other them--equally--& wish i could tell you why)

if this has a fuckton of typos & makes no coherent sense---i have been up since 4pm yesterday. my brain is shutting down & i am entering my wonk hours <3

also i really like in & all scenes where he's wearing his glasses/reading/in general being very steven

okayokay, i am going to up the shut fuck. ilysm--i ma so sorry i fucking infodumped for no reason--apparently my brain wanted all this out before it exploded-

#nym ✨#crow's friendship garden 💖💐#kit's love letters 🥺💗#fuckin sending asks to half awake me is a wild time shjsdghjgdf #if you asked for my fave sw ones i'd definitely tell you #cause i have many--i think

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motherfricker · 5 months

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I actually didn’t want to block you because I enjoy your posts and like you as a person a lot. I considered us as pretty close mutuals. But apparently you can’t stop posting about me so, yeah, I think that’s a little sad. I hope that you learn how to have a discussion in the future. You’re clearly still a child but I think you have a lot of potential; I still like your writing and I think we can agree on a lot of things. I don’t have anything against you as a person. Never had, never will.

That discussion had nothing to do with you and that you’re taking it this personal is really sad to me. Again, I’m sad that it ended this way, I appreciated your blog and the Nero photos you sent to me but making posts over and over again after a discussion and getting nasty during it, is really not how you should handle these things. I wish you the best, truly. (I commented this before but my comments disappear when I block you so yeah, maybe you have the chance to read this when you have time)

dude i think you literally just cannot have a proper discussion without somehow managing to tire people out 😭 it was actually crazy how you wouldn't accept poverty being a character motivator, im literally not aristotle do you think im going to focus on a characters motivations that deeply when im watching a movie, im literally going to focus on the cinematography and the score and atmosphere more because it's visually stimulating

it was actually genuinely so frustrating trying to get that through to you and trying to give you an answer that would make you stop asking pen and i the same question over and over again, oh my god 💀 ive literally seen you do the same thing with other people on ur blog that try to talk abt movies or books & the like, like you genuinely come across as someone who thinks their opinion is right, and im sorry that im saying it like this but then i really do need you to understand 😭 like no matter how much you read Aristotle or shakespeare or whatever it's not going to make you a good critic if you can't look at stuff and acknowledge the different thought processes that have gone into mediums & storytelling, looking at the skeleton of an art piece is the same as looking at nothing at all if youre not going to acknowledge the flesh of it.

like if you genuinely think that movie has bad writing I can't help you, bcs you haven't even watched it and if you're going to try and criticise it and say "oh, this is bad writing" just because one singular person on the internet gave you a motivation you didn't agree with then like,,,, Look Inwards. im not even mad that you don't like the film, im mad that a person like you who seems to look at all aspects of a movie, including its production period (see: you and amethyst discussing the Hobbit movies) suddenly hears word about it from people who are amateur writers (well i am one—pen has a whole degree) and decides yeah this movie's bad. it was such a shallow and absolute statement that you made after making me try to circle around not spoiling the whole movie for literal hours, and then YOU got mad that I was coming off as passive aggressive when i stopped caring abt how my tone may come across on pixels. i have been talking to you on and off for like more than a year, did you think that unpleasant tone came out of nowhere ???????

nobody in the whole world will care if you've read a few classics if you literally cannot apply them properly to all the media that surrounds you. you understood i was frustrated that dc didn't care about art without me spelling that out but you couldn't understand i was trying not to spoil a movie you haven't watched after making me go around in circles for so long, and then you get mad when i try to explain to you WHY i cant answer your question and then you get mad because my tone was off?? after id spent more than an entire hour trying to defend why i like a movie that i didn't even care if you hadn't watched in the first place because i just wanted to ramble about a movie to someone who i thought appreciated the arts like i do ??? art is literally not black and white but you always manage to come across as someone who views it as either very good or very bad, that is literally not how i view it and i tried to tell you that and instead of understanding where i came from you decided to become passive aggressive with me because my tone was slightly off when i tried to tell you that maybe you shouldn't have asked me that question when i wasn't even talking abt character motivations to begin with 😭

also i literally have a count of like 9 followers and all 9 of them are friends who barely even use Tumblr, I am complaining into the void 💀

tldr please like try to be more considerate the next time someones trying to talk to you abt their interests that you know nothing about it takes 2 seconds to search up the summary of the ballad of songbirds and snakes on wikipedia & i will delete those 2 posts yes that was immature of me & i apologise for not letting it go

#i know what a healthy discussion sounds like 💀 I'm friends with a humanities college student and we've seen each other grow up so....#please for the love of god stop making people repeat themselves and then get mad when they get mad you're talking to Actual Human People #not gods of patience and compassion and understanding. christ #goodbye i guess try not to burn a bridge with just one single answered ask in record time next time

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sup-hoes-its-me · 2 years

Text

Falling II (Kakashi x Reader)

A/N: part two of the hanahaki AU. Ive really been struggling getting back into writing, it took me nearly 6 months to get out this two parter and i'm genuinely sorry for that. Essentially in this kakashi finds out about ur hanahaki disease and you struggle with a tough decision to make.

Word count: 5500

____

Y/N and her team arrived home once again, but not without difficulties. Of course, she was one of the Hokage's most trusted shinobi and could complete any mission successfully, that didn't mean her team hadn't had their ass kicked a couple times along the way. Normally a mission as easy as this one would have been a breeze, if not for the sickness plaguing her.

She'd seen it all. Poisons of all kinds on every weapon imaginable, people from every nation with all types of chakra nature, bugs and wildlife you wouldn't imagine. The problem recently was this pain in her chest, it held her back from doing her job properly.

"Y/N, if you're getting too old to do this kind of thing, you can always advise Kakashi," Shikamaru would tell her offhandedly when she'd collapse after each battle, coughing and gasping for breath. He didn't understand what was wrong with her, didn't need to. Something was seriously fucked up and she needed help. He told her to see a medical nin, but she always refused.

She would never go to the hospital, not for Gai or Shikamaru, or anyone else that expressed their concerns. She was fine the way she was, and if it got worse then so be it. She would soldier on until the very moment she couldn't muster the strength anymore.

Perhaps that was out of fear, that or pride, the woman didn't know. It didn't matter anyway. Chances are she was going to die. All she wanted to do was cherish the time she had left, going on missions and seeing her friends.

Her team walked her through the gates before going their separate ways. She was the leader so she would report their findings to Kakashi for the day. They were probably hungry and tired after such a tedious journey, so she was happy to see them off to take care of themselves. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and took a deep breath, feeling the wood restrict her chest from inflating with air as she waved them goodbye with a strained smile.

With a shaky breath, she made her way up to the Hokage tower, passing by the guards and each doorway. She didn't need permission to enter, even at this late hour. Normally a shinobi might wait until morning to report on their mission when the Hokage was ready for guests, despite him staying up a lot of nights working anyway. Whenever he was there, she was welcome as well.

Not that the woman wanted to visit him like that anymore. He was far too busy to listen to her stories, or hear her complain about one thing or another. She stayed at home alone, imagining the days when he would sit down with her after missions and get barbeque, on her of course, that cheapskate. Maybe she could have made an effort to find time to be together outside of work, but she felt guilty. It was selfish to take him away from the village when she felt like being needy.

He had plenty of friends anyway. What made her so special? What made it okay for her to just waltz into the room and visit him, even if he was drowning in work? God, she just felt so pathetic as her eyes rose up the door and she did her best to compose herself. Straighten her back and pinch her cheeks in an attempt to bring some healthy color to her face

Deep breaths.

"Kakashi?" she rasped, knocking on the office door which was only slightly ajar. Her voice was hoarse after walking up all those stairs, a feeling similar to collapse creeping up to her. She was just so tired, with the pain bearing heavy on her entire form. Her hand went to grab at the wooden doorframe, supporting herself as she waited for a reply.

"Y/N?” he asked from within the depths of the Hokage’s office, littered high with boxes of paperwork and reports. “What’s wrong?”

Cough.

"I-I'm okay. I came to give you the reports from the last mission. We just got back," she told him, taking a step inside the room and softly shutting the door behind her. He was relaxed behind his desk, swallowed by paperwork but still just chilling in his big Hokage chair. The lights of Konoha's nightlife sparkled behind him through the round window, and she admired the way they lit up his concerned eyes.

He really was the most beautiful man, even after all this time. Especially with the light highlighting the sharpness of his jaw and the boldness of his eyes. She watched as he turned his head, undeniably soft hair bounced utop his head, something she found quite charming. Her heart raced at the thought, and she had to fight down the heat rushing up her neck. Her chest ached as the seconds flew by, but she didn’t think it was serious enough to warrant leaving. Not yet.

Wheeze.

The harder she tried to take in a full deep breath, the more she began to crumble.

"No, something is wrong," he shook his head and pressed on, "Something has been wrong for months now. You're sick."

She felt her cheeks begin to heat up under his interrogation. He was right, and she should have known he was going to mention it sooner or later. Surely he'd noticed a long time ago, but he kept his mouth shut out of respect for her. She replied back shortly, "I just have allergies. It's nothing serious."

He dismissed her quickly, waving his hand at the mere thought of it just being allergies. He had allergies, everyone has allergies. These weren't it, and if they were, Tsunade would have fixed her up with a prescription years ago. "Cut the act. I know you."

What was she to say? She felt at a loss for words. It wasn't like she could just explain her bouts of hanahaki. He wouldn't understand, and he would no doubt push her to make a decision once he knew the severity of the situation. If only she could pretend to be normal just until she was done with this meeting. If only he would give up and stop pestering her, maybe everything would be okay.

But that’s not how things work.

"Just leave it alone. We have mission reports to go over."

He was tempted to do just that and leave her alone about the entire thing, since she seemed to want to be difficult about it. But how could he when she was sicklier every day, and he could see the way she yearned for a full deep breath. It had been a few months now, and it was getting exponentially worse with each week that passed.

He was worried. So worried, he thought he might escort her to the hospital himself with all the power he possessed.

"Y/N, you can tell me anything, you know that? If you need to talk-"

Wheeze. She hated that he cared so much. It made everything so much harder.

"Kakashi, please," she coughed out, pressing a hand to her chest in an attempt to appease these pains she was feeling. Unsurprisingly, nothing helped. She let her bag drop from her shoulder to the ground as her arms and knees struggled to hold the weight. "Oh god, not now."

"What's happening?" The hokage questioned and he moved from his seat, rushing toward her in an attempt to break her fall. He narrowly missed as her knees hit the floor with a painful thud.

She hunched over as shockwaves of torment climbed through her chest, into her lungs, throat, and mouth. Blood rose to her tongue and she spat that out onto the floor, staining the carpet red. The bitter metallic taste only agitated her nausea, stomach turning so strongly her head began to spin.

This was bad. This was really truly bad. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. He had triggered an attack and now she was trapped in his presence.

The facade as she knew it was falling apart.

She coughed harshly toward the ground, saliva and blood dripping from her lips, staining the carpet. Tears welled up in her eyes and she sobbed through the pains. More coughing ensued and she tried to swallow back the contents, she really did. It worked at first, the rotten petals being swallowed into her stomach.

"We need to get you to Sakura right away," her friend demanded, the panic obvious in his voice. He stared down at her like she had two heads, scared to death of what was happening. He didn't know the extent of her suffering, what she must have been hiding from him. If this is what she was going through on a regular basis due to his negligence...he couldn’t forgive himself.

He went to pick her up from the ground, cradle her to his chest and run her to the infirmary for help, just as he had before when she was broken, only this time instead of embracing his kindness, Y/N used the last of her strength to shove him away. He sat back beside her and felt his hands itching to do something, to rescue her from this pain. "Don't be stupid, Y/N. We have to go."

"No. Sakura can't help. No one can help," the woman moaned between coughs. She longed to feel his touch, for him to carry her off to the hospital and hold her close to his chest like that. Like the moment she found herself beginning to fall in love with him. It would only cause the attack to grow worse though. Every move he made and second he spent caring for her would bring about these issues. "Just sit with me until it's over."

He wasn't convinced. How could he be? She was coughing up blood right in front of him. Was he supposed to take that lightly? Still, he found himself sinking to his knees beside his friend, waiting with a blunt absence of much patience if any at all..

The flowers started shortly after. Red and pink petals coming out in dense bunches, coated in blood and saliva from the tears along her throat. She watched as they fell to the floor within his gaze. He made no sound but she knew he was shocked from the way his entire body tensed at her side.

Thankfully, it was almost over, the finale just at the back of her throat.

A rose stem finally poked up and hit the roof of her mouth. With a tentative touch, the woman reached her fingers in, pinching the wooden stick and slowly pulling out the thorny branch complete with a bright red rose on the end. She gagged as it came up, fear of vomit coming with it. Miserably, Y/N held the branch out in front of her and cried harder as she felt the fit finally subside, allowing air into her lungs again.

"Y/N…"

She couldn't stop herself from crying now, snot dripping from her nose and tears from the chin. How embarrassing that he was to see her like this. It was all supposed to be a secret, and he was the one real person she was desperately trying to keep it from. So far she'd dodged him anytime she felt the attacks coming up. Hiding in storefronts and launching herself into bushes just to avoid this entire situation.

"How long has this been going on?! Why did you keep this from me?" He asked, anger rising up in his throat through a thick veil of confusion. Despite being a calm and collected person, he cared deeply for a childhood friend, as anyone would. He could feel his heart pumping in his chest, faster and faster the longer he thought about her predicament.

Y/N was dying. Not just sick, but dying. Gone forever in the blink of an eye. The tale was as old as time, a tragic romance full of angst and hurt and pain and loss. Jiraiya even wrote a novel about the disease, as much as it seemed like a work of creative genius, the harsh reality of it all slapped him in the face. This entire time, while he was in his office dozing off and signing papers mindlessly, he had been watching her slowly march toward her grave and hadn't even known.

He felt ashamed. He felt angry. Burning up inside at himself for being so ignorant. For letting himself get caught up so deeply in his own world that he couldn’t see something so heartbreaking happening right in front of him. He was so tired, they all were, but that was no excuse.

She couldn't look at him. Not now. Preferably, never again. Instead she turned away from him and shut her eyes, imagining what expressions might be running across his features. She pleaded softly, barely loud enough for him to hear amongst her harsh breaths and cries.

"Please don't."

"Don't what? Worry about you? Want to know what's happening? Why you have Hanahaki and haven't seen Tsunade yet?"

She shivered. He cared. So much. It felt wrong, so guilty and malicious, to keep such important secrets from him. "I can't, Kakashi. You wouldn't understand."

Maybe he couldn't understand, that was a good possibility, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try and empathize. They were best friends. At least, he would consider them so. It stung to know she hadn’t confided in him. Did she really mistrust him so strongly that she hid this from him? He scolded himself. Of course she wasn’t coming to him with all her problems, he was Hokage. They weren’t soldiers hiding out in each other’s rooms at night, gossiping about this and that. He was her boss, a busy, burdened man. She was a soldier, never home and living off food pills.

He pressed his hands firmly over his eyes and groaned. He wanted to be a hero, protecting her just as he did before his promotion. Now, he felt weak, pathetically stupid watching her crumbling as blood and spit dribbled down her chin.

