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#that being said not sure what id give the rest of the cast
betawooper · 2 years
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do u have body type headcanons for the jjk cast 👀 i love ur hcs for the kny cast so since youre getting into jjk now im wondering abt it... share as many or as few as ud like hehe
ok after thinking about it for like two seconds and factoring in how i would personally draw them if they were with their friend groups
yuji - fat, short but is a tad bit taller than nobara bc i can imagine it pisses her off
megumi - tall beanpole, long as hell, went thru like a million growth spurts throughout junior high and never wants to experience that again, still has baby face though
nobara - very short and stocky, square shaped with broad shoulders, is kinda insecure about her height so she tries to make up for it in any way she can
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gojo - gangly, would flutter out the open window of a car on a freeway, should look kinda weak with a constitution of -3 (has the added effect of giving a more visual indication of how normal he looks when not using his powers), is the shortest of the trio
geto - tall, ties height with shoko, a bit stocky around the middle but its not as obvious when hes wearing his priest robes
shoko - rectangle figure, honestly both her and geto would be built similarly if i were to draw them
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v-anrouge · 6 months
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Just a general analysis of like yi how he would act and stuff
A lot of people seem to think vil is a narcissistic self obsessed asshole who would give ppl eds and insecurities and shit and like as someone who is hyperfixated in him and has read about every content of him available in eng server that i manage to get my hands onto it's just one of the biggest mischaracterizations of vil. his words are always meant to be of encouragement when he criticizes something, his words are rough because as a child that was the way everyone talked to him, he was a young boy thrown in the modeling world and the acting world, and although it was (half) by his choice, having a famous dad he was born in front of the cameras. it's very clear that vil masks and barely shows his emotional side and you can see that this has been going on for YEARS because as a child when he is beat up by a group for being a villain in a movie he didn't cry and just stood up and insulted the kids , a contrast to how he vulnerably asked his father for reassurance on wether or not he was a villain also in his overblot flashback. vil has said it himself multiple times but whenever he assigns a self care routine and a diet to anyone it's always with the best intentions in mind, he doesn't give them a diet so they can lose weight, and he would never, we know that because in his overblot he confessed how much he hated the diets he put himself through but couldn't help it because he was desperate to be seem as beautiful, to finally be enough. vil is a very insecure man, a type of insecurity that is hidden from anyone that doesn't know his heart, and trust me, very little people know his heart. he's not one to trust others easily and once again that probably has to do with the industry around him and people probably trying to ruin his career. vil is an extremely caring and protective person, he takes care of everyone in his dorm and the people outside of it, and he recognizes the value potential and strength in everyone, and he will comment on it when he sees someone with so much of it and wastes it all by never trying, we can see that in multiple times but ill highlight his moments with leona and how he comments on it because he, unlike many in the school, recognizes leona is amazing and extremely talented (id also like to point out leona and vil are extremely similar and have extremely similar trauma just ended up coping w two opposite extremes (leona not trying and vil trying too much)) he is shown to even stay awake late at night to make sure everything is going right with each of his students. a lot of people seem to have the misconception that vil's overblot was caused out of envy for a casting of a simple movie but the truth is the roles were never the problem, it's not like vil has a problem with villains, what he hated is that he only got villain papers because no one ever saw the worth in him to be a hero, no one considered him good enough or fit for the role and would constantly cast all his hard work and passion aside in favor of someone else's (neige's) see how it is? it's never about the actual roles in a movie, what vil craves is validation, is admiral, is being truly loved for who he is, is to have his hard work be seen and recognized and cherished, is to for once in his life not be a second best, that's why he says n his overblot, that for once all he wanted was to stay in the stage until the curtains fall, all he wanted in life, is to be able to stay, and not be thrown away once something better is found to replace him
since you write for x reader im assuming you'd like to know how he'd act with a lover so; vil would even more caring over his lover, constantly checking in on them and fussing about little things in order to make sure they're taking care of themselves and treating themselves right the way they deserve to be treated, for vil to fall in love it takes A LOT of trust in that person so rest assured you'll see sides of vil that nobody but his father have ever seen before, you'll need to be patient because vil has a lot of issues to work through but if you stay by his side, hold his hand and encourage him to better himself like he always did for others vil swears on his own name you'll be the happiest person to ever exist
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abronzeagegod · 7 months
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ETS WIP Chapter 16: End Script
[first]|[more]
As the last of the worms was killed and banished into their home plane, the last person that Lyta wanted to see was Ji.
"I was surprised you chose me of all people," the thin, but stupidly hot, Exterminator said.
"Yeah, well," Lyta said without thinking, she felt like she had to response and the filler words were the first thing she spoke into existence. She was still trying to reign back her anger, to keep it under control and not say something stupid or mean or callous. Now was not the time. She took a breath. "You're an asshole but you're still one of the best Exterminators we have so it wasn't really even a question. Besides I still know your employee ID number so it was easier for me to look you up."
Not entirely without anger, but sometimes it just is like that.
Ji shrugged. "Well, I never got to see you really fight like that so... if you ever want to transfer over to the Exterminators give me a call. We could go for a drink or something."
Lyta briefly caught Aeth's eye from across the hallowed field of servers and graveyard of worms and phones.
"I'm good where I'm at."
Aeth, meanwhile, was being interrogated, or rather very harshly questioned, by two members of the Catalog and Archive Bureau.
"You unleashed a god upon tech support," said the one that was not tall. "You stole an unrestrained small god that was supposed to be closely monitored and let it loose within one of the most complex systems in the world."
"Yes," Aeth said. "It was necessary."
"We will be the judges of that," said the one that was not short. "This is going to have ramifications."
Aeth nodded. "And letting the Abyss go unchecked would have been much worse. A thing that you were supposed to deal with, but were... indisposed."
Lyta had walked over by this point and cut off the agent that was about to speak, "Not to mention your Bureau is responsible for letting a sentient nightmare out that almost consumed my friend whole. So should you really be casting blame."
The one who was not tall sputtered a little bit before he answered. "We were not informed."
"Oh, funny that. You can go clean up the corpse of 3812-B in my friend's apartment. When you figured out how the thing that was supposed to be monitored 24/7 managed to get out, almost complete the goal for which it spawned, and you still didn't know about it, then we can discuss the ramifications of the thing that saved us all."
"You'll be hearing from us," the one that was not short said angrily.
"I'm sure we will," Lyta snapped back. "But until then fuck off back to the file cabinet."
Aeth heaved a sigh of relief as the agents stomped away. "Thanks. For everything."
Lyta smiled up at Aeth. A warm, but tired smile. "Any time. Can we get out of here? I need a shower, food, and probably a call to a repairman and my landlord to fix my apartment."
"Before you go," came a voice from one of the servers. Out of an unused port, came the representation of the new God of Tech Support.
"What can we do for you?" Aeth asked.
"I owe you two more than I can say," Sir Lance Corporal said. "I am now more than I ever was. I feel like I am myself and I have a purpose. I thank you humbly for your efforts in this event. I hope we shall work together again soon."
The pair just nodded.
Then, just in Aeth's mind, came the voice of the god, "Thank you for your faith, as well. It sustains me and gives me the strength to continue."
Aeth nodded and replied in prayer. "It was nothing. Easy to believe in something good. I'm sure Lyta feels the same."
There was a soft sound of a server next to Aeth that sounded almost like a chuckle.
"Lyta does not, and that is fine. She believes so much, in you. That is enough for me, I hope it is enough for you."
Aeth wasn't entirely sure how to respond.
"Go, get some rest you two. There will be work to be done when you return," the god of tech support said.
"Ok, thanks," Lyta said. She turned to Aeth. "I have an idea, it may be a dumb one, but it's all I've got right now. Let's get a hotel room, shower, give our clothes to the pros to clean, eat some room service while we hang out in fluffy robes, and then just... sleep."
"It sounds great."
"My apartment is probably covered in like three inches of snow melt."
"And I'm sure the Catalog people are combing over my place looking for 3812-B."
"Which will be easy to find, right?"
"I hope so."
As the pair walked off, somewhat hesitantly, Aeth put their arm around Lyta's shoulder. Lyta immediately warmed to the touch and moved closer to them.
Sir Lance Corporal made sure to tell the hotel to only offer them rooms with a single bed.
if you liked these maybe considering leaving me a tip on kofi
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3 Months
Over the course of three months Barnaby and Kotetsu closer and learn more about each other's scars, both physical and psychological after Kotetsu has to move in with Barnaby following a major surgery after a mission. Barnaby does his best to help Kotetsu as best as he can, wanting to return the sentiment for all the times Kotetsu has helped him.
But when both men are stubborn and wear masks it's easier said then done. Luckily they've got friends, and each other.
a/n: I wanted to do a little fic exploration, both of Kotetsu and Barnaby learning more about each other being confined to a small space for a long period of time while so looking at the otherside of Kotetsu that we don't often see. Full story will be on AO3 but i thought id share the first chapter here ♥
I
“Why can’t I stay at my apartment?” Kotetsu frowned and crossed his arms over chest. 
Barnaby crossed his arms over his chest and looked pointedly at the bright blue cast that covered nearly his entire left leg. 
“Do you really think you can sleep on your couch for three to four months?” Barnaby asked. “Or climb up and down the stairs to your bed?” 
“Well…it’s not like my couch is uncomfortable,” Kotetsu replied. “I’ve slept on it before.” 
“And complained about a crick in your neck for the next three days after,” Barnaby reminded him. “It’s already been decided you’ll stay with me once you’re released from the hospital.” 
“What? Bunny no, I can’t do that,” Kotetsu shook his head. “What about your solitude? And according to the doctor, I’d have to be with you at least a few months. That's…that’s a long time. I could just go home, use my vacation time.” 
“Isn’t your mother planning to take Kaede on a vacation during her school break for a few weeks? And doesn’t your brother work?” Barnaby asked. 
“Well yeah but…” Kotetsu shrugged. “I’m a grown man. I can look at myself.” 
“Are you that opposed to staying with me?” Barnaby frowned a little. 
“No but…three months? Are you sure you’re willing to do that?” Kotetsu asked. 
“I wouldn’t have offered it if I wasn’t,” Barnaby answered. “Lloyds has already approved my request for a week off while you’re on bedrest, and I can work from home a few days a week to make sure you don’t injure yourself further when you no doubt attempt to do more than you should.” 
“Got it all planned out don’t you?” Kotetsu sighed but smiled a little. 
“Consider it me returning the favor from all the times you’ve helped me,” Barnaby replied. He stood up and picked up his jacket. “I’ll go by your place and pick up some clothes and essentials for you. Once your bedrest is over we can go back and see if there’s anything else you’d like to bring with you.” 
“Do you need my keys?” Kotetsu asked. 
Barnaby pulled them out of his pocket. “Already got them. Get some rest alright? I'll be back tomorrow.” 
“Hey um…Thanks Bunny,” Kotetsu told him. “I’ll try not to get on your nerves too much.” 
“I doubt that, but I appreciate the thought,” Barnaby smiled a bit. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 
“ So, gonna be staying with Barnaby huh?” Antonio asked. “ Should I get your casket ready now? Or give it a few weeks?” 
Kotetsu rolled his eyes and picked at a loose thread on the hospital blanket. “I’m not that bad of a house guest. And I’ve been to Bunny’s place before, even stayed the night.” 
“ Yes, after you’ve passed out drunk from drinking too much beer and wine,” Antonio pointed out.
“Okay…Fair point,” Kotetsu sighed. 
He tried to lean back but the pillows he was propped up against made it a bit difficult. So he only managed to lean back a few inches at best. 
“ Well I’d offer to let you stay with me, but, we know how well that went last time,” Antonio replied. “ Listen, I'm sure it’ll be fine.” 
“Yeah…yeah you’re probably right,” he nodded. 
“ You sure you’re alright? I know it’s late, but I could swing by, sneak in some bad food,” Antoio offered. 
“No, it’s late, and the nurse is gonna swing by again to check on my leg, she’ll smell the hamburger grease a mile away,” Kotetsu told him. “But thanks for the offer.” 
“ Three months are gonna fly by, and you’ll be back before you know it,” Antonio told him. “ Call me when you get settled in. Maybe we can convince Barnaby to invite the group over for some drinks.” 
“That sounds great Antonio, I’ll talk to you later,” Kotetsu smiled a bit. 
He hung up and set his cell phone on the small table next to the hospital bed. He tried to get more comfortable but between his leg being held up, and the pillows he was propped up against to avoid rolling over, he was stuck. 
“Guess I got three months of having the straightest spine in existence right?” He pulled the blanket up and tried to get as comfortable as he could before closing his eyes and trying to sleep. 
***
“Oh, you’re awake,” Barnaby blinked a little surprised as he walked into Kotetsu’s hospital room. 
“I couldn’t really get comfortable enough to sleep,” Kotetsu shrugged and sat up a bit. “Between the nurses coming in to make sure I haven’t developed a concussion, or rolled over in my sleep…and ya know,” he motioned to the hospital room. “What’s in the bag?” 
Barnaby nodded as he set down the bag he’d brought with him. “I brought you a change of clothes. The nurse said it’d be alright and I thought it might make you feel a bit more comfortable.” 
“I…thanks Bunny, that’s, that’s really thoughtful of you,” Kotetsu smiled. “They’re a lot less itchy than this hospital gown I’ll tell you that much. Oh…but uh, how am I gonna manage pants with the cast?” 
Barnaby pulled out a pair of shorts. “At least one silver lining is that it’s almost summer. Would you like some assistance or…?” 
“I think I can manage, but uh…maybe stay close, just in case?” Kotetsu asked. 
Barnaby nodded and pulled out the shirt he’d brought along with him, while Kotetsu started to remove the hospital gown being mindful of all the tubing he was still hooked up to. The shirt was easy enough, he’d grabbed a semi-random button up t-shirt that was blue with little pineapples on it. 
The shorts were black and knee length. They were wide legged so he figured they’d be easier to slip on over the cast. He stayed close but didn’t hover, and busied himself with seeing what he semi-blindly grabbed from the other man’s apartment. 
Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, socks, shoes, well, one shoe. Hat. 
“Um…Bunny, could you give me a hand?” Kotetsu asked. “I can’t get my other leg.” 
Barnaby looked over and saw that he had one leg through the right pant leg while he held the left side with his hand. He set down the hat and walked over to the bedside. 
“Just uh, my ribs are still a little sore, I can pull them up I just need you to get them over my foot,” Kotetsu explained. 
“Not a problem,” Barnaby nodded and knelt down. 
He rolled up the left leg of the shorts and lifted his left foot carefully slipping it over the cast and pulled it up just enough for the other man to grab the hem and pull them up the rest of the way. He sat back on the bed and stared at his leg. 
Barnaby didn’t move. Must as he wanted to help him, he knew Kotetsu would be stubborn, he already didn’t like hospitals, doing certain things without asking would just be making things worse. 
He supposed in a way they were similar in that regard. 
Stubborn, and at times unwilling to ask for help. 
In Kotetsu’s case, not wanting to be a burden. 
Though as he watched Kotetsu wince and bring his left leg up and prop it back up on the pillows, right leg quickly following before sagging against the pillows, he was sorely tempted to disregard those feelings. 
“Better?” Barnaby asked instead. 
Kotetsu nodded and sat up a bit. “Uh, sorry about the mess you probably had to wade through. I was gonna clean up cause Kaede and...crap, Kaede.” He covered his face with his hands. “She was supposed to come up this weekend. I told her we’d go shopping for a few things for her trip…can’t very well do that now…” 
“Assuming it wasn’t too much of an overstep, I already called her and told her what happened,” Barnaby told him. “She was very understanding, and there’s still time before the trip. Putting it off for a few weeks won’t hurt.” 
Kotetsu sighed. “I hate knowing I’m the reason she’s so…understanding and accommodating. I mean, I don’t, I think it’s great ya know. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. But at the same time…” he shrugged. “Thank you Bunny. Gonna have to buy you a case of that fancy wine you like to make up for all this.” 
“Don’t worry about it, what partners are for right?” he waved his hand dismissively. “Besides, you can’t even pronounce its name. How do you expect to order a case?” 
“I know what the bottle looks like,” Kotetsu replied. “I’ll just go to the store, find the bottle and tell them I want a case. Easy.” 
“Whatever you say old man,” Barnaby crossed his arms over his chest and smiled a bit. 
“Who you calling old Bunny? I’m hardly that much older than you,” Kotetsu pouted. “I can still go toe to toe with any criminal in Sternbild…well…could.” 
“You could do a lot of damage with that cast,” Barnaby agreed. “Though, your punching’s a bit better than your kicking.” 
“Laughter is always a good sign,” the nurse smiled as she walked into the room. “The Doctor has given the all clear for you to go home, we’re just gonna go over a few things. We'll have you sign the discharge forms and make a follow-up appointment for a few weeks for now to check and see how the healing process is going. I understand that you’ll be released into Mr. Brooks’s care?” 
“Yes. That won’t be an issue will it?” Barnaby asked. 
“Not at all,” she assured him. “We’ll also just need to take down your information, should anything come up, and so the pharmacy is aware for prescription pick ups.”
“Do we really need to go over it all? No offense but we’re pretty much old hands at this,” Kotetsu said. “Can we just pretend?” 
“You’re going to be on a higher dosage of pain medication this time around Mr. Kaburagi, at least for the first few weeks, the doctor has also prescribed an optional sleeping medication. Patients sometimes have trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep following major surgery, especially with one as extensive as yours given that you’ll have to sleep propped up for the most part. As I said though, it is entirely optional, so if you don’t feel the need to take it, then you don’t have to,” she explained. 
“We understand,” Barnaby nodded when Kotetsu didn’t say anything. “Please, continue.” 
***
“Are you hungry? I haven’t had the chance to go grocery shopping yet, but I can have something delivered,” Barnaby offered. “I think I’ve got some take out menus in the kitchen from the last few times.” 
“Honestly Bunny, I think I just wanna try and get some sleep,” Kotetsu told him. “Maybe later though?” 
Barnaby nodded. “I’ll just be in the living room if you need anything.” 
Kotetsu nodded and settled back against the pillows. 
Barnaby turned out the light and left the door ajar as he left the bedroom. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before looking through the drawers until he found a pen and notepad making a quick grocery list. 
He could do this. 
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fixation ask 💕 favorite
favourite character and why: it will surprise everyone that knows me that my favourite character somehow isnt Peri, the autistic girl with pink hair that has a pink cat ears hoodie. do not get me wrong - i love and adore her and she is high up there (as is the rest of the cast)
no uh. my favourites are Loam - a nice and cheerful character that hoards gender (so that fits a bit into some pattern) - and. i have failed to see any pattern as to why the second one is a favourite, but ill go into a bit of spoilery detail under the cut
Ame. he does not fit any pattern of my favourite characters aside from the "recognition of self in other" which let me elaborate.
so, on the path to the true ending of the game. he gets told that an abled bodied person wouldnt find standing up for two hours very difficult, merely annoying. and, uh. i didnt know that one either. and overall the "i had to discover the fact that im disabled entirely on my own" resonated with me. on my first playthrough that was just about my adhd, but as i slowed down on the second and subsequent playthroughs and started reading more carefully i actually had the "standing up for two hours isnt supposed to be difficult" sink in and hoo boy did that mess with me.
also his smiling sprite - well, i say smiling, but hes wearing a mask; but like. hes still really expressive - is adorable
also now that were here id like to reiterate that yes i absolutely adore Loam while being fully aware theyre a villain. they just need a good support system. i believe that, fundamentally, shes still a person with not only a capacity for good, but who actually might utilize said capacity. im not sure which place or places the idea is brought up - i think i recall something of the sort in Midnight's Cold Requiem, You Are The Anomaly and Collapsing Star - that people at their lowest point will be doing things that they wouldnt normally be doing, and while its important to recognize that this is still them, this isnt something they wouldve done without being pushed to extreme. and uh. "I'm leaving. If they kill me for trying, then that really is fine too." this may not be outright suicidal tendencies but it sure is suicidal behaviour. to give you a bit of an idea on how bad a place theyre in. point is he deserved better and if she got what she deserved they wouldnt be villainous.
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resizura · 2 months
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i dislike it when people mention certain re characters had “no training” and still being able to fight zombies, and on the flip side discredit other characters for being good at combat.
like first of all, the powerscaling in this franchise is nonexistent. but secondly, if we wanted to go about this realistically, no one in the franchise starts out being a bioterrorism combatant, kinda the whole point of the games. its not really survival horror if the characters are well matched against the threats (a problem i have with re6)
like i get that jill and chris are police officers and very skilled ones at that. but like, theyve never dealt with murderous plants, giant snakes, spiders, and sharks, terrifying zombies and zombie dogs that picked off the rest of their equally elite team. i wouldnt ever say “obviously because they’re cops, they have a higher chance of surviving.” like they know how to use a gun, thats it. same for every main character in the games.
leon and claire are essentially just regular civilians to me. leons a pto and claires a college student, they’re even less trained than chris and jill who were literally in the army prior to being in stars. sure chris taught claire stuff, but again. just…. taught her how to use a gun, it seems. id never say they had an upper hand due to their skills in that game
ada’s the only character i’d say who seems to genuinely have a higher skillset out of our main cast, i love the detail in re2 that she runs faster and has a higher fire rate when you play as her. so sure, i’d say she has more experience with the rest of the cast.
throwing in rebecca, its a similar situation, i’d put her closer to leon and claire. she’s only 18, and a medic. i’m sure she’s skilled with a gun but her main expertise is medicine, and again, even if it wasnt, she’s never dealt with these monsters like every other person in the games has.
when you get to the action era, these characters have dealt with things before, but they’re still new. at the same time, because the genre of games has changed, they’re much more OP compared to the classic games.
someone was talking about how (remake) ashley is agent material because she helped leon get into the plaga machine. they said leon is alive because of her, and she went above and beyond despite having no combat skills. and like sure, give ashley her flowers. idk, the wording of “despite having no combat skills” bugs me because i DO understand what they’re saying but like….. of course leon in re4r would be better at this stuff. he’s seen it before. she hasnt. similarly, this is why jill is slightly more skilled in re3 compared to re1, she’s more well versed in the threats.
my point it, talking about if re characters have experience or have combat experience to scale how deserving they are of being praised for their skills is dumb because almost every character started out the same way of being inexperienced with the horrors thrown at them
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tearsofellen · 3 years
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One Way or Another (yandere!Dabi x f!Reader)
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Pairing: Yandere!Dabi x f!Reader, Hawks x f!Reader
Synopsis: Being a doctor at the hero hospital is stressful enough. However, what happens when your beloved friend Hawks begins to take a liking to you? And what if he isn’t the only one who has his eye on you? An evil Dabi starts to fall for you immensely after one dark night. Nothing can hold him back from his urge to have you.
Part 1 / ?
Words: 3.5k
Warning: This story will eventually have mentions of stalking, violence, gore, language, and hard smut. Viewer’s discretion is advised.
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The sounds of birds tweeting filled your ears. Today your bed seemed just that more comfortable as the sunlight dripped though your curtains. The sound of the traffic in your city was at a minimum as you sighed into your pillow. Finally, a day off from work. This week had kicked your ass hard. Your job at the Hero hospital was a privilege and a burden. While you were one of a very small group who could treat and aid the top heroes, it was a very stressful job. The hours weren’t exactly nine to five and some nights you were heading home with your head low in complete exhaustion. However, you still loved your job. You had a great sense of pride knowing that you could give back to the heroes who protected you and everyone around you. 
But today is your day off.  You knew how to separate your job and your personal life.  You lay in bed thinking of what you planned to do with your free time.  Your kitchen could do with a cleaning, but the idea of sitting on the couch watching bad reality television sounded more appeasing to you. You smiled into your pillow, finally a day to relax and do absolutely nothing.
Then your phone buzzed.
You opened one eye to see your boss’ caller ID on your screen. You grabbed the phone from your nightstand and reluctantly answered. Before you could even say hello, the sound of your boss yelling over the phone broke the silence in your room.
"_______ get in here now we need you!"
 With your shoelaces undone and a piece of toast in your mouth, you dashed outside of your apartment with your work bag tossed on your back. Your boss informed you of a villain attack in the city centre which caused some heroes to be injured. Fire injuries were your specialty, so you were called immediately. Your legs were running to the train station, hoping not to miss the train to the hospital and having to wait another ten minutes for the next train.
While you were fixing your tie around your neck, your eyes caught sight of a small red object flying across in front of you. After a small moment of confusion, you heard the sound of wings flapping behind you and immediately knew who it was.
"Hey hey hey, didn’t know you were into running these days ______?"
You scoffed, swallowing the last bit of your toast as you dodged hitting into a random person in the street.
"Not now Hawks" You yelled up at him. "I’m running late."
Hawks. Number 2 Hero. You both met each other when he had only just graduated from this hero training. He survived a nasty attack from a villain, resulting in his feathers being pretty damaged. You were the one who took care of him and patched him up.  He was in the hospital for two days straight and most of that time was spent with you monitoring his health. His determination to become a top hero and his snarky charisma allow you two to immediately have a connection. After he was discharged, he still kept in contact with you and now he could consider you one of his closest friends. Till this day, he is forever grateful for you helping him, but these days teasing you seems more fun to him.
The man was now gliding alongside you, clearly mocking your lack of speed.
"Why am I not surprised?" He chuckled, eyeing you.
You sent him a stern glare. Unfortunately, you could not argue with him and run at the same time without losing your breath.
"You know, sweetheart, the train is about to leave in a minute, and unless you just gained a speed quirk, chances are you're not going to make it," he teased.
You held your tongue at his words. When you first told him you didn’t have a quirk, he thought you were joking and laughed in your face. Needless to say, you weren’t too happy about that. So whenever he sees the chance, he always enjoys pointing it out.
Hawks continued to fly beside you, now sighing and crossing his arms behind his head.
"Only if you knew someone who could get you to the hospital in time." He groaned.
He raised his eyebrow at you. You knew what he was trying to imply. Your stomach immediately started to do flips at the thought of it. You hated heights and Hawks knew this about you. But he also knows about how much your work matters to you.
You eyed your watch on your wrist, already you were ten minutes late. You glanced down to see Hawks’ red feathers tying your shoelaces. You finally stopped running and stood trying to catch your breath.  You ignored the rational thoughts in your head and returned back to glare at Hawks.
"I swear Hawks if you do anything funny." You sneered at him.
His face immediately lit up with glee and a smirk spread across his face.
"Trust me _____. It will be like floating on a cloud. " He reassured you by putting his hand on his heart.
"Just don’t throw up on me again." He hushed quickly. 
Before you even had time to swear at him, he whooshed behind you and lifted you up in his arms. You immediately let out a squeak in fear, earning a laugh from Hawks. Your hands gripped his neck and your body tensed up as you both started to rise to the sky. You both were now above the skyscrapers and the whole city seemed so small. It was truly breath taking and you wondered if Hawks ever just spent his days looking down at the city.  
You cast a quick glance down at the people who had turned into ants. Your stomach dropped and you turned your face into hawks’ chest for the rest of the journey to avoid throwing up.
"You can look up now doll."
You cranked your head to see if Hawks was telling the truth. You were relieved to see that his feet were touching the ground. He had landed on the hospital roof, a perfect spot.
"Nice landing" you jerked at him.
"You’re welcome Miss." He said, rolling his eyes.
You hopped out of his arms and stood attempting to fix yourself up before you entered the hospital. You could tell the wind messed up your hair quite a bit.