"Why not? I understand that if you let this get any worse you'll die. Is that not enough?"

A surge of courage ran through her as she lifted her eyes to meet his. They were dim, burdened and exhausted. It had been a long time since she’d seen him look so defeated, and this time it was completely her doing. Y/N grimaced and looked back at the flowers on the carpet.

Her words hit him clear in the chest as she whispered, "I'm just afraid. I'm scared, Kashi. It hurts so much."

"Why don't you do something about it?"

"Because I can't confess to him, but at the same time, I can't lose him forever. I just can't," she sighed, "I need him."

"This man...Y/N, he can't be worth more than your entire life. Be rational."

She smiled bitterly and shook her head. "That's what you won't understand. To me, he is worth dying for. That has been true even before all this mess. Even before this sickly love that cursed me. I’d give up everything, even my life, just to love him until the end of my time here.” She sighed, swiping away a stray tear in her eye. “I never knew love could be like this. I loved my parents, my friends, boyfriends and crushes, but nothing can compare to how I feel now.”

Kakashi flicked his eyes up to the ceiling and held his breath. His chest was tight at her words, sickness rolling over him. He wanted to press his hands over his ears and ignore her, drown out the thought of her intense love for someone other than him. It was wrong to be jealous, to be so expectant that she was going to fall in love with him when he put in such little effort to sweep her off her feet. He had no right to be upset.

Yet he was. He wanted to cry. His best friend and the love of his life was going to die because she was in love. With someone else.

Fuck.

“Have you ever known a love like that, Kakashi?”

“I can’t say I have.”

Only, that was a lie.

He couldn't imagine a man that would be so high and mighty she might die for him, give up everything she ever had just to keep him in her heart until her last painful moments. He wanted to yell at her, scold her for being so stupid and reckless.

Yet, he knew love was hard to comprehend. It took him years to come to terms with his own feelings, and even now he felt himself stumbling down the wrong path. He understood what she was going through to an extent, and it only made him feel worse. Maybe that's why he was so desperate to know, to change her mind.

"Who is it?" Kakashi asked finally, after a moment of contemplation.

"You know it's not that simple."

"It really is though. You used to tell me everything."

"It’s just not the same anymore,” she confessed, and he felt his heart crack into more tiny pieces. Was what they had before gone? Did he ruin everything? “I hid this from you for a reason. I didn’t want to bother you with something so intense. You have so much work to do, and I can handle myself-"

“You can’t just handle something like this! You need help.” He groaned inwardly. It would be just his luck that the woman of his affections not only was desperately and hopelessly in love with another man, but she refused to communicate. Why wouldn't she just listen to him? The answer was right there. She even had two options to choose from. "Just tell the man and get it over with. If he rejects you, then you would be better off without him anyway."

"Ignorance is bliss. I'd rather die than feel the heartbreak knowing he never loved me and then live the rest of my life with a missing piece from my heart. I’d be half the person I am today without him."

Fucking stupid, he thought. Poetic bullshit. He clenched his fists at his sides in an attempt to release the tension that was building up in his muscles. His heart pounded in his chest as he felt the blood pressure rise in his veins. His gaze couldn't help but flicker toward the bunches of hydrangeas and the rose stem on his office floor, pools of blood sunken into the carpet. The thought of her enduring this pain for so long, all alone. He was fucking sick.

"Please, you have to do something. At least see Tsunade."

"I'll go see her, but I doubt much will come of it."

"Thank you," he mumbled, "A little peace of mind knowing the best medical nin in the world is monitoring you."

She nodded, her eyes trailing up to meet his face once again. He looked positively heartbroken, and for a moment, she was tempted to confess it all to him. To leap into the unknown and see what happened.

But she was never one to take risks.

Soft words fell from her lips, nothing else to say but a bitter apology.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi."

"I'm sorry, too."

______

Y/N kept up with her promise, visiting Tsunade in the hospital upon special request. Normally, the woman would refuse an appointment in her retirement, but this was upon recommendation from the Hokage so she found it quite difficult to refuse. He wasn’t the type to make a fuss of anything, after all. It would have been just as easy to see Sakura, but the Hokage and his Hanahaki kunoichi doubted the young girl would have any clue about the ancient disease.

As she sat in the waiting room, she anticipated the worst to come. Tsunade's judgement. A terrible diagnosis. Even worse treatment options. She wished that just maybe the old woman had a way to fix it all without taking away her memories. It was a baseless dream, but she could hope.

"L/N, come in," the medical nin voice called from down the hall and shakily she stood from the chair. Her knees felt weak and her head was spinning with thoughts. She tried to smile at the woman as she entered the room, but instead an ugly, awkward grimace came out.

"I'm not one to make assumptions, Y/N. I'm here to help you," she drawled, her eyes running slowly up and down the younger woman, examining, "But with the way Kakashi demanded I see you immediately, well, you can see why I might be coming to some wild conclusions."

"It's really not what you would think." Her breathy words were hoarse, and she cleared her throat in her hand to make it easier. "It's in my chest. It's um-" How could she explain this properly without sounding silly or dramatic. "Maybe you should just check it out for yourself."

"Take a seat."

Her hands hovered an inch or so above Y/N's chest, a green light emanating from her palms. It only took a moment, a long moment of silence and concentrating before her eyes widened. She leaned in closer, as if to check again, just in case she sensed something incorrectly.

"There's something in there. It's...it's alive."

Y/N coughed into her sleeve, not quite at the beginning of a fit of hacking but enough to hurt and sting her throat. When she lowered her arm, the unmistakable sight of blood stained the fabric. Something stuck to the back of her throat, and she felt herself beginning to gag. Carefully, she reached into her mouth and grasped the loose object lodged there. A rose bud, pink but slick with crimson blood.

She displayed the flower for her elder to see, and Tsunade sucked in a tight breath.

"I've never seen this before, not in all my life, Y/N. I've heard rumors of it happening in small villages but I didn't think-"

She rasped, "It was real? Yeah, me neither."

"How long?"

"About four months now."

"How could you wait this long? I've never heard of someone lasting more than six months without treatment!" She exclaimed, taking a step back. "It's probably done irreversible damage to your lungs."

She sighed, "I know."

Tsunade turned her back to the girl and walked to the cabinet, pulling a tube and syringe from the drawer. "I need to take your blood, and we will have to schedule extensive scans and tests for later. I-I just can't believe you of all kunoichi would disregard your health like this," she scolded, working to tie a tourniquet around the young woman's arm. "And to think we considered you as the sixth Hokage. Unbelievable."

Wow, that was a low blow, but she rightfully deserved it.

Y/N knew what she had done was wrong and stupid, but she hadn't changed her mind on what she wanted to do. She would let Tsunade do her testing, get some information and research done for healing others in the future, but she would refuse treatment. She hadn't given up on her stance.

She didn't even flinch as the needle pierced her vein and blood was pulled through. "I'm going to die soon, Tsunade."

"Don't be so dramatic. We have a cure-"

"Not an option."

She raised a brow, peering up at the woman for a second from her handywork. "Not an option?! Don't be fucking stupid."

"I don't want it," she repeated herself firmly, despite the weakness in her voice, "We all know the tales. The terrible things that happen to a person's emotions and memories during the treatment. I just can't go through with it."

"Well, you do know quite a few people are going to have a problem with that, don't you?" A couple people came to mind, including the obvious ones like Kakashi and Shizune and her team, even if they'd grown independent of her by now. Her chest burned at the thought, and another cough ran through her.

"Doesn't matter. I don't want a life without my memories. They are a part of me. He is a part of me."

Tsunade tucked the vial of blood in her coat pocket and exhaled. In the stories, it was common for people with Hanahaki to react this way, to pick this option. It was cruel, but that is what love does. She could understand the inherent need to stay close to her lover, after all, the medical nin had lost the greatest loves of her entire life over the years and suffered every bit afterwards.

Certainly, she could understand the fear Y/N held in her heart. But letting herself die over it? It was tough to just watch that happen, yet she couldn't make the decision for her.

"It's him, isn't it?"

"Depends on who you mean."

"Don't play me for an idiot. It's Kakashi Hatake. It's been obvious since I became Hokage, you fool. Why do you think I assigned you so many missions together?" Y/N only ducked her head, and the medical nin took that as confirmation of her suspicions. She rolled her eyes at the obvious nature of the entire thing. This really was foolish, just like this young woman. "You need to tell him."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

She confessed, "I'm scared. What if he doesn't reciprocate? Wouldn't I be a dummy then? Going through all of this suffering for nothing?"

“Is your life worth nothing to you?”

“It is, but I just can’t lose him, not when I have the choice,” Y/N told her elder with a deep sigh. “I’d like to die happy. I’d like to die with Kakashi at my side. Even if he only cares for me as a friend, I can still pretend with my last dying breaths that he loved me the same way I loved him.”

“And if he does love you?”

“He doesn’t.”

“You have no idea-”

“Kakashi will never love me in that way. There’s no point, and you can’t change my mind.”

“Fine, choose to live the rest of your life in agony because of your cowardice,” the blond put bluntly, turning her back to her patient. “But just know, whether Kakashi loves you romantically or not, he will miss you when you die. He will mourn your loss like no other. He will cry for nights on end and he will beg whatever fucking diety there is out there to bring you back to him.”

“Tsunade-”

“Trust me, you will never forget this kind of loss. It sticks with you, it haunts you, it makes you consider terrible, awful things just for a chance to see them again. Kakashi can’t lose someone else, Y/N,” she said, her head turned downward. “For fuck’s sake, girl, don’t be so selfish.”

With that, the woman left the room and shut the door harshly behind her. Y/N fell back on the patient’s table and shut her eyes, feeling tears brim the edges of her eyes. Was Tsunade right? Would Kakashi really react that way? She couldn’t possibly imagine him crying himself to sleep over someone as simple as her.

But after hearing such intense words, she wondered if maybe it was better to confess after all. Just to save her friend from a world of heartbreak. The decision would be hard to make, but she had time left. She still had so much time to make up her mind.

____

It was nearing the end, with the branches wrapping around her ribs and threatening to penetrate her organs. Y/N could tell that it was almost time to say goodbye, and each night as she lay in the hospital bed staring out the window, she cried. She didn't know if she was doing the right thing, letting herself die. Her friends begged her to do something about it, to save herself but she just couldn't. No matter how many long nights she spent contemplating everything, she couldn’t go through with the surgery.

The thought of that void in her heart forgetting Kakashi would make...it was too painful. Yes, she was terrified, and the pain meds they gave her could only do so much. She was in agony, and would be until her last moments. Kakashi sat at her side, book in hand but his eyes rarely went to scan the pages. Instead he watched her silently. Bravely. He couldn’t cry. He couldn’t let her know how terrible he was feeling inside and make the whole experience worse for her. It was different dying on the battlefield, so quick you don’t know what’s happening to you until it’s already done.

Unlike now.

The researchers would come into the room every now and then to take notes on her condition, and the doctors would run through to make sure she was comfortable with what pain medication they had. Everything still hurt though, just not as bad as it had been before. She had a living, growing bush of roses in her chest. No amount of morphine could dull that ache.

“Do you think Gai will stop by again tonight?” she asked, feeling her heart beginning to race just at the thought of that loud mouthed, energetic fool coming to see her. While he could not match the somber atmosphere completely, he did try. “And Shizune?”

“I’m not sure.”

She turned her head to the side and coughed aggressively, blood splattering on the clean bed linens. She cleared her throat, spitting up the twigs that got stuck in her teeth. “Please, tonight, I need you to gather everyone. My old teammates, Gai, Naruto, Shizune. Bring them to me one last time.”

One last time? No. He shook his head. That couldn’t be right. She had more time left.

He reached over to gently cradle her cheek in his palm. She shivered at the feeling of his calloused fingertips against her neck, and at the intimate touch she couldn't help but start having a fit. Her lungs seemed to be giving up on her as she coughed up flower after flower, littering her lap with sticky wet flora.

He still held her through it all. After all, he'd come every day and seen her at her worst. He might not be her lover, but she trusted him enough to hold her as she died so agonizingly slow. He had duties as Hokage, yes, but he would spend his days rushing work just to spend all night with her. The bags under his eyes darkened with each near sleepless night.

He cursed the man who caused this disturbing illness. He hadn't even had the decency to visit her this entire time. After a month in the hospital, Kakashi asked for her visitor logs to see if there was some clue as to who was doing this to her. Only a few men around her age had visited: Gai, Genma, and Kakashi himself. It was hard to believe she'd developed romantic feelings for either of the other two men. She just never seemed close enough to them.

Maybe he was just dimwitted and hadn't noticed her attachment to someone else. Maybe it was Genma, who knows. She wasn't confessing to anyone. At this point, if he could get her to confess her undying love to even Orochimaru and see her live another day, he’d be content.

When she was done coughing, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and groaned, leaning her head further into his touch. It provided comfort, enough to ease the pain even a fraction. Her chest struggled to expand now, being full of thick restricting branches.

"Kakashi, I don't think I can do this much longer," she wheezed.

"I know."

Maybe it was because her death wasn't sudden, that he had time to prepare for it, but he didn't feel tears in his eyes nor did he have a knot in his throat. He simply felt hopeless. He would lose another person he loved, viciously continuing an endless cycle of loss.

God, he loved her. For as long as he could remember, he had his eyes on her. Perhaps not always in the romantic sense, but he wanted her companionship. It wasn't until he started having daily nightmares about her brutal death, whether it be by enemy or his own hand that he knew he was in too deep. He cared too much, and his desire to protect her interfered in his life. To make sure not a single bad thing ever happened to her again, it burdened him in his work and personal life. Ever since the abduction all those years ago, he realized he loved her, that he needed her to live until they grew old and bickered with each other in the retirement home. He had so many wants, so many fever dreams of a happy ending that would never come true.

It broke his heart.

"Are you sure you don't want the treatment? It's not too late," he pleaded, even though he knew the answer.

"I've accepted what's about to happen. You have too, haven't you?" she tried to smile, “You were always the most mature out of all of us, you know.”

Not really. He would consider it anyone but him. Kurenai was a mother with a wise soul. Y/N was a strong warrior who didn’t like to play games. Gai was a gymnast who never stopped grinding once in his entire life. Kakashi compared to them was just a silly man stuck in the past, reading his romance novels and posing as a leader.

"Please, change your mind," he tried once again, but she just ignored him, looking off into the room mindlessly. He felt his shoulders tense, and he tried to quell the anger that was bubbling in his stomach. He found himself spilling his thoughts faster than he could filter them out. “Look at me for once. Y/N. Just look me in the eyes and tell me you want to die. That is what you really want?”

She bit back a few tears as she turned her head and met his eyes. Her lips opened to say something, but she quickly shut them and turned her eyes away. She wasn’t suicidal. She wanted so badly to live, more than anything else in the world she wanted to live her full life with her family.

He nodded, confirming what he already thought.

He groaned, "Fuck, I'm tired of pretending this is okay. That you dying for some loser is something I'm okay with."

"Kakashi-"

"No, you need to think about me for once. Me, alright? Have you ever considered my feelings for one second?" She pulled her head away from his hand and turned away, shame masking her eyes. Honestly, she hadn't even thought about him as a friend. All this time, she only considered him a possible lover. Even after her conversation with Tsunade, she still only considered her own feelings. “I’ve spent years putting you on this pedestal. I’ve protected you the best I could from rogue ninja, terrorists, fuck, even resurrected Uchiha freaks. It feels like my entire life has revolved around you, and now you do this to me? You take away a piece of my heart so easily?”

She sniffled, lifting her hand to rub her eyes of any stray tears. “I don’t know what to say.”

"Exactly. You are selfish," he said. He shut his eyes for a moment to take a breath. "Will you consider what I have to say?"

"I'll try."

"I have been thinking a lot lately about this entire thing and it's all been so simple this entire time,” he muttered, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling for a moment as he worded his next statement. “We can be a family, Y/N. You and I. I know it might seem strange, the thought of coming home to my dumbass and a bunch of talking dogs, but I promise you, I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy." The man reached out and took her hand in his. Her mouth felt dry as she processed his words, confusion and denial running thick in her mind. "If you get this treatment and you survive...maybe you can try loving me, because I can't give up on you."

"Kakashi, that's not how this works."

"Why not? Why can't we have a happy ending?"

“I-I don’t know.”

“Just be happy with me,” he pressed, squeezing her hand tightly in his. “I’d do anything for you, I’m just asking you to do one thing. Why can’t you just forget about that other bastard?”

She felt herself brimming over with emotion. A knife could cut through the tension in the hospital room and she felt the tears gather in the corners of her eyes. She squeezed them shut as the truth finally broke free. "Because you're the reason this is happening to me. You caused this, and if you don't love me right here and right now as we are, I can never get better."

"You’re telling me-" he paused, a deep and tired groan leaving his lips. "Love you?! Of course I love you! What do you think all this was about? Why do you think I've been here every night mourning for you?” He questioned, standing from his seat and taking a step back. He ran a heavy hand through his hair as his eyes wandered the room. A strange mix of relief and frustration ran cold through his body as he thought about the mess they were in. “This whole time, I thought you knew. I thought you were in love with some other man and letting me down easy," he told her.

The next breath she took was suddenly a lot easier.

"Oh."

She leaned back in the bed, letting her empty head hit the pillows. All this pain, all this worrying, for nothing. She felt like the biggest idiot in the world. A huge coward for keeping this to herself when it could have been resolved months ago, when the first petal rose up in her throat. Yet, how was she supposed to know? He was a nice guy, she just assumed he acted similarly with everyone.

“I just wish you would have said something to me. Any hint at how you felt. All this suffering was for nothing,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Despite being elated that the woman of his dreams was in fact in love with him all this time, he was exasperated and tired. The emotional turmoil everyone was going through because of this foolish relationship was embarrassing now that everything was seemingly resolved.

“I’m sorry, Kakashi. I don’t know what to say. I was just too afraid of rejection. I was so scared because I knew I was dying, but the thought of losing you, Kakashi, I couldn’t stand it. I would rather die than lose those feelings,” Y/N explained. Her hands quivered in her lap as she confessed such deeply emotional thoughts to him, things she had kept buried inside her for months now. “I’ve spent years not acknowledging it. I only realized after you stood there waiting for me in that terrible storm on the day I nearly lost my life how much you meant to me. You were the home I wanted to come back to.”

He could only stare at her weakly, his lips turned down in a pitiful wince. They really were a pathetic bunch, dancing around their feelings for so long it led to something so disastrous as this. He hadn’t confided in a single person his feelings for the woman. He was a private person. He just wondered if maybe he had told someone, maybe if he confessed to her all those years ago when he fell in love for the first time, things would be different.

“I was serious when I said we could be a family. I know it’s not much, and I know I’m busy with work most days, but I would like to try,” he said. “I can take care of you, Y/N, for the rest of our lives. All I’ve ever wanted was to take care of you, to wrap you up and protect you from this awful world. I’m just so disappointed I was the one that put you in this position.”

“It’s okay now.” Her hand reached out to grab ahold of his, hanging limply at his side. She gave it a light squeeze, still absent of the majority of her strength, although it was slowly beginning to sink back in. “I’m excited to see what you and I become. Kakashi, you truly are the love of my life."

"The feeling is mutual. I guess it always has been, huh?"

She nodded, letting her soft lips curl into a weak smile just for him, just for this moment they shared together.

“I’m going to get a nurse and tell them what happened. They probably want to check on you.”

With a nod from her end, he walked out the room and into the hall, waving down one of the many nurses that he’d seen working at her bedside in the past few weeks. Fearing for the worst, she shot him a concerned look as the blood drained quickly from her face, “Lord Hokage, is there something I can help you with?” the young girl asked hesitantly, a bit of a shake in her words.

“Seems things are improving now.”

Her brows softened with sympathy. Their poor Kakashi, holding onto hope that his long time best friend wasn’t going to die. It was heartbreaking to see really. Painfully, she replied, “Improving? That’s impossible, she’s a Hanahaki patient, the only way to-”

“Yes, I know. And like I said, she’s improving now.”

“What do you mean-” It was as if the gears had shifted in her head. Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened, “Oh my Lord, let me get the CNO.” She stumbled over her words as she started down the hall in the opposite direction. He watched as her lips giddily curled up into a smile. After a moment, he grinned to himself and leaned against the wall, shutting his eyes for just a moment.

Nurses came rushing down the hall almost as quickly as the girl left and rushed in the room, leaving him behind to sink into his thoughts. He had yet to really process the situation but it was finally sinking in now. How much this woman loved him, how much a single person could care about him when he thought he was alone on this earth. He felt a flutter in his stomach.

Maybe life wasn’t so bad after all.

A/N: that's it, guys! Tell me what you think and if you want more Kakashi content in the future! Have a wonderful day!

#kakashi x reader #kakashi hatake #kakashi oneshot #kakashi hatake x reader #naruto x reader #naruto oneshot #naruto fanfic #x reader #oneshot #naruto #naruto scenario #kakashi scenario #kakashi fanfic #kakashi fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic

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worksby-d · 3 years

Note

hello bby 🥺 can i request something real fluffy (character of ur choice) like some snuggles or tickles or a shared bath, ive been feeling a lil down and just thought this would be so cute! also i LOVE your writing❤️

hi there! i'm so sorry you were feeling down, and i'm so sorry it took me so long to get to this <3 it’s been a few weeks since i received this i think, so i hope you're feeling better now!

pairing: steve rogers x reader

summary: you’ve been feeling kinda down lately, which steve catches on to, so he does his best to just let you know he's there for you

warnings: a lil sadness, fatigue

word count: ~600

*✧･ﾟ

it's the third evening in a row he’s come home and found you asleep with your work clothes on still, telling him you've been there since you got home a few hours ago

the past two nights he’s woken you up long enough to get you to eat something before you go back to bed

but tonight he’s determined to do a little more for you

quietly shuffling across the room, he kneels beside the bed, resting his hand on your upper arm, giving a gentle squeeze while whispering your name

“hm?” you groan softly

“you okay sweetheart?”

“‘m just tired,” you mumble

you miss it since you haven't opened your eyes, but his lips turn into a sad smile. “i'm gonna run us a bath, okay? i’ll be right back,” he tells you, pressing a kiss to your forehead before disappearing into the bathroom

you doze back off until he’s gently shaking you awake again a couple minutes later

“can you come with me doll? wanna get you out of these clothes and help you relax”

you genuinely don't feel like getting out of bed, but you muster the energy and sit up, so steve takes your hand, guiding you to the bathroom where he has the bath ready and some candles lit

standing there, you rub your eyes a bit as he begins to help you strip out of your clothes

when they're all off, you climb into the tub, patiently waiting as he takes his own clothes off to join you

he sits behind you so your back is against his chest, and he wraps his arms around your middle, hugging you close

“what's been going on the last couple days?” he carefully asks, resting his chin on your shoulder

“i don't know,” you sigh quietly. “just feeling a little down. i think it's just stress and exhaustion. maybe it's random, who knows,” you shrug

“okay,” he whispers, deciding against pressing any further. “you know i'm always here if you need to talk”

“i know stevie,” you smile. “thank you”

when the water starts to become cold, he reluctantly gets out, drying himself off and throwing on a pair of sweats before handing you a fluffy towel so you can get out too

while you dry off, he finds your pajamas to bring to you and tells you to put them on and get in bed while he grabs something

once you've gotten comfy in bed, he comes back in the room with two bowls of your favorite ice cream

“figured you're not very hungry, but this is better than nothing,” he offers

“oooh yes please,” you sing, holding out your grabby hands until he hands you a bowl

you both scarf down the ice cream in silence, setting the bowls on your respective nightstands, too lazy to take them to the kitchen

he's the first to lay down, holding his arm out as an invitation for you to snuggle up to his side, so you join him, resting your head on his chest

once you’re settled, he wraps his arms around you, letting his hands stroke your back soothingly

“it’ll get better,” he murmurs, kissing the top of your head. “i love you”