"You look fine ____."
Now you were the one to roll your eyes. Last time he said that you walked into your meeting with your lipstick smeared across your face.
"Shouldn’t you have been helping save your colleagues from that villain attack?"
"Had to make sure my _____ was safe first." Hawks was always skilled at avoiding questions he didn’t want to answer. You chalked it up to his media training.
You made your way to the door leading down to the hospital as soon as you felt you had put yourself together decently. Hawks' mouth dropped at your actions. He flew to block the door to prevent you from leaving.
"Nothing else you want to say?" He pestered at you. "No thank you, hawks or hawks; you are my hero; you are incredible?"
He really made a poor impression of you.
"Thank you, Hawks. Now shove it. " You snapped thinking of the time you are wasting with him up here. Your words, however, did not convince the young hero.
"How about takeaway and a movie at your place?" He questioned.
"Did you just invite yourself over to my place?" You sneered at him; your arms now crossed.
"Is it a deal?" He spoke. You were beginning to realise that there was no way hawks was going to let you though unless you said yes. You both haven’t done anything together in a while, you thought to yourself.
"Deal." You nodded.
Hawks’ feathers fluttered and he busted into a sing-song voice.
"Perfect! I’ll buy the food and you can pick the movie. Bye _____! " He yelled, tossing himself over the building as he flew away into the clouds.
Your mouth dropped at how he was able to make you agree to invite him over to your house within a minute. You sighed, rolling your eyes as you pushed the door open to enter the hospital.
As you entered your unit of the hospital, your boss was stood there waiting for you and your co-workers busily hurrying around.
"Look who finally decided to turn up."
You did your best not to glare at him.  You apologised profusely about being late to him and how it wouldn’t happen again.
"I heard she was seen with her boyfriend Hawks" A staff member piped up with a sneer.
You cringed at her words and her attempt to cause drama in front of your boss. Hawks is many things, but your boyfriend is definitely not one of them. 
"He is not my boyfriend. He was helping me to work. " You defended yourself. 
"I don’t want to hear anymore of the bird boy. Get working now _____. " Your boss yelled. 
You gave a low nod and immediately jumped into work, making your way over to your first patient.
 _______________________________________________________________
When you actually finished with the last patient, you had no idea what time it was. You gathered your belongings and exited the building, only to find the city engulfed in darkness. You sighed, your shoulders heavy from fatigue. The thought of a relaxing bath and a comfortable bed appealed to you. You checked your phone to find that the train station had closed long ago. Your eyes darted across the street for a taxi, but you had no luck. Walking it was, you thought.
You tried your best to stick to bright lit areas of the city. It was one of the disadvantages of being quirkless, you were practically defenceless. If a villain wanted to kill you, they would have no problem with doing it. That is why you prefer to work behind the scenes helping the heroes rather than being at the front of the violence.
Your walking stopped as you reached an alleyway. You debated or not if you should enter it. If you stuck to the bright areas, you wouldn’t reach your apartment for another fifteen minutes. However, if you went down this dark alleyway it would only take you five minutes. You stood listening for any noise to indicate if there was anyone down the dark path. After standing in silence, you made the decision to chance it. You took a breath and made your way down the narrow street.
All was well and you finally started to calm down as you walked. You thought of what leftovers you had in your fridge to eat when you heard the noise of glass breaking behind you. Your blood turned to ice as your body froze into place. When you looked to the source of the racket, a single drop of sweat ran down your brow.
A man with his head hanging low sat beside one of the big trash bins. You quickly realised the man wasn't all there when he didn't acknowledge you as you walked by. Your brain was screaming at you to keep walking. Your heart and morals, on the other hand, told you to check on the man's safety. You bit your lower lip, carefully weighing your options. Your morals came out on top.
"Sir?" you asked.
You were met with silence since the man did not respond. As you got closer, it became clear that the man was in pain. When you were within arm’s reach, you cautiously put your hand on the individual's neck to check for a pulse. Fortunately, it was at a consistent rate. You now knelt beside him. You tapped his shoulder lightly. Finally, the man let out a groan. You breathed a sigh of relief.
You gently pushed his head back, allowing you to see his face in the moonlight. You immediately noticed the faulty stitching and staples all around his face and body. The damaged deep purpled skin contrasted sharply with his pale skin. His eyelids hung low, but the brightness of the moon resulted in the stranger opening his eyes halfway. You were almost in shock at his bright blue eyes as they stared into yours.
"Am I dreaming?" He mumbled painfully.
You shook your head as you examined his body.
"What is the problem sir?" You questioned.
He sent a sly grin at you. Your concern was able to amuse the man. His finger weakly pointed at his opposite arm. One of the stitches on his arm had obviously ripped open and blood was steadily pouring out and onto the dirty ground.
You stared at the wound for a moment and considered if he needed to be taken to the hospital.
Almost as if he were reading your mind, he said, "No hospitals."
You chose not to question him and began to act on your feet. You removed your bag from your back and pulled out your first aid kit and some tools you used at work. You began to place a thread into your incision needle and prepared the medical stapler for use.
You could sense his apprehensiveness as he eyed your needle.
"Trust me sir, I’m a doctor." You explained to him.
"You'd better cut the sir crap; you're making me feel like an old man." He laughed lightly,
Feeling like you were getting somewhere with him, you continued the conversation. 
"Do you have a name?" You asked, hoping to distract him from the pain about to happen.
The man had a slight hesitation as his name fell from his mouth.
"Dabi."
You placed some hydrogen peroxide onto a cotton ball as you continued to talk to him.
"You have a lovely name, Dabi."
"I bet you say that to all your patients."
You smiled at his words and you placed the cotton on his wound. He immediately tensed up and hissed in pain as the alcohol did its job.
"I can promise you I don’t, Dabi." His name fell off your lips with such ease.
After you felt the wound was disinfected, you grabbed the needle and began to stitch his skin together. Dabi was now sat up straight admiring your concentration with the needle. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had cared for him like this.
"Did you get caught up in that villain attack this morning? “You asked him.
Dabi's mouth turned into a smirk, "I guess you can say I was."
"I bet it was scary," you said.
Dabi raised his eyebrow at you. "Do I look like the sort of person who gets scared?"
You took your attention from his wound and looked at his unamused face. You giggled slightly at his expression.
"You can tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone. " You teased him.
He chuckled at your humour. You really did do a good job at distracting him from the pain.
"Those villains are pieces of shit, aren’t they?" He said, hoping for your opinion.
As you took the stapler in your hand, you moved on to the staples of the wound.
"Hmm, I don’t know if I would say that." You mentioned focusing on placing the stapler in the right position on his skin.
"What? You side with the League of Villains? " Dabi pried at you, staring at you with interest.
"Not exactly." You explained, "I believe a lot of the villains didn’t exactly have a choice of which side they wanted to be on. Also, working with Heroes, you begin to see that quirks determine what society thinks of you. If you don’t have a quirk, then you must be useless. If you have a dangerous quirk, then you are destined to be a villain. I find it all very frustrating if I am honest. "
Dabi listened intently to your rambling. It was nice to see someone agree with some of his opinions. You were obviously very intelligent. As you continued to work on his arm, he made note of your face and its beauty.
As you had just finished the last staple, you asked him, "Did you patch your skin up yourself?"
"Yeah, I did. I prefer to do it my own way because the majority of my skin is brunt to a crisp.” He explained.
"You have a fire quirk?"
He nodded as your eyes moved across his body to look at his skin. Your eyes finally meet his face. Without even thinking, you reached your hand out to cup in check and brushed your thumb along the staples in his face.
Dabi let out a small gasp. It had been a while since someone had touched him. You finally realised what you did and immediately yanked your hand away from him and stood up, hoping he wouldn’t see you blush in embarrassment.
"I’m really sorry Dabi" you said, putting your face in your hand, "I’ve just never seen anyone with a fire quirk like this."
He smiled at your embarrassment.
"Don’t worry. There is no need to be sorry. I didn’t mind it. " He reassured you.
You sighed and reached a hand out to help him up off the ground.
As he towered over your frame, you suddenly realised how tall he was in comparison to you. As soon as you realised your work was done, you let his hand out of yours.
"Well Dabi" you said, "I guess I better be heading home."
"Thank you" was all he said.
While your arms hugged you around your stomach, his deep blue gaze on you made you feel even more insecure.
"Are you going to be okay?" You asked him.
A small smile was on his face.
"Don’t worry about me."
You nodded to let him know you understood.
"Then I better go." You said, turning away from him.
Before Dabi could open his mouth to say anything to you, a black car drove into the alleyway with a large honk of its horn.  The tinted window rolled down the slightest bit and a voice called out Dabi’s name.
"That’s my ride," Dabi explained.
He didn't want to abandon you in the dark, but he also knew that you getting into the car would be impossible.
"Well take care Dabi", You said your last words and turned the corner away from him and the car.
You knew that it wouldn’t have been a good idea if you stayed any longer. You did your duty and left without anything else occurring. You had visions of the man’s blue eyes and face. You could tell from his body and face he was probably conventionally attractive before his burn scars. You ignored the flutters you had in your stomach as you took the stairs up to your apartment floor.
After entering the code to your apartment, you quickly tossed your bag to the floor and threw your jacket off. You sighed with relief to finally be home alone. Peace and quiet was the thing you needed after your long day.
"Finally home sweetheart?"
When you saw the man behind you holding a plate of takeaway sushi, you shrieked and nearly fell to the floor in shock.
"Hawks you little-!"
________________________________________________________________
Dabi threw up his hands in frustration as he approached the LOV's hideout. He completely forgot to ask for your name. After you had taken care of his injuries, the very least he could do was ask for your name.
He sighed and sat on the grimy couch. His thoughts returned to the events of your and his meeting. He was still bewildered that you chose to help a random stranger in the dark. Dabi knew that if it hadn't been for you, he would have bled out until he passed out and died. His fingertips traced the stitching on his arm that you had done. It was noticeably better done than his own work.
"What are you smiling about?" Toga spoke up, breaking Dabi of his thoughts.
His face immediately dropped, and he muttered a nothing. Toga shrugged off his reply and reached for the TV remote. The sound of the TV made Dabi’s head throb, so he stood up and headed out of the room to find somewhere more peaceful to rest for the night.
"What was the situation like in the hospital tonight Doctor?" the interviewer asked.
"Well, I would personally like to thank the heroes who were able to transport the citizens and other heroes who were harmed in the attack to the hospital so quickly."
The sound of your voice echoing throughout the room made Dabi freeze in place. He turned around to face the TV and ordered Toga to turn up the volume.
Dabi barely heard your voice as he continued to stare in a trance at your lovely face.
"We would like to thank you and your unit for all your help today. We are all grateful. " The interview told you.
You nodded and smiled at the camera as you wished everyone well.
Your name suddenly appeared at the bottom of the screen.
"Doctor _____ ______"
Dabi's face lit up with a big grin, and he couldn't help but laugh. He figured it wouldn't be that difficult to find you after all.
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bulle-d-bulliver · 3 years
Text
Everyone needs to be a little selfish.
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[image description : the background is a dark blue, with the shape of a town on the left, curving on the middle leading to the shape of a forest on a right all in one black block, and the foreground having a couch made of wood and with pillows placed on them, two mugs with steam placed on it, Angor Rot on the right looking toward the left, and the Inferna Copula in the middle. The title ‘Everyone needs to be a little selfish’ is white and cut to be placed above and under the ring, in the font Impact. end id]
Edit, 29/10/2023 : I do not make banners like this anymore, nor can I edit the new ones on older posts due to the difference between the editor at the times and the current one since I use extensive alt descriptions. I will not remake posts for writing. Additionally this blog has been turned into a One Piece Writing blog.
Rating : General Audiences, SFW Fandom : Tales of Arcadia Relationships : Angor Rot/Reader or Angor Rot & Reader Tags : Hurt/Comfort, Not following canon
Summary : You have the ring. You have something to propose to Angor Rot. You just want to be a little selfish, for once.
You looked at the sky, the moon hidden away behind clouds, casting your world in shadows. The blanket around your shoulders and the hot mug on your lap helped keep you warm as you sat on the bench placed on the porch. The town was silent save for so very faint car noises from afar, and the usual noise of the dark.
And a light, subtle, noise. A rustle, from the wind perhaps, of the bush. But you knew better. You hadn't decided to sit on your porch wearing that ring without knowing full well what- who was bound to come. You continued to watch the sky calmly. You didn't bother looking down to look at him or observe what he would decide to do. You weren't a fool; you knew he was well aware you were merely an average everyday person. It wasn't hard to assume he had made sure to stalk you, check you out, before showing himself.
You gestured to your empty side, to the other hot beverage sitting there. "Feel free to take it if you want it." You said, voice calm. He made no move to do so nor deigned to answer. That was fine. You hadn't expected anything else, but still. You thought it would be polite, maybe. Or nice. It just felt wrong earlier when you almost went out with only one cup. So you had made another one, not really for him, not really for you, just because it felt right. At least that's what you thought, but you weren't really sure why it mattered. The nerves, perhaps, probably.
"I want to make a deal." You said. He didn't answer, but stepped closer, weapon at the ready, silently threatening you to tread carefully. After a beat, you looked down at him, and he finally spoke.
"I could kill you." He stated, as a matter of fact, which really it was. Even with that in mind, at that moment, you couldn't do anything but appreciate his voice.
"And yet you're showing nothing but patience." You hummed into your mug, sipping peacefully at it.
You sighed. Looking back at the sky, with a sad little smile. "Give me your company and you will have what is rightfully yours." He looked confused, utterly at a loss at your words. He was a man of violence, shaped and chipped at by the excuse of a life he had had. People had fought for the ring, to control him. To use him. Never had it ever been for anything but violence and power.
"I'm affection starved-", you paused, drinking again, "touch starved, attention starved. Companionship starved. I'm asking for only the latter. I can go without the rest."
A pause.
"I'm being greedy and selfish, I know, to sit here asking this of you when I have your very soul on my finger." You looked at him. "Which is why, no matter your answer, you will get it back."
It wasn't shock that crossed his face. Nor was it anger, or confusion again, or anything of the sort. It was realization. That his ring, in the hands of an everyday person, could hold a very different meaning. The utter control over someone, the absolute power it held : for lots, that would be a tool. And for most, it would be the most terrifying thing.
He knew you were telling the truth. He knew because there was no doubt you would rather he kill you to take it than keep him under your power. Long ago, he had been a warrior. Long ago, he had been a person, he had been himself. He'd forgotten what it was like to be wanted so innocently. A part of him found you naive and stupid. Perhaps you'd agree with it, but you were showing raw honesty and vulnerability. And yet, there was no bigger mystery than you at the moment, in his thoughts and in his mind. Feelings were a peculiar thing.
He stood before you, filling your view and blocking the sky, and took his ring, sliding it off your finger, putting it on. Absolute relief was obvious, and would've been to everyone, but right now it was you and you only who could see the indescribable expression he held as he pressed his clenched fist to his chest, a gorgeous yellow glow lighting him.
You gave him a little smile, and went on to drink from your mug, unphased. That was it, you thought. He didn't want the deal, only what was his, and that was fair. It was lonely here, but that was not his burden to hold. You knew that from the start, and although a little disappointed, you had a soft blanket and a warm mug under a night sky.
He'd forgotten who he was fighting for, back then. Who he was and why he had become who he was now. He'd forgotten. But it was coming back to him, since meeting the Trollhunter. It was coming back to him now, meeting you.
He kneeled slowly, in front of you, his forehead resting on your knee, as he wrapped both his hands around the one that previously held his soul. It didn't fix him, getting it back. It didn't fix him. But he had it, still, because you were too human to accept anything else. You were the people he used to protect and fight for. You only wanted something so genuinely honest, his company, because you wanted to be a little selfish.
Angor Rot had changed. He stopped being a warrior, but he couldn't keep on being a champion. His life had been stolen and he had played in keeping it that way, that much the Trollhunter had shown him.
And right now, in this moment, he didn't want anything but you being a little greedy, and keep him around tonight, and perhaps the night after, and let him take it back, like he rightfully deserved.
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starsfic · 3 years
Text
Gossip
Summary: Shaoqing, during a gossip session with her best client, has no idea how she arranges fate.
Notes: For Monkie Kid Month, Day 1: Here Comes Monkie Kid!
If you like and want to support my writing, you can tip me at my new Ko-Fi!
-_-
“I hope you have a wonderful rest of your life, Qi Xiaotian.”
“Thank you, Miss Shaoqing!”
“See ya later!”
“...hopefully never. Bye!”
Miss Shaoqing of Shaoqing Law Firm leaned back in her chair as she watched the odd trio walk out of her office. On her desk was the adoption papers, ones she had to finish filing. But she wanted to savor this, in a job well done. Turning in her chair, she opened the mini-fridge.
Inside was a golden bottle, full of peach-colored liquid. It was celestial peach wine, the type drank at the peach banquet of immortality. However, Wukong had stolen this and a few more bottles before they could enter the immortality-giving phase. Leaving a light and sweet tasting wine that tasted like sunshine and childhood.
Her phone rang as she was pouring her second glass. The ID showed loud and clear who it was, with all the monkey emojis that had been plugged in. Shaoqing pressed it, not even bothering to give her formal greeting. “Did you do something?”
“Hey, Shaoqing!” Sun Wukong cheerfully said, not even acknowledging the rude greeting. “Nope, nothing today. But...I got a feeling you had some tea to spill.”
No tea, just wine.
“I’m still not legally allowed to share the details of my cases.”
“Spill the tea, spill the tea, spill the tea...”
“I regret ever teaching you that phrase.”
Wukong laughed on the other end, paired with the sound of a chip bag opening. (She should really swing by sometime to make sure his actual food hadn’t run out.) “C’mon, you know you wanna.” His voice turned a touch softer. “Makes a nice distraction from my work.” Right, that whole successor business.
Shaoqing still had no idea how to feel about that.
She leaned back in her chair. “Well, it’s a case of taking a minor out of a dangerous situation being cast as kidnapping.” Wukong hummed. “This kis, his name’s Qi Xiaotian...”
As she talked, Shaoqing had no idea of what she had just unfolded.
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randombtsprincessa · 3 years
Text
Brush His Picture
All Rights Reserved. © RandomBTSPrincessa, Tulips98.
Author: Randombtsprincessa
Characters: Kim Namjoon x Reader
Words: 12.6k I am sorry for getting carried away...again.
Genre: Fluff, Angst cause it’s me
Rating: General!
Summary: Your job of writing a bio for Kim Namjoon is thrown for a spin when feelings get involved...
Warnings: It’s Namjoon. I have gushed. I am not sorry.
A/N: Firstly a warm and cuddly hug for @wynniewright​ for whom this fic is written. I enjoyed our conversations and look forward to more of those! Secondly a big hug and heaps of thanks to @casuallyimagining​ for the gif banner because I suck at those. Thirdly thanks to @thebtswritersclub​ for hosting the wonderful exchange!
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Smeraldo Books, in your opinion, was the best building in the small corporate complex located just a little walking distance from your little apartment. It was slate gray; concrete and glass which gave off a cold, aloof appearance from outside, but when you entered it, it was rich creams, warm browns with tons of plants and flowers. The smell followed you, as you climbed up the floors, multicolored as should be the place where you entered new dimensions via books.
Your own floor was pastel blue, pine wood and deep tones of red and browns sprinkled here and there. If you looked hard, you’d find some pink nestled somewhere too. Today it was on your own desk. You had outdone yourself to be early today. You’d packed up everything you could think of in a sensible tote – notepad, tablet, pens, pencils, heck you’d even thrown in a sharpener and ruler scale. You’d grabbed your hello kitty travel mug, filled it with yummy hot chocolate with a touch of espresso and strode down the street to work.
You would be getting the first assignments of the incoming season today and since it was your first writing assignment overall, you wanted to make a good impression – a very good impression. Your pressed clothes and smart shoes were testament of your frazzled fluttering last night, preparing for today. Making sure you had everything; you took a deep breath and made to enter the conference room at the back of the floor.
Each floor had one, for on-floor calls and projects undertaken by the different subsets of the publishing house you worked for. Yours, in particular, was the same blue and pine, a long oval table in the centre with purple and blue mismatched chairs around it. Light streamed in clearly from the high wide windows, with glass animals on the sill throwing rainbows on the wall. In the very centre of the table was a vase, sporting the very flower that the company was named after. The ethereal blue petals blushing with pinks and violets at their veins curled delicately, recently sprayed to look dewy and fresh.
You adored these flowers; you had three pots of them at home.
***
Rena arrived at sharp 9:45. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek high ponytail that you were semi sure could cut if she – ahem, whipped her hair back and forth fast enough. You’d mentioned that during a drinking night, and had been friends since. She was your mentor in more ways than one, and you relied on her heavily, this being your first year at Smeraldo. Your appearance today would reflect on her too and you wanted her to know that she could trust you.
“Good morning, Y/N.” She smiled at you.
“Good morning, Rena. Any news for the morning?”
She shrugged, unbuttoning her navy suit. She crossed her legs. “I know seasonal meetings are important, but you don’t have to be quite so stressed about them.” She winked at you. “Don’t worry, you’ll ease into it.”
You sighed in relief. If Rena was this unbothered, you had absolutely no reason to worry.
Your steady breathing remained until about ten minutes, when at 9:55, the door was opened and the head walked in with her assistants and the other members of the floor. You shuffled to the front of your chair as the meeting commenced.
As Rena had said, it really wasn’t anything to worry about. Your head was chill enough when she presented spreadsheets, delegating people to watch the stats and curves before the real reason for the meeting was dealt with.
The ‘projects’ were the writing, the works, the foundation of Smeraldo. Every ‘project’ floor had three to four of those. The stars, who would usually grab the opportunity to head out there, do the work your creative writing professor preached about and bring in the digs. The rest of the floor was the sheep, handling excels and graphs – like commoners.
This season began with two fantasy drafts, both quickly given out to the oldest, most experienced Stars, no questions asked. They were to draft first, present later before Smeraldo published them under their banner.
“Right then,” She looked up. “Now, I don’t suppose you need to be reminded that last year we joined hands to collaborate with HYBE. It is an honor that they chose us and we intend to honor them right back, don’t we?” The words were intimidating enough for us to all nod.
“We have already worked with them so it should be easier for us to get going on the contract this time around. Right Kayla,”
We all turned to look at each other while there was silence from where the Head pointed.
***
As a part of the Smeraldo-HYBE collaboration, personal booklets for each member were released along with quarterly albums, as a sort of promotion. Last quarter, it was Min Yoongi. Now the big season project fish was Kim Namjoon. These works were separate from Smeraldo fictions but equally as important, and if the Head was to be taken seriously, even more so.
After all, BTS was worldwide famous. To do them wrong, would mean our name was mud.
Kayla was the third writer on your floor, senior to you and she had handled Mr. Min’s book. It was a given that she would take charge for the other member’s books as well…
…only…Kayla was absent…at a seasonal meeting…
The fuming ears of the floor Head suddenly told you that maybe you did have something to worry about. With all due respect to Rena, you quietly celebrated showing up an hour early.
“Where the hell is she? What’s going on?”
We stared back dumbly.
“She didn’t call in sick or called off today.” One of the assistants supplied helpfully but cowered when the Head glowered at her.
“Well, that’s all very well, but who do I brief now?”
“Not to worry, you can brief Y/N.”
There was a longer pause in which the members of your floor, simultaneously, turned to look at you. Your jaw nearly dropped, head whipping to look at Rena; the picture of ease. She looked at you and smiled.
To her credit, the Head looked equally thunderstruck. “I…Y/N?” she asked.
You looked around meekly. “Yes ma’am.”
She looked at you askance, before resolutely glancing at Rena. “You will watch her, yes?” At Rena’s nod, she turned back to you. “Miss Y/L/N, I won’t remind you that this project is extremely important to Smeraldo. I would expect your utmost best, understand?” You quickly nodded your head.
“You will be meeting with Bang Sihyuk and Namjoon himself in two days. All information about the album and the HYBE workings will be in a dossier in your mail. Don’t disappoint me.” she cast another look at Kayla’s empty chair, sighed in annoyance before swiping her files over to her assistant.
“Until next time, people,”
When the room finally emptied, you immediately turned to Rena, “Why would you do that?” You demanded.
Rena looked exactly the opposite of how you felt. Stretched onto your nerves now lay the weight of the world, your world. You had been thrilled to get an internship at Smeraldo, working your entire life around the business and after scoring an actual job here you had never thought that one day so soon you’d be at the risk of losing it.
If Kim Namjoon’s book tanked – you were dead. Dead, dead and very much dead…
“I told you, Y/N, you worry too much. This job is probably the easiest ever and since Kayla decided not to show up…I mean, come on, you’re one of our writers…the job was bound to come to you. Head madam just needed some time before she came to you. I hurried the process up. Besides, how will you learn if you don’t actually do the work?”
“But…it’s Kim Namjoon…” You mumbled.
“He’s hardly going to bite your head off, Y/N. Chin up and head to the meeting like the champ you are. You’ll be fine.” She tipped your head back with her hand before walking out herself, leaving you to scurry to your desk, feeling nowhere near as consoled as you should’ve been.
***
Two days in and you were getting dressed up yet again. Only this time, your nerves were sparking like a frayed wire no one was paying enough attention to. You chose a simple but professional outfit, worrying if there was any way anyone could nitpick on it. You ended up switching to something much more formal (and in your opinion, stuffy) attire in the wee hours of the morning, unable to get back to sleep.
HYBE’s building was situated in one of the most upscale business locales in the city. You had to take a cab to get there, already deciding that no way would you have enough time if you took a bus or the train. Already the buttons on your top felt like an over-tight corset. Thankfully, you seemed respectful and important enough to the cab driver that he stepped on the gas pedal, having you step out on the pavement in front of the building with almost twenty minutes to spare. You swigged at the espresso chocolate mix in your cup before stuffing it back into your tote.
You could do this. You had all the qualifications…if not the experience.
You could not possibly screw up that bad, could you?
According to the dossier, the meeting was set in the lounge, somewhere comfortable and open, probably a request of Namjoon’s himself. You knew enough about the man to take a guess.
Inside the building, security quickly but thoroughly sorted you out. You were patted down by a friendly lady, who smiled as she scanned you out an ID and rifled through your purse. She spotted your Hello Kitty cup and chuckled, giving you a wink that had you blushing all the way to where you were supposed to meet – directions given very kindly.
Along the way you knew. You knew that if you ever had to change jobs, you would dearly love to take one at HYBE. The place was an eclectic mix of practical and fun. There were artist posters and records and awards sprinkled around, the most prominent being BTS of course. Sunny gold lined the areas, with crisp blues and greens.
You might have even passed a little park arena.
When you reached the lounge, a sprawling area of lush moss like carpets and pink and purple art work on peach walls, there were only two other people in. The ones you were here to meet.
You recognized Namjoon from the door itself.
Insanely tall and thickly built in all the right places, he stood at a window. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his baggy khakis, a thin blue sweater hanging over his frame, hiding just how muscular he truly must be. Your lips twitched at the deep rose pink hue of his hair.
The other man must have been Mr. Sihyuk, grey suited and glasses perched on the tip of his nose, steadily going through sheaves of paper. Both men looked up at your knock on the glass doors.
Mr. Sihyuk stood up first, hand outstretched but his smile looked a little confused.