“i love you too steve”

~~~

Tag list: @chris-butt @patzammit @denisemarieangelina @thummbelina @pppsssyyyccchhhiiiccc @princess-evans-addict @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @la-cey @turtoix @katiew1973 @harrysthiccthighss @tvckerlance @bluemusickid @sunflowercaptian @rocketrhap3000 @mrspeacem1nusone @flovds @starlightcrystalline @stargazingfangirl18 @geminievans1 @doozywoozy @americasass91 @dwights-new-plague @wwwmarissa92

#chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfiction #chris evans imagine #steve rogers imagine #chris evans fanfic #steve rogers fanfic #chris evans drabble #chris evans blurb #steve rogers x you #requested #don't mind me trying to play catch up after falling severely behind on requests

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pulling-all-mighters · 2 years

Note

Hey I just wanted to atop by and say that ever since I started reading obsidian (and ever since it's been on a hiatus) I stop by once a month to see if there are any new information about it's status and about hoe your doing. I read in the last question u got that ur struggling with some health conditions that make it impossible for you to continue with the story and I am sorry to hear that you have to struggle like that :c I hope that you'll be better soon. Because when ever you're ready to continue with Obsidian I'll be here 🍃💕 All the best and warm thoughts to you, you amazing, talented person🌞

Thank you! To be honest its almost more mental than physical. I found out that I have a spine disease (on both my mothers side and fathers side) that usually only appears in old people but both my mom and Grandmother unlocked it early like some secret gamer achievement when they were pregnant in their twenties. I am in my twenties but im not pregnant, and yet I too got the gamer award for fucked spine.

Fortunately for me, its something manageable. Its a pain I can deal with with physical therapy even if it'll never go away. Ive shrunk 3 inches in 4 years because of it.

The unfortunate thing is having to come to terms with the fact that now I am 'broken'. and like, I know I'm not broken in a rational sense; disabled people are people still. The fact remains, though, that for the rest of my life all the people around me are going to be conscious of how I can barely stand for more than an hour or that I cant bend over to feed my dogs and whoever I'm with will have to essentially sign up as a caretaker. Theyre going to not invite me to things or change plans, theyre going to get frustrated with my very existence and its hard to not think about that.

Its dampened my mood for writing that's for sure.

Right now its a matter of judging how much energy and pain im in and balancing it against what I want to do, which, recently, has been Original work. Because im tired and I want to be kind to myself. Hopefully I can make something of that. I really appreciate that you enjoy the fic so much though! It has a special place in my heart even though I know I can do better. And it means a lot to me that you went out of your way to tell me this.

#Im rarely on tumblr anymore #novafruit art #nova rambles

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nikrangdan · 3 years

Text

photographer!ni-ki

pairing: photographystudent!ni-ki x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff, comedy

description: every time you went to the park you noticed a mysterious boy who would take pictures of the scenery on his cute little camera. you liked to see what he’d take pictures of from afar but one day you noticed his camera pointing straight at.. you

for ni-ki’s bday!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE <33 sorry i posted a day late but i hope u all enjoy!

———

“y/n!”

you groan before getting out of your bed at 10am

it was a saturday why was your mom yelling at u ..

you walked into the kitchen all sluggishly and rubbed your eyes

“you need to start taking suki on walks to the park. you need the exercise too.” your mom doesn’t even spare u a glance before walking out the door to run some errands

right

u forgot u were taking care of ur cousins dog while he was out of town... her name was suki

shes a little shiba inu AND SHES THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!!

WELP

u dont even have a choice anymore

u got somewhat ready before heading out with suki in your arms

shes so soft and fluffy

though u dont like to admit it, u kinda agreed with ur mom about u needing to exercise and get out the house

you’ve been cooped up in your room for days with no social or nature interaction

the park was about a 10 minute drive from ur house

and it was actually a really pretty park...

there was a lake and really pretty flowers everywhere and alot of gazebos and benches

and a nice open field of greenery

it basically looked like a park out of a movie

so you weren’t suprised that there was a decent amount of people there

but not too much thankfully.. or else you would’ve driven to another park with less people

you got out the car with suki and put her on the leash

let the walking begin!!!!

it was a really nice day out... the sun was shining but it wasnt too hot or cold

you led her onto the sidewalk and she began sniffing at the grass around her

whenever a few people would pass they would coo at how adorable she was

it wasnt until 5 minutes later that ur eyes locked onto a figure infront of the lake

you were just walking with suki in silence.. admiring the scenery

until u caught sight of a boy

u could only see his back but u noticed the camera over his shoulder

he was standing in one of those photographer poses where like one leg is bent and kind of out while his back is hunched to get that perfect angle of a shot

he was infront of the sidewalk railings where the lake begins and he was taking photos of the scenery across from it

it was a beautiful sight honestly

there was another sidewalk but behind it was colorful trees and blossoming flowers and bushes

u understood why he’d take pictures of it

you didnt see his face but u kind of acknowledged the boy before walking past him with suki

basically thinking he was just another passerby that you noticed making a single appearance in your life and never expecting to see him again

OH BOY U WERE WRONG

the next time you see him is 3 days later at the same park

you were walking suki again but this time at 7pm after dinner

the sun was almost done setting so the sky was getting darker but there was still a hint of the orange circle peeking from below

this time you walked further down the sidewalk path towards the scattered gazebos

and you noticed the same boy again

this time he was sat in one of the gazebos with his tiny camera in his hands

his back was hunched over again and he was looking closely at the pictures he had taken

‘oh its him again’ u thought

and that was it

LOL

u just acknowledged him in ur head AGAIN before u thought nothing of it and continued ur walk with suki

so the NEXT time u saw him was another 2 days later at 7pm again

you wanted to take suki on a quick walk

but you got tired after like 10 minutes so you sat down on a blanket u brought

suki was just laying next to u while u were on ur phone

it wasnt fully dark out yet and there was still a few people in the park

the fairy lights that were placed around were lit up already

it was super pretty and the weather was nice

after staring at ur phone for a few mins u looked up just to look around

and u saw Him again

wow

why do u keep seeing him !?!?!

his back was faced towards u like always

and he was like 40 feet away from u so he looked so tiny

but u could tell it was him because of his blond hair and black coat he always wore

you kind of zoned out and unfortunately ur eyes were trained on his back without u even noticing

and he

turned

around

for the first time EVER!!!!

its like he sensed someone staring at him

but yes he turned around with his camera in his hand

the first thing u noticed was that he got a new camera

it was a larger black one

definitely more expensive

Awe good for him!!!!!

and then u glanced up to see his face

and u made EYE CONTACT

u looked away so fast

because

He was SO CUTE.............

u awkwardly started looking to your left and tried turning ur face away from him

‘oh look at those beautiful um... birds.. yeah’

hopefully he didnt notice

*nervously sweats*

u didnt dare look back in that direction so u spent the rest of your evening in the park on ur phone or playing with suki

eventually it reached 8pm so u packed up ur stuff and went home

U were still kind of thinking about that boy....

so u were like

i need to go back

and u did Lol

u went back the next day at 6pm this time with suki

it was lighter out and the sky was beautiful

perfect for a certain boy to be taking photos

*evil laugh*

u were walking for like 15 minutes and u didnt see him anywhere :((((

the one time u go there for HIM

u settled down under a tree

suki immediately went on the blanket when u sat down too

you played tug of war with her and fed her some treats while playing

playing with her for 10 minutes straight definitely tired u out so u laid down and just stared at the sky

it was a faded blue turning into orange and pink

U were kinda bored so u sat up and started petting suki

you would occasionally glance up at the strangers walking past u

and

let me tell u what Happened..

u looked up at another lady walking her dog and went like

‘aweee that dog is so cute’ in ur head

and u took ur eyes off the dog and glanced to ur right

idk bc u felt like it

AND GUESS WHAT U SEE???!??????

THE BOY

LIKE 20 FEET AWAY

STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD

AND HE HAD HIS CAMERA UP TO HIS FACE

and it WAS POINTED AT U ??!?!

as soon as u looked in his direction he jumped and put his hands down

he like

Blushed????? and awkwardly smiled u know rubbing the neck and all that

he was embarrassed

ur cheeks were turning so red

BUT HE WAS SO ADORABLE

was kind of weird.... stalkerish but um

he cleared that up BECAUSE

He started walking over to u

he was wearing black jeans that were ripped on the knees with black high top converse

and a gray sweater with a black coat over it

HE JUST LOOKED CUTE OK

ur were like OMg []£{€]%[#{%€]£{

n he just Plop

he stood right infront of u basically towering bc u were sitting under the tree

suki noticed the boy and tilted her head like hmmmm???

u had the SMALLEST smile on ur face bc u wanted to seem friendly but not TOO friendly

he had his camera strap over his arm while he held it and his other hand was rubbing the name of his neck

“uh... sorry about that.. i didn’t mean to seem weird or anything!” he waved his hands infront of him to deny it

u just sat there while he talked like ❤️_❤️

“im uh taking photos for my class and i thought u looked nice so i took some pictures.. im really sorry i should’ve asked first now i seem weird or something im really-,”

u cut him off so he didnt ramble any longer

“no its okay! i get it” you gave him a warm smile and pet suki while she drifted to your side and kept her eyes on him

u both just stared at eachother for a few seconds before you spoke

“um.. would you like to sit?” you scooted over and made room for him in the blanket

WOW U WERE FEELING BOLD TODAY...

“uh sure” he set his camera down and sat beside u

“this is suki.. shes my cousins dog” u said when she climbed into his lap and started sniffing him

he grinned and pet her before looking up at you

“im ni-ki by the way” his cheeks turned a bit pink which u thought was cute

“y/n” you smiled

“suki seems to like you” u laughed

“so how long have you been working on this project or whatever?”

“oh um i started last week... i just have to make a portfolio of photos i take and turn it in” he said while keeping his eyes trained on suki

u noticed he didnt make eye contact with u often but u knew it was probably because he was nervous because u do that too

“can i see the pictures...?” u hesitantly ask him

his eyes light up when u say that

“yeah!”

AWE HES SO EXCITED

he picks up his camera next to him and clicks a few buttons

“oh by the way... ive noticed u at the park before! you’re always with the camera” you laugh

“ah yeah, this park is where most of my project photos are taken.”

he leans over and shows you the pictures on the device

“woah” you let out a gasp

he showed u the picture he took of you first

How does a picture look better than real life...

you’ve never really been into photography but now that you’ve seen his work u might just have to start getting into it

“this isnt even done yet, i still have to edit it so it’ll look even more perfect” he shyly says

“this is amazing what the heck” your jaw is Dropped

“thanks”

“i need to see the final result” u said because it was such a nice picture

“um.. if you give me your number i can show you it” he sent you a cheeky grin

SMOOTH.....

he was so AGGGHGGHG ur kind of obsessed

you two exchange numbers and talk about random things for a whole hour until he says he has to go

“it was really nice meeting you.. i had fun” he tells you as he starts standing up

suki is sleeping so he tries not to wake her up

“i had fun too” you smile

“would you like me to walk you to your car?”

A GENTLEMAN !!?!?!?!

“oh yeah, thanks”

you two spend another 2 minutes together as you walk side by side with suki in your arms and he held your blanket and bag for you

you reached your car and thanked him

“ill see you soon, dont forget to text me! and good luck on the project, i know you’ll do great”

“thank you..”

ni-ki’s cheeks turn pink once more before he turns around and starts walking away with a smile on his face

he is just the cutest thing ever

you definitely need to see him again

194 notes · View notes

parismemes · 4 years

Text

THINGS I’VE SAID ON DISCORD (OCTOBER EDITION) AS SENTENCE STARTERS.

“tell me everythng.” “HEHEHEHEHEHEHE” “i have read every single one of them and do not intend to stop” “i on principle only like songs that go hard” “I DIDNT THINK IT WAS GOING TO BE THAT SAD WHAT THE FUCK” “heehoo. water boy.” “why i always sleep through this shit i hate it here” “gacha games count as gambling” “im also there. im laughing” “u r doing so much math and im just like hehe money” “what the fuck what the fuck NOOO what the fuck im dfgjhhfjgdhjfgkjdkghjd” “what a traumatic backstory” “I CAN SEE YOU READING MY MESSAGES IM GONAN GET FINESSED OUT THE FUCKIN WINDOW“ “THAT’S not good!” “if hes a fraid of dogs that sounds like a him problem” “i honestly deserve recognition for the absolute shit i just pulled off” “YES FUCK YEAH YEAH YEAH HELL YEAH FUCK YEAH HELL FUCKIN YEAH WOOOOOOOOO YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!” “why the fuck would you want that” “yeah hes my only one true love” “by a few i of course mean like 600″ “no one fucking appreciate me” “thank you ___ for being the only person who appreciate me” “i reveal it in pieces and make you put it together like a puzzle” “im smart and never regret it“ “see, i just dont think thats right” “i will continue dangling it in front of your face like a scientist dangling bait in front of a fish (who is also in a maze)” “hes actually like an absolute fucking nerd a complete fool a fucking dumbass” “sorry your message glitched and i cannot read. anyway back to my leverage over you which is forcing you into a corner,” “it's not extortion because i don't know what extortion means” “why do they talk like exes. its because they are exes” “TIME SENSITIVE QUESTION PLEASE RESPOND” “he's a content creator he'll be fine” “what does this mean? but yes” “NICE NICE NNICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE” “for future record ___ just used the word poggers” “look at all these fuckin blondes” “its only been like a week and a half at most” “hes doing it out of affection” “ISNT THIS THE FUNNIEST SHIT YOUVE EVER SEEN” “you are terrible and also the worst” “i was going to send it at midnight but i got distracted trying to figure out the most barebones way to say happy birthday without sounding weird” “do you think i get punished more or less if i do sins” “i dont think the sins count as extra points if you commit them on the way to hell” “run over pedestrians” “i am slowly descending into insanity today, as a hobby” “you are a shit boy. a little shit boy go eat boxes“ “it's ok. we can figure it out later” “i didnt notice at first but it is in fact All The Fuck Over” “ITS BEEN OVER 12 HOURS” “hey guys just turns out we might have a ✨ gas leak ✨” “im sure if we put our braincells together we can figure SOMETHING out” “curious georg” “thank god. i could and would have argued this for several hours” “i think the worst thing ive heard today is someone calling the movie enchanted a reverse isekai” “i should not and will not stop” “i was RIGHT AHHAHAHAHAHAGAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA” “that wasnt a question you read it wrong” “i have no idea who this is but that wont stop me” “THIS MAN REALLY SAID HEAD EMPTY WHAT IS MONEY” “sometimes i say things and its best to just pretend you know what i mean” “WOT THIS” “I DONT WANT PEE ON MY BED“ “tired of all these stupid fuckin plants” “could you even really consider jelly filled donuts donuts?” “actually everything is real” “if you eat cereal for dinner, you're not having fucking breakfast” “i think my in real life superpower is that i have freakishly fast metabolism” “i dont care if you are evil you are MY TYPE” “you dirty criminal” “is a dessert item a dessert if it isn't eaten after dinner? discuss” “ok im done for the Right Now” “found a concerning orb. in the sky.” “HOW DID YOU KILL THEM” “why do i do this to myself why do i keep doing this” “the only simp here is me” “I No Longer Wish To Know!“ “DID THEY JUST END AN ENTIRE SPECIES” “WE ARE DETERMINED” “this is also really funny by virtue of the fact that these people are all fucking british” “they throw rocks at me and say we want the himbo” “THE CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT HERE” “its something that i SPECIFICALLY am passionate about” “hanburnger?” “thats just what living with siblings is like” “howd she get there? fuckin beats me dude idk” “i remember everything i am like a shark with an abnormally good memory” “i am sorry that you are predictable” “Hey Guys, Just Checkiing In To Make Sure You Got My Joke, Just Making Sure, I Just Wanted To Check In And See If You Got The Joke, Because I Was Afraid You Wouldnt Get It, So Im Just Checking In,” “i marked your worm” “what are you gonna do. unsend whatever you send me? i am Shaking in my fuzzy socks rn” “you Know i hate the idea of being wrong” “You Did Not Need To Stroke His Ego” “i am too stupid to live and if i was not vaccinated my genes would have no chance of being passed on because i would be dead” “~the oldest anarchy server in minecraft history~” “am i shaking because of adrenaline or rage.... who can tell” “I HAVE SO MUCH ADRENALINE IN ME BUT ITS 1 AM IN THE MORNING” “jokes on u i fucking HATE ___ i think hes the worst” “JUST IMPULSE MADE BROWNIES AT 9 PM HEYOOOO” “cry about it more bitch boy maybe piss your pants while ur at it” “im getting so casually toxic back to toxic gamer boys” “itll be fiiiiiine” “we are all stupid mice who take turns being the piper” “queen of bargains is me i am the queen of bargaining and scoring deals” “its not TECHNICALLY a direct threat but also yes it is” “i see a demon i go possess me then bitch boy u wont” “AAAA THE FUCKIN VIIIIBES” “IM NOT GOING TO STOP BEING MAD ABOUT IT”

#sentence starters #rp memes #ask memes #rp meme #ask meme #the first one i did of this did really well....

169 notes · View notes

artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Me and You Together, 4/10 (Taywhora) - Ortega

fic summary: The cardinal rule of having flatmates is that you Do Not Catch Feelings For Your Flatmates, because everything inevitably goes to shit and gets made horrifically awkward. A’whora and Tayce both know this, but being in first year of uni and making good decisions have never really gone hand in hand.

a/n: fam this response is crazy it really is…thank u all so much for the love, kudos and comments, i’m so sorry if i’ve not managed to reply to urs yet but know that i’ve read them all and cherish every one and i will get round to replying and yelling some love and thanks at u soon!!! pls enjoy this chapter in which A'whora does not possess the flat’s shared brain cell at any point. that being said, i wish all the readers of this fic a very pleasant italicised ‘oh’ xo

last chapter: January-Tayce and A’whora still had unfinished business from a night out and a hungover morning in December.

this chapter: October- The gang make plans for their first year together, Tia gives everyone plans for the evening, and A'whora has a realisation that will change the dynamic of her friendship with Tayce forever.

***

“Bimini, what is it you’re actually doing?”

A’whora’s intrigued by the way her flatmate’s sitting on the sofa: legs crossed, notepad in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and looking deep in thought. They’ve not long since stretched over the smoke detector with a sock, having long since established nobody in the flat minds them smoking indoors as long as the windows are open. Lawrence is beside them on the other end of the sofa having been to all the lectures that’re required of her already today and has got a bright pink, blue and purple-flecked ball of yarn hanging from two knitting needles, with which she seems to be knitting some sort of cosy accessory. It’s a wholesome picture that’s playing out in front of A’whora, one that’s miles away from the raucous, drunk nights they’ve all shared in the first month of uni so far.

“Okay, here’s what it is,” Bimini starts, clicking their long nails together. “I am making us a freshers bucket list, and I want your input.”

“Ooh!” Lawrence perks up beside them, and A’whora, interest piqued, picks up the bowl of pasta, butter and cheese she’s spent all of five minutes making and crosses the room to sit beside her flatmates.

She knows it’s only been a month so far, but she really loves everyone she’s living with. For a start, there are four of them that take classes at the art college (the ‘art hoes’, as Tayce calls them), so they all get to walk to lectures together and hang about between classes and workshops with each other depending on how their days are going. Bimini is almost always in the flat, with not a lot of contact hours making up their journalism degree, so they’re a comforting presence for A’whora to come home to at whatever hour of the day, always asking how she is and always offering to make her coffee. Tia is sweet and funny (if ever-so-slightly grating to her at first) and they’ve bonded over being the only two flatmates seemingly able to keep the place clean and tidy. Lawrence is endearing and big-hearted, if A’whora spends half her life hoping that her next prank isn’t involving her in some way (Ellie is usually the butt of them). Ellie herself is one of A’whora’s closest flatmates; they’ll often stay up half the night finishing prototypes or assignments together, all while watching a film which they have spookily similar taste in- they’ve agreed on 101 and 102 Dalmatians, Hocus Pocus, and The Wizard of Oz so far.

And then there’s Tayce, who A’whora thinks is both the absolute carbon copy of herself and yet also so different, the yin to her yang. Tayce has been her closest friend in the flat since day one when she booted the door to her room down and dragged her out of her emotional stupor, and that’s really what’s set the tone for the rest of their friendship; Tayce, upbeat and motivating, constantly and infectiously helping A’whora feel the same way even when she doesn’t want to go out, or doesn’t feel like dragging herself out of her room for a chill flat night with the others, or even when she just feels like a heap of shit. She’s such a fun and positive person to be around, relentlessly optimistic and goofy, and she brings out that side of A’whora too. As opposed to during sixth form and high school, where she’d put up a front to make sure nobody fucked with her, A’whora finds that at uni she can be the person she truly is and let her guard down a little.

This includes being open about her sexuality for the first time ever. She’s out to her family (for the better or worse), but nobody else back home knows (not even her friends) and she wants to keep it that way for now. But at uni things are different- nobody knows her here, nobody has these preconceived ideas of who she is and who she has to be, so she’d taken the plunge and been open about everything. None of the others had cared of course, in fact they’d all been too excited about the fact there’s not a single straight person in their flat comprised of four lesbians (Tayce, Lawrence, Tia and A’whora), one bi (Ellie) and one pan (Bimini).

“What’ve you got so far?” A’whora asks Bimini, sitting down on the sofa opposite her two flatmates.

Bimini reads off their notepad. “Casino night, bottomless brunch…get the train down to Newcastle, have a big night out, stay out all night an’ get the first train home-”

“Christ, that’ll be a challenge for me, you know I get sleepy around midnight,” Lawrence chuckles.

Bimini shrugs. “We’ll just get you an IV drip of Ellie’s Monster, you’ll be alright.”

“What else’ve you got?”

“That’s it so far.”

A’whora spears a pasta spiral, tilts her head in thought as she eats it. “Get drunk in a lecture.”

“Aw, good one!” Lawrence cries enthusiastically. Bimini, for their part, frowns with disapproval.

“Wait, no! Not a good one. Not a good one at all. It’s alright for you art school bitches, you’ve got some lectures together and you can coordinate, where does that leave me n’ Tia?”

“I guess that leaves you…downing a bottle of five pound chardonnay on the back bench of a lecture hall like a tramp with a drinking problem,” Lawrence shrugs, A’whora yelping out a laugh as Bimini shoves Lawrence with their foot.

Just then, there’s movement in the hall and as A’whora turns around she’s greeted by the sight of a tired-looking Tayce and Ellie walking into the kitchen. They shrug off their coats and take off their shoes and dump their bags on the kitchen table with a huff before they walk over to the others. Tayce spreads herself out over the sofa that A’whora’s sitting on, thudding her feet onto her lap without asking permission, to which A’whora instantly pushes them off her and gets a glare and a smirk in return.

“Lawrie, are you knitting?” Ellie laughs, sitting on the arm of the sofa beside her.

“Yeah? And?”

Ellie snorts in amusement. “Just didn’t realise we were living with a wee granny.”

“Well actually, bawbag! I was in the middle of making you a scarf because I can’t stand to listen to you talking shite about how you’re cold every time we leave the flat, but I can leave it if you want,” Lawrence explains. A’whora thinks it’s funny how Ellie backtracks immediately; she can’t tell if she’s blushing or just out of breath from scaling their block’s stairs. Bimini gains control of the conversation, tilting their head in intrigue.

“How were your lectures, huns?”

“Shit, thanks for asking,” Tayce groans, thudding her head down dramatically against the sofa cushions. “I don’t know, I just can’t concentrate when I’m getting talked at for an hour at a time. I need to be doing stuff, you know?”

“Feel that,” Ellie joins in, deflated. A’whora can sympathise- she loves the practical elements of her course, but not so much the lectures. She’s glad she shares a lot of them with Ellie, and the two of them can dick about and text each other and doodle designs in their notebooks while keeping one ear on whoever’s speaking.

“Well if you want to be doing something, you can help us with this,” Bimini suggests, explaining the bucket list they’ve been making.

The girls get settled and the ideas start to flow, Lawrence putting her speakers on for background noise as they all come up with new and increasingly more chaotic exploits. Ellie suggests trying every cocktail in Levels which gets scribbled down into Bimini’s notepad, and Tayce suggests going to Levels sober, which doesn’t get afforded the same appreciation. A’whora comes up with crashing the catered halls for breakfast one day, which they all agree is a good idea but the chances of it actually happening are low considering the earliest riser in the flat is Tayce and even she doesn’t waken up til half nine on a weekend.

“What’re some clubs we’ve not been to yet?” Bimini asks, shrugging. “Could put those down, try an’ visit every one in the city?”

Lawrence snorts derisively. “You go to Underground if you want your phone stolen, Velvet if you want to be bullied by fifteen year olds in the toilets, and Crystal if you want to subject yourself to painful misogyny and probably some light sexual assault.”

“So none of those, then,” Bimini murmurs.

“Those are all really het as well, though,” Ellie wrinkles her nose up in distaste. Then her face lights up as she gets an idea. “Oh! Put down Pride in July.”

“Nice one,” Bimini nods as they scribble down Ellie’s suggestion, the others making little hums of approval.

The conversation goes on for quite some time. Halfway through it Tayce seems to decide she’s bored of lying down and instead moves to sit on the floor between A’whora’s legs, asking her to play with her hair. They’ll do this sometimes- it’s a routine they fall into, A’whora being able to style Tayce’s endlessly long, straight hair and Tayce finding the whole thing therapeutic. They have a lot of little routines like this: they’ll sit close together on the sofa during a flat movie night and take turns leaning on each others’ shoulders, spontaneously give each other hugs at random points throughout the day, trace patterns into each others’ palms when the other seems stressed.

It’s nice. A’whora’s never really had a friendship like this, soft and caring and kind. In school her group was the kind that made catty jokes about each other then buffered them with a “love you!” afterwards and took kissy-face group selfies only to bitch about each other on a private group chat mere hours later. If it was a wolfpack then it was rabid and cannibalistic, and it had seemed like a full-time job ensuring she was never the runt of it. What she’s got with all her flatmates now- especially Tayce- makes her feel like she can finally breathe.

“What about the Centurion Challenge?” Lawrence suggests with a small gasp, breaking A’whora’s reverie as she expertly twirls Tayce’s hair into a loose and chunky French plait.

“Jesus Christ, Lawrence,” Ellie mutters in amusement.

“What’s the Centurion Challenge?” Bimini asks, pulling a face.

Lawrence gives a blythe shrug as she elaborates. “A hundred shots in a hundred minutes.”

A’whora ruins Tayce’s braid in shock, her hair untwisting itself from the braid as if it’s outraged too. The cry she gives joins in harmony with that of Tayce’s and Bimini’s. “A hundred shots? You’d fucking die!”

“Not of vodka! Obviously not of vodka! I know we all have one communal brain cell between us but Christ, can one of yous not use it?!” Lawrence protests. “It’s a hundred shots of beer. Don’t shit yourselves.”

“Aw, well that’s alright then,” Bimini pipes up sarcastically. “What’s actually wrong with Scottish people? Is your breastmilk spiked with whiskey? What d’you get instead of Cow and Gate formula, just cocaine?"

“Actually, a hundred shots of beer sounds more doable to me,” Tayce shrugs, and A’whora can feel her relax against her lap.

“I’d need to change it, I can’t stand beer,” A’whora considers. Ellie cocks her head in consideration.

“Well what alcohol do you like?”

“Fucking none of it,” A’whora laughs. “Cocktails. Vodka cokes. Anything where there’s juice to cover it up.”

Tayce twists her head to look up at her, a little twinkle of mischief in her eye. “I think the challenge ceases to be a challenge when it’s reduced to one hundred watered down shots of Woo Woo, Rory.”

As the others blurt out a laugh A’whora glares down at Tayce, but she can’t help but break out into a giggle too when Tayce grabs her knee and gives it a playful wobble, letting her know she was only joking without even having to say a thing.

A’whora’s not sure what time it is when she hears the front door swing shut and Tia emerges from the hallway, her long hair all messed up from the seemingly ever-present wind outside and almost obscuring the bright smile plastered on her face. “Hey, huns!”

“Oi oi,” Tayce greets her from her position on the floor. “What’s got you so smiley?”

“Nooothing,” Tia smirks, dragging the word out playfully. “Just got an invite to the night out of a very cute girl in my MT society…and she said you guys can all come too. Pres at her flat and then out to The Avenue. Evening plans sorted?”

“Oh, love that!” Bimini gives an enthusiastic clap. “Go on then, who’s the girl? Whose night are we crashing?”

“Her name’s Veronica,” Tia smiles bashfully. “She’s so lovely. Honestly, she wouldn’t mind you coming! She’s got one of the big flats over at Gourock Court so it’s not like it’ll be packed.”

“You don’t exactly want to go to a party that’s not going to be packed,” Ellie screws up her nose. She looks unimpressed and her tone is flat. “And even if it is, I don’t know if I’m in the mood for a flat party with a ton of new people, Tia.”

A’whora’s face drops and she locks eyes with Lawrence simultaneously, who’s got an equally incredulous look on her face. “Els, are you unwell? You never turn down a night out.”

Ellie shrugs quietly, not giving much away on her face. Tia, obviously keen to move to the girl she’s crushing on, carries on persuading her. “C’mon, Eleanor, don’t be such a fucking…square! It’s the musical theatre society, we’re just a walking Pride festival who all happen to be able to hold a tune. There’s loads of fit lesbians?”

“Well if I wasn’t convinced before, I sure am now,” Tayce purrs, a little smile appearing on her lips and a cheeky twinkle in her eyes. A’whora feels her laugh come out weakly. She doesn’t know why, but an odd, uncomfortable feeling lodges itself in her gut. She can’t quite put her finger on what exactly it is or why it’s put itself there.

“And there’s gonna be so many musicals on the playlist!” Tia continues to insist, despite being met with Ellie’s sour face. “I know you’ll love it! They’d probably even play stuff from Shrek if you got them drunk enough.”

A’whora can’t help but scrunch up her nose in distaste. “Hey, I’m only coming if they play fucking…normal people music as well. I’m not gonna be sat in a room with twenty white kids trying to rap to Hamilton or whatever the fuck it is.”

Tia rolls her eyes, plants her hands on her hips in exasperation. “Calm down, A’whora, you’ll still get all the top 40 dance-pop shit you love so much.”

“To be honest, it sounds class. And The Avenue’s always good,” Bimini cuts in calmly. A’whora does have to agree with that. They’ve not been there in a while- the bar across the road from the city’s most popular LGBT club- and its selection of early 00s pop princess tracks combined with its deal of two vodka mixers and a shot for a fiver makes it a guaranteed good night out.

“Well it seems like we’re all down, even if this stroppy cow isn’t,” Tia smiles happily, sticking her tongue out at Ellie for good measure. Ellie finally heaves a world-weary sigh, rolling her eyes dramatically as she relents.

“Ugh, fine! Fine, but this Verruca or whatever the hell she’s called better be the hottest bitch on the planet for you to drag us all out with your MT weirdos, Tia Maria,” she grumps. Tia ignores her bad mood and lets out a cheer which the others join in with, and A’whora resolves to interrogate Ellie about her Bitter Betty attitude later on. Preferably when they’re both drunk. That always makes things easier.

In the melee of excitement, Tayce twists round from her position on the carpet, folds her arms and rests them on top of A’whora’s thighs. “Right. You need to come help me choose an outfit if we’re going out. I need to look fit.”

A’whora smiles with pride. “Ooh, personal stylist duties? I’m honoured.”

“Well I’m hardly gonna ask Tia, am I?” Tayce giggles quietly, and A’whora joins in like it’s a little secret they’re sharing. “Or Ellie. She’d just send me out in one of her bodysuit/skirt combos. I swear to God that girl is like Marge bloody Simpson. Open up her wardrobe and she’ll have twenty sets of the same outfit. Serial killer behaviour, that.”

At this point A’whora is laughing so much that it draws the attention of the others, who eye them with suspicious stares. “What the hell’s so funny?”

A’whora gives Tayce a mischievous look. “Tayce just called Ellie a serial killer.”

Tayce yelps in outrage at having been called out, and as Ellie narrows her eyes Tayce leaps up from the floor and tugs A’whora off of the sofa with her. “That’s taking it out of context, you absolute hound! Come on, help me pick something.”

Tayce’s fingers stay curled around A’whora’s hand all the way down the corridor and into her bedroom. It’s a feeling that A’whora likes because it makes her feel close to her friend, and Tayce taking her hand is like an affirmation and a reassurance all in one; that she likes her, that their friendship has reached the level where hand-holding has become acceptable, that A’whora is worthy of being liked, of being someone’s friend- their real, proper friend. The validation sets her heart off like a flare. It’s nice to feel wanted.