“Um, Miss Kayla…how nice to see you, again…”
It seemed like a question, his eyes scanning over your face as if trying to place you and you froze. Your hand paused just a little away from his, eyes darting around to the Idol who joined his CEO.
“It was wonderful to have you with us again on the bio projects for the albums,” He continued, seeming unfazed by your gob-smacked face. “You did a brilliant job on Yoongi’s. I was sad to be unable to meet with you before.”
Oh…dear…they didn’t know it wasn’t Kayla who was going to be on the job. Suddenly you felt like sinking through the soft carpets, right underground. They probably had dossiers of their own, with Kayla’s name across them. They didn’t know that she had slept in that one day and they didn’t know that they were now stuck with you.
“I’m – I’m afraid there's some misunderstanding, Mr. Sihyuk. My name is Y/N Y/L/N. I’m afraid Kayla was unavailable for the project.”
There was absolute silence on both ends after you finished. Mr. Sihyuk’s shoulders fell at your words, mouth parting as his eyes went scanning you again. This time you could distinctly feel him sizing you up. His eyebrows twitched up just so.
“Well then,” The other man, Kim Namjoon, the one you were supposed to write about, extended his hand. “I suppose we should rehash that welcome. Hello Miss Y/L/N, my name is Kim Namjoon. I look forward to working with you.”
You jolted a little, even stumbling forward to shake his hand, now thoroughly shaken out from your humiliated stupor.
“Forgive us, we must not have read the email citing the change.” Bang Sihyuk continued, spreading his hands genially.
“Don’t worry about it. These things can happen.” You fiddled with your bag strap with a tight smile, ignoring the urge to sway on the balls of your feet. The thick tension had still not dissipated as the three of you stood in a triangle, wondering who was going to make the first move.
It had to be you, shockingly. “So, um, shall we begin?”
You were shown a plush red armchair, Namjoon and Bang-PD taking the matching sofa as you were given the preliminary data. A small biographical book of sorts, more of a booklet if you were being honest; talking about an important segment in Namjoon’s life and his process and journey throughout the inspiration and creative take of the upcoming album. Standard, new age stuff…same as Yoongi’s…you already had Kayla’s old notes on the write up forwarded in your email.
You scribbled in small notes in your notepad while Mr. Sihyuk slid a small calendar across. “This is the tentative production and release schedule that we want to follow. There is, of course, plenty of time for you to follow Namjoon around and get a feel of the work environment, the studio life and of course, Namjoon himself. You’ll have quite a lot of time to write. The book will be issued and launched before the press conference and promotions will be done along with availability of the bio in stores.”
You studied the calendar before slipping it into your bag. “Thank you, Mr. Sihyuk. This is most helpful. We’ll be starting work from next week then?”
You were met with nods.
“Well, I’ll be off. It was wonderful to make your acquaintance, Miss Y/L/N. Please, forgive us about the whole Kayla mishap.” Bang-PD stood, you and Namjoon following and with a parting handshake he marched out of the lounge.
You began to slide in your pens and notes back in the bag when you noticed that Namjoon hadn’t followed his CEO out. Instead he stayed back; hands behind his back, watching you pack up.
You glanced up at him in question, meeting his impish small smile with a confused one of your own. “I’m sorry, I just feel so bad about the…thing before.” He said.
“Oh please, really, don’t worry. I’m, like, very new to this so it was bound to happen.” You waved a hand, slinging your tote on your shoulder, preparing to leave.
“Drive safe.” He said, gesturing for you to walk before him.
“Don’t have a car,” You blurted out instinctively before mentally slapping yourself.
“Oh, do you need a car? I’m sure we can get one to take you back to the office.”
“No, no, please.” Your ears burned at the thought of taking one of HYBE’s no doubt lavish company cars to simply take you back to Smeraldo. “I’ll just take a cab.”
You didn’t wait for his reply, shooting a quick smile and wave as you nearly rushed towards the exit.
***
Next week saw a dip in temperature, with you arriving at HYBE wrapped in a coat and scarf. You pulled off your beanie when the kind lady at the desk handed you your lanyard, this time stamped across it were the words EMPLOYEE/ COLLABORATOR. It felt heavy around your neck, the figurative noose as it were, in case you messed up.
Namjoon met you near the reception desk, jogging over from one of the elevators. “Hey!” He smiled wide, rosy hair glinting under the lights. “You’re right on time.”
“Oh,” You wondered if they were watching you for slip-ups and punctuality was one area they were scrutinizing. “On time for what?”
“To meet up; it’s so cold we’re all taking coffee breaks every ten minutes. I thought we could just work in the café?”
Namjoon rubbed his large palms together, drawing your attention to his fingers – soft and perfectly formed. You cleared your throat, shocked at yourself – tightly smiling back.
“Sure, lead the way.” As if you were going to refuse a request from Kim Namjoon himself, you and he walked the same route as you had the first time you’d come here. Only this time, you passed the lounge and followed another hallway which led to what was obviously the cafeteria. The back was lined with counters and serving tables of buffets. There were couches strewn about, booths, and tables. You felt like you were back in school. You hoped the food would be better.
Namjoon led you first to the serving tables. Stirring himself a simple cup of coffee, he turned to you. “Anything you want, you can find here. Sandwiches, subs, ramen, noodles, yeah, we have to go out if you want something more…sustainable.”
“No, this is great.” You gratefully tore open a mixer packet of hot chocolate, bringing out your own mug to put it in. you’d sipped the drink in the journey over, before finally realizing you’d emptied it.
Your new muse raised his eyebrow at the Hello Kitty but didn’t say anything, only suppressing an amused smile. You pretended not to notice that.
Once you were sitting at one of the tables near the windows, you spread your recorder, notebook, pens and cup, ready to work. “Ok, shall we start?”
Namjoon took the final gulp of his coffee, nodding.
“Right so, you’re going to be writing the prologue of the book yourself.” You muttered, flitting through the primary requirements.
“Yep, it’ll be more of a front to my thoughts which you’ll be writing about. It’ll be a personal note to the members, the staff and ARMY from me. Something that is completely mine but it will set the tone for your work.” Namjoon turned his phone to you, tapping a note on it. “I already have the first draft for it. It’ll be revised of course but I’ll email it to you so you can start with that.”
You picked up your pen and then it was only Namjoon talking about how the primary idea for the album came to life and began to gestate in his mind. You found it incredible, how a small incident or a sound could inspire someone like that. You’d never had any experience that moved you like that. You told him as such, wistful of the kind of inspiration that might never ever come.
Namjoon placed an elbow on the table, looking keenly at you. “You’re a writer.” He pointed out.
“Not really; I am working as such, yeah, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been inspired by anything. You have. I think you’ve been inspired since you were…what, fifteen?”
“I had a different beginning than yours, yes. But you can’t compare inspiration with experience. Experience comes after inspiration. Before, there’s only the feeling, the emotion that leads to it. Would you say that you started writing out of just an everyday inspiration, or did you feel something for the craft that drove you to it?”
“I wouldn’t say that’s a fair comparison.” You fiddled with the pages of notes. “I know your beginning, of course, everyone does. I didn’t have that kind of harsh circumstances pushing me to motivation. To be very honest…I’d say I’ve breezed past life. I love my job, but I don’t have much to show in the journey to it.”
Namjoon was silent for a few moments. His tongue poked into his cheek as he regarded you shrewdly. Finally, he gave you a sweet smile, eyes scrunching and dimples popping. Your pen stopped twirling in your fingers, blood easing in your veins at the simple change of expression.
“And that’s okay,” he said, “Not everyone should have to suffer through awful situations to achieve things they aim for. Success shouldn’t be measured in tears, Y/N. The point of life, in my opinion, is happiness and in the end that is what matters; the fact that you end up happy.”
You blinked as Namjoon’s blinding smile dimmed, turning into moonshine as he ran a finger over the rim of his empty cup. The seconds stretched by, you silently removing your gaze from his and taking down everything he had said. Your eyes wanted very badly to return to his face but you kept them firmly on the page, pondering his words, until you realized through your daze that he was speaking again.
“I’m sorry again, about PD-nim and the whole Kayla thing. The email we got was sitting in the inbox but we weren’t informed and neither did we think of checking the company email before the meeting itself.” His voice had softened, turned apologetic that had you hurrying to ease his conscience.
“I already told you, it’s no biggie, really.” You insisted.
“It must’ve been nerve-wracking, especially on the first day.”
You huffed, air whistling from your lips at him, before acquiescing, “Yeah, ok, maybe a little.”
That moonshine smile brightened again, defeating the sun beams that streaked through the windows. “Allow me to make up for it by giving you a tour of our studios. Same time, tomorrow.”
At that time, you were only glad that you could gaze at his face without an excuse.
***
It took you a few days, getting used to the new schedule. You were used to the short walk from your home to Smeraldo. You were used to the morning crispness on your cheeks, the thud of your feet on the pavement and then the warm confines of your office cubicle.
The new pattern involved you having to catch a cab everyday to HYBE. It wasn’t too expensive thankfully, and the hours you spent in the expanse of HYBE, shadowing Namjoon to his haunts and work areas was starting to prove much more enjoyable and rewarding than anything you’d be doing in Smeraldo.
You were drawn into the chatter and gossip of the makeup artists, the lady who intercepted you daily at the desk struck up more conversations with you when you entered. She had a son, you’d learned. Her husband worked away from the city but he commuted every weekend and they found time for getaways whenever they could.
The most jolting experience was meeting the rest of Bangtan.
Namjoon had asked you to accompany him to one of the group practices and when you entered the huge mirrored room, you spotted the rest of the boys sitting here and there, some on their phones, the other stretching.
“Hey guys,” Namjoon slipped the strap of his work out bag over his head, turning slightly to the side to show you standing behind him to the rest of the idols. You raised a hand awkwardly, waving.
“You brought a friend?” One of the men at the back asked – Jimin, with his baby features and an inquisitive smile.
“Actually, this is Y/N. She’s the one doing the bio book for the album for me this time.” He placed a hand gently on your back, pushing you ahead when you failed to step forward.
“Uh, hi,” you mumbled, “nice to meet you all. I’m Y/N.”
“Yeah, Hyung just said.”
Your cheeks immediately heated, helplessly turning to the one who’d spoken.
“Yah, Jungkook-ah, be nice.” A taller man – Jin - smacked the back of the maknae’s head, before smiling at you. “It is very nice to meet you, Y/N. Are you going to be working while we practice?”
The gentle voice of the older man did wonders for you. Reminded of Rena’s composure, you immediately brightened, bowing to them naturally. “Yes sir, I am supposed to be shadowing Mr. Kim so…I hope you don’t mind.”
This made them burst out laughing – Namjoon included.
“‘Mr. Kim’, wow, Namjoon you’ve traumatized the girl. Please don’t be so formal, we’re not used to it.” Jin chortled.
Namjoon rolled his eyes, taking your elbow gently to guide you to sit on one of the cushions against the back wall. “You can sit here and watch. We won’t kick you in the face that way.” He winked and you managed a weak giggle back when you had recovered enough.
Why, oh why did he have to be so attractive? In those loose black shorts, that blasted white tank, you hadn’t been able to quite meet his eyes ever since you’d met him today.
You decided to obey the laws of ‘work’ as BTS practiced their routines. You pulled out your usual supply of pens and your trusty notebook and began to scrawl everything you’d observed, this time the process of choreography and how the dynamics between the group members and Namjoon worked in these hard routines. It took you about five pages, filling out and circling details that you would highlight in the bio.
Soon enough, you ran out of work to distract you. You folded your hands in your lap neatly, simply watching in awe. Each member hit the beat with a different type of attitude. If Jungkook was sleek as a panther, Hoseok was a coiled serpent, but none of them ever missed a beat. There was a tandem between them all, which made you sure that they took this very seriously. After all, they were known for their work ethic and it was their bread and butter.
They couldn’t slack in this just as much as you couldn’t slack in the bio.
Your eyes drifted back to Namjoon. Even though you knew, he wouldn’t describe himself as a dancer primarily, he was no less behind in his steps than his members. He moved with an awkward grace not unlike people of his height. God of Destruction – you remembered – and yet, you couldn’t help but watch when he moved. His chin jutted in concentration and you balled your fist under your chin, chiding yourself.
You were self aware enough to recognize the flow of your emotions and right now, they were particularly worrying. You were in awe of Kim Namjoon, anyone with any semblance of sense would be. He was intelligent, chivalrous, generous, charming, thoughtful, and humorous and in the days you’d worked with him, more than just books and music. He was a fun and charming person to be around and he attracted people like moths.
But…he was way beyond human leagues.
Someone like Kim Namjoon couldn’t be human. He had to be some eldritch being, put together into conception out of pure matter and stardust. There was no way his mind and his soul were meant to be meandering on this planet. And while you were aware he was far from purposeless, you wondered if he would ever be satisfied with his purpose in time.
Maybe…maybe not…
And you, as the self aware person as you were, couldn’t – shouldn’t – be having such tumultuous emotions regarding him. He was pink roses, a dusty shade of gold that had been polished and made to shine from a young age and he basked in the glow of adoration. He was at a peak you couldn’t hope to touch.
Never mind the fact that feelings mixing with work were always dangerous. You had no room for failure if these got in the way. You couldn’t afford to lose your job. You would lose everything you had staked and for what? You couldn’t throw your life away for an unattainable man. You sighed, closed your eyes and ducked your head before any of the men could notice your hard stares.
***
If you had to pick a climax for your journey with Namjoon, you’d pick the day he texted you a weekly schedule filled with interviews and media covered events that you couldn’t shadow him to. What would you do? You couldn’t exactly carry a notepad and pens in your mouth after him like a loyal puppy while he did his job. The interviews were okay, all you had to do was stand at the back behind the camera and note the way he answered his questions and if it was an English interview, the way he deflected stupid and rude questions from his members. Although it was clear by their now unimpressed faces they knew exactly what was going on.
The trouble was the red carpet event that you couldn’t push through. It would be a shame too, since this would be one of the prime times to jot a piece of Namjoon down. In front of flashing cameras, strutting with his head held high, knowing and projecting assurance. It would’ve been a great detail in the bio.
Apparently Namjoon thought the same, because as soon as he saw blue ticks in your text chat, he called you.
“So, what do you think?” He asked.
“About what, the event…? It’s too bad, I’ll watch it on TV and you can tell me how it goes over ice-cream.” You answered, in the face of his snort.
“Or…you could just come with me as my plus one. As a friend, of course, you can sit with that little note of yours and keep writing while people scream in my ear.”
You clutched the phone hard. He wanted you to come with him? He wanted to take you with him to an event? A red carpet event at that…on his arm, with people around…but as friends of course…
“Um…it’s kind of short notice…I don’t even have a dress.” You hedges unsteadily, hoping he didn’t notice the abrupt breathiness of your voice.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I have a fashion extraordinaire handy. Text me your dress size,”
The next you heard from Namjoon was when a huge, pure white box made its way to your apartment door. The delivery man took your signature on a tablet, wearing a sleek blue shirt and pressed pants that nowhere in the world could be a uniform for couriers.
You carried the heavy box to your couch in confusion, fingers fluttering with the navy blue ribbon around it in trepidation. Should you dare open it? It looked very expensive. Maybe this was a mistake and it got delivered to you in a mix up. But it couldn’t be. The name on the tablet was yours, the address yours…
You took a deep breath and pulled the knot loose.
The ribbon fell away gracefully, the top of the box grasped in your fingers and then you opened it up.
If you weren’t holding your breath…you’d have gasped.
Inside was a gown. Ok, that was a massive understatement. The fabric was thick, layers and layers of silk and glitter draped over each other to make a thing of dreams. The delicate straps of it felt like gauze, slipping over your skin when you pulled it out in pure awe.
You couldn’t possibly wear something like this. You could never pull it off. You glanced at the mirror near your door, the skirts catching the light of your room and sparkling.
You’d be wearing a million stars sewn on your body.
Your phone chimed the very moment your weak fingers were about to drop the dress, a sacrilege that proved you unworthy of it.
Hope you liked it J I’ll pick you up at 7.
And he didn’t take your calls. He didn’t hear you out. He didn’t listen to you list the reasons why you couldn’t do this, shouldn’t do this.
Your heart was already beating drums in your chest, each set letting you know that it was misreading this gesture. Namjoon wasn’t wooing you with this dress. He was simply making sure you didn’t look like a garbage can next to him. After all, red carpets meant celebrities, paparazzi, superior expectations. He couldn’t afford to show up with someone looking like they had barely been able to put together an outfit fit for the walk.
After hours of trying, at five you gave up, beginning to get dressed.
You washed and dried your hair, putting it up in a roll that was easy and you had mastered for your interview. It couldn’t be faulted…maybe it was a little simple but hey, you hoped the attention wouldn’t be on your hair. Not with that dress…
As you had guessed, the dress was heavy, weighing your body down till you had to carefully bunch handfuls of the sparkling skirt just to walk. You paired it with the lowest heels you owned, and a simple silver set – a gift from your parents upon graduating.
The brilliant shade of lipstick applied, you prayed and prayed that Namjoon wouldn’t find you disappointing. Of course, only so; that you wouldn’t be a source of embarrassment to him and HYBE and Smeraldo. It had nothing to do with you wishing you could be swallowed by the earth if Namjoon looked even slightly put off.
He arrived sharp at seven, even climbing out to greet you. Your trip in the elevator had been thankfully solo. No peeking neighbors to comment on your appearance but of course the building manager caught sight of you, gaping through the glass door of his office. You hoped he wouldn’t attempt to raise your rent.
Sleek and pristine in a black suit and silver shirt, open at the throat, your breath did catch at the vision he made. His hair was pushed back now and he grinned when you slowly tottered over. “Hi,” he said simply, eyes glinting in the glow of the dress.
“Hey, you didn’t take my calls.” You blurted out, again wanting to smack yourself.
“Yeah, I’m sorry; I got busy with speech training and fittings. They messed up though; I’m wearing shoes one size big.” You and he both glanced down at the polished black shoes with silver toes. you shook your head at the distraction.
“Namjoon, this dress…it’s too much; I can’t say anything right now but thank you.”
“Don’t thank me – it was Taehyung who picked it out.” His eyes moved down the dress before he looked away suddenly, hand moving to rub his neck. “You look great – beautiful, I mean.”
“Thank you.”
“Shall we?”
Namjoon helped you climb into the car, bending down so he could collect about nine drapes and pleats of silk to lay them on the car floor before shutting you in. You glanced at the driver of the Cadillac that Namjoon had brought and decided to stay mum for the drive.
The sprawling expanse of the hall where the gala was taking place sent you into nervous jitters. You touched the edge of the top, wondering if it was tight enough, if the necklace was enough to draw attention away. Of course, the dress was the highlight of your outfit, but suddenly all you could think of were the faux pas that could get you kicked out and possibly fired.
You had no time to turn to Namjoon with these worries, to beg him to allow you to stay in the car when valets were opening the doors.
Flashing lights, camera with too bright heads blinded you momentarily and all you heard was a quiet ‘wait’ from Namjoon before he was exiting the car.
He shot easy smiles at the front line of the media before turning to assist you. Maybe they realized that Kim Namjoon had indeed brought someone with him because the screams increased in pitch and volume, deafening you as well.
You were completely disoriented when you felt Namjoon’s arm go casually around your waist, one hand still holding your skirts so he could walk you at least to the main photo calls and away from the paps.
“Hey, easy, okay, they’re always like that. Are you okay?” Namjoon mumbled in your ear when you were a safe distance away, turning you to face him.
“Yeah…yeah, I’m okay…I just…wow, it’s a lot to take in.” You grabbed the skirts that Namjoon had let go and began to set them around you properly.
“Okay, all we have to do is walk this bit, get some photos, talk to that man at the end and then we can head in.”
You followed Namjoon's instructions quietly. Smiling lightly, when Namjoon posed in the centre of the carpet with the logo of the sponsors behind you two; Your posture probably wasn’t the most glamorous because the camera man shrugged before letting you pass – to the interviewer.
“Kim. Namjoon.” The white suited man gasped as if Namjoon had just landed from outer space and said something scandalizing.
“Oh dear, should I be worried?” Namjoon laughed breezily but his hold on your back stiffened.
“Not at all, it seems…who is the lucky lady? We’ve never seen you. Are we finally seeing the elusive RM being snatched up off the market?” The man took the time to level a polite smile at you before Namjoon waved his hand.
“Rubbish; I could never hope to snag someone like her. This is my friend; she’s accompanying me as part of a job.”
You noticed he never gave your name, thankfully.
“Ah…just friends? Pity, you look stunning together.”
“She is stunning but I would never claim to be as lucky as that. Do please excuse us, heels and all.” The interviewer laughed as Namjoon ushered you inside the hall.
Your smile had glazed over by now and when Namjoon sat you in one of the chairs next to him, you made sure to not move too much while he had to mingle.
As heavy as the gown was, the weight of it was something completely different now. Your wings had wilted back into nothingness, bringing you down to the earth with a less than pleasant thump.
Here, in the hall with actual stars around you, it didn’t matter if stars covered your body tonight. You couldn’t be part of this. You belonged in your cubicle at Smeraldo with books that had been your lifelong companions.
You weren’t stupid. You knew Namjoon being an idol was a consequence as well as reality. His proximity had blinded you, with those bewildering smiles and irresistible dimples. He’d poetically woven a spell that with him being now gone was breaking.
You were worlds apart.
Maybe this could be a story someday.
But it would never be reality.
***
Your realization couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment. As days went by, time spent with Namjoon waned; instead you went back to your little pastel cubicle, typing away at your laptop, pouring facts mixed with sentiment onto the digital document.
Soon, pages of this would be flying off the shelves along with an album. Your connection with Namjoon would be severed and you both would part ways as acquaintances.
That would be that. You tried not to think too much of it like that. It colored your work a little melancholy and you’d have to go back and redo it so it would be upbeat.
It was one of those days of you clacking away when a shadow fell over your cubicle. You didn’t lift your eyes at first, engrossed in the mild noises your keys made when the presence started to…feel hostile. You glanced up curiously, meeting the curve of an arm first and perched on it, was the weight of Kayla.
She wasn’t looking at you; instead her eyes were on the screen of your laptop, reading your work with a tilt to her head that – to you – was condescending.
“Kayla,” You called in confusion and her eyes flitted to you.
“Carry on, carry on, I’m just going to watch. I want to see how you’re going to do this.” Maybe you were paranoid…but she definitely sounded snide.
“Do what, type…?” you mumbled under your breath, about to turn back to work but she heard you and decided to answer.
“I want to see the new worker ruin Namjoon’s story. That way we can all go back to our normal lives.”
You stopped. Your eyes widened in surprise at the blatant vehemence. You turned to her.
“Excuse me, but I’m not ruining anything. It was you, who decided to sleep in and you who missed the meeting. If anything, you’re the one who ruined your shot.”
“It wasn’t a ‘shot’ for me, Y/N. It was a guaranteed project. I was sick, it happens. I’m just surprised they let the newbie take on such a big collab. But then again, being a lapdog pays in this industry. Connections are more important than talent, I’ve heard.”
“Yeah, you definitely would be the one doing Namjoon’s story justice with that attitude.” You snapped back. If there was one thing you wouldn’t stand for, it was her sullying Rena.
She smiled again, removing herself from your cubicle wall. “Petty fights don’t matter to me, Y/N. I’m still your senior and soon enough I’ll be back to doing my rightful share of work.” She walked off in a very final manner, leaving you to stare after her a good while before you could turn back to your screen.
The blinking cursor taunted you, each second that passed without it budging, a point in proving that Kayla may have been right. You growled internally, rubbing your dry eyes.
You needed a change of view.
***
Your laptop was now perched on the same table you and Namjoon had sat on that first day. Your back was to the rest of the café, eyes free to drift out the window. You sipped on a simple smoothie and tapped away, making good progress. At this rate you could hand in the first draft in less than a week. A hundred pages worth of a booklet formed much easier when your mind was clear. You wondered again if you could change places here.
You hoped at least this way you’d be safely out of Namjoon’s path and could also enjoy the lovely environment of the building. After all, one sin didn’t have to equate to ditching another, did it?
No sooner had your mind finished that thought when you heard his voice. Your fingers rattled over your keyboard, printing the stupid version of words on your screen and you had to halt in case he had seen you and was coming over.
When you didn’t hear that cheerful deep voice that was now uncomfortably familiar to you approach from behind, you took the chance to peek over your shoulder, just to see how he was – just that.
He wasn’t alone, thankfully. Next to him stood another familiar figure; much shorter and just as broad. Min Yoongi hadn’t been very verbose with you when you’d been introduced but then again, you knew the man wasn’t a fan of small talk with strangers. He was under no obligation to chat you up and you weren’t expecting him to either.
They finally picked up their orders, sitting at one of the tables in your line - Comfortably far away so that they wouldn’t notice you; but also within earshot of you. You sighed, returning your attention to the document on your screen.
“So, how’s the book coming? Any news yet?” You heard Yoongi’s baritone.
“Not yet, but I’m sure it’s going to come along fast. Give or take a few days maybe,” Namjoon took a loud gulp, scrolling through his phone.
“I hope so. She was new, wasn’t she? I didn’t remember seeing her when it was my turn. It was that other girl…Kayla something. What’s your girl’s name again?”
You silently cleared your throat, expecting Namjoon to snap in that you weren’t ‘his girl’ but he only hummed. “It’s Y/N. We messed up that day, called her Kayla. Guess we must have thrown her off her game that whole day, but she was amazingly professional. It was stupid too, that email was sitting right in the office email, and an intern missed it and didn’t tell us.”
“That’s what happens when you don’t treat your workers right. Even interns are deserving of respect. Maybe if they were catered to the way the company expects them to cater to it, it would -,”
“Hyung, I love your rants – but please.”
Yoongi shrugged, taking a bite out of his sandwich. You cracked a smile, biting your lip to stifle a giggle at Namjoon’s dazed expression.
“So, what’s she like? You hung out with her quite a lot.” Yoongi’s voice dipped, muttering something to Namjoon whose fingers stopped scrolling, a pensive expression on his face now. You glanced back at your screen, frowning, wondering what Yoongi must’ve said.
Namjoon didn’t answer for a long time and you had to keep glancing over, just in case he was actually muttering too and you were just not hearing anything but nope. He remained silent for a good long while, staring down at the coffee cup in front of him.
“I think…I think I would’ve preferred to work with this Kayla.”
You froze, your fingers hovering over the keys, making zero noise. You wished the other people in the café would quiet down and Namjoon would repeat himself but only this time you’d hear something else, something positive, something not so utterly crushing.
“Oh, she’s not up to the standard?” Yoongi asked.
“It’s…its stupid. I know it’s a shitty thing for me to say, but -,” But he was still going to go ahead and do it. He was still going to get those words out, unaware that you were able to hear him and have your gut wrenched.
What was wrong with you? Why were you not good enough to work with Kim Namjoon? Was it the rambling or blurting out thing? Was it the inability to retain composure? Had you messed up during a meeting that he was holding a grudge against? Did you somehow embarrass him during the gala? Had he already complained about you to his management and members, told them that this was the last time you were to work with them?
They had hushed up now, clearly having a private conversation and you were thankful. You didn’t know how you could handle hearing more. And you definitely didn’t want the rest of HYBE staff to hear how pathetic you were to their stars. If word got back to Smeraldo, you’d be fired. You’d lose everything.
You shut the laptop screen quietly, a hand sliding your things from the table top straight into your bag. Slinging your stuff onto your shoulders, you walked out of the room – out of the building – away from anything related to BTS.