A’whora perches on the edge of Tayce’s bed as she scrapes the coat hangers in her wardrobe and throws outfits onto the bed like a tornado, each more gorgeous than the last and all ones Tayce would look stunning in. That’s something that always strikes A’whora about Tayce; just how beautiful she is, how absolutely blessed with the God-given good genes. The way she looks serene and ethereal without makeup, walking to lectures in the morning with the sun hitting her face and giving her skin a glow. The way she paints for a night out and knows how to accentuate everything about her face that’s already perfect, a feat that would seem like an exaggeration if A’whora hadn’t seen it for herself to confirm it’s true. She frequently finds herself having to hold back from giving compliments to Tayce because if she started she’d never stop.

“Okay, first thoughts are…” Tayce announces unnecessarily loudly, and A’whora laughs at the way she’s talking as if she’s a stylist on a morning TV show. “…I’m thinking something black.”

“Of course you are,” A’whora interrupts with a laugh. “Tayce wearing black. How predictable.”

Tayce gives her a shove on the shoulder that’s too hard and makes her fall back against the mattress. “Shut up! I’ll wear something other than black when Lawrence wears something other than purple, how’s about that?”

The pair of them giggle at the joke as Tayce rifles through the clothes she’s shortlisted, holding up a black leather jacket and a black bralet with an intricate lace hem. The combination makes A’whora’s eyes fly wide open in appreciation.

“This?” Tayce raises an eyebrow at her inquisitively. The fact she’s obviously seen her reaction makes A’whora feel a little self-conscious and she doesn’t particularly know why. “Because I’m wanting to wear either my wet-look leggings or my black vinyl skirt with the zip up the front, and I don’t know if that’s too much leather effect stuff?”

“It’s too much,” A’whora nods, physically unable to help her honesty. “Also I think you should wear the skirt because you’ve got good legs and you should get them out any chance you get. But also the bralet won’t go with it because it’ll make your proportions all wrong.”

Tayce smiles appreciatively as she throws the bralet back into her wardrobe as if A’whora’s given her a command and not a suggestion. “See, this is another reason why you’re the queen of outfit advice. Bimini wouldn’t give me this level of honesty, they’re too nice.”

A’whora feels a warmth spread in her chest at the compliment, but she doesn’t show it. Instead she snorts, nods in agreement. “Yeah, because you could come out dressed in a pair of child’s pyjamas and they’d still say they love it. They’d say it’s very Y2K or something.”

Tayce lets out a cackle before holding up the skirt and leather jacket, humming in thought. “Okay, so you’re saying ditch the jacket but keep the skirt.”

“Yes.”

“And ditch the bralet.”

“Yes.”

“So you want me to go out in a skirt and a pair of heels and nothing else,” Tayce raises an eyebrow at her, and as A’whora bursts out laughing and protests she has to fight off a blush at the thought of her best friend topless in heels. Topless in heels and a vinyl skirt. Topless in heels and a vinyl skirt with a zip that could just be pulled down to leave her in-

The heat floods A’whora’s face like she’s been smacked and she shifts on the bed in an attempt at dissipating the feelings that’ve hit her like a tsunami. Inappropriate. Weird. Way too weird. Don’t do that again.

“What about the bright blue fur coat you’ve got? Because you could have an all black outfit with that as a bit of colour,” she suggests, shrugging lightly in an attempt to pretend that she hadn’t just been thinking about Tayce in the way she had.

Tayce’s face lights up and she points at A’whora with one hand and reaches into her wardrobe with the other. “Love that. Okay, top?”

“Are you addressing me? I’ve never topped for anyone,” A’whora attempts a joke. If Tayce can make jokes like that to her then she can do it right back.

“That’s very clear, baby,” Tayce shoots in response without missing a beat. Before A’whora realises it, she’s flexing her toes. What the fuck is happening to her? She needs to steer this conversation back on track.

She thinks for a second. “You’re a size eight, right?”

“In theory. The amount of pot noodles I’ve been chucking down my neck since I moved in is very quickly rendering that a distant memory, I’ll tell ya,” Tayce says, as she leans against the door of her wardrobe and folds her arms.

“I’ve got a black lace bodysuit that would go with that. It’s a ten so it’ll fit. D’you want to try it?”

“Well despite the fact a skirt and a bodysuit was the very thing I just roasted Ellie for always wearing…that sounds lush. Thanks, Rory Roo,” Tayce agrees, the nickname-of-a-nickname setting off the click of a small pilot light in A’whora’s heart. She’s about to ask if she wants to come try it on just now when she hears both their names being yelled from the kitchen.

The pair of them head back through to find that Tia has changed the playlist on the speakers from the chilled-out, calm acoustic one that had been playing to her early 00’s tunes. Combined with Bimini half-singing, half-yelling along to Murder on the Dancefloor and the blast of the extractor fan as Ellie stirs something in a big metal pot at the hob, it’s a far cry from the calm, cosy scene that A’whora had witnessed in the kitchen some hours prior.

Ellie had been the one who had shouted on them, and she whips around from the cooker when she realises that Tayce and A’whora have come through. “I’m making dinner for me, Bims and Tia, you wanting some?”

“Depends what it is. Come on, talk it up, Ellie. Give us some options,” Tayce shrugs with feigned disinterest, and A’whora can’t help the bubble of laughter that bursts from her mouth as Ellie narrows her eyes at her.

“It’s spaghetti and meatballs, and your alternatives are fuck off or die,” she shoots back savagely, and the whoop of shock and laughter that goes up from the others soars above the music and the fan. Tayce laughs good-naturedly in spite of the barb.

“I’m joking, ‘course I’ll take some.”

A’whora wrinkles her nose. “You’re making meatballs for a meal that Bimini is gonna eat?”

“They’re not real ones, dipshit,” Bimini pipes up from over on the sofa. “It’s that Birdseye Green Cuisine shit, innit.”

“Birdseye Green Cuisine shit,” A’whora repeats disdainfully. “If you ever go on The Apprentice, Bim, Alan Sugar’s gonna shit himself at your selling abilities.”

Tayce snorts, tries and fails to cover it up. When her eyes rest on A’whora they share a little smile, and A’whora’s grows bigger when she thinks about the way they’re both so in sync all the time.

“They’re nice, I promise! Veronica’s talked them up loads, she told me she’s been trying to eat more veggie things,” Tia insists, with an entirely unnecessary namedrop of her crush. A’whora relents and says she’ll have a small bowl before jumping out of her skin as Ellie bangs the spoon against the pot somewhat aggressively with a face like thunder.

Before A’whora can ask Ellie about her bad mood, Tia speaks again as she scrolls her phone to change the song. “Honestly, Ellie, you’re a star for doing dinner. Thanks so much.”

“Aw, don’t be silly, doll! It’s nothing!” Ellie turns around from the hob and bats the compliment away, shooting Tia a dazzling smile in return. It’s funny the way her demeanour seems to instantly do a complete 180 at the praise, and it makes A’whora wonder what’s changed.

She’s distracted, though, by the way Lawrence enters in her dressing gown with her hair up in a towel, obviously having come straight from the shower. She pouts and whines in a very un-Lawrence way as she lingers at the doorframe between the hall and the kitchen.

“Guysss, does anyone have an ID they can give me for tonight?”

“What about your friend? Who was it…Rosé?” A’whora shrugs, and Lawrence fixes her with a wide-eyed stare of incredulity.

“Oh my God, A’whora! I never thought about asking the girl I’ve been borrowing ID from since the start of uni! Thanks for that!” she says sarcastically, Bimini giving a yelp of laughter and A’whora leaning off the countertops and swiping at Lawrence in retort. “She’s using it. She asked her girlfriend and her flatmates for me but they’ve all got plans. I felt like a fuckin’ daytime TV charity advert.”

“For just one pound a week, you could help an underaged child get blackout drunk on triple trebles,” A’whora puts on a dramatic, concerned voice, proud of the way it makes Tayce blurt out a laugh.

“It’s such fucking bullshit,” Lawrence huffs, leaning against the fridge and folding her arms. “I mean my eighteenth’s in five days and I’ve been drinking in parks since I was fourteen, how can I not just be let into a fuckin’ bar?”

“Grow up and order a fake one,” Ellie shakes her head with incredulity, smashing the wooden spoon against the pot again with a bang-bang-bang to get the excess pasta sauce off.

“Just you pipe down, hen, you shouldn’t even be at uni. In fact, have you even completed primary yet?”

The two girls stick their tongues out at each other, a mirror-image of petty bickering that makes A’whora laugh. Luckily Bimini steps in, shrugging as they open their purse.

“Here, babe. I’ve still got my course friend’s provisional from when she dropped it on Gordon Street when she was off her face. I ain’t given her it back yet an’ I’m sure she wouldn’t care if you borrowed it. She’s chill.”

Lawrence accepts enthusiastically, bouncing over to Bimini and thanking them gratefully. A’whora watches her face drop, though, when she takes a look at the photo.

“There’s no way this’ll work.”

Bimini tuts and shakes their head, the picture of casual composure. “It’s fine, babes, they never look properly anyway.”

Lawrence drops the hand that’s holding the license to her side and fixes her friend with an astounded glare. “Bimini. This girl is black.”

As the others screech with outrage and mirth, Bimini waves Lawrence’s concerns away blithely. “It’ll be dark! It’s fine! Asttina an’ you have both got similar…well…you’re both girls, an’ you’re about the same height. Give or take a few inches.”

“Christ. I’m going to have to just forward roll past the bouncers, aren’t I? Then draw a fuckin’ club stamp on my arm in Sharpie.”

“Oh my God, stop moaning!” Ellie sighs from her position at the hob, bangs the spoon again for emphasis. “Look, I’ll ask Pippa from flat 2, alright? You both have brown hair, so…that’ll probably be enough.”

A’whora thinks it’s interesting the way Lawrence doesn’t shoot something back in her foghorn of a voice like she normally does. Instead she smiles warmly, dashes over to the kitchen where she hugs Ellie from behind, squeezing her tightly at the stomach and making her flinch in surprise.

“Thanks, Ellie-Bellie,” she sing-songs, swaying her aggressively from side to side until Ellie bats her away, flicking the spoon in a way that threatens to shower them both in marinara sauce.

“Right, that’s plenty. Don’t even do things I enjoy for that long.”

“When’s this gonna be ready, Els?” Bimini shouts through as Lawrence lets go. “ ‘Ave I got time to do my makeup before it?”

Ellie shrugs. “If you can do your makeup in ten minutes.”

A’whora kicks her leg out in Tayce’s direction and jerks her head towards the hall. “Do you want to try on that bodysuit before tea?”

Tayce nods enthusiastically in agreement, so they go back along the corridor with a shout to the others telling them they won’t be long. A’whora holds the door of her room open for Tayce and her heart sinks in embarrassment when she realises she forgot to make her bed this morning.

“Sorry about the mess,” she apologies, to which Tayce gives a cry of a laugh in response.

“A’whora, have you seen my room? You’re fine, kid, don’t worry.”

A’whora thinks that’s true- Tayce’s room is a state, but somehow it seems to suit her. Tayce’s room with the crowded bulletin board, desk covered in sweet wrappers and sketches, floor carpeted with clothes that need washed and outfits that didn’t make the cut. The cracked picture frame on her window-sill of the first selfie the six of them all got together on the first night of freshers and the huge cheese plant that sits next to her bedside table, Tayce’s pride and joy. They’re all little intricate shards that join up to form a perfect picture of her personality, and A’whora thinks it’s sort of perfect.

She looks out the bodysuit from its neatly Marie Kondo-d place in her wardrobe and hands it gently to Tayce. “Try it and see. It’s a small 10 anyway so it’ll probably be fine for you.”

Tayce accepts it gratefully and hooks a finger around both of the straps, letting the rest of the material fall out of its perfectly folded little parcel. She gives a little gasp of appreciation as she looks at it. “Oh yes, baby. I think this’ll do just fine.”

A’whora feels good- proud that she’s managed to find the perfect piece for Tayce’s outfit, to help her look as inevitably gorgeous as she knows she will. The smile on her face falters, though, when Tayce shoots her a wink and leans against the wall with her shoulder. “This is gonna get me someone I can pop off my acrylics for, I can tell. You’ve got the best taste, girl.”

“Are you actually going to try and get with someone tonight?” A’whora injects a laugh into her question that she’s banking on sounding genuine, otherwise it comes across as accusatory and that’s not what she means it to be. Or is it? She doesn’t know. “You know how messy nights at The Avenue always get. Last time we were there Lawrence got so drunk she told us she couldn’t see, remember?”

Tayce laughs her off with a shrug. “Well then I’ll just have to be careful with my drinks, won’t I?”

A’whora gives a false laugh, tries so hard to get it to meet her eyes. Why is she so pressed about this? She gets with girls on nights out too, she’s brought the occasional one night stand to the flat. Tayce is allowed to do the same.

So why does she feel ever so slightly gutted?

If her smile looks fake (which it is) then Tayce doesn’t notice, and she only shoots her a smile as she opens the bedroom door. “You’re an angel. I’ll pop this on then be back in five.”

A’whora takes the opportunity of Tayce having left to make her bed, and as she does so she feels lots of little thoughts dart around her mind like minnows, none of them staying in the same place for long enough to be able to be deciphered. She manages to catch a few before they flee away and she clings to them, turning them over in her head: why does she feel so bothered about the prospect of Tayce finding a girl at the party, talking to her and making a connection and laughing at her jokes? Why had it felt like a punch to the gut when Tayce was joking about doing so? Why does she have this part of her that feels like an idiot for setting Tayce up to look her best and knowing that it’s for the benefit of somebody else, somebody that doesn’t know her like she does?

And then her bedroom door opens and A’whora turns around and lays eyes on her best friend. Tayce in her high heels and bare legs and the skirt with the zip. Tayce with her baby blue fake fur coat and her straight, dark hair tumbling over its shoulders. Tayce in the bodysuit- A’whora’s bodysuit- with the lace and the mesh that clings to her chest like it was designed just for her. There’s something about the fact that she’s wearing something that belongs to A’whora that makes something inside her chest tingle, the fact it’s a little piece of her in Tayce’s jigsaw puzzle that seems to fit regardless of the difference.

“What d’you think?” Tayce smiles, all too aware of how drop-dead stunning she looks.

And then the realisation hits A’whora like a train.

Oh.

Fuck.

She’s screwed.

#rpdr fanfiction #rpdr uk #ortega #me and you together #taywhora #uk2 #lesbian au #university au #british au #college au #freshers au #roommate au #tayce #a'whora #friends with benefits to lovers #lawrence chaney #ellie diamond #bimini bon boulash #tia kofi

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janekfan · 4 years

Note

hi mom. sorry i havent talked with you much recently but ive definitely been following ur stuff (which youve probably noticed). ive been extremely busy with much longer work hours, sometimes needing to find a place to hide so i can plop down and pass out for a few minutes. if you wanna write something regarding that, however you want to, it would bring me a lot of comfort ♡

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26659246

For @flame-cat my child! I’m so very proud of you! I hope this fits :) I can always try again <3 <3 <3

Jon lifted his head, groggy and sore, from the surface of his messy desk, a spare post it stuck to his cheek. He blinked hard, rubbing the sleep from his stinging, burning eyes and peeled away the paper to slip it back into the folder. Ever since his promotion he’d been burning the candle at both ends in an attempt to balance all of the new responsibilities despite not having any of the relevant experience. Sasha would have been a much better choice and for the life of him, Jon couldn’t figure out Elias’ game. How did having a bumbling, idiot Archivist benefit him in any way?

He rubbed his temples, cursing the persistent ache. Barely getting through a statement a week already felt like running a marathon every time, leaving him exhausted and irritable and the worst part about it all was not being able to ask for help. He’d thought. Well. He’d though having Tim and Sasha accompany him would make the whole thing a little more bearable. They were friends. Friends took care of each other and they understood it wasn’t his decision, right? That he’d tried to argue his way out of it, tried to explain that he wasn’t the person for this job.

He was probably being sensitive. They had responsibilities. They were busy.

It’s not all about you, Jon.

But he was so lonely.

Tired.

And it only became worse as the weeks went on though he didn’t know how bad it had gotten until one of the library staff poked him awake at the end of one of the “K” shelves. He’d only sat down for a moment on the bottom rung of a rolling ladder.

“Mr. Sims?”

“Wah--?” So eloquent when the library assistant shook him by the shoulder out of concern.

“Can I help you find something?” They smiled. “Like the door? So that you might go home and get some rest?”