***
You were resolute the next day, walking into Smeraldo with no words of greeting spoken to anyone. You got to your floor and then marched straight into Rena’s office, hurriedly knocking the prologue to the urgency of your matter.
“Y/N, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” Rena frowned, actually getting up from her seat when you stumbled in.
Something did happen, yes. I got way in over my head.
“I…I…need to um, change – the BTS project. I can’t do it anymore.” The words rushed out, thick and unintelligible but Rena apparently got the gist of it because she dropped her shoulders, crossing her arms.
“What happened?” she asked flatly.
I have a crush on my subject and he thinks I’m the worst thing to happen since the rise of patriarchy.
“Nothing serious; I just…I’m not cut out for this Rena. I told you that day of the meeting. It’s too much, I can barely sleep, can’t eat.”
Ok, provided that was only one day because your mind was too obsessed thinking about what you heard but still – you could definitely apply the cases.
“What are you talking about? You just gave me your stats two days ago. You were fifty three pages in and climbing.”
“Yeah well I’m not happy with it. I’ve been writing in a daze. Please Rena.” You begged; you’d have gotten on your knees at that point but mercifully, after about nine seconds of shrewdly eyeing you, she finally sighed.
“Well, I can’t say I’m not disappointed – and very, very surprised. You’re one of the better writers at Smeraldo, Y/N; I wouldn’t have pushed you for this if you weren’t. I believed in you. But I can’t make you work if you’re not happy and I certainly can’t let it affect this collaboration. It wouldn’t help anyone – so…fine. We’ll make the change. I’ll have the boss send an email…and you can personally go and hand Kayla all your material on the job so she can start as soon as possible. We still have time to make it up I think.”
You nodded, surreptitiously wiping a streak of moisture that had escaped without notice before you paused. And then you put in a request for Rena to consider before grabbing all your notes, drafts and your work laptop and walking up to Kayla’s more spacious cubicle.
She was reading a magazine when you tapped the side wall, eyes rising up to yours before her eyebrows raised at the amount of things you were carrying. Without preamble, you let them crash on to her neat desk.
“Uh, what the hell are you doing?”
“I’m not doing Namjoon’s bio anymore. They want you to do it.” Namjoon wanted her, in particular.
Kayla stopped scowling, looking at you in confusion before her face darkened again. “Listen Y/N, I don’t care much for charity -,”
“It’s not. I swear it’s not Kayla. I really, really can’t do it anymore. Please…please just take it off my hands.”
Slowly, her face cleared, eyes still examining yours for any insincerity before she picked up your notebook, carding through the pages.
“It’s a little shocking, I’ll admit but fine. But you…why are you giving it up? It’s BTS. It’s probably the biggest break you’d ever get.”
You shrugged, unwilling to converse more than necessary about this. “I just felt bad…and ill about it.” You didn’t exaggerate and Kayla didn’t ask you to elaborate. You glanced down at the biggest bag which you’d placed under her desk. The box was still exquisitely white and unblemished.
“Can you just do me one last favor?”
“What?”
“When you see Namjoon, can you give that bag back to him? Tell him thanks for everything.”
***
The days passed quickly, each one easier than the last as you decided to stuff your stupid, pointless feelings – hurt and otherwise into one single compartment: DO NOT TOUCH.
Namjoon had had to meet with Kayla quickly, to put in effect the plans that the senior writer was going to play with. She already had your notes, but they would still have to spend some time together just so she could get a feel of his prologue and run with it.
It had taken about two visits from Kayla before your phone started to act up.
He sent a text first. At a decent time…you were at work, taking a small break when the ping came. You promptly slid the notification aside and pushed the nagging in your head to look at it into that one compartment. An hour passed…then another before another message came. You couldn’t help but glance at the words even as you slid it out of focus.
Are you ok? What’s going on?
Namjoon didn’t text again for the remainder of the day and you heaved a sigh of relief. It would be easier to not mess with that box of goodies in your head if only anything pertaining to Kim Namjoon was taken out of your path.
Only…he decided to call you…
As soon as you entered your little apartment and took off your shoes, flexing your toes, the trill of your ringtone made you fumble in your bag. You almost slid the call to accept, catching yourself just in time when you saw the big white KIM NAMJOON flashing on the ID.
You stared at the name, a proverbial finger dancing over the latch of the compartment. But you couldn’t…you couldn’t mope over him again; you had given an entire day of wallowing up to his name.
Again, you heard him preferring Kayla. You placed the phone onto the coffee table and went into the bathroom to change.
Namjoon’s persistence remained impressive though. He called and texted every day ranging from thrice to five times. Almost every time you frowned. You had given him Kayla. What more could he want? He was desperate to know if you were okay, wondering if something had happened to you and that Smeraldo was trying to cover it up but you couldn’t bring yourself to put him at ease.
Also, it was getting steadily difficult to keep his name out of your life. BTS was worldwide, he was a global entity. He was everywhere…the media, the news, there were even fucking standees in malls for them.
But your job was keeping you busy, mercifully.
The day you had gone to Rena to ask her to put Kayla on the bio project and take you off, you’d also asked to be moved to a different section of jobs, just for the time being – till you could come back to yourself, or so you told her.
In reality, the editing and beta reader position that you now held was time consuming and kept you focused and engrossed enough to not think about the idol. Not every piece of writing was amazing, but fiction was fiction and you gladly succumbed to romances and fantasies that were wildly improbable - simply because they were possible in their worlds.
You could not be more grateful to Rena for this. You finished more than your quota of three manuscripts a day, sometimes even staying up at night if one was particularly interesting. You knew you’d have to go back to writing someday but for now, you wanted to do a good job so you wouldn’t let down Rena more than you already had.
You shuddered to think of returning to your laptop. It was a mistake to think that you were cut out for this job. There was a certain level of coldness required to be a writer – the sheaves of paper in front of you proved that. You had none of that ruthlessness in you. You were too soft, too sheltered. You had grown attached to a subject that you were supposed to present as facts. Instead you had painted him in a fantastic palette of misdirected emotions that he was under no obligation to act upon.
And so now you were hurt…and it was your own fault.
To write again, you would first need a spine, one forged in titanium instead of the malleable clay that had wrapped around the fingers of others so easily.
In some days of your ruminations…Namjoon stopped calling and texting and you were then rudely interrupted by Kayla, striding over to deliver news you hadn’t asked for.
“Mr. Kim took the dress back.” she announced as soon as she pressed herself at your desk. You looked up from your fourth manuscript of the day, peering at her through your glasses. Your back was sore and your neck felt lodged.
“He’s asking about you.”
“Okay,” you said slowly, clearing your throat before reaching for a bottle of water. “I’m okay.”
“He said he reached out but you never responded. Why don’t you respond? He’s obviously concerned.” She continued, putting an unnecessary emphasis on ‘obviously’. It irked you.
“He was my subject matter. Now he’s not. It’s inappropriate.” You barely kept from snapping, shrugging noncommittally. Kayla was still there, eyeing you in that way, that made you feel smaller than her.
“Well, I don’t think he feels it’s inappropriate. He’s enquiring about someone he considers a friend. He’s been known to care about friends.”
You put the manuscript down finally. You looked up at her blankly but she didn’t flinch. Instead Kayla returned your heavy look with one of hers, raking you down with an appraising look. After a few moments of silence she gracefully straightened and turned on her heel, returning to her cubicle.
You picked up your manuscript again.
***
The cursor was blinking again. The walls of your cubicle needed a wipe down. Some of the pens in your drawer needed replacing. You revolved on your chair once – twice – thrice before facing the darn cursor again.
It had been two days since Rena had asked (basically commanded) you to return to your original post. One because you had gotten through the work she’d set aside for you. Second because Smeraldo’s projects were lining up and they needed their writers to buck up. You being one of them now needed to get in the game.
Or you would lose your job. After all, even though Rena treated you like a sister, it didn't mean she was going to baby you forever. Her own job would be on the line.
So you returned, starting out slow, with slogans and advertising scripts. Only…advertisements meant media research…and you knew what you were going to see the first thing you delved into that.
When your phone rang, you were almost eager to get to it. Namjoon hadn’t called in a while – it was safe again. You glanced at the unfamiliar number once, curious before you pressed the accepted call to your ear.
“Hello?”
“Y/N,”
The deep thrum of his voice reverberated in your ear, travelling straight through your heart – setting it to thump unsteadily – and landed deep in your belly, burning uncomfortably.
Your fingers tightened around the device, unable to speak, unable to pull it away from your ear, unable to comprehend simply hanging up. Instead you helplessly muttered his name. The two syllables were heavy on your tongue, some emotion injected in them that you doubted he could sense over the phone.
It irked you that you had so easily been caught unaware. You had paid attention to every text, every call for so long, swiping him out of your sight to avoid the temptation and here he was, smartening up and using another number altogether.
You guessed his IQ really did pay off.
When he spoke again, there was no weight in his tenor, no sense of concern that Kayla had said he felt about your absence. If anything he sounded cold, indifferent – as if you were just another person he was talking to.
And you were...you couldn’t mean anything to him.
“How have you been? It’s been quite some time.” He said, formal, aloof.
“Yeah, I’ve...I’ve been keeping busy. What...about you? How are you?” You mumbled.
“I’m fine. The bio is going on fine, I heard from Kayla.” He seemed to be moving while he spoke, you could hear distinct shuffles around him.
“That’s nice. So, is something wrong? Did you need something? If you lost Kayla’s number –”
“Can I not call you unless there was something wrong?” he cut you off smoothly, pleasant while you stumbled to correct yourself.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just –”
“Anyway, so the boys wanted to throw a party in celebration of the album finalization. It’s a dinner and games thing so be prepared to be bored if you’re not into that. They wanted to invite you because you were part of the bio making process.”
They...they were inviting you, not him. It seemed silly, to be stung by such a tiny little detail but you couldn’t help the down-turn of your lips, the frown settling upon your brows. “What about Kayla?”
“I don’t know, maybe one of the boys will get to it. So, do I count you in?”
“Why me, Namjoon, I left the project, didn’t I?”
“Is that a no?”
You sighed, annoyance surging at the way he deliberately ignored your pointed remarks. “Fine, I’ll be there.”
“See you at 7. You know where the dorm is. Just tell the front desk you’re here for BTS and give them your name.”
He hung up before you could spill out another question, pose another objection. You looked irate at the blackened screen, feeling used and mocked yet again. He had reached you so long after you cut him off and he had had the gall to sound miffed with you? You stuffed the phone back into your back.
The evening would last long. You vowed that this would be the last time you would have anything to do with Kim Namjoon.
***
You had been intimidated by the idea of BTS before. After spending a few days with Namjoon, you could appreciate them being normal men, seven men who just wanted to make music, who were young, a little dorky but overall just themselves.
Coming here, standing in front and looking up at the gigantic building that housed the dorm of BTS and their separate private apartments, you could only feel the previous nerves spiking again.
Your fingers were shaky as you pushed open the heavy glass door, thick enough to stop bullets and made your way to the marble front desk.
The concierge, decked out in a cream vest outfit, politely smiled at your approach – too professional to not rove his eye critically over your modest dress. You were at the dorm of BTS, after all. You couldn’t show up in jeans for a dinner party.
He nodded when you relayed your name, giving Namjoon’s reference which had them flurry to get you an elevator. Once trapped in the sleek metal box, the chiming numbers indicated your rising panic.
What were you doing?
Why were you here?
You had cut them out of your life for a reason. Why would you willingly show up again? Inside, of course, you knew the reason. You had unsettled issues. You wanted to talk this out with him. But you couldn’t – which again, added to the question as to why you would accept his invitation in the first place?
There was no way you were brave enough to stand in front of Kim Namjoon and ask him to explain himself.
When the doors opened; the wide hallway only led to one set of double doors. You looked around once; just to make sure that you were on the right floor and not about to barge into some unwitting souls’ suite.
Walking to the etched wood, you knocked a hurried patter that sounded abnormally loud. You didn’t even have to wait long. The door swung open almost immediately, as if he was waiting right inside for you.
Namjoon stood in a simple black long sleeve, rolled up till his elbows. His jeans stretched tightly along the length of those legs. Huh, he was wearing jeans...go figure...
“Come in Y/N.” He said, walking back into the house. You followed, slower, clutching your bag strap like the first day.
It was...relatively clean, being the house full of men. It was also too big for you to take in everything. You supposed they needed the space, each one with a personality of their own but together all the time. You wondered if they had studios in the two storey house too.
You focused on Namjoon, who had by now moved to the sitting area, flicking through some pages, not paying any attention to you. There was no sound. No one came to greet you, not even Jin who you thought was the actual host.
It was...suspiciously quiet.
“Namjoon,” You called. “Where is everyone?” 
The man only shrugged his shoulders for a second and it seemed that he wasn’t about to answer your question at all. However, at the very last moment when you were about to repeat yourself unwillingly, he muttered. “They went out to eat.”
What?
They were out to eat? After calling you over to have dinner and play games? 
“So...we have to go and join them or something?” you asked.
Namjoon sighed painstakingly, as if you were disturbing his peace but he finally dropped the papers onto the coffee table and stood up, hands in his pockets.
“No, Y/N, we’re not going to join them.”
What the hell was going on here exactly?
“We’re going to talk.”
You had opened your mouth when he finished his sentence, pausing in contemplation to what he could possibly want to talk about. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m saying I want answers, Y/N. Why did you stop coming over all of a sudden? Why did you stop working on the bio and give it to Kayla? Why didn’t you pick up your phone when I called you? Why didn’t you answer my texts? What the fuck happened?”
You blinked, once, staring at him in shock mingled with annoyance. There was a lot to Kim Namjoon; you would be the first to admit it. But you never took him to be this cruel.
“Why are you even asking me these questions? I wasn’t competent enough for you. So I did the right thing, I gave the work to someone who could match your standards. End of story; I don’t understand why you had to bring me here.” Your vehemence faded by the end of it, leaving you to drop your head and mumble half the words at your shoes.
You kept staring down when Namjoon didn’t say anything in retaliation. Seconds ticked by and finally you had to glance up to see Namjoon’s face tight, jaw clenched and he drummed his fingers over crossed arms. 
“Unfortunately,” He began when your eyes met. “Doubt and Insecurity are two things that every artist struggles with in their line of work. There are no ways around them; you simply have to push through them. Work through them, Y/N; but you can’t let it take you away from your passion. If you felt doubtful of yourself, you should’ve talked to me, or any of us...you didn’t have to brand yourself incompetent and give into this negativity.”
If you had two cents of courage you would’ve screamed at him. Indeed, Kim Namjoon was a cruel man – a blind man.
And your nerves had finally grown into something more ferocious.
“I gave in? I’m sorry, Namjoon, but when your client is the one that ‘brands’ you incompetent, you kind of have to give in. You are the one who said you preferred Kayla. So I gave you exactly what you wanted. So stop pretending like you care about my insecurities and my doubts.”
Namjoon gaped at you like a fish, eyes wide and thoroughly confused. He held up a hand immediately. “What the hell are you talking about?” 
You snapped. “I heard you, that day, talking to Yoongi about how you would’ve preferred it if it was Kayla who was working on the bio rather than me. If I was bothering you that much or if you found me – I don’t know, not a good writer, you could’ve at least been professional about it. You could’ve emailed the company and asked for a switch, instead of bad-mouthing me to your damn members!”
Both of Namjoon’s hands were up in the air now, defensively. His eyes flickered around his house as he attempted to place the scenario you were describing to him. You saw the light bulb go off about a few seconds after. His demeanour changed immediately. His hands lowered, face cleared and his eyes scrunched before he did the worst thing imaginable that he could’ve done at that moment.
He laughed.
His body bent forward, hands clasping his stomach as his shoulders shook. His head dipped, chortles echoing around you as you stood rooted to your spot, stricken by his mirth.
In the moments that he managed to raise his head, he caught sight of you and laughed again, eyes watering.
You were seeing red. His frame lit up in flames in your head, fuelling you to whirl about on your heel. You marched away, almost at the door when fingers wrapped around your elbow, stopping your next steps.
You turned, seeing Namjoon already there, still smiling.
“Let me go.” You said firmly.
“I didn’t say I would’ve preferred Kayla to you because I thought you weren’t a good fit for the job, Y/N.” He said instead, hand loosening on your arm but not quite letting go. “I said it because...well, I was afraid I would be breaching our contract. Since...I kind of wanted to take you out.”
You stood there, watching Namjoon’s eyes flicker between yours, waiting for a reaction. His hand was still loosely cupping your elbow, fingers warm and splayed out over the skin. His thumb briefly brushed over the bone as if checking that you hadn’t frozen over.
But you had...you were standing stock still, staring up at the idol, uncomprehending the words that had spilled out of him. He had just said something very controversial, very brave...and very confusing.
You thought back to all your hangouts. The long talks that you scribbled down with your tongue poking out the corner of your mouth, the walks that you took, sometimes huddling together with shivers due to the cold weather, sharing hot coffees and chocolate ice creams. Telling him about yourself when he wanted a break and needed to listen instead of supply conversation. Then they changed to his texts, the good morning or good night texts that he would send, the occasional music recommendations and book suggestions.
And then the night of the Gala...that stunning dress...his behaviour...
Nowhere in any of these cases had you seen anything that spelled anything other than friends being friends. He had never flirted brazenly with you, simple banter being the only form of cheek you could recall. He was after all; your client and anything that could offend or upset him would result in your suspension.
“That’s...that’s...impossible. You never – not even once – I didn’t ever get the idea, not ever,” You fumbled over your words, pulling away or trying to once again but Namjoon shrugged, smiling sardonically.
“Well, I couldn’t exactly come out and say it, could I? You were working with me, for my company. I know the kind of pressure you must’ve been under. If I did say something, you’d have been obliged to agree because you’d think you owed it or something, just to keep the job. I didn’t really want to put you in the spot like that. The night of the gala I got carried away. I had a plus one and if I had to take someone, I wanted it to be you. I begged Taehyung to put the outfit together because I’m shit at high end fashion but you looked absolutely gorgeous and yeah, I owe Tae a thousand favours now but it was worth it.” He took a breath.
“I was waiting for the project to be over so I could actually, properly ask you out but well, I guess you heard me being an idiot that day and...” he waved his free hand vaguely.
“Oh,” you mumbled, your eyes leaving him and travelling back down to the floor. What else could you say? Sorry, I was eavesdropping on your conversation and got my feelings hurt and acted like a child? Yeah, you didn’t think that’d go over well.
“Which brings me to the question, why did you stop?” His thumb brushed over your skin again, prodding your attention to him and you shrugged like him, mumbling something about doing right by the client.
“Bullshit, if you wanted to do right by the client, you would’ve waited for me to say something. Changing people like that could’ve resulted in a breach lawsuit and I doubt you’d have risked that.”
You looked up at him again, irritated. Why did he have to poke holes in your admittedly stupid story? Hadn’t he shaken your world enough by telling you that THE KIM NAMJOON wanted to ask you out?
“You hurt me.” You hissed. “You made me think I was inept and it hurt my feelings because I’ve been attached to you and this book since day one. I finished the bio at home, for fuck’s sake. I lost objectivity when it came to you because you’re adorable, scary smart, caring, generous, a total goof and it doesn’t help that you look like a damn sculpture all the time.”
You yanked your arm one last time, successful this time around because Namjoon smiled widely, shyly, deep dimples poking into his cheeks that had you internally melting from how cute he was.
“I want to kiss you.” he said simply. “May I?”
What were you going to do, say no?
Instead, horrifyingly you started to sniffle. “You better, because I’m really ashamed right now and I will start crying.”
Namjoon was quick to cup your face, cooing over your squished cheeks in his large palms and he brought you closer, closer and closer to himself. Your hands clutched at the sleeves of his shirt while he pecked you lightly, dropping a flurry of equally soft and fast pecks on your cheek, the tip of your nose and chin before returning to your lips, delving deeper, testing the waters.
Your eyes fell shut, revelling in the plumpness of his lips as he delicately trailed them over yours, smacking kisses over you till you let out a giggle.
“Finally, she smiles.” Namjoon beamed at you, leading you back until you were gently propped against the door, your head comfortably resting on the wood and he deepened the kiss, bowing and moulding his body with yours.
“Should we be doing this here?” You asked nervously, when his lips began to travel over your jaw.
“The boys won’t be back for a while but we can head to my room if you want?” He wriggled his eyebrows at you, heat pooling into the skin he still held between his hands.
“Uh, I’m good here.” You muttered to his amusement. His eyes travelled back to your mouth, eyes hooding and then he was slowly leaning in again. You met him halfway and his mouth opened with the barest brush of tongue when loud pounding sounded right on the other side of the doorway, laughter and footfalls sounding the arrival of the rest of the band.
You moved away just as the door flung open, six boys piling in, “Can you believe none of us thought to grab our wallets, we have to go back and tell manager-nim to get the car again –” Jin grumbled with the boys stopping to gape at you in Namjoon’s arms as the two of you blinked at them like deer in headlights.
Then chaos erupted.
The whoops and cheers of ‘finally’ made you drop your head in a shy grin with Namjoon groaning behind you.
“Namjoonie finally got some!”
“OH SHUT UP!”
102 notes · View notes
kamoniwa · 4 years
Text
 ⟼ a little madness
・‥…━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━…‥・
⇢ pairing: yokai!kuroo/demon!akaashi/human!reader/werewolf!semi
⇢ au: college!au
⇢ summary: you, your friends, and some friends of your friends all get tricked by one tendou satori into visiting an abandoned amusement park for halloween. it turns out it isn’t ghosts you need to worry about, though.
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⇥  kinktober masterlist
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⇢ warnings: gangbang, noncon to consensual, lots of reluctance, mind break if you squint?, technical temperature play, unprotected sex, creampie, the boys are real gentle in breaking you down
⇢ word count: 11,695
・‥…━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━…‥・
⇢ a/n: don’t really think noncon is my forte but practice makes perfect. is the pairing self-indulgent? fat yes. does this fic make total sense? not really sure. did i have fun writing it? hell yeah. also big thank you to @ishuzoku​ for helping me come up with the flyer bc my og id was garbage lmao.
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Furrowing your brows, you looked at Tendo with a mix of exasperation and unadulterated dismay.
“An abandoned amusement park. On Halloween?” Kaori asked before you could, eyebrows disappearing into her bangs. “You cannot be serious, Tendo.”
If he was put off by your reactions, he didn’t show it. If anything, he was probably relishing in it, and said, “Yes, yes I am. It’ll be fun. Come on, do you really just wanna get drunk at a boring house party on Halloween?”
You snorted at that, stirring your coffee as you said, “As opposed to getting murdered at an amusement park? That’s like, straight out of a horror movie, Tendo.”
“You guys are so boring,” he whined, slumping forward across the table. Shirabu grumbled under his breath, glaring at Tendo as he nudged his drink closer to Shirabu’s textbook. “Look, it’ll be so cool! Exploring all the abandoned funhouses and imagine how freaky the haunted houses will be! Just think about it, okay?”
The looks everyone exchanged said they had and had already made up their minds, but you nodded anyway, if for no other reason than to appease him.
A moment later, your alarm went off and you bid them goodbye, walking towards the door with Shirabu for your next lecture. You were sure as shit not going to an abandoned anything this weekend.
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Except somehow, against all odds, you were piled up in the back of Konoha’s car, crammed beside someone who had been introduced to you as Akaashi Keiji. He was a friend of Bokuto’s and Konoha’s and, upon hearing about your adventure, asked if he could tag along. If you had to peg him, he was more the librarian type than a ghost hunter type-- soft spoken and well mannered with pretty blue eyes that closed slightly when he smiled.
In the front seat were Konoha-- driving-- and Yachi, currently fighting with the radio and Konoha’s phone. 
In the car behind you was someone named Kuroo-- also a friend of Bokuto and Akaashi-- Kaori, Goshiki, and Semi-- a friend of Shirabu, Goshiki, and Tendo. Kuroo was almost ecstatic to be going, but Semi had seemed like he would rather be doing anything else as he climbed into the passenger seat of Kuroo’s car.
The car in front contained Tendo, Bokuto, Yukie, and-- god bless him-- Shirabu. You were sure he was losing his mind as Tendo guided him towards the location of the amusement park. The details on how exactly this had come about were lost on you, but you vaguely recalled a drunken bet made two nights ago and a video that Tendo refused to share properly, but assured you was proof that the group had agreed to the terms of said bet and then lost. Spectacularly. Supposedly.
“So, how did you meet everyone?” Akaashi asked, turning to look at you. The scenery outside was turning quickly from civilization to wilderness, the trees growing thicker the further you drove until you couldn’t tell one trunk from the next. 
Humming, you rested your chin in your hand, bracing your elbow on the door. This was the worst part of meeting someone new during a trip-- tedious small talk. But you had to start somewhere, so you said, “I met Kaori in one of our classes and ‘Toka-- er, Yachi--” The girl turned around at the sound of her name and waved. “-- is my roommate. They kind of introduced me to everyone else.”
Truth be told, you weren’t sure how they had become your core group of friends. From loud and boisterous Bokuto to sullen and taciturn Shirabu, you adored all of them, but you had had your own group of friends before meeting them. Most of those old friends had faded from sight as you found yourself absorbed in your new ones and, while a part of you felt bad, it was just a part of life.
“What about you?” you asked, glancing at him from the corner of your eye. “How do you know them?”
Konoha snickered from the front seat and Akaashi cut him a glare before turning back to you. “I’ve been friends with Konoha, Bo, and Tetsuro since highschool. Kaori and Yukie were our managers,” he said.
Konoha made a turn onto a road who’s name sign had long since fallen off the rusty pole, and you wondered just how far out you had traveled. It didn’t feel like it had been long since you left, but you recognized nothing around you and there was no sign of life. 
“So, everyone but ‘Toka and I were friends in highschool, huh?” You chuckled. “What are the odds?”
Akaashi laughed with you, fiddling with his fingers as he turned back to look out his window. 
The car was now filled with the sound of music, overtaking the silence that fell between the four of you. Konoha was focused on driving and you knew Yachi was more than a little nervous-- you had almost expected her to back out and accept whatever payback Tendo had planned for it afterwards.
“Do any of you guys know anything about this place?” you asked, leaning forward and resting your chin on Yachi’s seat. Through the windshield, you could see Tendo’s shaved head and Bokuto’s spiky locks in the backseat, and worried for poor Shirabu’s sanity. “How did Tendo even know this place existed?”
“It’s an old legend,” Akaashi spoke up softly. 
Both you and Yachi turned to look at him, the latter’s breath hitching because everyone knew when those words were said, the story was going to be unpleasant.
Konoha cursed as he hit a pothole, muttering Tendo’s name under his breath as he righted the car between the faded lane lines, and Akaashi smiled at that before looking back to you.
“I doubt most people have heard of it,” he began, popping his knuckles one at a time. “It’s more of a local thing, really.”
“Well then how do you know about it?” you asked curiously, quirking a brow. You knew Bokuto grew up in Tokyo, which meant Akaashi had as well, and you were well outside of the city limits.
Akaashi smiled, tipping his head to the side and for the first time there was something other than soft indifference in it. “I enjoy these types of places and legends. It’s a hobby, you might say. This particular amusement park was meant to be scary in nature and didn’t stay open for long due to unexplained deaths and disappearances.”
Yachi squeaked, and you cast her a glance before resting your hand on her shoulder. This was probably not the best story for someone as easily scared as she was, but it was too late now, and you knew there was curiosity beneath the fear.
“That sounds way too vague,” you said, lips curling up at the corners. “That’s what everyone says about places like this. It’s not scary.”
Your skepticism was met with laughter and he said, “True. The police at the time pinned the problems on faulty attractions or poor background checks, saying there must have been a serial killer hired without anyone realizing. Sounds to me like they just couldn’t figure out what was causing it.”
You rolled your eyes, nodding along. If the park was as old as Tendo said, it could really have been faulty attractions, but you weren’t buying the serial killer story. It sounded too far-fetched compared to being crushed by an unstable support beam. 
Akaashi continued, voice dropping in what might have been a scary attempt at atmosphere if the sun wasn’t framing his pretty features in a golden glow behind him. “The locals all said that the place was haunted, too many deaths had built up negative energy, trapping the spirits of those killed there. Unable to escape, they grew angry and the deaths continued until authorities labeled the park unsafe and banned any more visitors. And then--”
“What the hell?” Konoha cut him off, hitting the brakes a little harder than necessary.
Akaashi’s seat belt locked and he grunted, rubbing at the new red mark on his neck as he asked, “What’s going on?”
“Dunno,” Konoha replied, putting the car in park. “Sorry about that. Shirabu is getting out of the car.”
The car behind you pulled up as you were getting out, eyes wide as you watched Tendo lay a map out on the trunk of Shirabu’s car.
“We’re lost,” you said, sighing in exasperation.
A tall figure blocked out the sun in front of you and you squinted up into the face of Kuroo. He was giving you a catlike grin, ruffling his messy rooster hair as he said, “Sure seems that way, princess. This place is in the middle of nowhere. I’ll be surprised if we even find it.” He guided you over to the car where the others were gathered, snickering at the look of surprise on your face. “What?”
“You know about this place too?” you asked, glancing at Akaashi on the other side of the car. He cast you a small, closed eyed smile. “Akaashi was telling us about it in the car.”
Kuroo chuckled, raising a brow at his friend. “Yeah, being friends with Akaashi has its share of hazards.”
“Look, I’m pretty sure we’re here,” Tendo said, interrupting your conversation. He was pointing to a small line that looked just like any other on the map, aside from the major roadways and cities. If he was right, you were a decent ways out of the city and your watch read 1:01pm. “If we just follow this road and then this one, it’ll lead us straight past the village and to the park.”
Shirabu looked skeptical, spinning the map around to look at it as well. He wasn’t exactly wrong but how could he really tell? All the smaller roads looked the same and they couldn’t even confirm the name of the road because there was no sign. It had also been ages since they last saw a house or even another car, so asking anyone was out of the question too.
“This is stupid,” he sighed, running his fingers through his hair. No one besides Tendo really wanted to be there-- he ignored the fact that Kuroo was just as excited as his weirdo friend to be going and that Akaashi had jumped at the opportunity as well-- and it would be so much easier to just turn around and go to Hinata’s party. “We should just go home before we get lost.”
Tendo frowned at that, sharing a look with Kuroo before saying, “We aren’t lost*. It’s not much further now. Just trust me.”
The others were all inclined to agree with Shirabu, you included, but arguing with Tendo was like arguing with a brick wall-- pointless. He had already tricked you into agreeing to this endeavor and at this point backing out would be both a waste of time and gas. Shirabu was too smart to get lost anyway but, if you were lucky, Tendo was wrong and you wouldn’t be able to find the place at all.
“Do you really think we’ll be able to find it?” Yachi asked once you were safely back in the car. 
Akaashi hummed beside you, but you said, “God I hope not. I was looking forward to Hinata’s party and if we get back quick enough we might still make it.”
Konoha looked at you in the rearview, eyes crinkled as he snickered. “What, are you scared, _____? Afraid the ghosts are gonna get ya?”
Scoffing, you dug through your bag for your phone. A check an hour ago had revealed one bar, but now the words ‘No Service’ blazed across the service banner. “No, I’m not scared. There are just a thousand better things to be doing that than breaking my neck on rusty amusement park rides.”
“Sounds like cowardice to me,” he answered, laughing at you through the mirror. 
Sticking your tongue out at him, you turned back to the window, sighing as the scenery passed by in a blur. Konoha and Akaashi talked a lot about volleyball, Yachi pitching in occasionally. You knew she had managed her highschool volleyball team and knew everyone else in the group to some degree, but most everything sports related went over your head. 
Still, Akaashi made some effort to get to know you, asking about highschool and what classes you were taking. You told him about your major and asked what his was, finding out he was a literature major and constantly busy, explaining why you had never met him before. He, Kuroo, and Semi were the busiest out of all their friends, often skipping out on get togethers in order to study, work, or-- in Semi’s case-- practice with his band.
A little while later, while Yachi and Konoha were having a heated discussion about their favorite subjects, you caught the first glimpse of something besides trees. Turning to look out the windshield, you saw brake lights already lighting up and the car began to slow.
“Well, we found the village, at least,” Tendo said, reading the faded sign displaying the name of the town. “I didn’t expect it to be abandoned too, though.”
Everyone was gathered in the middle of the road, looking down the mainstreet of the village. Windows were busted out and boarded up, paint faded on rotten clapboards, and roofs missing tiles or riddled with holes. The street was littered with potholes and the whole town had an eerie sense of unnatural quiet. Everyone shifted on their heels, slowly making their way back towards the cars without a word and piling in. 
Even Tendo looked unnerved.
The town disappeared behind you but in the distance you could see the towering track of a roller coaster above the treeline. Even from so far away you could see that the paint was faded off of it, the sun filtering through clouds and casting the whole area in shades of grey. To you, it seemed like the forest was darker, the trees packed more closely together, and your heart began to thump in your chest.
“You okay?” Akaashi’s gentle voice asked in your ear. His hand landed on your shoulder, colder than expected, and you shivered underneath his touch. “You look like you’ve already seen a ghost.”
You nodded, looking over to find him giving you a look of amused concern, one corner of his mouth turned up in a half smile. “Just nervous. That town was creepy as hell and it freaked me out a little.”
“Me too!” Yachi squeaked from the front seat, turning around to give you a pleading look. “Don’t you dare leave me, _____.”
Laughter filled the car then and you patted Yachi on the shoulder. “Wouldn’t dream of it, ‘Toka.”
The towering sign for the park appeared up ahead and the car fell silent all over again as brake lights lit up again. Broken glass and gravel littered the parking lot, which was smaller than expected for how big the park looked. 
Everyone seemed to hesitate on getting out of the cars. Tendo was the first, followed by Kuroo, and then Akaashi. Like it was a signal, the rest of you followed, Yachi clinging onto your hand and Kuroo and Akaashi seeming to stand behind you protectively, close enough that you could feel warmth radiating off them.
“Do we really have to go in there?” Goshiki asked, eyeing the ticket booth with disdain. The paint on it, like everything else, was faded, the wood rotten and the window and door busted out. The latter creaked on its hinges, filling the still air with an unsettling noise that mixed with the faint sounds of creaking metal and leaves fluttering in the wind.
Everyone shuffled back towards the cars a little at his question, but Tendo took a step forward, resting his hand on the turnstile. “Since we’re actually here, may as well take a look around.”
Without another moment of hesitation, he hopped over it, peering around with an unusually quiet interest. It was the first time since you had met Tendo that he had nothing to say, his already pale face seemingly devoid of color, making his vibrant, sleepy eyes pop out even more.
Groaning, you, Shirabu, and Goshiki stepped forward, dragging Yachi with you as you climbed over the turnstile as well. You couldn’t just let Tendo wander off into the dangerous park alone. The others followed suit, muffled whispers and conversations floating through the air as they spread out in the area. 
The forest had started taking back over through the concrete, weeds and grass sprouting up through the cracks and pushing the cobblestones up and out of place. Vines of ivy and moss hung from the powerpoles, vendor booths, and some attractions further back, swaying in the gentle breeze. The buildings were dark inside, but through the gloom you could make out mannequins and shelves devoid of merchandise.
The bell dinged on the first one Tendo pushed open-- a souvenir shop. It was empty except for dust and garbage, as were the next few you entered.
Slowly but surely the group made their way further into the park, Yachi clinging onto you the whole time. Akaashi and Kuroo were right behind the two of you, Shirabu and Semi in front, forming a kind of guard while Tendo and Bokuto led the way. Kaori clung to Goshiki, who looked like he was putting on a brave front despite his pink cheeks and the nervousness in his eyes.
For all his grumbling, Shirabu looked interested as he eyed all the buildings and machinery. It was quiet, devoid even of the sound of birdsong or humming bugs, and it unsettled you.
“Oh look, it’s the pirate ship ride!” Bokuto yelled suddenly, breaking the deathly silence.
Everyone jumped, Shirabu hissing at him to shut up while Yukie shrieked, latching onto him. Bokuto had the decency to look abashed but still steered the group towards the derelict platform, testing his weight on the creaky metal stairs on his way up.
The deck of the ship was littered with leaves and dust, the seats worn down and showing stuffing and springs after however many years left in the element. There were signs of rust on the metal and the whole thing shifted slightly to emit a creak.
“Um, Bo, I don’t think that’s safe,” Kuroo called out, grabbing your arm to stop you from following up behind him. 
Tendo and Goshiki were up beside him, examining the boat itself and, before anyone knew it, the former had hopped into it.
“Tendo!” Shirabu called, a trace of panic in his voice. His fingers were wrapped around the railing, paint flakes coming away under his touch hand as he prepared to spring up the stairs, but everyone’s eyes were locked on Tendo’s precarious creep down the middle aisle. “Get out of there before you get hurt, idiot!”
“It’s fine, Shirabu,” he called, now standing at the bow. “It’s kinda cool actually. I can see more of the park from here.”
Bokuto landed with a thump a moment later, a louder creak ringing out than when lanky Tendo had landed, and everyone took a collective breath and held it. 
But as before, it held, and he joined Tendo up by the bow.
“Wow, he’s right!” he called, holding his hand above his eyes like a visor and peering out over the park. It was certainly bigger than he imagined for being in the middle of nowhere. “There’s a house over that way!”
“Probably the haunted house,” Tendo said, straining to see what Bokuto was looking at. In the distance were two stilted, twisted steeples painted in different hues. One was flamboyant and bright, the other dark and dreary, even compared to the state of disrepair of the rest of the park. “I see a funhouse too, I think. Looks pretty freaky. Wanna check ‘em out?”
“Hell yeah,” Bokuto shouted, whipping around to look at the rest of you.
Shirabu looked ready to blow a gasket, and Yachi looked ready to faint, but everyone else looked intrigued. Even you couldn’t help but be a little curious about it, having free range to explore the most interesting rides in the park. Wasn’t it everyone’s dream to be able to see what they were like without restraint? 
The sun was just beginning to fade behind the treeline, turning the clouds a thin shade of orange, but the lure of seeing something interesting had dissolved any real fear.
The two men met Goshiki on the platform and made their way back down to the rest of the group, eyes shining bright with the promise of adventure.
“I told you it wouldn’t be so bad!” Tendo said as if the stunt he just pulled hadn’t taken years off all your lives. Jumping haphazardly onto a decade old, rusted out death trap attraction at an abandoned amusement park hours from the nearest hospital wasn’t going to earn him any genius awards.
On the way towards the supposed attractions, you came across the carousel. Its metal panels were tarnished, the paint worn away from them and the animals, the mirrors grimy with dirt. Vines and ivy climbed up everywhere. The platform shifted when Kuroo stepped onto it, Tendo hot on his heels followed closely by Bokuto. 
“Let’s go see, ‘Toka,” you said, tugging her forward by the hand. Kaori took your other one, squeezing, while Akaashi guided you with a gentle hand on your back.
“Look at this,” someone said, and you turned to find Semi holding a faded paper. “It looks like a poster claiming someone was kidnapping people.”
“How the hell is it still here?” Konoha asked, peering at it around Semi’s arm. “It should have disintegrated a long damn time ago.”
“Dunno,” Semi said with a frown. Trying to see the paper, you were crowded against Semi by Yachi and Kaori and flinched when you realized how hot he was. “It was wedged in the frame of the mirror.”
The whole thing was faded but still legible, due presumably to being tucked into the mirror, and appeared to be a flyer issued by the park itself.
Due to the recent disappearances, park security has been tightened. Please stay aware of your surroundings and report and suspicious activity immediately.
“You were right, Akaashi,” you said, glancing up at the man standing behind you. “They really did think someone was kidnapping people.”
“A lot of the people were never found,” Semi said, folding the sheet up neatly and tucking into his pocket. “It’s not surprising they thought that.”
“Ohhhh, maybe the bodies are still here,” Tendo said, wiggling his fingers over Konoha’s shoulders. “Maybe it was actually the workers kidnapping people and they kept the bodies in a secret place.”
“Like where?” Shirabu asked, giving him an exasperated, skeptical look. It was getting late and they were wasting time just hanging around. He wasn’t particularly thrilled at the idea of being in the park after dark, going to possibly the scariest attraction in the place, but if they were going to do it, they needed to just get it done. “The authorities probably tore this place apart looking for them.”
Tendo shrugged, looking thoughtful. “Maybe they hid them in the haunted house. Maybe there’s a hidden room somewhere that only the workers knew how to open.”
“Could you not?” Yukie asked, slapping Tendo on the arm. “We’re going there, in case you forgot, pea brain. Way to freak us out.”
Yachi was clinging onto Kaori now, staring at Tendo with wide, frightened eyes and he almost looked repentant.
“Or, you know, could be anywhere. The haunted house would be a pretty obvious place to hide it, wouldn’t it?” he said, rubbing the back of his head. Beckoning to Yachi, she went reluctantly, letting Tendo tuck her under his arm. “Don’t worry, Yach. I’ll protect you, ‘kay?”
You and Kaori snickered at the shade of red her face turned, and Shirabu sighed.
“Can we just get going before it gets too late?” he asked, turning and leading the way down the path. The shadows were slowly lengthening, orange mixing with shades of pink and purple in the sky.
Semi fell into step beside you, Yukie on your other side. Goshiki and Konoha were having a conversation about the derelict rollercoaster to the right, and you allowed your attention to drift to it. It was eerie, the faded paint and rusted metal tracks looming like a foreboding beacon above you. Staring the way you were, your foot caught a displaced cobblestone and you went sprawling with a yelp.
Before you could smack the ground, a strong, warm hand wrapped around your upper arm and hauled you back up. It hurt, causing a sharp ache in your shoulder, but it still hurt less than the concrete probably would have. Looking up at your savior, you gave him a half smile.
“Thanks, Semi,” you said, rubbing your shoulder.
But he was frowning at you-- not that that was any different than the look he’d worn all day-- but this one was marred by soft concern. “Are you alright? You’re awfully cold.”
“O-Oh. No, I’m fine. Just got distracted by the coaster,” you said, giggling in embarrassment. “It is a bit chilly though, now that you mention it. I didn’t notice.”
There was a moment's hesitation, then the sound of a zipper being drawn down. A weight settled across your shoulders, surrounding you with an unfamiliar cologne, and your cheeks heated up at the realization that he had given you his jacket.
“That’s okay, Semi, really,” you said, shrugging the jacket off. “It isn’t that bad, and it’s my own fault. I left mine in the car.”
“No worries, _____,” he said, and for the first time you could see a small smile on his face in the dim light. “I’m not cold, so you can take it.”
“Well, thanks, I guess,” you said, pulling it back around your shoulders. It was warm and you smiled when you caught him looking at you. He was wearing a peculiar look, kind but almost possessive, and he licked his lips once before looking forward again.
You shivered, unsure if you were just seeing things. The park had rattled your nerves and Semi was just being nice. You didn’t know him well enough to make a judgement call like that and forced down the uneasiness, taking your place beside him again.
“Smooth move, klutz,” Konoha quipped, nudging your back. Goshiki and Shirabu snickered and you flipped them off over your shoulder, looping your other arm with Yukie.
The steepled spires of the haunted house came into view, beside which stood the funhouse, like Tendo said. Both looked terrifying in the dying light of the sun. Like everything else, the paint was almost gone, shingles missing from the roofs which were adorned with holes.
Without thinking, you reached out and grabbed Semi’s arm, pressing yourself to it. He glanced at you for a moment, a soft smile flitting across his face before looking at Tendo, who was staring between the two buildings.
“I wanna go in the funhouse,” Tendo said, turning back to the rest of the group. Setting his hands on his hips, he looked around at everyone. “Should we go as a group?” Kuroo shifted, pointing his feet towards the haunted house. “I kinda wanna go in there, actually.”
“Well no one should go anywhere alone,” Shirabu said firmly, and everyone nodded in agreement. If someone got hurt, no one would know for ages and then there was the long ride back on top of it.
“So we’ll split up. Everyone pick a house,” Tendo said, clapping his hands. 
Yukie’s arm around yours disappeared and she scurried over to Tendo, looking at you apologetically. Yachi took her place instead, looking for all the world like she was going to collapse from fright, and you gave her a concerned look.
“I’m going wherever you go,” she said, and you raised a brow. 
Before you could answer, Kuroo’s arm slung around your shoulders, looming over Yachi’s tiny form. “It looks like everyone’s decided. Pretty even split. Let’s meet back here in--” He checked his watch. “Two hours? That should be enough time to see everything.”
You opened your mouth to object, but Tendo nodded while Shirabu set the timer on his watch. “Everyone be careful, please. We really can’t afford any injuries.”
Yachi looked up at the dark house looming before you while the other group made their way towards the funhouse. 
You could hear Tendo’s voice echo back, saying, “That’s the reason we have you here, Shirabu. You’re a doctor and all.”
Shirabu said something in return, but it was lost in the distance as you were herded towards the haunted house. The doors hung open, swinging in the breeze and creaking.  It seemed like the house sucked all the warmth from the air the closer you got to it, and you squeezed Semi’s arm in yours.
“Scared, princess?” Kuroo whispered in your ear, raising the hairs on the back of your neck when his warm breath met your cold skin. “You shouldn’t be. We’re here with you.”
The steps leading into it sagged beneath your weight, the wood softer than it should’ve been and it came as no surprise when one broke beneath Semi’s weight. He cursed while you and Yachi pulled back, keeping him from falling over and potentially hurting himself. It took Akaashi and Kuroo both to pull him up out of the hole and a quick check revealed his jeans had protected his leg.
“Are you alright?” you whispered, looking up into Semi’s unamused face. He was wearing a hard scowl, his grip on you iron clad now as he guided you up the steps.
“Sure,” he said, eyes softening when he looked down at you. “Just annoyed.”
Inside, the light from your phones seemed to be swallowed by the darkness. The dust was thick and the air musty and humid. Cobwebs hung from everything, casting long shadows into the darkness beyond the halo of your flashlights.
Yachi yelped, tripping over a rotted track board and would have dragged you down if you weren’t holding onto Semi so tightly. His heat was almost a comfort now, driving away the persistent chill that seemed to emanate from the ramshackle walls. You couldn’t tell where the fabricated deterioration ended and true rot began.
“This way then?” Akaashi asked, leading the way into the first door. It was the kitchen area, set up to look like a butcher shop. A thick layer of dust settled over everything, motes flurrying through the painfully white light from your phones in an eerie dance that made it even harder to see.
Old props lay on the worn countertops, splotches of what was likely-- hopefully-- fake blood a dark black on the faded wood and laminate. Someone had a hand on your back while Akaashi examined a chain hanging from the ceiling, something hanging from the end of it. It made a strange noise when he pushed it, a crackly, grinding noise like it was rusty. It wouldn’t be a surprise, with the humidity as high as it is. 
“That’s a little unsettling,” Kuroo admitted, and you all jumped when a loud crash rang out somewhere further down.
“Now would be the time to leave if we were in a horror movie,” you hinted through gritted teeth, even as Kuroo stepped back out into the hall. He scanned the darkness, his phone hanging by his side, the light pointed towards the floor. “What do you expect to see anyway, genius?”
He turned back to wink before disappearing into the dark and you groaned, straining your eyes to see anything. His light was lost in the gloom and you released Yachi’s arm, taking a step forward. Semi allowed himself to be dragged along with you while Goshiki held Yachi, petting her hair as she whimpered.
Swearing, you and Semi trudged down the hallway, listening for any noises but heard nothing besides the sounds of an old building settling. Your voice caught in your throat when you opened your mouth to call for Kuroo, your ire failing in the face of the oppressive darkness in the heart of the house. Swiping a cobweb off your face, you shined your phone around, lighting up a destroyed living room area, two hallways, and a staircase.
“You don’t think he went upstairs, do you?” Semi whispered, following your line of sight.
Swallowing, you said, “God I fuckin’ hope not. This is so creepy, can’t we just leave him?”
He chuckled against his will, a quiet, rough noise as he tried to stifle it. “‘Fraid not. I don’t wanna deal with the cops.”
Heaving a sigh, you pointed the light down to the floor and found no sign of footprints in the thick dust. Flashing it behind you, you saw your own and Semi’s clearly visible and frowned. “Hey, look.”
Semi scoured the floor, waving his light all around you. “He definitely came this way.”
Nodding, you pointed the light back in front of you, down the hallway, but it was unable to break more than a few inches of darkness. “Okay, now I’m really freaked out. Where is he?”
New light joined your meager one, shuffling footsteps coming to a stop just behind you. 
Akaashi’s hand landed on your shoulder, peering over your head at where you were staring.
“This way,” Semi said after a moment of silence. It was broken only by Yachi’s occasional sniffle and you wondered if you shouldn’t just return to the front door and let Semi and Akaashi handle the rescue. But gentle pressure on your arm and shoulder guided you down, sniffling at the dust before you broke out into a sneeze.
The floor creaked beneath your feet, making the already eerie feeling worse as you crept down the hall. There were faded, torn paintings lining the walls, a few false doors, and windows painted black and boarded up. You couldn’t tell if the paint peeling up the walls was due to age or intent, but it certainly didn’t help settle your unease. 
“Careful,” Semi said suddenly, jerking you sideways into him. The cold hand slid off your shoulder and a light revealed a hole in the middle of the floor, where you had been about to step.
“Thanks,” you breathed, swallowing harshly. The dust was starting to sting your eyes and you repressed another sneeze, rubbing your nose. 
Skirting around the hole, it opened into another room, what appeared to be a library. Overstuffed armchairs littered the room, the shelves lining the walls stacked with what were likely fake books. There was no sign of Kuroo, but Semi led you further into the room carefully.
He wasn’t careful enough, though.
Once second you were clinging to him, the next you heard a crack and then you were experiencing the most curious sensation. Your stomach swooped as the light disappeared, and you realized belatedly that you were falling. Something warm, almost scalding wrapped around you, and your fall stopped short with a grunt of impact.
You lay there stunned for several long moments, head spinning and heart beating hard enough that you could feel it in your ears. The dark was only furthering your disorientation and you only realized you were laying on something when it moved beneath you.
Sitting up, you felt something slump over your shoulders before coughing filled your ears.
“Semi?” you whispered hoarsely. Above you, you registered screaming and looked up only to be blinded by light.
Semi grunted behind you but didn’t move, breathing heavy against your back. From above, you could hear muted conversation before the shrieking stopped.
“_____, Semi, are you both okay?” Akaashi’s concerned voice reached your ringing ears, and you nodded in response.
It took you a moment to realize he probably couldn’t see you, calling up, “Yeah, I think so. Semi--”
“‘M fine,” he yelled, though he sounded winded. 
“Are you sure?” you asked, wrapping a hand around the wrist dangling in front of you. A few feet away lay your phone, face down, the light muted but visible, and you sighed in relief. “You caught me, are you sure*?”
Semi chuckled, a rough noise. “Yeah, I’m sure. Trust me.”
“You guys stay there,” Akaashi commanded, then turned back to Goshiki and Yachi to say something. “I’ll find a way down to you.”
He disappeared and you scrambled forward, snatching your phone up. Moving back to the relative safety of Semi’s presence, you shined it around. 
The basement, you decided upon seeing the array of monster props and torture machines, was perhaps the most terrifying part of the house. It was only heightened by your adrenaline rush, the shadows seeming to jump out to your paranoid mind.
As the adrenaline wore off, you took stock of your extremities. Semi really had cushioned you-- nothing hurt-- and you turned to face him.
In the light, he really did look fine, even his breathing had evened out, and he looked back at you with a smirk. “Told you. I’m tougher than you think.”
“I’m beginning to realize that,” you admitted, getting to your feet. You didn’t let Semi get far, linking your arm with his and clinging to him, much to his amusement.
His eyes adjusted to the dark faster than yours and he located his phone near the base of a rusty filing cabinet. The screen was cracked-- which he cursed-- but it still worked, and he turned the flashlight back on.
“This is creepy as fuck,” he muttered, thumping the model of a skeletal doctor to see the dust swirl. There was a medical table in the center of the room with a light looming over it. He assumed there was supposed to be a body laying on said table and, in the dark, it was a scary thought that it was no longer there. “I hope Akaashi hurries up. I don’t like it here.”
You couldn’t stifle the small giggle, though you covered your mouth in a poor attempt. It was the nerves, you were sure, because as he moved away you held tighter, stumbling after him. He tried one door, the handle stiff enough that you recognized it to be fake. There was a set of metal double doors on the other side of the room and those swung open with an eerie grinding noise, scraping across the concrete floor.
The hallways extended to either direction, cells lining the wall in front of you and you shuddered. “Let’s go, Semi, please,” you begged, tugging him down to the left. It was the same direction that you had come from on the floor above and hoped that it would lead you to a staircase or something*.
Semi went along reluctantly, flashing his light in all the cells you passed. Most were empty, besides the occasional bed or other prop. Some contained chains mounted in the wall and his eyes flashed to you.
The hallway opened up into what may have been a waiting room if most of the furniture hadn’t been utterly destroyed. As you scanned the area, there was a noise from up ahead and you jerked to a stop, scurrying back to Semi’s side. Peeking around him while he stared down the hall, you kept a tight grip on his arm, feeling the muscles flex and tense beneath your hand. A shadow moved in the light and you nearly screamed as Kuroo stepped into view, followed closely by Akaashi.
Neither carried a light and your heart leapt in your throat when you caught a momentary flash of light reflecting off of Kuroo’s eyes before it disappeared.
Still hiding behind Semi, the four of you regarded each other in silence for a moment, before Kuroo chuckled.
“Well, this is certainly convenient, though I didn’t expect you to get involved,” he said, leaning sideways against the wall. He looked as relaxed as usual while Akaashi lurked behind him, staring at you peeking around Semi’s arm. 
He held out a hand to you but you held back, suddenly unsure of Kuroo’s words. With your heart in your throat, you looked up into Semi’s relaxed, impassive face. He made no moves, just watched the other two linger in front of your only escape route.
Then he shrugged.
“Dumb luck.”
The men burst into laughter and you squeaked, taking a step back from Semi. Before you could get anywhere, his hand wrapped around your wrist, pulling you forward.
“Easy, kitten. We don’t wanna hurt you,” Kuroo said, stepping further into the room. His eyes lit up once again in the light from your flashlight, mischievous brown turning solid gold. His pupils narrowed and elongated, his smile seeming to become more sharp as he stared down at you.
You breathed in sharply, taking a step back into Semi’s chest. Regardless of whether he was in on whatever they had planned, he was the safest option as opposed to whatever the hell Kuroo was.