“No, no, I’m alright.” He plucked a book at random. “I was just looking for this.” They didn’t seem convinced and smiled indulgently.

“A book on kinephantoms?” And Jon drew himself up to his full, diminutive height.

“Wha--yes. Yes, or course.” Clearing his throat he turned on his heel and stalked back into the archives.

“Hello? Tim? Um.”

“What can I do you for, boss?” Jon was exceptionally nervous and he didn’t know why but as Tim whirled around in his chair, pen flipping over his fingers, it spiked in his gut, made him sick.

“Ah yes, the, the research I asked for, l’last week.” Deep breath, be the boss, delegate and follow up. “How is it coming along?”

“Oh, yeah! The research. It’s ‘coming along.’ Should have it ready in a few days. How’s after the weekend sound?” Horrible.

If he was being honest.

“Yes, of course.” But he wasn’t. “That would be just fine, thank you, Tim.” He tucked the folder he had brought for him behind his back and left the way he came.

“Jon?”

“Sasha?” He looked up from his reading to find her in his doorway and a cup of cold tea on the corner of his desk. When had that--? “How can I help you?”

“I just had some questions regarding what you needed for that last statement.” Disappointment flooded his tongue with salt. His instructions must have been lacking. He’d have to try better this second time.

It took the rest of the afternoon and Jon, having already worked through lunch, was feeling light headed from lack of sleep and food by the time Sasha was ready to start her research. She. She couldn’t, wouldn’t? Pretend? Not to know would she? All her questions, she was more suited to this job than he was.

No. He was being paranoid. He was just tired.

Disorienting pain lanced through his chin, echoing through his jaw and into his skull and he groaned. He’d fallen asleep propped up on his arm and paid the price for it with a bruised and throbbing face.

“Jon?”

Go’way.

“Jon?”

Lemme sleep.

“Jon?”

“Mmartin?” With difficulty, he was able to pry his eyes open, blinking away the cobwebs, the dust clinging to his lashes.

“What are you doing down here?” Martin was pulling him to his feet and Jon wanted nothing more than to curl back up and drift away.

“Was looking for--oh?” It was in his hand and he lifted it as evidence. “This?”

“You look exhausted.” Automatically Jon was denying it despite knowing the shadows beneath his eyes were like bruises, shaking his head and backing away without even enough stale air in his body to say the right words until he left Martin behind.

It was just a stupid, silly mistake. Nothing tragic or irreversible or cataclysmic, he just dropped a box of organized and neatly filed statements. Just dropped a box representing hours and hours of time and research and missed meals and lost sleep and proof of his incompetence and before he knew it he was on his knees amidst the papers and ink and photos and notes and it was all. Too. Much.

He didn’t even notice the tears at first, not until they hit his hands and he cried more of them in his frustration, wiping them angrily away and only ending up with his face buried in his folded knees because he was just. So. Tired. Jon didn’t know how long he sat there in the hallway, arms tucked around himself and holding all his pieces together, but it was long enough that someone came upon him and he hurried about tidying the pages and stuffing them back into envelopes.

“Boss?” Jon scrubbed his face, turning around with his most dictatorial expression. It wouldn’t do for him to see out how terrible he was at this. How awful.

“Ah, just dropped some files. I’ve got it.”

“Have you been--?”

“No! No.” He began to gather the mess faster, jamming statements into folders, into files, all out of order because if he stayed here any longer under his scrutiny he would end up sobbing.

“Do you need some help?”

“No.” Biting and cold. Drive him away.

“Jon.”

“No, I. I just can’t, I’ll get the hang of it. I just need to work harder.”

“Hey.”

“I’m just. I’m. I’m tired...that’s all.” It didn’t sound convincing to him, let alone to his subordinate. Not to Tim who’d known him before this whole fiasco. He stood, box in hand and staggered into the wall when the hallway tilted sideways, caught by Tim before he could go down again. Defeated, he let him take the statements. Let him leave it on the floor and lead him away.

“Oi, boss. When’s the last time you ate anything?” His hands were trembling in Tim’s and when he went to pull them away, the man held fast, drew him into an awkward hug.

“Oh...uh. I, I can’t, I suppose I can’t remember.” Caught, exposed, Jon let his face fall into Tim’s chest.

“Okay, okay, let’s get you taken care of.”

Suffering Martin’s fussing and fretting, while he didn’t understand it, wasn’t as intolerable as usual. He’d taken one look at Jon and wrapped him up in his well-worn cardigan and sat him at the rickety table with a cup of tea and orders to drink it. With his second mug he handed Jon a packet of biscuits and, not able to escape while sandwiched annoyingly (comfortingly) between Tim and Sasha, he had no choice but to nibble on them. After his third, Sasha tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

“I want to apologize, Jon. I wasn’t doing anything to make this any easier on you.”

“No, you’ve. You’ve been helpful and--” He was horrified that she would think his own shortcomings were any fault of her own.

“Not as helpful as we could have been, boss.” Jon looked between them so quickly it set his head to spinning. “We’re much better at research than we’ve led you to believe.”

“It was frustrating.”

“I’m s’sorry.”

“Not because of you.” He allowed Sasha to tug his head down to her shoulder. “We should have noticed you were running yourself ragged cleaning up after us.” Delightfully cozy and warm, Jon was dozing off and she chuckled. “Okay, okay, let’s get you tucked in. We can make it up to you after your nap.” Jon tried to resist, tried to rattle off all the work he still had left to do but all that came out of his fickle mouth were mumbling, sleepy, embarrassing noises. They set him up on the ratty break room couch and it was the most comfortable he’d been in ages. If he could just manage a coherent sentence…but the pillow was so soft beneath his aching head, the blanket Martin was settling over his shoulders just heavy enough and he tried one more time to say anything at all when Martin lifted the glasses off his face and folded them aside.

“Mhm, of course, yes, boss, whatever you say boss.” Sasha’s fingers running through his hair were his final undoing and between one gentle touch and the next, he let himself go.

#TMA #the magnus archives #jon sims #martin blackwood #tim stoker #sasha james #exhaustion #overwork #jon needs a nap #caretaking #promptfic #tmafanfic #I love my child and I'm so happy I could write for them <3

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aetherarf · 3 years

Note

I noticed you do Character X Character and have a cute request:

Ninnguang invites Diluc over for what Diluc thinks is a normal business meeting.

That is until he notices Ninnguang doesn't have any staff beyond chefs, and that said chefs are making his favorite food, and that some of it includes his favorite blended food. And so he thinks she just wants to hang out .

Basically Ninnguang asking Diluc on a date and setting up everything perfect for him because she loves him, but Diluc is extremely dense to it because he thinks she's just being profe.

I feel the need to mention that Diluc doesn't specifically like blended food, it's just easy for him to eat... But this is super cute, here you go :D!

Also I ended up not focusing on food a ton just cuz food is Weird to me but it's....... all really long so i hope that makes it ok.

ALSO I HOPE UR HAPPY I THINK THIS IS LIKE DOUBLE THE NEXT LONGEST THING IVE POSTED HERE

[[ Summary: Ningguang is a woman who knows what she wants, and she gets what she wants... Even if she must be patient... And what she wants isn't something mora can buy. It's something only patience, care, and love can earn... and she's willing, even if a certain red-haired man isn't exactly the best at noticing.

[ Mostly Diluc POV, Last Scene is Ningguang POV ]

Word Count: 5'088 ]]

Liyue, Diluc thought, looking over the harbor. It was loud, and boisterous, but in Liyue, people were better at keeping their distance, especially if they thought someone was of a higher ranking, to prove their respect. At times, it was easier for him to exist here than in Mondstadt, where draping yourself over another person was commonplace.

But he was not here for fun, it was for business.

Lady Ningguang had invited him for a personal dinner--of which he detested. She herself was a fine woman, more genuine and direct with her intentions, but it still meant that she was trying to get goodwill, to try and intertwine business with pleasure...

Something that Diluc didn't need to experience to know it wasn't the best idea... But he needed to play this game, lest she get the upper hand. Even if she was not a high-stakes business partner, she was smart. Give it time and give it effort, and she would have him in the palm of her hand and he could do nothing about it.

Better to dance along for now, and soon he would be able to lead.

After a long walk, glancing curiously at the hounds that seemed to want to play [And how could he not give them a brief pat on the head?] He found himself to Ningguang's... Estate, of sorts.

Odd to think about how, just a few months prior, he had been within the Jade Chamber, and how it had been destroyed within the ocean...

But, knowing Ningguang, she likely was already making preparations to create a second one. For now, she had a pleasant estate, near to the Harbor, but not so much so that it was easily trespassed upon.

The guards out front only looked at him oddly, seeing how he did not stutter with a single step, only adjusting his gloves as he walked past, not even noting their presence.

If someone doesn't look like they're supposed to be there, his father said, many years ago, Then chances are, they're not supposed to be there.

He long since learned to have a facade of confidence wherever he had gone, if only to avoid more human interaction when possible. But, when he got to the entrance to the building, a familiar face.

"Greetings," Diluc said, all refined and poise, "Zhenhai. Has her Lady not told you of my invitation?" He asked, and Zhenhai looked over Diluc, examining him.

"She has," He said, "You are simply early."

Diluc blinked a few times, early? You were supposed to be early. If you were not early, you were late. Even if you agreed at not a second after the hour, if you arrived the second of, you were considered late.

He did not like business games, but he would endure.

"I am simply eager to see her," he said, all lies, "But if you are telling me she does not want me here--"

"No," Zhenhai panickedly blurted out, then tensing, "Ahem... I simply request you wait here for a moment, Master Ragnvindr, I would like to inform Lady Ningguang of your presence."

"Take your time," Diluc dismissed, and as soon as he walked inside, Diluc's shoulders slumped... He was so tired, so tired of all these niceties. He was decent at them, decent enough to play the game, but were he honest, he wishes he didn't have to be constantly going back and forth between entire nations just to play these games.

Maybe, if he had more time, he could go back to an old hobby, of those hundreds of notebooks filled to the brim with ideas that filled his young mind.

Instead of stewing over it, he examined the area... The landscaping was quite nice, many Glaze Lilies were placed in a garden, and the garden was surrounded by pale stones, of a majorly uniform color.

And how the mountains encompassed the area...

It was quite nice. It, distantly, reminded him of the Stormbearer Mountains, but those were quite rough and jagged, these... these seemed more elegant, less accidental from the Anemo Archon's stupor, more intentional ploys from the Geo Archon.

"I am sorry sir," Diluc turned back around, seeing Zhenhai looking at him, tense, "Go right in, Baixiao will bring you to Lady Ningguang."

"Thank you." Diluc nodded towards him respectfully, not wanting to make a young, already foolish boy ( ironic, Diluc was not that old either ) even more humiliated at himself.

As soon as he walked in, well, not even as he got in, the door opened and a young woman with black hair stood before him--A wide smile on her face, looking utterly excited upon seeing his presence.

"Master Ragnvindr, it's a pleasure to see you."

Diluc hesitated, trying to remember this one--The three secretaries were... well, he did not see them often, so remembering them was a demon of its own right.

Zhenhai said Baixiao, so--

"It's a pleasure to see you as well, Baixiao. It seems my early arrival has caused a stir," He sighed, "I apologize if this has inconvenienced you at all."

She blinked a few times over, "Oh, of course not! It's always a pleasure to see your presence, planned or not."

... Is she implying I came on a whim?

"I appreciate the sentiment, Miss Baixiao."

"But," She sighed, "I'm certain you're eager to see Lady Ningguang, after all. This way, Master Ragnvindr." She walked ahead, and he followed suit... As he looked around, it seemed quite... sparse.

Oftentimes, when they invited another over, they would have their staff in full force, just to show that they had presence, but it was the exact opposite. Guards, and Ningguang's secretaries... Only a few, perhaps there were others, but they were not being practically shoved into Diluc's face, which...

Was a breath of fresh air, honestly.

He was lead to a room, and two women--the other two secretaries, Baiwen and Baishi... Not that he knew which was which from looks alone. Baishi, with loving care, was brushing Ningguang's hair, her finger curling a lock of Ningguang's hair before she let it fall and join the rest of it...

And Ningguang looked over at Diluc, a smile of pure adoration on her face.

She's a skilled actor, I'll give her that.

"Master Ragnvindr," She said, softly, "I apologize, I'm still getting ready, but it's lovely to see you again."

"Likewise," He agreed. "It seems, however, I came too early... I'll make sure not to make the same mistake twice-"

"Oh, no, don't worry about that," Ningguang interrupted, "This gives us time to take a brief walk, if you're willing."

A brief walk... That was unplanned. But, if he agreed, Ningguang is 'indebted' to him through things that could seldom be quantified-Through basic niceties and kindness.

When you give another a compliment, they are indebted, and oftentimes pay you back with another compliment. If they do not, there is a minor guilt of not having returned something.

Business always hinged on the debts you owe, and more importantly, what others owe you.

He was not fond of being in debt in any way, shape, or form.

"That sounds wonderful, Lady Ningguang." He praised, and she moved to stand, the woman brushing her hair taking a step back, frazzled, "Baiwen, be a dear and grab my parasol." The woman, Baiwen, nodded and walked off, leaving them with... Baishi and Baixiao, Baishi being the one who had assisted in Ningguang's preparation.

As he met Baishi's eyes, she was glaring at him with no small amount of hatred... Somehow, he was not offended. It was likely nothing more than seeing him as an obstacle, an irritation.

Another business partner to come, waste her time, and then leave once again.

"Well," Diluc said, to prevent an uncomfortable silence, "I apologize for not having reached out in some time, beyond a few letters," He had sent them, as a formality, upon hearing about the... utter chaos in Liyue. "I couldn't endure thinking I was causing you to stress when you already were so busy, so I thought giving you time was best."

She shook her head, "Diluc," she said, oh, the use of his name was very deliberate, "It's never stressing to hear from you..." She rested her hand on his arm, a delicate touch, and he, trying to be as courteous as possible, took it of, holding it gently.

"I'll keep that in mind."

On cue, Baiwen had walked in with a parasol, handing it to Ningguang, and giving a brief nod of respect, before Ningguang waved her off, "All three of you, thank you. You're dismissed for the day, be sure to stay safe."

"Thank you, Lady Ningguang," disturbingly, all three bowed in sync before leaving in line, Diluc unsure if that was rehearsed or simply second nature after happening so many times...

Baishi left a second glare before she was out of sight, the distant sound of closing and shutting doors was heard. Ningguang walked ahead, "Come... we are taking a brief stroll, aren't we?" She asked, raising a brow,

"But of course," he replied, following her footsteps dutifully until they were outside, and she had opened her parasol, holding it over so she could reside in the shade, even if evening was not nearly as blaring with sunlight as the afternoon,

"May I carry that for you?" He offered, and Ningguang smiled, handing it over,

"Oh, of course... thank you, Diluc."

He wasn't sure how he felt about the lack of his title. In a way, it was a relief, like it was nearly permission to take off the mask of professionalism..

But he also was aware this, too, was just a game. Just a way to lower his guard.

As he adjusted to hold it, so both of them could stay in the shade, she grabbed onto his arm with both her own hands, a relaxed position that he oftentimes saw, even in Mondstadt, where a woman would, subtly, claim her lover, to warn off any others... common in those who were insecure, touchy, or noble.

Interesting approach.

He just took a cautionary step forward, setting the pace, before the two of them walked ahead, and she had tugged, gently, on his arm...

She wanted to lead here, too, and he would let her.

They walked past the gardens, he glancing at the Glaze Lilies briefly, but she then stopped him,

"Admiring them, are you?" She asked, letting go of his arm to approach them, looking over her own garden of these flowers.

"Of course, they're beautiful, even without blooming."

A soft snip, and Ningguang plucked a single flower, and with her free hand, it was as though she held something out to it, and she blew gently on her hand, a faint, silvery dust fluttering over the flower, prompting it to bloom, proving its own beauty in such a subtle action.

He walked closer, examining it... He wondered if it was that the plant would respond to Geo energy, as how Windwheel Asters would twirl with the wind, but simply a more subtle reaction...