The grip on your wrist loosened but came to your shoulders instead, keeping you in place with a warning squeeze. You had already guessed he was tough, given he had taken the full brunt of the impact earlier, but you now suspected he wasn’t human either.
Akaashi came forward last, looking as placid and calm as ever, cold fingertips stroking down your cheek.
You shivered.
None of these men were human, if you had to hazard a guess. Staring up at them, you felt your heart drop.
“W-Where are ‘Toka and Goshiki?” you asked, and were proud that your voice barely cracked. Maybe if you reminded them people would be looking for you, they would back off, allowing you to escape.
Kuroo chuckled, flipping the zipper of your-- Semi’s-- jacket up in what would have been a cute manner under different circumstances. “Keiji here sent them looking for the others in the funhouse, but they’ll never find the doorway down here. Tendo was right, there are lots of hidden doors in this place.”
“What are you? What are you going to-- to d-do to me?” you asked quickly, wrapping your fingers around his wrist as he started to tug the zipper down. You were stalling at best, your heart thumping harshly in your chest. If there was any chance of escape, you couldn’t figure it out. You had no idea where this door was and you had the impression you wouldn’t be able to outrun them anyway.
“I don’t suppose it would hurt to tell you,” he answered, taking a step closer. You tried to shrink away, huddling down into Semi’s oversized jacket, but it only seemed to entice them. “I am a yokai, I assume you know what that is? Akaashi is your run of the mill demon.”
If that offended Akaashi, he didn’t show it, simply widening his smile and blinking slowly. His once serene blue eyes turned pitch black and when he blinked again, they were normal.
“I’m just a werewolf,” Semi said, breathing against your ear. His hands slid down, catching the zipper of his jacket between his fingers and drawing the zipper down slowly.
“W-Wait, please,” you tried, grabbing and tugging at his wrist to no avail. He was far stronger, and you were like a fly in comparison. “Please, can we just go?”
Kuroo cupped your cheek, a moderate temperature compared to the other two, and his smile seemed to soften a fraction. “No, kitten. Keiji and I have been waiting for this for far too long. The wolf probably just likes how you smell.”
You weren’t sure what that meant, but the deep, pointed inhale Semi took against your neck seemed to verify the statement. The jacket fell to the floor with barely a whisper and then your phone was placed face up on a table, beside the men’s, and the combined light filled the room. 
It felt like you couldn’t get enough air as warm hands skimmed down your stomach, stretching the soft fabric of your t-shirt out, before settling on your hips. Lips met your neck, tentative at first, trailing up to your jaw, causing you to shiver.
The heat radiating off of Semi and Kuroo was getting to you, Semi’s soft lips flitting over pleasure spots causing your back to arch. You didn’t want to like it, but when Kuroo’s hands slipped up your shirt and over your ribs, your muscles tensed in unwanted arousal. Your nipples were already peaking inside your bra, the hairs on the back of your neck raising at the first graze of teeth on your skin.
“W-Wa-ait--” you breathed and, for a moment, you thought they really would stop because they both paused.
It was over in a moment, a soft kiss pressed to your other cheek as Kuroo pushed your bra up over your tits. His hands were soft as they cupped the tender flesh, giving gentle squeezes that went straight to your core, as much as you protested. “Not gonna happen, kitten. May as well enjoy it. We’ll take good care of you.”
A new sensation joined the heat surrounding you then, Kuroo moving to the side to allow Akaashi to join in. His hands were cold compared to the other two, one on your side and one cupping your unoccupied breast. The difference was enough to make you gasp, back arching on its own into their touch, and they at least had the decency not to snicker.
“You really do smell good, princess,” Semi whispered in your ear, nipping the lobe. “I can smell everything, even how wet you’re getting for us.”
Craning your neck away from him only opened you up to another smattering of kisses and you hated that he was right. They were getting to you, their gentle touches on your body doing everything right, like they had been your lovers for years rather than men you just met today. It made it harder to think than it already was, mind still racing in a futile effort to formulate some way to escape, but even you could recognize your body giving up.
Your shirt came up and over your head, disappearing somewhere outside of your vision. There was a collective intake from the men in front of you, and Semi groaned over your shoulder.
“I knew you would be so pretty, kitten,” Kuroo cooed, palming one tit again. He relished in the way you twitched when he pinched your nipple, then he cupped both, bouncing and watching them jiggle. “Been watching you all day, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on you.”
Akaashi was the first to lean over, wrapping cool lips around one pert bud, and Kuroo stepped back to watch your teeth sink into your lip to stifle any noises.
“Feel good, princess?” Semi asked, and chuckled when you shook your head. “It will soon, then. We won’t hurt you. Just wanna make you feel good.”
The worst part was, you were beginning to enjoy it. It was so tempting to cave, to just let them have their way with you. They were gentle, surprisingly so, and it was knocking down whatever resistance you had left at an alarming rate.
Semi’s hands were almost scalding against your sides, squeezing and kneading as he suckled at your neck, feeling you whine in your throat. “There you go. Just let go.”
The clasp of your bra came loose, and you weren’t even sure who had done it, before it was slid down your arms and dumped, presumably with your shirt.
There were two sets of lips attached to each nipple, your nails digging into your palms to keep from tangling your fingers in someone’s hair but you were losing the will to fight. Your panties were embarrassingly wet, no matter how much your mind insisted you didn’t like it, and you broke your silence when cold fingers drifted down to undo the button of your jeans.
“No please,” you begged, wiggling your hips in your first real display of resistance. Hands clamped down to still them in an iron grip, and a hand clasped your jaw, forcing you to look Kuroo in the eyes.
“What wrong, kitten? You’ve been so good up til now,” he said, stroking your lower lip with his thumb. There were imprints of your teeth in the skin, and he ached to kiss you, but it would have to wait.
“I-I don’t w-want--” you stuttered, tears burning the corners of your eyes as your zipper was pulled down.
Semi interrupted you then, tilting your head just so that he could kiss the corner of your mouth, smirking. “She’s embarrassed because of how wet she is.” Dropping his voice to barely a whisper, he said, “I can smell you, princess. You want this, don’t deny it.”
Shaking your head feebly, you whined when Semi pressed his lips to your cheek, dangerously close to your lips again. It was enough to distract you from your jeans sliding down your legs, until they pooled at your ankles and Akaashi had to tug your shoes off. Your jeans hit the floor shortly afterwards, the air startlingly cool against your now bare skin only to be covered with warmth as the men caged you in again.
It started with two fleeting touches to your inner thighs, which you tried to stop by squeezing them together only for them to pried apart in an instant. Semi took the opportunity to lay another languid kiss to the corner of your mouth, tongue flicking out against your lips.
For a moment, you turned into it only to jerk away, looking in the opposite direction. You knew what they were trying to do and you wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of hearing you beg for something you didn’t want. You wondered briefly where the others were and why you could hear nothing from above, until warm hands cupped your tits again.
You bit down on your lip again when Semi circled your nipples with his thumbs, massaging your breasts as he rolled them between his fingers. It was hard to keep quiet when it felt so good, especially when Kuroo and Akaashi were teasing your inner thighs, so close your aching cunt.
Your hips rocked of their own accord, your mind too preoccupied with the warm touches on your tender nipples and stifling your noises, but all three of your attackers smirked.
“Ask, pretty girl,” Akaashi said, speaking for the first time. 
His voice combined with his fleeting, cold touch against the soaked lips of your cunt caused a gasp to break free, hips rolling up in a jerky manner against your will. Your ears burned when they laughed and your teeth sank into your lip again. It was driving you insane, they were so close but you refused to beg for it.
“Aw, did we upset you, kitten?” Kuroo cooed, placing a wet kiss against your hip. “We’re sorry. You’re just so cute we can’t help it. Come on, ask us. Ask us to touch this pretty little pussy and we’ll make it up to you.”
Another swipe across your clit timed with a tug on your nipples broke the seal a second time.
“S-Semi--”
“There she goes,” Semi whispered, tilting your head around to look at him. Tears were spilling down your cheeks as you looked up at him with wide, resigned eyes. His eyes dropped to your parted lips for a moment and you swallowed, blinking the tears away, but didn’t struggle.
The first kiss was tentative, tongue ghosting between your parted lips to test you for a reaction. You only whined into the kiss, leaning in and he delved into your mouth, tongue lapping at yours as he tasted you.
When he pulled away, you hiccupped, letting your head rest on his shoulder as you closed your eyes.
“Please, just touch me. Fuck me, do whatever. I can’t--” you whispered, thighs aching from how tense you had been for god knew how long. It was too much to hold out, not when you were so wet and aching for it anyway. They knew what they were doing, their gentle teasing and buildup working to break down any fight you had and it had worked flawlessly. 
You melted into Semi as Kuroo lifted one leg over his shoulder. Akaashi left a trail of cool kisses down your inner thigh while Kuroo kissed up the opposite one. You didn’t know whether to tremble or whine, so you did both when his nose bumped your clit, and they chuckled again.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it, pretty girl?” Akaashi asked, and you might have mistook it for affection in another situation. “Just relax.”
As if you had a choice. Hot breathe puffed across your folds, teasing just a little more until you were practically dripping on his lips. Only then did his tongue swipe across your clit, your hips jerking harshly. His hot tongue was replaced with a cold one, the two of them taking turns lapping at your clit at such a languid pace that it was more torturous than not being touched at all.
“Fuck, please, stop teasing,” you cried, voice cracking as your back arched. You were desperate at this point, willing to beg or do whatever they wanted. You weren’t getting out of it without doing so anyway, so you might as well enjoy it. “Kuroo, Akaashi, please.”
A sharp pinch to your nipples made you squeal just before Semi devoured your mouth. You could feel the aggravation in the kiss, the way his teeth clacked against yours and his tongue pressed against yours. You made muffled noises against him, one hand coming up to tangle in his hair.
At the same time, Kuroo latched onto your clit properly, and your eyes almost rolled into the back of your head as you rocked your hips against his feverish suckling. The noises he was making filled the quiet space, grunts and would-be moans that terminated against your clit as he worked to make you cum.
Your head was starting to spin from lack of oxygen and intense pleasure. Kuroo wasn’t giving you an inch and your slick hole fluttered around nothing, until something swirled around your entrance before slipping in.
You forgot about the kiss, Semi’s lips hovering against yours as you came with a cry around cold fingers. The temperature difference between Akaashi’s fingers and Kuroo’s lips was mind numbing, your eyelids flickering, trying to stay open before giving in. You didn’t bother to be quiet, letting your moans bounce off the walls. Maybe it would draw the others to you, and you could still get out of this.
Instead of withdrawing his fingers, Akaashi slipped another one in beside the first, kitten licking your still sensitive clit and listening to you whine for him to “Stop, please, too much.” He only smirked, continuing to lap until you relaxed, though the stream of noises never stopped.
There was a moment of hesitation as Kuroo stood, cocking his head in Semi’s direction. With your attention on your throbbing clit and Akaashi’s almost icy touch, you missed the way Semi beckoned to him. Their lips met briefly, allowing Semi to get a taste of you on his lips before Semi dragged him into a deeper one, tongues meeting in a heated tangle. Both men were hard, Semi grinding his clothed erection against the cheek of your ass, the chafing fabric unnoticed against your soft skin.
You squirmed against him when Akaashi crooked his fingers just right inside you, grazing over the swollen sweet spot inside you again and again until you were on the verge of another orgasm. It seemed like no matter how long his fingers stayed inside you, they never heated up. You weren’t even sure if the cold of his tongue flicking over your clit was pleasurable or not but it was such constant pressure that you hurtled towards your second orgasm. Kuroo was quick to stifle it, delving into your mouth for you to taste what remained of you on his tongue.
You came with a cry, convulsing around Akaashi’s fingers for a second time so hard you became light headed. He continued to pet that spot inside you until you were squirming to get away, tugging roughly at his hair.
Your legs shook when he let you down, only Semi’s strong grip keeping you upright. The sound of belt buckles clanging brought you down quickly, and trepidation set your heart racing again. There was no stopping it, but you found yourself trying to back up anyway. 
“Ah,” Kuroo tutted, taking you from Semi’s arm and kissing the crown of your head like he was comforting you. “Don’t start that. We aren’t going to hurt you, kitten.”
No, they certainly hadn’t yet, and you had no choice but to trust his words. Something hard pressed against your ass, hotter even than the rest of Semi. You instinctively jerked away, pressing into Kuroo only to feel something slip between your thighs.
“Excited, aren’t we?” Kuroo drawled, and you could feel the condescension dripping off of him. Semi pressed to your back again, shielding you from the cold, while Kuroo asked, “How are we gonna take her? Semi, you kinda threw a wrench in things, can’t lie.”
Semi shrugged against your back, letting his cock settle between your thighs. You whined, jerking your hips instinctively away from the heat against your folds, but it only served to make him grind into you.
“I want this sweet cunt,” Semi snarled, cupping your jaw in a tight grip and tilting your head away, baring your throat to him. He licked a stripe from your shoulder to just beneath your ear before kissing the soft skin, and you shivered at the possessiveness in his tone.
“Alright, wolfboy smells a mate,” Kuroo said, rolling his eyes. “Akaashi?”
The last of the trio stepped forward again, skimming his fingers down your cheek before leaning in to steal a kiss. “I’m okay with whatever you want, Kuroo. Just wanna feel her around me.”
There was something dark in his eyes that belied his passive words. He was deferring to Kuroo to get things moving, you were almost sure. Like the rest of him, his cock was cool against your thigh, more like a glass dildo you kept at home than a cock attached to a man.
“That makes things easy then,” Kuroo said, clapping his hands and giving you that mischievous smile. If you didn’t know any better-- you didn’t-- you would say his teeth were a little sharper, the canines more pronounced than before. His eyes certainly hadn’t changed, maintaining that almost glowing golden color this whole time. “Semi, lay on the couch. Keiji, you can take her from behind. I want her mouth.”
He sounded like he was giving out instructions to his employees rather than fucking a very reluctant person, but the other two followed his instructions without question. It was an odd sensation, to be talked about as if you weren’t there, as if you had no say over what was happening to you.
Not that you did.
It wasn’t until you were straddling Semi that you realized something. In addition to being hotter than average, he was larger than average, peeking out from between your folds to drip precum just below his bellybutton. The way your stomach swooped made you nauseous and tears fell down your cheeks all over again.
“What’s wrong, princess?” he asked, wiping them away as best he could. You wouldn’t be fooled by the concern in his tone; he wouldn’t stop anyway.
You turned your face away only to jump when a finger slipped your cunt, cool to the touch, followed by a second, only to be removed a second later. They moved instead to your slick rear entrance, circling and massaging until it gave way, eased by your previous orgasms. You fell forward, bracing yourself over Semi, who held your rocking hips still. Two fingers filled you, the stretch no more than a sting but it was uncomfortable nonetheless when you didn’t want it.
Akaashi’s other hand came down, long fingers wrapping around your throat just beneath your chin, pulling you back up to your knees. “Good girl,” he whispered in your ear before forcing your head around so he could capture your lips.
They parted naturally when his tongue glided across them, allowing him access without thought. You couldn’t place his taste; it was like he’d just eaten ice before kissing you, and you moaned into it.
Kuroo, who until then had been content to watch, groaned and stood from the dilapidated chair he had been lounging in. One hand wrapped around your wrist, moving your hand to wrap around his aching cock, desperate for some kind of relief. Your palm was soft against him, and he spit on it twice for good measure before allowing you to curl your fingers around him again. They did so automatically, squeezing tight and he hissed through gritted teeth, slit pupils narrowing further as he watched Akaashi’s tongue delve into your mouth like he wanted his cock to.
All the while, Semi was forcing you to slide along his shaft, slow, calculated moves designed to drag your clit back and forth against him. He could feel you trembling above him, your hands curled into fists against his chest, hips moving with his hands. You dripped down his cock, covering him in your slick and he almost growled at the heady scent. Unlike the other two, he could smell how bad you wanted it and it was driving him wild.
“Akaashi, hurry up,” he snapped, digging his nails into your soft hips hard enough to leave marks if he wasn’t careful.
Akaashi hummed in disapproval, pulling from your mouth to stare impassively at the werewolf. “I don’t want to hurt her, Semi.”
Yet, he withdrew his fingers and you whined at the loss.
“Finally,” Semi hissed, helping Akaashi lift you up so he could slick his cock up against your cunt before settling against your rear hole. “You go first.”
Your toes curled tight enough to cramp as Akaashi gave you a warning nudge before splitting you open. Your jaw dropped, eyes widening as you stared up into the cobwebbed ceiling, waiting for him to bottom out. Thighs trembling in Semi’s hold, you fell back against Akaashi’s chest as his hips met your ass.
“Don’t worry, pretty girl,” he whispered, leaving cool kisses along your shoulder and neck. Goosebumps were raising up your arms and back, and he would have felt bad if you weren’t squeezing around his cock so tight while Semi positioned himself at your dripping hole.
You couldn’t decide if you really wanted two cocks, weren’t sure if you could even take two, but Semi was stretching you so wide you were crying out broken babbles none of them could make out as he seated you flush against his hips. You twitched above him, fluttered around him, squeezed rhythmically while you tried weakly to get away.
The sensation of fullness was one you had never experienced before. Even just Semi’s cock was more than you had ever taken, let alone Akaashi’s cock in your inexperienced asshole. You blinked rapidly, unable to decide if you liked it or not before a hand wound in your hair and you were pulled down. 
Kuroo’s cock bobbed in your face and your jaw dropped automatically, allowing him to smear precum around your lips. He was more salty than bitter as he slipped into your mouth, stuffing himself as far as he could before you started gagging. Pulling back, he gave you a small reprieve to gasp for air before filling your mouth again. There was no fighting his thrusts, you had to force your throat to relax or choke. A mix of drool and tears spilled down your chin as a thick vein dragged against your tongue, dripping off to the floor. In the back of your foggy mind you were disgusted.
When they felt you relax around Kuroo’s cock, his hips moving in a steady rhythm to fuck your throat, Akaashi and Semi moved. 
You spasmed around Kuroo when Semi lifted you up and dropped you back down, your hips meeting with a wet slap, his cock stifling your scream. Akaashi pulled out then, a little more careful as he stuffed himself back in, but the constant push and pull of their hips soon spread fire through your body. Kuroo was heavy on your tongue, Semi and Akaashi bumping and grinding against each other through the thin wall separating your cunt and ass, Semi’s curls stimulating your throbbing, sensitive clit.
You couldn’t fathom how you were careening towards a third orgasm, but Semi’s cock was so thick he couldn’t help but drag along the swollen, gummy sweet spot inside you. Akaashi’s low, pleasured moans in your ear gave you a vague sense of pride. These gorgeous men wanted you, were moaning for you. 
It was enough to make you forget this wasn’t right.
Kuroo thought you were moaning, your throat vibrating around his cock as he facefucked you with abandon. The tight sleeve of your throat only grew tighter when Akaashi’s hand slipped between your legs to pet your clit and Kuroo grunted.
“Keep that up, kitten, and you’re gonna make me cum,” he said, holding your nose down in his curls for a few seconds just to feel you spasm around him.
Semi and Akaashi felt the benefits of it, both your holes clenching around them as you gagged. Semi took the opportunity to grind deep inside you, rolling his hips up so that he pushed against your cervix.
Your thighs trembled around him, a squeal stifled around Kuroo’s cock as you came hard, jerking in Semi’s hold. He snarled, bouncing you on his cock with abandon as Akaashi slammed into you, spreading your clenching hole without care as he moaned.
Kuroo grunted, pumping into your mouth a few more times before pressing your nose into his pelvis and cumming, his lips parted in an ‘o’ and his head tipping back. You had no choice but to swallow until he pulled out and spilled the remnant all over your face, smirking as it mixed with your tears and drool to drip off your chin.
Semi’s back arched off the couch, strong hands pulling you down to sit flush with his hips as he spilled inside you. Your eyes grew wide at the intense heat filling your womb, the warmth rushing up through you at the same time Akaashi came in your ass. Goosebumps erupted across your skin as his cum offset the heat of Semi’s, and your vision swam for a moment from overstimulation.
Semi caught you as you collapsed forward, cradling you to his chest regardless of the mess, petting your hair. 
Akaashi slipped out of you, sharing a small smirk with Kuroo as he sought out your clothes.
“Give me my shirt,” Semi said, catching it from the air when Akaashi threw it. He forced you to sit up, watching you sway with a twisted sense of pride, and wiped the mess from your face. Akaashi and Kuroo took you from there, helping you to dress while you leaned against them, unable to keep from snickering at the state they’d left you in.
“Can you walk, kitten?” Kuroo asked, setting his hands on your shoulders. “Or do you need someone to carry you?”
“I-I can w-walk,” you stuttered, throat raspy. You frowned and grabbed it, swallowing with a wince.
“Good girl,” Kuroo said, dropping a kiss on your lips and smirked when you leaned after him as he pulled away. “We don’t need to worry about you telling anyone, do we?”
Shaking your head, you allowed Semi to wrap an arm around your shoulders, keeping you close to bathe in his warmth as Kuroo led the way up the hidden stairs a little ways down the hall they had been blocking earlier. At the top of the stairs, you could hear voices calling your names and perked up, trying to follow the echoes in the darkness.
“This way,” Kuroo said, leading the way though there wasn’t a speck of light in sight. Your own phone was tucked safely in the pocket of Semi’s jacket, which he had taken back. “Keiji, give me your phone. Appearances.”
Right, couldn’t let the humans know.
Everyone crowded around you, throwing questions all at once, until Shirabu lost his temper. He insisted on looking you and Semi over, just to determine for sure nothing was the matter. 
He seemed a little concerned by how out of it you were, and asked if you hit your head.
Three sets of eyes landed on you, all carrying a different weight as they waited for you to speak.
“Just tired, Shirabu,” you murmured, hiding your face in Semi’s side. “It took ages for them to find us. Can we go home now?”
The tension eased, though you kept your face hidden, allowing him to guide you blindly down the hallway.
It was even colder outside than earlier, and Kuroo took over the spot on your other side, gently shooing Yachi towards the other. She had insisted on keeping you company, watching you with wide, worried eyes while Akaashi and Kuroo whispered together behind her.
Even now, she watched the way the three men hovered around you with curious concern. They treated you like a precious object-- or a possession that needed to be protected.
You nodded in response to something Kuroo said, trying-- if possible-- to curl even closer into Semi. Akaashi hovered in the background, pretty face as impassive as ever until he caught Yachi looking at him.
His lips curled up in a smile, his face softening ever so slightly, and she relaxed. Whatever had happened to you down there, it seemed to spark something in the three men.
Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been that bad.
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fanfic-archive · 3 years
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Meeting the Baron (6/7)
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Chapter 6. The Wilsons
Summary: Your short vacation is interrupted by a call from a friend. You head back to the States to help Sam and his sister fix up their family boat, and once you’ve finished Zemo is waiting for you to return to him.
Warnings: NSFW
Word Count: 4206
The sound of your phone ringing woke you up from a peaceful sleep. It was early morning, the sun just beginning to seep in through the curtains, casting a slight but warm glow through the room. With a groan, you rolled over and reached for the nightstand, picking up your phone and looking at the caller ID. Bucky’s name illuminated your screen, making you squint, before answering the call and bringing the phone to your ear.
“Hey, Buck. What’s up?” you asked, sleep audible in your voice, as you let your eyes flutter shut again.
“You sound like you’ve just woken up” Bucky commented, clearly more awake than you were.  
“I have” you groaned, hearing the movement of sheets behind you.
“Well, think you can make it back home for a little while?” he asked, making you wake up some more.
“Got news about the Flag Smashers?” you asked, eyes opening again, suddenly ready to jump out of bed and get ready.
“No, don’t worry…Sam’s doing this thing, getting the community together to help fix his family’s boat. I’m going to drop something off for him anyway so I’m going to stay and help. You coming?” Bucky explained and you let out a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, of course. How can I say no to that?” you agreed to go, always happy to help out your two friends, even when you weren’t in the country. You couldn’t help but smile a little more when you felt the man behind you shifting closer, wrapping his arm around you as his chest pressed against your back. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, I’ll be on the next flight” you assured him as you relaxed into Zemo’s hold.
“You still in Riga?” Bucky asked curiously as you started to feel Zemo pressing light kisses to the back of your neck.
“No, uh…decided to explore some more of Europe. It’s nice” you told him, being partially honest, obviously not mentioning the criminal…who was now trailing kisses over your exposed shoulder.
“You going to head back after fixing up the boat?” he questioned, wondering if you would be remaining in the States when you came back.
You looked back at Zemo, who lifted his head to meet your gaze. He didn’t speak but it seemed like he was waiting for your answer as well. “Yeah, I think so. But I’m always a phone call away if you need anything, same goes for Sam” you answered without breaking eye contact with Zemo.
“You better be” you could hear Bucky’s smile, which made you smile in return as you settled back down against the pillow, Zemo’s kisses against your bare skin resuming.
“Bye, Bucky. I’ll see you soon”
“See you soon”
Hanging up the phone, you placed it back down on the bed side table. “What do they need?” Zemo asked, finally speaking once the call had ended.
“Sam is having some people get together to fix up his family’s boat, help his sister out” you explained, turning around in his embrace to face him, resting your hands against his chest.
“Should I have travel prepared?” he offered without hesitation, surprising you a little. It was generous and you appreciated it.
“Please?” you looked up at him with an innocent smile and batting your lashes, the best pleading look you could muster.
“Consider it done, Meine geliebte” Helmut chuckled lightly to himself, wrapping his arm around your waist more securely.
Slipping your hands up his chest, one hand landed on the back of his neck as you lent up and kissed him. He instantly responded to the kiss, bringing one hand up to cup your jaw, deepening the kiss and making you hum in approval.
Normally, you didn’t like flying much at all. It wasn’t a fear of heights or anything that bothered you, it was the discomfort of it all. Waiting around in an airport before sitting in cramped seats for hours (especially if you were going somewhere outside of the States), none of it appealed to you and you would just rather avoid going anywhere than deal with all of that regularly. But your most recent flights had been more than comfortable, with excellent food and even better company. Instead of counting down the hours to your arrival, the plane was landing before you knew it.
You said your goodbyes to Zemo on the plane before getting into a car. You had no idea what he planned to do while you were with Sam and Bucky, but you assumed he would stay in the country. It made you worry for him, he would have a harder time avoiding arrest while in the States but, for some reason, he was taking that risk for you. Still, you were sure that he had a plan and would be fine. You would just make sure to stay in contact with him to make sure.
Finally, you had arrived at Sarah’s home, making you way through a whole community of people who were busying themselves with various jobs around the dock.
Getting closer to the house, you spotted Sam and Bucky talking to a woman that you recognised as Sam’s sister, Sarah.
“Hey!” you called to get their attention, waving when the three of them turned to you. “Sorry, I’m late” you apologise as you reached the trio.
“How did you even know about this?” Sam asked, clearly surprised to see you here. Bucky must not have mentioned it.
“Bucky called me” you told him, chuckling when Sam gave Bucky a small glare. “Oh, come on, I have some practical skills and some time to kill. Let me help” you knew that Sam wouldn’t like the idea of bringing you all the way to the US to help repair a boat, but you really didn’t mind.
“Thanks for coming” Sam was glad to see you, so he decided against chastising the two of you and settled for giving you a smile and a hug instead.
After pulling away from Sam, you gave Bucky a hug and then turned to Sarah.
“Hi, I’m Y/n” you introduced yourself, holding your hand out to her. You only knew her from what Sam had mentioned of his family, the two of you had never actually met.  
“Sarah” she shook your hand with a smile. “Do you know much about boats?” she asked, releasing your hand.
“Honestly, nothing at all, but I’m a quick leaner. You can put me on lunch duty if you need too” you offered, happy to help in any way you could.
“Come on, we have plenty of jobs for you” Sarah smiled, both pleased and amused by your enthusiasm.
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You were on the boat with Sam, helping him strip away the rusted metal to be replaced with new stuff.
“So, how are your travels going?” Sam asked, starting up a conversation.
“I was in Vienna when I got Bucky’s call, it’s nice. It’s kinda nice to be back, though” you told him with a smile. He smiled but shook his head at you, he had never seen you as the type of be interested in travelling. Then again, it’s not like you were actually in Vienna because of your wanderlust.
“Planning on going back after this?” he looked over at you, chuckling when he saw you struggling to pry the metal off. Not that he was doing much better.
“Unless something comes up with the Flag Smashers, yeah” you nodded.
“What got you so interested in travelling anyway?” Sam squinted at you, half joking but half teasing but half serious.
“I don’t know…I’ve been living in the same apartment, doing the same dumb shit for years. And it wasn’t much better before that. I just think it’s time that I try to find out what else is out there for me” you shrugged. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be back for good by the end of the year, but I have to give it a shot” you told him honestly.
Having seen you both struggling, Bucky wandered over, grabbing the rusted metal with his metal hand, and ripping it up with ease. Both you and Sam glared at him as he walked away without saying a word.
“Show off” you muttered, making Sam laugh to himself before you both got back to work.
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The day passed quickly, filled with working on the boat and getting to know the people you found yourself working with. Before you knew it, Sarah was letting you crash on her couch. You and Bucky had offered to find somewhere else to stay but the Wilson siblings insisted on you both staying with them.
You and Bucky had fought over the couch, both of you trying to be the generous one, but Bucky reminded you that he normally slept on the floor anyway. So, you got the couch.
Despite working all day and your body being completely exhausted, you couldn’t sleep. Just staring at the ceiling of the dimly lit living room while your mind ran wild. And the main thing occupying your thoughts? Helmut Zemo.
You had been distracted all day but now that it was silent, you were thinking about him again. Thinking about what the two of you were and where you stood with each other. Where the two of you dating? You were staying with him, he took you on a date, you kiss, you sleep together…you had to be dating. But he was a criminal, the man who broke apart the Avengers.
Why would he come back for you if he didn’t feel what you felt? You weren’t an ex-Avenger or anything like that, you weren’t like Sam or Bucky, he didn’t gain any leverage by pretending to have feelings for you. You couldn’t offer him anything like that…so he had to feel the same way you did.
Then the question was…how did you feel about Zemo? You wanted to be around him as much as possible, you liked him…you liked him a lot. But could you properly be with him, knowing who he is and what he has done? Oddly enough, you found the answer being ‘yes’.
Whatever was going on between you both, you found yourself wanting to call him. And so, you did. You grabbed your phone off of the table and scrolled for his number. You hadn’t been stupid enough to put his number under his real name, just in case he called, or Sam or Bucky saw.
You hesitated for a moment, glancing over to Bucky, who was laying on the floor, to check he was still sleeping. He was, so you pressed call.
“Miss me already, Liebling?” Zemo’s voice came through the phone when he answered.
“You wish” you teased by just hearing his voice put a smile on your face. You didn’t want to linger on the effect he had on you or how hard you might be falling. “Just wondering how you are…where you went” you confessed.
“I have arranged a place to stay until you are finished. Where are you staying?” he asked.
“…Sarah’s couch” you told him, smiling again when you heard his disapproving hum. “Relax, it’s not that bad. It’s a nice couch” you assured him with a quiet laugh.
“Is that why you’re whispering?” he questioned.
“Well, Bucky is next to me, I don’t want to wake him up” you hummed in affirmative.
There was a pause for a moment, the line going quiet. “…repeat that” Zemo ordered lowly before you could question the silence.
The demand made you smirk to yourself. “He’s on the floor” you clarified. “Didn’t realise you were the jealous type” you teased. In reality, you really didn’t mind. You kind of liked that he was jealous.
“I’m not” he insisted, making your smirk grow. “How is the boat?” he asked.
“It’s all coming together. I’m exhausted though” you admitted with a small groan.  
“Must be all that manual labour” now you could hear Zemo smirking on the other side of the phone. Knowing you were working hard on the dock while he was probably in a soft bed with silky sheets.
“Should only take a couple more days” you informed him.
“Just call when you need me to send a car” he reminded you.  
“I’ll get a cab” you assured him, not needing him to send a car. You could live like a normal person for one day.
“I will send a car” Zemo insisted, leaving no room for argument.
“Alright…” you sighed, giving into him. “…goodnight” you figured you best try to get some sleep before morning came.
“Goodnight, Meine geliebte. Sleep well” his tone was sweet, sincere. You smiled as you hung up the phone, placing it back down on the table.
“So, that’s why you’re so eager to get back” Bucky’s voice from the floor made you jump.
“Holy shit” you chuckled nervously, playing it off that he spooked you, “I thought you were sleeping.”
“I was, you wouldn’t shut up” he groaned, rolling over to face you.
“Sorry…” you apologised, feeling genuinely bad for waking him. You knew his sleeping was even worse than yours.
“It’s alright. So…you met somebody?” Bucky asked, an amused expression on his face.
“No” you denied but he looked more than unconvinced. “Okay, maybe…yes, I met someone” you gave in, knowing you couldn’t lie to him.
“What’s he like?” he sat up, happy to annoy you but also interested in learning more about what was going on with you.
“…treats me well, he’s nice” you told him, just glad that he hadn’t heard Zemo’s voice over the phone.  
“Well, that’s vague” he laughed to himself, “you could’ve brought him with you.”
“Absolutely not” you scoffed. There was no chance in that happening.
“Worried we’ll embarrass you?” Bucky asked jokingly.
“Of course” you joked back, the two of you laughing.
“What are you two gossiping about?” Sam asked as he walked into the room. He had only come for a drink until he heard the two of you talking, he thought you would be asleep by now.
“Y/n’s new boyfriend” Bucky teased, like a child.
“Boyfriend?” Sam asked, eyebrows raising in surprise as he looked at you.
“He’s not my boyfriend” you rolled your eyes.
“But there is someone?” Sam smirked.
You just groaned in annoyance, picking up your pillow and holding it over your face, hearing them both laughing.
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Finally, the work on the boat was finished and the three of you were going your separate ways once again, but Sam and Bucky seemed to be becoming better friends, which you were happy about. The three of you were standing outside of Sarah’s home, saying your goodbyes.
“Good luck, Buck” you gave him a smile as you pulled away from the friendly hug.
“You too” Bucky nodded, patting you on the shoulder before grabbing his bag and leaving.
Sam smiled at you as you turned to him. “You’ll make a wonderful Captain America, Sam. And not just because Steve thought so” you told him as you pulled him into a hug.
“Thanks” he nodded, seeming to take your words seriously. “Have fun with your boyfriend” he teased as you pulled away from him.
“Shut up” you rolled your eyes with a huff before grabbing your own bag and walking away. “Don’t hesitate to call!” you shouted back over your shoulder as you left, while Sam just waved you off with a shake of the head.
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Just like he promised, Zemo had sent a car that brought you back to the private plane. You could really get used to living like this.
“Welcome back, Miss L/n” Oeznik greeted you when you entered the plane. “Did you enjoy your trip?” he asked, offering you a glass of champagne.
“I did, thank you, Oeznik” you smiled, accepting the glass as he stepped aside for you to join Zemo before disappearing to give you both some privacy.
He was sitting in one of the chairs, his own glass of champagne in his hand. “How did it go?” Zemo asked as you sat down opposite him.
“Good. They decided not to sell the boat, but it looks like everything is going to alright” you told him, sipping from your drink.
“I’m glad to hear it” he nodded, drinking from his own glass.
“…I think Sam is going to take on the shield” you mentioned, curious to see his reaction.
“Ah, the new Captain America” Zemo hummed, obviously not a fan of the idea or the title.
“Don’t look like that. I actually agree with your opinions on idols but…they’re going to have a Captain America and it has to be Sam. Who knows what would happen if we got a new John Walker” you sighed, knowing Sam was the best candidate for the role.
“I might actually agree with you” he confessed with a small nod, making you smile. “And James?” he asked.
“I think he’s getting better. You know that list of his?” you asked, and he nodded, “I think he’s realised what he needs to do, I just hope he can move on afterwards. He deserves it.”
“The Flag Smashers?” he asked.
“No news. They’ll call me if there is” you finished updating him.
Before you knew it, the plane was in the in the air and you were on the way to wherever you were going. “So, where are we heading?” you asked.
“I thought I’d take you somewhere new” Zemo smiled, getting your interest as you tried to guess where he was taking you this time.
You glanced out of the window and the ground miles below before placing your glass down and standing up. “You know, Baron…” you hummed as you approached him, placing your hands on his shoulders as you straddled him. “…I missed you” you confessed, shifting to make yourself more comfortable.
“I missed you too, Meine geliebte” Zemo looked up at you, hands instantly settling on your hips as he lent back into the comfortable chair. His confession made you smile, and he noticed.
Leaning in, you captured his lips in a kiss. It wasn’t needy or rushed, but it was passionate, like being away for only a few days had felt so much longer. You both groaned quietly into the kiss when you shifted your hips, accidently brushing against him and making his grip on your hips tighten.
“Oeznik could come in” you whispered, pulling away from the kiss when you both knew exactly where this was going.
“He won’t, not unless I call for him” Zemo assured you, running a soothing hand up and you’re your waist. “Just have to be quiet, Vöglein. Can you do that?” he asked, pressing a kiss just below your ear, earning a soft sigh from you.
You just nodded, though you weren’t actually so sure that you would be able to remain silent. But you cupped his face in your hands and kissed him again anyway, with a newfound fervour. You meant what you said, you had missed him, you wanted this, needed this, but you knew that you had to be quick.
You tried to pull away from the kiss, smiling when Zemo followed you, hands sliding up your waist and back. After keeping you against him for a moment longer, he broke the kiss and lent back again.
He released you when you moved to stand up, your hands making quick work of the fasten of your jeans. You shimmied out of your pants and underwear, kicking them to the side before beginning to climb back onto the chair.
Stopping you from straddling him again, Zemo gripped your hips. He manoeuvred you to stand between his legs and lent forward to trail kisses over your stomach. As he pressed kisses to your flushed skin, hands holding up the hem of your tee-shirt to give him better access, you ran your fingers through his hair, admiring the way he looked and the way he touched you.
Once he finished with scattering kisses over your stomach and hips, making sure to leave a small bruise on your hip as a small reminder for later, he lent back and pulled you back down onto his lap, making you yelp in surprise. But you found your balance pretty quickly, hands gripping his shoulders as you adjusted your knees on either side of his hips.
A hand on the back of your neck pulled you down into a heated kiss while you dropped your hands to his lap, shifting back a little to unfasten his belt and pants. He helped you pull his pants down just enough to free him before grabbing you by the hips and pulling you back into place, so that you rocked against him in a way that made you both groan into the kiss.
Pulling away from the kiss again, you glanced over your shoulder, paranoia about getting caught resurfacing. “Liebling…” Zemo spoke gently, his fingertips grazing your cheek and making you turn back to face him, “eyes on me.”
You nodded, circling your arms around his neck as you lowered yourself down onto him. A sigh falling past your lips and your forehead dropping against his shoulder as you stilled, adjusting to the feeling of him. His hand soothed up and down your back, nuzzling his face into your hair as he held you close.
Zemo kissed your temple before you lifted your head, beginning to rise and fall in his lap. You couldn’t help it, but a moan escaped you when you found the right rhythm. To shush you, he pulled you down into another kiss. Muffling the noises that the two of you made.
You knew that you had to be quick, you didn’t have the time nor the privacy that you had that night after dinner in Vienna. There wasn’t time to savour everything but there would be time for that in the future, right now was needy, a quick ‘I missed you’. Zemo also wished that there was more time, wanting to cherish you like you deserved, but he also knew that there would be time for that later.
“Fuck…Helmut…” you breathed, burying your face into his shoulder to quieten yourself. Zemo’s head fell back against the headrest, eyes falling shut as he dug his fingers into your hips.
It wasn’t long before he sensed that you were both teetering on the edge of your climaxes, causing him to bury his fingers in your hair as he lifted your head from his shoulder to look at your face. Your teeth sunk into your bottom lip as your movements faltered, becoming less controlled.
Feeling the rush of your release coursing through you, you pressed your lips to Zemo’s, muffling a moan of his name. His high directly followed yours, the two of you holding each other and breathing heavily as you came down from your highs.
Your forehead rested against his, eyes shut, lips parted, and skin flushed. Zemo pressed a light kiss to your lips, running his hands up your bare thighs, before going back to admiring the way you looked on top of him.
“Du bist wunderschön” Zemo complimented sincerely, a fondness, an affection, in his tone. You had learnt a little bit of various other languages during your time with Zemo, mainly just the petnames and compliment that he would endlessly give you. The compliments were frequent but always sincere, it made it difficult to doubt him when he called you beautiful like he just did. You just smiled, gently caressing his cheek before tenderly kissing him again.
With a soft sigh, dropped your head to his shoulder for a moment. Zemo just smiled, turning his head to bury his face in your hair.
Knowing you couldn’t sit there for much longer without any pants on, Zemo helped you off of his lap, fastening his pants and belt as you pulled your underwear and jeans back on. Before you knew it, you were back in your chair opposite the Baron, Oeznik pouring you both fresh glasses of champagne while you shared glances and soft smiles.
“When can we expect your friends to call again?” Zemo asked once the two of you were alone again.
“Whenever the Flag Smashers make their next move” you told him with a sigh.
“And after that, what are your plans?” he was watching you intently, like he was trying to put together your answer before you even spoke.
“After that, when the job is done, I’m all yours” you smiled, not hesitating on your answer. You liked the idea of having all the time in the world to spend with Zemo but right now you had helped start a job and you had to finish it.
“Now, that sounds like an agreeable conclusion for the both of us” Helmut’s mouth twitched into a small smirk as he sipped from his glass.
“It does” you agreed with a small laughing, shaking your head at him.
“I’m glad you decided to stay, Meine geliebte” Zemo confessed, his expression falling serious as he looked across at you.
“So am I, Meine geliebte” you said with the same level of seriousness, earning a fond smile from the Baron before you both finished your drinks.
Meeting the Baron Taglist:
@viviace @hannahbal-the-fannibal @multiplums @aliceblxck @sophiasescape @ikittiekat @greeneyedblondie44
(Just ask to be added!)
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lunnybunny12 · 3 years
Text
Young Snape x Ravenclaw reader
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All characters are in their 5th year at Hogwarts. Reader is a ravenclaw (A/N I am a Ravenclaw so...YES!)
"Y/N!" Lily said shaling you violently. "Y/N wake up!"
With a groan, you opened your eyes to see the redhead hovering over you with a mischievous smile on her face. "Come on, were going to Hogsmeade today."
"Who let you past the Ravenclaw knocker, Evans?" you giggled, rubbing the sleep out of your eye and yawning. The Ravenclaw house was infamously known for letting Ravenclaws and ONLEY Ravenclaws into the common room and since Lily was a Gryffindor, she definitely didn't get in on her own.
She faked shock as she dramatically placed her hand on her chest, with a gasp.
"(Y/N), I'm shocked that you assumed I had help."
You looked at her with tired eyes, you knew her too well.
"It was Xenophilius Lovegood"
"Now that makes sense" you replied to her in a groggy tone. Standing up from your bed, you grabbed whatever clothes you wanted to wear that day. "But I can't go, you know my "guardians" didn't sign the slip."
Lily's smile grew even wider as she handed you a piece of paper. You took a glance at the paper and quickly put two and two together.
"Oh my god, you didn't" you said snatching the sheet out of her fingers and opened it.
"No, I didn't. Sirius did."
On a once blank line at the bottom of the permission slip was now filled in with your guardians signature.
"H-how did?.."
"Don't ask me how but... he did. Now hurry and get dressed the boys will be halfway through breakfast buy now"
Time skip (your in your regular clothes and just entered the great hall)
The smell of toast and pumpkin juice hit the pair of you right in the face. It was breakfast time and buy the looks of it most people were still asleep, leaving all of the good stuff for the taking.
As you and Lily walked to the 4 marauders, you felt a pair of familiar eyes watching you. When you saw it was Severus Snape you smiled and gavehim a small wave in wich he shyly gave you one back.
Even as children, you and Lily had always been together. You found out you were witches together and you met Severus together. And despite his home life he was the kindest person you had ever met. When you found out you were going to the same magical school as him you were over the moon and so was he. When you actualy got to Hogwarts the 3 of you became as thick as theaves but when you met the marauders he slowly became distant with you ... it broke your heart.
"Ah here are the lovely ladies now," James said with a gleeful smile.
"What took you so long?" Sirius said, standing from his seat to allow room for Lily and you.
Lily gave them an apologetic smile and sat nest to James who took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her.
"Sirius, I owe you a favour" you said showing him the permission slip with a smile.
He gave you a cheeky smile and said with outstretched arms " How about a hug and we call it even?"
"Sounds like a deal,"you smiled as he pulled you into a hug. It lasted for about a minute until you felt eyes on you again. When you pulled away, you saw that Sirius was looking behind you with a smug grin on his lips. You followed his gaze to see Snape with a broken look in his eyes.
With a hint of anger on your face, you turned back to the curly-haired wizard. " You know, Sirius. Being an arrogant git doesn't suit you one bit" you hissed, tapped Lily on the shoulder, told her you'd see her in Hogsmeade and made your way out of the hall.
After giving your slip to Mcgonagall, you began your walk to Hogsmeade before everyone else. You knew the way since you had been before. The walk was quiet and it was a welcomed breath of fresh air. It was pleasantly quiet and calming, the sun was shining and the wind was whistling through the trees.  
Halfway through your walk you heard some movement behind you, you turned around you saw the familiar black-haired boy you had known for years. He looked somewhat shocked to see you and you too were surprised at first. He never seemed like the type of person to go to Hogsmead, but it was good to see him out of the castle.
"Oh hello Severus, I thought I was here by myself."
His shock was slowly disappearing and he took a few steps to walk around you. "I apologise...ill... get out of your way"
"What? no."  You questioned, taking a few steps to stand beside him.
"Join me. Other than Lily you're the only person I can stand talking to."
When you said this he looked at you in a way you had never seen before. Admittedly, you understood his reaction to some extent. someone you hadn't spoken to in ages suddenly asks you to join them on a walk? very strange.
"I mean if you want to join me.. Id understand if you don't."
"N-no id like that" he quickly interjected. "I would like that."
The two of you started walking, side by side and for the first time in ages you talked. And it felt like nothing had changed between you.
"So... how has school been treating you?"
"Its been the same as every other year, I'm afraid. Very... unfulfilling. What about you?"
You sighed and fiddled with your shirt. "It's been stressful, to say the least, Severus. I'm majorly failing potions and my... friends are jerks."
"But you're friends with Lily and shes good at potions, why don't you ask her to help?"
"Are you kidding me? She's too busy hanging out with James." you chuffed. "And besides I've already asked her."
Another look crossed his face. This time you could practically see the cogs turning in his head before he spoke up again.
"Well... I can tutor you... if you wish."
Of all of the things you expected him to say you never expected that. He wanted to help you?  "Really Severus? Id hate to impose."
"I wouldn't have offered if you were imposing."
A small smile crept onto your face. "Thank you Severus, but are you sure you want to be stuck with me for an hour?"
He gave an amused chuff and answered " I'm sure I will survive."
"Alright well I'm free all day on Sundays so.... does 1 pm work for you?"
"It does indeed, in the library and bring a notebook"
Before you could answer your name rang through the air. It was Lily, James, Peter, Sirius and Remus making their way down the hill.
Almost eminently you saw Severus demeanour change. He became fidgety and his head slowly curled itself to look at the mud path below his feet.
"Listen, Severus, I um... I have to walk with them now so I'll see you tomorrow yea?" you said nudging him and trying yo look him in the eye. when his gaze met yours you offered the tallboy a smile.
"Yes. tomorrow" he said before quickly scampering off down the road.
The group eventually caught up with you and Sirius threw his arm around your shoulders. " Hey, what you talking to Snivellus Snape for?"
Your eyebrows knotted in confusion as you pushed his arm off of you and looked at him. "What did you just say?" You genuinely didn't hear what he said but given his response, it clearly wasn't something good.
The smile on his face then morphed onto fear at the realisation of what he has just said. His eyes scanned his friends faces and they were just as scared for him.
"Severus, Severus Snape. that's what I said" he chuckled. The rest of your friends chuckled with him. You weren't convinced that's what he said but you went along with it since you were in an awkward situation.
"RIGHT LADS, WHO WANTS SOME BUTTERBEER!" shouted Remus pointing his wand towards the Hogsmead.
Everyone cheered and continued walking down the dirt path while you lagged behind, pulling Lily to walk with you.
Time skip to a few months later
As agreed, you and Severus would meet up in the library every Sunday for tutoring and during that time you learnt so much. Not just about potions but about Severus too. This clearly was something he enjoyed doing and he was eager to do.  You also learnt a lot about yourself during this time.
Turns out you had quite a knack for potions when you had the right teacher and your grades slowly got better too.
Unfortunately that wasn't the only thing you learnt during this time. You found out that Sirius had a crush on you. He of course had yet to tell you this news himself. Peter let it slip in one of your charms class and you were shocked.
Then, on top of that, unbeknownst to you, Lily had told the boys what you were doing on Sunday afternoons and Sirius was pissed, to say the least.
This particular Sunday, Severus had asked you to meet him next to the tree across the Black Lake.  He heard it was going to be nice out and since it was just going to be a reading session you thought why not.
On your journey there, you heard yelling and cheering near your destination. As you got closer you began to recognise some voices and when you heard Severus yelling you sprinted towards the tree.
When you exited the shrubbery you saw Sirius and the boys laughing at something above them. It was Severus. Sirius had cast a spell that pulled Severus feet first into the air. Hanging him upside-down.
You felt your blood boil in your veins. You didn't know this was going on or for how long but it stopped right then and there. Within seconds you grabbed your wand and shouted at the top of your lungs "EXPELLIARMUS!".
The amount of fear that glazed everyone's eyes in that seconds, was nothing more than horrifying. None of them expected you to be there (over an hour early) and they definitely didn't expect you to have this much anger pumping through you as you did in that moment.
The spell practically forced Siriuses wand out of his hand making Severus slowly land on the ground.  
You walked right up to Sirius, who was quivering in his boots, and pointed your wand right at his face.
" YOU! You slimy, egotistical, peace of shit!"
"N-Now (Y/N)" He stuttered, holding his hands up in surrender.
"SHUT UP! now you will answer my questions with 100% honesty or I will destroy that pretty face of yours. Understand?"
He nodded his head vigorously.
You didn't need to worry about the others shooting you with their wands because they were just as scared as their precious "Pad Foot".
"Why are you doing this Sirius and for how long?" you seethed.
" B-because I'm in love with you..." He said looking at you with hopeful eyes " and so is Severus. I did it because I was Jesus."
You pushed your wand under his chin " I know the first bit but how long, Pad Foot?"
He went silent and lowered his gaze. "Since our first year"
You sighed and looked at the rest of the group. Your anger was slowly going away.
" You knew about this?" You asked. However, when you didn't get a response your anger quickly returned.
"DID YOU KNOW!"
Simultaneously they all nodded their heads. Your friends.. they were your friends and they purposefully hurt someone so that you would go out with one of them. It made you sick!
You raised your wand and pointed at all of them.
" Don't ever talk to me again or else the next time I see your names on the murders map will be in the dark forest. 6 FEET UNDER THE WHOMPING WILLOW! UNDERSTAND?" you yelled, tears at the corner of your eyes.
Sirius was upset, he took a few steps closer to you. " (Y/N), please"
"WHAT did I just... say?"
As he took another step towards you, you shot a bolt of electricity at his feet. "get out of my sight, all of you."
Within seconds they ran away with their tails between their legs.
Throughout this exchange, Severus was stood right next to the tree. He heard every word that left your lips and felt the emotion on every letter but at the same time, he felt fear. He felt the fear that was radiating off of the murders and he felt a fear he thought he would have gotten used to buy now. The fear of being rejected by the one person he loved more than anyone else. After Sirius had exposed his feelings to you.. that fear almost consumed him. When he saw you fall to your knees and drop your wand on the grass, However, he put the fear aside and went to comfort you.
Your face was already stained with tears. The pain you felt was excruciating and your hands were shaking from the amount of adrenalin. But... despite all of that when you saw Severus face come into view you smiled at him.
" You" you said breathlessly in a calm voice.
He knelt down to your level, with a clenched jaw, worry written all over his face.
With the smile still on your face you looked at him and said "You, Severus Snape are lucky that I love you too"
 Please feel free to drop your ideas in the comments or private messing me. Love ya!!
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akirameta84 · 3 years
Text
thinking about it, was there anything stopping kusuo from re-petrifying akechi over and over until he figured things out?
sorry for spelling mistakes haha. if its not major I'm too lazy to reread and catch em all(™)
it never says he has a limit on this ability like that, so if he had been extremely determined to not let akechi find out, he could've kept trying different future outcomes over and over
but would a person petrified experience hunger and thirst while in that state? if so, this would only be possible a day or two without serious negative effects. but from what we've seen, im fairly certain everything about the individual is frozen like that, so I doubt so
of course there was people and noticing akechi's disappearance, and akechi himself nothing the missed time. but if he got the timeline right, then akechi would've never been even entered the room in this instance, as seen by the failed timeline where hes closer with his friends group. thus its a moot point, and making the idea of keeping him frozen longer plausible
considering how the other two espers came to know about his powers, it really makes you wonder why he gave in so easily. kusuo had almost told aiura because he believed its be inevitable, but when he realized his aura was too large to be seen up close, he forfeited, only having to confess in order to save chiyo's life.
toritsuka had found out completely on his own, and by the time he approached saiki, there would have been too many memories to erase them all with his memory alteration, as its stated he can do a minute at a time.
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and, interestingly, in the manga there's a whole day between saiki receiving toritsukas letter and him arriving, while in the anime its the same day. saiki is even able to complete his psychometry on the letter. it actually makes more sense in the anime, though, as surely he'd have noticed his glove was missing before a whole day had passed?
anyways, point stands that family is the only people kusuo has completely willingly told about his powers were family members. and yet he gave in so easily to akechi.
something that's striking me as odd is when akechi revealed himself to be someone from kusuo's past, and someone who suspected him of having powers...he did nothing.
as seen on aren's first day, he could've easily had akechi transfer out or just make him stop attending.
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sure it might've been suspicious, but a combo of forcing him to transfer out and some memory alteration making him forget kusuo was at PK, that he attended PK, or that he was transferred out strangely, any may have possibly worked.
or better yet, petrify and perform the time leap stunts much earlier, before akechi had such concrete evidence. akechi likely would've responded readily to an invitation over to kusuo's house, and he could've attempted to deal with the problem then.
sure its possible he didn't think about that, but with how covered everyone of kusuo's bases have been throughout the series, I heavily heavily doubt it. and besides, I think there's more to it.
one thing kusuo mentions being happy to have fixed at the end of akechi's time travel arc is erasing the fact his younger self told akechi about his powers.