She lifted her hand, and tucked the flower into his hair, over his ear, before looking over him, nearly glowing with a silent form of pride, before grabbing his arm once again,

"I thought you'd look good with it," She explained, "And I was right."

"If I may be so bold," he smiled--how fake it felt, "I think it'd look better on you," as he was reaching up with his free hand to remove it, she grabbing his hand, and pushed it back down,

"Please," she nearly whispered, "Leave it? Keep it as a gift."

He looked over her features... How genuine she appeared.

It was confusing.

"If you so insist, I will accept this blessing from Liyue's Lady herself,"

She laughed softly, "So formal. You may call me Ningguang... or ah'Guang, if you so wish," she offered, tugging him a little to get him to walk again, as they began strolling their way off of Ningguang's estate.

"... Ah'Guang?" He asked, "I must admit, I've heard children use that in Liyue... such as ah'Qi. What is the meaning of such phrasing?" Diluc knew better than to accept such an offer without knowing what the truth, and meaning, behind it was.

"Hm... That's a little odd to explain. Adding the prefix-ah-is a sign of... Endearment, affection, and familiarity. It must be to the second part of a name, if there are two parts... but for someone named Xu, they would be ah'Xu."

Endearment? Affection? Exactly what was her angle?

"Children call themselves that because their parents adore them, and call them... Ah'Qi, or ah'Xu. They learn to refer to themselves like this for a few years. Close friends and lovers oftentimes use these terms for adoration as well."

Close friends and lovers, this was certainly a brand new method a business partner had used to try and keep them under their thumb.

"That's quite forward of you, Ningguang." He said, accepting her offer to be more familiar, but not... that familiar.

He had limits. He had boundaries. Those boundaries included keeping his business partners at a distance, ironic, seeing how Ningguang seemed content at nearly being pressed to him...

"Would you blame me?" She asked, idly, "You're a wonderful man, it'd be a shame to not make the most of such a relationship."

He didn't know what to say to that, if he was honest...

"You speak too highly of me," He insisted, "I was born to wealth-you created your own with blood and tears."

She shook her head, "Maybe so, but that alone does not dictate your worth as a person... Mora is wonderful, but it is not everything."

"Well," he thought, trying to figure out what she wanted him to say, and what he wanted to say, "I hope I can continue to live up to your expectations."

"That won't be hard," she hummed, "You surpass them with every moment."

A silence fell over them again, but he was no fool... if you pretend you belong, no one will look twice. He simply continued walking, the both of them continuing as they found their way to the harbor, during the evening, not as many people were present, mostly only keeping to their homes to settle down for the day, or having a small celebration between friends, but large get-togethers, like how getting absolutely sloshed at the nearest tavern just wasn't customary in Liyue.

So, now it was mostly just small groups of people, or duos, and some children running around to get their energy out just before or after dinner.

Diluc looked at the horizon, admiring how it nearly looked golden with the low-hanging sun reflecting off of the gently rolling waters.

"I love this time of day," She said, gently taking the parasol from Diluc's hand and walking ahead, closer to the ocean, only stopping before the fence that stopped any clumsy fool from falling into the ocean, "Ah... if only it was easier to keep in the shade, though."

Diluc examined her... and her parasol.

"Is there a reason you enjoy the shade?" He asked, standing beside her.

"I was born with a sort of... condition. My body cannot produce color," She gestured to her own face, "I burn quite easily... You're also quite pale, do you suffer the same struggle?" She asked, tilting her head to the side a little.

"Hm... Not exactly. Light is a little..." He struggled to find his words, and Ningguang just gazed over him, leaning over the railing, her head propped up by one hand, "I see things a little differently, as insane as I might sound. Light feels brighter, sounds louder... I suppose I simply do best in a mild environment."

"Interesting," She hummed, looking back over the ocean, "I have a... friend, of sorts, who is quite similar. She's less mild mannered than yourself, however, quick to be upset... and she's thrown a few tantrums, to be honest. She doesn't have the... tact that you do."

Diluc looked over the ocean... How it sparkled. It was a little hard to endure, the bright light of near-sunset... But he could endure.

"I suppose I learned how to handle it, but... I think it's a little more like pain. Some people can endure it better, some can't. No fault on either side, it's simply how it is."

He felt eyes on him, and looked back down at Ningguang, who looked... worried.

"Are you in pain, Diluc?"

... What a question.

"Yes, but I can handle it." He answered, fully honest. She straightened her back from her lounging position, and rested her hand atop his on the railing,

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should..."

Diluc didn't want to look at her, having heard this one too many times, and luckily, a blessing found itself in bashing right into the back of his legs, he trembling in shock as he saw a child on the ground, having knocked flat into him and collapsed onto the ground. Without hesitation, he crouched down onto one knee, and it seemed Ningguang did the same, both fussing over the young child, with bells in her hair...

"I... I'm sorry!" She blubbered, openly sobbing after only a moment of having been knocked on her rear, "I just... I just didn't know where to go, and..."

"Shhh," Ningguang hushed, softly, "Dearie, it's alright, I promise," She cooed softly, petting the top of the girl's head, "What do you mean, You did't know where to go?" She asked...

Diluc was endlessly thankful, and admittedly impressed, that she was dealing with the child so well.

"I..." The little girl wiped her nose, snotty from her sobbing, "Liyue Harborlooks different when it's not sunny, and..." Back to the blubbering.

"Hey," Ningguang hushed, sweetly, "Do you know any places near where you live? I know Liyue Harbor pretty well, I could help you find your way back home."

The girl nodded, "Uhm... Where... where does that... Girl with the spicy bear go?"

Diluc had to stop himself from taking a double take at that.

"Spicy bear... Oh, I think I know the place. Is that near your home?"

The girl nodded, "I... I could find my way home if I was there."

Ningguang laughed, softly, "Oh, sweetie... That's not that far," Ningguang stood up, and held out her hand to the girl, and she took it, assisting her to her feet.

"Okay," Ningguang pointed down to a street, "Just go that way, and turn left. Keep going for a bit and look for tables, if you go too far, you'll find another part of the docks... Do you think you can find you way on your own?"

The girl looked at the street...

"Yeah, yeah, I think I can... Thank you, Miss..." She nodded, turning around and finding her way along.

"You're good with kids, Ningguang." Diluc mentioned, quietly, "Shall I take the parasol again?"

She handed it over, "Thank you... and thank you. Children are sweet... Plus, most adults will let secrets spill around them. They have quite a bit to say, when you let them."

Distantly, Diluc thought of that... Diona girl, with how she constantly tried to put disgusting things in the vineyards... and Klee, who was well known for her adoration of bombs and explosions.

"You haven't seen the children of Mondstadt," he joked.

"Nonsense... Besides, there's this girl, sweet as sugar... But she's, well, she's a zombie, for a lack of better wording." She sighed, "She's... odd. But she works very hard."

"I'd take a zombie girl over a pyromaniac who risks destroying the city with her bombs..."

Ningguang looked at him oddly, "... I can't tell if you're joking."

"I'm not."

There was a moment of silence, and she blinked a few times.

"... I suppose that makes sense why you wouldn't like children."

"Wait," Diluc interrupted, a little surprised when she grabbed his arm again, but he got over it, "I never said that."

"But... you seemed quite tense when that little girl was here."

And he didn't seem tense for the rest of this... business date?

"I don't think I'm good with kids. I didn't want to scare her... But I do like kids. Kids just don't like me."

"Well," She thought for a moment, "Kids are simple. Give them a piece of candy, prove you can carry one or two of them, and they're happy. Adults are the confusing ones... So many things to keep track of, and you can't make them happy with a shiny coin or two..."

Diluc didn't have anything to say about that, so he didn't, opting to only walk ahead with Ningguang, to observe the last few moments of sunlight before bringing the both of them back to the estate, Ningguang all but dragging him inside, opening the door for him, he offering a polite nod in thanks.

"That was longer than I thought it'd be..." Ningguang muttered, "Is that alright with you, Diluc?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Of course, it was pleasant... I just fear I may have interrupted your plans for the evening." He admitted, adjusting his gloves, and she shook her head.

"You couldn't have interrupted everything, I've reserved all of today just for you, Diluc."

Once again, hearing his own name from her lips felt... odd.

"I'm humbled, Ningguang... Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, Diluc... I'm just blessed to spend time with you." She insisted, taking a step closer, closing the distance between them, Diluc, hesitantly, taking a step back...

Luckily, she didn't continue to advance.

"Come," She said, closing her parasol and setting it on a table, "Dinner should be ready." She walked ahead, standing in the threshold as she waited for him to get closer, before she found herself to the table, it all prepared, likely while they were absent, and sitting down on one side, Diluc sitting right across from her...

And as though it was magic, a servant appeared and had poured them both a cup of tea--And Diluc didn't miss how one, two bits of sugar were put into his, briefly mixed before left behind for him.

"The first dish will come soon," The servant said, before disappearing briefly, and Ningguang lifted the cup to her lips, taking a sip...

"I should mention, Diluc," she said, her cup lightly clinking against the table, as Diluc took a sip himself... pleasantly sweet, but not overpowering. "I'm certain you've heard of those... incredible seventeen course Liyue meals, yes?" She asked, and he felt his gut sink...

Oh, he was going to be feeling it tomorrow. He knew better than to reject food, especially in a business setting, but... it was just- it was so hard to force his body to swallow, sometimes.

"I don't care for those.. frivolous meals." She said, plainly, "So it may seem a little plain, a little simple. I hope this doesn't disappoint."

...

Maybe she really was more relateable than he thought.

"Actually, that's quite nice to hear," he admitted, leaning back in his chair a little, relieved, "I was a little worried there'd be countless dishes, all with the dedication of Golden Crab... No disrespect if you enjoy such a dish-"

"I don't," she said, bluntly, "In fact, I find it quite ridiculous. Maybe a crab boiled on it's own... a little bit of broth to dip, would be pleasant, but the... ugh, disgracing a creature with a bath of batter and oil... Pardon my cruelty, but it makes my stomach turn."

For the first time that night, Diluc smiled, and chuckled genuinely.

"I couldn't have said it better myself. I-My brother, adoptive, mind you, sometimes I wonder if he only likes dishes due to their supposed 'status', that their fame automatically lends itself to being delicious... Ridiculous. I could give him a Jade Parcel full of a sponge and he'd tell me it was 'impeccable' or something like that."

Ningguang laughed aloud at that comment, "Oh, oh my goodness, that's what Keqing is like with... what was it, Golden Shrimp Balls? She's so serious and poised, but if someone puts those in front of her, she loses it, like a starved dog in front of a choice cut of meat. I wonder if I should do that--or fill it with Jueyun Chilis, just to see if her gluttony can withstand it."

Diluc snorted with laughter, "No, no, because there's a chance she'll like the spice... Fill it with sugar."

She gasped as though he suggested something utterly scandalous, "Oh, that's perfect... She even says she doesn't like when someone tampers with food, such as salted Almond Tofu or sweetened soup..."

Even as the dishes had come out, laughter had rung out with their... admittedly unprofessional discussion, from anywhere to using Jueyun chilis to brew wine for Diluc oh-so unfortunate brother, and making delectably enticing cupcakes filled and topped with Qingxin petals, just to taunt poor sweet Ganyu...

And eventually, they were done, and Diluc...

He actually enjoyed it.

In a moment of speculation when Ningguang briefly dismissed herself, he thought about it, analyzing the conversation...

He should have had more restraint, than to fall into such a trap. From what he could recall, he offered a lot of information to Ningguang, he seldom ever called Kaeya 'brother', much less to business partners, to prevent them from reaching out to Kaeya in an attempt to get to him, but...

He didn't agree to anything, at least.

As he looked at the scroll, of a painting within, that was placed on the wall, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked over to see Ningguang looking up at him, her eyes wide...

Sparkling, almost.

"Are you alright? You didn't respond."

"Oh," another moment of weakness, "I was lost in thought. I am alright, Lady Ningguang." He gently moved her hand off of his shoulder, but she did not pull it away... and he did not abandon it so quickly.

"As long as you're alright." She said, and then... she had gone quiet, examining Diluc's face, a brief moment of silence as they both looked at each other.

"When," she said, in little more than a breath, "Can I see you again?"

...

This meant she was expecting an invitation to Mondstadt, wasn't it?

He seldom wanted her there, but...

The Winery would be fine.

"Give me a few days," he said, "I'll send letters, and we can make plans. Was there anything you wished to see?"

She was quiet for a moment, and shook her head.

"To see you is enough." She insisted.

Great.

"Well... I should be going." He sighed, avoiding her intense gaze, "I mustn't be keeping you."

"You couldn't keep me, Diluc... But I understand. Be safe, I eagerly await to see you once again."

"I look forward to seeing you."

And with that, they parted ways, and Ningguang, for a long moment, only watched.

Why did he feel like he was neglecting something?

... ... ...

Ningguang sighed, sitting on a stone bench beside the glaze lilies, who opened in the moonlight, watching as the subtle wind pushed them to and fro...

"Lady Ningguang," Zhenhai greeted, "Are you alright?"

She looked over him, examining him.. and sighed, moving a little out of the way, silently offering him a seat. While she felt no need for a bodyguard, perhaps being alone wasn't the best idea.

"I'm fine," She said, plainly, "Just another... Fruitless attempt." She explained, straightening her spine to seem more proper.

"With Master Ragnvindr?" Zhenhai asked, and solemnly, she nodded. It was no secret that she had eyes for only Sir Ragnvindr, and of which has not been reciprocated... or, honestly, even acknowledged, which made it all the more painful.

"Did something go wrong?" He asked, looking at the glaze lilies before him... And Ningguang sighed,

"No... But, I cannot say anything went right, either. It simply happened. If I must say one thing about Master Ragnvindr," She leaned forth, letting her fingertips touch a petal of one of the flowers, "He is a smart man who knows better than to let anyone get the upper-hand. His weakness is also his greatest strength--He keeps everyone at a distance."

She tried to hide how her voice shook, but it was not like it mattered. Anything that happened with Zhenhai did not matter, for he was just a young boy, barely old enough to legally work, and anything he would say would be swiftly forgotten.

"Well, he is smart, and he should know better than to avoid business dealings with you." Zhenhai said, plainly, "Maybe be more blunt, I feel like he's not fond of trying to beat around the bush."

Ningguang turned to look at Zhenhai, confused, "Business dealings," She echoed, "I am not trying to coerce him into working with me." Her voice was a little more stern, but as she saw his expression...

There was a degree of fear, but overall, he was confused.

"You're not?" He asked, "I apologize, Lady Ningguang... I-I simply thought you were. But, maybe this is a good thing," He blabbered out, tense, panicked, "Maybe he doesn't realize you're not trying to do business with him, and he's... misunderstanding like how I did?"

Ningguang was about to shoo him off... But she widened her eyes.

Wait...

That's exactly what it was.

Diluc wasn't just keeping her at a distance--he was... oh, he was dense. Somehow, that didn't make him any less ideal in her eyes, but it clarified everything.

How he would keep his distance, physically, to maintain a business professionalism, how he spoke only few words, and when he spoke of himself, he gave little for her to work with.

"Oh, dear," Ningguang stood, "Zhenhai, you're right." She said, and Zhenhai's eyes widened.

"I am?"

"Absolutely... and as punishment for embarrassing me," She grabbed his ear, "Come help me figure out how to tell him."

"Ah! Wait! Wait, I don't know what's going on!"

"Don't worry, you'll be getting paid overtime."

"That doesn't explain anything!"

Well, he'd find out...

And, with Zhenhai's help, maybe she could get a better view into Diluc's mind...

Maybe he was right the first time, just to be more blunt with her intentions, even if he too was confused.

The worst that could happen was rejection, and she could go on with her life, even if the idea caused a great pain...

But it would be more painful if she never brought it up.

#genshin impact #diluc #ningguang #diluc x ningguang #ningguang x diluc #dilguang #// theres no good ship name #// ????#bark writes #// looks @ my 15 tabs open on my 11 year old macbook #// oh no

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