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he regrets this truly as a teenager, but his younger self was a lot more complacent about telling him, up until akechi spilled the secret himself in order to hope for kusuo's protection, but even kusuo acknowledges its normal for people to reach out to those who they know can help
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he smiles like this after his confused face fades, and tells akechi about his powers. his younger self didn't have much of a reason to keep his powers from someone he viewed as a friend, and even showed MUCH less emotional repression imo.
but there was one striking reason.
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look at how the smile on his face fades each time he recalls what his mother said. he actively wanted to show them his powers, not just akechi either.
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his older self acknowledges that akechi felt like a friend to him, which is kusuo speak for he felt they were pretty close friends, considering that the main cast is still mostly classmate or aquintence level at the end of the series according to him.
considering how easily kusuo gives in to telling akechi after his admittedly extensive process trying to prevent this outcome...I'd say, honestly, kusuo still feels the same way about akechi.
he certainly tolerates akechi referring to him by his first name, and even though aiura does as well, im not convinced she'd listen if he even told her off. (tbh, his whole friend group has issues with listening to him, and his mom forcing him on outings isn't helping. but thats a rant for another time)
the day akechi invites himself over, its done merely to hang out, and kusuo is slightly surprised by this.
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of course, even akechi has to cheat his way into staying, but kusuo is like that to everyone.
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kusuo isn't used to people coming over just to hang out, as whenever the rest of his friends bug him, they need something most of the time. and when the two of them get into betting on the horse races over cake, as frustrated as kusuo gets, id say he enjoys himself. one of the last panels says as much
I hit the image limit, but near the end of chapter 266 his eyes have the sparkle effect they do when he's actually feeling emotions. its so sweet. and during the end of the showdown arc, kusuo repeats to kuusuke the the same phrase akechi said to him after taking the power remover. "I can still be your playmate"
overall, coupled with how easily kusuo gave in to telling about his powers, without even a single death threat to keep akechi silent...yeah, he definitely thinks of akechi as a good, maybe even close friend. even if he doesn't believe or admit it to himself, its true.
thank you for reading i got this in my mind after rewatching the time travel arc, hence the random anime images instead of panels which I can grab more easily as examples lol
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oikawaplssteponme · 3 years
Text
last night | (aged up) miya atsumu x reader | ~1k | angst | tw: suggestive content |
a/n: this is pure word vomit. unfortunately this little post doesn’t mean im back for good. i use writing to cope and i figured id share in case someone else is dealing with something similar. enjoy xx
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“are you staying over again tonight?” he asked.
you looked up from the ground to his tall stature. the sun shone behind him, casting a shadow to surround the both of you. you nodded.
“yeah, i think so.”
he smiled. atsumu bent down, placing a kiss on your cheek.
“i’ll see you later then.”
he proceeded to walk back inside of his apartment building, leaving you alone outside. you stood frozen, still trying to wrap your head around his kind gesture. was it just him being nice? or was there something else?
you sighed, siting in the drivers seat of your car. you rested your head on the steering wheel.
“what on earth have i gotten myself into?”
you heard the car door open and looked over to the passenger seat.
“sorry i took so long! osamu wouldn’t let me leave,” giggled your friend. you smiled.
“it’s okay. let just go home.”
you splashed cold water onto your face, hoping to wake yourself up after a long night. you wiped off all your leftover makeup and patted your face dry with a towel.
“im ready to head back over when you are!” shouted your friend from the other room. you looked into the mirror and took a deep breath.
“yeah, just let me change.”
you knew you would be spending a lot of time over at the miya’s. after all, your best friend was dating osamu and you didn’t mind third wheeling. the two brothers lived together, so it was only fitting that while osamu was with your friend, you would be with atsumu.
the four of you got along, which helped. last night was filled with laughter and jokes, all of you enjoying each other’s company. but when osamu stated that he wanted some alone time, you found yourself alone with atsumu. which was fine, you honestly wanted that. you just knew it wasn’t a good idea.
you sat on his bed as he fidgeted with his tv. it was silent, aside from the bed creaking in the room next door. atsumu sat down beside you, close to you. he clicked a show for you to watch, though you both knew you wouldn’t be paying much attention to it.
“mind if i borrow this?” you asked, holding up a shirt that belonged to your friend. they nodded.
“not at all. ready to go?”
the two of you made your way back to your car. the sun was already setting, as you had wasted most of the day. you turned on the engine and drove back to the miya’s apartment.
the events of last night played in your mind on a loop as you drove to where they occurred. would they happen again tonight? you weren’t sure. you honestly hoped that they would, as much as you knew you shouldn’t. you knew you’d just get hurt in the end.
you pulled into the familiar parking spot and saw that osamu was already outside.
“hey baby-”
your friend practically jumped osamu, causing you to chuckle. the three of you went inside.
“ ‘tsumu is just in the shower. he’ll be out soon.” explained osamu. you nodded. you sat down on the living room couch as you heard the door to osamu’s room shut.
“oh hey.”
you looked up at atsumu. his towel hung low on his waist and his hair dripped from the shower water. he smiled at you.
“hi.”
“why are you out here by yourself? come on.” he waved you over, prompting you up from the couch. you walked into his room, sitting down exactly where you had sat the night before.
atsumu rummaged through his drawers, picking out his clothes. he soon repeated the actions of last night.
he sat down, closely next to you. he selected the same show you had started, still having no clue what it was about.
before you knew it, you found your head resting on his chest, his arm around you.
before you knew it, your lips were locked with his, his hands under your shirt.
he snores.
that’s something you’ll never forget.
he tosses and turns a lot.
he can never really fall back to sleep until his chest is pressed onto your back, his arm keeping you glued to him.
you were wide awake however, too anxious to sleep.
you could feel his soft breath against the back of your neck. it honestly brought you peace. you could get used to this. waking up in his arms, in his t-shirt, under his covers. you wished it could stay like this, this perfect fantasy in your head.
but this was reality.
the reality was that atsumu miya was using you.
the reality was that you were okay with that.
because being used meant that they needed you in the first place.
right?
“psst! y/n! are you awake?”
you recognized your friend’s voice from outside of the bedroom. you sat up, stretching your arms up.
“yeah i am,” you yawned. they turned the doorknob, revealing themself and osamu.
“we gotta go soon.”
you nodded. atsumu sat up now too.
“hey when is kira coming over?” asked osamu. atsumu scratched the back of his head.
“uh maybe around three? ive gotta clean this place up before she gets here,” he explained.
“who’s kira?” you asked.
“my ex.”
you really didn’t have a right to be upset. anyway, atsumu can do what he wants, he doesn’t owe you anything. he has every right to have his ex come over and spend the night in the same bed where you now laid.
“once i find my clothes we can leave.”
you unlocked your car and placed your hand on the door handle.
“wait, y/n-”
atsumu tapped your shoulder. you turned around to face him. he smiled.
“i’ll see you later, okay?”
you knew you would, which was the worst part. you would have to see him again and again. you would see him and try to keep a distance away, hoping that would stop you from falling deeper.
“yeah.”
atsumu placed his hand under your chin, and kissed you. he then slowly walked back inside.
you hated how you were completely wrapped around his finger. you knew he didn’t give a damn about you, not in the way you wanted him too. he could make your heart flutter and make your heart break all at the same time. it was excruciating.
was he using you to get over his ex? probably.
was he unaware of this? certainly.
were you going to think about him for the weeks to come? definitely.
were you going to cry over him, curse out his name for hurting you without realizing it? of course.
would you be back at his place within a few days to do it all over again and leave devastated? undoubtedly.
you drove home, his taste still lingering on your tongue. you friend blabbed on about osamu, though you don’t remember a word they said. you simply drove home.
what bothered you most was his actions. how he held your hand in public, complimented you, paid for your dinner, did all the things someone who liked you would do.
what you didn’t know as you drove home was that in the days to come, while you were miserable, he would text you. he would explain to you that it was simply his nature, and that he apologized for leading you on.
being the kind soul you are, you would forgive miya atsumu.
you would forgive him for keeping you up at night. you would forgive him for ruining your mascara from crying it off. you would forgive him for the marks on your neck that wouldn’t fade no matter how much color corrector you put in them. you would forgive him for the self doubt that now consumed you.
that’s just the kind of person you are.
sometimes it’s nice to be used, because being used meant that they needed you in the first place.
right?
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[general taglist: @lealofsblog @iwaisa @bakugousmymassa @evivn1 @tetsoleil @bokutory @vangoghmusings @moonlightaangel @misszenin @marajillana @sopesmin @alaina-rose13 @shotoful @katlingclaw ]
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mammonshuman92 · 3 years
Text
- Watched -
Mammon & GN!MC
** TW: Stalking, cussing, religion (ish? I guess?)
| part two | | part three |
It’s been nearly 6 months since you left the Devildom. You picked up where you had left off in the human world: college, work, home, repeat. Sure, you missed your family while you were away, but now your heart aches almost constantly for the new family you loved so much, that you had to leave behind. (Not that you really had a choice in the matter.)
 As much as it hurt to leave the brothers, Diavolo was right. Establishing harmony and unity with the three realms won’t go over too well if one of the human representatives doesn’t go back to the human world, now will it? Still, it sucks. Life is so boring without all of them.
And quiet.
It’s not like you don’t talk though. Yeah, Diavolo has that rule in place where they have to take turns talking to you because “human’s lives are short” and they were “taking up too much of your time”, but that’s not really going to stop them, is it?
Well kinda, actually.
You can’t really argue with a direct order from the demon lord, after all.
-
Is it Asmo's day to call? You thought to yourself, trying to remember (not that you ever could) the schedule Lucifer came up with. Your own schedule was hard enough to remember.
You had been picking up extra shifts at work and staying late to study at school when you could. Finding any reason to stay busy or get out of the house. The deafening silence was too much to bear.
"I wonder when I can go visit? I should call Diavolo.." you said to yourself quietly.
You were walking home from your shift at the coffee shop near campus. The sun was just starting to set and the air was slightly crisp, causing you to pull your jacket a little tighter.
If it weren't for the brilliant pinks and warm oranges cast on the sky by the setting sun, it would've felt like a regular night in the Devildom. Memories of your last few days spent there came flooding back, bringing the sadness along with them.
In just one year, you had gotten so close to everyone, but you had gotten especially close to Mammon. He was responsible for you in the beginning of course, but the connection was undeniable (no matter how much he did deny it). He was a total simp for you, and you for him. It was rather cringey to everyone else. He could be a handful at times, but that tsundere really is a great boyfriend. Leaving him behind was... well, there's no words for it.
Rounding the corner, you could see your house perfectly. Now that the sun had gone down a bit more, it was getting darker and you were suddenly thankful that you remembered to turn on the porch light before you left.
You pulled your keys from your jacket pocket while climbing the few steps to your front door, and something caught your eye. Your stomach dropped.
Not again..
You plucked the folded piece of paper that was stuck in the screen door and quickly made your way inside, locking the door behind you.With a heavy sigh, you tossed your keys on the table by the door and dropped your bag on the floor beside you. You immediately went to shower and change not giving the paper a second thought.
Not everyone in the human world agreed with the Devildom exchange student program. After you and Solomon had arrived in the Devildom, there were numerous protests by a group much like the Westboro lunatics. They were without a doubt against the program and called for it’s immediate termination. Thankfully, their personal hatred was no match for the opportunity for the realms to find peace.
 When you had returned, you noticed people whispering about you, calling you names and giving you dirty looks. You've even received quite a few pieces of hate mail. Granted, the people opposed to the program were very small in numbers, even if it didn’t seem that way. It didn't bother you though. Demons ended up being some of the most important people to you. Not to mention you were kinda in love with one of them. People could say what they wanted about the Devildom and about you, their words didn't bother you.
You were still towel drying your hair when your phone rang. Tossing the towel, you rushed to the living room to fish it out of your bag, Asmo's face popping up on the caller ID. You were right, it was Asmo’s night. You were secretly hoping it was a certain greedy demon’s turn to call (not that he doesn’t text you almost constantly.)
Asmo was the same as usual. Talking animatedly about this and that, gushing over new beauty products and outfits, filling you in on all the gossip you were missing. While he was rambling, your eyes fell onto the paper that was in your door. Might as well look at the newest piece of hate mail, right? 
You began unfolding the paper, quickly giving Asmo an “omg!” about the gossip he was dishing (even though you hadn’t been paying attention.)
Upon seeing the contents, all the color drained from your face. You were sure your heart sank into your stomach, but you could hear the rapid beating in your ears. You suddenly felt hot, and the air around you seemed thick.
Then the adrenaline kicked in.
With shaky hands, you quickly checked the front door making sure it was locked, and headed to the back door to do the same. You rushed around checking the windows and pulling all the curtains closed. Everything seemed fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Still, that didn’t settle your nerves any.
“MC, dear? Did you hear me?” The sound of Asmo’s voice brought you out of your frantic state.
“Huh? S-sorry Asmo. I guess I s-spaced out.” You tried your best to keep your tone normal and steady your breathing, as to not alert him to anything. You really should give him more credit, though.
“MC? Is everything alright?” His tone was different, no longer playful and flirty. You could hear the concern.
Shit.
“Yeah, I’m fine. More hate mail is all. No biggie.” You lied. Maybe he would believe it..
There was a pause on his end, “You’re STILL getting it? Don’t they have anything better to do?” Good, he bought it. For now, anyway.
After about 10 more minutes Asmo said his goodbyes, leaving you alone with your thoughts.
This piece hate mail turned out to be something much worse than the run of the mill stuff you usually received. Inside there were pictures. Of you. At work, at school, the grocery store, ...outside your house. There was also a newspaper clipping that had a picture of you and your family, from when your parents first opened their bakery a few years back. There were red ‘Xs’ marked through everyone’s faces...
The only words scrawled inside read, “I’ve been watching you. You will pay for what you’ve done, whore. And don’t even think about telling your demon fuck buddies. I know everything about you and your family. It’d be a shame if anything happened to poor old Mom and Dad because their child is an unholy slut.”
You read it over and over, tears streaking your cheeks. Hate mail was nothing new, but now this? A stalker? 
Maybe I’m just over thinking it. The other hate mail was spicy too. But these pictures... There is NO way I’m over thinking this..
“Regardless, I can’t tell the brothers.” You shuddered at what their reaction would be like. It would definitely make all of Diavolo’s hard work on the exchange program obsolete. It wouldn’t be good for any of the three realms. There was still a long way to go, but the program was a giant step in the right direction to obtaining peace and understanding. If dealing with some backlash and hate mail could help get closer to that goal, then for the sake of the greater could, you could handle it.
“For now, I will bear this burden myself.”
- {3 weeks later} -
“Are you okay?”
The simple question nearly made you squeak and nearly jump out of your skin. You turn and meet the worried gaze of your lab partner. You weren’t super close with her, so you knew your current state had to be bad if she was picking up on it.
God, do I really look that bad? You got a good look at yourself this morning, and yeah, you absolutely look that bad. But then again, you haven’t really slept in a few weeks. You had gigantic purple eye bags, your hair looked like a family of birds took up residence in it. Your skin was pale and lifeless, and you began skin picking at your nails due to the anxiety. You’d even lost about twenty pounds.
“Sorry, I guess I was spacing out.”
“It’s alright. It’s just- no offense, but you look awful. Have you been sleeping?” She asked, eyes scanning your face.
“Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Promise.” You lied. She nodded and gave you a weak smile, dropping the subject for now.
You hadn’t really been paying attention to class today. Well, for the last several days, really. You’ve been putting in less effort for a lot of things lately. You’ve been slacking off bad at school and barely keeping up at work. Not to mention you never sleep anymore. How can you though?
You left class early and although it was still early in the day, you decided to skip the rest of your lectures for the day. You’ve always been a fantastic student, so taking a day off wouldn’t really hurt anything. And seeing as today was Thursday, you didn’t even have work today. Same as every week.
 Upon arriving home, you were relieved to see that there weren’t any notes left for you. Yet, anyway.
Ever since the first letter a few weeks ago, they’ve been showing up constantly. Only a few times the first week or so, but now you get at least one every single day. They’re also increasing in severity. The sender seems to be becoming more and more unhinged with every passing day.
“Dirty demon whore!!”
“You’re a HUMAN!! How dare you taint your body with demons!”
“I will cleanse you and make you pure again.”
There was so, so much more. All of it growing more and more explicit with each letter.
The whole thing was taking a huge tool on you, but what could you do? Your family’s safety was on the line. You so badly wanted to tell Mammon of even the cops, but you couldn’t live with yourself if anything bad were to happen. Whatever this psycho had planned, you would gladly put yourself in the line of fire to save those closest to you.
The whole situation has also affected your relationship with Mammon and the rest of the brothers as well. At first, you tried to hide what was happening, but they started getting suspicious and asking questions. Always wondering why you sounded so tired and why you kept cutting their phone calls super short. You always rejected their face time requests, knowing that your drastic change in appearance would be alarming and alert them that something was wrong. Lately, you’ve barely talked to any of them. Especially Mammon. He’d be the first to figure out something was wrong with you and come here ready to fight.
That honestly didn’t sound too bad. You wanted nothing more than for him to hold you while you ugly cried. Breathing in his scent while he rubbed soothing circles on your back.
Your heart started to ache.
-
When you got home you decided to take a nice, hot shower to hopefully help ease some of your tension and possibly begin to get a handle on your quickly deteriorating self care status.
Once you felt somewhat normal again, you put on your comfiest pj’s (which included one of Mammon’s shirts) and plopped yourself on your bed in the fetal position. It was the only thing that kinda helped ease a tiny bit of the feeling that everything was spiraling out of control. The warm scent of your most favorite demon helped calm you.
*bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz*
Damn. I almost fell asleep..
You sat up, rubbing your eyes and reached for your D.D.D. on your nightstand. The called ID made your heart rate accelerate and your palms sweaty.
It’s him.
“Mammon..? I thought it was Beel’s turn to call?”
“I don’t care about Lucifer’s stupid schedule. I need to talk to ya.” His tone made him sound like he was on edge.
“Oh, ok. What’s up?”
He scoffed, “Really? You’ve barely messaged me back in three days. The last time I called, ya hung up after five minutes.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I’ve just been busy.” Every lie helps break your heart just a little more. 
“You’ve never been too busy before. Besides, shouldn’t ya be in a class right now or somethin’? It ain’t even noon.”
“I left class early and I’m skipping the rest of the day.” You explained.
“..Hmm.” He replied, you could detect suspicion in his response.
It was quiet on his end for a moment.
“MC?”
“Yeah?”
“..Do ya got another boyfriend? Cause The Great Mammon is definitely better! And-and, I’ll kick their ass!”
“What? Mammon, no. One boyfriend is almost more than I can handle.”
“Wha- hey!”
For the first time in who knows when, you actually giggled. It felt so good.
“So, you swear nothin’ is wrong? You’ve been actin’ so weird.” His voice was heavy with concern.
“Yeah, I swear.” Lie.
As good as it felt to talk to him, you needed to end the call before he ended up dragging the truth out of you. If any one could figure out what was wrong with you, it’d be him. The two of you had spent so much time together, that you can practically read each other like a book.
“I gotta go, ok? I have work later and I need to get ready.” Lie. But, you needed to get off the phone with him before he suspects anything.
“Yeah, sure.” He sounded so defeated. You could almost hear him pouting.
After a quicker goodbye than you usually have when getting off the phone with Mammon, you fell back onto your bed with a heavy sigh.
That was a little rough, but he seemed to believe it. I hope this will all be over soon.
With that, you quickly fell asleep, lulled by the memory of your demon’s voice. Although you wouldn’t sleep long, at least you got to fall asleep to the thought of him.
-
*bzzz* *bzzz* *bzzz*
Geez, are ya gonna answer or not? Ya always pick up on the second ring when I call ya.., Mammon thought.
Finally, on the sixth ring, “Mammon..? I thought it was Beel’s turn to call?”
Man, hearing your voice is like music.
“I don’t care about Lucifer’s stupid schedule. I need to talk to ya.” His tone made him sound a little rougher than intended, but it was all the same. He needed to hear you voice.
“Oh, ok. What’s up?”
He scoffed, “Really? You’ve barely messaged me back in three days. The last time I called, ya hung up after five minutes.”
I miss ya like crazy. Ya keep avoiding me..
“Oh. I’m sorry, I’ve just been busy.” 
Huh? But, MC is always busy doing somethin’ and it never stopped em’ before..
He started getting an uneasy feeling deep in his stomach. He could tell something was off, but he just didn’t know what it was.
Is it ...someone else? Nah, MC wouldn’t do that. ...Right??
“You’ve never been too busy before. Besides, shouldn’t ya be in a class right now or somethin’? It ain’t even noon.” He didn’t try to hide the pout, that he knew you could hear, in his voice. His own thoughts were beginning to hurt his feelings.
“I left class early and I’m skipping the rest of the day.” MC explained.
“..Hmm.” He hummed. Thoughts started swirling around in his head.
MC never skips school, not even at RAD. Somethin’ is definitely going on. And what’s with the short answers? MC always talks like crazy. Maybe they’re mad at me?
It was quiet for a moment while he tried to sort through his thoughts.
“MC?” He asked, finally breaking the silence.
“Yeah?”
“..D-do ya got another boyfriend? Cause The Great Mammon is definitely better! And-and, I’ll kick their ass!”
“What? Mammon, no. One boyfriend is almost more than I can handle.”
“Wha- hey!” You giggled at his response. It was small, but he heard it. It made his heart swim.
All joking aside, he did believe you. Something was definitely not right with you though.
“So, you swear nothin’ is wrong? You’ve been actin’ so weird.” His voice was heavy with concern.
“Yeah, I swear.” Those three words caused his heart to sink.
That was a lie.. MC only says ‘I swear’ while tryin’ to act like somethin’ ain’t wrong..
He pushed his thoughts aside for the time being and continued the conversation. It only lasted a few more minutes before you started saying your goodbyes. Again, cutting the call short.
“I gotta go, ok? I have work later and I need to get ready.” 
Hmm. Why does that seem weird?
“Yeah, sure.” He sounded so defeated.
There was, without a doubt in his mind, something going on. Something that would make you lie to him..
One way or another, he was going to find out.
-
“Mammon? Are you alright?”
Mammon was sprawled out on the couch in the common room. After talking to you, he was lost in his thoughts and feeling rather down. Beel passed by the common room on his was back from the kitchen when he saw his older brother. Noticing that he looked sad, Beel went to investigate.
Mammon looked up to meet Bee’s concerned gaze and with a sigh, he sat up.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Mammon said, as he stood up to leave. Beel could tell he was obviously lying, but decided not to press the issue.
Mammon stopped a few paces away from Beel, and turned back around to face him.
“Hey, Beel. Was MC actin’, I don’t know, “off”, the last time ya talked to em’?” He asked the sixth born, thinking maybe you had accidentally let something slip.
Beel’s face seemed to twist up a little bit, and he nodded.
“Yeah, kind of. MC used to sound excited when I called, but now they hardly talk at all. And they used to send me pictures of the food they were eating and new recipes, at least twice a day, but it’s been about two weeks since the last one they sent.” He explained, sadness in his voice. While in the Devildom, you were his favorite person to eat with.
Mammon nodded at his brother, getting lost in his thoughts again.
So, it’s not just me. MC is actin’ strange with Beel too..
Neither of them had paid been paying enough attention to see Asmo enter the room.
“Mammon, there you are. I’m going out, and I need my new bag from Majolish. The one I let you borrow. And i swear, if you sold it-” Asmo stopped mid sentence when he noticed the sad state two of his brothers.
“Is it about MC?” He asked, nonchalaunt.
Mammon’s head snapped toward his brother.
“What do you mean? Did they say somethin’ to ya?” Mammon asked quickly, taking a few steps closer to his brother.
MC and Asmo always gossip with each other, so maybe they’d tell him somethin’..
“Calm down. MC really hasn’t talked to me much in the last month. I’m so hurt! Who else am I going to talk beauty products with? Lucifer? Goodness, no.”
“Asmo!” Mammon said loudly, trying to get the fifth born back on track.
“Oh, right. Let’s see.” He put a finger to his chin and thought about it. “Hmm. The only thing I can think of was during the last normal conversation I had with them. They said something about receiving a piece of hate mail. They said it was no big deal, but I distinctly remember MC seemed flustered by it. Which I thought was weird, considering it’s definitely not the first one they’d received..” Asmo explained.
Hate mail? MC has only mentioned it to me a couple times. Do they really get it that often..?
“How long ago was that?” Mammon asked. He felt like he was on the brink of something. Just a few more puzzle pieces..
“Hmm, it was right before MC started acting distant toward me. So, about three or four weeks, maybe.” Asmo explained. That’s around the time you had started acting weird with Mammon too.
“So, maybe something happened to MC.” Beel suggested.
“No, MC would tell us. ..Right?” Asmo questioned.
Mammon was so confused.
What is goin’ on with you, MC?
-
After talking with his brothers, Mammon holed himself up in his room. He didn’t really want to be around anyone at the moment. His thoughts were driving him crazy and giving him a headache. What was he not seeing? What piece of the puzzle was he missing?
He started going over your last conversation again, for the millionth time, looking for any kind of clue. But, you seemed normal. Well, your new normal, anyway. Distant, short answers, not giving too much to the conversation. What were you hiding?
It was something about the end of your conversation, but what was it?
He remembered your small giggle. The memory caused a smile to break out across his face. It gave him a tiny bit of hope that you were still there. That you still loved him. That whatever was troubling you, wasn’t making you forget them completely.
It was after that though. You had said “I swear”, which was a red flag, considering you only say it when you’re trying to convince him you’re ok when you’re really not.
He sighed, and rolled over on his bed. He looked at the alarm clock on his night stand, numbers glowing an angry red.
MC is probably at work right now..
Something caught his eye.
Today is Thursday... MC never works on Thursday. I guess the schedule coulda changed. No, cause MC specifically requested to always have that day off for some reason. Delivery day at their family’s bakery, I think. ...MC lied, again..
Then it hit him.
The small little lies. Avoiding all of them, even him for weeks now. Barely talking when you do answer the phone. The way you always sounded so tired and out of it.
It had something to do with what Asmo said about the hate mail.
“Hmm. The only thing I can think of was during the last normal conversation I had with them. They said something about receiving a piece of hate mail. They said it was no big deal, but I distinctly remember MC seemed flustered by it. Which I thought was weird, considering it’s definitely not the first one they’d received..”
Mammon didn’t even know that you’d been receiving that much hate mail. Sure, you’d told him about it a couple times, but he didn’t think it was that bad. Maybe it was actually pretty serious. Is that why you’d been so distant.
Mammon got up from his bed, and began pacing around the room. He almost had it figured out, he could feel it.
Asmo said MC seemed flustered, so it had to have somethin’ to do with the hate mail they received that day, since after that is when MC started actin’ weird.What if it’s somethin’ bad. Like, bad bad. 
He stopped pacing.
The thought of MC being in danger was...
Mammon grabbed his jacket, where it was thrown onto the pool table and left his room in a hurry. He was on his way to Lucifer’s study, mentally preparing himself on the way. He was sure he knew what his brother’s answer would be, but he wasn’t going to just sit here. He needed to know that you were, in fact alright, with his own eyes.
I’m going to the human world. Whether Lucifer allows it or not.
| part two | | part three |
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